Can You Stop Being?

269 Pages·2015·6.04 MB·English

About Ananta

Ananta gives satsang with the blessings of his Master, Mooji. He lives in Bangalore, India with
his wife and son and daughter.

He offers in-person satsangs twice monthly in Bangalore and occasionally in Pune, India.

On-line satsangs on Youtube with Google Hangout and Youtube chat participation are offered
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11 am and Tuesday and Thursday at 4:30 pm Bangalore,
India time.

Satsang with Ananta Youtube channel and satsang link is:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmc83jyrwpCNBT2xywXVoLg/feed

Website: www.anantasatsang.org
Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/satsangwithananta

This book is a distillation of full satsangs between Ananta and the sangha or guests who came to
ask questions and be in his Presence. All “in quotes” are shorted questions from those attending.
Can You Stop Being?
Table of Contents

Preface: Self-Inquiry
The Core Aspects of What We Speak About Here

Chapter 1: What is Enlightenment?

11 Witnessing
14 Am I Aware Now?
20 An Individual ‘I’ Never Existed
24 Spiritual Identity is Ego
29 The Satsang ‘Channel’
32 Off with the Head!
38 It is Done
39 The Ultimate Choice
45 True Independence
49 People Change

Chapter 2: Who is Witnessing?

53 You Are This Pure Witnessing
56 It is the Most Obvious
58 Satsang Style Games
65 Are You a Person?
69 About Surrender
76 From Self-Inquiry to Joy Beyond Words
79 The Person Concept
85 Just Let Go of Your Next Thought
90 Who is Speaking? To Whom?
95 It’s Not a Personal Understanding

Chapter 3: Beautiful Neutrality

100 Emotions
102 Simple, Simple, Simple
105 Can You Stop Being Now?
109 One Doer, One Experiencer
114 Can You Stop Witnessing?
118 ‘Person’ is a Presumption
124 Clarity Has Emerged
128 All Happens in This
131 Freedom is Always in the Now
133 All is Grace
Chapter 4: Master Key

136 Doubt
140 Divine Love Has No Need
146 Ego Needs to be Special
151 It’s Only You that You Want
155 Give Me All Your Problems
158 The Master Key
164 This Silence Cannot Be Disturbed
168 There is No Person
175 How to Become Miserable Very Fast

Chapter 5: It’s All About You-as-Presence

179 What a Silly Question!
185 Withdrawing Belief from Thoughts
189 You Are Your Own Destination
193 Convert This Belief to Disbelief
198 Your Own Being is the Satguru
203 Complete Surrender/Devotion
208 About Money
211 Supremely Simple Satsang
214 Dissolving the Seeker Identity
219 Consciousness Speaking with Consciousness

Chapter 6: It is All Grace

224 Come to This Heart
228 All Questions Dissolve in This
233 Washing Machine of Consciousness
238 Drop All Effort
240 The Call of Advaita
244 You-as-Awareness
249 Untouched by Maya
255 You Are Only Just Watching
258 Just Enjoy the Movie
263 No Excuse for Suffering Now
266 This Sober Seeing
Preface

Self-Inquiry

When we say 'Self Inquiry' what is it that we are really saying? What is the inquiry really about?
What is it that we want to find out?

Ultimately, what we are looking for is an answer to the root question. We start off by looking for
an answer to the root question which is 'Who am I?' We can say 'Who am I?' or even we can say
'What am I?' So, the inquiry starts off with this simple question. It is greatly auspicious, in this
play, when there is openness towards the simple question 'Who am I?' There must already be
some seeing, isn't there? There must be some seeing that 'I cannot be this person'. Only then can
there be an openness to this question.

If there is total conviction in the belief of being an ego, total conviction in the belief of being a
'person', then the question will face so much resistance. And because this question faces so much
resistance, it is good to have a Master who you have faith in, who you trust, who you love.
Because if the question is asked by somebody that you trust, that you love, then this trust and this
love will help in overcoming the resistance coming from your own mind.

The Inquiry is just a simple questioning about our true nature: What am I in reality?

