Are You Empty All of the Time or Are You Praying All of the Time? - 20th March 2024

Yeah, fight thoughts.

You see, some narrative has to start, some story has to be created for that to the appearance of these sensations to feel like a turmoil, see. All that has to start. Also, as we remain in God's presence, most of these emotional appearances don't seem that heavy and difficult. So although... so we already must be in a fertile territory for this sort of emotional upheaval to seem like a turmoil. Fertile territory in the moment, I mean, you in the moment we must be getting ready to engage where... but just disengage with the world. Disengage with the world means your own circumstances, your own thoughts, your own emotions. Allow them to come and go, but you stay engaged with the presence of God.

And from time to time it may seem like a fight. So if you go to a doctor or a dietician, the dietician has said, 'Don't eat chocolate cake.' After one week you come to the dietician appointment and you say, 'Please help me, I've eaten a lot of chocolate cake.' The dietician will say, 'Don't do that.' So this dietician is going to tell you that only consume the diet of God's love. Nothing is missing in that. I think there is no problem in that, and stay in that all the time. For the emotion to cause turmoil, yes, for the emotion to be tasted, maybe not. Yeah, you can taste all perception, but for it to become a thing, there has to be belief in a thought. Yeah, yeah.

On we have our translator from last... so behind all these layers of perception, all that we perceive, all that we are seeing through our eyes, are thinking in our mind, are feeling as our emotions—behind all of this, according to the mind, there is nothing. According to the mind, there is nothing. But actually His presence, His light, His love lives there. And if you don't live a life where His presence, His love, His light is discovered, then that is not a worthwhile life at all. So the very purpose of our existence is to live in His light, live in His presence.

Now if you say, for example, that 'I don't know how to find that presence,' then you must follow the presence of unconditional love. Find that love in your heart and remain with that till that love itself leads you to its source, to where it is coming from, who is there. That is the presence of your Atma. That Atma is not a human presence; it is the holy presence of God itself. So we must enter within our heart. And if the intention is to find God in this way, to come to Atma Gyan, to come to Atma Darshan, then the methods will show up, see. Nobody loses out because they don't have the right method. There are enough methods that God has given all of us to be able to come to His light. So we must intend to live in His light firstly. We must intend to love Him, to remember Him.

And if that intention is true, then the method will come. And once the method comes, we must apply it. So the intention I'm trying to create in you by telling you that there is a better way to live. Our mental way to live, our egoic way to live, is not the right way to live. And I'm showing you, hopefully in words and by example, that there is a different way to live. It is possible to live in His light. So I'm trying to light up that intention within yourself, light up that possibility within yourself, because most of our brothers and sisters in the world, they don't feel like it is possible at all for them. They feel like that is too far-fetched, too difficult.

So I'm here to show you that if it can happen to a foolish one like this one, why can it not happen for you? It will happen. So you must first carry that intention. Then what happens? Then you say, 'Okay, I do want this more than anything else. I want to come to His Darshan, I want to come to Atma Gyan. What should I do?' So all those methods have been given to you. You have the inquiry, you have the Atma Darshan samadhi, you can chant, you can pray, you can really contemplate the words of Satsang, and using all of this, you can come to His light.

So once the method is given to you, then you must latch on to it with everything that you have, because you are not hostage anymore to your life or to your mind. So you must latch on to it with all your mind. You must say, 'I want to remain open and empty.' And I really try to remain open and empty. It is not happening then because just by itself, open and empty is not happening. We are not able to live in the unborn. So I'm trying to do the prayer all the time, all the time. Then you say that, 'Okay, but at work there are too many distractions. I have to do meetings and I have to do my computer work and all of that work, so then I can't do the full prayer.' Then can you do the Ram Mantra at the end? Can you do Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram? We can do. Nobody here has access to some nuclear codes or something. Our work is not that important that we can't remember God.

So use that. Suppose you say, 'No, it is full intensity, all my attention needs to be on it.' Then can you not remain with the presence of love? Can you not remain with His presence in your heart while the external continues to move in its own way? You can. And just like this, small steps every day. Small steps, you see, and your life will transform before you know it. It will seem like you left your old house and you shifted to your new house, which is in the presence of God, which is His light. Faith, humility, patience, courage—we need all of these things, but they will come to us because the fire to be with Him is so strong, you see. That is the difference.

So if your desire is to serve yourself, then all these things won't come because there is no fire for the truth there. If it's a self-serving light, then you will use all the egoic material you have at your disposal, but you will not gain access to the Godly support that you can access, the Divine support that you can access through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Atma within. That will not be available to us if our intention is egoic. That's why it's very important for this to be God for God's sake, Truth for Truth's sake. And if your intention is for God, if your love is for God, then all support will come. All that support will come, all the help will come. It is not possible that you will be left abandoned.

But having said that, it may seem like for a while every moment of your life becomes a leap of faith, see. Because you don't know where this is going, you don't know if you're making the right decisions, you don't know if you're coming to freedom, you don't know a lot of this. But you just have to trust that you will not be abandoned by Him if you truly turn to Him. Just have to have that trust. So I'm here to interview on His behalf in that way, because you are thinking that the world is very important, and the things here are very important, and the relationships here are very important, and the feelings here are very important. But you're neglecting that which is the only important. And I'm here to remind you of that: don't forget His presence within yourself. Don't forget that He's a reality, He is not a work of fiction. I'm here to tell you that He is not a conceptual notion. He is the only living being, which means that if you consider yourself to be living, you see, He is the one that is the life. You have no other life except Him. You don't have a life independent of Him. He is the giver of life.

So our spiritual life must become unceasing. Spirituality must be unceasing, not a refuge that we go to when we are in trouble. Not just that—of course we can go there—but not just a refuge we go to when we are in trouble. We must move bag and baggage here in our heart, must live here, you see. What stops you from living there? And don't you have the methods and the tools to let go of the false one in your head? You have inquiry, you have prayer, you have chanting, you have the invitation, you have fresh-fresh, you have open and empty. You have every tool possible. But I cannot help you if you want the false, and then when you get in trouble, then you want to run to the truth. If you want the truth, then all this is available to you and your heart will guide you. Your heart will teach you how to inquire, your heart will teach you how to pray, your heart will chant on your behalf if you can just surrender to that. The prayer will drop from your head to your heart and the unceasing prayer, the Nirantar Japa, will go on.

