Maharaj points to the Eternal Truth that IS - before time ever was POINTERS FROM NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ By Ramesh S. Balsekar Copyright © 1982 by Ramesh S. Balsekar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: The Acorn Press, P. O. Box 3279 Durham, NC 27715-3279. Published by arrangement with Chetana Pvt. Ltd., Bombay. First American ed. in hardcover 1983, reprinted 1984, 1987. First Acorn paperback 1990, reprinted 1995, 1998. ISBN 0-89386-033-6. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 82-71505. Cover photograph by Jitendra Arya. Printed in the United States of America. O ========================================================================================================== Preface I had no intention of writing a book on the teaching of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. The material that appears in this volume emerged spontaneously, dictated, in a fine frenzy that surcharged my being, by a compulsive power that could not be denied. There was no alternative but to write, to reduce to a verbal level the abstract comprehension of the Master's words. Actually it was more like listening than writing though my pen apparently formed words and sentences on the paper before me. When the first piece, now a chapter in this book, was written, I found that my thoughts were running way ahead of the writing. And what I wrote was put away in a folder without even being read over again. I did not then expect that there would be more of such writing let alone as many as fifty-odd pieces. Each time there would be this feeling of compulsion to put in writing a particular topic which Maharaj might have dealt with; and each time the article was put away in the folder without being revised or even read over. When about fifteen articles had been so collected, a friend of mine, Keki Bunshah of Hong Kong, an ardent fellow devotee, happened to call at my residence. While we were discussing a particular point, I happened to mention that some writing had come about on that very subject only the previous day. Of course Keki, keen as ever, would not let me slip out of what had already been said and was insistent that he be allowed to read the article. Then, of course, he had to read the others too. He then arranged to have them typed, with one copy for himself, of course! At this time I found myself in a real predicament because I had not mentioned to Maharaj anything about these intuitive writings. In fact I had not said anything about this to anyone, not even to my particular friend and colleague, Saumitra Mullarpattan, who had been doing the translating of Maharaj's talks long before I also was asked by Maharaj to do so. By the time I told Mullarpattan about the intuitive writing and my predicament, the number had increased to about twenty-five. Inspiration for writing seemed to come at irregular intervals of time; I would compulsively dash off five or six pieces at a time and then nothing for a few days. One morning, after the usual session, Mullarpattan and I were taking Maharaj out for a drive in the car when suddenly Mullarpattan brought up the matter of these articles. He was, like me, aware of the fact that Maharaj generally discouraged his devotees from writing or lecturing on his teaching, presumably for two reasons: a) the writer concerned might have understood the subject not deeply enough, or he might have understood it only superficially, or might not have really understood it at all, and b) it might tempt him to establish himself as a pseudo-Guru and do considerable damage all round. So, Mullarpattan went about it tactfully, bringing out very clearly that the entire writing was essentially spontaneous and it was not as if I had deliberately sat at a desk with pen and paper to write on specific subjects, and that the very speed with which the words had came pouring out on paper showed that the writing was not contrived. I was sitting in the front seat of the car and Maharaj and Mullarpattan were in the rear. While Mullarpattan was saying all this, there was no vocal reaction of any sort from Maharaj, not a sound! So, with considerable trepidation, I turned round to have a look and found Maharaj completely relaxed, leaning back in the seat, his eyes closed and the most beatific smile on his lips. The message was clear; he already knew about the articles; he had to know. What is more, he was pleased. When Mullarpattan finished, Maharaj sat up and said, "Let the articles continue, as many of them as would emerge by themselves. The essential point is spontaneity. Don't persist, don't resist." At this point Mullarpattan suggested that the articles be published, and I put in that they could go under a pseudonym because I was very much aware that I was only an instrument for this writing. Maharaj at once agreed that they should be published but insisted that the author's name must be clearly mentioned, "although" he added, "I know that you both are aware that all writing originates in consciousness, that there is writing but no authors." It was a tremendous relief for me that Maharaj now not only knew all about the writing but was greatly pleased about it and had blessed it. Contents of the book 1. The renderings of Maharaj's teaching in this book are not reproductions from recorded proceedings of the dialogue sessions. 2. They are essentially subjects discussed at the sessions either when Mullarpattan had done the translating and I was present, or when I had done the translating myself. 3. The subject in each chapter has been dealt with in greater depth than would be the case if merely literal English translation of Maharaj's Marathi words at any one session were given. Whilst a substantial portion of a chapter would be what was discussed at a particular session, further material, to make the points clearer and more complete, had to be drawn from other sessions when the same subject had been dealt with. Without this liberty the subject would have lacked the depth which it is hoped it now contains. 4. No translation into another language can possibly convey either the exact meaning or the impact which the actual words of Maharaj in Marathi had at the time. The translation of Maharaj's words in this book is not purely literal, but necessarily contains an interpretation of what seemed clearly implied in the imaginative, forceful, sometimes terse but virile use of the Marathi words by Maharaj. 5. The reader may feel that I could have avoided the repetitions of many of Maharaj's words, which occur again and again in the various chapters. But such repetitions could not be avoided because a) repetitions are what Maharaj calls hammer-blows at the tremendous conditioning that has taken place and which makes individuals identify themselves as separate entities and which prevents the seeing of the Truth; and b) Maharaj wants us to remember always that we should not allow ourselves to be entangled in the branches and forget the root; that it is for this reason that he brings us back to the root and the source again and again, repeatedly: "What were you before you were 'born'?" and, also because, c) these pieces are not expected to be read continuously at a stretch like a work of fiction, and each piece is intended to be complete in itself. Here I may also refer to Maharaj's oft-made assertion, that the clear understanding in depth of even a single statement of his would lead to an apperception of the whole Truth. Along with this must also be remembered his oft-repeated warning that any apperception of the Truth is valid only when the apperception itself disappears, that is to say, only when the seeker himself disappears as an entity. Any knowledge can be acquired, he says, only in consciousness, and consciousness itself must be realized as being only a concept. In other words, the basis of all 'knowledge' is a concept! It seemed necessary to include in this volume a short biographical note about Maharaj but, on second thoughts, 1 dropped the idea. This was not only because the known events of Maharaj's simple and straightforward life are too meager to write about, but essentially because Maharaj him- self had been averse to it, "This is dead matter — as dead as the ashes of a burnt-out fire. I am not interested in it. Why should you be?" This is how he rejected any enquiry about his past. "Is there any past at all?" he would ask. "Instead of wasting your time in such useless pursuits, why don't you go to the root of the matter and enquire into the nature of Time itself? If you do so, you will find that Time has no substance as such; it is only a concept." Before concluding this prefatory note I would express my gratitude to my friend Keki Bunshah who, after reading the first few pieces, almost pursued me with his affectionate demand for copies of further writing, and to another fellow-devotee P. D. Kasbekar, I.A.S. former Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra, for making certain helpful suggestions. I am particularly grateful to my dear friend Saumitra Mullarpattan, who not only broached the subject to Maharaj and secured for me his gracious blessings for the book, but also encouraged me constantly with his constructive comments as the manuscript progressed. My special thanks are due to Sudhakar S. Dikshit, whose critical reading of the manuscript in its final stage led to quite a few improvements. Dikshit, an ardent admirer of Maharaj's teaching, heads the publishing house of Chetana, publishers of I Am That. When he came to know that I had written something about Maharaj, he approached me and, after a mere glance at the manuscript, offered to publish it. I am happy that my MS is in most competent hands, for Dikshit's editorial experience and expertise as a publisher, specially in the particular field of philosophy, is indeed vast and is internationally known and accepted. Ramesh S. Balsekar Bombay February 1982 O ========================================================================================================== Editor's Note Discovering a new author of genuine merit is like discovering a new planet or star in the limitless expanse of the heaven. As I write these lines I can imagine what William Herschel may have felt like when he discovered Uranus. Ramesh S. Balsekar, the author of this work, is a new luminary of scintillating splendour that has blazoned forth on the mysterious firmament of esoteric writing of great significance, though himself quite indifferent to his own resplendence. When, after a cursory glance at a few chapters of his MS, which a mutual friend brought to me, I met him and told him how greatly impressed I was, he stared blankly at me. I am no author, he said, and what I wrote is not for publication, but for a clear comprehension of my Master's teaching for myself, for my better guidance and my own pleasure. It was difficult to convince him that what he wrote for his pleasure could profit thousands of others, if it were published as a book. He listened to me without answering— an enigmatic smile on his lips, his attitude affable, but totally non-committal. Apparently in his sixties and very well-maintained for his years, Balsekar is fair complexioned, quite handsome and amiable, but rather taciturn by nature. When he chooses to talk, he speaks with a circumspection and remoteness befitting a bank president conversing with a borrower. Later, I was quite intrigued to learn that he actually had been a banker and had retired as the highest executive of one of the premier banks in India. Evidently, as a borrower I proved quite a tenacious person, for I succeeded in borrowing from Balsekar his MS for a few days for my personal enlightenment as an admirer of Maharaj's teaching. And as I read through I found it beyond my best expectations. I lost no time in calling on him and offered to publish the work. After a brief silence and rather unconcernedly, he nodded his acquiescence. I read through the MS again, very carefully, as a deeply interested reader, keeping my editorial proclivities in the background. And while reading it I experienced in a flash, momentarily, my true identity, as different from what I think I am, or what I appear to be. I had never had such an experience before. A few years ago, when I had the good fortune of editing and publishing Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's conversations, entitled I Am That, I did feel the impact of his creative originality and Socratic reasoning, but did not have even a fleeting glimpse of Truth or Reality or of my true entity, as now. And this, because Balsekar in his writing does not merely repeat the words spoken by Maharaj, but he interprets them with deep insight and lucidity and a profound understanding. He writes with a power and an intrinsic authority derived from Maharaj himself, as it were. He does not argue; he announces. His assertions are of the nature of pronouncements on behalf of the Master. I never was a regular visitor to Maharaj, but I did attend his talks quite often, whenever my preoccupations allowed me spare time. A dedicated devotee of Maharaj, named Saumitra Mullarpattan, who is equally well-versed in Marathi and English, used to act as an interpreter. On a couple of occasions, however, I found a person unknown to me doing the interpreting and I was struck by the authoritative tone in which he conveyed Maharaj's answers to questioners. He sat with his eyes closed and flashed out Maharaj's words of wisdom with a finality characteristic of the Master. It was as if Maharaj himself was speaking in English, for a change. On enquiring I was told that the interpreter was a new devotee of Maharaj, named Balsekar. At the end of the session, when people were dispersing, I introduced myself to him and praised him for his excellent translation of Maharaj's spoken word. But he was unresponsive, as if he had not heard me at all. Taken aback by his intractable attitude I moved away and never thought of him till I met him recently in connection with this book. And now I realize how deplorably wrong I was in forming my judgment about him. It should have occurred to me that he lived on a different level of existence, which was beyond the reaches of praise and blame. I should have understood that he was at one with the Master and nothing else mattered to him. And that it was so is proved by his present work in which we find Maharaj's presence on every page — his exceptional mental agility, his rigorous logical conclusions, his total thinking, his complete identity with the unicity that appears as diversity. It is interesting to note that in his Preface to the book Balsekar almost disowns its authorship. He says that the material that appears in this volume emerged spontaneously, dictated in a fine frenzy that surcharged his being, by a compulsive power that could not be denied. I believe his statement. And I am inclined to think that the reader as he reads through, will agree with me. For there is nothing in this work that may be taken as the author's self-projection, no improvisations, no learned quotations from the scriptures; there are no borrowed plumes of any kind. The thoughts propounded by Balsekar bear the silent signatures of the Master. They seem to come forth from a luminous knowledge, a swelling glory of Truth that fills his within. This work, entitled Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj, is Maharaj himself out and out. It is indeed a sort of post-graduation course for the reader who has already imbibed what is offered in I Am That. It comprises the final teaching of the Master at its sublimest and goes far beyond what he taught in earlier years. I venture to say that there really can be no knowledge higher than what this book contains. I also venture to say that none except Balsekar could have expounded this knowledge, for not one of those who have been close to Maharaj has understood his teaching so profoundly as Balsekar. Some of the devotees of Maharaj known to me have attended his talks for twenty years or more, but their psyche had not altered and they continue to be the same entities they were two decades ago. Balsekar's personal association with Maharaj, on the other hand, extended over a period of barely three years. But such associations are not to be measured in time, if they could be measured at all. What is more important than the length of association is the special type of receptivity that is the forte of Balsekar. I have no doubt that the mantle of Maharaj has fallen on his shoulders. For want of a better expression, I may even say that Balsekar is the living alter ego of Maharaj, though he has no inclination at all to play the role of a teacher. That he is saturated with the Jnana imparted by the Master is more than evident