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How you do what you do is more important than what you do. The 'how' refers to the underlining state of consciousness.
Suffering is necessary, until you realize it is unnecessary.
Give up something and feel happy about it. Forget that it was ever yours. To think that you have given up something is also wrong. Don’t feel that. Just feel relaxed; be at ease. Realize that you are free—free from that burden. The object was a burden and now it is gone. Only if you can feel the burden of attachment to objects will you be able to feel the relaxation or bliss that comes with detachment and renunciation.
4. Is the state of ‘being still’ a state involving effort or effortlessness?
It is not an effortless state of indolence. All mundane activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks. But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara) or remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed with the entire mind and without break.
Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be destroyed by any other act is completely destroyed by this intense activity which is called ‘silence’ (mauna).
5. What is the nature of maya?
Maya is that which makes us regard as nonexistent the Self, the Reality,
which is always and everywhere present, all-pervasive and Self-luminous, and as existent the individual soul (jiva), the world (jagat), and God (para) which have been
conclusively proved to be nonexistent at all times and places.
6. As the Self shines fully of its own accord why is it not generally recognised like the other objects of the world by all persons?
Wherever particular objects are known it is the Self which has known itself in the form of those objects. For what is known as knowledge or awareness is only the potency of the Self (atma shakti).
The Self is the only sentient object.
There is nothing apart from the Self. If there are such objects they are all insentient and therefore cannot either know themselves or mutually know one another.
It is because the Self does not know its true nature in this manner that it seems to be immersed and struggling in the ocean of birth (and death) in the form of
the individual soul.
~ Spiritual Instruction
CHAPTER II. PRACTICE. (Abhyasa)
It is not an effortless state of indolence. All mundane activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks. But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara) or remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed with the entire mind and without break.
Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be destroyed by any other act is completely destroyed by this intense activity which is called ‘silence’ (mauna).
5. What is the nature of maya?
Maya is that which makes us regard as nonexistent the Self, the Reality,
which is always and everywhere present, all-pervasive and Self-luminous, and as existent the individual soul (jiva), the world (jagat), and God (para) which have been
conclusively proved to be nonexistent at all times and places.
6. As the Self shines fully of its own accord why is it not generally recognised like the other objects of the world by all persons?
Wherever particular objects are known it is the Self which has known itself in the form of those objects. For what is known as knowledge or awareness is only the potency of the Self (atma shakti).
The Self is the only sentient object.
There is nothing apart from the Self. If there are such objects they are all insentient and therefore cannot either know themselves or mutually know one another.
It is because the Self does not know its true nature in this manner that it seems to be immersed and struggling in the ocean of birth (and death) in the form of
the individual soul.
~ Spiritual Instruction
CHAPTER II. PRACTICE. (Abhyasa)
Being ungrateful for a blessing is the cause of its removal.
The worst brother is the one who keeps ties with you in good times but abandons you in times of difficulty.
The worst of your brothers is the one who flatters you and hides your faults from you.
Enmity with the honourable is safer than friendship with the wicked.
If you like to remain safe, then keep away from the companionship of a foolish person.
The one who is free of every and any intention, even the intention to be free, is free indeed.
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
Q: If you do not mind my asking a personal question...?
M: Yes, go ahead.
Q: I see you sitting on an antelope skin. How does it tally with non-violence?
M: All my working life I was a cigarette-maker, helping people to spoil their health. And in front of my door the municipality has put up a public lavatory, spoiling my health. In this violent world
how can one keep away from violence of some kind or other?
Q: Surely all avoidable violence should be avoided. And yet in India every holy man has his tiger, lion, leopard or antelope skin to sit on.
M: Maybes because no plastics were available in ancient times and a skin was best to keep the damp away. Rheumatism has no charm, even for a saint! Thus the tradition arose that for lengthy meditations a skin is needed. Just like the drum-hide in
a temple, so is the antelope skin of a Yogi. We hardly notice it.
Q: But the animal had to be killed.
M: I have never heard of a Yogi killing a tiger for his hide. The killers are not Yogis and the Yogis are not killers.
Q: Should you not express your disapproval by refusing to sit on a skin?
M: What an idea! I disapprove of the entire universe, why only a skin?
Q: What is wrong with the universe?
M: Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it.
Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care of itself. You do not tidy up a dark room. You open the windows first. Letting in the light makes everything easy. So, let us wait with improving others until we have seen ourselves as we are — and have changed. There is no need to turn round and round in endless questioning; find yourself and everything will fall into its proper place.
Q: The urge to return to the source is very rare. Is it at all natural?
M: Outgoing is natural in the beginning, ingoing — in the end.
But in reality the two are one, just like breathing in and out are one.
Q: In the same way are not the body and the dweller in the body one?
M: Events in time and space — birth and death, cause and effect — these may be taken as one; but the body and the embodied are not of the same order of reality. The body exists in time and space, transient and limited, while the dweller is timeless and spaceless, eternal and all-pervading. To identify the two is a grievous mistake and the cause of endless suffering.
You can speak of the mind and body as one, but the body-mind is not the underlying reality.
Q: Whoever he may be, the dweller is in control of the body and, therefore, responsible for it.
M: There is a universal power which is in control and is responsible.
Q: And so, I can do as I like and put the blame on some universal power? How easy!
M: Yes, very easy. Just realize the One Mover behind all that moves and leave all to Him. If you do not hesitate, or cheat, this
is the shortest way to reality. Stand without desire and fear, relinquishing all control and all responsibility.
Q: What madness!
M: Yes, divine madness. What is wrong in letting go the illusion of personal control and personal responsibility? Both are in the
mind only. Of course, as long as you imagine yourself to be in control, you should also imagine yourself to be responsible.
One implies the other.
Q: How can the universal be responsible for the particular?
M: All life on earth depends on the sun. Yet you cannot blame the sun for all that happens, though it is the ultimate cause. Light causes the colour of the flower, but it neither controls, nor is responsible for it directly. It makes it possible, that is all.
- Excerpt from: I AM THAT.
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Chapter 35.
M: Yes, go ahead.
Q: I see you sitting on an antelope skin. How does it tally with non-violence?
M: All my working life I was a cigarette-maker, helping people to spoil their health. And in front of my door the municipality has put up a public lavatory, spoiling my health. In this violent world
how can one keep away from violence of some kind or other?
Q: Surely all avoidable violence should be avoided. And yet in India every holy man has his tiger, lion, leopard or antelope skin to sit on.
M: Maybes because no plastics were available in ancient times and a skin was best to keep the damp away. Rheumatism has no charm, even for a saint! Thus the tradition arose that for lengthy meditations a skin is needed. Just like the drum-hide in
a temple, so is the antelope skin of a Yogi. We hardly notice it.
Q: But the animal had to be killed.
M: I have never heard of a Yogi killing a tiger for his hide. The killers are not Yogis and the Yogis are not killers.
Q: Should you not express your disapproval by refusing to sit on a skin?
M: What an idea! I disapprove of the entire universe, why only a skin?
Q: What is wrong with the universe?
M: Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it.
Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care of itself. You do not tidy up a dark room. You open the windows first. Letting in the light makes everything easy. So, let us wait with improving others until we have seen ourselves as we are — and have changed. There is no need to turn round and round in endless questioning; find yourself and everything will fall into its proper place.
Q: The urge to return to the source is very rare. Is it at all natural?
M: Outgoing is natural in the beginning, ingoing — in the end.
But in reality the two are one, just like breathing in and out are one.
Q: In the same way are not the body and the dweller in the body one?
M: Events in time and space — birth and death, cause and effect — these may be taken as one; but the body and the embodied are not of the same order of reality. The body exists in time and space, transient and limited, while the dweller is timeless and spaceless, eternal and all-pervading. To identify the two is a grievous mistake and the cause of endless suffering.
You can speak of the mind and body as one, but the body-mind is not the underlying reality.
Q: Whoever he may be, the dweller is in control of the body and, therefore, responsible for it.
M: There is a universal power which is in control and is responsible.
Q: And so, I can do as I like and put the blame on some universal power? How easy!
M: Yes, very easy. Just realize the One Mover behind all that moves and leave all to Him. If you do not hesitate, or cheat, this
is the shortest way to reality. Stand without desire and fear, relinquishing all control and all responsibility.
Q: What madness!
M: Yes, divine madness. What is wrong in letting go the illusion of personal control and personal responsibility? Both are in the
mind only. Of course, as long as you imagine yourself to be in control, you should also imagine yourself to be responsible.
One implies the other.
Q: How can the universal be responsible for the particular?
