'Sruti Gita'- Brahman is known to every human being as “I am”. But man does not know himself as he is.

Sruti Gita

The Sruti-Gita is contained in chapter 87 of Skandha X of Srimad Bhagavata.
Raja Parikshit said:
1. Oh enlightened one! The Vedas, being constituted of words, can only describe entities coming within the scope of the three gunas of Prakrti. How can they then really reveal Brahman, the Absolute Being, who is not included in the gunas of Prakrti, who cannot be defined or described as an object before us, and who is beyond the relation of cause and effect?

Prakrti (Unmanifest) is the world of  change in its unmanifest state. For this reason it is called the Unmanifest (Avyakta). It is also called the Primary (Pradhana) as it is the source, the origin of everything therein.
Prakrti has three attributes – Sattva (serenity, tendency to manifestation), Rajas (activity) and Tamas (inertia, obstruction to manifestation). Everything in the world is the product of these three attributes.
The Brahman, on the other hand, is considered the Supreme Deity. IT is not one among many. Everything in the world has its being in the Brahman. IT is concrete in the sense that IT IS and asserts itself in the form “I-AM”. We only know that IT IS. It cannot be a person, as the word is generally understood. IT IS, and yet indeterminate,beyond speech and concept.
Sri Suka said:
2. The all-powerful Lord created faculties like intellect, mind, senses and prana in the Jiva in order that they may enjoy sense contacts in the world, may perform works, gain the felicities of heaven in the hereafter, and attain to liberation from samsara.
The faculties such as the mind are in the nature of the non-physical categories that apply to human beings and other living organisms as well as all the objects in the cosmos. The difference may be in terms of degrees of applicability. As consciousness is all-pervading and permeating both the sentient beings and insentient objects, the categories become applicable to all, though in varying degrees. Different seers consider the non-physical categories differently. The Sankhya philosophy gives 25 categories in the nature of ontological entities. They are Purusa and Prakrti, Reason, Ego, Mind, five Sense Organs, five Organs of Action, five Subtle Elements and five Gross Elements. Sri Ramakrishna sees in his vision 24 cosmic principles created by the Divine Mother. The categories of the Sankhya philosophy and those stated by Sri Ramakrishna are the same except that Sri Ramakrishna does not include Purusa in the list. Sri Ramakrishna considers that these categories relate to Prakrti or Nature and are different from Purusa or Supreme Consciousness.
3. It is not proper to doubt the efficacy of the Veda. For, it is the ignorance-shattering science culminating in the knowledge of the Brahman, accepted as such by the most ancient of ancient wise men for times immemorial. A man accepting it with faith and sincerity and living a life of renunciation attains to the blessedness of abidance in the Supreme Spirit.
In the words of Swami Vivekananda, “The knowledge of the Absolute is absolute in itself. No amount of study will give this knowledge. It is not theory; it is realization. Cleanse the dust from the mirror; purify your own mind. In a flash you realize that you are the Brahman and your self is Its reflection. In other words, the Brahman is known to every human being as “I am”. But man does not know himself as he is.
The Atman (Brahman) is self-illumined. Cause and effect do not reach the Atman. This disembodiment is freedom. The Atman – the Brahman is beyond what was, or is, or is to be”.
4. In order to make this clear, I shall narrate to you an episode relating to sage Narayana. It is a conversation that took place between Narada and Rishi Narayana.
5-6. Once in the course of his peregrinations all over the universe, Narada, the beloved of the Lord, went over to Badaryashrama to see Rishi Narayana who has been engaged during the whole kalpa in austerity constituted of dharma (righteousness), jnana (knowledge) and sama (practice of samadhi) for the material and spiritual good of men inhabiting Bharatavarsha.
7. Narada put this very question to sage Narayana who was sitting there surrounded by rishis living in the village of Kalapagrama.
8. The worshipful Narayana narrated to Narada what had taken place during a seminar on the Brahman at a sacrificial assembly held in Jana-loka by the ancients.
Rishi Narayana said:
9. Oh son of self-born Brahma! It was in Jana-loka, under the auspices of the mind-born sons of Brahma who are lifelong celibates, and amidst the residents of that region that this prolonged discussion on the Brahman, participated in by a large number of savants and self-controlled sages, took place.
10. You had gone to Swetadweepa at that time to pay obeisance to its lord Aniruddha when this assembly for discussion on the Brahman took place in Jana-loka. The question investigated then was the very question you have now raised.
11. Though all these sages were equal in learning, austerity, character, and even-sightedness towards friends, foes and neutrals, they made one among themselves,Sanandana the speaker while the others heard him with deep attention.
Sanandana said:
12-13. In order to awaken a sleeping emperor in the morning, the minstrels attached to his court come and proclaim his glorious deeds in praise of him. In the same way, in order to awaken the Lord at the end of the pralaya from the cosmic slumber into which He had entered when the previous kalpa had ended, withdrawing into Himself the whole universe and the powers connected with it, the Srutis (the Veda) recited a hymn recalling all His distinctive majesties.
 The Srutis said:

 14. Hail, Hail unto the Supreme Master unconquerable! Withdraw Thy Maya, constituted of the three gunas, from covering the knowledge of all Jiva, moving and unmoving, with the pall of ignorance. But in Thee, the controller of Maya, Maya is not the veil of ignorance as it is in the Jiva, but Thy inherent puissance and divine majesty. The Veda reveals Thee as sometimes manifesting Thy inherent power of Maya and at others as subsisting in Thyself, with all powers quiescent.
The Svetasvatara Upanisad gives an idea that Maya is a kind of net thrown on Being, making it look like the world fixed by some laws, constituting the structure of the net.

This idea makes it clear that Maya is not mere illusion. The object of any illusion, like that of dream, disappears later, whatever fright it may have created in the person experiencing it. The idea of the Brahman creating the world, which does not exist on its own, through His will, involves something like the idea of illusion. Salvation as the ultimate goal is freedom from determinations whether it is the life of pain or pleasure, happiness or sorrow, good or bad, knowledge or ignorance. It is the same as freedom from Maya.
P. Sriramachandrudu explains succinctly that Maya is indescribable. It is neither existent, nor non-existent, nor both. It is not existent, for the Brahman alone is the existent (sat). It is not non-existent, for it is responsible for the appearance of the world. It cannot be both existent and non-existent as such a statement is self-contradictory. It is thus neither real, nor unreal; it is Mithya. But it is not a non-entity or a figment of imagination like the son of a barren woman. In the example of a rope mistaken for a snake, the rope is the ground on which the illusion of snake is super-imposed. When right knowledge dawns, the illusion disappears. The relation between the rope and the snake is neither that of identity nor of difference, nor of both. It is unique and known as non-difference (tadatmya). Similarly, the Brahman is the ground, the substratum on which the world appears through Its potency – Maya. When right knowledge dawns, the real nature of the world is realized as Maya disappears.
15. The whole universe of experience is ultimately Thyself alone. For, it is known to the Veda and the rishis that Thou alone remain when everything is dissolved to the subtlest state. Just as the appearance and disappearance of all effects like pots take place in their material substance clay, so do the appearance and dissolution of the universe take place in Thee, their material cause. But there is this difference that, unlike clay, Thy substance is not in the least affected by the creation of the universe out of, and its dissolution in, Thee. As everything that is conceived by thought and touched by the senses is only Thy manifestation and, therefore, Thyself the various deities and forms of worship described in the Veda really relate to Thee only, though indirectly. The steps we place on any object on the ground, though they appear to be placed on the object, are in the final sense placed on the earth only, as the earth supports all objects. So, too, do all the words and teachings of the Veda point towards Thee, though they may appear to deal with deities.
The world (cosmos) is the realm of cause and effect, and the realm of means and ends or of instruments and effects. This world is the world of process, action. The world of action is an empirical reality. It is also an empirical being. This does not mean that it is only a matter for experience. For instance, dreams are experienced. But they are not considered an empirical reality. An empirical reality is meant to be a realm of action, the result of past actions and impressions (samskaras), and is changeable through present actions, controlled by the laws of causes-and-effects and ends-and-means.
Logically and ontologically, the Brahman is prior to everything. IT is, therefore, the origin of everything. When the Brahman is considered the creator, the sustain er and the destroyer of the world, then IT must be the personal God. This interpretation does not conflict with the position that the Brahman is without qualities (nirguna). It only means that the Brahman is the ground of everything. This conforms to the concept of the four levels of being, each higher being, being the ground of the lower and ultimately the Brahman is the ground of all the lower levels and the world.
As IT is the ground or basis, the Brahman is called the cause (karana), in the ordinary sense of the term, of the world. Incidentally the Sanskrit word ‘karana’ also means ground, support and reason besides cause. It, therefore, follows that the Brahman is only the supporting being (ground) of the forms of the world. What constitutes the forms of the world is Prakrti (the unmanifest – Maya).
Anyway, the world of forms is an ordered whole in which the laws of space, time and causation hold true. But it is not a self-contained and self-consistent whole. The self-contradictory nature of the world in relation to space, time and causation establishes it. What lies beyond the world is no chaos, but being itself. The being of the world we experience is the Brahman – the Supreme Being. It is the nature of the Being to support the world in spite of its self-contradictions. The self-contradictory aspect always points to something that is at least relatively not self-contradictory. In spite of its self-contradictory nature, causality holds true in the world.
16. Oh Master of Prakrti! Knowing that all the divine manifestations and Incarnations are really Thyself, great sages have dived into the ocean of the world-sanctifying accounts of Thy sportive actions as such divine Incarnations and manifestations, and, through that, assuaged the heat of all their suffering. Oh Thou the Supreme One! It is then needless to say that those who overcome the limitations of space, time and mental modifications and intuit Thy Being will overcome all suffering, and be established in Thy state of Supreme Bliss.
Mythological epics refer to Divine Incarnations. They represent the actual descent of the Brahman in various mundane forms into the world. The Immanent dwells in all souls and accompanies them in life and death. It is the Brahman residing in the spirit (atman) of man like lightning in a cloud. The Incarnate as worshiped is the idol of God in various forms acceptable to devotees.
God’s play on earth as an Incarnation is the manifestation of the glory of the Chit-sakti, the Divine power. That which is the Brahman is also Rama, Krishna and Siva. The special manifestations of the Absolute are the Incarnations – the known and the knowable. God becomes the Incarnations in different ages to show us the way to become perfect.
The concept of Divine Incarnation is the first link in the chain of ideas leading to recognition of the oneness of God and man. God appearing first in one human form, then reappearing at different times in other human forms is at last recognized as being in every human form, or in all human beings.

17. Man can be said to be a man, truly alive, only if he adores Thee. Otherwise, he is merely a pair of bellows, a breathing machine. For, Thou art the Power that activates the insentient cosmic categories and enables them to take the shape of the universe, including man. In the human personality so formed, Thou, as the Purusa, permeates the five sheaths (kosas) – the Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnamaya and Anandamaya. Interpenetrating all these and taking their shape, Thou art described also as transcending them as their support – the One remaining as the ultimate substratum when all the distinctions of cause and effect are eliminated.
The Vedanta philosophy describes five koshas (sheaths) that are stated to exist in a human body. They are the annamayakosha or gross physical sheath made of and sustained by food; the pranamayakosha or vital sheath consisting of the five vital forces, the manomayakosha or mental sheath, the vijnanamayakosha or sheath of intelligence and the anandamayakosha or sheath of bliss.
The five vital forces constituting the pranamayakosha are stated to be prana, apana, samana, vyana and udana. These five denote the physical, biological (vital), mental, rational and blissful functions. The Taittiriya Upanisad refers to them as atmans (selves) in a person. They are presumed arranged, one inside the other, covering the spirit – atman, which is the innermost constituent. These are really levels of one’s existence as man.

