“The words emptiness and reality point to different things. But a complete emptiness is a complete reality, so they’re also the same. In the Heart Sutra, it’s famously said: form is emptiness and emptiness is form. How is that? Observe the images that come into your mind—an awareness of light reflecting and a feeling of void throughout the room, the landscape—study this.”
Late night practice. I close my eyes and begin to orient to this space, silently feeling the quality of this—and the awareness that beholds it. The long ache of a cicada rises out of the silence, then fades. A few drops of rain tap the windows, then stop. The wind pushes the chimes, then they fall silent again. When I open my eyes, my vision is soft in the darkness. The distant sky is flickering, briefly tracing clouds—gone. It all goes silent as I watch the watcher and pause. My teacher’s words appear out of, into the space—Let the goodness take you—and I let go. The storm finally reaches me, and the silence is crushed.
tracing an absence — the shape of a cloud already gone
Excerpt from CLOUDSCAPE RECORD.
Wonderful to wake up to this. Thank you. 🙏
Watching the watcher.
This. Let the goodness take us.
Puffy clouds go poof!