Questioner: Surely though we are all Ultimate Reality. Everything that exists is really Ultimate Reality – and that includes thoughts. I don’t understand the obsession with stopping thought rather than accepting that thought is also part of the Absolute. If thinking wasn’t meant to be happening, it wouldn’t occur. I find Nisargadatta’s teachings regarding thinking – let the thoughts flow and don’t identify with them to be more realistic and helpful.

Tom: Sri Nisargadatta also recommended the total cessation of thoughts as the means to liberation – although both he and Sri Ramana (and most sages) also advised other (lower) practices depending on the context of the conversations. Shankara also taught cessation of thoughts.

It is not something that is easy to understand, and most share your view, which is fine of course.

My experience is that without cessation of thoughts, the resultant liberation is not really liberation at all – the Eternal Immortal and Blissful nature of the Self is not really discovered at all, and so suffering and ego keeps on coming back.

This is why the scriptures are so insistent upon cessation of thoughts. This is why the scriptures state that Reality is without thoughts.

Otherwise the scriptures would be much shorter, no? They would just say – ‘nobody here, what is happening is what is happening, nobody doing any of it!’ – but we never see this in the traditional scriptures of Vedanta or Buddhism – did you ever wonder why!

That said, if you find the teaching of Sri Nisargadatta that you mentioned to be more helpful, I agree that it is best to go with that!

Irrespective of what we believe or practice, if we are truly earnest and long for liberation, and follow that genuine longing within us, and allow it to lead us, we all find our way to liberation eventually. As you say, it is our nature already!

🙏