Your Emptiness Is Flowering the Garden of God’s Presence - 23rd February 2024

So the question 'Who am I?' resolves the question of what is birth and what is death, because in the contemplation of who you are, you come to that which is aware even of the sleep state. And your mind hates this question because your mind tries to tell you that everything goes in the sleep state. Everything goes, even 'I am' is not there. So the mind is definitely not there. Even the being is not present. Sometimes there may be a tiny sliver of beingness, it's like almost a sleep state, but sometimes the entirety of being may dissolve. But who can make that report? Who can even say that even 'I' was not there? That is the deathless, sleepless, unaffected by any state. That is your reality.

Our mind will question and say, 'But how do you really know that? How do you really know that?' So definitely not in the instrument where the question is arising. There you don't really know that. But there you don't know anything of value yet. You don't know what is love, what is compassion, what is justice, what is truth. You don't know who you are, anything that is truly valuable. You don't know who is God, where is His presence. All these questions we are not aware of in our mind. So we cannot go to the mind with this question. So contemplation is to bring it to the Satguru presence within, the Atma within, the Holy Spirit within will guide you. And there this truth will be apparent: that that pure awareness that I am is beyond the creation and dissolution of this entire universe, not just one body. This entire dream that we call this world, you are just the sheer witnessing of that, beyond all things which are phenomenal.

So it's a very good contemplation, but don't rush for an answer because answers you will find if you even go to the internet and search, you will find hundreds of answers. But those answers will not quench your thirst. You're thirsting in the guise of this question. You're thirsting for the ultimate truth because you cannot answer what is death unless you know what is life. You cannot answer what is life unless you know whose life this is. So all questions are contained in questions like this. So we must find out. We must find out what is birth, what is death, and more importantly, who is living and who can die.

So I'm completely with you in this contemplation and I bless it with all my heart. For in all traditions, in all cultures of the world, it is said that to come to the truths, which is the same thing as saying to come to God, is to escape from the cycle of birth and death. To come to eternal life, a deathless recognition. To come to the Unborn is to come to that which is beyond death, because only that which is born can die. So what consumes you now? Is it the Unborn? All our time, all our focus seems to go on that which was born. Even that we cannot confirm, that that was born, but that seeming birth happened of this body-mind, and the narrative of the mind is all about this one. Very rarely we come to that one who wants nothing from this life except to discover the truths of who they are and to come to the presence of God, the reality of the deathless one.

But it's worth exploring whether when we live like that without God's light, without God's presence, without the discovery of the truth, can that be called life in the first place? So are we really alive without the holy presence within, the Atma within? And not that the Atma is not there, but when we are stuck in Avidya, ignorance of the false, when we are stuck in the false, then the truth seems to get hidden, obscured. That is why even though we say that there are 7.8 billion of us who are living in this world, those who come to Atma Gyan, Atma Darshan, will say that actually there are very few who are truly living because they haven't found life. What is alive within themselves? Whose presence, whose being is alive? Who is that I-amness? And we're more interested in feeding the unending hunger of the 'me' which we can't even find. Then we live like zombies and then we die like zombies because we never really met life, although every opportunity was put in front of us to meet life, to meet His light, to meet His presence.

But how do we end up missing it? Nobody intends to miss it, especially those who are spiritual. Nobody intends to miss it, but the mind has a trick up its sleeve. What is the trick? 'Tomorrow.' God is best left for tomorrow. Today I have important stuff to do. And none of that important stuff will help us when it is time to go. So this battle, this play, this Leela, the major variable here is time. The mind is stealing your time away from you moment by moment by giving you something to distract yourself with, something that seems super important to you right now. You're not believing your ideas because you think that they are not important; you take it to be super important. It's the most important thing. And three days later you won't even remember what you were thinking. It's not that important. It gives that illusion of importance. So every moment it is the machine of distraction.

So it'll keep offering you, 'Ah, but what about this? What about that? What about this now?' And then it'll complain, 'I have no time for God. My life is so full.' No, it's not that your life is so full, your head is so full. So we must come to an empty head and a full heart. There will never be the right time for it except now. And I have a message for all of you which is contrary to what the mind is saying. I am telling you that it is not too late, but tomorrow will be. So we have to change our ways. We have to change the central focus of our life from this 'me', from this ego, to God or truth. Whichever way we call it, it is fine. And the best part is that there is no downside to this. To live in God's presence, those are the most pristine moments of our life. Those are the ones that we really value and treasure.

So the mind is telling you a narrative which is not important. It is even making you try to understand the words of satsang so that you remain in allegiance to this mind instead of allowing yourself to fall into your heart. But all that this foolish one is trying to do is to introduce you to the holiness of the presence within yourself, the light of the presence within yourself. So let's change the game today and say, 'My life is for God and I will not be so subservient to the mind when it tries to pull me away into some worldly distractions which are all going to end with time soon enough.' That is the beginning of our spirituality.

Have you seen how smoothly and trickily the mind has even co-opted the word spirituality for its own means? Like most spirituality in the world has nothing to do with spirit, nothing to do with Atma. This 'I'm very spiritual' because either I'm learning some concepts or I'm doing something to make myself feel better. But spirit, which is God's presence, is neglected. Sometimes it is not even mentioned. And yet all of this happens in the guise of spirituality. So spirituality without spirit is just egality or me-ity or something like that. But to get over our guilt for being fully worldly, we are reconciled to this kind of false spirituality and say, 'At least I'm spending some time with God.' But without any time spent with God, remember that our life will be in service either to the non-existent ego or to God. There is no option three.

So there's no separate 'me' that I can say, 'No, no, I want to live my life on my terms,' you see? Because that is just the mind. Like, which terms will you follow then? Just what you think, isn't it? But instead there's a way where you can be guided by the light of the Atma within. He can move you, He can guide you. What else do we want? It sounds like if you were empty, it sounds like the best deal. He'll move me and He'll guide me. What else can I want, you see? But in the human condition, it is the most difficult project, you see, because I have ideas, I have projections about where I want my life to go. So if I have an idea that my life should go like that and if He guides me to go this way, then I'll just pretend that I never heard it, it never happened. Denial is the best avoidance. And that is the fear. Most of us don't turn to God only because we are scared of what He may tell us or what He may do. Then the mind has a trick. It says, 'But God is just silent, isn't it? God can't guide us. How will He guide us?' And yet His guidance...

