Behind My Hand

11-1-46, Afternoon Bhagavan: There is no difference. The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world. The cotton made into various clothes, we call by various names. The gold made into various ornaments, we call by various names. But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold. The one is real, the many are mere names and forms. But the mind does not exist apart from the Self, i.e., it has no independent existence. The Self exists without the mind, never the mind without the Self. (Ramana Maharshi in Day by Day with Bhagavan)

 “How are the three states of consciousness inferior in degree of reality to the fourth? What is the actual relation between these three states and the fourth?” Bhagavan: There is only one state, that of consciousness or awareness or existence. The three states of waking, dream and sleep cannot be real. They simply come and go. The real will always exist. The ‘I’ or existence that alone persists in all the three states is real. The other three are not real and so it is not possible to say they have such and such a degree of reality. We may roughly put it like this. Existence or consciousness is the only reality. Consciousness plus waking, we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep, we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. Because by long habit we have been regarding these three states as real, we call the state of mere awareness or consciousness as th

liṅgam evāśrama-khyātāv anyonyāpatti-kāraṇam avṛttyā nyāya-daurbalyaṁ pāṇḍitye cāpalaṁ vacaḥ A person’s status in life will be known by external appearances alone, even as they change from one status to another.  A person without money will be considered weak while anyone using ill conceived or deceitful words will be considered to be a learned scholar. Bhagavata Purana, 12.2.4 (Trans. MWright) —- —- —- Kali Yuga is said to have commenced in 3102 B.C.E. marked by the death of Sri Krishna. Kali means “discord and argument”. Yuga means “age”. It is the age of hypocrisy, quarrel and discord.  —- From Day by Day with Bhagavan (Ramana Maharshi), 20-3-46 Girdhari Lal:   It is said that in the previous yugas e.g. satya yuga, man had not fallen to the low level in which he now is in this kaliyuga and that it was much easier for him then to attain liberation than now. Bhagavan:  On the other hand, it is said it is much easier to secure salvation in this yuga than in the satya yuga. Some days o

 Parabrahman, which is of all forms, which is the Supreme Abode of this universe, which is the most subtle of the subtle and which is eternal, is only yourself. You are only That. One who knows himself to be that Parabrahman that shines as the universe in the waking, dreaming, dreamless and other states, will be relieved from all bondage.  - from Kaivalya Upanishad, trans. K. Narayanasvami Aiyar, 1914.

The art of vichara is a bit like fishing. We cast the line (vichara) at an angle which we think will reach the target but, like light refraction (Snell's Law) or waves on the surface, the process can be foiled.

  Ultimately there is no separation of the phenomenal world and Brahman.

Sabdapurvayoga is the return to that state prior to the arising of the ego. The Grammarian Bhartrhari’s method for attaining the Self involves tracing the mind back to its source. At that point the unreality of the ego is discovered. This is the true purification of the word. When Brahman is known to be all there is, there can no longer be any misunderstanding.  Bhartrhari has stated that Grammar is the straight road for those who would attain liberation in Brahman. The twentieth century Sage of Arunåcala, Ramana Maharshi, similarly referred to the discipline of åtmavicåra as the straight path to Self-realisation. The essence of Bhartrhari’s method is åtmavicåra. Sabdapurvayoga is atmavichara. Sabdapurvayoga and atma vicara