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Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi

ETERNAL REALIZATION

D.: What certainty is there that something awaits there to
receive me?

B.: When a person is sufficiently mature he becomes
convinced naturally.

D.: How is this maturity to be attained?

B.: Various ways are prescribed. But whatever previous
development there may be, earnest Self-enquiry hastens it.

D.: That is arguing in a circle. I am strong enough for the
quest if I am mature and it is the quest that makes me mature.

This is an objection that was often raised in one form or
another and the reply to it again emphasizes that it is not
theory that is needed, but practice.

B.: The mind does have this sort of difficulty. It wants a fixed theory to satisfy itself with. Really, however, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously strives to approach God or his true Self.

Everyone is the Self and indeed, is infinite. Yet each person mistakes his body for his Self. In order to know anything, illumination is necessary. This can only be of the nature of Light; however, it lights up both physical light and physical darkness.

That is to say, that it lies beyond apparent light and darkness. It is itself neither, but it is said to be light because it illumines both. It is infinite and is Consciousness. Consciousness is the Self of which everyone is aware.

No one is ever away from the Self and therefore everyone is, in fact, Self-realized; only – and this is the great mystery – people do not know this and want to realize the Self.

Realization consists only in getting rid of the false idea that one is not realized. It is not anything new to be acquired. It must already exist or it would not be eternal and only what is eternal is worth striving for.

Once the false notion ‘I am the body’ or ‘I am not realized’ has been removed, Supreme Consciousness or the Self alone remains and in people’s present state of knowledge they call this ‘Realization.’ But the truth is that Realization is eternal and already exists, here and now.

Consciousness is pure knowledge. The mind arises out of it and is made up of thoughts.

The essence of the mind is only awareness or consciousness.
However, when the ego overclouds it, it functions as reasoning, thinking or perceiving. The universal mind, not being limited by the ego, has nothing outside itself and is therefore only aware.
This is what the Bible means by ‘I am that I am.’

The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist distressing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy, as we see in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly, therefore, happiness and distress are only modes of the mind.

- TEACHINGS OF RAMANA MAHARSHI IN HIS OWN WORDS
 
Dependent world:

"Why should these things, that is the world, appear?

Bhagavan: To whom does it appear? You see and so the world exists. Does it exist independently of the seer? Does it come and tell you, "I exist?" What proof is there of its existence except that you say you see or perceive it.


---Day by day with Bhagavan, Devaraja Mudaliar.
 
Dependent world:

"Why should these things, that is the world, appear?

Bhagavan: To whom does it appear? You see and so the world exists. Does it exist independently of the seer? Does it come and tell you, "I exist?" What proof is there of its existence except that you say you see or perceive it.


---Day by day with Bhagavan, Devaraja Mudaliar.
To me, this is probably be one of his most important teachings. Thank you for posting this.
 
To me, this is probably be one of his most important teachings. Thank you for posting this.

Yes, this is dependent arising. The world appears only after the ego arises. And it disappears when the ego is absent (like in deep sleep). It takes a different form when the flavour of the ego changes (like a dream world in the dream state).
 
Bhagavan has presented his teachings to us in a logically coherent manner based upon robust premises drawn from a deep and incisive analysis of our own experience, so we have very strong grounds to believe and trust them. Moreover, those of us who powerfully drawn to his teachings trust them not only because of their appeal to our intellect but also because of their appeal to our heart. Therefore if we trust what he taught us about the efficacy of self-investigation, we will not be perturbed by any seeming lack of results, and we will not conclude that we have got stuck just because we are not experiencing any results, because he taught us in so many ways that if we persevere in our practice of self-investigation we will certain succeed.

For example, in the twelfth paragraph of Nāṉ Ār? he wrote:

God and guru are in truth not different.
Just as what has been caught in the jaws of
a tiger will not return, so those who have been
caught in the look [or glance] of guru’s grace will
never be forsaken but will surely be saved by him;
nevertheless, it is necessary to walk unfailingly in
accordance with the path that guru has shown.

Therefore all we need do is to follow unfailingly the path he has shown us, namely the path of self-investigation and self-surrender, and without ever wavering in our trust in the efficacy of this path we should leave everything else to his care, knowing that he will never forsake us.

Michael James

 
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FIND THE WITNESS

Q: Is there any genuine difference between dream experience and the waking state?

M: Because you find the dream creations transitory in relation to the waking state, there is said to be a difference. The difference is only apparent and not real.

The states of deep sleep, waking, and dream are accretions of the ego; the Self is the witness of all. The Self transcends them all. This Witness-Consciousness should be found.

In the Self, there are not three states: no waking, no sleeping, no deep sleep. It is ever there.

In sleep, in trance, in absent-mindedness, there is no differentiation. Is that which was absent then, now present? The difference is only due to mind. The mind is sometimes present and at other times absent; there is no change in the Reality.

It is the same person who was in sleep who is now awake. Limitation is only in the mind. The Self is the same throughout. The Self exists in the absence of mind also.

