overcomplicating things

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Overcomplicating things

This realisation came to me this morning whilst I was sitting under a tree. It felt profound, and so I feel to say something about it. However, I'm painfully aware that there is a great irony in me wanting to say anything about this.

The truth is simple. Existence is simple. And when we are sensing the whole of life, the whole of existence, as an undivided process – a single dance where everything is fully interwoven with everything else – when we are sensing life in this way, it is felt as simple. It is simple because there is no way to disentangle any one part of life from the rest of it. And so, there is nothing really that can be said about life. There's nothing meaningful that can be thought, in words.

And, of course, this is exactly what most of us are doing most of the time: we are thinking. Our mind, our awareness, is largely preoccupied with thoughts. And sometimes we are speaking, writing things down, listening to words. And all of this is overcomplicating things.

And there's a part of our psyche that enjoys this complication: the intrigue of the stories that we tell ourself and each other. It is like a never-ending soap opera, a Netflix series without end. And we are rather addicted to such entertainment – the entertainment of words, the entertainment of our thoughts.

And perhaps, if that's all that were at play, there would be not much harm in it. Unfortunately, it is not so. By overcomplicating things, there is great harm. And here, I'll mention just two aspects of that harm, either one of which is so serious that we really need to change our ways.

And the first harm I want to mention is that of believing the words. We are desperately seeking some absolute truth, looking in the wrong place completely for it, but nevertheless, demanding it. And to give us a faint feel of truth, we instead choose to believe some of these words: the thoughts in our head, or the words we are listening to or reading. Truth is not to be found in words, and yet we grasp at them desperately, as a drowning man grasps at a piece of floating wood.

And by believing these words, and needing to believe them, we are set in opposition against others who choose to believe other words, perhaps ones that are incompatible with our own. And from there, we move into conflict, perhaps going as far as killing each other, simply over words. That is a terrible harm, that is coming from our words, our need to believe the words, and ultimately from our overcomplicated understanding of life.

There is a second harm, though – one that I feel is even more tragic. And that is what some would term a lost opportunity cost. There is a great opportunity that we are missing by being so addicted to words, to thoughts, and these complications that we seem to love so much. You know all the dramas that play out in your mind. They are distracting us.

For when the mind is silent and we are sensing life in its undivided reality... when we and our awareness is simply part of this creation... This way of being is so rewarding. It is delicious, beyond compare. It is complete fulfilment in the moment; without needing to do anything; without needing to understand anything; without needing to achieve anything. It is complete and total fulfilment.

And this state is bliss. This state is the way things are. And this state of being is totally simple.

And this is what we are missing, when we overcomplicate things. We are missing life.