So last Thursday, I presented Mr. Newman's corn. I'll read it again. In order to get started, the main subject, Mr. Youngman said to the assembled monks between heaven and earth within the universe, there is one. That's a good one, too. Devadasi Nirmala spoke to his assembly and said, everyone has their own light.

[01:18]

If you try to see it, everything is in darkness. When is everyone's light? Later, in place of his disciples, he said, the halls and the gate. Temple storeroom, temple gate. And again he said, it may be better to say nothing than to say something good. Or, it may be better to say something, not to say something, even if it's a good word. Or something like that. So, various translations. So, I'm asking, this question is, what is everybody's life? Mastodon was inspired by this koan and he wrote a classical called Komiya, which is variously translated as divine light, radiant light, brightness.

[02:42]

Don't. The translator here is the term. Divine light. And the show. And you should see the show. Yeah. You know, I get it mixed up. Each one of them wrote a translation. Anishinaabemowin. So that's an issue. You may call it brightness. Other people call it rain. I think clearly translates it as rain. I like this translation because it's fairly simple and maybe not as accurate. You know, technically, that's how you call the divide line. But I like the use of it as the essence.

[03:57]

It refers to the essence, whatever that is. If you want to think of it as a divinity, you're welcome. You can think of it in any way you want. But in this text, it's better not to try to pin it down. I think like, you know what it is. I don't know what it is, but when we try to, as Mr. Inman says, you already know what it is, but when you try to define it or pin it down, it eludes you. It's dim and dark. But darkness is also the light. So this koan may not be as simple as it looks. So as I talked about last time, Vairocana, of course in the Buddhist pantheon, Vairocana is at the center of the mandala.

[05:21]

And everything radiates From China. I like to think of China sitting in the center of the universe reading light and. And so, as I said before, in esoteric Buddhism, Vajrachana plays a very central role as the primal Buddha manifestation of the primal, as a primal Buddha. And does that teaches?

[06:27]

I'm often referred to by Rochona when they want to make this point. Don't you talk about my return and many of his best. Sitting in that tape, plucking out the eye of my Rochona and sitting and sitting there means enlightenment, great enlightenment, plucking out the eye of my Rochona and sitting there in that. dharma transmission ceremony, there is a time when the person who is the teacher says, I am now Marochana Buddha, sitting on the lotus throne of a thousand petals. So this is actually a part of Soto Zen transmission. Take a case on Zingy, who was the third ancestor, third or fourth ancestor, who actually developed the school after Dogen's book, The Transmission of Light, which is a characterization, a mythical characterization of many of the Indian ancestors.

[07:59]

And Chinese ancestors and Japanese ancestors. It would be interesting to study that. Yes. Makes each one of those short biographies a call. And so, of course, Zodiac was inspired by humans. Go on. And so he wrote this call your call your means divine light or radiant light. It also means can mean glorious light. So, this is rather small print, so I have to lean forward. So, in his opening statement, Dōgen says, Great Master Chōsa Shōken, from Konan in the Sōgun dynasty, once told his followers, the entire world is reflected in the eye of a monk.

[09:17]

The entire world is contained in everyday conversation. The entire world is throughout your body. The entire world is your own divine light. The entire world is within your divine light, and the entire world is inseparable from yourself. So, that's Doge's opening statement, and the rest is commentary. I'll read that again. Chandra doesn't seem to have, nobody seems to know his exact dates. Sometimes Doge will quote from some obscure Zen master to get his point. The great master Chosa Shokan, In Kona, this is Japanese name of the Sun Dynasty.

[10:21]

Once told his followers, the entire world is reflected in the eye of a monk. There's a. I don't know if this is the same story, but it's just someone once said the entire, entire world, the entire world is reflected in the eye of a monk. The entire world is the eye of a monk. Where will you defecate? That's koan. The entire world is the eye of a monk. Where will you be? The entire world is contained in everyday conversation.

