notes 7

Nurtureoneslife:

Someone asked, "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 effort?" Sri Bhagavan replied: "The Self will draw unto itself an aspirant only when he becomes introverted. So long as he is extroverted, Self-Realization is impossible. Many people try to define the Self instead of attempting to know the Self and abide in it." 

(Sri Ramana Reminiscences)

I would like to get the right balance.

"Forget about all these things! Mind makes all this trouble. It always wants more and more. It is never satisfied. So many thoughts, so many desires and projections, it's never ending. The belly of desires is never full! First, know your true Self and the rest will not trouble you."

Mooji

[Before I Am]

People do all sorts of funny things according to their preconceived notions.

We have merely to keep quiet witnessing them.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Talk 13

Devotee:  What are the obstacles which hinder realisation of the Self? 

Maharshi:  They are habits of mind (vasanas).

We don't know what knowledge is, and we don't know what there is to know. I ask, what is the source of mind itself? In what does it appear? Don't think, don't imagine. Just look! Mind is being witnessed. What witnesses mind?

If our basic assumptions about who we are remain unchallenged, mind will be our identity. Something is prior to mind, watches mind, knows its vibration, yet is unsoiled by mind. What is that? Can it be other than you -- the sole Self?

Mooji

[Before I Am]

When we enquire within ‘Who am I?’ 

the ‘I’ investigated is the ego. 

It is that which makes vichara (enquiry) also. 

The Self has no vichara. 

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.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Samadhi – A Taste of “That Which is Not”

When one has crossed the boundary and tasted “that which is not,” Sadhguru says, this is called samadhi.

Sadhguru: The existence is made of “that which is” and “that which is not”. “That which is” has form, shape, qualities, beauty. “That which is not” has none of these things, but it is free. Here and there, “that which is not” spurts into “that which is”. And as “that which is” becomes more conscious, it will long to become “that which is not”. Though one enjoys the form, qualities, attributes and beauty attached to it, the longing to get to a state of utter freedom of being is unavoidable and inevitable. It is just a question of time, and the bondage of time and space also is only the hallucination of “that which is”. “That which is not” neither perceives time nor space because it is boundless and eternal, not shackled by the limitations of time and space.  

When this longing to become liberated from the very basic process of existence rises, the mind and the fearful nature of emotion can only perceive this as self-annihilation. For a thinking mind, spiritual process is nothing but willful suicide. But this is not suicide – it is much more than that. Suicide is a very poor way of wanting to end oneself. I say poor because it remains unsuccessful. It does not work. But in this culture, there are those who are experts at doing it the way it really works – this is a spiritual process.

The Meaning of Samadhi

In India, the word “samadhi” in common usage refers to a grave or a tombstone. When someone is buried in a place and some kind of monument is set on top of that, that is referred to as a samadhi. But “samadhi” also refers to the highest state of human consciousness that one can attain to.

When one dies and he is buried, that place will be given the name of that person. But when one attains to a certain state in a particular place, the name of the place will be given to the person. That is why you see many yogis named after a certain place. This is how Sri Palani Swami got his name, because he sat in a state of samadhi in a place called Palani. People just called him Palani Swami because he never introduced himself to anyone. He never told them what his name was because he did not carry one. Because he attained in that place, people called him Palani Swami. Any number of yogis and sages have names like this.

The word “samadhi” comes from sama and dhi. Sama means equanimity, dhi means buddhi. If you arrive at an equanimous state of intellect, it is known as samadhi. When your intellect is functioning, you are able to discriminate between one thing and the other. The discrimination that this is one object and that is another object is possible only because the intellect functions.

The moment you transcend the intellect, this discrimination does not exist. Everything becomes one whole – which is the way it is in reality. In this state, there is no time and space. You may think someone has been in samadhi for three days, but for him, it was just a few moments – it just passes off like that. He has transcended the duality of what is and what is not. He has crossed the boundary and tasted that which is not – that which has no form, shape, attributes, qualities – nothing.

The whole existence, the many forms of creation, are present only as long as the intellect is there. The moment you dissolve your intellect, everything dissolves into one.

Spiritual Seeker ....If the person can not bear his own consciousness can die ..... do you know the seriousness. The person who bear the consciousness is free. NOW THERE IS NO PROBLEM. I AM NOT GOING TO DISTURB ANYONE.

THE POWER OF SELF ATTENTION GROWS THROUGH PRACTICE

When we first start to practice turning our attention back towards our self, the power of our self-attention will be relatively weak, so we will be able to notice the rising of any vasanas in the form of thoughts only after they have already swept us away. 

However with practice the power of our self-attention will increase, and the more it increases the more easily we will be able to cognize the exact moment that any vasana arises as a thought. If our self-attention is firm, our experience at that moment will be that this thought arises only because I know it, so our attention will cling to our self, the ‘I’ that is aware of the thought, and thus the thought will subside, being deprived of the attention that it needs to survive. 

Each time that we deprive any thought of our attention by holding fast to self-attention in this way, we are weakening the vasana that gave rise to it, and strengthening our love and ability to hold on to self-attention.

- Sadhu Om,  Mountain Path

Don’t sit and wait. Get out there, feel life.

Touch the sun, and immerse in the sea.

~ Rumi

A Jnani who, 

having destroyed the ego, 

abides in the state of Self, 

which is Jnana, 

bestows Self-knowledge upon those who, troubled by miseries, 

come to Him with faith 

by destroying the delusion of their body-identification; 

His doing so is [the real] kindness to

jivas [jiva-karunya]. 

All other kinds of kindness are of no avail [and hence are not at all real kindness].

Sadhu Om: This verse clearly stresses that bestowing Self-knowledge alone is real kindness in the name of charity,

philanthropy or jiva-karunya 

– even trying to heavenize the world 

– is not at all real kindness. 

Since the state of being a jiva is itself the greatest misery, the real kindness to jivas is

the Sadguru’s bestowing upon them Self-knowledge and thereby removing their jivahood and granting them Sivahood.

Let us suppose that a man is dreaming that he and his comrades have been attacked by a tiger. Some of his comrades are wounded and the tiger is about to attack again,

so the man calls out in his dream asking someone to bring a rifle and a first-aid-box. His shouting is heard by a friend who is awake. 

Now what is the truly kind and useful help that the waking friend can give to the dreaming man? Will it be of any use if he brings a rifle and a first-aid-box? 

If he merely taps the man and wakes him up, will that not be the best help, both to the dreaming man and his wounded

comrades?

All the miseries of a jiva are experienced by him in a dream which is occurring in the long sleep of Self-forgetfulness, and hence his waking up from that dream is the only solution for all his miseries. Since the jiva can be awakened to Self-knowledge only by someone who is already awake, a Jnani alone can do real good to the jiva. If any

ajnani tries to relieve the sufferings of another, he will be just like someone in dream bringing a rifle and first-aid-box; since he does not know the real cause of the dreaming man’s suffering all his help will be just like one blind man leading

another blind man.

- The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. 

Guru Vachaka Kovai. Verse 803.

The Practice of the Truth. Chapter 71.

Kindness to Jivas.

That tranquil state in which all thoughts come to an end is called the state of the Self. When it is realized as it is, there is no scope for discussions about its location inside the body or outside.

*These are not the same as the Chakras.

- The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. 

Spiritual Instruction. 

Chapter II. Abhyasa. (Practice)