Keep Your Head Empty and Heart Full - 28th July 2023

I find my own source and my own self.

Okay, so what will happen once you find your own source?

I have no idea. Is it like a mountain we have to climb for the achievement of it, or what is all of this for? I started a journey and many people have said good things about their destination, and these ones are greatly respected and revered. And therefore, no, I think it's a heart longing or a call from—

Okay, so this heart longing, where does it emanate from?

From God. This is what you're saying is your living insight or speculation? No, no, I'm living inside there. It's not the speculation.

So you're saying that you are clear in your heart, and it is not speculation, that the longing to be free and to be free from the 'I' thought of individuality is emanating from God?

Yes.

Now, what you are actually saying is that God is sitting there. Is this true?

Speaking of course, he's sitting there. He's always—

Okay, so everywhere. If he is always there, what are you concerned about? Is it true that he's always there?

He is, yes. I'm concerned about this one identity, that me.

Is it a small God, the tiny God that you know, one of the gods like that God? Or which God is this one? The one that the heart longing is emanating from, what kind of God is it? Is it like one of the tinier gods, or what kind of God is this?

There is only one.

So you're saying that it is clear to you that the highest one, the one being, is already there?

Yes.

What are the conditions in which you can meet with him, this God? So when do you recognize that this God is here, the God, the one being? When do you recognize that God is here?

When I'm in my heart, when I'm with him.

Yes. And to be in your heart, what do you have to do?

I don't know. This 'I' thought or identity doesn't have to do anything.

Yes, but what do you, the real you, what does that one have to do?

Nothing.

Nothing. So you must do that nothing. Because what you're saying is God, the one God, the highest being, is there. And you're also confirming that you're not just inferring or speculating; you're confirming that it is your living insight. Now, because God is there, what else is important? Why is it so important to merge and do all the other stuff?

Because sometimes I take myself to be some 'I' thought, some 'I' who acts, lives in the body.

Yes. So now what do you have to do? What do I have to tell you for you to stop it? Send me that video: 'Stop it!' Huh? Do you have the power to remain with God or to go with the 'I' thought? Do you have this power or no?

I have this power because—

Yes. So you as Consciousness, or an aspect of Consciousness expressing itself in this universe as you, then that Consciousness perceives the thought which comes and has the ability to let it come and let it go. Or all the Masters would not have wasted so much time explaining to us why it is important to let this identity go. And through letting it go is the most natural way of remaining in your heart. In fact, if you do hang on to it, believe it, give it truth value, then it does not seem as if God is present. Yeah, so this is the absurdity of this world, that we don't give any reality to the presence of God, and we give more reality to everything else around it, you see. And that ability to give reality is the use of belief or the misuse of belief. Just to make it very clear, you're saying really the God of this universe, the one in whose light all of us is shining, is really the source of your heart longing? Really?

Yes.

I don't believe you. Prove it. When you say, 'I think from all the beings in the world, you should be believing me.' Because why I'm asking is that if you met Chris Hemsworth today, till today you would not be thinking about merging with God or something. You would still be wondering about Chris Hemsworth and saying, 'Oh, I met Chris Hemsworth.' Who's the right one? Who's the right one for you? Chris Hemsworth?

God. Oh, God.

So if you had met your favorite movie star, although you're shy to admit it right now, if you met that one today before coming to satsang about merging, removing that 'I' thought, you'd still be obsessed with that meeting.

But Father, thank you. I don't watch anything else.

So the point I'm trying to make is that if you're truly saying that God is there, from which your heart longing is emanating, how are you not completely obsessing about that?

I am. I am obsessing. That's why I logged in and I put my hand up.

Then what else is important?

Nothing.

Are you saying the God, the one whose incarnations are Ram, Krishna, and Jesus, that one is sitting in your heart? Are you saying this is true?

Yeah.

Then what else is important in our life?

Nothing, Father. Nothing. If you found a crazy one to say that, I can't say more than that. But you said something when you said that God is sitting in my heart. He said also, am I saying that God shines everything or all the manifest in the world?

See, this is important again. I'm asking you. So you're saying the highest being in the universe is in your heart, and you're wasting time thinking about what those words mean and how they connect? Is this true? Like this, there is some disbelief or unreality somewhere, you know, that we are able to ignore it and say, 'Yes, yes, God is sitting there, that's fine, but what did you...' There is a desire to see what she's saying, because you said also God is shining all this manifest or something along these words, and somewhere I sense that.

Come back. God is available to you. He is God's holy presence, and through the light of the holy presence, you recognize the unfathomable nature of its reality. You're saying that this is available to you, but you are going to spend your time solving something in your intellect or figuring something out? Is this what you're saying?

Yes.

So stop it. I'm happy we moved from Chris Hemsworth. Are you able to meet what I'm saying? You see, what is it to value something which the mind is giving us? That valuing is to take away value from your true insight of God's presence within you. Okay, I don't know how to communicate this because listen, and you're confirming that God is here, no? Is it some like a cloud passing through the sky? 'Oh yes, the cloud is here, but you know what else, life goes on. Let's talk about how I can merge and those things.' But you're saying that it is true, it is not speculation, that God is here. That is why I'm asking you. Are you sure it is God?

I am. And you asked me how to communicate that, and I don't think—

No, no, I mean, I wanted to say that how is everything except the presence of God more important? In that moment, there is nothing more important.

