Self-enquiry as taught by Sri Bhagwan is enough

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear Devotees,

Who on earth do we think we are ? Are we so important that we should create so many problems and questions really? Why are we are so ignorant, or so misled, as to think that our phantom-like or ghost-like ego is so much important? Instead of seeing that our ego is a mere stupid belief in a fantasy, we even cherish it and cultivate it by feeding it with seemingly insoluble problems and questions. At least we, who have really come to Sri Bhagwan in full earnestness, must accept, sooner than later, that our life until now has been led by a belief in totally imaginary ego.

Sri Bhagwan teaches that all questions stand solved the moment ‘Who am I ?’ question is solved. The Self, that we are, can be recognised only when there is indubitable realisation that we are not the ego, or I have no ego. ‘I am’ THAT in which arise all things, including the thought that ‘I am so and so’arise. I am THAT which always remains over even after such perceived thoughts, feelings, pains, emotions, sentiments, pleasures, all sensorial perceptions and concepts, et al have dissolved into it.

Dear devotees, we should by all means direct our attention to what remains over when all these thoughts of the world and its objects, feelings, emotions and sentiments and all sensorial perceptions have disappeared, albeit momentarily. We will soon enough discover that only That which is always, here and now, is entitled to the name ‘I’. Thoughts and feelings and perceptions come and leave as fast as they come. Therefore, we can never be an object to be perceived. WE ARE THAT WHICH REMAINS OVER WHEN NOTHING WHATEVER IS PERCEIVED. WE ARE THE PRESENCE, ILLUMINATION, IN WHICH ALL PERCEPTIONS ARISE.

Dear devotees, we must face this existential question ‘Who am I?’ to get disentangled from the trap of the mental web. Sri Bhagwan says that we, as ego, are born afresh infinite number of times every day, but there is no reality and permanency about them. WE DO NOT EXIST OTHER THAN AN IMAGINARY IMAGE IN OUR HEAD. TRUTH IS THAT WE ARE NEVER BORN. But it requires courage, and lots of it, because it goes straight against the commonly accepted worldly beliefs and sensibilities.
Dear devotees, we must see for ourselves that all perceptions perceived, sensorial or mental, is nothing but movements in the Consciousness, in our Self, as the waves in the sea. The straight way to realise this truth is to face the question “WHO AM I?”. YES, FACE IT WE MUST. (To continue)

Thank You,
    Anil           

[Nagaraj]

Dear Anil Ji,

In one instance a devotee during his conversations with Bhagavan on the subject of Self Enquiry asked thus -

D: Even so, I do not understand. “I”, you say, is the wrong “I” now. How to eliminate this wrong “I”?

M: You need not eliminate the wrong “I” How can “I” eliminate itself? All that you need to do is to find out its origin and abide there. Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it.

All our efforts are useful up to a point of recognition and abiding in that recognition constantly. We can only 'know it' but the "knowing" becoming "being" is beyond, it happens due to the pull of Bhagavan's grace.

Salutations to Bhagavan

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Knowing is effort. Being comes from Grace.



Arunachala Siva.

[eranilkumarsinha]

All our efforts are useful up to a point of recognition and abiding in that recognition constantly. We can only 'know it' but the "knowing" becoming "being" is beyond, it happens due to the pull of Bhagavan's grace. (Sri Nagaraj)
Knowing is effort. Being comes from Grace. (Sri Subramanian Sir)


Dear Sri Subramanian Sir and Sri Nagaraj ji,

My understanding regarding ‘seeing’ or ‘knowing’, ‘being’ and ‘Grace’ is exactly the same as expressed by you. No one can see God or the Self and survive as a jiva or a creature apart from Him.  It is not the relative knowledge involving the triads of Knower, knowing and the known. HERE KNOWING MEANS BEING IN WHICH NOTHING IS PERCEIVED AND WHICH IS MERE PRESENCE OR ILLUMINATION IN WHICH ARISE ALL PERCEPTIONS. In the State of pure ‘being’ there is neither movement nor reflection, that is, there is no rising. Therefore, there is no question of seeing or knowing Him in the state of pure ‘being’. Sri Bhagwan says that first one sees the Self as objects, then one sees the Self as void, then one sees the Self as the Self. Only in the last there is no seeing because seeing is being. Therefore, Sri Subramanian sir’s observation that “Knowing is effort. Being comes from Grace” is, in my view, cent per-cent apt and true. Knowing is rising as the ego and involves triads, and hence, requires effort. 

