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February: The Nature of Reality

2.1 "Use the power to know that reality."

The power that is in each individual is what Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj called your "capital." That knowledge "I am" has appeared and is available for a limited time for investment. The best way to invest that capital is to use it to pursue the Master's teaching to the end; that is, until Self-knowledge brings the complete conviction that you are indeed the final reality, the Self.

2.2 "I have no limits."

If reality were limited by anything, it would no longer be One, and no longer be complete. That which limited it would have to be apart from it, which would not be possible, because that would make two. This is why the appearance of the world cannot be considered as separate from the Absolute, but only as a reflection of It. Limitations are imposed by the mind, on the mind. It is only in thought that you suffer limitations, such as the concept of being a separate individual. What you are in your true nature is limitless awareness, free of the three types of limitation: time, space, and object-hood.

2.3 "Be always free-minded. Don't worry about anything."

To be completely free from worry is really only possible for a realized person, and this is, in fact, one of the characteristics usually attributed to such a person. As with many of the direct instructions that Maharaj gave, this one is an indication of the direction to follow; of what you should aspire to. You should not beat yourself up if you cannot be worry-free right away. However, by worrying less and less over time, you gain dispassion (vairagya) and free the mind from worldly bindings. As you do so, you understand more and more of the knowledge that the Master has given.

2.4 "Everything is superimposed on my real nature."

The concept of superimposition is very important in Advaita Vedanta, as taught by Shankaracharya and his lineage since the seventh century. Superimposition is the concept that is used to explain how it is that the appearance of the world does not disturb the Oneness of the non-dual reality. The classic example is the snake that is superimposed on a rope when the rope is seen in semi-darkness. The snake appears real and has the ability to evoke real fear. However, when a light is shone upon it, the rope-snake disappears. Actually, of course, it was never there. The rope was the only reality. The imaginary snake "resolves" itself back into its underlying foundation-the rope, which was the only thing that was real. In the same way, all the apparent objects of the world are superimposed by the mind on the underlying reality.

2.5 "He pervades everywhere."

In the first chapter of the Amritanubhav, Jnaneshwar writes a poetic description of the way in which the final reality, or Parabrahman, here symbolized as the god Shiva, becomes manifest, but without disturbing its non-dual nature. The whole chapter is worth reading over and over because it succeeds in conveying something of the paradoxical nature of reality, which can be one and yet two at the same time. Here is a typical verse:

It is Shiva alone who lives in all forms;
He is both the male and the female.
It is because of the union of these two complements
That the whole universe exists.

This is the manner in which reality pervades everywhere. Just as the light of the sun shines everywhere without taking anything away from the sun, the power of pure knowledge animates all living things without diminishing its source.

2.6 "There is only oneness in the world, no duality at all."

Everything that one sees or perceives is an appearance in awareness, but it does not affect or diminish that awareness in any way. This is the beauty and the mystery of the manifest reality. That which is seen and the seer of it are not-two, they are One, just as the shadow does not exist apart from the object that casts it, or the rays of the sun are not separate from the sun itself.

The Self is the only reality, the only One. That Self is the source of everything that appears. The world is not apart from the Self, but the Self is not contained by the world. It remains untouched just as the mirror is not altered by the reflection that appears in it.

Here are two more verses from the first chapter of the Amritanubhav:

The sun appears to shine because of its rays,
But it is the sun itself which produces the rays.
In fact, that glorious sun and its shining
Are one and the same.

To have a reflection, one must have an object;
If we see a reflection, then we infer that an object exists.
Likewise, the supreme reality, which is one,
Appears to be two.

2.7 "Everyday is today. There is no time or space in the reality."

It is not possible for the mind to understand that there is no time or space, because the process of thinking is itself based on time and space. Without first assuming the concepts of time and space, there is nothing to think about. Therefore, one has to assume a false position before one can even discuss time and space!

Many of the desires in our ordinary human life are directed towards the future. But where does that future exist? It is solely a mental construction, a fantasy. When tomorrow does materialize, it has already become today. Because we imagine a tomorrow and remember a yesterday, we always think we have time. However, time does not exist in reality, where concepts cannot reach.

