I have compiled answers to the questions I have received so far. For future questions, I will compile and answer in a blog.
Question: How does awareness of the true self come about?
Answer: Not only in Zen but also when you are meditating, taking a break, watching the sunset, or in any other state of unconsciousness. In such a situation, if we have doubts about what we really are, suddenly, we may have an opportunity to realize it.
Some examples are as follows.
When a monk was sweeping the garden, he hit a stone and struck a nearby bamboo with a “kahn” sound. At that moment, the monk realized he had become one with the sound.
Jiun Kubota Roshi said that when he was in London and heard the subway coming, he suddenly lost his awareness of himself and became one with the sound.
My aunt told me that during Sessin, she suddenly lost her awareness of herself for a short period of time and then found herself shedding tears with bliss on the lap of her woman Zen master.
When concentrating on emptiness during Zen, I suddenly felt that my consciousness was not trapped in my physical body but was watching my body, and I realized that I was something much bigger.
A Western brain neuroscientist wrote in her book “My Stroke of Insight” that when her left brain, which controls the ego, ceased to function due to intracerebral hemorrhage, the right brain took over, the ego disappeared, and she experienced a sense of oneness with everything.
From the above, we can say that the true self is experienced not only in Zen but also when the ego is completely destroyed.
Question: Why is it said that this world is a dream-like illusory world created by consciousness?
Answer: When you are actually dreaming, you feel everything is real. Therefore, you cannot feel that it is a dream. Only when you wake up from the dream, you realize that it was a dream without substance. In the same way, this world we are in now is a world without substance, like a dream, although we feel it is real and has substance. The world of the soul after death and the world of reincarnation are likewise insubstantial and illusory. During regression hypnosis, while lying on the couch, you can vividly experience past lives as if they were real. The joys and sorrows, the farm and the sheep, the pain and the cold are all real experiences. However, when the regression hypnosis is over, you realize there is nothing in the world but an illusion. These are what make us feel that this world is an illusion.
Question: If this world is dreamlike and insubstantial, is it not acceptable to ignore human suffering?
Answer: In this dream-visionary world, the consequences of our actions will appear correctly. If you are kind to others, they will be kind to you. If you cause others to suffer, you will also suffer. There are no exceptions. The results of your actions will only appear correctly. This is because this world is empty and has no bias. It is a world of pure cause and effect. If there is a connection, the result will only be in accordance with that connection.
Even though it is a world of dreams and illusions, it is felt as reality by the physical consciousness, so we must not live a life of laxity.
In these processes, you (your consciousness, your soul) grow by experiencing immediate and present emotions such as joy and sadness.
If you make others suffer, you will also experience suffering. Through these ordeals, you learn love experientially!
Question: I am you, you are me, they say. What is the reason for this?
Answer: We live in this world as self-aware(ego-conscious) beings in order to experience the essence of self. For this reason, we recognize you and I as separate entities. I am I, and you are you, not me. It is because this dualistic world is necessary to experience the self.
However, if we are so fixated on the ego that we forget the true nature of the self and act selfishly, causality will lead us to a life full of ordeals and tribulations. It is desirable to live a life of gratitude and altruism even if we are conscious of the ego.
When we experience realization, we experience that the ego-consciousness disappears and the distinction between self and others disappears. At that time, I am you, and you are me. All is I. This is the true self.
Question: It is said that everything is perfect in the phenomenal world, but is it also perfect to experience war and disaster?
Answer: The phenomenal world is a world created for the soul to experience love, which is the essence of the Self. To experience love deeply in this world, one must also experience all the emotions that are the opposite of love. It is not possible to experience love when the love is surrounded by only love. By experiencing insecurity, cruelty, hatred, fear, hunger, etc., we can feel love more deeply.
Poverty, disaster, and war are environments created for this purpose. By these ordeals, we come to know our true nature through experience. In this sense, everything is as it should be; everything is perfect.
Question: How should we respond to the challenges we encounter in the phenomenal world (in this life)?
Answer: Events in the phenomenal world occur as a result of our plans in the soul world and our thoughts, actions, and words in the phenomenal world. It is a process of experiential learning and growth of one’s true nature.
The ordeal we are experiencing now cannot be changed, even if it is severe and painful. It cannot be changed whether we cry, scream, or laugh. However, we are free to choose how we look at and feel about these ordeals. If we see the ordeal as an opportunity to learn and act for the benefit of others with gratitude, it will bring us happiness. On the other hand, if we view them negatively, we will become angry with others and invite more ordeals. Therefore, when we encounter ordeals, it is best to face them head-on, suppress our ego, and respond best to the situation around us. Ordeals will continue until we realize our problems and experience true love. Everything, including ordeals, happens for the sake of our own growth. It is also important to be grateful to those around us, considering them as collaborators for our growth to live a happy life blessed with good relationships.
Question: If human nature is love, why do some people have bad intentions?