Dear Sri Nagaraj ji, as for Grace, Sri Bhagwan says that the Grace is in the beginning, middle and the end, for Grace is the Self. Introversion is due to Grace, perseverance itself is Grace, and therefore, Realisation is Grace. In the absence of Guru’s Grace, nothing can happen: neither dispassion can be acquired, nor realisation of the Self, nor inherence in the Self. Grace is always operating in us. Grace is the Self. If we remember Sri Bhagwan or Sri Arunachala, we are prompted to do so by the Grace. Sri Bhagwan says that there is no moment when Grace is not operating in us. So, our remembrance of Him is the forerunner of the Grace. Now tell me, are we discussing so much without His Grace ?

Nevertheless, Sri Bhagwan has emphasised again and again that Grace to be effective, effort is necessary. Our practice is a sine-qua-non, for it is we who should see the sun.

Thank you so much for your response.

Regards,
  Anil     

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Once Devaraja Mudaliar asked Sri Bhagavan: Bhagavan! You are telling all the devotees that
Your Grace is ever flowing. But I am not still able to feel that, though I have been here for quite
some time.  Sri Bhagavan smilingly replied: "Oye, Mudaliar, Grace is always flowing. But 'you'
don't come in the way."

What does this mean? To avail the grace of Sri Guru or God, 'you' i.e. one's own little I should
not come in the way!  If I is conquered through self inquiry, the Grace will flow uninterruptedly.
We should be a fit vessel to receive Sri Bhagavan's Grace. If one takes a spoon, he will get
only spoonful of grace. If one takes a big drum, he will get drum full of Grace. All depends on
how much we have progressed in our self inquiry or self-surrender.

Sri Bhagavan says in Arunachala Padigam, Verse 6, "I am like a frog always residing at the
stem  of lotus creeper. Please make a bee so that I can take the honey from the lotus flower!"

To be a frog or a bee is left to our sense of ego, how much it has been conquered.



Arunachala Siva.   

[Nagaraj]

This need for grace is also in subtle sense avidya. Infact the essense of Bhagavan is that we are ourselves grace. Like in some instance, when some devotee came to Bhagavan and was crying about his difficulties then an ashram inmate, to console this devotee by saying "its like Being in the shore of Ganges, you are crying out of thirst!" Muruganar just walks in and quotes from some old tamil verse to that devotee, "its like as if you are neck deep in th ganges water itself and are crying out of thirst"

Bhagavan who was silently looking at all these, said to Muruganar and to the other devotees "Apdi illa voi" "Its like as if Ganges herself is crying out of thirst"

In the same way, this requirement of grace will remain so long we feel different from Bhagavan. Bhagavan also quoted saying, "The Grace of the Guru is like an ocean. If he comes with a cup he will only get a cupful. It is no use complaining of the niggardliness of the ocean; the bigger the vessel the more he will be able to carry. It is entirely up to him"

When the cup is unlimited like the ocean, there is no place for 2 there, Guru and ourselves.

Bhagavan quoted from Tiruvoimozhi a tamil work “I discover that I am You, and all that I called mine is You,” the Visishtadvaita commentator said, “I reached so near God as to regard I and mine as God himself.”

Salutations to Bhagavan

[eranilkumarsinha]

“some time. Sri Bhagavan smilingly replied: "Oye, Mudaliar, Grace is always flowing. But 'you'
don't come in the way."

What does this mean? To avail the grace of Sri Guru or God, 'you' i.e. one's own little I should
not come in the way! If I is conquered through self inquiry, the Grace will flow uninterruptedly.
We should be a fit vessel to receive Sri Bhagavan's Grace. If one takes a spoon, he will get
only spoonful of grace. If one takes a big drum, he will get drum full of Grace. All depends on
how much we have progressed in our self inquiry or self-surrender.”
                                                           Sri Subramanian Sir
“In the same way, this requirement of grace will remain so long we feel different from Bhagavan” (Sri Nagaraj Ji)


Dear Sri Subramanian Sir and Sri Nagaraj Ji,

Yes, both of you have said it beautifully. The requirement of Grace will remain so long as we feel different from Sri Bhagwan. All depends on how much we have progressed in our Enquiry or Surrender. Both statements, in my view, mean the same thing.

Grace is always flowing but spurious ‘You’ or ‘I’ comes in the way. But all the same, it is always flowing towards one and all. There is no time when it is not following. It all depends on how much capacity we have developed to assimilate the Grace. Greater the capacity, greater the ability to assimilate the Grace.

God’s or Guru’s Grace is always flowing. Even success in Enquiry, or Surrender or for that matter in any sadhana, is not the precedent condition for the flowing of Lord’s Grace. It is always flowing. But of course, our own development is required to be able to assimilate fully the ever-flowing Grace of the Lord or the Guru.   

