The Myth of Seeking: Why Guided Meditation to Reduce Anxiety is a Ride on the Donkey You Are Already Astride

There is a peculiar expression that perfectly captures the absurdity of the spiritual search: searching for the donkey while you are already sitting on its back. We spend our lives in a state of frantic distraction, feeling as though we are missing something fundamental, as if the absolute were a distant shore we must swim toward through a sea of effort. But who is it that is swimming? And where could you possibly go that is not already here? The world we navigate is loud, aggressive, and demanding. It asks us to mask ourselves, to perform, and to be "someone" in a constant state of overstimulation. This creates a friction within the body-mind that we often label as anxiety. Naturally, the separate self looks for a way out. It looks for a guided meditation to reduce anxiety as if it were a tool to build a bridge from a "bad" state to a "good" state. But we must be frank with each other: there is no bridge, because there is no gap. The waves of anxiety are made of the same water as the ocean of peace. If we sit in silence, it isn't because we are trying to achieve a spiritual goal or reach a state of enlightenment. Enlightenment is not a destination. It is the end of the seeker, not the prize for the seeker’s hard work. When we talk about meditation, we aren't talking about a ladder. Meditation might make the body-mind feel better in the moment; it might bring a sense of comfort or quiet the internal chatter for a while. That is perfectly fine. It is a natural expression of being, just as much as breathing or the movement of the tides. But it will not take you "there," because there is nowhere to go. Consider the screen and the film. The film can be a chaotic war movie or a peaceful documentary about clouds. The screen is never harmed by the fire in the movie, nor is it made more "holy" by the presence of a filmed saint. We are the screen. The separate self is just a character in the film who thinks they need to find the screen. But the character *is* the screen. Every movement, every thought, and even every social mask we wear is just the absolute expressing itself in that moment. There is no separate entity that has the free will to choose to be enlightened or not. It simply happens, or it doesn't. When people ask if meditation is dangerous or if it leads to greater awareness, they are still operating under the logic of the "journey." They are worried about the "io" or the separate self. But liberation is never *of* the separate self; it is *from* the separate self. It is the realization that the one who is anxious, the one who is trying to improve, and the one who is seeking a guided meditation to reduce anxiety are all just appearances in a much larger, aware presence. The silence we often seek is already the background of every noise. Just as silence underlies a loud shout, the absolute underlies every frantic thought. You don't need to stop the noise to find the silence. You don't need to kill the separate self to find the totality.