Love, Peace and Joy Are the Very Natural By-Products of Your Being – 12th February 2021

Now what happens is that—and Ambar did a nice video on this just yesterday or today where she read some excerpt from the book 'Knowing of the Heart'—where we were talking about how, you see, the notion of 'I am the body' can seem like the primary identity, isn't it? So we feel like if I'm just rid of the notion 'I am the body,' you see, then we are finished. But the thing is that that identification of you as the body is contained in most notions: 'This is my house,' 'These are my children,' 'I am so many years old.' So if you look at most notions, they will identify you with the centrality of you being this body, you see? So that gives you the ability to insert yourself in an objective narrative of past, present, and future, you see? Because you need some stuff to insert into a narrative. You can't insert suddenly into the narrative saying, 'Oh, in that moment there was space,' but in every moment there was space, before that there was space, after that the whole sphere, you see? So even subtler than space is your reality. So it is impossible to insert you really into any story or narrative, you see?

So what can happen is that in most notions, quickly enough, is the story of a limited you, you as the body-mind. So even if you say—sometimes I say that some thoughts can seem fairly harmless—you can say, 'What's wrong with that?' you see? So you could say, 'The coconut is green.' The coconut is green; what, I can't identify with that? You see? But firstly, we can't say what the thing is in itself, so we cannot really authoritatively say that in the first place. But secondly, very quickly you will notice in your mind that the judgments that follow this first judgment will come quickly. You say, 'Yes, yes, but green coconuts are quite fresh, I like the water,' you see? Then the 'I' is quickly inserted into the narrative of a seemingly harmless notion.

Now the good news is that by letting go of a notional way to be, you see, a notional way to exist does not give any advantage, you see? Because there is no additional intelligence that you are acquiring through this notional way of existence, you see? In fact, it is taking you away from a greater intelligence, you see, which is your very intuitive insight. It is present with you and for you in every moment. So this stepping away from this very pristine, primal guidance, going into the head of humanity, seems to be that which then leads to this notion of the individualization of consciousness. The Atma playing as if it is an individualized consciousness, Jivatma, and then it plays with the game of coming to Satsang to rid itself of the notion of individualization, of the person, of the 'me' notion, so that it can reveal to its own being its own unlimited being. That's what all of us come here for, because it is seen or there is suffering caused by this apparent individualization which never really happens, but it seems as if it happened.

So we come to Satsang to be rid of this person identity, this individualization which never really happened in the first place. But because consciousness has the ability to believe, you see, what notions it itself is producing in its aspect called mind, then in the spell of that belief, it takes itself to be what it is not. And that 'what it is not' seems to be paramount or fundamentally important for the time being. And then even to get freedom, many times we come from trying to get it for the 'me,' you see? 'I want freedom, I want it now, I want to see God.' And just the other day I was joking, but who are you to see God? You see? What makes you entitled to see God? You see? So only God can have the Darshan of God anyway.

So coming back to the staying as the Self, all that is needed is that you remain in your pure perception. When the realm of perception is there, which is the waking state, then you remain in your pure perception. When the realm of perception is not there, it is sleep state; you don't need to worry about it anyway, you see? So don't pick up any notion, don't pick up any idea, opposition, right, wrong, good, bad, you see? And you will notice that this realm can take very good care of itself. Maybe not according to the ideas we have about what that should mean, but independent of your ideas of how it should be or should not be, it is just fine. You see? And remember to include this body-mind that you call 'you' into the perception of the world which is taking care of itself. You see, in from the unborn, all action, activity, all the play of life, whatever is needed can play out. God does not need your mental intervention to run your life. It's gone, it's back, yes. So that's how to remain free from this limited identification, you see?

Now some of you may say, 'Okay, I'm free from this limited identification, but who am I? You see, how do I come to the discovery of that? Who am I really?' Now you've been told over the last year or so millions of times by this expression now that whatever tools you think you have to be able to do, to undertake any search for the Self, you see, are not suitable for the search for the Self. So anything you can do to search is not suitable for you to find, you see? But the minute you stop relying on those tools, then the truth of what you are is just apparent to you. And this apparent truth is that which is always apparent. When it comes into focus, that is what we call the recognition or the awakening. And don't trouble your awakening or your spiritual insight by trying to understand what you have recognized. Don't understand what you have recognized; you can't do it.

So let's try a live example right now. So if I tell you: who is aware of your being? Who is it? It is you, you see? But this 'you' that is aware of your being, I guarantee you that you cannot see it, you cannot perceive it in any way, you see? And you cannot conceptualize it. Now how will you confirm this? If you can only confirm this by understanding it first conceptually, then it is not the true understanding. Don't rely on that. If you can confirm this because you see some black and empty void, then that is not what we are talking about, because that is just another perception. Who is aware of that? It is you. That much is clear, you see? That clarity comes from your intuition, you see? You are never confused about that. So continue to rely on that same intuition, and in that intuition, you will have, you are having a very clear insight about your true nature. If you try to make it an understanding, you will again obscure it.

