During this session, the topic for the talks that I'd like to start with is the absorption in the womb of light. I'm going to refer to a number of different texts, but in a sense the main text is called The Absorption in the Womb of Light.

[01:10]

It is written by the Zen teacher Koun Eijo. the disciple of Dogen Zenji. In this short essay he begins by telling us why he wrote it. He says that in the Shobo Genzo, in the Shobo Genzo, in the womb of eyes

[02:27]

of the authentic Dharma, in the womb of eyes of the authentic Dharma, there is a chapter called Light. He mentions this because if his teacher wrote a chapter about light, one might ask, why does he need to say anything more about it? Ajo was a very humble disciple of Dogen. He said, when I die, I don't want a special grave place. even though he was the second abbot of Eheji.

[03:33]

He said, just bury me over next to my teacher's tombstone. So since Dogen Zenji wrote a chapter on light, there must be a special reason for him to write now an essay about light. an essay where he encourages us to absorb ourselves in the womb of light. And he says, the reason I now go on to write this piece is to help people fully realize that the face and behavior of the Buddha way is the absorption in the womb of light. This absorption is the hidden practice and the occult function of self-realization and

[04:49]

the action of enlightening others. The treasury of light, the womb of light, is the original source of all Buddhas. It is inherent in all living beings. It is the totality of all things. It is the womb of the great light of spiritual capacities and complete awareness. The three bodies of Buddha, the four knowledges and all the innumerable concentrations of the Mahayana manifest from here. He then goes on to cite the Avatamsaka Sutra which has lots and lots of elaborate stories of light.

[06:01]

I think I'll wait a little while before I introduce these magnificent images of the light as they're presented in the Avatamsaka Sutra. I'm doing that because I feel we must, first of all, before we start to, before we listen to the words and pictures of this light, we have to settle down a little bit more. I heard this, somebody gave me an article yesterday and the woman who wrote the article, I can't remember the name of the article, but the woman who wrote the article quoted a Sufi saying which says something like, sure, it's fine, go ahead and do your worship and do your dances.

[07:34]

But before you do so, tie your camel to a post So first of all we have to tie our camel to the post. First of all we have to just sit and hopefully leave our confusion and pain and suffering alone, but not in an abstract way or a general way, but in a moment-by-moment way.

[08:39]

Somewhere in this essay, Ajo Zenji says, trust everything to inhalation and exhalation. And then throw your body and mind into the womb of light. and don't look back. Trust everything to inhalation and exhalation and then throw your body and mind into the womb of light and don't look back. All the Buddhas come from this womb of light, but the Buddhas don't know what it is.

[11:01]

All the Buddhas come from the womb of light, and the womb of light is actually the Buddha's wisdom. But it's so bright, it's so radiant, that no one can get it. No one can know it. Yet, it does function completely and freely. How can we throw ourselves into this womb? How can we absorb ourselves in this light? How can we sit and enter into radiance? A poem just came to my mind, which I didn't know I was going to bring up, but I'll stumble along and try to remember it.

[12:26]

It goes something like, I live my life in ever increasing orbits or ever expanding orbits. I may not reach or accomplish the last one, but this is my effort. I've been circling around God. I've been circling around the ancient tower for a thousand years. I'm circling around the ancient tower for a thousand years.

[13:34]

And I don't know if I'm a falcon, a storm, or a great song. That's partly remembered, Rilke. We don't know what this light is. but we're circling around it. We circle around this tower and we don't know what is in the middle of the tower and we don't know who we are, but we just keep circling in wider and wider circles. I think this is the tower of light.

[14:43]

Did I miss any important lines? Does anybody know that phone? Pretty close? One way to circle around this tower is to trust everything to your breath. To walk with your breath around this light. Walking around this light is also diving into it and sitting there.

[15:52]

In morning service we're chanting the Zazen Shin, admonitions on Zazen. This Zazen Shin can also be called the point of Zazen, or the needle, or the lancet of Zazen. And it starts out the essential function of every Buddha, the functioning essence of every ancestor. This functioning essence, this essential function, is this light. It moves along with our non-thinking.

[17:03]

It moves along with our stupid circumambulation of this point. We walk around this essential function of every Buddha. like a complete fool. We don't know what we're doing. We just sit there and walk endlessly for a thousand years around this essential function of all Buddhas. And this light is manifested by this basically useless circumambulation By this non-action of just sitting, we manifest this light. Another construction on this I see in case three of the Book of Serenity.

[18:44]

One day the Raj of East India invited the great teacher, Prajnatara, to lunch. After the meal, the Raj asked the teacher, Prajnatara, Why don't you read scriptures, Master? Prajnatara said, This poor wayfarer doesn't dwell in the realms of body and mind when breathing in. Doesn't get involved in the realms of myriad things when breathing out.

[19:53]

I always recite such a scripture. One hundred, one thousand, one million scrolls. He's sitting, body and mind, totally sitting, breathing, and while breathing he doesn't get involved in this body and mind. sitting totally involved in nothing but sitting and also not getting involved, not dwelling in the experience of this sitting.

[20:59]

This is the scripture that the ancestors are always reciting. This is concentration in light and this is how this light becomes manifest in this world. Here's another instruction. Life is just like riding in a boat.

[22:04]

You raise the sails, you row with the oars, you're riding the boat. Although you row the oars, the boat gives you a ride. And without the boat, no one could ride. But, although the boat gives you a ride, Your riding makes the boat what the boat is. Please investigate such a moment. Such a moment is the point of zazen.

[23:21]

moves along with your non-thinking and is manifested in non-merging. This is called circling around the ancient tower. Now I'd like to read you another instruction of how to absorb yourself in the light of Buddha's wisdom. This is called The Naming of Cats. It's a poem. I don't know who it's written by.

[24:34]

I'll try to find out. Oh, by the way, do you know some other names? You know what cats are? I mean, this is a poem, but why did I bring it up today, right? There's no cats in this session. What do you think cats is? Hmm? Just take a guess. Yeah, dependent co-origination, right? Of what? What kind of things are dependently co-arised? Riding in a boat dependently co-arises, right?

[25:41]

It's life. A cat is life. Riding in a boat This is how to name life. This is how to name your life. This is how to name the essential function of every Buddha, the functioning essence of every ancestor. This is called a name zazen. The naming of cats is a difficult matter. It isn't just one of your holiday games. You may think, at first, I'm as mad as a hatter when I tell you that a cat must have three different names. First of all, there's the name that the family uses on a daily basis, such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James.

[26:45]

such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey. All of them are sensible, everyday names. Then there are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter. Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames, such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter. but all of them sensible, everyday names. But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular. A name that's particular and more dignified. Else, how can he keep up his tail perpendicular? or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride.

[27:50]

Of such names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, such as mankustrap, kwaso, korikopat, such as bambalurian, or jelly lorem. Names that never belong to more than one cat. But above and beyond, there's still one name left over. And that's the name that you never will guess. The name that no human research can discover. But the cat himself knows and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, the reason I tell you is always the same.

[28:52]

His mind is engaged in rapt contemplation of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name. His ineffable, effable, Ephanine-effable, deep and inscrutable, singular name. I think it's T.S. Eliot. T.S. Eliot? Oh. Good for you. The ineffable. Hmm? The ineffable. The ineffable. I'm going to say ineffable myself. Am I right? So we call it light. But you need two other names too, not just light. You need a sensible name, a peculiar particular name, and a name that no name can reach.

[30:01]

I'm always clearly aware and no name can reach it. Throw yourself into that and don't look back. May our intention

[30:59]

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