Awakened Mind – Delusion Mind – Jundo Cohen Roshi

According to Dogen, all are Dharmas of reality, and distortion is distortion as it is, the realty of distortion as it is. It s something like saying that sages are Buddha while ordinary, deluded beings are also Buddha. Of course, only the sages realize so and act like so. Another image is that a pile of trash, to an ordinary mind, is just a pile of trash. However, to an awakened mind, even a pile of trash shines like a jewel on Indra’s Net, and is not merely a pile of trash anymore (nonetheless, let’s pick it up!). Likewise, delusion to a deluded being is just delusion, but delusion to an awakened being is just awakening, the universe, reality, Buddha too. To the awakened mind, trash or distortion/delusion/monkey mind may still be present in Samsara and human existence, but the awakened sage can see through them and they are not only that. The awakened mind does not require the total absence of distortion/trash/monkey in order to be awakened. Quite the contrary, nirvana is found right as samsara, but the sage relizes so while the ordinary person does not.