Question:

When I drop the witness and rest, there is no NOW. Is this understanding correct?

Answer:

Let’s dive deeper into this, as there seems to be some confusion there, dear.

The reality is the NOW itself.

The NOW has nothing to do with Time. It does not mean the present because the present implies the existence of a past and a future. Past and Future are mere ideas.

• The thought claiming to be the past appears and disappears in the NOW.
• The thought claiming to be the future appears and disappears in the NOW.

One cannot step out of the NOW and step into the Past or the Future because they are ideas existing in the NOW. Even the present is an idea that exists in the NOW. It is only Memory that joins the NOWs and creates stories of the past, present, and the future.

The NOW cannot be known by the Waker because the Waker is an idea in the NOW, a 16-18 hour long idea that loses its charge perpetually.

Only when the witnessing stand is taken does the Beingness of the NOW come to light. [Read carefully and contemplate after each direct seeing below.]

• The witnessed ideas of the past, the present, and the future are SEEN to be in the NOW when the witnessing stance is taken.
• Their appearances and disappearances are SEEN vividly in the NOW.
• The Beyond SEES that the witness is not continuous either. The witness collapses now and then, leaving behind the vast, infinite Nothingness of the BEYOND.
• When the witness collapses, all ideas like the Waking-World, Dreamworld, Waking-Time, Dream-Time, and Causality, etc, collapse too.
• Deep sleep is the nothingness of the absence of the witness and the witnessed. When the absence is known, it is called the Deep Sleep state. When even the absence is unknown, that is the Pure NOW.

Once it is clear that the Nothingness left after the disappearance of the witnessed, the witness, and their absence is the NOW, then you will quit drawing a parallel between the words the ‘Present’ and the ‘Now’.

• The ‘Present’ is a thought. The ‘NOW’ is the Reality itself.
• You can drop the present, you cannot drop the NOW.

Beingness = NOW. As there is no question of dropping the Beingness, there is no question of dropping the NOW. While the Present is only an idea that is dropped by the Witness.

BE THE NOW instead of being in the now. There is a huge difference between the first NOW and the second now in this statement. Please understand that language cannot go there; that is why we have to attempt to understand two different things using the same word, ‘Now’. Dive deeper into self-inquiry, leave everything else aside, as it will take care of itself.

• Self-inquiry on YouTube – BE THE NOW instead of being in the now – https://tinyurl.com/3uezb924

Those who SEE the difference, feel free to share below, how you see ‘Be the NOW instead of being in the now’.

 
#AdvaitaVedanta #Non-Duality #AstavakraSamhita