I don't know, but I have to think about it. I have to not let myself get lost. And no matter how angry I am, I have to be able to... When I first started giving talks about this... I mean, this is really mild talk. This is a very compassionate talk. So, my first talks were not like this. It was very serious. And, but, little by little, you know, I've been refining it. I don't want to get too, you know, path-ish, but I want it to be, to speak out of, more out of what can we do, rather than what the problem is. We know the problem, but how do you, what do you do about it, you know? So I'm, that's what I'm kind of, more dwelling on what to do about it.

[01:02]

So, to me, that's the compassionate action. And how that plays out, or how it filters out, or, you know, what I would do if we were face-to-face, and... I think about that. You know, what would I do if I was face-to-face with... some of the... some of the leaders at the time that I met. So, we are face-to-face. Actually, my question is, on the anniversary of 9-11, local congregations were having prayer services and music. And, you know, sometimes like reporters call and say, well, since the war started, what are you doing? And my answer is always, well, we have silent meditation for an hour and a half, Monday through Friday, and then morning, Tuesday night, Thursday night, Sunday morning.

[02:08]

And then sometimes, well, you know, we have a special dedication. And to me, sometimes, you know, I feel like, well, the dedication's nice, or maybe it's helpful. It's almost like the dedication seems extra. Well, it's not. You know what I mean? Yes, it's like the usual thing. What is this? We're doing this non-verbal thing with our body and mind, and words even seem extra. But then I wonder, well, is there something more we should be doing? Well, what I might say, if you ask me, I would say we're warning the victims, and we're introspecting the causes. I can't. Nobody else can do it. Where? What time do you do that? Why did this happen? I mean, why did it really happen? My question is, is there more than thought, Sam, as a way to address this problem? Everything, you know, we're meditating on it all the time.

[03:11]

However we approach it is through our meditation. But, you know, in my first talk I said we invented, or we created Manalila. We created it within one. It's our own creation. Our own genie. If we took the bottle, we would not... Anyway... Today... I'm going to... not speak the whole time. Because of the snow... I want to get out and play.

[04:30]

No. Because of the snow, some people have to... I'm a little apprehensive about driving up north And so in order to reduce that apprehension, I'll just speak at a normal length of lecture time rather than full time. So I'll quit a little early. So I have three Three different subjects. The same subject, but three different people. Bill Ginn, A. Joe, and Master Oumam.

[05:34]

All kind of speaking about the same thing. As you know. So I'll just read a little bit of Dogen's Komyo, kind of like the gist of his Komyo. He says, a great teacher, Changsha Chaoshan of Hunan in great Song, China, addressed the assembly in the hall, saying, the world of the ten directions is the monastic's eye. The monks are valuable monks, you see. The world of all the ten directions is the monk's everyday language. The world of all the ten directions is the monk's whole body. The world of all the ten directions is the self's radiant light.

[06:36]

The world of all the ten directions is the self's... Let's do that again. There is not a single person whose self is not the world of all the ten directions. The study of the Buddha way should always be carried out assiduously, and one should never become negligent. Because of the difficulty, the adept who gains knowledge of the radiant light is rare." And then he says, "...the radiant light spoken of by Buddha ancestors is the world of all the ten directions, of all the Buddhas and ancestors, and is communication only between Buddhas. between Buddha and a Buddha. It is the Buddha's light and the light's Buddha. Buddha ancestors make themselves the radiant light. By practicing and verifying this radiant light, Buddhas actualize Buddhas, sit as Buddhas, and verify Buddhas." And he says in here, he talks about the East.

[07:40]

And he says, the East is not just some direction, like north and south and west. It's the spiritual, it's like the essence core of the dharma world. So when he speaks about the east, he's not talking about a direction. So he talks about illuminating the east and so forth. But I don't want to go into that. Here's the story. Hsien-Tung of the Tang Dynasty received one of the Buddha's relic bones and made offerings to it in his palace. One evening, a brilliant light radiated throughout the hall. The emperor was delighted, and early the next morning, the multitude of his officials all offered congratulations to him, saying, it is a divine response to your majesty's imperial virtue.

