You Have to Step Back and Allow God to Enter Your Heart - 16th December 2024

What is the work that it does? All that can be called good and all that can be called spiritual is the work of the Atma within. It may not be that your first gift from the Atma is itself. We may expect that. We may say that if there is such a thing as the Atma, first let it reveal itself. But maybe first it needs to work on us to rid us of our pride, especially our pride of knowledge. Its curriculum we cannot determine. That is why it is the Satguru and we are the disciple. So spirituality is the journey of becoming the disciple of the Atma within till we come to the recognition that the one whose presence this Atma is, is my reality. And whether the recognition comes in the form of that Advaita, the oneness, or in the form of the sense of merging, union, samadhi, the label or the construct that we put on top of it is immaterial.

So many times, if it is not the Atma itself, then it could be a presence of a much greater love than we could ever fathom. The sudden gift of just a patience which was never here earlier, the absence of grievances or resentment, a courage to meet life's situations no matter what they are, deep faith in what you are learning from within compared to conviction from the mind. Love, courage, patience, all are interrelated. Faith, because it is very scary somewhere for us to leave ourselves alone, so it gives us the tools to be able to do that as well. But more than any of these words that I can say, what it does within ourselves, within our heart, is indescribable.

So, empty of this me, we are drawn to the resting place of the heart temple, as I call it. And there, if you have a faithful, surrender-full attitude, then all the spiritual surgery begins. It is the most love-filled procedure that any of us can ever encounter. All the selfish bits of ourselves are plucked out and thrown away, and all that is natural to our originality, natural to our original design—which is to live in a deep love of God, in a deep communion with God—that is implanted in us, or that is revealed to us if you want to look at it that way. So we must never lose faith in the process. Don't lose patience with the project, because I promise you the gift at the end of it is beyond time and space and anything that you can imagine. So how to put it simply? What everything I'm saying is that our job is to sit in our heart temple immersed in a quiet love for God.

Yeah, I missed your questions. I've been very, very, very, very quiet and I think I want to share that it is very, very, very rich and these revelations that you speak of, they are really needing quiet. Yes. And it came to me very deeply. I was, I had a small accident and I was in pain and bed rest and I had to be quiet. But of course, I don't know, God's grace, but I didn't fill up my time with TV or books or even that phone or anything. And then it came such a, like an honoring of everything within because I felt that even though it's there, we don't stop to honor. Yeah. And I just, my prayer here today that as one returns to normal life, that this is not lost.

So the essence of what is being shared is that we have to sit, quote-unquote 'sit', in our heart temple immersed in a quiet love for God. Then that at least conceptually seems very simple. So why do we say that spirituality is the most difficult project that you will undertake in this life? Because to sit in that heart temple is to sit outside time and space. The time and space things in time and space, they keep grabbing us because of the narrator, the Maya. So we need something that slingshots us—what's a better word?—slingshots us outside this realm of time and space to at least a millisecond of sitting beyond this realm quietly by ourselves.

So our spiritual tools or spiritual sadhana, spiritual devices, are meant to transport us from here to there. Because your heart is actually not in this universe. Your heart is not a biochemical place, it's not a phenomenal place. There is a heart like that, that is the physical heart, but that is not the one that we are talking about. The system is completely different. To recognize that all of this is a Leela, is Maya, that time and space are notional, you must be able to take a step back from it. And the step back is to see originally where we come from. What is our very source? How to get there?

What happened? Look, Maya troubles us. Something, something, something. Sometimes even the words of satsang may trouble us. But the point is to come to that which is beyond all this trouble. All this is a fading dream. It seems very important today; tomorrow, not so important. What is beyond this dream? That is the presence of God, the Atma within, or the Kingdom of Heaven as some of us would call it. And where is that? Within ourselves. How to go there?

See, you could be Elon Musk and have all the space technology in the world, but you cannot create a device for yourself which you can sit in and transport you out of time and space. For that, you need to undertake an inner journey. And to undertake this inner journey, we have to follow the spiritual guidance of the master, the teacher in our lives, in whichever form that it has appeared. And whoever is embodying that and playing that role in your life, you must follow that advice. Because their words are not mere words, although they may seem like it. They may seem like they are words that help us become just better people, more loving, more kind, more devotional. But their words, because they come from beyond, have the power, if followed with devotion, they have the power to lead us beyond.

So whatever spiritual practice appeals to you, resonates with your heart, follow that patiently and soon you will find yourself, even for a millisecond—but you know, it's not like a worldly experience where a millisecond just comes and goes. So you may not even notice it, register it, or remember that it happened and wonder if it happened. But you know, you cannot forget. And that then gives us the, makes us open-minded to the possibility of actually building our house over there. Make that your constant home. So live underwater like that. Sometimes because of Maya, something seems strong. You don't come out. Send a periscope out, just see what is happening. Don't get involved. Remember that everything God is taking care of. Then bring the periscope down. That should be our extent of involvement with Maya. Stay within.

Don't interrupt His holy work that is happening in your heart because He is the most humble. He has waited for you for lifetimes and even now to enter your house. If you keep giving yourself preference, He will make the room for you, say, 'Okay, more me? Okay, come, more me. You want more me? Okay.' He's not going to push His way through. You have to step back and allow Him to enter your heart. So that is the essence of leaving yourself alone.

So yes, many times what happens is we, and we beginners on the spiritual journey, God wants to give us some encouragement that there is something beautiful in this path. It's so difficult otherwise. So we may have many beautiful spiritual experiences, but then what happens is that He has given us the gift before the job is done, or an insight into the gift before the job is done. So now we need to patiently do the work and then we start to get frustrated with the spiritual paths. You must not do that because really there is no other path for us to follow. We may say, 'Okay, spirituality is not for me.' Then what is it? Death? Death is for you? You feel like you will have immortal life if you create enough material wealth for yourselves and people are building statues in your name? That statue you will live in?

