The True Nature of Reality

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Try to be. Only to be. Allot enough time daily for sitting quietly and trying, just trying, to go beyond the personality, with its addictions and obsessions. Do not ask how, it cannot be explained. The all-important word is ‘try’. You just keep on trying until you succeed. If you persevere, there can be no failure. What matters supremely is sincerity, earnestness. You must really have had surfeit of being the person you are, now see the urgent need of being free of this unnecessary self-identification with a bundle of memories and habits. This steady resistance against the unnecessary is the secret of success.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. At my Guru’s directive I became one with the beingness. Beingness means having the vision that one is the entire dynamic universe. When one transcends individuality, one is the manifest beingness only. In this process the Unmanifest reveals itself.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. When you cling to the body-mind you become separate from the manifested world and see different entities. In that state you will have all kinds of desires to improve yourself or somebody else. The next state is “I Amness”, in which every action is myself, every manifest thing is myself. In that state there is no question of improving. You are just manifestation, “I am everything”. Next is the unborn state, where there is no beingness to understand “I Am”. That is the highest state.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. The first step is to go to the ‘I am’ and dwell there and from there you go beyond consciousness and no-consciousness to infinite consciousness. In that permanent ‘Parabrahman’ state you become completely desireless and silent and even the thought ‘I am’ doesn’t arise. The mind dwelling in the pure ‘I am’ state is a very subtle and purified mind, but Reality is beyond that.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. In reality only the Ultimate is. The rest is a matter of name and form. And as long as you cling to the idea that only what has name and shape exists, the Supreme will appear to you non-existing. When you understand that names and shapes are hollow shells without any content whatsoever, and what is real is nameless and formless, pure energy of life and light of consciousness, you will be at peace – immersed in the deep silence of reality.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. There are no conditions to fulfil. There is nothing to be done, nothing to be given up. Just look and remember, whatever you perceive is not you, nor yours. It is there in the field of consciousness, but you are not the field and its contents, nor even the knower of the field. It is your idea that you have to do things that entangles you in the results of your efforts - the motive, the desire, the failure to achieve, the sense of frustration - all this holds you back. Simply look at whatever happens and know that you are beyond it.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. All that needs to be done is to find out your real source and take up headquarters there. From the Absolute standpoint, your beingness is only ignorance. Nothing comes and nothing goes; it is a mirage. All there is is the Absolute, all there is is the Truth. The witness of the consciousness never comes into the realm of the consciousness. When you pursue this spiritual path of understanding the Self, all your desires just drop off... even the primary desire... to be. When you stay put in the beingness for some time, that drops off. Then you are in the Absolute... there is no movement for you. You are minding the show. Consciousness extinguishes itself, knowingness disappears, and you, the Absolute remains. That is the moment of death.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Be still in your beingness. Then even it will disappear and you will merge in Truth.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. In spirituality there is no question of doing... only observing and understanding. But, if you try to understand spirituality through various concepts, like birth and rebirth, you will get caught up in them in a vicious cycle.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. It is the intensity of the faith you have in the guru's words that is most important; once that is there, the grace flows automatically. The faith in the guru is based on the consciousness within, faith in your Self. My association with my guru was scarcely for two and a half years. The words he gave me touched me very deeply. I abided in one thing only: that the words of my guru are the truth, and he said “You are the Absolute, You are the Parabrahman". After that there were no more doubts and no more questions. Once my guru conveyed to me what he had to say I never bothered about other things – I hung on to the words of the guru. I know exactly how transient this present state of affairs is, and I also know the eternal state. I have no use for this ephemeral state. I understand the false as false. Since I have found my true permanent state I have no need for any of this; it has come on its own and i...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. When you meet a lion you can either run away or allow yourself to be eaten by it. But even if you run away he is very likely to catch you and kill you. So, either way you die. Then why die like a coward out of fear? Stand your ground and when he comes at you attack the lion bravely and knock out some of its teeth. Now, for so long you have been watching, nourishing, protecting and guarding this personal 'I'. It is very dear to you. But, in truth, you are not this personal 'I'. It has nothing at all to do with you, and you know that in the end it will be gobbled up by time. The lion which will devour this pet 'I' of yours is time and you are very much afraid of it. When you are afraid of time you become its prey. But, if you are unafraid of time, then time becomes your prey. A jnani consumes time while others are consumed by it. Be a jnani. Transcend time, transcend this beingness and all ...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. But, the Awareness will not reveal itself as long as you are still identified with this pseudo-entity. You still seem to be convinced that you live a life of your own, according to your own wishes and hopes and ambitions, according to your own plans and design, and through your own individual efforts. But is it like that, or are you being dreamed and lived without volition as a mere puppet, exactly as in a dream of the night? When you think about it you will realize that this psycho-physical apparatus is only an appearance and as such has no independent existence. Therefore, it cannot act on its own independently, despite all appearances to the contrary. When you understand that you are the conscious presence and not the outer casing of consciousness, when you apprehend the total manifestation, not with the dichotimized mind of the individual but with the whole mind of the universal, then you realize that whatev...