The Idea of Effort Is Meaningless - 23th November 2017

How long do you want to play as if you are just these super-sensations, as my master calls them? Go beyond these sensations, go beyond these perceptions, and then you will see that this 'beyond' has always been. These perceptions have been coming and going. The world master, which is the mind, will come and say, 'No, no, don't listen to this one. Just keep saying but, but, this, that, my life, my things, my future, my path.' I used to go on the weekends and she said, 'This is a flute song right now.' The song for the mind... but it is a song for the mind. I don't know how many of you must have heard 'Hit the Road Jack.' We always heard this song so much that we can visit it. So these old guys are coming and saying, 'Don't leave me, don't leave me.' You don't even have to say it. It's half in jest, of course. We don't even have to say, 'Get the road.' You don't have to resist the mind.

I remember the little wheels that were there of the VHS tapes. Then we would have this salesman coming and he would come with his bag of tapes. And we were then taken from them by the truth. Now, if this VHS tape seller came to you, would you buy? If you would buy, maybe because of some nostalgia you move forward. Who are you now? When the salesman of the mind comes and tries to sell you the same old story about the individual 'you,' let it move along. The only time this so-called spiritual journey is uncomfortable is when you are listening to Satsang—this intuitive presence—and you're listening to this mental voice. Because together it can cause a lot of confusion. 'I think the mind is a master, I think the Master is a master.' One has to make way for the other. And the blessing to all of you, of course, is there. The true Master, the intuitive presence, sits on the throne of your heart. Mind can be there, but as a stand-up comedian. It is not a master. Mind is not your master.

And you see that as you can start to carry this feeling in your heart to just remain with the Master, you'll see that that which seemed like such a big tormentor, such a powerful force—this mind—starts to lose so much of its power. Then you start to see that no matter what the mind is saying, it has no real authority over you. All sensations, all perceptions are just like the space in this room. It doesn't mind what comes in and what goes out. How could that which is the space in which the space arises mind? We have to say that to one who designed language—those geniuses—the word 'mind.' How could they? 'Mind you.' It's just so precise. It is this 'mind' to 'mind.' You just mind what I'm saying. To 'mind' something, you can only find this; you can't find it without the mind to direct it. Such a direct point. So 'don't mind' is very valuable. It's observed. Ashtavakra says it in a different way. He said, 'The mind is complex, let it go.' He didn't say sometimes let it go. On all occasions, let it go. That would also be 'mind.' Just let it go. The mind is complex.

Check it here. There is the Kabir Ji example, so great. He said, 'The fish is thirsting for water.' I can't help it but love this; it clarifies a lot of things. The fish recognizes that it is just swimming in the water. It is just water everywhere, actually. It recognizes that there is no fish, which is just water. But suppose for a minute it recognizes that 'I have been thirsting for water, but there is water everywhere.' So when I say that your life doesn't have to change, you don't have to get some new type of water, some new type of perception and sensation, relationships, money... it doesn't have to come. This doesn't take away from the beauty of the recognition. So that life will continue to be this way is not bad news. This life is already very beautiful. We have been misunderstanding. We have attached ourselves to that which is impermanent. What do you think the result of that will be?

If you tie yourself to a bus which is moving, it's not like you. If you say, 'This galloping horse will be my steady support in life,' and you tie yourself to the foot of a horse, it's a poor strategy. We have attached ourselves to that which is constantly moving and then we say, 'Why can't I find some steadiness in my life?' Attach yourself to that which is the unchanging, then you will see that you are that itself. But if you feel like you have to attach yourself to something, attach to that which doesn't change. If you're just attached to this Self, tell me how you can suffer? What more would you want in life? Then all the things just come and go without having to be attached. Nowhere am I saying that you must pick up an aversion to anything. Just see it for what it is: another appearance coming in to allow it to function in its own natural way.

You don't lose anything if you give up all your notions. And you do do something; you do their suffering, fear about time, future, regret about the past. And the trouble is that you don't even go hundred percent with that. We have to fear about the future. What is ultimately going to happen to that which we consider ourselves to be? In the hospital or some sort of deathbed, that is going to be most likely the final experience. Then what is the point of all of this agonizing? 'Oh, I feel green.' This body is going to go. So phenomenally, if we were to consider ourselves an object, we don't take these concepts fully. Look at this past: 'Why did this happen?' Go further back. 'Why did I do this?' Go further back, right before your childhood. Go back to before you were born, before you were conceived. If you want to agonize about the past, go really, really back. What do I know about the future? Go really forward. See that it is consciousness. Then you will see that the only stability is your own Self.

Have you seen the merry-go-round? There is something called a rodeo. So pretending that we are attached to this crazy horse or crazy bull—sometimes they ride the bulls—and this is going to settle down, right? It's a bumpy ride. But we consider ourselves to be an object, we consider the world to be a reality. What happens to us? Sometimes a few moments of essential stability, then back again. And so asking 'Why does this happen to me?' is like saying, 'What is this?' There's no meaning to ask this. First, the true question is: 'Who is it?' Then you'll see that the horse and the rider are both just appearances, but you remain the untouched. And the good news is that this is true right now. You don't need any process of steps. If there was a process of steps like this, don't you feel that in the thousands and thousands of years that humanity has been in existence, it would have been codified and available? Now that this is the only way, see, it is not that all the religions are the way; ultimately they are pointing you with the simple truth.

They make a little bit of a path. In the Indian tradition, what used to happen is that if you wanted the truth, you would go to a Master. Masters would typically have this ashram. So, not like today where we just come to the ashram. Master will see, 'Okay, you've come here, but first you have to do something.' Not like this is a time penalty. 'You need to do Seva, work of ten years, then I will talk to you about this. Till then, I will just ask you to go clean the ashram properly, wash all this for the next ten years.' So ten years you spent when you just cleaned the ashram. Then next ten years, study all the Shastras. Study the Upanishads, study the Bhagavad Gita, study the Brahma Sutras. After that, which we call Vedanta, you go... those who realize that we don't actually exist. Masters say study all of these for ten years. And by the way, in those first ten years, you better have got rid of your lust, your greed, your desires, your aversion, all of your faults. You better have complete control over your senses, your mind, and the qualities which allow you to even dip into those missions. The Shastra will be done and you have intellect in the first ten years. Then you take longer. They say it's worthwhile; an entire lifetime is fine.

Then you studied all the Shastras. Twenty years have passed and you feel like you have some understanding of what is being said. All these beautiful structures based on how much has been assimilated. Finally, the Master will call you in to tell you the ultimate truth. If you really are open, you really assimilated something in the last twenty years of your dedication to this path, you will understand what he would share. Something like 'Tat Tvam Asi'—'You are That.' 'I am Brahman. I am the Absolute Self.' Now the disciple has two reactions. Usually, you become open. 'That's it? For twenty years, and all you have to tell me is this one line with three words?' Which one? I don't know. For whatever reason, you are here now. I am only telling you to see. Actually, you've done it already. The other Masters are telling you that you are the Self, which is how polite you are. You are still hearing these words conceptually, that you are That. Tat Tvam Asi. You are Brahman.