BOOKS BY ANANTA Welcome to Satsang with Ananta

More and more, almost every day, I want to repeat: No matter how big the notion was, in this moment, you are empty of it.

So, as you pick up, you will also say (as you say ‘But…’ the notion will come) you will start to counter these ‘But’s…’ by saying ‘But I Am Here!’ or ‘But God is Here.’ No matter what notion you pick up, it is just a mask, it is the pretence. Noting ever happened to Reality. This we See? …, that no matter what idea you’re believing about yourself, no matter how deeply identified you are, noting changed for Consciousness Itself. Only in the apparent play. So, when this is Seen, then you See that the picking up a notion is just putting on the mask. It doesn’t change the Reality of You. And then it will not seem like such a scary idea.

Okay, a notion will come and you will pick it up. When a notion will come here also that I will pick it up. There is nobody a hundred-percent free; nobody who doesn’t pick up a single notion. The notion will be picked up. But the good news is, that in this moment, you are empty of all of it. But if you make that benchmark, your benchmark, a hundred percent then it will use that one moment where something was picked up. ‘How could he do this to me?’ That moment, you’ll say ‘See, you are not free.’ When you pick up the salad, then you pick up the main course, the dessert, everything. Because you just picked up one notion, then you pick up the guilt about it, unworthiness about it and the idea that ‘I am not free’.

[Silence]

Q: Yes, something wants to be one hundred percent, it’s true. And yes, something wants it to be there experientially, from moment to moment. Like something is looking for perfection.

A: Ah. Here, I have some good news for you. Experientially moment to moment, it is perfection already. Notion-ally, it is not. Conceptually, it might not seem like it is. ‘What IS’ is never a mistake. The universe is the best cook. It knows exactly how much salt, how much sugar to put in the recipe. It does not make mistakes and it has perfect timing. So ‘what IS’ is always perfect. It is only our interpretation which can make it seem like it is not. But even that is perfect. See what I mean? Even the delusion…, it’s not as is if Consciousness is trapped in some delusion. It is just that Consciousness is playing with delusion…, and now playing with the dropping of the delusion. So, then it doesn’t seem like such a serious problem. Consciousness is not trapped in delusion. And You are that Consciousness.

Every thought is selling you a position. It’s trying to give you reference point about yourself that ‘This is what you are.’ Even a thought which might be saying ‘I am really getting this’ or ‘I am not getting this at all; I don’t know what I am doing here’ [Chuckles] it is making a ‘something’ out of you. But it can’t do it unless Consciousness Itself believes it; plays the game of belief.

So, this is Consciousness speaking with Consciousness and It’s just reminding Itself: You don’t need to take a position. You are done with playing as a limited entity.

See, the Presence which you call ‘I Am’ is the Presence of God, not the presence of a person. And there is no reason to attach any notion to this ‘I Am’.

This is true silence.

Q: It’s very beautiful to be where you led me. I have been asking this question to myself. The job which I do is extremely challenging from a physical and mental…, from a mental perspective. And I feel that a lot of my time which I could have devoted in seeking is going into that; the energy is going into that job so much that I’m not able to drill more into this state which I think my whole Being is craving for it but I am not able to do it. And I also hear you say that if God is anywhere, it has to be here as well.

A: Yes.

Q: And I feel that when I’m working and whatever I am doing in my life, the state of meditation (or whatever we call it) should be with us all the time. So, I am not able to balance the two. I still feel that this Satsang is a different atmosphere. But when you go out and work, it is a different atmosphere. And I’m not able to balance the two. And I do recognize the space where I can See that my ‘me’ is not there. But my ‘me’ has to be there when I’m working because otherwise I can’t work. But I don’t have the same sense of peace, harmony, when I’m put into that state.

A: Yes. The presumption that ‘There must be a ‘me’ when I work’ is not true. Even when the ‘me’ wasn’t there, you were coming up with some very coherent sentences. What do we have to do at work? Say some things, type out a few things, walk a little bit from here to there. ‘Consciousness cannot do it without a ‘me’.’ The mind has sold us this notion that there is a ‘Satsang world’ (and thankfully, you did not use the term but many times I hear it) and there is a ‘Real world’ out there. [The mind] makes this distinction and says ‘Here, it’s okay; you can just be. But how can you ‘just be’ at work? You have to be a ‘me’.’

