The paramount importance of self attention-5

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Sadhu Om: We are not just told to seek self, but rather toseekthe truth of the ego. 

The truth of the ego is that it does not exist,

so if we try to attend to it, it will subside and disappear, andalong with it all other thoughts will also cease. 

If wetrytothink of the first person (which is ‘here’) or thepresentmoment (which is ‘now’), the mind will certainly subsideandeventually merge back into ourself, its source, becausenosuchthing as the first person or present moment actually exists.

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Time and place are each like a triangular prison. Thethreewalls of the time prison are the past, present andfuture,whereas the three walls of the place prison are the first, secondand third persons (which in Tamil are called mu-v-idam, thethree places). We seem to be bound within these triangularprisons because we are always attending only to thepast orfuture or to second or third persons, but never trytoattendeither to the precise present moment or to the first personalone.This is like trying to escape through the two solid wallsoftheprison without ever turning to see the third wall. If weturntosee the third wall, the first person or precise present moment

we will find that no such wall exists, and that weweretherefore never actually imprisoned. Therefore to ‘escape’ fromthe triangular prison of time and place, all we need dois toturnour attention back towards the non-existent first personorpresent moment, because we will then find that we havealwaysbeen only in the vast open space of pure self-awareness.

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Sadhu Om: When our sravana and manana are complete, thenour nididhyasana [self-contemplation] or atma-vicara[selfinvestigation] will also be complete, and we will never againleave our natural state of self-abidance. If one leaves theshadeand goes out into the sun, then one has not yet adequatelyunderstood what heat is, so more sravana and mananaonheatare required.

However, unlike other arts and sciences, which eachrequireavast amount of study (sravana), in the spiritual paththeamountwe need to study is very little. All we need to understandisthatwhatever we see outside is only our own being-consciousnessprojected through the lens of our mind and senses. But for ustograsp this, repeated sravana, manana and nididhyasanaarerequired. Those who are fortunate to come to Bhagavanandtostudy his teachings deeply will learn more fromthemthantheycould learn from studying all other sacred texts

When Bhagavan tells us repeatedly that the problemisourwrong outlook, our delusive experience ‘I amthe body’, howissitting all day going to change that outlook? The strengthofconviction we gain from sravana, manana and nididhyasanaiswhat gives us love for self

abidance. If our love for self-abidance is weak, that is becauseour love for other things is strong, and therefore we needmoresravana, manana and nididhyasana. Sravana must goontill theend – that is, until self-abidance becomes natural.

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We can jokingly say that he was being hard-hearted, but it wasactually his supreme grace. The greatest grace he canbestowon us is to see us as none other than himself, and his silenceisthe most powerful weapon he uses to remove thefalseignorance of his devotees. Such blessing by silence(mounadiksha) is far more effective than blessing by thought (sankalpadiksha). In his view sacred texts (sastras) were just a gameforchildren, because he knew that what is real canneverbeexpressed in words, and that even his own UlladuNarpaducould not express it adequately. This is why he oftensaidthathe real teaching is only silence.

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Everyone who comes to Bhagavan will typically say, ‘I have come only for moksha [liberation]’,but how many actually want to lose their individuality?Inthespiritual battlefield, even if a thousand soldiers fall aroundus,we should not concern ourself, but should rise upandgoforwards. Such courage and faith are necessary. If we sincerelyfollow the path taught by Bhagavan, we will neverbeabandoned.

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No one need tell us when we should give up sravanaandmanana. When we are able to abide permanently as self, thenwe will not even think of reading or reflecting, but as longaswe feel unable to remain constantly as self, we must continueto do sravana and manana. If we give up atma-vicara[selfinvestigation], our mind will turn to loka-vicara [investigatingthe world], and thus we will bind ourselves still further.

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For an extremely mature aspirant, written or spokenwordsareunnecessary, because they can receive Bhagavan’s upadesainsilence. Many subtle truths can be learnt only in silence.

