Self-enquiry as taught by Sri Bhagwan is enough

[eranilkumarsinha]

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi:

"An examination of the ephemeral nature of external phenomena leads to vairagya (dispassion). Hence enquiry (vichara) is the first and foremost step to be taken. When vichara (Enquiry) continues automatically, it results in a contempt for wealth, fame, ease, pleasure, etc. The 'I' thought becomes clearer for inspection. The source of 'I' is the Heart - the final goal. If, however, the aspirant is not temperamentally suited to Vichara Marga (to the introspective analytical method or the path of Enquiry)), he must develop bhakti (devotion) to an ideal - may be God, Guru, humanity in general, ethical laws, or even the idea of beauty. When one of these takes possession of the individual, other attachments grow weaker, i.e., dispassion (vairagya) develops. Attachment for the ideal simultaneously grows and finally holds the field. Thus ekagrata (concentration) grows simultaneously and imperceptibly - with or without visions and direct aids."

"In the absence of enquiry and devotion, the natural sedative pranayama (breath regulation) may be tried. This is known as Yoga Marga (path of yoga). If life is imperilled the whole interest centres round the one point, the saving of life. If the breath is held the mind cannot afford to (and does not) jump at its pets - external objects. Thus there is rest for the mind so long as the breath is held. All attention being turned on breath or its regulation, other interests are lost. Again, passions are attended with irregular breathing, whereas calm and happiness are attended with slow and regular breathing. Paroxysm of joy is in fact as painful as one of pain, and both are accompanied by ruffled breaths. Real peace is happiness. Pleasures do not form happiness. The mind improves by practice and becomes finer just as the razor's edge is sharpened by stropping. The mind is then better able to tackle internal or external problems. If an aspirant be unsuited temperamentally for the first two methods and circumstantially (on account of age) for the third method, he must try the Karma Marga (path of action, i.e., doing good deeds, for example, social service). His nobler instincts become more evident and he derives impersonal pleasure. His smaller self is less assertive and has a chance of expanding its good side. The man becomes duly equipped for one of the three aforesaid paths. His intuition may also develop directly by this single method."
Talk--27

[eranilkumarsinha]

"In the Heart of every living creature the self-shining real Self shines by its own light [of consciousness] as 'I'. Hence, everyone knows himself to be real. Who is there in the world of men who says, "I do not exist!"
V. 166, Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad ( The Supreme Science as of the Self as Taught by Sri Ramana)


Thus it is made clear that the Self is self-revealed. This means that knowledge of the Self is by direct experience and not by inference. But many philosophers seem to be unaware of this.
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The philosopher Descartes famously concluded in his "I think therefore I exist (I am)" statement that thought was a proof of being. Bhagwan Sri Ramana ridiculed this assertion in the following statement that was recorded by Sri Lakshmana Sarma

"The existence of their own Self is inferred by some from mental functioning, by the reasoning, 'I think, therefore I am'. These men are like those dull-witted ones who ignore the elephant when it goes past, and become convinced afterwards by looking at the footprints!"
V. 166, Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad (The Supreme Science as of the Self as Taught by Sri Rama
...


Devotee: Why does not Sri Bhagavan direct us to practise concentration on some particular centre or chakra?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yoga sastras (scriptures) say that the sahasrara or the brain is the seat of the Self. Purushasukta declares that the heart is its seat. To enable the sadhaka to steer clear of possible doubt, I tell him to take up the 'thread' or the clue of 'I'-ness or 'I-am'-ness and follow it up its source. Because, firstly it is impossible for anybody to entertain any doubt about his 'I'-notion; secondly whatever be the sadhana (spiritual practice) adopted, the final goal is the realization of the source of 'I-am'-ness which is the primary datum of your experience.
If you, therefore, practise atma vichara (Self-enquiry) you will reach the heart which is the Self.
Source: Maharshi's Gospel

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Paul Brunton mused thus: The realization forces itself through my wonderment that all my questions are moves in an endless game, the play of thoughts which possess no limit to their extent; that somewhere within me there is a well of certitude which can provide me with all the waters of truth I require; and that it will be better to cease my questioning and attempt to realize the tremendous potencies of my own spiritual nature. So I remain silent and wait.

