Keep quiet. Do your work in the world, but
inwardly keep quiet. Then all will come to
you. Do not rely on your work for realization.
It may profit others, but not you. Your hope
lies in keeping silent in your mind and quite
in your heart.
inwardly keep quiet. Then all will come to
you. Do not rely on your work for realization.
It may profit others, but not you. Your hope
lies in keeping silent in your mind and quite
in your heart.
In reality there is only the source, dark in itself, making everything shine.
Unperceived, it causes perception.
Unfelt, it causes feeling.
Unthinkable, it causes thought.
Non-being, it gives birth to being.
It is the immovable background of motion.
Once you are there, you are at home everywhere.
Unperceived, it causes perception.
Unfelt, it causes feeling.
Unthinkable, it causes thought.
Non-being, it gives birth to being.
It is the immovable background of motion.
Once you are there, you are at home everywhere.
Questioner:
I am tired of all the ways and means and skills and tricks, of all these mental acrobatics. Is there a way to perceive reality directly and immediatelly?
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:
Stop making use of your mind
and see what happens.
Do this one thing thoroughly.
That is all.
I am tired of all the ways and means and skills and tricks, of all these mental acrobatics. Is there a way to perceive reality directly and immediatelly?
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:
Stop making use of your mind
and see what happens.
Do this one thing thoroughly.
That is all.
THE INDWELLER
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.
I AM THAT ch. 35
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.
I AM THAT ch. 35
When a jnani joins the universal mind, all his goodness and wisdom become the heritage of humanity and uplift every human being.
Source: I Am That, Chapter 24
Source: I Am That, Chapter 24
Relax and watch the 'I am'. Reality is just behind it. Keep quiet, keep silent, it will emerge, or, rather, it will take you in.
These moments of inner quiet will burn out all obstacles without fail. Don't doubt its efficacy. Try it.
The highest type of rest is when 'I am' and 'I am not' are both forgotten. It is called 'Param Vishranti', which also means total rest, complete relaxation or utter quietude in the highest state.
Source: Nisargadatta Gita (105)
Source: Nisargadatta Gita (105)
You are entangled in the web of verbal definitions and formulations. Go beyond your concepts and ideas; in the silence of desire and thought the truth is found.
You are entangled in the web of verbal definitions and formulations. Go beyond your concepts and ideas; in the silence of desire and thought the truth is found.
The desire to find the Self will be surely fulfilled, provided that you want nothing else.
If you could only keep quiet, clear of memories and expectations, you would be able to discern the beautiful pattern of events. It is your restlessness that causes chaos.
N.MAHARAJ: Visitor: A person translated the book ' I Am That' into a foreign language, and he wants to give it the tittle ' Tat-Tvam-Asi'.
Maharaj: "I do not like that. Either keep the title ' I Am that' or none at all."
V: But Mr. Maurice Frydman had agreed.
M:" I do not agree. Also, do not dilute the contents of the book with your understanding, even though you may consider yourself a Jnani. Do it the same way Frydman did; the exact and original text should be translated, with no modifications."
V: I now realise after meditation that the essence of your teachings is contained in ' I Am That'.
M:' If you want to realise the meaning of ' I Am That', go into deep meditation, but ' you', the manifest, should merge in 'You', the Un-manifest'. That is the ultimate meaning. Whatever experience I get of t he world and God, is not due to any favour or obligation of God but is entirely due to me, because of my state. If I were not, I would not have had the experience. I did prevail and do prevail always. Because of my Beingness, I experience the world. I now see clearly the oneness in the teachings of the three seers or Acharyas- Shankara, Madhava and Ramanuja.
All the creations emanate from the Moolamaya, the primary illusion and its secret humming. All words, talks and titles refer to those emanations. Similarly, all these images are the chattering and expressions of somebody. The images are the products of the love-talk and coming together of two persons.
The state of Beingness is termed as God. The godly state is the entire manifestation. It is my state in experiencing; it is duality. But my Un-manifest state is non-dual, and in that state there is no experiencing and manifestation. I, the Absolute, am not the state of Being.
