Gangaji Podcasts – Details, episodes & analysis

"We have overlooked what was actually innocent and was called stupid. We lost our stupidity and in that we lost our heart. Yet, we are haunted by the fear that we are still actually stupid."

We fear being stupid or foolish and try to be brilliant and clever. It is an aspect of our human drive for survival. In this episode of Being Yourself, Gangaji speaks to the unnecessary suffering that can be created through the mind's power to distinguish, delineate, and classify with ever greater subtlety. Without making that power wrong or bad, what if for just one moment, we give up that power and embrace our "stupidity?" What might be discovered?

 "You cannot learn the Self, you cannot learn Consciousness, you cannot learn Love, you cannot learn Trust, but you can learn how you deny that."

"Universal, limitless consciousness has no problem with feeling bad or feeling good." 

When we experience challenging emotions or exacting mental states we may imagine we are "losing our enlightenment." A day may start with oceanic feelings of bliss, but in the next moment, fear or rage or sadness appear. Are we really losing our enlightenment? What are we overlooking in our quest for the "good feelings?" In this relatable and lively exchange Gangaji imparts the task Papaji gave to her: Find out what doesn't come and go.

Learn more about Gangaji at gangaji.org

Visit our "Moments" page where we share powerful moments of realization from the global community. 

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What does your life stand for? What do you really want? If the answer is freedom then what does that look like? Does the answer you come up with match your life, how you live your life? Is there something you're holding onto that keeps you from truly realizing what it means to be free? These are potent questions. And what happens in this particular exchange with Gangaji is different because it is the beginning and end of all conversations.

It was the middle of the night. Harriet Watson was driving down a dark, snow covered road alone, barely able to see what was in front of her. Suddenly, she was startled by a loud thud. In the moments that followed, her life would change forever. From the frustration of a life a rigid rules and beliefs to the experience of profound freedom, this story is a testament to the trustworthiness of life.

With rare exceptions, human beings are innately good. Being in alignment with that goodness feels spacious. We can be greedy, cranky, critical, jealous, but being good? Now that's seems like an infinitely better way to go. The problem is that being good can be a trap unto itself. Does our capacity for a deeper awaking rely on our willingness to cultivate this goodness within us? Or are we inherently good, without doing a thing?

Control might ultimately be an attempt to fend off our deepest fears. It can show up in all sorts of ways in our everyday lives. It can interfere with relationships. It can also be exhausting. Some people are self-described "control freaks". For others, control can show up in more subtle ways. Fessing up to our control issues is a pretty tender thing, but when the source of it is finally met, the possibilities are endless.

Just in time for November, we're revisiting a episode we did a while back on the subject of gratitude.  There are so many gems in this one.  Sometimes when we don't feel especially grateful, we feel as though we should, as if feeling ungrateful is something we should avoid.  That's just a jumping off place for one of our favorite conversations. 

When trauma happens, it can change the trajectory of a life. It can color how we see the world around us. We can retreat. We can act out. And we can certainly spend our lives running from it, managing it or even trying to heal it. How do we come to terms with even the deepest of wounds without suffering from the identification as someone who has been hurt or wronged in some way? This episode takes a surprising turn and is one of the most revealing conversations so far.

When you see Kim Rosen on stage performing poetry, she exudes a distinct sense of certainty. But the truth is that for a period of her life she suffered from a particular type of fear that was profoundly painful. Her prayer to be released from it's confines would be answered two different times. And both times that grace came in the form of a poem. In the end, Kim's story wasn't about making her fear go away. It was about meeting it and doing life anyway, in a most extraordinary way.