Yesterday, in my talk, can you hear me? Yesterday, in my talk, I mentioned Komyo Zo Zamae, this storehouse samadhi of radiant light their treasury, actually storehouse is like treasury, of radiant light, Samadhi. And Peter Overton said he didn't quite understand, he always wondered what that was. So I gave a little explanation, but today I want to read an excerpt from Koun Ejo, Koun Ejo, we say Koun Ejo, but it's Koun, K-O-U-N, Koun Ejo, Dogen's Dharma heir, his first Dharma heir, who only wrote one piece that we know of,

[01:28]

called Komyōzō de Mai, and it's quite long, but there's a short excerpt which is usually presented as an example from that piece. So, I want to make a commentary on that piece. I think I've done that once before a long time ago. And Master Yunmeng in China, one of the great Zen masters in China, spoke to his disciples. And this appears as a koan, number 85 in the Blue Cliff Record.

[02:30]

where he says, each one of you has your own light, but when you go to find it, it's dark, dark. And this echoes back to the Sando Kai, where Sekito says, if you try to see the light, don't try to see it, don't try to see light as light or dark as dark. So Umang says, everyone has, each one of you has your own light.

[03:37]

If you try to see it, everything is in darkness. What is everyone's light? And no one could answer. So he said, the temple storehouse, the temple gate. And then Dogen wrote a fascicle called Komyo. which is an echo of or a commentary on that koan of Uman, and then this Ejo's Komyo Zamae, Komyo Zou Zamae, is a commentary on Dogen, And today this will be my commentary on Ancho's Komyo Zozomai.

[04:39]

So it's translated, I've seen this translated several times, and each translation gives a little bit more insight into, a little different insight into what Ejo was saying. It's interesting because the terms that are used can be translated in subtly different ways. So one has to discern exactly what's being said, because it can be said in a way that sounds funny. of the Treasury of the Radiant Light by Ko Un Hejo. I have some earnest advice for those who sincerely aspire to practice. Do not be pulled by a particular state of mind or by an object.

[05:47]

In Zazen, there is no special state of mind which we are trying to attain. Often in Buddhist meditation practices there is an object or a particular state of mind which is being sought and This is what differentiates Zazen from many meditation practices. Dogen says Zazen is not one of the meditation practices of Buddhism. Zazen contains all the meditation practices, but it's not one of the special practices of meditation. because there is no special state of mind which is being sought or cultivated.

[07:01]

As a matter of fact, there is nothing that's being sought or cultivated. We don't try to attain anything. We don't try to attain Buddha. We don't try to attain anything. We don't even try to attain Samadhi. But this non-attainment is Samadhi. This is the hardest thing for us, really, to maintain, because we always want something. The hardest thing is to not want something from what we're doing. So this is why kishiryo, no gaining mind, is the object of zazen. nothing to gain, no special state of mind.

[08:03]

Every state of mind which arises in Zazen is the correct state of mind, because there's no judgment of right, wrong, good, bad, and so therefore every state of mind is an expression of tell us here. So don't be pulled by a particular state of mind. Don't think, oh this is really good, or this is really bad, or I like this. It's okay to like it or not like it, but it's not okay to be attached to it. Susan's question about Donna, about should I feel ... you know, I don't feel good about feeling good about doing good.

[09:12]

It's okay to feel good about doing good, as long as you don't get attached to the idea that you're doing good. So, the state of mind of doing good is Just another state of mind, just another passing state of mind. So do not rely upon intellect or wisdom. You can't rely on what you learn. As a matter of fact, what you learn can be a hindrance. This is kind of different from a lot of other meditation practices in which you progress from one, you learn something and then you progress to another higher level and then you progress to it. There are no levels of attainment. And of course intellect can be a hindrance, which doesn't mean that we should suppress our intellect, but we simply don't rely.

[10:24]

It's not something that we can comprehend through our intellect, and wisdom can be a stopping place. So this is beyond everything. Simply letting stepping aside and letting the light pass through. So, as Dogen says, it's not a matter of being intelligent or being smart or learning a lot, and there's no difference between the dull and the quick-witted. No difference. So, fortunately, us dull ones can practice. Sometimes, I remember Suzuki Roshi saying one time, fortunately we have Zazen, for the stupid ones. So, do not carry in your hands what you have learned on the seat in the sangha hall. In other words, your study.

