Father, My Heart Is Yours, My Life Is Yours, Everything That Is Here Is Yours - 24th May 2024
Saar (Essence)
Ananta teaches that life's complexities arise from managing it through a false identity. He invites seekers to turn inward to the Atma, surrendering individual will to the divine presence within the heart.
There is no situation ever happening which is not resolved if you are in His presence within your heart.
Spirituality is the process of getting over ourselves through love and insight.
The neutral taste of your being within yourself is unmatched by anything in the world.
intimate
Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated and may contain errors.
There's one simple trick to everything in life. Life actually is very simple, except when we try to manage it from the wrong place with the wrong identity. So, what is the simple trick to manage everything in life? Not according to my way, not according to our way, but there is no situation, there is nothing ever happening, which is not resolved if you are in His presence within your heart. The voice of fear always tries to tell you, 'No, it is something else that is needed.' And in a way, our life is really a test of faith in that way, you see, and really an experiment of faith in that way, you see, because the test sounds too scary.
So Maya pulls us into phenomena, to interpretation, to sense-making, to story-making. Empty of this grasping at Maya, it is not that we go into a limbo or a void. It is pristine—the very presence which is pulsating in your heart right now. If you don't meet that in this life, in your life, then it is like going to Agra every day but not visiting the Taj Mahal. As absurd as that. So don't leave, don't leave this life without that. Or at least, if it sounds implausible, if it sounds just made up, then at least prove me wrong. Say that, 'I've really looked within myself and there is no Atma within. His presence is not available.'
Because I feel like what happens in Maya also is that we don't fully meet what is being told to us, because you're being informed that there is a holy presence of the Atma within, which is God's presence. So we sort of devalue that presence to make it into 'a' presence, 'the' presence, you see. I can be with a presence within myself, but as it occurs to you more and more deeply whose presence that is, then all notions of worry and anxiety—and what is going to happen in my life, and what should I do, why is the world like this, when will I stop suffering—all these become so far-fetched. Maybe just as far-fetched as the notion of God's presence within yourself may seem to some of you, you see. And in that, your whole life will switch, will turn around.
Because what you are coming to discover, what you're going to find in your heart, is pristine beyond description. And all sages have to resort to saying that it is ineffable. So no matter which sage from which culture, which tradition you hear, they will say that you cannot put Him into words; He is indescribable. So if you really get a sense of what this Maya really is, then instead of... suppose you don't like a scene on the television set. Is it still called like that, television set? We used to call it what it... so on the TV, you know, you don't like a scene which is playing. So will you rush into the TV and try to fix it?
Sometimes we do that. Like my son, if he's not happy with the way his team is playing, he will stand up and start shouting at the TV screen, thinking that they will hear him and they will change the way they're playing or something like that. But isn't that what all of us are doing in some way? That this play of appearances, this game of perceptions—when we get involved to the extent that we take ourselves to be a set of perceptions and we want to participate in fixing this life in that way, then we fall into the trap of Maya.
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A better solution would be to reach for the remote control, which is that projector, which is that... let's use one of the metaphors. So that projective light, that presence from where this whole world appears. If you reach for that, then as the great sage Tulsidas Ji said, 'Mangal Bhavan Amangal Hari,' which means that auspiciousness is bound to come and inauspiciousness is bound to be taken away by God's presence. Now, I can only offer this to you in words and maybe offer it to you in some sense of those who know me a little bit by example, that this life is being lived in that way. So you don't have to fear; you can live it that way by example—very bad example though it may be.
So the attempt of the teacher is always to convey in some way, in words and in the expression of their life, that it is not just lip service which is being shared. The attempt, a beginner's attempt at following this way of life, is being made here as well, you see. And so far, because I'm sharing these things, I must be sharing because the results are good, the results are auspicious—that you can live empty of worry, you can live empty of self-concern, empty of suffering, empty of anxiety by turning to the Atma within, the presence of God within, the Holy Spirit within ourselves.
Now, some of us may not want to turn in the way of devotion, you see. We may not want to turn towards Him because it may all sound like hocus-pocus stuff, you see. That God, His presence within myself, Atma—is it really real? It may sound too far-fetched, or we may be comfortable knowing what we already know in our heads and we're just looking for some quick-fix sort of solutions, you see. But some of you may actually want to truly find a deeper looking, a deeper recognition in this life. And for them, they can really contemplate their true nature, themselves. Like, what am I really? Am I just a soup of sensations? Am I merely flesh and blood made out of the food that I ate, or is there something else, something more to myself?
So whether... and this path is called the path of Jnana, which means that we really are looking for the true nature of our reality. Who am I? To come to that recognition, to come to that insight, is called self-realization or self-recognition. Who was it? So I feel like it's somebody wanting to come to satsang but feeling they're late or something, so can get them back. So whether we turn inwards with the feeling of faith, surrender, devotion, or we turn inwards with the attempt to discover the true nature of who we are, what we are—that turning inwards is important.
And there is really no spiritual path which is true and worthy, worth following, which says that you must grasp and attach to things of the world. So the fundamental basis of spirituality is this turning inwards, not expecting the solutions in the realm of perceptions, but finding the solutions in a deeper place within ourself. And within the two ways, there is no better or worse. So one day I will emphasize this, one day I'll emphasize that, one day I'll talk about both. But to rely on Bhagavan's metaphor, that just like two wings of a bird, Jnana and Bhakti together make up spirituality. So a bird will not say, 'Oh, I prefer to fly with my left wing and not the right one,' or vice versa.
So already, the turning within—why doesn't it happen? Because of a lack of faith. And a lack of faith basically manifests as fear, isn't it? Like, what is going to happen if I just leave the steering wheel for a minute? No, I'm not saying do this in a car, okay? I'm just saying about your life. So we are too scared. We are clinging on too strongly to the steering wheel of life, which we are not driving anyway. So this make-believe that we are playing, we are too strongly attached to it, and there's too much fear that what will happen if I truly let go, you see.
Then what happens is that we put on, we take on many postures, one of them being the fake spirituality of mental understanding, you see. So it's like, 'Oh, what is he saying in satsang? I feel like I've understood. I am this pure awareness, there's a presence of God, I understood. So now why do I need to leave the steering wheel? You know, I've understood. Okay, what else do you got?' So many can drive like that, but that also comes because of the fear. The false spirituality of collecting mental concepts and feeling like that is it, while not letting go of your individual will, your individual desire, is a very, very strong trick which we must be vigilant of, you see.
