One day in a hot summer, Zen Master Man Gong was eating watermelon with his students under a tree at Po Dok Sah Temple.
At that time they heard the singing sounds of lots of cicadas from all ten directions’ forests.
Zen Master Man Gong said, “You all hear those cicadas‘ sounds. If you can bring me the sound of a cicada, this watermelon is free, but if you cannot, you must pay for it.“
All students became difficult, because they had no money with them.
Then one of them abruptly stood up and made the sound of a cicada with his mouth. Master said, “No, you must pay for it.”
One again made a circle on the ground and, sitting in the center, said, “In form no Buddha, in Buddha no form.”
Another monk pretended with his hands to fly like a cicada. Many of them gave different answers, but Zen Master Man Gong said, “No, you should pay for it.”
Finally, Bo Wol Snim gave a correct answer. Man Gong smiled and said, “You understand my mind.”

If you had been there, what would you have replied?
What was Bo Wol Snim’s answer?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

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The essence of life

What is the essence of our lives? The essence of our human lives is our mind. But what is the "mind"? Where is this “mind”?

Some people might answer: “My mind is here.” If so, would something that we see over there not be our mind?
Others might say: “My mind is just now.” Only now? Are past and future not our mind?
Because we do not know our mind we cannot truly come to rest. We might look in the outer world for a sense in life, but the things we stick to on this search are all impermanent. They cannot provide us enduring / lasting satisfaction.

As a consequence, of all things just those we rely on become new sources of suffering. And as we look for other things to replace the former one’s, we simply start to wander around on our search for security.
Thereby we cannot prevent us from having fits of uncertainty, anxiety and pain. We suffer and have lost ourselves.

Where does the suffering in our life stem from? Does it really come from outside?
Buddha said: “All suffering originates from our selves, from our mind.” As long as we cannot control our mind, we inevitably and permanently produce new suffering. But how could we control our mind? First of all we need to see our mind.

Instead of following our sensual perceptions continuously, we should hold on to the one that gives rise to these sensual perceptions.

Who is it who sees, smells, tastes, feels and thinks?
In other words: “Who am I actually?”
Keep asking you this question constantly.

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Liberation from life and death

The most terrible thing in our life is death. Therefore, the most urgent task of Zen-practitioners is to liberate themselves from life and death.

About 2500 years ago, a prince called Siddharta Gotama left his royal home to dedicate himself entirely to the search of the highest truth. At the age of 35, the moment he caught sight of the morning star, he became enlightened and announced:
“It is wonderful that all beings bear the Buddha nature within them. [But] Only because they hold on to their illusions, they are unable to realize this [fact].”
The great enlightenment is nothing but the liberation from all illusions, the liberation from life and death. To get to this, there is no other way than seeing oneself, seeing one´ s true nature.

What is it that knows that it is alive? What is it that knows that it must die?

The liberation from life and death is nothing one could carry out “some other day”.
When, but just now, would you want to realize it?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

There is one thing here

One day the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng said,

“Here is one thing.
This has no top nor bottom,
no name and no form.
Its brightness is that of the sun,
Its darkness is that of pitch-black.
Ever residing in the midst of movement,
what would you call it.....?”

Honourable practitioners, please bring me your answer on a forementioned question!
The way of Buddhism does not lie in refinement of thought.
Life and Death travel so fast that there is no time to be lost in contemplation.
If you cling to your own thinking, you will not be free even before a single leaf of grass.
Continuously attracted by the objective world, you will lose your mind even when looking at the skirt of the stone Girl.

That mountain has never said, “ I am a mountain.”
The water also does not say, “ I am water.”

Sky, earth, Buddha, God ... What is the true master that calls these ?

Where does it come from? WHAT IS THIS… ?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Good Snowflakes of Layman Pang

When Layman Pang (Kor. Bang Geo Sa) took leave of Zen Master Yak Shan, Shan ordered ten zen-monks to escort him to the gate of mountains.

The snow was coming down in large flakes while their going down from the mountains, and the whole mountains were covered with white large snow-flakes.

The Layman then pointed to the snow in the air and said,

“Oh,good! ... flakes, flakes of snow, even a flake does not fall in any other place.”

At that time one of the zen-monks named Jeon (Chin. Chuan), hearing upon his saying, asked,

“Then where do they fall?”

At once, the Layman once slapped him in the face.

Jeon said, “Even a layman should not be so coarse!”

The Layman said,

“Though you call yourself a zen-monk this way,
the King of Death still will not let you go.”

Jeon said, “Then, how about you, Layman?”

The Layman again slapped him and said,

“Your eyes see like a blind man,
your mouth speaks like a mute.”

