That Is That: Essays About True Nature

by Nirmala

That Is That: Essays About True Nature is a free ebook collection of articles and answers to questions posed by spiritual seekers. It captures the essence of spiritual inquiry and provides the reader with a real transmission of Presence on every page. It is much more than an exposition about our true nature as infinite Oneness, it offers an experiential exploration of who we really are, not only through the transmission in the words, but through the many thoughtful questions it raises. Nirmala's warm-hearted and accepting presence makes it possible to drop into the space he so eloquently describes, where peace, love, and joy abide. He is a master at helping you fall in love with life and the many expressions of the one Being we all are.

Download this and other spiritual ebooks for free here: http://endless-satsang.com/free-spiri...

Here are sample quotes from the free ebook, That Is That:

"The real treasure in this moment is always to be found in the awareness of this moment, not in the content of our experience. So it's not that important if something you like is happening or not. Discovering this simple perspective is like discovering you live in a candy store: Everywhere you turn is another goodie! Beyond that, is the recognition that this endless supply of goodies is what you really are. You are not the content of your experience; you are the awareness that brings life and joy to every experience. Talk about not having to worry about what happens! Nothing that happens can change what you are, and what you are is the biggest treasure. It is hidden in plain sight, right in front of you, always in the experience you are having right now."

"When it's finally okay for the moment to be just the way it is-including the fact that we identify with a me and therefore battle with the moment-then more of our experience can be recognized and included in our awareness. If we are willing to be present to and allow our identification and whatever else is happening, then it's also possible to notice something beyond identification, something beyond our struggle and effort to maintain a me. What that something is, for lack of a better word, is Being."

"Inquiring into what is true about this very moment can put us in touch with the beauty and wonder that is always present in this mystery called life. Not only is there nothing problematic or bad in the here and now, but there is also a limitless amount of depth and richness to be found in the present moment. Everything that really matters, such as peace, joy, satisfaction, connectedness, and love, is found in the here and now, and only in the here and now. To experience this fullness and wonder, there's nothing we need to do except question the conclusion that peace, joy, satisfaction, and love are not already here and then look to see if they are. Is any peace present right now? Is there any love at all in this moment? What is that peace like? What is the nature of the love that is here now? Asking these kinds of questions is all it takes to get in touch with the amazing richness of the present moment."

"Spiritual inquiry isn't meant to lead you anywhere except where you already are. When every experience, including the most ordinary, is so mysterious, there is no need for a profound experience of bliss or cosmic light. If you happen to have an experience of bliss, then you can explore that. But for now, why not explore what is already here?"

"Suffering ends when our attention is flowing toward what's actually happening, what's true in the moment. Suffering is the distance-the gap-between what we are oriented toward and what is. However large the gap is between what is actually happening and what you are putting your attention on is how much you will suffer. If there's no gap, then there's no suffering."

Genres: Spirituality, Psychology, Nonfiction, Ebooks

170 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2010

About the author

Who are you really? Are you your body. mind and personality? Or are you the spacious awareness in which they appear? Questions like these point us to the infinite Presence that is the true source of peace, happiness and fulfillment. Nirmala is a spiritual teacher in the Advaita tradition of nondual wisdom, and is the author of several engaging and practical books about our spiritual nature.

**Nirmala's book, Living from the Heart, is available for FREE here:
http://endless-satsang.com/free

**Nirmala's website: http://endless-satsang.com

**Nirmala's blog: http://endless-satsang.com/nonduality...

**Nirmala's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nirmal...

Nirmala offers a unique vision and a gentle, compassionate approach, which adds to this rich tradition of inquiry into the truth of Being. He also offers Nondual Spiritual Mentoring, or spiritual guidance, in one-on-one sessions either in person or over the phone. More information about mentoring sessions is here: http://endless-satsang.com/spiritual-...

"The beauty of this collection of Nirmala's talks and dialogues is that it covers much of the spectrum of spiritual awakening, from the initial experience of one's true nature to the practical challenges, which always call for a deeper seeing and deeper understanding of how spirit manifests as all of life and beyond. Within these talks and dialogues you, the reader, will find Nirmala to be a living invitation to look within. Nirmala welcomes whatever arises within the field of experience. In the midst of this welcoming is always an invitation to inquire deeply within, to the core of who and what you are. Again and again, Nirmala points the questions back to the questioner and beyond to the very source of existence itself--to the faceless awareness that holds both the question and the questioner in a timeless embrace." -from the Foreword by Adyashanti to Nirmala's book, Nothing Personal.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book randomly. Read it. And now I'm free.