In Vedanta, the test for reality is to enquire whether something is eternal (nitya) or whether it is bound by time. Eternal does not mean a very, very, very, long time, just as infinite does not mean very, very, very, big. It is the opposite or the negation of time. In eternity, there is no such thing as time. In the Self there is only pure existence that is always whole and complete and which never comes and goes. The rhythm of time in the gross world is kept by the breathing of the body, inhalation and exhalation, over and over again. But in that emptiness after one breath has gone out, and before the next breath is taken in, reality is always, already there.

2.8 "Power starts from zero, but reality is beyond."

Brahman in its original, unmanifest aspect is the reality. When Brahman becomes active, it manifests itself as Maya. The nature of Maya is zero-it doesn't really exist. So you have One (Brahman/reality) and zero (Maya). In Vedanta, Brahman plus Maya is called Ishwara, which Maharaj refers to as the power. (Note here that one plus zero is still one!) The power is free to create as many forms as it needs to satisfy its innate urge to expand indefinitely. To accomplish this, it creates beings with sense organs of increasing degrees of refinement. However, all the time that this is going on, the basis remains zero.

For this reason, nothing is permanent, everything is impermanent. Whatever appears, sooner or later has to return to the zero from which it appeared. For this reason, every experience is fleeting. Nothing can be held; it all slips away like water through the fingers. Nothing that the power creates is true, because it starts from zero. However, reality, Brahman, is One and it is nitya, eternal. It never comes and it never goes away.

2.9 "He is everywhere. He is not the body, and I am He."

What greater miracle is there than to be sitting here now, the body breathing effortlessly, and to know that you are alive? Life is everywhere; and sometimes you can feel your own power of consciousness enveloping everything that comes into awareness. The power that you feel energizes the body and fills it with the light of "I-amness." And yet that sense of "I-amness" is not focused on this apparent individual person-it goes far beyond that, into the limitless and timeless realm of pure knowledge, of universal consciousness. It is just one simple mistake that you make-to associate this limitless awareness with the limited and time-bound body. Nothing can limit the Self that you are, Its freedom is absolute. It is a freedom that has never known bondage.

"I am Brahman" is a phrase that is found in the Upanishads, where it is referred to as a mahavakya (great saying). Another mahavakya is "tat tvam asi" (you are That). Both sayings express the same truth. The concept that the mahavakya is communicating is not that "I," the individual, am "He," the underlying reality, taken as a whole. Obviously, you cannot fit the ocean into the wave! The concept is rather that what "I" am, when I recognize my true nature, is not different from that underlying reality. The wave is nothing but water. That is the meaning of "I am He."

2.10 "The base is true; I without I, but it doesn't speak."

There are four levels of speech, beginning with the mahakarana body, in which pure knowledge of existence provides the basis for all the thoughts that arise through the three lower bodies. That base is true-you can never deny your own existence. However, that existence is free from the veiling effect of ignorance, which means that there is no longer an identification between the "I" and the sense of physically limited and time-bound ego. That illusion is not there at this level. The pure knowledge is there as a base ("I without I"), but there are no concepts or thoughts, so that consciousness does not speak.

2.11 "What is true? Self without self."

The word "Self," like the word "I," points back to the one who is uttering it. It is a "reflexive" word, one that indicates the eternal subject, rather than one of Its objects. The real owner of the word Self is the One who is always present, the very essence of reality, reality Itself. It is a very sacred word and receives an upper case letter "S." On the other hand, the small ego-self receives a lower-case letter "s" to indicate its insignificance. It is rebuffed, dismissed as the impostor it is. This fraudulent self robs you of your birthright, which is to know yourself as you truly are, the universal and ever-free Self of all.

2.12 "I am everywhere and nothing else is there at all."

The mind doesn't understand Oneness for a long time. When it does finally understand it, it becomes quiet and ceases to hold onto the concept of multiple selves. Maharaj here says that "I am everywhere," pointing out that your own Self is the Self of all. There is no second Self. Understanding you are everywhere does not mean that you suddenly get the magical power to see through someone else's eyeballs. It means that you no longer conceive of the separate existence of "someone else." Rather, existence is One, and that is experienced as your own being; that is, as "I," the subject. Consciousness sees itself as the world.