[11:23]

So that's another koan. The entire world is contained in everyday conversation. The entire world is throughout your body. The entire world is your own divine life. The entire world is within you, your divine light. And the entire world is inseparable from yourself. Akade Giriroshi one time was talking about, I don't remember, he was talking about birds of death, I think, Shoji, and he said, the bodhisattva's halo is the entire universe. And I think this is close to what Dogen is talking about, that the entire world is yourself, the entire universe is yourself, the entire world is Bhairavachana's light, the entire world is your light, and your light is your light.

[12:37]

Andrea wrote me a book called And Then There Was Light. I don't know if some of you may have read that book. It's a book about I can't remember his name. Yeah. But when he was a French, a Frenchman who was the leader of the resistance in France during the Second World War, when he was eight, he became blind. And when he became blind at first, you know, it was like he couldn't see. But he talks about how he was filled with light. When he became blind, he became filled with light. And he describes in pretty much exactly the same way.

[13:42]

I can't believe it, that his experience is just like this. And he talks about it so eloquently and matter-of-factly. And it's very compelling. So at some point, I'll read you some passages from that book, because it just keeps going on, and it keeps unfolding the Dharma. Pretty amazing. So then Dongen goes on and he says, everyone who is seeking the Buddha way should study diligently. This teaching, diligently, never becomes slack. If it do, there will be very few Zen students with the divine light of enlightenment. So, Dōgen equates this divine light with enlightenment. Enlightenment is light. And to be able to open up to this, to our original light,

[14:47]

dharma, the true dharma. Chinese Emperor Komyo, Komyo means Divine Light, there was an emperor named that. Chinese Emperor Komyo of Gokan was the fourth child of Emperor Kobu. You have to kind of bear with me because he gave me this kind of lineage of emperors and their children. Chinese Emperor Kobyo Gokan was the fourth child of Emperor Kobu, and his era was called the Temp'ehe, A.D. 51. Now it's interesting that Dogen named his temple Ehe, which is something like heavenly peace. During the reign, his reign, Buddhism was first transmitted to China by Maitreya and Jigme Khoran. This emperor held many discussions with the Taoists, often sitting in front of a table stacked with a huge amount of Indian scriptures, and finally converted them by his superior arguments.

[15:59]

Well, there's a little story that takes this a little further. In those days, they had fires. They would, in the courtyard, they would have a fire burning here and a fire burning there in the urn. And when there was a dispute as to whose scriptures were the true scriptures, they would burn, But I don't know. So apparently the Buddhist scriptures didn't burn. Of course, this is a fairytale. But this is mythology.

[17:05]

So later. Yes. So later on, in the reign of Buddha during the first Futsu era, The first Chinese patriarch, Bodhidharma, came alone from India to Koshu in the southern part of China. That was in 520. He was the 28th Dharma heir of Shakyamuni and brought the right transmission of Buddha's law. He stayed at Shoshitsuho Shorinji Monastery on Mount Suzan. Later on, he transmitted the Dharma to the second ancestor, Taiso Eka. So, Bodhidharma comes to China and transmits the Dharma to Eka. The divine light of Buddha's teaching has been handed down continuously by each successive ancestor. Before Bodhidharma's time, the divine light of Buddha was not seen or heard in China. No one was able to perceive his own divine light.

[18:13]

Even though everyone inherently possesses divine light, no one can discover it by only using their own judgments. OK. Therefore, no one in China was able to clarify the form and original nature of divine life or experience of the virtues until Bodhidharma. They did not understand that divine light is the very essence. They thought that the divine light is completely separate from themselves. Their mind was clouded by this false idea of separation, and they could not perceive that everything is divine light. I'm going to, I believe, is talking about is that before Bodhidharma, although Buddhism had entered into China for actually just almost five centuries by the time Bodhidharma came, Bodhidharma was the ancestor who brought the Dharma that really awakens

[19:29]

Before that, it was mostly scholarly and people searching for it. So what he's alluding to is that voting on the process is not there to China. So people who think that they are separate from Divine Light also believe that Divine Light is red, white, blue, or yellow, similar to the light from a fire, or the reflected light of water, or the sparkle of gems or jewels, or the light of a dragon, or like sun and moonlight. So he's saying people

[20:42]

who don't realize, think that it's something outside of himself, like a deity. Sometimes you think of a deity as something outside of himself. So I think that one of the reasons why. And Ellen kind of reminded me of this. Why do you like the term divine instead of something else? And then he said that because, own divinity. I agree with that. That's why I like it. It's not from someplace else. It's not the source is not someplace else. So it's not like any particular color, some kind of. like the light of a firefly, or some light, something that is outside of yourself.

