The solution to the root problem all spiritual seekers face

[Guest guest]

At the Ramana Maharshi group

Joe asked a question

regarding breathing exercises

mentioned by Sri Ramana Maharshi

in the book Self-Inquiry.

 

Because the answer to Joe's question

contains the solution

to the root problem,

that all spiritual seekers face,

it is being posted here:

 

Dear Joe:

 

I do not know who wrote the preface to Self-inquiry

in the 1996 sixth revised addition of the book

"The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi".

 

It may have been Professor K. Swaminathan,

or T.K. Jayaraman or Michael James.

 

Whoever it was, they demonstrated good insight into

Sri Ramana's teachings and also a good insight into

the danger of the ego misusing the teachings

found in the book Self-inquiry.

 

Here is that preface:

 

"Self-inquiry is the first work the Maharshi ever

wrote. It was written about 1901, that is, when he

was a sage (jnani) in perfect realization of the Self,

in the resplendent bliss of divine knowledge.

At that time he was living in Virupaksha cave on the

hill of Arunachala. A number of disciples had already

gathered round him. Although he had not actually

taken a vow of silence, he seldom spoke, and so wrote

his replies to certain questions put to him by

Gambhiram Seshayya, one of the earliest devotees.

The latter copied them in his diary. After his death

this diary was obtained from his brother; the

questions and answers were edited by Natanananda and

published with Bhagavan's approval under the name of

Vichara Sangraham, or Self-inquiry. Subsequently they

were changed into the form of an essay. The original

form has been adopted in the present work.

 

There is no youthfulness or immaturity in the work.

The Master wrote with the authority of full spiritual

knowledge, just as in his later years. Like all his

expositions, verbal as well as written, this is

concerned with practical questions of the path to

realization of the Self, never with barren theory.

However, it does differ from the later exposistions in

one important respect: that is, that it describes not

only the path of Self-inquiry but others also;

meditation on one's identity with the Self and a yogic

path based on breath-control. He himself prescribed

only Self-inquiry or submission to the Guru. He would

say: 'There are two ways; ask yourself 'Who am I?' or

submit.'

 

Why did he include the mention of less direct and more

elaborate methods in this first exposition? The

obvious contingent reason is that the disciple for who

it was written had been reading books about these

various methods and asked questions about them.

Perhaps also, in a wider sense, it is appropriate that

there should first be a general exposition of various

methods before lifelong instruction in that which is

prescribed. Certainly the other methods, although

described, are scarely recommended.

 

The breath-control that is described is, of course,

not mere physical exercise. It is the spiritual

significance of the exercise that makes it an

elaborate science. 'Science' is indeed the right word

for it, for it is a traditional Indian science of

self-purification. This makes it abstruse for the

Western reader who has no previous grounding in it,

especially as, like all sciences, it has its technical

vocabulary which does not permit adequate translation

without lengthy notes. One has to remember that in

writing this exposition the Maharshi knew that he

could count on a technical knowledge of the science in

question in the person for whom he wrote. The

consolation for Westerner readers is to remember that

he neither recommended nor prescribed this path and in

his later works scarcely mentioned it. It is not

necessary for them to learn its technicalities."

 

Although the above preface to Self-inquiry answers

your question Joe, one can actually go much further

into all this.

 

This brings up the whole question of other methods

either on their own or as aids to self-inquiry.

There are people like Sri Sadhu Om and like whoever

wrote the above preface to self-inquiry and like me

who know that Sri Ramana did not advocate any aids to

self-inquiry or any methods other than self-inquiry.

There are many others who have studied the teachings

of Sri Ramana Maharshi who are under the mistaken

impression that he advocated practicing methods other

than self-inquiry either on their own

or as aids to self-inquiry.

 

A great source to discover how these misconceptions

arose is the book the Path of Sri Ramana, Part 1.

In that book Sri Sadhu Om goes into great detail

explaining how these misconceptions arose.

He talks about other methods including pranyama.

I think the pranyama is mentioned in chapter 8,

but maybe it is chapter 7.

You can look it up for yourself,

but I will summarize the basic idea that Sri Sadhu Om

is conveying about pranayama from my memory:

 

Self-attention itself will stop the breath.

It is a mistake, an error to try any sort of breathing

exercise because this will result in second person

attention. Even to wonder "has my breath stopped or

not?" would lead to the error of second person

attention.

 

Sri Sadhu Om goes into far more detail than that and

he of course quotes Sri Ramana in the process.

