Where Is the Light When Everything Goes Dark? Roshi David Blackwell

How do we discover and trust our innate luminous nature when our lived experience feels dark, messy, or entirely obscured by everyday challenges?

Roshi David Blackwell explores the famous Zen koan from Master Yunmen, "Everyone has a light." He leads us into an exploration of what a luminous mind really means in the context of our ordinary daily lives. 

David invites us to drop our rigid, idealized concepts of enlightenment and stop searching for some grand external epiphany. Instead, we learn how our luminous nature is constantly present—not despite our darkness or difficulties, but directly within them. 

He unpacks several key aspects of this teaching to help us recognize and embody this light:

• The Invisibility of the True Self: The light cannot be objectified or seen as a separate thing because it is the very awareness doing the looking. 
• Finding Light in the Ordinary: Rather than seeking extraordinary mystical states, David reminds us that the light manifests in the mundane aspects of daily life—our work, our relationships, and even our routine chores. 
• Embracing the Dark: Our struggles, grief, and uncertainties are not failures of practice; they are the exact places where the light shines and sustains us. 

By exploring this deeply, we can bring the core Zen teachings within the koan directly into the texture of our daily life. 

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Roshi David Blackwell is a Zen teacher in the White Plum Asanga lineage. He received Dharma Transmission and the lineage name Tenryū Jōkai (天龍浄海) from Charles Tenshin Fletcher Roshi in 2014, and Inka — final seal of approval and independence — in 2022.

Originally from Wales, David moved to Southern California in 2000 to train full time. His teaching is grounded in traditional Zen forms and woven into the texture of ordinary life. He emphasizes the direct experience of awakening using contemporary language and time-honored methods. Learn more at https://becomingordinary.org/ 

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CREDITS
Audio Production: George Hubbard
Producer: Tom Bruein
Music/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter