3. Awareness The ultimate key
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When you suddenly become aware, any thought that flows in front of you becomes your life for that moment. You start giving attention to it, either to fulfill it or to escape from it. It is like slides on a projector. Any slide that is kept in front of the projector light is seen as reality on the screen. The problem is that in your inner space, the projector light is not continuously on.
When I say projector light, I mean your awareness. It just comes and goes, comes and goes – you are not fully, continuously aware. Many times, even though your eyes are open and your body is moving, you are not aware of your existence. An example from everyday life is like when you get into your car and drive for half an hour to the office. It is only after you reach the office, park the car, and get out, do you suddenly realize, ‘Oh, I have reached the office!’ It means that in those moments of driving, the projector light was off most of the time.
Any slide that is placed in front of the projector during moments that the projector light, your awareness, is off is not part of your life. You don’t remember it at all. When the light comes on again, when your awareness comes back again, whatever thought you have at that time becomes a part of you. Understand that this is a very subtle truth. Your life is the totality of all the thoughts you have when you are aware and unaware.
Unfortunately, many times there are thoughts, many major decisions, and life changing incidents that happen when you are not aware.
These are also part of your life, part of your biography. Unfortunately, you are not aware of these scenes, decisions, or t h o u g h t s when they come up. Without your Knowledge they have contributed significantly to your life. Be very clear, every moment that passes in your life without you being aware of it, without your presence, is suffering. You will either directly or indirectly create situations for suffering. Just like when the turn indicator light in your car blinks, your consciousness blinks also. But, because of your lack of awareness, you do not know when it is on and when it is off.
I read a joke the other day: One man got into his car and started the engine. He flipped on the turn indicator and asked his son to see if the light blinked in the rear of the car. His son shouted back, 'Yes, it's on...no, it's not on...yes it's on...no it's off...now it's on!'
If you just see the thought flow in front of you, suddenly you will realize, 'Oh god, all these things are actually going on in me! I don't have a clue where I am heading. I don't know what is happening in me!' You are not aware, but constantly you believe you are aware. That is the first illusion.
If you become aware continuously, you open up to reality for the first time. It might be a bit intense initially, because until now, you have spent most of your time in unawareness. Ultimately, it will lead you to experience only joy and bliss.