Tuesday 28 June 2022

Neither do I know, nor do I do not know - Kenopanishad

 

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 ॥


Wednesday 15 June 2022

Yoga means union, joining. What have you re-united, re-joined?

 

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.


Tuesday 17 May 2022

Self-inquiry is a good beginning, however, it does not produce Self-realisation

 

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 Darkness superseded, light appeared, sleep supervened and finally unique bliss overpowered me for a little while.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.


Monday 16 May 2022

Can you take a photograph of the Government of Bombay?

 

● 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.


Wednesday 11 May 2022

The Question of Re-birth

 

Maharaj rejects the idea of re-birth or re-incarnation out of hand, and the basis for such rejection is so simple that it humbles us: the entity which is supposed to be re-born does not exist, except as a mere concept! How can a concept be re-born?

Maharaj in all innocence asks the protagonist of re-birth: "Please, I want to know, who is it that would be re-born?" The body 'dies' and, after death, is demolished — buried or cremated—as quickly as possible. The body, in other words, has been irreparably, irretrievably, irrevocably destroyed. That body, therefore, which was an objective thing cannot be re-born. How then can anything non-objective like the life-force (the breath), which, on the death of the body, merged with the air outside, or the consciousness which merged with the Impersonal Consciousness, be re-born either?

Perhaps, says Maharaj, you will say that the entity concerned will be re-born. But that would be utterly ridiculous. You do know that the 'entity' is nothing but a concept, a hallucination which arises when consciousness mistakenly identifies itself with the particular form.

How did the idea of re-birth arise at all? It was perhaps conceived as some sort of an acceptable working theory to satisfy the simpler people who were not intelligent enough to think beyond the parameters of the manifested world.

~Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj

Monday 2 May 2022

Where do you figure in these atoms?

 

•    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.


Friday 22 April 2022

Mi Ajanma Ahe - I am Unborn - Marathi Book

 

Mi Ajanma Ahe  
Original English Book Name : I Am Unborn
English Compiled by : Shri Vijayendra Deshpande
English Edited by : Dr.Pradip Apte
Marathi Book Name : Mi Ajanma Ahe
Marathi Translation by : Shri Sachin Kshirsagar & Dr.Adwait Godse
Pages : 284
 

Sri Nisargadatta Sadhana - Marathi Book

Sri Nisargadatta Sadhana (श्रीनिसर्गदत्तसाधना श्रीनिसर्गदत्त महाराज)
English Edited and Compiled by : Dr.Pradip Apte
Marathi Book Name :  Sri Nisargadatta Sadhana श्रीनिसर्गदत्तसाधना
Marathi Translation by : Shri Sachin Kshirsagar & Dr.Milind Patwardhan
Pages : 87
Quotes for Meditation  Theory  & Technique from Sri Maharaj  ten main English books.

 

Sunday 3 April 2022

Sadhana

 

• 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.

Sunday 27 March 2022

Spirituality in wonderland

 

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.


Thursday 17 March 2022

Reflection of the sun in a drop of dew is not the sun

 • 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?

Wednesday 16 March 2022

To whomsoever it is not known - Kenopanishad


यस्यामतं तस्य मतं मतं यस्य न वेद सः ।
अविज्ञातं विजानतां विज्ञातमविजानताम् ॥

To whomsoever it is not known, to him it is known.
To whomsoever it is known, he does not know.
It is not understood by those who understand it;
It is understood by those who do not understand it.

Kenopanishad

Friday 11 March 2022

You think you were born

 

• 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.

• 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.

Isn’t it cruel to kill a rice grain?

• 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.


 • 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.

=================================
Reply to comments on Facebook group.


Truth is one. All masters try to convey the same thing. Teachings of old masters would have been misinterpreted by some people, made as a concept, a story, or a religion by the years passed by. People take what is convenient for them, a part, ignoring the context, mostly those prescribed for the beginners, or an answer to a particular person. They fail to grasp the whole, the root. They would maintain that just because their Guru talked to a Goddess daily, it is part of their practice too, and it is not fair to classify it as a concept or ignorance.

