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abide in your
Unless you abide in your own true nature you will not be able to gauge the depth of another's nature.
To know yourself is the real knowledge, but you cannot LOOK at yourself, you can only ABIDE in your Self.
You, as the Absolute, are not this "I Amness", but presently you have to abide in your "I Amness".
If you abide in your Self you are like space and there is no duality left.
First of all, you abide in your own Self and transcend it, and in transcending, you will realize your Ultimate.
True knowledge is to abide in your own Self.
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all this play
There is no creator with a vast intellect as such; all this play is going on spontaneously.
Questioner: I know that I have to understand all this play of consciousness and conclude that this is like the child of a barren woman.
One in a million understands all this play of consciousness, transcends it.
In the flash of your consciousness, all this play is going on.
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am not concerned
Now that has totally disappeared; therefore, whatever happens in the field of consciousness, I, who am there before consciousness, am not concerned in any way.
Either way, I am not concerned.
I see that body, but I am not concerned with whatever that body does.
I merely sit here, people come and go, I am not concerned.
I am not concerned with any state which is temporary.
I am not concerned with your bodily affairs.
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am not that
Everything is beingness, but I, the Absolute, am not that.
Consciousness alone feels the expanse of consciousness, but I, the Absolute, am not that.
When you begin spirituality, you reject the body-mind with "I am not that.
Because of the instrument of the body, that feeling of consciousness is there and I, the Absolute, am not that.
I have understood the value of that, but I am not that.
I recognize it, and in the process of recognition, I know that I am not that.
If this last step is taken, knowing that I, the Absolute, am not that "droplet", the consciousness, it has to happen only once.
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are in that
When you are in that state of consciousness, it is all one, all the same, only the expressions are different.
When you are in that state, you have no awareness of your existence.
Since you are in that state, you do not have any form, you do not have any doubts; therefore, you are in that satisfied state.
Q: If you are in that state of beingness, is it necessary to say one's mantra?
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are not that
This knowingness is not your true state, it is the outcome of the food essence body, and you, the Absolute, are not that.
Still further, you are not that "I Am".
You are not that.
You, the Absolute, watch the waking state, you know the consciousness, you know the sleeping state; therefore, you are not that.
You are not that "I Am".
This "I Amness" is the product of these raw materials, but you, as Absolute, are not that.
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are not this
You, as the Absolute, are not this "I Amness", but presently you have to abide in "I Amness".
You, as the Absolute, are not this "I Amness", but presently you have to abide in your "I Amness".
June 23, 1981 Maharaj: Just as you are not the clothes that you wear, similarly you are not this body.
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are you going
M: How are you going to catch that child of a barren woman?
What are you going to get for yourself as "I Am"?
" When you are convinced you are a woman, are you going to repeat, "I am a woman, I am a woman"?
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as an individual
Q: As an individual can we go back to the source?
M: Not as an individual; the knowledge "I Am" must go back to its own source.
How amusing it is to see someone who thinks of himself as an individual, who thinks of himself as a doer or achiever.
M: If thoughts don't come from your center as an individual body, then how do the thoughts come?
It is only when one thinks of himself as an individual that he thinks of bondage and liberation.
When you are cognizing something as an individual, where do you place yourself?
March 2, 1981 Questioner: Maharaj has said that he used to think of himself as an individual, but now he does not, for that would be identification with the body.
If you continue to see me as an individual, that will be the extent of your benefits; if you see me as I see myself, and as I see you, that will be the further measure of your benefits.
There is no question of anyone seeking a particular benefit for himself as an individual teacher.
In this process of functioning that becomes manifest, if you accept something as an individual event then it affects you as an individual.
If you do not take delivery as an individual but as total functioning, then you are free of whatever is happening.
If you have any problems or questions with which you are concerned, you will find these problems and questions, are based on your identity with the body and mind as an individual.
Jivatman is the one who identifies with the body-mind as an individual separate from the world.
I, as an individual, am not there, so how can there be a question of benefit?
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as long as
As long as the attribute is there, the quality of the attribute, the "I Am", is there; therefore, I can speak like this.
Q: Is the "I Am" there all the time, as long as my body is there?
When you have knowledge you see that the consciousness "I" is all-pervasive, as long as the consciousness is there; but the witness of the consciousness has no "I Am" and that is your true, eternal nature.
January 12, 1981 Maharaj: [Referring to his lighter] The flame will last as long as the fuel is there.
M: When the consciousness identifies itself with a form, it is the nature of this identity to want to continue as long as possible.
Just as the light will remain only as long as there is fuel for it, so this consciousness will last only so long as this fuel is there, fuel being the body, which is made of the five elements which are an accumulation of food.
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aware of my
Here I was in my wholeness, not even aware of my awareness, then suddenly this consciousness sprang up.
February 7, 1981 Questioner: I am becoming more aware of my "I Amness" as a product of the food body.
Q: As the Ultimate, am I not aware of my being?
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because i am
It is not like this: Because I am real, you are unreal.
It is like this: Because I am unreal, everything is unreal.
When I am the total universe I am in need of nothing because I am everything.
It is quite in order that those who have affection for me write and come to discuss things with me; I don't listen to them, and that is also quite in order, because I am not afraid of anything.
That is because I am possessed by the essence of these elements.
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because of your
M: That is the Saguna Brahman state; because of your beingness the other states are.
It is because of your identification with the body as an entity that your consciousness, which is universal consciousness, thinks that it is dying.
Because of your association with this Satguru, it means illumination for you.
Is it because of your efforts?
The sense of "I Am" is present because of your birth, through which you encounter many thoughts and concepts, always changing.
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because you are
This is my state, and yours, too, but you don't realize it because you are embracing your beingness.
