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.
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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).
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bhoktrutva, kartuttva destroyed = be Still
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
not the seer , by which you see.
by which the mind thinks
but of which it cannot think of
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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,
the seeker of liberation realizes, without doubts or misconceptions, his real nature
by distinguishing the eternal from the transient,
This is known as the practice of knowledge.
This is the enquiry leading to Self- realization.
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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.
It is not an effortless state of indolence.
But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara)
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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The excellence of the practice (sadhana) lies in not giving room for even a single mental concept (vritti).
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Until the mind attains effortlessly its natural state of freedom from concepts, that is till the sense of `I' and `mine' exists no longer.
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.
One who seeks his real Self will not be afraid of any obstacle.
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.
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.
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,
He belongs to the fourth stage.
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;
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?
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'.
This is the proper means for destruction of the mind (manonasha)
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.
This is the conclusive teaching of the scriptures.
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So enquiry is the means to removal of the false belief of self hood in all the three bodies.
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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.
D: What is the reason for the absence of mental strength?
M: The means that make one qualified for enquiry are meditation, yoga, etc.
...In order to get at this true significance, one should meditate on the pranava.
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....Reality is this: Scripture defines meditation in these words,
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If one meditates for a long time, without disturbance, on the Self ceaselessly,
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Since the Self is the reality of all the gods, the meditation on the Self which is oneself is the greatest of all meditations.
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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.
the mind.'
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.
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The great teachers say that forgetfulness is the root of all evil.