Behind My Hand

  samudre na síndhavo y ā damānāḥ “ Like rivers longing for the ocean. ” (Rig-Veda VI. 19, 5) ————- “…the waters of the ocean evaporate, form clouds which are moved by winds, condense into water, fall as rain and the waters roll down the hill in streams and rivers, until they reach their original source, the ocean, reaching which they are at peace. Thus, you see, wherever there is a sense of separateness from the source there is agitation and movement until the sense of separateness is lost. So it is with yourself. Now that you identify yourself with the body you think that you are separate from the Spirit - the true Self. You must regain your source before the false identity ceases and you are happy.” (Ramana Maharshi in Talk 396) ————-

  granthamabhyasya medhAvI jnAnavijnAnatatparah / palAlamiva dhAnyArtho tyajedgranthamaSeshatah // 18 //   Having studied the word, the wise one, intent on knowledge and understanding, should abandon the word completely, like one who, in order to obtain grain, would discard the stalk. ( Amrtabindupanisad ) (Copyright: MWright)

  ब्रह्म   सत्यं   जगन्मिथ्या   जीवो   ब्रह्मैव   नापर : Brahman alone is real, this  world is unreal, the individual soul  is not other than Brahman. Sankara in Vivekacudamani

 We are not different from the Reality. We imagine we are different, i.e., we create the bheda bhava (the feeling of difference) and then undergo great sadhanas to get rid of the bheda bhava and realize the oneness. Why imagine or create the bheda bhava and then destroy it? (Ramana Maharshi, Gems from Bhagavan , p. 26)

  jyotishAmapi tajjyotistamasah paramucyate | jnAnam jneyam jnAnagamyam hrdi sarvasya vishThitam || “Light of lights, beyond the darkness, He is called; true knowledge, that which is to be investigated, understood through knowledge, abiding in the Heart of all.” (Bhagavad Gita 13;18)” (trans. MWright) Commentary As the sun illuminates the world, so the Light of lights (Atman) illuminates mind and senses. As the eye cannot see without the light of the sun, so the intellect cannot function without the 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

  Mahāvākyas       (- the following phrases are said to be phrases of truth) prajñānam brahma - "Knowledge is Brahman"       (Aitareya Upanishad) tat tvam asi - "That you are"                         (Chãndogya Upanishad) aham brahmāsmi - "I am Brahman"               (Bṛhadãranyaka Upanishad) ayam ātmā brahma - "This Self is Brahman"       (Mãndükya Upanishad) —- —- —- Ramana Maharshi, in Talk 105, discusses Chandogya Upanishad, Chapter 6, with Madhavaswami .  (Chandogya references added by MW) M.: Yena asrutam srutam bhavati (Chandogya Upanishad). (CU 6.1.3 - By which the unheard of becomes heard, the unthought of becomes thought of, the unknown becomes known.)  Madhavaswami, Bhagavan’s attendant: Are there nine methods of teaching the Mahavakya ‘ Tattvamasi ’ in the Chandogya Upanishad? M.: No. Not so. The metho...

tam yogam iti manyate sthiram indriya-dharanam                                                                     apramattas tada bhavati yogo hi prabhavapyayau Katha Upanishad 6.11 Yoga is considered to be the continuous concentration of the senses. One then becomes attentive, thereby yoking the coming and going (of thought). naiva vācā na manasā prāptum śakyō na cakṣuṣā    astīti bruvato’nyatra katham    tadupalabhyatē  Katha Upanishad 6.12   Not by speech, nor by mind, nor by eye is it to be obtained. How else can it be ascertained other than to ascertain for itself,  “It is!” ———— Trans. MWright

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)

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...

There is no point in becoming “like” Buddha or Ramana or any other so-called enlightened being. In effect, that is simply mindstuff. “The ideas of enlightenment and need for vichara belong to ego alone. When ego searches within the foothills of its own existence and finds its source it settles down exhausted, vanquished. At that point there is no longer any need for vichara. Only wayward mind needs the map of vichara. Self is ever self-aware of its whereabouts.” ( Excerpt From  Talks on Self Enquiry ,  Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert) Don't think, do it!

Having ears, the attentive sadhaka does not dwell on what is heard. Having eyes, the attentive sadhaka does not dwell on what is seen. Although immersed in the world, the attentive sadhaka does not react, inappropriately, to the world. —- “If you do not make Atma vichara, then loka vichara creeps in. That which is not, is sought for, but not that which is obvious.” (Ramana Maharshi in Talk 186) Note: loka - that which is seen (and heard), worldly affairs. —- Atma vichara includes pratyahara which is turning away or withdrawing from external affairs and holding to the ongoing internal question posed by Enquiry. Buddhi (mind) stands at the doorway to liberation. Turning one way buddhi, wanders, discriminates, vocalises and rationalises a sequential description of worldly affairs where multiple views dependent on ahamkara (ego) are observed. Then undifferentiated Brahman appears to be differentiated like the snake in the rope. Turning the other way buddhi stops dead in its tracks...

