Set the Path with Flowers for God to Come Every Day - 24th April 2024

Because for a long time Maya will also try to pull you out: 'But this, but this, but this.' But you get to be with God. And the less metaphorically, poetically, romantically you take those words and the more literally you can take them, that much your faith has deepened. You get to be with God. Tell me something better that Maya can offer, see? But it doesn't have everyone jumping with excitement only because maybe... otherwise this room should be... if I told a set of kids that Santa Claus is coming into the room, till a certain age, and then we lose that excitement. We say, 'We know, we know.' Are there any kids watching? So they start to say, 'We know it's not like that.' And I'm saying to you, you can get to be with God. So that should be such news worth rejoicing, but you are unable to because of the interest in the world. So what have we put on two ends of the wings here? This play of light and sound versus the presence of God Himself. How is it possible for us to compare? For suppose this was, and it is, but imagine for yourself that this is possible for you. When would you want that to start? And maybe you want to know about the fine print before you say, 'Right now.' You want to know about the fine print? Conditions apply. There's one condition: that you know you must not be concerned with the 'me.' Then everything else is fine.

So it must move from self-interest to interest only in God, from self-concern to only being interested in God, from self-will to God's will, from self-image to being in the holy temple of His light in your heart. So this is the project of Satsang. Is this what you want? That's all I can point to. Does it seem far-fetched? It's actually not. It's very straightforward, it's very simple. The 'me' making, the ego elevation, is much more complicated. To be with God is pure innocence and simplicity. So if you're working too hard in your head trying to figure it out, you've gone in the wrong direction. If you're trying too hard to even understand what I'm saying, you've gone too far. Don't worry, relax. First relax. For a long time I just used to keep saying, 'First relax,' because unless you first relax, what I'm saying won't seep in. Because in a sheer relaxation, a sheer letting go, you can be intuitive. But if you're like that, you can't really, you see, using the wrong instrument to meet what is being shared.

So first let go. And when you let go, you're not attached to objects of the waking state. And the mind's idea of that stage can seem very oppressive, it can seem boring, it can seem lifeless, inert, a waste of time. But the actuality of being like that, the sheer beauty of that... you could be the king of the universe, but you will not experience that in its simplicity. It doesn't have to be fireworks and bells and whistles. Just the pristine presence of God, the taste of His love, His light, is more than giving water to someone who is abandoned in the desert. And in the human condition, nothing else can quench our thirst. You've seen on the internet and things like that—I was going to say magazines and things, but now who reads magazines—so you've seen people who have everything the world can give them, but if you do an interview with them, they say, 'My next plan is to have even more.' And then after five years you meet them, then, 'My next plan is to have even more.' So this is not... the thirst is never quenched. And what do we actually need in our lives? Very simple things. Can you sit at two places at the same time? You need one chair. And you sleep on two beds? No. Can you wear two shirts? You can, but that's pointless. So our needs are very little. But Maya in its distraction says, 'You want this, you need this also, you need that also, it has to be this also,' all in the attempt to actually prevent you from quenching your desire in the taste of God's love within your heart. So the more and more and more and more and more until you die. And most of us don't recognize this strangeness, this absurdity of this treadmill: more, more, more, more. And the true opportunity of self-recognition, of self-realization and God-realization, is missed by most because of this silly treadmill that we run on.

So the last we sort of dipped into all the pathways to God, you see? And there are millions. God has made for each of us a way to find Him. So there are billions. But we looked at the broad categories: to empty ourselves of the false notion of 'me' and to live in God's will, in God's love, in God's light. So I can give you some sense of the path, whatever little I have walked, and just some reassurance and encouragement. And maybe coming to Satsang you find some energetic support also, but you have to walk. And one Satsang we also talked about this: the mental distinction between effort and grace and how it seems contradictory, but actually full grace and full effort go together. So don't fall for the trick and waste most of your life just in the excuse of, 'If it is going to happen, it will happen by God's grace.' Have you truly handed over yourself fully? Are you setting the table every day like Ma Shabri for Ram to come?

So there are two modes of our understanding. One mode could be that, 'Oh, Ma Shabri, she was quite stupid actually, she was really stupid. Why did she have to do this every day? Then He had to come, He's going to come, so why go to the jungle, fetch the fruit every day, set the path with flowers for God to come every day? When it's time, He'll come.' She could have just relaxed, just relaxed with those... what is the counterpart of those days? Entertainment. So either she was really foolish and therefore worth forgetting completely, or she's really the embodiment of devotion where all of us can learn from. So which one is it? And she was a great gyani, and her Guru had told her that you can have Mukti right now. So you must not feel that, 'Oh, but we know better.' So like I've been mentioning, and this is from the cost of discipleship, we have to be very careful of the freshman saying, 'I don't know,' versus one who has spent their whole life truly in search for true knowledge and then concluding that nothing truly can be known. Because in the words of Advaita Vedanta you will find the best excuses, but in the living of true Advaita Vedanta you will meet the fusion of effort and grace which is beyond conceptual understanding. Like parallels in the world, sometimes in the world they say that those who...

And this is from the cost of discipleship. We have to be very careful of the freshman saying 'I don't know' versus one who has spent their whole life truly in search for true knowledge and then concluding that nothing truly can be known. Because in the words of Advaita, you will find the best excuses, but in the living of true Advaita, you will meet the fusion of effort and Grace which is beyond conceptual understanding. Like parallels in the world, sometimes in the world they say that those who work the hardest somehow end up getting the most lucky. So this is this multiplied to the extreme. So if you're not feeling the heat of the battle with the mind, if you are saying that spirituality is easy, easy, then of course my blessing is that may this be so for you. But I would also want to investigate deeper as to whether you're truly getting a sense of the project.

If you don't encounter your stubborn insistence on living by your will every day, then either you are free or the mind has got you caught up in some narrative. Because at least a few times every day, or maybe many times every day, I notice it here: how I rush to conclude, how I rush to judge, how I want to fall for self-interest without waiting for God's guidance, for God to move me. And although it's completely possible that all of you have gone way beyond me in this quest to live in God's light, yet my job would be just to make sure that you're not fooling yourself and wasting time. Because these things are very tricky.

Because you may say—I spoke to a friend a few months back and I said, 'You must start spending, start living your life in God's will.' So he said to me, 'But isn't everything that is happening to me in God's will?' I said, 'Yes, you're right, it is in God's will.' See, but that is one way to look at it, that everything happens by the will of God. But there's also another degree to that surrender, which is the handing over of, sacrificing our individual will every moment and handing it over to God to allow Him to move us, allow Him to guide us. That is when we move from the convenient armchair spirituality to the true being in His presence. Because if you were to start that right away—allow only Him to move you, allow only Him to guide you—you would have no option but to first meet His presence. When you come to that infantile state, then although we can't predict these things, it is very likely that God will reveal Himself to you.

Or do you spend your day like that? Because that needs faith. That can sound risky. You may lose your job, you may lose your relationship, you may lose your health, you may lose everything that you understand about yourself. That's all. You don't care about the fifth thing; it's only these four. So all these are at risk. So then what we conveniently do is we say, 'Okay, now these are the broad parameters that I will define. God time is from this time to this time, from this time to this time.' And that's not a bad way to start, but you must continue to hand over all of our life in His hands. And if you do that and you notice where you get stuck, can you say that it's not always easy and you're struggling? And then it gets easier and easier and easier. Then in that handing over of self-will and making it about God's will alone, that is one beautiful surrender, Sharanagati, to live in His light, in His will.