from this book. But, I draw the reader's particular attention to his special article entitled, 'The Core of the Teaching' expounding in all its facets the unique philosophy of Maharaj (Appendix I) as well as his note on the confoundingly difficult subject of Consciousness (Appendix II). No reader should miss reading these. Before I close, I may as well relate an amusing incident in which the editor in me had a clash with the author in Balsekar. His remoteness and unconcern always irked me. He is a graduate of London University and has a good command over English. I could not easily find fault with his language. Still I tried to improve his diction and expression here and there, as an editor must do! He noticed the uncalled for 'improvements' and kept quiet with his usual indifference. It was clear that he had made a virtue of his taciturnity, just as I had made a virtue of my verbosity. We were at antipodes, I felt. Longing for a rapport with him, I wanted to draw him out of his shell, anyhow. I hit upon a device. I attacked his exposition of one of the aspects of Maharaj's teaching (though I really agreed with it) and he exploded suddenly. His counter-attack was devastating and I was glad that the shell was broken at last. He was, however, quickly pacified when I agreed with him without much ado. And his eyes beamed with friendliness. The habitual circumspection and remoteness disappeared, giving place to a new togetherness between us. After that we worked together on the book; in fact he allowed me all liberties with his MS and never bothered to look at the additions or alterations I chose to make. We developed the much-needed rapport between us, which indeed I prize greatly. He glanced rather casually at the final copy matter before it was sent to the press and seemed to be quite happy with it. I asked him if he would write for us another book about the Master's teaching. He smiled faintly and perhaps there was an imperceptible nodding of his head. Sudhakar S. Dikshit Editor Bombay March, 1982 O ========================================================================================================== Contents Preface V Editor's Note X 1. Pride of Achievement 1 2. Consciousness, the Only 'Capital' 3 3. In Face of Death 6 4. Manifest and the Unmanifest are One 9 5. Awareness and Consciousness 12 6. Bondage of Space and Time 14 7. How a Jnani Sees the World 18 8. The Proof of Truth 19 9. You are Rama I am Rama 22 10. Images in Imagination 25 11. The Play Goes On 27 12. Manifestation is a Dream 29 13. Love and God 31 14. Standpoint for Reading the Gita 35 15. Blind Youth with True Vision 37 16. He Came to Scoff... 40 17. Noumenon and Phenomena 46 18. Let us Understand Basic Facts 50 19. Self-knowledge and Problems of Life 53 20. Guru's Grace is All I Need 58 21. The Seed of Consciousness 62 22. Self-realization is Effortless 69 23. Child of a Barren Woman 72 24. A Review of the Fundamentals 75 25. What are We, Really? 78 26. Life, a Slapstick Comedy 82 27. Mis-identification is 'Bondage' 84 28. You are Timeless 87 29. No Such Thing as 'Enlightenment' 90 30. What Were you before your 'Birth'? 93 31. Maharaj on Himself 96 32. A Personal Experience 97 33. There is no Perceiver, Only Perceiving 102 34. The Immaculate Identity 104 35. Total Absence of the Do-er 107 36. No 'One' is Born: No 'One' Dies 110 37. Analyzing Thought 112 38. Beingness is God 114 39. You are the Conscious Presence 117 40. Maharaj on Himself, again 121 41. There Can't be Re-birth 122 42. Intellect Can Be an Addiction 126 43. Seeing the False as False is Truth 128 44. Dabbling in Meditation 132 45. There is Nothing but 'I' 134 46. Negation of Entity-ness 137 47. The Seeker Is the Sought 139 48. The Nature of Deep Sleep 142 49. Annihilation of the 'You' 144 50. An Irreverent Revelation 147 51. Who Suffers? 149 52. Progress in Spiritual Search 152 53. The Suffering of Experience 154 54. Words and their Fulfilment 157 55. Confusion about Life and Death 159 56. The Last Days: Last Teaching 161 57. The Last Moments: Mahasamadhl 176 APPENDICES I. The Core of the Teaching 179 II. A Note on Consciousness 194 III. Bhakti, Jnana and the Individual 202 IV. The Whole Truth 212 V. Glossary 215 1 ========================================================================================================== Pride of Achievement "I have worked hard and I now consider myself a very successful man. I would be a hypocrite if I did not admit that I have a considerable amount of satisfaction and, yes, a certain amount of pride too in my achievement. Would that be wrong?" One evening a foreign visitor addressed Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj with these words. He was in his mid forties — smug, self-confident and a bit aggressive. Conversation then proceeded along the following lines: Maharaj: Before we consider what is 'right' and what is 'wrong', please tell me who is asking this question. Visitor: (A bit startled) Why, 'me', of course. M: And who is that? V: Me. This 'me', who is sitting in front of you. M: And you think that that is you? V: You see me. I see myself. Where is the doubt? M: You mean this object that is before me? What is your earliest recollection of this object that you think you are. Think as far back as you can. V: (After a minute or two) The earliest recollection would perhaps be of being caressed and cuddled by my mother. M: You mean, as a tiny infant. Would you say that the successful man of today is the same helpless infant, or is it someone else? V: It is undoubtedly the same M: Good. Now, if you think further back, would