"You are on the right track. When so many times you expect something and just the opposite happens, slowly, slowly you learn a great secret: that expectation is not the way to be with the divine; it is the barrier, not the bridge. Expect, and you will be frustrated. Don't expect and simply wait, then whatsoever happens has tremendous beauty. Be ready to be surprised, constantly ready to be surprised.

"Each moment brings new surprises to the one who has no expectations, who comes with an absolutely open mind. Then incredible things start happening. Even if you had wanted them you could not have expected them; you could not have found yourself worthy enough to expect them.

"When you feel that you are unworthy, suddenly great love showers from the divine. You were thinking you would be punished, you were thinking you would be judged, condemned. That's not the way of existence: there is no judgment and there is no condemnation. There is no hell, all is heaven – and all the way to heaven it is heaven. You just need a totally different way of looking at things.

"Look with clean, clear eyes, with not even a slight expectation lurking somewhere. Then each moment is a mystery, a revelation. And slowly, slowly you will come upon the second secret – this is the first secret, when one says, 'I give up.'

"The second secret is: suddenly you see that the sledgehammer is also a kiss and the kiss is also a sledgehammer. Then opposites lose their opposition, they become complementaries. If a sledgehammer is used, that too is because of love, for no other reason. It is a kiss! Those who understand, those who are ready to surrender, to trust, know it is a kiss. And a kiss is also a sledgehammer, because to be kissed by existence is to be transformed – to be crushed, killed, resurrected. Sledgehammer or kiss, there is no difference: that is the second secret.

"Once these two secrets are fulfilled, there is no more to discipleship. One has arrived home. You have fulfilled half the journey by saying, 'I give up.' Now please don't forget it.

"The mind tends to forget."