The One Who Lives in Your Heart Is the Lord of the Universe - 15th December 2025

The crux of the matter, like we were saying last time also, is that whether we come to the bank of the river where we wait empty of ourselves for His light to reveal to us the reality of who we are. The reality of love, the reality of His presence in our heart, the growing in our love, patience, humility—all of that is gifted from there. So when we say to God that I hand over myself to you, it is not so that we can maintain a duality. It is so that we can hand over our mind, our hearts, our entire soul to God Himself.

So in a way, what it sounds like is a confusion about the word prayer itself, and that's understandable confusion because most of the world uses prayer as a synonym for petition. You see, we make a petition to God saying that 'this is what I'm going through, can you please help me with this?' You see? But in the ancient traditions, we have seen—and you've seen so many examples from all traditions right from Advaita to Sanatana Dharma to Sufism to Christianity—where there is a broader definition of prayer, which is to live in His presence, to come to the recognition of His presence within us and then to live there.

So it's right that if prayer means only that asking and petition part, then I would not say that during our contemplative time we focus only on that. But if prayer is that which allows us to hand over ourselves to God so that we can remain empty in that open and receiving posture, which all spiritual practices are bound to bring us to, then this cannot be contradictory to the spiritual path. So maybe it's more of a semantical problem with what usually is considered to be prayer.

Okay. So maybe that guidance was for the general kind of that. Okay. Is that how it sounds to me? I can't really confirm that, but it sounds like prayer equals petition, then we can't always be in that petitioner mode because we have to go deeper than that.

Okay. So is there a risk? So it's okay to use to move back and forth between the different modalities, or is there a risk that I might be diluting by doing that?

Yeah. So once we understand that the point of whatever method we apply is to come to that stillness, is to come to that empty, then we realize that whether I'm having a protein shake or a protein bar or I'm eating a lot of protein, the point is not what mechanism of protein, you see, but the fact that it provides nutrition into the muscle. In the same way, it doesn't matter what the mechanism is. Whatever works for us, whatever resonates with our heart, whatever brings us deeper in God's love is perfectly fine for us to use. And these are not methods which are new. All of these are ancient methods. So, we have nothing to worry about.

In the question of switching, if that helps you to come to that empty, then switching is fine. Otherwise, what instruction would be needed? We would just have to say 'just be empty,' you see? And that's what I did for many years where I just shared all we have to do is remain open and empty. But then in the actual fruit of that, where we were able to stay in that stillness, I was noticing that that is not really working for so many of the children in Satsang. So by God's grace, all of these ways have been provided to us so that—not as a different path, not as a bypass of remaining empty, but just as a pathway to get there to remain. There's nothing wrong.

It appears to me, but I don't know if I'm deceived, that there's different quality to doing it in different ways. Is that correct or not?

Yes. A bar will taste different from a shake. But there cannot be a different quality in terms of where it gets you. You see, that should not be different. Whether we ask 'Who am I?', whether we come to that stillness by asking ourselves who we are, or we come to that stillness in the affirmation of our handover to God—'my heart belongs to you'—or in the repetition of His name, the sense of that empty is the same.

The difference can only be in the type of outpouring that we experience from there. And if there is an outpouring which seems to help us remain more anchored in that—so if there's a feeling, more a feeling of love, then the fragrance of that love helps us remain anchored in that emptiness—then that is God's grace. The only thing we have to be careful about is that we don't mistake the outpouring to be a replacement for that stillness, for that silence, for that emptiness, and we don't end up chasing experiences.

But if it anchors us, if it becomes the internal compass where we are able to remain anchored in our heart longer because of that fragrance of the outpouring, then we have to take it as God's grace. So I would say quite simply the way to gauge this is that you said very beautifully that 'I spend at least two hours in contemplative practice using the EDS and then remaining empty.' Now, if we are able to spend two hours in this way, is this the way in which we are able to devote the most time in our heart in God's presence? If it is, we must do this. If by directly remembering that we have to remain empty or as a witness or in the inquiry that two hours is easier, then we can do that as well. Uh, sorry, I have to mute everyone. You still have to unmute; mine doesn't allow me to unmute.

So I just want to feedback. I think... is this correct that the master's preference is simply their preference and not a statement of the most direct route? Not a judgment?

In a way, I would not disagree with that. And I don't want to create any trouble of any sort, but I'm not necessarily fond of the word anymore—the word 'most direct.' It sort of creates a hierarchy and says... so if there was a most direct path, then why would the sages share any other path? Why would they say okay, there is this and that? Because the term 'most direct' sort of implies a sense of it being the easiest, fastest, best way to get there. Then sure, the thousands and thousands of sages that we've had in the human history, they would have known what is the quickest and best way. So then why would they all provide different paths for us to use?

So let's not get into any hierarchy of paths or competition between paths. Is Jnana the fastest and Bhakti the slowest? I don't feel like that is the right way to look at spiritual paths. So, and how do we know which is most direct for us? And maybe God wants us to take a convoluted route anyway. All of us do, whether we like it or not. All of us do anyway.

So they're very rare ones like Shankara or Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi who seem to have taken such a direct... 'I feel like I'm dying, if I'm going to die I'm going to observe it,' and then I saw that the body could die but I am not the body, so at the age of 14 we become enlightened. But that is not any of our journey, isn't it? So, I'm not really so much into saying this path is better or this path is better. I see that the paths lead to the same holy gate and I see that in the revelation from behind the gate comes self-knowledge, comes beauty, comes love, comes everything that we are looking for. So I'm not so inclined to say inquiry is the best or prayer is the best or chanting is the best or just remaining empty is the best.

