Also See: Samādhi of the Treasury of Luminosity

Last Updated 16/06/2025

A Practitioner's Reflection on the Kōmyōzō Zanmai (Version 0.1)

Introduction: The Three-Fold Path of Light

The Kōmyōzō Zanmai is one of the most luminous and direct transmissions in the Zen tradition. Authored by Koun Ejō, the direct Dharma successor of Eihei Dōgen, this text is not a mere philosophical argument. It is a direct pointing to the nature of reality. In this reflection, we will explore the meticulous path it lays out for the practitioner, a path that can be understood in three major phases:

1. The Foundational Realization of Pure Presence ("I AM"): The initial breakthrough of dis-identifying from the contents of mind (thoughts, feelings) and recognizing the timeless, formless, ever-present awareness that is the ground of all experience. This is the discovery of the "numinous awareness" (靈知, líng zhī).

2. The Initial Non-Dual Insight (Substantialist Nonduality / Non-Dual Radiance): The realization that all phenomena are not merely inseparable from but ARE the luminous, radiant display of a single Mind. The subject-object divide collapses into a unified, radiant field. This is a profound insight, but as we will see, it can lead to the subtle reification of Mind as an ultimate, existing ground or Self, where all things are seen as expressions of this one Self—a deviation from the Buddhist path.

3. The Profound Insight into Anātman (Insubstantialist Nonduality): A crucial and liberating realization that paves the way for even deeper insights. Here, even the single, radiant Mind is seen to be empty of any inherent, independent self-nature (svabhāva). It is not a substance, but the crystal clear knowingness not found anywhere apart from the dynamic, selfless, agentless, and radiantly impermanent process. Reality is understood not as nouns (a Seer seeing a scene), but as pure, spontaneous, sentient verbs (seeing-happening). This is the direct experience of impermanence itself as Buddha-Nature.

In this reflection, we will explore not only Ejō's pointing but also practical methods of self-enquiry. While we do not know the exact pedagogical tools Ejō used with his students, the methods discussed here, drawn from the broader Dharma tradition, can serve as potent tools to directly realize the profound truths to which he points.

The Prefaces: A Lineage of Reverence

The historical prefaces by Mitsuun and Menpō frame the text not as a mere book, but as a sacred relic—a direct conduit to the mind of the enlightened ancestors. Their palpable joy at its rediscovery underscores its importance. For them, these words were not just teachings about the light; they were the living transmission of the light. They establish an unbroken lineage from the ancient Buddhas to Ejō, asserting that what follows is the authentic, undiluted heart of the Dharma.

Part 1: Defining the Treasury of Light - The Luminous, Sentient Heart of Reality

Ejō begins by defining his central metaphor: the Treasury of Light (光明藏, kōmyōzō). Critically, this is not a cold, empty void. This is a universe that "has a Heart." Ejō’s light is not the lifeless photon of physics; it is a vibrant, intelligent, and numinous luminosity (靈光, líng guāng). This "radiance" is the very texture of reality itself, synonymous with what other traditions might call pristine consciousness or pure knowingness. It is the intrinsic clarity and wakefulness of Mind. When Zen masters speak of numinous awareness (靈知, líng zhī), they are pointing to this very same principle—an intelligent light that is not seen with the eyes, but is the very aware, noetic capacity behind seeing, hearing, and knowing. It is the sentient, aware quality that makes experience possible.

Realizing the Source: The 'I AM' Before All Things: Ejō establishes that this Light is the "source of all Buddhas, the inherent nature of all beings, the total body of all things." This is a direct pointing towards the first crucial breakthrough on the path: the realization of the formless Source or Ground of Being. This is the insight into the "I AM" that was present before Abraham, the "Original Face before your parents were born." It is the direct, non-conceptual realization of the Mind that is prior to all sensory and conceptual experience—prior to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking.