Because I have ideas, I have projections about where I want my life to go. So if I have an idea that my life should go like that, and if He guides me to go this way, then I'll just pretend that I never heard it, it never happened. Denial is the best avoidance, and that is the fear. Most of us don't turn to God only because we are scared of what He may tell us or what He may do. Then the mind has a trick; it says, 'But God is just silent, isn't it? God can't guide us. How will He guide us?' And yet His guidance, His communication, one way or the other, reaches us even when we are caught up in the world so much. We say, 'Something happened. I was in the right place at the right time. I was just there and I heard about satsang or I heard about something.' So we are happier to say that a lack of intelligence or mere coincidence led to these moments, other than that the Supreme intelligence was moving this life in this way.

Like someone sent me a video the other day. We are much happier to presume that all of life and intelligence and light and all this beauty comes from a sheer inert nothing. It's not the 'nothing' thing, yeah? That's a huge distinction; it's polar opposites. It comes from a sheer nothing rather than coming from the highest, most intelligent being itself. How is that a better conclusion? And those who buy into a conclusion like that—including the stupid boy when he was an atheist, buying into ideas like that—it's not even rational. How can all of this light and sound and gravity and all of this beauty come out of just a blank? How is that rational? Usually, the smaller comes out of the greater. When the baby is born, the mother is bigger. So when the universe is born, where must it come from? But the rationalists, as I used to be one, are happier to buy into the idea that, 'No, no, it just from nothing it comes. In nothing there was a Big Bang, all this came.' Is that rational? In a few years, maybe it'll just be laughed at, these ideas.

But there's a part of us which wants to believe that. It wants to be in denial of the greater power. It doesn't want us to turn within our hearts, within ourselves, to find this. And that is the beauty of this: the one who gives rise to this universe, He lives where? Within yourself, in your heart. And maybe that sounds like a silly, absurd notion, but that is what you will discover if you turn within. At least prove me wrong. Search for Him with all your might, with everything that you have at your disposal. Make your life fully about Him for a period of time, and if your life doesn't transform, then come and throw a tantrum with me saying, 'You misled me. You're a fraud, trickster, con artist,' whatever you want to call me.

Disconnected, disconnected... even the mic doesn't want to hear. You're back on it. Do you like saying all this? Why will my mind enjoy this thing? So if we can commit like this, if we can really endeavor to make our life about God, then tell me assistance didn't come, He didn't guide the way, there was no light in my heart, I did not feel a pure love which was unconditional, I did not value every moment of this even waking state so much more. There was so much more brightness in the world; I could see the light in everyone's eyes so much better, you see? But this is not theoretical; it's practical. You have to do it. You can't sit and think, 'Okay, what do I think? Will it happen to me?' You cannot speculate on these things. We cannot hedge your bets—this bet you cannot hedge. I was talking about the stock market that day, so there we can put some hedges in. When it comes to God, we cannot hedge. And that is scary. That seems risky. And if it doesn't seem risky, maybe I'm not communicating well enough. But we must walk through this fear.

Are you willing to commit your life to God? Are you willing to be guided and moved by Him moment to moment, every moment? Not based on your plans, projections, ideas, but whichever way it takes you. Are you willing to not put yourself in denial? Clearly your heart goes a certain way, but you want something else. And if you haven't encountered these situations, then you must start now. Okay, there are some other hands up which I didn't see earlier. Let's go to Paula.

Namaste, Father.

Namaste. Can you hear me?

Yes, yes. Just about, actually. Yeah, not sure what to say.

That's a very good start. That's a very good start. And that is even this simple thing, no? Like there are so many people listening, so the mind will tell us, 'No, no, when you go up, you say this, you see? You say this kind of thing, then you know, you'll create the right image for yourself.' But to come up and say, 'I don't know what to say,' which means that your head is empty now. Your mind will make you believe that you're being foolish, you need to rush, there's no time. But allow yourself to be empty like that in the head and just allow your heart to speak as much time as it takes. It's okay.

I feel that everything that I could say comes from mind.

Then what you have to do is just be quiet and stay in the heart so that you get used to living there. Because it is not like a dial-of-God service, no? So we cannot say, 'Okay, now in my heart, now you see.' So sometimes He tests our patience, He tests our love, He tests our courage. That's very important. But I promise you that the silence of the heart is much better than the highest words from the head. Because when you learn, when you remain there and then the words arise, then those words are satsang. Those words are perfumed with the presence, with the fragrance of God. And those who are open to God will smell this fragrance, will be drawn to this fragrance, and that is how God's love spreads, God's light spreads. But if you make God into a mental construct, if we make truth into a conceptual understanding and then we share that, then that spreads there. Did you go? Disconnected? I'm having that effect on everyone today. Okay, let's see Jason.

Namaste.

You know, you have Ananta's photo behind you. And before you start, I'm sorry, I hope I can take a minute. Just this morning I was hearing a video of hers where she said something very sweet. She said—I'll say in Hindi first and then I'll try to translate, although it's tough to translate this—she is very, very beautiful and simply put, you know? Because I was trying to say, 'No, we must do our prayer every few minutes, we must, you know, if our attention is fully busy with something then do it like this, if you have more attention then do the longer version,' and all that complicated way I was explaining. So she said—I'll try to translate—she said, 'I don't know if you know, but in India there's a habit of chewing this pan leaf with tobacco in it.' The people, it's a very popular habit unfortunately in India that people keep doing that. So even when she said, 'Even when you go to office, many people keep chewing on this pan. In the same way, whatever work you may be doing, you must keep remembering the name of God.' I felt like it's such a simple but such an important instruction, that whatever work may be happening, because the mind always tells us, 'But I'm busy with work all day.' But you can keep remembering.

Another simple example she gave was that just like at least as much as you wind up the clock so that it works, or the watch so that it works—in those days you would have to wind them up for them to work—so in the same way, at least remember God in that way and then do your work, and then return, do your work, return. So that just reminded me of that. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing. Today it's already so much. Maybe you already answered my question because, yeah, I wanted to express there's some frustration here because I feel again and again so much identified with body. And then sometimes I feel there's some little shift or something's happening, but then again just so much in this physicality of the body. And also I realize that I'm still very much relying on my mind and everyday circumstance, like in work and yeah, that. So I want to ask for your help and your grace that I find this courage to really leave trust on the heart or the higher power, not on the mind all the time. Maybe you can guide me in some way.

My full blessings, my full blessings for that. It is important to pinpoint the exact cause of trouble. So if somebody has been stealing from your house, you have to catch the right thief, not just any thief, because that won't help you. Somebody's stealing from your house every night and you go somewhere and catch any thief, that won't help you. To catch the right thief, you see? So who is causing the trouble? So you say my main—at least that's how it came across—is that my main trouble is the identification as the body, to identify with the mind. So we must then check: how does that happen? How is it that the thief comes and steals from me? How can I prevent that, or how do I catch this thief?