[08:42]

However, One official, Han Yu Wen Kung, whose courtesy name was Tu Ching, and who had once studied the Buddha Dharma at the lowest seat of the Assembly of Buddha Ancestors, did not congratulate him. Actually, this is an actual person, a historical person. Emperor Hsinchu asked, all other officials have offered congratulations to me, but why don't you? Wen Kung said to him, I read a Buddhist scripture that said, the Buddha's light is not blue, yellow, red, or white. The one last night was, in fact, the dragon god's protective light. The emperor asked, what is the Buddha's light like? And Wen Kong had no answer. This Wen Kong, although a layperson leading the life of a householder, did possess the spirit of an honorable person. and might have been regarded as an able person who could turn heaven and roll earth.

[09:47]

However, Han Wenkong failed to see or hear something in the Buddhist scripture. What had he taken as the meaning of the expression, the Buddha's light is not blue, yellow, red, or white? If upon seeing blue, yellow, red, or white, he had the ability to understand that it was not the Buddha's light, then in the same manner, upon seeing the Buddha's light, He should not have taken it to be blue, yellow, red, or white in a dualistic way. Emperor Shinsung would have pursued the matter with him in this manner had he been a Buddha ancestor. So it sounds like they're both saying the same thing. It sounds like he's saying the same thing, but the gist is He's saying red, yellow, blue, or white is not what designates the Buddha's light.

[10:55]

But Dogen is also saying, but that doesn't mean that those colors are not expressions of the Buddha's light. But this is not what the Buddha's light is. So everything is like Buddha nature. Buddha nature pervades the universe. And this light here, it's just called light instead of Buddha nature. It's like manifestation of Buddha nature as light. But it's not something that you can put your finger on. So he says, we should study in detail Changsha's utterance. The world of all the ten directions is a self-radiant light. And we should study his words. The radiant light self is the world of all the ten directions. The going and coming of birth and death are the radiant light's going and coming.

[12:00]

To surpass the ordinary and go beyond the holy are the radiant light's indigo and vermilion. To actualize a Buddha and an ancestor is the radiant light's black and yellow. Practice and verification are not non-existent, but they are tinged with the radiant light. Grasses and trees, walls and partitions, skin and flesh, bones and marrow are the radiant light's red and white. Mists and fogs, streams and stones, the bird's traceless path, and the mysterious path of enlightenment are the radiant light's gyrations. To experience the self's radiant light is to experience the inner verification of meeting the Buddha, the inner verification of beholding the Buddha. The world of all the ten directions is this very self. This very self is the world of all the ten directions. There is no place to avoid it. Were there a place to avoid it, that place would itself be the living field of freedom. The skull-top body of ours at this moment is the form and image of the world of all the ten directions.

[13:03]

the world of all the Ten Directions, which we practice and verify in the Buddha way, is our skull and skeleton, as well as our flesh, skin, bones, and marrow. One day, Great Teacher Quang Trung of Mount Yunlan addressed the assembly in the hall. Yunlan, you know, is Iman. There are more cases in the book of records in Yunlan Tan about Iman than anybody else. So this is a case in the Bhukha Prasad that features Unmah. So Unmah or Yunmeng. So Yunmeng says, addressing the assembly in the hall, the radiant light is in everyone without exception. One who tries to see it will only see profound darkness. Where on earth is the radiant light of people?

[14:07]

No response came from the assembly, so he himself spoke for them. It is in the monastic hall. It is in the Buddha hall. It is in the monk hall, in the Buddha hall, in the kitchen, in the monastery gate. This saying by the great teacher, the radiant light is in everyone without exception, does not mean that it will appear at a later time or that it existed in times past. or that it is realized as we watch it. We must clearly hear this to mean the radiant light is intrinsically in everyone. It is as though you assemble hundreds of thousands of yin-mengs and have them practice together and recite in unison. The radiant light is in everyone, without exception, is not yin-meng's contrivance. Everyone's radiant light emerges in the form of words meant for others Everyone, as the radiant light without exception, means that one's whole being exists intrinsically as the radiant light.