The purpose of self-enquiry, as taught in Zen and other direct paths, is to guide the mind back to this very Source. Questions like, "Without thoughts, tell me what is your very mind right now?" are not seeking a conceptual answer like "void" or "hollow." Such answers are products of the thinking mind. The question is a tool to exhaust the intellect and create an opening for direct recognition. As Ramana Maharshi explained, the enquiry "Who am I?" is like the stick used to stir a funeral pyre—it destroys all other thoughts and is finally destroyed itself, revealing the doubtless Self that remains.

This realization is not necessarily achieved by entering deep meditative states where the senses shut down, though such states can intensify the absorption. As many masters have pointed out, it is a matter of realizing what is already, undeniably present. You exist, and you are aware that you exist. This is not just a vague or mental noticing of “Oh, I exist” but a unshakeable, doubtless realization of the Truth of Being. This dawning of a direct certainty of your own Beingness, this objectless Presence-Awareness, is the foundational realization. It is the simple, direct taste of your own essence before it is clothed in the five senses or labeled by the thinking mind.

The "All is Mind-Only" Insight (As a Subsequent, Pedagogic Tool): After the foundational realization of the formless Source, the path often leads to a distinct, further insight that directly corresponds to the Yogācāra (Cittamātra) teaching that "the three realms are mind-only" (三界唯心). This is the realization that all external objects are nothing but luminous manifestations of one's own mind, collapsing the naive dualism of an inner self and an outer world into a single, unified field of Mind.

However, it is absolutely essential to understand the true intent of this teaching. As explained by Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, the great Mādhyamika masters refute the Cittamātra system only when it is misunderstood. The error lies in reifying the mind as a truly existing substance. As Mipham says:

"self-styled proponents of the Cittamātra tenets, when speaking of mind-only, say that there are no external objects but that the mind exists substantially—like a rope that is devoid of snakeness, but not devoid of ropeness... they believe the nondual consciousness to be truly existent on the ultimate level. It is this tenet that the Mādhyamikas repudiate."

Cittamātra, correctly understood, is not a metaphysical assertion of a transcendental, ultimate Mind (like Brahman). Rather, it is an expedient pedagogic tool designed to break our attachment to the reality of external objects. The progressive path, as outlined by Asaṅga and echoed by Brunnhölzl, is as follows:

1. One first understands that all phenomena are simply the mind.

2. Subsequently, one has the experience that there is no object to be apprehended in the mind.

3. Then, one realizes that because there is no object, neither is there a subject (a mind cognizing them).

4. Immediately after, one attains the direct realization of ultimate reality, devoid of the duality of subject and object.

Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche clarifies this subtle point perfectly. He explains that while Mādhyamika masters refute a substantially existing mind, they do not refute the valid, conventional realization of a non-dual "self-illuminating gnosis." Mipham states:

"If, on the other hand, that consciousness is understood to be unborn from the very beginning (i.e. empty), to be directly experienced by reflexive awareness, and to be self-illuminating gnosis without subject or object, it is something to be established."

This "self-illuminating gnosis" is the profound ground of non-dual radiance—a direct, valid experience on the path. The critical point Mipham makes is that this gnosis is established conventionally as a valid realization while being understood as ultimately empty and unborn from the very beginning. The substantialist error, which Dōgen and all Buddhist masters refute, is to mistake this valid realization for a final truth by granting it its own independent essence, separate from the vivid, selfless self-knowing/self-luminous appearances cognized. The deeper insight into anātman deconstructs even this luminous ground, revealing that it has no inherent existence apart from its own manifestations.

The Realization of "No-Attainment" (Mushotoku): Ejō’s emphasis on "no-attainment" (无所得, mushotoku) is the key that unlocks the entire path. This principle is supported by classic Zen dialectics, such as his reference to the Way being unobtainable by either 'a mind of existence' or a 'mind of non-existence' (无心, mushin), pointing directly to the ungraspable, unfindable, and empty nature of Mind itself. The anātman insight reveals that there is no static, background consciousness or "Source" to be attained, only the dynamic, radiant foreground of appearances — everything is no less “I AM” (Mind) than “I AM” when the illusion of a background substrate is seen through. As John Tan explains, this "background" is an illusion fabricated by a dualistic mind seeking something to hold on to, for in truth, even the “I AM” Presence awakened to initially is not some underlying background behind everything else but merely another foreground manifestation that is simply one of the ten thousand faces of nondual Presence, and nondual Presence has no (inherently existing) face of its own besides these ten thousand faces. The realization of mushotoku is the direct seeing-through of this illusion. It is not just that Mind is already here; it is that there is no "Mind" as a separate, attainable entity apart from the transient phenomena themselves. Realization, therefore, is not an act of acquisition but the cessation of all seeking, which dawning when the fundamentally unobtainable, empty nature of reality is directly and irrefutably seen.

