Nisargadatta's I Am That Session 19 - Chapter 9 Part 1

Listen to Ektaji talk about Nisargadatta Maharaj's book I Am That. Nisargadatta Maharaj was a teacher who did not propound any ideology or religion, but gently unwrapped the mystery of the self. I Am That preserves his dialogs with the followers who came from around the world seeking guidance in destroying false identities.

Transcript

Chapter 9 Responses of Memory Questioner Some say the universe was created.

Others say that it always existed and is forever undergoing transformations.

Some say it is subject to eternal laws.

Others deny even causality.

Some say the world is real.

Others that it has no being whatsoever.

Maharaj asks,

Which world are you inquiring about?

The world of my perceptions,

Of course.

Perception of sight,

Perception of sound,

Perception of taste,

Perception of touch,

And perception of smell,

Sight,

Sound,

Smell,

Taste,

Touch.

The world you can perceive is a very small world indeed,

And it is entirely private.

Take it to be a dream and be done with it.

The questioner says,

How can I take it to be a dream?

A dream does not last.

Highlight that.

A lot of people at this stage of Advaita level one feel that,

Oh,

My dream in the night,

That does not last.

It's so,

It's so short.

But this,

This,

My family,

My friends,

My work,

My job,

My money,

This is everlasting.

This is continuous.

Then how can I take this to be a dream?

Valid question?

Yes,

At Advaita level one,

It's a valid question.

How long will your own little world last?

So he says,

After all,

My little world is but a part of the total.

Like this,

We have our own individual private worlds and we feel that my little private world,

My husband,

My wife,

My child,

My parent,

My relatives,

My job,

My money is that my little private circular world.

And then other people have their own private worlds.

So my world is a part of the totality.

This is how we think.

There is a totality of all the worlds.

So we are whatever 50 people online here.

All of us have our own private worlds.

One person's private world is a part of the totality of the 50.

At least these 50 worlds are intersecting right now.

And maybe in that common intersection area is where we are having this Advaita discussion.

So that's where I start feeling,

Oh,

My private world is at least a part of this complete totality.

You see where he's coming from?

Maharaj says,

Is not the idea of a total world a part of your personal world?

Again,

What is a part of your personal world?

Your thought,

Your own idea in your own mind.

So it is your idea,

No?

In your mind that says that your world is a part of the total.

Clear?

The universe does not come to tell you that you are a part of it.

It is you who have invented a totality to contain you as a part.

In fact,

All you know is your own private world.

However well you have furnished it with imaginations and expectations.

Yes,

You can only know your own private world.

You can only have that much vision.

Yes.

And you imagine a lot of things.

So this idea of my world being a small part amongst a huge infinite totality is again an idea in my world in my own mind.

No?

Very clear?

That's clear.

Yes.

So questioner says,

Surely perception is not imagination.

Here I would like to stop and refer to the Marathi version of the book because the translation is not perfect.

In the Marathi version it says,

Karne hi nishchutat kalpana nave.

Karne is to recognize,

To understand,

To get it.

Yes.

So I get my own private world.

I understand my own private world,

Sight,

Sound,

Smell,

Taste,

Touch,

And my own thoughts,

Feelings,

Ideas,

Sensations,

Perceptions.

That is my private world.

I get my private world.

I understand my private world.

That is Karne,

To know,

To understand.

And it has been translated into English as perception.

Which is a loose translation.

I would change the word perception there to recognize or understand.

To understand is not imagination surely.

So he says to understand is not imagination surely.

Maharaj says what else is it?

What else?

Again,

Instead of perception I'm going to use to know over there.

Yeah.

What else?

To know is recognition.

Is it not?

Something entirely unfamiliar can be sensed but cannot be perceived.

Recognition involves memory.

Suppose you have never seen a particular fruit.

Have you ever seen this fruit before in your life?

It just has an orange color but it has a weird shape.

It's neither an apple nor a pear,

Something in between.

I had never seen this in my life before and I don't even know the name.

I just picked it up from the store just to show you something that I don't recognize.

Similarly,

You don't recognize this.

You can perceive the sight and if you could hold it you could perceive the touch of it.

It's extremely hard like a shell.

Yeah.

So you could perceive the sight of it.

You could perceive the touch of it but you still do not recognize it.

You still do not know or understand it.

When will you know or understand it?

When you taste it and you find out its name and then it registers in memory.

So next time I go to the store then I will know.

Aha!

This is ABCD.

I don't even know its name still now.

Yeah.

So do you understand the meaning of the sentence where he says something entirely unfamiliar can be sensed but cannot be perceived or recognized is the right word.

