continues..,,,
In Verse 17 of Upadesa Undiyar, He says:
When anyone scrutinizes the form of the mind without forgetting, it will become clear that there is no such thing as
'mind'. For everyone this is the direct path.
In Verse 885 of Guru Vachaka Kovai He says:
Except by the path of investigating the vital awareness (I am), whatever effort is made by other means beginning with
karma, one will not attain and enjoy Self, the treasure shining in the Heart.
Likewise, in Maharshi's Gospel (Book 2, Chapter 1) it is recorded that He said:
Whatever form your enquiry may take, you must finally come to the one I, the Self....
Self inquiry is the one infallible means, the only direct one, to realize the unconditioned, Absolute Being that you really
are...... Every kind of sadhana except Atma Vichara presupposes the retention of the mind as the instrument for carrying
on the sadhana, and without the mind, it cannot be practiced. The ego may take different and subtler forms at the
different stages of one's practice, but is itself never destroyed.... The attempt to destroy the ego or the mind through
sadhanas other than atma vichara, is just like the thief assuming the guise of a policeman to catch the thief, that is
himself. Atma Vichara alone can reveal the truth that neither ego nor the mind really exists, and enables one to realize
the pure undifferentiated Being of the Self or the Absolute.
...To be the Self that you really are is the only means to realize the Bliss that is yours.
Since Self is aware of nothing other than itself, 'I am', to be the Self simply means to be aware of nothing but 'I' alone,
which is all that the practice of atma vichara entails. As Bhagavan says in Verse 26 of Upadesa Undiyar: 'Being Self alone
is knowing Self, because Self is not two.....
Because of our desire to be constantly experiencing something other than just as 'I', it may seem difficult for us to experience
only 'I', but Bhagavan assures us that this is actually very easy -- much easier than any other means by which we may try
to attain liberation. This is emphatically affirmed by Him in Verse 4 of Atma Vidya Kirtanam:
To untie the bonds beginning with karma and to rise above the ruin beginning with birth, rather than whatever other path,
this path (atma vichara) is exceedingly easy. When one just is, having settled down without even the least action of mind,
speech or body, ah, in one's Heart the light of the Self will shine forth. This is our eternal experience. Fear will not exist.
The ocean of Bliss alone will remain. Therefore, ah, the science of Self is extremely easy, ah, extremely easy!
contd.,
Arunachala Siva.