1. Our Nature Is Aloneness

We constantly live in the fear of facing ourselves. We are always busy, always asking 'what next' in the pretext of being busy.

In fact we are afraid and unhappy with ourselves. We think we are inferior to the next person, and superior to others. We never think or accept ourselves as we are. If we can accept ourselves as we are, we are in enlightenment.

We need to enter into a state of aloneness to reach bliss. This state does not mean that we reject our family or friends. We have to embrace aloneness and its beauty, with all of them around.

Aloneness is not loneliness. Aloneness is our inborn nature. Loneliness arises out of social conditioning. You feel lonely when no one is around you. You can be alone even when surrounded by people.

How do we reach this aloneness? If we try to search for aloneness we get into one more bondage. We should just let it be. Let everything and everyone be as they are or how they are.

The simplest way to enter aloneness is to bring in awareness. When we bring in awareness, we will be able to feel our real nature, our Self. It is very easy to slip into this mode, but the problem is we are afraid of it. So we resist it. So what happens is, even if we are alone physically, we will try to relate mentally with others and try to harbour some emotion or the other. Drop that habit.

When you are alone, enjoy your own self. Tell yourself that it is the best possible moment for you to be with yourself. When you are with yourself, you can feel God best. Allow the aloneness to happen to you without resistance. You will then feel alone even when people surround you and when this happens, you will enjoy life as a grand drama while being yourself centered in the universal consciousness.

To start with, we need to experience physical aloneness. Once the joy of aloneness happens, once we experience the joy, it stays with us even when we are not physically alone. To have aloneness, we need to do nothing. Aloneness is our reality. Only for material comforts, we need to work and struggle.

A disciple once asked a Zen master, 'How long does it take to be 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 again, 'What happened when your enlightenment came? '

The master said, 'Nothing. I decided that from that day, I shall live my enlightened state.'

People ask me, 'What will happen to my children, my business when I get enlightened?' I say: nothing; you will be better than what you are, in whatever you do. You will not go to an ashram or run away from your life commitments. Do not be afraid of your own transformation. There is no need to be afraid. Life will be so much more beautiful after the transformation.