Inner Journey

Spiritual Activities-- the easy way

Atma Vichara or Self-Enquiry

Our mind always seeks objects outside itself.It always looks through a window into outside world.In this, the mind is aided by the five senses. [The mind forms the sixth sense.]
What if the mind turns on itself? What if the mind starts investigating itself? After all, mind is composed of thoughts only.---thoughts of outside world---other objects....Note that our body is also an outside object!
  When the thoughts cease, the mind subsides in the heart or cave of the Self. If it happens for a short while, we have mano-laya ...it is temporary, thoughts erupt again.Mind is again in full form...[ Thr heart is not the physical heart ,but the seat of consciousness.]..
If the mind is obliterated or annihilated, we have mano-nasam....With this ,Self is seen as such...note that the Self is effulgent,always shining...it is obscured by the currents of thoughts or active mind----like a cloud that may hide the sun.  
How to turn the mind inward? How to create the state of cessation of thoughts or still the mind?  The thought of 'I' is the fundamental,basic thought. Every thought has basis or reference to "I" thought....Only after the "I" thought arises, all other thoughts erupt.....[A child develops the "I" thought very early, most probably in the fourth month of its existence in a mother's womb.] Find the source of "I" thought...this is the path of "WHO AM I" enquiry of Bhagavan Ramana...Find the source from which the "I " thought arises.....
[The enquiry of  'Who am I' is an enquiry...it is not mantra to be repeated...It is not the same as the meditation on " I am Thou" or 'Tat Tvam Asi' , because there is subject ' I' and an object 'Thou'.in this meditation.
....In self-enquiry, there is no external object---there is only "I AM".....Therefore the meditation 'I AM" is the path of enquiry.' I Am That I Am' is a valid statement of this path.
This in brief is the path of Self-enquiry, "Who Am I?".

The Advaitic State

In this state, the subject-object-knowing the object --- all the three merge together...where is the subject? where is th e Object? ------There is no action of knowing or perceiving or enjoying the object....
In that state, in that state only, the world is an illusion ---there is no world except in the mind while you are in that state.[When you return to relative plane, you are the subject, the external world exists as much as you exist.]
For most persons, this state is a temporary one...Only a few sages have had  this state established permanently..they are the Jivan Muktas---liberated while living---I shall have more to say on Jivan Mukti state in a later article.[Bhagavan Ramana told Yogi Ramiah once: " Subject and object are distinct in the phenomenal world to the ordinary man.But in samadhi they merge and become one."]
If you see the world, then you can not see the Self...If you see the Self, you can not see the world.-----Only those in Sahaja Samadhi can experience both the world and the Self at the same time--like Bhagavan Ramana.....[The state of Nir-vikalpa samadhi is again temporary and limited.]
The Jnani may have experienced Savi-kalpa or Nirvikalpa samadhi state for brief periods.He retains a small bit of ego  or Aham thoughts...he returns to normal plane and moves among the people for the welfare of the world [lokasangraha]....Those who had experienced Nirvikalpa state may leave the body at will at any time....others have to work out their remaining karmas [prarabda] and live the left-over life like normal persons.
   It is a moot point whether a person with Nirvi-kalpa experience will gather fresh karma [due to good or bad deeds].My view is that such a person is like a burnt seed--cannot gather fresh karmas, but had to dispense with old ones operating now...but this point is debatable.!
   There is no action as such for Jivan mukthas, though they may appear to be acting in this world for other observers like us. This does not mean that Jivan mukthas or those with Nirvi-kalpa samadhi experience can act bad or commit crimes.Obviously the Divine Force will protect them from committing sinful acts and their problems.'They can do no wrong'--we say.
   Till one establishes himself in Sahaja samadhi, one has to act,do one's duties or self-appointed tasks for 'lokasangraha'---for the welfare of the world..It is wrong to say that one should not do anything but remain idle.[.One would develop the feeling that one is not the doer from self/ego angle;but everything is done prompted by the Self or Atman.Actions may drop off on their own.....
  [ There is a concept floating around that one need not make any effort, everything will happen as it will.This ,in my view, is a wrong concept and highly  misleading.One cannot be like a vegetable.One should make effort,but with the feeling that the fruits should be given or sacrificed to God,that is, without the feeling that one is the doer.We are instruments in the hand of God.Mother Teresa said beautifully that she is a small pencil in the hand of God.Lord Krishna told in the Gita that he has to work for setting an example for the humanity!]

  "When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed,There will be realization of the Self which is the Seer.The nature of Awareness is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss [Sat-chit-ananda]"
                                   ---Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi

Knowledge versus Experience

This is a topic of much controversy in Hindu/Vedanta schools.Knowledge , as commonly understood, is confined to scriptural study.[Chanting and study of vedas,upanishads [vedanta], the Gita, the Sutras and so on(parayanam & adhyayanam)]Experience is what you 'get' as a result of Yoga of any kind [the major yogas being: karma,Raja(Dhyana),bhakti and Jnana, with other minor variations].In simpler terms, knowledge is often misunderstood as Sampradaya or traditional method.Yoga and experience is every thing outside it.What a narrow view our teachers/acharyas/gurus have developed over the past century or so.!
  It is common to send an aspiring student or sadhaka to another teacher/guru because you don't want to teach him the tradition/sampradaya scriptural learning.You want to preserve the tradition or purity of teaching that way!
Knowledge, unfortunately, is not just learning or sravana.This should be followed by 'manana' [reflection with discussions] and by 'nidhidhyasana' [deep thinking and meditation.]Most teachers/gurus stop with sravana part ;the other two  steps are left to the student; the teacher is too busy anyway on his/her lecture/course/satsang  tours.
Experience ,following the yoga method, is often long,tortuous [not direct],full of thorns [doubts in the mind,dark night of the soul] and requires a commitment to the method and to one's guru.
It is easy to talk about the results of both the methods.'Brahma Vid Brahmaiva Bhavathi' ---one who 'knows' Brahman becomes Brahman---is a famous Upanishadic statement.Knowledge path finders repeat this often to satisfy their students..Experience leads to 'Reality',super or cosmic consciousness,bliss [ananda] or "sat-Chit-Ananada' swarupa or form.
Which is better? Knowledge or Experience...Can one lead to another?---This topic has divided and confused  Vedantic teachers  for centuries.....I am not trying to 'resolve' this dispute;it is almost impossible.What I would suggest is proper appreciation of both the approaches and follow what suits you best..most often depending on the Guru or school you are attracted to....But, it is unfair or premature for any teacher  to denounce the other method and the teachers who follow the  opposite method...You can do that after you get your bliss or liberation or become Jivan muktha...well, then you would have become silent or left this world...
I  have discussed this in the advanced Advaita  section because a beginner may not be unnecessarily entangled  in such controversies.

Mind and the World

There is  great counsel from the Uddhava Gita [Srimad Bhagavatam,Mukthi Skanda] when Lord Krishna says:
"The entire world comes out of your mind.The things of the world are only thoughts.The world is firmly seated in your mind and you are always thinking of worldly things.Throw away both the mind and the world. Remain  in the form of Supreme Being.This is the ultimate teaching in sadhana or spiritual practice."
Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi repeatedly stated the same thing as his main teaching for nearly 50 years in Thiruvannamalai.

 

Awakening and Enlightenment approaches

In modern times, one wants to get enlightened or awakened ,as Lord Buddha or Bhagwan Ramana  by an easy method...There seem to be several teachers who give satsanghs [lecture plus discussion] which may create an awareness of Advaitic thoughts leading to " self-realization' or awakening /enlightenment in the Advaitic sense.The neo-advaitic teachers suggest that it is easy to get awakened by attending their satsanghs/discussions/retreats and leave with full enlightenment ,ready to teach to others the new found philosophy /method for enlightenment.By this process, like attending a management seminar of a few days, many are led to believe that ,if one gets attached to a master who can do this, one's work is done.....

  All that the master or satsangh-giver can do ,is to create an awareness ,some clarity on advaita thought...It is altogether a different matter to control one's mind and realize the Self, in the true advaitic sense..For this there is no other means but meditation on the Self ,with devotional methods proviing a mental cleaning process....like clearing the ground, before you build your cottage....

  Proximity to the Guru for long periods with silence of the mind can lead to "glimpse of reality'...this is a temporary thing ---a kind of foretaste of Absolute Existence or Bliss.In Hindu tradition ,we would say that even this glimpse is an act of grace by Guru/God/Self and just not due to one's own effort.One's effort paves the way, but Grace is essential for final denouement or illumination to get even this glimpse....

But those who experience the Glimpse,cannot rest...they have to 'stabilise ' their experience when they return to dual,mundane world....this is a tough ,long process...or else, old tendencies or vasanas /impressions would erupt again and the person becomes a normal person with all mean tendencies, not necessarily evil ones....There are many instances of those who had glimpses of Reality  falling into bad ways of drug abuse and debauchery,especially after leaving an ashram and control of a guru.The present author is familiar with several such instances in modern India.

 Therefore the present tendency to intellectualise the advaitic process or self-enquiry with attending sat sanghs and some practice of meditation is of limited effect, though many such gurus may claim to 'awaken or enlighten' hundreds of followers. Some even attest that there had been thousands of awakened beings or souls in recent years, particularly after the teachings and lectures/books of Poonjaji and Ramesh Balsekar had gained popularity  and currency in the west [after 1980's..that is,....It is a moot point and highly debatable how far these masters and others like them closely  followed the teachings of Bhagavan Ramana or Nisargadatta or other great masters  ,though they may quote from them freely and claim to be in their 'lineage'...

The wrong notion of 'one being already enlightened or awakened'  with affairs in a dualistic world is more harmful than leading a life of spiritual ignorance..In an absolute sense, all souls are fully awakened and there is nothing to awaken as such...but in relative world of living--with money.commerce,food and rest issues and of course sex ,occupying one's mind in the waking state,you are not awakened ,but still in the meshes of dualistic snare..in mayic world which creates fluctuations of joys and sorrows,success and failure...Such notions of being enlightened are purely intellectual exercise to bolster one's ego that one has got enlightened on such and such a date with such and such master.

A greater depth of approach to advaitic process  is called for and not the superficial understanding/teaching of modern day Advaitic teachers/gurus.

Satsanghs as practised today has its value in educating seekers with knowledge of Advaita and in learning some means in this path.But Self-realization or attaining the status of Jnani is different. Those who have attained self-realization may not procalim as such,but merely indicate thier status by their behavior,not supported by their followers or media coverage. Often only their intimate disciples,usually about a dozen persons may know that the  master is self-realized soul...that owuld be blessing indeed.

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