So once you are exposed to the truth of the possibility of living in God's light, in the holy presence forever, then you recognize that there is no greater gift to give yourself in this world. And unlike things of the world, you cannot exchange this with anything else. You cannot say, 'Oh, I have a plot of land, can you exchange that for an apartment?' I'll say that, 'I have an airplane, can I then get a railway compartment?' Silly examples, but you know what I'm saying. Like if you haven't worked on yourself spiritually, then whatever material accomplishments you may have, they will not give you that spiritual outcome. That's why you just have to laugh at these things where somebody will tell you that, 'Oh, for this much money then you will get special puja, for this much money you will get special this thing.' We want to do that barter system, but it doesn't work with God. You can't bribe your way through to the heart temple. You may be able to do it in a worldly temple. There is no shortcut. You have to surrender yourself. You have to submit to His grace. And the more time you waste in just 'me, me, me' but 'this' but 'that', you see, the more time you're just wasting. Falling and getting up is part of this spiritual journey. We will fall hundreds of times, we have to get up hundreds of times. We can't just say, 'Oh, this is not for me.' Then what is for you? So one child's parent actually said that...

Through to the heart Temple, you may be able to do it. In the worldly temple, there is no shortcut. You have to surrender yourself. You have to submit to His grace. And the more time you waste in just "me, me, me" but "this" but "that," you see, the more time you're just wasting. Falling and getting up is part of this spiritual journey. We will fall hundreds of times; we have to get up hundreds of times. We can't just say, "Oh, this is not for me." Then what is for you?

So, one child's parent actually said that, "Yeah, yeah, it's fine. It's not for me. I will handle it after my death and don't worry about all that. I'm not worried. I will handle it whatever comes." What is the mentality at play there? The mentality at play there is that "I don't want to let go of my pride in this life." And we'll see, because our ego becomes that strong that we feel that, "Why should I live a life of surrender or submission to God?"

Then for those, I would say that at least first find out who you are. Because you say, "I am not going to do this. I am not going to bend. I don't want to devote my life to God." Then who is it that you are? What is your reality? And what remains after that inquiry? What remains after that recognition? What is left of you that is left unsurrendered now? But to say that "I don't want to find out who I am and I'm not going to bow down to God in any way," this sounds like a doorway to trouble. And what can we do? You can just pray for them. Pray for grace.

And how am I so familiar with this? Because I was one of those people. For a large part of my life, I was one of those people. But it came because I never really looked at what is inside. I was taking only the outside to be reality. The more time you spend on the inside, the more you will start to love the truth. You will start to love God. The more time you spend on the outside, the more worldly things will seem compelling and attractive.

All of us must find one teacher. Why at least one teacher? Because you must meet somebody in your life who you give more odds to being correct than yourself. Otherwise, we meet thousands and thousands of people in our lives; we have been more correct than them. Yes, this human condition—we meet thousands and thousands and we have been more correct than all of them. So when you meet a teacher, then at least you hand over that and say, "Okay, at least in front of you, the odds of you being more right are more than the odds of me being right." That itself is a great breakthrough in our life.

Can you see the absurdity? Everyone feels that they are more correct than everyone else. So you start to look at things like that, then we see that pride actually is very apparent in all our lives. So meet someone. At least meet a book, meet something where you can feel that, "Okay, this one is guiding me in a way that I don't know the path to, but they are correct and there are more chances of me being wrong than them being wrong." You see? Maybe that itself is a good start. Let's leave complete surrender and all to later, devotion and all to later.

You do recognize... I don't know, it feels very frightening for... so that that which is being threatened is the one that needs to go. I see that. I mean, I see that, but it's fighting back, you know? I mean, and it's like creating all kinds of depression and kind of like run away, and all this hysteria suddenly comes and it's swinging. And I can... it's less and less, you know, like he stabilized there.

Everything will come. Everything that Maya can throw at you. So those stories weren't told to us just for fun. The stories of the Maya traps weren't told to us just for fun. So everything will come. The most beautiful relationship will show up. The most difficult life situation will show up. Things which were absolutely fine will start to be in trouble and need your attention and time. Things would just say, "Leave God till tomorrow" or "Leave your quest for truth till tomorrow; it can wait."

So everything possible—medical conditions, emotional problems, mental conditions—everything will show up. So that is your Maya. Whatever is showing up to distract you away from God, from Atma, is the distraction. And what is the message in all of that distraction? "God can wait. There is time. This is urgent. This is important. God is timeless, so He can wait."

If you did not have the sense that you had time, 99% of the distractions would not work. That's why the Kabir Ji statement is very, very important, which you have distorted and made it about homework and things. See what I'm saying? If you did not have the sense you had time—this was it—then what will you focus on right now?

I see that I don't have time. I mean, I see... no, no, now this... you don't have another extra moment. This is it. This is the one moment you have. I would focus on the right thing.

Exactly. But because we feel that there's time and the world is telling us there's time, all our families tell us there's time. Most of our families tell us there's time. I have been at this about 27 years. I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of spirituality. I've been, of course, a very bad student, very lazy and very, very bad. But in 27 years, if I'm just scratching the surface of spirituality, how much time do we... what is the right time to start?

Nobody says, "The most important thing in life is to find God; you can make money later." Nobody says that, you see. So God is there, that is for your later years. Now you make money. And in that way, what we are actually saying is that the real priority is material security, safety; secondary is everything else. Why not find God first and then see what happens?

