There is no ‘me’ or ‘you’ to seek enlightenment. Personal entity and enlightenment cannot go together. Indeed, there is no such thing as ‘enlightenment’. The apperception of this fact is itself enlightenment!
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
There is no ‘me’ or ‘you’ to seek enlightenment. Personal entity and enlightenment cannot go together. Indeed, there is no such thing as ‘enlightenment’. The apperception of this fact is itself enlightenment!
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Each one of us, as a phenomenon, is merely an appearance in the consciousness of those who perceive us, and, therefore, what we appear to be is a phenomenon — temporal, finite and perceptible to the senses; whereas what we are, what we have always been and what we shall always be, without name and form, is the noumenon — timeless, spaceless, imperceptible being.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
I do not think that I know this well;
nor do I think that I do not know this.
He among us who knows that –
“Neither do I know, nor do I do not know”
- perceives That well.
Kenopanishad
नाहं मन्ये सुवेदेति नो न वेदेति वेद च ।
यो नस्तद्वेद तद्वेद नो न वेदेति वेद च ॥
Yoga means union, joining. What have you re-united, re-joined? Even to talk of re-uniting the person with the self is not right, because there is no person, only a mental picture given a false reality by conviction. Nothing was divided and there is nothing to unite.
~Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. I am That. Ch.34
All the concepts of religions including traditional vedanta - like karma, reincarnation, progress, do this, don't do this, etc., - are all based on the presupposition of a pseudo-entity which seeks enlightenment. Such an entity does not exist. Anything that prescribes a definite set of dos and don'ts which guarantees your upliftment, is religion, not nonduality. It is as simple as imagining a dragon in your backyard. The only way out is to stop imagining. You will never achieve anything by learning more about how the dragon moves.
Question: I have, as advised by you, retired to a solitary place where I am engaged in investigating the Self. Even so, I have diverse visions and experiences. Thinking that the constant Self-awareness is dimmed by the uncalled-for interference of mental activities, I forcibly repressed my thoughts and remained calm. Darkness superseded, light appeared, sleep supervened and finally unique bliss overpowered me for a little while. Is this the Self, or something different? Please analyse these experiences of mine and tell me, so that I may clearly understand them.
Answer: Listen to me, closely. What you have now done to restrain thoughts with the mind turned inward (vichara) is a good beginning and praised by the worthy as the best way. Without it, no one has ever been successful anywhere. However, it does not produce Self-realisation, for the Self remains realised at all times. If a product, it cannot be the Self. For, how can the Self be got anew? So then, the Self is never gained. Gain is of something which is not already possessed. Is there any moment when the Self is not the Self? Neither is control of mind used to gain it.
I shall give you some examples:
Just as things unseen in darkness are found on its removal by means of a lamp, and are therefore said to be recovered from oblivion. Just as a confused man forgets his purse, but remembers and locates it on keeping his mind unruffled and steady, yet still says that he has gained the lost purse, though the steadying of his mind did not produce it. So also the control of your mind is not the cause of your Self-realisation; though the Self is always there, it is not recognised by you even with a controlled mind because you are not conversant with it. Just as a yokel unacquainted with the system cannot understand the dazzling lights of the royal audience-chamber at night and so ignores its magnificence at first sight, so it is that you miss the Self.
Attend dear! Blank darkness was visible after you controlled your thoughts. In the short interval before its appearance and after the control of mind, there remains a state free from the effort to control and the perception of darkness. Always remember that state as the one of perfect and transcendental happiness. All are deceived in that state because their minds are accustomed to be turned outward. Though people may be learned, skilful and keen, still they search and search, only to be thwarted and they do not abide in that holy state. They grieve day and night, without knowing this state. Mere theoretical knowledge of sculpture can never make a man a sculptor. Though he will be a pandit well-grounded in the theory and the discussion of the philosophy of the Self, he cannot realise the Self because it is not realisable but already realised.
Realisation is not attained by going far, but only by staying still; not by thought, but by cessation of thought. Effort towards Realisation is like the attempt to stamp with one’s foot on the shadow cast by one’s head. Effort will always make it recede. Just as an infant try to take hold of his own reflection being unaware of the mirror, so also common people are taken in by their mental reflections in the mirror of the pure, luminous Self and are not aware of the mirror, because they have no acquaintance with the Self. Although people understand space, they are not aware of it because they are taken up by the objects in space. They understand the universe in space but have no regard for space itself. Similarly, it is with them in regard to the Self.
- The teachings of Sage Dattatreya.
Tripura Rahasya.
Excerpt from the Chapter IX.
● Are the buildings, land, and the trees - Bombay?
● Bombay is a concept superimposed on the totality of things viewed collectively.
● If some of them or all of them are reproduced somewhere, will that be Bombay? No.
● Can such a concept called Bombay have karma or rebirth? No.