M: All life on earth depends on the sun. Yet you cannot blame the sun for all that happens, though it is the ultimate cause. Light causes the colour of the flower, but it neither controls, nor is responsible for it directly. It makes it possible, that is all.
- Excerpt from: I AM THAT.
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Chapter 35.
You say you offer your body, soul and all possessions to God. Were they yours that you could offer them?
~ Day by Day
22-11-1945
~ Day by Day
22-11-1945
Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi
I had heard previously much about the spiritual pre-eminence of Sri Maharshi; it is only recently that I had the good fortune of coming into direct contact with him.
One of the most remarkable features about Sri Maharshi is that his teachings are mirrored to perfection in his life.
Abidance in the Self, declares the Sage, is the highest attainment, and it is in this State Transcendent does one find him at all times.
It is a still more remarkable fact that this harmony we now find between the Sage’s
precept and practice had commenced with his boyhood life at the Hill of Arunachala.
Sri Maharshi does not preach a complicated code of sadhana.
The simplicity of his teaching may be explained by the fact that the Sage himself had his realisation in its pristine purity and without the prop of scholastic learning. His teachings have a strong rational appeal,
evidently because his own realisation, being based entirely on his own experience, is independent of all extraneous authority. It is due to this rational appeal that we find today men of all castes and creeds, of all races and religions and from distant parts of the globe paying their homage to the venerable Sage.
Perhaps there is no instance in history where a sage, who, during his lifetime, had so influenced the thoughtful aspirants in his own country as well as in foreign lands, while he himself did not stir for more than fifty years from the place he chose for his abode.
What has appealed to me most is the divinity and grace that radiates from the countenance of the Sage, who has captivated the heart of the educated and illiterate, of the young and old, the prince and pauper, men, women and children, nay,
even animals and birds.
- Prof. S.V. Ram, M.A., Ph.D., was Head, Dept. of Political Science, Lucknow University.
I had heard previously much about the spiritual pre-eminence of Sri Maharshi; it is only recently that I had the good fortune of coming into direct contact with him.
One of the most remarkable features about Sri Maharshi is that his teachings are mirrored to perfection in his life.
Abidance in the Self, declares the Sage, is the highest attainment, and it is in this State Transcendent does one find him at all times.
It is a still more remarkable fact that this harmony we now find between the Sage’s
precept and practice had commenced with his boyhood life at the Hill of Arunachala.
Sri Maharshi does not preach a complicated code of sadhana.
The simplicity of his teaching may be explained by the fact that the Sage himself had his realisation in its pristine purity and without the prop of scholastic learning. His teachings have a strong rational appeal,
evidently because his own realisation, being based entirely on his own experience, is independent of all extraneous authority. It is due to this rational appeal that we find today men of all castes and creeds, of all races and religions and from distant parts of the globe paying their homage to the venerable Sage.
Perhaps there is no instance in history where a sage, who, during his lifetime, had so influenced the thoughtful aspirants in his own country as well as in foreign lands, while he himself did not stir for more than fifty years from the place he chose for his abode.
What has appealed to me most is the divinity and grace that radiates from the countenance of the Sage, who has captivated the heart of the educated and illiterate, of the young and old, the prince and pauper, men, women and children, nay,
even animals and birds.
- Prof. S.V. Ram, M.A., Ph.D., was Head, Dept. of Political Science, Lucknow University.
By all means be selfish — the right way. Wish yourself well, labour at what is good for you. Destroy all that stands between you and happiness. Be all — love all — be happy — make happy. No happiness is greater.
People insist on asking me questions and so I must reply. But the truth is beyond words.
Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.
Find solace in the privilege to pursue, most people are crushed into servitude.
Where is the Divine World?
When studying the Upanishads in my early days, I always visualised the divine abode in the sun god and was performing the practices enjoined in certain texts. Even later, after settling at the abode of Sri Maharshi, I continued this practice (upasana). It proved very hard to succeed in this process and I had to undergo very trying experiences,
so I referred the whole matter to Bhagavan.
"So you want to go to the divine world ?" asked he.
"That is what I am trying to obtain; that is what the scriptures prescribe," I answered. "But where are you now ?" the Master asked. I replied, "I am in your presence."
"Poor thing! You are here and now in the divine world, and you want to obtain it elsewhere! Know that to be the divine world where one is firmly established in the Divine. Such a one is full (purna); he encompasses and transcends all that is manifest. He is the substratum of the screen on which the whole manifestation runs like the picture film. Whether moving pictures run or not, the screen is always there and is never affected by the action of the pictures. You are here and now in the divine world. You are like a thirsty man wanting to drink, while he is all the time standing neck deep in the Ganga.
