The Knowing in the Heart - 26th November 2025

Sensation. Intuition is what? I think about something and it comes true tomorrow. That is intuition. Mind can't find. But how you find it? How do you know you're not fooling yourselves? And how do you know I'm not fooling all of you?

Father, we could be confused about everything. We could be confused whether even this room is real. This may be a simulation and so on and so forth. But what we can't be confused about is that something is happening here. Whether it's real or unreal, I mean, I could be confused about that. But what I can't be confused about is something is happening. So if something is happening, it's happening somewhere. And the first-person experience is real. I can't deny that. Whether this may be a simulation or real or not, I don't know. But the fact that something is being experienced here is undeniable.

I'm just saying, in what way is it experienced?

I think we've hit the wall of that which is experiencing. Where will it experience? It is a dead end in a way in terms of language. It's internal language.

You see, now that is where faith becomes a confusing word. You see, because you could say, 'I know that God is in my heart or prays in my heart because I trust you.' Yeah. And because I trust you, then I have to just blindly follow, and maybe that has some tiny place in the Satsang life. But there is a bigger faith than this conceptual faith, which is that, 'Oh, I follow your words because I know somehow that you are speaking the truth.' What is the bigger faith? Yes. Oh, you missed the question. Nacha.

So I said most of humanity calls this faith: that somebody who is a teacher or credible for us, a spiritual teacher especially, they have said therefore it is true; or a scripture has said therefore it is true. Krishna has said in the Bhagavad Gita, therefore it is true. So maybe there is some place for that initially. But what is the different kind of faith that being in Satsang has led us to? That being without this, the life before this is definitely a pale comparison. Okay. And I think that that is something that makes it very clear. And sometimes I feel also that suppose this is not real and that's real—I don't care anymore because this makes me feel fantastic. You know, I wouldn't trade it.

So then thanks. Thank you for saying that. And may it never be so. But suppose tomorrow it doesn't feel that good then? Like the weather. Very good. Good. But what about the truthiness part of it? Are you able to? It's too abstract. Today we are talking about faith. And is faith based on circumstantial evidence, empirical evidence of phenomenal things changing in our life? Or is faith based on something deeper? Which is why great sages sometimes had to undergo great outer suffering, you see, and yet did not lose faith. So is that faith just in a teacher's words? Then what is that faith about?

There is the awareness of the without. The teacher keeps pointing towards to look within without.

She's playing my game right now. She's playing my game. How do you know that there's something inside? That's a negation. So I said not through a negation, but through an assertion maybe. A presence is felt. Presence is known. How is it known? You think there is presence. So it's thinking you perceive this presence like the silhouette of Ram or Jesus or Allah? Is the shape there? Is faith about the fragrance in a way? Could be taste. Taste the love. Taste the love. Love in this case, a felt love or a tasted love, is like the fragrance which is very beautiful. But all these ones have told us that there is a deeper love than even the felt love. So how are they saying all of this? So are they just imagining stuff? But then they're relying on Atma or self-knowledge or intuitive insight like she said, isn't it?

Now this intuitive insight, what does the mind make out of it? Suppose we prayed for one hour and it was a beautiful session, so-called beautiful session. Actually, a distracted session may be more beautiful, but suppose it was just smooth, no distraction, just beautiful inquiry or beautiful remembrance or love for God. And we come out of that, what are we left with? Some nice feelings, some sense of peace. Is that what it was about? So then if it doesn't happen that day, then it was bad sadhana. Yes. So what is it about? You're curious, you may go in that direction. You may see what is there and you may, if you find that there is nothing, you come back. No.

Now to stay there, which to the mind and to the perceptions is empty, you see, needs something deeper than curiosity. Because how long will you check? Sixty years? So are we saying that till ultimately there is a perceived experience, till then in our process of prayer we are not gaining anything? In our process of contemplation, inquiry, we are not really getting anything? So is it true that in Ma Shabri's story, the sixty years of sadhana where she didn't get anything and ultimately she got—is that what the story is about? That sounds like that. Some outcome. So the story sounds like that, you see.

