Shame

What is reality? Is there some kind of solid point fixed in time that allows us to identify ourselves as a person? How arrogant are we, that the mind implies that we are a fixed point in the universe, unchanging and faceless. One single comment by a person, or a look, or something other, can change our entire dimension of our existence and our sense of who we are. The only lasting and true unchangeless face of who we are is I AM. That is the first thing that we truly know when we come into the world and it will be the last thing we know when we leave it. But how fascinating the mercuriality of our nature that glams onto the pleasures of the world and can crash down into the pain with the flip of a switch. Particularly if we are ego identified. But in Western culture any implication of our true selves behind the veil will elicit very intense resistance from us. It threatens the very foundation of our ability to remember who we are and allows us to continue the game of hide and seek. But in the west we have forgotten that this is in fact the game. And when we desire to wake up then we recognize who we really are. Certainly it is the overwhelming nature of western society to take everything incredibly seriously and not allow for the possibility of this in fact being a game. But that in itself is part of the game. Real insight and awakening threatens to derail this.
We are playing the game that we don't know that we know. When we begin to see through the maya of this then we achieve satori, the absurd laugh of Ho-Tai, the laughing buddha, who when recognizing the self has a huge laugh on his face.
We see this in those beautiful eyes of Ramana Maharshi in that famous picture. The eyes that say "Oh come on now...get off it. You know exactly who you are". You are nothing less than all of it.