The Katha Upanisad refers to seven levels of existence or of the self, the seventh being the highest, beyond which there can be nothing. This highest level is that of the Purusa, the absolute ‘I’-Consciousness.
18. Among the followers of the path of the rishis, those who are most gross-minded called sarkarayanas meditate on Thee in the stomach region, that is, the center in the navel called manipura, probably including muladhara. Others, more subtle-minded called arunis, meditate on Thee in the spiritual dimension in the heart region called dahara.
From the heart, sushumna, the spiritual conduit leads to the head, the highest region where Thou art intuited in the sahasrara or the thousand-petalled lotus. There is no more birth and death for those attaining this.
Tantra preaches a kind of yoga, called Kundalini (serpent power), leading to spiritual perception and mystic visions. It is awakening the spiritual energy latent in human beings.
This philosophy elucidates that there are seven centres in the body designated as Muladhara, Svadhistahna, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara. These are considered to be the dynamic centers where the spiritual energy becomes vitalized.
These centers placed in the Sushumna (antravestika) form the ascending steps by which the Kundalini or the spiritual energy passes from the foot of the spine to the cerebrum. The spiritual energy passes through these centres upward and downward with no resistance, along the Sushumna. It is said to penetrate the six centers, also called the six charkas, before it gets vitalized in the Sahasrara center. This is known as Shatchakrabheda – penetration of the six chakras.
The Sahasrara is considered the abode of Lord Siva – the Supreme Brahman. This abode is stated to be as white as the radiant full moon, as bright as lightning and as mild and serene as moonlight. The Sahasrara center is where the spiritual energy manifests itself in its full glory and splendor. The lotuses of these centers are like the fruits and leaves of a wax tree, in the subtle body. Only a yogi can see them. They are not physiological entities.
The chakras (centres) are formed of consciousness. The Primordial Energy resides in all bodies as the Kundalini. It is like a sleeping snake coiled up. The movement of the Kundalini along the Sushumna nerve is called the movement of the Mahavayu, the Spiritual current.Spiritual consciousness is not possible without the awakening of the Kundalini. This is, otherwise, to say that when the Kundalini is awakened, the Jiva goes beyond the realm of Maya (Prakrti) and becomes united with the Supreme Soul. This is the vision of God.
19. Though Thou art already present in these diverse creations of Thine as their material cause, still it looks as if Thou hast entered into them again after the creation of the bodies, manifesting identification with their shape and character, just as the fire takes the shape and nature of the fuel it is burning. Therefore, men, who are endowed with a dispassionate mind and who have renounced all self-centered values, recognize Thee as the enduring Spirit in these transient bodies.
The Brahman, being the Supreme Being, permeating and pervading everything in the world is the Supreme Consciousness. It is also considered the Supreme Spirit or the Atman. By its very nature of all-encompassing and all-pervading phenomenon, the Supreme Spirit or Atman is considered the innermost attribute or constituent of the individual spirits or atmans. The Supreme Being becomes the Atman of all the atmans – the Universal Spirit residing in all individual spirits.
20. The Purusa abides in the bodies created by the karma of the Jiva, without the spiritual nature being effaced by anything within or without, in the midst of the cause and effect relationship. He is described as ‘part’ (amsa) of Thee, and Thou as the Whole endowed with infinite excellence s. Arriving through discrimination at this spiritual origin and destiny of man, wise men adore Thee with deep faith and devotion, having accepted the Vedic teaching that Thou art the fulcrum for dedicating and depositing all one’s actions and that devotion to Thee can secure one’s release from samsara.
Every action has merit or demerit resulting from good or evil it produces. Ethical action includes disciplines for realization. The first is discrimination between the eternal and the non-eternal. The seeker is to discriminate at every level of action focusing whether the action leads to grasp of the eternal being. If the objects of action relate to the transient or the temporal beings, he is to withdraw from action related to them. This is ultimately to enable him to grasp the eternal being. The second is detachment from all selfish pursuits – worldly and otherworldly. The third is cultivation of the six virtues – tranquility (sama), restraint (dama), renunciation (uparati), endurance (titiksa), meditation (samadhi) and faith (sraddha). The fourth is desire for liberation.
Of the virtues, renunciation is the most important and of three types – sacrifice, charity and penance (tapas). All the three are actions. They purify the soul. They are obligatory actions to be performed without any attachment to the results thereof.
One who does not do actions out of ignorance is under the influence of the attribute of the Darkness (tamas). One who gives them up because of the difficulties they involve is under the influence of the attribute of the Active (rajas ). Either is wrong. The one who performs actions without any self-interest is under the influence of the attribute of the Transparent (sattva). He is the true renounce r of action, the true knower and the truly wise.
The ideal man following ethical action is one who has realized his rational being. His reason becomes steady. He preserves his equanimity under all conditions, whether in grief or in joy. He does not have any egoistic desires. He looks upon all events that happen, without being disturbed. He does not have any attachment for the objects of his senses. He can withdraw his mind and senses from all temporal objects and focus his mind on eternal objects.
21. Oh Lord of all! In order to reveal this spiritual nature of man which is difficult to comprehend, Thou dost arise as divine Incarnations from time to time. There are some who enter into the vast nectarine ocean of Thy deeds and excellence s, revealed through the sportive actions of these, Thy Incarnations, and exclude all other forms of spiritual striving. They leave their homes and all worldly attachments, and join that community of all-renouncing men who constitute the Paramahamsas ever sporting with delight at Thy lotus feet. They reject even liberation, and prefer premabhakti.
One way of realization is the way of devotion (bhakti). The theistic schools of philosophy, mainly Vaishnavism, generally advocate this way. This way is to surrender oneself to God in love and devotion.
Emotional attachment to God is easier than dry detachment from fruits of action. In fact, the detachment from the fruits of action or the ethical way of life automatically brings about surrender to God in love and devotion. The seeker is to realize that he is only an instrument in the hands of God. He is to think that he performs his duties in
obedience to the will of God. The fruits of his action belong to God, not to himself.
Devotion implies the difference (duality) between the devotee and God. The plurality exists. The ego of the devotee persists. The Vedantic thought indicates that so long as the ego of the aspirant remains, it is not possible for him to realize the Supreme Being. In the case of a true devotee, it is different. The devotee retains a trace of ego to be distinct from the Divine. This ego is not the ego of an ordinary individual, which keeps him away from the Divine. This ego is that of the greatest of the sages like Prahlada and Narada who have been ever realized.
Devotion is intense love of God. The way of devotion results in knowledge. Knowledge perfected, made steady and constant becomes love. Love is, thus, uninterrupted flow of knowledge, uninterrupted like the flow of oil. It is very difficult to practice, as mind by nature is fickle and moves from object to object.
To strengthen the love of God, several types of yogic practices, meditations, forms of worship, initiations, etc are recommended. They are also difficult to practice. Strict observance of ethical code and self-control are equally difficult. Action, knowledge and devotion throw man on himself and require absolute self-reliance. But as a finite being,
man cannot be perfect in action, knowledge and devotion. Therefore, he has to surrender his self to God, instead of relying on himself.
Self-surrender includes doing what is in conformity with God’s will, not doing what is against His will. It involves absolute faith that God saves men, and all are to surrender to Him for His guidance and protection. This is true renunciation. The philosophy of Non-Dualism of the qualified Brahman (Visista-advaita) states that devotion and self-surrender are essential for salvation. These two are not opposed to the way of knowledge, but are its consummation.
Pure love is attachment to God alone. It is of the nature of bliss for the seeker. God cannot be realized by logic or reason. Without devotion, all penance, rites, austerities become futile. Nor can man realize God by self-exertion. In the absence of the grace of God, His vision is not possible. The pure mind of the seeker, seeking God-vision in ecstasy, is devotion. In essence, it is the cultivation of divine love for God.
Pure love of a devotee has two characteristics. So intense is one’s love of God that one becomes unconscious of outer things. One forgets the world. The second is that one has no feeling of “mine-ness” toward the body. One wholly gets rid of the feeling that the body is his. Chaitanya experienced this kind of love.
‘Pure love (prema) is the rope by which one can tether God, as it were. Higher than worship is japam; higher than japam is meditation; higher than meditation is bhava and higher than bhava are mahabhava and prema. When one attains prema (pure love), one has the rope to tie God. Whenever one wants to see Him, one has merely to pull the rope. Whenever one calls Him, He will appear before one’ in the words of Sri Ramakrishna.

22. This human body, so well-suited for Thy service, is now readily available for one like a bosom friend or a dear relative to be used for devotional purposes. So also, Thou art eager to bless the devotee, being very benevolent to him. But alas! Ordinary man shows no interest in Thee because of his indulgence in sense objects of a degrading nature. By this neglect of devotional life, he becomes an annihilator of the soul. By the force of tendencies developed through a life of attachment to this body, he roams about in inferior bodies in this terrible maze of samsara.
One cannot attain God if one has even a trace of desire. Subtle is the way of dharma. If one is trying to thread a needle, one will not succeed if the thread has even a slight fiber sticking out.
23. Through remembrance, Thy antagonists attained to the same spiritual goal as the sages that had established complete control over their vital force, mind and senses, and meditated on Thee in the their heart. The Sruti-Devatas look upon Thee as equally present everywhere, and ever commune with Thy lotus feet. The gopikas of Brindavan that longed for the embrace of Thy arms, powerful and handsome like Adisesha, similarly communed with Thy lotus feet.

Whatever is the nature of the passion that moves the devotee, if it makes him intensely think of Thee, Thy grace is ever on him! To develop love for God, scriptures indicate that the devotee has to build up an intimate personal relationship to God. They suggest that God may be regarded as the devotee’s parent, master, friend, child, husband or sweetheart. Each succeeding relationship represents a further intensification of love. These attitudes (bhavas) toward God are known as santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhur.
Santa is the serene attitude. Bhishma of the Mahabharata, on the bed of arrows after the Great War at Kurukshetra, awaiting physical death was a glorious example of this attitude. The Vedic seers, too, had this attitude toward God. They did not desire any worldly enjoyment. It is like the single-minded devotion of a wife to her husband.
Dasya is the attitude of a servant toward his master. Hanuman had this attitude toward Rama. A wife feels this attitude toward her husband, with all her heart and soul. A mother also has a little of this attitude, as Yasoda toward Krishna. Sakhya is the attitude of friendship. The cowherd boys of Brindavan had this attitude toward Krishna.Vatsalya is the attitude of a mother toward her child, like Yasoda’s attitude toward Krishna. The mother feels happy only when the child eats to its heart’s content.
Madhur is the attitude of a woman toward her paramour. Radha had this attitude toward Krishna. A chaste wife feels it for her husband. This attitude includes all the other four.Unconditional love and longing are the two requisites for a devotee to attain the Godhead. Bhakti matured becomes bhava. Next is mahabhava. Next is prema. The last of all is the attainment of God. These are the conscious state, the semi-conscious state and the innermost state. In the conscious state, the devotee only chants the name of God. In the semi-conscious state, he dances in ecstasy. In the innermost state, he remains in samadhi.
24. Thou art the Primeval Being prior to whom or by whose side there none else existed. Lo! How can any one who came from Thee, and who is bound to dissolve into Thee, know Thee? From Thee, the creator Brahma arose, and from him the two types of divinities. And when Thou enter into Thy cosmic slumber drawing everything into Thyself, there is nothing left to be known as gross or subtle or as combination of both, no movement of time, no scripture. How can anyone, therefore, know the subtle truth about Thee unless instructed by Thee? So, to practise devotion to Thee, and win Thy grace is the easier way of salvation for man.
The Brahman is ontologically prior to everything. IT is, therefore, to be regarded as the origin of everything. The Vedanta Aphorisms define the Brahman as that to which the birth, maintenance and destruction of the world have to be attributed. The Brahman is, therefore, considered the creator, the sustain er and the destroyer of the world. The world-appearance is said to have the Absolute Brahman as its cause, in the same way as the sky (space) is the cause of the growth of the tree, for the sky does not obstruct its growth. In fact, the Brahman is not an active causative factor.
The Brahman has no initial cause. It is, therefore, uncreated (anadikarana). IT has no precedent state. IT is not a product. Nothing changes to be the Brahman, nor does IT change to anything else. IT does not undergo modification. The Becoming that arises out of IT takes place without affecting Its very nature (vivartakarana). Vivarta means change without being affected by change. The Brahman is changeless.
The Absolute is immaterial; IT is spiritual; so material sources of light like the sun do not illumine IT. IT is self-luminous. Therefore, IT is not inert or dark. The Absolute cannot be realized or experienced by another. Only the Absolute can realize Itself.The path of discrimination and knowledge is very difficult. Unconditional love and longing for the Divine are what can take a devotee to the God-head. Devotion matured
becomes bhava, mahabhava and prema (unconditional love), in that order. Prema is the attainment of God.
25. Different philosophers have different theories of Reality. The Vaiseshikas say that real entities arise from a previous state of non-existence. Naiyayikas have the theory that existent entities perish. The Samkhyas contend that the Spirit is many and, therefore, different in each body. The Mimamsa-ritualists find the truth in the fruits of
ritualistic works. All these theories are guess-work based on misconception. So also, the materialist’s theory that man is a product of the three gunas of Prakrti and that every being is, therefore, a separate and perishable individual, is a theory based on the ignorance of Thy nature. For Thou, Pure Consciousness, in whom ignorance has no place, is the ultimate Truth.
The Reality is that which exists in the beginning and in the end.
The Reality is only one and that is the Self. It is Pure-consciousness and eternal in nature. To one with the Reality, there is neither the mind nor the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. There is, therefore, no extroversion. The state of the sage with the Reality is the ever-awake state. He is ever awake to the eternal Self. His is the ever-dreaming state as the world is no better than a repeatedly presented dream phenomenon for him. His is the ever deep-sleep state as he is without his body consciousness ever.
Reality must always be real. It has no names or forms. It underlies all limitations, being limitless. It is not bound in any way. Being real, It is That Which Is. It transcends speech and is beyond description such as being or non-being. That alone is real, which exists by itself, which reveals itself by itself and which is eternal and changeless. Reality is Being, Pure existence, Consciousness.
Reality alone exists as a perfect undivided whole. The awareness of this Reality alone is the Truth. There is no other reality. The Reality is in the form of experience throbbing within one’s real self.
26. This universe of the three gunas, a mental projection, and the individual self or the Jiva, are asat, something non-existent in themselves, but become sat, or derive existential value, because of Thee who art the substance behind them. The knower of the Self, therefore, recognizes all this as sat or existing, because everything is an expression of Thyself. A product of gold is not rejected as illusory because it exists in identification with its substance, gold. Having manifested the universe, Thou dost indwell it as its substance as gold abides in all its products.Even as the UN-carved image is forever present in a block, the world is inherent in the Absolute, whether we regard the world real or unreal. The Absolute is, therefore, not void.
As in the tangible ocean, tangible waves are seen, in the formless Brahman, the world also exists without form. From the Infinite, the Infinite emerges and exists in It as the Infinite. Hence the world has never been really created – it is the same as that from which it emerges.
Water in the mirage does not come into being and go out of existence. So this world, too, does not come out of the Absolute, nor does it go anywhere. The creation of the world has no cause and, therefore, it has had no beginning. It is only an appearance based on the reality of the Brahman. It is not independent of the Brahman. The Brahman alone exists.

