Hard to believe....

"In the Aspiration to Enlightenment, it is explained: "After having observed thus, how can a student of Mantrayana realize unsurpassed enlightenment?  He should know by virtue of the Dharma he is to abide in the all-pervading great enlightened Mind.  All sentient beings are innate bodhisattvas; but they have been bound by defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion.  The Buddhas of great compassion, therefore, with the wisdom of skillful means, taught them this profound Esoteric Buddhist yoga and made each devotee visualize in his inner mind the bright moon.  By means of this practice each devotee will perceive his original Mind, which is serene and pure like the full moon whose rays pervade space without any discrimination.  This method is also called the yoga 'free from the notion of enlightenment,' or that of 'the pure World of Dharma,' or 'the sea of transcendental insight (prajna-paramita) into Reality.'  It is the basis on which the devotee can develop a variety of samadhi of great value.  It [his original Mind] is just like the full moon, spotless and bright.  Why?  Because all sentient beings are endowed with the all-pervading Mind.  We are to perceive our own Mind in the form of the moon. The reason the image of the moon is used is that the body of the bright moon is analogous to that of the enlightened Mind."

(From Kobo Daisi Kukai's "Precious Key to the Secret Treasury" [written 830 A.D.], translated by Professor Yoshito S. Hakeda, published by Columbia University Press in 1972, found on p. 218 - 219)

Way back in the mid-1990's Ajari Tanaka taught a very small group of his students a method of meditation he called "Gaccha Rin-Kan.  In English we called this method simply "Full-Moon Meditation."  He taught it in such a way that none of us present at the time grasped the significance of this practice let alone the place this meditation held amongst Shingon methods in general.  Ajari Tanaka told us "don't worry" and encouraged us to just practice.

After years of study and practice, working to connect the dots, we now know how important these moments were.  Unable to get beyond our amazement all we can say is "thank you so very much" as we try to absorb how lucky we are.  Our only hope is that we can share our good fortune with others...