Can we live like that? Are we living like that? Do we want to? First thing is the intention. Do we want it? Are we willing to risk it?

The intention from my case, I feel that that intention is very strong. Not like 'I want to be like that,' but it's strong in the sense of an extreme fatigue of the way I am. Yeah, so it is like I definitely don't want to carry on like this. That much grows every day.

But I'm not like that itself is the rocket fuel that provides the momentum for most of us, at least to start with. This is good. She's saying that more than wanting a new way of life, the way of the heart as we talk about it, is that we are completely done with the old way of life because that at least doesn't seem to be working. So for most of us, that can provide the momentum. And for most of you coming to Satsang, some momentum like that is there. Very few want to come to this kind of Satsang because there's nothing here for the 'me.' But that motivation, that inspiration, is because we're tired of the old way of life. See, it could be because of these one of these four things that I said, something may have happened, but we are looking for a better way to live because something in us recognizes that this old way of 'me, me, me' doesn't work.

Like now, let's start now. Yeah, so the urge to ask, check with you now. I don't know where—what do you mean by urge? Me, like I want God's will. No, I don't know God's will.

So we must find out. So that's what I'm saying. So find out. We must not rush. Because to say, 'Oh, it's an urge which I don't know whether it's my will or God's will, but let's go with the urge anyway,' you see, is basically a following of my will, my way, in the guise of an urge.

So when I wanted to ask a question, like ten minutes ago the thought came that maybe—and not because you said ask, and then okay, but now...

But now you must find out. Otherwise, we are just saying it must be God's will. So let me just—we can't presume. If in all traditions, in all spirituality, everything is telling us that we must follow God's command, if Nanak Ji has told us that that is the only way to be free from this delusion, then what happens when we try to follow that? And why it's important to cut it at the root is because, like we were saying about the morning, it takes momentum, you see. It picks up momentum like that. We go with one thought, then it feels like other thoughts are more believable, then we go with those, then everything—the worldview that is presented by the mind—seems true. And then to step back from all of it seems like it is too difficult. So start fresh now. Empty, empty.

Because if Nanak Ji has told us that all the other things won't work—all our understanding won't work, all our spiritual experiences won't work, everything that we think we can do for this won't work unless we learn to follow the will of God, and He has said 'command' actually—then do you, does any of you feel like He could have provided an instruction which actually is impossible to follow? And then there are enough examples in all religions, all spirituality, reminding us to follow God's will.

What is happening? So it is like, when I talk to people who study the scripture, they think this is when something happens, whatever it might be, you must accept it.

Yeah, yes, this is true, and acceptance is helpful. But I feel like we'll find enough instructions which are quite precise. When He said 'follow the command,' it is very clear. He didn't say 'accept.' He said 'follow.' So then the following part is very clear. So you are absolutely right that the way it can be heard is actually different, although even acceptance is very important and beautiful, and yet we have to go beyond that. To go beyond that, we have to follow. How to follow God's will?

So He said, you may think and think and think a hundred thousand times, but your thinking is not going to do it. Then He said, you may be quiet, quiet, quiet, sitting in silence all the time; it's not going to do it. Then what does it say? No matter what we gain in this life, whatever experiences we may have also, our thirst or hunger will not be satisfied. You may do hundreds of smartness, think you have all the bookish knowledge; that's not going to do it. Then I feel—I always imagine the next line is from a frustrated seeker, because they've been told everything that they've been trying is not going to do it. So then the next line comes from the frustrated seeker apparently saying, 'Then what is going to do it?' Through what can we find this truth? What will make the illusion, the delusion go away? And then He has told us that we must follow the command, the will of God. And that is what Guru Nanak Ji has told us.

How to follow? If you're full of self-will, just like attention, the space for will is limited. Just like you cannot pay attention to three conversations at the same time because it's limited, same in this world play: you can either go my way or God's way. How to check whether you're going my way or God's way? Ask yourself what you want. What is it that you want? Even right now, let go of that. Create the space for God's will to unfold. Are you noticing the parallel? So whether you take this path of devotion and servitude, or you're being open and empty, or you're inquiring, or you're praying, that space—inner space being kept empty for God's light—is the common thread in everything.

So basically we are being told that you cannot be Frank Sinatra, you cannot do it 'my way.' Is it not a part-time job and say, 'I am God's servant, I'm going to follow God's will from this time to this time, from seven in the morning to eight in the morning'? But if you're not doing anything at all, then that's a good start. And what prevents us? We feel that 'I can do it better.' It is the biggest stupidity, no? The idea that 'I can do it better' compared to the One who is creating, running, and going to eat up this whole world, has to be some sheer silliness and arrogance. 'If I hand it over to God, then it won't go according to my plan.' But if God doesn't want it, you think it's going to go according to your plan? You may not wake up tomorrow. So this kind of arrogance gets in our way.

Father, even if I pray throughout the day, it's not seeming like I'm able to—it's not seeming like I'm being guided. My actions don't seem like... because there are times when it seems like, how you said, that sometimes it feels guided and sometimes God just moves you. But it's not the latter also. Like even if I'm in prayer, there's still when sometimes when certain actions need to happen, they still come from a place of like, 'Oh, I want to do this and I want...' you know? So it's...

But while you are praying, then also it happens like that? In the sense you're praying 'Ram, Ram, Ram' and then also you say 'I want to do this'? Both can't happen at the same time.

It happens like with work and stuff. Yeah, or if even if I have to—you're in prayer and then you pause the prayer and conclude for yourself what you want to do.

Yeah, so then that is not unceasing prayer. And to remain in prayer just means that we remain in His presence in our heart temple. So stay like that and see if you can follow your own will at the same time.

When I'm deeply in prayer, Father, though, it doesn't arise like that. That kind of self-concern for me to have it my way, that doesn't... it's more like I leave everything at Your feet. So that feels—that is more natural.

Yes, exactly. So when you're deeply in prayer, then you don't have self-concern, self-will, self-image. But yeah, like, it's not unceasing, maybe that's what... like how you're saying. Yeah, so that is the attempt, that is the work in progress for all of us. And when I say I'm foolish many times a day, it is because I also go with my individual will instead of waiting for God to move me, to guide me. Many times remember that nothing is worth leaving His temple for. Whatever the action may be, whatever the outcome may be, whatever the world promises you will gain, how would you leave Him?

A metaphor that is coming is that His presence, for some time in this human condition because Maya is strong, will seem like the light of a diya, the light of a lamp, you see. So your job is to just tend to that light and don't leave it. Like on Diwali night, at least in the north, my family and other families do this, that throughout the night they have to keep the diya burning. So you get up many times in the night to make sure it's burning well. Some may even stay up the whole night and tend to it. So His presence is burning like a flame in your heart, you see? And then He'll reveal more and more of Himself to you. But initially, remember that...

Light of a lamp, you see. So your job is to just tend to that light and don't leave it. Like on Diwali night, at least in the north, my family and other families do this, that throughout the night they have to keep the diya burning. So you get up many times in the night to make sure it's burning well. Some may even stay up the whole night and tend to it. So His presence is burning like a flame in your heart, is it? And then it'll reveal—He'll reveal more and more of Himself to you. But initially, remember that you are not to leave that light untended, come what may. Because what happens when you leave it untended? When you go with the world, it seems to, you see, burn out. It seems to—we seem to get disconnected. Then we have actually no guarantee, but His grace of course helps us, but we don't have a guarantee that we'll ever find it again. So actually the risk is in that. The risk is in leaving His presence, isn't it? Like, can any of us say, 'No, I'll just be mindy for ten minutes and then I'll return to God's presence'? Because God's presence is not guaranteed if you've been selfish for ten minutes, if you've been just 'me, me, me.' I know it sounds dark, but really there is no guarantee. But we have faith in His love and His mercy, and yet we don't know. So what is the greater risk?

