"We are responsible for creating our world. When we step out of our own way, we discover the power, joy, and deep connection that is within this present moment.

"There is a Hopi poem that speaks to this:

"There is a circle here . . .
There is a web
A network
Strands connecting
Those who share the vision
Who feel the hope
Who sense the mystery
We touch life
We hear the planet's pulse
We work quietly
Together
And alone
Each task
Each piece
Each a part of wholeness
There is a circle here . . .

"Through this poem, so many threads of our conversation come together. As we've said, our life is a mandala — a complete, undivided circle. Our mindful awareness encompasses everything; it is that wholeness that is the true nature of our existence. Our life is a net of luminous threads, connecting everything through interdependence; our practice is to see the connections. Our world is continually being created by our way of perceiving it. Therefore, it is essential to continually clear our lenses. When we practice traveling lightly and recognizing everything that arises as self-created, this cleanses our vision. We then have great power to choose how to create our life within the time and circumstances we are given. In the words of the poet William Blake,

" 'If the doors of perception were cleansed
Everything would appear as it is . . . infinite.'

"Seeing with eyes of compassion and wholeness, we create a world of compassion and wholeness. This ability to source from clear awareness is nourished by experiences of beauty and finding spiritual community as well as other practices of deep connection with our sense of hope. As we discover the luminous seed of awakening that is Bodhicitta, our everyday life becomes a vehicle for awakening. Compassion and wisdom arise naturally; and our own actions benefit ourselves and others. This gift of awakened heart/mind and its seamless function in the world is the great mystery. Through clear awareness, we see that all life is living through us. The oxygen that we breathe has been replenished by the trees. In this way they are as close as our own body; actually, there is only one whole body, no separation. Everything that is alive is breathing together with us. Knowing this, we work to express this insight through compassionate action. Step by step, this creates our world. This poem is a circle: it ends where it begins, with us — and the moment clear in front of us.