Woetoe’s Reviews > I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj > Status Update

‘Images arise and disappear and only memory gives them continuity. And memory is material — destructible, perishable, transient. On such flimsy foundations we build a sense of personal existence — vague, intermittent, dreamlike. This vague persuasion: “I-am-so-and-so” obscures the changeless state of pure awareness and makes us believe that we are born to suffer and to die.’

‘Find what you have never lost, find the inalienable.’

‘Q: Striving is painful.

M: You make it so by seeking results. Strive without seeking, struggle without greed.’

‘In ignorance the seer becomes the seen and in wisdom he is the seeing.’

‘Q: Why need I open my eyes to see a lovely flower and with my eyes closed I see it vaguely?

M: It is because your outer eyes are better than your inner eyes. Your mind is all turned outward. As you learn to watch your mental world, you will find it even more colourful and perfect than what the body can provide.’

‘Your self-image is the most changeful thing you have.’

‘Q; How am I going to get a true answer?

M: By asking a true question — non-verbally, by daring to live according to your lights. A man willing to die for truth will get it.’

‘M: Be alert. Question, observe, investigate, learn all you can about confusion, how it operates, what it does to you and others. By being clear about confusion you become clear of confusion.’

‘Questioner: Between the spirit and the body, is it love that provides the bridge?

Maharaj: What else? Mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.’