Self-enquiry as taught by Sri Bhagwan is enough

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

When one is in deep sleep, he does not know whether he is in Tiruvannamalai or in Patna. He does not know whether it is
12 midnight or 2 am. There is no time and space, without the mind.

NaminRi Nadethu, NaLethu,  says Sri Bhagavan.



Arunachala Siva.
 

[eranilkumarsinha]

“When one is in deep sleep, he does not know whether he is in Tiruvannamalai or in Patna. He does not know whether it is
12 midnight or 2 am. There is no time and space, without the mind.” 
                                                                      (Quote: Sri Subramanian Sir)

Dear Sri Subramanian Sir,

The mind is merely merged and not destroyed in the deep sleep. In deep sleep, one does not know whether he is in Tiruvannamalai or in Patna, and he is not aware of the world. But as soon as one wakes up, lo, one finds Patna and himself in the world. As soon as I wake up, I say that I am so and so and recognise the world and so on. That which is seen is the world. What is the eye that sees it ? Sri Bhagwan says that it is the ego which rises and sinks periodically. But we exist always. That which lies beyond the ego is the Consciousness. Therefore, we are the Self.

Dear sir, what is the destruction of the mind ? Sri Bhagwan says that it is merely non-recognition of its being apart from the Self. EVEN NOW THE MIND IS WHAT IS NOT. But then how the everyday activities go on if the mind is not ? Sri Bhagwan says that they go on automatically. THE MIND THAT CLAIMS ITSELF AS THE PROMOTER AND DOER OF THE ACTIVITES IS NOT REAL BUT A PHANTOM PROCEEDING FROM THE SELF.

Sri Bhagwan says in Talk—25 that the emergence and disappearance of the world are like the spider producing a gossamer web and then withdrawing it. The spider underlies all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleep. Such spider in the man is called the Self. Similarly in respect of the world, the spider is Brahman. However Sri Bhagwan says that He that is in the man is the same as He that is in the world. Therefore, the Self is verily the Brahman.

Thank you so much, sir.

Regards,
  Anil   

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

It is, as you correctly said, not destruction of mind, but merely a suspended animation of mind.  The destruction of mind should
take place, through serious atma vichara, in the wakeful state.



Arunachala Siva.

[eranilkumarsinha]

“It is, as you correctly said, not destruction of mind, but merely a suspended animation of mind. The destruction of mind should
take place, through serious atma vichara, in the wakeful state.”
                                                                 Quote: Sri Subramanian Sir, Re. 1559

“Dear sir, what is the destruction of the mind ? Sri Bhagwan says that it is merely non-recognition of its being apart from the Self. EVEN NOW THE MIND IS WHAT IS NOT. But then how the everyday activities go on if the mind is not ? Sri Bhagwan says that they go on automatically. THE MIND THAT CLAIMS ITSELF AS THE PROMOTER AND DOER OF THE ACTIVITES IS NOT REAL BUT A PHANTOM PROCEEDING FROM THE SELF. “
                                                                     Quote: My post, Re. 1558


Dear Sri Subramanian Sir,

Ji. Yes. Thank you so much, sir. Therefore, in whatever way we look at the problem, SEARCHING SELF-ENQUIRY IS THE SOLUTION, IS THE WAY. That is exactly what happened before ‘Mahanirvana’, and that is exactly what is happening now when Sri Bhagwan’s Austere Silence and Sun-like Resplendent Gaze pierced one’s heart. It invariably turned one’s eyes and attention inward  in a searching Self-enquiry.

“Who am I ?” Sri Bhagwan’s life, His gait, His posture—sitting or standing—His talk—His Teaching—everything concerning Sri Bhagwan posed this very question before all. A great serenity descends on one the moment one asks this question. So, Dr. T.M. P. Mahadevan says that Sri Bhagwan is the Prophet of the Self-enquiry.

Dear sir, mind is inert like the object. It does not have light of its own. But unlike the object, mind is capable of reflecting the light of intelligence, which in truth is the Self Itself. In the Pancadasi, the object is compared to a plastered wall and the mind to a mirror set therein. The mirror illumines the plastered wall by the reflected sunlight. So also, THE MIND KNOWS THE OBJECT, BEING ENDOWED WITH THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE SELF.

Regards,
  Anil         

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Yes. Sri Bhagavan was the walking embodiment of Siva-swarupam. He exudes Peace towards every sincere seeker. This exuding
peace and piercing gaze made Him a true complete guru.



Arunachala Siva. 