Because somewhere we feel that in Maya... Maya is the great forgetting. So how are we able to compare worldly things with God and exchange worldly things for God? It cannot happen without the great forgetting happening. If you did not forget who God really is, then we could not say "tomorrow." So the postponing that happens in Maya is accompanied by just a forgetting. If you could be with God, really God, what would you exchange that for right now? But in the forgetting, it is just God is reduced to some notion and we feel that, "Oh, now you need to work on this, do this instead." You don't feel like He's the light of the universe, the Supreme Intelligence, the Alpha and the Omega of everything.

We'll go to Majid. Sorry, I forgot you were still there.

I... you've been talking about baking your cake and making sure you eat it too. Yes. And maybe because prayer in the past few days has really like been taking on a whole another wind. Um, it seems as though the cake making, there's an extraordinary taste to it. Yeah. And I see the stickiness of that and how I could form this habit of prayer not necessarily seeking God but seeking this flavor. And I think I need to sit with them more and just be watchful, but I noticed that pitfall in there, seeming pitfall.

Very good. There are two aspects to what you said. Firstly, yes, that the tastes are given to us by His grace. If they are extraordinary tastes, then we get a sense that these are not worldly; there's no worldly reason for us to get those tastes, you see. So they're coming by His grace. And sometimes these gifts do happen. But we are going to have many phases where the tastes are not there. So we must not get attached to any of the tastes. It's very, very important. Because if our spirituality becomes just about tasting that, then frustration is coming soon. Anger, tantrum, frustration—everything is coming soon.

Because God does not keep it constant. It's always in terms of... so that we don't become proud, it doesn't become like something that we are entitled to. There's always the up and down in that process of tasting. That is the first thing. So don't get attached. Enjoy the taste; it's for you to enjoy. But attachment means that if you have a period of prayer, have a period of inquiring without that taste, then you start to question yourself, your sadhana, even God, you see. Even everything starts to get questioned. That is attachment.

That is why a good attitude to have is just like a beggar sitting in the temple. Like, some days you get food, some days you don't get food. It's not an entitlement. It's just that we are humbly sitting there and asking. And when He gives us a gift, then humbly we accept it and we are grateful. But we are not entitled then that tomorrow also... okay, tomorrow... that is not the approach we are meant to take. That is the first aspect.

Second aspect is that the baking and the eating, yes, it can be many times. It can be like a period of applying the spiritual tool that we are guided to use and then sitting in our Temple quietly. But many times we are cooking, we are eating, we are cooking, eating. So it's not always step-by-step in that way. You could be just cooking... brown... see, so difficult then to come out of that. So we just have to see how it is playing in our heart, you see. So just have to... you can see I'm struggling. So I called Ram but He did a Krishna on me; He doesn't want to leave.

But I hope the point was not lost in the sense that sometimes it seems like we are cooking, cooking, cooking, cooking and we get like a moment or two of just... and sometimes just one remembrance of His name just wipes us out for long periods of time, you see. And it's not something that... like, we must be true to ourselves because it is all about you and Him. That it is not a badge of honor to say, "Oh, I just have to do this and then I'm quiet for so long." Just... there's no awards for any of this, no prizes. And pride can come really quickly, so you have to be really careful.

But just whatever it takes to give you the escape velocity to escape Maya and to sit outside just in His holy presence, loving Him, looking at Him perceptibly or imperceptibly. My favorite way is to just be with Him imperceptibly to the senses but perceptibly to the heart. But if it happens in your case that you come to a place where you're having some beautiful darshan, beautiful vision, that's also fine as well. But not to get attached to any of that.

So in your hands you have some very potent devices, very, very potent devices. But because they are very prevalent or easily accessible in today's world, it can seem like, "Okay, what's the big deal in them?" you see. So like your prayer, your mantra, the stotrams that you're using, many of you using, and the inquiry—all of these are devices which are so potent. They have so much grace operating in them that if you approach them with a little bit of devotion, they have the potential to bring you to that holy place of His presence.

But the approaching them with humility, with devotion, with faith, with patience—that is what we need to build on. So whatever your path is, whatever way you resonate with, know that these are ancient ways. Both of these methods are from the Upanishads, from the original sources of spirituality given to us by God's hand itself. So don't devalue the tools that you have, the spiritual sadhana that you have. Treat it with reverence and devotion and you see the gifts it gives you.

For the greatest sadhana is when you are struggling. The greatest sadhana is when you're struggling and you persist. The easiest sadhana is when He's just gracing you with the gift; you just have to remember Him. The greater is when you sit down to pray, sit down to inquire, and it's dry, and still you say, "No, God. No. Who am I? Who is watching these thoughts?" And again distraction, distraction. "But what about this thing? And all this money will go and your children are not well, something, something, something."

And then, so this beautiful term from these ages, centuries of Advaita and St. John of the Cross, that every time you apply the act of your will—what seems like your will—to love God, it is a great step that you're taking towards Him. So then distractive prayer is very helpful because in that distractive prayer you have to remember Him a hundred times against all the compulsion of Maya. There is prayer which is coming easy by God's grace; it's all credit to Him. So don't look down upon the time where your prayer is distracted.

A beautiful term from these ages, centuries of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, is that every time you apply the act of your will—what seems like your will—to love God, it is a great step that you're taking towards Him. So then, distractive prayer is very helpful because in that distractive prayer, you have to remember Him a hundred times against all the compulsion of Maya. There is prayer which is coming easy by God's grace; that is all credit to Him. So don't look down upon the time where your prayer is distracted, where it seems like your inquiry is not fruitful. Those times are also very important.

