The Truth Doesn’t Need Any Holding Up, It Already Is – 11th March 2022

Where would you go for the answer? Whether you want enlightenment or happiness, where would you go for that answer?

Well, every time when I'm, I'm sitting down and or just I know that it's not about peace and happiness. I know it's yes, when I leave everything, when, when I don't, when I don't touch even happiness sensations and peace, yeah.

But which aspect, in which aspect of your being do you know this answer?

So it might start with, with in a bodily, but then it always ends up in beyond because it becomes very obvious.

I feel like spending a few minutes on this. So the body, whatever sensation may be there, it does not say, "Oh, I want happiness" or "I want enlightenment." It is not speaking those words. It does not convey these signals. You see, this is the body is just, you will experience some sensation which you can't even, the body is not saying this is a sensation. It is what we call sensation later, you see. So let's just call it some sort of sensation or move. Okay, so that is the body then. So that is not telling us between happiness or enlightenment. Then what, what could be telling us?

Mind. That thought comes when I identify. A thought comes and says, "Yeah, maybe you're in this for happiness, maybe you don't want enlightenment."

You see, now it is a signal. It is a construct, you see. But the trouble is, who is it talking about? Like which you wants either happiness or enlightenment? Who is it referring to you as you? And then it can conclude and say, "Okay, happiness, no, no, enlightenment." Because all of us have gone through this.

Like it's a person. It's a personal uh, person and uh, yeah, it's something I had to come out. I didn't see us for quite a while because it just makes sense. I mean, it just makes sense. But like as you're saying now, it is clear.

Yeah, but there's a person and uh, yeah, and this, "Oh, now I want enlightenment" or "I don't care about it happen" or "I want to have..." Yeah, it makes sense and that's why it's difficult really. Aspect of the being where things make sense or they are nonsense, let's call it the intellect for a moment. You see, we can, we can say, "Ah, this fits in well. This set of constructs seems to be aligned." So we call that making sense. When, when a set of constructs seem to have too much tension between them, they have opposites, then we feel like, "Oh, that doesn't make sense." Isn't that it? In the intellect, when it all seems to add up together according to what we believe, we say, "Ah, this makes sense." And when there's some tension between them so they don't seem to want to sit next to each other, then we feel like this doesn't make sense, isn't it? So is there any other aspect of our being where things make sense or don't make sense?

Um, this is worth investigating because we go, go for truth to these things. We want reality or we want a version that we can say this is quite truthful, you see. So if making sense makes it truthful, then we have to investigate what making sense actually is so far, you see. Many of us will say, "Ah, this, this is good for me because it makes sense." But is making sense a true arbiter of truths? Like just because something makes sense, does it make it true? It makes sense completely and even our perceptions are confirming it that the earth is flat. Of course it's flat, isn't it? And it makes complete sense that it is the sun that comes up and goes every day, you see. And this, these constructs make complete sense because our perceptions also align with those ideas. But are they true?

So if this uh, perceptual sense making and conceptual sense making is not enough for something to be true, then what else do we have? If you want to go for the truth, what else do we have? And the biggest mistake we can make by relying on these sense making tools is the misrepresentation of I, who I am. The mistaken identity. The ego is a product of sense making, meaning making sense.

Um, well, notice it's also another one I identify with like, "Oh, it makes sense," so I grab onto something.

Yes. Now because it seems like more pure than other ones, but it's actually, it's also just one of those. You could take either position and say, "Ah, yes, yes, I'm very intellectually sound, you know? I'm very intellectually sound, so I grab onto things that make sense in my mind and that defined my persona." And one will, another may say, "No, I'm quite crazy actually. I'm quite crazy. If it doesn't make sense, I do that." So that's one version, "I'm quite crazy." Another will say, "Oh, I'm all heart," but they don't mean intuitive heart, they mean emotional heart. You know, "I'm all heart." So basically they're saying they don't go with rationality, they go with whatever emotions are coming up, you see. But none of these are really showing you the reality of what you are. And we must take guidance from that or the version or the story or the narrative from that which can truly point in a way that it is not mistaken about who we are, isn't it? So if your mind is mistaken about who you are, suppose it's not a trickster, it's actually mistaken about who you are, then we can't rely on that, isn't it?

And this is another point now you just brought up with um, are we still making sense of it? No, no, no, it's good you brought it up and I'm not holding it, but hopefully I'm not holding on, holding... Yeah, yeah, okay, hold on, hold on. Let's see where I am now. Um, to find myself also um, it's not that it doesn't make sense, but uh, doesn't resonate it more to let go of things resonate more because um, and I don't know now it's very I don't know what to say next. It's just I don't know if it's true what I said even.

Where can we go for truths is what I'm simply asking. I can see half of you are half asleep anyway because I'm sounding academic. So simply what I'm saying is where can we go for truth? We're all searching for truth, isn't it? Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, "Let me feed myself some lies today. This is okay, now I want to lead a few lies." So where can we go for that truth? If it is not the mind, because the mind is telling us things which is not about my reality, it is only telling me things about my ego or the make-believe persona. Then and the sensations of the body and the emotions really are not saying anything at all. Then where can I go where I can trust that I can find the truth?

Leave everything.

Leaving everything. Okay, so left everything. Now why aren't you lost? If you leave everything, then you left your intelligence, you left your intellect, your rationality, all this stuff. Then in, in the mind you should be completely lost, no? Isn't it?

When it actually in the mind, I mean if I leave everything, yeah, I don't feel lost.

Yeah, because leave everything. Yeah, now you leave everything and which one is you? Once you left everything, which one is you?

This is which is left. That's what it is.

What is that? Point to it. Point to it. Which one is left?

No, it is not expressible. You cannot say it in words.

But that is what you asked me to do every week. So I can also ask you, what is left? Are you still here? Don't you leave everything? Have you also gone? You haven't gone. So go, because you have to leave everything. Why haven't you gone? You can't go. Can you go? No. Your body may go, the scene may change, but you are still there. That you is which one? And this is the mystery which I'm living right now.

It's like uh, from here if I go to any conclusion or anything it, it...

But which I are you talking about now?

Non-personal.

Yeah, so what happened to this one?

So this one, it cannot either identify with the some conclusion or... but this is where I, I spend most of it like uh, as much as I, I enjoy... well you see now I have to go in... yeah, it's okay. I enjoy, I enjoy being here and I feel like it's more and more overtaking me like just it's so...

Very good, very good. Then the only tip I have for you is don't track your progress. Yeah, because that is not the, it is not the pure consciousness or presence doing that.

Yeah, this is where it's um, I was tracking a little bit where I would...

Don't track now. Don't track. If you're referring to things from the past, you're still tracking. If you have an idea or projection about the future, you still track. So you're not doing it, you're not doing open and empty so that then you can be peaceful. You're just open and empty because you've surrendered and you may be because you've tried everything else.

I feel to say that um, maybe I'm using this discovery to make body happy also.

How? Where would you go? Where would you go for this conclusion? How do you know what you're doing it for?