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Sadhu Om: Bhagavan begins the second verse of EkatmaPanchakam with the words, ‘Even though one always existsasself’, so what he says in that verse is intended primarilyforthose who are content with their natural awareness of their ownexistence, ‘I am’. If we are perfectly happy withthesimpleknowledge ‘I am’ and therefore desire nothing else, wewill notattend to anything other than ‘I am’, so what need wouldtherebe then for us to enquire ‘who am I?’ or ‘whenceamI?’?However, so long as we feel ‘I am a body’, ‘I amadoer’, ‘Ihave desires’ and so on, we will not be content withsimplybeing aware that ‘I am’, so in such a condition it is necessaryfor us to enquire ‘who is this I?’ or ‘fromwhere doesthisI

arise?’ The self-shining existence, ‘I am’, which is knownbyone and all, is the ultimate truth, so it is all that we needeverknow. No sadhana is needed to knowit anew. ThereforeBhagavan repeatedly said, ‘You know that you exist, andthatis all you need know’, because he wanted us to be content withthis knowledge. There is nothing we need do, so it was onlytothose who asked ‘What can I do?’ that he suggested, ‘Findoutwho this ‘I’ is or from where it rises’.

Our outward behaviour and more importantly the behaviourofour mind can indicate how much strength we have toattendtoself. If we are much concerned about what others thinkorsayabout us, we will not be able to free ourself fromthe tyrannyofthoughts even when we try to attend to ourself. Courageisneeded. If we are able to believe firmly, ‘Other peopleareonlymy own mental projections, so what does it matter what they

seem to think or say about me?’, then we will have thefaithand strength to abide as self, and hence we will be indifferentto praise and blame. Until then we must persevere intryingtoattend to ourself, because our concern for the worldwillthereby fade away naturally. Such indifference is calledudasina.

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We are never actually the doer, because all actions aredoneonly by God. Therefore there is no need for us to giveupthesense of doership. All we need do is avoid assuminganydoership. This is the path of surrender, and so it is anattitudethat accepts the existence of God and the world. However, ifwe sincerely try to follow this path, then fromour ownexperience we will gain a type of knowledge andconvictionthat God is doing everything, and thus our thoughtsandattachments will slowly drop off. Therefore even inthis pathofdevotion (bhakti marga), it is only knowledge that givesourmind peace and quiet. In verse 2 of Atma Bodha it is saidthatwithout knowledge one cannot gain peace, which is thestateofliberation.

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In the ‘Guru’s Grace’ chapter of Maharshi Vaymozhi [theTamil version of Maharshi’s Gospel] it is recordedthatsomeone asked Bhagavan whether he knewanythingabout agroup of invisible rishis who are looking after the affairsoftheworld, to which he replied, ‘If invisible, howto see them?’, butthe questioner answered, ‘In jnana-dristi’, soBhagavanexplained to him that in jnana-dristi (the viewof self-knowledge) there are no others to see. If he had beenaskedhow he was able to enlighten others through his silence, hewould have answered in a similar way: ‘In silence therearenoothers to be enlightened’.

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We should maintain pravilapa dristi, which means consideringeverything to be ourself, because it is all an expansionofourego, like everything that we see in a dream. Whateverweexperience is according to the divine plan, the soleaimofwhich is that we should awaken fromthis dreamas soonaspossible.

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Sadhu Om: There is in us a power of knowing or attention,which is called cit-sakti and which is actually nothingotherthan cit [pure consciousness] itself, whose real natureistobeaware of itself alone. When this power is directedtowardsother things, we call it ‘mind’, whose function thinking, butwhen it is directed towards ourself, it remains as our real self11,whose nature is just being. Therefore nistha [dwelling] onanysecond or third person is thinking, whereas thinkingof ourselfis nistha [being or abiding as we really are].

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Sadhu Om: I was once trying to puzzle out why everycreature,whether human or non-human, makes the same mistakeofidentifying a body as ‘I’. In all of themwe see the samedefects,such as desire, greed, lust and anger, and all of these arerootedin this one mistaken notion, ‘I amthis body’. ThenIunderstood that if there were many creatures there wouldbemany mistakes, but there is only one. Because I take mybodyto be ‘I’, I see this ‘I am the body’ identificationineverycreature I project. Because I have a desire for something, Iseethe same desire in others. It is just like in a dream, wherewesee our own desires and fears in all the dream-creatures. Thedefects we see in others are only our own defects. If wewishtoremove the ‘I am the body’ idea in other creatures, weonly

have to remove it in ourself. Then we will see that noonehasthis mistaken notion.

