Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (17 April 1897 – 8 September 1981) was an Avaduta who imparted lessons on the Self to those who desired to know That. Nisargadatta Maharaj thoughts are from various sources. They have been collected over a period of more than 10 years.
Nisargadatta Maharaj Thoughts
If you continue in the realm of intellect, you will become entangled and lost in more and more concepts.
At the highest level, in reality, nothing is. At the worldly
level, everything is.
You may adopt any concept that will make you happy but
remember that it is still only a concept.
Reality makes the present so vital, so different from past
and future – which are only mental.
The mind craves for formulations and definitions, always
eager to squeeze reality into verbal shape.
That state in which you were before you acquired this knowledge
‘I am’ is the real state. Only after you got this knowledge you identified with
the body-mind. Whatever you have acquired, including the body-mind, that will
go, and it is useless, and that is that. But your original state, before you
acquired the body, is the Truth, is the Real state, and it will remain.
Let others help the world, build large Ashrams and take in
disciples. To me, all these activities are vanity and illusion. Since I need
nothing and am complete in myself, why should I trouble myself with trivial
worldly gains and activities?
Do not attempt to suppress your desires, simply refrain from
identifying with them – “I am not this desire.” The desire will, of itself,
disappear.
The reality cannot be described, it can only be hinted by
negation. After all else has been negated, the Real remains.
You are neither the mind nor the feelings. You cannot throw
anger out, it must dissolve into you.
Simply don’t act on anger or jealousy. How can you be
jealous when you are beyond everything?
You don’t have to make an effort to reach the Truth. It
cannot be caught. It is what remains after all else has been negated.
There was a house, and in the house there was a person; now
the person is gone and the house is demolished. The sum total is whatever
experiences you have, whether for a day or for years, it is all illusion. The
experiences begin with knowingness. What is the most ingrained habit you have?
It is to say "I Am'. This is the root habit. Words and experiences are
unworthy of you. This habit of experiencing will not go until you realize that
all this domain of the five elements, are unreal, This 'I Amness' is itself
unreal.
The world is like a sheet of paper on which something is
typed. The reading and the meaning will vary with the reader, but the paper is
the common factor, always present, rarely perceived. When the ribbon is
removed, typing leaves no trace on the paper. So is my mind – the impressions
keep on coming, but no trace is left.
When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you
want nothing, seek nothing, expect nothing, then
the Supreme State will come to you uninvited and unexpected.
Whatever is happening is bound to happen. There is a series
of events; a scenario is written down. So according to that scenario, things
happen. If we are identified with all sorts of things, we have certain hopes
and aspirations; and if things turn out accordingly, we are happy. If the
things happen are not according to our wishes, we are unhappy. So we will
continue to be happy and unhappy in an endless cycle, so long as we persist in
this attitude.
However, the moment we see things in proper perspective –
that all we can do is to see that witnessing happens and that whatever happens
is independent of our thoughts – then there is a different state. There is no
volition as far as an individual is concerned; things happen on their own. When
that is seen, there is already a certain peace of mind.
All this profound talk is nothing but mental entertainment.
As you go further into spirituality you will realize that the 'I Am' is the
very God or soul of an infinite number of universes, but the 'I Am' is again
entertainment. All my talks are conceptual entertainment.
You are that which is prior to the arrival of I-am-ness.
When we did not know anything, that is our true state. That is reality. In that
state we did not even know our own existence.
Then spontaneously came the thought or the knowledge ‘I am.’
This knowledge started the sense of duality, subject and object, sin and merit
and the entire gamut of interrelated opposites. Whatever was before the
knowledge ‘I am’ is Truth. Whatever is subsequent is false.
Many names have been given to the sense of presence or I am
ness: Maya, Prakriti, Ishwara etc, but nevertheless it is an illusion, pure
ignorance.
Prakriti, with the cooperation of the conceptual Purusha
creates the world and peoples it with innumerable forms. It is Maya in action
that makes consciousness mistakenly believe that. It is the particular form
itself. Thus it assumes the identity of the particular form and forgets its
nature.
All paths lead to unreality. Paths are creations within the
scope of knowledge. Therefore, paths and movements cannot transport you into
Reality, because their function is to enmesh you within the dimension of
knowledge, while the Reality prevails prior to it.
Even this consciousness is not everything and it is not
going to last for all time. Find out how that consciousness has arisen, the
source of the consciousness…What is this body? The body is only an accumulation
of food and water. Therefore, you are something separate from either the body
or the consciousness.
Jivatman is the one who identifies with the body mind as an
individual separate from the world. The atman is only beingness, or the
consciousness, which is the world. The ultimate principle which knows this
beingness cannot be named at all. It cannot be approached or conditioned by any
words. That is the Ultimate State.
When we concentrate our attention on the origin of thought,
the thought process itself comes to an end; there is a hiatus, which is
pleasant, and again the process starts.
Turning from the external world and enjoying the objectless
bliss, the mind feels that the world of objects is not for it.
Prior to this experience the un-satiating sense enjoyments
constantly challenged the mind to satisfy them, but from the inward turn
onwards its interest in them begins to fade.
Once the internal bliss is enjoyed, the external happiness
loses its charm.
One who has tasted the inward bliss is naturally loving and
free from envy, contented and happy with others’ prosperity, friendly and
innocent and free from deceit. He is full of the mystery and wonder of the bliss.
One who has realized the Self can never inflict pain on
other.
The Jackfruit is a very big fruit with a thick skin and
pointed stickers on the outside. Inside it is the fruit and within that is the
seed. One uses the fruit, and the seed, which is capable of producing more
fruit. The human body is the same, what is outside is merely the shell; what
one uses is the beingness inside.
Prior to taking this form you were formless;
spontaneously the form came, and when the form came, there was a natural longing
to return to the formless state. When you want to return to the formless,
desireless state, then only you come here, to seek what you are. The
consciousness has to know the consciousness. When it realizes itself, then only
do you return to normal.
Once you have understood the origin of this movement, this
activity, and the reason, the nature of this desire, then only can you return
to what you are. Unless you are firm about it, you will not
understand.
The fruition of your spirituality is to fully understand
your own true nature, to stabilize in your true identity. One must have
patience, the capacity to wait and see.