Because you are worthy of that state of realization, you are here today.
You come here because you are ignorant, not because you are knowledgeable.
Because you are intellectuals, you will prepare delicacies out of your intellect and you will go on eating that.
You are; because you are, the father and mother are.
M: You are not going to meet it because you are it.
M: That is because you are embracing your body as your Self.
You are; because you are, your world is.
As a matter of fact, there can be no experience of the truth because you are That in the ultimate analysis.
You cannot try to be your Self, because you are your Self.
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become one with
We are to turn within to that which lets us know that we are, to become one with that.
In the same way, you are not the consciousness; but you have to become one with the consciousness.
This does not happen for an individual — it happens for the universal manifestation, or for the one who has become one with his true nature.
If you really abide in what I say, you become one with your Self.
M: Once consciousness has lost its individuality and has become one with the universe, it will have no need to continue?
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body is not
One must understand how clever this fraud of Maya is; first it shows us our body and makes us believe that we are the body, but the body is nothing but a speck of fertilized sperm, and in that sperm the consciousness is latent.
The conscious presence depends on the body, and the body is nothing but the sperm and ovum, so where is this "you?
The body is not you, the name is not you.
This body is not your true nature.
Anyone in that condition, where the consciousness is present but the registration of the existence of the body is not, even in that state the conditions in the body change constantly.
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body is there
Q: Is the "I Am" there all the time, as long as my body is there?
Suppose I do not like my body, or even the vital breath, what can I do -the body is there, vital breath is there, and therefore this "I Amness" is there.
That conviction is because of the consciousness, and consciousness is not aware of itself unless the body is there, so what is the relationship?
Therefore, this consciousness will depend on how long the body is there.
So long as the body is there, anyone who considers himself an individual has as his only capital the sense of presence, this consciousness.
The form needs a name, but when both are not there, then the consciousness remains only so long as the body is there, but without any individuality.
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by jean dunn
Edited by Jean Dunn; introduction by Ramesh S. Balsekar.
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can there be
The body and consciousness, which come into being because of the five elements, can there be any emancipation for them?
Maharaj: If the "I Amness" is not there, what else can there be?
How can there be the experience of the truth?
I, as an individual, am not there, so how can there be a question of benefit?
How can there be a question of friendship at all.
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carried away by
Most people are carried away by the thought-flow, but a rare person turns around, goes to the source and departs from the track of that original thought-flow, saying, "It is not mine, not my affair.
Don't be carried away by concepts.
This consciousness is beating a drum; everyone is carried away by the noise of the drum.
Although you have heard these talks, still you will be carried away by your conceptual experiences.
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caught up in
The perfect state, caught up in these experiences, and trying to derive certain benefits out of the experiences.
Whatever experiences were happening in this field of knowingness, the Ultimate principle got caught up in that.
This knowledge is meant for the Isvara principle, which is presently caught up in the illusion that it is the body-mind.
As the Absolute, you were free from all concepts, including the primary concept "I Am"; suddenly you were caught up in this "I Amness".
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consciousness is not
Nevertheless, understand what consciousness is, even if consciousness is not an individual.
M: Consciousness is not private property, it is universal.
This consciousness is not limited to the body but is universal consciousness; I can't speak of anything else now.
Consciousness is not the body.
M: First I thought I was the body, then I experienced that I was not the body but I was the consciousness, then I got the experience that this consciousness is not really me, and there is no form, no individuality, no nothing.
At the point where you first feel knowingness, consciousness is not static; it is a continuous state, just like a wheel moving.
That birth principle which gives rise to the consciousness is not conditioned; it has come spontaneously and manifests as consciousness.
That conviction is because of the consciousness, and consciousness is not aware of itself unless the body is there, so what is the relationship?
Consciousness is not male or female, it is like light.
Even this consciousness is not everything and it is not going to last for all time.
Total consciousness is not the end.
Pure happiness can only be there when consciousness is not there.
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consciousness is there
Consciousness is there in the child as it is in the parents; it is always the same consciousness whether in the child or the adult.
In the absence of consciousness is there any proof of the existence of anything?
When you have knowledge you see that the consciousness "I" is all-pervasive, as long as the consciousness is there; but the witness of the consciousness has no "I Am" and that is your true, eternal nature.
Because unless the consciousness is there, the body is not.
In deep sleep we are not aware of the body, we are aware of the body only when we are awake and the consciousness is there.
So long as the consciousness is there the sickness must be experienced.
Because of the instrument of the body, that feeling of consciousness is there and I, the Absolute, am not that.
January 17, 1981 Questioner: In consciousness is there doership and also witnessing?
The thoughts and deeds depend on the conditioning received right from the time the consciousness is there.
So long as consciousness is there, so long is happiness and unhappiness there.
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consciousness will not
Universal consciousness will not write the books.
M: If the body does not remain, consciousness will not remain.
If the food is not supplied constantly to the body, the body will not last, and if the body will not last, then the consciousness will not last.
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deep sleep state
The waking and deep sleep states come and go spontaneously.
Day and night, remembering and forgetting, the waking state and the deep sleep state, are they one and the same thing or are they separate?
The deep sleep state you are not.
You know the deep sleep state; therefore, you are not the deep sleep state.
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everything is unreal
It is like this: Because I am unreal, everything is unreal.
I am telling you with the authority of a jnani, everything is unreal.
That very identity with which you try to understand everything is unreal.
There is only one truth in the world, and that is that everything is unreal.
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find out what
" He said one must find out what the body is, where it came from, study it with detachment, watch it without judging.
First find out what you consider yourself to be.
Maharaj: You have to find out what this body is, then the job is done.
Find out what you are and you will get all the answers; find out the source of the body and the source of this "I Amness".
Find out what you are.
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firm conviction that
Now you go from here with the firm conviction that "I am the Brahman, without any shape, form or design, and without any mental inclinations.
The firm conviction that I am this, the three states -waking state, deep sleep and the knowledge "I Am" ~ are the aspects of that Tej Sesh Bhagavan.
You must have a firm conviction that you are not the body, and not even the consciousness in the beingness.
The deeper meaning of Aham Brahmasmi means an intuitive, inspirational growth from inside, the firm conviction that I am the Brahman.
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first of all
You have to carry out your life, first of all assuring yourself that you are.
First of all, you abide in your own Self and transcend it, and in transcending, you will realize your Ultimate.
At world level, various bodies are formed and at body level, we encounter the attraction of the body; first of all our own body, then attraction of the other bodies.
First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself.
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get involved in
Maharaj: You should not get involved in what has appeared.
If you get involved in the appearance of these, you will lose sight of the source, the tree.
I have to make an effort not to get involved in thoughts when I meditate.
Why do you get involved in all these concepts?
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get to know
Get to know that "I Am" without words which arises in the morning.
You must look at yourself, get to know yourself.
M: Deal with the consciousness only, get to know it thoroughly.
Maharaj: You must get to know your own Self.
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give up all
The force of his message resounds with his singleness of purpose: "Give up all you have read and heard and just BE.
Give up all these concepts and inquire into the nature of your beingness.
Q: Even when I have an intuitive understanding of this, what is this reluctance to give up all that I am not?
You must give up all you have read and heard, and just be.
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give up this
A stage has now arrived at which you must give up this bodily identification.
Q: How to give up this knowingness?
February 5, 1981 Questioner: It is very difficult to give up this attraction to the bodily identity.
Give up this bodily identity.
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going to die
The sense of "I" has come and has gone, that is all, I am not going to die.
Q: Maharaj said that he is not going to die?
M: [Speaking to another person] This young man's mother was on her deathbed, but I said with conviction that she was not going to die.
His mother was so convinced that she was going to die that she had purchased the particular flowers which she liked for her funeral.
Because one identifies oneself with his body, he thinks he is born and is going to die.
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good or bad
This dynamic consciousness does not have any concept that something good or bad is going to happen to it; it is just happening.
Determination of good or bad is made only through words.
Only at word level does one think something good or bad will happen; when one identifies with the space, it is the end of good and bad.
First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself.
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have to do
M: At the highest level this is so; at the earlier levels you have to do your homework.
I don't have fear so I don't have to do anything.
I don't have to do anything.
M: Don't even accept the concept that you have to do anything.
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have you been
M: How long have you been following spirituality?
How long have you been following spirituality?
How long have you been practicing spirituality?
How many years have you been going to him?
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himself as an
How amusing it is to see someone who thinks of himself as an individual, who thinks of himself as a doer or achiever.
It is only when one thinks of himself as an individual that he thinks of bondage and liberation.
March 2, 1981 Questioner: Maharaj has said that he used to think of himself as an individual, but now he does not, for that would be identification with the body.
There is no question of anyone seeking a particular benefit for himself as an individual teacher.
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how can one
M: How can one who is not born, die?
Q: How can one be in that no-mind state?
Q: How can one know that he is beyond concepts?
Q: How can one differentiate between just having the thought of it and living it?
June 7, 1981 Questioner: How can one control the mind?
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i am not
All that is happening is happening at this level, but I am not at this level.
Q: No, I am not.
I am not talking to an individual, I am talking to the consciousness.
Either way, I am not concerned.
It is quite in order that those who have affection for me write and come to discuss things with me; I don't listen to them, and that is also quite in order, because I am not afraid of anything.
I see that body, but I am not concerned with whatever that body does.
That is the seed for the manifestation of the phenomena, but I am not the seed, I am not the phenomena, nor am I the consciousness which is time-bound.
I lead you to a state where there is no hunger, no desire, therefore I am not inclined to invite those who are worried about their possessions and their relations to listen to my talks.
Q: The experience is that there is no body, nothing, that I am and I am not.
This sickness is an aspect of the consciousness and I am not the consciousness.
I am not the "I Amness".
When you begin spirituality, you reject the body-mind with "I am not that.
I am not afraid of death.
I merely sit here, people come and go, I am not concerned.
Q: Maharaj said that I am not in the body, that the body is in me.
Actually I am not, but I feel that I am because of the incident of that birth.
Q: I know that I am not full of knowledge.
I am not concerned with any state which is temporary.
It is the manifest consciousness which is continuously talking, I am not talking.
I am not concerned with your bodily affairs.
I have understood the value of that, but I am not that.
I recognize it, and in the process of recognition, I know that I am not that.
M: I am not able to speak much.
I am not the states.
This body [referring to himself] instrument is disturbed and there is an imbalance; therefore, I am not able to talk properly, nor walk properly.
In that dream-like state, I am not keeping a record of anyone coming here, nor of any conversations among us.
I am not going to address you as a student of the mumuksha class, I am going to address the class of sadhaka.
Q: I know all of this intellectually, but I am not experiencing it, so I came for satsang.
I am not identified with the body.
M: I am not talking to you.
The first step on the road to spirituality is to develop that conviction that I am not the male or the female.
I am not able to talk any longer—the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Previously I used to welcome people but now I am not in a position to welcome them.
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i am talking
While I am talking about knowledge that is beyond this phenomenal world, you are trying to understand through worldly concepts and words.
I am not talking to an individual, I am talking to the consciousness.
December 8, 1980 Maharaj: I am talking about the consciousness which works through this body at the moment, but which is not visible.
