Maharshi's Gospel -2

 https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Maharshi's-Gospel.pdf

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D: How then does ignorance of this one and only Reality unhappily arise in the case of the ajnani? 

M: The ajnani sees only the mind which is a mere reflection of the light of Pure Consciousness arising from the heart.

 Of the heart itself he is ignorant. 

Why? 

Because his mind is extroverted and has never sought its Source.

D: What prevents the infinite, undifferentiated light of Consciousness arising from the heart from revealing itself to the ajnani? 

M: Just as water in the pot reflects the enormous sun within the narrow limits of the pot, even so the vasanas or latent tendencies of the mind of the individual, acting as the reflecting medium, catch the all-pervading, infinite light of Consciousness arising from the heart and present in the form of a reflection the phenomenon called the mind. 

Seeing only this reflection, the ajnani is deluded into the belief that he is a finite being, the jiva. 

If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into the source of aham-vritti, the vasanas become extinct,

 and in the absence of the reflecting medium the phenomenon of reflection, namely, the mind, also disappears being absorbed into the light of the one Reality, the heart.

 This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know. What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and one-pointed enquiry into the source of aham-vritti.

D: But any endeavour he may make is limited to the mind in the waking state. How can such enquiry conducted in only one of the three states of the mind destroy the mind itself? 

M: Enquiry into the source of aham-vritti is, no doubt, initiated by the sadhaka in the waking state of the mind. It cannot be said that in him the mind has been destroyed. But the process of Self-enquiry will itself reveal that the alternation or transmutation of the three states of the mind, as well as the three states themselves, belong to the world of phenomena which cannot affect his intense, inward enquiry.

 Self-enquiry is really possible only through intense introversion of the mind. 

What is finally realised as a result of such enquiry into the source of ahamvritti, is verily the heart as the undifferentiated light of Pure Consciousness, into which the reflected light of the mind is completely absorbed. 

D: For the jnani, then, there is no distinction between the three states of mind? 

M: How can there be, when the mind itself is dissolved and lost in the light of Consciousness? 

For the jnani all the three states are equally unreal. 

But the ajnani is unable to comprehend this, because for him the standard of reality is the waking state,

 whereas for the jnani the standard of Reality is Reality itself. 

This Reality of Pure Consciousness is eternal by its nature and therefore subsists equally during what you call waking, dreaming and sleep. 

To him who is one with that Reality, there is neither the mind nor its three states, and therefore, neither introversion nor extroversion.

His is the ever-waking state, because he is awake to the eternal Self; 

his is the ever dreaming state, because to him the world is no better than a repeatedly presented phenomenon of dream; 

his is the ever-sleeping state, because he is at all times without the ‘body-am-I’ consciousness.

D: Should I then consider Sri Bhagavan as talking to me in a waking-dreaming-sleeping state?

M: Because your conscious experience is now limited to the duration of the extroversion of the mind, you call the present moment the waking state, whereas all the while your mind has been asleep to the Self, and therefore you are now really fast asleep.

D: To me sleep is a mere blankness.

 M: That is so, because your waking state is a mere effervescence of the restless mind.

D: What I mean by blankness is that I am hardly aware of anything in my sleep; it is for me the same as non-existence. 

M: But you did exist during sleep. 

D: If I did, I was not aware of it. 

M: You do not mean to say in all seriousness you ceased to exist during your sleep! (Laughing). If you went to sleep as Mr. X, did you get up from it as Mr. Y?

 D: I know my identity, perhaps, by an act of memory. 

M: Granting that, how is it possible unless there is a continuity of awareness? 

D: But I was unaware of that awareness. 

M: No. Who says you are unaware in sleep? It is your mind. But there was no mind in your sleep? 

Of what value is the testimony of the mind about your existence or experience during sleep? 

Seeking the testimony of the mind to disprove your existence or awareness during sleep is just like calling your son’s evidence to disprove your birth! Do you remember, I told you once previously that existence and awareness are not two different things but one and the same? 

Well, if for any reason you feel constrained to admit the fact that you existed in sleep be sure you were also aware of that existence. What you were really unaware of in sleep is your bodily existence. 

You are confounding this bodily awareness with the true Awareness of the Self which is eternal. 

Prajnana, which is the source of ‘I-am’- ness, ever subsists unaffected by the three transitory states of the mind, thus enabling you to retain your identity unimpaired. 

Prajnana is also beyond the three states, because it can subsist without them and in spite of them. 

It is that Reality that you should seek during your so called waking state by tracing the aham-vritti to its Source. 

Intense practice in this enquiry will reveal 

that the mind and its three states are unreal 

and that you are the eternal, infinite consciousness of Pure Being, the Self or the Heart.

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100 appendix

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When I saw him I found in him the perfect example of the description which Sri Sankaracharya gives in his Vivekachudamani, when he explains what characterises a Jivanmukta. 

Verse 429 reads 

“He who even when his mind is merged in Brahman, 

is nevertheless entirely awake, 

but is at the same time free from the characteristics of the waking state, 

and whose realization is free from all desire, 

should be considered a man liberated while still alive”.

The notion of introversion and extroversion cannot be applied to one whose philosophy of life reposes uniquely on the experience of the waking state. In the Panchadasi, which is an authoritative work on Advaita, we find in Verse 13 of Chapter VI, a statement which is extremely important on this point. The author, Vidyaranya, says:

“The destruction of the world and of the jiva does not signify that they should become imperceptible to the senses, but there should arise a determination of their unreal nature. 

If such is not the case, people may find emancipation without making any personal effort, as in dreamless sleep or in a swoon (when all perceptions disappear completely)”

As the Gita says, the Atman, forgetting its real nature, believes that it is the ego and the author of all actions, which is the cause of all misunderstanding.

 A man like the Maharshi, who has transcended the ego, is considered by the Upanishads to be the Self of All.