People who are not so serious, who are satisfied with the religious-part of the teachings, would be enjoying it just like a kid with a lollipop. Immediately when you take out the lollipop, the child starts crying. Such people would classify all those who disturb their convenient beliefs as "Neo-Advaitins".
They fail to grasp that the very entity that is seeking is a concept and any knowledge is still a concept. They are grossly immersed in their own conceptual world of spirituality, awaiting an objective change of status, a permanent euphoric state for the entity they believe themselves to be. “Indeed there is no such thing as enlightenment. The apperception of this fact is itself enlightenment!”

Do you know, Maharaj himself is considered as a "Neo-Advaitin" and His teachings are not allowed in many popular Advaita Vedanta groups. According to Wikipedia: The basic practice of neo-Advaita is self-inquiry, via the question "Who am I?", or simply the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego." This recognition is taken to be equal to the Advaita Vedanta recognition of the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the recognition of the "Formless Self."

Tony Parsons writes that classical Advaita Vedanta is just another established religion with a proliferation of teachings and literature, all of which very successfully and consistently miss the mark, qualifying it as one of the many systems of personal indoctrination promising the eventual spiritual fulfilment. According to Parsons, classical Advaita Vedanta has no relevance to liberation because it is born out of a fundamental misconception, namely that there is something like a separate individual who can become enlightened. According to Parsons, this is a direct denial of abiding oneness (Advaita).

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nisargadatta/permalink/3220967281328212/
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This book is a must-read for all claiming to be on a so-called ‘spiritual’ path, all those who are still ‘practicing’. The book or the author never claims to be anything ‘spiritual’, but can throw light into how these concepts of pseudo-spirituality, religions and cultures developed.

There is only one step from here – who the subject is, who the knower is – what is its nature, which is the area of Advaita as explained by Maharaj. Realization is to understand that you are that primordial source. It does not award you any advantage over others. It is not the search for a euphoric state, a better life.

All acts of spirituality are purely material. It is the observer alone that is beyond. If you do any spiritual activity – yoga or meditation, persist or refrain from any acts, you do that in the phenomenal, material plane only. No matter what you eat, drink or do, it cannot affect the noumenal, the observer – whether you have realized it or not. It will not affect the realizing process or the chance of realizing either because there is no such thing.

People think that spirituality means anything that defies logic, physics, gravity and evidence. It is the Truth – the pure subjectivity – the knower of the spirituality - that is beyond the laws. And that too, it is not defying – it is ‘beyond’.

--------

Science is the systematic study that organizes knowledge in testable explanations. When you talk about logical fallacy of an argument, unfortunately ‘logical fallacy’ is part of science. If I had said Ramana Maharshi was a U.S. citizen, or that yesterday evening I had a coffee with Maharshi, you would deny it outright because you depend on logic and evidence; unfortunately, that is also science.

And about meat eating, let us leave the masters, because as per the so-called ‘vegetarians’, masters are realized, so they can eat it. The ordinary monks of Sri Ramakrishna order eat meat and fish. The monks of Tibet eat it. The ritualistic brahmins of Bengal regularly take fish as their favourite dish. So, does that mean they are all wasting their time there? The doctrine that separates people based on their food is religion, nothing else.

Consciousness manifested, is a product of the brain. Just like the music you hear is a product of the radio. Both depend on the instrument and its health. That is simply why a dead brain does not produce consciousness. But there is a catch – brain is the seat of consciousness, whereas the brain and the body themselves are objects in the very consciousness itself; it is a vicious circle. The only way is to grasp it as a whole, which is the very idea of Advaita. As said by Maharaj – “Consciousness itself is the greatest painter, The entire world is a Picture and The painter is in the picture”. It is the source of the consciousness that is not the product of a brain. It is the source of the music that is not part of the radio.

Science does not simply say there is an external world, science also says that the entire world including consciousness is a projection. I have posted a lot of statements by quantum physicists earlier here supporting this.

All the other views of practice, devotion and effort are simply religion and belief-system. If there is no external world, how can practice, devotion and prayer in the non-existent external world help? Isn’t that ‘logical fallacy’ applicable for ‘spiritual’ people? If that is claimed to be for beginners, simple science with an external world is also for beginners. Advanced science gives explanations to the illusion of appearance.

