Day Five - Contemplating the Ashtavakra Gita & Ch. 8 of the Ribhu Gita - 2nd September 2024

If now you go into complete silence, that is fine. If it comes in your heart to keep praying, that is fine too. But if there is openness to contemplate the questions: Where is God's presence within myself? Is it in the world or outside the world? How can I meet His light, His presence, His love in my life? Request for guidance on this and remain as empty as possible. If the mind becomes too distracting, use your breaths. If you feel, use your prayer and return to your inward-facing position. Remain in silence for the next few minutes.

Our sadhana is not to think about any of the answers. It is to use the question to dive so deeply within ourselves that we behold God and we are held by Him. Behold and be held. And it doesn't matter what is happening on the outside. Nothing from the outside can prevent you from being with God. Where is this point of intersection leading us? Out of time, out of space. With the heart full of gratitude, thank those holy ones who are with you now. Bless them with all your heart. And whenever you feel ready, you can return to your prayer with your breath. And whenever you feel ready, you can write your reflections in your notebook if something is flowing through you.

We live in this world in three different modes. Three different modes. One is the usual mode of the whole world, which is something which will make the life of 'me' better, either through pleasure or avoidance of pain. So it's about me and offering a narrative and then proposing the narrative to become better. And it can be even such can be that—hopefully it is not, but many times it can be—that 'I'm here to better myself'. So the intention has the focus on the 'me', the ego at the center of it.

And the second mode is when we are empty of this intention and we are not trying to do any work on ourselves, but it is God's presence, the Atma, who is working. Working in our Antahkarana, working within our soul. So the Atma within ourself is moving its light in a way that it is permeating the rest of our being, the rest of our existence. The condition is that we have to be empty of ourselves, empty of body identification. As Ashtavakra said, empty of intention to help ourselves, help this non-existent me. And it's one of the most beautiful things that I've ever, ever heard and encountered: that empty of myself, it is God who works on me in my heart.

And the third mode is that I don't yet know this second mode of living, or I don't think I know yet, and yet all I want is that. All I want is to be surrendered to God, to offer myself up to God fully so I can be empty of me and allow God's work to happen. It is only the second and third way of life that we can call spiritual. There will be many times where we are not empty for God, we are full of ourselves, but if at least we turn the intention around and say that I want truly only to live in God's love, only to find union with Him, then that intention will take us to that emptiness which is actually the true fullness of love.

So the question to ask is: Is it possible for me to live like this? And if it is possible, then am I giving this opportunity my full heart, or am I being half-hearted about it? What am I scared of surrendering to God? Notice if you can the Atma's work within you, the Atma's presence and its ineffable cleanup, ineffable operation that is happening within yourself. When you're ready, you can write your reflections.

How many of us have the sense of His work happening within us? Nobody? What is He doing? You said we have a sense. What is He doing?

But feeling more keeps feeling like um, like a cleanup job. Like I feel like things that I could not see or I would never even notice it, you know, um, those those things feel—for the lack of a better word—just feel very disgusting right now. Yeah, just comes up to the surface. And it's like um, when you said this, no, notice, no, like the ineffable cleanup... when you said about the ineffable cleanup, it just um, just feels like it is.

Have you all seen the correlation between what Maharaj told us, that we must above all else follow His will, and this fact? Do you see that it's completely correlated? This fact of His working within our heart to, in a way, construct our heart temple. So notice that our spirituality cannot be done by us. It has to be done by Spirit, by Atma itself. Then what is our role in our spirituality?

To get out of the way. Exactly, to get out of the way and stay out of the way. Inviting.

And that inviting is the surrender of will. What are the mechanisms for surrendering self-will? Forgetting of the limited self is to say truly that 'I want you, God. I want you, Father. I don't want these ideas about how to better my life, fix myself. I only want to be with you. My life is yours.' So that is a holy invitation which cleans up our intention to confuse ourselves to lead a life which is for ourselves. So that invitation is just to empty ourselves of 'me', to surrender our will.

