Don’t fight with monsters

If you fight with monsters, you are likely to become a monster. If you gaze into an abyss, the abyss gazes back into you, as Nietzsche said. Stand in front of the mirror and see the beauty that stares back at you. If you don’t see beauty, discover it; wait in front of the mirror until it reveals the beauty to you, your beauty. If the mirror doesn’t reveal your beauty, you won’t ever discover it.

I know people who travel miles and miles in search of their own beauty. They go on pilgrimages. They ascend mountains. They traverse deserts. They cross oceans. And return weather-beaten.

If travel doesn’t make you younger, stand before your mirror and look at yourself again.

Your god is not in any temple, church or mosque. Your god lies in that mirror. If that god doesn’t smile back at you, you are a gonner. No pilgrimage, no religion, no ritual will ever save you.

Get back to the basics. Start from the scratch. It doesn’t matter how much you donate to temples, godmen, or even orphanages. What matters is that image in the mirror. Do you see a monster there? Stop fighting with that monster. Love that monster. Miracle is just a gaze away.