[15:10]

The radiant light is everyone, who turns the radiant light into the dependent and proper rewards of karma. Thus, everyone is totally in the radiant light. Everyone is intrinsically in the radiant light. Everyone is intrinsically in everyone. Every light is intrinsically in every light. Every existence is totally in every existence. Every totality is totally in every totality. For this reason, we must know that the radiant light which everyone has without exception is the realized everyone who is that same everyone which every light has without exception. Don't get confused. Too late. So I'm going to present Iman's poem.

[16:15]

by Sipcho. In Ingo's introduction, he says, controlling the world, he allows not the least speck of dust to escape. He cuts off the diluted streams of thought, leaving not a drop behind. If you open your mouth, you are mistaken. If you doubt for a moment, You have missed the way. Tell me, what is the eye that has pierced the barriers? See the following." And the following is the main case. Bhuman spoke to his assembly and said, everybody has his own light. But if you try to see it, everything is darkness. What is everybody's light? Later, in the place of his disciples, he said, the halls and the gates.

[17:47]

And again, he said something that is translated in various ways. It's better not to say anything, even if it's a good statement. And then, Setso has a verse. He says, it illuminates itself, absolutely bright. He gives a clue to the secret. Flowers have fallen. Trees give no shade. Who does not see if he looks? Seeing is non-seeing. Non-seeing is seeing. Facing backward on the ox, he rides into the Buddha hall. controlling the world, back to the introduction, controlling the world, he allows not the least speck of dust to escape.

[18:50]

He cuts off the deluded strings of thought, leaving none a drop behind. So this is, in dharma terms, this is holding fast, you know, holding fast and letting go. Grant, holding fast and But sometimes the teacher will say no to everything. Sometimes the teacher will negate and no compliments, no verification, just putting you into a... throwing you back on yourself. And then sometimes granting. Granting is verification, encouragement, leadership, so forth.

[19:58]

So I remember one of my teachers, Tatsugane, she used to say, it's like squeezing and letting go. Squeezing and letting go. And this is kind of the massage of the student. You squeeze, and the student has to really struggle to verify themselves, to get down to their own basic nature. At some point the teacher releases that and brings the student in and verifies and so forth and then squeezes again. So this is kind of like the process of maturing a student. So controlling the world, controlling the student's world, he allows not the least speck of dust to escape.

[21:06]

He cuts off his eluded strings of thought, leaving that thought behind. If you open your mouth, you are mistaken. If you doubt for a moment, you have missed the way. Tell me, what is the eye that has pierced the barrier? So in the main subject, He says, he wants to go to the Assembly. Everyone, you can put it either in, everyone has his own light, and if you try it, or you all have your own light, and if you try to see it, everything is dark. I like that better, putting it in the personal. So, this is personal for each one of us, you know. Each of you has your own light, because he's talking to the Assembly. If you try to see it, everything is darkness.

[22:11]

Everything is in utter darkness. What is everybody's light? So this is a great question. Someone said to me, well, we're talking about this all day, but when I go to Zazen, it's just like, no, I don't see that. Where is this light that you're talking about? But when you go to see it, it's dark. You know, I thought of a phrase, you can be it, but you can't see it. Because the eye can't see itself. The eye can see, but it cannot see its own self.

[23:12]

It can see itself in a mirror, but that's the image. It's not really the eye seeing the eye as it is. You know, Duggan says it's not red, white, blue, or yellow. It's not something that you can identify. as something specific, but yet red, blue, red, white, blue, and yellow, whatever the word is, is it at the same time. So if you want to see yourself, there it is. If you want to touch yourself, there it is. So, we can say things are outside or inside, but there is a kind of outside and inside, which is relative.

