Today I'd like to explore the question of sacredness • there is a tendency to think that there are certain special things in life that are sacred, and then there's the rest of life, which is secular • is sacredness something that exists out there, or do we decide what is sacred? • in Buddhism there's an emphasis on seeing sacredness in the most mundane aspects of our ordinary life • viewing things with a sacred outlook has the power to reconnect us with a quality of wonder, a quality of awe, a quality of deep respect • you simply view everything — your body, your words, your emotions, your thoughts, your consciousness — as though it matters, as though it is worthy of your mindful attention and care • we can be inspired by certain special sacred sites, but the point is not to use those experiences to diminish or devalue the rest of our life • there are opportunities to see the sacredness all around us in every situation, in every encounter, all the time, hidden in plain sight.