The Beacon Light

Meditate to become That

2012-02-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 24, 1980.

The knowledge you are is God. You worship that one and one day you will realize that you are not an individual. You will realize that you are the universal consciousness which cannot suffer; there is no pain or pleasure for that consciousness. Not through intellect, but through intense meditation you will know it. The meditation will be done by that consciousness itself. To meditate on something is to become that. I am fully established in that unborn state but still I am experiencing this state of multiplicity, but it has no effect on me.

Stay Put In Beingness

2012-02-14T07:27:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 21, 1980.

Sat-chit-ananda will, in due course, become the Paramatman. Sat-chit-ananda is "I Amness" and is itself a state of bliss, a state of love, but it is an experiential state, so long as consciousness is there, and consciousness is there so long as the body is available - it is a time-bound state. You must transcend the sat-chit-ananda state.

If you stay put in the beingness the thoughts will get less and less. If you get mixed up with the thoughts they will multiply. Stay put in beingness only.

'Who am I?'

2012-02-13T07:06:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

For all thoughts the source is the 'I-thought'. The mind will merge only by Self-enquiry 'Who am I?' The thoughts 'Who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts and finally kill itself also. If other thoughts arise, without trying to complete them, one must enquire to whom did this thought arise. What does it matter how many thoughts arise? As each thought arises one must be watchful and ask whom is this thought occurring. The answer will be 'to me'. If you enquire 'Who am I?' the mind will return to its source. The thought which arose will also submerge. As you practise like this more and more, the power of the mind to remain at its source is increased.

By means of a moderate quantity of sattvic (pure) food, which is superior to all other rules and regulations of self discipline, the sattvic or pure quality of the mind will grow and Self-enquiry will be helped.

Discover All You Are Not

2012-02-11T08:25:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Well, you told me that I am the Supreme Reality. I believe you. What next is there for me to do?

I told you already. Discover all you are not. Body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, time, space, being and not-being, this or that -- nothing concrete or abstract you can point out to is you. A mere verbal statement will not do -- you may repeat a formula endlessly without any result whatsover. You must watch yourself continuously -- particularly your mind -- moment by moment, missing nothing. This witnessing is essential for the separation of the self from the not-self.

You Cannot Renounce

2012-02-10T06:52:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. What does it mean to know myself? By knowing myself what exactly do I come to know?

All that you are not.

Q. And not what I am?

What you are, you already are. By knowing what you are not, you are free of it and remain in your own natural state. It all happens quite spontaneously and effortlessly.

Q. And what do I discover?

You discover that there is nothing to discover. You are what you are and that is all.

It is your fixed idea that you must be something or other, that blinds you.

Q. How can I get rid of this idea?

If you trust me, believe me when I tell you that you are the pure awareness that illuminates consciousness and its infinite content. Realize this and live accordingly. If you do not believe me, then go within, enquiring 'What am I?' or focus your mind on 'I am', which is pure and simple being.

Q. On what my faith in you depends?

On your insight into other people's hearts. If you cannot look into my heart, look into your own.

Q. I can do neither.

Purify yourself by a well-ordered and useful life. Watch over your feelings, thoughts, words and actions. This will clear your vision.

Q. Must I not renounce first and live a homeless life?

You cannot renounce. You may leave your home and give trouble to your family, but attachments are in the mind and will not leave you until you know your mind in and out. First thing first -- know yourself, all else will come with it.

Mind Is the Doer

2012-02-09T07:03:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

O Rama, the sense of doership (the notion 'I do this') which gives rise to both happiness and unhappiness, or which gives rise to the state of yoga, is fictitious in the eyes of the wise; to the ignorant, however, it is real. For, what is the source of this notion? This notion arises when the mind, spurred by the predisposition, endeavours to gain something; the resultant action is then attributed to oneself. When the same action leads to the experience of its fruition, the notion 'I enjoy this' arises. The notions are in truth the two faces of the same notion.

Whether one is engaged in action or not, whether one is in heaven or in hell, whatever may be the psychological conditioning, that itself is experienced by the mind. Hence, to the ignorant and conditioned person there is the notion 'I do this' whether he is doing something or doing nothing; but such a notion does not arise in the enlightened or unconditioned. When the truth concerning this is known the conditioning is weakened and thenceforth the wise man, even while acting in this world, is not interested in the fruits of those actions. He lets action happen in life, without attachment to those actions; and whatever be the results of those actions, he regards them as non-different from this own self. But such is not the attitude of one who is immersed in the mental states.

Whatever the mind does, that alone is action: hence, the mind alone is the doer of actions, not the body. The mind alone is this world-appearance; this world-appearance has arisen in it and it rests in the mind. When the objects as well as the experiencing mind have become tranquil, consciousness alone remains.

Controlling the Mind

2012-02-08T07:03:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

There is no other way of controlling the mind except as prescribed in the books like the Gita, drawing in the mind as often as it strays or goes outward, and fixing it in the Self. Of course it will not be easy to do it. It will come only with practice or sadhana.

God illumines the mind and shines with it. One cannot know God by means of the mind. One can but turn the mind inwards and merge it in God.

Aum

2012-02-07T06:53:00.000-05:00

And even if thou were to be the greatest of sinners, with the help of the vessel of wisdom thou shalt cross the sea of evil. Even as a burning fire burns all fuel into ashes, the fire of eternal wisdom burns into ashes all works.

Karma - Healing Hand Of God

2012-02-06T06:52:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. Admitted that the world in which I live is subjective and partial. What about you? In what kind of world do you live?

My world is just like yours. I see, I hear, I feel, I think, I speak and act in a world I perceive, just like you. But with you it is all, with me it is nothing. Knowing the world to be a part of myself, I pay it no more attention than you pay to the food you have eaten. While being prepared and eaten, the food is separate from you and your mind is on it; once swallowed, you become totally unconscious of it. I have eaten up the world and I need not think of it anymore.

Q. Don't you become completely irresponsible?

How could I? How can I hurt something which is one with me. On the contrary, without thinking of the world, whatever I do will be of benefit to it. Just as the body sets itself right unconsciously, so am I ceaselessly active in setting the world right.

Q. Nevertheless, you are aware of the immense suffering of the world?

Of course I am, much more than you are.

Q. Then what do you do?

I look at it through the eyes of God and find that all is well.

Q. How can you say that all is well? Look at the wars, the exploitation, the cruel strife between the citizen and the state.

All these sufferings are man-made and it is within man's power to put an end to them. God helps by facing man with the results of his actions and demanding that the balance should be restored. Karma is the law that works for righteousness; it is the healing hand of God.

