We frame reality, just as a photographer frames an image. Our framing creates borders, a theme, a point of view. As captivating (a fitting word!) as the view may be, we should strive to be aware of what we’re doing. And know that the totality (the big picture without borders, i.e.-don’t know mind) is also there.

Is winter in Seattle just variations on the theme of gray? Or is our rain manifesting endlessly shimmering beads of light? Is the glass half empty or half full? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Is the problem simple or complicated?

This framing is so all-pervasive in our daily lives we barely register the dualistic thinking that misdirects and overrides a more complete seeing.

As the great Zen master, Seng-t’san, said in his famous poem, “Verses on the Faith Mind”,

Make the smallest distinction…and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.”

So I try to open the mind/heart door wide, maybe even a little wider, and wider still…