Okumura Rōshi discusses the third paragraph of page 128 of Kōshō Uchiyama's "Opening the Hand of Thought" (pages 137-138 of the 1993 Penguin Arkana version). This paragraph explains that the individual can only experience the world from his or her own perspective. Although at first glance this might seem to close the door on any kind of universal perspective, paradoxically the individual viewpoint is the basis for "magnanimous mind" (大心, daishin), the mind that does not discriminate. This is because the individual self is nothing but the experiences of the individual self. If the self is its experiences, there can be no distinction between the experiencer and the experienced. Therefore, the universal and the individual are not separate.
Recorded on December 16th, 2018
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