What Convinces You That Your Being Is Personal? - 14th June 2018

Then what happens? In some cultures, it is prescribed by some prophets or sages that this is a good representation, use this one. The priest will prescribe, 'Okay, this is a good representation, let's use this form.' So, you can have Jesus on the cross or some voices from the past. In India, it became very democratic, you know? Whatever you like, you can make a form you like. You would like to relate with a God that is naughty, playful, fun, easy, yet all-knowing and ruthlessly knowledgeable? Okay, let's make Krishna. You feel that one should be righteous and struggle with all these human conditions and try to go through this journey of human exploration in a very authentic, honorable way? Then we have representations of Ram. So, whatever form that you can actually imagine, there is a representation which can be made or is available already.

And the beauty of any such form is that it takes you out of this 'mini-me' to trust in a deeper, to trust in a more divine. And these forms also can be the forms of the Masters that have come and gone or still exist in their body. And it's beautiful because although some of us find it strange that why in India we put all of these photos of the Masters everywhere, you see, what is this about? It's very good because at some point in time, we must have figured that the human nature has become so forgetful about the truth that everywhere I look, I want to be reminded. So, here along this wall, Guruji is there. On this wall, Guruji is there. And this is next to the window, Guruji is there. You know what I mean? The photo is there. Because every day the volume of the mind is full; my truth volume is not so. These forms act as flips of Consciousness which have awakened, who stepped out of the paradigm of the mind and are now awakening us deeper into the reality. These are always good reminders of what possibility exists here in Consciousness.

And I'm aware that some of these terms might sound a bit dualistic, but we are talking about how Consciousness operates when it is deluded as if it is something else. To remind ourselves that everything is taken care of, we make, and initially we can even say we need, an outer representation to force this. I have often said that the beauty of having a living Master is that they show you the possibility that it is possible to exist in this world even with a body and family and work. All of this is completely possible without hanging on to the notion of 'what's in it for me' or the idea of 'me.' So, this is a great blessing which is available to us.

When someone asks me, 'Do we need a Master in form?' I usually say that there is nothing in Consciousness which says that things must always be this way, but I have to say that from experience, I have never met one who was awakened to their inner truth without the presence of a Master in form. Even Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, although he said that 'I have no masters or disciples' for that matter, he also said that the mountain Arunachala is his Master. So, that representation of Shiva then became his Master. But where is Shiva? Shiva is the very source of all of this existence itself. And yet, even for the greatest sages, initially they need a representation. We seem to need a representation which can be given a form and has a name. So, that is the value of our external living Master.

And we must always be hopeful for Guruji's presence in our life because, at least for here, I can say that the play of this life, in spite of so much learning, understanding, reading so many books, doing many, many practices, still a hacked version of the self stayed within. Through looking into the eyes of Guruji, I did step completely out of this paradigm of belief, this paradigm of the ego system. When I say 'completely,' I use the term loosely; there is no 'completely,' there is mostly. So now, this existence is here. What help does it need? Does it need a consultant and advisor to run this one? You see, somebody who convinces, 'Maybe we put the speed of light a bit wrong, you might want to change that constant a bit. You know, the weather that is going around the sun seems a bit tilted, maybe you want to straighten that out a bit.' It doesn't need this advisor because it is experiencing its own perfection in its holiness.

At this one appearance, although if you look at it out of context—which means if you look at it only piece by piece—then it can look like there is no perfection in this world. So, if you look at your life piece by piece, only at specific times, then you will see that, 'Oh, this is not right, this could be better, this could change.' But if you look at the entirety of your even human existence, you will find such a beautiful, simple way of perfection. So, you are like that tree that Guruji speaks about. It doesn't need to talk to the trees next door. It is growing, the flowers are flowering, the branches are growing. Sometimes the cleaning up needs to happen and everything seems to go, and yet fresh beauty arises.

