What If You’re Already Awake? Timeless Teachings in Dialogue

June 17th, 2025

By Frank M. Wanderer PhD

Guest writer for Wake Up World

These dialogues echo the questions of countless seeking souls—each beginning their journey from different situations, stages of life, and inner states, yet walking the same unknown path: the path toward themselves.

The Seeker who asks the questions is sometimes a young person, just waking up to the sense that something is not right in the world—or perhaps within themselves. Other times, the Seeker is older, someone who has seen much, experienced much, and yet feels empty in what they have attained.

There are moments when the Seeker speaks with trust and enthusiasm, and others when they are desperate, weary, and hopeless. Sometimes their vision is clear, other times it is clouded by pain or longing.

But one thing is always the same: something deep inside them—nameless yet urgently real—has stirred into motion. Something that refuses to let them rest. Something that cannot be satisfied by the mind’s answers, by the world’s promises, or by society’s roles. It is this inner urgency that makes one a Seeker. It is what opens the eyes to the possibility that perhaps our entire life—as we’ve known it—has only been a dream. And if that’s true… then who is the one dreaming?

The other voice in the dialogues is the Master. But do not imagine him as an old, wise man handing out truths from a mountaintop. The Master is nothing other than the light of Consciousness awakened to itself. The voice of Silence. That pure presence which lives in every human heart—only hidden until now by the noise of thoughts, the tide of fears and desires.

The Master teaches no techniques. Offers no methods or goals. Does not promise that you will reach anywhere—because you already are where you seek to go. The Master doesn’t try to convince you of anything—rather, he dismantles everything you’ve identified with.

These dialogues do not follow a teaching system. There is no linear path, no gradual progression, no “leveling up.” The dialogues are more like mirrors: each person sees a different light reflected at a different moment. Sometimes they are stirring, other times gentle, and at times disconcerting. Not because they offer knowledge—but because they quiet the mind and make room for direct realization.

While reading, you may recognize yourself in one of the questions. You may feel as if the dialogue were about you. That is no coincidence. The Seeker is you—every time you ask with sincerity, every time you tire of playing a role, every time you pause amid the noise of the world and ask:

“What is true in all of this?”

And the Master is not someone else. Not a distant teacher. But that deep, quiet presence within you that has always known the answer— you just hadn’t heard it until now.

1.

They sit at the edge of an old garden, where flowers peek out from between moss-covered stones. The Seeker speaks, lost in deep thought, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Seeker: Master… Why is this life filled with suffering? What’s the point of all this… if we die in the end anyway?

Master (slowly looks up, gazing at the light filtering through the trees):

The one who asks this still believes life is something. A story. A path with a goal. But life is not a story. And not a goal. Life is: experience.

Seeker:

But the suffering… so much pain… Death, loss, despair… Why do we have to go through all of this?

Master:

Suffering is not a part of life – it is resistance to life. Pain is natural, but suffering arises when we say: “This shouldn’t be happening.” It is the personal “I” that struggles – and so suffers.

Seeker (sighs):

So if there were no “I,” there would be no suffering?

Master:

Exactly. The “I” pulls all pain onto itself and turns it into a story: “This happened to me. This is my loss. This is my cross.” But if there is no “I,” there is only pure experience – then the pain comes… and goes. Like the wind. It leaves no trace in Reality.

Seeker:

And death? Why do we live if we’re going to die anyway?

Master:

Who is it that lives? And who is it that dies? The form appears – and disappears. The wave rises – and returns to the ocean. But the ocean remains unchanged. You are nothing but the ocean – the form is only a temporary garment.

Seeker (growing quiet):

Then the meaning of life… is not where I was looking?

Master:

Life is not the meaning of something. Life is presence. And in every moment there lies a call: to recognize that you are not separate from it.

Seeker:

And what if I truly recognize this one day?

Master:

Then the question vanishes. Because the one who asked – is no more. And only That remains: the Silence, the Space, the Being – timelessly.

The Seeker does not reply. His gaze is no longer fixed on the Master, but turns inward. The words settle, making space for something deeper. Perhaps for the first time, he is not seeking an answer – he simply is

2.

They sit on a rocky ledge, the valley stretching deep below them. The air is clear, and the landscape seems endless. The Seeker’s face is serious, thoughts swirling within. At last, he speaks.

Seeker: Master… Is death the end? Or just the beginning of a new dream?

Master (gazing into the distance):

That depends on who is asking.

Seeker (quietly):

The one who is alive now. Who sees, feels, thinks. Who fears and hopes. Who wants to know what will happen to him… afterward.

Master:

Then the answer will be for that one. Because for the one who dreams – death is just a transition from one dream to another. A new scene, a new form, with new rules. The “I” continues itself – in a different costume, in a different world. But the dream remains.

