Satsang with Nome - You Are - Question 8

[Guest guest]

Another Q.: When we are closest to that experience, we usually

associate bliss with it. Why is it that bliss is associated with the

Self and not other experiences that we undergo, such as fear?

 

N.: Because Bliss is our very Being, our very nature. That which is

called " fear " is only a veiling, an obscuring, of Bliss. It is a

covering of our Being. Where Being, the Self, is perceived, there is

no duality and no fear. When the Self is not known as it is, then

there can be fear because there is duality. Likewise is it with other

emotions. Fear, anger, frustration, envy, jealousy, desire and such

emotions are constructed of thoughts. Bliss is of the nature of pure

Being-Consciousness and is not constructed of thought. Indeed, it is

when erroneous thoughts are destroyed that Bliss shines, and when

erroneous thoughts are destroyed, the other emotions become

impossible. One needs to think of something in order to be afraid of

it, but Bliss is not like that.

 

Q.: I have different experiences during different meditation times.

At one time, I took the route of saying that I am not the body,

thought, etc., but did not attempt to find out who I am. I just

assume that I am not the mind, etc., and be still, for there is

nothing else to do there. No inquiry even goes there because I am not

assuming myself as anything, but it does not continue and does not

give bliss. It gives some kind of peace or tranquility. There is no

Self-inquiry process after awhile. I quickly reach that by just not

identifying myself with these things. There is no question here. It

is just my experience.

 

When I do a japa meditation, I get a physical experience. It is in my

forehead. I have another experience when the focus is on the heart.

Sometimes the two are mixed.

 

N.: Whether there is experience in the heart, forehead, or at any

other location, there is one who is aware of these. The one who is

aware has no location. The one who is aware has no definition. When

tranquility, or peace, is experienced in meditation, it is his own

peace, or tranquility, that is being experienced.

 

Inquiry should not be regarded as merely asking the question, " Who am

I? " The Maharshi says that one should ask the question once and dive

in. That diving in, or inquiry, is more than asking the

question. " Who am I? " refers to the searching for one's Existence,

which transcends the words and thoughts used to describe such search.

If one remains truly without definition, one is stateless. For the

truly undefined, or for the true definition of one's own Self, there

is no beginning or end. If the state is temporary, or if inquiry

seems impossible there, you may need to examine what other

definitions are still lurking therein. When the spirit of inquiry and

the remaining undefined, that is, not defining yourself as this, as

this, as body, as mind, or as anything else, are fused, the

experience is direct. When the experience is direct, peace and bliss

become the same, and they become the same as one's own Self.

 

The mind makes various interpretations, like looking at the various

facets of a gem and describing such as different gems. It is like

looking at the various waves and disregarding the one water. Though

the mind makes various interpretations, the nature of the meditator

remains the same. Who is he? Once the rope is mistaken to be a snake,

one can then describe the snake as with various colors and parts.

When the notion of the snake is discarded and the rope is seen, it is

quite singular and without variety. If we consider meditation in

objective terms, there are various parts and different kinds. When

the meditator is purely the source and substance of the meditation,

that is, when the meditation is entirely upon the nature of the

meditator, such inquiry, which yields a truly undefined, unconfined

state, is absolutely one and partless. Meditate on the nature of the

meditator.

 

(silence)

 

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Not two,

Richard