This ocean and this sky, this empty space is there within everyone and if we wish to know this sky, this space, we can. There is a path that leads there and that too is present within us all. And each one also knows how to walk on this path. But we know how to walk on it in only one direction. Have you ever thought of the fact that there can be no path that leads in one direction only? Each path inevitably goes in two directions, in two opposite directions. Otherwise it is not a path; it cannot exist. The path that has brought you here to the seclusion of these hills is the same path that will take you back. There is only one path for coming as well as for going. The same path will serve both purposes. The path will be the same but the direction will not be the same.

The path to sansara, the world, and the path to the self is one and the same. The same path leads either to sansara or to the self: only the direction changes. What has been in front of you so far will now be behind you and you will have to direct your attention to what was at your back. The road is the same, you must simply turn, do an about-face. You must turn your back on what you were facing and face that which was behind you.

Ask yourself where you are facing now. What are you seeing now? In what direction is the current of your vision, of your consciousness flowing? Experience it. Observe it. You will find it is flowing outwardly. All your thoughts are about the outer. All the time you are thinking about the outer, about the world outside. When your eyes are open you see the outside. When you close them you still see the outside because the imprints of the outside forms and images surround you once again. There is a world of objects outside you; there is another world inside you, a world of thoughts – the echo of these outer things. Although it is found inside, this world of thoughts is still the outer because the “I” as a witness is also apart from it. Your “I” sees it as well, so therefore this world of thoughts is also outside.

We are surrounded by things and by thoughts. But on looking more deeply, you will find that it is not being encircled by things that hinders us on the path of self-realization, it is being encircled by thoughts. In the first place, how can things encircle the soul – matter can only encircle matter. Thoughts encircle the soul. The current of seeing, of consciousness, is flowing toward thoughts. Thoughts and thoughts alone are in front of us; our entire seeing is veiled by them.

We have to turn from thoughts toward thoughtlessness. This change of direction is the revolution! How can it be done? First we must know how thoughts are born and only then can they be stopped from being born. Generally seekers set about suppressing thoughts without bothering to understand the process of how they are born. This can certainly bring madness, but not liberation. The suppression of thoughts makes no difference because new thoughts are being born every moment. They are like those demons of mythology who, when one head was chopped off, grew ten more.