[24:22]

But in a bigger sense, there is no inside or outside, since there is something inside compared to something else. So, we can't See this exactly as we imagine it. If you have some imagined idea, that's not it. If you have an idea about enlightenment, your enlightenment will never match your idea. So that's why we say, drop your idea of enlightenment. Just practice. Practice and enlightenment. Within practice is enlightenment. Within enlightenment is practice. So instead of looking for enlightenment, just practice, because that's where it is. But if you try to look for it as enlightenment, you try to isolate something called enlightenment and look for it, you can't find it because it's not independent of practice.

[25:29]

But if you look for the enlightenment within the practice, then you still are separating the practice from enlightenment. So, you can be enlightened, but you can't grasp it. You can manifest it, but you can't grasp it. Similarly, enlightenment is manifesting light. For me, enlightenment is manifesting light. This is what enlightenment is about. And this is the way Dogen puts it, this is the way That's why, you know, you can talk about it only so much. Would you say then that the darkness in that is used as

[26:38]

Non-duality? You know, in the Sangha Kai, it is in darkness is light, and in light is dark, like the foot before and the foot behind is walking. They alternate with each other, and yet they are just two manifestations of the same thing. So within darkness is light, and within light is darkness. So he says, but if you try to see it, everything is dark, dark. So darkness is itself light, and light is itself darkness. That's the non-dual aspect. So is that why in the Sandokai it says darkness is a word for merging upper and lower?

[27:51]

The hook of the knife. Is that the Sun of Heaven? No, no, no, that's merging of two things. Sun of Heaven. It's a word for merging earth. Well, everything merges in darkness. Darkness, it means, you know, it's like you turn out the lights, and so the borders disappear. That's called oneness, darkness. And then, you turn on the lights, and everything stands out in its individuality. But this darkness, It merges. Everything merges in darkness. So, light is a, in that sense, is a term for differentiation.

[28:53]

Writing light there is darkness, but don't see it as darkness. Right within darkness is light, but don't meet it as light. So, even though, you know, we're looking right at it, we don't necessarily see it or recognize it. But it's always right in front of our face. And it's the most obvious thing is what we often miss. So then he says, later, answering for himself, he said, the halls and the gate. And again, he said,

[30:03]

Maybe not better not to say anything. It's better not to say anything, even if it's a good remark. In Sutro's verse, he says, it illuminates itself absolutely bright. Of course, it's the self-illumination of original nature. And it originates from you. And when This is how practice originates from you. Although we practice together, your understanding and your practice really originates from each one of us. When we become students, we follow our teachers and we follow our peers and so forth.

[31:09]

But then at some point, the practice originates from us. And then we take on leadership. That's a very important aspect of practice. To take on leadership naturally, because the practice is, we're no longer being pulled along to actually going on our own, you know, and we encourage ourselves and we encourage others, and that just happens naturally. So, then he says, it illuminates itself absolutely bright. He gives a clue to the secret Flowers have fallen and trees give no shade."

[32:13]

When he says he gives a clue to the secret, it means that the secret is, it's not really a secret, you know, that this light is not something, it's closer, as we say, than hands and feet. It's that which is closer to us than our hands and feet, which makes it a secret. Flowers have fallen and trees give no shade, which means nothing hides it. And who does not see if she looks? So if one, if you really look, you can see it, but if you try to see it, you can't see it. You can only see it when you let it be. Trying doesn't help.

[33:16]

That's why in Zazen, or in Tashim, we don't try to do anything special, but when you go outside, everything's brilliant. So, because there's nothing hindering, that it becomes apparent whether you are recognizing or not. So, seeing is non-seeing, and non-seeing is seeing. So, just let seeing see, let hearing hear, let feeling feel. You say, I see, I hear, I feel, I smell, but you don't. smelling smells, hearing hears, seeing sees. There's no eye that sees or hears or thinks. So when you let this happen, then

[34:31]

We were talking yesterday about just seeing, just hearing, pure consciousness, pure awareness. Pure awareness happens when there's no thinker or no seer, but simply seeing, sees, hearing, is. pure perception, before discrimination. And then he says, facing backward on the ox, one rides into the Buddha hall. That's our complete freedom. So, you know, you're so confident that you can ride the ox backward. The ox is like our nature. So, we're riding the ox. This is trusting totally in our nature.

