“The more we focus on how things look on the outside, the more the emptiness we carry inside expands. That emptiness arises from the constant pressure to become something that we are not deep down. It is that need to fit into images imposed by desire, in the hope that there, in that form, we will finally feel good. But every time we try, that discomfort returns. It hides in our gestures, it settles in our minds, and it stays there, as close as everything that one cannot leave behind.
Sometimes we cover it up with pretty words, with achievements, with lofty ideas. We give it different names: evolution, path, purpose, interest, even sacrifice. But if all that is not born of an honest understanding, it becomes just another way of escaping. The “I” has a thousand ways of adapting. It changes masks, takes on another stance, sometimes even disguises itself as humility or wisdom. And without realizing it, even when it says it wants to disappear, it is reaffirming itself from another place. What we think is change is often just more of the same, with a different wrapping.
The “I” does not disappear because we call it something else, or because we dress it differently. It always finds a way to remain at the center, even when it appears to be giving way. It spins around itself, and in that movement it gives us the sensation of progress, but in reality it keeps us going around in circles without leaving the same place. It keeps us away from that simple experience, which is there, without needing to be interpreted.
Throughout life we accumulate roles, names, stories, symbols. We fill ourselves with layers that we believe will give us meaning, but many times they only distance us more from who we are when it all falls away. This construction of the “I” becomes an elegant cage. We adorn it, we rationalize it, we justify it… but it is still a prison. Every time we try to affirm ourselves or even deny ourselves, we are often just avoiding seeing clearly what is there when there is nothing left to hold on to.
However, something can happen when we stop feeding that need. It is not about denying the “I”, nor about coming into conflict with it. It is more like a serene surrender, a real pause. It is not about looking for a new version of oneself, it is simply about stopping looking. In that moment where there is no longer any effort, where we no longer need names or validation, a different space appears. A space that does not need explaining. And it is right there, in that silent place free of pressure, where the truly true lies.”
Prabhuji
