Wisdom of the Mystics: Nisargadatta Maharaj Ji

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to another episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N.

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Singh.

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Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode . Today we will be continuing on with the series called Wisdom of the Mystics.

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Last month we looked at the teachings of my Guru, Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj and we went through a few quotes and I expressed some of my experiences with him.

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And today we'll be looking at the teachings of Nisargadatta Maharaj.

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So Nisargadatta Maharaj as we know, he's very honest, very direct.

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He didn't mince his words, and that is what makes him an interesting person to look into.

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He used to sell beedis, which were kind of like cigarettes in the corners of Mumbai, and he came across these teachings by his Guru.

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We'll go through a few quotes of his and then we'll do a bit of an explanation.

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The first quote.

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Liberation is to be free- to be free of concepts.

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It is the freedom from the idea that there was or is any bondage.

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It is freedom from our mind, intellect and concepts.

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The Self is free of any expectations to exist.

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Hence, it doesn't need any liberation.

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The knower of the center of mind-intellect is not troubled by them.

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The mind-intellect only affects the body-identity.

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First of all, what we can understand from here and just in general, the whole purpose of spirituality is to be free from conceptual understanding.

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and that is what makes Nisargadatta Maharaj very appealing for a lot of people because he does break you away from certain concepts.

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In fact, he didn't compromise on any level and that's what made him quite interesting.

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I understand now his appeal because if you look at people like Sam Harris, who may be, you know considered an atheist, but he finds the writings or the sayings of Nisargadatta Maharaj to be quite interesting.

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So this says a lot about what Nisargadatta Maharaj is and what he represents, that he's able to even break free from the mold of the spiritual master or spiritual Guru concept that people can have.

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The whole purpose of spirituality is to be free from conceptual understanding and the whole purpose of utilizing concepts is to help us understand more and eventually get to the level of insight that's required to understand Brahm Gyana or the knowledge of Brahman.

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Now, concepts are very necessary because they do help us to discern like between the Real and the unreal, but we have to understand that we have to transcend the concepts at some point.

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We can't keep holding onto them because we have to start abiding in Formless Awareness.

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If we are going to continue on holding onto concepts or we continue holding onto the Gyana instead of actually abiding in it, we are basically not utilizing its full capacity.

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First of all, what we need to understand is, you know, we are Consciousness, we are this Formless Awareness.

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There's no doubt about it.

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And therefore, we are not bound by the body and mind.

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Now whatever allows the body and mind to function, we are not that.

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As Ashtavakra Ji says in the Ashtavakra Gita that if we think we are bound, then we are bound.

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If we think we are free, then we are free.

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It is as simple as that.

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Now you hear that saying, but if you're going to hold onto it, then there's no point.

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But if you listen to it, , see where it's pointing to go to that direction, where it's making you be aware of the thought of being free.

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Then you realize, well, if the thoughts that you are free is freeing you, then you just stay in that freedom.

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. That's the whole point, is to stay in the freedom instead of making freedom into a concept of, oh, I experienced freedom yesterday.

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I need to go to it.

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No, it's about being in freedom all the time, being in liberation, in jivan-mukti all the time.

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To be in Formless Awareness, we do not need concepts.

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We do not need ideas or belief systems.

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They are just tools to use, but they are not things to keep going back to, or keep referring back to.

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The reason why I say this is because that means we are discounting what we actually are going through.

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For example, if I'm in Formless Awareness, if I keep going back to the knowledge, then I am stepping away from being in Formless Awareness and going to the knowledge.

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So I'm going to the past, I'm going to a different time.

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That's why we have to be free from concepts.

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So we utilize concepts, but we have to rise above.

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The moment we have some expectations of a deity, of some God or some Guru then we cannot know the Self because the Self is beyond these mundane expectations that we have.

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For example, we may expect a deity to listen to our prayers.

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We may expect a God to accept and give its grace to us, and therefore gives us liberation.

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Or it may be some Guru that if we chat to them, our life would be better.

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Or we may go to a Guru and we may be like just holding onto the physical form instead of actually looking at the teachings.

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When we do that then we cannot know the Self because we're doing everything we can to distract us from knowing the Self.

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We have to understand that the Self is beyond those mundane expectations we have.

