Happiness of Being Experience It As It Actually Is

7/7/2016 HappinessofBeingTheTeachingsofBhagavanSriRamanaMaharshi:SincewealwaysexperienceI,wedonotneedtofindI,butonlyneed...
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HappinessofBeingThe
TeachingsofBhagavanSri
RamanaMaharshi
Acollectionofarticlesdiscussingthephilosophyandpracticeofthe
spiritualteachingsofBhagavanSriRamana,writtenbyMichaelJames
andforminganextensionofhismainwebsite,
www.happinessofbeing.com.
ArticlesDiscussingthe
Philosophyand
Practiceofthe
SpiritualTeachingsof
BhagavanSriRamana
Saturday, 31 May 2014
SincewealwaysexperienceI,wedonotneed
tofindI,butonlyneedtoexperienceitasit
actuallyis
Inmypreviousarticle,ThemindsroleininvestigatingI,I
repliedtosomeofthecommentsonmyearlierarticle,How
toattendtoI?,andinthisarticleIwilldiscusssomeofthe
otherissuesraisedinthecommentsonthatarticle.
BhagavanSriRamana
AboutThisBlog
Welcometothisblog,whichis
anextensionofmymain
website,HappinessofBeing,
andwhichisdedicatedto
discussingthephilosophyand
practiceofthespiritual
teachingsofoursadguru,
BhagavanSriRamana.
Thisblogisagrowingarchive
ofarticlesthatIhavewritten
fromtimetotimecontaining
mytranslationsofversesand
otherpassagesfromthe
Insomeofthelatercommentsonthatarticle,mentionis
madeaboutthedifficultysomepeoplehaveinfindingIin
ordertoattendtoit,whichsuggeststhatwhatItriedto
explaininthatarticlewasnotsufficientlyclear.WhatItried
toexplaintherewasthattheideaIcannotfindIorIhave
difficultyexperiencingIimpliesthattherearetwoIs,oneof
whichcannotfindorexperiencetheotherone,whereasin
factthereisonlyoneI,whichweeachexperienceclearly,
andwhichthereisthereforenoneedforustofind.
SriRamanausedtosaythattryingtofindIasifwedonot
alreadyexperienceitislikesomeonesearchingtofindtheir
glasseswheninfacttheyarealreadywearingthem.
Whateverelsewemayexperience,wealwaysexperienceit
asIamexperiencingthis,soanyexperiencepresupposes
ourfundamentalexperienceIam.Wehavenever
experiencedamomentwhenwehavenotexperiencedI,but
becausewearesointerestedintheotherthingsthatwe
experience,wetendtotakeIforgranted(justaswetake
thescreenforgrantedwhenwearewatchingafilm),and
henceweusuallyoverlookthefactthatwealwaysexperience
I.
SincewealreadyexperienceIclearlyandcertainly,whydo
weneedtoinvestigateit?Thoughweclearlyexperiencethe
http://happinessofbeing.blogspot.tw/2014/05/sincewealwaysexperienceiwedonot.html
1/55
writingsofSriRamanaandhis
closestdisciples,particularly
SriMuruganarandSriSadhu
Om,myrecordingsofsomeof
theexplanationsthatIheard
fromSriSadhuOm,andmy
ownmusingsaboutthe
philosophy,scienceandartof
trueselfknowledgeastaught
bySriRamana.
factthatIam,wedonotclearlyexperiencewhatIam,
becausewenowconfuseIwithotherthingssuchasour
bodyandmind.Solongasweexperienceanythingelse,our
experienceofIwillalwaysbecloudedandconfused(but
neveractuallyconcealed),sowewillnotexperienceI
(ourself)asitactuallyis.Thereforeweneedtoinvestigate
whatthisIactuallyis(whoamI)bytryingtofocusour
entireattentionuponit(ourself)aloneinordertoexperience
itincompleteisolationfromeverythingelse.
Anorganisedlistofallthe
mainarticlesinthisblog,
arrangedunderseveral
differentheadings,isgivenon
theArticlespageofthemain
HappinessofBeingwebsite.
SolongaswethinkofIassomethingthatwecannotfind,
wearetakingittobesomethingotherthanourself,theI
whoistryingtofindit,andtherebyweareaddingtoour
confusion.Therefore,inordertoinvestigateI,weneedto
giveuptheideathatwearelookingforsomethingwedonot
alreadyexperienceforsomeIthatisotherthanourself.
TheIthatistobeinvestigatedistheIthattriesto
investigateit,sothefactthatIexperiencemyselfwantingto
investigateIisclearproofthatIalreadyexperiencetheI
(myself)thatIwanttoinvestigate.Thereforeself
investigation(tmavicra)isastateofselfattentiveness
aperfectlynondualstateinwhichIamattentivelyawareof
nothingotherthanImyself.
Allthearticlesinthisblogare
alsoclearlyindexedintwo
sectionsfurtherdowninthis
leftmargin,firstlyaccordingto
dateinreversechronological
orderundertheheading
ArticleArchive,andsecondly
ingreaterdetailaccordingto
subjectarranged
alphabeticallyunderthe
headingIndexofTopics.
MichaelJames
www.happinessofbeing.com
Searchthisblog
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handcornerofthispagewill
onlysearchforwordsinthe
articles,notinthecomments,
soifyouwanttosearchthis
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ArticleArchive
2016(16)
2015(45)
2014(55)
InEnglishwhenwesayattendto,itsuggestsonething
attendingtoanotherthing,andwhenwesaypaying
attentionto,itsuggeststhatattendingisanaction.
However,whatwemaycrudelyandinadequatelydescribeas
payingattentiontooneselforpayingattentiontoIis
neitheracaseofonethingattendingtoanotherthing,noris
itanactionofanysort.ThereforeSriSadhuOmusedtosay
thatinthecaseofselfattention,itisnotamatterofpaying
attentionbutofjustbeingattention.Likewise,ratherthan
describingthepracticeoftmavicraasattendingtoself,it
isperhapsclearerandmoreaccuratetodescribeitsimplyas
beingselfattentive.
Notonlyisselfattentiveness(thestateofjustbeingself
attentive)notanaction,itisalsonotastateofduality,
becauseitisastateinwhichthereisabsolutelyno
distinctionbetweentheexperiencerandtheexperienced
thatis,itisastateinwhichtheexperiencingIexperiences
nothingotherthanitself.Thisiswhy(aspointedoutby
Wittgensteininhisfinalcomment)SriRamanasaidinthe
lasttwolinesofverse33ofUl
l
aduNpadu:

taaivid
ayamkkavirutun
d
vo
yaaivaraubhtiyun
maiyl.
:
2/55
December(4)
November(5)
October(4)
September(5)
August(5)
July(5)
June(4)
May(5)
SincewealwaysexperienceI,
wedonotneedto...
Themindsroleininvestigating
I
HowtoattendtoI?
Thereisnodifferencebetween
investigatingwho...
tmavicra:stressandother
relatedissues
April(4)
March(4)
February(4)
January(6)
2013(2)
2011(4)
2010(2)
2009(23)
2008(26)
2007(74)
2006(7)
IndexofTopics
ahasphuran
a(3)
ahis(2)
ajta(5)
maViddai(18)
Appal
aPt
t
u(1)
Arunachala(11)
BhagavadGt(2)
BhagavanSriRamanaMaharshi
(229)
bhakti(devotion)(31)
citakti(3)
consciousness(72)
dream(68)
effort(38)
ego(85)
kmaPacakam(14)
God(50)
grace(13)
guru(21)
GuruVcakaKvai(47)
HappinessandtheArtofBeing
(73)
justbeing(summairuppadu)
(38)
karma(7)
Padacchdam(wordseparation):taaivid
ayam
kkairutun
d
?ouyaaivaraubhti
un
mail.
Englishtranslation:Tomakeoneselfanobject
known(vis
aya),aretheretwoselves?Because
beingoneisthetruthofeveryonesexperience.
OnlyifthereweresomeIotherthanourselfcouldwe
experienceitasanobject,butthereisobviouslyonlyoneI
thatweeverexperience,soitcanneverbecomeavis
aya
anobjectofourexperienceorknowledge.However,though
wecannotexperienceIasanobject,wedoalways
experienceitasourself,soweexperienceIjustbybeingI.
Thusselfexperience,selfknowledgeorselfawarenessis
whatweactuallyare,soitisnotsomethingtobenewly
achieved.
However,sinceselfexperienceisabsolutelynondualand
infinite(thatis,devoidofanydivisionorlimitation
whatsoever),initspristinestatethereisabsolutelynoroom
initforanyexperienceofanythingelse(becausethe
experienceorevenexistenceofanythingelsewoulddivide
andlimititsundividedandinfinitewholeness).Hencesolong
asweseemtoexperienceanythingotherthanourself,our
pristineselfexperienceseemstobeobscured,sowe
seeminglydonotexperienceourselfasweactuallyare.
Therefore,inordertoexperienceourselfasweactuallyare,
weneedtoexperienceourselfalone,incompleteisolation
fromanyotherexperience.ThisiswhySriRamanasaidin
thelasttwolinesofverse579ofGuruVcakaKvai:

.
upyamundyupyamund
yabhdamkkn
kavavai.
:
,
Padacchdam(wordseparation):upyamum
t,upyamumt.abhdamkn
gaavai.
Englishtranslation:Thegoalisonlyself,andthe
meansisonlyself.Knowthemtobenondifferent.
Sinceourgoalistoexperienceourselfasweactuallyare,the
meanstoattainthisgoalcannotbeanythingotherthan
tryingtoexperienceourselfasweactuallyare,whichwecan
achieveonlybyattendingtoourselfalone,therebyexcluding
everythingelsefromourexperienceorawareness.Inother
3/55
kun
d
alin(2)
manonasa(annihilationofmind)
(19)
my(17)
NYr?(WhoamI?)(101)
philosophyofSriRamana(95)
practicetaughtbySriRamana
(123)
SdhanaiSram(3)
satsanga(7)
selfforgetfulness(16)
selfinvestigation(tmavicra)
(211)
selflove(19)
selfsurrender(36)
silence(mauna)(10)
sleep(62)
rArun
calaAks
araman
amlai
(5)
rArun
calaAs
t
akam(6)
rArun
calaPadikam(1)
rArun
calaPacaratnam(5)
rArun
calaStutiPacakam(9)
SriMuruganar(22)
SriSadhuOm(37)
SriSivaprakasamPillai(4)
ThePathofSriRamana(12)
TheTruthofOtherness(6)
transitiveawareness(sut
t
aivu)
(7)
Ul
l
aduNpadu(101)
Ul
l
aduNpaduAnubandham(7)
UpadaMajari(3)
UpadaNmlai(10)
UpadaSram(3)
UpadaTaippkkal
(18)
UpadaUndiyr(79)
VicraSagraham(3)
RecentComments
OnJul08RogerIsaacs
commentedonNamesAnd
FormsAreAllJustThoughts:
HiMichael,Thanksfor
addressingmyquestion.Your
answer,thatthereisonlyone
Mindper
OnJul08RogerIsaacs
commentedonNamesAnd
Hi"Yes,thereishope":You
say:Yourobviouspreference
forexactbutlongwinded
OnJul07SpiritualNovice
commentedonNamesAnd
words,sincepurenondualselfawarenessisourrealnature,
inordertoexperienceourrealnaturewhatweactuallyare
wemusttrytobeawareofnothingotherthanourself.
Keenlyfocusedandvigilantlyattentiveselfawarenessisthe
onlymeansbywhichwecanexperiencethepurenondual
selfawarenessthatweactuallyare.
SincewearealwaysclearlyselfawareawarethatIam,
eventhoughwenowconfuseourselfwithotherthingsthat
arenotwhatweactuallyareallweneedtodoisjustto
focusourentireattentionorawarenessonourself
awarenessalone,therebyexcludingeverythingelsefromour
attentionorawareness.Inotherwords,whatweneedto
experienceisnotanythingthatwedonotalready
experience,butisonlywhatwealwaysexperience(namelyI
am)butweneedtoexperienceitwithoutanyoftheother
thingsthatwesometimesexperiencealongwithit.
InanearliercommentWittgensteinsuggeststhatforthose
whoareinterestedinpractisingtmavicrabuthave
difficultyfindingI,itmaybeusefultotrywatchingthe
breathingprocessforawhile,becausethiswilltendtomake
thebreathslowdown,andwhenthebreathslowsdown
thinkingwillalsoslowdown.Hethensuggeststhatwhen
thinkingslowsdownsufficiently,theattentionshouldbe
shiftedtothe(relatively)thoughtfreeawarenessthat
remains,becausehesaysthisawarenessisI,andhenceit
shouldbeeasyforonetorecogniseitasI.
BeforeIdiscusstheputativeefficacyofthistechnique,there
aretwootherideasmentionedherebyWittgensteinthat
needsomeclarification.Firstly,therelativelycalmstateof
mindthatresultsfromattendingtothebreathisnotastate
ofcompletelythoughtfreeawareness,butonlyastateof
partiallyorrelativelythoughtfreeawareness,becauseeven
theideathisisthoughtfreeawarenessorIamnow
experiencingnothoughtsisitselfathought.AccordingtoSri
Ramana,whateverwemayexperienceotherthanour
essentialselfourpure,adjunctfreeIisonlya
thought,andeventheIthatexperiencesanythingother
thanourpureIisitselfathought,becauseitisaconfused
andconflatedmixtureofourpureIandvariousadjuncts
(thoughts)thatwemistaketobeI,soheoftenreferredtoit
as
(neumen
n
am)or
(neumniaivu),thethoughtcalledIoridea
calledI,andinverse18ofUpadaUndiyrhesaysthatit
istherootofallotherthoughts,becauseitistheprimal
thoughtthatexperiencesbothitselfandallotherthoughts,
andhencenootherthoughtcanexistorbeexperienced
withoutit.AshesaysinthefifthparagraphofNYr?(Who
amI?):
[...]


4/55
Michael,section4.HowcanI
convincemyselfofthetruthof
Bhagavan's
statement:'What
OnJul07Yes,ThereIsHope
commentedonNamesAnd
RogerIsaacs,oneafterthe
other1.)Thankyouforyour
counterinvitation,buthow
couldIasa
OnJul07MichaelJames
commentedonNamesAnd
Incontinuationofmy
previouscommentinreplyto
Roger:Incomparisontoany
nameorform,theego
OnJul07MichaelJames
commentedonNamesAnd
Roger,intwoofyourrecent
comments(thisoneandthis)
youinferthatbyusingthe
termsubtle
OnJul07RogerIsaacs
commentedonNamesAnd
Hi"yesthereishope",yousay
"...letmeinviteyoupriortoall
considerations
OnJul07PeanutBreeder
commentedonCanOurMind
BeTooStrongForOur:
Michael,regardingyour
commentof5July2016at
11:18inreplytoSanjay:1.
"Whetherweare
OnJul06SanjayLohia
commentedonNamesAnd
Mouna,thesetranscripts
definitelydonotmatchthe
appealofMichael'svideos,
because,as
OnJul06SanjayLohia
commentedonNamesAnd
Incontinuationofmy
previouscomment(on
scientifictheories)Devotee:So

.[...]
[...]maadiltumniaivugal
ellvaikumn
eumniaivmudalniaivu.idueundapiah
aiyaniaivugal
eugiaa.[...]
[...]Ofallthethoughtsthatappearinthemind,
thethoughtcalledIaloneisthefirst[primal,
basic,originalorcausal]thought.Onlyafterthis
risesdootherthoughtsrise.[...]
Therefore,unlessthisthoughtcalledI(theegooressence
ofthemind)hassubsidedentirely,whateverstatewemay
experienceisnotastateofcompletelythoughtfree
awareness,and(asSriRamanasaysinverse13ofUpada
Undiyr)thereareonlytwotypesofstateinwhichthis
thoughtcalledIhassubsidedentirely,namelyany
temporarysubsidenceofmind(suchassleep),whichis
calledmanlaya(abeyanceofmind),orthepermanent
subsidenceofmind,whichiscalledmanna(annihilationof
mind),andwhichisactuallyournaturalstate,ourrealand
eternalstateofpureselfawareness,whichistheonereality
thatunderliesandsupportsthefalseappearanceofallour
otherstates.Thereforeotherthanmanlayaormanna,
nostatethatwemayexperiencecanbecompletelythought
free,becauseourprimalthoughtcalledIispresentinitas
theexperiencerofwhateverisbeingexperienced.Moreover,
notonlyisthisprimalthoughtitselfathought,butitalso
cannotexistwithoutattendingtosomeotherthought(no
matterhowsubtlethatotherthoughtmaybe),soitcan
neverexperienceastateofcompletelythoughtfree
awareness.AsSriRamanasaysinthefourthparagraphof
NYr?:
[...]

.[...]
[...]maameppdumorusthlattaiyausaritt
nikumtaiyynilldu.[...]
[...]Themind[theessenceofwhichisourprimal
thoughtcalledI]standsonlybyalwaysgoing
after[attendingandtherebyattachingitselfto]a
grossobject[someotherthought]solitarilyit
doesnotstand.[...]
ThesecondideamentionedbyWittgensteinthatrequires
clarificationistheassumptionthattherelativelythoughtfree
awarenessthatresultsfromattendingtothebreathisI,
becausethismayormaynotbecorrect,dependingonwhat
thetermawarenessisunderstoodtomeaninthiscontext.
Ifitisunderstoodtomeanthatwhichisawareoftherelative
reductioninmentalactivity,thenthatisI(albeitinits
5/55
Bhagavanisactually,
OnJul06Mounacommented
onNamesAndFormsAreAll
JustThoughts:Sanjayji,Very
usefultranscripts,thankyou
andfunnyenough,theycreate
adifferentexperiencein
OnJul06SanjayLohia
commentedonNamesAnd
Intheultimateanalysisall
ourscientifictheoriesare
useless:videodated822014
(1:42
OnJul06Thangakkai
commentedonNamesAnd
Michael,wouldyouplease
answerthreequestions
wanderingoffthesubject?1.
DidSriRamana
OnJul06OruPorul
commentedonWhenCan
ThereBeTotalRecognition:
Michael,manythanksfor
havingoccupiedyourselfwith
thetrivialdescriptionofa
beginners
OnJul06InSearchOfMy
FathercommentedonWhatIs
IFeelingAndDoWeNeedTo
Be:Michael,Ithankyou
gratefullyforyouryet
again/repeatedclarifying
detailedandexplanatory
OnJul06MichaelJames
commentedonWhenCan
ThereBeTotalRecognition:
OruPorul,thekeyto
understandingwhatBhagavan
meanswhenhesaysthatthe
worldisunrealis
OnJul06MichaelJames
commentedonWhatIsI
FeelingAndDoWeNeedTo
Be:InSearchofMyFather,
theanswertoboththe
questionsyouaskinyourfirst
commentistheego,
OnJul06TanmayaNishta
adjunctmixedformastheego),butifitisunderstoodto
meanawarenessinthesenseofacognitionorexperienceof
fewerthoughts,thanthatisnotI,becauseIiswhat
experiencesthatawarenessorcognition.
Forexample,ifIamawareofthepresenceorabsenceof
trafficnoiseoutside,thatawarenessofnoiseornonoiseis
notI,becauseIamwhatexperiencesthatawareness.
Likewise,awarenessthatthoughtsarepresentorthatthey
seemtobeabsentisnotI,becauseIamwhatexperiences
thatawareness,soattendingtothatawarenessisnot
attendingtoI.However,ifwesaythatIamtheawareness
thatisawareofthatawarenessoftherelativeabsenceof
thought,inthefirstofthesetwosensesthewordawareness
doesrefertoI.Thereforeawarenessisanambiguousterm,
sointhiscontextitcanleadtoconfusionand
misunderstanding(whichisincidentallywhythepopular
descriptionofthepracticeoftmavicraasbeing
awarenesswatchingawarenesscanbeeasilymisunderstood
andisthereforepotentiallymisleading).
Thatis,awarenessorconsciousnessusuallymeansthe
qualityorconditionofbeingawareorconsciousofsomething
otherthanI,sointhatsenseitisnotI,becauseitisa
frequentlychangingconditionandhenceimpermanent.
However,thetermsawarenessorconsciousnesscanalso
beusedtodenotethatwhichisawareorconsciousof
anything,sointhatsenseitisI(albeitonlytheegosolong
asitisawareofanythingotherthanitself).Therefore,ifone
achievesarelativereductioninonesthinkingormental
activitybyconcentratingonesattentionononesbreathing
oronanythingelseotherthanI,weshouldnotassumethat
thatrelativelythoughtfreestateofawarenessisI,but
shouldtrytobeawareonlyoftheIthatisawareofthat
state.
Whateverwemayexperience,whetheraseeminglythought
freeawarenessoranythingelse,weshouldalwaysaimto
penetratedeeperwithinourselfbytryingtoexperiencewho
amIwhoamexperiencingthis.Solongasweexperience
anythingthatwecannameordescribeorconceiveinany
waywhatsoeverevenifwecanconceiveofitonlyasthis
isIitisnotwhatIactuallyam,becauseIambeyondthe
reachorgraspingpowerofanyword,thought,ideaor
concept,soweneedtopenetratestilldeeperintoourself
awarenessinordertodistilandextractfromitthevery
essencethatisactuallyI.
Regardingthetechniqueofwatchingthebreathingprocess,I
haveheardotherpeoplealsosayingthattheyfoundthis
techniquetobeuseful,soIdonotwanttodiscourage
anyonewhomaybehelpedbyit,butImustsaythatit
seemstobeaveryroundaboutwayofachievingsomething
thatcanbeachievedmuchmoreeasilyanddirectlybysimply
understandingthatwedonotneedtofindI,becauseIis
6/55
commentedonNamesAnd
Mouna,ToyourAmenIsay
amen.Farewell!
OnJul06Yes,ThereIsHope
commentedonNamesAnd
RogerIsaacs,asyousaythe
egoisactuallyverytricky.Of
courseyoudislike'false
unity'
OnJul06RogerIsaacs
commentedonNamesAnd
HiNoob&Passerby:Noob
says:Itisnormalfortheego
to"strive"fordetailedsteps
OnJul06RogerIsaacs
commentedonNamesAnd
RogerPART2MJtranslates
above"whenthesubtlemind
comesoutthroughtheportal
ofthe
OnJul06RogerIsaacs
commentedonNamesAnd
RogerPART1(whyisit
Michaelcanwrite25pagesbut
Iamlimitedto4,000
charactersperpost?
JustThoughts:
tanmaya,Amen.
OnJul05TanmayaNishta
commentedonNamesAnd
Mouna,Maya'sveilingpower
isonlyanothernameofthis
ego,isn'tit?Theego's
JustThoughts:maya,Maybe
youdidn'tnotice,butatno
pointIsaidthatthereisno
ego.Ionlyaskeda
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understandingthatwedonotneedtofindI,becauseIis
whatweexperiencealways,sowecanlearntoinvestigateI
simplybytryingtobeexclusivelyselfattentivethatis,
awareofourselfalone,therebywithdrawingourattention
fromallotherthings.
Thoughattendingtoourbreathingmayinitiallyseemtobe
easierthanbeingselfattentive,itseemstobesoonly
becausewearefamiliarwithattendingtothingsotherthan
I,whereasuntilwestarttryingtopractisebeingself
attentivewearenotfamiliarwithattendingonlytoI.That
is,thoughweareallobviouslyfamiliarwithI(ourself),we
arenotfamiliarwithattendingtonothingotherthanI,so
weneedtostarttryingtofamiliariseourselfwithit.Inother
words,byexperimentationtrialanderrorweneedto
startinvestigatingwhatitactuallymeanstobeselfattentive,
justasinordertolearnhowtorideabicycleoneneedsto
experimentandfindouthowtomaintainonesbalancewhile
pedallingontwonarrowwheels.
Onlybyexperimentationandpracticecanwegainfamiliarity
withanynewskill,andthisappliestoskillinbeingself
attentiveasmuchastoanyotherskill.Justasnoonecan
learnoneskill(suchasridingabicycle)merelybypractising
anyotherskillthatisnotatallsimilartoit(suchasknitting,
typing,swimmingorspeakingaforeignlanguage),wecannot
learntheskillofbeingselfattentivemerelybypractising
watchingourbreathormeditatingonanythingelseother
thanI.Theskillrequiredtoconcentrateourattentionon
anythingelseisquitedifferenttotheskillrequiredtoattend
tonothingotherthanI,sotheonlywaytolearnthisskillis
bytrialanderror:thatis,byexperimentingandthereby
learningfromexperiencehowtobeexclusivelyselfattentive.
Whatpeopletrytoachievebywatchingtheirbreathisa
relativelythoughtfreestate,inwhichtheybelieveitwillbe
easierforthemtoattendtoI.However,merelybeingfree
ofthoughtsshouldnotbeouraim,becauseinsleepweare
completelyfreeofthoughts,butwedonotthereby
experienceourselfclearlyasweactuallyare.Tryingtobe
freeofthoughtsinordertobemoreclearlyselfawareislike
puttingthecartbeforethehorseandexpectingthecartto
leadthehorsetoitsdestination.
Beingkeenlyselfattentivenecessarilyresultsinonebeing
freefromthoughtsaboutanythingelse,butbeingfreefrom
thoughtsdoesnotnecessarilyresultinonebeingself
attentive.Hence,evenifweareabletoachievearelatively
thoughtfreestatebywatchingourbreath(orbyanyother
techniquethatentailsattendingtosomethingotherthanI),
wecanmakegooduseofthatrelativefreedomfrom
thoughtsonlyifwethentrytoswitchourattentionfromour
breath(orfromwhateverelsewemayhavebeenmeditating
upon)backtoourself.Therefore,insteadofstartingbytrying
toobserveourbreath,andhavingtolatertrytoswitchour
7/55
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toobserveourbreath,andhavingtolatertrytoswitchour
attentionbacktoourself,whyshouldwenotstartdirectlyby
simplytryingtoobserveonlyourself,theIwhois
observing?
Thoughwecantosomeextentreducetheintensityofour
mentalactivitybyattendingtoourbreathing,solongaswe
areattendingtoitourmentalactivitywillnotsubside
entirely,becauseourveryactofattendingtoourbreathing
(ortoanythingelseotherthanourself)isitselfamental
activityaprocessofthinkingofsomethingotherthanI.
However,ifweattendtoourbreathinglongenough,itmay
resultinourfallingintoasleeplikestateofcompletemental
quiescence(manlaya),butbyfallingintosuchastatewe
willceaseattendingtoourbreath.Solongaswetrytofix
ourattentiononourbreathoronanythingelseotherthanI,
weareliabletofallintomanlaya,whichisastateinwhich
thereisnotonlynomentalactivitybutalsoalackofclarity
ofselfawareness.Thereforeweneedtoavoidfallinginto
manlaya,andtheonlyeffectivewaytoavoidfallinginto
suchastateistobevigilantlyselfattentive.
Attendingtothebreathisamentalactivity,whereasbeing
selfattentiveisnot.Thoughitisthemindthatattemptsto
beselfattentivewhenpractisingtmavicra,itsbeingself
attentiveisnotanactionormentalactivity,butisa
cessationofallmentalactivityastateofjustbeing
becausebeingselfattentive(orclearlyselfaware)isourreal
nature.Thereforetryingtobeselfattentivecausesourmind
tosubsideinitssource,Iam,whichiswhatwereallyare,
sowhenwetrytobeselfattentivethatis,tobe
exclusivelyselfawarewearetryingjusttobeaswereally
are.
Thusbeingselfattentiveisnotanysortofactionordoing,
butisjustbeing.AndasSriRamanasaidinthesixth
paragraphofNYr?:
[]

.[]
[]summviruppadvadumaattaima
sorpattillayikkacceyvad.[]
[]Justbeing(summviruppadu)meansonly
makingthemindtosubside[dissolveordie]in
tmasvarpa[ourownessentialself].[]
Thatis,thoughitisthemindthattriestobeselfattentive,
beingselfattentivecausesthemindtosubsideinandasour
essentialself,Iam,becauseselfattentivenessisnotan
action,andwithoutactivitythatis,withoutattendingto
anythingotherthanIthemindcannotriseorsustain
itself.Thereforeinorderjusttobetheessentialselfthatit
8/55
alwaystrulyis,allthemindneedsisjusttotrytobecalmly
SriRamanaTeachingsselfattentive.
1,070likes
LikePage
Bethefirstofyourfriendstolikethis
VideosandAudios
Allthecurrentlyavailable
videosofMichaelJames
discussingtheteachingsof
BhagavanSriRamana
Maharshicanbeviewedeither
ontheVideospageofhis
websiteoronhisYouTube
channel:
SriRamanaTeachings
Thelatestthreevideos
uploadedtothischannelare
theonestakenon23rdand
24thApril2016:
Finally,regardingthecommentbySteve,Iagreewithhim
thatwemustberelentlessintryingtomaintainsimplicity,
becauseournaturalstateofbeingperfectlyselfaware(that
is,awareofnothingotherthanI)isastateofabsolute
simplicity,asalsoisourpracticeoftryingtobeperfectlyself
aware.Thenatureofourmindistocreatemultiplicityand
complexityoutofwhatactuallyis,whichissingleandsimple,
andhenceourmindthrivesandrevelsincomplexity.
Thereforethenaturaltendencyofourmindisalwaysto
createcomplexityandconfusionwheneveritisconfronted
withsimplicity,andhenceittriestocomplicateandconfuse
ourunderstandingofthesimplenondualpracticeofself
attentivenesstaughtbySriRamana.
However,whenStevewrites,Themindisrelentlessintrying
toanalyze,complicate,andconfuse,weshouldremember
thatanalysisisatwoedgedsword.Muchanalysisdoes
indeedresultincomplexityandconfusion,butifweare
seekingsimplicity,wecanalsouseanalysistocutthroughall
ourcomplexandconfusedunderstandingandtoachievethe
simpleandclearunderstandingthatwerequire.Forexample,
thearticlesthatIwriteinthisblogtendtobeanalytical,but
theanalysisinthemisaimedatsimplicityandclarity,andI
engageinsuchanalysisonlybecausemostofthesearticles
originatedasrepliesthatIwroteinanswertoquestionsthat
peopleaskedmeinordertoremovetheirconfusionandto
clarifytheirunderstanding.
2016-04-23 Ramana Mah... StevequotesSriRamanaassaying,Themethodissummed
upinthewordsBestill,andhesays,IcantbestillwhileI
amtryingtofindI,orworryingaboutwhichIisattendingto
which.SolongasweimaginethatthereismorethanoneI
thatwecouldattendto,orthatIissomethingwedonot
nowexperienceandthereforeneedtofind,wewillbe
runningroundincircles,andhenceasStevesayswewillnot
beabletobestill.
ThesayingthatStevequotesoriginateseitherfrom
MaharshisGospel,Book1,chapter6(2002edition,p.35)or
fromTalkswithSriRamanaMaharshi,section363(2006
edition,p.346),butthoughthesebookswerewrittenin
English,theyrecordedinmostcaseswhatSriRamanasaidin
Tamil.TheTamilwordshewouldhaveusedinthiscontext
are
(summviru),whichmeanjustbe,
merelybe,quietlybe,bestillorbewithoutanyactivity,
andasImentionedabove,inNYr?heexplainswhat
thesewordsmeaninpractice:Justbeing(summv
iruppadu)meansonlymakingthemindtosubside[dissolve
ordie]inself.
Thereforeitisimportanttorememberinthiscontextthathe
9/55
repeatedlyclarifiedelsewherethattheonlywaytomakethe
2016-04-24 (morning) Ra... mindsubsideinselfistoinvestigatewhoamI:thatis,tobe

keenlyselfattentive.Forexample,inthesixth,eighthand
sixteenthparagraphsofNYr?hesays:

[...]
nreumvicran
aiyilymaam
ad
agum[...]
Onlyby[meansof]theinvestigationwhoamIwill
themindsubside[orcease][...]
2016-04-24 (afternoon) R...

.

,

.[...]
maamad
aguvadakuvicran
aiyaittaviravu
tahundaupyagal
illai.maaupyagal
il
ad
akkilmaamad
agilplirundu,
maupad
iyumkil
ambivid
um.[...]
