A. Master: “Telling you the way is very easy. But I am afraid that I may induce you to make light and shade.”
Student: “Please, tell me the way.”
Master: “Everything is empty.”
Student: “I already know that, too.”
Master: “That is making light and shade in your plot.”
Commentary:
However efficacious medicine may be, an internal medicine will cause trouble if put into eyes or ears.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “Don’t try to pull out weeds by force, and never let crops take root.”
Student: “Why shouldn’t I pull weeds out by force?”
Master: “Because they become crops when not taking root.”
Student: “Why shouldn’t I let crops take root?”
Master: “Because they become weeds when taking root.”
Student: “What shall I do in order to carry out your teaching?”
Master: “Keep your plot free from light and shade.”
Commentary:
Your plot is originally free from light and shade unless you make them.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “If I answer your question, I become menial.”
Commentary:
Don’t blame the master for not answering.
He is soiling himself to answer the question.
What he is worried about is not his becoming menial but your becoming menial.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. It is true that it is almost impossible for unenlightened people to tell whether a teacher is enlightened or not. Only the enlightened have an eye for the enlightened, just like only those who know maths can tell if a maths teacher has real capacity. However, I am going to tell you a few essential requirements that I think a teacher should be equipped with as a teacher, regardless of whether he is enlightened or not.
A teacher should:
If someone satisfies all these conditions, he is worth following as a teacher, I think.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Our practice is like trying to brighten an old room that has been dark since it was made, even though it is installed with a nice electric light. We are looking for the light switch of the old room that has never been lit so far. The key problem is that we have no idea of the switch; where it is and what it is like, because we have never used it, or even seen it before. We can be said to be fumbling for the switch in the dark room. It may take time to find it, but it doesn’t take time to lighten the room once you find the switch. The moment you switch on the light, all the darkness will disappear. Likewise, all illusions disappear at the moment you attain enlightenment.
Student: “How can I remove all the illusions in an instant that I have made up for decades?”
Master: “It takes no time and no effort to remove them because they are empty.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “Empty.”
Commentary:
What counts is not whether Bodhidharma is enlightened but whether you are.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. ‘Transmit enlightenment’ and ‘Transmit dharma’ are very common sayings in Zen. These, however, are very incorrect expressions that can bring about misunderstanding. Enlightenment is neither a physical matter nor a type of knowledge that we can give and take in the way that we can do with gold, or the four rules of arithmetic.
Suppose that there is a person who, not knowing that he is already part of the Earth, wishes to go to the Earth. As a result of your efforts to help him, one day he realises the truth that he is part of the Earth that he has been so anxious to reach. You can say to him, “At last you have now realised the truth that you are part of the Earth.” Likewise, saying ‘You’ve now realised dharma,’ usually while giving a symbolic thing like a piece of writing or a robe, is said to be the transmission of dharma. The bowl and robe given to his student by Bodhidharma is a good example of this. Therefore, ‘Transmit dharma’ doesn’t mean to transfer dharma but rather to approve a student’s realisation of dharma.
Student: “How can I receive enlightenment?”
Master: “You should have no hands.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. It is said that going one kilometre by studying books is not as good as going one metre by practising. It’s because the former adds to illusions whereas the latter decreases them. The former regresses rather than advances us in Zen meditation. So, ancient masters would say, “Trying to attain enlightenment through books is like trying to pick the moon with a pole.”
Instead of spending so much time reading the Sutra and Zen books, I would like to advise you to allocate 90% of this time to practising meditation. The remaining 10% of this time can still be used for reading.
Whatever you do, wherever you are, you are practising well only if you keep questioning what is making you do what you are doing. Reading the Sutras for ten hours is not as good as drinking tea, or washing the dishes for an hour with the question in your mind.
Master: “What did you do last night?”
Student: “I read the Diamond Sutra.”
Master: “How much did you read?”
Student: “I read three pages.”
Master: “You didn’t see the Sutra, let alone read it. The true Sutra has no pages.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Master: “Mountains and rivers.”
Commentary:
Mountains and rivers block your insight into mountains and rivers.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. They mean that you should eliminate the illusions of you, that is, all the labels attached to you, or all the words used to describe your identity. This is because all suffering is from your mistaking the labels attached to you as you and at the same time being attached to them.
When you are deluded by labels, like this, they are referred to as illusions. The final goal of Zen is to realise that labels are not real but only imaginary lines and to see what you are like free from labels. That is called seeing your true-self, or attaining enlightenment.
Student: “How can I discard my ‘I’?”
Master: “You should know that all you believe to be you is not you but just an illusion.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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