Quotes from Nisargadatta

You must cease to think that the mind will come to understand. Paramatman cannot be understood by the mind. It is only a name — and the mind clings to this chain of name and form.

Gleanings From Nisargadatta, 1976 July 12

My real nature is indescribable and beyond consciousness. Everything is to be finally discarded including knowledge of the world, God and Self. Only mv Guru is my equal; only he understands my true nature. In fact there are no two to be equal; both become merged.

Gleanings From Nisargadatta, 1976 July 12

Before I met my Guru I had many objective ideas, which I took to be real. With the aid of my Guru I realized that such ideas were of no use to me. Then I got the knowledge of “God”, which I also realized was of no use to me, and this led me to knowledge of the “Self” (reality), which also I eventually realized was of no value — as my Essence is beyond knowledge.

Gleanings From Nisargadatta, 1976 July 12

When there is no state that comes and goes, that is your natural state. All experience is illusion. If you go from one illusion to another, nothing has happened, no progress is made.

Gleanings From Nisargadatta, 1976 July 23

You must have a firm mental posture of “I am not the body”, and the one that says “I” is the one to hang on to. You must establish yourself for long periods in “I am not the body”. The consciousness that “you are” is witnessed by something in you, and that alone is your “Guru”. Not a particular body. Guru is the sound inside.

Gleanings From Nisargadatta, 1976 Dec 10

Q: Is the witness-consciousness the real Self?

M: It is the reflection of the real in the mind (buddhi). The real is beyond. The witness is the door through which you pass beyond.

—I Am That, Chapter 16, p. 38

It [the supreme] is, while all else merely happens.

—I Am That, Chapter 13, p. 38

To be aware is to be awake. Unaware means asleep. You are aware anyhow, you need not try to be. What you need is to be aware of being aware. Be aware deliberately and consciously, broaden and deepen the field of awareness. You are always conscious of the mind, but you are not aware of yourself as being conscious.

—I Am That, Chapter 48, p. 220

As long as you are a beginner certain formalized meditations, or prayers may be good for you. But for a seeker for reality there is only one meditation — the rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts. To be free from thoughts is itself meditation.

—I Am That, Chapter 48, p. 220

All that one has to do is find out one’s source and take up headquarters there.

—Prior to Consciousness

Give all your attention to the question: ‘What is it that makes me conscious?’, until your mind becomes the question itself and cannot think of anything else.

—I Am That, Chapter 86

With consciousness you have to hold consciousness. Give attention to this "I" taste.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 16, 1979

Maharaj: How do you focus attention on consciousness? Consciousness itself has to focus.

Questioner: That is what I meant.

Maharaj: Understand consciousness and come to the conclusion that consciousness is not yourself.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 18, 1979

You have to meditate. It won't be available free. The necessary threshold is through consciousness only. You have to imbibe and be consciousness. In the process of being in the consciousness, you come out of it, and there you see; and meditation is the only remedy.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 18, 1979<

Questioner: Is there the need for the mind to become quiet?

Maharaj: You are before the mind is. Don't pay attention to the thoughts, pay attention to the consciousness. Thoughts will always flow because of the vital breath. Whatever thoughts are useful to you, you can make use of.

Questioner: Is it possible to attain a state where the mind is still?

Maharaj: Yes, that state you experience in deep sleep also. Through meditation you will attain it.

Questioner: There is no process involved?

Maharaj: With greatest interest you get absorbed in your Self. By giving attention only to your "I" consciousness you can reach it. Without giving attention to the body, but to the sense "I am."

Questioner: Is there a way as such? Each individual has his own path, doesn't he?

Maharaj: Your urge is to know your Self; I tell you the direct way.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 25, 1979

But once the attention is fixed on the substratum of consciousness, there is nothing left.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 27, 1979

Think of that which is the center of the cosmos; don't let your attention stray in any way from this knowledge of beingness, "I Am."

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 27, 1979

If you want this experience you must insist on your Self, your own Atma-prema [Self-love]. Don't leave it for a moment. You insist. Do not pray to Gods or Goddesses, only see One. Keep on knowing that "I Am" and through that insistence you will know the state that you want to reach.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 27, 1979

You are the knower, not the doer.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Aug. 27, 1979

The beginning of duality is when you know you are. This is the primary duality, the very source of illusion.

—Seeds of Consciousness, Sept. 6, 1979

When self-control becomes second nature, awareness shifts its focus to deeper levels of existence and action.

—I Am That, Chapter 12, p. 32

All happiness comes from awareness.

—I Am That, Chapter 59, p. 278