Thank you.

Very good. Every pathway to God is the best. What I would say is that as long as we don't forget to do the eating—that is the point I've been making also—as long as we don't forget to come to that place. We cooked a lot using whatever method, but if we don't become empty, receptive, inward-facing, silent in stillness, then that I would say—then that I would call a waste of time and indirect. But as long as a pathway provides us a way to get to the holy place where intuitive insight is possible, then I won't make a judgment about how effective or not effective it is. We have to see that for ourselves. Thank you for asking this. I hope it clarifies for everyone and I'm happy to... if I'm making a mistake somewhere, I'm making an error, I'm happy to learn and change my expression.

Thank you. Is this clear everyone? This can be a very subtle and yet important point. 'Am I on the right path? How to tell? Is there such a thing as the right path firstly? And if there is one, of course, I want to be on the right path. So what's the right path?' The key is the sage is telling us one important thing: that our silence becomes a prayer only by His light, in His light. Our silence becomes an inquiry or a contemplation only in His light, by His will, by His action.

So in the interim, our job is to use whatever tool we have to come to that stillness. It would be a mistake to presume that a method itself does the work without needing that emptiness and that allowing of God's will to unfold in our hearts leading to true insight and love. And that is the only way we can understand the sages when the sages told us we must do the self-inquiry, you see? And they also said that we can't do anything; it all has to happen by grace.

His light, by His will, by His action. So in the interim, our job is to use whatever tool we have to come to that stimulus. It would be a mistake to presume that a method itself does the work without needing that emptiness and that allowing of God's will to unfold in our hearts, leading to true insight and love. And that is the only way we can understand the sages when the sages told us we must do the self-inquiry. You see, and they also said that we can't do anything; it all has to happen by grace. Are you understanding that now? It seemed like a contradiction otherwise, because they say we must do the self-inquiry and they also say at some other time, or maybe immediately after saying that, everything has to be done by God's grace. You see, I used to get very frustrated reading talks with Ramana, you see, because just a few pages back he said we must do, and then he says we cannot do anything, it has to be His grace. You see, so it's a little more subtle than that.

Reading the sages more and more, and reading the traditional ones also more, I came to the realization that we can try and do the recollection of our faculties and bring them to a stillness. We must do inquiry, prayer, whatever method we have been taught to do; that we must not not do. But the real work happens after that. And the good news is, because we are not intelligent enough to do the real work, we wouldn't know where to start. That is why God Himself does it in our heart. So the revelation of who we are, the revelation of true love, the revelation of God's presence in our heart—all of that is work that He does. So we must do what we have to do by following the pointers, the pointings of our teacher, and knowing that it's only His grace which does the real work. But to make ourselves available, present to the presence, is something we have to do.

When the boundary of me and you is gone, then we may see that everything happened only by His will. But till then, we must not shoot the sheepdog, or whatever that example is. I hope this is heard, everyone. Hope this is heard because the mind can create a lot of confusion, lot of obstacles because of this. And my attempt is to try and show you the inner journey in a way that you cannot be confused. Yeah. So you understood that the crux of it is not in the method itself. The method is very important, very useful because it brings us to that holy place where God's action within our hearts can be revealed to us in the form of true insight, in the form of love, in the form of all that we need to be shown.

Hello to everyone. Now if somebody can talk to me and tell me that, 'I do inquiry, I go to that place. When I do prayer, I go to some other place,' then I'm happy to change my perspective, my expression. But that is not my experience. The name of the Lord brings me to the same place. The inquiry brings me to the same place. When I ask myself, 'Who am I?' I'm not to value the answer that comes from the intellect. That recognition, the Atma Gyan, the Self-knowledge, is not in the realm of the same old modes of knowledge. So if whatever method we are using doesn't bring us to that stillness, to that silence, to that availability, receptivity to God's love and light, then that method is not a spiritual method. But if it brings us, then let's not worry about better or worse so much.

Just one thing. I go to Radish Gram. Very welcome. Thank you. Rather, this—when you say like the silence and God's presence, like when you say you come to the silence and wait for the receptivity, no? Like when you say—

No, that silence itself is the receptivity. So I was asking if there are two different things, like because for—like in my experience, when I come to the silence, I feel—

I mean, I meet—the silence, the stillness, the emptiness that we are talking about is when we have no other move left. So there's no question of moving from there to—there's no mechanism or tool or lever left for us to turn. We've completely handed over ourselves and that itself is that openness, that receptivity.

So let's say I'm saying the prayer and then like something drops in my heart, like I drop in my heart, and then I can't—like there is like God's presence comes with silence, comes with all the goodies like—

All that is valuable there, including like that vast silence is felt. But it—like right now, I'm meeting God's presence. Yeah. It's a—it feels very quiet. And if God's light, God's will, God's action was not at play there, there would be nothing beautiful about silence, isn't it? Like what would silence be? When we were in school, the teacher used to tell us, 'Be quiet, be in silence.' You see, but when we talk about silence in spirituality, what are we talking about? The sages have told us silence is the highest teaching. What did they mean, that silence is the highest teaching? Bhagavan said they were not talking about finger on your lips. How can it be the highest teaching? Because that silence represents that we've handed ourselves over to God in that stillness, allowing His light to work in our hearts to reveal what it has to reveal, to guide us even about our worldly life.

So our intellect can trouble us because the pathways are so many and so different. So hopefully now for your intellects, I have given you a broad enough framework which is all-inclusive. It removes all duality and fight. You can recognize the method. You can recognize the fruit of the method and you can recognize that which is offered only in God's light and by God's grace. This part is really important, otherwise we'll get into the centuries-old traps, like Shankaracharya had to go from place to place and debate everyone apparently, or Buddha had to go and debate everyone. You don't have to debate anyone. No method can say now, 'Because my method is so beautiful, I can bypass the fact that the true revelation will be a gift of the Atma within.'