The mind tells you that, 'Oh, but if you're just going to be like that, you'll be vegetative. You'll not be active. You'll lose opportunities at work.' All these things will happen, and those things sound like risks. So we leave God and we say, 'Okay, let me tend to all of this, then I'll come back,' is it? And it's His love that allows us to take Him for granted like this. But that's a huge risk because it may also not be like that. It may be like Narad, you see, who went to get a glass of water for Krishna. Then when at the river, he sees this beautiful lady and says, 'Oh, what a beautiful life I could have if she could be mine and we could be married and together.' And he forgot about the mission that Krishna had sent him on to get him a glass of water. And he spent a large part of—of course, Narad being Narad has millions of years, but we don't. So he spent many years in that mind of having worldly attachments till great suffering came. I don't want to repeat the whole story because you all know it, but we don't have to wait for that. You're finished?

Yeah, Father. There's a lot of—I'm seeing that I go away with sometimes some kind of self-image comes of looking a particular way in front of colleagues or friends or family.

Which way you want to look like? We all have some of that, no? That we want to look intelligent, we want to look smart, we want to look as if we are on top of things. All of these things, it's all lies. So I'm also learning to not fall for these tricks of the mind because the flame that we are tending to is so holy that if we lost it for this kind of silliness, that would be—that would be like the full Narad story again.

Close. Honestly, yesterday I was, you know, it was just what you just said, no? That I felt that losing the light would be a much—losing the light would be a much bigger loss than losing any of this.

That's it. It's clear. But yet, because just look at the fact of how many of our brothers and sisters can say that this is even a possibility for them. How privileged we are to be able to even talk like this, that 'I choose to come to Him, I choose to be with Him, I choose to leave Him.' For most of them in the world, they will feel like we are completely bonkers, we're just deluded, that we are fooling ourselves. That how can so many of these city kids come to God where ten hundred years of tapasya and all of this, and they're talking all these big, big things about being with God? It doesn't happen like that. That is the usual skeptical response that you can get. But we know in our heart whether it's true or not. We know for ourselves. And what a great privilege it is because to even have this notion of choice about this—those who are looking for God so full-heartedly, if you ever talk to them like this, they'll be like, 'Are you strange? Because you're saying you found God in your heart, you're finding God in your heart, and then you allow Maya to pull you out so easily.'

So we must not. And I'm again, I'm saying I'm nowhere speaking from a position that I don't do it. I'm very much an expert in this foolishness myself. So this much I'm saying for this one also along with all of you. So the first thing for all of us is to come to the recognition of that holy flame in our heart, that holy light in our heart, which is—and don't imagine anything. It is not perceivable. Intuitively you will sense this flame. So don't try to visualize or come to it, and then after a while your intuitive sense will make it so clear that it'll be brighter than a perception can ever be. So that we must devote to find, in the sense of try to recognize God's presence within yourself. Don't look for Him in the form of a flame or some other emotional feeling or something like that. Just God, God, God. Make yourself available to Him, only concerned with the recognition of Him.

And then this recognition may happen by His grace. But for those who can say that He is here, then we must recognize our error, our foolishness every time we choose to let go of His presence. Because He does not leave once He's here. It can never be that you are graced by His presence, you're sitting at your heart altar and immersed in His presence, and He says, 'I've got to go.' Doesn't happen, you see. Next time when you are disconnected and then you try to go there, then it may seem that you can't find His light. And therefore then you must remain there with head bowed down, open and empty, till His light seems apparent again. It's the apparency that changes, not the presence. It's not that He is really coming and going. It's whether it is apparent, whether the revelation is apparent to us or not, that changes.

So I hope you can all see the importance and the value in what I'm saying, and we must never make it trivial. You must not say, 'Oh, you know, today this happened and yesterday like that this happened.' And even if you say that, it should be—you must really see the gravity of what we are saying, that 'I decide to leave God and go on my own devices, on my own terms,' which is exactly the core biblical story. Again and again, it repeats itself in this pattern. Generation after generation, it repeats the same story. So this is the most direct definition of the pride that afflicts all of our lives. All the pride that we afflict on all of our lives, that God's light is here, we don't know if we go on our own expeditions whether when we return and when we want Him to be here, there is no guarantee. And yet we decide to leave. Can there be a better way to describe pride, Father?

So there are two—sorry, there are two attitudes we must have. For those—and I'm not asking anyone to expose or say what you feel, nothing—I'm just saying that if you feel in your heart that this presence, this light, this flame, this temple is not apparent to you, then you must dedicate your life to this discovery. And if you dedicate your life to this discovery, it is my prayer to God, it is my blessing to all of you also, that may it happen by His will, by His grace. And those who feel His light, His presence, they must not leave. We must not leave. This is the transformation of our life. This is the start of spirituality. Done? You had more? Don't worry, but a little closer to the mic or something, louder or closer.

Yeah, okay. It's like I'm seeing—I see on a daily basis the amount of mistakes that I'm making, you know? And every day, like every day before I sleep, there's a report card.

Oh, because it's good to notice, but not good to dwell on it, is it? Because even in the process of dwelling on it, you're making it about 'me' instead of God, yeah? Is it? Noticing is important because we notice our mistakes, we notice our foolishness, and it's good not to be in denial of them. But upon noticing, we must return to His presence. And when we are in His presence, there we know, you see. We must not imagine some state of lack of intelligence or lack of being able to notice. If you're in His presence, you see, it's not that we have to first do all that work and then return to Him, see? So if you just return to Him, then what we need to learn, what we need to understand, all that is there without relying on the checker guy's report cards and getting stuck in guilt and unworthiness. That point is very important because that is the two-punch—the one-two punch of the mind trick. First he distracts us, then he tells us, 'See, it'll never happen for you, you're like this only.' And then that two-punch lingers for a long time.

But the—sorry, okay. No, please. Father, the flightiness of this, no? Just that because—

The flightiness of what?

The fleeting nature of it. It seems like, Father, that it's like—

Which is you, not Him. Yes or no? Yeah. So it's good to see that about ourselves, that we come here to the heart temple, but we find a way to leave. It's not that He leaves. That's why that point—it's not flighty in that way. It's not that He may just come and go. He doesn't go. Is there anyone of you who can say that 'I came to His presence and after a while He went'? It's not you, Father.

The smallest of self-concern will take me.

Can. Many times you'll notice that His love is so great that we may have been stupid all day, but His presence is still full of light. Now, this once we decide, no? That what you said, two years, and it's only—I didn't get anything what you said, like two years?

No, you commit to only this, nothing else. And don't say, 'I'm doing well, I'm doing badly, this has started happening for me, this is not happening for me.' Just keep that.

Yeah. And when I'm open to other people when I meet them, they suggest things and they suggest minor—

Don't be open to other people. Just be open to God's presence. What is 'open to other people' is open to their mind. So then the mind will—you feel like it'll miss that opportunity? No. See, 'Oh, now is the time to get them.' We've learned to let go of our thoughts, suppose, and then we say, 'Okay, but I'm going to listen to what everyone says.' So then the mind will use that opportunity. So there's nothing greater about their thoughts than your thoughts. You must let go of all thoughts. Receptivity and just being caught in their mental prison along with them is two different things, see? So openness means you're open in the heart. So when you hear something, then your heart guides you how to deal with that, how to move with that. Is that what you mean?