Change the word perceived completely because I can perceive.

I can see the color.

I can feel the hardness of this fruit.

It's almost as hard as a rubber ball.

I have a feeling if I cut into it,

It will be a rubber ball,

Nothing else inside.

It's so hard.

Yeah.

So perception of touch is there.

Perception of sight is there.

That's why I said that the word translated is wrong from Marathi.

So something entirely unfamiliar can be sensed but cannot be recognized.

You don't recognize it.

I can sense it but I cannot recognize it.

Recognition involves memory.

Take a moment to think about this.

Anything you recognize,

You recognize from where?

Because it is stored in my memory.

I have learned it before.

I have tasted it before.

I have touched it before.

I have known it before.

Then it has been stored in my memory and today when I see it,

Then I recognize it.

For example,

The grapefruit.

Oh I know what's a grapefruit.

I've had a grapefruit before.

I can see it and I know it.

How do I know this is a grapefruit?

Oh it's in my memory.

Very clear?

Yeah.

So recognition involves memory.

This fruit,

I still don't know its name.

I really have to google and find out.

There is no memory.

I have no idea what this fruit is.

Yes,

It's unfamiliar.

So this I cannot recognize.

Now do you understand the Marathi word kadne?

That was the word used in the original book.

So I'll read that paragraph again.

Because Maharaj said that all you know is your own private world and your private world is full of imaginations and expectations,

The questioner asked to understand is not imagination or to know my own private world is not imagination.

Maharaj says then what else is it?

To know is recognition.

Is it not?

Something entirely unfamiliar can be sensed but cannot be recognized,

Known.

Let's call it known.

Recognition or knowing involves memory.

Is this clear?

Granted but memory does not make it illusion.

Have you seen where he's going?

Number one he said you have your own private world.

In your own private world you have an idea that you are a part of a totality.

It is only your idea.

It is only your personal world,

Your own private world full of imaginations,

Your personal world.

Full of imaginations your personal world is.

So then the questioner says okay but really knowing something that is happening,

Knowing my spouse,

My relative,

Knowing death happening in the family,

Knowing covid is happening,

This is not imagination.

So Maharaj is saying what else is it?

What else is it?

To know something is to recognize it.

Recognize means memory.

Yeah and he's going to the part where he will tell you memory is illusion.

Granted but memory does not make it illusion.

He says perception which we change to recognition.

Imagination,

Expectation,

Anticipation,

Illusion all are based on memory.

These are all big flowery words for thought.

Correct?

Anticipation,

Future thought.

Expectation,

Future thought.

You give me this.

I will get this from this person.

Expectation,

Future thought.

Anticipation,

Future thought.

Illusion,

That which does not exist.

I just think about it.

My husband is going to bring 100 red roses today and surprise me with a great gift.

Illusion,

Wake up.

Not happening.

Yeah so it is thought.

Illusion is a thought.

Anticipation is a thought.

Expectation is a thought.

Imagination is a thought.

You're imagining your 100 red roses and whatever I recognized.

I recognized the grapefruit.

Yeah but it is a thought.

Everything is nothing but thought.

Yeah give it a moment.

He'll take you there.

All thoughts are based on memory.

Do you have a thought?

No,

You're stumped.

Why?

Because you have never seen this before.

The moment I show this to you,

You come to a pause and you're like,

Oh.

Yeah so there is no thought there.

There is no memory there.

There is no recognition there.

There is no recognition there.

That was unfamiliar.

That is why there is no recognition there.

So he says,

All these are based on memory.

There are hardly any border lines between them.

They just merge into each other.

All are responses of memory.

That is the heading of this chapter.

Responses of memory.

So every thought that I get is always known to me.

Can you have an unknown thought?

Think about it.

Stop writing.

Listen.

Can you have an unknown thought?

If it was unknown,

Would you have the thought?

Is it even possible to have an unknown thought?

Only known thoughts are possible.

Yes,

Only that which I have known before in life,

Those thoughts can come up.

That is nothing but memory.

Yes.

Now he'll take us ahead.

Everything,

Every thought that I have,

Every thought is based on memory,

Is a response of memory.

Whether it is imagination,

Illusion,

Anticipation,

Expectation,

Anything,

Etc.

,

Etc.

,

Etc.

So all are responses of memory.

Still,

Memory is there to prove the reality of my world.

And the questioner is saying,

Okay,

I agree.

Everything that I have is repeated thought or known thought.

Everything is nothing but memory.