Initially there seems to be a process prescribed as to how this inquiry can be done, and this aligns
very well with the ancient Indian process called 'Neti-Neti' which means 'Not that-Not that'.
Basically what we are saying is that whatever is clearly not me we are keeping aside. We say
'This world which is appearing through my senses, this world of objects and phenomena, is ever
changing, but I am here witnessing this change. I am the constant in this, but this world is ever-
changing. Therefore, I cannot be this’. We say 'Not that’.

In one swoop we have thrown out all the phenomenal existence of the world saying 'I am not
that’. Then we turn inward and we see 'What else could I be?’

‘What else could I be if I am not an object in the world?'

Also, when we look at the body, we see that 'I cannot be just the sum of what I seem to have
eaten. I cannot be just made up of the food that has been consumed. There is something more to
me than that. This body is also constantly changing and I am the witness of this change also. This
body is changing all the time, but I am looking at this and I don't seem to be changing.
Therefore, I cannot be this body’. So we say 'Not the world and not the body also’ which is part
of the appearance.

‘Then, what else can I be?’
'Can I be the thoughts? A thought would come and a thought could go. It is constantly coming
and going. It is coming and it is going and there seems to be a witnessing of these thoughts. I
seem to be the witness of these thoughts. I don't seem to be the content of it. Therefore even this
thought, I am not. The mind appears to be only a bundle of these thoughts. These thoughts:
including thoughts of past which is called memory, thoughts like imagination; all these are also
witnessed by me, but I don't seem to be any of them. So I am not that also. Then, who am I? I am
not the world. I am not the body. I am not the thoughts’.

'Then, who am I?'

'What else is there? Can I be my emotions? One minute there is anger, another minute there is
joy, another time there is frustration, and another time there is peace. I am aware of all of this
and I seem to be the witness of these. It does not seem like I am any of these changing emotions
also. Therefore, I am not that. Then, who am I? Not these emotions also’.

'Then, who am I?'

Then I see that, prior to all of this, there appears to be the sense that I Am. Only when I Am, all
these other phenomena come into play. It seems like I Am Being. That there is a Being here. This
Being seems to have a beautiful Presence, a pure innocence unassociated with any other concept;
just the pure Beingness itself, just the sense that ‘I Am’.

It is not the thought 'I am'. Many of us mistake the sense ‘I Am’ to be the thought 'I am'. This
Being is prior to thought.

The simplest way to become aware of this Being is to ask: 'Can I stop being now?'

‘There can be a time when there is no thought, but I am still being. Isn't it? I am still Being’.

This Being is ever-present. In the waking states and the dream state, this Being is always present.

But even then we ask: ‘Is there is something which is aware of even this pure Being?’

There is awareness of this pure Consciousness itself. Isn't it? Even this Consciousness seems to
come and go. When I am asleep, then even this presence 'I Am' is not there. But I am aware of its
presence and of its absence also. I am able to report that in deep sleep, it was not there. So, I am
not even this Consciousness.

'Then, who am I?'

What seems to be left now is only the pure Witnessing of all of this. There is a witnessing of all
of this. It is the Witnessing itself which is witnessing itself.
Therefore in the simple question 'Are you aware now?' we see that Awareness is aware of itself.

This Awareness seems to be all there is: the unmoving, untouched witnessing to all that exists.

'I am this which no words can accurately describe'.

This simple seeing is the fruit of the Self Inquiry.

Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

So, we see that the inquiry starts off with a question, but if all that you have at the end of the
inquiry is a verbal answer, then that smart answer is not the end of the inquiry.

It is just the simple seeing that:
I am this pure Witnessing itself.
I am this pure Awareness itself.

In this simple seeing there is no room left for a personal identity.
No ‘person’ can exist here at all.

~ Ananta
Core Aspects of What We Speak About Here

Let me share some core aspects of what we speak about here. When I come into satsang, there
are usually three different questions that come.

The first question, the most common question that comes is: ‘I want to be free from my
suffering. How do I put an end to my suffering?’ That is the first, most basic question that most
Beings who come to satang can have. And to be free from suffering is the simplest thing. We can
look at it in some detail.

You cannot suffer without believing a thought. So when a thought arises, you’ll see that a
thought just arises. You can wait for your next thought to confirm this; and you’ll see that
thought is just arising. And when a thought arises, you will see that there are two forces that
interact with this thought.

The first is the force of your attention; is the power of attention. This attention, when it goes to
the thought, then the thought seems like it is real. If it [attention] doesn’t go to the thought, then
the thought just comes and goes.

