The Greatest Secrets are in front of our eyes waiting to be realized.

Take, for example, the great spiritual secret, "We are all one." Though many may acknowledge this idea, few of us behave as if we truly comprehend and appreciate what it means.

There is a Chinese proverb that states that the fish is the last to discover water. Here is another kind of secret; whispering of something that is all around us, but so commonly accepted that we really do not take notice of it. Maybe not the water, but the air or the profound uniqueness of our wee planet in its place in the cosmos.

There is a secret that I know about that is a lot like the water analogy. There is something that is everywhere before our eyes and it holds deep secrets...a mystical code, even. Yet we take no notice of it, though we make constant use of it to order our lives.

It's the Alphabet!!!

How so "a Mystical Code,?" one, might ask. Well…I'm afraid it's not that easy to jump to realizing. Takes a bit of pause and pondering. For how many of us beyond the calligraphic community stop to appreciate that the alphabet is actually a fundamental tool of our culture; that it is perfectly ordered, not only as "alphabetical order"- which gets us where we want to go in the dictionary and dozens of other places- but also because, as a set of visual forms, it has another type of perfect order? This is not something you learn in school. In school you learn the alphabet as something to hurry past to get to the words that get you to the market and stuff. But if you take the time to study it from the point of view of the graphic forms and the efficacy with which they are drawn when done correctly, as in calligraphy, you will find there the secrets of the Universe!

You find in these forms the principle of negative and positive shapes, relating ultimately to yin and yang, off and on, etc. You find the principle of the perfect working machine or organism: all necessary parts present, no extra parts, all parts functioning in harmonious relationship. You find there the principles of efficient movement, as when the individual strokes of the letters are executed. And these, because they are physical movements, relate to physical movements in other arts, such as dance , or the martial arts, or sports! Yes! Crossing a T correctly can involve the whole body and whole mind, the same way you throw a Frisbee or slam dunk the ball into the basket, or hit a hole in one. It takes a concentrated mind and the body and mind working together to create beautiful writing, and plenty of practice to get there, also. Therefore it fosters concentration and body-mind connections and the empowerment of know-how.

Isn't it wonderful? And there's sooo much more to it. So much more to the secret. But alas, it remains one of those great ones that is right before our eyes, still waiting to be realized, because the secret only reveals itself through the doing of it, and thereby the growing into the realizing of it.

To unlock its secrets and breathe in the secrets of the Universe, you must seek the two necessary ingredients for the path: right form and right teaching. Then, applying yourself with faith and diligence, the secret will unfold before you-or as Kafka has said, "It will roll in ecstasy at your feet." And the sweet result will be an expansion of your awareness, and the power to create that which is beautiful.