Now remember that this thief is tricky. When you go to catch it, it'll give you the addresses of every other thief in town. It'll say, 'I didn't do it, this one did. Go, go, go! It's a pain in your body, it's your partner, you see? It's the lack of money in your bank account.' It's all of these things. It tries every trick in the book to take you away from what really is blocking your light, blocking your life from living in God's light. And if you dig and dig and dig, if you really search for this, you will surely come to this discovery that really, at the center of all of it, this big-sounding trouble is identification with a single thought. And all you have to do is let go of identification with that one thought, you see? Which is that one thought? Did he also vanish? Okay, so now what is that one thought? Whatever the mind is proposing to you right now, that is the thief. The only thief is it. Can you imagine the absurdity of this play? That one measly energy construct of a thought seems to take us away from God's presence and light.

And intellectually we all know nothing happens to the presence, nothing happens to awareness which is aware of this presence. We know intellectually, but it doesn't help a bit to know, is it? Because then the great seeming has you, this Maya has you. So we must find a way in which we let go of this one thought which is presently being proposed by the mind to you. So what is the way that you're using? Say again, what is the way in which you are... what is the method or practice or pointer that you're using to remain empty of this thought construct, or to allow it to come and go?

Yeah, using different things, but maybe mainly staying with I am presence or asking 'Who am I?' and also praying to God everything.

Very good, very good. Yes, yes, it can be a medley of all these beautiful things. That sounds beautiful. So if you can stay with His presence, it's best. Also, I'm learning this also: it's best to not just say 'the presence' or not just say 'staying with my presence' or 'I am,' but to really recognize that this presence is His presence. It is His being. So remain with Him in this way. So when you remain with Him in this way, then the thought doesn't get you, isn't it? Which thought? That is any thought which is proposing identification, which is proposing that you are a body-mind, that you are a body. All thoughts are proposing this narrative of the 'me,' isn't it? So when we remain in His presence, then all these thoughts come and go. Okay, let me play this out for you a little bit more. So let's meet this alive for all of us. Stay with His presence, and as you stay with His presence, then all these thoughts will naturally come and go. But then a thought will come which will seem more important than remaining in the presence. And actually, and mostly, this thought is about taking some action or doing something. But just remain in the presence and allow that action to happen or not, if that is His will. That is the meaning of servitude. It's as simple as that. Remain with Him, allow these thoughts to come and go, and whatever action needs to happen—like I was telling Paula earlier—allow it to happen from your heart, from there, from His presence, from Him.

A thought will come which will seem more important than remaining in the presence. And actually, and mostly, this thought is about taking some action or doing something. But just remain in the presence and allow that action to happen or not, if that is His will. That is the meaning of servitude. It's as simple as that. Remain with Him, allow these thoughts to come and go, and whatever action needs to happen—like I was telling Paula earlier—allow it to happen from your heart, from there, from His presence, from His light. And most of the time you will be fine just with this much. But there will be times in which you bought into a thought, and the thought followed up with another thought, with another thought, with something, something. It was like a mind attack, what we call the mind attack. So it comes like that, and before we know it, we feel like, 'I didn't even know when I believed it, when I identified with the thought,' you see? But I'm now caught up in this thing. You notice that, you see? You may not say all of this, but you notice that you are feeling disconnected. You're not feeling that alive presence in your heart, you see? You're feeling disconnected, you see? So your nose becomes very subtle to smell this. You notice that you're in the wrong playground. So when you notice that, that is when you need the inquiry. That is when you need the prayer. That is when you can chant your ads—long prayer, short prayer, or whichever prayer resonates with your heart—to return to the connection with your own being, with God's presence.

And we have to commit to this 100%. You have to commit to this 100% because here it is like what the Buddha said: that one may win over a thousand armies, but to transcend their own mind is even more difficult. So you can't just do it by saying, 'Yes, you know, I'm going to try.' Like if you're going for an expedition to Everest, then you can't just say, 'Maybe I'll carry a few woolens.' You're going to freeze to death, or it's not going to work. So you must, must commit fully that your life now is for God. If you made that commitment that your life is for God, then 99% of the mind's temptations are gone. They will not seem valuable to you. But if you're trying to juggle, then it doesn't happen. So commit to God. Commit to living in His presence. A living presence must be lived in; it must not be some conceptual idea of God. And isn't it great that that which we call 'I am' is His presence? So we don't have to go anywhere. We don't have to even search, actually. We just have to become empty in our heads. So just like that, such a simple way. Stay then. If the mind offers a temptation and you notice it, just allow it to come and go. Remain open and empty. Just open and empty.

But if you find yourself stuck and caught and something is feeling very real—you see, you're in the middle of a fight with a partner and it's seeming so true that you are this one and he or she is that one, you see—but something makes you remember, then just ask yourself who you are, or pray to God for help, or just chant your mantra: Ram, Ram, Ram. But return to the presence. More important than being right, you see? Because in that situation, the mind will tempt you to be right in that position that you're taking, which is all rubbish. It's not right or wrong; it's just rubbish. So just drop it and return to God. That is how our life becomes a living, a lived spirituality, when the presence of spirit is number one. And start now. There is no time to waste. See, this alarm clock can only buzz; it can't force you to wake up. I can keep buzzing and say, 'Wake up, wake up, wake up! There is no time to waste. Wake up!' But if you just keep putting snooze and going back to sleep, then I can't do anything about that, you see? We'll come back to Paula and CAD in a moment. Thank you, thank you. And if you want to continue, we can come back to you.

Guruji, there, um, you're present and um, a lot of thought comes. I often struggle with the brief entanglement, and then I realize, 'Oh, I have struggle with this' or 'I struggle with this.' Like suppose I'm feeling in the presence and a small activity that we did right today, and being open and empty, the thought comes and there's a brief entanglement. I see that I get drifted with it, but I do remember that—oh, but I don't—I do remember. I get somehow I remember and then I come back again. So how do you see this? Is this fine, or a human condition?

Okay, yes, it's completely fine. And every time that we get into that—and I'm happy to hear a brief entanglement—we get into that brief entanglement, we commit that it's never going to happen again, and then we fail and we get into hopefully more brief entanglements. And then we commit, 'Not again. I'm not leaving God's feet, come what may.' But Maya is strong, so she plays a card, you see? It comes in the form of a narrative. It comes in the form of maybe physical-seeming events, and the mind uses that opportunity to play the card of identification and we get caught up. And when we get caught up, it's by Grace that we even notice. Isn't it beautiful, that Grace that makes us even notice? Otherwise, like Narada in the story, we may get lost for many years and maybe lifetimes. But Grace brings us back.

