1975 letter from Nome to Sri Maharaj

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This is a letter written by Nome to Sri Maharaj in 1975, about a year

and a half after Nome's Self Realization.

 

It is taken from the SAT publication, "Reflections."

 

This material has not been published earlier. It is from the SAT

archives. I thought it would be of interest to the group.

 

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(In a previous issue, the response from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

translated by Maurice Frydman appeared. Here is the letter from Nome,

dated October 19, 1975, that preceded that warm response. The

reference in the opening paragraph is to the book, "I Am That," is to

the original Indian edition that consisted of 75 dialogues)

 

Dear Maharaj,

 

Recently, I had the good fortune of reading a copy of "I Am That,"

and I am overjoyed with the constant expression of Truth conveyed by

Your words. I bow and prostrate before You, You who are Truth itself

and the perfect confirmation of my own Realization. [editor's note:

Nome did not write "confirmation," but another person inserted that

verbiage into the letter according to his own views]. Reality cannot

be expressed, described, or conceived, and there are not two of us

between which a communication can take place. [editor's note: Here

again, that other person inserted a sentence of his own, not included

here]. Still, I trust that this letter will indicate, as well as

words can, a sharing or communion in Absolute Truth.

 

I alone Am. Indivisible, I do not admit of any dualism. Not confined

within space and time, I can never be experienced. Not a thing or

entity, I am never the object of perception or conception. When the

experiencer, perceiver, or conceiver are deeply inquired into, I

stand Self-revealed.

 

I am transparent Awareness, devoid of the dualism of life and death,

subject and object, self and other, within and without. Even the

term "transparent Awareness" is not meant to indicate anything

objectivisable, experience-able, or conceivable. When sought as an

object or entity, I am found to be utterly absent. Yet this absolute

absence reveals the Absolute Presence that I am.

 

Self-Realization is Being; not being this or that, just Being.

Realization is not to be attained, for it is my very Being. There is

no entity, no "me," to attain and no thing to be attained. Being is

not a state or experience that can be reached or attained by methods,

stages, or practices. Realization is the simple non-conceptual

understanding of who I am. This understanding or knowing is

inseparable from and identical with Being. Self-Realization or

Enlightenment is not an event. I, mySelf, am Realization, and I am

intemporal or what is sometimes termed eternal. Actually, I have

neither the attribute or time nor that of timelessness, for, being

absolutely nonobjective, in the sense of an entity or object, I

remain always undefined. Being is neither existent nor nonexistent,

neither this nor that. Not single attribute can be associated with

the unqualified Awareness that I am. Being and Awareness are one and

the same. Awareness cannot be cultivated or attained, being what we

are, and I am that Awareness.

 

I have never been born, and so I shall never die. I am not an entity

dwelling within the confines of time and space. In other words, there

is no "me," no individual entity that I can call myself, and there is

no world in which this supposed entity could be born, live, and die.

I am not now young, nor shall I ever be old, for I am neither the

body nor the mind nor a thing or person of any sort. I am, and there

is no "me."

 

All is within. Although I am no thing, I am everything. Absolutely, I

alone am, and there is no within to have a without and no without to

have a within. I cannot be said to exist, nor can I be said to not-

exist; nor both exist and not exist, nor neither exist nor not exist.

Although the perceiver can never be perceived, all that is perceived

is actually the perceiver. If the perceiver be deeply examined, the

nature of all things proves to be the same as the Absolute

inconceivable Quiescence that I am.

 

As Realization is not a state to be attained or maintained, it is

quite effortless. It is the ever-present natural state, which is not

a state at all but, rather, the Being-Awareness-Bliss that I am.

Realization is none other that who I am, and so I can never be

separate, different, or other than what the

words "Realization,Self," and "Jnana" signify. There are not two

selves, one to "realize," attain, or come into union with the other.

There is not even one self, in terms of an individual entity. I AM as

I Am.: ungraspable for I am not a thing, unattainable for I am the

ever-present nondual Reality, and not even in "union" for there was

never any division.

 

Standing naked in the Truth, I speak to You totally honestly. I know

who I am, and this clear Knowledge, which is identical with my very

Being, has set me free of all imagined bondage and liberation, hopes

and fear, desires and desirelessness, ignorance and knowledge,

happiness and suffering. By understanding the absolute absence of

any "me" to be defined or confined by any of these, I have awakened

to the Absolute Presence of I.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi has functioned as my Guru, through silent Grace

and the written recordings of what He said. Also, I have taken great

joy in reading the words of Sri Atmananda of Trivandrum and the

Avadhuta Gita of Dattatreya. In You, I find the perfect Realization

of what is indicated in the teaching of the above mentioned sages.

That is to say, I consider You to be identical with my Guru, and Your

wisdom to be unsurpassed. All praise falls short of describing You,

and words cannot adequately express how profound a sage I feel You

are. It can only be said that I know You as I, as my very Self.

 

If You wish, and it is possible for You to do so, I would greatly

enjoy and appreciate hearing from You. I speak, write, and read only

English, so any response would have to be in this language. Such a

correspondence with You would be greatly treasured, and I would be

deeply thankful for any reply that You would care to offer.

(Editor's note: Two sentences, not shown here, were inserted at this

point by the same person who had made the previous insertions). It is

this Self-Knowledge that I have to share and upon which the

relationship between us stands. This Self-Knowledge is the deepest,

earnest Love. The absence of "you" and "me" is the perfect at-one-

ment or Presence called Love. Even though we may appear to live a

great distance away from each other, this Love is as intense as if I

were sitting right before You.

 

Whether you decide to write or not, we are in eternal Love, in the

silent absolute communion of I.

 

With tears of joy as well as a Hearty laugh,

 

Nome

 

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Not two,

Richard