Behind My Hand

Nisargadatta Maharaj:  January 9, 1981 Questioner: What are thoughts? Maharaj: They are the result of previous conditioning which the mind has had. Q: Are the thoughts of the jnani and the ignorant one different from one another? M: The difference is that the jnani has divorced himself from the body-mind, the body-mind thoughts will come and go but the jnani is not concerned; whereas, the ignorant one gets involved in those thoughts and the ignorant one considers himself as a name and a form. —- —- —- Ramana Maharshi:   June 19, 1936, Talk 211 D.: What is this mind? M.: A bundle of thoughts July 13, 1935, Talk 65 The ajnani takes the world to be real; whereas the Jnani sees it only as the manifestation of the Self. It is immaterial if the Self manifests itself or ceases to do so. —- —- —- Ramana Maharshi: February, 1939, Talk 623 Sri Bhagavan said to another devotee that there are five states: (1) Sleep, (2) Before waking, a state free from thought...

D.: Can we not get realisation instantaneously? M.: Realisation is nothing new. It is eternal. There is no question of instantaneous or gradual realisation. - Ramana Maharshi,   Talk 164

Presently this body is undergoing a lot of agony: dizziness, pain; all these things are happening at the physical level. In spite of this state, the talk comes out inspiringly. What permits that? It is the guna, the beingness. That beingness not only experiences your visits here, but it also experiences various changes and transformations in this body and in the world. Nisargadatta Maharaj, Consciousness and the Absolute, Feb 12, 1981

215. That which is perceived by something else has for its witness the latter. When there is no agent to perceive a thing, we cannot speak of that thing having been perceived at all. 216. This Atman is a self-cognised entity, because It is cognised by Itself. Hence the individual soul is itself and directly the Supreme Brahman, and nothing else. Swami Madhavananda, Advaita Ashrama, 1921, Vivekacudamani: v. 215-216

204. Just as the water which is very muddy again appears as transparent water when the mud is removed, so the Atman also manifests Its undimmed lustre when the taint has been removed. [ Water is naturally pure, but it is polluted by foreign substances mixing with it. These impurities can be removed by filtration, distillation etc. So the apparent impurity of the soul can be removed by discrimination, which shows that it is Nescience that hides the real nature of the Self. ] Vivekachudamani, Swami Madhavananda, Advaita Ashrama, 1921; 204

D.: Is there efficacy in bathing in the Ganges? M.: The Ganges is within you. This Ganges does not make you feel cold or shiver. Bathe in it. Ramana Maharshi, Talk 164

“Thoughts may be like any other activities, not disturbing to the Supreme consciousness.” - Ramana Maharshi, Talk 43

A fun introduction to Alan Watts.

Ask yourself what are the facts.