Preamble 5: “So, Here we Are”

Just had a bear amble by last week, first one in a few years. Sentient being, this bear, one of innumerable beings that the Bodhisattva’s vow vows to save from suffering. That vow says that I vow to save all beings, end all desires, master all Dharmas (teachings), and attain something unattainable:

Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them.

Desires are inexhaustible; I vow to put an end to them.

The Dharmas are boundless; I vow to master them.

The Buddha way is unattainable; I vow to attain it. (Hanh, n.d.)

Why take such a vow if the prospects of holding to it are so treacherously unlikely? Just that. Precisely because of the expansive overwhelming-ness of that prospect, “I” get(s) overwhelmed and sat back here, me and Ursula, just for a moment, glancing at each other from afar, stopping for a moment in each other’s tracks.