The Truth Does Not Need Grasping - 5th January 2019

The one that it speaks to. That speech it implies is some, the shape of a failure. Yes, the shape of a failed seeker or something like this. Someone should now go, something like this.

Failed seeker. Is there any even phenomenal evidence of it? It's passing, but is it passing also? No. It comes and comes back to where is it? How does it come? The body is the seeker? Body could distinguish between ice cream and freedom? So it's not, you see. So where is the failed seeker or the seeker at all? It's just a thought, you see. So no thought actually remains on its own. All thoughts come and go, isn't it?

Yes.

So if the seeker is just a thought, then the seeker must have gone.

Yes, there's an immediate speech that came in, but it will come back.

So that is it. That's the mind's play. The offer for the next version of the seeker, is it? You see that it is nothing but thought. You see, that's why Bhagavan called it the 'I-thought'. You see, it's just a thought. This individual identity is just a thought. You don't find any evidence of any such seeker here when you look, even phenomenally, without even having to get to what witnesses all of this. You don't find any such entity, isn't it? And you rightly said that it's just a motion, it's just a thought. 'I am a seeker, I am something.' You see, that's why Bhagavan said it is till 'I am' we are okay. Once when we start believing 'I am something,' this so-called individualization of Consciousness, when that is believed in, that is the start of all suffering, you see. So whether I'm a seeker, whether I'm successful, failure, I'm doing well, I'm doing badly, all this makes us presume something out of us which actually doesn't exist. And it only seems to make something out of us, not in actuality. It's only a pretense, a mask.

See, now it's all a question of how you deal with the 'but' that comes. So how to deal with it? One way is to remain open. You see, one way is to remain open; the other is to dive in. This is the fish's mouth; it's open. The bait is coming from the mind. The bait is coming. So once you see that it is just bait and it's only going to bring me suffering, nothing good will come from it, what is your response to it?

I must investigate. Immediately there's a thought length.

But that's also bait. Don't worry. It's little, don't take it too seriously. Little lightly, lightly, because that is also a pose it can make, something like, 'It's not just relax,' you see. So this attention and belief combination is the fish's mouth. The mind offers are the bait. Now it says, 'But I must do this,' you see, then it's caught. Then the good news is that it's never caught perpetually, so it's open again. Now bait is coming. It could be anything. 'But this, but that, I have to do this, I have to do that, you haven't got it yet, you will get it, so keep doing this is good.' You know, all this will keep going like this, the whisperer. Now if we keep biting, we keep getting caught. So the fisherman is Maya in a way. You get caught in the idea of your limited identity.

So all we have to do is keep ourselves open, keep ourselves empty. Now find for yourself, each of you can do this, find for yourself one thought which you feel like is that bait which you always end up biting. You feel like that this will not get me caught in Maya, this will actually lead to something good for me. And you've seen it now over and over that you get caught in it, but still when it comes, when that worm comes as the bait, you still feel like you have to bite. You talked about perfectionism; that's a common one. Many times the thoughts are about freedom itself, about enlightenment itself, about God itself.

So what do you end up biting? As I was saying the other day, does reality depend on a notion to be real? Does reality depend on an idea to be real? So if it doesn't, then how does our grasping onto a notion bring us closer to reality? And the thing is that you're naturally like this right now, and with your attention you become like this, and with your belief you've become like that. You're naturally open here and now, in spite of whatever energy you might be feeling, constriction you might be feeling, whatever emotional sensation you might be experiencing. Actually you're open. Is it more spacious than space in which all of them are coming and going? That is naturally your nature. Your original nature is like this. Now you're like this. Who's not like this? Anyone not like this? Open naturally in this moment, everyone will like now.

When you use the word 'this,' yeah, there's an immediate grasping of that, a construction of the...

Is there? Is there? Is there? See, now that was the bait that came. Fell for it. But not to feel guilty or unworthy or nothing like that. It's not about that. It is not to grab a new notion. Whatever notion is coming, let it come, let it go. Let it come, let it go. Can you believe that all this spirituality with all its huge libraries ultimately boils down to this: can we be open in this moment or not? Can you remain empty in this moment or not? That's all that it is about, everything. Because the truth is naturally here. Everything is an explanation of this fact, actually, that the truth is just here and apparent.

So in this moment, open. You can even play with yourself, like use your hand like that. When you're open, just like that, just like that. And you find that starting to bite into something, is it? You'll find that just having a vigilance like this keeps you very open. The thought was we can stay like this all day long, you know. Yeah, we record it. This is the thing. So the truth does not need grasping. The truth does not need biting into. The truth is what is naturally present. It is our grasping, it is our biting, it is our belief which makes this unborn seem as if it is the born, as if it is the identity. The Self can seem like it is a limited self only like this. Can it be as simple as this?

Don't invite him to that immediately. Letting go there, immediate. Everything is so funny.

