Transcription
Today, I am going to share a secret with you, after hearing which perhaps your way of praying will change forever. People say, "Ask from the heart, the universe will give you." But very few people understand to whom the universe gives. Does it truly hear every call? Only that voice reaches it which rises from the depths of the heart. If you understand this secret today, for the first time you will realize that the problem was never in the universe. Rather, it was in the place from where your prayer was being born. When you ask for something with your entire being, first see who is asking. If the asker is your fear, it will give you new reasons for fear. If the asker is your greed, no matter how much wealth comes into your hands, the inner poverty will not end. If the asker is your ego, you may get achievements. You may get them. But even amidst all that, in the deep silence of the night, you will hear the emptiness of your own soul.
But if the asker is your heart, if that place from where the prayer is rising is completely calm, completely pure, exactly like the clear sky after rain, then existence answers. It does not answer in words. It does not answer in any language. Its language is not of words, but of energy. It brings such changes that gradually you start experiencing that what you were running outside to get was already waiting within you. The biggest irony of the world is that man searches outside, and what he searches outside, he loses inside. The day the direction of the search changes, the secret of life starts unfolding. Therefore, do not say that the universe does not listen to me. First, see where your voice is rising from. Because existence does not hear with ears. It hears the vibration of your consciousness. Whatever your words may say, if there is fear inside, that is what reaches. Your lips may smile. But if there is doubt inside, waves spread. Your hands may join in prayer. But if the mind is bargaining, then only the smell of the deal reaches. Therefore, true prayer is not the utterance of words, but the coming together of your entire being in one voice. When there is no inner conflict, when you are not running in one direction and the heart is not pulling in another direction. When the body, mind, soul, and consciousness start to resonate on the same tune, only then that invisible door opens from where grace showers.
People ask, "Does the universe truly give?" The answer is yes. It does not give. It changes you first. Because if it gives you everything without changing you, you will make that also a cause of suffering. If you get wealth, worry will increase. If you get fame, relationships, it will increase. Therefore, existence first makes the vessel, then gives the offering. And this is why patience is the greatest practice. He who cannot wait, cannot receive. If a seed tells the earth, "Make me a tree this very moment," is it possible? The earth will smile. Rain will come. The sun will give its warmth. Time will do its work. And then one day, that small seed will become a huge banyan tree. If the seed, in impatience, tries to break the soil and come out quickly, it will never become a tree. Man's condition is also the same. He wants the result. He does not want to go through the process. He does not want to spread. He does not have the courage to go through it. That is why his prayers remain unfulfilled. Existence does not punish anyone. It only follows the laws of nature. Where there is patience, there is expansion. There is growth. There is possibility. To truly ask from the heart, find that place within where there is no noise. No crowd. No worry. No worry about what others have. Because a desire born of comparison can never become prayer. It becomes competition. It always gives birth to unrest. A call from the heart is completely different. It has no insistence. It has faith. It has no demand. It has acceptance. It has no urgency. It has the beauty of waiting. A call rises. It feels as if the entire sky has become its echo. As if the winds are carrying the same message. Flowers, every river, every mountain, and every star has become a witness to that silent prayer. The moment you start experiencing this, prayer is not to reach some distant deity. It is to awaken your own being. At that moment, the meaning of asking changes. Then you do not ask for things from the world. You call out to that light hidden within, which has been covered in dust for lifetimes. It says, "I want." "I will become." But as soon as that thing is obtained, another desire arises. Its hunger never ends because its very nature is to experience incompleteness. The mind is like a beggar, no matter how much wealth you put in his hands, he extends his empty bowl the very next moment. Therefore, he who has made the demands of the mind his prayer will keep asking and will never find contentment. But the nature of the heart is different. It asks for what is necessary for its growth. Surrender is not losing. Surrender is trusting that intelligence which is far vaster than your limited understanding. You see the world through a small window, while existence sees the entire sky at once. It sees only today, while existence sees your entire life. It sees your desire, while existence sees the direction of your soul. Therefore, sometimes what is not received is the biggest blessing. And sometimes what breaks is what frees you from the bond you mistook for love.
Many people say that they prayed with their whole heart but did not receive. But they do not see that immediately after praying, they also doubted. They sowed the seed but started digging the soil every morning to see if the sprout had emerged or not. Such impatience does not allow the seed to be born. Every secret has its time. A river does not reach the sea as soon as it emerges from the mountain. It has to collide with rocks, pass through valleys, flow through plains, take the company of rain. Only then does it merge into the ocean. If the river becomes impatient, saying, "I want the sea right now," it will end. Man also wants to avoid the journey within. He wants the destination, not the path. But existence makes the path itself the destination. For him who learns to savor the journey, reaching is not a special event. There is an ancient story. A devotee used to go into the forest every day and call out to God. He did not know mantras. He did not know rituals. He had not studied. He would only say, "If you exist, then make me worthy of you." For years, nothing happened. He felt his call was in vain. He felt disappointed. His gaze fell on a tree. It was bending in the storm, not breaking. At that very moment, a silent answer descended within him. The tree never asked the sky not to send a storm. It only deepened its roots. He understood that the purpose of prayer is not to change circumstances, but to make oneself so deep that no circumstance can break you. From then on, his demand changed. He did not ask for happiness. He asked for strength. He did not ask for success. He asked for awareness. He did not ask for victory over others. He asked for victory over his ignorance. It is said that from that day onwards, such changes began to happen in his life that cannot be bound by words. When you ask from the heart, there is no complaint in your eyes. Gratitude is born. Gratitude is the door through which grace enters. A person who experiences every moment that what he has received is far more than his worth. A fragrance spreads within him that no one can see. But the entire existence recognizes him. Just as a flower does not try to send its fragrance to the wind, yet the wind itself carries it far and wide. Similarly, a grateful heart does not have to convey its prayer. Its silence becomes its prayer. Remember, the universe is never impressed by words. Sentences are not needed. It only needs your authenticity. If there are tears in your eyes, do not hide them. If there is love within, do not stop it. If there is fear within, look at it honestly. Because he who runs from his inner truth can never reach the door of truth. Awakening begins where acting ends. The day you stop lying to yourself, your prayer came alive for the first time. When it comes alive, the universe never delays in answering. Because then the answer does not come from outside, it blossoms from within. Just as sunrise does not happen somewhere outside. Darkness simply recedes and light appears. Similarly, grace does not come from anywhere. It is present within you. It is only waiting for your closed door to open.
