I think I was 19 or so when I first read about the Net of Indra in one of D.T. Suzuki’s books. I never forgot the image, and maybe I understood it intellectually, but it took about 45 more years before I began to feel it.

Indra’s Net is used as a metaphor in Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist teachings. A symbol of the interconnectedness of all things. the net hangs over the heavenly home of Indra, a Vedic god adopted in some Buddhist traditions. The net, similar to a spider’s web, is infinite in all directions, with a bright gem at every intersection of the net’s strands. So the number of gems in infinite.

If you examine any one of the gems closely, you see that it reflects every one of the other gems in Indra’s net, and it is reflected in them as well. So the brilliant light of every one of the gems depends on all of the others, and all of the others depend on it.

The metaphor describes much more than interconnectedness. It also describes the Buddhist concept of emptiness. Each of the gems is empty of existence on its own, and can only exist as a reflection of everything else. It demonstrates also that what we think of as reality is an illusion, and that we all can wake up to the wisdom of seeing the net, or the world, as it really is.

I’ve seen assertions that the Net of Indra is similar to the concept of dark matter and makes sense to quantum physicists, but I don’t know enough science to have an opinion on that.

I started out to write this post about the blogosphere, and Indra’s Net came to mind. Although I started this blog about five years ago, it wasn’t until three months ago that I decided to blog daily and make it a focal point of my life. It was then that I became a citizen of the blogosphere.

In a long career of other forms of writing, I have never lied, but I have never written with total honesty until I joined the blogosphere. I want to be read, of course, but I write for me in the hope that what I need to say is what you need to hear. And I have been humbled and gratified by how quickly many of you have found me. In the past three months, you have read a post of mine more than 5,000 times.

And, fellow citizens of the blogosphere, I have found you. Your posts inspire me and lead me on. If you write well, with heart and honesty, I follow you. I follow you also if you make art honestly and with heart, whether with a camera, pencil, paintbrush or music. And if you are a reader only, with no blog of your own, I know that you are there. I feel your presence. Whenever you’re ready, leave a comment below one of my posts.

I am privileged to meet all of you in the blogosphere and to share my soul with you. I used the word “soul” because this blog has become a central part of my daily spiritual practice.

Together, we are gems and reflect each other’s souls. I thank you for your light.

Copyright 2015 © Mel Harkrader Pine