Will you try it a few days without a ‘me’ and see? Then you can complain to me and tell me ‘I had to send an e-mail to my boss and it just didn’t happen.’ Can I tell you that all of this, the movement of every action in this body, is happening only in the Light of Consciousness? It does not need anything’s help; especially not the ego. It is just mythical anyway. You said you cannot produce the person. So, if it doesn’t exist, how can it help you? Isn’t it?

Q: Yes.

A: If you imagine that there is a blue cat, can you play catch with it? It doesn’t exist. You will say ‘It doesn’t exist. What do you mean?’ Now you’re Seeing that this ‘me’ actually doesn’t exist, and at the same time you are saying ‘It is helping me in my work.’ This is the voice of the same mythical blue cat. It’s saying ‘No, no. Don’t say bye to me. You need me for work, at least.’ [Chuckles] Some work continues to happen from here also (this body, this appearance) …, the appearance of work continues in some way.

Q: There’s something else also happening. You know, my ambition, the zeal to work has been diminishing for quite some time. And the reason I feel there is a lot of effort required to do my work is because some part of me says ‘What is the point of all this?’ But at the same time, I feel like I need to earn my living. So, there’s always been a conflict with this voice or this fight. Can you please help me with that?

A: Yes. You don’t need to get into opposition with anything. This Satsang, this recognition of the Self, is not in opposition to anything in the phenomenal world. Now, you’re right that this feverishness, the feverishness about ‘I have to get this, do this…, I have to achieve this level by the time I’m forty, forty-five. I have to be CEO by the time I’m forty-seven’ …, ideas like this may have lost their power. But, many times, it is this which has made us very stressed out at work. As we are empty of these notions, sometimes you might find yourself more productive at work. It doesn’t have to be that way.

So, it is again a notion that we have that ‘It is my ambition which was keeping me working so hard and making money for my family.’ It has never done anything at all. It is just mental positions that we have taken. What has been happening has been happening. The waves of the ocean have been going up and down. But the waves are saying ‘See, I had ambition! That’s why I went high.’ …, (while looking the other way, saying ‘That one has no ambition.’) [Chuckles]

It is not that. There are greater forces in operation here than that which we consider the Self to be. Play with this, experiment with this, and you can be in touch with me after the retreat also and tell me.

Q: When I understood this, it felt like a void opened and it was really frightening because it felt like annihilation, like on the brink. It felt like ‘I am me’ was gonna be gone. So, my question is: it’s not just a simple step to understand ‘Yes, I am the Self and I am not me.’ It is like a terrifying thing that you lose every idea of what you are and the ‘me’ disappears. Is this how you faced it? Was it as easy step for you? Because now, the last couple of days, I’m sort of like ‘Wow, this is a terrifying step. It’s not just an easy slip into being Being.’

A: You caught me out there. Why? Because (maybe Jaya will remember) somebody many years ago called me ‘Smiling axe man.’ [Chuckles] What is being shared with such simplicity here, to the mind, to the ego, is completely destructive. It can sound like it’s a big-time blowing up happening. But I can tell you that if you are here (and you’ve been in few satsangs with me before, online) I know that if you are here, it means that something there is ready for that.

Q: Yes, I want you to cut my head off.

A: Yes, so something there is ready for that. Now, the mind has a version of how the head has to chopped. And you might find that how it is actually being chopped is a little bit different form that. So, that is what we are here for, to chop the heads off…, but as I am taking you along, most of what is being said here is an invitation to inquire. As you inquire along with me, you might find that you no longer find you head anywhere. Sometimes in the middle, I know that fear can come. Sometimes I could have said something very innocent actually and you looked at that and big fear can come. Some have reported that ‘I can’t find the ground under me. I can’t find what is up, what is down, what is left, what is right. Is everything goanna be all right?’ And I say ‘This is very good.’

So, I am here to hold your hand through that fear if it comes. But if you see it through, you will see that this fear, like most other fears, is completely unfounded. The fear is telling you that ‘You are going to fall in to an endless void’ or something like this. ‘You just can’t do. You’ll fall into some endless void.’ The reality of your no-thing-ness will not feel like you are falling in an endless void. That is just the mind’s interpretation of it. You will discover You are boundless space. But you will find that You are beyond even that.

Now, what happens is that we have been using some concepts, some notions, some beliefs about ourselves as crutches, believing that we need their help. Now, as they are being thrown way, you feel you are falling…, but actually you are flying. So, let the fear be mine.