At least it seems like this when I have let's say some tension or something is somewhere I feel like, "Oh, I know I'm, it's not touchable," and what to do? Just sit down, just do nothing. "Oh yeah, oh oh, I'm just beyond that."

One of the deals that you made with me, and maybe you're not there in last satsang or the one before that, is that just because something feels like or seems like doesn't make it true.

You mean the tension when the tension is...

No, you said because it just feels like or seems like. In fact, the definition of Maya is it seems like truth, see? So the, our standard for giving truth value to something has to go higher than, "Oh, it feels like" or "it seems like." So the question was, where would you go to find out whether something is true for you or no? See, you said it just feels like that, it just seems like that, but...

Just because something feels like or seems like doesn't make it true. You mean the tension? When the tension is... no, you said because it just feels like or seems like. In fact, the definition of Maya is 'it seems like truth.' See? So our standard for giving truth value to something has to go higher than 'oh, it feels like' or 'it seems like.' So the question was: where would you go to find out whether something is true for you or no? See, you said it just feels like that, it just seems like that, but Maya is designed to feel like that. It is designed to seem like that. And when I say Maya, I'm talking about the collection of all this perception and conceptualization, you see, coming together. All feels as if it is here, see? No?

So yeah, this is where I'm starting. Like, it feels like the tension is real and there is some certain issue, but then the seeing somehow happens. Somehow the reminding happens and somehow this thing happens very often, but I'm not that and there is no tension now.

Yes, so just don't go to the wrong instruments for any narrative about what's happening to you. Like you said, leave everything. Just leave everything. The truth is not missing in that. We may feel like if I leave everything then the truth also went, but the truth (capital T) that we are talking about does not come and go. So it must still be here. And you said it's still here, you see? Now the truth is intelligent enough, you see, to know, quote-unquote, what is happening to it. The truth's intelligence is not intelligent enough to know—I'm putting no end quotes because it is not conceptual—what is happening to it. We don't need to add on to its knowledge by adding concepts. And those who learn to live in that without needing to augment with conceptual knowledge, those are free. Those who try to understand conceptually, those seem to take themselves to be that which they are not and believe themselves to be a separate entity, and that is called bondage.

And you've been experimenting with this beautifully, you see? That most of the day I'm just open and empty, just open and empty, and it all seems so light and easy. But then don't give that conclusion to the mind or don't buy that conclusion for the mind.

Nowhere to land. I just feel like there's no...

Yes, nowhere in the mind and nowhere in perception. Then you landed at the right place. All of this is about not using the wrong instruments. All of this is only about not using the wrong instruments. If we go for... did I share this in the broadcast? No, maybe we were just sharing the other day where I was saying, okay, if you had to measure the Satsang, how would you measure it? All of you participate in this in your heart with me, so how would you measure this Satsang? You would use something—the room or what's happening, the view of the room. Now if I said to you, now you have to smell the size of the hall, can you do it? Just smell your way through. Just walk around the whole hall with your smell and tell me how big is the hall. Sounds absurd. Sounds completely absolute. But actually, that is what most spiritual seekers are trying to do. They're trying to find God as an experience. That means a perceptual instrument of sense objects, you see? The perception of sense objects, they feel like one day will show us God. Or they feel that some concept will come, some mental image will come, which will show that God. But those are the wrong instruments. Just like you cannot smell your way to discover the size of the room, you cannot think your way to God and you cannot perceive your way to God or the truth or the Self, whatever term you want to use. That is the main, main point. That is the main point. Okay, some of you may feel that, but that's all I have. All I have is my perceptions and my thoughts, which are also perception. But good to call out separately.

Um, yeah. Now something was questionable then. Maybe feel, is it really bad if I like... no, I don't know. No.

Where are good and bad? There are good and bad. The distinction between good and bad is where the mind... something felt to say but then it didn't feel right also.

But is it good to use this discovery for make people happy? And I mean, it looks superficial comparing to what it truly is.

But let everything not make sense in your mind. You don't have to construct the perfect house in your head and this is good for this, this is bad for that. Something may be good this moment, may not be good next moment. We can't determine these things in our head. So if you leave the notion of good, bad, better, or worse, then the mind loses one of its main trump cards because most of the mind's proposals are telling you it's better. It's better if you do like this. 'But I'm not getting this stuff. I enjoy another's presence, but when he talks... so it's better if I just sit quietly.' The mind will propose these things to you. It will propose this thing and got caught. I want to sit with him but I don't want to hear what he says because actually it just messes up my head. It's meant to! Yeah. So, and all you may say, 'But because I don't understand anything...' No, how do you know whether that's good or bad or is too abstract or weird or strong, whatever, whatever the construct the mind may build up, you see?

So you may then decide, okay, presence good, hearing what he says bad. But where can we make this? Or some may say the other way, 'What are these people talking about presence? Here to hear what he says, it sounds good to me.' This presence in all Bhaktas, we don't want to talk about this stuff, it sounds too much time. Some may say like that. But both positions come from where? Mind. What is the attempt? You have to clarify that. If the attempt is to create a conceptual framework which is coherent in the head, you see, then Satsang is the worst place you can come because the master will contradict himself ten times a minute. So that is not the attempt, you see? What is the attempt? The attempt is to let go of the false claimants to truth, those instruments which are pretending as if they are showing us something true. To drop those and to come to a true place of insight which you may call intuition or the Satguru presence. Really to come to Satsang, to come to the Satguru presence within you, is to come to Satsang. Not to understand. Maybe if you understood that you can't understand, that is good enough to understand definitely. And it's completely contrary to the world's way of functioning because in the world's functioning, the more you understand, they say the better you're doing in classrooms and any field of work or whatever you may be, relationships, everything. You've been told that you have to understand more and more and more, see? But God is too big. Understand this: that God is too big for you to understand. Your mind is too small to capture God. So all our machinations and things like this, like that, that's forgettable. Feels really good enough. Pictures ready. Good to see you again. Okay, let's go to Kate, my dear.

I'm gonna stay. Um, yeah. It's been quite a long time since I've come and connected with you and yeah, really, really beautiful just to return and yeah, just feel... I just feel the presence so strongly. And I guess it was helpful to hear the last report about wanting to capture, you know, to measure and to kind of like reassure the mind where it is on the journey because it's such a head trip, this.

Exactly. And sorry, it's very well put. It's a head trip, yeah. We get nowhere, only a trip in there. Yes.

And yeah, I felt as I was listening, I just recalled a time about a year and a half ago when I went on a walk with an Aboriginal elder in Australia and he talked... he was also an archaeologist and anthropologist anyway, so he'd been in these two worlds. And he talked about when the white people brought in measuring, like measurements, the imperial measurement system, and they just thought so differently. Well, they didn't really, they lived so differently. So I don't know, I guess it gave me some compassion for what our minds go through sometimes.

Beautiful story. Because you know that in India all the spiritual masters will tell you that that which can be measured is Maya. That which can be measured is the illusory, is just the passing phenomena. So another name for Maya is that which we are able to measure, you see? In fact, to fathom—and fathom actually means to measure—so that which we can fathom conceptually is all illusory, is all ephemeral.

