The truth. . . is the ground on which all reality stands. To come to this reality, we learn to be simple, to be still, to be silent, and to be attentive, attentive to what is—the supreme reality of God’s presence and love within our own heart. So we must stop thinking about ourselves. We must learn to be, to be in the presence, the presence of the One who is and who is the ground of our being, al being. We need have no fear as we set out, as we leave self behind and set out to meet the other. We need have no fear. The spirit in our heart, the spirit that we open to in meditation, is the Spirit of compassion, of gentleness, of forgiveness, of acceptance, the Spirit of love.
After meditation: “Buddha in Glory” by Ranier Maria Rilke in THE ENLIGHTENED HEART: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, ed. Stephen Mitchell (New York: Harper, 1989), p. 131.
BUDDHA IN GLORY
Center of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed and growing sweet—
all this universe, to the furthest stars
and beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.
Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,
a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead.