[11:26]

Cast your body, simply cast your body and mind into the great Komyo-Zo and never look back. I really like that statement. Never look back. Don't get dragged back into doubt and confusion. Another way of saying not looking back is don't fall into doubt. Neither seek to be enlightened nor drive away delusion. So, When we think of meditation practice, we think of striving for enlightenment. But striving for enlightenment is okay, but it's a kind of delusion. And delusion is a kind of enlightenment.

[12:32]

So it's beyond delusion and enlightenment. Neither hate the arising of thoughts nor love thoughts and identify with them. Well, we know this, right? Don't drive away thoughts. Don't love thoughts. Don't induce them or drive them away. But even though we emphasize this all the time, people still say, I have all these thoughts in my mind. as if there was something wrong with that. Neither hate the arising of thoughts, nor love thoughts, and identify with them. So love and hate are just two sides of illusion, in this sense.

[13:41]

Love has many different meanings, so in the sense of the dichotomy of love and hate, or the polarity of love and hate in that sense. Because love has nothing to do with love and hate. It's about the duality of love and hate. So just sit stably and calmly. Stably and calmly is samadhi. There's so many different definitions of samadhi, and we try to finesse them. But really, just sit stably, stability. Samadhi is concentration, but the meaning is stability. Concentrating means stability.

[14:45]

Sometimes we think of concentration as one point is being fixed on a point, like a kind of laser. That is one kind of concentration. But this concentration is wide concentration, which takes in everything. Sometimes when we're sitting zazen, we are concentrated on the breath, we're concentrated on some part of the posture, and we do go over the posture this way, but then there's concentration on the whole body, whole-bodied mind, and surroundings, which is broad concentration, which is not concentrating on any particular thing. So everything is included. It's like just vast openness.

[15:47]

This vast openness is concentration in samadhi, or the samadhi of concentration. Vast openness without any particular state of mind or thought, or discursiveness, or discrimination. So, neither hate the arising of thoughts, nor love them, and identify with them. Just sit stably and calmly in samadhi. If you do not continue to think, thoughts will not arise by themselves. I think that's a mistake. Thoughts arise whether you call them that or not. So there must be something about that that needs further translation, I think. Thoughts will arise by themselves. Just sit as if you were the boundless empty sky or the weight of a flame.

[16:56]

His translation says, or a ball of fire. I think the weight of a flame is a better translation. The flame is kind of, it's a light, but it's weightless. A ball of fire, kind of like, has too much energy, too much, burns up everything. Well, that's another way of thinking about it. A ball of fire simply burns up everything. But I think the weight of a flame is pretty good. Trust everything to inhalation and exhalation. In other words, You are not breathing. To think I am breathing is from the point of view of self, but really you have nothing to do with it. Breathing, whether you like it or not, or want it or not, it just happens.

[18:02]

This is the universe breathing you. So you simply trust everything to the universe. This is deep trust. Samadhi is deep trust and trust in this Komyo-Zo. When Dogen talks about light, he says, light is not what you think it is. It's not your idea of light. It's not like the blue light or the white light or some special thing that you can identify. It's simply the essence of everything. And to try and pick it out in some particular way, to identify it, is a mistake. This is why it's dark, dark.

[19:05]

In light is darkness, in darkness is light. Don't try to identify it as something special in some special way because it's ungraspable. It's Buddha nature. Trust everything to inhalation and exhalation. means just let breathing be. And Suzuki Roshi talked about just let painful legs be sitting on a black cushion. In other words, you disappear. Just legs, just painful legs sitting on a black cushion. Even if 84,000 idle thoughts arise, each and every one may become the light of Prajna, or non-discriminating wisdom.

[20:20]

So instead of driving thoughts away, we just recognize, we just let the thoughts appear, and each one is the light of Prajna. If you don't discriminate them, if you don't grasp them, you don't try to push them away, but simply let everything be, then each one is an expression of the light. So, there's no contention, there's no worry about delusion, no worry about enlightenment. It's just everything is as it is. or just allow everything to be as it is, because everything as it is, is an expression. So even if 84,000 idle thoughts arise, and every one may become the light of Prajna, if you do not pay any attention and simply let them go,

[21:29]

Not only in sitting, but every step you take is the movement of the light. Step after step, no discrimination. Throughout the day, be like a dead person, completely without personal views or discrimination. Dead person means liberation from self-centeredness. So free of self is being like a dead person. And it's kind of like being unassuming. You're just open and unassuming. And everything that you encounter is new and fresh. And you're just bringing life to life. There's no... Your life is not heavy. It's quite light and buoyant. So being like a dead person means that this is the way that you learn to live.

