Behind My Hand

Ramana Maharshi, from Talk 146 "Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and Reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego. In those paths there arise so many doubts and the eternal question remains to be tackled finally. But in this method the final question is the only one and it is raised from the very beginning. No sadhanas are necessary for engaging in this quest." ___ ___ ___

Ramana Maharshi in Talk 245. Misses Gulbai and Shirinbai Byramjee, two Parsi ladies, were asking questions round one central point. All their questions amounted to one. “I understand that the Self is beyond the ego. My knowledge is theoretical and not practical. How shall I gain practical realisation of the Self?” Maharshi.: Realisation is nothing to be got afresh. It is already there. All that is necessary is to be rid of the thought: “I have not realised.” D.: Then one need not attempt it. M.: No. Stillness of mind or peace is realisation. There is no moment when the Self is not. So long as there is doubt or the feeling of non-realisation, attempt must be made to rid oneself of these thoughts. The thoughts are due to identification of the Self with the non-self. When the non-self disappears the Self alone remains. To make room anywhere it is enough that things are removed from there. Room is not brought in afresh. Nay, more - room is there even in cramping. Absence of thought...

I have shared this piece, from UG Krishnamurti, a few times over the years. It still stands up.  Have you ever looked at that parallel movement of thought? The books on English grammar will tell you that 'I' is a first person singular pronoun, subjective case; but that is not what you want to know. Can you look at that thing you call 'I'? It is very elusive. Look at it now, feel it, touch it, and tell me. How do you look at it? And what is the thing that is looking at what you call 'I'? This is the crux of the whole problem: the one that is looking at what you call 'I' is the 'I'. It is creating an illusory division of itself into subject and object, and through this division it is continuing. This is the divisive nature that is operating in you, in your consciousness. Continuity of its existence is all that interests it. As long as you want to understand that 'you' or to change that 'you' into something spiritual, into somethin...

43. When knowledge scatters the darkness (of ignorance), the Self spontaneously reveals itself, as does the sun when the light of the dawn scatters the darkness (of the night). (Atma Bodha) (found in S. S. Cohen's Advaitic Sadhana, The Yoga of Liberation, 2007; 79)

pṛthaktvaikatvarupeṇa tattvameva prakāśate || Truth, indeed, appears, in the form of identity and difference.  Bhartṛhari, VP, 3. 7. 39

"... The work meant to be done by us will be done by us. But it is open to us to be free from the joys or pains, pleasant or unpleasant consequences of the work, by not identifying ourselves with the body or that which does the work. If you realise your true nature and know that it is not you that does any work, you will be unaffected by the consequences of whatever work the body may be engaged in according to destiny or past karma or divine plan, however you may call it. You are always free and there is no limitation of that freedom.” Day by Day 3-1-46

To attain Zen enlightenment, it is not necessary to give up family life, quit your job, become a vegetarian, practice asceticism, and flee to a quiet place, then go into a ghost cave of dead Zen to entertain subjective imaginings. - Zen Essence, The Science of Freedom, Thomas Cleary, 1989; p. 56

Enquiry is deliberate... never random. Practice is all important. Spontaneity (unforced, natural) is manifestation of ever flowing Grace when strength of mind ensues. Then that which has taken effort becomes effortless. (from Talks on Self Enquiry, M. Wright)

“It is false to speak of Realisation. What is there to realise? The real is as it is, ever. How to real-ise it? All that is required is this. We have real-ised the unreal, i.e., regarded as real what is unreal. We have to give up this attitude. That is all that is required for us to attain jnana. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The akasa in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the akasa there. The akasa was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long samskaras which are inside us, and when all of them have been given up, the Self will shine, alone.” He also said, “Mukti, jnana, dhyana is our real nature. They are other names for the Self”. from Day by Day with Bhagavan, 9-1-46

Dancing Siva https://youtu.be/32oo0oyLUdE

"One looks around, sees mountains and rivers, sky-scrapers and market places, but sees them as they are, in their true proportions, in the background of the eternal. This is what Sri Aurobindo has called 'waking union with the Divine'. Sri Raman Maharshi has called it 'the perfectly natural condition of the self'*. The world of space, time and causality appears as a meaningful mode of manifestation of the non-temporal." Integral Yoga, Haridas Chaudhuri, 1975; 107 *Note: I do not remember seeing this exact quote from Ramana but I get the gist. :)

Question: Should I go on asking ‘Who am I?’ without answering? Who asks whom? Which bhavana (attitude) should be in the mind at the time of enquiry? What is ‘I’ the Self or the ego? Answer: In the enquiry ‘Who am I?’, ‘I’ is the ego. The question really means, what is the source or origin of this ego? You need not have any bhavana in the mind. All that is required is, you must give up the bhavana that you are the body, of such and such a description, with such and such a name, etc. There is no need to have a bhavana about your real nature. It exists as it always does; it is real and no bhavana. [Ramana Maharshi's first answer to Mr Joshi in Day By Day on 3-1-46]

“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.” (from a reply, approved by Bhagavan, which was sent to an English devotee; recorded in ‘Moments Remembered’ by V. Ganesan, p. 53)

8. What part of the body is the abode of the Self? The Heart on the right side of the chest is generally indicated. This is because we usually point to the right side of the chest when we refer to ourselves. Some say that the sahasrara (the thousand-petalled lotus) is the abode of the Self. But if that were true the head should not fall forward when we go to sleep or faint. (Spiritual Instruction; Collected Works) —- —- —- 18. Between the two paps, below the chest, above the stomach, there are six organs of various colours. Of these, one, looking like a lily bud, is the Heart, at two digits’ distance to the right of the centre. (Ramana selected this verse from Ashtanga Hridayam, Malayalam. It can be found in Reality in Forty Verses: Supplement)

yogī yuñjīta satatam ātmānaṁ rahasi sthitaḥ | ekākī yata-cittātmā nirāśīr aparigrahaḥ || A comparison of some translations of Bhagavad Gita verse 6.10 that I have read over the years. Ramana Maharshi's comment on this verse. My own translation follows. --- --- --- I first read the following translation from Juan Mascaro circa 1970.  "Day after day, let the yogi practise the harmony of soul : in a secret place, in deep solitude, master of his mind, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing."  6.10,   Juan Mascarao's Bhagavad Gita --- --- --- A couple of years later I was given a copy of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's translation "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is". "A transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and possessiveness." 6.10,   A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada'...

