The Job Opening

“To keep up with your responsibilities and your fitness and still nurture your creative aspect, you must put a hermetically sealed retort, so that there is no intrusion, around a certain numbers of hours each day and that time must be inviolate. The point I’m making is that your work – that is, your art – and your job must not contaminate each other” (Joseph Campbell, Reflections of the Art of Living) 

                                                                                   Introductory notice 

A good friend of mine, Radha, who’d come across a tempting job opening paid a visit to me last week with the selfless intention of recommending me in her stead for the job, thinking that she doesn’t meet the requirements, while I do.


AM I or AM I NOT on the Field of the Sacred Duty?

Radha: Luke, what do you think about this vacancy ad? Doesn’t it fit you like a glove? Come on! Just give it one last try, one last fight, even if not in the higher position of a Napoleon! I'm not ready for whatever these guys want. But you are.

Luke: I took a look at the notice myself. It is true: I’m professionally skilled up to their expectations, but not philosophically. One ought to be a hell of a motivated and ambitious fellow for this job. I'm neither. I would take up again sacrificing my free time and spending late hours at work, just as I used to do in the past.

 R: As with the responsibilities, the benefits would be greater, too. Besides, it's a fight custom-made ​​for you.

L: My current job’s benefits are just fine. Another job, another confrontation, may be beneficial only if they arise unthinkingly, unwillingly or out of joy and enthusiasm and this is not the case. And if this were not the case, the motivation would be utterly egoic. Similarly, turning away from the battlefield that your destiny places inevitably in your path arises from an egoic attitude.
By the way, you know what it’s been said in the Bhagavad Gītā?

“The doors of heaven open
for warriors who rejoice
to have a battle like this
thrust on them by chance.”

This means that the fight is unsought, it is not desired and it isn’t a fight that you are supposed to apply for, because once you applied for it, it’s a failed fight. Not lost, not won, but failed. “Failed” means that you are going to have to face it again and again, like that weather guy in the movie “The Groundhog Day”, except for in his case the experiences are failed due to his loathing, which is just another species of desire, a “camouflaged” desire. The Eastern religions teach us that our desire and loathing lead us into this unending cycle of deaths and rebirths, they get us trapped into the wheel of the saṃsāra. This painfully repetitive adventure happens because you failed in the quest for your life possibilities; by turning down the fight of life or by desiring it too ardently, you refused in fact to open up to the mysteries, energies of the life itself, so you will have to face these conflicts created by desire and loathing once and again, in one form or another, until you reach that still point within you wherefrom arises the indescribable sense of wonder to this terrifying beauty of life. This life, with its horrors and beauties, is not to be feared, not to be wanted, but to be enjoyed.

This is the meaning of Krishna’s teaching: the conflict should not be despised, nor should it be desired. One mustn’t have an emotional relationship with the conflict - and this is the jumping-off threshold where the dreadful dilemmas of one’s existence drop away, because, even if the physical aspect of the conflict may survive, you have come to inner peace. Only when the “fight” arises by itself, independent of one’s own wish and it is fought without any sense of selfish endeavor, can it be “a gateway unto Heaven”. And this job that we are speaking of is surely a fight in its very essence. It’s not a physical battle but, still, it is a psychological fight over the energy, time and other resources of your opponents, that is, the adversaries of your employer; this is why I thought that bringing up Krishna’s teaching is very beneficial to our discussion.

Had Arjuna wanted that “job” of a warrior for himself, had he sought it purposefully, for personal achievement and fame, so to speak, his dilemma at the beginning of the Gītā could not have occurred; further on, neither his inner alchemy nor his dialogue with the godliness could have taken place.