So a funny question for all of us is: Do we want God the way we want Him? Do you want God the way we want Him, or are we willing to be empty to receive God the way He wants to give Himself to us? And who is to determine whether the way that we want Him is the right way? See what I mean? Do we want God only the way in which we have now created a spiritual construct for ourselves? 'It has to be like this. I like only like this. It must be like that. This I will not do. This I cannot say. This I cannot.' So, in continuing that way, which is 'me, me, me', do we feel that we can come to the heart of the matter, come to a true surrendering? Or can we return to the innocence of a child?

So, you see, Ashtavakra said: 'You are free from contact with anything whatsoever, therefore pure as you are. What do you want to renounce?' So what is he saying? That anyway you are empty of all of this. You are not holding anything; nothing is holding you. So now what is left to renounce? He said destroy the body complex and in this way enter into the state of dissolution, which means that destroy the identification with the body-mind and all of this desire-aversion. Renouncing is not needed. Know that you are not this body-mind. So that is the first way.

Let's see what is the second way. 'The universe rises from you like bubbles rising from the sea. Thus know the Self to be one and in this way enter into the state of dissolution.' First, you are untouched by anything. Nothing touches you; you are not touching anything. There's nothing to do; empty of all of this. Second, you are the substratum of everything. The whole universe is your reflection. They are like—the universes are like bubbles who are appearing in your surface, on your surface. So you are that one Self in which all of this play arises and dissolves. Knowing this, you are free.

I think it's time for my disclaimer: that remember that Ashtavakra Gita is not to be understood; it is to be met. So when the Sages say 'know this', we have to find that which is within, that is beyond time and space within ourselves. And the words are just mere reflections of what we are finding there. So it will not do to just say that 'Yes, I am that. I am that in which all these universes come and go.' Just conceptually to know this doesn't help except as a pointer.

So the first is that you are untouched. Second is that you are the source; you are all there is from which everything arises. The third is: 'The universe, because it is unreal, being manifested like the snake in the rope, does not exist in you who are pure, even though it is present to the senses. Therefore in this way enter into the state of dissolution.' So know that just like there is no snake in the rope, the play of your senses, the world being perceived by you, is not real. That which is the pure witnessing, the pure awareness of all perceptions, that is the only real. Seeing the unreality of Maya, know that you are free. That is the third.

What is the fourth? 'You are perfect and the same in misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death. Therefore in this way enter the state of dissolution.' That the play of opposites—anything that has an opposite is not you. Are you happy? No, it's not you, you see, because happy is unhappy. Are you spiritual or worldly? Neither. It can't be you because anything that has an opposite is not you. So all the positions that you can take, all the perspectives that you take to be true, every perspective that has an opposite, you are beyond the play of opposites. Are you man or woman? Cannot say. Are you her—

And death, therefore, in this way enter the state of dissolution. That the play of opposites—anything that has an opposite is not you. Are you happy? No, it's not you, you see, because happy is unhappy. Are you spiritual or worldly? Neither. It can't be you because anything that has an opposite is not you. So all the positions that you can take, all the perspectives that you take to be true, every perspective that has an opposite—you are beyond the play of opposites. Are you man or woman? Cannot say. Are you here or there? Are you awake or asleep? Cannot say. Everything that has an opposite, you are not. Free from all opposites, you are free. Are you free or bound? No, you're not.

So what are the four ways? The first is you are untouched. Nothing that happens in your perceptions can ever touch you. You see, I used to say earlier: can something come from this realm of perception, from this world, and give awareness a slap? And if not, then if you are awareness, then you are untouched no matter what. Can anything scratch you, dent you in any way? So, to see that you're untouched. Second is to see that everything that is arising is only appearing within yourself. It's arising from within yourself. It is made up of you, and in that way, nothing is against you. It's all made of Consciousness, and you are that Consciousness.

The third is just see that the universe is unreal. The sages have told us that everything that comes and goes is not real. So why bother with that which is unreal, has no reality? Only that which does not come and go, that which is beyond perception, is real. And the fourth is that you are perfect, independent of happiness, unhappiness, desire, aversion. None of the play of the opposites applies to you. You don't have any opposites. You cannot have a state which has any opposites. So then all our narratives are false because everything that we conclude about ourselves has an opposite. Tell me something about yourself which doesn't have an opposite. Only that is true.

