“Regardless of those people who depend on you, it is possible for you to be true to who you are. Compassionately, ruthlessly true to who you are. . . true to the open heart.”

The most common question Gangaji receives at the end of a retreat is, “How can I trust myself to be true to the truth of who I am while living my daily life?” How do we raise children, pay the bills, go to work, or sustain a marriage and be true to who we are? Is it really a question of trust? In this episode, Gangaji speaks to what is actually closer, and more essential than trust.

Learn more about Gangaji, her schedule of events, and programs at gangaji.org. 

“The mistake is overlooking what is effortlessly, choicelessly, always here.”

How is it that we actually overlook the truth of ourselves? When we pursue sublime states of mind to attain “unity” on our spiritual path, we can go down a path that instead delivers an experience of separation. Gangaji invites us to simply be, and in that, discover what cannot be “done” and who you truly are.

Learn more about Gangaji, her schedule of events, and program for the incarcerated at gangaji.org.

Gangaji speaks about the role spiritual practice plays in our lives and invites us to discover what we are practicing when we “get off our cushion and the chanting stops.” What do our spiritual practices give us? What do we hope they will give us? What can they never give us?

Learn more about Gangaji at gangaji.org

“The error is that you are not what can be thought, or perceived, or felt.  You are that in which all thoughts, all perceptions, all feelings, appear in.”

In countless ways, we search for a “better” identity to replace who we think we are. This month, Gangaji speaks to the trap of misidentification. How is it possible to see your true face? Where are you looking for yourself?

Learn more about Gangaji at gangaji.org

“Incarcerated for life in a maximum security prison in Alabama and not using that as an excuse, refusing to use that as an excuse.  In fact, using that as a vehicle.”

Gangaji reads a powerful letter of realization from a prisoner serving life without parole in an Alabama prison.

Learn more about Gangaji at gangaji.org

Support/Learn more about the Gangaji Foundation Prison Program here

“This is not psychotherapy. This is not anti-psychotherapy. This has nothing to do with fixing you. This has to do with discovering fully and completely what is always here and was always here in the worst moments, in the best moments.”

In this monologue recorded during a recent retreat at Fallen Leaf Lake, Gangaji delineates the crucial difference between psychotherapy and self-inquiry and the distinct purposes they play in our lives. 

Learn more about Gangaji, her programs, and schedule of events at gangaji.org

Donate to the Prison Program here

“This is an invitation to stop. To not create who you are. To simply be yourself with no idea or memory of who or what that is. Just to be. Then to see, how vast this just is.”

Our lived experience in a human body gives rise to a wide range of phenomena that include thoughts, feelings, and images of ourselves. Thoughts, feelings, sensations, or memories are not a problem unless that is how we define or identify who we are. In this potent inquiry, Gangaji points to the complex subtleties of ego that perpetuate human suffering. She invites us to stop overlooking the source of all phenomena to discover our true face and “the absolute simplicity of peace.”

Learn more about how to support prisoners in their spiritual inquiry by donating to the Gangaji's prison program here. 

Learn more about Gangaji and all of her events and programs on gangaji.org. 

Discovering the truth of who you are doesn’t require a certificate of realization. You don’t need to understand Sanskrit or Advaita to know the truth of who you are. The only requirement is the willingness to investigate the thought of who you are. This month on Being Yourself, Gangaji shares what she calls a “sutra from the streets”— a teaching story about the power of inquiry and what is possible for all.

PROGRAM NOTES

Learn more about Gangaji and her programs and events at gangaji.org

Learn more about the Gangaji Foundation Prison Program

Donate to the Prison Program here.

About Gangaji

Like many of her contemporaries, Gangaji searched for fulfillment through relationships, career, motherhood, subculture experiences, political activism, and spiritual practice. In 1990, Gangaji met her teacher, Sri H.W.L. Poonja on the banks of the Ganga River. Today, Gangaji invites people from all walks of life to fully recognize the absolute freedom and unchanging peace that is the truth of one’s being.

 She is the author of The Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance, Freedom and Resolve: The Living Edge of Surrender, Hidden Treasure: Uncovering the Truth in Your Life Story, and You are That Volume 1 & 11.  

