Discovering the Realm Beyond Appearance

Synopsis

“The meaning of your existence is primarily to realize your true nature, that you are not just an ‘individual,’ so that your life may stand in service of the world as a whole and make it a little less miserable. All else is mere entertainment, without ultimate meaning, as Nisrgadatta put it so poignantly.

“But once you have realized your true nature, when individuality has been seen for the illusion it is and so has been transcended once and for all, there is only one Totality. Now where could the Totality go? It is at once everything, completely fulfilled–it is fulfillment itself. Therefore, the question of meaning cannot apply for one, or more accurately, for That which has realized Itself. We can only talk of ‘meaning’ when there is intentionality, direction, a movement from here to there, from incomplete to complete, applying to a fragment, the false image of an ‘entity.’ It could not possibly apply to that which by definition is Everything, Complete and Perfect in Itself.”

- Robert Powell