You Will Prevail Eternally

2012-02-04T22:52:00.001-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 21, 1980.

If I understand right now that my vital breath is quitting, I am not going to arrest it. I am not going to say "You stop now, wait for sometime," because I know very well it is of no use retaining this vital breath and life force.

Any number of dissolutions have come and gone, but in my true, eternal state I am untouched by them. Prior to this experiential state I was perfect in every respect, with the arrival of this beingness this imperfect state has started, and I am fed up with that.

If you really want eternal peace, don't bother about anybody else, worry about your own self, investigate only your own self.

Who is going to give you eternal peace? It is only that sun, that "I Am". If you embrace that Self-effulgent sun everything else will go, but you will prevail eternally.

The Self Is All

2012-02-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Though the world and consciousness emerge and disappear together, the world shines or is perceived only through consciousness. That source wherein both these arise and disappear, and which itself neither appears nor disappears, is the perfect Reality.

If the mind, the source of all knowledge and activity subsides, the vision of the world will cease. Just as knowledge of the real rope does not dawn till the fancied notion of the serpent disappears, vision (experience) of the Reality cannot be gained unless the superimposed vision of the universe is abandoned.

That which really exists is only the Self. The world, jiva (individual self) and Ishwara (God) are mental creations, like the appearance of silver in mother of pear. All these appear at the same time and disappear similarly. The Self alone is the world, the ego and Ishwara.

Focus On The Seer

2012-02-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

The Self is the one Reality that always exists, and it is by the light of the Self that all other things are seen. We forget it and concentrate on the appearance. The light in the hall burns both when persons are present and when they are absent, both when persons are enacting something, as in a theatre, and when nothing is being enacted. It is the light which enables us to see the hall, the persons and the acting. We are so engrossed with the objects or appearances revealed by the light, that we pay no attention to the light. In the waking or dream state in which things appear, and in the sleep state in which we see nothing, there is always the light of Consciousness or Self, like the hall lamp which is always burning. The thing to do is to concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them.

Questions about the reality of the world, and about the existence of pain or evil in the world, will all cease when you enquire 'who am I?' and find out the seer. Without a seer the world and the evils thereof alleged do not exist.

Aum

2012-02-02T06:31:00.003-05:00

For Him who knows all and understands everything, whose austerity consists of knowledge..from Him, the Imperishable Brahman, are born Brahma, name, form, and food.

How To Understand?

2012-02-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 21, 1980.

Discrimination is very necessary to understand what I am saying. It is only after the arrival of consciousness that we try to understand ourselves. Consciousness is the so-called birth; birth means the three aspects: waking state, deep sleep and the knowledge "I Am". Once I understand what this birth is, then the whole mystery is solved. Since I have thoroughly known what this birth principle is, I will know very well at that happening of the so-called death, I shall observe the departure of the vital breath, the language and the 'I Amness'; there is no question of death.

Real, Unreal

2012-01-31T06:34:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

The universe is not real, nor is it unreal: it exists in consciousness, yet it does not exist (independently) in consciousness. Though appearing to be an addition to consciousness, it does not exceed consciousness. The relationship is like ornaments and gold. The self, the supreme Brahman, which permeates everything, is that which enables you to experience sound, taste, form and fragrance, O Rama. It is transcendental and omnipresent; it is non-dual and pure. In it there is not even a notion of another. All these diversities like existence and non-existence, good and evil, are vainly imagined by ignorant people.

aum

2012-01-28T07:58:00.002-05:00

It is not grasped by sight nor even by speech nor by other angels, nor by austerity nor by work. By the grace of wisdom and mental purity by meditating one does see the indivisible. The subtle is to be known by consciousness in which the five different breaths have centered. All of human thought is interwoven with the life-breath. When that is purified, the soul manifests its power.

Way to Peace

2012-01-27T06:26:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Detach yourself from all that makes your mind restless. Renounce all that disturbs its peace. If you want peace, deserve it.

Q. Surely everybody deserves peace.

Those only deserve it, who don't disturb it.

Q. In what way do I disturb peace?

By being a slave to your desires and fears.

Q. Even when they are justified?

Emotional reactions, born of ignorance or inadvertance, are never justified. Seek a clear mind and a clean heart. All you need is to keep quietly alert, enquiring into the real nature of yourself. This is the only way to peace.

World Is Real

2012-01-26T06:35:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Vedanta says that the cosmos springs into view simultaneously with the seer. There is no creation by stages or steps. It is similar to the creation in dream where the experiencer and the objects of experience come into existence at the same time. To those who are not satisfied with this explanation, theories of gradual creation are offered in books. It is not at all correct to say that advaitins of the Sankara school deny the existence of the world, or that they call it unreal. On the other hand, it is more real to them than to others. Their world will always exist whereas the world of the other schools will have origin, growth and decay, and as such cannot be real. They only say that the world as 'world' is not real, but the world as brahman is real. All is brahman, nothing exists but brahman, and the world as brahman is real.

aum

2012-01-25T06:24:00.000-05:00

He (the knower of the Self) knows that highest home of Brahman, in which all is contained and shines brightly. The wise who, without desiring happiness, worship that Person, transcend this seed (they are not born again).

You Help Only Yourself

2012-01-24T06:46:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

You dream that you work hard and long in the hot sun all day, are tired and hungry and want to eat a lot. Then you wake up and find your stomach is full and you have not stirred out of your bed. But this does not mean that while you are in the dream you can act as if the pain you feel is not real. The hunger in the dream has to be assuaged by the food in the dream. The fellow beings you found so hungry in the dream had to be provided with food in that dream. You can never mix up the two states, the dream and the waking state. Till you reach the state of jnana and thus wake out of maya you must do social service by relieving suffering whenever you see it. But even then you must do it without ahankara, i.e., without the sense of 'I am the doer', but with the feeling 'I am the Lord's tool'. Similarly one must not be conceited by thinking, 'I am helping a man below me. He needs help. I am in a position to help. I am superior and he inferior.' All such service is for the Self and not for anybody else. You are not helping anybody else, but only yourself.

Pain: Background Of Pleasure

2012-01-23T07:41:00.001-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

M. What makes you unhappy?

Q. I have what I don't want, and want what I don't have.

M. Why don't you invert it: want what you have and care not for what you don't have?

Q. I want what is pleasant and don't want what is painful.

M. How do you know what is pleasant and what is not?

Q. From past experience, of course.

M. Guided by memory you have been pursuing the pleasant and shunning the unpleasant. Have you succeeded?

Q. No, I have not. The pleasant does not last. Pain sets in again.

M. Which pain?

Q. The desire for pleasure, the fear of pain, both are states of distress. Is there a state of unalloyed pleasure?

M. Every pleasure, physical or mental, needs an instrument. Both the physical and mental instruments are material, they get tired and worn out. The pleasure they yield is necessarily limited in intensity and duration. Pain is the background of all your pleasures. You want them because you suffer. On the other hand, the very search for pleasure is the cause of pain. It is a vicious circle.