I am able to get through to some of you, you see, because I see now, having been in Satsang, for most of you the insight is very obvious. It's quite straightforward and apparent, you see? But the need to understand it and the need to make something out of it, like make it mean something for the life of the 'me,' you see, is what continues to trip you up. So maybe some more focus from here will go on that aspect now, because I feel like I have clarified now quite often in terms of how to come to this pristine insight very effortlessly. But when you need to really confirm in your head, 'Have I really got it?' you see, then you're going to the wrong tool for the affirmation, you see? You're going to the wrong device. It's like you're looking at the weighing scale to tell you the time; it's not going to happen.

So if you go to the mind and say, 'Hey, Mr. Mind, what did you think of that intuitive experience of awareness that I just had?' you see, it'll trip you up either way, you see? So either it will tell you, 'What you're talking about? Look at how angry you're just getting. How can you have had the intuitive experience that he's talking about? Don't fake it, okay? Just stop it.' It'll say that. Or it'll say, 'Wow, that was fantastic! So how can we keep it like this all the time?' You see? It'll trip you up that way. So it'll still try to make it a part of your narrative and try to insert the whole thing in time, whereas just instantly, you see, right now you can come to that direct insight about yourself which is not in time. It is not objective in any way, doesn't have an attribute in any way, you see? So now, do you want it to mean something for you? You want to be enlightened because of it? That is no deal, you see? Do you want a halo? Do you want siddhis? That's why I made the third poll...

It'll still try to make it a part of your narrative and try to insert the whole thing in time, whereas just instantly, you see, right now you can come to that direct insight about yourself which is not in time. It is not objective in any way; it doesn't have an attribute in any way, you see. So now, do you want it to mean something for you? You want to be enlightened because of it? That is no deal, you see. Do you want a halo? Do you want siddhis? That's why I made the third pole specifically knowing that, of course, it is a perception and, of course, it's the bundle of concepts. And yet, most of the time I hear questions about... okay, so even when you see a very humble-sounding question which is like, 'Okay, I had this insight,' you see, which is already now you've gone far because you put it in your narrative. But suppose you say, 'I had this insight, now what?' You see, they're still yearning for something out of it, or at least like you're yearning for a meaning, like 'What does it mean for me?' And in that meaning-making, we invent the 'me' again, because that question does not come from that 'you' which you discovered yourself to be. It again comes from Mr. Mind.

So there is no deal that the Absolute reality, once the manifest aspect of itself, you see, comes to the recognition of it, then it must help the non-existent person in any way. There is nobody left to be either free or bound in that way, you see. One says, 'Very good, I think I'm expecting everlasting peace.' And when it is not so, there is resistance already. The expectation is resistance. What is an expectation? So we have a box. That box, in the boundaries of the box, you see, is the notion that in the realm of perception only peace can come, you see. You see? So this ever-changing realm of perception, then we want to fix it in this way, you see, so that only that which we call peace can come. And because it is the design of consciousness that everything in this realm constantly changes, when it goes—and it will go, what we call peace so far, that will go—then it is replaced by something else. Then we feel like, 'Oh, this should not happen, therefore I am not free.' You see? Now look at the absurdity of that. You see, freedom means what? Everything can come. Freedom... we feel that freedom means this box that only peace can come. Now does that sound like freedom? You see, this is the absurdity of the human intellect. So it takes a concept which itself clearly means not freedom and says, 'That should be my freedom.' And then we keep chasing that. This is the strangeness of the human intellect.

So, allowing everything to come and go as it will is freedom. And if we make that our peace, then that is called everlasting peace, you see. Which means that in the realm of sensation, sometimes you will experience great expansion, sometimes you'll experience great contraction, you see. But you, the witnessing of either of these, is clearly unaffected by either of these. But if you say it should only be expansion, expansion, expansion, expansion, then that doesn't sound like freedom because there is only there then... um, I'm just randomly picking up. Okay, if I miss something then I'll come back to it.

Next one says here: 'There seems to be a desire to share this insight and guide others to that seeing, and it seems to be a mixture of pure joy and spiritual ego. I leave it at your feet.' You see, now thank you, thank you for sharing and exposing that. It's a very common, common quote-unquote desire, we'll use that word for a moment. So see, any of us, you see, are just sharing. You see, none of us really live a life which is not... in which sharing is absent, you see. We are sharing what we take to be true. We are sharing our way of being, you see. Maybe not so much in words, you see, but in one way or the other we are always communicating, you see, through our preferences, our likes and dislikes, through the clothes that we wear, through the restaurants we go to, through how we raise our children. Through all of that, we are constantly sharing, you see.