There's immediate sort of like a stop, 'What was I thinking about?' types. Or even that is the pose, temporary. All these offers for conclusion. Many times you have concluded that even that 'This is it' is also mouth closed. So let me make the claims for the moment. And my claim is, big claim is, that as you remain open like this, you are out of the tiny box of limitation of identity, of intellect, which only has these meager opposites. So you're struggling to climb this tiny wall, but actually your reality is much beyond that wall. You want to get from bound to free, which is just in that tiny box, but your reality is much beyond that already, naturally.

So at best with your mind you can just play like this: 'I am bound, I am free, I am bound, I am free, I am bound, I am free.' Beyond that, what is there in your mind? You at best say 'Beyond free,' that's also just like that. So the best, highest notion you can have about yourself is what you can switch from 'I am like a meager limited person' to 'I am the Absolute.' This is the box. No, beyond that there is nothing, but your reality is beyond this box. Even our notion of Absolute is just in the box. Our notion of person is definitely in the box. But we don't realize that when we consider ourselves to be anything, including the Absolute, it is just the opposite spectrum of the same limited box. This is as far as your notions can go. Tiny. Okay, tiny. But your reality is all of much vaster than this.

So stop playing in this playground back and forth, person-Absolute, person-Absolute, like that, ping-pong, ping-pong, ping-pong. Just step back. Let these notions come and go. They have nothing to do with you, nothing to do with you. Now the next notion will come saying, 'But how to live my life? But I had... can I keep this? But something, something.' But it's still in the box. So let that box, let that ping-pong happen in the box. You're out of it. All our judgments, interpretations, ideas, what we think—nothing in this box truly represents reality. Nothing in this box can be a true representative of reality, not even the statement that 'I am Brahman,' because reality does not need an assertion. Because assertion can be negated. You can say 'I am not Brahman,' then that becomes the box. But your reality is not in this.

So which playground do you want to play in?

No ground.

No ground. Very good. So see, in that no ground is without even 'no ground' becoming a notion. You can only suffer in this box only as Consciousness. As Consciousness, the Self plays as if it is a limited entity; that itself is called suffering. So I'm saying this every day, but anytime because of a hypnosis of the mind, I'm not sure what all of you are actually hearing. That's why these days I started taking more feedback also, like what is it that you're actually hearing, or what is the when an inquiry is being done, then what is the question you are actually asking?

So what I've said simply is, because I know for a moment now you'll be hearing because you'll have this idea that I'll ask you for what I'm saying, so you'll be hearing at least for this moment. So what I'm saying is that all your notions, ideas are in this limited box, and this limited box is all your versions of your limited self. You are never in that box. Whether you are calling yourself the Absolute or you are referring to yourself as a person, it is all in this box. You are not contained in that. You are beyond it, but beyond the concept of beyond. So not even the concept 'beyond' it you can hold onto.

But the good news is that in this moment you're empty of all concepts. In this moment no concept has survived this moment. Now, like the fish, you want to grab onto the bait which the mind is offering or you want to remain open? That is what all spirituality is about. All of true spirituality is just about this: remaining as your natural essence, remaining as God, or picking up the mask of individuality, the pretense of separation. This is what this entire game is about. Now it's your move.

No moves.

No moves. No moves to move. Assertion and negation both are moves in the box. So what is your move now? This empty of moves, this moment of not being caught up in any notion about yourself, is to remain in the Unborn. And what did Master Bankei say? All things are perfectly resolved in the Unborn. You need anything better than this perfect resolution? You said you're a perfectionist; there is no other perfection except this. All things are perfectly resolved here. If you say, 'In what way is it resolved? What happened to my problem?' you're back to the born. You've given birth to the limited identity again. So from the tiniest notion about yourself to the largest-sounding notion about yourself, both are just tiny notions. Reality does not need any idea of it. So this is the tiny cave, like Plato's Cave. It's just shadows you have taken to be reality, and you might not realize that.

There is no other perfection except this. All things are perfectly resolved here. If you say, 'In what way is it resolved? What happened to my problem?' then you're back to the born. You've given birth to the limited identity again. So, from the tiniest notion about yourself to the largest notion about yourself, both are just tiny notions. Reality does not need any idea of it. So, this is the tiny cave, like Plato's Cave. It's just shadows you have taken to be reality. And you might not realize that as you give up on your notions, you see that you can't find anything which is anything, really, which you can really point to and say, 'Oh, this is not a notion.' You'll find that time is a notion, that space is a notion. You see, everything in time and space is a notion. And that which you find yourself to be, you can never point to anywhere because it is not spatial or pointable.

When you guide us now, I feel indeed that there is a lot of peace and spaciousness. But I couldn't say that there is no notion at all. At least it's my mind saying that, otherwise I would feel lost because still I see human beings around me. You see what I mean?

I say you've never seen a human being. 'Human being' is just a notion. So, it's not that I'm tagging you and everybody as human beings, but you see what I mean? It's still familiar.

Okay, so even if you say, 'Okay, not human being,' but I still see, like someone was saying that day, I still see form.