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Sadhu Om [parting advice to some newvisitors]: Thinkcarefully over the fact that self-knowledge is the basisofallother knowledge, and that therefore what is most necessaryisto gain correct knowledge of what you yourself are. Themoreyou reflect along these lines, the more you will lovetoknowyourself. If you cultivate such love, you will certainlyalsoattain self-knowledge. Love and knowledge are inseparable. Infact, they are one and the same thing

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Sadhu Om: Some people complain of a heated brain, emotionaloutbursts or such like as a result of practising atma-vicara[selfinvestigation or self-enquiry]. This shows that theyarenotpractising it properly. If we practice self-attention correctly, wewill find it to be a great relief and relaxation fromour normalmental activities. However, so long as our vasanas [outward-going propensities]are strong, our minds will be frequently drawn outwards, soourrepeated efforts to be introverted will create some frictionandtension. This is why continuous nididhyasana [practiceof self-attention] is not recommended, and why we are advisedinsteadto intermittently rest for a while and do some sravana [reading]or manana [reflection]. Our vasanas are strong onlybecauseof

our strong attachment to this life, but while doing sravanaandmanana we are constantly reminding ourself of the

worthlessness of this ego-life, which helps to weakenourvasanas, thereby making the practice of self-attentionincreasingly easy and habitual. This is why alternatingsravana,manana and nididhyasana are recommended.

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In his answer to question 2 of chapter 2 of UpadesaManjariBhagavan said that practising this path of vicara is possibleonly for pakvis [those who are spiritually ripe or mature], andthat others should practise sadhanas that are suited totheir ownparticular state of mind. In this context

 we should takepakvi tomean anyone who wants to give up their ego 

or separate individuality 

The sadhanas that he says others shouldpractiseare not means to attain manonasa [annihilation of themindorego] but only to attain other aims, such as citta-suddhi[purification of mind], divine visions, heavenly experiences,worldly enjoyments or whatever else they may desire. 

Atma-vicara is only for those who want to close the chapter, 

beingtired of repeatedly projecting pictures of ego, worldandGod. 

Ifone is not attracted to atma-vicara, one obviouslydoesnot

want to close the chapter, 

so one should followwhicheverother path appeals to one. In Sadhanai SaramI makeit clearthat atma-vicara is only for those who wish to lose their egos,and that only such people should read it.

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Sadhu Om: A quiet mind is not our aim. Our aimis togaincorrect knowledge of ‘I’.

The mind is quiet in sleep, undergeneral anaesthesia and in all other forms of manolaya[temporary subsidence of mind], but it again jumpsintoactivity. Only by self-knowledge is it destroyedentirely.Therefore let us ignore the mind, not concerning ourself withwhether it is quiet or active, and instead direct all our attentiononly towards knowing ‘I’. If we do that, the mindwill

eventually merge within ourself forever, so there will thenbeno scope for it to be either quiet or active.

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To learn the secret of the three states, which comprisethewhole of our present life, we must learn to abide inastatebetween waking and sleep. The only practical waytoachievethis is to attend exclusively to ‘I’.

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Begin by mentally saying ‘I’, and then try to clingtotheself-awareness evoked by this word. You may be able toclingtoitfor only a few seconds at a time, but even that is beneficial.When you notice that your attention has become extroverted,you should try again, and should continue tryingrepeatedlyuntil you find your interest in doing so is slackening, andthenyou should take a rest for a while.

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The important thing is to begin trying, even if onlyfor afewminutes a day. The efficacy of trying at least a littlebutpersistently can be illustrated by the story of the camel andthetent. In Arabia a man was sleeping in his tent, andhiscamelwas sleeping outside, but it was very cold. At first thecamelput its nose in the tent, and the man allowed it, thinking‘Yes,poor creature, it is cold outside’. Then slowly the camel pushedits whole head inside, and still the man allowed it. Graduallyitedged more of its body inside, until eventually it occupiedthewhole tent and the man found himself lying outside. Likewise,

if we attempt to be self-attentive for at least a fewmomentshere and there during each day, that will gradually pushout ourinterest in everything else and thereby lead us eventuallytoourgoal.

