Maya and Mind

What Is Maya? The Birth of the Mind

My beloved,

to understand Maya, we must first allow the old ideas about Maya to become quiet.

Maya is not some force sitting outside you, deceiving you.

Maya is not a dark demon placing a veil over the world.

Maya is not a magical spell that can be removed by another spell.

Maya is much closer than that.

So close that the mind keeps looking for it outside, while it is hidden in the very way the mind is looking.

Maya is not in the objects.

Objects are simply as they are.

A tree is a tree.

A river is a river.

The sky is the sky.

The body is the body.

A sound is a sound.

The problem is not that these things exist. The problem begins with the meaning the mind places upon them. The problem begins with the story the mind creates immediately after seeing. The problem begins with the line of separation the mind draws inside every experience - "me" and "the other."

This is where Maya is born.

Maya is not the world.

Maya is seeing the world through the eyes of separation.

Maya Is Not Outside. It Is in the Way You See.

My friend, when you look at a person, do you simply see that person?

Usually, no.

The mind immediately begins to speak. This one is mine. This one is not mine. This person is good. This person is dangerous. This person may respect me. This person may hurt me. This one is ahead of me. This one is below me. This one loves me. This one may leave me.

The person is in front of you.

But the mind places an entire story upon that person.

Then you are no longer meeting the person.

You are meeting your own story.

In the same way, we rarely meet the world directly. Most of the time we are meeting our own meanings, fears, memories, and desires. The eyes look outward, but the mind colors everything from within.

The sun rises.

One person sees beauty.

Another sees the worry of being late for work.

Another sees poetry.

Another feels sadness.

The sun is the same.

But the mind is creating different worlds.

Maya does not mean that the sun does not exist. Maya means that the mind, by placing its condition, desire, fear, and memory upon the sun, is unable to see reality directly.

Maya is the loss of direct seeing.

Maya is interpretation arriving before experience is truly touched.

Maya is not the fog sitting on the object. It is the fog sitting on the eyes.

When there is fog over the eyes, the world appears unclear. It would be foolish to blame the world. Awakening begins when we see - the fog is in the seeing.

You may have seen mist over a river early in the morning. The river is there. The water is there. The banks are there. But because of the mist, everything appears unclear. The mind creates a similar mist. It does not destroy reality, but it prevents reality from being seen clearly.

To see a tree only as a tree is difficult for the conditioned mind.

The mind immediately says - this is beautiful, this should have been in front of my home, this reminds me of the tree from childhood, I will be sad if it is cut, it will be useful if it gives fruit.

See how quickly simple seeing becomes a story.

Maya is story.

Truth is the open presence before the story.

My beloved, to understand Maya is not to run away from the world. It is to see how much of your relationship with the world is made of the layers created by the mind. Until these layers are seen, the mind continues to think, "The world is making me suffer."

But if you look deeply, the world gives much less suffering than the mind's interpretation of the world.

Someone says a word.

The word is only a sound.

The mind says - he insulted me.

Then a wound is formed.

Then a memory is formed.

Then distance is formed.

Then the wall of "me" and "him" becomes harder.

This is Maya.

The sound was small.

The story became vast.

The Birth of the Mind: When Consciousness Gets Entangled in Thought

Now look at how the mind is born.

Originally, there is only knowing.

Very simple knowing.

Very silent knowing.

Very open knowing.

There is the knowing of the body.

There is the knowing of the breath.

There is the knowing of sound.

There is the knowing of thought.

There is the knowing of emotion.

In this knowing there is no conflict. It is open like the sky. Whatever appears is seen. Whatever disappears is also seen. This knowing is not bound to any one experience.

Then a thought arises - "I."

In practical life, this thought is not a problem. For daily functioning, the word "I" is useful. "I am drinking water." "I am walking." "I am speaking." There is no difficulty there.

The difficulty begins when this thought assumes itself to be the real center.

"I" no longer remains a simple word.

It becomes identity.

Then this "I" says - my body, my mind, my story, my suffering, my achievement, my insult, my family, my practice, my freedom.

And slowly, consciousness - which was simply knowing everything - seems to become attached to this knot of thoughts. It is like the vast sky saying to a small cloud, "I am only this." If the cloud becomes dark, the sky feels sorrowful. If the cloud becomes white, the sky feels joyful. If the cloud dissolves, the sky says, "I have been destroyed."

This is the mistake.

And it is a deep one.

Consciousness does not enter thought. Thought arises in consciousness. But because of identification, it appears as if consciousness has become thought. This is the birth of the mind.

The mind is not only a collection of thoughts.

The mind is the identification that joins with thoughts and says, "This is me."

Thoughts come and go.

But when the stamp of "I" is placed upon them, they create the world of the mind.

One thought arises - "I made a mistake."

This is a simple thought.

Then another thought comes - "I am a failure."

Then another - "What will people think?"

Then another - "I will never be right."

In a few moments, a small event has become an entire inner world. That world was not as real outside as it became inside.

This is the creation of mind.

Consciousness knew the mistake.

The mind made an identity out of the mistake.

Consciousness knew fear.

The mind said - I am a fearful person.

Consciousness knew sorrow.

The mind said - my life is sorrow.

Here Maya becomes strong. Because experience no longer remains experience. It becomes "my story."

My beloved, as long as experience does not become story, it comes and goes. Like a wave rising and returning to the ocean. But when the mind says, "This is my wave, it will always remain, it defines me," then the wave becomes a burden.

Maya is mistaking the wave to be separate from the ocean.

Mind is the story of that separation.

The First Line of Separation

The deepest root of Maya is separation.

"I am here, the world is there."

"I am separate, the other is separate."

"I must protect myself, gain something, become something, prove myself, secure myself."

The moment this separation arises, fear is born. Where there is "me" and "the other," comparison will come. Desire will come. Fear will come. Possessiveness will come. Insecurity will come.

If I take myself to be a separate wave, other waves can appear dangerous. One is higher than me. One is faster than me. One may cover me. One may destroy me. But if I recognize my water, then every wave is only the movement of the same ocean.

Non-duality does not mean that practical differences disappear. Bodies will appear different. Names will be different. Roles will be different. One is a father, one is a mother, one is a friend, one is a stranger. This is the level of ordinary functioning.

But the deeper mistake is to take these differences as the final truth.

This is where conflict begins.

Many clothes may have different colors, but the thread can be one. The mind gets lost in the colors. Awareness recognizes the thread.

Maya does not reject the colors.

It simply forgets the thread.

Awakening does not erase the colors.

It reveals the thread.

The Dreamer

Now look at the dream.

At night, someone sleeps. In the dream, he is in a forest. It is dark. Suddenly, a tiger appears. The tiger roars. The person runs. The heart beats fast. The body becomes covered in sweat. The fear feels completely real.

Inside the dream, the tiger is real.

The running is real.

The fear is real.

The forest is real.

As long as the dream is continuing, if someone says, "This is only a dream," the dreamer will not believe it. For him, the tiger is real because it is present in his experience.

