Ramana notes part 1 -21st December

  Ref: Ramana Apr 14, 2021 notes

183 imp

As soon as he gets this new outlook on life, he feels ashamed to pray any longer to his God or Guru to alter his destiny (Prarabdha); 

because, he now finds that all the activities going on in his life are only to make him turn Self-ward.

 In short, in the eyes of such a mature disciple, the Prarabdha becomes completely non-existent.

 He does not use the word ‘Prarabdha’, but points out to it as ‘The loving Will of my Lord; 

His Will is my pleasure!’. Now the surrender completes itself – the life has been changed into one immense Bliss, even the greatest tortures now appear to him, 

as sings Saint Appar:

* “(Where I was placed) under the shade of the Feet of my Lord, 

I felt as if on the cool bank of a pond in the spring full moon,

 under the pleasant touch of the southern breeze while the Veena is playing sweet melody”.

His mind so transformed is no longer a ‘mind’, It is Self – his very nature.

......

We can say that, what was previously called ‘mind’ is now destroyed

Thus we are able to understand that the experiencer ship (Bhoktrutva) is destroyed along with the doership (Kartrutva). 

....

bhoktrutva, kartuttva destroyed = be Still

.....

Having his two aspects thus destroyed, the jiva’s keeping quite is the ‘BE STILL’ (Summa Iru). 

And THIS is the real teaching (Upadesha) of the Guru.

 To BE so STILL is the real service to God and to the Guru. 

And to BE so STILL is really to live in the Divine. 

And THIS is the original Natural State.

To will to be so still, 

i.e. to like to be so still, 

or to will not to be so still, 

i.e., to do, is under one’s will. 

For, the ‘Perfect Freedom to will and act’ is one’s very nature – Brahman, the Self.

It is said above that the destruction of the doership is itself the destruction of the experiencership also.

........

It has already been said that there will be no more Agamya after the doer-ship has been destroyed. 

Up till now it has been said in scriptures, to pacify the questioners, that the Prarabdha which remains after Sanchita and Agamya have been destroyed is to be experienced, and that it will end only with the death of the body. 

But, it is to be understood that this is not said for those fully mature aspirants who have a keen discrimination.

.....

The aspirant who is on the path of Love (Bhakti) believes that there is a God or Guru and that He protects him, with the hope that He will do for him whatever is good. 

Such an aspirant, while using his ‘original freedom to will and act’, surrenders his doership to Him; therefore he, no longer has to make efforts (Agamyas), and thus Becomes STILL.

When the ‘freedom to will and act’ is applied to like and to make efforts to BE STILL, the doer-ship is destroyed.

 Along with the doer-ship, the experiencer-ship, which is necessary to experience all the three karmas, is also destroyed.

 Only with this freedom can we reach the Goal; should this freedom not be there, there would be no hope. 

This Freedom alone – which is nothing but GRACE –

 paves the way for us to be freed from karmas. This alone is the real secret of the karmas.

 Thus should we know! 

.....

192

If one turns one’s attention towards the first person (the subject) in the waking state, 

the waking should come to an end,

 leaving one in the State of Awakening. 

...

This Self-ward turn is Being only, and not doing;

 hence it is not a thought or karma.

Only this kind of Self-effort is called the effort of destroying karmas. 

This alone will lead to Liberation. 

........

From Kaivalya navneetam:

Master: If you get rid of that mode of mind which gives rise to the states of waking, dream and sleep, 

then, you will remain as your True Being and also experience Bliss. 

.

to go from from drishya to drik ...you need the force . 'guru'

not the seer , by which you see.

.

by which the mind thinks

but of which it cannot think of

......

Let cinders be poured on our head. We shouldn't let the peace in our Atma to get disturbed.

........

Pure C should be distinguished from Reflected C with great effort.

.......

distinct from gunas

as well as durgunas

.

M changes every moment.

C stays steady.

...

Restrain of cognitions should be practised with great effort for those who want experience of bramha.

......

When having wept and wept with an intense yearning for a long time, 

thinking unceasingly of and adoring the Lord, 

the M which rises as 'I am so and so",

dissolves and becomes pure.

Then the blemishless Self enquiry will become firmly settled in the heart.

(Dnyana atma vichara will become sudrudha...dridha ..maha dridha)

Then the experience of Self will arise of it's own accord.

Experience of Self = Swarupa Anubhava.

...........

If one abides in the true state of the Self, 

which is devoid of all thoughts,

that itself is all virtues and ethical conduct.

......

He is a Guru who has attained the firm knowledge that he is not an object of perception, but Pure Consciousness.

The pure C which shines clearly in the states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep,

which is the witness of the Universe,

dwells in all bodies from ant to bramha.

...

Submits his present body to the effects of Prarabdha.

......

Self is concealed by M, body, senses,

which are illumined by it.