And usually it takes some long period of defrosting before you can allow yourself to deepen in your faith so much that you let go of your steering wheel. Because to turn inwards, you will miss out on your important messages you have to send, at least for a minute or two. You'll miss out on your important work. But really, the sages of gone have been telling us that there is nothing more important than this. I saw a quote from Guruji also the other day where he says that immediately as you notice that you don't have time, then all that is trivial will fall away. But if you keep thinking that there's a lot of time, there's time for this and I have more important things to do, then you will go without doing the most important thing, you see.
And whether you call that doing the most important thing the discovery of God's presence within yourself or the discovery of who you really are, it doesn't matter. But between these two, I don't feel like anybody even starting to become contemplative in their life will deny that this is very, very important. If you don't know who you are and you achieve the goals which the mind is setting for you, you see... so what if it turned out at the end of your life that you climbed the wrong wall all your life? I used to use these metaphors earlier, that if you spent your whole life solving giraffe problems and at the end you realize you're a kangaroo, then is that what you would call a worthy life?
So isn't it first important to understand whether I'm a giraffe or a kangaroo? And I'm pretty sure that you would not be here if you deeply concluded to yourself that you are just this body. You would not be here, even if now you feel under some pressure to say that, because there's nothing here for the body. That itself makes it clear. So if you're not the body, then what are you? Who are you? If it is not God's presence in your heart, then the presence that you experience as the sense 'I am,' whose presence is that? Okay, so nobody really... I mean, many, most will deny it, but because they've not really started to become contemplative about their life. But if we are even mildly contemplative, we have to admit that these are very important questions.
Now, the nature of Maya is to tell you that answers to this cannot be found, so don't even try. They may even quote scripture and tell you, 'Forget all this, it doesn't get you anywhere.' But in forgetting all this, how is that working out for you? How is that working out for us? Because the nature of this Maya is that it promises a lot of joy, a lot of bliss, a lot of pleasure, but instead gives us a lot of worry, anxiety, suffering, trouble, and with a few seeming wins so that we stay interested in the game.
So my invitation, my pleading in a way, is to tell you that give this a chance in your life. Give surrender a chance in your life. Give faith a chance in your life. Give inquiry a chance in your life. And we have to grow up beyond that armchair spirituality, lip-service spirituality, where everything that we meet is held at the level of the mind, intellect, and nothing ever goes deeper than that because we are scared. So we just... 'What is he saying? Understood. What is he saying?' If you leave today's satsang merely with some understanding, then I have not done my job properly.
I want to introduce you all today to the deeper realm, which is beyond the realm of mind, intellect. How to do that? How to get introduced to that deeper place? A devotee may call it the heart temple. A Jnani may say it is the 'I am' presence. And then we may even say that I am that pure awareness, that witnessing, which is aware even of the 'I am' presence. So either way, whether you are going as a Bhakta into your heart temple or you are truly inquiring into your true nature, it is important to go beyond your conceptual understanding at this point. And the realm of the outside, the realm of emotions, all of these things—what is under all of this, and not specially under but prior to all of this, before all of this? And to go beyond the mind may not be easy. It may take some time before you are able to step beyond the boundaries of the mind because we are so conditioned to living over there. Everything we are resolving over there, trying to resolve over there, you're trying to think up all the answers and solutions. So what is the way out?
At this point, and the realm of the outside, the realm of emotions, all of these things—what is under all of this? And not specially under, but prior to all of this, before all of this? And to go beyond the mind may not be easy. It may take some time before you are able to step beyond the boundaries of the mind because we are so conditioned to living over there. Everything we are resolving over there, trying to resolve over there; you're trying to think up all the answers and solutions. So what is the way out of this chakravyuh of the mind, the maze of the mind? Ask yourself who you are. Who is witnessing even these thoughts? And don't wait for a mental answer. If the mental answer comes, then you just let it go, or ask yourself who witnessed that thought.
And your thoughts are going to hate this process. They're going to hate it. The thoughts are going to say, 'Stop it right now. What a waste. Nothing is happening to you,' you see? But if you allow yourself to question with sincerity, you will start to notice intuitively that I am beyond what the mind is telling me. And then your intuition will start to flower. And when your intuition starts to flower, that means that you are starting to become a disciple of the Atma within, of the Satguru within. So that is one pathway to coming to this.
If inquiry doesn't appeal, then just pray all the time. Your teacher, your Guru, would have in most likelihood given you a pathway in this way where you can remember the name of God in some way. And remember that it is your intention to find Him, to be with Him, that is much more important than any method that you may be using. So don't worry about the technique so much. Don't worry about the technicality so much. It is your intention to either look for the greater reality or to come into God's presence, or both, which are more important than any mistake you may be making in technique or in your practice. You don't have to worry about that. Always, of course, approach the teacher and ask them your problems, but it's secondary.
Now, in either case, what will happen is that you will become open and empty. When you ask yourself who you are, and when these thoughts come and go, you're not grasping onto them, but you're really asking who is witnessing this thought, then what happens to you? Some of you can report that it starts to settle down, isn't it? It may not be as quick as you want it to be, but your mind activity settles down. The gravitational pull of these thoughts may seem to settle down where you can easily allow them to come and go. Or when you're filling yourself up with remembrance of God in every layer of your being, in every layer of your interior castle, as St. Teresa called it, you're immersing yourself in God's love and light. Then also you will find yourself empty, unattached to what the mind is saying. In the no-mind state, in the unborn, you can go over there. And only here is true love, true peace, and true insight about who you are to be found. It is just not possible to come to the truth without coming here, you see? Coming here means within your heart, not to this room.
It is not possible to come to the truth without meeting yourself in this way. And it is not possible really to live in a state of unconditional love, uninterrupted peace, contentment, joy, unless you learn to live in God's temple in your heart. So whether it is Knowledge that we are looking for, capital K, or we are looking for the Holy One's love and light within ourselves, we have to turn inwards in this way. And there are hundreds and hundreds of methods. And if your intention really is to let go of your selfishness, your individual will and desire, then I don't feel like there can be anybody who is left without being shown the methods. But if you're stubborn and insistent that 'I will do it only my way, what I think is right,' then that is what has got you in trouble in the first place, whether you see it or not.
Now, what is it? Nitin was saying or Arvin was saying? Einstein said insanity is to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome. So if you're going to do spirituality also the old way, see, holding the steering wheel tightly, then no real change will happen. So somewhere you have to take a call and say that for the next two years, three years, whatever time it takes, I'm going to focus my life on this and make my life about God. And it's only in spirituality where this time seems like too long. To the mind it seems too long. But if somebody told you that the greatest skill that you want to learn, it'll take you just two years to learn, then you'll say, 'Oh really? Oh, that's great,' see? And I was taking the example of kids studying for IIT. They start studying in sixth standard now. Sixth to twelfth, they're studying for six years, and still a very small number gets in. And when we talk about self-realization or God-realization, two years sounds like too long of a commitment. And because it's an upside-down world, so... but that is needed because otherwise what we are looking for is some self-help type thing, and there's enough of self-help available in the world. We don't have to come to satsang.
