From ' The path of Ramana-1"
Read it slowly to make sense:
“Since the sastras proclaim, ‘Thou art That which is called the Supreme’, and since That itself always shines as Self, for one to meditate ‘I am That and not this (the body and so on)’,
instead of knowing oneself through the enquiry ‘What am I?’ and abiding as Self, is indeed due to lack of strength (of mind) !” Ulladhu Narpadhu verse 32
Each and ever sentence imp:
All these complaints are made only by those who do not earnestly like to do any sadhana, that’s all.
What is essential in any sadhana is to try to bring back the running mind and fix it on one thing only’.
Why then should it not be brought back and fixed in Self-attention?
That alone is Self-enquiry (alma-vichara).
That is all that is to be done!
Even in the Bhagavad Gita it is said: Sanais sanai rupa ramed buddhya dhriti grihi taya Atma samstham manah kritva nakim chidapi chinta yet which means,
‘By means of an extremely courageous intellect (power of discrimination), make the mind motionless little by little; fix the mind firmly in Self (atman) and never think of any other thing’ (chapter 6, verse 25),
and: Yato yato nis charati manas chanchalam asthi ram Tatas tato niyam yaitad atman yeva vasam nayet which means,
‘Towards whatever thing the unsteady mind wanders, from each thing pull it back, fix it always in Self and make it firmly abide there’ (chapter 6, verse 26)
Only that practice of Self-attention which Sri Bhagavan referred to in ‘Who am I?’ when He wrote, “By repeatedly practising thus, the strength of the mind to abide in its source increases”, is the right sadhana which will give the mind the real requisite strength!
............“Ah! Knowing Self is the easiest thing! Indeed, it is the easiest!”
............“Ah! Knowing Self is the easiest thing! Indeed, it is the easiest!”
“To unfasten the bonds of karma and so on, end to achieve the destruction of birth and so on, of all paths, this path is the easiest ! If we remain still (that is, if we merely ‘be’), without the least action of mind, speech and body, oh what a wonder it will be I The Selfeffulgence in the heart will be (known as) the ever-present experience, all fear will cease and the ocean of bliss (will surge) !” ‘Atmavidya Kirtanam’, verse 4
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51 The six virtues:(a) Tranquility (sama) means fixing the mind upon its target, with the help of the desirelessnes arising out of repeated reflection upon the defects of worldly objects. (b) Restraint of the senses (dama) means controlling the sense-organs end organs of action and thereby preventing them from leaving their respective places. (c) Withdrawal from activities (uparati) means fixing the mind on its target so firmly that it is not led by previous tendencies to dwell upon objects, end thereby giving up all unnecessary activities. (d) Forbearance (titiksha) means courageously enduring any amount of misery that may befell one, without trying to avoid it or grieving over it. (e) Faith (sraddha) means an unshakable conviction that only the words of Vedanta sastras and those of the Guru are true. (f) Contemplation (samadhi) means preventing the mind by all efforts from wandering according to its nature, and fixing II only on Brahman.
51 The six virtues:(a) Tranquility (sama) means fixing the mind upon its target, with the help of the desirelessnes arising out of repeated reflection upon the defects of worldly objects. (b) Restraint of the senses (dama) means controlling the sense-organs end organs of action and thereby preventing them from leaving their respective places. (c) Withdrawal from activities (uparati) means fixing the mind on its target so firmly that it is not led by previous tendencies to dwell upon objects, end thereby giving up all unnecessary activities. (d) Forbearance (titiksha) means courageously enduring any amount of misery that may befell one, without trying to avoid it or grieving over it. (e) Faith (sraddha) means an unshakable conviction that only the words of Vedanta sastras and those of the Guru are true. (f) Contemplation (samadhi) means preventing the mind by all efforts from wandering according to its nature, and fixing II only on Brahman.
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The mind is destroyed only when it turns towards the first person
only such a firm fixing of our attention on Self is ‘Self-enquiry’ (atma-vichara). He has confirmed the same idea in the work’ Who am I’?”, where He says: “Always keeping the mind (the attention) fixed In Self (in the feeling ‘I’) alone is called Selfenquiry’... Remaining firmly in Self-abidance, without giving even the least room to the rising of any thought other thanthe thought of Self (that is, without giving even the least attention to any second or third person, but only to Self), is surrendering oneself to God (which alone is called parabhakti, the supreme devotion.
The mind is destroyed only when it turns towards the first person
only such a firm fixing of our attention on Self is ‘Self-enquiry’ (atma-vichara). He has confirmed the same idea in the work’ Who am I’?”, where He says: “Always keeping the mind (the attention) fixed In Self (in the feeling ‘I’) alone is called Selfenquiry’... Remaining firmly in Self-abidance, without giving even the least room to the rising of any thought other thanthe thought of Self (that is, without giving even the least attention to any second or third person, but only to Self), is surrendering oneself to God (which alone is called parabhakti, the supreme devotion.
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“Self (atman) is that which is self-shining in the form ‘I am that I am’. One should not imagine it to be anything such as this or that (light or sound). Imagining’ or thinking thus is itself bondage. Since Self is the consciousness which is neither light nor darkness, let it not be imagined as a light of any kind. That thought itself would be a bondage.
“Self (atman) is that which is self-shining in the form ‘I am that I am’. One should not imagine it to be anything such as this or that (light or sound). Imagining’ or thinking thus is itself bondage. Since Self is the consciousness which is neither light nor darkness, let it not be imagined as a light of any kind. That thought itself would be a bondage.
.. but completely giving up even the thought that one is a sinner, one is steadfast in Selfattention, one will surely be saved. Therefore everyone, diving deep within himself with desirelessness (vairagya), can attain the pearl of Self.
When the mind, with a tremendous longing to find the source which gives it light, turns inwards, the breath stops automatically.
When the mind, with a tremendous longing to find the source which gives it light, turns inwards, the breath stops automatically.
Sri Bhagavan advised, ‘Control breath and speech with a keen (introverted) mind’. It would be wise to understand this verse thus, by adding ‘with a keen mind’ (kurnda matiyal) in all the three places, ‘Control the breath with a keen mind dive within with a keen mind, and know the rising-place with a keen mind’,
This could be very imp:
Similarly, when the aspirant, on account of his diving deeper and deeper within by an intense effort of Selfattention, is so close to his source that not even an iota of rising of the ego is possible, he remains absorbed in the great dissolution of the ‘I am the body’ – feeling (dehatmabuddhi), which he had hitherto had as a target of attention, This dissolution is what Sri Bhagavan refers to when He says, ‘I’ will die”, in ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’ verse 19.
“… When the attention goes deeper and deeper within along the (reflected) ray ‘I’, its length decrease more and more, and when the ray ‘I’ dies, that which shines as ‘I’ is Jnana, “ ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 9
“… When the attention goes deeper and deeper within along the (reflected) ray ‘I’, its length decrease more and more, and when the ray ‘I’ dies, that which shines as ‘I’ is Jnana, “ ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 9
“...Attending to the first person is equal to committing suicide...” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 7
“Yes, yes! To stay fixed thus in the Self, is the highest return you can render me.” (Arunachala’s Ramana, Vol. II)
A small portion of his advice as contained in letters to his friends is as follows: Our own mind is the greatest cheater in the world. It will have thousands of reasons to go its own way. Three ways to handle this cheat are: (1) Treat him as a friend and give him full satisfaction. This is a very long and tiresome way as he is never satisfied. (2) Treat him as an enemy and with all force try to get rid of him. This is only possible by the grace of divine because the mind has got two very powerful weapons – the discriminating intellect and the imaginative faculty. These two can convince even God himself that black is white. (3) It is the way taught by Sri Ramana – treat the mind as thought- patients, who are coming to a doctor to complain about their ailments. Just as a doctor sits in his room receiving different kinds of patients, ‘this fool’ [the term he uses for himself] imagines himself sitting in the sacred cave of the Heart and receiving the thought-patients. You know a sick person likes to babble for hours about his complaint. In the same way, a thought likes to multiply itself, but the doctor will cut it short saying, “Very good. Take this medicine. Thank you very much.’ And then he calls another patient. This is how ‘this fool’ decided to meditate. First ‘this fool’ slows down his breath as much as possible, but only to the point where there is no discomfort. To ‘this fool’ two breaths per minute is the proper speed, but that may not be possible for you, without very long and sustained practice. You may be able to decrease your breathing to 8-10 per minute in the beginning. Don’t get to a level where you are uncomfortable. ‘This fool’ asks himself, “To whom have all these thoughts come?” Three times he slowly repeats this question. Then in the same slow manner he answers to himself, “To me, to me, to me.” “Then who am I” , “Then who am I” , “Then who am I? All questions and answers are repeated three times, very slowly. “This ‘I’ is not a thought. This ‘I’ is not a thought. This ‘I’ is not a thought. Then who is the receiver of the thought? Then who is the receiver of the thought? Then who is the receiver of the thought? “I” – “I’ – “I”. Now the mind is centralized in the source itself. ‘Then who am I?’ ‘Then who am I?’ ‘Then who am I?’ Now the breath comes to an end and the attention is concentrated 100% on the sound caused by the palpitation of the heart, as if the sound would give answer to our questions.
This is nothing but the pranava itself.
“Yes, yes! To stay fixed thus in the Self, is the highest return you can render me.” (Arunachala’s Ramana, Vol. II)
A small portion of his advice as contained in letters to his friends is as follows: Our own mind is the greatest cheater in the world. It will have thousands of reasons to go its own way. Three ways to handle this cheat are: (1) Treat him as a friend and give him full satisfaction. This is a very long and tiresome way as he is never satisfied. (2) Treat him as an enemy and with all force try to get rid of him. This is only possible by the grace of divine because the mind has got two very powerful weapons – the discriminating intellect and the imaginative faculty. These two can convince even God himself that black is white. (3) It is the way taught by Sri Ramana – treat the mind as thought- patients, who are coming to a doctor to complain about their ailments. Just as a doctor sits in his room receiving different kinds of patients, ‘this fool’ [the term he uses for himself] imagines himself sitting in the sacred cave of the Heart and receiving the thought-patients. You know a sick person likes to babble for hours about his complaint. In the same way, a thought likes to multiply itself, but the doctor will cut it short saying, “Very good. Take this medicine. Thank you very much.’ And then he calls another patient. This is how ‘this fool’ decided to meditate. First ‘this fool’ slows down his breath as much as possible, but only to the point where there is no discomfort. To ‘this fool’ two breaths per minute is the proper speed, but that may not be possible for you, without very long and sustained practice. You may be able to decrease your breathing to 8-10 per minute in the beginning. Don’t get to a level where you are uncomfortable. ‘This fool’ asks himself, “To whom have all these thoughts come?” Three times he slowly repeats this question. Then in the same slow manner he answers to himself, “To me, to me, to me.” “Then who am I” , “Then who am I” , “Then who am I? All questions and answers are repeated three times, very slowly. “This ‘I’ is not a thought. This ‘I’ is not a thought. This ‘I’ is not a thought. Then who is the receiver of the thought? Then who is the receiver of the thought? Then who is the receiver of the thought? “I” – “I’ – “I”. Now the mind is centralized in the source itself. ‘Then who am I?’ ‘Then who am I?’ ‘Then who am I?’ Now the breath comes to an end and the attention is concentrated 100% on the sound caused by the palpitation of the heart, as if the sound would give answer to our questions.
This is nothing but the pranava itself.
If, during this time, the sakti which was static is converted to movements or becomes dynamic, trance will occur.
If the primal energy reaches the space between the eyebrows, savikalpa samadhi will occur.
If the energy rises up to the top of the head, nirvikalpa samadhi will occur, which is nothing but the Self itself.
If the primal energy reaches the space between the eyebrows, savikalpa samadhi will occur.
If the energy rises up to the top of the head, nirvikalpa samadhi will occur, which is nothing but the Self itself.
The world does not exist in the state of ultimate truth [paramartha]. Its appearance, its [apparently] existing nature in maya, is like the imagined appearance of a snake in a rope, a thief in a wooden post, and water in a mirage. Their essential nature is delusion. – Sri Ramana Maharshi
A keen effort of the mind, complete introversion of all the faculties, total absorption in the quest wherefrom the ‘I’ springs – all this is needed for success.
A keen effort of the mind, complete introversion of all the faculties, total absorption in the quest wherefrom the ‘I’ springs – all this is needed for success.
To one who is established in what is infinite, pure consciousness, bliss and unqualified non-duality, where is the question of bondage or liberation, seeing that there is no second reality? O Rama, the mind has, by its own activity, bound itself; when it is calm, it is free. – Sage Vasishta’s
Just as a rubber ball gains greater and greater momentum while bouncing down the staircase, the more the concentration in clinging to the first person consciousness is intensified the faster is the contraction of the first thought (the ego), till finally it merges in its source.
Just as a rubber ball gains greater and greater momentum while bouncing down the staircase, the more the concentration in clinging to the first person consciousness is intensified the faster is the contraction of the first thought (the ego), till finally it merges in its source.
“Why has it been said (in the above two verses of ‘Sadhana Saram’) that one ought to make effort repeatedly to be in that state (our existence - consciousness) and ought to abide in it with more and more love?
Because, until all the tendencies (vasanas) which drive one out of it are completely exhausted, this state will seem to come and go
75.
Hence the need for continued effort and love to abide in Self.”
“For those who are well established in the unending Self-consciousness, which pervades and transcends all these three so-called states (waking, dream and sleep), there is but one state, the Whole, the All, and that alone is real! This state, which is devoid even of the feeling ‘I am making effort’, is your natural state of being! Be!!” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
Heart), when the knot of attachment (abhimana-granthi) is severed by the annihilation of the mind through Self-enquiry, the knot of bondage to the nerves (nadi bandha-granthi) is also severed. In raja yoga, after removing the knot of bondage to the nerves by means of breathcontrol, if the mind which is thus controlled is made to enter the Heart from the brain (sahasrara), since it reaches its source, then the knot of attachment is also severed. “When the mind which has been subdued by breath control is led (to the Heart) through the only path (the path of knowing Self)76, its form will die.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 14
Knot of attachment of vasnas remain intact..Hence, rebirth inescapable...implies tapa to eradicate vasanas? :
However, since the knot of attachment is the basic one, until and unless the destruction of attachment (abhimana) is effected, by knowing self, even when the knot of bondage to the nerves is temporarily removed in sleep, swoon, death or by the use of anesthetics, the knot of attachment remains unaffected in the form of tendencies (vasanas), which constitute the causal body, and, hence rebirths are inescapable.