So what has this Ashtavakra Gita done in these four ways? And there are some more, but these are the four main pointers of Advaita Vedanta. You're the unchanging formless reality, untouched by states of waking, dream, and sleep. You are that boundless one who has no boundary. You are the only reality; all perceptions are unreal. Time and space don't apply to you; they are just notions for you. You are the pure witnessing of all that comes and goes. You were never born and you will never die. Your reality is beyond perception; you can never perceive yourself to be the real one. And your reality is beyond thinking; you will never be captured in a thought. You are not the one that has a story. All narratives of the mind don't apply to you. And when you learn to live without the narrative, without the mind and intellect, then the truth is apparent to you.

So that's the essence of Advaita Vedanta. And the sages just put it in four very simple ways. To say these things, to remind ourselves of these things, is easier. To remain empty of selfishness, of egotism, pride, is a lifetime of work because Maya continues to be at the job even after our moments of insight. The next chapter is the higher knowledge. So Ashtavakra says: Boundless as space am I; the phenomenal world is like a jar. This is knowledge. So the phenomenal world is limited and small. I am boundless. So, boundless as space am I, and the phenomenal world is like a jar. This is knowledge. So it has neither to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed.

Position: I am like the ocean and this universe is like the wave. This is knowledge. So it neither has to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed. I am like the mother of pearl and the illusion of the universe is like silver. This is knowledge. So it neither has to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed. I am indeed in all beings and all beings are in me. This is knowledge. So it neither has to be renounced nor accepted nor destroyed. So it's reinforcing many of the main points.

Then Janaka said: In me, the boundless ocean, the ark of the universe moves hither and thither, impelled by the wind of its own inherent nature. I am not impatient. So I am that boundless ocean in which the arks of the universes come and go. I remain unaffected by them. And this probably is one of the most powerful lines in the Ashtavakra Gita. But the thing is that you have to take it literally for it to work—quote-unquote work. You have to take it literally. If you just take it poetically or romantically or beautifully metaphorically, it's not going to do anything. The sage is saying: I am the boundless ocean in which the universes come and go. I remain untouched, unaffected. You can't understand this; we have to meet it fully, literally. Not imagine it, not visualize. What is the substratum of this universe? In me, the limitless ocean, let the wave of the world rise or vanish of itself. I neither increase nor decrease thereby.

So let the waking state come, let the dream state come, let them go. I remain the same no matter what the state is. So one way to look at freedom or enlightenment is that we recognize that we remain unchanged throughout the waking state, as if we were still in the sleep state, unmodified. Are you getting what I'm saying?

Yes.

So we recognize that we remain unchanged whether this waking state in front of us had come or not, like we were still asleep. Nothing ever really woke up, nothing will go back to sleep, nothing will happen to me. Is there a part of you—actually, waking is the part that appears—but just to frame the question: is there a part of you that remains untouched no matter what happens in the waking state? That is the true part of you. So this body can appear, it can disappear. All these people around us can appear and can disappear. All can happen or not happen. I remain as the untouched witnessing of all of this. I witness when there's nothing to see; I witness when there's something to see. Neither the nothing nor the something makes any difference to me. Is it? I'm saying that your true reality is that which is speaking those words. To find the one that is unchanged from the sleep state in the waking state is self-knowledge, self-realization.

What remains unchanged for you, huh? Your light? Light of Consciousness? In the sleep state, even the light of being, the sense 'I am', is not there. It is 'I am' that wakes up, and within this 'I am' does the world wake up. And because this 'I am' is unlimited, the worlds that wake up are unlimited. And again, to understand will not do, will not be enough. Or to remember is only useful if you're going to use them for your contemplation. So remember in the first session I said that it is a manual for Advaita sadhana. You can take every verse and you can contemplate in your silence; then it will unravel for you.

The Self is not in the object, nor is the object in the Self, which is infinite and stainless. Thus it is free from attachment and desire and tranquil. In this alone do I abide. So going back to the metaphor of the snake and the rope: is there a snake in the rope even though it appears that there is? No. The appearance doesn't make it true or plausible. In the same way, the world may appear to appear, but it doesn't actually exist. Oh, I am really Consciousness itself; the world is like a juggler's show. So how and where can there be any thought of rejection and acceptance in me?