Oh, I see.

So the absence of value given to the false one is the metaphorical merging with the true one. You see, what is the 'I' thought? The 'I' thought is any reference you can make to yourselves. But to make any reference to yourself, you have to value something other than the presence of God within you, you see. So if you spend the rest of your life trying to merge, you will still be trying to merge, you see. So don't try to merge. Let go of yourself. Get over yourself fully, especially since you have the privilege of being able to say that it is truly God's presence that is here. Most of our brothers and sisters in this world do not have that privilege. I know. Does it still sound like make-believe? Because how is it that truly God is here, but we don't treat it as real as we would treat somebody sitting next to us in the room or even the next one on Zoom? Hey, is it so? If everyone on Zoom was making faces at you today, follow what I'm saying. If everyone on Zoom was making faces at you and you noticed it, would that be given more reality than God's presence in your heart?

No.

Very good. Oh, my love. All my blessings. Thank you. All my love. Thank you, Victor. So that is why I'm preferring to say who is here rather than what is here. Once you make it a 'what' and it all becomes very scientific, then we say, 'Oh, Consciousness is here, but I am beyond even Consciousness. I am that which is aware of this Consciousness, and I am now aware of being aware.' It all becomes very empirical. But who are we talking about? Are we truly talking about the greatest being, the most loving, the highest guide, the Satguru presence within the heart, the presence of God itself, the Holy Spirit? All these beautiful terms we have to describe it. But if this is truly your insight, then how much time does the ephemeral plea of the non-existent me deserve in our life?

We are trying to be spiritual in the right amount, and we are trying to juggle all of these things. But is it really God then, or is it like you're discovering a great discovery? 'Oh, there's a specific ocean inside your heart, but next to that is the continent of America, and then you say okay, go beyond all of this, all of this is on Earth and the Earth is in the universe.' Is it really scientific like that, or are we truly talking about the God, the source of all love, the source of all intelligence, the source of all that is the antidote to human suffering in the human condition? Are we just trying to climb the mountain of spirituality without even realizing who is here? Who is this one? How would our life be if our spirituality was true in the sense that if the spirit, which is God's presence, is real and we live in the insight of that recognition, treating that to be reality, what happens to the seeker? What happens to the finder? What happens to the juggler of this life?

So really the question is: Is God real? And really, is God God? And if God is God, then how do we say, 'I guess God is here, but...' and it's like saying, 'Ah, there's a tsunami outside my window and I have these feelings, you know, also pride.' So is God God, or is it just some nice word for a feeling that you're having at the moment? The astounding lack of faith in God's reality, even those who categorize themselves as spiritual, is something else. What happens is that if God is God and God is real, then it leaves no room for me. Because it cannot be that there is a God and there is a me. Where would that happen? Somewhere where God is not, and there is a space for me? Something somewhere where I am important, somewhere where my self-concerns are meaningful, somewhere where my will, my individual will, what I want, seems to be relevant? That somewhere is the play of Maya. So Maya is not a physical object. Maya is not even the appearance of this world. Maya is the ability that we have to give self-importance to the non-existing one. I have concern about the non-existent one and follow the will of the non-existent one. That magic trick is called Maya. So what is the metaphorical merging? To get over this me, because the lane is very narrow and to remain in God, many of you will determine that this much is enough for me or this is what I wanted. I'm good. Again with the self-concern, the self-importance.

The Lord of this world, Maya, is the ability that we have to give self-importance to the non-existing one. I have concern about the non-existent one and follow the will of the non-existent one; that magic trick is called Maya. So what is the metaphorical merging to get over this meaning? Because the lane is very narrow and to remain in God, many of you will determine that this much is enough for me, or this is what I wanted, I'm good. Again, with the self-concern, the self-importance, and the individual will. We come to satsang to get over ourselves, to get over this one, that is to be free from the 'I' thought. I can never be free from the 'I' thought. The instant you can make a reference of your freedom from the 'I' thought, it is the 'I' thought. So to be empty is to be free, but to be empty even of empty.

I want to ask you about... yes, that's all we've spoken about is now. I see that the mind is always rejecting or accepting everything and it wants just to have nice experience and reject the other things. Now, is God here? Is God here?

Is God here? So the answer that I'm going to give you is also the ahankara, yes, but without any intellect, without any pride, without any self-importance. Is there a presence within you?

I don't know what it means, presence.

I see. Okay, so can you stop being?

No.

How do you know?

I don't know.

So don't be for a moment.

I don't know how to do it, but yes, but you're being right now.

I am here, yeah. So this 'I am' is presence.

But do you mean beyond the body? You mean beyond the body? The 'I am' that you're confirming is the body, is it?

I appreciate the body, yes, but I didn't say what you perceive. I asked you whether you are being. And your being is inherently the body? Is it originally, in its most native form, originally now? Okay, you know this or you're speculating?

No, no, this is the truth for me. This is true.

Okay, good, good, good. So this being, without, prior to identification with the body—and we don't probably need to spend time on how that identification happens, you've probably seen this enough with me—so before that identification 'I am something' or 'I am the body,' 'I am a woman,' the I-amness itself that is there, that is presence. Yeah, this is what I am. Yes, and only one is present. The one that is present is called God. You are not present. You don't experience two presences, you see? So the present one is boundless, it's birthless, it's deathless. This presence is the one. Yes, Father, what is happening? Peace. When we say presence of God, how about this please? How is it possible that you can say, 'Yes, presence is here,' and I'm telling you, 'Hey, that presence you know is the most important, is the highest being in the universe,' and we can quickly go to, 'Yes, yes, but you know what is happening?'