In spite of all the spiritual knowledge, you are not inclined to give up the experiences at the body-mind level. If you do not identify with the body-mind sense you will transcend into the Beingness first, and later, you will transcend even the Beingness. However, you want to keep your individuality at the body-mind level as well as experience and be in both the Beingness and 'Non-Beingness' states, which is impossible.
I, the Absolute, am the witness of my Beingness, which is the total manifestation. This state is being glorified with very high attributes, such as God, Maheshwar etc., and worshipped by many people. To them, such a talk of mine may smack of mischief."
Source: 'The Nectar of the Lord's Feet'
Edited by Robert Powell.
Maharaj: "I do not like that. Either keep the title ' I Am that' or none at all."
V: But Mr. Maurice Frydman had agreed.
M:" I do not agree. Also, do not dilute the contents of the book with your understanding, even though you may consider yourself a Jnani. Do it the same way Frydman did; the exact and original text should be translated, with no modifications."
V: I now realise after meditation that the essence of your teachings is contained in ' I Am That'.
M:' If you want to realise the meaning of ' I Am That', go into deep meditation, but ' you', the manifest, should merge in 'You', the Un-manifest'. That is the ultimate meaning. Whatever experience I get of t he world and God, is not due to any favour or obligation of God but is entirely due to me, because of my state. If I were not, I would not have had the experience. I did prevail and do prevail always. Because of my Beingness, I experience the world. I now see clearly the oneness in the teachings of the three seers or Acharyas- Shankara, Madhava and Ramanuja.
All the creations emanate from the Moolamaya, the primary illusion and its secret humming. All words, talks and titles refer to those emanations. Similarly, all these images are the chattering and ex
The state of Beingness is termed as God. The godly state is the entire manifestation. It is my state in experiencing; it is duality. But my Un-manifest state is non-dual, and in that state there is no experiencing and manifestation. I, the Absolute, am not the state of Being.
In spite of all the spiritual knowledge, you are not inclined to give up the experiences at the body-mind level. If you do not identify with the body-mind sense you will transcend into the Beingness first, and later, you will transcend even the Beingness. However, you want to keep your individuality at the body-mind level as well as experience and be in both the Beingness and 'Non-Beingness' states, which is impossible.
I, the Absolute, am the witness of my Beingness, which is the total manifestation. This state is being glorified with very high attributes, such as God, Maheshwar etc., and worshipped by many people. To them, such a talk of mine may smack of mischief."
Source: 'The Nectar of the Lord's Feet'
Edited by Robert Powell.
The Basic Truth....
The entire manifested universe is an appearance in consciousness. If you are not conscious the world does not exist for you, since then you cannot cognize anything. This consciousness in which you cognize the phenomenal universe is all that you are. As long as you are in the phenomenal world, you can perceive only that. You cannot be that which you are until you wake up from the dream of phenomenality and stop objectivizing and conceptualizing. This is the basic essential.
Noumenon is the substance, the phenomenon is mere reflection - they are not different. The next point to understand is this: In the phenomenal world when 'you' see 'him', both are objects seen by each other as appearances in consciousness. But, there is no subject that sees the other as an object. There is only seeing, functioning. This functioning takes place through the medium of the physical form which is itself only a manifestation and, therefore, also an aspect of noumenon, much like the shadow is of its substance.
So long as there is no question of an individual entity assuming choice of action, all phenomenal functioning takes place spontaneously and the question of bondage and liberation does not arise. But what happens is that with the consciousness (the 'I amness) having identified itself with the psychosomatic form, the form now gets bestowed with a spurious subjectivity as a separate entity.
Although the form itself is only a phenomenon, a reflection of the noumenon, an object in relativity, it, instead of the noumenon, appears to be the subject, cognizing everything perceivable to its senses as objects. Thus is created the pseudo-entity which appears to be born, to live and to die. This pseudo-entity also appears to have independent authority to choose and to decide; and with this authority it assumes responsibility for what happens to it, including its suffering, its sins and merits, and its consequent bondage and need for liberation. We see that what we are has mistakenly identified itself in relativity with what we are not, the pseudo-entity.
