Author Archives: Genju

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one-sided light

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Searching for commentaries on the Sandokai, I came across this one below which is a part of lectures given by Master Rev. Jiyu-Kennett and is copyright of Shasta Abbey.  Helmut’s comment in yesterday’s post encourages me to offer this snippet which reiterates not getting stuck and offers a glimpse of our True Nature.

And yet, in each related thing, as leaves
Grow from the roots, end and beginning here
Return unto the source and “high” and “low”
Are used respectively.
Within all light
Is darkness but explained it cannot be
By darkness that one-sided is alone.
In darkness there is light but, here again,
By light one-sided it is not explained.

Nirvana is here and now, in this very lifetime, and in eternity. But do not get stuck with light: “Oh, I am so holy, I am full of light.” Do not think, because there is darkness within you, you are forever doomed to darkness. The Essence flows through both and always has.

*Light goes with darkness as the sequence does
Of steps in walking; all things herein have
Inherent, great potentiality,
Both function, rest, reside within.

Because this line is so important the gong is struck. It is actually light and darkness within each step, not one after the other. It is because light and darkness are within each step that there is this inherent, great potentiality in both the light and the dark. No matter how dark the karma within you may seem, no matter how light, know that the essence of both is in fact identical. Thus there is the great potentiality for the end and the beginning to come together at the Source, and for both function and rest to reside within.

This isn’t easy to grasp and it absolutely cannot be apprehended with the thinking brain!  The dark karma seems particularly dense and impenetrable some days and the light insufficient.  And yet, this feels like a good place to rest and just feel the dance between the two.

Thank you for practicing,

Genju

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light in dark

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Within light there is darkness,
But do not try to understand that darkness.
Within darkness there is light,
But do not look for that light.
Light and darkness are a pair,
Like the foot before and the foot behind in walking.

Sandokai ~ a verse by Shih’tuo

It seems like a little “neural pruning” is in order.  We spent the latter half of last week in Toronto at a workshop on the neuropsychology of trauma and the usefulness of bare awareness in its treatment.  At one level, I “know” all this stuff: notice, notice, suspend judgment, notice some more.  What I didn’t know was how much time I spend diving into the experience of sensations and using it “to understand that darkness.”  It took deep noticing of the subtle ways I glide into the light hoping to grasp the nature of the dark from that vantage.  As if separation of what is unity could make it more accessible.

Neural pruning means letting these old ways of acquiring wisdom die out which encourages the buds of new paths to understanding.  Chances are, given my limited skills then (as now), those old paths are likely to be linear, rigid, and unforgiving of change.  And yet, there is such a resistance to pruning because what if that linear, uncompromising logic is needed one day!

And then compassion says, “It’s not the linear, uncompromising logic you’re pruning away.  It’s the death grip you have on it.”

Thank you for practicing,

Genju