Remain at the Doorway of Our Heart Temple - 16th March 2026

So if the resolution to all problems, all even worldly afflictions, was to stay in this holy place, and using God's name and using the self-inquiry we can come to this holy place, then really it's only a matter of not falling for Maya, now isn't it? You have the tool with you. And Maya convinces you that this is no time for God, this is the time for something else. Then know that it is the time for God. When Maya convinces you it is not the time for God, then know that it is the time for God.

Swami Ramsukhdasji says: just try, try once. Just try it once. Good. I'm translating. He doesn't say try it once. Just try it out. Surrender your life to him. Rely on his name and your sincere quest for the truth as the only refuge. Then for some it will be chopping wood, fetching water, and for some it will be the life of a renunciate. We can't really say, you see, we have to allow that from there. So we must not make a position about, no, I have to continue to chop wood and fetch water because that is what the Zen master said, or I have to become a sadhu, like many sadhus before us have come. We cannot predict these things. But whatever comes, we have to remain at the doorway of our heart temple.

I'm happy to answer any questions as you may have about this, which is actually very simple. So simply, what I'm saying is how to deal with day-to-day life. That is the biggest question that comes, isn't it? You deal with it from there. You see, you let the name do the job. You let the inquiry do the job. We've been sharing about Tukaram Ji today. Tukaram Ji said the name itself is not the name of God. The name itself is God. You see? So let the name do the job. Swami Ramsukhdasji said, so simple. Or someone, I don't know who said it, but somebody said which means that we can do everything with God's name. What does that look like in practice? In practice, it looks like our number one priority continues to be to remain in remembrance of God and to allow everything to move from that holy place. Like the sharing of Satsang happens, the rest of this life happens as well. Then our entire life becomes a Satsang because we don't leave the company of the truth. We don't leave God.

Why, I heard Radha Baba say today? I love that example. I just heard it before Satsang. Just want to say it out. That he said, how when there's a pile of garbage and you shut your nose because you can't take the stench at all, to even come a little bit inside, you protect yourself from going near it and from the stench. That's how you treat Maya. And I found that so helpful.

Yes, the temptations of Maya can be treated like that, and we keep taking, holding on to God's name through all of it. And then what happens is that as you learn, as we are all learning, to remain in God's holy presence, then we become an instrument of his holy presence to make everything that touches us, even on the outside, holy. You see.

So someone said very sweetly, it's only when I'm doing copyright work that I don't see Krishna in front of me. You see, he's humbly saying that he used to run the Gita Press itself. So such a beautiful thing. Know that when it is God's work, then he leaves me alone to do his work. Otherwise, in everyone and everywhere I go, I see God. You see, how will that happen? It will happen when we center ourselves in his presence. You see, then that recognition will become very natural. If we force ourselves to try and see God, can I see God, can I see, like that? You see, then many questions come in Satsang, but how come I don't see God everywhere. When we just see God inside us and remain with him as our beloved, then we will see our beloved everywhere. It happened to us, like, maybe I was specially crazy, but in school when I had a crush, then if I was in love, I would see her everywhere, like, shopping, I would see her, if I saw somebody going in a bus I would feel like it's her. No, this is how it works. So once you fall in love with God so deeply, and you live in his darshan in your heart, then you will see the beloved everywhere. This happens naturally. None of it is actually a forcing. Can't force this. The only forcing can be, that only what seems like forcing is the effort to come into effortlessness. The effort that is needed to come into this effortlessness can seem like a moment of forcing.

Can I follow up on the last talk we had? It was about the name, and you said to say Jesus's name. Yes. Because I remember now, because you said that in this moment, if you had to spend a trillion years between Ram and Jesus, what would you pick? And I said, in that moment it came: Jesus. Yeah. Yeah, that's the one. I'm sorry to bring it up again because.

No, let me also add something, because there are some of you who are new in Satsang today, so I don't want them to get the impression that I'm making distinctions between Ram and Jesus. I am only saying we are, well, primarily I'm still, I don't know if I can still say that, but I'm still very grounded in my Advaita. Yeah. So I have not forgotten that God is one. That is very much clear to me. But the way in which we relate to God has a lot of strengths, has a lot of power, gives us a lot of gifts. And if we naturally love a particular expression, or we trust and are devoted to a particular expression, then that gives us a lot of strength. When Maya is pulling us, and we can say, I am strongly sitting at Ram's feet, or I am strongly sitting at Jesus's feet, then that has a lot of meaning for us, and we allow ourselves to remain strong when Maya gives us the pull of identification. So the idea really is not to create duality, but the idea is to just give you a representation of God that you can just feel safe with, and fall in love with, and surrender your entire life, heart, everything that you have, to that expression, whether it is Goddess, whether it is Radha, whether it is Krishna, whether it is Allah. That names and forms are not primary.

Okay. Yeah, there seems to be some differences between, let's say, in the morning I pray, I pray the rosary to Jesus. And that's heartfelt and potent. And I wanted to bring this up again because I'm having a struggle between doing what you say, which is what I want to do the most, and this thing is still there, throughout the day, when there is a quick pulling and a quick wanting to go back. It still seems like there's a difference between those two names, Ram and Jesus. The way that I relate to Jesus in those moments is more like a dualistic way, and it sounds like just a name, and the way that Ram comes is more like explosive for that moment. And I hate to just keep harping on the same because we already, you already told me what to do. And it's true that I do have that relationship with Jesus that I don't have with Ram. But I seem to have a different relationship with the name. Yeah. And I don't know why. I have no idea why that is.

I'm happy you bring this up. I'm happy you bring this up. So then what you can do is just stay with Ram, the name of Ram, for one week, and report back again, and see how that goes. Because a week will be a fairly good amount of time to just try it out, to make sure it was not a mind trick. And if it is still inconclusive, you can try it for another week. You see, so there is no losing here. There is no reason to stress here, because you cannot lose. You see, suppose at the end of it all, you landed up facing Jesus. You feel like Jesus will say, you switched over to Ram. Huh? No. It's more about wanting to do what you told me. I think that's right, it just felt natural at that moment to say that. But since that conversation continues, and that continues by God's grace, so we can look further into it. There is never, don't have to take anything so much. We can always continue a conversation. Know that I'm just a beginner on this path. If all of you took everything I said seriously, I don't know where we'll all end up. So we can always continue our conversations if something comes up more to say.

Because at least in my case, God doesn't give me the final scene. He just tells me this is the next step. So what happened at that time was the next step that came up. Then this is the next step that is coming now, because something is still strongly calling you to Lord Ram's name, and we must try, we must try.

Yeah, I noticed, I think it was yesterday, that it just came at one point before I even could think about saying the name. In fact, just today I uploaded a section on the website which is all about Ram, the name of Ram.

Oh yeah. Okay. Check it out. Thank you, Father. Thank you. Thank you. What good problems to have. These are not even first-world problems. These are zero-world problems. But a good problem is still a problem. So it's good to talk about it and look for resolution, look for guidance. That's good.

Yeah. Another good problem. I was just thinking that the flavor of the bhakti, or taking the name, is very different after there has been self-understanding, whatever realization, freedom, whatever, it doesn't matter. It's very different in texture, and it seems to allow a surrendering of all that has been learned intellectually, a surrendering of one's own shortcomings, largely a means of actually staying humble. And it's so different from, I mean, in this country there are tons of people singing the bhajans and going to temples, ringing the bells, and all of this, and I don't know what they feel, but I just wonder. That is something very different. I don't need to analyze it. But I just thought that when you come, it's different. I think. What do you think, Father, is it different?

