Be Clear and Quiet

 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: We have a long history of drug-taking behind us, mostly drugs of the consciousness-expanding variety. They gave us the experience of other states of consciousness, high and low, and also the conviction, that drugs are unreliable and, at best, transitory and, at worst, destructive of organism and personality. We are in search of better means for developing consciousness and transcendence. We want the fruits of our search to stay with us and enrich our lives, instead of turning to pale memories and helpless regrets. If by the spiritual we mean self-investigation and development, our purpose in coming to India is definitely spiritual. The happy hippy stage is behind us; we are serious now and on the move. We know there is reality to be found, but we do not know how to find and hold on to it. We need no convincing, only guidance. Can you help us?

M: You do not need help, only advice. What you seek is already in you. Take my own case. I did nothing for my realization. My teacher told me that the reality is within me; I looked within and found it there, exactly as my teacher told me. To see reality is as simple as to see one's face in a mirror. Only the mirror must be clear and true. A quiet mind, undistorted by desires and fears, free from ideas and opinions, clear on all the levels, is needed to reflect the reality. Be clear and quiet - alert and detached, all else will happen by itself.

Q: You had to make your mind clear and quiet before you could realize the truth. How did you do it?

M: I did nothing. It just happened. I lived my life, attending to my family's needs. Nor did my Guru do it. It just happened, as he said it will. 

Q: Things do not just happen. There must be a cause for everything.

M: All that happens is the cause of all that happens. Causes are numberless; the idea of a sole cause is an illusion.

Q: You must have been doing something specific -- some meditation or Yoga. How can you say that realization will happen on its own?

M: Nothing specific. I just lived my life.

Q: I am amazed!

M: So was I. But what was there to be amazed at? My teacher's words came true. So what? He knew me better than I knew myself, that is all. Why search for causes? In the very beginning I was giving some attention to the sense I AM, but only in the beginning. Soon after my Guru died, I lived on. His words proved true. That is all. It is all one process. You tend to separate things in time and then look for causes.