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<\/a>Last night I dreamed that I was in a brightly lit dokusan room. Unlike usual dokusan, however, I sat on a comfortable brown leather couch and the person I was with was completely back-lit by intense sunlight so I couldn\u2019t see his face.<\/p>\nHe was familiar to me but in the waking world, I can\u2019t identify him.<\/p>\n
We were talking about koans. The dream teacher said to me, \u201cSome koans have a hidden, dark aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake \u2018Nanchuan\u2019s Cat,\u2019 for example,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the dark aspect in \u2018Nanchuan\u2019s Cat?'\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s presented clearly in Dogen\u2019s Record<\/em> #282. You should study it there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nI then woke from the dream and reflected on what I could remember and especially about #282. It wasn\u2019t familiar to my conscious mind so in the morning I went right to Dogen\u2019s Extensive Record <\/em>#282 and found this:<\/p>\n\u201cEveryone without exception holds on to the jewel that glows in the night.\u00a0 All houses naturally embrace the jewel of Mount Jing. Unless we turn the light [around to illuminate] how can we hold close the jewel when we are lost in the outlying countryside?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you know the words, \u2018When the ear is in accord it is like the spirit of the empty valley, and loud and soft sounds are never lacking.\u00a0 When the eye is in accord it is like the illumination of a thousand suns, and the ten thousand forms cannot escape their images.\u2019 If we seek outside of sounds and colors, Bodhidharma\u2019s coming from the west is a great fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahhh! Everyone \u2013 cats, fighting people, even the world cut in two \u2013 is the jewel that glows in the dark.<\/p>\n
In the passage, the jewel of Mount Jing refers to story from ancient China. Someone named Bianhuo found \u201c\u2026 a rock containing a great jewel \u2026 and offered it to a king who did not recognize its value, and ordered Bianhuo\u2019s left foot cut off.\u00a0 Bianhuo then offered it to another king, who repeated the mistake and cut off Bianhuo\u2019s right foot.\u00a0 Finally he offered it to a third king who accepted the offering, recognizing its value.\u201d<\/p>\n
So just as in \u201cNanchuan\u2019s Kills the Cat,\u201d something innocent is cut, dismembered, disowned. We\u2019ve lost our way and yet we all shine this light. Dogen says that this is the hidden value of turning the light around to illuminate. The mysterious meaning is right in seeing and hearing.<\/p>\n
That said \u2026 well, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last night I dreamed that I was in a brightly lit dokusan room. Unlike usual dokusan, however, I sat on a comfortable brown leather couch and the person I was with was completely back-lit by intense sunlight so I couldn\u2019t see his face. He was familiar to me but in the waking world, I can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Last night I dreamed that I was in a brightly lit dokusan room. Unlike usual dokusan, however, I sat on a comfortable brown leather couch and the person I was with was completely back-lit by intense sunlight so I couldn\u2019t see his face.<\/p>\n