Yes, in some way. No, in some way also. Because if I was to say a complete yes, then we can fall into that Uddhav Ji trap. That Uddhav Ji trap, that what do these people know, just going to temples and you know, ringing the bells, what do they know? So we must not fall into that trap. The good thing is that I feel like in the course of Satsang, God has made one thing very clear: that if the path is 100 steps, the paths that we have defined in our intellect are the half step. You see, and the 99 and a half steps he takes. You see. So the half step is the pathway that we define by saying bhakti, or jnana, or astanga yoga, or whatever karma yoga, which takes us to that place, where then he works on us, which drops us to that holy doorway to the temple, where then he does all the work, you know. So fundamentally, there is not so much of a thing to worry about, was this half step. Then you see, because if somebody sincerely, fullheartedly goes to the temple and rings the bell once, I feel they can sit down and sit in the same place that we would sit after self-inquiry, neti-neti, whatever the path may be. Then after that point is reached, what is shown to us can be shown to them also, because that initial half step didn't make a difference after that point is reached, because everybody reaches that same point. You see, it's like, I'm painting a picture, but all the rivers converge at one point, where the merging with the ocean is going to happen. You see, so we're waiting at the doorway of the merging. Now the ocean is not going to say, but you are water from this river, you are water from this river. You see, it's not. And what is found in the merging will also be the same. So if you look at the final reporting of all the sages, it is the same.

And if you look, it's very difficult to then draw out a common thread, but in my attempt to do that, whether it is on the Shuddha Advaita Vedanta path, the Dvaita Vedanta path, or other religions, everyone ends up falling in love with God, feeling like the sense of separation is not there. And every time the mind does come up, the mind just comes up in servitude to God. So this much commonality I'm able to draw out from all, whatever the pathways may have been. So that is beautiful for us, because I feel more and more attracted to just talking about the intricacy, the subtlety, the mystery of that holy place itself, and after having provided everyone enough, that's why I keep asking, does everyone feel like you have the tools to get to that place? You see, now I feel like most of you who have been coming have the tools to get to that. Yes. Now that is as far as the human part of the business goes. That is as far as the human part of the business goes. Beyond that it is just Atma's business, and Atma does the business well. Its curriculum cannot be divided, like we can divide jnana, all of these things. Its curriculum cannot be divided in those ways. It's much too subtle, much too beautiful, much too intricate.

And when we surrender to the Atma, then every moment the Atma uses as part of his curriculum. So there's no path definition after that half step is taken. The yes part of it, the yes part of it is good, because once we get so used to letting go of the mind, then when we start to fall in love with God, that has a taste, has a flavor, you see. So I feel like, whichever pathways people come from, they can trip over this point about letting go of the mind. So just not believing thoughts, not identifying with just mental temptation, all of that. Let me not say that something is different, but I feel like it adds to the strength of the spiritual seeker, because they have gone through, maybe sometimes years and decades of, learning to observe the mind and letting go of the mind. So they are not that easily caught up in the mind's fantastical replacements for the simplicity which is there in the heart. You see? So they can quickly spot, okay, this is mind, mind trick, mind trick, Maya trap. You see, you can spot. You see, otherwise the mind can very, very beautifully conjure up great imagery, great expression, great emotion, Maya, all of that will come. But those who have learned to stay as the observer, they are quite well equipped to deal with these things. That does not mean that the others won't be taught. They will also be taught that. But I've seen often the bhakta temperament alone can get stuck in the fantastical imaginations of the mind much more easily.

And the separation is more.

Yes. Yes. And there's a it starts off as a subtle specialness, you see. But that subtle goes away over a period of time, and that specialness, so specialness wants to grab us, either because we think we've, we know a lot, or we think we've experienced a lot. So either way, specialness wants to grab us. So bhaktas have this problem, that many times they start relying purely on the experiences of the outer layers of the antahkarana, and feeling like they are making great progress, but the mind can take them for a ride. You see, now jnanis can get in the trap of making conceptual that which is beyond concept. But these are the main traps.

Like I feel that, I feel like recently I had an occasion where I, saw very clearly that I was full of self. There was no need for me to broadcast my views on something, and then it was, but I couldn't resist, and I wanted to show that I do like this or something. And then it was later I thought, wow, I mean, you know, you really came out in all your colors. But then I was like, then I felt quite bad, and I thought, like, God, you've not, I mean, all this, you're still like wanting to talk about yourself, you know. It was like a checking of the progress. And then it was like, oh but this is like, you know what, and then I said, why am I even doing this, like thinking that oh I'm doing very well or I'm doing very badly, or I'm, it seemed to me to be, and then I lost the plot actually, wondering whether I should be like, if I say why am I doing this and then is it that I'm just like being very, there's such a fine line between having the focus and grit to stay with this and the grace to absolutely leave it all. And I've been struggling with that a little bit. So the fine line between the focus and grit to stay with. I mean, like, you do see your ego, you say oh you know it's this, and you can't say you don't see yourself, you do. I mean, you can't say don't judge yourself, you do. But yet, when you do it, it seems like, oh god, am I giving myself marks? Is this going to be another worldly pursuit, where I'm so good or I'm so bad?

Yes. So this, I used to call my arch nemesis, the checker guy. The checker guy who comes and says, but this is 30 out of 50, this is 45 out of 50. So the line between just noticing, because it's important to notice, not be in denial of that, and falling into the checker guy mode. You see, what is the line? Maybe we can say three seconds. Like, if you say I can notice for three seconds but that's it. You see, I noticed that when temptation comes in this way, then I use that opportunity to show off, for example. You see, noticed it, finished, done. You see, there's no, like, oh I'm still a show-off, I will not change, this will not happen, I'm failing at this. You see, all this belaboring we don't need to do. Just, but not shying away from the fact that we still have that.

Yes, so you see, but you, yeah, you see, you see, but you don't despair. You don't despair. Yes, you notice but you don't despair.

Because if you were to despair, then the mind wins twice. It wins twice. It fools us. It tempts us with that temptation. Suppose it was showing off. So it tempts us and says, okay, say this, they'll be so impressed. You see. And then you say, and then you feel guilty, unworthy, foolish, all of that. You see, because it is telling you, you're so, so lost, you're still a beginner, you don't know anything, you're still falling for these worldly tricks, you know, all of these things. So that is what I used to call the two-punch of the mind. So the one punch was that, say this, they'll be impressed. Same one, same boxer giving the punches, but the same one will say, see what you did. You see. So don't fall for that one twice. To fall for despair also would mean that we have lost faith in his mercy to help us.

Yeah. And despair is like, I'm doing everything right.

Exactly. That's a lie, that despair would mean that I have to pull myself out of this ditch and all of these things. No, we just keep surrendering ourselves to God sincerely. Not as a denial but sincerely. That's why that noticing is important. We can't fall into the trap of just conceptual Advaita, which is just this sense that I am the Self, or conceptual idea, but I am the Self. You see. That you can't do that. Yeah. You can't get into that mode that I am just the Self. So like Tukaram Ji said today, I don't know if you notice, that if the word Brahman just becomes a word but doesn't have any real fire, then he said, no, that oh, if you are one with the Lord, then what, just create a world and show me. Like that, you see. So so we cannot fall into a conceptual Advaita trap also, because that will stop us from noticing where we need to grow. So it's good, but don't, notice and give it to God, or inquire into it, but don't belabor, don't give the mind the opportunity then to crawl back in because of that.

Then you go down. Yeah, then you can't fix it, because then once you open that Pandora's box then it'll say, oh you have this also, oh you have that also, this is not gone, this is not, then you start resolving those things one by one. Yeah, because ever since I started this call, I've not been able to sit. I mean, I sit, but my, it's gone. Like this has gone. And so I was thinking, wow. I mean, that one slip-up, so much.

