A. Master: “A rat.”
Student: “Why do you say that you are a rat?”
Master: “Because of karma.”
Commentary:
Look and listen carefully.
It is not a rat but your eyes and ears that matter.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Tag: what am I?
Q153. Student: “What am I when my body is not me?”
A. Master: “Where are you from?”
Student: “I am from New York.”
Master: “How did you come?”
Student: “By plane.”
Master: “How is the weather there these days?”
Student: “Very fine.”
Master: “That’s all. Nothing else.”
Commentary:
Is that all? What is that?
When lost, turn back the way you’ve just come.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q151. I heard that we should remove our ‘I’ and experience ‘non-ego’ in order to see the true-self. How can I remove my ‘I’?
A. Don’t try in vain to remove your ‘I’. You can’t do so because you don’t know what it is. Just try to know what you are when your body is not you. When you reach the final goal, you realise that it is not worth mentioning ‘I’. In short, the illusion of your ‘I’ will disappear. Then, you can be said to experience or realise ‘non-ego’.
When you can’t see yourself as you are, you see the illusion of your ‘I’ as yourself. When you can see yourself as you are, you come to realise the essence of your being, your true-self called Buddha Nature. When you don’t know what you are, your ego is you, but when you know what you are, you have no ‘I’ to remove. Then you feel oneness.
Q.147 Student: “What are you when your body is not you?”
Master: “A rat.”
Student: “Why do you say that you are a rat?”
Master: “What shall I say I am?
Student: “Buddha Nature.”
Master: “My rat is much better than your Buddha Nature.”
Commentary:
What a wonderful rat! What poor Buddha Nature!
A rat swallows Buddha Nature in a single gulp.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q144. By all means possible, I want to realise what I am when my body is not me. What am I?
A. You can’t hide it.
Commentary:
Why don’t you recognise it while revealing it at every moment?
Don’t seek it and it will show itself.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q141. Student: “Where are you when your body is not you?”
A. Master: (Pointing to the tea cup before him) “It’s in the cup.”
Student: (After looking very closely into the cup.) “There is nothing in it, Sir!”
Master: (Looking into the cup) “It’s here.”
Commentary:
Master is showing it clearly.
Why is the student jumping into the cup?
Where is ‘here’?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q138. What am I when my body is not me?
A. The source of all suffering.
Commentary:
When you don’t know it, it’s the source of all suffering.
When you know it, it’s the source of happiness.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q135. Student: “What am I when my body is not me?
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
Q132. What are you when your body is not you?
A. My body.
Commentary:
Don’t listen but look.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q129. Student: “What are we when our bodies are not us?”
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
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