[35:38]

When someone becomes a monk, they give up everything, including robes and the bowl, and trust in their nature. That's it. There's nothing else. And if you go out once a day and you ask somebody to feed you, and if they don't feed you, you start with it. You know, in the meal chant, it says, may our virtue and practice deserve it. We should reflect on whether our virtue and practice deserves this food. You know that part? Well, that's where that comes from. It's the monk's chant. Because the only reason for them receiving food is because people feel that they're developing their practice. And if their virtue and practice are not up to it, then they don't get fed. That's the reason they're being fed. So that's their work.

[36:41]

So it's not like they're receiving something free. Everything's free, but nothing is free. Everything has to be paid for. And so the monk pays for their food by their practice and virtue. Riding the ox backwards could be a reference to Zazen, if the ox is... like the ox-herding pictures, and it's wild, but if you're facing backwards, you're not going with it. Well, in the ox-herding pictures, it's the same picture, but the... something like the 7th grade picture is riding the ox. But writing the ox backwards is... well, maybe not backwards in the Oxford pictures, but it's a reference that's used in various... you know, in the Tang Dynasty, the use of circles was very popular in Zen pictures.

[37:57]

So the ten Oxford pictures of ten circles And Ison had a hundred circles. Tozon had five circles in the five ranks. And so teaching through that device was very complicated at that time. And the ox appears not just in the ox-serving pictures, but also in Ison's pictures. And the ox stands for buddhahood. And so Nissan had certain characters inside a circle and outside a circle. And I remember one of them is an ox on field ground or something, eating patient's grass. So how is one supposed to know that the symbol of riding the ox backwards is an image that is supposed to denote trust because when you first said that I thought it was something like you don't have or you're being carried by your buddha nature but you're not sort of

[39:27]

cognitively aware? I think you're cognitively aware. Okay. Yeah, you're aware that that's so. But in terms of the symbol, like how do you know that? Well, what else would you think I mean, I always get very confused by these. So, you know, if you open your mouth, you are mistaken.

[40:38]

So, AJ and wrote this treatise on Dogen's comb oil. A. Joe, of course, was Dogen's heir. He called it Absorption in the Treasury of Light. There's a wonderful treatise. I'm not going to read the whole thing, of course. But he says, there is a chapter on light in Shobo Genzo. The reason for writing this essay now, in addition, is just to bring out the essential substance, the fact that the countenance of Buddhism is absorption in the treasury of light.

[41:49]

This is the unobstructed application of inconspicuous practice, carried out by oneself and influencing others. proper to people who have studied Zen for a long time and have entered its inner sanctum. Carried out by oneself and influencing others is ji ji yu za mai. I talked about ji ji yu means by oneself, and ta ji yu, which is included in this ji ji yu, is influencing others. The so-called treasury of light is the root source of all Buddhas, the inherent being of all living creatures, the total substance of all phenomena, the treasury of the great light of spiritual powers of complete awareness. The three bodies, four knowledges, the states of absorption, numerous atoms in every aspect of reality, all appear from within this." And then he goes on and on.

[42:52]

And he cites various scriptures, like the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Miraculous Empowerment of Ayurthana Attaining Buddhahood scripture, which I've never heard of, which says something like, oh master, someone asked this question, oh master, the secret, what is enlightenment? It means knowing your own mind as it really is. That's a good explanation, or a good way to put it When people say, what is enlightenment, you can say all kinds of things. And they're all true. You know they're all different. But I think that's good. What is enlightenment is knowing your mind as it really is. This is unexcelled, complete, perfect enlightenment in which there is nothing at all that can be attained. Why? Because the form of it is enlightenment. It has no knowledge and no understanding. Why? because enlightenment has no form.

