All too often we fail to realize that we live in a magical realm. Not a land of golden straw and fairy godmothers but the immediate world you find yourself in—your home, your kitchen, you car, your, town, your country. This world is eternally generous, always productive, giving birth to an incredible display. Even if you are a pig in a pig sty, or a cockroach on the curb, you still are blessed to live by the grace of this realm. Not all realms in space and time are so generous. Some are made of black ice, full of noxious gas and without oxygen. But this earthly realm, this “Buddha realm,” is endlessly fertile and bountiful. However we can never see the essential power that sustains us. It is like an invisible force field, a vast space that extends everywhere in all directions. The French philosopher Pascal described it this way, “All things have come out of nothingness and are carried onwards to infinity. Who can follow these astonishing processes?” And Zen master Hakuin exclaimed, “This very land is the lotus land. This very body is the Buddha body.”
You need not take ayahuasca or psilocybin to realize it. You need not go to Rishikesh or Bali to find it. All beings are born and die by the grace of this magical realm. All sights, smells, tastes and sounds arise within it. All bodies, technology, wars, weather systems, thoughts and memories arise in it like a great parade. Yogis realize that this invisible presence is the glue that holds everything together. And they realize that awareness is essentially not different from this space. So each day, yoke to the magical source that moves everywhere and is within everything and with abundant gratitude cherish the opportunity to experience this magical realm.
