There's an old story. There were three sages, very famous. Their fame was known across the world. Indra was distressed by their fame. He told Urvashi, the best nymph of his city, that he was inviting these three sages to his birthday. "You must try to distract them."
Those three sages were invited. They appeared in Indra's city, Alaka. All the gods and the entire city came to witness the birthday celebration. Urvashi was so beautifully dressed that even Indra was astonished. She looked so beautiful that it was beyond description. Then the dance began. Urvashi mesmerized everyone with her dance until midnight. Then, as the night deepened and the people began to feel the intoxication of the dance, she began to throw away her jewelry, and then gradually her clothes as well. One sage panicked and shouted, "Urvashi, stop! This is beyond limits; it cannot be seen." The other two sages said, "Friend, the dance will continue. If you don't want to see, you can close your eyes. The dance won't stop. So many people are eager to watch; your fear alone won't stop the dance. Close your eyes if you don't want to see." The sage closed his eyes. He thought that closing his eyes would make Urvashi invisible. But he found that this was a mistake.
Does closing our eyes make us stop seeing anything? By closing our eyes, the thing we fear becomes more intense and present within us. Every day we know that in our dreams we meet those whom we closed our eyes to see. Every day we know that the thing we feared and ran away from becomes present in our dreams. If you fast all day, you're invited to a feast in your dreams. We all know this. That sage had the same problem. He closed his eyes and was in trouble. The dance continued, then Urvashi threw off more clothes, leaving only one undergarment on her body. Now the second sage panicked and shouted, "Stop Urvashi! This obscenity has reached its limit! Stop! This dance cannot be watched." What madness is this? The third sage said, "Friend, you are the same as before. Close your eyes. The dance will continue. So many people are eager to watch. I want to see it too. Close your eyes. The dance won't stop." The second sage also closed his eyes.
Urvashi was wearing a single garment while his eyes were open. As soon as he closed his eyes, the sage found that garment had also fallen off. Naturally, the mind becomes obsessed with whatever it fears. The mind gets attracted to the very thing it prohibits. Then Urvashi's dance continued, she threw away all her clothes, she became naked. Then she had nothing left to throw. The third sage said, "Urvashi, if you have anything else to throw, throw it away. I am ready to see the whole thing today. Now throw away this skin of yours too, so that I can see more of what lies ahead." Urvashi said, "I have lost to you." She fell at the sage's feet and said, "Now I have nothing left to throw. I have lost because you were ready to see till the end. Two sages lost because they closed their eyes midway. I have lost, now I have nothing left to throw. And the one who has known me naked, now there is nothing left to know in his mind. His mind has become free."
The mind has to be observed completely. Whatever Urvashis (nymphs) exist within the mind, whatever nymphs of the instincts within the mind—whether of lust, anger, greed, or attachment—must be seen in their complete nakedness. Each one of their garments must be removed and examined. There is no need to run away with closed eyes. There is no escape, no escape from life; the practice of life is to see the mind with eyes wide open. And the day a person is willing to strip off all the garments of their mind and look with eyes wide open into the mind's complete nakedness, its complete ugliness, its complete ugliness, that very day the Urvashi of the mind falls at your feet and says, "Forgive me, I have lost. Now there is nothing further to know."
Complete knowledge of the mind, complete awareness of the mind becomes liberation from the mind.
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