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear Sri Subramanian Sir,

“Isvaro gururatmeti.” The Self is God and Guru. Sri Bhagwan often said that God responds to the prayers of parched souls by appearing in human form only in order to speak in the language of His devotees and make them understand the Reality. Therefore, Sri Bhagwan is Lord Sri Arunachala manifest as the human Guru. By the power of His Realisation, He gives out His Experience so that His devotees may also gain It. His Experience is to abide as the Self. But the Self is within. So, He, by His powerful Gaze, Utterances and Conduct, pushes the mind of His adoring devotees Self-ward. And again, He, being in truth none other than the Self, pulls the mind of His devotees within.

IT FOLLOWS THEREFORE THAT GOD, GURU AND THE SELF ARE SEEMING STAGES IN THE REALISATION OF THE SELF. 
                                         Lord Sri Arunachala (GOD)
                                                        |                                         
     Adi Guru Sri Dakshinamurti, Sri Shankara, Bhagwan Sri Ramana (GURU)
                                                        |
                                                 The Self (SELF)

Thank you so much, sir.

Regards,
  Anil       

[Nagaraj]

Dear Anil Ji, Subramanian Sir

yes, this is another most beautiful quote

ॐ इश्वरो गुरुरात्मेति मूतिर्भेदिवभागिने । व्योमवद्व्यप्तदेहाय दिक्षणामूतर्ये

Ishwara, Guru and the Self are identical

Thanks you for bringing this quote its one of my favourites

Salutations to Bhagavan

[Subramanian.R]

The outward guru pushes you inside. The inward Guru pulls you from within. Both ensure that you reach the God or the Self.



Arunachala Siva.

[eranilkumarsinha]

          Knowledge of Brahman

Are understanding and Brahman separate
That one may know the other?
Verily, all knowledge is only Brahman:
Saying even this is Brahman,
There is naught but Brahman.

By the Light of Brahman
Seek the Light of Brahman.
By the Light of Brahman,
Know the paradox of seeing Brahman.

Are you apart from Brahman?
Yea, it is Brahman’s Light
Which gives life to the mind
That seems to know the separation.

Light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance,
Pleasure and pain, good and evil,
Freedom and bondage, microcosm and macrocosm,
Heaven and hell, God and soul,
Yin and Yang, Up and down,
In and out, past and future
Falsehood and truth,
What are any of these but concepts
Born of mind, like twins of the same womb?
And what is mind but the concept, “I am a mind?”
All of these dualities, even the finite and infinite,
Even life and death
Are only of the mind.
                                                            By Ira, Source: Ramana Smrti

Dear Devotees,

Not only is the suffering ‘I’ not ‘we’, but on enquiry that which we call ego-‘I’ simply vanishes. Why ? Because illusion cannot stand the search-light of the sustained Enquiry.
I-ness does not really belong to the ego. We must never forget that the I-ness of the ego is borrowed. I-NESS BELONGS TO THE SELF, THE TRUTH OF OUR BEING.
“Show me the mind and I will strike it down.” What is the meaning of this sublime statement ? The meaning is that the mind, as we understand it, is intangible, and is only the aggregate of thoughts with a central thought ‘I am so and so’.

Since the origin of the mind is Heart, it is naturally pure. However, when there are latent tendencies, the mind cannot rest in the source but must perforce get externalised.

We may say that the mind comprises of two parts, the pure and infinite ‘I am’, which represents its consciousness content and ‘so and so’ adjunct, which is inert and limits the Consciousness of ‘I am’ to the individual consciousness. SINCE IT IS THE QUESTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR TRUE EXISTENCE, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO EMPHASISE THIS CONSCIOUSNESS CONTENT OF THE MIND, FOR IT IS THE INFALLIBLE SCENT AND THE BRIDGE BACK TO THE HEART.

Our present attention is riveted, almost exclusively, to the portion or the part which does not matter, the sense of separate individuality and its connected thoughts. What is urgently needed is to switch the attention form “so and so, or this and that, or …..” on to ‘I am’ alone by the Enquiry or other appropriate method.

Thank You,
     Anil       

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Question:  Does the mind die gradually or suddenly?

Annamalai Swami: One answer is: When the Sun comes up, does darkness disappear suddenly or gradually?

Sri Bhagavan, speaking on this topic, once remarked, "Some one mistakes a rope hanging in the darkness for a snake.
He then asks how many years it will take for the snake to die."

This a better answer: If the mind does not exist, it cannot die either quickly or slowly.




Arunachala Siva.

[eranilkumarsinha]

“Sri Bhagavan, speaking on this topic, once remarked, "Some one mistakes a rope hanging in the darkness for a snake.
He then asks how many years it will take for the snake to die."

