In the operetta Porgy and Bess by George and Ira Gershwin, Porgy sings the song, I Got Plenty of Nothing. For our purpose I will quote only a few lines:
Folks with plenty of plenty
They got a lock on the door
Afraid somebody’s gonna rob them while
They’re out making more
What for?
I got no lock on the door
That’s no way to be
They can steal the rug
From the floor
That’s OK with me
Cause the things that I prize
Like the stars in the sky
Are all free
Over 2,500 years ago the Buddha identified craving and aversion as the cause of human suffering. In our own time, Nisargadatta Maharaj, in his book I Am That reiterated once again that materialism is one of the behaviors that is responsible for our unsustainable worldview. His teaching is that true freedom comes from: Having nothing, doing nothing and knowing nothing. The Gershwin’s in creating Porgy, who was in touch with his intuitive wisdom, had the insight that indeed “the stars in the sky are all free.”
The next step for us is to realize and experience the fact that we are the stars in the sky.
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For a much more in-depth discussion on Simple Reality, read Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival, by Roy Charles Henry, published in 2011.