It's about this one. It's like if I've decided two years I come, then why would I even go to other people? Why even hear them? Why be open? No matter what they say, I'm just going to discard it. Might as well not hear them at all.

Like it's—thing you're saying. See, what happens is that maybe we are understanding the discipleship of the Atma, the two years, the getting used to the discipleship, as if it is a sort of inert, closed space. But if you're heartfelt about it, then all the right books, the satsang, the whatever you need to hear will also be given to you, both in the world and in your heart, see? So don't make it into some sort of bounded, bounded sort of way of living. Everything the Atma can use to guide you.

Can I get into more detail? Like, I want to—like bring in the specifics that a contemplation may come or something you may hear in a satsang or something, something about say, love and—okay, let me change the example. I was saying the other day that it just came from my heart to say that sometimes there is so much sweetness in us that we can actually taste the sweetness in our mouths. And I said that, and then I was like, 'I just started making things up now. Am I really being authentic to experience what is happening?' Because I felt true, but because I had not heard anyone else talk about it, I just felt a bit, 'What's happening?' You see? 'Am I getting into some pride or some stupidity?' And then in the next three, four days, he found so many different teachers, Sri Ramakrishna—

From my heart to say that sometimes there is so much sweetness in us that we can actually taste the sweetness in our mouths. And I said that and then I was like, I just started making things up now. Am I really being authentic to experience what is happening? Because it felt true, but because I had not heard anyone else talk about it, I just felt a bit, what's happening, you see? Am I getting into some pride or some stupidity? And then in the next three or four days, he found so many different teachers. Ramakrishna said it, some other teachers mentioned the same thing, another teacher mentioned the same thing. So it is Atma's way of teaching us where you will notice, start to notice the beats, the themes, the understanding that it brings us to. And it uses everything, even the world, to show us. So we must not become closed-minded. We must not become closed to the world, but we must remember to remain in His presence. He is like a teacher holding your hand and guiding you through, even in Maya, to show us what is needed to be seen. You see, like even the satsang is happening in Maya. But what is the difference then in satsang? You see, because it's the refuge of the Satguru presence, the refuge of the Atma within, which creates these escape hatches even in the realm of Maya to pull us out. See, so satsang is an example of that.

If I were to take a specific example, like somebody who I used to go to and somebody has been mentoring me in many ways, a professor, and he said, 'Okay, if you're, let's say, Sermon on the Mount, if you're reading Sermon on the Mount...' I was telling him that I keep reading it and then he said, 'If you're reading it, then write about it.' It was his encouragement to sort of write something, all of that. But a part of me was reluctant to do that. And yet, like these small minor deviations, this is what I was saying, and what your heart is guiding you. Because we may say that, 'Follow Ananta,' huh? But Ananta says every day so much that you can't really follow everything he said. Even he can't follow everything. So your heart, if you're open and listening with your heart, then just in every satsang, one or two things you will hear that you can actually embody, you can actually apply in your life, you see? And you just follow that. Who is to determine that? That is your heart itself, your inner teacher. So it's okay to listen to others as long as we don't find ourselves getting too distracted and confused and all over the place. It's okay to listen to beautiful sages, teachers of God, but your heart will guide you in this way. The themes are decided by it. Where we are, what is needed, all the Atma knows better. So allow Him to move you and you'll find that you may get encouragement in this way, and then the strength comes from the Atma itself. Or if it doesn't really move you in that way, then don't worry about it. Just like being open in the heart and just don't give it to the mind, whatever anybody says.

Exactly. It's a very, it's a great softness, a great openness in our heart, see? It's not exclusive. You're not going to go to anyone saying, 'My way is better, my teacher is the best,' you see? 'We found God, what are you finding?' You never get into this kind of pride if you're truly living in the heart, you see? We're just simple, humble, open to learning, happy to find our mistakes because that humility comes that we've been so foolish in so many things. How do we really know we're not being foolish right now? We don't know. And if some brother, some sister tells us that, 'Have you looked at this?' we must hear it openly and then our heart can guide us about which way to go. He even suggested some books and that can't go wrong if I take it to my heart. But will it go off to my head somewhere? It's like, what, go off? I don't know. I don't know how to say it. So you get the book, then you try reading it, but if it's not appealing to you in your heart, you won't read much. And all these are good experiments, all this is good deepening. Because as our trust grows, as our faith grows, then the nudges of the heart, the direction that the heart is guiding us in also becomes clearer and clearer. Actually, things become just simpler and simpler. If you're finding yourself getting complex, then just retreat to the heart. If you find like there's some confusion, heart will clear everything.

Even this going to the heart, it's not very clear. What I've noticed is if I keep that unceasing prayer thing, I try to do some stuff. Anything concerns me, I just say it. Just as I'm saying the prayer, I say that also. And sometimes there are some very insightful kind of suggestions. I don't know what I'm asking. It's okay. I'm not even sure whether I'm going to the heart.

But yeah, as long as you're not going to the head, you're okay. Even that, I don't know, but that's how we're learning. At least we start to notice. Mostly you can tell with the aftertaste. You start to smell it, you start to taste the thing. When you go with your pride or ego or something, then sensitivity becomes so much that you get an immediate aftertaste, like a bad taste in the mouth. And then your being with God is just... but remember, it's not about the outer at all. It's the inner taste of it.

I can trust Him more than I can trust myself not to figure these things out.

Of course, of course. That's the whole point of His will. That our ego, our mind, is completely untrustworthy to the extent that we can trust it to take us in the wrong direction. It is trustworthy to make us seem more special to ourselves, more important. 'Most important in the world is me. Everyone else comes later, first is me.' So this is specialness, pride, all of this. We can trust it to do that. Okay, let's go to... I can't hear you, my dear. Just for a moment it was clear. Yes, not so good. Can the other me... can I switch on to like the other thing? This one?

No problem, no problem. What about now? Yes, yes, better, better. Thank you, Master. I just felt, because it's been long I spoke to you like this. I speak to you every day, but I just felt the need to come and, you know, because you were just arising. I just need to come, I just need to be with you. And I'm really grateful for your words because, you know, like there are some conditioning here that they're so subtle that there are no words for them, you know? And I'm grateful for the tools you give. And I now understand why you always speak about like the pride and to be very watchful of it because, yeah, God is so graceful and there's so many beautiful things which I can't even explain with words. So much gratitude. Sometimes your words are like, it's like some sort of, it's like reveal something in me that I don't know how to explain it. But there's this thing, like this mechanism, like something that maybe has been in this world somehow. There's something that is like, and I'm witnessing this from my place of emptiness, but this thing is there. And that's why I'm grateful for like the prayer as well. And I'm realizing that it takes you to the same place, you know? Like this same witnessing place where like this sense of witnessing happening. And also it's like in this place, like all the scriptures are just understood and it's like everything is just pointing you back to this. Just this. Everything is like pointing back to this. And your words are so unifying because it's not the words, it's like something like this thing. And I'm really grateful that of course, like sometimes when there's like so much grace and so much like love and a sense of deepening and so much grace, there's still something. It's like there's something that wants to... because the claiming thing has been seen now clearly, but there's some that feels maybe complacent. Maybe I come to Him and I listen to you and it just gets slapped or something. I'm really grateful for that as well because it's like there are some things that it's like only the Holy Spirit, only through the spirit which like your words speak and through that, it's like you only see them after you're like, 'Oh my God, there's still something here that is false,' you know? Although like somehow there's something here is very pure and at the same time there is, it's like there's something that's not really pure. And it's like through your words it's becoming less and less impure, but it's not pure. And I just, I just to come to you and I always speak to you about these things inside, this place of emptiness. And there's always a sense of like communion and joy and love, but I just felt that I just needed to come to just to speak. Pranam, thank you so much.

