Behind My Hand

To ignore diversity is not enlightenment. To cling to the world is not enlightenment. Such acts prevent innateness.

I nsubstantial unrelenting ? ... tada!

It is by delusion that one says: 'I have seen this Sage; I shall see that one also;' if he knows the Sage that is within himself, then all Sages will be (seen to be) one and the same. Guru Ramana Vachana Mala by 'Who', Tiruvannamalai; 1998 - 131

Complete understanding in the blink of an eye. Devoid of linearity. It has nothing to do with reason per se and yet reason can point to it. Although the meanings of the individual words contribute to the ‘flash’ it is quite different from them and can flash even before the utterance has been completed. Pure Pratibhā is the individual's experience of suchness. Pratibhā is not limited to words and sentences. It is the innate ' shining ' principle in all living beings. By means of Pratibhā the spontaneous natural behaviour of all birds and animals takes place without instruction or any other prompting. It is the reason the Indian cuckoo sings in Spring, for example. Although any experience of Pratibhā is uniquely interpreted, by each and every individual, words can be used to convey it. Words, bound by time and space, point to it, but, on their own, never give a true representation of it. Pratibhā on the part of the hearer [or reader, viewer, etc.] is required. In essence...

The truth of non-duality The truth of Non-Duality is to be only meditated upon by the mind; do not do any action from belief in Non-Duality; the idea of Non-Duality is fit to be cherished in respect of all things whatsoever, but not with respect to the Guru. (Guru Ramana Vachana Mala, 209)  Sri K. Lakshmana Sarma's footnote to this verse notes that "the teaching that in the transcendental state, where the ego is not, there is only One Pure Consciousness, is given as an antidote to the superstition that duality is real, to those whom that superstition has enslaved; these are to get freed from it by meditation on it and the Quest; the teaching is  not  meant to be applied to actions, because actions proceed from the contrary idea that the doer is an individual; he is sure to misapply it and thus worsen the bondage he is in; the only one who cannot misapply it is the one that does not need the teaching -- the sage. It is regrettable that this salutary injunction is no...

If you take on the attitude of the jnani without the Heart of a jnani your words and actions will be anathema.

from Talk 429 In order to give up the sense of doership one must seek to find out who the doer is. Enquire within; the sense of doership will vanish. Vichara (enquiry) is the method. - Ramana Maharshi

The idea 'non-duality' is only valid as opposition to 'duality'. Both are vichara fodder, no more no less.

Survival of self, the ego, is, in itself, a fiction. Reflected light cannot radiate without the benefit of  the source of that light. \m/ 

vicāra vāhana vāhita "Driven off by the vehicle of Self Enquiry."

The Sage Gautama once spoke a parable, in order to discourage questions about the origin of bondage; he said: “Here you are, bound hand and foot by desire and fear, and here is the straight path to Deliverance. You ask questions about how you came to be bound. They are irrelevant. You should be content to know how you can become free. Do not act like the man who died because he raised untimely questions, and insisted on getting answers. He was going through a forest. An enemy who was waiting for him in an ambush shot him with a poisoned arrow. Accidentally the wounded man was seen by a friend, who went and spread the news. Soon his kinsmen came to him with all necessary appliances. They wanted to pull out the arrow and apply antidotes, to save his life. But the wounded man prevented them, saying ‘You must first inquire and find out all possible details about the enemy — whether he is of high or low caste, tall or short, fair or dark and so on — and about the a...

An important point and one that continues to cause confusion. " Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked Bhagavan, “When we enquire within ‘who am I?’ what is that?” Bhagavan: It is the ego. It is only that which makes the vichara also. The Self has no vichara. That which makes the enquiry is the ego. The ‘I’ about which the enquiry is made is also the ego. As the result of the enquiry the ego ceases to exist and only the Self is found to exist." Day By Day 21-11-45

Transmuting lead into gold, Forged in the fire of Vicara,  Deep ... In the cave of the Heart. Alchemists one and all,  Having taken refuge in Him,  Multiplicity melts.  - MWright 2002

Noticing the to-ing and fro-ing of the mind, the vigilant one immediately practices vichara. But the quieted mind, having no distractions, has no need to practice. (cf. Ashtavakra Samhita, Chapter 18, stanza 17)

It is the universe in its diversity which is generally spoken of as reality. The pairs of opposites (dvandvas) vie for our attention. Good/bad, hot/cold, rich/poor, spiritual/material etc., we give our attention to all of these in order to make judgements on their relative merits. They are the all important opposites. All important because without them the universe as we 'know' it would collapse into Unity. This is how simple the task is. There is no mystery.  Ramana Maharshi appeals to us to sacrifice everything for Truth. It is not that the mind of the jnani (Sage) and the mind of the ajnani (one who 'believes' enlightenment has yet to come) are different. This is simply thought. The sum and substance of the enquiry "Who am I?" is "...to remain still." The wrong identification of Self with body and senses etc. is solved with this enquiry. This state of equilibrium is not unknown to us. To think it is, is again just thought.  samatvam yoga ucy...