But the trouble is many of you are expecting the switch over to be... 'Oh yeah, I want God.' But for years and maybe lifetimes we have wanted ego, we have wanted pride. Now, in His grace, of course everything is possible, but if the instant you turned to God you could get Him fully, then most likely our egoic pride would take over that 'I'm so special, people struggle for so long, you see, and I just turned to Him and I got Him.' Then we'll become so proud, it'll again become about me. So in the process, usually the pride, the selfishness is squeezed out of us, squeezed out of us, and that can seem uncomfortable. But you must not let go. That is why Satsang happens so often, to remind you that your true home, your true life is not this. There's another place where you are actually living from. From that place, this world just looks like a play of light and sound without the egoic tentacles that we attach to in the world. Just light entertainment, a light and sound show which is presented every day, every moment.

But if you forget where your true home is, then this can seem like the world of suffering. If you remain in your true home, then there is no suffering possible. It's not possible to suffer when He is holding your hand. The presence of Atma, which by the way, the presence of Atma is the presence of Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah—is He. It is His presence if you...

Without the egoic tentacles that we attached to in the world, it is just light entertainment—a light and sound show which is presented every day, every moment. But if you forget where your true home is, then this can seem like the world of suffering. If you remain in your true home, then there is no suffering possible. It's not possible to suffer when He is holding your hand. The presence of Atma—which, by the way, the presence of Atma is the presence of Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah—it is His presence. If you are with Him, what will happen to you? What can happen? Now, after having heard all this, tell me: what else can you want? If you can be with Him, if you can love Him and He can love you, what are we worried about? What else can we want?

So, is there an inner skeptic in our head which we are buying, which is saying, 'All this is fine, but I don't believe it. It's not going to happen'? Is it like that? Say you don't need... 'I just know so much about God, I have so many beliefs, but it's all... there's no point to it.' Yes. So, are you empty all the time or are you praying all the time? Yes, that you have to do. It's okay. It still doesn't matter. Nothing else matters. Are you empty all the time or are you praying all the time? That is the time to just... we have to catch the bull by its horns now. See, otherwise the mind can keep taking us for these rides. And you know, this happens, and I see. So today it's coming to say to all of you that just be empty for God, open for God, or just praying to God all the time. Are you empty all the time or praying all the time? They do that, huh? Okay.

See, what do you think? Can I still want God all the time and can these things still come? Don't worry. Are you empty all the time? Why are you praying all the time? Don't resolve things at the level of the mind. Don't understand anything. Make yourself fully available for God. If I said to you, 'In the next ten minutes Krishna will come,' ten minutes Krishna will come, but for that you have to be either fully empty or fully praying to Him, would you do it? Now I tell you that that ten minutes I've said is too much. If you pray with full trust and faith, you'll see that He is here. The thing that gets... now He is down. Have you all not had enough of the merry-go-round? Yes, this happened, then this happened, then this happened. When will be the time to fully commit to God? What is that holy mahurat, you say, to fully, fully commit to God? It doesn't matter what happens in my life; my life is for God now.

What is missing now? Methods? You know, intention is there. Intention is there. Or how many want to juggle? Trust me, don't try to juggle because you will learn either this way by listening to me or the hard way by getting beaten up in life. It just doesn't work. And sooner or later, with this lifetime or next or next or next, you will let go of that intention to have a bit of this and bit of that. So, unceasing devotion to God in the form of our sheer emptiness, or conceptual emptiness, or our Bhakti devotion at His feet. And it's not that both are mutually exclusive. Your heart will guide you moment to moment. Now, is the method set out for all of you? That's very important.

So, one problem that may come is that many of you are still struggling, trying to figure out what is the right prayer, what is the right aspect of God you can pray to. All of that, but I'm telling you that that is secondary. That is secondary. So, one day it will seem like you want to do 'Ram, Ram, Ram,' next day you want to do 'Om Namah Shivaya.' It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's just been a short amount of time. If you have this problem after two or three years, then we can talk about it and say, 'Okay, if you're just going on switching for the next two years, then it's something to worry about.' Right now, just turn to Him. So sometimes if you feel like doing Ram, Shiva, Jesus, Allah, Krishna, whatever you feel like doing, just first get yourself away from your mind into Him. Then all that will be resolved.

So, how many of you feel like you can do the full ADS prayer constantly throughout the day, and how many of you struggle with the full one?

In the morning I can do the ADS, but as the day goes on, then I can do just 'Ram, Ram.' Yeah, that's much easier than...

See, yes, but you have to make it difficult, not easy. Consistent, insistent to do it. All I ask... I'm so happy to hear that. The mind resists it and finds the path of least resistance where it just becomes a tick in the box; it doesn't remain a prayer anymore. This wants to have something which can feel... it can feel like 'I'm being spiritual.' So I took that example of the son. You go to his room and he's not paying attention to you because you walk in and everything you say, he goes, 'Yeah, yeah.' She's like, 'But I'm listening.' I'm saying, but you know that that full value, that full honor, that full devotion is not there.

As opposed to whatever space life has made for us, why give the minimum of that? Whatever space life has made for God, we should give the maximum of that. I'm not saying don't make space for anything else. We all have families, most of us have jobs; all those things are there, you see. But in that circumstance, why should we do the minimum and not the maximum? See, that is the question. So once your attitude changes, once it becomes... and it's very natural that it seems so easy, I can just go... see? And I took that example of bicep curls with momentum versus without momentum.

So if you're in the middle of some very important work, your attention is needed, you're presenting some spreadsheet, something is happening, see, and in the midst of that you remember God and you're saying 'Ram' inside or outside, I don't know, then that's beautiful. It's beautiful and that's commendable. I'll just finish this point. But if there is space—you're just like watching a movie or something like that which is not so important, you see, just doing something which is not so compelling or doesn't need so much of your attention—then why can we not say, 'Lord Ram, incarnation of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, bless my heart with the light of Atma. Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram'? So why can we not say it?

Can't hear...