- Conscious Immortality
 
Enquiry:

Suggestive replies such as Soham etc to the enquiry (who am I?) are not to be given to the mind during the meditation. The true answer will come by itself. Any answer the ego may give cannot be correct. These affirmations or auto suggestions may be of help to those who follow other methods but not in this method of enquiry. If you go on asking, the reply will come.

---Bhagavan's replies to questions.
 
JAPA AND INQUIRY

Bhagavan: "For those who cannot reach through jnana-marga [i.e. Self-enquiry] the place [source] where ‘I’ exists, it is better to know during japa the place where the supreme Word [para-vak] shines."

Sadhu Om: After seeing the following verse composed by Sri Muruganar [which is a venba, a four line verse], Sri Bhagavan composed the above verse [which is a kural venba, a two line verse] giving the same idea in a terser form.

706. For those who cannot dive deep within through silence, the keenest knowledge, seeking “What is the source from which the ‘I’ rises?”, it is better to scrutinize while mentally doing japa wherefrom the supreme Word [para-vak] comes.

Sadhu Om: In the above two verses, Sri Bhagavan has explained the secret behind the second of the two instructions which he gave to Kavyakantha Ganapati Sastri on 18th November 1907.

When Ganapati Sastri approached Sri Bhagavan and prayed for instructions concerning the nature of true tapas, Sri Bhagavan at first remained silent and quietly gazed at him for about fifteen minutes.

Then Ganapati Sastri again prayed, “I have read about such mouna-upadesa in sastras, but I am unable to understand it. Graciously instruct me through speech also”.

The first instruction then given by Sri Bhagavan was His basic teaching [yathartha upadesa] ‘Who am I?’, that is, to attend to the source from which ‘I’ rises.

But being bewildered by the novelty of this upadesa, Ganapati Sastri again asked, “Can that same state be achieved through japa also?”

Therefore, seeing that the devotee had a great liking for japa,
Sri Bhagavan gave His second instruction, namely “If one repeats a mantra and if one watches wherefrom the sound of that mantra starts, there the mind will subside; that is tapas.”

GURU VACHAKA KOVAI, Sadhu Om edition
 
Tracing the souce of the ego:

The ego arises within the body. Hence in the first instance you may look within the body for its source. When you reach the source there will be no inside or outside, because the source of the Self is all pervading. After realization everything will be inside the Self.

---Bhagavan's replies to questions.
 
Fasting:

Bhagavan: If all the activities of the indriyas (sense organs) are given up, the mind becomes single pointed. When such a mind becomes concentrated on God, it is real upavasam (fasting). "Upa" means being near, "Vasm" means living. Where is he going to live? He will live in his Self. Desires are the food for the mind. Giving them up is upavasam. If there are no desires whatsoever there is no such thing as mind. What remains then is the Self. One who can 'fast' the mind, need not 'fast' the body, said Bhagavan.

--- Suri Nagamma's Reminiscences
 
BECOMING AWARE OF DEEP SLEEP DURING THE WAKING STATE

Q: What is deep sleep?

M: Just as on a dark cloudy night no individual identification is possible and there is only darkness, even though the seer has his eyes wide open, similarly in deep slumber the seer is only aware of simple nescience.

Q: Why can't we stay in deep sleep forever or enter it at will?

M: Deep sleep also exists in the waking state. We are always in deep sleep. That should be consciously understood and realized. There is really no going or coming from it. Becoming aware of the deep sleep state while in the waking state is samadhi. It is nature, i.e.prarabdha, which forces you to emerge from it. Because your ego is not dead and it will rise again and again.

- Conscious Immortality
 
Enquiry:

Thambi Thorai of Jaffna asked me whether asking the mind to turn inward and seek its source is not also employing the mind. So, I put this doubt before Bhagavan and Bhagavan said, "Of course we are employing the mind. It is well known and admitted that only with the help of the mind the mind has to be killed. But instead of setting about saying there is a mind, and I want to kill it, you begin to seek the source of the mind, and you find the mind does not exist at all. The mind, turned outwards results in thoughts and objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self.

---Day by day with Bhagavan, Devaraja Mudaliar.
 
How happy he [man] was before the rising of the ego! Only the rise of the ego is the cause of the present trouble. Let him trace the ego to its source and he will reach that undifferentiated happy state which is sleepless sleep.

Talk 63
 
If you understand waking and sleep properly, you will understand life and death. Only waking and sleeping happen daily, so people don't notice the wonder of it but only want to know about birth and death.

(Talk 244)
 
Suicide:

Bhagavan: Killing the innocent body is certainly wrong. Suicide must be committed on the mind, where the suffering is deposited, and not on the body, which is insentient and feels nothing. The mind is the real culprit, being the creator of the anguish which tempts to suicide, but by an error of judgement, the innocent, insentient body is punished for it.