Then suddenly, the eyes open.

The room is quiet.

The bed is there.

There is no tiger.

No forest.

No running.

But was the fear false?

No.

The fear truly arose in the body.

The heartbeat truly became fast.

The sweat truly came.

The tiger was false, but the experience of fear was real.

This is a very subtle point.

Maya does not mean that experience is nothing. Experience is happening. Sorrow is happening. Fear is arising. Love is arising. Desire is arising. All of this is real at the level of experience.

But the basis upon which identity is formed may be false.

In the dream, there was no tiger, yet fear was there.

In waking life also, many of the dangers, insults, insecurities, and separations that the mind takes as final reality are creations of the mind. But the emotions they create are truly felt in the body.

So to say to a suffering person, "It is all Maya," is not compassion.

First the fear must be heard.

Then, very gently, one can ask - the tiger you are running from, has it truly been seen, or has the mind created it?

The Waking Dream

My beloved, the life of the day can also be a kind of dream.

This does not mean that the world does not exist. It means that the way the mind has grasped the world is often dream-like.

In a dream, everything feels personal. "My danger." "My protection." "My fear." "My running." Upon waking, it is seen that the whole dream was arising in the mind.

In waking life too, the mind creates its private world.

One person sees insult in the same event.

Another sees opportunity.

Another sees humor.

Another gives it no meaning.

The event is one.

The worlds become many.

These worlds are not created outside. They are created in the mind.

This is why it is said - the mind is the world. It does not mean that the earth, the sky, people, and bodies do not exist. It means that your psychological world is made of the mind's interpretation, identity, and memory.

And when you take this psychological world to be absolute truth, Maya holds you.

Just as in a dream one must run because the tiger is believed to be real, in waking life we keep running because the mind's imaginations are believed to be real.

Sometimes after respect.

Sometimes after love.

Sometimes after security.

Sometimes after spiritual liberation.

The running changes.

The structure of the dream remains the same.

The First Glimpse of Awakening

So what does it mean to move beyond Maya?

To leave the world?

No.

To kill thoughts?

No.

To suppress emotions?

No.

The first sign of moving beyond Maya is that seeing begins.

When a thought arises and you see it as a thought.

When fear arises and you do not take it as the final truth.

When the wall of "me" and "the other" arises and you ask - is this wall real, or is it a line drawn by the mind?

When sorrow arises and you honor it, but do not drown completely in its story.

When love arises and you do not turn it into possession.

When the world appears, yet the silent presence behind the seeing is also recognized.

This is the first fragrance of awakening.

It may not be an explosion. It may be very simple. Like a slight doubt arising inside a dream - "Is this really a dream?" The eyes are not fully open yet, but the dream's grip is no longer as hard.

This is witnessing.

Not breaking the dream.

Allowing a little awareness to enter the dream.

And as soon as awareness enters, the grip of Maya begins to loosen.

Do Not Blame the Mind

Do not make the mind your enemy.

The mind too is a movement arising in the same consciousness. It is not evil. It is only unseen. In the dark, it mistakes a rope for a snake. It does not need to be killed. A lamp is needed.

If the mind is making a story, see it.

If the mind is afraid, see it.

If the mind is creating separation, see it.

If the mind is saying, "I have understood," see that too.

When the mind is seen, it slowly becomes transparent. Unseen, it becomes the master. Seen, it can become an instrument.

Then, slowly, a silent understanding arises -

before trying to change the world, the way of seeing must be seen.

Because Maya is not sitting on objects. It is sitting on perception.

In the dream, fighting the tiger does not bring awakening. Awakening comes when the dreamer recognizes his own condition.

My beloved, perhaps there is still some tiger running inside you.

Some fear.

Some memory.

Some relationship.

Some future.

Some spiritual lack.

Pause and look.

Do not immediately call the tiger false.

Do not insult the fear.

Just bring the lamp a little closer.

See - in what is all this appearing?

And when this question opens deeply, perhaps for the first time a quiet crack appears inside the dream.

The Web of Thoughts and the Illusion of “I”

My beloved,

the understanding of mind begins with thoughts.

Because the mind is not a separate object that you can touch like the body. It is not a room you can enter and inspect. It is not a solid center sitting somewhere inside the head and managing life.

Mind is the movement of thoughts.

The stream of memories.

The shadow of fear.

The running of desires.

The imagination of the future.

And in the middle of all this, there is a very subtle claim - "This is me."

This claim is ego.

Ego is not a devil. It is not a hard object that must be cut with a sword. It is not even a real entity that must be destroyed through war. Ego is simply mistaken identity. It is a knot arising among thoughts, saying - "I am separate. I am the doer. This is my life. This is my suffering. This is my story."

As long as this claim is not seen, thoughts do not remain only thoughts. They become identity. And as soon as they become identity, they become bondage.

Ego: Not a Solid Person, but a Bundle of Thoughts

My friend, quietly look within.

What is this thing you call "I"?

Is it the body?

The body has changed from childhood until now. It changed every year. The face changed, the shape changed, strength changed, health changed. Yet you continued saying, "I."

Is it the mind?

The mind changes every day. In the morning it thinks one thing, in the evening another. Sometimes it is filled with love, sometimes with anger. Sometimes it decides, then regrets. Sometimes it says, "I want this," and after a few days says, "Now I do not want this."

Can this changing mind be the permanent "I"?

Is "I" memory?

Memories come and go. Some are clear, some are dim. Some you have forgotten. Some you remember incorrectly. Some events the mind has changed according to its own needs. Memory also is not stable. Then how solid can an "I" made of memory be?

Still, the mind joins these fragments and creates a story.

"I am this kind of person."

"This happened to me."

"I have suffered so much."

"I want this."

"I am afraid of that."

"My future should be like this."

By joining these sentences, ego creates a face.

This face changes every moment, but the mind keeps treating it as permanent. Like children building houses of sand and then protecting them as if they are palaces. A wave comes, the house disappears, and the child cries. Sand can become a house, disappear, and become a house again. But sand remains sand.

Ego is a house of sand.

Awareness is not even the sand - it is the open presence in which houses are built and dissolved.

If ego is looked at carefully, it is only accumulated material. Old experiences, words spoken by parents, social conditioning, memories of praise, wounds of insult, unfinished desires, fear of failure, anxiety about the future - all of this becomes a bundle.

And this bundle says, "I."

But is the bundle truly "I"?

Or is it only arising material being known by awareness?

Thoughts Arise by Themselves

Now look at thoughts.

Do you truly create every thought?

A thought arises - "Is this true?"

Then another thought comes - "I am understanding this."

Then some old memory may appear.

Then some worry.

Then a sound comes, and the mind begins thinking about it.

If you look with complete honesty, thoughts arise by themselves. They seem to come from some unknown depth. You do not send them an invitation in advance. You do not decide which thoughts will arise in the next five minutes. They come, stay for a little while, and then leave.

Like clouds appearing in the sky.

