it all boils down to....

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Am I wrong or is it true that for anyone, in any given moment, "it all boils down to..." something.

Whatever a situation or set of circumstances may be, still there is a kind of mental shorthand that kicks in, a way of summing things up without all the blarney or tears that the entire situation can evoke. It's a simplification and a way of lightening what may be a pretty heavy load: "It all boils down to...." What it boils down to encapsulates the whole situation, much as a seed may encapsulate the beautiful flowers it can or will produce.

And of course what, precisely, it boils down to now is not necessarily what it boils down to later. Your "boils down to" is not mine just as mine is not yours. What things "boil down to" is a slippery customer and yet the mind may feel somehow better or less burdened that, for the moment, "it all boils down to...."

I wouldn't want to beat anyone over the head with it -- wax all spiritual-discipline about it -- but I do think it's interesting and worth noticing: If you can't boil things down, well, what is that like ... what does that boil down to?

What got me off on this kick was the old Zen teacher Rinzai who really boiled things down for me this morning with his, "grasp and use, but never name."

In my mind, you can't do much better than that, but that doesn't mean I won't try. :)
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