If Arjuna had wished that war he would have become a Napoleon and would have ended up just like Napoleon, sad and stranded on a distant island. Napoleon was a tremendous warrior, but I think he failed spiritually because of his personal ambition, which is synonymous with a strong sense of the ego. This is what a real warrior, a kṣatriya in India, a samurai in Japan, a knight in Europe, would be, ultimately: he must personify the heroic archetype of the brave man who sacrifices himself for the other, this feature is essential to the heroic behavior, be it a military or a mystical adventure. A man can never be a hero unless he sacrifices himself to a value greater than himself, renouncing any sense of personal achievement. He is driven only by a noble sense of duty, bravery and sacrifice which is the opening of one’s soul to another dimension, which lies beyond personal ambition. He can’t be driven by fear or by lust. This is the cross-road where the heroic meets the holy. So, I think Arjuna is another kind of warrior than Napoleon. He is destined to become what he has always been - merged with God.

I would apply for the job only if I didn’t already have one or if the current one were unacceptable. Therefore, I am going to take this opportunity only in case when there is no other way, when I get such a challenge by chance, as the Gītā says. “By chance” in the Gītā means “inevitable” and “unwillingly” or “by accident”. This is not the case. This challenge is not desirable, it is not fearful, it is just simply avoidable. This job that you want to recommend me for is very demanding and if I sought it purposefully, it would be a failed job.

The traps of the “fish in water” perspective
R: But it wasn’t really you who did seek out this job. It came to you by chance; it came to you through me. This is why it was you that I was thinking of when I saw that job ad. And anyhow, I no longer recognize you as Arjuna. I see you as Krishna. This means that for a man who knows what to do, who is very deeply aware of his choices and opportunities, this job is just another play on the stage of life. Therefore, your mind shines in such a job and you should make it work right there… Just kidding, Luke. It’s just that I thought of you when I saw that notice. Nothing else. And I thought you'd be like a fish in water.
But now I think you just don’t want to carry out certain activities. No more. You’ve got that visceral reaction that I call “rejection”. That’s what it’s all about.

L.: The “fish in water” is a complex, that is, a psychological condition. Although it is just a way of putting it and a figure of speech, a pointer meant to express a common state of “normality” or “comfort”, it’s not a proper attitude in case of human beings. I know that most people are spiritually unconscious or, in Buddhist terms, they are asleep and this seems to be some kind of normality, but I think the normality of humans is to wake up and to be aware of both their environment and the awareness itself. A fish in water is not aware of the water - this is a normal attitude in fish, but not in humans. This is no danger for the fish, this ignorance of the water is in accord with its’ intimate nature, but a “fish in water” attitude is the real danger of a battlefield for a human warrior, whose mind gets entangled in the battle, unaware of the battle. He is trapped, no longer capable of being aware of his environment and incapable of evaluating the suffering he inflicts on the others and on himself. Losing the witness perspective is that what defines all human suffering. The “fish in water” perspective prevents you from evolving, spiritually speaking. The “fish in water” perspective is good exclusively to a fish.

A swimmer deeply aware of the water, a soldier aware of the battle while in the midst of it – that type of awareness is a basic requirement for a spiritually-driven life. From a more common standpoint, this awareness that arises from a deep place within you is the basic condition for any athletic or artistic performance. But you can’t have this kind of awareness when you bring about an unpleasant situation or generate any kind of violence, including psychological tension in your own mind, you can be and can remain aware only when they are given to you and you face them in a dispassionate manner.

The “no matter what” attitude in accepting the conflict
The Gītā doesn’t urge us to bring about conflicts; no spiritual teaching, properly understood, does. Gītā’s deep message is that we must consciously accept and fight those wars that are inevitable, those fights that are given to us. Any unavoidable challenge or sorrow of life is such a fight, because our lives were made out of sorrowful stuff, otherwise we wouldn’t be eager to awaken. But to provoke challenges instead of accepting them when they happen is a big mistake.
However, in the end you might be right and perhaps I am not Arjuna, but I am Krishna himself. This is an interesting approach and I will assume this role for our discussion. So, suppose I’m Krishna rather than Arjuna; please take into account that Krishna is only a manifestation of the eternal in the space-time dimension. So your bold (and I hope metaphorical) assumption took me beyond an important mind conditioning, which is doubt. Beyond that doubtful and sorrowful pondering, I get a witness perspective, beyond duality. And that’s it: no more ethical and metaphysical dilemmas – they are gone like they never were and the life is beautiful just the way it is and no change is necessary. As a Krishna, I am ever free from any worry for the outcome of the battle, utterly free from the bondage of worry itself. I’m immersed in this dimension of the eternal: inner peace or contentment, which in Sanskrit is called samtoṣa. But at the same time I’m aware of everything that is happening on the surface level of this ocean of existence and I am aware of the water itself.

