A. According to the Avatamsaka Sutra, the true-Self is revealing itself in numerous forms in accordance with the capacity of each sentient being. This is why we sentient beings have different perspectives even when seeing and hearing the same things. It follows that everything is essentially the same, just as all waves are the same as water although they appear to be different from each other, depending on our capacity of seeing and hearing. This is why the third Patriarch said, “Even if there is a difference as tiny as a small hair, there will be a gap as large as a gap between the sky and the earth.”
Student: “How is it when there is no difference at all?”
Master: “When you drink a cup of tea, the cloud in the sky comes along with it.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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