Intellect is. tool for self

THE INTELLECT IS A TOOL OF THE SELF

The difficulty is to remain in the thoughtless state, and yet carry out the thinking necessary for fulfilling our duties.

M: The one that thinks is not your Self. Let action occur of its own accord. Why associate yourself with the difficulty! When you have to go outdoors you just lift your feet and go without thinking about it. Like this, the state becomes automatic, and when necessary, thinking arises and disappears of its own accord.'

Intuition works when there is no thought, and intuition will guide you. Those who have made big discoveries, have made them not when they were anxious about them, but in the stillness, by intuition rather than by thinking.

Mental activity ceases when Self-enquiry is answered. Even if you are thinking about God, it is still an activity and must be given up.

The one who practices vichara merges in God and then ceases to think about Him.

Intellect is a tool of the Self, which uses it for measuring diversity. It is not outside the Self. How could there be manifestations of intellect if the seed did not exist?

Q: How can the rebellious mind be brought under control?

M: Either seek its source so that it may disappear, or surrender so that it may be struck down.

- Conscious Immortality

I am

Sacred Guide eBook:
# *Abiding in the 'I Am'*

To abide in the 'I Am' is not to cling to a belief, nor to analyze a concept, but to rest in the raw, wordless, pre-thought sense of being — the subtle recognition that "I am" prior to identity, history, and thought. This is the doorway that Nisargadatta repeatedly emphasized:
>

“The sense ‘I am’ is the first to emerge. Ask yourself whence it comes or just watch it quietly. When the mind stays in the ‘I am’, without moving, you enter a state which cannot be verbalized but can be experienced.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 2

## Step-by-Step Guide to Abiding in the 'I Am'
## 1. Acknowledge the Pure Fact of Being
* Sit quietly. Do nothing. Drop all expectations and practices.
* Sense inwardly: “I exist.” Not “I am this or that,” but just I am.
* Do not define, qualify, or decorate it.
>

“Before you can say ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that’, you must be there to say it. Be there first.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 48

## 2. Turn Attention Away from Objects and Back to the Source
* Thoughts, sensations, feelings will arise. Let them.
* Instead of following them, turn attention back to the sense that knows they arise.
* Stay with the awareness of being rather than what is being perceived.

## 3. Abide in the Naked 'I Am' without Identification
* Don’t say “I am the body,” “I am a seeker,” “I am aware.” Let go of all labels.
* Remain with the unqualified sense of presence, free from reference.
>

“Give up all questions except one: ‘Who am I?’ After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The ‘I am’ is certain. The ‘I am this’ is not.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 2

## 4. Rest as the Witness to All That Comes and Goes
* Emotions, thoughts, moods, even spiritual highs — these are all appearances to the 'I Am'.
* Do not get involved. Be the silent witness to all movement.

## 5. When Effort Arises, Return Gently to the Feeling of 'I Am'
* No striving is needed. Effort itself is another activity to be witnessed.
* Return softly, as if remembering something deeply familiar.
>

“Just keep in mind the feeling ‘I am’, merge in it, till your mind and feeling become one.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 52

## 6. Stay in the 'I Am' Until Even That Dissolves
* Eventually, the pure 'I Am' sense — even as presence — dissolves into the formless.
* You realize: You are not even the 'I Am'. You are prior to it.
>

“Stay with the 'I am', and the 'I am' will take you beyond itself, to the source.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 51

## Major Obstacle: The Pull Toward Identification

The Core Obstacle:
The tendency of mind to attach to thought, feeling, identity, or experience. The mind says: “I am a seeker”, “I am failing”, “I am progressing.” Each time this happens, attention is pulled away from the formless sense of being into the world of form.

Resolution:
Whenever you catch the mind assigning a label, gently drop it and return to the bare sense of being. Make no story out of it.

Nisargadatta said:
>

“The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 57

This means: Stop analyzing. Just return. Over and over.

## What Is to Be Achieved

Abiding in the 'I Am' leads to the dissolution of the false self, and then to the recognition that even the ‘I Am’ is an appearance in the unchanging Reality you truly are. Nothing is achieved, yet everything unreal falls away. What remains is silence, awareness, and timeless freedom.
>

“When you see that you are not the person, but the silent witness, the observer, a new dimension of being opens.”
— *I Am That*, Chapter 23

## Closing

To remain with the 'I Am' is to cease wandering in thought and rest in the open field of pure being. It is not a technique, but a return — immediate, simple, and self-validating. By not moving away from what is always here, you recognize what you always are. This is not becoming — it is *Being*.

