In knowing the world we humanize it, and if, as we discover it, we are astonished at its dimensions and its complexity, we should be just as astonish… - Alan Watts

Reality in itself is neither permanent nor impermanent; it cannot be categorized. But when one tries to hold on to it, change is everywhere apparent, since, like one's own shadow, the faster one pursues it, the faster it flees.

De rivieren stromen; de bloemen bloeien; je loopt over straat - nou èn?'
Nou èn? Nou ja, wat wil je nog meer? Hier is iemand die eet uit de kruidenierswinkel en toch nog klaagt dat hij sterft van de honger. Maar het woord en begrip God, Brahman, Tao, of wat je wilt, is eigenlijk geïntroduceerd voor dergelijke ondankbare magen. Het is een manier om het leven te benadrukken door er de aandacht op te vestigen, zoals we woorden onderstrepen of cursief schrijven.

There is, then, an analogy–and perhaps more than mere analogy–between central vision and conscious, one-at-a-time thinking, and between peripheral vision and the rather mysterious process which enables us to regulate the incredible complexity of our bodies without thinking at all. It should be noted, further, that we call our bodies complex as a result of trying to understand them in terms of linear thought, of words and concepts. But the complexity is not so much in our bodies as in the task of trying to understand them by this means of thinking.