[22:36]

This gives meaning to life. So when we, the more self we have, the more everything bothers us. And the more we bump up against things and the more contentious our life becomes. And when we're not bound by self-centeredness, then life is buoyant and always new, and everything we encounter is fresh, moment by moment. This is playful samadhi. See, the bodhisattvas are a sport in this playful samadhi. So, to inhale or to exhale, to listen or to touch, being without thoughts and discrimination is nothing other than the tranquil illumination of the light in which body and mind are one.

[23:51]

Therefore, when someone calls, you answer. There are several koans. that I have that teacher calls and the student answers. I don't want to go into that, but it means like when someone calls or when there's a call, there's an appropriate response without thinking. It's just, there's a call and then there's a, Just a response. Pure and non-discriminated. This is like the essence of a shuso ceremony. This is actually the basis of a shuso ceremony. There's a call and a response. Should be.

[24:58]

I mean, hopefully someday that will happen. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it happens that way. That's the best way. I mean, I think that's the best way. So this is the light in which ordinary people and sages, the deluded and the enlightened, are one. It doesn't matter whether you're a sage or an idiot. It's all the same. The light is the same. We're all equal. Even in the midst of change, the light is not hindered by it. Forests, flowers, grass and leaves, human beings or animals, big or small, long or short, square or round, all manifest themselves simultaneously, independent of discriminating thoughts or will. This is the proof that the light is not obstructed by change.

[25:59]

The light illuminates of itself. It does not depend on the power of the mind. In other words, it's just there. It's just the essence of everything. It's not changed by, it's like water. Although water runs through everything and takes on the coloring of everything it runs through, in the end, it becomes purified again. and it's just water. In essence, even when it's poisonous, even when it is a conveyor of poison, the water itself is always pure. So the light illuminates of itself. It does not depend on the power of the mind.

[27:01]

From the beginning, the light does not rest. Even when Buddhas appear in this universe, the light does not appear. I think that even when Buddhas appear in the universe, it doesn't cause the appearance of the light. The light is not dependent on Buddha's appearing in the world. When the Buddhas enter nirvana, the light does not enter nirvana. When you are born, the light is not born with you. When you die, the light does not die with you. It does not increase in Buddhas. It does not decrease in sentient beings. Neither is it diluted, even if you are. nor enlightened, even if you are. It has no position, no appearance, no name. This is the whole body of all phenomena.

[28:02]

You cannot grasp it, you cannot throw it away. It is unattainable. Even though it is unattainable, it penetrates the whole body. When Tozan was crossing the stream, he saw his reflection in the stream. And he said, even though it is me, I am not it. From the highest heaven down to the lowest hell, all places are perfectly illuminated in this way. This is the divine, inconceivable spiritual light. If you trustfully open yourself to and believe the profound meaning of these words, you will not need to ask someone else what is true or false. You will know for yourself. You should know for yourself.

[29:04]

This is the purpose of practice, for each one to know for ourselves. You will not be intimate with it. You will be intimate with the reality as if you were to come face to face with your grandfather in a town. It's like seeing your, in other words, seeing your, so familiar, something very familiar that is unexpected. Do not seek from your teacher certification of your enlightenment, or Inca, or a prediction as to when you will attain Buddhahood, like in the Lotus Sutra. In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha's giving these predictions of attainment of enlightenment to his disciples. much less should you be attached to clothing, food, or a place to live, or be driven by attachment to sensuality.

[30:11]

From the beginning, this samadhi is the dojo, in other words, the practice place, which is the ocean of Buddhahood. This is Zazen, which is the sitting of the Buddha, the practice of the Buddha, which has been faithfully transmitted. Since you are already a child of Buddha, sit stably in the manner of the Buddha's practice. Never sit in the manner of hell dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, fighting spirits, human beings, heavenly beings, Shravakas or Pratyekabuddhas. He mentions the six worlds, right? heavenly realm, the dwellers in the heavenly realm, the hell realm, the fighting demons, the animal realm, the hungry ghost realm, and so forth. So don't sit in that way, because those practices are practices to gain something.