[21:48]

Sometimes a spiritualist sees certain kinds of lights, a blue light, or this kind of light, or that kind of light, and I kind of focus on that as something spiritual. Of course, red light, blue light, whatever, But it's not the source itself. So do not study under masters who teach only letters. Many teachers are like Shisha, who taught that divine light is like the light of a firefly, and did not emphasize that divine light should be studied through enlightenment. From the Han, Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties to the present time, Most people have thought like this. Even though you may study under a master with a famous name, you should not accept any distorted explanations.

[22:53]

The divine light of Buddha fills the entire universe. Everything is Buddha. Everything is the patriarchs. This is the transmission from Buddha to Buddha. The Buddhas and patriarchs constitute Through the practice and enlightenment of divine light, we can become a Buddha and do zazen as he did. Then we will be able to discover the actualization of enlightenment. There is a koan. Divine light illuminates the eastern world of 18,000 Buddhas. Here, east means the center of the universe. That is, ourselves. It does not mean direction as most people think. Several times. And it means it doesn't mean a direction as opposed to West or North or South. It's like the center of the universe.

[23:55]

Wherever that is, which is everywhere. There is an East in this world, in other worlds, even in East and East. 18,000 means that which in ourselves is beyond numbers. In other words, unlimited mind. It is not the 18,000 in mathematics. It has nothing to do with numbers like 20,000 or 80,000. The world of Buddhas means the land of enlightenment. It is within ourselves. There is no light beam that travels to the Eastern world. So, you know, in the platform, such as the sixth ancestor talks about pure land. And I think Doug is talking about this. There's no light being the coast 20,000 leagues away. Everything's right here. So when, you know, any Zen teacher talks about in this way, he's talking about this right here.

[25:06]

within you so manifesting this light is your essence our essence and it's the same essence in everyone this is how we're all connected you know each one of us So he said, the world of Buddha, the land of enlightenment, is within ourselves and there is no light beam that travels to the eastern world. In other words, it's not separate from ourselves. If you comprehend, the entire world is the East itself. The East itself is the entire world. you will have some idea how to understand the world.

[26:20]

It is nothing but the divine light of Buddha. The 10 quarters of the world are the same as the Buddha land of 18,000. So I just wonder if you have any questions or want to discuss so far. So it's almost mind blowing. to think that this word is, that we identify with a direction of the compass. in this context, in the context of China long ago, and maybe even China right now, because as I recall, in the Mao era, the national anthem was called the East is Red. And I think they're using the East the same way as

[27:21]

Yes. Oh, they're using it long ago. Could be. I mean, it's just, well, I don't know. They're distant from our understanding. I don't know. They use it. I think. Oh, OK. Oh, yes. That's it. That's another layer that we're a little bit more familiar. This is the dogmatic vision. Yeah. OK. Well, thank you. I'll be more. Yeah. He's also criticizing the people who think that the pure land in the West is, you know, 18,000. He calls it the East. Yes. So it's interesting that he calls it the East, the pure land. People call it the West. You're all the same. Yes. But in the same place. So then he introduces a new theme.

[28:23]

Not a new theme, but a new slant. He says, Emperor Kenshu of the Tang Dynasty was the father of two future emperors. He goes through this again. Bokushu and Senshu. And the grandfather of the future emperors, Keshu, Boshu, and Bushu. Yes. Once after he finished building a pagoda in his palace, he had a dedication service performed. Now, this is the story. It's going to use this as the story. He finished the palace and he's going to have a dedication for the palace. So during the ceremony, during the evening ceremony, he suddenly saw a brilliant light shining in the hall. He was overjoyed at the vision. And early next morning, he told his high officials about it.