27. Those who adore Thee as the soul and substance of everything overcome death. The others, who are averse to this truth, are bound by Thee to the life of samsara like animals, with the rope of Vedic ritualism, even though they are great scholars. Those who love Thee purify the worlds, not the others who put on a garb of spirituality withoutm love of Thee at heart.
There are three kinds of formal devotion – tamasic, rajasic and sattvic.
While showing devotion to God, if a person is actuated by arrogance, jealousy or anger then his devotion is tamasic. It is said to be influenced by the quality of inertia.If a person worships God for fame or wealth or any otherworldly ambition, then his devotion is rajasic. It is said to be influenced by the quality of activity.
If a person loves God without any thought of material gain, if he performs his duties to please God alone, and if he maintains the attitude of friendship and goodwill towards all, then his devotion is called sattvic. It is said to be influenced by the quality of harmony.
But the highest devotion to God transcends the three qualities. It is a spontaneous and uninterrupted inclination of the soul towards God. Such devotion springs up spontaneously in the heart of a true devotee, as soon as he hears the mention of God or His attributes. A devotee possessing love of God of this nature desires nothing even if he is offered the happiness of Heaven in whatever way it is conceived.
The devotee’s desire is only to love God under all conditions – in pleasure and pain, honour and dishonour, prosperity and privation.

28. Though Thou, the self-luminous and self-conscious one, are without limbs and sense organs, Thou art the power that supports the sense faculties of all creatures.
Dominated by Thy Maya, all the Devas and creators like Prajapatis offer tribute to Thee as subordinate kings do to their suzerains, and they in turn subsist on what men offer them as sacrificial offerings. Out of fear of Thee, all the Devas perform their appointed tasks.
The pure Infinite Consciousness appears to become whatever forms It takes whenever It manifests Itself. The mountains, the forests, the earth, the celestial bodies in the cosmos are all but Infinite Consciousness. When the Infinite Consciousness in the form of life-breath enters into bodies and begins to vibrate various parts, it is said that those bodies are living. It is a small part of the Infinite Consciousness that becomes the intelligence in these bodies. This intelligence, entering into these bodies, brings into being the different organs like the eyes.

It is this intelligence, which is part of the Infinite Consciousness that fancies itself differently in different objects. When it fancies itself to be a rock, a tree, a bird, an animal, a human being, etc, it becomes so. The Infinite Consciousness is present everywhere and permeates equally; there is no distinction between the sentient and the insentient, and between the intelligent and the inert. The differences in the objective world are only due to the intelligence identifying itself as different substances. The same Infinite Consciousness is known by different names in these different substances.
29. Oh unfettered one! When Thou, the Transcendent Being, desire to sport with Thy Yogamaya and cast Thy glance at her, then the powers and tendencies of the Jiva that had become latent in Thee at the close of the cosmic cycle are roused up, and as a consequence, the Jiva, with bodies moving and unmoving, come into being. These differences noticed in the nature and the power of the Jiva are due to their own karma and not of Thy making. For, to Thee, who art the highest of all beings – who art the same towards all like akasa, beyond thought and words, and extremely subtle – there is no such difference as the favored one and the disfavored one.
In the mirror of Infinite Consciousness are seen countless reflections, which constitute appearance of the world. These are the Jiva. Each Jiva is like a little agitation on the surface of the ocean of the Brahman. When, in that slight agitation, the infinitude of the Infinite Consciousness is veiled, limitation of Consciousness appears to arise. This too is inherent in that Infinite Consciousness. That limitation of Consciousness is known as Jiva. This limitation of Consciousness when it is fed by latent tendencies and memories condenses into egotism – ‘I’-ness. This ‘I’-ness is not a solid reality.
But the Jiva sees it as real, like the blueness of the sky. When the egotism entertains its own notions, it gives rise to the mind-stuff, the concept of an independent and separate Jiva, mind, Maya or cosmic illusion, cosmic nature, etc.
When Consciousness, clothed as it were, by its own energy, limits itself and considers itself Jiva, that Jiva, endowed with this restless energy, is involved in the world-appearance.
The universe exists in the Infinite Consciousness just as future waves exist in a calm sea, with the potentiality of an apparent difference. Infinite Consciousness is un-manifest, though omnipresent, even as space, though existing everywhere, is manifest. Just as the reflection of an object in crystal can be said to be neither real nor entirely unreal, one cannot say that the universe, which is reflected in the Infinite Consciousness, is real or unreal. Just as space is unaffected by the clouds that float in it, the Infinite Consciousness is unaffected and untouched by the universe that appears in IT. Just as light is seen through the refracting agent, the Infinite Consciousness is revealed only through the universe. IT is essentially without name and form but Its reflections are only known through names and forms. Consciousness reflecting in Consciousness shines as Consciousness and exists as Consciousness.
Being non-different from the Infinite Consciousness, the world-appearance has a mutual causal relationship with IT. It arises in IT, exists in IT and is absorbed in IT. Though like the deep ocean, IT is not agitated, yet IT is agitated like waves on the surface of the ocean. Even as one who is intoxicated sees himself as another, the
Consciousness, being conscious of Itself, considers Itself as another.
30. Oh Eternal Being! If the embodied beings (the Jiva) are countless in number, and are also eternal and all-pervading, they cannot come under Thy control, as each would be its own absolute authority and could go in its own way. They can be under Thy control only if it is otherwise. If the Jiva are the manifestation of Thyself through an adjunct, then Thou, as their causal substance, will be permeating them in all their transformations through their adjuncts and would be their controller without losing Thy own original nature as the Supreme Being. But the all-pervading and ultimate seer that Thou art, Thou cannot be an object of knowledge like other knowable things. To say that the ultimate seer can be the seen will be an absurd doctrine.
Once it is considered that the Supreme Consciousness (Brahman) is One and All-pervading, there can be no second consciousness called Jiva, independent of and different from the Brahman. P. Sriramachandrudu states that Jiva is no other than Antahkarana which is translucent and is the purest (nirmala) of all the non-sentient objects (acetana padarthas) capable of reflecting and radiating the cicchakti of the Brahman with which it is constantly connected and, therefore, it is never without chaitanya.
It is only the Antahkarana with all its constant associates like the subtle body, sense organs, etc which migrates from life to life. It receives the chaitanya from the all-pervading Brahman wherever it moves about. Jiva is not a particle emerging from or a piece cut out of the Brahman to be ultimately united with IT, as the Brahman is all-pervading like Akasa with no form or parts. As the chaitanya of the so-called Jiva is nothing but the Brahman, it is declared that Jivo Brahmaiva naparah (Jiva is the Brahman only, not different from IT) – the essence of the philosophy of Advaita (Non-dualism).
31. A living being (Jiva) cannot be a product of Prakrti (matter) alone or of Purusa (consciousness) alone. For, both these are eternal, whereas living beings come and go. They are, therefore, the product of the mutual superimposition of both into a complex unit in which their separateness cannot be understood or experienced. They may be
compared to bubbles in which air and water particles combine. When all those Jiva dissolve in Thee, the Existence-Knowledge-bliss, either in deep sleep or in liberation, then all their separateness disappears. The only difference is that in deep-sleep the merger is still in combination with the adjuncts in a subtle form as of flower nectar of various kinds in honey, while in liberation it is absolute merger as of river water in the ocean.
32. Knowing that it is due to the delusion caused by Thy Maya that the Jiva are subjected to birth after birth in the trans-migratory cycle (samsara), wise men adore Thee, the granter of release from samsara, with intense devotion. How can there be samsara for one who serves Thee? For, Thy wheel of Time with its rim of three parts, the past, the present and the future, on which the course of transmigration is mounted, causes fear only to those who do not take refuge in Thee.
Samsara is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘to wander or pass through a series of states or conditions’. It is the beginning-less cycle of birth, death and rebirth, a process impelled by karma. Taken together, samsara and karma provide a causal explanation of human differences and an ethical theory of moral retribution.
The word samsara is also applied to phenomenal existence in general to indicate its transient and cyclical nature. Samsara is thus the conditioned and ever-changing universe as contrasted to an unconditioned, eternal and transcendent state of the Supreme Self.
Samsara is generally characterized by suffering and sorrow as well as impermanence. The cause of perpetual rebirth is found usually in desire based on ego-sense for individual existence, and in ignorance of the true nature of the Reality.
As such, the supreme goal of human endeavor is considered as liberation from samsara, that is, as release from bondage to the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, nullifying the impressions (samskaras) of karma accumulated thus far.
33. Oh Birthless One! Even though a person has gained control over his senses and the pranas, if he has not surrendered himself at the feet of the guru, all his effort to discipline the extremely fickle mind, which is like an uncontrolled horse, will result only in the pain and trouble of striving, and he will be overwhelmed with deep sorrow because of failure. His condition will be like that of a party of merchants in the mid-ocean without a helmsman to direct the boat.
A guru is in the nature of an inner being sent to the seeker (disciple) by the Divine at the appropriate stage of his sadhana (spiritual practice) to attain realization. Age, caste, creed, gender, vocation, etc of the guru is of no relevance to the seeker. The seeker is to feel the guru in his soul and accept him as such. So is it with the right scripture to elevate the seeker to the realm beyond his mind.
34. When Thou, the essence of all bliss, art available as his very self to man who has resigned himself to Thee, what further use will he have for such objects as relatives, sons, body, wife, wealth, house, lands, life and properties like chariots, etc? And what joy can a man derive, who, without knowing Thee, the bedrock of Reality, goes after the joy of sex-life and other pleasures of the world that are ephemeral and doomed to destruction by their very nature?
The Brahman is Consciousness. The Brahman is Bliss. Bliss is the collecting together of our dispersed and divided being into an intense unity. It is infinitely more intense than the essence of everything in the world. It is the intensity of being. As such the state attained in realization is Bliss itself.
Being, Consciousness and Bliss are not qualities of the Atman or the Brahman, which is without qualities (nirguna). These three are the attributes of the Brahman. These are not the qualities the Brahman possesses. They are the Brahman.
35. Though these devotees, who are free from the pride of narrow egotism, hold Thy lotus-feet in their heart, and have within themselves that all-sanctifying stream of devotion flowing from those feet of Thine, still they resort to pilgrimage to holy centers during their life-time, abandoning hearth and home. For even those who have but once seriously bestowed their mind on the ever-blessed Atman, which is Thyself, can never feel happy in the self-centered life of the home, which has a baneful effect on the spiritual essence in man.
By their visit to such holy places, they sanctify them, and enhance their holiness. To destroy the ego through self-inquiry is renunciation. Abandonment of home, family, relations,etc is renunciation.Renunciation of everything puts an end to all sorrow. By renunciation, everything is gained. Renunciation of the ego-sense leads to realization of the Absolute. There is total renunciation when the mind – citta with the ego-sense is abandoned. When one abandons the mind, one is no more afflicted by fear of old age, death and such other events in life. That alone is supreme bliss. All else is terrible sorrow.
36. It is contended that all this world has arisen out of sat, a really existent cause, and, therefore, it must also be real. This, however, is not acceptable to reason; first it is not universally applicable to all cases of cause and effect, as in the case of father and son. The son has a different identity from that of the father, and cannot be reduced into the latter’s form, as a pot can be reduced into mud. Next, sometimes an effect may be a mere appearance on a real cause, as the snake is in a rope in an illusory perception. In such types of instances, the rule that the effect is as real as the cause is not found to fit in. At the most, from the point of view of practical efficiency, it may
have some relevance, even as a wrong idea blindly accepted on the ground of a transmitted tradition is found to work in practice, or as a false coin passes for a genuine one undetected.
The permanence of the fruits of Vedic rituals based on Thy words, the Veda, is only wishful thinking of dull-witted persons who are not able to comprehend the Veda in its implications, suggestions and many-sided ness. Vedic rituals may bear fruits which may last long, but are not really eternal.
‘The Brahman alone is real. IT is beyond the limits of space and time and is free from all kinds of differences and changes. The ever-changing world is transitory and unreal. It is unreal in the sense that it is not as real as the Brahman; but it has practical reality. That is the reason why it is called Mithya but not Asat (non-existent). It is not an illusion. Things seen in a dream are quite true as long as the dream lasts; they are unreal only when one is awake. Similarly the world is quite real as long as true knowledge does not dawn. The dreams are the creation of the individual being and, therefore, they are private. The world is public. It is the creation of Isvara. Therefore, no one can escape from and avoid the worldly activity.
Even the man of the highest spiritual knowledge (jivanmukta) cannot but witness the worldly activities and participate in them. He is like the cinema-viewer of mature minds who, while knowing fully well that he is seeing the unreal, at the same time, gets the experience through his eyes and ears of what is presented before him on the screen by an unseen operator. Therefore, it is wrong to get alarmed that the world is robbed of its importance and significance by being reduced to the status of Mithya (unreal)’, in the words of P. Sriramachandrudu.