So then all the sages who spoke of Atma Gyan, who spoke of Marifa, who spoke of God's light teaching us in our heart, the spirit being the teacher, the true Satguru being within—no method promises that we don't have to come into the discipleship of the true teacher, the Atma, the spirit. Transformation will happen only when we are soaked more and more in that holy light. So in Advaita, they said there are three steps, but we added one more very foolishly or courageously. But they said you have to hear the pointers to the truth. By grace, we have got to some place where we hear the pointers to the truth. So we hear a pointer that, 'I am not this body, I am the Self itself.' Now many times, just hearing the pointer, 'I am not the body,' you see, and 'I am the Self itself,' may not do anything. You see, so then they said—so that was the Shravana part, the hearing part.

Then they said there is a Manana part, which we may call in the modern world, we may call to contemplate it. In the olden Christian tradition, they used to call to meditate upon it. But the point is that we squeeze out the pointer for all the juice that it has. 'I'm not the body.' Oh yes, I just see it. How do I know that I am this body? I am witnessing the body. So that has got squeezed out. Then we say, 'Yes, this body was born. Every cell in the body has changed every few years. There's not a single cell which is the same. But I have been constant, unchanging through the changing body.' And somewhere, somewhere in my heart, I know that I was not born and I will not die. So all this, if the pointer is potent for us, then all of this juice will be extracted out of it.

Then once we've done that, we find our soul, our Antahkarana, our faculties more willingly gathered and rocked into our heart. So here is where we added another step, borrowing from the Christian sages, where we said let's call that Sharanam, where we become prayerful in the recognition that, 'I cannot in my own strength, using my own mind, intellect, see that I am not the body and that I am that Nirguna Brahman or the Self. Please help me, God.' And I feel it's a beautiful step to have. And maybe in the ancient sages, in their way of doing Manana, this was included already. But all the sages of Advaita will say that Nididhyasana is the most important thing. Or the sages of the Christian tradition would say contemplation is the most important thing. Or the Eastern tradition, they may say Dhyana is the most important thing. Or the Sufis may say to come to Marifa is the most important thing. All the Bhaktas may say to come to surrender and to await His Darshan is the most important thing. Every path is leading us to that most important thing.

Why is it most important? Because we have let go. And when we let go, we allow God to take over. So this consent, this letting go, is very important. Which part are we still holding on to and not consenting to hand over to God? That is called attachment. I hope this part is clarified today because tomorrow if someone comes and tells you that singing Bhajan is the highest path—because so many in India will tell you that—in what way will you understand that? Huh? In a way, in a way, yes, it's right that maybe their temperament is such that they resonate the most with singing devotional song, you see. But we are not to get shaken because we see that it cannot be just in the singing part itself. So if you were to ask them, 'So what happens, my brother or sister? What happens after you sing the Bhajan? Why are you calling it the highest?' I can guarantee you they will say that it brings us to God's presence, God's light, when we are silent after the Bhajan.

So then we don't say, 'No, your path is not the highest. It's so indirect. How many Bhajans you have to sing?' Yes, whatever resonates with you, as long as you come to His Darshan, true revelation about His reality, which is the same as my highest reality. And that pathway is the best. So these are modern problems that we have. Hopefully—I don't know actually, no, because even in the past there was so much debate. But I doubt that anybody would go to Tukaram Ji and say, 'Why you go from village to village with your and keep singing these Bhajans? You see, don't you know that you should ask yourself who you are?' Or Mira Bai, 'Why are you composing all these Bhajans and all? Such a waste of time.' And so we must not get into any of that pride.

In fact, the whole story of Udhav Ji meeting Radha Ji is about this. All of you know this story. I think maybe on Zoom they may not be, so I'll just share a quick—and I'm the worst teller of the story, so please don't rely on my telling of it. So Lord Krishna had a very close friend who was a Mahagyani. His name was Udhav Ji. So what happened is that one day Lord Krishna was missing Radha Ji so much that he was physically ill in bed with the amount that he was missing her. You see, now Udhav Ji was Ashtavakra variety of sage, so he went to Lord and said, 'My Sakha, my friend, don't you see that your Maya has got you? You see, what are you crying over a woman? You are the Lord of this universe. None of this is real. You see, how could you be so badly caught in Avidya?'

So the version of the story I like, Krishna being the only trickster more than Maya who's ever been, said, 'Yes, yes, thank you brother, you open my eyes. I now see how badly I was caught up in Maya. You see, but now there's a problem. All these villagers of Vrindavan, they are caught up in the same affliction, you see. So can you do me a favor? I have some busy, you know, kingdom stuff to run. Can you go to my dear Vrindavan and explain to all of them that this is all Maya? You see, they're wasting time remembering me and crying.' And this part I wish I could tell better, but so Udhav Ji takes it on to himself, the Mahagyani, that 'I will go and enlighten people,' see. So he gets to Vrindavan and there he sees everybody is missing Krishna like they've lost their very breaths. They just crying out of love for him. And he said that there was a river which was not on the maps, and that river was because they had all cried so much since he had left. You see, so they saw that the king's chariot is coming.

Remembering me and crying. And this part I can't—I wish I could tell better—but so Uddhav Ji takes it on to himself, the Mahagyani, that 'I will go and enlighten people,' you see. So he gets to Vrindavan and there he sees everybody is missing Krishna like they've lost their very breaths. They are just crying out of love for him. And he said that there was a river which was not on the maps, and that river was because they had all cried so much since he had left. You see? So they saw that the king's chariot is coming. So they thought that their beloved Krishna, who played with them when he was a baby and a young child, he has come. And all of them got their hopes up saying, 'We get to see our beautiful Krishna again.' And they see that not Krishna, but somebody else who is looking very royal has come. So they welcome him first and they say, 'Oh, have you got us a message from our beloved one?'

So he says yes, you see. And some Gopis are there, some of Krishna's friends, Sakhas, are there. So he says, 'Yes, Krishna has told me, he has sent me here to enlighten all of you that you are badly stuck in Maya because you are attached to a form. You're badly stuck.' So they hear his report and all of them got deeper into that missing of Krishna and say, 'See this trickster? He didn't come. Not only has he not come, he sent a friend who is telling us such bitter things—that our love for our Krishna was just Maya, it was never real, that what we feel for him was not reality, it was just an attachment.' So like this, and something is starting, as seeing their love and how much they love Krishna, something is starting to happen to Uddhav Ji. He's starting to waver a bit, you see.

Then—it's a long story, a beautiful one, and in Hindi it's available, maybe we can translate—but then he meets Radha Ma herself, the very embodiment of the love of God. So she tells him that... so she hears what he has to say. And for a long time she doesn't know what to say because here's a man who's telling her that her very existence, her very being, the light in her heart itself is false, is Maya, is something to be thrown away. So then she tells him that... so which means that your seeing is incomplete. Is it? You have seen the truths, but your intellect has gotten hold of that truth and you missed the love.

But just seeing how she was and how much in the outer grief, but how much she was shining, having given up on herself, her body, her mind, her intellect, having handed over everything to the Lord and in that apparent grief of separation, of not being with him. And yet she was the most shining being that he had ever encountered. So he couldn't make sense of it. How can this one be such a beautiful embodiment of light and yet seemingly be caught up in some worldly Maya attachment, you see? So then what happened is that in that love that he felt with everyone, he himself started to fall in love in his heart and he just wanted to taste that love more and more.

So they told him, 'Go now, go. We are not listening to you. We are not going to be enlightened your way. We are happy with our way. We are happy in our separation, in that bittersweet love in our heart for the Lord. You go, go.' He said, 'No, no, no, can I just stay?' So then they said, 'No, but Krishna is waiting for you. Go tell him that we've told you this.' He said, 'No, I want to stay at Radha's feet. Can she teach me? Can she become my teacher?' So then, the discipleship of Radha Ji, then Uddhav Ji became a real sage where he understood the value of Bhakti, the value of devotion, the value of unconditional love for God.

And we lose the pride of knowledge itself and have only one of two things: we can have knowledge of our pride, or we can have pride of our knowledge. Humility is to have knowledge of our pride. Arrogance is to have pride of knowledge. And that knowledge which makes us proud is not capital K Knowledge anyway. It has been now contaminated and it has become intellectual knowledge. This is spiritual pride. So we must never feel that one path is lower. 'These stupid villagers of Vrindavan, let me go teach them what is reality. What Krishna, Krishna they keep doing.' So Anant has sung it beautifully, the Bhajan called Rahi, telling that your seeing is not complete yet.

Then like you have to be very careful of pride of knowledge because this one who Krishna only gave him Brahma Gyan, no, the highest knowledge, he was then questioning Krishna, only asked, 'What are you doing? How are you falling sick for the love of a woman? Don't you know she's just flesh and blood?' No. Somebody you see doing Ram, touch their feet. Somebody doing inquiry, touch their feet. Nothing. Somebody bowing down in a temple, touch their feet. A pujari who does puja to a deity, our Advaita mind may not like it a lot: 'This man wasting his life. This idol doesn't have God, doesn't he know?' But anyone who is trying to give eminence to anything other than themselves, in whatever form they may be meeting God, is worthy of our reverence and respect.

The apostles of Jesus Christ, simple fisher folk. So he tried many ways to explain to them in very simple parables. Well, not all of them are that simple actually, but in parables. And yet most of them didn't get what was happening. And yet they loved him so much that they were gifted with the light of the spirit by God's grace. And then they were all willing to face their death for God fearlessly. Does our knowledge give us that level of strength? It doesn't give. Then we have nothing to be proud about yet. We know that every single apostle was killed and yet they were given chances to reject Jesus. They were given chances to say that we will follow more traditional paths, and yet they never did. It is love that made them so fearless, and true knowledge which the Atma gave them, which the Holy Spirit gave them, made them so fearless.

So we must just be careful that we never get into any of the many levels of stupidity, and this is from direct experience, having done all of these levels of stupidity myself. So one level of stupidity is you hear a spiritual concept, you fill it into your head, and you become proud about that. I've done this, and I was told that I am not this body-mind, I am the Self. I was a pakka Advaita jerk and I went around telling everyone, 'Who are you? But why are you so troubled? Don't you know you are not this?' You see? I don't know what, hopefully 1% was in trying to help, but at least 99% was being a jerk, so you see. Because I picked up a concept and I followed it.

Then we have been given some practices, and with practices there will be some spiritual experiences. So when those experiences come and we have insight, our mind is very quick to interpret and decipher those experiences, you see, and make that part of our narrative, you see. So we become very proud about that. But that insight has now been contaminated because it has become part of our egoic narrative rather than remaining as a true insight. Suppose that you had an insight one day saying that the Atma lives here and it's—you can't say it is unperceivable because it has the subtlest vibration, neither can you say it is perceivable because you can't say what shape, color, size, anything about it. You had that intuitive insight.

Now your mind has made it into this understanding. You see, now a brother or sister comes to you and says, 'Brother, can you tell me what is the Atma like?' You see, and you go, 'It is neither perceivable nor unperceivable. You see, it is neither Nirguna nor Saguna.' You see, like that. Is it wrong? It's not wrong, you see, but it's not fresh. It's stale stuff, you see. So what should happen when someone asks you a spiritual question? What should happen is we should go to the spirit for the answer. 'How is the Atma?' Our mind's prepared answer or learned insight from the past may not be that which is most helpful to them. They need to hear what the spirit is trying to tell them, what Atma is trying to tell them fresh, and that may come in a very different expression, in a different unfolding of words, and we may learn something more as a result of that.

But when we make it, 'Oh, you know what happened? What I saw in 2009 was this, this,' then you know that you're just stuck in 2009, you see. So what you saw, is it not here now? Again, talking about myself, so because it seems very tempting to make a learned knowledge out of spiritual insight. And it is this learned knowledge which makes us think that we are better than anybody else. If we had to be naked every moment and go to the spirit empty-handed for it to feed us every moment, then we would not become proud. But we don't realize that the minute we've fallen into this trap that, 'Oh, with me, you know what happened? I saw there was no me, there's only God,' and it may start off very, very genuinely also, but very quickly it becomes like, 'You know, with me what happened? I saw there's no me,' so...

You have to be very careful of this great con artist called Maya, whose biggest—one of the biggest servants is pride. What is the most dangerous thing about pride? We can't smell it on ourselves. You see, we can't smell it on ourselves. But the world is trying to tell us constantly. The world is trying to tell us constantly. But we don't listen because we think everyone else is foolish, because we can't smell it on ourselves, and the world is trying to tell us. By God's grace, our immediate reaction is that 'I am right and they are wrong.' That's what puts humanity in this strange situation where everyone in this room feels like they are right and everyone else is wrong, or they are more right than everyone else in this room. Is it possible? Statistically also not possible. And yet we are in that. The hero of our story cannot be wrong. He has to be right. That is the human condition.

So the sages very smartly said, 'Change the hero of your story' or 'Change the protagonist of your story.' If you get obsessed with Ram or Devi Ma or Allah or Jesus—so many options available to us, whatever resonates most deeply in our hearts—and then we see our life just as a side character in service to that one, then we remain open to spiritual insight because pride does not cover our eyes. So there are two main paths, isn't there? In the Gyan path, don't consider yourself a character at all. See that in reality there is no me, there is no character. And the Bhakti path, make yourself the sidekick, side character of God. Remove the emphasis from the ego into God's light and presence.

But does Maya give up? Every step of the way... so how to know? A Christian sage told me this—I mean, didn't tell me, but told me this on YouTube—he said, 'How do we know if we are proud? Do we get angry?' I don't know how well I accepted it at first because we always have justification for our anger, but to realize more and more that I must take myself to be somebody to get irritated, and then for that irritation to progress into anger. It cannot be without ego, cannot be without pride. So then, such a beautiful revelation, isn't it? Because we can't smell our pride. But this is a good way to find out. Do I get angry? That gives us something to work on. We see where we need to grow.

And when we look at these things, many times we realize that it seems impossible to change because we feel so right about something and there is no scope for us to see that I could be wrong about this. So it is only in that quiet contemplation time. Nobody tells us that Nididhyasana does both things: shows us the ultimate reality and grows our virtues. You see, nobody tells us that contemplation does both things, that the Atma guides us on both things. In modern Advaita Vedanta, Atma has become just like a phenomena which shines light on the unperceivable reality of the Nirguna. It has no other job. It does both. It introduces us to God's will in our heart and it shows us our ultimate reality, you see, and it is not contradictory, but it is unfathomable.

Nobody tells us that Nididhyasana does both things: shows us the ultimate reality and grows our virtues. You see, nobody tells us that contemplation does both things, that the Atma guides us on both things. In modern Advaita Vedanta, Atma has become just like a phenomena which shines light on the unperceivable reality of the Nirguna. It has no other job. It does both. It introduces us to God's will in our heart and it shows us our ultimate reality, you see, and it is not contradictory but it is unfathomable.

So, Achintya Bheda Abheda was my least favorite branch of Advaita Vedanta. Least favorite because I wanted to be clear. If there is Bheda, tell me there is Bheda. Okay, let me translate: Bheda is distinction and Abheda is non-distinction. And one must be on that path, which means that if there is distinction, say there is distinction. If we are indistinct from reality, from Brahman, then tell me we are indistinct. This Bheda Abheda, you see... then I realized that that's what my heart is also showing me. I am That, unquestionably I am That, and yet I am just the tiniest servant at His holy feet.

And I cannot say any of us are able to say yes, yes, yes in the play, but actually, you see, we are able to make a distinction that in the ultimate reality I am That, but in the Leela I have to play this role. You see, that is not what my heart is showing. It's more like it's impossible—meaning don't bother dwelling on it because it's not going to be swallowed, because it is not going to fit in our intellect, you see. Just like any good pair of opposites, any Zen koan, it can't fit into our intellect. Right? You see, so the sages have warned us that it's Bheda Abheda. You cannot figure it out in your head. Only your heart will show you this reality.

But our mind wants to constantly make levels between the two. You see, 'Actually I am That, but I am just playing as a servant.' So know that it is not that. It's just the intellect layering on top of reality, which is much more nuanced than our mind and intellect can fathom. But in our heart, we know. Therefore, whichever way we approach God from, we come to the same realization of the reality of both sides. That's why it is said, Hanuman Ji also said that when there is a 'me,' then I am at Your feet, Lord. When there is no 'me,' then I am You, Lord.