Yes, yes, yes. There are levels to that. So it can be mechanical but full. It can be full and heartfelt. It can be the heart itself doing ajapa; the heart itself is chanting and you're just enjoying the flavor of it emerging from your heart. So all these layers are there. What I'm saying is that let's put our best foot forward for God. See, with everything, like we will put our best foot forward for work, we will put our best foot forward in relationships, we will do all of that. Then why should we give just the lowest possible feel-good approach to say, 'Huh, at least...'? See, that is not true devotion. Of course, it will still have benefit, it'll still help, it'll still bring us closer, but I'm pushing you to become fully committed in your heart. Fully committed.

Suppose there are times where you are doing something, and then many times during my work day also where I'm doing something and I don't have the full focus to say the full prayer, see, then we can... and then that work can go on.

When life is flowing, I am with God. Thank you. In every movement, you're empty, I'm empty.

Yes, that's fine. But don't fool yourself about it in the sense that it's very easy for the mind to come and say, 'But I'm just empty, I'm just empty.' So you have to be very observant. You have to be vigilant to see whether you're really empty or is it just every minute, every few seconds, the mind is offering you some idea, but because it's not impeding yet, we are not tasting the suffering of that. That's why it may seem like we're just empty. To escape this, the mind will sometimes just make this escape route saying, 'But I'm just empty all the time.' But observe, you see, because if you're empty all the time, then it's not long before His perfume, His love, His presence... your life will seem like His temple if you're really empty. If you're living in the unborn, see, you will walk into this room and I'll be drawn to your perfume just so much. Empty for God. So you have to be quite observant to not fall for any tricks of Maya and make sure that you return to that emptiness through your inquiry or return to that devotion to your heart, to the Atma within, through your devotion, through your prayer.

Sometimes when doing the ADS, it's full heart, and then somewhere it slips into some thought comes and the ADS is happening mechanically and the thought is happening. So when we realize that, just to go back to the ADS?

Just go back. That's what we can do. Just go back.

So what can happen is to feel like the chanting itself will tell you what is to be done. It is not the other way, 'I have this work to do, so then I'm not...' It should not be that way. Exactly. The chanting should be the only thing that is. Yes, everything else can get... exactly. You don't have to say, 'I have to do this now, do that.' Exactly. That's what is happening. Very, very important. I realize that if I'm truly open, it will happen. Yes. It is not going to be so difficult for me to keep going in other areas, not having the force in which is happening now. Sometimes I'm like you said, all these different levels I taste during the day. But if I was really... I was so fooled. I felt like there was no suffering happening, but suffering was happening so much, but I was going like I didn't even notice it.

Very good. And they start noticing with subtlety all of these things. They start noticing the simple tricks of the mind, how it takes us away from our devotion, from our love. There will be times, and you will know in your heart when it's happening like that, you would have prayed and then you just feel so much love. It's like the world dissolves and you're just in His presence, full of love. The inner sanctum of the heart temple, it's full of so much grace and light and joy. So if you're truly open and empty all the time, then this should be very natural, that you're just basically living in Samadhi, living in this sort of Sahaja state. That's very, very rare, and I of course bless you all that it does happen that way. But don't let your mind fool you. And if you're truly empty, then there is no problem in japa and chanting and inquiry, and you realize that both are not exclusive of each other.

It's the one that says, 'I don't need...'

Yes. So then if that is being believed, then we are not open in it.

Yes. I notice when I'm distracted in all my joys, it brings me to distraction. Then I start to see problem or unpleasantness comes up and, 'Oh, go back to the...' I mean, it's good that the slightest poke should bring us back to our heart. Don't wait for it to become a big nudge, and then don't wait for the nudge to become a big push, and don't wait for the push to become a big slap.

If the dietician said, 'Now take the chocolate,' and you're telling us not to go with the nudge, and you're saying not to go with the nudge... so if I've eaten the chocolate cake, the dietician will say not to eat the chocolate cake the next time. So I'm just wanting to clarify that if I bought the thought, I sinned or I've gone with it, next time just not to do it again. Because the mind is making this fight, it's making a very big war out of it, and it's not. It's just as simple as: leave both sides, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Whenever the war is happening, you leave that, you go to Krishna. And what's happening is the second punch is coming, that 'I sinned so much, I should...' Is this the third punch? First punch: something, something. Second punch: 'You should not have done that.' Third punch: 'Oh, now this is what's happening.' The second punch is going like that. Could that be the third punch? Like mirror, mirror, mirror. It doesn't end.

We just have to somewhere... lots of punches coming for the fourth punch. Just don't. Of course. See, because in any of this, it is just taking time away from God. You see, what will we resolve? What answer will we get? Ultimately, that answer has to mean: go to God in whichever way we will accept that. So remember that this battle is about time, and the mind will have tricks and tricks and tricks.

This is what's happening. The second punch is going like that. Could that be the third punch? Like mirror, mirror, mirror—it doesn't end. We just have to somewhere, like lots are coming for the fourth punch, just don't. Of course, see, because in any of this, it is just taking time away from God. You see, what will we resolve? What answer will we get? Ultimately, that answer has to mean: go to God. In whichever way we will accept that. So remember that this battle is about time, and the mind will have tricks and tricks and tricks and tricks up its sleeve to take away time from you. Yeah, all of us are learning this.

Everything, as we are changing—what are we changing? Everything. It can just constantly be about me. God is always... even you can imagine God is in that trick. This is the thing. That's why that Kabir Ji's statement of Maya is very important, because in the best intentions, it will hide. In the seeming devotion, it will hide. See, even the simple thing like she said, 'But I'm chanting Ram, Ram, Ram. I'm doing it now.' See, but are you full-hearted? Are you giving it to all? See, do you mean it? Mind will say, 'No, no, but that's already good.' It is good, but not enough, maybe. All depends on the circumstances that He's put us in. If He's given us a life with full space, or He's given us this moment with full space to remember Him, then what better use of time is there?

A few weeks ago, I didn't realize this, that I was able to... it was constant. Even doing, just keep going. That this I can't do right now, because the last week that I've struggled, I've tried so much to... tried so much to... it's not like that. And earlier, like there was a prayer that, you know, that I can... it was almost like, 'Can't touch, cannot make me...'

This, yeah. Something. Give it all that you can, but depend on His... huh? Depend on His.

