The point

[Greg Goode]

At 12:09 PM 10/29/97 -0500, Prashant Sharma wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Oct 1997, Greg Goode wrote:
>
>> At 05:56 PM 10/28/97 -0500, Prashant Sharma wrote:
>> >        Is there a path at all?  One would assume (from a neti-neti
>> >approach) that attainment of *jnaana* is an acausal event in the sense
>> >that no single thing can cause it.
>>
>>
>> This is my understanding.  There is really no single or joint cause for
>> anything, the same way that there are no causes or effects in a movie or a
>> dream.  This is one of the main thrusts of the Gaudapada Karika.
>>
>> So of course there is no cause for jnaana.  Jnaana is anterior to maya,
>> phenomenality, the observable world.  So nothing in maya, phenomenality or
>> the observable world can "cause" or "make" jnaana happen.
>
>        You put it very nicely. Cause links seperate things but "jnana" is
>not a seperative thing...
>(I hope this is what you implied :)

Yes, I did mean that.  Jnaana is not a thing at all.  And in absolute
reality, there are no other things either.

>> >state (except through memory...).  So the event is acausal for him.  There
>> >is no center left to which he can relate his being.
>>
>> I really like this last sentence.  It is Nisargadatta Maharaj's core
teaching.
>>

>Could you let me know a book where his teachings are summarized?

There are several:

1. I AM THAT (huge book, his first, most famous)
2. Prior to Consciousness (Some of the deeper teachings)
3. Consciousness and the Absolute

The very best one, I can't remember the title (book's at home), but maybe
another listmember can recall.  It's compiled from the last teachings he
gave before dying, and is the pithiest, most to-the-point.  If no one else
has posted it over the next several hours, I'll post it tomorrow.

--Greg