Q: I was reading this quote from Nityananda: “While the ocean has plenty of water, it is the size of the container you bring to it that determines how much you collect.” I think I understand it, but can you comment on it?
This quote isn’t about abundance in the usual sense. It’s about awareness; our capacity to perceive and experience the infinite. The ocean here represents pure consciousness—always present, infinite, and undivided. It doesn’t come and go. It doesn’t withhold or dispense. It simply is. Limitless, silent, and still.
What the quote is pointing to is how much of that vast stillness can we hold in our awareness? That’s determined by the size of the container we bring to it.
The container is our perception. Its shape and size are determined by our beliefs, fears, and our identification with the small self—the part of us that feels separate, limited, and finite. That’s what defines how much of the infinite we’re able to take in.
A busy mind brings a thimble. When our thoughts are racing, our awareness is small and scattered. A mind full of noise can’t hold much.
A quiet mind brings a jar. As the mind slows down and quiets, our capacity grows. We’re able to experience more of the vastness.
A still heart, emptied of self, becomes the ocean itself. When we let go of ego, of striving, of the need to control or define, the boundaries of the container dissolve. There’s no longer any separation between us and the infinite. We remember that we are the ocean.
Q: What role do beliefs and doubts hold?
Think of it like this. The ocean is always the ocean—it’s unchanging as the ocean. But how you approach the ocean (i.e., your state of being) changes how much of it you can experience.
Doubts about yourself, your connection to the infinite, or even the nature of reality itself can block your ability to see clearly. The crashing waves of thought make the water murky.
The constant search for answers, for meaning, for something “out there” to make you feel whole creates ripples in the water. It keeps you from experiencing the calm you’re seeking.
When you stop stirring and just allow the waters to settle, the clarity you’ve been looking for begins to emerge on its own.
The more you let go of striving, of doubts, of the need to grasp or control, the more the barriers between you and the infinite dissolve. The container itself disappears, and you finally recognize that there was never any separation to begin with.
So, this isn’t about gathering more drops of the ocean. It’s about remembering that you are the ocean—whole, complete, and limitless. This isn’t something you need to strive for, because it’s already true. It’s more about allowing yourself to become still enough to realize it.
Q: Easier said than done!
It gets easier when you stop talking and start “being.”