So because we can never predict the next time I get caught up with a single thought, whether I'm going to waste this entire lifetime and maybe many, you see, we commit that never again am I leaving God's feet, no matter what the mind is saying, you see? But there will come something which will be that compelling that even in spite of a 100% commitment, we'll fall for it, and then we notice again. If that is God's Grace, and we return. So that is the life of a true sadaka, the true the one who recognizes that Maya is strong and yet takes the strong commitment. Because if you don't commit 100%, you see, then it won't be brief entanglement. See, they will be long escapades.

Then I would like to expose one thing. I have this, I don't know how I picked up this, but this definition or maybe somebody's suggestion that when you will reach to a certain level—I don't know, some level—you will see thought coming and you will stay same and thought will go, but you will stay as is and you will recognize this. So that has become a benchmark for me, and entangled is sort of an entanglement for that, that, 'Hey, I'm not able to see that' or 'become a sky where the cloud comes and goes and stay as sky.' So I mean, how to assimilate this? I mean, am I wrong, right? I don't know.

It is, I feel like everyone is already like that. So when I hear it, I don't hear it as you come to a particular level and it is like that, you see? Because imagine that if every thought that crossed your mind you were briefly entangled with, then you would pick up a lot of garbage. So you don't get entangled with every thought, isn't it? Those thoughts you are like the sky and these clouds pass and they go, isn't it? Even now, some thoughts may come and you notice them, but you say you don't attend to them. You see, you don't get entangled. So you don't have to reach a particular stage. Maybe just to notice that, we may say, 'Okay, the beginning of spirituality, we start to notice the mechanics of these things.' But this is true for everyone. So don't make it as a benchmark to be achieved. It's given for all of us. We don't believe every thought that crosses our mind. The mind tries hundreds of things. It tries to create new branches of identification, new pools of conditioning, you see? But we don't fall for every trick. We fall for actually very few. So don't worry about that.

And if the entanglement now is about reaching that particular stage, just leave that, you see? Because the appearance of a thought is not the entanglement.

Yes. So what is then? It is the tendency to pick and entertain them or serve the tea to them.

Exactly. So that grasping that, you know, we grab at it, right? So we pull at it and with our belief, which causes identification.

So just commit to not identify in that way and stay with His presence. That becomes an anchor for you. Is it okay? Now some of you will say, or many of you will say, that 'I don't actually feel His presence, so how can I anchor myself with that?' So it's important to answer that question also, because for years I felt like I didn't feel His presence and I was very frustrated about that. So then find the presence of an unconditional love in your heart. It is always present for all of us in the human condition. Something will remind us of an unconditional love in our heart. It may be a child's name, a child's image, God's name—Hanuman, Ram, Jesus, Krishna, Allah—a picture of something. So a reminder of preferably of God, which you notice brings an unconditional love in your heart, is it? So if that is Ram, then use the name of Ram. If it is Krishna, then use the name of Krishna. And then remain anchored in that love.

How often can you remind yourself like this? As often as possible. Like that's where the example comes that all are complaining about not being able to do it only comes about Godly things. We juggle many things. So coming to remembrance of God's name, of God's—if there's an image of God that brings you to this love in your heart, then use the image. There's no problem with that. But return to this unconditional love, at the very source of which is His presence. And I sincerely feel that—I hope it is not biased because it came through this instrument—but I sincerely feel that the ads, the Atma samadhi, be very helpful. I don't know if you tried it, but it's really a gift from His presence to everyone that is open to it. Because it is the darshan of that one, His presence, that we all truly longing for in this life, whether we realize it or not. But if you were to let go of our construct for a moment, it is His presence, it is His light, it is His peace, His love, His contentment that we all seeking, His wisdom. And all that is asked of us is to keep the non-existent aside. Just have to keep the false aside. That's the good news. Nobody's asking you to keep the truth aside. But Avidya must go, ignorance must go. And 'me' is ignorance because there is no such 'me.' Somebody would have found it by now. The owner of the relationship, the owner of the financial security—where is that one? Okay, let's go back to Paula. Thank you, Father.

Welcome. I missed your response or whatever you were saying to me. I looked up on the screen, my eyes were closed and I was seeing something, and then I looked up and I saw you vanish. So first I was wondering whether it's something I said or is it just that this disconnected is happening a lot today.

Yeah, no, it was the internet here at home. Yeah, yeah. So Maya is really fighting me today. The speaker disconnected, the internet is getting disconnected. Yeah, it could be like that, or just could be like that, or just going them. Well, what's a coincidence? I don't know. See already that although you're not saying anything, you're not being eloquent and you're not speaking from a spiritual understanding, already there is something different, you see? Which is good. So allow yourself to be empty like that, living in the heart. Because it's like your emptiness is flowering the garden of His presence. If you know, if you understand, if you are full of ideas, then you don't allow yourself to learn how to live in this way. And even the best sounding spiritual ideas can get in your way.

I feel the more and more the willingness really to let go of everything. I mean, any subject is like it's a waste of time. That's basically just stay there thinking and thinking and trying to resolve everything and exactly. It has never happened, actually, that actually something is resolved in that way. And yes, I want to share with you that this, the ads, I feel it's gaining some kind of momentum because more and more is happening like automatically during the day. And sometimes not the full prayer, but just the arrow prayer. Yes, I think I—the Christ, Christo in Spanish—it's like just the name. And then also some moments are during the day there's...

Trying to resolve everything and exactly, it has never happened actually that something is resolved in that way. And yes, I want to share with you that it's—I feel it's gaining some kind of momentum because more and more is happening like automatically during the day. And sometimes not the full prayer, but just the arrow prayer. Yes, I think the Christo in Spanish, it's like just the name. And then also some moments during the day, there's been like established this calling to God. And it's when I go to sleep, then when I wake up, and then while—like before eating always—and in between, you know, morning, afternoon, all that. It's more and more like coming.

Very good, very good. I love this report. So sweet and simple, and it's about how we are endeavoring to live in His presence. Very good, very good. Full blessings are with you in this, and I join you in your prayer. May His light always bless you. Thank you. Welcome, very welcome. Love you so much.

Love you too. Thank you. Okay, let's go to C. Father, can you hear me?

Yes, my dear, I can.

I'm trying to turn the camera on. I'm sorry, I knew you was about to call me too. Hold on, start the video one second. Hey Father, hello, hello my dear. Hey, good morning everybody. Um, can you hear me okay? I got my cheap headphones today.

Yes, I hear you very well.