Very, very good. Very good. Yes, this holy dwelling of God in our heart. You're absolutely right when you say that it is only there that we understand. Not a single word of spirituality can we understand without the guidance and the aid of the Atma within, the Holy Spirit within ourselves. So it is beautiful that you're noticing that and that whenever you start to think that you're understanding and you're starting to smell some pride in yourselves, you return to His grace, to His life, to His presence, which is the true teacher. And His teaching makes us simple and innocent and open and loving and kind and compassionate, faithful and humble. So great is His love that He's teaching us all of this, which would be impossible really to learn otherwise. So very good. Keep noticing like this. Keep remaining empty as you are and being that holy communion in your heart. Full, full love, full blessings to you. Thank you. Very good. Oh my, thank you, thank you. Okay, let's go to Sharon.

Hello. Hello. Pranam. It feels important to come forward today because for some time it really... your satsang was too confronting to listen to.

I can understand. And I'm very happy that in spite of facing those obstacles and for them seeming so difficult and confronting, and so much resistance sometimes may arise, and yet you return and come up. I'm very happy. I'm very happy.

Yeah. And also there is a wish for more clarity, you know? Yeah. Because every day I try again and again, and there is so much confusion and doubts, pain trying to avoid, huh? And yes, such a deep wish for this clarity, like that these doubts cannot lead me away anymore.

Very good. So do you want to share an example? Like what would be a big doubt that you have? What grabs you?

Some... it's more a constant questioning, yeah. If I'm doing right for God, like that. And then not knowing how to move anymore in life and being very insecure.

Would you say that if not the only thing, at least the most important thing for you is the realization, the discovery of God? Or another way to put it is the realization, the recognition of the truth about yourself?

This is the intention, but I see so much things are still seductive in a way, like to lead me away. Yes, Ma. So like temptations come and then I go for it. And when I'm in the world again, then He's starting to show me like, 'What are you doing here?' and it's... yeah, I want to detect it before it's being too late.

Yeah. So I want to reassure you firstly that if it feels true that your intention is God, your number one intention at least is God or the truth, which is the same thing, then the rest will sort itself out. The primary thing is whether we want God more than everything else. And if that is true, then it is not that Maya will lose its power and will not be tempting anymore. It will not be that the mind will give up and say, 'Oh, she really only wants God, let's leave her alone,' you see? It won't be like that. We continue, our faith continues to deepen by being tested. Our faith continues to deepen by the doubts coming, and every time we let go of the false doubt, you see, our faith then deepens. So it has to feel like I've been saying, it has to feel risky in this way, you see? Because doubt is saying, 'What are you doing? Are you going to mess up your life just about this notion of God? Is this even...'

The mind will give up and say, 'Oh, she really only wants God, let's leave her alone.' You see, it won't be like that. We continue; our faith continues to deepen by being tested. Our faith continues to deepen by the doubts coming, and every time we let go of the false doubt, you see, our faith then deepens. So it has to feel, like I've been saying, it has to feel risky in this way, you see? Because doubt is saying, 'What are you doing? Are you going to mess up your life just about this notion of God? Is this even true?' All these kind of doubts will come. And actually, it doesn't matter what the doubt is saying, but it's questioning the reality of God and His presence in yourself, you see, and the reality of yourself as pure awareness itself. Its primary purpose is to doubt that and to distract you and make you believe that the world appearance is actually the reality that you should focus on. That is the primary intention, whatever the words of doubt may be.

Yeah. Also, I think that in the beginning you follow satsang, you believe that you can use the satsang for the personal life to improve. And I think this illusion is falling away and it's like, no, that's not the case at all. Um, yeah. And yeah, maybe because of the fear, then it comes: 'Is this really what I want?' Yes, it is really what I want because I know there's nothing else. But there's, yeah, still letting go of the world how I used to be is difficult because like the children demand my attention, or my partner, or they judge me because I'm like always sometimes sitting. And these are the doubts that come.

And yes, all of us in spirituality in some way, especially satsangs like this, are familiar with the judgments from the world. We are familiar with many times our families themselves will say, 'What's wrong with you? Are you depressed? Why don't you do something?' You see, all these things are very natural for us to hear. So the doubts, you're right, come from not only this mind but also the apparent minds of the world, of those who really actually love us as well. But because they can't understand what we are thirsting for, they can't understand what we are longing for, that is why with our best interest at heart, they tell us to change things about ourselves. But we are at a point where it seems so clear to us that without God's light, without God's presence, nothing else seems fruitful. It doesn't seem worthwhile.

So I can completely understand how the mind uses all of these judgments from the world to question, to doubt our spirituality, to doubt whether we are making the best use of this life. But I want to reassure you that there is no better use for this life than what you're doing. So you must use it to come to the discovery of the truth within your heart and to make that your home, to live over there. So I'm fully with you in this. And anytime anything that you feel like your mind is bothering you with, some question, something is taking hold for you, you can come in satsang, raise your hand, and we can look at that together. Because it's a delicate time also because as you're settling, learning to settle and trust your heart, the mind can also ramp up the attacks and try to get you away from it. So it may seem like, yes, the onslaught is coming from everywhere.

Yeah, there's like an energetic discomfort almost the whole time. And um, yeah, and also a lot of worrying about the children, like this is used to pull away, like I'm not raising them well at this moment.

I want to tell you that there cannot be a better parent in the world than the one who is living in God's presence.

I wanted to ask you that. That I can trust them in your hands?

Of course, of course, of course.

So that I can remain with you.

Yes, yes, yes. The Atma within, the Satguru presence in your heart, is your best teacher. I'm just an instrument of that. And we pray to this Atma, this Satguru within, that your children are so well taken care of and they find the true light of God's light even in their life when they are ready, when they are open. So, full blessings. It cannot be that the way of the Satguru within can ever harm or be detrimental to anyone in this world. And our children, they may not say it, our family, our partner may not say it, but it is the greatest blessing in their life to have a mother, to have a parent who is dedicating her life so much to God. So just stay with that. Stay with Him and know that in His life, in His presence, you don't have anything to worry. Know that everything is taken care of by Him. If you have that faith, then you don't give into the anxiety from the head, from the worry from the head. It'll start to deepen and deepen so much. All my blessings. Thank you. Keep deepening in your heart. May you keep discovering the sweet taste of His love. May that become a source of such great strength and stability to your spirituality. All my love, all my blessings. Thank you.

There's still one thing I feel I want to say and it's like, um, I want to offer all the judgments and arrogance that is playing because, and also the pride.

It's very good, very good. Um, yes, I want... it's more and more revealing. Exactly, exactly what I was going to say also. Yes, that pride is the great blind spot in the human condition, you see? We can see it in everybody else, but we can't see it in ourselves. So because we've fallen for it so often, we know now by experience that we should never presume that we are not being arrogant, that we are not being full of pride. But the ability that we have to deny this pride within ourselves is so deep that only in the discipleship of the Atma within do we start to notice it so clearly about ourselves. And so many of you are having this experience that that which you took to be so normal and the right way to be, now you're seeing for yourself, and I'm also seeing for myself, that this is so full of arrogance, it is so full of pride. So it is this holy light which shows us, which brings light on our blind spots. So when you say it is revealing itself more and more, this is very, very good. It's very natural then. If our pride is being revealed to us, then we know that we are following the right one in our heart. It's very good, very good. Yes, thank you.

