‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a story about a Persian believer’s journeys and how he could not sleep at night while in the wilderness for fear of someone stealing his new shirt, a new gift from a prominent person. After several sleepless nights he decided to get rid of the shirt so he could relax. (Rafati, Vahid, Sources of Persian Poetry in the Baha’i Writings, Vol. lll, p. 80)
We have a culture that consumes things far beyond our needs. It can be overwhelming to the senses, particularly this time of the year as we approach the most important commercial holidays in the annual calendar. Preparations are made long in advance to ensure that we are influenced to spend and acquire many things. Beyond material things, courses for the betterment of our lives flood the media. These courses tell us we are not enough because we need this diet, this financial training, this new found breakthrough in neuroscience that will radically improve who and what we are. Our senses are assaulted and our susceptibilities are skillfully manipulated by reputable marketing experts to get us to succumb to their enticing wiles. The pull this has on our psyches is irresistible and we find ourselves drawn to shop automatically, thinking that it is a good deal thus we must have that one thing to improve the quality of our lives. But what if we are already complete? Would we look at this whole process differently? I remember when my boys were younger and they wished for certain things, making their wishes known and apparent in insistent ways. When they were gifted with that thing their interest in it was short lived. They moved on to some simple toy that they truly loved and treasured. As adults we exhibit this same attitude. I have bought things that I have stored away and forgotten about them. At the time of buying it I thought it was so necessary. This causes me to think whether this practice of simplicity applies also to non tangible aspects of our lives. When I surround myself with many people I find that I get anxious and withdrawn because I am not good at small talk. I settle when I can speak with one person and ease into a meaningful conversation. Similarly, when I am flustered my brain is swirling with a myriad of thoughts that leave me in a dazed and disoriented state because I cannot figure out the thread of any one thought. It takes several sessions of meditation, slowing down and abstaining from social media to allow my over active and over exposed mind to settle. An excess of things clutters our world and does not allow us to see what is actually going on. We miss the importance of social issues and how they are affecting others on the planet in our preoccupation with consuming and over indulging. We do not want to see what is going on for others as long as our wants are satisfied. We miss out on what really matters and then become protagonists of maintaining the way the world is, yet we profess to want to change things. We do not acknowledge this obvious cognitive dissonance because it is accepted and perpetuated by society. Simplicity calls me to reflect on my way of being and to ensure that what I say aligns with how I act. It encourages a coherence in life that results from keeping things simple. If I dare to believe that I have what I need, I am enough and have value, then what thing is there to complete my existence?
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