2125: The Book of Great Harmony

The Book of Changes says, "To come and go without end is called communication."

The Diamond Sutra says, "The mind of the past cannot be grasped, the mind of the present cannot be grasped, and the mind of the future cannot be grasped."

Yet where the mind cannot be grasped, there must be light.

It is the fold in time behind Li Bai's "The Yellow River's waters descend from heaven," the vortex of consciousness in Van Gogh's whirling starry sky, and the "do not impose on others what you would not want yourself" hidden in quantum entanglement.

Nuclear fire flashes like lightning, burning away the ashes of greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, and doubt, only for wormwood from the Book of Songs to sprout in their place;

The orbits of stars are like strings, playing the old tune of "the world belongs to all," yet shaking loose the fresh dew of 2125.

Look at those eyes: the left holds the dawn of a century from now, the right contains the dusk of this moment.

Where light and shadow clash lies the mysterious womb where "the Dao is found even in ants."

Before a prophecy is spoken, it has already taken root among the orchids and fragrant plants of Li Sao;

Before the future arrives, it has long been gilded by the printed words of Das Kapital.

This shore is the other shore, and an instant is eternity.

It is only that someone, first in the folds of time, has felt the thread that stitches past and present together.