Before COVID came and it was a little bit after that, and it almost felt like the people of the land had this sense of something that I experienced and yes, I haven't talked about it for a while but um, yeah, I appreciate that. But I guess I could really connect with the last report as well because since then, you know, I've had all these transitory experiences of that which I think that is being pointed to and literally I don't even know if I am or not and it's sometimes going to be so frustrating.

Okay, so let's check now. Let's check now because transitory means to measure also. So let's keep that also aside. Let's keep everything that happened in the past aside also. Now, if you kept everything that is measurable aside, then what remains of you?

Just... yeah.

Now, is this transitory? No. It goes with me everywhere. Don't drink it if you're trying, but I seem to overlook it sometimes. This is the whole thing, no? With spiritual seeking, unlike material seeking, you see? So if you wanted a car, when you have that car in front of you, you say, 'Okay, I have this car.' You don't really have it, but we presume as if we do. With spiritual seeking, that which we are seeking is always here. In fact, we can't escape it even if we try. We can't escape it, you see? And yet we seem to be chasing it, you see? So like I often say, the biggest or best way to suffer is to try and solve a non-existent problem. This has caused your own problems, keep yourself busy.

Like I guess so. Sometimes, you know, it sounds like it goes deeper and there's more to it and it's like, well, how could that just be it?

We push people. Is it not measuring? Yeah, yeah. Oh God, wow. So simple. Now the mind will not sing, 'But now...' and to open the door to the 'but' is to invite the narrative which is basically false story. So it usually knocks with 'but,' especially after you had a good insight. 'But, but what about this?'

And I guess what happened last time as well is that some thoughts came up that the person really was taking personally. It was almost ashamed of, yeah, certain stories and things and got hooked in.

Yes, that's okay. That's it. Yeah, yeah. It's the beauty of truth. It doesn't matter how long we've been conditioned, what our conditions have been, whether this is our first Satsang or thousandth Satsang. All of these things actually don't matter right now. You're free until you start measuring. You are free.

Almost like just relaxing into that.

Do even that you don't have to do. Although I like the sound of it, but even that you don't have to like... don't relax into that. Show me how you don't. Can you not relax into me? Just don't be. Can you do it?

I'm getting really awkward. Yeah, because it's like, oh no. But then when the movement comes, yes, it's like, oh, movement just allows to go to other movement in the mind or...

Yeah, and just be careful that you don't understand anything. Gosh, what the hell? What are you supposed to do? You are used to that! If you start understanding stuff, you're just going to mess up things again. If this does that, then that, then... because life cannot be put in any sort of box like that. If this happens and that happens, then this happens, life will show you, 'I'm bigger than that. I'll show you how concept is all bunkum.' So the mind is an attempt to box life into some sort of constructs when life is too big to do that. Don't have to hold it together. Don't have to hold it together. You don't have to hold it together. Yes, yes. Try to not hold it together. Let your being just disintegrate and fall apart. Let's see. I've never seen...

Because life cannot be put in any sort of box like that. If this happens and that happens, then this happens—life will show you, 'I'm bigger than that. I'll show you how concept is all bunk.' So the mind is an attempt to box life into some sort of constructs when life is too big to do that. You don't have to hold it together. You don't have to hold it together. You don't have to hold it together. Yes, yes, try to try to not hold it together. Let your being just disintegrate and fall apart. Let's see. I've never seen that. Are you saying that that's a concept? That the presence is here and you're holding it up like that, and if you let go, you see? Let me see that happen for anyone. It is the false persona, it is the false facade, the false identity that needs to be held up. The truth doesn't need any holding up; it already is holding up. Are you holding up your being?

All the effort, all the doing, all the understanding—what is that for? Who are you trying to help? God needs help? You can come back if there's something to say. Okay, let's go to Laura.

Hello, Father. No idea, you already... um, no. I wanted to come but I don't want to do this personally because I feel that satsang is for something so much more deep, but right now I can't do this personally. It's like it feels like it's more bigger than me. I know that's not bigger than me, but it feels like...

Yes, and because just keep that worry aside and just speak whatever is naturally coming up. This chair, don't worry about it. Okay?

Um, I've been going through a divorce and I'm believing, like, these moments in life that if everything is bad enough, somehow it's bad, but somehow it's also good because there are happening a lot of tough things. But at the same time, I'm feeling like God is with me and I feel support and also good things are happening. But when tough things come, it's very tough and I feel like I can't handle it. I feel like this is so much pain. I feel abandoned. I feel... this pain sometimes is in the body, and I'm so exhausted of living this pain. And my mind is making me crazy and sometimes I just try to see who is this one who is feeling this pain, who feels alone or who feels abandoned and who feels tired. See, blah blah blah. And sometimes I can recognize that this is not my true nature, but then it comes again with so much rage, like, 'Yeah, you know this, you are not this, yes you are this.' And I feel I'm so identified with this Laura and this situation, and I'm so identified with 'I want my husband back and I want all the past back again' that it is impossible. And I just want to learn how to surrender because I'm exhausted and I feel like I'm in a state of emergency. I want to leave this everything. I don't want to know anymore else and I want to put this at your feet because I remember the first time when I talked to you that I told you that I had all these things with bad habits and vices, and I know it's not the specific thing because yesterday was the vices, now is my husband, and tomorrow will be another thing.

Good. Thank you. Thank you for that support. I have some very good news. A simple metaphor is that if you are on a diet, then don't go inside the donut shop. You know, donut shop? You know these donuts, cakes? If you're on a diet, then don't go inside the donut shop. No, that's simple, isn't it? So if you don't want to suffer, don't go to the mind. Now you may feel that, but to run my life for practical, quote-unquote 'practical' things, a real world—which is a nonsensical term—in the real world, I need to use the mind. It doesn't actually mean anything.

Now, the intuition that I'm pointing you to also provides whatever guidance is needed. That Guru presence which shows you what you are, it shows you what you are, is not just there for that. It's like, it's not dumb about everything else. You can go to this Guru just for 'who I am' but for the rest of the stuff, 'No, no, it's quite dumb.' Please. So the same heart, the same intuition that you've been pointed to, whatever guidance is needed to run this life is also present there. So how to go to the heart? Just don't go to the mind. If you don't go to the mind, you're already in the heart. In fact, you live in the heart, except you have these adventures in the mind. That's all. That's surrendered. That's it.

Yes, for your current reality, for your current version of reality, wherever you go, even to make your report, where will you go?

Sorry, I don't understand.

It's like, yeah, it's okay, it's okay. So to report about your current situation right now, where will you go? To the mind. So don't go there and see if you're still here. And all of you understand when I say don't go there, it doesn't mean that the mind has to stop. It can still come and go. You don't have to try and stop your mind; just don't believe the nonsense it is telling you about who you are. And you don't have to become antagonistic. You don't have to say, 'You are my enemy.' You just treat it like a child who's telling these stories. Our children just tell these stories, but we don't believe every story they tell. So without the mental narrative about what's happening to you or who you are, tell me something different. Tell me something from your heart.

