experience of self

THE DIRECT EXPERIENCE OF THE SELF (ATMAN) 

(Nitya-Aparoksha Tiran) extract from the book: GURU VACHAKA KOVAI

The Light of Supreme Truth by Sri Muruganar

881 All the benefit to be obtained by inner enquiry is only the destruction of the deceptive ‘I’-sense [the ego]. It would be too much to say that it is to attain Self, which always shines clear and ever-attained.

Sadhu Om: In Maharshi’s Gospel, Book One, chapter six, page 30, Sri Bhagavan says, “To make room, it is enough that the cramping be removed; room is not brought in from elsewhere.” See also Talks p. 199. If the ego is destroyed, that alone will be sufficient, for it will be equivalent to attaining Self.

892 After understanding theoretically [through sravana and manana] that Self is non-dual, and after staggering again and again in one’s efforts to attain [through nididhyasana] the practical experience of the real Self, when, [finally and with great dejection] all one’s mental efforts subside, the knowledge which then shines in the heart is the nature of that reality.

898 The well-established state in which the quiet mind [the mind devoid of thoughts] has the unbroken experience [of pure consciousness] is samadhi. Such a settled mind, which has the attainment of the unlimited supreme Self, is the essence of Godhood.

Sadhu Om: A wave is a wave so long as it moves; when that same wave settles down without moving, it is the ocean. Similarly, the mind is the mind so long as it moves and is limited; when the mind becomes still and unlimited, it is God or Brahman. The Tamil word ‘Kadavul’ [God] literally means ‘kadandu-ullavar’ [He who exists transcending]; hence our own real state, Self, which transcends all adjuncts such as ‘this’ or ‘that’, is God [Kadavul].

900 Firmly abiding as ‘I am I’, without any movement of the mind, is the attainment of Godhood [Sivatva-siddhi]. [Because] the shining of the truly well-established state of knowledge [Self-knowledge] where nothing exists other than that [knowledge] is pure Siva, is it not?

901 The radiance of consciousness-bliss in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without is the supreme and blissful primal reality whose form is Silence and which is declared by Jnanis to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge.

902 Who can and how to think of the whole primal reality, whose finality is Silence, as ‘I am That’, and why to suffer thereby? Attaining the [thought-free] Silence is Self-abidance [nishtha]; it is [attained by] the destruction of [the first thought] ‘I’. When ‘I’ is thus destroyed, where is the room to think?

Sadhu Om: When the reality is in truth nothing but the whole and perfect Silence which exists beyond the range of thought, why should anyone suffer by trying in vain to attain it by thinking ‘I am That’? Meditating ‘I am Brahman’, ‘I am He’ or ‘I am Siva’ is futile and is not at all a proper jnana-sadhana. According to Sri Bhagavan, the only true jnana-sadhana is to lose ‘I’, the ego, through the enquiry ‘Who am I?’

911 Unless one realizes oneself to be the unattached Self, which is like the space that remains not even in the least attached to anything, though it exists inside, outside and pervading everything, one cannot remain undeluded.

Sadhu Om: Without Self-knowledge, no one can live in this world unattached.

915 To root out the weed-like three desires [the desires for women, wealth and fame] even before they sprout out, and to make the mind subside and remain still like an ocean without wind-created waves, is Jnana.

916 When the mind does not wander in the least through any of the senses, which are the cause that throws one into misery, and when the mind remains subsided like a stormy ocean which has completely subsided and become calm, that is Jnana.

917 Just as the sun cannot be seen in a densely clouded sky, so one’s own Self cannot be seen in a mind-sky which is darkened by a dense cloud of thoughts.

918 One who has destroyed the mind is the emperor who rides on the neck of the elephant of supreme Jnana. Know for certain that the turmoil of the mind is the sole cause of the miserable bondage of the cruel and fierce birth [and death].

Sri Muruganar: Since the turmoil of the mind [chitta-chalana] is the root of the miseries of birth, thoughts alone are here said to be bondage. Since one’s own nature [Self] shines forth as soon as thoughts are destroyed, the one whose mind is thus destroyed is glorified in a figurative manner as an emperor riding on the elephant of Jnana.

919 The tranquil clarity devoid of mental turmoil is the samadhi which is essential for Liberation. [Therefore] try earnestly to experience the peaceful consciousness, the clarity of heart, by destroying the deceptive turmoil [of mind].

920 Without Self-realization [atma-darsanam], the ego will not die. Likewise, without the glorious death of the mind [or ego], this miserable dream world-scene will not disappear. Know thus.

Sadhu Om: If all the miseries of life are to come to an end, the mind must die. If the mind is to die, Self realization must be attained. Therefore only Self-realization will remove all miseries.

937 In Jnanis, who have destroyed the ego, the three states [waking, dream and sleep], which were seen previously, will disappear, and the noble state of TURIYA [the ‘fourth’] will itself shine gloriously in them as turiyatita [the state transcending the ‘fourth’].

Source: Extract from the book: GURU VACHAKA KOVAI

The Light of Supreme Truth or the collection of Guru's sayings

by Sri Muruganar, translated from the Original Tamil

by Sadhu Om and Michael James

Śrī Rāmanārpaṇam Astu” (श्री रामनार्पणम् अस्तु)💗

bliss of self

MAHARSHI'S GOSPEL

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi answers devotees

mp3 audio

D: WHY SHOULD SELF_ENQUIRY ALONE BE CONSIDERED THE DIRECT MEANS TO JNANA? 

M: Because every kind of sadhana except that of atma vichara presupposes the retention of the mind as the instrument for carrying on the sadhana, and without the mind it cannot be practised. The ego may take different and subtler forms at the different stages of one’s practice, but is itself never destroyed. When Janaka exclaimed, “Now I have discovered the thief who has been ruining me all along. He shall be dealt with summarily”, the King was really referring to the ego or the mind.

