march part 17

https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Talks-with-Sri-Ramana-Maharshi--complete.pdf

341 

Talk 351.

 Dr. Subramania Iyer, Retired Health Officer of Salem, read out a passage which contained the instructions that one should know that the world is transitory, that worldly enjoyments are useless, that one should therefore turn away in disgust from them, restrain the senses and meditate on the Self to realise it. 

Sri Bhagavan observed: 

How does one know the world to be transitory? 

Unless something permanent is held, the transitory nature of the world cannot be understood.

Because the man is already the Self, and the Self is the Eternal Reality, his attention is drawn to it; and he is instructed to rivet his attention on the Eternal Reality, the Self.

Talk 352. 

The different creeds:

The thought rises up as the subject and object.

 ‘I’ alone being held, all else disappears. 

It is enough, but only to the competent few.

The others argue, “Quite so. The world that exists in my sleep has existed before my birth and will exist after my death. Do not others see it? How can the world cease to be if my ego appears not?” The genesis of the world and the different schools of thought are meant to satisfy such people.

D.: Nevertheless, being only products of intellect they cannot turn the mind inward. 

M.: Just for this reason the scriptures speak of “in-turned look”, “one pointed look” and so on. The Self being always the Self, why should only a dhira be illumined? Does it mean a man of courage?

 No; dhih = intellect; rah = watch; protection. So dhira is the one who always keeps the mind inward bent without letting it loose.

....

Dhi ra ..one who watches the intellect.

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Talk 353. 

D.: What is turiya? 

M.: There are three states only, the waking, dream and sleep. 

Turiya is not a fourth one.

 It is what underlies these three. But people do not readily understand it. Therefore it is said that this is the fourth state and the only Reality. In fact it is not apart from anything, for it forms the substratum of all happenings; it is the only Truth; it is your very Being. The three states appear as fleeting phenomena on it and then sink into it alone. Therefore they are unreal. The pictures in a cinema show are only shadows passing over the screen. They make their appearance; move forward and backward; change from one to another; are therefore unreal whereas the screen all along remains unchanged. Similarly with paintings: the images are unreal and the canvas real. So also with us: the world-phenomena, within or without, are only passing phenomena not independent of our Self. Only the habit of looking on them as being real and located outside ourselves is responsible for hiding our true being and showing forth the others. The ever-present only Reality, the Self, being found, all other unreal things will disappear, leaving behind the knowledge that they are no other than the Self. Turiya only another name for the Self. Aware of the waking, dream and sleep states, we remain unaware of our own Self. Nevertheless the Self is here and now, it is the only Reality. There is nothing else. So long as identification with the body lasts the world seems to lie outside us. Only realise the Self and they are not.

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M.: Awareness is your nature. In deep sleep or in waking, it is the same. How can it be gained afresh?

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345

M.: Removal of ignorance is the aim of practice, 

and not acquisition of Realisation. 

Realisation is ever present, here and now. 

Were it to be acquired anew, Realisation must be understood to be absent at one time and present at another time. 

In that case, it is not permanent, and therefore not worth the attempt. But Realisation is permanent and eternal and is here and now. 

D.: Grace is necessary for the removal of ignorance. 

M.: Certainly. But Grace is all along there. 

Grace is the Self. 

It is not something to be acquired. 

All that is necessary is to know its existence.

 For example, the sun is brightness only. He does not see darkness. Whereas others speak of darkness fleeing away on the sun approaching. Similarly, ignorance also is a phantom and not real. Because of its unreality, its unreal nature being found, it is said to be removed. Again, the sun is there and also bright. You are surrounded by sunlight. 

Still if you would know the sun you must turn your eyes in his direction and look at him. So also Grace is found by practice alone although it is here and now.

........

D.: By the desire to surrender constantly, increasing Grace is experienced, I hope. 

M.: Surrender once for all and be done with the desire. So long as the sense of doership is retained there is the desire; that is also personality. If this goes the Self is found to shine forth pure. The sense of doership is the bondage and not the actions themselves. “Be still and know that I am God.” Here stillness is total surrender without a vestige of individuality. Stillness will prevail and there will be no agitation of mind. Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and personality. If that is stopped there is quiet. There ‘Knowing’ means ‘Being’. It is not the relative knowledge involving the triads, knowledge, subject and object.

D.: Is the thought “I am God” or “I am the Supreme Being” helpful? 

M.: “I am that I am.” “I am” is God - not thinking, “I am God”. Realise “I am” and do not think I am. “Know I am God” - it is said, and not “Think I am God.”

