Enlightenment is like the moon
reflected on the water. The moon does not
get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide
and great, the moon is reflected even in
a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and
the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops
on the grass, or even in one drop of water.
Enlightenment does not divide
you, just as the moon does not break the
water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just
as a drop of water does not hinder the moon
in the sky.
The depth of the drop is the
height of the moon. Each reflection, however
long of short its duration, manifests the
vastness of the dewdrop and realizes the
limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.
Enlightenment is like the moon
reflected on the water. The moon does not get
wet, nor is
the water broken.
Do you think of enlightenment as some
special state in which everything changes?
Is Dogen telling you that — like
the moon in the water — nothing
changes?
Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected
even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are
reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.
Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does
not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop
of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.
Realization does not change you. Nor can you hinder realization.
Is this natural state your vision on realization?
The depth of the drop is
the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long of short its
duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop...
The
dewdrop is
everything. If you’re a dewdrop.
...and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the
sky.
They’re both open-ended…
The depth of the drop is the height of the
moon. Each reflection, however long of short its duration...
How do you measure your realizations? Do you evaluate your
experiences: shallow, deep...?
The dewdrop is not affected by the moon, the moon is not affected
by the dewdrop. They each reflect each other and each is totally what they
are.
