Daily Meditation: Sunday, February 23, 2025

Shapes - simplification and differentiation

02/23/2025

The lower we descend on the evolutionary scale, the more we see a variety and diversity of forms, and, at the same time, a far greater similarity among individuals belonging to the same species. Just look at the wide variety of shapes and sizes of tree leaves. Yet the leaves from the same tree are all alike. Look at fish and insects too—how many different species and shapes there are! But can you tell the difference between one fly and another of the same species? Now, compare the faces of several beings who live an intense spiritual life, and notice how different and richly expressive they are. Then take a look at very coarse and primitive people with no inner spiritual life: they all have identical expressions. So, on the one hand, there is a greater simplification, and on the other, greater differentiation. The higher we climb toward heaven, the more simple and unified we are, yet the more finely expressive, vibrant and alive we become. And the further we descend into lower regions, the more the forms differ, but the greater the loss of individual expression.*