We should not use the word individual at all, nor the words mine and yours because they have no meaning, fundamentally. I am the result of my father and my mother and the environmental influence of the country and society. If I put myself in opposition, there is no understanding; the combination of opposites does not produce understanding. But if I become aware and observe the ways of duality, then I will begin to feel the new freedom from opposites. The world is divided into the opposites, the white and the dark, the good and the bad, mine and yours, and so on. In duality there is no understanding, each antithesis contains its own opposite. Our difficulty lies in thinking of these problems anew, to think of the world and yourself from a different point of view altogether, observing silently, without identifying and comparing. The ideas which you think are the result of what others have thought in combination with the present. Real uniqueness lies in the discovery of what is true and being in that discovery. This uniqueness, joy, and liberation which comes from this discovery is not to be found in the pride of possessions, of name, physical attributes, and tendencies. True freedom comes through self?knowledge which brings about right thinking; through self-knowledge there is the discovery of the true, which alone puts an end to our ignorance and sorrow.

Through self?awareness and self?knowledge peace is found, and in that serenity there is immortality.

"Question: I have been following a spiritual leader and it has helped me. … But after listening to you I felt what you say is right and I have left the guru I was following. Now I feel lost without guidance. What do you say? "