And our attitude should become like—I've been listening to the groaning and moaning when I say two to four hours at least every day—but our attitude should become like: Where can I take out that extra five minutes to just be with God? Why can I just be? Then you feel grateful when life gives you those opportunities. Somebody calls you and says, oh, like at work I'm called Tapan, so when they call me and say, 'Tapan, can we cancel our meeting today? We have some other important work to do, so we won't have our review today. Can we cancel?' And I'm outwardly having to be a bit like, 'Yeah, okay, we can cancel, but let's make sure we meet next week.' But inwardly I'm celebrating. I'm just like, 'Wow, two hours I can just pray.' Then you know, just so grateful for that time. And you see that if your intention is there, He always provides the time.

So our talk of busyness is mostly, mostly made up. At least in my case, it's never been authentic. It's mostly that if our intention is to be with God, He creates the path; He finds a way. Once you start to follow His fragrance, then it will not feel like a job to be in your sadhana. And what better thing can you do with your life? And the fragrance can be in the form of just that inward pull that's unexplainable. Just something just pulls you in. You can't say, 'Oh, it's like joy.' You can't say it's like love—you can say it's like love, but it's not a tasting love. It's just something very naturally pulls you in, and there's nothing better you would do with that time. And you can't imagine exchanging that for anything that the world could offer you. You all have this sense, no?

You had a question, right? This thing of time, it's only when you think you have it that you allow distractions to take over. You have time, huh? It's only when you think you have time. I noticed that. Okay, so let me—sorry, stop the question. So, what is the most important thing for you in your life? God. But I want—okay, so let's—I know, but will be there. Let's move that. Let's stay with it. It is God. Now, suppose you had only this next one minute. What would you want to do? Be with Him. If you could. But Maya creates this idea that we have time and this can wait. That's all I'm saying.

How to bring into practice? Because I do waste time. I think few moments in my something here and there, then come back to being empty. Are you doing two to four hours?

Yeah, that's—it'll grow from—it's okay, it will. I think I feel two hours is needed out of twenty-four. At least two is needed to break the spell, to defrost ourselves, to just allow ourselves to be centered, to come to His light. And it just breaks the pattern of constantly inhaling Maya. So that two hours of defrosting, de-addiction from Maya, is helpful at least. Yes. And I could be saying because I'm so foolish I need at least two to four hours; maybe that is why. Maybe all of you need only ten minutes or something.

It's not exactly a question, but there are periods of time—like for example, I'm here now and other times in life—if you put that you have a lot of time for this and it is a clearly first priority, but still then there is no capacity to stay inside. And like all the time I have, and there is like guilt and like, I don't know, still like feeling of very much not being able to use it in a good way. Like I have it often, I feel like, you know, someone complains like, 'Oh, I have very little time.' When I have little time, I use it very well. Like, 'Okay, I have this, make this two hours, I will make two hours.' But when you have like all the day, it's—I don't waste on like social media or anything like that, but yeah, there is like—there is feeling of there is this privilege that, okay, it's given for you, a lot of space for that, but how to use it?

Yes, so same question that I asked. But two hours is happening at least? Two? Don't get into guilt, because guilt is another way to keep you away from God. Like, 'What is—I can't be with—I have not done my sadhana.' Then guilt. 'I should have done my sadhana. He keeps saying do at least two hours. Look at you.' You know, all of that which is taking more time than away from God. So really, the one spiritual habit which is very good is what Ananta said—and I'll translate also—he said: Don't mourn on the fact that you've fallen. If you've fallen, get up. If you've fallen, get up. And in this path, we will fall hundreds, thousands, millions of times. There will be days where we will be complete write-offs, and guilt will want to come and catch us and say, 'Oh, see, now you see you're neglecting God.' All of that. But start that moment. Just have to start that moment instead of falling into any despair, despondency, guilt. All of these are the two-punch of the one-two punch combination.

Yeah, because it's sometimes like kind of fear that it's a—I see a lot of gifts, receiving a lot of gifts. I'm like, what is asked from me?

I feel you're doing fine. I feel like if we are able to do that two to four hours, you'll be fine. And you know, next year that number will go up. Yeah, come on. Is it turned the right way?

Some time back when I was sitting in silence, suddenly this kind of something—I got this perception that the 'me' that I am trying to dissolve or transcend or break down is also just an experience. It's not something very solid that I have to fear or take as a challenge.

Of course. This body is not something imaginary. The body part is there; it will be there until—depends on what you mean by imaginary, but okay, it is not illusory until death. It'll be there. But the rest of me, my ideas, opinions, perceptions—could we be having this conversation in a dream?

Pardon?

Suppose that we are having this conversation in a dream.

It's possible, no.

We could not be having this conversation in a dream about the body, you mean?

Yeah, just this whatever is unfolded in the last three minutes. Suppose you could wake up the next moment and say, 'Okay, that was a strange dream.' Possible?

Possible. So is there any way you can conclusively say this is not one of those dreams? No. So therefore the density, the seeming tangibility of the body also is imaginary. But at least other than the body, my thoughts, ideas, perceptions, desires, ego—everything now they suddenly appear as if that's also like another experience. It could be—I could look at it that way, like an experience. Would that be all right, Father?

Yeah, absolutely. These sensations appearing on the screen of Consciousness, appearing and going. Absolutely. Thank you. You don't have to go anywhere, really. You don't even have to do anything. Just because we have lost touch with our naturalness, it seems like we need methods. But just naturally sitting where you are, lying down where you are, standing where you are, you can stay with Him. Nothing on the outside can really pull you out. No thought really has any power. All these are power that we have given to it, isn't it? Without that, it is nothing. Like he's saying, just sensations floating, nothing to fix, nowhere to go.

