That which makes the enquiry is the ego. The ‘I’ about which the enquiry is made is also the ego. As the result of the enquiry, the ego ceases to exist and only the Self is found to exist.
Category Archives: a. Philosophical Matters
(Quote) Ramana Maharshi – YOU ARE THE SELF.
“There is no reaching the Self. If the Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not now and here, but that it should be got anew. What is got afresh, will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say, the Self is not reached. You are the Self. You are already That.” RM
This message is not mere semantics. All great Saints and Seers have gifted us the same message. Do not believe it. Take it on faith, trust them and trim your sail in this direction. Understanding is a slow awakening and it naturally takes a little time. Realisation must follow and is hindered only by striving. It is possible. Don’t be discouraged. Doubt is only Mind.
(Quote) by Ramana Maharshi – EFFORTLESS AND CHOICE-LESS AWARENESS IS ATTAINED WITH DELIBERATE MEDITATION
A young man from Colombo asked Bhagavan,
“J. Krishnamurti teaches the method of effortless and choiceless awareness as distinct from that of deliberate concentration. Would Sri Bhagavan be pleased to explain how best to practise meditation and what form the object of meditation should take?”
Bhagavan: Effortless and choiceless awareness is our real nature. If we can attain it or be in that state, it is all right. But one cannot reach it without effort, the effort of deliberate meditation. All the age-long vasanas (attachments) carry the mind outward and turn it to external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind turned inward.
For that, effort is necessary for most people. Of course everybody, every book says, “Be quiet or still”. But it is not easy. That is why all this effort is necessary. Even if we find one who has at once achieved the mauna or Supreme state, you may take it that the effort necessary has already been finished in a previous life.
So that, effortless and choiceless awareness is reached only after deliberate meditation. That meditation can take any form which appeals to you best. See what helps you to keep away all other thoughts and adopt that method for your meditation.
In this connection Bhagavan quoted verses 5 and 52 from ‘Udal Poyyuravu’ and 36 from ‘Payappuli’ of Saint Thayumanavar. Their gist is as follows:
‘Bliss will follow if you are still. But however much you may tell your mind about the truth, the mind will not keep quiet. It is the mind that won’t keep quiet. It is the mind which tells the mind “Be quiet and you will attain bliss”.’ Though all the scriptures have said it, though we hear about it every day from the great ones, and even though our Guru says it, we are never quiet, but stray into the world of maya and sense objects. That is why conscious deliberate effort is required to attain that mauna state or the state of being quiet.
DAY BY DAY WITH BHAGAVAN
(Thoughts) on SELF REALISATION
Enlightenment is the constant realisation – in each successive moment of Now – of the nature of the Self. It is not a destination like some cosmic hotel that we arrive at and where we cease to be vigilant and attentive to Reality. It is a subtly dynamic state, not a passive one.
Ramana Maharishi Recent Post affirms.
FLASHES, GLIMPSES AND REALIZATION
Before I came to India I had read of such people as Edward Carpenter, Tennyson and many more who had had flashes of what they called “Cosmic Consciousness.” I asked Bhagavan [Sri Ramana Maharshi] about this. Was it possible that once having gained Self-Realization [for the individual] to lose it again? Certainly it was. To support this view Bhagavan took up a copy of Kaivalya Navanita and told the interpreter to read a page of it to me. In the early stages of Sadhana this was quite possible and even probable. So long as the least desire or tie was left, a person would be pulled back again into the phenomenal world, he explained. After all it is our Vasanas that prevent us from always being in our natural state, and Vasanas were not got rid of all of a sudden by a flash of Cosmic Consciousness. One may have worked them out in a previous existence leaving a little to be done in the present life, but in any case they must first be destroyed.
(Quote) by Ramana Marhashi – IS BEING STILL EFFORTLESS OR INVOLVE EFFORT?
Q. Is the state of ‘being still’ a state involving effort or effortless?
M. It is not an effortless state of indolence. All mundane activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks.
But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara) or remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed with the entire mind and without break.
