What are We, Really? - Nisargadatta

What are We, Really?

extract from the book POINTERS FROM NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ
By Ramesh S. Balsekar

The normal practice at the sessions of Maharaj's talks is to wait patiently for him to start the discussion. Sometimes he would begin by talking on a definite subject; at other times he would sit silently with his eyes closed for a while and then begin to mumble softly, perhaps thinking aloud. Then again, he might at the very beginning ask the visitors if any of them had any questions. Sometimes, not too often, it happens that there is a visitor who is extremely keen to ask a particular question concerning a specific problem. Maharaj seems to sense the eagerness of such a visitor, looks directly at him even if he happens to be sitting in the last row, and asks him if he has any questions.

One morning, when Maharaj asked if there were any questions, one visitor put his hand up and started speaking. He said: Maharaj, I have a question which has baffled me so much that I am at the end of my tether. I have done a fair amount of reading on the philosophy of Advaita, and its basic tenets have impressed me deeply indeed. I have been told repeatedly by different masters that unless
I give up the concept of my separate entity liberation cannot be attained. I do wholeheartedly accept that one who believes in the concept of duality—self and the other—is the one who is in 'bondage'.
But I am also told that there can not be 'bondage' for anybody, because everyone has always been free! This contradictory position is difficult for me to understand. I cannot 'do' anything because no 'entity' is supposed to exist. How do I then carry on in this world? Please, Maharaj, this is not an idle, academic question. I am deeply concerned, and the problem is driving me mad. What are we, really?

Maharaj fixed his luminous gaze on the visitor's eyes, which, by then, were brimming with tears. He took a deep breath, sat for a while with his eyes closed, a posture which must have induced a sense of peace within the heart of the questioner. When Maharaj opened his eyes he found the visitor sitting still, his eyes closed. After a few moments, when he opened his eyes he found Maharaj smiling at him.

Well, said Maharaj, what were you thinking about during the last few moments? The answer was: Nothing. That, said Maharaj, is the answer— 'nothing'. When you said 'nothing' what exactly did you mean? Did you not mean that conceptualization, which goes on in consciousness all the time, had ceased temporarily, as it does when you are in deep sleep? Does it not strike you that the culprint is consciousness, the source of all conceptualization? Does it not strike you that the problem has been created in consciousness and cognized in consciousness, and that it is this consciousness itself which is trying to understand its own nature? Does it not strike you, therefore, that it would be virtually impossible for you to understand conceptually what you really are?

Now then, let us proceed. You used the would 'really'; what are we 'really'? The average person would use the word 'real' to mean something that is perceptible to the senses. The body is perceptible to the senses but would the body be 'really' you? We must use the words correctly, in spite of all their limitations. We consider as 'real' anything that is perceptible to the senses, and yet every imaginable 'thing' that is sensorially perceptible must pass through an interpretation by the mind before it is cognized. And anything that is thus cognized is obviously only an appearance in the consciousness of the cognizer. If whatever is sensorially perceptible is only an appearance, where then is the reality of the physical form which seems so very 'real' and tangible?

Should we not then go further back—at least conceptually — to the state that prevailed prior to the appearance of this physical form, this psychosomatic apparatus; prior even to the conception of this form? If I were to ask you to tell me something about your state before you were conceived in your mother's womb, your answer must necessarily be "I don't know." This 'I' who does not know that state (in fact the 'I' who knew nothing until consciousness appeared), is what we really are — the Absolute, the noumenon, spaceless, timeless, imperceptible being; whereas, relatively, phenomenally, finite, time-bound, perceptible to the senses, is what we appear to be as separate objects.

The state of non-manifestation, the noumenon, is one where we (strictly, the word should be not 'we' but 'I') do not even know of our being-ness. When we become conscious of our beingness, the state of unicity no longer prevails, because duality is the very essence of consciousness. The manifestation of that-which-we-are as phenomena entails a process of objectivization, which is
necessarily based on a division into a subject which is the perceiver or the cognizer, and an object which is the perceived or the cognized.

