When We See Things As They Are, the Original Place Is Revealed
In the Ten Oxherding Pictures, after both the person and the ox have disappeared, nature appears just as it is. Mountains are mountains, water is water, the wind blows, and flowers bloom and fall. There is nothing special to grasp, and nothing to force into being.
Even before awakening, we see mountains and water. But at that time, desire and discrimination, affection and attachment are working together, so it is difficult to see things just as they are. Even when we look at the same object, if the habits of our own mind interfere, we cannot see the fact directly.
Practice is not leaving the world. It is recovering the eye that sees the world as it is. When the mind's discrimination settles, we can receive the changes of nature, the appearance of people, and the flow of life a little more lightly.
This does not mean being indifferent to worldly affairs. If we can help, we should help with compassion and wisdom; even before things we cannot do, we should not lose a good mind and prayer. What matters is the mind with which we see and act.
Today, may you set down attachment and discrimination a little, look at what is as it is, and live with compassion and wisdom.
Mountains are mountains and water is water, but when discrimination and attachment interfere, it is hard to see things as they are. Practice is not leaving the world, but recovering the eye that sees rightly. Today, may you look at what is as it is with compassion and wisdom.
