| M:
There should be no confusion. Understand a simple
fact and that is that any kind of experience can
only come upon the consciousness that is there.
And you are separate from both that consciousness
and the experiences which come on that consciousness.
Unless
there is consciousness, call it buddhi,
mind or whatever, can anything be there? The answer
is obviously, no. Thus, in that consciousness
I can see my body and the world; and it is basically
only on that consciousness that any movement or
experience can take place.
V:
So that consciousness has the power to think or
to feel?
M:
On that consciousness, something happens. Whatever
movement, thought, or experience there is can
occur only on this consciousness. And you are
prior to this consciousness; therefore you are
neither the consciousness — that is, the
instrument — nor any thought or experience,
or whatever it is that is happening on that instrument.
You are apart from it. Now stick to that.
V:
Stick to what?
M:
To the fact that you are apart from it.
V:
And you are That. That I know, But oftentimes,
one cannot forget that one is in the body.
M:
Remember that this body is made of the five elements;
it is a material body — I call it food-body
— and in that is this consciousness because
of which the body possesses its sentience, enabling
the senses to function. For the senses in the
body operate only thanks to the consciousness.
And you are separate from this body and the consciousness.
That is the only the only thing to remember.
All
you have is the vital breath, the life force.
And part of the prana is the atman.
Other than that, what have you got? I keep coming
back to the same thing. Other than that, there
is absolutely nothing.
[Maharaj
is commenting on "X," who is having a lot of troubles.]
All these difficulties that come and go should
be merely watched like something in a play. When
one scene is finished, another scene takes place,
going on like an act. Then, the entire act and
the entire play, does it take place anywhere but
in yourself? If she did not have this consciousness,
would she be aware of this play that is going
on? So ultimately, whatever the play, whatever
scenes and acts that take place, they are merely
movements in her own consciousness.
[The
lady has been urging Maharai to take care of himself.]
Who is to take care of what? I know what has come
upon my original state, and there is nothing to
take care of that. It is a happening that has
come and will take care of itself. And whatever
has happened, I have not been affected. So, again,
who is to take care of what? I am not concerned
with taking care of anything. The world has been
in existence for millions of years. There have
been thousands of avatars and great men, and important
personalities. Has a single one of them been able
to do anything to change the natural course of
events in the world?
Whatever
has come upon this original state is time-bound,
but the original state is timeless and spaceless.
And that is one whole, a Wholeness. Not really
one, because if you say "one," there are immediately
two.
V:
Is what Ramakrishna said and what Maharaj is saying
the same thing?
M:
I have already told you, the basic essence is
only whole. All these differences are subsequent;
they are to the concepts. So basically, when in
the Wholeness, how can there be sin or merit,
or any kind of duality?
There
is something by which you are able to say that
you understand. And you are separate from that.
What you think you have understood is only a movement
in your consciousness. And you are separate from
that consciousness. So as far as you are concerned,
there is no question of understanding or not understanding,
V:
We always think when we have a mental grasp of
someone's teaching that ipso facto we have
realized that teaching. But we have not at all,
we are essentially the same person, suffering
in the same way.
Copyright
1994 Robert Powell. All rights reserved.
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