Knot of attachment of vasnas remain intact..Hence, rebirth inescapable...implies tapa to eradicate vasanas? :
However, since the knot of attachment is the basic one, until and unless the destruction of attachment (abhimana) is effected, by knowing self, even when the knot of bondage to the nerves is temporarily removed in sleep, swoon, death or by the use of anesthetics, the knot of attachment remains unaffected in the form of tendencies (vasanas), which constitute the causal body, and, hence rebirths are inescapable.
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This is why Sri Bhagavan insists that one reaching kashta-nirvikalpa-samadhi 77 through raja yoga should not stop there (since it is only mano-laya, a temporary absorption of the mind), but that the mind so absorbed should be led to the Heart in order to attain sahaja-nirvikalpa-samildhi, which is the destruction of the mind (mano-nasa), the destruction of the attachment to the body (dehabhimana-nasa). In the body of such a Selfrealized One (sahaja jnani), the coursing of the ‘I’ - consciousness along the nerves, even after the destruction of the knot of attachment, is like the water on a lotus leaf or like a burnt rope, and thus it cannot cause bondage. Therefore the destruction of the knot of attachment is anyway indispensible for the attainment of the natural state (Sahaja Sthiti), the state of the destruction of the tendencies (vasanakshaya).
This is why Sri Bhagavan insists that one reaching kashta-nirvikalpa-samadhi 77 through raja yoga should not stop there (since it is only mano-laya, a temporary absorption of the mind), but that the mind so absorbed should be led to the Heart in order to attain sahaja-nirvikalpa-samildhi, which is the destruction of the mind (mano-nasa), the destruction of the attachment to the body (dehabhimana-nasa). In the body of such a Selfrealized One (sahaja jnani), the coursing of the ‘I’ - consciousness along the nerves, even after the destruction of the knot of attachment, is like the water on a lotus leaf or like a burnt rope, and thus it cannot cause bondage. Therefore the destruction of the knot of attachment is anyway indispensible for the attainment of the natural state (Sahaja Sthiti), the state of the destruction of the tendencies (vasanakshaya).
Disconnecting the knot in such a way that it will never again come into being is called by many names such as ‘the cutting of the knot’ (granthi-bheda). ‘the destruction of the mind’ (mano-nasa) and so on. ‘In such a way that it will never again come into being’ means this: by attending to it (the ego) through the enquiry ‘Does it in truth exist at present?’ in order to find out whether it had ever really come into being, there takes place the dawn of knowledge (jnana), the real waking, where it is clearly and firmly known that no such knot has ever come into being, that no such ego has ever risen, that ‘that which exists’ alone ever exists, and that which was existing as ‘I am’ is ever existing as ‘I am’! The attainment of this knowledge (Self-knowledge or atma-jnana), the knowledge that the knot or bondage is at all times non-existent and has never risen, is the permanent disconnecting of the knot.
“Only the first place or the present time is advised to be attended to. If you keenly do so, you will enjoy the bliss of Self, having completed all yogas and having achieved the supreme accomplishment. Know and feast on it!” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
Let us now again take up our original point. When the attention of an aspirant is turned towards second and third persons, the ‘I’-consciousness spreads from the brain all over the body through the nerves (nadis) in the form of the power of spreading; but when the same attention is focused on the first person, since it is used in an opposite direction, the ‘I’ -consciousness, instead of functioning in the form of the power of spreading, takes the form of the power of Selfattention (that is, the power of ‘doing’ is transformed into the power of ‘being’). This is what is called ‘the churning of the nadis’ (nadi-mathana).
By the churning thus taking place in the nadis, the ‘I’-consciousness scattered throughout the nadis turns back, withdraws and collects in the brain, the starting point of its spreading, and from there it reaches, drowns and is established in the Heart, the pure consciousness, the source of its rising
Let us now again take up our original point. When the attention of an aspirant is turned towards second and third persons, the ‘I’-consciousness spreads from the brain all over the body through the nerves (nadis) in the form of the power of spreading; but when the same attention is focused on the first person, since it is used in an opposite direction, the ‘I’ -consciousness, instead of functioning in the form of the power of spreading, takes the form of the power of Selfattention (that is, the power of ‘doing’ is transformed into the power of ‘being’). This is what is called ‘the churning of the nadis’ (nadi-mathana).
By the churning thus taking place in the nadis, the ‘I’-consciousness scattered throughout the nadis turns back, withdraws and collects in the brain, the starting point of its spreading, and from there it reaches, drowns and is established in the Heart, the pure consciousness, the source of its rising
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This is a safe and pleasant path, To bear the churning of the nadis effected through the method of breath-retention in raja yoga, the body must be young and strong. If such a churning is made to happen in a body which is weak or old, since the body does not have the strength to bear it, many troubles may occur such as nervous disorders, physical diseases, insanity and so on. But there is no room for any such dangers if the churning is made to take place through enquiry.
This is a safe and pleasant path, To bear the churning of the nadis effected through the method of breath-retention in raja yoga, the body must be young and strong. If such a churning is made to happen in a body which is weak or old, since the body does not have the strength to bear it, many troubles may occur such as nervous disorders, physical diseases, insanity and so on. But there is no room for any such dangers if the churning is made to take place through enquiry.
visions ..not a requisite
Although his pure Self-existence, devoid of bodyconsciousness or any other adjunct, will often be experienced by him, this is still the stage of practice and not the final attainment! Why? Since there are still the two alternating feelings, one of being sometimes extroverted and the other of being sometimes introverted, and since there is the feeling of making effort to become introverted and of losing such effort while becoming extroverted, this stage is said to be ‘not the final attainment’,
What Sri Bhagavan reveals in this connection is :
“If the mind (the attention) is thus well fixed in sadhana (attending to Self), a power of divine Grace will then rise from within of its own accord and, Subjugating the mind, will take it to the Heart”.
What is this power of divine Grace ?
It is nothing but the perfect clarity of our existence the form of the Supreme Self (paramatman), ever shining with abundant Grace in the heart as ‘I-I’ !
What Sri Bhagavan reveals in this connection is :
“If the mind (the attention) is thus well fixed in sadhana (attending to Self), a power of divine Grace will then rise from within of its own accord and, Subjugating the mind, will take it to the Heart”.
What is this power of divine Grace ?
It is nothing but the perfect clarity of our existence the form of the Supreme Self (paramatman), ever shining with abundant Grace in the heart as ‘I-I’ !
Path of ramana at 40%
The nature of a needle lying within a magnetic field is to be attracted and pulled only when its rust has been removed. But we should not conclude from this that the magnetic power comes into existence only after the rust is removed from the needle. Is not the magnetic power always naturally existing in that field?
Although the needle was all the while lying in the magnetic field, it is affected by the attraction of the magnet only to the extent that it loses its rust.
All that we try to do by way of giving up second and third attention and clinging to Self-attention is similar to scraping off the rust.
So the result of all our endeavours is to make ourself it to become a prey to the attraction of the magnetic field of pure consciousness the Heart, which is ever shining engulfing all (that is reducing the whole universe to non-existence) with spreading rays of Selfeffulgence.
imp
Mature aspirants will willingly and without rebelling submit themselves to this magnetic power of the Grace of Self-effulgence.
Others, on the other hand, will become extroverted (that is, will turn their attention outwards) fearing the attraction of this power
Therefore, we should first make ourself fit by the intense love (bhakthi) to know Self and by the tremendous detachment (vairagya) of having no desire to attend to any second or third person.
Then, since our very individuality (as an aspirant) itself is devoured by that power, even the so-called ‘effort of ours’ becomes nil.
Thus, when the ‘I’ – consciousness that was spread all over the body is made to sink into the Heart, the real waking, the dawn of knowledge (jnana), takes place. This happens in a split second !
“Death is a matter of a split second! The leaving off of sleep is a matter of a split second! Likewise, the removal of the delusion ‘I am an individual soul (jiva)’ is also a matter of a split second!
The dawn of true knowledge is not such that glimpses of it will be gained once and then lost! If an aspirant feels that it appears and disappears, it is only the stage of practice (sadhana); he cannot be said to have attained true knowledge (jnana).
The perfect dawn of knowledge is a happening of a split second; its attainment is not a prolonged process.
All the agelong practices are meant only for attaining maturity
Let us give an example it takes a long lime to prepare a temple cannon-blast, first putting the gunpowder into the barrel, giving the wick, adding some stones and then ramming it, but when ignited it explodes as a thunder in a split second.
Similarly, after an agelong period of listening and reading (sravana), reflecting (manana), practising (nidi-dhyasana) and weeping put in prayer (because of the inability to put what is heard into practice), when the mind is thus perfectly purified, then and then only does the dawn of self-knowledge suddenly break forth in a split second as ‘I am that I am’!
Since, as soon as this dawn breaks, the space of Self-consciousness is found, through the clear knowledge of the Reality, to be beginningless, natural and eternal, even the effort of attending to Self ceases then! To abide thus, having nothing more to do and nothing further to achieve, is alone the real and supreme state.” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
The definition of the correct waking is that state in which there is perfect Self-consciousness and singleness of Self- existence, without the knowledge of the existence of anything apart from Self!
From this one can determine the real waking.
“Forgetting Self, mistaking the body for Self, taking innumerable births, and at last knowing Self and being Self is just like waking from a dream of wandering all over the world. Know thus.” ‘Ekatma Panchakam’, verse 1
“To remain in the state (of Self), having attained the supreme bliss, which is devoid of both bondage end liberation, is truly to be in the service of the Lord.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 29
Although the needle was all the while lying in the magnetic field, it is affected by the attraction of the magnet only to the extent that it loses its rust.
All that we try to do by way of giving up second and third attention and clinging to Self-attention is similar to scraping off the rust.
So the result of all our endeavours is to make ourself it to become a prey to the attraction of the magnetic field of pure consciousness the Heart, which is ever shining engulfing all (that is reducing the whole universe to non-existence) with spreading rays of Selfeffulgence.
imp
Mature aspirants will willingly and without rebelling submit themselves to this magnetic power of the Grace of Self-effulgence.
Others, on the other hand, will become extroverted (that is, will turn their attention outwards) fearing the attraction of this power
Therefore, we should first make ourself fit by the intense love (bhakthi) to know Self and by the tremendous detachment (vairagya) of having no desire to attend to any second or third person.
Then, since our very individuality (as an aspirant) itself is devoured by that power, even the so-called ‘effort of ours’ becomes nil.
Thus, when the ‘I’ – consciousness that was spread all over the body is made to sink into the Heart, the real waking, the dawn of knowledge (jnana), takes place. This happens in a split second !
“Death is a matter of a split second! The leaving off of sleep is a matter of a split second! Likewise, the removal of the delusion ‘I am an individual soul (jiva)’ is also a matter of a split second!
The dawn of true knowledge is not such that glimpses of it will be gained once and then lost! If an aspirant feels that it appears and disappears, it is only the stage of practice (sadhana); he cannot be said to have attained true knowledge (jnana).
The perfect dawn of knowledge is a happening of a split second; its attainment is not a prolonged process.
All the agelong practices are meant only for attaining maturity
Let us give an example it takes a long lime to prepare a temple cannon-blast, first putting the gunpowder into the barrel, giving the wick, adding some stones and then ramming it, but when ignited it explodes as a thunder in a split second.
Similarly, after an agelong period of listening and reading (sravana), reflecting (manana), practising (nidi-dhyasana) and weeping put in prayer (because of the inability to put what is heard into practice), when the mind is thus perfectly purified, then and then only does the dawn of self-knowledge suddenly break forth in a split second as ‘I am that I am’!
Since, as soon as this dawn breaks, the space of Self-consciousness is found, through the clear knowledge of the Reality, to be beginningless, natural and eternal, even the effort of attending to Self ceases then! To abide thus, having nothing more to do and nothing further to achieve, is alone the real and supreme state.” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
The definition of the correct waking is that state in which there is perfect Self-consciousness and singleness of Self- existence, without the knowledge of the existence of anything apart from Self!
From this one can determine the real waking.
“Forgetting Self, mistaking the body for Self, taking innumerable births, and at last knowing Self and being Self is just like waking from a dream of wandering all over the world. Know thus.” ‘Ekatma Panchakam’, verse 1
“To remain in the state (of Self), having attained the supreme bliss, which is devoid of both bondage end liberation, is truly to be in the service of the Lord.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 29
The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry Who am I?’. The thought ‘Who am I?’ (which is but a means for turning our attention Selfwards), destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre.
....By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.
When the mind (the attention), which is subtle, goes out through the brain and sense-organs (which are gross), the names-and-forms (the objects of the world), which are gross, appear; when it abides in the heart (its source, Self), the names-and-forms disappear
Keeping the mind in the heart (through the above-described means of fixing our attention in Self), not allowing it to go out, alone is called ‘Selfwardness’ (ahamukham) or ‘introversion’ (antarmukham).
Without giving room even to the doubting thought, ‘Is it possible to destroy all these tendencies (vasanas) and to remain as Self alone ?’, one should persistently cling fast to Self-attention,
However great a sinner one may be, it, not lamenting Oh, I am a sinner ! How can I attain salvation ?’ but completely giving up even the thought that one is, a sinner, one is steadfast in Selfattention, one will surely be saved
As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya-vasanas) in the mind, so long the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ is necessary.
Not attending to what-is-other (anya, that is, to any second or third person object) is nonattachment (vairagya) or desirelessness (nirasa);
not leaving Self is knowledge (jnana).
In order to qualify as an aspirant, one must have the absolute conviction that happiness, the sole aim of all living beings, can be obtained not from external objects but only from one’s own inmost Self. When one has this qualification, an intense yearning will arise in one’s heart to try to attend to and know Self. Indeed’, for a true aspirant the desire and effort to know Self will become the most important part of his life, and all other things will be regarded as being only of secondary importance. When such an intense yearning arises in one, success is assured, for ‘where there is a will there is a way’.
Moreover, since prarabdha determines only the outward activities of the body and mind, it can in no way obstruct the inward desire and yearning for Self-knowledge. If one has an intense yearning for Self-knowledge, the Guru’s Grace will certainly help one in all ways, both from within and without, to enable one to attend to Self.
....By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.
When the mind (the attention), which is subtle, goes out through the brain and sense-organs (which are gross), the names-and-forms (the objects of the world), which are gross, appear; when it abides in the heart (its source, Self), the names-and-forms disappear
Keeping the mind in the heart (through the above-described means of fixing our attention in Self), not allowing it to go out, alone is called ‘Selfwardness’ (ahamukham) or ‘introversion’ (antarmukham).
Without giving room even to the doubting thought, ‘Is it possible to destroy all these tendencies (vasanas) and to remain as Self alone ?’, one should persistently cling fast to Self-attention,
However great a sinner one may be, it, not lamenting Oh, I am a sinner ! How can I attain salvation ?’ but completely giving up even the thought that one is, a sinner, one is steadfast in Selfattention, one will surely be saved
As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya-vasanas) in the mind, so long the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ is necessary.
Not attending to what-is-other (anya, that is, to any second or third person object) is nonattachment (vairagya) or desirelessness (nirasa);
not leaving Self is knowledge (jnana).
In order to qualify as an aspirant, one must have the absolute conviction that happiness, the sole aim of all living beings, can be obtained not from external objects but only from one’s own inmost Self. When one has this qualification, an intense yearning will arise in one’s heart to try to attend to and know Self. Indeed’, for a true aspirant the desire and effort to know Self will become the most important part of his life, and all other things will be regarded as being only of secondary importance. When such an intense yearning arises in one, success is assured, for ‘where there is a will there is a way’.
Moreover, since prarabdha determines only the outward activities of the body and mind, it can in no way obstruct the inward desire and yearning for Self-knowledge. If one has an intense yearning for Self-knowledge, the Guru’s Grace will certainly help one in all ways, both from within and without, to enable one to attend to Self.
At first one may not be able to maintain unbroken Self-attention even for a few minutes. Due to long habit, it is only natural that the mind will start to think of some second or third person objects. Each time the attention thus turns outwards, the aspirant again tries to turn it back towards the first person. This process of slackening of Selfattention and then trying to regain it, will repeat itself again and again. If the aspirant’s mind is weak due to deficiency in the love to know Self, the slackening of Self-attention will happen frequently, in which case a struggle will ensue and the mind will soon become tired. Instead of thus repeatedly struggling to regain Self-attention, one should relax the mind for a while as soon as the initial attempt to fix the attention on the first person becomes un-steady, and then again make a fresh attempt. If one thus makes intermittent attempts, each attempt will be found to have a fresh force and a more precise clarity of attention.
If one presses one’s thumb on a pressure scale, the dial may at first indicate a pressure of ten kilograms. But if one tries to maintain that pressure for a long period of time, the dial will show that it is gradually slackening and decreasing. On the other hand, if one releases the pressure and after a brief rest presses again with fresh vigour, the dial will show a little more than ten kilograms. Similar is the case with Self-attention. If one struggles for a long time to maintain Self-attention, the intensity and clarity of one’s attention will gradually slacken and decrease. But if instead one relaxes as soon as one finds that one’s Self-attention is slackening, and if after a brief rest one makes a fresh attempt to fix one’s attention on Self, that fresh attempt will have a greater intensity and clarity. Therefore, what is important is not so much the length of time one spends trying to attend to Self, but the earnestness and intensity with which one makes each fresh attempt.
Therefore, unceasing Self-attention is possible only in the state of Self-realization and not in the state of practice (sadhana). What one has to do during the period of sadhana is to cultivate ever-increasing love to attain Self-knowledge and to make intermittent but repeated attempts to turn one’s attention a full 180 degrees towards Self. If one once succeeds in doing this, then unceasing Self-attention will be found to be natural and effortless.
...the path of Ramana part 1 ends.....................
Path of Ramana addnl notes:
106
The power which the mind derives from other spiritual practices is not that power which is required to abide in its source! Repetition of holy names (japa), meditation (dhyana), concentration on anyone of the six yogic centres in the body (the shadchakras pointed out in raja yoga). concentration on a divine effulgence (jyoti) or sound (nada) – in all these practices the mind is only made to attend to some alien object (a second or third person).
The strength of mind acquired by training it to catch hold of anyone of the aforesaid alien objects is not the genuine strength of mind which is favourable for Self--knowledge.
Being unfavourable, rather than calling it ‘strength of mind’, it would be more appropriate to call it ‘lack of strength of mind’ (uran inmai – the original Tamil words of Sri Bhagavan in ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 32)!
Let us suppose a man buys a cow and for various reasons keeps it tied up in another man’s shed for quite some days. When the owner one day tries to bring the cow to its own shed after it has become accustomed – through force of habit (abhyasa bala) – to its former surroundings, will it come to its own place and keep quiet? No, it will run back to the other man’s shed. So any intelligent farmer buying a new cow will train it to remain in its own shed by tying it only there.
Similarly aspirants who have developed mental strength by concentrating on second and third person objects (which are other than Self) struggle and find it difficult even to understand what Self-attention – knowing one’s own existence – is, and how to take the feeling of one’s own existence as the target !
It is often said, “Let me first gain strength of mind by training it in other practices, and then let me take to Self-enquiry”; but it is the experience of anyone who has trained his mind in other practices over a long period of time that such a mind is still weaker to turn Self wards than even an ordinary mind untrained in any other practice.
japa , dhyana great obstacle to Self -realsn...2nd 3rd no...1st persn reqd.:
If one presses one’s thumb on a pressure scale, the dial may at first indicate a pressure of ten kilograms. But if one tries to maintain that pressure for a long period of time, the dial will show that it is gradually slackening and decreasing. On the other hand, if one releases the pressure and after a brief rest presses again with fresh vigour, the dial will show a little more than ten kilograms. Similar is the case with Self-attention. If one struggles for a long time to maintain Self-attention, the intensity and clarity of one’s attention will gradually slacken and decrease. But if instead one relaxes as soon as one finds that one’s Self-attention is slackening, and if after a brief rest one makes a fresh attempt to fix one’s attention on Self, that fresh attempt will have a greater intensity and clarity. Therefore, what is important is not so much the length of time one spends trying to attend to Self, but the earnestness and intensity with which one makes each fresh attempt.
Therefore, unceasing Self-attention is possible only in the state of Self-realization and not in the state of practice (sadhana). What one has to do during the period of sadhana is to cultivate ever-increasing love to attain Self-knowledge and to make intermittent but repeated attempts to turn one’s attention a full 180 degrees towards Self. If one once succeeds in doing this, then unceasing Self-attention will be found to be natural and effortless.
...the path of Ramana part 1 ends.....................
Path of Ramana addnl notes:
106
The power which the mind derives from other spiritual practices is not that power which is required to abide in its source! Repetition of holy names (japa), meditation (dhyana), concentration on anyone of the six yogic centres in the body (the shadchakras pointed out in raja yoga). concentration on a divine effulgence (jyoti) or sound (nada) – in all these practices the mind is only made to attend to some alien object (a second or third person).
The strength of mind acquired by training it to catch hold of anyone of the aforesaid alien objects is not the genuine strength of mind which is favourable for Self--knowledge.
Being unfavourable, rather than calling it ‘strength of mind’, it would be more appropriate to call it ‘lack of strength of mind’ (uran inmai – the original Tamil words of Sri Bhagavan in ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 32)!
Let us suppose a man buys a cow and for various reasons keeps it tied up in another man’s shed for quite some days. When the owner one day tries to bring the cow to its own shed after it has become accustomed – through force of habit (abhyasa bala) – to its former surroundings, will it come to its own place and keep quiet? No, it will run back to the other man’s shed. So any intelligent farmer buying a new cow will train it to remain in its own shed by tying it only there.
Similarly aspirants who have developed mental strength by concentrating on second and third person objects (which are other than Self) struggle and find it difficult even to understand what Self-attention – knowing one’s own existence – is, and how to take the feeling of one’s own existence as the target !
It is often said, “Let me first gain strength of mind by training it in other practices, and then let me take to Self-enquiry”; but it is the experience of anyone who has trained his mind in other practices over a long period of time that such a mind is still weaker to turn Self wards than even an ordinary mind untrained in any other practice.
japa , dhyana great obstacle to Self -realsn...2nd 3rd no...1st persn reqd.:
We should scrutinize deeply what is actually meant in the work ‘Who am I?’. Since the perpetually wandering mind expands into innumerable thoughts, each thought becomes extremely weak. Just as when an iron chain is given to the restless trunk of an elephant, the elephant will cling fast only to that and will not do any mischief with its trunk, so if the mind is trained to hold on to anyone of the names or forms of God, it will gain one-pointedness, that is, the strength to cling to one thing only. In this way, the mind merely loses the nature of branching out into many thoughts. There are two kinds of impediments which act as obstacles for the mind to achieve Self-abidance, and hence two kinds of strength of mind are essential for overcoming them. The first strength is that which is required to prevent the mind from branching out into innumerable thoughts through the force of tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya-vasanas). The second strength is that which is required to direct the mind (the power of attention) towards the first person or Self, that is, the strength actually to attend to Self. By practices such as repetition (japa) and meditation (dhyana), only the strength to be free from the first impediment, that is, from the tendencies towards senseobjects, is obtained. But for a mind which engages in Selfattention from the very beginning, both kinds of requisite strength are naturally cultivated. Though through japa and dhyana the mind achieves the strength not to branch out into many thoughts and thereby become weak, it is still dwelling only upon a second person. Thus the practice of japa or dhyana develops the power of the mind to cling with great attachment only to one second person or another. In this way, the second great impediment, namely the inability to turn the mind from second persons to the first person is unknowingly increased. Therefore, when such a mind is to turn Selfwards, it will find it to be a very difficult task. This is the truth we have to learn from the personal experience of Sri Ganapati Muni. Let us now explain with a simile how acquiring the power of one-pointedness of mind through such practices as japa and dhyana becomes a great obstacle to Self-attention.
111
111
.......when He wrote, “By repeatedly practising thus, the strength of the mind to abide (or dwell) in its source increases”. It is only a strength to dwell upon an object other than Self, that is, upon a second person. Readers should understand that what is pointed out here, in this book, is that for those who want and strive for only Self-attainment, this kind of strength obtained through japa and dhyana is nothing but a hindrance.
Even in the Bhagavad Gita it is said: Sanais sanai rupa ramed buddhya dhriti grihi taya Atma samstham manah kritva nakim chidapi chinta yet which means, ‘By means of an extremely courageous intellect (power of discrimination), make the mind motionless little by little; fix the mind firmly in Self (atman) and never think of any other thing’ (chapter 6, verse 25), and: Yato yato nis charati manas chanchalam asthi ram Tatas tato niyam yaitad atman yeva vasam nayet which means, ‘Towards whatever thing the unsteady mind wanders, from each thing pull it back, fix it always in Self and make it firmly abide there’ (chapter 6, verse 26)
115
...They were therefore able to proclaim from their own experience, “Ah! Knowing Self is the easiest thing! Indeed, it is the easiest!”43 Although the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ is thus able to give the real strength of mind which is required to gain Self-knowledge (to say the truth, only Self-enquiry, and not any of the other sadhanas, can give this requisite strength), a wrong idea exists and is, spreading even among us, the
devotees of Sri Bhagavan, that the path of Self-enquiry is difficult while the other methods, japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, are easy. Let us see how far from true this contention is !...
Now, what is the opinion of Sri Bhagavan on this subject ? Let us turn to His own words: “...of all paths, this path is the easiest! 45” ’Atmavidya Kirtanam’, verse 4 “... this is the direct path for all !” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 17
Thus it is clear that Sri Bhagavan’s opinion is that this path of Self-enquiry is not merely the easiest of all paths, but that it is also the easiest and most direct for all aspirants. Some of us, instead of trying to understand, ‘Why did Sri Bhagavan say so ? Can there be a justification for His opinion? If so, what is it?’, remark evasively, “Ah, it is easy only for Bhagavan, but it is difficult for others,” and they become disheartened and lose courage. In order not to lose this courage, since it is the sraddha which alone will secure us the goal, let us try to find the justification in support of the opinion of Sri Bhagavan.
What do we mean when we say that a thing is ‘difficult’ or that is ‘easy’? In fact, what is difficult and what is easy? that which we do not like, that which we cannot do, that which we do not know – that alone we call difficult. That which we already like (ichcha), that which we have already done (kriya), and that which we already know (jnana) – that alone we call easy. We therefore come to the following conclusion: those experiences which are already within our power of loving (ichcha sakti), power of doing (kriya sakti) and power of knowing (jnana sakti) are easy. while those experiences which are not already within our power of loving, power of doing and power of knowing are difficult.
This indeed is the correct definition of what is difficult and what is easy. With this definition, let us now see which of these two is easy: the efforts required for the various spiritual practices like japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, or the effort required for Self-enquiry
As we have already said; the efforts made in the paths of japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, are nothing but an attention towards second and third person objects, whereas the effort made in the Self-enquiry taught by Sri Bhagavan is an attention towards the first person.
For the practice of japa, dhyana or any of the four yogas, it is necessary to use the power of one-pointedness of mind on second and third person objects; using the mind’s power in such a way is mere extroversion (bahirmukham). But for Self-enquiry, it is necessary to use the power of one-pointedness of mind in attending to focusing on – the first person, so this alone is the real introversion (antarmukham). A little analysis will reveal that for every one of us (even for the most ordinary man), the experiences of loving (ichcha), doing (kriya) and knowing (jnana) towards the first person are not only inherent but also greater than those towards the second and third person objects. Let us see how.
120
... But since we have come to know thus – that the experiences of loving, of doing and of knowing are already clear and inherent in us only with regard to the first person, when viewed in the light ot the above. mentioned definition of ‘easy’ and difficult’, one can plainly see that the effort made in the path of Self-enquiry, which is an attention towards the first person, is far easier than that made in japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, which are nothing but attention towards second and third person objects. Such indeed is the justification in support of the sayings of Sri Bhagavan. “Of all paths. this path is’ the easiest ?” and, “This is the direct path for all!”, it was in this connection that Sri Bhagavan used to say repeatedly, “Self is here and now, and ever -attained”. By saying, “This is the direct path for all”, Sri Bhagavan points out that anyone, however weak his mind may be, can acquire through this path that true strength of mind which is required to abide in one’s source. Therefore, taking to Self-attention (ahamukham), which is the real introversion (antar-mukham), is by itself far better than giving any other target to the mind – such is the unique greatness of Sri Bhagavan’s teaching !
