The Mystery of Particularity

We live in a world of concrete particularity, and it is easy to get lost there in the details, mired in a myriad activities, swallowed by a swamp of proliferating sensations, emotions and reactions. We need, of course, balance with some larger cosmic picture so that the two stay in some kind of dynamic balance. It is easy to imagine, however, that the details are of no significance--to be cast aside as unimportant to the great cosmic scheme. But that is not so. Wisdom puts the great and the small together. The microcosm and the macrocosm are significant parts of the whole. To help us keep things in focus, here are some important reflections:

The mysteries of the universe do not lie primarily in the universal laws and principles, even though these are mysterious enough. What is most mysterious and miraculous about the universe is its concrete particularity, its every object and inhabitant, each of which is ultimately unfathomable. -- William Chittick.

My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
but I'm in total harmony with them.
I don't hold on to anything, don't reject anything;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honor?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My miraculous power and spiritual activity:
drawing water and carrying wood. -- Layman P'ang