Have You Been Taking the Medicine? - 1st May 2026

So then what is the point of just conceptually understanding, and yet there must be a reason why the sages have told us these things. What is the reason? There must be a reason. The reason is that there is a way to come to that insight and they inspiring us to come to that insight.

Some of the most miserable people you'll meet are the ones that have a lot of spiritual knowledge. It's a fact. I'm not trying to put anyone down. But you see this: they're just so weighed down by knowing so much, because the medicine is stored in their compartment but they haven't actually taken it, and probably they don't know how to take it, because we don't realize that beyond the mind and intellect there's a deeper space where all of this medicine is meant to bring us to.

You see? So let's take a simple example. When we ask the simplest question, which sounds like the most difficult question, but the simplest question: who am I? You see, now I have the answer: I am Nirguna Brahman. You see, so is that self-realization? Because you have the answer, I'm Nirguna Brahman. Is that self-realization?

Then the mind plays another trick. No, I have the answer but I'm not fully convinced yet. You see, so then we keep repeating in the same wheels over and over, trying to convince ourselves, to live as if I am Brahman, to be convinced about that. You see, but true insight: do you have to be convinced about the fact that you're sitting right now? Like, let me convince myself, I am sitting, I am sitting. No, you just say I know it. You see, now deeper than this perceptual knowledge is Atma.

You see, so till we don't reach the limits of our intellect and go beyond that, and stay there, abide there in that stillness, we will not receive insight about this fact that my reality is Nirguna Brahman. You see, or the fact that Atma is here: any spiritual fact will not be met just merely conceptually.

You see, so let's make it simple. Like nar made some v diagram today, so I'm going to use a v when diagram, okay. So let's say anything phenomenally perceived, let's call that the realm of Maya. Yes, so now this is the ven diagram: Maya, everything phenomenally perceived. What is our inside beyond that phenomenal perception? That is the realm of spirituality. And we'll talk about the middle, the saguna in the middle, we'll talk about that whether when diagrams are intersecting, but let's not confuse ourselves too early.

So what is outside phenomenal perception? Phenomenal perception, conceptual understanding: let's put that in the box of Maya. God is not contained in that circle, in that ven diagram. Where is God? You see, now the sages have given us clues. They've given us clues to inspire us, not so that we can make knowledge out of it.

So the clue that the sages have given us: all sages, Tulsidas Ji, Tukaram Ji, Saint of Alandi, all sages, they've given us a clue. You see, they have said that God delights to live in your heart. That is the prayer. The sages said he delights to live in the innermost chamber, innermost mansion of our heart. And we can pull out hundreds of examples where every sage basically says he's right there inside you, in your heart.

You see, now is this heart: in the which which set is this heart in the phenomenal? Yeah. Lost me with me? No. So this heart is not the beating heart, is not the biological heart, is not the emotional heart, is not any of these hearts which is can be pointed to in that way. This heart is where the where God himself lives.

You see, now this should be a huge wake-up call: that God lives right here in the most intimate place, and yet we are living as if we have not come to the recognition. Or it's a fact: we have not come to the recognition.

Now, what happens when we remember God, or we ask a question about the highest, who am I? Our limited capacity is not capable enough to, by itself, force the vision of God, force the darshan of God. You see, but it is capable enough to point us, to take us in the right direction.

Okay, this is a very critical point. So when you say Ram, my antahkarana does not have the capacity to produce Ram for me. You see, Ram does not dance to the tunes of my antahkarana. And yet my antahkarana is intelligent enough to point me, to take me to the place where the darshan of Ram can happen, as the light of the Atma itself. You see, Ram: another meaning of the word Ram is the light of the Atma itself.

So when I say Ram, and just mechanically is all right, but the more of ourselves we can offer in that remembrance, the more of our love we can offer in that bhav. So without this love it's very difficult. So if you offer God's name with love, then what will happen is that that antahkarana, that inward turning, that stillness which Bhagavan spoke about, where we are meant to abide, we are taken to that holy space of abidance, where by his grace, when his grace is.

So Dnyaneshwar Ji said Prahlada received it very fast and Uddhav Ji was given slowly, slowly. You see, so we are not in control of that process. That process is a process of grace. You see, but it is our job to remain in that holiness, in that holy space, as much as we can. Because if you don't set the dinner table for the guest, he may still come, but the chances are lesser.

So we have to keep keeping ourselves fertile, our heart soaked in his love, in his light, so that the darshan of the Atma may happen. And don't feel like you will come to self-realization without darshan of the Atma. It is not an optional step. It is only the eyes of the spirit, the eyes of the Atma, which have the capacity to show us our true nature.

You see, we discussed: phenomenal capacity is not enough. All that we have at our disposal is not enough to come to God, to come to the self, to come to Atma, whichever word you want to use. You see, but then is self-realization or God-realization an impossibility? No, it is not an impossibility. It is an impossibility for my ego. It is an impossibility for that one which I take myself to be.