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And also like sometimes with the Guru, we expect that, oh yeah, when they give us something, maybe then we become realized, no, you have to put in the effort.

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The Guru will point you in the right direction and I don't think the guru's intention is ever to steer you away, but you may steer yourself away because the lure of the world is much more appealing.

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Formless Awareness does not create any Karma at all, and therefore is always free.

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This is something we have to truly grasp, although we are doing the actions in terms of the body and mind, but in reality, we are actually just watching this happen, being performed through the body and mind.

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We are the awareness that is observing it, not necessarily the one doing the action.

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The other way to see it is you can see that Brahman, Nirguna Brahman is doing everything.

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Therefore, again, the body and mind cannot own the action.

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Therefore, Nirguna Brahman will have to deal with the consequences or the, or the positive results.

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So even in that, we transcend even in that we are beyond our own actions.

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Once we rest in this Formless Awareness, once we start abiding in this Formless Awareness, then our mind-intellect is free.

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Basically, the manas and the buddhi cannot place its boundaries on Formless Awareness.

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Now the emotional part of us and the intellectual part of us, they are restricted to a certain point and we have to exhaust them to go beyond them.

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So don't think that, oh, the manas is bad, I'm going to ignore it.

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No! You have to utilize the manas to go beyond the manas.

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You have to utilize the intellect to go beyond the intellect.

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That's the thing that people don't understand when we say the truth is beyond your intellect or beyond your understanding, don't relate it to the physical body or the mind.

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What it's saying is utilize it.

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Utilize your intellect, and then see what's beyond.

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Have you actually gone to the end of the intellect and seen where it takes you?

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The only thing the mind and intellect does is affect the body, but has no impact on Formless Awareness.

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The mind and intellect has an effect on the body as we know this happens.

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If you go into depression or if you are ecstatic about something, endorphins are released, you eat a nice chocolate bar, endorphins are released, which is why I really like Easter because there's lots of chocolate but you know, that's only for the body.

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But on Formless, Awareness, the witness of all this, the witness of the person eating the chocolate bar, the awareness is not changed.

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That is something we have to understand, that only the mind-intellect will affect the body-identity.

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Nothing else.

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We have to shift the mind to understanding it is Formless Awareness and not the body and that's the challenge.

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The second quote.

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Now you have heard that you are Brahman - put it into practice.

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Normally, you take yourself as a man or a woman as long as you are alive in the same way, now you remember that you are Brahman.

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Whereas your body identification leads you to your death.

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Your staying as Brahman saves you.

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Then time dissolves in you and not you in time.

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Our Self is the same as Gurudeva.

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That is the only place to surrender.

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Again, very direct, very easy to understand.

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It's not difficult to grasp what he's saying, but if we are not utilizing our intellect.

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If we're not studying the scriptures, if we're not contemplating upon the message, if we're not doing, you know, the shravana manana nididhyasana , then we, we are not really getting anywhere.

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We have to first listen to the message.

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We have to fully comprehend the message and then fully practice the message.

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This is something we have to do if we are truly wanting to be spiritual.

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So in the second quote really this is the ultimate teaching that we have to put into practice.

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That we are Brahman, we have to fully understand that we are Brahman.

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Simply hearing that you are Brahman will never be enough if that was the case.

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It's being said in every corner in India and nobody feels like they're Brahman yet, obviously we know that's not enough.

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How many people we see on YouTube say Aham Brahmasmi, and then the next minute, you know, their YouTube video or YouTube channel is gone.

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It happens.

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And a lot of us may say prematurely.

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But that's why it's very important to have a teacher or a coach, a spiritual coach who can help you and not get you to go erratic with your ego.

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They're able to bring you back to Reality.

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So you will have to first know that you're Brahman and then integrate that you are Brahman and then abide in Brahman.

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So that's the process that has to be done as we remember our features in terms of body and mind.

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We must now get so accustomed to feeling that we are this Formless awareness.

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That's the challenge.

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A lot of us struggle on this point of how to abide and feel that we are Formless Awareness because we feel so much in the body and mind and it's true.

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We will continue to feel like we are the body and mind, even when we start associating that we are Brahman.

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Now what happens is you understand the body and mind is Brahman experiencing Brahman.

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That's it.

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That's as simple as it gets.