The concept of bondage arises from this mis-identification. The pseudo-entity suffers guilt and bondage and seeks liberation. The real 'I', the noumenon, pure subjectivity, cannot possibly suffer because it is not equipped with any instruments with which sensation could be experienced. Any experience, pleasant or unpleasant, could only be experienced by the phantom object.
In the case of the Jnani, the wise man, he has understood the basic illusion of the manifested universe and his apparent role as a phenomenon in the spontaneous functioning of the manifestation. He has adapted himself smoothly to whatever happens to the phenomenon as it goes through its allotted journey of life, and thereafter 'returns home'. He seems to be living his life like any other man, but the significant difference is that he has not identified himself with the body complex, and, therefore, there is no pseudo-entity that can experience suffering.
The ignorant person continues to go through the dream world thinking of himself as an independent entity with apparent volition. He involves himself in the notion of doership and causality and suffers the results, becoming bound by the concept of Karma, including the concept of rebirth. The Absolute nounemality manifests itself through millions of forms which are created and destroyed every moment, and in this spontaneous functioning there is no place at all for the notion of any entity. Therefore, any action taken based on the notion that you are an autonomous, independent entity seeking 'liberation' will only lock you further into 'bondage'.
When you analyze the situation you will discover that it is but consciousness seeking the unmanifested source of manifestation, and not finding it, because this consciousness, ever-moving, ever-active, is actually just seeking itself, in its serene, inactive, potential state. It is the seeker that is being sought. When this is deeply, intuitively perceived then the seeker will disappear and the Source will remain.
What you appear to be, what you are conditioned to think you are but are not, is temporal. But what you are is intemporality. What you think you are is some thing in time, a river of time flowing from infancy to old age, from birth to death, like any other manifested phenomenon, but what you subjectively are is timeless, here and now... where 'here' means the absence of space and 'now' means the absence of time. The past is only a memory and the future is only a hope; both past and future are conceptual, rooted in duality. But, the now, the present is intemporal, spontaneous and ever new, free of conceptualization, and that is what you are...
The entire manifested universe is an appearance in consciousness. If you are not conscious the world does not exist for you, since then you cannot cognize anything. This consciousness in which you cognize the phenomenal universe is all that you are. As long as you are in the phenomenal world, you can perceive only that. You cannot be that which you are until you wake up from the dream of phenomenality and stop objectivizing and conceptualizing. This is the basic essential.
Noumenon is the substance, the phenomenon is mere reflection - they are not different. The next point to understand is this: In the phenomenal world when 'you' see 'him', both are objects seen by each other as appearances in consciousness. But, there is no subject that sees the other as an object. There is only seeing, functioning. This functioning takes place through the medium of the physical form which is itself only a manifestation and, therefore, also an aspect of noumenon, much like the shadow is of its substance.
So long as there is no question of an individual entity assuming choice of action, all phenomenal functioning takes place spontaneously and the question of bondage and liberation does not arise. But what happens is that with the consciousness (the 'I amness) having identified itself with the psychosomatic form, the form now gets bestowed with a spurious subjectivity as a separate entity.
Although the form itself is only a phenomenon, a reflection of the noumenon, an object in relativity, it, instead of the noumenon, appears to be the subject, cognizing everything perceivable to its senses as objects. Thus is created the pseudo-entity which appears to be born, to live and to die. This pseudo-entity also appears to have independent authority to choose and to decide; and with this authority it assumes responsibility for what happens to it, including its suffering, its sins and merits, and its consequent bondage and need for liberation. We see that what we are has mistakenly identified itself in relativity with what we are not, the pseudo-entity.
