Prior to Consciousness
Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Preface

In one way the core of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's teaching is easy to
grasp, and extremely difficult in another. It is easy if we are willing to be
completely honest with ourselves, to look at the concepts of others with
which we have built our own prisons. To investigate for one's self can be
extremely difficult because we are very attached to our concepts - we
don't want to give them up. But if the desire to KNOW is a burning desire,
then we will set forth on our course. We can only know who or what we are
by personal experience, not from books or others.
Maharaj urged us to find out what this "I" is. He was like a surgeon
with a sharp scalpel, cutting away all inessential things. His questions
often left one out in "left field," not knowing what to say. His answers,
were never what was expected. He would not allow any quoting of scriptures
- only personal experience - and he could get quite angry about
this. Once when someone quoted Dakshinamurti, a Hindu deity,
Maharaj responded: "Hang Dakshinamurti! What about you? What is
your experience?"
Most of us identify ourself with the body-mind and so he insisted
that we find out what this body-mind is. Did it not come from the sperm
of the father and the ovum of the mother? The body then is a product of
the food consumed and is sustained by food, which is the essence of the
f ive elements. Can we be this? Without consciousness the body is dead
material. When consciousness leaves the body there is no individual, no
world, and no God. Consciousness can only be conscious of itself when
it has manifested in a physical form. Consciousness is latent in every
grain of food, in all the five elements - it is universal, non-personal, allpervading.
Everything is consciousness, and that is what we are,
presently. Consciousness acts through the forms according to the combination
of the gunas, satwa (being-light-purity), tamas (inertiapassivity-
darkness), rajas (activity-passion-energy), and to the conditioning
received. What happens when one of these forms "dies?" The
form again becomes part of the five elements and the consciousness
merges with the universal consciousness. This is all a process happening,
the play of consciousness.
Before this form came - what was I? That is what one truly is. That
Absolute Parabrahman - these are only words which we have invented to
name the Unmanifest, Unnameable. The eternal "I," absolutely unconditioned,
timeless, spaceless Being, not aware of being (because
there is no other). I am as I Am, as I always was, as I ever will be, eternally.
Seekers from all over the world came to Sri Maharaj for his spiritual
guidance. The contents of this book are transcribed from the tape
recordings made during the question and answer periods of 1980 and
1981, until the death of Sri Maharaj from cancer of the throat on
September 8, 1981, at the age of 84. Maharaj spoke only in Marathi and
at each meeting there was a translator, not always the same one; we are
very grateful to them. The most frequent ones were Sri S. K. Mullarpattan,
Dr. D. Doongaji, Ramesh S. Balsekar, and S. V. Sapre (deceased),
and the evening translator whom I remember only as Mohan. There
were others at different times, but generally these were the day-to-day
translators. We are also very grateful to Miss N. Vanaja who was so
faithful in recording these talks.
During the last two years of his life Maharaj did not entertain any
questions pertaining to this worldly life and its improvement. He taught
only the highest truth, and due to the weakened condition of his body, on
some days there was very little discussion. But even one sentence of his
was like an Upanishad. He was very blunt and sharp in his answers and did
not cater to anyone's ego - in fact, his stated purpose was to destroy this
"psuedo-entity." To be in his presence was to feel the vibrant truth,
impossible to describe. He was amazing to watch: that
"personality" could be happy, angry, sad, gay, sarcastic, or gentle, and a
variety of emotion played through that "bundle" like sunlight on water.
There was never any attempt to change any of it ... let it do its thing, it was
not him. Suffering there was in abundance, due to the cancer, but in this
human picture I have never seen anyone braver. Never did a
whimper leave his lips. That body carried on when it seemed impossible that
it could do so. One could only gaze at him in total love and awe.
Although there was no doubt that the form of Sri Maharaj was suffering
from cancer, he carried on just as usual with the daily routine of bhajans
four times a day, question and answer periods twice daily, although as the
body grew weaker these periods were often cut short. It was enough
to be in his presence. It was only toward the end that he rarely spoke.
The repetitions in the text are necessary, as Maharaj hammered
continuously at our concepts, each time bringing us back to the root
when we tried to stray to the leaves and branches. When we tried to
hang on to words, even words which he had used, he shot them right out
from under us. As someone once said, "I am tremendously grateful to
Maharaj. What is most different is that, regardless of anything, he
answers what is most helpful and right, but people want to make the
teachings into a system, which ultimately ruins them. But Maharaj
doesn't worry. He just says on Wednesday that red is black, and on Friday
that red is white, but the answer is correct at the time, because it
changes the orientation of the questioner. It is tremendously valuable
and unique." The reader should take only a few pages at a time and
ponder and meditate over them.
If you read this book it is assumed that you have, as Maharaj said,
"Done your homework." If you are ready to give up your identity with
this pseudo-entity, read on and happy journey.

Jean Dunn

April 4, 1980

Questioner: Would Maharaj talk about the grace of the guru?
Maharaj: It is the intensity of the faith you have in the guru's words that is
most important; once that is there, the grace flows automatically. The faith
in the guru is based on the consciousness within, faith in one's Self. The
love for the beingness I am trying to direct to a higher level. What is lasting
is this love for the Self, on which temples have been built. This Christconsciousness
is existing; is it faith in a man? As a man, Christ was crucified,
but that universal consciousness which was his lives today.
Q: Is there a means of releasing or elevating this love?
M: That is a vritti (mental modification), that is part of the process.
There are various actions, practices, etc. Even in daily life you have certain
procedures; are they not the puja (worship) for this consciousness?
Q. Maharaj is talking about the kind of love that transcends consciousness itself?
M: The breeze that comes out of the universal consciousness is what
keeps other kinds of love alive. Most people limit their love to an individual.
Q How does one expand into universal love?
M: Understand the false as false, that's all you can do; you cannot turn
one thing into another.
Q: Doesn't love lose its vitality when it loses its object?
M: You are asking from the body level, you are not going back to your
state before the body came into existence. Before the word "love" came
into existence, you are. Prior to this identification with the body, you
must recede into That.
Since I have found my true permanent state I have no need for any of
this, so I am just waiting for it to go. In that state of fullness there is no
need at all. I have had this state of fullness after I met my guru; if I
hadn't met my guru I would have lived and died as a man.
My association with my Guru was scarcely for two and a half years. He
was staying some 200 kilometers away, he would come here once every
four months, for fifteen days; this is the fruit of that. The words he gave me
touched me very deeply. I abided in one thing only: the words of my Guru
are the truth, and he said, "You are the Parabrahman. "No more doubts and
no more questions on that. Once my Guru conveyed to
me what he had to say I never bothered about other things - I hung on to
the words of the Guru.
I know exactly what this present state of affairs is, how transient it is,
and I also know that eternal state. I have no use for this ephemeral state.
Now when you return to your country you will go with the qualification of
ajnani. Tell me, what meaning do you attach to the word jnani?
Q. I think some of the Indians who have been here longer are more qualified, they
might talk on it.
M. The present crop of Indians are following the Westerners who have
developed so much on the material side. They are not after spirituality -
they would like to follow Western scientific development, to imitate you.
Because "I Am That"2 is certified by Maurice Frydman they will read it;
the books by jean Dunn will have more significance also. I am not short of
any knowledge relating to God or spirituality because I have fully known
what this child-principle is. When you get to know that ignorant
child-principle, beingness, you will not fall short of anything in
your spiritual or worldly pursuits.

April 8, 1980

Questioner: Is the world as we see it, a thought? It is written in some places that
when one sees the world one does not see the Self, and conversely, when one sees the
Self, one does not see manifestation.
Maharaj: The world is nothing but the picture of your own "I" consciousness.
As if you had received a phone call telling you that you are,
and immediately the world appears. When you are in deep sleep and
you feel that you are awake, the dream world appears simultaneously.
With the "I Am," the world appears in the waking and dream states.
Q. Can one see the world without the presence of the ego?
M.• When is there an ego? The ego is there when you have certain
reactions. You take delivery of whatever is observed spontaneously. You
cling to it, register it, then only is there an ego.
You see some building material lying on the road - you think that
you are a carpenter and you start figuring how to use that material; the
thought process has started, ego starts. If you are nobody, you will not
bother about the building material - you will just observe it and go your
way. Once it is out of sight it is out of mind; but when you receive that
delivery, you cogitate over it, ego has started.
Q. So when it comes to the utility of what is seen, that's when the ego comes into being?
M. Yes. That is its nature.
Q To get back to my other question, when the world is seen, the Self is not; when
the Self is seen the world is not, is that so?
M. It is the other way. When you know that you are - the world is, if
you are not - your world is not.
Q: Is "I" the Self? I am talking about the difference between the `I Am" and the
thought "I am a man, "which is the ego. In the "IAm"consciousness, does the world
exist? Can you see it?
M.• When you wake up you have only the sense of being, without
words, this is the primary principle, the prerequisite; later on you know
fully that you are and the world is, but that is an illusion, like the horns of
a hare. The world is like the dream world, finally. Understand this point
very thoroughly; you are dealing too much with the ego. Have you
understood what was said about the ego?
Q: I think I have, if I ask another question maybe I can resolve it. Using the analogy
of the snake and the rope (seeing a rope in a dimly lit place and mistaking it for a
snake), if we use the world in that analogy where is the mistaken identity there?
M.• The Self is the world. You are talking about removing the identity
between the Self and the world, aren't you? First of all, dispose of the
Self, understand what the Self is. Get to know the Self first, then get to
know what the world is. The reason the world appeared is that you came to
know that you are.
Q. How can one, in the waking state, lose the sensation of the world altogether and
just be the Self?
M. You will have to consult the sun. Ask him, "How do you get rid,of
your light?" . . . light is the manifestation of the sun. Can you separate the
light from the sun or the sun from the light? Because of the sun, the light
is; because you are your world is.
Because the witnessing state happens, hence you are; because you are,
witnessing is palpably felt; because the sun is, light is. If there is no
witnessing, where is the witness? Dwell there.
Q, The being is the witness?
M. There are two witnessing stages; beingness witnesses all this
manifestation. Witnessing of this beingness, consciousness, happens to
that eternal principle, the Absolute.

