The way of the bird

What does it mean to "be nothing?" It means to rest in your true nature and not let the
mind go outward in pursuit of worldly goals. Reality remains before, during, and after the
long dream of life. Even now you are That.
2.27 "The screen never says `Oh, they're showing a bad picture. I won't
show."
One of the commonest questions that comes up is: "Why did God create a world with so
much suffering in it?" Few people stop to consider whether there is anything wrong with
the question-it is taken for granted that there is an intelligence "in charge" of the whole
show and that He is therefore responsible for everything that happens. You do not find
this point of view in the Upanishads or in the teaching of Advaita Vedanta. You do find the
positive affirmation that freedom from suffering can be found, and that it is in fact our
birthright. However, it is also stated very clearly that freedom is to be found only in the
realization that our true nature is unborn and undying.
The concept that the world should be free of suffering arises from identification with the
body. Because the body is attracted to pleasure and repelled by pain, the ignorant mind
simply reflects those opposites in its thinking. It labors under the illusion that the world
can be made perfect, given sufficient time and effort. But when it is realized that the body
is a transitory object that appears as if in a dream, it is no longer possible to imagine that
real effects can follow from what it apparently does. If you kill someone in a dream, will
you have to stand trial when you wake up? Is the screen responsible for the violence that
takes place in the movie? In this way, God provides the power or life force for the whole
play, but does not have any knowledge of, and consequently has no responsibility for,
what happens in it.
2.28 "Reality has nothing to do with the world that has come up."
As long as you take it to be true, this world is bound to be confusing and difficult. You
could say that it is designed to fail. It is not possible to find happiness in material or
wordly objects. Efforts to do so always come to nothing in the end. Sooner or later,
everyone comes to the conclusion that the solution to the problems of living have to lie in
some other direction altogether. In this sense, everyone is a seeker after truth. Some know
it and consciously follow a spiritual path while others are still in a process of becoming
disillusioned.
All this seeking and all the different levels of understanding that seekers reach plays itself
out within this closed system, this "box" called the world. It is a closed system because
the belief that the world is true is what maintains it. The seeker's belief in his or her own
reality and the notion that he or she has to do something to escape are all part of the
system that keeps them firmly locked in the box. Reality itself is unaffected by what goes
on within this closed system.
2.29 "In the final reality, there is nothing to understand."