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“The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.”
— Khalil Gibran
“Few of us believe in our own mortality until we’re face to face with it, and then some of us will forget immediately after.” — Laurence Gonzales, Deep Survival
“You could tell the secret of life ten times over, and it would still be safe. After all, the secret is only known when people make it real in their own lives, not when they simply hear it.”
— Deng Ming-Dao (a modern Taoist sage)
“It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. In the same manner present opportunities are neglected and attainable good is slighted by minds busied in extensive ranges, and intent upon future advantages. Life, however short, is made shorter by waste of time.” — Samuel Johnson
Many, or even most, of the significant problems in our lives are more about recognizing the obvious rather than discovering the mysterious or hidden. One of the most classic ways we deceive and hide from ourselves is by refusing to recognize the obvious and shrouding what is right before us in rationalization and false complexity. We often delay and deny necessary transformation by believing there must be a mysterious answer hidden from us when we know the answers but have various reasons to pretend we don’t. Another way we sabotage ourselves is by recognizing the obvious to a degree but not acting in ways that are consistent with the recognition.
Here’s an example of one of these all-too-obvious aspects we often refuse to recognize: In hexagram 27 of the I Ching, “Providing Nourishment,” it is written:
“He who seeks nourishment that does not nourish reels from desire to gratification and in gratification craves desire. Mad pursuit of pleasure for the satisfaction of the senses never brings one to the goal. One should never…follow this path, for nothing good can come of it.”
With admirable concision, this thousands-of-years-old source recognizes one of the most obvious truths of human existence. And yet, we ignore this obvious truth and pursue nourishment that does not nourish. Someone once said that insanity means doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. If that definition were valid, we’d all qualify as insane because we all reach for that gooey dessert, that extra drink, that whatever, thinking it will make us feel better when long experience tells us that overall it is a detriment.
In the Sixties, people went on road trips or to the Far East, saying that they were “trying to find the meaning of life.” Someone once said that such people had the question reversed because it’s life that asks you what your meaning is, and you have to supply the answer heartbeat by heartbeat. Is the answer to the meaning of life so difficult and mysterious? Actually, there is universal testimony from across cultures and periods on what the meaning of life is. You don’t need an ancient source — you can ask many who have had near-death experiences or those who are aged and feel fulfilled with their lives. The meaning of life is so widely reported by the wise it should be considered obvious. I wrote about it in The Capsule of Intentionality as follows,
But before we address the particular needs and problems of this unusual time, let’s consider that which is essential to human life in any era, including the present. The secret of human life is that for this incredibly difficult incarnation to be meaningful and fulfilling, you need two key elements. These two elements are the secret to all the happiness and meaning possible in a human life. They are recognized cross-culturally and across history by the most varied traditions, religions, and sources of wisdom. You can find them in the words of the ancient prophet of your choice, in the spiritual awakening of someone who has had a near-death experience, and you can also find them deep in your own heart.
The first element is learning. You’re here to learn and become more aware. Instead of saying learning, you could call it growing, evolving, becoming more conscious, achieving wholeness, or individuation. Choose whatever words you find most suitable. This element is such a deep human longing that a young person may join the army to “Be all you can be.”
Learning is such a core drive that it can take years and years of boring and sometimes sadistic compulsory education to bring down your desire to learn enough for society to get some use out of you.
The second element is love. Loving and helping others is more crucial than receiving love or help. You’ll notice I referred to helping “others” and not “people.” Others is a larger set that includes people, animals, and other sentient entities.
Loving and learning are the two sides of the secret-of-life coin. Often, they overlap as helping others be more aware is often the most loving thing you can do for them and yourself. Assisting others in expanding their awareness increases awareness.
“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”
— M. Scott Peck
Obviously, the secret of life isn’t much of a secret. You’ve probably always known what the secret was. Pretending we don’t know what the secret is can sometimes be easier than manifesting the will to take action to fulfill these two great and ever-present purposes. Focusing will and using awareness, wisdom, intuition, and compassion to fulfill the secret of our incarnation, which we already know, is what it’s all about.
(End of excerpt from The Capsule of Intentionality)
To recognize the obvious, you cannot merely acknowledge it as a mental abstraction. The recognition must be physical, emotional, and spiritual. It must resonate in the depths of your being. Recently, I came to realize what the word “realization” means. It’s when something becomes potently real for you. The realization is often about a truth that you may have known about for years but failed to view as real on the deepest level until some particular moment.
When recognition becomes realization, your work has still only just begun. You must act on the realization. You must allow it to transform you and your life by changing your perspective and behavior.
When I write oracle cards, I’m trying to teach myself difficult lessons. I’m attempting to transform my recognitions into realizations. Once I’ve done that, I still have to work moment-by-moment with mixed results to walk the talk, to live by the realizations. In many oracle cards, for example, I emphasize the reality of inner wholeness and the dangerous pitfall of looking for wholeness in the other. At this phase of my life, on the abstract plane, the truth that I can only find wholeness where it always was — within — seems obvious, but actually living my life that way is a tough gap to close. It’s still a struggle not to lose sight of the obvious. Often it’s a moment-by-moment struggle to stay aware of the many ways I project my inner wholeness onto others and seek to regain my intrapsychic wholeness through interpersonal means.
What are the obvious things in your life that you need to recognize? Often, people who know us well recognize the obvious factors we’re ignoring better than we do. Ask spiritual allies: “What are the obvious things I deny or neglect to deal with?” If two or more allies point out the same things, take what they say seriously. To others, it may be obvious that you are spending over your means or repeating classic self-sabotaging patterns with relationships, health, career, etc. Look at the people you know well and consider what obvious factors they are denying or neglecting. Instead of telling them (unless they invite your counsel), consider how you may deny or neglect similarly obvious factors.
Consider this an auspicious time to recognize, realize, integrate, and act on the obvious.
