I often link to this painting by Alex Grey - called "Theologue" - because it illustrates so beautifully our interconnectedness with the entire world, the entire cosmos. Saying the same thing, in words, is David Loy's wonderful article "Loving the World as Our Own Body: The Nondualist Ethics of Taoism, Buddhism and Deep Ecology." In this essay, Mr. Loy uses an excerpt from the Daode Jing and a passage from the Sokushin-zebutsu fascicle of Dogen's Shobogenzo as grounding for his exploration of the relationship of Taoist and Buddhist practice to the insights of Deep Ecology:

"The reason why we have trouble is that we have a body.
When we have no body, what trouble do we have?
Therefore: he who loves the whole world as if it were his own body
Can be trusted with the whole world."

~ Daode Jing, verse 13

"I came to realize clearly that mind is no other than mountains and rivers and the great wide earth, the sun and the moon and the stars."

~ Dogen

There is much of great value and delight in this article, and I encourage you to take the time to enjoy it, in its entirety. With great skill, the essay weaves in and out of the implications of coming to understand, deeply, that "self" and "other" are really not-two. Having discovered this, we align with the insight expressed by the Buddhist poet/philosopher Shantideva: "Those who wish to bring themselves and others swiftly to salvation should perform the supreme act of converting others into oneself."

Myanmar (Burma) Needs Our Love

The people, plants, animals and land of Burma desperately need our prayers and any material assistance we are able to offer, after being hit by a devastating cyclone this past weekend. The UN World Food Program, UNICEF, International Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders are among the agencies accepting donations to fund the relief effort.

The most effective method of offering support - given the various diplomatic delays that these larger humanitarian organizations have encountered - is probably to donate to the International Burmese Monks Organization. The monks are able to use their grass-roots network of monasteries to offer assistance immediately.