Now if you come to this intuitive insight and you leave yourself alone, that means that you're no longer getting troubled by the content of your limited thoughts, you see, then there is no way that you can hide that light. There is no way you can hide that light. And I've said often that in this play of humanity where apparently seven billion or so humans are there on the planet, we could do with a million Satsang teachers, you see. So it's always good news if there are more sharing. But my advice would be to let it happen in the most organic way, in the most natural way. If a true light is there, it will shine and people will be drawn to that light, you see. They will be drawn to that light and you don't have to intend to do it or intend to not do it. You remain in the unborn, you rest in your neutrality, and then naturally if it has to play that way, it will play that way. Because if the desire, like we were discussing last time, is to be truly helpful, then don't presume that your mind knows what helpful means. And I was half-jokingly saying to one that maybe in some cases you will be the most helpful by never sharing, you see, and disturbing the world, or you could be the most helpful by sharing all the time, and either is fine. But what I'm saying is that conceptually we cannot know that, you see. But you can trust grace to take care of that for you. You can trust grace to make sure that if there is a clear light somewhere, it will bring it into focus for those who need to experience that light.

So this worry or this desire or this intention, we can just leave it to grace. Just leave it to grace. And may all of you shine as the beautiful lights of this supreme discovery which you are making, you see. That is always my blessing. But if you rush into it, if you jump into it with a mix of spiritual desire, ego, you think the perks of being on a pedestal and people bowing down to you sound very glamorous, then all those delusions will be shattered quite strongly, mostly, you see. And we've, in the short seven, eight years that I've been sharing this, we've had a few cases like this already, you know, where when this kind of intention is not allowed to unfold in the most organic way, then it can seem quite, quite strong. The energetic impact, the kind of shattering of expectations, you see, can happen in a very, very strong way. So my advice always is that yes, allow the light to shine and let it get brighter and brighter that the whole world is attracted to it on its own, you see. A butterfly with beautiful wings doesn't say, 'Let me go around people so that they can admire my colors,' you see. They are shining.

Then one said here: 'There is a desire for Father to say well done.' Yes, yes, I can understand that. I can understand that there can be this need for confirmation, this need for confirmation. And also sometimes we can feel like coming up and saying, 'If there is a dark spot, please point it out to me.' I can understand that. And organically it moves from here as well. Like, I don't have a spreadsheet that says, 'Okay, total sangha members.' That is a pointless mental exercise, no? So I don't indulge in that kind of thing. Just whatever shows up in the moment is what shows up in the moment.

And fundamentally, actually, that what may be more important is that in every moment, like right now, right this very instant, all 110 of you are completely free. All of you are completely free, you see. Now if you play the game of meaning-making, of 'Oh, I'm so free' or 'I'm not so free,' then you're taking yourself to be limited again. And then I will point that to you, that all these constructs that you're buying again are not natural to you, are not original to you. Let them go. But it is the play of the mind, you see. It is the mind which is actually struggling moment to moment to convince you of your limitations. Your freedom is shining forth every moment just naturally, you see. So you don't need to convince me that you are free. I am telling you that you are free. I am convinced. I am the choir that's singing that song all the time: you are free, you see. But if you want to be free, especially if you want to be... sometimes I joke with this saying that everyone seems to be completely fine as long as nobody is getting it, you see. But if it feels like somebody else is getting it and I'm not getting it, that's when the trouble will come, you see.

So this notion of... another example which I feel is quite potent is like, suppose all of you sat together and you started the inquiry, you see. And you did textbook inquiry, perfect, you see. Thought came, you said, 'Who is witnessing that thought?' You see, you recognized yourself intuitively and you saw that there is nobody, there is no boundary, there's just pure Self, pure awareness. Nobody to call himself this or that, nobody to be limited by a body or by a birth or a death. You saw all of that, you see. Perfect inquiry, you see. Then you wake up out of the inquiry and what happens is that the body-mind which you always identified with is still sounding a bit like, you know, caught up and identified. But the one sitting next to you seems to have got a halo now and she is now sharing words which are scriptural and she seems to be saying exactly what you discovered in your inquiry. But your mouth, that which you call your mouth, is not saying any of that, you see. Why would that be a problem? Why should that be a problem? Because what you discovered was that there is no limitation of body and I am not this body or that body. So to put it simply, suppose the fruits of your sadhana went... you see, the universe made some mistake and it went to the one sitting next to you and they became forever free. Then what trouble is that? There should be no trouble because you are not this body-mind anyway. It's a good experiment. It's a good experiment.

So, said all of that, I do understand the feeling of confirmation from the Master, so it's fine, it's fine. Next one says: 'Master, how to handle or take the pain of separation? It is so deep that the rest seems all meaningless or that there is no interest in anything including spirituality. Please guide.' And in brackets you say, 'separation from the partner.' Okay. How to handle or take the pain of separation from the partner? It is so deep that all the rest seem meaningless or there is no interest in anything including spirituality. Yes, yes. So I can completely empathize with you that you are going through this and I can understand what a deep painful experience that does seem like. So I don't want to trivialize it. I don't want to say just like, 'Forget about it,' you know, because I don't sense that that openness is there yet.