.....

Meditating on Self with calm m, sage experiences Fulfilment.

Person whose M has become identified with Bramha = Bramha

..

One who has achieved the above = Guru

This is my definite conviction.

...................End ................

From Talk with Ramana -part 4

Abhyasa

.............
1. What is the method of practice?

As the Self of a person who tries to attain Self-realization is not different from him and as there is nothing other than or superior to him to be attained by him,

 Self-realization being only the realization of one's own nature, 

the seeker of liberation realizes, without doubts or misconceptions, his real nature 

by distinguishing the eternal from the transient, 

and never swerves from his natural state. 

This is known as the practice of knowledge. 

This is the enquiry leading to Self- realization.



........................


2. Can this path of enquiry be followed by all aspirants?


This is suitable only for ripe souls. The rest should follow different methods according to the state of their minds.

.....

4. Is the state of `being still' a state involving effort or effortlessness?

It is not an effortless state of indolence. 

All mundane activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks. 

But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara)

 or remaining still inwardly

 is intense activity which is performed with the entire mind and without break.

Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be destroyed by any other act 

is completely destroyed by this intense activity

 which is called `silence' (mauna).

...........

11. How do the triple factors (i.e., knower, known and knowledge), which are absent in deep sleep, samadhi, etc., manifest themselves in the Self (in the states of waking and dreaming)?



From the Self there arise in succession:

(i) Chidabhasa (reflected consciousness) which is a kind of luminosity.

(ii) Jiva (the individual consciousness) or the seer or the first concept.

(iii) Phenomena, that is the world.

...........

12. Since the Self is free from the notions of knowledge and ignorance how can it be said to pervade the entire body in the shape of sentience or to impart sentience to the senses?



Wise men say that there is a connection between the source of the various psychic nerves and the Self, that this is the knot of the Heart, that the connection between the sentient and the insentient will exist until this is cut asunder with the aid of true knowledge, 

that just as the subtle and invisible force of electricity travels through wires and does many wonderful things, so the force of the Self also travels through the psychic nerves and, pervading the entire body, 

imparts sentience to the senses. 

And that if this knot is cut, the Self will remain as it always is, without any attributes.

.......

16. What are the factors to be kept in view in dhyana?

It is important for one who is established in his Self (atma nishta) to see that he does not swerve in the least from this absorption.

By swerving from his true nature he may see before him bright effulgences, etc., or hear (unusual) sounds or regard as real the visions of gods appearing within or outside himself. He should not be deceived by these and forget himself.

Note: If the moments that are wasted in thinking of the objects which are not the Self, are spent on enquiry into the Self, Self-realization will be attained in a very short time.

Until the mind becomes established in itself some kind of bhavana (contemplation of a personified god or goddess with deep emotion and religious feeling) is essential. 

Otherwise the mind will be frequently assailed by wayward thoughts or sleep.

Without spending all the time in practising bhavanas like `I am Siva' or `I am Brahman', which are regarded as nirgunopasana (contemplation of the attributeless Brahman), the method of enquiry into oneself should be practised as soon as the mental strength which is the result of such upasana, (contemplation) is attained.
....

The excellence of the practice (sadhana) lies in not giving room for even a single mental concept (vritti).
,,,,,,,                 .................................................

18. How long should one practise?

Until the mind attains effortlessly its natural state of freedom from concepts, that is till the sense of `I' and `mine' exists no longer.

...........

20. What is the sign of wisdom (viveka)?

Its beauty lies in remaining free from delusion after realising the truth once. There is fear only for one who sees even a slight difference in the Supreme Brahman 

So long as there is the idea that the body is the Self one cannot be a realizer of truth whoever he might be.

............

Prarabdha concerns only the out-turned, not the in-turned mind. 

One who seeks his real Self will not be afraid of any obstacle.

.................

The effort that is made to get rid of attachment to one's body is really towards abiding in the Self.

 Maturity of thought and enquiry alone removes attachment to the body, 

not the stations of life (ashramas), such as student (brahmachari), etc.

 For the attachment is in the mind while the stations pertain to the body. 

How can bodily stations remove the attachment in the mind? 

As maturity of thought and enquiry pertain to the mind, 

these alone can, by enquiry on the part of the same mind, remove the attachments which have crept into it through thoughtlessness. 

..........

Anubhava


m2. What is knowledge (vijnana)?

It is that tranquil state of existence-consciousness which is experienced by the aspirant and which is like the waveless ocean or the motionless ether.

..........

1. What is the state of attainment of knowledge?

It is firm and effortless abidance in the Self 

in which the mind which has become one with the Self does not subsequently emerge again at any time. 

