What is it that drives you to wake up every morning and take on your day with a smile…??–is it your job and the promise of a paycheck, or is it your education and the promise of a better job with higher earning in a future, or is it your romantic partner and the affection you feel, or is it your kids…?? Do you feel you are actually awakening a little bit each day…?? Is your life fulfilling for you now…?? Are you rising in love (not “falling in love”) and happy with yourself and with whom you are now…??
Society, in all places of the earth, is a machine–a colossal machine with rules and a particular programing, and whoever deviates from this robotic programing is not considered “normal.” Because in this programing the ordinary man is nothing but a cog in the huge human machine, you must observe others and do as they do, you must fill your mind with the machine’s knowledge and ways of working, you must not deviate and think for yourself, you must not question them and yourself–you must learn love, God, peace, freedom, relationship, personality, morals, from society/from the big machine which allows you to fit in as a poor cog in its popular industry. The ordinary man and woman is driven by this, this is exciting and fulfilling for them–to be this cog, to follow and be popular as the rest of the cogs, to live under the ruling and mechanical production of this machine.
And what does the machine produce…?? Why does it make you want to remain a cog under it…?? Is it love, happiness, a better way of life which is unique of your soul, better health, self-discovery, true freedom to be and think for yourself…?? No. No one can feel truly alive in this situation. Being alive is being and rising in love with yourself, knowing that your world/your love/your freedom/your absolute happiness is yourself. So if you are awakening to many things, if you are becoming more connected to your feelings, if you are discovering slowly who you are and what really makes you happy; thus, you are not fitting in as a cog in the machine, just know that you are actually becoming alive, aware of your own ego as a mere cog… And your path doesn’t end, because to be alive is to find yourself every single day; and that is why you get to live every day a new day, only if you feel alive and away from the monotony, only then you can get out from being a mere cog…
Whatever we do not tolerate, or find truly annoying or disruptive in others, is a mirror to ourselves, it speaks to our higher conscience, it tells us that we must adapt, tolerate, or just walk away. A mirror to ourselves is a reflection of something WE have to change within ourselves, something that we see in others and annoys us (annoys our ego); but, of course, the ego, which is always seeking to blame others and seeking to feel comfortable itself, as a measure of security, conditioning, will tell us that we must not change but that others must change to fit our own lifestyle or own daily living.
Your mind, your ego, is the one which finds faults in others, and which feels frustration, and which feels anxiety and all anger, is it not…?? You are in charge of your ego, are you not…?? So, change! Take responsibility for what you think, for how you feel. Your mind expands with understanding, and in understanding and accepting others you are understanding and accepting yourself. Can you see this yourself…?? “We are one” is not just some spiritual or New Age philosophical saying or romantic phrase that’s popular. Have you ever thought about it in deep…?? I know you have heard about “we are one.” So what does it mean then…??
How did Osho, or Jesus, or Buddha, or any Enlightened Master talked to a group and yet the message felt as if directed to each individual…?? They only knew themselves, they didn’t know you; and yet they knew you and all of society from all ages. How…?? With observance of others, with tolerance and appreciation of others’ flaws and strengths, the conscience becomes illumined, the ego is thrown off its throne, you become patient and realize that in others you see your own thoughts, your own feelings, your own soul. If you truly observe the behavior of others without ego, without the voices in your head which complain and bring anger when something irritates you, you will realize what I am saying here, you will come to a deeper understanding than any intellectual one can give you.
I am talking about an emotional understanding which is not guided and ruled by your ego. I am talking about an emotional mirror where you can actually see your own faults and the changes you must make within yourself when you truly observe others. Your ego fights, argues, gets irritated, blames others, and so it depresses you; and if you step out of your ego then a deeper understanding of yourself will light your conscience–i.e., an awakening of conscience.
Relationship is our human lives. Relationship is all there is, with ourselves and with others. Relationship with others is a perfect reflection of the inner relationship we have with ourselves; thus, when you hate or get irritated in relationship with others is because there is something nagging you inside, your own ego disrupting your peace of mind–which you must realize within yourself and change yourself. This brings you a deep understanding of you and everybody else. This brings you an awakening of conscience.
