Time consumes others, but the Jnani consumes time

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta M. page: 28

 

Similarly, in this life-dream of the waking state, all functioning, all

actions can only be spontaneous because there are no entities to perform

those actions. There can only be happenings functioning; with no

principals there to do anything, except in appearance.

 

There are no nouns... only actions... only verbs. This dreaming, this

functioning, this dancing that is happening is all 'you' the universal,

the one consciousness in which all these happenings appear. As

consciousness, when you are 'awake' there will be this dreaming, and as

the 'I' of the dream you will be conscious of yourself. But, when you

are 'asleep' then there is no dream, and you, the unmanifested potential

will not be conscious of yourself. In that state of sleep, there arises

spontaneously a desire to awaken and become aware of yourself. Thus the

'I am' emerges and through the apparatus of the mind, becomes the many;

actions spontaneously follow the desire, and so the world springs up

without apparent cause or intervention by any doer.

 

All actions are of this nature; all actions follow desire (or need or

will), and all such desires are spontaneous movements in consciousness,

without there being any separate entity which experiences the desire or

performs the action.

 

Now, the perception of this truth must happen suddenly with the deepest

conviction and the most urgent immediacy. It is not a matter of

developing understanding through reasoning over a period of time, but it

is a sudden shock of timeless apprehension, an instantaneous cessation

of the mind process in which thinking is suspended and intuitive

awareness dawns.

 

Then, after this seed of apprehension has been planted and has taken

root, the deliverance from the imagined bondage will proceed on its own

course, in its own time. Once you are thoroughly convinced beyond a

shadow of a doubt that the object with which you had identified yourself

all this time is really only a phenomenon, having neither independence

nor autonomy... that it is merely a dreamed figure, an appearance

without substance, seen as a phenomenal object through the dualistic

minds of other sentient objects regarding themselves as subjects... and

that this shadow can have neither bondage nor liberation... then you as

consciousness have become liberated from the mistaken identification you

had been making. But if the least vestige of entity-hood hangs on, and

you still think of yourself as a being seeking liberation, then you will

not find it. As long as you think you are this apparatus and assume the

burden of bondage and seek liberation, then liberation will be

meaningless. Is it the apparatus that is to be liberated? Find out who it is that is

seeking liberation.

 

Discover the true identity of the seeker. It is not liberation but the

seeker who is being sought. Find him and liberation will be waiting for

you, for it was always there... it has never left you.

 

Deep sleep is often mistaken for the non-objective Awareness, the pure

Awareness which is not aware of itself, because during deep sleep the

consciousness retires into rest and is not conscious of itself. However,

this state has a limited duration, after which the waking state (which

includes the dream state) again takes over. Both the waking and the deep

sleep states are alternating periods of consciousness-in-manifestation.

 

During the waking state there is a sense of presence; during the deep

sleep state that sense of presence is absent. But the pure state of

Awareness that you really are, is the total absence of both the presence

and the absence of the sense of presence. And it is not time-bound. Can

you permanently go without sleep now? Yet 100 years ago, before

 

Page 29

manifestation, were 'you' concerned about sleep? Consciousness, deep

sleep, waking, time-duration are all aspects associated with

manifestation. How could this be equated with the unmanifest Awareness

which is pure subjectivity and intemporality, and doesn't have the

slightest touch of objectivity or phenomenality?

 

Remember Who You Are

 

You are not the personal 'I'; You are the impersonal, the absolute. The personal 'I'cannot

tolerate the impersonal because it means its end, its death, and so it

is afraid. But the eternal 'I', the absolute, knows no fear. As the

personal 'I' you are certain to die.

 

With what identity will you die? Will you suffer a lowly death? Why meekly allowyourself

to be gobbled up by death? Die nobly and honorably. Now, even before

death, be the infinite, be the absolute. Be the highest.

 

When you meet a lion you can either run away or allow yourself to be

eaten by it. But even if you run away he is very likely to catch you

and kill you. So, either way you die.

Then why die like a coward out of fear? Stand your ground and when

he comes at you attack the lion bravely and knock out some of its

teeth. Now, for so long you have been watching, nourishing, protecting

and guarding this personal 'I'. It is very dear to you.

But, in truth, you are not this personal 'I'. It has nothing at all

to do with you, and you know that in the end it will be gobbled up by

time. The lion which will devour this pet 'I' of yours is time and you

are very much afraid of it. When you are afraid of time you become its

prey. But, if you are unafraid of time, then time becomes your prey. A jnani consumes time while others are consumed by it.

