Interior of the Church of the Light
Tadao Andō, 1999

My dear friends,

As we enter more deeply into Holy Week, we are invited to contemplate the mystery of the cross through the awakening of the heart. The Apostle points us toward a wisdom that the ordinary mind cannot grasp, a wisdom revealed in self-emptying love. What appears as loss or defeat becomes, for the awakened mind, the path of liberation. In the crucified Jesus Christ we encounter the living expression of bodhicitta, the boundless compassion that embraces suffering for the sake of all beings. Let us walk this path together, not merely as observers, but as those who cultivate the same awakened heart.

The cross appears absurd to the mind that clings to self-preservation and separateness. Why would one willingly embrace suffering, or respond to harm with love? Yet to the one who has glimpsed emptiness, the cross reveals the path of the Bodhisattva. In this way, suffering is neither sought nor rejected, but transformed into the field of compassion. The cross becomes a living teaching: liberation unfolds through self-giving love, through relinquishing the illusion of an independent, separate self.

What we call worldly wisdom is shaped by grasping, comparison, and pride. It cannot perceive the truth that is revealed in surrender. When these patterns dissolve, a deeper knowing emerges, the knowing of the heart that rests in interbeing. This is the dawning of the mind of Christ, which is none other than bodhicitta, the union of wisdom and compassion.

True knowing does not arise through debate or mental cleverness, but through the surrender of the heart. This is the heart of bodhicitta, and it is the very mind of Christ. Belief is not blind acceptance but trust born of love. The wisdom of the world seeks control; true wisdom seeks communion.

We want signs of victory or systems of logic. But divine compassion gives us a broken man nailed to wood. This stumbling block is the very stone the builders rejected—and it becomes the cornerstone. For those who live from ego, the cross offends. But to those whose hearts have begun to awaken, it points to a power and wisdom beyond comprehension.

Christ crucified is not a failure to be explained away. He is the revelation of the deepest wisdom: that the one who bears the suffering of all becomes the healer of all. Here we see the Bodhisattva heart, fully revealed in the flesh of our world.

The love that forgives from the cross is more powerful than any empire. The apparent weakness of Christ is stronger than the might of armies. Like the silent empty cross above many Reformed altars, the risen Christ is unseen but present. His strength flows through those who seem weakest, and His wisdom is known in the quiet hearts that dare to love.

You are not called because of superiority or achievement. You are called because the ground of your being already carries the potential for awakening. What is humble and overlooked becomes the perfect vessel for realization. In emptiness there is no barrier, and in humility the awakened mind shines unobstructed.

In Christ, one does not become greater in the eyes of the world. One becomes transparent to love, a vessel through which wisdom and compassion flow freely. This is the true path, to live not for self-centered gain, but for the liberation of all beings, walking the way of the cross as the way of awakening.

As we continue through this Holy Week, may we behold the cross with the eyes of awakening. May we recognize in it the path of the Bodhisattva, the path of fearless compassion and liberating wisdom. Let us embrace the seeming paradox of love that gives itself completely, of strength revealed in gentleness. In this way, we participate in the great work of liberation, allowing the awakened heart to unfold for the benefit of all beings.