No theory adequately covers reality.
The fact is that you’re surrounded by God and you don’t see God, because you “know” about God. The final barrier to the vision of God is your God concept.
All suffering is caused by my identifying myself with something, whether that something is within me or outside of me.
So, we were born happy. We lost it. We were born with the gift of life. We lost it. We’ve got to rediscover it. Why did we lose it? Because we were working actively. They taught us to work actively, to make ourselves miserable. How did they do that? By teaching us to become attached. By teaching us to have desires so intense that we would refuse to be happy unless they were fulfilled.
The orchestra is within you and you carry it with you wherever you go. The things and people outside you merely determine what particular melody the orchestra will play. And when there is no one or nothing that has your attention the orchestra will play a music of its own; it needs no outside stimulation. You now carry in your heart a happiness that nothing outside of you can put there, and nothing can take away.
When you go out to the world because of the love that someone else has for you, you are all aglow not with your perception of reality but with the love that you have received from someone else; someone else controls the switch and when it is switched off the glow fades away.
That is how you bring about change in yourself. Not by condemnation, not by calling yourself names, but by understanding what’s going on. Not by calling yourself a dirty old sinner.
How can you love someone whom you do not even see?
You’re never so ready to forget yourself as when you are happy.
The more occupied we are in the things of God, the more likely we priests are to forget what God is all about – and the more complacent we’re likely to become. That’s the story of Jesus. Who do you think got rid of Jesus? The priests – who else? The religious people. That’s the terror of the Gospel, see?
But to depend on another psychologically – to depend on another emotionally – what does that imply? It means to depend on another human being for my happiness. Think about that. Because if you do, the next thing you will be doing, whether you’re aware of it or not, is demanding that other people contribute to your happiness.
When the archer shoots for no particular prize, he has all his skills; when he shoots to win a brass buckle, he is already nervous; when he shoots for a gold prize, he goes blind, sees two targets, and is out of his mind. His skill has not changed, but the prize divides him. He cares! He thinks more of winning than of shooting, and the need to win drains him of power.
Say your thing and get out of here. And if they profit, that’s fine, and if they don’t, too bad!
When you fight something, you’re tied to it forever. As long as you’re fighting it, you are giving it power. You give it as much power as you are using to fight it.
Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare.
Think of yourself in a concert hall listening to the strains of the sweetest music when you suddenly remember that you forgot to lock your car. You are anxious about the car, you cannot walk out of the hall and you cannot enjoy the music. There you have a perfect image of life as it is lived by most human beings.
You want the little things that society has falsely taught you are essential for happiness. You want that.
That’s what spirituality is all about, you know: unlearning. Unlearning all the rubbish they taught you.
Negative feelings are in you, not in reality. So stop trying to change reality. That’s crazy! Stop trying to change the other person.
As the Japanese Zen masters say, “Don’t seek the truth; just drop your opinions.