This is What is Meant by Advaita Denial - 6th December 2016

A statement that desire is a part of surrender... I didn't feel to agree with it at all.

Yes, because once we surrender and say, 'Everything is Yours, You do what You like, experience what You like,' this is surrender, you see. And then to say, 'Oh, but I want this,' this is not opposed to it? It's not opposed when you see that that wanting is also God's wanting to experience that experience at that moment?

Yes, but...

And you say, 'I'm walking left,' and you say, 'I'm walking right.' You see? At the same time, 'I'm walking left, I'm walking right, I'm walking left, I'm walking right.' Everything is being done by God, you see. But is it true? Is it coherent? Is it coherent? Is it true? When you say one second, 'Everything is Yours,' and the next second, 'I want this,' but then say, 'That also is Yours,' it's very convenient. Can we talk in terms of practical examples? Suppose the example of an ice cream desire—don't work toward that for obvious reasons. Let's see. 'Everything is God. Dear God, let Thy will be done.' You see? That is this prayer of surrender. 'Let Thy will be done,' really? And the next is like, 'Please make sure I have a job, please make sure I have a girlfriend, please make sure life goes in this particular way, I have lots of money.' So which statement is actually true? That is what we have to look at.

Looked at and found that both the statements are true in a way. That even when you surrender to the higher power, then it kind of brings these motivations to guide your life in a better manner, you know?

Like, okay, so if you keep both are true, both are equally true for you? Okay, so one statement is... how both are equally true? Do I surrender completely without going in a full conceptual direction? What is true for you? Do you have desire or no?

Right now, I don't feel that there is anything, but it comes up. Like, it may be that when I go out there is nothing.

Then no problem. Whether this desire to speak all this... as I said, if there is nothing, remain empty. No desire to be right?

Yeah, maybe a desire to correct if something wrong is being spoken which is not true.

What is that? Who does it belong to?

I think I can easily let go of this desire to correct. It's not a very big deal.

There is something called the straw man fallacy. The straw man fallacy is that we take a point and we debate that with a point which is different from that. So I say, 'India is a very nice place to live,' and someone says, 'Oh, but India has got independence 68, 70 years ago.' Then nothing to do—the two have nothing to do with each other. The exercise was to look at what is the nature of desire. Also, I told you that I am not answering anything, I'm just giving you pointers to look at. So the straw man fallacy is that, 'Oh, but desire is also God's doing.' Everything is God's doing. If this was your true state of surrender, then we would not be having this conversation at all. If you have this acceptance that 'Everything, all my desires are Yours, all my life is Yours,' then you would not have this aversion to this conversation because you would know what it is meant for. Because you would be able to see that there was a point where there was belief in these concepts that something could be mine, there is something that this false non-existent 'I' could want. Who doesn't know that everything that moves in this realm is God's will? Then why come to Satsang? Why inquire? Why anything? Nothing. If that is a true experience, it would be different. So we use that... we take concepts, yes, to gloss over as a resistance to look at what is it that still reinforces my sense of separation.