That is, just as everyone usually and naturally has the idea, `I am not a goat nor a cow nor any other animal but a human', when he thinks of his body, 

so also when he has the idea `I am not the principles (tattwas) beginning with the body and ending with sound (nada), 

but the Self which is existence, consciousness and bliss,

the innate self-consciousness (atma prajna)',

 he is said to have attained firm knowledge.

..............

2. To which of the seven stages of knowledge (jnana bhoomikas)1 does the sage (jnani)belong?


He belongs to the fourth stage.

Sattva patti (and above)

Btamha-vid

vara, variya, varishtha

 4,5,6,7

...................

From Talks with Ramana part 3

Self Enquiry


Master: Apart from the statement in the Vedas that wherever there is a body there is misery, this is also the direct experience of all people;

 therefore, one should enquire into one's true nature which is ever bodiless, 

and one should remain as such.

This is the means to gaining that state.

.......

Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself is the way to understand, through enquiry, one's true nature

.......

D: How is one to enquire `Who am I?'


M: Actions such as `going' and `coming' belong only to the body. And so, when one says, `I went, I came', it amounts to saying that the body is `I'. But, can the body be said to be the consciousness `I', since the body was not before it was born, is made up of the five elements, is non existent in the state of deep sleep, and becomes a corpse when dead?

 Can this body which is inert like a log of wood be said to shine as `I-I'?

 Therefore, the `I-consciousness' which at first arises in respect of the body is referred to variously as self-conceit (tarbodham), egoity (ahankara), nescience (avidya), maya , impurity (mala), and individual soul (jiva). 

Can we remain without enquiring into this? 

Is it not for our redemption through enquiry that all the scriptures declare that the destruction of `self-conceit' is release (mukti)? 

Therefore, making the corpse-body remain as a corpse, and not even uttering the word `I', one should enquire keenly thus: 

"Now, what is it that rises as `I'?" 

Then, there would shine in the Heart a kind of wordless illumination of the form `I-I'. 

That is, there would shine of its own accord the pure consciousness which is unlimited and one, 

the limited and the many thoughts having disappeared.

 If one remains quiescent without abandoning that (experience), 

the egoity, the individual sense, of the form `I am the body' will be totally destroyed,

 and at the end the final thought, viz., the `I-form' also will be quenched 

like the fire that burns camphor. 

The great sages and scriptures declare that this alone is release.

....

D: When one enquires into the root of `self-conceit' which is of the form `I', all sorts of different thoughts without number seem to rise; and not any separate `I' thought.



M: Whether the nominative case, which is the first case, appears or not, the sentences in which the other cases appear have as their basis the first case; similarly, all the thoughts that appear in the Heart have as their basis the egoity which is the first mental mode `I', the cognition of the form `I am the body'.

 Thus, it is the rise of egoity that is the cause and source of the rise of all other thoughts.

Therefore, if the self-conceit of the form of egoity which is the root of the illusory tree of samsara (bondage consisting of transmigration) is destroyed, 

then all the other thoughts will perish completely like an uprooted tree. 

Whatever thoughts arise as obstacles to one's sadhana  (spiritual discipline), 

the mind should not be allowed to go in their direction,

 but should be made to rest in one's Self which is the Atman. 

One should remain as witness to whatever happens, 

adopting the attitude 

`Let whatever strange things happen, happen; let us see!' 

This should be one's practice. 

In other words, one should not identify oneself with appearances.

 One should never relinquish one's Self. 


This is the proper means for destruction of the mind (manonasha) 

which is of the nature of seeing the body as Self, 

and which is the cause of all the aforesaid obstacles.

 This method which easily destroys egoity deserves to be called devotion (bhakti), meditation (dhyana), concentration (yoga), and knowledge (jnana).

 God remains of the nature of the Self, shining as `I' in the Heart.

 The scriptures declare that thought itself is bondage.

 The best discipline is to stay quiescent without ever forgetting Him (God, the Self), 

after resolving in Him the mind which is of the form of the `I- thought',

 no matter by what means. 

This is the conclusive teaching of the scriptures.

........................

So enquiry is the means to removal of the false belief of self hood in all the three bodies.

.............................

19

D: Although I have listened to the explanation of the characteristics of enquiry in such great detail, my mind has not gained even a little peace. What is the reason for this?



M: The reason is the absence of strength or one-pointedness of the mind.

................

20

D: What is the reason for the absence of mental strength?



M: The means that make one qualified for enquiry are meditation, yoga, etc. 

One should gain proficiency in these through graded practice, and thus secure a stream of mental modes that is natural and helpful. 

When the mind that has become ripe in this manner, hears about this enquiry, 

it will at once realize its true nature which is the Self, 

and remain in perfect peace, without deviating from that state. 

To a mind which has not become ripe, immediate realization and peace are hard to gain through hearing about the enquiry. 

Yet, if one practises the means for mind control for some time, peace of mind can be obtained eventually.

.........

