Thinking "I am the mind" is unconsciousness. You should know that the mind is only a mechanism, as is the body; You must know that the mind is separated. Night is coming and then tomorrow is coming; and you don't identify with the night. You don't say: I am the night. and you don't say either: I am the morning. The day comes and then the night returns; The wheel continues to spin, but you realize that you are not these things. The same thing happens with the mind. Anger appears but you forget: you become anger. Greed is coming and you forget: you become greed. Hate is presented and you forget: you become hate. That is unconsciousness. Awareness is to realize that the mind is full of greed, full of anger, full of hate or full of lust, but you are only an observer. Then you can see how greed arises and becomes a great dark cloud that then disperses; and you have not been touched. How long can they stay? Your anger is momentary, your greed is momentary, your lust is momentary. Just watch and you will be surprised: they come and go. And you remain there, untouched, fresh, calm.
The most basic thing to remember is that when you feel well, in a state of ecstasy, you should not think that it will be a permanent state. Live the moment as happily, as lively as you can, knowing very well that it has come and will go, like the breeze that enters your house, with all its fragrance and freshness, and leaves through the other door. This is the most fundamental. If you think you can make your moments of ecstasy permanent, you have already begun to destroy them.
When they come, thank them; when they leave, feel grateful to the existence. Stay open It will happen many times; Don't prosecute, don't be an elector. Stay free of elections. Yes, there will be times when you will feel miserable. And that? There are people who feel miserable and have not known a moment of ecstasy; you are lucky. Even in the midst of your misfortune, remember that it will not be permanent; It will also happen, so don't let it disturb you too much. Stay calm
Like day and night, there are moments of joy and moments of sadness; accept them as part of the duality of nature, they are the very nature of things. And you are simply an observer: do not become neither happiness nor misfortune. Happiness comes and goes, misfortune comes and goes. But there is something that is always there - always and at all times - and that is the observer, the witness.
Gradually go focusing more on the observer. Days will come and nights will come ... successes and failures will come ... lives will come and deaths will come. But if you remain focused on the observer - because it is the only reality in you - everything is a passing phenomenon.
Just for a moment, try to feel what I say: just be a witness. Do not hold on to any moment because it is beautiful or move away from you any moment because it is unfortunate. Stop doing that. You have been doing it for whole lives. You have never succeeded so far and never will, ever. The only way to go beyond, to stay beyond, is to find the place from which you can observe all these changing phenomena without identifying yourself.
I will tell you an ancient Sufi story.
A king told the wise men of the court: "I am making a precious ring." I have aquired one of the best possible diamonds. I want to keep hidden within the ring a message that can help me in moments of total despair. It has to be very small so that it fits hidden under the diamond of the ring.
They were all wise, great scholars; They could have written great treatises. But giving him a message of no more than two or three words that could help him in moments of total despair was difficult. They thought, they searched their books, but they couldn't find anything.
The king had an elderly servant who was almost like his father; He had also been his father's servant. The king's mother died soon and this servant took care of him, therefore he treated him as if he were from the family. The king had immense respect for him. The old man said: "I am not a wise man, nor a scholar, except an academic; but I know the message, because there is only one message. And those people can't give it to you; It can only be given to you by a mystic, a man who has achieved fulfillment. During my long life in the palace, I met all kinds of people and on one occasion I met a mystic.
I was a guest of your father and I was at your service. When he left, as a gesture of thanks for my services, he gave me this message - and he wrote it on paper, folded it and gave it to the king. Don't read it, keep it hidden in the ring. Open it only when all else has failed, when you find no way out of the situation.
And that moment soon arrived. The country was invaded and the king lost the kingdom. He was running away on his horse to save his life and his enemies were chasing him. I was alone and the pursuers were numerous. And he came to a place where the road ended, there was no way out: on the other side there was a precipice and a deep valley. Falling for him would be the end. He could not return, the enemy closed his way and he could already hear the jogging of the horses. I could not go forward, and there was no other way ...
Suddenly, she remembered the ring. He opened it, took out the paper and there he found a tremendously valuable little message. He simply said: "This will also happen."
While reading "this will also happen" he felt a great silence looming over him. And that happened. All things happen; Nothing remains in this world. The enemies that were chasing him must have been lost in the forest, they must have been wrong on the way; Little by little he stopped hearing the trotting of the horses.
The king felt tremendously grateful to the servant and the unknown mystic. Those words had been miraculous. He folded the paper, put it back in the ring, gathered his army and reconquered the kingdom. And the day he entered again victorious in the capital there was a great celebration with music, dances, ... and he felt very proud of himself.
The old man was at his side in the car and said, "This moment is also right: look again at the message."
-What do you mean? Asked the king. Now I am victorious, people celebrate my return, I am not desperate, I am not in a situation with no way out.
"Listen, " said the old man, "this is what the saint told me: this message is not only for desperate situations, it is also for pleasant situations." It is not only for when you are defeated; It is also for when you feel victorious; not only for when you are the last, but also for when you are the first.
The king opened the ring and read the message: "This will also happen, " and suddenly the same peace, the same silence, in the midst of the crowd that rejoiced, celebrated, danced ... but pride, the ego had disappeared . Everything happens.
He asked the old servant to come to his car and sit next to him. He asked: - Is there anything else? Everything happens ... Your message has been very helpful.
- The third thing the saint said is: «Remember that everything happens. Only you remain; you remain forever as a witness ».
Everything happens, but you remain. You are the reality; Everything else is just a dream. There are very beautiful dreams, there are nightmares ... but it doesn't matter if it's a beautiful dream or a nightmare; The important thing is the person who is watching the dream. That he sees is the only reality.
