Sometimes the heart will sacrifice the skin, but
This is boundless
When Fayan said, “I don’t know”
This is boundless
The face that cannot pale
This is boundless
The compassionate power before you
This is boundless
Insight
The skin marks the body’s boundary; the heart can move us beyond the wish to remain protected. Caring for another can leave us vulnerable. The opening lines touch that willingness to risk being hurt, and the compassion that exceeds our accounting of what is given and what is lost.
In the exchange between Dizang and Fayan, Fayan admits that he does not know the purpose of his pilgrimage. Dizang replies, “Not knowing is most intimate.” That openness allows us to meet what is happening without requiring it to fit what we already understand.
“The face that cannot pale” holds both the original face, which no fixed description can contain, and the courage of a bodhisattva. The bodhisattva’s lion’s roar gives voice to a compassion willing to face suffering. Fear may arise, and the heart remains available to respond.
“This is boundless” returns us to the immediacy of each encounter. Words can direct our attention, while leaving what they point toward open. The final stanza brings that openness into the presence before us, where compassion takes form in how we meet one another.
Image: Boundless Encomium, new media art by Medge Olivares, 28 February 2016. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
