Why We Need Reminding: Hidden Truths and the Power of Practice
Why do we constantly need reminding of truths we already deeply know—truths like the transformative power of presence, the liberation found in letting go, and the profound interconnection of all life?
It seems paradoxical, even frustrating, to repeatedly need nudges back to these essential insights. Yet this is no accident: truth, by its very nature, is hidden.
The Hiddenness of Reality
In the mystical Kabbalist tradition, there's a beautiful teaching embedded within the Hebrew language itself. The word for "world"—olam—shares its root with the concept of "hiddenness." The implication is profound: the world we live in isn't merely the visible, tangible reality we navigate daily. Instead, it’s a veil concealing a deeper, more fundamental Reality.
We are all participants in a cosmic game of hide-and-seek, forever seeking the divine, the Real, hidden beneath layers of perception and conditioning.
Science Meets Spirituality
Modern physics echoes this mystical insight, offering its own compelling version of this hiddenness. Science reveals that the world as we experience it—solid, predictable, fixed—is an illusion crafted by our limited human faculties. Beneath the surface, reality is astonishingly fluid, interconnected, and utterly unlike our everyday perceptions. Both spirituality and science confirm a fundamental truth:
We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are.
The Role of Ritual and Practice
This realization brings us to the profound significance of ritual and practice. Daily spiritual or mindfulness routines aren't about learning something new; rather, they're about remembering what we intuitively know but continually forget.
Each moment of meditation,
Each conscious breath,
Each ritualized prayer or intentional movement
These are gentle, consistent reminders of our deepest truths, truths obscured by the noise of everyday life.
Without these reminders, we inevitably drift back into unconsciousness, swept away by old patterns and conditioned responses. Practices ground us, repeatedly bringing us back to hidden truths that illuminate our existence. They help us glimpse the Real hidden in plain sight—in a loved one’s gaze, in the rustling of leaves, in the simple act of fully embodied breathing.
Participating in the Sacred Game
In embracing practice as a pathway to remembrance, we acknowledge the playful, mysterious dance of Reality itself. We participate fully in the sacred game of hide-and-seek, knowing each act of remembering is a joyful homecoming—a return to the truth of who and what we fundamentally are: expressions of a boundless, hidden Reality, forever revealing itself in moments of clarity and presence.