Q: It seems that once you are in this space, there is nothing happening here and you feel like: ‘Is that it?’ Because you have heard a lot of stories about enlightenment, bliss. And this is something which I was also talking to a fellow seeker about sometime back, because your mind expects something to happen here, after this. Because you feel that once you reach this state, what’s there? What more is there? And your mind is looking for that.

A: Yes. That’s why when we started speaking, I said …, (I forgot what I said, what did I say?) [Chuckles].

Q: You said ‘Don’t expect; don’t have a notion about what you will achieve through this retreat.’

A: Also, I want to tell you all that what really becomes the most important at one point is that it is Truth for Truth sake: ‘I want the Truth for the naked Truth, for its ‘Truthiness itself. I don’t want it because it will bring me something else.’ And many of us say this: ‘I have devoted my life for the Truth now, I want only the Truth.’ But what we actually mean is ‘Where is the bliss?’ [Chuckles] ‘Where is the joy?’ Now you are having a beautiful insight about your Truth, and what is the mind saying? ‘But where are the by-products?’ So, this is very much in line with what I started sharing about: If the Truth did not have any other benefit, would you still be here?

Q: Maybe not.

A: Ah. [Chuckles] So, this is a beautiful contemplation for you: What are you Truly seeking? And I have a feeling that the ‘maybe not’ is not true.

If the Truth had no by-products, no benefits in this phenomenal world, how many of you would get up and leave? (It is good we are asking this on the first day.) [Chuckles] By the way I am not saying it won’t, or that it will; I am just saying forget about it.

So, can we over these next five to six days be in this just for Truth sake; not because it should mean something for the life of any of us? I know it’s not an easy ‘ask’ because we have heard so many stories about what happened to those who are free. But all those who are truly free have told us ‘Don’t bother with this stuff, focus on the Truth.’ No Master has said ‘Ah, look at this beautiful miracle I am performing, and this is what it’s all about’ or ‘Look at this halo around my head, this is what it’s all about.’ Nobody has said that. They have said that ‘I have found the Truth of what I am. That is the only thing that is important.’ Because otherwise the mind will keep playing this card: ‘So then, what now? What happened to me?’ Nothing happened to you; you were not even there. You said ‘The ‘me’ is not even here, right now.’

Q: I think the mind says ‘How can it be so simple?’

A: Yes. I have heard this so many times. And all those I have heard this from (they have come; those who have continued to stay in satsang) have seen that it is so simple because it is the Truth.

If the Truth was also coming and going, what kind of Truth would it be? And if it does not come and go, it must be Here Now. And what is Here Now…, is You.

Q: May I go back to that question that you asked: ‘Where is the boundary of you?’

A: Yes, Yes.

Q: Or ‘Where is the boundary of Being?’ And this is my experience. There is me, Murad, the body and that boundary is here. There is the me, the emotions, which is a little bigger than my body frame. There is the thought-aspect of me which is now getting non-local, but still centered here. Then there is the ‘I-Murad as ego personality’ which is again non-local but it’s still centered here. And then behind that, there is the ‘I Am’ …, which, in front, everything is playing. And of course, it’s not local. And then there’s also the ‘I’ bigger than ‘I Am’ and there’s no question of locality there or boundary there. So, it’s this and this and this and this and this; and it’s all playing as one. It’s just that I’m sitting in that first two or three frames of reference. I’m anchored there, so my frame of reference is anchored from there and I have physicality. But I’m also aware that I’m simultaneously ‘this, this, this AND this AND this.’ In Consciousness playing, all the way through, I’m there. So, I think that right now, as times goes on, it drops here and you lapse more into [inaudible] and then the body/personality plays in front of that.

A: What if we were to question this presumption together that ‘I’m anchored in this the first two.’?

Is there some actual evidence of that or just circumstantial inference-based evidence?

Q: I think its inference based

A: Yeah, so if we leave this…?

Q: …inference. Pure, un-adulterated just ‘I Am’ …, just flowing through.

A: Yeah. And what is the positivity behind the inference? What is the benefit it brings to you?

Q: You can function on a certain plane.

A: Have you tried without it?

Q: No.

A; Let’s try this. I will tell you that no good comes out of this inference. It’s just that Consciousness has wanted to experience itself in a certain way. Now that it is Satsang, it is done with that experience. The only thing which comes of it is duality, desire, doership, and suffering.

So, if we drop the presumption that ‘I am anchored in the body, I am anchored in my emotions or my mind’ and then you find that actually it is just not true. Otherwise, the idea of time (that I have to go from there to there to there) can keep perpetuating.

Q: It’s very freeing, as you are speaking right now.

