The beautiful lotus flower does not grow in lush green meadows or on lofty mountain crags; it takes root in a muddy pond. We cannot obtain the treasure of absolute wisdom without entering the ocean of illusion.

Buddha and the devil have the same face. In the end, people who produce illusion have as much satori as do people who experience satori and produce satori, but must return to illusion again to mingle with the creatures of illusion.

The satori person must harmonize with the person who generates only illusion, must mingle with dirt, and must leave no odor of satori behind. The satori person must come to the level of other people, drink, laugh, eat with them.

You do not need to entertain any illusion in order to be in a state of illusion, and you do not need to experience satori in order to produce satori. There can be no desire of will in this at all.

Our sins become the substance of our virtues; it is like the relationship between ice and water. The true great way cannot be encompassed in the notion of satori; it must be practiced profoundly, but it must not be sought.

Through wisdom, we must cut off the roots of illusions and desires at their source. But we must not forget that the illusions of our own minds produce satori; so our desires themselves become the water of satori.

When our bad karma is active, our observation is dispersed and blotted out, and our good karma can no longer make itself felt.

If a person practices zazen only one hour, even a few minutes, during that time the three karmas of speech, body, and consciousness become, literally, Buddha. Because in zazen you do not speak, your body is in the highest posture, like that of Buddha, and your consciousness is hishiryo (beyond thinking – observing thoughts without becoming attached to them). This is the highest karma. At that time, you are in a state of samadhi; you are like Buddha.

The true Mahayana bodhisattva does not want to cut off or exorcise illusions and desires. The bodhisattva must have the courage to face life and death.

You must leap into the racing torrent, into modern civilization, not run away and hide in the mountains. Nirvana is the mountain; you must go to it and come back again.

If you face life and death with courage, then you are born as non-born, and your mind cannot be totally clouded; you are like the lotus flower rooted in slime, or the physician who heals the patient without catching the disease. Like a bird that flies in the sky but does not dwell in any part of the sky.

So you must go to nirvana without cutting off desires, and purify the root of illusion without having to sever illusions.

Making choices is not good; too much choosing is an obstacle to satori. Too much choosing is a mistake, deciding, “This is good, that is bad….” Good can turn to evil, and evil can become good. Good and evil are relative; they depend on time and circumstance.

Our life does not exist in time. But in our life, time exists. Time exists only through our practice in our everyday life. The capacity of our own will is very limited. Effort is important, of course, but we cannot make any lasting, durable headway by means of effort. Our own personal effort is limited by time and space. So we must abandon our own will, abandon the ego. Then we can be moved by the wonderful fundamental power of the cosmos.

Illusions glitter like diamonds, and people are drawn to them; illusions are what make human beings live; they are as necessary to us as air, because the end of illusion, the disappearance of phenomena, means the end of activity, the end of life, death.

The desires you observe in other people exist in your own mind too. Everything exists in your mind.

Contradictions are built into our brain. It is extremely hard to abandon the demon and keep only the saint in our brain. That way, no true satori is possible. We must not cut off our illusions. We must find satori among them.

Listening, thinking, and practicing, it is possible to enter samadhi. To be in samadhi means to be beyond illusions or saintliness, experiencing our inner purity through the body and not just through thoughts. It is very important to practice. Samadhi is an experience that you have alone, by yourself.

Satori is like the moon’s reflection on the water; the moon does not get wet, and no waves appear on the surface of the water. The moonlight illuminates infinitely, illuminates the whole earth, but can also be contained entirely in a tiny drop of water. The moonlight does not disturb the water; in the same way, do not consider satori as an obstacle to your practice.

When the light of wisdom is turned off, the illusions of darkness appear. But the true light of wisdom of the middle way is always there; it does not move. It is like a mysterious jewel, glowing steadily.

Taisen Deshimaru (1914-1982)

Source – The Ring of the Way – Testament of a Zen Master Taisen Deshimaru 1983

The beautiful lotus flower does not grow in lush green meadows or on lofty mountain crags; it takes root in a muddy pond. We cannot obtain the treasure of absolute wisdom without entering the ocean of illusion.

At times we feel like we are “successfully” walking with a foot in both worlds where illusion and reality seem balanced. Similar to walking a balance beam, we adjust our heart/mind and respond to what is happening within and without with a sense of naturalness. The overthinking mind rests for a bit; there seems to be a sense of flow where we are a part of all we see and hear.

Then we get lost in the extremes around us and forget the relationship between the illusions we live amongst and how they are inextricably related to any experience we have of Truth.

When the light of our wisdom is turned off, the illusions of darkness appear. But the true light of wisdom of the middle way is always there; it does not move. It is like a mysterious jewel, glowing steadily.

Gazing at the lotus with you,
Elana, Scribe for Daily Zen