Ifyouwouldliketobenotified
byYouTubeviaemail
wheneveranynewvideois
addedtothischannel,youcan
subscribetoiteitherby
clickingonSubscribetoSri
RamanaTeachingsorby
visitingSriRamanaTeachings
andclickingontheSubscribe
buttonthatyouwillseeinthe
upperrighthandcornerjust
underthebannershowing
Arunachalahill.
Audiocopiesofmanyofthese
videosareavailableon
MediaFireinafoldercalled
DiscussionswithMichael
James,wheretheycaneither
belistenedtoonlineor
downloadedasMP3files.
AboutMichaelJames
MichaelJames
Thewriterofthearticlesin
Forsubsiding[orcessation]ofthemind,thereare
noappropriate[oradequate]meansotherthan
vicran
[selfinvestigation].Ifmadetosubsideby
othermeans,themindwillremainasifsubsided,
[but]willemergeagain.[...]
[...]

[...]
[...]maattaiyad
akkuvadakuttaaiyreu
vicrikkavn
d
um[...]
[...]Formakingthemindsubsideitiscertainly
necessarytoinvestigateoneself[inorderto
experience]who[oneactuallyis][...]
Therefore,thoughSteveiscorrectinsaying,Icantbestill
whileIamtryingtofindI,orworryingaboutwhichIis
attendingtowhich,weshouldalsorememberthatwecannot
bestillinthesensemeantbySriRamanaunlesswemake
ourmindsubsidebytryingtobeexclusivelyselfattentive
thatis,tobeawareofnothingotherthanI.Solongaswe
areawareofanythingotherthanI,ourattentionisbeing
directedawayfromourself,itssource,towardsthatother
thing,andhenceourmindisactive,sowearenotinastate
ofabsolutestillnessorjustbeing.Ontheotherhand,
however,ifourmindiscompletelystillbutwithoutbeing
clearlyselfaware,itisinastateofsleepormanlaya,which
10/55
thisblog,MichaelJames,is
theauthorofHappinessand
theArtofBeing,abook
exploringindepththe
philosophyandpracticeofthe
spiritualteachingsof
BhagavanSriRamana,which
iscurrentlyavailablebothasa
printedbookandasaKindle
book,andalsoasaseriesof
HTMLpagesandafreePDF,
whichcanbedownloadedfrom
Michael'smainwebsite,
www.happinessofbeing.com.
Viewmycompleteprofile
Supportthisblog
Ifyouwouldliketosupport
metocontinuewritingforthis
bloganddoingotherrelated
work,youmaycontributeby
clickingonthisbutton:
However,Iwouldliketo
emphasisethatthisblogand
whateverelseIwriteabout
Bhagavansteachingsisstill
intendedtobeanentirelyfree
service,becauseIbelievehis
teachingsaretoovaluableto
besoldandshouldnotbe
usedforfinancialgain,soany
contributionstomeshouldbe
entirelyvoluntaryandnoone
shouldfeelanycompulsionto
contribute.Iamsurethat
mostofyouhaveyourown
financialdifficultiesand
constraints,becausehaving
givenusthetruewealthofhis
teachings,Bhagavangenerally
doesnotbestowmaterial
wealthonthoseofuswho
aspiretofollowthepathhe
hasshownus,andbecausehe
hasmadeusunderstandthat
moneyandmaterialgainare
nottheaimorpurposeofour
life.Thereforepleasedonot
trytocontributeanything
morethanyoucan
comfortablyafford,andifyou
isnotthestatethatSriRamanameantbytheterm
(summviruppadu):justbeingorbeingstill.
ThemeaningofjustbeingthatSriRamanaexplainsinthe
sixthparagraphofNYr?,namelyJustbeing(summv
iruppadu)meansonlymakingthemindtosubsideintma
svarpa[ourownessentialself],isnotablysimilartothe
definitionoftmavicrathathegivesinthesixteenth
paragraph:
[]

[]
[]sadklamummaattaitmvil
vaittiruppadakutttmavicrameupeyar
[]
[]Thenametmavicra[refers]onlyto[the
practiceof]alwayskeepingthemindin[oron]
tm[self][]
Thereforekeepingourmindorattentionfixedfirmlyonself
andtherebymakingitsubsideinselfisthecorrectpracticeof
bothselfinvestigation(tmavicra)andbeingstill(summ
viruppadu).Keepingourmindonselfsimplymeansbeing
selfattentive,orinotherwords,beingawareofnothing
otherthanourself.
AsSriRamanasaid(asrecordedattheendofthesame
chapterofMaharshisGospel:2002edition,p.35):Allthatis
requiredtorealisetheSelfistobestill.Whatcanbeeasier
thanthat?
PostedbyMichaelJamesat13:15
Labels:BhagavanSriRamanaMaharshi,GuruVcakaKvai,justbeing
(summairuppadu),NYr?(WhoamI?),selfinvestigation(tmavicra),
Ul
l
aduNpadu,UpadaUndiyr
48comments:
JacquesFrancksaid...
YesWhatcanbeeasierthanthat?
ThankyouMichaeltotaketimetoanswer
questions....itisreallyarealpleasuretoreadyour
posts...
Manydoubtsaregone....
Namaste
11/55
areunabletocontribute
anything,pleasedonotfeel
badaboutit.
JF
1June2014at08:48
Wittgensteinsaid...
Michael:
Regardingwatchingthebreathingprocess,afterI
readyourpost,Iunderstanditisquiteunnecessary
evenfromthebeginning.Sincetheaimistobeself
attentive,itdoesnotmatterhowmanythoughtsare
thereinanygivenmoment.Havinglesserthoughts
followingsometechniqueinnowayensuresthe
developmentoftheskillofbeingselfattentive.If
onedoesnotunderstandthisnow[withmany
thoughts],heisunlikelytounderstandthiseven
whenhavinglesserthoughts.Therefore,beingself
attentiveshouldbepracticedirrespectiveofthe
numberofthoughtsonehasatthemoment.Talking
aboutwatchingthebreathingprocesswasmy
ignorance.However,atsomestage,thistechnique
suggestedbySriSadhuOm[inSadhanaiSaram
]andSriLakshmanaSharma[inMahaYoga]was
helpfultome.
IalsounderstandthatIdonotneedtofindI,asit
isalwaysexperienced,althoughIamnotsureof
whatIam.Whilebeingselfattentive,ifthereisone
hundredpercentclarityofourtruenature[180
degreeturninginwards],thentheneedtobeself
attentivewoulditselfceaseandonewouldremain
reallyasheis[adjunctfree'I'].Hence,tillthepoint
of180degreeinwardturning,evenintheattempts
ofbeingselfattentive,theIweexperiencewillbe
mixedwithadjuncts,theadjunctsdropping
[dissolving]progressivelyaswemovefromzeroto
180degrees.Therefore,duringthepracticeofbeing
selfattentive,thisdroppingoffofadjunctswillbe
experiencedashavinglesserthoughts.However,as
youclarified,justhavinglesserthoughts[bysome
othermeans]donotguaranteeselfattention.
AstheawarenessofhavinglesserthoughtsisstillI
withadjuncts[notIasitis]andhencetogo
deeper,beingselfattentivealoneisthesolution,as
thequestionofwhoisawareofhavinglesser
thoughtsstillremains.Thatwasbeautifullybrought
outbyyou.
Iamnewtothisblogandalthoughthemindis
relentlessincreatingconfusion,Ifeelthewayto
12/55
clarityisonlythroughconfusion,atleastforlesser
mortalslikeme.Questionssuppressedwithout
expressingleavestrongvasanasandtheyare
obstaclestotheclarityofourrealnature.However,
oneisalsonotaskingquestionslike,Issushumna
purpleoryellow?.Selflovealsobringspainwhile
seekingclarity.Onewillbangheadonwalls,weep,
getfrustratedandhavedoubtsastowhatisdoneis
exactlywhatwassaidbyBhagavan.Itmightbe
easierforSriMuruganartosing,Aiyeathisulabam,
forsuchapersonisrare.Whatyouaredoinghereis
prettyusefultofolkslikeme.Mydeepestthanksfor
youfromthebottomofmyheart.
1June2014at08:51
SanjayLohiasaid...
Wittgensteinwrites:'Ifeelthewaytoclarityisonly
throughconfusion'.Iamnotsurewhathemeansby
this.Iwouldsaythat'thewaytoclarityisthrough
moreandmoreclarityselfawareness',thatis,by
attendingmoreandmoreto'I',whichwillthereby
revealitsinherentclarityinanincreasingmeasure.
Themoreweattendto'I',themoreclearitwill
become,therebyitwillgraduallyremoveallnon'I'
orallnonselffromourawareness,anditisonlythis
non'I'whichisconfusion.
HoweverIagreewithhimwhenherecommendsus
toaskquestionstoclarifyourdoubts.Yes,this
methodisusefulasasupporttoourpracticeofself
investigationandIcansaythisfrommypersonal
experience.Howeveritisimportanttoasksuch
questionstotherightperson,forexamplepersons
likeMichaelJames,otherwiseitmaybelikeablind
leadinganotherblind.
SelfattentionwasnotonlyeasyforSriMuruganar,
butiseasyandsimpleforallofus.Bhagavanhas
repeatedlysaidthatitisthemostsimpleanddirect
pathforall.Wearealreadyselfawarebecause
withoutbeingawareofselfwecannotbeawareof
anythingelse.Wejusthavetobemoreandmore
exclusivelyselfaware,andeventuallyonlyself
aware.Thisisourgoal.
Regards
1June2014at12:16
Stevesaid...
13/55
Thankyou,Michael.Itwouldhavebeenmore
correctformetocharacterizethemindas'relentless
intryingtoOVERanalyze,complicateandconfuse'.
AndIagreewithyouregardingthe'bestill'portion
ofmycomment.Iwasequating'bestill'withyour
SriSadhuOmreferenceabove'beingattention'.
IknowI'mnotalonewhenIsaythatyour
presentationandanalysisofSriRamana'steachings,
onitsownorinthecontextofourquestionsor
comments,isneveroneiotaless(ormore)than
spoton.Itgivesmebothunderstandingand
motivation,andcontinuallyleavesmespeechless,
whichsaysitall.
1June2014at13:04
Wittgensteinsaid...
Sanjay:
Byconfusion,vasanasweremeant,asitwas
pointedoutinthecommentitself.Claritycomesby
cuttingthroughvasanas.Inmostcasesthesewould
bequitestrongandinveryrarecasesitwouldbe
prettyweak.Vicharabeingeasyordifficultisa
strongfunctionofthis,asRamanasaysobstacles
[vasana]toRealityalonearetoberemoved,since
therealiseverpresent.
Havingsaidthat,asacorollaryofthat,evenifone
satatthefeetofBhagavan,claritywouldnotbe
guaranteed.IfonereadsSriSadhuOmsforeword
toUlladuNarpaduinSriRamanopadesaNoonmalai,
itwouldbeclearthatBhagavantaughtpeoplewhat
wassuitableaccordingtotheirspiritual
development.Invariablypeopleaskedquestions
like,Whatissushumna?.Itsohappenedbymere
coincidencethatin1902SriSivaprakasamPillai
askedhimthe[nowfamous]question,WhoamI?
[outofhissadhanainvolvingreadingbookson
Psychology]andtheanswersgivenbytheMaster
cameintopublicdomainafter21years!Thatshows
thetoilandsincerityofSriPillai,ashewasinto
sadhanabasedontheanswersandnotinquickly
makingmoneybypublishingit.Italsoshowsthe
rarityoftheMasterandthedisciplegettingtuned.
Onthecontrary,aroundthesameperiod,Sri
GambiramSeshaiyarapproachedtheMasterwith
vasanasdevelopedoutofhisRajaYogabackground.
Bhagavanhadtoleadhiminthatdirectionalone,
occasionallyinsertinghisteachingshereandthere.
14/55
In1923,whenSriMuruganararrivedwithaclean
slate[noheavyvasanasfromprevioussadhana]and
asked,Meiyyiniyalbum,adhaimevumthiranum,
uyyumpadiyemakkuodhuga[Michaelstranslation
isthereforthis].TheanswerwasUlladuNarpadu,
whichispurelyRamanopadesam[asthesadhaka
waspure],unlikeUpadesaUndiyarwhichisonly
partlyRamanopadesam.Finallycomestheexample
ofKavyakantaGanapatiMuni,whonamedthe
Masterbywhatheiscalledtoday[BhagavanSri
RamanaMaharshi].TheMasterusedtocallhim
fondlyas,Nayana[meaningFatherinTelugu].
Suchwastheirrelation.YetGanapathiMunitillthe
endexpressedhisregretinnotunderstandingthe
pathofselfenquiry.Heandhisdisciple[Kapali
Sastry]wereintomanyotherpaths,eveninthe
proximityofBhagavan.
Fromtheabovedescriptionofthedifferenteffectsof
thesadhakasvasanas,onecanjudgeforhimself
howthewaytoclarityisastrongfunctionof
vasanas.Beforeknowingthesethings,Iwasunder
theimpressionthatselfenquirycouldbelearntfrom
internetwithatouchoffewbuttonsandupon
practice,verynicelyadjunctswillberemovedand
onecanquiteeasilyshineforthasheisandsing
aiyeathisulabamwithSriMuruganar.Ifthatwere
so,everydayoneSriMuruganarwillbeproduced.
Nevertheless,selfenquirycanbetaughtandlearnt
unambiguosly.Easeofthatwasnotmeant[that
wouldbetoonaive].
Oneshouldalsoconsiderthetoil[physicaland/or
psychological]ofthefewrareMahatmas[like
Bhagavan]inthispath,likeforexample,how
BhagavanwasremovedfromPathalaLingam[much
laterBhagavansaidtooneD.S.Sarmathatitwas
notsadhana!].OfcourseonecaninvokeAjataVada
andsayitisallunrealandonlyinourimagination.If
so,whatisthenecessitytoenquire?Wecanaccept
suchthingsonlyfromcaseswherenecessityfor
enquiryisgone.Insuchcases,Bhagavanwouldsay,
thanakkorseyalilaithanniyalsarndhanan.Tosing,
aiyeathisulabamisstilldifficult!Thatdoesnot
meanthereisnohopeeither.
1June2014at19:04
RViswanathansaid...
"SriRamanausedtosaythattryingtofindIasif
wedonotalreadyexperienceitislikesomeone
15/55
searchingtofindtheirglasseswheninfacttheyare
alreadywearingthem."
SriNochurVenkataramanalsousedtomakethe
statementsimilartoyours,duringhisdiscourses.He
wouldthenfollowitupbysaying1)thatone
instantaneouslystartsfeelingthepresenceofthe
glassesagainbecauseonedoesnothavetoeven
usethememorylikeforhavingtolocateanobject
thatisplacedsomewhereelseand2)thatsimilarly,
Guru'sguidanceisonlytoletyouknowwhatyou
alreadyarewhenyouhaveapparentlyshiftedyour
attentionsofarawayfromthattruth.
2June2014at18:16
RViswanathansaid...
"Whateverelsewemayexperience,wealways
experienceitasIamexperiencingthis,soany
experiencepresupposesourfundamentalexperience
Iam.Wehaveneverexperiencedamomentwhen
wehavenotexperiencedI,butbecauseweareso
interestedintheotherthingsthatweexperience...."
Iwouldliketoreproducesomepartsofthebook,
SilenceoftheHeartDialogueswithRobertAdams
(FirstIndiaPrinting:September2012pages34&
35).Underthetitle,WhereDidthe"I"ComeFrom?,
RobertAdamstalks:
"Whatdoyouthinkisthedifferencebetweenthis
teaching,jnanamarga,andtherestoftheyogas,
prayer,religionsorwhatever?Whatisthebasic
difference?Ineveryteachingbesidesadvaita
vedanta,thereisapersonalI.Thinkaboutthat.Let
ustakethehathayoga.The"I"learnsposturesand
theegobecomesexpandedbecauseyoucansay,"I
canstandonmyheadandtwistmyfeet,"andyou
giveitaSanskritname.Butyoustillsay,"Icando
this."SotheIhasbecomeinflated.TakeRajaYoga,
theeightfoldpath.Nowthesethingsaregood.
