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'The Kennebec River - Bath, ME'
The Way simplifies us ...
in our walking the Way.
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Confusion requires thinking. The present moment is not confusing.
*Joan Tollifson. Painting the Sidewalk with Water.
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September 19, 2008 -
Leaving this day to facilitate a sharing time with a group of veterans, I remarked in jest to a friend, "I'm going to lecture on the Mystery of life." She replied immediately with a serious look, one of full conviction, saying, "Life is really complicated!" "I disagree with you on that," I said, "life is not complicated, life is simple. We create the complication." I saw a shift in her, like a light came on in her eyes, seeing the simplicity, the purity, of Life again.
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The ego-sense can feel imperiled by the obvious, simple, unspectacular - such as, "Oh! It can't be that simple. You mean ... ? But... ." This ego-sense foments complication as avoidance of simplicity. Simplicity is pure, pureness itself. The self often leans away from such bare presence, avoiding this intimacy. Hence, the self lives in fragmentation. However, with inner simplification, which entails a calming of rivaling thoughts and desires within, peace arises, and one enjoys harmony - this unity is indicated in the Latin root for the word "simple," "one-fold."
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Simplicity means for you to express your realness, then you are a creator of harmony outside the self. Fake has no place. One example of this is in communicating in simplicity. Shunryu Suzuki referred to this, in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind -
Without any intentional, fancy way of adjusting yourself, to express yourself as you are is the most important thing.
This is the way of nature. A tree has no problem expressing treeness, for a tree is the treeness. Particular species of trees express their separate selves. An oak tree does not try to be a pine tree, and an orange tree does not produce acorns. Possibly, only the human species flees expressing itself as itself. Society is made up of many "contracts" whereby humans agree to play-act so as not to be a problem to others, to get along with others in what is often a charade called community, group, political party, team, ...
Hence, we can see simplicity entails an authentic, straightforward expression. This unelaborated self-presentation is exemplified in the biblical text, Gospel of Matthew 5.37, "let your yes be yes, your no be no." Quakers cite this to support their not taking oaths. Our entire lives are for living into this purity, directness, and intimacy of presentation. We are to live this just yes and just no.
What you do and that you are... these are not separate - that is harmony. So, the moment you do not present yourself directly, but you adjust your self-presentation to hide or mislead, you have moved from simplicity and, so, harmony. Yet, an unapologetic expression of yourself, your true self, is the way of simplicity. Simplicity means you see the body is Spirit's conduit for the direct, unmediated expression of Life. Even when alone, you express realness.
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Parker J. Palmer, Quaker -
Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks - we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.
Hence, as has been said, the Divine's glory is the human being becoming fully human. We reveal the Light's innocence, purity, and simplicity of effulgence through our integrity, or wholeness of expression. Here, your whole self speaks forth truth. You have become the Word timelessly expressing Itself through Spirit's incarnation as, in, and through matter.
When you become simple, all things become simple.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on mystical traditions, especially Christian and Sufi, with extensive notes on the teachings and imagery in the poetry.
*Quote of Parker J. Palmer, "Integrity," American Friends Service Committee: https://www.afsc.org/testimonies/integrity .
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