Spirit Is the Presence of God - 19th May 2025

So when awareness manifests as being, then it takes on this manifest nature, isn't it? So from Nirguna Brahman to Saguna Brahman, you get a sense of it intuitively, but you can also place it and say, "I feel it. I feel that I am." It's subtler than most feelings, than all feelings actually. And without that, I would not say that I am awake. At least you are all with me. Like, what tells you that you're awake right now? It's just that. It's what you can see with the presence of my body. The intuitive—that's what I'm saying. The intuitive tells you that which is beyond all sensing. I'm trying to say the intuitive you can sense. Yeah. No. This is beyond sensory; it is intuition, heart knowledge.

So this presence, this sense "I am," belongs to God. Atma is a part of the Paramatma. So to put it simply, if I told you that there's a room in your house where God stays, could there be a better gift in your life? Because you can just always go to that room and stay with Him. If I told you that next to your balcony, in that particular small room, God stays over there and He is God, then wouldn't that be so cool? So what is fundamentally being said then is that that room is in your heart. Stay with me. If something doesn't make sense, just say it doesn't make sense. Let's have a look at that.

But if God really lived in your heart—and not your physical heart, but your core of your being—then wouldn't that be the best news ever? Now which God is this? Is it Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah? You decide. He will shape-shift for you because He loves you so much. Whichever form appeals to you, fall in love with them. There's no higher or lower. So whether you feel Ram Ji sits in your heart, or Jesus sits in your heart, or Allah sits in your heart, or Guru sits in your heart, He's there now. Knowing that He's there, the rest of the struggle is what? Knowing that He is there.

If you find out about this room in your house, then why would you ever leave that room? Why would any of us ever leave that place? Because the other rooms are exciting or seemingly exciting. That's all, isn't it? That's called Maya. The excitement of the other places where we can be is called Maya. To let go of that and to remain where God is, is the purpose of our life. And to misunderstand that, to misunderstand the purpose of our life, is sin. That's all. It's basically an error. It's not you're making a mistake which is to—if God is sitting in my house and I'm focused on Shah Rukh Khan all day, then I'm making a mistake. No. So you call that mistake whatever you want, whether you want to call it sin or error or mistake.

So if God is sitting in my heart and my being in my heart belongs to money instead, then I'm making a mistake. Does this mean that money-making can't happen or I can't see a Shah Rukh Khan movie? No, I'm not saying that. With Him being the center of our lives, all this outer play can continue. What happens when we are in the pehla nasha of love or in the recency of marriage? What happens? All we can think about is the beloved. Does that mean we don't do our daily activities? We can. So the point is to love God's presence in our heart, to love God in our heart in whichever way you want.

And love means that we have to be empty of ourselves, not selfish. Basically, if you go on a first date and all you do is say, "Me, me, me, this me, this me," like that, then you're the most irritating first date, aren't you? And if that becomes a relationship, if that becomes a long-term thing, then even more irritating. So to get over ourselves is a natural part of falling in love. If you keep thinking this kind of stuff, then it's not a love relationship; then it's a business exchange. See, so God is with you in the form of the Atma in your heart, and to love God as a disciple or as a lover or as a best friend or as a parent or as a child—that is up to you.

So all the paths for them—that's why all the sages have such different daily lives. Hanuman Ji was like a servant of God and Mirabai was like a beloved of God. What would life be if you were in love with God constantly, just in love with God? Not at the exclusion of love for the world or for people in the world, and definitely not to the exclusion of compassion and kindness to the world. Our love for God then spreads love everywhere. So it's not exclusive in that way. But what would our life be like? What would your life be like? It would be a complete waste. In most worldly eyes, it would be a complete waste. Like Shabri's life or Mirabai's life would be a complete waste in the eyes of a businessman. What a wasted life. She just lived in a small hut and picked berries for sixty years waiting for Ram to come, and then He came, He met her, and she died. What a wasted life. In the eyes of people who don't understand love, it can seem like a waste.

What would your life be like if you were madly in love with God in whichever form resonates with you? His presence or Her presence being in your heart. What problems would you have? What are you afraid of now? All of you, any of you can stop me here and ask me anything because I don't want this to just be conceptual. "Oh, it sounds very good but it's not possible." God's presence in my heart.

