On the airplane, we are told to secure our oxygen masks before we help another with their oxygen mask. This is beautifully symbolic. For the world teaches us exactly the opposite. And it is for this reason that man suffocates in a world filled with oxygen.

If I set your house on fire, you would not sit amidst the inferno and ask me what to do. You would surrender to your instincts and do anything and everything to save yourself.

Stories of people who sincerely prayed and upon opening their eyes they saw the God of their worship sitting before them. Do I believe these stories? Belief is a useless concept. There is only knowing and not knowing. Is it possible that people experience such things? Who am I to argue with someone who has claimed such an experience? Do such things

If our aim remains fixed upon cultivating Atmamun, we will become observers of our feelings rather than “fixers” of them. We will be constantly vigilant of our observation and documentation of what feelings are arising within us, rather than allowing ourselves to react. Thus neither controlling the reaction nor refining it. For reactions arise from

The child who twirls in the rain has no purpose for doing it. The child who runs through the field does not run to get somewhere. The running and the jumping and the playing is not done for meaning or purpose. It is an expression of the elation within. It is not done For joy. It is done Out Of joy.

Climb the greatest mountain. Achieve all the accolades in the world. Become the greatest in your field. Achieve fame. Earn millions. And you will enjoy every bit of the journey, if and only if you understand that none of it means anything. When something has meaning, it becomes work. When something is meaningless, it becomes play.

A theme that you will find throughout this book is that while normal may be normal, but normal is NOT natural. When the mind has a desire for one thing, it has an aversion for its opposite. In the case of winning and losing, the desire for winning is so great that it creates an anxiety about losing. An anxiety which often turns into outright fear.

Human beings tend to become the norm that they are exposed to. This is the astonishing power of environment. You become your surroundings!

Understand this: Man will take any opportunity to avoid that which is most immediate in his life. He will do anything but the task at hand. He will look at anything besides that which stands inches from his face. He is an escapist. He is a fantasy-seeker. Illusions are his drug. And reality is of no use to him.