The Only Game in Town

One thing that becomes clear as one actualizes Self-knowledge is that the goal of reaching freedom no longer is just one life objective among many, it’s the objective. Vedanta shows the truth and even though the mind is often clouded-over, when the teachings come into focus, confidence in the them becomes strong. 

Sooner or later truth-realization becomes the only game in town and everything else, just a side show. Even the most existential threats or life-destroying events are just a diversion. Nuclear war? Global warming? Armageddon? …all just a spectacle when the truth of what we are comes into focus. 

Our ambitions die. Fame, fortune and prestige become non-pursuits. A job becomes a role to play; a means to fulfill responsibilities. Family is a network to help, support and instruct when the occasion arises but not to get attached to. 

Life, in short, is no longer something to squeeze maximum pleasure from, it’s something to be understood to its fullest. “Reveal all to me” is the mantra of the wise. The world becomes less substantial and more ephemeral, more dream-like. Not in a cartoonish way, but by knowledge that everything outside consciousness is constantly changing and never the same. 

The wise know this world to be the like the shifting sands of time. It’s all shifting constantly and continuously. It’s called samsara. We ride out events, relationships and the coming’s and going’s of life always anchored in the one thing that is unchanging, limitless, and eternal—the light that makes it all possible. 

From "The Broken Tusk - Seeing Through the Lens of Vedanta"