The concept of bondage arises from this mis-identification. The pseudo-entity suffers guilt and bondage and seeks liberation. The real 'I', the noumenon, pure subjectivity, cannot possibly suffer because it is not equipped with any instruments with which sensation could be experienced. Any experience, pleasant or unpleasant, could only be experienced by the phantom object.
In the case of the Jnani, the wise man, he has understood the basic illusion of the manifested universe and his apparent role as a phenomenon in the spontaneous functioning of the manifestation. He has adapted himself smoothly to whatever happens to the phenomenon as it goes through its allotted journey of life, and thereafter 'returns home'. He seems to be living his life like any other man, but the significant difference is that he has not identified himself with the body complex, and, therefore, there is no pseudo-entity that can experience suffering.
The ignorant person continues to go through the dream world thinking of himself as an independent entity with apparent volition. He involves himself in the notion of doership and causality and suffers the results, becoming bound by the concept of Karma, including the concept of rebirth. The Absolute nounemality manifests itself through millions of forms which are created and destroyed every moment, and in this spontaneous functioning there is no place at all for the notion of any entity. Therefore, any action taken based on the notion that you are an autonomous, independent entity seeking 'liberation' will only lock you further into 'bondage'.
When you analyze the situation you will discover that it is but consciousness seeking the unmanifested source of manifestation, and not finding it, because this consciousness, ever-moving, ever-active, is actually just seeking itself, in its serene, inactive, potential state. It is the seeker that is being sought. When this is deeply, intuitively perceived then the seeker will disappear and the Source will remain.
What you appear to be, what you are conditioned to think you are but are not, is temporal. But what you are is intemporality. What you think you are is some thing in time, a river of time flowing from infancy to old age, from birth to death, like any other manifested phenomenon, but what you subjectively are is timeless, here and now... where 'here' means the absence of space and 'now' means the absence of time. The past is only a memory and the future is only a hope; both past and future are conceptual, rooted in duality. But, the now, the present is intemporal, spontaneous and ever new, free of conceptualization, and that is what you are...
Everybody wants to be active, but where do his actions originate? There is no central point: each action begets another, meaninglessly and painfully, in endless succession. The alternation of work and pause is not there.
First find the immutable centre where all movement takes birth. Just like a wheel turns round an axle, so must you be always in the centre and not whirling at the periphery.
First find the immutable centre where all movement takes birth. Just like a wheel turns round an axle, so must you be always in the centre and not whirling at the periphery.
There is no individual self...
The fundamental fact is that no phenomenal object can have any independent existence of its own, and without this autonomy it has no choice of action. As a sentient being you think that you act and react, but the real functioning all happens in consciousness without your consent or consultation.
As an actor in this living drama you can only play your role, nothing more. Whatever you may think of yourself, you cannot but be an integral part of the total manifestation and the total functioning, without any separate choice.
All phenomena are mere appearances in space-time, conceived and perceived in consciousness. You can comprehend this when from the waking state you look back into your dream of the night before. What appeared as yourself in the dream, seemingly an independent entity, is later seen to be devoid of any independent substance, a mere puppet being manipulated.
The waking dream is no different. Just as you dream when you are asleep, you also dream when you are awake, but you do not realize that you are dreaming because you are still in the dream... meanwhile, life is being lived, with everything that is happening being a product of the obfuscating, objectifying nature of the mind, spinning its imaginary play within consciousness. And that consciousness itself is but a temporary aberration that came like an eclipse onto the noumenon, remaining there for awhile, and then disappearing.
What you as body-mind are 'doing' all day is nothing but objectivizing, producing illusory images and interpretations. Manifestation itself is nothing but continuous objectivization, keeping the lie of separation and multiplicity alive.
The interesting point about this process of objectivization is that in the created duality of subject and object, both of these are, in fact, objects phenomenalized in consciousness like dream-figures. But the one who is cognizing the object assumes the role of the subject, as a separate entity, the individual self, identifying itself as 'I', and viewing the cognized object as the 'other' or 'not-I'. Thus is born the concept of the individual, through the illusion of a false subject playing the part of an object.