I don't know, Father. If I told you that Queen Elizabeth is sitting next to you, even though she's left her body in this world, you would not say, 'Um, oh, you know what? Yeah, she's there, but you know what is happening? I can do this.' Oh, it's really very difficult, you know. So this is what I'm pointing to. I'm not pointing to make anyone feel guilty or unworthy. I'm just saying that this is the level of unreality in which we can surround our own presence. It is God's light within us, and we quickly move on to other things. But if it was true that it really is God's presence, the one in whose light uncountable trillions and trillions of universes come and go in every instant, that one is truly there in your heart—not physically, but the spiritual heart, the core of your being. Yeah, you're truly coming to that, and something in time is still important. This is Maya, you see. The Lord of this universe and countless other universes like this, which are nothing except dew drops for this one. I don't know what is happening, this thing, but okay, is this really God? I don't know, I'm doubting it.

Better find out. You better find out. What other thing can be? Somebody is telling you, either he's a crazy person or he has seen something truly real. You better find out whether he's a crazy person or what he's telling you is the truth. Yeah, because if what he's telling you is the truth, then it is the greatest discovery you can ever make. And if he's crazy, then you can tell him to shut up, it's fine, you see. But come to that conclusion in your heart. Don't waste your time trying to solve some other thing. I am telling you that God is real and God is there and God is here. Yes, what else is important?

I think that the importance is to find him and because of that I must keep...

Yes, yes. I have pointed you to the presence of I-amness. I am telling you that that is the presence of God himself. That is the hand of God pulling you to the deeper inside of an unfathomable God—unfathomable to our senses and to our intellect, but not unfathomable to your intuitive insight. I am telling you that to dwell in that presence, to be with that presence, is the only way to come to the highest recognition of him. Tell me, what is the difficulty? Tell me, what is stopping you? And I'm also telling you that no other investigation is as important as this.

Because I don't know how to do it and I don't know what is true.

You don't know how to do it. So the simplest way to explain it to you, although you do know how to do it, is to live in a way that your head is empty and your heart is full. You see? If your head is empty and heart full, that's the way to do it. How many ways have I told you? To live in a motionless existence, to remain in the Unborn, to live in the no-mind, do not believe your next thought, to do the Atma Darshan samadhi. Every way has been given to you. Just pick one and follow it. Take the risk and bet your whole life on it. What more do you need to know then? I'm not this one.

Where do you need to know? In which aspect of your being you need to know? In your intellect?

No. Okay, not the intellect. Okay, so leave the intellect. Which other place of knowing do you have?

The awareness.

I'm sorry?

Awareness. But where do you know about awareness? Here?

Yes. So here, do you not know that you are not this? Yes, all intuitive insight, everything is apparent. But if you keep going to the wrong one, the wrong instrument, which is your mind-intellect, then...

I see. When I read that, there is this impulse from the mind that is throwing these ideas of this ahankara. It's like a dynamo or something.

Listen, forget about the word. It's very nice and fancy, but forget it, okay? Because otherwise you will make a new construct and a new building will be there soon around the notion of how you are filled with ahankara and you have to be free from ahankara. Ahankara is nothing special, it's just a nice Sanskrit word for ego. Okay? So it's just ego. Forget about it. It's nothing, nothing so great. Just thought by thought, let it go. Every thought that comes, don't try to capture any truth. Don't try to treat any thought like a representation of reality. You can never represent what is. Just leave it, including this new nice word called ahankara. Which is a 'yes, but' machine. I think I see, I see. I'm telling you God is real and God is here, and your mind is saying, 'Yeah, but you know, but...' and that 'but' is nothing but 'what about me?' You see? And that 'what about me' is ahankara. 'But what about me' is ego. So forget about the 'what about me.' I'm telling you God is here. What about you? Imagine he is. Suppose that you're standing in the middle of the greatest ocean in the universe, and this ocean is an ocean of love and intelligence and sheer presence. And instead of enjoying that ocean and being in the presence of that ocean, you're trying to figure out, 'What is my relationship with this ocean?' You're nothing. That is your relationship also, isn't it? Listen, listen, you are nothing. So to get over ourselves is to recognize that what we have taken ourselves to be is nothing. This is how we block what could be a life lived in God, by trying to figure out our relationship with God. The non-existent one is nothing either.

This is like when they say the drop realized that it is the ocean.

No, just forget it. You're nothing. You're still waiting for the nothing to realize it's the ocean. I am saying you're nothing. Forget it. You see? Because even in that beautiful saying, 'the drop recognizes the ocean,' who is the protagonist of that story? Not the ocean, still the drop. The drop recognizes the ocean. You see? Ah, what a great drop. I mean, no, Father, I mean that it is recognized. Let's forget it. Just be empty. How many intellectual frameworks do we need? How many metaphors do we need to even frame our spirituality? You know how many metaphors we have? Thousands of metaphors. It's like this, it's like this, it's like this. How does it matter? I'm trying to understand. Yes, don't try to understand. That's what I'm saying. Be empty. All spiritual analogies and metaphors are now... those may have been useful pointers initially, but ultimately they also get in our way. Just be empty, you see. And you know what that matter... these metaphors are for at this point? It is because the wobbliness of not knowing what's happening, being conceptually empty, seems too wobbly. So we say, 'Ah, now what is happening is that the drop is merging in the ocean.' And what does that conclusion do for you? You're just able to frame this.

It makes me... I feel that it makes me realize that I am not anything.

But if the metaphor was, 'No, no, the drop is being ejected out of the ocean into outer space,' then? These are just conceptual bombs that we're using to put over the discomfort of being conceptually empty. And that discomfort is momentary, you see. Go through it. Don't know. Don't frame reality in any construct. Don't know.

Yes, because sometimes there is... I have fear to don't know anything and being wrong and don't wake up when I am studying.

Yes, yes. So the biggest fear is that, 'What if I let go of my constructs? I'm coming to an empty mind, but what if even that doesn't work?'

Yeah, this is the thing that is happening.

So this fear that 'what if even that doesn't work,' you must find one for whom you can bet your life and say, 'I am going to follow not his words but his way, even if I waste this entire life.' Otherwise we'll just keep hedging our bets, you see? We'll keep hedging our bets and saying, 'Yes, yes, if this doesn't work, then I have that, and if that doesn't work, then I have that,' you see? Yeah.

Yes, I've been doing this, like trying to find what is the true way or something.

Yeah, yes. Head empty, heart full. How will you know? Okay, so if you find a true way, someone tells you, 'This is the true way,' how will you know it is true? What capacity do you have to judge the trueness of it? If you use your mind, if you use your intellect, the intellect is not going to tell you, 'Yes, yes, this is the true way.' It wants to rule your life. Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yeah. So it must have some resonance intuitively in your heart. Yeah, so don't think about it. Remain empty in your head and your heart will guide you. Otherwise, what happens for most of us, and that's why we remain stuck, is that we keep giving the intellectual certificate of the 'true way' to things that we think we already know. 'Ah, yes, this confirmed my belief, this is a good teacher. It confirms my belief, so he's a good teacher.' Then you don't need a teacher, you just need somebody to confirm you. She says it is looking for approval and certification. Satsang has to empty you out. Yes.

Okay, thank you, Father. Hello. No idea at the moment. It doesn't feel like a bit too much around about a big deal, but I thought maybe it won't hurt to bring it up. What I have been experiencing, I think quite a while now, maybe years even, something to do with... I'll explain. I remember a couple of years back I told you that I have been meditating and the mind, or listening to something—I didn't remember that—and the mind came with like almost like threats, right? Like threatening. And I spoke to you and you said like, 'What can the mind do to you?' and I was like, 'Honestly, nothing.' It felt like that. But then the funny thing...

It won't hurt to bring it up, what I have been experiencing. I think for quite a while now, maybe years even. I'll explain. I remember a couple of years back I told you that I have been meditating, and the mind—or listening to something, I didn't remember that—and the mind came with almost like threats, right? Like threatening. And I spoke to you and you said, 'What can the mind do to you?' and I was like, 'Honestly, nothing.' It felt like that. But then the funny thing has happened. I don't know how it is related, but I feel like it's important to share. What happened after our short conversation back then is you moved on to the next speaker and my internet vanished, which never happens here because it's pretty stable. And then there came, I don't know, hundreds of crows to my garden—black ones—just to my garden. I was like, 'Okay,' and I got a bit scared actually. Then the internet came back and everything, you know? Since then, I wouldn't say that I am experiencing this manifesting like that, but it's always something. I wouldn't say it's threatening, I don't know what it does even. Sometimes it feels like the sky will fall on me, you know? If I'm in the car, there's going to be a crash. Even just a few days back, I was in a park and my dog was under the bench. Instead of watching the play, this terror was like, 'The bench will fall on my dog and this will crash the whole hour.' I kind of learned to live with that, but I'm not sure if it's actually the mind doing this thing. I don't know what to think about it. I was looking for a pattern, if it's something I eat, but it's nothing like that. It can come out of the blue. There are many examples.

Do you have a favorite superhero? DC or Marvel or something?

No, my favorite superhero is God. So when the mind—by that I'm saying to them, I feel like I'm fighting it, but I'm saying, 'You can't do that. You don't have this power. Only God has this power. Only my Father has this power. And if this is His will, if it is His will that thing that you think will happen, it's fine. But you don't have this power.' So, a bit like that, I'm fighting it. I'm not sure if it's a good way.

So you do—that's it actually. That's it. That's what I was trying to tell you, so you made it simpler for me. If God is here, you see, then what do we have to worry about? I will say nothing. And then the crows will come. If God is here, what if a million crows come? And by the way, in India, if a crow comes, it means that you're expecting a visitor. So if hundreds of crows are coming, you're going to probably open a guest house or something, I don't know. Satsang is happening; they're going to start a Satsang, you see? So the meaning of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness is also not possible to determine conceptually. Just remain in God's guidance. Don't allow the mind to interpret the content of your perception and say, 'Oh, this is really bad news, you've got to be scared.' What does this mean? Where can we go for true meaning? God. Is it true like this? You see, is it true like this? I'm asking all of you that, of course, in today's Satsang you can answer every question I'm asking with the word 'God.' But is it true that God can guide you about everything?

