Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
If one appercieves things as they are, if one apprehends the total manifestation with the whole mind and not with the dichotomized mind of an individual, one is not far away from the great awakening, and then whatever one does is of no importance. Indeed, to think that an individual being can act independently is itself a mistake.What we are is the conscious presence, and not the outside casing of consciousness; not the body which is only a psychosomatic apparatus used for cognizing the manifestation.The apparatus is only a spacio-temporal concept and as such has no independent existence and, therefore, cannot act independently, despite all appearances to the contrary. Let us understand this basic fact.
What then is life? Life in this universe is nothing other than the functioning of manifestation, despite what each individual might think. Viewed in this perspective, the various destructive manifestations like floods and earthquakes lose their sting. Each body is nothing but food for someone else - mouse for a cat, man or beast for a lion, lamb or chicken for man and so on. So what is good for one is evil for another; indeed whatever events seem to happen constitute nothing but the function of manifestation. To each individual it all appears to be his own doing and experiencing, but the fundamental fact is that no phenomenal object can have any independent existence of its own. Once this is clearly apprehended, it will automatically follow that all responsibility and guilt are also imaginary concepts, based upon the mistaken notion that a sentient being has independent existence, autonomy and choice of action.
Then, what about all the eminent exemplars in the various spheres of human activity - the arts, sciences, athletics - the greatest thinkers? We must admire the work done by consciousness through these various physical forms, but not the individual persons who are nothing more than conceptual phenomena. Let us understand and be clear about what really happens.The question that would follow is: If the individual persons do not achieve whatever has been achieved, who does? The answer is: No one individually. The functioning of the manifestation takes place in consciousness through prajna that brilliant actor/producer of this total dream-show, who assumes all the roles in the great dream-drama that this manifestation is. And the source of this conscious presence is the noumenon. Sentient beings appear to act and react, but the real functioning happens in consciousness.
Let us, says Maharaj, admire the azure sky, the lovely moon and the twinkling stars; let us write poems about the beauty of nature; let us love the many avatars that have descended upon the earth through the ages, let us sing bhajans four times a day, but let us at least understand the true position! I, noumenon, am all the functioning in consciousness!
Finally, we may ask ourselves: What then are we doing all day? Are we not living our lives, we the millions of people in the world? If we could think deeply and rationally about what we know as life, we would easily come to the conclusion that all that we do, throughout the day and day after day, is nothing but objectifying. Indeed, manifestation is itself nothing but continuous objectivization, because, when in deep sleep consciousness rests objectivization necessarily ceases; so does the objectified universe. In deep sleep, there is no self, no world, no God.
What we think as 'doing' is nothing but objectivization; functioning of manifestation takes place so long as there is consciousness. By unnecessarily identifying oneself as the doer one attracts responsibility and guilt. When the mind, which is the content of consciousness, is blank - when it fasts or rests - the spinning and weaving of the mind ceases, and it calms down. When the mind stops doing, it merely is. In the absence of objectivization, our absolute presence is, the manifested universe is not - we are. Or, rather, I AM. Let us at least understand these basic facts.
(From the chapter, 'Let us Understand Basic Facts')
If one appercieves things as they are, if one apprehends the total manifestation with the whole mind and not with the dichotomized mind of an individual, one is not far away from the great awakening, and then whatever one does is of no importance. Indeed, to think that an individual being can act independently is itself a mistake.What we are is the conscious presence, and not the outside casing of consciousness; not the body which is only a psychosomatic apparatus used for cognizing the manifestation.The apparatus is only a spacio-temporal concept and as such has no independent existence and, therefore, cannot act independently, despite all appearances to the contrary. Let us understand this basic fact.
What then is life? Life in this universe is nothing other than the functioning of manifestation, despite what each individual might think. Viewed in this perspective, the various destructive manifestations like floods and earthquakes lose their sting. Each body is nothing but food for someone else - mouse for a cat, man or beast for a lion, lamb or chicken for man and so on. So what is good for one is evil for another; indeed whatever events seem to happen constitute nothing but the function of manifestation. To each individual it all appears to be his own doing and experiencing, but the fundamental fact is that no phenomenal object can have any independent existence of its own. Once this is clearly apprehended, it will automatically follow that all responsibility and guilt are also imaginary concepts, based upon the mistaken notion that a sentient being has independent existence, autonomy and choice of action.
Then, what about all the eminent exemplars in the various spheres of human activity - the arts, sciences, athletics - the greatest thinkers? We must admire the work done by consciousness through these various physical forms, but not the individual persons who are nothing more than conceptual phenomena. Let us understand and be clear about what really happens.The question that would follow is: If the individual persons do not achieve whatever has been achieved, who does? The answer is: No one individually. The functioning of the manifestation takes place in consciousness through prajna that brilliant actor/producer of this total dream-show, who assumes all the roles in the great dream-drama that this manifestation is. And the source of this conscious presence is the noumenon. Sentient beings appear to act and react, but the real functioning happens in consciousness.
Let us, says Maharaj, admire the azure sky, the lovely moon and the twinkling stars; let us write poems about the beauty of nature; let us love the many avatars that have descended upon the earth through the ages, let us sing bhajans four times a day, but let us at least understand the true position! I, noumenon, am all the functioning in consciousness!
Finally, we may ask ourselves: What then are we doing all day? Are we not living our lives, we the millions of people in the world? If we could think deeply and rationally about what we know as life, we would easily come to the conclusion that all that we do, throughout the day and day after day, is nothing but objectifying. Indeed, manifestation is itself nothing but continuous objectivization, because, when in deep sleep consciousness rests objectivization necessarily ceases; so does the objectified universe. In deep sleep, there is no self, no world, no God.
What we think as 'doing' is nothing but objectivization; functioning of manifestation takes place so long as there is consciousness. By unnecessarily identifying oneself as the doer one attracts responsibility and guilt. When the mind, which is the content of consciousness, is blank - when it fasts or rests - the spinning and weaving of the mind ceases, and it calms down. When the mind stops doing, it merely is. In the absence of objectivization, our absolute presence is, the manifested universe is not - we are. Or, rather, I AM. Let us at least understand these basic facts.
(From the chapter, 'Let us Understand Basic Facts')
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