Ever tried sitting quietly for, say 10 hours, with your eyes open, just observing the world change in front of you? No mental or physical or verbal activity.
Ouch! I hear you cursing! I’ll be more lenient!
Ok… how about 5 hours?
Ok…how about 1 hour?
Ok…how about right now? This moment, here and now?
Why is it so damn hard?
“Because there are so many things that I’d rather do than sit quietly! So I do them”
“For example: Tweet, meet friends, see a movie, listen to an iPod, heat up pasta, buy the latest Blu-ray disc, go for a long drive, buy toys for children, negotiate a pay hike, read the papers e.t.c”
Why would you rather do these than sit quietly?
“Because they mean something!”
or so you believe! let’s explore that.
Where is the meaning?
There is no meaning in an IPod. Apple doesn’t pack a pound of meaning into every box they sell to customers
There is no meaning in the news. It’s just a bunch of stories, news, opinions, analysis, sports results…a stream of data about the world. It’s not the world
There is no meaning in a movie. It’s just a lot of sound, images and popcorn (with someone?) in a dark room for 2 hours.
There is no meaning in a Higgs-Boson. It’s just an elementary particle.
Then, where did the meaning come from?
The meaning came from the mind, of course – when it discriminates and creates the red line. We saw the effect it had on Jamie.
You did your bit. You cling to the discrimination and then it started to matter to you
So, after a long period of regular discrimination and clinging – you are now in a situation where…
Knowing which team won the club championship matters to you
Hearing your kids say “you are the best dad/mom in the world” matters to you
Getting a regular paycheck home every month matters to you
Hearing your girlfriend/boyfriend say “that was a wonderful evening” matters to you
Perhaps you go directly to the sports page. The other 29 pages don’t matter to you
Perhaps the price you paid for the newspaper matters more to you than the news itself, so you read the paper front to back.
Why do they matter to you?
Ah! Gotcha! They matter to you because you believe they matter to you
“Without them, my life itself will lose its meaning”
Lets see.
What happens when some things matter more than others to you?
We want more of what matters to us. We want less of other things.
We move towards things that matter to us. We move away from things that don’t matter to us.
We want to “make that mine”. Right now.
We will, in short – begin to crave for it.
A meaningful life?
Craving for a piece of gold is not different from craving for a cigarette. The process is the same.
You feel restless and empty – when you don’t have what you crave for –which is whatever matters to you – which is whatever you attached meaning to
You may bang your head against the wall…just to make that restlessness and emptiness go away
But it won’t go away! because the restlessness and emptiness are not outside you.
So what do you do?…to be free from that awful restlessness….you just go out and do what matters to you, anyway!
Because you just can’t stand the agony of feeling restless and empty!
And, after that, it starts to matter to you even more!
The meaning becomes fixed to your life – even after the original objects or people themselves have changed or disappeared or moved on.
The meaning you fixed your life to –innocently – so long ago – is now simply holding you a slave!
Ahhhh! So, there’s the problem.
A life of fixed meaning is a life of bondage and slavery!
Uh-oh!
That doesn’t sound like it is going to help us taste freedom!
The source of that restless, empty feeling
We feel empty when we don’t have with us what we crave for.
We feel restless when we are separated from them
We act to close that separation between us and whatever matters to us.
But how can you close the separation with them?…when all that separates them from you is an imaginary red line?
That is why we feel empty and restless, even after experiencing them – The riddles of Yayati and the McBurger are now resolved.
What’s the way out?
Remember – You can’t run away from the object. Sometimes you can’t even stop running towards it.
You can reduce your clinging and craving for it – this is tricky and time-consuming, but well worth the effort.
You also can’t run away from an empty, restless feeling
The most direct way therefore, is to tackle the problem at the root – when you catch yourself discriminating between ‘this’ and ‘that’!
How?
Dissolving the red line dissolves discrimination– and with it – dissolves the source of bondage, restlessness and emptiness.
Then, you will be free from creating fixed meaning in a new set of things in the future as well
Worried you’ll go insane? Don’t be. The line is imaginary anyway….so what do you have to lose?
“hmmm…ok…but….how on earth does one dissolve an imaginary line?”
Ah! Great question. Stay tuned.
The Urban Monk diaries 
Some personal experience to share.Few years back higher education was the only staircase in mind, that would lead to a satisfactory life.Nagged my sons,specially the elder one. My younger one finished his high school with flying colours,and did not want to pursue in higher studies.
Drumming is his passion.So wanted to be a drummer and make music.
Contemplated his thought ,and wondered ,the ultimate goal of a soul………it is to be happy.Was convinced ,and let him be.
Today he is a known drummer in his circuit. A happy and loving soul.
By dissolving the red line,one comes to terms at peace.Besides higher education ,things one is passionate for, can lead to a much more satisfactory life.
Great learning experience………by dissolving the red lines.
its all imaginary dn y does it bother us so much to level of restlessness and emptiness. sometimes hostages or not but we feel like being held and stopped to walk wd such a high pace life. srry its all 2gether a negative vibe post jst trying to reveal nd get in more facts….
“hmmm…ok…but….how on earth does one dissolve an imaginary line?”
I guess the same way you drew it. Imaginatively :P
:-) nice imagination!