But satsang is to truly come to the sang of the truth, the company of the truth, Sat-sang. But we have immersed ourselves in the false for how many lifetimes, we don't know. So to be free from the attraction of this world's temptations, of this world's ways, to lead a true life of spirituality takes a certain commitment from our side. In fact, a strong one. And this commitment is very important because the spiritual path for a long time can seem so self-effacing and so difficult till you start to find the ease in your heart, the ease in His presence, the ease, the comfort, the joy, the bliss of being with the true Satguru within, the Atma within. Till then, this feels like a proper, like God said, a proper wrestling match. And who is wrestling? It seems like the 'me' is wrestling with God. And in satsang, whoever, some of you, most of you have been here for some time, so you have the tantrums to show for it, the wrestling match that you've been having.
And I cannot ever say that this is true spirituality, but I can only speak from my experience, you see, that what the world seems to be offering today as spirituality doesn't seem to be similar to what I want to point you all towards. And it's very likely that I am the foolish one, so you have to do your own due diligence. You have to check for yourself. It is very likely that I'm the stupid one in everyone. So this is the broad context. This is what we are talking about: to let go, to get over ourselves. Spirituality is the process of getting over ourselves through love, through insight, through whatever the teacher has guided us to. Why it seems difficult is because we want to make it a part of ourselves. We want to make ourselves better instead of getting over ourselves. The temptation to make it about myself is how Maya works.
So Maya... okay, so we may understand Maya to be this realm of appearances that comes around us, you see. So Maya may appear in this way, but Maya is not really Maya until 'me' is it? Because this realm of appearances has no power. Like Ananta said, that till the 'me' has come, there is no Maya. That's why in pure perception, really, you are not disturbed from the presence of God. There is no 'me' that has come. So then how can I help is the question. If this is the project, this is where I can provide help. And usually with other things, I'm the worst one to come to. Phenomenal advice, I'm the least phenomenal one to come to. But a little bit, a little bit of insight is here, a little bit of love for God is here. From that little bit, whatever little I can do to help, I'm happy to offer. It's Friday, I haven't forgotten. Some of you looking upset with me, I very much remember. Okay, let's go to... ask me a question about the project I just outlined.
Hello Father, it's not me asking today, it's Khin. Khin wants to ask, he can ask anything.
Hello Father. Um, do we need the mic for him? I have a bit of an addiction to watching YouTube and stuff like that and I can't really get any work done and I came to ask for your advice on what to do because, yeah.
Yeah. Um, so rather than giving up on this addiction right now like cold turkey, why don't you change the content of what you're watching on YouTube? What do you like watching on YouTube? Okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but is it just all fun stuff or is there something deeper that you're learning also on YouTube? Like, I came to Guruji through YouTube, by the way. So I may not tell anyone to never watch YouTube, and all the beautiful learning has happened through YouTube. So do you feel like it's just like these, you know, like the Sidemen and all these fun things that kids love watching these days, or...?
Yeah, like, yeah.
So why don't you start with saying that half the time I will have fun on YouTube, but the other half I will really try and learn something deeper about my true nature, about God, about the reality of the Self? Whatever type of spirituality or religion that interests you. Can you start like that? Does it sound too much, half and half?
No, no, no. It's just that I'm not really allowed to watch the fun stuff on YouTube.
Not allowed? Then you can't be addicted to it.
Yeah, I don't know how to stop.
I see, I see. Okay. So as long as the fun stuff is not harming in some way, is not... because there's a lot of dangerous content also on these platforms. So Mom of course has the authority to tell you not to indulge in those kind of things. But if you are spending your time listening to satsang, for example, or some devotional music, bhajans, learning about some science or something which elevates you, I don't feel like Mom should have too much of a problem as long as you don't skip your homework and you're not falling behind in school. That could be the thing that is worrying her. Why is she stopping you from watching what she...?
Because I get very distracted and it's not really good for me.
Yes, but distracted from what?
From schoolwork and just life in general.
So how many hours do you watch? If Mom didn't stop you, how many hours would you watch?
Quite a lot.
Is the stopping making you want to do it more?
Not really intentionally, but maybe.
So Mom, we need to have some agreement on this before offers are made to Khin. But I'm feeling that suppose we say an hour or something is fine, but within the hour it is just half an hour of just fun stuff, his favorite, you know, whatever they call vloggers or whatever, and then the other half could be something which is... he's learning something from that. You feel like that could work?
I feel to say Father, it's not something that I like to police and like, he's not... he was not comfortable to even show to me what he's watching. Oh, I actually found out he's watching stuff by grace, like whenever I bless today. The reason he sang that song today with you is because when you were singing the Aarti, some strong music came on my computer. And he's using my computer these days because his computer broke down. And this strong music, I thought someone maybe had his mic on and they were watching some crazy music, but it was a very energetic contrast between what you're singing and what... was it some heavy metal type music? What was it?
It was some screaming and some crazy stuff, just very, very energetically very low. And I looked to see if someone has the mic on, but before I did that, Khin said, 'Oh, I think it's my YouTube.' And he was not supposed to watch YouTube because he had deadlines for two or three assignments. And I said to him, 'Show me what you're watching,' and he didn't want to. So he's hiding the content and he is allowed to watch, but with moderation. But I can't really control when he's watching and when he's not, and I don't want to be in a position of a policeman in my house, to be honest. And it's... I don't have this relationship with my children. Yeah, but he was very scared of saying, and we had this issue few months ago when I discovered some...
He had deadlines for two or three assignments and I said to him, 'Show me what you're watching' and he didn't want to, so he's hiding the content. He is allowed to watch, but with moderation, but I can't really control when he's watching and when he's not. I don't want to be in a position of a policeman in my house, to be honest. It's... I don't have this relationship with my children, yeah. But he was very scared of saying, and we had this issue few months ago when I discovered some Discord communication and again he is very scared and it brings... it brings...
So how old is he now?
He's 15.
Very, very low emotions in him. I think lots of shame maybe or something, I don't know what. Let's not... let's not do that right now. So, what I'm saying is that by the time the kids are 15, what needs to happen is that there needs to start being a transition between parent and friend. So by the time they are in their early 20s, it has to be mostly friend and less child. So the transition needs to start happening where maybe the two of you can just, as an experiment for one hour, just chat about this topic but as friends and not as parent-child, yeah? So no fear on either side and you can just share what you feel openly, because that will set the foundation for a good relationship going forward. Because this transition time from going from child to grownup can be difficult for parents and difficult for children.