But form is also a notion.

Yeah, I still see difference in color.

But color is also a notion. Tell me something which is not a notion.

Yeah, so everything is a notion. Yes.

So what do you see, actually?

I see the same things.

We have the notion 'things,' but 'thing' is also a notion. It's not that I'm not understanding you. It's not that I'm not understanding what you're saying. I understand what you're saying very well, that we are seeing the—I know what you mean—that we are having the same experience in a way, you see. But 'thing' is a notion. 'Experience' is a notion. That something has ever happened is a notion. You see what I mean?

Maybe I'm over-interpreting, but I feel that if I would really be totally empty of notions, what I would feel... but then there is the thought coming up, like if I would be really empty of notions, I would feel, 'What's going on here?' You know what I mean?

You'll be like completely surprised by everything. You know, once it was said that you saw a flower for the first time, you see, because there was no notion about it. When I'm here, I feel very empty, so to speak, but...

But still...

Yes, and without this 'but.' Okay? The arising of thoughts is not a problem, you see. It is just that thoughts can come and go, just like any other energy construct can be perceived. All perceptions can come and go. It is not that the arising and going should stop. It is what you—all the bait can come, the fisherman can keep trying, you see, but now you become the smart fish. You're not biting whatever the offer might be, you see. And even if you bite, then you have this divine blessing, which is that next moment you are free. But if you keep saying, 'I should not have bitten and now I'm caught,' then we keep biting this bait. Then for our entire life, we feel like we are this fish that is trapped, is caught. You see, actually no hook can really grab you. No bait can really hold you. In this moment itself, in this moment itself, you are free from everything. And the truth, or anything that you could be seeking, the highest version of it is just this. It is naturally here. You see? But the minute you start to interpret or judge it, it will seem like it is not enough, it is limited, or it is something else. What is the highest you're seeking? God, Self, Absolute, Brahman, is it? It is just naturally here. This is it-ness. Now, if the highest that you're seeking is to become a special person, then you'll be frustrated. If the highest that you're seeking is for the seeker to become something special, like enlightened or something like that, then you will not find that one. So that could be frustrating, you see. But if what you're seeking is just the truth, then the truth is just this. Then others might come and say, 'You don't have to bother with this stuff.' Then others might come and say that, 'Oh, this one is free, this one is enlightened,' but you will have no need for these terms. You will have no use for them. You still have this idea that because now truth is here and apparent, therefore, 'What's in it for me?' You see, that's again the bait. You got the bait, you see. So some bait like this may remain. That's why it's good to play that game. It's just a thought. Because many times you just feel like, 'But that must be real, this must be right, how can this not be?' like these kind of ideas. But no notion represents reality, you see.

Is not even these ideas, the notion that this works, is it not part of the...

It is, you see. Your egoic play is very much part of the play of Consciousness, you see. So then what does that mean to you? So now that it is part of the vastness, are you asking for permission to play egoically, or what? If it is part of the vastness, all what is happening has to happen.

Yes. How do I get over that?

Ah, this is where you inject the trouble, you see. So far, everything—even the play of delusion, the play of freedom—everything is part of the play of vastness, Consciousness itself, you see. Now when you see whatever has to happen will happen, yes, because that is what is called the will of Consciousness, Guru Kripa Kevalam, you see. Then you say, 'So then how do I get myself out of this?' I? Who now? You see, if you say that all is vastness, then where is the room for you now?

Yeah, when I'm also God, then why don't I be like a God?

You see, you started with the idea that, 'Isn't whatever my play is, whether bound or free, isn't that the play of God?' I said, 'Yes, it is.' Now you're saying, 'But why don't I play as God?' I'm saying you are, you see. So if there is only the Self, then there is no 'you,' you see. This is what you started with. Even if the play is in the box, it is the play of the vastness itself, you see. So there's only vastness. Then no question of 'Why don't I?' I who, then? Vastness is playing this way, you see. But then when we try to mix this non-doership and try to bring our personal identity back into it, that's when the trouble comes. Is it like, 'I'm God, but I'm still looking for godliness'?

Yes, in a way.

And you're still buying into the premise of your egoic self. The looking means what? That I must not be already. Only then you look, no? So then the notion 'I am God' is not useful because it's just like a band-aid or something, you see. If actually our presumption still is that 'I am the limited one and I have to look for God, and maybe if I say I am God that will help me,' then the fundamental is still the belief that 'I am this limited me.' So whatever strategy and tactics you have, just keep them aside for a moment, you see. Just keep everything aside. Everything kept, gone. Okay. Now whatever this mind says, let it come and go. This is the bait I'm talking about. You keep the fish's mouth open. Don't bite into it. Even if you bite into it, no trouble. Next moment you open, no? Like this.

Just that helplessness happens.