M: I am talking to you because you have the wisdom to understand.
I am talking directly from my own experience, not from any books.
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i am that
Maurice Frydman's translation of Maharaj's talks, "I Am That" and other collections which followed, including my own, have served as guideposts to Maharaj's philosophy.
M: When he talks, saying "I am doing this" or "I am doing that," what he means is, I am that knowledge "I Am"; that is, consciousness.
I have understood my swarupa and I am that; it has nothing to do with whatever is manifested.
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i do not
I do not.
My present talk is quite different now, at a higher level; therefore I do not invite anybody to listen to my present talks.
I do not remember something from the past and then act; it is all action in the now.
Q: Do you mean that without the body I do not know that I cm?
Suppose I do not like my body, or even the vital breath, what can I do -the body is there, vital breath is there, and therefore this "I Amness" is there.
] I do not want casual seekers to stay here anymore.
Q: I believe in God, or I do not believe in God-are these beliefs the same?
Q: I do not know.
I do not like those shiftings from gurus to gurus.
I do not like wanderers.
Q: Maharaj knows I do not know what I am.
Maharaj: I do not speak about the body-mind and what goes on in the world.
I do not follow the spirituality of the masses.
I do not want meek and humble disciples, I want them to be powerful, as I am.
I do not make disciples, I make Gurus.
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i have told
I have told you many times what your true state is, but, through force of habit, you again descend into body identification.
Abide in what I have told only you.
Now, having given you so much, you may see me tomorrow or you may not, that is immaterial, but don't forget what I have told you about your Self.
If you have really understood what I have told you, you need not come again.
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i have understood
February 11, 1981 Maharaj: I studied the five-jeweled ornament, I have understood.
I have understood the value of that, but I am not that.
Because I have understood the unreality of that "I Am".
I have understood my swarupa and I am that; it has nothing to do with whatever is manifested.
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i know that
It is only because I know that I'm unreal that I know you also are unreal.
Q: I identify myself with my body, I know that.
I talk to you from the perspective of the universal consciousness and I know that all bodies are the essence of food and that they will vanish.
When I know that I am knowledge itself, what can I hope to get?
Q: I know that I am not full of knowledge.
I recognize it, and in the process of recognition, I know that I am not that.
Questioner: I know that I have to understand all this play of consciousness and conclude that this is like the child of a barren woman.
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i will not
I will not expound knowledge in the future; a few words here and there will be all.
I will not play hide-and-seek with words.
In future, I will not be able to go into the problems of each one of you.
I will not talk about the worldly knowledge.
I will not elaborate further.
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identify yourself with
Do you now identify yourself with the thoughts?
Until you recognize and completely identify yourself with the knowledge "I Am", you will identify with the body.
So long as you identify yourself with the body, you will not have satisfaction.
Since you do not identify yourself with any form, mind has no avenue for any propagation; the mind subsides in the consciousness.
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jnani is not
A jnani is not guided by a concept.
M: Although thoughts come and go, the jnani is not concerned.
M: The difference is that the jnani has divorced himself from the body-mind, the body-mind thoughts will come and go but the jnani is not concerned; whereas, the ignorant one gets involved in those thoughts and the ignorant one considers himself as a name and a form.
A jnani is not obsessed by any calamities or any problems, because he has transcended the "I Am" principle.
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know you are
M: Recite the sacred name, that is all right, but the important thing is to recognize and understand what is the presiding principle by which you know you are and by which you perceive everything else.
You don't know whether you exist or not in deep sleep; you don't know you are, that is all.
Do you see the image of yourself in the mirror first, or do you know you are prior to that?
Now you know you are not the body.
" There is that intuitive sense of presence, you know you are present.
Maharaj: You know you are.
You know you are, "I Am".
Because the "I Amness" is a quality of the body, later on you come to know you are and that you are trapped.
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love to be
That is Self, the feeling "I Am", that is the love to be.
It is the Self, the love to be.
That love to be is all-pervading.
You have only to apperceive this knowingness, the love to be, the Self.
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millions of forms
The millions of forms are the manifestation of consciousness.
It is the millions of forms which get created and destroyed, but universal consciousness itself is unborn and undying.
Just imagine if all the millions of forms which have been created were still here -how could other forms be created?
It is because consciousness is unborn and undying that the millions of forms get created and destroyed; it is a continuous process.
Instead, there is total functioning through various millions of forms.
Although this consciousness functions through millions of forms, it is one and the same consciousness.
With all these millions of forms in the world, can "my" image be left permanently?
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not be able
I might embarrass you; you may not be able to take what I say.
Unless you abide in your own true nature you will not be able to gauge the depth of another's nature.
Unless you wear the uniform (the body) you will not be able to conduct any activities.
In future, I will not be able to go into the problems of each one of you.
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not concerned with
I see that body, but I am not concerned with whatever that body does.
I am not concerned with any state which is temporary.
I am not concerned with your bodily affairs.
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not your true
This knowingness is not your true state, it is the outcome of the food essence body, and you, the Absolute, are not that.
When this body machine is there, the technique of using it is there, and that is what you are identifying with now, but it is not your true identity.
Even your experience that you are is not your true nature.
This body is not your true nature.
It is good, as far as it goes, that you have identified with this sense of presence, but understand that even that is temporary and not your true nature.
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one who has
You think that you are the one who has the thoughts; in fact thoughts arise in consciousness.
The one who has fully investigated himself, the one who has come to understand, will never try to interfere in the play of consciousness.
The effort of the one who has arrested that movement will not go to waste.
This does not happen for an individual — it happens for the universal manifestation, or for the one who has become one with his true nature.
