By climbing somewhere up on the ladder—in one’s own consciousness—looking at things a little more vastly, a little more generally. If simply just at that moment you begin to feel, to realise the myriads and myriads of years there were before this present moment and the myriads and myriads of years there will be after this present moment, and what the importance this little event has in relation to all that— there is no need to enter a spiritual consciousness or anything else, simply enter into relation with space and time, with all that is before, all that is after and all that is happening at the same time—if one is not an idiot, immediately he tells himself, “Oh, well, I am attaching importance to something which doesn’t have any.”
Necessarily so, you see. It loses all its importance, immediately. If you can visualise, you know, simply the immensity of the creation—I am not now speaking of rising to spiritual heights —simply the immensity of the creation in time and space, and this little event on which you are concentrated with importance... as though it were something of some importance... immediately it does this (gesture) and it dissolves, if you do it sincerely. If, naturally, there is one part of yourself which tells you, “Ah, but for me, it has an importance”, then, there, you have only to leave that part behind and keep your consciousness as it is. But if sincerely you want to see the true value of things, it is very easy. There are other methods, you know.
There is a Chinese sage who advises you to lie down upon events as one floats on one’s back upon the sea, imagining the immensity of the ocean and that you let yourself go floating upon this... upon the waves, you see, like something contemplating the skies and letting itself be carried away. In Chinese, they call this ‘Wu Wei’ When you can do this all your troubles are gone. I knew an Irishman who used to lie flat on his back and look outside, as much as possible on an evening when stars were in the sky, he looked, contemplated the sky and imagined that he was floating in that immensity of countless luminous points. And immediately all troubles are calmed.
