The Greatest Secret

CHAPTER 1

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

Of the billions of people on our planet, only a few have discovered the truth. Those few are completely free from the turmoil and negativity of life and live in permanent peace and happiness. For the rest of us, whether we realize it or not, we’ve been in search of this truth unceasingly every single day of our lives.

Despite the fact that this great secret has been written about and alluded to by many great sages, prophets, and religious leaders throughout history, the majority of us still remain ignorant of the single greatest discovery we can ever make. Among those who have shared this discovery with us are Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Jesus Christ, Yogananda, Krishnamurti, and the Dalai Lama.

While they each have different teachings that were appropriate for their time, they all refer to the same truth—the truth about us and the truth behind our world.

“In some religions this truth is expressed less openly and clearly than in others, but it is nevertheless the truth that lies at the heart of every religion.”

Michael James, from Happiness and the Art of Being

This great secret is in plain view for every one of us to see. It’s closer to us than our very breath, yet we’ve missed it! Ancient traditions knew that to hide a secret it should be put in plain sight, where no one will think to look for it. And that’s exactly where The Greatest Secret lies.

“Thus it is referred to in the Kashmir Shaivite tradition as ‘the greatest secret, more hidden than the most concealed and yet more evident than the most evident of things.’”

Rupert Spira, from Being Aware of Being Aware

We’ve missed the truth for thousands of years because we’ve not looked at what is right in front of us. We’ve become easily distracted by our problems, the drama in our lives, the comings and goings of the events in the world, and we’ve missed the greatest discovery we can make that is right here before us—a discovery that can take us out of suffering and into lasting happiness.

What secret can possibly be so life-changing? What single discovery can ever end suffering, or bring everlasting peace and happiness?

Quite simply, a secret that reveals who you really are.

You might think you know who you are, but if you think you’re an individual person with a name, who’s a certain age, from a particular race, who has a profession, a family history, and various life experiences, you will be stunned by the revelation of who you really are.

“The only way that someone can be of help to you is by challenging your ideas.”

Anthony de Mello, S.J., from Awareness: Conversations with the Masters

We’ve all accepted many false ideas and beliefs throughout our lives, and those false ideas and beliefs have kept us enslaved. We’ve been told that there’s limitation and lack in the world—that there’s not enough money, time, resources, love, or health: “Life is short,” “You’re only human,” “You have to work hard and struggle to get somewhere in life,” “We’re running out of resources,” “The world is in turmoil,” “The world needs saving.” But the moment you see the truth, those mistruths will crumble, and your happiness will arise from the ruins.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “My life is going swimmingly, and so why would I even want to know The Greatest Secret?”

To quote the wonderful late Anthony de Mello, S.J.: “Because your life is a mess!”

You may disagree. I certainly didn’t think my life was a mess either until Anthony de Mello defined exactly what he meant.

Do you ever get upset? Ever get stressed? Ever worry? Ever feel anxious, offended, or hurt? Ever feel sad, down in the dumps, or despondent? Are you ever unhappy or in a bad mood? If you experience any of these emotions at any time, then according to Anthony de Mello, your life is a mess!

You might think it’s normal to be plagued by negative emotions throughout your day, but life isn’t supposed to be that way. You can live your life utterly free of hurt, upset, worry, and fear, and exist in continuous happiness.

Life is showing us there’s a way out of suffering through every single challenging circumstance we experience, especially the very challenging circumstances. But we don’t see it. We’re lost in our problems, and we miss the very thing that is right in front of us that is the way out of all problems forever!

“We seek happiness in experience after experience, relationship after relationship, therapy after therapy, workshop after workshop—even ‘spiritual’ ones, which sound so promising but never address the root cause of suffering: ignorance of our true nature.”

Mooji, from White Fire, second edition

Whenever we suffer, it’s because we’ve believed something about ourselves that isn’t true; we’ve mistaken our own identity. All of humanity’s suffering comes down to a case of mistaken identity.

The truth is, you’re not a person who has no control over what happens to you and your life. You’re not a person who has to slave at a job you don’t like, only to die at the end of it all. You’re not a person who has to struggle from paycheck to paycheck. You’re not a person who needs to prove yourself or who needs anybody else’s approval. The truth is, you are not really a person at all. You are most certainly having the experience of being a person, but in the bigger picture it’s not who you are.

“It isn’t the way it appears to be. You aren’t what you think you are.”

Jan Frazier, from The Freedom of Being

“Sometimes we’re targeting the symptoms in life but the real cause in life we’re missing—the understanding and recognition of our true nature. This is the one medicine for everything.”

Mooji

“All the unhappiness, discontent and misery that we experience in our life is caused only by our ignorance or confused knowledge of who or what we really are. Therefore if we want to be free of all forms of misery and unhappiness, we must free ourself from our ignorance or confused knowledge of what we really are.”

Michael James, from Happiness and the Art of Being

Your gauge of how your life is going is your level of happiness. How happy are you? Are you genuinely happy all of the time? Do you live within a continuous background of happiness? You’re supposed to be happy all the time. Happiness is you. It’s your true nature. It’s who you really are.

“The thing that every one of us is looking for in this world is exactly the same thing. Every being, even the animals are looking for it. And what is it that we’re all looking for—happiness with no sorrow. A continuous happiness with no taint whatsoever of sorrow.”

