Tu-Shun

So much of Tu-Shun’s passage really struck a chord with me as I read it. I hadn’t heard of the Net of Indra prior to reading this, but I feel as thought it has seemed to true to me my whole life. What a beautiful way to think of the universe!

The imagery of the Net of Indra is so wonderful because it simply shows that we are all the same and yet slightly different. It sounds so contradictory, but when you think about it, I think it just means that we are all human beings. No matter how we differ in appearance, values, ideals, we are still human and we can’t escape that. I think that is best represented through the quote “this jewel can show the reflections of all the jewels at once.”

This jumped out at me because I feel as though people are definitely reflections of each other for various reasons. In interacting with one another we act and react and reflect each other’s views, prejudices, fears and thoughts. We are shaped by our experiences and within those experiences are thousands people who – despite being the same or different as us – have made impressions on who we are. With each impression our view changes subtly and they leave a little of themselves within us.

Another quote that caught my attention was about how “such a subtly teaching as this is hard to hear even in immeasurable eons; only those with persistence and wisdom can hear of the matrix of the issue of thusness.” Wow. I think a saying like that should be posted in classrooms or something because it is really food for thought. It was Socrates who said, “an unexamined life is not worth living” and I think both sayings are along the same lines. If you live your life ignorant and unaware of the world around you, you will never be truly wise and able to reflect not only upon yourself but life in general.