Later on, Zen Master Seol Du (Chin. Hsueh Tou) said,

“When the Layman first was asked,
he would have made a big snow ball and hit the monk with it.”

I want to ask you all: If you were the Layman Pang, how could you answer to the monk‘s question, “Where do snow flakes fall?”

You say, “Just in front of my eyes, or on the whole mountains” ...?

No, no. Such an answer can be given even by a blind man. Then how would you answer?

[Comment]

The ten thousand dharmas return to one. You should know right this one. And yet if you search separately for the one, it will at once disappear. Then how? First of all, put it all down, and silently behold where all snow flakes vanish and die away.

Zen Master Seol Du commented: The Layman Pang should have made a snow-ball and hit the monk.

But my opinion is different.

And why?  Because the Venerable Master should be too merciful.

If I had been the Pang, and I had been asked like that, I would have first asked “What is the very one searching for the place of all snow-flakes falling.” Nevertheless, if he had still not seen right the very place, then I would have belabored him with a big stick.

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Is Mountain moving or Boat moving?

Zen Master Man Gong once was taking a boat ride to An Myon Do Island together with his several students.

On the way, pointing to a mountain Zen Master asked his students.
“Is it the mountain or this boat that is now moving?”
All students were embarrassed at their master’s sudden question.

At that time Hae Am stepped forward and replied, “Neither the mountain is moving, nor is the boat moving.”

“Then what is moving?” asked Man Gong.

Hae Am answered, “Mind is it that moves.”

“How can you prove that?”, asked Man Gong.

Hae Am then picked up a handkerchief from his pocket and showed waving it.

Man Gong watched such a scene of Hae Am’s answering, and asked in a satisfactory manner,
“When did your housekeeping (practice) become like that?”

Hae Am replied, “It’s been long time.”

After Zen Master Seong Do finished the story, and hit the dharmastick on the table, he asked,
“Do you understand the meaning of waving his handkerchief of Hae Am ?”
“Then, what is your mind, and how can you escape of all adversities of your life in this samsara?”

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Cutting the cat into pieces of
Zen Master Nam Cheon

At monastery of Zen Master Nam Cheon one day the monks of the eastern and western halls were arguing because of the ownership of a cat, "The monks of the estern hall say that this is our cat, but the westen monks say that no, this cat is ours, not yours". When Nam Cheon saw this, he at once held up the cat and said, "If you have attained the path, give me a word. Then I will not kill it. No one in the communiy replied, so Nam Cheon cut the cat into two pieces.

I want to ask you, "If you were in that community, how could you save the cat alive?"

Comment : The dance of Nam Cheons catching a cat in one hand and holding a sharp sword in the other hand can not be free from scornful smile of Mahakasyapa

Zen Master Nam Cheon narrated the preceding story to question Jo-Ju, when he came back from his works in the evening. Jo-Ju immediately took off his straw sandals, put them on his head, and left.

Nam Cheon said, "If you had been here, you could have saved the cat".

I want to ask you again, "As soon as Jo-Ju heard his teacher story of Nam Cheon , why did he leave having put his straw sandals on his head?" How could this act of Jo-Ju save the cat alive....?

Comment : The straw sandals are shoes which are put on feet of one Nevertheless, why did Jo-Ju put them on his head?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Smile of Mahakasyapa

When Shakyamuni Buddha was teaching the Sad-Dharma-Pundharika-Sutra (The Lotus-Sutra) at mountain Grdhrakuta, he once ascended up the high rostrum and kept silence without teaching.

The mass of people was very much wondered. One minute passed, two minutes passed, three, and four minutes passed. Finally he held up a flower without speech, and showed it to the public. No one in the masses, however, understood, and all was perplexed. Just at that time, Mahakasyapa who sat far behind them was silently smiling.

The Buddha at once found smile of Kasyapa and said: “I have treasury of the eye of the authentic Dharma, the ineffable mind of nirvana, and the reality without form. I have entrusted it all to Mahakasyapa.”

So Mahakasyapa became the first patriarch since the Buddha had attained enlightenment.

Then, since then, “Why Kasyapa smiled?” became a great question through practitioners. That is “What does it mean that Kasyapa smiled?”

Eventually, an eminent teacher said, smile of the Kasyapa under holding a flower of Buddha was a scornful smile i.e. the smile of Kasyapa was a kind of laughing at about holding a flower of Buddha .

Now, I want to ask you: Why did Kasyapa give a scornful smile to Buddha? Because of what?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

„Up a Tree” of Zen Master Hyang Eom

Zen Master Hyang Eom once stepped on the platform for his dharma speech and said, "What is this........? This one is a matter of great significance in human life.