I'm all of—okay, okay good. Um, so I just got to say it's so good to see you again and I'm so glad that you called me. I have to expose that a bit of this is I just wanted to be seen by you. It's been like years and I haven't talked to you or nothing like that. And I just wanted to make sure God still loved me. So I was going to say if he called on me, God still got his hand on me. But the thing that I wanted to ask you about was, or talk to you about was—God, I don't know what you say—stay in God's presence. Yes, I still have a concept of God, right? And even last night when I prayed, I got on my knees and I did like the old-fashioned prayer like how I used to do with my grandmother, and I just try to be as earnest as possible. But there's still something that says there's a concept; there's something that is conceptual about what's going on here. It doesn't feel—it just feels conceptual, but I still try to stay as earnest as I could against that thought, right? I would like to say when I do think of God, I think of you or think of Jesus. I think of you because I know you once told me that a master is an example. So I look at you as an example and I actually did that last night. When I thought about Jesus, I actually inserted your image there. You know I have a tendency of babbling on, so I shut up now.

No, it's good, it's good.

Yeah, um, so that's what I—and then one more thing, right? Remember when I asked you what goes on when you close your eyes? Like, what's going on? That seemed like that would be someone being in the presence of God. When I look at you, I want that. And I mean, maybe you know, I'm not Mukti, I'm not you—y'all know how I feel about y'all—but I just want something authentic. But I sit on your lap and I just be quiet about it and I try to, you know, I give it to the mind that finger step. Now everything's good, go to the Father's lap, but it still comes up. So, I'm in the gym, I'm so sorry.

Well, it's really good. It's so good to hear you and good to see you as well. I have to say that, to start with, I feel like your grandma would love such satsangs that we are having now. I remember she crossed my mind recently. She was very concerned at one point about what's happening, and so she'll be very happy with how satsang is flowing now with so much devotion to God. So initially that question was definitely answered where you were asking if God still loves you. Of course He does, and that's true for all of us no matter what. So completely, completely true. The master is the provisional messenger because we are used to name and form in this world. So it is helpful sometimes for us to have a name, have an image that leads us to the nameless, formless presence in our hearts, because that can serve as the anchor. And traditionally in India at least, that was the role that the guru, the master plays. Because everyone is so attached to name and form, to provide a name and form which is expressing their life in such a way that they are empty of identity, so that through that connection with the master you are led to the true Master, the Holy Spirit within, the Atma within. But because this is a constant deepening, a constant work in progress, no master should ever consider themselves to be a master. No guru should start believing that they are a guru. If they forget that they are just a mere instrument of God's light, then that leads to—then this construct of revering the master, revering his presence, his image, then gets convoluted because that master is himself taking himself to be something and not just a mere servant or instrument of God. Master's life is a constant work in progress, a constant sadhana to return to humility, to return to servitude, to return to the presence and to only sit at His feet, the feet of God within. And that master then is worthy of our love, worthy of our reverence in this way that you so beautifully expressed. Also, I have to say that when I look at the life of Ananta, I still find a lot of foolishness there, a lot of pride there, a lot of things that we have to work on, that I have to work on for myself. So by no means can we say that this one is some perfect teacher or perfect master. Far, far from it actually. But what is true is that what I want for you—and may God keep this always true—what I want for you is to come to the love I feel for God within, the love that I feel for the holiness within myself. And my feeling is that as long as that is my only intention, then in your love and devotion only auspiciousness will flow from this relationship. So it's very sweet what you say, that you trust and you're so devoted to this one in some way. And I also trust that this one has enough love for God and enough purity of intention to only want that which is highest for you, that that relationship will be auspicious for us. So that's something that came up to say. To meet God's presence actually, prayer is a beautiful way, and you've been praying and your temperament is devotional in that way. So prayer is a very beautiful way to come to this presence. So you notice that there is a light within yourself which is not like a phenomenal light, but it is in that light that even the world is experienced. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi said, 'In whose light do we experience even the light of the sun?' So that light is the light of presence within yourself. Commit yourself fully to discovering this Holy Spirit within yourself, this Atma within yourself, because life without that is not life. The contemplations 'Can I stop being?' or 'What is awake within myself right now?' 'Who am I?'—all of these contemplations will help you and your prayer will help you. And for those of a devotional temperament, the prayer itself may be more than enough actually. But you have to commit that your life is for God, and then His presence becomes more and more apparent. Very happy to hear you because your words still carry that same sweetness, the same fragrance of love and devotion.

Sometimes I really wish I could come to India and spend some time with you guys. A lot of times I think like I would just leave everything and just go there because I just think like that. Sometimes I think everything should be cleared up for me to get my passport now. Yeah, but I know that I don't need to be in your physical presence, but I desire that so much, you know. Now, you're very welcome. You're always welcome to come, always welcome to come. I do have one question. Yes? How does that work? I just show up?

Yes, yes, that's basically how it is. But also you can reach out to Jima, you can reach out to Mirama, Isama—there's so many people who live in this building now that they can also guide you. And if you're in touch with anyone in the sangha at all, they can give you their numbers and you can reach out to them so that, you know, they can help you with things like accommodation and what are the options for where you can stay. As you probably know, we don't have an asham or anything like that. We live in the middle of—not yet, no. I do, I feel—well, you don't know, but yeah, I've heard you talk about some things about how you want to serve people. So I was saying that we live in the middle of a very crowded, bustling, full of traffic city. So, you know, it's going to be fun if you come. So yeah, you can reach out to any of us and we'll try to make it as simple for you as we can.

Thank you.

Welcome. I remember having met C in America and my son got into college in a city called Bloomington. But he felt it was a different Bloomington. And he opened up to me while we were going somewhere. He said, 'Father, are you sure you want to send your son to go to Bloomington?' I said, 'Yes, it seems like it's a very good college city, college town, and you know, I'm sure he'll love it there.' And he was just like, 'But Bloomington?' Because it seems apparently there's a Bloomington in Illinois also, but my son had gotten into Bloomington, Indiana. So when he realized it's the different Bloomington, he was quite relieved, right? Because Bloomington didn't seem like someone from abroad should be coming to. 'What you going to Bloomington for? Ain't nothing there!'

Yes, I remember this conversation. Nice, sweet. Thank you for your love and care always. Thank you, Father. Thank you, thank you my—bye everybody, sorry.

Okay, let's go to Shanti.