Give up all efforts and surrender. Let the 'I' that wants the divine world die, and the Divine in you will be realised here and now. For it is already in you as the Self, not different from the Divine (Brahman), nameless and formless. It is already in you, and how are you to obtain that which ever remains obtained? The Self (atman) in you is surely not different from US."
Thus spoke Bhagavan.
"So then, Bhagavan says that he is the Self, (kutastha) in this, the field of this soul (jiva), that this is already established in Bhagavan as such, so this soul need do nothing but give up the sense of being a separate soul?" I asked, prostrating before Bhagavan.
"Yes, yes," he replied, "that is what one must do to drop the ego-sense. If that is done the Self will be experienced as 'I-I' here and now and at all times. There will be no going into the divine world or coming out of it. You will be as you really are. This is the practice (sadhana) and this is the perfection (siddhi) too."
This teaching of Sri Bhagavan, himself being the divine world, is recorded for the benefit of all who are ever in Him. Our hearts were kindled to deep affection while he taught us by word and example, while he silently showered the nectar dew of grace upon us all. Today they turn to Him within, by day and night, no less of old; and they rejoice to find that grace wells up from the fountain of the one Self who alone is all wisdom, love and power.
- At The Feet Of Bhagavan
by T. K. Sundaresa Iyer
Source: THE MAHARSHI
Sep / Oct 1993. Vol.3 No.5
When studying the Upanishads in my early days, I always visualised the divine abode in the sun god and was performing the practices enjoined in certain texts. Even later, after settling at the abode of Sri Maharshi, I continued this practice (upasana). It proved very hard to succeed in this process and I had to undergo very trying experiences,
so I referred the whole matter to Bhagavan.
"So you want to go to the divine world ?" asked he.
"That is what I am trying to obtain; that is what the scriptures prescribe," I answered. "But where are you now ?" the Master asked. I replied, "I am in your presence."
"Poor thing! You are here and now in the divine world, and you want to obtain it elsewhere! Know that to be the divine world where one is firmly established in the Divine. Such a one is full (purna); he encompasses and transcends all that is manifest. He is the substratum of the screen on which the whole manifestation runs like the picture film. Whether moving pictures run or not, the screen is always there and is never affected by the action of the pictures. You are here and now in the divine world. You are like a thirsty man wanting to drink, while he is all the time standing neck deep in the Ganga.
Give up all efforts and surrender. Let the 'I' that wants the divine world die, and the Divine in you will be realised here and now. For it is already in you as the Self, not different from the Divine (Brahman), nameless and formless. It is already in you, and how are you to obtain that which ever remains obtained? The Self (atman) in you is surely not different from US."
Thus spoke Bhagavan.
"So then, Bhagavan says that he is the Self, (kutastha) in this, the field of this soul (jiva), that this is already established in Bhagavan as such, so this soul need do nothing but give up the sense of being a separate soul?" I asked, prostrating before Bhagavan.
"Yes, yes," he replied, "that is what one must do to drop the ego-sense. If that is done the Self will be experienced as 'I-I' here and now and at all times. There will be no going into the divine world or coming out of it. You will be as you really are. This is the practice (sadhana) and this is the perfection (siddhi) too."
This teaching of Sri Bhagavan, himself being the divine world, is recorded for the benefit of all who are ever in Him. Our hearts were kindled to deep affection while he taught us by word and example, while he silently showered the nectar dew of grace upon us all. Today they turn to Him within, by day and night, no less of old; and they rejoice to find that grace wells up from the fountain of the one Self who alone is all wisdom, love and power.
- At The Feet Of Bhagavan
by T. K. Sundaresa Iyer
Source: THE MAHARSHI
Sep / Oct 1993. Vol.3 No.5
Sometimes I meet beings who say they have realised the Self. They believe or claim that they know and understand the Truth. They say they sense it, feel it and are convinced it is what they are and so on. However, it is often sensed here that the mind takes delivery for this understanding and purchases further life as the egoic ‘achiever’ of ultimate Truth. Consequently, the realisation does not get baptised in the Heart and a real chance of freedom gradually fades away.
Therefore, such beings can retain their sense of personhood, unknowingly. Some even edit my words to fit in with their personal inclinations, projections and spiritual fantasies, but I want to burn all of this to the ground in order that they attain true freedom.