23rd December, 1936 Talk 298. A certain visitor formulated a question, saying that meditation is more direct than investigation, because the former holds on to the truth whereas the latter sifts the truth from untruth. M.: For the beginner meditation on a form is more easy and agreeable. Practice of it leads to Atmavichara which consists in sifting the Reality from unreality. What is the use of holding on to truth when you are filled with antagonistic factors? Atmavichara directly leads to realisation by removing the obstacles which make you think that the Self is not already realised. ( Ramana Maharshi )

D.: Even if the mind is brought to bear on the search for the Self, after a long struggle the mind begins to elude him and the man is not aware of the mischief until after some time. M.: So it would be. In the earlier stages the mind reverts to the search at long intervals; with continued practice it reverts at shorter intervals until finally it does not wander at all. It is then that the dormant sakti manifests. The sattvic mind is free from thoughts whereas the rajasic mind is full of them. The sattvic mind resolves itself into the Life-current. from Talk 91

There was a great need for a clear instruction to aspirants and a treatise based on the experience of a realised being would certainly be most welcome to the spiritually inclined. That intellectual conviction gained by mere knowledge of scriptures is all which constructed Gnyaana, has been widely prevalent among many pandits. This mistaken notion rendered superfluous the necessity of Saadhana (practice) of either a Mantra or otherwise. Some religious propagandists tried to impress the gullible with the cults of pseudo-love. The acquaintance with metaphysics and its lingo emboldened some to propagate the need to concentrate on an absolute attributeless Brahman, which cult merely degenerated into tall talk. As usual there were some who sought to provide materialistic interpretations to spiritual truths in the light of their understanding quite unsupported by practice or experiended. Then there were numerous commentaries on sacred works which successfully helped to highlight the erudition...

“... the talk drifted to the various schools of thought, one saying there is only reality, others saying there are three eternal entities such as jagat, jiva and Ishwara, or pati, pasu and pasam. In this connection, Bhagavan observed humorously, “It is not at all correct to say that Advaitins or the Shankara school deny the existence of the world or that they call it unreal. On the other hand, it is more real to them than to others. Their world will always exist, whereas the world of the other schools will have origin, growth and decay and as such cannot be real. Only, they say the world as world is not real, but that the world as Brahman is real. All is Brahman, nothing exists but Brahman, and the world as Brahman is real. In this way they claim they give more reality to the world than the other schools do. For example, according to schools which believe in three entities, the jagat is only one-third of the reality whereas according to Advaita, the world as Brahman is reality, the wor...

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 ...

D.: On what should we meditate? M.: Who is the meditator? Ask the question first. Remain as the meditator. There is no need to meditate. ( Ramana Maharshi, Talk 205 ) —- — —- Why should one be meditating ‘I am Brahman’? Only the annihilation of ‘I’ is Liberation. But it can be gained only by keeping the ‘I-I’ always in view. So the need for the investigation of the ‘I’ thought. If the ‘I’ is not let go, no blank can result to the seeker. Otherwise meditation will end in sleep. There is only one ‘I’ all along, but what arises up from time to time is the mistaken ‘I-thought’; whereas the intuitive ‘I’ always remains Self-shining, i.e., even before it becomes manifest. ( Ramana Maharshi, Talk 139 ) —- —- —- Why do you wish to meditate at all? Because you wish to do so you are told Atma samstham manah krtva (fixing the mind in the Self); why do you not remain as you are without meditating? What is that manah (mind)? When all thoughts are eliminated it becomes Atma samstha (fi...

You give up this and that of ‘my’ possessions. If you give up ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ instead, all are given up at a stroke. The very seed of possession is lost. Thus the evil is nipped in the bud or crushed in the germ itself. Dispassion ( vairagya ) must be very strong to do this. Eagerness to do it must be equal to that of a man kept under water trying to rise up to the surface for his life. ( Sri Ramana Maharshi in Talk 28 )

चित्तमणीयो   वित्तं   य   इदं   मूल्ये   प्रपञ्चतोऽप्यधिकम्   । हृदयगुहायां   निहितं   जानीते   स   विजहाति   बहिराशाः   ॥   ४ . २१॥ “Whoever has found that pure mind, encamped within the Cave of the Heart, worth more than the conceptual universe, gives up all desires.” ( Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni,   trans. MWright) Ramana’s explanation of the above verse as found in Nayana’s Biography by Dr G. Krishna (1978; p. 194): “Ramana explained slowly - Nayana has extolled the very precious nature of Chitta in the first sloka and then explained his own experience gained by spiritual practice. Though the radiance passing from Heart to head gets entangled in external influences due to its association with sense organs, it will be experienced in its pristine purity by those who arrest the flow of the current in between in the Amritanadi. This radiance is not anything different form the Pure Awareness of the Heart. C...

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)