I want to present this koan from the booklef record, case number 86, usually called Uman's Storeroom and Temple Gate, sometimes called Uman's Everyone Has His Own Light. I've talked about this case before. Master Unmon was a disciple of Sepo and lived in the 10th century, toward the end of the Tang Dynasty. and was one of the most famous or well-known Zen masters in China.

[01:04]

He's well appreciated by everyone. Master Oumong, first of all, Ngo gives his introduction. And Ngo introducing the case says, Controlling the world, he allows not the least speck of dust to escape. He cuts off the diluted stream 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, which is the main subject. So in the main subject, Master Unmon spoke to his assembly and said, everyone has their own light.

[02:10]

If you try to see it, everything is darkness. What is everyone's light? Later, answering, because none of his disciples could say anything, he said, the halls and the gate, or the storeroom and the temple gate. And then he added another word. And he said, no thing may be better than something. That's the case. That's the Then, Setcho, the compiler of the Blue Click record, has a verse. And in the verse, he comments and says, it illuminates itself absolutely bright.

[03:20]

It gives a clue to the secret. Flowers have fallen. Trees give no shade. Who does not see it looks? Seeing is non-seeing. Non-seeing is seeing. Facing backwards on the ox, he rides into the Buddha hall. In the introduction, Ingo says, controlling the world, he allows not the least speck of dust to escape. He cuts off the deluded stream of thought, leaving not a drop behind. If you open your mouth, you are mistaken. And if you doubt for a moment, you have missed the way. Holding tight, holding fast here, controlling the world, means not falling into

[04:24]

In other words, it means not falling into duality. So, controlling here doesn't mean to control exactly, but more like not letting things get out of hand. If you don't let things get out of hand, then there's nothing to control. Letting things get out of hand means to fall into the realm of partiality, or opinionatedness, or speculation. In other words, that which hinders direct seeing. Directly seeing or directly knowing is what we call intuition.

[05:45]

So in order to know directly, we have to let go of our ideas, our speculations, our partiality. right and wrong, yes and no, good and bad, this and that. As soon as we name something, it becomes divided. We divide it from ourself. It's necessary to divide and conquer. In order to conquer, we have to divide. In order to relate to the world, We have to divide. But to know reality directly, we have to take away the dividers. We have to get rid of the dividers.

[06:55]

And then the whole ocean becomes one thing. Today we have the first day of Sashin and we sit Zazen and just take out the dividers of our mind, divisions of our mind and let the ocean become one place. say, water returns to the sea. So this holding fast means not to leak, not to let anything leak.

[08:04]

Not leaking means don't fall into abuse Don't divide up the world. It's necessary to divide the world, but when we divide the world, we should realize that even though we divide the world, it's still one thing. And even though it's one thing, it's divided up into little pieces. This is the point. Don't fall into one side or the other. Don't be attached to one side or the other. Don't fall into pleasure or pain. So, the main subject, Master Uman, speaks

[09:11]

everyone has their own light. This light in Japanese is komyo. Komyo means more than just light. It means sometimes translated as divine light or radiant light. But divine has some merit. in that you immediately realize that it has some religious significance. But divine also presupposes a deity. So, although it's a useful word, it's not completely accurate. So, radiant is good. proceeding from the center. Proceeding from the center to the center.

[10:16]

So translation radiant may be better. Everyone has their own radiant light. If you try to see it, Everything is in darkness. What is everybody's light? That's his question. What is everyone's light? But nobody could answer him. Nobody said anything. This not saying may be a good answer. not answering anything with the best answer. And then later he said, the temple storeroom, temple gate, and the pantry.

[11:25]

And then again he said, just in case response. He said, no thing may be better than something. This light I like the fact that Master Unlong says this, expresses himself this way. We usually tend to think of light, light is a wonderful metaphor for life and for optimism.

[12:32]

And darkness is usually a metaphor for death and ceasing and our lower urges and evil. So light usually means good and dark usually means evil. So, U Man says, if you try to see it, if you try to see this life, everything is in darkness. All you see is darkness. Right here we have a kind of problem. If you try to see it, everything is darkness. Dogen Zenji says, Don't think of light as having any special form or color.

[13:49]

It's not red, yellow, blue. But red, yellow, blue are expressions of light. Everything without exception is an expression of light. But if you try to grasp or see it as light, or if you get some special idea about what light is or what its form is, then you fall into complete darkness. If you try to catch it or So he says, what is this light?

[14:56]

What is everybody's light? Nobody can say anything. On the other hand, what can you say? What can you do? How do you express it? This is the point. Everyone has their own light. What is it? Everybody, without exception, has this light. What is it? So he says, pantry, temple gate, administration hall.