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Hrdaya Kuhara Madhye om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya In the second chapter of Sri Ramana Gita, Sri Bhagavan gives, in four lines of Sanskrit, the essence of His teaching. --------- hrdayakuharamadhye kevalam brahmamAtram hyahamahamiti sAkshAdAtmarupeNa bhAti | hrdi viSa manasA svam cinvatA majjatA vA pavanacalanarodhAdAtmanishTho bhava tvam || (Ramana Gita 2. 2)  --------- In the inmost core, the Heart Shines as Brahman alone, As 'I-I', the Self aware. Enter deep into the Heart By searching for Self, or diving deep, Or with breath under check. Thus abide ever in Atman. (This English translation was given by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi) --------- The verse reveals the Self and three methods for the Realisation of the Self which encompass Jnana, Bhakti and Yoga. hrdayakuharamadhye kevalam brahmamAtram In the interior cave of the Heart, Brahman alone shines, no more-no less. This Heart is the seat of the Self. This Heart is none other than Brahman. You are al...

"Moments Remembered" by V. Ganesan (Sri Ramanasramam, 1994; 53) "In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as 'Aham' 'Aham' ' I-I '. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness, oneness of existence." 

yato nirvishayasyAsya manaso muktirishyate / ato nirvishayam nityam manah kAryam mumukshuNA // 3 // 'Because liberation is assured for a mind which is not devoted to objects, for that very reason, the mind should constantly be made free of attachment to objects, by one who aspires for liberation.'  - Amrtabindu Upanishad

As a rule, all questions, except the impossible and the patently argumentative, Bhagavan graciously answers – fully, spontaneously, and calmly. Some answers are couched in a humorous vein, when humour is inherent in the questions. Some have a punning ring about them, when he turns worldly questions into spiritual hints, which sometimes baffle the questioner. But the best are the ones which concern sadhana and yogic practice. - SS Cohen's "Guru Ramana" p. 27 

A man was going through the forest when he was ambushed by an enemy and shot with a poisoned arrow. One of his kin stumbled upon him and raised the alarm and soon others arrived with antidotes to the poison.  As they attempted to pull the arrow prior to applying the  healing ointment the man prevented them and began to ask various questions such as, "You must find out for  me; Who was that enemy?; What was his family?; Was he tall?; What colour was his hair?; What kind of bow did  he use?; What was the arrow made of? etc...." When it was suggested that the questions were irrelevant in the present situation and that without application of the healing herbs he would die he just continued to prevent treatment intent on gathering maximum information.  Needless to say ... the cure was not effected. Having been told that Self Enquiry cuts directly to the source what is the point in asking "Who is the Creator?; Why d...

'It is the mind, alone, that is the cause of people's bondage and liberation. One whose mind is devoted to the world (of objects) is bound. One whose mind is not devoted to the world (of objects) is liberated. So it is declared (by the wise)!'  - Amrtabindu Upanishad 2 No invocations, rites or paraphernalia required. Just the elimination of mindstuff's concoctions. 

Talk 551:  A man asked Sri Bhagavan: "How is it that Atma vidya is said to be the easiest?" Bhagavan replied: Any other vidya requires a knower, knowledge and the object to be known, whereas this does not require any of them. It is the Self. Can anything be so obvious as that? Hence it is the easiest. All that you need is to enquire, "Who am I?" A man's true name is mukti (liberation). 