When objectivization ceases, as in deep sleep, then the objectified universe disappears. In deep sleep, there is no individual self, there is no world and there is no God. When the mind fasts or rests, when it stops its weaving of illusory objects and calms down, then the absolute Presence reveals itself. Then the manifested universe is not, but you are. When thinking abates and the true position is perceived directly, intuitively, then you know that within relativity, you are the conscious presence, the universal 'I amness' and not the phenomenal object, which you animate with sentience.
But, in the realm of the Absolute, you are the noumenon, pure Awareness, that which is... devoid of all concepts and qualities.
The fundamental fact is that no phenomenal object can have any independent existence of its own, and without this autonomy it has no choice of action. As a sentient being you think that you act and react, but the real functioning all happens in consciousness without your consent or consultation.
As an actor in this living drama you can only play your role, nothing more. Whatever you may think of yourself, you cannot but be an integral part of the total manifestation and the total functioning, without any separate choice.
All phenomena are mere appearances in space-time, conceived and perceived in consciousness. You can comprehend this when from the waking state you look back into your dream of the night before. What appeared as yourself in the dream, seemingly an independent entity, is later seen to be devoid of any independent substance, a mere puppet being manipulated.
The waking dream is no different. Just as you dream when you are asleep, you also dream when you are awake, but you do not realize that you are dreaming because you are still in the dream... meanwhile, life is being lived, with everything that is happening being a product of the obfuscating, objectifying nature of the mind, spinning its imaginary play within consciousness. And that consciousness itself is but a temporary aberration that came like an eclipse onto the noumenon, remaining there for awhile, and then disappearing.
What you as body-mind are 'doing' all day is nothing but objectivizing, producing illusory images and interpretations. Manifestation itself is nothing but continuous objectivization, keeping the lie of separation and multiplicity alive.
The interesting point about this process of objectivization is that in the created duality of subject and object, both of these are, in fact, objects phenomenalized in consciousness like dream-figures. But the one who is cognizing the object assumes the role of the subject, as a separate entity, the individual self, identifying itself as 'I', and viewing the cognized object as the 'other' or 'not-I'. Thus is born the concept of the individual, through the illusion of a false subject playing the part of an object.
When objectivization ceases, as in deep sleep, then the objectified universe disappears. In deep sleep, there is no individual self, there is no world and there is no God. When the mind fasts or rests, when it stops its weaving of illusory objects and calms down, then the absolute Presence reveals itself. Then the manifested universe is not, but you are. When thinking abates and the true position is perceived directly, intuitively, then you know that within relativity, you are the conscious presence, the universal 'I amness' and not the phenomenal object, which you animate with sentience.
But, in the realm of the Absolute, you are the noumenon, pure Awareness, that which is... devoid of all concepts and qualities.
You must find your own way. Unless you find it yourself it will not be your own way and will take you nowhere.
Earnestly live your truth as you have found it - act on the little you have understood. It is earnestness that will take you through, not cleverness - your own or another's.
Earnestly live your truth as you have found it - act on the little you have understood. It is earnestness that will take you through, not cleverness - your own or another's.
Your belonging is a matter of your own feeling and conviction. After all, it is all verbal and formal. In reality there is neither guru nor disciple, neither theory nor practice, neither ignorance nor realization, It all depends on what you take yourself to be. Know your self correctly, There is no substitute to self-knowledge.
In the light of calm and steady self awareness, inner energies wake up and work miracles without any effort on your part.
Q: Nevertheless, you are aware of the immense suffering of the world?
M: Of course l am, much more than you are.
Q: Then what do you do?
M: I look at it through the eyes of God and find that all is well.
Q: How can you say that all is well? Look at the wars, the exploitation, the cruel strife between the citizen and the state.
M: All these sufferings are man-made and it is within man’s power to put an end to them. God helps by facing man with the results of his actions and demanding that the balance should be restored. Karma is the law that works for righteousness; it is the healing hand of God.
