' The Great Unknown '...

Exactly as a shadow appears when light is intercepted by the body, so does the person arise when pure self-awareness is obstructed by the "I-am-the-body" idea.

And as the shadow changes shape and position according to the lay of the land, so does the person appear to rejoice and suffer, rest and toil, find and lose according to the pattern of destiny.

When the body is no more, the person disappears completely without return, only the witness remains and the Great Unknown.

It is like washing printed cloth.

First the design fades, then the background, and in the end the cloth is plain white.

The personality gives place to the witness, then the witness goes and pure awareness remains.

The cloth was white in the beginning and is white in the end; the patterns and colours just happened - for a time.



-Nisargadatta Maharaj from I Am That