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Superficial Perception, the Cause of All Suffering
Meditation is life lived in depth, with joy, peace, and love:
– To breathe, to walk, to sit, to have breakfast calmly and with a smile, this is already meditation.
– Deep looking reveals, in a piece of bread, the wheat field, the sun, the rain, the clouds; in the lotus flower, the mud, the sun, the clouds; in a tiny corn seed, the knowledge, talent, and experience of generations.
Perception is always a co-arising of subject and object, from one flame to another, from one image to another. Wherever there is perception, there is illusion:
– To believe that the sky is blue, that the sea has its own color, that the sun here and now is the same as before, is to be mistaken.
– The merchant, convinced that his burned son was dead, refused to open the door when the child returned: his wrong perception deprived him of the truth.
To transform suffering and division begins with the practice of deep looking and loving speech, with three key sentences:
- “I suffer and I want you to know it.”
- “I am doing my best, I am practicing.”
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“Please help me.”
To listen deeply without judging, to help recognize and correct wrong perceptions, prevents hatred, violence, and terrorism.
Walking on the Pure Land