Give up the shackles of the body!

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

V: If I know myself, if I realize myself, may there be a transformation in my worldly life?

M: What do you mean by "worldly life" and what do you mean by "transformation"? Your worldly life is all your concept, is all your mind only. We are dealing with that principle which is prior to the mind. This may be described by saying that you are putting on various shrouds. Before you knew yourself, that was your true state. The first shroud was that of "I am ness"; then you embraced the body as yourself, and then so many other shrouds. All these shrouds have to be peeled off including the "I am ness".

From the no-knowing state, the first veil I took was that of  I AM. That was formless, nameless. But I embraced the body: I got a form for myself, I got a name for myself. This was the fall. Therefore all sages advise: Give up the shackles of the body! "I am the body" - these are the shackles. Give them up.

V: How to get rid of this body-mind sense?

M: How to forget? Who remembers and who knows that he remembers and forgets? The one who knows the memory and non-memory states is bodiless; he is prior to body and mind. If you can imbibe totally the essence of what is being said right now, you will stabilize in the parabrahman state only.

You are not beginners in the sphere of spirituality. You have acquired a lot of spiritual wisdom. Now please ask questions.

The one who distinguishes between different states - this is with body, that is bodiless, this is this, this is that - stands quite apart from all those things. And you are the one who distinguishes. You are the one that is the purest, the most auspicious, the cleanest. Since that is your state, you are in a position to assess the quality of other states. With this understanding, carry out your worldly life, family life, with full zeal. But the point is this: if you really understand and abide in what I say, naturally your desires and expectations will fall off.