Dharma Inquiry
Song of the Jeweled-Mirror Samadhi
Thursday, May 28
1 – 2 p.m. (EDT) on Zoom
Facilitated by: Dharma Holder Michael Herzog and Dharma Holder Rev. Paul Galvin
Please join us for a time to explore and discuss a reading from our Boundless Way Zen sutra book. Michael and Paul will facilitate reflection on and discussion of the reading Song of the Jeweled-Mirror Samadhi on page 25 in the BoWZT Sutra Book).
Each of us will share our impressions and consider the perspectives of others with guidance. And we will all take refuge in Sangha as we speak and explore the Dharma together. The gathering is open to everyone (pre-registration is not required), with a suggested donation of $10 – $20, which can be given on our Temple donation page to support our ongoing engagement in the dharma.
Join the discussion using the Boundless Way Zen Worcester Temple link.
Song of the Jeweled-Mirror Samadhi
by Dongshan Liangjie; tr. SZTB
The Dharma of thusness is intimately transmitted by Buddhas and Ancestors.
Now you have it; preserve it well.
A silver bowl filled with snow, a heron hidden in the moon.
Taken as similar, they are not the same; not distinguished,
their places are known.
The meaning does not reside in the words,
but a pivotal moment brings it forth.
Move and you are trapped, miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation.
Turning away and touching are both wrong, for it is like massive fire.
Just to portray it in literary form is to stain it with defilement.
In darkest night it is perfectly clear; in the light of dawn it is hidden.
It is a standard for all things; its use removes all suffering.
Though it is not constructed, it is not beyond words.
Facing a precious mirror; form and reflection behold each other.
You are not it, but in truth it is you.
Like a newborn child, it is fully endowed with five aspects.
No going, no coming, no arising, no abiding; a baby babbles—is anything
said or not? In the end, it says nothing, for the words are not yet right.
In the illumination hexagram, apparent and real interact;
stacked together they become three; the permutations make five,
like the taste of the five-flowered herb, like the five-pronged vajra.
Wondrously embraced within the real, drumming and singing begin
together. Penetrate the source and travel the pathways;
embrace the territory and treasure the roads.
You would do well to respect this; do not neglect it.
Natural and wondrous, it is not a matter of delusion or enlightenment.
Within causes and conditions, time and season,
it is serene and illuminating.
So minute it enters where there is no gap,
so vast it transcends all dimension.
Just a hair’s-breadth deviation, and you are out of tune.
There are sudden and gradual, so teachings and approaches arise.
With these matters distinguished, each has its standard.
Mastered or not, reality constantly flows.
Outside still and inside trembling, like tethered colts or cowering rats,
the ancient sages grieved for them, and offered them the Dharma.
Led by their inverted views, they take black for white.
When inverted thinking stops, the affirming mind naturally accords.
If you want to follow in the ancient tracks,
please observe the sages of the past.
One on the verge of realizing the Buddha Way contemplated a tree
for ten long kalpas,
like a battle-scarred tiger,
like a horse with shanks gone grey.
Because some are vulgar: jeweled tables and ornate robes;
because some are wide-eyed: cats and white oxen.
With a great archer’s skill one can hit the mark at a hundred yards,
but arrows meeting head on—how could that be a matter of skill?
Wooden man starts to sing; stone woman gets up dancing.
It is not reached by feelings or consciousness—
how could it involve deliberation?
Ministers serve their lords,
children obey their parents;
not obeying is not filial,
failure to serve is no help.
With practice hidden, function secretly, like a fool, like an idiot.
Just to do this continuously is called the host within the host.
(Page 25 in the BoWZT Sutra Book)