Welcome. Okay, let's go to Sunil. Namaste. I miss you a lot. I had some lot of work.

Okay, no problem, no problem.

I could not come but I'll be coming twice a month actually. It's very far, so I miss you a lot on the satsang.

Same, same. Good. I love you.

Love you too. So I have a question, Father. See, all these days, you know, like I'm just every day just sitting, like in sort of meditation, try to observe my mind and everything. Okay. So it was really good that as per your guidance I did it and it really worked. Okay. So whole day I was really okay. And sometimes what happens is a couple of times I have a lot of fear and there's a sort of a talk in the head, inside the head it comes out. It's so dangerous, which I know it is, it's not me, or I recognize that, but sometimes it tucks up and I'm totally in a very constricted thing which I could not concentrate on my work or maybe, you know, like I could not be more open to the family, all sort of things. And I did have right now a couple of times I just sat and just, you know, like I was just observing, and it's really good for me right now. I'm able to speak to you, I don't have any sort of thing. But talk in the head, it's, I don't know how it comes, you know, like sometimes it tells very dangerous. It talks about your... why you're doing this and why you're doing the meditation, why you go for satsang. Okay. Then thought of like death, something may happen, all sort of things comes and really, you know, like... so Friday, okay, once I just sit for a calm for half an hour and rest of three hours I'll be so fine. And how to deal with this? With your guidance, please help us, Father.

Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you, my dear. So first know that this is the nature of the mind. As you are coming closer to God's light in your heart, you started taking steps in that direction so beautifully and you're starting to find some peace in your life better than earlier, then the mind can increase its assault, you see? It can become very violent in this way, can be very attacking to you.

Yeah, yeah, that too much, too much actually. It tells that why you go for a... there's no meaning going for like satsang.

Exactly. Okay, it says these kind of things because that means what? That means that you're on the right track. If it is attacking you more, it doesn't mean that you're going wrong. It means that you're following your heart more and it is... the mind is just, just imagine it like a jealous one. It is getting jealous that you're following your heart more and then it's becoming attacking towards you. So if the mind is attacking more, know that you're going on the right track. Let it attack. Say whatever you want, you do. God is in my heart. The Master has told me that His presence lives inside my heart. There's nothing the mind can do to take that away. Try to scare me with everything that you have; I'm going to stay with God with everything, with all my power. So just like that, you see through all these scare tactics of the mind, because all it has is scare tactics. It can't actually do anything to you. You're living in God's grace. So don't be scared of the mind. It will try to scare you. And try like this and just remain in that emptiness. Remember what I told you, that these thoughts, all this talk in the mind, is just thoughts which are coming and going. So as you're doing, you allow them to come and go. Just allow every thought to come and go. Don't worry about it. Don't judge yourself based on what the thoughts are saying. Just simply stay like that.

Sometimes I... whatever it happens, right, I'll be out of my... just say it's totally a mind is totally manifested. It feels like that. Okay. And sometimes I can't help it out. So I just tell that, 'Okay, I go to accept what you, whatever you tell.' That's what I just tell. What... help you also then is when you find yourself being caught in this fear, what is the... is there an aspect of God like Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah that you resonate with in your heart in some way?

Nothing, you know, like that. In that moment, right, I just simply just observe it. I try to observe it and I'm just forcing... I don't feel like, you know, like... finally I just accepted, 'Okay, fine, whatever it is, let it run away.' And still I'll be there, there be lot of like contract in the body or the stomach. Okay. So as you told that day, like you just try to observe it, okay, whatever. So sometimes it happens and finally I just accept it as it is. Is it a right thing I'm doing?

It's fine. It's mostly it is fine. But if you find yourself feeling very constricted, very caught up in some fear and some of these states, then... then if on other times, are you attracted to a particular aspect of God, a particular form of God that you can use to pray, or no?

Truly speaking, I do a Puja at morning. Okay. I'm a bit a bad guy.

Beautiful. So what is the Puja that you do?

I just sit. I just sit for 10 minutes in the Puja room. Okay. I just clean all the things and try to decorate it, all the things, and sit in front of... do the Arati. Yeah. And I just come back and sit half an hour for, you know, like as a meditation as such as you told. I just observe it whatever it happened and after that it's a day starts and no issues. Okay. Sometimes, you know, like suddenly a thought comes.

What is in your Puja room? What is the Murti there? What what I have am... it's in lady and also I have Ganesha and I have Ramana as well. Ramana Maharshi. Okay. So only that I have. Krishna, Krishna Bhagavad Gita. Have any of them that you feel resonate the most with in your heart?

Ramana Maharshi.

So what you could do is, you're doing very well, don't change anything much. Just remain in that letting go. All these thoughts, let them come and go like I told you. But if you feel like you need some help, you're feeling too fearful, then just...

What is in your puja room? What is the murti there? What what I have am... it's a lady and also I have Ganesha and I have Ramana as well. Ram Mahi, okay. So only that I have Krishna, Krishna Bhita. Have any of them that you feel resonate the most with in your heart? So what you could do is you're doing very well, don't change anything much. Just remain in that letting go. All these thoughts, let them come and go like I told you, mhm? But if you feel like you need some help, you're feeling too fearful, then just say 'Ram Ram' as many times as you want. And that will bring some peace to you. That will bring you back in your heart.

Father, Father, I used to do that. Okay, I used to do that. I was really comfortable. I don't know why I forget that to do when...

This is how Maya works. We forget all of this. So I'm very happy that I can remind you of this. And just use that. It will bring that needed peace. It will bring that needed strength to counter the fear. Yeah.

See, after after all the subsided, right? If I feel that I forgot to just like chant mantra like Ram or Om Namah Shivaya, that concept, and I feel so missed and I feel like laughing at myself.

No, this is the natural way all of us are. Maya makes us forget. It's very compelling. So don't start now... yes, it's a very good time to start. So don't worry about what happened in the past. Just remain empty like you have been doing. But when you are getting too caught up in your fear or it seems so strong, then use Bhagwan's name. You can use Om Namah Shivaya also. Whatever you feel like using, you can use that to return to the presence of God in your heart.

Okay, so one more thing. I have this sort of... you like when I just do that every day, I had the same conditional thought process happening. Okay, it's nothing new. It's every day the same thing. Okay, so I want to stop that. And only thing is I had to do just what you told, I think so.

Yes, yes. Let's try this for a few weeks. I like you following so beautifully what I told you that day. Just try this also for a few weeks and then you can always... we can always talk and see if we need to add something or change something. Obviously.

Good. Today, today is my son's birthday. I want your blessings.

I see, I see. Okay, very good. What's his name? Full blessings. Thank you. Very welcome. Very good. Wants to come again. It's not... I can hear you now. Yes.

