7. WHEN CONSCIOUSNESS MANIFESTS, DUALITY APPEARS


MAHARAJ : If you want to remember our coming here this morning, treat that as the highest god which gives us the sense of presence - this conscious presence, which makes us feel that we are, we exist, we are alive. we are present

If you do, it will unfold itself and gives us all the necessary knowledge

You must have the firmest conviction that this consciousness is our parent principle, the highest god; then you will have all the necessary knowledge. If there is one principle which can save us, which is our capital, it is that which gives us the sense of presence, this consciousness. Be one with it, pray to it, and treat it as the only god. Whatever we have, whatever we acquire, is only because of this consciousness, and to be one with it we don't require any implements, any instruments, any money; there is no expense involved ! This consciousness is free of inhibitions, any conditions, and, being without obstructions, it is totally free. If we resort to it, it will also make us free

VISITOR : Why is it that the jnani is not aware of the universal knowledge? M : Why is the space unaware of anything that has happened? How is it that the sky is not affected by events happening on earth? Behind the four elements - air, water, fire and earth - the space is always there

V : What is meant by a “pure heart”? INTERPRETER : Please, don't ask frivolous questions. Whatever energy one has to spare, let us spend it on valuable questions

V : One question usually leads to another, and there has got to be a starting point somewhere. So a question like this is moving ahead a little bit, stimulating more questions

I : Here it should be just the other way. The frequency or the intensity of questions should be getting less and less. If your questions are multiplying, something must be wrong somewhere

V : Yesterday I came here and found the “I am,” What do I do now? M : Nothing else, that is all. You forget it and go! V : I have been to Tiruvannamalai quite a number of times, in Ramana Maharshi's ashram. A German lady there showed me a book on the teachings of Maharshi and told me a similar teaching and philosophy existed - that given by Maharaj

M : How long have you been going to Ramanashram? V : Only for the past five years

I : Did you read his [id Maharaj's] book I Am That ? V : I only read one or two questions on the subject of death

M : You have been reading Ramana Maharshi's book and found it interesting. In what way did you find it so with reference to yourself? V : My orientation has been basically advaita vedanta, so that I have been reading in his book

I : Having read those books, would you like to ask any questions? V : I am feeling happy in trying to follow this philosophy. Is there a necessity to meet a living guru or is it sufficient to have faith in a guru who has left his body? M : The aim is to awaken yourself to the faith in the self, "I am." That is the entire purpose. So whatever is inducive to that development you may accept

Supposing you have faith in a living guru, then accept a living guru. If you have faith in a guru who has left his body, accept that guru

V : But is there more benefit to one type over the other? M : When you were not knowing anything, what was the first thing you came to know in your whole span of life? V : The self. And then came other things

M : You started with knowing nothing, including you did not know yourself

So what is it that you started knowing first? V : I started reading the Gita, reading Krishna

M : You did not know anything. You did not know yourself either! So where is the scope for Gita? At this time of your life, when you were not knowing yourself, what was the first thing you came to know about? You started knowing so many things, after you started knowing yourself

You came to know “I am,” and then you came to know other things. How did that happen? V : It happened probably because of my previous karma, my prarabdha karma

M : These are all stories you have heard. After you came to know yourself, you started knowing so many things. But what knowledge did you have before even you came to know yourself? V : One comes to know all kinds of worldly things. but the world does not bring me any happiness or pleasure. But reading these books..

M : Please reply to the question

V : I have probably not understood proper1y... the question

M : How did you come to know your own self? Afterwards. you can do so many things. How did that happen? V : The self came to know this body

M : First of all, this knowingness appeared, the knowingness “I am”; later on you embraced the body

V : Correct

M : Hold on to this only, and don't ask any questions

I am addressing the consciousness, am expounding consciousness in terms of the same consciousness

You came to know yourself, “I am.” To abide in that is itself the bhakti, the devotion. Before the appearance of "I-am-ness,” where is the devotion? V : I have a question

M : I have not heard anyone starting questions. I gave you special time for that but you did not speak up

Whatever you have heard applies to you totally and exclusively. Accept that fully. The state you were in before you embraced the body as yourself, that state is the guru of all gurus, That is the Brahman - not even the Brahman, it is the Parabrahman only. Subsequently, you began to fall into grosser states and finally you embraced the body as yourself. Before you occurred to yourself as “I am.” you were in the highest state - the guru of the gurus - the Parabrahman state