And the beauty is that in the moments where it doesn't feel natural, use your sadhana. Sadhana itself is so beautiful. Like he's saying, that even practicing the prayer, you get so much sweetness. I mean, sometimes the problems are unfathomable. Yajnavalkya said, ask yourself who you are. 'Who am I?' was given originally, from what I think, from whatever little research we've done, the first mention is in one of the Upanishads. And the same Yajnavalkya is telling the story of the Ramacharitmanas too, to Sage Bharadwaj. So these are ancient tools which we have access to. And because they seem to be so accessible now because of YouTube and internet, do not feel like they are not potent or they're not valuable.

So be careful of the trick of the mind which tells you, 'Now we're going to sit in inquiry? Now who's going to sit and pray? I have things to do. I'm Alexander the Great, I have continents to conquer.' If you sit in Bangalore traffic, you realize that if you are one that was not there, nobody will notice or remember or care. So many, many of us around. So now you can use that half an hour to pray. Yes? No? Good. What all eye contact! It's not easy, I know that. Maya doesn't make it—it's actually easy, but in Maya it seems very difficult, very difficult. I'm not discounting that for any of you at all.

Daily survival.

Yeah, what is that? Factual? Is that fear tactics from the mind? Like, are you really saying that if you came to satsang once or twice a week, you will not have food or shelter? Yeah, it's about the mind. But the mind saps so much of energy that then you don't feel like taking the step to the satsang. And who says that? The mind. The mind is the expert at Chakravyuha. Yeah, exactly, Chakravyuha. And then says, 'Now you're stuck now.' And then what will happen? It doesn't want to ask; it'll keep asking, 'So what next? What next?' But it never asks. And then suppose you had all the—you had godowns of dal, all that is sorted out forever for you, family next three generations all sorted out. Then?

That's difficult to imagine.

It's difficult to imagine. Sorry. This is—both Jesus and Nanak Ji said similar things about this topic. So Jesus said, a bird flies every day looking for food, has got children in its nest. Of course, I'm paraphrasing a bit, but who provides food for those birds? Do they go to sleep anxious saying, 'Tomorrow's food, where will it come from?' And if your Father is kind enough to give all of these creatures everything that they need, then do you feel like He does not love you at least that much as a bird, to take care of you? And same thing Nanak Ji said, that the fish just keep swimming in the water; food comes, sustenance comes, whatever it needs comes. It is not sitting anxious saying, 'Where is my next meal coming from?' Isn't it?

So this worldly worry is a very age-old tactic to keep us away from our true intent in life. But it's because—and that's what we've been talking about—somewhere it's always because we feel we have time. God can wait. Tomorrow. What's the—even the mind gives us a plan. So what is the plan the mind gives? 'Now you work next how many years...'

No, what happened to me, Guruji, was like towards the end of last week, it was like, 'Let's go through this suffering of life. Let's just go through it, just go through it.' And the other side, I don't even know. It went like that, that it's a risk either way. In this way you have to suffer; the other way you don't. Do you actually know if this man is telling you the truth? The mind can ask you that question.

No, it was not about that, Guruji. But you don't know. I mean, yeah, that it's not about the trust, but whether you will be able to do that. So ask—let me repeat, this part is very important for all of you. In that moment, your intention to be with Him is all that you can do. If there is any judgment or whatever, then you cannot be judged on whether His grace happened or not. The only thing is whether you had the intention to be with Him. So what has to come true for you is His end of the bargain. What you have to fulfill is your end of the bargain. So unlike in worldly things, you say, 'Okay, I put in that effort and this outcome comes,' then you know you've been successful. In spirituality, the moment you turn towards Him, you've been successful. That moment that you turn towards Him again, you've been successful. It is not about what gift of grace, what gifts through grace you get. And there's never a time where you can feel like you turn towards Him and...

His end of the bargain—what you have to fulfill is your end of the bargain. So unlike in worldly things where you say, 'Okay, I put in that effort and this outcome comes,' then you know you've been successful; in spirituality, the moment that you turn towards Him, you've been successful. That moment that you turn towards Him again, you've been successful. It is not about what gift of Grace, what gifts through Grace you get. And there's never a time where you can feel like you turned towards Him and you felt like, 'What a waste of time.' That just doesn't happen because even if you feel like we don't get a gift in return or get some outcome in return—some experience, some firework, some sweetness—nothing, it just feels blank; even that blank is a great gift because it changes our whole trajectory, at least for that day, you see. So we never regret that turning towards Him. That turning itself takes effort. Exactly that effort. Some days it's very difficult. That's okay.

So when you're not—you know, I'm only asking for concern, I'm not at all putting you in the spotlight or anything—is it that if there are days and weeks where you're not able to come to satsang, are you able to do some sadhana by yourself?

No, that's my worry. At least, sometimes what may happen—it may be my fault that if I say two to four hours, it feels like anything less than that is pointless.

But that's not what I'm saying at all, you see. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just saying that even one moment is good, and the next moment is even better, and the next moment is even better. So if we were to set a goal for ourselves to be free from Maya, I feel two to four hours is a good time to start with. But don't make the mind use that desire to inspire or to motivate to turn it around and say, 'Okay, now if you can't do two hours, then there's no point anyway.' Don't get into that trap. It's like saying that, 'Oh, if I can't exercise for two hours, then don't even do fifteen minutes, no point.' It's not like that. So now if it's been blank for some time, then what you start with is, for the next week, do fifteen minutes every day. Then the week after that, do twenty, twenty-five. Build up. It's like gyming. You don't start full because if you trouble yourself too much on the first day trying to do two hours, then it'll seem like you don't want to enter the gymnasium again.

Actually, it was quite easy since morning because I've taken leave for two weeks. Okay, since morning I've been like, I think many hours, three to four hours. It was very easy, entirely opposite to what it was last week. So I'm not able to understand, Guruji. I mean, what's happening?

