Good morning!
We had a very warm day yesterday, going up to 77 degrees, and the forecast said that it would go down to 31 degrees overnight. Now we still have a nice warm, moist atmosphere. We can see the abundant autumnal colors around us in yellow, red, brown, etc. Some golden leaves are falling.
I remember the ginkgo tree at Zuioji temple, estimated to be 800 years old. Tsugen Roshi painted the miniature folding screen on our mantelpiece there. He painted Bodhidharma’s figure with calligraphy saying, “The entire body is exposed to the golden wind.”
When we sit like an old ginkgo tree, tall and deep, we become like it, exposed to the golden wind. The earth is covered with the golden fallen leaves and the world is reflecting in gold. When we cast off leaves of lust-desire, covetousness-malevolence, sloth-drowsiness, doubt, etc., our entirety is exposed to eternity.
This is what we experience in sitting, casting off all extraneous things and breathing throughout the entire world in penetrating purity, peace, and prognosis. This is what the Buddha revealed and shared with all beings. When we sit upright, we stop all karmas, casting of all habits and habit energies.
We become vast space, blue sky, like the ocean, sallila, penetrating with limitless friendship, compassion, joy, and equanimity, upekkhâ – literally “casting off” – not moving a single speck of dust, speckless, becoming the whole world in purity, peace, harmony, and holiness.
Unfortunately, we are usually driven by karmas, with limitless problems and sufferings. However, anybody can sit in penetrating purity, peace, and prognosis, understanding the global system and the global ethic, no killing, stealing, lying, etc. This is the source of limitless merits and happiness.
We are now talking about the GNH, gross national happiness, instead of the GNP, gross national product. Production produces pollution with a lot of problems. But when we sit, we return to and remain in limitless purity, peace, harmony, and happiness.
With our karmas we go up and down, witness gain and loss, birth and death. When we sit, however, we stop all of these, settling in nirvana, becoming selfless without the triple poisons, tasting amrita, ambrosia of immortality. Prognosis penetrates through sufferings and prognosticates its cessation.
We really hope that more people will understand and activate this “come and see” way, enjoying the Brahma-vihâra, Brahman’s residence or living in limitless friendship, compassion, joy, and equanimity in our everyday life – having a good day everyday (日日是好日)！
11/11/12
Ginkgo at Washington Univ. campus taken by Erin and received this morning coincidentally as I wanted to get and post one of it from her.
Then I thought of searching the ginkgo tree picture at Zuioji Temple and found this one from the following site:
www.kyoboku.com/itefu/1zuiouji.html
While searching for another picture of it, I came across the Zuioji Temple and its ginkgo tree posted as You Tube video: