Each living center is a being

In a successful work, in a living thing, though there may be ten thousand living centers, each one of these centers is a picture of the “I”, or that part of our selves that is most deeply grounded.

This dazzling display of levels — although simple and severe — is scarcely equalled. The discipline, simplicity, and enormous complexity of space that is achieved in this small panel of stone is absolutely fascinating. And it is all the more fascinating because at first sight the stone is so simple. The key thing about these many different wholes we see, is that each of them has a relation with us, me, you. Each shape is made in such a way that you can establish a relationship with it; indeed, you want to establish a relation with it.

In each case I experience each of these centers as something nearly sentient. I experience the feeling in the thing, not only in me, as I look at this being, contemplate it, meet it, confront it. Thus, literally, as I look at the cathedral, which is made of a hundred million beings, I see and feel life in everything. That is the measure of its unity and greatness as a whole.

(Pages 88-94)