So will we all promise today that we will not make distinctions between paths? Yes? No? 'Ours is the highest path.' How does ours always end up becoming the highest path? Nobody ever says, 'I'm going to this teacher, we are the lowest path.' Somebody must be the lowest if there's a highest; there must be a lowest. So know that the spiritual path is the path for losers anyway. If you see it in highest and lowest, take the lowest path. If you get the option to come first or last in class, come last. Our mind doesn't like hearing this. Those who are poor in spirit will meet Him. 'Poor in spirit' is not what we think. It is those who take themselves to be nothing. I don't want to say they will be first in line, because then it will become devious.

Awesome. That's it. So, you know, you're the one who revealed the spirit of truth in my heart, you know, and you showed me that because I just asked for it in my heart and it just revealed through that, that the spirit of truth is the only way. Because I never understood about it, I never knew about it. I never understood like what it meant when I used to read the scriptures when Jesus used to say that the spirit of truth is going to reveal to you all truth. It never really... I understood intellectually, but it's only when I heard the perfume of it and it became clear. And I'm seeing that somehow, because like what you're saying about how the intellect can block unknowingly, unconsciously without realizing. So I'm seeing this... I just want to say that if there's any sense of any sort of intellectual conclusion that has maybe undermined the spirit of truth in any sort of way.

Yeah.

Because it's actually... because you can actually like feel it sometimes. Like when I first met you, you know that something knows this because it's a very primal thing where the knowing is a different knowing. Like how when you go to school and they teach what one plus one is or something, that has a different perfume. This has the perfume of holiness. And somehow it just feels in my heart, it just arose to just say like, I'm sorry to the spirit of truth if in any way in my heart I have... if something, because through the sense of this thing, like how you just do this. If through that something has... if any position has been made in that, I just offer myself to the spirit of truth.

He's absolutely right that without consenting to God's light, without consenting to the discipleship of the Atma, our pathway to coming to the truth will be blocked by our mental and intellectual knowledge—even our mental and intellectual spiritual knowledge. So it is that unlearning which is most difficult in Satsang. There's not much to learn, but to allow ourselves to let go of our deeply held notions, even spiritual notions. We think that they are keeping us up, you see, but actually they're holding us down. We feel like they are our crutches using which we can walk, but actually they're not letting us fly. Empty of this burden stored up in the head, you just live in God's will. So free and just carried by Him.

But our mind sets boundaries and says that is going too far. 'I come to Satsang because I want some peace. I want some quiet.' That's fine to want those things. But if you come to Satsang and you don't offer up yourself to that truth which is in your heart, which you get a glimpse of in Satsang, then you're not using it fully. Because to use it fully would be to just override the old operating system completely with the operating system of the heart. And we live in innocence moment to moment. If we leave this life without becoming disciples of the Atma, will it be a worthwhile life? Now that you know it is possible to live as disciples of the true Satguru, which is the Atma itself.

Most of our brothers and sisters may not take that to be a possibility, which is fine for them. But now you are in trouble because you know, you see, now you can't unhear this. You see, I am telling you that there is a different way to live. You can live in God's will, and the way to live in God's will is to follow the Atma within, the Holy Spirit within. That is the only meaning of this life, the only purpose of this life. Now, what are you going to do with this knowledge? Don't let it seem like too distant a goal; don't get intimidated by that. If it is seeming like we're really far from what he's talking about—'I'm just trying to juggle my three or four variables of relationship and body and money and whatever little meaning life has to offer, I'm just so caught up in that, and he's talking about big things like being a disciple of the Atma'—don't allow your mind to trick you with this.

What I'm asking is a very simple life. The project actually is very simple. It is to leave complexity. Then it comes close. And you must try it. Surrender to God for one day. Don't move without His prompting in your heart. See what happens. It is possible. I'm not talking about whether that whole day will go like that. I'm saying at least to carry that intention is possible. Of course, Maya will trick us a hundred times in that day. Okay, before we close, what is the thing we repeat most often in Satsang? Probably it has become that God's presence lives in our heart. Is this true, or it sounds still too poetic or fantastical or metaphorical? Is He right here with us? Why does our life look like that is just not true and not what our life is bringing to us?

God being here only can be a good thing. No? But where is the joy? Where is the strength? Where is the courage? Where is the patience? Where is the faith? Where is the humility? You see, so Maya's job is to make us forget this fact. It is right with us, and the forgetting is the suffering. Faith is the remembering. So the gap is what? The gap is Maya seeming real and God, the unperceivable one at the moment, seeming unreal. Isn't it? So what do I mean by that? If He was Pratyak, if He was visible, perceivable... so if Ram Ji came and He's holding her hand and sitting, then how would we be? Okay, she showed me for a second. Just be like... we're too self-conscious even to allow ourselves to feel that. You see, just be so delighted, isn't it? 'Oh, He's holding my life, done.' You see, but we are too scared to even like present ourselves in that way, like everyone will think I'm so foolish. No, this is what we are waiting for you to become. The world is waiting for sages, you see, who live in that unshakable faith of His presence being reality.

You see, so that gap between taking only that which is perceivable to be real to taking that which your heart is telling you is the absolute truth to be real—that is the gap we are bridging in spirituality. There is nobody in this room who doesn't have the concept that God is right here or even the concept that 'I am That,' you see, that I am That, you are That. But then where is the gap? Because our faith is very small and our reliance on sensory perception of Maya is very big. That's why it always works. Nobody has told me when I have said, 'Suppose Ram Ji came in front of you, how would you be?' Nobody has said—and don't lie, don't click—nobody has said it would be the same. You see, nobody has said, 'But that's how I'm living.' These are dangerous things to say because your mind will take that to be the right answer and then, yeah.