This is what differentiates a fish in water from a Krishna in water. This is what Krishna would be like. He would be deeply peaceful and deeply aware of the water and he would be aware of his awareness at the same time. Therefore, suppose a man like Krishna came across such a would-be-better-than-the-present-job professional opportunity, what would he do? The answer is simple: a Krishna wouldn’t care. The current job is good enough for him.

A more complicated job is burdensome and stressful but this is not the reason for which I’m not interested in it. My attitude is only dispassionate. This is no visceral loathsome reaction, but a positive and simple perspective: the current position, less sophisticated and poorly paid is still fully satisfactory for the purposes for which such a job has been invented and in an impermanent universe which, however, gives you the advantage that everyday needs are easily satisfied.
So would Krishna think and do and so will I.
Therefore I’ll fight the battle “on the field of sacred duty”, (as the Gītā says) or, in my own words, I’ll face the challenge that you came up with only if this “battle” is unavoidable.

A spiritual exercise: letting go of opportunities
Besides, you don’t need to feel sorry about me letting go of an opportunity. My spiritual path is defined by letting go of social and financial opportunities and, nevertheless, what do you think? When I look behind, my life’s hidden faces unveil and I can see that when my real destiny was to take advantage of an opportunity, I was just simply forced to take it and that was it. If the fact is inevitable and I will refuse to face it, then I will be dragged into it by force. In the Gītā Krishna posits a very significant and mysterious mechanism by which the Life itself carries you toward fulfilling your real, hidden destiny (as opposed to the superficial, visible purposes of your existence):

“What thou dost shun,
Misled by fair illusions, thou wouldst seek
Against thy will, when the task comes to thee
Waking the promptings in thy nature set”.
In modern words, if it is my destiny to do the job, the whole existence will become the conjurer who will compel me into doing it. But for the time being the challenge is not inevitable. Everything is peaceful. The field of "now" is good and I needn’t worry about the future.  If the present moment is good, I will not try to disfigure him by trying to make it better. I will not become another prey of the delusion that befalls the humanity on a global scale, making billions of people cherish the vain hope that tomorrow or the afterlife will be better than today and invest everything in tomorrow, a wonderful future that never comes.

Krishna’s and Jesus' message for a better future
This terrible longing for “more” and “better” is that which has been causing the whole collective madness, this global suffering, for millennia. People’s longing for perfection is the very hindrance in the attainment of perfection, because in this world there can be no perfection. The transcendence assumed human form under such names as Krishna, Jesus or the Buddha in order to teach us how to root out this unhappiness, which is brought about by the wrong idea that this material universe can make us happy. The central aim of any of these teachings is making people aware that the imperfection, instability, birth, growth, death, decay and so on are inherent in any structure existing in time and that this dance of forms can only be truly enjoyed when its impermanence is fully comprehended and accepted as such. Enjoyment cannot arise unless you are detached. Enjoyment and peace cannot endure in a mind always troubled by wanting more and better things or life situations and ever preoccupied to avoid death. You cannot enjoy the beauty of a flower as long as you are afraid that it will wither (that which it will surely do, pretty soon), or you want to appropriate it in any way. The scent and divine beauty of the flower are strengthened by its’ evanescence. The Japanese devotion to the cherry-blossom, the sakura, represents the illustration of a very spiritual mode of relating to the nature.  