Q. I can see the mechanism of my confusion, but I do not see my way out of it.

M. The very examination of the mechanism shows the way. After all, your confusion is only in your mind, which never rebelled so far against confusion and never got to grips with it. It rebelled only against pain.

Be alert. Question, observe, investigate, learn all you can about confusion, how it operates, what it does to you and others. By being clear about confusion you become clear of confusion.

First Know What You Are

2012-01-22T08:14:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q. What happens after birth in human form, what happens to the jiva?

We do not understand what we are, and until we know what we are there is no room for such a question. (Bhagavan obviously here refers to the dehatma buddhi which is the cause for this confusion of ideas of death and birth, for Atman has no birth or death, it is untainted by the elements of Earth, Fire, Air and Water, etc.) (Gita 2.11) Asochyam anvosochas tvam, projnavadamscha bhashase etc. - What is it that had birth? Whom do you call a man? If, instead of seeking explanation for birth, death and after-death matters, the question is raised as to who and how you are now, these questions will not arise. You are the same while in deep sleep, in dream and in waking state.

The Real Is Not Restless

2012-01-21T07:13:00.001-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. If my real self is peace and love, why is it so restless?

It is not your real being that is restless, but its reflection in the mind appears restless because the mind is restless. It is just like the reflection of the moon in the water stirred by the wind. The wind of desire stirs the mind and the 'me', which is but a reflection of the Self in the mind, appears changeful. But these ideas of movement, of restlessness, of pleasure and pain are all in the mind. The Self stands beyond the mind, aware, but unconcerned.

Q. How to reach it?

You are the Self, here and now. Leave the mind alone, stand aware and unconcerned and you will realize that to stand alert but detached, watching events come and go, is an aspect of your real nature.

No Individual

2012-01-20T06:40:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 21, 1980.

All that one does is for the continuance of the consciousness, but for me there is nothing at all that I would like to continue.

You come here as individuals expecting to get something from me, that is where the mistake arises. There is no individual, so how can I do something for a non-existing individual? Your true nature is in no way different from mine. This happening is just a happening which has come and which will go.

Be Yourself

2012-01-19T07:29:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A gentleman from Bombay said: "I asked Mother in Sri Aurobindo Ashram the following question: 'I keep my mind blank without thoughts arising so that God might show Himself in His true Being. But I do not perceive anything. The reply was to this effect: The attitude is right. The Power will come down from above. It is a direct experience.'"

M. Be what you are. There is nothing to come down or become manifest. All that is needed is to lose the ego, That what is, is always there. Even now you are That. You are not apart from it. The blank is seen by you. You are there to see the blank. What do you wait for? The thought, "I have not seen," the expectation to see and the desire of getting something, are all the working of the ego. You have fallen into the snares of the ego. The ego says all these and not you. Be yourself and nothing more!

Keep Steady In Meditation

2012-01-18T09:20:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Do not mind the discomforts. Keep your mind steady in meditation. If you have not the strength and endurance to bear mosquito stings how do you hope to gain realization of the Self? Realization must be amidst all the turmoils of life. If you make yourself comfortable and go to bed you fall asleep. Face the troubles but keep yourself steady in meditation.

Live Life As It Comes

2012-01-16T06:40:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

How can an unsteady mind make itself steady? Of course it cannot. It is the nature of the mind to roam about. All you can do is to shift the focus of consciousness beyond the mind.

Q. How is it done?

Refuse all thoughts except one: the thought 'I am'. The mind will rebel in the beginning, but with patience and perseverance it will yield and keep quiet. Once you are quiet, things will begin to happen spontaneously and quite naturally without any interference on your part.

Q. Can I avoid this protracted battle with my mind?

Yes, you can. Just live your life as it comes, but alertly, watchfully, allowing everything to happen as it happens, doing the natural things the natural way, suffering, rejoicing -- as life brings. This also is a way.

True happiness cannot be found in things that change and pass away. Pleasure and pain alternate inexorably. Happiness comes from the self and can be found in the self only. Find your real self (swarupa) and all else will come with it.

Be One With Consciousness

2012-01-15T07:42:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 15, 1980.

Don't treat that knowledge "I Am" as insignificant, because it is the stimulating force for your entire universe. The expressions of consciousness are limitless; if you enter into the expressions you will be lost. Surrender to and be one with your consciousness and your consciousness alone will show you the process of how it can be dissolved.

Happiness Is Inherent

2012-01-14T07:50:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

If a man generally imagines his happiness is due to external causes, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. Therefore, if he is devoid of possessions his happiness should be nil. What, however, is the real experience of man? Does it confirm this view? In deep sleep the man is devoid of all possessions, including his body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion therefore is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes. One must realize his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

The Direct Method

2012-01-13T06:41:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Those who have discovered great Truths have done so in the still depths of the Self. The ego is like one's shadow thrown on the ground. If one attempts to bury it, it will be foolish. The Self is only one. If limited it is the ego. If unlimited it is Infinite and is the Reality.

Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and Reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego. In those paths there arise so many doubts and the eternal question remains to be tackled finally. But in this method the final question is the only one and it is raised from the very beginning. No sadhanas are necessary for engaging in this quest.

There is not greater mystery than this - viz., ourselves being the Reality we seek to gain Reality. We think that there is something hiding our Reality and that it must be destroyed before the Reality is gained. It is ridiculous. A day will come when you will yourself laugh at your past efforts. That which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.

Sattva

2012-01-12T07:17:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. What is the use of sattva?

What is the use of truth, goodness, harmony, beauty? They are their own goal. They manifest spontaneously and effortlessly, when things are left to themselves, are not interfered with, not shunned, or wanted, or conceptualized, but just experienced in full awareness, such awareness itself is sattva. It does not make use of things and people -- it fulfills them.

Q. Since I cannot improve sattva, am I to deal with tamas and rajas only? How can I deal with them?

By watching their influence in you and on you. Be aware of them in operation, watch their expression in your thoughts, words and deeds, and gradually their grip on you will lessen and the clear light of sattva will emerge. It is neither difficult, nor a protracted process; earnestness is the only condition of success.

Getting Rid Of Mind

2012-01-11T07:08:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Is it the mind that wants to kill itself? The mind cannot kill itself. So your business is to find the real nature of the mind. Then you will know that there is no mind. When the Self is sought the mind is nowhere. Abiding in the Self, one need not worry about the mind.

