When the Dream Is Over

A young man says, “All that I have achieved is lost. A tremendous sadness arises and I can’t perceive the end of it — or is there no end?”

Many should feel jealous of you. To know that all has failed is the beginning of a new journey.

To know that “All that I have achieved is lost” is the beginning of a new search for something that

cannot be lost.

When one is utterly disillusioned with the world and all its successes, only then does one become spiritual.

You may not yet be aware of it, but something is stirring, a new joy is arising behind the curtain of sadness — a joy of a new search, of a new adventure, of a new life, of a new way to be.

“I can’t perceive the end of it — or is there no end?”

 

There is a beginning of the mind and there is an end of the mind, there is a beginning of the ego and there is an end of the ego, but there is no beginning to you and no end to you. And there is no beginning to the mystery of existence and no end to you. It is an ongoing process. Mysteries upon mysteries are waiting for you, hence the thrill and the ecstasy.

Feel ecstatic that there is no end to life, that when you have reached one peak, suddenly another peak starts giving you challenges — a higher one, a more arduous climb, a more dangerous reach. And when you have reached the other peak, there will be another peak; peaks upon peaks. It is an eternal Himalayas of life.

Just think of a point where you arrive, and now there is nothing else left. You will be utterly bored then; boredom will be your only fate then! And life is not boredom, it is a dance. Life is not boredom, it is exultation, exuberance.

Many many things are going to happen, and many many things will always remain to happen. The mystery never ends, it cannot end. That’s why it is called a mystery, it cannot even be known. It will never become knowledge, that’s why it is called a mystery; something in it is eternally elusive. And that’s the whole joy of life. The great splendor of life is that it keeps you eternally engaged, searching, exploring. Life is exploration, life is adventure.

Ecstasy is our very nature; not to be ecstatic is simply unnecessary. To be ecstatic is natural, spontaneous. It needs no effort to be ecstatic, it needs great effort to be miserable.

That’s why you look so tired, because misery is really hard work; to maintain it is really difficult, because you are doing something against nature. You are going upstream — that’s what misery is.

And what is bliss? Going with the river — so much so that the distinction between you and the river is simply lost. You are the river. How can it be difficult? To go with the river no swimming is needed; you simply float with the river and the river takes you to the ocean. The river is already going to the ocean.

Life is a river. Don’t push it and you will not be miserable.