The Simplicity of What Is

"A theory of everything?

What is, is.

How simple can it get?"

Stephen Mitchell

In the practice of Zen (a word that simply means meditation), we have been given the secret to every question we can ever have about the nature of who we are and our place in the grand scheme of things. Zen Masters sum everything up by saying, "What is, is - and what isn't, isn't." '

"What is', is another name for Reality, the way things are right Now. In every moment, we are either in alignment and flowing with 'what is' or we are resisting what is, and experiencing suffering as a result. In fact, you might notice that ALL of your suffering comes from thinking things should be different than the way they actually are.

For instance, if you are without a job; fear may arise - not because you don't have a job, but because your mind (the voice in your head) is telling a story that things should be different than the way they are. Its comes from the resistance we have to whatever is appearing in the present moment, not to what is actually happening. This is also true when we find ourselves thinking that we need to figure ourselves out. The mind tells us that if we could just get a handle on who we really are, and the direction our life should go in, then we would be at peace, and know the joy that we long for. We can spend years in an endless search for this elusive 'me', and the destination that we feel we must find before we can simply relax and be who we already are.

Of course, this 'Nirvana-Land of Make Believe' always seems to be just out of reach, and just around the corner - in the next retreat, the next meditation or the next spiritual book we read.

Yet, what would happen if we just dropped all of these frustrating beliefs, and encountered what is Here and Now without a story of how it should, or shouldn't be? Perhaps the 'answer' would come like the breeze on our skin, the touch of a lovers hand or the fragrance of a flower. In the suchness of this moment, we might find the door to eternity swings wide-open and shows us that; we already are who we have been looking for, and already have everything we need to be happy, Here and Now.