[Dwight Zavitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

NIRMALA’S BOOKS A TREASURE TROVE
OF ADVAITA WISDOM

I came to Nirmala’s books as a lifelong mystic and spiritual explorer who served as an ordained minister for 22 years. The mystics of the East and the West have inspired me for decades. After reading the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, Shankara, many Buddhist teachers, and the Yoga Vasistha, I wanted to explore the Advaita tradition in more depth. I stumbled onto Nirmala’s books after an on-line search. I only planned to read his book Nothing Personal: Seeing Beyond the Illusion of a Personal Self as a way of answering some questions about the Buddhist concept of No-Self. But after reading this book I was so delighted with what I found in its pages that I went on to read three more of his books, Meeting the Mystery: Exploring the Aware Presence at the Heart of All life; Living from the Heart; and That is That: Essays About True Nature.

What Nirmala (AKA Daniel Erway of Sedona, Arizona) does in these books is nothing short of remarkable. T.S. Eliot once wrote that the job of the poet is to make the most difficult truths of philosophy and religion as immanent as the fragrance of a rose. Nirmala has taken some of the most difficult truths of Eastern religion and philosophy, distilled them, and expressed them in clear, concise form. What might be called the metaphysics and ethics of Advaita non-dual thought have been clearly and simply expressed in Nirmala’s books in ways that make them applicable to everyday life.
As he does this, Nirmala injects wry humor and amusing examples with which we can easily identify. He also shares a few snapshots of his own life and struggles, which bring these ideas to life for us. His approach is wonderfully refreshing especially after wading through the hundreds of repetitious pages of the Yoga Vasistha!

In addition to restating clearly the main ideas of Advaita non-dual thought, Nirmala adds many practical suggestions for applying these ideas to our lives. I found Nirmala’s books treasure troves of wonderful insights and suggestions. Following are a few of his ideas that I found most helpful:
1. The real me is not this body or my ego but Awareness. This basic conscious awareness was never born and will never die. Knowing this gives one a cosmic perspective on everyday problems. When you know that you are Awareness you don’t need to be a seeker anymore. You know that you already are what you wished to become. So just Be! (Here he echoes one of his sources Ramana Maharshi.)
2. When everyday problems besiege us it is wise to give them space and blast off from them up into the cosmic Awareness that we really are.
3. Wisdom and Truth expand the heart and quiet the mind. We can actually feel our hearts expand in the presence of truth and contract in the presence of lesser truth. If we put our hands over our heart and open our heart we can actually feel the flow of Being. This provides a powerful guide for living.
4. Judgment cuts us off from the flow of being as we close our hearts to what is. Accepting what is rather then engaging in denial or attack leads to insight and growth.
5. We learn and grow from all of our choices in life, both the bad ones and the good ones. Being just enjoys watching us explore and learn -- so you might say it’s all good.
6. Everything is alive and aware, even a stone. It’s all the dream of the one primal Awareness Being that we all are at different levels of awareness.
7. Hold all ideas lightly knowing that change is the norm.
8. Surrender to what is and explore it knowing that desire for what is not is what brings about suffering. Be grateful for whatever is, knowing that in the cosmic perspective all is well.
9. Be aware that Being is always working for our highest good, but also knowing that it gives us the freedom to choose lesser goods until we learn (the hard way!) to flow with the highest will of Being. The Wise man or woman aligns his or her will with the highest good of Being.

Well, I could go on and on listing the powerful insights in these books. But one last observation about Nirmala’s work – something I found most refreshing. He’s humble about this work. He does not claim to be the divine revealer and he does not want us to accept him as our savior or guru -- or write him a check! He shares his ideas, but tells us to find our own way to our own truth. The only truth he seems to find non-negotiable is the Advaita truth that there is only the One Thing and we are all It. I am not exaggerating when I say that Nirmala’s books have been enlightening and life changing for me. I hope they find wide readership. This is the kind of thought that our fragmented world needs desperately at this point in history.

Gratefully, Dwight L Zavitz, Jr.

