The way of the bird

yourself; in fact, you experience yourself as those qualities. You essentially become your
own object.
This is exactly how it is with "I." Reality is "I without `I';" that is, pure being without any
experience of "I" or "I am." When you are in a state of deep sleep, you are in that nondual
condition. You are not aware of anything; there is no "I" until duality comes when
you wake up in the morning. Then you say "I had a good rest."
5.18 "Mind does not want to die, so it goes toward wordly objects."
Preoccupation with wordly affairs is the mechanical activity of the mind. For many lives,
it occupies itself with day-to-day concerns right up until the moment that the body
breathes its last breath. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj told a story about the man who, on his
death-bed, noticed out of the window the family cow in the shed next door chewing the
end of the best broomstick. He cried out "the broomstick, the broomstick!" and those
were his last words.
The mind doesn't want to die in the sense that it has the built-in urge to continue as the
doer, to perpetuate itself as the one who acts. In the long run, however, it is a mechanism
that is bound to fail. Eventually, the search for meaning and happiness starts to turn
inwards. The mind continues to live on, all through the spiritual search, until Selfknowledge
dawns. It then continues to function, but is effectively dead as a center of
volition. There is no need for that artificial center because the "I" of the realized person is
always in harmony with the divine power.
5.19 "Death of the mind or ego is what is required."
There can easily be misunderstanding about what "death of the mind" means. There is no
sudden blankness when the ego dies, although there is the ending of ignorance. After
realization, the mind is still there and thoughts continue to appear and disappear, but there
is no longer the illusion that "I am the doer." The ego sustained itself through the
assumption that it was the center of the individual person. It had duties, desires, good and
bad thoughts and feelings. All these things accrued to its account. The so-called
"liberation" is the destruction of this account. The ego is then no longer active as a center
of volition. Its power was a derived power that came from unquestioning belief in it.
When ignorance goes, the ego cannot and does not survive.
5.20 "Ego means I am, and I know everything."
The ego is an artificial center for the experiencing of imaginary emotions, many of which
are negative, such as judgment of oneself and others, irritation, anxiety, and so on. It is
the embodiment of ignorance and the focus for wrong thinking of every kind. To take
oneself to be a body, ruled by an individual ego is a very sad state of affairs. In the
Mundaka Upanishad it says: