Interbeing

Subject and object of consciousness cannot exist apart from each other. Without an object, the subject cannot be aware of anything. Mountains and rivers, earth and sun, all lie within the heart of consciousness. When that realization arises, time and space dissolve. Cause and effect, birth and death, all vanish.

Though we dwell a hundred thousand light years from a star, we can cross that distance in a flash. The saints of the past can return to the present in a microsecond, their presence as vivid as a bright flame.

You are there, because I am here. We inter-are. If we do not exist, nothing exists. Subject and object, host and guest, are a part of each other...

Let us welcome impermanence and non-self. There is no need to seek a Pure Land somewhere else. We only need to lift our heads and see the moon and stars. The essential quality is awareness. If we open our eyes, we will see.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh