One who has destroyed the mind is the emperor who rides on the neck of the elephant of supreme Jnana (self-knowledge). Know for certain that the turmoil of the mind is the sole cause of the miserable bondage of the cruel and fierce birth [and death]. ~ Sri Ramanar Maharishi
Friday, August 31, 2012
emperor of the mind
One who has destroyed the mind is the emperor who rides on the neck of the elephant of supreme Jnana (self-knowledge). Know for certain that the turmoil of the mind is the sole cause of the miserable bondage of the cruel and fierce birth [and death]. ~ Sri Ramanar Maharishi
find out the origin of I
Devotee: I still do not understand. You say the ‘I’ is now the false ‘I’. How am I to eliminate this wrong ‘I’?
Ramana Maharshi : You need not eliminate any false ‘I’. How can ‘I’ eliminate itself? All that you need do is to find out its origin and stay there. Your effort can extend only so far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach It.
source:http://bhagwan-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/search/label/Maharshi%20Guidance%20on%20Meditation
Ramana Maharshi : You need not eliminate any false ‘I’. How can ‘I’ eliminate itself? All that you need do is to find out its origin and stay there. Your effort can extend only so far. Then the Beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach It.
source:http://bhagwan-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/search/label/Maharshi%20Guidance%20on%20Meditation
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
attempt to abandon the ego or overcome it
Bhagavan Sri Ramana used to say that all techniques of meditation and concentration presuppose the retention of the ego/mind. Bhagavan used to joke that employing the ego/mind to overcome the ego/mind is like hiring a thief, who is all dressed up as a policeman, to catch the thief. The policeman will pretend to make herculean efforts to catch the thief, give periodic reports of progress, but will fail each time (since the policeman is the thief!)
The whole thing is hilarious, is it not my friends. We are trying to gain Self-Realization with the effort and power of our mind. Yet, it is the ego/mind that is veiling the Self!
What a wonderful paradox indeed. Are you able to see it clearly?
The attempt to abandon the ego or overcome it, is itself based on egotism. Such forced efforts to discard the mind and transcend the ego end up only reinforcing the nonexistent phantom in our imagination.
What Bhagavan has pointed out is that all spiritual practices ultimately fall short as they presuppose the existence of mind. And with the mind in charge, there are infinite possibilities of experience; all kinds of experiences, including super conscious experiences.
No doubt experiences can be wonderful and joyful as well as painful. And yet where can any experience truly take us? Where can any experience take us other than in our own imagination of what it means to be happy in heaven, nirvana, moksha, singing with angels, or dancing with the gods, etc.
We cannot go anywhere other than where we are. We are always here. We are this present moment. This moment is eternal and infinite. This must be understood. This is Bhagavan’s teaching. Bhagavan’s dying words were, “Where can I go? I am Here.” Even in his last moments Bhagavan was teaching and pointing to the Self. All movement is in our imagination. If we do not move our mind, the outside movement becomes moot. When imagination comes to full stop, Self becomes Self-evident.
To see this, we need Grace. And the wise say that Grace is Always Here. And Self is Grace. And there is nothing but That. It is not possible to see this beauty with our eyes. One must recognize it is as one’s own being.
The True Seeing is only Being
Related Articles:
Gratitude and Divine Grace
You Are What You Eat
I am not this, I am not that; who am I? – Gururaj Ananda Yogi Satsang
Ramana: The Essential Teachings
Analysis Of The Mind Or Transcendence? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
source:http://theseekradio.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-overcome-ego.html
The whole thing is hilarious, is it not my friends. We are trying to gain Self-Realization with the effort and power of our mind. Yet, it is the ego/mind that is veiling the Self!
What a wonderful paradox indeed. Are you able to see it clearly?
The attempt to abandon the ego or overcome it, is itself based on egotism. Such forced efforts to discard the mind and transcend the ego end up only reinforcing the nonexistent phantom in our imagination.
What Bhagavan has pointed out is that all spiritual practices ultimately fall short as they presuppose the existence of mind. And with the mind in charge, there are infinite possibilities of experience; all kinds of experiences, including super conscious experiences.
No doubt experiences can be wonderful and joyful as well as painful. And yet where can any experience truly take us? Where can any experience take us other than in our own imagination of what it means to be happy in heaven, nirvana, moksha, singing with angels, or dancing with the gods, etc.
We cannot go anywhere other than where we are. We are always here. We are this present moment. This moment is eternal and infinite. This must be understood. This is Bhagavan’s teaching. Bhagavan’s dying words were, “Where can I go? I am Here.” Even in his last moments Bhagavan was teaching and pointing to the Self. All movement is in our imagination. If we do not move our mind, the outside movement becomes moot. When imagination comes to full stop, Self becomes Self-evident.
To see this, we need Grace. And the wise say that Grace is Always Here. And Self is Grace. And there is nothing but That. It is not possible to see this beauty with our eyes. One must recognize it is as one’s own being.
The True Seeing is only Being
Related Articles:
Gratitude and Divine Grace
You Are What You Eat
I am not this, I am not that; who am I? – Gururaj Ananda Yogi Satsang
Ramana: The Essential Teachings
Analysis Of The Mind Or Transcendence? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
source:http://theseekradio.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-overcome-ego.html
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Ramana Maharshi Self Inquiry Meditation Method
source:http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Life_of_Masters/Ramana-Maharshi/Self-Inquiry.htm
Question : You say one can realize the Self by a search for it. What is the character of this search?
Ramana Maharshi : You are the mind or think that you are the mind. The mind is nothing but thoughts. Now behind every particular thought there is a general thought, which is the `I', that is yourself. Let us call this `I' the first thought. Stick to this `I'-thought and Question it to find out what it is. When this Question takes strong hold on you, you cannot think of other thoughts.
Question : When I do this and cling to my self, that is, the `I'-thought, other thoughts come and go, but I say to myself `Who am I ?' and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so?
Ramana Maharshi : This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the `I'-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the `I' which commenced the quest.
Question : What is this something else?
Ramana Maharshi : That is the real Self, the import of `I'. It is not the ego. It is the Supreme Being itself.
Question : But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest but the thoughts are endless. If one thought is rejected, another comes and there seems to be no end at all.
Ramana Maharshi : I do not say that you must go on rejecting thoughts. Cling to yourself, that is, to the `I'-thought. When your interest keeps you to that single idea, other thoughts will automatically get rejected and they will vanish.
Question : And so rejection of thoughts is not necessary?
Ramana Maharshi : No. It may be necessary for a time or for some. You fancy that there is no end if one goes on rejecting every thought when it rises. It is not true, there is an end. If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self. At that level it is not necessary to make an effort to reject thoughts.
Question : Then it is possible to be without effort, without strain.
Ramana Maharshi : Not only that, it is impossible for you to make an effort beyond a certain extent.
Question : I want to be further enlightened. Should I try to make no effort at all?
Ramana Maharshi : Here it is impossible for you to be without effort. When you go deeper, it is impossible for you to make any effort. If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into the source of aham-vritti, the vasanas become extinct. The light of the Self falls on the vasanas and produces the phenomenon of reflection we call the mind. Thus, when the vasanas become extinct the mind also disappears, being absorbed into the light of the one reality, the Heart. This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know. What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and onepointed enquiry into the source of the aham-vritti.
Question : How should a beginner start this practice?
Ramana Maharshi : The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry `Who am I?' The thought 'Who am I?', destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre. If other thoughts rise one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire `To whom did they rise?' What does it matter however many thoughts rise? At the very moment that each thought rises, if one vigilantly enquires `To whom did this rise?', it will be known `To me'. If one then enquires `Who am I?', the mind will turn back to its source [the Self] and the thought which had risen will also subside. By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.
Although tendencies towards sense-objects [vishaya vasanas], which have been recurring down the ages, rise in countless numbers like the waves of the ocean, they will all perish as meditation on one's nature becomes more and more intense. Without giving room even to the doubting thought, `Is it possible to destroy all these tendencies [vasanas] and to remain as Self alone?', one should persistently cling fast to self-attention.