[Gina Lake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of writings from Nirmala's website and blog at endless-satsang.com. An easy way to sample his teachings. Nirmala does a beautiful job leading us through an exploration of our true nature by raising questions and then exploring with us the nature of Self and Reality as well as the nature of the false self, or ego. This book will help you become happier and more at peace with life as it is, and it will help you move beyond the suffering and struggle caused by living too much in a mental world. I highly recommend it for anyone who is serious about becoming a lover of life and free of the pain caused by how we are programmed to think about ourselves and life.

[Janelle Hanchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard for me to rate this book. It's the first thing I've ever read about mindfulness and/or true nature, so it was good in that it presented me with some perspectives I've never actually considered before, and I like that -- it's always exciting when I'm presented with a new way of looking at things, of playing with imagination and perception and a sense of being. But I think another author could have done a better job of it. It's obvious that this Nirmala character is not a writer, but a person who writes. Readability is not one of his strong points, though it seems that it will be at first. After the first few pages, though, you'll realize that the simple language and sentence structure isn't a favor to the reader, but an inability to pin down a thought in an astute manner. Add in his appallingly bad poetry (there's nothing that offends me more than bad poetry, even when I write it) and you get a book with an interesting premise that I just couldn't bring myself to like, even though I wanted to.

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was free and i thought that there may have been something in it worth reading.

I felt that the first half of the book was quite good and gives the reader some interesting points to consider, but then, about half way through the book, he started babbling on that the universe is governed by some divine omnipotent being that knows what its doing -- like WTF!!!

And then the book just goes downhill from there as i will always just switch off once someone starts creating gods to support their spiritual point of view -- and attempting to disguise this god in spiritual mumbo jumbo speak just made it worse for me.

It's like the first half is there to draw you in before springing his divine-being trap upon you, and then spends the last half of the book running around in circles, repeating himself, trying to justify something or other.

Like i say, it was free and you may find something worth while in it, but i certainly wouldn't suggest paying for it and i won't be reading anything else by Nirmala as i don't do god grovelling.

[Rajiv · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the teachings in this book even though I have read a lot about power of presence, Nirmala have resumed and put things more easily. The questions of seekers are same as mine, so it was interesting to read those answers. It's worth reading for spiritual seekers.

[Karuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complete clarity transmitted through these pages. Highly recommend this heart opening book for anyone truly desiring awakening.

[Pythagorean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice set of pointers organized into short chapters that lent itself well to 'last thing before bed' reading. I downloaded this free for the Nook.

[Marti · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit repetitive and I found my thoughts frequently straying away from the book. I did enjoy the brief chapter on meditation.

[Aman Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awakening Experience

The book, every word of it, tells you very lucidly about the essence of true nature. Makes you aware of the joke you have been seeking ever since.

[Sarah Brousseau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 17/75: That Is That: Essays About True Nature by Nirmala. A time to read something spiritual and needing to get deep into my Being for a few nights. I hadn't been feeling like myself but more and more I'm being called to to be the person I am meant to become and this book has brought me closer to that goal.

[Vicky Connelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

My goal is to distribute love and joy to people I meet everyday.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nirmala is a student of a student of Papaji who was a student of Ramana Maharshi. Reads like a Kapil Gupta or Maharshi dialogue. Great questions asked in this one.

[#DÏ4B7Ø Chinnamasta-Bhairav]

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To SEE a WORLD in a Grain of Sand,
And a HEAVEN in a Wild Flower,
Hold INFINITY in the palm of your hand
And ETERNITY in an Hour"
~ William Blake ~

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“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Form is Emptiness; Emptiness is form.
Form is not different than Emptiness;
Emptiness is not different than form
~ Heart Sutra ~

Like the ocean and its waves,
inseparable yet distinct

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" I and The Father are one,
I am The Truth,
The Life and The Path.”

Like a river flowing from its source,
connected and continuous

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Thy kingdom come.
Let the reign of divine
Truth, Life, and Love
be established in me,
and rule out of me all sin;
and may Thy Word
enrich the affections of all mankind

A mighty oak tree standing firm against the storm,
As sunlight scatters the shadows of night
A river nourishing the land it flows through

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[Debbi Stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought provoking and interesting

I enjoyed this book very much. It refreshed my knowledge but also made me think deeper about the topics. I learnt a lot. Great book. Highly recommend it.