Open and Empty: Attentive but Not Grasping
The mind's endless grasping to understand and control life is fundamentally hopeless; recognizing and dropping this effort reveals our already-free, trouble-less nature.
Can we quickly recap the deals we made? Does anyone have a sense of what they were ? The first one is 'Don't look for the Self as if it's an object.’ The second is ‘If it feels like doesn't mean it's True.’ Just because something feels true doesn't make it true or rings true, feels true, thinks true… all these other true… everything other than true… and what is the way to determine truth-y-ness? Yes, only that which doesn't come and go is real. Then, what else did we say? [Third] ‘We will not go with the mind's interpretaHon, mind's version of what is being perceived. We will just see for ourselves.’ You can't suffer aeer this stuff. [Fourth] ‘The idea that I can't do this, all this happens to me automaHcally.’ And it's the Masters that are silly, telling me all this.. ‘Not to idenHfy or to not log in or make the choice not to go with your thoughts, don't believe the next thought all.’ The Masters don't know what they are talking about, actually I don't have this power at all. (Laughs) Isn't it the trick mind plays… ‘I can't help it.’
I just feel to say ‘Thank you so much for your blessing.’ Thank you so much for being here sharing Satsang.
Very welcome, very welcome, always. You want to give me a report about something also?
I am very happy to be with you, to meet you and talk to you this way and I could very much relate to what you said before. I find that someHmes there is a sense of I have to do something, so it's important to take right decisions or that the play works out in a certain way…
So you feel that the idea of being an individual decision maker or doer can sHll seem alive and strong. Is that what the report is?
Yes someHmes and someHmes there is this feeling of being bothered by thoughts or pictures coming up and also I find myself behaving strangely someHmes then I think oh, why would I do this but it seems to just play out in a way and I wonder if that's a bad sign or there are these thoughts coming up.
Good, so we make a deal ‘All spiritual progress and whether we are doing well or badly is who's problem?’ My problem, isn't it… not yours. Who is making this deal? All spiritual progress from here on forth will be Ananta's problem… Guruji's problem. Very good, very good. Then how will you trouble yourself now? So if you are doing really badly, ge^ng angry, shouHng at people… whose problem is it? [Fieh] – ‘So your spiritual progress is the Master's problem.’ Some work to do also… like I have nothing to do, really I have nothing to do, your Being-ness is full and prisHne all there is, already. Just like that (clicks fingers) it needs no intervenHon. I have no actual work to do, just keep reminding you. So, if progress has to be tracked I have enough free Hme, I will track. And this, I am making a lot of light of this but this actually is very oppressive for a spiritual seeker. You see, like most spiritual seekers are on this treadmill, like I must not get angry anymore, I can't get into a fight anymore, I can't feel lost anymore, I can't feel like ea%ng desert anymore [Laughs] I just have to be like Awareness, Awareness; some idea like that. And we got into this so we could be Free! But what is this (Gesturing blinkers on eyes). Feel like we are losing it and now my aSen%on also cannot leave now… my aSen%on has to be inwards… (Laughs) (making constricted faces). What kind of Freedom is this? Just naturalness… whatever is organic is all good. Consciousness is not making any mistakes and it is the Master chef, it is cooking your dish properly, perfectly. So your end of the deal is what all I have told you and then if you live up to all your ends of the deal then all your spiritual progress is mine to take care of. Even if you do badly of some of these deals, it's okay. Now, how will you trouble yourself? Not worthy, not good enough… all that is my problem. Everybody is ge^ng an A+.
Inaudible
Car, let me drive your car now. There is a reverse of that popular song, it goes… ‘Baby you can drive my car’… here I am saying ‘Baby let me drive your car.’ [Laughter] . . .
Key Teachings
- The mind's habit of trying to figure out and control life through thinking is fundamentally flawed and exhausting - simply spotting this pattern allows us to drop it
- The head is too small to fathom God, Truth, or the world's dance; all our mental attempts to understand and plan ultimately fail
- You are already free - the ego can never win, there is no actual trouble to resolve; everything drops away naturally
From: Open and Empty: Attentive but Not Grasping - 26th August 2022