307: You Are Enough with Panache Desai

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. I am so grateful to have you all here. If it's your first time listening, welcome. My name is Sahara Rose. I am a best selling author, host of this podcast, and an ancient soul in a modern body. And every single week on this podcast we are bringing you incredible authors and thought leaders to share their unique perspectives and expertises and offerings, especially in the field of spirituality. And I am super excited to introduce you to today's guest, Panache Desai. He is such an incredible Vedic thought leader and author. He has a book called you are Enough, as well as discovering your soul signature, which coincidentally enough, a couple years ago I was in a used bookstore and I picked up discovering your soul signature. And here I am a couple years later having a mutual friend with Panache and being like, wait, I know your name from somewhere.

It was on that book that I was reading.

So he is someone who is so wise, especially when it comes to living in a soul centered place, that place that is deeper between all right and wrong and good and evil and all of the duality that our world has and really connecting to that infinite part of your soul. Samadhi, the most innermost point of peace, which he'll share in this episode. So we speak a lot about that, how to connect to this peaceful energy that is in all of us in these really chaotic times where the world feels very overwhelming, where there are a lot of battles happening online, a lot of friendships being, you know, destroyed and people feeling like they're completely on defense as well as completely confused. And it is an emotionally difficult time for many of us, but it doesn't have to be. And that is how we can tune into that quiet whisper of our soul and connect to that deeper part of us that is unaffected by the world, the noise of the world around us, and rather persists within and not just in this lifetime, but across all lifetimes. So in this episode, we speak, speak a lot into that as well as a topic that is huge in our society today, which is cultural appropriation. I know many of you are interested and confused and overwhelmed on this topic, and we spoke about it with Tatiana Ray from a shamanic perspective about a month ago on the podcast racial issues from a shamanic perspective. So I definitely recommend listening to that too, if this is a conversation that you are very interested in diving deeper into. But I asked her about what she thinks about people doing shamanic practices Plant medicine, studying shamanism, if they don't come from that lineage. And she shares her answer on this episode, which essentially is the same of what Panache says. And it really comes down to respect and also us not knowing what someone's past life is and how many of us have had past lives in these different ancient civilizations. And the reason why they're so interesting to us today in this lifetime is because we have had past lives there. So he speaks more about this and how this was actually a personal issue for him as a Brahmin, which is essentially a priest in the castes in India and coming to, you know, seeing in America, all of these people saying that they're yoga teachers, this, that, and not really knowing about the Vedic side of things and how we can all actually get to appreciate this culture and do things like practice bhakti, which is the kirtan, the devotional chanting and working with goddess archetypes, et cetera, even if it's not our origin human bodysuit in this lifetime, but connect to that deeper soul part of us that resonates, but also pay honor to the traditions and learn about it from the living people that still practice it today. So we talk all about this, and he also actually guided me that you.

Will be able to hear it and.

Practice this in yourself of a practice that you can do to create a bit of awareness between who is your ego and who is that deeper soul self. So he shares about how to give your ego its own, its own definition, its own texture, its own color. And then from that you can see what is coming from my ego, what fears are arising because I'm identifying with my ego and what is coming from my innermost self. So you'll hear him guide me through this practice and you can do it alongside us in this episode. And he is someone who is just so beautifully filled with wisdom. And you'll just be able to just like feel that, that gracious wisdom, wise energy, old soul energy that he carries. And I'm so honored to have him on the podcast to share with us all. So, without further ado, let's welcome Panache to the Highest Self podcast. And before we get started, I have an announcement for you. Are you ready to reconnect with your joy, that vibration of living in alignment with your heart, where you are feeling fueled with passion to fulfill your dharma, your soul's purpose? Well, if so, that I invite you to join us in Rose Gold Goddesses, because this month we are diving deep into the energy of Lemuria, the ancient civilization based off of living a life of alignment with your true joy. In this two hour workshop we dive deep into what the Lemurian frequency is all about. Connecting with the mermaid and dolphin energy. Why we need community more than ever and planet plenty of practices, rituals, journal prompts and so much more so you can finally make 2020 the year that you feel vibrant, radiant and full of passion to actually create what you were meant to do here on this planet and live your truth. Well. If this is resonating with you, then come join us in Rose Gold Goddesses. You are going to love this Lemuria Circle and the eleven other goddess circles we have done. You have access to all of them as soon as you join us in Rose Gold Goddesses.

On top of that, you will be.

Able to do my healing and embodiment through dance workshop. This is a three and a half hour workshop with spoken and actual follow along dance prompts you could do to connect to the healing energy of dance, to embody yourself, to release trauma and step into your most embodied, authentic version. We also have my Awaken your powers masterclass with Shaman Durek, my Sex Money Magic program with Alexandra Roxo and dozens of other workshops available for you as well. Soon as you join us in this community with 2000 other spiritual soul sisters all committed to living a life of joy, truth, fun, radiance and Dharma. This is all available for you in Rose Gold Goddesses, my membership community and I am so excited to invite you inside. You can find more information atrosegold goddesses.com the link is in the show notes and I can't wait to meet you.

Welcome Panache to the Highest Self podcast.

It's so great to have you here.

It's great to be with you too. Thanks for having me.

So the first question I'd love to.

Ask you is what makes you your highest self?

I was born connected to my higher self. We are all connected to our higher selves. It's just that we've been programmed and conditioned out of that conscious remembrance. And so in terms of evolving, we are naturally remembering and returning to who we naturally are.

Very beautiful. So simple. So you have written incredible books on helping people rediscover their highest selves, their soul signatures, realizing that they are enough. And this Moment in time, 2020 is really, you know, I don't want to say the test, but it's definitely bringing up a lot of our shadows that we've swept under the surface. So I would love to hear your take on what is really happening for The Collective in 2020. And how it's affecting us spiritually.

As I've experienced it, I feel like we're once again being asked to embrace the totality of who we are and to give up the need to fix, heal, change and improve, and instead embrace the totality of who we are, the parts of us that we've been conditioned to reject or in some way bypass. And so, as we're in this precious pause, it's our opportunity to begin to turn and face ourselves with kindness, with empathy, and with love. And through turning and facing ourselves in that way, we're going to discover that all of these things that we had been trying to avoid or trying to be better than are aspects of ourselves that in turn will be revealed as the light. And so for me, this has been a magnificent gift because anytime there's any kind of world calamity or challenge, I immediately go into service. For me, my life really isn't about me anymore, Meaning that on a personal level, I've accomplished everything that I needed to on a personal level for many lifetimes. So now it's about, how may I be of service? What are people going through? How can we be available? And so it's been an amazing gift to show up every day to be myself and to remind everybody that peace is always an option, that we can remain calm, calm in the midst of what's unfolding. And that connection to that calm is going to allow us to consciously make choices on behalf of ourselves, our families, our businesses, and our collective expression in the world.

I so resonate with that. I was actually just thinking that not too long ago, I was like, you know, I really feel like I've experienced enough. Like, even if the rest of my life is in quarantine, it doesn't really matter because there's still so much to experience inwards. I remember before I was like, I need to travel and, like, my bucket list of things to do and see. And like, while that's great, and part of me definitely does miss that too, it's this broader. This broader travel, this broader exploration that happens really from stillness. And I feel like we're really being asked to sit in this global sadna. But for a lot of people, so much resistance is coming up. And I think a lot of people have lived from their planners, right? Like, what's happening in September? What's happening for Christmas, what's happening for that? And that is gone. And dealing with uncertainty is super challenging. So how do you suggest for people dealing with uncertainty, who may have been very, like, type A and gripping Onto schedules in the past.

Well, I feel like spirituality sets you up to deal with the uncertainty of life because we're constantly dealing with an unknown. And so the more we are embracing the unknown, the more we're embracing the greater possibility that's afforded to us in every moment. The more we are able to let go of what we believe life should look like, and the more we're able to embrace it the way that it is. So the more we're at peace with what's unfolding, what we're feeling, what we're thinking, what we're experiencing, the more we're in harmony, the more we're existing from this place of conscious connection. And so at some point, it's like we have to let go of all of these things that we've been programmed to believe in are going to make us happy and finally find the perfection where we are, find the happiness where we are. And if we're unable to do that, let's say we're quarantining with a lover or a husband or a wife that we're realizing that we're not in harmony with anymore. Then have the courage to love yourself enough to not waste your time and make the choice that you need to make on behalf of yourself. Many of us right now are facing economic uncertainty or being laid off, or going through a complete revision in what we're doing in the world. Well, the blessing is this is your opportunity to redefine what being human means to you and what contribution and service means to you. And the more you're able to redefine that for yourself in a way that's aligned with your heart, the more you're setting yourself up to flourish and thrive. And I believe, and this is just my belief, that you'll come out of this stronger as a result of it. That the only things that are falling away are the things that were inauthentic to us in the first place. That the more we naturally return to who we are, live what I've come to call our soul signature, and live in alignment with that place, the more we begin to access this state of flow. And we realized that all along the only thing that was happening was we were always in this state of flow, that we were only ever experiencing what we were meant to experience, that we were going through, what we were meant to go through to bring us to this moment. And so for everyone right now, especially the control freaks out there, I love you guys, but what you are trying to control is what's inside of you. You're Afraid of feeling what's inside of you. You're just making it about other people. But it isn't about other people. Other people are just mirrors and reflections of us. And they're either reflecting back to us, who we are at an unconscious level, they're reflecting back to us, who we are at a conscious level. But either way, this is our opportunity now to look in the mirror and to love what we see, to be okay with what we see, to experience what we see, and to recognize that if there is any judgment around anything that's happening in the world right now, there is something in you that wants to be loved. There's something in you that wants to be embraced. There's something in you that wants to be held. So the people that are going to come out of this stronger, wiser, more abundant, creative and dynamic are the ones that are willing to be personally responsible and accountable for their experience during this.

Time of COVID So well said and so many things, I'm like, ooh, ooh, ooh. Okay. So right now I feel like a lot of people feel like it's not fair. It's not fair. This isn't fair. I got laid off. That's not fair. What's happening is not fair. And, you know, from being Indian too, and karma and past lives and all these other things that interact with our world, that's a really hard pill for people to swallow. To create your own reality is a really hard pill to swallow. And a lot of people right now are questioning these spiritual truths of how did I. So I was a bad person that I created this. I did a bad job in my past life. So how can we find, you know, a balance with understanding karma and past lives with, like, facing the hardships of today?

Well, the first thing is, who said that life was meant to be fair? And then all of a sudden, if we're living with this expectation of life being fair, then we have to experience the polarity of that which is unfair. And what happens is when we create these boxes, and literally when we talk about the matrix or Maya or the illusion, what are we talking about? We're talking about all of these boxes of identification that we've placed infinite consciousness inside of, all of a sudden, if we have this framework of life is meant to be fair, then we're a victim. Because any moment where life isn't showing up in harmony or alignment with that belief that you yourself have come up with or reinfor enforced through the suggestion of another, at that point, you're a victim. But how about we begin to realize that in every moment we are living out an absolute perfection. And it is a perfection that is unfolding for us. You know, I say this a lot, Sahara. At some point we have to be enough for ourselves. Once we get that, we're enough for ourselves. All of these notions of life is unfair. Life is working against me, and victimhood begin to fall away. And so for those of you right now that are struggling, for those of you that are having a hard time, just recognize that you're lovingly being ushered back to this place of harmony and connection within where there is no notion of fair or unfair. Life is just unfolding and you are making of it whatever you have been programmed and conditioned to make of it. What I've discovered is that more that we have the courage to live outside of the box and peel away all of these layers of identification, the more we uncover the essential self, the more we abide in this state of infinite peace, the more we live as pure love in the world and we're a contribution, right? And so again, it's all in our ability to perceive. Meet where you are with empathy and compassion and recognize that through your living your life, you are bringing everything into harmony and balance. Life isn't about always feeling good. It's about feeling and experiencing the totality of being human. You see, again, the reason why we have such a hard time is because we've been conditioned and programmed into this hierarchy of human experience and emotion. Well, how do we actually know we're basing out in the say so of another person? How about we just live this thing called being human and create a container that's so huge and so vast that it includes every nuance of our humanity equally. Because when we're able to meet every moment equally, we are free at that point, we are free. We are existing as pure being, pure awareness and pure potential. And exuding out from us a love that is so palpable that it will literally draw every dream that you have in your heart toward you. And so this is again the opportunity that we have as it relates to karma. Well, what is that? That's really just identification, right? It's personalization. One of my favorite kind of models for this or descriptions for this is the following. You're basically just floating down a river on a rainbow colored unicorn, floaty, just observing the scenery right? Now, if you choose to identify with some aspect of that journey, or you choose to identify with some particular experience that you're having and hold onto it as the truth, then that's the beginning of suffering. But really when we begin to flow with life and be in harmony with life and no longer resist any aspect of life, which means we're willing to no longer make life wrong or the problem, we begin to recognize the inherent perfection that every, every mystic and yogi discovered in deep states of revelation.

So beautifully said. Thank you for that analogy. And I think what's showing up for a lot of people right now are because they're spending so much time at home alone, is thoughts of the past, thoughts of things that could have gone differently, things I could, an ex, an old job, an old way of being. And you know, the modern psychology system of the west is like, go into that and think about it and then find another realization of it and think about it more in another realization. So how much do you think it's like go into the past and keep digging into it from a new lens and how much is it just accepting where you are and letting that be?

Well, the entire psychological framework is an incomplete model and doesn't allow for transformation. At some point we have to recognize that transformation happens at the level of energy, vibration and frequency. That's why in ancient India, when we were chanting Sanskrit. What is Sanskrit? Sanskrit is a vibrational language. Why are we chanting that? Because it literally elevates our frequency and our vibration and attunes us to a higher resonance where we're able to see and perceive reality in a more dynamic way. So unless there's a change in your energy, there's no change in your life that's happened. What's happened in the Western transformational paradigm is the adaptation. We're adapting. We're analyzing it's PDF presentations, it's stats and figures and numbers. So they're talking about transforming and they're talking about strategies and goals and outcomes. However, they've missed the fact that that unless there's a shift in the energy, a shift in the state of being, there's no shift in your life. And so this is where our cultural heritage comes into play, because every practice was born out of meditation. Hatha Yoga was born spontaneously out of meditation. Ayurveda, all of this wisdom that came through came through from a state of deep inner absorption with the self. And this is where every practice comes from. And so at some point we have to recognize that what we've been doing at the level of the mind isn't working. We're just adapting. At some point we have to recognize that who we are and how we transform happens at a much deeper level. So there's a very clear model for this. The essential self of the soul exists at the level of subtle energy. So it exists at the center, right? The very core. The layer around that is the emotional layer. The layer around that is the mind. Then the layer around that is the body. That model naturally points out that transformation cannot happen at the level of the mind. It has to happen at the level of emotion. Right? When we talk about samskaras and we talk about imprints, what are we really talking about? It's those deep emotional impressions that we didn't have the capacity to resolve at that point in our life. So I have no use for the past, because for me, everything that I have to feel is in my body. The body's the storehouse of the unconscious. So when I give my attention to my body in the moment, I am resolving everything that I was unable to resolve at some point in my journey, freeing up all of that room inside of me on a physical level, on a cognitive level. And I'm able to express more of my dynamic potential in this world in an uninhibited and limitless way.