2.13 "I am not the body. The body is a neighbor."

The source of awareness cannot be found anywhere within the body. The body is an object of that awareness in the same way that your next-door neighbor is an object of that awareness. There is no reason why you should not be friendly to this body while you find yourself living in close association with it. However, do not take it to be yourself. Its troubles are not your troubles. One day, when its time comes, the body will go, without asking your permission, in the same way that it appeared. It is necessary to have a human birth to get this knowledge from a Master, so it is best to uphold a grateful attitude and make use of the body for the sake of Self-knowledge.

2.14 "Everything is for the good."

The mind cannot grasp this statement by itself because it is really a declaration of the way life is felt beyond the mind. There has to be an intuitive understanding. There is a perfection in that state that can be felt but cannot be explained in words. Everything is for the good. Yes, that is how it is. However, repeating this truth to others who are experiencing suffering would be foolish and inconsiderate. There is no logical reason for the feeling that a realized person has that everything is for the good. That understanding is just there, and the nature of that understanding is emotional, not just intellectual. To know the Self is to know goodness at first hand, as the very essence of life.

2.15 "I never change. Circumstances change."

The awareness that you had when you were one year old and when you were 18 years old is exactly the same as the awareness that you have now. You are that pure and limitless awareness. When you know this beyond any doubt, you are free from the bondage of changing circumstances. Everything that is not true, that is illusion, changes. The "I" that is there one minute is not the same as the "I" that is there the next minute. There is a multiplicity of different "I's" in the human personality, and they emerge and dissolve in an ever-changing pattern, according to the stimuli of changing circumstances. They are all based on the false concept of "I" as a separate individual, which is called the ego. The ego remains from one day to the next as a kind of focus for the personality, but it is really nothing but a wrong belief or assumption. Only the constant background of awareness has real, permanent existence.

2.16 "Good or bad, everyone is myself."

Everyone has a concept about who is a good person and who is a bad person, but these concepts have no basis in reality. However "bad" you may think a person is, you can be sure that that person thinks of his actions as good. That person may be a murderer, but he is only doing what he is compelled to do and is really not "doing" anything. The saint may bless you and give you knowledge, but he is not "doing" anything either. The divine power gives to all alike the fruits of their past actions. Papa (wrong actions) and punya (right actions) must bear their fruit. Even the realized person has to experience in body and mind the results of actions already set into motion (prarabdha karma).

These immutable laws apply to the illusory level of the individual person, but they do not apply to the Self. Good and bad actions in a dream appear real at the time, but when I wake up, I know I have done nothing. In the same way, the good and bad characters in my dream were none other than myself.

2.17 "Final reality has no knowledge and no ignorance."

Maharaj would often use the phrase "final reality," rather than just "reality," to indicate that one's true nature is a step beyond knowledge as well as beyond ignorance. Jnaneshwar, in the Amritanubhav, wrote:

Fire, in the process of annihilating camphor,
Annihilates itself as well.
This is exactly what happens to knowledge
In the process of destroying ignorance.

When knowledge of the Self comes, the darkness of ignorance is no longer there. The false knowledge of "I am the body and the mind" is replaced by the correct knowledge "I am He, the reality." However, that knowledge is not the same thing as the reality itself. Knowledge can only be of some thing, which becomes the object of knowledge. This can never happen to the Self, which always remains beyond objectification, and so remains beyond knowledge.

The phrase "Self-knowledge" is not literally true, because the Self cannot be known. What it really means is that there is the knowledge that one is, and always has been, the final reality. Every aspirant has to come to this point. Knowledge from the Master can take you up to the door, but you have to go in and take ownership of the house yourself. Then there is no need to say "I am He, I am Brahman" (which is knowledge).You remain at home in your Self, without effort.

2.18 "Do not try to find reality, to recall it, for it is always there."

