The reflex of past pains and pleasures. - Nisargadatta Maharaj

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The reflex of past pains and pleasures. - Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

At present, you are moved by the pleasure-pain principle which is the ego.

You are going along with the ego, you are not fighting it. You are not even

aware how totally you are swayed by personal considerations. A man should

be always in revolt against himself, for the ego, like a crooked mirror,

narrows down and distorts. It is the worst of all the tyrants, it dominates

you absolutely. (444)

 

The problem arises only when the memory of past pains and pleasures, which

are essential to all organic life, remains as a reflex, dominating

behaviour. This reflex takes the shape of " I " and uses the body and the

mind for its purposes, which are invariably in search for pleasure or

flight from pain. When you recognize the " I " as it is, a bundle of desires

and fears, and the sense of " mine " as embracing all things and people

needed for the purpose of avoiding pain and securing pleasure, you will see

that the " I " and the " mine " are false ideas, having no foundation in

reality. Created by the mind, they rule their creator as long as it takes

them to be true; when questioned, they dissolve. The " I " and " mine " , having

no existence in themselves, need a support which they find in the body. The

body becomes their point of reference. When you talk of " my " husband and

" my children " , you mean the body's husband and the body's children. Give up

the idea of being the body and face the question: Who am I? At once a

process will be set in motion which will bring back reality, or rather,

will take mind to reality. (386)

 

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With Love,

Cyber Dervish

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