He who engages in investigation starts holding on to himself, asks ‘Who am I?’
And the Self becomes clear to him.
Talk 184.
M.: To imagine Muladhara at the bottom, the Heart at the centre, or the head at the top or over all these, is all wrong.
In one word, to think is not your real nature.
........
Sravana removes the illusion of the Self being one with the body, etc.
Reflection makes it clear that Knowledge is Self.
One pointedness reveals the Self as being Infinite and Blissful.
.......
..228.........
D.: How is the mind to dive into the Heart?
M.: The mind now sees itself diversified as the universe.
If the diversity is not manifest it remains in its own essence, that is the Heart.
Entering the Heart means remaining without distractions.
The Heart is the only Reality.
The mind is only a transient phase.
To remain as one’s Self is to enter the Heart.
.......
Because a man identifies himself with the body he sees the world separate from him.
This wrong identification arises because he has lost his moorings and has swerved from his original state.
He is now advised to give up all these false ideas, to trace back his source and remain as the Self.
In that state, there are no differences. No questions will arise.
All the shastras are meant only to make the man retrace his steps to the original source.
He need not gain anything new. He must only give up his false ideas and useless accretions.
Instead of doing it he tries to catch hold of something strange and mysterious because he believes that his happiness lies elsewhere. That is the mistake.
If one remains as the Self there is bliss. Probably he thinks that being quiet does not bring about the state of bliss. That is due to his ignorance. The only practice is to find out “to whom these questions arise.”
......
......The object of all these is to rid the man of concepts and to make him inhere as the pure Self
- i.e. absolute consciousness, bereft of thoughts!
Why not go straight to it?
Why add new encumbrances to the already existing ones?
Abhyasa is only to prevent any disturbance to the inherent peace.
D.: Shall I meditate on “I am Brahman” (Aham Brahmasmi)?
M.: The text is not meant for thinking “I am Brahman”. Aham (‘I’) is known to everyone. Brahman abides as Aham in everyone.
Find out the ‘I’. The ‘I’ is already Brahman. You need not think so. Simply find out the ‘I’.
M.: After the rise of the ‘I-thought’ there is the false identification of the ‘I’ with the body, the senses, the mind, etc. ‘I’ is wrongly associated with them and the true ‘I’ is lost sight of. In order to shift the pure ‘I’ from the contaminated ‘I’ this discarding is mentioned. But it does not mean exactly discarding of the non-self, but it means the finding of the real Self.
The real Self is the Infinite ‘I-I’, i.e. ‘I’ is perfection. It is eternal. It has no origin and no end. The other ‘I’ is born and also dies. It is impermanent. See to whom are the changing thoughts. They will be found to arise after the ‘I-thought’. Hold the ‘I-thought’. They subside.
Trace back the source of the ‘I-thought’.
The Self alone will remain.
..............
D.: It is difficult to follow. I understand the theory. But what is the practice?
M.: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the investigation of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary. Who is it?
It is ‘I’. Be that ‘I’. It is the direct method.
The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.
..............
D.: I am aware of the ‘I’. Yet my troubles are not ended.
M.: This ‘I-thought’ is not pure. It is contaminated with the association of the body and senses. See to whom the trouble is.
It is to the ‘I thought’.
Hold it.
Then the other thoughts vanish.
.............
D.: Yes. How to do it? That is the whole trouble.
M.: Think ‘I’ ‘I’ ‘I’ and hold to that one thought
to the exclusion of all others.
D.: It is said Atma samstham manah krtva (fixing the mind in the Self). But the Self is unthinkable.
M.: Why do you wish to meditate at all?
Because you wish to do so you are told Atma samstham manah krtva (fixing the mind in the Self).
Why do you not remain as you are without meditating?
What is that manah (mind)?
When all thoughts are eliminated it becomes Atma samstha (fixed in the Self).
.........
Work leaves no time for separate meditation. Is the constant reminder “I am”, trying to feel it while actually at work, enough?
M.: It will become constant when the mind becomes strengthened.
Repeated practice strengthens the mind. Such mind is capable of holding on to the current.
In that case, engagement in work or no engagement, the current remains unaffected and uninterrupted.
D.: No separate meditation is necessary?
M.: Meditation is your true nature now.
You call it meditation, because there are other thoughts distracting you.
When these thoughts are dispelled, you remain alone, i.e. in the state of meditation free from thoughts;
and that is your real nature which you are now attempting to gain by keeping away other thoughts.
Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called meditation.
When the practice becomes firm, the real nature shows itself as the true meditation.
Other thoughts arise more forcibly when you attempt meditation. There was immediately a chorus of questions by a few others.