Understanding is really everything on the "way" that Maharaj taught. There is absolutely nothing to gain, because you are always already your Self, the final reality. To try to find reality is to behave like the man who went into a police station and reported that he had lost himself. The one who says "I am lost" is He. The Self doesn't need to remember Itself and the Self cannot forget Itself either. The mind remembers and forgets, but you are not the mind. What you are is always present; you only have to recognize it. You are the one who is looking, you are the one who is seeking. There is a Chinese verse:

A dunce went out looking for fire with a lighted lantern.
Had he known what fire was,
He could have cooked his rice much sooner.

2.19 "Reality is myself."

To find a cup in the dark, you need eyes and a lamp, but to find a lamp in the dark, you only need eyes, you don't need a lamp. Reality is self-evident, self-illuminating. You don't need anything external to find it, because it is already what you are. When Self-knowledge occurs, it becomes very clear to you that you and reality are one and the same, and that your nature is bright and pure like a flame that is always burning.

2.20 "I am always free (a free bird)."

The freedom that one has in reality does not come from liberation from bondage. It is a freedom that has never known bondage and so can hardly be called freedom. It feels like freedom to the one who believed he or she was bound but in fact it was there all the time and has only been recognized. The realized person says "I am always free and you are always free also." This freedom does not refer to freedom of action but to a freedom that has never performed any action and so is not constrained to receive the fruits of those actions. This freedom of the Self is like the freedom of the bird that can fly unhindered above the crawling and walking creatures of the earth.

2.21 "When the package is opened, the package doesn't remain."

The package that Maharaj is referring to with this analogy is the body-mind-ego. This package is a bundling together of different parts and functions, including the sense organs, the power of perception, the intellect, emotions, and so on. The making of this package is the inevitable result of the birth of the body and the mind. The package can be unwrapped or opened in two ways: by the death of the body mind or by self-enquiry. Through self-enquiry, the package is seen to be untrue; that is, it is understood that the so-called individual person is nothing but a concept. When you remove the string and paper that is binding the package together, what happens to the package? It is no longer there. In the same way, the concept "I exist" is the string and paper that holds together the package of the individual person. Remove it, and the illusion of the individual person is gone.

2.22 "One should just be and forget this and that."

Being is one of the characteristics or qualities of Brahman in the traditional description sat-chit-ananda. The word "sat" is often translated as "being." In this three-fold description, being is not different from "chit," which means "knowledge" or "consciousness," and not different from "ananda," which means fullness or completeness. To know oneself-to have Self-knowledge-means also to be oneself. Being is the most real experience one can have because it means also to be knowledge itself, the reality. But what is being? Being (sat) is that which is present now, which always has been present, and which always will be present. It is experienced as a stillness that is also pure knowledge and the feeling of satisfaction as well.

The sat-chit-ananda triad unites the three realms of physical body, intellect, and emotion which come together as understanding. As an aspirant, you may find that your path is marked by an increasing frequency of experiences of this kind of understanding and less and less disturbance from mundane concerns, which Maharaj here calls "this and that."

2.23 "Do anything, but understand where reality is. When you feel nothing, it is there."

"Do anything" in this context, should not be understood from the point of view of an imaginary "doer," but with the knowledge that it is the divine power that does everything, as in "He is doing everything." If you understand that power as the real doer, you may continue to play a part but you will not "feel" anything; that is, you do not feel that it is "I" who am acting. The feeling of "I am the doer" is one side of the coin and the feeling that "He is doing everything" is the other-they can't both be there at the same time.

2.24 "One who understands it is not true, is true."

Jnaneshwar, in the Amritanubhav, writes:

If the extinguisher of a light
Were extinguished along with the light,
Who would know that there was no light?

He who perceives that there is nothing
Does not himself become nothing.
The Self has this same unique kind of existence,
Beyond both existence and non-existence.

Awareness can never die. There is no way that awareness can ever be negated because there would always have to be awareness there to register that negation. There has to be a final reality that can say "there is nothing but me." Everything that happens can only happen because that awareness is there. However, the reverse is not true. That awareness does not require any of those events to happen-it remains just as it is without them. It is the same whether there is any object or not. It is unaffected by the appearance or existence of the world or by the disappearance of that world. That is the nature of the freedom of reality, and that is what makes it nitya (eternal).

