Audio log: Tashih gate

## Location

Another audio log found on Symmetry Island, it can only be obtained after going through both of the island's doors. After this you'll see a stairway to the top, but instead of going up you need to make a detour to the left. Walk along the side to reach a cliff with a tree that overlooks the ocean where you'll get a tape!

## Transcript

One nature, perfect and pervading, circulates in all natures;
One reality, all-comprehensive, contains within itself all realities.
The one Moon reflects itself wherever there is a sheet of water,
And all the moons in the waters are embraced within the one Moon.

The Absolute of all the Buddhas enters into my own being,
And my own being is found in union with theirs....

The Inner Light is beyond praise and blame; Like space it knows no boundaries,
Yet it is even here, within us, ever retaining its serenity and fullness.

It is only when you hunt for it that you lose it; You cannot take hold of it, but equally you cannot get rid of it, And while you can do neither, it goes on its own way.
You remain silent and it speaks; you speak, and it is dumb.

The great gate of charity is wide open, with no obstacles before it.

Yung-chia Ta-shih, circa 700

## Literal interpretation

There's no very literal reference here, except for the mention of reflection in the water. There is a natural stone arch next to the audio log, which could count as a gate, maybe.

## Literary context

This is part of the "Song of Enlightenment", that is usually attributed to Yung-chia Ta-shih (Yongjia Xuanjue), but the authorship is debated.
This text deals with the methods of and attitudes towards daily Zen practice.

The area of this quote in particular deals with the search for truth and how the mind relates to the outside world. There is actually a few lines left out where the dots are in this quote:

*In one stage are stored up all the stages;*
[Reality] is neither form, nor mind, nor work;
Even before fingers are snapped, more than eighty thousand holy teachings are fulfilled;
Even in the space of a second the evil karma of three asamkhyeya kalpas is destroyed;
Whatever propositions are made by logic are no [true] propositions,
For they stand in no intrinsic relation to my inner Light.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote is part of Theme 5: Preconceptions and more importantly the nondualism message of Rupert Spira.

The first part of the quote is about lettign the Buddha into yourself and recognizing that all people are actually all one. It uses the image of the reflection of a moon to illustrate that point. What we see as our selves are actually just the reflections of the moon. Even though we see ourselves as individuals, we are just reflections of the true moon, which is the larger spiritual entity that is present in all of us.

The second part of the quote is about how this spirit is always there, but we can't really see it. Trying to see it makes it invisible to us and while it's always part of us, we can't actually take hold of it. This also relates to the 'veil' described by Ibn-al Arabi.

So the overall message here is that this moon we see in the water might seem like the truth, but it's actually just a reflection of the truth. Trying to reach for that reflection will not bring us any closer to the truth. The only thing we can do is to realize that the reflection isn't actually something we can reach and see the real moon that is actually out there.