Oneness With God, and yet Distinction. Both Ends of the Spectrum We Have To Accept and Straddle

That is why this—do you see that you are completely one with God? It is Advaita. But do you see that you now recognize that you are completely one with God and it has always been this way? That is Bhakti. Because you now recognize, and the one who is resting in this new recognition, that will always have an element of the me-ness, the tanmatra of the ego. And that one would love nothing more than to rest in the notion that it doesn't exist. Just in the notion. So in the notion that 'I don't exist,' I can keep myself alive. Who is the 'I' that doesn't exist? Why do I need to say I don't exist? If there is nobody like that, then who is saying I don't exist?

It's like saying 'I'm not the doer.' Then you are not that 'I Am.' You see? So that one who wants to make the claim that 'I don't exist' is the one that is the minutest ego that still perpetuates in the human condition. And if you let it run helter-skelter, then we will fall only into spiritual pride. I don't know if the words are correct. Maybe better words will come, but from experience, most of you will get a sense of what I'm saying also.

You see, so remember the first few Satsangs that you ever came to? Advaita—first few Satsangs on YouTube or something like that. In the first Satsang, you feel excited: 'There is no me, there never was, I never existed.' Huh? Then your partner fights with you. Huh? What happens? You see, and you try to convince them also, 'But you don't exist and I don't exist,' but it's no longer fun. You see? So, both ends of the spectrum we have to accept and straddle. To get in denial of either side will only lead to trouble.

That's why I said we can meet Hanuman Ji in both ways. You see the framing that is already attractive to us, that we've delved into already a lot, that we are already very familiar with. But we have to get into new ground as well. We have a broader capacity than our intellect does. So the discipleship of the Atma is like this: it is bigger than your intellect. The more you can leave it behind—and it's scary because we've been in Satsang 12 years, some of us have been in Satsang 12 years, and if somebody says 'What have you understood?' and if you don't have an answer, it feels like we are failing a class or something. You see? But this kind of classroom is very different. The more you grow, the less you will be able to speak about it because the Atma is teaching you from inside.