Sri Shirdi Sai Baba states that inner enemies must be controlled, but he also allows that "...you can (and must) use them, ... within limits. e.g., Kama (love, passion) for one's partner, krodha (anger) against unrighteousness, Lobha (greed) for Hari Nama, uttering God’s name, Moha (fondness) for Mukti (salvation), Matsar (hatred) for evil action; and have no mada (pride)." (Sai Baba's Charters and Sayings) [note: the number of ripus (enemies) mentioned can vary dependent on stress/interpretation of any given Sage. Here, Sai Baba mentions all six enemies (shadripu). Sri Ramakrishna often laid stressed on kAma and lobha [the others left unsaid but understood]. The core ripus (shadripu) - kAma (desire, longing, passion), krodha (anger), lobha (greed, covetousness, confusion), moha (attachment, delusion of mind), mada (pride), matsara (jealousy and/or hatred). Although kAma (passion) is sometimes presented as enemy number one, in truth, without moha (delusion of min...

Received a YouTube link purporting to explain Ramana's Self Enquiry method. Once again it was unnecessarily long winded. The speaker seemed hell bent on turning it into a philosophical exercise instead of the philosophy elimination technique it truly is. :) --------- --------- --------- Vichara is a simple process. Here is that process:  Giving up the unreal claim on reality of the body and mind, the sadhaka must fix the mind on the individual "I"-sense, which, although unreal, appears to be superimposed on the eternal substratum of the real Self.  The question "Who am I?" is the means. If during this quest, the mind turns outwards again, predicating on this or that, the sadhaka should ask "to whom do these thoughts occur?" and thus move back to the primary quest "Who am I?" Sri K. Lakshmana Sarma says "Always and everywhere there are doorways for getting at the question 'Who am I?'. By any one of these the seeker must agai...

satyam eva jayate n ā nritam Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood.  (Mundaka Upanisad 3. 6) 

10-6-46, Day by Day with Ramana Maharshi Brahman is not to be seen or known. It is beyond the triputis (triads) of seer, seen and seeing or knower, knowledge and knowing. The Reality remains ever as it is; that there is ajnana or the world is due to our moham or illusion. Neither knowledge nor ignorance is real; what is beyond this, as all other pairs of opposites, is the Reality. It is neither light nor darkness but beyond both, though we sometimes have to speak of it as light and of ignorance as its shadow. 

D.: Thoughts cease suddenly, then ‘I-I’ rises up as suddenly and continues. It is only in the feeling and not in the intellect. Can it be right? M.: It is certainly right. Thoughts must cease and reason disappear for ‘I-I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the prime factor and not reason. D.: Moreover it is not in the head but in the right side of the chest. M.: It ought to be so. Because the heart is there. D.: When I see outside it disappears. What is to be done? M.: It must be held tight. - from Talk 24; Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

I first came across Ramana Maharshi, in 1968, mentioned in a book called "Teach Yourself Yoga." The author was James Hewitt. I still have the book. It is an excellent introduction to Yoga and continues to surpass other yoga books for beginners. Here is the short passage, from the book, which introduces the teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi –– ""Pursue the enquiry 'Who am I?' relentlessly," advised an Indian guru, Sri Ramana Maharshi. "Analyse your entire personality. Try to find out where the I-thought begins. Go on with your meditations. Keep turning your attention within. One day the wheel of thought will slow down and an intuition will mysteriously arise. Follow that intuition, let your thinking stop and it will eventually lead you to the goal."" (p. 121) A wonderfully succinct passage. This 1968 edition of Teach Yourself Yoga also contained a rather useful bibliography which led to further research via Paul Brunton's The Quest of...

The question 'Who am I' has no answer. No experience can answer it, for the Self is beyond experience.  ... It has no answer in consciousness and, therefore, helps to go beyond consciousness.   "All I can say truly is: 'I am', all else is inference. But the inference has become a  habit. Destroy all habits of thinking and seeing. The sense 'I am' is the manifestation of a deeper  cause, which you may call self, God, reality or by any other name. The 'I am' is in the world; but it is  the key which can open the door out of the world. The moon dancing on the water is seen in the  water, but it is caused by the moon in the sky and not by the water."  (Nisargadatta, in "I am That")  --- --- --- Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked Bhagavan, “When we enquire within ‘who am I?’ what is that?” Bhagavan: It is the ego. It is only that which makes the vichara also. The Self has no vichara. That which makes the enquiry is the ego. The ‘I’ a...

All practice is simply a rehearsal for that eternal, innate and spontaneous enquiry. 

Talk 159. Mr. Cohen desired to know if trance is a sine qua non for Self- Realisation. M.: You are always in the Self - now, in trance, in deep sleep, in Realisation. If you lose hold of the Self and identify yourself with the body or the mind, these states appear to overtake you, and it also looks like a blank in trance, etc.; whereas you are the Self and ever-present. - Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.