And if it is true that God can guide us about everything, then what other guidance do we need? Why do we need the mind's guidance to tell us, 'Ah, that sounds bad'? How to live in God's will? How to follow God's guidance? It can seem like two steps, but actually we don't have to worry about the two steps. What will happen naturally is that as you live in the unborn, as you live in the no-mind, you will notice mostly—and of course that's God's will—that your feet will take you somewhere, your mouth will say something, your hands will type some things, but in your head you're still empty. That is to follow God's will because it is coming from your heart, not going through any mental contamination and unfolding in this life. As you get used to living empty like that, you may also start hearing guidance from your heart. And I've told you how to determine whether it is your heart guidance: whether it is full of the presence of unconditional love, whether God's presence itself seems to be speaking to you, and most importantly, the most foolproof way is to notice whether your true Self is apparent to you as this guidance is emerging. Because the true Self can only be apparent intuitively, we can trust that the guidance is also coming from there. So unless this one tells you 'run' or something like that, don't worry what the mind is saying.

Yeah, it's interesting because it's like—I was watching as well at some point, I was just painting something outside and it started to be very physical. And I was like, 'Okay, I'm not going with this. No, I'm just gonna watch it.' And it calmed down, but it creates this kind of shortness of breath, you know?

Yes, yes. A primal sort of question. So the sage said in the Yoga Vasistha that the bird was flying, it landed on the branch of the coconut tree, and the coconut fell. What does it mean? Not much. Nothing at all. But the mind will determine a pattern and say, 'Oh, because the bird landed on the branch, that's why the coconut fell.' And that cause-and-effect sort of relationship gives birth to the notion of time, the empty of time. Thank you.

Someone catches that question, some vibrations. Someone says that there exists some intuition. Yes, whose existence is this? Yes, some presence is there. But whose presence is there? Is it just some presence like we can say, 'Oh, there's some joy here' or 'some love is here'? Is it just a nice feeling? It's not a feeling. Who's here? Presence means there's a hereness, no? So who's here? Who is that that is here?

It is... yes, there's an awareness of this presence. There's a witnessing beyond perception of the presence. But in our heart intuitively, if you were to find out whose presence is this, actually something wants to say that it's God's presence, but...

Yes, and we don't have to rush into it. We don't have to rush to conclude or just jump to that conclusion. It must be our true living insight from our heart, and there's no rush. Just the exploration of whose presence this is, is being in the presence as well, because you cannot truly explore it unless you are with it or in it. Just the explanation—sorry, somebody asked me to repeat—so even the exploration of a question like 'Whose presence is this?' cannot be done without remaining in the presence, you see? So the exploration itself is very auspicious.

I fail to say it's out of my body, something like that.

Yes, yes, out of the body. What about—is it in the universe or out of the universe also?

Yes, it's here, space everywhere. Some boundless something like that. Boundless. You cannot tell a space where it is not. It's everywhere.

In this space, if something has to be in the universe, it can be measured with some scientific instrument. It's made up of some matter; it is made up of the tiniest possible elements. Can an objective universe contain something which is not objective, or can it itself be contained in the greater non-objectivity? And don't worry about conceptually answering this question.

Can you please repeat? Actually, I didn't...

So we can form a misunderstanding, and we were talking about it also last week, that when we say that God is everywhere or the presence is everywhere, we sort of make a new limitation around it when we say God is everywhere in space, you see? Because that is as far as our mind can go. But God is everywhere; it is in fact the space which is contained in God, just like the dream is contained within your consciousness. And the dream is made up of your consciousness, but you cannot inside the dream say, 'Here, here, consciousness is here, here.' Is it so? It's a subtler being than even the subtlest appearance in space. It's like the substratum, but not a physical or a phenomenal substratum. And these insights can only sprout in your heart. So my words are not meant to be understood, but just to give you some seeding so that some sprouting can happen. I'm just seeding these words in you so that they may sprout as your own insight from your heart. So don't allow the mind to limit God in the awareness of space or the world. For God, this everywhere, this universe—when you look up in the sky and see so many planets—all of that is nothing but a grain of sand, not even that. That is the vastness, unimaginable magnificence of the Highest.

And that one in His mercy has given us His presence in our heart. That very one. How magnificent, how beautiful, how gracefully. This is love. And of course, Atma will say, 'But even that Highest arises within myself.' And this is true, that even the Highest Being takes birth within your reality, the Nirguna reality, Brahman, which is your absolute reality. Within that, this takes birth. That is true. But also remember that it is as much true that we are just insignificant little servants to His will and to His grace. To our intellect, both are opposites and cannot be true, but in your heart you'll recognize the truths of both of them. So our Bhakti is our recognition that we are just foolish little humble servants, and our Gyan, our knowledge, is the recognition of our Brahman reality. But one is not greater than the other; both are two wings of the same bird. Very good. Right. Thank you. Thank you, my dear. All my love.

Okay, what I struggle with is the suffering of others, both strangers in terms of humanity and also the suffering of the ones close to me, like my parents. I lack full faith to completely trust that God is here and that God is love, even though in my heart I feel that this is true, but my faith and trust is not complete.