[29:26]

They all thought it was a sign of a prosperous reign and congratulated him. It was an omen. They said it occurred because of the Emperor's virtue and noble spirits. However, there was one official, Nyubungko of Khans, and disciples who studied the Buddhist way, who did not congratulate the emperor. The emperor asked him, all the officials except you gave me some congratulations. What's the meaning, what's the reason for this? Nyubungko replied, once I read in the sutra that the light of Buddha was not red, blue, yellow, white, or any natural color. The light you saw was not the light of the Buddha. It was only the light of the dragon which protects you. Then the emperor asked him, well, what is the light of the Buddha? And Yubuko remained silent.

[30:30]

You have to remember, Dorgon wrote this in the 13th century. And we were getting some taste of that ancient time. So although you Bunko was a layperson, he had the right minded attitude for practice. We can imagine that he was a person of great power. Following his example, we should study the Buddhist way. If you do not study like this, your study will be in vain. Even though Emperor Bute explained the Hoko Hanya Sutra and was able to call down flowers from heaven, he did not have a proper mind for study and his efforts were useless. When ten stages and three wise people make nubukos, understanding their own,

[31:33]

The real nature of resolve, practice, and enlightenment manifests itself for the first time. So, resolve, practice, and enlightenment are the three aspects of Dogon's dharma. The three important aspects. I think that what he means by ten sages and three wise people, those are the emperor's retainers. However, Yuboko did not have a complete understanding of the sutras. He said that the divine light of Buddha was not blue, yellow, red, or white. What did he mean by that? It is not a natural light, of course, but what is it? Emperor Kenshu, if he had been like a real Buddha, an ancestor would have insisted that Yuboko answer his question. So he said he said when he woke up, said, I don't know.

[32:38]

So what do you mean? How come you're saying this? And kind of gotten into something with him. But he apparently didn't keep his head. He wanted to keep his head. I think that's a good answer. So, then Dogen talks about it himself. He says, divine light is found even in countless grasses. It is found everywhere. The harmonization of all the different functions of a plant, roots, stalk, branches, leaves, flowers, fruit, color, are expressed as divine light. Not only this world, but also in the other worlds of celestial beings, human beings, hell, demons, animals and asuras can divide like we see. If we understand the six worlds, right?

[33:40]

The circle of transmigration. And study shows us how to see if we can understand that. In other words, human beings, elves, demons, animals and Ashera's can divine light be seen. We understand divine light in mountains, rivers and land are secondary. That is, divine light is the most important thing. Study Chosha's saying in the sense that the entire world is suffused with our own divine light. The changing, I think he means the transformation. The transformation of life and death are the transformations of divine light. The change from ordinary person to saint is like the transformation of different colors in divine light.

[34:46]

To become a Buddha or ancestor is like the colors of black and yellow. Practice and enlightenment are one form of divine light. Grasses, trees, mud fence, skin, flesh, bones and marrow are colors of divine light. smoke, mist, water, stone, sky, flying birds, the way of enlightenment, all these are the changing form of divine light. To understand our divine light is to meet and experience the real Buddhas. The entire world is ourselves. We ourselves are the entire world. We cannot escape from this fact. Even if they say it's time for people to say we are the world.

[35:52]

When they say that, I thought, gee, so it's just like doing it. We cannot escape from this fact. Even if there is a place to escape, it can only be enlightenment. Our body is in the form of the entire world. Indeed, the way of enlightenment and practice of Buddhism can only be grasped by the realization that our skin, flesh, bones, and marrow contain the entire world. Master, Great Master Daijun Kyoshin Rinpoche, that's from whom this koan comes, was the thirty-ninth ancestor from Buddha. He received the Buddhist way from the great master Satpal Singaku. Although he began to study Buddhism when already quite old, he studied earnestly, and we can see that he was truly one of the great men of Buddhism.

[36:57]

He was the one who transmitted the Mount Uman school of teaching and was a shining example of their doctrine. Such an ancestor has never been seen before or since. So one day at the Dharma Hall, he asked the monks, divine light shines in everyone. But if we try to look for it, we can't find it. Where is everyone's divine light? No one answered. Let's go on, right? Then Uman said, in the monastery, in the Buddha Hall, in the administration building, and in the main gate. did not mean that Divine Light will come in the future, or was in the past, or can be produced by others. He meant that we ourselves possess Divine Light. Uman taught that the entire world is Uman. Uman did not explain Divine Light. Rather, each one's Divine Light explains itself. Divine Light shines in everyone.