What is beautiful to you…?? Do you judge things, animals, people, on how they look–on your particular definition of beauty…?? Are you open-minded about beauty, or do you follow the standards of beauty set by your mental conditioning and all of society’s…?? Can you truly be honest with yourself about this…??
In many areas of Tajikistan the unibrow is a sign of extreme beauty; people here believe that the single eyebrow on a girl talks about her chosen destiny and luck. In South Korea, I heard, plastic surgery is the norm, and clinics advertising in appearance correction hung everywhere; so, one of the finest features of the image of Koreans is believed to be the person with the face in the form of heart. Residents of some African and New Guinea parts deliberately cover their bodies with numerous scars–in men this procedure is performed during a rite of initiation (a culture thing), and in women it is believed that the scar tattoos add beauty to them… I am talking about the superficial beauty the eyes see and the ego full of beliefs creates as the norm for people. Have you noticed that all this is following a belief, either a program since childhood in your mind or a belief in a culture that separates people…??
That is why it is not reasonable to judge people on looks. It is not reasonable to allow your passions to fall in “love” with looks. It is not reasonable to fear based on looks. All is a belief! And emptying the mind from beliefs and this programming is what one must do to wake up from the dream of “perfect beauty,” and also from the dream of fear. What about animals–spiders, ants, rats, scorpions, snakes, beetles, etc: these are labeled by people as disgusting and dangerous because of the belief programed in them also. It is all their egos, they already have formed their ignorant ideas and labels of them based on fear and on the popular trend in our stupid society.
“All Black people are bad.” “All immigrants come to take our jobs.” “All white men have it easy.” “All skinny girls are conceited.” “All animals that look ugly are disgusting and dangerous.” And the prejudice and the stupid beliefs go on and on… Realize that beauty has been introduced in you as a program, as a belief; hence you are trapped in this selfish creed, and you make divisions–this is good, this is bad, she is beautiful, she is not, etc. If you meditate, ponder deeply and realize this within yourself, then your mind will expand from its conditioned program and you will discover real beauty beyond what your physical eyes show you. Do not take this lightly; for the world is what it is because there are beliefs of love and beauty–all created by a program, a conditioning…
“In a forest an eagle lived on a tree, and it had built a nest wherein to lay its eggs; there the eagle would hatch its eggs all throughout the day. Under the same tree there lived a hen, and this particular hen had also laid eggs during the same period when the eagle had laid its own eggs. One day, while the eagle had gone for hunting, a bear climbed up the tree to eat the eagle’s eggs. The bear had finished three of the eggs soon, when the fourth one slipped off its hands and fell into the hen’s nest; on returning, the eagle could not find her eggs, and so feeling terribly upset she decided to leave the place.
The hen which lived under the tree saw the eagle’s egg by the side of her eggs, so she felt pity on the eagle’s egg and decided to hatch it as well. After a few days, the hen’s chicks hatched. The eagle’s chick hatched, too. And the hen would feed all the chicks, including the eagle’s chick, as if it were her own. Soon the chicks began to grow. The young chicks would listen to their mother’s sounds and try to imitate her. The eagle’s chick also picked up the hen’s sounds, because that is all it heard.
The chicks would all play together and make lots of noise. Within no time, the hen’s chicks, as well as the eagle’s chick, grew up to their full size. The eagle’s chick never realized that it was an eagle and not a hen; so, considering itself a hen, the eagle would eat hen’s food, would walk and run like other hens and would make sounds like hens. The eagle never learnt to fly like other eagles and lived its whole life like a hen only.”
Your parents were probably loving and did their best, like mine did also; however, this is not enough to illumine your conscience and wake up from the veil cast by society, specially as an adult who needs this illumination and wisdom in his/her own life. As the little eagle growing up as a hen in the above-mentioned story, you might be still surrounded by people who are weaker of mind and ignorant of the deceit of their own egos, and you must see this yourself; for you probably feel sometimes confused, overwhelmed, lacking confidence, mentally weak to do something because this is your environment, your mental program, and the people with whom you interact daily.
