Plain as the Nose on the Face ...

ANNAMALAI SWAMI – FINAL TALKS

‘Asking for Directions to the Ocean’

Q: Why does the mind always go outwards instead of inwards?
Annamalai Swami: Because we don't ask the question, 'Why does the mind go outwards instead of inwards?

 
This question arises because the nature of happiness is not properly understood. People are always looking for it in the wrong places and by doing the wrong activities. You begin with the impression, which is really a misunderstanding, that happiness is something that can be found outside of you, and furthermore, that you have to do something or go somewhere to reach it. This is your illusion, and it is your belief in this illusion that makes the mind search for happiness in the outside world.

 
Even when you are told, 'Happiness is within you as your own Self. Look inwards and find it,' still, you think that you have to do something or go somewhere to discover it.

 
This is the power of Maya, of illusion. This is like one fish in the sea asking another fish for directions to the ocean.

 
When you are not aware that your glasses are resting on your nose, you may look for them all day, thinking that they are lost.

 
As a consequence, you believe that they are an object to be found. Eventually, you realize that you were wearing them all the time.

 
While the search was on, that which was being sought was, in reality, that through which the seeing was taking place. You were looking for an object that finally turned out to be the subject that was doing the seeing.

 
So it is with the mind and the Self. The mind sets up the notion that the Self needs to be found and then proceeds to hunt for it as if it were some object that could be located in some interior place. This is as foolish as a man with a goat wrapped around his shoulders spending his time wandering around, looking for his goat, and asking everyone he meets where it might be.