Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Good morning. So I want to give some background for the teaching we're going to be talking about in the Rahatsu Sashin. So this is when I, together, will be leading this. It's the first time we've had a Rahatsu five-day Sashin to celebrate this reawakening since 2019. So this is a wonderful stage in our recovery from the pandemic. And I'll just say that a number of you in person and online have already signed up. If you have not yet, you're still welcome to sign up for any one, two or more days online. And also that Everyone is welcome to come on just for the morning.

[01:04]

I'm going to talk in the period of Zazen before. So again, welcome everyone. We will be talking about a lot of other things about a text. It's important to Soto's education. This is by Kawan Echo, who was the successor to our Japanese founder, Edo again, and compiled a lot of documents, teachings that we know of. This text is called Komyozo no Zama in Japanese. This is the treasury, Asmati, the treasury of rains. I'll use the translation by talking clearly in this bookmarking line. But I want to talk about some of the background for this This morning. So.

[02:06]

Well, some of the background to this text has to do with the other Tomasaka or flower ornament sutra. Which is actually very important in the Zen, but not so much talked about it. sotusen texts, but it is actually quoted a lot in the Komenage of Komyuzo Zanmaiba that we talked about. And actually there was a Dogen text in Shogogenzo called Shogogenzo Komyuzo, which is the treasury of radiance. And just to say a little bit more about that, it's sometimes translated in a clear way also as the treasury of light. It's not light as opposed to darkness. It's not the Corangio. And don't get me to say very explicitly, it's not about blue, yellow, red, or some color of light.

[03:15]

It's this radiance that is part of everything, both light and dark. It's this radiance that is our practice and our awareness, and that is the buddhaness of everything. So this text by Konejo does quote the Flower Ordnance Sutra a lot. Some of us have been reading aloud, in turn, the Flower Ordnance Sutra first Friday evening of the month. We just did a couple of nights ago. We've been doing it for three years, once a month, for an hour and a half, or maybe two thirds of the way through Texas. Huge book, the Clearing Translation. I think there are some other translations now, but this Slower Sutra talks about Well, it does talk about this radiance, this quality of Buddha.

[04:24]

And one way we can talk about it is in terms of the third chapter, which is focused on the practice of Samantabhadra, Universally Good Bodhisattva. He's one of the Bodhisattvas who will be chanting this week in our meal chant. a universal worthy, a universal good. And the main Buddha of Nislawarna Matsuja, and this is important in terms of the teaching of this text, is not Shakyamuni, but Virokshana Buddha. Virokshana Buddha is the Dharmakaya, the Buddha that is the body of the whole universe, the whole phenomenal world. the body of reality. So this is kind of a mysterious text in some ways. But in the chapter on the practice of Samantabhadra or universal worthy, he says that he practices the shining practice

[05:46]

when we start to practice, thanks to Buddha. He sits in front of Buddha, or in the face of Buddha, just as we sit with Buddha on our altar. We'll sit here in the center. Or you're part of this online as well. Can you all hear me online? Okay, thank you. One way to understand this is that we sit thanks to Buddha. But Buddha allows us to sit this dosa. And this Buddha that we sit with or sit for or express in our own body, mind, practice is the Buddha of everything. So there's a Sanskrit word, Dharma Dattu,

[06:52]

which refers to the whole phenomenal world. But we can also understand it as a world as informed by Dharma, as informed by truth, by reality. So this is practice that we all do thanks to Buddha and expressing Buddha each in our own particular way and sharing that with everyone. So this is the the teaching and the challenge of this text and of the flower and the sutra. So we each already Buddha is here for each of us in our own way. This does not mean, of course, that practically speaking, we don't have ancient holistic karma. We don't have personal hang-ups or habits or inclinations or tendencies.

[07:53]

But underlying that and underlying all of the suffering and difficulties of our world and that we each individually face is this reality body, this reality Buddha. Maybe it's enough to just say Buddha, Buddha, Buddha, Buddha. we each, on our seat, are sitting, you know, we sit in Zendo, or Onward now, in the face of Buddha. And our sitting practice is about sitting upright like Buddha. So we each sit expressing Buddha, in our own way, in our own particular body-mind. But we are expressing this reality that is underlying and about everything, everything in our life, experiences of people we have met in our life, experiences of people we don't even remember,

[09:19]

That's just our human memory. So the point is that Buddha is here. And in the Slough Ornament Sutra, there Many, many, many, many, many, many, and very many, many of Buddhas, of Bodhisattvas, of Buddha lands, of Buddha practices. It's a very colorful text. But underlying it is this samadhi of the treasury of radiance. So in various sutras, not just the Flower Ornament Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Vajra Parvati Sutra, there's a light that Buddha emits from its forehead.

