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Dharma Talk - At Paris 3
A wave is only a wave when it forgets that it is water; the true nature of the wave is water. When the wave recognizes that it is water, it lives fully the life of water, no longer limited by its external form. Similarly, when we touch deeply our consciousness, we find a solid place of refuge, no longer shaken by praise or blame, success or failure; we become stable and at ease, because we know we are not just a small, insignificant wave, but the vast, boundless ocean. The concept of “beyond form” in the Buddha’s teaching refers to a realm beyond space and time, transcending all notions created by the mind—this is the wondrous reality of nirvana, or the “Kingdom of God” in Christianity, where wave and water are one, free from all worldly change.
Modern science, through Einstein’s theory of relativity, also recognizes that time creates space and vice versa—a truth the Buddha taught more than 2,500 years ago in the Avatamsaka Sutra. In quantum mechanics, the property of “non-locality” is clearly manifested when each particle, such as an electron, contains within itself all other electrons; a change at one point affects the whole, breaking the notion of sequential causality. In daily life, the path of practice according to the Lord’s Prayer—“give us this day our daily bread”—is not to ask for material food, but to live deeply each moment, including:
- forgiving one another so the heart may be lighter
- dwelling in the present moment with mindfulness
- recognizing and overcoming the temptations of anger, sorrow, and craving with the light of the Buddha’s insight
Practicing to move fluidly between the present moment and the awareness of our vast ocean nature helps to dissolve the fear of birth and death, success and failure, opening up freedom and serenity right in the palm of our hand.