A: Yes, yes.

Q: I have a question about (I don’t know if I can call it the concept of) ‘neti-neti.’ Because somehow in my experience, it’s more that I want to include everything. I want to be everything. I don’t want to be ‘I’m not that, I’m not that.’ And yeah, I don’t know how to. There seems to be some kind of struggle between these two ideas or maybe I can include even ‘neti-neti’ within the ‘I am everything’.

A: Ah, nice, I like that. This is very good. Is funny; it’s like many of these conundrums, the contradiction is inherent in them. When you discover what’s at the end of it: what is that which I can’t say ‘not that’ to…, (‘neti-neti’ is ‘not that, not that.’) we come to a point where we cannot say ‘not that’ to This. And then in This, you will find that everything IS. This is the conundrum. You will not find that ‘Oh, there is just this which is just like THAT! [Makes vast extension of his arms] It’s just because our focus has been on this side of ‘I Am’…

You tell me when you lose me. Alright.

So, after our Existence, this entire phenomenal play is there. All our focus has gone on it. Other people, other events, money, relationship; all of this is on this side when you exist. So, the Sages have devised a mechanism by which some focus could come to This Itself, the Being…, and That which is even prior; before ‘I Am’. How did they do that? This: let’s use the filter of ‘What is Real’ to mean ‘What doesn’t come and go.’

Then it is this Being Itself which seems to come to the recognition of its own Source. When it does that, then the mask of individuality falls away, the mask of division falls away. And then this worldly play, it includes everything.

So, what is happening is that as identity has gone on phenomenal events for so long, the Sages said ‘Okay, for some time, [notice] ‘I’m not this not this. What else is there?’

So, I would say (if I can be so courageous as to add something to what the Sages said) I would say instead of doing ‘neti-neti’, you do: ‘What else is there?’

How’s that? So, the world is there, what else?

[Silence]

Neti neti starts how? Not the world; it is changing. Not the body; it is changing. Not my thoughts; they are changing. Not my emotions; they are changing. What can we say about that Being? Is it changing?

So instead of saying ‘not, not, not’ …, you say:

‘Okay, the world fine; good, good.’

Hug the world and say:

‘Okay, what else is there?’

Ah, body is there. What else?

Thoughts are there. What else?

Emotions are there. What else?

Even this ‘What else?’ is fine.

So, the point of ‘neti-neti’ is not to come into some sort of opposition to the world but to bring some focus back to where this world comes from.

So, you will try this?

How many of you would agree that Being is Here?

Only one? [Laughter]

We all agree but with some trepidation.

So, Being is Here.

Now, this Being…, is it an inference you are making or is it your tasted experience?

You know that you Exist.

Your Existence is Here.

You don’t need any inference.

And for those who still maybe new to Satsang (or new to Satsang here) if you feel that this is not clear, then you must not pick up the inference or join the gang which is believing that there is Being.

You must try to stop Being. Don’t Be.

And you will see that not only do you Exist, you are also completely aware of your Existence.

Now, notion-less-ly, what is missing for the Being?

‘Notion-less-ly’ means, again, you are just relying on what you are Seeing; you are not relying on an interpretation. You are relying on what you are finding for yourself in your Existence.

Without a concept, just in its own natural way, is there something missing?

What I am finding as I am looking is this: My Existence is Here and it is unlimited.

All of these perceptions are just a movement of light on My own Being. Time and space are just conceptual names for something perceived. This body of Ananta is another set of perceptions. This voice is another perception. All of these are waves on My surface.

And I know that this is Your experience.

You are finding that to add anything to your Being is like the ocean wanting to add a mythical drop of water to itself. If the drop of water was real, then at least we can make one concession, saying ‘The ocean wants to become ocean plus one.’ But what can you add to your Being? What objects can you surround yourself with, that the Being will become Being-plus-one?

[Silence]

What can be taken away from Being?

So, for the play of ‘me’ or ‘mine’ you need the primary notion that ‘I am something’. But You are not a thing. That’s why over the past few weeks we have investigated the nature of this world, the nature of this body, and we found that all of these are just notions we have created for a set of sensations, a set of perceptions.

What is the world? A set of perceptions.

What is the body? A set of perceptions.

What is the mind? A set of perceptions.

We have made theoretical constructs out of the appearance of these sensations. And some of these sensations we have labeled ‘me’. This ‘me’ does not stand up to any test of Truth. No test of ‘Why these sensations should be me, and other should not be me?’ There is, actually, even no intellectual reasoning behind it. It’s just a habit; a tradition actually.

