The Only Thing That Can Bring You Lasting Peace
A single realisation holds the power to free you from all the pain and suffering of life.
Just one.
What is this one thing that, if you understood in your bones, would propel you into instant bliss?
I will tell you.
But I must also warn you. I must warn you that simply hearing these words will do nothing for you.
It is true that your ears will register the words I am about to say, and your brain will know the dictionary definition of each one. But hearing something cannot be compared to understanding something. And true understanding only comes by way of experience.
I will not hold you in suspense any longer. Are you ready?
Here is the realisation that will set you permanently free:
The realisation that nothing and no one in this universe has anything to offer you.
Nothing. Nada. Zero.
It is realising that every person you meet, see, or hear will add no joy to your life.
It is realising that every career opportunity you encounter has no real significance.
It is realising that you may acquire and achieve everything that there is, yet if you look down at your feet, you will see you have not moved a centimetre.
It is realising that, no matter what you do, you will always look down to find yourself in the same spot. The spot you’ve always been in.
The spot in which you suffer, long for things, and cry in desperation to fill the void.
A man walks down a street in the city. He sees many things.
He sees fine restaurants he may some day dine at. He sees the people that dine their right now — their tasteful clothing, their refined manners, their sophisticated conversations.
He sees something to aspire toward. He sees a fruit he is yet to taste.
As he continues to walk, he spots an attractive couple; they are holding hands and softly giggling. He sees something special. Love — is there anything quite like it?
It sinks in him that the people he’s watching are more beautiful than him. But the one who depresses down into a trampoline flies back up. He vows to do all he can to maximise his chances of finding what this couple has. He will eat the right things, he will exercise, he will make a success of himself.
He knows there are those with less than him that have still found love. Thus, he know he too can find it.
He sees something to aspire toward. He sees a fruit he is yet to taste.
Still walking, a car flies past him. Even before seeing it, he heard the exhaust revving. The unmistakable sound of an expensive car, blowing like a trumpet to announce the arrival of a majesty. A flash of neon green flies past him, kicking up the air and disheveling his hair. His eyes are forced to look at this loud display of wealth.
One thing’s for sure: Whoever’s driving that car certainly isn’t depressed by the problems that concern him. Sure, they say the rich have their own issues, but how does the saying go?
“I’d rather cry in my Lamborghini than on a bus?”
Perhaps the driving is flamboyant, but his eyes have seen something to aspire toward. A fruit yet to be tasted.
As the car stops at the traffic light just ahead, he looks across the road. A young boy is jumping and pointing at the car. He is just able to make out his exclamations:
“Daddy, daddy! Look!”
His father smiles at his jumping joy. He ruffles the free-flowing locks of his son’s hair, releasing his words through his seemingly fixed smile:
“Yes, it’s a fast car!”
Certainly, the father acknowledges the car. But watching from across the road, the man can’t help but see the indifference in his eyes. The father looks at his son, and then looks at the car. The car may as well be a toy.
How else would he view such a thing? How else would he view such a car when he is walking alongside his jumping joy? The gift of life — the most precious thing in the world. Can anything compare?
A person with his child. The man sees something to aspire toward. The man sees a fruit he is yet to taste.
The man brims with aspiration and hunger. So many fruits to taste, such little time… will he get round to them all?
Let the man spend his life chasing these fruits. Let him find out things for himself, for only experience really teaches a man.
If, from afar, I held a fake apple in one hand and a real one in the other, you would not be able to distinguish between the two. But if you bit down on the fake one, you would know.
Perhaps even the slightest contact with your teeth would be sufficient for you to conclude this apple is fake. Or, like some, you need more convincing. Perhaps you need to bite down further and chip your teeth as you crunch through the plastic surface.
All this just to fill your mouth with an inedible material, and your eyes with the sight of a hollow object.
Perhaps, after tasting enough fake fruits, you turn to practices such as meditation. But what is meditation? Is it not something you pursue in hopes of achieving a result? Is this not the same as everything else in your life?
Meditation. Journaling. Clinging to different philosophies and practices. These are just more fake apples in clever packaging.
Man becomes free when he realises that all apples are fake ones. There were never any real fruits for him to taste. There was never anything he could ‘do’ to make him fulfilled.
Man becomes free when he realises nothing and no one in this universe has anything to offer him.