Is there a copy of the Ribhu Gita in the library? Anyone has seen? Can we get it? So we are reading chapter eight of the Ribhu Gita. Ribhu says: I shall explain to you the hollowness of the world, which is akin to the horn of a hare. Horn of the hare is like a rabbit hare, not this hair. I will explain to you the hollowness of the world, which is akin to the horn of a hare. This is hard to attain in all worlds. Listen with an alert mind. Whatever trace of this world one hears or one sees of it, the form that is seen and the form of the seer are all alike, like the horn of a hare.

Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, ego, and the transcendental light are all like the horn of a hare. Destruction, birth, truth, the world, and heavenly systems, merit, sin, victory, and delusion are all like the horn of a hare. Paying attention? Destruction, birth, truths, the world, and heavenly systems, merit, sin, victory, and delusion are all like the horn of a hare. Lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride, delirium, infatuation, steadfastness, Guru, disciple, teaching, and such are all like the horn of a hare. Note that he put Guru after lust, anger, greed, disciple, delusion, pride, delirium, infatuation, steadfastness. Guru, disciple, teaching, and all of such are like the horn of a hare.

I, you, the world, etc., the beginning, the end, the middle, the past, the future, and the present are all like the horn of a hare. The gross body, the subtle body, the cause and the effect even, and what little of seen and seeing there is are all like the horn of a hare. See what he did? Whatever little of seeing and seen—like this waking state comes, this tiny little thing which we make... so he's saying we make such a big deal out of it, it's actually a little tiny seeing. Seen and seeing are all like the horn of the hare. The enjoyer, the objects, and the enjoyment, ideal and non-dual characteristics, tranquility, inquiry, happiness are all like the horn of a hare.

Ethical regulations, physical restraints, breath control, and discourses on such things, movement, motion, thoughts are all like a horn of a hare. Ears, eyes, body, lineage, society, inertia, Hari, Shiva, beginning, end, longing for emancipation are all like the horn of a hare. So note the words after ears, eyes, body, lineage, secrecy, inertia: Hari, Shiva, beginning, end, longing for emancipation are all like the horn of a hare. The organs of knowledge, the five subtle senses, the group of organs of action, waking, dream, sleep, and relevant states are all like the horn of a hare.

The twenty-four tatwas, the group of four spiritual practices, the homologous and heterologous groups are all like the horn of a hare. All the worlds, all the beings, all creatures, those with true significance, all kinds of ignorance and all types of learning are all like the horn of a hare. All castes, all communities, all holy abodes and holy waters, all the Vedas, all the shastras are like the horn of a hare. All types of bondage, all ways of liberation, all wisdom pertaining to the Lord, all periods of time, all instruction are like the horn of a hare.

All existence, all actions, all types of association with the wise, all duality, all perception of non-existence, all are like the horn of a hare. All Vedanta, all theories, all conclusions on the significance of the shastras, the nature of true existence of all beings are all like the horn of a hare. Whatever little is comprehended, whatever world appears, whatever is heard from the Guru are all like the horn of a hare. Whatever is thought of by the mind, whatever is willed anytime, whatever is decided by the intellect are all like the horn of the hare.

Whatever is conveyed by speech, whatever meaningful talk is uttered, whatever is grasped by the sense organs, all are like the horn of a hare. Whatever object is renounced, whatever is heard or seen, one's own and others are all like the horn of a hare. Whatever shines on account of reality, identity, and essence, and whatever is imagined by the mind are all like the horn of a hare. Whatever is determined by the self, whatever is said to be eternal, and whatever is investigated by the mind are all like the horn of a hare.

Shiva destroys ever, Vishnu protects the three worlds, and verily the Creator Brahma builds the worlds—all these are like the horn of a hare. What is said to be the soul, whatever speech is uttered, and statements like 'this is the life cycle', all these are like the horn of a hare. Whatever is there in the Puranas, whatever is established in the Vedas, and the entire truth of the Upanishads are all like the horn of a hare. Whatever is told to you in this chapter is all but a horn of a hare. He who hears this secret becomes himself Brahman. Whatever is told to you in this chapter is all but a horn of a hare. He who hears the secret himself becomes Brahman. Listen well, oh noble Nidagha. The certitude that all is Brahman is hard to attain for...