The important tip for all of you, because you may constantly be auditing yourself in the mind saying, 'This is my situation, this is what is happening to me right now,' but that is not a true way to look. It is not a true way to check. And if your mind is saying, 'But this is denying your reality' or some garbage like that, you see, give the mind a task. Say, 'Can you tell me what is right now? You're telling me so much about all my past and what is happening to me. Can you just tell me what is right now?' What is the mind's report about what is right now? Capture what is, even what is manifesting, what is appearing. Try to capture it in your mind. Absolutely what is happening right now. The mind will give you some comic book version of this, isn't it? It will say, 'Oh, satsang is happening, there is the master, he's sitting on a couch, then there are some disciples sitting in front of him,' and so on. Is that what this is? Is that what this is? It's a nursery rhyme, no? Compared to what this is. The beauty of the light which is present here, the beautiful sounds, the expressions, the shining eyes—where is all of that?

And most importantly, where is that one who is witnessing all of this? Never present in the narrative. Like originally, there is a third word which witnesses all the story. She is aware of even perception but never included in any story. So neither what is appearing is well translated, nor is it complete because it misses out on the main thing, which is: who is aware of all of this? You see? So why rely so much on the mind? Tell me what this is right now. You have ten thousand words, you still could not do it. One moment your mind cannot define one moment, but it builds a story about your whole life. It's called nonsense when you buy into those ideas, you see.

And we talk to our siblings or our parents and we say, 'This is what my life was,' and what are you talking about? Because they'll have their own version which will be so different from yours because consciousness loves, even in the play, it loves variety. Even when consciousness is playing the game of delusion, it doesn't like redundancy. It wants to experience everything differently. That's why everybody, even the ones who grew up with us, will have a different narrative about what happened because not one moment you can capture in your head. You can just meet life from your heart, empty of this grasping. You can meet life in this way, but you cannot convert it into a story. It's too big. Like God—I was talking about God—God's manifest creation is also too big for your head to handle. And that's why you're struggling. All of you are tired because of what you have to make sense of. Life is too big. You just can't do it. And it's human arrogance, you see. Plants are not struggling that way, hopefully. Human arrogance which says, 'No, no, this is what happened to me. It happened because...' You see, all this causation nonsense is just in the human condition. 'And then if I fix this, then this may happen.' So we think we know so much. It's nothing. We don't scratch the surface of life with our mind.

So does that mean we are lost then? Because we have the mind and we have perception. We run the first principle of Swamiji—hopefully we'll agree—of Vedanta is that everything that comes and goes is not real. And everything in perception comes and goes. So then without this, are we lost? You have to play with this, experiment with this and see what happens. And you know the answer is that you're not lost; you are found. You let go of the false instruments, then you see that you've been always here. It is apparent. The truth is. Then you say, 'This is what the sages have been saying. The diamond has always been in your pocket. You've been searching the whole world.' What is that? Found it, found it! What is that in your pocket? Whose presence is your presence? Whose beingness is that? That is the highest force and it is yours. It is your presence. But you, whose presence this is, are not even bound by the presence. Even the being and not being of this consciousness does not limit you. You are that Absolute. That is why.

So that is why there is a difference in the two questions. The insight that you get when I say, 'Can you stop being?' you see, is qualitatively different—not fundamentally different, but qualitatively different—from the insight that you get when I say, 'Are you aware now?' So try: can you stop being? Try to stop being. See, you notice the primordial sort of vibration, the presence. But when I say, 'Are you aware now?' even that you don't need, isn't it? You don't need to latch on to even that vibration. The holy vibration also you don't need because even that comes from you. This is your magnificence. This is your reality.

And in your story, what is your reality? Little old me was born in this house and grew up like this, my parents were like that. Then in the four variables of relationship and money and health of the body and the search for meaning of freedom—these four variables are all that we have in our life when we play this little game of little old me trying to get more relationship, more money, better health, more meaning, more free time, best master, all this. What about these four things? If you drop the false notion about who you are, what is that what you have to solve? What you have to find? And the design of this play, because consciousness itself was designed, it's very compelling. It's the best game you've ever played in terms of its intricacy and its tentacles, the ability to pull you in, to make it so-called relatable. It's the best game you play.

That's why if you keep relying on 'but it feels like this, it seems like that, it looks like this,' then you will not find the truth. Why are you taking something to be true because it feels like that? That's not good enough for you now. Not good enough for you now. 'Why are you troubling yourself, Father?' Because it feels like... Nobody leaves the future. Who's behind that? What's the substratum? Is that touched? Is that attacked or hurt by any feeling? What's at the substrate? What's your reality? So as long as we keep going with 'feels like' and 'seems like,' then we are not spiritual. That is to be materialistic. The whole world of so-called materialistic people, which so-called spiritual people look down so much upon, just chasing money and cars and relationships—we look down upon those people. What are they doing? They're also believing what seems like and feels like. Isn't that the same? We just have a better guard to hide in obvious positions.

True spirituality is to go beyond what seems like. It takes courage. You've suffered, been beaten up a lot, then we become open sometimes. Like Guruji says, when you run out of moves, then you have no option but to look beyond. Courage, or maybe devotion. If you're blessed with devotion, then that can be the antidote to fear. Just fear. Because what is the fear? Everything that I've built...

So believing what seems like and feels like, isn't that the same? We just have a better guard to hide in obvious positions. True spirituality is to go beyond what seems like. It takes courage. If you've been suffering, beaten up a lot, then we become open sometimes. Like Guruji says, when you run out of moves, then you have no option but to look beyond. Courage, or maybe devotion. If you're blessed with devotion, then that can be the antidote to fear. Just fear. Because what is the fear? Everything that I've built up so far may just be shown to be all nonsense, you see? And then I'm left with nothing, completely open. That is the fear.

Now, if you are blessed with devotion, a master takes care of it or God takes care of it. I have nothing to worry about. So devotion is one of the antidotes to fear. You can't create it. So I don't want to create like a sense of grief, maybe I'm not devoted enough; that's not the idea of me saying this. But I'm just saying if you're here, then trust. And then that trust naturally can develop into devotion. Yes.

No, I have to act on it. Devotion means I have to act on it. Devotion means who's the actor? I am. If you feel like, 'Oh, I am devoted towards you,' then that is like a half surrender because you have not given up on the experience, or in this case, maybe you haven't given up on the doer. I know what you've given up on then. So devotion could be the sense that, 'Oh, You are the doer. Do with me as You please.' You see, in that statement of devotion, we let go of the doer, but we still hold on to the experiences. So, 'You are the doer and do with me as You please,' so there will be still holding on to the experiences, you see?

Then you come to a point saying, 'You are the only one. You are doing, You are experiencing. What is my business? None of mine.' Then in 'none of my business,' if the ego doesn't have business left, then it doesn't last long. If it still has business left for doing or experiencing, then it can find a way to survive. When you take out the legs of doing and experiencing, that is surrender. That is devotion. One says—I think Mooji Baba said—that which is measurable is miserable. Yes.