~Nisargadatta Maharaj
I Am That, p. 24
M: Of course l am, much more than you are.
Q: Then what do you do?
M: I look at it through the eyes of God and find that all is well.
Q: How can you say that all is well? Look at the wars, the exploitation, the cruel strife between the citizen and the state.
M: All these sufferings are man-made and it is within man’s power to put an end to them. God helps by facing man with the results of his actions and demanding that the balance should be restored. Karma is the law that works for righteousness; it is the healing hand of God.
~Nisargadatta Maharaj
I Am That, p. 24
“Understand that the false needs time and what needs time is false”
Self-interest and self-concern are the focal points of the false. Your daily life vibrates between desire and fear. Watch it intently and you will see how the mind assumes innumerable names and shapes, like a river foaming between the boulders. Trace every action to its selfish motive and look at the motive intently till it dissolves.
Discard every self-seeking motive as soon as it is seen and you need not search for truth; truth will find you. So, first of all abandon all self-identification, stop thinking of yourself as such-and-such, so-and-so, this or that. Abandon all self-concern, worry not about your welfare, material or spiritual, abandon every desire, gross or subtle, stop thinking of achievement of any kind. You are complete here and now, you need absolutely nothing.
It does not mean that you must be brainless and foolhardy, improvident or indifferent; only the basic anxiety for oneself must go. You need some food, clothing and shelter for you and yours, but this will not create problems as long as greed is not taken for a need. Live in tune with things as they are and not as they are imagined.
All you can say about yourself is: 'I am.' You are pure being -- awareness -- bliss. To realise that is the end of all seeking. You come to it when you see all you think yourself to be as mere imagination and stand aloof in pure awareness of the transient as transient, imaginary as imaginary, unreal as unreal. It is not at all difficult, but detachment is needed.
It is the clinging to the false that makes the true so difficult to see. Once you understand that the false needs time and what needs time is false, you are nearer the Reality, which is timeless, ever in the now. (...) If you need time to achieve something, it must be false. The real is always with you; you need not wait to be what you are.
Self-interest and self-concern are the focal points of the false. Your daily life vibrates between desire and fear. Watch it intently and you will see how the mind assumes innumerable names and shapes, like a river foaming between the boulders. Trace every action to its selfish motive and look at the motive intently till it dissolves.
Discard every self-seeking motive as soon as it is seen and you need not search for truth; truth will find you. So, first of all abandon all self-identification, stop thinking of yourself as such-and-such, so-and-so, this or that. Abandon all self-concern, worry not about your welfare, material or spiritual, abandon every desire, gross or subtle, stop thinking of achievement of any kind. You are complete here and now, you need absolutely nothing.
It does not mean that you must be brainless and foolhardy, improvident or indifferent; only the basic anxiety for oneself must go. You need some food, clothing and shelter for you and yours, but this will not create problems as long as greed is not taken for a need. Live in tune with things as they are and not as they are imagined.
All you can say about yourself is: 'I am.' You are pure being -- awareness -- bliss. To realise that is the end of all seeking. You come to it when you see all you think yourself to be as mere imagination and stand aloof in pure awareness of the transient as transient, imaginary as imaginary, unreal as unreal. It is not at all difficult, but detachment is needed.
It is the clinging to the false that makes the true so difficult to see. Once you understand that the false needs time and what needs time is false, you are nearer the Reality, which is timeless, ever in the now. (...) If you need time to achieve something, it must be false. The real is always with you; you need not wait to be what you are.
As you watch your mind, you discover your self as the watcher...when you stand motionless, only watching, you discover your self as the light behind the watcher...the source of light is dark, unknown is the source of knowledge...that source alone is...go back to that source and abide there...
The knowledge of the Self is Advaita, that is non-duality, but it is to be acquired in apparent duality so that the duality disappears in due course when one remains firmly in that knowledge. Instead of looking ahead as one usually does, one must look back and seek the source in order to realize one's true beingness.