“Except (the effort made in) the path of enquiring in to the ego, no amount of effort made as enjoined in other paths such as karma, (yoga and so on,) will enable you to obtain and enjoy’ Self, the treasure in the heart !” ‘Guru Vachaka Koval’, verse 885 Moreover, can God be one of the second or third person objects? No, He cannot be ! Because, “The second and third persons live only because of the root, the first person (the ego) .. .” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam”, verse 648 “Only if that first person (the ego) in the form ‘I am the body’ exists, will the second and third persons exist...” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 14 “If there is no ‘I’-thought, no other thing will exist …” ‘Sri Arunachala Ashtakam’, verse 7 - such is the experience of Sri Bhagavan.
Hence, Self-attention is the true Godattention! “O Bhagavan, meditating upon You is nothing other than contemplating ‘I’, Contemplating ‘I’ is nothing other than remaining without thought, Remaining without thought is nothing other than being vigilantly attentive not to rise as ‘I’, But why even attend, when my very existence (sat) is itself attention (chit) ?” ‘Sri Ramana Sahasram’, verse 990
124
‘The body is not I; who am I? I am He !’ (deham naham: koham? soham !) – this is the quintessence of the Self-enquiry found in the sastras
“...Since we are ever That, why should we for ever be meditating that we are That? Does a man meditate ‘I am a man’ ?” Ulladhu Narpadhu “ verse 36 Does a man come to know that he is a man only by meditating ‘I am a man, I am a man’? Certainly not! Thus, since the aspirant again starts meditating ‘I am Brahman’ it is evident that the state in which he found himself temporarily was not Self-realization – the real waking !
The mind is destroyed only when it turns towards the first person!
The nature of the mind is to attend always to things other than itself, that is, to know only second and third persons. If the mind in this way attends to a thing, it means that it is clinging (attaching itself) to that thing. Attention itself is attachment! Since the mind is to think about the body and prana – though with the intention of deciding ‘this is not!, this is not!’ such attention is only a means of becoming attached to them and it cannot be a means of negating them! This is what is experienced by any true aspirant in his practice. Then what is the secret hidden in this?
Since, whether we know it or not, Self, which is now wrongly considered by us to be unknown, is verily our reality, the very nature of our (the Supreme Self’s) attention itself is Grace (anugraha).
imp-
So long as our power of attention was dwelling upon second and third persons, it was called ‘the mind’ or ‘the intellect’, and its attending was called a doing (kriya) or an action (karma). Only that which is done by the mind is an action.
Therefore, the mind which attends to Self is no more the mind; it is the consciousness aspect of Self (atma-chit-rupam)! Likewise, so long as it attends to the second and third persons (the world), it is not the consciousness aspect of Self; It is the mind, the reflected form of consciousness
115
...They were therefore able to proclaim from their own experience, “Ah! Knowing Self is the easiest thing! Indeed, it is the easiest!”43 Although the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ is thus able to give the real strength of mind which is required to gain Self-knowledge (to say the truth, only Self-enquiry, and not any of the other sadhanas, can give this requisite strength), a wrong idea exists and is, spreading even among us, the
devotees of Sri Bhagavan, that the path of Self-enquiry is difficult while the other methods, japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, are easy. Let us see how far from true this contention is !...
Now, what is the opinion of Sri Bhagavan on this subject ? Let us turn to His own words: “...of all paths, this path is the easiest! 45” ’Atmavidya Kirtanam’, verse 4 “... this is the direct path for all !” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 17
Thus it is clear that Sri Bhagavan’s opinion is that this path of Self-enquiry is not merely the easiest of all paths, but that it is also the easiest and most direct for all aspirants. Some of us, instead of trying to understand, ‘Why did Sri Bhagavan say so ? Can there be a justification for His opinion? If so, what is it?’, remark evasively, “Ah, it is easy only for Bhagavan, but it is difficult for others,” and they become disheartened and lose courage. In order not to lose this courage, since it is the sraddha which alone will secure us the goal, let us try to find the justification in support of the opinion of Sri Bhagavan.
What do we mean when we say that a thing is ‘difficult’ or that is ‘easy’? In fact, what is difficult and what is easy? that which we do not like, that which we cannot do, that which we do not know – that alone we call difficult. That which we already like (ichcha), that which we have already done (kriya), and that which we already know (jnana) – that alone we call easy. We therefore come to the following conclusion: those experiences which are already within our power of loving (ichcha sakti), power of doing (kriya sakti) and power of knowing (jnana sakti) are easy. while those experiences which are not already within our power of loving, power of doing and power of knowing are difficult.
This indeed is the correct definition of what is difficult and what is easy. With this definition, let us now see which of these two is easy: the efforts required for the various spiritual practices like japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, or the effort required for Self-enquiry
As we have already said; the efforts made in the paths of japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, are nothing but an attention towards second and third person objects, whereas the effort made in the Self-enquiry taught by Sri Bhagavan is an attention towards the first person.
For the practice of japa, dhyana or any of the four yogas, it is necessary to use the power of one-pointedness of mind on second and third person objects; using the mind’s power in such a way is mere extroversion (bahirmukham). But for Self-enquiry, it is necessary to use the power of one-pointedness of mind in attending to focusing on – the first person, so this alone is the real introversion (antarmukham). A little analysis will reveal that for every one of us (even for the most ordinary man), the experiences of loving (ichcha), doing (kriya) and knowing (jnana) towards the first person are not only inherent but also greater than those towards the second and third person objects. Let us see how.
120
... But since we have come to know thus – that the experiences of loving, of doing and of knowing are already clear and inherent in us only with regard to the first person, when viewed in the light ot the above. mentioned definition of ‘easy’ and difficult’, one can plainly see that the effort made in the path of Self-enquiry, which is an attention towards the first person, is far easier than that made in japa, dhyana, yoga and so on, which are nothing but attention towards second and third person objects. Such indeed is the justification in support of the sayings of Sri Bhagavan. “Of all paths. this path is’ the easiest ?” and, “This is the direct path for all!”, it was in this connection that Sri Bhagavan used to say repeatedly, “Self is here and now, and ever -attained”. By saying, “This is the direct path for all”, Sri Bhagavan points out that anyone, however weak his mind may be, can acquire through this path that true strength of mind which is required to abide in one’s source. Therefore, taking to Self-attention (ahamukham), which is the real introversion (antar-mukham), is by itself far better than giving any other target to the mind – such is the unique greatness of Sri Bhagavan’s teaching !
“Except (the effort made in) the path of enquiring in to the ego, no amount of effort made as enjoined in other paths such as karma, (yoga and so on,) will enable you to obtain and enjoy’ Self, the treasure in the heart !” ‘Guru Vachaka Koval’, verse 885 Moreover, can God be one of the second or third person objects? No, He cannot be ! Because, “The second and third persons live only because of the root, the first person (the ego) .. .” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam”, verse 648 “Only if that first person (the ego) in the form ‘I am the body’ exists, will the second and third persons exist...” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 14 “If there is no ‘I’-thought, no other thing will exist …” ‘Sri Arunachala Ashtakam’, verse 7 - such is the experience of Sri Bhagavan.
Hence, Self-attention is the true Godattention! “O Bhagavan, meditating upon You is nothing other than contemplating ‘I’, Contemplating ‘I’ is nothing other than remaining without thought, Remaining without thought is nothing other than being vigilantly attentive not to rise as ‘I’, But why even attend, when my very existence (sat) is itself attention (chit) ?” ‘Sri Ramana Sahasram’, verse 990
124
‘The body is not I; who am I? I am He !’ (deham naham: koham? soham !) – this is the quintessence of the Self-enquiry found in the sastras
“...Since we are ever That, why should we for ever be meditating that we are That? Does a man meditate ‘I am a man’ ?” Ulladhu Narpadhu “ verse 36 Does a man come to know that he is a man only by meditating ‘I am a man, I am a man’? Certainly not! Thus, since the aspirant again starts meditating ‘I am Brahman’ it is evident that the state in which he found himself temporarily was not Self-realization – the real waking !
The mind is destroyed only when it turns towards the first person!
The nature of the mind is to attend always to things other than itself, that is, to know only second and third persons. If the mind in this way attends to a thing, it means that it is clinging (attaching itself) to that thing. Attention itself is attachment! Since the mind is to think about the body and prana – though with the intention of deciding ‘this is not!, this is not!’ such attention is only a means of becoming attached to them and it cannot be a means of negating them! This is what is experienced by any true aspirant in his practice. Then what is the secret hidden in this?
Since, whether we know it or not, Self, which is now wrongly considered by us to be unknown, is verily our reality, the very nature of our (the Supreme Self’s) attention itself is Grace (anugraha).
imp-
So long as our power of attention was dwelling upon second and third persons, it was called ‘the mind’ or ‘the intellect’, and its attending was called a doing (kriya) or an action (karma). Only that which is done by the mind is an action.
Therefore, the mind which attends to Self is no more the mind; it is the consciousness aspect of Self (atma-chit-rupam)! Likewise, so long as it attends to the second and third persons (the world), it is not the consciousness aspect of Self; It is the mind, the reflected form of consciousness
The mind which has obtained a burning desire for Self-attention, which is Self-enquiry, is said to be the fully
mature one (pakva manas).
Imp again-
Since this mind, which has very well understood that (as already seen in earlier chapters) the consciousness which shines as ‘I’ alone is the source of full and real happiness, now seeks Self because of its natural craving for happiness, this intense desire to attend to Self is indeed the highest form of devotion (bhakti).
It is exactly this Self-attention of the mind which is thus fully mature through such devotion and desirelessness (bhakti-vairagya) that is to be called the enquiry ‘Who am I ?’ taught by Bhagavan Sri Ramana!
Well, will not at least such a mature mind which has come to the path of Sri Ramana, willingly agreeing to engage in Self-attention, realize Self ? No, no, it has started for its doom ! Agreeing to commit suicide, it places its neck (through Self-attention) on the scaffold where it is to be sacrificed !! How ? Only so long as it was attending to second and third persons did it have the name ‘mind’, but as soon as Self-attention is begun, its name and form (its name as mind and its form as thoughts) are lost. So we can no longer say that Self-attention or Self-enquiry is performed by the mind, Neither is it the mind that attends to Self, nor is the natural spontaneous Self-attention of the consciousness aspect of Self (atma-chit-rupam), which is not the mind, an activity !
“A naked lie then it would be If any man were to say that he Realized the Self, diving within Through proper enquiry set in, Not for knowing but for death The good-for-nothing ego’s worth ! ’This Arunachala alone, The Self, by which the Self is known !” ‘Sri Arunachala Venba’ verse 39
154
Therefore, the result which is aimed at when seeking the rising-place of the ego is the annihilation of that ego and not an experience of a place in the body. It is only in reply to the immature people who – not able to have even an intellectual understanding (paroksha jnana) about the nature of Self, which shines alone as the one, non-dual thing, unlimited by (indeed, absolutely unconnected with) time and space, unlimited even in the form ‘Brahman is everywhere, Brahman is at all times, Brahman is everything’ (sarvatra brahma, sarvada brahma, sarvam brahma) – always raise the question, “Where is the seat for Self in the body?”, that the sastras and sometimes even Sri Bhagavan had to say: “... two digits to the right (from the centre of the chest)
is the heart”64 Hence, this heart--place (hridaya-stanam) is not the ultimate or absolute Reality,.....
157
At the young age of sixteen, when He was not even aware of the fact, ‘This is the sadhana of Self-enquiry that directly bestows the experience of Brahman’, it so happened one day that, without any prior intention, Bhagavan Sri Ramana embarked upon this rare sadhana!
“Always keeping the mind (the attention) fixed In Self (in the feeling ‘I’) alone is called Selfenquiry’... Remaining firmly in Self-abidance, without giving even the least room to the rising of any thought other thanthe thought of Self (that is, without giving even the least attention to any second or third person, but only to Self)
is surrendering oneself to God (which alone is called parabhakti, the supreme devotion)”.
How to do Self Enquiry in Rmana's words:
When Sri Bhagavan was asked, ‘What is the means and technique to hold constantly on to the ‘I’ -consciousness?’, He revealed in His works the technique of Self-enquiry which, as explained above, He had undertaken in His early age, but in a more detailed manner as follows:- “Self (atman) is that which is self-shining in the form ‘I am that I am’. One should not imagine it to be anything such as this or that (light or sound). Imagining’ or thinking thus is itself bondage. Since Self is the consciousness which is neither light nor darkness, let it not be imagined as a light of any kind. That thought itself would be a bondage. The annihilation of the ego (the primal thought) alone is liberation (mukti). All the three bodies consisting of the five sheaths are contained in the feeling ‘I am the body’; therefore if, by the enquiry ‘Who is this I ?’ (that is, by Selfattention), the identification with (attachment to) the gross body alone is removed, the identification with the other two bodies will automatically cease to exist. As it is only by clinging to this that the identifications with the subtle and casual bodies live, there is no need to annihilate these identifications separately.
“Discarding the body as a corpse, not uttering the word ‘I’ by mouth, but seeking with the mind diving inwards ‘Whence does this I rise ?’ alone is the path of knowledge (jnana marga) ...” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 29
if keenly observed what that feeling is which now shines’ as ‘I’, a sphurana66 alone will be experienced without sound as ‘I-I’ in the heart. “When the mind reaches the Heart by enquiring within ‘Who am I ?’, he, ‘I’ (the ego), falling down abashed, the One (the Reality) appears spontaneously as ‘I-I’ (I am that I am) ...” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 30 “When sought within ‘What is the place from which it rises as I ?’, ‘I’ (the ego) will die. This is Self-enquiry.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 19 “Where this ‘I’ dies, there and then shines forth spontaneously the One as ‘I-I’ That alone is the Whole (puranam)” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 20
162
.. By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to, abide in its source increases. When the mind thus abides in the Heart, the first thought, ‘I’ (‘I am the body’, the rising ‘I’), which is the root of all other thoughts, itself having vanished, the ever-existing Self (the being ‘I’) alone will shine. The place (or state) where even the slightest trace of the thought ‘I’ (‘I am this, that, the body, Brahman and so on’) does not exist, alone is Self. That alone is called Silence (maunam).