Answer: The phenomenal world is born according to what is planned in the soul world. Everything happens there according to the plan, including ordeals, for the soul’s growth. The green world, the war-torn world, the caring world, and the not-so-caring world all appear according to this purpose. We cannot change what happens there. They occur as they are meant to happen, according to the soul’s plan and the cause and effect of this life. In contrast, human beings live in this world by responding with their free will. By suppressing the ego and reacting accordingly, the soul proceeds on its journey of experience and learning according to its plan. However, there are times when we forget our true nature and act selfishly, driven by our ego. Selfish actions cause hurt and suffering to others. As a result, we will face a severe ordeal. By overcoming these ordeals, the soul learns and grows. There are twists and turns, but this is how the soul grows. The journey of growth continues according to the results of one’s free will and choices.
Question: What does it mean to live a life with a suppressed ego?
Answer: It is to be unselfish, strict with oneself, tolerant of others, and grateful to serve others. A simple slogan: “Love All, Serve All.
Even if we encounter misfortune, we will be happy if we reflect on its cause, consider it an opportunity for growth, and accept it positively. This world is like a mirror. Your happiness and unhappiness in the phenomenal world are all caused by your thoughts, actions, and words; you deserve what you get. Your future happiness or unhappiness is also up to you. When you encounter ordeals, it is up to you whether you suppress your ego and act for the benefit of others or whether you become selfish and criticize and attack others. The act of making others happy makes you happy. On the other hand, selfish acts make you unhappy. This goes against what you have planned in the soul’s world, forgetting your true nature and going astray.
Question: It is said that death is according to one’s own will, but if one’s spouse died of his own will, leaving behind a wife and children, he is totally irresponsible.
Answer: In life, you will face death not once but several times. It happens in a short period of time, and you may not even realize it. When you leave your body, you will be able to review your life in the afterlife realm and decide whether you should continue to die or return.
If you feel that you still have unfinished business, there you will return to the body in which you faced death. When this happens, in the eyes of those around you, they feel you have regained consciousness. If, as a result of reflecting on your life, you believe that you have completed everything, your consciousness(soul) does not return to the physical body but continues on to the afterlife (the realm without physical consciousness, the world of the soul). This decision is not made from a state of mind trapped in the physical body but from a position of freedom and magnanimity, free from physical consciousness. For this reason, it is sometimes called “God’s will.
The soul that leaves behind a wife and children review from a much greater standpoint, one that is not trapped by the ego, that is, from the standpoint of the true self, cosmic consciousness, or even God.
This is completely unimaginable to those of us whose consciousness is trapped in the body.
My father was drafted into the war and died in Manchuria. I asked myself many times if it was my father’s will to leave my mother and us young children. Now that I think about it, I have come to believe that it was the plan of my father’s soul as well as mine in the soul world. I am convinced that by overcoming the ordeal of my father’s absence, I was able to gain the blessed life I have today and have the opportunity to further awaken to my true self.
Question: You say that the world I see is an illusionary world without substance. Is it true, then, that you in front of me are also an illusion without substance?
Answer: That is correct. I am a phenomenon that appeared according to your plan in your lifetime and does not actually exist in your world. Only your consciousness creates your world. I believe this is what the Buddha meant when he proclaimed, “In heaven and under heaven, I am the only one.”
Likewise, in my world, you do not exist either. For me, you are an illusion that has appeared in my life for my growth.
Question: Explain the state of consciousness of the Self.
Answer: Consciousness has infinite capability, so when I express it in words, it becomes conceptualized and cannot be explained properly.
However, in this document, for the sake of conveying the extent of what I know, I have divided consciousness into several states for the sake of convenience, as follows
(1) A state in which there is no distinction between self and others, and in which one is not conscious of others or even of oneself. (The world of nothingness.)
(2) A state in which one is aware of others, but has no physical consciousness; therefore, consciousness is not trapped in the body. (The world of after death, the world of the soul)
(3) A state in which one is not only conscious of oneself and others but also conscious of one’s own body, trapped in the body. (The world of this life, the phenomenal world)
Question: I hear that physicists have published similar views on the facts of this phenomenal world. I would like to know their summary.
Answer: Our world is an illusory world, like a dream. There, only our consciousness is real, and the rest is illusory and unreal. Physicists have discovered a similar fact in the process of studying relativity and quantum theories.
Matter is composed of atoms, which in turn are composed of subatomic particles. Subatomic particles have both particle and wave properties. Normally, they exhibit wave properties and cannot be seen. However, when we try to observe them, they exhibit particle properties and can be observed.
In short, matter can be understood to appear because it is observed. Physicists call this view the Copenhagen interpretation. From this observation problem, a further many-worlds interpretation was born. According to this, all possibilities are said to exist in the present moment. We are only experiencing one of them.
The atoms that makeup matter are composed of a nucleus and the electrons that surround it. The distance between the nucleus and the electrons surrounding it (the probable electron position) is about 100,000 times the diameter of the nucleus. In between is empty space. In short, it is known that matter in the phenomenal world is physically almost empty.
In addition, quantum mechanics shows that there is no continuous time or space, but only instantaneous, momentary, and discrete existence. In short, we understand that there is only this moment and this place.