Later Sri Bhagavan continued: It is said “I AM that I AM”. That means a person must abide as the ‘I’. He is always the ‘I’ alone. He is nothing else. Yet he asks “Who am I?” A victim of illusion would ask “Who am I?” and not a man fully aware of himself. The wrong identity of the Self with the non-self makes you ask, “Who am I?”

Later still: There are different routes to Tiruvannamalai, but Tiruvannamalai is the same by whichever route it is gained. Similarly the approach to the subject varies according to the personality. Yet the Self is the same. But still, being in Tiruvannamalai, if one asks for the route it is ridiculous. So also, being the Self, if one asks how to realise the Self it looks absurd. You are the Self. Remain as the Self. That is all. The questions arise because of the present wrong identification of the Self with the body. That is ignorance. This must go. On its removal the Self alone is.

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351

M.: All questions relating to mukti are inadmissible; because mukti means release from bondage which implies the present existence of bondage. There is no bondage and therefore no mukti either. 

D.: The sastras speak of it and its grades.

M.: The sastras are not meant for the wise because they do not need them; the ignorant do not want them. Only the mumukshus look up to the sastras. That means that the sastras are neither for wisdom nor for ignorance.

...

352

M.: What can be easier? The Self is more intimate than anything else. If that cannot be realised, is it easy to realise what is apart and farther away?

..

D.: Self Realisation is so illusory. How can it be made permanent? 

M.: The Self can never be illusory. It is the only Reality. That which appears will also disappear and is therefore impermanent. The Self never appears and disappears and is therefore permanent. 

D.: Yes - true. You know that, in the Theosophical Society, they meditate to seek the masters to guide them. 

M.: The Master is within. Meditation is meant for the removal of ignorance, of the wrong idea that he is without. If he be a stranger whose advent you await he is bound to disappear also. Where is the use of transient being like that? However, as long as you think that you are an individual or that you are the body, so long the master also is necessary and he will appear with a body. When this wrong identification ceases the master will be found to be the Self. 

There is a stanza in Kaivalya: 

“My Lord! You had remained as my Self within, protecting me in all my past incarnations. Now, by your Grace, you have manifested yourself as my master and revealed yourself as the Self “. 

Just see what happens in sleep. There is no ego, no India, no seekers, no master, etc.; and yet you are - and happy too. The ego, India, seekers, etc., appear now; but they are not apart from nor independent of you. There was a large group of visitors on account of the election holidays and some of these also joined in the discussion. One of them asked about reincarnation.

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

D.: What is the ego-self? 

M.: The ego-self appears and disappears and is transitory, whereas the real Self always abides permanent. Though you are actually the true Self yet you wrongly identify the real Self with the ego-self.

356

Your duty is to be: and not to be this or that. “I AM that I AM” sums up the whole truth. The method is summed up in “BE STILL”. 

What does “stillness” mean? It means “destroy yourself”. 

Because any form or shape is the cause of trouble.

 Give up the notion that “I am so and so”. Our sastras say: ahamiti sphurati (it shines as ‘I’).

........

D.: What is sphurana (shining)?

 M.: (Aham, aham) ‘I-I’ is the Self; (Aham idam) “I am this” or “I and that” is the ego. Shining is there always. The ego is transitory; When the ‘I’ is kept up as ‘I’ alone it is the Self; when it flies at a tangent and says “this” it is the ego. 

D.: Is God apart from the Self? 

M.: The Self is God. “I Am” is God. “I am the Self, O Gudakesa!” (Ahamatma Gudakesa). This question arises because you are holding the ego self. This will not arise if you hold the True Self. For the Real Self will not and cannot ask anything. If God be apart from the Self He must be a Self-less God, which is absurd.

....

D.: What is namaskara (prostration)? 

M.: Prostration means “subsidence of the ego”. What is “subsidence”? To merge into the source of its origin. God cannot be deceived by outward genuflexions, bowings and prostrations. 

He sees if the individuality is there or not.

D.: Cannot Grace hasten such competence in a seeker? 

M.: Leave it to Him. Surrender unreservedly. One of two things must be done. Either surrender because you admit your inability and also require a High Power to help you; or investigate into the cause of misery, go into the source and merge into the Self. Either way you will be free from misery. God never forsakes one who has surrendered. Mamekam saranam vraja.

Talk 372. 

D.: Horripilation, sobbing voice, joyful tears, etc., are mentioned in Atma Vidya Vilasa and other works. Are these found in samadhi, or before, or after? 

M.: All these are the symptoms of exceedingly subtle modes of mind (vrittis). Without duality they cannot remain. Samadhi is Perfect Peace where these cannot find place. After emerging from samadhi the remembrance of the state gives rise to these symptoms. In bhakti marga (path of devotion) these are the precursors to samadhi. 

D.: Are they not so in the path of jnana? 