So let's say a thought comes up about your past. Instead of going into it and indulging it, you would just get into a meditation or chanting or something else. Just shift your energy right now.

Well, actually, all I would do is simply just observe the fact that I'm thinking. I think that a lot of our ancient teachings are getting lost in translation because there's no longer a cultural link to those teachings. So we're dealing with the translation. We're not dealing with an actual experiential lineage of truth that's being conveyed. So the mind isn't the enemy, that we don't have to exist in opposition to the mind. In fact, all we ever need do is observe what's happening at the level of the mind. Because when we have the courage to observe what's happening at the level of mind, we realize, wait a minute. I'm not the thought. I am the one who's aware of the thought. So we have a mind, but we're not our mind. We have a body, but we're not our bodies. We have feelings, but we're not our feelings. Who are we really? Infinite Consciousness and Bliss Satchitananda and when we remember our essential nature, all of a sudden we're freed from the prison of the mind. We don't have to do anything with the mind anymore. Even meditation has become about stopping thinking. And the new thought movement is about replacing a thought that doesn't feel good with a thought that does, but it doesn't work. Right. At some point, we have to realize that who we are is awareness, who we are as being. Who we are is infinite consciousness and bliss. We're having the experience of the mind, but yet we're not the mind. We're having the experience of a body, but yet we're not the body. We're experiencing feelings, but we're not the feelings. We are the one who is experiencing. We are the one who is experiencing.

Yeah.

So beautifully said. And you speak about samadhi in your book. How would you describe that?

Samadhi for me is abiding in perpetual peace. The whole notion of yoga is beyond going to yoga class and sweating on your neighbor. You know, it's about becoming peaceful. And the word yoga in and of itself is about union. So when we have a unified relationship with ourselves, we are in samadhi, meaning that when we can accept and embrace the totality of who we are at the level of our humanity, our divinity is revealed. And we realized that this enlightenment that we've been chasing was always in existence. It's just that we couldn't fully see it, perceive it, and experience it because we were still filtering life through these distortions that we were living through, these filters of pain that we were living through, which are the very things that we have to turn and face in order for transformation to occur.

So beautifully said. And I think what it brings up for a lot of people is this path of least resistance and verse path of most resistance. Because sometimes the things that you have to do to get to the path of least resistance are the things that you're the most resistant to. Let's say you're quarantined with someone that you dislike, moving out, finding the new job, like these are things that you probably have the highest amount of resistance to, but it will eventually lead you to that flow. So a lot of people could create that story of, well, I'm just going to accept. I'm going to accept this is the marriage that I'm in. I'm just going to accept this is the job that I'm in and find the best in it and see that in a spiritual lens as well. So when do we oppose and take action against the current, and when do we just find acceptance and surrender to the moment that we're in?

So every single person is a mirror, and every single person is reflecting back to us who we are. So in oneness, life is as you are. So everything that you can't stand about your partner is something that you have yet to embrace about yourself. Everything that you have an aversion to is an aspect of yourself that you have yet to embrace and bring into love. And so the purpose of relationship is for you to have one consistent mirror that you can see your unconscious in. And the more you can embrace the totality of your unconscious, the more you can embrace it, the more you begin to realize what the whole function of your entire reality is about. You see, we have this notion of having one singular teacher in one singular form. But what I've discovered is that everybody's my teacher, everybody's my guru, Everybody's facilitating that transformation out of the perceived darkness into the light of truth. And what is that? That's the journey out of the unconscious into the conscious. And every single thing in our lives is an opportunity to move more into that state of being conscious and being aware. So if you're in a dynamic right now where you're struggling in your relationship, Begin to take a look at what parts of yourself you're rejecting, what parts of yourself you're denying. Because it's not an accident that you brought that person into your life in the first place. And what happens in, you and I both know this. Is that in the event that you leave that relationship prematurely, you end up just dating the same person in a different body. So we have to go through what we have to go through. What we have to go through. How you know you're ready to leave is when you've packed your bags and you're outside the front door. Until then, look in the mirror. Pay attention. Love what you see. And if you can't love what you see, then at least be okay and accept what you see. And then eventually something will shift. Either the mirror smashes, meaning that that person no longer needs to act out our unconscious, or that person just bounces out of our life. And then we bring into our experience somebody who's more aligned with who we are, Somebody who's more in harmony with who we are. Because we have identified our own misalignment. And that identification and that return to harmony leads us to then experience conscious creation and conscious expression of love in its purest form.

So I think a lot of people struggle with never feeling like they can find themselves ready, never feeling like they can find themselves at the door. Because every time they even try to move that way, another excuse comes. And this could be a relationship, job, anything. So it's a lot of self convincing. It's a lot of self. Okay, today's the day I'm going to do it today, and then something goes back. So how do you think if you never catch yourself just spontaneously doing it, how can you get yourself to take that action even though you feel extremely resistant to it?

I think that everybody has to let themselves off the hook and just recognize that they're doing the best that they can and that in time everything will be returned to harmony. I think we have to get over the whole need for transformation in the first place, because the need for transformation in the first place is being used right now to negate who we are and to disqualify us from the love that we already are. At some point, we just have to meet ourselves with compassion and realize that instead of getting jacked up and trying to will something to happen instead of that, because that doesn't work. That's a very patriarchal way of dealing with things. It's like, okay, I'm going to be in opposition to what's happening, and I'm just going to power through it. Well, okay, great. Until you're there the next day and nothing's changed. Okay, so instead of constantly setting yourself up for yet more invalidation and yet more rejection and abandonment of self, how about we just meet ourselves with love for being where we are, start to have empathy and compassion where we are, start to find a place of peace inside of ourselves, where we are in the experience that we're having. I've realized that the more I'm just able to find a place of peace and harmony inside of myself in the midst of whatever I'm going through, my reality and my world around me begins to evolve as required. I don't have to do anything. So it's more like the more I take care of what's inside of me, the more what's outside of me takes care of itself, you see? And so please don't be so hard on yourself. Give up the notion of fixing, healing, changing, and improving. Start embracing and loving who you are. People ask me all the time, how do I love myself? By turning and facing your shadow and giving it a hug. By turning and facing every aspect of yourself that you've discarded that your parents couldn't embrace, that society couldn't embrace. Getting beyond all of these false metrics around happiness and all of these things that we're meant to strive for and just finally realizing at some point that we have to be good enough for ourselves in that moment when we end our war with ourselves and end our resistance to being who we are. Which is, by the way, the only way you can ever be is the moment when a greater possibility arises. Until then, welcome everything that's showing up. Be in alignment with it, be in harmony with it, meet it with a place of neutrality and peace. Be honest about what's going on, because it's exactly the medicine that you need right now in order to free yourself of everything.

So beautifully said. Thank you for that. And 100%. I see a lot of people and myself. It's all. Before I was all about personal development, right? Like, I'm a person to develop. I must grow, I must get better. And then, you know, there's so many conferences and books that can, in a way, really feed your ego in this quest. And then you feel like, well, if I'm not doing the cold showers and the this and the that and all of the list of things I have to do to, like, personally grow, then I'm going to fall behind, you know. So I think then eventually you realize that you're not even. You're not even that mind that you keep on trying to, you know, master, and you're something so much greater.