Yes. I feel very content and peaceful and I don't have so many desires or—I mean, I don't have a negative thought actually. It just feels very loving. When I work from that space, it's not distorted from what my mind is actually doing. For me, that's like nothing specializing by someone.

Now talk to me like God—you're crazily in love with Krishna.

I just spend the whole day then—I just be—I think I would just have a lot of fun. It just sounds so crazy. I would be able to say anything I wanted and I wouldn't—and this is like a living relationship. I wouldn't have any problem if He said anything and I would—

What would happen to your worldly relationships? They would definitely be more love. They wouldn't be—but wouldn't they be like—wouldn't you ignore them? Would they vanish? What will happen to your body, your relationships, your money?

Father, as you say this, I notice I have to—like as you say it, I'm noticing that they will—they'll try to keep pulling me.

Yeah. So in your definition of attachment, what is it? Like a concern for which does what? Which takes me away from loving. So it takes you to the wrong room. Takes you to a different, to another room. No. And yet we've seen in our lives, and some of us have really seen this often, that the true taking care of whatever concerns there are happens better when we are in God's presence and happens really badly when we are not in God's presence. Although it gives you an immediate sense of control or of the feeling of doing something or trying to make an impact, this is just allowing God to move through us; it is always the better option. That's why I'm saying it's not exclusive. Our love for God then deepens our love for everything in the world as well, everything auspicious, and makes us detached to that which is inauspicious.

So here it's just that presence which is there. You know, there is awareness of the presence, but I have never ever been able to—and again, as I'm saying this, I'm aware maybe that is a definition I'm holding on to in terms of love, right? When you say "madly in love with God," that is something I'm not aware maybe right now yet. It's just the presence which is very neutral. It's always there. It's constantly there. It just requires—I wouldn't say effort, but then just a minor shift in focus. If you're occupied with things in the world, we're preparing something, working and all of that, even as I'm working, it just takes a subtle shift to be aware of that particular presence. As I'm working on the system or talking to people or even just being with somebody, it just takes a minor shift to be aware of that presence. It is always there.

But the question then comes, it's like: what are they talking about when you say love and you say madly? What are you talking about? It's like—because I—it's like, am I at the wrong place? When I say I'm in the wrong place, I'm like, it doesn't feel wrong, right? I mean, I know that this is right. It's very neutral. There is no hankering, there is no grabbing, there is no dirt, there is no excess, right? There is nothing over there. And yet there is the subtle presence. So in a way it's like—so earlier I was desperate for this spiritual thing. I was desperate for God, so to speak. There was a desperation and restlessness inside my heart throughout my life, in fact, to the point where I said, "You know what? I don't even want to work." For two and a half years I took a break and I didn't know what to do with myself. Obviously, still don't know. But that restlessness is not there, right? So, I'm still as clueless as what I was before. Still not sure what hell I'm doing out here on this planet. No purpose. And but this quiet presence is there.

There was a desperation and restlessness inside my heart throughout my life, in fact, to the point where I said, you know what, I don't even want to work. For two and a half years, I took a break and I didn't know what to do with myself. Obviously, I still don't know. But that restlessness is not there, right? So, I'm still as clueless as what I was before. Still not sure what hell I'm doing out here on this planet. No purpose. And but this quiet presence is there. It has always been there for the last—I think probably has been there before, but I was not aware of it only in the last three, four years since Rishikesh. And it's there. It's probably—I can't even say it's quietly growing. There is a quality to it. There is a quality, a certain quality to it. I can't even say it's a quality; it's very difficult to describe as I'm saying it right now. To say it is a quality means there is a flavor to it; it does not have any flavor. But whenever you say love, whenever you say feeling madly in love, what are you talking about? Like, so let me make it simpler for you, maybe a little easier. So if you take your day-to-day life and reading between the lines, I can tell that what we're saying is once we empty, once we open, then the presence is here. It's palpable as a subtlest sensation. So are you able to spend your day with God in this way? I'm dedicated and disciplined enough to hold on to that for whatever amount of time is necessary.

Are you able to spend your day—like what percentage of your day is spent with God? I mean, truthful please.

No, just lie. It's okay. And let's say if I have to compact the entire amount of time I'm in that particular presence, maybe a few hours in the day.

What is that? One, two, three, four, five, six?