So whatever little I've learned in my parenting, I've seen that if you're able to talk to each other more and more, that always helps. You see, but the talking cannot be so much with the roles. You see, once we set our roles that 'I am your parent,' the child is already, you know, set in that role that 'This one is trying to control my life,' you know? So then that communication doesn't really happen. So we need to create an honest environment where things can just be shared, said openly. So what is making him fearful of sharing what he is watching? If it is some type of music that you, you know, may not enjoy, but it's just music. So we can find out what it is because... and don't jump, I would say from whatever little experience I have, is that don't jump to like a psychoanalysis and say, 'Oh, this seems to be the problem and this seems to be the problem.' You see, then you're immediately putting yourself at a higher level and saying that 'I am the authority figure, I can judge what the problem is with you,' you see, 'and I will tell you that this is what you need to work on.'
By the time kids get to 15, 16, I feel like they need to have that space to communicate with their parents as well and to say that 'This is what I feel.' So I feel 15 should be what? 75% parenting, 25% friends, or 50/50? 50/50. The consensus in this room is 50/50. So can we try and move towards that? It may not be today, no. We can... it's not easy, of course, for any parent because we want to shelter our kids. We want to make sure that their life goes completely in a sheltered way where they don't face any trouble. Kids don't realize that's why parents do all of these things, but because it is to shelter them. But by the time they're 15, 16, we have to learn how to become more friendly with our children, allow them the room to communicate so that the kids can... the ideal situation is that he should himself be able to feel that friendliness to be able to come and say, 'Oh, I started watching this one on YouTube, why don't you sit and watch with me?' You know, those kind of conversations will only happen if we are able to drop that parent role a little bit, at least to start with. Communicate, just communicate with each other and don't rush through judgment and don't rush to offering solutions too fast. Because don't offer diagnosis and solutions in the first three sentences.
Usually what parents do is they'll hear for like one or two minutes and then they're off to 'This is what's wrong, this is what you need to do, this is like that.' But none of you will take that kind of parenting from me also. So you want to be heard, you want your problem to be understood, you want to communicate, you want to have all of those things, isn't it? So this is the time where you can prevent a breakdown of communication. Same for all parents, that at this age, if you don't handle it well, then in the future there may be a full breakdown of communication and only on a need-to-know basis both sides could operate. So we need to... and the prerogative is the parent's to enable that communication to happen. We cannot say, 'Oh, my child doesn't want to communicate with me.' Then have we tried like a million times? It's very important. We can't leave our children to say, 'No, okay, you don't want to communicate, I'm just going to leave you without communicating.' So will you chat about this as friends for some time as an experiment and see how it goes?
I'm committed to chat as friends.
Say, I didn't hear you properly.
I said I'm committed to chat as his friends and I also happy to hear his commitment to one hour.
Yeah, then half... he's asking what's half? Half is just your fun, whatever fun thing you're watching and as long as it's not... I'm going to trust you, okay, with this, that you're not doing something which is harming you in some way at any level of your existence. You know these words, you've been in Satsang long enough, so I'm trusting you that you're not getting into some seriously bad content. You're just having some fun stuff, some fun videos. And the other half you will try to see how you're elevating yourself today. You know, what did you learn? Did you understand something what the Satsang teachers talk about, or did you understand something which some great scientists said or some great thinkers of the past have said? Something, even though it may initially seem more boring than the other half, but you may start to enjoy that and that at one point may become more interesting also. So can we start like this and see?
Thank you, Father.
Yes, very welcome, very welcome. And communicate with each other. And even from you, you should not... I don't know whether you do, but children at that age also start judging their parents very quickly. So just like Mom will not judge, like I've asked her to not judge, and then you must also not say, 'You always like this, you are the worst.' Kids rush to these kind of things which are quite hurtful actually, but parents are not able to express the hurt that they're feeling. So once in a while it's okay, some anger has to be vented out, but you also try to listen to Mom, what is the point of view, and don't rush through judgment and say, 'I don't want to talk to you, you're just the worst, you don't listen.' So both of you have to try a little bit and build that communication. Yes, bless you.
She like include me in the conversation as well, just talking. Hello, come, come without fear.
Hello, thank you so much. Thank you, love you all. Thank you. And there are some messages for you on the chat if you can just go through them as well. Okay, let's go to... sorry, it's good. Hello.
Father, hello.
Hello. When do you start your drive? I feel like you'll be on the road.
No, I wouldn't. I tried to plan most things around Satsang, so it'll be probably in a couple of hours or so. So yeah, my mother really wanted me to be with her mother when she passed, when she died. And for some reason it comes that in my family people will call me when people are dying or animals are dying. I guess maybe because there's a comfort around death maybe that some people don't have and it's just natural. I don't know, it's not by anything I've done, I don't know why it's there, but...
But I wanted to come up and... it's very good that you can provide comfort in situations where most people are uncomfortable. So yeah, bless you for that service. Very beautiful.
Thank you, Father. Thank you, thank you. And I wanted to come up and maybe look together and clean up anything because I don't want to be with somebody who's passing and not be clear in my seat. I don't... and I feel like it's the most vulnerable a person can be when they're dropping their body and I want to make sure that if I'm there I can be really there. And... is it just me or did we all lose her? She's frozen in such a point that it just looks like she's going to start speaking any moment. Disconnected. Sorry, I don't know what happened. Internet issue must be, yes. And I am looking... hello, this one, I see you. I see you. Okay, I don't want to see me, okay. So yeah, I just wanted to maybe ask that and maybe like, if that's okay of course, can look together and just... and it's been a while too, you know? I don't want to assume that what I'm finding is actually God and then kind of it get tainted by all these things and not check in with you once in a while. So yeah.
So maybe one way to start is to really ask and see whether you have the same sense like it came in Satsang to say that heaven or hell is not where we are but who we are with. So if we are with God, then that is heaven, and then by definition we are not suffering, we are not anxious, we are not troubled. And if you are focused on the me, focused on the ego, then pretty much by definition we are suffering and troubled, even if momentarily it may not seem to be the case. So in His presence, in the holy light that you're finding in your heart, can there be trouble from your experience? Or do you have to leave His hand to trouble yourself?
Yeah, I have to leave. And the trouble is always in separation and in some thought that's coming or idea or belief, yeah.
So that's very good because at least then we have identified the locus of the trouble. Otherwise we keep thinking it's in the world, it's in our relationship, it's in our business, it's in something else, it's in the state of the world, it's in politics, it's in all of these things. But actually it is just who we are with. Are we with the Satguru presence within ourselves? Are we in the light of the holy Atma within us, or are we... have we switched to the ego? Have we switched to Maya?