It is like a man hanging down by his teeth from a branch high up in a big tree. His two hands and feet are fast tied, and cannot touch the tree. At that time, a judge standing under the tree asks him, "Why did Bodhidharma come to China?"

If he opens his mouth to answer, he will lose his life. However, if he does not give his answer, he will be killed by the crime of evading his duty.

You are, as it were, hanging down from the tree. How can you stay alive? Give me a word."

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

The Empty Hand

One day a monk named Eom Yang visited Zen Master Joju and said, "I have been here empty handed."

Zen Master Joju said, "Put it down."

The monk asked, "I already told you that I had come empty handed. Then what thing should I put down?"

Zen Master Joju said, " If you do not want to put it down, take it and go back."

I want to ask you all, "If you were the monk, what should you put down?"

Commentary : Whosoever always wanders from place to place with something unnecessary like the monk, but he does not realize it. How poor and deluded! Watch your hand! What thing do you carry in your hand? However, even if you have anything in your hand, it does not matter.

What asking of Zen Master Joju is not such a thing. Then what? Hurry give me a word!

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

A true sentence

1. Under the sea runs a mud cow, eating the moon in her mouth.

2. In front of a rock sleeps a stone tiger, holding a baby in his paws.

3. The steel snake drills into the eye of the diamond.

4. An elephant carrying the Konlyun Mount on his back is pulled by a little bird.

One of the above sentences is a truth that can give or take life.
Please, give me a word!

Ven. Zen Master Y. S. Seong Do

Just like this is Buddha

Clearly shines the divine light.
The six roots and dusts disappear.
The body always shows itself truely.
It is inexpressible in words.
The true nature cannot be tainted.
It is perfect in its original state of being.
To cut off an illusion, it is just Buddha.

* The word „Buddha“ in the last line of the above sentences is not compatible with the meaning of this stanza. How could it be " Buddha " to remove illusion?

Please find a different, more fitting term for the word „Buddha“.

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

What is it being neither the spoken nor the unspoken?

Here is an interesting story about Zen.

A seeker of the out way asked the Buddha, "I do not ask about the spoken or the unspoken. What about this?"
The Buddha remained silent.
The outsider admired and said, "Great kindness of the Buddha and great compassion have opened up my clouds of illusion and let me gain the way".
After the outsider had left, Ananda asked the Buddha, "What did the outsider realize, that he said he had gained the way?"
The Buddha said, "Like a good horse, he runs as soon as he sees the shadow of the whip".

Commentary of Zen-Master
Remaining Buddha silent mercifully awakens him to "what is it making the spoken and the unspoken, and being attached to them?".
Then what did the outside-seeker attain about silence of Buddha ?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Three-three in front, three-three behind
(A dialogue between Manjusri and U-Tscho)

A long time ago, in China, there lived a monk called U-tscho (Chin.: Wu Cho; Kor.: Mu-tschak Mun Hee). One day he got on the way to the monastery of Manjusri to meet the great Boddhisattva Manjusri himself through practicing intensively. On the way, an old man with an oxen cart came walking up.

The old man asked U-tscho: “Where do you come from?”

U-tscho answered: “I come from the south.”

Then the old man said: “From the south? How is the Buddha-Dharma carried on in the south? ”

U-tscho replied: “As the end of the Dharma is approaching, only a few monks keep the precepts.”

The old man continued asking: “How many do gather?”

U-tscho said: “Three to five hundred.”

Then, it was U-tscho turn to ask: “How is the Buddha-Dharma carried on hereabouts?”

The old man answered: “Common people and sages live side by side: snakes and dragons intermingle.”

U-tscho asked: “How many do gather?"

The old man replied: “Three-three in front, three-three behind.”

At this point, the conversation was finished. U-tscho continued his journey and kept thinking about the old man´s last answer. What was it supposed to signify?
He started wondering who this old man might have been. But when he turned around to look for him, the old man and his oxen cart had already disappeared. Suddenly U-tscho realised that the old man had to have been the Bodhisattva Manjusri. U-tscho went back home and practiced with the Koan “Three-three in front, three-three behind” and attained enlightenment.
He became an eminent Zen-master.

Comment:
Here we have a very interesting dialogue. While U-tscho, through his questions and answers, is attached to forms and appearances, the old man expresses himself with spiritual terms. Just now, where are you? If you replied “I am here”, your answer would be at level of U-tscho. How would you answer if you were the old man?

What does the answer of old man “Three-three in front, three-three behind” signify?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

What is a real treasure-house?

When a student Dae-ju first visited Zen-Master Ma-jo, the Master asked him, “What do you want from me?”

Dae-ju said, “I want you to teach me the dharma of Buddha”.

What a fool you are!” said Ma-jo. “You already have the greatest Jewel in the world, and yet you go around asking other people for help. I have nothing to teach you separately.”

