I Am That

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

The postman just delivered the book " I AM THAT " by Sri Nisargadatta

Maharaj. Tuesday is indeed an auspicious day to receive spiritual

gifts.

 

The hardcover reads:

 

" a modern spiritual classic "

 

I AM THAT

 

Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

The real does not die, the unreal never lived.

 

Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just

watch your body falling off like a discarded garment.

 

The real you is timeless and beyond birth and death. The body will

survive as long as it is needed. It is not important that it should

live long. (front cover)

 

This collection of the timeless teaching of one of the greatest sages

of India, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, regarded by many as a modern

spiritual classic, is a testament to the uniqueness of the seer's

life and work. I Am That (now in its ninth printing) continues to

draw new audiences and to enlighten anxious seekers for self-

realization.

 

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was a teacher who did not propound any

ideology or religion but gently unwrapped the mystery of the self.

His message is simple, direct and yet sublime.

 

I Am That preserves his dialogues with the followers who came from

around the world seeking guidance in destroying false identities. The

sage's sole concern was with human suffering and the ending of

suffering. IT was his mission to guide the individual o an

understanding of his true nature and the timelessness of being. He

taught that mind must recognize and penetrate its own state of being,

not being his or that, here or there, then or now, but just timeless

being.

 

A simple man, Maharaj was a householder and petty store keeper in

Bombay where he lived, and died in 1981 at the age of 84. He had not

been educated formally but came to be respected and loved for his

insights into the crux of human pain and the extraordinary lucidity

of his direct discourse. Hundreds of diverse seekers traveled the

globe and sought him to in his unpretentious home to hear him. To all

of them he gave hope that beyond the real experience is not the mind,

but the self, the light in which everything appears, the awareness in

which everything happens.

 

I Am That is a legacy from a unique teacher who helps the reader to a

clearer understanding of himself as he comes to Maharaj again and

again with the age-old questions, whence am I? Who am I and whither

am I? The listeners were never turned away from the humble abode of

Maharaj then and are not turned away now. (back cover)

 

 

So what is this real you? i remember asking Arwinder the same some

time ago, and wish to bring that to remembrance. i have realized that

we are part and parcel of the Self, and that I AM THAT. That is why

all that is required is to maintain Silence on Self, i.e., your own

Self as you are that. i am sure this great book will help all of us

realize that. Shri Mataji's Self-realization is not the shallow,

corrupted and ignorant form that is being officially taught i.e., the

Sahaja Yoga Subtle System Religion. And what has all those fanatical

rituals, endless treatments and absurd doctrines got to do with the

Self, and its realization? As i have said before, the SYSSR is but

the useless skin of the onion. Only fools will follow it.

 

Jai Ganapathy,

 

 

jagbir

 

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Dear All,

 

In the late afternoon two days ago on 9-27-2006 i took Arwinder, my

16-year-old son, to the clinic as he had some skin rash. While

waiting for the doctor i decided to ask him about the spirit as he

had told me earlier that his visits into his Sahasrara were now

getting less. In other words, as he was maturing he was meeting Shri

Mataji less frequently. (Lalita also has been telling me the same

for some time now.) That is why i decided to ask him about the

spirit as i was having some difficulty understanding what it is to

be a spirit? Since Arwinder meets the Adi Shakti in the Sahasara in

his spirit form I expected facts based on firsthand experience:

 

i) i asked him if you can cross and pass one hand through the other

or for example across the neck. He replied that you can, and even

pass through fellow spirit beings or any obstacle for the matter.

 

ii) so if you can cross the hands and pass them through each other

how was it possible to sit on Shri Durga's tiger? Arwinder replied

that the spirit can assume any form to do any task. If the intention

of your spirit is to sit on a tiger you will – the spirit just does

that effortlessly.

 

iii) is it possible to feel one's heartbeat? In the first place,

does one have a heart? Arwinder said a spirit has no heart or any

internal organ for the matter.

 

iv) can the spirit assume any form? Arwinder confirmed that it can.

The spirit can experience anything it desires - an insect, tree,

animal, human being, mountain, ocean ......... even an entire planet

or galaxy. It can contract into the smallest size or expand into the

largest. But he clarified that one is always conscious of being the

spirit. In other words, while experiencing being an ocean you are

always conscious that you are still a spirit. Thus from a ocean you

can easily become an entire galaxy, but at all times ever conscious

of being a spirit. This consciousness of being spirit is always

there.

