Behind My Hand

Enquiry is deliberate... never random. Practice is all important. Spontaneity (unforced, natural) is manifestation of ever flowing Grace when strength of mind ensues. Then that which has taken effort becomes effortless. (from Talks on Self Enquiry, M. Wright)

“It is false to speak of Realisation. What is there to realise? The real is as it is, ever. How to real-ise it? All that is required is this. We have real-ised the unreal, i.e., regarded as real what is unreal. We have to give up this attitude. That is all that is required for us to attain jnana. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before. The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The akasa in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the akasa there. The akasa was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long samskaras which are inside us, and when all of them have been given up, the Self will shine, alone.” He also said, “Mukti, jnana, dhyana is our real nature. They are other names for the Self”. from Day by Day with Bhagavan, 9-1-46

Dancing Siva https://youtu.be/32oo0oyLUdE

"One looks around, sees mountains and rivers, sky-scrapers and market places, but sees them as they are, in their true proportions, in the background of the eternal. This is what Sri Aurobindo has called 'waking union with the Divine'. Sri Raman Maharshi has called it 'the perfectly natural condition of the self'*. The world of space, time and causality appears as a meaningful mode of manifestation of the non-temporal." Integral Yoga, Haridas Chaudhuri, 1975; 107 *Note: I do not remember seeing this exact quote from Ramana but I get the gist. :)

Question: Should I go on asking ‘Who am I?’ without answering? Who asks whom? Which bhavana (attitude) should be in the mind at the time of enquiry? What is ‘I’ the Self or the ego? Answer: In the enquiry ‘Who am I?’, ‘I’ is the ego. The question really means, what is the source or origin of this ego? You need not have any bhavana in the mind. All that is required is, you must give up the bhavana that you are the body, of such and such a description, with such and such a name, etc. There is no need to have a bhavana about your real nature. It exists as it always does; it is real and no bhavana. [Ramana Maharshi's first answer to Mr Joshi in Day By Day on 3-1-46]

“In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as ‘Aham’ ‘Aham' ‘I’- ‘I’. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness, oneness of existence.” (from a reply, approved by Bhagavan, which was sent to an English devotee; recorded in ‘Moments Remembered’ by V. Ganesan, p. 53)

8. What part of the body is the abode of the Self? The Heart on the right side of the chest is generally indicated. This is because we usually point to the right side of the chest when we refer to ourselves. Some say that the sahasrara (the thousand-petalled lotus) is the abode of the Self. But if that were true the head should not fall forward when we go to sleep or faint. (Spiritual Instruction; Collected Works) —- —- —- 18. Between the two paps, below the chest, above the stomach, there are six organs of various colours. Of these, one, looking like a lily bud, is the Heart, at two digits’ distance to the right of the centre. (Ramana selected this verse from Ashtanga Hridayam, Malayalam. It can be found in Reality in Forty Verses: Supplement)