[43:55]

Master of the secret, the formlessness of all things is called the form of space. So then he goes on to say, we should know this, So we should know that this light is the universal illumination of matchless, peerless, great light, completely filled with infinite meaning. The great being Monjushri was at that time called the enlightening being sublime light, and was the eighth son of the Buddha, called illuminate like a lamp made of the sun and moon, who enabled him to stabilize unsurpassed enlightenment. The last one to attain Buddhahood was called burning lamp Buddha. Hence we know that the sitting meditation of our school is absorption in the treasury of light inherited directly from burning lamp and Shakyamuni.

[44:58]

What other doctrine might there be? There is this light that is not two in ordinary people and sages, that is one vehicle in past and present. It does not let anything inside out and does not let anything outside in. Who would randomly backslide into cramped boredom within the context of the discriminatory social and personal relationships. It cannot be grasped, cannot be abandoned. Why suffer? Because of emotional consciousness grasping and rejecting, looting and loving." Then he says, Great Master Yunmin, they both, both of them quote this case. The great master Yunmin, 39th generation from the Buddha, said to a group in a lecture, all people have a light, but when they look at it, they do not see it, so it is obscure. What is everyone's light?

[45:59]

No one replied. So the master himself said in their behalf, the communal hall, the Buddha shrine, the kitchen pantry, the mountain gate. Now when the great master says that everyone has a light, he does not say so, it is so to appear later on. or that it existed in the past, or that it becomes apparent to a view from the side, he is stating that everyone has a light. This is exactly what is meant, in the overall sense, by the light of great wisdom. It should be heard and retained, enjoyed and applied in the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. The light is everyone. Shakti Muni and Maitreya are its servants. There is a case in the booklet record, Shakti Muni and Maitreya are both servants of another. Who is this other?" That's a poem. What is not more in Buddhas or less in ordinary beings is the spiritual light.

[47:01]

So it is existent in all. It is the whole earth as a single mass of fire. The master said, what is everyone's light? At that time the assembly made no reply. Even if there had been a hundred thousand apt statements, there still would have been no reply. Yen Man answered himself on their behalf. The communal hall, the Buddha shrine, the kitchen pantry, the mountain gate. This answering himself on their behalf is answering himself on everyone's behalf. Answering himself on behalf of the light. Answering himself on behalf of obscurity. Answering himself on behalf of the assembly's lack of response. It is absorption in the treasury of light, awakening and bringing forth radiant light. This being so, it does not question whether you are ordinary people or Buddhas. It does not discriminate between sentient and inanimate beings. Having always been shining everywhere, the light has no beginning nor location. That is why it is obscure. It is what?

[48:01]

It is traveling at night. It is impossible to conceive of even in a billion, billion, million aeons." an enlightenment poem that he presented to Thogden to verify his realization. I can't remember the whole poem, but I do remember him saying, it's like a jet black ball speeding through the dark night. And so on. And then, at the end, he says, I humbly say to people who are real seekers, who had the same aspiration, do not cling to one device or one state.

[49:05]

Do not rely on intellectual understanding or brilliance. Do not carry around what you have learned by sitting. Plunging body and mind into the great treasury of light without looking back, sit grandly under the ease, without seeking enlightenment, without trying to get rid of illusion, without aversion to the rising of thoughts, and yet without fondly continuing thoughts. Sounds like a zazen. If you do not continue thoughts, thoughts cannot rise by themselves. Like an empty space, like a mass of fire, letting your breathing flow naturally out and in, sit decisively without getting involved in anything at all. Even if 84,000 random thoughts arise and disappear, as long as the individual does not get involved in them but lets go of them, then each thought will become the light of spiritual power of wisdom. And it is not only while sitting. Every step is the walk of light, not engaging in subjective thinking step by step, 24 hours a day,

[50:11]

you are like someone completely dead, utterly without self-image or subjective thoughts. Nevertheless, outgoing breathing and incoming breathing, the essence of hearing and the essence of feeling without conscious knowledge or subjective discrimination, are silently shining lights in which body and mind are one suchness. Therefore, when called, there is an immediate response. This is the light in which the ordinary and the sage, The deluded and the enlightened are one suchness. Even in the midst of activity, it is not hindered by activity. The forests and flowers, the grasses and leaves, people and animals, great and small, long and short, square and round, all appear at once, without depending on the discriminations of your thoughts and attention. This is manifest proof that the light is not obstructed by activity. It is empty, luminosity, spontaneously shining without exerting mental energy. This light has never had any place of abode.

