NOI | CHAPTER 12 | NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ

|| < : IGNORE THE MIND : > ||

Ignore the mind the way you disregard
the crowd you encounter in the streets .

MAHARAJ : Would you like to ask any questions ?

VISITOR : Not many , but I shall be grateful if I am told how to bring peace to my mind .

MAHARAJ : Because of the Self , the Atman , you are connected to the world through the body .

The Self is nothing else but the knowledge that " You Are " .

Meditate on that principle by which you know " You Are " and on account of which you experience the world .

Meditate on this knowledge " You Are " , which is the consciousness , and abide therein .

VISITOR : But the concentration is just not there .

MAHARAJ : Ignore the mind the way you disregard the crowd you encounter on the streets .

VISITOR : I shall try .

MAHARAJ : As a matter of fact , mind is a universal dynamic principle , but we restrict it to the limits of the body and then depend on it — hence all the trouble .

Consider the water in Lake Tansa . That water belongs to the whole of Bombay . Out of that water , can we claim some as yours or mine ?

In a similar vein , understand that the Self is universal .

But you have conditioned it by confining it to the body ; therefore , you face problems .

This Self is also termed Ishwara — GOD — the Universal Principle .

If you hold on to that , profound knowledge will descend upon you and you will have peace .

VISITOR : I try to meditate on that , but the mind wanders here and there . If I try to remain indifferent to mind , it will be a long-drawn-out process .

MAHARAJ : But are you not the root of any process ?

VISITOR : The root of everything is life .

MAHARAJ : Yes , but the life force is universal and not personalized . Once you realize this , you have no more troubles .