From: I Am That Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Chapter 55: Give Up All And You Gain All

Questioner: If there is no advantage in gaining the Supreme, then why take the trouble?

Maharaj: There is trouble only when you cling to something. When you hold on to nothing, no trouble arises. The relinquishing of the lesser is the gaining of the greater. Give up all and you gain all. Then life becomes what it was meant to be: pure radiation from an inexhaustible source. In that light the world appears dimly like a dream.

© 1973 by Nisargadatta Maharaj

From: “I Am That Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj”

Chapter 73: Death Of The Mind Is The Birth Of Wisdom

Questioner:  Before the spark is lit and after, what is the difference?

Maharaj: Before the spark is lit there is no witness to perceive the difference. The person may be conscious, but is not aware of being conscious. It is completely identified with what it thinks and feels and experiences. The darkness that is in it is of its own creation. When the darkness is questioned, it dissolves. The desire to question is planted by the Guru. In other words, the difference between the person and the witness is as between not knowing and knowing oneself. The world seen in consciousness is to be of the nature of consciousness, when there is harmony (sattva); but when activity and passivity (rajas and tamas) appear, they obscure and distort and you see the false as real.

Questioner: What can the person do to prepare itself for the coming of the Guru?

Maharaj: The very desire to be ready means that the Guru has come and the flame is lit. It may be a stray word, or a page in a book; the Guru’s grace works mysteriously.

© 1973 by Nisargadatta Maharaj