This week’s article was written by Terry Rubenstein at the Innate Health Center in London. I love Terry’s emails, and
I thought this one on simplicity was particularly share-worthy. The truth in things is always simple. When anything is appearing complex to us, we’re simply seeing it that way in that moment, from the current thinking that’s been brought to life within us.
Sydney Banks said “The Mind is Simplicity”
I love this quote. It challenges the very notion of life being complicated and confusing. Syd saw life from where it begins. From its basic elements. From its source. And as a result of this “seeing”, a lifetime of insecurity disappeared in a few seconds and was replaced by a lifetime of peace of mind.
Could it really be this simple?
Mahima is a fascinating and inspirational woman. At the time of the Nepal earthquakes, she was a successful, high functioning crisis management consultant to various airlines.
As the earthquake and its aftershocks descended into her life last April, she had a moment of profound insight. As her mind instantly filled with fear and began to race with what to do and how to survive and help others, she had a realisation.
Really simple. But really life changing.
She realised that all the fear she was feeling at that very moment was coming from Thought – Not from what was happening outside of her i.e. the fear was completely separate to the circumstance of there being multiple earthquakes striking her home and those she loved.
Now that’s quite radical!
I mean her life was in danger?
She doesn’t dispute that.
Nonetheless, Mahima saw with a stark clarity that all fear comes from Thought and when she saw this, her mind straight away calmed down and she felt truly peaceful, calm and fully present to help herself and others around her as best as she could.
She could see what was happening around her very clearly as her mind calmed down and was not in turmoil.
She says that this one insight has had ripple effects helping her in all areas of her life over the past year. It has helped her to wake up to being more present to life without dragging thoughts from her memory into her present situation whatever it may be.
As she spoke to our group, I think we all felt the lightness of Mahima’s insight. She has a deep trust in the Mind to offer her up the thinking she needs in each moment of her life as it occurs. She saw it didn’t let her down in what was a really “big” moment in her life.
Keith and Valda Blevins speak about one of the implications of learning about how our mind works is that we begin to see that “The future is an incomplete equation”
What they mean by that is that as soon as we begin to “imagine” what will be or “think into the future“ however smart and prophetic we might think ourselves to be, we will always be leaving out “Thought in the Moment”
Because at that particular moment when that particular situation actually arrives in our present lives, we will only be able to experience it through whatever thought comes to mind. We have no idea what that thought will be.
So imagining it seems to be a waste of time.
When you see the logic of the above, it takes a lot off our minds and we can settle down into enjoying and navigating our present day lives with all its vicissitudes and ups and downs.
However it is good to remind ourselves that when our minds do fill up with worry and fear and frustration etc (mine is really rebellious like this – reminds me of my teenage self!!) we are in a misunderstanding that life is complex and we really don’t need a thesis of thought to sort it out
Instead we can be patient, relax and hang out until the storm passes and the sky’s clear.
The Mind is pure intelligence. There is one place to look for all answers – within its infinite reservoir of Thought. Therein arises new knowledge as a free gift. It’s worth waiting for the simplicity to show up.
As Sydney Banks so aptly said “Within Simplicity Lies the Answer to all Complexity”.