So as part of this process of inward turning, our pride has to break, because we realize our helplessness of coming to God. You see, then in that process our our pride breaks. If we ask ourself who am I sincerely, then also our pride breaks. You see, because I have spent 51 years in this apparently, spent 51 years in this world, and I still don't know who I am. I know 50,000 other things about other people. But I don't know who I am itself.

You see, now I have been told that God lives right here. He's everywhere, and specially he lives right here. You see, don't worry about the contradiction in that. So especially he lives right here, but I live as if he's not here, because I haven't had the darshan. That should break up right somewhere, no? You see, but we hold it up because we think that there is something special about this me, this me that I don't even know who it is. We feel like there is great specialness, this protagonist of the movie is going to make it one day, is going to reach the highest one day. No: to reach the highest, this me has to be dropped.

So till we don't empty the lane for God, to make space for God, then the darshan of God is: I don't say impossibility, in his grace everything is possible, but it is a rarity. You see, so that is why I'm asking, really, that I don't want to discuss more conceptual things, add to more concepts. The medicine has been given to you. Have you been taking the medicine, and what is the effect that it's having, and what is the problem that you're facing in having the medicine? What are the side effects? Do you feel like it's working? What is stopping you? This is what Satsang should become more and more.

You see, otherwise we'll know enough in our head to be able to write a book, but we will not achieve the purpose of our life. We will not achieve our very design. You see, if God has made our soul so that we can meet him in the innermost chamber, then is it something optional: let's decide whether that's what we want, or there's option B, I can just immerse myself fully in Maya, and it's all right. You see, the sages have told us over and over and over, every religion and every spiritual sage has told us: it is not all right. Don't waste this opportunity.

You see, and the problem is what? The problem is only: yes, this is true, but what about me? You see, then that what-about-me comes in various ways. What about my family? What about my responsibilities? What about my money? What about the health of my body? What about what I have understood or not understood? What about how special I am? See how good I am. All of this. What about me? It's just a distraction away from God.

You see, so if we didn't immerse ourself in this what about me, then naturally our heart, our inner vision, gravitates towards the darshan of God. So the medicine has been designed to dissolve this me. The medicine is what? The medicine is taking God's name, or doing the self-inquiry, or both. But broadly these two.

So Dnyaneshwar Ji said: all day you toil for your worldly things. Why don't you worship? By what reason don't you worship? I don't know if that's an accurate Marathi translation, but by what reason don't you worship? We should really take this question to heart.

And worship doesn't only mean petitioning God for something that we want. Worship means any tool, any medicine that we're using to come to his presence, to come to his light. So by what reason don't we worship?

Now this is a direct contradiction to the notion that work is worship. You see, the sage has not said work is worship. Sages said worship is worship. Our mind has said work is worship. That was not for you. So because you're working on the computer, but the seed has not said work is worship. Is it? Worship is worship.

Just a couple of days back I just read work is worship. I think one of the abangs were somewhere, one of these marat work is worship when you when your work is to serve, like when your everything that you're doing is to serve God, then work is worship, like how Janabay was doing, everything was worship.

So the primary is the worship part. So I am going Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram Ram, and outwardly work is happening. That is still worship, you see. But work is happening by itself and there is no remembrance of God, there's no remembrance of the truth, then that is not worship. You see, so I'm just countering this notion that physical activity or mental activity by itself is godly in nature. What is godly in nature has been given to us by the sages.

So that's why Dnyaneshwar Ji said: he said you toil all day, all night, by what reason don't you worship?

And I can speculate on the reason a little bit, because we feel that what we achieve here, material wealth, let's call it, include relationship, money, everything, is our capital. You see, is the capital that we are building. But spiritual wealth is nothing, there is no such thing. You see, if spiritual wealth was tangible, every time you took the name of God, something more exciting than a diamond showed up. You see, then we'd all be worshiping that. You see, but then spirituality would be a faithless process. You see, our love would be selfish and spirituality would be a faithless process.

You see, now what do we have to rely on? We can rely on what the sages have told us: build spiritual wealth instead. Build spiritual wealth instead, or rely on what our heart is telling us. You see, and my submission is: as long as it's not clear what your heart is telling you, which means your Atma is telling you from within, not some emotional heart or some other heart, which means the calling of the Atma from within: if that is not clear, the best reliance is on the words of the sages.

You see, and hundreds and thousands and thousands of sages over centuries and centuries have told us all of this: this body is dying. But there is an eternal wealth that we can build by finding our place at his holy feet, in his presence, whichever term you want to use. So therefore the question gets even more power, which is: by what reason don't you worship? I'm including myself in this question of course.

Is there a good enough reason? There's never a good enough reason. You see, it is because Kabir Ji said Maya is the Mahhataini. You see, Maya is the greatest con artist. Because what is Maya stealing from us? Stealing time, stealing our life. Every moment of our life can be used to love God, to turn to God, to find out who we are. But most moments of our life are going in that which is ephemeral, which is changing, which is going to die. Isn't it?

So Satsang is so that you get inspired to change that. So that you get a taste of the Atma within. You recognize the fragrance of the Atma within. So you learn to catch that scent and then doggedly pursue that scent till you come to his grace of Atma darshan. And we are willing to do all of this for worldly things, isn't it? We're willing to do all of this for worldly things: the dogged pursuit.

You see, somebody going for the IIT entrance exam. You ask the child, beta, how many years have you been studying? No, I'm just walking in like that. You'll say: no chance, no chance. So, but to walk into the door of the heart, the sanctum sanctorum in the heart, to walk into the doorway of the heart and to meet God. You see, we feel like it should just happen like that when I'm ready. This is not the time. Even our parents will tell us this is not the time. There's a time for all of this. And their idea about what the time for all of this is: when it is impossible, when you're useless at everything else, then you can be useful at this.

You see, and in God's mercy, of course, he doesn't make it inaccessible then. But it's very difficult. Why is it difficult? Because our conditioning, the me, has deepened so much. The grooves of the me have deepened so much. It's very difficult to break out of. You see, and you notice that some of us try to talk to older people about this. What happens? They're not able to hear. They're not able to hear, because first they think they know it, so they're not able to hear. They already know. Second, that the grooves are so deeply embedded: what's in it for me, what about me, pride of me, that is very difficult to shake out.

Of course, this is a generalization, and of course there are many who don't fall into that generalization by God's grace. Anyway, my suggestion is: don't, let's not get there when our grooves of our wasas of our conditioning are so deep that the talk of God will seem irritating, alien. It's not too late today. It may be tomorrow. Too late for what? To really meet the purpose of our life, the design of our life.

One other fallacy is that Atma Gyan is not for everyone, Atma darshan is not for everyone. You see, now that is taking a statistical thing, which is that it is very rare, and making it an impossibility for ourselves. You see, but actually the Atma is universal. It is the light of this very existence. We cannot exist without Atma. The universe cannot exist without the Atma. It is the light of consciousness in which the whole world appears. The light of I am, in which the whole world is projected.

You see, so then if it is here, did the sages tell us God is in the heart of a few rare ones? No. Said gut rag or rare gut virg, in everyone can be found. You see, now were they liars, cheats, or lunatics? You see, they were not. They were not lying when they were saying that within you God is there. But we have to make the choice to love him. God is there but he's not cheap.

Father.

Hello. Am I audible? Yeah.

Father, here the medicine is still keeps changing. Some days I was doing aids and now I have shifted to paying attention on breath only.

To have the medicine change is fine, as long as it's not a sheer pure trick of the mind. If it is coming from your heart, then the change of the medicine is fine. But I would always suggest to pick a medicine which has an element of love for God. You see, so keep yourself anchored in that bhav, in that love for God, and then the medicine has more effect. It is usually found.

And I love doing that then.

Yeah, that's why.

And, Father, when we say bless my heart with the light of the Atma, so can you speak something about that? What do we pray for? So that we can do it more with power.

Yes. We are praying for Atma darshan. We are praying for Atma Gyan. You see, because without Atma darshan, which means to come to the holy vision of God himself in our heart, then our spirituality hasn't started. No. You see, spirituality starts when we come into the discipleship of the spirit. You see, now to come to Atma darshan is very important because the Atma then takes, holds our hand metaphorically, holds our hand and takes us to deeper and deeper realms every day.

So we must not feel that Atma darshan is the conclusion of spirituality. We must see that it is the very beginning of spirituality. You see, so we are aspiring to begin our spirituality. We aspiring to start our spirituality by meeting spirit. So bless my heart with the light of spirit means: please God, bless my heart in such a way that your presence, your Atma, your spirit, becomes tangible, palpable, recognizable for me.

Until then we are able to see like what am I not, but we don't know what am I.

Yes, exactly. Like I said, it is only through the eyes of the Atma itself that we can come to the realization of what I am. You see, because it's a realization, it is the revelation, it is a process of grace. No matter how much you force it into your head that you are Brahman, it is not going to be your reality. You'll still be a me which is thinking that it is Brahman, still be a body-mind thinking, taking itself to be Brahman, and probably becoming very proud with the idea that you think you know this.

You see, there's nothing so special in knowing it, it is just a concept. You see, it's like: what is the capital of Tanzania or something? If you know it, what's so great? So just having the concept of Brahman doesn't give any Brahman. At best, this pointer is meant to inspire us to look. I am Brahman lead leads us to that stillness. The very stillness that the inquiry leads us to the very stillness that God's name leads us to. In that still place, that is where the door to the sanctum sanctorum, that door will open. But it's already shining its light, it's not closed from that side. It's already blessing you with blessings just to be.

But to come to the darshan of the light of spirit, and when we say light of spirit, don't think it is some phenomenal experience you're going to have. It is not going to be capturable through any senses, through any imagination. And I'm telling you now that either you take me to be a liar, fool, or lunatic, or trust me on this: that your life is designed for Atma darshan. It is that, that is its primary design, to meet God, to see the revelation of God. And then we can discuss whether there is oneness or duality with God. Let's meet first. No, let's meet. We want to first argue about Advaita. First let's meet for ourselves, then say: was it one or two? Why speculate?

