Awakening to Peace

by Ch'onsa Kim

The ordinary man looks at the world but does not see the world. He sees a reflection of self... His dreams ... His hopes ... His disappointments ... His joy ... His pain ... A mirror unto self. Yet self is but a mirror unto the world ... What is seen ... What is tasted ... What is touched ... What is heard ... What is smelled ... What is experienced of the world. Two mirrors reflecting upon each other ... Void and empty ... From the void and empty. Like our dreams ...Without depth ... Without substance. Such is illusion. Such is delusion. Such is phenomena. Such is life for the ordinary man.

It is no wonder there is pain, sorrow, lamentation in the World of Dreams. It is no wonder, for how can we be fulfilled by what has no substance? How can we make full what has no shape or form to contain? The Way of Perfect Peace cannot be found in the World of Dreams. Only when we shatter the illusions, walk through the dream awakened, can we find the auspicious, the peaceful, the pure, a place without fear, without age, without death.

Reality grows in the garden of the mind. Our world is the fruit of our thoughts that sprout from the seeds of ideas. Let our gardens be cultivated in the Way. Let there not grow a thicket of "views". Let it not blossom with the perfumed flowers of "sensuality". Let it not support the vines of "becoming". Let it not be abundant with the thorns of "ignorance". The defilements of the mind bear the fruit of "fermentations" - Weakening our clear vision, breaking us down with desire, binding our minds to the shadows, returning us the Fields of Perception, making us seek refuge in the World of Empty Sorrow (Samsara), lulling us back to the Dream.

Let us be discerning, looking and seeing what is grown. Restraining from what pleases the senses but bears poison, let our fruit always be wholesome. Let us be diligent in our tending, using all that we are, all that we have, all that there is to cultivate Peace. Tolerating all adversity, let us never abandon our garden to the wild. Let us keep the soil pure and that which nurtures the pure, avoiding all that nurtures the un-pure. Developing our skill in the Way, let our garden always be abundant in Peace. Let us be skillful in destroying the roots of the defilements:

Greed Ill will
Hostility
Denegation
Domineering
Envy
Jealousy
Hypocrisy
Fraud
Obstinacy
Presumption
Conceit
Arrogance
Vanity
Negligence

Let us feed the world with the fruits of Peace. Let us seed the gardens that surround us with the seeds of compassion.

The Way of Perfect Peace cannot be found in the defiled mind. Only by abandoning the defilements of the mind can we be awakened to the auspicious, the peaceful, the pure, a place without fear, without age, without death. The defiled mind can only bring sadness, but the pure and undefiled mind brings joy, tranquility, and happiness. Walking in virtue and wisdom we shall remain on the path of Peace. With the mind abiding in loving kindness, permeated with loving kindness, loving kindness suffuses the universe. With the mind abiding in compassion, permeated with compassion, love suffuses the universe.

Such Peace cannot be found until we escape the field of perceptions. Abandoning the perceptions of self, of what was, of what is desired, and of what could be- All is seen, All is known. Then shall we abide in the Ocean of Perfect Peace, with no sky above, no earth below, no shore that surrounds, without beginning, without end, without measure, without limit, boundless, and free... Then shall we abide in the auspicious, the peaceful, the pure, a place without fear, without age, without death... Then shall we awaken to Perfect Peace (Nirvana).

The first step... is letting go...