“After coming to know that the final decision of all the scriptures (sastras) is that such destruction of the mind alone is liberation (mukti), to read scriptures unlimitedly is fruitless. In order to destroy the mind, it is necessary to enquire who one is; then how, instead of enquiring thus within oneself, to enquire and know who one, is in scriptures ? For Rama to know himself to be Rama, is a mirror necessary ? (That is to say, for one to know oneself through Self-attention to be ‘I am’, are scriptures necessary ?) ‘Oneself’ is within the five sheaths, whereas the scriptures are outside them. Therefore, how can oneself, who is to be attended to within, setting aside even the five sheaths, be found in scriptures? Since scripture-enquiry is futile, one should give it up and take to Self-enquiry” – thus says Bhagavan Sri Ramana.
When the mind, with a tremendous longing to find the source which gives it light, turns inwards, the breath stops automatically
If the breath of the enquirer is exhaled at the time of his mind thus giving up knowing external senseobjects (vishayas) and starting to attend to its original form of light, Self, it automatically remains outside without being again drawn in. Likewise, if it is inhaled at that time, it automatically remains inside without being again exhaled ! These are to be taken as ‘external retention’ (bahya kumbhaka) and ‘internal retention’ (antara kumbhaka) respectively. Until there is a rising of a thought on account of non-vigilance (pramada) in Self-attention, this retention (kumbhaka) will continue in an enquirer quite effortlessly.
By a little scrutiny, will it not be clear to anyone that even in our everyday life when some startling news is suddenly brought to us or when we try to recollect a forgotten thing with full concentration, the breath stops automatically on account of the keenness of mind (the intensity of concentration) that takes place then? Similarly, the breath will stop automatically as soon as the mind, with an intense longing to see its original form of light and with earnest onepointedness, begins to turn keenly and remain within. In this state of retention (kumbhaka), no matter how long it continues, the enquirer does not experience suffocation, that is, the urge to exhale or inhale. But while practicing pranayama, if the units of time (matras) of the retention are increased, one does experience suffocation. If the enquirer’s attention is so intensely fixed on Self that he does not even care to know whether the breath has stopped or not, then his state of retention is involuntary and without struggle. There are some aspirants, however, who try to know at that time whether or not the ‘breath has stopped. This is wrong, for since the attention is thus focusing on the breath, Selfattention will be lost and thereby various thoughts will shoot up and the flow of sadhana will be interrupted, That is why Sri Bhagavan advised, ‘Control breath and speech with a keen (introverted) mind’. It would be wise to understand this verse thus, by adding ‘with a keen mind’ (kurnda matiyal) in all the three places, ‘Control the breath with a keen mind dive within with a keen mind, and know the rising-place with a keen mind’,
By his very moving along it, does not the man who positions his eyes on the reflected beam reduce its length? Just as the length of the beam decreases as he advances, so also the mind’s tendency of expanding shrinks more and more as the aspirant perseveres in sincerely seeking its source.
“… When the attention goes deeper and deeper within along the (reflected) ray ‘I’, its length
decrease more and more, and when the ray ‘I’ dies, that which shines as ‘I’ is Jnana, “ ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 9
When the man finally reaches very near to the piece of mirror, he can be said to have reached the very source of the reflected ray. This is similar to the aspirant diving within and reaching the source (Heart) whence he had risen. Does not the man now attain a state where the length of the reflected ray is reduced to nothing – a state where no reflection is possible because he is so close to the mirror? Similarly, when the aspirant, on account of his diving deeper and deeper within by an intense effort of Selfattention, is so close to his source that not even an iota of rising of the ego is possible, he remains absorbed in the great dissolution of the ‘I am the body’ – feeling (dehatmabuddhi), which he had hitherto had as a target of attention, This dissolution is what Sri Bhagavan refers to when He says, ‘I’ will die”, in ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’ verse 19.
Having our attention withdrawn from second and third persons and clinging to the first person – that alone is sadhana.
As soon as the attention turns towards the first person feeling, not only do other thoughts disappear, but also the first thought, the rising and expanding pseudo ‘I’-consciousness, itself begins contracting !
“A naked lie then it would be If any man were to say that he Realized the Self, diving within Through proper enquiry set in, Not for knowing but for death The good-for-nothing ego’s worth ! ’This Arunachala alone, The Self, by which the Self is known !” ‘Sri Arunachala Venba’ verse 39
154
Therefore, the result which is aimed at when seeking the rising-place of the ego is the annihilation of that ego and not an experience of a place in the body. It is only in reply to the immature people who – not able to have even an intellectual understanding (paroksha jnana) about the nature of Self, which shines alone as the one, non-dual thing, unlimited by (indeed, absolutely unconnected with) time and space, unlimited even in the form ‘Brahman is everywhere, Brahman is at all times, Brahman is everything’ (sarvatra brahma, sarvada brahma, sarvam brahma) – always raise the question, “Where is the seat for Self in the body?”, that the sastras and sometimes even Sri Bhagavan had to say: “... two digits to the right (from the centre of the chest)
is the heart”64 Hence, this heart--place (hridaya-stanam) is not the ultimate or absolute Reality,.....
157
At the young age of sixteen, when He was not even aware of the fact, ‘This is the sadhana of Self-enquiry that directly bestows the experience of Brahman’, it so happened one day that, without any prior intention, Bhagavan Sri Ramana embarked upon this rare sadhana!
“Always keeping the mind (the attention) fixed In Self (in the feeling ‘I’) alone is called Selfenquiry’... Remaining firmly in Self-abidance, without giving even the least room to the rising of any thought other thanthe thought of Self (that is, without giving even the least attention to any second or third person, but only to Self)
is surrendering oneself to God (which alone is called parabhakti, the supreme devotion)”.
How to do Self Enquiry in Rmana's words:
When Sri Bhagavan was asked, ‘What is the means and technique to hold constantly on to the ‘I’ -consciousness?’, He revealed in His works the technique of Self-enquiry which, as explained above, He had undertaken in His early age, but in a more detailed manner as follows:- “Self (atman) is that which is self-shining in the form ‘I am that I am’. One should not imagine it to be anything such as this or that (light or sound). Imagining’ or thinking thus is itself bondage. Since Self is the consciousness which is neither light nor darkness, let it not be imagined as a light of any kind. That thought itself would be a bondage. The annihilation of the ego (the primal thought) alone is liberation (mukti). All the three bodies consisting of the five sheaths are contained in the feeling ‘I am the body’; therefore if, by the enquiry ‘Who is this I ?’ (that is, by Selfattention), the identification with (attachment to) the gross body alone is removed, the identification with the other two bodies will automatically cease to exist. As it is only by clinging to this that the identifications with the subtle and casual bodies live, there is no need to annihilate these identifications separately.
“Discarding the body as a corpse, not uttering the word ‘I’ by mouth, but seeking with the mind diving inwards ‘Whence does this I rise ?’ alone is the path of knowledge (jnana marga) ...” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 29
if keenly observed what that feeling is which now shines’ as ‘I’, a sphurana66 alone will be experienced without sound as ‘I-I’ in the heart. “When the mind reaches the Heart by enquiring within ‘Who am I ?’, he, ‘I’ (the ego), falling down abashed, the One (the Reality) appears spontaneously as ‘I-I’ (I am that I am) ...” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 30 “When sought within ‘What is the place from which it rises as I ?’, ‘I’ (the ego) will die. This is Self-enquiry.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 19 “Where this ‘I’ dies, there and then shines forth spontaneously the One as ‘I-I’ That alone is the Whole (puranam)” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 20
162
.. By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to, abide in its source increases. When the mind thus abides in the Heart, the first thought, ‘I’ (‘I am the body’, the rising ‘I’), which is the root of all other thoughts, itself having vanished, the ever-existing Self (the being ‘I’) alone will shine. The place (or state) where even the slightest trace of the thought ‘I’ (‘I am this, that, the body, Brahman and so on’) does not exist, alone is Self. That alone is called Silence (maunam).
“After coming to know that the final decision of all the scriptures (sastras) is that such destruction of the mind alone is liberation (mukti), to read scriptures unlimitedly is fruitless. In order to destroy the mind, it is necessary to enquire who one is; then how, instead of enquiring thus within oneself, to enquire and know who one, is in scriptures ? For Rama to know himself to be Rama, is a mirror necessary ? (That is to say, for one to know oneself through Self-attention to be ‘I am’, are scriptures necessary ?) ‘Oneself’ is within the five sheaths, whereas the scriptures are outside them. Therefore, how can oneself, who is to be attended to within, setting aside even the five sheaths, be found in scriptures? Since scripture-enquiry is futile, one should give it up and take to Self-enquiry” – thus says Bhagavan Sri Ramana.
When the mind, with a tremendous longing to find the source which gives it light, turns inwards, the breath stops automatically
If the breath of the enquirer is exhaled at the time of his mind thus giving up knowing external senseobjects (vishayas) and starting to attend to its original form of light, Self, it automatically remains outside without being again drawn in. Likewise, if it is inhaled at that time, it automatically remains inside without being again exhaled ! These are to be taken as ‘external retention’ (bahya kumbhaka) and ‘internal retention’ (antara kumbhaka) respectively. Until there is a rising of a thought on account of non-vigilance (pramada) in Self-attention, this retention (kumbhaka) will continue in an enquirer quite effortlessly.
By a little scrutiny, will it not be clear to anyone that even in our everyday life when some startling news is suddenly brought to us or when we try to recollect a forgotten thing with full concentration, the breath stops automatically on account of the keenness of mind (the intensity of concentration) that takes place then? Similarly, the breath will stop automatically as soon as the mind, with an intense longing to see its original form of light and with earnest onepointedness, begins to turn keenly and remain within. In this state of retention (kumbhaka), no matter how long it continues, the enquirer does not experience suffocation, that is, the urge to exhale or inhale. But while practicing pranayama, if the units of time (matras) of the retention are increased, one does experience suffocation. If the enquirer’s attention is so intensely fixed on Self that he does not even care to know whether the breath has stopped or not, then his state of retention is involuntary and without struggle. There are some aspirants, however, who try to know at that time whether or not the ‘breath has stopped. This is wrong, for since the attention is thus focusing on the breath, Selfattention will be lost and thereby various thoughts will shoot up and the flow of sadhana will be interrupted, That is why Sri Bhagavan advised, ‘Control breath and speech with a keen (introverted) mind’. It would be wise to understand this verse thus, by adding ‘with a keen mind’ (kurnda matiyal) in all the three places, ‘Control the breath with a keen mind dive within with a keen mind, and know the rising-place with a keen mind’,
By his very moving along it, does not the man who positions his eyes on the reflected beam reduce its length? Just as the length of the beam decreases as he advances, so also the mind’s tendency of expanding shrinks more and more as the aspirant perseveres in sincerely seeking its source.
“… When the attention goes deeper and deeper within along the (reflected) ray ‘I’, its length
decrease more and more, and when the ray ‘I’ dies, that which shines as ‘I’ is Jnana, “ ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 9
When the man finally reaches very near to the piece of mirror, he can be said to have reached the very source of the reflected ray. This is similar to the aspirant diving within and reaching the source (Heart) whence he had risen. Does not the man now attain a state where the length of the reflected ray is reduced to nothing – a state where no reflection is possible because he is so close to the mirror? Similarly, when the aspirant, on account of his diving deeper and deeper within by an intense effort of Selfattention, is so close to his source that not even an iota of rising of the ego is possible, he remains absorbed in the great dissolution of the ‘I am the body’ – feeling (dehatmabuddhi), which he had hitherto had as a target of attention, This dissolution is what Sri Bhagavan refers to when He says, ‘I’ will die”, in ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’ verse 19.
Having our attention withdrawn from second and third persons and clinging to the first person – that alone is sadhana.
As soon as the attention turns towards the first person feeling, not only do other thoughts disappear, but also the first thought, the rising and expanding pseudo ‘I’-consciousness, itself begins contracting !
“When the mind, the ego, which wanders outside knowing only other objects (second and third persons), begins to attend to its own nature, all other objects will’ disappear and, by experiencing its true nature (Self), the pseudo ‘I’ will also die.” ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’, verse 193
“...If the fickle mind turns towards the first person, the first person (the ego) will become non-existent and That which really exists will then shine forth…” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 6 “...Attending to the first person is equal to committing suicide...” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 7
“Because there is consciousness, this is not sleep, and because there is the absence of thoughts, it is not the waking state it is therefore the existenceconsciousness (sat-chit), the unbroken nature of Siva (akhanda siva-swarupam). Without leaving it, abide in it with great love.” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
“...If the fickle mind turns towards the first person, the first person (the ego) will become non-existent and That which really exists will then shine forth…” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 6 “...Attending to the first person is equal to committing suicide...” ‘Atma Vichara Patikam’, verse 7
“Because there is consciousness, this is not sleep, and because there is the absence of thoughts, it is not the waking state it is therefore the existenceconsciousness (sat-chit), the unbroken nature of Siva (akhanda siva-swarupam). Without leaving it, abide in it with great love.” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
Whenever the aspirant during the time of sadhana becomes extroverted from this voluntarily brought-about sleep-like state, he feels absolutely certain, ‘I was not sleeping, but was all the while fully conscious of myself’. But, though his real aspect (existence-consciousness) is ever knowing without he least doubt its own existence in sleep as ‘I am’, whenever he becomes extroverted from everyday sleep, since he (the mind) did not even once have the experience of continuing to know ‘I am’ from the waking state, he can only say, ‘I slept, I did not know myself at that time’, The truth is this: since the state of his Self-existence, devoid of the adjunct ‘so-and-so’, is traced out and caught hold of in the voluntarily brought-about sleep with the full consciousness (prajna) continuing from the waking state, the knowledge that the pure existence-consciousness (sat-chit} knows itself as ‘I am’ is clear in this sleep state. That is why the aspirant now says, ‘I did exist throughout, I did not sleep’ ! But prior to his sadhana, since he was throughout the waking state identifying as ‘I’ the mind, which is the form of the adjunct ‘so-and-so’, after waking up from the ordinary daily sleep, where the mind did not exist, this mind (the man) says, ‘I did not exist in sleep’! That is all !! Those who experience many times this removal of the ego through practice, since they have an acquaintance with the experience of their pure existence-consciousness as ‘I am’ even after the removal of the ego, can minutely cognize, even at the moment of just waking up from sleep, how the adjunct ‘so-and-so’ comes and mixes. Those who do not have such strength of practice cannot cognize, from sleep itself, the ego at its place of rising. The only thing that is easy for them is to find the ego’s place of setting (which is also its place of rising) through the effort started from the waking state. In either case, the end and the achievement will be the same. When the attention is focused deeper and deeper within towards the feeling ‘I am’ and when the ego thereby shrinks more and more into nothingness, our power of attention becomes subtler than the subtlest atom and thereby grows sharper and brighter. Hence, the strength of abidance (nishtha-bala) will now be achieved to remain balanced between two states, that is, in a state after the end of sleep and before waking up, in other words, before being possessed by the first thought.
imp-
Through this strength, the skill will now be gained by the aspirant to find out the adjunct ‘so and so’, which comes and mixes, to be a mere second person (that is, although it has hitherto been appearing as if it were the first person, it will now be clearly seen to be his mere shadow, non-Self, the primal sheath, a thing alien to him).
