1897-1981, Indian Shopkeeper, Vedanta Teacher
Being / Essence / Soul
The life force and the mind are operating, but the mind will tempt you to believe that it is "you". Therefore, understand always that you are the timeless, spaceless witness. And even if the mind tells you that you are the one who is acting, don't believe the mind. Always keep your identity separate from that which is doing the working, thinking and talking. That which has happened – that is, the apparatus which is functioning – has come upon your original essence, but you are not that apparatus.
Prior to Consciousness: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj , Jean Dunn, ed., 1990
Wisdom for The Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing , © 2004