So for the moment, I just want to give you a blessing that may this lighten. Take it a day at a time and may every day seem more open, lighter, and may you come in a greater acceptance, you see. May you rest in your presence more effortlessly and may you see that in your holy presence there is nothing lacking, there is nothing missing here and now. May you see that the old way of attaching was just a play of the mind, of these attachments and desires. Even this so-called oneness was just an objective play where something showed up in our perceptions and in our mind we made a special relationship mentally and said, 'This is mine.' But it was just another play of perceptions. So may you let go of this objective attachment and come into the love of your own being where all beings are one. That is where we are truly one. That is where this partner that apparently a separation has happened from, that is where they are your very being. No separation can truly happen. I'm reminded of the words of A Course in Miracles where it starts with these words: 'Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal has ever existed. Herein lies the peace of God.' So in reality, our notion of separation or our notion of union, you see, is mistaken. It is not the true union, is not the true communion, not the true oneness. So love, peace, and joy are the very natural by-products of your being.

Apparently a separation has happened from that which is your very being. No separation can truly happen. I'm reminded of the words of A Course in Miracles where it starts with these words: 'Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal has ever existed. Herein lies the peace of God.' So in reality, our notion of separation or our notion of union, you see, is mistaken. It is not the true union, not the true communion, not the true oneness.

So love, peace, and joy are the very natural byproducts of your being. As you leave your being open, as you're resting in pure perception, then you will notice that love, peace, and joy just show up, you see, in service to your being. You are not to chase them. In fact, sometimes so much of it will show up that you feel like you can make pieces out of love and distribute it to the whole universe and still you will not run out. It's just an endless supply. But not if you chase it. Guruji says that if you go chasing, then everything in the world goes running from you; but if you rest, then the world comes to give you a kiss—the kiss from within.

Next one says: 'What is... what would that relationship actually signify? Would it signify that there is something and now I have the right concept to be able to define it and now I can say this is what this is?' These endeavors are usually just playfulness. Let it go, it's fine. Next one says: 'Beloveds, I can't say how much I enjoy these gatherings. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you all so much.' Thank you too, my dear. Good girl.

Father, next one says: 'Father, mind says I have lost the Self again.' Yes, the mind will say these kind of things. Don't believe. Let the mind say what it is saying. Don't identify. 'In direct experience there doesn't seem to be any awareness, but that what we call direct experience, there is no awareness... it is kind of cancelling each other out.' What is direct experience? What do we mean when we say direct experience? It means the awareness of some perception or the awareness of the absence of some perception. That is direct experience. So awareness is undeniable either way, you see.

So even if you were to say, 'But Ananta, I promise you, I know for a fact there is no awareness,' how will you know for a fact? How do you know for a fact? 'I know this, I see it, I have the direct experience of it.' That direct experience is awareness. That which is aware of the perception, that which we call an experience, is the substratum before we can say anything else, either affirmative or negative. Okay.

Next one says: 'Just wanted to say thank you, Father. I would like to ask you for help not to fall in the trap of ignorance and arrogance and want to be fresh with you right now, right here. Thank you.' Very good. All my blessings, all my blessings. Next one says—she's quoting Bhagavan—she says: 'The only direct experience is the Self.' Beautiful, very good.

Next one says: 'Guruji, please wipe away all the dark spots holding this one back. Totally surrendered at your feet.' So as you make this prayer, leave the notion of being held back here today. You will not suffer from this notion again. That is what it means to burn it. Make your mind work hard and find something fresh to trouble you with, and you'll see soon that although the mind seems very complex and difficult, it had just a few ways to poke you.

One says: 'Does our experience become more and more indescribable as we start not relying and buying concepts from the mind?' Yes. In fact, I will go further and say that our perceptual experience of the world is already indescribable. Our non-perceptual experience of ourselves anyway is indescribable, but even the experience of the manifest world has always been indescribable. You see, sometimes I say that if I give you a million lines to write, a million words to write, then also you could not describe one moment of this what you are perceiving. You can actually try. You may feel for a moment that, 'Yeah, I can see,' but you will not be able to capture all the light, the nuances of the sound, the shadows, the objects. Really, even your manifest experience of yourself is too broad for your concepts or your narratives to capture.

So this, you see, sounds like a very simple pointing but can be quite atomic because you have a very simplistic narrative—not you as you, all of you, all of us have a very simplistic narrative about our life. Somebody says, 'Okay, tell me about yourself.' You say, 'I was born here and this happened, my childhood was like this.' It's too generic and too primitive to actually create any reality about what you are, because even one moment of your life you cannot describe in a million words.

Now what happens is that it's bad enough if others buy into this idea of your life, but worse is because you buy into this idea of your life. Then you create just conceptual problems, a need for conceptual resolution to things which are just part of your limited narrative. Nobody has had the experience of a problem; they've only interpreted the experience as a problem. It is the nature of the mind to play as this peddler of so-called problems and then presenting seeming options for resolutions, and we keep playing this game. In playing this game, we are missing this beautiful movie that is playing out in front of us. We're just trying to figure out the subtitles.

