Identity - The Biggest Lie In Your Life🔗

Because your life needs an identity, because you need an identity, you are always afraid. If I say that you are inconsistent, by your very nature you are illogical, unconnected, and un-clutched, you feel a tremendous fear rising in you. People ask me again and again, ‘How can we live without the mind? How can we live without identity?’

Be very clear, your identity has convinced you. Your mind has convinced you by showing you a few examples that you cannot be alive without it, that you cannot survive without it. It is like if you convince your boss that he cannot run his business without you, you can do whatever you want. You can exploit him.

In the same way, your mind has convinced you by giving a few examples. A long time ago you would have made some mistakes and something might have happened in your life as a result of those mistakes. Your mind will constantly show them to you and tell you, ‘See, you did not listen to me, that is why it happened. You did not follow my planning, that is why it happened. You did not follow up, you did not plan, and you did not worry about execution. You did not execute, that is why it happened.’

It will constantly show you those few incidents and convince you that you need to have a mind. Once you are convinced that you cannot be alive without your identity, your mind will exploit you. Now your identity will swallow your whole life.

There will be continuous conflict between the two identities that you carry; that is what I call mobile hell! Wherever you go you carry them just like how you carry your tent when you go camping. In the same way you carry your mobile hell. Whether you go to the beach or anywhere else on vacation, you carry your mobile hell with you. The continuous conflict between the two identities is tension.

Please try to understand these few concepts. You have two identities, one is based on inferiority and the other one is based on superiority. There is a continuous conflict between these two, which is what is called ‘tension’. The next important truth is that you are beyond these two identities.

Be very clear, if you just understand these few concepts intellectually, even the experience of eating will be transformed for you; even the taste as well as the sensitivity in your body will be transformed. The sensitivity will be awakened once you understand that you are beyond these two identities. These two identities limit you, put you in boundaries, do not allow you to update yourself. Updating yourself is not possible if you put boundaries which are based on these two identities.

Only when you understand that you are beyond these two identities, the two identities cannot disturb you. You can get out of suffering only when you relax by

understanding that you are beyond these two identities. If you want to heal your life physically, mentally or emotionally, the one and only way is realizing that you are beyond these two identities, because all of your problems are related to only these two identities and conflict between these two identities. Unless you realize that you are beyond them, you cannot experience the balance or the silence or the peace or bliss in your life.

The Vedic masters have created a beautiful formula to reproduce the same experience in you that happened in them. The experience that you are beyond these two identities happened in them and they created a formula to reproduce the same in you. It is that formula that I call ‘Be un-clutched’.

Now the next question is, how to un-clutch? Let us first understand how we clutch, how we connect. Only then we can understand how we can un-clutch. Only if you understand how the knot is created can you remove it. If you do not know how the knot is created, you cannot undo it. You will be just pulling, pulling and pulling and what will happen? The knot will only tighten more. We are doing just that as of now.

Just like the knot, the conflict between these two identities exists and we are pulling from both sides, each side representing a different identity.

Either you are trying to satisfy the identity that is working in the outer world, making more and more money, making the identity which you show to the outer world bigger and bigger, having more wealth and bigger things, or you enter the other side, trying to do different types of religious practices.

You can neither pull from this direction nor can you pull from that direction. If you try to pull in either direction the knot will only get tighter.

Understand how you created the knot. Understand the depth of the knot and how you created the knot. Only then you can get out of the knot. Only then you can un-clutch.

Here Ashtavakra says: You are unattached. When Ashtavakra says, you are unattached, he means that there is no shaft. There is no shaft; there are simply independent thoughts. Independent, unconnected, illogical thoughts appear separately and disappear. Because of your idea about pain or pleasure, you connect these thoughts and create a shaft and feel as if there is a shaft. Just understand this very moment that the shaft does not exist, and be liberated.

Constantly, you are unattached. Automatically, by your very nature, you are unattached. The moment that you understand that you are unattached, you are just liberated. A tremendous inner healing starts happening in you. A tremendous sense of rest happens in you. You will think, ‘Oh God, what have I been fighting for? I was fighting with a person who does not even exist. All my energy was wasted. It was wasted unnecessarily fighting with a person who doesn't exist.’ Your idea of pain, pleasure or ego does not exist. Simply, it is not there.