Part 2: The Foundational Realization - Discovering the Ground of "I AM"

This initial breakthrough is the shift from identifying with the contents of experience to identifying with the context in which they appear—the silent, ever-present space of awareness itself. This is the numinous awareness (靈知, líng zhī). Ejō uses "Class 1 Kōans" to trigger this insight by turning attention away from the object of perception and back towards the perceiver itself.

Linji's Pointing: "Now tell me, what is it that knows how to preach the Dharma and listen to the Dharma?" The Enjoyer of Life: "Now tell me: when you piss and shit right now... whose enjoyment is this, ultimately?"

It is crucial here to distinguish between a mere glimpse or recognition of this "I AM" Presence, and its full, abiding realization. Many practitioners may experience fleeting moments of recognizing the formless witness. This is a vital first step. However, Self-Realization proper is the direct, unshakeable certainty of this Beingness, a Eureka! realization beyond all doubt of what one’s Essence or Ground of Being is. The purpose of sustained self-enquiry is to deepen these initial recognitions until they mature into an abiding, unshakable Reality.

Expanded Practical Enquiry: Finding the Listener ("I AM") These are not questions for the intellect, but tools for direct investigation designed to transform glimpses into certainty.

Method 1: Koan and Direct Pointing (The Zen Method)

Settle and Ask: Sit quietly in a comfortable posture. Allow your body and mind to settle. Become aware of the ambient sounds in the room. Turn the Question Inward: Now, with genuine curiosity, turn your attention inward and ask Linji's question: "What is it that is hearing these sounds right now?" Investigate Directly and Relentlessly: Your conceptual mind will immediately try to answer with labels. Discard them. The instruction is to find out who is the listener, or what is listening to the sound. The Realization of Objectless Presence: As you search with sustained, non-conceptual diligence, a profound recognition will dawn: you cannot find the listener as an object, however, It is undeniably present—clearly, something is aware of that sound, that awareness and presence is undeniable—but it is formless, boundless, and objectless. It has no center and no edge—it is an all-pervading pure Presence. This is not a realization of nothingness, but a direct certainty of Beingness that is simply without object. This direct, non-conceptual recognition of the formless, ever-present knower is the initial insight. Rest in this open, knowing space of Being.

Method 2: Self-Inquiry and Neti-Neti (The Vedantic Method)

Systematic Negation: Ask, "Am I this body?" Feel the sensations of the body. You are the awareness of them. Conclude firmly: "Not this." Observe a thought. Ask, "Am I this thought?" You are the witness of it. "Not this." What Remains? After you have negated everything perceivable, what is left is the irreducible, undeniable, subjective sense of presence, of knowing, of being—the "I AM."

Part 3: The Profound Insight into Anātman: From Non-Dual Radiance to Selfless Impermanence

The realization of "I AM" is a profound and stable ground, but it is not the end of the Buddhist path. It can become a subtle trap—a reified "True Self" or Universal Consciousness, a view Dōgen directly refuted as the Senika heresy. The Buddhist insight into anātman goes deeper. It involves turning the light of enquiry onto Awareness and phenomena themselves, revealing them as empty of any permanent, independent, or substantial self-nature. This progression from a substantialist to an insubstantialist non-dual view is absolutely critical.

Stage 3a: The Initial Non-Dual Insight: Realizing Non-Dual Radiance This first non-dual breakthrough is pointed to by "Class 2 Kōans" like Changsha's:

"Zen Master Changsha said to the assembly, 'The entire ten-direction world is the eye of a monk... the entire ten-direction world is one's own light.'"

