The Very Presence of God - 27th April 2026

So the path of jnana usually encourages us to find out who we really are. Who am I? And the path of bhakti usually encourages us to love God so much that we come to a revelation of him within our hearts. And who knew that actually both converge and are fundamentally indistinct. Although the pathways may seem to be distant but actually they converge at the same point.

So now you have been told that God is here and he can be found, or you have been told that you can find out the truth about who you are. And I guarantee you that there is nothing more important to find out in our lives. If you spent your whole life pretending that you were a giraffe, but you turned out to be a lion. Or if you spent your whole life thinking that you have to live it alone. You are left all alone to deal with this little old me has to deal with this massive universe and to deal with the struggles of relationship and money and health of the body and what is the meaning of anything. All of these things we have to worry about not realizing that the very lord of this universe is right here. You see and we are never alone. We never left alone.

So now what is more important than that? So whether you call it jnana or bhakti, whether you call it self-realization to find out who the self really is or you call it God realization or ishwar prapti: what can be more important? If you go looking for yourself, you will find God. If you go looking for God, you will find yourself.

Do we want to spend our entire life taking a madeup identity about who we are to be our reality? Or do we want to really explore the reality of who we are? Do we want to rely on the rest of our life on the notional idea that God is everywhere and he is kind and he is merciful, or do we want to see that come to the revelation of his presence and his reality for ourselves? See, so that is spirituality. Why is that spirituality? Because in the light of spirit, in the light of the Atma, this truth, whether you call it self-realization or God realization, reveals itself.

So in today's world there is a fashion to say 'I am very spiritual' you see, but without having the intention to meet spirit, without having the intention to live under the light of the Atma, in the love of the Atma. Isn't that like saying I'm a restaurant reviewer, but I haven't gone to a restaurant in 7 years?

So I'm saying that the purpose of our life is to find out who we are, or we can call it in a different way: find God's presence in our heart. Do you have a better alternative? It's very important this question because Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be. So if you treasure the truth above all else, then your heart will be in spirituality. So what is it that we really want? What is it that we really want? Once you determine that it is the truth that I want, or it is God that I want, then the tools can be provided, then the pathways are many. But first it's important to clarify what is our life really about.

You see there's another idea which is that I want to have some aspect of spirituality in my life so I can live a life in some balance. You see, but again that is very absurd because what we are saying is I really want to have a tiny aspect of finding out who I really am. The rest of it I'm happy to presume. Because my parents called me a name. Society told me that I have to live like this. What is important to me in my life is to have the right relationships, make the right money, chase all of these things. You see, but I must keep presuming that I am this one who wants all of these things and will get happiness out of these things.

Isn't it more fundamental to really find out who we are? Am I that baby that was born from my mother's womb and will die one day, maybe in a hospital bed, or is there something more to me? Am I just the food that I've eaten? This body is just made up of all the food we've eaten. Or is there something more to it?

So what happened in this life was that at some point it became like an imperative that I must find out who I am because everything else is dependent on that. Everything else depends on that. I want this. I want to get married. I want to make money. I want to be happy. I want to be a good person. I want to take care of my parents. I want to live abroad. I want to study. This all has one thing in the center: this I. Now what if we are wrong about this itself? What if we are wrong about the very central one, the central protagonist of our film, you see? Are we willing to live in that risk?

When I was younger and I used to talk to my friends at work, they would say, 'What are you going on about? You are Tap.' My home name is Tapan. My spiritual name is Ananta. So you see you are Tapan Garg. What is there to know? You see you are this body. Your name is this. What are you going on about? I used to get this question. But I used to say no no that is the name of my body and I don't feel like I am just this body.

Even those who are atheists will say rest in peace. Who are they wishing rest in peace to? Not the body. You see the body may be cremated. So who are they saying rest in peace to, you see? But there was mostly no openness to hearing this kind of question because it seems so absurd. The most popular notion in this world is that I am this person. Isn't it? And to go against that whole stream seems very absurd. But it's really, really important to find out who you are. Because what if society, what if everyone around us, what if our own mental conditioning has got it wrong? What if I'm not Siraj? My life is based on the basis that I am Sira. But what if actually my reality is much broader than that?

What are the two animals I used? Giraffe and lion.

Lion. So you see so when we say let me make it more stark, you see so let's say giraffe and caterpillar. Suppose that you always believe that you're a caterpillar but you're actually a giraffe. Will you say that I will put 10% of my life into my true giraffe life but 90% let me hedge my bets and be a caterpillar just in case, you see? Can't be done like that. It can't be done like that. The false has to make way first, you see, before the truth will reveal itself. If you keep emphasizing on the false, if you keep living the false conditioning, then we don't create the space for true revelation to happen.

So can we at least start with this point that we are not who we think we are, whatever the thought may be. Agree or disagree? I'm happy to argue. I'm not happy to argue actually.

It's exactly the opposite, right, Father. There's actually no argument. If I have to prove to you that there is such an entity called narin, and if so what is that, exactly, I will unable to do it.

We have some new friends here with us today. So let's walk through that. So if you say you are narin, I will say show me. No. So you you can point to the body and say this is narin. Now I say tell me about narin's problems. You see now narin's problems could be something to do about money, something to do about somebody at work, something to do, usual worldly problem. You see that that has nothing to do with the body. The body doesn't care about the number in the bank account. Doesn't care about the bank statement. The body doesn't care about what the business partner said. The body doesn't care about what our relationship, special relationship, said. You see, the body doesn't care about these things. You see, so we live as if we are the body, but actually it is just the locus. It gives it a centrality, somewhere to put the focus on. But our lives are being led with an identity which has very little to do with the body. The body actually is quite innocent.

You see, so then you look at the body, I'm not the body. Then what is left?

Thoughts and emotions.

Yes. So we look at our thoughts and emotions and we see that thoughts they come and go, and there are periods of silence in between two thoughts. So does this person come and go? That is not a reality. These thoughts are perceived by us. But I am not my thoughts. So they come, they go. Emotions are similar except that they linger for longer and they have a different energetic signature. They taste different. You see? So emotions also come and go. Then if I'm not the body, if I'm not my thoughts, I'm not my emotion, then who am I?

I was recently just talking to a couple of curious friends and the default answer is so I must be my brain, just because of conceptually what we've heard. Nobody has experienced that. If we say for example one child many years ago said that there's this new theory now that everything, and as it turned out it was not a new theory, it's a very old theory of the brain in the jar or whatever it is called: the brain projects the world and everything in the world you see. So the brain is where, in that theory, the brain is where it is in some world. No. So what projected that world where that brain is? You see? So it's very absurd. There's a brain just in limbo, what created it, where did it come from, who made it? No. So the whole world is a projection of the brain. And the brain is from where? So that's absurd.

