The thing looks attractive because you don't own it yet.
If we are even a little bit aware toward ourselves, we would find that whatever we succeed in achieving, that whatever we ran after crazily turns into a mediocre thing as it comes under our domain.
The mind plays a very cunning trick with us; as long as a thing is beyond our reach, it makes that thing look so attractive that it seems that life is meaningless without it. We tend to believe that the attractiveness comes from the thing itself, when in reality it’s a projection of our own mind that makes that thing look worth achieving because the mind constantly needs something to run after.
A person earning an average income thinks that the life will be meaningful only when the bank balance reaches a million.
A person who is not in a so-called “love” relationship thinks that the life will be meaningful only when there is a partner.
A mayor thinks that the life will be meaningful only when he becomes a Premier.
A student thinks that the life will be meaningful once a job is secured.
A person with a well-paying job thinks that the life will be meaningful when he buys a home.
A couple thinks that the life will be meaningful only when they have a child.
……and so on.
Like this, the mind keeps giving the hopes that the fulfillment lies somewhere in the future, and we keep running and running and running our whole lives thinking that someday we will reach at that point.
When a million sits in the bank account, the mind says, “Why not go for 10 million?”
When a partner surrounds all the time, the mind says, “He/She is not appropriate for me. I think the one I found recently on Instagram is made for me.”
When the authority of Premier has been achieved, the mind says, “Why not try being a PM?”
When a job is secured, the mind says, “Why not look for a one that pays more?”
When a home has been bought, the mind says, “Why not buy a bigger one?”
When a child is born, the mind says, “Why not have a second one?”
The mind sets further goals because the fulfillment it expected from the previous ones didn’t arrive, instead, more stress and worries have resulted.
That was the point where the revolution could happen, that was the point where one could pull himself out of the mad race of society which leads nowhere, that was the point where one could see that there is everything to lose and nothing to gain, but due to our ignorance and mechanical nature, we fail to recognize that the mind has been betraying us since the day one and we continue to expect that this time is different.
We believe that the thorn has turned into a flower this time. It is the same thorn in a different form, but we are so afraid of recognizing it as such that we create a picture of it as a beautiful flower in our mind and start forming fantasies about how fragrant the life will be once the “flower” is attained. We fail to see that labeling the thorn as a rose doesn’t change its reality as a thorn, and then we blame the thorn for hurting us without acknowledging that it was our own projection of mind that created the illusion of beauty and fragrance.
Nothing in the world has an attractiveness of its own. It’s only the mental narratives we spin around those things that makes us want to achieve those things.
Recognizing this simple fact that nothing and nobody can satisfy the thirst of the mind, one becomes rebellious. Now there is a real chance of transformation, but most of us don’t want to recognize this because that would mean saying no to the society’s race and saying yes to slowing down and looking inside, and that……… is not a child’s play.
“Being an Alexandra is easy; Being a Buddha is not.”
Therefore, we prefer running mindlessly our whole lives over letting the runner stop and see the worthlessness of all the efforts.
The thing you are running after has already been achieved by many in the past, many have that thing today, and we are so asleep that we never observe them and say, “If that thing couldn’t bring fulfillment to them, how could that do it for me?” This realization hits only when the thing is there and you are free to do anything you want, but the inner hollowness is still there, the search for bliss is still there.
Just ask yourself: Are they, who have already attained the thing you crave for, free from all the bondages of the mind and society? Have they entered that state of being where there are no limitations and boundaries? And you should not be surprised seeing that they are as miserable, having attained that thing, as you feel yourself to be without that thing.
The answer lies not in fulfilling whatever the mind desires for; the answer lies not in being a participant in the society’s race,
The answer lies in inquiring into who is the one making all these demands; the answer lies in being still.
Run, and you will miss; Be still, and you will achieve.
If my writings seem to have a point, if you think that this work should be supported, then you can do so by either becoming a free subscriber or a paid one for 5$ per month only.
Or if you like to make a one-time payment only, then you can do so on Patreon or Kofi.
Consider sharing it far and wide:
Join me on Twitter and Instagram: