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“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.   

“When you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you are this stillness, that you are this awareness, then it doesn’t matter what is on the surface.”   Human beings have a profound desire to realize a lasting peace. The question is where are we looking, and what desire are we actually chasing? In this very relatable exchange, we see how recurring desires to avoid pain, end confusion, or gain clarity are simply the play of the mind. True and lasting peace remains undisturbed by any phenomena, and we can discover that in our willingness to simply meet what is arising.       Learn more about Gangaji and her programs at gangaji.org

“To be nothing, to be nobody, is to realize who you are.” This month on Being Yourself, we share one the first meetings Gangaji held in Byron Bay, Australia. This is the land of the Arakwal Bumberlin people, who have lived in the coastal landscape around the Byron Bay area for at least 22,000 years. Gangaji begins by acknowledging how the ancient Aboriginal peoples have blessed our lives. Then she invites us to end our search for spiritual superiority to simply be who we truly are—no “thing” at all.

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  

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. 

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. 

Our most sublime experiences of acceptance, wholeness, and truth, are commonly followed by a fierce “mind attack.” If there is a willingness to investigate what is underneath the experience, there is a revelation of what is untouched in the wake of any mental phenomena.

“All of your life you have wanted to be who you are.  That is what authentic means, isn’t it?” 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.   

Many have taken a spiritual path to escape the pain of human suffering that flows from war and injustice. But the truth is, we are never separate from it all. Where can we discover the strength and the capacity to bear that pain? How can our lives be beacons of true peace?

A new composition from Scott Reich blends Gangaji's spoken word with his music. Listening is an opportunity to drop deeply into the message, "You, yourself, are Home."

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.