Monday, July 13, 2020

Do Saints Really Suffer?

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Questioner: Nobody has suffered more than saints.

Nisargadatta Maharaj: Did they tell you, or do you say so on your own? The essence of saintliness is total acceptance of the present moment, harmony with things as they happen. A saint does not want things to be different from what they are; he knows that, considering all factors, they are unavoidable. The saint is friendly with the inevitable and, therefore, does not suffer. Pain he may know, but it does not shatter him. If he can, he does what is needful to restore the lost balance -- or he lets things take their course.

Q: He may die.

M: So what? What does he gain by living on and what does he lose by dying? What was born, must die; what was never born cannot die. It all depends on what he takes himself to be.

I Am That

3 comments:

  1. This is so true! There is a huge difference between pain and suffering!

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  2. Very true. Death is always dependent on what we believe ourselves to be.

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  3. ?? Death comes no matter what you believe. We are not in charge there, and the mind does not follow us into and beyond death.

    ReplyDelete

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