This is what Janaka, the royal Sage, meant when he said,
“I have found out the thief
(the time of his coming – the time and place. of the ego’s rising) who has been ruining me all along; I will inflict the right punishment upon him”.
imp-
Through this strength, the skill will now be gained by the aspirant to find out the adjunct ‘so and so’, which comes and mixes, to be a mere second person (that is, although it has hitherto been appearing as if it were the first person, it will now be clearly seen to be his mere shadow, non-Self, the primal sheath, a thing alien to him).
This is what Janaka, the royal Sage, meant when he said,
“I have found out the thief
(the time of his coming – the time and place. of the ego’s rising) who has been ruining me all along; I will inflict the right punishment upon him”.
Since the ego, which was acting till now as if it were the first person, is found to be a second person alien to us, the right punishment is to destroy it at its very place of rising (just as the reflected ray is destroyed at its place of rising) by clinging steadfastly to the real first person (the real import of the word ‘I’), existenceconsciousness, through the method of regaining Selfattention taught by Bhagavan Sri Ramana (‘To whom? To me; who am I?’),
“As you practise more and more abiding in this existence-consciousness (that is, remaining in the state between sleep and waking), the ordinary sleep which had previously been taking possession of you will melt away, and the waking which was full of sense-knowledges (vishayas) will not creep in again, Therefore repeatedly and untiringly abide in it,” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
By greater and more steadfast practice of abiding in this existence-consciousness, we will experience that this state seems to come often and take possession of us of its own accord whenever we are free from our daily work. But, since this state of existence-consciousness is in fact nothing but ‘we’, it is wrong to think that such a state comes and takes possession of us! While at work, we attend to other things; after that work is over and before we attend to some other second or third person, we naturally abide in our real state, existence-consciousness.
Though this happens to one and all every day,
it is only to those who have the experience of Self-consciousness through the aforesaid practice that the state of Self-abidance will be clearly discerned
after leaving one second parson thought and before catching another one (that is, between two thoughts).
imp-
“Why has it been said (in the above two verses of ‘Sadhana Saram’) that one ought to make effort repeatedly to be in that state (our existence consciousness) and ought to abide in it with more and more love? Because, until all the tendencies (vasanas) which drive one out of it are completely exhausted, this state will seem to come and go. Hence the need for continued effort and love to abide in Self.”
“As you practise more and more abiding in this existence-consciousness (that is, remaining in the state between sleep and waking), the ordinary sleep which had previously been taking possession of you will melt away, and the waking which was full of sense-knowledges (vishayas) will not creep in again, Therefore repeatedly and untiringly abide in it,” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
By greater and more steadfast practice of abiding in this existence-consciousness, we will experience that this state seems to come often and take possession of us of its own accord whenever we are free from our daily work. But, since this state of existence-consciousness is in fact nothing but ‘we’, it is wrong to think that such a state comes and takes possession of us! While at work, we attend to other things; after that work is over and before we attend to some other second or third person, we naturally abide in our real state, existence-consciousness.
Though this happens to one and all every day,
it is only to those who have the experience of Self-consciousness through the aforesaid practice that the state of Self-abidance will be clearly discerned
after leaving one second parson thought and before catching another one (that is, between two thoughts).
imp-
“Why has it been said (in the above two verses of ‘Sadhana Saram’) that one ought to make effort repeatedly to be in that state (our existence consciousness) and ought to abide in it with more and more love? Because, until all the tendencies (vasanas) which drive one out of it are completely exhausted, this state will seem to come and go. Hence the need for continued effort and love to abide in Self.”
“When, through this practice, our state of existence consciousness is experienced always as inescapably natural, then there will be no harm even if waking, dream and sleep pass across,” “For those who are well established in the unending Self-consciousness, which pervades and transcends all these three so-called states (waking, dream and sleep), there is but one state, the Whole, the All, and that alone is real! This state, which is devoid even of the feeling ‘I am making effort’, is your natural state of being! Be!!” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
Just as the man came out into the open space from the dark room by steadfastly holding on to and moving along the reflected ray, so the enquirer reaches the open space of Heart, coming out of the prison – the attachment to the body through the nerves (nadis) -, by assiduously holding on to the feeling ‘I am’. Let us now see how this process takes place in the body of an advanced enquirer
Just on waking up from sleep, a consciousness ‘I’ shoots up like a flash of lightening from the Heart to the brain. From the brain, it then spreads throughout the body along the nerves (nadis). This ‘I’ consciousness is like electrical energy. Its impetus or voltage is the force of attachment (abhimana-vega) with which it identifies a body as ‘I’. This consciousness, which spreads with such a tremendous impetus and speed all over the body as ‘I’, remains pure, having no adjunct (upadhi) attached to it, till it reaches the brain from the Heart. But, since its force of attachment (abhimana-vega) is so great that the time taken by it to shoot up from the Heart to the brain is extremely short, one millionth of a second so to speak, ordinary people are unable to cognize it in its pure condition, devoid of any adjunct. This pure condition of the rising ‘I’ - consciousness is what was pointed out by Sri Bhagavan when He said, “In the space between two states or two thoughts, the pure ego (the pure condition or true nature of the ego) is experienced”, in ‘Maharshi’s Gospel’, Book One, chapter five, entitled ‘Self and Ego’.
For this ‘I’ – consciousness that spreads from the brain at a tremendous speed throughout the body, the nerves (nadis) are the transmission lines, like wires for electrical power, (How many they are is immaterial here.) The mixing of the pure consciousness ‘I am’, after reaching the brain, with an adjunct as ‘I am this, I am so-and-so, I am the body’ is what is called bondage (bandham) or the knot (granthi). This knot has two forms: the knot of bondage to the nerves (nadi-bandha-granthi) and the knot of attachment (abhimana--granthi).
The connection of this power, the ‘I’- consciousness, with the gross nervous system is called ‘the knot of bondage to the nerves’ (nadi bandha granthi), and its connection (its dehabhimana) with the causal body, whose form is the latent tendencies, is called ‘the knot of attachment’ (abhimana-granthi), The knot of bondage to the nerves pertains to the breath (prana), while the knot of attachment pertains to the mind.
“Mind and breath (prana) which have thought and action as their respective functions, are like two diverging branches of the trunk of a tree, but their root (the activating power) is one.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 12
179
Since the source of the mind and the prana is one (the Heart), when the knot of attachment (abhimana-granthi) is severed by the annihilation of the mind through Self-enquiry, the knot of bondage to the nerves (nadi bandha-granthi) is also severed. In raja yoga, after removing the knot of bondage to the nerves by means of breathcontrol, if the mind which is thus controlled is made to enter the Heart from the brain (sahasrara), since it reaches its source, then the knot of attachment is also severed.
“When the mind which has been subdued by breath control is led (to the Heart) through the only path (the path of knowing Self)76, its form will die.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 14
However, since the knot of attachment is the basic one, until and unless the destruction of attachment (abhimana) is effected, by knowing self, even when the knot of bondage to the nerves is temporarily removed in sleep, swoon, death or by the use of anesthetics, the knot of attachment remains unaffected in the form of tendencies (vasanas), which constitute the causal body, and, hence rebirths are inescapable.
This is why Sri Bhagavan insists that one reaching kashta-nirvikalpa-samadhi 77 through raja yoga should not stop there (since it is only mano-laya, a temporary absorption of the mind), but that the mind so absorbed should be led to the Heart in order to attain sahaja-nirvikalpa-samildhi, which is the destruction of the mind (mano-nasa), the destruction of the attachment to the body (dehabhimana-nasa). In the body of such a Selfrealized One (sahaja jnani), the coursing of the ‘I’ - consciousness along the nerves, even after the destruction of the knot of attachment, is like the water on a lotus leaf or like a burnt rope, and thus it cannot cause bondage. Therefore the destruction of the knot of attachment is anyway indispensible for the attainment of the natural state (Sahaja Sthiti), the state of the destruction of the tendencies (vasanakshaya).
The nerves (nadis) are gross, but the consciousness power (chaitanya-sakti) that courses through them is subtle. The connection of the ‘I’-consciousness with the nerves is similar to that of the electrical power with the wires, that is, it is so unstable that it can be disconnected or connected in a second. Is it not an experience common to one and all that this connection is daily broken in sleep and effected in the waking state? When this connection is effected, bodyconsciousness rises, and when it is broken, bodyconsciousness is lost. Here it is to be remembered what has already been stated, namely that body-consciousness and world-consciousness are one and the same. So, like our clothes and ornaments which are daily removed and put on, this knot is alien to us, a transitory and false entity hanging loosely on us! This is what Sri Bhagavan referred to when He said, “We can detach ourself from what we are not”! Disconnecting the knot in such a way that it will never again come into being is called by many names such as ‘the cutting of the knot’ (granthi-bheda). ‘the destruction of the mind’ (mano-nasa) and so on. ‘In such a way that it will never again come into being’ means this: by attending to it (the ego) through the enquiry ‘Does it in truth exist at present?’ in order to find out whether it had ever really come into being, there takes place the dawn of knowledge
(jnana), the real waking, where it is clearly and firmly known that no such knot has ever come into being, that no such ego has ever risen, that ‘that which exists’ alone ever exists, and that which was existing as ‘I am’ is ever existing as ‘I am’! The attainment of this knowledge (Self-knowledge or atma-jnana), the knowledge that the knot or bondage is at all times non-existent and has never risen, is the permanent disconnecting of the knot.
Just as the man came out into the open space from the dark room by steadfastly holding on to and moving along the reflected ray, so the enquirer reaches the open space of Heart, coming out of the prison – the attachment to the body through the nerves (nadis) -, by assiduously holding on to the feeling ‘I am’. Let us now see how this process takes place in the body of an advanced enquirer
Just on waking up from sleep, a consciousness ‘I’ shoots up like a flash of lightening from the Heart to the brain. From the brain, it then spreads throughout the body along the nerves (nadis). This ‘I’ consciousness is like electrical energy. Its impetus or voltage is the force of attachment (abhimana-vega) with which it identifies a body as ‘I’. This consciousness, which spreads with such a tremendous impetus and speed all over the body as ‘I’, remains pure, having no adjunct (upadhi) attached to it, till it reaches the brain from the Heart. But, since its force of attachment (abhimana-vega) is so great that the time taken by it to shoot up from the Heart to the brain is extremely short, one millionth of a second so to speak, ordinary people are unable to cognize it in its pure condition, devoid of any adjunct. This pure condition of the rising ‘I’ - consciousness is what was pointed out by Sri Bhagavan when He said, “In the space between two states or two thoughts, the pure ego (the pure condition or true nature of the ego) is experienced”, in ‘Maharshi’s Gospel’, Book One, chapter five, entitled ‘Self and Ego’.
For this ‘I’ – consciousness that spreads from the brain at a tremendous speed throughout the body, the nerves (nadis) are the transmission lines, like wires for electrical power, (How many they are is immaterial here.) The mixing of the pure consciousness ‘I am’, after reaching the brain, with an adjunct as ‘I am this, I am so-and-so, I am the body’ is what is called bondage (bandham) or the knot (granthi). This knot has two forms: the knot of bondage to the nerves (nadi-bandha-granthi) and the knot of attachment (abhimana--granthi).
The connection of this power, the ‘I’- consciousness, with the gross nervous system is called ‘the knot of bondage to the nerves’ (nadi bandha granthi), and its connection (its dehabhimana) with the causal body, whose form is the latent tendencies, is called ‘the knot of attachment’ (abhimana-granthi), The knot of bondage to the nerves pertains to the breath (prana), while the knot of attachment pertains to the mind.
“Mind and breath (prana) which have thought and action as their respective functions, are like two diverging branches of the trunk of a tree, but their root (the activating power) is one.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 12
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Since the source of the mind and the prana is one (the Heart), when the knot of attachment (abhimana-granthi) is severed by the annihilation of the mind through Self-enquiry, the knot of bondage to the nerves (nadi bandha-granthi) is also severed. In raja yoga, after removing the knot of bondage to the nerves by means of breathcontrol, if the mind which is thus controlled is made to enter the Heart from the brain (sahasrara), since it reaches its source, then the knot of attachment is also severed.
“When the mind which has been subdued by breath control is led (to the Heart) through the only path (the path of knowing Self)76, its form will die.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 14
However, since the knot of attachment is the basic one, until and unless the destruction of attachment (abhimana) is effected, by knowing self, even when the knot of bondage to the nerves is temporarily removed in sleep, swoon, death or by the use of anesthetics, the knot of attachment remains unaffected in the form of tendencies (vasanas), which constitute the causal body, and, hence rebirths are inescapable.
This is why Sri Bhagavan insists that one reaching kashta-nirvikalpa-samadhi 77 through raja yoga should not stop there (since it is only mano-laya, a temporary absorption of the mind), but that the mind so absorbed should be led to the Heart in order to attain sahaja-nirvikalpa-samildhi, which is the destruction of the mind (mano-nasa), the destruction of the attachment to the body (dehabhimana-nasa). In the body of such a Selfrealized One (sahaja jnani), the coursing of the ‘I’ - consciousness along the nerves, even after the destruction of the knot of attachment, is like the water on a lotus leaf or like a burnt rope, and thus it cannot cause bondage. Therefore the destruction of the knot of attachment is anyway indispensible for the attainment of the natural state (Sahaja Sthiti), the state of the destruction of the tendencies (vasanakshaya).
