Edited by Robert Powell
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
ॐ
Visitor: I have read I Am That and came here on my own.
Maharaj: Have you read the whole book?
V: I have read the first part fully and the second partially.
M: Having read the book, did you come to your self at the witnessing state?
V: Yes, I understood but I do not feel it. I have no peace of mind.
M: Do you get an inkling as to how you are connected with your self?
V: A little bit.
M: Would you like to ask any questions?
V: Not many, but I shall be grateful if I am told how to bring peace to my mind.
M: Because of the self, the atman, you are connected to the world through the body. The self is nothing else but the knowledge that “you are.” Meditate on that principle by which you know “you are” and on account of which you experience the world. Meditate on this knowledge “you are,” which is the consciousness, and abide therein.
V: But the concentration is just not there.
M: Ignore the mind the way you disregard the crowd you encounter on the streets.
V: I shall try.
M: As a matter of fact, mind is a universal dynamic principle, but we restrict it to the limits of the body and then depend on it — hence all the trouble. Consider the water in Lake Tansa. That water belongs to the whole of Bombay. Out of that water, can we claim some as yours or mine? In a similar vein, understand that the self is universal. But you have conditioned it by confining it to the body; therefore, you face problems. This self is also termed Ishwara — God — the Universal Principle. If you hold on to that, profound knowledge will descend upon you and you will have peace.
V: I try to meditate on that, but the mind wanders here and there. If I try to remain indifferent to mind, it will be a long-drawn-out process.
M: But are you not the root of any process?
V: The root of everything is life.
M: Yes, but the life force is universal and not personalized. Once you realize this, you have no more troubles.
V: That is right, but when the mind goes astray I have trouble. Sometimes I feel that life is universal, but at moments it becomes individualized. How to get rid of this?
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
M: This is the conventional way of talking. The water is universal, use it when you possess it. Similarly, use the mind to meet your needs and then let it flow by itself without your interference and involvement, like the flow of a river from where you take water only when needed.
My talks are meant for intelligent people. [To a local visitor:] Why have you come? You will not understand these talks; you only sing bhajans in praise of God.
Why do I respect those foreign visitors? They are earnest seekers, in search of Truth, but they have not been able to locate it. I appreciate their sincerity and deep urge to understand.
V: They really go far. Any subject they take, they explore deeply into it.
M: Although the two of us talk here, in actuality they (the two entities) are not there. This is the theme today. At first, “no one” is. Instantly, one is, and then two. The subject of the talk is: How did these two reduce to one, and finally to nothing? Out of nothingness spontaneously the sense of beingness is felt — this is one. Later, when the sense of beingness knows “I am,” duality begins. Then, after the duality has arisen, the sense of beingness identifies with the form, and so on. Actually to refer to the sense of being as “one,” is not quite correct. Since in this state only the sense of being prevails, where is the need to say even “one”? With the appearance of otherness (duality), both no. 1 and no. 2 appear simultaneously. To say, “something is,” “I” must be there first. If “I” am not, I cannot say “something is.” So the fundamental principle in spirituality is that “I” must be there, before anything else can be. This “I” is the beingness which is first.
V: You said, in the beginning there is “one,” and later there is “none."
M: When one looks into one’s self, that is, when one abides in the Self, then there is “none."
V: Yet, when one merges, one remains.
M: To say that, is all right in common parlance, but actually it is nothing of the sort.
V: But you said that life is eternal, so life is there.
M: But not the life of an individual; it is the Absolute transcending the universal consciousness.
V: Life is eternal, that means life is there for ever.
M: Yes, life potential is always there. But unless a body-form is available, there cannot be any sense of perception. When the body drops dead, the senses do not function; therefore, no perception or knowing of the world takes place for that entity.
Only so long as the senses operate is perception and knowing of the world possible. So, in a way, the absence of sensory function is liberation. Isn’t that correct?
At present, I am alive and my senses and reflexes react to situations. The senses and reflexes of a dead person do not react. In the manifested universe, when the capacity for sensory perception and motor function is created in a body form, only then is existence of a perceptible universe possible. The main point is that for a universe to exist, there must be an observer with sense organs in proper working order. The mind interprets the sense perceptions and concludes that the universe exists. Therefore, if the observer’s sense organs and mind do not operate, then the observer’s universe does not exist.
V: But the senses of seeing, hearing and touching etc. belong to the body and not to the self, the atman.