37. This universe did not exist before its creation and will not exist after the cosmic dissolution, too. So its existence in Thee, the Sat-Cit-Anand, during the interval, can only be in a phenomenal sense, without any substantiation. It is, therefore, compared to ornaments and pots which are the modifications of gold and mud respectively. Ignorant people mistake these temporary transformations of the mind to be permanent.
The Reality is that which exists in the beginning and in the end. The transformations arise in the middle; and they are only phenomenal and super-impositions on the Reality.
They are ever transient and, therefore, unreal, though they are not non-existent during the period of their existence.

38. Prompted by Maya, Thy creative Power, the Jiva embraces the ignorance aspect of that Power and gets established in the feeling that it is a body-mind complex.
Consequently it loses its blissful nature and becomes subject to birth and death in the trans-migratory cycle. But Thou, who art established in Thy spiritual glory, have shed ignorance, like a snake its slough, and shine in Thy unlimited majesty exhibiting the six-fold powers.
The practical activity in the manifold world is the result of the dynamic, creative aspect of Maya or avidya. The cognitive aspect of our life and the cognition s of our activities and of the objects toward which our activities are directed are due to the pure, conscious aspect of Maya or avidya. Indeed, Maya or avidya is obviously creative.
Said in other words, Paramatman as ruling Maya is Isvara. Paramatman as under Maya is Jivatma. Maya is the sum total of manifestations that will vanish in realization.
Maya is the energy of the universe, potential and kinetic. Until the Divine Mother releases us from Maya, we cannot be free. The ‘why’ of anything is in Maya. If one asks why Maya arises, it elicits no answer as it is within Maya. The question does not arise beyond Maya as there is none to raise it.
39. Oh Lord! If r enunciates (yatis or sannyasins) do not root out the desire for enjoyment from their hearts, then Thou, though present in their hearts, dost not reveal Thy presence to those hypocrites, just as a jewel does not reveal itself to its wearer who has forgotten its presence on his neck. The ascetics who are after sense enjoyment have to suffer misery from two sources, death which is sure to visit them, and from Thee who does not reveal Thyself to them.
40. Oh Thou Lord of countless glories! In one who is illumined with Thy knowledge, the bond of self-centered life is broken and, therefore, he is oblivious of (becomes free from) Thy laws regarding merit and demerit, enjoyment and suffering. The scriptural injunctions pertaining to man, who is body-centered, become meaningless for him.
For, he is then established in the bliss of spiritual freedom which is Thyself, who hast entered into the hearts of men through the glorious devotional traditions transmitted in every age by great men through a succession of teachers and disciples.
The ego is the thought ‘I’. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the ‘I’ thought Is the first. Other thoughts arise later. Holding a form, it comes into being. It stays on as the form is held. It breeds on it and grows strong. It changes form as suddenly as it assumes form.]
If one focuses one’s thought on ego-sense, it takes to flight. One is, therefore, able to transcend the phenomenal existence of the ego when one dives deep into the source from where the ‘I’ thought arises. Everything rises with the rise of the ego. Everything subsides when the ego subsides. To destroy the ego through self-enquiry is renunciation.
Egotism is quietened by constant practice – abhyasa.
Abhyasa is thinking of ‘That’ alone, speaking of ‘That’, conversing of ‘That’ with one another and utter dedication to ‘That’ alone. When one’s intellect is filled with beauty and bliss, when one’s vision is broad and when passion for sensual enjoyment is absent in one, then that is abhyasa or practice. When one is firmly established in the conviction that this universe has never been created and, therefore, it does not exist as such, and when thoughts like ‘this is the world’, ‘I am pleased’, etc do not arise at all in one, and then that is abhyasa or practice. In such state one is beyond attraction and repulsion and, as such, egotism.
One will have attained true wisdom. This is the practice of the yoga of true wisdom by means of which one acquires the faculty of instantly materializing one’s thoughts. By such practice one acquires full knowledge of the past, the present and the future, too.
41. Even leading Divinities like Brahma do not find the limits of Thee; for Thou art the unlimited, and the unlimited by its nature cannot be fully comprehended. For the same reason even Thou dost not know Thy limits. Within that infinite and incomprehensible being of Thine, countless brahmandas (universes), each with its seven expansive
external coverings, whirl about together under the propulsion of Time like clusters of dust in the air. So the words of the Veda, unable to describe Thee positively, arrive at Thee only as the final residue left after negating all conceivable entities.
An aspirant reasons about the Brahman as long as he has not realized IT. One cannot have this knowledge so long as there is the slightest trace of worldliness. The aspirant is to keep his mind aloof from the objects of sight, hearing, touch and other things of a worldly nature. As long as an aspirant is conscious of his body, he is conscious of duality. It is when he tries to describe what he sees, he finds duality. He is to give up his identification with worldly things, discriminating ‘not this, not this’.
Only thus does he realize the Brahman as his own inner consciousness.
The aspirant believes that the acts of creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe and all its living beings are the manifestations of Sakti, the Divine Power. By reasoning, he will realize that all these are as illusory as a dream in the sense that they are transient. The Brahman alone is the Reality. All else is unreal. Even this very Sakti is unsubstantial, like a dream.
The aspirant, sticking to the path of knowledge, always reasons about the Reality. The Brahman is neither ‘this’ nor ‘that’. It is neither the universe nor the living beings.
Reasoning this way, the mind becomes steady. Then it is transcended and the aspirant goes into samadhi. This is the knowledge of the Brahman. It is the unwavering conviction of the aspirant that the Brahman alone is real and the world illusory, like a dream. What the Brahman is cannot be described.
Rishi Narayana said:
42. The great sages, born of the mind of Brahma, heard this exposition of the truth of the Brahman by Sanandana with great attention, and then saluted the Rishi, their hearts illumined by the knowledge of the Atman.
43. Thus was the quintessence of the Vedas, the Puranas and the Upanisads expounded by the ancient sage Sanandana and others, who move about from sphere to sphere in the universe.
44. Oh thou, inheritor of the bliss of Brahma! Thinking, with deep faith, over this message of renunciation for men, you may freely move about in the worlds.
Sri Suka Said:
45. Oh King! The sage Narada, who had perfect control over his mind and who observed strict celibacy in life, heard the teachings of Rishi Narayana with deep faith and receptivity and became filled with joy, thinking over them again and again.
46. Sri Narada said: ‘Salutations to Thee the Divine Incarnate, a manifestation of the Supreme Lord Krishna of holy fame who comes down as glorious Incarnations for the welfare of all creatures!’
47. Paying homage to Rishi Narayana, the first and foremost of sages, and to his worthy disciples, Narada went to the ashrama where my father Vyasa dwelt.
48. Received respectfully by Vyasa, Narada took a seat and narrated to him what he had heard from the mouth of Rishi Narayana, and I learned it from my father.
49. Thus have I answered, through the account of the above conversation, your question how the Brahman, beyond the gunas and words, can be grasped by the mind.
50. Meditate always on Hari who, as the creator, designed this universe for the benefit of the Jiva; who, as its material cause, remains unaffected as its substratum during its creation, sustenance and dissolution; who is the lord and director of dissolution; who is the lord and director of matter and Jiva; who, after creating the categories, enters into His creation along with the Jiva as the Indwelling Spirit and directs its evolution into various world systems and bodies of living beings; who governs the Jiva providing them with food and other conditions for higher evolution; who, through instruction as the guru, enables the Jiva to take refuge in Him and to abandon identification with the body even in the waking state as in the state of sleep; and who, being ever established in the Bliss-consciousness without the slightest trace of ignorance, is capable of giving complete freedom from fear to all beings..

Adi Sankaracharya's 'Dasa Sloki' or 'Nirvana Dasakam' Translated by S. N. Sastri- I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

*Glimpses of self-realization*

Adi Sankaracharya's

'Dasa Sloki' or 'Nirvana Dasakam'

Translated by S. N. Sastri

Introduction:

It is said that the Dasasloki was composed by Sri Sankara spontaneously when Sri Govindapada, whom he approached with a request to be accepted as a disciple, asked him who he was. The ten slokas which have become famous as 'Dasasloki' were Sri Sankara's answer to this question. The gist of these slokas is that he is the pure Atma devoid of the limiting adjuncts in the form of the body, mind and organs.

1. I am not the element earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor ether, nor any of the organs individually, nor all the elements or organs together as a whole. Because of variability (of the limiting adjuncts in the states of waking and dream), the self exists by itself only in deep sleep (without the limiting adjuncts in the form of the senses, mind, etc.). I am that most auspicious, attribute less, non-dual entity who alone remains (when all duality is negated).

2. Neither the division into castes and stages of life, nor the rules of conduct and duties of the various castes and stages of life apply to me. I have no need for dharana, dhyana or yoga, etc. Since the notions of 'I' and 'mine' which are due to identification with the not-self (body, mind and organs) have gone, I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

3. The srutis say that in deep sleep there is no mother, nor father, nor gods, nor the worlds, nor the Vedas, nor sacrifices, nor holy places. Nor is there total void, since I exist then as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

Since the notions of caste, stage of life, etc., are based only on false knowledge (which results in identification with the body, etc.,), it is pointed out that when that (false knowledge) is not there, such notions also do not exist, as in the state of deep sleep.

This sloka is based on the Brihadaranyaka upanishad which says that in the state of deep sleep the father cease to be a father, the mother ceases to be a mother, a thief is no thief, etc.

4. Neither the Sankhya view, nor the Saiva, nor the Pancharatra, nor the Jaina nor the Mimamsaka view, etc., is tenable. Because of the realization of the partless Brahman generated by the Mahavakya, Brahman is absolutely pure (untainted). I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

5. Brahman has no such thing as upper or lower (part), it has no inside or outside, it has no middle or any 'across', and it has no eastern or western direction, because it is all-pervading like space (or pervades space also). It is one and without parts. I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

6. Brahman is not white, nor black, nor red, nor yellow; it is not tiny, nor big. It is neither short nor long. It is not knowable since it is of the nature of effulgence. I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

7. There is neither teacher nor scriptures, neither student nor instruction, neither you nor I, nor this world. The knowledge of one's real nature does not admit of different perceptions. I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

8. I do not have the state of waking, nor of dream, nor of deep sleep. I am not Visva, or Taijasa, or Praajna. Because all these three states are only the products of ignorance, I am the fourth (beyond these three states). I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

Note: Visva is the name given to the jiva in the waking state, Taijasa in the dream state, and Praajna in the deep sleep state.

9. The Atma is all-pervading, is the desired goal, is self-existent, and is not dependent on any thing else, while the entire universe which is different from it is unreal. I remain as the one auspicious self free from all attributes.