But then I know I have this memory to remember my home,

My family,

My friend,

My private world.

The reality of my world.

Now Maharaj stumps him.

Maharaj says,

How much do you remember?

Try to write down from memory what you were thinking,

Saying and doing on the 30th of last month.

How many of you really remember what you were doing on the 30th?

Aren't you totally stumped?

So the questioner stumped.

He said,

Yes,

There is a blank.

So Maharaj says,

It is not so bad.

You do remember a lot.

How?

That there is the answer following that.

Unconscious memory makes the world in which you live so familiar.

There is an unconscious memory.

What is seven times nine?

What are you thinking about seven times table right now?

How do you know that the answer is 63?

From where did it come up?

It was stored in the unconscious.

Yes,

It just came up to the conscious level automatically.

So it's not that you are constantly thinking about the seven times table.

She's going to ask me now.

She's going to ask me now.

Seven times table.

She's going to ask me now.

She's going to ask me.

I should know seven times nine.

No,

You were not thinking about it.

So it was not there,

The conscious level of the mind.

Similarly,

Everything that we have in our private world is stored at an unconscious level.

Where you live,

Where your office is,

What is the way from home to office?

Have you noticed you're just driving automatically?

You take the turn right,

Left.

You're not even really paying attention to the road anymore.

You're operating from unconscious memory.

Super clear?

So the questioner says admitted that the world in which I live is subjective and partial.

What about you?

In what kind of world do you live?

Maharaj says my world is just like yours.

I see,

I hear,

I feel,

I think,

I speak and act in a world I perceive just like you.

But with you,

It is all.

With me,

It is almost nothing.

Knowing the world to be a part of myself,

I pay it no more attention than you pay to the food you have eaten.

Please highlight this entire sentence.

What is the difference between us and Maharaj?

Maharaj knows that the private world is a part of him.

Why do I not know that the world is a part of me?

Because I think I am this body and mind.

Till the time I feel I am the body and mind,

I will feel there is a world out there.

It is separate from me.

This is Dwaitam.

I will always be stuck in duality.

Maharaj is beyond the body and mind.

He is at the sense of I am or the witness consciousness.

When he recognizes that I am the witness consciousness,

Which is emptiness,

Which is nothingness,

There is no entity called the I,

That is what I am.

And that radiates like awareness,

Like space all around.

It is like light.

So if my awareness is what radiates out and that is what I see as my private world,

How can I say the world is outside of me?

It is me.

It is not separate from me.

It is me because till the time there is this awareness,

I can experience the world.

Where there is no awareness,

There is no world.

So awareness is equal to I.

Witness consciousness is equal to I.

The sense of I am,

That is the real I,

Not the body and mind.

So when you recognize that I am that empty space in which this body,

Mind and the world are projected every morning and every night this projection goes back,

Just like the petals of a flower expand every morning and then they close back every night.

Petals are not different from the flower.

The petal is the flower.

It's not separate like that only this world is I.

So if you've not reached that Advaita level three kind of understanding yet,

You might have a little tussle with this.

But if you have figured it out,

Experientially started recognizing,

Yes,

I am this awareness,

I'm not this body,

Mind,

Then this will hit home immediately.

I'll read that line again.

Knowing the world to be a part of myself.

I pay it no more attention than you pay to the food you have eaten.

While being prepared and eaten,

The food is separate from you.

And your mind is on it.

First understand this part.

The food is on the plate in front of you.

You have an orange in front of you.

Isn't your mind on it?

When am I going to eat that orange?

So your mind is on it till the time the food is kept in front of you,

Separate from you.

So while being prepared,

When you're preparing,

You're not preparing an orange,

But when you're preparing your food,

The food is separate from you and your mind is on it.

Once you swallow,

What happens?

Once swallowed,

You become totally unconscious of it.

I have eaten up the world and I need not think of it anymore.

Only Maharaj can say things like that.

It's just like you don't bother after the food has gone in.

Now it'll do its job,

Whatever it has to do.

Your mind is not on it anymore once it's inside the stomach.

Similarly,

Maharaj says,

I have eaten up this world.

Now my mind is not on it anymore.

So what is the meaning of that?

Now he recognizes this is all a projection.

Yes,

No point in giving attention to the projection,

The source of projection from where it is being projected.

That is who I am.

So his attention has moved from the source of projection to where it is being projected.

So his attention has moved from the projection to its source.

Very clear?

When the attention is here,

When he's completely here,

Now he recognizes himself as the awareness.

So he says,

I have eaten up the world and I need not think of it anymore.

So the questioner says,

Don't you become completely irresponsible?