[15:58]

In other words, in our daily mundane activity, it shines or it illuminates. And so wherever we are, some special place. So he says, don't get hung up on that. There is no place. No place may be better than someplace. So he keeps taking everything away from us. No matter what we try to grab, he keeps taking it away. He says, not this, not this, not there. Yes, here, here, but no, not there. Be careful.

[17:04]

This is like practice is realization, and realization is practice. Dogen Zenji says, when you practice, it's there. And it's there, whether you practice or not. But in order to realize it, we have to do something. And in the doing, there's the illumination. But if you try to grab the illumination, So it's like you can do, but you can't see what you're doing.

[18:19]

It's like blindness. It's like being completely blind. Blindness has two meanings. One meaning of blindness is you can't see anything. Another meaning of blindness is everything is revealed. But it's necessary to be blind. In order to really see, it's necessary to be blind. But we want to be able to peek. This is our kind of ambition, you know, or our curiosity. We have great curiosity, and we want to be able to see, or to peek. But we have to be able to take a blind ride.

[19:21]

So we can be it, but we can't see it. Enlightenment. We talk a lot about enlightenment, luminosity, radiant light. We can be it, but if we try to see it, it's all utter darkness. But utter darkness has another side. Utter darkness is complete light. Utter darkness is just another name for light. In our utter darkness, the light is revealed.

[20:30]

Light is only light because of darkness. And darkness is only darkness because of light. In the Sando Kai, Sekito Kisen says, talks about darkness and light. Don't try to grasp darkness, or don't try to grasp the light. In light there is darkness, and in darkness there is light. Don't be attached to one or the other. In birth there is death, and in death there is birth. Don't be attached to one or the other.

[21:36]

In pleasure there is pain, and in pain there is pleasure. Don't be caught by one or the other. Without being caught by one or the other, our life will be illuminated. This is like the moon on the water. The moon goes all the way to the bottom, but the water is not disturbed. So, light appears in every activity, and it is every activity. How do we realize this illumination in moment to moment, in every activity, in ourselves and in each other?

[22:51]

This is called light seeks light. But it's not hindered by darkness. attached to anything, the light dims. So, you know, in Sashin, we allow our light to have free play. That's what we're doing. We're not creating something, but just allowing light to dislight. Buddha-nature is another name for it.

[23:56]

To come forth and be present. everything without exception in the ten directions is this Komyo, radiant light. But unless we have correct activity, we don't see it. although it is what we are.

[24:58]

Then Satcho versifies and he says, it illumines itself absolutely bright. He gives a clue to the secret. He doesn't say anything outright, but he gives us something to chew on. A little clue. He says, everyone has it, but what is it? Flowers have fallen and trees give no shade. flowers falling from the trees, and the trees give no shade. There's only brilliant sunlight, blinding sunlight, and utter darkness.

[26:20]

Who does not see if he looks? But the one says, if you look, if you try to find it, you can't see it. Seeing is not seeing. Non-seeing is seeing. Seeing is not seeing. Not seeing is seeing. He means, you can do it, but don't peek. Facing backwards on the ox, he rides into the Buddha hall. Facing the ox, you know, is Buddha nature.

[27:28]

And the ox are in pictures. The boy or the girl is looking for the ox, looking for the nature. And here, freely riding the ox, he rides into the Buddha Hall. Where is the Buddha Hall? The Buddha Hall is not some building. with a statue. But where is it? Everyone has their Buddha Hall. Buddha Hall is the place where we all live. It's our vitality, our vital living place. Where is that?

[28:31]

How do we ride the ox into our real life, where we really live? How do we stay there? And how does our being radiate from that place? So, when we sit sasheen, We sit in that place and without trying to find something, without looking for something, we just do our work without attaching to some result. without trying to produce something.

[29:35]

Without trying to produce something, everything is produced. Without trying to create something, everything is created. This is called putting ourself in a correct place and standing out of the way. I don't know whether this is a good thing or not. It is self-eliminating.

[31:48]

It is self-eliminating. Buddha nature is self-eliminating. It doesn't need anything because it is everything. It's because it's the source of things. But it is also you. Even though you are not it, it is you. So, independent, yes, each one of us is independent, but each one of us is it. That's what I said. When you talk about seeing, or not seeing, or looking, or looking for something, what is it that we're looking for, exactly?

[33:08]

Buddha nature. Enlightenment. It is the thing that everything is seeking. But it is always right here. It's like Joshua's question, what is the way? When he asked Nansen, what is the way? Ordinary activity is the way. Ordinary life is the way. And Joshu says, well, can I go after it?