From which direction they came, why they came, how long they will remain - the sky does not keep an account.

Thoughts are the same.

They come.

They go.

The problem is not that thoughts arise.

The problem begins when awareness sticks to a thought and says, "This is my thought."

A thought arises - "I am unsafe."

If it is seen simply as a thought, it can pass like a cloud.

But the moment identification happens - "I am truly unsafe" - the thought becomes an entire world.

Tightness appears in the body.

Fear arises.

Future anxiety begins.

Old memories join in.

Then the mind collects evidence - "See, this happened before. It will happen again. People cannot be trusted. Life is not safe."

A small thought becomes a complete web.

This is how the mind moves.

From “My Thought” to “My Pain”

Thoughts are not as powerful by themselves as they become through identification.

A cloud in the sky is simply a cloud.

But if the sky forgets it is the sky and believes it is the cloud, then every change in the cloud becomes an existential crisis.

A thought comes - "Someone did not value me."

It is a thought.

Maybe there is some fact in it. Maybe it is only the mind's interpretation. But as soon as the thought becomes "my insult," the pain deepens.

Then the story begins.

"This always happens to me."

"People never understand me."

"I am alone."

"I am not enough."

See how small the event was. Someone did not answer the phone. Someone replied late. Someone spoke a hard word. But the mind placed its whole story upon it.

Thought became pain.

Pain became identity.

Identity strengthened ego.

And ego says again - "See, I was right. The world is against me."

So freedom does not begin by changing the world first. It begins by seeing how a thought becomes "mine."

This is the knot of bondage.

"There is pain" - this is an experience.

"I am a painful person" - this is identity.

"Fear is arising" - this is seeing.

"I am a fearful person and will always remain so" - this is the story of mind.

"A thought came" - this is witnessing.

"My thought is true" - this is Maya.

The Web of Thoughts

Thoughts do not come alone. They call one another.

Like a spider weaving a web from thread, the mind weaves a web from thoughts. One thought brings another. The second brings a third. The third calls memory. Memory calls future anxiety. Anxiety awakens fear in the body. Fear creates more thoughts.

In a few moments, the mind has created an entire world.

You are sitting in a chair, but the mind is running into the future.

You are in a room, but the mind is living inside an old insult.

You are safe, but the mind is trembling before an imagined danger.

There is no real tiger in front of you, yet fear arises in the body as if the tiger is present.

This is the web of thoughts.

The strongest thread in this web is "I."

If the stamp of "I" is not placed upon thoughts, they are light. They come and go. But the moment the stamp of "I" is placed, thoughts become personal. Then begins the need to defend them, prove them, justify them, fight with them, or escape from them.

My beloved, freedom from thoughts is not the stopping of thoughts.

Freedom from thoughts is seeing the actual nature of thoughts.

When you see that a thought is arising but it is not the final truth, the web becomes loose.

Thought may continue, but you are not as lost in it.

The Sky and the Clouds

Now understand this through the sky and clouds.

You are the sky.

Thoughts are clouds.

The sky is vast, open, empty. Clouds appear in it - sometimes white, sometimes dark, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. Sometimes storm, sometimes rain, sometimes a clear blue openness.

But the sky does not catch the clouds.

It does not say, "This beautiful cloud is mine. It must remain."

It does not say, "This dark cloud is wrong. It must leave immediately."

The sky does not fight with clouds.

The sky does not make an identity from clouds.

Clouds come.

Clouds go.

The sky remains.

Your awareness is the same.

One thought comes - "I want success."

Another comes - "I may fail."

A third comes - "I want love."

A fourth comes - "No one understands me."

Sometimes a spiritual thought comes - "I want to awaken."

Sometimes a hopeless thought comes - "I will never awaken."

All these are clouds.

You can see them.

That means you are greater than them.

If you were the thought, how would you see the thought?

If you were fear, how would fear be known?

If you were sorrow, to whom would sorrow appear?

Knowing is the sky.

Thoughts are clouds.

Do Not Fight the Clouds

When the seeker hears that he is the sky and thoughts are clouds, the mind can immediately create a new effort - "I must become free of clouds."

This too is a trick of the mind.

The sky does not need to become free of clouds. Clouds do not bind the sky. They only appear in it.

You do not have to destroy thoughts.

You only have to see that thoughts may touch you, but they do not define you.

When a dark cloud comes, the sky does not become dark.

When a fearful thought comes, awareness does not become fearful.

When an angry thought comes, awareness does not become angry.

When an egoic thought comes, awareness does not become egoic.

At the level of thought, everything changes.

At the level of knowing presence, openness remains.

This is witnessing.

It is not opposition to thought.

It is not a violent attempt to become thought-free.

It is seeing thoughts in their true place.

Clouds are clouds.

Sky is sky.

Seeing Ego, Not Fighting Ego

To fight ego is to strengthen ego.

Because who is fighting?

The mind itself says, "I must destroy the ego."

Then it creates a new spiritual ego - "I am a seeker who is fighting ego."

This game is very subtle.

So there is no war with ego.

There is seeing.

When a voice inside says, "I must prove I am right," see it.

When a voice says, "I want respect," see it.

When a voice says, "I am superior," see it.

When a voice says, "I am very small," see it.

Superiority and inferiority are two directions of ego. One says, "I am above." The other says, "I am below." But in both, "I" remains at the center.

See.

Without judgment.

Without shame.

Without violence.

Like a physician looking at a wound. He does not hate the wound. He does not hide it either. He brings it into the light, cleans it, understands it.

Look at your mind with the same compassion.

Ego is not sin.

Ego is unseen identification.

And what is seen begins to lose its grip.

Can a Solid “I” Be Found?

Now make a simple experiment.

You may close your eyes, or simply look within.

Thoughts are visible.

Emotions are felt.

There is the experience of the body.

Breath is moving.

Memories may come.

There is a name.

There is a form.

There is a life story.

Now ask - apart from all these, where is the solid "I"?

If you point to the body, the body is changing.

If you point to the mind, the mind is changing.

If you point to memory, memory comes and goes.

If you point to emotion, emotion will change after some time.

Then where is the solid "I"?

This question is not meant to frighten you.

It is meant to free you.

Because the "I" you spent so much energy protecting, when searched for, is not found as a solid thing. This recognition can bring a deep relaxation.

Like someone afraid for years of a shadow on the wall of his house. One day the lamp is lit, and it is seen - it was a shadow. It did not need to be killed. It did not need to be removed. The identity was simply mistaken.

Ego is such a shadow.

It does not need to be killed.

A lamp is needed.

The Silence Between Thoughts

Thoughts come.

Then a moment passes.

Then another thought comes.

If you look carefully, there is a subtle silence between thoughts. Sometimes very subtle, sometimes a little clear. The mind cannot hold this silence because it runs into the next thought.

But that silence points toward you.

You are before thoughts arise.

You are between thoughts.

You are after thoughts.

Thoughts come in your presence. You are not produced by thoughts.

