“the self expands through acts of self forgetfulness.”
“(…) When we are absorbed in other things, in the not-self, we forget the self. There is nothing unnatural about it. But, why forget the self through excess of attachment? Wisdom lies in never forgetting the self as the ever-present source of both the experiencer and his experience.”
I am
Source: I am That, P.135.
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Nisargadatta Maharaj 138
Indian guru 1897–1981Related quotes
1950s, Conquering Self-centeredness (1957)
Context: I’ve seen people who discovered a great meaning in their jobs and they became so absorbed in that that they didn’t have time to become self-centered. They loved their job. And the great prayer that anyone could pray at that point is: “O God, help me to love my job as this individual loves his or hers. O God, help me to give my self to my work and to my job and to my allegiance as this individual does.” And this is the way out. And I think this is what [Ralph Waldo] Emerson meant when he said: “O, see how the masses of men worry themselves into nameless graves, while here and there, some great unselfish soul forgets himself into immortality.” And this becomes a point of balance when you can forget yourself into immortality. You’re not so absorbed in self, but you are absorbed in something beyond self.
“We must forget ourselves and all self-interest, and listen, and be attentive to God.”
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 194.
“Forget the self and you will fear nothing, in whatever level or awareness you find yourself to be.”
Source: The Active Side of Infinity
“The forgetting of all things and of one's self, combined with contemplation, makes a man divine”
From, Light on Carmel: An Anthology from the Works of Brother John of Saint Samson, O.Carm.
Source: Adventures In Consciousness: An Introduction to Aspect Psychology (1975), pp.118-119
The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)
Source: Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller - Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century