Later on you started filling up with all kinds of grosser matters, and you came down to the body sense - "I am the body." So all these impurities have to be removed. Until then, you have to stay put in quietude

Your fall started with the appearance of that beingness, “I am.” With the appearance of this knowingness “I am.” the next fall was embracing the body as “I am." And then you gathered so many things onto yourself. Hold on to the state of knowing yourself as "I am" as the truth. All the other things you have gathered to yourself are unreal

[To a particular visitor] Presently, you are in quietude. Is it on this side of sleep or on the other side? You are only the consciousness feeling the consciousness. Consciousness touches the consciousness. You are heading for that experience. known as death, of which you have heard. And you have to realize how that death experience is unreal. With all our experience in the world, and notwithstanding all our struggles there, we are heading only towards the inevitability of death. But that death is unreal. If death were real, then the death of one animal would signify the end of the entire species

So long as the consciousness “I am” is not stimulated into knowingness there is no knowingness at all. That very stimulus, that “I-am-ness,” is the source of the entire manifest world of yours. In the absence of the awakening of this "Iam- ness," where is the question of “mine” and "thine"? Only after the appearance of "I-am-ness." I and others come into play. Without this “I-amness” there can be neither "I am" nor others. If you investigate this aspect of spirituality, then there is no question of birth and death. But if you don't investigate this particular aspect, you remain involved in the cycle of birth and death

V : If I know myself, if I realize myself, may there be a transformation in my worldly life? M : What do you mean by “worldly life” and what do you mean by “transformation”? Your worldly life is all your concept, is all your mind only

We are dealing with that principle which is prior to mind. This may be described by saying that you are putting on various shrouds. Before you knew yourself, that was your true state. The first shroud was that of “I-am-ness”; then you embraced the body as yourself, and then so many other shrouds. All these shrouds have to be pealed off, including “I-am-ness.” From the no-knowing state, the first veil I took was that of "I am." That was formless, nameless. But I embraced the body: I got a form for myself, I got a name for myself. This was the fall. Therefore all sages advise: Give up the shackles of the body! "I am the body” - these are the shackles. Give them up

V : How to get rid of this body-mind sense? M : How to forget? Who remembers and who knows that he remembers and forgets? The one who knows the memory and non-memory states is bodiless; he is prior to body and mind. If you can imbibe totally the essence of what is being said right now, you will stabilize in the Parabrahman state only

You are not beginners in the sphere of spirituality. You have acquired a lot of spiritual wisdom. Now please ask questions

The one who distinguishes between different state - this is with body, that is bodiless, this is this, this is that - stands quite apart from all those things. And you are the one who distinguishes. You are the one that is the purest, the most auspicious, the cleanest. Since that is your state, you are in a position to assess the quality of other states. With this understanding, carry out your worldly life, family life, with full zeal. But the point is this: If you really understand and abide in what I say, naturally your desires and expectations will fall off

V : With the falling off of desires and attachments, there comes a feeling of not wanting to do anything..

M : That leads to the Parabrahman state. What is the use to that state of all the ambitions, expectations, desires? What does it need? Nothing at all, for it is the perfect state

V : You get to the point that you don't care for anything anymore, neither the Brahman state nor anything

M : Yes. You won't care to know that you are the Brahman also in that state

Would you take delivery of this talk, accept all of this? V : A little! [laughter] I : It is not child's play that he is talking about

V : There just seems to be a total disenchantment with the world

M : What do you mean by disenchantment? V : It comes as a preference for not wanting to be here - "here" meaning “in the world.” M : It will happen only when you realize "I am not like this, not like that...," if you eliminate everything. In that state, you will have no color, no design, no form, no name

V : Then, there is no longer any desire to practice spirituality either

M : That type of dispassion is called vairagya. Vairagya means no raga; raga means love, love to be. Love to be is also to be discarded

V : That brings along sadness

M : That is the emotional state... an aspect of the body-mind, this sadness. If you are not completely clear of this body-mind sense, the sadness is bound to be there

[To two visitors in particular] Where nobody was here earlier. I gave both of you a very good opportunity to talk, and now you are itching to talk

V : May I talk now? M : You shut off all your questions by your previous statement that you had found your self. That means the object of your spiritual search has been reached

