Transcending The Ocean Of Suffering — Kwan Um School of Zen

Our mind is always making something, and then we enter the ocean of suffering. So we want to go back to the shore. However, even if our direction is OK, we still have a problem. We make “I,” and as a result, we perceive the ocean as suffering. Within this I-view, we cannot see clearly and we think that the other shore is far away. Then it is impossible to see that the way out of suffering is nearby.

No matter how much effort we put forth, we cannot reach the other shore. Only when our wisdom sword cuts through the wall of I-my-me, then the sandbank appears clearly. This “I” is created by our thinking. So, only cut off your thinking and return to before thinking. Then you can see clearly and walk the bodhisattva path on the sandbar, transcending the ocean of suffering.

Check out a clip from the Kwan Um Zen Online Study Group, Emptiness Implies Interconnectedness