Tag: question

Buddhism, Enlightenment, Koan, Meditation, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q36. What is a koan in Zen meditation? Why can’t I understand koans even though I have read a lot on meditation? They make no sense to me.

Zen Fools

A. A koan is a sort of dialogue between a master and his students that is used to check whether they have reached the final goal. At the same time, it can be a good question you can practice with. It is just like a maths question in maths, in that a question can be used to test students on one hand and can be material to study on the other hand; so it can be referred to as a Zen question. If you understand perfectly the principle of a question, you can solve other questions easily. Koans might seem to be funny and even look like a joke. Sometimes they may seem to make no sense at all. However, once you have reached the final goal, you will understand how clever, correct and beautiful they are.

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Some people think that each question has a single answer, and, memorising it, say they know the correct answer. The truth is that each koan has so many answers that we can’t say all the answers, even if we spend all our life saying the answers to a single question.
It is just like when five year old children are asked a maths question, “What is 3 + 2?” Not all, but most of them can provide only a single answer 5, because they have not mastered the four rules of arithmetic. However, most secondary school students know that though the answer to the question is 5, it can be said in countless other ways, such as 6 – 1, 1.5 + 3.5, 4 + 1, 4.8 + 0.2, 100 – 95 and so on. They also know that although each of the answers seemingly has a different form, all of them are perfectly correct answers.
If you expect to understand koans by reading books, it is natural for them to seem to make no sense at all. Trying to grasp them through reading is like trying to wash a mud-stained cloth with muddy water; it will make things more complicated, since koans are asked to check whether Zen students are freed from the illusions with which we are bound, but reading books is to create illusions. Only when you are freed from illusions can you understand them clearly.

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, Koan, Meditation, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q34. Would you recommend any other way to practice Zen, when I feel tired of the question ‘What am I when my body is not me?’

Zen Fools

A. If you feel tired of asking yourself the same question, I’d say two things.
One is that you may take another Zen question that is likely to stimulate your curiosity. I plan to provide a new Zen question a week.
The other is that you ask your question of the things around you instead of yourself. Seeing a tree, you can ask the tree your question ‘Hi, tree. What am I when my body is not me?’ or a little different question ‘Hi, tree. What are you when you are not a tree?’ You can ask such a question of anything such as a car, a puppy, a bird, a desk, spoon, a cup and so forth that you can see in your everyday life. My words might sound ridiculous but they, whenever you ask them the question, never fail to tell you the correct answers. The problem is that you can’t grasp their answers because your eyes and ears are veiled by illusions. To try to understand their answers is a good practice, too.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Enlightenment, Koan, Meditation, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q29. What are you when your body is not you?

Zen Fools

A. A piece of cake.

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Commentary:
A piece of cake,
It is neither soft nor tough.
How deplorable!
Numerous people have tried to eat it so far,
Few of whom swallowed it.
Countless people have tried chewing it,
But no tooth-mark is left on it.

If I were asked the question,
I would answer, “Why do you ask me the taste of the food you are chewing?”

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Buddhism, One, Zen

Q25. Why do we fight and tear the planet apart if we are one? Surely preservation should prevail?

Zen Fools

A. As I mentioned earlier, we do whatever we do for the purpose of attaining happiness. So we fight and tear the planet apart, it can be said, to increase our wealth in the hope that the more wealth we have, the more happiness we will have. The key problem here is that we don’t know what we are because we cannot see things as they are. Regarding ourselves as separate from nature, we very often don’t realize the fact we human beings are also part of nature.

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In fact, fighting and tearing the planet apart is fighting and tearing ourselves apart. This happens, I think, because we don’t experience in person the fact we are one, even while saying we are one with our mouth. If we can truly feel that we are one and that nature is part of us, how couldn’t we try to preserve her as we try to keep ourselves healthy?

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Buddhism, Happiness, Meditation, Mind, Practice, Zen

Q23. I too often lose my temper with even small things. People say I am too sensitive to what others say about me. What shall I do when angry? (How can I control my anger?)

