At the end of the Diamond Sutra, in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, is the famous four-line verse:
Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
Richard Quinney, growing up on a farm, walking the land, working in the fields, tending the farm animals, and listening to the soft words of his family as the darkness folded into the night, has spent a lifetime contemplating the nature of reality.
In This World of Dreams, a year passes as Quinney tells the stories that come, as in a dream, of things past, of the ancestors that once lived, and of the wonders of everyday life. The revels will end in this relative world of dreams. Yet the fruits of his year's quest prompt thoughts, more dreams, of an absolute realm beyond this dream world. He writes that we are the shepherds of our dreams, the tellers of the tales we share with others. We are the keepers of the wonders of our existence here on earth.
Distributed for Borderland Books.