The interesting point about this process of objectivization is that it does necessarily take place in consciousness, which is the source of all conceptualizing, and, therefore, in effect, the so-termed cognizer-subject and cognized-object are both objects phenomenalized in consciousness like dreamfigures. But, that cognizer-object (which cognizes the cognized-object) assumes the identity of the subject as a separate entity — a 'self' — and gives the cognized object an identity as the 'other'.
Thus is born the concept of the 'individual' through illusion, the power of the Maya, or whatever.

Once this identification with a supposed separate entity takes place, the concept of duality gets broadened and the conditioning becomes stronger. The separate subject-entity then sets itself up as an arbiter to analyze and criticize various objects, and the entire scheme of inter-related opposites
comes into existence — good and bad, big and small, far and near— providing scope for condemnation and approbation.

The sub-stratum of the entire creation of this phenomenal universe is, of course, the concept of space-time. Space is needed for objectivization and time to measure the duration of this extension in space. Without space how could objects have been given forms to become visible, and without time
(duration for the appearance) how could they have been perceived?

Now, Maharaj asked the visitor, have you got the answer to your question?

The visitor, who was listening with rapt attention, as if mesmerized, suddenly realized that Maharaj had asked him a question. He was so overwhelmed by what had been imparted to him, that, for quite some time he could not utter a word, for he seemed to be enveloped in pure listening which eludes words. He was en rapport with Maharaj.

Maharaj continued: If you have apperceived what I have said, you should be able to say exactly how and where the so-called bondage arises, and whom it hurts. Understand this very clearly.
Manifestation of phenomena is nothing but the process of the functioning of consciousness, where there is no question of an individual entity. All are objects, dream-figures functioning in their respective roles. Our miseries arise solely through accepting responsibility by 'taking delivery' of our respective dream-roles as ourselves, by identifying what-we-are with the subject-cognizer
element in the process of objectification. It is this illusory and totally unnecessary identification which causes the 'bondage' and all the resulting misery to the illusory individual.

Once again now: What-we-are-not is only a concept, and this concept is seeking what-we-are. The conditioning—the misunderstanding — can only be got rid of by a proper understanding of what-we-are and what-we-are-not. It will then be clear that the 'bondage', and the 'individual' who suffers thereby, are both mere concepts, and that what-we-are, the noumenon, can manifest itself only as total phenomena. You will find peace — or, rather, peace will find itself — when there is apperception(realization) that what we are searching for cannot be found for the very simple reason that that which is searching and that which is sought are not different!

The visitor continued to sit with hands folded, eyes closed, tears flowing down his cheeks. He was in a state of a rapturous silence more eloquent than words. 

E-book - Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj.pdf

THE THREE GUNAS

THE THREE QUALITIES OF NATURE (GUNAS ) 

Sattva-Rajas-Tamas

Ayurveda provides a special language for understanding the primal forces of Nature and shows us how to work with them on all levels. According to Yoga and Ayurveda, Nature consists of three primal qualities, which are the main powers of Cosmic Intelligence that determine our spiritual growth. These are called gunas in Sanskrit, meaning “what binds” because wrongly understood they keep us in bondage to the external world.

From Sattva comes the clarity or peace through which we can perceive the truth. From tamas comes the power of ignorance that veils our true nature. From rajas comes the power of Imagination that projects the world and puts us in bondage to the multiplicity of the external. 

1) Sattva - intelligence, knowledge, purity, imparts balance.

Sattva is the quality of intelligence, virtue and goodness and creates harmony, balance and stability.

It is said to be light in nature and luminous. It has inward and upward motion and brings about the awakening and development of the soul. Sattva gives happiness. Sattva provides happiness and contentment of a lasting nature. It is the principle of clarity, wideness and peace, the force of love that unites all things together.

2) Rajas – energy, action, passion, causes imbalance.

Rajas means the quality of attraction, turbulence or activity. It introduces a disequilibrium that upsets an existing balance. It is said to be mobile and motivated. It possesses outward motion and causes self-motivated or self-seeking action that leads to disintegration, Rajas creates pain and suffering. It is the principle of energy. 

