Two people, the two of us for example, cannot inhabit the same space. Not the same physical space, mental space, experiential space, or space of expectation – we necessarily have different points of view, different opinions. Hence the impossibility of communication, brought home to me whenever someone emails me their response to one of these posts. Did I really say that? I look back on what I wrote and of course I didn't say that at all, but then neither did I say what I meant to say. Is all we can ever be is gatherers of images, images which as soon as they form inside me become memories and opinions. So when I experience reality, or thinking, or truth or relaxation or taiji, those experiences depend largely upon the images of those concepts that I have formed inside my head, my body and my energy. My experience of relaxation depends upon the image of relaxation I have inside me – the opinion I have regarding what constitutes relaxation. This is how our experiences and our opinions – our imagery and our imagining – limit our progress. Spiritual practitioners spend a large part of their time praying and hoping for grace – the possibility of a gift that will break open this closed system. Without such grace – a destructive grace – we endlessly go round in circles, making the same mistakes over and over. The process of breaking apart one's imagery – one's mental structures – we call forgiveness. Forgive and forget. But before I can forget I must first fully remember the details of the occasions that caused such images to form in the first place – I must remember my mistakes with a heart of compassion and make them right.