All Happens by Itself

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: What is the relationship between consciousness and the body?

M: The consciousness, in order to manifest itself, must have a form. And the form is the body, and the body is made up of the essence of the five elements, constituting the sustenance for the consciousness. Without sustenance in the form of the body, whichever body it may be - that of a worm, an insect or a human being - consciousness could not sustain itself; it is the food essence which sustains consciousness.

Q: If the various forms of manifestations are merely the expression of universal consciousness. why is there the feeling of individuality in different forms? Why should each form consider itself a separate one?

M: As soon as that which is the unicity manifests itself, the very manifestation signifies duality. Manifestation means there has to be a subject and an object. Manifestation in space-time means divisibility. And it is the very nature of consciousness that as soon as it manifests itself, there are opposites - evil/good, large/small, etc. From the moment the manifestation takes place, duality is its very nature and this must express itself. As soon as there is this manifestation, there is the question of duality, even in the five elements: the air, fire and water are themselves opposites. So the manifestation itself means duality.

If I say that I am ill, what does it mean really? For the sake of communication, one uses the word 'I'. But strictly speaking, I have nothing to do with the form. The illness is on that because of which the form is made and is felt in the consciousness. And I am really neither the form nor the consciousness, which manifests itself in the form. But for the sake of communication, one says 'I am ill,' 'I am worse,' 'I have grown weak' or 'I have grown stronger,' but that is merely an expression of the change in the essence of the form. But growing weaker or stronger, undergoing illness or otherwise, has nothing to do with "I" as such.

There are innumerable languages, not only among human beings but also among forms of being other than the human being. But that on which the language is based - that is, the mind and the consciousness - does not change. The conditioning which has taken place on that consciousness right from the beginning is the basis of the language of that particular form. Therefore, there are innumerable forms and any number of languages.

Now there is a very subtle point and analogy regarding the ordinary language which we know and the spiritual language which do not yet know. That to which one has been conditioned right from the beginning, the language does not need any special effort for anyone to learn. He or she gets used to it from early childhood, from the earliest conditioning. How? Through constant and consistent association with the jnanis, then that language which the jnani speaks and which would normally not be understood by people, will gradually be remembered and understood and becomes natural.

Since when does one come to know the experience of suffering? Only since form was created out of the five elements and there was consciousness in that form. But what was the situation before the form was created and the consciousness came into it? One was unmanifest. One had no knowledge of one's existence; there was no question of any experience, and therefore there was a state which was beyond the gross concept of happiness or unhappiness. that was the unicity when there was not even any question of having experience. 

In the unmanifest Absolute, there is no consciousness at all - consciousness of existence. So only when there is this universal consciousness manifesting itself in the various forms, and these forms possess the life-force and are subject to the three gunas, can each form act through the life-force according to its own nature. It is only when identification takes place, and I begin to think that 'I' am acting, although it is only the combination of the three gunas that acts, that I assume quite unnecessarily the responsibilities and consequences of those actions, which properly are not mine at all. The actions would have taken place in any case, depending on the three gunas and the life-force.

It is amazing, almost silly, that anyone could think that he or she is acting. This is what happens: The waking state, before the other gunas start, is from the sattva-guna; that is, total harmony. In that split second when one wakes up, there is total love, total kindness. There is no question of selfishness. So the waking state is of the quality of the sattva-guna; subsequently, there are the physical activities caused by necessities, nature and duties; these derive from the rajas-guna. All these activities take place by themselves, but one starts saying 'I am doing this,' identifying and taking on the responsibilities - that is the work of the tamas-guna.