I was watching this movie, Tron, last weekend, and it was a new one. And basically there's a moment where Flynn, who's the creator of this whole programmable universe, has this revelation and he realizes finally that everything was always perfect. He didn't need to go on this quest for perfection, and he created this entity called Clue that was trying to bring about perfection. So all we're doing, right, all the ego is doing is invalidating the perfection that God already created or that you were created for yourself to experience. At some point, we have to evolve beyond the notion of something being wrong and start to align with what's happening, recognizing that what's happening is furthering our momentum, furthering our movement, furthering the expansion of our growth into who we are. So the whole notion of working on yourself is actually the notion of working on the created self that doesn't need to be worked on in the first place. It just needs to be embraced at that point. Once it's embraced, you're freed of this false notion of the created self, and then you're able to express completely as that love that you are in every moment.

So I have to be honest, because I remember when I was going through this and hearing things like that, I was like, well, I can't accept myself now because I'm not where I want to be. You know, if I accept myself like this, then how am I going to become the author that I want to be that, this, that I want to be. So I can't. Because if I accept myself like this, I'll. I'll fall behind. What do you say to people who are still feeling like this?

Swami Muktananda had a great quote and he would always say to people, where are you going? Even when you get to those perceived milestones or you try and get to those carrots that are being dangled in front of you, guess what? You're still going to be yourself. You're still going to have the feelings that you're feeling now. And actually what you're going to do is get there and it's going to feel even worse because you're going to realize that that success or that fame or that financial platform is going to taste like ashes in your mouth. You're chasing impermanence. You can never find the truth in the illusion. At some point you have to realize that the truth is inside of you. You have to turn your attention to that truth, and then everything else will emerge from that. For myself, I was born into a spiritual family. This is my calling. This isn't a career. This isn't something that I'm doing. This is something that's a natural extension of who I am at the level of my being. And when everything comes from that place of authenticity and that place of connection, there's nothing to strive for, there's nothing to reach for. Because every great thing that's happened to me has happened to me as a result of my willingness to be myself, to be as I have been designed to be, and to express the fullness of that in every moment. So we've created all of these false metrics and milestones that actually lead to misery and compound our experience of suffering. At some point we have to realize that that isn't success, that success is peaceful. And that when you realize the value of peace, you won't compromise that peace for a billion dollars. Because you have attained what everyone else is trying to get to. You finally come home to yourself.

So beautifully said. And yes, I think it's wherever you go, there you are. And you just find yourself there again and again. And then we set another milestone and another milestone. And once I get there, I'll accept myself. And then there and there and there. Once coronavirus is over and I can go back to normal, then I'll be happy. Happy. And it's this ever continuing spiral. And I think what happens is sometimes you don't realize it until you reach that thing that you wanted. I think there was Like a Jim Carrey quote that's like, I hope everyone gets all the money and fame they ever want to realize that it ain't shit, right? But it's hard because it's like, when you're outside of it, you're like, oh, sure, I'm pretty sure it's going to change everything for me. And. But then you ignore all of these people who are repeating that same sentiment.

Exactly. And you and I both know this firsthand, that the part of you that it means something to is the part of you that actually, once you even get there, can't be with it anyway. Because what are we doing really? We're trying to cover up some insecurity. We're trying to prove something about ourselves. We're trying to prove that we're lovable or that in some way we're okay. And this is all some inner game that we've externalized. So how we save time is by telling everybody the truth. This is why I love that we're having this conversation. Because for all intents and purposes, we're successful. We've done it. We've, you know, we've. We've received the endorsements, we've got the books out. We've done it. Like we are living people's dreams. And yet at the same time, what we're saying to people is, hey, wait a minute. Don't forget yourself along the way. You know, don't forget who you are along the way. Because if you're doing it with the exception of yourself, at some point you're going to have to pay the price. You know, I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the most successful people in the world, and in nearly every single instance, there's a trail of carnage in their wake. They didn't tend to their relationship. They didn't tend to their health. They didn't tend to their family life. They didn't tend to all of the things that were placed in front of them that were put there for them to love. And so they have to spend all of that money and all of that time making up for all of the attentions that they didn't give. Everything along the way. If your success comes at the cost of yourself, it's not success. You've sold yourself out for something material.

Oh, yes. So much. Yes to that. So I want to talk about the ego. It's something you write about in discovering your soul signature. It's one of your daily practices which I so resonated with, because we give the ego such a bad Rep. You know, we're like, slaughter the ego. The ego sucks. And you write about how the ego is almost like our. It's like our protector. It's our defense mechanism. And it also, you know, you talk about giving a color and a texture and a sound to the ego. So how can we get to know, like, who this voice of the ego is and make friends with it?

Well, first of all, I love my ego. My ego kept me safe and protected to a point where I could mature enough to begin to deal with everything that was inside of me. So the role of the ego is to protect and defend the hopeless and powerless parts of you. When does the ego arise? The ego arises in. In the presence of something where we don't feel safe. So the first thing that we have to do is address what's at the root chakra, which is our safety. What I've experienced is that once safety is restored in the human being, once we've addressed whatever the trauma is or the samskara that that person has inside of them and we've integrated it, at that point, the body returns to a state of safety. They're out of fight or flight. And at that point, naturally, their ego becomes transparent. Instead of being this protective power and force, it once again becomes a servant of the soul. So what is the ego? The ego allows us to express individually. Infinite consciousness is expressing itself uniquely through you in this moment, thanks to your ego. The reason why we've created it to be a problem is because we have this reductionist model of transformation in the Western world. Get rid of it. Kill it. Get rid of it. It's bad. It's wrong. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. Well, guess what? People have been trying to get rid of their ego since the 1960s, and it hasn't worked. You've still got an ego. So how about we begin to embrace it? How about we give it a form? How about we give it a color and a texture so that instead of it being some amorphous thing, it's something that we can work with. It's something that we can converse with. It's something that we can engage with and embrace every day, something that we can thank every day. Because your ego only needs to do what it's doing as long as you are not living in the totality of the authenticity that you were born to live. That's the truth. Once you get to a place of courage within yourself to face what you have to face, to feel what you have to feel, your ego can Let go of its need to protect you. Right? Because it knows that you've got yourself. So how do we do that? Close your eyes, everyone, and just take some breaths and just allow yourself for a few moments to give your ego a form. Just give it a form. Just see it as a form. It can be a human form, it can be another dimensional form, it can be a piece of sacred geometry. It can be a shape, give it a form and give it a color and a texture. As soon as we give something that's amorphous a form, we can then work with it and engage with it. So all I want you to do is give this form a hug because that's all that it wants. Every aspect of you that feels rejected and abandoned, all it wants is your attention and your love. Just embrace it. And as you're embracing it, just get present to what you're feeling inside of you. Get present to what you're experiencing. This beautiful ego that keeps you safe, that protects you, that defends you, that allows you to express infinite consciousness uniquely befriending it, welcoming it, accepting it. Good. So seeing as you're our designated ego embracer, how are you feeling?

So I saw like this green, emerald green marble wall that was like hard and shiny and it was beautiful. It almost reminded me of like the gates in Rajasthan. And it was this like barrier of protection. So I was like hugging the marble slab, feeling it's, it's like coldness. But you know, because oftentimes in this very dualistic world that we're in right now, especially on social media, I catch this like, I call her like Pam the bodyguard, right? This like bodyguard energy in me that I was calling Pam. But I was like, no, that's actually my ego. That's that same wall that's like, okay, I' going to protect Sahara, whoever's trying to come in and you know, hold, hold her space for her. So I was grateful for that. Grateful for that gate of protection. And you know, we're in this world that we can't be completely open hearted with all people all the time, because there is still.

No, no.

Okay, okay, yes we can.

So here's the next step. Okay, so what is that wall protecting? Who or what is that wall protecting? Okay, so close your eyes again. So we're going to take a look and we're going to see who or what that wall is protecting. See if you can get in touch with what's behind the wall.

So for me, I feel like it is, it's like my creativity and my play and this like softer, sparkier inner child of mine.

Beautiful. So what we're going to do is embrace her. The reason why we don't feel safe putting ourselves out there all the time is because we haven't fully embraced this part of ourselves. So duality only exists as long as we have aspects of ourselves that haven't been integrated. Once we integrate all of these aspects of ourselves, the ego, the inner child, all of these different aspects of ourselves that we've rejected and we've abandoned, duality collapses in on itself. Every mirror smashes, everything becomes light and the truth of our reality is revealed. So just sit with her for a few moments. Sit with her and just embrace her. Does it require vulnerability to be out in the world? Of course it does. Are people going to have an opinion about you? Of course they are. But the only reason why it matters is because this sweet, beautiful, innocent part of you needs to be fully embraced for who she is. She needs to be held for who she is. Once she's embraced and held for who she is, you won't need the wool and the opinions of others won't matter anymore. So as you're being with her, how do you feel? What are you present to? What's opening up for you?

I feel a lot of sweetness, you.

Know, just like the sweet heart, like ah, like my own child that I see.

Yes.

And like my mind tells me, oh, you've embraced her, but it still has a story around. Don't get into confrontations, avoid confrontations. And I feel like that is where the ego comes in. Because I know for me it's like that feeling of approval, of making people happy. And then when I don't make people happy, it makes me feel defensive in that way. So I think that this ego is there for protecting the little girl from not making someone happy and then them trying to hurt her or attack her or something.

So let's just embrace her. And this is what we're doing. So what we're doing is now restoring safety. So the shakti, the divine feminine, infinite power, goes to sleep inside of us in the sacrum, in the very moment we don't feel safe anymore. From that moment forth, all of our prana and life force energy goes into surviving. This is how people get stuck in states of survival. No matter how successful they become, they're stuck in states of survival and typically there's something that breaks down inside of them. How we end survival is by embracing this aspect of us. By lovingly embracing this aspect of us, it immediately takes us out of fight or flight. And it takes us out of the need for an ego because again, we realize that the reason why people are judging us is because we have a fear of being judged in the first place. The reason why people are attacking us is because we have a fear of being attacked in the first place. You see. So if there's nothing to defend, then there's nothing to protect. And the opinions of others and the energy of others doesn't matter because it's all self generated. Everything is beginning and ending inside of us.

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So would you say by shifting that that issue would stop arising or your triggering of that issue would stop arising?

Both. This is how powerful you are. You know, I used to do programs and guaranteed somebody would come and say, oh, what does he know, he's only 20 something, you know, I don't believe you, blah blah, blah. And. But they were only showing up outside of me because I had something inside of me that I hadn't embraced. One day I got curious, I'm like, panache. Why is it that somebody always has a moment of Tourette's in one of your workshops where they need to challenge you? And I said, oh, wait a minute, because I haven't fully yet embraced who I am completely. So I'm needing this outside of me because there's something inside of me that I have yet to love. The very moment I resolved it inside of me. I don't need it outside of me anymore. Now I don't need someone to act out that role for me, to show me who I am and to show me who I'm not. So this is how we liberate ourselves, you know, and this is how we navigate this world of social media. Because guess what, it's your energy. Social media is a manifestation of your unconscious. It's humanity's collective unconscious. So the more we are unplugged from the collective unconscious, the more we become immune to not just social media, but we boost our immunity. And we also boost our immunity to everything in life because we realize that nothing is in opposition to us.

100%. And I think what a lot of us are experiencing that adds to this like ego's need, especially in social media, is this cancel culture that we're in right now that if you say one wrong thing or something is misconstrued, game over, you're done. And there are so many people who feel a sense of righteousness to defend what they believe is morally correct. So then they'll team together. So, and then you see that happen to other people and you're like, oh my God. And it makes you second guess. And I have clients of mine who have 100 followers and they're like, I can't even post on social media because I keep second guessing everything of what if it's wrong? So how can we go about this feeling comfortable to speak openly and share our truth while also navigating this time that we're in of political correctness and making sure everything is not offensive to any type of person.

If it's hot based and authentic, it's never offensive to anybody. So if somebody has an issue with it, it's only because you're posting something that's inauthentic to you. So for example, love. Nobody's going to cancel love. Nobody's going to cancel caring and kindness and empathy and compassion. Nobody's going to cancel unity and harmony. Those things can't be canceled. Right? But the thing is that people have now got a heightened inauthenticity meter because their news feeds are just inundated over and over again with pictures and images and posts that aren't congruent with that person's energy. So social media is accelerating the integration of unconscious aspects of ourselves by immediately giving us feedback. Whereas before we would only get feedback from our immediate circle, now we're getting feedback from people that we don't even know. But what we're forgetting is that these people are aspects of ourselves too. So as soon as you get feedback, take a look at what's going on inside of you. And again, this is the difference. When your whole expression is an extension of who you are, you can never be canceled. It's only when your expression isn't an extension of who you are and you're trying to be like who the popular person is right now that's trending or taking other people's memes and regurgitating them and doing all that video, viral video stuff. Like if you're trying to garner a following, then you're open and you're susceptible. But when you realize that you're enough and you have enough in terms of the people that come to see you and you give up this notion of 10xing and scaling and becoming more. Because more isn't more like you. And I know that more isn't more and better. I'd rather have one person in front of me that genuinely has the capacity to receive what I have to share than a million people. Right? So it's not more isn't more. Right? And we're seeing this like we're seeing this in music, right? People have these huge followings on social media. They're all clout chasing, they're all doing all these different things. But really, are these people really there from the end of the day? No. So again, don't look to the illusion for the truth and don't look to the platform of social media for the validation of your worth and the validation of your inheritance. Inherent goodness in who you are. You know, it's easy. It's very simple. Post good things that resonate with you, Post uplifting things, post things that are in harmony with who you are and you'll never be canceled.

Right?

And also, here's the other thing too. Like canceling is just another way of bypassing. I feel like we need to see everybody's unconscious right now. I feel like it's time for everyone to reveal their shadow and to put it on display. The only way we're going to bring this into resolution is by letting it come up and letting it come out. If we're canceling people, we're not allowing the full expression of their shadow to be revealed. And what we need right now is the full expression of everyone's shadow to be revealed so that we can see it, we can see it for what it is, we can embrace it and we can move on from it. Otherwise we're just going to have to repeat these patterns over and over and over again. You know, like, for example, America didn't just become racist, right? Hello, I'm Indian. You know, America didn't just become that way, right? I was born in England. England didn't just become racist. It's not all of a sudden because of what's happening right now, the protests, because of George Floyd, the people have become racist. What's happening is all of this ignorance is being brought into the light of conscious awareness because it's just ignorance. It's ignorance, right? It's being brought. So we have to allow it to come up. But in that same way, we have to allow everything to come up, we have to allow everything to come out. If we keep canceling everything, we're not going to get the full spectrum of the unconscious that we need to experience in order to be free. Just my 2 cents, 100%.

And we don't allow space for that person to grow. We assume that what they said in one moment in time is them forever. And that's negating how much we've all grown as humans too. So.

So there's that.

And it's interesting because you said you can't ever cancel love and you can't ever cancel unity. But there is this movement of trying, I'm sure you're aware of, especially with all of the racial and political tensions happening, that if you say something like, we're all one right now. Let's all come together. It's not what people want to Hear right now, people really want to be heard in their differences and their struggles and the political issues, et cetera, that there's this feeling of if you, you talk about, well, everything is love, it's spiritual bypass. So what's your take on that?

