QuoteProject
Words can bring you only up to their own limit; to go beyond, you must abandon them. Remain as the silent witness only.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Words are limited in conveying deeper truths; true understanding requires silence and presence.

This quote emphasizes the limitations of language in expressing profound realities. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj suggests that while words can provide insight, they ultimately fall short of conveying the full essence of experience and truth, urging us to transcend verbal communication and become silent observers of our own consciousness.

Themes

WordsSilenceUnderstandingTruthWitness

In practice

Example use cases

In a meditation class to highlight the importance of silence over spoken words.

More from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

All happiness comes from awareness. The more we are conscious the deeper the joy. Acceptance of pain, non-resistance, courage and endurance - these open deep and perennial sources of real happiness, true bliss.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
Even faith in God is only a stage on the way. Ultimately you abandon all, for you come to something so simple that there are no words to express it.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care of itself. You do not tidy up a dark room. You open the windows first. Letting in the light makes everything easy. So, let us wait with improving others until we see ourselves as we are/ and have changed. There is no need to turn round and round in endless questioning; find yourself and everything will fall into its proper place.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
Watch your thoughts as you watch the street traffic. People come and go; you register without response. It may not be easy in the beginning, but with some practice you will find that your mind can function on many levels at the same time and you can be aware of them all.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
Learn to live without self concern. _x000D_ _x000D_ For this you must know your own true being as indomitable, fearless and ever victorious. _x000D_ _x000D_ Once you know with absolute certainty that nothing can trouble you but your own imagination, _x000D_ _x000D_ you come to disregard your desires and fears, concepts and ideas, and live by truth alone.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
Do not neglect this body. This is the house of God; take care of it, only in this body can God be realized.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead

Similar quotes

If the President does it, it can't be illegal.
Richard M. NixonRead
There is no nature at an instant.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'
Angela DavisRead
Not only during the ascent, but also during the descent my willpower is dulled. The longer I climb the less important the goal_x000D_ seems to me, the more indifferent I become to myself. My attention_x000D_ has diminished, my memory is weakened. My mental fatigue is now_x000D_ greater than the bodily. It is so pleasant to sit doing nothing - and therefore so dangerous. Death through exhaustion is like death_x000D_ through freezing - a pleasant one.
Reinhold MessnerRead
We have communion with Christ in His thoughts, views, and purposes; for His thoughts are our thoughts according to our capacity and sanctity. Believers take the same view of matters as Jesus does; that which pleases Him pleases them, and that which grieves His grieves them also.
Charles SpurgeonRead
People said it because other people said it. They did not know why it was being said and heard everywhere. they did not give or ask for reasons.
Ayn RandRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.