Imagine if the tree started thinking and believing, 'I don't know what is it you want.' Let's presume for a minute. They don't say when the leaves are falling the tree starts crying, 'I am... why are my leaves... what's happening to me? I'm losing all my possessions.' It's mostly in autumn. If a leaf falls away, the tree cries and says, 'My best relationship is gone, I was so attached to this one.' What advice will you give to this tree? You give that same advice to yourself. Don't worry. You might not realize it, but everything is taken care of, everything is functioning. Now, what is another real suffering? It is the idea of how it should be. If you are a rose plant and you have an idea that you must become a banyan tree, then what is going to happen? With every moment, you are sitting about, 'I'm not becoming a banyan tree.' What advice will you give this rose plant? You will say, 'But see, only look at the flowers that are flowering. A banyan tree does not have these.' What is, just is.

Once you apply our own projection on top of what is, then we feel that life should be this way. 'I wanted to pull some banyan roots and instead these flowers are coming.' Then suffering can come because you don't have any idea. But sometimes you don't have any idea, but don't take what I'm going to say very seriously because you will make an idea of 'don't have an idea.' So, what if you are a banyan? Then you know how to represent a small seed. It might seem like you started off as a rose bush, you might become a banyan tree. This is the divine possibility. So, if your kitchen is full of food, it's full, the platform is full, everything is full of food, you'll be running from place to place, grocery shop to grocery shop, looking for food.

So, the seeking must imply that I feel that something is lacking. It's a belief. That's why the seed could be said, all of us looking for God, but we are not checking in our own pocket. We're looking for God everywhere, for an unchanging truth everywhere, for something which will give us stability everywhere. And we look everywhere but ourselves. So, that's why you need an outer Guru, because while you are running from grocery shop to grocery shop shopping for bread, he will say, 'But have you checked your kitchen? It is fully stocked up. It's fully stocked.' Every other shopkeeper is telling you, 'Buy this, buy that. This bread is multigrain, this bread is gluten-free, this bread is whole wheat.' There's one place you come to where he says, 'But have you checked at home?' This, in one way, is also satsang and you go to a living Master.

Because everybody else is saying, 'Buy my bread, buy my bread.' One is saying, 'I have no bread for you, but have you checked your kitchen?' When you come to your kitchen, you realize that you have a magic which never runs out. Your Being never runs out. Beingness itself never runs out. Can I lose it? So, if you can never lose it, what are you looking to find? In whose life do these sensations that we call the body appear? In whose life are your emotions seen? Your thoughts seen? You have to be here before any perception can happen. Where you are, God is. God is not the result of some becoming. What is your very Being? If you say 'I am'...

It is a magic which never runs out. Your being never, and your beingness itself never, runs out of Self. Can I lose it? So, if you can never lose it, what are you looking to find? In whose life do these sensations that we call the body appear? In whose life are these emotions seen? All has to be here before any perception can happen. Where you are, God is. God is not the result of some becoming. What is your very 'I'? If you say, 'I am going to find God,' it is to play as if you are missing God. But the 'I am' already is God before you can say, 'I am going to find God.' Who is here before you can say, 'I am not happy' or 'I am not free' or 'I am free'? Actually, can you take who you are for granted? Who is here that this body perceives? Among all the existences, is this your effect upon your existence? This is fundamental. Your existence is who? My existence is who? If I tell you that your existence is Guruji, would that be too much?

Beloved Father, you pull me into Samadhi and I lost my being. It is enough for me to lose your mind.

But this presence that you find, your presence, your existence—the mind has only one trick now: to say that this is an individual's presence, to say that it is a person's presence. There is no such thing. But it will say that this presence is personal, individual. So, when the one says that 'I am playing as if I am something,' this is the trick. This is the 'I-tree.' If 'I am,' then he plays with the mind and picks up a label about itself and plays as if it is limited. 'I am something' objectifies itself in a way, and then he starts relating this form to this object. But if you can see this here itself, then you won't have to do anything with any of that. You don't have to get rid of any tendencies or conditioning. You don't have to work on any of that stuff because the root of it is here. As you can see that without buying into the idea that this being is personal, you don't have to work on any other story. Then this seems like a beautiful, direct way.