[38:00]

The entire body of a person is Divine Light. Divine Light means people. Divine Light is both inside and outside of human beings. Divine Light is people. People are people. Divine Light is Divine Light, being is being. We can see now that Divine Light possesses everyone. Everyone possesses Divine Light within themselves. Everything about Divine Light is everything about ourselves. What did Uman mean by people and Divine Light? He asked, where is the Divine Light? This question surpasses any questions about divine light. He meant that people and divine light are inseparable. They form one body. The monks did not answer, but sometimes no answer is the correct answer. No answer is the eye and treasury of the true law and the serene mind of nirvana, transmitted from the correct teaching of Buddha. Udoma answered his own question. in the monastery, in the Buddha hall, in the administration building, and in the main gates.

[39:04]

Why did he answer like this? What he meant by these was very different from what monks and lay people think about them. Did he mean himself, or the six Buddhas who preceded Shakyamuni, or the twenty-eight Indian ancestors, or the six Chinese ancestors, or all the Zen masters of all ages and countries? Whatever he meant, it is nothing other than my life. His expression not only means people, but also divine light. After Uman's explanation of divine light, many different teachings arose, like, no Buddha in the Buddha hall. No Buddha hall. No Buddha. There is Buddha in divine light. Buddha does not have divine light. Divine light surpasses Buddha. Buddha is divine light, and so on and so on. And then he says, Great Master Shingaku of Mount Seppo, Seppo was a great koan with Seppo and Kanto, once told his monks, I met you in front of the monastery.

[40:12]

This was an expression of his enlightenment and the true expression of himself. He wanted to teach the monks the real meaning of the word monastery. Once a post-disciple, Kufukofuku, asked Gako, another disciple, our master insists on only using the expression, I met you in front of the monastery, to explain his teaching, but never mention Boshute or Usuke or Usekure. These are place names. He just talks about the monastery, he doesn't say here or there or some other place. So we have to understand what he meant by monastery. Then Gakko quickly returned to the master's quarters and Ho-Fu-Ku to the monastery. They understood the meaning and purpose of their master's teaching by returning to their respective dwellings.

[41:14]

They showed that enlightenment is to meet our real selves. This is the real meaning of meeting in front of the monastery. Similarly, Great Master Shino of Jiso-in said, the monk in charge of the kitchen enters the kitchen. This expressed this surpasses the meaning of time. Speaking of which, I'm free. I was thinking of the night. You know, he's saying, oh, great. Yeah. The monk in charge of the kitchen enters. Please take a break. it up if you have to like that. Oh, Mike, Mike, Mike. Caught in the clothes between Romali and you.

[42:31]

How do you know the real thing? So. Well, usually I mean, quite when you read the literature, you realize that most of the teachers, the ancestors are talking about.

[43:38]

Oh, come on. The moon is always there. The moon, of course, is a reflection of the sun. You can't look directly at the sun, but you can look at the moon and the light of the moon. Cool. One of the sun is pretty hot. So enlightenment is usually characterized as moonlight. And all throughout the literature, Moonlight is used as an expression of enlightenment for enlightenment. Jogin says the moon reflected in the water is reflected in the water, but the water is not disturbed. It's also sometimes described as the reflection of the water out of the waves.

[44:52]

The glee, which is an Irish word meaning dancing, dancing light, which means that although light is everywhere, It's expression is different. It's endless, endless forms of expression and forms of expression. So when the light is covered. Desperate and sad and unhappy. And when our light is uncovered, you feel happy and joyful and alive and we really experience ourselves.

[45:58]

Zen Master Hong Zhe, in China. From time to time I've given talks on his practice instructions. Hong Zhe lived just before, about a hundred years before Dogen, and he taught at the same monastery. where Dali had received his transmission from Beijing. And he was considered a really high ancestor. When we went to China, we went to the monastery and there was a stone stela of his I don't remember whether it had his portrait or not, but it has his dedication, his teaching and have been cracked in half by the communists.