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But you know, it's a challenge to get to that understanding.

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But that's why it's important to continue listening to these messages, continue to practice these messages, continue to meditate, and it all helps us get closer to that jivan-mukti state that we want to go to.

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This is powerful in terms of understanding.

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If you think you are this changing phenomena of the body and mind, then you will die.

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You will think it's the end.

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Naturally you'll, you will not think it's the beginning.

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You know that, my life is running out and there's this feeling of dread and anxiety, and it doesn't matter even if you believe in some heaven or reincarnation, you still want to live and therefore, you know it's the end.

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Even if you think in reincarnation, I'll have the next.

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Even that's not satisfactory.

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If you believe there's a heaven, then you will be like, well, when there's heaven, I'll lose the loved ones that I see right now.

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And the compromise is you'll see the loved ones that left already, but there's no guarantee.

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It's all based on faith.

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It's all based on belief.

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So everything you have to do is now, not later! Now.

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People live in such a way, regardless of what they believe happens after death.

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What the shameful thing is, is that people don't put much into life before death and yet worry about what happens after death.

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The afterlife is more important than the current actual life.

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That's the shameful thing.

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That's the thing I wish people learnt to do, and I, and I'll be very, precise here in my words, that if you are hopeful about something that happens in the afterlife, then you are not content right now.

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Contentment comes from the present moment.

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It arises from here.

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If you think that, oh, you believe in heaven, you're gonna be content, no, because internally you can never be 100% sure.

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Never, or even in reincarnation, who can say that you'll have the next birth in the human form, if you believe in reincarnation.

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We have to understand that it's a lot more nuanced than we actually truly understand it to be.

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However remaining as Brahman saves you in what sense?

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How does it save you?

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It saves you from the fear of death.

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Why would you fear dying?

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Now you are this undying, unborn, everlasting, eternal attribute-less Formless.

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Awareness.

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Why would you have any fear?

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What is there to fear when this is the only thing.

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There's only fear if there's a separation.

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When you are told there's just this oneness, how can you feel fear?

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Impossible.

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It's not possible to feel fear in oneness.

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It's impossible.

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Nisargadatta Maharaj is absolutely right when he says, let the body die , you know, let the mind dissolve away and let Formless Awareness remain in being.

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That's all you need to do.

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Nothing more.

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And it's interesting, you know, the statement that he makes it's so powerful.

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He says that that time dissolves in you and not you in time.

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Yeah.

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Time dissolves in you, meaning time dissolves in Formless Awareness and that you as Formless Awareness do not dissolve in time because you do not belong to time.

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You are timeless.

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That's another thing we can understand from here, and that's why it's important to transcend the ticking clock of the body and mind.

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That's why so understand that this Formless Awareness is like a loving Guru as well.

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We have that love for being in Formless Awareness.

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Whenever we are in awareness, whenever we are that observer, we are continuously in peace, continuously in what they call sehaj avastha this composed state of stability, of equipoise, there's no, , there's no fluctuation in this state.

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That's the state of being we want to get to and we need to make this our Guru.

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We need to see it as we are completely in love with it.

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That's how we need to see it.

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If we are to surrender, then it's only to Formless Awareness, not to anyone, pious or not.

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It doesn't matter if they're great.

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It doesn't matter if they're bad, you only surrender to Formless Awareness because that's the only thing that really is.

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All you're doing is surrendering this idea of separation to the reality of oneness.

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That's all.

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Then the third quote.

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If you criticize your Guru with foul words, you'll be the one who suffers.

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One who gives you a mantra saying, "You and I are One" and frees you of all ignorance.

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How can you blame him?

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The Guru has given the mantra not to a man or a woman, but to the Consciousness that is listening.

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The individual soul is full, but it is suffering due to fear of death.

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Compassion arises in sages when they see the unnecessary suffering of their devotees.

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So Nisargadatta Maharaj here is warning us, you know, trying to give that warning that before you speak, ill of a Guru.

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First, understand the teaching.

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See if you fully comprehend the message before you start condemning them, saying what they're saying isn't working or practice what they actually tell you to do.

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Like utilize the tools that they have.

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If you're not going to do that then you're not going to go far.

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For example, once I was having a conversation with someone and, they said they didn't understand the Gyana, the knowledge, the wisdom of Brahman and they said, the Guru didn't do anything for them.

