Nirupana 47
Sunday, July 30, 1978

From birth to death, all actions are performed in order to pass the time. The greatest good in life is to know who we are. It is impossible to establish order in the world. Meanwhile, those who teach and those who learn, all pass away. Religion is formed by the concepts of its followers, nothing else.

Our consciousness is the base for all worldly dealings. However, there is no base for consciousness. It has come uninvited. It rises and then passes away. There was no memory of ‘I am’ before, and now it is there.
Except for this, what do you possess as your own? One who has realized himself has no concern about his well-being.

Wakefulness, sleep and hunger have no substitute. No law applies to them. Without these, nobody would do anything. Realized men are silent in spite of the knowledge they have. They know the secret of birth and why it has arrived.
How was this consciousness imposed on you and since when?
This must be understood.
To get into samadhi means to let go of the mind with its memory.

Your breathing is proof of the existence of the breathless One. The word comes upon waking up, therefore you are prior to the word. The wordless meaning of our consciousness is the sense ‘I am’. If you remain completely silent, you experience the Self. There is only one Self for all. Prana works also in sleep. It has no meaning then, as it has no knowledge of its vibration. Waking up is to feel ‘I am’ without pronouncing the words.

The three gunas are the names given to three types of behavior. They function in all living beings. We should not judge anyone’s behavior. One who understands gunas will understand this. People with Rajo guna and Tamo guna will meddle with others’ affairs instead of working on themselves. The bodies may be different, but consciousness is the same in all. It is formless. You might say that it has a flavor, a quality, which is love. The knowledge ‘I am’ loves itself and, hence, we can distinguish between good and bad. One who understands its greatness finds it all-pervading. Such a person does not criticize others. All things are being done for the sake of the love of Self. One who has devotion to all beings, as if they are God, cannot hate anyone. He sees clearly that he is not the doer.

Hold onto the fact that you are Brahman. First you know that ‘you are’ and then the words follow.
Whose information is it?
It is the information of the one who feels ‘he is’. Consciousness is knowingness; a sense of being. All the activity of Purusha (supreme Self) and prakriti (creation) is based upon this. One who reaches this stage keeps quiet. He knows that in its absence there is no happiness or sorrow. Can you recede back to this stage?

So as to know who you are, understand consciousness with determination. What is more important than consciousness in the whole world? When you reach that point, you will not utter a single word about others.
Without consciousness, there is no word. Pay attention to consciousness and nothing else. The one who does not recognize this has to suffer many miseries.

The world is a fun-game created out of one’s own existence. No one can stop the process of creation, maintenance and dissolution of the world. This is because there is no creator. With a slight illumination of consciousness, the universe with its infinite space is created. It is the wonder of the subtle consciousness.

What came first, the body of the world or our body? Your true nature is formless, yet it identifies with the body. In the same way, the world looks real through the senses! Who is prior: the world or the one who sees
the world? Your wakefulness is the same as the world.

First comes consciousness, and then the world is seen in it. Consciousness is unstable. It likes to be.
However, when ‘I am-ness’ goes so does the world. You have to see this with a very subtle inner discrimination. This vast panoramic world is the reflection of your consciousness. As such it is nameless; yet
name gives it support and transactions are made possible. All names are concepts. When Parabrahman remains in the unmanifest state, can He have a name?

Krishna says He is all-pervading. Because of the sense of duality people differentiate. They either praise or censure. The concept ‘I am like this’ is the basic reason of misery or happiness. If you stay with the feeling
‘I am’, the basic vibration of ‘I am’, you will digest miseries as easily as happiness. Whatever is visible, whatever appears, has not happened at all!

Do not indulge in flattery or censure, even if it costs you your life, as there is no other. Unless the sense ‘I am like this’ goes, the duality will not go. You must understand the ultimate meaning of your Self, by yourself. Then nothing can harm you. One in a million tries to know it. One who realizes it, his
consciousness merges peacefully within his own Self. Consciousness disappears into the knower. That is called Parabrahman.

You know what you are before you know anything else. Convince yourself that you are pure consciousness.
All worldly dealings will be carried out spontaneously. It is the only way. The notion that you do something is utterly false.

MEDITATIONS WITH SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