YOU PEOPLE DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH YOU MISS BY NOT KNOWING YOU TRUE SELF
Q: While in theory I am ready to pay any price, in actual life again and again I am being prompted to behave in ways which come in between me and reality. Desire carries me away.
M: Increase and widen your desires till nothing but reality can fulfil them. It is not desire that is wrong, but its narrowness and smallness. Desire is devotion. By all means be devoted to the real, the infinite, the eternal heart of being. Transform desire into love. All you want is to be happy. All your desires, whatever they may be, are expressions of your longing for happiness. Basically, you wish yourself well.
Q: If I am free, why am I in a body?
M: you are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you. They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting. Your very nature has the infinite capacity to enjoy. It is full of zest and affection. It sheds its radiance on all that comes within its focus of awareness and nothing is excluded. It does not know evil nor ugliness, it hopes, it trusts, it loves. You people do not know how much you miss by not knowing your own true Self. You are neither the body nor the mind, neither the fuel nor the fire. They appear and disappear according to their own laws.
That which you are, your true Self, you love it, and whatever you do, you do for your own happiness. To find it, to know it, to cherish it is your basic urge.
Since time immemorial you loved yourself, but never wisely. Use your body and mind wisely in the service of the self, that is all. Be true to your own self, love your self absolutely. Do not pretend that you love others as yourself. Unless you have realised them as one with yourself, you cannot love them. Don't pretend to be what you are not, don't refuse to be what you are. Your love of others is the result of self-knowledge, not its cause.
Without self-realization, no virtue is genuine. When you know beyond all doubting that the same life flows through all that is and you are that life, you will love all naturally and spontaneously. When you realize the depth and fullness of your love of yourself, you know that every living being and the entire universe are included in your affection. But when you look at anything as separate from you, you cannot love it for you are afraid of it. Alienation causes fear and fear deepens alienation. It is a vicious circle. Only Self-realization can break it. Go for it resolutely.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, I AM THAT ch 46
Q: While in theory I am ready to pay any price, in actual life again and again I am being prompted to behave in ways which come in between me and reality. Desire carries me away.
M: Increase and widen your desires till nothing but reality can fulfil them. It is not desire that is wrong, but its narrowness and smallness. Desire is devotion. By all means be devoted to the real, the infinite, the eternal heart of being. Transform desire into love. All you want is to be happy. All your desires, whatever they may be, are ex
Q: If I am free, why am I in a body?
M: you are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you. They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting. Your very nature has the infinite capacity to enjoy. It is full of zest and affection. It sheds its radiance on all that comes within its focus of awareness and nothing is excluded. It does not know evil nor ugliness, it hopes, it trusts, it loves. You people do not know how much you miss by not knowing your own true Self. You are neither the body nor the mind, neither the fuel nor the fire. They appear and disappear according to their own laws.
That which you are, your true Self, you love it, and whatever you do, you do for your own happiness. To find it, to know it, to cherish it is your basic urge.
Since time immemorial you loved yourself, but never wisely. Use your body and mind wisely in the service of the self, that is all. Be true to your own self, love your self absolutely. Do not pretend that you love others as yourself. Unless you have realised them as one with yourself, you cannot love them. Don't pretend to be what you are not, don't refuse to be what you are. Your love of others is the result of self-knowledge, not its cause.
Without self-realization, no virtue is genuine. When you know beyond all doubting that the same life flows through all that is and you are that life, you will love all naturally and spontaneously. When you realize the depth and fullness of your love of yourself, you know that every living being and the entire universe are included in your affection. But when you look at anything as separate from you, you cannot love it for you are afraid of it. Alienation causes fear and fear deepens alienation. It is a vicious circle. Only Self-realization can break it. Go for it resolutely.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj, I AM THAT ch 46
Desiring a state of freedom from desire will not set you free.
Nothing can set you free, because you are free.
See yourself with desireless clarity, that is all.
Nothing can set you free, because you are free.
See yourself with desireless clarity, that is all.
Beings
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