I had to be away from the Ashram for nearly two months and when I returned I saw Sri Cohen in a much worse condition and confined to a wheel-chair. His talk was no longer coherent: "See, Ganesan, I am maimed. Yet, the management has suddenly shifted me to a room on the seventh floor and there is no water there. Whatcan I do?" - "They say they have given me an exclusive room for myself, but see, in the night nearly 12 people sleep here, squatting around me." - "Don't think there is only one Kannan (servant), There are nine Kannans, all looking alike!" I cried on seeing his pathetic condition and told Him: "Mr. Cohen! You are the most intelligent sadhak I have met. Why are you talking so incoherently?" He then adjusted himself and squarely looked at my face and said: "When the body becomes old, you lose control over it. And so over the mind! So, don't give any importance to how the body or mind behaves. They are not 'me'."...

Transmuting lead into gold,  Forged in the fire of Vicara,  Deep ... In the cave of the Heart. Alchemists one and all,  Having taken refuge in Him,  Multiplicity melts.  - MWright 2002

'This space within the Heart is as vast as the (physical) space outside. Indeed, within it are both heaven and earth; fire and air; sun and moon; lightning and stars. Whatever is in this world and whatever is not...all that is established within it.' (Chandogya Upanishad, 8.1.3)  - trans. MWright

 tAvadeva niroddhavyam yAvaddhrdi gatam kshayam  etajjnAnam ca dhyAnam ca Sesho nyAyaSca vistarah - Amrtabindu Upanishad The mind must be checked, then it becomes lost in the Heart. This is jnAna and this is dhyAna, the rest is mere argument and description.

hrtsthalemanah svasthatAkriyA | bhaktiyogabodhAScaniScitam ||  'The act (kriyA) of abiding in one's natural state, the mind set in the Heart, is without doubt, Devotion, Yoga, and Knowledge.' (Upadesa Saram, v. 10) “That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which all finally merge, is the heart referred to [in verse 10 of Upadesa Saram]. (Day by Day; 29-4-46)

Dance the eternal dance of the Self.  In essence, the rhythm of existence  Felt as the sphurana ‘I-I’.

The saguna state begins with sphurana and becomes "I am" and then the world. "Who am I?" reverses the polarity. "Who am I?" leads one to nirguna's door but who dares knock!

"Moments Remembered" by V. Ganesan (Sri Ramanasramam, 1994; 53) "In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as 'Aham' 'Aham' ' I-I '. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness, oneness of existence." 

The jnani's anger is anger without attachment. It remains uncultivated. It  equates to the anger one might feel towards the finger which just poked its  own eye.

We ARE the Self, it alone is,  ignorance causes us to imagine that we have not realised it.  Take up the Means, reach the Goal.

7. “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. The Heart is the only reality. The mind is only a transient phase. To remain as one’s Self is to enter the Heart. Entering the Heart means remaining without distractions.” 252 Note : The mind turns into the universe. When it perceives the universe, or diversity, the latter impresses itself on its pure surface, so that its attention is constantly centred on the diversity and not on itself. If the diversity is eliminated, the mind will perceive itself in its essence, its own naked purity. Then it is said to have entered the Heart — in fact it is itself the Heart. This is its undisturbed state, the reposeful state of samadhi .  - Cohen in "Reflections on Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi"

kiM bhadraM kimabhadram vA dvaitasyAvastunaH kiyat | vAcoditaM tadanRtaM manasA dhyAtameva ca || For this fleeting dual existence, what is auspicious, what is inauspicious, and, for that matter, to what extent - with regard to that, anything articulated with words, and thought of with mind, is, indeed, unreal! (Bhagavata Purana: 11; 28.4)

oṃ śrīśrīśrīgurudevāya  (the nine syllable Mantra for the vicharin) śrī -  honorific; represents surrender. śrī - invokes Sri Ganesa, lord of the host (first born amongst all others), the diffuser of light; remover of all obstacles. śrī - represents 'I am' guru - Self; Teacher; heavy with knowledge           \            –  Chief amongst teachers, Self          / deva - chief among (devāya is the dative case form)  oṃ śrī śrī śrī gurudevāya [om shree shree shree gurudevaaya] --------- M.: So long as you seek Self-Realisation the Guru is necessary. Guru is the Self. Take Guru to be the Real Self and your self as the individual self. The disappearance of this sense of duality is removal of ignorance. So long as duality persists in you the Guru is necessary. Because you identify yourself with the body you think the Guru, too, to be some body. You are n...