So now what is Laura saying? Nothing. If there are nothing but... no, no, maybe I don't know. Maybe now I was going to say that maybe this 'but' will become later, but now I don't have a 'but.' In India, we have this word called 'bak-bak,' which means nonsense, but... so sometimes we joke and say, 'But what is bak?' It can come like a friend. It can come like a friend. You may have the deepest insight of God's presence, which is in your heart. You may see that right now, but the mind can come and say, 'But what about you?' something. So it comes posing as if it is a friend, you see? And soon it wants to be the king.

Thank you, Father. I love you so much. Okay, let's go to Gita. Namaste, Father. Yeah, so nice to see you in quite a while. Yes, yes, I have been working during the days and then now I had like a blessing to have this day off. Business time, Father. I just want to say that I have so much gratitude for you and for your infinite love because I could spend one week with you in Bangalore physically in 2019, and your words, your guidance, everything you brought, it's so much alive in the heart. It feels like it's addiction, that the true one can always be alive inside their hearts. So I just wanted to take this moment to give thanks to you, to say that we all love you so much and appreciate this opportunity to just be with you finding out ourselves and a very short song. Oh, we love it, we love it. And you can make it longer. It's a song from satsang a long time ago I heard it. It was just coming to me in the beginning.

Oh, okay. Okay, who haven't I heard from? Let's go to Azima. She's raising her biological hands. Hey, Azima.

I am from... I was supposed to be in Bangalore because with Meera's group, yes. And I am really sad that I couldn't make it. I just wanted to sit in your grace and ask you to help me. I watch the mind and whatever I am doing, the observation is also there, the awareness is also there, but still so many times the arrogance comes, which I am observing, but it is difficult to leave. Okay, so I want to surrender my arrogance and actually surrender myself if you can help me to do that.

Thank you for sharing that, and I'm very happy to look at this with you. Share a little more about what you imply by arrogance. What comes? What actually happens?

Patience sometimes... and because if I can see something and it comes like that, this is sometimes it comes like that, and most of the time no patience. And I know I am nothing, and still the mind keeps coming in. I have experienced it and nothing, but still it comes and says that this is a trick, you don't... you haven't got it. So you need to... normally I don't talk much because I know that to talk I need the mind, to use the mind to say. And yeah, though I am observing, still it bothers. I really need your help. I need your drishti. I need your grace.

Thank you for openly exposing, firstly, because some of these things, if there was like a lot of arrogance, firstly you would not be able to come to an open forum like this and to share this so openly. Mostly what would then happen is you would say, 'Oh, can I get a one-on-one with you?' or 'Can I get some time with you?' because... but that can also be out in... sometimes you can just be like, 'No, no, I don't want to tell everyone that I'm like this, you know? I just want to bring it to you because they think badly of me or something.' So first, already a very good step that you are sharing openly like this.

So what happens when something shows up? You feel like a lot of, like what we would call anger, just comes? Is that what happens?

Yeah, yeah. And the best part is I am observing it and still, still it just goes out, you know.

Now what happens once the anger comes? What do you do with it? Do you justify it? Do you say, 'This is rational because I am the victim,' or 'This is not right,' or 'This is wrong'? Do you do that process or you just... like it's a short-lived anger, it comes and goes?

It is a short-lived, but at that time it is something very strong. I mean, I can lash it out and within two minutes I am okay. And while lashing I have observed it, what is happening, but still there is no stoppage at that time though I am observing. And in few minutes I am okay.

And does this happen only in certain situations like relationships and things, or is it everywhere? You could be talking to people when it happens?

Rarely, but sometimes even at in a shop if somebody is just trying to give me some silly excuse or, you know, where there is no logic and nothing. And at that time I may just give it back. Not shout at him, but can give a logic like this that he'll have to get away. Because most of the things I say are not logical in the worldly way. There are certain people who talk of logic. Like in some shop they just gave me... they put up something for sale and when I said that, 'Please give me,' and he said, 'No, this one is not for sale.' Then I said, 'Why have you put it?' So it was 200 rupees. I said, 'Can you tell me?' right? So it was very silly. I could have quietly just watched and kept quiet, but that arrogance, you know?

Thank you. Thank you for being so open about this. The more you live from your heart, the less you will find that you will be suffering from all of these things. Now what will happen to your expression we cannot predict, because even in the expressions of sages, some seem very like temperamental and some seem to shanti shanti, whatever. So that we can't predict. Even in the sages we have on the walls of the camera here, like everybody had a different expression. So those things we cannot predict.

But anger by itself when it arises is not the trouble. It is what we make out of it with our heads, which is resentment, which is guilt. In your case, it's more guilt than resentment, like 'I should not have done that, this should not have happened.' So it is this the second punch of the mind, you see, which is more detrimental. So what can happen is that then it just builds up a situation where it feels like, 'Oh, I should not get angry, I should not get angry.' And here somebody is quote-unquote looting you and that pent-up thing is there, 'I should not get angry.' So when it comes out, it's bound to sound like an explosion because you already have conditions around how you should be and how you should not, you see?

So my suggestion for you is don't worry about this topic. Don't worry about if this is what you call arrogance, then don't worry about this arrogance. Actually, arrogance in satsang is to take yourself to be something that you're not, you see? Now you already said, 'I see that I am nothing,' but even behind that subtly, you see, the one that has seen that that is nothing is still building up something there. So my suggestion to you is that just remain as open and empty as possible. See, as open and empty as possible. I don't know if you've heard me say this before. How does it sound when I say to you, 'Be open and empty'? What does it sound like?

It's at times it is difficult to be.

Yes, everyone feels it is difficult to be at times, all of everyone here. But that should be the intention. If you're going to carry an intention, let this be the final intention. Let this be the final intention: not to get rid of anger or not to get rid of lust or greed or any of those things. Those are just by-products. Those are just the by-products of the false identification. Openness would mean in this openness, this means allow all these thoughts to come and go as much as you can, as much as you can.

Now what will happen is that sometimes some situation will come, something will feel like injustice, you will shout it out, you see? And I'm not giving you an excuse, but I'm saying that when that shouting happens, then when you realize, 'Oh, this was not right, maybe I could have behaved differently,' don't buy into those stories. Just come back to your open and empty, because it is the guilt and the resentment which is more potent than the momentary expression of anger.

So for to resent, just anger is not enough. Or to feel guilty, just the appearance of a sensation is not enough. Can you see this? Try to make yourself guilty. How will you do it? You will need a combination of two things. One is some emotion, some contraction has to be there like that, and then you will have to have the concept, 'I should not have done this,' you know, whatever. So like that, and you mix both of them and you make guilt out of it. But for anger, you don't need that. Anger just comes.

But as you're more and more open and empty, then you will see the auspiciousness even of the times in which it comes. Again, I'm not giving you an Advaita excuse for bad behavior, okay? I'm just saying... I got it. The thought like, 'I have to change this person really,' or it may come up where, 'It's not my job to change this person,' you see? Now neither of these thoughts you have to buy into. Neither of these thoughts you have to buy into. Take your time in here. You want some water or something? You can get there.