As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects in the mind, the enquiry `Who am I ?' is necessary. As and when thoughts rise, one should annihilate all of them through enquiry then and there in their very place of origin. Not attending to what-is-other [anya] is non-attachment [vairagya] or desirelessness [nirasa]. Not leaving Self is knowledge [jnana]. In truth, these two [desirelessness and knowledge] are one and the same. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist, dives into the sea and takes the pearl lying at the bottom, so everyone, diving deep within himself with non-attachment, can attain the pearl of Self. If one resorts uninterruptedly to remembrance of one's real nature [swarupasmarana] until one attains Self, that alone will be sufficient.
Enquiring `Who am I that is in bondage?' and knowing one's real nature [swarupa] alone is liberation. Always keeping the mind fixed in Self alone is called 'self-enquiry', whereas meditation [dhyana] is thinking oneself to be the absolute [Brahman], which is existence-consciousness-bliss [sat-chit-ananda].
Question : The yogis say that one must renounce this world and go off into secluded jungles if one wishes to find the truth.
Ramana Maharshi : The life of action need not be renounced. If you meditate for an hour or two every day you can then carry on with your duties. If you meditate in the right manner then the current of mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst of your work. It is as though there were two ways of expressing the same idea; the same line which you take in meditation will be expressed in your activities.
Question : What will be the result of doing that?
Ramana Maharshi : As you go on you will find that your attitude towards people, events and objects gradually changes. Your actions will tend to follow your meditations of their own accord.
Question : Then you do not agree with the yogis?
Ramana Maharshi : A man should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.
Question : How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of worldly activity?
Ramana Maharshi : There is no conflict between work and wisdom.
Question : Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities in one's profession, for instance, and at the same time get enlightenment ?
Ramana Maharshi : Why not ? But in that case one will not think that it is the old personality which is doing the work, because one's consciousness will gradually become transferred until it is centered in that which is beyond the little self.
Question : If a person is engaged in work, there will be little time left for him to meditate.
Ramana Maharshi : Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual novices. A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is at work or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in solitude.
Question : Then you do not teach the way of yoga?
Ramana Maharshi : The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull with a stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull by holding out a handful of grass.
Question : How is that done?
Ramana Maharshi : You have to ask yourself the Question `Who am I ?' This investigation will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you which is behind the mind. Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.
Question : Why is concentration ineffective?
Ramana Maharshi : To ask the mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So you must turn inward and see from where the mind rises and then it will cease to exist.
Question : In turning the mind inwards, are we not still employing the mind?
Ramana Maharshi : Of course we are employing the mind. It is well known and admitted that only with the help of the mind can the mind 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.
Question : How can I tell if I am making progress with my enquiry?
Ramana Maharshi : The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-realization. But Self-realization itself does not admit of progress, it is ever the same. The Self remains always in realization. The obstacles are thoughts. Progress is measured by the degree of removal of the obstacles to understanding that the Self is always realized. So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. So you go to their source, where they do not arise.
Question : Doubts are always arising. Hence my Question.
Ramana Maharshi : A doubt arises and is cleared. Another arises and that is cleared, making way for yet another; and so it goes on. So there is no possibility of clearing away all doubts. See to whom the doubts arise. Go to their source and abide in it. Then they cease to arise. That is how doubts are to be cleared.
Source: from book “Be As You Are” by David Godman
Monday, June 25, 2012
Ramana Maharshi Quotes
source: http://www.buddhasangha.com/quotes/quotes/spiritual_quotes_silence.htm
You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you.
Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.
Sages say that the state in which the thought `I' [the ego] does not rise even in the least, alone is Self [swarupa] which is silence [mouna]. That silent Self alone is God; Self alone is the jiva [individual soul]. Self alone is this ancient world.
All other knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.
A man should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.
What is the ego? Enquire. The body is insentient and cannot say `I'. The Self is pure consciousness and non-dual. It cannot say `I'. No one says `I' in sleep. What is the ego then? It is something intermediate between the inert body and the Self. It has no locus standi. If sought for it vanishes like a ghost.
If you keep on making the enquiry till you fall asleep, the enquiry will go on during sleep also. Take up the enquiry again as soon as you wake up.
The Self alone is real. All others are unreal. The mind and intellect do not remain apart from you. The Bible says, `Be still and know that I am God.' Stillness is the sole requisite for the realization of the Self as God.
If one surrenders oneself there will be no one to ask questions or to be thought of. Either the thoughts are eliminated by holding on to the root-thought `I', or one surrenders oneself unconditionally to the higher power. These are the only two ways for realization.