Not a single view of Advaita as taught by Maharaj (not at all the traditional religious Advaita) and interpreted as a whole is against the views of science or against logic and reasoning. It is religion and belief-system that are against science and evidence. Maharaj has always condemned them. Real Advaita cannot be shaken by a question of science. Conveniently using science for all other activities of life, but skipping them for the defence of our belief-system is the nature of religion. If something when challenged by science turns to be offensive, it is belief-system and not Advaita.

--------

Sir, I have mentioned it in the post that there are no claims of ‘spirituality’, and going beyond is only one step ahead. And what about ‘yoga’ and ‘meditation’? Is that not contents in the consciousness? Can some contents inside the false-appearance be good and some others not?

For the sake of explanation, it may be taken that the teachings of Maharaj have a sweet, soothing ‘former’ part, and a dry, fundamental ‘latter’ part, though no such separation exists. This group has consistently during its long history ensured to focus on the ‘latter’ part only and will continue to be so. The group has always been cautious enough to not be a dumb quote-sharing group, falling into a belief-trap. It will not be comfortable for most of the people.

The above book was shared for people interested in inquiry to differentiate between what is Advaita and what is a belief-trap. It also helps people to study how all these beliefs and cultures developed.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nisargadatta/permalink/4912531655505091/
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You seem to be nearer the point. No one compels to eat meat. But people think that if they don't eat they are more superior to others in terms of spirituality. Such a spirituality which by doing or not doing something assures this pseudo identity some higher status is simply religion. All those who are offended by this post are fully immersed in concepts which they feel painful to let go.

People forget the "minimalistic explanation" and that the purpose of spirituality is to know what you are; to know the falsity of the pseudo-identity and the image of the world projected.

If we are discussing environmental, climatic issues, they are correct. If we are discussing about world peace, they are correct. But we are discussing about the very temporality of the entire 'dream' itself. People forget that all these benchmarks of cruelty are human-made.

--------

The post serves the very purpose of what was intended. How many people get offended is the key. Very few members, who are that serious, contact me personally and discuss. They are afraid of being bullied by the ‘believers’. These comments are eye-openers for them. They learn from them that they should not fall into these kind of belief-traps.

People forget that the very idea of spirituality is to know what you are; to understand the nature of the pseudo-identity and the world projected by it. They forget that the so-called-cruelty is as per their definition and that a lion cannot be compassionate towards a deer; it is its nature. Still, the original point remains unanswered – we defined according to our convenience that plants don’t have any feelings. We will not define it the other way because we very well know that it will question our existence. If having a brain that knows pain is the problem, will they eat organisms that don’t have a pain-sensing mechanism? Modern methods involve painless killing. Is that ok? What about eggs? The topic is large, and I’m not elaborating. No point in applying logic here, because that is not the problem. The problem is their deep rooted beliefs. They forget that this is food to ~90% of the people, but still dare to call it dirt.

Now, is environmental concern the problem? If the world history is scaled to a 24-hour clock, humans arrived at 11:59pm. The so called humans with a civilization arrived at 11:59:59pm. They are trying to protect the world. Did nature put that responsibility over them? No, the nature knows to correct itself. But that would be so brutal. Humans know that. So in reality, they are worried about their existence only.

Is it really the post defending meat-eating or the others defending their beliefs when it is questioned? When something offends, the first thing to observe is what in ‘me’ did cause that. Serious people would immediately separate what is a concept in ‘me’ which can get offended, and that which is ‘prior’ to it which cannot get offended. But people strongly hold on to their sweet concept of self-realization to happen someday. It is a concept. It is never going to happen.

No action, nothing you eat, nothing you do, nothing you think will make you pure or impure. Nothing makes you ineligible for real spirituality – knowing the Truth. If you are serious you can get it now. If someone preaches otherwise, it is religion. By the words of Maharaj – “Discard all traditional standards. Leave them to the hypocrites.”

I see an elephant every night in my dream. My friend told me that if I wash the elephant daily, I will get self-realized. But we haven’t reached a conclusion on whether the elephant is a black or white one. What should I do?

