Give Up Concepts

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: There is peace in meditation?

M: Why are you going to meditate? To tranquilize the "I Amness." With "I Amness" began all misery. You must spontaneously feel the superficiality of "I Amness."

Q: How?

M: That attention, that "I Amness," is always there in the waking state, but we are not on the alert to watch it. There is no other attention to be followed. Be attentive to that attention "I Am."

Q: Is there something that remains in the deep sleep state?

M: Whatever is there in the waking state merges in the deep sleep and is in a dormant condition.

Q: What is right action?

M: Let the actions happen though you. Don't take yourself to be the doer. There will be actions through you; don't say that these actions are good and those are bad. It is not your responsibility. The one who things he is the doer is a slave to mind-inclinations, mind-conditions. The Jnani witnesses the consciousness acting; he has no involvement in the actions of the consciousness.

Q: It seems to be an addiction of the consciousness to worry about things around.

M: Yes, addiction, and also entertainment. Suppose I spill water. Immediately I take the towel and wipe it up, but I do not feel that I have done something foolish. It has happened. Just as the towel is soaking up the water without thinking that it is doing so.

Q: What a strange love for this "I Amness."

M: Although it is strange, it gets manifested in conscious forms. We all hang onto concepts about saving the world, doing good. With all the great concepts and ideas great people have had, where are the saved and the saviors today? What do you do over there want?

Q: I would like everything to be in harmony, non-chaotic.

M: Don't hang on to name and form. Get rid of name and form.

Q: Why is it so difficult to understand that simple thing?

M: Because whatever you have understood, you are clinging to, embracing. Get rid of that. Whatever you have understood from this world, you are hanging onto. Give it up. The way that you understand yourself, give that up also.

Stop Identifying Body-Mind with Consciousness

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

M: That you are sitting there - that itself is going to be troublesome to you. This is your trouble: You are not in a position to sustain that consciousness and you cannot bear it. When the body was not there, when the consciousness was not there, what were you? You are not in a position to understand that.

Q: Before the body was and consciousness appeared, It was whatever It was.

M: Now that you, you are conscious. Is it because you want it or did it just come automatically, spontaneously to you?

Q: It appears to be spontaneous.

M: You are conscious now, spontaneously, not because you want to be. That's a fact, isn't it?

Q: Yes. I think all this idea of spirituality - of trying to give a meaning to that consciousness - is the only trouble, when consciousness wants to extend itself and be all those things.

M: No, that is not troublesome for you. The troublesome thing is the consciousness appearing on you. It is only because of that that you are giving names or not giving names, doing something or not doing something.

Q: That is the root of the trouble. If consciousness would just be itself and not try to apply concepts to everything, there would be no trouble.'

M: This is all imagination.

Q: It is very simple. All the experiences that we call life happen in consciousness, and the meaning of life is just to experience consciousness everywhere. So, when the end comes, then that's it. Cannot consciousness just see and face that end?

M: Can you stay in that?

Q: But what doesn't allow me to stay in that void is looking, searching, trying to do this or that.

M: When the consciousness is there, so is the vital force; thoughts are flowing and a lot of words are coming. That is your mind. Just understand that you are not concerned with the consciousness. It will still be there, it will still continue, but you are not identifying with it, saying, "I am this or I am that."

There should not be any difficulty because the self-evident fact is that you are. Why don't you stop there and find out that point? See what that state is.

Translator: Maharaj wants to know if you understand what he is saying to this other person. You.

Q: Yes, he is speaking of consciousness.

M: Have you understood the meaning of consciousness?

Q: Consciousness is everything that appears.

M: Who is saying that?

Q: The feeling is, I am.

M: Who experiences this?

Q: Consciousness experiences itself.