you agree that this infant, which you can recollect, is the same baby that was born to your mother, that was once too helpless even to realize what was happening when its little body was going through its natural physical functions, and could only cry when it was hungry or in pain? V: Yes, I was that baby. M: And before the baby acquired its body and was delivered what were you? V: I don't understand. M: You do understand. Think. What happened in your mother's womb? What was developing into a body with bones, blood, marrow, muscles etc., over a period of nine months? Was it not a male sperm cell that combined with ovum in the female womb thus beginning a new life and, in the process, going through numerous hazards? Who guarded this new life during this period of hazards? Is it not that very infinitesimally tiny sperm cell which is now so proud of his achievements? And who asked particularly for you? Your mother? Your father? Did they particularly want you for a son? Did you have anything to do with being born to these particular parents? V: I am afraid, I really haven't thought along these lines. M: Exactly. Do think along these lines. Then perhaps you will have some idea of your true identity. Thereafter, consider if you could possibly be proud of what you have 'achieved'. V: I think, I begin to understand what you are driving at. M: If you go deeper into the matter, you will realize that the source of the body—the male sperm and the female ovum— is in itself the essence of food consumed by the parents; that the physical form is made of, and fed by, the five elements constituting the food; and also that quite often the body of one creature does become the food for another creature V: But, surely, I, as such, must be something other than this food-body. M: Indeed you are, but not some 'thing'. Find out what it is that gives sentience to a sentient being, that without which you would not even know that you exist, let alone the world outside. And finally, go deeper yet and examine if this beingness, this consciousness itself is not time-bound. V: I shall certainly go into the various questions you have raised, although I must confess that I have never explored these areas before, and I feel almost giddy in my ignorance of the new spheres you have opened up before me. I will come and see you again, sir. M: You are always welcome. •• 2 ========================================================================================================== Consciousness, the Only 'Capital' Maharaj often comes out with the statement that consciousness is the only 'capital' that a sentient being is born with. This, he says, is the apparent position. The real situation, however, is that what is born is consciousness, which needs an organism to manifest itself in, and that organism is the physical body. What is it that gives sentience — capacity to feel sensations, to respond to stimuli—to a sentient being? What is it that distinguishes a person who is alive from the one who is dead? It is, of course, the sense of being, the knowledge of being present, consciousness, the activizing spirit which animates the physical construct of the body. It is consciousness indeed that manifests itself in individual forms and gives them apparent existence. In human beings through such manifestation arises the concept of a separate ‘I’. In each individual the Absolute gets reflected as awareness, and thus pure Awareness becomes self- awareness, or consciousness. The objective universe is in continuous flux, constantly projecting and dissolving innumerable forms. Whenever a form is created and is infused with life (Prana), consciousness (Chetana) appears, simultaneously and automatically, by the reflection of the Absolute Awareness in matter. Consciousness, it must be clearly understood, is a reflection of the Absolute against the surface of matter, bringing about a sense of duality. As different from it, pure Awareness, the Absolute state, is without beginning and end, without the need of any support other than itself. Awareness becomes consciousness only when it has an object to reflect against. Between pure Awareness and awareness reflected as consciousness, says Maharaj, there is a gap which the mind cannot cross. Reflection of the sun in a drop of dew is not the sun! Manifested consciousness is time-bound inasmuch as it disappears as soon as the physical construct it inhabits comes to an end. Nevertheless, according to Maharaj, it is the only 'capital' a sentient being is born with. And manifested consciousness being his only connection with the Absolute, it becomes the only instrument by which the sentient being can hope to get an illusory liberation from the 'individual' he believes himself to be. By being one with his consciousness and treating it as his Atma, his God, he can hope to attain what he thinks as the unattainable. What is the actual substance of this animating consciousness? Obviously, it must be physical material because in absence of the physical form it cannot survive. Manifested consciousness can exist only as long as its abode, the body, is kept in a sound and habitable condition. Although consciousness is a reflection of the Absolute, it is time-bound and can be sustained only by the food material, comprising the five elements, that the physical body is. Consciousness resides in a healthy body and abandons it when it is decayed and moribund. Reflection of the sun can be seen only in a clear dew drop, not in a muddy one. Maharaj often says that we can observe the nature and function of consciousness in our daily routine of