April 14, 1980

Maharaja So long as you are interested in this manifest world you have no
time to get to the root. The root is this consciousness which appeared when
you were a child. The root of whatever activities you are now doing is that
moment when you were a child. In that child, the most important quality -
the chemical, the consciousness - took the photograph. From that
moment you started gathering knowledge and on that your present
activities are happening.
People are so interested in my words that no one really tries to find out
what that child consciousness is. Only when you get established in the
consciousness can you know that child consciousness. That is the only
way.
Questioner: Child consciousness implies a retrogression, as compared to the man
consciousness. When in that state there is no consideration of child or man
consciousness, there is just being -there is no further given direction.
M. There is no difference in the child consciousness and the man
consciousness.
Q. If the space that fills the small pot is the same as the space that fills the big pot,
how to recognize the small pot?
M. The seed of the universe is dimensionless but, because of the body, the
consciousness appears and identifies with the body but actually
everything is manifest, all-pervasive consciousness. That "I love" is
manifest. For the whole universe there is no question of profit or loss,
only when the identification with the body is present does the question
arise.
When you take food, who is eating? The "I Amness." The food also
contains the "I Amness," so when you consume it, you retain your "I
Amness." Though the "I Amness" is in the food, nobody identifies with the
food - they say, "this is my lunch; I am not this," but when it is consumed
by them and becomes part of the body they say, "I am the body" - that
mistake they make.
Q: I desire to be in the state of a jnani.
M.- You have to know that knowledge "I Am."Jnani and knowledge are
one.
Q: Just by being you have this knowledge?
M: You are already that, but you have to try to understand yourself.
Q You understand that by the very essence of your being, so there is no knowledge
involved.
M.- At the moment you are identifying with the body, so you do not
know that secret. You will come to know gradually, when you really
become that.
Q. If there is only the sense of being in the "I Am, "where do concepts come in? M:
Because of the vital breath, the mind flow is there. Mind means words,
so thoughts are there - they are the concepts. Look at your root, the child
consciousness, and finish it off.
Q. The di ffrculty lies in the fact that all consciousness is identical, so how to get to the
root?
M. This consciousness is a tree, but there was a seed - go to the seed.
The consciousness you have now is the same as the child consciousness;
hold on to that, that is enough. So long as the consciousness is there
everything is so important to you, but if that vanishes, then what is the
worth of this whole world to you? Who is the knower of the seed? Give
attention to how this "I Amness" has appeared - then you will know. Accept
this identification only: that you are this manifest pure beingness,
the very soul of the universe, of this life that you observe, and presently
you are just wearing this bodily attire. Make a note of it; you have taken
down so many things in life, just for fun, why don't you take this down
also and see what happens? See what happens when you look at the
moon and know that the moon is there provided you are there; because
you are the moon is. This grand concept, this joy, you directly experience
and enjoy.
Q. There must be some power which is responsible for this creation.
M.• The power is the Self which each one has in his beingness - that
power is time-bound. From the time that beingness comes it creates
automatically until that beingness disappears. Earlier there was nothing -
after there is nothing. It is only during the duration of the beingness that
the world and creation is. This power is the faith in the primordial concept
"I Am," and that is the concept which weaves the web of creation.
The entire manifestation is an appearance in this concept.
April 15, 1980
Maharaj: When consciousness mixes with itself, that is samadhi. When one
doesn't know anything -and doesn't even know that he doesn't know
anything - that is samadhi.
Questioner: Will the body become rigid?
M: The body becomes still. Later on there is no realization of the body.
When everything is accounted for, that is sahaja samadhi.
Q. The sensation is of glowing, effervescence, within and without; it provokes a
little heat.
M: That is natural. When the five elements mix with each other, all
kinds of things may take place. The five elements express themselves in
different fashions through the body at that stage. This is not common to
all, not necessarily uniform - each body will act and react in a different
way. Therefore different Saints have different kinds of teachings. The
common capital for all is the waking state, sleep state, and the consciousness
"I Am."
Q. I did as Maharaj said. I examined the consciousness of a child, also I pondered
about the seed and the tree, and I have resolved that equation.
M. What remains after those questions have been resolved? Can you do
anything about it?
Q: No. The seed disappears into a seedling, the seedling into a tree and eventually the
tree disappears. The seed of the child disappears into a teenager, etc.
M.• It does not disappear, it is transformed. Now what remains is
Parabrahman.
Q. There was the sensation of the son returning to the father.
M. Did that sensation happen inside or outside the source? The parents
are only names given to the source which one always knows.
When something is understood, one does not really grasp it until a
name is given and then one says that one has understood. The name is
not the thing. Father, mother and child are three in name, but all three
represent the same thing. What is is one only, It is, and the three are only
names and numbers given to what is basically one thing. The union of
prakriti and purusha is myself; prakriti and purushs are only names - they
are not forms. This subject is meant only for those who are seriously interested.
The Jack fruit is a very big fruit with a thick skin and pointed stickers
on the outside. Inside is the fruit, and within that is the seed. One uses
the fruit, and the seed which is capable of producing more fruit is there.
The human body is the same, what is outside is merely the shell; what
one uses is the beingness inside. The seed can be used to reproduce, and
the sweetness, She taste of "I Am," values itself and wants to continue at
any cost.
Prior to taking this form you were formless; spontaneously the form
came, and when the form came there was a natural longing to return to
the formless state. When you want to return to the formless, desireless
state, then only you come here, to seek what you are. The consciousness
has to know the consciousness. When it realizes itself, then only do you
return to normal.
Q. Has any one of those persons coming here become a jnani?
M: A number of those who have come here have acquired the knowledge,
but only superficially. No one has really studied what the knowledge
is; no one has really grasped the full meaning. What are they doing
now? They are entangled in wanting, desiring, and this has made them
forget the knowledge. Very few will get this knowledge correctly and absorb
it deeply into their hearts. Once you have understood the origin of
this movement, this activity, and the reason, the nature of this desire,
then only can you return to what you are. Unless you are firm about it,
you will not understand.
April 19, 1980
Maharaj: You have come here and you are sitting here, but this doesn't
mean that you are expected to sit here for 24 hours continuously for days
and days. You have come here for a short while, then you will go, again
you will come. Like that, this body is a place for dwelling for a short while.
Having stabilized in the Absolute, the distinction is clearly made of
beingness and prior to beingness.
Questioner: In the old days, it says in the Upanishads, any disciple had to stick
close to the Guru for one year without opening his mouth, and only then he could ask
questions.
M. When he sits in close proximity to a Guru the capacity of his beingness
to receive this teaching becomes mature. His capacity to understand
increases. It arises within him, it does not come from outside him.
You must come to a firm decision. You must forget the thought that
you are a body and be only the knowledge "I Am," which has no form, no
name. Just be. When you stabilize in that beingness it will give all the
knowledge and all the secrets to you, and when the secrets are given to
you, you transcend the beingness, and you, the Absolute, will know that
you are also not the consciousness. Having gained all this knowledge,
having understood what is what, a kind of quietude prevails, a tranquility.
Beingness is transcended, but beingness is available.
Q. What is that state?
M. It is something like a deer taking rest in the shadow of a tree. The
color of the shadow is neither light nor very dark, this is the borderland.
Neither jet black nor very bright, halfway between them, that is that
shadow. Deep blue, like clouds, that is that state. That is also the grace of
the Sat-Guru. Everything is flowing out of that state, but this principle does
not claim anything, is not involved in anything that is coming out of it,
but this beingness is available. That deep, dark blue state, the grace of
the Sat-Guru. This is the state of the jnani, this is a very, very, rare, natural
samadhi state, the most natural state, the highest state.
You must have a firm conviction about this. Once the decision is
taken, there is no moving away from it. The fruition of your spirituality is
to fully understand your own true nature, to stabilize in your true
identity. One must have patience, the capacity to wait and see.
The darkness that you see when you close your eyes, that is the
shadow of the Guru's grace; don't forget it, always keep it in mind. Take
rest in the shadow of the Guru's grace. Whenever you remember the
words of the Guru, you are in the shade of the Guru's grace.
Ultimately, everything merges into the Self. You may come across
great difficulties, but your courage and stability in the Self should be firm.