I'm having a bit of trouble. Oh, it's good to talk to you. Is that better? My voice is just low. To be able to talk to you directly like this, I'm just—I guess you started when I came on. I was listening and you were talking about commitment. Yes. So this is probably an area where I have the most difficulty in my life, with committing to anything, to anyone. God is probably a commitment I've had since a very early age, but it's touch and go. And in life now, I'm getting so much older, it's very easy now to see the end of this body, this life. And my mother is 90; she's very close. So there's a lot of thought about and a lot of fear, a lot of questioning, you know, 'What have I done? Am I preparing for this?' Because basically I think that, you know, this is what—like there's what Ram or somebody, I forget what saint or sage said this, but you know, this 'die before you die.' And when you get close like this, it's easy to say that, you know, but then when you get really close like this, it's like, 'Oh, you know, I don't know. I don't know anything.' And the commitment to—it seems that I'm—if I could really—what if I'm wrong? What if it's, you know, not that way anyway? But so I'm here to just give you this fear, all of this doubt, and ask that you, you know, somehow bring me closer to this commitment, bring me closer to this trust and faith and all of that that's needed. Really, really needed.

Very, very good. Thank you, thank you my child. So I hope you heard the beginning of satsang where we spoke about death a little more. I just—I came on a half an hour late, I think. I see, I see. We can watch the recording as well, that'll be fine. But I'll share something that is coming up now to say. The matter—actually, I'm happy to hear the urgency in your voice today. And I feel like you've actually—you're underselling yourself a bit. You've always been quite committed to God, but the urgency is also good because actually the matter is urgent and the most important, most vital for all of us. It doesn't matter what age, but as we are getting older, of course the impending inevitability of death becomes more and more apparent to us. And we must use that to strive hard for that which is deathless, for the truth which is beyond life and death.

And I feel like you've actually—you're underselling yourself a bit. You've always been quite committed to God, but the urgency is also good because actually the matter is urgent and the most important, most vital for all of us. It doesn't matter what age, but as we are getting older, of course, the impending inevitability of death becomes more and more apparent to us, and we must use that to strive hard for that which is deathless, for the truth which is beyond life and death. And all of you, fortunately or unfortunately, have come into the company of this strange man who is telling you that death is not your actual reality. But for that, you must find the source of eternal life. You must discover God's presence as the Atma within. And of course, all of you have heard that before, but I'm telling you that it is possible for you, and you must commit your life first and foremost to this discovery and allow His grace, His will, to guide everything else in the outer world.

And that is where this commitment comes in, because we can either commit to the ego or we can commit to God. We can either serve the ego or we can serve God. So even if you were to say that, 'I don't know if I'm cut out for this. I just came to spirituality because I wanted some peace. I have some suffering and I wanted to be happy.' You see, I came for that. But what you are telling me seems too radical, too far out. But I'm just telling you the basic fundamental of what spirituality is. This is spirituality: to meet God's spirit within yourself. And if this is a reality, if it is a possibility that you can meet Him within yourself, you see, then why would you not want to? Like, what other project can be better than that?

You see, with the nature of Maya, the design of this play is to convince us that, 'Yes, yes, that is the final, most important project, but not today. Today something else is important.' But that's never really the case, because if you allow yourself to be in a true quest for God, for the truth, then everything that needs to be taken care of on the outside always is. You see, 'needs to be' is the important word. He takes care of your needs but not your greeds. But many times those things, even as a bonus, even that which we would never have imagined could happen with effort, just happens with Grace. So we don't have anything at all to worry about in this outer play. At the surface level, at the wave level of this ocean, all waves are taken care of. But it's important to find the treasure inside the ocean: the treasure of eternal life, the treasure of God's presence.

And that God's presence, in India we call it Atma, you see? And literally, what is Atma? It is my own being. Atma is it; it is my own presence. So there has never been a presence of anything other than God. But in God's presence, God Himself is playing this game of Maya, and God Himself is freeing Himself from the delusion, from the game. But while it seems like I have a choice, I can do something, we must let go of the false, let go of selfishness, and dedicate your life to the quest for truth. Find out who you really are. Find out if it is true that God lives within your heart, within yourself. Because this strange man is telling you all these things. So why is he doing that? Because he's afflicted by this infection of God's love and he can't sit quietly without trying to share it.

So I want to spread this infection as much as God's grace will let me. And even if it sounds strange and absurd to you, everything that I've said, you have to take a leap of faith and find out for yourself. So either prove me right or prove me wrong. By no means am I telling you that you have to just blindly follow, but you have to take at least the step to find out for yourself. So turn inwards. Start even with a little bit. Turn inwards. Find out who you are. Whose light is shining within yourself? Who is witnessing all of this play? Find out, and you come to the reality of God's presence. And you come to that which is aware even of the presence. The sheer Nirguna, incomprehensible recognition of the Absolute reality is hidden in plain sight for you. It is not difficult or rare as the mind would have us believe, but you have to start by taking a step.

Because if you don't take the step, when you sit in your comfort zone and say, 'I think I know life is like this, and I feel like this should happen at this age,' and all of those things never happen. So don't make the mistakes of the ones before us. Turn in. And if you don't find the next step, then come and throw it at him. You see? 'It doesn't work. You're talking rubbish.' If God doesn't shine a light on how you should be guided to His light, then come and complain. But don't complain out of sheer speculation in your head because you're just scared to try something which is actually the most important project of our lives. And let's face it, if things were going so well in the tyranny of the mind, then who is going to come listen to this boring man's speech? So already there's a recognition that there must be another way to live this life. Something is already pulling you away from the way of the head to the way of the heart. Already something is swinging to a different beat which is out of the ordinary.

But you set your boundaries too small. You need to dive in headlong and full on. You have millions of lives; just spend this one on God. Let's see what happens. So commit fully, because unless you commit fully to this, then it's no commitment at all. Because Maya is so compelling. Even sitting in the satsang hall, she is pulling you into something or the other. Some of you are resolving work issues, some are solving relationship issues. You see, even now where so much support is available for you to find God, this is the compelling nature of Maya. And it's not that you're intending to do that, but it happens. She is so—that's why she's called the Mahathagini, the greatest con artist. Because in the midst of satsang, we could still be involved in our heads in worldly considerations. And it's natural for that to happen, but imagine how we are on the outside then.

So unless we commit fully to stay with God's light, to stay with the unconditional love—if you feel like His presence cannot be found, then remain in His love. And most importantly, be truthful to yourself. Don't be in the rush to become proud, to glorify yourself, to claim some achievement. Remain truly humble, because I promise you that even this one who is seeming to lead the way for all of you is just beginning to scratch the surface of what this is. So we must be very careful of any sort of spiritual pride. So even if a mind doubts and says, 'I don't know if I'm cut out for this. I don't know, am I at the right place? How did I end up here?' My question is, if you're not cut out for this, then what is option two? What are you cut out for then? If you're not cut out for God, if you're not cut out for the truth, then what are you cut out for?