To halt mindstuff, Self-enquiry (vichara) is employed. Self-enquiry is becoming aware of aberrant thought and asking to whom it appears. This is it. Anything more is mindstuff. In this method, awareness of the absurdity of thought becomes heightened and, through practice, Self-enquiry cuts in more and more often.

It's a bizarre state of affairs. Some people do not believe they can be happy without spending a fortune to achieve it. When ill they would rather go to the most expensive doctor, having no faith in one giving effective help freely. This yoga business is the same.

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Delay is the not so subtle ploy of the ego.

satyam eva jayate nAnritam Truth alone triumphs, never falsehood.  (Mundaka Upanisad 3. 6)  In Truth, there can be no competition. Truth is immediate and insurmountable.

In ignorance, ego-self assumes a stance separate from everything else. Then, in error, looks at, and acts upon, this falsely perceived separate universe.

It is pointless to obsess over the words of others while the obsessing mind remains unknown.

Mr.C. sat near the Maharshi couch and read aloud the following verse from Vivekachudamani : “The blissful sheath ( Anandamayakosha ) has its fullest play in deep sleep, whilst in the dream and waking states it has only a partial manifestation, occasioned by the experience of agreeable objects.” Bhagavan commented: “In sushupti (deep sleep) one enjoys a whole ocean of bliss like a king; whereas in the other two states the range of bliss is as wide as are the classes of men, from the king down to the penniless.” Mr. C. Sushupti is often characterised as the state of ignorance. Bh. No, it is the pure state. There is full awareness in it and total ignorance in the waking state. It is said to be ajnana (ignorance) only in relation to the false jnana (knowledge) prevalent in jagrat . Really speaking jagrat is ajnana and sushupti prajnana (wisdom). If sushupti is not the real state where does the intense peace come from to the sleeper? It is everybody's experience that n...

------------------ Verse 1 karturAjnayA prApyatephalam |  karmakimparamkarmatajjaDam || The fruit (of action) is obtained by the order of the Lord of Action (Creator). Is action supreme? (No!!) Action is inert. --- Notes Action, although a power of the Self, is, by itself, insentient, temporary, and powerless. As such, action is unable to bestow fruits now or at any time in the future. Action is dependent. It is not supreme. The ‘kartr’ (Lord of Action), referred to in this verse, is the ‘one who acts, spontaneously, of his own accord, without prompting by the ego’ (i.e. the great non-Doer). It is the Lord alone, dwelling as the inner Self of all, who guides everything yet never acts. If you believe that you, are the person, capable of acting independently, the chain of cause and effect, having been set in motion, becomes your reality. As the doer of action you become accountable for action and also the recipient of the fruits of ...

"Buddhi stands at the doorway to liberation. Turning one way buddhi wanders, discriminates and rationalises a sequential description of the empirical world view. Multiple views dependent on ahamkara (ego) are observed. Turning the other way buddhi stops, dead in its tracks, and Brahman shines forth in undifferentiated splendour as always, as Self."

I was recently asked why I always point to atmavichara. I was reminded me of an old post, in Ramanamaharshi Yahoo Group, from 2001. 22.1.2001 Someone asked me the other day why I always pointed towards Sri Maharshi's teaching of atmavicara. The reason is simplicity itself. To participate, it does not matter whereyou live, whether male or female, young or old, what your culture is, what your status is, where you are, what you are doing. It does not need a set time or period of time to be effective. All that is needed is to pursue the question "Who am I?" Do your duty/work, but keep attention focussed on the enquiry. If pursued properly the enquiry leads to the Heart centre, the true 'I-I-I'. Regards Miles ---- Makes sense. :)

There is no self to be realised. That is the sum and substance of your search.

"Moments Remembered" by V. Ganesan (Sri Ramanasramam, 1994; 53) "In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as 'Aham' 'Aham' ' I-I '. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness, oneness of existence." 

We start from 'I' and end in 'I'. But look for 'I' and 'I' is nowhere to be found. 

Absorption in the Self is assured here and now for those who have strived,     have controlled their thoughts, freed themselves from [the throes] of   anger and material desire, and realized the Self. - Bhagavad Gita, 5. 26 (trans. © MWright 2012)