Wise Mind - A Trustworthy Friend

2012-01-10T07:21:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

O Rama, in the great empire known as dreadful hell, evil actions roam like mighty elephants in rut. The senses which are responsible for these actions are equipped with a formidable magazine of cravings. Hence, these senses are hard to conquer. These ungrateful senses destroy the body, their own abode and support.

However, one who is equipped with wisdom is able to restrain craving without injuring the being even as a noose restrains the elephant without harming its being. The bliss enjoyed by the wise man who has his senses under control is incomparably superior to the enjoyment of a king who rules over a city built with brick and mortar. The former's intelligence grows in clarity as his craving for sense-pleasure is worn out. However, the craving disappears completely only after the supreme truth has been seen.

To the wise, the mind is an obedient servant, good counselor, able commander of the senses, pleasing wife, protecting father and trustworthy friend. It impels him in good actions. Rama, be established in truth and live in freedom in a mindless state.

Getting Rid Of Fear

2012-01-09T07:03:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

What is fear? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear. Who sees the second (anything external)? First the ego rises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second (nothing external). For anything external to oneself implies the seer within. Seeking it there will arise no doubt, no fear - not only fear, all other thoughts centered round the ego will disappear along with it.

Blessings Come From Within

2012-01-08T07:18:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Continued from here

Q. Do you mean to say mere wanting to find out is enough? Surely, both qualifications and opportunities are needed.

These will come with earnestness. What is supremely important is to be free from contradictions: the goal and the way must not be on different levels; life and light must not quarrel; behavior must not betray itself. Call it honesty, integrity, wholeness; you must not go back, undo, uproot, abandon the conquered ground. Tenacity of purpose and honesty in pursuit will being you to your goal.

Q. Tenacity and honesty are endowments, surely! Not a trace of them I have.

All will come as you go on. Take the first step first. All blessings come from within. Turn within. 'I am' you know. Be with it all the time you can spare, until you revert to it spontaneously. There is no simpler and easier way.

Go Within

2012-01-08T07:08:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 15, 1980.

What is this knowingness? It is the stamp or registration of the booking "I Am". You are booking a flat which is under construction but where is the flat? It is only the booking. Similarly this "I Am" is only booking, it represents your Absolute state.

Receding only means to go within, your normal inclination is to come out through the five senses and see the world. Now reverse; I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the senses; now you are stabilized in consciousness. After stabilizing in consciousness all further things will happen automatically. You expand into the manifest. I was, I am, I shall be in that original state before the "I Amness" came.

Why is it that the terrible name of this disease has no effect on me? For the simple reason that what I am has nothing to do with that of which the disease is just a name.

Aum

2012-01-07T07:36:00.002-05:00

Purified, empty, peaceful, breathless, selfless, infinite, indestructible, stable, eternal, unborn, free, he is established in his own glory. Having seen the Self who is established in His own glory, he looks upon the wheel of life as a wheel that rolls on.

All Merge In The Self

2012-01-06T06:51:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

The other worlds require the Self as a spectator or speculator. Their reality is only of the same degrees as that of the spectator, etc. Therefore they are not different from the Self. Even the ignorant man sees only the Self when he sees objects. But he is confused and identifies the Self with the objects, i.e., the body and with the senses and plays in the world. Subject and object - all merge in the Self. There is no seer nor objects seen. The seer and the seen are the Self. There are not many selves either. All are only one Self.

Conquest Of Mind

2012-01-05T06:57:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

To the ignorant, this body is the source of suffering; but to the enlightened man, this body is the source of infinite delight. While it exists the wise man derives from it great pleasure and the delight of enlightenment; and when its life-span comes to an end he does not regard it as a loss at all. Hence, to the enlightened person the body itself is a source of infinite delight.

Only the mind that has been well disciplined really experiences happiness. The captive king, when freed, is delighted with a piece of bread; the king who has not been subjected to captivity does not enjoy as much, even should it be the annexation of another kingdom. Hence, the wise man grinds his teeth and strives to conquer his mind and senses: such conquest is far greater than conquest of external foes.

Steady Remembrance

2012-01-04T06:56:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. Does one get reborn?

What was born must die. Only the unborn is deathless. Find what is it that never sleeps and never wakes, and whose pale reflection is our sense of 'I'.

Q. How am I to go about this finding out?

How do you go about finding anything? By keeping your mind and heart in it. Interest there must be and steady rememberance. To remember what needs to be remembered is the secret of success. You come to it through earnestness.

Truth Is Simple

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

People would not understand the simple and bare truth - the truth of their everyday, ever-present and eternal experience. The Truth is that of the Self. Is there anyone not aware of the Self? They would not even like to hear it (the Self), whereas they are eager to know what lies beyond - heaven, hell, reincarnation. Because they love mystery and not the bare truth religions pamper them - only to bring them round to the Self. Wandering hither and thither you must return to the Self only. Then, why not abide in the Self even here and now?

Remember My Words

2012-01-02T08:01:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

September 11, 1980.

At the most, I would say, "You know you are; you worship that "I Am" principle. You worship that, be one with that only, and that "I Amness" will disclose all the knowledge." That's all I will say, but the subtlest part is this, from deep sleep to waking state. To abide in that state, you must have an intensely peaceful state. In that state, witnessing of the waking state happens. You must go to that limit, but it is very difficult. For a normal person, with the arrival of the "I Am" and the word flow, he will go with the word flow. The one who has discrimination, who is intelligent, and is intensely spiritual, we must bring here prior to that "I Amness".

If you have regard for me, remember my words. The knowledge "I Am" is the greatest God, the Guru; be one with that, be intimate with it. That itself will bless you with all the knowledge relevant for you and in the proliferation of that knowledge it will lead you to the state which is eternal.

Stop Defining Yourself

2012-01-01T06:26:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

I see what you too could see, here and now, but for the wrong focus of your attention. You give no attention to your self. Your mind is all with things, people and ideas, never with your self. Bring your self into focus, become aware of your own existence. See how you function, watch the motives and the results of your actions. Study the prison you have built around yourself by inadvertence. By knowing what you are not, you come to know your self. The way back to your self is through refusal and rejection. One thing is certain: the real is not imaginary, it is not a product of the mind. Even the sense 'I am' is not continuous, though it is a useful pointer; it shows where to seek, but not what to seek. Just have a good look at it. Once you are convinced that you cannot say truthfully about your self anything except 'I am', and that nothing that can be pointed at, can be your self, the need for the 'I am' is over -- you are no longer intent on verbalizing what you are. All you need is to get rid of the tendency to define your self.