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Bhagavan once said, ‘Everyonewho comes here says that they want moksa and moksaalone,and that they have no other desires in this world or thenext, yetif I were to show them one minute sample of moksa, all thecrows would fly away and I would be left sitting here alone’.

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People have many different types of attachments–to sense pleasures, wealth, family, nationality, caste, creed,social status, name, fame and so on – but Bhagavanhascorrectly diagnosed that the root of all attachments is our ego,which is our dehabhimana or fundamental attachment toabodyas ‘I’. That is why he often used to advise us, ‘Investigatewhoit is who is longing and crying out for liberation(moksa)’,because if we investigate this, our ego will disappear alongwith both its body-attachment and its idea of liberation, whichit was longing for so much.

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What is actually real is only ourself, so true knowledgeisonlyawareness of ourself as we really are, and since our awarenessof ourself is nothing other than ourself, we ourself aretrueknowledge. Therefore to gain true knowledge we must attendonly to ourself. The more we practice self-attention, themorewe will gain a correct knowledge about ourself and theworld.

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Since real knowledge is only self-awareness, whichis calledcit,and since knowledge is power, which is called sakti, it issaidthat cit is the only real sakti, and that cit-sakti is the sourceofall other forms of power, which seem to exist and be real onlybecause of it. Therefore, whatever Bhagavan says about trueknowledge in verses 10 to 13 of Ulladu Narpaduappliesequally well to true power. For example, when he says inverse10, 

‘Only the knowledge that knows oneself, whois thefirst,[by investigating] to whom are that knowledge andignorance,is [true] knowledge’, he implies that only knowledgeofthenon-existence of the ego, who is the first to rise andwhoaloneexperiences knowledge and ignorance of other things, isnot

only true knowledge but also true power; when he says inverse11 that knowing other things instead of knowing oneself isnottrue knowledge but only ignorance, he implies that it is alsonottrue power; when he says in verse 12 that that whichknows(namely the ego or mind) is not true knowledge andthatoneself alone is true knowledge, he implies that the ego(whichalone knows anything other than itself) is not true power andthat we ourself alone are true power; and when he says inverse13, ‘Oneself, who is knowledge (jnana), alone is real’, heimplies once again that we ourself alone are real power.

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Likewise, since the term ‘siddhi’ means ‘attainment’ andsinceit is also used to refer to any special power that one mayattain,what he says regarding real siddhi in verse 35of UlladuNarpadu applies equally well to real knowledge. That is, whenhe says, ‘Knowing and being porul [the one real substance,which is oneself], which exists as siddham[what is alwaysattained], is [real] siddhi’, he implies that knowingandbeingoneself alone is real knowledge.

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This is why he says in the sixth paragraph of Nan Yar?(Whoam I?), ‘When one practises and practises in this way[turningone’s mind or attention back towards oneself, its sourceorbirthplace, whenever it is distracted away by any other thought],for the mind the power (sakti) to stand firmly establishedinitsbirthplace will increase’. The more we attend to ourself, themore we will gain clarity of self-awareness, which aloneisrealknowledge, and in the bright light of such clarity the powerofour visaya-vasanas (outward-going desires or inclinations) willfade away, because they derive their power only fromour ego,which is the illusory knowledge ‘I amthis body’. This fadingaway of our vasanas is what he refers to in the tenthparagraphof Nan Yar? when he says, ‘they will all be destroyedwhensvarupa-dhyanam [self-attention] increases and increases’

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When we first start to practise turning our attentionbacktowards ourself, the power of our self-attentionwill berelatively weak, so we will be able to notice the risingof anyvasanas in the form of thoughts only after they havealreadyswept us away. However with practice the power of our self-attention will increase, and the more it increases themoreeasily we will be able to cognise the exact moment that anyvasana arises as a thought. If our self-attention is firm, ourexperience at that moment will be that this thought arisesonlybecause I know it, so our attention will cling to ourself, the‘I’that is aware of the thought, and thus the thought will subside,being deprived of the attention that it needs to survive. Eachtime that we deprive any thought of our attentionbyholdingfast to self-attention in this way, we are weakeningthevasana

that gave rise to it, and strengthening our love andabilitytohold on to self-attention.

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Our vasanas would be difficult to subdue anddestroyonly if they were real, but since they do not exist insleeptheyare not real, and hence if we have sincere love to knowwhowereally are, we can easily destroy themall merely byclingingfirmly to self-attention.

