The True Nature of Reality

There are various types of charity, but the greatest charity is the renunciation of the knowledge ‘I am’. When you give that up you escape birth and death. Waking state represents activity; deep sleep represents peace, quiet. When these two are present it means ‘I am’ is there, but you the Absolute are neither the waking state, deep sleep nor ‘I amness’.  –        Nisargadatta Maharaj Remember, to know Yourself, return to the silence before words.

Examination of the three states proves that I am a changeless Principle (Existence).  Here, waking, dream and sleep are examined, as everyday experiences that show a self from which they are known.  In the waking state, the self is identified with a body in an outside world, where the body’s senses are assumed to know outside objects.  But in the dream state, all bodies and all objects seen are imagined in the mind. Dreamed objects are experienced by a dream self – which is not an outside body, but has been imagined in the mind. This shows that the self which knows experience cannot be an outside body, as it is assumed to be in the waking world. Considering the dream state more carefully, it too depends upon assumed belief. In the experience of a dream, self is identified with a conceiving mind, where thoughts and feelings are assumed to know the dreamt-up things that they conceive. But, in the state of deep sleep, we have an experience where no thoughts and feelings are conceive

The ‘I am’ in a child is dormant, it does not know itself, but it is there, in due course it knows itself and as a one knows ‘I am’. Go to the root, the beginning of the child, when you understand that you are not consciousness, stabilize there; understand and get out. There is no need for The Absolute to go into Samadhi; it does not go anywhere it’s always there, while Samadhi is a changing state. ‘I amness’ becomes no ‘I amness’ in Samadhi, waking and deep sleep are phases of ‘I am, not of The Absolute.  –        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 absence of the basic concept 'I am' there is no thought, there is

Deep sleep is often mistaken for the non-objective Awareness, the pure Awareness which is not aware of itself, because during deep sleep the consciousness retires into rest and is not conscious of itself. However, this state has a limited duration, after which the waking state (which includes the dream state) again takes over.  Both the waking and the deep sleep states are alternating periods of consciousness-in-manifestation. During the waking state there is a sense of presence; during the deep sleep state that sense of presence is absent.  But the pure state of Awareness that you really are, is the total absence of both the presence and the absence of the sense of presence. And it is not time-bound.  Can you permanently go without sleep now? Yet 100 years ago, before manifestation, were 'you' concerned about sleep?  Consciousness, deep sleep, waking, time-duration are all aspects associated with manifestation. How could this be equated with the unmanifest Awareness whi

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . Questioner: "What is the real cause of suffering?"  Nisargadatta: "Self-identification with the limited. Sensations as such, do not cause suffering. It is the mind, bewildered by wrong ideas, addicted to thinking: 'I am this', 'I am that', that fears loss an

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . You are the unlimited, which is not susceptible to the senses. By limiting yourself to the body you have closed yourself to the unlimited potential which you really are. Treat the body like a visitor or a guest, which has come and which will go. You must know your position as a host very clea

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . Death is generally considered to be a traumatic experience, but understand what happens. That which has been born, the knowledge 'I am' which is the same everywhere, but which has gotten itself limited by the body, again becomes unlimited. A speck of consciousness is given up. Why the

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . In your original state of unity and wholeness you didn't even know you existed. Then one day, you were told that you were born, that a particular body was 'you', that a particular couple were your parents. Thereafter, you began accepting further information about 'you', d

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . We speak of three 'I's':  There is the absolute, unmanifested, impersonal 'I', pure Awareness, beyond all sensory perception, aware of itself only when manifestation arises.  There is the super-personal, manifested 'I', the conscious presence which is the reflec

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . Rather than get lost in the bewildering diversity of the play of Maya, let us look at the overall picture. Manifestation comes into existence through the basic concept 'I am'. This 'existence' is nothing but a projection and for this the screen or the basis is the noumenon. Th

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . Consciousness is a great fraud; it is the cause of all suffering. It all begins with selflove, the need to be present. This love of being, love of self is the nature of the seed, the sperm. Consciousness is latent in that, in the condition we call birth. Then, out of the food essence comes t

Most seekers embark on the search through the desire is be free of suffering and abide in the freedom of the natural state. At the initial stages, when identified with the person, the desire may be at a personal level -- to become enlightened, change the world, become a successful and famous spiritual teacher, to be free from the problems of the relative. In other words, the  desire  is  to gain something at a personal level.  When the seeker is ripe or ready, these personal desires drop away. Instead, there is simply the burning and earnest desire to know the Self and be free of suffering. This series will offer the  direct path pointers  on  how to be free from suffering -- permanently . However strong the thoughts may seem, they are just thoughts and will eventually dissolve back into emptiness. Once you recognize the intrinsic nature of the mind, these thoughts that seem to appear and disappear all the time can no longer fool you. Just as clouds form, last for a while, and

This is the final post of the three-step  direct path pointers on how to be free from suffering -- permanently.  STEP #1:  Questioner: "Have I not suffered enough?"  Nisargadatta: "Suffering has made you dull, unable to see its enormity. Your first task is to see the sorrow in you and around you ...  STEP #2:  " ... your next is to long intensely for liberation. The very intensity of longing will guide you; you need no other guide."  STEP #3:  Questioner: “Surely there is something valid and valuable in every approach.”  Nisargadatta: “In each case the value lies in bringing you to the need of seeking within. Playing with various approaches may be due to resistance to going within, to the fear of having to abandon the illusion of being something or somebody in particular. To find water you do not dig small pits all over the place, but drill in one place only. Similarly, to find your self you have to explore yourself.”  Questioner: &quo

For the rest of this week, the three-step  direct path pointers will be offered.  Seekers, if you are serious, these instructions describe how to be free from suffering -- permanently. STEP #1:  Questioner: "Have I not suffered enough?"  Nisargadatta: "Suffering has made you dull, unable to see its enormity. Your first task is to see the sorrow in you and around you ...  STEP #2:  " ... your next is to long intensely for liberation. The very intensity of longing will guide you; you need no other guide."  STEP #3:  Questioner: “Surely there is something valid and valuable in every approach.”  Nisargadatta: “In each case the value lies in bringing you to the need of seeking within. Playing with various approaches may be due to resistance to going within, to the fear of having to abandon the illusion of being something or somebody in particular. To find water you do not dig small pits all over the place, but drill in one place only. Similarl

For the rest of this week, the three-step  direct path pointers will be offered.  Seekers, if you are serious, these instructions describe how to be free from suffering -- permanently. STEP #1:  Questioner: "Have I not suffered enough?"  Nisargadatta: "Suffering has made you dull, unable to see its enormity. Your first task is to see the sorrow in you and around you ...  STEP #2:  " ... your next is to long intensely for liberation. The very intensity of longing will guide you; you need no other guide."  STEP #3:  Questioner: “Surely there is something valid and valuable in every approach.”  Nisargadatta: “In each case the value lies in bringing you to the need of seeking within. Playing with various approaches may be due to resistance to going within, to the fear of having to abandon the illusion of being something or somebody in particular. To find water you do not dig small pits all over the place, but drill in one place only. Similarl