Wisdom Arises, Delusion Sets

2011-12-31T06:14:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

When there is absence of egoism, there is no confusion in the mind when that mind functions naturally. Just as waves rise and fall in the ocean, the worlds arise and vanish: this deludes the ignorant, but not the wise. The space in a pot does not come into being when the pot is brought in, nor is it destroyed when the pot is broken: he who knows that such is the relationship between his body (pot) and the self (space) is not influenced by praise and censure.

This glamorous world-appearance haunts one only as long as one does not engage oneself in enquiry into the nature of the Self. When wisdom arises, delusion sets.

Degrees Of Reality

2011-12-30T05:08:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q. They say that the astral body lives for forty years after death.

In the present body you say the dream body is astral. Did you say so in the dream body? What is astral now would appear real then, the present body itself is astral according to that viewpoint. What is the difference between one astral body and another? There is no difference between the two.

Q. There are degrees of reality.

To say the dream body is unreal now, and to say that this body was unreal in the dream, does not denote degrees of reality. In deep sleep there is no experience of the body at all. There is always only one and that is the Self.

Things Happen Without Cause

2011-12-29T06:51:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. What made you so dispassionate?

Nothing in particular. It so happened that I trusted my Guru. He told me I am nothing but my self and I believed him. Trusting him, I behaved accordingly and ceased caring for what was not me, nor mine.

Q. Why were you lucky to trust your teacher fully while our trust is nominal and verbal?

Who can say? It happened so. Things happen without cause and reason and, after all, what does it matter, who is who? Your high opinion of me is your opinion only. Any moment you many change it. Why attach importance to opinions, even your own?

There is consciousness in which everything happens. It is quite obvious and within the experience of everybody. You just do not look carefully enough. Look well, and see what I see.

Liberation - The Original State

2011-12-28T06:27:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

There is only one "I" all along, but what rises up from time to time is the mistaken "I-thought"; whereas the intuitive "I" always remains Self-shining, i.e., even before it becomes manifest. The birth of the gross body does not amount to one's own birth, on the other hand, the birth of the ego is one's own birth. For liberation, nothing new remains to be gained. It is the original state and continues unchanged too.

Prior To "I Am", You Are

2011-12-27T06:11:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 29, 1980.

The only way to understand this mystery is to realize your identity with the universal consciousness, which is expressed in the total space. So long as you identify yourself with the human form it is impossible for the mystery to be solved.

Why do you come here and waste your time for an hour or so?

V:These are the hours that are useful; all others are useless.

Isn't it amusing that the teaching which destroys the individual is exactly what the individual wants? The answer is that there never was an individual. The knowledge comes that the individual was never there.

V: What is the realization?

Before the idea "I Am" sprouted, you are, but you don't know you are. Subsequent to that there have been many happenings with which you have started decorating yourself. You try to deprive the meaning of yourself out of subsequent words, happenings, and the meaning of words ... that is not you ... give it up. You are prior to the idea "I Am." Camp yourself there, prior to the words "I Am".

Why Do I Not Feel Perfect?

2011-12-26T06:57:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

The "I" in sleep being perfect, why does the waking "I" feel imperfect? Because the one who feels imperfect is a spurious offshoot, a differentiation from the Infinite - a segregation from God.

Can anything new appear without that which is eternal and perfect? This kind of dispute is itself eternal. Do not engage in it. Turn inward and put an end to all this. There will be no finality in disputations.

Learn first what you are. This requires no sastras, no scholarship. This is simple experience. The state of being is now and here all along. You have lost hold of yourself and are asking others for guidance. The purpose of philosophy is to turn you inward. "IF you know your Self, no evil can come to you. Since you asked me I have taught you."

The ego comes up only holding you (the Self). Hold yourself and the ego will vanish. Until then the sage will be saying, "There is". The ignorant will be asking, "Where?"

When The Mind Becomes Free..

2011-12-25T06:27:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

It is only when the mind has become devoid of all attachment, when it is not swayed by the pairs of opposites, when it is not attracted by objects and when it is totally independent of all supports, that it is freed from the cage of delusion. When all doubt comes to rest and when there is neither elation nor depression, then the mind shines like the full moon. When the impurities of the mind have ceased to be, there arise in the heart all the auspicious qualities, and there is equal vision everywhere. Even as darkness is dispelled by the rising sun, the world-illusion is dispelled when the sun of infinite consciousness arises in the heart. Such wisdom as is capable of gladdening the hearts of all beings in the universe manifests and expands. In short, he who has known that which alone is worth knowing transcends all coming and going, birth and death.

Imperfection In Perfection?

2011-12-24T07:09:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q. Why is there imperfection in Perfection? That is, how did the Absolute become relative?

For whom is this relativity? For whom is this imperfection? The Absolute is not imperfect and cannot ask. The insentient cannot ask the question. Between the two something has risen up which raises these questions and which feels this doubt. Who is it? Is it the one who has now arisen? Or is it the one who is eternal?

Being perfect, why do you feel yourself imperfect? Such is the teaching of all religions. Whatever maybe the experiences, the experiencer is one and the same.

'I' is purana - perfection. There is no diversity in sleep. That indicates perfection.

Neti-Neti

2011-12-23T07:32:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Lakshman Brahmachari from Sri RamaKrishna Mission asked: Enquiry of 'Who am I?' or of the 'I-thought' being itself a thought, how can it be destroyed in the process?

M: When Sita was asked who was her husband among the rishis (Rama himself being present there as a rishi) in the forest by the wives of the rishis, she denied each one as he was pointed out to her, but simply hung down her head when Rama was pointed out. Her silence was eloquent.

Similarly, the Vedas also are eloquent in 'neti-neti' (not this-not this) and then remain silent. Their silence is the Real state. This is the meaning of exposition by silence. When the source of the 'I-thought' is reached it vanishes and what remains over is the Self.

How Do I Get At It?

2011-12-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

You need not get at it, for you are it. It will get at you, if you give it a chance. Let go your attachment to the unreal and the real will swiftly and smoothly step into its own. Stop imagining yourself being or doing this or that and the realization that you are the source and heart of all will dawn upon you. With this will come great love which is not choice or predilection, nor attachment, but a power which makes all things love-worthy and lovable.

Separate In Memory, Identical In Essence

2011-12-21T06:37:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q. The sense of being an experiencer, the sense of 'I am', is it not also an experience?

M. Obviously, everything experienced is an experience. And in every experience there arises the experiencer of it. Memory creates the illusion of continuity. In reality each experience has its own experiencer and the sense of identity is due to the common factor at the root of all experiencer-experience relations. Identity and continuity are not the same. Just as each flower has its own color, but all colors are caused by the same light, so do many experiences appear in the undivided and indivisible awareness, each separate in memory, identical in essence. This essence is the root, the foundation, the timeless and spaceless 'possibility' of all experience.