This is also bait. It's just a thought, my dear. It's just a thought, you see. The one who is helpless is non-existent, you see, so it doesn't really happen. So when the notion comes, this is when helplessness happens. And because you have bitten this bait so long, you see, it can feel attractive. But just see that it is just another bait. Gone, finished. I will say, 'But it can't be that simple,' or anything. Seeking has to drop the bait. It's a bait, you see, because our conditioning is like that, that you have to conclude. But the answer is not conclusive in this way. This answer is unique, you see. All other answers that we've learned in our life have been like that: E is equal to mc², you see. Now, this is not like that. Your openness is the answer. Your emptiness is the answer. There is no answer there; that is the answer. Any answer itself is a boundary. Whatever answer that you can come up with is your limitation, you see. You think it'll free you, but it actually is limiting you. Even the notion that something has to be this way or that way, you see. So, 'I be like this or like this.' This is the whole game. That's it. Naturally, we are like this.

No, I have to believe I'm not open.

Exactly, exactly. And you believe anything. You believe that, you see, whatever you close your mouth to, you will start pretending to be a fish. 'How can this simple thing be so simple?' Bait. When you say, 'I'm going to do this, I feel like this,' what do you think yourself to be? It's just the thought. It's just the mouth is speaking these things.

Yeah, sometimes I make that notion out of it, that this is how Ananta is.

You see, sometimes I make that notion out of the behavior of this body-mind. There's no such thing actually, but just if you're being conceptual for a moment. So then this sort of body-mind organism—there's no such body-mind organism actually, it's just a notion, you see. So, but sometimes I refer to this one as Ananta and say he's like this, he's like that, sometimes, because that is natural in this play to speak like that. I say, 'Yes, I am like this, I am like that,' but I don't actually—there's not much really juice in that or identification with that, really. There's no body-mind organism. No, there's no body, there's no mind. Where is it? There's no human being, there's no chair-being. Yeah, because what is it like? What is a building? Another set of sensations, perceptions. Okay. How is all of this not your body? How is all that you perceive not your body? If I say this universe is your body, then I'm identifying myself with a particular object in your perception. But then even if you say that, 'But I don't see the sensations of others,' but you are—no, you're seeing this head is just a sensation, you see. So what makes it 'other'? You see, so it is just a line that we draw in the blank page saying that this is what separates me. Is all of this being experienced equally or unequally? Equally. So how is it that in the equal experience of sensations we draw one line and say, 'But this set of sensations is me and that set of sensations is not me'? Because I believed in the concept that there are personal thoughts that I can hear and listen to. Yeah, it was just a concept, but it's not an experience. That expression, if you meet it with your full past, you see, you will miss it. If you meet it with your full past, you will miss it. You see, it means that if you try to put the entire frame of reference that you have about your life and jump into this freedom, then that will not happen, you see. You have to lose all that frame of reference and just—then you cannot miss it. That's it. You see, you can't miss it. But if you meet it with the baggage of past and future, then you will miss it. You see, it can seem like that's too broad a frame to put into this. If you give meaning to all of that limited idea and you want freedom for that limited idea, that just cannot happen, you see. So freedom means to drop that limited idea itself. In this way, it cannot be missed. But if you try to meet it like the body, if you try to meet it like the one that has a history, has the story, then you can't meet it. None of that burden has to be picked up. No history has to be picked up. When I'm part of that vastness...

How you became a part? You were the vastness.

How? The making parts is the seeming separation, is it? That is the separation. That is the seeming separation. That is duality. Yeah, then that expectation comes: Advaita will take care of it. Then expectation, it will sometimes be gratitude, but many times victimhood.

No history has to be picked up. There's no power coming into this computer like this or like this. When I'm part of that vastness, how you became a part? You were the vastness. How can the making parts is the seeming separation? That is the seeming separation; that is duality. Then that expectation comes; Advaita will take care of it. Then expectation—it will sometimes be gratitude, but many times victimhood: 'Why you do this to me?' You see, all this play can happen. But if vastness is vastness and it's all-encompassing, then where is the second in that? Who's cutting up those slices? Nobody. So, if you have to consider that you have a body, then consider this entire universe to be your body, or consider everything that you perceive to be your body. Why you have to conceive of only this one set of sensations as your body? Best to throw away the concept of body. It's a concept. That much is clear or not?

Everything is everything, yeah. But it appears quite—it's quite magic to be able to drop all the concepts, right?

Yes. And the good thing is what? That this magic happens naturally, you see. Because if somebody individually had to do it, you could not. But naturally, you just magical water. No amount of ego has actually captured the Divine. Is it? No amount of ego has actually captured the Divine. As Guru said, no power is greater than the holiness of your being. Your very being is naturally here now and you are free. The greatest force in this universe. But being the greatest force, you have given yourself this power to delude yourself, to play as if you are limited. That's all.

Was a horrible story.

No, that's good also. It's neither good nor bad; it's just what it is. See, at best it's a Leela, it's a play. At best, even that explanation is not true, but I prefer it over most others.

The 'what is' seems like the simplest, yeah. And yet so much struggle. Seeker, seeker—I've been seeking for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. You know, like this kind of thing. Seeking what is naturally already available in every moment. Seems like I'm learning how to let go for the first time.

It can play like that, yeah. Play.

Every time there's a sense of that, there's a thought that comes up. Again, sorry to indulge in it, but this one was quite—that this must be agreed with supposedly with everyone, otherwise it's not true. Like everyone must see this to be true for it to be true. Like, that's what language is in, yeah? A convention where we give meaning to what is.

Yeah. What is language? It is like a conventional system in which we give some notional meaning to just what is. The suffering in that one sentence was caused by the sentence itself. Yes, I had to have the idea of 'other' and then the agreement and separation. Exactly. We feel like the battle must be bigger. We feel that the battle can't be just this. He's saying it's basically just notional. Really, there is the real Mahabharat, is it? There is a big fight inside. Mahabharat is problem, yeah. This is, in fact—the outside Mahabharat is only a representation of this metaphoric. Everything is in a way like that, but don't worry about that too much because then we get into that whole nature of manifestation and The Secret and all this stuff.

This one started to get excited reading a quote of Osho today. Someone asked him something about, you know, believing and manifesting something, and he said, 'I don't believe in believing.' I could believe that quote.

The truth doesn't have to be believed in. That's the good news. Whatever has a precondition cannot be your original nature because it needs something. So your identity needs your belief; therefore, it cannot be your original nature. What doesn't need any belief? What doesn't need belief? What has no precondition? What is not caught up in cause and effect? What doesn't need you to think about it? So, suppose that there was this fish who said to the Creator, said to God, that 'In this life I will not fall for that trap. I will be free.' And God said, 'Okay, here's the playground. It is open for you.' So she comes to the playground and one bait comes, second bait comes, third bait comes, fourth one—you see, so it's back in front of God. 'Okay, one more try. You see, in this life I will not buy.' 'Okay, this playground is for you to play. It's open.' Come first, come second, come third—one is again very familiar. Then like again, 'God...' It might sound absurd, but this is our life presently, you see. God is here now. You open and empty. 'Okay, okay, okay, I know, I know, I fell for it now this time.' So for a while it seems like we keep playing like this. See, it's like then—but this game becomes easier, you see. It just becomes easier. That just one, two, three, four, a hundred thousand—all this come and go.

It may not even feel like they're coming and going. It's holding on to a notion.

Okay. Holding on to a notion. Okay. Holding on to a notion. Okay. Is it okay? What would that notion be? You can have one notion, any notion. All the paths—everything is okay, you see. Everything is okay. But if you say that 'I want to be empty of this notion' and 'Can I hold on to a notion?' then that can create that. If you don't want to be even empty of the notion, and you're okay with the notion, then it's okay. Whether you hold on, whether you don't hold on, it's okay. Then it's okay.

If it is just one notion.

No, as many as you like. This playground is there. Everything is okay. There's nothing which is not okay, you see. But if you say, 'Ananta, help me open my fist, but is closing my fist okay?' then no. Open your fist. Or it is actually already open, you see. But is opening the fist also a notion? Everything is. Everything even spoken in satsang is a notion, you see. Everything is a notion. Everything that is spoken, conceptualized, verbalized—everything. Even everything that is appearing is a notion. So if you feel like what is being shared in satsang is like in the realm of opposites—it's this way, that way—because the words will seem like that. But you will, if you're listening, you will hear that once an assertion is made, soon that is negated. Another assertion is made, soon that is negated. So you're not left with anything to actually really hold on to. But it can seem like that because when we are listening partly, then we can feel like 'This is what he's saying,' you see. But I'm not saying anything at all, you see. I'm just like—if you're going this way, then I'm just like that. If you're going this way, that is it. So I'm not—I could say that you have to do it, but there is nothing that you can do. I can say all these kind of things. I don't feel like I have to live in some coherency or something like that, because this coherency is just in that box. Like it has to be either this way or that way, you see. I'm okay for it to be this way, that way, not any way. I'm okay to assert, to negate, to not assert, to not negate. I'm okay with all of that, you see, because this box is nothing but a small plaything. So everything is okay and everything is not okay. Everything is everything and everything is nothing. So I'm not really saying anything at all, actually.

How to say like that? For the while you're seeing them, this is of this experience that we are currently, which is passing, and we can grab on to what passed and use memory and provide a word and sort of interpret what could have been perceived here. All passing notions. All in this very moment in what we are always in.

Yeah, yeah. This is—you see, like, nobody's ever met a moment. Yeah, I know the usual concept in spirituality, of course, is that you cannot leave this moment, this moment is all we have. Have you met this moment? Like, what is this moment? The minute you go looking for the moment, it is gone, you see. So time is as much a notion as space. So even when we talk about the present, we make a notion of the present being that the boundary between—in the middle of past and future there is like a moment which is the present. It is not like that, you see. There is no such present like that which is bound on both sides by past and future. It is also notional.

At some point you said what you see is a notion.

Yeah, is a notion, yeah.