It is exactly like... I also see that without His grace, it's... I feel like it goes hand in hand somewhere. That's also not so... even that I'm putting the effort only because it's His.

That yes, but also that He must put in all the effort. But never become self-reliant in the sense of reliance on the fact that we've done this. In a way, what she's saying: 'But now I can pray like this' or 'Now I've improved' or this. Never become self-reliant. So, all effort, all surrender to God. This is full responsibility and full surrender at the same time. It's possible. It sounds weird to the mind. It's possible, like in conjunction: effort and His mercy.

Exactly. Till now, only giving... I was only giving the minimum. Only after you kind of brought that out, I feel like I want to...

You have to give the answer heart. It's like you're sitting there and you're presenting your heart to God every moment. You see, every moment you're making the full presentation of your full life to Him. So this thing is coming to say... so, some of us have taken job interviews, have participated in interviews. How we present our best foot forward: this also, this also, this also. But when we are making the application to God: 'Find, give us a home at Your feet, Ram.' It is beautiful. See, it's beautiful at some level when your life is all over the place, it is helter-skelter, and you still find the space to say one 'Ram.' That is beautiful. But if God has created so much space for you for your devotion in this life, then we must not short-change it. Full, full, full. I'm fully Yours, fully Yours, God. I'm fully Yours. Do with me what You will. Give me how You will.

Does whatever level... how much able to only... like He shows you like so many times, just a small that to Him, you know? And I apologize because in that prayer, I'm half—not even, maybe even like minuscule-heartedly—and my attention is elsewhere. And it's so shameful that... it's so shameful. Like He shows me, not in that way, but yes, I know what I'm playing to Him, but He just... just loves. He does.

So sometimes we will feel this way about ourselves. So if you remember the Satsang with Hanuman Prasad Poddar Ji, where somebody asked him a question saying, 'Why did great sages like Tulsidas Ji, like Surdas Ji, say that they are the biggest sinners, that their sin is beyond compare? How would they say like that, but they were such great sages?' So he said, 'Because their whole benchmark changes.' See, the benchmark changes. And you notice that if every moment of your time can be spent giving yourself to God, and you give ten moments to just some stupid idea in your head, that can seem like a big stupidity, a big foolishness. So it's the benchmark that keeps changing. It's not that there were some closet thieves or something like that, just that they noticed the sensitivity towards the human condition, and the foolishness inherent in that just keeps growing more and more. You see?

Realize that... that's why I keep warning you against these things. The mind will present a theme for the day. They say, 'Today you worry about this, today you worry about that.' And the same old stuff: money, relationship, body, the search for meaning. This same thing today, but it'll find something. What is your theme for the day? Everyone, you are allowed to have one.

I don't have a theme. I mean, it gets even more... like even like she was saying, even... I'm just going to say it. So it just attacks God directly and just says, 'Are you mad? I mean, what the heck are you doing? Why are you going on this God, God? Can you just...' It's like shrieking, 'Stop it, stop!'

So we have to take a call saying which one of the two is mad, because one of the two voices is mad. So the only voice of sanity is the voice of the Atma within, see? But to the voice of the madness, that will sound like mad. So this not-pushy-sounding voice in our heart we must come to accept, and our mind will fight that with all its might, saying that this is just madness. But we must withdraw allegiance from that, because that makes all the struggle happen. I really do see that all the struggle happens from that. And sometimes it's so blatantly ridiculous that you can laugh. Sometimes it's really subtle in ways of pride and entitlement, and then you tend to go believe that. But it's... I mean, if you keep churning it, you do. Then some grace comes. It may take Him sometimes two days, you see, the cause of that disturbance. And in the second that you see it, it just kind of like... it's like sun comes out of it, dispelled completely.

But so, the method is clear for all of you. And some of you will just, maybe now because you will feel outnumbered or something, you may not temperamentally... something may not resonate with prayer at all, see? And so then you must use the inquiry. You must use the inquiry. Must ask yourself sincerely, 'Who am I?' Remain open and empty. Use the fresh, fresh, open and empty. Use Guruji's sticks thing. They are all leading you to the same no-mind. And that no-mind will pull you in the heart, and all this that we are speaking of soon will not seem that alien or may not seem that difficult.

So every few minutes, if you find yourself getting caught in the mind, first you have to notice. If you don't notice and you just buy what the mind is saying, then the mind will tell you you're the sage of all sages, you are the Maharaj Sage, see? But then, then don't waste your life in those delusions. Don't give your life to those illusions. At least let your Master confirm that to you. Let him come and confirm to you. Don't just buy something in your head that it'll present. See, the mind will always have its alternative version tailor-made for you. It'll say, 'But for me, this is like that. For me, I feel this like that.' You see something, but it keeps you stuck using all those things.

So I feel like this is very useful that came today: either we are empty all the time or we are praying all the time. The rest is just excuses. The rest is just Maya. It doesn't mean we accomplish it; I just mean that that is our intention. That is our intention.

Or self-inquiry?

Or self-inquiry, yes, yes. But self-inquiry is how we become empty. Like, what is the purpose of self-inquiry? You ask yourself, 'Who am I?' You see, so that... not so that you think about it, isn't it? You ask yourself, 'Who am I?' not so that you think about it. 'Am I a snake, a giraffe, or a butterfly?' You're not. That is not the process of inquiry. You throw the grenade in, basically, see? And it just cleans up everything, and you remain in that empty. Your intuition flowers so much that the truth of who you are comes to the surface of recognition. So that is self-inquiry. So self-inquiry is so that we can remain empty, you see?

So you will realize that whether it is 'Who am I?' and you go to your intuition, or your japa becomes an ajapa-japa where the 'Ram, Ram' is coming from your intuition—both are exactly the same. Both are exactly the same. Whether you ask yourself 'Who am I?' and it may not seem like your physical heart, although for most of us it will, even with inquiry... for some of you it may just seem like a global emptiness, see? But for most of us, there will be like a gravitational pull from the core of our being in our heart, and we learn to rest there.