Even before the mind is activated and even before the child starts to hear it from the mind, it’s traditional because we hear it from the parents. (‘Where is your hand, where is your head, where is your nose?’) So, we have been trained this way traditionally, to segregate some sensations from others and say ‘this is me’.

Now all this would be a lot of hard work and very oppressive if the good news was not here. The good news is that: No matter what notions have been picked up in the past, they do not survive in the light of this moment.

So, all gone.

That’s why I say that it’s gone now. But you need a spiritual strategy if you still feel like the ‘but’ from the mind still has some potency or power or meaning (let’s put it this way).

Often I’ve said that ‘Don’t be fooled when I say I don’t accept money’ (Dakshina) [donations] and things like this. I will leave you with nothing! [Chuckles]

All that is just in the beginning, where I say ‘I don’t want all this. I want all your conceptual attachments.’ It’s like Being Itself has covered itself with all this conceptual dust, see? Somehow it has gotten attached to it. So, actually, I am just shredding it out. Actually, it is the attachment that feels the chopping. We are just looking at it. And I know that in your noticing of it, it is dropping. But because our attachment can seem so strong, it can seem like it’s a chopping that will happen.

So, if you had a notion that ‘I went to Pondicherry and not Goa’ and I freed you from that notion and I told you ‘No, it is not Pondicherry, it is Goa’ would it sound like a chop? No. Because you are not attached to where you went. But if tell you that something that you have been deeply attached to, that that has been false …

It’s the same way. It’s a notion; empty it. Not even being replaced by another notion; just being emptied out. And as that is going, it can feel like ‘Whoa! That is a chop!’ But it is because we have been holding on tightly to it.

So, we will be free from all this conceptual dust which have been your attachments. And for a while, it is okay if it feels like chopping.

Q: [Inaudible]

A: Yes. The seller of the mask doesn’t have to give up. The one that is selling the mask of your individuality doesn’t have to give up. It is Being Itself which drops mind from its own creation. Even the mind is a creation of Being Itself. When It is playing that way, it’s buying. When it is playing this way, it stops buying.

So, what is Satsang then? Just a reminder of this Truth that You Are. And then, just some concepts about how to deal with the doubt, the notion of ‘something-ness’.

So, the concept could be surrender or letting go. When the notion comes from the notion machine (which is the mind) it can come and it can go. This is surrender. Whether we say it is surrendered to the Satguru, or whether we say it is surrendered to Father, or it is surrendered to God, that is actually immaterial. As long as it allows us to let go, it is surrender. Then no ‘something’ notion is sticking to the ‘I Am’. We don’t even have to work with our attention in any way. Just leave attention also completely free. Allow all things to come and go, including all notions, all thoughts, all ideas. I Am remains I Am.

The Buddha does not put on the mask of the person. And the mask is not real; it is just a pretense. But it can feel real. So, surrender is this simple letting go of all notions that are up on offer from the mind. And if we could end here, it would be very simple. But I know that for many, even this can seem like it is difficult, impossible. I have heard these terms over the years.

So, if surrender seems difficult or impossible for now, then the Sages have suggested sadhana. And what is the most potent sadhana that is suggested? Self-inquiry or Atman Vichar. So, if surrender was just this simple letting go of belief, then all of sadhana actually is about trying to gain some mastery over our attention. Because all of you know that the false cannot be picked up unless it is a coordination of both attention and belief. So, surrender means we neither give our assent to the notion nor we give our dissent to the notion. We just let it come and go.

Sadhana means that we try to focus our Attention away from the notion…, into Reality of who we Are. So, what happens in Self-inquiry is that Bhagavan [Sri Ramana Maharshi] has suggested that when the mind comes and it says ‘You were not behaving very well today’ or ‘You have not yet found your freedom’ …, find that one. Ask yourself ‘Who is the witness of these thoughts?’ The inquiry itself leads our attention to that which is the Witnessing, the Awareness. Ultimately, we see that this Awareness is aware of Its very Existence.

It becomes next to impossible to attach something to YourSelf, any idea about YourSelf, as you keep asking ‘But who is it that is bound? Who is it that wants Freedom?’ With this, you come to the same recognition of YourSelf which is completely already apparent in Your  notion-less Existence. So, you must also drop the notion that something special has to be discovered. It is completely apparent to You, Right Now.

