Give Yourself No Name, No Shape

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: How can I come to see myself as you see me?

M: It is enough if you do not imagine yourself to be the body. It is the I-am-the-body idea that is so calamitous. It blinds you completely to your real nature. Even for a moment do not thing that you are the body. Give yourself no name, no shape. In the darkness and the silence, reality is found.

Q:  Must not I think with some conviction that I am not the body? Where am I to find such conviction?

M: Behave as if you were fully convinced and the confidence will come. What is the use of mere words? A formula, a mental pattern will not help you. But unselfish action, free from all concern with the body and its interests will carry you into the very heart of Reality.

Q:  Where am I to get the courage to act without conviction?

M: Lord will give you the courage. When you meet somebody wholly admirable, love-worthy, sublime, your love and admiration will give you the urge to act nobly.

Q:  Not everybody knows to admire the admirable. Most of the people are totally insensitive

M: Life will make them appreciate. The very weight of accumulated experience will give them eyes to see. When you meet a worthy man, you will love and trust him and follow his advice. This is the role of the realized people - to set an example of perfection for others to admire and love. Beauty of life and character is a tremendous contribution to the common good.

Q:   Must we not suffer to grow?

M: It is enough to know that there is suffering, that the world suffers. By themselves neither pleasure nor pain enlighten. Only understanding does. Once you have grasped the truth that the world is full of suffering, that to be born is a calamity, you will find the urge and the energy to go beyond it. Pleasure puts you to sleep and pain wakes you up. If you do not want to suffer, don't go to sleep. You cannot know yourself through bliss alone, for bliss is your very nature. You must face the opposite, what you are not, to find enlightenment.