 About Kenny Johnson

After living behind bars for over 20 years, Kenneth Johnson went through a spiritual awakening that changed his life radically and ended his life as a criminal. Released from prison in 1997, Kenny later founded This Sacred Space, a non-profit organization dedicated to self-discovery. He is the author of The Last Hustle.  Kenny@thissacredspace.org or 415-342-4807

“The secret of freedom is giving up the choice to escape yourself.”

A prison inmate’s letter inspires this month’s podcast. In one of the most loved monologues in the archives, Gangaji speaks of the essential choice to face what has been feared or run from for most of our lives. When we give up any idea of healing and directly experience the woundedness,  we discover a deeper truth—the truth of who we are.

Learn more about Gangaji and the Gangaji Foundation Prison Program. 

This month on Being Yourself, we return to the summer of 1993 in Boulder, Colorado. Gangaji speaks about the opportunity to break the trance of fear by directly experiencing fear itself. “This is a kind of contraction against life. Direct experience is the medicine, the remedy. You really experience fear, and fear is not fear.”

A timeless message from Gangaji as we begin a new year. Plus an invitation to join her for an upcoming online gathering on Saturday, January 7 at 11AM PT. Learn more at gangaji.org. 

“For our purpose, which is the purpose of discovering the truth of who one is, let us forget why one is and discover who.”

We often are seeking answers to our questions of “why” and “how.” Gangaji invites us to turn our attention to the most important question we can ask ourselves on the spiritual path, the question that can lead to self-recognition and the endless discovery of the depths of who one truly is.

This month we are happy to share a selection from Jami Sieber and Kim Rosen's new album Feast of Losses. Their new album takes a deep dive into that sacred space where grief and gratitude meet. Their collaboration offers a transmission of such beauty that it stops the mind and opens the heart! This selection from the album features What the Living Do by Marie Howe, with music by Jami Sieber and spoken word by Kim Rosen. Read about their inspiration for this work on the Gangaji Commnuity Blog. 

Purchase a download of the complete album at jamisieber.com/feast-of-losses

“If your attention is on the story of how you do not deserve what is being offered, this is the continuation of self-denial.  There is an open door in this jail, in this prison.”

When we seek freedom on the spiritual path, it is often freedom from our mind or mental activity. In this podcast, we focus how we can lock ourselves up inside a mental prison, not recognizing the door that is always open.

Repeatedly telling the story of “not good enough” is a familiar habit to most of us, an aspect of our human conditioning. But what does it have to do with who you truly are? In this exchange, Gangaji, simply and directly shares how to bring an end to the story and “step into freedom.” 

“To play the role of yourself, which is the transcendent role, the role of freedom, you have to trust something unknowable.”

The themes of belonging, freedom from identification, and trusting our direct experience come together in this month’s podcast. This powerful interplay of themes opens the mind to the heart and invites an inquiry: What does it mean to be free? Where do you belong?

We have been blessed to hear Aea Luz sing at Gangaji's retreats. Now, we are happy to share her beautiful voice with you. This podcast extra features a new song from Aea that was actually inspired while she was on retreat with Gangaji—One Thing Goin' On. It is taken from of her recently released album, Dust & Light available on aealuz.com.

A key strategy for our human survival is to “be special.” If we stand out in some way, get noticed by others, we may find ourselves better positioned in the “herd.” That isn’t necessarily a problem, until the drive to be more and more special becomes an addiction and in that, is ultimately destructive. This lively exchange offers great insight into what it means to be absolutely ordinary and still discover what is truly extraordinary.

“Stop all effort to get whatever it is you think will give you fulfillment.  All that is required is one instant of truly stopping.”

The longing for true freedom, for lasting fulfillment is no ordinary desire. Unlike the desires for food, shelter, or social connection that serve our physical survival, true fulfillment cannot be attained, even if we employ spiritual techniques and meditation practices. In this monologue, Gangaji speaks to the resolution of the paradox this extraordinary desire presents in our lives—true fulfillment can only be realized if you don’t do anything for its realization. 