So experience yourself in this neutrality, that every thought is selling me a position about me which is not true. I am not the one which is the protagonist of this thought. I am not the one who is the central character that this thought is proposing. So let it go. Open it up. Then whatever happens through this instrument, through the instrument that we call the body, let it be for God to take care of.

Thank you. So welcome. Thank you very much.

Well, haven't I spoken to... let me see what Zuki wants to say for a moment.

Hello, hello India, my love. Hello. No, is it like that? Can you hear me? I'm not at home right now. I'm just joining from actually another... somewhere else and just... don't have a... I'm in a break now, so just having a break and just joining now for the... yeah, I'm so, so happy and so grateful always to see you, my love. Yeah, thank you.

Thank you so much. It's fun to put some of you on the spot like this at times. Yeah, it's not different, actually.

See what Zuki wants to say for a moment. Hello, hello India, my love. Hello. No, is it like that? Can you hear me?

Uh, I'm not at home right now. I'm just joining from actually another um, somewhere else and just uh, uh, don't have a... I'm in a break now, so just having a break and just joining now for the... yeah, I'm so, so happy and so grateful always to see you, my love. Yeah, thank you, thank you so much.

It's fun to put some of you on the spot like this at times.

Yeah, it's not different actually. It's if I'm home or here, it's no difference. Always with you, my love. Thank you, so good. Thank you so much, thank you. I'm just so grateful, I can only say just all my love. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Let me hear from Rashmi because she was feeling like she wanted to be in Bangalore, so let's get it.

Namaste. It has been such a, such a long time, but I haven't been able to speak with you. Yes, yes, very, very happy birthday. It's my son's birthday today and he's exactly your age. Give him all blessings. Thank you, Father. Thank you so much. It is such a, such a joy to be in your satsangs and though the mind is running and sometimes I'm running with it, but all your grace...

When the mind opens, then we run with it. Are we in front of it or behind it? That's a worthwhile experiment to check.

I really, really need your help on that.

Let's try doing it right now. Let the mind run and see if you're running behind it or running away from it.

It's just both ways sometimes. Sometimes I'm in front.

Okay, no, okay. So you start running fast. See if the mind can catch up. This is this exercise. Once this is exercise, I don't know if you were here or you remember. Actually, your being is so fresh. It's just so fresh every moment that the mind, you know, you need to turn behind to meet the mind, you see? So you're just like right here, right now. Don't, don't look back. Don't look back and see if the mind can catch up with you here. You're here now. Don't go to the moment, just here, just here. You can see this like that. So keep, keep on staying a step ahead of the mind. Be fresh. I don't want anyone becoming meditative or any becoming, because what you call stillness many times is stillness... stillness many times we go into scales, you know, like that. So I don't want that stuff. This fully fresh, fresh, fresh. Okay, let me see all of you also. I mean, come, come, come. Let me first... don't look back at the mind and see what it is offering. Just stay with me.

Yes, also, also balancing... like it looks like work. It looks like a bit of work, not something so...

Don't do that. Just nothing. Don't do anything. Amita is on some other things. Go stillness, anti-meditation. Why did you... if you were meditating, why did you say open your eyes? You know, let me see. Come, come, Laura. No stillness, only fresh, fresh. Very good, Devi. Very good, very good. Sanji, come, come, come. See, you see that? Just your being is so fresh, so fresh, so full. You don't need anything from the mind. But what you have to do, what you have to do to pick up from the mind, you'll notice it's like looking back and saying, 'Ah, what is it?' And then you become fresh. Now go to the mind. Okay, do the reverse. Go to the mind.

I was like, we can't do that.

You can well practice with this. And soon you're just like this, and you have to add anything to the moment to become fresh like that? Nothing. You see, it doesn't matter what's happening in the world. Doesn't matter what events are happening in your life. Nothing. This right now, full presence of being, full God, full fresh God. So this fresh God, don't exchange it for anything. Especially don't exchange it for your spiritual experiences of the past. Your mind will give you some experience of some dark empty space or some nonsensical thing. Leave that. Fresh God is highest. Why do you want to meet stale God? Fresh is best. Exactly. So this is, this is freedom. Every time we see spiritual seekers, they're so serious. They talk about God and it doesn't smell of God at all. It just smells of concept. Anytime I say like that, and if somebody was on the hot seat during that time, if your Father told me yes, and the clicker... this moment before the click, you don't need anything. Nothing is missing. The mind is chasing you, trying to get your attention. 'Please, please, please.' It's like the salesman, no? You're walking on the road, so you turn around with your attention. You can turn around with your attention and that itself is like half invitation, but don't worry about that too much. But even if you turn around with your attention, you don't have to buy it. The seller cannot reach into your pocket and give it beliefs. So don't worry about stopping the mind. So attention may go to it sometimes, but buying or not buying is completely easy for you as consciousness, which is impossible for any person to do because the non-existent can never do anything. But for you as consciousness, which is the only one that is here, freedom is essential. Unless you start thinking about it. Even if you think, 'Oh, is this it? Have I got it? Isn't there more?' or 'It can't be that simple,' or the favorite one probably is, 'Can I stay like this?' No, forget about it. I always say, Madeline reminded me, I told her one time: don't spoil your breakfast thinking about whether you're going to have a bad lunch. Eat, eat God now. Are you worrying about God whether He'll be there at lunchtime? Meet God now. It's probably a better way. So who's chasing who? Who's ready here? And what needs time? Does truth need time? Then seeking doesn't make sense. If you're saying then what are we seeking? And don't take this new position, 'I'm not a seeker.' That's also nonsense. It's not none of this. What I'm saying is meant to be taken conceptually. Meet me. What I'm saying, if truth doesn't need time, then how to seek? How would you seek? Seeking would be in time. Anybody is organically a seeker in this moment? At this moment you're born seeking like that? Is anybody? No. You have to work at it. You have to work. It will go to the mind and say, 'Um, yeah, I want to find God.' Already too much. That's all the mechanics to this. That's all. Mind is a but-bug-bird. It's not... it's easier when you hear. Still doing that? Can we experiment with this some more? Okay, now just be fresh. So be fresh. We'll be here, here right now, right? And can we try in the same way? Can you go to the mind like that? Do you read the mind? Tell me what the mind is. Can you do... do you need time? If I say go to the mind, what is the mind saying? Okay, tell me fastest response. Tell me the fastest. Don't feel shy.

Nothing. Such a silence. No mind. Someone... I should be sitting on the floor. You can see the effort.