So this becomes the two-punch. The one slip-up only did, to making you feel guilty, unworthy, bad, whatever, it's also doing. So that's why simply, someone said, you know it seemed like very simplistic words, that if you've fallen down, just get up. And for many it sounds very unrealistic and things, but sages don't say things which are unrealistic. It is possible. We notice that we've fallen, we get up. We fall, but we don't start examining the ditch, and saying, you know, these are the, these are the constituents of the water in the ditch. Get into all that.

Immense, immense, immense faith in God taking care of us. Immense, immense faith in God taking care of. Someone said three things which I feel like are so beautiful: constant remembrance of God using his name, immense faith in his care for us, immense faith in that, and to see God in everyone that we meet. He said these are the three things which have kept him on the right track.

Try sometimes. Maya is squeezed out of us in these ways. Maya is squeezed out of us in these ways. It's good because you can lose a lot of Maya in one moment. That has happened to most of you at some point or the other. But don't make it a prerequisite now, otherwise we'll have to get a bucket. I haven't vomited yet. I must be having many lifetimes of karma left too.

Yes. Someone. You want some water? Thank you. Very sweet. Very sweet.

That answer will be bhagvan. Whatever, to begin with. Whatever is your highest representation that you can fathom, the most loving, the most kind, the most available, the sweetest, the highest representation that you can fathom initially, to start with, that is good enough as a representation. You see. Then as you learn to fall in love more and more with that, then you are shown that which is beyond what words can express. You are brought into the ineffable darshan. You see. Then may God bless you that you come to that, and may you also struggle like me to put into words who he actually is. But for now, whatever your sweetest, highest, most beautiful, most merciful representation is, you can use that.

I say welcome back, or. And you have. Yes.

A couple of Satsangs ago, one of the members had asked, what is Atma? So after your answer, it manifested as a response. So after what you said, I mean, if, what did I say? Remind me a bit, because I tried watching the video but I couldn't bear to see myself. Actually, I also don't remember. But whatever you said was, whatever I had presumed it was, completely different from. So I just wanted you to just repeat, if you can.

Repeat? No, say freshly.

And then the second thing is, what is the correlation between Atma and Paramatma?

So we spend whatever, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years of our lives thinking that we are objects, we are bodies. Body-mind, if you want to be fancy about it. Like a slop, like a glob of things, which we can't really place. When we are asked who are we, the centrality of it seems to be centered around the body. You see. Now because our conditioning, we are so used to relating everything in that objective way. This is a glass of water. This is a computer. This is another human. You see, that's a water bottle. All of these things. So now we have exercised that conditioning over and over again. You see, like right from our parents reaching us, where are you? And when my son would say over there, he would point outward. I would say no, no, you see this. So we as parents we condition, and it's that's important to do as parents. That's a that's the human part of the play. But we are deeply conditioned right from when we were very little to take ourselves to be these objects. You see. Now suddenly somebody comes and says that God is the Nirguna Brahman.

So simple example: one teacher once told me, if I said to you, I feel I know someone you would really like, I feel you could even be best friends. You see, then say okay, tell me more. I can't really tell you much. You see. So can I, you'll say, can I write to this one? Not really. At least can I see a photo? No, you can't even see a photo. Then at some point you'll get upset and say, why did you tell me about this possible friend if I can't meet him in any way? You see, we can meet him, but because we're so conditioned to meeting in this human, objective, phenomenal ways, that this will seem unfair. So if you just pointed to Nirguna Brahman in that way, then the chances of us meeting God, the reality of God, the highest possibility of God, is next to impossible.

So God of course knew this. So God first manifests as being, as consciousness, you see, which is called Saguna. It means attributes, not just an attribute, every attribute. Every attribute, anything we can call an attribute, is because it is an attribute of Saguna Brahman. You see. Every attribute. Now can you make friends with that? Can I say, go make friends with that cloud? You say, I can't make friends with the cloud. Now what I've told you is that Saguna is the boundless. You see. The universe, time, space, everything takes birth in that consciousness. You see. So even that is too difficult for us to make a relationship with. How will you make, this boundless? If I tell you go make friends with the universe, because you may have some faith in me, you may go to the terrace, look at the stars, and try something. But something will block you. You will not be able to undertake that exercise. So God knew this also, you see. So he said, then how should I, and I'm making it simplified, I'm not saying God went through this process, I'm just trying to simplify it. So he said, okay, what if I made the presence of this Saguna, the very presence, at the heart of the human itself. So that I am itself, which they will call their presence, is actually the presence of consciousness, the presence of being. You see. Now this presence, the centrality of which we can say is in the spiritual heart center, not the chakra, okay, the spiritual, the very core of our existence, the most primal part of our existence. So this, then, we have a chance of meeting. You see, because he has to be met as our very own presence. So this is the Atma: the presence of being. You see. The presence of being, of that which is beyond being and not-being, is full. See. So father, son, holy ghost, Saguna, Nirguna, Saguna, Atma. Yeah. So if you look at Paramatma as Saguna, or as Nirguna, or both combined as Paramatma, you can. But so that finger that he has sent into our heart, so we can hold that finger and reach that recognition of that which is the Paramatma, the highest. You see. Now there is no actual distinction between Atma and Paramatma, just like there's no distinction between the finger and the rest of the body, it's one. You see. So it is the way in which God can be met. And as far as I know, and I know that in consciousness everything is possible, but as far as I know, it is the only way in which God can be met: through meeting the Atma. So in the sense that Atma itself then shows us its source, its reality, where it came from. You see. So you cannot bypass the Atma and say I'll go straight to Nirguna. I love Nirguna. I just love Nirguna, so let me go straight to Nirguna. What will happen with those people mostly is they will settle on a dark empty place, an imagination of a dark empty place, or the absence of other perception, to be Nirguna Brahman, which is a disservice. So this is the Atma.

Now what is the function of the Atma? The Atma is the Satguru. Again, the true guru, which is the only one who can show us the reality of God. Only the Atma can bring that light. That is why guru is called the bringer of light. You see, because it needs an extraordinary light to be able to see, to recognize the Saguna and the Nirguna. It needs an extraordinary. This kind of light will not do, even if you have stadiums full of this light. So that special light, in the light of which we can come to the recognition of God himself, and then ultimately the recognition of that which is unfathomable, ineffable, without any attributes, is possible only in the light of the Atma itself. So it is the Satguru. It is the Satguru also because it teaches us as if we are the most loved disciple in the universe. Each of us, each of us is treated in that way. If we turn to the Atma, we will feel like we are the most pampered disciple in the universe. Doesn't mean that tough lessons won't come, but even the toughest lessons are given to us in the most loving way. You see, it's like the guru who picks us up on their lap and just takes care of us. So the most loving teacher, then this gives us rest. You see, because the mind, if you were to live just in the mind, we would never get any rest. You see. So when we turn to the Atma, when we turn to the holy spirit, the spirit is the giver of rest, relaxation, what we call unwinding, letting go. You see, it provides us as a gift. Otherwise, we would have just riled ourselves up and up and up every day. You see. So it gives us deep sleep state. It gives us, allows us to dissolve into the highest. All of these things are gifts of the Atma. That's why you find people who are very mindy, too much in the world, not in touch with spirituality. Especially as they get older, will have trouble sleeping. You'll not get sleep. They will constantly be worried about things. You'll have a lot of this struggle going on. But once you learn to stay with the Atma, you feel rested. Even in the waking state, you will feel relaxed. So it rests us. It's the comforter. It's the relaxer. It's the guru. It's actually the light of all our perceptions, because I am is here. That's why the world appears to us. So it is the light of the waking state as well. So there's a lot of things, and maybe more attributes of it will come. But this is the Atma: the presence of beingness, which we can meet in our heart itself.

And how do we know we met it? We cannot know through empirical means. You see. So if it's a pure perception, you just saw some light, it's not it. You see. You just saw some dark empty space. Most likely your mind is visualizing a darkness. You see. So that's why last time we were discussing that the only way I find to say it is that the most primordial light, which is both perceivable but and yet unperceivable, that is when you come to Atma darshan. You see. That is when you come to Atma darshan. So that gate, the door of the heart temple that we are talking about, is to come to the door of the Atma. And we wait over there. You see, because in the light of the Atma we'll see Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, all these, whatever our heart truly desires, which is graceful and merciful for us, he will show us all of these gifts. It is the Atma itself which introduces us to heaven in our heart, to Vrindavan in our heart, to the Ram Dham in our heart. It is the Atma itself which shows us all of these things. Okay. The Atma also increases our virtues. The more time you spend with the Atma, it is contagious. So we learn to pray, we learn to become humble, we learn to deepen our faith. You see. So all the virtues also are gifted by the Atma itself. So that's what's coming up about the Atma at the moment. It's very important: Atma darshan. A life without Atma darshan, as I keep saying, is a zombie life, because this is the light of life itself. You are born for this. It is put there for us. Atma is in your heart. Who is it put there for? For you. Now imagine you spent your whole life and you didn't meet it. It's very important. So we must never buy into the idea that it's very rare to come to Atma darshan, that Atma darshan is very rare, it happens to the very special ones. Everyone is that special one. All of you are special, of the soul.

Yes. So Atma is at the innermost, as Teresa of Avila said, the innermost mansion of the soul. Or as Bhagavan Ramana said, that heart center. Or as Anandamayi Ma said, that cave in your heart where the supreme being dwells. The human must learn to dwell over there. You see. So at the very primordial center of our existence is where the Atma lives. Some have described the Atma as the tiniest particle, but I would not fall into that representation, you see, because many times you'll start imagining a small light or something like, no. I understand their attempt, because they are trying to convey that perceivable-yet-unperceivable subtlety. But in taking it to be tiny, we may make a big misunderstanding. It is God himself. Atma is not less God than God. You see, it's as much God as the rest of God. You see. So God has sent, a simple way of putting it is, God has sent a part of himself only to bring us back.

It is part of the Saguna aspect of?

Yes. That's like, Saguna has Nirguna. Nirguna is Saguna. Saguna is Atma. You see, it's like water: water sometimes as ice, sometimes as snow, but it's still water. You see, because where will Saguna come from? It has to come from the Nirguna. Where will Atma come from? It has to come from the Saguna. Where will the rest of this universe come from? Within Saguna itself, within consciousness itself. The closest, the most intimate reality that we can meet is Atma.

Thank you. Thank you for that question. I feel happy with what the Atma shared through this instrument about itself. So the sharing of Satsang is actually a sharing by the Atma itself, using the outer body as an instrument, to give everyone a taste of what Atma tastes like. You see. A taste of that love, a taste of that peace, a taste of that sometimes blissful feeling. You see. Which we can't explain, but that is seeded in us, in even an outer Satsang, so that when we go inwards, something is already seeded with that fragrance. That's why many teachers say that it is not possible to find the inner Satguru without the outer guru. Now I don't say it's not possible, because I know that for consciousness everything is possible, everything is possible. So but I like to say it's rare. It's rare to find the Atma within without. There are great ones like Dattatreya, who didn't have a physical human outer guru. He took all the elements themselves to be his guru. But a very rare one. So the outer guru is just to give you that, he's just a sampler, is the sample pattern. Get a taste of it. So then you know what to look for in the real thing within your heart.

So there are such beautiful words in our spirituality: Atma, Atma Gyan, Atma darshan, Atma Jyoti, light of the Atma itself. And one meaning of Ram is that the Jyoti of the Atma is also called Ram. Beautiful. So Ram Ji is right there as the light of the Atma within you. But look at the kindness and mercy of God. He's made it so accessible, that we can come to the unfathomable, and he does all the work. We just take, like we were talking about, we just take that half step. Atma does all the work. He's literally spoon-feeding us. Literally spoon-feeding us every day. You see. That's why, if you're really noticing, you'll find that you'll notice there are themes in our lives. Like in a week or two weeks we are learning a particular aspect. Then some other book shows up, or something shows up, or video shows up. Then we immerse in that aspect. So it is the Atma that determines all of this curriculum. You see. It can be Maya also determining the curriculum, depending on which way we've turned. If you turn to Maya, Maya is very quick to give the curriculum here: money this way, relationship this way, body this way, it'll give curriculum also. But if we go to the heart, you see, there's a different texture in how we are learning. One good sense of if we are learning from the Atma is that we are not immediately able to put things into words. We are not immediately able to put things that we are learning into words. And after some time something just comes, and we say, when did I learn this? I don't know, when, what did I read, nothing. You see, where did this come from? We are not able to say. And also a good sign is that if you're always a bit, like intimidated by the highest questions. You see, that is a sign of humility.

You see, so when we realize that okay, he's asking what is the Atma, then you realize that I cannot rely on learned knowledge, cannot rely on anything that I may have learned. I must have to go to the Atma itself to give its own introduction. To go to the Atma itself. So if you have humility, then we are good disciples of the Atma. The minute we have pride, Atma will say, okay, you stand out of class. Actually, pride is our desire to stand out of class ourselves, because we think we already know, isn't it? So it is the most, the kindest, most merciful, most loving teacher, is the Atma. And if I spend the rest of this life only singing praises to the spirit, that will not be enough. So there is no greater gift possible in any life than Atma darshan, because in Atma darshan, all God is shown, everything is shown. It is said, that's why I've heard that in Vrindavan they say it is a kripa, akaran kripa.

What is that?

God has given that. Akaran means: without any reason, he has been kind on us. Kripa, yes, kripa, in a way, by definition, is undeserved blessing, or without reason. You see. So grace. There's two definitions. One is: everything that happens to us is grace. And second is this grace, which is that I can find no reason why this foolish man should have had Atma darshan. It's just his grace. You see. So undeserved, unreasoned. Hardly studied anything, hardly went to any spiritual school. Hardly did anything. How can Atma darshan happen here? This grip is his mercy, his grace.

Atma is a great compass within our heart also. It is a great compass, you see. So for me, happiness is pleasing my heart, and unhappiness is displeasing my heart, in the sense that you get a sense of like that inner smile is there. You see, that the Atma is smiling on you, then it is pleased with you when you praise the Lord, for example. You see. But when I'm being selfish, when I'm being about Ananta, it's like, you know, it's, I'm simplifying too much, but you feel like, like Jesus said, the leaf has fallen off the branch, the oxygen supply has been cut off. So that gives us a lot of spiritual strength, because if your Atma is smiling at you from within, and you are inward-facing, then your whole world may look down upon you, may insult you, may say whatever, may not agree with anything that you're doing, saying. So we were reading this about Tukaram Ji today also. He had a very tough outer life. So but because he was constantly with the Atma with him, he just went through it all. So it gives us this forbearance. It gives us patience. It gives us beautiful inner compass. Once we get used to the texture of living there, then every few minutes you can say, see the temperature changing from within. So it gives you the compass that you went the wrong way. Then you feel, start to feel a disconnection, like you can't feel the happiness in the heart, you can't feel the, it's smile in your heart, and you feel like you need to backtrack, you need to apologize, or you need to make amends. And if it is giving you the light from within, it is shining upon you, then you know that God is pleased with you. So it becomes a very different way to live compared to the mind's oppressive ways earlier. It's much more, I feel like we were designed to live in this way, before we got into pride.

Father. Was that a teacher that walked the earth?

Yes. Sage, great sage Dattatreya. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, his lineage still continues to share, and many great teachers were part of his lineage, many, many great ones.

I read that it was a deity. I didn't know, I didn't know whether it was a real teacher that was embodied here on earth.

At least as far as I know. Of course many, it is the love for the that the disciples have, which will always say that this sage was an incarnation of this God, of this Lord, you know, all of these things. But for me, to say someone is a sage is good enough, more than enough. That I must fully be at their feet, to revere them, to hang on to every word that is coming to my attention from them. It is enough for me to know that they were sages. Somebody said to Tulsidas Ji: why do you pray to Ram? He was only some minor avatar compared to Krishna, because in some scripture it is written that he was the previous avatar of a previous yuga, and Krishna as the avatar we are supposed to pray to now. And Tulsidas Ji in his humility said, he was an avatar. You see, that is such great news, because so far I've just been so enamored by just the way he lived his life, that I just want to surrender my life to him. I was just worshipping him as the king, as the son of Dasharatha only. Thank you for telling me he was an avatar. You see. So just different ways of looking at the same things.

I see that there are many interpretations as to who the avatars of God have been on earth. Yes. Yes. Even today. Yeah.

All I can say about that is that we have much more than we need. We have much more than we need to learn from, to follow the footsteps of. We are so blessed. So blessed.

So I told you right, that I had a different understanding. So the difference was that the words, the terminology, I was thinking I was understanding that consciousness is Atma. But the presence of consciousness in our heart is Atma.

What is the difference between presence of being and being itself?

That's the tricky one. So you notice that the presence of being can be met in this way. Can you meet the entirety of being, you see? So we meet the being, of course, I am. You see, we say that when we meet the presence of being. You see, because we say, okay, now what are the bounds of this one? Can't see. And the minute we start exploring the bounds of I-amness itself, the feeling that we are meeting, you see, itself goes away. So God in his mercy says, okay, if you're anchored to the presence of this being, then the entirety of the being will be known to you, but in the heart, not in your imagination or in your concept, not just conceptual understanding. So the presence of consciousness, the presence of beingness, is the Atma, because we can feel the presence.

We can feel the presence. We can't feel the entirety of Saguna. Saguna's nature is too broad. Just feel as presence. Exactly.

A particular flavor. Yes. It's like, and we have to use the word feel. It's not really a feeling. It's not really perceivable, unperceivable. And we also explained last time that imagine if Atma was completely a perception, then that would not work, because then we would not get over our nature of treating only that which we objectify as the truth. So it would become another object. You see. And if it were completely unperceivable, then it becomes like Nirguna, cannot be met. So God in his mercy made it so beautifully designed. Is, did you see the Atma? Yeah. Yes. Are you sure? No. Are you lying? Of course not. You see? So it always brings us to the cusp, that which is a very boundary of phenomenality. You see, it brings us to the cusp of that. It's like the most primordial. It can't really be spoken about. But the darshan of that most primordial is most important.

So may the understanding never become a replacement for darshan. May the understanding only inspire us for the darshan. You see. May it become inspirational, that may this also become my lived inside, to find this within my own heart. You see, it is not so that we can debate with people, or tell them, I know what the Atma is. Do you know what the Atma is? I know. Till you come to it, you don't really know. We cannot take secondhand words in spirituality to mean knowledge. Only in worldly things can we do that. The meaning of to know is different in spirituality than it is in the world.

Yes. Father, I did not understand how to see God in everyone.

How to see God in everyone. Yes. I thought we were saying that the best is we just learn to see God within ourselves first, and then that will reflect in everything on the outside. It'll be seen that everything is coming from the light of that God that I have had darshan of in my heart. Everything is shining in his light. So must be made up of that only. I'm putting inferences where no inferences will be needed. But just so that we can understand a little bit more. So the constant remembrance, complete faith in his mercy: if you do the first two steps, then the third one will come. How is this to be achieved? The very Advaita answer could be that when the achiever goes away, then it can be achieved. And the one who wants to grasp it starts to fade away, then very naturally something is found. But how is it to be achieved, to answer more sincerely? You've been shown the path to the doorway of where the Atma is. You see. That we cannot predict. But where Shabri has to wait, she knows. So you know now where to wait. Now based on our faith, humility, patience, I don't know what is God's spreadsheet criteria. Yeah. So when he decides to give us darshan, he best knows. So we must always remember that it is never an achievement, because we walk only, we just, we just turn towards him. The rest of it he only does. So it is all his own doing, his own play. He knows best. But we have to do our part, which is to turn towards him.

So whether it happens the first time you turn towards him, or it is 60 years, we can't really say. Like Maha-Shabri apparently waited 60 years for Ram Ji to come. If we are able to have Shabri's, the feeling, the sense with which she was waiting for the Lord. She was not waiting for him because she wanted his darshan for herself. You see, she was waiting for him so that she could provide him some rest and solace. So can our soul become that place for him to rest? Where we are not demanding, do this for me, do that for me, dance this way, dance that way, why aren't you coming, when will you come? You know, all of this thing. Just: my heart is yours, it belongs to you, just come and rest here. Can we get that depth of the sages, like Teresa of Avila, and Maha-Shabri? I am so, so far from that. You see, but and yet he's so merciful upon me.

The best news is that even if his darshan is not yet palpable. No. If you're sitting at his door, you are in his discipleship. You don't have to be concerned. What great mercy it is. Because we are told that God is everywhere, which is true, as Saguna is everywhere, as the light of the Atma projecting this world of light and sound, also is everywhere. But because he makes himself, I'm using the term loosely, but he makes himself specially available at the innermost core of our heart, is the Atma itself. You see. It makes it so easy. No, because all of us, even growing up as children, we heard: God is everywhere, God is everywhere. How does it help? You see, then it just becomes a conceptual idea. You cannot fall in love. You cannot make a love relationship with something which is everywhere. No. So then he knows that. So he's made himself available to us in the most sublime way, not as full object, not as non-object. So stunning the design, so stunning, so compassionate, so kind. The design, the design of it all, is only the master designer could have come up with this.

And we hear things as children: Nirguna Brahman, Saguna Brahman, Atma, don't sound so confusing, and then you feel like everybody's saying different things. One is saying father, son, holy spirit. Then you realize they are all saying the same thing. All is the same.

If you hadn't kind of said to us that we will find, just trust you, and that I'm saying it, and you going to say, I don't think I would even.

So that is also his design, because he gave it to the most foolish one. So then he can never say, oh it's not for you, because I was something special. He gave it to the stupidest one, so that everyone who says I have to say: of course you can find it, you're much more sincere than I ever was, you're much more God-loving than I ever was.

Just, just you being however you are, just keeping on with us, like you know, this way and that this way. I mean, whichever way, if it wasn't for you, I don't see how I could even see anything at all. I mean, the word would just be a word without any.

But this, we can directly place all blame on the Atma for this. I just, reading Tukaram Ji today, I'm like, I just, I'm going to move to wherever he was, you know. I just, when he lead the life of another sage, like oh that's, that's all Atma's doing, what to do. Which is called lucky. We just spoke about Gita that day, and since then this Vala Vala Vala has not stopped. Atma has also got a great sense of humor. It's, it sounds all very like serious discipleship. It is like, you have to, it squeezes the hell out of us. But it is the most joyful way to live, to live in the company of the Atma, because just the gifts, the beauty, the life is fully transformed because of it. Fully transformed. And I haven't even scratched the surface, and I'm saying life is fully transformed. These great sages, how they must have lived.

Can I add one last thing on this? You must not think, because all that has been said about the Atma can sound fairly sophisticated, right? Like, oh, inner journey, all of that. Yes, it's true. It's very subtle. It's very much the inner journey. But if we don't take care of our virtues, then that inner journey will seem full of obstacles. Our virtues, which is humility, not getting angry, not living in irritation. You see, being kind, compassionate, sweet, meek with our brothers and sisters. Humble, wanting to be last, not first. We have to leave that which is most valued in this world, which is that I am the winner mindset. You see, that I will come first, I will leave everyone behind, all of this stuff has to be left behind. That will really make the inner journey much more sweet. And as the inner journey gets sweeter, then the virtues grow. So it's a very virtuous circle, literally the virtuous circle, must have been invented because we said this. It's a very virtuous circle. So every day, 10 opportunities to be kind to our brothers and sisters. Use all 10. What effort does it take to put a smile on your face compared to a frown? When we see people on the lift, in the lift, you see, when we get into a cab, you can have a smile. That's all. It's not big, big things. We don't have to change their life or anything like that. Just that one moment of just being kind, being happy. All these small, small things every day go a long way.

Do I need to rely on this as a concept or empty? Empty isn't enough. Huh? Empty.

Well, if you are able to be empty when you get into the cab. Yeah. So I was saying with the cab, when you get into the cab, do you give the person a smile? If you're really able to be empty and not worry about whether you're getting late or whether you're not, if you can live your life empty, of course, then all this is taken care of. Diagnostic to say you're not. That noticing is important, like we said, not check, but noticing. I'm not saying you're not empty. Is that what your question was?

No, I'll ask. I trouble myself also in yesterday's Satsang. Keep, keep continuing to do that. I will, I will, yes, promise. I kind of hit a dead end there. Like it's the same thing, like once I become, where you are attempting to solve this problem, it will not be solved. So it's good, it's a dead end only. I mean, I have to accept it. I can't understand.

That's, to know spiritually, is not to know in the way we know. Now what happens is that your mind comes and offers you this idea that without knowing in the head you cannot function in the world. You follow the teaching, I can't have that idea. So that is what it's giving you, but it's just not true. Okay. You see. So just, what is being shared in Satsang can be just a heart-to-heart sharing. You know, it's like, how does one lamp get its light with the light of another lamp? You see. Catches fire in that force field. So what always gets in your way is you feel that when I have to engage in Satsang, it's fine, maybe. But when I have to engage with the rest of the world, then what do I have to know, like how do I have to operate over there? Just: I am, and God's presence, stay with the name. All of this is just the lamp lighting the light in the lamps. Allow it to be like a transfusion-type process.

And specifically what happens is when I'm trying to be empty, the mind says you need to do this also. And that sounds like one of those virtue concepts, and that's where I had a dead end. What is the action that happens after that?

I choose one of the two. And has it made you kinder, nicer, sweeter with your brothers and sisters in the world? I don't know, just recently it's happened. I don't know. I don't know which way. It's not like the worst disservice you could do to yourself is come to an intellectual dead end and then imply that, okay, now, no, like, compassion, kindness in the world will come later.

I didn't understand. So at what level do you have to meet this understanding that makes you less irritated, angry, more kind, more compassionate, more loving in the world?

Whichever level you need to meet it for that to happen, meet it there. How do I answer? I don't know. So just, like to quote Nike, just do it. Just do it. What is it in Marathi? You're saying that there is something in Marathi. Not, karak. Gun is to, is to do. What troubles you is at what level? What troubles you is here? No.

You mean I can just do empty or just do? Where is this from? What troubles you is here? No. Yeah. Because you hit the boundary of that. And then it's like I can't, like that, that what you cautioned me against, when we had a Satsang one day and they said, don't ask how, don't ask where, just jump. You see, now if you give that instruction to the mind, it'll say, jump? I'm sitting down cross-legged, what jump, I mean, what is he saying, it makes no sense. But somewhere in you, even that most absurd-sounding instruction can be followed. Like just. I know it. I feel I don't know it, but you're telling me I know it.

Of course you do. It's universal. You see, this is universal. Sorry there, I just made it. So when you are told just jump, if you give it to the mind-intellect, you look at the body and say, can't jump, like what jump, where, what will happen if I jump. All that only gets in the way. But there's something in us which is able to follow the teacher of God, even in the most absurd-sounding instruction. You see. But there is also a compartment in us which is able to contaminate and get in the way of every instruction. Okay. So when you hit a dead end, and thankfully we hit a dead end there, then we just know one thing, which is that you're in the wrong playground. You're approaching it wrong. So leave that. How to leave that? You know: the Atma, you know, you can take God's name, do the self-inquiry, let go of your thought, remain empty. All of this is to leave that. No. So all the tools are so that you can leave that. So this is good: if you notice, dead end means wrong place, leave it. Many years back I told someone, because finally, after all the questions, answers, all is done, ultimately you have to come to this point where we see this is too small a box. God is not going to be met over there. I will not be able to strategize my way in the head and come to this. So welcome the hitting the dead end. Say thank you, I saw I was in the wrong place.

Sorry, but no. Isn't this again empty only?

See what happens is that once empty becomes too full of empty, no, it's no longer empty. When this becomes so strong a position that I can just be empty, then. So remember I used to do these acting things. If you're just being empty, you're not being empty. Huh? If you're being empty, then you're not being empty. Like, do you lose the notion of empty also? Then that is empty. Empty can't be full of the notion of empty. No. Yeah. You can't fill a drink called empty and say this jar is empty. You see, if a drink is called empty and you fill it up, then the jar is still full. You see? So it has to be empty of the notion of empty also. You see? So then, are you using it as a pointer to remind yourself to be completely notionless? Or are you using it as a being of empty, like I'm going to be empty, see how empty I am now? Sorry if my acting is really bad, but how do I show you what I'm trying to convey. Like, if you're too full of being empty, then we are no longer empty.

It's sounding a bit like that to you, like, to me when you're reporting. You see, like, but empty, like that, you see. Will my being empty be enough? You see, because like, if your emptiness is resisting what I'm saying, then that's giving you a signal that the emptiness has become what you're using to fill yourself up with. You know what, let's say, can we see, can we just say, if there's a dead end, then it cannot be God. God cannot have a dead end.

I don't know what you're saying. You say that I hate a dead end. And you often say this, no, that when I, so if I'm saying that, rather than saying now I have to figure out how to navigate the dead end, use that as an indicator to see that you're in the wrong instrument.

You see, now you got a self-driving car, but your condition is to control the steering wheel too much. You see? So when there's something that beeps and says, you know, beep beep beep, then you leave the steering wheel. You see, now what has happened is that the pointer itself, you see, in a way, the mind's job is to poison every pointer it hears. That's why we have to come up with so many pointers. It is to poison every pointer that we hear. So now if you become too full of being empty, then it's no longer empty. I'll just say what I mean by empty: it means thoughts and perceptions are not to be bothered with.

Then hit a dead end in show. You say I have to hit a dead end in show. No, no. I'm saying when you said that, let's just say I should. You empty. You heard that you have to smile. Okay. Then what happened? Thought, let go. Huh? But you're saying don't do that. No. Wait, wait, wait. You said, should I hold on to this? Yeah. Was that from empty? Let's start fresh. No. Suppose you're empty. Okay. Yeah. This one is saying just smile at everyone.