##
1. “You must be very alert. Or the mind will play false.”
— *I Am That*, Ch. 33
2. “There is no need of a way out! Don’t you see that a way out is also part of the dream? All you have to do is see the dream as dream.”
— *I Am That*, Ch. 46
3. “Understand that it is not the person who is doing the sadhana, but the consciousness within.”
— *Prior to Consciousness*, p. 72
4. “The sense of being, of ‘I am’, is the first to arise. Remain with it. It will reveal everything.”
— *I Am That*, Ch. 10

Let all else go.
Just abide in I Am.
It will carry you beyond itself.

ध्यान

"ध्यान विश्राम है, पूर्ण विश्राम। सभी गतिविधियों का पूर्ण विराम – शारीरिक, मानसिक, भावनात्मक। जब आप इतने गहरे विश्राम में होते हैं कि आपके भीतर कुछ भी नहीं हिलता, जब सभी प्रकार की क्रियाएँ समाप्त हो जाती हैं – जैसे आप गहरी नींद में हों, फिर भी जागरूक हों – तब आप जान पाते हैं कि आप कौन हैं। अचानक खिड़की खुल जाती है। इसे प्रयास से नहीं खोला जा सकता, क्योंकि प्रयास तनाव पैदा करता है – और तनाव ही हमारे पूरे दुःख का कारण है। इसलिए यह समझना बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है कि ध्यान प्रयास नहीं है।

"ध्यान को लेकर एक हल्का-फुल्का दृष्टिकोण अपनाना चाहिए, इसे आनंद की तरह लेना चाहिए। इसे गंभीरता से नहीं लेना चाहिए – यदि आप गंभीर हो जाते हैं, तो आप चूक जाते हैं। आपको इसमें बहुत आनंदपूर्वक जाना चाहिए। और यह समझना चाहिए कि यह गहरे से गहरे विश्राम में गिरना है। यह एकाग्रता नहीं है, बल्कि इसके विपरीत है, यह विश्राम है। जब आप पूरी तरह से विश्राम में होते हैं, पहली बार आप अपनी वास्तविकता को महसूस करते हैं; आप अपने अस्तित्व से आमने-सामने होते हैं। जब आप गतिविधियों में व्यस्त होते हैं, तो आप इतने व्यस्त होते हैं कि खुद को देख नहीं पाते। गतिविधि आपके चारों ओर धुएँ और धूल का गुबार पैदा करती है; इसलिए सभी गतिविधियों को, कम से कम कुछ घंटों के लिए, रोकना आवश्यक है।

"यह केवल शुरुआत में ही आवश्यक है। जब आप विश्राम की कला सीख लेते हैं, तो आप सक्रिय और विश्रामयुक्त दोनों रह सकते हैं, क्योंकि तब आप जानते हैं कि विश्राम इतना आंतरिक है कि इसे बाहरी चीज़ों से बाधित नहीं किया जा सकता। गतिविधि परिधि पर चलती रहती है, लेकिन केंद्र में आप विश्रामित रहते हैं। इसलिए, यह केवल शुरुआत में होता है कि गतिविधियों को कुछ घंटों के लिए रोका जाए। जब कोई इस कला को सीख लेता है, तो फिर कोई प्रश्न ही नहीं रहता: चौबीस घंटे कोई ध्यानमय रह सकता है और साधारण जीवन की सभी गतिविधियाँ जारी रख सकता है।

"लेकिन याद रखें, मुख्य शब्द है – विश्राम। कभी भी विश्राम और आराम के विरुद्ध न जाएँ। अपने जीवन को इस तरह व्यवस्थित करें कि सभी व्यर्थ गतिविधियों को छोड़ दें, क्योंकि नब्बे प्रतिशत गतिविधियाँ व्यर्थ होती हैं; वे केवल समय बिताने और व्यस्त रहने के लिए होती हैं। केवल आवश्यक कार्य करें और अपनी ऊर्जा को अधिक से अधिक आंतरिक यात्रा में लगाएँ। तब वह चमत्कार होता है जब आप एक साथ विश्रामित और सक्रिय रह सकते हैं। यह पवित्र और सांसारिक का मिलन है, इस संसार और उस संसार का मिलन, भौतिकता और आध्यात्मिकता का मिलन।"

~ ओशो, द गोल्डन विंग, प्रवचन #15