10. It is not one; how can there be a second different from it? It has neither absoluteness nor non-absoluteness. It is neither void nor non-void since it is devoid of duality. How can I describe that which is the essence of the entire Vedanta!

MALAYALAM KERALA

"I"-AM QUOTES OF 'NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ'- The consciousness of ‘I am’ is the world, and there is nothing wrong in seeing or witnessing this world. The mistake comes in only when you take it to be real, as we almost all wrongly do.

401
The thing which attracts you most of all is your ‘I amness’. You
want to retain that ‘I amness’. You wan to ‘Be’. This ‘I am’ is what
you truly love most. You want to be alive.
402
That love, that knowledge which gives light is the knowledge ‘I
am’. Focus on your beingness until you become established in it.
Only then will you be able to transcend it. Your focus at present is
on air or the breath (addressed to the one doing Pranayama). ‘Be’
that beingness, though, this also is not the final step.
403
Be that ‘I am’, once you know who you are, remain stabilized in
the experience of the Self. Be like Arjuna, Awareness of his Being
remained with him constantly, even when he went into the thick of
battle. Because he was with Krishna, he could go into battle,
knowing that there is nobody who kills and no one who is killed.
404
The knowledge that is prior to thought – ‘I am’ – is covered by a
human body which food with the vital breath and knowledge of the
Self (Prana and Jnana). This means that you are only covered by a
human body. Once you reach that state of ‘I am’ through your
attention you will only be aware of ‘That’ and you will no longer
be affected by all of these tendencies (Vasanas). You will have
transcended them.
405
You have to be one with the Self, the ‘I am’. If you say knowledge,
it is just the same as information.If necessary discard the words ‘I
am’. Even without words you know that ‘you are’. Do not say or
even think that ‘you are’, just be aware of the presence without
thinking about it.
406
Who says that he is alive? Find out, who is the Witness who
‘knows’ that he is alive? This is awareness of one’s existence, ‘I
am’ prior to thought. Who says ‘I am alive’, who says ‘I am not
alive’, what is that? ‘I am’ is not something that can be put into
words; it is the knowledge, the Awareness before thought. You
have to just ‘Be’.
407
Becoming established in the Awareness ‘I am’ is all that is
important. Later on you also transcend the ‘I amness’. Just as a
storm is a form created by nature, similarly this ‘I am’, this
chemical, was also created. Forget about what I have told you,
because that is also a mechanical thing, a chemical. Just be Aware,
and then it won’t matter if you die a hundred times.
408
The child has been given an idea who its parents are, but is just a
concept. Similarly the ‘I am’ is just a concept. The child has been
given the idea that ‘He is’. First you must investigate ‘Who is’ and
what this ‘I amness’ is.You want to know what the support is for
the ‘I am’? My parents supported me! When do these two people,
the husband and the wife become parents? It’s when a child is
born, is that not true? Where are the parents before the birth of the
child? And what is the child? The child is the root of parents; the
child is also the father of the parents. Because of the child the
parents are. This shows how completely hollow our egos are.
409
Once the vital breath leaves the body and this ‘I amness’ ceases to
exist, the ‘I amness’ will not know that ‘It was’. The ‘I amness’ is
not permanent and will forget its association with is body.
410
If you have questions, ask the one who wants to know. Cling to the
questioner – that is your own Beingness, or ‘I amness’. Once you
have done that people will approach you, they will call you a
Mahatma or Anandmayi.
411
My Guru told me ‘Divinity’ (Paramatman) is what you are’, I
heard it and I accepted it, I did not want to gain anything, I just
accepted it. I never knew that ‘I’ existed and suddenly I was aware
that ‘I am’ this Absolute Truth. I had complete faith in the words
of my Guru and then later on everything happened spontaneously.
412
I was always listening to that sacred recitation (Japa, also know as
Ajapajapa - ‘So hum’) which was constantly happening inside me.
The primary cause of this Japa is the knowledge that you have of ‘I
am’
413
This knowledge of ‘I am’ spontaneously appeared, it is prior to the
formation of the five elements. The Absolute (Paramatman,
Parameshwar) is not aware of anything. The state of Awareness
comes later, with knowledge of the ‘I am’. The Absolute has no
knowledge that ‘it was’ (or that ‘it is’). Only when the knowledge
‘I am’ spontaneously appeared could it be concluded that the
Absolute ‘was’ or ‘is’
414
With what identity do you judge me or judge yourself? You
entertain the idea that you are going to have different births, I don’t
believe in any such stories. I know‘I’ never was, that ‘I amness’
was never there for me. I am the unborn state.
415
The ‘I am’ is sustained by the food body, that is, our body, which
is the food for the ‘I am’. Every creature depends on its food and
the ‘I am’ depends upon our body. Will you remember this?
416
I have many photographs of my Guru here, because my Guru ‘is’ I
know ‘I am’. You presume that your Guru is a body-mind and that
is a mistake. I do not look upon my Guru like that. He is merged
into Consciousness and I see him as that.
417
The ‘I am’ is there throughout his or her life even if a person lives
for a hundred years, but the ‘I am’ disappears when the body is
gone. This is called death.
418
There is nothing for you to do, everything just comes into being
and happens. Why are you concerned with what to do? You deal
with the world only after having Consciousness, when the ‘I am’ is
there. Once it is gone everything ends, it is all spontaneous.
419
What I am telling you about the merging of the ‘I am’ with the
Source is the real thing. As you progress and get established in
Beingness you will understand that you are above the dreaming
and waking states, as these pertain only to your ‘I amness’. When
the ‘I amness’ is not there, the tool required to observe is also not
there. Once there is Self-realization, the whole riddle is solved.
420
First there was the desire to ‘Be’. From this ‘I am’ the air came
first and the earth last. Then from earth came the vegetation and
many forms of life, each having this ‘I amness’. Because of the
five elements you have the body and in that body is the ‘I amness’.
421
By chanting ‘I am Brahman’ you become subtle and escape the
sense of body and mind. You must accept that you are without a
body-mind and that you are subtle. That sense must be instilled in
you. I took to this Brahma state, my Beingness or ‘I amness’ and
observe my body.
422
You must become initiated into the understanding of what I am
expounding to you. I am telling about the seed of ‘Brahman’. You
have to understand that I am planting the ‘Brahma’ seed in you.
That ‘Brahma’ seed is your ‘Iamness’ (Beingness), which sprouts
into manifestation. That ‘Brahman’ (‘I am’) state does not require
anything to eat, it has no hunger, because ‘Brahman’ alone
embraces everything and all manifestation is ‘Brahman’. I am
trying to raise you to that state. Do not think that you can become a
realized soul only by listening to a few talks. You have to forget
everything and merge with ‘Brahman’.
423
Who is it that needs to understand this the most, the knowledge
that ‘I am’? If you listen carefully and imbibe the principles, you
will get rid of this body-mind sense and dwell only in the ‘I
amness’ (Beingness). In order to know the link between ‘I am’ and
‘I am not’, hold on only to the ‘I amness’ without words, ‘just be’.
When hailed, you respond, there is somebody within you that
becomes aware of the call and the need to respond. That being is
the ‘I am’ and he has been there even before that awareness
appeared.
424
The moment the ‘I amness’ explodes or appears, all of space is lit
up. The entire sky is the expression of your Beingness, yet you
believe that you are only the body. Your love for the body limits
your horizons. But the moment those walls come down, you are
one with ‘Brahman’ and the whole universe.
425
The witness cannot ‘be’ in the absence of the knowledge ‘I am’.
Who are you seeing if you are not aware of the ‘I am’? You have
covered everything with this ‘Iam’ knowledge. The five elemental
world is only the creation of this ‘I amness’.
426
Be alert to the ‘I am’ and all other experiences will be transcended.
The next elevation will only come when you abide in the Self.
When you are convinced that ‘all of Consciousness is my Self’,
when the conviction is firmly embedded, then only will the
question of the next elevation arise.
427
Dwell on the principle (‘I am’) of that state for a sufficiently long
time. All the greatness, significance and magnificence of the entire
world is dwelling in the principle ‘you are’ and ‘I am’ That is the
prop and that itself is the greatness. There is no other remedy, no
other path, except implicit faithand conviction in the Self.
428
Take it that you are That. ‘That’ means no shape, no design.
Whatever you see pertains only to That, to your ‘I amness’.
Spontaneously ‘It is’! You are That principle. Don’t try to unravel
it with your intellect. Just observe and accept it as it is.
429
Whatever is created is created by the knowledge ‘I am’. Do not
pursue this path of running after experiences. Your own
Consciousness creates everything. All greatness is because of the ‘I
am’. There is no other path, only this conviction. This is it! The
name and body arise from the ‘I am’
430
This knowledge is anciemt (’Sanatan’), it has come from Eternity.
From the eternal Absolute, which is ever there, a seed appears, that
seed is the ‘I amness’. It appears spontaneously, its remnant is in
us. This little seed (‘I am’) sprouts and the whole world is created.
431
In the case of a devotee (‘Bhakta’), initially the devotee does not
want to leave God. Later on, evenif the devotee asks God to go,
God will not leave him. God means the knowledge ‘I am’. The
knowledge ‘I am’ is God (‘Bhagwan’).
432
Since everything is ‘You’, you can’t cut it away from you. This
knowledge of ‘I amness’ is part of you. How can you throw it
away? And where can you throw it? When you established in
Beingness (the ‘I am’), you realize everything is ‘You’, it is all
your creation.
433
That principle ‘I am’ is your illusion but the Oneness got rid of that
illusion. Then one is without body or mind. The principle of
Oneness has no shape, therefore male and female have no shape –
this is the wedding of the male and female. At that stage the barren
women conceived and progeny is delivered! That is the ‘I am’ state
and that is the universe. But this Oneness is not a state of illusion.
434
This knowledge of ‘I amness’ that is there in you contains the
whole universe. The knowledge that I am expounding is to that
divinity within you (the ‘I am’) and not to a human being. The ‘I
amness’ which having created the universe is dwelling within you
as the remnant. The very core of that knowledge ‘You are’
contains the whole universe.
435
When I talk I refer to the ‘I am’ knowledge and not to me
personally. As long as you are attached to and identified with the
body you will never have peace. But once you get rid of the body
attachment you could be the king and ruler of the world, yet still be
at peace.
436
Knowing that you are not the body, watch the vital breath as a flow
of the mind. You are here in the spark of ‘I amness’. When you
acknowledge the ‘I amness’ you become the spark. I am like space
and do not have an identity – this is my ‘I amness’ from which all
the talk is being produced.
437
Unless you have the understanding of ‘I amness’, there is no
progress. Once you understand the ‘I am’, there is nothing further
to understand. When your ‘I amness’ is gone, together with
everything, then there is nothing. Then that Nothingness is
everything, but there no one left to say so.
438
This body is only the food body for the consumption and the
sustenance of the ‘I amness’. You have to remain in that Beingness
or Consciousness with firm faithwhile having no identification
with the body or the personality, or with name and form. Always
identify yourself with Consciousness, it will take a while for this
conviction to root, but persist.
439
‘I am’ is there without saying ‘I am’. ‘I amness’ without thought is
love, love is not taken from the ‘I amness’ The Self becomes
manifest when love gets established as the ‘I amness’.
440
The ‘I amness’ together with the vital breath appear spontaneously
when the body is created. The vital breath and food body are
necessary to sustain the ‘I amness’. When the food body is dropped
by the vital breath the ‘I amness’ disappears. Where does the flame
go when it is extinguished? The same thing applies to the ‘I
amness’.
441
‘I amness’ and Maya are the watcher and the Lila respectively. The
‘I am’ is not involved in any of the activity. I am expounding this
knowledge from the ‘I am’ level, though my normal state observes
the ‘I amness’.
442
When you get established in the Beingness there no thoughts or
words – You are everything and everything is You. Later even that
ceases to exist. Krishna made Arjuna realize that the whole world
is Krishna. He realized that the knowledge ‘I am’, which means the
manifestation of the entire universe, spontaneously appeared on
him.
443
These questions arise because of the conditioning of egoism. When
you are in the ‘I amness’, there is no egoism – it is completely
liquidated. Consciousness appears, is seen and then again is gone.
It is like air in the sky. The mistake happens because we consider
‘That’ Consciousness to be the individual consciousness.
444
‘I amness’ is without ego. The subsequent products are the mind
and the ego. The quality of ‘I amness’ or Beingness is intuition and
inspiration. Just like when you have seed and plant it, it must
sprout. Similarly the quality of Beingness must sprout.
445
The active part is called Maya, and is due to the mind. The inactive
