From: I Am That, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Chapter 8: The Self Stands Beyond Mind
Q:
… the problem of permanency, of continuity of being, is not solved.
M:
Permanency is a mere idea, born of the action of time. Time again depends on memory. By permanency you mean unfailing memory through endless time. You want to eternalize the mind, which is not possible.
Q:
Then what is eternal?
M:
That which does not change with time. You cannot eternalize a transient thing – only the changeless is eternal.
Copyright 1973 Nisargadatta Maharaj
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From: Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Chapter 19: The Nature of God
Question: Do Visnu, Siva, etc. exist?
Answer: Individual human souls are not the only beings known.
Question: And their sacred regions Kailasa and Vaikuntha, are they real?
Answer: As real as you are in this body.
Question: Do they possess a phenomenal existence, like my body or are they fiction?
Answer: They do exist.
Question: If so they must be somewhere. Where are they?
Answer: Persons who have seen them say that they exist somewhere. So we must accept their statement.
Question: Where do they exist?
Answer: In you.
Copyright Sri Ramanasramam, 1985