Life cycle, all these are like the horn of a hare. Whatever is there in the Puranas, whatever is established in the Vedas, and the entire truth of the Upanishads are all like the horn of a hare. Whatever was told to you in this chapter is all but a horn of a hare. He who hears this secret becomes himself Brahman. Whatever told to you in this chapter is all but a horn of a hare; he who hears the secret himself becomes Brahman. Listen well, oh noble Nidagha: the certitude that all is Brahman is hard to attain for men and even for Gods. Any form referred to as 'this' and again as 'I, I' and whatever is seen, that is all Brahman alone. Any form referred to as 'this' and again as 'I' and whatever is seen, that is all Brahman alone.

The notion 'this is body' is verily fear itself; it is said in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body' is verily the inner faculty of cognition; it is said in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body'—that is verily the repetitive cycle of life; it is said in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body'—that is said here to be bondage in all of time; it is not, all is Brahman alone. The learning 'I am the body' is verily to be remembered as hell; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The learning or the notion 'I am the body' is verily to be remembered as hell; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body' is referred to as the whole world; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body' is regarded as the heart knot, the heart center; in all three periods of time, all is Brahman alone. In all three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone.

The notion that 'I am the threefold body' is said to be the knowledge pertaining to the body; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body' is verily the ideation of real and unreal; in all three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body' is referred to here as the world of five elements; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body'—that itself is ignorance; it is said in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The assertion 'I am the body' is said to be impurities and impressions from past lives; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The assertion 'I am the body'—truly that alone is the individual soul; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The notion 'I am the body' is proclaimed as the supreme hell; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. The assertion 'I am the body' is defined as mind only; in all the three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. Okay, so all is Brahman alone.

I remember it to be much shorter, so do we have a sense of what the Ribhu Gita is doing? Like the final chapter of spirituality where everything that you learned in spirituality also is kept aside and fully surrendered. See, everything that we hear in spirituality is here in this chapter, and all is the horn of the hare, and all is not the way we think it is, and all is Brahman alone. That is what the sages are telling us in the beautiful part. Is all of this that we read in opposition to anything we've been discussing? In all three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. Is it supportive of what we've been discussing? In all three periods of time it is not, all is Brahman alone. It's just like a wake-up call, just snaps us out of the same old way we can sleep and dream past, present, and future.

My quest is: is that what the Laughing Buddha is basically doing, Father, in a sense?

Yeah, this much, this one. Ribhu Gita, Ashtavakra Gita—very similar to Nirguna, all those. The positionless Buddhist and the middle way, actually, is quite often misunderstood also. It applies in a worldly way also, that moderation is good, but the middle path really is a much deeper philosophy which is really saying that if you say it is like this, it is not. If you say it is like that, it is not. It is in the middle. And if you say it's in the middle, it is not. If you say it's next to the middle, it is not. It's in the middle of both of those. So whatever position we take, we just keep softening it, softening it to come to an emptiness.

So all of this is—all these pathways to God are basically pathways in which we empty ourselves of the 'me' and make room for God. And if it doesn't do that, then it is not a pathway to God at all. Is any pathway higher or lower? It is not; in all three periods of time all is Brahman alone. It has to be only human arrogance which can say that if there's God at the end of any path, then I will be able to determine which is the highest one and which is the lowest one. How can they be? We can only say that this is how my heart is moving me at the moment, you see? That's all we can see.

Just to share, initially I had a lot of resistance when the Ribhu Gita was being read, just in terms of its ridiculousness. Yeah, but that was then very quickly followed by a deep relaxation. It's like that whole 'forget about it' feeling.

And you see that if you hear the Ribhu Gita again—both Ribhu Gita and Ashtavakra Gita are very potent, very dangerous scriptures, and we must read them in an inner environment which is prayerful, humble, bowed down. But you will see that the potency of it is so much once we've lived in a heartfelt way, once we've been contemplative. Otherwise, it'll just not appeal at all. Isn't it beautiful and strange that the more deeply we've been in Bhakti, the more Gyana appears, and the more deeply we've been in Gyana and inquiry, the more Bhakti also appears? Because the fragrance of God is emanating from both. Any road that leads to the Beloved's house is beautiful.