part is called ‘I amness’ or Purusha, which is just watching. Only
when you identify with that which is stationary, the Purusha, can
you become the watcher of the ‘I amness’ and all of its activities.
446
Without this ‘I amness’ the Absolute does not know that ‘It is’.
Watching is not deliberate. Watching happens to the Absolute only
with the appearance of ‘I amness’. The ‘I amness’, like binoculars,
must be there and available for watching to happen.
447
Whatever activities happen, happen only because of your ‘I
amness’. They make no impression on the ‘I amness’. Judgements
like good or bad are aspects of the mind, but if you are one with
that ‘I amness’, then at that stage the mind is not there.
448
The witnessing of the ‘Ishwara’ state occurs to Me. ‘Ishwara’ is the
manifestation of the five elements and the universe. The witnessing
of the ‘I amness’ occurs to the Absolute. A disciple (Sadhaka) who
is getting established in the ‘Ishwara’ principle should not claim
this understanding (Siddha).
449
The entire manifestation of your world and universe is just the
expression and manifestation of your Beingness. The
Consciousness or ‘Ishwara’ is not that of an individual. ‘Ishwara’
means the expression of all forms. This chemical, this ingredient,
is your ‘I amness’ and it is sustained by consuming the food body.
450
The Absolute is watching this ‘I amness’ that is sustained by the
food body. Is it clear? After some time passes in the waking state,
rest is required, so the ‘I amness’ goes into oblivion. It goes to rest
and forgets itself. You may not comprehend exactly what it means
now, but as you get established in the Beingness you will
understand how.
451
‘You’ are above the waking and dreaming states, because those are
only expressions of your Beingness. The waking and dreaming
states pertain only to your ‘I amness’. We are only able to observe
because of the ‘I amness’. When the ‘I amness’ is not there the tool
to observe is also not there. If you are deep inside everything is
gone! And there is no ‘I am’. Then the ‘I am’ merges in the
Absolute.
452
The primary concept is the ‘I am’, out of it are created all other
concepts. You have come from the primary concept, so long as you
have the need to be, you have this prolific wonderful world and all
the Gods are available. The distinction between the world and
Brahman has come because you want to sustain your beingness,
the ‘I am’, the manifest world is made important by you because
you want to be. Whatever without it (consciousness) is perfect.
Only that is, nothing else. My body is universal, not individualistic.
What is this ‘I am’ business? Understand it and be apart from it,
transcend it. Just be.
453
I don’t discuss Brahman or Maya; I tell you my story which is your
story as well. With Atmajnana (Self-knowledge) the ‘I’
consciousness is not there. Then I don’t worry about God or
illusion. The ‘I am’ is the starting point of both misery and
happiness.
454
Prior to the appearance of form in the womb, food stuffs take the
form ‘I am’ and that appears in nine months. With birth the bodily
functions begin, the child does not know that it is. As the child
begins to identify, the sense of ‘I amness’ takes shape, only then
the mother can teach the misleading headings like body name and
so forth. Prior to the waking or sleep state is the Parabrahman. The
state which gives you knowledge is Brahman.
455
The body falls down but what happened to me? For that principle
for which you get no reply, is perfect, whatever answer you get is
wrong. If I think of this world, why should I not inquire about prior
to consciousness? If I tackle this question, I must investigate what
is this principle of ‘I am’? I would prefer to play with that child not
born because eternal Parabramhan and unborn children are alike.
456
I am experiencing the manifest world but prior to it I experience
the ‘Bindu’, the point. When I am that Bindu, everything is, the
world also is. The Bindu and the world are not two. ‘Bin’ means
without and ‘du’ means two, so, no duality. Bindu – the point of ‘I
amness’, I experience that. What is it? It is the very experience of
the five elements and the three gunas – the whole universe. That is
my intimate relationship with that ‘I am’ only – Bindu only.
457
Whatever is observed in the manifest world is your own Self, The
observer is ‘I am’, It is a receptacle of the five elements and three
gunas. The entire universe is in activity because of the three gunas.
The play of the entire world is based on the five elements and three
gunas. But you cling to your body; the body is also a play of the
five elements and three gunas.
458
The whole life is endured and sustained by the knowledge particle,
‘I am’. Without ‘I am’ there is no life. They are interdependent, not
one without the other. I am prior to the ‘I am’, which is true,
eternal and immutable. Beingness,world and body are time bound,
your life is not for ever, it rises and sets like the waking and
sleeping states alternate. The totality of manifestation thrives as
long as the beingness is there.
459
The five elements disintegrate but I don’t disappear. For instance, I
am invited to some place to stay. The room in which I stay
becomes my room, but does it belong to me? All belongs to the
five elements. The essential contribution of the five elements is the
‘I am’ the five elements disintegrate, the ‘I am’ goes and a person
is declared dead. Wherever I go to stay I always know my
permanent abode.
460
Whatever you observe, you don’t require, that principle through
which ‘you are’ is greater. In the waking state ‘you are’ so you
have needs, in the absence of ‘I amness’ where are the needs? In
spite of being, not having the knowledge of being is non-being,
that state is a source of peace.
461
The sense of taste comes from the element earth, perception
emanates from air and sound from space, but the primary concept
is ‘I am’. First without sound you know ‘I am’ (as when you
awaken from deep sleep), then you say ‘I am’, with this comes the
need ‘to be’. With the departure of the vital breath, there is no
sound, no language, no warmth – its death, death is also a concept.
Nevertheless, everything dwells in food essence quality (‘I am’),
when this disappears – it is all over. To sustain beingness, the
product of food, we eat food, but that is not your identity.
462
The ‘I am’ is objective, it is the ‘I am’ that investigates and it is the
‘I am’ that disposes itself off and stabilizes in Eternity. The body is
made up of elements; the quintessence or quality (guna) is the ‘I
am’. You replenish the food-body or ‘I amness’ with water and
food.
463
What is Ishwara? My Guru told methat the one who is listening is
Ishwara itself. The ‘I am’ is Ishwara, there are various names given
to that ‘I am’ but that ‘I am’ is not your body. Your knowledge ‘I
am’ contains the whole universe, presently it is difficult for you to
believe, so for the moment worship it. Beingness contains
everything, worship that and all your requirements will be met.
Ultimately the knowledge is yours.
464
Beingness is the lord of the universe, therefore, all the time, be
with the lord of manifestation and all your problems and puzzles
will be cleared. This knowledge that ‘I am’ makes perception
possible, make it you own. Whatever you may want, just do this
(abide in the ‘I am’) and you will have everything. In this
knowledge ‘I am’ is the entire universe. Consciousness is the lord
of all manifestation, only because of the body that we consider this
consciousness as a bodily principle.
465
Without the intake of food, there is no opportunity to say ‘I am’,
out of the essence of the earth sprouts vegetation and out of that
sprouts the ‘I am’, realize this without eyesight or intellect. That
principle likes to cry, enjoy, and laugh, but you are not that, realize
this only. Become one with the ‘Iam’, then you can transcend it,
then ‘I the Absolute’ am not the ‘I am’.
466
Worship the beingness, which is nothing but suffering. Worship
misery and it will become less and less. It will also help you to get
rid of misery; this ‘I am’ is itself misery, make any use of it as you
like. If you like you may take it as Prarabdha (Destiny).
467
There is no difference in the types of ‘I amness’, I experience
fatigue now, good health earlier, but the common factor is
beingness which has not changed. All is illusion, the ‘I am’ is
knowledge, but it’s also an illusion, say what you like, nothing
prevails, except the knowledge ‘you are’. You presume that the
world has existed without your beingness; your world is with your
arrival, not prior to it, if you are not, your world is not.
468
The talk about myself is the talk about yourself. Let any worthy
one reach to any heights, anywhere, but it is time-bound. Any
height! It is just a passage of time. Time means the Sun – the world
is because of it – beingness. The sum total means ‘you are’,
beingness only, when the knowledge ‘I am’ sets, the world is
liquidated, Nivritti – no message ‘I am’.
469
But I have already told you, you are Ishwara. You have to have the
conviction that ‘I am That’, a mental determination. With the
appearance of the knowledge ‘I am’, appears the space and the four
other elements, your beingness gives rise to them, first beingness,
then others When you identify with it and stabilize in the
beingness, you are not even that. In the knowledge of the Jnani (or
theAbsolute), the world is all a spectacle, the Jnani is apart from
the knowledge ‘ I am’.
470
You are ‘That’ only, prior to them (concepts and memory) is the ‘I
am’, further still when you recede, is the Absolute. But most
people die with memory and concepts. Who understands that
memory is not operating today?It’s the knowledge ‘I am’.
Surrender to the beingness, from it all movement happens; go to
the source of the movement which is the beingness. Hammer it into
yourself that your own beingness is the parent of the entire
manifestation. Beingness will helpyou in abiding in itself,
beingness is observed by the Ultimate (the Absolute) that has no
senses, no eyes, but witnessing just happens. I am introducing you
to your own beingness, the first stage is to meditate on the
beingness, abide in it.
471
With whatever concepts you hold on you go to a Guru, if he is a
Jnani he gets rid of all your concepts. But what is the main concept
on which all depends? It’s the ‘I am’, the ‘I am’ is itself a concept.
It is a basic source from which all other concepts flow. Getting a
firm conviction about yourself isto become a Sadguru (the one
beyond the ‘I am’)whatever is termed as Parabrahman – the
Absolute – is your true Self.
472
Whatever you presently know is false, if the ‘I am’ is there,
Ishwara is there. The ‘I am’ is Ishwara’s soul and Ishwara is my
soul, both exist together. Ishwara is without limits, I am also like
that, like Ishwara, penniless. Now, just forget everything and find
out how will you be on a permanent basis? All this talk of God and
yourself is just for killing time. Go ahead, no God, no I, as long as
you have cravings, knowledge will not be yours, Ishwara dies
before me.
473
Prior to birth there is no waking, sleeping or the beingness (the
knowledge ‘I am’), these three are born and are dependent on the
food essence. When this essence becomes weak, the three states
depart. Who is born or dies? In the absence of the three states, did
you know God? Did you know that you existed?
474
By staying in this knowledge (‘I am’) you can dissolve the subtle
body. The pill – the three states (waking, sleep and beingness) –
dissolves. Then there is no coming,till then the subtle body will
remain. So long the food essence is there the ‘I am’ knowledge is
there, once the essence is exhausted, knowings goes.
475
The knowledge ‘I am’ is within you with that conviction you
worship. One who meditates on the knowledge, ‘I am’, everything
in the realm of consciousness becomes clear to him. He lives
without telling it, hence from this place, you carry the conviction
about yourself that you know the knowledge ‘I am’ is God, there
can be no other gain.
476
Day by day your conviction that the knowledge. ‘I am’ is God
must grow. Don’t care about the body, by constant meditation,
when God is pleased, you will have complete knowledge in the
realm of Consciousness. You may go anywhere, but don’t forget
that the knowledge, ‘I am’ itself is God.
477
Until that voice (‘I am’) of consciousness came, I was not
concerned. Once it left, I went too, so be with the consciousness
(the ‘I am’), all the teachings are based on this. This concern for
the world is because of consciousness; it will be there as long as
consciousness is there.
478
The ‘I am’ is all, the God, just know that the ‘I am’ is God, this is
the first step, the knowledge ‘I am’ is yourself. All other activities
will follow; you just get established in the knowledge. ‘I am’, it is
the sun, and all other activities are rays
479
The knowledge ‘I am’, without memories and concepts, is
everything. The idea ‘I am the body and mind’ is not that
knowledge. No effort is required, the main thing is that ‘you are’
(or ‘I am’) when you listen to me and stay there, you’ll understand
that the knowledge ‘I am’ is independent of body-mind.
480
Go to the source and be established there, then, there is no change.
You might have read the Gita, who is there to judge its soundness?
The knowledge ‘I am’ has to approve whatever is said there.
Establish yourself in the Self, whatever you are prior to the ‘I am’,
get established there. When this abidance in the Self is achieved,
all talks with sound gibberish.
481
This knowledge (‘I am’) is for each man to understanding and be
still in it. By understanding the Self you understand the world,
what else is there? You are as large as the world, if you are; the
world is, otherwise not. The trap of birth and death is because of
the ‘I am’, dwell on it, realize it and transcend it.
482
The confidence and knowledge that ‘you are’, on what does it
depend? Beingness becomes no beingness and no-beingness
spontaneously becomes beingness, so whom should we question?
You should yourself investigate it; what is the support of the ‘I
