We have eyes, so we see. We have ears, and so we hear. We have hands and feet, and so we act, and we make speech with our tongue. When we see, hear, move and talk, we then feel that we are alive and not dead. This is the accepted way of our daily living.
My teacher would have us understand the cycle of existence from a different perspective.
The first shape of the world we desire is seen, heard, and felt in our minds, and then we endeavor to create the world as we desired it. Having created our world for ourselves, we then use the instrument of the body to experience it. We take our eyes to movie theatres to see what we wanted to see. Our ears are tuned to the music we longed to hear. Our hands and feet move to construct, and take us to the places that we have already imagined in the mind’s eye.
Since the world is as we imagine and create, it is therefore not an absolute, but a virtual reality – Maya, and it is ever changing. This is also a cause of conflict, as virtual reality varies from person to person, and from one time period to another.
My teacher said – the eternal base is thought, which forms words in the mind, and gives rise to action. Therefore, the wise one will begin at the beginning, and master the thought process. If we are only playthings of our thought process, we are actually dead, even though our body exhibits motion. The really alive are those who can master their thoughts – they are dead to virtual reality, but are in tune with the Truth. Guru Angad Dev says:
See without eyes; hear without ears;
Walk without feet; and work without hands;
Speak without a tongue-
like this, one remains dead (to maya) while being really alive.
O Nanak, recognize the Lord’s Command, and merge with your Lord and Master.