April 23, 1980

Maharaj: Be friendly with your undifferentiated state, your true Self.
There was never any division, but you are under the delusion that you are
not one with it.
I have understood my true nature: it is always alive, but not in the
way everybody thinks. I don't wish to live in this life by the knowledge of
the subjective world or the experiences of the subjective world. People
are telling me that I must live; I don't want to live like that. I am alive
because of my own nature, It is there, the existence is there, I am there
only because of that existence. My true state, which is whole, undifferentiated,
is beyond birth and death. I am never bound by my body
and mind. I am limitless.
I, the Absolute, never had any experience that I was alive, and now I
am experiencing that I am alive, and all this trouble I am experiencing
through this I-am-alive-experience. This experience is limited to time
and space; but when I understood the whole thing, I understood that I
never had any experience that I was alive. That is a state beyond any experience.
Why has this come? My Guru has explained correctly to me that the
"I" consciousness appeared and these experiences started, so one can see
the true nature of the "I" consciousness, go to the source, find out from
where this "I" comes.
Questioner: What is the difference if I am sick and unconscious and Maharaj is
sick and unconscious?
M.• I know my true nature and I am That, while you are limited to your
body and mind, therefore you might feel that you are sick now, so let the
doctor come - he might do something. All those are notions you will
have, but I don't have them. I am sleeping in my true nature, whereas
you have taken a blanket and are sleeping.
Is it not true that when you are sick you are thinking only of your
sickness? Why have you entered this field?
When I talk to you, don't try to understand from the body-mind
identity. Your true state is always there; it has not gone anywhere.
Although you did not know it was there, and now you know it is there, you
have done nothing. It is always there.
On my true, whole, homogeneous state just a small ripple appeared, the
news came, "I Am." That news made all the difference, and I started
knowing this; but now I have known my true state, so I understand my
true state first, and then I understand that this ripple is coming and going
on my true state. While, in your case, you take interest in the ripple and
don't take interest in your true state.
Out of my existence as the Noumenon has come this state of the phenomenal.
The homogeneous understands the play of the attributes, the
projection of the mind, but the play, the projection of the mind, cannot
understand the homogeneous. The moment it tries to understand It, it
becomes one with It. Everybody is trying to understand the meaning of
all this. You are not understanding because you have all the swaddling
clothes of "I-am-this-or-that." Remove them.
The ultimate point of view is that there is nothing to understand, so
when we try to understand, we are only indulging in acrobatics of the
mind.
Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in
this objective world, in the illusion; all your activities, material and
spiritual, are in this illusion. All this is happening in the objective world, all
is dishonesty, there is no truth in this fraud.
Q. Last night, during meditation, there was a pure state of `I-I. "I understood it to be
recognition of the Self.
M.• Is that the true meaning of your Self? Spit it out. Whatever you
have understood, you are not. Why are you getting lost in concepts?
You are not what you know, you are the knower.

April 30, 1980

Maharaj: This consciousness that "I Am" has created, and sustains, all the
wonders in the world for which men take credit; on the other hand, this
consciousness has no control over itself.
The principle out of which you have sprouted has tremendous
powers. Lord Krishna has said, "You worship me, be devoted to me."
This means what? The knowledge "I Am" which is indwelling in you -
worship that only. You charge your beingness with those tremendous
qualities of Lord Krishna; your beingness means Lord Krishna, be
devoted to that.
In the initial stages, your devotion is of the surrendering type. You
worship some principle and surrender to that principle. In the final
stages you become the entire universe.
Your faith toward some principle will not remain the same; it will be
continually changing.
All of you are like beggars; you have got a begging bowl and you
want to collect God in that.
Take it that this "I Amness" of yours is the unadulterated form of
Godlihood; the pure Iswara state is your beingness.
It is quite proper and praiseworthy that you are listening to the talks.
Nevertheless, you are not getting rid of this attachment to the body
mind. You are constantly surrounded by relations or intimacies
connected with your body-mind. Have full faith in your beingness and
allow it to grow into the manifest Iswara principle. It is all powerful -
meditate on that. It is very simple, yet at the same time, very profound.
The consciousness is the seed of Godliness. If we give it its true
importance and pray to it, then it will flower into Godliness. If we don't
give it any importance, it will not flower into Godliness.

May 4, 1980

Maharaja You understand yourself as body-mind; therefore my problem
is - how to make you understand.
Lord Krishna said, "All are my expressions." The mountain is of
gold and a particle of that mountain is also gold. I am that mountain and
every particle is myself. The entire beingness manifest is myself, and each
being is a sample of myself. The knowledge "I Am" in each species is
myself. The very life force - luminous, bright, radiant, indwelling principle
is myself.
If anybody understands me totally and fully and most appropriately,
that one gets the shelter in the shade of my benign being.
The state of ajnani, the highest state, has transcended the beingness,
but the beingness is still there, so together with the beingness is the
Absolute - the deep blue, benign state, without eyes.
Knowledge takes rest in that deep blue, quiet, peaceful, benign
shade. When that shade is shifted aside, then he sees the various
manifestations in the form of universes and worlds. But when the shade
is there, it is the deep, dark blue state, fully relaxed.
Questioner: Is Maharaj going to stop talking?
M. The talks will emanate provided someone worthy is there to put questions.
I am nearing the end of my time. If any questions sprout, ask them.
Q: I want to stay here with Maharaj as long as possible.
M. Although you might go home, whatever has been planted, whatever you
have received, is going to change you. You are completely possessed.
Q. I feel that. I am grateful that at the tag-end of my life I was brought here.
M. Your coming here was also spontaneous. It is very rare that someone
has the good fortune to come here; having come here, if the planting
is done, the sprouting will definitely take place. It may take time, but it
will definitely take place.
Just as the beingness has appeared spontaneously, you don't know
beforehand, now I am going to be - it has come about - so also the talks are
coming spontaneously.
This touch of "I Amness" is in each being; this beingness has that
touch of love for the Absolute and it is a representation of the Absolute.
When you got yourself separated from the Absolute with this identity "I
Am," you felt fragmented, isolated, and that is why your demands
started. In the Absolute there are no needs. Only the Absolute prevails.
The truth is total Brahman only, nothing else but Brahman. In a
total Brahman state the touch of beingness, "I Am," and with that, separation
started, otherness has come. But this "I Amness" is not just a small
principle, that itself is the mula-maya, the primary illusion. What I am
expounding is not meant for the common people, because they have not
reached the stature to understand what I am saying. Therefore I tell
them to do bhajans, japa, meditation. After doing that, when the purifying
takes place, they will be worthy enough to receive my talks.
Q. From the Unmanifest, the manifest is happening?
M: Who is asking this and why?
Q. I want to know.
M. Nothing prevails but you, everything is you. What answer can I
give you?
If you want to remember this visit, if you have love for me,
remember this "I Am" principle and without the command or direction of
this principle, do nothing.
In the world today there are so many people and they are so busy
with their affairs that they don't have time to eat - they stand and eat.
These are characteristics of the maya. The great maya principle is making
you do all her tricks, and you are also abiding in what she says, and f
inally, that light of yours, that beingness, gets extinguished. Then
where are you going?
Q. I am going to search for another body!
M: This is all a concept. Before appearing in the world, do you remember
your previous history, do you remember anything?
Q. No, but I have read ...
M. I don't want to hear what others write, I want to know from the
horse's mouth, from you. If you are not, can others be there? Is this not
good enough for you?
Q: But I cannot think of a state when I had not been.
M.• That was the non-attention Parabrahman state. That attention "I
Am" was not there.
Q. Do we come from the Parabrahman state and go back after beingness goes? M:
Coming down into this world from the Absolute is something like the
appearance of a dream. In a dream are you going somewhere? The
primary ignorance is the understanding that you are the body. To know that
you are the manifest is knowledge, and the knowledge merges into noknowledge,
Parabrahman.
Q- But I understand from the Gita ...
M: Throw it away! Whatever you understand is not the truth and it is to
be thrown overboard. You are trying to catch hold of something and cling
to it. Accept, as it is, what I am telling you. Don't be carried away by
concepts. Don't employ any words, and look at yourself as you are.
Few people understand what I am driving at.
You are not paying proper attention, you are talking only after this
beingness appeared. Before the beingness was there, look at that, be in
that state. If you dare call me an atheist, remember that I do bhajans four
times a day.
That maya is so powerful that it gets you completely wrapped up in it.
Maya means "I Am," "I love to be." It has no identity except love. That
knowledge of "I Am" is the greatest foe and the greatest friend. Although it
might be your greatest enemy, if you propitiate it properly, it will turn
around and lead you to the highest state.

