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
A. Zen meditation is not about training our physical body; sitting upright for a long time is one of the most harmful postures to your backbone. Sitting upright can be a good posture for making strong concentration, but it is not a must. What is most essential is how to focus on your question. You can take a walk, sit leaning against something, or even lie on your back or side as long as you can make good concentration on your question. Despite having practised diligently, with good posture over a long period, you can’t be said to have practiced Zen meditation if you don’t have any change or new experience through strong concentration.
Don’t overwork yourself (your body) in the name of meditation practice.
Would you hit the horse or the cart when you want to move the cart?
You should hit the horse. Of course, sometimes you can hit the cart to make a sound that can give a spur to the horse. However, hitting the cart to the extent that it is broken, or out of order has nothing to do with your main purpose of moving the cart. That is not moving it but destroying it.
©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. In brief you can live now if you do away with ‘now’. ‘Living now’ mentioned here means living out of the trap of illusions. You should realise the word ‘now’ is an illusion. Only when the illusions of present, past and future disappear can you live now. As long as you keep the illusion of now, you can never experience ‘living now’.
When the thought of ‘present’ or ‘now’ occurs to you, trace your thinking back to its root where it comes from. As mentioned earlier, everything is from the same root. Once reaching there, you will realise not just that you are the root itself but also that everything including present, past and future is nothing but an illusion created in and by you, the root. Then you will perceive that you are eternity itself. That is to live now all the time.
How can I live now?
Get out of now.
How can I get out of it?
Take a close look at its root.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Who could say, “No”? However, the fact is that no one knows how long it will take. Be determined but don’t be impatient. Impatience can cause attachment, which can raise side effects. The harder you try to reach it, when you are impatient, the farther you can get away from it. Watering a flowering plant twice as much as usual doesn’t make it grow and bloom twice as fast as usual; rather it can damage its root. Likewise, a hen, however hard it incubates its eggs, can’t shorten the period of incubation and move the hatching time a few days forward. You should be patient enough to wait for the time to grow ripe. If you get lost in your practice, you will reach the stage where you become indifferent even to the final goal. That is a sign of your being close to the final goal.
If you tune the string of a violin too loosely, it doesn’t make a sound.
If you tune it too tightly, it breaks.
Only when you tune it properly does it make a beautiful sound.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Enlightenment.
Commentary:
Master gave food that was too rich.
It is impossible to swallow or spit it out.
Don’t say that your master said ‘enlightenment’.
You will be laughed at by others.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Zen Fools 