Q. As the Self shines fully of its own accord why is it not generally recognised like the other objects of the world by all persons?
M. Wherever particular objects are known it is the Self which has known itself in the form of those objects. For what is known as knowledge or awareness is only the patency of the Self (atma sakti). The Self is the only sentient object. There is nothing apart from the Self. If there are such objects they are all insentient and therefore cannot either know themselves or mutually know one another. It is because the Self does not know its true nature in this manner that it seems to be immersed and struggling in the ocean of birth (and death) in the form of the individual soul.
(Thoughts) on INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE.
Our need to understand (on all material levels) has a subliminal cause and is ultimately driven by the need to know the Self and source of Consciousness. Our natural evolutionary habitual instinct is to turn outwards and engage with the world and in doing so harvest worldly knowledge (Duality) in the belief that it will be satisfying. We can, if we have the intelligence and the stamina, glean endless quantities of information about the gross and the subtle aspects of Nature (the Mother) by this process. We will then in time, become clever, in that clever is a relative personal attribute. Nature is infinite in its complexity and hence all this acquisition of knowledge, though it fills the Hallowed Halls of our universities, is an endless process and it can never be satisfied. Neither is it ultimately True. It is merely relative.
Analysis of the Mind falls into the same category as worldly knowledge because it too is dualistic. Thus it is that analysis of mind, or a compulsive need to understand our personal suffering is also futile and can never bring peace of Mind. Only by turning away from Ego/Mind towards the Self can enduring peace ever prevail.
So what is the proof of this assertion that the endless search for knowledge is driven by a longing to know the Self? It is that if one turns inwards (through practice) one eventually begins to SEE knowledge in a way that is deeply fulfilling until such time as the Self is realised. The compulsive longing for relative knowledge then ceases to hold any fascination. Our curiosity is sated and we are fulfilled by a profound sense of well-being. Desire generated by Ego/Mind falls silent because all desire has been satisfied.
Then we only need to know as much as is required to satisfy our daily needs. All Proper Knowledge; the knowledge of the Self, is revealed by turning inwards and asking, ‘Who am I’. One needs no books. And this Knowledge is different. It is certain, unequivocal and doubtless. It is not speculative and when realised it is unifying and has a startling ‘charm’. And slowly one acquires Wisdom as distinct from Cleverness. Hence you will find spiritual teachers who can instantly answer many spiritual questions, despite having limited worldly knowledge, and who are no match for a master of physics. This is not a contradiction.
During conversation Swami Bawra once said, ‘If you want Self Realisation what you need to understand is very simple, but if you want to teach then you must know a great deal more.’ Spiritual Practice (meditation) and the Guidance of a good teacher (one that has authority) will do the rest and is essential.
(Quotes) by Ramana Maharshi – SCIENCE OF THE SELF
“Without consciousness, time and space do not exist.”
Metaphysics is Awesome……
The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world. Cotton made into various clothes we call by various names. Gold made into various ornaments, we call by various names. But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold. The one is real, the many are mere names and forms. But the mind does no exist apart from the Self, that is, it has not independent existence. The Self exists without the mind, never the mind without the Self.
(Quote) by Ramana Maharshi on DESTINY
“There is neither creation nor destruction,
neither destiny nor free will,
neither path nor achievement.
This is the final truth.”
I sometimes think he is listening. See previous post. And I also found his.
A devotee said to Bhagavan that she did not have peace of mind and probably destiny prevented it and broke into tears. Bhagavan said to her, “All right. What need be said has been said. Well. What is destiny? There is no destiny. Surrender, and all will be well. Throw all the responsibility on God. Do not bear the burden yourself. What can destiny do to you then?”
(Talk 244).
