A Simple Man

I have always thought of myself as a fairly simple person. By that I mean also that I have thought of myself as pretty clear-headed, straightforward and undeviating. I always felt that I knew what I liked and what I wanted. I was pretty focused on achieving what I wanted and was not easily distracted. Perhaps this was a corollary of my academic background in mathematics—strong left brain, clear logical thinking, an ability to be “undisturbed” by emotion or feeling. Also, mathematicians prize a quality of thought and of logical deduction, induction and argument called "elegance,” which can be described as simplicity, purity and beauty.

I see now that this has many parallels for the spiritual journey. I also see that I am not as simple as I thought, because I am far from being as simple as I would like to be.

Recently, in the course of editing Master Sha’s next major book, Tao I: The Way of All Life, I had some new insights into the meaning and significance of simplicity. In this sixth book of his Soul Power Series of bestsellers, Master Sha offers many powerful teachings and practices, including his ubiquitous “one-sentence secrets.” It is a rich, powerful, practical and simple book. One of the most important one-sentence secrets in this book is (in Chinese) Da Tao zhi jian, which means “The Big Way is extremely simple.” A closely related one-sentence secret from Master Sha is that “the best teaching is the simplest teaching.”

My “aha!” riff on this is my own one-sentence secret: “The best person is the simplest person.” This is why I realize I am not simple enough; I am not the best I can be.

How simple do I want to be? I want simply to be pure love, like my beloved teacher and spiritual father, Master Sha. I want simply to be unswerving compassion, like my beloved spiritual father, Master Sha. I want simply to be an unconditional Total GOLD universal servant, like my beloved spiritual father, Master Sha. I do not want anything complicated blocking the flow of my pure love, unswerving compassion and unconditional total GOLD universal service. These would only block me from being the best I can be, which is to be a presence of my best self, my creator and my source. Master Sha is my example. He is simply all of these divine qualities and more. He is divine presence. He is a truly divine being.

Is Master Sha any more complicated than this? I don’t think so.

Is the Divine any more complicated then this? I don’t think so either.

What more could I want for myself than to have this unity with the Divine? I want nothing more. It is easy to say, difficult to do. If it were easier, there would be many more Master Sha’s on the planet. It is not simple to be simple. I want nothing more. I will settle for nothing less.

I make this one of my new mantras: “I am a simple person.” Remember Master Sha’s one-sentence secret: what you chant is what you become.

I am a simple person. I am pure love. I am unswerving compassion. I am total GOLD. I am an unconditional universal servant. I am a simple person. I am Master Sha. I am divine. I am a simple person.