Yes I am an ordinary man trying to walk the path of अध्यात्म, trying to follow the footsteps of many great ones, I have not had the honor to meet. But have been blessed with the guidance of a divine soul, my guide and mentor, Shri Vimal Ji.
The Teaching:
His latest lecture focused on a profound concept — the relationship between desire and freedom. Not the sacrifice of desire, but something far more liberating: the freedom that comes when you let go of the outcomes of your desires. Yes, pursue your desires fully. Become a billionaire if you wish. Gather every comfort life has to offer. But understand this — comfort and momentary happiness are all that any desire can truly deliver. True, lasting bliss lives somewhere else entirely — within you.
He guided us through how letting go of our attachment to outcomes — not our desires themselves — frees us from anxiety about the future. This freedom allows us to channel all our energy into the present moment, enabling us to focus more effectively on the task at hand. We explored how expectations tied to outcomes — whether of success or failure — trap us in a cycle of disappointment. We constantly set ourselves up: being on time, meeting the right people, wearing the perfect outfit, getting the most out of an experience. These expectations are tied to external factors beyond our control, and inevitably, many will not unfold as we hope. As they crumble, we experience loss and despair — diminishing our ability to show up fully. This is the cycle. Not desire itself, but our grip on how desire must be fulfilled.
The Experience:
If you thought this journey would be easy, you are far from reality. From the moment we’re born, we are conditioned to either dwell on the regrets of the past or obsess over plans for the future. And here I am, attempting to let it all go. Yes, those plans for the future are nothing more than your desires about how things should be, and your regrets from the past are merely the echoes of unfulfilled desires. And I, for one, am an expert in this. Life’s challenges, setbacks, and failures have turned me into a master of living in the shadow of past disappointments, constantly fearing that history will repeat itself. I’ll admit, it’s burdensome at times—it feels as though I’m carrying a weight in my mind that never lifts. So, I took the advice of my mentor and decided to give it up. But little did I know, I was in for an unexpected turn. Freedom—true freedom—felt strange. The discomfort of emptiness set in. Yes, you read that right. I had grown so accustomed to the weight of worry and regret that now, without it, I felt oddly unsettled. I would take long walks, lost in thoughts of what my future success should look like, or imagining how different my life would be if I had made different choices in the past. These stories had been my constant companions for years, and now, without them, I felt a void. I found myself not wanting to walk, but somehow, I still did.
Since I no longer wanted to live in my past regrets or future fantasies, I began to understand what my mentor truly meant. It was never about giving up the desire for a nicer car, or a grander home, or greater success. Want all of it — and pursue it with full effort. But know, deep down, that when you get it, it will bring you comfort. It will bring moments of happiness. And that is wonderful. What it will not bring is the permanent, unshakeable bliss that lives within you. That bliss is not found in the object of the desire — it is found when you are fully here, in this moment, free from the grip of how things must turn out. And so I stopped telling my mind to abandon its hopes. Instead, I simply stopped letting the outcome hold me hostage. It might resist like an angry child, but eventually, it listens.
It’s still early in this journey, but every day brings a reminder. In just a few days, my mind felt still, as though it had been reborn. The constant grip of anxiety toward past events faded — not entirely, but significantly. There is now so much more space in my mind, space I didn’t know existed. I have released so much only to gain many folds in return.
