Now!

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: The fact is that here and now I am asking you: when did the feeling 'I am the body' arise? At my birth? Or this morning?

M: NOW.

But I remember having it yesterday too!

The memory of yesterday is NOW only.

But surely I exist in time. I have a past and a future.

That is how you imagine - NOW.

There must have been a beginning.

NOW.

And what about ending?

What has no beginning cannot end.

But I am conscious of my question.

A false question cannot be answered. It can only be seen as false.

To me it is real. 

When did it appear real to you? NOW.

Yes, it is quite real to me - NOW.

What is real about your question? It is a state of mind. No state of mind can be more real than the mind itself. Is the mind real? It is but a collection of states, each of them transitory. How can a succession of transitory states be considered real?