"So three points have to be understood before we enter the techniques.

"First, the consciousness is at the center. Second, the senses through which the consciousness moves out are at the boundary. And third, the objects in the world to which the consciousness moves, through the senses, are beyond the boundary. These three things have to be remembered: consciousness at the center, senses at the boundary and objects beyond the boundary. Try to understand it clearly, because then the techniques will be very simple.

"Look at it from many directions. One: senses are just in between, just in the middle. At one side is consciousness, at another side is the world of objects. Senses are just in the middle – between the two. From the senses you can move either way: either you can go to the objects or you can go to the center. Either way the distance is the same. From the senses, doors open both ways – move to the objects or move to the center.

"You are at the senses. That is why one of the most famous Zen masters, Bokuju, has said that nirvana and the world are the same distance away. So do not think that the nirvana is very far away. The world and the nirvana, this world and that other world, are both at the same distance.

"This saying has created much confusion because we feel that nirvana is very, very far away – that Moksha, liberation, the kingdom of God, is very, very far away. We feel that the world is just near, just here. But Bokuju says, and he says rightly, that both are at the same distance.

"The world is here, and nirvana is also here. The world is near, and nirvana is also near, For nirvana you have to move inwards, for the objects you have to move outwards; the distance is the same. From my eyes, my center is just as near as you are near me. I can see you if I move outward, I can see myself if I move inward. And we are at the doors of the senses, but naturally, the bodily needs are such that consciousness moves outwards."