Yes, this faith, this trust is ever-deepening. It is never complete for anyone, you see? Here I have to admit that there is not full faith, there is a lack of trust, there is arrogance, there is foolishness—everything is here. But I can sense that there's a deepening in His love, His light. And I also sense that as the deepening happens, I notice the foolishness that can still play out from here as well. So don't wish for 100 percent. Don't ask for completion, because that mind wants that kind of certificate. Just pray to love Him deeply, to trust Him more deeply, and then instead of suffering with others' suffering, you can become a light of God's love for their suffering. One question—you want to come up or you want me to read out the question?

Hello, Father. Thank you so much. I came back for a different reason, but of course I would love to hear also the answer for that question.

Yes, yes. So the question is: 'Father, what is God and what is the Guru?' Very good, very good. So let's start with what the Guru is. We've spoken a lot today about what is God, and then the question may come in terms of what is the Guru. Through traditional means of knowledge, which is by thinking and perception, we cannot meet God. We cannot meet God. That much is a parmarth, that is the fundamental principle of Advaita Vedanta as well—that what we perceive comes and goes, it is not reality. So if through what we see, what we hear, our taste, that smell, and whatever we may think, it is not possible to meet God, is it? Then as humanity we would be stuck. Most of us believe that this is all that we have capacity for—to think and our capacity to perceive is the extent of what most of us believe that we have. But actually there is another mode of knowledge which is greater than either of these, and that...

It is a fundamental principle of Vedanta as well that what we perceive comes and goes; it is not reality. So, if through what we see, what we hear, our taste, that smell, and whatever we may think, it is not possible to meet God, is it? Then as humanity, we would be stuck. Most of us believe that this is all that we have—capacity to think and our capacity to perceive is the extent of what most of us believe that we have. But actually, there is another mode of knowledge which is greater than either of these, and that mode of knowledge is called intuitive insight. Everybody has it, you see. But in this play, in this area, what has happened is that everyone has become so attached to name and form and taking name and form to be real that to access this intuitive insight seems impossible for most. This seems impossible for most.

So God in His grace—and I am making a narrative out of this and you have to take the narrative lightly, but try to meet the essence of what is being shared—so God in His grace has provided us with embodiments in the form of name and form, but they are speaking from our heart. They are representing our intuitive self-knowledge, you see. That's why every Master says that the true Master is only within you. The Satguru is really within you, and I am just an instrument of that presence, you see. So because this intuitive knowledge is the same, is one for everyone, so the Masters are also actually one. It is the Satguru, the true Master. The true Guru, Satguru, means true Guru because it points to the reality which is beyond what our mind can fathom and our perceptions can see.

So the external form of the Master, which we in full reverence call our Guru, is worth reviewing because for most of us, we don't have direct access to our intuitive insight yet. We don't know how to listen to the guidance within. So in God's grace, God has provided us with these beautiful ones who have found the reality of the presence within and allow their life to be in service to this presence within. So this is the Guru. The literal definition is the bringer of light, the bringer of light. But this light is unique, you see, because everybody can bring light. In today's world of technology, you can go to a light store and get as much light as you want. So what is so special about the Guru's light? What is so special about the Guru's light?

The Guru's light is the only light in which you can see that which is unperceivable. All other light, including the light of the sun, only helps you see that which is perceivable. It is only the Guru's light, which is the presence within, the Satguru presence within, the intuitive insight, the presence of intuitive insight within you, through which you can meet the source of your reality which is beyond all perception. So it is not possible without the Satguru presence to come to our—come to the recognition of our true nature as pure awareness. And in that way, this light is unique because only this holy presence can bring light to that which is beyond perception.

So that is the Guru. The Guru is to be revered because that is our Lifeboat to take us to God. So to the one that is drowning in Maya, to the one who is suffering in the world, the Lifeboat is of great value. But once we reach the destination of God's light within ourselves, then the instrument is recognized to be just an instrument. But we have to be very careful with the second part of this because the mind will quickly want to claim that. And you see, many have left Satsang believing that they've got everything that the Master could give them and now they have to do the rest on their own. But we can wait to be guided from our heart on those things rather than our mind's claim of independence or, you see, nothing like that.

Yes, for you to speak, I mentioned myself. Thank you so much, Father. Yeah, thank you. Actually, why I came is that, yes, mind was cheating me and while I'm waiting to be unmuted, I just have a chance to see that it was just cheating and it was beautiful. And yeah, it's just like, like nothing is actually a problem by themselves. Like nothing. For example, I was experiencing some energy in my hand. It's not me, but it's like our reaction to it. And I'm in a stage where I don't know what to do. It's like, I don't—it's not important for me and at the same time, it's like there is little confusion like how to react, what to do with it. Just this. And it's not important. It's like everything is okay. Yeah, I'm fine with everything.

So very good thing. I love you so much. I love you too much, so much. Okay, let's go to Radishan. Namaste.

Namaste. Of transports, no. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

All my love, all my blessings. Thank you. Okay, let's go to—let's go to Kunal. Hello.

Hello Father. Um, I just wanted to say hi. It's—it's been a little bit for me to be here and there was some resistance for me not wanting to show up here, but somehow, some way, I got up this morning and was able to attend. So I feel very grateful for that. And I don't know, I just wanted to say hi to you and I—I love you.

Okay, love you. Bye. All my love, all my blessings. Thank you, Father. Bye. No, I'm good.

