2022-01-25 H86 Ummon's "Everyone has their own light"

In this teisho Roshi takes up a koan from The Blue Cliff Record: "Everyone has their own light" (Hekiganroku # 86). Here is the case: Ummon said, "Everybody has their own light. Though when you try to see it, you cannot, everything is darkness. What is everybody's light?" Later he answered himself saying, "The temple storeroom, the tower gateway". He also said, "A precious thing isn't as good as nothing".

Ummon presents our human predicament: We each have our own light but when we try to see it everything is dark. What is this light, and what is the darkness? How do we find our way?

Source(s): The Golden Age of Zen by John C.H Wu

Automated transcript

https://otter.ai/u/Yn0cUA1CVjt87V_SsUdY4NFU9MU