Therefore most sadhanas in the world are focused on controlling this attention. So, when
[Nisargadatta] Maharaj said ‘Stay. Give your attention only to the sense I Am’ he was referring
to keeping the attention, giving an anchor to the attention, in the Presence. ‘Keep the attention in
the Presence’. All sadhanas, whether you look at mindfulness, meditation, all these practices,
most of them are focused on keeping your attention at a particular place, trying to give you some
mastery over your attention.

But if you were to look, you would find that just because of giving attention, also you cannot
suffer. It also needs another force, another power, called ‘the power of belief’. Even if attention
goes to the thought, unless it gets your belief, it causes no suffering.

So, what I suggest is: Just withdraw your belief from your next thought.

Belief seems like it is much more simple to handle than attention is, because the more you try to
control attention, the more it wants to jump around.

So, if I say ‘Don’t bring your attention to a monkey’ then very quickly [the thought of] a monkey
will appear. So attention is not that easy to control. But if I say ‘Don’t believe that you are a
monkey’ that is much easier.

So, let attention also go to thoughts if you want, let attention go completely free; just don’t give
belief to your next thought.

And in this not giving belief to your next thought, you cannot show me suffering. Unless you
believe some other thought like ‘Belief is going automatically’ or some other thought like this,
you cannot show me suffering.
In this, you will find so much space and the ability to contemplate into your True nature.

When we are just constantly attracted to our thoughts and our attention and belief, and just
consumed by thought, then there is no room for further contemplation. So, first, some amount of
freedom is gotten from these thoughts. These thoughts don’t seem so powerful now after you’ve
withdrawn your belief from them. They get their power from your own attention and belief.

So, this was the first question: ‘How can I end my suffering?’ The end of your suffering is just
not believing your next thought.

Then, you say: ‘Yes. I have lost my ability to suffer. All thoughts are just coming and going. I’m
not resisting anything at all. So, I have lost my ability to suffer, but can you show me God?’

‘Can you show me God?’ And my response to that question is: ‘Yes’.

I ask you: Can you stop being now?

And in looking at this question ‘Can I stop being now?’ you will find that the Presence of Being
is here. It cannot be stopped.

That’s why this short cut is here. If I were to say ‘Go and find your Being’ then you will say that
‘Oh, it gets confused. It feels like this and feels like that’.

But when I say ‘Can you stop being now? Can you turn it off?’ then you say ‘No. This Presence
is here. You cannot turn it off. This Presence that I am, that I exist, is here’.

So, this Presence is Consciousness, is God, is Beingness, in the light of which this entire
Universe comes into play. Your own holy Presence, your own Atma, is Consciousness.

Then, lastly, someone might come and say: ‘Can you tell me about the Absolute, the Self?’

And don’t worry so much about the definitions. If your definition of God is the Absolute Self,
that is absolutely fine. Don’t worry; it’s not about the definitions.

Someone could come and say: ‘Can you show me the Absolute Self, the Absolute Truth?’

And for this, we have this question: ‘Are you aware now?’

And you see that you are aware, and yet no phenomenal experience was required; not even the
Presence of Being. And to be able to confirm that awareness is here, it was the Awareness itself
that checks.

So, this is Awareness being aware of Itself.
Awareness being aware of Awareness.
These are the main three questions that any spiritual seeker could have. And then, another simple
pointing for you is that there are two A’s.

There’s the big ‘A’…………Awareness.
And there’s the small ‘a’……… appearance.

All that is appearing phenomenally we call the appearance; the thoughts, emotions, the body,
another person, the external world, the stars in the sky, the sun and the moon: everything is
appearing to This Awareness.

And in the absence, if this Awareness was not there, then you would not be able to have any
appearances show up.

So, this Awareness is ever-present. It is the Eternal One, the Unmoving, Unchanging One; which
is aware of something and of nothing; of appearance and of no appearance. Something and
nothing; thought and no-thought; of mind and no-mind; of waking and of sleep.

This Awareness You Are.

But anytime you give your belief to something which says ‘You are just an appearance’ then you
are picking up this ‘pretend’ suffering.

So, that is the core of the teaching, the core of what is being pointed to.

[Silence]

~Ananta