Growing up and experiencing this is surely painful if you believe it, if you believe you are the hen instead of the mighty eagle; so, as an adult it is extremely important that you choose your situations and the people to whom you give your time and your energy. Because, after all, your mind will absorb the influence of your environment and of the people around you–their moods, their characters, their ideas, their intentions. This energy will affect you, whether you want it or not. So, choose carefully…
Seeing through your own desires and passions (all products of your ego) is a challenge we all must face and overcome in order to see truth as it is. In order to know true, everlasting love you must see beyond the burning desire, passion, and lust you feel for someone. In order to know great health you must see beyond your selfish and capricious cravings for popular foods. In order to really know God you must empty your mind from beliefs and literature and go beyond the popular mind of society. In order to know freedom you must leave beliefs, traditions, and lifestyles taught to you by society–including family, religion and all unproven literature.
We may say all this is the inferno of the passions of the unawakened man, because this and more are blinding forms of self-destruction, self-imposed, which bring anxiety, stress, anger, fear, and confusion to mankind. All this creates attachment in the weak mind–attachment to beliefs, ideas, lifestyles, views on life. And whenever this clashes or is opposed by others, there is hell–there is contention, war, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, and the rest. Can you see this for yourself…?? Can you see how the human mind is weakened by all this man-made knowledge and selfishness of the ego…??
To overcome all this is to rise from the inferno of your own passions, it is to stop thought and its ruling on your life, so you may be guided by the truth which lies beyond your desires and selfish passions. And this is the whole purpose of human existence, this is why you have been endowed with self-awareness over other animals; so you may see these weaknesses in yourself, empty your mind and go beyond it, find your true self and rise over the inferno of your human desires and passions.
All this so you can see through life and society, and so create a newer, more blissful life for yourself; thus, a life with no struggle, a life where you see the tricks of your own mind, a life where fear is no more, a life where you have much more intuition and empathy, a life where you are truly the god or goddess you seek, and a life where you are true love and so you bring exactly that into all your relationships
Life is full of challenges and situations which frustrate you and anger you so you learn to rise over the hell of your own ignorance, over your own passions and desires thus you can know love, God, harmony, freedom, and true happiness.
The words, the beliefs, the traditions, the rituals--this is keeping you down, dumbing you down from self-knowledge, from the truth; find out who you are without all these enslaving arms.
So I just had two of these young missionaries knock at my door, and I truly felt for their confused minds which are overwhelmed by garbage others have told them, all this ignorance–like parrots they repeat scriptures and what they have been told since birth by the bishop and their own parents. Yes, they were like parrots standing on my door’s threshold, their mouths enslaved by the same words and phrases over and over again, and I could sense that they weren’t really thinking for themselves but they were reacting to a program forced in them and that now they were seeing as true.
So, they asked the usual: Why wouldn’t I go to church with them or why wouldn’t I come back…?? I looked at them. At that moment I really felt sad for their empty minds and I wished I had had the power to make them see through the veil like I can; but, however, I know that awakening and seeing through the veil is something which cannot be taught by mere words, and that illumination comes to your very conscience when you are ready–and, in the case of highly religious people, that awakening is extremely difficult to happen. Possible, as it happened to me, but extremely difficult; for most people live their entire lives without questioning themselves and the status quo of all society. God, true love, absolute peace, freedom–these are not even experienced by them, their minds following blindly their own imaginations and stubborn views. Are you one of these lost souls…??
What would it take for you to awaken and become illumined, not by my rebellious words here, not by any ancient scriptures or modern articles or man’s knowledge of any kind, but by your constant self-inquiry and serious meditation in all of life’s aspects…??
You don’t need a middleman. You don’t need to kneel in prayer. You don’t need to think about Jesus and Buddha and put them on a golden pedestal, and so become pitiful followers. You don’t need to be guided by family traditions, blind faith, and by any man, saint or not, who may appear to have the truth or some revelation. Aren’t you the Creation and the Creator…??–Or does your ignorant mind make distinction of the two…?? And if there is no difference, then you mustn’t look out there for a Creator. Isn’t God the very rich energy inside each atom making you, the world and all worlds…??