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And I said stop there for a second.

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So my Guru gives these tools of seva, sumiran and satsang.

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So seva means selfless service.

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Sumiran means remembrance or mindful remembrance.

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And satsang means, keeping the company of the sages.

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And I asked, did you do those three things as the Guru prescribed?

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And the person said, no, I didn't.

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And I was like, well then how do you expect the Brahm Gyana to one be understood and then become a living reality?

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And that's something that people do not do.

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They will take the knowledge, but they won't look to practice it.

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We have to be really careful that before we speak ill of a Guru and their teachings, see if we are abiding by it first.

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Test it out.

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I've done that.

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There are certain groups that I have followed and I've taken, for example, I was critical of the Brahma Kumaris in the last episode in the thoughts of the Bhagavad Gita.

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I was critical of them and that's because I found their philosophy not to be sound.

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So it's only after fully checking it out then does one, give their point of view.

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But if you've not fully practiced it, if you're not fully investigated into it, it's not gonna take you anywhere.

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Many people claim that the insights into Brahman or this Brahm Gyana is not correct, but they will not do any of the practices that the Guru suggests like I mentioned.

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Multiple excuses are given like, what about my job?

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What about my family?

00:21:50.468 --> 00:21:51.807
How can I feed my family?

00:21:54.087 --> 00:21:57.067
Then at the same time, they're praying to some God.

00:21:58.508 --> 00:22:00.548
What type of devotees are these?

00:22:01.087 --> 00:22:16.760
Not true ones, but time wasters because they are constantly worried about worldly affairs and then expect that they should be given literally the highest in spirituality.

00:22:17.060 --> 00:22:22.161
It's not so easy and it shouldn't be given so easily.

00:22:23.151 --> 00:22:29.760
In my opinion, those people that end up doing such things are nothing but time wasters.

00:22:29.877 --> 00:22:34.141
They are not people who are genuinely wanting to move forward in spirituality.

00:22:34.530 --> 00:22:37.260
For them, it's a good, it makes you feel good.

00:22:37.320 --> 00:22:41.018
It's a good hit of dopamine, that's all.

00:22:42.623 --> 00:22:44.343
One cannot expect much from them.

00:22:45.482 --> 00:22:49.653
Like I said, I think it's important to be critical of philosophies.

00:22:49.982 --> 00:22:58.623
I think it's very important to investigate into them, but at the same time fully understand something before you condemn it.

00:23:00.673 --> 00:23:10.921
For example, my Guru has always been teaching about this oneness and therefore I cannot blame my Guru if I live in duality.

00:23:11.964 --> 00:23:12.265
Yeah.

00:23:12.265 --> 00:23:17.785
If I am continuously living in duality, then that's not my Guru's fault.

00:23:17.875 --> 00:23:18.924
That's my fault.

00:23:19.375 --> 00:23:20.755
And I have to own up to it.

00:23:20.845 --> 00:23:22.105
I have to take ownership.

00:23:22.214 --> 00:23:28.800
I can't turn around and say, well, you know, it's such and such reason.

00:23:29.010 --> 00:23:31.381
No, I have chosen not to surrender.

00:23:32.161 --> 00:23:34.230
, I have chosen not to put the practice in.

00:23:34.441 --> 00:23:50.984
When I say surrender, what I mean by surrender is when you practice the teachings that surrender, because what you are saying is, yes, the world is there and I will function as I need to for my worldly life, but my focus has to be on spirituality.

00:23:51.414 --> 00:23:54.382
Wherever I can literally do tyaga.

00:23:54.402 --> 00:23:56.894
Yeah, tyaga means renunciation.

00:23:57.374 --> 00:24:01.903
Wherever I can renounce the world and go into Nirguna Brahman, I will do it.

00:24:02.247 --> 00:24:05.156
Whenever I can go into that oneness, I will do it.

00:24:05.769 --> 00:24:07.750
That is true surrender.

00:24:07.809 --> 00:24:09.400
That is true renunciation.

00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:14.970
So own up to the fact that you want to live in duality.

00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:18.660
There's nothing wrong with the gurus teachings if you are not practicing it.

00:24:18.869 --> 00:24:20.670
And I say this to myself too.