God, coming to the presence of God... as long as there's an um... like a renunciation of like belief, like letting go of thought and not going into that stream, I can be sure that I'm anchored in the presence of God, right?
As a reminder, and we talked about... we had a Satsang, I don't know if you were able to attend, but where we talk about the role of Grace.
Yeah, I was there.
Very important, you see. So we can never take it so... ah, that's so... but what we can do is, as I've been saying, set the table for Him. And I've given you this example of this character, this person in the Ramacharitmanas who is an embodiment of... one of the greatest embodiments of devotion. Her name was Shabri. So what this lady did was for most of her life... she started when she was a young lady. So her Ashram Guru actually told her that 'You are enlightened and you can come with us to heaven, we are all going, leaving this realm'—a different definition of heaven than I'm giving you, but let's presume that one to be true for the moment. So she says, 'No, because I know that I will be fulfilled only after I meet Ram.' So even though she had enlightenment, Mukti, she didn't want to leave this world. And the way they show it, Ram wasn't even born yet when she had that intuition, when she had that in her heart. It's almost like David's psalms about Jesus although Jesus in the world's time was not around.
So this lady stayed back and she lived in a hut by herself. So for 50, 60 years, every day she would lay the path with flowers for her Ram to come. And she would collect these wild berries every day, and she would select the ones which were the sweetest. So she would taste them herself and she would collect a plate. In her innocence, in her love, she was not realizing that people may consider that unhygienic or it may not be taken by the world.
As was in the world's time, was not around, so this lady stayed back and she lived in a heart by herself. So for 50, 60 years, every day she would lay the path with flowers for her Ram to come, and she would collect these wild berries. Every day, she would select the ones which were the sweetest, so she would taste them herself and she would collect a plate. In her innocence, in her love, she was not realizing that people may consider that unhygienic or it may not be taken by the world to be the best thing to do. But she did this for so long till one day it happened that He came. And she said that everyone told me it is not going to happen, but I knew it is going to happen in my heart, and I have been waiting for you to come.
So let's look at the story in some detail. What is Shabri's life like before Ram has come? Sounds devotional, like the epitome of devotion, and sounds like patience. Even if the story did not have the magnificent end that it did, but that life would still be very worth living compared to any other life that we may have lived. Is it so? The fruit of devotion is not just in the outcome, but also in the leading of the devotional life itself. So I would say that to make yourself available to God and to say truly from your heart that, 'Father, my heart is yours, my life is yours, everything that is here is yours, everything is yours,' then independent of what happens after that or whether life changes in any way, that itself is so beautiful.
Because whether His presence is felt, whether His love is felt or not, we all know by now that the audience of one is aware, is watching everything. So He knows your love, He knows your devotion, and just the fact that He knows our love, our surrender, our even weak intention to surrender, our weak ways—and I'm talking about myself saying this, not you know, my people love—He knows my feeble surrender, He knows my feeble ways of even invoking Him. And it is very reassuring to me, just this fact that He knows. My Father knows. Nothing that we do for Him, nothing we intend for Him, nothing that we do for Him ever goes to waste.
Very good. So then what happens is that when we are attached to an outcome, we cannot do it without picking up on the 'me,' without picking up on the sense of 'me.' Me wanting something, or wanting things my way, wanting it to go a particular way—we cannot do that really. So that really gets in the way of our true surrender to God. And mostly it comes from, like I started by saying, it comes from a place of fear that I want to drive, knowing that I'm reaching this particular conclusion. But if it was like that, if spirituality also became like that, then there would be no role for faith. There would be no role for faith and trust.
Yes, so important that devotion is not just love, although love is so, so beautiful. Love with a trust which is beyond comprehension. The trust of Hanuman, the trust of Shabri, the trust of David, the trust of Isaac—all these are pointing us to such a deep trust. So can we have devotion and cling to an outcome at the same time? No, because then it ends. Yeah, excuse me, then we stop. The minute the 'me' comes, we'll be attached to the outcome. The 'me' is there, and the minute 'me' comes, then we know from Ma that Maya, the 'me' has come, so that is Maya. Yes, I see.
So just I want to tell you one thing, that one step—I know it sounds a bit cliché—but one step you take sincerely towards Him in your heart or even in the world, He fills your life with Grace and blessings. At least that's my experience. I noticed that I am so weak and feeble in my love for Him, but for this minuscule grain of love, He has filled my life with so much Grace. Yes, and that's all that I can really offer or point your children to.
Yeah, I see. I see where I've been looking for an outcome and how that brings everything to a halt in a way. It stops. It's when pride comes in and then, yeah, it's like I'm not laying the flowers out for God anymore, you know, because it's...
Like yeah, you've been reading about, hearing about some of these sadhus, sages, and some very strong Orthodox teachers, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox teachers also. And some of the sadhus we've been watching on video, and it occurred to me today that we are thinking that these people have given up so much, they've sacrificed so much. But actually, it is not true. They have figured it out. They have really understood it intuitively in their heart. The way of life, is it? Which is that we seem to give up things and attachment to things on the outside, but actually we are so happy inside because of that. Nobody will want to make the other exchange once you start to experience that.
So you must follow by their example because their innocence, just what they exude in their presence and their complete absence of pretense and pride is just such a gift that they've got. And it's very difficult for a silly worldly life to do, but actually they have received much more than they have given up, much, much more. But that takes faith. Initially it may seem like it takes some courage, but there's nobody in the world who is enjoying their life more than them. But not in an outer way. The joy, the taste within is unmatched by anything in the world. The taste within is unmatched by anything in the world.
And it doesn't always have to be that sweet, sweet honey that I'm talking about. Just the neutral taste of presence, like holy water within yourself. The neutral taste of your being within yourself is like... and of course all His gifts are for us, all His love is for us. The sweet wound in your heart—I love this term from one of these fathers—but precise, because it is like a wound, but it's the sweetest wound. And I'm speaking very literally. Some of you, of course, report this to me as well and I'm very happy. But what would one exchange for this? If they were made the king of this universe, would you exchange it for this? No chance. When you're in it, you know that you don't want to exchange it for anything.
Yes, exactly. That is the thing. That is when you're in it. And then when you're in the world, then it is like, 'Oh, you know, do I have to pray?' It can be resistive in that way. 'Do I have to inquire? You know, maybe I take a break.' I'm speaking all this from experience. I probably do this every day myself. Another trap is when I'm in it and it's alive and it's beautiful, I'm like, 'Well, it's okay if I just dip here in this a little bit and play. I'm in God, so it's okay. What can it hurt?'