(Thoughts) on DESTINY
I had a conversation with a friend today about destiny. His father, an astrologer in the Indian system, holds the view that every thing in life is preordained. That one’s destiny is written in the stars and that there is nothing one can do change it. Hence there is no reason to try to influence one’s destiny because the outcome is already predetermined. One can simply lie back and let one’s destiny unfold. When the astrologer in Canada told me that it was my destiny to live out my life as an ordinary man, (See A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH AN INDIAN ASTROLOGER) my teacher, Swami Bawra, was not impressed. His words to me were, “You can change your destiny my boy.”
This fatalistic and passive approach to the notion of destiny is quite misguided and has had a detrimental effect on Indian culture because it assumes that our destiny need not encompass effort on our part. That nothing we do can have any impact on the outcome. This notion is given momentum by the assertion by mystics that ‘Satwic Mind does not plan’.
How we live NOW affects our destiny and each choice we make writes that destiny as does each moment we lie back and surrender to indolence. It is our destiny to be what ever we will be. So it is safer to assume that the outcome of our destiny will be what ever we make of it and not leave it to the chance in how the wind blows. On the basis that I am not the doer I suspect that I will revisit this idea because I suspect that it is not quite that straight forward and I that this is not the whole story…..
(See: Oracle of India: The Mystery of India’s Naadi Palm Leaf Readers)
(Account) on DESTITUTION
(To a dear friend) Your fear of finding yourself wandering along the side of the road is not so unusual. I have visited that fear on a number of occasions in the past. Fear does that because it is about being powerless or having no control over your destiny. But you are not powerless. You can effect incremental changes in your life that will have an impact on that possible outcome.
When I was in India I went to Sita’s birthplace at Janakpur. It was fiercely hot but the temple was beautiful. I remember a wide white pavement as I walked around in my white Kurta (simple pyjama suit) trying to fend off the sun. An Indian man suddenly appeared out of the crowd and stopped me. In that familiar way that Indians have he good humouredly interrogated me. “Where are you from?” he asked and, “What is your career?” and “Where do you live?” I answered his questions and his curiosity satisfied he walked on ahead. At around 25 yards or so he stopped and called back to me.
“Hey Englishman!”
“Yes.” I answered looking up.
“Courage and self confidence.” and he turned and was gone.
I was slightly bemused by this encounter but it eventually slipped from my mind. Weeks passed before our pilgrimage took us back home to Pinjore. When we arrived we found that a saint had come to visit. He was quiet, gentle unassuming man of 111 years old. Fitter than me and he was walking around India on a pilgrimage. I was introduced to him but we spoke very little. Days passed and one morning as I ventured out to visit the large underground hall in which I used to meditate he was waiting for me at the door.
“Hello.” I said a little quizzically wondering why he was waiting there. We struck a brief conversation. I asked where he was from and he said that he lived in one of one hundred and eight caves in Nepal. I asked if he practised yoga and he said that he used to practice and teach yoga but that he stopped when he was sixty almost half his lifetime ago. I then asked if he taught anything else these days.
He look at me and said, ”Not really. Only really teach courage and self confidence.”
The coincidence was not lost on me. Our conversation was brief and now over. I think he left us the next day. Mysterious things happen in India and particularly around saints. If one is receptive they can be a great help. I did not find it easy to gather my courage or my self confidence in those days especially since I felt that everything I trusted as my personal guide had abandoned me. But fear IS only mind’s darker aspect and though it is difficult to imagine ever being free from it there is a way to deal with it. Favour courage and self-confidence. Let all your choices be the ones that challenge you if only just a little. You can only end up as a bag lady if your choices in life are the ones that lack courage. If you constantly take the road that leads to despair then that road will assuredly take you there. As certainly as the road to God will take you to enlightenment.
And remember that it is still only your body and your mind and your ego that will be on the roadside weeping. Your Self will also be there but untainted and still beautiful. And remember also that wandering mendicants find themselves on the side of the road every morning and the only difference is that they choose it that way. So it is not about finding or not finding yourself on the side of the road. It is only about your relationship to fear. So just look at that sensation and do not let mind expand on it by telling you stories about destitution.