When I usually come across such job openings that don’t provide me with an inherent, non-financial satisfaction (in addition to the financial factor, which is important in its own way), I first realize that I really need very little in terms of material possessions in order to feel comfortable or to be happy. Everything that reaches out for things beyond basic necessities fuels the illusory projection of the ego and the seeds of human misery.

The fact that Jesus was born in a stable and finally entered Jerusalem riding a donkey shows the only way to be followed by those who are to become conquerors of the world : humility , austerity, selfless help given to those in pain or in ignorance. Here “world conqueror”, of course, has no political connotation, the expression was meant to point toward that particular inner alchemy underwent by one’s psyche when transcending the visible universe, referred to by Jesus when he said “I have overcome the world.”

Usually people will not learn, unless pain, anxiety and frustration caused by the incessant quest and thirst for conquering a better future becomes unbearable. We, the modern people in the Western hemisphere are particularly proud of our successes and tend to judge everything from a viewpoint of social fame and financial achievement. We do not understand well enough the real luxuries that we enjoy, what it means that we need not fear that a wild beast will prey on us whilst coming out of our shelter and we can eat three times a day, that this is a privilege that 80% of the world population, even today, do not have. We still didn’t manage to learn to be grateful that we have this safety and the comfort of the “three meals a day”. We are too proud to be grateful for our “daily bread”, this is why we seem to need always more and we are always on a hunt for better and for more, unfortunately, not for better or for nobler human qualities. We should start thinking about how much it means to not have to sleep out in the open, at the mercy of the weather, what it means to have something to eat. That eighty percent of the world population, which is starving as we speak, would laugh at our job-related concern and would be quite right to do so. We don’t have to run and get a better future, what we’ve already got is good.

On the attempts to improve the present moment
R: How do we know that we really are in our present and did not have to go elsewhere to meet the pure present? I mean: a present custom-made for us?
When your peace is interspersed with deep feelings of rebellion, in the present moment, where is to go to find out the truth?
We often replace a present moment with another and we just know that we were wrong; we know it in a blink of an eye. But we accept that we were wrong and, still, we fight to modify our present moment.
But then we also go back and realize that this was the only way. How could you accept everything, so that you make an eternal present moment out of the present of an impermanent reality?

L: Let’s start with the beginning:
…How do we know that we really are in our present and did not have to go elsewhere to meet the pure present? I mean: a present custom-made for us?...

You're always in your own present moment, which can be neither pure nor impure, neither perfect nor imperfect. That which may appear as either imperfect/perfect or pure/impure and so on is something that only happens in the present moment and not the present moment itself. Everything can only happen on the surface of reality.

The present moment is the space where something happens, like an action or a thought ... The present moment is just like the space an object occupies. That space occupied by an object is neither perfect nor imperfect, it simply is. Moreover, the empty space in which the visible phenomena emerge is not affected by what happens to the object and is not affected by the happening or by the story. If the bowl of water breaks, if the water in it flows out, this does not affect in any way the empty space they used to occupy. The space will not be distorted by any bowl, whether it emerges (is born) or disappears (breaks, dies). Any physicist will tell you that I’m wrong, because the mass of an object causes the space around it to bend. But I use the word “space” only in a symbolic sense, in terms of connotation, in the same manner in which the Buddha used the word “emptiness”. This space that I’m speaking of is not physical, it’s a dimension of consciousness, it is one with the present moment and it should not be mistaken for the happening, the fact or the content that arise within it, which indeed can be benign, malign or neutral.
So you don’t have to go anywhere else to meet this so-called pure present moment, this is a contradiction in terms, the premise is flawed because you assumed that you should do something, you must act in a certain way or to go somewhere just to meet a desirable present moment on a future date.