Lester Levenson, from Will Power audio

Every action we take, every decision we make, is because we think we will be happier from it. It’s not a coincidence that we’re all looking for happiness; in our search for happiness, we are actually looking for ourselves without realizing it!

It’s not possible to find lasting happiness through material things. Every material thing appears and eventually disappears, so if you vest your happiness in a material thing, your happiness will disappear when the material thing disappears. There’s nothing wrong with material things (they are wonderful, and you deserve to have whatever you want in life), but it’s a major breakthrough when you realize that you’ll never find lasting happiness in them. If material things brought us happiness, then when we receive something that we really wanted, the happiness would never leave us. But it’s not the case. Instead, we experience a fleeting happiness, and within a very short amount of time we’re back to where we started from—a state of wanting more things in an effort to feel happy again.

There’s only one way to find lasting, permanent happiness—it is to find out who you really are, because your true nature IS happiness.

“The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self … When a man finds it, he finds a happiness which does not come to an end.”

Ramana Maharshi

“The only real purpose of being here on this earth is to learn or to re-remember our original natural state of no limitations.”

Lester Levenson, from Will Power audio

“The discovery of our true Self has the power to transform the darkness of ignorance into the light of pure understanding. It is the most profound, important and radical discovery. It is a tree that bears fruit immediately. When we realize who we are—the one experiencing and perceiving the world—so many things will be set right. There are not many things to know if truth is what you seek. It’s not volumes of knowledge that are required—it’s to come to the recognition of the one true Self that you are.”

Mooji

Remembering who you really are has been given many names over the centuries. Enlightenment, self-realization, self-discovery, illumination, awakening, remembering. You probably think “enlightenment” can’t be for you (“I’m just a normal person”), but you couldn’t be further from the truth. This discovery—this happiness, this freedom—is who you are, so how can it not be for you?

“Open yourself to the possibility that you can experience the truth of what you are, this very moment. How, you may ask? By noticing that the only obstacle in the way is your imagination—your imagined opposition.”

My teacher

“We are free, and we don’t know it. It feels the furthest thing from possible, that it could be so. We’d swear we’re at the mercy of what goes wrong, what goes right. And yet (here is the truth), freedom is right here.”

Jan Frazier, from The Freedom of Being

“Self-realization is possible for someone who’s had no education and it can also be possible for a king. There are no preconditions to self-realization. Self-realization isn’t just for those who’ve undergone years of spiritual practice—it’s possible for someone who’s been drinking and smoking all the time.”

David Bingham, from Conscious TV

What Will Your Life Be Like?

“I’m talking about something that hardly anyone has yet experienced. How can I describe it? No limits on anything in any direction whatsoever. The ability to do anything for the mere thought of it. Yet it is more than that. Imagine the highest joy you can have and multiply by a hundred.”

Lester Levenson, from No Attachments, No Aversions

When you fully recognize who you are, you will have a life without problems, without upset, hurt, worry, or fear. You will be free from the fear of death and will never again be controlled or tortured by your mind. False ideas and beliefs will dissolve. In their place will be clarity, happiness, joy, peace, infinite fun and wonder—every moment a delight. You will know you are safe and secure no matter what.

“And when we recognize this … ultimate happiness is established permanently, and forever. And with its establishment comes immortality, unlimitedness, imperturbable peace, total freedom, and everything else that everyone is seeking.”

Lester Levenson, from Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5

When you fully recognize who you are, life becomes effortless—everything you need seems to appear without any effort from you. There’s an ease and a flow that take over your life. A life of lack and limitation is over forever. You come to know the ultimate power you have over everything in the world.

When you fully recognize who you are, suffering and struggle will be gone, and fear and negative emotions will dissolve. The mind will quiet. You will be filled with joy, positivity, fulfillment, a sense of abundance, and an imperturbable peace. This will be your life.

From the words of Jan Frazier, a mother and literary teacher:

“Imagine this: Whatever has weighed on you suddenly no longer weighs. It may still be there, a fact in your life, but it has no mass, no gravity. All that has ever troubled you is now just a feature of the landscape, like a tree, a passing cloud. Every bit of emotional and mental turmoil has ceased: the entire burden, some form of which has been with you as long as you can remember. A thing familiar as your closest friend—as much a part of you as the language you speak, the color of your skin—is utterly, inexplicably gone. Into the startling emptiness flows a quiet joy that buoys you morning, noon, and night, that goes everywhere you go, into any kind of circumstance, even into sleep. Everything you undertake happens effortlessly. You are happy, but for no reason. Nothing bothers you. You feel no stress. When a problem arises, you know what to do, you do it, and then you let it go. People that used to drive you crazy no longer do. While you feel compassion for others’ suffering, you don’t suffer yourself. Activities that used to be tedious are fun. You don’t need therapy; you don’t get bored, anxious, or moody. Except when needed for a task, your mind is at rest. Your life is entirely fulfilled—without your having to do anything to fulfill it, … you know that no matter what challenge you are handed—for the rest of your life—the peace will sustain. Never again will you be afraid, desperate, lonely. Whatever comes your way, this causeless joy will hold. Imagine it.”