M: Yes. Listen to these dialogues for some time more. Whatever is going on, listen for some time more. Thinking "I have understood everything correctly" - that itself is the first mistake. Space is created and thereby the consciousness, which is really non-personal, has become a person, limited to the body and mind. You feel that the consciousness is limited to the body and the mind, but if the consciousness is accepted as non-personal, then there is no trouble. Because the knowledge I AM is there, we conduct all activities. In morning when you wake up you get that first guarantee, that conviction of I AM. Then, because you are not in a position to sustain or tolerate that "I amness,"you bestir yourself. You get up and move around here and there and the activity starts. You involve yourself in all the activity because you want to sustain that "I Amness." Later on that "I Amness" forgets itself in deep sleep; only then are you peaceful.

Beingness is Sattva Guna

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

M: All this manifestation is the ocean of that being. You may call it the ocean of Brahma or the ocean of Maya.

Q: Beyond Maya, beyond the ocean?

M: Where is the question of going beyond? There is beingness-beingness extinguished. It does not go beyond anything. Does it require an airplane, a Boeing, to go somewhere? From where has it come, where did it go? Prior to coming and going, you are.

That I AMness is pulsating "I AM-I AM". The feeling of "I AMness" is there because of the food body and the vital breath. When the food essence and the vital breath are gone, that pulsation of "I AMness" will not be there. Beingness goes into no-beingness.

For the sprouting of any seed, water is necessary. Similarly, for the sprouting of this knowledge "I AM", water and food essence are necessary. In the essence of the food the quality of "I AMness" is in a dormant state. The Atman - the core Self - He himself sees "I AMness" through the juices or essence of the food.

Q: The consciousness is common to all universal, spontaneous, one. Why does it appear in so many different forms?

M: That is its native quality. Although beingness is one, it manifests in plenty, many, multitudes.

Q: What is satva guna?

M: The quintessence of the food essence is that "I AMness," which is satva guna. Satva guna equals beingness. The beingness is activated in the manifest world through rajas and tamas (gunas). The rajas is activity. The tamas is the pride you take in doership or authorship. Satva guna is only beingness, just to be. These three gunas have sprung out of the essence of food. If the food is not there that "I AMness" will go, all the qualities will vanish.

Q: That flame of "I AMness" which we see in the present condition with the help of our intellect - it seems that there is a development, a sort of evolution going on. What does Maharaj think - which way is it moving?

M: Towards destruction. Whatever might be the evolution, finally it will be heading toward dissolution. Turning to what you were speaking about earlier: Is there something you either do or don't want to protect?

Q: I don't know.

M: All this depends on the consciousness, and you don't want to leave the consciousness.

Q: Not even the consciousness of consciousness do I want. I thought of bringing cotton to stuff in my ears when Maharaj is speaking of the Self.

M: Who says this?

Q: Words, just words.

M: What is the use of words if consciousness is not there?

Q: Consciousness is there. Why imply that that consciousness does not know?

M: What is the meaning of this? Explain what you have to say.

Q: What is the need of attaching any concept to whatever there is?

M: If you feel "It should be or it should not be,", what is there at the bottom of that?

Q: Whatever there is, there is.

M: It is evident that you feel you are, and therefore sprouts in you. When you feel that you are, all the trouble starts. If that feeling is not there, no trouble exists.

Q: Why should it give trouble? You attach names and concepts to that which is. Would you leave it alone?

M: Who says this?

Q: Understanding that appears in consciousness.

M: So who is really troublesome? Is the world troubling you, or the consciousness which appears on you?

Q: Nothing troubles me if I shut up.

"I AM" = Love To Be

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: The Guru is the greatest power, controlling the outer world as well as the inner. He is more powerful than a king. That's why he is the greatest cheat. He cheats you out of nothing, but you think you lose everything.

M: If that is your experience, it is quite appropriate. He has appropriated everything, including yourself. That means that you are not a different entity than he. There is no more left of you, only the Guru.

Q: Love makes him the greatest cheat.

M: The love is given to each one according to his needs. If there is no need, can there be love?

