Source - book titled – Gleaning From Nisargadatta
You must come to understand the meaning of God or Atma. True spirituality is to understand the precise meaning of God. As you go deeper into the meaning, into the essence of Self, you will come to understand the meaning of the universe, which is not different from the Self. You are prior to every experience. Any pain or pleasure felt is nothing but the extension of your own self.
A child is born; it is suckled by its mother. If the child bites the mother’s nipple and causes pain to the mother, where has the pain come from? The child was born of the mother, so the cause of the pain originated with the mother. Likewise your pain has grown out of yourself. But pain will not affect the Self in any way, as it is only an extension of the Self.
You are all students and I reply to all your questions. To pass the test and win what I am giving you, you must be very alert and pay attention to what I say. You should pay the same attention to the sense of I am; being constantly alert and having your attention focused on I am. The five elements are only an extension of your own Self. You must be fully acquainted with this I am in order to go inward.
Once you have dispassion, you know that you are not the body, mind, etc. All that is within consciousness. You come to know that consciousness is not what I am – I am beyond it.
Consciousness is like this candle flame which I witness. It comes and it goes, and it is understood by me. When the consciousness of I am is pure, it is still an attribute. Like this flame it comes and goes. The various names and forms are only descriptions of this consciousness and I am at all times beyond it.
This interval between the beginning of birth and waking state and until death and deep-sleep is called time. Time and attributes are not two, but one and both must pass away.