Why are people on a spiritual search? Of course, one reason is obvious: trying to get away from pain, from the pain that comes from living separated.
But we also get tricked into wanting something really magical, something wonderful that we are not. We want to be this perfect being that never makes a mistake and is so gloriously beautiful that everybody falls at our feet.
Both of these ideas cause problems. The idea of getting away from pain gives us the tendency to live a lie. How often do you make a mistake or feel bad or whatever, and pretend that you’re not? Because that’s not spiritual, right?
That’s why duality is so complicated.
Or what about the idea of becoming this beautiful whatever? We are surrounded by these beautiful images. I mean, all the Hindu statues, so glossy, with all the arms and the colors. How could we not want to be this beautiful, fabulous being?
And yet, here we are. I’m not all that great; maybe you aren’t. You might very easily be way better than me at many, many, many things. But you know your own failings.
Human beings are faulty, prone to mistakes. That’s why I’m always talking about simplicity and ordinariness. These are things that our grasping self does not easily attach to.