Why?

Because he said,

I don't think about it.

So the questioner says,

Oh,

You don't think about the world.

Aren't you irresponsible?

So Maharaj says,

How could I?

How can I hurt something which is one with me?

How can the flower hurt its own petal?

How can the sun hurt its own rays?

The sun's rays stretch out for light years.

The sun will not hurt its own rays.

The flower will not hurt its own petal.

You will not hurt a part of your own body.

Maharaj recognizes the world that I project is a part of me.

How can I hurt that which is a part of me?

On the contrary,

Without thinking of the world,

Whatever I do will be of benefit to it.

Just as the body sets itself right unconsciously,

So am I ceaselessly active in setting the world right.

In setting the world right.

Another revolutionary statement.

Only Maharaj could have spoken like that.

He's setting the world right from moment to moment.

What does he mean by it?

And what does he mean by body continuously setting itself right?

For those who don't know much of medical science,

Medicines do not cure you.

Do you know this?

Yeah.

Medicines do not have the ability to cure you.

Medicines only reduce the severity of the symptoms.

Suppose I'm experiencing pain in my tooth.

A painkiller only reduces the amount of sensation that I perceive.

That's it.

The body automatically corrects itself.

The body automatically heals itself.

I have to just wait for the body to heal itself.

And that is why during the waiting period,

Because I don't like the pain,

I take a painkiller.

Same thing for fever reducer and all other kinds of medicines.

So it is the body that constantly is correcting itself.

It is designed like that.

Exactly like that,

The witness consciousness has the power to constantly correct its own projected world.

The source has the power to correct its projection of the world.

My projection is different from her projection,

Is different from his projection.

Everybody's projection depends on their source.

And what is the source here?

That witness consciousness that forgot itself and got involved in this body mind.

And then it has its own cravings and aversions.

According to its own cravings and aversions,

It projects a world.

She or he have their own cravings and aversions and they project their own world.

So where can it be corrected?

Can it be corrected in the projection?

Not in the projection.

It has to be corrected at the source.

Do you see that?

Every time the witness consciousness forgets its stand,

Forgets its true nature and slips into the wrong assumption of being the body or the mind,

That is the wrong thing that has happened and has projected that world.

If I want to correct the projection,

I have to correct this wrong step.

I take that step back again and again from the body and mind and just remain as the sense of I am.

Just remain as the witness consciousness.

Just remain as the pure I thought.

Again and again,

I correct the position.

The more I correct myself,

You will see there will be a pause in your projection.

The more you really have started implementing this knowledge,

You will recognize every time I take a step back from the craving of the mind or the aversion of the mind,

There is a pause.

It pauses.

I come to the witness consciousness.

I stay there for a few minutes.

The thought which was nagging me has died down.

Again,

It might come back again and I get become one with it.

And again,

The drama begins.

Again,

I correct my position.

And this mind which was on and on,

Again,

It pauses for a while.

That's the beauty of this process.

That is the meaning of I correct my world again and again and again.

So think about this.

This is one of your main homeworks.

Can I recognize that I am projecting my world?

Number two,

If I'm projecting this personal world,

Can I take a step back from the projection every now and then and see if it gets corrected?

Just like Maharaj is correcting his world,

Can I take that step back and continuously correct it?

Don't expect your dramatic spouse to disappear from the projection.

That's not going to happen.

Your dramatic spouse,

You've already given him a lifetime of 100 years.

Bad luck.

The script has already been written.

He's not disappearing.

Your reaction to him might disappear.

Do you see what I'm saying?

All your drama in your mind to him or her might disappear.

That whole chaos in the mind that was going on and you were like all restless all the time.

For a few minutes,

You might find that peace.

That is a continuous correction.

The movie will not change.

The reaction to the movie changes.

That is how I keep correcting my world.

And if I do it long enough,

Slowly the outside projection also changes to something else.

But don't keep an expectation.

Don't go down that route.

So is this part very clear?

How I create my world and how I can correct it again and again,

Again and again.

Part number three,

I do not expect some miraculous change.

This world of Ekta's life suddenly becomes Amitabh Bachchan's life.

That's not going to happen.

That's not going to happen.

There are no miracles.

No,

Ekta's life is going to remain as Ekta's life.

The people in Ekta's life are going to remain.

Suddenly,

Amitabh Bachchan's family members are not going to appear here.

That's not going to happen.

So please don't start making all new stories in your head.

Be very,

Very clear.

I project through my cravings and aversions.