Devotee: In actual practice I find I am not able to succeed in my efforts. Unless Bhagwan’s grace descends on me I cannot succeed.
Sri Bhagwan : Guru’s Grace is always there. You imagine it is something, somewhere high up in the sky, far away, and has to descend. IT IS REALLY INSIDE YOU, IN YOUR HEART, AND THE MOMENT (BY ANY METHODS) YOU EFFECT SUBSIDENCE OR MERGER OF THE MIND INTO ITS SOURCE, THE GRACE RUSHES FORTH, SPROUTING AS FROM A SPRING, FROM WITHIN YOU.  (P. 28, Day by Day with Bhagwan)

Therefore, rather than bemoaning about the lack of Grace, we should make whole-hearted effort by chosen method or practice to bring about subsidence or merger of the mind in its source. This is how practice or effort is of paramount importance for one seeking to tap Guru’s Grace and attain Self-realisation. In my view, when love in the heart is added, for God or the Self, to the steadfast practice or adherence of the Enquiry or Surrender, as taught by Sri Bhagwan, the Grace, indeed, rushes forth, sprouting as from a spring, from within us. It is not external to us. It is the Self.

Thank you so much, sir.

Regards,
 Anil       

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear devotees,

In the ‘Day by Day with Bhagwan’ on P. 90-91, Entry dtd. 4.1.46 Morning, Sri Bhagwan read out the following extracts of Sri Paul Brunton from a small pamphlet called ‘Divine Grace through Total Surrender’:

“Divine grace is a manifestation of the cosmic free- will in operation. It can alter the course of events in a mysterious manner through its own unknown laws, which are superior to all natural laws, and can modify the latter by interaction. It is the most powerful force in the universe.
It descends and acts, only when it is invoked by total self-surrender. It acts from within, because God resides in the heart of all things. Its whisper can be heard only in a mind purified by self-surrender and prayer.”

Sri Paul Brunton further describes the nature if the Grace thus :
“Rationalists laugh at it and atheists scorn it, but it exists. It is descent of force unexpected and unpredictable. It is a voice spoken out of cosmic silence….  . It is cosmic will which can perform authentic miracles under its own laws.”

Therefore, Grace can perform authentic miracles under its own ‘unknown laws’, which is superior to all natural laws, in a mysterious manner. But It acts only when it is invoked by total self-surrender, implying effort on the part of the devotees or the aspirants, to bring about the subsidence of the mind or its merger in its source.

REMEMBRANCE IS THE FORERUNNER. 
Thank you,
  Anil
     

[eranilkumarsinha]

Great sages have given great hints to seekers through such expressions as following :
“I am remembering without forgetting.”
“I am worshipping without becoming separate.”
“I am thinking without thinking.”
I am telling without telling.”
I am listening without listening.’

Dear devotees, I feel that the above expressions by great Sages contain great
hints for the earnest seekers. How will you explain the meaning and significance
of these expressions? Would you like to share your invaluable views regarding these with me?

Thank You,
   Anil         

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Please see this portion from Talks:

Devotee: Is a Master necessary for realization?

Bhagavan: Realization is the result of the Master's Grace more than teachings, lectures,
meditations etc., They are only secondary aids whereas the former is the primary and essential
cause.



Arunachala Siva..     

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear Devotees,

‘I am’ is God. We all have this ‘I am’ as our basic sense of Existence. This Consciousness of ‘I am’ is the ultimate and only Reality. All the ever-changing states of birth, death, waking, sleeping, dreaming, etc. are taking place within this Consciousness. But while these changes are taking place, the pure Consciousness Itself remains unchanging, for it is unchangeable. So, ‘I am’ is the Self and the Source of all speech and actions.

Therefore, he who is holding on to that and that alone, or the one who is established in this ‘I am’, he remains as the Witness, or as the Presence, or as the Illumination, or as the Knowledge, of all happenings without judging them and without identifying with them in any way.

This is the state of Pure Silence, Sri Bhagwan speaks of. Sri Bhagwan says that ‘to be’ means that Silence and that Silence means to be ever active and to be ever speaking. How ?

When once Sri Annamalai Swami expressed doubt to the effect as to how Silence is the equivalent of ceaseless speech and ceaseless action, Sri Bhagwan responds to the question thus :

Sri Bhagwan : Can you see that ‘I am’ ?
Sri Annamalai Swami : Yes, I can see.
Sri Bhagwan : How do you see ?
Sri Swami confessed that he did not know how it was seen.
Sri Bhagwan : Just like that, ‘to be still’ means ‘to be ever working’.
                                                                                     Living by the Words of Bhagwan

Therefore, in my view, the one who is established in ‘I am’, is the Presence, or Witness, or Knowledge. Therefore, he sees without rising as the ego-mind. In the state of Pure Being, he remains as Witness of all events—of all rising, of all thinking, of all doing. Hence, being Witness or the Presence, he is ever remembering without forgetting, ever worshipping without becoming separate, ever thinking without thinking, ever telling without telling, ever listening without listening.

