The Trees of Indra's Infinitely Jeweled Net

Indra’s Jewel Net is a profound metaphor from Hindu and Buddhist philosophy representing the infinite, intra-connected and interpenetrating nature of all reality. For your consideration, here are some characterizations of trees as they are: vital arboreal participants in the essence of Indra's metaphorical jewels. Each tree, as part of the ecosystem reflects the entire universe (just as each jewel in Indra's Net reflects every other jewel and the net as well), accordingly, every individual tree reflectively contains the entire forest environment, i.e., their 'Net'. While separate entities, no tree is isolated; each is a microcosm of the whole, encompassing the sun, rain, earth, sky, etc. within its interdependently shared existence.

(Length: 14 minutes)

Written and shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) and curator of the Tibetan Buddhist study/practice group 'Chenrezig Project' . . . with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.

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