In the Vedic system we say kshana. Kshana does not mean ‘one second’ as it is generally thought. Kshana means the gap between one thought and the other thought. Between one thought and another thought, we drop into the atman. There is no connection between one thought and another thought. The moment you understand that there is no connection between one thought and another thought, you drop into the source of thoughts, from where all the thoughts appear. You go to the source and come back.

You can just un-clutch yourself this very moment. Relax from the fighting. But a tremendous fear rises, ‘If I stop fighting, then how will I develop my life?’ It is only when you stop fighting, the transformation can happen. Be very clear, the mind can never be

developed. Either you keep this mind and suffer, or drop this mind and transform yourself. There are only two choices available to you, either mind or no mind. Developing your mind is not an option because it is just not possible to develop your mind.

I will just give a simple example to show how you are tortured by your identity, how you suffer with your identity. This will show how you are afraid to un-clutch yourself, why you are not ready to un-clutch yourself, why you are just not opening up and understanding this truth.

In the forests of Northern India, hunters use a trap to catch birds. They tie a rope between two trees. In the middle of the rope they secure a wooden stick. The rope is tied at the midpoint of the stick. This is actually a hunter’s trap for birds.

stick, it can simply fly. It starts thinking that if it relaxes, it will fall and die; it will fall and break its head.

After one or two hours, the hunter slowly comes and puts it in his bag and takes it away. The bird does not know and he does not have the intelligence to realize that if he just relaxes, if he lets go, he can just fly! At the most it may

The poor bird hangs upside down, holding on to the stick, thinking it will fall and die if it lets go. However, by not letting go, not only does it lose its freedom, it loses its life too. Just like

that foolish bird, you are also thinking that you can be alive only with your identity.

You do not understand that if you let go of your identity, you can become a Paramahamsa, a great swan; you can just fly! Just like the bird which does not know that it can fly only if it lets go, you also do not know, that you can become enlightened if you relax from your identity. The poor bird holding on to the stick for security not only misses its freedom, when the hunter comes the bird will be taken away from that stick as well.

In the same way, you hold on to whatever you think is your identity and security - your education, your mind, your life, your relationships, or your bank balance. By holding on to these, not only do you lose your freedom, not only do you lose your enlightenment, but when Yamadharma, the Lord of Death arrives, you lose even the stick that you are holding onto for security. Even that will be taken away from you.

So understand, what you think of as security is not security. It is a prison. You think your identity is your security. You think that it is protecting you, just like how the bird thinks that the stick is protecting it. Be very clear, your fear and the bird's fear are one and the same. The bird does not know that if it relaxes, it can fly; it can escape and have his freedom. In the same way, you do not understand that if you have the courage and let go, if you have the courage and open yourself, you can simply fly; you will be a Paramahamsa!

Please understand this one thing: just like how the bird is not able to trust, how the bird is not able to understand that by letting go or opening up it can fly, you also suffer. You are also afraid, 'If I stop connecting all my experiences in a linear way, if I stop connecting the incidents of my life with pain or pleasure, I may constantly suffer, I may fall into pain, people may exploit me... How will I maintain my bank balance? How will I maintain my house? How will I extract work from my subordinates?' You have one thousand fears just like the bird.

Please understand, I am telling this to you from my own experience. I was also holding on like that. I was also holding on just like you.

Let me tell you: Simply let go; you will fly. You will simply fly. Understand this moment that you are unattached.

Just like how the birds are hanging until the hunter comes and takes them away, you are also waiting for Yama, the Lord of Death. Of course, when he comes, you will have to let go of whatever you are holding onto and he will help you to let go. Please understand, do not wait for Yama to come. Just let go, just open up. You can simply fly like a bird. You are unattached.

If you realize this truth, your enlightenment is guaranteed.

Q: How can we leave everything and survive here in this world? We need to make an effort. We need to make a living. How can one do that?

A: Nice question. When you drive, do you plan every step, do you raise the word drive...

Q: At this point, we have a lot of practice driving - we drive, drive and drive.

A: In the same way you are trained to be alive.

Q: No. Alive is one thing, but one needs to earn a living, one needs to make an effort.

A: Do you know how to breathe? You are programmed for breathing. Let me tell you clearly from my experience and even Vedic rishis have said again and again, that if your body is programmed to breathe, your body is programmed to make your living also.

Q: Can I just sit here and earn my bread and butter?

