Cultivating the Mind of Love

The Lotus and Avatamsaka Sutras are two of the finest books of poetry ever written. As far as the poetic imagination is concerned, no one has surpassed the Indian mind. The Indians used their imagination to express the deepest insight.

In the historical dimension, you are born, you practice, you become enlightened, and you die and pass into mahaparinirvana. In the ultimate dimension, you are always in nirvana. You are already a Buddha. There is nothing to be done.

When we know that “A” is not “A,” when we know that our president is not our president, that he is us, we will no longer reproach or blame him.

To take care of ourselves, we take care of those around us. Their happiness and stability are our happiness and stability.

Getting angry in the historical dimension, we close our eyes and look deeply. Where will we be in three hundred years? We open our eyes and hug.

The contemplation on compassion, karuna, looking into the suffering of people and finding ways to transform their pain.

In an emerald creek, water hides a dragon king. In a cold pond, it contains the bright full moon.

The cosmos is a mental construction. Everything comes from our mind. If our mind is filled with afflictions and delusions, we live in a world of afflictions and delusions. If our mind is pure and filled with mindfulness, compassion, and love, we live in the Avatamsaka world.

Learning to transcend your mental constructions of reality is an art.