We may keep running on a treadmill throughout our lives to reach nowhere. Similarly, our conscious mind keeps trying to move along the spiritual path on a treadmill of the unconscious mind. The faster it tries to run, the more the unconscious mind reacts to the same, with stronger reactions driven by our habit patterns. The old habit patterns, preferences for taste and comforts, worldview, beliefs, social conditioning, and many more habit patterns have their deep roots in the unconscious mind, and whenever the conscious mind tries to think in a different direction, they react with equal opposite force.
That is the reason why one need not run on the treadmill, but rather get off the treadmill and start walking. Getting off the treadmill needs courage and clarity of the mind. Most people are happy without making efforts in the direction of self-realization. Their direction of life is decided by their unconscious mind and its conditioning by society. They do not have time, energy, or awareness to even think. They are like slaves having never encountered the thoughts of freedom. That's why they consider anybody, who has the intention to be set free, as a fool making frivolous efforts. They make fun of such people and since the slaves are in the majority they outnumber the people craving for freedom. Most people on the path of freedom give up and join the slaves reluctantly and live a quite dissatisfied life. Having experienced freedom, it is one of the most difficult tasks to live a life of slavery.
Few take on the struggle and that's a major decision of life. I do not know how it happens that while most continue to live in their known comfortable life of death, few choose freedom over comforts. Probably, as we constantly observe and examine life, the dots get connected to fill us with courage and conviction to live a life of freedom. However, initially, it is like running on a treadmill. The unconscious mind runs at a faster speed in the opposite direction and it appears that we have reached nowhere. In the process, we do not realize that the muscles get built and when we get off the treadmill of the unconscious mind, these muscles help us run.
Though life is full of "reverse travelators". We move a certain distance and then get on some "reverse travelators" which takes us back to the place where we started. We get frustrated. We feel like surrendering to the mighty unconscious mind. Then suddenly we get to meet somebody who has traveled a long distance and guides us. We read some books written by some author and his life journey inspires us and fills us with courage and determination to confront our own unconscious. We get to meet friends who walk together and make the journey quite interesting. Once we are determined to walk the road of freedom, all the forces of freedom support our journey. I have myself experienced that I got to meet the most enlightened souls by chance and without any planning. I got my hand on the best of the books I have read without much effort on my part. I got to meet the best friends and cotravellers on the path, without any active efforts. The forces of freedom take responsibility for guiding us through the journey.
There is no destination in the journey. there is no single treasure that we have to find at the end of the journey. The journey itself is full of treasures at every step. We keep examining and observing ourselves, as we move along the journey. In the process, we discover that we are on some "reverse travelator" of the old habit pattern of the unconscious mind which is forcing to move us back in the reverse direction. We get off the travlator, and that getting off makes us free. Freedom from habit patterns is the best reward. We move on to discover the wonders of life. As we become free of our viewpoints, biases, opinions, beliefs, rights, and wrongs, we have a different view of life. We start experiencing and finding greater possibilities to explore our lives that we were unable to see so far due to our limited worldview. People like Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, and J. Krishnamurti could get off almost every "reverse travelator" that opened so many possibilities for them that "freedom seekers" in almost every corner of the world get inspired by them.
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