So whether it is you're contemplating the words of Satsang—so you heard them, then you were just mulling over them, and then it drops into your heart and that contemplation becomes heartfelt, see? And the truth is revealed to you in your heart, see? So these are called intuitive insights. Or whether you are saying the prayer and you find that the prayer has dropped into your heart and your intuition itself is chanting the prayer now, your heart itself is chanting the prayer now—it's exactly the same. So it's literally like what they say about the rivers going towards the same ocean. The ocean is the Atma within.

That question which you made us ask, that 'How do you know it's you?'—that brings you back into...

Any questions which are useful in Satsang are useful because they are only possible to answer intuitively. The point is to drop into our intuition, our heart, you see? There the love will flower, there the presence will become apparent, there you will feel like, 'Why would I ever leave this? It's so alive and joyful and fragrant and loving.' Why would you leave this place? So whether you get there as a Jnana Yogi asking yourself, 'What is my true nature? What is the nature of reality? Who am I? Was I born? Will I die?'—any of these questions—'Am I aware now? Can I stop being?'—any of these questions—or by remembering God, by taking His name, the fruit is the same: the switchover from the way of the head to the way of the heart.

So some of you want to come up, you can come. Also, one question I'll answer before we do that, which is that: 'Father, can we be empty and still pray?' Yes, because your heart loves to pray. And through prayer, your prayer is deepened when it becomes like that, when you're just noticing that your heart is praying. Your heart, trust me, your heart loves to pray. Don't get into any notion that the heart is always silent or something like that. It loves to sing praises to God. It loves to pray. It loves to guide you, loves to reassure. And you notice as you go on that the home of the prayer becomes your heart itself. So when you are praying in this way, or you're contemplating a question of self-inquiry, empty in the head—or it could be even a Zen koan for that matter—and you're truly contemplating in your heart, then both are the same because you've come to the right place where your home is, where you belong. And I'm not going to leave you. You can decide to leave, of course, but I'm not going to leave you till I make you shift your home. Till you don't leave your home here for the home here, I'm not going to leave you. Okay, some of you want to come. So first Kesha, then Karan.

Hi, Father.

Hello.

I just... I really felt I needed to come up today and talk to you in person. And especially since some nervousness has arisen, I thought, 'Well, you really need to come up now.'

Good, good, good.

So, the past few weeks I've been praying a lot, you know, like sitting in the mornings and with Guruji's new instruction to sit for fifteen minutes in the morning. And in the litany prayer I was saying every morning, and beads of course, and just chanting the name of God and things like that. And last Satsang when you spoke, I don't know, there was pride hiding in my question about...

Especially since some nervousness has arisen, I thought, well, you really need to come up now. Good, good, good. So, the past few weeks I've been praying a lot, you know, like sitting in the mornings and with Guruji's new instruction to sit for 15 minutes in the morning. And in the litany prayer I was saying every morning, and ads of course, and just chanting the name of God and things like that. And last Satsang when you spoke, I don't know, there was pride hiding in my question about—I don't remember what it was exactly—but it exposed it. And I realized that these prayers and these ways and things were becoming stale, and that identity was really taking hold of these methods as like a chore. And so the thing is, with when being in God and being with God, there's just a naturalness of love and all of that, and it feels effortless. But when these challenges come, sometimes they pass, you know, and it's okay. And God is—it's okay, and it's 'Thank you, God, for this challenge.' But other times the challenge comes and it feels like I just fall off that horse and just there's resistance to get back on. So, like a wallowing, I guess, and like, oh hey.

So yeah, it's very tricky, you know? Because what happens is that the mind proposes some self-concern, then it proposes some self-concern about having self-concern, then it proposes some self-concern about that self-concern of having self-concern. So this never-ending loop, and you just feel like, 'Okay, but this is self-concern. Oh, did I have self-concern?' You see? And that is self-concern about self-concern. So it doesn't end in that way. That's why today also I've been saying that the only way out of this maze, you see, the only way out of this struggle is to drop into a heart—to drop into a heart where He lives, you see. And He will bless us, He will love us, He will guide us. And then that is the only solution to this seeming loop that the mind can create about everything.

Because you notice, isn't it, that it's never-ending? Because, 'My, that was self-concern, so now I'm self-concerned about having self-concern.' It doesn't stop. Yeah, and then it's this and this and this and this. And this is a problem, certainly. What happens is that we feel that, but have invested so much now in trying to make sense of this here now. You know, 'I need to know what's happening to me,' you see, like, 'What's really wrong?' And what's really wrong with any of us is that we are in the head and not in the heart in that moment. That is the only thing so-called wrong. But at that moment, we don't like that answer, you see, because we want to specifically be diagnosed or something specific to happen. Because the mind tells us that it can't just be a thought, you know, it has to be something more.

There's something we talked about this, that the mind loves having problems, but it wants us to have the problems which are not the natural ones. It wants us to have problems which are unique to ourselves, like our specialness is also including the specialness of our problems. If you presented a notion that there's something specially wrong with us, then somewhere something loves that also. Oh yeah, it keeps it going. But if you are informed that, no, actually it's the same problem everyone has with the thought, it's like, 'Nah, I need to go to a better doctor who can diagnose me properly.' So if you went to a doctor who just gives you vitamins, you see—like in India we have this big problem when we used to run this health center in the slum, then our doctors would not want to give injections, antibiotics, all of those things. And the patients who would come would feel like these doctors are not good because they're just giving vitamins and things like that. So we just feel like a bit short-changed when there's not a special diagnosis that comes. It just feels like, 'No, he doesn't really care.' This kind of stuff happens.

Yes. Yes. So what I'm saying is there's nothing especially wrong with any of us. See, the same guys, the same thoughts, the same patterns, you see, they play out in different combinations at times, but that's about it.

That's what I'm realizing with this Satsang, like how everyone's sharing so openly about everything and I realize, oh wow, it's for everyone. And I'm not in denial that it's a lifelong endeavor, you know, that it's not a one-time fix-all and then be complacent. And if that is ever the case, then I know that I have strayed very far from what you're saying.

Right. Very. See, there are so many tools that you can use, and maybe all of you can just make one poster out of the tool that helps you the most. Just keep it in front of you. But you may have to keep changing that every once in a while because the thing with these is that you stop looking at them after some time. So, like this simple tool, which is: Is God feeling real to you right now? And if He is not, then you're in Maya. See, that itself can be a reminder for us to return. Because in that instant where God doesn't seem real, His presence doesn't seem alive, then that is Maya. That is the whole job of Maya. That is literally what Maya is: to distract you from God's presence.

