‘By wholeheartedly opening to and embracing provisional truth, the ultimate is revealed. Within this revelation, we see provisional and ultimate as one and the same. Then we can let go of the ultimate and reenter the provisional. We join hands with all beings and walk together through birth and death on the endless path to buddhahood.’ (Entering the Mind of Buddha)

I dipped back into Reb’s most recent book, and these lines jumped out at me. Partly because I knew they would fit with the material I am gathering for my online class on Dogen’s Bendowa next month, but also because it tied in with the conversation we had been having in the Hebden Bridge sangha. I noted that he didn’t say exactly how we get to see provisional and ultimate as the same, but I also know that these things lie beyond the boundaries of conception. The important part is the manifestation of our Bodhisattva Vows as we walk together.