And this is contrary to the report from the mind to say, 'But not going to the mind takes effort, it's so difficult.' Now what is your experience? I'm saying go to the mind. Go right now instantly, like a deer in headlights. Okay, take a minute. Go to the mind and see. Your face is changing. Still very hard work. This is what freedom looks like. Just fresh. And when I say pure perception, it's the same thing. The same thing when I say remain in your perception. Don't label your perception. You're just looking at everything fully, you know? You're not leaving, you're not saying, 'Ah, this is yours.' That's one way to be fresh like that. Just pure perception, open and empty, unborn. All these pointers are the same. Yeah, come back in. Don't make the effort to even understand. What I'm saying is actually coming out from you, from your heart. Your intuition is speaking to you, so you don't have to try and understand it also. Easy peasy. God is. It's arrogance which is difficult. She was saying, 'My friend is using arrows.' What is arrow now? To try and build something on top of this is the mind constant. But actually that is an avoidance of this. Make this fully like this. What can you add to this? Okay, try to add something to your presence. Make it better. Come on, it's not good enough, no? Your presence, make it better. Give yourself this gift. Try to. How will you make it? That's the mind's proposal always. It would be better if... you would be better if you had this relationship, would be better. You see, what can come in front of you now that can make you better? Anything you can perceive that can make you better? Your being can shine more? You can become deeper? Deeper, let's get deeper. Can you go deeper in this being? Try to go deeper. What will you use? At best, if you say, 'Okay, don't say mind,' but if you may say attention, 'I'll go deeper with my attention.' But go deeper and try with your attention. You just start visualizing stuff. You start visualizing. So no deeper, no shallower. None of this applies to your being and it definitely doesn't apply to yourself. Does the manifest primordial vibration in the light of which all of this appears? There's no levels, there are no degrees. And to that which is aware of all of this, even the notion of degrees is always nonsensical. Thank you. It happens stuff. What evidence will you take to be true? No, it's good, that's good. What evidence will you take to be true? Would you have said, 'I feel stuck' if you heard a traffic sound of a horn on the road? No. But that's also appearing. Why aren't you stuck? You have the notion it should not be. Basically the idea it should not be. And this means something. The meaning-making which we started, the sense-making, the meaning... the meaning machine is the 'me' machine. Where there is meaning, even if we make it meaningless, it's all meaningless, still 'me'. That's a fresh meaning. Just don't understand, right? Don't understand. I am doing it for you. Thinking, the process of thinking here, every time it is going on, you know, we don't know, but it's not working. Okay, okay, okay. Let's think now. Think now, think now, think now. Now, now. What is the thought now? Think now. No, it's not going on. If you think about thinking, then it will seem like it is going on. Don't think about thinking. Donkeys. Don't think is good enough. That is how it is appealing to you. You see, this is how it is appealing to you. How you are appealing to me. Please listen, listen. But it is happening like that. It is appealing to you like that. Right here, I may listen to you, but you don't listen to it. No, not there, not there. This is the whole thing. This is the whole thing. Which instrument, which instrument are we using? If we start thinking about the process of thinking, then we'll come up with a lot of thinking about thinking, a lot of meta-thinking. What will you do with meta-thinking? Nothing. It's all nonsense. What do you think? Anytime you... one trick is, one tip is: anytime you find yourself getting serious about anything, forget about it. What you're thinking about thinking doesn't mean you have to be like Masaram. Don't just say, 'How's the time?' That's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. Just naturally whatever is arising. But if you find yourself getting serious... you don't have to understand anything. You don't have to understand anything. This is not that kind of classroom. Satsang is not that kind of classroom. You don't have to get in the way of it like that. Don't become unnatural like, 'Oh, I'm hearing what he's saying, but I'm understanding this is...' Stop, stop. You see what that face is? And the metaphorically speaking word, you know what that face is? Trying to get God in your head. Trying to get God in your head looks like... so what is here as your very presence? Don't have to squeeze the presence into your head. Don't have to make an understanding out of life. Oranges? Then don't make orange juice. And you see, many of us... I may be using a central metaphor, but actually our need to extract meaning from concepts is this process of troubling ourselves with this orange juice making. This is the only way we trouble ourselves. Who's sitting in your heart? Who is sitting in your heart? Answer that. You cannot escape that one. That one whose presence is in your heart, that one is you yourself. But how can my presence be God's presence, little old me? So what is the way to check this presence? See if it has a boundary. Where does it stop? Okay, this presence, where does it stop?

Our need to extract meaning from concepts is this process of troubling ourselves with this orange juice making. This is the only way we trouble ourselves. Who's sitting in your heart? Who is sitting in your heart? Answer that. You cannot escape that one. That one whose presence is in your heart, that one is you yourself. But how can my presence be God's presence, little old me? So what is the way to check this presence? See if it has a boundary. Where does it stop? Okay, this presence, where does it start? Where does it start? If it was just yours—and we'll talk about who that 'yours' is—then it would be restricted, it would be limited. You say, 'Oh, that is this is my interest.' Can you find that boundary? See whether this voice that you're hearing is it outside of you? This voice is being heard, well, just appearing in the same space of being, the same presence in the same space. Find something that is outside that. So where should we make your boundary? I'll tell you whether it is your presence or God's presence if you tell me where your boundary is.

Body form? You can see that the sensations that we call the body are appearing where? Same space. Same space of being. Now, is there less being on that side and more being on this side? Is that your experience? If this was your container, then you would never be able to talk about that side at all. But you can see that the sensations are dancing around in the space of your being, and your being is all-pervasive. Listen to this in spatial terms, you see, then it will give you an idea that 'I am like this.' Atma is true. This means it's in the heart. You're meeting what I'm saying very well. So like this, you notice that this boundary—me and God—is this just my presence or is it God's presence? Then we have to be able to distinguish between the two, isn't it? And then how do we reconcile the most famous spiritual notion that God is everywhere? Does that mean that God is everywhere but me? All this is God, but what's inside this bundle of bucket of flesh and blood is me? Like that? That's what the mind tries to convince us. So no distinction. That's why no duality. And not just because, 'Oh, it's a concept, I don't believe in duality.' No, it's not about belief. You don't find it intuitively. You don't find a separation. You don't find a distance. Now there is no 'me' left, there's only God. Or if 'me' is everywhere, that means God. Either way, it's God.

Where are you hearing these words? Outside you or inside? Any experience outside you? Can you attest to a universe which is outside of you? And how would you send your attention there? Everything you perceive is with your attention, isn't it? Now if something is outside of you, how would you send your attention there? Think about it. Just experiment with it. You try to send your attention outside of yourself. Can you send it? But you realize that all this realm of time and space is nothing but a tiny, tiny, tiny appearance within you. But not 'within' in spatial terms again. Don't make a mental framework of it. Just meet it intuitively. And the main task of all of this what I'm saying is to chop up your ideas of separation and boundaries so you can give yourself the space to meet yourself intuitively. And over there, even these high-sounding words are actually nothing compared to what you are.

'Me' means inside. Okay, do an experiment with me. Close your eyes. You've gone inside. Inside what? Inside the body would be an x-ray machine, so you should be able to see your bones and your flesh and your blood. Is it like that? Then if it is not inside the body, then inside what have you gone? Because when we say 'inside me,' we mean inside the body, you see. It's not true, but usually when we speak, we're speaking like that—that all this that I experience, I experience inside me, you see. But 'me' is what? This body? You have never gone inside the body. You need an x-ray machine or something to go inside the body. So when you go inside with eyes closed, which means they remove the stimuli of perception, then inside what are we going? Are there dimensions there? Is there time? How does it function? So is the appearance of this, you see, us going outside or just a change of what is appearing on the same screen? That's for the contemplation also. Is it just that the appearance on the screen has disappeared in one aspect of it, which is the visual aspect of it, and with the eyes open, apparently eyes open, then this appears on the same screen? Or have we actually changed the screen? These are worthwhile questions, no? Because we take these things very literally.

