relaxation

To come upon the enlightened state requires a deep relaxation of the being. For this magical, mystical, delightful way of living is nothing but your natural self; when all the unnecessary tensions have dropped away; when day-to-day life is no longer felt as stressful; when one’s body can relax as if you were lying on a sun-drenched beach; and when the mind can relax too, giving up its endless comparisons, its defect-finding habits, its way of seeing problems everywhere. Let all this stress-inducing behaviour drop away. And when the mind and the body are relaxing deeply, then there is a chance to come to your natural self. And this natural way of being is a relaxed way of being: aware, alert, but in a state of total relaxation; something like a cat at rest, completely relaxed and yet still aware of all that is happening.

So, my friends, the enlightened state will be yours, not through striving, chasing, not through effort, not through trying to grab hold of it, but only through a deep relaxation into the essence of your being. Relaxing that way, as if you are taking a long soak in a warm bath, you will find that everything you ever thought you were just floats away, like scum on the bath water. And you will find yourself melting into the oceanic consciousness itself. When you are completely relaxed there will be no sense of you, just existence, the whole of existence.

Yes, my friends, relaxation is the way to find yourself. And why be tense? Why have worries and anxieties? You know full well it does no good. Let them drop away. All these psychological tensions, which together go to make up your ego, your sense of self. They are not comfortable things. This tension, chronic tension, let it go. Slide into a deep relaxation and you will have no regrets.