Behind My Hand

Sabdapurvayoga is the return to that state prior to the arising of the ego. The Grammarian Bhartrhari’s method for attaining the Self involves tracing the mind back to its source. At that point the unreality of the ego is discovered. This is the true purification of the word. When Brahman is known to be all there is, there can no longer be any misunderstanding.  Bhartrhari has stated that Grammar is the straight road for those who would attain liberation in Brahman. The twentieth century Sage of Arunåcala, Ramana Maharshi, similarly referred to the discipline of åtmavicåra as the straight path to Self-realisation. The essence of Bhartrhari’s method is åtmavicåra. Sabdapurvayoga is atmavichara. Sabdapurvayoga and atma vicara

ahamayamkuto bhavaticinvatah | ayipatatyaham nijavicAraNam ||19|| “Where does this ‘I’ come from?” For one who enquires …Aha! ... the ‘I’ falls away. This is Self-enquiry.     Notes When, at last, one pursues Self-enquiry with single-minded devotion, the inevitable result is for the ego-‘I’ simply to fall away, defeated, destroyed, leaving a spontaneous iteration of one’s true identity. All the ‘stuff’ that this ‘I’ had given substance to, vanishes in an instant. The subject/object relationship has shifted. (Excerpt From Essence of Instruction (Upadesa Saram) Ramana Maharshi, Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert)

9th November, 1935 Talk 93. All are aware of their own Self only. Wonder of wonders! They take what is not as what is, or they see the phenomena apart from the Self. Only so long as there is the knower is there knowledge of all kinds (direct, inferential, intellectual etc.); should the knower vanish they all vanish together with him; their validity is of the same degree as his. (Ramana Maharshi) An interesting statement but who reads it?

D.: Which is the best of the different yogas, Karma, Jnana, Bhakti or Hatha? M.: See stanza 10 of “Upadesa Sara” [ see below ]. To remain in the Self amounts to all these in their highest sense. Maharshi added: In dreamless sleep there is no world, no ego and no unhappiness. But the Self remains. In the waking state there are all these; yet there is the Self. One has only to remove the transitory happenings in order to realise the ever-present beatitude of the Self. Your nature is Bliss. Find that on which all the rest are superimposed and you then remain as the pure Self. ( Ramana Maharshi in Talk 189 ) —- Upadesa Saram v. 10 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.   Notes: Here, kriyA (action) refers to the one truly continuous, uncaused, meritorious ‘act’ (kriyAyoga). This is eternal Being, the Self. Where the m...

 The original person is none other than the arising ‘I’.  “ The one Infinite Unbroken Whole (plenum) becomes aware of itself as ‘I’. This is its original name. All other names, e.g., OM, are later growths. Liberation is only to remain aware of the Self. The mahavakya “I am Brahman” is its authority. Though the ‘I’ is always experienced, yet one’s attention has to be drawn to it. Only then does knowledge dawn.” Ramana Maharshi in Talk 92, 7th November, 1935

Maharshi said: “There is a state when words cease and silence prevails.” (From Talk 238)

Pratibhā pratibhā is every individual’s pre-thought experience of reality as it is. This level of speech is called paśyanti. It is undifferentiated in any way and word and meaning remain without sequence or form. This is the unmanifested Śabdabrahman. The essential prompt of this inner self stimulates a wordless intuition of the complete and indivisible reality.    However as soon as words arise, division ensues. Words may attempt to describe it but they can do no more than offer an unreal representation of it. Bhartrhari writes: śabdeśvevāśritā śaktir viśvasyāsya nibandhani /  yannetrah pratibhātmāyam bhedarupah pratiyate // (VP, 1. 118) “The power which resides in words is the sole cause of this universe. Led by that intuitive self, this appearance of division is recognised.” Pratibhā is innate in all living beings. It is the reason that the natural behaviour of birds and animals takes place without instruction or any other prompting. It is the ...

yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtani ātmany evānupaśyati | sarvabhūteṣu catmānaṁ tato na vijugupsate ||6|| One who sees all beings in the Self alone, and the Self in all beings, thence feels no disdain . (Sri Isopani śad, 6)

M.: (a) Existence without beginning or end - eternal. (b) Existence everywhere, endless, infinite. (c) Existence underlying all forms, all changes, all forces, all matter and all spirit. The many change and pass away (phenomena), whereas the One always endures (noumenon). (d) The one displacing the triads, i.e., the knower, the knowledge and the known. The triads are only appearances in time and space, whereas the Reality lies beyond and behind them. They are like a mirage over the Reality. They are the result of delusion. (from Talk 28, Ramana Maharshi) ————- The man awake says that he did not know anything in the state of sleep. Now he sees the objects and knows that he is there; whereas in deep sleep there were no objects, no spectator, etc. The same one who is now speaking was in deep sleep also. What is the difference between these two states? There are objects and play of senses now which were not in sleep. A new entity, the ego, has risen up in the meantime, it pla...

“The thought ‘I’, ‘mine’ erroneously imposed on the body and senses, which are not the real Self, must be removed by the wise, by abiding as the real Self.” (Vivekacudamani) Misunderstanding this, all is misunderstood. Then self and other emanate relentlessly from our own consciousness. So, to reiterate, the questioning  (i.e. Enquiry - “who am I?) subverts the intellect and returns one, one-pointedly, to the Heart – i.e. Self-abidance. Here, the answer comes without words, like an irresistible pull, a quickening. This is an answer that, self-evidently, leaves no question begging (i.e. the question “To whom does this thought occur?” cannot be raised). This pull from the Heart is not under the control of the mind, all mind can do is keep itself emptied except for the thought “Who am I?” and where necessary “to whom do these thoughts arise?” in order that it remains open to the pull.” —- Excerpt From Talks on Self Enquiry Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert https://books.apple....

I ask you to see where the ‘I’ arises in your body, but it is really not quite correct to say that the ‘I’ rises from and merges in the heart in the right side of the chest. The heart is another name for the Reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body; there can be no in or out for it, since it alone is. I do not mean by ‘heart’ any physiological organ or any plexus of nerves or anything like that, but so long as one identifies oneself with the body and thinks he is in the body he is advised to see where in the body the ‘I’-thought rises and merges again. It must be the heart at the right side of the chest since every man, of whatever race and religion and in whatever language he may be saying ‘I’, points to the right side of the chest to indicate himself. This is so all over the world, so that must be the place. And by keenly watching the daily emergence of the ‘I’-thought on waking and its subsiding in sleep, one can see that it is in the heart on the right side. Ramana ...

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.

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

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 i...

A new page describing how to do Vichara  (Self enquiry) has been published. Although this is the simplest of practices there have been some torturous explanations over the years. The above link removes the nonsense. 

“It is said that the sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars, nor lightning nor fire. All the lights in the universe cannot be compared even to a ray of this inner light of the Self. Conceptual twaddle falls away in obeisance to this Light of all. Take to Vichara and merge yourself in this constant, eternal light of lights, the light of the Self.” 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.