[10:27]

In the Flower Ornament Sutra, it's from his cheek, and maybe the space of the king's teeth. But there's this radiance that Buddha shares with the world. And as we said, Zazen, you partake of it. Whether or not we realize it or feel it or believe it, that's kind of irrelevant. This is the reality of our lives. Any word I say is not going to capture it. I like the word fullness, but... we express and get glimpses of that we actually might realize and recognize of something that goes beyond, something that's huge and wonderful. So the Dharmakaya Buddha Bhairavacchana is often depicted as a great Buddha, like in Nara, Japan, the Todai-ji Temple.

[11:37]

is part of this Japanese, so the Chinese school that comes out of the Flower and the Sutra is called Huayen, which is the Chinese way of saying Flower and the Sutra. And then in Japanese, that's Kengon, these characters. And this temple in Nara in Japan has the largest wooden statue in the world, the largest wooden building in the world, It's a beautiful statue, but it's humongous. And this is to denote why Roshanah has encompassing everything. All the planets and stars and all of our thoughts and feelings, everything is there. And this Buddha is huge and it's a beautiful statue. It's the best way I can express its size is that his ears are eight feet long. So it's a huge statue.

[12:42]

Sometimes this Buddha, in Japanese he's called Danmichi, Great Sun Buddha. Sometimes this Buddha is depicted statues or paintings or whatever with stars and planets on his chest to denote that he is the Buddha of believers. So this sutra is very important in our Soto Zen tradition. It's not referred to so much. Dogen refers to it sometimes, but he refers to the Lotus Sutra more, which is also an important Huayang or Bodhisattva Sutra for us, text for us. But this sutra that was the basis for, in China, the Huayang school,

[13:45]

This developed in China into a separate Buddhist school. In Japan it was keigo and it still survives in Japan, but it's it's not it never had major there's never a major presence in terms of the various through the school over the century in our period. And I'm getting this information that there were mock retests. So just as background again, for this Samadhi, this treasury, the Samadhi of the treasury already, what we're talking about during the arts of Sashin, this... This Guayan school, I would say, is maybe the pinnacle of Mahayana philosophy.

[14:48]

That's my opinion. It's great to see Paul Cochran as a very fine Buddhist scholar. He may have other opinions about the Mahayana scriptures. But at any rate, this dialectical philosophy developed by the Guayan teachers is powerful and I think very helpful in terms of understanding the background philosophy of what practice. And part of it is to look at the interaction of the particular and the universal, which are both the universal reality of the Dharmakaya and the conventional reality that we all, you know, follow in our everyday activity. When the light turns red, we stop. When the light turns green, we go. So we don't ignore these conventional realities. And part of, well, a major part of YN philosophy and Soto Zen philosophy is about how these interact.

[16:00]

And we talk about it practically in terms of how do we bring our Zazen awareness Awareness of just being upright and still. How do we bring that into our everyday activity? So sometimes that emphasizes that a lot. And that has to do with this background philosophy. And just really briefly, in Bayan, there's a four-fold logotopsis. So there's the particular and the ultimate with different word views for these. There's the mutual... interconnectedness of the particular and the universal and the mutual interconnectedness and non-obstruction of particulars with particulars. That's one of the many philosophical teachings of the Hawaiian school. And this was the background for Soto Zen philosophy too. So the Soto Zen Chinese school was

[17:02]

considered founded by Dongshan, those are the Japanese, Dongshan Longjie, who was lifted in the 800s. He did a book called Justices of Dongshan and the Practice of Sessions, with many of his koans. And he also is, we chant the Jewel Mary Samadhi, the book goes online regularly. We'll be chanting it during the session, if you want. And this is contributed to Dongshan, the exact history of all this stuff. We don't have the videotapes and stuff of all of this, but this is the tradition. And this Sama Majulamara Samadhi, which we've chatted many times here, talks about the fivefold reality. So in Soto Zen, there's five ranks of five degrees, which is kind of comes out of this .

[18:05]

And again, it's about the process of integration of the ultimate or universal with each particular phenomenon, event or being or context. So this is kind of the philosophical background of what practice. And in our practice, again, it's about how do we taste, get a glimpse of, or feel this, especially in Zazen, we feel it, but not only in Zazen, but this ultimate universal reality. And then how do we express it in the world? And in YM School too, there's this emphasis on Once we experience this, how do we share it with all of the difficulties and problems and issues in our own lives and in the world around us?

[19:07]

And we certainly live in a very troubled world right now in so many ways. How do we express this deep reality ultimate reality of kindness and caring, love, that we can feel within ourselves. So we have to do this for ourselves. And then also how do we share it in the world and in our own lives? This is the context of Sutta Zen. And this is the background of Sutta Zen. It comes from the flower of Siddhartha. Okay, so that's the background for what we're going to be talking about in this relative session. And I'll just conclude with just one quote. So that's what I will be speaking for this text. The clearest translation absorption in the treasury of light, I would say the Samadhi of the treasury of radiance.