This kōan directs the practitioner to the realization that the entire world is a seamless, luminous display of Mind. It is the insight that all appearances ARE the radiance of consciousness (心相一如). This is a profound experience of non-duality. However, as John Tan clarifies, this initial insight is often characterized by a "hyperreal" vividness. The world appears with a magical, stark clarity, but it may not yet be seen as "unreal" or empty. One can realize that "all is Mind's radiance" and still subtly cling to "Mind" or "Radiance" as a real, underlying substance—a substantialist view.

Stage 3b: The Deeper Anātman Insight: Realizing Insubstantiality and Agentlessness The full insight into anātman requires a further step: penetrating the empty, selfless, and transient nature of all phenomena, including the radiant Mind itself. This requires a unified practice that deconstructs both the agent, self-view, view of inherent self-nature, and reveals the nondual radiance as appearances simultaneously. The Bahiya Sutta provides the ultimate instruction for this, and the two stanzas of contemplation are a direct, practical application of its wisdom.

Expanded Practical Enquiry: A Unified Practice for Anātman based on the Bahiya Sutta

The Synergy: The Bahiya Sutta's core instruction—"In the seeing, just the seen"—encapsulates both stanzas. 

1)

As John Tan emphasized, these two aspects must be realized together for it to be a genuine insight into Anātman.

The Practice:

1. Begin with a Single Perception: Settle your mind and focus on one continuous sensory experience. For example, look at a cup on a table.

2. Apply the Bahiya Sutta's Instruction to Deconstruct the Experience:

   • Strip Away the Label: Look at the cup. The word "cup" is a learned concept. Before that label, what is your direct, empirical experience? It is a collection of colors, shapes, shadows, and reflections. That is all. Return to this raw, pre-conceptual data.

   • Contemplate the First Stanza (Agentlessness): Now, bring in the first stanza: "There is seeing, no seer." As you look at these colors and shapes, search for the independent "seer" who is doing the looking. Can you find it? You will only find the impersonal process of seeing itself. There is no agent.

   • Contemplate the Second Stanza (Non-Dual Radiance): Now, bring in the second stanza, framed by the Bahiya Sutta's radical directness: "In the seeing, just the seen." The word "just" is the key. It means there is nothing else there. The practice is to see through the illusion that there are two separate parts to vision: 1) the seer, and the act of seeing and 2) the object seen.

   • Investigate deeply: See that the “seeing” and "awareness" do not exist as something inherent or with its own essence apart from the colors; the knowing radiance IS the colors, the colors ARE the knowing radiance, and that all phenomena are not inert objects but are the self-luminous, self-knowing radiance of Mind itself. Likewise, the "seen" (the raw colors and shapes) is not a separate object "out there" being perceived by a "seeing" "in here." The visual objects ARE the colors and shapes, and these colors and shapes ARE the seeing. You never experience an "unseen color"; they are one single, indivisible process. The entire visual field is not an object to your mind; it IS the active, knowing radiance of Mind itself.

     Kyle Dixon wrote, “For Buddhas the field of phenomena does not appear as external but as their own display. Essentially meaning that knowing and what is known are not different. What is known is itself the activity of knowing.

     Rongzom:

     Buddhas and bodhisattvas are the knowers, and unmistakable true reality is the object of knowledge. Therefore, it is stated that there is no difference between knowledge and the object of knowledge.

     Kūkai:

     Although mind is distinguished from form, they share the same nature. Form is mind, mind is forms. They interfuse with one another without difficulty. Therefore, knowing is the objects of knowledge, and the objects, knowing. Knowing is reality, reality knowing.”

The Liberating Insight of "Not Being 'With That'": The Bahiya Sutta's instruction culminates in liberation: "Then, Bahiya, as you are not thereby, you will not be therein. As you are not therein, it will be clear to you that there is no here or there or in between. This, just this, is the end of suffering." This points to the final fruit of the Hinayana path, Arhatship. The crucial, irreversible step on this path is the direct insight into anātman. When it is directly realized that the colors ARE the seeing, and that there is no seer, the entire foundation for a self-view (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) collapses. This direct seeing-through of the illusion of a self/Self marks the attainment of Stream-entry (Sotāpanna), after which the final cessation of suffering described by the Buddha is certain when the practice of sila, samadhi, prajna is perfected and comes to complete fruition.

