Silent Reteat Opening Talk and Blessing - 6th October 2016

Are we willing to go back as a speck of dust? Not even a speck of dust; there is nothing at all. If you open to that, the possibility of complete recognition of the Self is completely here. But if you want to keep something in your pocket, you say, 'Yes, freedom, but also these special relationships. Yes, freedom, but I also want the bliss and the joy.' What if freedom is not an experience? What if you get no 'hello'? What if great words don't appear from your mouth? You never become a master. What if this is the end of your story, this great novel that we have been writing with all the ups and downs? What if it ends with just a sputter like this, nothing fancy at all? Would you be okay with that? Or do we have some expectations that something should happen, which itself is the biggest fallacy because you are already That? So it is a recognition; it is a recon mission. So empty out your pockets, free yourself from all of this.

And we've created this environment for you where you can just... if you go crazy, go crazy. It's actually a very Western notion that crazy people are disrespected, and in India, we've always had a great respect for the crazies. So far, our greatest sages have been quite crazy. If you lose your mind here, it's very, very good. What are you unwilling to leave? And I am not asking for any outward renunciation. Are we willing to renounce our mind? That's all. For too long we've had two masters. At least those of you... and for some, one is this voice which speaks through this body in Satsang, and the second is this voice that goes on inside your heads. It is judging even these words right now. It's saying, 'Yes, yes, no, no, this is good. What am I doing here? I should run.'

If you're trying to balance sitting on these two chairs at the same time, it's going to be your journey; it's going to seem like effort. If you can just let go of this one, just let go of this one, only auspiciousness will emerge. Your presence will bless everyone around you. The mind is the form of consciousness which is meant to lie. Consciousness is complete in this play; it is completely dual, isn't it? All extremes: sugar and spice, love and fear, joy and grief. All duality is possible here, you see. So this voice... if there is an intuitive voice which is your truth, your own Satguru presence which guides you to the truth, then also there is a liar. And don't try to make friends with the liar too soon. This liar, which seemed like a tormentor, now will become a comedian, and you can enjoy the comedy of the nonsense that it speaks.

Forget all our ideas about freedom. Forget all ideas about effort. And ultimately, can we even say something which will sound absurd to you? Can we even forget about consciousness? It's absurd, isn't it? Because only within consciousness can we say these things. And wait, what I am speaking about is to be unconcerned with this play of existence, what is appearing and disappearing. Stop checking on your state. 'Today I am ninety percent free. Today these emotions are coming, so I am seventy-five.' We don't need this report card. We don't need the checker guy. So it is coming again and again here to say: forget even about consciousness. What is it that remains unconcerned even with this movement of consciousness? What is that? Is there something?

I am going to be asking a lot of questions this time. Contemplate on this question: What is the truth? What is the truth? And I will tell you what to look for. Find that that doesn't change. It is unchanging and that which is undeniable and therefore verifiable. So the truth cannot be that which changes, because if you say the truth is red and tomorrow it is yellow, then this truth is of no value. So there must be a truth which is unchanging. And a truth, if it is just conceptual but not our living experience, then all concepts can be denied. Even 'I am awareness,' if it is only a concept, can be denied. Somebody can come and argue with you and say there is no awareness; it's completely deniable if it is just conceptual. So what is the truth? What is undeniable and unchanging? And using this question, all of our mental knowledge will start to disintegrate. It's very important that it does, because this is not true knowing; this is just conceptual ideas. So if you are here for the truth, let's at least contemplate this for ourselves: What is the truth?