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As Bhagavan says in verse 18 of Upadesa Undiyar, our mindisjust a collection of thoughts, and its root is only our ego, theprimal thought called ‘I’. And as he says in verse 25of UlladuNarpadu, this ego rises, stands and flourishes only byclingingto ‘forms’, which is another name for its thoughts aboutanything other than itself, so the only effective meanstoprevent the rising of our ego and its expansion in theformofnumerous thoughts it to attend to it alone. That is, sincewecannot rise and stand as this ego without attendingtootherthings, if we attend only to ourself, this ego, we will subsideand disappear. This is what he means when he ends verse25ofUlladu Narpadu by saying, ‘If sought [or attendedto], thisformless phantom-ego will take flight’.

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Since this ego is unreal, like an illusory snake, it seems toexistonly when we do not look at it carefully enough. Just asthesnake will disappear if we look at it carefully, becauseit isreally only a rope, our ego will disappear if we lookat itcarefully, because it is really only our formless andhenceinfinite self. Therefore it is only by attending to our ego, whichis the root and first thought of our mind, that we canknowitcorrectly – that is, know that it does not really exist –andonlyby knowing it correctly can we control or subdue it.

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So long as we are self-ignorant, we do not knowwhat isreallygood for us, so rather than praying for whatever wethinkisgood for us, we should pray only for what God wants forus,because he alone knows what is really good for us. AsBhagavan sings in verse 2 of Sri Arunachala Padikam, ‘Yourwish is my wish; that is happiness for me, Lord of mylife’, andin verse 7 of Sri Arunachala Navamanimalai, ‘Whateverbeyour thought [or will], do that, my beloved, onlygive[me]increase of love for your pair of feet’. In one of the versesinSri Ramana Sahasram [a thousand verses praying for jnana]Ising that he has given me more than I ever prayed for

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Sadhu Om: Merely withdrawing our mind fromsecondandthird persons is not atma-vicara [self-investigationor self-enquiry], but just a secondary effect of it. Attendingtoourselfalone is atma-vicara, and when we attend only toourself ourmind is thereby withdrawn from other things. In verse16ofUpadesa Undiyar Bhagavan says: Leaving aside external phenomena, the mind knowingitsownform of light is alone real knowledge

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‘Leaving aside external phenomena’ means withdrawingourattention from second and third persons, but that byitself isnotreal knowledge, because we leave all external phenomenawhenever we fall asleep. In order to knowwhat is real, wemust know our own ‘form of light’, which is the fundamentalawareness that illumines our mind. Therefore in this versethemain clause is ‘the mind knowing its own formof light isalonereal knowledge’, whereas ‘leaving aside external phenomena’is just a subsidiary clause, because when our mind attendstoitsown self-awareness, ‘I am’, its attention is therebyautomatically withdrawn from external phenomena.

Remaining for a while without thoughts is no doubt apeacefuland pleasant experience, but it is not the ultimate solutiontoour problems. What needs to be rectified is our illusoryawareness ‘I am this body’, and since it is a mistakenknowledge of ourself, it can be rectified only bycorrectknowledge of ourself.

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Self-abidance and self-attention are one and the samething.Abidance is being (sat), whereas attention is knowing(cit), andas Bhagavan says in verse 26 of Upadesa Undiyar, beingoneself is knowing oneself, because oneself is not two, andbecause as he says in verse 23, there is no awareness other thanwhat is to know what is, so what is (sat) is itself awareness(cit).A worldly-minded person abides in the world becauseheattends to the world, whereas a spiritual personabidesinhimself because he attends to himself.

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.........Likewise, even great yogis cannot conquer thismaya,but we can simply by surrendering ourself to the graceofBhagavan.

.......In this battle we oftenfeel likeaship tossed about in a violent storm, but he is our helmsman, sowe should pray to him as he taught us in verse 79ofSriArunachala Aksaramanamalai: ‘Arunachala, protect mesothatI may not be like a ship tossing in a great stormwithout ahelmsman’.