So is it true or is it not true? It's a question of where we go for truth. I don't mean to complicate it, but really this part is important. Where do we go for truth? If you went here, your life would be transformed. We know everything. We know Maya is unreal. We know everything. But we don't live in that faith. The Satsang will get over, the rigmarole of day-to-day life will start, and we will be caught in the false identity again. There's one more thing coming to say before your question. Then another new thing is happening in spirituality these days which is that... which is that, 'I'm very spiritual but I don't believe in God.' I was saying the other day, that's like saying, 'I'm a food critic but I don't visit restaurants.' What is that? What is there?

So what has happened is that because of some childhood bad experiences or something we read or something like that, we prefer to have like a force field of spirit, you see, rather than a God who is all-knowing, all-pervasive, all-merciful, who's available to us to talk to, to guide us, to be with. So then the Nirguna never became Saguna and the Saguna never came as Atman. If we just wanted some conceptual idea of God which is too far-fetched and nowhere relatable that we could make a relationship with Him, then Nirguna is fine. Why do sages tell us that there's the Nirguna, Saguna, Atma, Father, Son, Holy Spirit? So why is Atma here just to trouble us? Why is Atma here? No, I mean why is Atma here?

Because we are here.

So, yeah, to take... but how? In what way? Why was Saguna not enough? Let's say that, why was the primordial vibration as the word not enough—Om or whatever we may want to call it? Why was that not enough?

We can't know. We can't know it.

What is that? But why did He have to make Himself available? Kabir Ji said that in every body, in every body, there is Ram, you see. Why did He have to make it available, make Himself available like that? What is the Ram? He went through all Nirguna, then why Ghat? Didn't He have better things to do? Why did He make a home in our heart? Seva Vala said in the innermost chamber of my heart is where He delights to stay. Same thing.

We can't know what is that, but why did he have to make himself available? Kabir Ji said that in every body, there is Ram, you see. Why did he have to make himself available like that? What is the Ram? He said he went through all Nirguna Brahman, then why? Didn't he have better things to do? Why did he make a home in our heart? Sahajo Bai said in the innermost chamber of my heart is where he delights to stay. Same thing. So why? He could have just left himself as the universal force, huh? We said, what is the simplest way? What is the simplest for us? What is the simplest way to write the exam? That you clear it even when you don't have to write it, isn't it? Now, is that the way to find me? They don't have to do anything at all, you see. And what is the tragedy of the human condition? That not doing anything at all has become the most difficult. And I'm simplifying it, of course, because we have made a fantasy out of becoming empty. An innocent child is empty, you see. "When will I be empty?" It's become like that. So he's available to us in the simplest way for one moment. If we just leave ourselves alone, he is ours. He's here. What other expression of his love and mercy can we have? When Bhai says that he is the Mahakalu, the most merciful, isn't this such a beautiful expression of that mercy? And when Buddha Ji says that he only knows how to do mercy, he does not even know how to do justice, which is great news for us. I look at it as an ultimate expression of his love for us, his mercy on his children, that he's made himself available in the form of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

Now, is this one who is in the form of the Holy Spirit some diluted God? Some watered-down version of the ultimate reality? What is the famous line? I'm waiting for the Vedanta to open her eye. Jiva Brahman, what is it? Hey, don't tell me you forgot. She's being humble now. So, the sages have told us that this and that are not different. They're not separate. So the one who lives in your heart is the Lord of the universe. Now your call is whether you will allow these to just remain as words in your life or whether you will start to live in that faith. Now some of you may say, "I cannot live in that faith. I need to have that revelation first." Okay, fair enough. Are you devoting your life to that revelation first? That is important. If you had told me also that just have this faith that he is with you and live like that, I possibly wouldn't have been able to do it. I had to wait for that revelation to happen, you see? So then dedicate your life to this revelation because what other thing of importance can be there if you find everything else in the world and you miss this and you die? Is it all right? So devote as much of your time as possible to this project. Whether you do inquiry, whether you study the scripture, whether you remain empty, whether you pray deeply, whatever practice resonates with you, don't waste any more time. Okay, we're going to close soon, but I want to hear from Shivani, my twin after many, many years.

Father. Hello. So nice to see you. I've been seeing you in satsang, but I allowed you to take your time to come up. Yeah, I've been quietly sitting and thinking I need to come up, but yeah, tonight was the night. So, um, I wanted to say like I remember you used to say, "Are you aware now? Check." You know, check. And now I'm hearing, "Is the presence of God here?" You know, check. And I feel like coming here again, it's like you're still here, you know, seven years later and you're still here. It's like check, you know, still the same old thing.

I don't know. Something's just grateful, Father. Like I come seven years later and the truth is still here. It's just seven years. Seven years. Wow. It's crazy.

But yeah, there's just, I don't know. Gratitude to you know, it's yeah, just gratitude Father, like to have that.

I'm very, very happy you're back and this touches my heart so much. And it reminded me actually, because you're one of two people who's attended satsang from a hospital bed. So I saw that the other day also, you were in the hospital attending satsang.

Yeah, reminded me of that earlier time. Yeah. And I remember because I was doing this, you know, like we do at the end. And then I was like, "Oh, I better not do that. I'm in hospital for a heart attack. They're going to be like, are you okay?" Yeah. I'm just, yeah. And Father, like I'm one of these people who, like, you know, I so-called spiritual but I don't believe in God. You know that saying? I've heard, I've said something along those lines. And recently in the last couple of weeks too, yeah, I don't know, I'm kind of speechless, blowing out every sort of concept I had around this whole thing of "I don't believe in God," you know.