The nerves (nadis) are gross, but the consciousness power (chaitanya-sakti) that courses through them is subtle. The connection of the ‘I’-consciousness with the nerves is similar to that of the electrical power with the wires, that is, it is so unstable that it can be disconnected or connected in a second. Is it not an experience common to one and all that this connection is daily broken in sleep and effected in the waking state? When this connection is effected, bodyconsciousness rises, and when it is broken, bodyconsciousness is lost. Here it is to be remembered what has already been stated, namely that body-consciousness and world-consciousness are one and the same. So, like our clothes and ornaments which are daily removed and put on, this knot is alien to us, a transitory and false entity hanging loosely on us! This is what Sri Bhagavan referred to when He said, “We can detach ourself from what we are not”! Disconnecting the knot in such a way that it will never again come into being is called by many names such as ‘the cutting of the knot’ (granthi-bheda). ‘the destruction of the mind’ (mano-nasa) and so on. ‘In such a way that it will never again come into being’ means this: by attending to it (the ego) through the enquiry ‘Does it in truth exist at present?’ in order to find out whether it had ever really come into being, there takes place the dawn of knowledge
(jnana), the real waking, where it is clearly and firmly known that no such knot has ever come into being, that no such ego has ever risen, that ‘that which exists’ alone ever exists, and that which was existing as ‘I am’ is ever existing as ‘I am’! The attainment of this knowledge (Self-knowledge or atma-jnana), the knowledge that the knot or bondage is at all times non-existent and has never risen, is the permanent disconnecting of the knot.
3 walls story..
The defect of my not looking behind was the reason for my socalled bondage; and the turning of my attention behind is really the sadhana for my so-called liberation! In reality, I am ever remaining as I am, without any imprisonment or release !”
Thus knowing the truth, he remained quiet.
The two walls in the story signify the second and third persons.
The first person is the third wall said to be behind the man.
There is no way at all to liberation by means of second and third person attention.
Only by the first person attention ‘Who am I?’ will the right knowledge be gained that the ego, the first person, is ever non-existent, and only when the first person is thus annihilated will the truth be realized that bondage and liberation are false.
‘’So long as one thinks like a madman ‘I am a bound one’, thoughts of bondage and liberation will last. But when looking into oneself ‘Who is this bound one? the eternally free and evershining Self alone will (be found to) exist. Thus, where the thought of bondage no longer stands, can the thought of liberation still endure !” ‘Ulladhu Narpadhu’, verse 39
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The path of Sri Ramana is paved solely for the purpose of our ever abiding in our eternal state of pure bliss, by giving up even the thought of liberation through the dawn of the right knowledge that we have never been in bondage.
“Only the first place or the present time is advised to be attended to. If you keenly do so, you will enjoy the bliss of Self, having completed all yogas and having achieved the supreme accomplishment. Know and feast on it!” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
Let us now again take up our original point. When the attention of an aspirant is turned towards second and third persons, the ‘I’-consciousness spreads from the brain all over the body through the nerves (nadis) in the form of the power of spreading; but when the same attention is focused on the first person, since it is used in an opposite direction, the ‘I’ -consciousness, instead of functioning in the form of the power of spreading, takes the form of the power of Selfattention (that is, the power of ‘doing’ is transformed into the power of ‘being’). This is what is called ‘the churning of the nadis’ (nadi-mathana).
By the churning thus taking place in the nadis, the ‘I’-consciousness scattered throughout the nadis turns back, withdraws and collects in the brain, the starting point of its spreading, and from there it reaches, drowns and is established in the Heart, the pure consciousness, the source of its rising
In raja-yoga, the ‘I’-consciousness pervading all the nadis is forcibly pushed back to the starting point of its spreading by the power generated through the pressure of breath-retention (prana-kumbhaka). But this is a violent method. The following is what Sri Bhagavan used to say: “Forcibly pushing back the ‘I’ – consciousness by breathretention, as is done in raja yoga, is a violent method, like chasing a run-away cow, beating it, catching hold of it, dragging it forcibly to the shed and finally tying it there; on the other hand, bringing back the ‘I’-consciousness to its source by enquiry is a gentle and peaceful method, like tempting the cow by showing it a handful of green grass, cajoling and fondling it, making it follow us of its own accord to the shed and finally tying it there”. This is a safe and pleasant path, To bear the churning of the nadis effected through the method of breath-retention in raja yoga, the body must be young and strong. If such a churning is made to happen in a body which is weak or old, since the body does not have the strength to bear it, many troubles may occur such as nervous disorders, physical diseases, insanity and so on. But there is no room for any such dangers if the churning is made to take place through enquiry
In the path of enquiry, withdrawal from the nadis takes place without any strain and as peacefully as the incoming of sleep. The rule found in. some sastras that the goal should be reached before the age of thirty is therefore applicable only in the path of raja yoga, and not in enquiry?79, the path of Sri Ramana !
The channel through which the ‘I’-consciousness, which has risen from the Heart and has spread all over the
body, is experienced while it is being withdrawn is called the sushumna nadi. Not taking into consideration the legs and arms, since they are only subsidiary limbs, the channel through which the ‘I’ -consciousness is experienced in the trunk of the body from the base of the spine (muladhara) to the top of the head (sahasrara) is alone the sushumna.
While the ‘I’ – consciousness is withdrawing through the sushumna, an aspirant may have experiences of the places of the six yogic centres (shadchakras) on the way, or even without having them may reach the Heart directly. While travelling in a train to Delhi, It is not necessary that a man should see the stations and scenes on the way. Can he not reach Delhi unmindful of them, sleeping happily? However, due to the past devotional tendencies towards the different names and forms of God, which are bound by time and place, some aspirants may have experiences of the six yogic centres and of divine visions, sounds and so on therein. But for those who do not have such obstacles in the form of tendencies, the journey will be pleasant and without any distinguishing feature (visesha). In the former case, these experiences are due to non-vigilance (pramada) in Self-attention, for they are nothing but a second person attention taking place there! This itself betrays that the attention to Self is lost! For those tremendously earnest aspirants who do not at all give room to non-vigilance in Self-attention, these objective experiences will never occur! The following replies of Sri Ramakrishna are worth being noted in this context: When Swami Vivekananda reported to Him, “All say that they have had visions, but I have not seen any !” the Guru said, “That is good !” On another occasion, when Swami Vivekananda reported that some occult powers (siddhis) such as clairvoyance seemed to have been gained by him in the course of his sadhana, his Guru warned him “Stop your sadhana for some time, Let them leave you!” It is therefore clear from this that such experiences can be had only by those who delay by often stopping on the way on account of their Self-attention being obstructed by lack of vigilance (pramada).
Even though the ‘I’-consciousness while being withdrawn courses only along the sushumna nadi, on account of its extreme brilliance it illumines the five sense organs (jnanendriyas), which are near the sushumna, and hence the above–mentioned experiences happen. How? When the light of ‘I’-consciousness stationed in the sushumna illumines the eye, the organ of sight, there will be visions of Gods and many celestial worlds; when it illumines the ear, the organ of hearing, celestial sounds will be heard such as the playing of divine instruments (deva dundubhi), the ringing of divine bells, Omkara and so on; when it illumines the organ of smell, delightful divine fragrances will be smelt; when it illumines the organ of taste, delicious celestial nectar will be tasted; and when it illumines the organ of touch, a feeling of extreme pleasure will permeate the entire body or a feeling of floating in an ocean of pleasantness will be experienced. There is no wonder that these experiences appear to be clearer and of greater reality than the sense-experiences in the ordinary waking state, because the experiences of the present waking world are gained through the gross five senses, which are functioning by the impure ‘I’ – consciousness scattered all over the body, whereas these experiences of celestial worlds are gained through the subtle five senses, which are functioning by the pure, focused ‘I’ – consciousness. Yet all these are only qualified mental experiences (visesha-manaanubhavas) and not the unqualified Self-experience (nirvisesha-ekatma-anubhava).
Since the mind is now very subtle and brilliant because it is withdrawn from all the other nadis into the sushumna, and since it is extremely pure because it is free from worldly desires, it is now able to project through the subtle five senses only the past auspicious tendencies (purva subha vasanas) as described above.
However, just because of these visions and the like, one should not conclude that the mind has been transformed into Self (atman). Even now there has not been destruction of the mind (mono-nasa). Being still alive with auspicious tendencies, it creates and perceives subtler and more lustrous second and third person objects, and finds enjoyment in them. So this is not at all the unqualified experience of true knowledge (nirvisesha-jnana-anubhava), which is the destruction of the tendencies (vasanakshaya). Whatever appears and is experienced is only a second person knowledge, which means that sadhana, the first person attention, is lost at that time! Many are those who take these qualified experiences (visesha-anubhavas) of taste, light, sound and so on to be the final attainment of Self-knowledge (brahma-jnana), and because they have had these experiences they think that they have attained liberation and they become more and more entangled in attention to second and third persons, thus losing their foothold on Self-attention. Such aspirants are called ‘those fallen from yoga’ (yoga-bhrashtas). This is similar to a man bound for Delhi getting down from the train at some intermediate station, thinking ‘Verily, this is Delhi’, being deluded by its attractive grandeur! Even siddhis, the superhuman powers that may come during the course of sadhana are only our illusion, barring our progress to liberation and landing us in some unknown place.
What are we to do to escape from falling into such dangers? Even in this difficult situation, the clue given by Bhagavan Sri Ramana alone serves as the proper medicine! How? Whenever one is overtaken by such qualified experiences, the weapon of Ramana (Ramanastram), ‘To whom are these experiences ?’, is to be used! The feeling ‘To me’ will be the response! From this, by the enquiry ‘Who am I?’, one can immediately regain the thread of Self-attention. When Self-attention is thus regained, those qualified experiences of second and third persons will disappear of their own accord because there is no one to attend to them (just as a spirit possessing a man jumps and dances more and more so long as others attend to and try to hold the man, but leaves him if there is nobody to attend to him). When the mind, giving up knowing those qualified external sense-objects, again turns towards its form of light 80 (consciousness), it will sink into its source, the Heart, and lose its form for ever. Therefore, the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ alone is the best sadhana even for aspirants on the path of raja yoga), which will guard and guide us to the end and save us. It is the invincible supreme weapon (brahmastram) which is bestowed only by the Grace of Sri Ramana Sadguru! It is the beacon-light which safeguards us lest we should stray away from the path to eternal happiness, which is the aim of the whole world! It is the path of Sri Ramana, which alone transforms us into Self, ‘I am that I am’!
During the course of sadhana, an aspirant will now be able, by the strength of practice, to cognize tangibly what is the state of the absorption of the ego and what exactly is Self-consciousness, at which he has been aiming till now. Although his pure Self-existence, devoid of bodyconsciousness or any other adjunct, will often be experienced by him, this is still the stage of practice and not the final attainment! Why? Since there are still the two alternating feelings, one of being sometimes extroverted and the other of being sometimes introverted, and since there is the feeling of making effort to become introverted and of losing such effort while becoming extroverted, this stage is said to be ‘not the final attainment’, What Sri Bhagavan reveals in this connection is : “If the mind (the attention) is thus well fixed in sadhana (attending to Self), a power of divine Grace will then rise from within of its own accord and, Subjugating the mind, will take it to the Heart”. What is this power of divine Grace ? It is nothing but the perfect clarity of our existence the form of the Supreme Self (paramatman), ever shining with abundant Grace in the heart as ‘I-I’ !
The nature of a needle lying within a magnetic field is to be attracted and pulled only when its rust has been removed. But we should not conclude from this that the magnetic power comes into existence only after the rust is removed from the needle. Is not the magnetic power always naturally existing in that field? Although the needle was all the while lying in the magnetic field, it is affected by the attraction of the magnet only to the extent that it loses its rust. All that we try to do by way of giving up second and third attention and clinging to Self-attention is similar to scraping off the rust. So the result of all our endeavours is to make ourself it to become a prey to the attraction of the magnetic field of pure consciousness the Heart, which is ever shining engulfing all (that is reducing the whole
universe to non-existence) with spreading rays of Self-effulgence. Mature aspirants will willingly and without rebelling submit themselves to this magnetic power of the Grace of Self-effulgence. Others, on the other hand, will become extroverted (that is, will turn their attention outwards) fearing the attraction of this power.
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Therefore, we should first make ourselves fit by the intense love (bhakthi) to know Self
and by the tremendous detachment (vairagya) of having no desire to attend to any second or third person.
Then, since our very individuality (as an aspirant) itself is devoured by that power, even the so-called ‘effort of ours’ becomes nil.
Thus, when the ‘I’ – consciousness that was spread all over the body is made to sink into the Heart, the real waking, the dawn of knowledge (jnana), takes place.
This happens in a split second !
“Death is a matter of a split second!
The leaving off of sleep is a matter of a split second!
Likewise, the removal of the delusion ‘I am an individual soul (jiva)’ is also a matter of a split second!
The dawn of true knowledge is not such that glimpses of it will be gained once and then lost! If an aspirant feels that it appears and disappears, it is only the stage of practice (sadhana); he cannot be said to have attained true knowledge (jnana).
The perfect dawn of knowledge is a happening of a split second; its attainment is not a prolonged process.
All the age long practices are meant only for attaining maturity.
Let us give an example it takes a long lime to prepare a temple cannon-blast, first putting the gunpowder into the barrel, giving the wick, adding some stones and then ramming it, but when ignited it explodes as a thunder in a split second. Similarly, after an agelong period of listening and reading (sravana), reflecting (manana), practising (nidi-dhyasana) and weeping put in prayer (because of the inability to put what is heard into practice), when the mind is thus perfectly purified, then and then only does the dawn of self-knowledge suddenly break forth in a split second as ‘I am that I am’! Since, as soon as this dawn breaks, the space of Self-consciousness is found, through the clear knowledge of the Reality, to be beginningless, natural and eternal, even the effort of attending to Self ceases then! To abide thus, having nothing more to do and nothing further to achieve, is alone the real and supreme state.” ‘Sadhanai Saram
195
The definition of the correct waking is that state in which there is perfect Self-consciousness and singleness of Self- existence, without the knowledge of the existence of anything apart from Self! From this one can determine the real waking.
It is this waking that Sri Bhagavan refers to in the following verse: “Forgetting Self, mistaking the body for Self, taking innumerable births, and at last knowing Self and being Self is just like waking from a dream of wandering all over the world. Know thus.” ‘Ekatma Panchakam’, verse 1
“It is only for those who experience the waking, dream and sleep states, that the state of wakeful sleep is named turiya, a state beyond these. Since that turiya alone really exists and since the apparent three states do not exist, turiya itself is turiyatita. Thus should you bravely understand !” ‘UIladhu Narpadhu – Anubandha’, verse 32
“It is only for those who are not able to immerse and abide firmly in turiya (the state of Self), which shine piercing through the dark ignorance of sleep, that the difference between the first three dense states and the fourth and fifth states are (accepted in sastras).” ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’, verse 567
“To remain in the state (of Self), having attained the supreme bliss, which is devoid of both bondage end liberation, is truly to be in the service of the Lord.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 29 Sri Ramanarpanamastu
The path of Ramana ends here...however notes do not do enough justice. Learn directly from pdf
https://www.happinessofbeing.com/The_Path_of_Sri_Ramana_Part_One.pdf
appendix has :
Who am I?