M.: May be. There is no definiteness about it. It depends on the nature of the individual. Individuality entirely lost, these cannot find a place. Even the slightest trace of it being present, these symptoms become manifest. Manickavachagar and other saints have spoken of these symptoms. They say tears rush forth involuntarily and irrepressibly. Though aware of tears they are unable to repress them.

I had the same experience when I was staying Virupaksha cave.

.......

D.: Sleep state is said to be the experience of Bliss, yet, on recollecting it the hairs do not stand on end. Why should they do so, if the samadhi state is recollected? 

M.: Samadhi means sleep in waking state (jagrat sushupti). 

Bliss is overpowering and the experience is very clear, whereas it is different in sleep.

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D.: What is the purpose of creation? 

M.: It is to give rise to this question; investigate the answer to this question, and finally abide in the supreme or rather the primal source of all, including the Self. The investigation will resolve itself into one of quest for the Self and cease only after the non-self is sifted away and the Self realised in its purity and glory. 

D.: How is the investigation to start?

 M.: The Self is plain to all and the starting also equally plain.

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367

4 quotes from gita

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D.: Where and how to find it? 

M.: It is in fact the consciousness which enables the individuals to function in different ways. Pure Consciousness is the Self. All that is required to realise the Self is to “Be Still.” 

D.: What can be easier than that? 

M.: So Atma Vidya is the easiest of attainment.

...

M.: Grace is the Self. It is not manifest because of ignorance prevailing. With sraddha, it will become manifest. Sraddha, Grace, Light, Spirit are all synonymous with the Self.

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377

M.: The self-evident ‘I’, ignoring the Self, goes about seeking to know the non-Self. How absurd!

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382

M.: (1) Holding on to Reality is samadhi. (2) Holding on to Reality with effort is savikalpa samadhi. (3) Merging in Reality and remaining unaware of the world is nirvikalpa samadhi.  (4) Merging in Ignorance and remaining unaware of the world is sleep. (Head bends but not in samadhi). (5) Remaining in the primal, pure natural state without effort is sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi.

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D.: They say that Kundalini must be roused before Realisation and that its awakening makes the body feel hot. Is that so? 

M.: The yogis call it Kundalini Sakti. It is the same as vritti  of the form of God (Bhagavatakara vritti) of the bhaktas and vritti of the form of Brahman (Brahmakara vritti) of the jnanis. It must be preliminary to Realisation. The sensation produced may be said to be hot. 

D.: Kundalini is said to be of the shape of a serpent but vrittis cannot be so. 

M.: The Kundalini of jnana marga is said to be the Heart, which is also described in various ways as a network of nadis, of the shape of a serpent, of a lotus bud, etc. 

D.: Is this Heart the same as the physiological heart? 

M.: No, Sri Ramana Gita defines it as the origin of the ‘I-thought’.

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385...i was indeed fortunate not to get trapped in this.

Later Sri Bhagavan continued: The intricate maze of philosophy of different schools is said to clarify matters and reveal the Truth. But in fact they create confusion where no confusion need exist. To understand anything there must be the Self. The Self is obvious. Why not remain as the Self? What need to explain the non-self? Take the Vedanta for instance: They say there are fifteen kinds of prana. The student is made to commit the names to memory and also their functions. The air goes up and is called prana; goes down and is called apana; operates the indriyas and is called something. Why all this? Why do you classify, give names and enumerate the functions, and so on? Is it not enough to know that one prana does the whole work? The antahkarana thinks, desires, wills, reasons, etc., and each function is attributed to one name such as mind, intellect, etc. Has anyone seen the pranas or the antahkaranas?

 Have they any real existence? They are mere conceptions. When and where will such conceptions end? Consider the following: A man sleeps. He says on waking that he slept. The question is asked: ‘Why does he not say in his sleep that he is sleeping?’ The answer is given that he is sunk in the Self and cannot speak, like a man who has dived in water to bring out something from the bottom. The diver cannot speak under water; when he has actually recovered the articles he comes out and speaks. Well, what is the explanation? Being in water, water will flow into his mouth if he were to open the mouth for speaking. Is it not simple? But the philosopher is not content with this simple fact. He explains, saying that fire is the deity presiding over speech; that it is inimical to water and therefore cannot function! This is called philosophy and the learners are struggling to learn all this! Is it not a sheer waste of time? Again the Gods are said to preside over the limbs and senses of the individual (vyashti). They are the limbs and senses of Virat (samashti). So they go on explaining Hiranyagarbha, etc. Why should confusion be created and then explained away? Ah! Fortunate is the man who does not involve himself in this maze! I was indeed fortunate that I never took to it. Had I taken to it, I would probably be nowhere - always in confusion. My purva vasanas (former tendencies) directly took me to the enquiry “Who am I?” It was indeed fortunate! 