Yes. Would it produce the question? But do I have to know this as a concept from emptiness? The question came. This is, there's something. Yes. It's interesting. So then what could be happening is that we made a position, so I'm sitting on the empty boxing corner. Now somebody says now you have to be on the other corner, so he says, no, but he's asking me to go on the other corner. But then that was not empty to start with.

No, that's exactly the point I'm making. Once you are too much being empty, then you're no longer empty. You see what? Like, I'm going to be simplistic again. You're empty. So your teacher says just smile at everyone. You see, then the smile would come and go away. You're not thinking, how is this a conceptual thing I have to hold on to? How do I do this? It is empty. But I thought that was being empty. I see concept, perception, drop. But but you didn't drop. No. Because you're telling me, not like you are the exception. Once the guru says, because the question came, should I hold on to this? Yes. You see, now can that question come if you were empty? Oh, I held, I didn't drop that also. You're saying that the question I didn't drop. Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. You see. Okay.

And that's why I try to explain to you that in Satsang what is being shared is the spreading of the light from heart to heart. And the heart, does your heart have any trouble with hearing what I'm saying? Please be kind, compassion. And that was the exact topic of where we started from, because I said that the Atma darshan is sounding like a very subtle inward process, but in that process don't forget to be kind, loving, humble to everyone. You see, that's how it started. Yeah. Now something resisted that statement because it made a position out of the empty. Yeah. Isn't it? So if empty is a position, it's no longer an empty. The whole reason why the conversation, or the expression in Satsang, changed is this: that all my children were getting stuck in the notional open and empty, rather than the real empty which I was trying to point to.

I'm not very clear but I'll try this and again I'll come back to you. Something seemed like it was the opposite.

Yes. Opposite means position. Empty cannot have an opposite. Empty, something you do, right? It's a process, not a possession. Empty can't have an opposite. Empty. That's why you're saying, telling us to be empty. No. It does have opposite. No. So that's why, so that's why the instruction open and empty is that empty which is not the empty of, empty of opposite: full. This is my place. So for years, when I said, when we're being empty, then we're no longer being empty. What does that convey to you?

I have an idea I'm being empty, but I'm not letting go of that thought.

What would be a symptom that you have an idea? What would be the symptom of the fact that it has become a position and idea and notion? A symptom would be that something is taken to be its opposite. The empty that I'm sharing doesn't have an opposite. That's my prerogative.

Then there's nothing to do. There's nothing to do. If it doesn't. I can use the word with my prerogative as I want to use it. No. So the empty that I am conveying doesn't have an opposite. Then how do you, why are you telling us to do it? It doesn't have an opposite. I can keep doing this also. You see.

I'll come back again some other time. So is it the same as when. Sorry, my hands are sweaty so the clicker is not working. Easy. Does this have an opposite? Doesn't have an opposite. That is empty. When we do the fresh fresh exercise, that is empty. No. Okay. Not like that.

Are you saying there's no way to not be empty if it doesn't have an opposite?

The place where you're trying to understand it is not the place where it will be understood, is what I'm saying primarily.

I think this. It's very good, but hit the boundary and admit that you hit the boundary. Huh? So you hit the boundary. Now what does the intellect try to do? It tries to make a diversion, like something like this is the racetrack. The F1 drivers hit the boundary and the car is still working. They try to get back on the racetrack one way or the other. No, we find either a way to the pit lane or to find some way to get back into the. I am saying that where you have to go is beyond that racetrack. You see. Now you will not be able to do it by wanting to do it. I realize the struggle. I know it's not easy. But I have to keep pointing you to the true place. So what I'm suggesting is, welcome the dead end, and know that now I'm not trying to get back to that same process of rationalizing, intellectualizing, judging. I'm not getting into that loop.

How will you know you are empty? Not in the head. But you will know somewhere. I know it's not satisfactory, because we're used to understanding through these modes, what to do. You see. But if in all our relationship together, all I left you is a set of concepts that you understood, then what kind of teacher of God would I.

So it's okay, sometimes we have to collide a bit in terms of our expression, because I'm using very limited language. It's not a good instrument to share what is attempted to being shared. My head also uses that primitive language. But the good news is that God's grace is with us and his mercy is with us. So somewhere through all the trying to understand, colliding, misunderstandings, all of this thing, one day grace will slip through. You see. So that gone is still there.

It's, because. I'll repeat the question. It's okay. I'll repeat. I should say. Because it's too. Some years ago I had started looking into what the scriptures say about what kind of person pleases God, right? And I read the different books, not all obviously, and whatever I could gather from each one, and I made a little list for myself.

Nice.

But, so then there are a lot of pointers for me. See, let me first preface this, for okay: being compassionate and sweet to people, for me, is not a virtue. But if you weren't compassionate and sweet and nonjudgmental, I wouldn't be here. Yeah.

So it is that important.

But then I've seen the different side of people. For me. And even, I mean, it's wonderful that you can be that, but I focus on other virtues, like being honest, not deceiving, not manipulating, not deliberately hurting, you know, and then the ten commandments, and those type of things. And then just whatever bits and pieces that I could gather from the different books. Some it's spelled out clearly. Some it's you have to glean it, you know. So yeah.

Yes, that's fine. That's fine. I see. No, I'll try to recap the question a bit. She was sharing, very beautiful in fact, that she made a list based on some scriptures that she studied, and said what are the virtues which are pleasing to God, and she made a list on her iPhone. Now some of the things that I mentioned in my list, which is being sweet, kind, compassionate, because she's had some life experiences which led her to see some different sides of people, she doesn't feel that she needs to add those onto her list. But honesty, not deliberately hurting someone, all of these beautiful virtues are on her list. That's fine. It's completely fine. Because as we live, I am nobody at all to say that my list is some pakka list and everybody else's list is not worth it or anything like that.

All that I am saying is that as we learn to surrender to the discipleship of the Atma more and more, then our list keeps getting added on, we keep seeing deeper insights about our list, and we notice, like I noticed a few years back that I used to feel like I'm very, I have a lot of faith, but by reading Kabir Ji and by reading some of the other sages, I saw that actually my faith is all lip service. You see. And the sages showed me, and the Atma showed me, that I take no risk for my faith. You see. So there's no real faith. What am I risking for God? There's nothing. Now another may hear this and it may sound to them absurd, and say, why do I have to risk something for God? God is taking care of me. On one hand we say he's merciful, on the other hand we say we must take risk for him. So it may not compute yet. You see. Everybody's working their own path. But as long as our feeling is to be pleasing to God, we're all in this together. Nothing to share.

She said, and I had a similar list like hers, but I knew in my heart that this compassion, especially when you say it in Hindi, that word really used to do something inside. And then you started teaching us, like, someone said that he's so merciful that he doesn't see, I mean, he just forgives you just by your turning to him, like, he said, a love for no reason, you know. Then I realized that's what compassion is. I mean, he doesn't need to have a reasoning, logics, all of that is gone, which is forgiving and merciful because you are that, I mean, that's how you are. And that was such a way of, I don't know, I'm not explaining it correctly, but it really came, and it was seeing that our faults are so horrible and yet he can forgive us. Our faults are so not forgivable in some way, and yet he does forgive us. I mean, what else is that but compassion? I only realized where I need to grow. I only really realized in prayer.

Where you need to go? In prayer we are taught by the Atma itself. So as long as our intention is to be with God and to be pleasing to God, then everybody's curriculum is defined in their own way. No, no, I wasn't criticizing. I was just saying that I had, at the same time, that I didn't know what compassion was until you showed us, through reading, that that's how he's saying, his mercy doesn't need, our faults are so many, and that, because it's not so, because our mind is so logical, I should be punished, you know. What would compassion be then, if it was just so mechanical and full of reason?