May 8, 1980

Maharaja After the information given to you by the mother, that you are
a boy or a girl, all your further acquisitions are through hearsay. Your
primary capital is knowingness, waking state and deep sleep.
Remember just this: a real disciple is ready to give up his body and the
vital breath to attain this. Abide in the words of the Guru. Stabilize only in
"I Amness."
The five elements and the three gunas make up your body and beingness.
When you abide in Sat-Guru, Sat-Guru indicates to you that you are the
witness of your beingness also. Have faith in the Sat-Guru, you are
That. Such a Sat- Guru has remained untouched and without any stigma.
Whatever is is there eternally, but we are overwhelmed by concepts. In the
world of beingness the consciousness takes care of every worm, bird. human
being, of all the species. That is the problem of the beingness. Every
species knows the art of living.
Now it is said that I have a disease, therefore I have been taken to
various eminent consultants and they have prescribed certain treatments.
I have refused to take any treatment because the treatment is for
the body and the guarantee of eternal life is not there. The promise was
that I would be well for some time. I am not interested in such promises.
I have stabilized in the Eternal and I am not fascinated by this type of
life, this burden. I would like to get rid of that as early as possible, I am
not interested.
Questioner: You are the Protector.
M. I'm not the Protector, the protection is automatically happening.
Q. There are those well worthyour protection; at least for them wouldyou not listen to
their advice, to give them satisfaction?
M. That is not the way of getting satisfaction. To get satisfaction they
should go inward. I am rather sorry that you are trying to do this spirituality
in such a mundane manner. Suppose the so-called death happens to
me, actually what is happening? There is the setting of the five
elements, but I shall prevail always. I have stabilized prior to this beingness
and the world. Whatever happens to the world, nothing happens to
me.
The mind which was accepting that I was born is dead now. I cannot be
measured by birth or mind.
There are so many so-called jnanis, but they are thirsty for worldly
knowledge. Do you understand what I am driving at? You have craving for
worldly knowledge.
You have the consciousness and you are trying to understand
everything in this life. Can you control the consciousness? Can you keep
it with you always? No, it can go at any time, and you have no authority
that you can say this is my consciousness and I will hold on to it for such
and such a time.
You are very fond of your dwelling-place in this world, this body.
You would not like to go to a state which is beyond this, prior to this.
You are enamoured of this beingness state.

May 11, 1980

Maharaja In the body the consciousness does the witnessing; the behavior is
done by the three gunas. Consciousness is all-pervading, spacelike, without
form.
If one has an illness or a pain, is there a form to that? It is only a
movement in consciousness. The knower of consciousness cannot feel
the pain, and it is only because consciousness has identified itself with
the body that the body feels pain. When consciousness is not there, even if
the body is cut, there is no pain. It is not the body which feels pain.
When there is a disturbance in the balance of the five elements, illness
comes and the illness or pain is felt in the consciousness.
Just as in the winter the heat gets less and less, as this identification
with the body gets less and less the pain that is felt gets less and less, to a
degree that, with complete disidentification with the body, one can put his
hand in the fire and not feel the pain. The effect of the fire will be there,
but the pain will not be felt.
Now, say that I am feeling a pain at a particular moment, and something
happens and my mind gets diverted. With this diversion of the new
happening I won't feel the pain which I was feeling the previous moment.
Many times I feel an itch all over the body and I scratch, but when sitting in
public I don't feel like scratching, so I just tolerate it; in that tolerance it
disappears. Otherwise, sometimes if we start scratching, even if the skin is
scratched off and bleeding starts, still the itch will not stop. We have a saying
in Marathi, "Don't provoke itching by scratching." Most pain and
suffering is like this, if you pay attention, it is provoked and you have to
pamper it. Don't pay attention, ignore the symptoms and they are lost.
You must have the capacity to tolerate pain.
The consciousness in the body cannot have any blemish at all - that is
the quality. But when you identify with the body, then, conceptually you
might pollute it, but by nature it is very pure. Vital breath is very pure,
and this beingness is purer than that. I am talking about Atman, the Self.
This knowledge is likely to create a great sense of frustration in one who
doesn't have the right perspective. The intention is to see the state of
things in their correct perspective. Having seen it, live your life in the
world to the best of your ability.
Immortality is beyond time and space; in that timeless, spaceless
existence there is no entry for the five elements, for light or darkness, for the
sun or the moon. Timeless, spaceless existence doesn't know that it is.
That is reality, That is the truth.
In any amount of meditation, etc., you do not remain in your real
state; it is only by firm conviction that you are the highest that you stabilize
in the Ultimate.
Normally a common spiritual seeker will not understand what I am
driving at because he is seeking something which he can enjoy. What is
your ambition in being a spiritual seeker? You are looking for advantage in
the world, to take care of your daily life - that is the maximum you expect
out of spirituality. The so-called sages, who are following a spiritual
pursuit, focus their ambition on seeing that their daily life goes on comfortably.
Why in hell did I happen to be? Nobody enquires about that.
Only that person will visit this place whose virtue and sin have come to
an end. So long as there is that stigma of the memory that you are a
body-mind you will not understand.
The sum total of all this talk is known as Sat-Guns-Parabrahman. In that
state there are no requirements. My state is that which never felt the creation
and dissolution of the universe. I have not expounded this part. I remain
untouched through the creation and dissolution of the universe.

