The mind is constantly projecting—projecting itself onto reality. It interferes, distorts, colors, shapes, and reshapes the world around you according to its own conditioning. It doesn’t allow you to see what is; it only lets you see what it wants to see.
Just a few decades ago, scientists believed that our senses—eyes, ears, nose—and the mind were open windows to reality, functioning as bridges between us and the world. But in recent years, that view has shifted completely. Today, science understands these faculties not as gateways to reality, but as filters or guards against it. Only about two percent of actual reality manages to pass through these filters into your awareness. And even that small portion is distorted—reshaped and filtered by your mental patterns—by the time it reaches you. It is no longer the raw, unmodified real.
Meditation means putting the mind aside. Only then can you encounter reality as it is—uncolored, unshaped, untouched. But why does the mind interfere in the first place? Because the mind is not truly yours—it is the voice of society within you. It is a conditioned mechanism, trained by your culture, your religion, your upbringing. It does not serve you; it serves the values and fears of the collective. It is your mind, yes—but it works against your truth.
If you’re Christian, your mind becomes Christian; if you’re Hindu, your mind becomes Hindu; if you’re Buddhist, your mind becomes Buddhist. But truth is not Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist. Reality is beyond all belief systems. It simply is. The mind is fragmented, divided into three thousand religions, sects, ideologies—but existence is one. God is one. Truth is one. Meditation is the art of putting aside this fragmented mind so you can return to that unity.
How to do this?
First, love yourself. This is essential. Love begins to dissolve what society has imposed on you. It brings you closer to your center, your own being. It breaks the chains of conditioning.
Second, become a watcher. Buddha never says what to watch—everything! Walking, watch your walking. Eating, watch your eating. Taking a shower, feel the water on your skin, the coldness, the tingling sensation—watch. Simply be present with whatever is happening.
And one day, something miraculous happens: you are even able to watch your sleep. That is the ultimate in witnessing. The body sleeps, but you remain awake. Right now, the opposite is true—your body may be awake, but you are asleep. Through awareness, that flips. The body sleeps, but your consciousness remains luminous, untouched, alert.
Because consciousness does not need sleep. It is made of awareness itself.
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