All the World’s A Stage

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players‘.”

(Act 2, Scene 7) As You Like It

by William Shakespeare

This statement is the ultimate truth about the life we are living.

“Knowing that one is but an actor on the stage of the world, one lives happily. Those who mistake the pantomime for reality are of the world (samsari), where there is constant change and reforming, ceaseless going and coming, the oscillation between happiness and sorrow. Those who are dressed up in various disguises must not forget their real nature. Verily, you are the offspring of the Immortal. Your real being is truth. goodness, beauty. (Satyam,Sivam,Sundaram).”

These profound words were uttered by the great saint, Anandamayi Ma.

It reminds us of our spiritual heritage, our innermost immortal Being which is the unchanging source of life. On the surface, the masks we wear keep changing. We are assigned various roles in the drama of life. These roles keep changing. If we identify with the mask we put on, then we are swept away in the rapid current of incessant change.

Our real nature is hidden behind the mask. It is the Self. It is the soul. It cannot be burned, it cannot be wetted or dried. It is ever the same. It is never born nor does it ever die. It cannot be tainted with evil or ignorance. It is ever pure, immortal truth. It is in essence, goodness and beauty and eternal truth.

In the state of enlightenment, this knowledge becomes a living reality. It is directly experienced from moment to moment because one’s awareness is firmly established in the Self, the unmanifest wholeness of life. In the state of enlightenment, Self-knowledge is perfect.