For almost half an hour the Maharishee's eyes continue to stare straight in front of him in a fixed, unmoving gaze. He appears to have forgotten me, but I am perfectly aware that the sublime realization which has suddenly fallen upon me is nothing else than a spreading ripple of telepathic radiation from this mysterious and imperturbable man.

Sri Brunton writes: On another visit he finds me in a pessimistic mood. He tells me of the glorious goal which waits for the man who takes to the way he has shown.

Sri Paul Brunton pleaded: "But, Maharishee, this path is full of difficulties and I am so conscious of my own weaknesses.?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana answers unmoved: "That is the surest way to handicap oneself, this burdening of one's mind with the fear of failure and the thought of one's failings."

Sri Brunton persists: "Yet if it is true ? "

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: " It is not true. The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What are weak and evil are his habits, his desires and thoughts, but not himself."

Sri Brunton writes: His words come as an invigorating tonic. They refresh and inspire me. From another man's lips, from some lesser and feebler soul, I would refuse to accept them at such worth and would persist in refuting them. But an inward monitor assures me that the sage speaks out of the depths of a great and authentic spiritual experience, and not as some theorizing philosopher mounted on the thin stilts of speculation.

Another time, when we are discussing the West, I make the retort:

Sri Brunton: " It is easy for you to attain and keep spiritual serenity in this jungle retreat, where there is nothing to disturb or distract you."

Comes the calm rejoinder.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: "When the goal is reached, when you know the Knower, there is no difference between living in a house in London and living in the solitude of a jungle."

Sri Brunton observed thus: And once I criticized the Indians for their neglect of material development.

Source: The Maharshi And His Message (Org. A Search In Secret India)

[eranilkumarsinha]

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Pure Consciousness wholly unrelated to the physical body and transcending the mind is a matter of direct experience. Sages know their bodiless, eternal Existence just as the layman knows his bodily existence. But the experience of Consciousness can be with bodily awareness as well as without it. In the bodiless experience of Pure Consciousness the Sage is beyond time and space, and no question about the position of the heart can then at all arise. Since, however, the physical body cannot subsist (with life) apart from Consciousness, bodily awareness has to be sustained by Pure Consciousness. The former, by its nature, is limited to and can never be co-extensive with the latter which is infinite and eternal. Body-consciousness is merely a monad-like, miniature reflection of the Pure Consciousness with which the Sage has realised his identity. For him, therefore, body-consciousness is only a reflected ray, as it were, of the Self-effulgent, Infinite Consciousness which is himself. It is in this sense alone that the Sage is aware of his bodily existence. Since, during the bodiless experience of the heart as Pure Consciousness, the Sage is not at all aware of the body, that absolute experience is localized by him within the limits of the physical body by a sort of feeling-recollection made while he is with bodily awareness.

Devotee: For men like me, who have neither the direct experience of the heart nor the consequent recollection, the matter seems to be somewhat difficult to grasp. About the position of the heart itself, perhaps, we must depend on some sort of guesswork.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: If the determination of the position of the heart is to depend on guesswork even in the case of the layman, the question is surely not worth much consideration. No, it is not on guesswork that you have to depend, it is on an unerring intuition.

Devotee: For whom is the intuition?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: For one and all.

Devotee: Does Sri Bhagavan credit me with an intuitive knowledge of the heart?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: No, not of the heart, but of the position of the heart in relation to your identity.

Devotee: Sri Bhagavan says that I intuitively know the position of the heart in the physical body?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Why not ?

Devotee: (Pointing to himself) It is to me personally--that Sri Bhagavan is referring?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Yes. That is the intuition! How did you refer to yourself by gesture just now? Did you not put your finger on the right side of the chest? That is exactly the place of the heart-centre.

Devotee: So then, in the absence of direct knowledge of the heart-centre, I have to depend on this intuition?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: What is wrong with it? When a schoolboy says 'It is I that did the sum correctly', or when he asks you, 'Shall I run and get the book for you', would he point out to the head that did the sum correctly, or to the legs that will carry him swiftly to get you the book? No, in both cases, his finger is pointed quite naturally towards the right side of the chest, thus giving innocent expression to the profound truth that the source of 'I'-ness in him is there. It is an unerring intuition that makes him refer to himself, to the heart which is the Self, in that way. The act is quite involuntary and universal, that is to say, it is the same in the case of every individual. What stronger proof than this do you require about the position of the heart-centre in the physical body?

