Invitation to Rest

(An edited transcript of the mp3 entitled Invitation to Rest on the Listen to Satsang page)

Satsang is an invitation to rest. It's not really an invitation to realize or find or understand yourself. That happens. That's part of it. But the real core and heart of satsang is an invitation to rest, to simply rest as yourself. That's the only point of any understanding or realization that comes along the way is if it allows you to just rest as yourself. Just be yourself.

It turns out you don't have to wait until you have had lots of really profound realizations and understandings in order to accept this invitation. In this spiritual journey, it turns out that you can pull over any time. (laughter). You don't have to wait for the rest area. Just pull over. Get out of the car, walk around, lay down under a tree, just "be" for a while. Satsang is like this ever-present rest area, ever-present invitation to just simply notice what it's like now. Take a moment of rest from the journey to understanding, or the journey to a better life, or the journey to spiritual realization.

It's an invitation to rest now, to rest even if there still is a longing for realization, or any impulse to get somewhere. Sometimes there is a desire to "get somewhere," and sometimes it's to "get away from somewhere" or to not have the experience you're having. Even if either desire is present, that's fine. You can rest even if that desire or impulse is present. Just because you pull over doesn't necessarily mean you wont still have the impulse, the urge to keep going. So the invitation is to rest with that impulse and take the time to experience it, to actually have the experience you are having which may include a lot of desire, a lot of hope, or a lot of fear and resistance. What's that like? What happens if you just rest here with your hope and your resistance?

The inquiry in satsang is a very simple inquiry. It's not that there's something wrong with inquiring into where can I go? What can I get? Or how can I get rid of something? There's nothing wrong with that kind of inquiry. It's just that this is an invitation to a much simpler inquiry, an inquiry to what is here already. You can even inquire into what is already at rest in your being. Even resting isn't something you have to do. It turns out you don't really have to pull over to rest.

There is the question what is at rest right now. What is simply being right now? It turns out that being is "being" whether you're wanting to be somewhere else or not, whether you're hoping or not, whether you're resisting or not. Those are all valid concerns, valid questions. Am I thinking? Am I not? Am I suffering? Am I not? But there's a more fundamental question. What are you already? What's your existence like, not, what is your experience like. Experiences all come and go, even the most blissful or freeing or liberating experiences -- they all come and go.

Again, it's not that it's wrong to question what is my experience and how can I have a different experience. It's just that the invitation in satsang is to ask what am I like right now? What is it like to be here, including any impulse you have to be somewhere else. That's part of what's here. You don't have to pick and choose what parts of your present experience to include. You don't have to do any more weeding of your experience, or any clearing out of the underbrush. You can leave it all there and notice that there's already something here that is at rest.

Probably the last place you would ever think to look for something at rest is in all the impulses and movement and activities and doing of your life. It seems like, "oh no, that's what I have to get rid of" which just keeps it going. You just now have a more subtle list of things to do. Number 1: Get rid of things to do. Number 2. Stop doing. Instead, it's a chance to ask what is it that has a to-do list? No matter how many things are crossed off, or how many things are being added in the moment. What are you in all of that?

What is this self? It's not that there's anything wrong with the journey of life or even the spiritual seeking part of that journey. But somehow along the way we got so much momentum behind the seeking that we abandoned our sense of ourselves. We stopped noticing, recognizing or honoring the fact that we already exist. We became so involved with how's it going, where am I getting, do I have enough, do I have too much, or what do I need to do that we've lost track of what we are.

So the invitation is to rest in what you are right now. It's already an amazing thing that you exist right now. Whether you are happy or you are sad, you are healthy or you are sick, you are enlightened or you are not enlightened, you still exist right now.

What's that part of the equation? What is this that simply exists? It's all included. If you are happy, or if you are sad, in both cases that's an opportunity to find out what it means that you simply are. You always are. There isn't anything you have to get rid of first to enter this rest stop. There isn't anything you have to accomplish first. Every moment is equally worthy of this simpler inquiry into what are you.

Every place you ever arrive, is a really good place to start resting. Turns out there isn't a better place to start resting. Just start where you are, even if you are hurt, or overwhelmed or confused, or desperate or ecstatic or excited or afraid. That's all fine. All those feelings are very natural. It is normal to feel them, and it's also always an opportunity to rest. What a strange thing to consider that when you are very excited or scared, that it is also an opportunity to rest. Every other flavor of experience is equally an opportunity for this rest. Resting does not require an inquiry to find something else, it only takes an inquiry into what is.

About Nirmala:

After experiencing a profound spiritual awakening in India, Advaita spiritual teacher, Nirmala has been offering spiritual teaching and spiritual mentoring in the U.S. and internationally since 1998. Nirmala offers a unique vision and a gentle, compassionate approach, which adds to the rich tradition of inquiry into our true nature. He can be contacted here. In his mentoring sessions with individuals and in the book, Living from the Heart, Nirmala points to the wisdom within each of us, and fosters the individual’s own exploration of the full potential of the spiritual Heart. Nirmala’s books are published by Endless Satsang Foundation and are available here. More information and free ebook downloads of several of Nirmala’s books are available on this website. Nirmala lives in Sedona, Arizona with his wife, Gina Lake, and their two corgi’s, Bodhi and Gracie. If you enjoy the enlightenment teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Eckhart Tolle, and Adyashanti and "The Work" of Byron Katie along with the tenderness, wisdom and grace of Nirmala's own spiritual teacher, Neelam, you will especially appreciate Nirmala's writings about spirituality,including the story of his own spiritual awakening. Contact Nirmala on Facebook.