 

You can find the links to read Chapter 7 and Chapter 8

of the book "The Path of Sri Ramana, Part One" on the

Direct Path Links Directory.

 

This is the link to the Direct Path Links Directory:

 

http://uarelove1.tripod.com/STD8.htm

 

You can join the Path of Sri Ramana, Part

one and read the rest of the book, but you will have

to wait a long time at the rate

it is being posted there.

You could also buy the book if you are interested.

 

It is not an accident that I placed the book

Self-enquiry under the Seventh Ring Teachings, which

are now the final ring of teachings on the Direct Path

Links Directory. You can see why by reading the

preface to Self-enquiry above or by reading

"The Path of Sri Ramana, part one.

 

For those of you who wonder

what I mean by Seventh Ring,

Joe made a comment at the atma vichara group

about all the links on the

Direct Path Links Directory.

 

I began thinking about that and realized

that there were way to many links

listed under that general category

because some of the teachings were not equal

as far as their directness is concerned,

and some of them that were equal in content

were not equal in clarity of communication.

 

Therefore, I placed the links in 7 different

categories calling them rings.

The idea being that if objects are orbiting the sun

(the Self) then the object with the closest orbit

is the first ring.

So the First Ring teachings

are those that are most direct

and most clearly communicated

in the most condensed form.

 

If one reads the preface above and the

"Path of Sri Ramana, part one, one can see the

rationale for placing a book like Self-inquiry

in the seventh ring, the ring that is the least direct

of all the rings listed on the

Direct Path links Directory.

 

Now, a good question to ask is,

why do some people who study Sri Ramana's teachings

think he advocated methods other than Self-inquiry

or aids to Self-inquiry

and others such as the author of the above preface

and Sri Sadhu Om and myself know that he did not?

 

I will briefly explain the main reasons here:

 

#1. Because Sri Ramana did speak on the subject of

other methods and aids.

 

If one just leaves it there

and does not examine what he said more closely

and what the questioner was asking

when Sri Ramana spoke on those methods,

then one might come to the conclusion

that Sri Ramana advocated methods

other than Self-inquiry or aids to self-inquiry.

 

The following quote by Sri Muruganar from the Garland

of Guru's (Sri Ramana Maharshi's) Sayings

will help greatly to clarify this matter.

Please read the following quote over and over

reflecting on each line slowly:

 

1106. "The sage's pure mind

 

which beholds as a mere witness the whole world

 

is like a mirror which reflects

 

the foolish thoughts that come before him

 

and these thoughts are then mistaken to be his."

 

How does one disinguish which words

spoken by Sri Ramana are a reflection of

the foolish thoughts of the questioner

and which are the Teachings of Sri Ramana?

 

Soon I am going to start a new for the

purpose of answering that question.

I will take one of the Talks, begining with the first

talk, from the book "Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi"

and demonstrate exactly how to distinguish the

reflection of the foolish thoughts of the questioner

from Sri Ramana's teachings.

I will go through the entire book continuing that

demonstration. However, some people will probably

learn how to do it from just one

or two or three Talks.

 

I will post an announcement here

after I create that group.

 

#2. Because of the ego's desire

to preserve its imaginary self.

 

If we go to the source of the reason

it is the ego's desire to preserve its imaginary self.

If a person is of the spiritual level of maturity that

the ego still wishes to preserve its imaginary self,

then that ego will focus on those aspects of the

teachings that are not direct and that are only a

reflection of the foolish thoughts of the questioner.

 

Almost all humans are on

the level of spiritual maturity or ripeness,

in which the ego's primary aim

is to preserve its imaginary self.

This also applies to

most of the people who study Sri Ramana's teaching.

 

Therefore the ego only pretends to be

interested in its own end

and the ego sabotages the study of

Sri Ramana's teachings, thus making them ineffective.

 

One way to sabotage the study is to focus on those

aspects of the words spoken or written by Sri Ramana

that are really just the

reflection of the foolish thoughts of the questioner,

as Sri Murganar points out in the saying quoted above.

 

Thus a person might even study Sri Ramana's teachings

for 10 or 40 or 60 years,

and still at the end of 60 years

be focussing on those words spoken by Sri Ramana

that are the reflection of

the foolish thoughts of the questioner.

 

If one does not become aware of

the desire of the ego to preserve itself

and the tricks it uses to acheive that end,

then one's spiritual task is doomed to failure.

 

It may be that most people are not aware

that the ego is just playing tricks on them

when they focus on aspects of the teachings

that are not direct and therefore are just the

reflection of the foolish thoughts of the questioner.

