SELF-REALIZATION:
OUR IDEAS OF TIME DO NOT APPLY

I used to pester Bhagavan with all kinds of spiritual questions.
Sometimes he would answer patiently, but at ...other times he would give his standard answer: 'Find out who is asking the
question.'

I got this reply when I once told him, 'Bhagavan! My mind is
torn asunder with all sorts of doubts.' 'He who is without any doubts is the real you,' said Bhagavan. "Find out who that "you" is, and concentrate on that.'

I rarely felt that I was making much progress, so I once asked
Bhagavan, 'How many times will I have to be born to get jnana?'

'There are no factors like time and distance,' answered
Bhagavan. 'In one hour we dream that many days and years
have passed by. Don't you see in a cinema film mere shadows
being transformed into great seas, mountains and buildings.
The world is not outside you. It happens within you, like in a cinema show. The small world that is in the mind appears as a
big world outside.'

Because I had this nagging feeling that I was not making much headway in spiritual matters, I once complained,

'Bhagavan, your grace is not on me!'
Bhagavan replied, 'You are speaking like one who, standing shoulder deep in the flood waters of the Ganges, complains that he is thirsty and says that he wants water from a tap in Tanjavur to be brought to quench his thirst.'

- Rangan, The Power of the Presence, part I