M: Without atman, the senses cannot function. But it resides in the quintessence of the body. When it subsides in itself, only nirguna remains — the non-qualitative Absolute.
V: The atman can change bodies.
M: The atman has no body, so how can it change? At present, it presumes that “I am” means body only.
V: In this materialistic world, when we say “we” we mean the body only. But if my legs are removed, they are apart from me. Therefore, I feel that I as such am not the body.
M: That is correct.
V: So atman is something other than body.
M: Atman is not the individual, this must be firmly grasped. Atman feels the sense of being only through a body with senses operating, otherwise the atman does not feel itself.
V: To realize this, should I do meditation?
M: Yes, meditation is very necessary. If you can do it continuously, it is good, but with a daily occupation this is not always possible. Meditation done in the early morning hoursis helpful and effective. But you may do it whenever you have leisure. Seekers with a deep urge can meditate at any time. In the beginning, a seeker should sit alone in a quiet spot with complete leisure at his disposal. When he attains stability in meditation, he can sit anywhere, anytime. Suppose such an advanced seeker sits here in meditation. He will be totally lost within himself. His attention will be focused on attention only, with the result that he will not be aware of what is going on around him. Further, in such a state nothing will occur to him. Meditation should be of this quality. Suppose somebody is deeply worried, would he take note of things going around him?
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
When you sit in deep meditation, your sense of being is totally infused with the knowledge “I am” only. In such a state it will be revealed to you intuitively as to how and why your sense of “I-am-ness” emerged.
V: By the “I-am-ness”?
M: Consciousness, beingness, sense of being, “I-am-ness,” all are the same in you, prior to emanation of any words.
This is a subtle point, so try to understand it clearly. When I say “I was not” prior to conception, then what I actually mean is that I was not like this present “I am.” But that “I” which could discern this must be there to judge the absence of the present “I am."
Owing to the absence of a body, that “I” prior to conception had no sense of being or sense of “I-am-ness.” With the arrival of a body the sense of “I-am-ness” is imposed on the prior “I."
In meditation, this sense of “I-am-ness” only will indicate how and why it came about. You must be possessed by this idea of finding out what this “I-am-ness” is, just as you would not rest until you found the source of a smell emanating from some place. For example, if a foul smell emanates you will have to go to that source; and when you discover that it is the decomposed body of a rat, you will have to dispose of that body in order to get rid of the stink. Similarly, if a nice fragrance wafts in your direction, you would like to locate the flower. You must go to the source of this “I-am-ness” fragrance, and find out its “how and why."
V: How does one chase that?
M: The principle that gives rise to this “I-am-ness” fragrance is termed Bhagavan-vasudeva — the god who gives fragrance. The one who receives this fragrance wants to retain it at all costs.
V: How can one enter that state?
M: You, from the body-mind level, are incapable of tracking it down. But that principle alone will discover itself. Somebody you may call Bhagavan, or Vittal or God, is so infatuated with this fragrance that he wants to perpetuate it.
V: One day my efforts will bear fruit and I shall find him out automatically.
M: His significance for you will be nullified the moment he is discovered, and you will be liberated from that infatuation with vasudeva.
V: In other words, I think when you always feel it so, you don’t go after it. Once you realize the self then it automatically comes to you, so there is no need for you to track it down. So once we realize it, we can use it the way we want.
M: In that state you will be beyond any needs and wants; you will have no use for anything. No desires will be left, because they are all fulfilled.
V: I did not mean that I should use it for my worldly needs. What I meant was that I would become one with it.
M: In actuality you were never detached from it. So where is the question of being one with it?
V: It is nice that I never got detached from it, but in my present state I consider myself only the body.
M: This is your concept, that you are the body, and it is deluding you.
V: Then I will be free.
M: [Reciting a couplet of Guru Nanak:]
0 mind, what are you searching? Inside and outside it is one only. It is the concept that makes you feel inside and outside. Once the earthen pot bearing the name Nanak is broken, by getting rid of the concept that I am the body, where is inside and outside? It is “I” only prevailing everywhere.
Nanak furthers says:
Like the fragrance in a flower, like an image in a mirror, this sense of “I-am-ness” is felt in the body. Therefore, give up your name Nanak and also your identity with the body.
Abide in the sense of “I-am-ness” and you shall be liberated.
V: When I try to track down the self it seems to me that it creates more selves.
