Some today advocate for flying spaceships to outer space to set up shop on Mars. The belief goes that the resources on this planet have been gobbled up and now it is time to build a whole new way of life. How absurd! The realm we live in is pure magic. It is like a banquet with boundless offerings. Every moment is unique, never before arisen. And it is with great fortune that we are born into this wondrous realm. “This very land is the Buddha land, this very body the Buddha body” wrote Zen master Hakuin. But too many of us take this magical world for granted. We assume it belongs to us and so burn through its vast resources–its coral reefs and rainforests, its mountains and rivers.
Our practice calls us to be humble, to sit in gratitude each day to receive the 10,000 things this world has to offer. The brilliant non-dual teacher Sri Nisargadatta put it this way, “When I look inside and see that I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am everything, that is love.” When empty of craving and self-centered neurosis, the world comes to you. When you are still and quiet, you become sort of transparent, lucid, see-through. From the vantage point of clear mind and open heart, you realize that you are not separate from the earth, the sky, the creepy crawlies and the stars.
So try being everything and nothing at the same time. With open mind and receptive heart, celebrate this plentiful life. Instead of taking off to some icy and lifeless planet, love this one with all your heart and mind.