Thereisnothingwrongwiththesethings.I'mnot
puttingthemdown.Buttherehastobe"someone"
tolearntheyamasandniyamas,thevirtues.There
issomeonewhoislearningallthesethings.TheI
haslearnedtobecomevirtuous.Takekundalini
yoga.Iamfocusingonthechakras,oneachchakra.
ThereisalwaysIandIandI.Takeprayer.Iam
prayingtoGod.Againthereisnothingwrongwith
thesethings.Butthereasonwecallthisdirectpath
isbecausethisistheonlyteachingthatinvestigates
16/55
theI.Wearenotinterestedintheeffects.Whatever
theeffectmaybe,werealizethattheIisbehindit.
WerealizethatifwefindtheI,thenfollowittoits
source,everythingelsewillbewipedoutandwewill
becomefree.Thatiswhyitiscalleddirectpath.
Alsowhatisthedifferencebetweenmeditationand
jnanamarga?Becausemostofyourealizethaton
thispathitisnotreallynecessarytomeditate.So
whatisthemaindifferencebetweenmeditationand
thispath?Inmeditationthereisalwaysanobjectof
yourmeditation.AndagaintheIisconcentratingon
somethingelse,whereyouexcludeeverything
exceptthemantraorwordsofyourmeditation,
whetheritisGod,orwhatever.Inthisteachingyou
simplyinquireforthesourceoftheI."WhoamI?
WheredidtheIcomefrom?".EvenwhenIsayto
you,wheredidIcomefrom,someofyouare
relatingtoyourbody,aren'tyou?Youarethinking
wheredidIcomefrom,asabody?Butthatisnot
whatwemean.YouwanttoknowwheretheIcame
from,notwhereyoucamefrom.Ifyoufindout
wheretheIcamefrom,youwillrealizethatyoudo
notexist.Youneverdidandyouneverwill.Thatis
thepointwheredid"I"comefrom?
Andafteryougetusedtothiskindofthinking,
wheneveryouusetheword"I,"youwillneverrefer
toyourbodyagain.Forinstanceifyouhaveacold,
youusuallysay,"Ihaveacold."Onlynowyouwill
catchyourselfandyouwilllaugh,becauseyouwill
say,"Ihasthecold."SoundslikebadEnglish.Ihas
thecoldandthatithasnothingtodowithme.So
wheredidtheIcomefromthathasthecold?Andas
youfollowtheI,itwillleadyoutothesourcewhere
thereisnoI,thereisnocold.Youcanusethis
methodforeverything."Iamhungry."Well,catch
yourselfandrealizethat"I"ishungry.Iisnotmy
realSelf.Iishungry.YetmyrealSelfcanneverbe
hungry.Iamtired,Iamdepressed,Iamhappy,I
feelbeautiful,Ifeelwonderful.Itisallthesame
thing.Aslongasyouarereferringtoyourbodyyou
aremakingabigmistake.SeparateyourselffromI."
2June2014at18:18
RViswanathansaid...
AnotherpassagefromRobertAdamsSatsang,which
isofrelevancetothisarticle.
Theproblemalwaysappearstotheonewhobelieves
17/55
theyarethebody.Whenyoubegintoseethatyou
havenothingtodowiththebody,thentheproblem
dissolvesbyitself.Andofcourseyoucandothatby
askingyourself,"Towhomdoesthisproblemcome?"
andtheanswerwillbe,"Theproblemcomestome.
Ihavetheproblem.Iappeartohavethisproblem.
WheredidtheIcomefrom?WhatisthesourceofI
thatappearsto
haveaproblem?"Thesourceisalways
consciousness.Andasyouinquire,"Towhomisthe
problem?"or"WhoamI?"consciousnesswill
eventuallytakeoverandyouwillbecomefree.Do
notholdontoyourproblem,donottrytosolveit.
TrytounderstandthatIhastheproblem.The
personalI.AndfollowtheIthreadtothesource.It's
calledanIthreadbecauseeverythingisattachedto
Iasathread.Yourideaofabodyyourmental
concepts,yourpreconceivedideas,theyareall
attachedtothepersonalI.Bytryingtoresolvethe
problemanotheronewillpopupsoonerorlater.So
gettothesourceandthesourceistheI.thereare
nottwoI's.
ManypeoplemakeamistakeinbelievingIisthe
ego,butthereisarealIthatismySelf.Itryto
explaintoyouthereisonlyoneIandthatIis
yourself.Ithasnoproblems,ithasno
misconceptions,itispureconsciousness.Thatis
whoyouare.AsyoufollowtheIitbringsyou
awareness,reality.YourSelfappearsbyitselfand
youarehomefree.
RememberyouarenottryingtobecomeIor
becometheSelf.Youarealreadythat.Youare
simplyfollowingyourerror,whichisyourbeliefinan
ego,oryourbeliefinapersonalI,tothesourceand
thenyouareawake.Donotgointoprofundities,do
notmakeitcomplicatedforyourself.JustrealizeI
amthat.Ihavealwaysbeenthatthereisnothing
else.Iamfreenowandsticktoyourguns.Donot
allowtheworldtochangeyourthinking.Holdonto
theI.
2June2014at18:22
JosefBrucknersaid...
RegardingtryingtobeselfattentiveIwillwritean
email,
becauseIamregrettablynottrainedenoughtouse
aWorddocumentinordertoleavemycomment.
18/55
4June2014at18:39
Michael,
Regardingtryingtobeexclusivelyselfattentive:
Inmyexperiencewatchingthebreathisahelpful
tool.
Asyouwriteallthemindneedsisjusttotrytobe
calmlyselfattentive.
Iamnottrainedtoinvestigate'I'simplybytryingto
beexclusivelyselfattentive.
Whenwithdrawingmyattentionfromallotherthings
inordertoattendtonothingotherthan'I'regularly
wavesandwallsofthoughtshavetobeovercome.
Tobecomequietitcantakeonehourandmore.
Thatismystartingposition:
Thethoughtfreestateofawarenessbywatching
partlythementalactivityandpartlythebreath
achievedrelativelycarriesmyattentiondeeper
inward.
IfdeepenoughatthispointIleavetheIinthe
allembracingcareofthefireofArunachala.
Theinnerawarenessnowvibratesfinerandfiner.
Innerpeaceisfeltstrongerandstronger.
NowIknow:IamontherighttrackandItrytobe
awareonlyofthe'I'thatisawareofthatstate.
Alwayspenetratingdeeperandexperience:Whoam
Iwhoamexperiencethis.
VeryrarelyIamonlythe"innermountainflame".
Thatmentalquiescenceseemstobenotthe
mentionedmanolayastatebecausethereisnolack
ofclarityofselfawarenessbutvigilance.
Farmorefrequentlyatthatpointthoughtsappear
againandIleavetheconstantstreamofclear
attentiontomyself.Somostlytheminddoesnot
subside(permanent)initssource.
AndnowIuseagaintheweaponofbreathwatching
:Itrytofindthethreadofmybreathagain
rememberingthatthethoughtsandthebreathhave
thesamesourceassomewhereinRamana
literatureisstated.OnlyonluckydaysatsunsetI
rundownthemountainhappyasalittlechild.
BecauseIcannotforcethemindtodissolveinatma
svarupaIonlycantryagaintoreachthegoalof
permanentjustbeing(selfattentive)(manonasa).
19/55
Everybodywillfindhisadequatemethodtomake
themindsubside.
FrommyabovementionedstartingpointthatI
havenotlearnedtillnowsimplyobserve
onlymyselfthe'I'whoisobservingIdontmind
thatmytryingiscalledaroundaboutway
oradualaction.
Ofcourseitisthemindthatattemptstobeself
attentivesothatismentalactivity.
Whenitissaidthattheattentiontothebreathis
beingawareofanythingotherthan'I'and
bywatchingthebreaththemindwouldbedirected
awayfromthesourceIcanonlysaythatformeitis
ausefultooltoswitchmyattentionfrombreathto
myselfwithoutanybigcontradictory.
4June2014at22:06
Wittgensteinsaid...
Inmyfurtherattemptstounderstandmy
misunderstandingofthemechanismofwatchingthe
breath,Ifoundthefollowingsimplifiedanalysis
[afterreadingMichaelspostandthelastchapterof
MaharishisGospel]wouldhelptoachievethat
purpose.
1.Sincetheworldandbody[andtheprocessesin
themlikebreathing]areinthemindandthemindis
onlyabundleofthoughts,itisclearthatbreathing
isjustathoughtinthatbundle.Therefore,
watchingthebreathiswatchingathought.
2.Sinceallthoughtsarejada[nonconscious],
focusing[watching,observing,witnessing]onanyof
themwouldleadtoanonconsciousstate[tranceor
manolaya].
3.Asanexceptiontotheabove,theIthought[in
theform,Iamsoandso],hasthedualaspectsof
nonconsciousnessandconsciousnessknottedinit
[citjadagranti].Ofthese,iftheconsciousness
aspectoftheIthought[Iam]aloneisfocusedon,
asinvichara,leavingtheotheraspect[soandso],
itwouldeventuallyleadtothoughtfree
consciousness[manonasa].
4.Duetotheopposingnatureofconsciousnessand
nonconsciousness,layaandvichara[selfattention]
aremutuallyexclusive.
20/55
Asacorollarytopoint3above,onecanaskwhat
wouldhappenifonerepeatedlythinks,Iam,Iam
[insteadof,Iamsoandso,Iamsoandso].The
answerisgiveninNanYarthatitwouldleadtothe
source[thoughtfreeconsciousness].
Frompoint4above,itisclearthatonecannotbe
selfattentivewhileinsleep.Thatbeingso,thereisa
statement[believedtobemadebyBhagavan]in
Mudaliarsbook[DDWB]thatifselfattentionis
maintainedandonedriftsintosleep,itwould
continueeveninsleep,whichisdifficultto
understand.Doesthissimplymeanthatonewould
soonerorlaterwakeupwitharemindertobeself
attentive?Oristheresomethingelsemeant
[assumingBhagavanreallymadethisstatement]?
5June2014at06:44
MichaelJamessaid...
Josef,inreplytoyourcommentof4June2014
22:06aboutwatchingyourbreath,asIwroteinthis
articleIdonotwanttodiscourageanyonewhomay
behelpedbythismethod,butIjusttriedtosuggest
whatIbelievetobeamuchmoresimple,directand
effectivemeans.However,sincethestateofself
attentivenessisverysubtle,toachieveitweeach
havetofindthemeansthatsuitsusbest.Ifyou
havefoundameansthathelpsyou,thatsfine,but
sincethisisapathofinvestigation(vicra)we
shouldalwaysbereadytoexploreinordertofind
meansthatareperhapsmoreeffective.
RegardingyourcommentOfcourseitisthemind
thatattemptstobeselfattentivesothatismental
activity,asItriedtoexplaininthisarticle,thoughit
isthemindthatattemptstobeselfattentive,what
resultswhenitsucceedsinitsattemptisnota
mentalactivitybutasubsidenceofallmental
activity.Solongasthemindisattendingto
anythingotherthanI,itisactive,becauseits
attentionismovingawayfromitselftowardsother
things,and(unlessitisconcentratedfirmlyonjust
oneotherthing)itisconstantlymovingfromone
otherthingtoanother.However,whenitis
exclusivelyselfattentive(thatis,whenitis
attendingtonothingotherthanI),itsattentionis
notmovinganywherebutisjustrestinginits
source,I,soitisthennotactivebutperfectlystill
thisis,itisnotdoinganythingbutisjustbeing.
21/55
5June2014at10:33
IamsorryaboutmypoorEnglish.
WhatIwantedtoexpressyesterdayregardingbeing
selfattentiveisessentiallythis:
Exceptionalvigilanceshouldbeappliedat
investigation'I'primarilyinpractise.
Pullingandtakingtheactivityofthemindinto
piecesseemstobenotrequired.
ThereforeIdontrecognizethebenefitofdiscussing
indetailtherangeofmentalactivity.
Itwouldbesufficienttoknowhowto"outwit"it.
Inordertoexperience'Iam'incompleteisolation
fromanythingelseandfromanyotherexperience
wehavetoholdontheprimalthoughtthat
experiencesbothitselfandallotherthoughts.
Ofcourseherewearestillinthefieldofduality.
Ofcoursetheinvitationtothisessentialoriginal
thoughttosubsideentirelyhastobeundertakenby
anyawareness.Atthispointabsolutevigilancehas
tobekeeptheegothoughtunderkeen
surveillance.Itseemsthatthecontrollingawareness
isstilltheego.
Nownothoughtwillbebutonlypeace.
Butwhoisheretheregistrationauthority?Whoam
IthatIamnow?
Thisrisingquestionisalsomentalalbeitinsubtle
form.
Butitisalsoexperiencedthattherecomesno
answer.
TheexperiencerexperiencesIamaloneand
adjunctfree.
Thatismycurrentlevelonbeingcalmlyself
attentive.
PleaseMichaeldoclarifymisunderstandingsif
necessary.
5June2014at13:46
MichaelJamessaid...
Wittgenstein,Ihaverepliedtothequestionsyouask
inthelastparagraphofyourcommentdated5June
201406:44inaseparatearticle,Selfinvestigation,
effortandsleep.
5June2014at14:17
MichaelJamessaid...
22/55
Josef,inreplytoyourcommentdated5June2014
13:46,thereisalimittowhatcanbeclarifiedin
words.Realclarificationcancomeonlyfromvicra
thisis,fromtryingtoexperienceevermore
deeplyandclearlywhatthisIactuallyis.
Inwhateverwaywemaytrytoclarifyour
understanding(eithertoourselforothers)using
thoughtsandwords,wehavetoleaveallofthatfar
behinduswhenwetrytopenetratedeepwithin
ourselfinordertoexperienceourselfaswereally
are.Therefore,solongasweareattemptingtodo
this,wewilleachfindforourselfalltheclarification
thatweneed.
5June2014at14:28
ManythanksMichaelforyourrepliestomy
comments.
Particularlyyouradvicetothenecessaryreadiness
toexploreinordertofindmeansthataremore
effectiveisofgooduse.
Itooputmytrustincontinuedpractiseofvicara.
Thatmaybringalltherequiredclarificationofour
understanding.
5June2014at16:20
RViswanathansaid...
IcopypasteasectiononWatchingtheBreathfrom
thebook:
ALightontheTeachingof
BhagavanSriRamanaMaharshi
TheEssenceofSpiritualPractice
(SadhanaiSaram)BySriSadhuOm
42.WatchingtheBreath
229.IfonetakestoSelfattention,thepracticeof
keenlyobservingonlytheconsciousnessI,then
oneneednotperformanyotherpractice(sadhana).
Butletthosewhocannottaketothispracticeof
Selfattentionfromtheveryoutset,practicefora
shortwhileeitherrepetitionofmantras(japa)or
watchingofthemovementofthebreath,andthen
letthemgiveupallsuchpracticesandclingonlyto
Selfattention.
230.ThepaththatSadguruSriRamanawasfor
fiftyfouryearsrepeatedlyteachingtousforoursal
23/55
vationwasonlythisprimarypracticeofSelf
attention.Knowthatthepracticeofwatchingthe
breathwasonlyoneamongthehundredsofthou
sandsofothermethodsthatHetaughtsoasto
guideonthepathtowardssalvationeventhose
peoplewhowerenotreadytocometothepathof
Selfinquiry,whichalonewasHisprincipleteaching.
231.Forthosewhoattendkeenlytoboththe
inwardgoingandtheoutwardcomingmovements
ofthebreath,thelengthofboththesemovements
willdecrease,andwithinashorttimethebreathwill
berisingandsubsidingonlywithinaveryslight
manner.Iftheyattainthisstate,itisasufficient
sign(toshowthattheagitatedactivityofthemind
hasdecreased).(Thereforeatthatstageletthem
giveupattendingtothebreath,andletthemattend
insteadonlytotheSelf.)
232.Ifyoufixyourattentionupontheonepower
withinyou,whichisexperiencedintheformofthe
effortthatdrawsthebreathwithinandthenpushes
itout,thenretentionofthebreath(kumbhaka)will
beattainedwithoutdifficultyorstrain.
233.Butifyouthinkthateffortofyourstobe
somethingotherthanI,nobenefitwillbegained
fromtheretentionkumbhaka.Andeventhoughyou
understandthiseffortofyourstobeonlyyourself,if
yourattentiondoesnotclingtothatfirstperson
consciousnessI,knowthateventhispracticewill
onlybeabuffoonery.