The mind will scare you, will say, 'I'm not ready for this.' One child came many years back, she said, 'I hear what you're saying, but I'm not ready for this.' And if you go with the mind in that way, we will never be ready because Maya will always say, 'Tomorrow, tomorrow.' Soon is the end. He is speaking about death today. And in the last year, I've seen death in very close range, very close proximity, with my father, father-in-law. It's like all of them just deciding to go together. But I have to say this to all of you because you are my family as well: that do I feel that in his passing he met God as deeply as he could have? I don't feel that he did. Did he never—did he not intend to? Of course he did. He considered himself to be a deeply spiritual man. But was he—did he keep his ego aside and follow God's guidance, God's will? He was not able to because Maya is too strong. And the more time you waste, the more deeply conditioned you will be by it. We'll be too set in our mental ways to explore this complete transformation, to switch over from the way of the head to the way of the heart.

So you're here now. Don't waste this opportunity. Dive in fully and find out. If it's all nonsense, then just conclude. Find out for yourself, conclude it is nonsense, and don't come back to it. But don't be lukewarm, half-hearted, and don't be so easily distracted by the smallest thing. I'll tell you one trick: the mind has a theme for the day, okay? If you can spot that theme—and many times it has a theme for the year or a theme for years—but it works like this: it gives you a theme, it gives you something to worry about, something to resolve, something that is a problem in your life. And this theme for the day is so deeply embedded in you that even after a satsang like this, when I go back, I may get messages about that thing. You see? 'Today I was just like—in satsang I couldn't hear you because I was just thinking about that.' What a waste.

So spot this theme for the day and just hit it for a six, since there's a match on apparently. Don't fall for these primitive tactics of this caveman head on our heads. So primitive. No money, pleasure, all this stuff. Constantly just pushing the same buttons which have not changed for thousands of years. You read a book from a hundred years ago, somebody goes to Bhagavan, he says, 'Bhagavan, in your presence it's all so clear, it is apparent. But when I go back to the marketplace of the world, then I have my responsibilities, I have to make money, then my partner expects these things.' And it could be a conversation today. The same conversation a hundred years ago. It could very much be a transcript from satsang. And the same thing thousands of years back. So in the way of the head, we are not really growing or transforming or evolving in any way. We are stuck in our primitive ways. Switch over to an intuitive way of life guided by the Atma within, you see? But for that, you have to take the seeming risk. You have to jump in and take the risk. And I'm happy this urgency will help.

That one request: that you keep me with you. Because there are lots of times I—my— this head, this—the thoughts will try to convince me to a point where I want to leave.

I mean, my full, full blessing, my full love, that you don't fall for any tricks of Maya and you stay. And the odds are very good because you've stayed for what, ten years now? Well, all together with you, about fourteen. Fourteen. So the odds are very good. Odds are very good.

Sometimes it feels like there's just a fine line, and then I have a lot of faith in God, but there's a lot of temptation and I give in so much. I'm just so not able to sometimes see the temptation and how serious even—you know, they just seem so innocent.

And they seem so innocent and they seem so right. Yeah, it seems so right. For if it wasn't right, exactly, exactly, exactly. Very good, very good.

I'm here by myself. It's very easy to sway and to go the wrong way. So please, please, just your grace and your blessing is so important to me. Because being a living master—I pray to my also an Atma and Bhagavan a lot—but you are the living master, and your grace too is the most important to that I don't lose the—that I don't somehow get dragged down by these temptations. And I know that I'm acceptable for that. I know that there's a great danger in that, and that urgency for to turn towards God completely with commitment, with dedication, devotion, more, even more than...

Yes. Although some of the words are not being heard properly, what I hear you clearly in my heart, and I accept what you're saying about this one. On behalf of the holy presence within your own heart, may His grace bless you so deeply that you don't sway away from His light, and even if you do, it is light and you return so quickly. A full, full love, full blessing for this.

And Father, can I ask for grace for my mother? Can I ask you for grace for my mother as well? She's ninety and she's doing quite well now, but I mean, it's not long. So, but I believe also that—I don't know her inner, inner heart, I really don't. She's very not—she doesn't share a lot, she's very closed. And I think she believes in God, but like your father, I want for her more than anything. It touched me so much when you spoke of him.

It turned so quickly to a full, full love, full blessing for this. And Father, can I ask for grace for my mother? Can I ask you for grace for my mother as well? She's ninety and she's doing quite well now, but I mean, it's not long. So, but I believe also that I don't know her inner heart. I really don't. She doesn't share a lot; she's very closed. And I think she believes in God, but like your father, I want for her more than anything—it touched me so much when you spoke of him—I want her to be in that presence. If there's anything I can do... well, she can't really receive from me, but if there's anything I can do, please bless me that I can do that for her. I pray for you, Father. Let's go to... I can't hear. How about now? How about now? It takes some guts, it takes some faith, and I just want to say thank you and thank you again because it's a blessing, you know. All my love, all my blessings. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Very good. Very good. Let's go to Peter.

Hello, Father.

Hello, my son.

It's so good to see you again. And I'm so happy that you spoke about, that you focused on commitment in the satsang today because it still feels like a kind of gap here between the inside, which is always so obvious. Your words are always like the words of my heart and the presence is so palpable. And I just know it's the presence of God which is with your words, which is just like it's coming out of my heart and it's so beautiful. And at the same time, I know there could be much more commitment just in daily life. It sometimes feels a little bit like a fear to give up all of those stories. There are a lot of personal stories I gave up which don't play a role anymore, but maybe what is in the way somehow is really to skip the rest of them.

Yes. What you shared is actually the story of all of our lives, that we can always, all of us, can deepen in our commitment. All of us can deepen in our love for God. So in this life also, it's a constant deepening; it's a constant work in progress. And that is the beauty of this, that although the words of this may sound like they are difficult or they are frustrating, but this commitment to God—and then feeling and then returning to God, and then feeling being caught in Maya—is actually the sweetest way to live this life. The words don't do it justice because the time that we spend in God's light is the most pristine, so full of love and light. So the words which are saying, 'Okay, we have to commit and then we will fail inevitably, then we commit again and then we fail,' you see, that sounds very different from the tasting of it. And maybe this mouth will get some better words to express what I want to say about this, but for the moment, it is good. Even if it sounds difficult, we must commit in this way. But I promise you that to commit and to live in God's light, you will never regret that, and you'll never want to exchange that for following your mind's oppressive ways. So only auspiciousness can unfold. So let's all collectively keep deepening in our commitment. And it is always better to look at it this way: to look at how much more we can deepen rather than to say, 'Oh, I've reached the pinnacle of my commitment' or something like that. You see? So I don't feel like there is such a thing as a perfect life. So we can always find ways to deepen in our faith, to deepen in our humility, to deepen in our insight, to deepen in our devotion. So I'm working right there with you, my son, with you in this completely.