The Ultimate Collapse: It is crucial to realize in Anatman, "In hearing, no hearer" (dismantling the illusion of an agent). But as Thusness/John Tan pointed out, the final deconstruction goes even further than merely “hearing without hearer”. "In hearing, only sound. No hearing." Ultimately, even the verb "hearing" or "seeing" is a subtle conceptual overlay. The final insight collapses the entire structure. There is not even "seeing happening." as "seeing" too is without any inherent existence of its own. There is simply (self-seen/self-aware/self-knowing) radiant color. There is simply sound. The raw phenomenal datum arises agentlessly as the luminosity of Mind that is No-Mind.

The Merged, Unified Insight of Anātman: When this practice matures, the insights from the two stanzas merge into a single, direct perception of reality. This is the Pellucid No-Self, which has two key facets, corresponding to the two stanzas:

1. Agentless Unfolding (The Fruit of the First Stanza): Through contemplating "no seer," "no hearer," you directly realize that experience unfolds without a central coordinating agent or "doer." Actions happen, thoughts think, and senses sense, but no one is authoring them.

2. Non-Dual Radiance (The Fruit of the Second Stanza): Through contemplating "in seeing just the seen," "in hearing just the heard," you realize that there is no "awareness", "seeing", or "hearing" apart from the colors; the colors ARE the knowing radiance, and that all phenomena are not inert objects but are the self-luminous, self-knowing radiance of Mind itself.

When unified, this insight reveals reality as a seamless, agentless, and dynamic process. It is a world of verbs, not nouns. There is no "Seer" seeing a "scene," only seeing-happening, which ultimately resolves into just scenery. Everything is at zero distance, gaplessly intimate, self-seen and self-heard without duality, as the radiant knowingness of Mind that is No-Mind.

The Nature of This Realization (Dōgen's View): This agentless, selfless process is not a cold, mechanical, or dead unfolding. It is the very Buddha-Nature itself in dynamic expression. This view is central to the Sōtō lineage to which Ejō was the direct successor. As Dōgen, his master, taught:

Dōgen: "Therefore, ahe very impermanency of grass and tree, thicket and forest is the Buddha nature... Supreme and complete enlightenment, because it is impermanent, is the Buddha nature."

The "light" of the Kōmyōzō Zanmai is not the light of a permanent, unchanging ground. It is the brilliant, radiant light of moment-to-moment arising and ceasing. The final view is not a static abiding in an unperturbed changeless Awareness; it is the dynamic, effortless, and compassionate living as this transient, radiant reality.

Part 4: Shattering the Obstacles on the Path

With this three-phase model of realization in mind, Ejō’s warnings about the pitfalls of practice become even clearer. They are precisely the errors that prevent this progression.

• Seeking an External Light: One of the most common pitfalls, which Ejō warns against repeatedly, is to conceptualize "light" as a sensory object or a phenomenon with specific characteristics. He states that this luminosity "is not blue, yellow, red, white, or black." He then describes how "foolish people," upon hearing the word "light," immediately begin to search for something akin to "the glow of a firefly, like lamplight, like the luminosity of the sun, moon, gold, or jade." This act of objectifying the light is a fundamental error. It keeps the practitioner trapped as a "seeker" looking for a "sought" object, reinforcing the very subject-object duality they are trying to transcend. By looking for a radiance "out there" to be perceived, one misses the crucial point: the true light is the formless, ever-present knower itself. Therefore, seeing through this trap is the essential first step, requiring one to abandon the search for any special appearance and instead turn the faculty of awareness back upon itself to realize the "I AM" presence directly.

• The Trap of Stillness (The "State" vs. "Principle" Error): Mistaking a quiet mental state for realization is a common pitfall. This is often confusing a dull, non-conceptual state for the vibrant, clear light of pristine awareness. The "I AM" is not a dull blankness; it is bright, luminous knowingness and pure Presence.

