Behind My Hand

From Talk  no. 434: M. : The Sadguru is within. D. : I want a visible Guru. M. : That visible Guru says that He is within. D. : Can I throw myself at the mercy of the Sadguru? M. : Yes. Instructions are necessary only so long as one has not surrendered oneself. This is the Truth. Of that there is absolutely no doubt. Talks With Sri Ramana Maharshi; Sri Ramanasramam: 1978

“If a man considers he is born he cannot avoid the fear of death. Let him find out if he has been born or if the Self has any birth. He will discover that the Self always exists, that the body which is born resolves itself into thought and that the emergence of thought is the root of all mischief. Find wherefrom thoughts emerge. Then you will abide in the ever-present inmost Self and be free from the idea of birth or the fear of death.”  -from Talk 80 (Ramana Maharshi)

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