Source: Maharshi's Gospel

[eranilkumarsinha]

"You are the Light of the light,"
He assured me with these words, dear friend,
As I gazed at him with purified intent.
Like the solitary moon
I too merged into vast emptiness.
Like a full moon, brimming and intoxicated
I emptied into a radiant, infinite sky.
The five elements receded under his intent Gaze....
Source: Mountain Path (Orig. Transgressing Boundaries, The advaitic Songs of Shenkottai Avudai Akkal Padal Tirattu)
...




Dr. Bernhard Bey, an American Chemist who had interested himself in Vedanta for the last twenty years, now in India, came on a visit to the Master. He asked: "How is abhyasa (spiritual practice) to be made? I am trying to find the Light." (He himself explained abhyasa as concentration = one-pointedness of mind.)

The Master asked, what was his abhyasa (practice) till now.

The visitor said he concentrated on the nasal base, but his mind wandered.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Is there a mind?

Another devotee gently put in: The mind is only a collection of thoughts.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: To whom are the thoughts? If you try to locate the mind, the mind vanishes and the Self alone remains. Being alone, there can be no one-pointedness or otherwise.

Devotee: It is so difficult to understand this. If something concrete is said, it can be readily grasped. Japa (chanting), dhyana (meditation), etc., are more concrete.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: 'Who am I?' is the best japa (incantation). What could be more concrete than the Self? It is within each one's experience every moment. Why should he try to catch anything outside, leaving out the Self? Let each one try to find out the known Self instead of searching for the unknown something beyond.

Devotee: Where shall I meditate on the Atman? I mean in which part of the body?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: The Self should manifest itself. That is all that is wanted.

A devotee gently added: On the right of the chest, there is the Heart, the seat of the Atman. Another devotee: The illumination is in that Centre when the Self is realised.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Quite so.

Devotee: How to turn the mind away from the world?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Is there the world? I mean apart from the Self? Does the world say that it exists? It is you who say that there is a world. Find out the Self who says it.
Talk--81

[eranilkumarsinha]

The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine they should see God as if he stood there and they here. God and I are one in Knowledge. The eye with which I see God is the same as that with which he sees me.
Meister Eckhart (The great German Theologian, Philosopher and Mystic)
...




Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Grief exists only so long as one considers oneself to be of a definite form. If the form is transcended one will know that the one Self is eternal. There is no death nor birth. That which is born is only the body. The body is the creation of the ego. But the ego is not ordinarily perceived without the body. It is always identified with the body. It is the thought which matters. Let the sensible man consider if he knew his body in deep sleep. Why does he feel it in the waking state? But, although the body was not felt in sleep, did not the Self exist then? How was he in deep sleep? How is he when awake? What is the difference? Ego rises up and that is waking. Simultaneously thoughts arise. Let him find out to whom are the thoughts. Wherefrom do they arise? They must spring up from the conscious Self. Apprehending it even vaguely helps the extinction of the ego. Thereafter the realisation of the one Infinite Existence becomes possible. In that state there are no individuals other than the Eternal Existence. Hence there is no thought of death or wailing.
?If a man considers he is born he cannot avoid the fear of death. Let him find out if he has been born or if the Self has any birth. He will discover that the Self always exists, that the body which is born resolves itself into thought and that the emergence of thought is the root of all mischief. Find wherefrom thoughts emerge. Then you will abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.?

A disciple asked how to do it.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: The thoughts are only vasanas (predispositions), accumulated in innumerable births before. Their annihilation is the aim. The state free from vasanas (predispositions) is the primal state and eternal state of purity.

Devotee: It is not clear yet.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Everyone is aware of the eternal Self. He sees so many dying but still believes himself eternal. Because it is the Truth. Unwillingly the natural Truth asserts itself. The man is deluded by the intermingling of the conscious Self with the insentient body. This delusion must end.