[20:17]

Anyway, just a short excerpt from it. And throughout this text, again, written out by Dogen's main disciple, Koan Echo, who also put together a lot of books. It refers to the flower and sutra, particularly in other places. It also refers to other great Chan or Zen ancestors. So I'm going to read just a couple of paragraphs where he talks about Master Bajang, the Afro-Japanese, the famous Chinese Zen master. So Bajang said, the spiritual light shines alone, utterly free of senses and objects. The essence manifests, real and eternal. It is not confined to writings. The nature of mind is undefiled, originally complete and perfect in itself.

[21:21]

Just detach it from false objects and it awakens to suchness. Total reality. Unquote. Just detach it from false objects. We all... As subjects, as beings, our minds seize objects in the world. And we conventionally try and get a hold of the objects we like, try and get rid of the objects that we don't like. But that's the nature of our experience. is this object. And Argyle said, just detach this session from false objects and then awaken to sessions. And then Koenigow comments, this spiritual life is unbroken from the infinite past through the infinite future. This is called perpetual energy utterly, perpetual energy utterly unbroken.

[22:24]

tree of senses and objects. The essence manifests, new and eternal, and is called permanent stability of radiance. And this background radiance amid all of the tumult of the impermanence and the changes that we all, the transitions that we all go through. And Joe continues, trusting in this spiritual life, abiding peacefully, imperturbable is called the supreme concentration or samadhi of simply sitting. So this teaching is about the reality of or simply sitting. So there's a lot more to say about this, and I will be talking from this text during the session. I didn't say it before.

[23:27]

You're welcome. Everyone's welcome to come online to the talks in the morning at 10 o'clock, I think, and period of time before. So we have a little bit of time now for questions, comments, reflections. So, David, can you help me with seeing people online who've got comments or questions? Thank you all. If you're online, you can either raise this hand, the typical hand, or use the raise hands function button. So abiding in this great radiance is about what we're not seeing.

[24:30]

Of course, it's there, too. But when we sit still and upright, we have the possibility of settling. Of course, there are periods of zazen where monkey mind is rolling around. That happens. There are periods of zazen where it feels calm and still. But part of the point of this is not some special experience outside of the rest of our lives. This is, Dobion very much emphasized expression of this, expression of this awareness. So, you know, and this is a great challenge, of course. How do we, in our interactions with family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, whomever, without, you know, trying to manipulate anything and make some,

[25:33]

do something fancy, just to be present. And this radiance is there too. And this is the great challenge of our lifelong practices. How do we express and share this with ourselves internally too? Because we each have, you know, voices in our thoughts and mind that can be critical or judgmental or whatever. But how do we share this possibility, this reality of radiance, which we experience to some extent or another? So yeah, that's the important question. It's not just satsang, but satsang helps us to feel better. Other reflections, comments, questions? David Ray.

[26:49]

Again, thank you very much. I wonder if you might say something more about Samadhi in the title. I know Cleary translates it as absorption. And I'm thinking about the tranciness of the Flower Ornament Sutra, which... seems something distinguishable from just sitting, right? There's such a thing as going into a trance or self-inducing a trance. And so I wonder what the relationship is between that and samadhi or absorption. Yeah, samadhi is a common word for meditation. It's also a technical term. It means concentration. And so, David and Ray is one of the people who comes to the Flower of the Sutra readings, and even reading it in English, I heard from Thomas Cleary, studying with him, that he read the entire Flower of the Sutra in Chinese, that allowed seven times to transfer it.

[27:54]

It doesn't mean there aren't imperfections in his translations, because all translations are imperfections. But yeah, when you read this aloud, It is, I don't like the word trance, because it kind of feels like it's divorced from reality, like hypnotized trance in some other place. But absorption is okay. Samadhi needs concentration. So it is this, I might say, very trippy text. It's reading it aloud. as we've been doing. It's not a text that is discursive or instructional. It's just this flow of images of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and their practices and the realms they inhabit and in fact the discourse that

[28:59]

The Buddha allows Samantabhadra, for example, and other Bodhisattvas to speak, supports them to speak. So I would call it a Samadhi text. It does induce this state of being, state of mind, that is. I'm not sure what word to use. people who say trance, but it's, it's, it's kind of, you know, like there's a, there's a term Dharani, which actually Paul, I think is an expert at some of it, but he said Dharani's from, from the moment, but these are part of our practice too. We, we, and these Dharani's which got longer about this, usually longer. We, during our Shodaki ceremony, there were a bunch of them. And they're specifically inducing,

[30:00]

particular states of samadhi but you know there's various sanskrit words for meditation jhana is one and this is uh The source of the word Chan, which in Japanese becomes Zen, transliterating that, Jhana's particular states of worldly meditation that one gets to higher realms. And in China, people thought Zen people doing all those meditations, so they're called Chan school or Jhana school. And so that's one word for meditation. But samadhi is related, and I like to use that as a Sanskrit term just for meditation. But there are different kinds of... There are libraries full of different instructions for different...