Yeah, that is a very tricky trick from Maya. I fall for it every day. So I just, like, yeah, you're with God, what could go wrong, you know? So yeah, just why not? They take on like individual will, just you know, you pick up a want, you say, 'I want,' instead of waiting for Him to move you and something like that. Also, without tasting, it seems like it is so oppressive. You can't do anything that you want, you always have to wait in His... that sounds like slavery, that sounds like oppression. But actually, it is freedom from the mental prison, freedom from egoic slavery, mental slavery and oppression. And really to be guided by the greatest teacher, the most loving parent within, is the best gift we can give ourselves. That is in fact freedom, although it sounds like the opposite. We are so used to going the mind's way that that seemed like freedom.
So we are learning. We are learning in this process together. I won't say that I'm very good at following God's will, but I'm trying. I'm trying.
If you're not good at it, then I don't know what I am.
I feel like all of us are... I am not even close. All of us, you see, in relation to God, all of us are just children. So yeah, I still don't know God as a loving parent yet in that way, but this is the game. Is that a requirement of spirituality seems to be that first you need to have faith that He is that, and then that is revealed to you. It's not like the world where you can say, 'I will trust that once I see the evidence.'
Yeah, I hear you.
Evidence can be seen in the form of the sages, in the stories of the sages that we had the blessings to encounter and whatever you can read about them that shows us. But besides that, first we need to have the faith. Yes, I promise you, my child, that if you have this faith, then you will see the evidence of it every moment of your life, in every breath that you take. First you need to get over the mental obstacle to faith and have this faith from your heart. You can have this for you and then tell me that in every breath you don't see His love for you as a loving parent. He takes care of everything all our lives, as much as we can—actually fully is not possible for any of us—but as fully as we can.
Okay, let me ask all of us this question: who is more faithful, we or God?
For sure God. For sure God.
If we were waiting in somebody's house for a million lifetimes and they refuse to turn to us, and they turn to us at best when they are in trouble, you see, and then the minute the trouble is taken care of, they turn away, they run back out—and if they did this lifetime after lifetime, in every lifetime millions of times, then would we be friends with that one? You would not. No. But He continues to live in our heart. He continues to show us His love, His life. He is much more faithful than we can ever be.
So our requirement of faith is very, very little. Just the slightest faith, like Jesus said, the mustard seed. Not because we have to, because that size is difficult compared to what we have—even that size may be very difficult. What he's saying is that because we have faith in Him, even the tiniest faith will do, because something multiplied by infinity becomes infinity. But when we take the world to be real, take ourselves to be a body-mind, take our name to be what our parents gave us or our teacher gave us or something like that, then we are really being faithful to the world and not to Him.
And to be faithful to the world needs a lot of work from our side, actually. We need to believe so many concepts, we need to work so hard, we need to identify, we need to do all of this. And to be faithful to God just needs us to be as empty as we can, as surrendered, as open as we can. Whether you call that the no-mind, the unborn, the heart of a devotee, all these categories don't actually make a difference. You see? So the great master Bankei said everything is perfectly resolved in the unborn. Another one said that when you're in heaven in His presence, then there is no problem. The same thing.
So let's switch it around from 'show me and then I will trust' to 'I will offer everything that I have and I have faith that you are listening, you are watching, you are helping.' And if once your faith is not answered, if you don't find evidence for your faith when you kept the faith, then I will stop sharing.
No, please don't stop.
But I know it is not going to happen, is it? I know it, that if you kept the faith truly—not like tempting God, but truly kept the faith and trusted Him—and He doesn't take care of you, then I don't know what I'm talking about. I should stop talking right now. Yeah, okay. I have full faith that your faith will be answered. Yes, and as difficult as it may seem at times, you have to hold on to that and not give into despair.
Yeah, yes.
So there is a big difference between noticing contrition, repentance, and despair. We've spoken about this, that we can notice our foolishness, we can notice our lack of faith, our lack of love and all of that, but all of that also must be offered along with the good things we have to offer to God and be offered to Him. But if it makes us just become full of just this and then we get into a despair, then that is a lack of faith. That as foolish as I may be, God is God. As foolish as I may be, God is God, isn't it? So if He is with the most...
Contrition, repentance, and despair—we've spoken about this, that we can notice our foolishness, we can notice our lack of faith, our lack of love and all of that. But all of that also must be offered along with the good things we have to offer to God and be offered to him. But if it makes us just become full of just this and then we get into a despair, then that is a lack of faith. As foolish as I may be, God is God. As foolish as I may be, God is God, isn't it? So if he is with the most foolish one in this universe, does that diminish his light in you? Impossible. So this is the holy presence in your heart within. It prevents us from taking ourselves too seriously. We can get over ourselves, and when we get over ourselves, we lay the table for him. We set the road like Shabri for him. And just in setting the road, Lord, he knows he is there, and he knows exactly what to feed every child.
Do we feel like, those of us with a little bit of Bhakti in us, do we feel like God would know of our hunger and not feed us? Could it be possible at all? Even a worldly mother or father can't do it. And all that comes from where? A mother doesn't create this love for the child; it comes because God's presence is within her. The same place where truth, justice, morality, love, peace, bliss comes—all of this comes from there. So that very source of all of this will not love his children to feed them when they are hungry? But he knows exactly when to feed us and how much and what. That is what I'm loving. The minute we start doubting, we let go of fear. Yeah, constantly let's observe ourselves in doubt and notice what seems real to us then. Does the world seem real to us or God seem real to us when we're doubting his love for us, when we're doubting his gifts for us? I seem real. I seem real and this world of objects, and it's all about me and all about me. And then how do I solve it in the world? Better relationships, more money, better body, more understanding in the head. Fall for the traps every time.
So, but humility, faith, gratitude, prayerfulness, love for God—all these things keep us safe from this trouble. Yeah. Another trick I'll tell you is that if you are with him, then nobody can stop you from being with him. Sounds like a good trick in the sense that you don't have to wait for anything to confirm that you're with him. Not even his presence has to be felt palpably, not even his love has to be felt like a love, no peace, nothing. You just know in your heart you're with him and that you are his, actually, is even better. You just know this in your heart, then nothing can ever get in. Yeah, we don't have to wait. We are not waiting for anything at all.
So when Shabri was waiting, she was already with him. Her life was not spent in a way that she was without him. Her life was spent in a way that she was more with him than any of us, although outwardly it seemed like she was waiting for sixty-whatever, fifty-six years. Have this kind of faith that you know, 'I'm with you, Father. Now whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me.' What is that great bhajan by Rahim Ji? He says that you're stuck with me, and he takes so many metaphors that 'I am not leaving you now. Even you do whatever you want, I am not leaving.' So the heart of the Bhakta is that, that just you are not leaving. It takes the 'will' out of her love for God. It makes it like a warrior love. 'I love you now. I don't care what you give me in return. Even you cannot stop me from loving you.' That is a beautiful, beautiful intention to carry in your heart.