What we speak about here is authentic transcendence, you see? One has to overcome the hypnosis of personal conditioning. They have to be free from the psychological influence of the mind. I don’t mean that you should ‘stop’ your mind but rather, focus on the witness of mind. Therefore, it has to be an authentic transcendence, not a Hollywood awakening.
Sometimes I say I don’t want or feel for your company. You indulge too much mental and psychological noise. There are too many relationships going on inside your mind. Your representations of yourself mentally, emotionally, psychically are not authentic expressions of the Self. Such a localised identity is not enough at this level of understanding, insight or, we could say, Self-knowledge.
So what has to happen?
You have to be That.
How are you going to be That?
The ‘you’ who you take yourself to be cannot be That. Being That is not a verb, an action you will take. It is an awakening, a recognition so profound that it changes your mind’s orientation immediately and irreversibly. As real understanding takes over, it will be a life changing experience.
It is as though I am telling you to do something ‘you’, as ego, cannot do.
Your mind cannot do it, but it is required of you to, acknowledge and be That which you are.
You have to be open to expose what is not in service to your true nature. It is the highest aspect of my work, guidance or teaching and it is more like an energetic correspondence, not only a verbal one.
Let the untrue be exposed and thoroughly burned. Sometimes the way into that completeness, that recognition, is that whatever is untrue is rejected as it is recognised as false, either by you or by me.
And you may be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I really thought I was getting somewhere! This is so discouraging’… and so your world feels like it is turned upside down. Do not be disheartened, instead keep an attitude of gratitude.
It is your good fortune that your ‘world’ is being crushed. I myself don’t have a world. Let yours be upside down so that what is true in you can reveal itself and begin unfolding in its authentic expression as true life and being.
Grace is helping you in every way. Trust it. Say, “Yes, I am here, remove this sense of separation, this arrogance of separateness and merge me in you, oh God, oh Universe Being, Self, Truth, Life. Don’t give me any technique.
Absorb me. Replace me with You.”
And finally: Trust your master.
Therefore, such beings can retain their sense of personhood, unknowingly. Some even edit my words to fit in with their personal inclinations, projections and spiritual fantasies, but I want to burn all of this to the ground in order that they attain true freedom.
What we speak about here is authentic transcendence, you see? One has to overcome the hypnosis of personal conditioning. They have to be free from the psychological influence of the mind. I don’t mean that you should ‘stop’ your mind but rather, focus on the witness of mind. Therefore, it has to be an authentic transcendence, not a Hollywood awakening.
Sometimes I say I don’t want or feel for your company. You indulge too much mental and psychological noise. There are too many relationships going on inside your mind. Your representations of yourself mentally, emotionally, psychically are not authentic ex
So what has to happen?
You have to be That.
How are you going to be That?
The ‘you’ who you take yourself to be cannot be That. Being That is not a verb, an action you will take. It is an awakening, a recognition so profound that it changes your mind’s orientation immediately and irreversibly. As real understanding takes over, it will be a life changing experience.
It is as though I am telling you to do something ‘you’, as ego, cannot do.
Your mind cannot do it, but it is required of you to, acknowledge and be That which you are.
You have to be open to expose what is not in service to your true nature. It is the highest aspect of my work, guidance or teaching and it is more like an energetic correspondence, not only a verbal one.
Let the untrue be exposed and thoroughly burned. Sometimes the way into that completeness, that recognition, is that whatever is untrue is rejected as it is recognised as false, either by you or by me.
And you may be thinking, ‘Oh my god, I really thought I was getting somewhere! This is so discouraging’… and so your world feels like it is turned upside down. Do not be disheartened, instead keep an attitude of gratitude.
It is your good fortune that your ‘world’ is being crushed. I myself don’t have a world. Let yours be upside down so that what is true in you can reveal itself and begin unfolding in its authentic ex
Grace is helping you in every way. Trust it. Say, “Yes, I am here, remove this sense of separation, this arrogance of separateness and merge me in you, oh God, oh Universe Being, Self, Truth, Life. Don’t give me any technique.
Absorb me. Replace me with You.”
And finally: Trust your master.
FEAR
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.
As long as you are a beginner certain formalised meditations, or prayers may be good for you.
But for a seeker for reality there is only one meditation - the rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts. To be free from thoughts is itself meditation.