You could be a brain surgeon in your dream, you see, and you're doing some brain surgery, you see a patient's brain, you see: is that part of the same dream or does it have some extra projective capabilities? So this brain idea is quite strange and absurd because for the brain to exist independent of this world it needs to have a different world where it exists. You see, so unless our whole theory is that there is just one limbo of nothingness and there in that somehow from out of nowhere a brain was formed: that's very absurd, like where did it come from, where did it get get its intelligence? There are theories like that, what pan pan something they call so you know. So it's very absurd like we would much rather believe that all this intelligence, even if we call it the brain, we would much rather believe that it came from something completely unintelligent like nothing, rather than it came from the most intelligent one called God.

You see now I say this tumbler just showed up. You see and if I was that kind of teacher to say it just showed up, then you say but how can it just show up? The glass must have been produced first, then the glass must have been blown, I don't know if it's blown glass or what it is, so you will say that it must be made of other substances. No, you see, but when it comes to the universe, when it comes to the brain, the projective capability, you would rather much believe that it comes from nothing, like a random act of nothingness, rather than a greater intelligence producing a, I don't want to say lesser but a but an intelligence. Lesser may sound insulting. So now isn't that absurd? I have spent 23 years of my life as an atheist. So that atheist boy would much rather have said, 'Yes, all of this great intelligence, nature, electricity, light, sound, all these forces, millions and millions of things that we can't even fathom yet.' I would much rather have said, 'Yeah, it's just a random act of nothingness.' Rather than saying that if all of this seems to move so intelligently, it must be coming from a greater intelligence.

So if all of this is from the brain, where is the brain from? We're not saying that the brain is the first cause. What is the first cause of the universe? Can't say the brain. Somebody said the other day that all consciousness is produced in the brain. And where does the brain lie? Outside consciousness. So just different ideas and maybe what they mean by consciousness is different from what we mean by consciousness.

So really this exploration of who and what I really am is, in my eyes, paramount. It's paramount. What stops us from doing it? Some people endeavor to do it and then they may come across Advaita Vedanta, and in Advaita Vedanta they may read that I am Nirguna Brahman, then so then is the mystery solved because you read that I am Nirguna Brahman, or I am pure awareness itself? So just like we were told 'you are Tapan, you are Ananta,' we were told and we accepted that because it came from credible sources close to us. The fact that I am Nirguna Brahman cannot be told and accepted in the same system where the false identity was created. You see, otherwise there's no need for Satsang three times a week, by being told you are Nirguna Brahman.

If it could just be told like that and you would say, 'Yes, I got it now, I'm Nirguna Brahman,' then finish, you see. It doesn't work like that. Then you may say we need repetition because we need to be more and more convinced about it, you see. It's not a matter of conviction. As much as I tell you every week that you are a caterpillar, you will not believe it, you see. And when human life hits you then caterpillar will go out the window immediately. When the troubles come in our human life, when our partner is shouting at us, then the idea that I'm Nirguna Brahman is the first to go. Isn't it? You may convince yourself, 'I am Brahman, I am Brahman,' like, 'Why haven't you changed the light bulb for 6 months?' That Brahman is gone instantly.

You see, so conceptual knowledge will not do it. In the way we've picked up traditional knowledge is not the way that we'll pick up the truth about who we are. That's why it's called Atma Gyan. That's why it's called atma darshan. And the point of calling it that is that it is a revelation. You see, we make room for the revelation to happen and maybe I'm going too far right now for this conversation, but just hear it for the moment. We'll talk more. We make room for the revelation to happen by emptying ourselves as much as we can of the false identity so that the Atma itself, the spirit itself, reveals the reality of who we are. And that is why the revelation part of the process is called grace. It's called grace.

What grace means is that it is not possible to solve in worldly ways that we are used to solving other things. It's not a mathematical equation that one day you will resolve who you are. It is not even an experience that one day I will see some bright glowing light, you see, coming out of my skull and spreading to the entire universe, and that's who I am, because I'll still ask you who witnesses that. So it's not a question of phenomenal experience, nor is it a question of intellectual understanding. Have I gone too far? So if it's not a question of these two things, then what is it a question of?

We have spoken a lot of things already. It is God. His reality, his presence is called spirit or Atma. God is one. That one has been given different names. But the names, just because he's been given different names, doesn't mean that they are different gods. Then why give them different names? Why give God different names? Now that all religions agree there is one God, why can't we just agree on one name? It's complicated.

Now that one formless reality from which all creation comes, you see, how will you make a relationship with that one? All the sages tell us love God. The first commandment is you must love God. All the sages have told us: with full emotion we offer ourselves, our life, our heart, with full emotion, to God. Now I say you do that to the space in which you see the sky. Not even the sky, to the space in which you see the sky. How to fall in love with that? How to offer my heart to that? Is it?

So God very well knows and just for now you have to, even if you take it with a pinch of salt, you have to hear this, you see, which is that God is very well aware of our conditioning, that we are so convinced of our name and form, that the only way to start making a relationship with God is name and form. And whether that name is Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, that doesn't matter. At least we need that name. You say 'I love you God.' You see, now even with just that name it's very difficult, because if I tell you I know somebody who could be your best friend but you can't meet them ever, you will say your information to me is pointless, because I have to be able to meet them. So God in his mercy provided us this route where he said, 'Whichever way you want to meet me, you can.'

You see, so if you like my righteousness, meet me as Ram. If you like my playfulness, meet me as Krishna. If you like the love that I share, meet me as Jesus. So whatever way you can find to meet, you can meet God. Somebody wants to meet God as the loving mother. So they call her, call him, call her, Devi Ma. Somebody wants to meet God as the best friend. So like Krishna for Arjun or Sudhama. He in his mercy has made himself available to be met in this way, and to be loved in this way, and to reciprocate that love in this way.

Because that love makes us less self-obsessed. What happens after the first few, in the first few days that we've fallen in love in the world? We just with every emotion, with thought, with body, with everything we want to just immerse ourselves in that one, isn't it? So at that time we are unselfish. If our beloved says 'can you do something,' if some other friend said 'can you do this for me,' you'll say, 'No, I'm very tired, I want a bit of that.' We've just fallen in love with someone and she says or he says, 'Yes, yes, anything for you, my life is yours.' That kind of loving response is very difficult for us to the formless. But it helps because this to love any form that attracts us to God, to love in that way helps us, because we have, we become unselfish.

So if you want some special seven-course meal at a fancy restaurant but we keep stuffing ourselves with Maggi noodles, you see, what will happen? You see, so if you want the lord of the universe, or if you want to know who I really am, but if you keep stuffing ourselves with false identity, there is no space for the truth to reveal. When will you eat the fancy gourmet meal when your stomach is already full? Not okay, don't sue me. So we have to make the lane empty of the 'me' so that we can come to the recognition of reality, whether we call that the true self or whether we call that God. Forgot to talk. It's me on my computer.

Are you with me so far? I doubt doubt it very much. Okay, who can recap? There's big confusion about spirituality and religion, that part is clear. Spirit without God is pointless because spirit is the presence of God. You see, the identity that we've taken ourselves to be actually does not exist. And the truth of who we are, or the truth of God, whichever way you want to look at it, will be revealed through the presence of God which is called Atma or spirit.

