Mind identification is like wearing VR goggles on holiday

You’re relaxing at the most beautiful, peaceful beach. You have the whole beach to yourself. Nobody is around. It’s silent, but for the waves gently lapping at the shore, and the breeze rustling the trees. The water is warm as you feel the waves gently carrying your body up and down. You feel completely at ease in this environment. Totally connected to the senses, not a worry in the world.

You put on the VR headset. It brings you into a world of chaos. There’s constant chatter coming through the speakers. You’re trying to navigate the virtual world but then it suddenly switches to another world. In each of these worlds there are only things going wrong. Every character is judging you. You’re surrounded by other players in this virtual world yet you feel completely alone, you can’t trust anybody, everybody is out to get you. There’s your boss, your partner, your doctor, all reminding you that you simply cannot be relaxing at the beach.

You want to take the headset off but in the very moment you think that thought, a voice coming through the headset says “you can’t take it off, this world won’t take care of itself!”.

In that moment you have a choice. Do you believe that voice, or do you take the headset off and enjoy your holiday?

You have that choice in every single moment. At the beach or not.

The soft feeling of the carpet or cool polished floor beneath your feet is the sand.

The sensation of clothes gently resting on your body is the warm water.

The ordinary but indescribable sound of the fan is the waves on the shore.

The beach is always here. It isn’t the environment that makes the holiday peaceful. It’s the reconnecting to the immediate senses, letting go of attending to the imaginary world of the mind. You don’t need to go anywhere to do that.

It’s right here, always.

All you need to do is keep noticing it.

Have a nice trip 🏖️