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. If you give up this memory and anticipation, and think of yourself as momentary, without a past or future, being the 'I am', the one who is, then there is no room for personality and you are free of this error of misidentification and limitation of space and time. When you realize that what you have falsely thought yourself to be was based on memory and anticipation, then you can stand aloof from the objectifying nature of the mind and remain unaffected by its concepts of space and time. When you are in full awareness of the present and your own unchanging sense of isness, and freed of the shackles of memory and anticipation, then your search is over. In this state there is neither subject nor object, there is no division of the mind into one that sees and one that is seen; there is only the seeing. It is pure perception without any interpretations based on memory - it is merely the witnessing of the fu...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Go within. Your normal inclination is to come out through the senses and see the world. Now reverse: “I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the senses.” Then you are stabilized in consciousness. After that, all further things happen automatically. Know that in this world nothing is permanent; search out what you were before this temporary state came and what you are after it goes. During that temporary state everything appeared to be correct; the plot was totally believable, but the story is completely fictitious.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. First, know that you are the manifest consciousness, the 'I am'. Then go to the source and find out where this 'I am' came from. When you have knowledge you see the 'I am' as all-pervasive, so long as that consciousness is there. But then, this knowledge merges into no-knowledge, the Parabrahman, the witness of the consciousness. That has no 'I am'; that is you true eternal nature. It is on this true, whole, homogeneous state that a small ripple appeared. Then the news came, "I am". That news made all the difference, for then all this started. You must know your true state, and know that this ripple comes and goes on your true state. Beingness witnesses all this manifestation, but the eternal principle, the Absolute, witnesses the beingness. The universal Absolute understands the play of the attributes, the projection of the mind, but the play cannot understand the Absol...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. While this consciousness is here, it is your constant companion, and continuous attention to the stream of consciousness will take you on to the Awareness, the basic existence. This being conscious of consciousness is itself a movement towards Awareness. Let yourself see everything from the point of view of the animating consciousness, the Krishna consciousness, not from the point of view of the phenomenal apparatus to which it gives sentience. See yourself as the source of all manifestation, the universal 'I am'; then the consciousness which has mistakenly identified itself with the body-mind construct, will become aware of its true nature and merge with its source. To see yourself this way does not involve a thought process but happens only through an intuitive seeing from within, when the mind becomes introverted. The natural tendency of the mind is to look outwards and seek the source of things in th...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Start by being within yourself, in the 'I amness', remaining as a dispassionate witness, quietly watching the flow of the mind, observing whatever comes to the surface. What we call thoughts are like ripples on the surface of water. Just as water is serene when free of ripples, so is the mind serene when free of thoughts, when it is passive and fully receptive. In the mirror of your mind all kinds of pictures will appear; they will stay for awhile and then disappear. Silently watch them come and go. Be alert but do not get involved; be neither attracted nor repelled, neither interfering nor judging. This attitude of silent witnessing will have the effect, gradually, of driving away all useless thoughts, like unwanted guests who are being ignored. Then the deep unknown will be encouraged to come to the surface of consciousness and release its unused energies to enable you to understand its mystery. ...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. The Absolute nounemality manifests itself through millions of forms which are created and destroyed every moment, and in this spontaneous functioning there is no place at all for the notion of any entity. Therefore, any action taken based on the notion that you are an autonomous, independent entity seeking 'liberation' will only lock you further into 'bondage'. When you analyze the situation you will discover that it is but consciousness seeking the unmanifested source of manifestation, and not finding it, because this consciousness, ever-moving, ever-active, is actually just seeking itself, in its serene, inactive, potential state. It is the seeker that is being sought. When this is deeply, intuitively perceived then the seeker will disappear and the Source will remain.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. The fruition of your spirituality is to fully understand your own true nature, to stabilize in your true identity. Ultimately, everything merges in the Self. You will transcend that beingness, and you, the Absolute, will know that you are also not that beingness, that consciousness. Beingness is transcended, but beingness will still be available. In the deep sleep state the beingness, the 'I amness' goes into oblivion, you forget yourself. The 'I amness' comes and goes in the waking and deep sleep states, but the Absolute remains unaffected by that. The true state, which is whole, undifferentiated, is beyond birth and death. Be friendly with your undifferentiated state, your true Self. There was never any division, but you are under the delusion that you are not one with it. You are never bound by body and mind. You are limitless. You, the Absolute are aloof, you are beyond any experience. In the...