The Cataract That Blinds Truth

2011-12-20T07:09:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

Rama, bondage is none other than the notion of an object. This notion is maya, ignorance etc. It is the cataract that blinds the sun of truth. Ignorance raises a doubt; doubt perceives - that perception is perverted. In darkness when one approaches even a lion's empty cage, he is afraid. Even so, one ignorantly believes he is imprisoned in this empty body. The notions of 'I' and 'the world' are but shadows, not truth. Such notions alone create 'objects': these objects are neither true nor false. A mother who considers herself a housekeeper behaves like one; a wife who considers herself her husband's mother behaves like one for the time being. Therefore, Rama, abandon the notions of 'I' and 'this' and remain established in the truth.

Distance - No Bar To Grace

2011-12-19T06:20:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

The American Engineer asked, "Does distance have any effect upon Grace?"
M. Time and space are within us. You are always in your Self. How do time and space affect it?
V. In radio those who are nearer hear sooner. You a Hindu, we are Americans. Does it make any difference?
M. No.
V. Even thoughts are read by others.
M. That shows that all are one.

You Become What You Think

2011-12-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

The very seed for all jIvas, which is the absolute Brahman, exists everywhere; and within the jIvas there are countless other jIvas. All this is because the entire universe is totally permeated with the infinite consciousness.

Upon their appearance as the jIvas, whatever type of contemplation they adopt, they soon become of the same nature. They who are devoted to the gods, reach the gods; they who adore the demi-gods, attain the demi-gods. They who contemplate the absolute Brahman, become Brahman. Hence, one should resort to that which is not limited, conditioned or finite.

aum

2011-12-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

That in whom reside all beings and who resides in all beings, who is the giver of grace to all, the Supreme Soul of the universe, the limitless being -- I am that.

Body's Problems, Not Yours

2011-12-16T06:08:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Is it not important to you to know whether you are a mere body, or something else? Or, maybe nothing at all? Don't you see that all your problems are your body's problems -- food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, name, fame, security, survival -- all these lose their meaning the moment you realize that you may not be a mere body.

Q. What benefit is there in knowing that I am not the body?

Even to say that you are not the body is not quite true. In a way you are all the bodies, hearts and minds and much more. Go deep into the sense of 'I am' and you will find. How do you find a thing you have mislaid or forgotten? You keep it in your mind until you recall it. The sense of being, of 'I am' is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes, or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the 'I am' without moving, you enter a state which cannot be verbalized but can be experienced. All you need to do is try and try again. After all the sense 'I am' is always with you, only you have attached all kinds of things to it -- body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions etc. All these self-identifications are misleading. Because of them you take yourself to be what you are not.

Inquiry, Meditation, Release

2011-12-15T07:45:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar?

Inquiry consists in retaining the mind in the Self. Meditation consists in thinking that one's self is Brahman, existence-consciousness-bliss. Inquiring into the nature of one's self that is in bondage, and realizing one's true nature is release.

Desirelessness & Wisdom

2011-12-14T07:01:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar?

Desirelessness is wisdom. The two are not different; they are the same. Desirelessness is refraining from turning the mind towards any object. Wisdom means the appearance of no object. In other words, not seeking what is other than the Self is detachment or desirelessness; not leaving the Self is wisdom.

Jnana Drishti

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar

Remaining quiet is what is called jnAna-drishti (wisdom-insight). To remain quiet is to resolve the mind in the Self. Telepathy, knowing past, present and future happenings and clairvoyance do not constitute wisdom-insight.

When Understood, Words Are Of No Use

2011-12-12T06:44:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 29, 1980.

This beingness goes into individuality because of the form of food package, the body. From my standpoint it is dynamic, manifest beingness only - no individuality. Once you take to this understanding there is no question of enjoying yourself as an individual. You are no more an individual, the individual is dissolved. A rare one will do this.

The one who has understood all the five elements and its play is not worried about the essence of these five elements, the beingness - this state is transcended also. That one has the fragrance of humanity: he remembers humanity, but knows that he has nothing to do with humanity.

Having understood this and transcended it, the words are of no use. The beingness feels that it should not die, but if the so-called death has occurred, there is no loss to it.

From my standpoint, whatever beingness in the form of a human being was there is all gone; because of that dissolution it has become manifest.

Happiness

2011-12-11T08:05:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar

Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is in the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it.

Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness.

In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e., when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.

Waking & Dream: Difference

2011-12-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar?

Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake, so do those in a dream while dreaming. In dream the mind takes on another body. In both waking and dream states thoughts, names and forms occur simultaneously.

aum

2011-12-10T08:27:00.003-05:00

He who forms desires in his mind, is born again through his desires here and there. But to him whose desires are fulfilled and who is conscious of the true Self (within himself) all desires vanish, even here on earth.

Find Out Your Source

2011-12-09T06:04:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 24, 1980.

The consciousness is the same, but the mind can work only according to what is known to it. What is known to the lower creatures is only the basic physical requirements. It is only man, who from an early age, has been thinking of and has been fed, higher ideas, other than merely physical aspects. Man is able to fly and go to the moon. No other species can do this; the mind of the lesser species is limited.

There are 84 lakhs of different species, as soon as any conception takes place in any of these species, there is a sort of causal body on which the print has been made at the time of conception about the nature of the form and its working. Nobody tells a bird to fly, a fish to swim, or a worm to crawl, it is all in the conception itself. That which cannot die is now firmly convinced that it is going to die. How has this fear of death crept in? It is based on the concept that one is born, on mere words; this is the bondage.

All that one has to do is find out one's source and take up headquarters there.

Way To Release

2011-12-07T06:27:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar?

God and Guru will only show the way to release; they will not by themselves take the soul to the state of release. In truth, God and the Guru are not different. Just as the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the Guru's gracious look will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost; yet, each one should by his own effort pursue the path shown by God or Guru and gain release. One can know oneself only with one's own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else's. Does he who is Rama enquire the help of a mirror to know that he is Rama?

Non-Attachment

2011-12-06T06:05:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar?

As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any residue in the very place of their origin is non-attachment. Just as the pearl-diver ties a stone to his waist, sinks to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so each one of us should be endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and obtain the Self-Pearl.

Nothing More To Lose

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 23, 1980.

Suppose a rich man, wearing a lot of expensive ornaments moves in the street, he will be afraid, he will be in danger. But a naked fakir has nothing to lose, so he moves in the streets without fear.