If the longing is there, realization will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion. After camphor burns away no residue is left. The mind is the camphor. When it has resolved itself into the Self without leaving even the slightest trace behind, it is realization of the Self.
Greedily begging for worthless occult powers [siddhis] from God, who will readily give himself, who is everything, is like begging for worthless stale gruel from a gene rous-natured philanthropist who will readily give everything.
If one scrutinises one's own Self, which is bliss, there will be no misery at all in one's life. One suffers because of the idea that the body, which is never oneself, is `I'; suffering is all due to this delusion.
You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you.
Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.
Sages say that the state in which the thought `I' [the ego] does not rise even in the least, alone is Self [swarupa] which is silence [mouna]. That silent Self alone is God; Self alone is the jiva [individual soul]. Self alone is this ancient world.
All other knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge.
A man should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.
What is the ego? Enquire. The body is insentient and cannot say `I'. The Self is pure consciousness and non-dual. It cannot say `I'. No one says `I' in sleep. What is the ego then? It is something intermediate between the inert body and the Self. It has no locus standi. If sought for it vanishes like a ghost.
If you keep on making the enquiry till you fall asleep, the enquiry will go on during sleep also. Take up the enquiry again as soon as you wake up.
The Self alone is real. All others are unreal. The mind and intellect do not remain apart from you. The Bible says, `Be still and know that I am God.' Stillness is the sole requisite for the realization of the Self as God.
If one surrenders oneself there will be no one to ask questions or to be thought of. Either the thoughts are eliminated by holding on to the root-thought `I', or one surrenders oneself unconditionally to the higher power. These are the only two ways for realization.
If the longing is there, realization will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion. After camphor burns away no residue is left. The mind is the camphor. When it has resolved itself into the Self without leaving even the slightest trace behind, it is realization of the Self.
Greedily begging for worthless occult powers [siddhis] from God, who will readily give himself, who is everything, is like begging for worthless stale gruel from a gene rous-natured philanthropist who will readily give everything.
If one scrutinises one's own Self, which is bliss, there will be no misery at all in one's life. One suffers because of the idea that the body, which is never oneself, is `I'; suffering is all due to this delusion.
Sri Ramana Maharshi Quotes
source:http://www.successconsciousness.com/ramana_maharshi_quotes_1.htm
Mind is consciousness, which has limitations. We are originally unlimited and perfect. Later on we take on limitations and become the mind.
Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.
When one makes the mind stick to one thought, the mind becomes rock-steady and the energy is conserved.
The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True "I" enjoys the stillness of bliss.
When the mind is left without anything to cling to, it becomes still.
The inquiry "who am I" turns the mind introvert and makes it calm.
There is no mind to control if you realize the self. The mind having vanished, the self shines forth. In the realized man, the mind may be active or inactive, the self remains for him.
Meditation helps concentration of the mind. Then the mind is free from thoughts and is in the meditated form.
Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant meditation it gains strength.
When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.
See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away - the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.
The "I" thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts. The source of the "I" thought has to be enquired into.
The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self.
Real attainment is to be fully conscious, to be aware of surroundings and the people around, to move among them all, but not to merge consciousness in the environment. One should remain in inner independent awareness.
Once the current of awareness of the self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification.
Realization is to get rid of the delusion that you have not realized.
Good thoughts keep off bad thoughts. They must themselves disappear before the state of realization.
Realization is our true nature. It is nothing new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal. Therefore there is no need to be doubting whether we would gain or lose the self.
A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.
Turn the mind inward and cease thinking of yourself as the body; thereby you will come to know that the self is ever happy. Neither grief nor misery is experienced in this state.
When we see our self, there is no world; and when we lose sight of the self, we get ourselves bound in the world.
The self is like a pearl. To find it you must dive deep down into silence, deeper and ever deeper until it is reached.
The self is pure knowledge, pure delight where there is no duality.
The illuminated one who is happy in the peace of the self, without thought of the past and the future, and is like a mere witness of the present, has his knots of bondage cut.
He alone who has realized the self in the heart has known the Truth. Having transcended the dualities, he is never perplexed.
The self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself, within yourself.
A self-realized man remains happy without being affected by false appearances, whereas the ignorant man is miserable.