Devotee: How will it end?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: That which is born must end. The delusion is only concomitant with the ego. It rises up and sinks. But the Reality never rises nor sinks. It remains Eternal. The master who has realised says so; the disciple hears, thinks over the words and realises the Self. There are two ways of putting it. The ever-present Self needs no efforts to be realised, Realisation is already there. Illusion alone is to be removed. Some say the word from the mouth of the Master removes it instantaneously. Others say that meditation, etc., are necessary for realisation. Both are right; only the standpoints differ.
Talk--80

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Avudai Akkal exults about Self-illumination in a divine song thus:

There is neither a caste nor creed there,
Neither a beginning, a middle nor an end there,
There is no delusional night of ignorance,
There is no need to open one?s mouth to talk,
Neither is there any silent will operating there:
It is freedom, unalloyed, indestructible,
Eternal Fullness, ever pure--
This is indeed a rapturous wonder,
This is indeed a rapturous wonder!
...............................................................................

Question: What is Samadhi (state of Self-absorption)?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The state in which the unbroken experience of existence-consciousness is attained by the still mind, alone is samadhi. That still mind which is adorned with the attainment of the limitless supreme Self, alone is the reality of God. When the mind is in communion with the Self in darkness, it is called nidra [sleep], that is, the immersion of the mind in ignorance. Immersion in a conscious or wakeful state is called samadhi. Samadhi is continuous inherence in the Self in a waking state. Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self but in an unconscious state. In sahaja samadhi the communion is continuous.
Question: What are kevala nirvikalpa samadhi and sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: The immersion of the mind in the Self, but without its destruction, is kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. In this state one is not free from vasanas and so one does not therefore attain mukti (liberation). Only after the vasanas (predispositions) have been destroyed can one attain liberation.
Question: When can one practise sahaja samadhi?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Even from the beginning. Even though one practises kevala nirvikalpa samadhi for years together, if one has not rooted out the vasanas one will not attain liberation.
Question: May I have a clear idea of the difference between savikalpa and nirvikalpa?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Holding on to the supreme state is samadhi. When it is with effort due to mental disturbances, it is savikalpa. When these disturbances are absent, it is nirvikalpa. Remaining permanently in the primal state without effort is sahaja.
Question: Is nirvikalpa samadhi absolutely necessary before the attainment of sahaja?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Abiding permanently in any of these samadhis, either savikalpa or nirvikatpa, is sahaja [the natural state]. What is body-consciousness? It is the insentient body plus consciousness. Both of these must lie in another consciousness which is absolute and unaffected and which remains as it always is, with or without the body-consciousness. What does it then matter whether the body-consciousness is lost or retained, provided one is holding on to that pure consciousness? Total absence of body-consciousness has the advantage of making the samadhi more intense, although it makes no difference to the knowledge of the supreme.
Source: Be As You Are

Glossary:
Samadhi: the state of Self-absorption, in which (as defined by Sri Bhagavan) "there is only the feeling 'I am' and no thoughts".
Kevala nirvikalpa samadhi: a temporary state of samadhi or Self-absorption.
Sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi: the permanent and natural state of samadhi or complete Self -absorption.

[eranilkumarsinha]

Question: The Heart is said to be on the right, on the left, or in the centre. With such differences of opinion how are we to meditate on it?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: You are and it is a fact. Dhyana [meditation] is by you, of you, and in you. It must go on where you are. It cannot be outside you. So you are the centre of dbyana (meditation) and that is the Heart.
Doubts arise only when you identify it with something tangible and physical. Heart is no conception, no object for meditation. But it is the seat of meditation. The Self remains all alone. You see the body in the Heart, the world is also in it. There is nothing separate from it. So all kinds of effort are located there only.
Question: You say the `I'-thought rises from the Heart-centre. Should we seek its source there?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: I ask you to see where the `I' arises in your body, but it is really not quite correct to say that the `I' rises from and merges in the Heart in the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for the reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it, since it alone is.
Question: Should I meditate on the right chest in order to meditate on the Heart?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: The Heart is not physical. Meditation should not be on the right or the left. Meditation should be on the Self. Everyone knows `I am'. Who is the `I'? It will be neither within nor without, neither on the right nor on the left. `I am' - that is all. Leave alone the idea of right and left. They pertain to the body. The Heart is the Self. Realize it and then you will see for yourself. There is no need to know where and what the Heart is. It will do its work if you engage in the quest for the Self.
Question: What is the Heart referred to in the verse of Upadesa Saram where it is said, `Abiding in the Heart is the best karma, yoga, bhakti and jnana?'
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which all finally merge, is the Heart referred to.
Question: How can we conceive of such a Heart?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Why should you conceive of anything ? You have only to see from where the `I' springs." That from which all thoughts of embodied beings issue forth is called the Heart. All descriptions of it are only mental concepts.
Question: There are said to be six organs of different colours in the chest, of which the Heart is said to be two finger-breadths to the right of the middle line. But the Heart is also formless. Should we then imagine it to have a shape and meditate on it?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: No. Only the quest `Who am I?' is necessary. What remains all through deep sleep and waking is the same. But in waking there is unhappiness and the effort to remove it. Asked who wakes up from sleep you say `I'. Now you are told to hold fast to this `I'. If it is done the eternal being will reveal itself. Investigation of `I' is the point and not meditation on the Heart-centre. There is nothing like within or without. Both mean either the same thing or nothing. Of course there is also the practice of meditation on the Heartcentre. It is only a practice and not investigation. Only the one who meditates on the Heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still, whereas those who meditate on other centres cannot be so aware but infer that the mind was still only after it becomes again active.
Source: Be As You Are