So is the bhakti of Ram, is the inquiry into the truth not worth it for itself also, even if it didn't have an outcome? Are you able to meet the question? You said 'Ram, Ram' now—was that remembrance of God worth it only if I had a nice feeling or some spark of light or some sense of love? Is it not worth it in itself? More worth it than anything else? Maybe I don't want to push you towards this. You see, but I feel like many of us may get into that mode that this is the railway station—not Satsang, but the inside, the empty space in your heart is the railway station. You're one day waiting for the train to come and that is what leads to all the frustration, all the impatience.

So if you were told that standing in the sun is pointless unless it shows up in your vitamin D report... Imagine the winter of Delhi or Bangalore. Just want to stand there. For what reason do we stand facing inwards? You have the mic.

One example that comes to mind is like The Truman Show. Seemingly the character has a very... as soon as he starts getting a sense that this is not real, he prefers to go into the unknown oblivion almost in an upset way simply because it's not true. And if I think like as an example in my life, let's say I have a relationship with a woman and everything seems perfect, but then let's say she's cheating with somebody and I don't know, but then I have a choice. Is it okay if I live my full life like that in oblivion? Or would I want to know and then destroy my life? I would prefer the latter. I don't know why. There's just a preference for truth, not comfort, in a hierarchy. It just seems implicit.

Yeah. So in what way is that truth found?

It's actually... I went blank. I forgot what I was...

Okay. It's all right. So it's confusing only because we're used to our senses and our thinking. So when a question is asked like that, it puts you on the spot because it seems like our modes of knowledge are just our senses and our thinking. There is no way to positively confirm God's presence and the reality of the Self. You see, so then is the statement that 'I am Brahman' itself based on a negative inference—that I cannot be anything else and therefore I am Brahman itself? The negative practice is meant to bring us to a positive realization. Not positive in terms of positive feeling, but positive in terms of positive recognition, positive insight.

So is it that we say: not the world, not the body, not my emotions, not my senses, not my feelings, not any of this, not even ultimately the sense of presence? And then therefore my intellect can conclude that I am Brahman or I am that? So the 'neti-neti' helps us get to the place where the recognition of this truth of the oneness with the highest is recognized. It is not inferred, you see. So we cannot live from an inferred spirituality, although that may provide some help in terms of how to lead a life and it may be helpful because the path itself is helpful. But the project, the quest, is for that recognition which is also then called the divine union with the beloved.

Now the 'not this' is useful because if you carry something of Maya into... if you carry identification into the holy place, then that identification will serve as an obstacle. So empty of 'me' in whatever way, but standing or sitting in the light of the Atma within humbly, lovingly and patiently, even though you may not find any perception to anchor you there. You may not find consolation for weeks saying something good is happening in your sadhana, but to stay there itself is worth it for itself. So that faith which tells you it is worth it for itself is not a mental faith or an intellectual faith. It is something beyond words that you just intuit there, sense over there. You may say, 'I just know in my heart that it is good.' So that knowing in the heart is what?

So that's why I was saying that because we are so used to knowing through senses and thinking, we feel like that is the only knowing there is. But the only good knowing is the knowing in the heart. In fact, the heart itself is only known by itself, in itself. Let me say it better: through itself. The knowing in the heart through the heart itself tells us about the heart. How do we take off all our masks and get ready to meet God? And how will you know that that meeting happened or is happening? The sages have told us that if you remove the curtain, the beloved will be found. What is to remove the curtain? The veil of the 'me' and the concern with what is being perceived at the moment. What is our number one concern? Is it about a perception? Make your only concern about that which is beyond perception. And there's no way your mind can find a way to worry about that. I'm saying only care about that.

Father, even we can do it and be there. The mind seems to always also try to appropriate that with some kind of description of like, 'Oh, I got it.' It's become less, but it's always lingering here and there. And so I try to become like Teflon where I know it's going to come, but then just not even give it any food basically.

Yes. Exactly. The mind will hate this process, you see, but it has no power unless you give it to it. How do you give it power? With the ATM example: Attention and Belief. How many of you know the ATM example? Okay, some of you haven't heard this and we are doing a Satsang flashback it seems in the last two satsangs. I don't know why, but there's an ATM machine which is available to all of us. Unfortunately, it is an 'Anytime Misery' machine. We know what that is. What is the ATM? The mind. If you go to it, you get unlimited amount of misery. But you have to do two things.

The first is you put the ATM card in, which is the 'Attention to Mind' card. You see? And second is you punch in your Personal Identification Number, which is your belief. So you have to do both of these things to get misery out of the mind. Try it without it. It will not produce misery till you don't plug attention and belief into it. You see? So this terminology was tailor-made for Satsang: anytime misery through attention to mind, but also your identification—that this thought belongs to me, I personally identify with the construct of that thought after I've given it my attention. So when it is said that we must just remain the witness, we've been told not to give it the belief. Just observe, let it come and go.

So you realize that all spiritual practice really is to empty ourselves of this mental mechanism and to remain maskless, naked, to receive the light of the spirit within. So when you turn inwards, are you always receiving the light of the spirit within? That question is unanswerable and yet I can tell you that it is always auspicious. And that is the real reason why you come to Satsang, at least from the second Satsang onwards. First you may come because of some wanting to learn or some curiosity maybe. But there has to be something more than a grasping which you recognize when you come to Satsang. Because the play of an outer Satsang is a replica of inner Satsang—it is a miniature replica.

But really the question is that if the Atma in its way makes this expression really mumbly and boring and absurd, and yet you sense that something other than just the hearing of the words is happening... Not that the hearing of the words is completely irrelevant, you see, but it is like the salt in the food. If your food was only salt, how would it be? So the impact of the words is just that little bit. It may be necessary but it is not the main meal. Mainly it is to introduce you to another way of knowing and therefore another way of being. These words are not meant to make sense, but they are meant to be recognized in the same place where you will know the highest. You see? Because the mind, we may make a framework out of it, but it's not satisfactory really. No, because it's not a concrete pathway. You see, it leaves us into like those movies which don't have a concrete ending.

So if you fall in love with that mystery, then that love will help us to stay in that mystery. But for now, it may be enough to say that don't believe that what you perceive and what you think is reality—or at least don't believe that it is the only reality. Okay? There is a greater you. There is a greater life which is beyond concepts and perception. So in this moment, is all there is only in the play of perception? Is perception all there is right now? Huh? Okay. Then what else is there? I've troubled you with this question for at least one year in the past. What is here right now besides perceptions? And how do you know it is?

You see, there's an elephant. On his trunk, she is balancing a grain of sand. Huh? That grain of sand is this universe which you perceive. What is the elephant? How is it known? Huh? Yeah. Yeah. So you have this—that same knife can't cut itself. The 'just' comes. 'I just know' comes because we have valued only thinking and perception. You see, and I've always stayed away from 'just' because that 'just' is the primary. When we negate it in the form of 'Oh, I just know,' it is because we have not valued that mode of knowledge. We have only valued our perception and thinking. You see, so when a paroksha is made into like a triviality, you see, then that is also a trick of the mind.

How is that positive knowledge? Perception is known. That known part is positive. So if perception is known, it is unperceived in the sense that it is not known. Perception is not known through perception. I don't see sight. Do you see sight? Do you hear hearing? If you saw sight, then sight would have a quality because what you see has to have an attribute. You see? So, how is perception known? Now are you saying it is inferred because 'I am perceiving therefore I must be aware'? Is that what you mean? Is it a 'therefore' in the intellect? By positive I mean that it is recognized but not perceived.

How do you know that you are seeing that cloth and not hearing it? Cloth exists. I don't use the word 'seen'. A sound is here and I don't get trapped in that. So between the 'hearness' of the sound and the absence of the hearing of that sound, what stayed constant to what you...