Hear me now? Yes, right. I don't know, it just came to me right now to just... although it's very simple, but I just really have so much gratitude for you because you showed me that your heart, you know, you like choose... Oh God, even if you don't know anything at all and you just have this thing. Because like when I look, God was always sending like the hints, you know, like the... yeah, like in subtle ways. And even things like visions or like miracles and all of these things, there were like hints to give me a sense that there's something beyond this realm and that there's something beyond like just conditioning. Yeah. But it was something that was needed, you know, like the spirit of truth. And I'm grateful that you revealed this very simple way that you can just... I remember like the first video I watched about you where you spoke about, 'It's not about me, it's about God.' And there was something there because you showed me that if you truly choose God, then like help is going to come. And I've seen this is so true, you know? It's like all the fears... because I remember when there was something that wanted to like go, that like to step into this faith and into this trust, but there was something because the fears and of the human nature and all of these things. And like the fear that maybe you're just going to vanish, all these kind of things. Or like sometimes you're in stillness and just witnessing like the sense of existence, but something comes and says like, 'You know, you're going to go crazy.' And you're like, 'God is with you,' you know? And reinforcing that because there was a sense that something wanted... because of the concept I had about God in my heart, I always had this intuitive sense. And I feel like everyone has, you know, like this... like a message that God in our hearts before we came into manifestation, this sense of existence. I'm so grateful to you because you... it's like something was going there and then coming back. And I'm so grateful because all this... truth is more that you know someone is true or you know if you can like... like I've never met you physically, but I feel that you're here with me. So I just... I don't know, you just arise out so much, you just speak to you. You really revealed in my heart. So thank you.

Bless you, bless you so much. Love you so much. Thank you. Back, yes. Like used to say, thoughts are visitors, let them come, let them go. One small step in between: let them come, take it to the heart, let them go. No, no, as you let them go, your heart is... you don't have to pull it in or something. It knows everything. It's in the light of the Atma that this whole world is created. The one in your heart knows everything. Good.

Yes. So, I woke up this morning, Father, with lots of thoughts in the mind. I started writing in my diary and at some point I end up writing Om Namah Shivaya as well as saying my... yes. And then it struck me that God is here. Yeah, I'm a servant of God. So it just became open, open to the presence of God. And this body was feeling, after a little while, this body was feeling cold. So I said, 'Lord, are you feeling cold?' Just waited for the Lord to answer and I said, 'Would you like me to switch off the fan or the AC? I'm your servant.' And I sat quietly. Something nudged me towards the fan. Ah, yes. So I got up and shut the fan and I sat again in quietness, just writing my and keeping in my heart, 'I'm the servant.' Yeah. And aware of the body as being the body of the Lord God. And is it comfortable? Is it thirsty? Is it cold? And that awareness stayed for a long, quite a long time. Just want to let you know that a package came from Amazon and the mind got distracted with that. I opened the Amazon packet. About an hour later, I came back again. Yeah, the presence of God and His grace. With His grace, He was all-loving, all-compassionate, and there was the same part. And like to... it's, Father, it's almost the confession. Yeah, that even now, like a work concern came. Okay, my attention went there because you were answering questions and my attention went there and I became like fully involved. And for that time, prayer that I was doing also in my heart, or you know, even it being evident, no God, the prayer presence... no, the presence... no, no, prayer wasn't continuing. So it just felt fully, fully caught in that. Yeah, work situation. Yeah. And then and then after it's done, it's again gone. But it just for like a minute or two or...

Yeah, just no, these kind of things keep happening. And then, Father, then then it becomes a... like it takes me away for a while, you know? Yeah. But just like this, to keep noticing and to... so just make a resolve: the next time it comes like that, I'll stay with God's presence and allow Him to move whatever needs to move. And then it may happen like that a few times and then again something will come, we forget. So that's how we keep learning. We keep falling, getting up, falling, getting up.

Father, does it seem... it seems like there's some distrust, you know, with... yeah, that I cannot like, you know, can't like have faith and let God do the work versus I have to get it.

Yes, this is the primal thing, the distrust. So that's what we are all learning. We're still working on development of trust so that our faith just deepens more and more. How will the trust develop? That when you take a risk next time and say, 'Okay, this trigger is there, this temptation has come, but I'm going to stay with God's light and let's see what happens.' Then when you see that it's okay, it's all fine, then that trust develops. See? Then more and more you try it and it develops more and more. So it's a living learning, it's a living experiment. So notice is good. Next time you notice, you'll remember to stay, or the time after that. We just keep learning in these ways.

Because the full faith won't come till we keep deepening in the trust. See, by saying 'You must have it,' it won't really fix it till we go through in our life. That's why I said faith really has to be tested and shaken up, you see? Otherwise, not faith really. Like we all may feel like we have so much faith till the test comes, till the shaking comes. And the shaking can be just a simple message on our phone. Then for a minute we're like, 'Oh, forget all this, let me...' Yeah, so it can happen like that. But then when we notice it, then we say, 'Okay, next time I will not leave God, come what may.' And then we may succeed or we may fail. But every time we try it that way and we feel reassured in our heart, we feel the presence of love in our heart, that trust deepens. That's why it's a living spirituality, it's a living learning, it's a constant deepening.

Yeah, just don't leave the prayer. And prayer means the bowing down in front of God in your heart, like the being remaining in the presence of God in humility. That is the prayer. So sometimes you may be having to talk, so you may not be able to do the words of the prayer and the talking at the same time, but you can be connected in your heart and the conversation can happen. Just like the sharing of satsang happens in that way. Otherwise, if it didn't happen that way, it's not satsang. Suppose you said to me something, see, and I felt like, 'What, what?' like that, and I'm just out of this and I've just become mental about it and things like that, then I've left my prayer. So to remain in that and to just allow the words to unfold from that, that is the satsang you come for. Whether you realize it or not, you want to come to a reassurance that it is possible for you to live like this, you see? And that is what drives you to satsang: that it is possible for one in an apparent human condition to remain connected to God in the process of communication, in the process of all of this. See? And that is a deepening of trust, a deepening of faith, that if it can happen for this one, it can happen here also.

Is eventually the start of prayer is... yes, yes, just whatever, whatever you feel you can do that is... just do that. That's not a mind trick, that's... this is a preliminary level till we once we get there. But it's not a trick.

Yes, and but having said that, you can try. So say, 'Okay, my next interaction on the phone or some work thing or with family, I'll allow only God to move, see what happens.' You've been trying. You said the heart likes to praise God. Yeah, you said that the heart loves to praise God. So very often it's my mother and I are just praising God, praising God, Guru, and just staying with that. It's not necessarily that I'm aware of the presence of God, but God is in our words. Is that yes, good enough? It's well, 'good enough' is a different question. But as long as we are keeping Him in some aspect of our existence, it's not bad. 'Good enough' is for our entirety; that would be good enough. The whole, like she said, the whole antahkarana is for God. Our mind is God, our buddhi, our intellect is God, our emotions are feeling love for God. So that is the extent of fully dedicating ourselves to God.

But as long as we're keeping Him in some aspect, even in our memory, sometimes we just remember God's name. And the beauty of it is that you start putting God in one aspect—it could be your words—and it seeps in because it's one being. Our makeup, our internal makeup, is actually just in the light of that one being. That's why sometimes you may be fully skeptical, fully even an atheist, but if you meet a teacher and they get you to say the name of God once, it may transform your whole life, you see? Just because even if you just said it in your lips, you never know how His grace can work. But for those of you who are in satsang following in this way, I would like to say as much of your...

It seeps in because it's one being. Our makeup, our internal makeup, is actually just in the light of that one being. So that's why sometimes you may be fully skeptical, fully even an atheist, but if you meet a teacher and they get you to say the name of God once, it may transform your whole life, you see? Just because even if you just said it in your lips, you never know how His grace can work. But for those of you who are in satsang following in this way, I would like to say: as much of yourself as possible. Although His magic, His grace, His love can transcend—He can take our minimum and make it the maximum—but our intention should always be: what is my maximum in this moment? How much of myself can I surrender to Him?

