Give Yourself This Gift - 25th November 2019

To give yourself this gift, give yourself this openness and emptiness because this is what has been found here. But nothing compares to this truth, this reality that goes beyond expectations and intention, that goes beyond everything including the idea of the goal. The mind will only confuse you; it is by nature complex. What is amazing, and so often we expose so much of the contradiction that our minds are filled with, is by now you must see that it's not leading to anything helpful. There's no treasure to be found. It's not like you win a lottery after you thought a million thoughts—'here's your reward.' It is not going to happen. So, and no perception is going to last forever, no matter what the perception is.

So when I was in Rishikesh, I'm sure most of you also heard this experiment: looking at London, walking to Cairo. Every time the same, that we want to get to London but you're walking towards the other side. And this is what can happen too when a spiritual seeker gets caught up in spiritual ideas instead of letting go of ideas. And I think nothing useful is going to come out of that. So mostly what the reports sound like—I like this other analogy—is 'Ananta, what you said is this, but what I decided to do is the exact opposite of that. How is it? Why is it not acting?' I was led to remain open and empty. 'Is it what I think about that, you know? What if I did plan B? They let go of all expectations and intention, but if I let go, then will I be free?'

And because it is this habit to follow these voices, that's why it can seem to be confusing. It can also seem like it's a never-ending tennis match between your mind and your intuition. And many times it may seem like the mind is winning because it has concrete, tangible things to say. The heart is just waiting quietly: 'When will you put up with this game? I'm here, don't worry.' So you can see, really, when your mind is strong, so all these metaphors, all these analogies, are this representation of this head versus heart. But the thing in the head is that it will even misrepresent what the heart is. But empty of all representations, that's simple.

I say sometimes—we have not used this example for a long time—you can either be in Satsang and have a Master, or you can be Frank Sinatra. Why do I say Frank Sinatra? Because 'My Way.' You know the song? You come to Satsang but still say, 'But I have to do it my way.' This is the most telling. When 'no-way' is being shown to you, but the 'my-way' cannot come and say, 'But where is the fun in that?' I can see some nonsense about 'I like to think this way.' No, no, let's not look at that. Let's not look at who...