All you must do is see clearly, empty your own mind from your beliefs, traditions, and all words; for your own mind/your own ego is the one you call Satan or The Devil, or whatever is keeping you from actually experiencing all love and truth. Your confusion, your emptiness, your loneliness, your need to follow others and repeat their words like a parrot–this is your ego, and it will never allow you to be illumined or enlightened in this lower state of existence…
The words, the beliefs, the traditions, the rituals–this is keeping you down, dumbing you down from self-knowledge, from the truth; find out who you are without all these enslaving arms.
The birth of intelligence–and by intelligence I do not mean knowledge from books and from society, not memory or anything others have told you–is the most miraculous thing, it is freedom and true love; for this intelligence is emotional intelligence and the curiosity to inquire into anything and everything for yourself, and in this lies the very essence of awakening.
Of course, this birth of intelligence is suppressed and even denied by all society, specially religions, because with intelligence you begin to see through the veil they have cast upon you and you stop following others; thus you become an individual and not part of the pitiful herd, you do not buy everything, you do not covet everything they put in front of you, you realize that the truth lies in yourself and not in scriptures, and you see the greed and power-mongering in all politicians and also in members of a religion.
You are dangerous to society now, because our society, even with the many good things it offers, has been built on deceit and corruption; and all to keep people collective and belonging to the same group, obedient and chained to the same views and understanding. For if true intelligence is born in you, then you become powerful enough to stand alone, on your own, confident, and so bring out the truth unto yourself and unto others, thus illumination and rebellion lights up the conscience of the bunch. Can you see how intelligence can really open the eyes of the people and bring about clarity and individuality…??
What if you were to become curious about anything and everything…?? What if instead of following your family, your traditions, your cultures, the books and articles you read, your religions, you were to wake up and follow your own experiences based on truth and not in the lies your ego tells you every day…?? Perhaps, if you did this with patience and honesty, you too will find true love and bliss within yourself, the cure to your loneliness, to your insecurities, and to all your frustrations; as you feel this greater intelligence bathing each cell in your body.
The birth of intelligence is the sacred birth to discover. Life is meant for you to discover this sacred birth of intelligence, where you are guided by intuition and by higher knowing instead of by your ego and your intellect full of books and words from others.
What creates dissension, wars, bullying, all aggression and neglect happening in the world today…?? What makes someone feel hate and feel threatened by someone else…?? Why is it that all mankind, but especially man, is reactive and stubborn, bellicose and unjust, towards other beings…??
The world is what it is today because of men which are filled with hatred and prejudice. Women who follow these pitiful men are weak, but still they are not responsible for the origins of our hateful and ignorant society. And men do not really feel connected to life, they believe themselves separated from other beings, they see what they want to see in their empty heads; and when there exists separation then fear appears. When fear appears all sorts of problems arise in the mind–i.e., hate, envy, pride, stubborn views, and feelings of superiority.
If you actually felt the hurt of another person in yourself, would you bring that same hurt still upon him….?? If you actually felt the pain in your words within yourself, would you still tell those hurtful words to your wife, to your child….?? What if you were connected to another being in a way where you would feel the same joy or pain, happiness or misery, that being feels…??–Would you feel happy when that other being is joyful…??–Would you weep when that other being suffers…?? (Be honest with yourself, because you can lie to others but not to yourself; so do not let your ego make you feel superior in your own lies.)
If you can feel this then, not sometimes, not when you want, not with people and animals you like, but with ALL beings, then you have achieved the greatest state of empathy only Enlightenment brings. And this means you have truly mastered yourself. When you truly feel this, things change for you because fear does not grip you anymore; thus, politics and its nonsense becomes uninteresting to you and irrelevant to your happiness, you cease to build walls of prejudice and hatred in your own everyday life, religion is seen as the ignorance of fear, you become wise and understanding of how others think and feel… Now, you entered a path of bliss where you connect to nature, to the simplicity of it, to the divinity of it…
Do you realize why pain, confusion, temptation, anxiety, and all suffering exist in your life…?? Can you understand that what truly gives rich value to life is that same exact pain and suffering which you feel…??