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Sadhu Om: Strength lies in our being, not in our thinking.Therefore real strength comes only fromself-abidance. Timeisnot an important factor in self-abidance, because wegainnospiritual benefit by remaining without thought for eight hoursin sleep. Attention (which is a focusing of our awareness, cit)isthe only important factor in self-abidance (which is astateofjust being, sat), because the intensity of our self-attentioniswhat determines the firmness and depth of our self-abidance.

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Knowing ourself alone is being ourself, and that aloneistruestrength (sakti).

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Sadhu Om: In the first verse of Sri Arunacala NavamanimalaiBhagavan sings: Though actually achala [the motionless one], in that assemblyhall [in Chidambaram] he [Lord Siva] dances in front ofthemother, who is achalai [the consort of acalan]. Whenthat Sakti[the divine mother] becomes tranquil in [his] acala form, knowthat he shines exalted as Arunacalam.

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......Just as the frenzied dance of Kali needed to be pacifiedinorderfor her to regain her original state of motionlessness, theceaseless rising and activity of our mind needs tosubsideinorder for us to regain our original state as perfectlycalmandmotionless self-awareness.

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,........whereas in the path of atma-vicara, whichis thepathof complete self-surrender and which is representedherebyTiruvannamalai, no arduous activity or tapas is necessary,because simply by calmly clinging with love to ourself, ourmind will merge motionlessly back into ourself, just asSaktibecame calm in Tiruvannamalai simply becauseof heroverwhelming love for Lord Siva in his motionless formasArunachala.

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.......Therefore this verse signifies the fact that in order for ustoregain our original state of motionless self-abidance, noactivity (dancing) of our mind is necessary, because ultimatelywe can remain as we really are only by completelygivingupall activity, which we can do only by clinging firmly, steadilyand peacefully to self-attention.

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People generally take sat-sanga to mean the companyof goodpeople, but Bhagavan clarified its true meaning, explainingthatreal sat-sanga is only association with sat, and sincesat isnothing other than atma-svarupa, our own real self, abidinginourself as ourself is the correct and most perfect formof sat-sanga13. However, until we are able to abide in sat as sat, thenext best form of sat-sanga is to associate withthoselikeBhagavan who abide as sat.

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However, so long as we experience ourself as a body, anyonewho abides as sat will seem to us to be a body, sowhentheirbody dies we will seem to lose their sat-sanga. ThereforeBhagavan taught us that Arunachala is the very embodiment ofsat, so since Arunachala is always present here, sat-sangawithit is always available to us. Moreover, since we canassociate

with Arunachala merely by thinking of it, sat-sanga withit isnot restricted by either time or place.

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Sadhu Om: The best way to celebrate Bhagavan’sbirthcentenary would be to prevent the rising of the ‘I’ whorisestocelebrate it in so many other ways. If we make this ‘I’ subside,

hen we will be truly celebrating his centenary in thewayhewould want us to do so

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Sadhu Om: In verse 31 of Ulladu Narpadu AnubandhamBhagavan says: To the mey-jnani [the knower of reality], who is asleepwithinthe fleshy body, which is like a cart, activity [of mindor body],nistha [steadiness, inactivity or samadhi] and sleep arejust like,to a person sleeping in a cart, that cart moving, standingorthecart remaining alone [with the bullocks unyoked].

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Regarding the portion, ‘samadhi is their standing still (becausesamadhi means jagrat-sushupti, that is to say, the personisaware but not concerned in the action; the bulls are yokedbutdo not move)’, the explanation given in brackets is not whatBhagavan actually said but was added by whoever recordedit,because it confuses the sense in which he usedthetermsamadhi in this context. That is, the jnani is always injagrat-sushupti, the state of ‘wakeful sleep’, because heiswhatBhagavan refers to here as the ‘ever-wakeful Self’, whichisawake in the sense that it is always aware of itself andasleepinthe sense it is never aware of anything else – any mind, bodyorworld – so when he compares samadhi to the cart standingstill,

what he means by samadhi is not the permanent state of jagrat-sushupti but only the temporary state of self-absorptioninwhich the body and mind of the jnani sometimes seemtobe. Inthe view of an ajnani, the body and mind of a jnani likeBhagavan may sometimes be active and may at other timesgointo and later come out of a motionless state of inactivity,which is what he calls nistha or samadhi in this context, but ashe explains by means of this analogy, the jnani is completely

unaware of the coming and going of all such states, becauseinhis view the only state is jagrat-sushupti, which is eternal andimmutable