Is there a volume button for the... they're finding the sound a bit low in the receiver. Is it better now? Check, check, check. Okay. Should we read the Ramacharitmanas or will it be too much mumble-jumble? Yeah, you just shared how initially there was resistance and then there was deep peace. For me, as soon as I hear the Ashtavakra Gita, I feel the sense of almost like a head rush, like the sense of exhilaration. It always happens. Or even Dzogchen or similar sounds. I just wanted to share that I don't know if I feel deep peace or I don't know how long it stays for, but it always immediately seems very uplifting, even exciting. It's good. You don't have to search for more meaning about it. It's not possible to the... you don't mean it so.

Prayer—what is prayer really? The instruments of prayer, but what are they getting us to? They're getting us to beholding Him and to be held by Him. And we can only behold Him when we are empty. So the prayer of the choir or the contemplative prayers that we're doing now... I don't want to create a gradation because our minds are very proud. 'I want to do the deeper one' or 'the higher one,' and that way we get trapped and we won't do anything at all. So just let the prayer guide you in your contemplations. And maybe it's time to start taking some feedback also. Do you feel like you're starting to be guided from your heart when we sit in silence? Because those ten minutes, fifteen minutes, sometimes longer when I see the time, really is just being guided by the heart to be taken deeper where we are empty.

But if prayer comes at that time, because prayer itself has so many beautiful layers for us to deepen in... when the prayer starts doing praying by itself, are you empty or full? Empty. When your heart is praying, it is being empty, being inward-facing in prayer, and it is completely in awe and in silence—in awe of what it is finding within itself. That is beautiful prayer without words. And even in repeating God's name in the most absurd, mechanical manner, it is much more beautiful than what we could be doing otherwise. If you're one for whom you can just finger-snap and God's Darshan is available to you no matter whether you're at work, you're out with your friends, no matter what the situation is, then we don't need any tools for you. But check with me before you give them up. And otherwise, the amount of rubbish we are usually involved in on a day-to-day basis—rubbish I mean for myself: selfishness, egotism, pride, making it about me, rushing, not waiting for God's will, basically distant and separate from God.

So what is the sinner? We've spoken about this in many different ways now, you see. But do we have the ability to separate ourselves from God? Not truly, but we live as if. That's how Maya works; we do. That is the error, that is the sin. Do we have the ability to hate when we could have loved, or be indifferent when we could have loved, unkind when we could have been compassionate? Do we have these abilities? That's it. That is separation. You're calling yourself a sinner and at the same time you're asking Him to show you how you're not? No, not really. I take that sentence. My plea for mercy is on the basis of my stupidity; otherwise, I would just ask for justice. 'Have justice on me, be just with me,' not mercy. Do we have the courage to just ask for His justice? At least I don't. I don't know about all of you, you see what I mean?

So we're not saying... if your question meant that 'let me see that I am not one,' no. We see more and more, in fact, what is happening to me and to many of us in prayer is that we're seeing things which have moved from here which were not from love. So that clean-up first needs the denial to go. This denial of... we've hidden our sins, we've hidden our mistakes, we just feel like it's fine, it's fine. 'I just lied to my brother, it's fine, you know, otherwise I would have lost some money, it's fine.' Is it fine? All is Brahman, yeah. Just one point is coming before to say that: the tension that you may experience in the dichotomy between Gyana and Bhakti is very good for you to break your mind till your intellect gives in, you see? You cannot go deep. So you don't need another... 'Am I a sinner or Brahman? Brahman or...?' That's what I've been trying to convey about both. Visishtadvaita and Advaita are true, and therefore it is unfathomable. Both Bheda and Abheda are true, and that is why it is unfathomable. Achintya part is because both are true. Yes, my dear.

So we've talked about this, I don't know whether you've heard that when the Buddha was asked questions like this, he would answer with the fifth. And the fifth is very beautiful. The first is 'true'—that's the first corner of the house. Second corner of the house is 'false.' These are the two corners. Now, most of Western civilization in its logical systems only has these two corners; it can either be true or false. In the East, in all ancient scriptures, you'll find that there was the third and the fourth also, which was 'neither true nor false' or 'both true and false,' you see? Can something be neither true nor false? Yes. Can something be both true and false? Yes. But in the true questions which need a deeper place for the answer to reveal itself, the Buddha would say the fifth.