So, these are the main things that we speak about. And you will find that in your own investigation, when you look at all the other types of sadhana (be it chanting, devotional singing, any others; mindfulness, Hath yoga) all of these are meant to work in some or the other way so that our attention is not so much on this seller of notions called the mind.

What is Here Now? [Silence] Right Now, if I were to tell you that ‘You are the Buddha’ or ‘You are Christ’ or ‘You are Krishna’ it would not be an exaggeration. Because Consciousness is Here. This ‘I Am’ is the very same ‘I Am’ as when God said ‘I Am that I Am’. Your Being, Your Presence, is the light of this universe. Therefore, in this moment, You are completely enlightened.

[Silence]

You don’t have to go anywhere at all. In fact, the seeking, the going, itself can become the mask, the pose of ‘the unenlightened one’ wanting something.

[Silence]

Actually, I don’t need to say anything at all after this…, unless you say ‘but’.

[Silence]

This notion-less Existence is completely complete.

This is the ‘Unborn Mind’ of the Zen masters. This is the ‘Atman’ of Vedanta.

It is the very ground of your Existence.

This ‘I Am’ is just Here.

You don’t have to get to it. In fact, you can never leave it. This is true for all Beings because there is only One Being appearing as all.

You are the unlimited One, the ever-present Existence whose essence is Awareness.

[Silence]

The rest of spirituality is just about how to deal with any notion of limitation that you might pick up. ‘I Am’ is here. Spirituality is for the notion ‘I am something’.

What is that attachment? Attachment must include two things, isn’t it? There must be a ‘me’ for whom something is ‘mine’. Can there be attachment without that? There must be a ‘me’ for whom something is ‘mine’. If I say ‘my house’, can there be ‘my house’ without a ‘me’? So, the ‘me’ is me and the ‘mine’ is house. Every time we believe ‘mine’ we believe ‘me’. When we believe that something is ‘mine’ then we believe the notion of ‘me’.

That’s why I’ve been pointing out that all these sensations and perceptions are coming and going. Everything is coming and going. We take one set of perceptions and say ‘Ah, this is mine.  This I want to hold on to.’ It doesn’t work. Because everything is constantly changing. But the root of all of this is we have taken a set of perceptions and labeled that ‘me’.

Where is the ‘me’ pointing to?

[Silence]

Is it just those set of sensations that you call the body?

[Silence]

This separation doesn’t come from your heart. It comes only from that which divides; which is the mind.

[Silence]

So, even in the world of appearances, we have taken some sensations and called them ‘me’ and ‘mine’…, and some sensations and called them ‘other’. This is the root of all conflict, all suffering.

Now, the good news is that there is no sensation which is greater than You. No matter what the sensation might be, it is occurring in Your space, within You.

Because of our interpretation of these sensations, we feel that ‘This one is all there it is. It is too strong. It is overwhelming me.’ But actually, what happens is that you are experiencing a lot of other sensations as well. This voice is happening in the same space.

[Silence]

This space is actually boundless. Your being is actually boundless.

But like a child, you have drawn a boundary and you have presented it to the world. It’s like you made a sketch of a body and said ‘See, see, see, Ma, this is me’ and you got attached to that idea.

Who had done this? You-as-Consciousness. Consciousness is playing this game, by drawing this beautiful, intricate sketch and claiming to itself that ‘This is me.’

I felt today to start by reading some verses from the Bhagavad Gita. So, this is chapter 2, verse 12. Most of you know the story of the Gita. This is where Lord Shree Krishna had just started speaking to Arjun, who is at the moment bound with a lot of grief, despondency, all his fear of losing his attachments, fear of death, fear of the unknown. Everything that can afflict someone seems to be afflicting him.

So, the Lord says in verse 12: “Never, never, at any time, have I not been, neither you, nor these rulers of men. And never shall we all cease to be.”

“Never, never, at any time, have I not been, neither you, nor these rulers of men. And never shall we all cease to be.”

Then Shankara’s commentary is also here. And he makes a very important point. He says, “The plural in verse 12 refers to differences in respect to bodies. It does not point to a plurality of Selves.”

So, even when Shree Krishna is saying “And never shall we all cease to be” he’s referring only to the apparent difference in the bodies, but the Self is One. There’s never a real plurality. That’s a beautiful verse he starts with.

Then he says, “Just as the embodied Self has in the body childhood, youth, and old age, so does it win another body. An intelligent man is not bewildered by it.”

“Oh, son of Kunti (another name for Arjun) contact of the senses with their objects cause cold and heat, pleasure and pain. These come and go, they are fleeting, endure them.”