Seek the source of the ego, abide there for ever in the source and find yourself in bliss.
That pure consciousness which is the reality, and which shines without a break, as "I AM" when the mind becomes calm, is the supreme bliss.
The enlightened one that has become one with the unchanging supreme consciousness, like a river that has become one with the ocean, takes birth no more in a body.
All actions, past, present and future, become extinct in the case of a liberated one, because his sense of being the doer is gone; it was lost along with the ego, who alone was the doer.
You can never find mind through the mind. Go beyond it, and find it non-existent.
How is it possible for the mind to know the Lord who imparts His light to the mind, and shines within the mind, except by turning the mind inward and fixing it on the Lord?
Self realization is cessation of thoughts and of all mental activity. Thoughts are like bubbles upon the surface of the sea.
Stillness means 'being free from thoughts' and yet aware.
Mind is consciousness, which has limitations. We are originally unlimited and perfect. Later on we take on limitations and become the mind.
Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.
When one makes the mind stick to one thought, the mind becomes rock-steady and the energy is conserved.
The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True "I" enjoys the stillness of bliss.
When the mind is left without anything to cling to, it becomes still.
The inquiry "who am I" turns the mind introvert and makes it calm.
There is no mind to control if you realize the self. The mind having vanished, the self shines forth. In the realized man, the mind may be active or inactive, the self remains for him.
Meditation helps concentration of the mind. Then the mind is free from thoughts and is in the meditated form.
Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant meditation it gains strength.
When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.
See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away - the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.
The "I" thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts. The source of the "I" thought has to be enquired into.
The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self.
Real attainment is to be fully conscious, to be aware of surroundings and the people around, to move among them all, but not to merge consciousness in the environment. One should remain in inner independent awareness.
Once the current of awareness of the self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification.
Realization is to get rid of the delusion that you have not realized.
Good thoughts keep off bad thoughts. They must themselves disappear before the state of realization.
Realization is our true nature. It is nothing new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal. Therefore there is no need to be doubting whether we would gain or lose the self.
A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.
Turn the mind inward and cease thinking of yourself as the body; thereby you will come to know that the self is ever happy. Neither grief nor misery is experienced in this state.
When we see our self, there is no world; and when we lose sight of the self, we get ourselves bound in the world.
The self is like a pearl. To find it you must dive deep down into silence, deeper and ever deeper until it is reached.
The self is pure knowledge, pure delight where there is no duality.
The illuminated one who is happy in the peace of the self, without thought of the past and the future, and is like a mere witness of the present, has his knots of bondage cut.
He alone who has realized the self in the heart has known the Truth. Having transcended the dualities, he is never perplexed.
The self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself, within yourself.
A self-realized man remains happy without being affected by false appearances, whereas the ignorant man is miserable.
Seek the source of the ego, abide there for ever in the source and find yourself in bliss.
That pure consciousness which is the reality, and which shines without a break, as "I AM" when the mind becomes calm, is the supreme bliss.
The enlightened one that has become one with the unchanging supreme consciousness, like a river that has become one with the ocean, takes birth no more in a body.
All actions, past, present and future, become extinct in the case of a liberated one, because his sense of being the doer is gone; it was lost along with the ego, who alone was the doer.
You can never find mind through the mind. Go beyond it, and find it non-existent.
How is it possible for the mind to know the Lord who imparts His light to the mind, and shines within the mind, except by turning the mind inward and fixing it on the Lord?
Self realization is cessation of thoughts and of all mental activity. Thoughts are like bubbles upon the surface of the sea.
Stillness means 'being free from thoughts' and yet aware.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Self Inquiry
source: http://www.livewithyoga.net/self_inquiry.htm
Self Inquiry is a meditation technique for attaining enlightenment which is associated with Sri Ramana Maharishi..
The Sanskrit name for it, atma-vicara, really means self-investigation, self-examination, self-reflection, or looking within, but self-inquiry has become the standard translation.
History of Self-Inquiry
Self-inquiry is an ancient technique that dates back at least to the Upanisads. For example, the Katha Upanishad says:
The primeval one who is hard to perceive,
wrapped in mystery, hidden in the cave,
residing within the impenetrable depth-
Regarding him as god, an insight
gained by inner contemplation,
both sorrow and joy the wise abandon.