Sri Bhagwan says that Silence means to shine always as That, as the Self.  Therefore, only Silence is ever working, ever speaking, ever worshipping, ever listening—EVER SEEING.

SEER IS ONE. WITNESS IS ONE. HENCE, SRI BHAGWAN SAYS, “SEE THAT WHO SEES.”

Thank You,
   Anil
         

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Bhagwan says :

“It is false to speak of Realisation. What is there to realise? The real is as it is, ever. How to real-ise it? All that is required is this. We have real-ised the unreal, i.e. regarded as real what is unreal. We have to give up this attitude. That is all that is required for us to attain jnana. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this: We dig a well and create a huge pit. The akasa in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the akasa there. The akasa was there then, and is also there now. Similarly, we have simply to throw out all the age-old samaskaras which are inside us, and when all of them have been given up, the Self will shine, alone.” He also said, “Mukti. Jnana, dhyana is our real nature. They are other name for the Self.”
                                                                            Day by Day with Bhagwan, P. 102-103

Dear Devotees,

What does ‘keeping the mind in the source’ mean ? It is simple understanding that it never really existed. Therefore, the above quoted Teaching means that it is enough if we can simply relax in this ‘I am’. We must always remember that everything is happening in this ‘I am’, in this Consciousness only. So, relaxing in this ‘I am’ and remaining indifferent to whatever happens in this Consciousness is the key to Realisation. Then understanding will dawn that we are the Consciousness Itself , and not the thoughts, feelings, emotions, concepts, joys, and sorrows, et all, which appear and disappear seemingly in the Consciousness.  After all, we remain indifferent to many happenings, in and around us, good or bad, because we think that they are not happening to us. Similarly, if we can remain as the Consciousness ‘I am’ without identifying, judging, comparing, etc. the myriad things that come and go in the mind, it is enough. Now, do not say that we are not aware of the Consciousness ‘I am’. For, we cannot deny our existence.  Only thing is our attention is turned to second and third persons. That is why “Who am I?” question is so important. It first enables the seekers to attend to the first person and then to relax in the Consciousness ‘I am’.  IF ONE CAN RELAX IN THIS CONSCIUSNESS,  THIS ‘I AM’, IT IS ENOUGH. For always being the Self, we see everything else.
Sri Bhagwan says, “See the Seer and everything will be found to be Self.”

Dear devotees, first of all what is most important, in my view, IS TO GET ONESELF THROUGHLY AWAKENED TO THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE INDWELLING REALITY, THAT IS, TO THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF ONE’S BEING, THAT IS, THE CONSCIOUSNESS ‘I AM’. And when it comes to awareness of one’s ‘being’, there is nothing like Atma-Vichara or the Self-enquiry, as taught by Sri Bhagwan, in all the three worlds.

Thank You,
   Anil     

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

I am ness is the pure experience of the Self, where there is no ego.
It can never be 'seen'. It can only be experienced.



Arunachala Siva. 

[eranilkumarsinha]

“I am ness is the pure experience of the Self, where there is no ego.
It can never be 'seen'. It can only be experienced.”
                                                                                 Sri Subramanian sir

Dear Sri Subramanian Sir,

Ji. Yes. Undoubtedly. Pratyaksha does not mean seeing but Be-ing. Sri Bhagwan says that “To Be” is to realise—hence I AM THAT I AM. ‘I AM’ is Siva. Therefore, enquiring “Who am I?”, sinking deep within, and abiding as the Self, is Siva as Be-ing.

Besides, all of us have this “I AM” as our most fundamental sense of existing or ‘being’. Sri Bhagwan teaches to hold on to this very basic sense of our existence or being, that is, ‘I am’. So, Vichara is the process as well as the Goal. For, ‘I am’ is the final Reality. To hold it with effort is Vichara and when the abidance in It is spontaneous and natural it is Realisation.

Therefore, “I am” is ever present, beyond rising and setting, one without a second. I am this or that is the form of the ego which is ephemeral content of the Consciousness “I am”. HENCE, WHEN ONE ABIDES AS “I AM” ALONE IT IS THE SELF. WHEN IT FLIES AT A TANGENT AND SAYS I AM ANIL IT IS THE EGO.

Thank you so much, sir.

Regards,
   Anil     

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Sri Bhagavan says in AAMM Verse 54:

NaNilai naadita nanai onRi nee
Thaanuvai ninRanai Arunachala.

When I approached you to become one with you, O Arunachala, you
were not ashamed but stood unmoving like a pillar.

Yes. Siva is called Sthaanu [Thaanu] in Sri Rudram. He is actionless
pillar. When the seeker approaches Him, He simply stands devouring
the seeker.



Arunachala Siva.