श्रीरामSatsang with Ananta
Awareness & Attention

Yes it can seem a bit difficult especially when someone very close to us is...

The best way to help others is to remain empty and open while being forgiving of yourself when the mind attacks or you feel frustrated.

Seeker

Dear Anantaji, how to best detach and at the same time help my mother, she has had a burnout for years and got a brain bleeding in January this year. I have been with her every day since then while at the same time managing her medical clinic. She's very emotionally unstable which makes it challenging sometimes to arrange practical things with her for her clinic and things that need to be done in her living situation and so on.

Ananta

Yes it can seem a bit difficult especially when someone very close to us is going through some of these things and mind attacks and emotional trauma and all of this but actually I would say the best help we can give is when we are empty. But one one thing I say before I say that too strongly is that in these situations there will be times where you will, the mind will attack you and it sort of feels contagious, as the mind is contagious, so when it attacks and it feels true don't beat yourself up over it. Be loving towards yourself as well, don't beat yourself up over it, don't say that ‘Ananta said the best way I can help my mother is to be empty’ that's fine but that instruction starts then. The instruction starts then, it does not apply to the past, because what we do with it in the past is beat ourselves up about it and feel guilty and say I'm not doing a good job as a caretaker not being compassionate enough. So how to best detach and at the same time help my mother- just be as open and empty as possible and be as forgiving about yourself and your mother as possible. And I’m not saying hundred percent in these circumstances at all. don't have to worry about 100% something if you're getting angry at times, you say i don't want to do this anymore she doesn't listen sometimes, you get frustrated as well, that's completely fine it's okay. Start open and empty but the instruction starts the moment you remember it, not in the times where you're just like there's so much going on and the mind attacks. There's no point in beating ourselves up about the past and saying’ I should have followed the instruction, why am I not open enough.’ None of that, it's just like when it comes to you to be open and empty, let it come to you like this is the first time you heard, you see, this is for everyone. Let it come to you like this is fresh and the first time you're hearing it. So it starts now. You have no baggage with it, you have no history with it. You have no progress with it You're not saying -I'm doing so well, yesterday I was so good and today I'm so bad at it. None of that is important It's like the game starts now And that's true for any spiritual pointing, just fresh, just now. All my love to both of you and Guruji's (Mooji baba) Grace bless this situation fully, most graceful outcome. Thank you.

Key Teachings

  • The best help we can give to others is when we are empty - not filled with our own reactions, expectations, or emotional baggage
  • Don't beat yourself up when the mind attacks or you feel frustrated - be loving and forgiving toward yourself and your mother
  • Approach spiritual teachings fresh each time without baggage or history - the instruction starts when you remember it, not retroactively
detachmentemptinessself-compassionforgivenessmindcaregiving

From: If You Don’t Go to the Minds Report Then No Problem to Solve - 27th January 2020