Ramesh Balsekar said it’s better to go after the million dollars than enlightenment because when you get a million dollars there will be someone to enjoy it. However, if enlightenment happens while seeking, there will be no “one” to enjoy enlightenment. For enlightenment implies the dissolution of the seeker seeking something other than himself.
A majority of spiritual teachings make the idea of enlightenment an object to attain. There itself is the problem because we’re unclear as to what we want or what we mean by the word “enlightenment.” What is it going to give us that we have not experienced before? Ask yourself, “What is it that I really want?”
These supposedly “enlightened” masters give their disciples carrots. The disciples enjoy carrots and then ask for more. They come back for more because nothing can really satiate their minds, whose nature is restlessness. The masters who don’t give carrots are not popular for they are not there for our entertainment in the name of spiritual awakening. There are no carrots.
What you apparently gain after enlightenment will eventually be lost because that’s the very principle of life. Everything here is transient and impermanent. Nothing makes “you” immortal. There is no secret potion for eternal youth and permanent bliss.
Life is a cycle of pain and pleasure, where moments of pain are usually greater than the moments of pleasure. The seeking of enlightenment itself is pain. Seeking permanency in any form is an invitation for suffering. See the absurdity of it. What you seek is timeless (something like the non-experience of deep sleep), and yet, you make a great effort to attain it in time. It’s not going to work. What you want is not in your control.