At some point in our lives, we will experience a loss of innocence. Whether that disillusionment is with ourselves, our family, or with life itself, there is a choice that arises in the midst of loss. Will we fall into cynicism and self-betrayal? Or do we meet the pain of that loss directly and in that, discover the innocence that was never lost. 

Visit the website to learn more about Gangaji and the Gangaji Foundation Prison Program. 

In dealing with life’s hardships, we naturally identify what is broken, what emotions need to be controlled, which circumstances need to get better. That is part of the human drive to survive. But there is something beyond brokenness, beyond any emotions we wish would go away. In the willingness to directly meet the pain we fear, rather than trying to control or get rid of it, there is a life-changing discovery of what is whole, complete, and has no need of fixing. 

Recognizing you are just “faking it” is a moment of discriminating wisdom that reveals an essential choice point. Will you keep faking it? When the desire for the truth of who you are overwhelms every other human desire, the choice becomes clear. In this exchange, Gangaji takes us on a deep dive into the desire for authenticity and the habit of postponement. 

If you were totally and completely seen and heard, what would that give you?

As human beings living in relationship to each other, we play many different roles: partner, mother, father, son, daughter, or co-worker. In these roles, we may have the experience of not being seen or feeling invisible. In this inquiry, Gangaji takes us into the direct experience of “not being seen” to discover what is actually not being seen.

“There is some force that is seeking itself.  That desires itself. That is praying for itself.”

As we begin a new year, you can take a moment for reflection. You can tell the truth about what you are desiring, what you are hoping for, what you are praying for as you walk on your spiritual path. Sharing her own personal experience, Gangaji also invites you to inquire into the source of your prayers and see what it reveals.

Musician and composer Scott Reich incorporates Gangaji's spoken word into a his new composition entitled "This Space of Stillness." 

“I write music to create a place of refuge - for myself, and for all who are drawn to a place of deeper peace.”

“We are here to retreat from the trouble, so that actually when the trouble returns, we have a bigger capacity, a stronger foundation to meet whatever appears.”

When we choose to walk on a spiritual path, our first aspiration may be to transcend our problems or at least transcend the world’s problems. From the mundane to the catastrophic, problems are part of living a human life. So where is peace? What if true fulfillment is realized when we actually stop trying to transcend what Gangaji calls “trouble?”

“You are free to discover yourself as Truth. You are free to rest in that Truth. You are free to be happy, regardless of your body, your thoughts, emotions, or circumstances.”

In this month’s podcast, Gangaji begins with a clear exposition on how it is absolutely possible to discover yourself as Truth, no matter your past history. Then in the lively exchange that follows, she speaks to how we deny the truth of ourselves and instead, cling to an identify rooted in our thoughts, emotions, and relative circumstances. Do you dare give up your self-denial?

Learn more about Gangaji, her programs, and event schedule at gangaji.org.

“Maybe grace, deliverance comes to get you.  Knocks on your door and says, ‘You have a chance to be at peace.’  In your willingness to take that chance, to accept that invitation to be at peace, then you have an opportunity to share this peace, everywhere.”

Living our daily lives, we may find ourselves actually attracted to war. We can also be fed up with that attraction.  We can recognize that there is no need to postpone peace in our own minds. In this podcast, Gangaji speaks about the roots of war and the opportunity of being at peace for ourselves and the world.

The human desire for understanding is powerful. We naturally want to understand where we fit in or how best to fix a problem. Understanding satisfies particular needs in our daily life, but on the spiritual path, is understanding enough? Gangaji addresses the crucial difference between realization and understanding that transforms our life experience.

When we are willing to set aside our beliefs, our thoughts, our powers of mind for an instant, the peace we long for and search for, is immediately revealed. In this lively exchange, Gangaji speaks to the experience of “losing our peace” because some thing has changed, and where finally it is always found.

“You live your life in Truth, you live your life knowing that even though ‘my breath changes, and my feelings change, and my body changes,’ this Peace does not change. It is here, always.” 

Perhaps your search for peace and happiness has taken you down many different roads. It may be rooted in a desire for security, spiritual attainments,  personal power, or even just an end to feeling afraid. In this monologue, Gangaji shares how it is possible to discover the limitless peace of being that is not subject to our ideas, definitions, or circumstances.

