Tathata

I was reading today about world religions, and an interesting concept caught my attention. Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes a principle called “Tathata”. Literally translated this word means “that-ness” or “such-ness”. For example, to practice Tathata a person is to take notice of the little things that make the world special. Like a particularly beautiful sunset, or a passing occurrence like a child saying something particularly profound without meaning to. Aren’t Christians called to do the same? But instead of wondering at the ability of the created to be profound, we are called to worship the Creator who gave it all meaning. Unlike Mahayana Buddhism, we have a personal God that arranged each one of those little things just for us.