Like a film on a screen. Scenes come, change, and go. But the screen is not produced by the scenes. The scenes depend on the screen. The screen does not depend on the scenes.

Thoughts depend on awareness.

Awareness does not depend on thoughts.

If thoughts are quiet, you are.

If thoughts are loud, you are.

If joy is present, you are.

If fear is present, you are.

This "you" is not the personal ego. It is the simple knowing in which the thought of a person also appears.

Lightness When “Mine” Drops

Thoughts will remain.

Decisions will be made in life.

Memory will be useful.

Planning for the future may also be necessary.

In ordinary life, the word "I" will remain.

But if inwardly it begins to be understood that all of these are instruments, not final identity, life becomes lighter.

"A thought came" - this is enough.

Do not immediately make it "my thought."

"Pain arose" - see it.

Do not immediately make it "my whole life is pain."

"Fear came" - feel it.

Do not immediately make it "I am a fearful person."

"Ego arose" - recognize it.

Do not immediately turn it into guilt.

Just as the sky is not shocked by clouds. It does not even say, "my cloud." A cloud comes, goes, and leaves no mark in the sky.

My beloved, you can also see in this way.

Slowly.

With compassion.

Again and again.

When the Web Is Seen, It Loosens

Freedom is not in the absence of thoughts.

Freedom is in waking from the unconscious belief that thoughts are true.

When you see that ego is not solid, but only a stream of memory, desire, and fear, its weight becomes lighter.

When you see that thoughts arise by themselves, guilt around them becomes less.

When you see that pain deepens as soon as it becomes "mine," the grip becomes loose.

When you see that you are the sky and thoughts are clouds, the weather of clouds finds its place.

Now let thoughts come.

Do not stop them.

Do not catch them.

Do not make them the final truth.

Just see in this quiet openness -

Who is knowing?

In what are thoughts arising?

In what is the claim of "I" being formed?

In what is this claim being seen?

And perhaps, in this seeing, for the first time ego may appear not as a solid wall but as a line of smoke.

Once seen, it is no longer so heavy.

Even when clouds are thick, the sky is never truly covered.

Only the seeing must rise above.

The Pendulum of Joy and Sorrow: The Trick of the Mind

My beloved,

the mind does not move in a straight line.

The mind swings.

Sometimes into hope.

Sometimes into disappointment.

Sometimes into excitement.

Sometimes into collapse.

Sometimes into love.

Sometimes into fear.

Sometimes to the height of success.

Sometimes into the depth of failure.

And the ordinary human being takes this swing to be life itself.

He thinks that if the swing could remain only on the side of happiness, life would become successful. If sorrow did not come, if failure did not come, if loneliness did not come, if fear did not come, if loss did not come - then this would be peace.

But in the field of mind, this is not possible.

Because the mind exists in duality.

The mind needs opposites.

Good exists only because bad exists.

Success shines because the fear of failure exists.

Pleasure is felt because the shadow of sorrow exists.

Respect feels sweet because the fear of insult remains.

Gain shines because the possibility of loss walks behind it.

The mind wants to hold one side, but the other side is attached to the same coin.

You want only happiness.

But sorrow is already hidden in the shadow of that happiness.

The Duality of Mind

The mind does not see things simply as they are. It immediately divides.

This is good.

This is bad.

This is mine.

This is not mine.

I want this.

I do not want this.

This will raise me.

This will bring me down.

This is the basic movement of the mind.

It divides, then becomes trapped in its own division. The moment an experience appears, the mind names it. If it is according to the mind's desire, it is called happiness. If it is against desire, it is called sorrow.

Often the event itself is very simple.

But the mind connects it immediately with its own center.

Someone praises you - happiness.

Someone criticizes you - sorrow.

Money comes - happiness.

Money goes - sorrow.

Someone comes close - happiness.

Someone moves away - sorrow.

The body is healthy - happiness.

The body is ill - sorrow.

See how much the mind's peace depends on outer circumstances. It is constantly telling the world - "Move according to me, so that I may be happy."

But the world does not move according to the mind.

Life moves in its own current.

Seasons change.

People change.

The body changes.

Relationships change.

Situations change.

And with every change, the mind swings again.

My friend, this is the pendulum.

The Hidden Fear in Chasing Pleasure

The mind wants pleasure. This does not look wrong. Who wants sorrow? Who wants pain? Who wants insult, loss, loneliness, or failure?

But look deeply.

Inside the search for pleasure, fear is already hidden.

Because what you call pleasure usually depends on something.

If happiness depends on a person, fear of that person changing will come with it.

If happiness depends on money, fear of money decreasing will come with it.

If happiness depends on the beauty or strength of the body, fear of age will come with it.

If happiness depends on respect, the wound of criticism becomes stronger.

If happiness depends on a spiritual experience, fear of losing that experience will come with it.

So the grip on pleasure gives birth to fear.

Whatever you hold, you fear losing.

And fear does not allow the mind to rest.

A person seeks happiness in love. Love comes, the heart opens, life looks beautiful. Then slowly a fear is born - "This person may leave me." Now the same love, which was a flower, becomes possession. Possession brings anxiety. Anxiety brings suspicion. Suspicion brings conflict. And what was happiness may slowly become the doorway to sorrow.

Is love guilty?

No.

Possessiveness brings suffering.

Happiness is not guilty.

Identification with happiness brings suffering.

Two Sides of One Coin

Happiness and sorrow are not two separate things. They are two sides of the same coin.

If you hold one side, the other comes with it.

When the mind says, "I want only victory," fear of defeat is born immediately.

When the mind says, "I want only praise," the wound of criticism grows deeper.

When the mind says, "I want only joy," sadness becomes unbearable.

When the mind says, "I want only peace," restlessness becomes an enemy.

This is the subtle trick of Maya.

It attracts you toward happiness. Then, in protecting that happiness, it gives you fear. When happiness changes, it gives sorrow. Then to escape sorrow, you run again toward happiness.

The cycle continues.

The mind says, "Next time I will find permanent happiness."

But permanent happiness cannot be found in the field of mind because the mind itself is a stream of change.

How can that which rests on the changing be stable?

How can permanent peace be found in what comes and goes?

My beloved, this is not a harsh understanding. It is very compassionate. Because when it is seen that worldly happiness cannot provide permanent peace, the mind does not need to hate the world. It simply stops asking the impossible from it.

Receive the fragrance of a flower.

But do not demand eternal security from it.

Receive love in relationship.

But do not ask it to complete your being.

Use money.

But do not ask it to guarantee your existence.

Enjoy the beauty of life.

But do not create a permanent identity from it.

The Movement of the Pendulum

Now look at the pendulum.

The pendulum of a clock swings to one side, then returns to the other. The farther it goes to one side, the stronger the force with which it returns.

The mind is the same.

When it goes into extreme excitement, the possibility of despair becomes equally deep.

When it clings intensely to a person, fear of loss becomes equally intense.

When it makes success into identity, failure can break it.

When it holds joy, the emptiness after joy becomes deeper.