While in the short term Rajas is stimulating and provides pleasure, owing to its unbalanced nature it quickly results in pain and suffering. It is the force of passion that causes distress and conflict.

3) Tamas – substance, inertia, ignorance, creates inertia.

Tamas is the quality of dullness, darkness, and inertia and is heavy, veiling or obstructing in its action. It has downward motion and causes decay, degeneration and death. 

It functions as the force of gravity that retards things and holds them in specific limited forms. Tamas brings about ignorance and delusion in the mind and promotes insensitivity, sleep and loss of awareness. It is the principle of materiality or unconsciousness that causes consciousness to become veiled.

Since both the external world and the internal world of the mind are made of matter, the qualities of the three gunas are seen in both.

For example, in the external world we see:

Sattva -- equilibrium and serenity

Rajas -- dynamism and movement

Tamas -- inertia and stagnancy

In the internal world of the mind, these are experienced as:

Sattva -- Purity, compassion, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, comprehension, recognition, generosity, patience, kindness.

Rajas -- Desire, greed, jealousy, anger, attachment, possessiveness, hyperactivity, nervousness, anxiety,aggressiveness, competitiveness, power, prestige, name and fame.

Tamas -- Impurity, dullness, envy, fear, delusion, confusion, depression, stupor, unconsciousness, coma.

One of the factors that influences the quality and strength of the material quality that predominates in your mind is your destiny. Otherwise, because the mind has an adoptive nature, it is also strongly affected by the quality of your environment and associations. It is also influenced by the quality of the food you eat.

The three gunas are the most subtle qualities of Nature that underlie matter, life and mind. They are the energies through which not only the surface mind, but our deeper consciousness functions. They are the powers of the soul which hold the karmas and desires that propel us from birth to birth. The gunas adhere in Nature herself as her core potentials for diversification.

All objects in the universe consist of various combinations of the three gunas. Cosmic evolution consists of their mutual interaction and transformation. The three gunas are one of the prime themes of Ayurvedic thought. They form a deeper level than the three biological humors (Vata- Pitta-Kapha) and help us understand our mental and spiritual nature and how it functions.

SATTVA AND THE MIND

The mind, or consciousness in general, is naturally the domain of Sattva. Consciousness itself is called Sattva in Sanskrit. Unless the mind is calm and clear we cannot perceive anything properly. Sattva creates clarity, through which we perceive the truth of things, and gives light, concentration and devotion. Rajas and Tamas are factors of mental disharmony causing agitation and delusion. They result in wrong imagination and misperception.

From Rajas comes the false idea of the external world as real in itself, which causes us to seek happiness outside ourselves and lose track of our inner peace. Rajas creates desire, distortion, turbulence and emotional upset. It predominates in the sensory aspect of the mind because the senses are ever-moving and seeking various objects. As long as we remain immersed in the pursuit of sensory enjoyment we fall under the instability of Rajas.

From Tamas comes the ignorance that veils our true nature and weakens our power of perception. Through it arises the idea of an ego or separate self by which we feel ourselves alone and isolated. Tamas prevails in consciousness identified with the physical body, which is dull and limited. As long our identity and sense of well-being is primarily physical we remain in the dark realm of Tamas.

Sattva is the balance of Rajas and Tamas, combining the energy of Rajas with the stability of Tamas. By increasing Sattva one gains peace and harmony, and returns to Primordial Nature and Pure Spirit in which is liberation. However attachment to Sattva, such as clinging to virtue, can bind the mind. For this reason we must strive to develop pure Sattva, which is its detached form, or Sattva not clinging to its own qualities. Pure Sattva does not condemn Rajas and Tamas but understands their place in the cosmic harmony, which is as outer factors of life and body whose proper place is apart from our true nature.

When pure Sattva prevails in our consciousness we transcend time and space and discover our eternal Self. The soul regains its basic purity and unites with God. When out of balance, the three gunas bring about the process of cosmic evolution through which the soul evolves through the kingdoms of Nature, experiencing birth and death, happiness and sorrow in various bodies. The movement of the three gunas is coterminous with creation.