2.25 "You, yourself, is effortless."

In the story of the Ramayana, Rama (the one who plays in everybody), after destroying the demon Ravana (the ego) regains his wife Sita (peace) and returns home to the city of Ayodhya (effortlessness). The natural state is effortless. That is what "natural" means-to be as one is without stress and strain. The Self is effortlessly natural because it does not participate at all in the play of the world. Self-knowledge brings a sense of effortlessness to the mind, which is a great relief after the efforts that were made to seek that Self. The constant demands of the ego go away and the mind settles into a state of peace, knowing that what has to be done has now been done.

2.26 "If you want to be something, it's a stamp of the ego and you remain in a state. Be nothing and reality remains."

There is no individual person anywhere. There is no one to be anything. That false assumption that "I am someone and I have to be something" is the essence of the ego. Who is it who wants to be something? To have the concept of being something, there has to first be the concept that the world is true as a ground in which "I" can be or become something. To live like this is to live in a state of ignorance. It is like becoming deeply involved in a dream and struggling to achieve a particular result, only to find that, on awakening, there is nothing there at all.

What does it mean to "be nothing?" It means to rest in your true nature and not let the mind go outward in pursuit of worldly goals. Reality remains before, during, and after the long dream of life. Even now you are That.

2.27 "The screen never says `Oh, they're showing a bad picture. I won't show."

One of the commonest questions that comes up is: "Why did God create a world with so much suffering in it?" Few people stop to consider whether there is anything wrong with the question-it is taken for granted that there is an intelligence "in charge" of the whole show and that He is therefore responsible for everything that happens. You do not find this point of view in the Upanishads or in the teaching of Advaita Vedanta. You do find the positive affirmation that freedom from suffering can be found, and that it is in fact our birthright. However, it is also stated very clearly that freedom is to be found only in the realization that our true nature is unborn and undying.

The concept that the world should be free of suffering arises from identification with the body. Because the body is attracted to pleasure and repelled by pain, the ignorant mind simply reflects those opposites in its thinking. It labors under the illusion that the world can be made perfect, given sufficient time and effort. But when it is realized that the body is a transitory object that appears as if in a dream, it is no longer possible to imagine that real effects can follow from what it apparently does. If you kill someone in a dream, will you have to stand trial when you wake up? Is the screen responsible for the violence that takes place in the movie? In this way, God provides the power or life force for the whole play, but does not have any knowledge of, and consequently has no responsibility for, what happens in it.

2.28 "Reality has nothing to do with the world that has come up."

As long as you take it to be true, this world is bound to be confusing and difficult. You could say that it is designed to fail. It is not possible to find happiness in material or wordly objects. Efforts to do so always come to nothing in the end. Sooner or later, everyone comes to the conclusion that the solution to the problems of living have to lie in some other direction altogether. In this sense, everyone is a seeker after truth. Some know it and consciously follow a spiritual path while others are still in a process of becoming disillusioned.

All this seeking and all the different levels of understanding that seekers reach plays itself out within this closed system, this "box" called the world. It is a closed system because the belief that the world is true is what maintains it. The seeker's belief in his or her own reality and the notion that he or she has to do something to escape are all part of the system that keeps them firmly locked in the box. Reality itself is unaffected by what goes on within this closed system.

2.29 "In the final reality, there is nothing to understand."

Understanding the nature of reality is a process that everyone has to go through on the way to liberation. Ironically, when that liberation comes, it is understood that there is nothing to understand. You are the reality, pure and simple, and there is no ignorance to make you think otherwise, even for a moment. Where is the need for understanding? Reality just is; it is self-evident. There is Oneness, and so there is no one to understand, no object of understanding, and no experience of understanding. It is natural that understanding grows and deepens all the time that you are an aspirant, but when "final understanding" of reality comes, understanding itself is seen as not true, because it belongs to the mind.