D: But the thief may well be apprehended by the other sadhanas as well.

M: 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 the ego nor the mind really exists, and enables one to realise the pure, undifferentiated being of the Self or the absolute. Having realised the Self, nothing remains to be known, because it is perfect bliss, it is the all.

D: In this life beset with limitations can I ever realise the bliss of the Self?

M: That bliss of the Self is always with you, and you will find it for yourself, if you would seek it earnestly.

The cause of your misery is not in the life without; it is in you as the ego. You impose limitations on yourself and then make a vain struggle to transcend them. All unhappiness is due to the ego; with it comes all your trouble. What does it avail you to attribute to the happenings in life the cause of misery which is really within you? What happiness can you get from things extraneous to yourself? When you get it, how long will it last?

If you would deny the ego and scorch it by ignoring it, you would be free. If you accept it, it will impose limitations on you and throw you into a vain struggle to transcend them. That was how the thief sought to ‘ruin’ King Janaka.

To be the Self that you really are is the only means to realize the bliss that is ever yours.

— Maharshi's Gospel, pp.51-52

published by Sri Ramanasramam, 2002

🕉️ Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya 💜

Source: 

https://archive.arunachala.org/1687462802

activity renounce

From ~~~ Day by Day with Bhagavan, 1-6-46

M.:
All the activities that the body is to go through
are determined when it first comes into existence.

It does not rest with you to accept or reject them.

The only freedom you have
is to turn your mind inward
and renounce activities there.

~~~

self knowledge i m

Maharaj: I have separated myself from the food-body. Flowers come in different colors, but they are made up of the same five elements. Why should I worry about differences?, from the same five elements arise all the forms with different time limits, no one has control over that time limit. 

Different forms, as per their thinking have different activities. 

About you all, you have a liking for truth; it has arisen from your individuality, so you are after it. 

Visitor: Maharaj had worshipped Ishwara. 

M: What is Ishwara? My Guru told me that the one who is listening is Ishwara itself. The ‘I am’ is Ishwara, there are various names given to that  ‘I am’ but that ‘I am’ is not your body. Your knowledge ‘I am’ contains the whole universe, presently it is difficult for you to believe, so for the moment worship it. Beingness contains everything, worship that and all your 

requirements will be met. Ultimately the knowledge is yours. 

All forms have the five elements and water is there in all forms. The ignorance is yours because you believe that you are an individual, not mine. 

As for me there is no birth, no death, creation, destruction and suffering 

will go on. 

The five elements, three gunas, and Purusha and Prakriti go on to make the nature, all forms arise and merge in it, Buddha too merged in nature. There is no individual, no manifestation without the elements and Purusha and Prakriti, the male and female aspects. 

Because of your body-mind you cannot understand Purusha and Prakriti. 

Because of their activity, creation goes on, in reality there is no male and female. There is steel and there are so many products made out of it, it depends on the use as to which we want to put it. Consciousness is the same in all forms, but the behavior of each is different, which is decided at the 

time of birth, the differences last as long as the form is there. 

Forms disintegrate, but there is no difference in my experience. There is no 

difference between the quality of the born and the unborn child, this is the great news of enlightenment. One is born or unborn, the difference is only of birth or no birth, in reality, there is no difference. The born vanishes and again becomes identical with the unborn. The difference is temporary, my body is similar to the unborn, and so I am happy. 

This existence is momentary, why give it importance? We believe it to be a long period, but it is momentary like a dream. A five minute dream, but a hundred years of life is contained in it. A movie depicts a life story, but it is the writer’s skill, 

is it real? Life is like that. 

All creatures, the world and Brahman are the result of you beingness. 

Although it is difficult to believe, but do believe it. Only Krishna has expounded this knowledge, everything is me and I am everything. 

When I talk to you, Joseph, I am giving you information about yourself. 

You may think I am talking about somebody else. My guru said, I am talking about yourself and that is how I came to know, Joseph, you have that knowledge. Prior to death, will you say with conviction that all beings, the world and Brahman are me? Can you say that with conviction? This world is a dream, but it is I, whatever information I heard is information about myself, who can say this with confidence? It’s very difficult to hear such confidence anywhere. 

We take ourselves to be a man or woman. It is a blunder that we commit because of our identification with our body. Brahman is neither a man nor woman. Having received this knowledge, by your own experience you shall become all expansive, pervasive. This body or man-woman experience is a 

sickness. Don’t talk to people about others but get hold of yourself. Be established in the Knowledge, don’t talk about it, have a firm conviction. 

When you understand, get established then you don’t need words, words are superfluous. Only a rare one will say all this, 

Krishna said, ‘I saw myself, not the world, whatever I see, is myself.’ Once established in this knowledge, you can die any moment you wish. Prophet Mohammed and Christ were like this; my nature too is like that. They behaved like that, their nature is my nature. Make use of this knowledge, assimilate it and you will lose this habit to criticize others, Krishna said, when you are that, who will criticize whom? 

Nisarga knows no rules of behavior, nature is like that, death is inevitable, so follow your Guru and die, the Guru says you are everything, be that.

Whatever knowledge I give is what flows spontaneously, I quote no one. 

Whatever I do not know directly, I do not believe. My knowledge is not knowledge of Brahman or Ishwara, Brahman and Maya are natives of my nature only. Whenever I never felt any need, that state was perfect. When I felt needs, demands grew and I was imperfect. Death is inevitable so why not die with abidance in the Guru’s words, ‘I am Brahman’. This ‘Brahman’ as an individual consciousness is of course unreliable!

- I AM UNBORN. Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Chapter: 9. Worship the ‘I am’

17th December 1979