See Reality

There's entertainment going on within you—life. It isn't about the alarm clock that gets you up and that you check before you go to sleep. That's not life. Life is about waking up and being thankful for the day, understanding that the day means something.

I've heard people described as having "such a gusto for life." What is meant by that? It isn't about jumping off mountains or diving in the deepest trenches. It isn't about flying as high as you can, or going as fast as you can. It isn't about the number of activities you do. It's about true enjoyment—enjoying this life. This day is a gift given to me, and I accept it as a gift.

Instead of passing time, enjoy your time. Instead of just being there, victimized by everything that happens, feel freedom in your life. Real freedom. Real joy.

You've seen photographers. When there's action happening, they've got to be right there. They're waiting and ready to take that picture. They know that the only way it can happen is if they are ready. Last-minute fumbling won't do it.

When breath comes into you, are you ready to take that snapshot? Are you ready to be fulfilled? That's the promise it brings. Because breath comes, you can be a friend or an enemy, a father or a mother—so many things. You can enjoy your hobbies, the things you do, your career. But breath makes possible one other thing as well. And that is fulfillment.

Do you want to be fulfilled? This is a choice you have to make. Either you are taking a snapshot of that breath, enjoying and appreciating it, or you are not. It's up to you.

Beauty is in you, in this human form with this human heart, in this very human condition, in this very human world. You. I'm not speaking about the alligator or the crocodile or the snake. They need their own person to tell them they're beautiful, because I'm not doing that. See what you've been given and what you are—not in terms of either divinity or frailty. See what you are with no judgment; see that reality just as it is.

Come with eyes that are hungry to see beauty. And see the beauty. Judgment exists for everything: "You are young; you are old. You are pretty; you are ugly. You are this; you are that." That's not what human beings are. That's ideas. That's judgment. 

There's a beauty. There's a simplicity. There's us. We exist. Who are we? What are we? See that. Feel that. Why? Because none of the definitions do it justice.

Once I heard a photographer talking about taking pictures. He said, "Have your camera ready, but don't have any preconceived ideas. Look through it, see what you see. Then see if that does something for you." I thought, "That's the advice I give."

If you want to take a picture, don't come with preconceived ideas. Just look and see what you see. See if that does something for you. If it does, then let it click. The picture will be taken and will be there for the rest of your life. It will be beautiful. It will be a picture you have taken, not something that was created. It will be your picture.

This life is too precious to be living in a boxed world. There's freedom waiting to be discovered. Not randomness, but freedom, because the breath comes into you and you are alive. There is the possibility to be in peace. You should be in peace. Look at yourself—not with ideas, but from a very beautiful, simple reality.