Behind My Hand

Who knows  Speaks not Who speaks  Knows not.  - Lao Tzu George Harrison

“This is the crux of the whole problem. The one that is looking at what you call the self is the self. 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 yourself or to change yourself into something spiritual, into something holy, beautiful or marvelous, you will continue. If you do not want to do anything about it, it is not there. It's gone.“ —- The Natural State, In the Words of U.G. Krishnamurti, p. 15 —- It is a trap. A conundrum. A koan. A wonderful absurdity.

https://archive.ashrama.org/newsletters/2016/jul-aug#article.2 Dennis Hartel “Remembering Graham Boyd” -  https://archive.ashrama.org/newsletters/2016/jul-aug#article.2 “Graham restored many photos and also produced digitally colored photos of Bhagavan which were excellent. He was a perfectionist in everything he did. I believe he was the first to take up the task of digital restoration of Ashrama photos. There was only one actual color photo of Bhagavan ever available, whereas all the other color prints we see of him were hand colored and reproduced. Graham took up the digital coloring of some popular photos of Bhagavan and whatever Graham did, he did it to the best of his ability in the way he conceived it best done. He would rarely compromise on quality or materials used to restore and print the photos. cwIn oder to settle on the colors to be used, Graham would do extensive research on each item in the photo to determine the correct color. He was quite successful in this endeavo

Just what exactly do you mean by consciousness? You are conscious, aware, only through thought. The other animals use thought. The dog, for example, can recognize its owner in a simple manner. They recognize without using language. Humans have added to the structure of thought, making it much more complex. - The Natural State, In the Words of U.G. Krishnamurti pdf, p. 62; Peter Maverick

In Sri Ramanaparavidyopanishad, K. Lakshmana Sarma (aka 'Who') writes "praśnasya ko'smīti sadaiva sādhordvārāṇi sarvatra ca sambhavanti" - "everywhere and at all times doors (opportunities) pop up which lead to the question "Who am I?" The point being that there is no point in setting aside place and time to do vichara. Nor lighting the correct incense and wearing appropriately ethnic clothes while sitting in the lotus position, chanting a mantra you have never taken time to understand. If this is your idea of vichara then you have missed the point. Enquiry is the simple control of wayward thoughts. Thoughts like "setting aside place and time, lighting the correct incense and wearing appropriately ethnic clothes while sitting in the lotus position (or any other yoga position), chanting a mantra you misunderstand" any one of which will provide ample fuel for atma vichara. Ask the question... "Who is this poser?"  “Buddhi stan

“...when the Self is realised this goes on without any effort and what was the means becomes the goal." - 6/6/46 Day by Day Paying attention is a process. A process which implies a frame of mind. We learn about and develop the ability to pay attention as we grow up. The practice of vichara is utilising this ability to pay attention in order to achieve a particular frame of mind. This is a temporary frame of mind during which "I" am paying attention. I am doing vichara. This frame of mind, this practice of vichara, is a part of one's own umwelt, one's individual world. Paying attention takes effort.  "...you must concentrate to see where the I-thought arises. Instead of looking outwards, look inwards and see where the I-thought arises.”  - 3/7/46 Day by Day Whether outwards or inwards, paying attention takes effort. This effort is subjective. It is performed by me. It is a part of 'my' umwelt. Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked Bhagavan, “When we enqui

Ramana Maharshi said, "The mind must be cut off, root and branch. See who the thinker is, who the seeker is. Abide as the thinker, the seeker. All thoughts will disappear."  D. : Then there will be the ego - the thinker.  Ramana Maharshi  : That ego is pure Ego purged of thoughts. It is the same as the Self. So long as false identification persists doubts will persist, questions will arise, there will be no end of them. Doubts will cease only when the non-self is put an end to. That will result in realisation of the Self. There will remain no other there to doubt or ask. All these doubts should be solved within oneself. No amount of words will satisfy. Hold the thinker. Only when the thinker is not held do objects appear outside or doubts arise in the mind.  Talk 245

