The poem from the Shobogenzo chapter ‘Flowers in the Sky’ was written by Zhang Zhuo upon his enlightenment. It begins, “Radiant light serenely illuminates the sands of the Ganges.” Talking about the mind of awakening is very difficult. The poem ends: “Nirvana and birth-and-death are both flowers in the sky.”

https://youtu.be/34xQxJYoR1k

The five dharmas are a good way to introduce looking at this. Things appear, we are compelled to name them, then we interpret, analyze, and stir things up. These three dharmas are in everyone’s lives. The spiritual path of buddha knowledge and suchness is understanding and seeing the illusion.

https://youtu.be/5Y71iRIwjeQ

https://youtu.be/FxYJ6aov1kc

This has been called the five dharmas in the Lankavatara Sutra. The five dharmas are just one thing. It’s going to look like a path until it doesn’t. Even without the 4th dharma of buddha knowledge, you can awaken to muchness.

https://youtu.be/IYHFKj6x6tI

Think deeply comes from Dogen’s Shobogenzo in the fascicle, “Flowers in the Sky.” Receive thoughts without manipulating and interpreting them. If you think deeply there’s no thinker. Allow the self to fall away from the greediness of an imaginary self.

https://youtu.be/9EsX40wIQBU

Your emotions are always there. When something happens to trigger our emotions we may think something or someone caused it. This is untrue. Cause and effect are much more complicated than that. Don’t torture others by blaming them.

https://youtu.be/QByjiVDODb0

Buddha’s first teaching was suffering. If you’re alive, you’re going to suffer. Even when nothing seems to be wrong, we’re worried about what might be coming just around corner. Most people do not know they are suffering because they’re successful in the relative area of covering it up.

https://youtu.be/ykwbYVOhzYI

https://youtu.be/OUep2HD6Ies

https://youtu.be/Gi7k4iePRkk

Anytime anything occurs, if you have any thoughts about it at all, it’s more than likely a cover-up. Rather than see what is there we fight with it, or we blame. It’s about being aware or this, not stopping or fixing it. It seems to take a lot of sitting meditation in order to see this clearly.

https://youtu.be/_aea6TrHwzA