So, fully empty, so not grasping at anything. Not grasping at anything, not involved in any of our emotions, not grasping at anything anywhere is also being fully for God. And then filling everything up with God, God, God everywhere is also being fully for God. Either way you go, it's God. It's only then we don't do either, which is trouble. So when we are like I was saying, it's so beautiful that both pathways are pathways to God. That you live your waking state as if you're inwardly—you haven't woken up—fully empty. So that becomes the openness for God. Full. The same thing happens; His presence starts to shine, His light is apparent, all that.

Or just mean, if you need an anchor, the subtlest anchor in a way is the holy primordial vibration of the sense 'I am' itself. See, to remain in that anchor, or to remain in an unconditional love, to be anchored in that way, just holding that love and everything else we are unconcerned with. That, or the path of the bhakta, just to use everything for God. The bhaktas see God in everyone. Hanuman Prasad Poddar Ji said that in a few seconds everyone starts looking like Krishna. Except when I do my proofreading, he so sweetly—he used to run the Gita Press—so like that. So they see God in the world, they see God in their heart, they see God in their mind. They're repeating the name of God, they're only remembering His Leela. And the memory, all of this is also the pathway to God.

And that's why I said that once we have this intention to find God, then the methods, all of that comes. You'll find something unique may work for us, as long as we are being guided by our Atma and not by our pride. Sometimes I'm careful to say these things because many times all of us want to be unique, you want to be special. So He said, 'Do like that, like that,' but I feel what works for me is like this, like this. It could be true or it could be pride. So we have to just be careful about some of this. So once I feel fully confident that you're only going to follow the beats of the Atma within, only going to swing to His beats, then everything will be very good, very good. But if I feel like there's a chance that somewhere there's a propensity for making it special and making it about me, I keep saying just follow, just like that.

And this could be—this is actually moment to moment. We can't actually predict. But this is good. Just whatever space you're giving to God in your life, just by talking about God with love in your heart, a beautiful satsang. As long as it doesn't become about, 'Oh, but my experience is like this, my experience is like that.' What do you think? You can smell when it's intellectual. If it's truly from love, then it could be the most innocent thing. It may sound too simplistic. Have you seen these great sages? Like one example we recently came across is Swami Ramsukhdas Ji. He is a Mahagyani. I mean, the way he says the verses of the Gita as if he's just conversing. You notice he just says them and then you notice, 'Oh, it's in Sanskrit.' He's just conversing with that. He's such a learned one, such a Mahagyani, but his sharing has such simplicity to it. So absent of any pretense, absence of any sort of convincing—except he's convincing, you can tell, for our own sake. He has no interest in that, he has no benefit in that. So that is from the heart, when it is just to be in service to the brothers and sisters who are listening. And it's similar to what Einstein also said. He said if you've really understood something deeply, you can express it simply. So that is the great simplicity where all these sages are able to do it.

And I'm so, of course, inspired because everything I see is full of complexities, learning. So they say when you talk about God, then all the angels and the Rishis and all the Devas, they also come because everybody longs to hear the praise of God. But your focus is on the sun. Whether which tiny stars are gathering around, we are not so bothered. Krishna is there and you will not bother about Indra and Garuda. Your eyes will only be for Krishna. That's—you're getting what I'm saying? Sometimes we may get caught up in the byproducts of the side effects. God Himself is there; bugs will come from everywhere. You heard the Tulsidas Ji story? That as Tulsidas Ji was sharing the Ramayana, then Hanuman himself used to come and listen, you see? He used to come in disguise as an old man and just listen to the beautiful words of Ram bhakti. So in the perfume of bhakti, which bhakta will not want to be around? Imagine that level of devotion. The greatest devotee of God also wants to be in your presence to hear the love you have for God.

But imagine the beauty that God Himself has told us that if two or three gather in my name, I will be with you. And when we start to take these things literally, then we know that we are being faithful and not just intellectual. Because our intellect fights these things. Intellect is: 'How can I be like that? How can Hanuman Ji come?' In fact, Hanuman Ji has made a promise that anyone who remembers Ram Ji with full devotion, he is with them. Sorry, Father, sometimes I feel it is palpable. When two people, two bhaktas, start talking about God or Guru, the presence is palpable. So beautiful, it is verifiable. That's why I never accept when any of you say that 'Thank you so much for satsang' or anything like that, because what would I do without satsang? It is the sheer joy in my life to be able to express love for God. It is the most pristine.

You rarely sit in front. You rarely sit in front.

Yeah, yeah, here. So one time what happened—we just saw this the other day—that during the battle with Ravan, was it with Ravan or was it with Meghnad? That Ram Ji became unconscious because of the Nagpash, which is the arrow, the snake arrow, whatever. So then the Vahan, the vehicle of Vishnu Himself, Garuda, actually freed Him from the Nagpash, from the arrow. But after that, his mind was full of confusion. So he went to Narad Ji and said to him that, 'I heard that Ram is the Avatar of Vishnu Himself, my great God whose name itself can free anyone from any bind, from any situation. I heard that the name of Ram itself is that strong. But here Ram Himself was bound in this arrow.' Think of it as a supercharged Marvel Universe type for those of you not familiar with these things. So, caught up in that, in the spell of that arrow, and I had to free Him. So what kind of God is that? What kind of Vishnu is that? What kind of Avatar would that be?

So this confusion is very natural. So Narad Ji told him to go to Shiv Ji because only Shiva could then explain. So he went over there and Shiva told him that this is the nature of the Maya, which is the Maya of your Lord, that she will convince you of these things. These world appearances will convince you of things which you know in your heart are not true, see? But you have doubted your Lord. And who is Garuda doubting? Doubting the one he is the vehicle for, Vishnu Himself. So He said that you have entertained this doubt and for this doubt you will have to do penance and listen to Ram Katha. The Ram Katha is the story, the narrative which will cleanse you from within, but it will take a long time now that you've entertained this, you see, about your Lord.

So it is so important to keep our inner space just pristine and in faith. And it is very difficult because the greatest sages seem to fall for pride, seem to fall for doubt, because His Maya is the Mohini. Kabir Ji has used the precise words: she's the Mahathagini, the greatest con artist. She'll convince you that things are like this as they appear, instead of how they actually are known in your heart. So, beautiful reminder to all of us that if Garuda himself can fall for doubt... So faith is to remain in the recognition which is apparent in your heart, not needing evidence from the world. This is the faith of Abraham, because everything that he was being guided to seemed wrong at every level except in the heart, even reprehensible at most levels of rational thinking.

But this faith is the one that Hanuman embodies. 'Oh, what's an ocean? I'll just jump over it. What's a mountain? I'll get it.' Because this name of Ram, he said, is enough to give me whatever power is needed. And then we saw the scene from season four with the centurion who comes to Jesus and says, 'Help me, Lord.' And this is what happened. First he says, 'The servant in my house,' but then Jesus says, 'Okay, I'll come with you.' He says, 'No, it's okay, you don't have to take the trouble to come with me to the house of a Roman because I know how your society thinks of us, see? But I also know that just like I command my soldiers—I tell this one go there, this one go here, and there's no question they go because I command them—so I know that you have the power to command everything in this universe.' He says, 'Just command that he is healed and it will be so. I know this, I have no doubt about it.' Here's a Roman soldier who has so much faith in Jesus that that faith itself... and Jesus tells him, 'You are blessed because of your faith.' He says, 'In none of my disciples, in nobody in Israel, have I seen this kind of faith that this Roman has showed me today.' Isn't it the same as Hanuman? He just trusted that if it is God's, then what do I have to worry? Just that, that faith.