“Practice Vichara, until it becomes automatic throughout life, but leave open the door to spontaneity (effortlessness). This is Grace.” Excerpt From,  Talks on Self Enquiry,  Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert

न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषत: |  यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ||11||  na hi dehabhṛtā śakyaṁ tyaktuṁ karmāṇyaśeṣataḥ  yastu karmaphalatyāgī sa tyāgītyabhidhīyate (Bhagavad Gita, 18. 11) “It is certainly not possible for the embodied being to abandon activities entirely. However, one who renounces the fruits of action is called “ the renouncer ”.” —- Note: When there is no “I”, can there be any karma! So long as egoity lasts the mind games go on. When egoity ceases to be, actions become spontaneous. The mind games might appear to go on but who on earth is playing them? —- Translation by MWright

I was fortunate to correspond with Swami Bhavyananda in the 80s and early 90s. This is an excellent interview which I highly recommend. He mentioned to me that, as a young monk, he met Sri Ramana Maharshi. This, in itself, was sufficient to encourage me to correspond with him. I am glad I did. His help in providing clarity was immense. Part two of this interview can be found here .

असतो मा सद्गमय । तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय । मृत्योर् मामृतं गमय ।  asato mā sadgamaya,  tamaso mā jyotirgamaya,  mṛtyor mā'mṛtaṃ gamaya, From untruth lead me to truth, From darkness lead me to light, From death lead me to immortality. —- Note: “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.” Excerpt From Talks on Self Enquiry Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert https://books.apple.com/gb/book/talks-on-self-enquiry/id1078197373 This material may be protected by copyright. —- A very nice musical rendition of the verse by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison. Being a fan of both

yathā somyai kena mrtpindena sarvam mrnmayam vijñātam syādvācārambhanam vikāro nāmadheyam mrttiketyeva satyam || 6. 1. 4 | “O gentle sir, as by knowing a lump of earth everything made of earth becomes known, the transformation begins with speech. It is name only. In fact, ‘earth’ is the reality.” ( Chandogya Upanishad) na so ’sti pratyayo loke yah śabdānugamād rte |  anuviddham iva jñānam sarvam śabdena bhāsate   ||   Bhartrhari’s   Vakyapadiya 1. 123 “In this world, there is no cognition which does not follow language. All knowledge appears as if permeated by words.” api prayoktur ātmānau śabdam antaravasthitam | prāhur mahāntam rsabham yena sāyujyam isyate || tasmād yah śabdasamskārah sā siddhih paramātmanah |  tasya pravrttitattvajñas tad brahmāmrtam aśnute || VP 1. 130-131 “It is also said that the self of the speaker is the word situated within, the Great Bull with whom one desires union. Therefore that which purifies the word is attainment of the Supr

"Bhagavan is among the most severely intellectual of our sages. And yet he warns us that the idea of the Absolute is only, to use the words of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the correlative of the relative. It is still a category of thought, whereas the final realization is the annihilation of the mind and all its categories. How shall that which shines with borrowed light illumine the source of its brightness?  - from K. Subrahmanyam's article, "Bhagavan Ramana the White Radiance of Truth" as it appears in Arunachala's Ramana volume 6, page 252.

.... the culture which most of us have inherited is too extroverted and too aggressively intellectual to permit us to understand within a short time what it all means to be a sadhaka, a practical aspirant for a truth of which in our homes and colleges we were not given an inkling. We are apt, moreover, to bring with us scraps of knowledge gleaned from a wide reading of miracle ridden theology and "occultism", including an endeavour to accommodate the Vedanta inside them. The result is that we return from the Guru (the qualified Teacher) and his Ashram with our doubts still in our heads, uncleared, and our minds, about truth and untruth, still befogged. -S. S. Cohen in " Advaitic Sadhana "  (note:  Cohen was an ashram resident during Ramana Maharshi's lifetime )