So, having lost everything, I have nothing further to lose, I can encounter and fit into any situation. So long as you wear a name and form, all these problems will be there. In this spiritual pursuit, you gradually lose your form and as the form is shed off, the name also disappears.

There are many customers to gain and possess something in the name of spiritual knowledge, but nobody is a customer for the real, true Self knowledge.

Self Is Being

2011-12-04T07:46:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Atman is jivatman (the individual Self) and the rest are plain. The Self is ever-present (nityasiddha). Each one wants to know the Self. What kind of help does one require to know oneself? People want to see the Self as something new. But it is eternal and remains the same all along. They desire to see it as a blazing light, etc. How can it be so? It is not light, not darkness (na tejo, na tamah). It is only as it is. It cannot be defined. The best definition is 'I am that I AM'.

It is only Being, but different from the real and the unreal; it is Knowledge, but different from knowledge and ignorance. How can it be defined at all? It is simply Being.

Aum

2011-12-03T10:15:00.001-05:00

Whether you consider the living self as eternal as the Spirit, or as temporal as the body, or as both in view of his being a combination of spirit and body, or as neither from the Absolute point of view, whatever be your attitude, sorrow for beings arises from love and attachment, which are caused by ignorance about the real nature of the soul. Therefore, give up your infatuation born of ignorance, which makes you feel worried, thinking - how will these helpless people get on without me?

- Srimad Bhagavatam

Countless World Appearances

2011-12-02T06:14:00.000-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

O Rama, behold with the eye of your inner wisdom the truth that in every atom of existence there are countless world-appearances. In every one's mind, in the very space, in every rock, in the flame of fire and in water there exist countless world-appearances; even as oil exists in sesame seed. It is when the mind becomes absolutely pure that it becomes pure consciousness, and therefore one with the infinite consciousness.

This world-appearance is but a long dream which manifests everywhere, being the imagination of Brahma the creator and all others. This dream-like appearance is yet true during the period of the dream itself.

The Greatest Devotee

2011-12-01T06:14:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar

He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one's self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any other thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?

Giving To Others = Giving To Oneself

2011-11-30T06:13:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar

The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others one gives to one's self. If this truth is understood who will not give to others? When one's self arises all arises; when one's self becomes quiescent all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.

aum

2011-11-29T05:54:00.001-05:00

All this universe is the Lord's alone. He is the soul of all souls - the Self-revealing spirit, needing no other revealer (svayamprakasha). He is what shines as the within and the without. See how He has become the many by His mysterious power of Maya.

- Srimad Bhagavatam

All Will Go On .. Spontaneously

2011-11-28T10:01:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 23, 1980.

Whatever natural experiences you encounter, just accept them, don't try to alter them, just accept them as they come.

The sum total of all this is illusion and nobody is responsible for creation - it has come spontaneously and there is no question of improvement in that - it will go on in its own way.

I have come to the conclusion that the world is there spontaneously without any seed, that creation is seedless but the world is full of seeds and procreation is going on daily.

Hold On To The Self

2011-11-27T07:31:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar

As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.

Without yielding to the doubt "is it possible or not?", one should hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep, "Oh! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?"; one should completely renounce the thought "I am a sinner"; and concentrate keenly on the meditation on the Self, then one would surely succeed. There are not two minds - one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds - auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil.

Seen-Seer Are One

2011-11-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Continued from here
Sage Vasishtha

It is only when the division between the seen and the seer is given up, only when the two are 'seen' as of one substance, that the truth is realized. There is no object which is totally of a different nature from the subject. Nor can the subject (seer) be seen as if it were an object! In fact the subject (Self) alone appears to the sight as the seen (object): there is no other object of perception here. If again the subject (Self) alone is all this, then surely it is not even the subject or the seer! There is no division is such a vision.

Seen-Seer Are One

2011-11-25T06:24:00.001-05:00

Sage Vasishtha

When the Self is seen as an object, the seer is not seen (realized); as long as the objective universe is perceived one does not realize the Self. When you see the mirage as water, you do not perceive the rising hot-air; but, when you perceive the hot-air, you do not see water in the mirage! When one is truth, the other is not.

The eyes which perceive all the objects of the world, do not see themselves. As long as one entertains the notion of objectivity, the Self is not realized. Brahman is as subtle and pure as space. It cannot be realized by any effort whatsoever. As long as one sees what is seen with the inner feeling that they are objects of perception (himself being their separate seer or subject), the realization of Brahman is far indeed.

Continued here.

Hold On To Inquiry

2011-11-24T06:29:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

From Naan Yaar

It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?" The answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.

Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?

Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions.

Thought "I" is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent.

Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha); it will not destroy the mind (manonasa).

Like the practice of breath-control, meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, restriction on food etc. are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent.

aum

2011-11-23T07:29:00.000-05:00

He, the Supreme Lord, to whom all this world and its protecting powers offer worship always, is He who brings people together and separates them at His Will.

- Srimad Bhagavatam

Consciousness Is The Same

2011-11-22T06:03:00.001-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 21, 1980.

The consciousness indwelling the sparrow and the consciousness indwelling this body is the same. Here the instrument is big, there it is smaller. They (sparrows) are planning for food, their tummies are not full. All the species are suffering; creation itself is suffering. All these concepts about rebirth, etc., has the rain rebirth? the fire? the air? In short, it is a mere transformation of the five elements. You may call it rebirth.

In the process of this spiritual search, all will happen in the realm of this consciousness. You finally stumble on, or culminate, into the Absolute Parabrahman state, which is desireless.

Form-Formless God

2011-11-21T06:19:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Has God a form?

Who says so?

If God has no form is it proper to worship idols?

Leave God alone because HE is unknown. What about you? Have you a form?

Yes. I am this and so and so.

So then, you are a man with limbs, about 3 and a 1/2 cubits high, with beard, etc. Is it so?

Certainly.

The do you find yourself so in deep sleep?

After waking I perceive that I was asleep. Therefore by inference I remained thus in deep sleep also.

If you are a body why do they bury the corpse after death? The body must refuse to be buried.

No, I am the subtle jIva within the gross body.

So you see that you are really formless; but you are at present identifying yourself with the body. So long as you are with form why should you not worship the formless God as being with form?

How To Get Released From Karma?

2011-11-20T06:17:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

See whose karma it is. You will find you are not the doer. Then you will be free. This requires grace of God for which you should pray to Him, worship Him and meditate on Him. The karma which takes place without effort, i.e., involuntary action, is not binding.

