Discerning, Pristine Cognition

Summer is officially here. The solstice occurred this past weekend, and right on cue, things are heating up outdoors. To be fair, we’ve had unusually mild weather and lots of rain this year, so I can’t complain. The lawn has been resurrected and we still have plenty of wildflowers blooming on the side of the road. I’m on a social media break right now, and as usual, when I take time to disconnect, I’m reminded of how good it feels not to have thousands of voices chattering in my head all day. On top of that, I’ve been spending time focusing on my zen practice: making more time for meditation and studying The Heart Sutra, a foundational text in Mahayana Buddhism that tidily encapsulates the entirety of The Buddha’s teachings. Basically, The Heart Sutra tells us that if we want to experience nirvana – which is the pinnacle of peace and wisdom – we must embrace the emptiness (and therefore, the interconnectedness, mutual dependence and impermanence) of all phenomena, including our…