234.Relatingtothebreath,therearetwosuitable
methodsofpractice(sadhana):onemethodis,after
watchingthemovementsofthebreathforashort
while,inorderthattheragingactivityofthe
waveringmindmaysubside,toleavethatbreath
attentionandtoengageinSelfattention.Theother
methodistoattendwithinoneselftotheonepower
thatdrawsinandpushesoutthebreath,knowing
thatthatonepowerisnototherthantheconscious
nessI.Forsomepeoplethesemethodsare
appropriate.
235.InwhateverteachingHegave,theinneraimof
SadguruSriRamanawasonlytoturnourpowerof
attentionsomehoworothersoastofixitfirmly
uponourownexistenceconsciousnessIam.If
youaskwhythisisso,thereasonisthatGod,the
originalreality,existsonlyasthefirstperson
24/55
existence,andhenceHecannotbeseenasasecond
person,anobjectotherthanI.
6June2014at14:53
RViswanathansaid...
AcharyaSriNochurVenkataramanwhogives
discoursesonBhagavanRamanaMaharshiteachings
forsomanyyearshasrecentlybroughtoutabook
onUlladhuNarpadhuinTamil,entitled,'Swathma
Sukhi'.Thecommentarygiveninthisbookislike
Bhagavanhimselfisexplainingtheverseshehas
written.Furthermore,thecommentarycomingfrom
Acharyaasaresultofhisexperientialknowledgeof
Bhagavan'steachings,itwillbesoverybeneficialfor
allofall.
13June2014at02:37
PalaniappanChidambaramsaid...
ThanksMichaelandeveryoneforprovidingclarity.
Aquickquestion,whenwesaySelfenquiryisabout
tobeawareof"I"feeling,payingattentiontothis
senseofIfeeling,notpayingattentiontothoughts,
feelings,breathbutholdingontothesenseofIam,
isitsamelikebeingpresenceorbeingthisopen
awarenessorspaciousnesswherethissenseofI
alsorises?
Forexample,whenIspontaneouslyaskWhois
thinkingallthesethoughts,whoishavingallthese
questions,WHoishavingthismentalvoices?Itis
"me"WHoisthis"me"andthenthereissome
emptiness,aspacewherethesethoughtsarise.So
isitlikepayingattentiontospaceisbeingawareof
"I"?
14June2014at23:25
RViswanathansaid...
Ithoughtthatthefollowingconversation(taken
fromRobertAdams:CollectedWorkspages60and
61)mightbepertinenttothispost.R:Robert
Adams.Isplittheconversationtotwocommentsto
beabletoaccommodatewithintheaccepted
numberofcharactersinoneHTML.
SN:Ihaveaquestiononconsciousness.Isuppose
thequestionis,whatisconsciousness?Andis
consciousnesstheSelf?Andthethingthatbrought
25/55
thequestiononisIwasthinkingabout
thefourthstate,thewakingstate,thedreaming
state,thedreamlessstate.Nowinthedreamless
stateisthereconsciousness?Andinmyexperience
thereisnoconsciousnessandIquestionedwhatis
consciousnessandwhatistheSelf?Andisthe
consciousnessandtheSelfthesamething?
R:ConsciousnessisanaspectoftheSelf.
Consciousnessisthecreativeprinciple,of
thetrueSelf,it'sthenextstepbeforethetrueSelf.
It'sthecreativeprinciplethatcreates
everything.Everythingthatappearscreatedcomes
fromconsciousness.Soinrealityyou
areconsciousness.It'sanothernameforawareness.
Allthesenamesaresynonymousreally.
Consciousness,Awareness,theSelf,God,butyet
they'realsodifferentaspects.Consciousnessislike
universalmind.
SN:Butisthereconsciousnessindeepsleep?
R:Yes,thereisbutyou'renotawareofit.(laughs)
(SN:That'swhatI'mtryingtogetat.Iremember
readingthatinthewakingstate,thedreamingstate
andthedreamlessstate,thereisstilltheSelf.Ican
relatetothewakingstate,Icanevenrelatetothe
dreamingstate.Formethedreamlessstateis,
beforeIgotobedI'mawake,andthenIgoto
sleep,andthenIwakeupandtheperiodbetween
goingtosleepandwakingupisonlyonesecond,
althoughitwassomanyhours.Sowhere'sthe
consciousnessorwhereistheSelf?Andwhatisthe
differencebetweenthetwo?)Consciousness
permeateseverythingandwhenyouareaJnaniyou
areawareofthedreamlessstate,you'reinthe
dreamlessstatebutyouareawareofit.The
ordinaryispersonisconsciousnesswhenthey're
asleepanddreamlesssleepthey'renotawareofit,
that'stheonlydifference.(SN:Ohsoit'sjusta
matteroflevels?)Levels,it'samatteroflevelsof
enlightenment.(SN:SoaJnaniisconsciousduring
dream,dreamlesssleep.)AJnaniisalwaysin
dreamlesssleepbutisawareofit.(SN:Soeven
whenhe'sasleephe'sconscioushe'saware?)Yes.
(SN:Butapersonthatisn'taJnani,whenhe'sin
deepsleep,isn'taware?)He'snotaware.
SG:It'sdifficultformetocomprehendawareness
withoutsubject/object,withoutsomething
tobeawareof.
26/55
R:Here'sanexample:Youtakeababy.Thebabyis
asleep,butthemothergivesthebabyabottleand
thebabysucksonthebottle,butisnotawareofit
becauseitsasleep,butyetit'ssuckingonthe
bottle.Soindreamlesssleepyou'renotawareof
whatyou'redoing,butyou'repureconsciousness.
Sowhenyoubecomeselfrealized,you'repure
consciousnessbutyou'reawareofit.You'reawake!
That'sthedifference.
SN:Sobasicallywe'reallasleepandit'snotuntilwe
becomeawakethatwecanbeaware
duringdreamlesssleep?(R:That'sright.)
15June2014at04:17
RViswanathansaid...
Part2ofconversationwithRobertAdams.(R:
RobertAdams).
ST:Sowhatdothedreamsmean?Isthere
somethinginconsciousnessthatittalksabout?
WhenIhadadreamaboutdoingsomethingand
wokeup,whydidIdreamaboutthatwhenIcan
dothat?
R:Dreamsarepartoftherelativeworld.(ST:They
areapartoftherelativeworld?)
Theyhavetodowithyourexperiencesinlife.
Theyreapartofit.(ST:Whatifyoudream
aboutsomethingthatwefear?)Dreamsaresimply
imagesthatcomebecauseofyourpast
experiences.Inotherwordsifyouwerebroughtup
frightened,andyoufearthings,you
willdreamfearfuldreamsaboutthingsthatnever
happenedbutthey'llbefearfulbecause
youcreatedthisinyourdreammind.
SD:Areyousayingthattheyarepartoftheearth
planeexistence?(R:Yes.)Ifyouawaken
wouldyoustilldream?
R:Youcan'tdreamwhenyou'reawakeyoucanonly
dreamwhenyou'reasleep.(SD:SoaJnaninever
hasdreams,right?)NoaJnanihasdreams
sometimes.Butthedreamsaremeaninglessmostof
thetime.(SD:Dreamsaremeaningless?)Yes,don't
paytoomuchattentiontodreams.(ST:Whydo
theyhappenthen?)Becauseofyourstateofaffairs.
27/55
Itvents
emotions.Itgetsridoftempertantrums,emotions.
(SD:Sotheyhavemeaninginthatsense
right?Tokeepusfromactingoutsomeofthese
thingsduringtheday?)Yes,it'sareleaseofenergy.
ST:Butwhatifyouwakeupandyou'vehadthat
sortofdreamthatwasntpleasantandwhenyou
wakeupitaffectsyourmood?
R:Thenchangeyourmood.(ST:Imeanisthat
possible?)Simplyrealizeit'sadreamandask
yourself,"Whohadthedream?"Againit'syourego
thatdreams.It'syouregothatdreamsnotyour
Self.It'sathirdpersonlookingatit.Soyoudon't
givetoomuchpowertodreams.Alotofpeople
makealotofthingsoutofdreams.
15June2014at04:19
MichaelJamessaid...
Palaniappan,itisnoteasytoanswerthequestions
youhaveaskedinyourcommentbecausewords
cannotconveywhattheexperienceofbeingself
attentiveactuallyis,soifwhatyouaretryingto
describeisastateofmoreorlessclearself
attentiveness,whateverwordsyoumayusewould
notdescribeitadequately.
Youaskisitsamelikebeingpresenceorbeingthis
openawarenessorspaciousnesswherethissenseof
Ialsorises?andisitlikepayingattentiontospace
isbeingawareofI?,butselfattentivenessorself
awarenessisnotlikeanythingelseindeeditis
notlikeanythingatall,becauseanythingotherthan
selfawarenesswouldbeawarenessofsomething
otherthanourself.
AsIexplaininanotherrecentarticle,Whatdowe
actuallyexperienceinsleep?,everythingthatwe
experienceotherthanourselfhascertainfeatures,
anditisonlybytheirfeaturesthatweareableto
recogniseorevencognisesuchthings,whereas
ourselfhasnofeaturesatall.Howweareabletobe
awareofourselfthatis,awarethatIamisjust
bybeingourself,becausetheverynatureofourself
istobealwaysawareofourself,sowedonotneed
tohaveanyfeatureinordertobeawareofourself.
Sinceouressentialselfisfeatureless,ourself
awarenessislikewisefeatureless,soifitseemsto
28/55
haveanyfeatures,thatisbecauseitisstillmixed
withotherthings(suchasourbodyandmind)that
wemistaketobeourself.
Therefore,sincewordsandthoughtscanonly
describefeaturesorthingsthathavefeatures,
anythingthatwecandescribeinanywayisnota
stateofpureselfawarenessorselfattentiveness.
Hencethelesswecansayoreventhinkaboutour
experienceofselfattentiveness,thecloseritisto
beingastateofpureselfattentiveness.
Iamsorryifthisseemsnottobeofmuchhelp,but
itisactuallyveryimportantforustounderstand
thatthepureselfattentivenessorselfawareness
thatwearetryingtoexperienceisabsolutely
featurelessandthereforelikenothingthatwecould
describeorevenconceive.
15June2014at21:22
MichaelJamessaid...
Viswanathan,inreplytoyourtwomostrecent
commentsabove,inwhichyouquotepassagesfrom
pp.601oftheCollectedWorksofRobertAdams,I
havenoticedfromtheseandothersuchpassages
thatwhatheisrecordedtohavesaidoftendoesnot
representveryaccuratelytheactualteachingsofSri
Ramana,andmanyoftheideasheexpressesinthe
extractsyouhavequotedhere(particularlyinthe
firstofthesecomments)actuallyseemtoconflict
directlywithhisteachings.Toillustratethis,Iwill
giveseveralexamplesbelow(alltakenfromthat
firstcommentofyours).
Firstly,whenaskedwhetherthereisconsciousness
indeepsleep,RobertAdamsreplies,Yes,thereis
butyourenotawareofit,andlaterwhenasked,
So[...]itsnotuntilwebecomeawake[i.e.self
realised]thatwecanbeawareduringdreamless
sleep?hereplies,Thatsright.Itisobviouslyself
contradictorytosaythatthereisconsciousnessin
sleepbutyourenotawareofit,becauseawareness
andconsciousnessareoneandthesamething.We
couldnotbeconsciousinsleepifwewerenotaware
thatwewereconscious,becauseifwewerenot
awarewewouldnotbeconscious.
Ifhehadsaidthatweareconsciousorawarein
sleep,butthatwegenerallydonotrecognisethis
factwhenweareawake,thatwouldhavemade
29/55
senseandwouldbetrue,butthatisnotwhathedid
say,nordidheevenseemtoimplyit.
Notonlyiswhathesaidobviouslyselfcontradictory,
butitalsoconflictsdirectlywiththeteachingsofSri
Ramana,becauseSriRamanaalwaysinsistedthat
weareawareduringsleep,eventhoughwemayfail
torecognisethiswhenweareawake.AsItriedto
explaininmytwomostrecentarticles,Whatdowe
actuallyexperienceinsleep?andWhydowenot
experiencetheexistenceofanybodyorworldin
sleep?,histeachingthatweareawareofourselfin
sleepisextremelyimportant,becausewhenwe
recognisethiswewillappreciatemoreclearlythe
featurelessnatureofouressentialself,andthiswill
enableustounderstandmoreclearlythenatureof
theselfattentivenessorpureselfawarenessthat
weshouldtrytoexperiencewhenwepractisetma
vicra.
Iwillcontinuetogivemoreexamplesinmynext
twocomments(sincewhatIhavewrittenexceeds
thelimitof4,096charactersallowedforeach
comment).
16June2014at14:35
MichaelJamessaid...
Incontinuationofmypreviouscomment,another
exampleisthatwhenRobertAdamswasasked
whetherconsciousnessandtheSelfarethesame
thing,hereplied,Consciousnessisanaspectofthe
Self.Consciousnessisthecreativeprinciple,ofthe
trueSelf,itsthenextstepbeforethetrueSelf.
Whenhethussaysthatconsciousnessisanaspect
oftheSelfandthenextstepbeforethetrueSelf,
heisclearlyimplyingthatitisinsomewaydifferent
fromourrealselfandnotidenticalwithit.
Hethengoesontosay,Soinrealityyouare
consciousness.Itsanothernameforawareness.All
thesenamesaresynonymousreally.Consciousness,
Awareness,theSelf,God,butyettheyrealso
differentaspects,whichseemsveryconfusedand
confusing.Ifweareinrealityconsciousness,why
shouldhesaythatconsciousnessismerelyan
aspectoftheSelforthatitisthenextstepbefore
thetrueSelf?Thesestatementsareobviously
inconsistent.
Likewise,whenhesays,Allthesenames
30/55
[Consciousness,Awareness,theSelf,God]are
synonymousreally,itisinconsistenttothensay,
butyettheyrealsodifferentaspects.Eitherthey
arethesameortheyaredifferent:theycannotbe
boththesameanddifferent.
SriRamanasexperiencewasabsolutelynondual
(advaita),sohedeniedtheexistenceofany
differencewhatsoever.ThereforeifRobertAdams
believesthatthereisanysortofdifferencebetween
consciousnessandourrealself,heisnot
representingthevieweitherofSriRamanaorof
advaita.
Inthesenseinwhichthetermconsciousnessis
usedinthecontextofSriRamanasteachingsand
advaitaphilosophy,itmeansnotmerelythestateor
qualityofbeingconscious,butthatwhichis
conscious.Thereforesincethatwhichisconsciousis
onlyI,ourself,itcannotbeanythingotherthan
whatweactuallyare.Inotherwords,consciousness
(inthissenseofwhatisconscious)cannotbe
anythingdifferenttoourrealself.
RobertAdamsalsosaysConsciousnessisthe
creativeprinciple,ofthetrueSelfand
Consciousnessislikeuniversalmind,whichare
bothideasthatSriRamanaexplicitlyrepudiated.Sri
Ramanataughtthatcreationisunreal,andthat
ultimatelythereisnocreationatall(ajta).
However,becauseweexperiencewhatseemstobe
acreatedworld,hesaidthatwhatcreatesthis
seemingworldisonlyourmindorego,whichisa
limitedanddistortedformofthepurenondual
consciousnessthatwereallyare.
Inournaturalstateofpureconsciousness,noworld
(oranythingelseotherthanconsciousnessitself)
canexistorevenappeartoexist,soitisonlyinthe
ignorantviewofourmindthatanycreationseems
tohaveoccurred.Thereforeaccordingtothe
teachingsofSriRamana,thecreativeprincipleis
onlythismindandnottherealconsciousnessthat
weactuallyare.
Regardingtheideaofauniversalmind,SriRamana
oftensaidthattheonlymindweactuallyknowand
theonlymindthatseesthisworldisourown
individualmind,sothereisnosuchthingasa
universalmind.ThereforewhenRobertAdamssays
thatconsciousnessisthecreativeprincipleandlike
31/55
universalmind,heisnotrepresentingtheteachings
ofSriRamana,andifheclaimstoberepresenting
them,heismisrepresentingthem.