Be a jnani. Transcend time, transcend this beingness and all its

attributes. Completely give up this pet of yours even before the lion

strikes for the kill. Abide in the absolute, return to your true

nature, and this lion called 'time' will slink away and have nothing

more to do with you.

 

 

In my original non-knowing state I had no sense of being. But, all of a sudden, thebeingness

was felt spontaneously. Then in a flash I observed this enormous

manifest world and also my body. Later, I conceived that the entire

universe has manifested in the speck. First, there was no message 'I

am' and there was no world. Instantly the message 'I am' and this

magnificent world materialized out of nothingness! How amazing.

This message 'I am' is nothing other than the advertisement of the eternal truth. To

stabilize me in this eternal principle my guru initiated me by

pronouncing the sacred words tat-tvam-asi, which means 'I am That'.

From that moment onwards I lost all interest in worldly affairs.

 

The mistake of perception arises because the seeing is partial, because the seeing is

only with the outer senses and a divided mind; it is not whole seeing

from the source of seeing. That sense of existence, that sense of

presence, that 'I amness', the unchanging subjective experience of

self, cannot be seen by the senses, and, therefore, does not enter into

the conceptions projected by the mind, which unceasingly carries on its

objectification of everything. But, when the subjective is apprehended

intuitively, then the concept of separate objects becomes untenable.

Can the consciousness in you and the consciousness in me be different?

Are they not separate only as concepts projected by the mind, and are

they not in perfect unity when unconceived, when free of mind?

 

And is not that knowing of the underlying unity, the very basis of love? And if all is

 

http://www.atmapress.com/Download/PDF%20Files/Nisargadatta.pdf

 

Q: Time consumes the world. Who is the witness of time?

 

Nisargadatta: He who is beyond time -- the Un-nameable. A glowing ember,

moved round and round quickly enough, appears as a glowing circle.

 

When the movement ceases, the ember remains. Similarly, the 'I am' in

movement creates the world. The 'I am' at peace becomes the Absolute.

You are like a man with an electric torch walking through a gallery. You

can see only what is within the beam. The rest is in darkness.

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta , " Era " <mi_nok wrote:

 

 

Nisargadatta M. page: 28

 

Similarly, in this life-dream of the waking state, all functioning,

all

actions can only be spontaneous because there are no entities to

perform

those actions. There can only be happenings functioning; with no

principals there to do anything, except in appearance.

 

There are no nouns... only actions... only verbs. This dreaming, this

functioning, this dancing that is happening is all 'you' the

universal,

the one consciousness in which all these happenings appear. As

consciousness, when you are 'awake' there will be this dreaming, and

as

the 'I' of the dream you will be conscious of yourself. But, when you

are 'asleep' then there is no dream, and you, the unmanifested

potential

will not be conscious of yourself. In that state of sleep, there

arises

spontaneously a desire to awaken and become aware of yourself. Thus

the

'I am' emerges and through the apparatus of the mind, becomes the

many;

actions spontaneously follow the desire, and so the world springs up

without apparent cause or intervention by any doer.

 

All actions are of this nature; all actions follow desire (or need or

will), and all such desires are spontaneous movements in

consciousness,

without there being any separate entity which experiences the desire

or

performs the action.

 

Now, the perception of this truth must happen suddenly with the

deepest

conviction and the most urgent immediacy. It is not a matter of

developing understanding through reasoning over a period of time, but

it

is a sudden shock of timeless apprehension, an instantaneous cessation

of the mind process in which thinking is suspended and intuitive

awareness dawns.

 

Then, after this seed of apprehension has been planted and has taken

root, the deliverance from the imagined bondage will proceed on its

own

course, in its own time. Once you are thoroughly convinced beyond a

shadow of a doubt that the object with which you had identified

yourself

all this time is really only a phenomenon, having neither independence

nor autonomy... that it is merely a dreamed figure, an appearance

without substance, seen as a phenomenal object through the dualistic

minds of other sentient objects regarding themselves as subjects...

and

that this shadow can have neither bondage nor liberation... then you

as

consciousness have become liberated from the mistaken identification

you

had been making. But if the least vestige of entity-hood hangs on, and

you still think of yourself as a being seeking liberation, then you

will

not find it. As long as you think you are this apparatus and assume

the

burden of bondage and seek liberation, then liberation will be

meaningless. Is it the apparatus that is to be liberated? Find out who

it is that is

seeking liberation.