So let's leave all speculation aside. Tell me what you are finding in your heart. What is the truth about who you are? Have you found the unperceivable, perceivable light of Atma? What is it showing you? What is the booster shot for your sadhana? Humility. Very good. Humility.

Never get frustrated with your sadhana. Become more humble. Why is God not meeting me? Become more humble. It's too much me in that meeting, still too much me in that meeting. So there is no such thing as VIP darshan. No such thing as VIP darshan or personal darshan also. As long as there is too much personhood, where will darshan happen? We have to be in awe of God. We're too much in awe of ourselves. We're too much obsessed with ourselves.

Now one simple thing is that we cannot see our own pride. You see, but we feel our suffering very strongly. You see, so remember that there is no suffering without pride. You see, that's one direct indication. There cannot be suffering unless I know something. You see, and all pride, basically, is pride of knowing.

They say no. What did they say about the difference between Ram and Rahan? That Shri Ram had the knowledge of his pride, and Rahan had the pride of his knowledge. So unless I know that, the concept I know that life should not be like this, I know this should not be happening to me, I know something, that has to collide with life for us to suffer, isn't it? Just life in itself is not enough for suffering. No perception by itself can make us suffer. It is when it collides with the resistance to what is appearing. That is called suffering. That is called ego. That is called pride.

You see, so even if pride is invisible to us, like I don't know when I'm being proud, it'll happen. You see, then suffering will tell us. And then Maya uses our Advaita knowledge itself to allow, to block us from noticing our own suffering and therefore our own pride, saying no, no, I am Brahman, I can't be suffering inside. All the suffering is festering, thoughts are attacking everyone around us, so many grievances, so much resentment. All this we are holding, but inside the mind is saying I am Brahman, all of this is not applying to me. You see, so this then is is called advita denial, actually. It's bi denial also. We've come across a few cases where it is as as as much possible to be a advita jerk as it is possible to be a bi jerk. You see, just conceptual knowledge operation depression causing us to be like that.

So the more I take myself to be something, the more I'm obsessed with myself, in awe of myself, then the more we will suffer and the more we will feel distant from God.

Now I'll make a simple point. If it sounds complicated, tell me, I'll try to make it simpler. You see, we love talking about the one that we love. It's okay. You see, now there's a simple trick over here. So if you were to really look, you will see how much you talk about yourself. That mean that is still your treasure. The me is still your treasure. You see, now one way is to love God so much more that organically what we speak starts changing. You see, but it also works the other way: just bring God into the picture again and again, talk about God, praise God, even if it feels mechanical to begin with. You'll see how much your love will grow with that, and the more your love will grow, the more you will talk about him. You see, so it becomes a virtuous circle.

Here what is happening is: me, me, I think this about God, I think this is right, I think this is wrong, then God is secondary and the mi is still primary. You see, and then in in our so-called spirituality our love for me may be growing. So japa is very helpful, to praise the Lord is very helpful. You see, I used to feel like these are stupid things for those who are not intelligent enough to understand Advaita. Now I realize I was the stupid one, and still am. So you realize the value of these things: to praise God more and more, to try and bring God more and more into the lives of our loved ones, even if they are resistive to it. It's very important.

You see, because it ends up happening that we end up bringing the conversation to where our true treasure is. So is our treasure in the me, or is our treasure in God? And we can meet it at both ends. That's the good thing.

So when we talk about God, I mean, the world thinks we're cuckoo. The world thinks we're cuckoo because we keep on repeating. Like if somebody even gives you a salutation of Ram Ram, you know, there's a resistance to say: why should I say Ram Ram? Why can't I just say hi?

From them?

No, from us. So somebody's wishing you and there is a resistance. You feel that why is somebody trying to put it across?

Evangelize.

Not evangelize, but you know, purposely putting it, putting it like that. And there are people who have different salutations. There must be a pride in us which is unable to accept it.

Yeah, it's like a groove: this is how things are meant to be, greetings can be like this. Somebody said at work she said for God's sake why do they keep bringing God into everything? So I found that very organic, very ironic: for God's sake.

You see, so that is the groove: there is a way of life and we have to balance ourselves between the world and God. These are ideas. But unless we offer ourselves more and more to God, offer our lives more and more to God, at the cost of our self-image, you see at the cost, we will not be able to hold the image of somebody very cool and responsible and good in the world, and offer ourselves fully to God. All sages at some point in their lives were laughed at, were looked down upon, were even like much stronger things, ostracized from society. All of these things are natural for them to happen.

Now our faith is tested in these things. Our faith is really tested in these things. And as long as we are not getting into a performative spirituality where we are just doing drama so that people will be impressed by us, or take us into something, to be something special, where the me is being amplified, but truly it is coming from love for God, then God will take care of everything.

So there's another thing: if someone else is greeting you and you don't feel like saying it, how do you come to that? It's in us, the lack is in us, or the worldly pride is in us, to say that I can't say this.

