Inner Neutrality - Jan.1, 2015

Today we are celebrating the New Year. 2014 has become 2015, but what has really changed? So even like this, we witness the movement of time. What is moving forward? Every moment it is moving forward. Who knows this movement? Who is aware of the now, of the now, of the now? Fresh every instant, completely fresh. Is the witnessing also changing now, now, now? Or is only the appearance changing now, now, now? Is awareness one year older? Does it have some more gray hair? What can we say about this pure witnessing, this pure awareness?

Like this, another million years can go. Suppose you are completely light to. Suppose there is no end to this circle of birth and death, no end. Suppose Nirvana or Mukti was a myth—is that a problem for you? Suppose this is just one of 10,000 lives that are still to come; you're just getting started with this cycle of birth and death. Suppose it was like this. Then it won't matter if you have now become unconcerned with the content of this phenomena, of this phenomenal world. Then it won't matter whether you're in the cycle of birth and death or you attain Nirvana or Mukti or whatever you call it. It makes no difference because as awareness you are untouched. You are ever free. In fact, you are not being born and you are not dying, isn't it? What can be born and what can die is not you.

Many times in a minute the mind takes birth and the mind dies. Mind takes birth and the mind dies. So how many lifetimes of this mind can happen in one day? Mind to no-mind, mind to no-mind. That's why I constantly point you to the witnessing of all of this phenomena. You see, if you believe—if I were to give you a game and I were to say you have to now for the next one hour pretend to be an old man sitting at the side of the Ganga, sitting on the banks of the Ganga—you would just believe all the thoughts which can come about this identity of being an old man sitting on the banks of the Ganga. And if you believe enough thoughts about it, it will seem so real to you, this identity. You'll give it a name, you'll give it a story. This is so much, see? Already it might be happening for some of you. The visuals will come, the picture will come. Some of you have never seen the Ganga, but it will seem so real, so real like this.

So in the same way, we built up this imaginary persona about ourselves. All it would take actually would be about maybe 30, 40, 50 thoughts for you to become deeply attached to this identity of this old man on the banks of the Ganga. Actually, with full sincerity, if you were to believe some 50, 60 thoughts, I feel it's enough. There would be some attachment already. You say, 'Wow, that's a beautiful character, maybe that's what I want in my next life.' This is the power of belief. This, yes, yes—for some, for some it's possible to do this life itself. This is the power of our belief. More and more we have believed and believed in this imaginary persona which we've given our name, this name, this label, whatever we are called as a person.

So first we bring this imagination to the forefront and then we want to control the life of this imaginary person. And for what? All for nothing. Maybe in the beginning it would have seemed like this would have been fun, or this would be fun. It must have been planned like this, but it's been—it's gone too far now. This identity has been taken too far. And yet, because it is completely imagined, it is not difficult to unravel if you are open. But if you want to make this imagined one free, or this imagined entity happy, then I cannot help you. This is not about freedom for the imagined person. This is not even about personal happiness.

There are many, many, many in the world who are focused on this personal happiness. There's so many psychiatrists and psychologists who are focused on trying to make people happy, and it's a much more viable business. It's a much more viable business because the person will never be happy, but you can show them some glimpses of what happiness could mean and then they would keep coming back more and more. Here, if you see the truth, the no-person, it's not a personal life, then nothing much more to be said actually. So either the person can react very strongly and say, 'Okay, this is not for me, this is not what I'm looking for. I still want to try it out as a person.' Many have like this. The doubt could be something else, but ultimately at the root it could be this doubt that 'I still want to make it as a person.' But it does not work. It does not work.

The same trouble—it doesn't matter. You see, I've been reading—some of you know I've been reading this one book by Marcus Aurelius. Not sure if I'm getting the name right now, but Marcus Aurelius was one of the great Roman emperors. And at the time in Rome, they used to control most of the so-called civilized world. And if you read his notes and you read his journal: same, same trouble. Same, see? Family, enough wealth, security, death, old age, body issues. So the great emperor, one of the greatest emperors of Rome, did not have a chance to be happy as a person. Then why do we keep deluding ourselves? Why do we keep chasing, chasing these ideas? If you must idolize someone, idolize someone who is beyond their suffering now, who stopped suffering. Doesn't have to be a guru sitting in an ashram, doesn't have to be a guru who does Satsang also. If you find a being who is beyond suffering, who's untouched by the ups and downs of life, it is enough to sit at their feet. See.