M: But who is that sees so many selves? One thought produces further thoughts. Who observes the first thought?
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
V: This is what I want to know.
M: Only you are the observer of the first thought. If the knower of the very first thought is not there, who will observe the other thoughts?
V: If the knower is not, there will also be no thoughts.
M: If you understand this, everything is over — you can go. To expound and propagate concepts is simple. But to drop all concepts is difficult and rare.
V: How do I remove thoughts and new concepts? If all concepts and thoughts are removed, will I become one with that?
M: Do not try to become anything. Do nothing! Without thinking on any of your words, remain quiet. Once a word sprouts it creates a meaning and then you ride on it. You follow the meanings of your words and claim that you are in search of your self. So be wakeful to that state which is prior to the sprouting of words. Did you associate with any sages?
V: This is the first time.
M: Have you been reading any books?
V: I have been reading Paul Brunton’s work on Ramana Maharshi.
M: Your spiritual background is ready, that is why you listen to the talks and try to understand them. Other people quarrel with me with their concepts. They are brimming over with concepts, with the result that they are unable to listen to what I say. Many people come here, presuming themselves to be very knowledgeable but I know that they are ignorant only. However, I consider them as consciousness alone.
All your identities at the body-mind level have been changing continuously, and none of them has been constant and faithful to you. Why then are you attracted to any of such identities by stating “I am like this,” “I am like that”?
V: This is all mental. At certain moments I think I am “like this,” at other moments I think I am “like that."
M: Who other than you is observing those moments? You are the witness of these moments. Whatever is seen and perceived and also whatever you see inside and outside you, that you are not.
V: I am trying to understand.
M: In meditation, you might convince yourself “I am Guru Nanak only,” or as some people in their meditation firmly believe: “I am Bhagavan Sri Krishna only.” None of such identities has any stability. The only stable one is the observer of those identities, and you alone are that observer — the eternal one.
Take the example of a poor actor who played the role of a king so splendidly that he received a lot of praise. But he is not the king. Similarly, you are not Guru Nana Nanak. You are the observer. Whatever you see and perceive is all the play of maya, the illusive principle.
February 19th 1980
Visitor: I have read I Am That and came here on my own.
Maharaj: Have you read the whole book?
V: I have read the first part fully and the second partially.
M: Having read the book, did you come to your self at the witnessing state?
V: Yes, I understood but I do not feel it. I have no peace of mind.
M: Do you get an inkling as to how you are connected with your self?
V: A little bit.
M: Would you like to ask any questions?
V: Not many, but I shall be grateful if I am told how to bring peace to my mind.
M: Because of the self, the atman, you are connected to the world through the body. The self is nothing else but the knowledge that “you are.” Meditate on that principle by which you know “you are” and on account of which you experience the world. Meditate on this knowledge “you are,” which is the consciousness, and abide therein.
V: But the concentration is just not there.
M: Ignore the mind the way you disregard the crowd you encounter on the streets.
V: I shall try.
M: As a matter of fact, mind is a universal dynamic principle, but we restrict it to the limits of the body and then depend on it — hence all the trouble. Consider the water in Lake Tansa. That water belongs to the whole of Bombay. Out of that water, can we claim some as yours or mine? In a similar vein, understand that the self is universal. But you have conditioned it by confining it to the body; therefore, you face problems. This self is also termed Ishwara — God — the Universal Principle. If you hold on to that, profound knowledge will descend upon you and you will have peace.
V: I try to meditate on that, but the mind wanders here and there. If I try to remain indifferent to mind, it will be a long-drawn-out process.
M: But are you not the root of any process?
V: The root of everything is life.
M: Yes, but the life force is universal and not personalized. Once you realize this, you have no more troubles.
V: That is right, but when the mind goes astray I have trouble. Sometimes I feel that life is universal, but at moments it becomes individualized. How to get rid of this?
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
M: This is the conventional way of talking. The water is universal, use it when you possess it. Similarly, use the mind to meet your needs and then let it flow by itself without your interference and involvement, like the flow of a river from where you take water only when needed.
My talks are meant for intelligent people. [To a local visitor:] Why have you come? You will not understand these talks; you only sing bhajans in praise of God.
Why do I respect those foreign visitors? They are earnest seekers, in search of Truth, but they have not been able to locate it. I appreciate their sincerity and deep urge to understand.