Yeah, because we haven't yet really deeply contemplated the value of taking God's name, and looked at it as an opportunity, and saying thank you brother, thank you sister, that you gave me an opportunity of repeating God's name. Because in one repetition of God's name, sages have said, lifetimes of demerits can be taken away. So when somebody makes a prayer request, or somebody wishes us using God's name, these are great opportunities. So just look at it as if one of the sages, maybe Ramdas Baba, somebody said that when we get reminded of God, think of it like God himself is remembering us. You see, calling us to turn within.

So that's a very useful tip: when we get reminded of God. We may be in a very busy day and suddenly something comes on our phone, or we see a painting of God outside something, or somebody says Ram Ram like that, then we must thank God and say: thank you for remembering me.

It's true. There is a thing, if I can take a few more minutes: very organically I find myself saying God bless, and you've heard it so many times right. If I say bye to anyone I don't say bye I say God bless. Sometimes I'm talking to a client and I end the phone saying God bless because it comes so naturally. Then I feel like a fool, they must be thinking I'm this performance of spirituality.

And it's okay. It doesn't matter what they are thinking. I'm at least sending out a blessing inadvertently if Advertently is fine and from the heart is even better. Even better.

So but it doesn't matter what they are thinking. It doesn't matter what we are thinking about ourselves. How to make it matter what someone else is thinking about. You see, because just like we are not, we are just witnessing these thoughts arising. Suppose you said God bless: can you really predict what the other one will think? We can't really predict. Sometimes they may be just get reminded of God in that moment, which okay let's admittedly may be there, and sometimes they may have a judgmental thought. It's all right. We also have thoughts come. But if your intention was good, if your love for God is true, then just trust that it'll be auspicious.

Thank you. Father, you actually answered the question like many times. What I: when I want to talk more and more about God with my parents, with my friends, but then sometimes this thought comes that I am only not doing it, and on what basis can I tell them. Like, for example, recently two of our friends had come, so I was sharing about how beautifully Gavari Tai had come, how we are learning about her part, and then I just felt that I've just begun, I'm nobody to talk about it, but I wanted to talk about it.

So but in this there's no pride. You're saying she had come and we are learning the har.

Yeah, the mind can trick us into getting into like a fear about self-image. No.

Now how much is the lifespan of this self-image? We've tried all our lives to create a great self-image. Have we succeeded? We think we have succeeded. Most people may not agree anyway. And even if they do agree, it doesn't matter so much because what is the lifespan? You create the best self-image and then you die. And that self-image is just roaming around searching for someone to attach itself to. I'm just, I'm just saying that what is the use of that self-image?

Then in that self-image, what people do is let me make this legacy durable. They say okay, let me call a hospital with my name, a bear of hospital. So beer of hospital: suppose you have a hospital in every city of the world, but beer himself is gone. So who will be the claimant of that? Whose legacy? So these are just Maya's ways of giving us seeming immortality. But they actually don't give us any immortality. The only way to immortality is to God. The only way to lead an eternal life in eternity is through God.

Now suppose all these thousands and thousands of sages are all liars, that the only way to eternity is God, and it's not true. You see, but even then, what do we lose? At least there's a path to immortality, eternity, full of love, peace, and joy. Nothing in the world has given us that anyway. No. You see, so what other option do we have?

So don't worry so much about preserving the self-image. The more we put our attention on that, whether we like it or not, we will just get into pride. So that's why some of the greatest sages considered themselves or said that they are the biggest fools.

And also, Father, many times I see that whenever I'm sharing about God, or you, or how great God is, I also expect them to receive it, or maybe come along with me. So that doesn't happen most of the time. So then I should not judge them, or I should not expect them, right?

We cannot judge them, and we must be very grateful that God opened our eyes and brought us to Satsang at least here in this life. I was such a active atheist that it's quite a miracle, just his grace, that this one was brought to Satsang. So we can just only be grateful. Because Maya seemed so solid, you know: Maya seemed so solid that God did not seem like a logical construct. So then through grace, through some suffering, through some things, something takes us beyond logic, something takes us beyond the ordinary. And then you start to really question: who am I, is there a God, what is the purpose of my life?

So you'll see most of our brothers and sisters not interested in these questions, because Maya still seems to be working for them, or they feel like they have a shot in Maya itself.

There's something funny in that context, Father. Like, a couple of my entrepreneur friends went to the iron man, you know this that crazy run swim, swim cycle, and cycling right, training for four four months. And it's amazing feat, and I was sitting in a meeting with them in one of these forum meetings, and one of my other friends had just come back from a vipasna retreat.

Which is also a feat in in its own way. Yeah. But the guy who came back from the iron man was updating everybody: what an amazing experience, and he's achieved so much. And then this poor guy, it was his turn to update. So he started talking passionately about vipasa. So this iron man guy was bewildered. He's like why would you do that? Why would you sit and watch your thoughts for 10 days? So I looked at him: boss, I don't understand why you need to run and swim so much either. You know, it's just this comedy that's going on in the world, and there's so much confusion going on that everybody's looking at the other guy, that maybe he knows what I need to do next. But you ask three questions of why and there's complete emptiness beyond that.

