The Presence of a Master

You have been talking lately about teachers and masters...Is a master important?

While a master does not consider his or her self to be separate from anyone or anything, the presence of a master does have a effect. This effect is with people who are assuming themselves to be separate from other people and the whole vast, edgeless flowing of life.

The "I" of the pretending character is not the person that appears. It is an invisible assumption that is supported by vasanas. As an analogy, you might say that the assumption "I am" is like the tap root of a plant that is surrounded and supported by all of the plant's other roots. Usually only the plant is considered, which is the specifics of what the character is doing, has done or will do.

A master's presence silently works to "shut off" the roots of this phantom plant. He or she is not doing anything. And yet--without this presence--more and more roots will continue growing indefinitely, which will continue feeding the illusion of plant-ness.