June 27, 1980

Maharaja The waking and sleep states and the "I Am" consciousness these
three are not your attributes but the attributes of that chemical. To what
does the word "birth" apply? Is it not the birth of that which is in the body
which makes it conscious? The chemical denotes the love the Self has for
Itself and of which it wants to continue.
All experiences will be a means of suffering if one hasn't realized
what they are. All experiences are due to memories and are merely
movements in consciousness and therefore they cannot last. Happiness and
unhappiness come and go. If you have a correct perspective, the world
is still going on with a sense of quietude.
Nature has the institution of death. If death did not exist, there
would be an unbearable accumulation of memories. People come and go,
the memories are wiped out, therefore there is a sense of balance.
Questioner: But what is known to be temporary seems as if it were going to last
forever when it is enjoyed. What is to be done?
M: Whatever you do will end in a calamity but you will not stop doing it
because this is the nature of the body consciousness.
Death is considered to be a traumatic experience, but understand
what happens. That which has been born, the knowledge "I Am," will
end. That knowledge which was limited by this body will then become
unlimited, so what is to be feared?
Q. My fear is not being able to love or be loved.
M.• Please understand, feeling love for others, consciously and
deliberately, cannot be done. That feeling of love must be understood and
then love will unfold itself. Love for the Self, this consciousness, "I Am,"
those who have understood this as the true love, have themselves become
love. All has merged in them.
This chemical which makes the body function is the smallest of the
small, and the biggest of the big. It contains the entire universe, it is
itself love and God. That chemical, the consciousness, provides the light
which enables the world to get on. That love is not individual love; the
indwelling principle in all beings is that love, the life force. Begin with
this emotional love and dwell in your beingness. Whatever happens,
happens in that which has been objectified in time and space; from
complete absence has come plenty. The body is born, takes its space,
and then it goes, but the Absolute is not affected. That eternal state
prevails in spite of all happenings. Whatever tangible and visible world
there is merges into nothingness. However that nothingness is also a state
- so that nothingness also goes into the Absolute state.
Q. How did I happen to identify myself with the body?
M.• What is this "I" to whom you are referring who has become entangled in
the body and wants to know the answer?
Q. I don't know. Why is it that I cannot know who I am?
M: I can only know something different from me. How can something
know itself when there is nothing with which to compare? It is alone,
without identity, without attributes. We can only talk about it at the
phenomenal stage.
I have got this illness. What is the illness and on what has it come
about? The illness is not separate from what exists as the body, breath,
and the knowledge "I Am." This is one bundle which has been created,
whatever happens is contained in that bundle. I have been separate
from it before conception, and. I continue to be separate from what has
been created. It has happened, it will continue for a while, then it will go
away. Time has brought this about and time will end it. Is not what
was conceived and born the same now? That "I" has not changed from
the conception till the present moment. It has come for a particular
length of time.
What was conceived has grown physically, and some of the expressions
of this knowledge "I Am" have achieved tremendous things. Some
have became avatars, some have achieved success in various fields. At the
end of the time span the magnificent personalities, and whatever they
have achieved - both have disappeared. It may have been for many
years; this "I Amness" may have remained existent for hundreds of years in
particular cases; still, however long the time, there is an end to it.
Some of these avatars and jnanis have understood what the "I Amness" is,
that it needs a body before it can manifest itself, and the body can only come
out of sexual intercourse. Having understood it, instead of remaining
in that knowledge apart from manifestation, and merely
observing manifestation, they started giving advice to that which is only
conceptual; all manifestation is conceptual. They said, "Let there not be
sexual relations." Many of these avatars andjnanis have given this advice. Has
it happened? Has the rain stopped? Has the production of population
stopped? No. Nature will take its course. It is only to be understood,
nothing is to be done.
Remember only one thing: that it is this "I Amness" which has
remained unchanged at all times, and which pervades the entire universe.
It is the highest God as far as this manifestation is concerned.
Ultimately even this is temporary, and what I am is prior to the
senses, spaceless, timeless, without attributes, but in the manifestation
this "I Amness" is the highest God and you must be one with that.
Q. When the body dies is there a question of rebirth if I still identity with the body?
M. So long as you identify with the body, whatever is written in the
scriptures you must follow. When you lose your identity with the body,
then you can do whatever you like.

June 29, 1980

Maharaj: Whatever concept you have about yourself cannot be true. The
"I Amness" is the prime concept, and it has to be satisfied by letting it do its
normal work in the world. The important thing is the realization
of the fact that it is a concept.
Questioner: In the world this concept is always trying to be at the top. Even to the
children we say, "You must be first in the examination. "Is it wrong topush your
personality and individuality on others?
M. What is wrong is that you consider yourself to be limited to this
body and shape. What knowledge I try to give is given to the knowledge "I
Am" in each of you, which is the same. If you try to get that knowledge as an
individual you will never get it.
Q. If `7Am"is a concept and it disappears, how is one to know that that concept
has disappeared?
M. That "I Am" is a concept is to be understood while the concept is
there. Once it merges in the original state, who (or what) is there who
wants to know? The illusory entity has disappeared.
Q. I am convinced that this `7Am" is a concept and it will end, but why should I
take it that it is a false concept?
M. How and when did this very thought come? Did this thought not
come merely as a movement in that concept itself? If the consciousness
were not there, the thought would not be there.
Consciousness is a temporary condition which has come upon the
total, timeless, spaceless, changeless state. It is a happening which has
come and which will disappear.
This psychosomatic bundle which is born will suffer or enjoy during
its alloted span; so long as I know that I am not the one who experiences,
but I am the knower, how am I concerned?
It is perfectly clear. I merely watch the body, mind, and
consciousness laugh or suffer. In suffering it may cry out, all right, cry
out. If it is enjoying, it may laugh. I know it is a temporary thing, if it
wants to go, let it go. While I am talking to you, imparting knowledge, at
the same time I am feeling unbearable pain, if it becomes a little more
unbearable I may whimper. It can do what it likes, I am not concerned. So
long as you have not known what this consciousness is, you will fear
death; but when you really understand what this consciousness is, then the
fear leaves, the idea of dying also will go.
This consciousness is time-bound, but the knower of the
consciousness is eternal, the Absolute.