InmynextcommentIwillgiveonemoreexample
toillustratethattheideasRobertAdamsexpressed
oftendonotaccuratelyrepresenttheteachingsof
SriRamana.
16June2014at14:45
MichaelJamessaid...
Incontinuationofmyprevioustwocomments,
anotherexampleofthevariouswaysinwhich
RobertAdamsmisrepresentedtheteachingsofSri
RamanainthepassageViswanathanquotedinhis
commentof15June201404:17iswhenhesays,
itsamatteroflevelsofenlightenment.According
toSriRamanatherearenolevelsofenlightenment,
andtherecanbenosuchlevels,becauseif
enlightenmentmeansthestateinwhichwe
experienceourselfaswereallyare,weareeither
enlightenedornotenlightened.Wecannotbe
partiallyenlightened.Eitherweexperienceourselfas
wereallyare,orweexperienceourselfassomething
else.
AsSadhuOmusedtosay,ifwejumpninefeet
acrossatenfootwidewell,wewillfallinthewell
justasmuchaswewouldifwehadjumpedjustone
footacrossit.Inordertoactuallyjumpacrossit,we
havetojumpthefulltenfeet.Likewise,inorderto
beenlightened,wehavetoexperienceourselfaswe
reallyare,andifwefailtoexperienceourselfthus,
wewillfallinto(orratherremainin)thewellofself
ignorance.Thereisnopointmidwaybetweenself
ignoranceandselfknowledge,soifanyonebelieves
intheexistenceofanylevelsofenlightenment,
thatisaclearsignoftheirselfignorancethatis,
ignoranceofwhatenlightenmentactuallyis.
SomepeoplemaytrytojustifythefactthatRobert
Adamsexpressedsuchideasbysayingthathewas
perhapstailoringwhathesaidtosuittheignorance
ofthosewhosequestionshewasanswering,butthis
isnothowSriRamanawouldhaverespondedto
anyonewhoaskedhimquestionsaboutthecrucial
subjectofourselfawarenessinsleep.SriRamana
wouldhavetriedtoclarifyandhelpthequestioner
tounderstandthefactthatweareawareofourself
insleep,whereaswhatRobertAdamssaidcould
32/55
onlyaddtoandreinforcetheconfusionofanyone
whocouldnotreadilyrecognisethesimplefactthat
wearealwaysawareofourself,whetherwearealso
awareofotherthings(asinwakinganddream)or
arenotawareofanythingelse(asinsleep).
16June2014at14:48
Yesbutinanothertranscriptshesaid:
S>IfeelthatwhenIpractice,Igobeyondmy
mind,andyoufeelpeaceful.Howdoyougobeyond
that?
~~~
R>Ifyoureallylookedatyourmind,andyourmind
reallydisappeared,therewouldbenoneedofthe
questionbecauseyouwouldfeelultimatepeace.
Butwhatreallyhappenstosomeofusisthatwe
thinkwe'regoingbeyondthemind,webelievewe're
lookingatthemind,butsomethingiswrong
becausewedon't.
Oncewereallyobservethemindandrealizeit'sno
thing,wearealreadybeyondit,we'refreeand
happy.
Butsometimes,asIsaid,wethinkwe'redoingthat
butwe'renot.
Andyoucantell.
Onceyoucatchaglimpseofselfrealization,you'll
nevergobackagain.
There'snoturningback.
You'veeithergotitoryouhaven't.
Therearenostepstoit.
It'slikewhenyou'reintheroomofdarknessand
youfindthelightswitch.
Thedarknessjustdissipates.
Therearenogradualsteps.
Itdoesn'tbecomelighter,andlighterandlighter.
Thelightjustgoesonthedarknessdissipates.
Whenyourmindisreallyempty,realizationcomes
ofitsownaccord.
HereRobertsaidthatthereisnostepstoit,there
arenogradualstep..
TheteachingofRobertisanotherapproach.
Itisbetween9093thattheserecordingswere
made...Robertiswithsomepeoplewhomightwant
tofindananswertotheirquestions.Someare
33/55
familiarwiththewritingsofRamana,talk,andthe
rest....(whichInyouropinionisdoubtfulonthe
translationofcertainterm)....andatthistimethere
isnotranslationasyoudo,togettotheheartofthe
teachingofRamana.
ButlikesaidRobertAlliswell....everythingisatthe
rightplace....
ThankyouMichaelforallyouranswers...areal
blessing.
JF
16June2014at21:18
DearMichaelJames,thanksforyourcommentonce
again.Takingtimetoexplain.Pleasedonotask
Sorry,asIfeeleverymessageandcommentof
yourshelpfulinonewayorotherbyGraceof
Bhagavan.
Thereasonofaskingthequestion,Iknowwassilly.
ThoughItrytopracticebeingselfaware,paying
attentiontomyownself,tomysimplesenseof
existance.ButthoughIpractice,whenIreadyour
blogsorthevideosorwhenIreadtheBhagavan's
work,Ialwayshavingthisquestionbackofthemind
thatifI'mdoingitright?AmIreallypaying
attentiontoIoramIthinkingofI,whatI'mdoingis
arightwayetcetc.Thesequestionspopup
especiallyduringreading,likewhenIsawyour
latestvideoinyoutubeorwhenIreadthisarticle.
BecauseI'mawareofthetrick...enquiryisnot
payingattentiontosomeother"I",sowhenI
practiceititisnotlikelookingforsomethingor
somefeelingandatthesametimeIalsoknowitis
notamentalactivitylikethinkingaboutI'm,atthe
sametimeitisnotrepeating"I,I,I.."orfeeling
"I,I,I.."WiththisunderstandingIpracticelookingat
myownself.
Butthenmanytimes,thesequestionsaboutamI
doingitright,amIdoingitcorrectly,amIpaying
properSelfattention.Thesedoubtsdoesntleaveme
andhindermypractice.YouknowMichael,many
timesI'mnotdisturbedbyanyotherthoughts,just
thethoughtsofthedoubts.AndthoughIstilltryto
enuirethosethoughtsalso,"Whoishavingthese
doubts?,WHoiswantingtopracticeright?""Whois
34/55
experiencingthethoughtsandperceptionsof
practicing""I,I,I,I....."andIjustrestwithwhat
remains.Buttheseselfdoubtingonpractice
thoughtskeepsarisingagainandagainandmakes
mereadmoreaboutit,analyseandcomplicateit.
ThatiswhereIgotconfusedwithvarious
terminilogiesofChoicelessAwareness,Awareness,
PureConsciousness,IAMetcetc.
17June2014at00:23
MichaelJamessaid...
Jacques,whatRobertsaysintheportionsyouhave
quotedinyourlatestcommentseemstobecorrect.
SolongasthereisanIthatthinkswhenI
practice,Igobeyondmymind,ithasobviouslynot
gonebeyondthemind,becausetheIthatis
beyondourmindiswhatweactuallyare,andsince
italonereallyexists,itneverthinkswhenIpractice
orIgobeyondmymind.
Inmyearliercommentsaboutaparticularpassage
fromsomeoftranscriptsofwhatRobertsaid,Idid
notmeantoimplythateverythinghesaysis
unrepresentativeofSriRamanasteachings(andI
certainlydidnotintendtocriticisehimpersonallyor
tosuggestthatheisnotsincere).Ijustwantedto
pointoutthatwhateverwereadweshouldreadwith
discrimination(vivka)andshouldnotjustblindly
acceptwhateverissaidorwrittenjustbecausewe
assumethepersonwhosaiditisenlightenedor
whatever.
TheessentialteachingsofSriRamanaaresimple,
clearandlogicallyconsistent,andaboveall,ifwe
analyseourexperienceofourselfinourthreestates
ofwaking,dreamandsleepalongthelinesthathe
suggested,wewillfindthattheyareconsistentwith
ourexperience.Thereforeifwestudyhisteachings
withdiscriminationandadeeplyquestioning
attitude,wecanbefirmlyconvincedbythemon
clearandrationalgroundsnotjustonaccountof
blindunquestioningfaith.
Hencehavingstudiedhisteachingsinthisway,
whateverelsewemayreadorhearweshouldread
orlistentowiththesamediscriminationanddeeply
questioningattitude,andweshouldjudgewhetherit
isconsistentwithlogic,withourowncarefully
analysedexperienceofourselfandwithSri
Ramanasteachings.
35/55
Tryingtoemphasisetheimportanceofreadingwith
suchakeendiscriminationanddeeplyquestioning
attitudewasmyonlypurposeinmyearlier
commentsaboveinwhichIanalysedsomeofthe
ideasthatRoberthadexpressedbutthatseemedto
metobequestionable.
17June2014at10:44
MichaelJamessaid...
Palaniappan,inanswertoyourlatestcomment,your
doubtaboutwhetherornotyouaredoingitright
wouldbemeaningfuliftmavicraweresomething
thatwecouldonlydoeithercompletelyrightor
completelywrongthatis,ifitwereonlyblackor
whitesituationwithnoshadesofgreyinbetween.
Fromallthatyouhavewritten,whatyouaretrying
topractiseisclearlynotcompletelywrong,butyou
havenotyetsucceededindoingitcompletelyright
either,becauseifyouhadyouwouldhavelost
yourselfintheclearandallconsuminglightoftrue
selfknowledge,soyouwouldnotexisttohave
thesedoubts.
Noneofuswhoarestillpractisinghasyetsucceeded
indoingitcompletelyrightthatis,inturningour
attention180degreesawayfromeverythingelse
towardsourselfalonebutwemayhave
succeededinturningatleast20,30,50,100,150or
even179degrees.Wecannotknowtowhatextent
wemanagetoturneachtimewetry(untilofcourse
wemanagetoturnthefull180degrees,afterwhich
wewillclearlyknowthatwehaveneverbeenturned
towardsanythingotherthanourself,sincewewill
experiencethatwealoneexist),butsolongaswe
aretryingwecanbesurethatwearedoingitright
notperfectlyright,butatleastpartiallyright.
AsImentionedbefore,thisisapathofvicra
investigationorexplorationandwhatweare
investigatingandexploringisonlyourself,our
essentialI,soaslongaswearetryingto
investigateourself,wearecertainlyontheright
path.Wecanexperiencewhatweactuallyareonly
bytryingtoexperienceourselfaloneincomplete
isolationfromeverythingelse,soifyouaretryingto
dothisyouneedhavenodoubtaboutwhetheror
notyouaredoingitright.Youaredoingitatleast
partiallyright,andifyougoontryingyouwill
36/55
soonerorlatersucceedindoingitperfectlyright.
Thereisalsononeedtobeconfusedaboutallthe
differentterminologiesthatareused.Nowordscan
actuallyexpresswhatwereallyare,soanywords
thatmaybeusedcanatbestonlypointustowards
thedirectioninwhichweshouldexploreinorderto
experienceourselfaswereallyare.Thatdirectionis
obviouslyonlyourselfandnothingelse,soifany
wordspointustowardsourself,theyareuseful,and
ifanyotherwordspointustowardsanythingelse,
theyareuseless,soweshouldrejectthem.
Whenwepersevereininvestigatingourself,wewill
ultimatelyfindthatallwordsandeverythingelse
pointusonlytowardsourself,becausewewill
alwaysrememberthatallthesewordsandother
thingsareknownbyusonlybecauseweexist,so
theywillallremindustoturntowardsourself.
However,inthebeginningwehavetobemore
discriminating,becauseourattentionismoreeasily
distractedawayfromourself,soweshouldpayheed
onlytothosewordsthatremindustoattendto
ourself,andweshouldrejectallotherwords,since
theywillonlydistractourattentionawayfrom
ourself.
17June2014at12:15
ThankyouMichael,
ThatiswhyRobertoftensaid:
ManytimesItellnewcomersinthemeeting,
"PleasedonotbelieveanythingIsay".
Whyshouldyou?
Butexperimentonyourselfandseewhathappens.
Butjustdon'tacceptwhatIsayblindly.
Findoutforyourself.
Donotletadaygobywhenyoudonotpractice
somethingonyourself.RobertAdams
17June2014at12:42
37/55
HiMichael,thanksagainforyourcomment.
Duringthecourseofthesadhana,Ihavecometo
understandingonething.Toomuchofreadingon
thissubjectbyvariousGuru'sdoesntactuallyhelp
andonlyendsinconfusionandanalysis.Though
theyallpointtothesameOneTruthandeven
thoughsomeofthemhavesimilarpaths,itisbetter
nottogetintomultiplethings.EveninBhagavan's
writing,therearesomanymisinterpreationsand
newnewwaysofSelfinquiry.SOitisnecessary
firsttohaverightunderstandingofthepracticein
mindandthenjustputintopracticewithgiving
awaythetempationtoreadsomanyvariousthings.
Especiallyintimeswherewehavefacebook,twitter
andinternet,itinvitesthemindtodwelveinmore
reading.
Inthosedays,theGuru'swouldgiveoneortwo
upedasawhichthesadhakhastopracticealllife.In
caseofSageArunagirinatharorThayunmanavar,
theonlyupadesawas"SummaIru"andthey
contemplated.Bhagavanhasgivenspecific
instructionstoputtheSelfInquiryintopractice.The
egofearsandgetsthreatend.IthinkthefeelingofI
issosimplethatweoverlookandleadstodoubto
ourownexistence.IjustrealizedhowsillyI'mthat
mymindhasgonesooutwardfocusthattofocus
theattentiononmyselfI'mtryinglookthesenseof
measanobject.Maybethepossiblereasoniswhen
weturnourattentiontoourseleves,weseelotf
thoughts,emotionsandsensationsthatthefeeling
ofourexistencehasbecomesocloudedandweare
addingitmuchmorecomplxitybylookingatour
ownIbyaddingthinkingintoit.Iguesswhenwe
just,dropeverything,eventheneedtolookforI
andjustsitforsometimenotfocussinganything
specific,thesenseofIbecomesmoreclearandwe
justhavetobewiththatseseoffeeling.
Withtheunderstanding,weneedtoputinpractice,
findthatbalanceintuitevelyandprayfortheGrace
ofBhagavan(whichisalreadythere)toguideus
turn180degrees.ThoughBhagavanhassaidthere
arenomilestonesinthisjourney,butstillthemind
hasthefearifitisdoingright.Thinkweshould
surrenderthefearatthefeetofBhagavanandturn
theattentiontoIfeelingandbeawareofthe
feeling.
38/55
17June2014at20:08
IsAhamSphuranaandIfeelingbothsame?
IreadsomewherethatSphuranaisshortforaham
sphurana,whichmeansshiningforthofI.
Thereisahamandidam.Idamistheobjectwhichis
veryclearthoughts,senseperceptions,
experience.
ButwhenitcomestoAhamI,thereissomething
calledIthought,Ifeeling,ahamsphurana.Inmany
placesinselfinquiryitisjustsuggestedtoholdon
toIandinvestigatethesource.Arethesethree
sameordifferent?
18June2014at11:48
WhatisahamSphurana.Ireadsomewhere
Sphuranaisshortforahamsphurana,whichmeans
shiningforthofI.
IsitsameasIfeelingorIthought.Whatisthe
differencebetweenahamsphurana,IfeelingandI
thought.Areallthreesameordifferent?
18June2014at11:50
MichaelJamessaid...
Palaniappan,inreplytoyourtwomostrecent
commentsabove(thisoneandthisone),whatis
commontothetermsIthought,Ifeelingand
ahasphuran
aisonlyI(aham),andthatisallthe
weneedtoinvestigateinordertoexperienceourself
(whichiswhatwecallI)aswereallyare.
IfweonceexperiencethisIasitreallyis,the
meaningofallthesetermswillbecomecleartous.
However,forthesakeofconceptualclarityand
understanding,Iwillexplainbrieflythemeaningof
eachoftheseterms.
IthoughtisanEnglishtranslationoftwoequivalent
termsthatSriRamanaoftenused,namely
(neumniaivu)and
(neumen
n
am),bothofwhichliterally
meanthethoughtorideacalledI.Asheexplained
39/55
onmanyoccasions,whathemeantbytheseterms
isourmixedexperienceIamthisbody,inwhichI
amiswhatweactuallyare(ourrealself)andthis
bodyisanextraneousadjunctthatwemistaketo
beourself.