One who has rejected this identity will understand.
The sadhaka is one who has dis-identified with the body-mind.
A Siddha is one who has stabilized in the knowledge "I Am", and in the process, has transcended it.
] One who has understood one's mystery as to what is, that one will not discuss or argue the largeness or smallness of anybody.
One who has transcended the consciousness, or one who has seen the end of this, for such a one, where is there the question of any gain or loss?
M: To understand what you are, and ultimately to identify with the Self that you are, you must meet someone who has identified himself with the Self and also who has understood the Self thoroughly.
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play of consciousness
Spirituality is nothing more than understanding this play of consciousness—try to find out what this fraud is by seeking its source.
Sickness is part of the functioning of the entire manifest, dynamic Chaitanya; it is the play of consciousness.
Questioner: I know that I have to understand all this play of consciousness and conclude that this is like the child of a barren woman.
One in a million understands all this play of consciousness, transcends it.
Finally, what is the result of all the experiences that are going on in the play of consciousness?
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prior to words
Prior to words and feelings, you are.
You have to understand that when you are being stabilized in a state prior to waking state, deep sleep, prior to words and even prior to consciousness, something happens in your body state without your doing it.
Prior to words you are, just be that.
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realm of consciousness
Even in the realm of consciousness you pass the time entertaining various concepts; what else are you doing?
Maharaj: Everything is in the realm of consciousness.
M: This knowingness, or understanding, is in the realm of consciousness.
But that is all in the realm of consciousness.
In this realm of consciousness all that is going on is dynamic playfulness, a process of functioning.
Whatever you think of as spiritual knowledge was gained in the realm of consciousness; such knowledge is merely a burden upon your head and it is going to add more misery.
Your experiences are in the realm of consciousness.
In the realm of consciousness you cannot have the experience of truth.
Beyond the realm of consciousness arising from the body, there is no experience of consciousness.
I want to talk about that state beyond the realm of consciousness.
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sense of presence
M: There is no individual looking at another individual; the sense of presence is cognizing.
Q: The sense of presence is what I feel I am.
It is good, as far as it goes, that you have identified with this sense of presence, but understand that even that is temporary and not your true nature.
The essence of the five elements is this momentary sense of presence, as compared to eternity.
I talk only about your true nature and your true nature is the sense of presence you have, this consciousness.
The world exists for you only when you are conscious, so it is about this consciousness, this sense of presence, that I talk.
Once this sense of presence comes, how you act and what you do in the world I don't deal with.
This sense of presence, this consciousness, is it not prior to anything else?
Therefore, this sense of presence, this consciousness, is it not the primary thing without which nothing else can happen?
No activity can arise if the sense of presence is not there.
The sense of presence does not need any activity of the mind to know that you are present.
" There is that intuitive sense of presence, you know you are present.
This sense of presence, it is not the sense that I am present, you are present, or any individual is present.
The sense of presence is the sense of presence, as such.
What is born is the general sense of presence, as such.
The sense of presence which has come spontaneously will leave spontaneously.
The sense of presence, this consciousness, is everything.
So long as the body is there, anyone who considers himself an individual has as his only capital the sense of presence, this consciousness.
Treat that as the highest God and worship nothing else other than the sense of presence, and when you are one with the sense of presence, then whatever is necessary by way of spiritual knowledge will sprout by itself.
Other than this sense of presence, which we have because of consciousness, what has anybody got?
This knowledge does not refer to an individual, but to the sense of presence as a whole.
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sri nisargadatta maharaj
SEEDS OF CONSCIOUSNESS; THE WISDOM OF SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ.
) PRIOR TO CONSCIOUSNESS; TALKS WITH SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ.
FAX (919) 477-2622 CONSCIOUSNESSANDTHE ABSOLUTEThe final talks of Sri Nisargadatta MaharajEdited by Jean DunnTHE ACORN PRESS Durham, North Carolina Copyright ©1994 Jean Dunn All rights reserved.
AcknowledgmentsSri Nisargadatta Maharaj's talks were taped by Ms. N. Vanaja, who never missed a meeting.
In this book you will find the last teachings of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, the final dialogues he had with the people who had come from all over the world to hear his words.
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state in which
M: The Ultimate state is that state in which there is a total end to this body, name and form.
January 14, 1981 Maharaj: The Ultimate state is that state in which nothing exists, neither I, nor you, nor manifestation.
That is the deep, dark blue state in which there are millions of stars and planets.
Awareness is that state in which the consciousness subsides into itself.
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state you are
In that non-phenomenal state you are full of bliss but there is no experience of its presence.
The waking state you are not.
The deep sleep state you are not.
Since you know the waking state you are not the waking state.
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that birth principle
Whatever I said is securely planted in that birth principle of yours, you cannot extract it.
M: Just enquire into that birth principle.
That birth principle which gives rise to the consciousness is not conditioned; it has come spontaneously and manifests as consciousness.
I realize this is all the outcome of that birth principle "I Am".
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that i am
Q: I am aware that I came here because Maharaj gives me the mirror, but this time he is showing me that I am my own mirror.
I was not aware of my awareness, and suddenly I became conscious that I am.
Q: The experience is that there is no body, nothing, that I am and I am not.
When I know that I am knowledge itself, what can I hope to get?
Q: Should I keep in mind constantly that I am consciousness only?
Q: Maharaj said that I am not in the body, that the body is in me.
Actually I am not, but I feel that I am because of the incident of that birth.
Q: I know that I am not full of knowledge.
I recognize it, and in the process of recognition, I know that I am not that.
Q: I don't always feel that I am the body; when I become still and concentrate, I realize that there is more than just flesh and blood there.
We have this conviction that I am, I exist, I'm alive.
