That Knowledge within You | Nisargadatta Maharaj

"How does a jnani see the world?"

"A jnani is aware of the origin and the value of consciousness, this beingness, which has spontaneously dawned on him. This same consciousness plays a multitude of roles, some happy, some unhappy; But whatever the roles, the jnani is merely the seer of them. The roles have no effect on the jnani.

All your problems are body-mind problems. Even so, you cling to that body. Since you identify with the body-mind, you follow certain polite modes of expression when you talk. I do not. I might embarrass; you you may not be able to take what I say.

I have no sense of propriety. You are bound by your own concepts and notions. Actually, you only love this sense of 'I'; You do everything because of this. You are not working for anybody, nor for the nation, but only for this sense of 'I' which you love so much."

"But I like to act; I like to work."

"All these activities go on, but they are only entertainment. The waking and deep sleep states come and go spontaneously. Through the sense of 'I', you spontaneously feel like working.

But find out if the sense of 'I' is real or unreal, permanent or impermanent. The 'I' which appears is unreal. How unreal it is I have proven.

The moment the 'I' is proven unreal, who is it who knows that the 'I' is unreal?

This knowledge within you that knows the 'I' is unreal, that knowledge which knows change, must be changeless, permanent.

You are an illusion, Maya, an imagination. It is only because I know that I'm unreal that I know you also are unreal.

It is not like this: Because I am real, you are unreal.

It is like this: Because I am unreal, everything is unreal.

Consciousness depends on the body; the body depends on the essence of food. It is the Consciousness which is speaking now. If the food-essence is not present, the body cannot exist.

Without the body, would I be able to talk? Can you do anything to retain this sense of 'I'? As it came spontaneously, so will it go. It will not forewarn you by announcing, 'I am going tomorrow.'

A doubt has arisen and you are trying to find a solution, but who is it who has this doubt?

Find out for yourself."

Let us revisit the final points of this dialogue.

Everything is driven by this sense of 'I', the sense of being, and that is what appears with birth. With the waking, and sleeping, and dreaming; The cycles through which an identity is built up; the experiences and the memories of those experiences.

Around the sense of 'I', a character is built up. And everything is done to serve that character, and its relations, its desires, its ideals.

But this identity that's been built up, it appears, and it has an expiry. It will not last.

It is as real as the experience from a moment ago. The experience was felt. It did take place.

But where is it now?

It is gone, never to return.

This same spontaneous happening, over a longer span of time, is a lifetime.

The intellect thinks it is standing on very firm ground when it thinks in terms of your identity, individuality, all these separate people you know. But it's all built around the sense of 'I', which itself is transient.

This is not the correct standard of Reality.

What is changeful and transient is not what is fundamentally real.

Consciousness itself is transient. This sense of 'I', and the stream of experience that appeared with it, will not last forever. It is bound to end.

But the moment this 'I' is seen to be transient; to be unreal, who is it who knows that the 'I' is unreal? Who knows that consciousness has a beginning?

That is truly You.

That is the Absolute, that can't be fit into the concepts of space and time and the worlds within it.

This knowledge within you that knows the 'I' is unreal, that knowledge which knows change, must itself be changeless. Permanent.

Who is it that knows this sense of 'I'?

That is the real I.

What is truly You.

This knowledge within you, which so clearly tells you what is transient, what is changeful, that is true Knowledge.

That is Self-Knowledge.

The mind just draws a blank here. Because this is not the knowledge of some particular thing, of some object in consciousness, or even consciousness itself. This is the knowledge of the source of consciousness; of what is fundamental to Reality. What is truly real behind this sense of 'I'.

So, what is really happening here is this Self-Knowledge is pointing to the Absolute. The factor that makes perception possible. The pure Awareness which precedes even the sense of 'I'. That infinite Capacity in which that sense arises, in which you know 'I am', and from that point these streams of experience can start to flow.

It is only because I know I'm unreal that I know you also are unreal.

That identity over which I was so anxious and angry, all that worry and self loathing and misery, was over something that does not truly exist!

Any such identity is imaginary and definitely not real.

I am not a thing that is conscious.

Consciousness originated with this sense of 'I' that suddenly appeared upon the Self. And that Self is not me in particular, but the only true Self.

The realization is not like this that, "I am real and you are unreal."

It is like this: Because I am unreal, everything is unreal!

Everything is changing, and transient, and subjective.

But what is truly I is changeless, and timeless, and perfect.

All these activities go on, but they are only entertainment. The flow of Consciousness in its myriad forms.

This same Consciousness plays a multitude of roles, some happy, some unhappy. But whatever the roles, the Jnani is merely the seer of them. The roles have no effect on the Jnani.

All problems are related to the body and mind, and the relationships between bodies and minds.

Look at what is truly I.

To whom did this sense of 'I' appear? Who is it appearing to right now?

That is You.

If the doubts are there, who is it that knows the doubt?

That is You.

The You that knows even this Consciousness as transient; a passing show.

That You is real and beyond doubt.