Nisargadatta on The Inner Teacher
You agree to be guided from within and life becomes a journey into the unknown.
●
Your own self is your ultimate teacher. The outer teacher (Guru) is merely a milestone. It is only your inner teacher that will walk with you to the goal, for he is the goal. Since he is in you and with you, the difficulty cannot be serious. Look within and you will find him. That which sees all this, and the nothing too, is the inner teacher. He alone is; all else only appears to be. He is your own self (swarupa), your hope and assurance of freedom; find him and cling to him and you will be saved and safe.
●
It is not the worship of a person that is crucial, but the steadiness and depth of your devotion to the task. Life itself is the Supreme Guru; be attentive to its lessons and obedient to its commands. When you personalize their source, you have an outer Guru; when you take them from life directly, the Guru is within. Remember, wonder, ponder, live with it, love it, grow into it, grow with it, make it your own — the word of your Guru, outer or inner. Put in all and you will get all.
●
Be devoted to your goal, and devotion to him who can guide you will follow. If your desire and confidence are strong, they will operate and take you to your goal, for you will not cause delay by hesitation and compromise. The greatest Guru is your inner self. Truly, he is the supreme teacher. He alone can take you to your goal, and he alone meets you at the end of the road.
●
Meet your own self. Be with your own self, listen to it, obey it, cherish it, keep it in mind ceaselessly. You need no other guide. As long as your urge for truth affects your daily life, all is well with you. Live your life without hurting anybody. Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal. This is what I call Nisarga Yoga, the Natural Yoga. It is the art of living in peace and harmony in friendliness and love. The fruit of it is happiness, uncaused and endless. Turn within and you will come to trust yourself. As in everything else, confidence comes with experience.
●
Insanity is universal. Sanity is rare. Yet there is hope because the moment we perceive our insanity we are on the way to sanity. This is the function of the Guru — to make us see the madness of our daily living. Life makes you conscious, but the teacher makes you aware.
●
Even when there is no discoverable outer Guru, there is always the sadguru, the inner Guru, who directs and helps from within. The words "outer" and "inner" are relative to the body only; in reality all is one, the outer being merely a projection of the inner. Awareness comes as if from a higher dimension.
●
The innermost light, shining peacefully and timelessly in the heart, is the real Guru. All others merely show the way. There can be no rule in these matters except one: "the outer is transient, the innermost — permanent and changeless," though ever new in appearance and action.
●
[The inner teacher] is the only reality. He grants the conviction that you are the eternal, changeless, reality-consciousness-love within and beyond all appearances.
●
You are never without a Guru, for he is timelessly present in your heart. Sometimes he externalizes himself and comes to you as an uplifting and reforming factor in your life, a mother, a wife, a teacher; or he remains as an inner urge toward righteousness and perfection. All you have to do is obey him and do what he tells you. What he wants you to do is simple, learn self-awareness, self-control, self-surrender. It may seem arduous, but it is easy if you are earnest and quite impossible if you are not. Earnestness is both necessary and sufficient. Everything yields to earnestness. Compassion is the foundation of earnestness; compassion for yourself and others, born of suffering, your own and others.
●
The Guru and man's inner reality are really one, and work together towards the same goal — the redemption and salvation of the mind.
●
All dependence on another is futile, for what others can give, others will take away. Only what is your own at the start will remain your own in the end. Accept no guidance but from within, and even then sift out all memories for they will mislead you. Even if you are quite ignorant of the ways and the means, keep quiet and look within; guidance is sure to come. You are never left without knowing what your next step should be. Only what you discover through your own awareness, your own effort will be of permanent use to you.
●
Nisargadatta Maharaj from I AM THAT
PDF Book - Nisarga Yoga - Compiled from I AM THAT - Compiled by Stephen Wingate