M.: The yoga marga speaks of the six centres each of which must be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality. The yogis say that one enters into the paranadi which starts from the sacral plexus whereas the jnanis say that the same nadi starts from the heart. Reconciliation between the seeming]y contradictory statements is effected in the secret doctrine which distinctly states the yogic paranadi is from muladhara and the jnana paranadi is from the Heart. The truth is that the paranadi should be entered. By yogic practice one goes down, then rises up, wanders all through until the goal is reached; by jnana abhyas one settles down directly in the centre.

....

D.: What is Self-surrender? 

M.: It is the same as self-control; control is effected by removal of samskaras which imply the functioning of the ego. The ego submits only when it recognises the Higher Power. Such recognition is surrender or submission, or self-control. Otherwise the ego remains stuck up like the image carved on a tower, making a pretence by its strained look and posture that it is supporting the tower on its shoulders. The ego cannot exist without the Power but thinks that it acts of its own accord.

D.: How can the rebellious mind be brought under control? 

M.: Either seek its source so that it may disappear or surrender that it may be struck down.

D.: Is not Grace the gift of the Guru? 

M.: God, Grace and Guru are all synonymous and also eternal and immanent. Is not the Self already within? Is it for the Guru to bestow It by his look? If a Guru thinks so, he does not deserve the name.

The books say that there are so many kinds of diksha (initiations - hasta diksha, sparsa diksha, chakshu diksha, mano diksha, etc.) They also say that the Guru makes some rites with fire, water, japa, mantras, etc., and call such fantastic performances dikshas, as if the disciple (sishya) becomes ripe only after such processes are gone through by the Guru. If the individual is sought he is nowhere to be found. Such is the Guru. Such is Dakshinamurti. What did he do? He was silent; the disciples appeared before him. He maintained silence, the doubts of the disciples were dispelled, which means that they lost their individual identities. That is jnana and not all the verbiage usually associated with it. Silence is the most potent form of work. However vast and emphatic the sastras may be, they fail in their effect. The Guru is quiet and peace prevails in all. His silence is more vast and more emphatic than all the sastras put together. These questions arise because of the feeling, that having been here so long, heard so much, exerted so hard, one has not gained anything. The work proceeding within is not apparent. In fact the Guru is always within you. Thayumanavar says: “Oh Lord! Coming with me all along the births, never abandoning me and finally rescuing me!” Such is the experience of Realisation. Srimad Bhagavad Gita says the same in a different way, “We two are not only now but have ever been so.”

..........

D.: Does not the Guru take a concrete form? 

M.: What is meant by concrete? Because you identify your being with your body, you raise this question. Find out if you are the body. The Gita says: param bhavam ajanantah (Bh. Gita IX - II) - that those who cannot understand the transcendental nature (of Sri Krishna) are fools, deluded by ignorance. The master appears to dispel that ignorance. As Thayumanavar puts it, he appears as a man to dispel the ignorance of a man, just as a deer is used as a decoy to capture the wild deer. He has to appear with a body in order to eradicate our ignorant “I-am-the-body” idea.

400

M.: What is tapas for? 

D.: For Self-Realisation. 

M.: Quite so. Tapas depends on the competency of the person. One requires a form to contemplate. But it is not enough. For can anyone keep looking at an image always? So the image must be implemented by japa. Japa helps fixing the mind on the image, in addition to the eyesight. The result of these efforts is concentration of mind, which ends in the goal. He becomes what he thinks. Some are satisfied with the name of the image. Every form must have a name. That name denotes all the qualities of God. Constant japa puts off all other thoughts and fixes the mind. That is tapas. One-pointedness is the tapas wanted. The question what tapas is was asked in order to know what purpose to serve. It will take the form required for the purpose. 

D.: Are not physical austerities also tapas? 

M.: May be one form of it. They are due to vairagya (dispassion) .

401

................Japa may be done even while engaged in other work. That which is, the One Reality. It may be represented by a form, a japa, mantra, vichara or any kind of attempt. All of them finally resolve themselves into that One Single Reality. Bhakti, vichara, japa are only different forms of our efforts to keep out the unreality. 

The unreality is an obsession at present. Reality is our true nature. 

We are wrongly persisting in unreality, that is, thoughts and worldly activities.

 Cessation of these will reveal the Truth. 

Our attempts are directed towards keeping them out. 

It is done by thinking of the Reality only.

 Although it is our true nature it looks as if we are thinking of the Reality. 

What we do really amounts to the removal of obstacles for the revelation of our true Being. 

Meditation or vichara is thus a reversion to our true nature.

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