There can be no karmas without intentions (sankalpas). Therefore there are sankalpas for all.They are of two kinds (1) one, binding - bandha-hetu and (2) mukti-hetu - not binding. The former must be given up and the latter must be cultivated. There is no fruit without previous karma; no karma without previous sankalpa. Even mukti must be the result of effort so long as the sense of doership persists.

aum

2011-11-19T07:06:00.004-05:00

Just as a herd of cattle with their small nosestrings tied to a big rope are directed to go along well-marked paths, so are all men's individual concerns tied to the big rope of duty by the Lord, and they are thus made to walk the paths ordained for them.

- Srimad Bhagavatam

Whatever Is, Is One Self

2011-11-18T05:46:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 8, 1980.

Is this "I AMNESS" a necessary threshold to obtain that Absolute state?

The Absolute state cannot be obtained. That is your state. To the Absolute state the witnessing of the consciousness happens.

How long must one practice?

How long did you practice to become a woman?

The first stage is to transcend this body-mind sense, it is easy, but to transcend consciousness is very difficult. Beingness is a very powerful potential knowledge, because of that you have all other knowledge, therefore it is difficult to get rid of this knowledge.

Is it separate from the Unmanifest?

From your point of view it is separate; from my standpoint it is not separate. Sri Krishna said that whatever is, is myself only. Saguna and nirguna, both myself only. This touch of beingness is a temporary phase. Enquire at that point. How did this beingness happen to be?

Nature Of The Mind

2011-11-17T05:45:00.000-05:00

From Naan Yaar?
Sri Ramana Maharshi

What is called 'mind' is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such a thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears to be real, the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self (as the residue). What is referred to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (jIva).

aum

2011-11-16T05:48:00.002-05:00

There the stainless and indivisible Brahman shines in the highest, golden sheath. It is pure; It is the Light of lights; It is That which they know who know the Self.

From 'Naan Yaar'

2011-11-15T05:51:00.001-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

When will the realization of the Self be gained?

When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.

Will there not be realization even while the world is there (taken as real)?

There will not be.

Why?

The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed.

Karma Yoga & Purity Of Mind

2011-11-14T06:29:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A Telugu gentleman asked about Karma Yoga. Sri Bhagavan said that the man should act as an actor on the stage. In all actions there is the 'sat' as the underlying principle. "Remember it and act." He asked about purity of mind - chitta suddhi. Sri Bhagavan said that chitta suddhi is to engage in one thought only to the exclusion of all others. It is otherwise called one-pointedness of the mind. The practice of meditation purifies the mind.

The Absolute Is There Anyway

2011-11-13T05:49:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 8, 1980.

Q. Should we have a firm conviction that there is a state beyond the consciousness?

The Absolute is there in any case, so there is no question of your having faith - it is there. There is only one state, not two. When the "I Amness" is there, in that consciousness you will have many experiences, but the "I Am" and the Absolute are not two. In the Absolute the "I Amness" comes and then the experience takes place. In the Absolute there is no individuality, no memory that I am this or that, but there is continual stirring.

Whatever is happening, from the Absolute standpoint, without the knowledge "I Am", is very profound, unlimited, expansive. In the realm of beingness the fragmentation begins; it is limited, conditioned, because in this beingness we try to claim all the actions as ours.

aum

2011-11-11T06:20:00.000-05:00

I sought Him in terms of "I" and "You". But He who knows not "I" from "you" taught me the truth that "I" indeed am "you". And now I talk not of " I" and "you".

Spiritual Drowsiness - Whose Is It?

2011-11-10T05:41:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

A visitor asked how he should remove the spiritual drowsiness of others.

M: Have you removed your own 'spiritual drowsiness'? The force which is set up to remove your own drowsiness will also operate in other centres. There is the will-power with which you can act on others.But it is on a lower plane and not desirable. Take care of yourself first.

V. How to remove my own drowsiness?

M: Whose drowsiness is it? Enquire. Turn within. Turn all your enquiries towards search for Self. The force set up within you will operate on others also.

Sat-Guru Is Your Nature

2011-11-09T05:27:00.000-05:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 1, 1980.

Abide in the high state. You have to do nothing, only the listening. If you listen correctly, everything will happen. Now I have told you what this beingness is, it is the outcome of the five elemental play; the knowingness is the result of this food body, and you are not that. So why worry about the departure of this knowingness?

Have you understood that you are the witness of the consciousness that appears on you? You are not the consciousness, you are not the knowledge, sat-guru is your true nature.

The final meaning of all this sadhana is you. Whatever is, you are.

'Sat' - Known Transcendentally

2011-11-08T05:51:00.000-05:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

See how a tree, whose branches are cut, grows again. So long as the life-source is not affected it will grow. Similarly the samskaras sink into the heart in death; they do not perish. They will in right time sprout forth from the heart. That is how jivas are reborn.

Just as a big banyan tree sprouts from a tiny seed, so the wide universe with names and forms sprouts forth from the heart.

Q. If the origin is 'sat' why is it not felt?

The salt in the lump is visible; it is invisible in solution. Still its existence is known by taste. Similarly sat, though not recognized by the intellect, can still be realized in a different way, i.e., transcendentally.

Q. How?

Just as a man blindfolded and left by robbers in a jungle enquires his way home and returns there, so also the ignorant one (blinded by ignorance) enquires of those not so blinded and seeks his own source and returns to it.

Shirdi Saibaba

2011-11-07T05:47:00.001-05:00

Barring your name and form, there exists in you as well as other beings a sense of being or consciousness of existence. That is Myself.

Aum

2011-11-06T06:37:00.000-05:00

Srimad Bhagavatam

No kind of elation or humiliation is felt by him on account of actions, because he is the soul of all, even-sighted, non-dual, devoid of egoism, and free from all taints.

Suffering

2011-11-05T06:49:00.000-04:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q. Why does God permit suffering in the world? Should He not with His omnipotence do away with it at one stroke and ordain the universal realization of God?

Suffering is the way for Realization of God.

Should He not ordain differently?

It is the way.

Are Yoga, religion, etc., antidotes to suffering?

They help you to overcome suffering.

Why should there be suffering?

Who suffers? What is suffering?

Death Not Traumatic

2011-11-04T06:15:00.000-04:00

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

August 1, 1980.

How can one understand that we abide in consciousness?

Right now you are in that state, but you always try to judge through the body-mind. You are still attached to the body-mind. Even if you might live for a hundred years, you would still like an extension of five years. In the Absolute there is no need of any kind, even the need to know oneself.

At the time of death there might be a very traumatic experience?

It is not always so. For the one who has purified the mind of all concepts, to that one death will be very blissful. You have had a lot of learning and spiritual wisdom and still with all this, at the moment of death you will open your diary wherein you have noted all your relatives.