When we seek
something, it is because we feel a sense of lack. We cannot or will not embrace
what is happening now – we feel the need to obtain something in order to create
a future that is better than what is going on right now. So the very act of seeking is an attempt to
escape from the Now.
Why do we
feel a sense of lack? Because we believe
that we are an action figure that needs accessories such as money, adulation, beauty,
etc to “complete” it. Even when we get something we sought, we know that it can
be taken away or used up, so that we will “need” more of it in the future. This
causes us to focus on the future instead of the Now, even though the Now is
perfectly fine.
The true
self needs only to recognize itself in order to feel whole. Its resources
(awareness, love, peace) are infinite, always available, and not dependent on
the world, so it can never run out of or fail to obtain them. It is only when
we stuff ourselves into the idea of being a (false) self consisting of a body,
beliefs, possessions, and social status that we believe that we need the
limited things that are obtainable only in the world.