[47:13]

You know, they completely destroyed these temples rebuilt most of them. I think that one was wasn't destroying, but a lot of the stuff inside of it was destroyed. But he was the ancestor who kind of formalized what he called silent illumination, the practice of silent illumination, which is what we call zazen in Shikantaza. Dogen was extremely fond of Hojo. And I think he was really influenced because he didn't reject Hong Xiu, of course. You can't say that he was his teacher, but Dogen kind of inherited the silent illumination teaching from Hong Xiu and probably through Lu Jing.

[48:25]

developed his own shikantaza from Hongxue's Sun of Illumination Zen, which emphasizes zazen. So Hongxue is one of those people who really transmitted the teaching of illumination. And which continues to be developed and so forth. And so I'm going to read you a little bit of home. Jerry's teachings. He says. This is called.

[49:34]

Well, I think the translators again and the Chinese person translated this cultivating the empty field. This book they call it cultivating the empty field. And the name of this. I don't know whether I think some of these they gave titles to and some of them already had titles. This is called the Ancient Fairy Boat in Bright Moonlight. A patch-robed monk's authentic task is to practice the essence in each moment, in each minute event, carefully discerning the shining source, radiant without discrimination, one color unstained. You must keep turning inward, then the source is apprehended.

[50:36]

This is called being able to continue the family business. Do not wear the changing fashions. Transcend the duality of light and shadow. Accordingly, the ancestor's single trail is marvelously embodied. The residual debris in the world departs. Its influence ended. This worldly knowledge does not compare to returning to the primary and obtaining confirmation. Observing beyond your skull, the core finally can be fulfilled and you can emerge from the transitory. The reeds blossom under the bright moon. The ancient ferryboat begins its passage The jade thread fits into the golden needle. Then the opportunity arises to turn around, enter the world, and respond to conditions.

[51:44]

All the dusts are entirely yours. All the dharmas are not someone else's. Follow the current and paddle along, naturally unobstructed. So, very interesting. Wonderful poetics. is talking about how to find yourself and then how to return. He says, you know, to retreat from the dust, but then to return to the dust. So, and then your true practice But this poetics, he says, the reed blossom, the reeds blossom under the bright moon. The ancient ferryboat begins its passage. The jade thread fits into the golden needle.

[52:50]

I have a question, a little bit going back to what you were saying about covering and uncovering money. I'm just wondering about that, with this going back into the dust of the world. I hear what you're saying about covering and uncovering, but I'm also wondering if when in agitation, like the moon reflected in the water that is disturbed. So you don't see a hole, but it shattered in five minutes and was caught up. Isn't it that all still the light? Right. It's like I'm trying to construct I'm someone, a student, Mr. Gensho, about what do you do with a bright mirror?

[54:14]

I can't just smash into a thousand pieces. So, you know, bright mirror reflects. This is like the Enlightenment is the bright mirror. Because the bright mirror is. Reflects exactly as it is without distortion, without desire, desire, without self-interest, without simply as it There's an ultimate scene, like the bright mirror. So it's like returning to the absolute, right? Selflessness. So, but you can't stay there. So you have to smash the mirror. The mirror falls into a thousand pieces, but each piece reflects the whole universe, which means

[55:26]

not hanging on to your enlightenment, but simply every movement, every activity that you engage in is reflected in the light, is a reflection of the light. But that's different than the cover you were talking about. It's different than the cover, yes. The cover is, you know, it's interesting, this blind man that I was talking about, you know, he said that he was just basking in this, because he was blind, he was just basking in the light, you know, in total joy. He said, but when I thought, when I brought up a selfish thought, then it all disappeared. And as soon as I let go of my angry thought, let go of my critical thought or my, you know, anything that covers like that, then it was always there.

[56:47]

So it taught me how to regulate my life so that I wouldn't be covering it over. by creating ill-will and delusion, actually. So this is why we say Nirvana is the absence of creating ill-will and delusion. there's a place that one tends to go from your last statement that is exactly that it's hazardous, which is why the response, Gensho's response, got the bright mirror of suspicion. And this is the critique of Hongsha. Critique of Hongsha in the style of illumination school was basically kind of just sitting there glowing. That's a critique from another angle of Zen, but when you listen to actually the words that you just read, the jade thread and the golden needle, the fairy crossing, I forget what, but every one of these is actually, the illumination is manifested in the context of action.