[34:14]

And Nansen says, if you go after it, it runs away from you. But how can I get it if I don't go after it? That's the question. Same thing. How can I get it if I don't go after it? That's the koan. If you don't go after it, you're not doing something. And if you do go after it, it runs away from you. Yes. At the end of your talk you said, I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but what else is there to do? Well, if I say, this is really a good thing to do, then I'm just passing judgment.

[35:26]

I'm just making some kind of partiality. I'm just showing my partiality to this. I am partial to it, but I don't want to foist that on you. If darkness is an aspect of light, and not the bad guy, then there's no such thing as evil. There's just my projections and my assessment. Strictly speaking, there's no such thing as good and evil. But we create good and evil. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do that. But we should realize, at the same time that we create the idea of good and evil, that it's just our idea.

[36:37]

Yeah, it seems that evil can be used sometimes to transcend things, to stir up things, to bring about good, so that the evil serves as a vessel. That's right. Evil brings about good, and good brings about evil. They bring about each other, and it's really hard to get out of it. As soon as you fall into one, you create the other. It's a necessary condition. When we get into this realm, ideals. Even though good and evil are our own creation, nevertheless, it's a necessary evil, a necessary function.

[37:52]

Duality is a necessary function of this world. But the non-duality of this world is also is what that rests on. And if we don't understand the non-duality of good and evil, then we just get stuck in good and evil. So good and evil are conditions that are real and exist as good and evil, but they're only conditions and they are based on the non-duality that good and evil are the same. But nevertheless, there are the good guys and the bad guys. But sometimes the bad guys are good guys. Sometimes the good guys are bad guys. It depends on where your perspective is. So when you get into the realm of duality, it's all where your perspective is.

[38:56]

Because the bad guys see the good guys as bad guys. And the bad guys... When you're a good guy, the other guys are bad guys. But nevertheless, it's complicated. Plants. You know, a lot of times seeds need to be buried most frequently. They need a period of darkness in order to grow. And so it's a combination of darkness and light that causes seeds to grow and plant. That's right, that's growth. But you told me the trees have no root in nature.

[39:58]

They do? Not today, but once before. Our yesterday's answer. Good. So what is it that the sun and the darkness are calling for? Calling for? And then those Buddha nature-less seeds. Radiant light. Are you sure? I'm sure. We also have to sleep, right?

[40:58]

In darkness. But that sleeping in darkness is also It's all part of life. So have you changed your mind? Do trees now have buddha nature? Trees are buddha nature. What is this moon that shines on the... it's reflected in the buddha's ocean, and if you say you don't see it, It's not quite correct, but if you say you see it, it's not correct either. Right. Either way, it's not correct. And this not correctness is correct. When sitting with us in the state of mind that one strives to achieve, is it blankness, or is it aware?

[42:22]

Awareness. Is it just simply awareness with no judgment passed on? Yeah. Awareness without any discrimination. Or does that become like, you know, when one applies Azaan in daily life, does strategy, is just being there in the strategy and making your plans and being aware of that? Or is that too much thinking? Well, we have to decide what to do. We're always deciding what to do. You're walking along this way. Sometimes. But sometimes you have to sit down and figure things out. That's okay.

[43:24]

So we have to know how to discriminate. Discrimination is life. Our life is a life of discrimination. But when our life is based on discrimination, is based on non-discrimination, then we have some freedom from discrimination. We're not attached to a discriminating mind, but we can use it freely. And we should use it freely, but it's a non-selfish mind. When a discriminating mind is based on a non-discriminating mind, then it's called not being self-centered. being buddha-centered or buddha-nature-centered, not self-centered. So sitting zazen is to be buddha-centered, even though we center ourself on ourself.

[44:35]

This is buddha's practice, not my practice. Yes. It seems like I have to give up wanting to see the world as it is. Good. Because I didn't want to. Right. But if I let the world be as it is, I notice that I start to disappear from it. Yeah. So I should give that up. Well, when you try too hard to do something, then your trying mind interferes with seeing, clearly seeing. So, clearly seeing is to just let everything be. But that's a simplistic statement.

[45:43]

Any statement also includes the things that it's not saying. So if we say non-doing, non-doing includes all the things that you do. But it's non-doing what you do. But we always want to trip things in half. Oh, non-doing means not to do anything. Non-doing means really doing completely. Non-doing means complete doing. So that complete doing is non-doing. Non-activity. Wu-wei. No doing. This is how we have to understand.

[46:52]

So zazen is non-doing because it's complete, utter doing. complete dynamic, total dynamic activity within complete stillness. And utter stillness within total dynamic activity. This is non-duality. One way, verbally expressing non-duality. So, this is how it sits us in, whole body and mind, doing one thing completely, centering.

[48:11]

And then, illumination. illuminates by itself. We don't have to look for something or do something special. It's just our natural endowment.

[48:29]

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