Student(S) Master(M)
~~~
S: Hello, Master.
M: Hello.
S: I have been following your writings and sayings for a while now.
I have also heard the recordings of your speeches.
I have been waiting for this conversation for, what almost seems,
all my life. I want you to know that I am one of your devout followers.
It is an honor to be able to finally speak to you in person.
M: I understand. I appreciate your kindness.
But let us not waste any more time saying hello,
for time is precious for both of us.
What made you take the trouble to seek my presence?
S: Your words!
Something in your writing speaks to me.
It also appears to be finally awakening a dormant part of me,
that I never thought existed.
I can never seem to get enough of what you write,
or hear what you say.
Whether it is during my commute to work or before retiring at...
M: You do not seem to get my question.
S: Pardon me?
M: I asked you a question, but your answer appears to be a continuation of
the monologue that you started with.
S: Oh I am sorry.
To risk being irksome, could I bother you with repeating your question?
M: What made you give up your contentedness with just following me,
and seek me directly?
S: Right.
You see, I have lived an overall successful life.
I have done well. Really good, actually. Much better than most people.
I have worked for many big corporations, held high positions.
I even started my own venture on multiple occasions,
I have had some great friends and acquaintances to share those with.
My family ...
M: I see the real reason you are here, already.
But I must remind you again to get to the point.
For I care not for your story or its backdrop.
I care what is true today.
Speak what is it that you seek TODAY.
S: Apologies again. My mind just takes off in tangents all the time.
I am here because I am not happy. And to be honest, I am depressed.
I seem to have done everything, but my depression has only been increasing.
I keep it bottled up at work and elsewhere.
But as you say in your writings, today, that is the larger part of me.
And it is already "dead".
M: I see. And what made you seek me for this?
S: Once again, as you state in your writings,
I have tried all avenues of other counseling.
They all promised me a life that I have only gotten farther away from.
I have even tried the few Truth-telling sages alive in the world today.
But to no avail.
I will reveal. You are my last shot, Master.
You speak Truth with the most directness out of all of them.
M: I see. So you seek Truth?
S: Yes!
I have been seeking Truth for the past few years,
and as I said, while working with the other masters.
But I am yet to find Truth.
I know that it is probably me and not the masters
where the problem lies.
You seem to have just the right amount of understanding.
With you, I have faith that it will work.
M: And what if even I cannot help you?
S: Then I might as well check out of this world, Master.
Because all my desires are slowly fading away.
All I see around me is pain and darkness.
M: Alright. Are you ready?
S: Ready?
M: Ready for the Truth.
S: Yes, of course.
M: I cannot help you.
S: I am sorry?
M: The Truth is that I cannot help you.
S: But... Why?
M: Because you do not seek Truth.
S: But I do. You must understand, Master.
I have no way out of my life.
I am caged by my mind. I ...
M: But you are still okay WITH your Mind.
S: I do not understand.
M: Tell me,
Did the other masters also not say the same thing to you?
S: How did you know?
Yes.
But why is it that I do not seek Truth?
I am suffering and I want to experience free living before I die.
M: Because you do not seek Truth today.
S: How so?
M: For you are "seeking Truth" as an agenda.
Your words are awashed in that agenda.
S: What agenda?
M: The agenda of ESCAPE.
S: Escape? Escape from what?
M: Escape from everything you narrated to me earlier.
S: Why is it an escape to you?
To me it is a desperation to want out.
M: Precisely.
You "want out" to go right back in.
S: Back in?
M: Back into being yourself.
And although I could make your problems vanish right this second,
I would never do such a thing.
S: Why would you not, Master?
M: Because yourself is the root of your predicament.
Open your ears wide for what I will say.
Truth is not what you think it is.
Today, what you seek is an escape from your predicament.
You do not seek complete freedom from your predicament.
S: How can you say that?
M: Because our conversation would have been entirely different.
Your questions today are not QUESTIONS.
For they harbor ulterior intentions.
Intentions that you do not know.
Intentions that your mind-fullness shields you from.
The day your questions will change,
your true intention will be revealed.
And it is only then,
we may talk again.
Today, I cannot help you.