Okay, next one says: 'Father, there is still much resistance and arrogance here. How can I be more open?' Okay, how do you know it is there? Suppose everything you think you know is not true. Actually, I can guarantee you that this is not true because 'here' and resistance cannot be together. If 'here' is here, then resistance cannot be. If resistance is here, then 'here' is not here. So stay here, see? Which means what? Remain open and empty right now in this moment. This is the greatest gift that you can give to any apparent future you. This moment, remain fully open and empty. There is no better antidote to any make-believe mind problem.

Next one says: 'That is why the mind resists this message of yours, because it hates unknowing. It always wants to stay alive by knowing, by describing and keeping on narrating. The mind will not survive this indescribability. That is why it always throws describability on top of experience.' Yes. So one thing you'll notice—and I'm reading through the next question as I'm saying this—one thing you'll notice is that even here in this opportunity to just have this pristine insight about yourself and just remain in that, just fully open and empty, the mind is selling you the idea of a future you and saying, 'How can I use what I am discovering now to help that future you?'

It's still pulling you back into this narrative, and I'm saying that there is no such future you. But even if you were to say that there is, the best gift you can give to that one is you be fully open and empty for one moment here and now. Give yourself this gift and help every you—past, present, future, ten lifetimes before, ten lifetimes later, anything that you want to imagine. That is the best gift. There is no other antidote. You see? 'Beloved Father, when people ask me to tell them about myself, there is literally no answer.' Yes, yes, yes. We are in the same predicament. Yeah.

Okay, you have your hand up as well. So I see Chanda first, you can come. Ah, that was... okay, okay.

Grandfather, Father, you know, I need to tell you that I need your help. I need your grace and your guidance. The tinnitus in my ear, which I had spoken to you about earlier, Father, it's just giving me a lot of nerve attacks. Just a feeling of anger, being caged... it's just... I'm not being able to deal with it. And you know, I've resisted taking neurological medicines for it, but I've started today taking the medicines required. I don't know how to remain open, empty, and I hear this pounding in my ear which doesn't let me sleep at night, no, doesn't let me just be. Please help me.

Yes, my full blessing, my full love, my full blessings for this. And also I heard some good news that you are making your way here. Yes, Father, thank you. We'll look at this together as well. Thank you. I'll be there tomorrow night. Thank you. Thank you for calling me. I'm very excited.

Okay, I see she doesn't... she doesn't come. Hello.

Hello. Recently something comes up and so much excitement comes recently. Also while I'm speaking with you, so while I'm listening to you, I also heard something which is very related with it. And like, you know, yesterday some heaviness was there and it was okay actually because there was no resistance anymore towards any sense or anything. Like, seeing there is no resistance. So even though it's there, it's somehow okay when there is no resistance, but it's still there. And while it was there I checked and it was so obvious, you know, like my Father is here. So states were there, but my Father, which I am, is just so much here. And then like, I truly want to know what person is, because when I see that my Father is here, it's just so clear. But at the same time, I'm also... I don't know how to call it, if it is called as person, I'm also here. And I don't know if you may speak about this a bit.

You can speak about this a bit. So this is nice, I like hearing what you said. So there is a world of perceptions, yes? Let's go step by step. There is a world of perceptions where you can see the objects around you. Yes? You can't hear me here? Yes, now I can hear. May you please help, Father?

I said this: let's go step by step and look at this. Let's look at this for a moment, okay? So we can really look one by one and see what we come across. And if there's a place where you come across something, then just wave your hand or something and I'll let you speak. Okay? So we can look around us and see that there's an objective-seeming realm of perception, that which we call the world or the universe, in which there's a space, and in the space there seem to be these objects, and these objects seem to apparently move in this space of time, you see.

So we notice length, breadth, height, and duration, which make up the constituents of this outside-seeming perceptual world, you see. So it is just a play of appearances. Appearances means that which changes, you see. In Advaita Vedanta, it is clear that the reality is that which does not change, and that which changes is an appearance, you see. It comes and goes. So all of this changes. Now, mostly when we do an exercise like this, we may forget to include this body, you see, which seems so intimate to us at the moment. So we can include this body also and say this is also another set of perceptions. Yes? No reality is found here. No reality with the definition of that which does not come and go is found in this realm. Yes?

Okay, then we can come to the next layer and say, 'Okay, let me look at my thoughts.' What are thoughts? Thoughts are these energy constructs which are perceived in one way or the other, but they seem to carry this message, you see, in words that is perceived, and that is also changing. So therefore, nothing real is there even in this realm of thoughts, you see. And the mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. Yes?

It seems like thoughts are not separate from my person. So thoughts are including this person and they are not so well...

So there's a thought, you see. There can be a thought. Where is the person? What are we calling the person?

I think the thoughts... like thoughts belong to someone and include that 'I' too.

No, now... okay. The point of this experiment is that we are not inferring anything; we are just checking. Okay? So now in the checking, we are trying to find if there is an entity called the person that we have to get rid of. Okay? So we checked in the perceptual realm, which we call the outside world...