 

v) so what is the spirit form at all times? What are you when you

walk or sit? Arwinder said being the spirit and walking is like

experiencing the wind. He said as a human it is really difficult to

explain/understand this experience as there is nothing similar to

it. The wind is the best he can come up with as the form of spirit

is not solid.

 

vi) do you sit in front of the Adi Shakti at all times when you meet

Her in the Sahasrara? He replied that there are times when She is

not there but that does not mean anything as She is always present

in Her invisible form and knows when you are meditating. All you

need to do is meditate, whether She is before you or not. The point

he was trying to make is that meditation should not be confined to

Her actual presence in the Sahasrara because She is everywhere,

within and without! Everything is Shakti.

 

 

Later the same evening i had a deep meditation that was full of

vibrations and bliss. This continued into yesterday (and today too).

There is something about the knowledge that brought forth this state

of mind.

 

But I had forgotten to ask Arwinder one question – did he actually

experience being a tree or insect?

 

Yesterday, as i went with him to get his contact lenses, i asked if

he actually experienced being a tree or mountain, since he was so

sure. He replied he never had experienced being a tree or mountain.

Naturally I asked, " So how do you know? " Arwinder replied that the

Adi Shakti had given and explained this knowledge to him. Then did

he ask Her to explain about the spirit? Arwinder replied that he

never asked but the Divine Mother explained about the spirit on Her

own accord. In fact She had over the years enlightened him about a

number of spiritual issues.

 

i asked why he did not tell about spirit before? Arwinder replied he

was never asked. Neither did he offer to spill out the remaining

knowledge the Adi Shakti had given him. (The only time he did so was

more than a decade ago when on August 9, 1995 he declared that he

meditates with the Adi Shakti, and explained his experiences in

detail. He was five.) Maybe that knowledge will be revealed as and

when necessary and i have no desire to extract it yet. The Shakti has

Her own way of making that happen.

 

Now i know why over the past two days i am having deep meditations

that are full of bliss and vibrations. It is because the knowledge

of " spirit " is coming directly from the eternal Shri Lalita Devi who

resides in all Sahasraras. It is knowledge that the Divine Mother

wants humans to know. Aham Brahma Asmi (I am Brahman) and Tat Twam

Asi (That Thou Art) makes more sense now. i now want to be Silent

for a few days to savour this Divine Nectar from Brahman Herself.

 

Jai Shri Ganapathi,

 

 

jagbir

 

 

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Mahavakyas, or Great Sayings, of the Upanishads

Prepared by Jayaram Srinivasan

 

Prajnanam Brahma - Consciousness is Brahman

 

(Aitareya Upanishad 3.3, of Rg Veda)

 

 

Ayam Atma Brahma - This Self is Brahman

 

(Mandukya Upanishad 1.2, of Atharva Veda)

 

 

Tat Tvam Asi - Thou art that

 

(Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, of Sama Veda, Kaivalya Upanishad)

 

 

Aham Brahmasmi - I am Brahman

 

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10, of Yajur Veda, Mahanarayana

Upanishad)

 

 

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Prajnanam Brahma - Consciousness is Brahman

 

(Aitareya Upanishad 3.3, of Rg Veda)

 

Other Translations: Brahman is pure consciousness; Brahman is

knowing; Brahman is intelligence

 

In the sentence, `Prajnanam Brahma' or Consciousness is Brahman, a

definition of Reality is given. The best definition of Brahman

would be to give expression to its supra-essential essence, and not

to describe it with reference to accidental attributes, such as

creatorship etc. That which is ultimately responsible for all our

sensory activities, as seeing, hearing, etc., is Consciousness.

Though Consciousness does not directly see or hear, it is impossible

to have these sensory operations without it. Hence it should be

considered as the final meaning of our mental and physical

activities. Brahman is that which is Absolute, fills all space, is

complete in itself, to which there is no second, and which is

continuously present in everything, from the creator down to the

lowest of matter. It, being everywhere, is also in each and every

individual. This is the meaning of Prajnanam Brahma occurring in

the Aitareya Upanishad.**

 

 

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Ayam Atma Brahma - This Self is Brahman

 

(Mandukya Upanishad 1.2, of Atharva Veda)

 

Other Translations: Brahman is this Self; This Self is Brahma

 

