Nisargadatta on Spiritual Progress

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Namaste!

 

Some quotes related to spiritual progress, from Nisargadatta's I AM

THAT, available at:

 

http://www.nonduality.com/asmi.htm

 

 

There can be progress in the preparation (sadhana). Realization is

sudden. The fruit ripens slowly, but falls suddenly and without

return. (332)

 

The preparation is gradual, the change itself is sudden and complete.

Gradual change does not take you to a new level of conscious being.

You need courage to let go. [if you lack courage,] it is because you

are not fully convinced. Complete conviction generates both desire

and courage. And meditation is the art of achieving faith through

understanding. In meditation you consider the teaching received, in

all its aspects and repeatedly, until out of clarity confidence is

born and, with confidence, action. Conviction and action are

inseparable. (492)

 

There are no steps to self-realization. There is nothing gradual

about it. It happens suddenly and is irrevocably. You rotate into a

new dimension, seen from which the previous ones are mere

abstractions. Just like on sunrise you see things as they are, so on

self-realization you see everything as it is. The world of illusion

is left behind. (331)

 

With some, realization comes imperceptibly, but somehow they need

convincing. They have changed, but they do not notice it. Such

non-spectacular cases are often the most reliable. (291)

 

The experience [of self-realization] is unique and unmistakable. It

will dawn on you suddenly, when the obstacles are removed to some

extent. It is like a frayed rope snapping. Yours is the work at the

strands. The break is bound to happen. It can be delayed, but not

prevented. (502)

 

All will come through, not a single soul (jiva) shall be lost. (377)

 

For some time, the mental habits may linger in spite of the new

vision, the habit of longing for the unknown past and fearing the

unknown future. When you know these are of the mind only, you can go

beyond them. (509)

 

[When the mind goes] emptiness remains, awareness remains, pure light

of the conscious being remains. It is like asking what remains of a

room when all the furniture is removed. A most serviceable room

remains. And when even the walls are pulled down, space remains.

Beyond space and time is the here and now of reality. (423)

 

You will recognize that you have returned to your natural state by a

complete absence of all desire and fear. After all, at the root of

all desire and fear is the feeling of not being what you are. Just as

a dislocated joint pains only as long as it is out of shape, and is

forgotten as soon as it is set right, so is all self-concern a

symptom of mental distortion which disappears as soon as one is in

the normal state. (332)

 

[On realization] That which cannot change, remains. The great peace,

the deep silence, the hidden beauty of reality remain. While it

cannot be conveyed through words, it is waiting for you to experience

for yourself. (476)

 

The world had all the time to get better, yet it did not. What hope

is there for the future? Of course, there have been and will be

periods of harmony and peace, when sattva was in ascendence, but

things get destroyed by their own perfection. A perfect society is

necessarily static and, therefore, it stagnates and decays. From the

summit all roads lead downwards. Societies are like people - they are

born, they grow to some point of relative perfection and then decay

and die. (419)

 

Man does not change much over the ages. Human problems remain the

same and call for the same answers. (445)

 

It was the same ten thousand years ago, and will be the same ten

thousand years hence. Centuries roll on, but the human problem does

not change - the problem of suffering and the ending of suffering.

(459)

 

The world does not yield to changing. By its very nature it is

painful and transient. See it as it is and divest yourself of all

desire and fear. When the world does not hold and bind you, it

becomes an abode of joy and beauty. You can be happy in the world

only when you are free of it. (504)

 

Causes and results are infinite in number and variety. Everything

affects everything. In this universe, when one thing changes,

everything changes. Hence the great power of man in changing the

world by changing himself. My world has changed completely. Yours

remains the same, for you have not changed. [You didn't notice this

change] because there was no communion between us. Do not consider

yourself as separate from me and we shall at once share in the common

state. (490)

 

 

As usual, everything he says is highly intelligent and perceptive.

And he does a rather good job of not being repetitive, even though

the theme is always the same...

 

Om!

Benjamin