"You were certain that you had missed it, there was a certain certainty. But as you come closer to the peak, a human fear arises: are you going to make it in such a short time, with this such small energy of yours?

"And as you see the peak, you also can see that your problems are so trivial, your pleasures are also very trivial, your whole life is childish. Your fights, your friendships, your love affairs seem to be so small and so stupid that you want to get out of them as quickly as possible.

"Before, you were never in such an urgency to get out of them, because you had never realized what your potential is, to what heights you are entitled, so you went on playing with toys. But now that a vision has arisen and is becoming more and more clear, you can see all your involvements, commitments, relationships – everything – is so small compared to your inner consciousness.

"And those small things have been clinging to you for many lives. They are parasites; they are not going to leave you easily, because to leave you means certain death. It is your blood they thrive on. And the moment you realize that these small things are preventing you…such small things that I am reminded of a beautiful story that Gautam Buddha used to tell his disciples. It is a strange story and perhaps no Buddhist has ever commented on it because only a buddha can comment on it, not a Buddhist; only a man of absolute awareness can see what Buddha was trying to say through this small story.

"He said that a man who is blind is lost in a big palace that has one thousand doors, but nine hundred and ninety-nine are closed; only one door is open. The man is blind: he has to grope and find the door. Nine hundred and ninety-nine doors…he goes on searchinging; some door may be open. And finally he comes to the door that is open – but then suddenly he feels a strong desire to scratch his head. He starts scratching his head and passes the door. Again nine hundred and ninety-nine doors…and who knows what will happen next time when he comes to the one thousandth door? Just a stupid desire to scratch the head…."