“To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.”
― Lao Tzu

All secrets are spoken within the heart, conversations that open the world within to be seen by all. We talk because we wish to know life.

I wish to know the simple pleasures, the treasures of this inner world so passed over by the mind. I long to open the lock hiding this secret place, prying away the veil of doubt and unhinging the doors of intellect.

I wish to know the heart, as it knows me.

I wonder often and I ask the heart, do you hear my thoughts of life? Do you hear my call to understand this world bound within me?

The heart always answers, showing me the synchronicity that I abide.

It answers me in a song of life, in the flight of the blue jay swooping about the water oak. It answers as the butterfly comes fluttering, flaunting her colors as she flies in bounced strides aloft my head.

It answers with the cool water that runs from the well spring, in the bubbles that form along the eddy of the river bend and in the ripples that fan across the lake from the stone thrown by a child.

The heart always answers, and I always hear with soft vision and tender ears.

Then I say..

Show us this world within the world, this world where thoughts are things, and dreams are memories of a life lived long ago. Show us this place where the dust no longer covers the shelf of life, where love is life, flowing out into the world with grace and harmony.

And then it answers..

This place is here, it says. You’re never separate from it.

This is and will always be the first garden. It is the first kingdom, the first land where you once learned to walk.

It is the only truth, written in the canon of life, only to be read by the pure heart and carried by the soul of the world. It is seen only when it is not looked upon, but when the eye of the heart opens in tandem with boundless love.

And it says again, know this and you will know life.

You will know life when you see the raven play with the wind and dance along the cliff side. You will know life when you watch the flower bloom slowly, opening its petals to the morning sun.

You will know this as you feel love for all beings, as your heart fills with joy. You will know this when you see all beings as you see yourself, and when you see yourself as all beings.

Love the world, and learn your inner world.

Smile as you learn. Sing and dance as you walk your path, it says.

The beauty is truly endless here, it says…and I say…

Thank you