Behind My Hand

There is no difference between dream and the waking state except that the dream is short and the waking long. Both are the result of the mind. Because the waking state is long, we imagine that it is our real state. But, as a matter of fact, our real state is what is sometimes called turiya or the fourth state which is always as it is and knows nothing of the three avasthas, viz., waking, dream or sleep. Because we call these three avasthas we call the fourth state also turiya avastha. But it is not an avastha, but the real and natural state of the Self. When this is realised, we know it is not a turiya or fourth state, for a fourth state is only relative, but turiyatita, the transcendent state called the fourth state. ( Ramana Maharshi, Day by Day, 5. 1. 46 )

Joshi : I am a beginner. How should I start? Bhagavan : Where are you now? Where is the goal? What is the distance to be covered? The Self is not somewhere far away to be reached. You are always that. You have only to give up your habit, a long-standing one, of identifying yourself with the non-self. All effort is only for that. By turning the mind outwards, you have been seeing the world, the non-Self. If you turn it inwards you will see the Self. (Ramana Maharshi in Day by Day, 5. 1. 46)

From N.N.Rajan's diary,   After a brief discussion between Major Chadwick and Bhagavan on the necessity of periodic action to ensure that the body remains healthy, there was a ten-minute silence. Then a devotee asked, "It is stated that one should dive into oneself with a keen one-pointed mind controlling speech and breath. Is it necessary to control the breath also?" Bhagavan replied, "If all thoughts are controlled, automatically the breath is also controlled. By intense and sustained practice it will become habitual. Controlling the breath through various yogic exercises is like putting brakes to the train when the entire engine is working. But by watching the source of the mind with full concentration, the thoughts would get controlled. This method will be more effective and easy. It is like shutting the power of the engine and thereby stopping the train completely."

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.

https://archive.ashrama.org/newsletters/2016/jul-aug#article.2 Dennis Hartel “Remembering Graham Boyd” -  https://archive.ashrama.org/newsletters/2016/jul-aug#article.2 “Graham restored many photos and also produced digitally colored photos of Bhagavan which were excellent. He was a perfectionist in everything he did. I believe he was the first to take up the task of digital restoration of Ashrama photos. There was only one actual color photo of Bhagavan ever available, whereas all the other color prints we see of him were hand colored and reproduced. Graham took up the digital coloring of some popular photos of Bhagavan and whatever Graham did, he did it to the best of his ability in the way he conceived it best done. He would rarely compromise on quality or materials used to restore and print the photos. cwIn oder to settle on the colors to be used, Graham would do extensive research on each item in the photo to determine the correct color. He was quite successful in this endeavo

Just what exactly do you mean by consciousness? You are conscious, aware, only through thought. The other animals use thought. The dog, for example, can recognize its owner in a simple manner. They recognize without using language. Humans have added to the structure of thought, making it much more complex. - The Natural State, In the Words of U.G. Krishnamurti pdf, p. 62; Peter Maverick