The Sacred Nancy: Combining some of your queries. When Nisargadatta (or Ramana) says Self (with a capital S), he means the same as the Absolute, Brahman, God, or any other name for the infinite and eternal formless Reality. Being without limited form of its own, it is said to be ubiquitous, omnipresent. As such, it permeates, saturates all that has apparent form (such as human bodies). That is why the teachers say “you are That,” or “God and you are in no way separate,” etc. So, N. is saying (first) that the Self cannot “exist” without there being some thing which recognizes, acknowledges, “knows” that it does indeed have reality. This is where you come in: operating “through” you—as you—It has the potential to recognize its Self. When you wake up to the fact that your “true nature” is the Absolute, It (as “you”) is now self-aware (Self-aware). Thus, N. says, “The Self cannot experience its knowingness [Self/self-awareness] without the help of the body.” Secondly, this is only comprehended when you finally get the point that there are no two things. The Absolute is not a separate entity, in any way apart from the body (which you think of as “you”). It appears to you that the Absolute is “invisible,” and you are visible. But the Absolute is the essence, the “true nature” of every visible speck of matter (and every invisible atom which composes that matter) that it is possible for you to see.
97
