"distinguished colleagues"

Distinguished colleagues.

The luminous mind cannot be called luminous and therefore we are foregathered today to cast our shadows.

From the shadows we cast our light, imbue the universe and, without putting too fine a point on it, screw the pooch.

This raises the question, to what extent, if any, can shadow and light inform and fulfill the empty places of the heart? If this is some sort of cosmic joke, then who is laughing? And where laughter is absent, what presence fulfills its promise?

It is not just what casts the shadow that is or might be of interest or importance. There is also the matter of the surface against which luminosity -- the essential essence -- could reveal itself. Library shelves and monastic cubby holes are filled and yet when they are emptied, who can say what shadow that will cast? The layman bangs his thumb; the wise man whines.

Coming from near and far, we foregather.

Is that really what light and shadow had in mind?

I know you will figure it out ... that is the nature of being distinguished.