So it's giving people the space that they need to feel what they feel and to honor their feelings in their experience. But what they're experiencing, their experience doesn't have to become yours if it's not true for you. So when everything happened with George Floyd, it brought a lot of emotion up for me because I remember being called names. I remember growing up in a country where I wasn't welcomed and I was made to feel like there was something wrong with me because of the color of my skin. My father used to have to go and march against the National Front, the neo Nazis in the streets so that I could have the freedom that I had in London without getting stabbed or kicked in the head by people with still toe cap shoes. So I understand what that pain is. But you know what? Once I had allowed myself to experience that pain at that point, it was immediately about how do we unify what people have forgotten is that Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela got their playbook from Mahatma Gandhi. This is what people have forgotten. This is what people need to be reminded of. And they based their efforts to liberate people on the principles of ahimsa. And what is ahimsa? Ahimsa is non violent protesting. It's non violent. It's not being in opposition to what's happening happening, but it's remaining peaceful in the midst of what's happening to highlight the behavior. This is how Gandhi liberated India from the British by highlighting the cruelty of the British. Right, so what are we doing? We're undoing the wound of colonialism. Slavery is a product of colonialism. Everything that we went through in India was a product of colonialism. Everything that we're going through in Africa is a product of colonialism. And what was colonialism based in? Divide and conquer. So if we're dividing and conquering in the name of bringing people together, then we're just creating yet more of that energy. Right? So it's not about bypassing, it's not about being ignorant to what's happening. It's not about not letting what's happening affect you and impact you. Of course it's about that. That's why it's happening, to impact you. There's not a person alive that didn't watch that video regardless of their race and know that what was happening was wrong to know that. I mean, everybody who saw that video knew that what was happening was wrong. And this is why we have the transformation that's happening today. But what we can't do is allow our emotions to be co opted by other people's agendas. We can't allow our voices to be hijacked for other people's outcomes and goals that aren't necessarily aligned with unity. So as long as we remember that unity is the intention, that love is the intention with which we're operating at that point. What I've discovered in my own experience is it's landing. I personally haven't been canceled. I've been embraced universally by everybody. Why? Because for me it's about, listen, let's deal with what we have inside of us. Let's address what we have inside of us. Because if we can address what we have inside of us, then guess what? Not only can we resolve this 401 year old wound, but we can resolve every wound that we've experienced as a result of colonialism and actually maybe end the experience of separation. That's the opportunity that we have. That's the version of life that I'm living. Who's with me? Let's go. Right.

Beautifully said. Yes. Yes to all of that. So another topic that people are really talking about right now is cultural appropriation and feeling like, is it okay for me to study Vedic texts and do these things if I'm not Indian? Or take ayahuasca and go the shamanic journey if I'm not indigenous to South America? What is your take on this?

I used to have a huge problem with this. But as an Indian, who am I to determine who's Indian? I've realized that there are two categories of human beings. There are Indians and Indians from past lives.

Yes. Oh, good. Yeah.

So who am I to determine who's Indian and who isn't? Right. Because by our very definition of Sanatam Dharma and the recognition. Right. That really. Because Hinduism isn't a religion, it's eternal truth. And I grew up with pictures of everybody in my house. So for me, everybody's Indian. There are Indians that are consciously Indian. Indians who just have amnesia, but nonetheless they're still Indian. Right. So all of these things that are happening, I used to have a problem with them because I used to feel like in some way they weren't being honored and respected. But you know what? That was my own problem. That was something that I had to deal with inside of myself because some part of me didn't feel honored and respected. So I made it about the cultural appropriation of my heritage. You see how it works, see how sneaky we are. But once we realize that what we have a problem with outside of us is an opportunity for us to resolve what's inside of us, all of a sudden, it doesn't become about anything outside of us anymore. It becomes about us loving and embracing the parts of us that didn't feel honored or didn't feel respected. You see? So I'm now at a point where, listen, the more people in the world do yoga, do pranayama, breathwork, whatever they want to call it, study Ayurveda and get in touch with our cultural heritage, the better. Why? Because it is the cultural heritage that we all belong to. At some point in our journey and in our evolution, somebody's life intersected with something related to India. Why? Because it's the motherland of spirituality. Every major spiritual practice either comes from India or is an offshoot from India. Okay? So at some point, every single person is going to incorporate some Indian practice into their daily regimen and routine. Why? Because it's connected to a lineage and it works.

I 100% agree. And I'm seeing a very big movement right now of people saying these New age practices are whitewashed Hinduism. And they made fun of us before, but now they want our spirituality and a lot of anger with that. And again, it makes sense and it's justified. But I also think of Ram Dass and all of these incredible, you know, yogic spiritual teachers who are white and would. Would yoga even be where it is, not only here, but in India, if it wasn't for a lot of the white teachers who upheld it.

Here's the irony of this, right? So Ram Dass brought every major Indian guru to the US Most people don't know this, but Swami Muktananda, Maharishi, all of these gurus that came here came here because of Ram Dass, right? So it took somebody in the 60s getting on a plane and flying to India to meet all of these Himalayan masters, Nimkaroli Baba, to be exposed to them, to bring that here. Okay? So again, who are we to question how God works? Just be grateful for the fact that God is working and that our dharma is spreading, that our teachings are spreading, that our light and our love and messaging is spreading, and that eventually people will mature into it. And the reason why I believe that there's this greater movement toward our cultural heritage is because we have this inclusive version of God. You know, for Example, we don't have a version of God that has anger management issues. You know, you're not starting at a deficit, right, with God. You know, you're starting from a place of devotion and love and inclusivity. So the reason why Hinduism, which isn't a religion, it's a way of life, Sanatana Dharma has spread all over the world in the way that it has is because it's an eternal truth. And what people are resonating with, regardless of their religious inclination, is the essence of that eternal truth that lives inside of them. So as far as I'm concerned, everybody's Indian. And I feel like no matter what you're sharing and how you're going about sharing it, I'm okay with it. My request is to please, at least acknowledge the lineage. That's it. Just acknowledge the source. Acknowledge the source. And the source is simple. It's typically a naked Indian man or lady sitting under a tree somewhere in India under the Himalayas, who finally had to put clothes on because enough Westerners came to see them. But just acknowledge the source, right? For example, present moment awareness didn't start with Eckhart Tolle, Nisargadatta Maharaj. Every day used to give the same talk, and people would come every day, and it was all about the present moment. Ramana Maharshi was all about non dualism. So we have to just acknowledge the source. Just acknowledge the source. And the shamanic thing too, right? Like, I've met so many shamans who aren't from Colombia who are so devoted to the tradition and the path. They're more devoted than most Colombians. It's the same thing with our yoga, our breath work, and all these different things. Like, when you look at how devoted people are to our tradition, they're more devoted than we are. For example, in India, they're busy watching all of these Western TV shows and trying to become like Americans and English people, right? And they're all of a sudden trying to live up to this materialistic ideals. They've completely lost sight of their spirituality, right? But here they're coming back to it. Why? Because they've had enough of the materialism to know that it doesn't work. They've had enough of the materialism to know that you can't success your way out of suffering. So to my brothers and sisters, who are we to determine who's Indian? If it's Sanatam Dharma and we believe in reincarnation, then how do we know that this person is an Indian? How do we know how do we know that that soul hasn't had an Indian incarnation? And how do we know that that soul isn't resonating with these teachings because of that incarnation? How do we know? We don't know. So as far as I'm concerned, everyone's either Indian, consciously meaning they have melanin and they're brown and they're Indian, or they're Indian with amnesia. One way or another, if you like yoga, you're into Ayurveda and you're into. Into pranayama and breath work, you're Indian. That's it.