Yes. Two. Okay. Two.

If you can spend 90% of your waking state—I was going to say 99, but—and the point is not to create struggle because what can happen sometimes is that our spirituality becomes self-serving instead of self-sacrificing. We can say that I can do whatever, whatever, whatever, and whenever I start to get in trouble, then the presence is always there for me so I can be with her, instead of my life is for God. You see, if you had the option between handing over your life to the Atma or to the mind, who would you give it to?

I honestly don't know because is my life a God? It doesn't feel that way right now. I don't think so. I can't honestly say my life.

That's why this conversation is happening. So when we start questioning, then we can realign. And it's not like what the mind is offering is really good or something; just there is no genuine 100% interest in that also. It is like all nothing that is of value can be offered by the mind—peace, compassion, true knowledge with a capital K. None of that the mind can offer. It's offering things which are dead—are not—okay, let me not be that drastic, but which are going to die. Yeah. Isn't it? So everything is limited. I mean, everything is limited to the body. Yes. And so let's say you're close to 40. So how long does it seem like the 40 years took to get to 40?

Didn't feel like it. It's probably just a blink. It's only a memory. Just like that. No, just like that. Does not even exist. Doesn't feel like 40 years to get to 40.

50. It doesn't feel like 50 years, half a century to get to 50. It just seemed like, wow. It's just a thought about that because I remember when I crossed 40, just the thought of that was heavy. Yeah. But other than that, it didn't feel like heavy at all. So if 40 went like this, 50 went like this, 80 will go like this. And if you were to keep chasing the mind's desire, then when 80 goes, 90 goes, 100 goes, then what? Now we can have two attitudes to this. I've seen both attitudes. One is that let's not worry. You only say live in the present. So why are you saying all this? That is one attitude to say forget. Maybe it feels too scary a question or too difficult a question or impossible to face a question. The second approach is to really look at it and say that I'm okay with five-year plans, 10-year plans, 20-year plans when it comes to relationships, money, body, all of these things. But when that time frame is stretched beyond the physical death of this body, then I say no, no, no, that I'm not interested. You see, where there have been thousands and thousands of sages that have told us that we can build the wealth which is beyond death. Thousands of sages have told us we can build a wealth which is beyond death. Jesus promised us eternal life. How to get to that eternal life also, he told us. What did he say? Before he came, it was like before Krishna came, to try and understand the Upanishads was next to impossible. To try and understand the teachings of the Old Testament and the old ways was next to impossible. So when he came, what did he say? What do you have to do to be spiritual? Love God with all your mind, with your heart, body, soul, everything, everything that you have. You see, and then he said in the same way, love your neighbor. That's all. So and all these ones.

So I'm going to make a connection between where we started and this. So when we are able to spend a small percentage of our day with God, and if you remember the time where we were able to spend with someone even though that someone may not have been physically there—when are those times when you remember? Yes, but when did that happen just so naturally? When we were in love with him. When we were in love, then it doesn't feel like effort that I can spend two hours like, oh, I hope sleep doesn't take me away from my beloved, or just remembering my beloved, I don't want to sleep because then I won't remember. Gone. See the difference. One is like a forcing ourselves to remain empty, which is fine if we can, but then that must grow in our lives. We can't just say he's always available when I need him. Our life is meant for him. What is the meaning of following God's will? That we are available for him, to be with him. Then it's to grow in our love for him and grow in our service to him. And the more you love him, more you serve him, more you remember him or her, whichever way you want to look at it, the more easier it is to be with them. So while mostly we leave because of the idea of balance—I have a spiritual balance, then the rest of my life is balanced—but our life is not a pie chart like that. If you are just anchored in God, then all the other aspects of our life can be taken care of in grace. And don't wait for a calamity to come before you start getting anchored in God because that is difficult to do. Like on this body is undergoing this. I feel so much like I want to help those children who are going through these things without having the spiritual grounding because it must be really strong for them. It is really strong here as well at times. But without that constant presence, reassurance, strength of being with God, it would be so difficult to go through even bodily ache. And what do we lose in the process? We lose only that which is for us, that which we've taken to be true actually.