 

It may be that most people are not aware

that it was only the tricks of the ego

and their level of spiritual maturity that lead them

to focus on something other than Self-inquiry.

 

If someone does become aware of this,

how can one stop the ego from using these tricks?

 

The answer is by increasing the intensity of

the desire for liberation.

 

How does one increase the desire for liberation?

 

By reflecting on the choice of

either ending the ego or not ending the ego

and looking at the consequences of each.

 

How does one look at the consequences?

 

By reading descriptions of the experience of

liberation. On the Direct Path Links Directory you

can find a link where you can read Sri Ramana

Anubhuti,

(Sri Ramana Experience) which is Sri Muruganar's

description of the experience of liberation.

 

Read it everyday to see what it means to end the ego.

That is looking at

the positive consequences of ending the ego.

 

The other means is facing the negative.

Facing what it means not to end the ego.

That is looking at all the things humans beings

usually block out that are negative about human

existence. They block it out by looking at only one

tiny aspect at a time, but not all of it.

 

The murders, the rapes, the tortures, the lying, the

conning, the cheating, 15,000 wars in the last five

thousand years and what each person went through in

those wars, disease, death.

And to reflect on what it will mean

to have to repeat it all over and over

for a hundred million more lifetimes.

One need only face the negative upon rare occaisions,

when facing the positive was not enough

and the ego flares up again.

 

One of these days I will create a much larger list

than that, but this gives the general idea.

 

If one does a good job of facing the negative

consequence of not ending the ego

and the positive consequence of ending the ego,

then the choice is made and

even the ego can see the great need for its own end.

The ego will need to be reminded and therefore it is

good to read the descriptions of liberation everyday.

 

Then the ego preservation strategies either die down

or become far less prevalent.

 

Then one can see the Direct Path.

Then one's focus will be on the Direct Path.

Then one begins the practice of the Direct Path.

 

As far as how to do that

and how to turn the mind inward,

one will find that in the First Ring Teachings

on the Direct Path links Drectory.

 

In order to make it easier to see

what quotes should be reflected on everyday, soon I

will start a with First Ring quotes.

 

Take care,

 

with Love,

 

Michael

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Joe, Michael L., and ALL:

 

 

--- "Michael L." <uarelove wrote:

SNIP

 

> Self-attention itself will stop the breath.

> It is a mistake, an error to try any sort of

> breathing

> exercise because this will result in second person

> attention. Even to wonder "has my breath stopped or

> not?" would lead to the error of second person

> attention.

 

michael bowes comments:

The practice of pranayama does not result in in

"second person" attention. "Second person" attention

already exists in the ONE who decides to practice

pranayama and therefore second person attention is not

going to result--it already is. Pranayama as Ramana

has stated is an "aid" to removing ignorance.

 

In parts of Michael L.'s message he refers to "ego

tricks". Methods that the ego uses to continue the

game. (I'm sorry Michael L., I'm paraphrasing a

bit.) My feeling is that all aids, including Self

Enquiry can become crutches. All aids can result in

ego inflation. It just depends on the person.

 

Ramana has said that there is "nothing new to be

gained afresh". If you really want the ego game to be

over then my advice is to just "be as you are now" and

not worry about it.

 

Love,

 

michael b.

 

 

 

Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears

http://launch./promos/britneyspears/

[Guest guest]

Dear Joe, Michael L., and ALL:

 

 

--- "Michael L." <uarelove wrote:

SNIP

> Self-attention itself will stop the breath.

> It is a mistake, an error to try any sort of

> breathing

> exercise because this will result in second person

> attention. Even to wonder "has my breath stopped or

> not?" would lead to the error of second person

> attention.

 

michael bowes comments:

The practice of pranayama does not result in in

"second person" attention. "Second person" attention

already exists in the ONE who decides to practice

pranayama and therefore second person attention is not

going to result--it already is. Pranayama as Ramana

has stated is an "aid" to removing ignorance.

 

In parts of Michael L.'s message he refers to "ego

tricks". Methods that the ego uses to continue the

game. (I'm sorry Michael L., I'm paraphrasing a

bit.) My feeling is that all aids, including Self

Enquiry can become crutches. All aids can result in

ego inflation. It just depends on the person.

 

Ramana has said that there is "nothing new to be

gained afresh". If you really want the ego game to be

over then my advice is to just "be as you are now" and

not worry about it.

 

Love,

 

michael b.

 

 

 

 

Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears

http://launch./promos/britneyspears/