00:24:20.950 --> 00:24:24.326
Now the question may be, well, who receives this Brahm Gyana?

00:24:24.346 --> 00:24:26.886
Who receives this insight into Brahman?

00:24:27.596 --> 00:24:28.557
Is it the mind?

00:24:28.737 --> 00:24:30.386
Is it the Jiva or the soul?

00:24:30.923 --> 00:24:32.183
Is it the body?

00:24:32.824 --> 00:24:36.021
Fools believe in all or one of those options.

00:24:36.642 --> 00:24:46.672
And as Nisargadatta Maharaj said, and as every Guru will tell you too, they just reveal to you that there is only Formless Awareness, and that's what you are.

00:24:47.338 --> 00:24:47.969
That's it.

00:24:49.265 --> 00:24:55.142
It's never spoken to the body or to the mind or to the jiva.

00:24:55.162 --> 00:24:59.490
These three have to catch up and you do not have to walk back to them.

00:24:59.910 --> 00:25:12.247
So once you understand that you are Brahman, you stay there, you don't have to go back and see or hold the hands of the body or the mind or the jiva or the soul or whatever you want to believe in, whatever concept.

00:25:12.846 --> 00:25:17.916
You just have to stick with being in Consciousness, being in Formless Awareness.

00:25:18.067 --> 00:25:20.227
They have to catch up to you, let them catch up.

00:25:21.047 --> 00:25:26.138
You stay firm in being in Formless Awareness, that's all.

00:25:27.741 --> 00:25:34.855
The one you call your jiva or this Atman, this individual soul or even mind is Brahman itself.

00:25:35.125 --> 00:25:38.652
But this jiva doesn't identify with Brahman, but with the body.

00:25:39.247 --> 00:25:42.277
And therefore creates suffering because it fears death.

00:25:42.666 --> 00:25:47.856
This soul feels that, or this mind will feel that there's gonna be annihilation one day.

00:25:48.086 --> 00:25:50.953
I'm going to go, I can see people around me are dying.

00:25:50.959 --> 00:25:52.903
I can see that my body's getting older.

00:25:53.443 --> 00:25:55.213
All these things are catching up to me.

00:25:55.513 --> 00:25:56.983
I'm now fearing death.

00:25:57.067 --> 00:26:01.213
I can feel the hand of death, literally, really close to me.

00:26:01.768 --> 00:26:06.910
The thing is that's because you associate with the body.

00:26:06.910 --> 00:26:10.900
Now, once you understand you're Consciousness, is there an end to Consciousness?

00:26:13.356 --> 00:26:20.700
Has there been any break in Consciousness and no, there never is.

00:26:21.836 --> 00:26:24.567
That's the beauty of the sages or the gurus.

00:26:24.567 --> 00:26:26.997
They speak with compassion.

00:26:27.086 --> 00:26:37.130
Their compassion speaks, and that's why their words take their place in the heart and they fill the heart with joy.

00:26:37.309 --> 00:26:56.368
Their messages, their presence, and whether they use sweet words or they use words that sting and are painful, it is compassion to wake us up and therefore, they see us identify with the body and they're guiding us to wake up and say, you are not this body.

00:26:56.368 --> 00:26:57.489
You're not this mind.

00:26:57.808 --> 00:27:00.118
You are this Supreme Brahman.

00:27:00.699 --> 00:27:03.439
Know that you're a Brahman and abide in Brahman.

00:27:04.469 --> 00:27:15.503
So we have to, at least for the last time, identify as the body when we see the Guru, when we receive this knowledge of Brahman.

00:27:15.903 --> 00:27:18.034
But after that, we have to move on.

00:27:18.064 --> 00:27:20.644
We have to start abiding in Consciousness.

00:27:20.884 --> 00:27:23.314
We have to start abiding in Formless Awareness.

00:27:24.645 --> 00:27:25.645
The fourth quote.

00:27:26.036 --> 00:27:32.355
Live with the awareness that your Consciousness, which is capable of moving the entire existence, is in your body.

00:27:32.749 --> 00:27:41.493
Remember that your actions like eating, hearing, etc., are not really yours, but of prana in the presence of your Consciousness.

00:27:41.701 --> 00:27:46.280
To offer everything to Brahman means to be Nirguna or attribute-less.