Q: From that perspective, no; but the Absolute has always been associated with that concept. Why do we describe it as love?

M: He does not know himself. He does not know what he is. He doesn't need anything. He does not need to call himself I AM. The Absolute state is called jnani by ignorant people only. The Absolute doesn't call himself the Absolute or jnani.

Q: Why have those who are ignorant idealized the jnani as love?

M: For the ignorant it is a matter of convenience. So long as he has not reached the jnani state he must have some motive force: to get that, he calls jnani full of love, compassion, kindness etc. There are confirmed or imposed by the ignorant.

Q: Is that a correct viewpoint, from an ignorant standpoint?

M: Yes, for the ignorant. There is an idol of Vithobha; go and pray to him: "Because of your kindness I survive, etc." The ignorance is talking. Why does the ignorant person keep that stone idol? Because he needs to be alive, he wants to perpetuate his I AMness, to continue. That's why he is worshipping that stone: the need to be.

Q: Isn't it also perhaps one of the ways that the Divine leads the ignorant back to the Absolute?

M: Yes, there are a number of ways or paths for the ignorant.

Q: Wouldn't  unconditioned love be faith in form?

M: From my standpoint love is the quality to be. Being-ness is love. Only when this I AMness appears is there love, Can the love prevail if the I AMness is not there? You have the urge to be, to continue your beingness - that is the love.

All this manifestation is the ocean of that being. You may call it the ocean of Brahma or the ocean of Maya.

Recognizing a Jnani

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: What are the signs to recognize a jnani?

M: To think that one is a jnani, knowledgeable, or full of wisdom, is folly. Once one presumes that he is full of wisdom he wants a social recognition, he wants a status: that is the folly.

Who is a jnani? The jnani himself does not know he is and who is to recognize whom? Out of no-action, spontaneously, millions of creations are happening every moment and there is so much of chaos. Will a jnani allow such a thing to happen?

The jnani understands that out of ignorance has come knowledge and in the process everything is happening. But since the basis is ignorance he does not interfere, because he himself doesn't know he is. The jnani cannot focus his attention because he has no attention.

Translator: What Maharaj calls the Knower, the Absolute, gives no attention to anything. Witnessing happens, he does not witness. He is beyond that attribute, attention. And you, consciousness, cannot give attention to that. It cannot be known.

Q: Can Maharaj witness his deep sleep state?

M: Oh yes, I witness my deep sleep very nicely.

Q: There was this experience, everything - body and mind - was there, and at the same time, nothing.

M: That is an experience still. The experiencer is different from the experience. Experiences you can describe in thousands of ways, but the experiencer you cannot describe.

Translator: Maharaj says he cannot describe the Absolute, only what appears can he speak about. It cannot be said, "He knows." It is there; it's not a question of knowing.

M: Waking and sleep don't know what was prior to them. Consciousness doesn't know that state, when it was not there. The Absolute knows, but it doesn't belong to the known.

Unknowingly the knowing has started, spontaneously. Once the knowing disappears, then there is nothing. Knowing gives rise to the five elements. When the knowing disappears, you remain. So long as the knowing is there make use of it and inquire. I am stung by a scorpion, what is the stinging? The stinging is this "I Amness." Because you cannot tolerate the sting of "I Amness" you are running from place to place. To nullify the poison of that sting, watch the "I Amness", observe your knowingness. The effect of that sting is the waking state, sleep state, hunger, thirst, etc. Catch hold of that sting, the knowingness.

Q: Is bondage necessary to become free?

M: First you understand what the bondage is. Track yourself down continuously for twenty-four hours. Once you realize "I cannot be a body or a mind," then naturally, you are there.

After all this talk, do you find any necessity for the sound of words? For any talk? Is there any necessity for words? For true spirituality, is there really any need for words?

Q: No.

Manifestation is Spontaneous

Sri Nisaragdatta Maharaj

Q: Is this state of "I AMness manifet" detachment?

