Picking Up Concepts in Satsang Is Not Satsang - 15th September 2017

Certainly, this—whatever might be the environment you are in, whatever might be the place you're in—if it is about this coming to the recognition of the Self and letting go of the false, it could be that you are in the middle of a fish market, but it is still Satsang. In the physical environment called Satsang, many times it could be that we are picking up more and more concepts about the Absolute, so then it is no longer Satsang. It's okay, I think, the physical environment of Satsang, and of course there's so much energetic presence which is available, so much Satguru's grace which is available, allowing the mind to just come and go.

But it can be that those who are playing the game of feeding their spiritual ego can find the Satsang environment very nourishing for the ego. And Satsang words are looked at as if they are concepts to know, concepts to learn, not being used as thorns to remove all that we know. But once Self-inquiry or the question 'Who am I?' is the thorn you're using to remove the other thorns, suppose we are using it and embedding that as a thorn itself? And we pick up the next one: 'Are you aware now?' Put that in. 'Can you stop being?' Put that in. If all this becomes a battery for our spiritual ego, this is the collection of the most beautiful spiritual concepts but empty of true insight.

And all these are just badges of honor of the ego playing, you know, 'spiritual' way. With any one of these pointers, if used to check the reality of what you are—check on the reality of what you are—you will find that everything there is empty of all positions, all conditionings, all doing, all desire. Empty of duality.