See, it is almost a law.

The more the mind rises upon a wave, the more fear of falling walks with it.

A person becomes excited by an achievement. He feels, "Now I am something." For a few days there is happiness. Then the achievement becomes normal. Now the mind wants a new peak. If a new peak does not arrive, emptiness comes.

This emptiness is not because the achievement was missing. It comes because the hunger of identity was not satisfied.

The mind had said, "If I get this, I will be complete."

It was received.

Still, completeness did not stay.

Now the mind says, "Perhaps something else is needed."

This is the pendulum.

From happiness to sorrow.

From sorrow to the search for happiness.

Then happiness.

Then fear.

Then loss.

Then sorrow.

Then a new search.

Until this is seen, the mind continues taking this swing to be life itself.

Pleasure and Excitement Are Not the Same as Peace

My friend, a subtle distinction must be understood here.

What the mind usually searches for as happiness is often not peace, but excitement.

Excitement has movement.

The heart becomes fast.

Imagination runs.

The future shines.

"Now something great will happen."

"Now I will be complete."

"Now life will change."

Excitement has energy, but not stability. It lifts you up, then leaves you. Like a firework - it flashes, makes a sound, and then darkness remains.

Peace is like the flame of a lamp.

Slow.

Steady.

Without noise.

Without display.

The mind often mistakes fireworks for peace. It is fascinated by the flash. It thinks - this is life. But after every flash, tiredness comes. After every excitement, emptiness comes. After every excess, a fall comes.

So the person who constantly chases pleasure remains inwardly tired.

Because he is running after excitement while calling it peace.

Peace is not found by running.

Peace is at the center of the pendulum.

Where Is the Center?

The pendulum swings.

On one side - happiness.

On the other - sorrow.

On one side - hope.

On the other - fear.

On one side - gain.

On the other - loss.

But the pendulum has a center. A point from which the movement can be seen. That point itself does not swing. It is the basis of the pendulum's movement.

Within you also, there is such a center.

That is witnessing.

That is awareness.

That is silent knowing.

Happiness arises - it knows.

Sorrow arises - it knows.

Excitement comes - it knows.

Despair comes - it knows.

Love comes - it knows.

Fear comes - it knows.

What knows is not happiness. It is not sorrow. It is the open presence in which both are known.

This is the center.

And this is peace.

Peace is not the abundance of happiness.

Peace is not even the absence of sorrow.

Peace is the stillness that sees both happiness and sorrow coming and going.

This is very deep.

Because as long as you mistake peace for happiness, you will keep running after happiness. And running after happiness will take you back into sorrow. But when you recognize peace as witnessing, the pendulum may swing, yet something within remains still.

Do Not Reject Happiness. See the Grip.

Now the mind may create another confusion.

It may say - "So is happiness wrong? Should I not enjoy anything? Should I move away from relationships? Should I turn away from the beauty of life?"

No, my beloved.

Happiness is not wrong.

Receive the fragrance of a flower.

Taste your food.

See the smile of someone dear.

Listen to music.

Smell the earth after rain.

Running away from the beauty of life is not awakening.

Awakening means seeing beauty without becoming bound to it.

When happiness comes, give it space.

But do not catch it and say, "This is my completeness."

When love comes, let it flow.

But do not turn it into a cage.

When success comes, use it.

But do not make identity from it.

When joy comes, be thankful.

But do not create anxiety to make it permanent.

Witnessing is not against life.

It is the capacity to live life more deeply, because you no longer create identity from every experience.

When there is no grip, joy becomes more pure.

Because there is less fear in it.

The Other Face of Sorrow

Look at sorrow too.

Sorrow is not only an enemy. Often it shows you where you are bound.

Where sorrow is intense, the grip is intense.

Where fear of loss is strong, identity has been created.

Where insult feels unbearable, the image of "I" is rigid.

Where loneliness cuts deeply, inner completeness is being searched for outside.

Do not rush to remove sorrow. Listen to it. Sometimes sorrow can become a true teacher. It says, "Look, here you made something greater than yourself. Here you placed your peace upon an outer form. Here you held happiness too tightly."

Sorrow does not come to punish you.

If there is awareness, sorrow can become a mirror.

If there is identification, sorrow becomes story.

This is the choice - mirror or story.

Witnessing turns sorrow into a mirror.

Returning to the Center

When the mind runs toward pleasure, pause and look.

Who is running?

Will this pleasure truly be permanent?

Is there hidden fear inside it?

Is this love, or is it possession?

Is this joy, or is it excitement?

When sorrow arises, look again.

Is there a broken expectation inside the sorrow?

Has some identity been hurt?

Has some imagination collapsed?

Has some attachment been touched?

Do not ask these questions harshly. Ask them with compassion. Like a lamp placed in darkness. The lamp does not insult the darkness. It only reveals.

Seeing is returning to the center.

Not getting lost in happiness.

Not running away from sorrow.

Knowing both.

This is not merely balance. It is something deeper - the stillness behind balance.

The center does not try to become balanced.

The center is simply the center.

Let the Pendulum Move

Life will continue.

Sometimes happiness will come.

Sometimes sorrow will come.

Sometimes someone's love will be received.

Sometimes distance will come.

Sometimes the body will be healthy.

Sometimes illness will come.

Sometimes money will come.

Sometimes expenses will increase.

Sometimes people will understand.

Sometimes they will misunderstand.

You cannot stop the pendulum. On the surface of life, movement will remain. The mind will also swing according to its old habit. But slowly, a new seeing becomes possible.

The swing is moving.

But I am not only the swing.

Happiness is coming.

But I am not happiness.

Sorrow is coming.

But I am not sorrow.

Excitement is arising.

But I am not excitement.

Emptiness is arising.

But I am not emptiness.

These are all seasons arising in awareness.

And awareness is not a season.

It is the sky.

The Fragrance of the Still Center

My beloved, peace is not an object to be found.

Peace reveals itself when the swing of the mind is seen.

When you do not catch happiness and do not push sorrow away, a sweet openness appears. This emptiness is not frightening. It is space. It is openness. It is the center. It is rest.

The mind will ask - "Is there joy in this?"

Sometimes there will be joy.

Sometimes not.

The mind will ask - "Is there permanent happiness in this?"

No, this is not happiness.

This is the stillness before happiness and sorrow.

The mind will ask - "Then what is it?"

It is that which knows the question also.

It is that which remains still behind the entire movement of the pendulum.

Like waves rising on the surface of the ocean, while deep below there is a vast silence. There may be storm on the surface. Beneath it, immense stillness. If you are only the surface, every wave is a crisis. If you recognize your depth, waves may come and go.

The mystery of life is not in stopping the waves.

It is in recognizing your depth.

And when even a little of this recognition opens, happiness becomes lighter and sorrow also becomes lighter.

Because now both are guests.

You are not their house.

You are the open center where they come, stay for a while, and return.

The pendulum continues to swing.

But somewhere within, there is a point that never swings.

