Mindfulness frees us to enjoy what is available twenty-four hours a day—fresh air, sunshine, the stars—and even God, “happiness” and “peace,” if our mind is truly present. There are two levels of relationship:

1. the horizontal line (horizontal theology) linking us with human beings, animals, plants, minerals,
2. the vertical line (vertical theology) touching God, the ground of being.
   Like a wave on the ocean, we inter-are with other waves (sự, the phenomenal): our coming, going, size and shape depend entirely on them. By looking deeply we also touch the water (lý, the noumenal): the foundation of our being in which all phenomena arise.

Buddhism teaches us not to mix these two levels. The Madhyamaka school (śūnyatā, emptiness) and the Dharmalakṣaṇa school (Pháp tướng, phenomena) stress tánh tướng biệt quán—separate contemplation of the noumenal and the phenomenal. Phenomena follow cause and effect among waves, while the noumenal is the ground of all phenomena: God or Nirvana, beyond birth and death, coming and going, being and non-being. Though indescribable by concepts, this ultimate dimension is available to us in every breath, every cup of tea, every step, every gesture.

Impermanence and non-self make rebirth, personhood and transformation possible. Nothing arises from nothing, nothing returns to nothing—every “birth” is a continuation, every “death” a metamorphosis. Deep looking into our own suffering and that of others dissolves anger and hatred, for understanding is the very ground of love and compassion. In daily life—eating a piece of bread, practicing walking meditation, celebrating Christmas—we touch the phenomenal deeply and thus touch the noumenal, discovering the peace, solidity and freedom that are always here.