Sattva as the state of balance is responsible for all true health and healing. Health is maintained by Sattvic living, which is living in harmony with Nature and our inner Self, cultivating purity, clarity and peace. Rajas and Tamas are the factors that cause disease. Rajas causes pain, agitation and the dissipation of energy. Tamas brings about stagnation, decay and death. Rajas and Tamas usually work together. Rajas brings about the over expression of energy, which eventually leads exhaustion, in which Tamas prevails. For example, too much spicy food, alcohol, and sexual indulgence, are initially Rajasic or stimulating. These eventually lead to such Tamasic conditions as fatigue and collapse of energy. On a psychological level too much Rajas, which is turbulent emotion, leads to Tamas or mental dullness and depression.

Mental Types According to the Gunas

To have Sattva predominant in our nature is the key to health, creativity and spirituality.

Sattvic people possess an harmonious and adaptable nature which gives the greatest freedom from disease both physical and mental. They strive toward balance and have peace of mind that cuts off the psychological root of disease. They are considerate of others and take care of themselves. They see all life as a learning experience and look for the good in all things, even in disease which they strive to understand, not merely to suppress.

Rajasic people have good energy but burn themselves out through excessive activity. Their minds are usually agitated and seldom at peace. They have strong opinions seek power over others often regardless of the means. They are impatient and inconsistent in dealing with their problems and do not wish to take the time or responsibility to get well. They blame others for their problems, including their therapists.

Rajasic people can accomplish their goals and are generally in control of their lives. However, they are not awake to their spiritual purpose, and are dominated by the ego in their pursuit of happiness. Life brings them shocks, which can cause them great suffering, particularly when they lose control. Even when they achieve their goals they find that they are still not happy.

Tamasic types have deep-seated psychological blockages. Their energy and emotion tends to be stagnant and repressed and they do not know what their problems really are. They do not seek proper treatment and usually have poor hygiene or poor self-care habits. They accept their condition as fate and do not take advantage of the methods that may alleviate their problems. They allow other people and negative influences to dominate them and do not like to be responsible for their lives. They prefer not to deal with their problems or will not let others know about them, which only allows the problems to get worse.

The admixture of gunas

However, we must not forget the admixtures of the gunas. There is a higher rajas and tamas in the field of sattva and a lower sattva in the fields of rajas and tamas. Similarly there are rajasic aspects of tamas and tamasic aspects of rajas. The following are some brief descriptions 

1. Rajasic Sattva: the acιive or transformative force of sattva, the power of, spiritual aspiration that struggles upward, ever seeking greater growth and unfoldment. It is also any energy of healing that brings about integration and wholeness. 

2. Tamasic Sattva: the destructive force of sattva that eliminates negativity: It is also the stability inherent in sattva, its capacity to endure through all obstacles. It is the capacity of a state of balance to sustain itself and to ward off disease or imbalance. 

3. Sattvic Rajas: the type of religion, spirituality or idealism of rajasic people. It has rajasic traits of aggression, outer expansion and the seeking of power Religions based upon militance, exclusivism and intolerance reflect this quality. 

4. Tamasic Rajas: the inertia of rajasic types, their resistance to any higher force, and holding to their own personal power and impulses regardless of the consequences for themselves or others. 

5. Sattvic Tamas: the religion, spirituality or idealism of tamasic people. It has tamasic traits of destruction, darkness, and delusion. It is the level of dark cults and superstitions. 

6. Rajasic Tamas: the aggression and violence ·of dull and ignorant people lι is perhaps the most destructive gunic quality. Tamasic types literally trample over others and, devoid of sensitivity, delight in harm and destruction. Deep sexual perversions come at this level.

Gunas and Human Relations

Our minds are constantly being affected by the changing gunas, just like a movie is flashing on a screen. As we watch the light shown through the celluloid frames of a movie, our mood changes from scene to scene. We are emotionally absorbed in the reflected images. If something sad is depicted, we feel sad. If something humorous happens, we feel happy. Similarly, the gunas reflect every moment on the screen of our mind, and accordingly our style of thinking, field of desires and mood shift.