“The universe and the body are both simultaneously revealed to me. I have no right to say that the body is mine and the universe is not mine because both are revealed to me.”  Swami Virajananda 

In answer to a question as to what is the best way to the goal, Bhagavan said, “There is no goal to be reached. There is nothing to be attained. You are the Self. You exist always. Nothing more can be predicated of the Self than that it exists. Seeing God or the Self is only being the Self or yourself. Seeing is being. You, being the Self, want to know how to attain the Self. It is something like a man being at Ramanasramam asking how many ways are there to reach Ramanasramam and which is the best way for him. All that is required of you is to give up the thought that you are this body and to give up all thoughts of the external things or the not-Self. As often as the mind goes out towards outward objects, prevent it and fix it in the Self or ‘I’. That is all the effort required on your part. The different methods prescribed by different thinkers are all agreed on this. The Advaita, Dvaita, Visishtadvaita schools and other schools all agree that the mind must give up thinking of extern...

Where truth is ... falsehood is not. Brahman is truth. The Self cannot be attained without practising truth. Suffering is the result of false relationships, false fears, false ideas. Liberation is truth. How is this liberation realised? Through right action of mind, speech and body. That is jnana, that is freedom, that is moksha. Self Enquiry is constant truth. Maintaining the quest even in the midst of worldly duties ensures right action. --- (Talks on Self Enquiry: A collection of writings on Self Enquiry (Atma Vicara) according to the teaching of Ramana Maharshi. B y Miles Wright, ed. by Gabriele Ebert)

It is as though you have an eye that sees all forms but does not see itself––this is how your mind is. Its light penetrates everywhere and engulfs everything, so why does it not know itself? from Zen Essence - The Science of Freedom

"Nididhyasana (one-pointedness of the mind) is the best posture."     (Ramana Maharshi in Talk 557)

Kalpataru Day Photo of Sri Ramakrishna  01 January 1886 I was sent this picture almost 40 years ago.

śivayogadīpikā 2 yāni kāni praśastāni hyāsanāni vaśāni ca | teṣvabhīṣṭāsanāsīno viviktasthānamāśrayet ||14|| “In truth, sitting in one, amongst all, of those asanas which, having been mastered, are considered appropriate, one should remain firm in one’s resolve.”

A. :  Yes. God is seen in the mind. The concrete form may be seen. Still, it is in the devotee's own mind. The form and appearance of the God-manifestation are determined by the mentality of the devotees. But the finality is not that for it has the sense of duality. It is like a dream vision. After God is perceived, vichara commences. That ends in realisation of the self. Vichara is the final method. from Paul Brunton's "Beyond Yoga" (conversations with Sri Ramana Maharshi) as found in The Mountain Path Vol. 20 No. IV, October 1983

Q. :  How to control the mind? A. :  Mind is intangible. In fact, it does not exist. The surest way of control is to seek it. Then its activities cease. from a conversation with Ramana Maharshi recorded by Paul Brunton and first published in "The Mountain Path" V0l. 21 No. I

Q. :  Should one keep a goal before one's eyes? M. :  What goal is there? The thing you conceive of as being the goal exists even prior to the ego's own existence. If we conceive ourselves as ego, or body or mind, then we are those things. But if we do not conceive ourselves as such then we are our real nature. It is the thinking which gives rise to such troubles. The very thought that there is such a thing as ego is wrong because ego is 'I'-thought and we are ourselves the real 'I'. The thought-less state is itself Realisation. from "The Ultimate As the Truth, Sri Bhagavan's Teaching" recorded by Paul Brunton and found in The Mountain Path Magazine, Vol. 20 No. II April 1983.

Dogen instructed: Nothing can be gained by extensive study and wide reading. Give them up immediately. Just focus your mind on one thing, absorb the old examples, study the actions of former Zen Masters, and penetrate deeply into a single form of practice. Do not think of yourself as someone's teacher or as someone's predecessor. Dogen's " A Primer of Soto Zen ", 1978, 8

Christ is the ego. The Cross is the body. When the ego is crucified, and it perishes, what survives is the Absolute Being (God), (cf. "I and my Father are one") and this glorious survival is called Resurrection. Talks with Ramana Maharshi, (Talk no. 86) 6th November, 1935.

“ Fixing the mind on the mind is the Supreme Yoga. ”   (Uddhava Gita, Ch. 18; v. 46, last line)

Sad Vidya - 20. God is none other than the Self. To see the Self, having destroyed the ego, is to see God; all else is but a vision of the mind. - Ramana Maharshi

Everything, in the three worlds, moving and fixed, arises from omkāra. Dhyānabindu Upaniṣad v. 16 Trans. MWright (cf. Bhagavad Gita 11.7)

2. On three entities — the individual, God and the world — every creed is based. That ‘the One becomes the three’ and that ‘always the three are three’, are said only while the ego lasts. To lose the ‘I’ and in the Self to stay is the State Supreme.  from Ramana Maharshi's "Truth Revealed" (Sad Vidya)