This a better answer: If the mind does not exist, it cannot die either quickly or slowly.”


Dear Sri Subramanian Sir,

My submission is that the person in the story, who mistook an innocent rope for a snake, should have first made some enquiry, with regard to its identity, before getting unduly alarmed, like whether it is a snake or something else, whether its hissing sound is there or not, whether he himself has left a rope hanging or not, and so on. He could even manage to see it in the light. But enquiry is what he should have first made before reaching the conclusion that it is a snake and getting so dismayed as to ask how many years it would take for the snake to die.

Dear sir, likewise, we should also make enquiry as to what the mind is and see for ourselves that there never was a mind, or it, in truth, never existed at all. And that I alone exist, for “I AM THAT I AM”.

 Thank you so much, sir.

Regards,
  Anil   

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Like the snake the mind does not exist at all  in the first place. What we call as mind is only collection of thoughts. When these
thoughts become nil, then the mind which is not at existing, becomes the Self.



Arunachala Siva.

[Nagaraj]

I'd like to add another point of view too, here -

Like how we need another thorn to remove the first thorn, when this discernment happens that, the first thorn never really is, was, there is no more need of the second thorn as well! The second thorn needs to be discarded. Second thorn is as good as the first one!

This is simple pure awareness of the reality.

Here "Knowing" is discerning that the first thorn never really is, and, "Being" is discarding the second thorn and just being by discerning the reality of the second thorn as well, which we usually fail to do discern!

Having known, we have to remain with this Discernment! We generally get addicted with the second thorn and keep holding on to it for ever and have countless Births. We need that 100% conviction that root has been seen and convinced that it is not there, and, then live by "that" AS IS

Salutations to Bhagavan

[eranilkumarsinha]

“Like the snake the mind does not exist at all in the first place. What we call as mind is only collection of thoughts. When these
thoughts become nil, then the mind which is not at existing, becomes the Self.”
                                                                       (Quote: Sri Subramanian Sir)

“I'd like to add another point of view too, here -

Like how we need another thorn to remove the first thorn, when this discernment happens that, the first thorn never really is, was, there is no more need of the second thorn as well! The second thorn needs to be discarded. Second thorn is as good as the first one!

This is simple pure awareness of the reality.

Here "Knowing" is discerning that the first thorn never really is, and, "Being" is discarding the second thorn and just being by discerning the reality of the second thorn as well, which we usually fail to do discern!

Having known, we have to remain with this Discernment! We generally get addicted with the second thorn and keep holding on to it for ever and have countless Births. We need that 100% conviction that root has been seen and convinced that it is not there, and, then live by "that" AS IS”
                                                                               (Quote: Sri Nagaraj Ji)


Dear Sri Subramanian Sir and Sri Nagaraj Ji,

Dear Sri Subramanian sir, Ji, yes, mind is naturally pure. It is contaminated by the latent tendencies. Latent tendencies make the mind impure, and as a consequence, it is externalised. Thoughts can become nil, as you said, only by the destruction the tendencies (vasanas). A mind, divested of tendencies and consequently of thoughts, is the Pure and the Silent Mind, which is verily the Self. Thank you so much, sir.

Dear Sri Nagaraj Ji, yes, this is a great insight. Thank you so much, sir. First thorn is the attention to the second and third person objects and thoughts. Attention to the second and third persons implies a rising, a doing or a ‘kriya’. Second thorn is the Self-attention or attention on to the first person and the first person alone, which is not a doing, or a rising as the ego, or a kriya. First person attention itself is ‘being’.  Dear Sri Nagaraj Ji, I appreciated following lines from your post greatly.   
“Here "Knowing" is discerning that the first thorn never really is, and, "Being" is discarding the second thorn and just being by discerning the reality of the second thorn as well, which we usually fail to do discern!”
Yes, knowing is discerning that that there never was an individual ‘I’, the second thorn, so to say. And with this conviction one remains as one naturally is, discarding all thorns and obstacles, immersed in the Bliss of the Atma-swarupa, as mere Being. That is the Goal. That is the culmination of the sadhana. That is being still and knowing that ‘I am God’ or ‘I AM THAT I AM’.

Dear Sri Subramanian sir and sri Nagaraj Ji, I once again express my heart-felt gratitude for your insightful posts. Thank you once again.

Regards,
  Anil   

[Subramanian.R]

Dear Anil,

Yes. Sri Bhagavan has said in one of the Talks, that Pure Mind is the Self. Suddha Manas = Suddha Sivam.



Arunachala Siva.