This sense of presence, it is not the sense that I am present, you are present, or any individual is present.
The first step on the road to spirituality is to develop that conviction that I am not the male or the female.
It indicates that I am the Brahman; then the inspiration, the intuition, begins.
The deeper meaning of Aham Brahmasmi means an intuitive, inspirational growth from inside, the firm conviction that I am the Brahman.
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that is all
The sense of "I" has come and has gone, that is all, I am not going to die.
M: Recite the sacred name, that is all right, but the important thing is to recognize and understand what is the presiding principle by which you know you are and by which you perceive everything else.
That is all that can be done.
But that is all in the realm of consciousness.
You don't know whether you exist or not in deep sleep; you don't know you are, that is all.
M: Whatever you are, don't give it any shape or design, that is all.
That is all right for your daily worldly affairs, identifying with the body, but when you have to understand yourself, don't understand that you are the body.
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that is not
Last year I used to talk to people with a certain affection, but that is not available now.
Maharaj: That is not the aim, IT IS SO.
Whatever you try to become, that is not you.
When you put on an identity that is not yours, you are afraid.
You are identifying yourself as a body; that is not Self-knowledge.
If that is not there, what else can ever exist?
The "I Amness" is a quality of the food body, but that is not the nature of the true Self.
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that is why
M: That is why you should not stay for long.
On you, the original, this foreign element is imposed, that is why it is suffering.
That is why I am using a trick to escape that.
M: Because you have assumed something as "I Am", which actually you are not, that is why you are afraid.
Q: That is why it is valuable to be with Maharaj.
Q: That is why we are here.
That is why this automatic gesture.
That is why all these births are taking place.
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that state in
The essence and sum total of this whole talk is called Sat-guru Parabrahman, that state in which there are no requirements.
M: The Ultimate state is that state in which there is a total end to this body, name and form.
January 14, 1981 Maharaj: The Ultimate state is that state in which nothing exists, neither I, nor you, nor manifestation.
Awareness is that state in which the consciousness subsides into itself.
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that state which
Attain that state which is and was prior to the body.
You can take it that sat-chit-ananda is the limit which your mind can describe of that state which cannot be described.
How can the consciousness, which came later, give you any knowledge about that state which exists prior to its arrival?
The real state is that state which was prior to the arrival of consciousness.
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that you are
You think that you are the one who has the thoughts; in fact thoughts arise in consciousness.
When I tell you that you are that dynamic, manifest knowledge, you are everything.
If you are still at body-mind level, you will think that you are doing something.
The meaning of the mantra I have given you is that you are the manifest, dynamic principle, not the body.
Since the uniform is available to you, by all means use it, but understand that you are not the uniform.
Once you know that you are not the form or the name of that uniform, it is all over.
You should never think that you are the body.
Please understand that there is only one thing to be understood, and that is that you are the formless, timeless unborn.
Presently you think that you are the body-mind, and whatever concepts you have collected are flowing out.
Since when did you realize that you are?
M: You have come here with the idea that you are full of knowledge, full of wisdom; so what is your idea of knowledge?
What is that you are after?
Until yesterday you did not have knowledge of your existence, and today you are loquacious; you are speaking so loudly, and you claim that you are Brahman.
You have to carry out your life, first of all assuring yourself that you are.
Even your experience that you are is not your true nature.
Only so long as you have a body do you know that you are.
" When you realize that you are formless, there is no caste or creed for you, there are no concepts left.
June 5, 1981 Maharaj: You now know that you are.
So long as you know that you are, everything is.
To keep only consciousness, without mixing it with anything, that is knowledge without words, that you ARE.
Having got caught up with the concept that you are, the first concept, you started giving names and titles and ideas to others and you became enmeshed therein.
In that way you, with the concept that you are, throw in the bait and haul in lots of concepts for yourself.
The sense of presence does not need any activity of the mind to know that you are present.
The very idea that you are the body is ridiculous; the consciousness is experiencing its manifestation.
That is all right for your daily worldly affairs, identifying with the body, but when you have to understand yourself, don't understand that you are the body.
Who told you that you are lost?
So when that basic material is available, only then is memory there-memory of anything, and finally, most important, the memory that you are.
Presently, the feeling that you are is also a memory.
There is nothing else but the knowledge that you are, just be that.
That means that you are in a true state of beingness.
Now you know that you are awake because, you are here and you have that knowledge.
When you are dwelling in this consciousness you see that you are not doing anything, it is all happening spontaneously.
M: To understand what you are, and ultimately to identify with the Self that you are, you must meet someone who has identified himself with the Self and also who has understood the Self thoroughly.
Abide in this state of shade, in the Self, in the consciousness that you are, even when you go out.
Mother teaches you, in ignorance, that you are the body and you begin to believe that.
The bondage with the body came because of wrong teaching, and then the guru came and told you that you are not the body, and then you were liberated.
Because the "I Amness" is a quality of the body, later on you come to know you are and that you are trapped.
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that you have
M: If that is so, it means that you have understood everything and there is no need for you to linger here any longer.
It is likely that you have been influenced by what you have read and heard and therefore what you are saying is only what you have heard.
You have developed a pride that you have knowledge, so for testing yourself you have come here.
M: Understand that you have no connection with this mind-flow; you are apart from it.
Any thought that you have reached or are going to reach that state is false.
It is good, as far as it goes, that you have identified with this sense of presence, but understand that even that is temporary and not your true nature.
I would tell them, "The very fact that you have come here means that your problem is bound to be solved.
M: Don't even accept the concept that you have to do anything.
Your first conviction, that "you are", which is prior to words, to that you have given the form of a body.
If you think that you have to be aware, then it becomes an experiential state.
