Simply Us

Life is simple.
Certain life, that is. 

Sometimes life gets hard.

We make it simple or hard.

Too much thinking can increase the complexity. 

Those who live simply reveal a deep understanding. 

They know that thought, like action, should be efficient.

Once they decide what is essential, they do not forget it. 

What is the basic difference between efficient and inefficient thought?  

Here are my best guesses as to the variables simplicity turns on.

        

We love pain.

That’s what I said.

Pain is proof of life.

It makes us feel more alive. 

We have limited control over what happens.

But we have enormous influence over our reactions.

Sometimes the simple reaction to an event feels inadequate.

It is our nature to match our response complexity to the situation.   

Why do we tend to gnarl our reasoning into such tangled webs?

Pain more than pleasure makes for brilliant stimulation of the brain.

        

We grow older.

How does that matter?

Youth is a simpler existence.

As life proceeds we develop memories.

Our thinking swings between anticipation and recollection.

Memory elicits desire, which creates a desire for complex satisfaction.  

Actually, the flow of thoughts is what we like; but we often fool ourselves. 

Is complexity necessary for our thoughts to make us feel more alive?

Complexity is our best hope, this side of pinpointing the essential.

We meet others.

Hell is other people.

So said Jean Paul Sartre.

What did he mean by that? 

They always challenge our view of reality.

A complex response to complexity is complexity squared.

We are simultaneously drawn to and repelled from others.

If we love someone else, they may break our heart.

What happens when we decide to hate or hinder another person? 

Even when they are no longer around us, they complexify our lives.

So what then?

What do we do?

How do we live simply? 

We must learn to dislike pain.

We can replace it with something else.

 Instead of pain, we begin to pursue enjoyment. 

Odd as it sounds, enjoyment is an acquired taste. 

You might say, it is something of an adult taste. 

Enjoyment comes from being astute, which comes from efficient thinking.  

To practice efficient thinking we must figure out essential human values.

        

What is essential? 

The answer is simple. 

Only enjoyment-bearing phenomena are essential. 

How may I distinguish these phenomena? 

Enjoyment is consistently derived from natural action. 

Natural action engages our mind, body and spirit. 

Bodily action should be done with heart and soul. 

What comes from our minds should unite motion and emotion. 

What vitalizes our spirit, except our physical and mental well being?  

Elegance is an overtone from harmony among head, heart and hand.

        

We like complexity. 

Look at our clothes. 

Look at all our gadgets. 

They are increasingly various.  

This comes from us living outside in. 

It’s better to live from the inside out. 

You cannot hit the target without aiming the bow. 

There is no magnetization in the targets we shoot at. 

What does it mean when our arrows fly in all directions? 

Our actions are haphazard, posing a danger to ourselves and to others.

Here’s the drill. 

Observe nature. 

She is your best teacher. 

The sun always rises and sets. 

We set our calendars by the stars.

Harvesting follows growing and planting.

Animals grow the fur they need, never too much. 

Rabbits never chase down lions or take to the air. 

How do birds fly so well together, without a guiding force? 

Observable formations come from unity inside each of the birds in flight.

We love simplicity. 

Sometimes this gets obscured. 

Circumstances often remind us. 

We might begin to feel hollow, or.

Our hearts get dry as a wasteland. 

Getting so confused, we harm those we love. 

Every desire of our mind appears to be met. 

But still something is missing down in our heart.

What do we do when such circumstances prevail in our lives? 

There is always some aspect of us that has not been co-opted.

To this anteroom we go, searching for the solace we so desperately need.  

What is there is simple light, simple love, simple joy, simple living – simply us.