From a boundless heart

"As a mother watches over her child,
willing to risk her own life
to protect her only child,
so with a boundless heart
should one cherish all living beings,
suffusing the whole world
with unobstructed lovingkindness.
Standing or walking,
sitting or lying down,
during all one's waking hours,
may one remain mindful of this heart
and this way of living
that is the best in the world."

-- The Buddha, as quoted in Roger Walsh's Essential Spirituality

The image above was a complete surprise. I discovered a rather striking shot I'd taken of a bit of graffiti on a rusted bridge, and, out of curiosity I copied and flipped it, then flipped it again, and this is what emerged. It only took a little tweaking to bring the bottom to more of a point, but the rest is pretty much exactly as it first appeared.

And as much as I love all the torsos I've worked on and all the hours of work I've put into them to allow their true selves to emerge, I have to say I'm incredibly fond of this one. I think that's because I interpret the ease of it -- the way it almost created itself, with so little interference from me -- as an indicator that I'm on the right path, that I'm learning a new way of seeing, that true self is emerging in the process.

So then to get up some twelve hours later and be given this wonderful passage from the Buddha feels like confirmation: I am moving toward -- even perhaps already standing in -- that boundless heart that is our source and destination. And somehow the image tells me that the process may not be pretty: there may be blood, and mess, and dirt along the way but in the end the heart will explode with love and soul/true self/the Divine Nature will emerge triumphant.

And it's all good.