[58:19]

and not in the context of this kind of lumpish festivity where you just sit there glowing. Well, yes, but you can't sit in Zazen all the time. You have to do something. But even when you're sitting in Zazen, there's activity. Yes, of course. This is why in Zazen, if you're simply sitting for your own This is why we encourage everyone to sit together, so that you're sharing yourself with everyone, and encouraging other people, and not just simply interested in your own realization. you give up your comfort in order to help other people, or to assist others.

[59:29]

This is what it means by, what he's talking about all the time, both Dogen and all these ancestors, is jinju-yusamae. Because jinju-yusamae, samadhi, we see in Advaita, but tantra-yuga-samadhi is what we give to others out of that self-realization. Isn't one of the translations for yuga-yuga-samadhi self-actualizing samadhi? Yeah, self-actualizing. So that's what I'm saying, it's actualizing It's the activity, the constant activity of that. the samadhi of the bell.

[60:50]

Are you also the hope in other people? When you say the people, are you interacting? Of course, yes. Transmits some of your own experience and arises from your own nature. Right. And just the act of doing zazen together as far-reaching activity which we would never know about. There's another poem by Hongjer, which is very close to this, only shorter, which I've always felt this wonderful affinity with this poem. It says, when by the side of the ancient fairy, The breeze and moonlight are pure and clear.

[61:51]

The dark vessel turns into a glowing world." That's like, to me, that's what Zazen is. Even though you can't say what Zazen is. So he uses this image of ancient fairy. It's like the fairy that goes from this shore to that shore, but there's no movement. going someplace, but it's a wonderful, the ancient fairy, it's like, you know, about your ancient self. When we think about our ancient self, you know, it's like some ancient feeling that we have, even though we may not know what that is, but it's a feeling.

[62:52]

I remember years ago we used to talk about old souls and new souls. Old souls were people who had a contract and new souls were people didn't quite get that. So I read this again because it's very interesting. A patchwork monk's authentic task is to practice the essence in each minute event, carefully discerning the shining source, radiant without discrimination, one color unstained. So this is what their life is about. That's their career. So what is the career of a monk? A monk has career life.

[63:57]

a banker or something like that. How can one have a career? Well, the career is like to do this. That's what this book is doing. Devoted to simply practicing the essence in each minute event. Carefully discerning the shining source. Radiant without discrimination. One color on stage. Well, it's one color. It's like it's just one color. One color color is the right color. You must keep turning inward, then the source is apprehended. This is called being able to continue the family business. Not the family business. Do not wear the changing fashions. Transcend the duality of light and shadow. Accordingly, transcend the duality of light and shadow.

[65:01]

That can be day and night, or dark and light. The darkness and light. Don't get caught by darkness or light, in a dualistic sense. Because in the Sandokai, dark and light are like the foot before and the foot behind and walking. We walk into the dark, and then we walk into the light, walk into the dark, walk into the light, like this. And when we look at the moon, when it's a full moon, we say we see the whole moon, but actually we only see half the moon. But we take for granted that there's another side, and the other side is dark. So one side is dark, the other side is light. One side is light, the other side is dark. And it's neither dark or light. And it's both dark and light.

[66:06]

And the dark is dark and the light is light. But it's just one moment. Ross? Can you say something about when we ultimately come to practice we're burdened and we're kind of heavy. and dark with lots of things. And then as we sit, we kind of lighten up, metaphorically and literally. And then Dogen's instruction to turn the light inward sounds like using an outside light to look inward, and then how we illumine outward and become transparent in our practice and kind of lighten up further. And then our practice transforms. You're worried about that? Well, as I keep saying, turn the light inward. And then, as we practice, we become lighter in different ways. And then this divine light is actually coming from within, out, as we become more transparent.