A: First thing, you will not be able to sit here like that. Try to be un-clutched. You will have an intelligence which is simply making your body move and work. Be very clear, the moment I say un-clutch, you associate it with laziness. You have a deep hatred towards working, that is the reason. So you go towards the opposite direction of resting or being lazy.

See, the moment I say un-clutch, you think of just lying down on the bed. But you will not be able to just lie down on your bed. Try to un-clutch and suddenly you will see that so much of creativity is expressed through you. So much intelligence will happen through you. You will not become lazy. Be very clear, you will not become lazy.

I talked about the bird earlier. Understand, if that bird has a little intelligence and flies, relaxes and balances, the bird will know how to escape from the clutch, the trap. Then the same trap will become a hammock for the bird! It can just come and swing; it can come and sit on the same rope and use it like a hammock. The same trap will be a hammock for the bird.

In the same way, when you un-clutch from your identity and fly, you will know how to handle your identity. Now your identity will not be a prison anymore. It will become a hammock for you!

Do not think if you un-clutch, you will not practice your profession or you will not do your job. If you are a doctor, do not think that if you un-clutch, you will not be able to perform as a competent doctor. If you un-clutch, there will be only one difference. You will not have the constant irritation which you carry in your life from morning till night. Whatever profession you are in, the deep irritation, vengeance and arrogance that you carry will be expressed in your body language, in your words, in your step. That is what you are expressing in your body language, in your words, in your questions, in your steps.

If you have a little intelligence, I can tell you, just try this simple experiment.

Try to be un-clutched just for ten days. Surely in ten days I do not think you will lose your job. Will you lose all your wealth in just ten days? Surely you must have savings enough for ten days. Try to be un-clutched just for ten days. Suddenly you will see that you are not able to be lazy. The tremendous energy that you are wasting in psychological worrying and irritation, will become creative energy. Then, you will not work hard, but you will work smart.

Understand, a clutched person works hard, an un-clutched person works smart. Even your idea of doing hard work is a pure myth because of clutching.

What is hard work? Before doing simple work, if you plan psychologically ten times, worry whether it will happen or not ten more times, and after completing it, if you talk and brag about it ten more times, it will become hard work. Hard work is nothing but doing some small, simple work, talking about it ten times, planning about it ten times, worrying about whether it will happen or not ten times and after doing it, bragging about it. Otherwise whatever you call hard work is pure myth, done out of arrogance.

Be very clear, I am not sitting quietly. I am not a lazy swami or a lazy monk in the Himalayas. I travel one hundred thousand miles per year and I run eight hundred centers in twenty-four countries. Let me tell you honestly, just because of un-clutching, so much of creativity and power is being expressed. As of now you waste 90% of your energy in psychological worrying. When I say 90% I mean 90%.

When your ego is hurt, you try to defend your philosophy. Please be very clear about what I say; your ego is hurt. Have a little intelligence and look in and be a new being. Just take ten days, not more than that. Drop your hard work myth. You feel important only if you feel you are doing hard work.

In the initial level you have to convince your boss that you are doing hard work. By and by you yourself get convinced that you are doing hard work. Hard work is the ultimate myth.

Let me be very clear, you are not doing hard work at all. That is the first thing you need to understand. You keep on telling your kids, ‘I did this for you, I did that for you,’ so that you can create guilt in them and make them do what you want them to.

Actually one father and son came to me. The father said, ‘I did this for him. I did that for him. He is not obeying me Master, please tell him.’ The son asked me, ‘Master, who asked him to give birth to me? He did something and I happened as a by-product of that. After the son is born, he goes on saying, ‘I did this and I did that for you.’

Be very clear, we do not do anything for anybody. Not just for others, but also even for ourselves. Hard work is pure myth. Let us understand this simple fact and try just for ten days. For ten days, just try to be un-clutched. You will see the amount of energy and creativity that comes out of you and expresses through you. You will not be able to keep quiet. Just un-clutch; you will not work hard but you will work smart.

Q: My question is why do we have questions in the first place if we are un-clutched?

A: Nice question. First thing let us analyze two things. If you understand that you are un-clutched, you will not have questions. If you have questions, at that moment you are not un-clutched. You are trying to clutch on to something.

If you look in and understand that you are un-clutched, naturally you will not have any questions. Where is the question of having questions? You will not have any thoughts. Just look and see that you are un-clutched by your very nature.