00:27:47.290 --> 00:27:52.601
So this is the ultimate understanding that you have to be aware of your awareness and what that means.

00:27:52.601 --> 00:27:54.040
You know what it entails?

00:27:54.550 --> 00:27:56.421
Your awareness is Sat-Chit-Ananda.

00:27:56.421 --> 00:27:58.090
It is the whole of existence.

00:27:58.260 --> 00:28:02.688
It is the Shared Being and it is being expressed through the body that you have.

00:28:03.215 --> 00:28:07.067
And what you understand is that this body is one with the whole of existence.

00:28:07.218 --> 00:28:09.357
So it is one, there's no duality here.

00:28:10.718 --> 00:28:21.568
All the activities of the senses are there because of prana, because of the vital airs and that is an object or a reflection of that one, Formless Awareness.

00:28:21.965 --> 00:28:25.598
Prana is the vitality that allows the senses to be active.

00:28:25.838 --> 00:28:29.699
Without the Prana, the senses cannot be, they cannot function properly.

00:28:29.838 --> 00:28:38.118
Therefore, with every movement of the senses, offer it to this Nirguna Brahman, and that way you become attribute-less.

00:28:38.548 --> 00:28:40.798
Like awareness itself, it's really simple.

00:28:40.828 --> 00:28:51.118
That's all we have to do is offer everything to Brahman, offer everything to this Formless Awareness, and that is what it means to, be attribute-less.

00:28:51.298 --> 00:28:55.682
For example, if you're good at writing, you offer that to Brahman.

00:28:57.212 --> 00:28:58.532
Brahman is the good writer.

00:28:58.648 --> 00:29:00.663
Somebody may say it to you, you offer it to Brahman.

00:29:01.048 --> 00:29:04.489
Someone may say, you're a good speaker, you offer it to Brahman.

00:29:05.375 --> 00:29:07.385
You are a good human being.

00:29:07.786 --> 00:29:09.056
You offer that to Brahman.

00:29:09.286 --> 00:29:10.796
Everything you offer to Brahman.

00:29:11.603 --> 00:29:13.792
That way you have no attribute.

00:29:14.182 --> 00:29:18.583
You, you don't know that you have any of these attributes because you've given them to Brahman.

00:29:18.923 --> 00:29:24.012
And once you know you're Brahman then, then there's nothing left to say.

00:29:25.063 --> 00:29:25.932
Quote five.

00:29:26.284 --> 00:29:31.443
In this world there is vast knowledge of science and other subjects and there is continuous learning.

00:29:31.778 --> 00:29:34.028
One can also learn to do miracles.

00:29:34.657 --> 00:29:39.698
I did not study all that based on the Guru's command, I only studied the Self.

00:29:40.090 --> 00:29:42.941
For me all other learning lost their meaning.

00:29:43.641 --> 00:29:53.789
In the absence of faith in the Guru, you will go on changing Gurus visit Mahatmas and various places of pilgrimage, attending available lectures.

00:29:53.990 --> 00:29:58.500
Having complete faith in the Guru will free you of the need to go anywhere.

00:29:59.885 --> 00:30:20.236
This is interesting because if we think about it today, there's a lot of Guru hopping, or we see gurus on YouTube and we think we need to follow them, or they may be right because they have so many subscribers and all this stuff, or we see someone based on the algorithm on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok or wherever.

00:30:20.685 --> 00:30:25.792
But to be honest, we need to be a bit more mindful and we need to actually think a bit more.

00:30:25.942 --> 00:30:30.051
We must understand the importance of science or of any study that is done in life.

00:30:30.464 --> 00:30:38.505
There's a lot to learn about the material nature and one should not see that if you're spiritual, you have to condemn science.

00:30:39.134 --> 00:30:40.934
No, you should embrace it.

00:30:41.097 --> 00:30:42.867
You should go with it.

00:30:43.367 --> 00:30:46.718
There will never be conclusions to this scientific knowledge.

00:30:46.980 --> 00:30:49.221
That's that's the way it is.

00:30:49.372 --> 00:30:51.508
There's a continuous learning process.

00:30:52.775 --> 00:30:54.365
. Some people have learned to do magic.

