The Truth Is One - 2nd February 2018

One of the first things, one of the first things we hear in satsang, in any kind of satsang, is that only consciousness is, only God is, only the Self is. The truth is one. But in the beginning, this can seem a bit distant. It can seem a bit abstract and we wonder: How do we relate to this? How do we find this out? So we say, what is this consciousness, or God, or Satguru, or Self? It can be here, something, right? It is what is. What is, is the Self. And for a while, even this can seem a bit nebulous. Then the master says, the news is what is. What is this 'what is'? And the master says: It is 'I am'. And this is very direct, very approachable, because everybody says 'I am'. Everyone says 'I am'. So this 'I am' is not alien to anybody and it is ever-present.

So the only thing that has happened is that this pure consciousness, 'I am', this 'what is', is covered in this layer of—seemingly covered with this layer of concepts: 'I am individual', 'I am a man', 'I am good', 'I am honest', 'I have sinned', 'I want to become free'. But just what is this 'I am' actually remains untouched by any of these concepts. And so I said before that anything that we say after 'I am' is a story. And if I want to be harsh, I can say ultimately it is a lie, because this 'I am' does not have any condition. It is not good nor bad, neither big nor small. It just is. That is why the masters remind you to let go of any concept that you have about yourself, because it only belongs to a notion; it does not belong to the reality of what you are.

And this we can check now. Is this 'I am' a man or a woman? This beingness, this consciousness, is it a phantom or is it one which has a gender? Does it have a shape or a size? Does it have a beginning or an end? What is true about this? That's why I call it your simplest discovery, because to make any discovery, first you have to be. Can you make a discovery unless you were? Now, where is the trouble? Only when we say, 'All this is fine, it's okay, but let me deal with the real world in a real way.' And we'll pick up the unreal in that way. Most of you in satsang, and many of you will have been to many, many satsangs now, you see that this is true about you: I just am, with no limitation, no boundary, no qualities, no attributes.

And yet something convinces you—the voice of the mind comes to convince you—that all of this is alright in spirituality, it's fine, but you have to now deal with the real world as if you are something. But many of you have also found that even without the notion of 'something', the play of life can continue. I am as motorable dealing with this life. 'I am' does not need to pick up a pretense, a mask, because all of this is just the will of this very 'I am'. So now consciousness is playing this game of reminding itself of its reality. I am playing the game—the Ananta aspect of consciousness is playing the game of being the alarm clock, and all of you are playing the game of needing this reminder.

So now this game has happened. You have been reminded. Now what is left? Alarm clock, put it on to the next. That is why over the last few days also I've tried to look at this notion that 'this is difficult' or 'I haven't got it yet' by telling you that because the simplest discovery is that you are. Before you can report 'I am sitting', I am. Before you can say 'I am sad', I am. So no effort is needed and no movement gets in the way. Anytime that I say 'no movement is needed', if you feel like, 'Oh, I should not move', no. What I'm saying is that no movement gets in the way. You just are. Your boundary does not exist.