Very few people understand this secret: the universe does not test before giving, rather it moves you in the direction whose waves you are sending into the world every moment. Therefore, do not ask what you have received. See what you are becoming every day. A person who is becoming fear from within, such events will attract into his life that will deepen the fear. He who is becoming love from within, such opportunities will appear around him where love and expansion can be experienced. Existence does not discriminate against anyone. When the sun rises, it does not see who is a saint and who is a sinner. When it rains, it does not read the names of the fields. When the wind blows, it does not ask anyone's caste, religion, or status. Every law of nature works equally. Therefore, if the same pain repeatedly returns in life, do not blame the circumstances. Sometimes look within yourself to see if the same old consciousness is not appearing before you in a new form every time. The world often acts like a mirror. What you are, you see back in some form. If there is unrest, the external noise will feel unbearable. If there is silence within, you will experience an unseen peace even amidst the noise. This is why the true seeker has always emphasized inner transformation more than external achievements. It is said that if the source becomes pure, then every stream flowing from it will be pure. But if the source itself is toxic, no matter how beautiful the water appears, impurity will remain. Man changes his clothes, his house, his city, his relationships to change his life, but he avoids changing himself. And until he changes himself, the change is merely like changing the scenery. The stage may be new, the characters may be new, the dialogues may be new, but the same unconscious actor sitting there repeats the same story every time. Therefore, the first meaning of asking from the heart is, "I do not want to remain what I was until now." I want to be free from old fears, my old ego, my old habits, and my old limitations. It is not a demand for an object, but a demand for rebirth.
In ancient traditions, a beautiful story is told. A king heard that a sage had knowledge by which the ultimate truth of life could be known. He reached with silver, gems, and countless gifts. He thought that just as everything in the world can be bought, so can truth be bought. And he said, "Leave outside what you have brought." The king left everything outside. The sage then said, "Leave outside what you have brought inside as well." The king was astonished. He said, "I am empty-handed." The sage said, "No, you have brought your position, your pride, your knowledge, your successes, and your 'I' with you. As long as this sits inside, truth will remain far from you, even though it is near." It is said that the king sat in silence for a long time that day. For the first time, he experienced that the heaviest burden was not what was in his hands, but what he was carrying, considering it his personality. That day his prayer changed. Now he did not ask for the prosperity of the kingdom. He asked for the strength to become light. And as his ego became lighter, a peace descended within him that no external achievement could ever give. Therefore, when you say, "Ask from the heart, the universe will give you," it does not mean that the universe will fulfill your every wish. It means that if your heart has truly awakened, it will give you what can elevate your consciousness. Sometimes it will give you success, sometimes failure. Sometimes union, sometimes separation. Sometimes fullness, sometimes emptiness. Because both are necessary. A day is incomplete without night, and without night, the beauty of the day cannot be understood. He who desired only happiness has accepted only half of life. He for whom even sorrow has been accepted as a teacher, for him the entire existence has become an open book. And finally, remember just one thing: if until today the universe has not answered your prayers, then stop for a moment and look back at your life. You will see that those events which you considered failures were actually transforming you into the person who could become worthy of the greatest prayer. Because existence never just gives, it prepares you first. The time of preparation is the greatest grace. The day you understand that it is working in your favor, not against you, complaints will start to cease. Then you will see a sign in every experience, a lesson in every wait, a new birth in every breaking, and a presence in every silence that cannot be expressed in words. Gradually, your prayers will also change. You will stop saying, "Give me what I want." A new call will rise from within, "Give me what is necessary for my awakening. Show me the path that leads me to my true self." This is the moment when fear turns into faith. Impatience turns into patience, and demand turns into gratitude. Then you understand that the greatest miracle is not the fulfillment of a wish, but the birth of that consciousness which can remain calm in every circumstance.
Therefore, from today, before asking anything from the universe, descend within yourself. See if your call is rising from fear or love, from ego or surrender. Because existence answers not your words, but your heart. And perhaps this is the deepest secret of life. When the heart becomes completely pure, then prayer is not needed. Your silence becomes prayer. Your life becomes meditation, and your existence becomes a witness to that infinite truth which you have been searching for outside for so many years. Then for the first time, you experience that nothing has actually been obtained. Rather, what was hidden within you for centuries has been revealed. When you recognize your true self, you find the greatest treasure of the world. A silence that no one can snatch away. A faith that never breaks, and a peace that does not depend on any circumstance. This is the greatest gift of the universe, and perhaps the answer to your truest prayer.