Yeah, sounds really beautiful. I'm telling you, my child, that whatever tip of the iceberg I've met of God, he will not leave this love unanswered. He will not. It's only our thinking, taking the wrong thing to be real and the right thing to be unreal, that gets us in that trap. Looking for evidence in the world or circumstantial evidence of God is to not deepen in our faith. Yeah, totally. Maybe so, because this part you can decide right now to leave. Yeah, I decide, I decide right now. I said right now, yes, because I can't die without him. I don't want to die without him. So that is, today I feel like we dug in deeper into what it means to set the table. You did. Thank you for getting through. Thank you for taking deep now. No despair from your side. That's all that's important. I'm with God. I'm nothing. I'm just available fully. I am here. That's it. There's no other step to take. Nothing else needs to happen. After that is just bonus, cherry on the cake. Is it? Yes, yes.
You've been hearing this great sage called Swami Ramsukhdas Ji. He says that our prayer should always be, 'Lord, I'm yours. Lord, I'm yours.' He said just in this prayer, everything is taken care of. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, feels good. Thank you, Father. Thank you. One child was saying in the last that when I come to the presence within, the minute I make it about me, like it's my presence, then it seems to lose its life. It seems to get disconnected. So the advice that came from here was that instead of saying, 'Oh, I'm finding you, you are mine,' like this is a sense of ownership about it, if you reverse it and say that 'I found you and I am yours,' then I don't feel like it can ever feel like this disconnection. Yeah, yeah, that changes everything. That is what surrender is. Thank you, Father. Thank you.
Yes, let's go to Sharat. Father, Namaste. Namaste. One thing also I was feeling is, and I've been feeling for a few weeks, we've experimented also, is that instead of just muting everyone and this like raising hands and doing all of this, what if we just kept it open for anyone to come? The only thing that stops us from doing that is the fact that some people by mistake are speaking to the mic while they are unmuted and then everyone's attention goes to that. Otherwise, I would love to have this Zoom room also like this physical room where everyone can just speak spontaneously. So let's see if we can experiment with that next time a little bit if you remind me. And ideally, I love for this room and this room to be just like the same, you know? So it's like we have satsang in one collective room and some connected through technology and some are through some other type of technology, but that is fine. And we'll come to that next week. We'll see how to do that so it becomes a little more free-flowing and spontaneous rather than now waiting for the turn. Many of you report that, 'Oh, when I put up the hand it was something else, now it is something else.' Then we can just, let's see. I don't know how it will work on Zoom, but see how. Okay, let's hear Sharat. You can put this back on. Thank you for this life, Father. Thank you very much. Bless you, bless you.
Okay, let's go to Sam. Hello, Father. Alone, I'm very happy to see you kids, very happy to see you all because I see how much you're deepening in God's love. And although from time to time the world comes and grabs our attention and focus and all of that, but I see how all of you are growing in that ability to let it go. And the blessings, the gifts that we receive within are in a different league, a different planet compared to what this world can offer us and give us. So we have faith and then we receive inwardly, and then that faith deepens and then we receive inwardly even more. And then we realize that there's an infinite pool of love in our heart, pool of joy, pool of peace in our heart. And as long as we don't waver from the path, we don't become proud, we don't become selfish, we don't become egotistical, there is no end to this beauty.
Yeah, I don't know what to say, Father. It's like I'm so hungry and it doesn't mean that I'm not filled with him, but it's like it's not enough. And I don't know what it is, just too much hunger. And it's nothing, it feels enough, you know? The more I want to like eat and drink, like I don't know, I just want to bathe in the pool of God and it never feels enough. Like this kind of hunger started and I'm not complaining, but it's a beautiful longing.
Yes, yes. We are fully satisfied and yet we want so much more, you know? That's what it feels like. Fully satisfied, much more than the world could ever do, and yet we feel like so much more, so much more. We want so much more of him in our life. Yeah.
Yes, and it's like almost every part of my life it feels like this, like is filled with him, but it feels not enough. Like as if I started to just look in every corner, like under every rock, I don't know. Like, yeah, like you made me God-crazy.
Very good. I'm so happy to hear that. So the ones who are God-crazy then should look only in the temple? Then we look only at the temple. He looks everywhere in our life. If we start to look everywhere in our life, then we are no longer, for those moments at least, looking at the temple. So you stay in that holy life in your heart, immerse yourself more and more, more and more. All this world is a passing dream anyway. There's nothing much to look at over here. Keep deepening in your crazy love for God. Nothing else is needed. Nothing.
Thank you, Father. May I bring something into your light? Like, you know, like we are experiencing different energy and it's beautiful to see that I don't react to them so much anymore as was before. But somehow I also see their effects. Like for some time there's an energy within my head and I cannot say that it's separating from God at all, but at the same time it is causing for me to sleep in satsang and I cannot listen to you properly. But at the same time, before some of the satsang you said that those are the times we are not tested—you didn't say it like this, but we need to put effort. So I just remember this and like I didn't give up and I'm still doing my best. Like it doesn't take me out of my sadhana actually, I put more effort. Like the result which is expected doesn't come, it doesn't go, and I'm still like just so much struggling, but I did my best and I don't know. I just want to say yeah, this, I don't know.
Yeah. Well, there's not one answer. I feel like in your case, I don't feel like we need to worry too much about it. Yes, yes. And for others, some may come and you're listening to satsang and something is starting to open up, then the mind sometimes plays this trick. Whether just your body is not that tired actually, but something starts to make you feel lethargic and not pay attention, or to go play some computer games instead while watching, pretending to watch satsang, you know? This kind of stuff just takes you away from just fully immersing yourself in satsang. So for them I would say just fight that temptation, don't fall for it, because these tricks of the mind can really stop us, block us in our journey very deeply. So that is one aspect.
There's another aspect where some of you in satsang will go into like a Samadhi just naturally, where some of you may continue to hear the words, but for some of you the world may just completely vanish as well, but you are not asleep. So a sliver of wakefulness is still there. So those things are very auspicious and we must not try to block them or do anything with them. Then there may be some others who are just not getting rest in their life. They're not able to sleep, maybe they try taking some medicine and still sleep doesn't come and things like that, and then coming to satsang God gives them some rest. Because rest also has to come from God. Nobody can fall asleep by themselves, you see? God has to make us sleep. So it could be that. So there's so many different variations in this that it's difficult to give one answer for everyone. So I don't want to say you must not sleep at all, but you must be able to check for yourself whether it is like an avoidance. And if it is feeling like an avoidance, then yes, make the effort. But otherwise it's okay.
You are also on the bigger topic of the energies and things like that. I have a feeling I know where all you kids are going. And where you kids are going in that place, all these energies will be just like little clouds passing in your space because your heart belongs to God in his life. Don't have to worry about it.