“What this appearance in your consciousness is about, first of all and finally, is to invite you to this space of stillness that is your heart, now.“

Many spiritual seekers hope to realize a “quiet mind” What is actually possible given the stream of thoughts that go through our minds every day? In this month’s podcast, Gangaji speaks to the life-changing opportunity to “overhear your stories” and stop following any thought no matter how elevated or mundane the thought is. BONUS: Gangaji reads a powerful report  from a prisoner who is participating in her Freedom Inside course by mail, and has a brief conversation about working with prisoners.

Take a moment to join Gangaji for a short, but revealing inquiry: "What blocks your fulfillment?" 

“To be true to the eternal truth of yourself is to ignore nothing.”

 Our spiritual discovery of the absolute truth of one’s being can be turned into a hiding place, where we ignore harsh realities and deny the cruelest aspects of our shared humanity. Ignorance is not “bliss.” Rather, it is the root of all suffering. In this powerful monologue delivered in 1999, Gangaji shares that the end of ignorance and our willingness to be all is the “gold of self-realization.” 

“The more you are willing to face the helplessness of being human, the more being human is not the problem.”

When we step onto the spiritual path, often we hope to transcend our fears. Our fear of death and loss can drive a lack of compassion and perpetuate our unnecessary suffering. Gangaji encourages us to meet our fear, not avoid it. In a moment of giving up control and simply being undeniably flawed, mortal, and very human, we can rest in the peace of who we are.

The sacred hunger for truth, for God, for love, for peace, for freedom is the force calling us home. This deep longing doesn’t leave us alone. It persists even with a lifetime of disillusionments or “unfulfilled promises.” No matter what spiritual path we have taken or not taken, Gangaji offers all this encouragement: “Let this hunger for Truth have you. It is a glorious feast, and it is time to stop circling the table. You have a place at this feast.”

At its root the desire for control is an infantile thought: “What I want is what I should have.” We do have a limited capacity to control many things within our life circumstances, our relationships, or our emotions. But when we try to control what cannot be controlled, we suffer and cause others to suffer. On this podcast, Gangaji speaks to what that moment of letting go of control really is and what it reveals. She shares it “is the opportunity to realize what doesn't need to be controlled to be free, to be happy, to recognize itself.”

“There is no problem with pain. There is pain. If you are seeking something to avoid pain, that’s the suffering. That’s the search that must be called off.”

It takes effort to avoid our emotional pain. We can try to avoid it, but ultimately the common strategies of withdrawing, protecting, and dissociating from feelings of hurt actually turn emotional pain into unnecessary suffering. This lively exchange taken from the Gangaji archives offers a clear demonstration of how we can recognize the strategies we use and then choose to give up the power to suffer.

Learn more about Gangaji, her in-person and online events, Prison Program, and more at gangaji.org. 

To make a donation to support this podcast or other programs that support the recognition of the inherent peace alive in all being and the ending of unnecessary suffering, please visit our giving page. 

With gratitude..

Many take a spiritual path in life with a sincere desire to contribute to the well-being of all sentient beings. In this month’s episode of Being Yourself, a young man asks, “How can I cultivate the heart of a Bodhisattva?” Gangaji speaks to how we can be true to the Bodhisattva heart in the face of our human, cultural, and spiritual conditioning.

We naturally value self-reliance and independence especially in Western culture. Considering our personal survival, the desire to not be dependent on others makes sense, but is it real? In this podcast, Gangaji helps us discover the self we can truly rely on and the self-love that is revealed in that discovery.

“I would like to share with you exactly what I mean when I say self-reliant and how essential it is that you be completely, absolutely, totally self-reliant. First, you have to know what “self” means.”

 As the new year approaches, we can to shift our focus from what we think we need to fix, and give our full attention to what is already whole and perfect. In this podcast, Gangaji speaks of the catalyst for a deeper awakening—the willingness to “unlearn” and open to what is fresh, alive, and who you are. Not a concept or memory of who you are, but as a true, living freshness. Also: We share a song in tribute to Amber Terrell.