But what happens is if I say that when you are in the midst of that stuff, then it's like, 'Yes, I knew you were going to say that, but you're not really helping me.' It just can feel like that, isn't it? So it sounds very generic because actually the problem is generic; it is not individual. So even right now you can check: Is God a reality for you? Is God seeming like a reality for you? And if it is not a reality for you, then turn in. Turn in, inquire, pray, love.

And with the tools and stuff like that, I wonder—maybe I can ask this—but I was for those for a while, I've been like, I was just using everything. And well, I guess maybe I am answering my own question, but if it's done with heart, moment to moment heart, and it leads to heart...

Yeah, whatever. The proof of this pudding is in the eating. So whatever gets you to His light, His love, use that.

Yeah, I think it—yeah, I was just becoming mechanical and using everything like, as I said, a chore, you know, like a habit more than a...

So then you have to pick something more difficult. You see, what can happen many times is that when you're giving it your all, then it never feels like a chore. It just becomes mechanical when we've just made it like something in the background, you know, something just... So what I said earlier about giving Him our highest, giving Him our highest and not just what is the tick-in-the-box prescribed thing, I don't feel like it becomes a chore. Yeah, it's easier for you to say, for example, if you were at work or you were attending to your dog or something like that and you feel like that takes so much attention, 'I tried to do the full ads or tried to inquire but it doesn't really work.' That's when I had to shift to the shorter one, you see, something like that. Take the highest, most difficult, and then if it's just not possible, then downgrade, go to the easier option. Because then that will keep you engaged. It'll keep you engaged. Otherwise, it just becomes like background music or something.

Yes. Okay, Father. Yeah, I will do that. Thank you.

Very welcome. Very welcome.

Okay. Hello, Father. Thank you so much.

Welcome. And thank you for putting me on the hot spot, I guess.

I wasn't—you asked, no? Did you not ask?

No, I asked for a blessing, but this is a blessing. It doesn't always come.

Okay. I was hiding a bit, you know.

I see. Somehow it just—the chat is playing tricks with you, at least playing tricks with me. It's good, it's good. Because I was also hiding probably last time like this when I came to see you. And I understand your fasting and those are some of the—okay, so since you didn't have a real question to ask, can I ask my question for today, which is: Are you trying to be empty all the time or are you trying to pray all the time?

I—I'm far from all the time.

No, but what are you trying? And it can be either one of them all the time, but it has to be all the time.

This is what I was trying to respond, that I'm not all the time in...

No, but what are you trying is the question. None of us are all the time, but what is the intention? You see, because option three is what? Only option three is that me some of the time and God some of the time.

The intention—I guess my intention is to be empty all the time. And sometimes by Grace it happens.

Okay. Where do you get stuck?

In my addictions to attachments, let's not call them addictions, or both to money and children.

Yes, yes, yes. So that is pretty regular, it's pretty true for all of us. But that is what we have to work from, you see. And if it feels like a fight, then tell me that you fought.

Yeah, it does. It does feel like a fight. And but are you telling me that you fought?

I'm still fighting.

Yes, so that's good. If you're fighting, it is good. Fighting in the sense that we're not—you know what I mean. Most of you have been in Satsang long enough to know that I'm not saying get into any conceptual arguments with the mind and try to win the fight that way. I'm just saying that with full heart we try to remain empty, with full heart we try to inquire, with full heart we try to pray. And then when we fail, we return to that. When we notice, we return to that full-hearted attempt to be empty and to pray.

Okay. Yeah. And I also—then the reason I wrote to you is because I'm trying every day now to fast. In the past I was quite good at it, especially Easter and Christmas, like in my Christian tradition, it was just—yeah, was almost natural, you know. And now I proposed to myself and then I fail pretty much.

Okay. When the mind comes and bothers you, I don't want to look at it like it's so... then do you inquire?

I don't. So it's simply like I see a piece of cheese and the cheese is in my mouth. It's just as basic and simple, you know. I'm not even...

I want to tell you one thing, that this response I've heard from the first day of sharing Satsang, which was 12 years ago, you see. Which is that, 'I don't do it, it just happens. Belief is so fast, it's automatic. I can't help it. By the time I notice it, it's already too late.' You see, just all of that. And I have not bought it for a single day since then, and today is not the first day I will buy it also. Right? So what is happening is that you have to commit full-heartedly to not fall for these mind tricks. And then you will fail, maybe 50% of the time, but you have to start succeeding at least the other 50% of the time. There is some success. Okay, good. So let's make that more and more. Because the fact is that we don't have time anymore. We don't have time anymore. We can't expect God to keep waiting perpetually for us to finally come to our senses without putting in everything that we have got, as if it is a matter of life and death. Because it is a matter of life and death.

I totally agree with you. I noticed that even in this body, it's just a question of the next 10 years. After that, I don't know what physical pain there will be, what will be the state of this body. When is the time left for me to love God, to be in His light? It's not even that I'm confused. I want to fast and then I fail very quickly.

You're just failing because you allow the mind to bully you like this.

Yeah. And the reason I wrote to you is also because I noticed in this Satsang how it was very—was creating all this noise, not about fasting but all my Maya.

What is your heart saying right now?

That I love you. Thank you.

But the thing is that if I'm not there in front of you to keep short-circuiting your mind, then you have to do it for yourself, isn't it? Otherwise you just keep going with that saying, 'But mind says this.'

You're just feeling because you allow the mind to bully you like this, yeah. And the reason I wrote to you is also because I noted in this satsang how it was creating all this noise, not about fasting, but all my Maya.

What is your heart saying right now?

That I love you. Thank you. But the thing is that if I'm not there in front of you to keep short-circuiting your mind, then you have to do it for yourself, isn't it? Otherwise, you just keep going with that saying, 'But mind says this, then my mind says that.' But I don't look poor and say, 'Oh my God, I'm not doing it.' There are times when I'm in the heart, okay, but there are times when I'm not.

