When a person seeks comfort and joy in everything other than within themselves, he or she is like a Sun ray seeking light or an Ocean seeking water. The seeking outside is an endless quest with no end, similar to filling a bottomless container with water. This is a helpless state of existence due to identification with their body or at best with their mind. In this state of awareness desires are fulfilled but each desire gives birth to more desires, bigger desires, recycling of desires, and reincarnation continues as each desire is fulfilled, yet the hunger remains.
When a person seeks something other than themselves, it is a dream state (identification with body or mind) in which a lot of worldly things is accumulated, physical things and non-physical things. Though, all that is accumulated is constrained by time, space and form. All that is accumulated is limited within the domain of time (Kal) and is considered illusion (Maya) based on the definition of Gurbani. When we, as mind, seek something, we seek at the level of thought, we seek what has a beginning and an end. What has a beginning and end is illusion (Maya) and bounds the seeker who in reality is immortal (Abhinashi).
One who realizes their pathetic pursuit of filling a bottomless container, opens the doors to a greater opportunity of lifetimes. By grace of Shabad Guru (Wisdom of oneness) when the seeker starts seeking itself, a miraculous transformation begins, whereby one finds their existence beyond the recycling thoughts in form of mind and beyond the accumulation of mountains of manifested desires. Whereby the seeker discovers thoughts or mind is actually inside them and thoughts rise and move at his/her command. This is waking up of the king who has fallen asleep on his throne to discover that he was a beggar (desire of illusions) in his dream (identification with mind) and was being looted by his own mind.
Such a King or Queen is like an ocean who now clearly remains deeply rooted in its natural self of being still (Sehaj) and deep (wise), even when he or she rises as waves (thoughts) without identifying with the rising waves on the surface. For the King or queen to always remain aware of his or her Kingship is the meditation that continues 24/7 and there is joyful engagement (Chardikala) with the worldly responsibilities without desires or expectations, immune to praise and criticism, from a place of service. The King is the Gurmukh.