So what's your favorite bhajan? Or one of your favorites? What happens to you once you sing that? You go somewhere and you don't want to leave. Then inwardly you don't want to open your eyes. And somebody comes—suppose you just finish singing it or hearing it and somebody comes and says, no, we have that email to send or something—that'll be very bothersome because something pulled us in and we can stay with that. Because that is, you see, Ram's very presence. Simply absence of myself. The absence of yourself in that moment is the prerequisite for us to meet the presence of God. The presence of ourself is only possible when we buy into a notion of ourselves. The absence of myself is empty of a notion of myself, and only in the absence of myself is the presence of God. Then now the problem in modern spirituality mostly is that it is self-serving in the sense: how is this helping me? And we also understand that 'me' is a non-existent imagined idea. So it seemed like a paradox: how is it helping me, but there is no me? I'm finding there is no me, so how does that help me, you know? So this kind of—whereas in traditional spirituality it was more about service to God and love for God. So not God helping me, but me being available to God, whatever me is left. And if there's no me left, then if there is no me, there is only you.

So would you be happy to die knowing that you spend 10% of your time in God's presence? No. 100%. And 100 is out of the range of most of us because Maya has power. Isn't it? But at least the attempt to 100 should be there. Now the attempt is a loving attempt. But what's happened in Neo-Advaita sometimes is that when we call it the struggle, then it is not the loving vyakulta that Hanuman and Poddar Ji call it. The vyakulta, the restlessness, is like the yearning, the viraha from the beloved, you see. It's not the lack-oriented struggle which we do for worldly things. So if Ram can be with us, we can be with Ram for most of our time. Why would we spend a life of not being with him? That is spirituality. Spirit is the presence of God. So how to stay with God in this way? You can sing his praises like you said. You can say his name. You can chant a mantra. You can use a mala. You can remain empty of yourself. Whatever spiritual methods resonate with you. And all these things happen more and more organically. Like you meet someone and they always come. So I met this young child girl. She was always constantly talking about, 'I have this friend, you know, he always says like that. I have this friend, he always does like that. I have this friend who always—he took me to a football match. I have this friend.' So you can tell that it's not—it's actually effortless for her to constantly talk about him. She's finding some peace in doing that. She's finding some joy in remembering that. In the same way, it becomes a one God call. So when we sing these praises because our love is so much, we only want to share about him, only want to talk about him, it will come naturally to us. What will we lose?

On the one hand, there are thousands and thousands of sages over the centuries who have told us that this is the only capital worth building is the spiritual capital, spiritual wealth. On the other hand is the 7 billion people on earth telling you—most of the 7 billion will tell you that is not the right way to live. These are things you must do when you cannot do anything else. Well, then it's too difficult. Our minds are deeply conditioned. We cannot change the grooves that we have built over 50, 60, 70, 80 years that easily. That is conditioning, thought patterns that we built through our beliefs. Very difficult to change. You've seen—some of you have seen oldish people trying to get into spirituality freshly after spending. It's very difficult for them. They must try with all their mind, but it's very difficult. So don't wait till you come to that point.

Before I came to Satsang, always it wasn't so apparent to me that that was the purpose of my life. Only after seeing, experiencing, then it became like—I mean, it was real even before, but it became that this is what I can have all the time. It was a back and forth, and this could be the purpose of my life.

Actually, it wasn't so—who we belong to. So the key—we belong to the ego, the me, the label, the identity. We belong to the world, society. We belong to God. And who we determine for ourselves that we belong to then determines the direction of our life. Okay, let's end with this question. How would your life be if you're fully, madly in love with God? A scary notion for some of you. Exciting, joyful emotions. Free. Free. We don't know, but yes. So we have to be very careful of frameworks. Like if in a framework it is told to us that you don't have to struggle to remember God, then that can become very tricky. Let me say more about that. Struggle is the forgetting of God's presence within us.

Who we belong to then determines the direction of our life. Okay, let's end with this question: How would your life be if you're fully, madly in love with God? A scary notion for some of you; exciting, joyful emotions. Free, free. We don't know, but yes, so we have to be very careful of frameworks. Like, if in a framework it is told to us that you don't have to struggle to remember God, then that can become very tricky. Let me say more about that. Struggle is the forgetting of God's presence within us. Now, what can happen is that sometimes we can be sitting in the wrong place, but it can feel like home. It can feel like home, and then to come back to the right place, it can seem like a struggle, but it's actually the end of struggling. We made the mental push and pull to be a natural home, and the redeeming ourselves of that suffering can—because we are stuck in a particular groove—to step out of the groove seems like it can take some effort and it seems like a struggle. So we must never be afraid of making that struggle because that is the end of struggle.

