And as we sit in mindfulness together, we add more light and beauty and energy to this Buddha-kshetra field of enlightenment. We see ourselves as beautiful beings of light. We see ourselves surrounded by beautiful angelic beings of light. We also see many, many playful monkeys in this garden. At first, they are very wild, but now because of mindfulness, these monkeys are calming down, smiling, and even cuddling with some of us.

So the truth is, monkey mind and enlightened mind are not two separate minds. They work together, and in their mature forms through mindfulness, Buddha mind is the leader and monkey mind is the faithful, loyal, creative, skillful servant who loves you very much and helps you to be a unique Buddha unlike any other Buddha in the universe. So the more crazy your monkey mind is, eventually the more powerful your Buddha mind will be.

Let us close our meditations by appreciating this Pure Land, appreciating mindfulness, appreciating even our monkey mind here and now.

(Cornell Kinderknecht plays flute)