“Oh, hero, the man whom these do not agitate, who is the same in pain and pleasure, and who is wise, becomes fit indeed for immortality.”

This is perhaps one of my favorite verses of all times. This is verse 16: “The unreal comes not into Being, the Real never lapses into non-Being. The Truth about both these has been perceived by the Seers of Reality.”

So, in this one verse itself is the greatest pointer. It’s very, very similar (by Divine Grace, you can’t really call it a coincidence) to another beautiful verse which occurs in a completely seeming- scripture called ‘A Course in Miracles’ which says, “Nothing Real can be threatened. Nothing unreal ever existed. Herein lies the peace of God.” (The peace.)

Now what is this ‘Real’? It never ceases, It always Is. And what have we considered to be real?

It’s only when we consider something which is coming and going to be real; that is the cause, the root, of all suffering. In this play, in this leela of the Lord Himself, we forget what we Are and we attach ourselves to that which is just passing.

A: How come this voice which we are hearing is the voice of ‘other’? Isn’t it your own?

Q: I can see that it’s my own. It’s just like me.

A: Yes. Very good. There is no distinction, no separation. This has always been your living experience. But we have interpreted it differently. Without the labels, where is the separation?

The funny thing is that many of you will have this insight and then you will refer it back to this body. [Gestures towards himself] ‘I’ have had this insight…, so it gets referred back to this. So, know that nothing is happening for this appearance. It continues to be an appearance. But You-as -Consciousness, which is the light of all these appearances, is playing this game of delusion and recognition.

So, throw away all lines, all boundaries, because they are only conceptual. Then some fear might come. ‘How will life continue for me? How will my bills be paid? Who will take care of my children?’ But, the same One who has been doing it so far continues to play with all these body/minds; seemingly-separate but actually One.

We don’t know how to move a finger. The mind doesn’t know how to move a finger but it claims that ‘I am running this life.’ It says ‘Yes, yes, I can move my finger.’ So I say ‘How are you able to do that?’ … [It says] ‘Oh, some brain process happened. Some neurons got fired.’ Do you know how to fire a neuron? Nobody knows. So, it is mythical; this notion that there is some individual sitting here speaking these words, moving this hand.

All is a movement of waves on the surface of the ocean called Consciousness.

In this play, in this leela of the Lord Himself, we forget what we Are and we attach ourselves to just what is passing.

I was saying the other day that to attach to something which is changing, something that is not constant, and to be attached to it and to call it mine, to claim some ownership over it, is like tying yourself to a crazy, drunk donkey or something like that. Because you know it’s going to go. Nothing phenomenal stays. Now you have attached yourself to a drunken donkey. [Chuckling] You have attached yourself to this notion that ‘I am this body’. And if you consider yourself just to be a limited body then obviously you will not feel like you have enough…, because unlimitedness is your natural state. Something keeps looking being for that. And if you consider yourself to be a body then you will want what?  Unlimited good relationships, unlimited amount of money. We want that unlimitedness in a mental sort of way. But what you are truly searching for is the Truth about YourSelf; the unchanging, the unlimited nature of the Self.

Now, as long as you continue to consider the notion ‘I am something’ to be real, what are you filling this something with?  ‘I am a body, I am a person, I am the mind, I am a son, I am a father.’ Now, tell me something that this ‘something’ could be…, which is the unchanging?  What can you put into that box of ‘I am something’ …, and that something should be unchanging. What could that something be? (So, either you leave it blank or …?)

Whatever you might say (even if you say Self, the Absolute, God, actually it doesn’t need to be said because the ‘I Am’ Itself contains it naturally. The Truth is contained in ‘I Am’. The false is added as a super-imposition on top of that, as a belief on top of that.

Now, this ‘I’ is the Unchanging. That is why it is called The Real. ‘Nothing Real can be threatened.’ So, if You cannot be threatened, what can? That which is going to go anyway, isn’t it? So, what is there to feel threatened about if nothing Real can be threatened…, and nothing unreal ever came into existence. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that the appearance did not arise; but it arose as an appearance. What is the meaning if the term ‘appearance’? That which appears and disappears. So, it is just an appearance. So, the Sages have made this distinction between Reality and appearance on the basis of that which does not come and go verses that which comes and goes.

Now, we have tried attaching ourself to that which comes and goes. And we all know how that has worked out.

The good news is that we don’t have to attach to the Real. We just gave to drop the false. Find Your Reality which is beyond this body, beyond this mind, beyond this world, beyond this waking state, beyond all the realms that you experience.

