श्रीरामSatsang with Ananta
Awareness & Attention

The Guidance Received Independent of Mental

True spiritual guidance emerges from the silent depth of pure awareness, independent of mental activity, and when we rest in that stillness, we receive direction that transcends what the mind could ever compute.

Ananta

[Reads chat question] ‘When we understand that Self is God, the confusion about God gets cleared.’ Well, it gets cleared … depends on what you mean by ‘understand’. If it is like mathematical equation … x and y, x equals y. ‘I was confused about these terms x and y, so now I’ve said, I’ve some idea about x, I’ve some idea about y, now I’ve put an equal to sign in the middle, x equals y, so confusion is cleared’. What am I? I am God. Who is the Self? It is God. Who is God? It is the Self.’ You see? So this is the conceptual. And in a way it can feel like confusion got cleared because our intellect was a bit shaky about it - ‘What is the Self? What is God? Oh, God is everything, Self is witnessing. What is…?’. It can be confusing to our intellect. So when it is confusing like that, something like that can come, ‘Self is God, Aham Brahmanasmi (I am God). I am that Absolute One. Ah, now I’m clear.’ But what got cleared? Nothing. What got cleared? Nothing. So if we mean by understanding; only that we have a new concept, which got rid of some intellectual poking which was happening, which was that ‘I did not have good answers for these questions’, then that is not the ‘understanding’ that I am talking about. I am talking about that understanding which is empty of all these equations, any inference… no inference is needed. It is the simplest Self-recognition, where even the distinction between Self and not-Self, Self and Higher Self, Self and God, Self and world, Self and Atma (Soul), Self and everything… You cannot make any such distinction, none of these notions truly represent Reality for your inner insight. So if this understanding is this intuitive insight, that is the end of all confusion. But if it is just something that you heard, then it can be, ‘Okay, now I’ve understood, Self equals God’, then tomorrow a more credible, more powerful, more authoritative voice can come and say, ‘All of this is nonsense, get your life together, and you know, just do your best while you can, live in this world, be a good person, that’s it.’ And because of that authority or credibility of the voice you could say, ‘Ah, now I’m not confused! This is what it is. I have one life and I have to seize every moment in this life and live it, lead it to the fullest.’ Not bad. You can buy into these notions. So if it is just a question of intellectual understanding or conviction based on what we think, or what we’ve heard, then that is not the end of confusion. It can seem to provide temporary relief … We’re going, really confused, ‘What is the Self? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?’ … Somebody comes and tells you ‘Enquiry is pointless. Just leave it, forget about it.’ You feel like, ‘Aaah … phew [wipes brow]. I don’t have to look!’ And we can laugh about this, but this has happened to the best of us. This has happened to the best of us, where we’ve really enquired, really enquired, really enquired. Then they’ve met a voice who’s come and said, ‘All of this enquiry stuff is nonsense. Just forget about it. You know, you can just live in peace, you have this one life, seize the moment, make the most out of it.’ You feel like, ‘Aaah … hoo.’ Like that. Because the intellectual struggle to find what you are in the intellect was not working, and you were tired of feeling like a failure. And then somebody came and told you this new approach … ‘Wow … I feel so good.’ Because this intellect ‘ti-ti-ti’ [indicates prodding the head] was not there, no? It just felt like, ‘I don’t have to check “Who am I?” anymore.’ So those who have tried to enquire and tried to find an intellectual answer to what the Self is have struggled with it for so long, so then it can seem to provide temporary relief from that, but the fact is that the enquiry is not that. To ask yourself who you are, is to really look, is to bring you to your intuitive insight. So any intellectual conclusion that we draw is not the end of suffering, although it may seem to be temporarily, because it might be contrary to what we were suffering from. So it can feel like you got some relief from that. I know I stretched that point a bit but it is important because this is where we may get stuck sometimes. So if it is just a concept that I had that the Self equals God, then that concept will not really help. Because when life is slapping us about, these concepts are the first to leave. So we are going beyond this just intellectual understanding. Then you say [reads chat question again], ‘Now if we hear or read somewhere the question, “God exists or not?”, thoughts about this topic doesn’t even appear because we know the truth about this topic. On the other hand, most people are confused about it… “Does God exist of not?”. So, if you apply it this way, that ok, then this confusion is gone, because it’s saying, ‘Does the Self exist or not?’, and I cannot deny in my own Existence, in that way it becomes simpler. But again even in this, at least you are checking and seeing, ‘Do I exist? Can I truly be in denial of my own Existence? Can I stop Being?’ And you’re using your intuitive insight to draw these conclusions, that is very good. [Reads chat question again], ‘In the same way if someone doesn’t know that Satya Sai Baba was an avatar or enlightened Being, he will constantly get disturbed by thoughts like, “Is he a fraud or God?”, whatever he will hear, read or see the miracles performed by him, same thoughts will disturb him.’ Yes, so once you have an intuitive insight which is beyond mental conviction, then doubts don’t bother us … this is true. Then [reads chat question again], ‘I am confused about our PM Narendra Modi.’

Ananta

Okay, that took an unexpected turn [laughs]. [Reads chat question] ‘Some people praise him, some criticise him. I know he is blessed by enlightened Beings, but then I hear that democracy, media and economy are in danger.’

Ananta

But that’s a topic for another session. Satsang is to bring you to an intuitive insight about who you Are, not to be able to be able to make valid conclusions about what is true in this appearance or not, what are the rules of this game. We spoke about it the other day also. Like in the game of football you can say, ‘This one is a good defender, this one is a good goalkeeper, this one is a good forward, this one really can pass really well’, like that. But if you confuse that to be your reality, then the two can be muddled up. So you’re watching a game, so let those rules be the rules of the game, but that rules of the game and how things seem to appear in the game, is a topic for another discussion. [Reads chat question again], ‘I don’t know what information is true and what is not.’

Ananta

Now, as you’re coming to the Truth about yourself, then you’ll realise that the Truth that is spoken, that we refer to as the capital T, Self-Knowledge capital K, this Truth which does not actually have the opposite of true and false, then these dichotomies of true and false in the appearance will not seem so oppressive. Once you step out of the opposites of true and false, come to that Truth which does not have a false, then these dichotomies in this play, in this dream, in this video game, will not seem so disturbing. It’ll not seem so strong. But if you take yourself to be an object which is in this duality of truth and false, then all this can seem very disturbing. So what I’m saying is that you step out of this realm of duality, find the Truth which is not dual, and then all of this will become much lighter, and then you will see that in this world of appearances, there is … everything is nuanced. We try to make everything into black and white, ‘This is how something is. This is good, this is bad, this is right, this is wrong.’ But you see that the intricacy of this game is also beyond these simplistic definitions. So we cannot truly say. Everything that appears has its pros and cons.

Key Teachings

  • True guidance arises from the quiet of pure awareness, not from mental calculation or effort
  • The mind can only process what it already knows; real guidance comes from the unknowable depth of Being
  • Living from this inner guidance means acting from stillness rather than from thought
guidanceawarenessinner knowingdirect pathstillnessbeing

From: The Guidance Received Independent of Mental Interpretation Is Your Intuition – 18th June 2021