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However, what is particularly significant about this answerofBhagavan’s recorded in Maharshi’s Gospel is the context inwhich he used this analogy, because he usuallyusedit toillustrate the fact that the jnani is not aware of anymindorbody and hence of any of their activities or states, whereasonthis occasion he used it to explain that if we attendonlytoourself and not to anything else, our body andmindwillnevertheless do whatever actions they are destinedtodo, butwe will not be aware of them. Since atma-jnana or jagrat-sushupti is a state in which we are aware of nothingother thanourself, in order to attain it here and now we shouldattendonlyto ourself and thereby refrain from being aware of anythingelse.

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........’ (tannaiye bahyantara dirusti-bhedam-indri eppodumnadudal), ‘always investigating [or attending to] oneselfwithout the distinction of seeing outside or inside’. Beingeternally aware of nothing other than oneself is sahajasamadhi(which is another name for manonasa, atma-jnana or jagrat-sushupti), and trying to be always aware of nothingthanoneself is practising sahaja samadhi. Sahaja samadhi isourgoal, and the only way to attain it is to practise it here andnow.

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Good point

When Osborne asked Bhagavan whether brahmacharyaisnecessary, what he meant by brahmacharya is celibacy, butBhagavan replied, ‘Celibacy is not necessary. If youabideinbrahman, that is real brahmacharya’. If Osborne hadbeenmature enough to be celibate, he would not have askedthatquestion. But people ask such questions and then writebookssaying that Bhagavan said that brahmacharya and renunciationare not necessary for those who follow the path of atma-vicara.To understand Bhagavan’s attitude regarding such matters, weshould not ask questions but should carefully observewhat he

replies to questions asked by others. 

To understandhis viewisnot easy unless one’s mind is mature enough.

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.........From this I learnt that we should not mention what weintendtodo even to our friends, but should just do it. If we act withtheconfidence that this entire life is just a dreamandthat whatmatters is only attaining self-knowledge, grace will takecareofeverything else. But until we are mature enough tohavesuchconfidence, working to earn a living will seemto be necessary.

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.........And in verse 7hesaysthat steady and uninterrupted meditation on God, likethesteady flow of clarified butter, is better than meditationthat isfrequently interrupted by other thoughts. This is becausethemore we love God the more our mind will be drawntothinkonly of him, and what purifies our mind is not the actionitselfbut the love with which we do it.

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Up to verse 7 Bhagavan was discussing actions, whichallinvolve an outward flow of our mind, but in verses 8and9heshows us how we can divert our love for God togobeyondaction to our natural state of just being, which is thestateofcomplete self-surrender and hence the most perfect expressionof love for God. In verse 8 he says that rather than anya-bhava(meditation on God as something other than oneself) ananya-bhava (meditation on him as not other than oneself) is ‘thebestof all’, meaning that it is the best of all practices of bhakti andof all forms of meditation, and in verse 9 he says that bythestrength or intensity of such ananya-bhava being insat-bhava(one’s natural state of being), which transcends meditation, ispara-bhakti tattva, the true state of supreme devotion.

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So long as we consider God to be something other thanourself,when we meditate on him our attention is movingawayfromourself towards our thought of him, and this outwardmovement of our mind is an action or karma. Ontheotherhand, when we consider him to be ourself and meditateonhimaccordingly, we will no longer be meditating on a merethoughtof him but only on ourself, so our attention will not bemovingaway from ourself but will just rest motionlessly onourself, itssource, so this self-attentiveness is not an action or karmabutour natural state of just being (summa iruppadu)

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This iswhyBhagavan says in verse 9 that by the intensity and firmnessofananya-bhava we will remain in sat-bhava, and that bybeingsowe will transcend all bhavana, imagination, meditationorthinking.

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Thus what Bhagavan implies in these first nine verses isthatthough we cannot attain liberation by any action or karma, ifour actions are motivated only by love of God andnot byanydesire for temporal gains, they will gradually purifyour mindand enable us to understand that God is what shines inusas‘I’,

so the best way to meditate upon him is to meditate onnothingother than ourself, and that if we meditate only onourself, allactions will cease, and thus we will subside backintothesource from which we rose.

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