Black monkey and barbed wire, Northern India.
Locating our enlightenment
The idea that we must struggle to gain is persistent and pervasive. The Horatio Alger archetype of the "Self-Made Man" tells us that striving is itself a virtue, that only by overcoming insurmountable obstacles can we achieve anything in this life. Our culture reinforces this scenario again and again.
The Vedic worldview posits that we are part of the one thing of which all is made. We are not removed and observing the action; we are an integral part of everything that is happening. By surrendering our individuality to the flow of nature, we have surpassed any "goal" that struggle could achieve for us. There is nothing to "get."
The Self, the silent eternal witness is not to be attained, only uncovered. By removing obstacles that obscure the effulgent light that cannot be diminished, we can know truth. We do not have to traverse great distances to do so. The ultimate attainment is closer than our own breath.
We sit comfortably with our back supported, and head and neck free. We repeat a sound silently that we have been trained to use. When thoughts come, we quietly go back to the sound. It's that simple. Soon we become aware that no further travel is necessary.
We have arrived.
"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
Luke 17:21 - King James Bible
Roiling skies in Arkansas.