Why did consciousness arise?

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

If you are an earnest seeker, you should accept my words as the truth or you should leave, as I do not want merely to entertain you. And what am I telling you? You are not the body. You are the conscious presence. Accept it and you can forget it. 

Hang on to this consciousness which has come and it will explain why it arose without a cause. No one else can explain to you why and how it arose. It is the manifest consciousness which is continuously talking, I am not talking. How does the language emerge? Is it because of your efforts?

If you grasp the essence of the talks which I am giving, you will illuminate the world. Those people who run about from place to place aimlessly will gather nothing. What is that you are after?

Eknath, a country sage who has written wonderful poems, said, "I am stung by a scorpion!" What is that sting? It is the consciousness. This knowingness is the scorpion which is giving me all the pain in the form of various experiences and concepts.

I am telling you with the authority of a jnani, everything is unreal. This is all the play due to your consciousness, and your consciousness is due to the food essence body.

January 30, 1981 A.M