Well, so there's a thought, you see. There can be a thought: where is the person? What are we calling the person? I think the thoughts belong to someone and include that 'I'. No, now okay, so the point of this experiment is that we are not inferring anything; we are just checking. Okay, so now in the checking, we are trying to find if there is an entity called the person that we have to get rid of. Okay, so we checked in the perceptual realm which we call the outside world, you see. Now we are taking the perceptual realm that we call the inside world. So, in the outside world, we did not come across any such entity called the person. Yes? And now we are checking in the inside world. So first we encounter these constructs called thoughts. Sometimes there are thoughts, sometimes there are no thoughts; there is always a gap between thoughts, you see. So that which perceives these thoughts, we'll come to in a moment, but that is not something that we call the person. Now, is there anybody else here? Okay, just in the checking, we can simply see there is nobody else here, and whatever doubts which will come, we'll take them later, don't worry. Okay?

So then, same way, we can look at emotion. Any sensation of anger or hunger or joy or bliss or peace or love—you see, I'm talking about the worldly love. So all of these sensations can be perceived. Now, all of these come and go, but there is no entity here, you see. No limited entity, that which we call the person, that any of these belong to. Yes?

Kinda, kinda. Because it feels like all this... like in Guruji's example, if you are sick, what was the example?

So, like, for a moment don't infer anything, you see. So when you try to use an analogy or an example, you're using your intellect. We're just trying to look for it like you're trying to look for some lost sunglasses or something like that. Okay? We are looking at it with that simplicity, with that innocence. We're not trying to use any learnt knowledge, anything that we've heard from anywhere; we're just looking. Yes. So we can look and we may find some emotion, some pain, some pleasure, some sensation, some sort of sensational perception, but this person we still do not perceive in the layer of emotions.

I don't know. It's like I'm going to memory for emotions because there is no emotion presently here.

Yes, so then that is fine too, you see. But what you can do is that sometimes there is no emotion, but if you audit the state of the body, then you can always find some minor pain or some minor pleasure in some aspect of your what we call the body sensations, one way or the other, you see. Okay, now clear? Yes. So in that realm of your existence, of your being also, we did not encounter that which we can call a person, you see.

So far we've looked at the outside seeming world where we did not encounter myself as a person. We looked at the—now we are exploring the inner seeming world where we are looking at the realm of thoughts, which is basically the mind, and we have not encountered this person. We've now gone into the sensation, subtler sensations, and we have not encountered the person. Now, what is the subtlest to which our attention can go? We can say just go to your being. Keep your attention on your sense of being. So here you encounter your being, which is so vast, without any boundary, without any yesterday or tomorrow, any desire or aversion. None of this is found in your being. And you definitely do not encounter anything that you can call a person here. Yes? I hope all of you are following along. So it can seem very straightforward and simple, but just to go along with this exercise is very good, very helpful.

So we looked everywhere that we can look with our attention and we have not found this that we can call the person or the 'me' or the ego anywhere. So what we can find is that we can give credence to a notion of a 'me'. We can give truth value to a notion of a character called 'me'. And in giving that truth value, it seems as if there is an existent entity beyond pure existence, you see, or besides pure existence, which is the 'me'—like the limited form of being called 'me'. But all of that is purely in our heads. It is like if you were to invent a character in your head because you wanted to write a book about it or something, and you would say, 'Okay, once there was this boy, he lived in New Zealand, he has three brothers and sisters.' We give more and more ideas to this character. Suppose it was called Nathan or something, and then if you invested enough ideas into that identity, then it can seem like Nathan is a real boy with a story, you see.

So consciousness has the ability to take itself to be the character which it itself is authoring in its own mind, and that play is called the play of the ego. And when consciousness is letting go of this play of playing with these narratives and stories and ideas of this character, then that is called coming to freedom. No existent entity called a person has ever existed, because if it was true that there was a tangible phenomenal entity, then Atma Gyan could not work, you see. Then this Satsang, which is just sharing in words, it could not work, you see, because words can only be used to neutralize other words, you see. If there was an existent entity who had to be killed or destroyed, then just words could not do it, you see. So it is just made up of words and therefore words can clean it up. If there was a manifest tangible entity called 'me', then I would have to at least do some physical movement, you see, to break it up, to spread it out. But there is nothing like that, and that is why many have said that this kind of yoga is the most direct because it tackles the seeming issue at its direct level, you see.

So the notion that 'I am something' is tackled directly and it is seen that I am not that something, and it is like the idea of something is let go and then pure 'I am' remains. And as I described in the beginning of Satsang, that now any notion that we end up buying—that it could be 'I like this very much' or 'I don't like this at all', it could be 'This is so great' or 'Oh, but this doesn't work for me'—any of these positions is that character Nathan that we are inventing. Any position. So you could say, 'I need to plan the rest of my life now that I'm free' or you could say, 'Now I just have to be spontaneous because I'm free.' Either of those are just positions. To let go of all of these positions is to remain in your notionless existence, to remain open and empty, to remain in the unborn, you see.