[67:14]

And so how do we practice with, for instance, having lots of things in the world to juggle, becoming filled up with that, and then our light gets kind of dark and diminished. So the light illumines ourselves and things. Well, this is the koan of daily practice, right? So, Kenjo Koan. It's called Koan of Daily Practice. How you extend your practice into your daily life after Zazen. You let go of everything. And when you get off the cushion and enter the world, you take on the world, so to speak. That's called smashing the mirror, because you see the light in everything you encounter.

[68:18]

And if you can see the light in everything you encounter, that's turning the light inward, because there is no inner or outer. inward or outward. So what you see that looks like it's outside is actually not outside. This is your true body. It's hard to deal with the rest of ourself, which is called the world. But if we see the world as ourself, it's easier than me. What is our attitude to ourself? Our attitude to ourself is the same as our attitude to the world. The way our attitude to the world is the same as our attitude to ourself.

[69:21]

So when you see how we work in the world, then it helps us to see how we work with ourself. Because we are a mirror. We reflect. The eye of a monk is a mirror. The eye of a layperson is a mirror. So everything is reflected. So the way people respond to us is a reflection of ourself. And we can see who we are by the way people respond to us. Not entirely, but... So it says that's part of the way I can work. When we can sit still enough to see other people's response to our actions, for instance, then that's turning this light inward to ourselves to illuminate ourselves to see the reflection of self and other, in other, other and self.

[70:25]

Yeah, also returning the light inward is also simply examining yourself. Right? I think simply put, it's examining yourself. Yeah, just study the self. Forget the self. But I was trying to see where the light figures in, in a particular term, and context for the class. Thank you. Yeah, it's a big subject. Lifetimes. Lifetimes, for a second. So it says, accordingly, the ancestor's single trail is marvelously embodied. I'm single trail means just going one way. When universities to talk about it, say that I'm just going to stop. His way is like a single track, an endless track, just an endless railroad track or something forever.

[71:33]

Just one, one, one, one road. Also, this is like a big noodle. It's a big noodle. It's softer than noodle. So, according to the Ancestor's Single Trail, the Ancestor's Single Trail is marvelously embodied. The residual debris of the world departs. It's influenced, isn't it? In other words, don't get caught by anything. Don't get caught by the debris of the world. Have something valuable to be in the world, but to not be A victim of the world are enslaved by your sense of.

[72:45]

In the 90s, democracy was overtaken by. There's another word for it. It's called the market. The market superseded democracy. Democracy was no longer the rule of the land. The market became the rule of the land. Capitalism. Well, the market, not just capitalism. himself. That became the... and that's why we're in the mess we're in now. And that's kind of what his ancestors are warning us against.

[73:54]

To not get caught up in the market. They use the term marketplace. To be in the marketplace, but not to be caught by it. But it supersedes democracy. It supersedes religion. It's a religion. It becomes a religion. Yeah. Because the market is supposed to regulate itself. And that's what's supposed to be the new paradigm. You don't know that. Anyway, I don't want to get into politics. The residual debris of the world departs. That's it. We got a lot of residual debris. Influence ended. This worldly knowledge does not compare to returning to the primary and obtaining confirmation.

[74:56]

Observing beyond your skull, the core finally can be fulfilled. In other words, to go beyond the limitations of your intellect. the core finally can be fulfilled and you can emerge from the transitory. In other words, of course, the essence of Buddhadharma is how you are freed from the transitory, even though everything changes. The rain blossoms under the bright moon. The ancient ferry boat begins its passage. the jade thread fits into the golden needle. Then the opportunity arises to turn around, enter the world, and respond to conditions. So the jade thread turns into the golden needle. It's like, I don't know how to describe that.

[75:59]

But he follows that with, it's like something turns. It's like you get to a certain place, and you get to the place, and there's that turning. You have the jade head and the golden needle. It's like you've entered your sanctuary, and then you return. Then the opportunity arises to turn around, enter the world, and respond to conditions. All the dusts are entirely yours. just totally into the world. All the dharmas are not someone else's. Follow the current and paddle along, naturally unobstructed. So, the saying, get to the essence and then return to the world, so that you know who you are. But when you are you,

[77:01]

Thank you very much. I don't know how we're going to proceed. Will there be readings out? Yeah.

[77:12]

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