M: The scriptures teach the means for gaining Self-realization in two modes -- as the yoga with eight limbs (ashtanga yoga) and as knowledge with eight limbs (ashtanga jnana). 

By regulation of breath (pranayama) or by absolute retention thereof (kevala kumbhaka), which is one of the limbs of yoga, the mind gets controlled. 

Without leaving the mind at that, if one practises the further discipline such as withdrawal of the mind from external objects (pratyahara), then at the end, Self- realization which is the fruit of enquiry will surely be gained.

...................

28.
...In order to get at this true significance, one should meditate on the pranava.

 This is meditation which is of the nature of devotion consisting in reflection on the truth of the Self.

 The fruition of this process is samadhi which yields release, 

which is the state of unsurpassed bliss. 

The revered Gurus also have said that release is to be gained only by devotion which is of the nature of reflection on the truth of the Self.
..

29

....Reality is this: Scripture defines meditation in these words, 

`In the middle of the eight petalled Heart lotus which is of the nature of all, 

and which is referred to as Kailasa, Vaikunta, and Paramapada,

 there is the Reality which is of the size of the thumb, 

which is dazzling like lightning and which shines like a flame. 

By meditating on it, a person gains immortality.' 

From this we should know that by such meditation one avoids the defects of 

(1) the thought of difference, of the form `I am different, and that is different', 

(2) the meditation on what is limited, 

(3) the idea that the Real is limited, and 

(4) that it is confined to one place.

...

If one meditates for a long time, without disturbance, on the Self ceaselessly, 

with the `I am He' thought 

which is the technique of reflection on the Self,

 the darkness of ignorance 

which is in the Heart

 and all the impediments which are but the effects of ignorance will be removed, and the plenary wisdom will be gained.⁷

..
Since the Self is the reality of all the gods, the meditation on the Self which is oneself is the greatest of all meditations. 

All other meditations are included in this. 

It is for gaining this that the other meditations are prescribed.

 So, if this is gained, the others are not necessary. 

Knowing one's Self is knowing God. 

Without knowing one's Self that meditates, 

imagining that there is a deity which is different and meditating on it, is compared by the great ones 

to the act of measuring with one's foot one's own shadow, 

and to the search for a trivial conch after throwing away a priceless gem that is already in one's possession.

...

30

D: Even though the Heart and the Brahmarandhra alone are the loci fit for meditation, could one meditate, if necessary, on the six mystic centres (adharas)?

M: The six mystic centres, etc., which are said to be loci of meditation, are but products of imagination. All these are meant for beginners in yoga. 

With reference to meditation on the six centres, the Sivayogins say, `God, who is of the nature of the non-dual, plenary, Consciousness-Self, manifests, sustains and resolves us all. 

It is a great sin to spoil that Reality by superimposing on it various names and forms such as Ganapati, Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheswara and Sadasiva', and the Vedantins declare, `All those are but imaginations of
the mind.' 

Therefore, if one knows one's Self, 

which is of the nature of consciousness that knows everything; 

then one knows everything. 

The great ones have also said: `When that One is known as it is in Itself, all that has not been known becomes known.' 

If we who are endowed with various thoughts meditate on God that is the Self, we would get rid of the plurality of thoughts by that one thought. 

Then, even that one thought would vanish. 

This is what is meant by saying that knowing one's Self is knowing God. 

This knowledge is release.

....................

...

M: The eight limbs are those which have been already mentioned, viz., yama, niyama etc., but differently defined:



(1) Yama : This is controlling the aggregate of sense-organs, realizing the defects that are present in the world consisting of the body, etc.



(2) Niyama : This is maintaining a stream of mental modes that relate to the Self and rejecting the contrary modes. In other words, it means love that arises uninterruptedly for the Supreme Self.



(3) Asana : That with the help of which constant meditation on Brahman  is made possible with ease is asana .



(4) Pranayama : Rechaka (exhalation) is removing the two unreal aspects of name and form from the objects constituting the world, the body etc., puraka (inhalation) is grasping the three real aspects, existence, consciousness and bliss, which are constant in those objects, and kumbhaka is retaining those aspects thus grasped.



(5) Pratyahara : This is preventing name and form which have been removed from re-entering the mind.



(6) Dharana: This is making the mind stay in the Heart, without straying outward, and realizing that one is the Self itself which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.



(7) Dhyana : This is meditation of the form `I am only pure consciousness'. That is, after leaving aside the body which consists of five sheaths, one enquires `Who am I?', and as a result of that, one stays as `I' which shines as the Self.



(8) Samadhi: When the `I-manifestation' also ceases, there is (subtle) direct experience. This is samadhi.
...

The great teachers say that forgetfulness is the root of all evil. 

It is death for those who seek release,

Therefore,  one should rest the mind in one's Self and 

should never forget the Self. 

This is the aim.

......................The End...........................Read Talk with Ramana-2