If the eye is clear, our body will be full of light. When our attention is receptive and accepting, everything we see may become an object of meditation, a teaching source.

Even the most difficult and painful feelings and emotions can become teachers and companions for us as we experience them arising in the present.

There is wisdom from the fifteenth-century poet, “When the eyes and ears are open, even the leaves on the trees teach like pages from the scriptures.”

Where shall we place our attention? As we move through the days of our lives, how shall we keep our eyes clear, our hearts open, and our spirits alive and awake in the present moment? If we find ourselves thinking all day about whether or not we are loved, or how we can protect ourselves from danger, or how we can impress others with our skills and achievements, then we are condemned to languish in a prison of our own making.

Where we look and how we see gives birth to the kind of life we will live. If we see the only danger, we live in fear; if we seek what is gentle and true, we will find ourselves on a path of serenity and peace.