A. Master: “Live in the land without light and shade.”
Student: “Where is the land?”
Master: “There.”
Student: “Where is there?”
Master: “There.”
Commentary:
You don’t have to dig the earth for gold with your hands full of gold.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. If you know what Buddha is, it means that you have already attained enlightenment. Then, you need not pray to Him for enlightenment any longer. If you are not enlightened, it means that you don’t know what Buddha is. Then, how would you pray to Him while not knowing what or who he is and where he is? If you want to pray to Him for your enlightenment, do your best to realise what He is before you pray. That is Zen meditation.
Student: “Shall I pray to Buddha for my enlightenment?”
Master: “Not bad. Tell me where He is. I also hope to pray to Him.”
Student: “I don’t know where He is.”
Master: “What nonsense! How can you pray to Him while not knowing where He is?”
Student: “What shall I do, Sir?”
Master: “Why are you, ‘King’, going to make yourself a beggar?”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “What do you think it is?”
Student: “I have no idea.”
Master: “You are right.”
Commentary:
Master opens the shell and offers the flesh.
Why do you try in vain to eat only the hard shell?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Remove all your time lines. They are only imaginary lines created by your imagination. There is no fixed time in the universe. Time is a typical illusion. Remove all time lines and you will become eternity itself. Think of eternity as your practice and you will become practice itself. Then, whatever you may do, whether eating, talking, or working, just question what makes your body do it. That is practice. In other words, you make yourself one with the question or your practice. Then, you can practise 24-hours a day 7-days a week. You can’t stop practising.
Student: “What is the best way to practise well?”
Master: “Don’t practise.”
Student: “Why do you tell me not to practise when I ask you the best way to practise?”
Master: “If you practise 24-hours a day, your practice is not practice any longer. That is true practice.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “I would avoid it by entering an old shelter.”
Commentary:
Fish don’t think that they are wet.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. The words ‘only humans can attain enlightenment’ have the same meaning as ‘only you can attain enlightenment’. This doesn’t mean that you are superior to others but that no one else can take the place of you in both attaining enlightenment and getting the whole world enlightened. In other words, only when you yourself are enlightened can you have all other things including other animals enlightened.
We can’t realise the truth that humans are one with and not separate from other things such as plants and animals or the living and the non-living, until we attain enlightenment. It is said that once you attain enlightenment, all the universe attains enlightenment as well at the same time. That is, you can have a firm belief that we are not separate from other animals and that everything is one, only when you can see things as they are. Even if all other people of the world should get enlightened, their enlightenment can never allow you to enjoy the truth that everything including you is perfectly one, as long as you stay unenlightened.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. When we say that there is nothing to attain, this means that everything is so perfect that there is nothing to be desired. That is, there is nothing to attain because all is already yours. Our problem is that we are not aware of the truth and struggle to make our life perfect in our own way. In other words, we are like a rich beggar who is struggling for a living, not knowing that he has great wealth in his bank account.
Student: “Sir, why is there nothing to attain?”
Master: “Because everything is already yours.”
Student: “Why do I have to practise Zen when there is nothing to attain?”
Master: “Because there is still something for you to attain.”
Student: “You said that there is nothing to attain because everything is already mine. Why do you say there is still something for me to attain now?”
Master: “Because you don’t know the fact that everything is already yours. The purpose of Zen is to enable you to confirm the fact that all is already yours. It is like no matter how much money you may have in your bank account, you can’t be said to be rich if you, not conscious of the fact that you have the money, still struggle to make a living.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “Discriminating mind.”
Commentary:
Even an enemy becomes your friend once you get to know him.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. When you are not enlightened, you are not even sure whether or not you have the true-self, because you have not realised it through experience. When you are enlightened, there is nothing that doesn’t have the true-self since you realise that everything is from the true-self and non-dual. Everything, whether living or non-living, is to the true-self as all winds, whether a breeze or a storm, are to air.
Student: “What is the true-self like?”
Master: “All you see and hear is nothing but the true-self. It is the way it is.”
Student: “Why can’t I see the true-self instead of things?”
Master: “It’s because your eyes and ears are covered with the names of things.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. I can’t show it to you because you are already seeing it.
I can’t hide it from you because you are always seeing it.
When you can’t see it, it is not because it is hidden but because you can’t recognise it while seeing it.
When you can see it, it is not because I show it to you but because you can recognise it.
When you can’t see it, I can’t show it to you because it is none other than you.
When you can see it, I can’t hide it because it is none other than you.
Student: “What is the true-self, Sir?”
Master: “Why do you ask me the taste of the food that you are chewing?”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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