[eranilkumarsinha]

Question: Is the state of 'being still' a state involving effort or effortlessness?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: 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.
Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be destroyed by any other act is completely destroyed by this intense activity which is called 'silence' (mauna).

Question: What is the nature of maya (Illusion)?
Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Maya is that which makes us regard as non-existent the Self, the Reality, which is always and everywhere present, all-pervasive and Self-luminous, and as existent the individual soul (jiva), the world (jagat), and God (para) which have been conclusively proved to be non-existent at all times and places.

Question: 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?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: 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 potency of the Self (atma shakti). 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.

Question: Although the Lord is all-pervasive it appears, from passages like 'adoring him through His grace', that He can be known only through His grace. How then can the individual soul by its own efforts attain Self-realization in the absence of the Lord's grace?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: As the Lord denotes the Self and as grace means the Lord's presence or revelation, there is no time when the Lord remains unknown. If the light of the sun is invisible to the owl it is only the fault of that bird and not of the sun. Similarly, can the unawareness of the Self--which is always of the nature of awareness--by the ignorant, be other than their own fault? How can it be the fault of the Self? It is because grace is of the very nature of the Lord that He is well known as 'the blessed grace'. Therefore the Lord, whose nature itself is grace, does not have to bestow His grace. Nor is there any particular time for bestowing His grace.
Source: Spiritual Instruction

[eranilkumarsinha]

"Is there any way of adoring the Supreme which is all, except by abiding firmly as That!"
Invocation, Self-enquiry

Devotee: By practising the disciplines taught above, one may get rid of the obstacles that are in the mind, viz., ignorance, doubt, error, etc., and thereby attain quiescence of mind. Yet, there is one last doubt. After the mind has been resolved in the Heart, there is only consciousness shining as the plenary reality. When thus the mind has assumed the form of the Self, who is there to enquire? Such enquiry would result in self-worship. It would be like the story of the shepherd searching for the sheep that was all the time on his shoulders!

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The jiva (individual self) itself is Siva (God); Siva (God) Himself is the jiva (individual soul). It is true that the jiva (individual soul) is no other than Siva (God). When the grain is hidden inside the husk, it is called paddy; when it is dehusked, it is called rice. Similarly, so long as one is bound by karma one remains a jiva (individual soul); when the bond of ignorance is broken, one shines as Siva (God), the Deity. Thus declares a scriptural text. Accordingly, the jiva which is mind, is in reality the pure Self; but, forgetting this truth, it imagines itself to be an individual soul and gets bound in the shape of mind. So its search for the Self, which is itself, is like the search for the sheep by the shepherd. But still, the jiva which has forgotten itself will not become the Self through mere mediate knowledge. By the impediment caused by the residual impressions gathered in previous births, the jiva forgets again and again its identity with the Self and gets deceived, identifying itself with the body, etc. Will a person become a high officer by merely looking at him? Is it not by steady effort in that direction that he could become a highly placed officer? Similarly, the jiva, which is in bondage through mental identification with the body, etc., should put forth effort in the form of reflection on the Self in a gradual and sustained manner; and when thus the mind gets destroyed, the jiva would become the Self. The reflection on the Self which is thus practised constantly will destroy the mind, and thereafter will destroy itself like the stick that is used to kindle the cinders burning a corpse. It is this state that is called release.