The future cannot manifest itself other than in the form of thoughts. Tomorrow never comes. Everything that is ever experienced is experienced in this tiny space of the now. Happenings of all kinds come and go, but the present moment cannot be but eternal and cannot be some other time, in some other place, it can only be now. It can’t be otherwise. We can creatively (or not), inspired (or not) act upon the events that occur in the space of the present moment, but not on the present moment itself.
Furthermore, if these actions of ours do not arise from a peaceful attitude toward the present moment, the contemplated changes cannot be profound, long lasting and really useful, as they carry within themselves the dysfunctional thought pattern from which they arise: resentment, compulsive thinking or hatred. This loathing either for the present moment, which will be perceived only as an obstacle between you and a happier future, or for that which is happening in the present moment will make you and all around you unhappy. Whatever your actions will be, they will keep embedded in themselves the negative and compulsive pattern out of which they have been born.

Without the unconditional acceptance of the present moment you will not be able to be an aware witness, won’t be able to quieten your mind and your actions will not be inspired. One could say that you become trapped in an eternal present, impure and unhappy, but this would be again a contradiction in terms, you can only become captive to a wrong attitude (resistance, protest, struggle, aversion) toward the present moment. As I said, the present moment can be neither pure nor impure, whereas our attitude, our perception of it, can be very destructive sometimes.

A man who fell in the water and who cannot swim will struggle, will consume his energy and will drown faster. I do not mean by this that by accepting calmly, serenely the present moment is a strong guarantee of success, I do not mean that in all situations in which people in danger of drowning will maintain a total peaceful attitude will get away alive and I do not mean that unconditional acceptance of the present moment is synonymous with passivity, with the absence of action. I just want to say that the psychological and physical tension brought about by an unfriendly attitude to the present moment drastically decreases the chances that you act adequately and inspired.

... When your peace is interspersed with deep feelings of rebellion, in the present moment, where is to go to find out the truth?...
The truth and the peace are one.
Your question contains the answer in itself. You will find the truth by changing your focus unto to present moment, wherein lies the peace and the truth you are seeking. The feelings of rebellion cannot survive in the present moment, they can only feed on the anxiety or longing for the future and regret or attachment to the past.

The consciousness is still fluctuant, it is true, and there is much rebellion and much frustration because they are linked to the human condition or, more precisely, these are only various layers of mind conditioning. The mind was “trained” to react violently, get outraged and get drawn back and forth between the past and the future. But awareness can only come from a peaceful background, which is the Now.

The exercise that I would recommend is to first try to de-personalize the suffering. Instead of saying that “I” have these feelings of rebellion, dissatisfaction etc., try to change your perspective by observing them as if they wouldn’t be related to you as a person. Then you can say: “there is rebellion”, “there is frustration”, “there is pain” and so on. So you’ll find out that these challenges had been amplified by your mind, which created a fictitious subjectivity, an ego. Its’ job is to complain about everything. Sometimes there is a real pain in the body, or even in the psyche, but the ego amplifies the pain a thousand times, it turns the pain into a nightmare.

Then you should ask yourself: who is that, deep in you, who’s just acknowledged that there is tension, there is rebellion and there is anxiety? Only peace can be aware that there is turmoil. Only that which is eternal in you can have the knowledge of impermanence and fluctuation of all things. Therefore, this constant noise can occur in a consciousness whose background is peaceful, otherwise you couldn’t be aware that the noise exists; disharmony would have utterly darkened your mind.

The conclusion is that your fundamental nature is peace but this peace is not always complete. The surface of the mind is agitated by storms: huge waves of thoughts and destructive emotions, just like the surface of the ocean. And yet, as you know, even the fiercest storm can merely stir those few dozen feet of water on the ocean’s surface, a piece of cake for an ocean which is a few miles deep ...If you diligently cultivate this consciousness of the ocean, if you immerse in yourself daily, down to the root of thoughts, you will notice a deep transformation in your mind. The waves will continue to come and go without disturbing you.

Do not indulge in staying too much on the superficial level of the consciousness that manifests itself as the thoughts of all kinds. You’re more than that. You're this entire beautiful universe, despite all the tragedies that take place inside it.