V: They really go far. Any subject they take, they explore deeply into it.
M: Although the two of us talk here, in actuality they (the two entities) are not there. This is the theme today. At first, “no one” is. Instantly, one is, and then two. The subject of the talk is: How did these two reduce to one, and finally to nothing? Out of nothingness spontaneously the sense of beingness is felt — this is one. Later, when the sense of beingness knows “I am,” duality begins. Then, after the duality has arisen, the sense of beingness identifies with the form, and so on. Actually to refer to the sense of being as “one,” is not quite correct. Since in this state only the sense of being prevails, where is the need to say even “one”? With the appearance of otherness (duality), both no. 1 and no. 2 appear simultaneously. To say, “something is,” “I” must be there first. If “I” am not, I cannot say “something is.” So the fundamental principle in spirituality is that “I” must be there, before anything else can be. This “I” is the beingness which is first.
V: You said, in the beginning there is “one,” and later there is “none."
M: When one looks into one’s self, that is, when one abides in the Self, then there is “none."
V: Yet, when one merges, one remains.
M: To say that, is all right in common parlance, but actually it is nothing of the sort.
V: But you said that life is eternal, so life is there.
M: But not the life of an individual; it is the Absolute transcending the universal consciousness.
V: Life is eternal, that means life is there for ever.
M: Yes, life potential is always there. But unless a body-form is available, there cannot be any sense of perception. When the body drops dead, the senses do not function; therefore, no perception or knowing of the world takes place for that entity.
Only so long as the senses operate is perception and knowing of the world possible. So, in a way, the absence of sensory function is liberation. Isn’t that correct?
At present, I am alive and my senses and reflexes react to situations. The senses and reflexes of a dead person do not react. In the manifested universe, when the capacity for sensory perception and motor function is created in a body form, only then is existence of a perceptible universe possible. The main point is that for a universe to exist, there must be an observer with sense organs in proper working order. The mind interprets the sense perceptions and concludes that the universe exists. Therefore, if the observer’s sense organs and mind do not operate, then the observer’s universe does not exist.
V: But the senses of seeing, hearing and touching etc. belong to the body and not to the self, the atman.
M: Without atman, the senses cannot function. But it resides in the quintessence of the body. When it subsides in itself, only nirguna remains — the non-qualitative Absolute.
V: The atman can change bodies.
M: The atman has no body, so how can it change? At present, it presumes that “I am” means body only.
V: In this materialistic world, when we say “we” we mean the body only. But if my legs are removed, they are apart from me. Therefore, I feel that I as such am not the body.
M: That is correct.
V: So atman is something other than body.
M: Atman is not the individual, this must be firmly grasped. Atman feels the sense of being only through a body with senses operating, otherwise the atman does not feel itself.
V: To realize this, should I do meditation?
M: Yes, meditation is very necessary. If you can do it continuously, it is good, but with a daily occupation this is not always possible. Meditation done in the early morning hoursis helpful and effective. But you may do it whenever you have leisure. Seekers with a deep urge can meditate at any time. In the beginning, a seeker should sit alone in a quiet spot with complete leisure at his disposal. When he attains stability in meditation, he can sit anywhere, anytime. Suppose such an advanced seeker sits here in meditation. He will be totally lost within himself. His attention will be focused on attention only, with the result that he will not be aware of what is going on around him. Further, in such a state nothing will occur to him. Meditation should be of this quality. Suppose somebody is deeply worried, would he take note of things going around him?
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
When you sit in deep meditation, your sense of being is totally infused with the knowledge “I am” only. In such a state it will be revealed to you intuitively as to how and why your sense of “I-am-ness” emerged.
V: By the “I-am-ness”?
M: Consciousness, beingness, sense of being, “I-am-ness,” all are the same in you, prior to emanation of any words.
This is a subtle point, so try to understand it clearly. When I say “I was not” prior to conception, then what I actually mean is that I was not like this present “I am.” But that “I” which could discern this must be there to judge the absence of the present “I am."
Owing to the absence of a body, that “I” prior to conception had no sense of being or sense of “I-am-ness.” With the arrival of a body the sense of “I-am-ness” is imposed on the prior “I."