00:30:54.365 --> 00:31:02.734
Some people have learned to do some yogic tricks and some have even performed so-called miracles or some people have performed miracles.

00:31:03.164 --> 00:31:05.170
Yogis may claim to do these things.

00:31:05.170 --> 00:31:21.737
Even people like Satya Sai Baba who's been found out to be a fraud and has found to be a conman because everything he has done is a mere trick and it's not really something of a miracle or something godly.

00:31:22.127 --> 00:31:25.748
What Nisargadatta Maharaj says that he doesn't have any magic tricks.

00:31:25.798 --> 00:31:27.357
He doesn't understand science.

00:31:27.357 --> 00:31:29.938
He doesn't know to do miracles.

00:31:29.938 --> 00:31:31.617
He doesn't know any of those things.

00:31:34.144 --> 00:31:35.315
So what did he study?

00:31:35.855 --> 00:31:37.775
What did he, what does he go to?

00:31:38.615 --> 00:31:40.865
If he doesn't do any of those things, what does he do?

00:31:42.867 --> 00:31:44.428
So his master.

00:31:44.609 --> 00:31:46.289
told him to study the Self.

00:31:46.526 --> 00:31:46.990
That's it.

00:31:47.410 --> 00:31:49.390
This Brahman, this Formless Awareness.

00:31:49.990 --> 00:31:55.329
And what's interesting is my Guru has also told me the same thing, that you focus on awareness.

00:31:55.335 --> 00:31:55.900
That's it.

00:31:56.165 --> 00:31:58.986
Be in awareness of the Formless as much as possible.

00:31:59.215 --> 00:32:00.895
That was the teaching given to me.

00:32:01.212 --> 00:32:03.097
And that's something that I've just ran with.

00:32:03.714 --> 00:32:07.275
it's the same thing that Nisargadatta Maharaj also had.

00:32:07.900 --> 00:32:10.359
His Guru told him, just be in the Self.

00:32:10.660 --> 00:32:11.230
That was it.

00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:17.836
He just followed it and that became his bhakti, that became his devotion.

00:32:17.836 --> 00:32:26.050
That became his, that became his satsang, that became everything for him, and that's the way Formless Awareness should be.

00:32:26.381 --> 00:32:32.961
Once we get that pointing from the teacher, from the spiritual coach, from the spiritual friend.

00:32:33.548 --> 00:32:37.117
Automatically the other learnings are nice things to know.

00:32:37.387 --> 00:32:43.654
They're interesting but the passion will always be towards Formless Awareness because that is unmatched.

00:32:44.164 --> 00:32:46.924
There's nothing like being in Formless Awareness.

00:32:47.015 --> 00:32:51.398
There's nothing more greater than knowing more about Formless Awareness.

00:32:51.401 --> 00:32:55.931
Reading the scriptures and just being in the glory of Formless Awareness.

00:32:55.931 --> 00:32:57.260
There's nothing greater than that.

00:32:57.661 --> 00:33:02.444
So you will understand that, that there's nothing matched to that.

00:33:03.181 --> 00:33:12.105
Have faith in this teaching of Formless Awareness, put you all into it, but if you don't, then you will be Guru hopping or Guru shopping.

00:33:12.555 --> 00:33:15.734
And there's a lot of that that does go around, like I said earlier.

00:33:15.834 --> 00:33:19.374
You will see all sorts of wonders as you window shop for a Guru.

00:33:19.378 --> 00:33:21.294
But who is the real one?

00:33:21.294 --> 00:33:24.031
Who is the one that you should go to?

00:33:24.031 --> 00:33:26.852
Who is the one that will really take you to the Truth?

00:33:27.342 --> 00:33:30.612
Who can, who doesn't tell you to?

00:33:31.434 --> 00:33:45.291
So a Guru may have certain processes in place, certain practices in place, but what about that Guru that can make you see this Formless or perceive this Formless, or be in this Formless instantaneously?

00:33:45.961 --> 00:34:00.541
That is the true mark of a teacher, in my opinion, that they should be able to say, okay, there is a way for you to see this directly right now, but utilize these practices.

00:34:01.711 --> 00:34:02.642
That's still fine.

00:34:03.332 --> 00:34:13.605
The main key is if someone can tell you that you can get to this truth directly without wasting a single moment of time, that person is true.