So yeah, it's been a relief that I've just checked out of all of those things, and thank you for that freedom from that madness. Otherwise I might have been running a triathlon or something.

And these why questions are very disturbing to people. So of course some of us are parents, and we're used to it with children: they can be quite irritating after a while, why is it like this, why the sky blue. But when we start asking but why are you doing this, you see, it can be because it attacks identity straight: like, why would you do that, why would you spend 5 months, 6 months of your life on something. And it is very, you see.

So when Dnyaneshwar Ji said that without that closeness, who will tell you what is of your highest good, he's talking about the guru-disciple closeness. You see, because that closeness is very close, like you can really: we're offering our head at the feet of the master, and chop my head off. At least traditionally that was the case. Now it's not so much like that. But unless we come to that closeness and openness, then who will tell us what is of the highest good? We need that certain closeness, that surrender, that openness.

It's challenging, Father. As a parent, but now it's coming naturally without any self-doubt, because it just happens in the moment. Like I'm sitting on the dining table with my son and daughter, and my son is now of that age, 17, where he has really started listening to the world: what do I need to do, how am I worthy. And so every time he brings up: oh, I met this friend, he was saying this is the way to achieve. So I just keep listening to the child. Let him say what he wants. But then I've just been saying: nobody knows what is going on.

Yes.

Nobody knows what is going on. You just follow your heart. So he's like: you don't think anybody knows? I said: I have 55 years, I don't think I've met many people who know what is going on. So don't confuse yourself, please.

That's one thing, Father. But the second, and to answer your question like where are we struggling in our path: there are loved ones in our lives, and one of my loved ones recently said: I may not have accomplished enough in this life, and time is running out. And this person is maybe around 50. And if I look at it, so much accomplishment has happened, I can just write an essay on that, but that person doesn't see it like that.

Now there are four or five other common friends who engage in that, saying no, you know, maybe you can do this, maybe you can do that, maybe you can start another business. And that person has already done three businesses and done very well. Now in such a situation, like even what this brother was kind of saying in a different way, one finds oneself to be an outlier.

Yes. But I stopped myself from saying what was naturally coming. I don't think I'm going to stop myself next time, but I thought I'll just run it by you. I mean, that person is very receptive, very open and empty in many different ways. It's just confused because of the drama that's going on. And so if I were to have a private moment with them, I think they're open enough: if I ask the question, who is it that wants to accomplish, find out who that is? But then that self-doubt came, like a brother here said you know, even to share that pointer I feel shy.

Right, because then it feels: am I being egotistical? Am I not, am I being humble or?

But in that moment there's a clarity that there's no ego. I just want the brother or sister not to suffer. So is that good enough to act?

It's very good. Very good. You see, and we must become open to it not being received well, because it's often not received well. Because if the why question is bothersome to our identity, the who question is super bothersome, because nobody wants to know after 50 years of living that they haven't come to the most fundamental thing in their life.

Father, the second aspect of this self-doubt is the whole confused world is screaming loudly about all the confusion. So why should we feel so bad and shy to just share maybe the opposite? But somebody's got to say it, without ego.

Exactly. And in the past few years that's my lesson also, because my conditioning, my natural way of being, this body-mind, is to be introverted, sit in my room. So if someone had told me a few years ago that I'll be walking around the streets with vital rupmi, no chance, that is not my spirituality. So we break out of some of these molds and say that like I have to say that the second event we had, where so many people turned to God for one moment in their lives, in their busy lives, was a very fulfilling experience for me. It brought so much joy to my heart, like any Satsang. It was it was not less than any Satsang. So I feel like God is also showing me that we cannot be so cocooned, diffident.

You see, don't have a lot of prerequisites: are they really open, are they not open? You see, these kinds of things: just don't worry about the outcomes and bigger questions, leave those to God. What is the one thing I can do in this moment to help this brother or this sister truly? Like, there's a 99% chance they may not be receptive, but there's also a 1% chance that they may become a sage. There is a 1% chance that they may become a sage and touch the lives of millions of people. We don't know, you see. So like C.S. Lewis was an atheist till he met J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.R.R. Tolkien actually convinced him about God and all of these things, and C.S. Lewis then has had such an impact, he's turned many many towards God. We don't know where that conversation goes.

I'll try talking about God. So um sir father the daily mundane life times like I have seen his mira, I'm seeing his miracles like if I'll like I'll give you an example. There was a senior IAS officer we had to interact with, and he is known to be difficult. And I had to face him, meeting was set, I had to go alone. I initially I was scared. I told my boss, I'm scared, sir. And all that. So he said: you can't hide always, you'll have to get over this fear and go. Don't worry. And so I said okay, we'll go. I prayed to Ram Ji, and I was okay, and I was doing my Ram Ram. He got transferred. The next day we got to know he had gotten transferred.

