Nisargadatta Maharaj

[Guest guest]

" I Am That " Chapter 17: The Ever Present

 

Q: The highest powers of the mind are understanding,

intelligence and insight. Man has three bodies - the physical,

mental and the causal (prana, mana, karana). The physical reflects

his being; the mental - his knowing and the causal - his joyous

creativity. Of course, these are all forms in consciousness. But

they appear to be separate, with qualities of their own.

Intelligence (buddhi) is the reflection in the mind of the power to

know (chit). It is what makes the mind knowledgeable. The

brighter the intelligence, the wider, deeper and truer the

knowledge. To know things, to know people and to know oneself

are all a function of intelligence; the last is the most important

and contains the former two. Misunderstanding oneself and the

world leads to false ideas and desires, which again led to

bondage. Right understating of oneself is necessary for freedom

from the bondage of illusion. I understand all this in theory, but

when it come to practice, I find that I fail hopelessly in my

responses to situations and people and by my inappropriate

re-actions I merely add to my bondage. Life is too quick for my

dull and slow mind. I do understand, but too late, when the old

mistakes have been already repeated.

M: What then is your problem?

Q: I need a response to life, not only intelligent, but also very

quick. It cannot be quick unless it is perfectly spontaneous. How

can I achieve such spontaneity?

M: The mirror can do nothing to attract the sun. It can only keep

bright.

As soon as the mind is ready, the sun shines in it.

Q: The light is the Self, or of the mind?

M: Both. It is uncaused and unvarying by itself and colored by

the mind, as it moves and changes. It is very much like a cinema.

The light is not in the film, but the film colors the light and

makes it appear to move by intercepting it.

Q: Are you now in the perfect state?

M: Perfection is a state of the mind, when it is pure. I am beyond

the mind, whatever its state, pure of impure. Awareness is my

nature; ultimately I am beyond being and non-being.

Q: Will meditation help me to reach your state?

M: Meditation will help you to find your bonds, loosen them,

untie them and cast your moorings. When you are no longer

attached to anything, you have done your share. The rest will be

done for you.

M; By whom?

Q: By the same power that brought you so far, that prompted

your heart to desire truth and your mind to see it. It is the same

power that keeps you alive. You may call it Life or the Supreme.

Q: The same power kills me in due course.

M: Where you not present at your birth? Will you not be present

at your death? Find him who is always present and your problem

of spontaneous and perfect response will be solved.

Q: Realization of the eternal and an effortless and adequate

response to the ever-changing temporary event are two different

and separate questions. You seem to roll them into one.

What makes you do so?

M: To realized the Eternal is to become the Eternal, the whole, the

universe, with all it contains. Every event is the effect and the

expression of the whole and is in fundamental harmony with

the whole. All responses from the whole much be right, effortless

and instantaneous.

It cannot be otherwise, if it is right. Delayed response is

wrong response. Thought, feeling and action must be one and

simultaneous with the situation that calls for them.

Q: Who does it come?

M: I told already. Find him who was present at your birth

and will witness your death.

Q: My father and mother?

M: Yes your father - mother, the source from which you came. To

solve a problem you must race it to its source. Only in the

dissolution of the problem in the universal solvents of enquiry

and dispassion, can its right solution be found.