For this reason, sometimes you feel extremely active, at other times reflective. Sometimes you are overcome by laziness. Sometimes you feel at peace. Sometimes you are motivated to better yourself and sometimes you feel self-destructive. These internal moods are a reflection of the influence of one of the gunas of maya.

While we are under the influence of any of the gunas, we see the world though that "tinted lens".

If we are under the influence of sattva, we may feel compassion and kindness for others. We will see only good in them and judge their intentions to be of the highest order.

When we are under the influence of rajas, we may feel ambitious and wonder how others can further our selfish motive. We may also feel that people are untrustworthy and they may try to take advantage of us.

When we are under the influence of tamas we try to devise some means of cheating or robbing someone or hurting them verbally or physically. We see others as being the enemy or as having little or no worth.

CULTIVATION OF SATTVA 

Yoga and Ayurveda emphasize the development of sattva. In yoga, sattva is the higher quality that allows spiritual growth to occur. Ιn Ayurveda, sattva is the state of balance that makes healing happen. 

Eat mostly sattvic food

The mind appropriately is the domain of Sattva (clarity) and the mind itself is called Sattva. One's quality of Sattva is reflected in the clarity of perception and peace of mind. 

When in balance in the mind the three gunas give perception of truth, when out of balance, they create ignorance (tamas) or false imagination (rajas) through which perception is blocked or distorted. 

Sattva is the balance of rajas and tamas. Hence by increasing sattva in the mind one returns to peace and harmony and can merge back into nature and spirit. Yet attachment to sattva, like clinging to virtue, can also bind the mind. Pure sattva is required, which is the detached form of it. Ayurveda uses the three gunas for determining mental nature. 

In fact the mind itself is composed of the gunas. The gunas we take in serve to build up the mind. The mind like the gunas is the causal or creative principle in existence. 

Yoga practice has two stages: 

1. The development of sattva 

Development of sattva means purification of body and mind. Development of sattva occurs through right diet, physical purification, control of the senses, control of the mind, mantra and devotion. 

In order to develop sattva we must follow a sattvic life style and do yoga practices. What is a satvvic lifestyle?  It is to live in all aspects of our everyday life in a sattvic way. We must be in contact and have relations with what is sattvic by nature. 

That means that:

We must eat sattvic food, drink sattvic drinks, perceive sattvic impressions, live in a sattvic house, city or neighborhood and have relations with sattvic people and avoid or reduce as much as possible what is rajasic and tamasic.

We must cultivate sattvic thoughts and way of thinking and sattvic feelings. At the same time we must eliminate negative thinking and emotions by spiritual practices and other psychological means and methods such as Bach remedies, affirmations, EFT etc..

We must do by speech and body sattvic actions and do them in a sattvic way.

2. The transcendence of sattva. 

Transcendence of sattva means going beyond the body and mind to our true Self beyond manifestation. Transcendence of sattva comes from higher meditation practices. 

The general rule is that if one has not developed sattva, one cannot go beyond it. One should not forget this important rule. If we don't have the appropriate sattva or purity in our body and mind, including in our emotions, it may be premature for us to seek any higher enlightenment. 

SATTVA AND HEALTH 

Sattva is also the key to ayurveclic healing. Ayurverda states that the sattvic body and mind are less likely to suffer from disease and more able to continue in a state of balance. Disease, particularly of a chronic nature, is a tamasic state. Tamas brings about the accumulation of toxins and waste materials on a physical level and of negative thoughts and emotions on a psychological level. 

Health is a sattvic state of balance and adaptation which prevents any excess from occurring. Rajas is the movement either from health to disease or disease to health depending upon its direction of development. Acute diseases fall under rajas, which is pain.

