Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Q: The past is always projected from this moment?
M: Whatever has happened, that is the past.
Q: But we can never touch the past; we are only now. So we cannot touch anything which is not now. So, maybe, there is no such thing as the past.
M: What have you to say?
Q: So if there is no past, there is no bondage.
M: But who says that it cannot be touched, the past?
Q: I say so.
M: But who is the one who said "I"? This means that by the word "I", that chetana, that manifest, dynamic principle caught itself in that word "I". If that dynamic, manifest principle does not get caught up in the concept, then it has no birth and no death.
Q: Is it possible, when you look for what you are, that you identify yourself not with consciousness, but that you misapprehend it? Could it be that when you look for yourself, you take this consciousness Maharaj is talking about for that which you are, that you get it mixed up?
Second Visitor: You mistake consciousness for the Ultimate.
M: Yes, that consciousness is the prerequisite for anything. Without the consciousness, you cannot even do that search, you cannot look inward.
Please proceed with the question.
Q: That is all. But when you make this mistake, when you identify yourself with consciousness, is it still some kind of feeling or experience?
M: You are consciousness. Where is the question of your merging with the consciousness? Your consciousness means 'you are'. 'You are-ness' and consciousness are not separate. The 'you are' state itself is the consciousness. Can you follow me? You know you are, without the words you are. That itself is the consciousness.
Q: The past is always projected from this moment?
M: Whatever has happened, that is the past.
Q: But we can never touch the past; we are only now. So we cannot touch anything which is not now. So, maybe, there is no such thing as the past.
M: What have you to say?
Q: So if there is no past, there is no bondage.
M: But who says that it cannot be touched, the past?
Q: I say so.
M: But who is the one who said "I"? This means that by the word "I", that chetana, that manifest, dynamic principle caught itself in that word "I". If that dynamic, manifest principle does not get caught up in the concept, then it has no birth and no death.
Q: Is it possible, when you look for what you are, that you identify yourself not with consciousness, but that you misapprehend it? Could it be that when you look for yourself, you take this consciousness Maharaj is talking about for that which you are, that you get it mixed up?
Second Visitor: You mistake consciousness for the Ultimate.
M: Yes, that consciousness is the prerequisite for anything. Without the consciousness, you cannot even do that search, you cannot look inward.
Please proceed with the question.
Q: That is all. But when you make this mistake, when you identify yourself with consciousness, is it still some kind of feeling or experience?
M: You are consciousness. Where is the question of your merging with the consciousness? Your consciousness means 'you are'. 'You are-ness' and consciousness are not separate. The 'you are' state itself is the consciousness. Can you follow me? You know you are, without the words you are. That itself is the consciousness.
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