Yes, I just wanted to say it's—there were the last days, there were days full of resistance and oppression from the mind. And it was just such a fight to be—to stay empty even for a short time. And now, five minutes in Satsang with you and everything is wiped away and it's just—it's just crazy. And I really can say this presence is here and this presence is also God, there's no doubt. But it's such—there are such extremes, you know? And of course, there's the question, maybe there's not enough faith, otherwise it wouldn't happen that there's such an oppression from the mind and it's so hard to risk and there are so many resistances and it's often such a fight. And yeah.

Okay, thank you. Thank you for this beautiful report. Let's explore this for a minute. So let's suppose that our conclusions about our lack of trust, our lack of faith, or unworthiness or whatever were actually true. Suppose all the mind's worst-case scenarios about how we are actually true. Even if that was the case, then the only antidote for any of that is to be with God now, is it not? Not to try and fix it in some other way or try to get into any sort of self-help program or try to get on some path of improvement or something like that. The real medicine for all these issues, even if they were true, is to be in God's light moment to moment.

So when the mind pushes our buttons in this way and says, 'Oh, this only happens to you because you don't have enough faith,' say, 'Okay, thank you God.' Use whatever excuse to come to God. Whatever positive—'Oh, you're doing so well, you're being in God's light'—'Oh, thank you God.' 'You're doing so badly, you don't have any faith, you only trust the world, you don't trust God'—'Ah, okay, thank you God.' So then it becomes—then we cannot be outsmarted by the mind and God's light cannot be hidden under the proposals and the invitations from the mind to take ourselves to be something. Use everything as an excuse to return to God.

So after this, um, I perceive space. Space does not perceive me. After that, could you share like what—what next after you perceive space and see space doesn't perceive you? You still remain a perceiver of space?

Still remains, yeah. Yes, but you know that it remains. Like we cannot say what that is because we are no longer in the realm of perception and we're used to determining the nature of things based on what qualities we perceive. Now you're saying that the finality I can come to is that I perceive space, you see, but it does not perceive me. And I'm asking you that the 'I' that perceives space, how do we know about that one? You see, I don't know because there is no quality that you can hang on to, but it is undoubtable that you perceive space. So how do you know it's you? We may as well have said 'something perceives' because—but we can't say that because inherently somewhere we know it is 'I', although we don't know everything 'I' have and we don't know this as a perception.

So that somewhere, live there where you know this is 'I'. Live there. 'Live there' means don't live or don't value the other place of judgment, of knowledge, of interpretation. Not that you must live there with your attention, because you really can't live there with your attention; it is beyond attention. Let's go to Georgie.

Father, I feel like I'm not—I'm not fully with your guidance or with your words today and some other times lately as well.

Which part? Which part?

So the part which is just like Peter searches, you know, turning on Satsang and there it is, but it doesn't feel like that now. And also, when you ask whose presence is—I cannot say, you know? It feels like my presence. I don't feel like this and yes, and though my presence is which one, whose is here? Yes, yes, yes.

So now that is big trouble. This is big trouble because there is someone who you call Father who is saying that is God's presence, is it? He's saying that that is God's presence. Now when you look, it's like this just seems like a normal, regular sort of 'my presence'. What is so Godly about it, you see? So that is big trouble because there's one interpretation of it which is done—maybe it's just a biological reaction or a brain chemical—and another one saying, 'Hey, this is the highest being in the universe and beyond the universe,' you see. So this problem we must not ignore because it is a huge problem. It's a huge dichotomy because the distance between the two interpretations is so much, you see.

Now how can we resolve this dichotomy? Is it not true that it is here? Let's see again, my dear. It's not so clear enough. It's all right. Yeah, see, is it not true that it is 'I' that is here? Is it not true that it is 'I' that is here? You see? And is that 'I' in exclusion of what I am referring to as God? Is it? Is it exclusive in the sense that the 'I' that is here is it not the one that is referred to in the first part of what I'm saying? In the sense that I am the one in which even God's light is born now. God takes birth, but I am also the one who is a mere servant of God. So if we for a moment forget about the second one, but just for a moment, then is this 'I' not that one?

I can't see it so clearly, but that one, yeah.

Yes, you can see. Yes. Why—why do you have Bhagwan's photo? It's just a printout, no? Or a print on a piece of paper. I don't understand your question. Yeah, what is the significance of having Bhagwan's photo there?

So it's just like a family—like a family photo where you keep like parents or something like that, or something else also.

What is that nature?

She reminds me of my nature.

I see. So it's just like a reminder. So you could have had a pointer saying 'I am that' or some blip as you are. It's like that? No, it is a lot like I said before. It's God. Okay. And then, when you've been to—yes, what do you experience there? Why do thousands still come? There's something that we taste, you know? Some presence that we go to meet. Why do we revere that presence?

So what do we experience in Satsang? Is it just words, or we encounter a certain holiness that is unfathomable to the mind? And of course that holiness, that presence, emanates from the reality of 'I', and yet in the world, in this play, it is very important to seek refuge in that holiness. And that holiness is what we can call God. And we experience so much of that holiness even in those—in the places where these ones who were in service to that presence, even after they leave the body, we experience so much grace and love and light in the places where they even lived in this world. So how great must that one be who they were in service to? Who must that one be?

Father, sometimes when you speak like this, yeah, it also makes me feel like—like God and I, like you're saying that there's something beyond. Yeah, like there's two. Like there is God and there is 'I'. I know that that's not what you're saying. I'm saying...