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there cannot be
What you say will be correct only when you have the conviction that you and God are one, then you will recognize that there cannot be a God without you.
At the level of active consciousness, which is Self, and which is in activity, there cannot be identity of a body Q: How can I be convinced of this?
There cannot be knowledge without ignorance and there cannot be ignorance without the correlated knowledge.
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there is nothing
Q: There is nothing here, no "I"?
"I love" gives rise to great joy, and at the same time there is nothing so miserable as "I love".
Maharaj: Witnessing takes place, there is nothing to be done.
You must have the conviction that you are consciousness Thereafter there is nothing for you to do; leave it to the consciousness to do what is to be done.
M: There is nothing happening -nobody is bound -therefore there is no question of liberation.
Other than that, there is nothing.
There is nothing there.
There is nothing else but the knowledge that you are, just be that.
There is nothing but the Absolute.
There is nothing else other than this knowledge, no entity.
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there is only
There is only you, the total functioning is you, the consciousness is you.
There is only one consciousness.
Please understand that there is only one thing to be understood, and that is that you are the formless, timeless unborn.
There is only one thing in the world.
There is only one truth in the world, and that is that everything is unreal.
April 10, 1981 Maharaj: There is only the slightest touch of "I Amness" left.
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there will be
December 15, 1980Maharaj: Consider the status you have reached if you are able to understand what I say, and if you have understood, there will be no status at all.
I will not expound knowledge in the future; a few words here and there will be all.
When people come here they have many questions and they think, after a while, they know something, but when they finally know there will be no questions to ask.
There will be no other talk except some communication between consciousness itself.
There will be no other strange third person or individual meddling in there.
When consciousness leaves, there will be no more bondage.
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they will be
Otherwise, if you allow them to go outward, they will be dissipated.
The time will come when they will be enlightened also and then they will expound knowledge.
Nirupana means the normal practice of these professional spiritual people, they will be expounding knowledge from various books.
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those who have
Those who have comprehended and who have reached a certain stage will not ask for anything, but everything will come to them spontaneously.
When people first learned about this illness, those who have affection for me came to talk to me, or wrote to me, giving advice and medicine.
It is quite in order that those who have affection for me write and come to discuss things with me; I don't listen to them, and that is also quite in order, because I am not afraid of anything.
This knowledge is for those who have no desires.
The only ones who should stay now are those who have a real anxiety about progressing spiritually, those who are earnest seekers.
Those who have apperceived my knowledge will not fall a prey to the logic or spirituality expounded by others.
There are those who have a lot of wisdom but have not solved the riddle of "I Amness".
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to an individual
The life force continues to act, but its thoughts and actions are no longer limited to an individual.
The play of the consciousness will not come down to an individual level.
This knowledge does not refer to an individual, but to the sense of presence as a whole.
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to be in
All shadings of his singular wisdom are reflected during these last, poignant conversations with those who were privileged to be in his presence.
Having stabilized in the consciousness, the next step is to be in a position to observe the consciousness, and all the play that is happening in the consciousness, just to understand.
Q: Is it possible to be in a wordless state?
The attraction for you is to be in your eternal dwelling place, that is your home.
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to do anything
I don't have fear so I don't have to do anything.
I don't have to do anything.
M: Don't even accept the concept that you have to do anything.
There is no question of your trying to do anything.
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to find out
He taught us to find out for ourselves, to ponder his words, and ask ourselves, "Can this be true?
Spirituality is nothing more than understanding this play of consciousness—try to find out what this fraud is by seeking its source.
I have had no aims except to find out.
Maharaj: You have to find out what this body is, then the job is done.
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to give up
You do not want to give up either worldly knowledge or so-called spiritual knowledge, and yet, through these worldly concepts, you want to understand the riddle of your existence, and that is precisely why you are not able to understand.
It is difficult to give up that inclination of identifying the body as the self.
Q: Even when I have an intuitive understanding of this, what is this reluctance to give up all that I am not?
Q: How to give up this knowingness?
February 5, 1981 Questioner: It is very difficult to give up this attraction to the bodily identity.
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to know that
Get to know that "I Am" without words which arises in the morning.
M: I come to know that everything is through the consciousness.
The sense of presence does not need any activity of the mind to know that you are present.
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to know yourself
Give up your identity with the body, try to know yourself.
You must look at yourself, get to know yourself.
To know yourself is the real knowledge, but you cannot LOOK at yourself, you can only ABIDE in your Self.
You must have that deep urge to know yourself.
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to my talks
By listening to my talks you will be transformed back to your original state, prior to your birth.
You don't respond to my talks, you have not been able to perceive the nature of your consciousness.
When you come here, you have certain expectations, certain aspirations, but after listening to my talks you lose all that.
Perhaps you may be getting some blessings, some benefits, from listening to my talks, I don't know.
I lead you to a state where there is no hunger, no desire, therefore I am not inclined to invite those who are worried about their possessions and their relations to listen to my talks.
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to understand what
Q: I must have your blessing to understand what I am.
December 15, 1980Maharaj: Consider the status you have reached if you are able to understand what I say, and if you have understood, there will be no status at all.
Try to understand what they could be without their bodies.
M: To understand what you are, and ultimately to identify with the Self that you are, you must meet someone who has identified himself with the Self and also who has understood the Self thoroughly.
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told you that
Your parents told you that you were born on a certain date, and that this body is what you are.
Who told you that Maharaj is talking to you?
Who told you that you are lost?
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try to understand
When you try to understand others, the Self-effulgent nature of one's Self should open up completely.
Try to understand what they could be without their bodies.
Try to understand all this knowledge which you are now gathering.