Oh, you see, is it all coming together? Now the pathway to sit in the heart temple is the same pathway to the recognition of the highest. Open and empty is the prerequisite. Either way, whether we come to it through remembering God's name or through the process of negation or inquiry. Is it? Now you can do it the hard way, which is to try with all your might conceptually to understand or perceptually to try and see. And some do that—like the Zen path is about tiring that whole mechanism out so that you fall into the greater truths. None of the Zen koans, just like the self-inquiry, can be solved in the intellect. What happens is you let go of your intellect, and that happens either as a bhakta or a jnani.

And the beauty of it is that in letting go of the false modes, the tinier modes of knowing, and grasping the higher mode of knowing, you don't lose any intelligence or knowledge. You only drop that which is false. We can put that light on now. We drop that which is false and pick up that which is all-inclusive. So it is not true that you won't know, you'll be a lost case. In the switch-over time, it sometimes feels like that because we're so used to living on Earth, now we have to live on the moon. It'll suddenly seem different. No, the gravity is different. Everything is different. The switch-over from head to heart, as poetic as it may sound, is the very basis of even Jnana Yoga. Because the only true knowledge, Atma Gyan, is to be found over there.

And just knowing this is not enough. What we have to do... just knowing this in the sense of... sorry, just knowing this conceptually that 'Yes, that is it.' We talked about the menu and the food. You see? So all of this is inspiration for you to live there. So poetically we can say that the beloved lives there, and intellectually we can say that it is the pathway to the ultimate truth, but actually it is beyond expression. It is what we are designed to be. So 'mukti' is inward-facing, always happy, because we are designed to be that way and Maya is designed to be an obstacle to our inherent design.

Now try to not know. Satsang is your safe space where you can experiment with this. Look foolish. It doesn't have to translate to anything on the outside anyway. But the mind scares you. 'If I just let go...' then let it go. Don't hold on to any idea or perception. Leave everything free. It's not a meditation. It is a way of life. Now, you can do it like a meditation, that's fine. But don't leave it. Don't leave it. Leave everything. When you have left everything, what do you know? Without picking anything up. When you have left everything without picking anything up, what do you know? Don't go to the wrong place. The question is not what you think or what do you conclude.

Two aspirants went to the Atma, said, 'Holy Spirit, please teach me.' One said, 'Because I know everything that there is to know in every religion of the world. I've studied it for 50 years.' The other said, 'I don't know. Without your guidance, I don't know what is the next step I have to take.' Which aspirant will be let in the door? Nothing wrong with reading if it brings us to that innocence. If it brings us to pride—pride of knowledge—and pride is 'what I know better'... but that false knowing we have to drop. Humility is both the allowing of the dropping to happen and also what happens when the false knowing is dropped. Right?

Is that idea that the grain of sand sitting on top of the grain of sand thinks that it is as important as the elephant, and then dropping of that idea is the recognition of union or oneness with the elephant itself? No. Do we think that this universe is big? To that to whom that is holding it up, it is not even a speck of dust. And that very one is the one who lives where? Lives in your heart. What are we to do with that privilege? Treasure it higher than any other treasure in the world. When we just fall in love, we just want to spend every moment with the beloved. When we get a new toy, something we think is very important, we just want to make sure that it is fine and always be there. You may even get a favorite plant or something. And you may just want to make sure it's getting the right sun, it's getting the right water.

Our life with God has to become like that. But whatever may be happening in the play, if you get lost in it, we just remember: 'Oh, what's happening to my heart? What's happening in my heart? What's my beloved telling me?' How many times will we leave this world without knowing and loving the one who lives in our heart? And what is the cost of admission to knowing and loving him? You love the mystery. And what do you give up? Nothing that is valuable. Only the false. Only our attachment to our imagined self. The sages are not unmerciful when they say give up on the 'me'. They're not asking us to give up on anything important. It is because they have seen that it is valueless. It's a child who has become now 30 years old but obsessed with their security blanket. So they carry it around everywhere—business meeting there, you know. So the 'me' has outstayed its welcome. It's time to let it go because it is an obstacle to your true life. Who is the elephant in the room? Stand still while this play gets all the attention. What are you not thinking? Are you thinking or not thinking?