From Openness to Trust to Devotion - 2nd November 2017

Trust is a big issue. Could you speak about trust? Thank you, Father. Trust is a big issue; could you speak about trust?

So, I can speak about trust a little bit from this Satsang perspective to begin with, and if it is another perspective that you are looking for, you can tell me that after. I'm speaking about it from the Satsang perspective. So, what I say initially is that when you come to Satsang, you don't even need that which we call trust. What we do need is a little bit of openness. Openness means that which is being shared here, that can be inquired into or checked here. This is the play of some reason; some sharing is happening here. Of course, that which is happening energetically, that is happening anyway, but some sharing is happening. I'm saying: check if there is a person sitting there. Now, this much openness—that it is being suggested to check if there is a person sitting here and we check—just this sliver of openness is enough.

Then you will find that the insights that are being shared from here start to resonate with the insights that you are having about yourself. In that, which we call trust starts to develop. This is the development of trust. And you say, 'Okay, all these pointings—don't believe your next thought, or can you stop being, are you aware now—all these are bringing me to my direct insight about myself. Am I? I am not an object.' So, in this way, when trust is developing, and with the development of trust, what happens is along the way, as you are going to find more and more this insight coming to you, you will find that this trust gets mixed with love. Love starts to arise. And when this trust is mixed with love, that is what we call devotion.

So, it starts with a little bit of openness, becomes trust when you see, 'Oh, this is actually quite easy, this is quite possible, I can check like this.' Some trust comes, and that trust develops more and more. You see that these insights are actually coming here, then you can find that naturally some love will start to arise. So, it is this trust mixed with this love that which we call devotion. So, in Satsang, it is this journey, this play of the journey of openness to trust to devotion.

So, this is from this Satsang context: that when you start, you don't have to necessarily trust me, but there must be some openness at least to begin with. Otherwise, it's just seemingly blocked. If openness is there, then you will see that trust will come, and when trust is there, you will see that devotion will come. You don't have to work towards any of this. What do I mean by that little bit of openness? If I'm saying just look, go with your insight, don't trust your inference or your mental concept, your judgment, then if the mind comes and says, 'Do you know what is insight? Isn't that another thought? Now, does he really know what he's talking about? Oh, this doesn't work for me'—all this kind of resistance will come. So, if we go with this kind of judgment, then we are not yet open to this form of direct pointing. So, what is needed is just one thing: if you are open to hearing one thing in any Satsang, that much is enough for me. So, enough for now. These are the words which are arising about trust at the moment.