The disappearing “you”

 Someone asked Buddha,” I want to serve humanity. Tell me how I can serve.” 

 

Buddha looked at the man very deeply, penetratingly, with deep compassion, and then he said, ”But where are YOU? WHO will serve humanity? You are not yet. First be, and when you are, you need not ask me. When you are, you will do something which just happens to you which is worth doing.”

 

Gurdjieff noted that everyone comes with the notion that he is, that he already is. Someone came to Gurdjieff and asked, ”I am very insane inside. My mind goes on in conflicts, in contradictions, so tell me what I can do to dissolve this mind, to have mental peace, inner calm.” 

 

Gurdjieff said, ”Do not think about the mind, you cannot do anything about it. The first thing is to be present. First YOU have to be; then you can do something. YOU are not.”

 

What is meant by this ”You are not?” It means that you are a robot, a mechanical thing, working according to mechanical laws. Start being alert. Join awareness with anything you are doing – and start with simple things.

 

OSHO

 

When you are at work, you probably observe how you are embedded in something bigger. Some people root for your success, some people are indifferent, and some are opposed. Clever techniques and powerful resolutions and a lot of hard work might get you places, but in a sense the outcome will always be beyond you. It feels like fate in the end. The multitude of people, and the outside environment the company faces determines your success. 

 

When it comes to partner and family you probably observe a similar dependence on the energies of the whole. One child does better at school, while the other faces a setback, only to find that next year it’s the other way around. Your partner struggles at work while you do well, and so forth. The destiny of people and environments seems to be written in the stars. Now picture that even mental processes and feelings are beyond “you”. What then? Are we mere slaves?

 

We spent the better part of our life arm-wrestling with the outside world, while working under the assumption that we can influence it to our advantage. Yet, when we are honest we will observe that we are like the seeker who approached Gurdjieff in Osho’s post. We are full of inner conflicts and lack the potency to get things done according to our will. So what to do? Just observe! Observe the friends, foes and bystanders. Observe the inner mental workings and pain-bodies. 

 

Once we observe carefully “body, mind and world”, we can spot grooves. Mental tracks operate like grooves, the established ones run effortlessly and occur often even without our conscious awareness. Overriding them takes effort, building new grooves seems like resistance, especially if the “you” isn’t excited about going down this track. Same with emotional pain-bodies and triggers in human interactions. The quest towards freedom is being mindful of these tracks and giving the higher energies a shot at expressing themselves freely without our personal interference. 

 

How does the world look like with “you” out of the Way? Who can say? Maybe mostly everything stays the same, or maybe everything will change. Everything that happened was meant to be, just as the new brave world without “you” was in the cards. Higher energies will drive the interactions and outcomes. Actually, they did before too but the “you” was ignorant of this fact. The mental processes and the feeling-based ups and downs will be present too, but they no longer affect the outcome much.

 

Will the “you” like this brave new world? Well, with no “you” around, who can say.