Sit there, my friend.

Perhaps from there, for the first time, you will be able to see life without chasing it, without running away from it, and without holding it.

Sakshibhav: The Great Medicine for Waking from Illusion

My beloved,

to understand Maya is not enough.

Because the mind can understand many things and still continue living in the same old illusion. It can say, "Everything is a creation of mind." It can say, "Thoughts are clouds." It can say, "Happiness and sorrow are a pendulum." Yet in the very next moment, one word, one memory, one fear, one desire pulls it again.

So understanding alone is not enough.

Seeing is needed.

And this seeing is Sakshibhav - witnessing awareness.

Sakshibhav is not a difficult discipline. It is not a special posture. It is not running away to a forest. It is not suppressing the mind. It is not fighting thoughts. It is not dividing emotions into pure and impure.

Sakshibhav means - to see clearly whatever is happening.

Without immediately becoming lost in it.

Without immediately trying to change it.

Without making it your final truth.

This is the great medicine for waking from illusion.

Maya is not darkness that must be broken.

Maya is mistaken identity that must be seen.

And Sakshibhav is the lamp in whose light mistaken identity slowly loses its grip.

What Is Sakshibhav?

My friend, Sakshibhav means seeing the drama of the mind without becoming completely lost as a character in that drama.

A thought arises.

You see it.

An emotion arises.

You see it.

Tightness appears in the body.

You see it.

Fear arises.

You see it.

Desire arises.

You see it.

Someone praises you.

The mind expands.

You see it.

Someone criticizes you.

The mind contracts.

You see it.

This seeing is not cold or hard. It does not mean you become cut off from life. Sakshibhav does not mean your heart becomes stone. It means that whatever arises in the heart is seen in awareness.

Earlier you were anger.

Now anger can be seen.

Earlier you were fear.

Now fear can be seen.

Earlier you were insult.

Now the feeling of insult can be seen.

This small distance is the doorway to freedom.

It is not the distance of separation. It is the open space of awareness. Like the sky is not separate from clouds, yet it is not the cloud. Like the ocean is not separate from the wave, yet it is not only the wave.

Sakshibhav says - let the experience come, but I am not only the experience.

Do Not Fight the Mind

The biggest mistake of the seeker is to make the mind into an enemy.

He says, "I must stop thoughts."

"I must not allow anger."

"I must become free of fear."

"I must destroy the mind."

But fighting the mind only makes the mind larger. Whatever you fight, you give energy to. War against thoughts makes thoughts the center. Suppressing emotions pushes them deeper inside.

If a child is crying and you place your hand over his mouth, the crying may appear to stop. But the pain has not ended. It has only gone deeper.

The mind is the same.

If you suppress fear, it returns in another form.

If you suppress anger, it may become bitterness.

If you suppress desire, it may become hidden restlessness.

If you cover sorrow with spiritual sentences, it remains alone inside.

Sakshibhav does not suppress.

Sakshibhav allows.

It says - fear is here, fine, be seen.

Anger is here, fine, be seen.

Sorrow is here, fine, be seen.

Desire is here, fine, be seen.

This permission is not unconsciousness. It is awake compassion. It is the courage to see the mind with open eyes.

No Need to Run to a Forest

Many people think witnessing is possible only in a quiet place - in a meditation room, by a river, on a mountain, in an ashram, in the presence of a teacher.

Yes, quiet places can help. The dust of the mind may settle more easily there. But if witnessing exists only in a quiet place, it has not yet entered life.

True witnessing can happen in the market too.

In conversations at home.

Under pressure at work.

Among the sounds of the phone.

While paying bills.

While hearing someone's harsh words.

While a child is crying.

In the tiredness of the body.

Where life is, Sakshibhav is needed there.

Because Maya also arises there.

You will not escape the mind by going to the forest. The mind will go with you. Even in the forest it will create a future, bring memories, compare, and say, "Now I am a peaceful seeker."

So changing place is not the final remedy.

The way of seeing must change.

The forest must open within.

Even in a crowd.

Even in noise.

Even in the ordinary moments of daily life.

Be Like a Mirror

Now look at a mirror.

Place a raging fire in front of it. The mirror reflects the fire.

But it does not burn.

Place garbage in front of it. The mirror reflects the garbage.

But it does not become dirty.

Place a flower in front of it. The mirror reflects the flower.

But it does not cling to the fragrance.

In front of the mirror there may be tears, laughter, anger, beauty, ugliness. It reflects everything. But it does not make an identity from anything.

You are that mirror.

You are the pure capacity to see.

Fire arises in the mind - anger.

The mirror reflects it, but does not burn.

Garbage arises in the mind - jealousy, hatred, lust, fear, guilt.

The mirror reflects it, but does not become dirty.

A flower blooms in the mind - love, compassion, joy.

The mirror reflects it, but does not hold it.

This is Sakshibhav.

Your awareness is not polluted by the content of the mind. Thoughts may be ugly, but knowing does not become ugly. Emotion may be heavy, but the light that knows it does not become heavy. Experience may change, but the capacity of seeing remains open in its own nature.

My beloved, do not keep this as an idea. See it now.

Whatever is in the mind right now, is it being known?

If yes, then the knower is greater than what is known.

The Pure Screen

Look at it another way.

A film is playing.

On the screen there is war.

On the screen there is love.

On the screen there is rain.

On the screen there is fire.

On the screen there is death.

On the screen there is birth.

Scenes change. Sounds change. Emotions change. The viewer may cry, laugh, or become afraid. But nothing happens to the screen. The fire in the scene does not burn the screen. The rain in the scene does not wet the screen. Death in the scene does not kill the screen.

Your awareness is such a pure screen.

The movie of life is playing.

Sometimes the mind shows a scene of sorrow.

Sometimes of pleasure.

Sometimes of fear.

Sometimes of hope.

Sometimes of spiritual seeking.

Sometimes of worldly confusion.

But that which knows all this is not the scene. It is the screen.

When you mistake yourself for the scene, Maya begins. When you recognize yourself as the screen, scenes continue, but drowning in them becomes less.

Sakshibhav does not stop the scene.

Sakshibhav recognizes the screen.

Witnessing While Working

Now the question arises - how is this lived?

Suppose you are working. There is pressure. Time is short. Someone has made a mistake. Irritation arises within.

First - do not immediately call the irritation wrong.

See it.

Where is it in the body?

Tightness in the face?

Heat in the chest?

Tension in the stomach?

What is the thought saying?

"He always does this."

"I have to handle everything."

"This is unfair to me."

Listen to these sentences. Do not immediately believe them. Only see - the mind is making a story.

This seeing itself is Sakshibhav.

Then do what needs to be done. If you need to speak, speak. If a boundary is needed, create it. If a decision is needed, make it. But now the action can arise from a little awareness, not from blind reaction.

Sakshibhav does not make you passive.

It makes action cleaner.

Witnessing While Speaking

Witnessing is possible while speaking too.

