simplicity

24 posts

Desiderata

Desiderata Because Life is about You

Are you familiar with the writings of Max Ehrmann? He wrote the poem Desiderata in 1927. I wrote an article with topics relating to this poem several years ago.  A person, at that time, reminded me of the poem during a conversation about our experiences in high school.

Desiderata

It is obvious that materialistic merits and always getting more is the focus of most people. But, this results in, among other things, always wanting more and more. This means that enough is never enough. Furthermore, wanting and needing causes people to feel isolated and alone. However, we are beings of the universe. Therefore, our presence portraits a universal beingness. Thus, the universe becomes conscious of itself through us. Nevertheless, we have forgotten our essence. Thus, gone down a path that distracts us from consciously observing each step on this journey.  

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A Phrase that Offers Clarity

What is all the hype about enlightenment and spirituality? Everyone wants in on this spectacular feeling. Thus, more and more people search for a way out of a mundane existence. Nevertheless, a thought, person or situation does not miraculously change because of enlightenment. Let’s refer to the following insight from a Zen Buddhism phrase to illustrate.

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”

phrase

This phrase is a fundamental stepping stone for anyone on his or her inner journey. Please focus on the act of being, regardless of any detail within this state of beingness. I realize sharing this insight with you is repetitive. Nevertheless, a shift from mind to conscious living is a process that also involves relearning how to observe living life. Equally, how you observe yourself in any given moment offers either conscious clarity or continual mind slavery. Therefore, it is beneficial for us to walk the path of self-discovery with only the essentials in our backpack. Your conscious awakening during the inner journey does not need any extra baggage such as assuming, judging, labeling or searching. Continue reading

spilled

Spilled Milk Causes Confusion

Have you every spilled milk or experience some other mishap? This happens to everyone and usually many times every day. Nevertheless, is any experience really that serious?  We can reassuringly answer this question with a no. But, everyone reacts differently. The unconscious or conscious understanding of life influences a person’s behavior patterns. Thus, I am not suggesting that you will not or should not react seriously to any encounter. After all, our experiences are relatively serious but not absolutely. However, I ask that you consciously respond, instead of unconsciously reacting when something happens.

spilled

Therefore, our conversation relates to the practice of conscious awareness during daily activities. Firstly, it is accurate to write that people take the details of most experiences too seriously.  It would also be beneficial to accept the actuality of any given situation that the mind labels as serious. Spilled milk is a useful example for our discussion. Let’s consciously observe the aftermath of a glass of milk that spills. Let’s keep it simple. You pour milk. The glass tips and the milk flows unto the kitchen counter and floor. Let’s freeze this image. Ask yourself.  What happens when milk spills? Please focus on the obvious answer because the easiest answer is the most likely answer 😊.

Yes, that’s right. The milk spills. Nothing more and nothing less. Any ifs, buts or whys will not change the fact that the milk has spilled.  Furthermore, you cannot alter what has happened by unconsciously listening to mind feedback. (thoughts, feelings or beliefs) Continue reading

Completely Complete Here and Now

You come from one; completely.
It has always been the one.
You are simply here to live.
Do you feel it? Be it! You are alive.
You are the one that shines like the sun.
It is you that creates the moon and stars.

completely

You are here, now. Do you feel it?
There is nothing less or more than one being.
Therefore, too be or not to be is not the question.
It is you that creates being.
It is you that are one; completely.

Will you live, love and have some fun?
Being is simply to be, completely.
You often want to ask how and why.
But, the gift of being is not a question.

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simplify

Simplify Life and Don’t Resist Living

Conscious living offers us a clear perspective regarding our daily activities and understanding of how everything unfolds. Does a feather fight against the wind or define the wind as being its fate? Both are unlikely. Thus, the feather simply experiences the natural flow of the wind. It does this without interpretation or definition. The feather is one with the now of this moment because it allows life to flow through it and the wind to move it. The stillness within nothingness manifests everything. Therefore, simplify and live within this flow.

simplify

Simplify

Simplify and you will surely fly.
Let life be simple and never wonder why.
After all, life has a natural flow
Thereby it carries you along.

The highest plateau is always within reach.
This is more than gliding or carelessly flying.
Now is not the time to wait, don’t ever hesitate.