Atma Vichar Patikam
Sadhana (how to perform) :
90 degrees 180 degrees etc.
last word:
Therefore, unceasing Self-attention is possible only in the state of Self-realization and not in the state of practice (sadhana). What one has to do during the period of sadhana is to cultivate ever-increasing love to attain Self-knowledge and to make intermittent but repeated attempts to turn one’s attention a full 180 degrees towards Self. If one once succeeds in doing this, then unceasing Self-attention will be found to be natural and effortless.
......................................the end.............................................
186
The path of Sri Ramana is paved solely for the purpose of our ever abiding in our eternal state of pure bliss, by giving up even the thought of liberation through the dawn of the right knowledge that we have never been in bondage.
“Only the first place or the present time is advised to be attended to. If you keenly do so, you will enjoy the bliss of Self, having completed all yogas and having achieved the supreme accomplishment. Know and feast on it!” ‘Sadhanai Saram’
Let us now again take up our original point. When the attention of an aspirant is turned towards second and third persons, the ‘I’-consciousness spreads from the brain all over the body through the nerves (nadis) in the form of the power of spreading; but when the same attention is focused on the first person, since it is used in an opposite direction, the ‘I’ -consciousness, instead of functioning in the form of the power of spreading, takes the form of the power of Selfattention (that is, the power of ‘doing’ is transformed into the power of ‘being’). This is what is called ‘the churning of the nadis’ (nadi-mathana).
By the churning thus taking place in the nadis, the ‘I’-consciousness scattered throughout the nadis turns back, withdraws and collects in the brain, the starting point of its spreading, and from there it reaches, drowns and is established in the Heart, the pure consciousness, the source of its rising
In raja-yoga, the ‘I’-consciousness pervading all the nadis is forcibly pushed back to the starting point of its spreading by the power generated through the pressure of breath-retention (prana-kumbhaka). But this is a violent method. The following is what Sri Bhagavan used to say: “Forcibly pushing back the ‘I’ – consciousness by breathretention, as is done in raja yoga, is a violent method, like chasing a run-away cow, beating it, catching hold of it, dragging it forcibly to the shed and finally tying it there; on the other hand, bringing back the ‘I’-consciousness to its source by enquiry is a gentle and peaceful method, like tempting the cow by showing it a handful of green grass, cajoling and fondling it, making it follow us of its own accord to the shed and finally tying it there”. This is a safe and pleasant path, To bear the churning of the nadis effected through the method of breath-retention in raja yoga, the body must be young and strong. If such a churning is made to happen in a body which is weak or old, since the body does not have the strength to bear it, many troubles may occur such as nervous disorders, physical diseases, insanity and so on. But there is no room for any such dangers if the churning is made to take place through enquiry
In the path of enquiry, withdrawal from the nadis takes place without any strain and as peacefully as the incoming of sleep. The rule found in. some sastras that the goal should be reached before the age of thirty is therefore applicable only in the path of raja yoga, and not in enquiry?79, the path of Sri Ramana !
The channel through which the ‘I’-consciousness, which has risen from the Heart and has spread all over the
body, is experienced while it is being withdrawn is called the sushumna nadi. Not taking into consideration the legs and arms, since they are only subsidiary limbs, the channel through which the ‘I’ -consciousness is experienced in the trunk of the body from the base of the spine (muladhara) to the top of the head (sahasrara) is alone the sushumna.
While the ‘I’ – consciousness is withdrawing through the sushumna, an aspirant may have experiences of the places of the six yogic centres (shadchakras) on the way, or even without having them may reach the Heart directly. While travelling in a train to Delhi, It is not necessary that a man should see the stations and scenes on the way. Can he not reach Delhi unmindful of them, sleeping happily? However, due to the past devotional tendencies towards the different names and forms of God, which are bound by time and place, some aspirants may have experiences of the six yogic centres and of divine visions, sounds and so on therein. But for those who do not have such obstacles in the form of tendencies, the journey will be pleasant and without any distinguishing feature (visesha). In the former case, these experiences are due to non-vigilance (pramada) in Self-attention, for they are nothing but a second person attention taking place there! This itself betrays that the attention to Self is lost! For those tremendously earnest aspirants who do not at all give room to non-vigilance in Self-attention, these objective experiences will never occur! The following replies of Sri Ramakrishna are worth being noted in this context: When Swami Vivekananda reported to Him, “All say that they have had visions, but I have not seen any !” the Guru said, “That is good !” On another occasion, when Swami Vivekananda reported that some occult powers (siddhis) such as clairvoyance seemed to have been gained by him in the course of his sadhana, his Guru warned him “Stop your sadhana for some time, Let them leave you!” It is therefore clear from this that such experiences can be had only by those who delay by often stopping on the way on account of their Self-attention being obstructed by lack of vigilance (pramada).
Even though the ‘I’-consciousness while being withdrawn courses only along the sushumna nadi, on account of its extreme brilliance it illumines the five sense organs (jnanendriyas), which are near the sushumna, and hence the above–mentioned experiences happen. How? When the light of ‘I’-consciousness stationed in the sushumna illumines the eye, the organ of sight, there will be visions of Gods and many celestial worlds; when it illumines the ear, the organ of hearing, celestial sounds will be heard such as the playing of divine instruments (deva dundubhi), the ringing of divine bells, Omkara and so on; when it illumines the organ of smell, delightful divine fragrances will be smelt; when it illumines the organ of taste, delicious celestial nectar will be tasted; and when it illumines the organ of touch, a feeling of extreme pleasure will permeate the entire body or a feeling of floating in an ocean of pleasantness will be experienced. There is no wonder that these experiences appear to be clearer and of greater reality than the sense-experiences in the ordinary waking state, because the experiences of the present waking world are gained through the gross five senses, which are functioning by the impure ‘I’ – consciousness scattered all over the body, whereas these experiences of celestial worlds are gained through the subtle five senses, which are functioning by the pure, focused ‘I’ – consciousness. Yet all these are only qualified mental experiences (visesha-manaanubhavas) and not the unqualified Self-experience (nirvisesha-ekatma-anubhava).
Since the mind is now very subtle and brilliant because it is withdrawn from all the other nadis into the sushumna, and since it is extremely pure because it is free from worldly desires, it is now able to project through the subtle five senses only the past auspicious tendencies (purva subha vasanas) as described above.
However, just because of these visions and the like, one should not conclude that the mind has been transformed into Self (atman). Even now there has not been destruction of the mind (mono-nasa). Being still alive with auspicious tendencies, it creates and perceives subtler and more lustrous second and third person objects, and finds enjoyment in them. So this is not at all the unqualified experience of true knowledge (nirvisesha-jnana-anubhava), which is the destruction of the tendencies (vasanakshaya). Whatever appears and is experienced is only a second person knowledge, which means that sadhana, the first person attention, is lost at that time! Many are those who take these qualified experiences (visesha-anubhavas) of taste, light, sound and so on to be the final attainment of Self-knowledge (brahma-jnana), and because they have had these experiences they think that they have attained liberation and they become more and more entangled in attention to second and third persons, thus losing their foothold on Self-attention. Such aspirants are called ‘those fallen from yoga’ (yoga-bhrashtas). This is similar to a man bound for Delhi getting down from the train at some intermediate station, thinking ‘Verily, this is Delhi’, being deluded by its attractive grandeur! Even siddhis, the superhuman powers that may come during the course of sadhana are only our illusion, barring our progress to liberation and landing us in some unknown place.
What are we to do to escape from falling into such dangers? Even in this difficult situation, the clue given by Bhagavan Sri Ramana alone serves as the proper medicine! How? Whenever one is overtaken by such qualified experiences, the weapon of Ramana (Ramanastram), ‘To whom are these experiences ?’, is to be used! The feeling ‘To me’ will be the response! From this, by the enquiry ‘Who am I?’, one can immediately regain the thread of Self-attention. When Self-attention is thus regained, those qualified experiences of second and third persons will disappear of their own accord because there is no one to attend to them (just as a spirit possessing a man jumps and dances more and more so long as others attend to and try to hold the man, but leaves him if there is nobody to attend to him). When the mind, giving up knowing those qualified external sense-objects, again turns towards its form of light 80 (consciousness), it will sink into its source, the Heart, and lose its form for ever. Therefore, the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ alone is the best sadhana even for aspirants on the path of raja yoga), which will guard and guide us to the end and save us. It is the invincible supreme weapon (brahmastram) which is bestowed only by the Grace of Sri Ramana Sadguru! It is the beacon-light which safeguards us lest we should stray away from the path to eternal happiness, which is the aim of the whole world! It is the path of Sri Ramana, which alone transforms us into Self, ‘I am that I am’!
During the course of sadhana, an aspirant will now be able, by the strength of practice, to cognize tangibly what is the state of the absorption of the ego and what exactly is Self-consciousness, at which he has been aiming till now. Although his pure Self-existence, devoid of bodyconsciousness or any other adjunct, will often be experienced by him, this is still the stage of practice and not the final attainment! Why? Since there are still the two alternating feelings, one of being sometimes extroverted and the other of being sometimes introverted, and since there is the feeling of making effort to become introverted and of losing such effort while becoming extroverted, this stage is said to be ‘not the final attainment’, What Sri Bhagavan reveals in this connection is : “If the mind (the attention) is thus well fixed in sadhana (attending to Self), a power of divine Grace will then rise from within of its own accord and, Subjugating the mind, will take it to the Heart”. What is this power of divine Grace ? It is nothing but the perfect clarity of our existence the form of the Supreme Self (paramatman), ever shining with abundant Grace in the heart as ‘I-I’ !
The nature of a needle lying within a magnetic field is to be attracted and pulled only when its rust has been removed. But we should not conclude from this that the magnetic power comes into existence only after the rust is removed from the needle. Is not the magnetic power always naturally existing in that field? Although the needle was all the while lying in the magnetic field, it is affected by the attraction of the magnet only to the extent that it loses its rust. All that we try to do by way of giving up second and third attention and clinging to Self-attention is similar to scraping off the rust. So the result of all our endeavours is to make ourself it to become a prey to the attraction of the magnetic field of pure consciousness the Heart, which is ever shining engulfing all (that is reducing the whole
universe to non-existence) with spreading rays of Self-effulgence. Mature aspirants will willingly and without rebelling submit themselves to this magnetic power of the Grace of Self-effulgence. Others, on the other hand, will become extroverted (that is, will turn their attention outwards) fearing the attraction of this power.
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Therefore, we should first make ourselves fit by the intense love (bhakthi) to know Self
and by the tremendous detachment (vairagya) of having no desire to attend to any second or third person.
Then, since our very individuality (as an aspirant) itself is devoured by that power, even the so-called ‘effort of ours’ becomes nil.
Thus, when the ‘I’ – consciousness that was spread all over the body is made to sink into the Heart, the real waking, the dawn of knowledge (jnana), takes place.
This happens in a split second !
“Death is a matter of a split second!
The leaving off of sleep is a matter of a split second!
Likewise, the removal of the delusion ‘I am an individual soul (jiva)’ is also a matter of a split second!
The dawn of true knowledge is not such that glimpses of it will be gained once and then lost! If an aspirant feels that it appears and disappears, it is only the stage of practice (sadhana); he cannot be said to have attained true knowledge (jnana).
The perfect dawn of knowledge is a happening of a split second; its attainment is not a prolonged process.
All the age long practices are meant only for attaining maturity.
Let us give an example it takes a long lime to prepare a temple cannon-blast, first putting the gunpowder into the barrel, giving the wick, adding some stones and then ramming it, but when ignited it explodes as a thunder in a split second. Similarly, after an agelong period of listening and reading (sravana), reflecting (manana), practising (nidi-dhyasana) and weeping put in prayer (because of the inability to put what is heard into practice), when the mind is thus perfectly purified, then and then only does the dawn of self-knowledge suddenly break forth in a split second as ‘I am that I am’! Since, as soon as this dawn breaks, the space of Self-consciousness is found, through the clear knowledge of the Reality, to be beginningless, natural and eternal, even the effort of attending to Self ceases then! To abide thus, having nothing more to do and nothing further to achieve, is alone the real and supreme state.” ‘Sadhanai Saram
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The definition of the correct waking is that state in which there is perfect Self-consciousness and singleness of Self- existence, without the knowledge of the existence of anything apart from Self! From this one can determine the real waking.
It is this waking that Sri Bhagavan refers to in the following verse: “Forgetting Self, mistaking the body for Self, taking innumerable births, and at last knowing Self and being Self is just like waking from a dream of wandering all over the world. Know thus.” ‘Ekatma Panchakam’, verse 1
“It is only for those who experience the waking, dream and sleep states, that the state of wakeful sleep is named turiya, a state beyond these. Since that turiya alone really exists and since the apparent three states do not exist, turiya itself is turiyatita. Thus should you bravely understand !” ‘UIladhu Narpadhu – Anubandha’, verse 32
“It is only for those who are not able to immerse and abide firmly in turiya (the state of Self), which shine piercing through the dark ignorance of sleep, that the difference between the first three dense states and the fourth and fifth states are (accepted in sastras).” ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’, verse 567
“To remain in the state (of Self), having attained the supreme bliss, which is devoid of both bondage end liberation, is truly to be in the service of the Lord.” ‘Upadesa Undhiyar’, verse 29 Sri Ramanarpanamastu
The path of Ramana ends here...however notes do not do enough justice. Learn directly from pdf
https://www.happinessofbeing.com/The_Path_of_Sri_Ramana_Part_One.pdf
appendix has :
Who am I?
Atma Vichar Patikam
Sadhana (how to perform) :
90 degrees 180 degrees etc.
last word:
Therefore, unceasing Self-attention is possible only in the state of Self-realization and not in the state of practice (sadhana). What one has to do during the period of sadhana is to cultivate ever-increasing love to attain Self-knowledge and to make intermittent but repeated attempts to turn one’s attention a full 180 degrees towards Self. If one once succeeds in doing this, then unceasing Self-attention will be found to be natural and effortless.
......................................the end.............................................
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