am’? On what does the faith that‘you are’ depend? Why is there
beingness? Why am I? How am I? People only think of the body
and mind, then, come death and the faith ‘I am’ disappears.
483
From deep sleep you wake up, that border is Paravani, beyond
words. When you move, become conscious, you feel ‘I am’, then
mind takes charge, words take over and you are embroiled in the
world. Paravani is other than language, ‘Para’ means ‘other’ or
‘transcend’ – the language of just being without words, but I, The
Absolute, am not that
484
The one, who tries to abide in the Self, loses identity with his ego.
The very identity that ‘I am’ gets dissolved. Your true identity –
The Absolute – is prior to the ‘I am’. How can you provide a
uniform (the ocher robe) to it?
485
Everyone, from plants to creatures, want and know the ‘I am’ to be
there, once we have existence,  we want it to continue. Your
experience is because of the beingness, the world depends on
beingness, is it happy or miserable? When your beingness is not
there, is it happy or miserable?
486
Become free from concepts, no concepts, including the ‘I am’. The
‘I am’ is the primary concept, the primary illusion The primary
concept itself, for its sustenance, created so many substances, like
wheat flour and wheat products. Out of the touch of ‘I amness’
arose so many concepts and various names.
487
Did you ever see the moon and all before the appearance of the
beingness, Brahma or this illusion? Although the ‘I am’ is ample
and plenty, it is an illusion that induces multiplicity. This manifest
world is a dynamic play of the five elements and there is no scope
for an individual. Just as a diamond radiates from all sides,
similarly in deep meditation you will realize that you are this entire
manifestation.
488
My Guru taught me what ‘I am’, I pondered only on that. My
consciousness appeared along with my body form. My original
state is to be in that state where there is no ‘I am’. I am explaining
my state of affairs, from my standpoint you must realize yourself.
489
The ‘I am’ consciousness is the advertisement of The Absolute.
The Absolute is unknown, what you call Ishwara, Brahma and so
forth are hoardings of The Absolute.
490
I know that this manifest Brahman or Cosmos is unreal, time bound and unstable. The message ‘I am’ has spontaneously come
and is the root of the manifested world. The message ‘I am’,
caught hold of the body as its identity and suffering started. The ‘I
am’ happened and the world was cooked up. Even this
information, you got later, when the ‘I am’ came into friction,
recognized the body, mother and so on, prior to that you did not
have the message ‘I am’, you existed, but you did not know.
491
In that non-subjective state, the subject started. In the infinite state,
the ‘I am’ state is temporary; don’t give up your true standpoint
otherwise you will be fooled. To whatever extent you would
conduct your search, it would still be in the realm of ‘I am ness’.
Don’t retain it (‘I am’) in memory, then you will be happy.
492
Catch hold of that ‘I am’ only and all obstacles will evaporate. If
you correctly understand me, you will be beyond the realm of
body-mind. Many a times it happens that teachings are
misunderstood. Because the ‘I am’ is there, these questions arise, If
the ‘I am’ is not there, no questions can arise. In the realm of ‘I
am’ anything is possible, but if I were alert enough, do you think I
would have been in this body? The Jnani is the one who knows
that beingness, the world and Brahman are unreal. Having
understood the ‘I am’, I transcend it and came to the conclusion
that all the three entities are unreal, and then what more remains to
be liquidated? The ‘Parabrahman’ is without attributes and I am
‘Parabrahman’, I am not the being ness, the world nor Brahman
493
Manifested Brahma is the ‘I am’, whatever principle is prior to the
utterance of sound, that principle proclaims by itself. What I insists
is that you must stabilize is that state. The recitation of the mantra
‘So Hum’ must be for a very long time, it is prior to words. When
that ‘So Hum’ principle, is pleased, that principle, represented by
these words, expounds knowledge.
494
The ‘So Hum’ Japa is incessantly going on in your pulse,
indicating ‘I am’ get in tune with it by recitation. That ‘So Hum’
energy without words is the raw material of incarnations and the
incarnations are the hoardings of the primary principle. The
primordial principle is ‘Parabrahman’; its advertisement is done by
movement, the stirrings of ‘So Hum’. By its movement it is
praising the primordial principle, that advertising material is the
‘Moolmaya’ (Primary Illusion). That incarnating principle – the
‘Moolmaya’– gives knowledge to the incarnated.
495
What is your core state? In that true accomplished state, there is no
scope for even space, let alone the words. In the process of
understanding my Guru’s words as to how ‘I am’ I realized ‘I am
not’. In that state there is no un struck sound either. In the process
of Neti,Neti (Not this, not this) it happens, in the state of ‘I
amness’ finally everything disappears and you get stabilized. If
you realize and stabilize, then even if you are silent people will fall
at your feet.
496
The ‘I am’ is the only God to be pleased. Whatever you presently
know about God is only bargaining. Your very existence or
beingness is the proof that God exists. If I am not, God is not.
God’s existence is due to the consciousness, the ‘I am’, please it
and it will lead you to its source.
497
Intelligence is innately there like fire in the match stick. The final
culmination of the elemental interplay is the human body, where
the touch of ‘I am’ appears. Birth is like a spark coming from the
rubbing of stones, there is the elemental friction and you have the
spark ‘I am’. The qualities of a Bodhisattva are due to the
knowledge ‘I am’, but that is temporary and so the perfect Jnani
says all manifestation is unreal, only ‘Parabrahman’ is real.
498
This body packet of the five elements gets conditioned into the ego
or individuality. When you transcend the body you dwell in the ‘I
am’ (in manifestation), at that stage you know that all is the five
elemental play. So long as the ‘I amness’ prevails or the ‘I am’ is
realized it is also realized that there is another Absolute principal
to which witnessing happens, and  That Absolute principal is
beyond time.
499
The ‘I am’ is the center or the essence of the food body, which is a
result of the five elements. Out of  spacial activity there is water,
vegetation and so forth, so ‘I amness’ is a culmination of the five
elemental activity. This ‘I amness’, whenever enjoyed beyond the
body is your destiny. When you dwell in destiny as ‘I am’, you
realize that it is not your death, but the disappearance of ‘I
amness.’ You just dwell in it, and itself it will tell you its own
story.
500
Who is a Jnani? A Jnani is one who has come to a conclusion
about the raw material of the ‘I am’ and that he stands apart from
it. You presume that you have a lot of knowledge, yet you have not
been able to get rid of your identity, but even if you keep in mind
just two words (‘I am’), your job is done.
501
You reduce your identification with the body, in that process the
knowledge ‘I am’ which knows itself, will be clear. If you embrace
the body sense, there will be a lot of questions. If the knowledge
‘you are’ is not there, will any bodykeep this body? The principle
that rejects or gives up the body is your Self.
502
What do you mean by ‘I am’ or the feeling of ‘you are’? All the
names relate to the ‘I amness’, Atman also is its name. If there is
no ‘I amness’, whose names can these all be? You cannot say this
and that consciousness, your consciousness is your world only. To
fully understand and realize all this, do meditation. That sound, the
humming ‘I am’, is the Ishwara sound. It is a reminder that, you
are God, but your reject the soundless sound by identifying with
the body. On your own authority, in absence of the ‘I am’
principle, what can you do?
503
Go to the root and you conclude ‘I am’… yes… yes…, you say ‘I
am’, without words. Investigation will reveal that it is a result of
the five elemental play. There is another principle that observes the
‘I am’ and the elemental play.
504
The ‘I am’ means all this spectacle that you are seeing, later, you
also see that number of universes are playing in that ‘I am’. When
you understand all this verbally, you may become a pseudo-Guru,
which is not realization. You must realize that you only observe,
and you are not that, you are not that ‘I am’ in which universes are
playing.
505
That (Absolute) state is not to be experienced, about that you can’t
speak. Just be that state, what is experienced is not truth. What is
experienced is not truth that is the primary problem. I did not know
that I was in that state, suddenly I knew, ‘I am’, thus all the
trouble. In that state there was no knowings, suddenly ‘I am’
and I caught hold of the body. My identity of ‘I amness’ is the
entire manifestation, not individual body. All the trouble began
with the ‘otherness’, a quality that came with ‘I amness’.
506
Whenever there is a problem you ask: ‘let us find the state of
affairs as they are’, don’t try to bluff, and then the solution comes.
So in this fraudulent play of the manifest world I went on to find
the actual position, the ‘I amness’ means world manifestation and
it is a time bound state, so why should I bother? Presently ‘I
amness’ is bubbling and challenging, but all this is time bound,
pride will go along with the ‘I am’ (So Hum), later on, ‘no-I am’
(No Hum).
507
Just try to be in that ‘I am ness’ don’t try to put effort and
concentration When ‘you are’ it is ‘I am ness’, when ‘you are’ the
being ness is automatically there. Whatever ‘you are’ without doing
any effort, be there. Don’t try to interpret ‘I am ness’. You are
without the body sense, when you identify with body-mind, then
the trouble begins
508
The ‘I am’ in body form can reach the highest state, if you accept it
and dwell there you escape birth and death. Just be in that
principle, there are no disciplines for this. If you do penance it is
because you have sinned in previous births, but if you really come
across a sage he shows you your true nature.
509
The Atman has no birth, this touch of ‘I am’ is a hoarding of the
Absolute, and only the advertisement disappears. The ‘I am’ is an
illusion, temporary; the one who knows this knows the eternal
principle. Whatever experiences you enjoy are an imperfect state.
You involve yourself in practices, because the mind does not let
you be quiet.
510
The ‘I am’ is in a dormant condition in the womb, it is an ignorant
condition. How could it know itself? At three years or so the
knowledge ‘I am’ comes spontaneously with the formation of
body. Around middle age it is at a climax, while in old age the
quality of ‘I amness’ is diminished. Then finally the ‘I am’
disappears, and identity too is gone.
511
Whatever concepts I give blast your concepts. I have presently no
abundance of thoughts but only those pertaining to the ‘I am’. A
common man he feels that his hopes and desires would be fulfilled
so life if important to him. After listening to the talks here all
hopes and desires are not fulfilled, but you transcend them.
512
In the waking state, the witnessing state is always there. There is
no other Brahman greater than you,accept this and go, you are the
greatest. In that small round cell is contained all the space, in it the
Cosmos and earth are there, that small cell is the principle of ‘I am’
The moment it is there, space is manifested, the womb is space
started from the small cell ‘I am’.
513
All multiplicity is manifested from the Ishwara principle; it is
sprouting from the ‘I am’ principle, Ishwara, or ‘I am’ is the
manifest principle. If you don’t forget yourself for four days, you
will die. You did not know you were, suddenly you felt ‘you are’
and with ‘I am ness’ you started counting age. When exactly you
felt that ‘you are’? Dwell there, ponder over it.
514
In the body there is already that self-accomplished principle ‘I am’
which is witnessing mind and body, it is neither mind, body nor the
vital breath. It has to be gradually realized that this principle has no
form; it is subtler than the mind.By mistake the ‘I am’ accepts the
body as itself, it is an exclusive principle apart from the body,
mind and vital breath.
515
If petty worldly knowledge has no form, then can the knowledge ‘I
am’ or Ishwara state have any form? If you accept this, then accept
it and go and don’t go elsewhere, just dwell there. Let any activity
happen through your knowledge ‘I am’, which has no form, but is
its witness only. The knowledge ‘you are’ has no form, so also for
other knowledge. ‘You are’ is the primary knowledge.
516
I am talking about knowledge, whatever knowledge the ‘I am’ is,
it’s the knowledge. You are living to sustain that knowledge ‘I
am’, hence you struggle. If that knowledge is gone, what interest
could you have? You are like a doctor taking care, the knowledge
‘you are’ is nourishing and protecting the body. Remember this, if
you want to remember me, remember the knowledge ‘I am’.
Ancestors told us to meditate on me, remember me, but they also
said that the knowledge ‘I am’ is me too.
517
Primarily because of your identification with your body, you have
polluted God. Because of your association with body, you have
fear of death. There is no death only the vital breath departs and ‘I
am’ disappears. Body is the sustenance of ‘I am ness’ or Atman. I
say, if you want to remember this visit, remember the knowledge ‘I
am’, or remember the knowledge ‘you are’.
518
This ‘I am ness’ quality is the Sattva guna (food essence quality). I
am The Absolute, I am not that touch of ‘I am ness’, so long ‘I am’
is there witnessing will happen to The Absolute spontaneously.
The dawn and sunlight depend on time, but their observer does not
depend on time.
519
The ‘I am’ in a child is dormant, it does not know itself, but it is
there, in due course it knows itself and as a one knows ‘I am’. Go
to the root, the beginning of the child, when you understand that
