Nirupana 104
Ordinary people cannot get Self-realization,
they see themselves as bodies.
Unless body-consciousness is eradicated,
Self-consciousness cannot arise.
The fact is that impurity of the gross body
cannot affect consciousness in the body.
Yet the same consciousness
is moving about in the form of the body.
Whatever apparent happiness one enjoys
also becomes the source of misery.
The Self identifies with the body
and loses its perfection.
So long as there is a concept of birth,
there is misery.
Consciousness is formless, pure and holy,
but it is laden with the concepts of ego and birth.
One who is disgusted with worldly affairs
becomes detached.
Because of body-identification,
it has got mixed up with the five elements.
The knowledge in the body
is the holy sight of God.
It is He who makes one understand
that the idea of birth is false.
He crushes the sense of individuality.
Consciousness is busy with many thoughts.
With the Guru’s guidance,
you have to turn it back onto itself.
One who understands
that there is no difference
between his consciousness and the Guru,
becomes enlightened.
When one believes that he is not the body,
he gets the grace of the Guru.
Consciousness is infinite and unlimited.
Then how can it have death?
By the Guru’s grace,
the birth of the body becomes the birth of Brahman.
Then the seeker forgets
that he is a particular individual.
Even when the jnani is all-pervading,
he still has one desire:
Knowledge should continue to progress.
He keeps looking out for someone
worthy of receiving the knowledge
and to pass it on.
As such, all are devotees of God.
Devotion to God is devotion to the Self.
Everything is done
to perpetuate the sense ‘I am’.
According to the Guru-word,
if you worship the formless consciousness,
you will be immortal and indestructible.
You will understand
that your true nature is Parabrahman.
Does the Self have needs
such as food and wife and children,
or are they for the devotee?
The Self is mistaken
for the form of the body.
Those who have knowledge of the Self
have pervaded the manifestation
and transcended it.
They are Parabrahman –
beyond form and qualities.
If you have realized the Self,
rituals, religions, black or white magic,
curses or ghosts,
are of no consequence to you.
Instead they turn back
and strike those that direct them upon you.
One who plays with a jnani
brings misery to himself.
If you believe the fortuneteller,
you have not acquired knowledge of the Self.
In the dream, the world was seen.
In the dream there also appeared your own body.
The dream eventually ended
and the world disappeared.
Then what happened to the One
who saw the dream?
Did He see His corpse lying there?
He never came and never left.
Atman is not prana.
Recognize this fact.
It will not be enough
if you just memorize it.
What is there in the body
due to which we know ‘we are’?
You must practice devotion to the Guru
(non-dual devotion).
Be vigilant.
Prepare yourself
to see the bliss of the last moment.
For others it is a dreadful event.
— Shree Nisargadatta Mahārāj
Sunday, April 1, 1979