We were all in the Indus River Valley at one point. Exactly. I 100% agree. And I think it's also like, there are different stages. So maybe someone's first stage of even becoming aware of this is in an ecarm toll book or they just heard a Ganesh, you know, pooja at their yoga studio or something, and then they. They want more, and then they want more. And then eventually they'll. They'll make their way up through the lineage. But I think a lot of people right now are afraid. They're afraid of even sharing it or doing it because they're like, kind of tiptoeing around it. And then there's this huge movement of like, well, then if I'm Irish, should I only do Celtic practices or should I do, like, Italian mystic practices? And I feel like that's almost going back in time of like, you can only do the things from where you're from. Because historically we've always had melting pot of cultures and borders shifting throughout the history of time. So who are we to say that the borders right now are the borders of how they're always going to be?

I once had somebody come to see me who's a very famous kirtan singer. And they came to see me because they're not Indian. And a very famous Indian guru had an objection to the fact that they were chanting the Gayatri Mantra. And I'm a Brahmin. So when I had my janoi, I was given the Gayatri mantra as my mantra. Because if you're a Brahmin, that's your mantra. Mantra. So I wrote this person a note saying, panach Desai hereby approves my use of the Gayatri Mantra. Do you know that this person is more devoted to the Gayatri Mantra and our chanting and our kirtan than most Indian people ever are? Have you seen your average Indian masi or grandmother at a temple? What are they praying for? Please bring my son A beautiful daughter in law. Make sure she's a computer scientist. You know, I mean, it's like, come on, guys, like, let's get over ourselves. I feel like the beauty of the world is in the many different hues to many different colors and the many different textures, right? And what we have to do is recognize that no one thing works for everyone. I feel like the modern version of spirituality is people taking what they resonate with and creating their own personal relationship with God through whatever medium they wish to find that relationship through whatever form. Why? Because God is infinite and God is taking whatever form God needs to take for you. So at some point, we've got to. And I get it. I get that people are upset. I get that people feel that they're not respecting it. I get that. But at some point, we have to recognize that the reason why we feel disrespected culturally is because we have a wound of disrespect inside of us that we have yet to embrace. And again, I used to be that person that used to have a hard time with it. How is this person on TV doing yoga postures? I mean, that don't even look authentic to this person, right? I used to be that person, but now I'm just like, okay, whatever, man. Like, hey, yoga's on prime time. Congratulations. Mazel tov. Go for it. Like, have at it. Like, it doesn't matter, right? It doesn't matter. So again, any problem that you have with the world is a problem that you have with yourself. Any judgment that you have with another is some pain point inside of you that you haven't embraced. And I believe that our tradition belongs to everybody. I believe that our tradition belongs to everyone. If you're human, guess what? It belongs to you. There you go.

I 100% agree. And that's why it's, you know, it's the language of the gods. It's not even the language of humans. And as you spoke of, it's a language of vibration. So, again, I think it's a lot of times we feel like traditions are being lost. And I think there are certain people who are traditionalists, and that's really their dharma. In this lifetime of, like, this is how it's always been, and to keep that moving forward. And there are other people who are more visionaries, trailblazers, creating new things, new pathways. And oftentimes these two schools of thoughts butt heads, but they're both really needed.

Of course, everything is needed. Otherwise it wouldn't exist. Every expression is required or those we wouldn't have it in the world world. And this is what we're doing. We're constantly invalidating the perfection that's unfolding in the moment because we're thinking in some way, shape or form through our limited lens of perception that it could or should be some other way. And the truth is, it isn't going to be. It's exactly the way that it needs to be. I think the reason why people have a hard time with most of this stuff is because they feel like they're being left out or they're missing out on something, you know, and the truth is you're not, you know, it doesn't matter. Like, what's meant for you will come to you, what you're meant to share, you'll share the book that you're meant to write, you'll write, it doesn't matter. People either resonate with it or they won't. But none of that is a determinant of your value. Who you are inherently is valued. You're loved. You are divine being. Now let's get on with loving and being compassionate and being empathic, and let's get on with being responsible and accountable for what we have to deal with inside of ourselves. I feel like our attention is best spent there rather than worrying about who's using a mantra, who's doing yoga, who's doing Ayurveda, who's doing Jyotish astrology, who's doing all of these things. Because you know what? It doesn't matter. It's all the divine play of consciousness and it's all a reflection of you. Let it go. Swaha. The whole thing, just Om Shanti. The whole thing, just let it go.

So beautifully said. And for people who are, you know, a bit confused of like, what is Hinduism versus Vedic wisdom? Could you explain that briefly? Because, you know, a lot of people right now, especially in the TikTok world, are like, this is Hinduism. But we're not also aware of the ancient Vedic lineage that far surpasses this modern day even ideology of what Hinduism is.

Well, first of all, there's no such thing as Hinduism. The reason why Hinduism came into being is because Swami Vivekananda went to a meeting of world religions and they introduced him as the gentleman from Hindustan. So they called him a Hindu. But really it's not a religion. What it is is an ancient technology that facilitates the elevation of our consciousness. What are the Vedas? The Vedas are a constant source of revelation that provide us the information that we need as human beings to navigate the modern world. So, for example, Ayurveda comes from the Vedas. All of these teachings and chants and slokes and all these different things come from the Vedas. It's like a record. It's like an eternal tablet that updates itself, right? It's constantly updating itself. Because why? Because we're writing the Vedas now. So when we look at Hinduism as a religion, then what happens is we're limiting it, right? But when we look at it as a way of life and as a way of shifting our consciousness, then we're seeing it for what it really is, which is a set of tools and technologies to liberate oneself from bondage. And what is bondage? Misidentification. I'm my possessions, right? I'm my relationship. I'm my children. I am my things. I am my thoughts. I am my feelings. So really, what we have is an ancient technology that's a vibrational technology. It's based in energy, vibration and frequency. So. So Hinduism is not really a religion. And actually, I would say that people identify more with Sanatam Dharma than they ever do with being called a Hindu. Because Sanatam Dharma is eternal truth. And in the Rig Veda itself, it says that saints and sages are speaking the same truth in different ways. So what does that mean? Jesus was a Hindu, then. If we're going to say Hinduism, then that means Jesus was a Hindu Hindu. That means that Buddha was a Hindu. It means, you know, Guru Nanak, Hindu. Right? It means that every single being in the world is a manifestation of that eternal truth. And we're all expressing eternal truth in different ways because God is infinite. You know, in my book Discovering a Soul Signature, I said, if God is infinite, then everybody's right for them. Nobody's wrong. Everybody's having their own personal relationship with God in their own unique way. But the interesting thing is that their relationship with God is determined by their relationship with themselves. So if they have a conditional relationship with themselves, then they believe in a conditional God. If they have a devotional relationship with themselves, and they have a devotional relationship with God. But ultimately we all end up in the same place. It's an infinite ocean of love and light. And the feeling associated with this infinite ocean is a love beyond description. It cannot articulate to you in words the love that is there. This is who you are. And this is where we can find a commonality. This is the truth. This is the truth that is being expressed through Sanatam Dharma, through the Vedas, and through all of our Ancient texts and all of our ancient scriptures, and not just ours, but every ancient scripture from all over the world is pointing to the same truth. God is love. You are God. That means that you are love. That's it.

Beautifully said. And if we see it from that lens, there's no point of all these wars, religious wars of Hindu Muslims seek this, that it's all the same.

God is love.