Recently also witness day, I went to prison department. I met a high official police and he was also, I I'm not like saying if they have so much power, I was in their place I would have also become very narcissistic and and all that. So he was also a bit difficult. Then yesterday I went to office. I met my boss. I told whatever happened, he told me he is also due for a transfer. No, the police: I did the same thing. I just said and I'm okay with anything. If I have to face him, I I'm sure it is for my growth only. And I'm and now because of this what happened, I when I went to my boss I spoke to him, he said whoever you are meeting, difficult people, they are getting transferred. So I told him sir I just pray and see this. So I got then I spoke to my colleague also, she was also seeing what's happening, why are these people getting transferred. I don't know, I just like, so two places. I got an opening to say: we like if we pray like, it was very.

And the solutions he finds are usually not something that we could have even fathomed. That's why it's so beautiful to go to him empty of solutions. If something is worrying us, we can ask specifically. Of course, he's open for that. But when we go empty of like what we want out of it, then he finds sometimes the most astounding things, like you could never imagine. Yes. It'll turn out like that.

And he's: when we are alone and we are happy going these discomfort situations because I realize only I, there are, I can't, I don't have access to my phone at times, I can't speak to Ma or Ram or anybody. So I can just do Ram Ram, nothing, like in the metro also that day while I'm short, so there were four or five tall people, I was finding it difficult to even breathe like I, I can't do anything. So only, when there is, how do I say, I'm grateful that these opportunities are there where there's nothing else but only one way and and hurry part. So like per punch per punch per punch.

I'm very very grateful, very grateful. Gratitude. Come here and and I I will try father to because I've seen with time gratitude this awe we forget he does these things that he listens he's not absent he's there. No, that that is why he's only. He he's capable of such. So I've seen with time we forget these miracles, and the miracle I'm sitting here in front of you where I wasn't like so. So I I will try to like remember, yes, what he does, how, what he's capable, who he is, and how how close we can be.

Very great. Very beautiful. Very beautiful report. So thank you for having that faith and turning to God in these difficult times. That is very good.

Now, let's, if you were to take a worldly analogy, let's say suppose that you are operating in this state and you had direct access to the chief minister. You could just call the chief minister. And it was very close access, you could: there's no fear of will they get irritated, angry, just very close. So then anytime you would have a troublesome situation, you would be able to call the chief minister. Here, with God's name, we can call God himself. You see, but our faith makes it feel like: no, is he really hearing, are we really doing something? You see, so as these experiences are happening, we are growing in that faith, that really we have the hotline to the creator of this universe with his name. And all that is needed really is to deepen in our faith, in our love, in our trust.

You see, it's an astounding thing, and you're absolutely right. We end up normalizing all of these things. The mind will come and say it is just coincidence, why are you making such a big deal out of it? But the odds of these coincidences happening again and again in our lives: we must realize that he's taking care of us so beautifully. So beautifully, even the smallest thing, like these are big things, even the bigger things he can take care of, but in our lives he is taking care of us in the smallest thing.

You see, like this happened: I shared in Satsang also maybe the other day, where I was not remembering the name of a restaurant in Pune, and I just felt like oh this restaurant, this restaurant, and then I was speaking with Pratna and Pratna said no. So after a few minutes she got a phone call from a cousin who said hey, can you get me a booking at this restaurant, and she said the name of the restaurant out loud. And I said: look at that. Is that for those who don't take themselves to be anything, and they deeply love him and learn to be reliant on him more and more, he takes care of the smallest thing? Like, I'm reading the story of Janabai: she loves him so much, he comes and does all the grinding of the wheat mill, and doing all the housework and everything for her. It's just a question of faith.

To our logical mind it will seem like absurd stupidity, blind faith, superstition, all of these things. But these are ones who haven't actually tried living that way. You see, we try living that way. You see, there is no end to his grace on us, his mercy on us. So thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

You see, now this doesn't mean that we have a cheat code to make whatever wish fulfillment is. God is not a genie. So just know that every time you call him, he will take care of it. But many times his taking care of it, our mind cannot fathom.

Let's pass the mic back. Can we try and increase the volume by one or two? Check. Check. Am I audible?

Father, for the last couple of months I have been going through a phase which is very difficult to describe and articulate, but I'll try my best. You know, for the last couple of months I've been having this experience that I never had any control of whatever has happened in my life. It's kind of a awareness realization and also this realization that I will not have any control of what's going to happen in my life, which has been profoundly quite liberating, in a way, that whatever good things have happened or the struggles that have happened were actually meant for me. This has been my own journey, so unique as compared to anyone else. And so then there's this kind of feeling: am I the one really who's doing, you know, the concept of doership.

When does that come in life? And it's been quite humbling to quite an extent, that I never had any control. So that sharanagat comes, you know. And it makes you realize that God, or you, whatever that infinite divine grace, that divine power, has been orchestrating each one of our lives, every moment, in ways that we cannot even comprehend.

It's very beautiful. It's very beautiful. So it's very auspicious when we realize that, let's say for a moment, I am not the doer. It's very auspicious to see that that which I took myself to be is not the doer. So much freedom comes. You just feel like this dream is playing out, I don't have to carry any burden. He's carrying every burden for me. So that's very, very auspicious. You see.