● Your present identity is also the same. It is a concept superimposed on the tendencies, emotions and thoughts viewed collectively.
● It cannot have any karma or rebirth.
● Karma and rebirth are religious superstitions.
• Your body contains about 7x1027 atoms.
• All of them are billions of years old – as old as this universe.
• You don’t own any of them.
• They were once part of other people, animals, birds, trees – all the good and bad things.
• Where do you figure in these atoms?
What you believe to be yourself is a conceptual entity superimposed. All qualities of that identity are derived from this body and its environment. It exists only in the minds that perceive it.
Such a conceptual entity cannot be reborn. Such a conceptual entity cannot carry any ‘karma’. Those are religious superstitions.
• Doing 'Sadhana' means assuming the existence of a phantom.
• Who is to do 'Sadhana' and for what purpose?
• Is it not enough to see the false as false?
• The entity that you think you are - is false.
• You are the reality.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Ch.30 Pointers from NM.
Spirituality in wonderland:
Just to understand that 'Alice' is a fictional character in 'wonderland' is not enough. There's more to it.
Even if she understood it thoroughly, she must have a 'Guru' in 'wonderland'.
The Guru should give her a wonderland-mantra to repeat.
Does she have the authority to know all these?
Has she been initiated into the lineage of knowing 'Alice'?
For years, she needs to study thoroughly about the features of 'wonderland' and behaviour of 'Alice'.
She should rigorously twist her body to do 'wonderland-yoga'.
Do you know how many sisters 'Alice' had? If not what use is your spirituality?
You have to worship God-of-wonderland first.
Wait, what is 'Alice' eating? Is it vegetarian?
This book describes about the previous births of 'Alice'. Learn that first.
'Alice' went through bad experiences due to her bad 'karma'.
Even if 'Alice' fails to get liberated now, it will be done in her next birth in 'wonderland'.
• It is enough to know what you are not.
• It is enough to know both 'Alice' and 'wonderland' are fictional.
• There cannot be liberation for 'Alice' from 'wonderland', whatever she may do.
• Same is the case with 'you' too.
• Consciousness is a reflection of the Absolute against the surface of matter, bringing about a sense of duality.
• Awareness becomes consciousness only when it has an object to reflect against.
• Reflection of the sun in a drop of dew is not the sun!
- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Where is "liberation" for the reflection?
Where is "karma" and "rebirth" for the reflection?
• You think you were born, but what was born was duration in which you as an object have become perceptible.
• What you think you are, is duration, time; what you subjectively are, is timeless.
• A single rice grain has the potential life of acres of paddy. It is a living being.
• Isn’t it cruel when you kill them for food?
• The idea of cruelty towards animal life alone, has its origins in ancient belief systems when knowledge of life was limited.
• Vegetarianism flourished on the rise of agriculture oriented civilizations, their culture, religion and belief.
• Known universe is 13.8B old, Earth is 4.5B old, Homo-sapiens are 3,00,000 years old, Agriculture is just 5,000 years old.
• Nature works on a food chain. Interestingly there are carnivorous plants.
• Cellulose (most of the green part) cannot be digested by humans; it just adds fibre.
• Meat diet of ancient homo sapiens is linked to the development of larger brains and thus the ability to think of its own existence.
• ~90% humans consume directly, 100% of humans are indirect beneficiaries of animal products.
• Knowing the Truth – the real Advaita is in no way related to food.
• The body and the separate pseudo-identity is a concept. What if it eats meat or not?
• Realization is to go beyond the pseudo-identity, not nurturing it.
The space within the pot, is known by its shape & volume and appears to have a separate identity. When the pot breaks, the space within, merges with the space outside, losing its identity.
- The space within, was never spearate from the space outside.
- The identity was apparent, and the it was a superimposed concept, existing only in the minds of the perceived.
- Once the pot breaks, the so-called identity is lost for ever, never to return.
- The separate space within, such an entity was never born, cannot be reborn, and never existed even.
- Even if a similar pot is reconstructed with all the features, the space within can never claim to have the identity of the old pot.
- This is the case of our identity too.
- The entity, the so-called “you” cannot be born, and never be reborn.
- All fanciful concepts of spirituality, progress, rebirth and karma for such an entity have sprouted from ignorance and propagated by religion.
If a genius scientist made an exact clone of you, including all your memories and emotions, would that be you?
If not, then who are you?
Manmohan Sethumadhavan
The multiplicity is only apparent. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads.
Erwin Schrödinger
Austrian physicist. One of the founders of quantum theory.
धर्माधर्मौ सुखं दुःखं मानसानि न ते विभो ।
न कर्तासि न भोक्तासि मुक्त एवासि सर्वदा ॥
Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, exist in mind only.
They are not your concern. You neither do nor enjoy. You are free.
Ashtavakra Gita