…We often replace a present moment with another and we just know that we were wrong; we know it in a blink of an eye. But we accept that we were wrong and still we fight to modify our present moment. But then we also go back and realize that this was the only way…You might go back and find out you were wrong, but this is a good thing, unless you become more miserable inside because of how wrong or stupid you were. Don’t become a slave to this so-called “wrong” past. There is no such thing. Going back is called “metanoia” in the New Testament. Metanoia means going back and down to the root of your thoughts and your feelings and undergo a divine transformation. The Greek word was mistranslated as “repentance” and “repent”, but in reality it signifies a transmutation of consciousness, which has nothing to do with remorse, regrets or feeling guilty and fearing punishment, but a change in mind’s perspective of reality, a shifting toward another level of understanding who you really are. American biblical scholar A.T. Robertson said that the translation of metanoia as repentance represents a linguistic and theological tragedy. This is true but it is only a half of the truth. It is true that the translation and the interpretation of the biblical terms, as with the understanding of the message of Jesus itself, entailed only the “crucifixion” half and lacked the “resurrection” perspective. But I think people evolve and so do their understanding. The retribution of a wrathful God is a proper perspective for a particular level of awareness, which pertains to an unavoidable stage in the evolution of human consciousness. But we cannot afford to linger there forever, as we cannot afford to be children forever.

So, when you said “we accept that we are wrong”, this is in fact the metanoia, a spiritual metamorphosis referred to by John the Baptist and by Jesus. This is a shift in consciousness that allows you to be aware of things and situations instead of being trapped in them and so long as this awareness deepens, you will become able to change your attitude, able to surpass your mind conditioning, which is that which binds you to the past. There is no need to be sorry, on the contrary. Remorse is only another way of perpetuating and amplifying the human suffering. Of course, you might say you were wrong, you might say you were right, this is not really important. What really matters is that this awareness that enables you to say “we accept” linked to “we were wrong” is beyond right and wrong. This is the witness in you, in fact, that witness consciousness IS you. “Thou art That”, as it’s been said in the Upanishads.

….But we accept that we were wrong and still we fight to modify our present moment…
Yes, that’s true, but only for a while. The mind has its momentum, this terrible need for more and for better that is addictive. You may be aware that it was wrong to try to modify that which already is, to deny the present moment, but that awareness is the beginning of a separation process between the witnessing consciousness that is you and the things that happen on its surface. That awareness is only the tip of the iceberg; you must travel deeper within it and you must learn to look at the outer existence from that deep dimension. At some point, this useless fight for modifying the present moment will subside and every action will become effortless and spontaneous. This sense of “fight” will disappear.

..... How could you accept everything, so that you make an eternal present moment out of the present of an impermanent reality? ....
This question also contains in it the answer. The focus of attention in the present moment will not change the nature of the present moment itself, which is eternal and therefore unchangeable anyway, but will align you with it. You'll be the one experiencing the eternity of the present moment. So, the shift must happen in your mind and not in the present moment. The shift starts with a change in your focus. You should transform your mind and not the present moment.

This whole discussion is experiential and not merely theoretical. If you have to climb some stairs, climb them consciously, without giving a second thought or an inner visualization to the floor you are going to get to. Don’t fight the stairs. In the background of your mind you know very well where you want to get to. That’s enough for now, so you can focus on climbing the stairs. Climbing a flight of stairs might be a hard exercise for your legs but should be pretty easy on your mind.
Then you must, perhaps, open a door. Make it consciously, without necessarily predict mentally the content and appearance of the room you are going to enter. In the background of your mind you know very well where you want to get to. That’s enough for now, so you can focus on opening the door.
Then, when you enter that room, this is all in the present moment and you are aligned with this present moment containing the room if you focus your attention in that room, without imagining what you will do after you leave the room. In the background of your mind you know very well where you want to get to. That’s enough for now, so you can focus on the room. Only this moment and this room really exist.
And so on and so forth: on a step-by-step basis, at some point you will begin to notice that things become simpler and the life easier. But start with simple things, like climbing the stairs.