As a human being one may only experience happiness, joy, love, and all harmony if one has struggled with their opposites first, learned from their opposites with an open mind. Awakening only comes after you have seen this and experienced it yourself, because physical existence carries both opposites and these both make physical life. A mother’s deep love and unique bond to his son or daughter wouldn’t be as strong as it is if in childbirth the pain was not extremely unpleasant and even life-threatening; therefore, a part of her has been ripped out, she feels it, thus she remains deeply connected to her kid her whole life, even in great distance… And life wouldn’t be appreciated without loss or death. As you suffer the great loss of a loved one, there is a lesson being imparted to you in the quiet corners of your mind; therefore, after you grieve or mourn you must surrender to this quiet corner in your mind where the voice of suffering may turn into the voice of wisdom.
One of the passages in the Bible says that it is easier for the poor to enter the ‘house of God’ (‘awakening into wisdom’) than for the rich. This means that the poor, due to lack of all societal and financial means, may go through much more pain than the rich, thus his mind might turn all his suffering into wisdom/into an awakening. So whatever you go through, remind yourself that all suffering, all failures, all misfortunes, all diseases have a purpose; and you mustn’t doubt this, because such doubt brings you more confusion and suffering. You have to see through your pain and turn it into a strength, wisdom, experience which can shape you into a better, more prepared person; for this is the purpose of all your suffering, and by embracing it, by overcoming it, you grab the scepter of power.
Buddha. Jesus. Muhammad. Lao Tzu. Osho. This is how the sage becomes the sage. No sage or wise man is born a sage or wise man. He becomes awakened by learning from his own pain; but he must be prepared to see through his pain instead of just complain and moan about it.
Life is you, and you are life. There is no other experience to you but yours, and that is how you live the best life–by following your own experience. Sadly, there are people out there who live guided by the experience of others instead of by their own; and so, religion is born, politics is maintained by the ignorant rabble, and wars on nations are thriving due to idiots who follow their unwise masters. And all this happening in the world is relationship, atrocious and misguided relationships with society; such stupidity going back and forth, seeking a “solution,” seeking “truth,” reaching for “justice” in the very depths of hell, so no one has a good relationship with oneself. If you have a good, honest, truthful, loving relationship with yourself then you have all the love, understanding and happiness you need–i.e., you have found God and the eternal, you have found paradise and all source of strength. Have you found all this in you yet…?? (Be honest with yourself).
If you have a good and loving relationship with yourself you do not need religion, and you do not need to sustain and argue about politics, and you do not need to support any wars, and you do not live eating meats and fats, and you do not live pleasing your family, and the rest of the nonsense people do. So, I ask you again, have you found true love within yourself yet…?? Do you really have a good and honest relationship with yourself…??
Relationship then is being human. Why…?? Because being human, the reality of it, is behavior, not a thought or a feeling or an intention. Only through relationship, through behavior you live experiences and know yourself; this is life, ongoing adventure, exploration, progress, shaping your character, learning how to treat yourself and others. But if you are just living without learning, without actually improving and observing your own behaviors towards yourself and others, then what is the point…?? Just living without learning, without becoming better and progressing in character in relationship, is poverty, human poverty, poverty of mind, poverty of character (a weak woman, a weaker man); thus, the mirror is cracked and you only see yourself distorted, ugly and ignorant in the relationships you have in life–in your job, in your family, with your husband, with your wife, with your kids, with yourself, without love, without deeper understanding of what you go through, suffering over and over again and feeling depressed each time.
Look around you, whatever or whoever is nagging you, whatever or whoever is stressing you or making you suffer in any way, is the relationship you have with life and with people; and you have no one to blame but yourself, even though your ego will find excuses and put guilt on others. You project into the world, into your situations, into people, what you are and how you treat yourself; for all life is, indeed, is a relationship–i.e., your divinity is in relationship with your humanity, and your humanity with the world you experience with your physical eyes… So, focus on yourself and the most important relationship, and the rest will mirror it perfectly…