You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind till it stops altogether.
Once the mind is quiet, keep it quiet. Don't get bored with peace, be in it, go deeper into it.
But for a seeker for reality there is only one meditation - the rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts. To be free from thoughts is itself meditation.
You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind till it stops altogether.
Once the mind is quiet, keep it quiet. Don't get bored with peace, be in it, go deeper into it.
NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ:
Visitor: In the process of meditation when one reaches the silence and asks ' Who am I?' there comes a profound silence where the notion ' I' does not arise. Is this the state, and if so, can one have flashes of it prior to Self-realisation?
Maharaj:" These experiences are in the realm of your birth-state."
V: The state that I am referring to is the state where birth is forgotten, as are the name and form.
M:" What you have described of samadhi, or meditation, is correct, but it is still the product of the body-mind imagination. Whatever experiences you have in meditation, of that silence also, is confined to the realm of Consciousness. Consciousness is born and it will go. You are prior to it."
V: It is also said that the Self is Self-effulgent, that it is light, and that the Consciousness appears by a reflection of that light. If one were to pursue the light, could one find the state to which Maharaj is referring?
M:" Whatever is manifest before you has come out of that Consciousness."
V: I was talking about a Self-indulgent light that equates itself with the Self. If one is a seeker of Truth, by finding that light would one find the Truth?
M:" There is the true Awareness, from which comes Consciousness, which is your feeling ' I Am'; be one with your Consciousness and that is all you can do, the Ultimate state must come to you. You can only watch whatever happens- there is nothing you can do to get it."
V: Many of the religious texts of Advaita Vedanta express the notion that as one becomes Self-aware there is a light that permeates, and that the light which the world, or Maya, has is a reflection of that primordial light. Is that not literal?
M:" Maya is the expression of that One which cannot be described. Consciousness is manifesting itself through all this, and you are before Consciousness. Consciousness is the soul of this manifest world, and you, the Absolute, are the soul of Consciousness.
Whatever you have read is only the concepts of the writers. Does it tally with your personal knowledge?"
V: No, these are the guidelines toward achieving the sense of ' I Am'. They also say that all Gurus are one.
M:" Guru is the same all-pervading Consciousness ' I Am'. The Sat-Guru has gone beyond all these concepts, including the primary concept ' I Am'."
Visitor: In the process of meditation when one reaches the silence and asks ' Who am I?' there comes a profound silence where the notion ' I' does not arise. Is this the state, and if so, can one have flashes of it prior to Self-realisation?
Maharaj:" These experiences are in the realm of your birth-state."
V: The state that I am referring to is the state where birth is forgotten, as are the name and form.
M:" What you have described of samadhi, or meditation, is correct, but it is still the product of the body-mind imagination. Whatever experiences you have in meditation, of that silence also, is confined to the realm of Consciousness. Consciousness is born and it will go. You are prior to it."
V: It is also said that the Self is Self-effulgent, that it is light, and that the Consciousness appears by a reflection of that light. If one were to pursue the light, could one find the state to which Maharaj is referring?
M:" Whatever is manifest before you has come out of that Consciousness."
V: I was talking about a Self-indulgent light that equates itself with the Self. If one is a seeker of Truth, by finding that light would one find the Truth?
M:" There is the true Awareness, from which comes Consciousness, which is your feeling ' I Am'; be one with your Consciousness and that is all you can do, the Ultimate state must come to you. You can only watch whatever happens- there is nothing you can do to get it."
V: Many of the religious texts of Advaita Vedanta express the notion that as one becomes Self-aware there is a light that permeates, and that the light which the world, or Maya, has is a reflection of that primordial light. Is that not literal?
M:" Maya is the ex
Whatever you have read is only the concepts of the writers. Does it tally with your personal knowledge?"
V: No, these are the guidelines toward achieving the sense of ' I Am'. They also say that all Gurus are one.
M:" Guru is the same all-pervading Consciousness ' I Am'. The Sat-Guru has gone beyond all these concepts, including the primary concept ' I Am'."
It's not what the mind says.
It's how seriously it is taken.
It's how seriously it is taken.
The happiness that we gain from the outer world is fleeting: it never stays with us for long. It is there one moment and gone the next. But spiritual bliss is not like this. Once the final breakthrough happens, where you transcend the limitations of body, mind and intellect, the bliss is forever and it is infinite. Once you reach that ultimate state, there is no return.
Beings
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