By Roshan Jayasinghe
From the moment we become aware of ourselves, something inside us begins to reach.
We reach for comfort, then for meaning.
We gather things, money, titles, relationships, possessions, even spiritual achievements, believing they will complete the puzzle of our lives.
But the more we chase, the more elusive the fulfillment becomes.
Some say we seek happiness.
Some say love.
Some say freedom.
The sages say: we seek the end of suffering.
But behind it all, perhaps what we are seeking is not a thing, but the end of the feeling that something is missing.
And this is where the paradox begins.
Because if seeking is a symptom of lack,
then every step we take away from this moment reinforces the belief:
“I am not whole yet.”
“I am not home yet.”
In this space of chasing, the seeker forgets what it means to simply be.
But what happens when the seeker stops?
What is left when the chase dissolves?
Let’s go deeper, into the heart of the matter.
The Seeker & The Presence
A dialogue for the one who is tired of running.
Seeker:
I’ve been searching for so long.
For peace, for happiness, for something that finally makes me feel… whole.
But it always slips away. Every time I get close, it vanishes.
So I keep going. Keep gathering. Keep becoming.
I have to. Don’t I?
Presence:
What if you don’t?
Seeker:
Don’t what?
Presence:
Don’t need to search anymore.
Seeker:
But… if I stop seeking, won’t I get stuck?
What if I settle for a life that’s not enough?
What if I never find what I’m looking for?
Presence:
Have you ever asked why you’re looking?
Not what you want, why you want it?
Seeker:
I guess… because I feel like something’s missing.
Something’s always been missing.
Presence:
And have you ever found it?
Seeker:
Pieces, maybe. Moments.
But they never last.
Presence:
Because you’ve mistaken the movement for the medicine.
You’ve believed that peace lies on the other side of effort.
But peace was never in the destination.
It was in your willingness to stop running.
Seeker:
But if I stop… who will I be?
Presence:
You will be who you already are.
Not the seeker. Not the gatherer.
But the one who sees, without reaching.
The one who is, without needing to become.
Seeker:
That sounds… quiet.
Still.
Scary, maybe.
Presence:
Yes. Because silence is unfamiliar to a mind addicted to noise.
Stillness feels like death, until you realize it’s rebirth.
Seeker:
So you’re saying I’ve never needed to become anything?
Presence:
No. You only needed to remember.
You are not broken. You are not behind.
You are not missing the mark.
You are already whole.
Seeker:
But… what about all the things I’ve chased?
Presence:
They were teachers.
But they weren’t home.
They pointed you back, not forward.
Seeker:
So there’s nothing left to seek?
Presence:
Only this:
The courage to stop.
The willingness to be with what is.
The trust to feel the ache, and not run.
And in that sacred stillness,
You will find that you were never apart from what you were seeking.
Seeker:
I see now.
All this time… it was you I was looking for.
And you were here.
Waiting.
All along.
The End of the Search
So perhaps what we are really seeking is not happiness as a fleeting state, but wholeness as a truth that was never gone.
Not peace as a future prize, but peace as a presence we forgot to notice.
Not God in heaven, but God in the stillness between our thoughts.
When the seeker rests, the gap closes.
When the chase ends, the truth begins.
This is not the end of life’s movement, but the end of our resistance to it.
Not a stopping of time, but a reunion with now.
And so, the deepest transformation is not in finding something new,
but in remembering what never left.
You are what you seek.
Now. Here. Already.
About the Author
Roshan Jayasinghe is a humanist thinker and emerging writer based in California. With a background in administration and a deep passion for social equity, he explores the intersections of politics, identity, and compassion through a lens grounded in nature’s own self-correcting wisdom.
Roshan Jayasinghe
Rooted in the belief that humanity can realign with the natural order where balance, regeneration, and interdependence are inherent. Roshan’s reflections invite readers to pause, question, and reimagine the systems we live within. His writing seeks not to impose answers, but to spark thought and awaken a deeper awareness of our shared human journey. Roshan will be sharing weekly articles that gently challenge, inspire, and reconnect us to what matters most.
