Deepness ...

Ajahn Chah, our great teacher in Thailand put it this way:

“Sometimes I’d go to see old religious sites with ancient temple buildings, designed by architects, beautifully built by skilled craftsmen. In some places they would be cracked. Maybe one of my friends would remark, “Such a shame, isn’t it? It’s cracked. ” I’d say: “If that weren’t the case then there’d be no such thing as the Buddha, there’d be no Dharma. It’s cracked like this because it’s perfectly in line with the Buddha’s teaching.”

What he’s saying is what the Buddha taught - that whatever comes together, separates. Whatever arises, must decay and pass away. It’s a natural law. All things that arise and cease, are inherently unsatisfactory.

And that includes temple buildings and Blackberries. And everything else in between.

If everything were perfect and satisfactory, nothing would disappoint us. This would be heaven, right here.

We wouldn’t seek for truth or spiritual fulfillment, God or enlightenment. There would be no need to for us to look for perfection, to search for the Ultimate.

But these things we have are not satisfactory. They’re not even supposed to be satisfactory.