Friday, August 07, 2009

Simplicity

One of my critiques of Buddhism has always been the undying simplicity of its suggestions. My western facilities don't want to believe that simple mindfulness really is the answer to my fretting. My busy schedule doesn't trust that simply taking a day off (really off) offers me rest. My soul has always believed that life is simply more complicated than that.

I've begun to read Original Self by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul. He spoke of Thoreau's move to Walden Pond saying, "his interior life became more complicated as his life simplified."

I think that's what I've meant in my critique. It's not that simplicity or mindfulness or rest deny life's complexity; simplicity, mindfulness and rest reveal life's complexity. And when I simplify, when I am mindful, when I rest, I understand better.