Um, this I don't understand because cannot we see this without a notion?

Yeah, but there's no longer than 'seeing this.' Oh yeah. Oh my goodness, you see? No, I don't. No, you don't see? No, I don't see. At least you see the not seeing. Oh yeah, yeah. I see you. I see this. What do you see? Yeah, yeah, see. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I see that it's a notion. Yeah, but that's all I'm saying. But everything that you see is a notion. Okay. But if I didn't see you as a notion, wouldn't I see you though still? No, because 'you' itself is a notion. What would you see? It's the same conversation actually, although we might not feel it the same one. It's the same conversation that that disciple had with Papaji. He said, 'Can you show me God?' you see. And Papaji said that if you doubt, then you cannot see God, you see. So what do you see now? I'm making a shortcut version of: 'What do you see now?' And the disciple says, 'I don't see God.' Papaji said, 'Don't doubt. I said don't doubt. See, what do you see? See God.' And it's really not wordplay. It's really not just wordplay. It's nice wordplay, but it's not just wordplay. It is just that our distinctions come from our labels. This idea of me and you comes from labels. The idea of separation, of duality, comes because of labels. See, Advaita is empty of distinction.

What do you see? I see doubt. I don't know. I see questioning all the time. I see how, how you know, I not why.

Okay, so let's start fresh now. Everything that is coming can come. Everything that is going can go. Is it different than this fish story? Is it different? The same. Whether you say conveyor belt, whether you say bait—all these various things we've called it over the years. Closed means suffering, open means no suffering. Ultimately, like you were asking, suffering is okay, not suffering is also okay, you see. But if you feel like 'I'm done with this play of limitation, I'm done with this suffering game,' then remain open. I feel like I'm still enjoying the rollercoaster—sometime like this, sometime like that. It's all okay. Yeah, it's okay. Without any labels, what are you seeing?

Same thing. Same thing then as with labels.

Yeah, yeah. This is good. So what use are the labels if you say that my perception is the same? So actually no need for labels now. Now, in this simple perception, are there two? Or does it even make sense, this question? Then one, two—is there even distinction between manifest and unmanifest? Could you repeat that last one? Yeah, rephrase that. Without labels, is there even distinction between manifest and unmanifest? Just a label. Yes. The manifest is not really—it's like, it's not in, seems together. Yeah, that's also a label. It's also a representation. If you say it is together, then I will say how? Where do they connect? How does that which is beyond time and space connect with that which is in time and space? So even our spiritual understanding, spiritual notions are not true. They are just at best provisional truths. I think nothing true can be spoken. That seems true. Like you can say, is that true? Like nothing true can ever be spoken. Is that true? Like if everything that I speak is a lie, what about that? That is not—where does it bring you? Beyond the box, isn't it? Yes. Because in the box it can only either be this way or that way. If I say what I'm saying to you is neither true nor false—I used to say like that, or maybe just yesterday, I don't know—what I'm saying to you is neither true nor false. Will you take it as the truth or the falsity? Must be just sounds. That sounds like a negation. Yeah, but the answer is not in the box of our intellect. So to come to your childlike innocence means to let go of these boundaries that it has to be this way or that way, or both or neither, any such concept.

Or that way, if I say what I'm saying to you is neither true nor false. I used to say like that, or maybe just yesterday, I don't know. What I'm saying to you is neither true nor false. Will you take it as the truth or the falsity? It must be just sounds. It sounds like a negation, yeah, but the answer is not in the box of our intellect. So, to come to your childlike innocence means to let go of these boundaries—that it has to be this way or that way, or both or neither, any such conclusion. What is going to happen is that for some of you, this will be very frustrating. So you will come up with like a master conclusion and you'll want to rest on that. But it is not that, and it is not not that. What can be this master conclusion? It can be anything. It can be a very spiritual thing, that everything is the Absolute, something like that, or any which you feel like. It's just like, you see, so it becomes your defense from any this thing. You see, sometimes the words of something will provoke you, will poke you, and you might find that you're using a defense, a shield. Yeah, it's all like this. But notice that, and notice whether even that notion truly represents any reality or is just a defense that we are using now because our intellect cannot cope with the seeming dissolution. It can take this invitation to dissolve as an attack, you see, and it'll try to defend with some notion. I think which can seem like it is defending against the words of satsang itself. You see, just like, 'I settle for this' and it becomes like, 'Okay, whatever, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.' If you hear something which corresponds to that notion, you're like, 'Yes, yes, yes.' Huh? Then, 'Blah blah blah blah blah' like that. And then something again that corresponds to this notion, 'Yeah.' Like still making all these distinctions and not really letting the words, which are meant to be completely dissolving in nature, you see, not letting them in through this—like using convenient hearing in a way to confirm what we already know.