You know, India was the only country in the world where every major religion lived together as brothers and sisters in peace. Before the British, you used to have Muslim neighbors and then you used to have Farsi neighbors and Sufi neighbors and you used to have Jewish neighbors and Christian neighbors and Catholic neighbors in every religion, Sikh neighbors, Jain neighbors. Everyone in India lived together in harmony and peace until that wedge of religion was used to divide an entire nation of people. Why? Because a tiny island can only colonize a huge country right through division. So at some point we have to pull out this thorn of division that we don't even know why we have it anymore. Like people. I'm 40, right? Why are we not supposed to like someone of a different religion? Somebody told me, like, it doesn't even make sense to me, right? It doesn't even make sense to me because we have friends from every religion. We're connected to everybody. So at some point we have to unplug from this division that's been woven into us, that's been programmed into us and begin to realize that, guess what, we're one global family. We're one rainbow colored tribe. We're all expressing divinity uniquely. And the very moment that we begin to get that and we begin to move from that place in unison, we're going to begin to see innovation and creativity come together in a way that we have not been able to see and perceive because we've been too busy trying to prove that somebody's version of reality is better than another person's version of reality. Instead of just getting, hey, wait a minute, we're all in this together. And as Ram Dass so beautifully and eloquently said, we're all just walking each other home.

And I think that we're starting to see almost this like, like fading away of religion and the way that it was and religion just becoming more of a cultural thing than like this like radical belief system. Because this younger generation is, is seeing right through that. And I think there's always going to be this sense of like, I'm Jewish because of my Jewish descent or Hindu because of honoring that. But I know so many people, you Know, maybe a lot of people listening right now is like, well, I love the goddesses and I love yoga. Am I a Hindu now and then and wanting to cling on and now have this new title. And I think what you're speaking into is just moving past any sort of label and just like being one with God, Goddess, source, universe.

Exactly. Because God doesn't fit in the box.

I think we just, especially in our Western society, lack this. These initiations, these cultural components. We feel so, like, sanitized. So we're like, I want to be a Buddhist.

Because it comes with all of these.

Cool cultural things and rituals where I want to be a Hindu or I want to be this. I want to be. So what do you say for someone who's like, really yearning for something more, should they try to quote, unquote, convert to a religion?

Be whatever you want to be, but understand that you are the self experiencing yourself as a Buddhist, you are the self experiencing yourself as a Christian, you are the self experiencing yourself as a Muslim, you are the self experiencing yourself as a Hindu, you are the self experiencing yourself as a seed, you are the self experiencing yourself as a Jain, you are the self experiencing yourself through a myriad of different forms. But when you truly have that moment of revelation, you realize that we're all a part of the same self. Be what you want to be, believe what you want to believe. As long as it directs you toward peace, go for it. If for some reason it doesn't direct you toward peace, then realize that maybe there's something else that's available to you that's more resonant with you and more in harmony with you. But at the end of the day, again, every soul is on its own perfect journey. And every soul will pick up whatever it needs to pick up to return to harmony and balance. If we stop judging other people and stop focusing on other people's choices and their decisions, and we stay true to what we're going through, we'll realize that everything is unfolding perfectly. Everything is unfolding in harmony, and we don't need to be in opposition to any of it.

Yes. And I think it just comes down to trusting your perfection as you began with of. You don't need anything else. You don't need to go on this quest of that now, learning and becoming something else to finally become spiritual. And I think that that's even what a lot of this cultural appropriation even comes from. Of, oh, now if I get these tattoos and have these dreadlocks and these piercings, then I'll look spiritual, be spiritual, et cetera. And it's just dropping everything. You know, sometimes I don't even want to say the most spiritual people, because there's no hierarchy in it. But you can be spiritual in any context.

Absolutely. Because you are a manifestation of God. Once you realize that you're a unique manifestation of God, everything becomes spiritual because how you see yourself is how you see and perceive the world you see. I think what's been missing, if I can say that something is missing and I can't even say that because really there's nothing missing. But just in the context, to just give people an example, there's been a lack of acceptance of oneself in the world. So because we don't accept and embrace who we are, and because we're constantly living in this notion that something is missing, we're looking outside of ourselves for something different than what we have. But here's what people need to remember. The same infinite being that made you is right now animating all of life and is continuing to unfold infinity, further and further out into infinity. So how could you be have been? How could you have been made by mistake? How could any part of you be a mistake? We are the religion we are. We are the spirituality we are. We pick up the spirituality that resonates with us and it's all a part of our journey home. Everything is a part of our journey home. And in the end, we came from love. We're here to remember that we're love and we're going to go back to love. That's all it is. So I am all for everyone doing everything. As long as you're in harmony with your heart, as long as you're in harmony with yourself, and it brings you peace and it gives you a sense of connection to who you are at the deepest level, then why not pursue that? That to me, it's almost like pursuing that is more important than pursuing fame, money, success, and everything else. I would much rather move toward that which brings me peace, because that is sustainable, that's real, because that peace is who we really are.

So beautifully said. Thank you so much for all of your wise words, your affirmations. I think we could all feel and resonate this to be true. So thank you for that beautiful reminder. And where can listeners connect with you further and grab your books and do your meditations?

So the best place is probably to go to the website, which is panachdasai.com P A N A C-H-E--E-S-A-I.com. and please join me for my daily call to calm meditations, 9am Eastern every day. Everybody's welcome. And it's just your opportunity during this time of uncertainty to connect with the peace that is your natural state of being. So come and join me there.

Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Thank you for just so beautifully expressing all that you're expressing. I'm very grateful for you and I'm very grateful for all the ways in which you're showing up. And the next time anyone has any issue with you being the way that you are, you point them in my direction and I'll happily write you a note. I'll happily write you a note. In the same way that I had to write this beautiful Kirtan person a note to sing the Gayatri Mantra. I'm happy to write everyone a note. Because you know what? The only thing that matters is the degree to which we're expressing our love and our joy and our peace. Express that and set the world free.

Thank you so much. And we all get to give that permission slip to ourselves.

Yeah, exactly.

Write ourselves that note. We get to be who we want to be.

Exactly.

No more hiding. So thank you.

How beautiful was that conversation with Panache Desai? He is someone who is so filled with gems of wisdom, and I think it is so important at this time to reconnect to that larger part of you, the part of you that knows your soul self. Because the world outside of us is always going to be chaotic. And if we lose touch with our true divine nature, then we lose touch with our Dharma. So be sure to check out his book, you are enough, and dive deeper into his work. Don't forget that this month we are tapping into the frequency of Lemuria, the ancient civilization based off of living by the heart, connecting to earth, connecting to community, honoring that mermaid, dolphin. Playful, inquisitive, positive, deep and curious energy that exists in all of us and reconnecting to our goddess selves. In Rose Gold Goddesses, you can get the Lemuria Circle on its own or join Rose Gold Goddesses and also have access to my healing and embodiment through dance course, my awaken your powers masterclass with Shaman Durek and so much more.

Did I mention there's a community of.

Over 2000 spiritual soul sisters who you get to connect with?

Yeah.

Come join us. Community is more needed than ever because. Because you need your sisters who, when things get rough, when it's very easy to jump ship on your dharma and your soul self, those girls who are going to remind you to stay anchored and lead by example as well. So come join us. Join that community. The Satsang in Rose Gold Goddesses. The link is rosegoldgoddesses.com it's in the show notes and I'm so excited to meet you inside. If you love this episode I would love to send you you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your mind body type. This is a different book than Eat Feel Fresh, my first book ever which is not released anywhere and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my podcast in the itunes store. So all you got to do is head over to itunes where you may be listening to this podcast and leave a review, take a screenshot that you've left it and email it over to me at Sahara. Again that's Sahara S A H A R A@eatfeelfresh.com and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased.

Book Eat Right for your mind body.

Type which goes all into Ayurveda, doshas, plant based nutrition, body types, all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you for free for supporting the podcast. Every single review I personally read, it really helps helps the podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together.

And I am so grateful to have.

You on this journey. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode. Namaste.

Sam.