Okay, now you have these two weeks. Use them as much as you can to deepen in this way because when you get back into the Mahabharat...

Then that is what I'm scared of, Guruji. I mean, I'll certainly go the other way.

So now in these two weeks, like, cling to Krishna's feet, you see? So then when you go back into the Mahabharat, at least you are on the right side. It's okay. These challenges, they come. The point is not to cry over spilled milk. That time that is gone is gone now. But don't get into this despondency that, 'Will I even get it?'

That can happen, but I'm not really sure that I will get it anyway.

Who can be sure they will get it? I may wake up tomorrow completely deluded and identified and say, 'All this is a waste of time, I'm going back to my...' We cannot guarantee. So in the same way, we cannot guarantee. There's nobody who can say that 'I will get it' also.

I mean, what is the 'it'? It's also not about getting it. It's about not being able to put that effort to go that side. I'm not even looking at the final point, but just to get onto that path itself feels like so much effort in which I'm not able to do it. So I'm not that greedy about that final destination. I'm not at all thinking about it. But just to switch the path from this mess to that, because I know if I'm able to switch, it's the best thing that can have happened. But that energy I'm not able to put.

So you know what they say, and it really works like that. They say that if you're using a yoga mat, then keep it right next to your bed and your job is just to get on the mat. Then the mat will do the job for you. So maybe what you have to do is say that, 'I will say God's name only once.' Start with only once. And that once may give the energy for the second time. The second time may give the energy for the third time. If it doesn't give, don't do it. Okay? Make a deal with me like this. For once, you have the energy to say it once. It doesn't take much. So say one round of beads, and if that doesn't give you the energy for the next round, then stop there only. But if it gives you, don't stop. Prayer teaches you how to pray. Prayer gives the energy, the motivation to pray as well. But it tries to stop you from getting on the mat. Just get on the mat.

These are beautiful conversations. I feel like these are so full of integrity and day-to-day things that we all face. I'm very happy to look at them. If I don't hear questions like this, then I'm very suspicious actually, because everybody could not be doing so well in their sadhana and just empty. These things do come. But on your commute, on a break in your lunchtime at work, just once say God's name. If it doesn't give you the energy for the next, then don't do more. It's okay. Yes. Okay, some hands are up. Let's go to Madalina.

Yes, hello Father. Hello, hello. Thank you so much for today and for everything else. You started the satsang today with a very good point that nobody's doing anything to you and you are your best enemy; you are doing more than anyone else. And that felt very applicable to me. And it feels sometimes that I'm indulging in some kind of suffering.

Yes, all of us. Suffering is an indulgence we do to ourselves.

Yeah. And at some point in time, when I put my hand up, I wanted to look with you, but somehow this request I think was heard in your heart because then you stopped. And yeah, it was very powerful just to sit in silence and maybe recognize this harmony that it is. So all the methods of satsang, all the methods of spiritual sadhana are just that slingshot, that fuel for escaping the pull, the gravitational pull of Maya. Every word that is said in satsang is also so that we can find ourselves in that quiet place. I see there is still a tendency here to get out, obviously, from here, and also to strategize, like, 'What's best for freedom? Should I go to India? Should I stay here?' And I feel to ask for Grace to be guided, I guess, and listen to this guidance, you know, and have the capacity to discern.

If you have the intention to remain in that silence that we spoke about, then Grace will keep bringing you to exactly the right spots you need to be. If you need to move at all, you don't have to worry about the outer. Just sit in your heart temple, immersed in the quiet love for God.

Yeah. This movement, it is a movement that comes from ignorance and from arrogance and lack of recognition, I guess, of the Grace that is already being showered upon me.

So just be careful of the 'checker guy' who will keep you involved in the diagnosis rather than sitting quietly in the heart temple with love for God. He will say, 'Come out of the temple for a minute, I have something important to tell you. You know what your problem is?' No. Your only problem is that it pulled you out of the heart temple.

It seems to be along the path, and if it's not coming from the heart, we can just let it go.

If your heart is guiding you, then for heart guidance you don't have to leave your heart temple. You will hear it there, right there. If you need to leave your heart temple for something, then it is not for your good. It is not helping you. So it's simple like that. So let your Atma itself guide you. Your Holy Spirit is guiding you in your heart. You don't need a second opinion where this doctor is concerned. The one in your heart, you don't need to get a second opinion from the checker guy.

And can I expose something more? There is this desire from the spiritual seeker to get more, I guess, and to have more favorable conditions for enlightenment.

And favorable means more difficulties? Sorry, say that again. Favorable for enlightenment usually means more difficulty in outer life. Is that what you're praying for?

I think there is a need for that, really. Then that is a very holy prayer, like Kunti in the Mahabharat. She made the prayer saying that, 'I only turn to You, God, when I suffer, or I turn to You more when I suffer, so please give me more suffering.' Because when Anna was sick and we didn't have a house, I was not complaining about, 'Oh, I have to be more next to the Master' or 'I have to be in this place,' because I barely had time to go to the toilet, you know? So yeah, now the children are in Romania, so I have a bit of time to rest and to think.

I see what you mean. I see, I see. So when are they back?

Soon, this Saturday.

So remember that that was an answered prayer. Thank you so much, and I appreciate what you shared and also being able to share with you in this way. Very welcome, very welcome. Thank you, and a big thank you to the Sangha. Very good. Let's go to Aniko.

Thank you, Ananta Ji. I would like to share about my brother. He's struggling in this mind world, this Maya world. He's struggling a lot now, and more and more he cannot—he doesn't know, he never met even for one minute with God. He doesn't know the truth and he rejects everything, whatever I would like to tell him about it. And I don't know how to help him, but it is really painful to see how he is struggling. And I just would like if you could please pray for him. That's all. Thank you so much, Ananta Ji.