The idea that the sages of any tradition or religion have found that the truth that there is one God has been discarded by any true sage, is not true. In all religions, all traditions, the sages who truly undertaken the inner journey come with the same revelation of the oneness of God. And yet that oneness does not discount the fact that to love God more, to focus our life on God more and more, we need to find some name and form. You see, whether it is the cross or it is the picture of Mecca, everyone needs some form to be able to identify. You see, all that is clear. Now if we obsess about the false identity constantly we cannot come to the truth. So really the spiritual project is to empty ourselves of the false, and to make space for the truth. And the truth will not be forced through any forceful empirical mechanism. The truth will be revealed. That's the essence of what we spoken so far.

You said that I can't meet God as an experience, nor can I meet it in the intellect.

Exactly.

This is not what you said. You said...

Exactly. So if I just told you that you are Nirguna Brahman, or the reality of God is Nirguna Brahman, you see, or if I just told you God is the highest, the most intelligent, the most merciful, you see, that telling is not a revelation. It doesn't become the reality of our life. You see, and even if you had experiences where you saw some phenomenal experiences, every phenomenon comes and goes, and therefore it is not the ultimate reality.

So I hope after hearing all of this you are stuck, because if you're not stuck then you haven't heard what I've said. You should be stuck. No, if I can't think about it and come to the solution, and if I can't even rely on my phenomenal experiences, then what do I have left? What else do we have? That what else is called Atma. It's called spiritual insight, intuitive insight. And without Atma, without spiritual insight, without intuitive insight: take this from someone who was an atheist for a long time in their life. We are living a zombie life, just like a giraffe leading a caterpillar life. Thinking that they are alive, thinking that they are running their life, thinking that they are achieving their goals and ambition, but just on a straight pathway to death.

Then none of what we have built up materially we can carry with us. Suppose you understood the entire set of scriptures and just understood it: you're dead, all of that is dead. Suppose you collected the most money, trillions of dollars: you're dead, it doesn't belong to you anymore. You see, suppose you married the best partner ever: you're dead, you can't carry the partner with you, no matter how much you love each other, can't carry. You see, so without coming to the truth of who we are, this worldly existence is a zombie life.

That is why mostly we are in, we live in a deliberate forgetting of the fact of death. Even in a family if you start try talking about it: 'No, no, let's not talk about death.' You see, it's a scary topic because it shows us the futility of most of what we are doing in our lives. And one of the tricks of Maya is that it keeps us thinking that there is time. I cannot imagine that this body has lived half a century and one year. That baby that was born has lived half a century and one year. When I put it in the construct of a century, the vastness of it hits me. You see, it seemed like just yesterday. My childhood memories don't seem like they were from half a century ago. So if my first half-century seems like nothing, the remaining 20, 30, 40 years, I don't know, maybe even 10, five, who knows, will also seem like that.

So this delusion that we have time, and this absurd notion again which is: let me live like this in the false identity before I die, I will come to the truth of who I am. So let me live all my life in the false and right at the end I will come to the truth. No, why don't you find the truth now and lead the rest of your life in that truth of who you are, instead of instead of the false.

Hi Father. Give me a minute. We have some visitors. Sorry. Give me a few minutes. We have some visitors. Yes.

I cannot overstate the importance of this spiritual journey. Now if somebody told you that you must start a business so that you can take care of your life and your family's life for the rest of your life, you see you will say I'm willing to give my 10, 15, 20 years to it. You see now if somebody says you must give your life to finding out the truth of who you are, many say: 'I don't have the time. I can't.' You see? So are we willing to live as the false one and lead the life of the false one because of this notion of time?

So the sages have told us forget about material wealth and material things, build your spiritual wealth. How will we build our spiritual wealth when we are not interested in spirit at all? If you're not interested in the Atma, then what wealth can the Atma give us?

So let's suppose for a moment that this is utopia and I've convinced all of you that this is the most important thing. Then you would say but okay we know that it is very important to find out the truth of who I am, or it is very important to find God's presence, to live in his love and light, is very important, but I don't know how to do that. How do I do that, you see? So the problem is huge, huge. But the answers are very simple. He's made them simple.

The first way is to just sincerely ask yourself: who am I? Who am I? And when a thought arises offering a solution, just ask yourself who witnesses this thought. Now the steps are simple. You see the steps are simple. But because remember that the answer will be a revelation, and what happened in this process: we did not get involved in the false identity. We did not get involved in the false identity because false identity is created by attention and belief on the thoughts. So when the thought came we said, 'Who witnesses this thought? I'm not buying your story about who I am. Whatever story the thought may be saying, I want to really check on who I am.' So we're not taking up the false identity, leaving the lane empty for the revelation to happen. That is the first way.

The second way is: if you're devotional in temperament or even if you're not but you want to try something, take your favorite name for God from any religion, any construct, it doesn't matter, your favorite one which you love somewhere already, and you start repeating that. You start taking God's name. Then that will teach you what to do next. It'll teach you how to take it with love. It'll teach you how to take it with remembrance of his presence. It'll teach you all of that. But for the moment: start taking God's name. What happens in that? Again, you're not obsessing about the false one. You're not going 'me, me,' you're going 'Ram, Ram, Ram.' So in that taking of God's name and many other beautiful processes are unfolding in that, but I'm just keeping it simple. Just keep taking God's name as much as you can.

So if this seems difficult, find out who you are using the self-inquiry which I explained. If that seems difficult, take God's name. Now for such a small price, what is on offer is called moksha. It's called freedom. It's called self-realization. Nirvana, enlightenment, awakening: so many beautiful terms. You would have to spend a lot more effort to get into the best college if you wanted to get into. But for the truth of who you are, this little work is needed.

So these are time-tested, very old pathways. The inquiry I think is first mentioned in the Mandukya, possibly in the Mandukya Upanishad. And taking God's name is all throughout all spirituality. There's hardly a spiritual or religious path which doesn't have the pathway of taking God's name. So both are very old and time-tested pathways to God. What is more important is that you remember the importance and the prioritization which I've told you. If you leave it for later, it'll always be later and soon we'll be dead. So that is broadly what we are talking about in Satsang.

Everyone looking a bit scared. Was that too scary in my monologue? Many times when I say you must find out who you are, the response I get is: 'Why? What's the point of it? What will I get? What will I get if I find out who I am?' So you will get the complete absence of suffering in your life. You cannot suffer unless you take yourself to be the false one. If you take yourself to be just this body-mind, you will always suffer. But if you find out and don't confuse yourself with the truth of who you are, you cannot suffer. All suffering is on the basis of misidentification and specifically pride, which is misidentification.

The tools are clear to you. The importance of the project is clear to you. The tools are clear to you. You see, now it would be very straightforward except for the fact of the big M. What's the big M? Maya. See, so in different spiritual constructs it's given different names. I prefer Maya, which is that force which is designed to keep you stuck in the false identity by constantly forgetting the fact of death, forgetting that we are not this body-mind, forgetting the reality of God, just keeping us caught up in identification.