So when you say this, let me say that for you. Next time when you come up, let me look into your eyes and say, 'Karunamay, what has happened? You're spilling over with so much love, love for God.' I can see the emptiness. I can see the love. Full on, full on, full on. I want you to be full on with this. Yeah, you too. Very good, very good. Thank you so much. Very good. Welcome.

See, the biggest misunderstanding we have in our life is that we have time. The biggest misunderstanding. When something then happens in our life and we are shaken out of that mindset, then for a day or two, we commit. And then the mind finds ways again to build defenses and to make us believe that we have time. Krishna is sitting inside the door in your heart. He's sitting there, but you're running out of time to open that door. All of us are. We exchange our mind's smartness for the innocence of devotion, which can bring such a transformation in our life. Your life can be so alive and fragrant and joyful and loving every moment. Your own company can be so enjoyable to you, but you're just wasting time because of things which you think you know so well and you understand so well.

So we must stop that today, right now, because you don't realize that you're hurting your own self. If God is in your heart right now, why aren't you with him? Either tell me that he's not. Say that you don't have trust, you don't have faith, and he's not. It sounds far-fetched, but if he is, then what are you doing in the world? Not that your body can't move in the world and act, actions can't happen and all of that, but what are you doing in the world if God is sitting in your heart? Make a lamentation to me tomorrow or next time saying that he is in my heart, the door is closed, and I have knocked and knocked and knocked and knocked till my knuckles are bleeding. You see? Or that he let me in and I enjoyed his love and presence so much and I'm never going to leave. But don't just now keep saying, 'My mind does, my mind this, my mind that, my mind this.' How long will that happen? Can you see the ride the mind is taking you on with this stuff? And nothing you're saving but your self-importance, your self-image, and your being right. And remember that when we seem right to ourselves, then we are seeming completely foolish to God, because pride is the biggest poison in your spiritual search.

So the project is clear to all of you, huh? The project is what? Empty or... huh? Empty or prayer. Empty or prayer so that we can be in his light, in his presence. Because a life spent without living in his presence, in his love, is not a worthwhile life. So that is the project. All of you intend to complete this project? Yes. So the intention is there. The method is clear, is it? So we talked a bit about that. So anant japa, which means unceasing prayer, is one method where you take the full... you take the full... your intention is to give him your highest.

We had a conversation which is very helpful about how we are, for example, doing 'Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram,' which is fine. If we are very busy and we are engaged with a lot of things, then at least we are remembering God. So that's a great, beautiful thing. But if our life has given us some space and we can do the full prayer, which is 'Lord Ram, incarnation of God, have mercy on me, a sinner; bless my heart with the light of Atma Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram,' then why would we not put our best foot forward and do that? You see? Because even in a job interview, we put our best foot forward. We give it our all, you see? Then now we are applying for a place at God's feet forever, then we must not be ticking the box about it or just doing the minimum possible. So instead of doing the minimum possible, we have to do the highest possible every moment that we can, and we'll see that everything else takes care of itself.

Now, there will be times where we will be in some focused activity, some work, something like that, and if in that moment we can just chant 'Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram,' then that is beautiful. That's excellent. Because at least even in the midst of the helter-skelter, we remembered him and we relied on him. So that is beautiful, see? So that is one way to be in constant prayer. Then you will find that your prayer drops into your heart and your heart itself starts praying. Then you're just an observer of the fragrance of this prayer, of the love that emerges from your heart, and then that becomes a constant way of existence.

That is one. For those who are not of the bhakti temperament and they feel very alienated by this idea of constantly praying, they can use the inquiry. So what happens is you start, you ask yourself, 'Who am I? Who am I?' And the 'Who am I?' will do the cleanup job in your mind. If you sincerely ask 'Who am I?' as if you're waiting for the answer, then this inquiry also drops into our heart because the recognition is possible in inquiry only intuitively, only from the same place. So we remain empty in our heads so that we can remain in our heart in this way by using the inquiry. And we don't have to say, 'I am this way or that way.' Sometimes the prayer will resonate, sometimes the inquiry will resonate, sometimes something else like 'fresh, open, and empty'—so many tools will resonate. But the idea is to drop out of our head into our heart, and that must become unceasing.

So nobody is going to succeed at it 100%. Everybody... this is going to be a work in progress forever. But every moment that you turn to him, your life is being transformed, see? Every instant you spend in his light, your life has changed completely from where it was to what it is. So this is the method. Either through inquiry or through constant prayer and devotion, we come to the darshan of the Atma within, the presence of his light within, and then we stay with that for the rest of our life. That then is the complete switchover from the way of the head to the way of the heart, and our life is fully transformed in that process. So the project is clear, the intention is clear, and the method is clear. Now you have to put 100% of yourself into it. Rely only upon God for results. You cannot either claim responsibility, blame, or credit for any of the results. The results will come from God alone. So that, you know, just is the whole project of satsang that we are talking about. It's a transformation of our life from a worldly life to a godly life, from an egoic life to a spiritual life.

Help her with the light, huh? Yes, please give her the mic.

Slightly unrelated to the discussion so far, but can you tell us about how Karma operates in this world?

Can't hear... because this mic is not connected to the speaker, only to Zoom today. Okay, okay.

Can you tell us a little bit about Karma?

Karma, yes. So let me start by saying that when we become reliant on God's will, you see, when we are in servitude to God—which means that his presence, his light moves us and it guides us—then that wipes away the predetermined patterns of how the world is functioning. So that is why it is said that when we come to God, or when we come to the Satguru within, then all our karmas get cut. So that is the important thing. The less important thing is that this world has an ebb and flow in terms of how it functions. There are certain mechanics which it seems to follow. Now, Karma is a simplistic explanation for that which is actually unfathomable, but it's all right. Provisionally, it's all right, you see. So what we sow, we will reap; all of that is very good to keep us in some sort of check, you see, and for us to not lament too much about why things are happening to us, because we can rely on the fact that it must be a fruit of our Karma that it is happening. But I call it provisional and limiting because God is completely free. God is completely free in every moment to unfold this movie, this play, according to his joy, according to his will, however he wants it. But as far as human understanding goes, if you are to ascribe some patterns to why things happen, Karma is all right.

So most of you are aware of the Baul tradition where some of the singers are really popular now. So Ananda Ji is a guruji from that tradition and he's kindly agreed to bless us today with his presence.