Please explain yourself in greater detail. Before you came here, what were you and after meeting me what are you? I would like to hear

V : Before I came here, everything seemed to go on in here [pointing to her head] and I looked at my body and thought of my body all the time: and I used to be concerned about money, very concerned... and also whether or not I would have a job. And sometimes I worked very hard to understand the “I am,” I read your books and listened to the teachings... I tried very hard to stay in the “I am”, and I would meditate

M : And then? V : Then, I found myself here somehow. and I said “I am” and I knew it

M : You understood "you are"? what is the color of that, the design of that? What is the image of that? V : Nothing

M : Find it! Then keep quiet

V : [Unintelligible, about the need for disciplines] M : Until you meet your own self, "I am," they [the disciplines] are all very necessary. Once you abide in your own self they are useless, for then you are no more the body and no longer concerned with all the disciplines pertaining to that body

V : What about sins and merits after abidance in my self ? M : These are qualities related to the body-mind. So the moment you are no longer the body-mind, these qualities have no further scope with you

First of all, we condition ourselves into the body: we indoctrinate ourselves with the idea “I am the body.” An example is the air. When the air comes into the body, it is called prana. It is conditioned by the body and confined to the body. Once it is disassociated from the body, that vital breath or prana becomes manifest; it is the universal air. Not only universal air, it becomes the universal space also. So the space is not conditioned by the body. That air is not conditioned by the body. Similarly, your identity is not associated and limited by the body; therefore none of the conditionings of the body is binding on you. By your very nature, you are that dynamic, manifest consciousness only

No doubt it depends on this quality of “I-am-ness” on the vital breath. The latter means air only - air functioning in the body. This air and the knowingness cause the “I-am-ness.” Out of prana grows the world; and world means the mind

All that construes “you.” So when the vital breath quits, there is no more “I-amness,” but the does not die off and remain like a dead body

V : What is liberation? M : When you are liberated from the body-mind sense, so that you are not the body-mind, that itself is liberation. My language may not satisfy you, but don't get upset by that. You should try to understand the meaning behind my words

When you are really liberated, when you firmly come to the conclusion “I am not the body. nor the vital breath.” the illumination is perfect

Are you the vital breath? Pay attention to the vital breath. Are you the language, because you can voice the language? Can you be the language? Similarly. I lead you to consciousness. You are in a position to watch consciousness; therefore, you cannot be the consciousness. You must fully employ your faculty of discrimination and investigate

Before we are caught up with this body-mind sense. we are the Parabrahman only. But the moment this “I-am-ness” appears, We embrace this body-mind as ourself and then we are involved with all the concepts and all the problems of the world

That knowingness, that realization, has no color. For one who has realized all this, there is Brahman, the godly state, and the one who knows this godly state is the Parabrahman state

V : To one who knows the Brahman state, does the world still appear? M : 'When it is a qualitative "I-am-ness" state, the world is. Once this state is transcended, there is no world. In the "I-am-ness," in the consciousness, the manifest world is there. In the “No-I-am-ness” state there is no world

The Knower of this “I-am-ness” state and the world... within that “Knower state,” there is no world. But in the “I-am-ness”state there is a world

V : But the Knower then knows the world, the Parabrahman knows the world? M : [Pointing to his cigarette lighter] You see, that flame is like “I-am-ness.” When the “I-am-ness” appears, the world also appears. You, like Parabrahman, is watching that. 'When there is no flame, you see nothing. When the flame is there, “I-am-ness” has appeared, therefore the world has appeared

V : So in Parabrahman, you can know both the world and no-world

M : Everything depends on the appearance of that consciousness. If that consciousness is there, then also witnessing of the world happens. If there is no consciousness, then there is no world. Why do you know anything right now? V : Because I am

M : Because of that “I-am-ness.” you know the world. A hundred years back, you did not know anything. Then you were the Parabrahman, because the “I-am-ness” was not yet there

V : Can't I still be the Parabrahman now? M : This is no joke, but you can become Parabrahman right now. Only, it is not a commodity that you can acquire

You, a hundred years ago. were the Parabrahman. Give me all the information about that state of a hundred years back. Focus your attention only on that consciousness “I am.” Don't be led astray by all the so-called spiritual disciplines and rigmaroles