M: What do you call that "I AMness"?

Q: Consciousness.

M: Do you know the consciousness? Do you witness the consciousness?

Q: I don't know.

M: To what principle do you give that name?

Q: Everything that I perceive or know. Everything.

M: Who knows consciousness?

Q: I don't know.

M: What you don't know, that is the prior-most.

Q: It seems, in consciousness the experiences constantly change, and, at the same time, something remains the same.

M: In ignorance you used to call it mind, but that is itself the knowledge of manifestation, that is the power of manifestation, this knowledge. It is the source of manifestation (mula-maya). It is Maheshwara, that is the highest Ishwara principle whose name is Atman.

Q: Whose name?

M: The feeling you have of "I AMness" - "I AM" without words - that is Atman. It is very dynamic and moving. The consciousness is the mind of the Absolute; the power of knowledge, the power of memort, the message of  "I AMness".

Q: The state of manifestation - is that a state of attachment?

M: Its happening or creating is spontaneous, without attachment, but once it appeared the attachment started. 

You are all keeping quiet and not daring to ask questions.

Q: Questions are prepared before, when you come here they fade away.

M: In the womb of ignorance the knowledge was there and that knowledge, in maturity, had become this manifestation, but prior to ignorance that great ancestor is there.

You have the knowledge of knowing only on the basis of no-knowing. First of all, you do not know; on that no-knowing platform this knowing sprouts, but the basis if ignorance only. Although ignorance, when it grows into maturity, becomes knowledge, and becomes profuse in its manifestation, still its ancestor is ignorance only. Prior to ignorance is that ancestral state of Absolute.

All From A Single Berry

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

M: So your purpose is served, you are satisfied.

Q: Oh yes, a long time ago, when I left here.

M: After having had many experiences, you have now come to the conclusion that what preceded the experiences is the same. You are not affected by the experiences that take place in the world?

Q: Yes, I have come to that conclusion.

M: All the attractions of the world are just ordinary things to you? You are not affected by them? Have you attained that state? Or are you still craving for the respect of others, are you still craving for more knowledge in arts?

Q: I can no longer hold that, so I am not craving it. I have nothing with which to retain it, but, who knows, if I found something with which to hold it, I might.

M: Craving means that you think that it has some benefits, some opportunities.

Q: It is fruitless, it all cancels out in the end; so it is useless. What is it that prevails in the end?

M: So you have seen everything, understood everything. What is it that prevails in the end?

Q: What prevails is not perceivable.

M: What is there which is primary? What is there at the root?

Q: What is at the root is not an object.

M: You have realized that?

Q: No, I did not realize it, because it is greater than I. How could I see it?

M: When you are going through various experiences, do you realize that there is something which was prevailing right from the beginning of which you were not aware? Do you become aware of something which is much greater than all these experiences? If you have found that, can you stay with it? Or are you still passing through the experiences?

Q: I am not passing through the experiences, and yes, I can stay with it. It's like when you are on a boat: you don't think that the water is moving - you know that the boat is moving - but you are aware that the water is there. You don't have to repeat to yourself, 'Oh yes, I am moving on the water.' What is there moves; underneath is what you move on.

M: When you are passing through all this, do you realize that it is all artificial, that it is not the real? What do you experience?

Q: I experience that I am passing through my own self-created projection.

M: Don't you see that what you realize as the illusion, the projection, is nothing but your own very small modification of your own Self?

Q: Oh yes.

M: When you realize this, don't you get a glimpse of what is the most ancient? The unlimited?

Q: I am not limited by the experience, or by the limitations of the experience.

M: The world is ever-changing, ever new, but it is nothing but the thoughts of the ancient, the trick of the ancient. So where is the question of your not being limited? Are you denying its existence?

Q: No, I am not denying its existence, I am denying its reality.