The mind will often cause you to contemplate.
It tells you to be careful and wants you to debate.
There is so much you must think and do.
Do not listen, do not ponder.
Otherwise, the mind will cause you to wander.
How do you feel? Always observe what you think.
Be afraid, don’t look beyond my thoughts.
This is what the mind whispers.
Nevertheless, simplify and discover that you can fly.
It is possible now without delay.
However, the mind will warn you to stay away.
But, heed not what it says, do not worry…
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experience

Experience What Is Instead of What Is Not

Words often confuse us. And the word experience is an example of this confusion. We claim that our experiences influence our behavior. Similarly, the mind is adept in placing labels and definitions onto our experiences. Thus, the mind super-imposes conditioning factors onto everything. And, we just go along for the ride.

experience

Let’s put this into perceptive from a conscious awakening standpoint. You do not necessarily participate in any given experience through your awareness to the situation. Yes, I realize this statement is first confusing. Something happens, such as a cup of water falling from the table to the floor. You are aware that the cup has fallen. Nevertheless, your awareness does not prevent you from complaining because the cup fell. Does the immediate situation cause your discomfort? Or, are you actually reenacting a conditioned reaction from a similar circumstance? Continue reading

totality

The Totality of Living Life Is Now

You experience the totality of everything is each moment. But, the mind won’t accept this insight. So, you must go beyond conventional thinking.  Here, non-attachment and non-dependency are beneficial. Sages and conscious individuals express again and again the benefits of conscious living within this moment. Eckhart Tolle describes the present moment as all you will ever have. So, is this the totality of life? Don’t answer too quickly. Instead, consciously step outside your mind. Thus, it becomes obvious that, indeed, this moment is everything. 

totality

Buddha once said that Life can only take place in the present moment. You can’t dispute this logic. Everything that is, was or will be, happens now. Thus, the beingness of living is an acknowledgement of presence. The process of thinking cannot accept, nor simply allow the act of being. Hence, the totality of your beingness is incomprehensible to the mind. Continue reading

Do You Live in the Suchness of Now?

Have we forgotten how to live? Sound ridicules? This question is not as crazy as you think. Why do we insist on avoiding the suchness of life? We overlook the simplicity that is at the foundation of life and love. Complexity is the name of the game in our world. So, we make the endeavors associated with interpreting and defining life and love our priorities. But, just living and loving have become secondary in our life experiences. We are usually busy doing something or asking questions about everything. Thus, we see the beauty and true significance of being here and now as trivial. This same pattern of misunderstanding is evident in matters of the heart, such as love. We insist on pursuing our love interpretations and expectations, instead of just pure and simple loving.

suchness

The awakening of self-consciousness was wonderful and equally burdening. Mind development overshadowed this awakening. Thus, conditioned behavior became the foundation of our existence through the intervention of the mind. And, many of these patterns still contaminate a modern existence that is relatively simplistic. Consequently, and ultimately, the suchness of life is undeniable. And yet, we usually want life to be anything other than what it is now. Nevertheless, perhaps a conscious evolution is upon us. More and more people are consciously aware.  There is always the suchness (Tathātā, Buddhism) of now. Therefore, living within presence frees us from the concepts of the mind. Not by avoiding the mind. But, rather by accepting thoughts, emotions and situations as temporary. Continue reading

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu Shows Us the Way and So Can You

Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, and other sages were aware of the possibilities within the field of conscious awareness. The key is to recognize universal knowledge as the essence of being. Thus, you spontaneously live life beyond word, labels and mind details. Yet, you accept mind aspects as a part of the isness of living. However, continual tapping into the spaciousness of presence frees you from mind dominance during any situation. Hence, life is an energy field that pulsates with active consciousness. And, this consciousness is universal. This is a space of oneness that we all share. Furthermore, this is a realm of nothingness from which everything manifests.

Lao Tzu

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre expresses our existence through the following insight in his book Being and Nothingness.

“At first man is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be.”
and
“Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.”

Truly living, rather than existing, so to speak, is enough without searching for an ultimate label or reason for being. The past nor the future offer no enlightenment of life and living in this moment. So, this is to say, that life is a mystery best to experience as a mystery. The first chapter of the Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu 604-531 BC) expresses this mystery as the Tao (The Way). Continue reading

Everything Is Unfair or Is It?

We tend to accuse everything; whether person or situation, of being unfair. Also, we expect to live life as in the descriptive illusions of a Garden of Eden. Let’s consider the following correlations. We assume things and people are unfair. Equally, we presume to lose people and things during our life. So, this must mean that life is unfair. And, sooner or later, we lose everything. But, what are we actually saying when we use such assumptions? We actually mean that people and situations are do not fulfill our expectations. So, we label things as fair or unfair.

unfair

And, the loss of something is often overwhelming to most of us. We literally label life as a series of highs and lows. We are on a self-constructed road of delusional Hell. The center point of this delusion is strangely enough, a misinterpretation of our own being. Continue reading