Contemplation: "So it is"

After reviewing the guidelines for practice, take the following as your object of contemplation:

Ananda said, "In fact, I do not think that anything I see, as I look around Prince Jetri's Grove, is separate from my awareness.  Why?  If the trees were separate from my awareness, how could I be seeing them?  But if the trees were identical to my awareness, how could they still be trees?  The same is true of every other perceived object and of space as well.  If space were separate from my awareness, how could I be seeing it?  But if it were identical to my awareness, how could it still be space?  Having reexamined this--having considered in detail the myriad sights around us, I realize that not even the smallest of them is separate from my awareness."

The Buddha said, "So it is.  So it is."

The Buddha's words stunned everyone in the assembly who still needed instruction.

from The Surangama Sutra, pp. 67-68