A wise person learns the mystery of existence in a flash
And climbs in a leap beyond the world of hollow phenomena,…
From Songs of Ryokan, Chinese Poems #103

Had we wisdom deep enough to know ourselves, single-handed,
No benefits would result from the works of ancient saints…
From Songs of Ryokan, Chinese Poems #103

“We live in the world and we live in the sky,

Just as the Lotus is not wetted by the water that surrounds it,

Pure and beyond the world

is the Mind of the trainee, oh holy Buddha we take Refuge in Thee”

I’ve replaced the as if with, and in the first line of this blessing verse which is sometimes used at the end of ceremonies. Such verses are a statement of spiritual certainty. This one points to the non-dual nature of existence and our functioning within it. The sky, symbolic of that which is without bound, is not separate from the world of work and activity.

What is the cause of topsy-turvy views?

Pictures taken in and around Edmonton Alberta, known as Wide Sky Country. All in all I’d call it Wide Heart Country.