Very good. Yeah. So, because it's a very strange notion. It's like, I love food but I eat only the menu, or something like that.

I'm a food critic but I don't go to restaurants. Yeah. Like you said, because spirit is special because what? Spirituality is about spirit and spirit is special because it is the presence of God. Otherwise, what is spirit? It's not Casper the friendly ghost.

Yeah. Yeah, because Jesus has always been, I know like with the naming ceremony and I remember like you were in Tiruvannamalai and it was like this sudden thing of like Jesus and Shiva and all that came like really strong.

Yeah. But there was this kind of idea of, "Oh yeah, Jesus, but not God," you know.

I see. Did we speak about this before? I don't remember us talking about...

No, no. I mean, yeah, it just, it was the naming ceremony. I had like a, I think that was the first kind of opening to like the Christian, you know, the truth that's in there, you know.

No wonder they don't like me much in Tiruvannamalai. I was talking about Jesus in my life. Jesus and Shiva, all the, you know, everyone. Good.

I'm just back. I'm just glad to be here, Father, again. Thank you. You want us to still use Shivani or no? Yeah. Okay. I've got three names on the go. There's people in my life who know me by three different names. So, yeah. My actual first name and my second name that my family uses and Shivani. So, we love you, Father.

Bless you. Love you. Stay in here. Oh, God's grace. How beautiful. Another child wrote to me. She had not been in touch for many years. So she wrote to me saying that, well, she does write from time to time but not really anything like this. So she said, "I wanted to send you..." She lives in the north of India, but she remembered me because she made something, Saag and Sarson ki Roti or something like that. So she said that, "I remembered you because you like this and I'm sending all my love and things." And I took a photo of what I was eating and sent her, and it was Saag and Sarson ki Roti. And what are the odds of that? God's way of keeping hearts connected. Okay, let's go to Samia.

Thank you, Father. You're welcome. Thank you. Um, I'm sorry. I don't know where to start now. Um, I came to Rumi, Father. I'm in his garden now.

Ah, in Rumi's garden.

Yeah. I want to show you around if you want to after we... yeah. You can try. I just, yeah. But after we speak a little. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Um, yeah. I came here but um, I feel like um, I don't know. It is just a prayer. I just want to be aligned with Satguru's life, Father. And yeah. Uh, yeah. And just move in that way. Yeah. I just want to be fully, fully, fully aligned with him. Um, for me, not separate from you. And uh, yeah, I had to put this prayer. I just came just five minutes ago and I don't want to move without being aligned with Guruji, Father. Without this I feel so lost and yeah, I cannot taste anything. So thank you for accepting me after all these tantrums again. I'm sorry about this but they just came. I don't know where it's... it's the power of Guru's life but it just happened and I know that... I don't know if it is time to share this but yeah, it's just this prayer. I just want to be aligned with Guru's life. Just yeah, I don't know what happened but yeah, I just want to be fully, fully, fully aligned with Guru's life. That's... sorry. I feel a little sad after all these things that I said to you.

But I have no idea what you mean. You mean some tantrum in the past?

Uh, no. Then you didn't read them. I sent you some.

Okay. So if you didn't read then it's okay. Also it's not so okay why you don't read them but okay. Okay. So I'm outside first. I want to show outside. Would you like to see inside also? And maybe if you want you can pray. So would you like to have some tip? Do you have time? Yes. I'm just going to put you... how do we... I'm in the gallery view but I'll switch to speaker view. All right, my child, over to you. I'll just turn this computer also a little bit. I'll see from the side so everyone can see.

Oh, just a minute also for my slide. I need to do something. I think we are ready. Yes. So this is the garden and this is the... I don't know how it is called but this is where Rumi is, this green one. So it's just the garden and other cemeteries. So this is the old building. This again the garden. Thank you, Father, for being...

Oh, thank you. Thank you for this. This is so beautiful. Such a joy to welcome you all here. I think again it's so... maybe hear this as well. You know we say that when something auspicious happens only five times... um, is this thing. So yeah, it's just nice. It's so... now you don't have to turn off the sound unless you have to, my dear. We are happy to hear the prayer if it is happening. Okay. So, this is Rumi. So, I will be here for some time and you can just enjoy and tell me.

May we all bow down to the great saint. May we all be touched by his light, by his love for God. May we be inspired by his faith and never taking the Lord away from his vision, from his eyes. We bow down at his holy feet. May we be blessed. May the world be blessed. May everyone in the world, all our brothers and sisters, find such deep love for God in their hearts. May inspiration become a reality. May God bless this holy sage and may he bless all of us. And may God bless this beautiful child who's in the physical presence of the tomb of the great saint. May her life be filled with love, light, joy, peace, faith, humility. Thank you. Thank you God for this opportunity.

Thank you for... thank you. Thank you so much. May you be ever blessed with that light, that grace that also... may your body also be fully filled and may be filled to the brim with the presence of the Holy Spirit always so that we can be fed from you always. Thank you for you. Thank God for you. And may you be blessed according to God's will by long and healthy and full of God's light great life blessings all your family and to our Sangha and to... may he also be blessed. I don't know how to pray for him. May God pray for him. May he pray for blessings to all of us. Thank you, Father. Thank you for everything. May everyone be blessed with your Sangha.

Whatever will give you the highest joy may be given to you. Whatever you are waiting for might be fulfilled in the highest way. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bless you. Thank you.