So that's why often I say the best way to suffer is to try and solve a non-existent problem. So if you try to get rid of something that is not there... you see, to get rid of the mosquito on your nose, can you do it? Why aren't you doing anything? It's a huge problem because you can't do it, you see, because the problem is non-existent. So it is not that we have to get rid of the person; we have to get rid of the notion of personhood. And even 'get rid of', I use the term loosely; what I should say is that not pick up the notions of personhood, because the getting rid of happens just naturally moment to moment. That is why it is too easy for us to do. That which is already being done is obviously too easy for us to do. But when we try to do, then we pick up the notion of doership and we play the game of trying to be Nathan again. If you go to your mind, it will only give you non-existent problems that you still need to solve.

No, I cannot go there and I cannot find anything actually. I don't know even what person is. Yes, but I know my presence, like... maybe your presence is not personal. Yes, maybe Father, I heard this term that individual presence, maybe yeah, this is here.

Yeah, it is not—the presence is never individualized. When the presence takes any attribute which is false about itself to be true, you see... so it can take 'I am' and say 'I am a woman', you see. To give reality to that which is just an appearance coming and going is to take an attribute or a notion to be true, and therefore then that which is pure 'I am' takes itself to be limited because it takes a notion about itself to be true. That's why Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi said that till 'I am', no problem; the minute, the instant you pick up the idea 'I am something', that is where all the troubles begin, you see.

So the game of pure Atma playing as Jivatma, which means pure presence playing the game of individualized presence, individualized consciousness, is to take a notion of somethingness to be true about yourself.

May you repeat last one, last sentence?

Yes, yes. You can only play the game of individualization of consciousness—and why I call it a game is because it is never real, it only seems as if it happens, you see. So what happens in Indian spirituality is we call this pure presence Atma. This pure consciousness, unlimited, unconditioned by anything, we call that Atma. Then the apparent individualization of this consciousness is called Jivatma, which means individualized consciousness, you see. But individualization of consciousness never really happens. It is only when the pure consciousness takes itself, using a notion, to be something, then that is called individualized consciousness, you see. And to be rid of that notion of somethingness is to come back to pure consciousness, you see.

That's why Satsang can work, because if there was really something there, then I would have to come to your house with some tool, some scissors, some shovel to take out the faults, you see, physical faults, and to throw it away and to burn it. But there's no physical faults; it is only conceptual faults, conceptual ignorance, you see. So that's why in words you can melt away and come to that neutrality and come to your pure consciousness again. Don't try to convince your mind; no need to convince anything. It's just too clear, my being, yet I don't know how this thing happened, like how we can go so far with it.

If you can't know the 'how', why? You see, all of these questions—the what, the how, the why, the when—we cannot know. Just we have to focus on the 'who'. But it just happens so automatically that you don't even catch or you don't even question, you are already in it.

In what? Now I don't know.

Yes, I'm good because it never really happened. Only happens emotionally, you see; it only happens conceptually. No person has ever taken birth. Millions of bodies may have taken birth in this manifest play, but no person is ever born.

Now actually I don't know what person is.

Yeah, that's better. Why you want to know something about that which never existed? It's good not to know.

And may I bring one thing too? Yes, like today I'm so thankful, one of my younger sisters, she has guided me and brought me kind of silence and it was just too beautiful. And I see so clearly, I again wanted to thank her in your presence and thank you for guiding us in that way, bringing us together with Sangha. And while in that silence, it's just so obvious that other sense of 'other' comes from only when 'I' appear. And because in that silence there was no 'I', and it was seen that it can go, but something was just so here that... and actually I want to bring in, I don't know, maybe offer this sense of separation and sense of 'other' to you because now it's just so obvious that only when 'I' is here 'other' can appear. And because there is still can some bundle about 'other' and you know, interaction with 'other' is the problem, so I want to bring it to you and if you have something on this, something to say. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing that. I feel like what we looked into in terms of really trying to find an existent entity called a person and to see it is not there, then helps with this notion of taking yourself to be this 'me' or this 'I', which you're absolutely right that only when you take yourself to be a limited 'me' can there be the notion of another. So as that idea of 'me' is dissolving more and more, the...

The problem, so I want to bring it to you, and if you have something on this, something to say. Thank you, thank you for sharing that. I feel like what we looked into in terms of really trying to find an existent entity called a person and to see it is not there, then helps with this notion of taking yourself to be this 'me' or this 'I', which you're absolutely right that only when you take yourself to be a limited 'me' can there be the notion of another. So as that idea of 'me' is dissolving more and more, the idea of separation or other is also dissolving along with that. Yes, thank you so much, dear. Welcome. Okay, I see Sylvia, but just give me a moment, my dear. We'll just read some messages and then we'll come to you.

Next one said: Pranam with gratitude, Father. This is an attempt to give expression to the prayer of the formless. 'I am not the body' is clear and apparent. Clearly, okay, so let me recap. This is an attempt to give expression to the prayer of the formless. 'I am not the body' is clear and apparent. Very good. Clearly, my reality is the expansive one, not limited to the body. Yes. The sense of identity with the expansive is very subtle and seems to have a boundary of sorts. Very good. This sense of identity with the formless is inescapable, and going beyond the witness, there is no way but through your grace that the absolute witness of the witness is coronated once and for all. Please confer this grace without delay. Very good. Thank you.