Like in spirituality, it is that what we found inside you. Then if God is that small that God lives inside me, then I am the bigger God, you see. So it is metaphorical for us to point us in a way to look in a different direction to what we've been looking. What would be so great about something that lives inside me? So tomorrow, what is the big deal in searching for that? But the 'me' is not the body. So it is just a provocation to look at yourself in a different way. Most don't even contemplate this. We say, 'I go inside, I meditate, I go inside.' But inside what? Inside the body? There has to be what you ate for lunch. There you go. When you go inside, inside what? Outside is what? There is a dividing line between inside and outside. So then like this, 'my presence,' but where's the boundary for me? That's the boundary for me. What are we calling 'me'? It's just a word, no? You can use it anywhere. If somebody's a Russian, you can tell them 'me' and they say what? It means space. It is a label, isn't it? Inherently it doesn't mean anything. So what do we apply it to? When we say 'me,' what do we apply it to? Is that head nodding over there not my head, and this head nodding over here is my head? Why should I call it—why should I make this distinction? What forces me as consciousness? All of this is appearing in my being. Why should I draw a line and say 'me' and 'other,' 'this is the world and this is myself'? Nothing inherently.

Like infants are not born with this distinction. I used to take this example that when my son was very small, you'd say, 'Where is your head? Where is your head?' He used to point at our heads and say, 'No, no, this is not your head, this is your head.' So this is human conditioning which is natural at that age, but now this is to discover greater truth. What determines where you draw the line to yourself? Just a set of measly sensations? We'll say, 'Ah, now, yeah.' So it would sit differently from what it produces. There's the source of light and there is light. Is it like that? If you think, you'll go in the wrong direction. There's something which is letting these, yes. Where is that thing? Inside what? That's worth finding out. We want to know so much. We want to know where Timbuktu is. We want to know where this is. Somebody says the capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires and somebody says, 'No, no, it's Rio de Janeiro.' We say, 'Oh, you're so stupid, you don't even know where Rio is. No, it's in Brazil,' you know, like that. But where we are, we don't want to know. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you sitting? And Swamiji asks this question also: Where are we? What? Inside what? Inside the body is a tiny little insect. You want to know so much. There is the equator and where does Prince Charles live? You know all this human... where do you live? Who's going to look for that? Yeah, where are you? In whatever way, tell me, where are you now? Are you here or here? Is 'here' for you? I wonder if you can hear the question. Are you here? Meanwhile, are you here spatially in this room? These are worthy contemplations to me because our paradigm of what we are, you see, in spite of all the spiritual learning, can continue to be so body-centric. And you just feel like everything applies to this bundle of flesh, and everything actually, all the good stuff about, you know, all the universes is appearing and disappearing within you. All this is good to have this body.

Where are you? Body is nothing but a bundle of material phenomena. Bundle of material. So you would have to be material to be inside this. How many grams of presence can this glass hold? Suppose it's 300 ml of liquid, how many grams of presence? It's a different dimension. It doesn't apply. So how can this body hold presence? It's like this glass, you know, material stuff. It's all the falafel we've eaten, nothing more to it. So we have to really question these even spiritual-sounding beliefs and you realize a lot of bunkum everywhere. That's my favorite word today. Meditation, just another word. So we could say like, 'Can you suggest a meditation to me?' I say, 'Remain in the unknown.' Another may say, 'Oh, just manifest your highest desire,' you see. So the qualitative difference is the two, but with the same word. So it all depends on what we mean by the word.

I've been ranting for some time now. Where did we start? What is happening? We expect the mind to give a straight answer. Intellect feels like everything should be logical. Like another child was saying earlier, 'I get upset when things are not logical.' But what is logical? Even inside and outside is a joke. Up and down is nonsense. So what will be straightforward? What is up for you? You have to define yourself to say what is up. Now tell me, what is up? No up or down for you. So what is straight? These are intellectual constructs. See what are the options. What are the options? So first option is let's say, let's say option one was the person, the personal identity, ego. But ego doesn't exist. You look for it. At one time I used to say I'll give thousand dollars to anyone who can produce the person. Nobody's claimed that thousand dollars. Ten years ago. Now it's expanded. So there's no such person. So the non-existent one cannot do anything.

Then what else is here? You say being is. Beingness is. Whose beingness is? We like to use the word God, another may say consciousness, whatever. So this consciousness. So this consciousness itself chooses to play this game of delusion by going to thoughts. And then I use this metaphor of a movie, and the movie made the villain has had its piece for half the movie and suddenly in an instant God wins. Say that was very aggressive, no fun. No, because you want the protagonist to come back in a heroic way and fight back, you know, enjoy that happening. So what is consciousness's version of coming back to truth? You start your spiritual journey, you start coming to satsang. So consciousness playing the game of delusion and consciousness playing the game of stepping out from delusion. It is extracting the juice from every scene. So it seemed like it goes into delusion, illusion, then it becomes too much. Like Guruji says, you run out of moves. There's suffering everywhere. Then you start looking for answers. You become open to hear absurd nonsense like I'm speaking. Not everyone is open like this. Think about your family and friends. All of them will come and hear this stuff? Nobody will hear. So something has made you open. You see whether we call it grace or suffering or whatever, something has made us open.

And then with openness we start looking at these things. Where am I? Who am I? When the world says 'me' or my name, who are they talking about? Then these questions start appealing. Or the many paths like this: I came across a master and he just said, 'Leave everything to him or her.' Then I had so much trust in my heart, my life became their problem. Like that. So many, many different shades, movies of this spiritual... actually everything is consciousness with consciousness. So who's going to the mind? You as consciousness. Satsang is what? Consciousness is reminding consciousness that you suffered enough. Sometimes the consciousness sets an alarm clock for itself. It's all absurd. I don't expect it to make sense, but that's as far as we can go as far as words. If you're invited, don't go to the donut shop. You can't become a two stills, okay.

One says in the chat, 'Father, is there a difference between don't go to your mind and don't believe the next thought?'

No, not... it's good enough. It's the same. Although you could be making a distinction between attention and being...

Reminding consciousness that you suffered enough. Sometimes the consciousness sets an alarm clock for itself. It's all absurd. I don't expect it to make sense, but that's as far as we can go as far as words. If you're invited, don't go to the donut shop. You can't become a 'two' still, okay?

One says in the chat, 'Father, is there a difference between don't go to your mind and don't believe the next thought?' No, it's good enough. It's the same, although you could be making a distinction between attention and belief. Usually, my advice is to not bother with attention so much; just don't believe, don't identify. One of them and this, yes, where I don't...

Thank you all so much for being in satsang today. Unmute everyone.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Happy birthday! Thank you. Thank you. Happy birthday! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Happy birthday! Thank you. Thank you. Love you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

It is fresh. God is the highest and this is freedom. It is fresh. God is the highest. Fresh. But it's so fresh and it lost...

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Birthday encouragement. We love you so much. Yes.