July 1, 1980

Maharaja Once the body is gone, that knowledge which experienced
itself as Christ, Krishna, Buddha, etc., has subsided, has become one
with the total. If you abuse them by word, they do not come and ask why
you are abusing them, because that knowledge which experienced itself as
one of these has subsided into the totality. Similarly now, you might be a
very great person but when you go to sleep you forget yourself as a
separate entity.
Don't say that you are an individual; just stay in the beingness. The
whole problem is the sense of being a separate entity - once that
subsides, that is true bliss. With the arising of the "I Am" the whole of
manifestation takes place; in any activity that which witnesses is the "I
Am," that which is doing all this is maya, the tendencies, attributes.
This is what I am trying to tell you, but you want something else,
something that is in the manifestation - you want knowledge.
That knowledge "I Am" is new, it is not the Real; the Real I am not
telling you, words negate That. Whatever I am telling you is not the
truth, because it has come out of this "I Am." The truth is beyond expression.
You are going all over, amassing knowledge for an individual-This
amassing of knowledge is not going to help you, because it is in a dream.
Questioner: How does Maharaj feel about all the people coming here?
M: I don't care. You come and listen to me and go. If you want it, take it.
If not, go away. The space in this room is neither for, nor against, nor in
love with, the space in that room; it is one.
Like a river flowing, if you want to utilize it, you take the water and
drink it, assimilate it; otherwise, let it flow past. I am not charging you, just
like the river is not charging for the water. You are spending a lot of
money every day; come on, you put your money away and take my
water.
While talking about it I take you to the source of the spring; there
water is coming out in a trickle. This water afterwards becomes a river, an
estuary, becomes the sea. I am taking you again and again to the
source. Once you go to the source you will come to know there is no
water actually, water is the news of "I Am."
There is only one principle, the principle "I Am." Because you are,
everything is. Hold it close. You have heard, now live accordingly.
Q. My work as a doctor keeps me constantly busy, how can I do as Maharaj says?
M.• You are engaging in worldly activity everyday, but before you go to
sleep at night forget all that, and think of what I have told you. Take one
sentence of what I have told you and stay with it; that will lead you to your
source. [Maharaj tells a story]: A person meets a man and the man gives him
something to drink, then he tells him, "I have put poison in that drink, and
in six months you will die." That person becomes very frightened and
believes, that he will die in six months. Later he meets a friend, and tells
him what has happened and that he will die in six months. His friend tells
him not to worry, and says, "Here, drink this, and if you drink it there
will be no death for you." So the fellow is happy and drinks it.
With the. first concept he is full of fright, and convinced that he is going
to die; later on, the friend gives him another concept which negates the
first concept. This is one of the attributes of the vital air, getting concepts,
ideas, creations, again and again. It is only when you search for your
Self that you become aware of this.
The very source of all happiness is your beingness, be there. If you get
involved with the flow of maya there will be misery. You try to derive
pleasure from the activities of maya, this is the product of beingness. Be
still in your beingness.
What I have told you, remember it, chew it, recollect it. It will lead you
to the stillness. Establish in that knowledge.
Q: What will happen?
M.• It will be clear to you, just as clear as seeing the five fingers on your
hand. You observe, this body is made of the five elements, and because the
five elemental body is there, your beingness, the consciousness has
appeared.
Your beingness is there because of this food body and the vital
breath, and you will be able to watch all these elements - the body, your
vital force and your beingness; but you must be established in that
knowledge. In short, you liquidate that yardstick of body-mind as your
identity. When this is done, you are Iswara, you are Brahman.
Q. Then how do I elevate it to a higher level?
M. Leave it alone! There is no question of elevating to a higher level.
Here it is only a question of understanding.
Iswara is the manifestation of the five elements and the universe, the "I
Amness." To the Absolute, the witnessing of that "I Amness" occurs. This
is the Absolute standpoint, siddha. This understanding should not be
claimed by you, who are a sadhaka. Sadhaka means the process of getting
established in the Iswara principle, the consciousness.
Q. Last night "there was an experience of very great vibration in the body. In fact
there was no body, just vibration, no form, and very intense.
M: Whatever that vibration, that is the product of the five elements.
Q. It is not a taste of "I Amness"?
M.• If you want to express it that way, you may. These are the five ele
ments, three gunas, prakriti and purusha, ten elements. These are the
expressions of your beingness.
Q: So when Maharaj says to stay firm in the consciousness of not being the
body-mind, how does that relate to these ten elements?
M: That talk - to transcend the body-mind and establish in your
beingness, is for the kindergarten spiritual seeker, the lowest level. But
now I am talking to a sadhaka who is getting established in beingness; that
first lesson is over now.
Q: Oh!
M: Your world, your universe, is the expression of your beingness. The
second step, the sadhaka gets established in beingness, Iswara principle,
manifestation. A sadhaka is manifestation.
Now, after listening to all these talks, he will leave this place and tell
people that he meets, "I have met a Maharaj who was talking, and he has
added confusion worse compounded."
Q. Maharaj's teaching is very clear. The only thing is that it is happening
so fast, and that it is clear, so fast.
M. This manifestation is Self-effulgent, Self-created, but you are still
wanting to modify something, you are not through with this.
Q: That is what 1 am saying. The consciousness is aware of being everything, that it is
Iswara, then because of somefirm-set habit of the body-mind state, all o fa sudden,
spontaneously, comes a desire to mod , or adjust everything, and, at that moment
something else happens that says, 5ou can't adjust it, it is as it is. " That is what has
been happening.
M. See that you are not involved in that. Q:
That is why it is so helpful for me to be here.
M: The Absolute is aloof. In the sleeping state the "I Amness" goes into
oblivion, he forgets himself. "I Amness" is subjected to the waking and
deep sleep states, but the Absolute is also that. You will not comprehend
exactly what it means, but as you get established in beingness and transcend
that, you will understand how you are beyond deep sleep and waking,
because those are only the characteristics of the beingness.
Q: That Absolute, is He aware what is happening when that "I Amness"goes to
sleep?
M. "I Amness" is a sort of tool, with "I Amness" only He observes. You
entertain some concepts, when you listen to me. If you hear something
that tallies with your concepts you are quite happy - you say it is knowl
edge - but I completely blast that. I want to blast all concepts and establish
you in a no-concept state.
Your beingness is the subtlest, at the same time it has gross qualities
latent in it. Take the seed of the banyan tree: it is very small, very subtle,
but all the gross matter is already there, inside. Your beingness is the
subtlest, and still it contains the entire universe. It is a continuous process;
the seed contains everything, repeat, repeat, repeat. The so-called
spiritual seeker wants Brahman, but how? As he orders, the Brahman
should happen like that. According to your concepts, you want to recreate
the Brahman.
Q. Which just brings you further from the truth.
M. Everything is the truth - the Absolute. Brahman is created out of
your beingness. All this Brahman is illusion, ignorance. Your beingness is
ignorance only, from the Absolute standpoint.
When you pursue this spiritual path of understanding the Self, all
your desires just drop off - even the primary desire, to be. When you
stay put in that beingness for some time, that desire also will drop off;
you are in the Absolute.
Q: That is what was happening today, and there is a certain sadness, in realizing
that, and yet, a great understanding of the Absolute.
M. It is only that consciousness constantly repeating, receding from the
Absolute, there is no movement for you - It is minding the show.
When you are in consciousness, you understand the nature of consciousness.
This consciousness is extinguishing, knowingness is disappearing,
but nothing affects you, the Absolute - that is the moment of
death, but what matters? The vital breath is leaving the body, the "I
Amness" receding, but the "I Amness" is going to the Absolute. That is the
greatest moment, the greatest moment of immortality. The "I Amness"
was there, that movement was there, and I observe, it is extinguished.
The ignorant one will get very frightened at the moment of
death - he is struggling - but for the jnani, it is the happiest moment.