you are not consciousness, stabilize there; understand and get out.
520
‘I am ness’ is there provided these stages (waking or sleep) are
there, by itself it cannot be. Simultaneously, all these three stages
are a product of food essence. In the absence of body sense, is
there any community of waking and sleep states? Have this
affirmation, forget spirituality and dwell there (in the ‘I am’).
521
The body identity cannot get this knowledge, the knowledge ‘I am’
must get this knowledge ‘I am’, when knowledge abides in
knowledge there is transcendence of knowledge.
522
You are beyond all desire, which itself depends solely on the ‘I
am’ consciousness. Do not attempt to suppress your desires,
simply refrain from identifying with them – ‘I am not this desire’.
The desire will, of itself, disappear. When all desire has vanished,
consciousness (‘I am’) will also vanish – what remains is the
Reality.
523
All actions are performed by the ‘Ishwara’ principle (‘I am’) which
is time-bound and has its being in the unknown. So what is there to
do? Why say that I do anything? The ‘I am’ consciousness does
everything and this ‘I am’ is nothing but knowledge without
attributes, which is time-bound.
524
The greatest obstacle is the ‘I am’ growing over your true nature,
which gives you the feeling ‘I am doing this’ and ‘I am so and so’,
so you feel benefited by this ‘Iam’, but you are really being
cheated by it.
525
When the consciousness of ‘I am’ becomes pure (simply the ‘I am’
and not ‘I am this ‘or ‘I am that’) – you become ‘Ishwara’ (God or
creator) and the sky becomes your body.
526
The ‘I am’ is the purest form of attribute (it can be even said to
have no attributes). When even this pure attribute goes it is
‘Parabrahman’, ‘Brahman’ (God or ‘I am’) means that ‘the news’
has arrived. When this ‘news’ has gone, it is ‘Parabrahman’. That
you exist is the primary knowledge.
527
This ‘I am’ consciousness in its purity, having only one attribute
(that ‘it is’), is also know as ‘Saguna Brahman’ (God with form),
which is also known as the ‘Ishwara Rupa’ (form of the Lord).
This pure attribute of ‘I am’ consciousness is called ‘Sattva
(harmony) guna (element or quality) from which other ‘gunas’
(qualities) follow, when this ‘Sattva’ dries up, so does reflected
consciousness.
528
The consciousness of ‘I am’ is the first and foremost thing. This
feeling (that ‘I am conscious’) comes to you only because there is
something older or earlier to which this ‘I am’ consciousness
appears. All change appears superimposed upon the changeless
substratum.
529
You must pay attention to the ‘I am’, being constantly alert and
focused on the ‘I am’ only. The five elements are only an
extension of your own Self, you must be fully acquainted with the
‘I am’ in order to go inwards.
530
This interval between the beginning of ‘I am’ consciousness (birth
and waking state) and until you lose it again (death and deep sleep
state) is called ‘time’. Time and attributes are not two, but one, and
both must pass away.
531
That you exist (as a personality, the feeling or consciousness of ‘I
am’) is an illusion, therefore whatever is seen through this illusion
cannot be real. All of what I am saying – this whole discussion is
illusion, beyond that you must proceed yourself.
532
You cannot transcend activity until you return to the Source. That
you exist (in the ‘I am’ sense) is the illusion, its nature is to divide
and appear as many. When the feeling ‘I am’ arises you attach
reality to the objective world, which is constantly undergoing
transformation and change. I know that it is ‘Maya’ (‘whatever is
not’).
533
When Krishna says, ‘I remember all my past births’, he means that
he remembers ‘I am’ which is the fundamental feeling behind all
births. There is no ‘I am such and such’.
534
From consciousness alone we are directed to act. Consciousness
appears on Awareness and acts. Awareness does not act, it is the
pure witness. The consciousness of you, or Pure consciousness, is
the ‘Ishwara’ or God or ‘I am’ state i.e., Universal consciousness.
This is not personal consciousness. The whole world is created by
the consciousness. When this  consciousness is limited to an
individual, it becomes the ego, intellect, mind or ‘Jiva’.
535
The ‘I am’ state has great potency, and from this the manifestation
of the universe has taken place. After the ‘I am’ merges in the Pure
Awareness, the entire universe vanishes as though it had never
existed. The first step is to go to this ‘I am’ state, remain there and
then merge and go beyond. Try to sustain this ‘I am’ state, stay
unconcerned by thoughts of both good and bad.
536
There are millions of visions and experiences present in the seed of
the ‘I am’, but being aloof and unconcerned about them is the key
go beyond. The most relaxed state is this ‘I am’ state – free from
all fear and anxiety. The ‘Om’ is  consciousness or ‘I am’ itself.
537
One must be in the ‘I am’ continuously and effortlessly with the
idea- ‘I am not the body’. All unhappiness is caused by claiming
‘doer ship’ of actions, do not claim ‘doer ship’ and unhappiness will
vanish. Even the ‘I am’ is a mirage, time-bound and would
disappear.
538
‘Sat-Guru’ is your true Self.  The ‘I am’ is the ‘Guru’ or
consciousness in a body. This ‘I am’ is witnessed by the Self in
you or the ‘Sat-Guru’ which is un-manifest. The ‘Guru’ is the
manifested consciousness.
539
Consciousness in its purity is ‘Turiya’ (pure ‘I am’ or the fourth
state), but I am beyond it and living in (as) the ‘Turiyatita’ (Reality
or the Absolute).
540
Repetition of ‘Mantra’ takes one to the pure ‘I am’ state or ‘Sattva
Guna’ and from there one merges into the source of all bliss, and
then, all knowledge that you possess is laid down or surrendered
and you merge with the Absolute beyond all name and form.
541
Go to the ‘I am’ level and dwell there. Because you at the body
level revel in all these objective things, but if you were to go to the
‘I am’ and firmly abide in that, then all these external things will
lose grip on you.
542
‘There is nobody else but me or my consciousness’, this is
‘Advaita-Bhakti’ (Non-dual devotion) – ‘I am’. This is the highest
devotion – to vanish and be lost or submerged in this vast
unknown.
543
The Awareness of Pure Existence got the feeling ‘I am’, and from
this seed this entire world or universe was born.
544
The first step is to go to the ‘I am’ and dwell there and from there
you go beyond consciousness and no-consciousness to infinite
consciousness. In that permanent ‘Parabrahman’ state you become
completely desire less and silent and even the thought ‘I am’
doesn’t arise. The mind dwelling in the pure ‘I am’ state is a very
subtle and purified mind, but Reality is beyond that.
545
The Consciousness of ‘I am’ is the sole capital you have, dwell on
this and nothing else is necessary, all concepts will disappear and
you will be left unidentified with anything. From where does the ‘I
am’ consciousness come and to where it goes? This is to be found
out. When you were born what exactly happened? – Did you desire
it, or it just happened?
546
To earn your livelihood you have to think about your practical
pursuits, but once they are over return back to this thoughtless,
formless contemplation of ‘I am’. Do carry out your activities but
remember that ‘You’ are Godly and completely untarnished by
these activities. When you are in this ‘Ishwara’ state, all these
activities in the world will go on spontaneously.
547
All yogas and practices come through the consciousness of ‘I am’
only, which is itself an illusion. Whatever is happening in this
illusion, yoga, ‘Kundalini’ or anything else, is relative and time bound.
548
Food, sleep and procreation, this is happening everywhere in the
objective world, whether you are Christian, Hindu or Muslim, but
all these experiences are through the consciousness ‘I am’, which
is itself an illusion.
549
The entire objective world rises and sets with this consciousness ‘I
am’ which has infinite powers to become whatever it wants. But
this again would only be a dream and not in Reality, where nothing
has ever happened or changed at all.
550
The objective world is nothing but a sport or art of this ‘I am’
consciousness. Your true nature is beyond this. There is no
intrinsic value in this consciousness of ‘I am’, except to know and
realize its illusory nature.
551
Once we have accepted the definition of Reality of being that
which persists or is at all times the same, then we know that
Reality can never change. The objective world and the
consciousness of ‘I am’ (In deep sleep there is no feeling of ‘I am’)
is constantly changing, so from this we can infer that whatever
changes is only an appearance and not a Reality.
552
Study the nature of this ‘I am’ consciousness. Once you understand
the nature of this consciousness and that it is untrue, then all your
search is over, there is no more effort required.
553
As long you have an attribute you have desire. From where has this
attribute come? It has come from this consciousness ‘I am’, but his
again has only appeared on your true State, which does not change.
554
Any knowledge, art or science, comes through this ‘I am’
consciousness. You can become perfect in any art, skill, or science,
but this is still ultimately all false or impermanent, for the ‘I am’
itself is a false or impermanent thing. I cannot really tell you the
story of Myself for It cannot be expressed in words.
555
There is happiness and unhappiness in this world only because of
this consciousness of ‘I am’. This consciousness of ‘I am’ is the
world. With the touch of this ‘I am’ consciousness, this world
comes into existence. Without the ‘I am’ consciousness, you are
untouched or absolutely pure. There is no cause or reason for this
consciousness of ‘I am’, it has just simply appeared.
556
The ‘I am’ consciousness in its pristine purity is the Guru or God –
Once you have respect for this, it will reveal all the necessary
knowledge to you and you will then understand that You are
beyond this ‘I’ consciousness.
557
In truth the ‘I am’ consciousness was never there, so when it goes,
what do I lose? Do I die or remain what I ever have been? There in
that state, there is no ‘God’ – no sense of separateness at all, no ‘I
am’.
558
Without the intellect you know, or you are, the true state. But as
soon as the intellect comes into play it is the operation of the ‘I am’
consciousness.
559
My true state is always without this ‘I am’ consciousness – so if
you live with this Knowledge, you won’t be always thinking about
death and contemplating death, and hence you will live longer
physically as your mind and body will be free of unnecessary
tensions, thoughts and beliefs.
560
Unless the knowledge of ‘I am’ or Guru’s grace blesses you, you
will not be able to comprehend your true nature. Even this ‘I am’
consciousness does not really need anything. Your true state is
beyond this ‘I am’ and it has no needs or requirements at all.
561
You should use this power of discrimination always, and find out
in truth, whether you really are a person. If you truly inquire you
will find that you were never a person at all. Even the ‘Great
Cause’ or Creator (‘Ishwara’ or God) finally is only a word. The
‘Great cause’ is the ‘I am’ consciousness.
562
The experience of the world comes through the consciousness of ‘I
am’. In the dream state you have the illusion of being awake (you
feel that the dream is real while you are dreaming, the
consciousness of ‘I am’ is operating) but what is illusory in this?
The consciousness itself is illusion, that we are sitting here and
talking is itself illusory.
563
All this talking and discussion we are doing here is because of the
consciousness ‘I am’. This consciousness ‘I am’ is illusory and
completely unreal to the ‘Jnani’. Ultimately, until you can leave off
completely the feeling of personality you will not be able to fully
comprehend the Absolute Reality.
564
This ‘I am’ consciousness is great for it creates the vast world, but
You are greater, for You are the Reality behind and beyond this ‘I
am’ consciousness. You have come to me to ask me something and
I have told you that ‘You are the Reality’, so remember this, stick
to this and live by this knowledge. You are the Reality. You are the
‘Parabrahman’, so meditate on this and remember this, and finally
the idea that ‘I am Parabrahman’ will also leave you.
565
The consciousness ‘I am’ has a little distance from the True state,
hence it is unreal, for whatever is away from the True state or
Reality is unreal.
566
You say that the consciousness of ‘I am’ is in the body, but the
body is known to be impermanent or unreal, hence this
consciousness in its pristine purity isfully manifest (i.e. it has the
entire universe as its body). It has only one attribute ‘I am’, but
without name, shape or form. Yet it is my true state, which
understands this and is still beyond this.
567
God (‘I am’) is time-bound. He is only an appearance on our true
state. You as the Reality exist first, and only then does the idea of
God arise.
568
Simply understand that the ‘I am’ consciousness in you in its
pristine purity is itself God (the creator of the universe). So if you
want anything pray to this ‘Iam’ consciousness in yourself.
569
The consciousness of ‘I am’ is ultimately the same as the mind.
The whole vast universe is really in this mind or the consciousness
of ‘I am’, which is an appearance only.
570
My true position is at all times beyond this consciousness of ‘I
am’. Whatever comes out of this ‘I’ consciousness (mind, body,
world etc) – when I know that I am not this, why should I depend
on any mind, method, idea or technique which come out of this
illusory consciousness?
571
Once I have realized the nature of this consciousness of ‘I am’,
how it has appeared on my true nature and that it is truly only an
illusory thing. When I have fully known and realized this, then the
consciousness of ‘I am’ (within which is contained the vast
universe), dissolves or merges in Me.
572
The consciousness of ‘I am’ is the world, and there is nothing
wrong in seeing or witnessing this world. The mistake comes in
only when you take it to be real, as we almost all wrongly do.