The Nature of True Ease and Presence: Beyond the Illusion of Problem-Making

It’s a peculiar fact that, since the 1960s, apes have been learning and communicating with humans through sign language. Yet, despite their extensive vocabulary, they have never asked a question. This striking detail underscores an essential truth about human nature: our incessant need to seek, to question, to label, and to solve.

The human mind, wired by unresolved threats and evolved over centuries of survival, has become an engine of inquiry and narrative creation. UG Krishnamurti insightfully noted, "You cannot ask a question unless you already know the answer." This idea suggests that questions are not born from a space of true curiosity but rather from a desire to confirm what the mind already assumes or fears. The question itself often reflects a hidden assertion or an embedded sense of lack.

Animals, on the other hand, do not ask questions or operate under the presumption of problems. Their existence is rooted in the immediate, undisturbed by the layers of self-imposed inquiry that humans experience. This absence of questioning in animals points to a significant realization: the questions we ask are manifestations of a deeper state of unease, a way for the mind to reinforce its stories and beliefs, seeking validation of its constructed self.

When we shift from a state of unresolved threat to ease, something transformative happens. The narrative mind, which constantly spins stories and generates questions, begins to quiet down. Time itself seems to dissolve as we become absorbed in the present moment, untouched by the chronological anxieties that usually frame our existence. In this space, where the mind's need for continuity ceases, we find ourselves immersed in what poets like William Blake described: holding infinity in the palm of our hand and eternity in an hour. Here, the self, as we know it, dissipates, and we touch something boundless and interconnected.

This state of being—where questions fade and presence expands—is the essence of returning to ease. The illusion of problems dissolves, and what remains is a profound sense of belonging to the whole. The mind stops seeking evidence to validate a separate 'I' and simply rests in the reality that there is no inherent problem, only life moving through its natural rhythms.