Thank you, thank you. Welcome. Love you, love you. Let's go to Helena.

Hello, hello. I just raised my hand because I promised that to myself this morning because there was so much burning going on. So I thought I just have to reach out for a bit. Yeah, because maybe sometimes I stay away or I follow satsangs but not raise my hand because I don't—it's all my stuff.

Yes. How is your spiritual life? How has it been for the last few weeks?

Yes, so there's been a shift. When you talk about—there's been a shift in seeing, like more experientially, to—I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It just feels like it's more easy to find God or be at—to zoom out. It's more like that.

Very good. And I'm very grateful for that as well. But there's also a lot of things going on. Yeah, yeah. And I see it's all—I see it's all this person, and still I'm sometimes not able to—it takes a lot of effort to go and sit with it. But I do it. I might walk some rounds first, but I do it.

That's it. What are the tools that you're using? When your mind is attacking in this way, then are you using the inquiry? Are you using 'empty'? Are you using the prayer? What are the tools you're using?

All of that. I use all of that depending on whatever feels right at the moment.

Very good. Then that's all we can do. That's all we can do. Very good. So have the faith, have the trust that He sees. He sees you, He sees what you're going through, and every attempt that you make to turn towards Him, He sees that. He knows that.

Oh yeah, I sense that too. I do feel Him more close and yeah, like that in my heart.

I pray for you. I send you all my blessings, all my love, all my prayers to remember that He knows everything and He loves me very deeply and gives us the strength to go through these hard times because we trust that in spite of His knowing...

Trust that He sees. He sees you, He sees what you're going through, and every attempt that you make to turn towards Him, He sees that, He knows that. Oh yeah, as I sense that too, it feels—I do feel Him more close and yeah, like that in my heart. I pray for you. I send you all my blessings, all my love, all my thank you. Thank you so much to remember that He knows everything and He loves me very deeply and gives us the strength to go through these hard times because we trust that in spite of His knowing, in spite of His deep love for us, if we have to go through these times, then that in His will must be something for us to learn from, to grow from, to deepen our relationship with Him out of this.

Yes, I can see that as well, that it's needed. It's needed because like you said, just because it's so painful, it's just a way of—I need to go and sit. Otherwise, it's not possible. I'm very touched by your answers today. I'm very, very happy. Very good, very good. Thank you, thank you. Love you.

Love you, love you too. Thank you so much for being there always. Thank you. Okay, let's go to Samia.

Hello there. Can't hear you? My little bit, it's not so clear. Can you hear me now? Yeah, no, yes, yes. Thank you. I don't know, Father, I just cannot find any problem, anything, anything, anything actually. I'm just so blessed with everything in my life and I don't thank for these enough. I don't know why, Father, is it okay to throw a tantrum like this as I did? Because I do it so frequently and I don't know, like at those moments it came so real and I feel like I need to express it because I need to just get rid of it. I don't know what it is, and then I'm free from this and I don't feel like it is me. So I don't suffer that I did this. I maybe I don't repent that I did this even because I don't feel like it's me. I feel like I just need to scream and I scream and I release from this. So please, you tell me if I need to repent because it's not—I don't know. I don't want to speak even in this way to anyone and I don't want to be slapped by God with a result of it at the same time. So I want to hear from you about this. Thank you.

Thank you. That's a very good question. So I sense that many times when those things happen with you, I don't sense that there's a sense of agency, there's a sense of control that you have over that what is playing out in that moment. It is just like some drama release or something just needs to get out, be vomited out, you see? So but truly only you can judge that for yourself. And if there is nothing, just like a vomit which is coming out, you can't really try and stop it. It doesn't help. It has to come out. It is okay.

Sorry, because yeah, I don't—

Yes, my dear, that's fine. So but if you feel that even the slightest control that you can have, especially when it comes to the topic of God, then if you try to control and it doesn't seem to have any impact, then it's okay, just vent it out. But if there is agency, even the tiniest agency there to be fully respectful always towards God, then just keep using that even when times are very difficult. So simply what I'm saying is that if there's nothing you can do, then there's nothing you can do, then there's nothing that you need to worry about. But if there's something you can do, then try your best to do that something. And then if it doesn't help, then there's nothing that you can worry about. So you have to keep checking for yourselves like that. And then God will keep giving you more and more strength, more and more strength to not get into that vomiting type phase over and over. Hopefully by God's grace, may it just be a release where once all this stuff comes out, may it leave so much space for His love and His life, and may it be that way. But I hope you're getting a sense of what I'm saying, that may it be that really always it just feels like it is just something that is playing out through me and it is getting released in this process. That's all that it should ever be. It should never be anything other than that.

I don't see or feel like it's towards God, but it's playing towards generally towards Guruji and my pet. And even though I know that it is my pet and I belong to him, one satsang I just heard from him that he was saying that Maya can lead us really into—he can separate you from your family and he can separate you from your very normal human conditions, he was saying. And it just touched me a lot because it was what happened in my case. So actually I was projecting it onto Guruji and yeah, maybe I just can pray now to be healed from all this, even from their memories. I feel like I'm just so blessed recently about life, but yeah, I don't know what it is. As you said, maybe just releasing, but the memory with it. Yeah.

Bless you, bless you. All my love. Okay, let's go to M.

Thank you, Father. Thank you. I don't exactly know what to say. I just guess I want to ask for your help. Like, yeah, even though you are giving it all the time, especially this satsang.

You feel like you get stuck somewhere or what is the help?

To be honest, right now, I don't know. I feel to say like new work started and I'm not exactly sure if it's this distraction or not, right? Because all the time, like it's when I want to listen to satsang, it's during the satsang, but I don't know, that's not the most important thing.