Zen Fools

A. This is a good question. Many people have a similar question, I think. Now I will ask you back, “What makes you angry?” “I can’t control my anger when people speak ill of me for what I have never done. “I think your words make sense. The reason you mention can be a part of the cause that makes you angry. All people, like you, have their own reasons why they are angry when angry. They tend to try to evade the responsibility for being angry by justifying their anger. However, I will ask you one more question. “Are you angry when you don’t know the fact at all that others spoke ill of you?” I think you aren’t because we can’t be angry, or happy, with what we don’t know. How could you be angry with what you don’t know? In fact, no matter how much someone speaks ill of you, their act itself doesn’t lead you to lose your temper, unless you know the fact.

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It means that the fact that others speak ill of you unduly is not the direct cause that makes you angry. If the fact were the direct cause, it would make you angry regardless of whether you know the fact or not. Then what will be the main cause that makes you angry? It is you that are responsible for being angry. You are angry only when you perceive the fact and feel it is undue. You won’t be angry if you don’t think it is unwarranted even though you perceive the fact. In a word, everything is up you. Whatever others may say about you, their words can make you neither angry, nor happy, if you don’t accept them as bad or good. You are angry when you accept them as names or abuse, and happy when you accept them as praises.
I remember Buddha’s answer to a question one of his disciples asked. One day one of his disciples said to Buddha, “I am very sorry and angry these days because a person never sees me without calling me names for no reason. What shall I do?” Buddha asked, “Whom does the gift belong to if you don’t accept it when someone gives it to you?” The disciple answered, “Of course, it belongs to the giver.” Then Buddha said, “Then, who do the names he calls you belong to if you don’t accept them?” The disciple was very happy to understand what Buddha said. Likewise, whatever others may say about you, their words can have no influence on you unless you accept them. After all it is not others but your discriminating mind that makes your angry. So the purpose of Zen practice is also said to remove our discriminating mind because seeing things as they are means seeing things without a discriminating mind.
When angry, never try to hold back or push down your anger. Admit that the main cause of your anger is within and not without, and trace your anger back to its root, or ask yourself what you are when your body is not you. Your body can’t be angry for itself. Ask yourself what makes your body angry and your anger will quieten down by itself. Killing two birds with one stone: practising Zen and removing anger.

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Buddhism, Enlightenment, Happiness, Zen

Q22. How can I calm down my mind?

Zen Fools

A. Let me ask you a question. How can you wash your car? What is most important in washing your car? This question may sound ridiculous but shows how foolish we are. In order to wash your car, you should know where your car is parked above all. How could you wash your car if you didn’t know where it is, however good your car shampoo and a tool for washing it is? Likewise, to calm down your mind, you should know what your mind is first of all. How could you calm down your mind when you don’t know what it is? To calm down their mind seems difficult to most people because they strive to calm down their mind without knowing what it is.

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To conclude, try to realise what your mind is so as to calm down your mind. When feeling angry, sad or frustrated, trace back to the root where all such emotions come from. The root is your mind. In the process of tracing back to the root, you will become calm before you know it. If you happen to reach your mind, you will get eternal happiness. That is called ‘enlightenment’.

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Buddhism, Enlightenment, Happiness, Koan, Zen

Q21. To counter act any thoughts that would come into my head I would repeat the question. I had to repeat the question many times in the 30 minutes. I assume that this will be required less with practice?

Zen Fools

A. When thoughts come into your head, trace back to the root from which the thoughts come. When you repeat the question in your mind, do doubt what listens to the question. That is a very good practice as well. If you keep practising as directed, you will become one with the question and need not repeat it any more.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Buddhism, Koan, Meditation, Mind, Practice, Zen

Q20. I focus on the question and my mind tends to empty. Is this the idea? It is quite pleasant and I felt a sensation of being very heavy.

Zen Fools

A. When you focus on the question, you can feel something new you’ve never experienced before. The feelings you mention are very normal phenomena which you can feel during the practice. What is important is that you should not attach to such feelings; that is, you should not try to maintain the feeling. Instead, you should focus on the question regardless of the sensation.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.