N.: Do you really think happiness will come to you, let alone
permanently, through bodily sensations?
Q.: Well, that has not been my experience, but I have postulated
that many times.
N.: So, you have experimented quite a bit, all these years,
with an uncountable number of sensations, and they have not
made you happy. You can use the encyclopedia of your own
experience to point you in the better direction. Do you know the
purpose of life? Your life is not purposeless.
Q.: The thing that comes closest in my story is justice.
N.: What do you mean by justice?
Q.: Fairness, opportunity, no starvation, people have a place
to sleep, some kind of security.
N.: These are all noble ideals. Where does their nobility stem
from?
16
Q.: I read them in a book.
N.: Where did the book writer get them from? (laughter)
Q.: Dr. [Martin] Luther King.
N.: Where did he get them from?
Q.: He said he got it from God, but I do not know that to be
the truth.
N.: You just like the fruit of it, but you are not sure of the
root, is that it?
Q.: Yes. The just always felt to me the purpose and great
highness. I do not know that to be the truth.
N.: What is true?
Q.: Real. It is an impact of what is happening. I am not sure
I can explain it.
N.: Perhaps, you should find out more about that. What is
real? What is true?
Q.: Going back to sensations, that has been my measurement.
N.: Your senses perceive such a small amount. How could
you find what is true and real in that way?
Q.: Very little. I have not always known that. I was brought
up in a very narrow thinking type of mode, strong suppression
of emotions, and all that kind of stuff.
N.: All that is ancient history. You can not use that as an
excuse for the present state of mind.
Q.: No, I do not want to do that. I am just telling you where
I came from.
N.: Finding out what is true, what is real, is essential and has
a lot to do with the ultimate or highest purpose of life. It has a
lot to do with the source of all the things that are good, beautiful
and virtuous, some of which you were describing. They have
a source. Some call that source God, some call it the Self, and
some call it Brahman. There are many other terms for it as well.
17
If you find out deeply within yourself, in full experience, what
that source is, you will be fulfilling the purpose of life and you
will find a happiness that never comes to an end.
I will give you a hint that is quite common in Advaita
Vedanta teaching to finding out what is true. The first consideration
regarding what is true, what is real, is that it is always, eternal,
ever-existent. If something comes and goes, it is considered
unreal. Only that which endures, without a moment's interruption—
and is consequently beginningless and endless—is real.
The only thing that is regarded as true about you is, likewise, that
which is all the time, without a beginning or birth, and without
an end or death. What comes and goes is just accidental and
not true about you at all.
Not one of your sensations endures forever. They are very
short-lived. What you have known through them is not at all the
truth. If you want to know the truth, find that which is existent
always, never interrupted, and not sporadic. How can you find
that which exists always? Start with your own existence.
Q.: Is that the body?
N.: No. The body comes and goes. It has a birth and a death,
and you are aware of it only in the waking state. It is not constant.
You need to look for that which is constant, uninterrupted,
and ever-existent. What has a beginning and an end is not
true even in the middle; it is just a false appearance. What is
truly real exists always and never becomes unreal even for a
moment. Search your experience, outwardly, inwardly, and in
any direction you like, and see if you can find that which always
exists. Once you have found that, you will also have found the
source of happiness that is perpetual, and this inquiry, this
Knowledge, this Vedanta, will become very important to you.
Then you will dive in to know that Existence first hand, permanently,
and you will be at the very root of all that is good, true,
and beautiful.
Q.: Thank you.
Om, shanti, shanti, shanti
Om, Om, Om (Silence)
permanently, through bodily sensations?
Q.: Well, that has not been my experience, but I have postulated
that many times.
N.: So, you have experimented quite a bit, all these years,
with an uncountable number of sensations, and they have not
made you happy. You can use the encyclopedia of your own
experience to point you in the better direction. Do you know the
purpose of life? Your life is not purposeless.
Q.: The thing that comes closest in my story is justice.
N.: What do you mean by justice?
Q.: Fairness, opportunity, no starvation, people have a place
to sleep, some kind of security.
N.: These are all noble ideals. Where does their nobility stem
from?
16
Q.: I read them in a book.
N.: Where did the book writer get them from? (laughter)
Q.: Dr. [Martin] Luther King.
N.: Where did he get them from?
Q.: He said he got it from God, but I do not know that to be
the truth.
N.: You just like the fruit of it, but you are not sure of the
root, is that it?
Q.: Yes. The just always felt to me the purpose and great
highness. I do not know that to be the truth.
N.: What is true?
Q.: Real. It is an impact of what is happening. I am not sure
I can explain it.
N.: Perhaps, you should find out more about that. What is
real? What is true?
Q.: Going back to sensations, that has been my measurement.
N.: Your senses perceive such a small amount. How could
you find what is true and real in that way?
Q.: Very little. I have not always known that. I was brought
up in a very narrow thinking type of mode, strong suppression
of emotions, and all that kind of stuff.
N.: All that is ancient history. You can not use that as an
excuse for the present state of mind.
Q.: No, I do not want to do that. I am just telling you where
I came from.
N.: Finding out what is true, what is real, is essential and has
a lot to do with the ultimate or highest purpose of life. It has a
lot to do with the source of all the things that are good, beautiful
and virtuous, some of which you were describing. They have
a source. Some call that source God, some call it the Self, and
some call it Brahman. There are many other terms for it as well.
17
If you find out deeply within yourself, in full experience, what
that source is, you will be fulfilling the purpose of life and you
will find a happiness that never comes to an end.
I will give you a hint that is quite common in Advaita
Vedanta teaching to finding out what is true. The first consideration
regarding what is true, what is real, is that it is always, eternal,
ever-existent. If something comes and goes, it is considered
unreal. Only that which endures, without a moment's interruption—
and is consequently beginningless and endless—is real.
The only thing that is regarded as true about you is, likewise, that
which is all the time, without a beginning or birth, and without
an end or death. What comes and goes is just accidental and
not true about you at all.
Not one of your sensations endures forever. They are very
short-lived. What you have known through them is not at all the
truth. If you want to know the truth, find that which is existent
always, never interrupted, and not sporadic. How can you find
that which exists always? Start with your own existence.
Q.: Is that the body?
N.: No. The body comes and goes. It has a birth and a death,
and you are aware of it only in the waking state. It is not constant.
You need to look for that which is constant, uninterrupted,
and ever-existent. What has a beginning and an end is not
true even in the middle; it is just a false appearance. What is
truly real exists always and never becomes unreal even for a
moment. Search your experience, outwardly, inwardly, and in
any direction you like, and see if you can find that which always
exists. Once you have found that, you will also have found the
source of happiness that is perpetual, and this inquiry, this
Knowledge, this Vedanta, will become very important to you.
Then you will dive in to know that Existence first hand, permanently,
and you will be at the very root of all that is good, true,
and beautiful.
Q.: Thank you.
Om, shanti, shanti, shanti
Om, Om, Om (Silence)
Journal
Thanks for the great breakfast reading here sir.
ReplyDeleteBp