My reactions to my spouse,

To my parent,

To my child creates the dramatic situation in the house or my reaction to my boss creates that dramatic situation at work.

That is my projection.

And the withdrawing from that happens when I take a step back from the body and mind and remain as the witness,

The sense of I am.

Very,

Very clear.

So because he said that he does not think about the world,

But he cannot hurt the world.

He's just setting it right,

Ceaselessly setting it right.

So the questioner says,

Nevertheless,

You are aware of the immense suffering of the world.

Maharaj says,

Of course,

I am much more than you are.

Questioner says,

Then what do you do?

Maharaj says,

I look at it through the eyes of God and find that all is well.

So the questioner says,

How can you say that all is well?

Look at the wars,

The exploitation,

The cruel strife between the citizen and the state.

Maharaj says,

All these sufferings are man-made and it is within man's power to put an end to them.

God helps by facing man with the results of his actions and demanding that the balance should be restored.

Karma is the law that works for righteousness.

It is the healing hand of God.

It is the healing hand of God.

What does he mean?

He's not insensitive at all.

He knows whatever is happening in the world is projection of whatever karma that person has done.

So if there are wars,

All the people who projected that are the ones going through it.

Yes,

If there is something bad going on,

Look within,

Look at your karma carefully.

Every karma phalam is the fruit of action.

Everything that is happening in my life,

Moment to moment to moment is the fruit of my previous action.

So whatever karma I have done,

I am going to reap its result.

Its karma phalam is its result.

This is the law of God.

It has been put in place and it is fair on everybody.

Everybody.

It is not partial to anybody.

That is how God demands a balance.

Yes,

And it is absolutely fair.

So from God's eye,

When you look,

Everything is well.

It's perfect.

If you are suffering something,

You brought it on to yourself.

Correct?

And it is good that you are suffering.

And it is good that you are suffering.

It has come to teach you a lesson that you have not learned.

It is demanding for balance.

Yes,

So God is saying,

Come what may bring a balance in your action,

In your speech,

In your thought.

If there is no balance in your action,

Speech and thought,

Then you will have to go through the karma phalam,

The result of that action.

So when you look from God's eye,

From that point of view,

All is well.

So when I was reading this before,

So Aditya said that maybe Amir Khan has read this,

And that is why he came up with that thing in the movie,

All is well,

All is well,

All is well.

Yeah,

All is well.

It is only a story that I have made up.

This is not fair.

That is not fair.

No.

If you are experiencing something which is unpleasant,

You totally deserve it.

Harsh as it sounds,

It is the truth.

Yeah,

It is the law.

So extremely clear.

This chapter is clear.

Everything,

Every thought,

Every feeling,

Every sensation,

Every action,

Everything is nothing but my own projection.

I project a private personal world and I know only that private personal world.

Yes,

And when I project a private personal world,

It's like projecting out certain big eyeglasses and I wear that pink color eyeglasses,

Okay?

I have projected pink color glasses.

So I see everything pink.

Another person has projected yellow color eyeglasses.

He sees everything yellow.

Yeah,

And then we both start fighting.

Hey,

Everything is pink.

No,

Everything is yellow.

No,

It is pink.

No,

It is yellow.

That is where we have conflict.

It is because we are seeing through our own projected lenses,

Through our own personal worlds.

Now,

Can I understand his personal world or her personal world?

Not possible.

I cannot wear his yellow glasses.

Mine are pink.

I can never know his world.

Similarly,

He can never know my personal world.

Do you see this?

My personal world is private,

Unshareable,

Which means what?

It's pointless to argue with your family members.

It's pointless to fight with your colleagues.

It's pointless to keep raising objections.

It's a lost battle just to begin with because it is not possible for two people to understand each other's personal world.

So when you see a projection from your family member,

From your office colleague,

Don't get mad at him or her.

He is coming from his angle,

From his yellow glasses.

I don't see yellow.

I see pink.

Remind yourself,

No point breaking my head with this person.

Do you see it?

If this becomes very,

Very clear,

Conflict will end in your life.

There will be no room for conflict with the husband,

With the wife,

With the parent,

With the child,

With anybody.

You will be in a conflict-less state all the time.

Does it sound appealing?

Do you want to get there?

How will you get there?

Very simple.

Again and again recognize I am not the body and mind.

Take that step beyond to the sense of I am and remain as the witness.

Everything will slowly open up.

How?

Oh yes,

See now I projected this.

I projected this drama.

I projected this situation.

Let me withdraw from the body-mind and remain as the witness.

Let me correct my world.

Again and again set it right,

Set it right,

Set it right.

Super clear?

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