[31:17]

And don't sit in the ... in the manner of the Sravakas or Pratyekabuddhas. Sravakas in this sense are like arhats, and Pratyekabuddhas are self-enlightened people who have no interest in saving sentient beings. So their practices are mostly for their own self-interest, Mahayana practice is for the purpose of saving all beings, which is not a gaining idea. So, practice Shikantaza in this way. So Shikantaza is just sitting, just doing, and Zazen is just sitting without any desire, without any expectation of anything, just moment by moment, experiencing each moment as it is, without any

[32:46]

desire without any thing to gain. If there's the slightest idea of gaining, you lose it. If there's the slightest idea of expectation, you lose it. So, practice Shikantaza in this way. Do not waste your time. This is the dojo of straight mind. This is called komyozo zamae, inconceivable liberation. It's also called bodhi mind, or pure, clear mind, and liberation from self. Dead. Do you have any questions? Yeah, that's true.

[34:02]

Seeing his reflection. Well, it means, it's a good question. It's like in breathing. It is what I am. It is, in other words, If you're looking at the reflection, the reflection is you yourself, right?

[35:08]

But actually, it's just a reflection. Is that you, or is this you, or is the reflection you? Actually, the reflection is me. because everything is me. And so in one sense, you say, well, the reflection is not me. So when I look in the mirror, I actually see something which I can never see otherwise, because you can never see that which is looking at everything else. You never see yourself, so to speak. But when you look in the mirror, you see yourself. So what is a mirror? A mirror is the universe. The mirror is your reflection.

[36:10]

So everything in the universe is myself. And yes, I am it, right? But in another sense, it is bigger than just myself. My real self is bigger than just this separate self. Yeah, which eye is the true eye? So, Zazen is the Ko-Un-Ei-Jo, as you describe it. Ko-Un-Ei-Jo or a Ko-Un? investigate a few of these.

[37:27]

How do you tell when to do that, when to look into these other practices, and when to just stick with something? Well, it depends on what you want. If you want something, then you... When you want something, then you should do the other practices. When you don't want anything, who doesn't? Well, that's desire used in its proper way. It's so tricky. It's so tricky because the desire zazen is really a very rarefied kind of practice.

[38:33]

It doesn't tolerate the slightest deviation. It's not that those practices are not good, it's just that zazen includes all those practices, but the jhanas, which are not really Buddhist, but they're adapted to Buddhism in the old days, are included in zazen, but if you try to practice them one at a time, it's a kind of mistake. But the essence of them is included in Zazen. But really, it's so hard to just not want something.

[39:39]

It's the hardest thing that we have to deal with. Peter? I find that when I do that, people want something. A lot of people want a response where someone's always sitting with something and they all say something and I can just tell they want me to. And that's what I find it really hard to continue to practice like a dead bird. Not that I shouldn't respond, I understand that I have to respond, but how to navigate through that place Well, I don't know what they want, but when you practice like that and they want something, remember that the moon is a dead planet, and its light is reflected from the sun, and it's called enlightenment.

[41:05]

So, the sun is always very generous. The sun is always very generous and always giving and not expecting anything in return. So you practice like the sun and you also practice like the moon, sometimes in a hot way, sometimes in a cool way. Generosity is just give yourself away. You had something you wanted to say? Yeah, it's better to just say, all beings.

[42:17]

We eliminated sentient from our vocabulary actually, but we still say it. It's just kind of embedded in there, so we say, all beings, because it sounds funny. You see, in Buddhism, everything is included in the realm of sentient beings. So we don't discriminate, although sentient has a scientific meaning, but in a spiritual meaning it includes everything. So rocks and trees are all sentient beings. And how do they get saved? You don't have to save them. Just save yourself, and then they're all saved. It's not that you're going to go out and save everything.

[43:25]

No. Saving all beings is to include them all in your mind. Just include everything as yourself. Because you are all sentient beings. There are all beings. I have a hard time knowing when I was going to practice as a guru. It's okay, don't worry about it. It's just something I thought up. But moon is cool, right? And reflects the light of the sun. So when we talk about light and heat, the sun generates light and heat.

[44:31]

It's like the stove. You turn on the stove, and it's hot, right? So you turn it down to simmer and then it's warm. I mean, it's still hot, but it's, you know, so you can adjust and so light is cool, fire is hot. So you use fire to make light or to produce light, which is cool. So if you use fire, it burns everything up. is, penetrates everything without burning it up. And it gives it energy and vitality. Animation. And whatever. The sun is yang, and the moon is yin.

[45:42]

They're balanced. This is like the Korean flag. If only the Koreans could balance it up. So, to be able to express that, you know, Zazen is just an expression. Suzuki Yoshi said, Zazen is just the way we express ourselves.

[46:49]

What does that mean? I express myself all kinds of different ways. That express itself means to express the light. Let that be your expression.

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