I AM THAT: CHAPTER 10: WITNESSING

[Guest guest]

10 WITNESSING Pg25

 

Q: I am full of desires and want them fulfilled. How am I to get what

I want?

M: do you deserve what you desire? In some way or other you have to

work for the fulfillment of your desires. Put in energy and wait for

the results.

 

Q: Where am I to get the energy?

M: May be it was not strong enough and lasting.

 

Q: Yes, that is my problem. I want things, but I am lazy when it

comes to action.

M: When your desire is not clear nor strong, it cannot take shape.

Besides, if your desires are personal, for your own enjoyment, the

energy you give them is necessarily limited; it cannot be more than

what you have.

 

Q: Yet, often ordinary persons do attain what they desire.

M: After desiring it very much and for a long time. Even then, their

achievements are limited.

Q: And what about unselfish desires?

M: When you desire the common good, the whole world desires with

you. Make humanity's desire your own and work for it. There you

cannot fail.

 

Q: Humanity is God's work, not mine. I am concerned with myself. Have

I not the right to see my legitimate desires fulfilled? They will

hurt no one. My desires are legitimate. They are right desires, why

don't they come true?

M: Desires are right or wrong according to circumstances it depends

on how you look at them. It is only for the individual that

distinction between right and wrong is valid.

 

Q: What are the guide-lines for such distinction? How am I to know

which of my desires are right and which are wrong?

M: In your case desires that lead to sorrow are wrong and those which

lead to happiness are right. But you must not forget others. Their

sorrow and happiness also count.

 

Q: Results are in the future. How can I know what they will be?

M: Use your mind. Remember. Observe. You are not different from

others. Most of their experiences are valid for you too. Think

clearly and deeply, go into the entire structure of your desires and

their ramifications. They are a most important part o your mental and

emotional make-up and powerful affect your actions. Remember, you

cannot abandon what you do not know. To go beyond yourself, you must

know yourself.

 

Q: What does it mean to know myself? By knowing myself what exactly

do I come to know?

M: All that you are not.

 

Q: And not what I am?

M: What you are, you already are. By knowing what you are not, you

are free of it and remain in your own natural state. It all happens

quite spontaneously and effortlessly.

 

Q: And what do I discover?

M: You discover that there is nothing to discover. You are what you

are and that is all.

 

Q: But ultimately what am I?

M: The ultimate denial of all you are not.

 

Q: I do not understand!

M: It is your fixed idea that you must be something or other, that

blinds you.

 

Q: How can I get rid of this idea?

M: If you trust me, believe when I tell you that you are the pure

awareness that illumines consciousness and its infinite content.

Realized this and live accordingly. If you do not believe me, then go

within, inquiring `what am I'? or, focus your mind on `I am', which

is pure and simple being.

 

Q: On what my faith in your depends?

M: On your insight into other people's hearts. If you cannot look

into my heart, look into your own.

 

Q: I can do neither.

M: Purify yourself by a well-ordered and useful life. Watch over your

thoughts, feelings, words and actions. This will clear your vision.

 

Q: Must I not renounce every thing first, and live a homeless life?

M: You cannot renounce. You may leave your home and give trouble to

your family, but attachments are in the mind and will not leave you

until you know your mind in and out. First thing first - know

yourself, all else will come with it.

 

Q: But you already told me that I am the Supreme Reality. Is it not

self-knowledge?

M: Of course you are the Supreme Reality! But what of it? Every grain

of sand is God; to know it is important, but that is only the

beginning.

 

Q: Well, you told me that I am the Supreme Reality, I believe you.

What next is there for me to do?

M: I told you already. 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 your self continuously –

particularly your mind – moment by moment, missing nothing. This

witnessing is essential for the separation of the self from the not-

self.

 

Q: The witnessing – is it not my real nature?

M: For witnessing, there must be something else to witness. We are

still in duality!

 

Q: What about witnessing the witness? Awareness of awareness?

M: Putting words together will not take you far. Go within and

discover what you are not. Nothing else matters.