Here and There

Want to wake up? You want happiness? You want freedom? Here it is: Drop your false ideas. Anthony de Mello

I have a friend who I've known for years who has lived in an ashram, gone to retreat after retreat, and done practices for twenty years. The other day we had a conversation that went something like this:

“My God, Peter, I just long for that bliss of awakening -- surely there must be something I can do to get there?”
“There?”
“Yeah—that state where there is no separation between me and God.”
“What makes you think you have to do something to get there?”
“Surely enlightenment doesn't happen by sitting here and doing nothing!"
"Why not?"
"Well, I’ve been doing practices for years; that’s got to mean something. How else can you get there?”
“You’re still assuming it’s there. That’s because teachers told you it was something to be achieved way off in the future. That’s just an idea.”
“Does that mean all those religions and practices are wrong?”
“Well, are you there yet?”
"No."
“You mean I don’t have to do anything to get there?”
“Anything you do to get there -- even the slightest step -- is a step away from what is already present.”
“If it’s not there, how could it be here?”
“Why not here?”
“Because here is not all that interesting. I want the bright lights and fireworks.”
“That’s because you’re not really here.”
“I’m here.”
“Yes -- here with your mind, your thoughts, and your beliefs. That’s not being here.”
“What’s here?”
“Here is stopping all of it -- just stopping -- even for a second. Are you willing to try?”
“Sure, what do I do?”
“You don’t do anything.”
“Nothing.”
“Yes. Just relax.”
“Let go?”
“Yes.”
“You mean, this is it?”
“Yes.”
“But where’s all the bliss and Oneness?”
“Here.”
“But that means I have to let go of the possibility that my life will get any better.”
“Yes.”
“So, it’s just this?”
“Yes -- This.”
“That’s so funny. You mean that’s it?”
“Find out for yourself!”
“But it’s so simple!”
“Too simple for the mind to grasp.”
“My God, just This! It's so familiar, so ordinary."
"And so extraordinary."
"But this awareness is always present!”
"If it's permanent and unchanging, where else could it go?"
"What a joke . . . it's been there all along." [much laughter]
"God has a great sense of humor."