So it may happen that you heard Satsang like this, you felt very inspired by the end of Satsang, you feel like 'I want to devote my whole life to finding out who I am,' you see, and just then just as you're leaving satssung you get some news which br pulls you back completely into the identity: 'No, no, all this can wait, now this is urgent and important.' So that forgetting of the true project of our life, the forgetting of the design of our soul, the design of our antahkarana which is designed to rest in God, to be in God, the forgetting of that and the reliance of a 'me,' the constant diverting back into this 'me': that is the play of Maya. So Anandamayi Ma who I revere a lot, she said: 'Maya is me.' When the 'me' comes, we are in Maya.

So that is why then our spiritual life starts to feel like a battleground between the truth and Maya. And to provide the vitamins and the nutrition in this battle, we have Satsang. So the Satsang is actually not a discourse, although I can't say that today. It's not meant to be a discourse. It is meant to be that which gives you a taste of what you will find with your Atma within. Give you a taste of that, because once you taste this, once you smell this, then you can recognize the fragrance of that within. And the true guru actually is sitting right there, which is the Atma itself. So the outer guru is only an instrument of the true guru which is right there in your heart.

So coming to Satsang is just 1%, less than 1%, about the words. But more than 99% about the fragrance that you are immersed in, the love that strikes you in your heart. Because once it strikes you there then that becomes your internal compass: where should I focus? So when identity comes calling again and tempting again, we don't go full throttle towards it. We stay in God's light. We stay in God's presence.

Now one of the tricks of Maya is that it'll make you find out more and more about the medicine, which is the tools, rather than taking the medicine. Like, 'I know this about the self-inquiry. I know this about how it works. I know this is where it came from. I know these are the experiences of those who are doing the self-inquiry, but we are not doing the self-inquiry.' You see, and 'I know that this sage was saying: do the name of God, chant the name of God, remember the name of God. This one said like that and this one said like this, and this one had this experience because of it. This one was a decoy and he became a sage, and we know all of this stuff, but we're not taking the medicine.' So we are not to collect more and more information about the medicine. We just take it at some point. Take it.

If there is something that becomes an obstacle, something stops you, something blocks you, then of course we can talk about it. And also if the project is clear and your tools are clear, which medicine you're taking is clear, then it's best not to get into too many other topics about, 'Oh, this happened and this happened and this is what and that is what.'

Those of you who've been in Satsang long enough: first tell me the medicine that you're taking, you see, and then tell me if you're having some trouble taking the medicine, or what is it that you want help with, because everything else is actually just auxiliary to that. Like talking about the structure of our misidentification: what is it called if you take an antibiotic which is useful for most bacteria, broadspectctrum, exactly. So taking God's name and doing the self-inquiry is broadspectctrum antibiotic. All of us feel like our particular ailment cannot be resolved with that. But it can, whatever it is, because that is the mind's trick to get you focused on, 'No, my situation is different. My condition is such that in spite of taking the medication the infection is not going.' It's just not true.

So somewhere we may be getting into more self-concern than actually taking the medication, evaluating the 'me' more than resting in the truth. So first is the prioritization of the importance of truth and God in our life. Second is the following, to the best of what we think we can do, in taking the tools, following the tools, taking the medication.

But mostly what happens is: 'Yes, nice.' And then: 'I want to say that in my life this is what.' Okay, but are you taking God's name? 'Yeah, it happens. I'm not the doer.' Or are you doing the self-inquiry? 'No, I feel I'm pretty clear about who I am.' So don't get into these kind of mental traps. Take the medicine. Don't think about the medicine. Don't write a book about the medicine. Don't try to figure out how much you know about the medicine. Take the medicine. Who are you? Have you met God's presence? Have you met the Atma? Have you had atma darshan? Then your eyes become so clear, then everything else that is needed will be given to you. Everything will be shown to you. God will find ways to teach you what he needs to teach you. So don't fall into the Maya traps which keep distracting you into various things.

Okay. So mostly I want to be able to help you with the medicine that you're taking, the tools that you're using, if you're having some troubles with that, if something is getting in your way.

Okay, let's take this example. Father, on this line of knowing versus taking the medicine, may I ask if coming to Satsang versus sadhana, which one should be more important?

Take the medicine. You see this is a very good example. Just take the medicine. Take God's name or do the inquiry. You see the mind will keep making these constructs of this versus that, that versus this. Do the inquiry or take God's name. The intention is to find God or find the truth about who we are, isn't it? After that if a book happens, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with writing a book, you see, but the intention right now is to come to the holiest of holy meetings possible. Don't let anything get in the way. Find out who you are, or remember God's name.

The medicine that I have been taking has two aspects: taking God's name and staying in the sense of I am. Earlier I used to think if both of these are to be done separately. Both of these are separate and cannot be done together. So one day I experimented. It was the best combination. In 'Be As You Are,' Bhagwan says: think I, I, to the exclusion of all other thoughts. And also most of Guruji's Satsang he talks about holding to the sense of being and staying there and and with your Satsang you have initiated us into taking God's name and prayer. So both of these become a beautiful combination. So the question that emerged was: how do you leave leave the leave all the impressions? How do you make your antahkarana open? Like you had your day from morning till evening, a lot would have happened to you, but right now how do you just drop everything, and you don't talk about the world and the things that happen, you talk about God and also from God? So how how how is this happening? Like I take God name, I do things, but I just don't drop. I'm taking the medicine, I'm not saying I'm not getting the results. I am doing what you're saying to the best of my abilities and dedicated time that I can find. But I just had this question: how do you just let go of the things? Because something good must have happened, something bad must have happened, and especially the bads and the sticky parts: it's like somebody is touching while you're doing sadhana and somebody is tapping your shoulder on the back. The thoughts are like that, you want the face to God but these keep coming. So how do you just drop drop this?

How do you, like right now? Have you dropped it or is it there?

Yes, it's not there.

It's not there. How did it go? Because I checked, checked now, because of the checking it went.

Yes.

So in the moment that you're not checking, it's just there. Okay, let's give it a few moments now. You see this is the gift. Just naturally moment to moment we are empty. Our job is not to fill ourselves with garbage again. God will do the work of dropping. Our job is not to pick up any more. So by using God's name, by doing the inquiry, by remaining empty and just with the sense of being, sense of presence, all of these tools: you are just allowing yourself not to pick up anymore. That which is already picked up, you don't need to worry about, because there are no tools, no devices for that. Maybe as you remain empty, you'll find that sometimes you have some release. Sometimes you have some crying coming. Sometimes you may feel like your throat is being squeezed. Sometimes many of these things will happen, to just release what has been pent up in our antahkarana. So our part in keeping our antahkarana empty, clean, open is to not fill it up with any more garbage. And every moment of this emptiness that we give to it, this cleaning up: the walls cannot survive or grow without reinforcement.

So if I don't turn back to the thoughts...

Exactly. God will take care of the one who's tugging at you. The trouble is it sounds too simple.

Yes, it sounds too simple and it sounds too irresponsible. When the things happen in actuality I respond, but when the things come as thoughts, to turn away, because everything felt like the real, in the real it was real, but in the thoughts I have to turn it away.