Ninety percent of our thoughts are dedicated to a better future that never comes. When you quit the burden of “the ninety percent” useless thoughts, you will feel suddenly rejuvenated.
I was myself so brainwashed that I couldn’t imagine that one can live without such a burden, because it is so addictive, it’s just like heroin. But the funny thing is that when you drop off some of your toxic thinking and become normal and come to terms with the present moment people around you start to think that you are insane. This is very, very funny, because you can become very peaceful and this is a very abnormal state in our society, so people around you will say that you are hopelessly crazy, which can be a very amusing thing sometimes, if you don’t try to convince anyone of the contrary, of course. Which I don’t. I don’t know if you’ve learned about this beautiful aphorism by Byron Katie: “Minding your own business is a full time job”. You should stick to it.
I try to sanctify the most common experiences of the everyday life. I usually leave my office every evening for the subway station, which is a few streets (and traffic lights) away. When the traffic light turns red all these people around are desperate to get somewhere, this is the precise moment when a deep peaceful feeling sets in within me. 

Then, on the subway platform I sometimes let the train go and focus all my attention on this not-expecting-anything-to arrive feeling, which I think is the most therapeutically exercise one can practice in a crowded capital city. This is a way of tackling simple things that turned out to be my normality and my ordinariness, even though one might think that I simply don’t want to get home. This is all funny but it is a mistake. Of course I want to get home, like everybody else; there is nothing wrong at home. On the contrary, my place is a sacred space for me. But I found out that I can feel comfortable and be at peace at the traffic light, waiting to turn green, or on the platform, waiting for the next subway to come. I can be peaceful because I got rid of the pressure of waiting; I give it no thought anymore. I’m still waiting, it’s true, but I don’t feel like it. It is true for my physical posture but it isn’t for my psychological state. I’m just there. Since I don’t have the “waiting” emotional stuff anymore to deal with, I can even feel comfortable. The “waiting” is a fact and not a problem nor a psychological burden nor a thought.
Actually, I brought the sacredness of my home in the middle of the traffic, that’s all. I brought the sacred right here, in the profane space and I consecrated a crosswalk since the very moment when I christened it with my full awareness. It took me an instant, just a conscious breath, just being totally there and there it was - a sacred place in the midst of the traffic noise, a haven of mental sanity.
At my place, of course, I don’t expect anything to happen as there’s no need for anything special to happen to make me happy and at peace. Moreover, at home there is no care for achievement and there is no care for prestige, so there is no need for social mask there. . This burden of expectation disappeared whilst refocusing the consciousness from the future back to the present moment.

When the flow of this unified field of consciousness returns to the present moment, what is happening in the present moment can sometimes be unpleasant and even painful, but it can no longer be perceived as tragic. When you stop treating the present moment as a barrier between you and the future, or simply as a vehicle that transports you to the future, this state of inner peace arises by itself.
In the past, I used to be afraid of these travels by subway (by vehicles in general). They used to make me sick. Travelling by subway or by any other vehicle seems to be, by definition, a journey to a time and place in the future. So it can be stressful sometimes and all you want is to get faster where you want to go. Many people try to “kill” the time of the trip by reading a book or playing on some electronic device. They don’t know what they miss.

When changing the focus of attention, from the place where you want to get to back to the road itself, a new light begins to shine from behind these objects and events that you have been using just to get to somewhere. All of them come to life; they acquire a particular vibration: the sacredness shines through them.
Of course it is better to be home or wherever you want to get to, it is better than in front of the traffic lights. But you will not stay forever at the red light; you will not be waiting forever for the subway or for the bus to come. Only, so long as you are there, those moments can be an opportunity to bring about the inner peace, the stillness. Do not disfigure those moments with resentment, impatience, longing and fear.

This awareness brought into the present moment can no longer problematize and dramatize the situation, can no longer complain. That’s why I told you that things become simpler and the life easier. About ninety percent simpler, this is the equivalent of the repetitive, silly and toxic thoughts, which you will drop away like a waste when you make the present moment into your friend.