What convinces you that your being is personal? Because none of you, you see, when I ask you, 'Can you stop being?' you see, 'I can't stop.' So, this being is here now. The only explanation left is: Is this a person's being, or is this the existence of presence, the existence of consciousness Himself without limitation? Okay, I'll share one trick with you which can, you know, change your life, but it's best left to your own exploration. The mind will convince you through the sensations that you are experiencing, and it will call it the body that limits this being, and that is why this being is personal. The mind will try to convince you. Now, I try to speak slowly because this is important and often forgotten. How many of you feel that this being that you are finding is something contained within the body? But this is just a paradigm that we have got used to because of habit. It is not true, and it is worth looking at right now. Those sensations which you feel are contained, or those sensations which you feel contain this being—can you find out where they are?

If you call the body sensations which you feel, they contain my being, therefore being is limited. Then you find out where the sensation is. What is that space in which these sensations are experienced? Is it different from where all perceptions are being experienced? The sound from the computer, the sound of this voice, the sound of the traffic—all perceptions are in the same space. Is there a separate space in which all these contain a person? So, this space in which perception appears is independent of your being, their existence. Then it was not seen. Therefore, being is more like the space to them, like a container or something contained in a container. It is more like the space which is not just three-dimensional; it has more dimensions. It is everywhere, and everything is in it. And the sensations which we talked about so far, which we feel are containing us, are just another set of perceptions in this space. This existence is subtler than even this field.

As we explore our existence, you find out all these words in beautiful scriptures. Like this, very, very words that might have seemed very abstract before are now operating. When you hear the words of the Ashtavakra Gita, they just sounded like beautiful poetry. What about the ocean language? Perhaps it didn't sound like poetry for years, but as you explore, the very presence will be you. You find that what it is speaking about is you. And then, having you this marker, you that we thought you were... but if you skip this step, this step which we presume for 'me,' then the spiritual journey seems to be long because the mind will have many ideas. What does it mean? It is a big collection of ideas that we've been talking about: the idea of a man, I am a husband, I am a father, so many ideas within it. The entire set of our ideas is trying to pick up one idea to be with all the ideas of yourself. The darkness is a presumption of 'me,' and it is fine. It is unequipped with this idea of a limiter that does not apply to your activities, open heart, resisting you. So, don't identify yourself with an idea. Then you think that this being that is manifest, this being walking, is why all of us are bowing down to it. Because there's a business, this is very quickly the time to surrender this. Being open and supported in the presence of something, we will finally come across many of these appeals. Identity is there, still seeming to attach to the notion of 'me.' Thank you so much for bringing satsang today.

Yes, see also commentary to combine two commentaries that you see this cannot happen. Yes, but yes, by existing this, from existence this, you have to take care of and it makes something out of it. If it ever tries to make this believe this identity that you are something, spotting it is good enough. What is surrender actually? The most important aspect of surrender is that it is His problem and you're not trying to deal with it personally. Like even this, it can come and then you can say, 'Okay, this is what the mind said itself, You better take care of it.' So, 'I better take care of it.' When it says, 'You better take care of it,' then it becomes like this vicious circle. So, surrendering, you have to take it in your attitude inside that it is Father's problem.

One thought that you must never believe is that you are not doing your surrender well enough. That can really get you in a frenzy. If some trouble is coming, that's why, 'Oh, you must not be surrendering well enough, so you better work on your surrender.' This kind of thing. But there's nothing to work on. That itself is the fallacy which we are hoping that individually, personally, I have something to do. The sense of individualized 'I'—you don't have to do anything to deepen your surrender. Just coming to satsang is good.