sleeping, dreaming and waking states. In deep sleep consciousness retires into a state of repose, as it were. When consciousness is absent, there is no sense of one's existence or presence, let alone the existence of the world and its inhabitants, or of any ideas of bondage and liberation. This is so because the very concept of 'I' is absent. In the dream state a speck of consciousness begins to stir— one is not yet fully awake — and then in a split-second, in that speck of consciousness is created an entire world of mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, cities and villages with buildings and people of various ages, including the dreamer himself. And, what is more important, the dreamer has no control over what the dreamed figures are doing! In other words, a new living world is created in a split-second, fabricated out of memory and imagination merely by a single movement in that speck of consciousness. Imagine, therefore, says Maharaj, the extraordinary power of this consciousness, a mere speck of which can contain and project an entire universe. When the dreamer wakes up, the dream-world and the dreamed figures disappear. What happens when the deep sleep as also the dream state are over and consciousness appears again? The immediate sense then is that of existence and presence, not the presence of 'me' but presence as such. Soon, however, the mind takes over and creates the 'I' - concept and awareness of the body. Maharaj tells us repeatedly that we are so accustomed to thinking of ourselves as bodies having consciousness, that we find it very difficult to accept or even understand the real position. Actually it is consciousness which manifests itself in innumerable bodies. It is, therefore, essential to apperceive that birth and death are nothing but the beginning and the ending of a stream of movements in consciousness, interpreted as events in space-time. If we can realize this, we shall also realize that we are pure being-awareness-bliss in our original pristine state, and when in touch with consciousness, we are only the witnessing of (and totally apart from) the various movements in consciousness. This is an indisputable fact, because obviously, we cannot be what we perceive; the perceiver must be different from what he perceives. •• 3 ========================================================================================================== In Face of Death Visitor: My only son died a few days ago in a car accident, and I find it almost impossible to accept his death with a philosophic fortitude. I know that I am not the first person to suffer such bereavement. I also know that each one of us has to die some time. I have in my mind sought solace from all the usual ploys by which one consoles oneself and others in such predicaments. And yet, I come back to the tragic fact that a cruel fate should deprive my son of everything in the prime of his life. Why? Why? I keep on asking myself. Sir, I cannot get over my grief. Maharaj: (After sitting for a minute or so, with his eyes closed) It is unavailing and futile to say that I am grieved because in the absence of 'self ('me' as an individual) there are no 'others', and I see myself mirrored in all of you. Obviously, you have not come to me for mere sympathy, which you surely must have received in abundance from your relatives and friends. Remember, one goes through life, year after year, enjoying the usual pleasures and suffering the usual pains, but never once seeing life in its true perspective. And what is the true perspective? It is this: There is no 'me', nor 'you'; there never could be any such entities. Every man should understand this and have the courage to live his life with this understanding. Do you have this courage, my friend? Or, must you wallow in what you call your grief? V: Maharaj, pardon me, I do not fully understand what you have said, but I do feel startled and shaken. You have exposed the core of my being, and what you have said so pithily appears to be the golden key to life. Please elaborate on what you have just said. What exactly is it that I must do? M: Do? Do? Absolutely nothing: Just see the transient as transient, the unreal as unreal, the false as false, and you will realize your true nature. You have mentioned your grief. Have you ever looked at 'grief' in the face and tried to understand what it really is? To lose somebody or something you have loved dearly, is bound to cause sorrow. And since death is total annihilation with absolute finality, the sorrow caused by it is unmitigated. But even this overwhelming sorrow can not last long, if you intellectually analyze it. What exactly are you grieving for? Go back to the beginning: Did you and your wife make any agreement with someone that you would have a son — a particular body — and that he would have a particular destiny? Is it not a fact that his conception itself was a chance? That the foetus survived the many hazards in the womb was another matter of chance. That the baby was a boy was yet another chance. In other words what you called your 'son' was just a chance event, a happening over which you have had no control at all at any time, and now that event has come to an end. What exactly are you grieving for? Are you grieving for the few pleasant experiences and the many painful experiences that your son has missed in the years to come? Or, are you, really and truly, grieving for the pleasures and conveniences that you will no longer be able to receive from him? Mind you, all this is from the point of view of the false! Nonetheless, are you with me so far?