• The Reification of Consciousness: This often arises after the initial non-dual insight (realizing non-dual radiance). The practitioner feels they have found the "True Mind" or Universal Consciousness and reifies it into a subtle new identity. This is why the deeper anātman enquiry is necessary—to deconstruct this final, subtle "Self.", not the egoic self but the Great Self with capital ‘S’.

Part 5: The Flame Sermon - Reality as Non-Dual, Total Radiance

The metaphor of the "great mass of fire" (大火聚, daikaju), which Ejō invokes, is a powerful and direct pointer to the nature of non-dual radiance as appearance.

• A Total, Immersive Field: A great fire is an all-encompassing reality. It is not an object that one can stand apart from and observe. To approach it is to be enveloped by its heat and light. This illustrates that there is no standpoint from which one can observe reality. The deeper truth of anātman is that there is no "one" to be apart, nor an "it" to be apart from.

• The Directness of Appearance: This provides the perfect context for Yunmen's famous answer. When asked, "What is this luminosity of yours?", he doesn't point to a mystical source or offer a philosophical concept. He points directly at the "great mass of fire" that is the raw, vivid, phenomenal world right in front of everyone: "The monks' hall, the Buddha hall. The kitchen, the storehouse, the temple gate."

The kitchen is the fire. The temple gate is the fire. The luminosity is not hidden behind these appearances; the appearances themselves, in their direct and undeniable presence, ARE the luminosity. The "great mass of fire" is not a symbol for anything else; it is a direct pointer to the totality and immediacy of the radiant phenomenal field itself. It is the inescapable, all-encompassing Treasury of Light.

Part 6: The Life of Realization - "The Person of Old"

The "person of old" (旧时人, kyūjinin) is the one who lives from this integrated, anātman understanding. The distinction between a substantial Mind and the world has vanished.

• Effortless Functioning (无为, wúwéi): This person is "like a great dead man" because the separate, striving ego-agent is dead. Yet they are fully alive and responsive. Their actions are not decided upon; they flow spontaneously from the totality of the situation. This is the effortless action that arises when there is no "one" standing apart to calculate or contrive.

• The World as Selfless, Radiant Process: For this person, the world is no longer an external object being perceived by an internal subject. The colors on the mountains, the changing of seasons, the feeling of the breath—all are direct, immediate, and selfless expressions of the one, dynamic, radiant reality. There is no longer a "me" seeing a "flower." There is only the sentient, selfless verb of flowering-seeing.

Part 7: The Path After Anātman - Practice-Enlightenment and the Two Wings

The profound insight into anātman is not a final endpoint, but a crucial gateway. It marks the end of the seeker and the path of deliberate "how-to" practice in one sense, but it is the beginning of a different, deeper mode of practice in another. It is a grave error to conclude that because there is no-self, there is nothing to do. The correct understanding is the opposite: because there is no fixed self, there is only the ongoing flow of ignorance and afflicted activities that need to be addressed. The insight into anātman becomes the very motivation for continued, correctly-oriented practice.

Practice-Enlightenment (修証一如, shushō-ittō): This is where Dōgen's core teaching becomes the living reality of the practitioner. The insight into anātman reveals that there was never a separation between practice and enlightenment to begin with. Practice is not a means to an end (a future enlightenment). Rather, every moment of rightly-oriented practice, such as shikantaza (just sitting), IS the direct expression and actualization of awakening and Buddha-nature. This is what Dōgen's teacher Rujing meant by "dropping off body and mind"—it is not a goal to be achieved, but the very act of zazen itself, free from the coverings of desire and delusion.

The Two Wings of Wisdom (Prajñā) and Compassion (Karuṇā): The post-anātman path is often described as the cultivation of the two wings of a bird, which must be in balance for flight.

