Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Login Here
Back to all

Visual Meditation: The Earth is Not a Dream

Hope

Hope is with you when you believe
The earth is not a dream but living flesh,
That sight, touch, and hearing do not lie,
That all things you have ever seen here
Are like a garden looked at from a gate.

You cannot enter. But you’re sure it’s there.
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.

Some people say we should not trust our eyes,
That there is nothing, just a seeming,
These are the ones who have no hope.
They think that the moment we turn away,
The world, behind our backs, ceases to exist,
As if snatched up by the hands of thieves.

-Czeslaw Milosz, from The World

(Photos all taken on the Hood Canal) 

-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

You might also enjoy

Ignatian Contemplation ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

“For it is not knowing much, but realising and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.” ~St. Ignatius of Loyola Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, This Friday, August 28th we are delighted to welcome Wisdom Council member Dena Jennings who will lead us in

Read More »
August 23, 2026

Monk in the World: Elizabeth Millar

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elizabeth Millar’s reflection Walking, Pentecost, and Wild Wind. Click. My boarding pass has been automatically added to my digital wallet. It’s a

Read More »
August 19, 2026

For Trust in Abundance ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

For Trust in Abundance*Spirit of Generous Abundance,remind us there is always more than enough—enough food, enough love, enough time, enough resources.Help us to see how our disconnected patterns of livingamplify our scarcity.Bring us into the joy and challenge of communitywhere bread divided multiplies, where laughter

Read More »
August 16, 2026

3 Responses

  2. Your photography is beautiful…..the starfish, well….

    Brooch of the sea
    Living, watery home now exposed to the air
    You share your dying color with those of us land bound
    and remind us of the mermaid who may have worn you in her hair

    I couldn’t resist.
    xoxo

  3. The teachings of The Taoist sage, Chuang-tzu, suggest that our seemingly aimless, worldly existence, as “dream,” or “vision,” provides the necessary terrain for a sort of meandering, butterfly metamorphosis path, or glorious journey of the soul.

    Fluttering about sleepily
    in a field of
    dew-kissed flowers —
    could it be the little butterfly
    of Chuang-tzu’s dream?

    ~ Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)