The Universe Is Smiling: Love Is The Bridge

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?
A:   "Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge."
- Stephen Levine
Posted by Unknown at Monday, September 06, 2010
Labels: , , , , , , ,

4 comments:

  1. Paul LichtenbergSeptember 8, 2010 at 12:39 AM

    Though I am not a Buddhist and have no authority regarding its tradition and practices, I have been inspired by much of its teachings and all of its philosophy. This is also true of the Indian philosophy of Advaita Vedanta but more so with Buddhism. Like many religions, the number three seems to be particularly sacred and its (threefold) nature one in which integration occurs in such a way as to obey universal laws. As a principle, three represents unity and there is no coincidence that Monika’s drawings often include three figures or aspects. And so, in this drawing and its accompanying quote, I am reminded of the 3 kayas or bodies in Buddhist thought. It is said that Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, following Enlightenment, came to the help of sentient beings as 3 levels of manifestation, or accessibility. “The truth beyond the mind” is perhaps dharmakaya, the Absolute and source of everything, the union of cognizance and what we often hear as Emptiness-- the interconnectedness of all phenomena. The sound Om evokes the dharmakaya. Love, as “the bridge,” is nirmanakaya, what it is we experience as the phenomenal world. Phenomenal is from phenomena, what we experience in consciousness. The deeper we love, the closer to the truth beyond mind we come. As part of the Buddha body, samboghakaya is the activity of love: lovingkindness that restores love with compassion. This unity and integration is also a psychological phenomenon that brings together one’s body of senses, emotional field, and language or reasoning. That Buddha wanted us to achieve Enlightenment, he understood the power of language to take us there, like a canoe, across the river and horizon of phenomenal reality. He also knew that the emotional field grows out of the body and language emerges through the evolution of one’s emotional field. In the drawing, it is the union of body, mind, and spirit, when flashed with love-- the low blue flame under one’s heart—that the green and yellow of healing, growth, and joy find their way to the heart of things and the truth of the heart.

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  2. Paul LichtenbergSeptember 9, 2010 at 8:08 AM

    Sitting with these drawings with the focus on the word "beyond," as in "the truth beyond the mind," something very subtle but radical happens: the relative view drops and in its place, the experience of nondual reality. Truth and love come together as beyond and the "here and now" in its relative stream of relating to the world come together. What this means to me is that the beyond is not only beyond; it is beyond but includes the world we live in and psychologically experience. It means for me that within each moment and movement of breath, feeling, thought, and action, the truth beyond is, as the Zen master Yuanwu tells us, "in your face/This moment,/ the whole thing is handed to you."

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  3. Barbara UptonSeptember 9, 2010 at 3:44 PM

    Love bridging to our waking planet- love it!

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  4. UnknownSeptember 12, 2010 at 3:38 PM

    PAUL,
    BEYOND - that's the word that caught my attention, too. The image of the earth, seen from beyond, and the animals connecting easily with each other, while being on opposite ends of the globe, made the feeling of "beyond while within" a very satisfying experience. I really like the energy of this drawing, even though it may not be the most artistic one.
    It's a vision of our Waking Planet. Yes, yes, BARBARA :)

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