Ramana Alert

What is needed is to renounce in the mind and retain only the notion 'I am', and not 'I am a householder' or 'I am an ascetic'.

The psychological ‘I-concept’ has no nature of its own, is no ‘thing’, and could not possibly create genuine ‘bondage’. There cannot be any such thing as bondage at all, but only the idea of such. There is no liberation, for there is no thing from which to be freed. If the whole conceptual structure is seen as what it is, it must necessarily collapse, and the bondage-enlightenment nonsense with it. That is called Awakening, awakening to the natural state which is that of every sentient being. Sri Ramana Maharshi taught just that when he said that ‘enlightenment’ is only being rid of the notion that one is not ‘enlightened’, and Maharshi might have been quoting the T’ang dynasty Chinese sage Hui Hai, known as the Great Pearl, when he stated that Liberation is liberation from the notion of ‘liberation’. He might also have been quoting Huang Po (d.850), of whom he is unlikely ever to have heard, when they both used the same words, full of humour, to someone asking about ‘his’ mind: each sage asked in reply,’How many minds have you?’

Brilliant choice of words.

If the mind, which is the instrument of projection and is the basis of all activity, subsides, then the perception of the world as an objective reality ceases. On scrutiny as to what remains after eliminating all thoughts, it will be found that there is no such thing as mind or physical world apart from thought. Just as the spider draws out the thread of the cobweb from within itself and withdraws it again into itself, in the same way the mind projects the world out of itself and absorbs it back into itself." -- Ramana Maharshi

just this quote at this post- liked it: an important one, relevant to vichara- because all our troubles come about from the implicit belief that this world is objectively real, even in the absence of our perception.

Enlightenment isn’t like putting a hat on your head; it’s like having a hat drop on you. You feel it and wonder: ‘Hey! What the fuck is this?’

Most immediately, enlightenment presented itself as having nothing to do with any of the practices I’d been engaged in. The idea that meditation – or any activity whatsoever – had any bearing upon it was laughable. So this was how I spent the first few days, walking around, seeing emptiness everywhere and realising there was nothing to do and nowhere to go because ‘just this’ was ‘it’ all along.

Alan had been there a couple of weeks already. ‘Now try some Ramana Maharshi self-inquiry,’ he suggested. ‘It’s mental!’

I took his advice and recoiled from the profound shock of it. When I asked ‘Who am I?’ formerly the answer was always in the shape of an idea or sensation. But now the answer was crystal clear and returned in the form of an experience: emptiness. That ‘thing’ beyond awareness, which was neither an idea, sensation, feeling, thought or perception, which was infinite, eternal, changeless and unconditioned – well, that was ‘me’. And I could see also how this realisation of ‘I am that‘ is available right now to everyone on the planet.

But this is where the warm and fuzzy part of the story ends, because the past six months have been more of a struggle than I ever expected. That quip about ‘what if you get enlightened and discover you don’t like it?’ has returned to haunt me.

This is an interesting post- well written blog, great to read.

L’insegnamento del Maharshi ‘indagine sul Sé’ (Pura Advaita) è semplicità, non richiede formalità, nessun cambiamento di vita esteriore, soltanto un semplice cambiamento nel ‘punto di vista’ e uno sforzo sostenuto da parte del cercatore. La meta non è il paradiso dopo la morte o un lontano ideale, ma piuttosto la rimozione dell’ignoranza che ci impedisce la conoscenza che siamo eternamente Uno con la nostra Sorgente, il Supremo Sé o Dio. E’ un’esperienza che può essere fatta ORA! Tutto ciò che è richiesto è uno sforzo sincero, per meritarci la grazia necessaria.

Google Translate renders this paragraph as:

" The teaching of the Maharshi 'investigation of the self' (Pure Advaita) is simple, requires no formalities, no change of outward life, only a simple change in 'perspective' and a sustained effort by the searcher. The goal is not heaven after death or a distant ideal, but rather the removal of ignorance that prevents us from understanding that we are eternally One with our Source, the Supreme Self or God 'experience that can be done NOW! All that is required is a sincere effort to deserve the grace necessary."

