I vow to taste the truth of God by God's grace. I vow to taste the truth of God by God's grace. We started out these satsang lectures talking about this central column of consciousness.

[01:15]

And we've talked about several koans, Zen stories, in regard to this, or using this as a starting point. As you become more conscious in this central column, you'll move differently. You want to just use your head like a searchlight, without looking in your eyes. This story is of Gutei, a specially wonderful story, and Sukershi felt, too, it was a practical,

[02:46]

practical, scientific story of the truth, for our Western scientific intuitive view. It was a good story. In the story I told you about Hungan and Dogo discussing whether, discussing about Pavlokitesh, Pavlokiteshvara's body, all eyes and hands. In the commentary there it says, although the whole body of Pavlokiteshvara is eyes, the body does not obtain vision.

[03:51]

Although the whole body is ears, the body does not hear. By the way, something practical, if possible, those of you who smoke should stop. You can't put smoke in your eyes, this column, and expect to see it. I think the best description for smoking is to, when you feel like smoking, instead,

[05:05]

pretend the air is smoke, and breathe as if you were smoking, and turn your vision inward. You'll get almost the same effect, instead of two now. A good taste finger.

[06:12]

I cannot be understood by discrimination. And a good taste finger is also a perfect example of sudden way. By gradual way, so-called gradual way, there's no such thing as gradual way, actually. There's some progress in refinement, but real truth is all sudden. And maybe the style may be different. If your training is quite good, the bumps may be less noticeable. Bumps. There's always some bumps. You can't understand a good taste finger gradually. And you can't understand it by degrees or discrimination.

[07:22]

Means you see, you see it with your whole body. Depth, you don't perceive any longer. Depth, foreground to background, front and back. Height, you don't perceive like that anymore. It's like a vision, a thing connected by light. And one with you. Seeing things from all sides at once. And you step into it, you jolt into it. When you have cut off, and I'm paraphrasing here, occasionally, the commentary on this.

[08:35]

When you cut off one-sided desires. Not desires, but one-sided desires. Desires from one point of view. Self-centered desires. So, it means to stop discriminating. Cut off discriminating, self-centered or one-sided desire. Before your pure energy can come up. . It says in the commentary, a good taste finger is like.

[09:39]

Is. I don't know the word, but like a board with a knuckle. A float in the sea. And flocks or successions of blind tortoises are lined up at the board in the dark waves. It's true. Blind tortoises. It comes from, of course, the story of the buffalo. There's a turtle who's got one eye in his stomach.

[10:40]

That's all. He can't see anything, but he wants to see the sun or worship the sun. Finally, a board floats by with a knuckle. Rabbit, he puts his tongue to the knuckle. Look up. It's every. Such a board, you know, and turtle. It's very rare. But it says good taste fingers. Surrounded by blind turps. But this finger is not good taste finger.

[11:44]

You know, it's your finger. It's the whole phenomenal world. It's every chance. So. Now, when you are practicing or walking or doing it, reach in to step into the details of every. There's a poem by Setsho. About the precepts. Like it says, one, three, five, seven. Maybe it says three, one, seven, five. I think it's at one, seven, three, five.

[12:45]

One, seven, three, five. Nothing can be depended on in this universe. Nothing can be depended on in any universe. One, seven, three, five. Nothing can be depended upon in any universe. Night comes and the water is flooded by moonlight. Inside the jaws of the dragon. Finding many jewels. You know, that's Setsho's poem. It's the best poem I know about the precepts.

[13:47]

Details inside the jaws. Front and back, gone. This teaching, we shouldn't depend on sutras, they're dead. And even our teacher's teaching we shouldn't depend on. It must be fresh on each occasion. So we need, we can discuss all teaching, but we need this kind of occasion.

[14:51]

And especially it needs your dropping discrimination. Until you get this whole vision. It says, lifting one thing, all universe is lifting. Lifting one thing, emptiness is lifting. A blossom opens and all universe vibrates. But if we don't lift anything. What do we see? It says too.

[16:07]

Wonderful example that I've seen. Dai, silk thread factory, shop near where I live in Kyoto. If you just take a spool of thread, silk thread, maybe any, must be any kind of thread. And you get the color, you just dip one end and whole spool becomes that color. But what we're talking about here is another gate, another way of receiving. Avalokiteshvara permeates, Yaksana says, permeates the twelve hours or the twenty-four hours.

[17:17]

Time is not continuous. Avalokiteshvara, we are continuous as Avalokiteshvara. Dogen says, everyone, holy or unholy, layman or priest, has, can, has the ability to embrace the Tathagata. To pick up and embrace the Tathagata. This is like I was saying, a compass, to fold, fill up and fold together. By the way, I should add that the plis part of the compass not only means flax, it means folded legs under you. It's used in various combinations.

[18:24]

So to fold together. And when we bow, one of the chants, there are many chants or bows or chants or mantras that we say when we do things as part of ceremonies, that sometimes we are taught. And one of them is, when we bow, we say to ourselves, we plunge into the bow, plunge, plunge, we don't know where we're going. It's interesting sometimes to do a whole, I shouldn't say this, flying tortoises you really be, to do a whole service with your eyes closed, bowing and everything. So you don't know where you're coming down to the ground and up. To spend, you know, to lose your bearings. Like reaching for your pillow.

[19:33]

I'm telling you one thing after another, tomorrow, tonight, the anniversary of Buddha's enlightenment. And I want you to realize that all of your lineage from Buddha until now has been talking about the same thing. It's not just Buddha, it's also Satcho, Dogen, Hongan, Suzuki Yoshino, Gude, Tenryu, and you. It's ancient and fresh experience.

[20:52]

Our human experience. Our complete human experience. And especially nowadays, people want you to do it. People need you to do it. To have this complete human experience. Which acknowledges all things, Dogen says, to be identified by all things, to be enlightened by all things. To enter the details, the jaws of the dragon. There are no jewels in your mind without reaching into the details. Pungent into the details.

[22:07]

Consciousness of mind but without thinking. Consciousness of body but without seeing. No subject of it, no depth or height, front or back. Everything changing. Spinning out of view. We'll have a rather long day today.

[23:28]

But not too long. Long enough for you to try to stop your restlessness. Make peace with your restlessness. Give up to your occurrences. Buddha did not see the morning star with discriminating mind. And what he realized, we can say but you can't think of it, you could not have thought of it before. Comes up, your energy comes up.

[24:36]

You come up. And your home treasure comes up. No front or back. Depth or height. No front or back. No front or back. Your energy comes, move yourself with it. Don't be scared. Nothing is going to hurt you.

[25:48]

Embrace everything. Embrace everything. Embrace everything.

[27:00]

Embrace everything.

[27:07]

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