The way of the bird

3.20 "When emotion or thought come in your mind, understand that you
do nothing and the "I" doesn't exist."
The dream character cannot do anything, neither does the "I" that appears to be the doer
really exist. No one can have any idea what thought or emotion is going to pop up next.
In the end, you find that you cannot take such a dream-life seriously.
For the aspirant, however, separating from the thoughts and emotions that arise becomes
a way of life. The thoughts and emotions that it is most important to separate from are the
ones that cause emotional disturbance, for example, negative emotions such as anger or
fear. When there is an emotional disturbance, the mind cannot reflect the Self clearly.
In its natural state, the mind has no thoughts in particular, and no violent attractions or
repulsions disturb its equilibrium. Consequently, the Self is felt clearly, like sunlight on
still water. As an aspirant, it is still possible to have a relatively peaceful mind by
avoiding strong desires and emotions and separating the real existence as pure being from
the false idea that "I" exist as the "doer."
3.21 "The world is a game, nothing else. Play with this understanding."
The world can only really be enjoyed when it is understood that it is nothing. When you
know that the world is not true, then certainly it becomes a game for you. When you are
playing a game, in the spirit of a game, you are always aware that there are no real
consequences. What makes the world seem so serious and stressful is the wrong
assumption that it is all real. The result is struggle and competition, and the feeling that
one is playing for high stakes. Someone like Maharaj, on the other hand, does not see the
world as having real, independent existence and so plays in it like a child playing a game,
just for fun. There is no concern about losing and no desire to win because there is no
sense of being in a competition. Life, seen in the light of the Self, is not for achievement,
but for play.
3.22 "It is always for something which doesn't exist that you must do
something."
If something is real and exists, then it always exists, it cannot not exist. It has being. It is
never necessary to do anything for being to be, for existence to exist. Its very nature is to
be and to exist. The corollary of this statement is that that which is not true has no being;
it cannot and does not exist. One way that you can tell something is not true is that it is
not permanent; it comes and goes, and yet it is precisely for these kind of objects that
many people struggle for a whole lifetime. When you think of "doing" something,
acquiring something considered desirable, or accomplishing something considered
valuable, you are in fact directing your efforts towards nothing.
Self-knowledge, which you might imagine to be the greatest acquisition, is in fact not an
acquisition at all. Nothing can be done to attain it, because you already are the Self. The