In fact, in our life, in most of the world, not just in satsang, we operate like this. We go into most situations just wanting to confirm what we already think we know. And it takes a lot of effort, you see, for seeming others who are speaking to make an inroad and say, 'Ah, there's an opportunity, there's a bit of openness there.' Otherwise, you're just like, 'This is what I think I know.' So as long as he's corresponding to that, he's like, 'Yes, yes, yes.' But the minute it becomes something different, something which you feel you can't relate to or you don't see or something like that, it can just be, 'Let me meditate now,' you know? Just like... and then like... you see, even in satsang we make these favorite notions and we listen a lot to just what is. I noticed like this: all of you have your own set of favorites. So when I start speaking about that particular thing, you wake up. And if I'm speaking of something else, it's like time passing, time's presence, you know, time passing. And then that concept, if it's surrender or something, then, 'Just surrender to God. This is mine.' You see? 'This is mine, this I can deal with.' It's like that. Of those who can't deal with surrender or can't relate with surrender, they switch off then. They're like... and I say the truth is to inquire into who you really are. 'Inquiry? Yes, inquiry is mine.' Is it? Then they wake up and the surrender ones go to sleep.

So, because we feel like this—we know, we understand—therefore to get you to leave your stranglehold on what you think you know can seem like it takes hammering after hammering after hammering, you see? And many times the frustration and such come because for weeks it can be that our favorite topic is not spoken about and you just feel like, 'See, the rest is just like, what is he saying? What is he saying? What is he...' You're not really asking what is he saying; it's just that you're not in agreement with what is being said. So it's just like, 'What is he saying?' Yeah, what it can be, yeah. But it's all Grace. If in one moment you're actually open to that, you might see like, 'Ah!' Then that might become your favorite topic. Then you keep switching like that, just like this. And at the bottom of it somewhere is this 'my way' thing, you see? My way. He's like, 'My way or the highway.' So even the Guru is on the highway most of the time till those moments where he's corresponding with 'my way.' In those moments you let him in. But the Master will not leave you with that. He'll keep saying, 'Broaden, broaden, broaden. Open, open, open. Don't attach to any of these.' Like Guru says, 'Don't make tattoos of my words.' You don't attach to this and say, 'This is what it is.' It's not that. Everything that you can conclude like that is in the box.

That's why I said I've given license for one. If you feel like there's too much fear, there's too much, it's too broad, I can't deal with it, something, something, so many notions you're buying about motionlessness, you see? Then better than buying all those notions, you pick one notion and you hold on to that tightly, like 'remain at my Father's feet,' Guru, or 'Who am I?' You take one and just hang on with that one. And if it's one of these, then those are self-destructive in nature anyway, self-dissolutive in nature anyway. But it's only when you feel like when you're faced with this Unborn, you see, you come face to face with your original nature, you feel like there's too much notions you pick up about that—like 'I'm too scared,' 'I'm falling,' 'I'm lost,' 'I'm not understanding.' There are so many notions about being notionless. Then better you hold just one notion like that, you see? So that one stick you can hold on to if you feel like this. But my invitation, of course, is to not this way, not that way, not up, not down, not self, not person, not Brahman, not Maya. Neither asserting nor denying. Although the 'not, not, not' can seem like a denial, not really that. Just like if you are a car and you just had a tilt towards one wheel, you see? You just had something wrong in the alignment and just been tilted to one wheel, which is the mind, is it? So then if you felt like the whole car is driving on the mind, the mind is everything that it says is true, so now it is worn out, it is suffering, you see? So to get you to look at what else is there—there's mind, intellect, but there's also something greater beyond. Even these terms are notional, but just to invite you to look. What witnesses the mind? That question is useful. But the truth is not in opposition to anything.

What are your favorite topics in satsang? So I know if I need to wake any of you up, I should just mention it. What's your favorite one? Just when you said that, just good. What's your least favorite, when you find yourself like switching off?

Okay, here he goes about the goose escaping the... and it's okay, it's okay because all of us have some temperament and things like that. So just shine your light on this aspect. It's okay for a bit, but don't like become guilty about it or something. To look at the present 'I' that I take myself to be, the notion that I am currently playing out, or I... yeah, the minute the attention goes there, there's a fear, there's a... and the position automatically changes to the one who's afraid. But the looking seemingly doesn't progress and therefore there's the one that failed. Oh, you looked, you got afraid, and you failed. And so yeah, then there's the frustrated one.

What about you?

I have to... I have to start talking about the appearance of realms and universes and how all of these are excitable but nothing really is that, you know? Everything you say I enjoy much, it's just the thought is super, yeah.

And what you don't like?

Sometimes I can see when you read the... or something, sometimes it's like in the sense of the words are having that effect, or just the fact that in satsang we are the horn of the hair. The horn of the hair, yeah. For instance, like everything is a notion, it's like it's too much industrial strength. Yeah, it's too much, you know? It's like my world falls apart, but then it has also an effect like, 'Wow, not even surfing in the universe or something.' But it's super powerful. But you know, what does he say? The pains of birth, labor pains of... up and down, huh? And space, like up and down, spatial. You like that or don't like?