July 6, 1980

Maharaja Whatever goes on in the world is based on the life force (pram
shakti), but the Atman, the witnesser, is totally apart; no action can be
attributed to the Atman.
So long as you have not understood pram shakti, the vital breath,
whose language is the four types of speech which flow through the vital
breath - so long as you do not recognize it, whatever the mind tells you
you are bound to take as certain. Those concepts which the mind gives you
will be final for you,
Questioner: What are the four types of speech?
M. They are, Para (source-consciousness), then pashyanti (the emanation
of thoughts), then madhyama (formulation of thoughts-words), and
vaikhari (language explodes out). The ordinary ignorant person is not
aware of Para and pashyanti, which starts the whole process, they are too
subtle; he starts working on madhyama, which is also identified with the
mind, and comes out with words (vaikhari).
The mind throws out words and thoughts, and through these we
have mistaken our identity as "me" or "mine," whereas whatever takes
place is independent of the one who witnesses and is based entirely on the
life force. This consciousness has mistakenly identified itself with the body,
and with thoughts or words. It considers itself to be guilty of something, or
that it has acquired merit by some action, whereas everything merely
takes place through the action of the life force.
The one who understands this vital breath, the life force, is beyond all
mental concepts. The one who has not understood it is a slave to his
thoughts.
Q; After prolonged use of the mantra, will it get dissolved?
M.• Both the mantra and the faith in the mantra will get dissolved. There is
a purpose in the mantra. In India the mantra has great efficacy. By
concentrating on the mantra the form behind the mantra will appear out of the
ether, but all this is time bound. Man has evolved all kinds of things for his
own preservation, the preservation of the consciousness.
I am not any longer concerned with, and no longer want, the
continuation of either the body or the vital breath.
That bundle of three states and three attributes3 has been born, and
whatever happens, happens to that bundle, and I am not concerned
with it. That is why I am totally fearless, without any reaction to a
disease which would be traumatic to others.
Having known that I am not that which has been born, yet there is
some little attachment to that with which I have been associated for a
long time - it is a speck of attachment because of eighty-four years' association.
Say I meet someone from my hometown whom I have known
3 Waking, sleep and 'I Am' consciousness - the 3 gunar - saUwa, rgja, tamer.
for a long time, he comes and he goes away, so I bid him goodbye, and
there is that little speck of attachment, because I have known him for a
long time.
The consciousness which is born thinks that it is the body and works
through the three gunas, but I have nothing to do with this, the whole
thing is an illusion.
Q. Will there be no continuation of memories after death?
M: Only if there is sugar cane, or sugar, will there be sweetness. If the
body is not there, how can there be memories, the beingness itself is
gone.
Q. How does one know what remains?
M. There are twenty people in this room, all twenty people leave, then
what remains is there, but someone who has left cannot understand
what it is. So in that Parabrahman which is without attributes, without
identity, unconditioned, who is there to ask?
This is to be understood, but not by someone: the experience and the
experiencer must be one, you must become the experience. What is this
Parabrahman like? The answer is, what is Bombay? Don't give me the
geography or the atmosphere of Bombay, give me a handful of Bombay.
What is Bombay? It is impossible to say, so also with Parabrahman. There is
no giving or taking of Parabrahman, you can only be That.
Q: We want the state which Maharaj enjoys.
M. The eternal Truth is there, but for witnessing it is of no use. You
give up this study in the name of religion or spirituality, or whatever you
are trying to study. Do only one thing, that "I Amness" or consciousness is
the Godliest principle; it is there only so long as the vital breath is there - it is
presently your nature. You worship that only. That "I Amness' is
something like the sweetness of the sugar cane, abide in the sweetness of
your beingness, then only you will reach and abide in eternal peace.
Q. I feel the life force energy polarized and intensified in my body in the presence of
Maharaj.
M. In practicing meditation the life force gets purified, and when it is
purified the light of the Self shines forth, but the, working principle is the
life force. When this purified life force and the light of the Atman (Self)
merge, then the concept, the mind, the imagination, everything is taken
away. The life force is the acting principle and that which gives sentience to
the person is the consciousness.
Q. This is what the tradition of shiva and shakti signifies?
M: Shiva means the consciousness and shakti is the life force. People go
by various names which have been given, and forget the basic principle.
Merely sit in contemplation and let the consciousness unfold itself.
What have you understood?
Q, This consciousness starts to get a greater sense of itself, and the prang and the
body's energy becomes intensified and polarized, it seems to be part of the purification.
M. When this consciousness and the pram shakti (life force) merge, they
tend to go and become steady in the Brahma-randra, and then all thoughts
cease. This is the start of samadhi, Then one comes back again and the life
force starts its normal activities.

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