Devotee: If the jiva (individual self)is by nature identical with the Self, what is it that prevents the jiva from realizing its true nature?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: It is forgetfulness of the jiva?s true nature; this is known as the power of veiling.

Devotee: If it is true that the jiva (individual soul) has forgotten itself, how does the 'I-experience' arise for all?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: The veil does not completely hide the jiva; it only hides the Self-nature of 'I' and projects the 'I am the body' notion; but it does not hide the Self's existence which is 'I', and which is real and eternal.
Source: Self-enquiry

[eranilkumarsinha]

About 8 a.m. Nagamma came into the hall and prostrated herself before Bhagavan (Sri Ramana), after having gone round the hall a few times. Bhagavan said, "Ah! you too have started going round. Have you learnt it from Ravanamma? She used to go round and round, till I spoke to her about it the other day. If one goes round like that, everybody who comes here thinks ?Apparently the proper thing here is to go round? and starts going round. Thus all people go round. After all, the proper pradakshina(circumambulation) is going round the Self, or, more accurately, to realise that we are the Self and that within us all the countless spheres revolve, going round and round, as described in the following stanza of Ribhu Gita (3rd Chapter, 39th Verse)."

An English translation of this stanza is as follows:

"Reflecting 'I am the all-blissful Self'
Is worship as with words and flowers.
True circumambulation is the thought,
'In me the million universes roll',
He who knows all beings bow to him
And he to none,
He bows before the Mahalinga-Self."

Source: 15-4-46 Morning, Day By Day With Bhagavan

[eranilkumarsinha]

Devotee: If the mind is merely a shadow how then is one to know the Self?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Self is the heart, self-luminous. Illumination arises from the heart and reaches the brain, which is the seat of the mind. The world is seen with the mind; so you see the world by the reflected light of the Self. The world is perceived by an act of the mind. When the mind is illumined it is aware of the world; when it is not so illumined, it is not aware of the world.

If the mind is turned in, towards the source of illumination, objective knowledge ceases, and the Self alone shines as the heart.

The moon shines by reflecting the light of the sun. When the sun has set, the moon is useful for displaying objects. When the sun has risen no one needs the moon, though its disc is visible in the sky. So it is with the mind and the heart. The mind is made useful by its reflected light. It is used for seeing objects. When turned inwards, it merges into the source of illumination which shines by Itself and the mind is then like the moon in the daytime.

When it is dark, a lamp is necessary to give light. But when the sun has arisen, there is no need for the lamp; the objects are visible. And to see the sun no lamp is necessary; it is enough if you turn your eyes towards the self-luminous sun. Similarly with the mind; to see the objects the light reflected from the mind is necessary. To see the heart it is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then the mind does not count and the heart is self-effulgent.
Source: Maharshi?s Gospel

[eranilkumarsinha]

Question: How is one to study oneself?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: You can study it only if there are two selves, one which studies and other which is studied. To remain as the Self is to study the Self. If you study the Vedas and the Shastras (scriptures) you may get due respect in the world. Society will then decorate your neck with garlands, read you complimentary letters, give you good food, a great name and much money. But all these things will be great obstacles for jnana (Self-knowledge) and spiritual discipline.

Question: Swami, I do not want anything. Just give me liberation.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: [laughing heartily] Is liberation a commodity for sale? Have I secreted it somewhere? Renouncing everything is liberation. Is there anything separate for me to give?

Question: Can we at least have a glimpse of the real Self everyday?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Between sleep and waking there is a momentary twilight. The waking consciousness begins with the "I"-thought. Just before the upsurge of the "I"-thought there is a split second of undifferentiated pure consciousness. First unconsciousness, then the light of pure consciousness, then the "I"-thought with which world-consciousness floods in. This is the order. The middle state is Self-awareness. We can sense it if we are sufficiently alert and watchful.

Question: Bhagavan, I have been coming here for the past several years, but still there is no progress. I am just as bad a sinner as before.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: There are no milestones in this path. How can you be sure how far you have travelled? Why don't you follow the first class passenger? He informs the guard about his destination, closes the door and sleeps soundly. That is all he needs to do. The guard will wake him at the correct station.

