Look, I get asked this question a lot: “Life should be simple, right? So why does it feel so damn complicated?”
And honestly? Most people asking this are missing something huge.
The Truth About “Simple” Life
We love saying life is simple. But here’s the thing – it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Go watch those nature documentaries for a minute. Animals? They’re living in constant threat mode. 24/7 fight for survival. Either hunt or get hunted. Either hide or die. There’s fear on one side, craving on the other side.
Now think about humans. Strip away everything else, and what are we? We’re nothing but our cravings and our fears. That’s it. That’s the center point of who we are.
But here’s where it gets interesting…
The Basic Survival Game
For most people – and I’m talking about 90% of the population – life is still that same animal fight.
You think the parent who doesn’t know how they’ll feed their kids tomorrow finds life simple? Come on.
Millions of kids competing for a few thousand seats. Two years, three years, five years of trying. Putting all their savings, all their time, all their prime years into it. Parents investing everything. And then? Nothing.
Where’s the simplicity in that?
When Money Stops Being the Problem
Now, maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “But I’m not struggling financially. My parents have a house. I have basic security.”
Cool. That security is exactly why you think life is simple.
But here’s what happens when you move beyond basic survival needs…
The real complexity begins.
Suddenly you have choices. Infinite choices. And your mind? Your mind goes crazy.
Think about it – when you’re fighting for survival, your attention is focused. You know what you need to do: earn money, feed family, pay rent. Clear and simple.
But when that pressure lifts? When you have financial security?
Welcome to mental chaos.
The Mind Game
See, when basic needs are covered, your mind starts creating problems. It has to. It’s designed to.
“What should I do with my life?”
“What’s my purpose?”
“Let me go help people in slums.”
(And then those same people ask you what you’re getting out of it, how much money you’re making, and if anything goes wrong, you’re the bad guy.)
Your attention shifts from real problems to mental gymnastics. Now you’re living in your thoughts about what others think about you. You’re constantly thinking about yourself. And there are so many contradictions in that thinking, it never ends.
The Real Complication
An animal living at basic survival level? They’re actually more balanced in some ways. Their focus is clear – food, shelter, survival.
But a human who’s moved beyond basic needs? They’re living in their mind 24/7.
And here’s the kicker – you can’t run away from your own mind.
You can avoid difficult people. You can change locations. You can maintain physical distance from problems.
But where do you go to escape yourself?
This is real complexity.
Experience vs. Thinking
Let me break something down for you.
Right now, there’s the AC running. You can feel the cool air. That’s experience.
The feeling that the air is nice and pleasant? That’s feeling.
Everything you’re saying about it in your head? That’s thought.
When you stop talking in your head, there’s no thought. But experience is still there. Feeling might still be there.
Now, most people’s attention goes to whatever triggers their craving or aversion. If you’ve never sat in AC and you come from extreme heat, where’s your attention going to be? On what I’m saying or on how amazing this cool air feels?
You are nothing but your cravings and aversions. The objects of craving and aversion keep changing, but that’s your essence.
The Trap of “Spiritual” Seeking
So what do people do when they realize this? They turn to spirituality.
But guess what’s happening? Spirituality is being sold to people who are still stuck at basic needs level. It’s being sold to the bottom of the pyramid because that’s where the numbers are.
Meanwhile, the people who actually need it – who are stuck beyond basic survival – they’re creating new cravings.
“I want some spiritual experience.”
“I want to see some light in meditation.”
“I want energy to rise up in me.”
How are you free? You’re more stuck than before.
At least in the material world, if you want South Indian food, you know where to go. You pay money, you get the experience. Simple transaction.
In spirituality? You don’t even know if your teacher has had the experience they claim. You don’t know if they can trigger it in you. And even if they could – what then?
How many good experiences have you had from childhood till now? Did any of them change anything permanently?
The Real Answer
Spirituality isn’t about collecting more experiences. It’s about questioning the experiencer.
Who’s sitting at the center of all these experiences?
When you stop chasing experiences – good or bad – when you’re free from the baggage of memory that creates your past and future concepts – that’s when you can say life is simple.
Not theoretically. Actually.
When nothing really matters whether it stays or goes. When good things happen or bad things happen, and it genuinely doesn’t affect your inner state.
Then life is simple. Because what’s worth doing gets done. What’s not worth doing drops away. And whether you get results or not from what you’re doing? Doesn’t matter.
You keep moving.
Most of the world is busy doing exactly what’s not worth doing. And this happens in the spiritual world too, not just the material world.
The Bottom Line
Life appears simple only when you’re free from craving and aversion. Not relatively free – absolutely free.
When there’s no fear inside you of any kind. No desire of any kind at the deep level.
Then you can say life is simple.
Because then what happens happens. What doesn’t happen doesn’t happen. And you? You’re okay with it all.
That’s when life actually becomes simple.
Not when you have money. Not when you have security. Not when you have spiritual experiences.
When you’re free from the need for any of it.
Most people won’t get this. They’ll keep thinking they can think their way to simplicity. But thinking is the problem. The mind creating complexity is the problem. The solution isn’t more thinking – it’s seeing through the thinker itself.
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