I like that. Okay, breaking all these concepts of space and time. So you don't really talk much about like world being an illusion, so you rarely touch these topics. I like them and don't like. I don't see anything like that, maybe subtly there. Father, when you take us through exploration or investigation of the Self, inquiry in 'What is it that's perceived?', such questions that to explore together with you, that's very interesting. And things, I think when you say truth, this is the second, 'Truth for truth's sake, apparent.' Oh, truth is apparent. How is it? Yeah, still, and yet first and second are the same because when I'm taking you through it, I'm taking you through how it is this apparent to strange. Yeah, this one gets... pushes many buttons, this that the truth that you're looking for is just apparent. What is he saying? Must be for him apparent, not my concept of truth. Truth is the truth, yes. And so one of them will win, either our concept of truth or what is apparent, and you know which one will.

How would you?

I enjoy everything that you say. Sometimes I just... yeah, that's okay. No, just doing it playfully. It's not favorite topic in satsang. I like the inquiry questions, how you use questions. Sometime I noticed even before, it's just a thought game. Then I noticed that some are already like closing the eyes and just like, I know, cannot, will not count on them for an answer. They're already signaling to me that I'm not going to answer because I'm going into deep meditation. And it's not constant also, it's like in that, how you are, what your state of mind is, how you're feeling at that moment. It all depends on that. Sometimes you're very open to playing, playing, but if you're just in a different temperamental mood or something like that, then the same you could just like, 'No, not today,' you know? 'I like my thoughts right now, I don't want to expose them.' Or sometimes when we are very still, then that feels like too much activity also. It can also be that way, you're just so still that any game or any activity can feel like that.

It's very... as far as pointers go, the simple game is a very important point because that's where Advaita collides with our notions of the world. Like me, no two, no distinction at all, is... and our idea of the world is full of distinction. This is this way, this is that way, this is right, this is wrong, this is up, this is down, this is true, this is false, this is ethical, this is unethical, this is, you know? So you can have many ideas about isness, but isness itself is indistinct from itself in anyway. There's no distinction itself naturally.

There's some more. Favorite is Guru Kripa. Not favorite is not accepting any answer to questions that are asked by you of me. Oh Father, there's still so much 'what's in it for me?' It's just like moment to moment, moment to moment, just about... it's about this, then all this is gone. Even the idea of moment to moment is gone. How much is left is gone.

As I was saying the other day, you could be the most identified one to have ever lived on this universe, you see? But even for you, this moment, you are empty and you are free. This is so direct. But it has to be met empty in a way. If you make this also notional, then it'll just add to identification. Then 'truth is apparent' is the favorite one at the moment. Good, good, good. Then, 'Father, the whole satsang today was my topic. Good, thank you. So grateful you are in my life. Love you.' Love you too, my dear. Good. This is the favorite one. Even for the most identified one, the favorite one is... I'm presuming he's talking about even if you are the most identified, or is it truth talking about...

It has to be met, but it has to be met empty in a way. If you make this also notional, then it'll just add to an identification. Then, 'Truth is apparent' is the favorite one at the moment. Good, good, good.

Father, the whole satsang today was my topic. Good, thank you. So grateful you are in my life. Love you.

Love you too, my dear. Good. This is the favorite one even for the most identified one. The favorite one is, I'm presuming, talking about even if you are the most identified, or is it talking about 'Truth is apparent'? It's okay, it's okay. We don't have to make it too serious about it; we don't have to reinforce our favorites. The idea was to... but it's good to check. Like for one, it is the least favorite; for another, it's the most favorite. And that's why in satsang, in some satsangs, some seem to be so much enjoying, enjoying, and others seem to be so like, you know, like 'Father's off his game today' or something, you know? And then others can be like, 'This is really... he's back, he's back!' And the ones who were enjoying that... there's a lot of subtle, subtle notional ideas that we can have. Thank you.

So, last question or inquiry for today is: What is not a notion? It's important because he said the idea is to remain notionless. So where to remain? The idea to remain notionless is also a notion. So that is also a notion. But what is not a notion? This.

Favorite idea is to be back at your feet physically.

Good, good. Always welcome.

Now, there's some more. Favorite is when you say that what you are saying is that you are not saying anything. Yet least is when you say you are already free.

I see. Similar in a way, your most favorite and least favorite. You sound a bit similar, right? Favorite is when you say that what you're saying is that you are not saying anything. Least is when you say that you are already free. You see? So least is like that, like 'Truth is apparent'.

The favorite idea is to be right away from you is least favorite. Miss you so much.

Miss you too, my dear.

This life from your form seems so sad. Even cannot enjoy my relationship with the loved one.

All my love, all my blessings are with you. I could say some fancy things like 'Meet them like me' and all of those things, but I won't because you heard all of this over the years. So I have a sense of what you're feeling, what you're saying, so I accept that wholeheartedly. Thank you always.

Thank you too, my dear.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all so much for being in satsang today. Satguru Sri Mooji Baba Ki Jai.