Everything starts happening when you close your eyes. Nothing happens when you open your eyes, because then you are living in the world of the senses which is empirical and transitory. You are living in a world that is known by the mind, and what is comprehended by the mind is transitory, empirical and short lived. But the moment you close your eyes and look within, the inner space becomes visible. When that happens, you go deep into your consciousness.
The saints and sages have told us time and time again that real life is within. What does it mean? What about this life, this drama, this existence? Is it not here? Yes, it is, but it is not the ultimate; it is not the real. It is a shadow of your inner life. What you see in a mirror is a reflection of your face. In the same manner, this external life is a reflection of your inner life.
If you are shaving yourself, you don’t shave the reflection in the mirror; you have to shave your face naturally. If you want to dress yourself and comb your hair, you don’t do it to the reflection; you have to dress your body and comb the hair on your head. In the same way, the external life which we experience day in and day out is a reflection of the inner life about which we have no idea. We have been totally ignorant of another dimension of our existence, and we have only been trying to beautify the mirror’s reflection. We have been trying to find a panacea for the reflection and for the shadow, and we have never succeeded.
14 October 1978, Riverina College of Advanced Education, Wagga Wagga, Australia.