In this way you must try to understand, and the seeds of knowledge will sprout in you.
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was not there
That was my enquiry, going back to that state when the presence of phenomena was not there.
M: Now, tell me, when the knowingness was not there, what experiences did you have?
Who is the one who knows that there was no day, no night, the consciousness was not there?
It was not there, it appeared and it will disappear.
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whatever happens in
Whatever happens in the manifest consciousness happens.
Now that has totally disappeared; therefore, whatever happens in the field of consciousness, I, who am there before consciousness, am not concerned in any way.
Whatever happens in this concrete world, the instruments and the aids come from the space.
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whatever you are
Whatever you are, only you know.
Give up the habit of labelling whatever you are.
Whatever you are prior to the appearance of "I Am", that is your true nature.
M: Whatever you are, don't give it any shape or design, that is all.
Whatever you are identifying yourself with at the moment is only the body and the intellect in your body.
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whatever you have
M: Whatever you have placed before Maharaj as knowledge are all mistaken concepts.
Whatever you have heard is good enough for you.
Whatever you have listened to so far is good enough for you if you imbibe that and abide in it.
That Ultimate you can never be lost; whatever you have lost, you have lost only the words.
Whatever you have lost, you have lost only the words.
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when you are
When you are in deep sleep and you start to see forms, you are actually dreaming.
When you are cognizing something as an individual, where do you place yourself?
When you are the pure "I Amness" only, there is no fear.
When you are very quiet, you have arrived at the basis of everything.
When you are in that state, you have no awareness of your existence.
You have to understand that when you are being stabilized in a state prior to waking state, deep sleep, prior to words and even prior to consciousness, something happens in your body state without your doing it.
The world exists for you only when you are conscious, so it is about this consciousness, this sense of presence, that I talk.
Treat that as the highest God and worship nothing else other than the sense of presence, and when you are one with the sense of presence, then whatever is necessary by way of spiritual knowledge will sprout by itself.
M: When you are stabilized in your own Self, then there is no otherness, you are everything.
When you are in a position to witness the knowledge "I Am", you have reached the highest.
When you are dwelling in this consciousness you see that you are not doing anything, it is all happening spontaneously.
You feel like that because when you are here, you are under the shade of, or you abide in, your own consciousness.
" When you are convinced you are a woman, are you going to repeat, "I am a woman, I am a woman"?
When you are THAT there is no question of choice.
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which you are
That which you are describing, is it an experience or just the words?
Ignore that action because of which you are; and then try to recognize what the parents are.
What is that ink which was used to write that which you are?
You are in the three states, the waking state, deep sleep state and the knowledge you are, so why are you dealing with the state which you are not?
If you have any problems or questions with which you are concerned, you will find these problems and questions, are based on your identity with the body and mind as an individual.
Try to understand all this knowledge which you are now gathering.
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which you have
Is that right, or is what you are saying a practical experience which you have had?
M: You have built your responsibilities around the teachings which you have derived from the world, but what is that "you" which is accepting all the responsibility?
Even thinking about anything for which you have to use your mind, if you are not conscious, can any thought come?
It is something like the body having completely adjusted, like the grains which you have stored being completely adjusted.
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will be there
There will be no wish for it; nevertheless, it will be there.
Otherwise, it will be there.
So long as that knowingness, "I Amness", is there that attraction will be there for others.
M: That awareness will be there provided you are.
Thoughts will be there, but they will be weaker and weaker, so only the feeling of "I Amness" will remain: just consciousness, without any activity.
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will not be
Unless you abide in your own true nature you will not be able to gauge the depth of another's nature.
Unless you wear the uniform (the body) you will not be able to conduct any activities.
If you are yourself alone, that state will not be felt; but if there is a foreign element, only then the suffering starts.
In future, I will not be able to go into the problems of each one of you.
What was not, will not be.
M: Just by playing with words and concepts, you will not be emancipated.
In this place spirituality of the common type will not be doled out to you.
In that state, whatever sentences you hear will be implanted deeply in you and will not be forgotten.
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with what identity
At the moment of so-called death, with what identity would you like to depart?
M: It is not difficult for you to know also, but with what identity are you asking?
With what identity do you recognize yourself now?
With what identity did you come into this world?
With what identity would you like to quit this world?
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your identity with
Give up your identity with the body, try to know yourself.
Whatever happens, you accept it based on your identity with the body, and the body is time-bound.
The only solution is for you to give up your identity with the body-mind.
If you have any problems or questions with which you are concerned, you will find these problems and questions, are based on your identity with the body and mind as an individual.
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your own self
M: Recede into your own Self, be one with your true Self.
Maharaj: You must get to know your own Self.
What do you understand about your own Self?
You must have the firm conviction about your own Self.
M: When you are stabilized in your own Self, then there is no otherness, you are everything.
First of all, you abide in your own Self and transcend it, and in transcending, you will realize your Ultimate.
True knowledge is to abide in your own Self.
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your true nature
Your true nature is open and free, but you cover it up, you give it various designs.
Even your experience that you are is not your true nature.
Whatever you are prior to the appearance of "I Am", that is your true nature.
This body is not your true nature.
The principle by which you know "I Am" is your true nature.
Are any of these states your true nature?
It is good, as far as it goes, that you have identified with this sense of presence, but understand that even that is temporary and not your true nature.
I talk only about your true nature and your true nature is the sense of presence you have, this consciousness.
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your true state
I have told you many times what your true state is, but, through force of habit, you again descend into body identification.
Your true state is non-manifest; the manifestation comes and the words come.
What is necessary is to understand with sure conviction is that all is temporary, and does not reflect your true state.
In your true state there are no words, but you think yourself important and you embrace many words.