TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
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Next, quotations from Maharaj will be offered, excerpted from the book QUOTATIONS AND POINTERS dealing with NON-DUALITY, ADVAITA, NISARGA YOGA and more
The quotations and pointers from Maharaj which will be offered during the next few days will be arranged by category and subject matter. The quotes offered today will deal with:
NO "BIRTH" - NO "DEATH"
NO "BIRTH"
"This consciousness is dead to me; it is gone. I have transcended that. So whatever is, is that other consciousness, that one which is without concepts. The principle that is conceptual and full of qualities [that is, "Brahman"] which I transcended, was like a very big ocean. Now it is mostly dried up; just the dregs remain. Only a very little bit is still there - only a few particles. What is pervading and prevailing is without concept or quality. What remains is talking to you now. Where is the question of birth or death for that remaining principle?"
"All knowledge is like the son of a barren woman. Presently there are only beingness and the functioning. The individuality and personality are thrown overboard. There is no personality, so there is no question of birth, life, or death. What remains is only the consciousness without name or form. There is no individuality at all. The form needs a name, but when both are not there, then the consciousness remains only so long as the body is there, but without any individuality. The body is of as much use now as it was prior to the birth and after the death. How do you know me? You know me only on the acquisition of body form, name and form. Do you really see me as I Am? I doubt it."
"When the birth is disproved, the great noble meaning of spirituality and the meaning of this world—everything—is disproved.”
"If you knew of the bondage, you would refuse the birth. But because the 'I Amness' is absent, you are trapped. Because the 'I Amness' is a quality of the body, later on you come to know you are and that you are trapped. But once You know, you are liberated."
"When you get this knowledge [of the falsity of the birth and all that is inaccurately perceived in the realm of the relative], you will realize that knowledge of this world and consciousness are not even worth your spit. You can spit it out; it will be unworthy."
"The birth, the parents, all this is illusion. Taking the body as oneself is the accident. If you don't cling to the body as your identity, everything is all right."
"Consciousness is time flowing continuously. But I, the Absolute, will not have its company eternally because consciousness is time-bound. When this beingness goes, the Absolute will not know 'I Am'. Appearance and disappearance, birth and death, these are the qualities of beingness; they are not your qualities."
NO "DEATH"
"Death is also a hearsay. Have you experienced death? There is only impersonal consciousness. In this realm of consciousness all that is going on is dynamic playfulness, a process of functioning. There is no differentiation in this process as to a person, an entity, a community, a creed, a religion. In the flash of your consciousness, all this play is going on. The play will come to an end."
"What is birth and death but the beginning and the ending of a stream of events in consciousness?"
[When an ordinary man dies] "according to his belief, it happens. As life before death is but imagination, so is life after. The dream continues. The gnani does not die because he was never born."
"When somebody 'dies', nothing happens. Something becomes nothing. Nothing was, nothing remains."
"You may die a hundred deaths without a break in the mental turmoil. Or you may keep your body and die only in the mind. The death of the mind is the birth of wisdom."
"I am dead already. Physical death will make no difference in My case. I am timeless being. I am free of desire or fear, because I do not remember the past or imagine the future. Where there are no names and shapes, how can there be desires and fear? With desirelessness comes timelessness."
"I am safe, because 'what is not' cannot touch 'what is'. You feel unsafe because you imagine danger. Of course, your body as such is complex and vulnerable and needs protection. But not you. Once you realize your own unassailable being, you will be at peace."
"Death is natural . . . the manner of dying is man-made. Separateness causes fear and aggression, which again cause violence. Do away with man-made separations and all this horror of people killing each other will surely end. But in reality there is no killing and no dying. The real does not die; the unreal never lived. When you know that the world is one, that humanity is one, you will act accordingly. But first of all you must attend to the way you feel, think and live. Unless there is order in yourself, there can be no order in the world."
"Among the millions of people who have 'come' and 'gone', where am I counted among them? There is no individuality connected with any of those forms, but I have always been, and I am, the total functioning."
"If you have properly understood, what will be your position at the moment of so-called 'death'? It will be watching what is happening. This consciousness gradually loses everything, and ultimately consciousness is no longer conscious of itself."
"I am not concerned with any state which is temporary. This consciousness state is not of my choosing. The sooner it goes, the better. Once it is known what is temporary and what one's original state is, no further knowledge is needed."
Questioner: "Imagine you are ill -- high fever, aches, shivers. The doctor tells you the condition is serious . . . there are only a few days to live. What would be your first reaction?"
Maharaj: "No reaction. As it is natural for the incense stick to burn out, so it is natural for the body to die. Really, it is a matter of very little importance. What matters is that I am neither the body nor the mind. I am."
"My present state is such that this consciousness and all this physical suffering are unbearable. I am prepared to dispose of it right now; this is the state of affairs; nevertheless, people come here and these talks emanate out of the consciousness. I am addressing you as consciousness . . . I am not concerned with your bodily affairs."
[Just prior to taking mahasamadhi when the cancer was taking its toll] "Without me the functioning cannot take place. I am the total functioning every moment, millions of years ago or now. In spite of my clearly understanding the foregoing, the bodily suffering has to be undergone because of the consciousness. The name of the consciousness is suffering itself. The life of suffering is nearly over."
To be continued.
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