This is a summary of Ramana Maharshi's method, although it's written in indirect language. The "primeval one" in this verse is Brahman (the Self) and the "cave" is the heart center, so the meaning is: concentrate inwardly (on the feeling of me) until the innermost self is distinguished in the heart and recognized as God.
Ramana Maharshi was aware of the method's long history, for he himself pointed out that self-inquiry is described in book six of the Bhagvad Gita:
How to Do
David Godman wrote the best description of self-inquiry. It appears in two of his books, both of which we recommend highly. Here is what David wrote:
It was Sri Ramana's basic thesis that the individual self is nothing more than a thought or an idea. He said that this thought, which he called 'I'-thought, originates from a place called the Heart-centre, which he located on the right side of the chest in the human body.
From there the 'I'-thought rises up to the brain and identifies itself with the body:
'I am this body.' It then creates the illusion that there is a mind or an individual self which inhabits the body and which controls all its thoughts and actions. The 'I'-thought accomplishes this by identifying itself with all the thoughts and perceptions that go on in the body. For example, 'I' (that is the 'I'-thought) am doing this, 'I' am thinking this, 'I' am feeling happy, etc. Thus, the idea that one is an individual person is generated and sustained by the 'I'-thought and by its habit of constantly attaching itself to all the thoughts that arise. Sri Ramana maintained that one could reverse this process by depriving the 'I'-thought of all the thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. Sri Ramana taught that this 'I'-thought is actually an unreal entity, and that it only appears to exist when it identifies itself with other thoughts.
He said that if one can break the connection between the 'I'-thought and the thoughts it identifies with, then the 'I'-thought itself will subside and finally disappear. Sri Ramana suggested that holding onto the 'I' -thought, that is, the inner feeling of I 'or' I am and excluding all other thoughts, could do this. As an aid to keeping one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I', he recommended that one should constantly question oneself:
'Who am I?'
or
'Where does this "I" come from?'
He said that if one can keep one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I', and if one can exclude all other thoughts, then the 'I'-thought will start to subside into the Heart-centre.
This, according to Sri Ramana, is as much as the devotee can do by himself. When the devotee has freed his mind of all thoughts except the 'I'-thought, the power of the Self pulls the 'I'-thought back into the Heart-centre and eventually destroys it so completely that it never rises again. This is the moment of Self-realization. When this happens, the mind and the indvidual self (both of which Sri Ramama equated with the 'I'-thought) are destroyed forever. Only the Atman or the Self then remains.
A Common Misunderstanding
The key sentence in David Godman's description, quoted in the previous section, is this one:
"He [Ramana Maharshi] said that if one can keep one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I', and if one can exclude all other thoughts, then the 'I'-thought will start to subside into the Heart-centre."
As this sentence suggests, self-inquiry is basically about keeping the attention fixed on the I-thought - that is, on the feeling of me.
The word inquiry leads many people to think, wrongly, that the technique has more to do with asking questions than with focusing attention. Since the technique does involve questions, the misunderstanding is natural.
One of these questions, "Who Am I?", is the name of Ramana Maharshi's first written work. He meant to suggest that self-inquiry reveals the answer to this question, not that a seeker should ask the question over and over.
Self-inquiry also involves a second question, "To whom does this thought arise?" Ramana Maharshi advised meditators to ask this question whenever their concentration is interrupted by a thought, because the answer causes the attention to return to the feeling of me where it belongs.
Ramana Maharshi summed up his technique as follows:
What is essential in any sadhana [practice] is to try to bring back the running mind and fix it on one thing only. Why then should it not be brought back and fixed in Self-attention? That alone is Self-enquiry (atma-vicara). That is all that is to be done!
Contrast with Yoga
Ramana Maharshi often said that yoga and self-enquiry are two methods of controlling the mind, which he compared to an agitated bull. Yoga attempts to drive the bull with a stick, while self-enquiry coaxes it with green grass.
Technical Vocabulary
Two important technical terms are used with self-inquiry: I-thought and heart center. Neither is wholly original with Ramana Maharshi.