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Be still in your beingness. Then even it will disappear and you will merge in Truth. All that needs to be done is to find out your real source and take up headquarters there. From the Absolute standpoint, your beingness is only ignorance. Nothing comes and nothing goes; it is a mirage. All there is, is the Absolute; all there is, is the Truth.  The witness of the consciousness never comes into the realm of the consciousness. When you pursue this spiritual path of understanding the Self, all your desires just drop off... even the primary desire... to be. When you stay put in the beingness for some time, that drops off. Then you are in the Absolute... there is no movement for you. You are minding the show. Consciousness extinguishes itself, knowingness disappears, and you, the Absolute remains. That is the moment of death.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. There are no conditions to fulfil. There is nothing to be done, nothing to be given up. Just look and remember, whatever you perceive is not you, nor yours. It is there in the field of consciousness, but you are not the field and its contents, nor even the knower of the field. It is your idea that you have to do things that entangles you in the results of your efforts - the motive, the desire, the failure to achieve, the sense of frustration - all this holds you back. Simply look at whatever happens and know that you are beyond it.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Self-forgetting is inherent in self-knowing. Consciousness and unconsciousness are two aspects of one life. They co-exist. To know the world you forget the self – to know the self you forget the world. What is world after all? A collection of memories. Cling to one thing that matters, hold on to ‘I am’ and let go all else. This is sadhana. In realization there is nothing to hold on to and nothing to forget. Everything is known, nothing is remembered.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Discover all you are not. Body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, time, space, being and not-being, this or that – nothing concrete or abstract you can point out to is you. A mere verbal statement will not do – you may repeat a formula endlessly without any result whatsoever. You must watch yourself continuously – particularly your mind – moment by moment, missing nothing. This witnessing is essential for the separation of the self from the not-self.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. In reality only the Ultimate is. The rest is a matter of name and form. And as long as you cling to the idea that only what has name and shape exists, the Supreme will appear to you non-existing. When you understand that names and shapes are hollow shells without any content whatsoever, and what is real is nameless and formless, pure energy of life and light of consciousness, you will be at peace – immersed in the deep silence of reality.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Go deep into the sense of ‘I am’ and you will find. How do you find a thing you have mislaid or forgotten ? You keep it in your mind until you recall it. The sense of being, of ‘I am’ is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the ‘I am’, without moving, you enter a state, which cannot be verbalized, but which can be experienced. All you need to do is to try and try again. After all the sense of ‘I am’ is always with you, only you have attached all kinds of things to it – body, feelings, thoughts, ideas, possessions and so on. All these self-identifications are misleading, because of these you take yourself to be what you are not.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. Experience, however sublime, is not the real thing. By its very nature it comes and goes. Self-realisation is not an acquisition. It is more of the nature of understanding. Once arrived at, it cannot be lost. On the other hand, consciousness is changeful, flowing, undergoing transformation from moment to moment. Do not hold on to consciousness and its contents. Consciousness held, ceases. To try to perpetuate a flash of insight, or a burst of happiness is destructive of what it wants to preserve. What comes must go. The permanent is beyond all comings and goings. Go to the root of all experience, to the sense of being. Beyond being and not-being lies the immensity of the real. Try and try again.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. By its very nature, the mind is outward turned; it always tends to seek for the source of things among the things themselves; to be told to look for the source within, is, in a way, the beginning of a new life. Awareness takes the place of consciousness; in consciousness there is the “I”, who is conscious, while awareness is undivided; awareness is aware of itself. The “I am” is a thought, while awareness is not a thought; there is no “I am aware” in awareness. Consciousness is an attribute while awareness is not; one can be aware of being conscious, but not conscious of awareness. God is the totality of consciousness, but awareness is beyond all – being as well as not-being.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. The life force [prana] and the mind are operating [of their own accord], but the mind will tempt you to believe that it is "you". Therefore understand always that you are the timeless spaceless witness. And even if the mind tells you that you are the one who is acting, don't believe the mind. [...] The apparatus [mind, body] which is functioning has come upon your original essence, but you are not that apparatus.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj

Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words. It is enough if you do not imagine yourself to be the body. It is the “I am the body” idea that is so calamitous. It blinds you completely to your real nature. Even for a moment do not think that you are the body. Give yourself no name, no shape. In the darkness and the silence reality is found.  –       Nisargadatta Maharaj