Now, as we go along, I just want to give you some word of caution about this also. There are two things you have to remember. You see, one is that karta. So he is the doer and he is the experiencer also. So if you are removing doership from the I, also remove experiencership from the I, because otherwise what may happen is, tomorrow if things are not going as pleasantly or palatably, then it'll become victimhood, saying why are you doing this to me. So remember: the one who is the doer is also the experiencer. There is no separate doer and experiencer. So when we accept good things by his hand, we also accept that which the mind considers bad things by his hand, because he is experiencing for himself. He is doing and he's experiencing.

Second thing is that I am not the doer is beautiful for some time, but we can keep contemplating: who is this I which is not the doer? Then you may say it is the false one which is not the doer. So after some time you come to the realization that I don't need to keep referring to myself as the false one anymore. You see, because if it's false, then it's not I, it's not my reality. So then this non-doership strengthens our inquiry, going deeper into the recognition of who is this I really? This I is not the doer. Okay. Then who notices that?

Who notices that? So that one who is the sakshi, who is the witness of all perception. You see, then we come to that: the one doer and the one experiencer, which has nothing to do with the me. You see, so then we see that that me is not the doer, that name and form is not the doer.

But very beautiful: enjoy this insight, it's very beautiful.

I don't know, Father, whether it's just a passing phase or.

No, no, it's very good.

But that awareness is very, it's uh, it's very interesting, Father.

It's a great burden off, by God's grace. Then doership goes.

And also remember one last word of caution. Sorry if I'm raining on this parade, but last word of caution is: as long as we feel like we can do something, like even order lunch at a restaurant, or take my wallet out and pay, as long as we feel like I can do something, then we must keep doing our self-inquiry or praying to God, till that doership is not completely extinguished, where you really really have no sense that I am speaking these words, I'm hearing anything, I am talking to my family. If doership goes and you realize that you are not doing anything, therefore there is no guilt left in your life, there is no regret left in your life. In the same way there is no grievance or resentment left in your life, because nobody else is also doing anything. Till that point, keep doing the turning to God.

You see, one day you will see that even that is pure grace. You see, that even that is pure grace. But let that doership of turning to God, through whatever practice, sadhana, whatever you've been doing, let that be the last to go. Otherwise what will happen very quickly is your mind will trick you and say: you're not the doer, so now you don't need to pray. But you still do the ordering at the restaurant. You still talk to the auto driver or the cab guy. You still feel like you're the doer in those situations.

You see, so let the doing of the sadhana, or whatever brings you closest to God, let that doership on that be the last to go, not the first. Otherwise may the trick of the mind: first you'll see now you don't need to do anything, you are not the doer. So then be careful, because I have seen these over the years. We can get, and maybe in my life also I've got into these things many times. So just: if the mind is convincing you to leave your sadhana first, I say no, this I will leave last.

So is this something that you're referring to as if like keep carrying, doing your karma with a detached spirit? Is that what this means?

No, in the sense that Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi had a very good example of this. He said that your self-inquiry is like a thorn. It is also conceptual. Who am I is also a notion, you see. But this thorn is what we're using to remove the other thorns. You see, now if you threw this thorn away first, then those will still be embedded. You see, so whatever you feel in your heart brings you closest to God, even if sometimes there's some resistance to that, and you feel like you have to pick up doership to do that, then I'm suggesting: do that. Because then it doesn't become a Maya trap. If you still feel like you're the doer of anything at all, do the turning to God. Let that be the last doership to go.

One day of course you will see that it was all God's grace. Even the turning to him or turning away from him was part of his leela only. You will see that. But Maya can also use this pointer.

On what you just said, Father, on karta to bhokta. So especially in the positive, seemingly positive, joyous moments: just to give an example, like maybe I'm listening to a bhajan or music, and in that place there's a complete loss of self, you're just with the music. There is only music that is happening in that moment. But that place can be so beautiful that, especially after hearing this in Satsang, maybe you said this a couple of years ago also: as soon as I'm immersed in the music but suddenly awareness may come, oh wow, this is so amazing, that commentary comes in.

But then immediately after that commentary, what seems to follow is a gratitude and thanks to God: even the privilege to hear this one note is like grace. Absolutely. But I feel like that is still the mind-body experiencing that, and maybe it's okay because it's happening automatically. So what is happening naturally is just a thank you and a gratitude. But I'm still lost in the music, you know, that loss of the self is there, and I think that seems to be an okay experience.

Yeah, I see. The loss of the identity through this means is very much all right, it's very good.

Shall we play some of the bhajan? We recorded it. Can someone send the link on the Zoom? Is it possible to send that transfer link? I can also try and find it. Oh, I should have them on my computer. Yes, I have. Which one do you want to hear?

You know how a song like this happens? When a grizzly bear meets a nightingale, that's how.

This has been God's precious gift in my life as well. This album of music is miraculous in many ways. We never thought it'll turn out like this. Firstly, we never thought Radha will ever sing in this temple. I got to sing one bhajan for God with my daughter. That's something I'll treasure also. Thank you God. Thank you so much for this. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you very much.