To Be Is To Know

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. The inner teacher is not easily reached.

M. Since he is in you and with you, the difficulty cannot be serious. Look within, and you will find him.

When I look within, I find sensations and perceptions, thoughts and feelings, desires and fears, memories and expectations. I am immersed in this cloud and see nothing else. 

That which sees all this, and the nothing too, is the inner teacher. He alone is, all else only appears to be. He is your own self (swarupa), your hope and assurance of freedom; find him and cling to him and you will be saved and safe.

I do believe you, but when it comes to the actual finding of this inner self, I find it escapes me.

The idea 'it escapes me', where does it arise?

In the mind.

And who knows the mind?

The witness of the mind knows the mind.

Did anybody come to you and say, 'I am the witness of your mind'?

Of course not. He would have been just another idea in the mind.

Then who is the witness?

I am.

So you know the witness because you are the witness. You need not see the witness in front of you. Here again, to be is to know.