The term I-thought is the false notion that the mind (rather than the Self) is the seer or doer. (We refer to it in this article as the feeling of me because, well, that's what it feels like.) The term goes back at least as far as Sankara, the founder of Advaita Vedanta. He used several Sanskrit expressions for this idea: ahamdhi, ahampratyaya, ahamkriya, and ahamkara.
According to Sankara, "awareness of one's own Atman [i.e., the Self] is established at the time of the cessation of the 'I'-notion."7 This awareness and cessation are exactly what self-inquiry is designed to accomplish.
The second technical term, heart center, is a translation of the Sanskrit hridayam. According to Ramana Maharshi, this is where the Self is located. The I-thought rises from this location and, at the end of the process of self-inquiry, sinks back into it, causing self-realization. This idea goes back to the earliest Upanisads, where Brahman is found in the "cave of the heart".
Ramana Maharshi sometimes described the heart center as an actual object located in the right side of the chest, but at other times he said this was an oversimplification for people who couldn't understand the truth. According to H.W.L. Poonja, Ramana Maharshi told him: When I speak of the 'I' rising from the right side of the body, from a location on the right side of the chest, the information is for those people who still think that they are the body. To these people I say that the Heart is located there. But it is really not quite correct to say that the 'I' rises from and merges in the Heart on the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for the Reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body; there can be no in or out for it, since it alone is. I do not mean by 'Heart' any physiological organ or any plexus or anything like that…
A Quotation About Self-Inquiry
"Devotee: If I go on rejecting thoughts can I call it Vichara?
"Maharshi: It may be a stepping stone. But really Vichara begins when you cling to your Self and are already off the mental movement, the thought-waves."
Jnana yoga uses our considerable mental powers to end the duping process, to know that we are even now-and have always been-free, perfect, infinite, and immortal. Realizing that, we will also recognize in others the same divinity, the same purity and perfection. No longer confined to the painful limitations of "I" and "mine," we will see the one Brahman everywhere and in everything.
Self Inquiry is a meditation technique for attaining enlightenment which is associated with Sri Ramana Maharishi..
The Sanskrit name for it, atma-vicara, really means self-investigation, self-examination, self-reflection, or looking within, but self-inquiry has become the standard translation.
History of Self-Inquiry
Self-inquiry is an ancient technique that dates back at least to the Upanisads. For example, the Katha Upanishad says:
The primeval one who is hard to perceive,
wrapped in mystery, hidden in the cave,
residing within the impenetrable depth-
Regarding him as god, an insight
gained by inner contemplation,
both sorrow and joy the wise abandon.
This is a summary of Ramana Maharshi's method, although it's written in indirect language. The "primeval one" in this verse is Brahman (the Self) and the "cave" is the heart center, so the meaning is: concentrate inwardly (on the feeling of me) until the innermost self is distinguished in the heart and recognized as God.
Ramana Maharshi was aware of the method's long history, for he himself pointed out that self-inquiry is described in book six of the Bhagvad Gita:
How to Do
David Godman wrote the best description of self-inquiry. It appears in two of his books, both of which we recommend highly. Here is what David wrote:
It was Sri Ramana's basic thesis that the individual self is nothing more than a thought or an idea. He said that this thought, which he called 'I'-thought, originates from a place called the Heart-centre, which he located on the right side of the chest in the human body.
From there the 'I'-thought rises up to the brain and identifies itself with the body:
'I am this body.' It then creates the illusion that there is a mind or an individual self which inhabits the body and which controls all its thoughts and actions. The 'I'-thought accomplishes this by identifying itself with all the thoughts and perceptions that go on in the body. For example, 'I' (that is the 'I'-thought) am doing this, 'I' am thinking this, 'I' am feeling happy, etc. Thus, the idea that one is an individual person is generated and sustained by the 'I'-thought and by its habit of constantly attaching itself to all the thoughts that arise. Sri Ramana maintained that one could reverse this process by depriving the 'I'-thought of all the thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. Sri Ramana taught that this 'I'-thought is actually an unreal entity, and that it only appears to exist when it identifies itself with other thoughts.
He said that if one can break the connection between the 'I'-thought and the thoughts it identifies with, then the 'I'-thought itself will subside and finally disappear. Sri Ramana suggested that holding onto the 'I' -thought, that is, the inner feeling of I 'or' I am and excluding all other thoughts, could do this. As an aid to keeping one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I', he recommended that one should constantly question oneself:
'Who am I?'
or
'Where does this "I" come from?'
