"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

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

The Ultimate Instruction

Sri Lakshmana Swamy

The Self is ever-present; there is no question of realizing it. You can neither reach it nor attain it because you are the Self even now. It is said that the mind prevents one from being aware of the Self, but the mind is non-existent. The Self alone exists, and one who knows this knows that there is no birth, no death, no mind, no time and no question of enlightenment. This is the final truth.

If you think, "This is not my experience" or "How shall I realize the Self?", then the mind will appear to exist. All such thoughts and doubts arise in the mind. Deprive the mind of such thoughts and mind itself disappears. Be quiet and still and all thoughts will disappear. Self-enquiry and surrender are the only techniques which bring one to the state of inner stillness and quietness. The ultimate instruction is therefore, "Be still and quiet; stabilize in this state and the Self will be revealed." This instruction, "Be quiet and still", is likely to be misunderstood by ordinary people, and so it is only given to ripe devotees.

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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