These ones who were in service to that presence, even after they leave the body, we experience so much grace and love and light in the places where they even lived in this world. So how great must that one be who they were in service to? Who must that one be?

Father, sometimes when you speak like this, yeah, it also makes me feel like, like God and I... like you're saying that there's something beyond. Yeah, like there's two, like there is God and there is... yeah. I know that that's not what you're saying.

I'm saying both. I'm saying both, my dear. I'm saying both: that God and also God. If you were to ask me to pick one, I couldn't really. If you were to say, "But what is really, really true?" you see, I can't pick one. So our need for linearity, our need for a coherent understanding, can be in opposition to our insight, you see. And this would not trouble you to the extent of tears if you were not having the insight for yourself, because otherwise you'd just be like, "Okay, this guy is on some trip and, you know, let's forget about that part, but let's just stick to the part which I can resonate with."

But you're not able to do that because your heart also is resonating with the other aspect of it, which is not necessarily pure Advaita, or a conceptual framework of pure Advaita. And because there is no way to fit in both, you think at the moment, that is why it's giving you the feeling that, "What is it? Is it like this or is it like that?" you see. What you feel in your heart when you come to satsang, then you look at guruji's photo or you look at bhagwan's photo, what do you feel? Is it just a mere reminder, "Be as you are, so I have to be as I am," or is there something more than that? Something... what is that something? And how does a man who lived so long ago, how does his photo still have that capability to inspire? Yeah, because it's timeless. Yes, yes, yes. What is the timeless? That timeless one is God. Don't seek to understand as much; seek to love more. Love a hundred times more than you understand. Yes, it's impossible to actually capture as an understanding, no? And but it's very easy to meet in the presence of love. Just love fully, now fully, and tell me what is the trouble.

I cannot see what is the source of that love. Where does it come from?

Love is... the love that we feel for our Master is also such a love which is so unconditional because he or she may frustrate us so much, and yet we love them. So that love doesn't rely on understanding or conceptually learning something new. It is just deeper; it is more heartfelt than any of that. I think today, thank you. For all of you, I want to say, when the mind troubles you and says, "Is it this way or that way?" you see, just say the fifth. The fifth: this way, that way, both, neither. This is the hint we can get from all the expressions of the Masters that we have seen and we've heard about. I've never heard of a Master who came to the highest recognition, that they are the Ultimate Reality from which even Consciousness takes birth, and then they dislike... they have such deep love and reverence to God. Almost all the ones that I've come across in this life, and have, you know, I read so much and heard about so many Masters and things, not one has said that they are not in service and they are nobody. Guruji said he's not even the toenail of God. Of course, he recognizes that his reality is that from which even the sense of being takes birth. Then why would he say that he's not even the toenail of God or the dust at God's feet? Because both are true. Can both be true? Not in our heads. Good. Let's go to Claudia.

Hello. Yes, I have to come up too because I can relate so much to what Peter and Marjorie said, and also Georgie. I'm... presence is there, faith is there, but I can't abandon completely to this love. And it's a little bit extreme in the last weeks. Well, this morning that I'm like abusing or utilizing Sri Ramana or God to have some results for a little me. This morning I had to go to urgency with my mother and they asked to stay with... I said no because I said I let it go. And I went to the waiting room and then I was always reciting. So I need... I couldn't stay open and empty. I needed this anchor and this I feel like a misuse or an abuse.

No, not at all. Not at all, not at all, my dear. In fact, when I was with my father in his last days in the hospital, I was constantly chanting and praying as well. And right now my mother has this medical condition where she may lose one eye and I've been in prayer and with God's name, and it's very beautiful. It's very beautiful to do that. To put it simply, I've been saying that don't feel like you should not pray for something. If you're going to worry about it, then it's better that you pray about it. So the mind can come and say, "But how can you pray for the well-being of someone specifically?" or all of this, "That is not very Advaita and that sounds very selfish," and all of these things. But the mind would rather sit and worry you. So rather than sitting and worrying and saying, "Oh no, no, I can't pray because it's something specific," but I'm going to sit and worry about what's going to happen to my loved ones, rather pray to them and say... pray to God and say, "Bless them." Anything that brings us to God's presence is very good. It's very good. So don't feel that you're exploiting or abusing this holiness. It's not possible to exploit in that way. If you are turning to God even in the most turbulent times, then that is beautiful. It is beautiful.

Thank you. Sorry to come up at the end like this. Sometimes there's like a resistance to... a holding back to express like the love I have for you and the inability to really just drown in that. And I know I love you, there's no doubt, and at the same time there's not always... like there's sometimes a fear to say that out loud or to express it fully.

Yes, yes. So what is the fear? What is it about? What would happen if you were to express your love? Maybe rejection? Rejection, lack of approval, all of these things the mind can play up, you know, and say, "Ah yes, I communicated my love but he just said okay," something like that. This kind of fear will be there, you see. Is your love dependent on that? No, not at all. Because the love that you're feeling for your Master is the love that you're feeling for God in your heart. There is nothing at all special about this boy who deserves love from anyone, but the love that you experience for the Master, I believe, is because he is for you the instrument of God's light in your life. So it is so natural for that love to be present and expressed. Maybe we can find the song.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you all so much for being in satsang today.