In meditation, this sense of “I-am-ness” only will indicate how and why it came about. You must be possessed by this idea of finding out what this “I-am-ness” is, just as you would not rest until you found the source of a smell emanating from some place. For example, if a foul smell emanates you will have to go to that source; and when you discover that it is the decomposed body of a rat, you will have to dispose of that body in order to get rid of the stink. Similarly, if a nice fragrance wafts in your direction, you would like to locate the flower. You must go to the source of this “I-am-ness” fragrance, and find out its “how and why."
V: How does one chase that?
M: The principle that gives rise to this “I-am-ness” fragrance is termed Bhagavan-vasudeva — the god who gives fragrance. The one who receives this fragrance wants to retain it at all costs.
V: How can one enter that state?
M: You, from the body-mind level, are incapable of tracking it down. But that principle alone will discover itself. Somebody you may call Bhagavan, or Vittal or God, is so infatuated with this fragrance that he wants to perpetuate it.
V: One day my efforts will bear fruit and I shall find him out automatically.
M: His significance for you will be nullified the moment he is discovered, and you will be liberated from that infatuation with vasudeva.
V: In other words, I think when you always feel it so, you don’t go after it. Once you realize the self then it automatically comes to you, so there is no need for you to track it down. So once we realize it, we can use it the way we want.
M: In that state you will be beyond any needs and wants; you will have no use for anything. No desires will be left, because they are all fulfilled.
V: I did not mean that I should use it for my worldly needs. What I meant was that I would become one with it.
M: In actuality you were never detached from it. So where is the question of being one with it?
V: It is nice that I never got detached from it, but in my present state I consider myself only the body.
M: This is your concept, that you are the body, and it is deluding you.
V: Then I will be free.
M: [Reciting a couplet of Guru Nanak:]
0 mind, what are you searching? Inside and outside it is one only. It is the concept that makes you feel inside and outside. Once the earthen pot bearing the name Nanak is broken, by getting rid of the concept that I am the body, where is inside and outside? It is “I” only prevailing everywhere.
Nanak furthers says:
Like the fragrance in a flower, like an image in a mirror, this sense of “I-am-ness” is felt in the body. Therefore, give up your name Nanak and also your identity with the body.
Abide in the sense of “I-am-ness” and you shall be liberated.
V: When I try to track down the self it seems to me that it creates more selves.
M: But who is that sees so many selves? One thought produces further thoughts. Who observes the first thought?
Reprinted from The Nectar of Immortality.
The Nectar of Immortality by Nisargadatta
V: This is what I want to know.
M: Only you are the observer of the first thought. If the knower of the very first thought is not there, who will observe the other thoughts?
V: If the knower is not, there will also be no thoughts.
M: If you understand this, everything is over — you can go. To expound and propagate concepts is simple. But to drop all concepts is difficult and rare.
V: How do I remove thoughts and new concepts? If all concepts and thoughts are removed, will I become one with that?
M: Do not try to become anything. Do nothing! Without thinking on any of your words, remain quiet. Once a word sprouts it creates a meaning and then you ride on it. You follow the meanings of your words and claim that you are in search of your self. So be wakeful to that state which is prior to the sprouting of words. Did you associate with any sages?
V: This is the first time.
M: Have you been reading any books?
V: I have been reading Paul Brunton’s work on Ramana Maharshi.
M: Your spiritual background is ready, that is why you listen to the talks and try to understand them. Other people quarrel with me with their concepts. They are brimming over with concepts, with the result that they are unable to listen to what I say. Many people come here, presuming themselves to be very knowledgeable but I know that they are ignorant only. However, I consider them as consciousness alone.
All your identities at the body-mind level have been changing continuously, and none of them has been constant and faithful to you. Why then are you attracted to any of such identities by stating “I am like this,” “I am like that”?
V: This is all mental. At certain moments I think I am “like this,” at other moments I think I am “like that."
M: Who other than you is observing those moments? You are the witness of these moments. Whatever is seen and perceived and also whatever you see inside and outside you, that you are not.
V: I am trying to understand.
M: In meditation, you might convince yourself “I am Guru Nanak only,” or as some people in their meditation firmly believe: “I am Bhagavan Sri Krishna only.” None of such identities has any stability. The only stable one is the observer of those identities, and you alone are that observer — the eternal one.
Take the example of a poor actor who played the role of a king so splendidly that he received a lot of praise. But he is not the king. Similarly, you are not Guru Nana Nanak. You are the observer. Whatever you see and perceive is all the play of maya, the illusive principle.
February 19th 1980
via realization. org
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