M: Suppose you have a child and that child goes to Timbuktu and become its king. He will still be your child, don't you see?

Whatever is happening, the witness of that happening must be there to say that it is happening. The ancestor of all action must be there to watch that action so that he can narrate it.

Q: That witness, is it the Absolute or is it in consciousness? There must be someone who witnesses that experience.

M: I am not telling about this witness. I am telling you about the core, that core ancestor of ours.

Out of a berry, out of the very forest of shrubs with berries, all these shrubs have grown. Because of that single berry. 

What is that principle which observes the creation and the state prior to the creation? The Absolute. The no-beingness state, the no-consciousness state alone knows that there is a consciousness. That no- I AMness state.

Many people will tell you about your mind inclinations, the mind flow, the activities in the realm of consciousness. That if you do this, you will get this; but has anyone told you of the state prior to the consciousness?

The lowest state (on the spiritual path) is that of the mumukshu. The mumukshu is one who has made a beginning in the spiritual search and he identifies with the body-mind. He always tried to derive benefits or gains or losses out of the body-mind sense. He meets a Guru and the Guru tells him, "You are not the body-mind, you are the manifest I AMness." "I AM" is the manifest world and that he realizes. He establishes himself there and finds that he is not the body-mind, he is the manifestation: in due course, he also realizes, "I am not that I AMness, I am not that consciousness nor the manifest world, but I am the Absolute." Why are you quiet? Is it because of confusion or because you have no confusion and have attained that quietude?

Be A Witness

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

M: Are you satisfied?

Q: Sometimes there is satisfaction, sometimes not.

M: Who says this? Who tells you this?

Q: I see satisfaction, a feeling in consciousness. I am indifferent. Whatever is happening, whatever appears in my consciousness, I am not concerned. I'm not interested. I have nothing to do with it.

M: It is not called indifference, it is detachment. There is no such thing as unhappiness. You don't worry about anything; that is the state, the real state. You feel no attraction toward anything in this world?

Q: Whatever is happening, there is no gaining, no losing.

M: How did this happen?

Q: I don't know.

M: Don't behave as others do, just because they say so. After hearing those teaching you should behave like a king or a lord. That should be your behavior, inwardly and outwardly. Aham Brahmasmi, I am the Lord. Have you understood or not?

Q: I don't know.

M: Do you want to ask anything more?

Q: There is great pressure in this feeling of being aware of myself. It is always accompanied by a great pressure in the head.

M: You should be a witness of that. You are aware of the consciousness, so you are beyond that. You are a witness of that.

Q: That feeling is there all the time.

M: Your consciousness is not in the body. There is attraction to that body yet, so that feeling has not gone completely. Your consciousness has some attraction, some love for your body; therefore that pressure is there. 

You know your consciousness, you witness your consciousness now. Formerly that was not true because you were considering yourself as a body. Now you know that you are not the body. You know also that you are not the consciousness.

Formerly, before you heard this, before you came to India, your name for consciousness was the mind. Now the word for consciousness is Jnana (Knowledge).

Dehatma Buddhi Has To Go

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: When I get up in the mornings where does the  I AM consciousness come from?

M: You are not able to understand it. Like a film, it is already there and is reproducing. This chemical is called the greatest principle by the Vedas; it is the Hiranyagarbha (golden womb). I AM-ness is forgotten in deep sleep, and it appears in the waking and dream states.

Q: How do I remember the previous things?

M: It is the skill of the I AM-ness. What identity do you hold for yourself?

Q: I am the witness.

M: Of what?

Q: All the activities of the body-mind.

M: This is the quality of the body-mind only and is not the Self knowledge. Worms appear in stale food. Similarly, the body is stale food; the Self wriggles in it. When the body is decomposing, the worm I AM-ness is at work. The taste is I AM-ness, which it enjoys without a tongue. We take too much pride in the taste of this stale food. What knowledge do you want?

Q: My true Self.