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Just on rising up from sleep, and before seeing the objective world, there is a state of awareness which is your pure Self.
That must be known.
D.: But I do not realise it.
M.: It is not an object to be realised. You are that. Who is there to realise and what?
.https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Talks-with-Sri-Ramana-Maharshi--complete.pdf
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Talk 314. Pure and contaminated I
In yesterday’s answers, Sri Bhagavan said that the Self is pure consciousness in deep slumber,
and He also indicated the Self of the transition from sleep to the waking state as the ideal for realisation.
He was requested to explain the same.
Sri Bhagavan graciously answered:
The Self is pure consciousness in sleep. It evolves as aham (‘I’) without the idam (‘this’) in the transition stage.
It manifests as aham (‘I’) and idam (‘this’) in the waking state.
The individual’s experience is by means of aham (‘I’) only.
So he must aim at realisation in the way indicated (i.e. by means of the transitional ‘I’).
Otherwise the sleep-experience does not matter to him.
If the transitional ‘I’ be realised, the substratum is found and that leads to the goal.
Again, sleep is said to be ajnana (ignorance). That is only in relation to the wrong jnana (knowledge) prevalent in the wakeful state. The waking state is really ajnana (ignorance) and the sleep state is prajnana (full knowledge).
Prajnana is Brahman, says the sruti. Brahman is eternal. The sleep-experiencer is called prajna. He is prajnanam in all the three states. Its particular significance in the sleep state is that He is full of knowledge (prajnanaghana). What is ghana? There are jnana and vijnana.
Both together operate in all perceptions. Vijnana in the jagrat is viparita jnana (wrong knowledge) i.e. ajnana (ignorance).
It always co-exists with the individual. When this becomes vispashta jnana (clear knowledge), It is Brahman.
When wrong knowledge is totally absent, as in sleep, He remains pure prajnana only.
That is Prajnanaghana.
Aitareya Upanishad says prajnana, vijnana, ajnana, samjnana are all names of Brahman.
Being made up of knowledge alone how is He to be experienced?
Experience is always with vijnana.
Therefore the pure ‘I’ of the transitional stage must be held for the experience of the Prajnanaghana.
The ‘I’ of the waking state is impure and is not useful for such experience.
Hence the use of the transitional ‘I’ or the pure ‘I’.
How is this pure ‘I’ to be realised?
Viveka Chudamani says, Vijnana kose vilasatyajasram
(He is always shining forth in the intellectual sheath, vijnana kosa).
Tripura Rahasya and other works point out that the interval between two consecutive sankalpas (ideas or thoughts) represent the pure aham (‘I’).
Therefore holding on to the pure ‘I’, one should have the Prajnanaghana for aim,
and there is the vritti present in the attempt.
All these have their proper and respective places and at the same time lead to realisation.
Again the pure Self has been described in Viveka Chudamani to be beyond asat, i.e. different from asat.
Here asat is the contaminated waking ‘I’.
Asadvilakshana means sat, i.e. the Self of sleep.
He is also described as different from sat and asat. Both mean the same. He is also asesha sakshi (all-seeing witness).
If pure, how is He to be experienced by means of the impure ‘I’?
A man says “I slept happily”. Happiness was his experience. If not, how could he speak of what he had not experienced? How did he experience happiness in sleep, if the Self was pure? Who is it that speaks of that experience now?
The speaker is the vijnanatma (ignorant self) and he speaks of prajnanatma (pure self).
How can that hold? Was this vijnanatma present in sleep? His present statement of the experience of happiness in sleep makes one infer his existence in sleep. How then did he remain? Surely not as in the waking state.
He was there very subtle. Exceedingly subtle vijnanatma experiences the happy prajnanatma by means of maya mode.
It is like the rays of the moon seen below the branches, twigs and leaves of a tree. The subtle vijnanatma seems apparently a stranger to the obvious vijnanatma of the present moment. Why should we infer his existence in sleep?
Should we not deny the experience of happiness and be done with this inference? No.
The fact of the experience of happiness cannot be denied, for everyone courts sleep and prepares a nice bed for the enjoyment of sound sleep.
This brings us to the conclusion that the cogniser, cognition and the cognised are present in all the three states, though there are differences in their subtleties.
In the transitional state, the aham (‘I’) is suddha (pure), because idam (‘this’) is suppressed. Aham (‘I’) predominates.
‘Why is not that pure ‘I’ realised now or even remembered by us?
Because of want of acquaintance (parichaya) with it.
It can be recognised only if it is consciously attained.
Therefore make the effort and gain consciously.
....................................................end..................part 9 ends..........................
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