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I AM That (38) > Ron > 07/23/2023
Posted by Holger:
Sunday, July 23, 2023 3:45 pm (California Time)
We are a small group of friends;
together we read some paragraphs in
Nisargadatta’s I AM THAT
and then talk about it.
Feel warmly welcome
Please RSVP to Ron@Nondual.Community
and you will receive a free Zoom link ❤️
Greetings to One and All!
Here is a link to the video about Nisargadatta
that we watched on Sunday:
“The Unbelievable Life Of Nisargadatta Maharaj”.
Here is a link to the pdf for I Am That (holybooks.com)
And here is a link to highlights from
the book being read aloud (InTheIam.com)
Enjoy
Peace Peace Peace
Ron@Nondual.Community
PS: If anyone would like to be dropped
from this mailing list please let me know.
Chapter 38
Spiritual Practice is Will Asserted and Re-asserted
Q: What is a Jnani like?
NM: The jnani belongs to all.
He gives himself tirelessly and completely to whoever comes to him.
If he is not a giver, he is not a jnani.
Whatever he has, he shares. 168
Q: I admit, no verbal description will do,
when the state described is beyond words.
Yet it is also within words.
Poetry is the art of putting into words the inexpressible.
NM: There is no lack of religious poets.
Turn to them for what you want.
As far as I am concerned, my teaching is simple:
trust me for a while and do what I tell you.
If you persevere, you will find that
your trust was justified. 168
Q: Either you tell us that your state is beyond words,
or that there is no difference;
that where we see a difference, you see none.
In both cases we are left without any insight into your state?
NM: How can you have insight into my state
when you are without insight into your own?
When the very instrument of insight is lacking,
is it not important to find it first?
It is like a blind man wanting to learn painting
before he regains his eyesight.
You want to know my state – but do you know
the state of of your wife or servant? 168-169
Q: I am asking for some hints only?
NM: Well, I gave you a very significant clue –
where you see differences, I don’t.
To me it is enough.
If you think it is not enough,
I can only repeat; it is enough.
Think it out deeply and you will come to
see what I see. 169
Q: How long will it take?
NM: You seem to want instant insight,
forgetting that the instant is always preceded
by a long preparation.
The fruit falls suddenly,
but the ripening takes time…
After all, when I talk of trusting me,
it is only for a short time,
just enough to start you moving. 169
Q: How does one grow in sensitivity?…
Can you not share your own sensitivity?
NM: Yes, I can, but sharing is a two way street.
Two are needed in sharing.
Who is willing to take what I am offering? 170
Q: What you cannot give is not your own?
NM: I claim nothing as my own.
When the ‘I’ is not, where is the ’mine’?
…Believe me, I am not close-fisted,
holding back your share of reality.
On the contrary, I am all yours,
eat me and drink me.
But while you repeat verbally: ‘give, give’,
you do nothing to take what is offered.
I am showing you a short and easy way to being able
to see what I see, but you cling to your old habits
of thought, feeling and action and put all the blame on me.
I have nothing which you do not have.
Self-knowledge is not a piece of property
to be offered and accepted.
It is a new dimension altogether,
where there is nothing to give or take. 170-171
Q: Give us at least some insight into the content
of your mind while you live your daily life?
NM: The common things of life:
I experience them just as you do.
The difference lies in what I do not experience.
I do not experience fear or greed, hate or anger.
I ask nothing, refuse nothing, keep nothing.
In these matters I do not compromise.
Maybe this is the outstanding difference between us.
I will not compromise, I am true to myself,
while you are afraid of reality. 171
Q: To sit in a corner all by oneself and keep on repeating:
‘I am God, God I am’, appears to be plain madness.
How to convince a Westerner that such practices
lead to supreme reality?
NM: The man who claims to be God and the man who doubts it
– both are deluded. They talk in their dream. 171
Q: If all is dreaming, what is waking?
NM: How to describe the waking state in dreamland language?
Words do not describe, they are only symbols. 171
Q: Without confidence and fervor,
repeating mechanically the same sounds,
will he ever achieve anything?
NM: Why not?
It is the urge, the hidden motive that matters,
not the shape it takes.
Whatever he does, if he does it for the sake of
finding his own real self,
will surely bring him to himself…
Whatever you do for the sake of truth,
will take you to truth.
The shape it takes hardly matters. 171-172
Q: Then there is no need of giving expression to one’s longing?
NM: No need. Doing nothing is as good.
Mere longing, undiluted by thought and action,
pure, concentrated longing, will take you speedily to your goal.
It is the true motive that matters, not the manner. 172
Q: Unbelievable!
How can dull repetition in boredom verging on despair, be effective?
NM: The very facts of repetition, of struggling on and on
and of endurance and perseverance, in spite of boredom
and despair and complete lack of conviction are really crucial.
They are not important by themselves, but the sincerity behind them
is all-important. There must be a push from within and pull from without. 172
Q: What is spiritual practice?
NM: Spiritual practice is will asserted and re-asserted.
Who has not the daring will not accept the real even when offered.
Unwillingness born out of fear is the only obstacle. 172
Q: What is there to be afraid of?
NM: The unknown. The not-being, not-knowing,
not-doing. The beyond. 172
Q: Not everyone has the chance of meeting you?
NM: Meet your own self.
Be with your own self, listen to it, obey it,
cherish it, keep it in mind ceaselessly.
You need no other guide.
As long as the urge for truth affects your daily life,
all is well with you.
Live your life without hurting anybody.
Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga
and it will take you speedily to your goal.
This is what I call Nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga.
It is the art of living in peace and harmony,
in friendliness and love.
The fruit of it is happiness, uncaused and endless. 173
Q: If a man tells me that what he knows cannot be conveyed in words,
then I watch him closely and try to make it out?
NM: And this is exactly what I want you to do!
Be interested, give attention, until a current
of mutual understanding is established.
Then the sharing will be easy.
As a matter of fact, all realization is only sharing. 173
Q: What prevents me from knowing?
NM: What prevents you from knowing is not the lack of opportunity,
but the lack of ability to focus in your mind what you want to understand.
If you could but keep in mind what you do not know,
it would reveal to you its secrets.
But if you are shallow and impatient, not earnest enough to look and wait,
you are like a child crying for the moon. 173
Please RSVP to Ron@Nondual.Community
and you will receive a free Zoom link ❤️
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by Vyacheslav Argenberg is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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Created: July 23, 2023
Last modified: July 23, 2023
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