Therefore,whenheasksustoinvestigatethis
thoughtcalledI,whatheactuallywantsusto
investigateisonlyitsessentialelement,Iam,in
ordertoseparatethisessentialIfromall
extraneousadjunctssuchasthisbody.Thatis,
onlybyfocusingourentireattentiononlyonI
(ourself)canweexperienceourselfincomplete
isolationfromalladjunctsandotherextraneous
things.
RegardingthetermIfeeling,itisnotpossibleto
saypreciselywhatthismeans,becausethemeaning
oftheEnglishwordfeelingisveryvagueand
ambiguous(forexample,themeaningsofitgivenin
OxfordDictionariesinclude:anemotionalstateor
reactionanideaorbelief,especiallyavagueor
irrationalonethecapacitytoexperiencethesense
oftouchasensitivitytoorintuitiveunderstanding
of).InmostcaseswherethistermIfeelingisused
inEnglishbooksaboutSriRamanasteaching,itis
probablyintendedtomeanthethoughtoridea
calledI,butinsomecasesitcouldbeatranslation
of
(neumun
arvu),which
couldbemoreaccuratelytranslatedasthe
awarenessorconsciousnesscalledI.
Theword
(un
arvu)hasarangeof
meaningsdependingonthecontextinwhichitis
used,someofwhicharesimilartosomeofthe
meaningsoffeeling,butitsbasicmeaningis
awarenessorconsciousness.However,inthesense
inwhichSriRamanaoftenusedit,itmeansmore
preciselythatwhichisawareorconscious.Iamnot
surewhetherheactuallyusedtheterm
(neumun
arvu),orifsohowoften,but
anequivalenttermthatheoftenusedwas
(taun
arvu),whichmeansself
awarenessorselfconsciousness.Sincethe
awarenesswecallIisonlyourselfawareness,

(neumun
arvu)would
denotewhathecalled
(taun
arvu).
Therefore,ifthetermIfeelingisunderstoodto
meanour
(taun
arvu)orself
40/55
awareness,initspureformitwouldbeonlyourreal
self,Iam,butsolongasitisexperiencedmixed
withanyadjuncts,itwouldbethethoughtcalledI,
namelyourego.
Iwillcontinuethisreplyinasecondcomment,in
whichIwillexplainthemeaningofthetermaha
sphuran
a.
22June2014at20:44
MichaelJamessaid...
Incontinuationofmypreviouscommentinreplyto
Palaniappan:
InEnglishbooksandarticlesontheteachingsofSri
Ramanaahugeamountofconfusionhasbeen
createdaboutthemeaningofthetermaha
sphuran
a,andhencetherearemanymisconceptions
thatprevailaboutwhatthistermactuallydenotes.
ThereforelastyearIwroteanarticlecalled
DemystifyingthetermSphuran
ainordertotryto
clearupsomeofthisconfusion,andwithinthenext
fewdaysIwillpostacopyofitonthisblog.
Thereforewithoutgoingintotoomuchdetailhere,I
willjustbrieflyexplainthatasitisusedbySri
Ramanathetermahasphuran
a(oritsabbreviated
formsphuran
a)simplydenotesafreshclarityof
selfawareness.Atpresenttheclarityofourself
awarenessiscloudedduetoitsbeingmixedupand
confusedwithextraneousadjunctssuchasourbody
andmind,sowhatweexperiencenowisarelatively
lessclearselfawareness.Thatis,weclearlyknow
thatweare,butwedonotclearlyknowwhatwe
are.Therefore,whenwetrytofocusourentire
attentiononlyonourselfinordertoexperience
ourselfaswereallyare,webegintoexperiencea
freshclarityofselfawareness,whichiswhatSri
Ramanacallsanahasphuran
a.
Atfirstthissphuran
aorfreshclarityofself
awarenessisunlikelytobeperfect(asitwasinthe
exceptionalcaseofSriRamanawhenonaccountof
anintensefearofdeathheinvestigatedhimselfin
ordertofindoutwhoamI),sowhateverfresh
clarityweexperienceinitiallywillprobablybejusta
relativeclarityofselfawareness.However,aswego
deeperintothispracticebyfocusingourattention
moreandmoreaccuratelyonourselfalone,the
clarityofourselfawarenesswillincrease,until
41/55
eventuallywewillexperiencethesameperfect
claritythatSriRamanaexperiencedatthatmoment
thatheinvestigatedhimself.Thisperfectclarityof
selfawarenessisnotarelativeonebutanabsolute
one,soitwilldestroyforevertheillusionthatweare
anythingotherthanwhatwereallyare.
Therefore,thoughthetermahasphuran
ameans
ingeneralafreshclarityofselfawareness,itdoes
notdenoteanyparticulardegreeofclarity,soitcan
denoteanythingfromthefreshbutstillverydim
claritythatweexperiencewhenwefirsttryto
attendtoourselfalone,totheperfectclaritythatwe
willexperiencewhenwefinallysucceedinfocusing
ourentireattentiononlyonourself.
Hence,tosummarisemyreplytoPalaniappans
questions,whenourselfawareness(orIfeelingas
itissometimesrathervaguelycalled)ismixedand
confusedwithextraneousadjunctssuchasourbody
andmind,itiscalledtheIthoughtorthought
calledI,butwhenwetrytoattendtoitalonein
ordertoexperienceitincompleteisolationfromall
extraneousadjuncts,webegintoexperienceitwith
anfreshdegreeofclarity,andanysuchfreshdegree
ofclarityofselfawarenessiswhatiscalledaha
sphuran
a.
Therefore,fromapracticalperspective,allwe
actuallyneedtounderstandisthatweshouldtryto
attendonlytoI(ourself).Ifwedoso,theadjuncts
thatarenowmixedwithIwillbegintodropoffor
recedefromourexperience,andthuswewill
experienceafreshofclarityofselfawareness,
whichisagreaterorlesserdegreeofaha
sphuran
a.
22June2014at20:51
MichaelJamessaid...
Toconcludemypreviouscommentaboutaha
sphuran
a:
Ifweunderstandthemeaningofthetermaha
sphuran
ainthissimplemannerasintendedbySri
Ramana,itwillnolongerseemtobesomething
mysterious,andwewillnolongerbeconfusedby
whateveranyoneelsemaywriteaboutit.Moreover,
wewillbeabletounderstandthatthereasonwhy
SriRamanaseemedtosaydifferentthingsabout
ahasphuran
aindifferentcontextsissimplythat
42/55
thereisnosingledegreeofclarityofselfawareness
towhichalonethistermrefers,becauseitcanrefer
toanyofabroadrangeofdegreesofsuchclarity.
Thediscussionaboutahasphuran
athatwas
begunbyPalaniappanherewascontinuedbyothers
inaseriesofcomments(beginningfromthisone)
onanothermorerecentarticle,Whydowenot
experiencetheexistenceofanybodyorworldin
sleep?,soIwillreplytosomeoftheideasexpressed
inthatdiscussioninoneormorecommentsonthat
article.
22June2014at21:04
Wittgensteinsaid...
RegardingthetranslationoftheTamilword
intoEnglishasIfeeling,Iguessthis
wasdonebySriSadhuOm.However,asIhave
shownthroughhisownwordsinmyearlier
comment,hedoesmeanIthoughtbythis.
ItwouldbeinterestingtoconsiderwhatLakshmana
Sharmawouldsayinthiscontext.InMahaYoga,he
clarifiesWhenceamI?asWhatistheSourceof
thesenseofselfintheego?[boldemphasismine].
Inthewholeofthebook,heconsistentlysaysegois
theIamthebodyidea.So,thisdefinitioncanbe
restatedas,WhatistheSourceofthesenseofself
inIamthebodyidea?Thisisthestartingpointof
theinvestigation,afterthoroughlyunderstanding
thatwedoexistinsleepwhiletheworldbodydoes
not.
Now,thesenseofselfcanbelikenedtothescent
ofthemasterandtheSourcetoIamI.Whatis
suggestedhereistofocusonthescenttoreachthe
master.ItisinstructivetonotethatSharmaisnot
usingthewordfeelinghere.Insteadheusessense
[thatexplainsmyboldemphasisabove].Oneofthe
meaningsintheOxfordDictionaryfortheword
feelingisasensitivitytoorintuitiveunderstanding
of[whichyoualsohavestated].Isuggestherethat
wemightconsiderthismeaninginadditiontothe
othermeaningyouhavepickedup.Ifweproceedon
thisconsideration,wecaninferSharmaistalking
abouttheintuitiveunderstandingoftheselfwe
have.SincetheTamilword alsomeans
,itwouldalsomeanthateitherwecan
taketheintuitivefeeling[
],[asSri
43/55
SadhuOmsays]orintuitiveunderstanding
[ ]ofourexistenceasthestartingpointof
theinvestigation.InRamanasphilosophysince
and cannotbeseparated,both
interpretationsareconsistentwithhisteachings.
ThetranslationofSriSadhuOm[Ifeeling]is
thereforecorrect,aslongasweunderstandwhatis
meant.Itisonlywhensomeauthorsdonot
understandthisbackground,theystartand
perpetuateconfusion.Forexample,Ihavecome
acrossadescriptionofvicharawhereintheauthor
saysconcentrationoftheIthoughtwillslowlygive
waytotheIfeeling,whichisnotwhatRamana
meant.Readingthis,peoplefocusonwhatthey
thinkasIthoughtandstartexpectingIfeelingto
develop.Whennothingdevelops[itwillnot!],they
getfrustrated.Suchisthepowerofconfusion.
24June2014at08:06
MichaelJamessaid...
Wittgenstein,regardingwhatyouwriteaboutSri
SadhuOmstranslationofTamilwords,youshould
notassumethatthechoiceofwordsinEnglish
translationsofhisTamilbookswasalwayshis.
ThoughhecouldunderstandEnglishandexpress
himselfadequatelyinspokenEnglish,hisknowledge
ofEnglishvocabularyandgrammarwasfairly
limited,sohecouldnotexpresshimselfsowell
whenhetriedtowriteEnglish.Thereforewhenever
hetranslatedBhagavans,Muruganarsorhisown
writingsintoEnglish,hewouldexplainthemeaning
tosomeonewhoknewbetterEnglish,andthey
wouldthenwriteitintheirownwords.Thisiswhy
thepresenttranslationsofThePathofSriRamana
andothersuchbooksisnotveryaccurate,andwhy
thechoiceofwordsusedinthemisoftennotthe
best.
ThoughIwaswithhimforeightyears,mostofhis
booksthatarenowavailableinEnglish(exceptGuru
VcakaKvaiandSdhanaiSram)hadbeen
translatedwiththehelpofothersbeforeIfirstmet
him.Withmyhelphedidcorrectsomeoftheworse
translations,butweneverhadtimetodoso
thoroughlyandcompletely,soalmostallofthe
existingtranslationsareinneedofextensive
revision,whichIhopeIwillonedayhavetimeto
do.
44/55
Regarding
(taun
arvu),healways
explainedtomethatitmeansselfawarenessor
selfconsciousness,sothoughthetermIfeelingor
thefeelingIdoesoccurinsomeofhisEnglish
books,thiswasnothischoiceofwording.Though
(un
arvu)canmeanfeelingincertain
contexts,inthecontextsinwhichBhagavan,
MuruganarorSadhuOmusuallyusedititmeans
awarenessorconsciousness,ormorepreciselyin
manycases,thatwhichisawareorconscious,
namelyI.
RegardingLakshmanaSarmasuseoftheterm
senseofself,Isuspectthatthiswasperhapsa
translationoftheTamilterm (tamai),
whichliterallymeansselfness,butwhichasyou
probablyknowhasmanyothermeaningsdepending
onthecontext,includingnature,essence,truth,
stateorthefirstperson(I).Whetherornotthis
wastheTamilwordhehadinmindwhenhewrote
senseofself,asitisusedinBhagavansteachings
(tamai)couldinmanycontextsbe
translatedasIness,selfnessorsenseofself.
ThereforewhenLakshmanaSarmaexplainsthe
meaningofwhenceamI?aswhatisthesourceof
thesenseofselfintheego?,Iwouldunderstand
senseofselfinthiscontextasmeaning
(tamai):whatisthesourceoftheInessinthe
ego?
Regardingyoursuggestionthat
(ta
un
arvu)couldbeinterpretedasintuitivefeeling
and (taaivu)asintuitive
understanding,itseemstomethatboththese
Englishtermsaretooimpreciseandgeneral,
becausetheyfailtoconveythemeaningof
(ta),namelyself,andbecausetheseTamilterms
bothmeanselfawareness,selfconsciousness,self
knowledgeorselfexperience.Notonlyarefeeling
andunderstandingbothinadequatetranslationsof
(un
arvu)and (aivu)astheyare
usedinthecontextofBhagavansteachings,but
intuitivealsoseemstobeaninappropriatetermto
usetodescribeselfawareness,becauseself
awarenessisnotmerelyintuitivebutisan
immediateandindubitableexperienceinfactitis
theonlythingthatweexperienceimmediatelyand
indubitably.
24June2014at23:05
Wittgensteinsaid...
45/55
Wittgensteinsaid...
IwaslittletakenabackwhenyousaidSriSadhu
OmsRamanaVazhiwasnottranslatedbyhimself,
althoughhewasexplainingtheideastothe
translator.Thisisveryunfortunatebecause[The
PathofSriRamana]isoneofthemostimportant
booksthatfocusesonthepracticalaspectsof
vicharaindetailandofimmenseusetononTamil
speakingpopulationofRamanadevotees.Ifthe
Englishversionisnotveryaccurate[especiallysince
themostimportanttermthannunarvugets
translatedasIfeeling],Iwonderwhatcouldhave
happenedtotranslationsinotherlanguages.
HavingreadThePathofSriRamana,theinitial
reactionistofocusontheIfeeling,assumingitis
somekindoffeeling.IwasfrustratedwhenIread
thisbookforthefirsttimebecauseIfeltIwasagain
insquareone,unabletodovichara.However,
readingtheoriginalTamilversionshowedthe
correctpath.
Ifweregressalittle,eventheIthoughtis
misunderstood,notbyreadingThePathofSri
Ramana,butbyreadingotherbooks.Likehowthe
Ifeeling[whichitselfisamisnomer]wastakento
beafeeling,theinvestigationofIthoughtistaken
tobeasearchforaparticularthought.FromwhatI
haveunderstoodfromyourposts,Ithoughtisa
shorthandnotationforIamsoandso,whereso
andsoisthejada[nonconscious]aspectwhileI
amisthecit[conscious]aspect.Wewereaskedby
Bhagavantofocusonthiscitaspect.Sinceit[Iam,
theessentialself]iscit[awareness],whatwas
meantbyBhagavanwastofocusourattentionon
ourselfawareness,nottofocusonanythought.
Inmyopinion,thereareonlythreebooksonecan
readtogetanaccuratepictureofthepracticeof
vichara:[1]RamanaVazhi,[2]MahaYogaand[3]
HAB.Unfortunately,thefirstoneisforthosewho
canunderstandwrittenTamilandthesecondoneis
forthosewithabackgroundinMetaphysics[thatis
whyitisnotsopopular].
25June2014at07:46
MichaelJamessaid...
Sorry,Wittgenstein,Ididnotmeantosuggestthat
thepresenttranslationofThePathofSriRamanais
46/55
notanextremelyvaluableandhelpfulbook.This
translationcertainlydoesgiveplentyofroomfor
improvement,andthechoiceofsomewordsusedin
itmaynotalwaysbethemostappropriate,butitis
stillthebestbookinEnglishforanyonewho
seriouslywantstounderstandhowtopractisetma
vicra.Themostimportantpartofthebookisthe
firstpart,andfortunatelythepresenttranslationof
itismuchbetterthanthepresenttranslationofthe
secondpart,buteventhelatterisstillveryuseful.
Forunderstandingthepracticeoftmavicra,the
mainpartofThePathofSriRamanaismuchmore
clear,accurateandusefulthanMahaYoga,because
thoughMahaYogadoesclearlyexplainmuchofthe
philosophicalbasisoftmavicra,itdoesnot
explainthepracticeofitnearlyasclearlyordeeply
asThePathofSriRamana.Thereforeanyonewho
wantstopractisetmavicrashouldcertainlyread
ThePathofSriRamanaiftheydonotknowTamil
andthereforecannotreaditsoriginal,
(rRaman
aVai,orSriRamanaVazhiasits
titleisoftentranscribedinLatinscript).