Someone interrupts you. Something inside contracts. The mind says, "I was not valued." Sharpness may enter the voice.

Just one moment.

Only a small pause.

See - hurt has arisen.

See - defense is arising.

See - there is hurry to answer.

This seeing can change the conversation. Perhaps you still respond, but now there will be more clarity in it. Perhaps you remain silent, but not from suppression. Perhaps you say, "Let me complete what I was saying." This too can happen through witnessing.

Sakshibhav does not always mean speaking softly.

Sometimes clear speech is also Sakshibhav.

Sometimes silence.

Sometimes distance.

Sometimes closeness.

The question is not what happened outside.

The question is - was there unconsciousness inside, or was there seeing?

Witnessing Fear

When fear arises, the mind immediately runs into the future.

"What will happen?"

"What if this occurs?"

"Will I be able to handle it?"

Fear also appears in the body - fast heartbeat, heavy breath, tight stomach, restlessness in the limbs.

The practice of Sakshibhav is not to say, "I should not be afraid."

No.

Say, "Fear is arising."

That is enough.

Then feel the body.

Let the breath open a little.

Do not expand the story of fear for a while.

Simply know the experience.

Fear is an energy. When it receives a story, it becomes a storm. When it receives awareness, it can become a moving wave.

Ask -

Is there real danger right now, or is the mind creating a future?

If there is real danger, do what is needed.

If there is only imagination, see it.

In seeing, fear receives space, but not authority.

Witnessing Pain and Sorrow

When sorrow arises, see that too.

Do not rush to fix sorrow.

Often we do not look at sorrow because we are afraid it will drown us. But not looking at sorrow does not dissolve it. It remains inside like a shadow.

In Sakshibhav, sorrow is invited - come, be seen.

Where are you?

In the chest?

In the throat?

Behind the eyes?

What are you connected to?

Fear of being left?

Rejection?

Loneliness?

An old wound?

Do not turn this into analysis. Just look gently. Like sitting silently beside a friend who has been crying for a long time.

Sometimes sorrow does not need a solution.

It needs presence.

And Sakshibhav is that presence.

Sakshibhav Is Not Another Doing

Most important - do not make witnessing into a heavy task.

The mind will immediately say, "Now I must always remain a witness. If I forget, I have failed."

This too is a web of the mind.

Sakshibhav is not a new ego.

It is not a spiritual performance.

You will forget.

Then you will remember.

You will forget again.

Then you will return.

This is natural.

Every return is enough.

A child learns to walk. He falls, gets up, and walks again. Falling is not made into a fault. It is part of learning.

In the same way, when you get lost in unconsciousness, later see - I was lost. That is all. No self-condemnation. No guilt. Only seeing.

The more often seeing returns, the deeper it becomes.

Simply Be

My beloved, in the end, Sakshibhav is very simple.

To know what is.

Without immediately fighting it.

Without immediately making it yours.

Without immediately changing it.

You do not have to become something special right now.

You do not have to conquer the mind right now.

You do not have to end all thoughts right now.

You do not have to go away from the world right now.

You only have to see this much -

there is thought.

There is emotion.

There is body.

There is sound.

There is life.

And all of this is being known.

Rest a little in this knowing.

This is Sakshibhav.

This is the purity of the mirror.

This is the untouched nature of the screen.

This is the open nature of the sky.

Maya is not made of experiences.

Maya is made of identification with experiences.

Sakshibhav brings identification into the light.

And in the light, illusion slowly loses its weight.

Begin where you are.

In the middle of work.

In the middle of conversation.

In the middle of fear.

In the middle of loneliness.

In the middle of joy.

In the very middle of life.

Because awakening does not happen outside life.

Awakening happens exactly where the mind is creating its story.

Just see it.

And in seeing, without doing anything, the door of your inner freedom will slowly begin to open.

Awakening: When the Veil Falls

My beloved,

awakening is not an event in which the world suddenly disappears.

Trees remain trees.

The river continues to flow.

The body continues to move.

People continue to speak.

Sounds continue to rise in the marketplace.

Food is cooked.

Relationships continue.

Work appears.

Night comes.

Morning comes.

The scene of life continues.

But within, something fundamental changes.

The scene does not change.

The identity of the one who is seeing the scene changes.

Earlier you were lost as a character inside the movie. Now the movie continues, but you recognize the screen. Earlier every pleasure lifted you up and every sorrow broke you down. Now pleasure comes, sorrow comes, but behind them a quiet openness is seen.

This is awakening.

Not the end of the world.

The end of illusion.

When the Mind's Story Is Seen Through

Awakening does not mean the mind will never think.

The mind will think.

Memories will come.

Plans will be made.

At times, a light cloud of fear may also appear.

The body may feel pain.

Someone's words may touch the heart.

But the mind's story is no longer taken as absolute truth.

Earlier a thought arose, and you were swept away.

Now a thought arises, and it is seen.

Earlier fear arose, and you said, "I am fear."

Now fear arises, and you see, "Fear is arising."

Earlier insult came, and the "I" became wounded.

Now hurt is seen, but the old story around it does not become as hard.

Awakening is not the destruction of the mind.

Awakening is the transparency of the mind.

Like glass becoming clean. The outer scene is the same, but the fog is less. Like water becoming still. The sky was already there, but now the reflection is clear. Like a lamp being lit. The objects in the room were already there, but now their form does not look frightening.

In awakening, the weight of the world becomes lighter because the weight of "my story" becomes lighter.

For the first time, you begin to see that life is happening.

And you are the silent presence in which it is happening.

The Fragrance of Lightness

When even a little of Maya's veil falls, a deep lightness comes within.

This lightness is not excitement.

It is not intoxication.

It is not a high.

It is very quiet.

As if an invisible weight that had been sitting on your shoulders for years has been gently removed. You had carried it for so long that the burden itself began to feel normal. Now, when it drops, not only the body but existence itself feels light.

Why?

Because the need to protect yourself in every moment has become less.

The need to improve your image in every situation has become less.

The hunger to demand completeness from every relationship has become less.

The hurry to catch every experience and say "mine" has become less.

This lightness has not come from achievement.

It has come from the loosening of the wrong identity that you called "I" for your whole life.

When the false center becomes light, the weight of life also becomes light.

The Victory of Silence

My friend, the victory of awakening is not noisy.

It is the victory of silence.

The mind wants some announcement after awakening - "Now I am awakened." It wants a special identity. A new personality. An aura. A proof. A permanent happiness.

But the deeper awakening becomes, the less claim remains.

Because the one who makes claims has been seen.

One who truly wakes becomes very simple within. He does not think that he has become something. It is only clear that the game of becoming belonged to the mind.

There is a strange dignity in silence.

It does not say, "I am truth."

It simply is.

Like the sky does not announce itself.

Like a flower does not advertise its fragrance.

Like the sun does not prove that it is light.

Awakening is like that.

It does not display itself.

It becomes presence.

The Movie Continues

The movie of life does not end.

You simply begin to see it as a movie.