Next one says: Today's satsang has cracked something in me. Thank you so much. Very welcome. Please could you pray for my brother in the highest way, also on behalf of Mooji Baba please. Okay. And please let me leave my spiritual jealousy and impatience at your feet. I love you. Thank you. I'm praying for your brother and you. May my Father's grace bless you, your brother, and all your family loved ones, the whole world. May my Father bless all of you with His highest grace.

Next one says: It seems beingness has been mistaken as the person. Yes, yes, yes. This is a master stroke of the mind. The master stroke of the mind to convince you that your I am-ness itself is the person and you have to get rid of it. Yes, very good.

Next one says: I have the sense that I cannot find being with my attention. This is fine because actually being is on the cusp of, on the boundary between the phenomenal and the non-phenomenal, you see. And this is also just words, but you'll get a sense of what I'm trying to convey. It is not really possible to capture your being with your attention, and yet its most primal vibration as presence you can, you can bring your attention to. So when I ask you to try and stop being, you will notice that it goes to this just primal vibration. Very good. Thank you so much. I love you. Love you too, my dear. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Sylvia can come.

Hello, hello. Can you hear me? Yes, yes, my dear. Yeah, it's my satsang with you and I'm so grateful because in a way I feel that Mooji sent me to you and it's in my heart like this. And I also want to thank you for the previous questions, yeah, because I can experience that all you say is true. I can see that I'm not the person and even I'm not the body, but I want to expose that something troubles me and somehow I cannot be fully present with this: the identifying with the idea that I'm a woman. Yeah, and this becomes very heavy on my chest.

Thank you, thank you for that question. Very sweet, my dear. So if you had the license, if you had the license to have one notion that you can't let go of, would it be this one: 'I am a woman'?

Yes. So let me say again, maybe my English is not so clear.

So if you had the permission that you could have one notion about yourself which you could not get rid of, would it be this one, that 'I am a woman'? You keep that and everything else you can leave.

Somehow, yeah. Even the idea about relationship and the idea that I have to know something, it's easy. But this somehow doesn't go.

Okay, so you keep this one and everything else you leave with me.

No, no, I want to leave this too and I want to give you if it's possible like this, because I don't know what to do with this.

Yes, if you feel like you can leave it with me, that is very good. But what I'm saying to you is some good news. I'm saying to you that if the only notion that you have is that 'I am a woman' and every other notion you can surrender, then even that is okay for your freedom, you see. Because the mind troubles us in this way, you see. What happened one time is a similar thing. In those days in satsang, I used to always say: just don't believe your next thought. All you have to do is don't believe your next thought. So this sweet lady, she was coming to satsang with us, she had been with me for quite some time. She said to me one day, 'You know, Anantaji, you have this big problem, you see. I have this big problem where when you say don't believe your next thought, I can let go of every thought except one thought,' you see. So I said to her, 'Okay, one thought you can keep.' And she was not expecting that, you see. She was expecting me to say, 'No, no, no, you have to burn everything,' you see. So the mind was caught off guard when I said, 'No, no, you can keep that one thought, it's all right, you'll be fine,' you see. So you know what she said? She said, 'Okay, okay, but can I have three more?'

This is the way the mind will trouble you. It will say, 'But this idea, you can't let go of it, you can't, you just can't do it.' But it's not true, you see. It's not true. So when I said you can keep it, I just wanted to lighten it up a bit. It's not such a serious problem, firstly, you see. Because right now you don't have the idea. What is the idea? You need a moment to think about it and to pick it up, you see. So it is not naturally there all the time. It is gone. It's natural, you see. So this is an example of the mind selling you a problem and trying to get you to fix it, you see. But actually the problem itself is not there. Yes. And you don't have to test yourself, you see. You don't have to test yourself and say, 'Am I really not believing that I'm a woman?' Then you say, 'Of course I'm believing I'm a woman.' You don't have to do this test at all, you see. Don't worry about it. In your openness, as you're letting go of most of your notions, then even this will just dissolve on its own, you see. So you don't have to... you see, you may end up energizing it more if you tried too much to get rid of it. That's why I say to you, you can keep it for a while. I'll take care of it, don't worry. Thank you, thank you for this blessing of satsang. Thank you. You're very welcome. I enjoy very much the innocence of your sharing. Thank you, very sweet. Thank you. Very good.

Okay, looks like we are done. Is there a hand up? No. Good tears, yes, yes. Good. Then next one said: Father, I need to bring at your feet the fears that kick in first thing in the morning, yes, and result in identification despite the effort to surrender. Please keep me in your grace to full clarity in seeing the true me. Yes, thank you. So we have more time for bhajans to do. How is this one? This one looks nice.

Thank you, thank you all for your sweet messages. I've gone through all of them as you typed them out. One more, this one. I've never seen anything like this before. It's so amazing. It sounds like so much beauty in the seeming chaos. So much beauty in the seeming chaos. That is the way of the universe. Thank you all so much for being in satsang today.