46. Simplicity

Reality, being whole and parts, one and many, is also simple and complex. Everything, seen wholly, is also that.

The past, for example, is simple. It is all that isn’t now, and won’t be. It can be dismissed or welcomed in a moment. It is the past: a thing.

There are various past aggregates. The past of a county, or a tree, or a friend, can be seen in a moment. And then, what is seen in a moment can be felt as many, diverse, and surprising. Thought, feeling, go towards oneness with a presence of manyness. Thought goes towards simplicity with richness.

The future also can be seen as simple. It is that: what will be. But it likewise can be subdivided twistingly and dazzlingly.

The world can be seen as bound or unbound. Where there is enclosing or being enclosed, with oneness or inseparable bindingness, there is simplicity. Simplicity is withinness and withoutness as one. It is manyness organized so as, for the moment, not to seem manyness.

The idea of oneness or simplicity can make for peace. It is real peace when complexity, manyness, uncertainty, are also felt.

Organization completely successful, would be completely simple. It would be effortless oneness among felt, unrestrained manyness. The world has to be seen as organized. It is therefore simple.

47. Complexity

When anything is seen as complex, the simple is thought of or hoped for. Otherwise, complexity is confusion.

A complex symphony, completely a symphony—that is, the greatest symphony possible—would be like one note. A complex, long novel, completely a novel, would be like one word.