The Way and the Wayfarer

 

“There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy.It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility.” Thomas Merton.

There is a secret at the heart of things, a gentle power, invisible yet undeniable, that is omnipotent, unchanging, eternal. There is an underlying, intelligent pattern that is responsible for the miraculous elegance and perfection of this natural universe.

Filled with compassionate wisdom, this divine energy is the source and the substance of all that exists. Call it Self or Brahman, Buddha-Nature or Consciousness, God or Tao or Great Spirit, intellect cannot fathom it nor language describe it. This is the Way.

Throughout human history, the true mystics and sages of all cultures and creeds have recognised the sacred in Nature and venerated this power, seeking through stillness and deep introspection to merge harmoniously with this vital ocean that is the substratum of everything.

“That which is consciousness alone, which is all-pervading, which is eternal, which is all-full, which is of the form of bliss and which is indestructible, is the only true Brahman.” Varaha Upanishad

At the core of every living being, a sacred flame burns incessantly – this is the Self, the divine truth that pervades all creation. This is the great mystery, the microcosm that contains the macrocosm, the source of all love and joy, the fountain of immortality. Any human can discover this infinite treasure within, this wellspring of unalloyed bliss and perfect peace. This is why a human birth is so precious! 

The true purpose of human existence is to directly experience this perennial truth; no greater purpose exists. 

“Why does everyone like the Tao so much at first?
Isn't it because you find what you seek and are forgiven when you sin?
Therefore this is the greatest treasure of the universe.” Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

There is a primordial echo in the deepest layers of human consciousness, a knowing in cell and blood and bone, a remembrance of one’s true home and one’s innate divinity. This is what drives humans to seek ultimate wisdom, to penetrate into the innermost depths of consciousness in search of perfection, to find the Way inside, outside, everywhere. The ancient Chinese mystics called this “cultivating the Way.”

Throughout human history, many enlightened beings have borne witness to the Tao, the Way, the blessing of Grace, the essence of the sacred.

O wayfarer, if you would know heaven on earth, return to the Way!

 When the Way and the wayfarer are one, then all is whole, all is holy, all is well.