As long as your intention is to be with God, don't have to worry about the outer circumstances. They will sort themselves out. Yeah, show Him that you are longing for Him in every work break, in every commute, in every opportunity. Use that as an opportunity to be with Him, to love Him, to be with Him in just quiet, empty, or prayerful time. And sometimes it does test our patience, it tests our courage, it tests our resolve to be with Him. Life always gives us situations where we wish we didn't have them, but we just have to keep turning towards Him as much as we can. And in patience, in devotion, He sets everything right as long as you can say with hand on your heart that in spite of these situations, whatever opportunities that He gives you to be with Him, you use them. Then there's nothing to worry about.

I have to be honest that there is nothing else in life to be with Him and in satsang like that. And this is hard for me to admit this, but I've been noticing—maybe it was there, now recently I am noticing—complacency. Like very, very—maybe watching TV and trying to escape, escape, escape. Yeah, this is—I have to admit this.

So just follow the two to four-hour rule. It's sometimes just simple. Simple is all right.

Thank you, Father. Thank you. Love you, love you.

Love you. Okay, let's go to Sham. Long time I don't hear you, my dear. Don't hear you. No audio. Can you hear me now? Yes, yes, yes, I can hear.

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. I know that there was a job that came in the way of you being live in satsang, but you've been listening, I know this. So yes, and I wanted to come today because I felt that it was so long since we talked and so I wanted to check with you. And I have been working a lot and I've been doing some art stuff. And so, yeah, I just wanted to—yes, to some pride and many stuff has come. But yeah, somehow prayer is keep helping me, helping me. And I'm so glad that I'm here today and I'm listening again and I'm here sitting again with you. And yes, I just wanted to be here and to check with you and to say okay. Because somehow I've been feeling also like this strong pull to life, to enjoy, to 'let's do this, let's do that.' But again, I'm so glad to be here. Yes, that God is keep calling. But yeah, I just wanted to say yes, I have been in the edge of saying, 'Okay, I'm going bye-bye, Father. I'm going, I'm so happy doing this and doing that.' And I just wanted to expose this.

So suppose that you said bye-bye. Yeah, that Maya is compelling, that everything is nice, art is beautiful, all the beauty of Italy is available to you to enjoy. So and then what happened after that?

Yeah, I would need to be in satsang at some point because it's so painful somehow. It's so—

Very good that you see that because no matter how beautiful the outer world seems, if we lose touch with the inner being presence, then it starts to become a world of suffering very fast and then we feel trapped, you see? The mind will even tell you nonsense things, like many children go through this, where the mind says, 'But now Father will not even accept you, he will not welcome you back to satsang,' you know, all this kind of thing. It tries to play those very primitive sort of games. But it just wants us to be oppressed by it alone, with no support, with no escape. And I know it sounds very scary that way, but I have to say sometimes how it is, that it seems to invite us very beautifully, but once we get trapped, we seem to get stuck and it seems like there's no return.

Yeah, I've been feeling something like that. Somehow, how can I go back to satsang? But this is why I'm so glad to be here. Because somehow, yes, praying is helping me to not to listen too much to that. I've been listening to the voice of the mind, of course, but somehow the grace and God is being here. I don't want to be saying it from a wrong place, but I feel that somehow it's guiding, is guiding here. And I don't know, I don't want to say too much.

How is the focused prayer time going? And if it's not doing well, it's all right, we can—

No, no, no. Well, since I've been doing this job, this art exhibition, yes, it was focused on me, on the—because it was a personal show. It was very big, a lot of people, a lot of money involved, the stuff. Okay, but somehow, yeah, I found myself lost a little bit here and there, but somehow during the day always I came back to prayer, or during the night. So I found that prayer was always—not always, but it kept me. It was like, 'Okay, come here again, please.' It was an anchor. Even though—and so that helped me very much to give what I was having to God somehow, when I was able to do it, I did it. I don't know how to say. And now that I came back, yes, I found somehow more time to listen to satsang or to stay a little bit, even though I feel that I keep being distracted. But yeah, somehow—the most important question I have for you is, did Eladia get her passport?

Yes, yes! And we hope that—next year we want to come, like from January to February. Let's see, this is the plan. I want to come. I would come without Eladia, but I would love to come with her because I feel that still is very important for us to—

Very, very happy to hear this. You see, January, February, that's very close. Very good, very good. All my love, all my blessing. Love you.

Thank you, Father. Thank you, my love. See you soon. Thank you.

Okay, let's go to Sharat. Namaste.

Namaste, Father. Namaste. I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything.

Welcome, welcome. There are so many things to say, just I don't want to understand. Thank you, my love. All my blessing. Bless you, bless you. So what we should do is of the three days, one of the days we can do online questions only, so we can start the Ramacharitmanas on time. Friday we'll return to that, okay? So Friday we'll do online.

Thank you, my love. See you soon. Thank you. Okay, let's go to Shanti.

Namaste, Father. Namaste. I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything.

Welcome, welcome. There are so many things to say, just I don't want to understand. Thank you, my love. All my blessings. Bless you, bless you. So, what we should do is, of the three days, one of the days we can do online questions only so we can start the Ramacharitmanas on time. Friday we'll return to that, okay? So Friday we'll do online so it doesn't happen that I don't get to meet them in this way. And the other two days, priority can be with the audience in front of us and visitors. But we start the Ramacharitmanas then. 7:30 is the... if we start like today, we started late, so we have to see. 7:30, 7:45. Yes, let's go to Radham Ji. How is it possible that somebody who doesn't know English is there and is listening to every satsang? Very good, very good. Okay, should we try the new tune? Not saying much.