Right now who is bothering you? This question is bothering you till you find an answer, isn't it? Till the intellect is not satisfied with like what could be the solution, till then it keeps nudging. No.

Yes. Unresolved. Unresolved things.

You see, so suppose you just dropped it like you want to drop it. So you don't start with dropping this. 'I'm empty.' You see, so when the sages say all that you need to do is take his name, he will do the rest: that's what it means. So you're saying Ram, but the mind is saying: 'You are in avoidance. You're being irresponsible. You are in denial.' No, you're not in avoidance. You're not in denial. You're remembering him who is the highest in this. So the mind wants to make it about me. You are making it about God. So if you keep making it about God, there is no denial there. Actual denial means that you're using a conceptual idea. You see, you're actually feeling a lot of anger, frustration, all of that, but you're just using the idea 'I am this self, I am this self' to not meet that thought. You're not really inquiring into who is witnessing that thought. You are just in some sort of conceptual denial using an Advaita concept. You see, so that denial is different. To bring God into the picture in every situation is not a denial. Yeah. Then because our insides become open and receptive, they're not fearful anymore. When the mind pokes us, when our emotions feel scary, all of these things come. We just keep remembering God. So that's a big openness. But to the mind, it can sound like you're running away, you're being irresponsible, you're denying. It's not true.

Thank you.

So if there was something bothering you and you just kept using a concept like 'I just keep taking God's name, but why, like this your life is such a mess, what's happening, how, I just keep taking God's name,' but in actuality you're not taking God's name, then that would be a denial. To actually offer yourself: because what happens when we take God's name, we are actually remembering, we are actually making a hotline call to the king of the universe. This is not a denial. Very high. It's a very high move.

Father, your first question, that is God your priority: I can't say 100%, Father, it's so very lost also.

Yeah, that's why I'm saying in Satsang, so that so that I inspire you, I push you, I prod you.

Yes, Father, and every satssung does push like. And the medicine I'm taking is God's name. And like how he was saying that he feels that okay somebody's tugging him while doing the prayer focus prayer, I feel that when I go to that thought and that story I don't sometimes realize, like just like some gone to some scene and I'm like how did this appear? But I do come back, I'm like no I want I yeah like him and love him, love him. And the topic going on these days is like boredom. Like some stimulus is required. Like even if I'm taking his name, after some time like okay I need something. And when it is exciting things are happening even at work or maybe but and I yeah, that's it, Father.

Boredom, let's talk about that for a moment. Because boredom sounds very, 'I'm just bored, just like that,' you see, but actually it is one of the biggest tricks of Maya. You see, what it's actually saying is what you are, what is, is not enough. What is, in spite of the remembrance of God's name, is not enough, something, make something exciting, you see, do something fun like this kind of thing. So when we buy into the notion of boredom, we are buying into the notion of our limitedness and the limitedness of God: that on top of this something has to be added for it to be good enough. Isn't it? So that's a very absurd notion.

The more you will take God's name, the more you will love him. You'll just immerse yourself in more and more of that love, that the mind will not be able to convince you that this moment there is something missing. Boredom will be a story which dies. You might find it strange but it is not a natural way to live to have this idea that I am bored, because boredom is a big resistance to what is. You see, and especially now that you're saying that you're taking God's name, you're trying to love him also in your heart: what can it offer you which can be higher than that, or more exciting than that, or bigger than that? You see, so it just says, 'No, entertain yourself. Take a break.' And this happens to me also, I'm not saying that. Take a break, do something, you see. But this will become quickly seen through, because once you really examine the message behind the term boredom, like what does boredom mean, why should we be bored? You see, if you were to expand the term boredom, what would you say?

Yeah. Okay, I'll help you a bit. So I see it in Satsang also. Some of you label yourself jnanis, some of you label yourself bhaktas. So I see the moment I start talking about the other side, half of the room goes, 'We'll wait till he starts talking about that which is of interest to us.' So be and so that is a selling of a similar idea that what, and some of you call me Father, your guru, all of that. So what my guru is saying at this point of time is not helpful to me or useful to me, 'I'll just switch off and do some other stuff and when he comes back to the topic of my interest then that will be worthy of my attention and time.' So that is a very similar trick to this boredom: 'What God has given me in this moment is not enough. He's obviously not doing his job well enough. So I need to find better ways to keep myself engaged and attentive in this world.' So these are very devious things in the garb of something very harmless.

You see the message of boredom: there is so much beauty around us every moment. You see, so much beauty like in this room there's so much beauty in one ray of light, there's so much beauty. We don't enjoy that, you see, because the mind oppresses us most of the time and says, 'No, I should have this, I should have that.' You see, so we have so much. If you looked into the eyes of a brother or sister one moment, you would see that the whole universe can be seen, but we don't live like that because our attention is on our mind, our narratives are about different things. So this idea of boredom is very devious, especially when it happens in Satsang also, then it slots ourselves in these boxes, you see, like 'I like this box, I like that,' and it prevents us from becoming broader, it prevents us from growing because we feel like we can only engage with that.

But it's not true if for example to take this example forward. If jnana and bhakti are two wings of the same bird and the bird is called spirituality, then it is not true that we must learn to flap only one wing. And if a topic comes about the other wing then we'll wait for that to pass and and hope that you know, because we are too quick to slot ourselves into things. And many times the it happens, sorry if I'm digressing a bit from your original point. But then I wanted to make this point. Many times it happens because we have been fed conditions about 'this is the best, this is the highest, this is the most direct, this is the thing, this is, you see, these kind of things.' So we must not fall into that. We have been fed this idea somehow that doom-scrolling would be better than just looking at the light in this room. Just even if it's a bulb like this and the light is flowing, to just enjoy the magnificence of the fact that light can be perceived: this is much more exciting than anything that social media can offer us. So this construct of boredom gets flipped around and it's very much a resistance tactic.

Yes. Yes, Father. Yes.

Because and the danger of that is when you come to that quiet stillness in your heart, then the mind will be able to pull that trick and say, 'No, nothing is happening. This is too boring. It's too dry. I want experiences. I want the taste.' So if you don't even deal with the boredom where there's so much stimulus every moment of our life, then when we go to the quietness where there is no sliver of perception, you see, then the mind will really be able to come and offer itself and say, 'No, what is happening. This is a waste of time. Nothing is happening.'

Some excitement I want, and some emotions.

And what will you get from excitement? Suppose there's excitement. Suppose you're very bored right now, then something very exciting happened. Some very entertaining thing. Something very exciting. Then what is the benefit of that?

Very momentary, Father. It will just go. But is there a benefit? Benefit, not really, just excites you.

Is it just the benefit that for those few moments our mind is not oppressing us? You see, at least with the notion that you're bored, then it has to find some other. What happens like, what is the benefit when you feel well entertained, what is the benefit of that?

I don't even know, Father. It seems like an itch that has been scratched.