He said that if one can keep one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I', and if one can exclude all other thoughts, then the 'I'-thought will start to subside into the Heart-centre.
This, according to Sri Ramana, is as much as the devotee can do by himself. When the devotee has freed his mind of all thoughts except the 'I'-thought, the power of the Self pulls the 'I'-thought back into the Heart-centre and eventually destroys it so completely that it never rises again. This is the moment of Self-realization. When this happens, the mind and the indvidual self (both of which Sri Ramama equated with the 'I'-thought) are destroyed forever. Only the Atman or the Self then remains.
A Common Misunderstanding
The key sentence in David Godman's description, quoted in the previous section, is this one:
"He [Ramana Maharshi] said that if one can keep one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I', and if one can exclude all other thoughts, then the 'I'-thought will start to subside into the Heart-centre."
As this sentence suggests, self-inquiry is basically about keeping the attention fixed on the I-thought - that is, on the feeling of me.
The word inquiry leads many people to think, wrongly, that the technique has more to do with asking questions than with focusing attention. Since the technique does involve questions, the misunderstanding is natural.
One of these questions, "Who Am I?", is the name of Ramana Maharshi's first written work. He meant to suggest that self-inquiry reveals the answer to this question, not that a seeker should ask the question over and over.
Self-inquiry also involves a second question, "To whom does this thought arise?" Ramana Maharshi advised meditators to ask this question whenever their concentration is interrupted by a thought, because the answer causes the attention to return to the feeling of me where it belongs.
Ramana Maharshi summed up his technique as follows:
What is essential in any sadhana [practice] is to try to bring back the running mind and fix it on one thing only. Why then should it not be brought back and fixed in Self-attention? That alone is Self-enquiry (atma-vicara). That is all that is to be done!
Contrast with Yoga
Ramana Maharshi often said that yoga and self-enquiry are two methods of controlling the mind, which he compared to an agitated bull. Yoga attempts to drive the bull with a stick, while self-enquiry coaxes it with green grass.
Technical Vocabulary
Two important technical terms are used with self-inquiry: I-thought and heart center. Neither is wholly original with Ramana Maharshi.
The term I-thought is the false notion that the mind (rather than the Self) is the seer or doer. (We refer to it in this article as the feeling of me because, well, that's what it feels like.) The term goes back at least as far as Sankara, the founder of Advaita Vedanta. He used several Sanskrit expressions for this idea: ahamdhi, ahampratyaya, ahamkriya, and ahamkara.
According to Sankara, "awareness of one's own Atman [i.e., the Self] is established at the time of the cessation of the 'I'-notion."7 This awareness and cessation are exactly what self-inquiry is designed to accomplish.
The second technical term, heart center, is a translation of the Sanskrit hridayam. According to Ramana Maharshi, this is where the Self is located. The I-thought rises from this location and, at the end of the process of self-inquiry, sinks back into it, causing self-realization. This idea goes back to the earliest Upanisads, where Brahman is found in the "cave of the heart".
Ramana Maharshi sometimes described the heart center as an actual object located in the right side of the chest, but at other times he said this was an oversimplification for people who couldn't understand the truth. According to H.W.L. Poonja, Ramana Maharshi told him: When I speak of the 'I' rising from the right side of the body, from a location on the right side of the chest, the information is for those people who still think that they are the body. To these people I say that the Heart is located there. But it is really not quite correct to say that the 'I' rises from and merges in the Heart on the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for the Reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body; there can be no in or out for it, since it alone is. I do not mean by 'Heart' any physiological organ or any plexus or anything like that…
A Quotation About Self-Inquiry
"Devotee: If I go on rejecting thoughts can I call it Vichara?
"Maharshi: It may be a stepping stone. But really Vichara begins when you cling to your Self and are already off the mental movement, the thought-waves."
Jnana yoga uses our considerable mental powers to end the duping process, to know that we are even now-and have always been-free, perfect, infinite, and immortal. Realizing that, we will also recognize in others the same divinity, the same purity and perfection. No longer confined to the painful limitations of "I" and "mine," we will see the one Brahman everywhere and in everything.
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