Imagine a universe where each dewdrop mirrors every other dewdrop—that’s the beating heart of how Huayan Buddhism embraces the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, or Flower Garland Sutra. Far from a dry scripture, it’s treated as a cosmic blueprint revealing that every single phenomenon is both distinct and inseparable from the whole.

At the core lies Indra’s Net: an infinite web of jeweled nodes, each reflecting all the others. This school insists nothing stands alone—clouds, mountains, neurons, smartphones, and even climate negotiations at COP28 all interweave in a grand tapestry. That insight feels eerily spot-on these days: global supply chains, climate change, and the data streams powering AI mirror that very network.

Huayan develops this in three contemplations. First comes “nature,” the underlying principle (li) that unifies reality. Next is “function,” showing how that principle plays out in boundless variety (shi). Finally, “wall-less” unveils the absence of any real barrier between principle and phenomena—every detail contains the essence of the cosmos.

A famous metaphor describes a single flower petal holding the perfume of an entire orchard. In practice, devotees visualize each moment or thought as a microcosm of universal harmony—no small feat, given today’s buzzing notifications and growing eco-anxieties. Modern retreats sometimes even weave in mindfulness of digital networks, echoing ancient ideas that mind, matter, and machine share a single fabric.

Teaching is structured in four progressive stages—culminating in “sudden teaching.” That’s where realization dawns all at once: every particle, every heartbeat, every social movement reflects and sustains every other. It’s a radical embrace of interdependence, inviting a shift from “me versus you” to “we within we.”

So the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, through Huayan’s lens, becomes more than philosophy. It’s an invitation to live as though the entire universe is one’s own home—sparkling at every turn.