The Mahavakya, `Ayam Atma Brahma' or `This Self is Brahman,' occurs

in the Mandukya Upanishad. `Ayam' means `this,' and here `thisness'

refers to the self-luminous and non-mediate nature of the Self,

which is internal to everything, from the Ahamkara or ego down to

the physical body. This Self is Brahman, which is the substance out

of which all things are really made. That which is everywhere, is

also within us, and what is within us is everywhere. This is

called `Brahman,' because it is plenum, fills all space, expands

into all existence, and is vast beyond all measure of perception or

knowledge. On account of self-luminosity, non-relativity and

universality, Atman and Brahman are the same. This identification

of the Self with Absolute is not any act of bringing together two

differing natures, but is an affirmation that absoluteness or

universality includes everything, and there is nothing outside it.**

 

 

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Tat Tvam Asi - Thou art that

 

(Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, of Sama Veda, Kaivalya Upanishad)

 

Other Translations: That is how you are; That art thou

 

In the Chandogya Upanishad occurs the Mahavakya, `Tat Tvam Asi'

or `That thou art.' Sage Uddalaka mentions this nine times, while

instructing his disciple Svetaketu in the nature of Reality. That

which is one alone without a second, without name and form, and

which existed before creation, as well as after creation, as pure

Existence alone, is what is referred to as Tat or That, in this

sentence. The term Tvam stands for that which is in the innermost

recesses of the student or the aspirant, but which is transcendent

to the intellect, mind, senses, etc., and is the real 'I' of the

student addressed in the teaching. The union of Tat and Tvam is by

the term Asi or are. That Reality is remote is a misconception,

which is removed by the instruction that it is within one's own

self. The erroneous notion that the Self is limited is dispelled by

the instruction that it is the same as Reality.**

 

 

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Aham Brahmasmi - I am Brahman.

 

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10, of Yajur Veda, Mahanarayana

Upanishad)

 

In the sentence, `Aham Brahmasmi,' or I am Brahman, the `I' is that

which is the One Witnessing Consciousness, standing apart form even

the intellect, different from the ego-principle, and shining through

every act of thinking, feeling, etc. This Witness-Consciousness,

being the same in all, is universal, and cannot be distinguished

from Brahman, which is the Absolute. Hence the essential `I' which

is full, super-rational and resplendent, should be the same as

Brahman. This is not the identification of the limited

individual `I' with Brahman, but it is the Universal Substratum of

individuality that is asserted to be what it is. The copula `am'

does not signify any empirical relation between two entities, but

affirms the non-duality of essence. This dictum is from the

Brhadaranyaka Upanishad.**

 

 

** Excerpted from: Swami Krishnananda, The Philosophy of the

Panchadasi, " Chapter V: Discrimination of the Mahavakyas, " The

Divine Life Society, Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India.

 

http://www.jayarams.com/dharma/mahavakyas.html

 

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AHAM BRAHMA ASMI

 

Aham Brahma asmi or " I am the Brahman " is one of the corner piller

of the hindu Philosophy.

 

A crude transilation would be " I am the world " (or I am the creator

of the world " ), As there is no world (My world) with out me, I am

the one who creates my world, the good the bd, the relations in it,

the happiness in it the sorrow in it, so I am the god of my world.

 

Max Muller makes it more explicit when he says: If people conceive

God as a kind of Jupiter, or even as a Jehovah, then the idea can

only be considered blasphemous… But after the Deity had been freed

from its mythological character, the human mind, whether in India or

elsewhere, had once realised the fact, that God was all in all, that

there could be nothing besides God, that there could be one Infinite

only, not two, the conclusion that the human soul also belonged to

God was inevitable.

 

 

TAT TWAM ASI

 

Tat Tvam Asi, a sanskrit sentence, translating variously to " Thou

art that " , " That thou art " , or " You are that " , is one of the four

Mahâvâkyas (Grand Pronouncements) in Hinduism. It originally occurs

in the Chandogya Upanishad. It first occurs in Chandogya 6.8.7, in

the dialogue between Uddâlaka and his son Úvetaketu; it appears at

the end of a section, and is repeated at the end of the subsequent

sections as a refrain. It is generally taken to mean that your soul

or consciousness is wholly or partially the Ultimate Reality. That

is to say, even before the creation of the universe, a unitary,

divine consciousness existed, and that this consciousness is

identical to your deepest self.