This is a good post, and captures the devotion that relates to Bhagavan accurately.

Ramana Maharshi says –

“Moksha is to know that you were not born. ‘Be still and know that I am God’”
“to be still is to not think. Know and not think is the word” is what is meant by Antarmukha.

Thinking itself implies going away from the Self, Bahirmukha. Any sadhana that we call when it involves thinking, it is only taking away from the Aatma. The only Sadhana the scriptures aim at is to try and stay with the Self – Antarmukham. Ramana Maharshi Calls it as “Summa Iru” – simply be. Just be. Stay still. Sadhana is not something fantasising, thinking about the State of Aatma. Aatma is not a State, for if it is some kind of state then it is still Mithya. The Jiva believes that attaining that state would confer them Happiness, Bliss. If it is considered as some state, then it is no different from other materialistic states like Kama. Hence it is not even some state. There is no state to attain Aatma. For one self is ever the Aatma, Chaitanya.

After a long time, I am happy to see some actual discussion of Bhagavan's teachings- people usually just put up a quote as a post and leave it at that. It helps none.

Nothing that we experience — other than ‘I am’ — is real or lasting. It is all just a fleeting appearance, as are the body and mind that we mistake to be ourself. But so long as we attend to these fleeting appearances — that is, so long as we allow them to encroach in our consciousness — their seeming reality will be sustained and nourished.

Therefore, if we wish to rest peacefully in and as our essential being, ‘I am’, we must learn to ignore all appearances, and we can ignore them only by being completely indifferent to them (‘holy indifference’, as the Christian mystics call it). That is, only when we are truly indifferent to everything else, knowing it all to be just a fleeting dream, will we have the strength to cling firmly to ‘I am’ alone.

It would be the height of folly to argue with what Michael James writes. He has obviously immersed himself in the teachings of Bhagavan.

We wish him the greatest happiness.

This Ribhu Gita is an ancient text. It means literally, “Ribhu’s Song,” and is Part Six of the Shiva Rahasya, a legendary mystical text in India. The whole of the Ribhu Gita is said to represent the teaching given to the Sage Ribhu by God Himself in the form of Lord Shiva, the formless aspect of the Divine Activity in whom all beings and things are always already absorbed. The Sage in turn gave the teaching to his reluctant disciple Nidagha.

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi attributed unique value to it as being a lucid exposition of Supreme Truth. He quite often referred to it in his talks with devotees and seekers. He even stated that if one would repeatedly study Chapter 26 of the Ribhu Gita one could spontaneously pass into the state of sahaja samadhi, or the natural state of true Self-realization.

The whole text of Chapter 26 of Ribhu Gita, one of the most recommended books by Bhagavan, is here. It is worth noting that Bhagavan commended this book to a devotee, stating that even mere recital without any idea of the meaning, would help realise the truth. He also make a handwritten copy of this chapter and presented it to a devotee.

A very important work, and we should be grateful to the Dragonfly for making this available to us.

“The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.” ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

The point is, if any suffering remains, it has NOT been fully exposed and dismantled! Where IS the "I" that makes THIS claim? Who says that suffering has been exposed? This claim is made by an ego that resists being REALLY seen and dismantled! Keep looking, dig down and locate the real Source of the I thought; that one thought "I" is the fixative and the fixation, the "glue" is that energy of belief going into a false self center that on earnest and committed investigation simply cannot be found! Root out that cause and the effects die on the vine of True Seeing.

Start from the one FACT you are certain of: I AM. Look for the SOURCE of this I AM-NESS that you know is so. No one can tell you, you are not. That sense of presence, of Existingness, is all you know by direct knowing rather than conceptualizing. Suffering can only consist and persist in conceptualizing self as a separate suffering thing ... "poor me", "woe is me", etc. Get real with this. Suffering is optional!

On vichara. Excellent article.