madoka

By Jisho (Kenichi) Matsumoto (Translated by Madoka) Let’s look at the moment of satori, which has remained unchanged from ancient times to the present. Because “Satori = Truth,” one person’s satori cannot be greater or lesser than another’s. Satori is when what is real reveals itself as itself—the real thing itself. For this reason, proper Zen teachings always point to the real thing itself. And how has the real thing itself been pointed out? Here are some examples: The Buddha held up a flower and twirled it. Master Gutei showed what is real by holding up one finger in response ...

The character 空 is pronounced kū. It is often translated as “emptiness” in English, which means the state of being empty, or there being nothing. But giving such an interpretation to kū misses what the word is meant to point to. To explain, it is important to recognize that language (i.e., concepts) functions in a way that makes it feel like the content of concepts actually exists. In this case, as if there is such a thing as emptiness. Though “empty,” language makes “emptiness” into something. It is the same with mu (“nothingness”).  A conceptual understanding makes nothingness—which is supposed to be nothing—into something called “nothingness.” ...