A. Master: “It can’t be explained with words.”
Student: “How can I experience what can’t be explained with words?”
Master: “You are doing it now.”
Student: “Why can’t I recognise it?”
Master: “Tell me what can’t recognise it.”
Commentary:
Oh! Poor student!
He is talking in his sleep. Why doesn’t he know what is using his mouth while speaking?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Then how would it be possible to remove all of the countless illusions by removing them one by one when many new illusions are made as fast as they are eliminated?
Trying to remove all illusions one by one is like trying to remove all of the sand from a huge river by counting the grains of sand one at a time.
When you reach the final goal, it is like all dreams immediately disappear by themselves when you wake up from sleeping. Then you can see all things clearly as they are all at once, like removing some coloured glasses that distorted your vision.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Heaven is to hell what right is to left. As there is no left without the right and no right without the left, so there is no hell without heaven and no heaven without hell. In fact there is no fixed right or left, and whether something is the right or the left depends on beholder’s view. What is the right to someone can be the left to someone else. Likewise, what is heaven to someone can be hell to someone else. What is hell today can be heaven tomorrow and the other way around.
As long as we believe that heaven is one thing and hell is another, we are tricked by illusions of heaven and hell. What we pursue is not to avoid hell and go to heaven, but to realise the fact that both of them are illusions. That is called the middle path without extremes; no good and bad nor right and wrong.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. My body.
Commentary:
Don’t listen but look.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Would you try to reach the universe even while knowing that you are part of it? Once you realise the fact that you cannot escape being part of the universe whatever you may do, why should you keep struggling to reach the universe? Likewise, once you reach the final goal, you don’t have to make any effort to maintain or stay in it because you can’t escape from it; you are the goal itself. Instead, you may well pity and help those who strive to reach the final goal to realise that they are already there.
There are people who insist that we should continue to practice even after reaching the final goal. They believe that we will fall back to what we were if we do not continue practicing. In fact, we can no more return after reaching the final goal than a hatched chicken can go back into its egg. Once we reach the final goal, we will even feel that all the effort made was useless because we will realise that we were like a man struggling to reach his home while sitting in his living-room. If someone makes even a little effort to reach or stay in the universe, it shows that he still doesn’t know what the universe is. Likewise, if someone makes an effort to maintain or stay in the final goal, that is evidence that he is still blind to what the final goal is.
Though medicine is essential to a patient,
It is of no use to him any more once he gets well.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Master: “It can’t be explained with words.”
Student: “What is a word beyond words?”
Master: “Love.”
Student: “Beautiful!”
Master: “You made it dirty.”
Commentary:
Beautiful?
What is beautiful?
Don’t mistake a beautiful lady’s dress for her.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. The first poison, ignorance, is the lack of ability to see things as they are. For instance, we look upon a piece of broken rope as a snake, or mistake rotten food for healthy food. When we can’t see things as they are like this, we are said to see illusions as real.
The second poison, greed, is the desire to get or avoid such illusions. When we are confused into seeing illusions as being real, we want to run away from illusions like a piece of broken rope that look awful or ugly, or strive to obtain illusions like rotten food that look attractive. Such desire is called greed.
Finally, when we struggle to obtain or avoid illusions that we mistake for being real, things usually don’t go as we desire. Repeated failures to achieve our goals, whether to avoid or obtain such illusions, cause us to lose our temper. Even if we sometimes succeed in achieving such illusions, we are disappointed or upset to see that they are not what we desired and don’t give us as much happiness as we expected. Such emotion, the third poison, is called anger.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Even though most people think illusions cover the true-self and try to see it by removing them, they in fact don’t know what illusions are and what the true-self is. In brief, they can’t distinguish illusions from the true-self because they’ve never seen the true-self. So they are not aware of the truth that the illusions are no other than the true-self.
Whatever you think of as illusions, don’t try to remove them by force. You can’t eliminate them since they are the true-self. Don’t strive to attain your true-self. You can’t not get it because it is already with you.
Don’t think we are looking for something that is hidden in a secret place we don’t know just like hunting for treasure on a treasure island. We are trying to ascertain in person the fact that we are the truth, i.e. eternity itself. Never try to remove illusions, but try to find the root from which they come.
The moment you find it, all the illusions will turn into the truth, your true-self.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. True-self.
Commentary:
Step back, step back. It is really dangerous.
It must be good medicine,
but its attractive appearance might lure you into an incurable disease.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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