The world has only as much power over you as you give it. Rebel. Go beyond duality.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajTo be a living being is not the ultimate state; there is something [the Reality] beyond, much more wonderful, which is neither being nor non-being, neither living nor not-living. It is a state of Pure Awareness, beyond the limitations of space and time.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajWhen the mind is quiet, we come to know ourselves as the pure witness. We withdraw from the experience and its experiencer and stand apart in pure awareness, which is between and beyond the two. The personality, based on self-identification, on imagining itself to be something: 'I am this, I am that', continues, but only as a part of the objective world. Its identification with the witness snaps.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajUnless you make tremendous efforts, you will not be convinced that effort will take you nowhere. The self is so self-confident that unless it is totally discouraged it will not give up. Mere verbal conviction is not enough. Hard facts alone can show the absolute nothingness of the self-image.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajYou are not the mind. If you know you are not the mind, then what difference does it make if it's busy or quiet? You are not the mind.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajWe grow through investigation, and to investigate we need experience. We tend to repeat what we have not understood. If we are sensitive and intelligent, we need not suffer. Pain is a call for attention and the penalty of carelessness. Intelligent and compassionate action is the only remedy.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj