“I don’t know what Consciousness is, but I am That”


As far as intelligence, feeling, and depth, can anything be added to the following?

“Everything is Consciousness – everything. When you ask ‘what is Consciousness?’, there is no valid answer. When someone asks me to write a book or give a lecture, then I have to explain Consciousness in about fifty different words, and each word has another fifty words to explain that, then those words have another fifty words. So your volume of the book is written. What does it say? “Everything is Consciousness.” I could have written one page. And in the middle of that page I would say: “Everything is Consciousness,” and the rest would be blank. This is the reason why I do not write books, because there is nothing to say. See how confusing it is? You read so many books during the week. Usually you do not remember what you read, and if you do, it’s intellectual. You are using somebody else’s words and not having your own experience.

“I don’t know what Consciousness is, but I am That. If I knew what Consciousness was, it wouldn’t be That, because I would be voicing a word and the word would be limited by the very voicing of the word. So Consciousness is a no-thing. It’s nothing you can pin down. It’s nothing you can describe. It’s nothing you can write a book about. Consciousness is Silence. Sometimes I’m saying Consciousness is Absolute Reality, which is more words, and I have to explain Absolute Reality.

“Consciousness is Ultimate Oneness, Pure Intelligence. Consciousness is all of those things. But what are those things? Again they are just words. Sometimes I say Consciousness is Love, Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda, Knowledge, Being, Existence. Those are just words. And you get a good feeling from the words, but the feeling doesn’t last too long, for you have not digested the words. You have not become a living embodiment of Consciousness.

“You are an asset to the human race, an asset to your Self, an asset to God. You are a wonderful person just the way you are. Just the way you are! Do not judge by appearances. Do not even judge yourself. You are a beautiful person just the way you are. When I say just the way you are, I am referring to your real Self, Consciousness. You are beautiful just the way you are. Not what you think you are. Not what you appear to be. Not what the world shows you, but just the way you are right now. Stand up tall. Do not be afraid any longer. There is nothing that can hurt you. There is nothing in this world that can actually do anything to you. You are free! You are the substratum of all existence. Everything is an image on Consciousness. The whole universe, all the planets, all the galaxies, are all images on Consciousness. And you are Consciousness. Know yourself and be free!”

[Silence of the Heart, Robert Adams, Acropolis Books, 1999. ISBN 1-889051-53-5.
Buy from Amazon US, Buy from Amazon UK.]

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About amartingarcia

General surgeon (retired). Studied Western philosophy at U of Toronto. Afterwards interest turned to advaita vedanta and non-duality for past 20 yrs, plus a long interlude in Sufism coinciding with that period. Now contributing in ’Advaita Vision’ with regular posts and discussions.
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