“I Am That” talk about the person, watcher/witness, obstacles, reality, enlightenment, and awakening

If you’re interested in meditation and enlightenment/awakening, the book, I Am That, by Nisargadatta Maharaj, has this terrific conversation, which I have shortened slightly. “M” refers to Nisargadatta Maharaj, and “Q” refers to a common person asking questions:

M: The Guru is concerned little with the person. His attention is on the inner watcher. It is the task of the watcher to understand and thereby eliminate the person.

Q: But the person does not want to be eliminated.

M: The person is merely the result of a misunderstanding. In reality, there is no such thing.

(later)

Q: When will this happen for me?

M: When you remove the obstacles.

Q: Which obstacles?

M: Desire for the false and fear of the true. You, the person, imagine that the Guru is interested in you as a person. Not at all. (He then clarifies what this means.)