I'm sorry, I cannot speak English, so I am telling a little story about the mountain of sins he committed. He had given food to all his family members, yeah. So one day he asked, 'Yeah, so I'm doing so many sins in my life, yeah, so who can share with me this?' And family says, 'No, we can't share with you this.' So then he asks, 'What is my solution? How will I find freedom? How will I find freedom?'

So then... I missed the stories, I don't know the context, but this man, he committed a lot of crimes, and then out of that money he would feed his family members. And how is he going... so then he thought that, 'I have done a lot of crimes or mistakes or sins.' So then he thought one day that, 'I've committed so many sins and raised my family, and they are saying that we will not take your... we will not... we are not part of your sins.'

I did all of this for them, yes, yes. And so I did all of this for them, but they are not going to take part in my sins. So how am I supposed to find freedom? So he left home in search of Mukti or freedom. So he went to Shiva. 'Shiva, I've committed so many sins and raised my family, but nobody's going to take part in it and nobody's going to share it with me. So how should I find freedom?' So Shiva said, 'Oh my, you know, even I can't take this burden. So go to Ram.' So he finally reached Ram.

So he requested Ram also for Mukti, like, 'How do I get freedom from all my sins?' So Shri Ram told him that, 'The mountain of sins that you have created, you climb on it and just you go on it and just chant the name of Ram.' So what happened is... so after Ram told him to chant his name after climbing the mountain of his sins, all he could see after climbing was all the terrible sins that he had committed, and he could not utter the name of Ram at all. It was just not coming on his tongue. So he went back to Ram to ask him, 'Why I'm not able to? What have I committed? So many sins that I can't take that Ram name, you know, in my lips.' So Ram asked him, 'So what's happening? Like, what are you uttering?' So he said, 'All I see is Mara.' Like, 'Mara' is 'dead' in Hindi or Bengali. 'So all I'm saying is Mara or Mora.' Ram told him that, 'Whatever is coming, just say that. Even if it's Mora, then just keep saying.' So he comes back on top of the mountain of his sins and...

On his tongue, so he went back to Ram to ask him, 'Why I'm not able to? What have I committed, so many sins that I can't take that Ram name on my lips?' So Ram asked him, 'So what's happening? Like, what are you uttering?' So he said, 'All I see is Mara.' Like, 'Mara' is 'dead' in Hindi or Bengali. So he said, 'All I'm saying is Mara or Mara.' So Ram told him that whatever is coming, just say that. Even if it's 'Mara,' then just keep saying it. So he comes back on top of the mountain of his sins and starts to chant 'Mara.' He chanted this for 60,000 years. So after 60,000 years of his sadhana of chanting 'Mara, Mara,' then after 60,000 years towards the end of his tapas or his penance, he could actually say 'Ram, Ram, Ram' instead. So he was the one who became Saint Valmiki and who wrote the Ramayana.

That is it. He says he didn't understand English? Yeah, I heard everything I said.

So he's saying that even within us, from the time we are born to the time we die, there is an Ajapa Japa. In English, there is an unceasing, no, in the heart, yeah, like an automatic unceasing prayer from the heart itself. So he says that we don't recognize it, but it's always there. So the ones who come into spirituality or Bhakti or Gyan or love, they start to recognize the Ajapa Japa that happens in their heart all 24 hours. This Japa happens within us whether we notice or we don't. Ancient, ancient.

So he says that there's a bird. Then he says, sorry, he says there's an ancient bird within us that none of us can see and it just keeps coming and going. So he's saying the breath that happens within us 21,600 times in a day, that is the Ajapa, that is the automatic prayer chant that's happening within us. So the ones who come to satsang or into spirituality and deeply want to be in it, they recognize this. They start to recognize this. So this becomes, this is not a one-day endeavor; it's like a lifelong process. And so then you should move with faith and love and nishta. Nishta is what? Sincerity and faith and devotion. It's a long route to the destination and difficult. Not difficult, it's a long process. It's a long process, not possible to reach in one day. So you can't find God so easily. You have to surrender, tyag. So the one who fully, completely surrenders his everything to God, then God shows His compassion on that being.

So he's enjoying everybody's presence here and he feels a lot of love because of it. Always privilege and pleasure. And he's singing God's presence was lighting up so strongly in our hearts, it was very clear. So he's from the tradition of Baul singing, and in their ashram, the sadhana is the Baul singing itself. Shadh, shadh.

So he says that in their lineage, there is a famous Baul singer who said that singing is an easy way to get to God if the one who is singing has the devotion and the love and the nishta, the sincerity to God. And you don't need anything else. Then you don't need any other processes, no sandalwood and no mantra, no yantra. Shadh. I'm sorry, I just have to ask about the... so I've lately I've been listening to another Baul singer. Her name is Parvathy Baul and just her interviews really touched my heart. They are so nice.

So he's saying that she lives in Shantiniketan also, so their ashrams are very close by. And she goes all around the world, very, very deep. So some days back they had someone come from Vrindavan and they had very beautiful satsang. What is his favorite song?

Last time when he came in July, tell him that last song I'm singing.

Bhajan Shri Krishna, Radhe Shri Krishna. That the God Krishna, He's the one who is bringing the nectar, the nectar. The nectar is like the sound of... so the singer asks, 'Oh bee, oh the black bee, please don't come at the wrong time. It's not the time yet. Don't make your sound on this. It's not the time. It has to be timely. It can't just become all like fun.' It has to be the right time.

They are like complaining. That's what I heard, from what I heard is correct.

So the Gopis are complaining that you are full of fun-loving and Radha is complaining that it can't be all the time like this. You have to have some sense of control. What are you doing? It can't just be full on all the time. The joy, the bliss can't just be full on like this all the time. The song goes like this: 'This is my tree and a new flower on the tree is opening.' So very beautiful, so many flowers. A sweet complaint, this song. Or she's speaking to the black bee. Oh, she's the flower. She's very, very... but not yet. But you don't drink yet the nectar. You don't touch the nectar. I'm here blooming, but don't touch. It's not time.

Happy birthday! Thank you so much. Very good. I didn't know, I didn't know. Shri Krishna, Krishna. Happy birthday.