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The First Step There is a reality behind this reality. What we call reality is in a sense a dream. In fact, it is sometimes useful to interpret events as if they had taken place in a dream. The Greek philosopher Socrates compared this world with shadows on a wall. There is a source of the light and there is this world, which is a shadow world. The reality is the source of the light. To get through to this reality requires effort, and effort requires motivation. In fact, it could be said that all that is required is motivation. If you desired reality like a drowning man desires air, you would achieve it. It’s sometimes said that the journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step. This may be true but the step has to be in the right direction. In fact, the more accurate the direction, the less steps you have to take. If you have sufficient motivation, you will walk decisively and directly to your destination. Unfortunately, few people are sufficiently motivated. We get diverted by the toys of the twenty-first century. The technology of the Western world is directed towards diverting us, to keeping us amused. Music, movies, books and television invariably are designed to amuse us, and these diversions can impede our progress by diverting us from the straight path. There are religious fundamentalists who would like to ban such activities but they can only offer mindless adherence to rules, many of which have long since lost their meaning. Music, TV, radio and other activities have their constructive and their destructive aspects. They add to experience and these experiences may be pleasant or unpleasant, and what you do with that experience may be constructive or destructive. Whatever you do, be sure that you do it consciously, that you are aware at every moment of what you do. Be in the present whether you are meditating or watching TV because although the reality is outside of time, the doorway is in the present moment.