M: As long as you think that the body is you, you will not get true knowledge. In Marathi there is a phrase, "borrowed wife", she who has to be returned. Similarly, this body is a borrowed thing; you have to return it. This identity with the body has to go.

Q: How is one to be successful in getting rid of this identification?

M: Try to investigate deep sleep and waking states. These are time-bound. Without the experience of waking and sleep states, try to explain what you are.

Q: Then I am wordless.

M: Are you sure? The Vedas also said, "This is not, That is not," and at the end kept quiet, as it is beyond words. Without the deep sleep and waking states do you know that you are, or do you experience I AM?

Q: No.

M: What is born: yourself or the two states? You will be liquidates soon if you come here. What will you pick out of these states as yourself?

Q: Nothing.

Illusion Will Vanish

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: I am feeling the burden of I AMness. How to get rid of it?

M: Where is the question of getting rid it when you have not planted it?

Q: I know but my mind feels that I should get rid of it.

M: Can the mind recognize the highest principle? Do not follow the mind; mind is following its own natural course. You get identified with the mind and speak for it. With what insistence can the mind make changes in the sky or space?

The space is the eyeglass of the  I AM through which it observes the world. The five senses cannot know you, you know the five senses.

Q: By 'you' what do you mean? Which 'you'?

M: Since you feel the duality, I mean the listener in you.

Q: I am not outside consciousness.

M: Actually you are out of it, and recognize it. If you say that you are consciousness, then you are the entire world. You are separate from  I AM. I AM is itself an illusion. The knowledge I AM and the world are tricks of Maya. There is no substance to them. There are no words actually, you speak words for your satisfaction.

You know that there are hunger, thirst, waking and sleep states. Without these, what are you? You think that these are your eternal needs; this is the trick of Mula Maya (primary illusion). I AMness has a certain span of time. How long will you be associated with these?

Q: Memory makes the world seem real. Unless memory registers the color green, there is no color green.

M: Memory is inside I AM. Relative repetition is the play of Maya. If you are not able to sleep for eight days will you survive?

Q: No

M: That is, you will be beyond the waking and sleep states; in short, the illusion will vanish.

The Contemplator Remains

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: Are consciousness and the witness the same?

M: For whatever is visible the consciousness is the witness. There is another principle which witnesses consciousness, and this principle is beyond the world.

Q: How do you witness consciousness?

M: How do you witness the fact that you are sitting? Effortlessly or with effort?

Q: Effortlessly.

M: The same way. Whenever you put in effort is from bodily standpoint. The knowledge I AM is the soul of the entire world. The witness of the knowledge I AM is prior to the knowledge I AM. Try to understand yourself as you are, do not add any qualifications. Just as you prepare various dishes out of various ingredients, you want to make something. Witnessing or awareness is just as you observe your deep sleep, just like that.

Q: I do not understand.

M: It is not understandable. You must contemplate yourself. Whatever comes on the screen of contemplation will surely disappear. The Contemplator remains.

Q: Is not the Contemplator also a concept of mind?

M: Concept and mind are beams of light from the Contemplator.

Q: Is I AM the sum total of everything you perceive?

M: Yes. I AMness spontaneously appears and disappears, it has no dwelling place. It is like a dream world. Do not try to be something, even a spiritual person. You are the manifested. The tree is already there in the seed. Such is this I AM. Just see it as it is. Do not try to interfere with what you see. Having understood this, what could be your need?

Q: Nothing.

M: You must stabilize in this conviction. Knowledge (jnana) is the soul of the whole universe. Do not get involved with siddhis (spiritual powers). Although you may not purposely go in for siddhis, around you some miracles may happen. Do not claim the authorship of them. A devotee of yours who is at a distance of thousand kilometers from you can have your darshan in form. Whenever your devotee praises your knowledge, the knowledge takes concrete shape. Do not think that you are doing something. Sound fills the entire space: similarly, the knowledge  I AM will fill the entire place. Once you understand this there is no death for you. If you think yourself an individual you will surely have death.