Yeah. Just like the oppression of that very notion of boredom is gone. Is it? And yet when you have so much excitement it's like 'I need to take a holiday, go into nature.' And then after one or two days in nature you feel relaxed, then 'I'm bored.' You see, so then we keep just switching from these modes but we actually don't take the time to really take that inner journey. Either way we're just caught up in fixing the outside. And we don't, because the minute you go to a beautiful place, nature, all of that, and you're starting to go inwards into stillness, yes, very soon it will start saying, 'Okay, enough now, I'm bored.' And in the city you get too excited, too much stimulus all of that, 'I need to relax, I need to breathe.' So in that the whole life will go. So if you're going to use our intellect, sometimes we can use our intellect to really decipher some of these terms: like what do we mean by boredom? What are we actually saying? It is saying that what is, is not enough.

One cost or maybe benefit of taking the medicine, Father, is that friends are dropping like flies. I have become boring.

Yes. It's true. But it's okay. They want more from you. Yeah. So sometimes, to answer your question about what are the challenges in life even after taking the medicine and the medicine has been consumed joyfully, there's no self-doubt on that. It's just like there's this nostalgic thing: 'Oh wow, this involves losing friends. Does it have to be like that?' But even that's not such a big deal. Just takes time getting used to it. Yeah. I think many times what we call friendship is a very broad construct. Many times people are looking for validation of their way of life. Now if you change your way of life, then the your very being now exudes a different sort of way. So then they will not feel validated for their way of life, what they may find fun you no longer find fun. And people don't like being around people who are not validating. You know it feels like, to use a very broad primitive term: misery loves company. So if you're just miserable, why can't we all be miserable together? Have a few drinks and talk about our misery so that we feel better. All of us are miserable together. One says, 'No, actually I don't need a drink. I'm quite happy.' You become weird. It is strange now. And I can somehow understand that because that is the conditioning of that way of life.

And sometimes some of the younger ones also go through this in a tougher way because they feel like 'I'm in Satsang but I have to hide my Satsang life and I have to conform with my friends and I have to do things even if I don't enjoy so I don't lose friendships.' All of those things can be very strong societal pressure on us. But as we ripen in God's love, as we deepen in God's love, then we feel like, 'No, not at this cost. Not at this cost.'

Although at the same time the benefit is that some deeper friendships are forming, more real friendships are forming. Yeah.

At the back, Father. The medicine that I'm taking is prayer. In the morning I do, I'm able to do only half an hour to one hour of focused prayer, and on weekends I'm able to do one and a half hour. And during the day I'm doing Krishna arrow prayer, and at night hurry part like I've started.

Very good.

Hello. Yeah. So when you were answering his question, that you said that when a thought comes you try to bring God in the middle and not focus on the thought. This thing has been very troubling me: am I using God for feeling good, or am I just using God only to make only to be happy and making my worldly life better? This thing bothers me a lot. I don't want to do that. It's very hurtful for me.

Okay, wait. Let's pause on this point. Why are we doing anything at all? To feel better or worse? To feel good or bad?

To feel good.

We do all our work so we have enough money so that we don't have to feel bad one day. If you need some security, if you need some medical thing, you see, everything that we do. You see, why do we entertain ourselves? To feel better or to feel worse? To feel better. You see, so this whole avoidance of pain and going towards pleasure paradigm is very, very basic for us. So see how the mind uses this tool: it itself makes us run away from pain and pull pleasure towards itself. And if taking God's name is providing some peace, some solace, even some bliss at times, then it's saying, 'See, you're just doing it to feel good.' So spot the tactics. See, now you can question the mind and say, 'But everything you've told me in my entire life is so that I feel good. It doesn't work out that way.' But that's at least what you promise me, isn't it? You see, right? From lust to greed to hunger to everything it offers is so that I feel good. But the problem is its feel-good doesn't last. So see how it is using this itself to say, 'Oh, you're using God to feel good.' Don't fall into that trap.

I need your permission, Father, that whenever such thing comes I will still keep praying.

In your heart you know why you're remembering God. Don't allow your mind to bully you using these tricks.

Can I add one one more? One more practical thing that I'm facing is: during work I am amazed actually, like I can I can pray irrespective of whatever is going on. Earlier I used to not feel that I can pray in such situations, but I am seeing that however strong situation I can still chant, and it really like helps to bring me back. But one thing that I'm seeing a challenge is like to multitask. Many times I'm not able to do prayer as well as pray. So how to do that, Father?

This is true and this is a challenge for anyone like especially if you're working on a spreadsheet and you're working on some calculation and things like that, you see. So the more more all-encompassing to your attention Maya is, the more gross we can use our mode of practice. You see, so if you're working on a spreadsheet which is using so much of your attention and cognition and using all of that, then use your mouth to chant. Okay. So then at least you keep yourself connected with God in some way in this way, otherwise very quickly we'll forget. So that's why 'hurry part, har mukana, har muk': if you just keep chanting Hari's name with your mouth, the merits of that are uncountable. The more all-encompassing it seems for our attention, the more gross you can make your spiritual practice. So don't be afraid to whisper or quietly chant, then you can stay in constant remembering. And I'm not saying from any mastery of this: even I'm learning to deal with that.

Thank you.

See that is why Ganeshwar G is able to tell us: whole day you have focused your energy on worldly things, prapacha, you know all of this stuff, why don't you worship? He asked that very clearly in one line. Why are you not worshiping? Because he's given us a simple way of worshiping which is just keep taking God's name with your mouth. Nothing can get in the way of that. And the beauty of the Haripath while the mic comes to whoever is speaking is that it is both instructions of how to pray and prayer itself, which is like Satsang: hearing the instructions of how to use the tools and using the tools at the same time, which is a rare thing, which is what makes it so beautiful. So when it is said 'Hari mukhe mhana, Hari mukhe mhana,' we're taking Hari's name in that process as well while reminding ourselves that it's so important to take God's name. So I'm very happy to hear that you're doing the hurry part, because that itself is like focused prayer. It is instructions for practice, the whole path: dvaita, advaita, saguna, everything is there. And while learning about everything we are also doing it, we are also taking the medicine. It's a very high path, the hurry part. It's very elusive in nature, it may come across initially very simplistic, but the depth of what sage Ganeshwar Gi has said is very deep.

Father, as I'm getting older, there's this desire or tendency to drift away from the city and be in the mountains or be in nature.

Come, you're going to Muli.

So I mean, my refuge has been Bhutan. So I keep going there and like you said, you know, could be just a way to vacasillate from boredom. It doesn't seem like that anymore. At one time it was like that, just this relief or refuge in that sense. And before there was some sort of self-criticism: 'Oh, you're trying to escape city life.' And Father lives in Bangalore in a full chaos on wind tunnel road, so anything can be done anywhere. It's not like I'm suffering here in Bangalore or anything, but it's like what you said: don't don't put garbage back in. And I find it a little hard just by environment to keep that barrier closed. It tends to break. So it's just like I don't know, you can call it self-love or self-escape. I don't know what it is, but it's just so much easier there because I can walk, watch a sunset, just keep staring at the clouds for hours, or go sit in a monastery, or go sit in, there's nothing else to do there. And so at my age, based on our tradition and culture, it's like banana is anyway like a recommended thing. But I thought I'd just share that, given that you said one could be trying to escape also. So yeah, just comment on that.

