23. Blink And Be In Bliss

We are constantly searching outside for answers. It is almost as if the answers to all our questions and problems can be found outside, somewhere, somehow.

How often have we succeeded in that search? Never. All our questions have answers from within. Listen to the voice within.

People often ask me this question, 'What is man's eternal quest?' I reply, 'Man's eternal quest is to find himself.'

Someone asked me, 'Are you God?' I said, 'I am not God. I am above that. God is your imagination. Self is real and superior.'

The person said, 'If I say that, they will send me to a lunatic asylum!'

A small story:

While Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of Bharat, he visited an asylum. There he met an inmate who thought he was Nehru. When Nehru introduced himself to this inmate, the inmate came up close to him and whispered, 'Don't worry. That's what I too said when I came here. If you stay here for 6 months, they will cure you too!'

Such is the nature of the world. Even if God stands before them in human form or any other form, they will resist the idea. If I say that Self is superior, real, and our search should turn inwards, you will think, 'What is this man saying?'

The truth is: we are each alone. We are perfect as we express our true nature. In that state, no one is brighter, more perfect, or more beautiful than the other.

Try this simple exercise: when you are alone you normally try to relate mentally with others. Drop that. Do not blame others for your loneliness. Allow the loneliness to happen to you without resistance; you will then feel alone even when people surround you. To start with, you need to experience physical loneliness.

Once the joy of aloneness happens, it stays even when you are not physically alone. Aloneness requires we do nothing. It is our reality. For material comforts, we need to work and struggle. Aloneness leads to Enlightenment.

A disciple asked a Zen master, 'How long does it take to become enlightened?'

The master said, 'Just the time it takes to blink your eye. You are already enlightened. You only need to declare it.'

The disciple asked, 'What happened when you became enlightened?'

The master replied, 'Nothing! I decided to live in my enlightened state from that day.'

So I tell you: just blink and be in bliss!