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so therefore is the process of straying and returning.
    If you want to influence the next generation, the most important thing you can do is to awaken yourself. Embody the possibility of freedom in your own life, and you will have a profound effect on the people around you.

    Is it necessary to wrestle with what you call the
“core paradox” in order to awaken? Somehow the
paradox doesn’t really resonate for me.
    Not at all. Awakening doesn’t require any particular practice or contemplation, though some seekers have found that grappling with this paradox has apparently precipitated anawakening. Even a sincere curiosity or earnest interest in discovering the truth of existence—which has been recommended by many teachers, including my own—is not a prerequisite. As I describe later in this book, some people awaken without the slightest interest or preparation, and others don’t, despite years of practice. Paradoxical, isn’t it?

    What about suffering? You mention the importance
of suffering in your own search. Can I awaken
without intense suffering?
    Again, suffering is not required, but it does have the uncanny ability to pull the rug out from beneath your comfortable little world and open you to a deeper source of meaning and fulfillment. It’s a powerful motivator. You don’t have to go looking for it, of course—it will find you eventually.
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    Wake-Up Call
    Is There Anything Missing Right Now?
    Set aside ten to fifteen minutes for this exploration. Begin by sitting comfortably for a few moments with your eyes open. As you gaze around the room, notice how your mind judges and interprets what you see. “The furniture looks shabby. The papers are out of place. The carpet’s stained. The bills need to be paid.” Your mind is constantly making comments like these, adding a conceptual overlay that makesit difficult for you to experience reality directly. Even concepts like “book” and “table” limit your ability to see beyond the form to the underlying essence of what is.
    Now close your eyes and slowly open them again. This time gaze around you as if you were an extraterrestrial who’s just landed on Earth or an infant who’s just been born. Look at the window, the computer, the carpet, as if you’ve never seen them before and have no idea what they are. Enjoy the play of light and dark, color and form, movement and stillness, without giving names to the display. Allow yourself to abide in a natural state of wonder and awe. You have no idea what anything is. Notice how this innocent, open looking acts on your being.
    After about ten minutes of innocent looking, gently ask yourself, “On present evidence, without consulting the mind, is there anything missing or lacking in my experience right now?” If this question makes no sense to you, just let it go and continue your looking. If your mind starts recounting a familiar story about what you apparently need but don’t have, about how your life is lacking or inadequate in some way, set it aside and go back to simply looking. Remember, you’ve been asked to consult present evidence only.
    Now ask the question again—“On present evidence, without consulting the mind, is there anything missing or lacking in my experience right now?”—and allow an answer to emerge. If you finally conclude that nothing is missing or lacking, notice how this realization changes your experience of what is. If this isn’t your conclusion, just continue asking, allowing an answer to emerge and returning to innocent looking.
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SEEKING WITHOUT A SEEKER
    There is no greater mystery than this, that we keep
seeking reality though in fact we are reality.
    —Ramana Maharshi
    The truth of your being is ordinary, simple, and ever-present. As
A Course in Miracles
says, “It takes no time to be who you are.” Each moment offers you an opportunity to recognize the silent, awake presence that’s always already right here and now, underlying your experience and