Q: How long does it take to reach mukti [liberation]?
A: Mukti is not to be gained in the future. It is there for ever, here and now.
Q: I agree, but I do not experience it.
A: The experience is here and now. One cannot deny one’s own Self.
Q: That means existence and not happiness.
A: Existence is the same as happiness and happiness is the same as being. The word mukti is so provoking. Why should one seek it? One believes that there is bondage and therefore seeks liberation. But the fact is that there is no bondage but only liberation. Why call it by a name and seek it?
Q: True – but we are ignorant.
A: Only remove ignorance. That is all there is to be done.
All questions relating to mukti are inadmissible. Mukti means release from bondage which implies the present existence of bondage. There is no bondage and therefore no mukti either.
Q: Of what nature is the realization of westerners who relate that they have had flashes of cosmic consciousness?
A: It came as a flash and disappeared as such. That which has a beginning must also end. Only when the ever-present consciousness is realized will it be permanent. Consciousness is indeed always with us. Everyone knows ‘I am’. No one can deny his own being. The man in deep sleep is not aware; while awake he seems to be aware. But it is the same person. There is no change in the one who slept and the one who is now awake. In deep sleep he was not aware of his body and so there was no body consciousness. In the wakeful state he is aware of his body and so there is body consciousness.
Therefore the difference lies in the emergence of body-consciousness and not in any change in the real consciousness.
The body and body-consciousness arise together and sink together. All this amounts to saying that there are no limitations in deep sleep, whereas there are limitations in the waking state. These limitations are the bondage. The feeling ‘The body is I’ is the error. This false sense of ‘I’ must go.
The real ‘I’ is always there. It is here and now. It never appears anew and disappears again. That which is must also persist for ever. That which appears anew will also be lost. Compare deep sleep and waking. The body appears in one state but not in the other. Therefore the body will be lost. The consciousness was pre-existent and will survive the body.
There is no one who does not say ‘I am’. The wrong knowledge of ‘I am the body’ is the cause of all the mischief.
This wrong knowledge must go. That is realization. Realization is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage.
The ultimate truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the pristine state. This is all that need be said.
Q: Is one nearer to pure consciousness in deep sleep than in the waking state?
A: The sleep, dream and waking states are mere phenomena appearing on the Self which is itself stationary. It is also a state of simple awareness. Can anyone remain away from the Self at any moment? This question can arise only if that were possible.
Q: Is it not often said that one is nearer pure consciousness in deep sleep than in the waking state?
A: The question may as well be ‘Am I nearer to myself in my sleep than in my waking state?’ The Self is pure consciousness. No one can ever be away from the Self. The question is possible only if there is duality. But there is no duality in the state of pure consciousness.
The same person sleeps, dreams and wakes up. The waking state is considered to be full of beautiful and interesting things.
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Self-Enquiry 