Seeker:

And what about those who no longer dream?

Master:

For them, death means no change. Because here, in this very life, they’ve already awakened from what we called “personal existence.” For them, there is no “after,” because there is no “before” either. Only the Now – timeless, unmoving.

Seeker:

So death doesn’t free us? Doesn’t finally lead us to reality?

Master:

If you’re hoping death will resolve what you didn’t understand in life – you’re only dreaming further. Death redeems no one. It only takes the body, the mind, the form. But if consciousness is still bound to a “someone,” it will weave a new dream from that.

Seeker:

And what is Reality? Where is that which is not a dream?

Master:

Where there is no questioner. Where there is no path, no past, no next destination. Where nothing begins with death – but illusion ends.

Seeker:

Then death can be grace?

Master:

It can be – if you’ve already realized that it is not you who dies. But if you’re still clinging to the “I,” to the story, to the character – then death is only a dream within a dream.

Seeker (softly):

Strange… I used to fear death because I thought I would lose myself. But now it seems I would only lose… what was never real.

Master (smiling):

Exactly. Death is not the end – but neither is it the beginning. Death is a transparent gate through which you either continue dreaming… or finally awaken.

The sun sinks behind the mountains. The Seeker closes his eyes. He no longer wants to know what is true and what is not. He simply sits in silence – and this time, it is not uncertainty, but peace.

3.

Seeker: Master… I feel like I will never reach enlightenment. I’m tired. For days, months, I’ve just been observing, meditating, trying to be present… But sometimes it feels like I’m just going in circles. Like I’ve taken on a new role: the “spiritual seeker.”

Master (softly):

And who is it that says this?

Seeker (hesitantly):

Well… me. The one doing all this. The one trying to awaken.

Master:

This “me” – the one who is trying – will never awaken. Because it is the dream.

Seeker (shaken):

Then what is the point of the whole journey? The years of practice? The silence, the awareness, the presence?

Master:

Awareness is not to achieve something. It’s there so you can see: there is nothing to achieve. Silence is not a tool. Silence is what you are. And presence is not a goal – it is your nature.

Seeker (quietly):

Then what is this exhaustion in me?

Master:

It is the “me” that is tired. Because it’s worn out from trying to get somewhere. This is not a mistake – this is grace.

Seeker (surprised):

Grace…? This exhaustion?

Master:

Yes. Because when the “me” is depleted, when it no longer has the strength to seek, to improve, to chase goals – then space opens up for something beyond it.

Seeker:

And what is that?

Master:

That which is listening in you right now. That which is not trying, not tired, and not waiting for enlightenment. It simply is – pure, silent. This is awareness.

Seeker (moved):

Then maybe… what I’ve been searching for so hard… is already here?

Master (smiling):

It has always been here. Only the noise of the search was too loud for you to hear it.

Seeker (bowing his head):

For the first time… there’s no desire, no goal… only this silence. Is this… it?

Master:

Don’t name it. Don’t claim it. Just rest in it. And then you’ll realize: it is not you who becomes enlightened – but the illusion that dissolves.

The sunlight glimmers on the surface of the water. The Seeker says no more. The search falls silent.And perhaps – in that very silence – what he’s always been journeying toward is already here.

Excerpt from Frank M. Wanderer’s book The Master and The Seeker: The Gates of Truth

About the author:

Frank M. Wanderer, Ph.D, is a professor of psychology, a consciousness researcher and writer, and the publisher of several books on consciousness. With a lifelong interest in the mystery of human existence and the work of the human mind, Frank’s work is to help others wake up from identification with our personal history and the illusory world of the forms and shapes, and to find our identity in what he calls “the Miracle”, the mystery of the Consciousness.

You can follow Frank online at:

• Website – fmwanderer.wordpress.com
• powerofconsciousness.blogspot.com
• Facebook.com/AwakeningOfTheConsciousness
• https://x.com/FrankMWanderer
• Facebook.com/Frank-M-Wanderer

Frank is also the author of the following books:

• The Revolution of Consciousness: Deconditioning the Programmed Mind
• The Flames of Alertness: Discover the Power of Consciousness!
• The Biggest Obstacle to Enlightenment: How to Escape from the Prison of Mind Games?
• The Path Of New Age To Unity
• The Signs Of Spiritual Awakening: The Challenges and Gifts of Awakening
• The Spiritual Path: Dialogues Between Master and a spiritual Seeker on the spiritual Path
• The Enlightenment: Dialogues Between Master and a Spiritual Seeker on the Nature of Enlightenment
• The Revolution of Consciousness: Deconditioning the Programmed Mind
• … and several other books on consciousness and the process of enlightenment.