Being Yourself | Meeting the Enemy: Finding Peace in the Midst of War

"'I'm right' is a closing to the possibility of conversation, of investigation." In a powerful exchange, a man deeply engaged in peace, justice, and human-rights work asks Gangaji how to face the horrors of war without turning away from either truth or action. When he reconnects with a former college roommate whose military history he had harshly judged, he discovers that the enemy is none other than his own Self. Gangaji invites us to look beneath the impulse to make an enemy of the "other" and discover the reconciling force of peace.   To learn more about Gangaji and explore her teachings, visit Gangaji.org. Begin Let Yourself Be Found, Gangaji's free self-guided inquiry: https://gangaji.org/let-yourself-be-found-self-guided-inquiry Join Gangaji for a five-day Silent Retreat in Ashland, Oregon, October 21–25, 2026: https://gangaji.org/event/ashland-5-day-silent-retreat-october-2026 Explore all upcoming online and in-person events: https://gangaji.org/upcoming-events

Do you put more value on your doubting mind than you do on the reality of what is always present?"  In this episode, Gangaji speaks about "the wheel of doubt"—addressing the way the mind generates doubt from the "fear of being open, or being still, and not knowing." While doubt has a very legitimate purpose in our lives, when we are caught up in a pointed search for certainty it can become a life-long source of suffering. The invitation she offers is to recognize the activity of the mind and to recognize what is always here regardless of what thoughts are passing through our minds.      Meet with Gangaji live for an online public meeting on Saturday, September 5 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time—Sunday, September 6 at 10:00 a.m. AEST in Australia. You'll find this and other opportunities to meet with Gangaji live on her events calendar.  New to Gangaji? Learn more here

"Who I am doesn't need to be thought. It's here. It's already free of thought." In You Cannot Think Your Way Home, Gangaji invites us to stop following the next thought and fall into the living silence that is the truth of who we are. When our search for home through thoughts, experiences, and attainments truly comes to an end, we discover that we never left home—we are home itself. This episode closes with an invitation to listeners around the globe to step outside the usual rules of a podcast and simply sit together in silence.  Continue online with Gangaji With Gangaji is an ongoing space for spiritual inquiry, offering monthly live online meetings with Gangaji, a global community Forum, and an extensive media library. Learn more about With Gangaji: https://gangaji.org/upcoming-events/online-events Explore more from Gangaji: https://gangaji.org  

"I was in that place of 'I give up.' I don't know. And that's a very open place, actually." On this month's episode of Being Yourself: Self-Inquiry with Gangaji, we are honored to share Episode 4 of Finding Home, the six-part audio documentary series that traces Gangaji's spiritual journey. In the fourth episode, From Disillusionment to Awakening, Gangaji reflects on the disappointments, failures, and unexpected turns that led her to India and her life-changing meeting with Papaji. What appeared to be the end of a path became the doorway to a profound awakening. This intimate conversation is both a personal story and a listening journey—an invitation to discover that beneath uncertainty, disappointment, and disillusionment lies the possibility of discovering—home is here. Continue the Listening Journey If this episode speaks to you and you'd like to continue exploring these questions, the complete Finding Home series is available through With Gangaji—a space for deepening in spiritual inquiry. Inside With Gangaji, are monthly live online meetings with Gangaji, a rich library of teachings, and a global community that comes together in discovery and in support of being true to who you are.   Learn more about With GangajiExplore more teachings, events, and free resources.  

"I encourage you to let your heart be broken. Waking up to yourself has nothing to do with forgetting the suffering of others as if it never existed." How do we reconcile the recognition of truth and peace with the suffering, cruelty, and devastating loss we see around us or even in our own lives? How do we face real heartbreak given this paradox can't be reconciled in our minds? Rather than turning away from outrage or despair, Gangaji invites a direct meeting with them—and points to the possibility that even outrage and despair can become a doorway to truth.   If this exploration speaks to you, you are welcome to continue at gangaji.org, where you'll find resources to support your spiritual inquiry and you can learn more about Gangaji and self-inquiry: • An introductory self-inquiry course • Other episodes of Being Yourself • Monthly Community Video Screenings • Opportunities to meet with Gangaji live online and in person Learn more at Gangaji.org

"It's in fully seeing it all…that there is this undeniable yes in the core." What is unfolding before our eyes in the world—the violent aggression and heartbreaking destruction of war—reflects what occurs in our own minds. There is an inner war we can wage, often experienced as self-hatred. Self-hatred fuels self-destruction, and the consequences—both individually and collectively—are real. How do we meet this in ourselves? How do we end the war in our own mind? In this episode of Being Yourself, Gangaji speaks to the choice we have not to turn away from feelings of unworthiness, but to meet directly what is at the core of even self-hatred—freedom itself.    Continue the Inquiry If you feel moved to explore this more deeply: Read The Heart Can Bear It All Part 1 Learn about the Freedom Inside Prison Program Join a live online meeting with Gangaji Explore upcoming events and retreats New to Gangaji?

"The real healing of trauma is bringing your love and consciousness to it." In the wake of trauma, fear can take hold — in the body, in memory, and in the many ways we try to protect ourselves from feeling its pain again. In this intimate dialogue, Gangaji points to a deeper healing not found in escaping fear, but in bringing love and consciousness directly to the wound. She offers a powerful inquiry into what remains whole, innocent, and free — even after shock, loss, and disillusionment.   Learn more about Gangaji and her programs and 2026 events.  The next With Gangaji online global gathering is being held Sunday, March 15 @ 11AM PT.  Learn more to join the meeting here.  Gangaji is a teacher and author who speaks to people from all walks of life inviting them to fully recognize the absolute freedom and unchanging peace that is the truth of one's being. She shares the message that she received from her teacher, Sri H.W.L. Poonja: What you are searching for is already here.  Among other books, Gangaji is the author of Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance. 

"If you are really, hopelessly lost, instantly you are found." This month's episode addresses that moment on the spiritual path, where all striving for enlightenment, all seeking of peace and freedom culminates in feeling at "the end of our rope."   Gangaji speaks directly to the possibility that even a moment of despair or desperation has something to reveal. What if being "hopelessly lost" is actually a doorway to freedom?     What happens when the seeking falls away, and the hope of "getting something" dissolves?     If you'd like to explore further, you're warmly invited to: Learn more about Gangaji the With Gangaji forum and live meetings See upcoming meetings and events  Visit the website for more resources  https://gangaji.org

"Can you find a problem when the desire to attain anything is given up?"   In our search for happiness and fulfillment on the spiritual path, we usually imagine it will be found in some desired state or experience or circumstance that we apparently lack. We may tell ourselves many varied and different stories about who we are, but as this conversation reveals, it is only who we think we are. What is possible is to examine the stories you are telling yourself and recognize that true fulfillment can be effortlessly discovered in an instant of stopping, of conscious rest. Fulfillment is realized in "nothing happening at all."    Learn more about Gangaji and her upcoming events.   

"There is conditioning in our mind streams, but what we are drawn by, what has brought us here, is closer and deeper than any conditioning." How is it possible to penetrate the conditioning of our minds, the play of ego and superego, and discover our true identity? What if we just give up the game entirely? In this exchange, Gangaji deconstructs the egoic habits of judging ourselves and others demonstrating how an egoic trap can become the open door into consciousness.   You can support this podcast and other programs of the Gangaji Foundation with your donation. Learn more about what your gift will do to and the impact you can have in sharing this invitation to peace with men and women living in prison and seekers around the world. Learn more/Give Learn more about Gangaji, her complete schedule, monthly online program.