00:34:14.565 --> 00:34:26.246
Who doesn't look at what you do in life, how much money you have, what caste you are, what color you are, what nationality you are, what sexual orientation you are, what your pronouns are.

00:34:26.737 --> 00:34:27.516
They don't care.

00:34:27.516 --> 00:34:29.827
They acknowledge all of all of you.

00:34:30.726 --> 00:34:38.976
They acknowledge everything about you and they go forward and that's the difference.

00:34:38.981 --> 00:34:40.686
So that's the one thing you need to see.

00:34:41.313 --> 00:34:49.434
Now you can go to these seminars, you can go to these lectures, these workshops that people do now and these courses now that people do online.

00:34:49.943 --> 00:34:51.534
But you will not improve anything.

00:34:53.329 --> 00:35:01.324
You will go to all these places of pilgrimage, but forget the primary subject of awareness, the study of your True Self.

00:35:01.534 --> 00:35:03.634
How can I know my True Self?

00:35:03.903 --> 00:35:11.360
How can I be constantly in the awareness of my True Self and that only a Guru can do for you.

00:35:12.860 --> 00:35:17.840
So therefore, truly have full faith in what the Guru says about Formless Awareness alone.

00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:28.829
That is the one and that is the only and ultimate teaching- that you are Formless Awareness.

00:35:29.728 --> 00:35:31.047
That is the ultimate teaching.

00:35:31.516 --> 00:35:35.411
So follow yourself as you dissolve into Formless Awareness.

00:35:35.621 --> 00:35:46.954
Make it your everything, and you will not need to search at some manmade place of worship or anything else that some of these so-called gurus tell you to do.

00:35:47.914 --> 00:35:56.664
You will be able to achieve the true perception, the true wisdom of Formless Awareness, right now.

00:35:57.375 --> 00:36:02.135
That's the guarantee that gurus give the true ones.

00:36:02.661 --> 00:36:04.371
And the sixth quote.

00:36:04.875 --> 00:36:11.054
In spirituality, there is nothing to gain, nothing to lose, but there is only knowing what is.

00:36:11.592 --> 00:36:15.161
As you have no form what is the use of any profit?

00:36:15.757 --> 00:36:19.387
Whatever you have accumulated as knowledge throw it away.

00:36:19.737 --> 00:36:28.257
For self-knowledge remains still, and do discriminate correctly between the True and the false or the Real and the unreal.

00:36:29.403 --> 00:36:31.864
So this is really the essence of spirituality.

00:36:31.990 --> 00:36:35.119
You're not gaining anything, nor are you losing anything.

00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:43.219
What is to gain and lose is only for the body and mind, but not for this Ultimate Reality.

00:36:44.389 --> 00:36:46.730
If this body and mind has losses.

00:36:46.730 --> 00:36:55.780
Well, we know that's not true because our discrimination will say that anything that changes is unreal.

00:36:56.202 --> 00:36:58.273
If anything changes, it's unreal.

00:36:58.273 --> 00:37:00.612
So I don't have to believe in it.

00:37:00.643 --> 00:37:01.362
I don't have to.

00:37:01.362 --> 00:37:02.143
It's not real.

00:37:02.472 --> 00:37:04.333
It's not the reality that I'm seeking.

00:37:05.485 --> 00:37:16.833
Spirituality shows you what you really are, which is this Formless Awareness, and as you are this Formless Awareness, what profit are you going to gain and what paycheck are you worth?

00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:20.481
And who cares about your wealth portfolios?

00:37:20.661 --> 00:37:32.541
Nobody cares because in the end, every single body has left empty handed, but the real wealth is remaining in awareness.

00:37:33.081 --> 00:37:42.916
That's the real wealth! That not only after death, you're in awareness, but during your life, you're in Formless Awareness all the time.

00:37:43.217 --> 00:37:44.237
That's the real wealth.

00:37:45.184 --> 00:37:46.744
Enjoy the wealth of the world.

00:37:46.773 --> 00:37:51.201
I'm not saying stop working and give up everything for spirituality.

00:37:51.201 --> 00:37:51.590
No.

00:37:52.041 --> 00:37:55.971

Wisdom of the Mystics: Nisargadatta Maharaj Ji

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