A spiritual seeker wants to be something; just be as you are. If people come to you, then automatically words come out of you. Although you may not have studied the Vedas, whatever comes out of you will be the same as what is in the Vedas and Upanishads. At the time of speaking you will not have the slightest idea that you are a jnani or a knowledgeable person.

Everything Just Happens

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: I am lost.

M: Who is talking? To whom?

Q: To myself.

M: If you (the knowledge I AM) are really lost, how will you know about the sense of being lost? You are carried away by concepts. The infinitesimal seed contains the universe. You miss the point, you do not understand me properly. This principle I AM I am telling you about again and again.

Find out your identity. Whatever appears is going to disappear. What can Roosevelt or Gandhi do now? In the very places which they were commanding changes have taken place. Why don't they talk? When the prana leaves the body even great Sages cannot speak.

Q: In the Gita, Sri Krishna says that wherever there is calamity and there is no dharma, he will come and rescue.

M: This is like the seasons, the cycle is there. In this cycle the deeper meaning of the Self is to be understood. All questions will be over once you solve the riddle of I AM.

Q: Sometimes I feel good and sometimes bad, sometimes blissful, sometimes depressed. I know this is the mind; the Vedas say that mind is born out of the moon and hence it changes.

M: Oblige me, after coming here, by leaving your mind aside. Good and bad are in the realm of the mind only. Disown whatever you get from the mind.

Q: Who tells me to come here and be at your feet?

M: It cannot be said in words; you can call it anything you like. Moon means mind, mind is like a liquid stuff as it flows continuously. Just innocently, dispassionately, observe the mind flow; do not own the mind flow. Be in the I AM-ness state without words. You give meaning to words and in the end words go; finally the perceptible and the observables go into the non-perceptible and non-observable state. Find that out. You will understand this slowly and get peace and rest. You do not do anything. It happens. You talk about knowledge, that knowledge is what you have read and heard from others. Unless you have confidence in your own Self you have to draw upon the authority of others, but I tell you from my real state; as I experience it, as I see it, I speak, without citing the authority of the Gita or Mahabharata. When you talk about the Gita you must know that it relates to you, every word of it relates to your own Self.

The Seen and the Seeing Disappear

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

In nisarga (nature) everything is time-bound (seasons, sowing, reaping, etc.), but nature itself is not time-bound. Nature is neither male nor female. Many Avatars come and go, but nature is not affected. The story of nature is emanating from all the impressions taken in your mind since birth. So long as you are holding on to these memories there will be knowledges of Self. If you just study whatever has happened in nature, like history, great lives, etc., you cannot realize your Self. You have to go within. Whatever great things have happened in nature, however powerful, still they disappear right here. These situations appear and disappear. This is actually abstract, what is solid here is the knowledge I AM. The seen and the seeing disappear. I tell this only to those who are prepared to listen. Whatever appears is bound to disappear. The greatest appearance is the knowledge AM. It is invisible before birth and after the death of the body, and while it is visible it is a solid thing. Many great sages have appeared and disappeared because of the powerful seed I AM. When the prana leaves the body, knowledge has no support and it disappears, i.e., it is unseen.

What I am expounding is very deep. You may experience Brahma even, but that experience will not remain. All experiences are due to the cell I AM. Both the cell and the experience will disappear. Even the best of your memories will vanish one day. The knowledge I AM is time-bound, all your knowledge sprouts from the concept that you are.

Millions of sages have come and gone. Do they presently experience the state of  I AM? They had no authority to perpetuate their beingness: their I AMness became unseen. The sages cannot make an iota of change in the world. Whatever happens, happens.

Q: But Maharaj has said that because of the existence of a jnani the world is benefited.

M: It is said to an ignorant one, one who clings to the body-mind. When there is no I AMness what is it that you need?