[31:02]

programs of meditation. But samadhi is, I would say, is a general generic term for meditation. But also, it's this intense concentration that one feels when reciting, I guess you could do it in Siam, and you might do it too, but reciting it aloud is a traditional practice for working with the So this is the background, again, of this text, this Samadhi of the Treasury of Radiance. I don't know if you have a follow-up to that. Other comments? Oh, Eve, hi. So thank you very much for the image of the statue and the image of the Buddha and some of the plants and the stars.

[32:13]

Right. And so what I heard in my mind here was people singing, welcome myself with a paper hand. Good. So I can't get around it. So good. So. Why do you get around it all? It's very comforting. If I may, the word that I'm translating is treasury. It's the ZO of Shovel Genzo, the main word. But it could also be translated as matrix, the source of things. And it could also be translated as womb. So we could read this text as the samadhi of the womb of radius just to bring in that yeah so thank you continue if you're not finished okay good thank you so we have a little more time if anyone else has any comments or reflections people online as well questions

[33:27]

It might feel like this is very abstract and theoretical, not so practical, but part of the point of this kind of teaching is that it's the basis, the background, the underpinning of all our practices in the world, as well as Aza, as well as just sitting there, sitting like Buddha. So this is, it supports us in our everyday practice. Well, thank you. What was your hand up? Vicky's hand is up. Oh, okay. Hi, Vicky. Hello. So here I'm fighting a cold and my habits of just being rushed and feeling pressure have been kind of at the forefront.

[34:40]

And I'm thinking of this radiance, but... I think it was just yesterday that I was doing dishes and I mindfully brought some awareness to what was actually happening. And so I was washing this cup and deciding to just wash the cup, slow down, remind myself of all, everything that brought this possibility of even washing these cups into reality. you know, into being. And, you know, so it's just like, there's these little glimpses and my daily lay life is taking care of an eight-year-old, which can be chaotic and dramatic. And what's been happening lately is I'll catch myself My behaviors, my actual behaviors with Ishe, who I love very much, will be a little bit frustration or hurriedness, trying to make a situation in my mind what I think is right, which is ridiculous, but this is where I'm at.

[35:51]

And what I'm finding is after sitting quietly and there's a little space between us, then I can bring myself into... just kind of a curiosity and investigation of what's actually happening. And there is this, I don't know if it's even the radiance, but there is this kind of glowing beauty of life that I can be aware of and realize. But I'm having a hard time just like the in-between. And also I actually give myself a guilt trip. of having to, like, it doesn't come to me until I'm sitting a little quietly or have a little distance. And then I'm realizing, so then I might like, as for instance, yesterday, then I decided to go downstairs and help grandma initiate get through the next process of the evening, you know, but it took, but I'll guilt trip myself because it took me this seeming separation of, you know, being able to get a little quiet and separate from the situation to then see.

[36:57]

And I shouldn't guilt trip myself because then I, I am participating. Then I do decide to go and participate. And it is, and I know it's, I'm actually helping. We're all helping each other, but, Anyway, the talk today, I really appreciate. And hearing the, you know, just bringing back that there is the radiance, whether I'm aware of it or not. I mean, life is beautiful no matter what my participation. And yet, and yet my participation matters, right? How I feel like it actually matters to this life. And I don't know if that makes sense at all, but. That's just where I am. I really do appreciate the Dharma talk this morning. Thank you. Thank you. That was wonderful. That was exactly to the point. And even guilt trips are included in this reading. So that happens. We do that. We judge ourselves or others.

[37:59]

But all of it is part of this process of this open reality body Buddha That is underlying everything. So it's true, though, that it does. And when we stop and sit up, right, and sit quietly for as long as we do, it gives us a chance to connect with something deeper and to... to be able to be more patient, maybe, with all of the difficulties in our lives. And I appreciate you're talking about the child. We have a number of children and a number of toddlers in our sauna, and at least a couple of people expecting more. So that's really wonderful. And, you know, we're not a monastic residential sauna, so our

[39:05]

Samba is explicitly white people living in the city, this city or some other city. And yeah, how do we take care of that? So how is Amaya still here? She's what, two now? One and a half, one and a quarter. Anyway, Patrick has a toddler. He's online. Anyway, so our... Oh, there she is. Hi, Maya. Our practice is exactly to connect with this radiance and then how is it? It's not that we express it. How do we meet the reflections of that radiance? in our everyday activities. So thank you, Ricky, for your testimony. Please continue and please be kind to yourself, too.

[40:06]

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