YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND

You  are not your  mind

A beggar  had been  sitting  by the  side of a road for over thirty  years.  One day a stranger  walked by. Spare some change? Mumbled the beggar,  mechanically holding  out his old baseball  cap. " I have nothing to give you, " said the stranger. Then he asked: "what that you are sitting on? " "Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I have  been sitting on it for as long as I can remember." "Ever looked inside?"  asked  the  stranger. " No".,  said the  beggar. "what's the  point?  There's  nothing  in there." Have  a look inside, " insisted the stranger. The beggar manage to pry open the lid. With astonishment,  disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

I am that stranger  who has nothing  to give  you and who is telling  you to look  inside. Not inside yourself.

But I am not a beggar, " I can hear  you  say. 

 Those who have  not found their true    wealth,   which  is the radiant  joy  of Being and  the deep, unshakable  peace  that comes  with  it,  are beggars even  if they have great  material  wealth.  They are looking  outside  for scraps of pleasure  or fulfillment,  for validation,  security  or  love,  while  they have  a treasure  within  that not only  includes  all those things  but is infinitely greater  than anything  the world  can offer.

.    The word enlightenment    conjures up the idea of some superhuman accomplishment, and the ego likes to keep it   that way, but it  is simply your natural  state  of felt oneness  with Being.  It is a state of connectedness with something  immeasurable and indestructible,  something that, almost paradoxically, is essentially you and yet is much greater  than you.  It is finding  your true nature beyond  name and form.

The inability to feel this  connectedness  gives  rise  to illusion  of separation,  from yourself  and from  the world  around  you. You then perceive yourself,  consciously or unconsciously as an isolated fragment. Fear arises and conflict within and without becomes the norm.

Being is the eternal, ever--present one life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to brith and death.

However, Being is not only beyond but also deep within every form as its innermost invisible and indestructible essence.  This means that it is accessible to younow as your own deepest self, your true nature. But don't seek to grasp it with your mind. Don't try to understand it. you can know it only  when  the mind is still. when you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally. To regain  awareness of Being and to abide in that state of " feeling realization " is  enlightenment.