Dae-ju bowed again and asked, “Master, would you please tell me what the treasure is?”

Ma-jo said, “Where does your question come from? What is it that you are asking me at this very moment? It is just the treasure you have. Everything is stored in that treasure-house. You are the very master of the whole universe. Because of that, you can use everything freely as you wish. But you have always given up your owns and sought for it outward.”

Do you understand what a real treasure-house is?

If you give an answer, I hit you thirty times.
Even though you do not give an answer, I hit you thirty times, too. And why?

Then, how could you be free from my thirty blows?

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

Three Barrier Gates of Gongan

A practitioner cultivates Buddhas Dharma to see the Buddha nature and to escape from sufferings of life and death.

Long ago in China, Zen Master Do Sol Snim always offered the koan, called “the three barrier gates”, to seekers of the way;

Giving up all worldly affairs, to sit and practice Zen is to see his true nature. Then, where is your true nature ?

To have seen your own nature, you must be free from life and death. Then, when the glitter of your eyes falls on the ground, how can you be free from your life and death ?

To have escaped from life and death, you must undertand where you will go. Then, when your four-elements disperse away, where will you go ?

All learned audience, if you have attained anything through the questions of the above three barrier gates, please bring a word here.

Comment: If you do not attain your answer, you will go to the hell, but even though you offer a correct answer, you will dirctly go to the hell. And why?
If you want to know why, look up that blue sky ............

The sky has never said even a word since the past without beginning. Understand? To move a bit, at once mistake.

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do

What is the Buddha-Dharma?

Once an Upasaka (a lay man) visited Zen Master Hyang Bong and said, „Master, I want to attain the Buddha-Dharma from you. Would you please teach me the Dharma?“

Zen Master Hyang-Bong said, “I am sorry, but my Dharma is very expensive.”

“Expensive?” “How much does it cost?” ........

“How much can you pay?”

The Upasaka put his hand into his pocket and took out some coins. “These are all I have.”

Zen Master Hyang-Bong said, “Even if you proffered me a lump of gold as big as a mountain, my Dharma is far more expensive than it.”

So the Upasaka was obliged to leave for the practice of Zen. After a few months of hard training, he returned to Zen Master and said, “I came to understand that the Dharma is very, very important to me. So I will do anything for the Dharma. I will sacrifice even my life for you. Please teach me the Dharma.”

Hyang-Bong said, “Even if you proffered me a thousand life-spans, my Dharma is far more expensive than them.”

The practitioner was very depressed and went away again.

After several months of more intensive training, he returned and said, “Now, I thoroughly understand that everything is my mind. Therefore, I will give you my mind for the Dharma. Would you teach me now?”

Hyang-Bong said, “Your mind? Your mind is a trifling thinking-garbage. Such a thing is useless to me. And even if you proffered me ten thousand minds, my dharma is far more expensive than them.”

Again the Upasaka left to do harder training. After some years he finally came to understand that the whole universe was empty. So he came back to the Master and said, “Now I understand how expensive your Dharma is.”

“So? Then, do you think how expensive my Dharma is?”, asked Hyang-Bong.

The Upasaka did Hal, shouting “Ak!!!”

Hyang-Bong said, “No, no it’s more expensive than that.”

This time, when he left, he was really confused and in deep despair.

He firmly determined not to see the Master again until he would have attained the supreme enlightenment.

Eventually, that day came, and he revisited, and said, “Master, now I truly succeeded.”

“Then, bring me a word.”, said Hyang-Bong.

“The sky is blue, the grass is green. The mountain is mountain. The water is water.”, replied the Upasaka.

“No, no no”, “ my Dharma is even more expensive than that.”, said Hyang-Bong.

But at this time, the Upasaka in the end was so angry. “I have already understood. I don’t need your Dharma any more. You can take it and shove it up your ass.”

Upon hearing his furious answer Hyang-Bong laughed loudly. But that made the student even more furious. He wheeled around the room and was fuming so much. And the moment when he was about going out the door, Hyang-Bong called out him, “Wait a minute!”

The Upasaka turned his head and looked at the Master.

“Don’t lose my Dharma.”, said Hyang-Bong.

The moment hearing this words, he at once attained enlightenment.

Now, all learned audience, “What is the authentic Dharma?”

Comment:
The heaven is not the heaven, earth is not earth. Where do the heaven and earth oiginated from?

If you would clearly understand this, the heaven comes to be the heaven, and earth would be earth. ...... The Dharma, Dharma and Dharma is the no-Dharma. The no-Dharma is the Dharma. Where does all the Dharma issue from?

- “Ak!”

Ven. Zen Master Young San Seong Do