It's true. I mean there's no straight-line answer to that. It's true. Sometimes there are sages, like Nisargadatta Maharaj, in the dirtiest, most difficult, most crowded, most noisy part of Mumbai. And then there are sages in secluded caves and ashrams. So all varieties, we just have to be true to our heart. Now this kind of dilemma, which only he has provided and only he will solve, is here also: where I'm finding so much joy in the walking temple thing. Just meeting so many brothers and sisters and getting them to turn towards God for a moment is bringing so much joy. And I saw everybody's faces last time after we came back. It was like everybody just came out from a deep meditation. They were all looking like that. So that, and on the other hand I also feel like, if I'm going to spend this life focused on bringing people to God, how can I create the best environment for them? For many years I've been against that whole idea of going from the city to an ashram, but it just coming, as I'm also getting older, family also is feeling, my wife is feeling, 'Okay, after this city life, do we really want this?' So all of this is adding up to looking at that. So what it may turn out to be is we may take an ashram, but twice or thrice a week take a bus from the ashram to go to the city of Pune and do the walking temple. I don't know.

So we can't really see. What I really want is to be pleasing to God in and as much of my life as possible. And I feel like that turning to God in my brothers and sisters for even one moment seems to bring a lot of pleasing to God here. So that seems to be very attractive at the moment. But I'm not close to the idea of having a center where we can all just immerse in God so deeply without worrying about worldly distraction. We don't know. Anyway, dash thing is sometime away.

Going back to your initial question of what medicine is being taken. My way of find, connecting is through like self-inquiry and all, mostly has been. But recently dad took us to Belur Mut in. Is it a little closer? Recently dad took us, is it said like that, Bour Mut. And we sat like in an arati, and I thought that it was really amazing. So I've been trying. What? Yeah. So I've been trying to like lean into that and try prayer more. Yeah. But then I'm finding it really difficult. I know that I can enjoy it, but when I do it by myself then it it's like I find it really difficult to completely surrender to like being devotional, like completely devotional. It's hard for me, so I don't know like yeah.

Actually, we keep saying bhakti is easier but it's as hard. I may say something different tomorrow but many times it is as hard, if not more, than jnana. Which is beautiful, and so is jnana. And it all depends like in this temperament. I've enjoyed tasting so many pathways to God and I enjoy the taste of them. I enjoy the difficulty in them also. I enjoy what needs to be transcended in the process. So all that is also enjoyed. Like if it was too easy then I don't know whether I would really enjoy it as much. So like now we are immersing ourselves in all the Maharashtra sages, because of so many things, one Thai coming and so many things that have happened in the last few months. And I find what a beautiful pathway to God they've given. Try doing the hurry part. I'll send you the most beautiful rendition of it and the website link where we can read along. And I find that the Haripath of Ganeshwar G is such a beautiful amalgamation of jnana and bhakti. He doesn't let the mind settle that 'I am like this, no I am only like that.' And it is in such a beautiful environment of such beautiful words and pointers. Try it out. I have a feeling if you liked the Ramakrishna tradition, you'll like this also.

So my husband his teacher he studied in Ram Krishna mission. So his teacher is a monk now, he's retired, like not retired but he lives in Belur Math. So this time again he visited and he was talking a lot on spiritualism and spirituality. And so he, I just remember because the ashram and the whole thing, and so first he spoke of nam japa and how that's important. But he was also saying that there's so many of us who are sannyasis who have just left everything and come, but it's not different from living in the world. He said we have become so, it's become like this is our conditioning and it's not different. So he said he was saying that what's the point, you know, in that way, like it's maybe it's worse, because spiritual pride is the worst pride. So people are falling, all the monks, people fall at your feet, there's so much gradation there of when I've been there like the president and this and that, there's so much that in that hierarchy. Hierarchy. I just remembered when he said this every time: so Ram Baba, you remember, so Ram Baba came to Tiru retreat and Ram Baba is a sadhu. So he said, 'Ananta, there is no problem, when I'm sitting with you in satsang everything is fine, but when I go back and go to the other monk, somebody's taken my food and somebody's taken my pillow and somebody, we always fighting about belongings and things like that.' And I said that's what everybody, every householder also tells me: everything is fine when I'm in satsang but when I go back to the house and all of this comes. So to the outer escape in the world is not the most efficient thing. This one follows us everywhere. I don't know how. There is nobody to ask for such a big time, how many times I've met him. And I see all the monks, they have their own, they wake up in the morning, there's a whole routine. But maybe it's just become like a routine. Guru Vin Bavat: it's not there.

So Kabir Ji said that without the guru, who's going to tell us the reality of things? And Ganeshwar G of course talks about it. But it's not really a thing to tell. There are many who are telling us things, you see, but being a guru is not that kind of telling. It's a different mechanism.

Because everybody says that like Ganeshwar G talking about Nriti Naji who is actually his older brother, and he constantly gives him credit. Such a great sage is constantly crediting his guru who is also his brother. Because he said that it is he who gave me sadhana, it is he who made the Atma clear to me, it is he who gave the Lord to me, as if I could hold him. When we hear it, it feels like the guru can take God and just give, like that. But it is not that kind of process.

It is not a worldly process. It is not a conceptual process. It is that heart transmission. You see, just something happens at very different levels of our being. That's why I keep saying: this outer Satsang is a miniaturization of what that heart transmission from the Atma is like. But that miniaturization is very important. Otherwise you don't get a sense of the project. You don't get a sense of the taste which you're supposed to follow within. You don't get a sense of the fragrance. You see, so the outer guru usually in most lives, the outer teacher sets that light. You see, and then we can keep following it deeply inwardly.

Do you know of any guru shisha parumpra where it has actually been genuinely passed on like the guru was genuine like and then the shishas became genuine and no otherwise like it just one generation yes. One generation yes like Bai and Rahaba Rahaba. They were together, Father. Together but after, was there for how many years after Bai left in 17, in 192? They are very elevated beings. Yeah. Not their comparison, like, not Radha Baba as a disciple, he was already too elevated. It's very scary, Father, these things, you know, like you can just be so lost if the guru is not there. I don't know like that, I'm nobody to judge. The artiser never felt that he's so, he only says: we get lost in. We hear about these things like we hear about the natam prahan. We have the Gorakhnath and there's a full tradition. So then Nriti G's guru G was from the natamra like fifth or sixth level. Gah gah Nat G. Then also Swami Siddhar Romeshwar G supposed to be somewhere from Manatam Prada and he had Mr. Gatamar. I don't know like I'm nobody to judge, but cotton.

I feel like her question is after the guru's passing. Use me till I'm here. You should hear this abhanga called Kanada Raja Pandhari. That's such a great combination of jnana and bhakti. Can we say the word? You can sing it. You know the word. Both of you take it and just pause and keep giving the translation also. Can. Vana. Valer. So translate.

