There are two aspects to everything in life. If we pay attention to just one part of our life, and neglect the other part, we get stuck and can’t go anywhere.
Just imagine, you are lying on your back, looking at the sky. You are aware of the vastness of the sky. A little plane appears. Your mind immediately becomes focused on the plane, and begins to follow it. You have totally forgotten about the vastness of the sky. Both are there, but the mind attaches itself to that which is moving and changing.
Silence is always there and has been since the beginning of time. Sound appears, and disappears. The mind attaches itself to the sound – analyzes it, enjoys it, despises it, reacts to it. Although the silence is always there, the mind will always go to the sound.
You read a newspaper. You think about the story, the pictures and the politics. How often do you consider the blank piece of paper on which the news is printed? You go to a movie. You think about the story, the acting, the song, the action. Do you ever notice the screen where many movies have been projected?
The nature of the mind is to attach itself to that which is transitory. On the surface are things that are always changing – our identities, our relationships, the events in our life. But there is also an aspect that is ever present, ever pure, whole, perfect that is always in the background.
Paying attention to that aspect of our life that is beyond our superficial self, is living a spiritual life. If we are only identifying with what is happening on the surface – our emotional life, our physical life, our material life – suffering is bound to happen.
The more we identify with our own inner fullness, the more strength we gain to deal with whatever comes our way. Instead of being swayed with what is happening on the surface, a spiritual aspirant remains grounded in what is always there, ever whole.