Source: Dr. David frawley

An Inner Revolution by Adyashanti

'

 'You must want to know the truth more than you want to feel secure in order to fully awaken to the fact that you are nothing but Awakeness itself. ' 

 ~ Adyashanti

An Inner Revolution
  by Adyashanti 

The enlightenment I speak of is not simply a realization, not simply the discovery of one’s true nature. This discovery is just the beginning—the point of entry into an inner revolution. Realization does not guarantee this revolution; it simply makes it possible.

What is this inner revolution? To begin with, revolution is not static; it is alive, ongoing, and continuous. It cannot be grasped or made to fit into any conceptual model. Nor is there any path to this inner revolution, for it is neither predictable nor controllable and has a life all its own. This revolution is a breaking away from the old, repetitive, dead structures of thought and perception that humanity finds itself trapped in. 

Realization of the ultimate reality is a direct and sudden existential awakening to one’s true nature that opens the door to the possibility of an inner revolution. Such a revolution requires an ongoing emptying out of the old structures of consciousness and the birth of a living and fluid intelligence. This intelligence restructures your entire being—body, mind, and perception. This intelligence cuts the mind free of its old structures that are rooted within the totality of human consciousness. If one cannot become free of the old conditioned structures of human consciousness, then one is still in a prison.

Having an awakening to one’s true nature does not necessarily mean that there will be an ongoing revolution in the way one perceives, acts, and responds to life. The moment of awakening shows us what is ultimately true and real as well as revealing a deeper possibility in the way that life can be lived from an undivided and unconditioned state of being. But the moment of awakening does not guarantee this deeper possibility, as many who have experienced spiritual awakening can attest to. 

Awakening opens a door inside to a deep inner revolution, but in no way guarantees that it will take place. Whether it takes place or not depends on many factors, but none more important and vital than an earnest and unambiguous intention for truth above and beyond all else. 

This earnest intention toward truth is what all spiritual growth ultimately depends upon, especially when it transcends all personal preferences, agendas, and goals.

This inner revolution is the awakening of an intelligence not born of the mind but of an inner silence of mind, which alone has the ability to uproot all of the old structures of one’s consciousness. 

Unless these structures are uprooted, there will be no creative thought, action, or response. Unless there is an inner revolution, nothing new and fresh can flower. Only the old, the repetitious, the conditioned will flower in the absence of this revolution. 

But our potential lies beyond the known, beyond the structures of the past, beyond anything that humanity has established. Our potential is something that can flower only when we are no longer caught within the influence and limitations of the known. Beyond the realm of the mind, beyond the limitations of humanity’s conditioned consciousness, lies that which can be called the sacred. And it is from the sacred that a new and fluid consciousness is born that wipes away the old and brings to life the flowering of a living and undivided expression of being. Such an expression is neither personal nor impersonal, neither spiritual nor worldly, but rather the flow and flowering of existence beyond all notions of self.

Reality is neither Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Advaita Vedanta, nor Buddhist. It is neither dualistic nor nondualistic, neither spiritual nor nonspiritual.

So let us understand that reality transcends all of our notions about reality. Reality is neither Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Advaita Vedanta, nor Buddhist. It is neither dualistic nor nondualistic, neither spiritual nor nonspiritual. We should come to know that there is more reality and sacredness in a blade of grass than in all of our thoughts and ideas about reality. When we perceive from an undivided consciousness, we will find the sacred in every expression of life. We will find it in our teacup, in the fall breeze, in the brushing of our teeth, in each and every moment of living and dying. Therefore we must leave the entire collection of conditioned thought behind and let ourselves be led by the inner thread of silence into the unknown, beyond where all paths end, to that place where we go innocently or not at all—not once but continually.

One must be willing to stand alone—in the unknown, with no reference to the known or the past or any of one’s conditioning. One must stand where no one has stood before in complete nakedness, innocence, and humility. One must stand in that dark light, in that groundless embrace, unwavering and true to the reality beyond all self—not just for a moment, but forever without end. For then that which is sacred, undivided, and whole is born within consciousness and begins to express itself.  

© Adyashanti 2008 

Read more Writings of Adyashanti  

Source: http://www.adyashanti.org/index.php?file=writings_inner&writingid=41

 Peace, love, harmony