Life is like a game of cards.

You don’t choose the cards you are dealt — they appear spontaneously, randomly, without consultation. Your only role is to play them as skilfully and consciously as you can.

Since you did not choose the cards, nothing that happens in the game is truly personal. The hand you receive is not a reflection of worth, talent, character, or destiny; it is simply what has appeared. And every moment, the table offers new possibilities — unexpected openings, fresh chances, shifting conditions.

Your task is simply this:

be present, be alert, and play your hand well.

Not with anxiety, not with attachment, but with clarity and openness.

You, the cards, and the table together create the play, just as existence, consciousness, and bliss (sat–chit–ānanda) form the essence of life. The joy is not in winning or losing, but in participating fully and seeing how the game unfolds.

But we don’t live this way. Most of us take the game far too seriously.

We suffer when we “lose,” as if the hand we were given says something about who we are. We cling to our victories as if they prove our superiority, ignoring the obvious truth: the cards were never ours to begin with.

When we forget this, we become tense, afraid, and defensive. When we remember it, life becomes light, playful, and free.

In the end, mastery is not about controlling the game it’s about seeing that you are not the controller. You are simply the awareness in which the cards, the table, and the entire play arises.

Takeaway: the cards were never ours to begin with. And you are not the doer. EVERYTHING including what our  body does and how it plays the game is out of control and occurs spontaneously. Thinking otherwise, taking credit for our successes with pride or beating ourselves up because of failures, is to fool oneself. This persistent thinking habit keeps us in the endless cycle of pleasure and pain.

Being a doer, requires doing. Doing requires 'someone' to do the doing. That 'someone' is an illusory personality almost everyone, except the self realised, have and spend time maintaining. Doing anything moves us away from simply being. Our so called 'doing' is wasted energy which actually interferes with the natural rhythm of life, is exhausting and brings disease.

Detach yourself from the game, lose the personality and be happy.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-175999394