We Go From a Thought Dictated Life to a God Dictated Life

But it is very important to say that if the author of this beautiful voice or poem included the transformation which was inwardly there, he would have to say: before enlightenment, 'him'; after enlightenment, 'Ram.' It sounds very nice to say 'chopping wood, fetching water,' but this can create a lot of confusion. You might think, 'Okay, so I'm enlightened and I'm doing the same thing today.' If you feel like the outer is all there is, then nothing has to change. In a way it is true, but really the whole operating system has to change.

The whole operating system has to change where, if you're operating from the way of the mind, that has to transform into operating from the way of the heart. Therefore, living in God's Will and God's light. We go from a thought-dictated life to a God-dictated life. It is going to be a dictated life—this you better get used to. As long as there is anything left of 'me,' it is going to be dictated by either the mind or God. This lasts until we come to the complete realization that there is nothing like a 'me' which is dictated.

And yet, in everyone in this world, there will be that tiniest element of 'somebody' which still remains. The first Guru called it the tanmatra of the ego. The tiniest particle of the ego will still remain. As long as that is there, that one must come into true servitude of God. How do we know whether that one is still there? Firstly, I'm telling you. Secondly, if there's an 'ouch' or a 'don't want a dictated life,' that 'I' is the one I'm talking about—the one that has likes and dislikes, preferences, rights and wrongs. It may have become a tiniest sliver, you see.

That is why we have to say that actually it is Achintya Bheda Abheda, which means that unfathomable non-difference and difference. Although it is truly one, there will always be an unfathomable non-difference/difference. That term 'unfathomable' is helpful because otherwise we can think ourselves silly. You will have an insight about this, but you will not be able to think about it. That is why absolutism and relativism are always at loggerheads in satsang. One says, 'But that is from the absolute perspective,' and another says, 'But that is from the relative.' When you try to create these categories, it just doesn't work.

Both are true: that you are the Highest within which all of Consciousness itself is born—it is true, you are That. But it is also true that you are just a mere servant of God, if you are lucky. Which is more true? You can't think about it. There is no more or less; it will vary moment to moment. In one moment I can say, 'God arises within me, the light that shines within is my own Self, I am prior to that, I am that highest reality.' In another moment I can say, 'I am not even worthy of being God's doormat.' Which is more true? You cannot say.

This is as far as we can go in terms of being able to articulate the insight. Of course, in the heart, even the notion of difference or non-difference—all of that is nothing. But as far as pointing goes, if somebody were to say, 'What is your standard?'—otherwise you can quibble. Somebody called me an Advaitin the other day and I said, 'Am I? I don't know.' I don't really know. I just share what seems natural to share in my heart. My heart compels me in some way to share that. I don't know whether I am a bhakta or a jnani or what. I have no such category in which I can put myself. One category I'm very comfortable with is to be a beggar servant. Among all these categories, I just feel like a servant to God, and therefore a servant to those who are truly seeking Him in their hearts.

So although I may be sitting up on this chair—mostly because I have some cramps—really it is the other way around. I'm not going to say that very often because I know the ego loves this kind of stuff, but really it's the other way around. If you're truly seeking God's light, then I will walk to the end of the Earth for you. I will walk till whatever it takes for you. But if it's just an ego trip, then I may not even answer the questions.

What is the way in which we change this operating system? Change this way of life? Go from a mind-dictated life to a heart-dictated life or a God-dictated life? Contemplate for a moment and see whether there is a third way. Why can't I just live 'my' life? Why does it have to be either mind-dictated or God-dictated? Answer this question for yourselves. See if there could be a third way for our life decisions. Besides the mind's way or the heart's way, is there a third option?

To recognize this is important: our life is not as complex as we make it out to be. It is either here or here. The way to be 'here' [in the heart] usually is to not be 'here' [in the head]. But those of us who now have a spiritual persona, we don't want a God-dictated life; we want a God-assisted life. What would be the difference? It's quite stark for me. In a God-assisted life, I am setting the target. I want this, I want to be free, I want to be enlightened, I want to share something. I want, I want, I want. And then we go, 'God, please, I want this, please assist.' We want an assistant for our goals, for our mind's idea of what it would be to be truly spiritual. The goal-setting comes from the ego, and then the pleading comes in the form of 'help me achieve that target.' It's very much like the corporate workspace.

Versus a God-dictated life, which would be: whatever comes, yes. I am empty. Why do I have to go? I have not decided left or right. I'm not saying, 'I have to go right, God please help me.' I'm completely open. I am empty, and then one of two things can happen. One is that the Presence itself is apparently moving the entire universe, which includes the movement of this body. To keep it simple: Presence moves you. The second is that you hear the Satguru voice in your heart. But for either of this to happen, we need to be empty. Open and empty is a prerequisite to everything I'm saying.

Once we are empty of past, present, and future, then what words should come from this mouth? I have no idea what the next sentence is, what direction any of this is going in. The heart speaks through this mouth, and that's why all of you come—because you don't come to hear the mind anymore. You're tired of that. In this openness, from this emptiness, the heart can move this body, your life, whatever you want to call your life. This is the difference between a God-assisted life and a God-dictated one. We must really contemplate and look within ourselves whether we are truly open to a God-dictated life.

Because 'God-dictated' still sounds aggressive for some of us; it still sounds oppressive. Which is good when you check the options: it's either mind-dictated or God-dictated. The oppressor is the snake, the mind, the seller of limitation, the liar of individuality. That is the prison, that is the oppression. You have come to satsang to seek freedom from that one, because that one convinces you over and over again that you are a body-mind, that you are an entity. Yourself ultimately as Nirguna Brahman can only be realized in the light of the Guru presence, which I am calling the heart within you.