Self-worth is really about how we are reflected in the mirrors of other people’s minds. One understands one’s personal worth when one no longer identifies or defines one’s self in terms of these transient things.

So, what will happen when you finally arrive. Get started and you will know; it cannot be described. It is said, “Those who know, do not say; those who say, do not know.” A teacher cannot give you the truth. Truth cannot be put into words or a formula. That isn’t the truth. That isn’t reality. Reality cannot be put into a formula. A teacher can only point out your errors. When you drop your errors, you will know the truth. And even then you cannot say.

People want to imitate Christ, but, you know, when a monkey plays a saxophone, that doesn’t make him a musician. You can’t imitate Christ by imitating his external behavior. You’ve got to be Christ, you must be what Christ is, love and compassion. An external imitation will get you nowhere.

You don’t have to do anything. The more you do, the worse it gets. All you have to do is understand. The first thing you need to understand is that the negative feeling is inside you. You are responsible for the negative feeling, not the other person. Part of waking up is that you live your life as you see fit. That is not selfish. The selfish thing is to demand that someone else live their life as YOU see fit.

As Meister Eckhart says, “It is not by your actions that you will be saved but by your being. It is not by what you do, but by what you are that you will be judged.”

(a) identify the negative feelings in you; (b) understand that they are in you, not in the world, not in external reality; (c) do not see them as an essential part of “I”; these things come and go; (d) understand that when you change, everything changes.

The first thing you need is awareness of your negative feelings. The second step is to understand that the feeling is in you, not in reality. The third step: Never identify with that feeling. You don’t do anything to be free, you drop something. Then you’re free.

If you refuse to identify with any labels, most of your worries simply cease. This is the secret of awakening. You would never be unhappy again. Nothing would have the power to hurt you again. No matter what happens you remain at peace. This is being human, not a puppet, jerked about this way and that way, letting events or other people tell you how to feel.

It is extremely important, if you want to wake up, to practice “self-observation.” Be aware of what you’re saying, be aware of what you’re doing, be aware of what you’re thinking, be aware of how you’re acting. Be aware of where you’re coming from, what your motives are.

The only way to awareness is to change what you understand. What you do not understand and are not aware of, you repress. You don’t change. But when you understand it, it changes.

The world’s all right. The one who has to change is you. Life is a symphony. It plays one melody in your presence, but when you leave, the orchestra doesn’t stop. It keeps playing. That’s what awakening is all about. Come home to yourself. Observe yourself. After a while you don’t have to make any effort, because, as illusions begin to crumble, you begin to know things that cannot be described. It’s called happiness. Everything changes and you become addicted to awareness.