So it's literally like you're sitting with Ram and he has told you that 'I will carry you everywhere.' Now you decided that you have a better plan than him. Basically, fundamentally, that's what it is: that my way, my will, is bigger than his will. So you went and ran off to another room. You see? Now you're saying that, 'Oh, now if I have to go back to that room where he is, then I have to run.' No, but you ran out also. No, you see? But you will find that the running back is always easier, although it seems more difficult. You know, those last months when I was in Bali, I was so, so aware that this is where I want to be, here, you know, with you. And being with you, I mean, if I could carry you in my pocket all the time—you know, carrying you here—the whole point of satsang today is that you carry God's presence in a place which is more intimate than your pocket. In your heart you carry him. So what is this Ananta? Nobody. Mere instrument, servant of God. The voice he speaks in satsang is the voice of the Atma within.

I know, but it's only the forgetting of that which makes us struggle and suffer. So what happens is that then when you're here, it makes you think of there, and when you're there, it makes you think of here. So in that way, it never allows us to settle. But being in your presence is so, so beautiful, and on my own it's difficult.

But traditionally, God's design has been that in the presence of one's teacher it seems easier. But in his design, he also knows what is the right amount of ingredient to put in our recipe. So I know that it is easier for all of us, including myself, when we have satsang twice a week like we used to; it becomes easier to stay connected to God. But I trust God that even this absence of physical satsang being shared must be helping us grow somewhere. Otherwise, it can easily become a dependency on an outer person rather than what he's pointing to, which is alive in your heart.

Sometimes we just forget to see that love, how much he's carrying us, and we feel it's so difficult.

Yes. In a way, to suffer is a forgetting of his presence, his being. My being. So if Ram or Jesus was sitting in front of you, always holding your hand, what is the struggling in our life? Impossibility of struggle. Why forget? Maya. Why you forget? His Maya. Because in God's design, he doesn't want an easy love. You don't want an easy lover. It is by design. We are designed only to love him. Then what is the love in there? So he's made it so that we have the option to love him or not to love him. To love the worldly attachments or to love him. And then when that love is shared, then it's a true love. If I programmed you to only love me, then would I value that love? No. I would say, 'I have only programmed you to.' But if I had said, 'Okay, now he has the option to love them,' there are billions of things in the manifest universe versus that which is mostly invisible and requires a lot of faith, patience, courage to be with. Then that kind of love is the love of legend.

And what is being asked for in spirituality? A love which is so dependent on faith. Whereas the world is showing a shiny object constantly, we have to turn away from that and rely on faith. Faith is not blind belief. Faith is to rely on what heart knowledge we are getting, what our heart is showing us. That kind of love we love. These times, I don't know how many and how soon will it help—the body is improving a bit—but take my words to heart. Just take my words to heart and you can live with them wherever you are. And I'm not saying at all that you must go, but I'm saying independent of physical location, everything I've said applies. I'm not denying at all that it's easier in this room. It's easier in the presence, it's easier sitting in front of the teacher.

Okay. So now don't leave my thought experiment, which is: What do you look like when you're completely in love with God? If you want to focus on something, focus on that. And once we determine that that is the way we want to be, then the paths open by themselves. The methods are never a problem. What is it that you want? She asked me one question. She's now asking, 'How would I know if it's God working in me or my mind?' Yes. Continue. Huh? Continue. So then I said that when your heart speaks to you, automatically you do know that it's coming from a different point and the doubt doesn't come at that moment. It comes later on. You may doubt, but when it's saying something to you, it's a very sweet and it's a very gentle voice. It's not like something hits; it's not like you are aggressive. It's really a voice which is showing you something.

The presence of love is usually the best indicator, simplest indicator. If you feel the presence of love, then you can trust that it's coming from God. If it feels more like a grasping—like the mind is always wanting or grasping, like even in spiritual desire it's like, 'I want, I want to be more with God,' but it's more like 'me' the person—if you get a taste of grasping, then just leave it. If you get the taste of like an unconditional love, a comforting, like a surrendered feeling, then that's...