V : Does this consciousness within the body have anything to do with the universal consciousness? M : One is the expression of the other. If the pulse were not there, could that which is considered the individual body do anything in the world? The life force, the breath, is the expression of the mind and the consciousness. When you talk of one, the others have to be there. All the three are made one complex. Without one, the others can't work. Now, the difficulty arises because what this consciousness is is at once the universal consciousness - that is, the feeling of Presence, “I am Presence” - not: I am present or you are present or he is present

But unfortunately, the identification is with the body and I am not the Whole but a divisible part of the Whole. And therefore one thinks in terms of acquiring something. But when one sees the situation as it really is, that no individual is involved, that what is present is Presence as a whole and merely the expression of the Absolute, then the moment this is perceived there is liberation. Liberation is nothing else than seeing this with full conviction

V : What is the relationship between consciousness and the body? M : The consciousness, in order to manifest itself, must have a form. And the form is the body, and the body is made up of the essence of the five elements, constituting the sustenance for the consciousness. Without sustenance in the form of the body, whichever body it may be - that of a worm, an insect or a human being - consciousness could not sustain itself; it is the food essence which sustains consciousness

V : If the various forms of manifestation are merely the expression of universal consciousness, why is there the feeling of individuality in different forms? Why should each form consider itself a separate one? M : As soon as that which is the unicity manifests itself, the very manifestation signifies duality. Manifestation means there has to be a subject and an object. Manifestation in space-time means divisibility. And it is the very nature of consciousness that as soon as it manifests itself, there are the opposites – evil/good, large/small. etc. From the moment the manifestation takes place, duality is its very nature and this must express itself. As soon as there is this manifestation, there is the question of duality, even in the five elements: the air, fire and water are themselves opposites. So the manifestation itself means duality

If I say that I am ill, what does it mean really? For the sake of communication, one uses the word "I." But strictly speaking, I have nothing to do with the form. The illness is on that because of which the form is made and is felt in the consciousness. And I am really neither the form nor the consciousness, which manifests itself in the form. But for the sake of communication. one says “I am ill.” “I am worse,” “I have grown weak” or “I have grown stronger,” but that is merely an expression of the change in the essence of the form. But growing weaker or stronger, undergoing illness or otherwise, has nothing to do with as such

There are innumerable languages, not only among human beings but also among forms of being other than the human being. But that on which the language is based - that is, the mind and the consciousness - does not change

The conditioning which has taken place on that consciousness right from the beginning is the basis of the language of that particular form. Therefore, there are innumerable forms and any number of languages

Now there is a very subtle point and analogy regarding the ordinary language which we know and the spiritual language which we do not yet know. That to which one has been conditioned right from the beginning, that language does not need any special effort for anyone to learn. He or she gets used to it from early childhood, from the earliest conditioning. How? Through constant and consistent association. Similarly, if one has this constant and consistent association with the jnanis, then that language which the jnani speaks and which would normally not be understood by people, will gradually be remembered and understood and become natural

Since when does one come to know the experience of suffering? Only since form was created out of the five elements and there was consciousness in that form. But what was the situation before the form was created and the consciousness came into it? One was unmanifest. One had no knowledge of one's existence; there was no question of any experience, and therefore there was a state which was beyond the gross concept of happiness or unhappiness. That was the unicity when there was not even any question of having experience

In the unmanifest Absolute. there is no consciousness at all - consciousness of existence. So only when there is this universal consciousness manifesting itself in the various forms, and these forms possess the life force and are subject to the three gunas, can each form act through the life force according to the combination of these gunas. Each form acts according to its own nature. It is only when identification takes place, and I begin to think that I am acting, although it is only the combination of the three gunas that acts, that I assume quite unnecessarily the responsibilities and consequences of those actions. which properly are not mine at all. The actions would have taken place in any case, depending on the three gunas(1) and the life force

It is amazing, almost silly, that anyone could think that he or she is acting

This is what happens: The waking state, before the other gunas start, is from the sattva-guna; that is, total harmony. In that split second when one wakes up, there is total love, total kindness. There is no question of selfis(h)-ness. So the waking state is of the quality of the subsequently, there are the physical activities caused by necessities, nature and duties: these derive from the rajas-guna. All these activities take place by themselves, but one starts saying "I am doing this," identifying and taking on the responsibilities - that is the work of the tamasguna

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