simplicity

let go religious doctrine, discard intellectualism
people benefit orders of magnitude

let go kindness, discard correctness
people become naturally loving

let go cleverness, discard profit
people are no longer thieves and robbers

these three things are great, but insufficient as they are only words

give people a place that embodies these things
give people a place of simplicity

conceptualize, embrace the uncarved block, then

be free of that which is appointed as truth
be free of troubles and desire

my rendering of chapter 19 of the dao de jing.

simplicity should be . . . simple. it is and at the very same time it is incredibly not. look at the number of synonyms and meanings for the word itself.

straightforward. clear. plain. natural. humble. basic. easy. austere. unpretentious. candid. childlike. nothing.

easy is the path that calls for more frills, additional adornment, greater comfort, increased safety, expanded explanation. simple is presumed to be a compromise among all the desires. in fact, all those desires are a compromise of simple.

water is simple. people are guided to be like water. or maybe the snail. or the bird in the bush. or possibly the squirrel in the tree.

oh, but the things that would be discarded. so many needed things.

that would not be living.

or would it.