--------

Exactly, whatever 'spiritual' people call as bad is always being carried by us in/as our body. So, as they say, a butcher cannot realize his nature, but a saint can, even if both the butcher and the saint are appearances.

The elaboration of this point ends up in the concepts of 'purity' in religion, that only 'pure' people are eligible for ‘knowledge’, only pure people can enter temples. Next step is, the descendants of pure people will also be pure. Next step, we pure people are ‘selected’ people of God. Thus it goes on.

I have a doubt. If eating plants makes one ‘pure’, the cows must be so pure. Then, eating a cow makes you ‘purer’. Isn’t it?

--------

Thank you Sir for your understanding. Yes, the teachings are spread on different levels according to the questioner. But at the last, when it is said that “waiting for something is simply hindering and delaying”, which teaching would you take? When the very point is to realize the falsity of the pseudo-entity, would that mean anything to conclude that what the pseudo-entity does will contribute to its liberation? When ‘apperception of the dream as a dream’ is the only thing one can do, is there any hope in assuming that any act of a character in the ‘dream’ will contribute to its liberation, and that too - slowly?

In algebra, when you start by assuming ‘let x=0’, and later, going through different steps conclude that x is something else, even if you have not understood it fully, would you still believe that for the time being x is 0, because I am not yet ready? Is it true that until I realize it, x is 0? No matter what you believe or not, x is something else. Similarly, when you are convinced that there are different levels of teaching, which level would you take? When it is said that “keep doing something for step-by-step realization” itself is the hindrance, and which notion is that what has to be removed, would you again “keep doing something” to remove that notion?

Your next point is absolutely correct. Advaita is not for all. Nothing is a compulsory thing. A simple farmer who is not worried about all these, who carries out his daily activities and live peacefully is perfectly alright. It is only those who feel deeply concerned about the uncertainty and illusory nature of this world need to inquire. But the problem is when people believe some actions contribute to their realization and some others not.

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Geeta and other scriptures have spoken various other things too. In most cases, it is called religion. As per Maharaj, "Discard all traditional standards. Leave them to hypocrites".

If discussed in the light of the teachings of Maharaj, "There is no such thing as realisation". If that is the case, there are no such distinct groups of people as 'realised' and 'non-realised'. If that is the case, how can there be two separate food menus for the 'realised' and the 'non-realised'?

Anything that prescribes a definite set of dos and don'ts which guarantees your upliftment is religion, not Advaita.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nisargadatta/permalink/4899136763511247/
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Thursday 10 March 2022

Noumenon is the substance, the phenomenon is mere reflection

- As long as we are in the phenomenal world, we can perceive only that. - We cannot be that-which-we-are until we wake up from the dream of phenomenality. - Understand the dream as such, and stop conceptualizing and objectivizing. - This is the basic essential - Noumenon is the substance, the phenomenon is mere reflection.  Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

- As long as we are in the phenomenal world, we can perceive only that.
- We cannot be that-which-we-are until we wake up from the dream of phenomenality.
- Understand the dream as such, and stop conceptualizing and objectivizing.
- This is the basic essential - Noumenon is the substance, the phenomenon is mere reflection.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

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About Nisargadatta Maharaj

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was an Indian spiritual teacher and philosopher of Advaita (Nondualism), and a Guru, belonging to the Navnath Sampradaya. Sri Nisargadatta, with his direct and minimalistic explanation of non-dualism, is considered the most famous teacher of Advaita since Ramana Maharshi. In 1973, the publication of his most famous and widely-translated book, "I AM THAT", an English translation of his talks in Marathi by Maurice Frydman, brought him worldwide recognition and followers.

According to Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, the purpose of spirituality is simply to know who you are. His discussions are not for academic scholars. He is a rebellious spirit, abrupt in his style of discussion, provocative, and immensely profound, cutting to the core and wasting little effort on inessentials. He talked about the 'direct way' of knowing the Final Reality, in which one becomes aware of one's original nature through mental discrimination, breaking the mind's false identification with the ego, knowing that "You are already That".

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