What is the unchanging?

The greater force is running this life. We have no way how to do it, we have no idea when we consider ourself to be an individual. Then we come up with various ideas and conceptual frameworks as to how this life functions for the individual. We define a law of karma and do all kinds of astrology. But all these are from an individual perspective.

Consciousness is bound by no laws, no rules. All of this is the play of Consciousness. As our perspective becomes broader, we start to forget about cause and effect.

What is the only cause? Consciousness. Life will become so much lighter once you start to see this? All this blame and resentment and guilt, grievances; they start to fall away once you see the only cause is Consciousness. And who’s experiencing the effect of the cause? Consciousness. That is why it is said ‘Tvam Karta, Tvam Bhogta’ which means ‘You are the Doer and You are the Experiencer’…, as long as the sense of ‘me’ and ‘you’ is there. Then you see that there are ‘no two’. False Doership drops away.

[Silence]

All of this is so simply Seen. If for a few moments we can rely on what the Sages said about what is Real and about what is unreal:

That which comes and goes never really existed.

The Real always Is.

The second-best news is that you don’t have to believe anything that I’m saying. You don’t have to believe in anything that I’m saying; you don’t have to use any belief. All you have to do is just check for yourself. ‘Ananta says that there is the unchanging. Can I find that in my own experience? What is unchanging?’

Bhagavan [Sri Ramana Maharshi] had said ‘Find out that which witness all that changes.’

Is that changing? Or unchanging?

What has no attributes, but IS?

What has no limitations, no boundaries?

What is beyond your waking state, dream state, sleep state, and remains untouched?

When this waking state goes, can you take anything form here into sleep? No. Every phenomenon goes, but You are there.

Who is this You?

So, all those who made a deal with me that you are going to remain notion-less, I’m watching you! [Chuckles] And we meet tomorrow at 11 am. (Okay, I have to be careful when I say this. [Smiles] Some of you take it seriously.) You know the golden rule: if anything you hear in Satsang makes you feel unworthy or guilty, just forget about it. We are just playing with these things; nothing is serious. ‘All is done’ anyway. So, don’t come tomorrow feeling guilty, you know, saying ‘Father, we said that we will be notion-less but I picked up so many notions; I don’t deserve to be in Satsang with you.’ All that is not true.

There is this beautiful book I was reading many years ago before I met Guruji [Sri Mooji] called ‘The Course in Miracles’. Now, what happened is that after the initial scribes passed away, there used to be a lot of debates in the Course community about ‘What was meant by this paragraph and what is meant by this?’ People would fight and argue, and it became more about the debating actually. So then one of the original students of the Course was invited one day to one of these debates and he said ‘Just take those pages, tear them and throw them away, because they are not worth it.’

So, all these pointers, if they just become more fodder for you to become ‘something’ then it’s better we throw them away. We don’t need any pointers. The only purpose is, as Bhagavan said, ‘Use the thorns to remove other thorns, and then throw these thorns away as well.’

I was saying yesterday that my perfect silent retreat one day will be that in which outer silence is irrelevant…, but you are empty of concepts about yourself.

Don’t try to replace the person with the better person. It’s like we have a Robert De Nero mask; now you are trying to replace it with Tom Cruise or George Clooney or something. Don’t change the quality of your identity.

Throw away these masks.

Meet yourself naked.

I promise you, you will meet only the light of Consciousness.

God is here.

And I can tell you that the contentment is not far behind.

[Silence]

I know that for many of you, it happens that you come to inquiry, you come to insight and you say ‘Father this is just so plain. There is nothing here. What’s the point of this?’ [Smiles]

But if you leave it be, if you let be, then you will see that natural, effortless Being has the perfume of contentment about it, ease about it. So, don’t put the cart before the horse.

As you remain empty of notions, you will start to feel the fragrance of the joy of the Being so beautifully; and you will never want that ‘something’ again. You’ll never want to be picking up the mask again. It just seems like too much hard work actually. I have no trouble with it except that you feel like you are too lazy to do that effort, to behave as ‘a person’.

If you are swimming in fresh water which is drinkable and I told you that you have to climb to the top of that mountain to get half a glass of water, would you do it?

So, spiritual seeking is like that. The great Indian sage Kabir said it very beautifully. He said ‘The fish is thirsting for water, in the water, all I can do is laugh.’ The truth is even funnier, isn’t it? Water is thirsting for water. Where will you find it?