-- S.S. Cohen
As much as its " wrong" but depression and mental disorders can lead to suicide.
So technically suicide is a result of depression.
Is it wrong?

Well..Diabetic ketoacidosis can cause death.
So it is wrong to let the body die from Diabetic ketoacidosis?

Is it wrong to let the body die from Covid 19?
Can we say the mind is the real culprit cos social distancing was not practiced or comorbidities were not addressed or the vaccination was not done and the innocent insentient body was punished for it? Is it error of judgement too?

No..its a disease...just like depression.

The reason I am writing this is for raising awareness of depression cum suicide as a disease cos Hindu Gurus still do not fully address Depression/Suicide as diseases and many cases do NOT get help from society cos its labeled as WRONG and not a disease.
 
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As much as its " wrong" but depression and mental disorders can lead to suicide.
So technically suicide is a result of depression.
Is it wrong?

Well..Diabetic ketoacidosis can cause death.
So it is wrong to let the body die from Diabetic ketoacidosis?

Is it wrong to let the body die from Covid 19?
Can we say the mind is the real culprit cos social distancing was not practiced or comorbidities were not addressed or the vaccination was not done and the innocent in sentient body was punished for it? Is it error of judgement too?

No..its a disease...just like depression.

The reason I am writing this is for raising awareness of depression cum suicide as a disease cos Hindu Gurus still do not fully address Depression/Suicide as diseases and many cases do NOT get help from society cos its labeled as WRONG and not a disease.
Srimathi Dr. Renuka Ji,

Bhagawan is not talking about a body and mind that is deceased. He is talking about suicide, where a ‘healthy’ mind decides to end the life of a body.
 
Srimathi Dr. Renuka Ji,

Bhagawan is not talking about a body and mind that is deceased. He is talking about suicide, where a ‘healthy’ mind decides to end the life of a body.
Dear KRS ji,
A healthy mind would never think of suicide unless in cases where like in September 11 attack where a man decided to jump of the building instead of being burnt by fire or a Rajput Queen preferring committing Sati instead of being raped by the Invader...or in extreme cases like Farmer's committing suicide due to severe financial loss.
 
Srimathi Dr. Renuka Ji,

Sorry, you have more knowledge here.

The only response I can offer is my firm conviction that my Guru would not have said something that is contrary to the Truth.

Anecdotally, one of the suicides I was impacted by emotionally, and thought about for quite a long time was a well known Chef named Anthony Bourdain.

By all accounts, he had a fabulous life, yet took his own life.

So, in my view, Bhagawan is referring to such troubled souls.

But if you think otherwise, I have no argument to counter it.
 
Srimathi Dr. Renuka Ji,

Sorry, you have more knowledge here.

The only response I can offer is my firm conviction that my Guru would not have said something that is contrary to the Truth.

Anecdotally, one of the suicides I was impacted by emotionally, and thought about for quite a long time was a well known Chef named Anthony Bourdain.

By all accounts, he had a fabulous life, yet took his own life.

So, in my view, Bhagawan is referring to such troubled souls.

But if you think otherwise, I have no argument to counter it.
Dear KRS ji,

I have to agree with you that Bhagawan didnt state anything wrong but it would make people take depression less seriously.
Anthony Bourdain could have had subclinical depression..this goes undetected and patients put up a happy front.
Also before he died he had travelled extensively and ate all sorts of food including raw coaugulated blood of a strangulated gazelle.
May be all these sudden experiments had created some imbalance in him which led to some issues mentally.

When we are not used to different lifestyles and food and suddenly take upon new stuff it could throw us off balance creating an imbalance of frequencies which as you would be knowing could have disastrous effect on mental wellbeing.
 
Bhagawan is not talking about a body and mind that is deceased. He is talking about suicide, where a ‘healthy’ mind decides to end the life of a body.

From Bhagavan's standpoint a so called healthy mind is an oxymoron. It is merely the creation of human minds like the family, society, psychiatrists, sociologists etc. Bhagavan and other jnanis have said that so long as the mind exists there will be suffering. The mind identifying with the body as 'I' is the source of misery. It first wrongly identifies with the body and then decides to kill the body thinking that by doing so it will end its suffering. This is an action of desire. From the absolute standpoint of the teachings, killing the mind (manonasha) by tracing the source of the mind through self enquiry is the only solution. Anything else is an exercise in illusion.
 
From Bhagavan's standpoint a so called healthy mind is an oxymoron. It is merely the creation of human minds like the family, society, psychiatrists, sociologists etc. Bhagavan and other jnanis have said that so long as the mind exists there will be suffering. The mind identifying with the body as 'I' is the source of misery. It first wrongly identifies with the body and then decides to kill the body thinking that by doing so it will end its suffering. This is an action of desire. From the absolute standpoint of the teachings, killing the mind (manonasha) by tracing the source of the mind through self enquiry is the only solution. Anything else is an exercise in illusion.
Thank you. Explained it very well, better than I ever can.
 

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