The Maturation of Wisdom: The focus of practice after the initial anātman insight shifts from acquiring a realization to the natural functioning and maturation of wisdom (prajñā). This is not a passive process but an ongoing, dynamic authentication of the truth in every moment, which deepens the understanding of dependent origination. A critical aspect of this maturation involves seeing through a subtle layer of reality that can initially be mistaken for the final truth. It is the progression from experiencing the "realness" or vividness of phenomena to simultaneously realizing their empty, dream-like nature.

As John Tan clarifies, there is a crucial distinction between two intertwined insights:

"Tasting the 'realness' of what appears and what appears is nothing real are two different insights... It is not only realizing mere appearances are just one's radiance clarity but that empty clarity is like a rainbow. Beautiful and clearly appears, but nothing 'there' at all. These two aspects are very important: 1. Very 'vivid', pellucid, and 2. Nothing real. Tasting either one will not trigger the 'aha' realization."

The initial non-dual insight is often characterized by this first aspect: a "hyperreal" vividness and stark clarity. However, the maturation of wisdom requires the integration of the second aspect: directly seeing the dream-like, empty, non-arisen, and insubstantial nature of these very vivid phenomena.

This is precisely what Dōgen, Ejō's master, pointed to when describing the dream-like relativity of all things. In his Mountains and Waters Sutra, he illustrates that there is no absolute, independently existing reality:

Dōgen: "Not all beings see mountains and waters in the same way... Hungry ghosts see water as raging fire... Dragons and fish see water as a palace... Human beings see water as water... There is no original water."

There is no objectively "real" water, only the contextual, dependently arisen experience of "water-seeing." This vivid yet empty presence is like a dream. As Dōgen further clarifies, this dream is not a dull or sleepy state:

“The entire world, crystal-clear everywhere, is a dream; and a dream is all grasses [things] clear and bright. To doubt the dream state is itself to dream; all perplexity is a dream as well... Even as we study this, the very roots and stalks, leaves and branches, flowers and fruits, lights and hues [of our perception] are all a great dream. Never mistake this, however, for a dreamy state.”

This entire process of maturation corresponds to the Mahayana path of purifying the "obstruction of knowledge" (jñeya-āvaraṇa), which, as the Lankavatara Sutra explains, is distinct from the arhat's liberation from the "obstruction of passion" (kleśa-āvaraṇa). It is the difference between realizing the emptiness of the person (pudgala-nairātmya) and realizing the emptiness of all dharmas (dharma-nairātmya).

The Arising of Great Compassion: This deepening of wisdom is what gives rise to true, great compassion (mahākaruṇā). As Rujing clarified to Dōgen, the zazen of a Buddha is different from that of an arhat because it is grounded in great compassion and the vow to save all beings. This compassion is not a moralistic choice or a sentimental feeling, but the spontaneous, unobstructed, and natural expression of wisdom in action. When the boundary between self and other is truly seen as illusory, the well-being of another is no longer separate from one's own. This active compassion is the antidote to the pitfall of a dry, sterile "emptiness sickness," allowing one to live out the implications of non-separation in the world.

This continued path is the inseparable union of these two wings, a dynamic unfolding where practice becomes the effortless expression of enlightenment itself.

Conclusion: The Living Light of Practice-Enlightenment

Koun Ejō's Kōmyōzō Zanmai provides more than a map to a destination; it charts the entire territory of liberation. The path guides the practitioner through a profound sequence of deconstruction: from discovering the foundational ground of Presence, to seeing the world as Mind's radiant display, and finally, to the crucial insight into anātman which dissolves even that ground into a selfless, agentless, and radiantly impermanent process.

Yet, as Ejō and his master Dōgen make clear, this ultimate insight is not a sterile endpoint but a vital gateway. It is the end of the seeker, but the true beginning of practice-enlightenment (shushō-ittō), where every action becomes the living expression of awakening. The "Treasury of Light" is fully realized not in a static abiding, but in the dynamic flight of the two wings of wisdom and compassion. Wisdom matures to see the dream-like emptiness within the vivid, pellucid display of reality, while great compassion arises as the spontaneous, functional expression of non-separation. Thus, the light is not merely realized; it is lived. To engage with this text is to be invited not just to find the light, but to become its ceaseless, compassionate, and wise unfolding in the world.