Behind My Hand

“...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

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 .

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 )

There is a telling paragraph at the beginning of Chapter One of S. S. Cohen's " Advaitic Sadhana -  The Yoga of Direct Liberation " - "This is the age of shortcuts. Time has shrunk and space more so, and the dual inconvenience has affected men's moods and temper. Even the supreme knowledge has nowadays to be given in massive doses and has to produce quick results too, or they will have none of it." Telling because it reveals that there was a deep seated impatience even back in the days when westerners used to flock to the Ashram on short visits to "bask" in the presence of Sri Ramana Maharshi. This essay was drafted during Ramana Maharshi's lifetime, although first published in 1975. If there was an impatience then what must one say of today! In his introduction to the book Cohen says that, "he used to watch their comings and goings and the haste with which most of them expected to pluck the plum of Self-realisation,

It has taken next to no time at all for young Venkataraman's gift of dis- cover -y to become largely disregarded. Pure simplicity having been replaced with the dullard's contrived attempt to explain that which he has never experienced [and never will] in a form which most appeals to his ego. Of course, this very act can, at best, only ever be counterproductive. Ego appealing to ego begets ego. How to perform Vichara (self enquiry)

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. 

The moon shines by the reflected light of the sun. When the sun has set, the moon is useful for revealing objects. When the sun has risen, no one needs the moon, although the pale disc of the moon is visible in the sky. So it is with the mind and the Heart. The mind is useful because of its reflected light. It is used for seeing objects. When it is turned inwards, the source of illumination shines forth by itself, and the mind remains dim and useless like the moon in day-time. Ramana Maharshi in Talk 98 (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi)

M.: The ultimate Truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the pristine state. This is all that need be said. Still, it is a wonder that to teach this simple Truth there should come into being so many religions, creeds, methods and disputes among them and so on! Oh the pity! Oh the pity! Maj. Chadwick: But people will not be content with simplicity; they want complexity. M.: Quite so. Because they want something elaborate and attractive and puzzling, so many religions have come into existence and each of them is so complex and each creed in each religion has its own adherents and antagonists. Ramana Maharshi, Talk 96, 13th November 1935

“From ‘Moments Remembered’ (p. 77), Sri M.G. Shanmugam relates: “He (Bhagavan) once said categorically: ‘For practising Atma Vichara every day is auspicious and every moment is good, ­­no discipline is prescribed at all. Any time, anywhere it can be done, even without others noticing that you are doing it. All other sadhanas require external objects and congenial environment, but for Atma Vichara nothing external to oneself is required. Turning the mind within is all that is necessary. While one is engaged in Atma Vichara one can with ease attend to other activities also. ... With attention focussed on the first person and on the Heart within, one should relentlessly practise Who am I? When this is done one-pointedly, one's breathing will subside of itself. During such controlled practice, the mind might suddenly spring up; so you have to vigilantly pursue the Vichara, Who am I?’” Recorded in Talks on Self Enquiry Miles Wright & Gabriele Ebert https://amzn.to/34TWleg Mo

“In proper Enquiry there is no sequence of thought other than the reiteration of the enquiry, for as soon as any thought/feeling etc. arises ‘I’ ask ‘myself’ the question “To whom does this thought (feeling etc.) arise?” and scythe it down. What the thoughts, feelings etc. are is unimportant... What is important is the continuous remembrance of the enquiry into ‘my’ thoughts.” ———— Talks on Self Enquiry: A collection of writings on Self Enquiry (Atma Vichara) according to the teaching of Ramana Maharshi https://amzn.to/34TWleg

“Lokavichara is paying attention to the world of externals rather than holding the substratum of the ‘I’. Whereas Atma Vichara opens the ‘secret’ of the Self and reveals that the world is unreal apart from the underlying Reality.” 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.

“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.

“Sphurana’ can be translated in a variety of ways – flashing, glistening, quivering, vibrating, throbbing, coming into view, manifestation, etc. In essence it is the primary manifestation of the Self in the body (the real source of creation). It is experienced when the flow of consciousness is reversed and thoughts/ego are traced back to the Heart centre (Hridaya). Some have experienced this as a physical manifestation on the right side of the chest. One may continue to sense a constant sphurana after revelation of the Self. In Absolute terms however there is no location. This is simply the centre without bounds.” 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. ————- Note: Sphurana can also be compared to a knock at the door; or a recall. Vichara is answering the call.

Buddha’s Parable of the Poison Arrow A man was going through the forest when he was ambushed by an enemy and shot with a poisoned arrow. One of his kin having stumbled upon him, immediately 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, "Who was that enemy?; and what was his family?;Was he tall?; What colour was his hair?; What kind of bow did he use?; and how was it strung? What was the arrow made of? etc..." When it was suggested that these questions were irrelevant in the present pressing situation and that without application of healing herbs he would surely die, he merely continued his procrastination, in the same vein, intent on gathering maximum information, thus delaying appropriate healing action. Needless to say the cure was never effected. The required action never having been taken, the man d

Ramana Maharshi makes it very clear that there is no advanced method only maturation of vichara. Vichara is the direct method."There is nothing more to be known than what you find in books. No secret technique. It is all an open secret, in this system." (Day by Day, 8-10-46)

““In the union of the individual with the Supreme, the Supreme is hearsay and the individual directly experienced. You can make use only of direct experience; therefore look who you are.” (from Talk 332)” Recorded In 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.