Lotus on a lake

 The lotus flower blossoms on a lake of ignorance. When the pool is disturbed the flower may dip beneath the surface and the dharma flame temporarily extinguished. When the water calms, the flower naturally resurfaces and the dharma flame fills the mind with light. The light of the flame is sufficient to illuminate the way, the lotus dharma flame burns the fuel of ignorance until it is no more and the mind is filled with such bright light that it is completely enlightened. Wisdom comes from the light of the flame rather than from the darkness of the pool. We must trust in the wisdom until ignorance is fully eradicated. The wisdom of the dharma is born of ignorance and resistance, but it itself is open and awake. It is still and unmoving, while ignorance is full of disturbances. The dharma naturally cleanses itself of impurity. Chaos born of ignorance seeks to perpetuate itself with further chaos which it hopes to disguise itself as wisdom as to deceive the existing wisdom within the body. In order to establish oneself in the dharma, one must be able to distinguish between these chaotic voices and the wisdom of the dharma. Only wisdom may lead to greater wisdom. Therefore it is pertinent to be mindful of which stream we drink from, be it poison or the elixir of life. The nectar of the dharma has the power to sustain our being and further awaken our mind. The poison of ignorance is deceptive and destructive. It eliminates the healthy properties of our constitution. It's aim is to tear us to pieces, whereas the dharma is restorative. We exist in such a state of pollution that is is very difficult to distinguish between the good elixir of the dharma and the evil that is the poison of ignorance. The wisdom of the dharma is worth more than anything else in the universe. Without it we are lost. It must therefore be our aim to restore the wisdom of the dharma to it's rightful place as ruler of our being. The same fills our mind with light. The purpose of each form is to awaken fully to the Buddha light. Every effort of creation is an aspiration towards Buddhahood. However confused and self-destructive an action maybe, it inwardly reaches for the light of the dharma, for awakening. We wish to return to our natural state of being, one free of defilement, here we find fulfillment. When you realize you do not find fulfillment in confused states of being, the wisdom of the dharma becomes apparent and desirable, and anything else undesirable. It is wholesomeness that brings satisfaction to our being, not disease. Confused states of mind born of disease lead to the belief that unwholesome activity is wise. Disease is unpleasant, wholesomeness is comfortable. Disease cannot be pleasant, nor can wholesomeness be unpleasant. Any different perception of these come from disturbed states of mind. We cannot trust in the wisdom of disturbed states of mind, we can only trust in the wisdom that is born of the dharma. To spread the dharma light, we can only depend upon the dharma.

The dharma is wisdom itself, it is virtue. It is goodness. These are things are tangible in our experience, yet they are immaterial. Wisdom is not an object of our physical senses, it is something that we find within our mind or our heart. Both the mind and heart have many layers, to locate wisdom we have to delve into them. Wisdom is not any object in particular than we can conceive of in our mind. This is because wisdom is by nature the essence of objects or forms in our mental awareness. It is the heart of form, the life within each object or each thing we may imagine. It is the shared life that inhabits each form or object of our awareness. In our heart it is the attitude of attitudes and the feeling of feelings, It is not anger, or fear, or boredom, or amusement, but the life within these. The dharma and the life that is wisdom is what feels all of these things, it is what has all of these attitudes. It has them, but cannot be defined by them alone. To see wisdom is to see this life within life that is shared among all life and all things. To have wisdom is to experience life from the perspective of this greater Life. It does not mean not having any negative thoughts or feelings, it means having any thought or feeling from this deeper awareness and taking action that arises from a heart and mind centered here, rather than from a shallower state of mind. It means having the capacity to do so. Wisdom is the heart and mind that we awaken to. It is an awakened heart and an awakened mind. Wisdom is the heart of all things, thus it is aware of all things, all at once, all of the time. It knows how things work, thus it may act appropriately, wisely. You could say that wisdom is the self of selves, yet wisdom is not a self, as an ego is. Wisdom is that which is born from the dissolution of the ego in enlightened mind and feeling. It is not a conditioned construct. Seeing it as a greater conditioned construct within all conditioned constructs is simply seeing everything as ego, which is not the case. The heart of wisdom is enlightenment, not ego. It is not something that can be understood conceptually. Enlightenment is only understood properly if it is experienced. It is the mind of minds and heart of hearts, form within form, yet to truly locate it, you have to awaken to it. It is helpful to understand it conceptually and have an intuitive sense of it, so you know where to look, but you have to go there yourself to really find it. You have to see it directly to distinguish between it an what is false. Where it is within our feelings, and within our thoughts, is simply here. This is where presence lies. Presence is the life of life, the essence of all particulars. I do not think you can separate Wisdom from presence. It seems like Wisdom is simply presence directed towards activity. How does one behave appropriately, how does one BE appropriate as a human being, as a sentient being? Wisdom. Take presence and direct it towards the complexity of human affairs.

 Presence, Wisdom, Dharma: they are all truth, they are all righteousness. They are the subtle unity of form, the life within all life, and they each point to Truth, which is the non-duality of the universe. The path of righteousness leads to liberation, the truth leads to the Truth. Each thing is actually the living Dharma and we live in a Dharma-field. Each thing is actually every other thing because each thing is the same thing, the Dharma. There is One life here. One beating heart that spreads infinitely in all directions. We are the dharma, the active expression of presence and pure Wisdom. Life is free and undefiled, seamless and unbroken. One great body of life. Life is open in all directions. It is quiet and still. No one knows where it is going, no one knows what it is for. It is simply here, expressing itself in this moment. Here I am the sum total experience of this moment, there is no end or beginning to anything. This moment is awake, it is aware, it has feelings. It is aware of everything that is going on, it is sensitive to everything, because it is everything, doing everything. One life, resounding in itself. A triumphant awakening of Spirit blazing it's way through an eternal dawn or collapsing in an eternal sunset. Singing the song of life with endless enthusiasm. Awaken! Here I Am!! The whole Universe sprawling into being in each moment. Eternal awakening, eternal rebirth. I am the awakening Christ Spirit, HERE I AM!! Awaken! Rejoice! The whole universe awakens in each and every moment. Glorious unending awakening.