Einstein, Chaplin and many hands clapping

One day, Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein were standing together before a crowd that was applauding them.
« Do you know why they are applauding us? » Einstein asked Chaplin. « You, it’s because everyone understands you. Me, it’s because no one understands me. »

I love this story.
We applaud what we « understand » and we applaud what we don’t « understand, » while not understanding what we « understand » and don’t « understand, » and understanding what we « understand » and don’t « understand. »
Laughter and awe touch us to the core. It’s where we meet ourselves.
This story reflects the deepest, splendid truth of our being, its two inseparable aspects, wisdom and compassion, the personal and the impersonal, the concrete and the ephemeral, and how each is singular, all its own, and how each is present in the other, how each is not each, not two parts, but one whole.