"The very first step in understanding what this is all about is giving up the concept of an active, volitional 'I' as a separate entity and accepting the passive role of perceiving and functioning as a process." - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Monday, September 13, 2010

That which IS, is always there

Sage Vasishtha:

The Self is not revealed either by the scriptures or by the instructions of the preceptor, and the Self is not revealed without the instructions of a preceptor and without the help of the scriptures. It is revealed only when all these come together. It is only when the scriptural knowledge, instructions of a preceptor and true discipleship come together that Self-knowledge is attained. 

That which IS after all the senses have ceased to function and all notions of pleasure and pain have vanished is the self or Shiva which is also indicated by expressions like 'that', 'truth', or 'reality'. However, that which IS when all these cease to be, exists even when all these are present, like the limitless space. Out of their compassion for the ignorant deluded ones, in an effort to awaken them spiritually and to awaken in them a thirst for liberation, the redeemers of the universe have composed scriptures like the vedas and puranas. In these scriptures they have used words like 'consciousness', 'brahman', 'Shiva', 'Self', 'Lord', Supreme' etc. These words may imply a diversity, but in truth there is no such diversity.

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सर्वभूताधिवासं यद्भूतेषु च वसत्यपि।
सर्वानुग्राहकत्वेन तद्स्म्यहं वासुदेवः॥

That in whom reside all beings and who resides in all beings,
who is the giver of grace to all, the Supreme Soul of the universe, the limitless being:
I AM THAT. -- Amritabindu Upanishad