So what happens to the body of the sage once he's enlightened? Because in Buddhism itself there are a hundred different things which can happen. So Buddha used to say the fifth. Is that a cop-out? Is it an escape like 'I don't know the answer so just say...'? Is it like that? In fact, the whole branch of Buddhism that is built on it is the Zen branch, and Zen itself has a thousand branches. But if you look at the fundamental use of Koan, it is to come to a place where you reconcile the opposites. What is the Punjabi smartness? No, I thought... is it not smartness? Is it conveniently I framed it to mean 'got stuck in something'? But in this case, it is smartness or no, cleverness. All your tricks of the mind. So we may think and think and think a hundred thousand times, but none of them will actually lead to anything. So we may think and think and think a hundred thousand times with all our smartness, with all our jugaad, but nothing is going to get you there.

The place where you reconcile the opposites... what is it? How the Punjabi smartness? No, I thought... is it not smartness? Is it conveniently I framed it to me, got stuck in something? But in this case, it is smartness or no, cleverness? All your tricks of the mind. So we may think and think and think a hundred thousand times, none of them will actually lead to anything. So we may think and think and think a hundred thousand times with all our smartness, with all our jugaad, but nothing is going to get us there. You may think and think and think about any topic, but you will not solve the Quran that way. The mystery of God will not be resolved in your intellect, no matter how large your intellect is, and it'll only deepen. So the point is to start enjoying the deepening and the lack of understanding.

Getting why that... am I one or distinct with God? Am I one or distinct with God? Am I one or distinct with the Self? One or distinct? Both? Is it that we come to the Advaita part so that ultimately we find the truth of Dvaita? No, both are equally weighed in. Is my devotion to God only because one day I will see that I am Him only? Is my asking for union the same as saying that I want to be Him, or is it a union of love which still implies some distinction, isn't it? And yet, do I not see that I am completely one with Him? I am That. All of that said, and Rumi said 'I am That.' Which side is truer? Neither. Can it be like this only with God?

I used to say quite often when the satsang was in a different mode, where I say that the day you start understanding that you cannot understand is the day you start your spiritual journey, because you change the instrument, you see. Driving with the fake steering wheel thinking you're driving is not true. And that process is very difficult; it crushes our ego because we hang on for dear life on some strands of knowledge—that 'this I know for sure.' And that is what that chapter is for: that 'this has to be like this, I know this for sure.' No, we don't. That strand that stops me from... that also I don't need. Why you want to use it only conveniently like that? Skip to session, yes.

So, I hope at least we are at a point where you can see the dangers of just conceptual belief in Vedantic scriptures. And anyone who is really interested in Vedanta should read Swami Satchidanandendra Saraswati. He is the most beautiful, but unfortunately the books are very academic sounding. But if you read something and you really want to dive in, then bring it to satsang. I'm happy to read along with you. And he has those beautiful tiny texts, you see, which we ordered a few times a few years back, and he really gets the essence of Vedanta and how it is going to be purely intuitive insight which will bring us to that. Yeah, that sounds like it, yes. I'm not sure, I've not been, but I've read his book. Very, very amazing sage. Amazing, beautiful.

There's a tiny booklet called 'The Inability of Empirical Knowledge to Grasp Intuitive Insight,' something like that. In that seven or eight pages, the entirety of this Advaita Vedanta, its key aspects and the misunderstanding that can happen because of it, is all that. And he's got beautiful books on shining light on what Shankara was trying to say in all his commentaries. And he's the one sage who knew all the scriptures. Like, it's easy for me to say 'don't touch the scriptures, go with your heart' because I don't know any of the scriptures, you see. But he's the one sage who said your intuitive insight is higher than what the scripture is telling you. If there is dissonance, go with your intuition. I have not heard a Vedantin speak like that, because for them, they can be extremely dogmatic about scripture.