[51:14]

Even when Buddhas appear in the world, it does not appear in the world. Even when they enter nirvana, it does not enter nirvana. When you are born, the light is born. When you die, the light is not extinguished. It is not born, Buddhas, and not less an ordinary being. It is not lost in confusion nor awakened by enlightenment. It has no location, no appearance, no name. It is totally of everything. It is the totality of everything. It cannot be grasped, cannot be rejected, cannot be attained. While unattainable, it is in effect throughout the entire being. It is in effect. From the highest heaven above to the lowest hell below, it is thus completely clear, a wondrously inconceivable spiritual light. If you believe and accept this mystic message, you will not need to ask anyone else whether it is true or false. It will be like meeting your own father in the middle of town. Petition other teachers for a seal of approval, and do not be eager to be given a prediction and realize fruition.

[52:19]

Unconcerned even with these things, why then concentrate on food, clothing, and shelter, or about animalistic activities based on desire and emotional attachment? This absorption in the treasury of light is from the very beginning the site at which all Buddhas realize the ocean of enlightenment. Therefore, it is sitting as Buddha and acting as Buddha, carried on in its utter simplicity. Those who are already Buddhists should sit at rest only in the sitting of Buddha. Do not sit in the sitting of hell, the sitting of hungry ghosts, the sitting of beasts, the sitting of empty gods, humans or celestial beings. Those are the six worlds. Do not sit in the sitting of hearers or those awake to conditioning. Simply sitting in this way does not waste time. This is called the enlightenment site of the straightforward mind, absorption in the treasury of light of inconceivable liberation.

[53:20]

And then he says, this essay should not be shown to anyone but people who are in the school and have entered the room. My only concern is that there should be no false and biased views, whether in one's own practice or in teaching others. That's very, pretty much the essence of practice. It's kind of nice, you know. Dogen is bouncing off of Uman, and Eijo is bouncing off of Uman and Dogen, and Dogen is bouncing off of Umjera, and so there's this inner

[54:25]

interplay of ancestors recognizing each other's enlightenment. Do you have any questions? This koan has always been very... I've always liked this Uman's koan a lot, and talked about it a lot. And so I was happy to find it in Dogon, and then happy to find it in Asia. Kind of helped to verify my own feelings. You know, in Zen practice, when we start to practice, we don't need to study so much.

[55:34]

And if you, when you do study and before you practice, you don't understand so much. But when you, after you practice for a while, and then you read, reading verifies your practice. That's a wonderful way to verify your practice. So that's why I always encourage people to study. People say, well, why should we study, you know, folks sitting out there and so forth. but study verifies our practice and also keeps us focused on practice. So... Right in comparison of the light in Buddhism that we're hearing about, and the Christian Holy Spirit.

[56:42]

Well, what's your question about it? Well, I mean, I just wonder if you're... Is that what you're saying? Yeah. Probably. Why not? I think it depends on your approach. Depends on your approach. If you think that this is... It may be the same, it may not. There's something that may be the same and something that's not the same. Because in Buddhism everything is all there. Everything is imminent. Whereas in Christianity, there's a tendency to be dualistic. You know, God is up here, and you have to reach for that. But basically, I don't think it is.

[57:44]

I think it's just construed that way. So I think that fundamentally, I don't know about Christianity, but There's Christianity and Christianity and Christianity. So some form of Christianity is not dualistic. And I would say in that form we can find common ground. But I mean basically it's common ground because it's got to be.

[58:24]

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