So this is Canada raza panderita. So Canada, Father was saying there are two meanings, three. Oh okay. Three meanings of the word Canada. The simplest one is Karnataka origins. You know that there is a story around how Krishna Devaraya got Vitala to Hampy and then he went back. So that Karnataka origins is one story. Second is Canada is a way of saying darkkinned one, because Vitella is dark skin. And third is to say the unfathomable. So Canada is a word also used for the unfathomable. So unfathomable is the king of pandere, because he is the one that even the Vedas cannot fully describe. So he's the ineffable one. Then nah kara is what the Vedas did understand: are not enough to understand him, to know him. Then what is the next plan? Beyond the scriptures with beyond the Vedas and all it's like beyond comprehension.

So beyond Vedas, beyond intellectual comprehension, and yet he's the formless one, without any attributes, this Ishwar. But this formless one, how did he appear on that brick, like standing? He's standing there waiting on the brick for the love of a devotee. It'll come later, that's a spoiler. So just because to for the love of the devotee, and to give love and to receive love from the devotee: that Nirguna Brahman, that ineffable one, that which the scriptures themselves cannot fathom, cannot understand, he makes himself available to us for our devotion in this way. You see, so he's not neglecting the ultimate reality of God. The sage is keeping that fully in mind and yet marveling at that one's mercy that he makes himself available standing on a brick. You see, just because a devotee loves you. Such a beautiful way to look at jnana and bhakti.

Standing with his hands on his waist: who is it? It is pure consciousness itself which has manifested himself in this way. You see, so it's so beautiful and this whole lineage of sages from Maharashtra, they make it a point to stress the nirvana as well as the saguna aspects of God. So they appeal to both the jnanis and the bhaktas in such a beautiful way. That's why I feel like you'll like the hari part as well. You know the rest. He who is Brahman itself, beyond boundaries. Brahman itself, he has come and made himself available, waiting patiently for devotees at the banks of the river Bhima. So so touching, these words are. He doesn't allow us to slot ourselves into these tiny boxes: 'I only consider him like this and I only consider him like that, we can only meet him like this, we can only meet him like that.' He breaks all of these constructs while not denying his beyond reality, and still making him so approachable and lovable.

Something is asked. I won't answer this. Biatma Canada rand. Canada rand. Canada.

So the sages have said that knowing and not knowing are categories in which God cannot be found. Ganeshwar Gi says knowing and not knowing, either are not categories in which God can be found. What a line, like it's that one line can be the entire spiritual project. Let's go to Ravi for a minute. I can hear you. Okay. I can't hear Ravi at all.

Father, am I audible now? Am I not audible? Father.

Very low. Give me the mic, please.

Father, am I audible, Father?

You're audible now. Yes. Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you, Father. Thank you so much, Father. I just would like to add two points. Father, it was a very interesting discussion today. It went on about the spiritual life in city and away from city. Those things, I just connected to say few words about that. Something sometimes we feel when we are on the way of spiritual life, we're leading spiritual life, suddenly this feeling of away from city, moving away from place to place and going into isolation, these kind of things are sometimes I feel it's not so correct. Because when I was reading a commentary on Bhagavad Gita also it says that when sattvic nature is increasing, the feeling coming from: let us move from away from the city, away from the people, away from world. And in the world full of rajasik and tamasi people is already abundantly present and all the satikis comes away from the away from the these rajasik and tamasi. Is it right propositions that those who can actually live in the world should go away? That's one perspective I don't feel correct. And I'm just using the word that is active spiritualism, kind of active spiritual being active in the world. Can't we lead the very spiritual life with a very peaceful and happy spiritual journey? Sometimes I also feel: am I enjoying the journey or only always focusing on the final destination? So is it moment to moment, am I not to enjoy the spiritual journey? So that also I feel when saints, and they see that life of saints, they come to the end destination or end destiny point after so many years of teaching and working actively in the society. I'm not talking about pure seva kind of devotion, seva, but even spirituality also, people are have lived so long in the world. And last one, last one point is that working on ego. So working on ego is much easier in the world only, compared to going to isolation. I lost you again my dear.

I don't hear you anymore. But I feel like he cast a vote, so his vote is noted.

I hear you. Father, please please go ahead Father. Am I audible? Last point.

Now you're able. Agree.

Yeah. Yeah. Last point, Father, is it: actually in the way of spiritual life, one more important sadhana is working on ego. Last time I was happy to put my weakness in front of you at your feet saying that working on ego is one of the important sadhanas for me. So this thing is also: world is giving best opportunity to work on ego, compared to living among the saints and sages and all only sattvic people. Is it possible to work more on ego and becoming egoless at one point of time? And I feel it's a great opportunity, the world, to work on ego, identify, recognize it, and moving close to God. So these all these three things: sometimes I feel that being in the world, enjoy moment to moment the spiritual journey, and let us not only look upon the final destiny of the dashion or whatever it is, ultimate experience. So why can't we continue like this and enjoy the spiritual journey? Sometimes this is my perspective on this discussion, Father, just I want your observation or whatever it is, please kindly add, Father, on this.

I was saying, I don't know if you could hear me, but I was saying: rather than a point of spirituality it's more like one of my children casting a vote about what they would prefer. So the vote is noted. In terms of spiritual growth, spiritual progress: yes, of course, city life doesn't get in the way. We have been in Satsang in the city, in the heart of Bangalore traffic, for so long, 14 years. So it doesn't at all get in the way. There is no telling that going to an ashram will definitely make it deeper or anything like that either. So but it's also not true that we can draw a straight line, better or worse. It's not true like that. That's why I was saying there were examples of sages in the midst of worldly life: the Saga, the Tamaras, Tukaram Gi in the middle of householder life. And there are also examples, great examples of very great sages who lived in seclusion and caves. So the only solution to these things is to follow God's will moment to moment from the heart. Follow the direction that he's asking us to take, asking me to take. And I promise all of you that I will try my best. Of course, I'm often deluded by Maya. But the attempt here, the intention here is always to follow what he's guiding me to in the heart. And it is my faith that if you just keep following that moment to moment, he's taking care of everything. He's taking care of everything.

Okay. Let's go to Shivang.

Hello, Father.

Hello, my dear.

Hello. Yeah, I just wanted to come up and show up, just yeah, I'm here and I'm trying to practice a little bit more, to sit a little a little bit more and praying, as you told me.

Very good. So I remember we said that at least a few minutes, try to have some focused prayer.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's good. So that's starting that started out. Yes. That's that started in the last few weeks. Yeah. I've been trying to do it every day. Not randomly or so, not for for for time. I need to be honest. But I'm trying. Yeah. I had some doubts or some stuff, because I noticed that at the beginning the first few days was very very easy somehow, and I wanted to pray more and more and stay, and it was like some joy. And and then few days later it was a bit more again, more yeah, the the the the mind came giving some distraction, and the prayer was less effective, let's say. And so but I I I keep, I'll keep doing it. I'll keep doing it.

Bless you, bless you. And we meet again. Every Wednesday we'll do the walking temple. Monday and Friday. Zenab can come again soon. I'm seeing her expressions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.