Question: Bhagavan, all my efforts to abide in the Source have proved futile.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Keep at your practice. There is no need to remind God about his business which is to keep an eye always on your welfare. One is prone to abandon effort under the mistaken impression that God's Grace is absent. But one should not slacken, for God's Grace is bound to operate at the ripe time.

Question: Bhagavan, will you graciously bestow Self-realisation on me?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: As one enquires for whom is this realisation, one's individuality goes, and with that the delusion that the Self has not been realised drops off. This alone is the Grace of the Guru. The Guru can only dispel the delusion that Self is yet to be realised but to grant Self-realisation is impossible. To pray for the grant of Self-realisation is like asking, "Give myself to me". Because of the identification with the body, there arises the delusion that "I am an individual". That creates the further delusion that the Guru is an individual other than myself. Really the Guru is not other than the Self.

Question: Please give me some practical guidance for Self-realisation.

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: [quoting from the Bible] "Be still and know that I am God."

Question: It is stated in the scriptures that the Self will reveal itself only to one whom it chooses. Then what is the use of our efforts?

Bhagwan Sri RamanaRamana: The Self will draw to itself an aspirant only when he becomes introverted. So long as he is extroverted Self-realisation is impossible. Many people try to define the Self instead of attempting to know the Self.

Question: What is Self-realisation?

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: People expect something to happen, something to drop from heaven in a flash. It is nothing of the sort. Only the notion that you are the body, that you are this or that will go. You will remain as you are.
Source: Abide In The Self

[eranilkumarsinha]

Visitor:  "What is meant by Self-realisation? Materialists say there is no such thing as God or Self."

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi said, "Never mind what the materialists or others say; and don't bother about Self or God. Do you exist or not? What is your idea of yourself? What do you mean by 'I'?"

The visitor said he did not understand by 'I' his body, but something within his body.

Thereupon, Bhagavan Sri Ramana continued, "You concede 'I' is not the body but something within it. See then from whence the 'I' arises within the body. See whether it arises and disappears, or is always present. You will admit there is an 'I' which emerges as soon as you wake up, sees the body, the world and all else, and ceases to exist when you sleep; and that there is another 'I' which exists apart from the body, independently of it, and which alone is with you when the body and the world do not exist for you, as for instance in sleep. Then ask yourself if you are not the same 'I' during sleep and during the other states. Are there two 'I's? You are the same one person always. Now, which can be real, the 'I' which comes and goes, or the 'I' which always abides? Then you will know that you are the Self. This is called Self-realisation. Self-realisation is not however a state which is foreign to you, which is far from you, and which has to be reached by you. You are always in that state. You forget it, and identify yourself with the mind and its creation. To cease to identify yourself with the mind is all that is required. We have so long identified ourselves with the not-Self that we find it difficult to regard ourselves as the Self. Giving up this identification with the not-Self is all that is meant by Self-realisation. How to realise, i.e., make real, the Self? We have realised, i.e., regarded as real, what is unreal, the not-Self. To give up such false realisation is Self-realisation."
Source: 17-8-46, Day By Day With Bhagavan

[eranilkumarsinha]

Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why do you pointlessly find fault with me, saying that I no longer look at you?
If you would only fix your gaze upon me, you would know that, established in the Heart, my gaze is ever fixed upon you.
Looking at you from within the Self, I never leave you. How can this fact be known to your externalized vision?
V. 35, 36, 37; Padamalai (cited here from GVK)

Bhagwan Sri Ramana: Bhagwan is always bestowing grace. To regard the Real as unreal and the unreal as real is alone ignorance. YOU YOURSELF ARE ALWAYS SHINING NATURALLY AS 'I', 'I'. Does Bhagwan exist apart from that being-consciousness? It is the attention turned towards the body that causes the distinction between 'you' and 'I'. If through Self-attention, it (attention to the body) is itself transformed into being-consciousness, and if one realizes that the Reality is only One, where, then, is the scope for saying 'you' or 'I'? Remaining still, having realized the Truth as It Is, is the Guru's Grace.
Sri Ramana Darshanam (quoted here from GVK)