Adi Shankara sings beautifully in the verses Bhaja Govindam:

Within the potter’s wheel’s rotation, The pivot stands still, amidst constant motion, So too a man of perfection is poised, although engaged in action.

When you understand that you are unclutched, suddenly you realize you are like the pivot of the potter’s wheel, unmoving and untouched by the kind of pot being made, the kind of experiences being felt. Understand that you are not the movie being played. You are just the screen on which the movie is projected. The screen is never touched by the play of emotions that appears on it!

The boy sage Ashtavakra tells King Janaka, Verily you are ever free. You are the one seer of all and really ever free. Verily this alone is your bondage, that you see the seer as other than such.When the scene affects the seer, the problem of bondage starts. Your very being is pure. But the moment you start thinking of yourself as someone other than the seer, the problem starts. This is the only bondage that you have. There is no other bondage.

Even when you create a shaft and suffer, remember, even this idea ‘I am creating a shaft’, is one more shaft. The shaft you created ten years ago, the shaft you created nine years ago, and the shaft you created yesterday are not connected. Connecting all these shafts is one more shaft! That’s all. When this understanding goes to a deeper level within you, it will take care of itself. Your thinking and actions will be transformed.

People ask me, ‘Tell us some way that we can always remember to not create any shafts.’ When you are trying to create that assurance, be very clear you are creating one more shaft. The moment you decide this is joy and you want this to permanently be with you, what have you done? You have started creating one more shaft. Then you are in trouble. Whether it is joy or pain, the moment you create the shaft, you are in trouble.

Do not try to retain the feeling of bliss that comes with unclutching. You felt the bliss itself because you understood that nothing could be retained. You felt deep joy because you were free from choices, because you felt completely disconnected, because you realized you are unclutched. Now don’t try to clutch again.

If someone tells you, ‘I am in ecstasy because I played tennis and I enjoyed it,’ you think, ‘Playing tennis brings ecstasy.’ You create an equation. You then begin continuously playing tennis, hitting the ball over and over. But nothing happens to you, no ecstasy. Then you think that the person who shared his tennis experience cheated you. Be very clear, while playing he was not at all concerned about joy; he was completely relaxed while he was playing. Because of this, joy simply happened. But somehow he associated it with tennis, that’s all. It was not the tennis that caused the joy. While he was playing tennis he dropped into the state of being unclutched and experienced joy. If he could remain in the unclutched state he would remain in a state of joy whether he was playing tennis or not.

When you are choiceless, when you are completely relaxed, bliss simply happens in you. When you are concerned about bliss, your very concern ensures that you will not experience it.

Choicelessness is bliss. If you choose it, bliss will not happen because you have made a choice and thus eliminated it as a possibility. When you are choiceless, when you are completely relaxed, bliss simply happens in you. When you are concerned about bliss, your very concern ensures that you will not experience it.

With unclutching you are able to transform all your thoughts into reality. Be very clear, this is a very simple, powerful method to make your dreams into reality. Whatever dreams you have about the future, if you can relax, if you can unclutch, suddenly you see a new kind of energy flowing through your thoughts. This energy will take care of your dreams. This is the state of restful awareness, the essence of the research and development that went on in the world of inner science. Unclutching is the ultimate technique that can give you everything.

source: Living Enlightenment