I feel that it displeases God when we are not virtuous. I really do believe that. I feel that we need to ask for forgiveness. Yes. You can't assume which is going to be given to you no matter what you do, just because God is. Yes. Yes.

Definitely his mercy should never be presumed, and his mercy should never be forgotten. So both, both are beautiful. You see. So we notice, like she said, but we don't despair. What happened?

So you're saying, be compassionate in the head, leave that also. I'll be compassionate just listening.

I'm saying that whatever you need to do to be kind and compassionate, we have to do. Including having it as a belief. Including having it. Try it out. Will you be more compassionate from the head or the heart? I'll try. Because the intent was that I've not given you any way out of being compassionate. You see. Because you can conclude, I have to be conceptual. You see. Now the main thing I'm doing right now is being empty. Then you'll realize that true compassion comes from the heart only. So if you need it as a pointer to remind yourself to be compassionate, it's fine. But it's very good because it's exposing the potential for a pointer like empty to become non-empty, for it to become positional.

I'm not sure. Yeah. That I don't know is much better than I do know now, conceptually. You see, there comes a point where we stop hearing things as if they're opposites. Like two seekers made a report. Now were they opposites? Were they in sync? Were they agreeing with each other? I actually found no trouble with any of that. How it is heard in the world is usually quite different.

Like, I'm not so much concerned about debating it. I'm trying to follow it. And you have always been 100% sincere about what is being said. The sincerity is never in question, and it's never about oneupmanship with you. It's never about pride. None of those things I'm worried about. It is only that one day grace has to push you into the right instrument that I'm talking about. But the process I'm doing to be empty, I should continue that.

What is the process you're doing?

I don't know, like focused prayer. If it's a thought, it's not it, it's not what I'm looking for. If it's a perception, that's not what I'm looking for. And just that.

Yes. But the notness should not become opposition. Like, the negation should be used to negate and then thrown away. Bhagwan said, a tong is used to remove the other tong, and then thrown away. It's not that I hold on to the idea that that's not what I'm looking for. Yeah. But I don't hold on to it. Yeah. I actually don't hold on to it. Yeah. So that don't-holding-on, are you holding on to the don't-hold-on-to-it?

I think I am.

Okay. So let's do one experiment right now. Yeah. This is empty. This is empty. Is this what it looks like at the end of your process? This. You're not giving any time to conclude. Is that what it looks like? But when you were doing that, I couldn't even give attention to the thoughts.

Yeah. Once it went, then I don't know. Maybe this I'm giving it. I don't know. I don't know really.

It's all right. That's good. That's a good contemplation. I'll pick it up again next time or whenever. Yeah. Can you just give me something I need to do now? But you were not, you were doing the chanting. I was. Yes. You switched to empty again. Like, I did do the chanting. Chanting also, when I was doing, if it's a thought I drop it, perception I drop it. Yeah. Like okay let's try. I don't know if we should try.

No, no. I don't want more of all that. I want something simple.

He's got enough cloud. Yeah, plenty. So say if I'm chanting God's name, Ram, some thought comes, then that's not it. Ram Ram Ram, hold on to Ram, don't hold on to anything else. And it's again the same. Very, that has to be. It's all right for now. It's okay. Thank you.

The thing is that the doorway to what I'm pointing at is not a visible doorway. I wish I could just point you to it and said go from there. You know, it's just that something, something will unlock something. Until then, because your intention is sincere, it's all fine.

Urgent, urgent with the hands up. One is time out. Thank you about that. Okay. Other two are urgent or we can take next time. Urgent. Please come. Thank you, Father. Thank you. I I I just I just felt to just to to put something at your feet. I'm just in hell now. Because I have somebody is living in my house, an African guy, and I I I want to make it short. We we used to to some some a little fusion, host somebody, you know, and it didn't come because he's somebody who has suffered, and who is has still not no papers after 17 years, you know, and and also he's a Muslim and he practices a lot. And so he he kind of he kind of kept some distance from me, and some something was heard unconsciously. And at some several at several moments I've been rude to him, not not willingly of course, but I say say rude, I I can cannot explain all all situations, but I just just being reactive, let's say. And and and so and now he's very very against me. He wants my my, he wants my, he wants my my my failing in everything. He's and he he's he's quite clear but so he he just he just, he wants your failing, you said. My my failing, my failing, failing, failing. I see I see. I should I should not, I should not succeed in anything. And and so he, sorry, I'm a bit. That means. Yeah. And I I I feel I feel trapped in the in the in hell so that I cannot because I I feel threatened. The person, let's say it feels, feel threatened of course. And but but I cannot, I cannot jump over that. I I I I don't find the the the faith. And I'm delighted to hear to hear you now, but I feel very helpless in that situation, because they, it has become very personal. I had never imagined it could, something could happen, and and so intensely. And so and because of course I get, I'm begging for for some some compassion, or something like that, and and it doesn't come. So I even hardly come to word. So it is, and coming from somebody who is Muslim, and then in Ramadan even more at the moment, it's very, very, very painful. And I feel like nothing, you know. I have just come to the ground zero, you know. So I feel to to to to put it here. And I always think, where is God's mercy? Where where is God's mercy in my heart and his in his heart? I feel God has disappeared, so to say, you know.

I hear you. I hear you. Yes. Yes. And so I wanted to, I wanted to share it, just to also put it, to just lay down, and to make space, and to receive some blessing, you know, from our sharing. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for sharing this openly. I feel that this situation is so painful for you. I feel your pain. I remember feeling, I myself remember feeling that God is absent, when I was caught in the fear of losing my son in the hospital. I remember feeling that way also, that his mercy is absent, his presence is absent, that I'm on my own in this. So I pray deeply that how he held me, when I was losing my faith, and he showed me that his compassion, his mercy, his grace, was completely with us even during that time: may you also be shown that. And may this situation be healed in this holy month, for our Muslim brothers and sisters, for you and the other brother. May God's mercy shine upon both of you, and may he provide a beautiful resolution to whatever affliction is presently there in this situation, and may you return fullheartedly to faith in God, to his holy presence.

In my situation, what helped, which was really difficult to come to that point, but I did a reading of the book of Job, some of the passages, and I was able to turn to God and to say to him that, even if something was to happen to my son, I have not accepted it so far, but if that is your will, then I will accept your will. And I will bless you for your will. I will not curse you even in that. And that was very difficult to come to that point. But by his grace, he started healing everything from that point onwards. So I wish, I pray that you receive all his mercy and strength to deal with this situation, and to return again to relying on his will, and to trusting his will. Although I'm sure it seems so difficult at this moment. My faith in prayer is very strong now, and I pray deeply for you in this. May from this moment on, may his grace start healing this situation in the most beautiful way. And may you return to peace and joy, as we've always seen you in so much joy and peace. May God bring you back to that.

Thank you. So welcome my dear. Thank you. I know it's very important, what you say, is exactly what I'm calling for, is just surrender. Because I feel my reacting, my trying, is just the false thing. All the time, it's just increasing the situation. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I bless you, and may the difficulties that you're going through in this holy month bring you so much solace. May they bring you so much peace. May they bring you so much love and light after this test from God is over. And may it by his grace be over soon. We all pray for you. We all pray for you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you all to all. Bless you. Thank you.

Okay, let's hear, let's hear from the next one, because it seems to be important. Hello my dear. We just heard some garbled noises. We didn't really understand. Let's try again. No idea. Don't hear you. Nothing is audible. I see your lips moving, but I don't hear. I send you all my love and blessings and we speak soon. Yes, we speak next time if we can. Actually, someone posted saying that all prayers today made today are thousand times more potent than every other day, as it is said in the holy book. So we pray for everyone and may God hear our prayer and bless them.