 

Discover the true identity of the seeker. It is not liberation but the

seeker who is being sought. Find him and liberation will be waiting

for

you, for it was always there... it has never left you.

 

Deep sleep is often mistaken for the non-objective Awareness, the pure

Awareness which is not aware of itself, because during deep sleep the

consciousness retires into rest and is not conscious of itself.

However,

this state has a limited duration, after which the waking state (which

includes the dream state) again takes over. Both the waking and the

deep

sleep states are alternating periods of consciousness-in-

manifestation.

 

During the waking state there is a sense of presence; during the deep

sleep state that sense of presence is absent. But the pure state of

Awareness that you really are, is the total absence of both the

presence

and the absence of the sense of presence. And it is not time-bound.

Can

you permanently go without sleep now? Yet 100 years ago, before

 

Page 29

manifestation, were 'you' concerned about sleep? Consciousness, deep

sleep, waking, time-duration are all aspects associated with

manifestation. How could this be equated with the unmanifest Awareness

which is pure subjectivity and intemporality, and doesn't have the

slightest touch of objectivity or phenomenality?

 

Remember Who You Are

 

You are not the personal 'I'; You are the impersonal, the absolute.

The

personal 'I'

cannot tolerate the impersonal because it means its end, its death,

and

so it is afraid. But the eternal 'I', the absolute, knows no fear. As

the personal 'I' you are certain to die.

 

With what identity will you die? Will you suffer a lowly death? Why

meekly allow

yourself to be gobbled up by death? Die nobly and honorably. Now, even

before death, be the infinite, be the absolute. Be the highest.

 

When you meet a lion you can either run away or allow yourself to be

eaten by it. But even if you run away he is very likely to catch you

and

kill you. So, either way you die.

 

Then why die like a coward out of fear? Stand your ground and when he

comes at you attack the lion bravely and knock out some of its teeth.

Now, for so long you have been watching, nourishing, protecting and

guarding this personal 'I'. It is very dear to you.

 

But, in truth, you are not this personal 'I'. It has nothing at all to

do with you, and you know that in the end it will be gobbled up by

time.

The lion which will devour this pet 'I' of yours is time and you are

very much afraid of it. When you are afraid of time you become its

prey.

But, if you are unafraid of time, then time becomes your prey. A jnani

consumes time while others are consumed by it. Be a jnani. Transcend

time, transcend this beingness and all its attributes. Completely give

up this pet of yours even before the lion strikes for the kill. Abide

in

the absolute, return to your true nature, and this lion called 'time'

will slink away and have nothing more to do with you.

 

 

In my original non-knowing state I had no sense of being. But, all of

a

sudden, the

beingness was felt spontaneously. Then in a flash I observed this

enormous manifest world and also my body. Later, I conceived that the

entire universe has manifested in the speck. First, there was no

message

'I am' and there was no world. Instantly the message 'I am' and this

magnificent world materialized out of nothingness! How amazing.

This message 'I am' is nothing other than the advertisement of the

eternal truth. To

stabilize me in this eternal principle my guru initiated me by

pronouncing the sacred words tat-tvam-asi, which means 'I am That'.

From

that moment onwards I lost all interest in worldly affairs.

 

The mistake of perception arises because the seeing is partial,

because

the seeing is

only with the outer senses and a divided mind; it is not whole seeing

from the source of seeing. That sense of existence, that sense of

presence, that 'I amness', the unchanging subjective experience of

self,

cannot be seen by the senses, and, therefore, does not enter into the

conceptions projected by the mind, which unceasingly carries on its

objectification of everything. But, when the subjective is apprehended

intuitively, then the concept of separate objects becomes untenable.

Can

the consciousness in you and the consciousness in me be different? Are

they not separate only as concepts projected by the mind, and are they

not in perfect unity when unconceived, when free of mind?

 

And is not that knowing of the underlying unity, the very basis of

love?

And if all is

 

http://www.atmapress.com/Download/PDF%20Files/Nisargadatta.pdf

 

Q: Time consumes the world. Who is the witness of time?

 

Nisargadatta: He who is beyond time -- the Un-nameable. A glowing

ember,

moved round and round quickly enough, appears as a glowing circle.

 

When the movement ceases, the ember remains. Similarly, the 'I am' in

movement creates the world. The 'I am' at peace becomes the Absolute.

You are like a man with an electric torch walking through a gallery.

You

can see only what is within the beam. The rest is in darkness.

 

--- End forwarded message ---