"I Am That, You Are That and That’s It"

I was at work with my friend B, chatting about his trip to India in the 90s. At the time, this was back in 2016, I’d been diving deep into Ram Dass. I was loving his lectures, the way he told stories, the way he spoke about Neem Karoli Baba, the Guru he found in India.

Back then you could easily find all the old talks on YouTube. It’s much harder now.

B told me he was sitting at home with his partner when he watched a cassette of Papaji,

a well-known teacher who was still alive and teaching in Lucknow at the time.

After watching the video, B turned to his partner and said, “That’s it. We’re going to India.”  They bought their tickets straight away and ended up spending a month at Papaji’s ashram in Lucknow.

I asked B what it was like.

He said, “It was good.”

I asked, “Did you talk to Papaji?”

He said, “Yeah.”

I was curious. “What did you say?”

He replied, “I asked him, What’s the go? What’s the meaning of all this?”

I leaned in.

“And Papaji said: I am that, you are that, and that’s it.”

I asked, “Well, what did you say to that?”

B said, “I was pissed off. I said, I flew all the way to India for this?”

I started pissing myself laughing and he laughed too.