You must not sleep at all, but you must be able to check for yourself whether it is like an avoidance. And if it is feeling like an avoidance, then yes, make the effort. But otherwise, it's okay. You are also on the bigger topic of the energies and things like that. I have a feeling I know where all you kids are going, and where you kids are going in that place, all these energies will be just like little clouds passing in your space because your heart belongs to God in His life. Don't have to worry about these things; they won't last.
Thank you. This is the answer I'm happy to hear, Father. Yes. And yeah, this is all they... but I needed to hear from you like they're not important at all anymore. Yes, so much importance has been given to them before, but yeah, it is not so anymore. Yeah, they just come, they are just visitors.
Yeah, God sent them for... yeah. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Love you so much, Father.
Okay, Kalin and Karamay want to come back. Maybe they already had the chat. Okay, before that, there was another question about Helena. She said, 'What is your advice for a 14-year-old child?' He said for a 15-year-old, 50/50 parent and friendship. 14-year-old, what is it like? My kids are getting older now, so it's difficult to remember. 14 would be similar, but I would feel like 60/40 parents and friend. Maybe Kalin can give some advice. Kalin will say all friend, only friend. Just come on guys, together. Some of the teenagers don't really feel like there's any parenting anymore. Okay, I'm happy to hear what you want to say. You want to say something?
I just want to sit in your heart for a bit. And also want to put... I want to put at your feet the desire for the three of us to come to you. Yeah, desire for this for the three of us... for the three of us to come and see you.
To come? Very welcome. Thank you. Bless you. Thank you. Let's go to Anu. Thank you, Anu Ji. Welcome.
I don't know what is going on with me, but I don't know, this last time now, whenever you have some deep conversation with someone and there is some deep realization, at the moment something comes up with me, in me. Something rising like quite the opposite, and there is so much resistance.
So somebody is coming to pure awareness and you're coming to chocolate cake? What is the opposite?
That was so beautiful, the conversation with you and between you and Kisha about faith and love and waiting in the heart room. And suddenly it comes up with me that when Guruji had an example that if he would have a pill to give it to anybody, and this pill would cause straight end of the story and all clarity, would you take it or not? And I think he meant with this that he's supposed to get the answer that the path is so beautiful and I would go through all the way towards God and I don't need that pill. But actually, I would need that pill immediately. I don't need this path. I would like to skip and just straight be there. And I don't know, I don't know, it seems to be... I don't know why I'm so annoyed now and why there is so much resistance in me. But whenever I speak to you, Ananta, and it feels you really move in, I just feel like you wanted to say hello.
I'm not able to take your problem seriously at all. It doesn't seem like a true problem. It is just kind of maybe a question or... I don't know.
It's like I would like to ask you, Ananta Ji, so when you move inside, like when you take the space and I am not there anymore, please just stay there and don't move out anymore. Because this is only you. This is only your will, Ananta. This is not my will. I have no will. This is only you.
Yes, so I accept what you're saying on behalf of the Satguru presence here, because this Ananta is just this foolish man. But I know what you are saying, and I bring this petition from you to Him. And I'm fully, fully confident that He's aware of your request. Also notice for me next time whether He leaves or you leave. Because in my experience, I have to say that He has never left. It may sometimes... I may feel disconnected, I may feel like a leaf separated from the branch. But when that connection seems so true, alive, I don't recall a single time where He said, 'Okay, enough, I'm going.' Any of you can say that? Do you recall a time where you're just in His light, in His love, and He stopped? No. We turn away because something comes. We say, 'No, no, now enough.' So His faith is... His love for us is not like that, you see. So we are learning how to love also from Him.
But Ananta, His will really is stronger than any other will.
Yes, but He loves you so much that, just like now we are having a discussion between Karamay and Kalin as to how much freedom to give them and how much to, you know, allow this to be a friendly relationship and all of these things, in the same way He loves us so much that this whole play would be no fun if it was just like He was saying, 'So, you just like that and like this.' So for the game to be some fun, for some joy to be there, we as children have to turn towards Him. So we cannot fall for that convenient thing that it has to happen by Grace. Yes, it has to happen by Grace, but we have to pay the cost of discipleship. So that is a beautiful, beautiful sharing by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It's called 'The Cost of Discipleship,' and he explains to us the difference between like a worthy Grace and a cheap Grace. A cheap Grace is just lip service: 'Oh yeah, I'm not coming to Satsang because You are not calling me.' See, like that kind of just lip service Grace, lip service spirituality. But the costly Grace is just we become naked to our core, we offer everything that we can, and then we await His Grace. That is a true devotee, a true seeker, a true sadaka. So have you exhausted your will fully in Him so that then His will can take over? Yes, and this contemplation is very alive for me also. I'm not speaking this from somebody who is standing at the top of the mountain; I'm just climbing along with you. So this is very important for us to see. So when you're with Him, then don't turn away from Him, come what may. And then you will fail at that, and then we will return. That is the story of all of us.
I feel I am too arrogant, Ananta.
Notice these things means that you're already coming into the discipleship of the Atma within. Otherwise, those who are truly arrogant never say that. They are so arrogant. To be able to notice for ourselves objectively requires us to see from the eyes of the spirit, you see. So this is very beautiful that already we are starting to see the mistakes that we make, how we neglect God in our life, His presence is forgotten, we leave Him for the smallest things in the world. So all of this we recognize in the light of the spirit itself. People of the world think that they're on the right track, you see. If you tell them that they are foolish, that is the biggest insult. But when we start to notice our pride, when we start to notice our foolishness, it means that the Mother is picking us up from within. Our heart is starting to carry us because now we have started to let go of our pride. So keep at it. Don't get frustrated along the way and don't look for shortcut solutions. Nothing like that will happen. Just have to keep at this, keep falling into the heart, then keep getting tempted by the world, feeling... then returning and then deepening more and more as we go along. So don't worry, you're doing well. You're going in the right way. The mind also wants us to rush and say, 'No, no, now I don't want it anymore.' But the mind itself, the one who complains, is the one that turns us away from Him. Yeah, it wants to have it both ways. So don't fall for those tricks. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you.
Last one I'll read today, which is: 'Dear Guruji, whenever I want to ask a question, the question is seen from my awareness and it doesn't seem important and I keep quiet. It's like I'm meeting you in silence.' It's beautiful. Let's go to Sangeeta. Thank you, Father.
Welcome. I just... I just wanted to say out loud: God, I am Yours.
Bless you, bless you so much. Thank you. Very good, very good. So happy, so happy to hear this. Thank you, thank you. Very good. Somebody wants to sing? You can play some bhajan.