The
simplest
quality a thing has (be it animal, vegetable, or mineral ... anything
really - even thought) is its is-ness, its being-ness ie
it exists. It is what it is, and it isn't what it isn't. If you look at
anything that exists ie if you look at anything that's
real, you'll notice it is what it is, and it isn't what it
isn't, yes? Yet given how we're thrown to complicate things (which is
to say given how we're thrown to assume things are
complicated, or given how we're thrown to assume life can't possibly
be
simple),
this essential simplest quality of things, their is-ness, their
being-ness, is hard to grasp. And because it's hard to grasp, we remain
unfamiliar with it. Clearly, being unfamiliar with the essential
simplest quality of things, is the breeding ground ie is the Petri
dish for rampant false assumptions about life (and of the way
it
works)
being complicated.
You could say when we allow this
simplest
of all qualities, this erstwhile unfamiliar
simplest
of qualities which all things have, to
show up,
it's the onset of
transformation.
You could say allowing life to be
simple
(ie you could say allowing things to be what they are and allowing them
to not be what they aren't) is when
transformation
begins. It's more than that actually. It's allowing things to be what
they are and allowing them to not be what they aren't, starts a shift
which
inexorablyrecontextualizes
(I
love
that
word)
everything ... and so we have
transformation,
a
contextual
shift.
That's my first take on this. It's the obvious take. But there's
actually a deeper insight that's inherent in this process, a deeper
insight that if you're
awake
to it as you're going through this inquiry, it becomes available. It's
that it's always been
simple
ie the way it all
works
has always been
simple,
so there's really
nothing
we're required to do to make it be
simple.
Rather what's required of us is letting go of our determination that
it's gotta be complicated. To do that, calls for something
big. It's not
easy
taking on being responsible for imposing our
interpretations
that's it's gotta be complicated, on the otherwise
simple
process of life. The thing is: taking on being responsible for imposing
our
interpretations
that's it's gotta be complicated, on the otherwise
simple
process of life, makes it easier to let complications go.
This startling
point of view
which shifts everything (while changing
nothing,
by the way), is a gift I got from
Werner
nearly four decades ago, and which I get again and again and again over
and over and over whenever I have the good fortune to
be around him.
And in between the amazing times I get to
be around him
ie when he's not available to me
directly,
it's still tangible: I discover it in the process of
Life itself
(by maintaining the stance that
the physical universe is my
guru),
and it's all I can do (both a great joy and a great challenge) to share
it with as many people as possible as widely as possible before I
die.
"Simple"
is a
context
for living. It's also a way of looking (if you will), a
way of being with the material that allows for its
simplicity
rather than superimposing
expectations
of complications. Given the way we superimpose
expectations
of complications on life without realizing we're doing it, the new
possibilities
simplicity
allows for, come on as
magical,
as
miraculous.
Listen:
simplicity
and what it makes possible, really ismagical
and
miraculous.
And I'm using both the adjectives
"magical"
and
"miraculous"
with no more emphasis than their basic
dictionary
definitions. There's
nothing
emphatic or emotional or even overly-enthusiastic about the way I'm
using them. All I
intend
for them to invoke in this particular
context
is the plainest most
ordinary
"who we are"
living breathing experience - the
magic,
the
miracle
of just being
alive
ie the
magic,
the
miracle
of being
transformed.
Living this possibility is
simple
but not
easy
- at least, it's not always
easy.
And perhaps (just perhaps) as I've suggested, the difficulty started
with our inherited conditioning ie with our firmly held
beliefs
that a) it's not
easy,
and b) that it's both ridiculous and naïve to even
consider
it might possibly be
easy.
Yet with all that said, it might just be that
stepping
out of the realm of
beliefs
(inside
here) and into the realm of what's real
(out-here),
is the genesis of
transformation.
That's a
simple
idea of
Werner's
with
considerable
elegance. And it's a big person who makes it (look)
easy
by taking it on and expressing it in
action.