If a scene of sorrow comes in the movie, tears may also come. Yet somewhere within, there is a knowing - this is a scene. If a scene of love comes, the heart may open. Yet there is less possession. If struggle comes in the movie, action may be required. Yet the inner center is not lost in the scene.

Earlier you were bound to the destiny of the character.

Now you recognize the purity of the screen.

This does not mean an awakened person becomes insensitive. No. Often he becomes more sensitive, because the noise of his own story is less. He can hear another's pain more clearly. He can love, but with less grasping. He can act, but with less burden of doership. He can walk in the world, but the world does not form chains within him.

The movie continues.

But the screen does not burn.

The scenes change.

But the light of seeing remains.

This is freedom.

No Suffering for the Characters, Only Compassion

When you know the movie as a movie, it does not mean you begin to hate the characters. No. Compassion is born.

Because now you see that everyone is entangled in their own dream. Someone is running after respect. Someone is trembling in the fear of love. Someone believes money will give security and cannot sleep. Someone is turning religion into identity and fighting. Someone is turning spirituality itself into ego.

You do not blame them.

You see - this is Maya.

And this seeing is not harsh. It is compassionate.

Like an awake person seeing a child crying in a dream. He does not laugh at the child. He does not violently shake him. He sits near him. He touches him gently. He says, "Wake up, there is no tiger here."

Awakened compassion is like this.

It does not reject the world by calling it false.

It places a lamp beside hearts that are lost in dream.

Like a Lotus in the Mud

Awakened life is like a lotus.

The lotus grows in mud.

It does not reject the mud.

It does not run away from it.

It does not make it an enemy.

Yet it does not cling to the mud.

It stands in the same water, receives nourishment from the same earth, blooms in the same world - yet water does not remain on its petals. Mud does not make it dirty.

My beloved, an awakened being does not run away from the world.

He works.

He meets people.

He loves.

He speaks.

He makes decisions.

Sometimes he laughs.

Sometimes he remains silent.

Sometimes he speaks a hard truth.

Sometimes he sits with someone's sorrow.

Sometimes he eats simple food.

Sometimes he walks through the market.

Sometimes he pays bills.

Sometimes he notices the body's tiredness.

Yet within, he remains untouched like a lotus.

Untouched does not mean cold.

It means there is no inner stickiness of identity.

He knows the mud.

But he does not take himself to be the mud.

He knows the water.

But he does not drown in the water.

He is in the world.

But the world does not become chains inside him.

Action Without Bondage

After awakening, action does not stop.

In fact, action can become more natural.

Now work is not done to create an image.

Service is not done to prove superiority.

Love is not used to demand completion.

Silence is not used to appear holy.

Whatever is in front is done.

Where speaking is needed, speaking happens.

Where silence is needed, silence happens.

Where walking is needed, walking happens.

Where stopping is needed, stopping happens.

Inactivity is not awakening.

Action done in unconsciousness is bondage.

Action done in awareness is light.

Like wind touching the branches of a tree and moving on. It does not claim. Like a river flowing. It does not carry the burden of its flow. Like a lamp burning. It is not proud of its light.

In awakened life, action happens, but the hard knot of the doer is loose within.

Love Without Grasping

When the veil of Maya falls, love changes.

It does not become smaller.

It does not dry up.

It does not run away.

It becomes more vast.

Earlier there was much demand in love. Understand me. Do not leave me. Complete me. Move according to me. Fill my lack. Remove my loneliness.

Now love has space.

Space to see you.

Space to let you be.

Space to see oneself too.

Space to create boundaries.

Space for closeness.

Space for distance.

This love is free from grasping, therefore it is more pure. It has compassion, but less dependence. It has intimacy, but less ownership. It has warmth, but less fear.

The lotus touches water, but does not drown in it.

Awakened love touches the world, but is not lost in it.

Sorrow Comes, but Does Not Take Root

Awakening does not mean the body will never feel pain or that a wave of sorrow will never arise in the heart.

The wave may arise.

But it does not take root in the same way.

Earlier sorrow came, and the mind immediately said, "This is mine. This will remain forever. Life is unfair. I am alone."

Now sorrow comes, and it is seen.

Its place in the body is seen.

Its movement is seen.

Its story is seen.

At its root, some expectation, some memory, some attachment may be seen.

Sorrow receives respect, but not a throne.

Fear receives space, but not authority.

Thought is heard, but not taken as final truth.

This is the lightness of awakening.

Light Even in Darkness

When the veil of Maya falls, it is not that only light is seen. Rather, it is seen that darkness also is known in light.

This is a very deep recognition.

Restlessness comes - it too is known.

Confusion comes - it too is known.

An old habit arises - it too is known.

So awakening does not depend on a special state. It recognizes awareness in every state.

Like the sky remains sky even in a storm.

Like the screen remains screen even in a painful scene.

Like the mirror reflects ugliness without becoming ugly.

In the same way, awareness remains pure in every experience.

It does not need a sacred experience.

It gives sacredness to experiences.

The Final Threshold

Now, my beloved, do not try to understand something great.

Pause a little.

Who is the one who has read this book until now?

Who has heard about Maya, understood the mind, seen the web of thoughts, recognized the pendulum of joy and sorrow, and tasted the fragrance of witnessing?

Thoughts will answer.

Let them answer.

But you feel the silent presence before the answer.

Here there is no hurry.

Here there is no conclusion.

Here there is no proof.

Only this open knowing.

This is the place where the veil of Maya becomes light.

Because Maya is in thought.

You are seeing thought.

Maya is in identity.

You are seeing identity.

Maya is in story.

You are seeing story.

How can the one who sees be a part of Maya?

It is the light in which even the veil is seen.

The Final Offering

My beloved,

now let the world remain.

There is no need to erase it.

Let the mind remain.

There is no need to kill it.

Let thoughts come.

There is no need to stop them.

When happiness comes, see it with a smile.

When sorrow comes, see it with compassion.

When fear comes, give it space.

When love comes, let it flow.

Let everything come.

Let everything go.

Only recognize the silence that does not come and does not go.

That which was in childhood.

That which is here today.

That which is before thought.

That which remains after thought.

That which knows sorrow but does not become sorrow.

That which knows happiness but does not depend on happiness.

That which sees the world but is not lost in the world.

You are That.

Do not turn this sentence into an idea.

Do not turn it into an announcement.

Do not turn it into an identity.

Just now, very quietly, let it sink within you.

Like a drop of rain entering dry earth.

Like the first ray of sunlight removing mist without noise.

Like the lotus slowly opening in the moistness of morning.

This is awakening.

No war.

No achievement.

No noise.

Only the falling of the veil.

And when the veil falls, it is seen -

the stage was not empty.

the light was always burning.

you were never in darkness.

Only the eyes were in a dream.

Now let them open gently.

Let the breath come.

Let the breath go.

Let the body rest upon the earth.

Let the mind speak its last words.

And you -

rest in that silence

from which everything arises

and into which everything returns.