What Does It Mean to Be Empty of Ourselves?

Maybe we can dive in a little deeper into what it means to be empty of ourselves and therefore to live in the presence of presence itself; be present to His presence. Firstly, are we willing to take the risk of even intending or wanting this alone? Are we willing to risk that? Suppose that you became empty of yourself but your life didn't go in the direction that you wanted it to. So, the promise of meeting God came true, but the ideas that we have about our life didn't unfold that way—none of them did. Are you willing to risk that, really?

Because that's where the difficulty comes. Everything that we are attached to—suppose that that was taken away from us. Are we willing to risk it for God? Not that it has to happen that way, but to notice whether we are open to that or not is very important. And it doesn't even have to be that far into the future; even right now, are you willing to be moved by God this moment? Unconcerned about what people around you will think, what they will say? Break the frame of self-image.

And if your intention is to live that way truly, then I don't feel like God will restrain Himself from running your life, you see. But if you are really, really scared of that risk and we are not taking that fear to Him but trying to deal with it ourselves, then we are not really handing over our life to God, our heart to God. Who do you belong to right now? Literally, who owns us in this moment?

Ego means individual ownership. True life of devotion means that a life belongs to God. This moment belongs to God. And in that, making this moment for God is the prayer; is the true prayer. So, are we being led by fear and desire, or are we being led by our heart compass?