How did we get here? As did this? Okay, Kavita has posted an explanation: 'Achintya Bheda Abheda'—unfathomable difference and oneness. The center of all spirituality is the presence of God within myself. At the two ends am I. I am... this sounds familiar. This sounds like one of... I feel like she researched and put... okay, this is from satsang itself. Okay, I'll finish. So, Achintya is unfathomable difference and oneness. The center of all spirituality is the presence of God within myself. At the two ends am I: 'I' on one end and pure awareness 'I' on the other hand. And at its highest, I am the servant of God. If I, the servant of God, believe myself to be on the other end—I am pure awareness itself—then it is no longer true spirituality, is it?

So to recognize that the one who wants the claim should only be in servitude, you see. The one who doesn't like knowing about the fact that there is the Bheda aspect, the distinction aspect, that is the Dvaita aspect. If you can just spot this, then the dissolution will continue. But if you allow that one to resist and to fester, then that will become spiritual ego. It will become spiritual pride. If it is non-distinct, would that which is non-distinct have a problem with being a servant of the one that it is non-distinct from? No. It's only that which takes itself to be distinct which has a problem, you see.

So, okay, let me... once an elegant example is coming. So if I have a cold and my hand says that it is distinct from my nose and refuses to blow my nose, you see, because it's dirty—who wants to blow a nose, you see? But our hand doesn't have a problem because it's indistinct. So the one who says 'No, no, I don't want to touch my nose because it has a cold,' you see, that one is already the distinct one. So that one must be kept in servitude. Are you getting it? So what I'm saying is the aspect of you which resists that is already the distinct one. Now if you feed it the notion of greatness, the notion of the Lord of the universe, then it's going to just be... has that one gone? It's not gone. Has it gone for anyone ever? Not fully.

Try to get rid of... you not pray to get rid of it in prayer?

To get rid of it, yes, more and more and more. More and more: 'Rid me of my distinction with You. Rid me.' And it may dissolve. But like that Guruji's beautiful example of the droplet falling into the water: bounces back smaller, bounces back smaller, bounces back. When does that process end? Never. But if that bouncing one takes itself to be the water itself, then it causes all the trouble in life. There is more strife that has been caused by the spiritual ego than anything else in the universe. All the greatest troublemakers were spiritually proud. I don't want to take names. As long as you notice the distinction and want it to not be there, there's no problem. Just in denying the distinction, yes, exactly like this one is... which one? One with awareness? The one that wants to know? Exactly. So this one must be kept in humility, faith, prayer, servitude. That which is awareness is awaring anyway. The rest of you has to be kept in check. It's like the dog; it's fine, but the tail keeps wagging. Is the dog the tail? No, but it is the most noticeable part.

I do want this one to merge. This one, yes. I want this one to merge.

Yes, so this one will merge more and more into awareness, into the truth as it is, getting more in servitude and not more in... exactly. It's fun to have something like this after a long time. It is going to be different as we deepen in both Jnana and Bhakti; the fragrance, the depth of it will be different. How your notebooks looking? Happy? Can I read my last one to all of you?

Empty of my will, God's will does the holy work in my heart. In that way only can He construct my heart temple. I can only get out of the way. The sense of His work happening within me is clear only intuitively. I have to remain empty for Him. I have to remain empty for Him. What is the point of intersection between my mind and God? This unperceivable light of God, how do I know it? The one who is aware of the universe, is that one in the universe? If I'm not in the universe, is there awareness for me? Is there space in reality?

There's some childish ramblings. We had a lot of times about this, that 'I don't think I'm cut out for this, I don't think I can do this anymore, where you're pushing us to is beyond my capacity.' All of this we... but the fact is that... okay, I was telling a child this this morning that our life is meant for this. This is all that we are truly cut out for, you see. The rest is just a waste. If you want to waste our life as a zombie life and not live at all, then just be Maya about it, just be worldly in that way. But if we try sincerely, even a little bit, He always tells us the next step. The problem is we want to know the full plan, is it? But we also don't like spoilers. Like, if we really wanted to know the full plan, then maybe He would say. But see, we want to taste that sweetness every step of the way—the frustrations, the lows and the highs. we want all of that as well. Now, the problem is that we say, 'Okay, yes, give me the lows and the highs,' but when the lows come, then we feel like, 'Oh no, this is never going to go away.'