Thank you so much. I have it. Thank you.

So there's a message that's come to me, but I want to read it out. It's important. This one says, 'I always need help to stay in God. I feel weak and like I am constantly feeling pride. Pride seems to eclipse God's love. Pride seems to eclipse God's love. I really need you, Father.' Then she's quoting from the Bible. She says, 'So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth,' which is in Revelations 3:16. So she says, 'I need help. Please don't spit me out, Father.' So this report can truly not come from one who is lukewarm. To spot our lukewarmness itself is fire. So I'm not going anywhere. Not going anywhere. Bless you. Bless you all. All is with you. Okay, let's go to Arin.

Pranam, Father. Unusual to see me on Zoom. Yes, I just wanted to report that this intuition based on your guidance that, you know, 'Can you stop being?'—just that very simple, simple thing. I think the intuition dawns that there's nothing you can do that can cause you to stop being or affect being. I think that's the stillness of being. So that's kind of... I think that's for some reason I'm just mentioning it because I don't think I ever fully grasped the depth of this, you know, just this one thing. So it's not only that I can't stop being, but whatever I think, whatever I do, whichever way the body moves, whatever happens doesn't perturb the stillness of being. Yes, or nothing. In fact, just completely because it's a different, you know, this intelligence, the sentience, 'I am' is, you know, as far beyond the sensations of the body or the thoughts. So the stillness is totally unperturbed. It's like it's a different realm.

Yes, and so beyond time and space. Beyond time and space, beyond all phenomena. And that is why its nature is so confusing to the mind. The nature of our being, our mind cannot really fathom. And often I've been saying that it would love it—the mind would love it—if it was purely objective like this. If it's an object, if Atma turned out to be like that, it's connected. So if it was like that, then the mind would say, 'Okay, connected. That's where it is. That is the shape of it. That's where you can find it. Here it is.' And if it was purely Nirguna, purely non-phenomenal, then also we would have great trouble in the discovery of it. So this is such beautiful grace that that which is neither totally phenomenal nor totally non-phenomenal then serves as the portal to go inwards. And as you go inwards to even its very source, in its own light, it finds that which is so beyond every notion of being, not being, every sensation of phenomena, that we come to the discovery of an absolute reality. Isn't it such a wonderful, beautiful, pristine, mysterious play? Nirguna Brahman manifesting as Saguna, appearing within our hearts as the Atma within, the same as the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Whichever tradition, whichever way you look at this, you come to the same realization, the same recognition. So very good. Keep going like this. And these beautiful insights will deepen, sweeten more and more.

And I somehow, for some unfathomable reason, got the instinct to read, you know, the Upanishads. So yesterday I just, you know, somehow pulled up Sri Aurobindo's translation of the Isha Upanishad. And to your point now, this is wisdom which is dated more than three thousand years, and it's exactly, exactly the same. There's not an iota of difference between the wisdom shared three thousand years ago and the satsang today. Incredible. It's but also it's also sort of mind-boggling that humanity, how we haven't digested wisdom that's being laid out in, you know, sort of before the modern civilization, you know, back say a thousand years before Christ. It's all laid out and it's not... we haven't... it's so rare that we haven't digested it. It just seems so novel.

Exactly. It's been around for three thousand years or more because every time we have the chance, we say, 'Tomorrow.' So this story of three thousand years, or maybe thousands and thousands of years more than that, is our story. And we have to break that cycle now. We have to break that pattern now. So I'm very happy reading the beautiful Upanishads. And we have some beautiful commentaries that you are free to just take because nobody's reading them from the Vedanta library. So if you're interested, I'm happy that someone is finally interested in reading them. There are beautiful commentaries also by Shankara himself and his Guru Gaudapada. There are some very beautiful scriptures we have. So I'm in full encouragement of this, because these words, the sages themselves reported that they came from what they call Shruti, which was that they heard from a divine source, which is the source of intuitive insight, the Satguru within itself. Very happy. Very happy to see you on Monday, Father, in person. Very good. Very good. Okay, let's go to the last one, Lori.

Hello, Father.

Hello. Both the sisters have come up today. Good, good.

Father, I want to expose a fear that I have. I'm very scared about my daughter's death. This is something that I'm not talking about every day, but it's intimate. Sometimes I feel that that scares me more than my own death. Yes, yes. And but when I observe that, only this idea of separation and that we are just bodies and minds, that's the belief of those ideas. But I want to expose that because yesterday we were watching 'The Chosen' premiere in Latin America in the cinema, in the theater, and Jesus said that you have to love your parents, but you have to love God more than your parents. So sometimes I feel like I love my daughter more than God, and it's very rational because I'm very scared that maybe... I don't know. And this is very rational, all these ideas about her death. And I wanted to expose that and give it to you.

Yes, I hear you. I hear you fully in this. And by no means will I take a position that I'm beyond the fear of my children dying, both my biological children as well as the so many children I have in the Sangha. If I said to you that I have no such fear, then I would be lying. It's not true. So let's both of us deepen in our faith in God, in our love for God, and may He take us both away from this fear. And may we recognize that as we are coming to God's presence, as we are living in God's presence, we recognize that death is only an outer play in this world. Nothing in reality has ever died. And yet, I can completely understand how we don't want to not have our children in the Leela in front of us. I can relate to the fear. But I pledge along with you today that we will both deepen in our love for God so much that this fear may be taken from us and we live in the deep faith of the undying reality which is God. And actually, the passage that you mentioned, somebody sent to me recently as well—I don't remember where—but it's a beautiful, it's a strong invitation to deeply commit to God's love, you see. And it's so beautiful that in every religion, every culture, we have embodiments of that devotion like Hanuman, who did not care about anything but Ram. So the role models are there in front of us. We have to try to emulate, try to deepen like they did. But I'm with you in this, my child. Full with you.

Thank you, Father. I love you so much.

All my love to your daughter as well, and full blessings. Full blessings to you. Thank you. Very blessed. Does someone feel like singing for us at the end of satsang? Our lead singer is busy. You can laugh, it's okay. She has a throat... me, Father? I can't sing without the guitar. It's just a mental block.

Sing Jai Jai Ambey. Jai Jai Ambey.