Regardingthetranslationof
(ta
un
arvu)asthefeelingIortheIfeeling,though
thisisnotthemostaccuratetranslationofit,itis
notentirelymisleading,becausemostpeopleshould
beabletounderstandthatwhatismeantbyI
feelingisonlyourselfawareness.ThereforeallI
wantedtopointouttoyouinthisregardisthatthe
feelingIortheIfeelingarenottermsthatIoften
heardSriSadhuOmusingwhentalking,andthat
wheneverhewouldhaveused
(ta
un
arvu)whilespeakinginTamil,hegenerallyused
selfawarenessorselfconsciousnesswhilespeaking
inEnglish.Andevenwhenhedidtalkaboutthe
feelingI,heusedthewordfeelingonlybecause
hehadheardothersusingitinthiscontext,sohe
wouldhaveassumedthatitiscommonlyusedand
understoodbypeopletomeanconsciousnessor
awareness.
Thatis,sincealmosttheonlyEnglishbookshehad
readweretheEnglishbooksaboutBhagavans
teachings,hetendedtousethesameterminology
usedinthemunlessitwascleartohimthatany
particularwordwasinappropriate,orunlesshe
knewanotherEnglishword(suchasattention,
whichheusedveryfrequently)thatwasmore
47/55
appropriatethananyofthewordsthatwereusedin
Englishbooksthattriedtoexpressorexplaintma
vicra.Forexample,thetermselfattentionwas
notusedinanyEnglishbooksaboutBhagavans
teachingsbeforehecoinedandstartedtouseit,but
hechosetouseitbecauseheunderstandenough
Englishtorecognisethatitexplainedthepracticeof
tmavicrasomuchmoreclearlythananyofthe
otherwordsthatwerethenusedinEnglishbooksto
explainit(suchasthetermQuestoftheSelf,
whichLakshmanaSarmausedsofrequentlyinMaha
Yogaandotherbooks).
(Iwillcontinuethissubjectinmynextcomment
below.)
26June2014at13:29
MichaelJamessaid...
Incontinuationofmypreviouscomment:
However,onetermthatSriSadhuOmdidfrequently
usebecauseitwasusedinalmostallotherEnglish
bookswasSelfenquiryasatranslationoftma
vicra.Duringthelastoneortwoyearsofhisbodily
lifeIpointedouttohimthatusingacapitalSin
thiscontextseemedtobemisleading,sinceit
suggeststhattheSelfissomethingotherthan
ourself,andsincedistinguishingSelffromself
impliesafundamentalduality.Heatonceagreed
thatthiswasso,sayingthatinTamilthereareno
capitalsandhencenoroomforcreatingsuch
unnecessaryconfusion,andhetoldmethatinall
futurebooksandtranslationsweshouldbecareful
toavoidcapitalisingtheinitialletterofselforany
otherwordthatdenotedself,suchasbeing,
consciousnessorawareness.
Lateritstruckmeonedaythatselfinvestigation
wouldbeamuchclearerandmoreaccurate
translationoftmavicrathanselfenquiry,soI
discussedthiswithSadhuOmandexplainedtohim
thatenquirycanmeaneitherquestioningor
investigation,soitisambiguous,andhencethough
enquirewhoamIcanmeaninvestigatewhoamI,
itismorelikelytobemisunderstoodasmeaning
question(orask)whoamI,becausethewords
whoamIwouldmoretypicallybeunderstandasa
questionthanasdenotingasubjectfor
investigation.Ialsoexplainedthatwithregardto
theverbequivalentsofenquiryandinvestigation,
48/55
wecansayinvestigateselfbutcannotsayenquire
self,soifweuseenquirewehavetosayenquire
intoselforenquireaboutself,whichismore
cumbersomeandseemslessdirectthansaying
simplyinvestigateself.
WhenIexplainedallthis,SadhuOmtoldmethatin
Tamiltheverbvicricanalsomeaneither
investigateorask,liketheEnglishverbenquire,
butthatthenounsvicramandvicran
aiprimarily
meaninvestigation,examination,exploration,
scrutinyorresearch,sotheyarelesslikelytobe
understoodasmeaningaskingorquestioning.
Moreover,hesaidthatinthecontextofBhagavans
teachingsvicri,vicramandvicran
aimean
enquireorenquiryonlyinthesenseof
investigateorinvestigationandnotinthesenseof
askorasking.Thereforeheagreedwithmethatit
wouldbebettertotranslatetmavicraasself
investigationratherthanselfenquiry,andsaid
thatinfutureeditionsofThePathofSriRamanaor
anyotherbooksweshouldusethetermself
investigationinsteadofselfenquiry.
(Incidentally,InoticedlaterthatinTalkswithSri
RamanaMaharshivicriandvicraare
respectivelyoftentranslatedasinvestigateand
investigation,thoughtheyaremorefrequently
translatedasenquireandenquiry.)
Therefore,whenreadingtheEnglishtranslationsof
anyofSadhuOmsbooks,itisimportanttobearin
mindthathehadonlyalimitedknowledgeof
English,sotheEnglishwordsheusedmaynot
alwaysbethemostappropriateonesortheones
thathewouldhaveusedifhehadhadabroaderor
deeperknowledgeofEnglish.
26June2014at13:49
Wittgensteinsaid...
Michael,thanksforyourcomments.Asyousay,
"mostpeopleshouldbeabletounderstandthat
whatismeantbyIfeelingisonlyourself
awareness",itshouldbefine.However,itwasnot
soinmycase.Itwasclear[althoughIhadguessed
themeaningafterreadingtheEnglishversion]only
afterreadingtheTamilversion.Thatwasthereason
Iwrotemypreviouscomment.
Theinformationthatyouhavesharedwithusonthe
49/55
discussionbetweenyouandSriSadhuOmonthe
Englishtermsusedforvichara[nounandverb
forms]areveryuseful.
27June2014at05:38
Anonymoussaid...
Michael,
WhatdoyoumeanwhenyousaidBecausethe
experienceorevenexistenceofanythingelsewould
divideandlimititsundividedandinfinite
wholeness?Howisthatso?ThoughIunderstand
thatwearethewhole,whateffectswouldithaveon
us?
Whenyoutalkabouthavingfreshclarityofself
awareness,whatdoyoumeanbythat?Clarityin
whatway?Howareyoutohaveclarityofself
awareness?IonlyasksoIcangetan
understanding,Iunderstandthatclarityofself
awarenessisexactlywhatitstates,butwhatisthe
clarityofselfawareness?Doesthatmeanmy
discriminationonthingswillbecomemoreclear?
Pranams
3January2015at04:53
MichaelJamessaid...
Anonymous,inverse28ofUpadaUndiyr
Bhagavansaysthatourrealnatureisananta
(infiniteordevoidofanylimitorend)andakhan
d
a
(unbroken,undividedorindivisible).Therefore,since
weareinfinite,nothingcanbeotherthanus
(becauseifanythingotherthanourselfexisted,that
wouldmeanourexistencewaslimitedandhencenot
theinfinitewhole),andsinceweareindivisible,no
separatepartscanexistwithinus.Hence,ifwe
experienceanythingthatisotherorseparatefrom
ourself,wearenotexperiencingourselfaswereally
are.ThisiswhyIwrote:
However,sinceselfexperienceisabsolutelynon
dualandinfinite(thatis,devoidofanydivisionor
limitationwhatsoever),initspristinestatethereis
absolutelynoroominitforanyexperienceof
anythingelse(becausetheexperienceoreven
existenceofanythingelsewoulddivideandlimitits
undividedandinfinitewholeness).
50/55
Solongasweareawareofanythingotherthan
ourself,wearenotawareofourselfaswereallyare.
ThereforewhatImeanbyclarityofselfawareness
isthestateinwhichweareawareofourselfaswe
actuallyare,andhenceofnothingelsewhatsoever.
However,thoughabsoluteclarityofselfawareness
entailsbeingawareofnothingotherthanourself
alone,untilweexperiencesuchabsoluteclaritywe
canexperiencevaryingdegreesofclarityofself
awareness.Themorewepractiseselfinvestigation,
themorefamiliarwewillbecomewitharelatively
clearerawarenessofourself.
Asourselfawarenessthusbecomesclearer,our
abilitytodiscriminateordistinguishourselffrom
otherthingsthatnowseemtobeourself(suchas
ourbodyandmind)willalsobecomeclearer.
Thereforeinthissensewecansaythatrelative
clarityofselfawarenesswillmakeour
discriminationonthingsbecomemoreclear,asyou
suggest.However,whenweexperienceperfect
clarityofselfawareness,nothingotherthanourself
willexistorevenseemtoexist,sointhatstate
therewillbenoscopeforanydiscriminationon
thingswhatsoever.
Evenduringourpractice,weshouldnotmistake
discriminationonthingstobeclarityofself
awareness,becausetotheextentthatweareaware
ofanythingotherthanourself,ourclarityofself
awarenessiscloudedandobscured.Thereforewhen
wearepractisingselfinvestigation,weshouldtryto
beawareofourselfalone(asIexplaininmylatest
article,Ouraimshouldbetoexperienceourself
alone,incompleteisolationfromeverythingelse).
Thereforetheanswertoyourquestion,Howareyou
tohaveclarityofselfawareness?,isthattohave
clarityofselfawarenesswemusttrytobeawareof
ourselfalone.
3January2015at12:18
Namjagbarwasaid...
Michael,wouldyoupleasegiverequiredclarification
regardingsomesentencesonpage4:
1."ThesecondideamentionedbyWittgenstein[],
dependingonwhattheterm'awareness'is
understoodtomeaninthiscontext.
Ifitisunderstoodtomeanthatwhichisawareof
51/55
therelativereductioninmentalactivity,thenthatis
'I'(albeitinitsadjunctmixedformoftheego),
butifitisunderstoodtomeanawarenessinthe
senseofacognitionorexperienceoffewer
thoughts,thanthatisnot'I',because'I'iswhat
experiencesthatawarenessorcognition."
Hereyouaretryingtocharacterizetwokinds
(senses)ofawareness.
However,Icannotmakeoutanyimportant
differencebetweenthedescribedtwokindsof
awareness(a.'thatwhichisawareoftherelative
reductioninmentalactivity'and'cognitionor
experienceoffewerthoughts'.Botharevarietiesof
'innerperception'.
2."Forexample,ifIamawareofthepresenceor
absenceoftrafficnoiseoutside,thatawarenessof
noiseornonoiseisnot'I',because'I'amwhat
experiencesthatawareness.Likewise,awareness
thatthoughtsarepresentorthattheyseemtobe
absentisnot'I',becauseIamwhatexperiences
thatawareness,soattendingtothatawarenessis
notattendingto'I'.However,ifwesaythatIamthe
awarenessthatisawareofthatawarenessofthe
relativeabsenceofthought(s),inthefirstofthese
twosensestheword'awareness'doesreferto'I'."
Herethequestionarises:Isitcorrecttosaythatwe
are'experiencingthatawareness'inthesenseof
(dual)perceivingawareness?Doesnotawareness
asanconsciousoccurenceoccurasanobjectless
process?
3."Therefore'awareness'isanambiguousterm,[]
(whichisincidentallywhythepopulardescriptionof
thepracticeofatmavicaraasbeing'awareness
watchingawareness'canbeeasily
misunderstood)".
HeretooIhavetoaskifawarenesscanreallywatch
awareness.
4August2015at20:51
Namjagbarwasaid...
Sorry,
inmylastcomment,inthesecondlastsentenceof
1.
Iforgottheletterb.)andtoputthelastpartofthat
sentenceinsquarebracketsinsteadofround
brackets.
Itshouldberead:
However,Icannotmake[...]twokindsofawareness
[a.)'thatwhich...activity'
andb.)'cognition...thoughts'].
52/55
4August2015at22:44
Namjagbarwasaid...
Michael,
whilereadingyourcommentof3January2015at
12:18
Imustraiseaquestion:
1.Paragraphone:
"Anonymous,inverse28ofUpadaUndiyr
Bhagavansaysthatourrealnatureisananta
(infiniteordevoidofanylimitorend)andakhan
d
a
(unbroken,undividedorindivisible).Therefore,since
weareinfinite,nothingcanbeotherthanus
(becauseifanythingotherthanourselfexisted,that
wouldmeanourexistencewaslimitedandhencenot
theinfinitewhole),andsinceweareindivisible,no
separatepartscanexistwithinus.Hence,ifwe
experienceanythingthatisotherorseparatefrom
ourself,wearenotexperiencingourselfaswereally
are.Thisis...":
2.Paragraphsix,lastsentence:
"Thereforewhenwearepractisingselfinvestigation,
weshouldtrytobeawareofourselfalone(asI
explaininmylatestarticle,Ouraimshouldbeto
experienceourselfalone,incompleteisolationfrom
everythingelse)."
Myquestionis:
If'noseparatepartscanexistwithinus'howcan
therebe/existatall
somethinglike'everythingelse'?
Isthereperhapsacontradiction?
4August2015at23:11
MichaelJamessaid...
Namjagbarwa,regardingyourlatestcomment,it
wouldbeacontradictiononlyifeverythingelse
werereal,butsinceeverythingelsedoesnot
actuallyexistbutonlyseemstoexist,thereisinfact
nocontradiction.Thatis,whatactuallyexistsisonly
ourself,whoareinfiniteandindivisible,soourfinite
egoandeverythingelseismerelyanillusionor
unrealappearancesomethingthatseemstoexist
eventhoughitdoesnotactuallyexist.
However,theparadoxisthatouregoandeverything
elseseemtoexistonlyintheviewofourselfasthis
ego,andnotatallintheviewofourselfaswereally
are.Thatis,thenonexistentegoandeverything
elseseemtoexistonlyintheviewofthenon
53/55
existentego.Thisiswhyitiscalledmy,whichisa
termthatmeanswhatisnot.
Theabsolutetruthisthatnoneofthisexistsoreven
seemstoexist,becauseourego,whoalone
experiencesit,itselfdoesnotexist.However,to
experiencethisweneedtoinvestigateourego,
becauseonlybydoingsocanweexperiencewhat
aloneactuallyexists,namelyourselfastheone
infiniteandindivisiblewhole.
Regardingyourearliercomment:
1.ThedifferenceIwastryingtoexplainisactuallya
verysignificantandimportantone,becauseinthe
firstcaseawarenessisusedinthesenseofwhatis
aware(namelyourself)whereasinthesecondcase
itisusedinthesenseofwhatweareawareof.In
otherwords,inthefirstcaseitreferstothesubject
(theonewhoexperiences)whereasinthesecond
caseitreferstotheobject(whateverelseis
experienced).Forexample,ifIsayIamawareof
somepain,myawarenessofthatpainisnotmyself
(theexperiencer)butisonlywhatIamtemporarily
experiencing.
2.Thereisonlyoneexperiencer(namelyourself,
theperceivingawarenessasyoucallus),and
everythingelseiswhatisexperiencedbyus.
Thereforewhatisdualisnottheperceiving
awarenessitself.Wheredualityliesisonlyinthe
distinctionbetweenthisoneperceivingawareness
andeverythingelsethatitperceivesorexperiences.
Theonlyawarenessthatisobjectlessispureself
awareness(ourawarenessofourselfalone),butso
longasweareawareofanythingelse,whatever
elseweareawareofistheobjectofourexperience.
3.Onlyawarenessinthesenseoftheperceiving
awareness(namelyourself,theexperiencing
subject)canwatchitself,becauseonlyinthissense
doesthetermawarenessrefertowhatisaware.In
anyothersenseitreferstosomethingthatisnot
aware,sowhatisnotawareobviouslycannotbe
awareofeitheritselforanythingelse.Thereforethe
phraseawarenesswatchingawarenessis
meaningfulonlyifitisunderstoodtomeanourself
watchingourself.
9August2015at10:34
54/55
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Happiness of Being Experience It As It Actually Is

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7/7/2016 HappinessofBeingTheTeachingsofBhagavanSriRamanaMaharshi:SincewealwaysexperienceI,wedonotneedtofindI,butonlyneed...

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