Nisargadatta maharajs teaching

[Adamq8]

Hey guys! 

Im reading a book about his teachings and he says that conciousness is only there when the body is there and when it is gone so is conciousness,  so his teachings are not really that different from what a materialist thinks somehow?

Or am i understanding this wrongly?

[Adamq8]

And our true nature is nothingness but that is deep sleep forever after this life, thats how I interpret it 

[Osaid]

You should give us the actual quote so we can dissect it

But, there are multiple instances where you can be conscious without your body. So that's wrong.

[Adamq8]

[Adamq8]

He means that conciousness is only in this world but when we die we are the eternal aka deep sleep aka non existence

[GreenWoods]

2 hours ago, Adamq8 said:

And our true nature is nothingness but that is deep sleep forever after this life, thats how I interpret it 

Deep sleep is no more "nothingness" than what you are experiencing right now.

There is no difference between something and nothing. No difference between everyday life and deep sleep. The difference exists in the mind only.

Edited November 12, 2020 by GreenWoods

[Adamq8]

@GreenWoods Well prior to your birth you had no idea that you existed, same in deep sleep, and if Maharaj is right, then that is the ultimate truth, The Absolute is non being, then if we were GOD that I had direct experience of, must be false, cause how can god be non existent and still be formless and create? So god is either separate from us or it does not exists.

Im not saying that this is true, but im philosophising =) 

[Adamq8]

And if we are GOD then when this body drops we will still be concious and imagine another reality. 

 

[Osaid]

It seems to me that the main point of this excerpt is to teach you about your true nature as pure consciousness, so that you can differentiate it from your relative identity as a "body" or "human".

It also seems that there is some different terminology being used.  For example, he calls things that are relative "untrue". I'm having trouble understanding some of it, like "food body" and "child consciousness". But, I can see that he is trying to point to the pure everlasting awareness which underlies our conscious experience.

He does, however, say at the beginning "When the material gets dried up, our consciousness vanishes" which could mean two things:

1. The word "consciousness" is being used in a way different from how we know it

2. He actually believes consciousness can vanish

I don't know enough about him to confirm the above two possibilities. I can see why you're confused.

EDIT: After reading through his definition of "child consciousness" I think theory number one is right.

He says "The Absolute state cannot be obtained. It is your state now and always. To the Absolute state the witnessing of the consciousness happens." and he also says that  "You will transcend that beingness, and you, the Absolute, will know that you are also not that beingness, that consciousness."

Notice that he refers to the eternal state, and then creates a duality between that state and consciousness. I think this confirms his definition of consciousness is different from ours.

 

[Adamq8]

@Osaid Agreed! Cause when im reading this i get the feeling that he is talking about death as actual death and conciousness arises out of the "food" body, then he has the same claim as any materialist/atheist somehow

[Osaid]

@Adamq8 I think when he says "consciousness" he is talking about the relative and impermanent experiences within consciousness. Same goes for "beingness".

[Adamq8]

[Adamq8]

Seem to me that the highest teaching is to be that which you were prior to birth, unmanifested,  that is the Truth, conciousness is manifestation but not the truth it seems like, it is true in the illusion?, the unmanifest =deep sleep state is the truth, unknowing. 

Life is a dream inside this unmanifest eternal truth i suppose.

And after this life we will return to it i guess.

[Spaceofawareness]

You are the awareness, nothingness, space, whatever you want to call it. Just be that, as you are, not as something else, like the formless wearing the form.

[Adamq8]

@Spaceofawareness Yep this formless is infinite and is prior to birth or death, it is unborn and unlimited, but when you are this formless without form you are in a state like deep sleep

[Adamq8]

I can intuit that Maharaj is right, GOD is conciousness but god becomes Blank when you die as well so GOD is not the creator of this universe either..maya is illusion and god is aswell.

The Truth is the eternal unknown blankness 

And somehow there is a reason sleeping is so nice, everything dissapears and this is your true state.

I had multiple mystical experiences and I knew i was GOD and immortal and can't die and that everything is imagination. 

But the Absolute is prior to conciousness, out of the unmanifest arises conciousness and without the mind or body you will be in deep sleep.

Anyone who thinks/feels that I am wrong?

Would love to hear others input on this.

 

[Adamq8]

L

Edited November 12, 2020 by Adamq8

[mandyjw]

4 hours ago, Adamq8 said:

Hey guys! 

Im reading a book about his teachings and he says that conciousness is only there when the body is there and when it is gone so is conciousness,  so his teachings are not really that different from what a materialist thinks somehow?

Or am i understanding this wrongly?

Consciousness/awareness are words that we have stolen to use for a word to what is beyond their normal meaning. So Rupert Spira speaks of consciousness as what is beyond the everyday understanding of the word (infinite), and Nisargadatta Maharaj is using the word consciousness as we and everyone else normally uses it (finite). 

They are both talking about the same thing, when you can put together different ways of speaking about something it helps you move beyond the language of it. All teachers have to borrow finite words to speak about the infinite, so that's the benefit of having so many different teachers. 

[Adamq8]

@mandyjw thanks alot for that clarification! And it makes sense!??

Yeah my personal fav teacher is Leo , David hawkins , ramana maharshi ?

Which ones is yours?

[mandyjw]

@Adamq8 Couldn't pick one, I'm a total teacher whore. Right now, Rupert Spira. I had a huge breakthrough after discovering Abraham Hicks, but started out devouring everything Eckhart Tolle after discovering Leo's videos years ago. Also found Jim Newman incredibly helpful recently. Nahm on the forum has helped me immensely and so has just about everyone on the forum. The further I go the more the common vein of what everyone is saying clicks. This is leaving out so many people and events that worked out for me at the time too though. Bottom line, there are no teachers but there just seems to be a whole lot of love.