200 SERMONS OF A BUDDHIST ABBOT

the Dharmadhatu, and everything is one, is on
the same plane,, and I learn to neglect the worldly-
distinction made between friend and foe, tragedy
and comedy, war and peace, samsara and nirvana,
passion {Mega) and enlightenment (bodhi). A
philosophical calm pervades my soul and I feel
the contentment of Nirvana. For there is
nothing, as far as I can see, that does not reflect
the glory of Buddha. Even in the midst of this
transcendent universality, however, my heart
aches with a pain, undefinable yet itisuppressible.
Love for all sentient beings asserts itself, and
that frigid indifference of the intellect gives way.
And why was it necessary that the many horrors
of this present war should come to pass? Why
had those poor soldiers to sacrifice their lives?
In every one of them a warm heart has been
beating, and now they are all lying on the ground
in piles, stiff and stark like logs.
