https://flic.kr/p/mnQj8z
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” What does this mean, to be the light of the world? In the same manner the Buddha, in his parting words of comfort and advice to his disciples, insisted: “Be lamps unto yourselves; be your own confidence. Hold to the truth within yourselves as the only truth.”
We are all Buddhas, filled with divine nature; to cleanse ourselves of our negative qualities, to purify ourselves of our defects—in short, to become like the saints. But perhaps the more gentle and ultimately more accurate path is the one that leads us directly into the fertile garden of our own spirit, into what Merton calls our “hidden wholeness.” Our most fruitful practice is the one that most gently leads us into ourselves just as we are, into the innate perfection of our true nature.”
Excerpt: How then shall I live? by Wayne Muller