Who Am I

[Guest guest]

Hi Paul,

 

It is analogous to a koan, in that as long as an answer appears the

question will continue to be asked. The pull from within becomes intense

through Self-enquiry.

 

However if Enquiry is a matter of saying, 'now I'll do five minutes of

enquiry, then I'll watch the television, then I'll have time to go to the

pub,' then I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for whatever one might think

one was waiting for to happen.

 

When Enquiry is first in your life then everything falls into place.

 

The Self is the sole constant.

 

With persistence in the enquiry 'Who am I?' all other thoughts are

destroyed... And in the end the 'I' thought itself is destroyed leaving the

non-dual Self, resplendent as ever.

 

One day something will happen.

 

The theoretical side is what one reads about, hears about, in books or from

the sages. This is where we gain intellectual conviction of the truth. And

this in itself is important.

 

The enquiry, while it may be a mental activity (intellectual) initially,

becomes a subjective experience of 'I'. This experience in turn falls away

when identification with objects through thoughts disappears. We start from

'I' and end in 'I'. But look for 'I' and 'I' is nowhere to be found.

 

There is no answer to the question , 'Who am I?' It is 'Being' without

qualification.

 

Regards

Miles

 

-------------

 

>on 30/3/00 12:06 pm, Paul Cote at cote wrote:

> Does the practice of repeating Who am I have to be done intensely and

> constantly? Also, is it a Koan? I need to bring this to the super practical

> level. I suppose repeat "Who am I" and contemplate that?

[Guest guest]

RamanaMaharshi, "prashanti" <prashanti@n...> wrote:

Perhaps I can write a few words that can be useful.

 

I have been practicing self-inquiry for about ten years now. I am

not one of those who comes to Self-realization the first time that

the Truth is heard, so I continue to practice.

 

Ramana certainly said again and again to seek the "I thought."

He said other things too. In "Who AM I?" he writes:

 

"Who Am I? I am not this physical body, nor am I the five organs

of sense perception, I am not the five organs of external activity,

nor am I the five vital forces, nor am I even the thinking mind.

Neither am I that unconscious state of nescience which remains merely

the subtle vasanas (latencies or tendencies of the mind) ...

"Therefore, summarily rejecting all the above-mentioned physical

adjuncts and their functions, saying, "I am not this; no, nor am I

this, nor this - that which then remains separate and alone by

itself, that pure Awareness is what I am. ..."

 

A big part of my practice is presently based on this negation. As

others who read this newsgroup may remember, I have written about

this for about the last year.

 

So in my practice a typical meditation might go like this:

 

I start meditation. The first thing that I will notice is that I

exist. I may then ask, Who am I? Or I may ask, where does this

sense of existence come from? As I watch the mind respond to the

inquiry, I notice that often some kind of "objective" thought arises

that seems "real." This might be a feeling of my body, or my heart

center, or prajna (the flow of breath or heart beat). When I notice

the objective sense of reality I will then ask another question

Ramana used, "For whom is this?" This question may take me directly

to Consciousness, or more frequently it takes me to the mind, then

the individual sense of identity. When I see the individual sense of

identity, I may notice that this sense is also "objective." It is

something perceived. Who sees it? (Who am I?).

 

This process is helping deepen my own inquiry. Most recently, after

a nonduality retreat at SAT in Santa Cruz conducted by my teachers

(Nome and Russell Smith, both Self-Realized though Self-inquiry), I

have been slowly and carefully going from gross to subtle in this

negation.

 

This starts with, "Am I this body?" (How can I be this "meat?" It is

something that I perceive, etc.) Then AM I these senses, then life-

energy, then mind, then the I-thought.

 

The slow process can take one to the sense of identity, which cannot

be negated. (Wow!)

 

One other approach, which was recently suggested by Nome is to look

for the sense of reality. Where does that come from? I have found

this most helpful over the last week.

 

So for me, the inquiry, "Who am I?" takes me from placing my own

sense of reality on the objective (body/world, senses, prajna, mind,

I-thought) and moves it to the "I-I" that Ramana talks about. It

moves by discrimination, seeing what is not real and what is real.

 

Nome says that Self-realization is really a matter of knowledge,

knowledge that is on the same level as your knowledge that you

exist. What the inquiry is about is coming to the place where that

knowledge is your EXPERIENCE.

 

I hope that these comments are useful. I present them not as a

spiritual teacher, but as one who is a seeker.

 

We are Not Two,

Richard

 

 

 

 

> I have had difficulty trying to "trace" this I thought -

comprehending

> exactly what that entails.

> Have i misunderstood that there is anything to actually do

here...trying to

> find an answer etc? Is it actually supposed to be a passive

enquiry, more

> than an active one?

>

> I recall B Creme remarking that when you say who am i, thought is

silenced.

> Which i believe is what Ramana says also

> Is this then the whole crux of the matter - to just silence the

mind - not

> seek anything out?

> "in the centre of all movement is a still point...that still point

is the

> Self" Is this the whole deal - when thouight is silenced (the

still point)

> there is the Self, and nothing need more be done? no active enquiry

is

> called for?

>

> Ah, I hope i have found it now! Someone please tell me if my

searching/ head

> racking is over

>

> Blessings

> Sai

[Guest guest]

Could you translate his Telugu into English?

I would also ask if people have Malayalam or of course Tamil.

I know only English and Sanskrit, and B has written only two pieces in

Sanskrit, besides Ramana-Gita, which is reported to be a duet.

 

 

A tap to www.theHungerSite.com will give

somebody a cup of rice. ShalauM!

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Dora

The posting on the importance of reading

books for realizaton was very interesting. It is true that no body realizes

Self by just reading books without enquiry into Self.

Though reading of books by it self cannot

be said as part of saadhana for realization, the importance of books to

prepare the mind to take up saadhana cannot be ignored. Books, like Talks

with Maharshi and other books, will definitely help diverting the mind

from material pursuits and preparing the mind for saadhana.

Whenever I used to read a few lines

from Talks , I used to get intesnse mood to do inquiry which otherwise

I would not have done. That way, for completing 'The Talks' it took me

a lot of time.

Ramana sarma

[Guest guest]

Who am I if I am not This

Who am I if I know not This

Who am I if I am not doing This

Who am I if this doing is not This

Who am I if I am not Love of This

Who am I if I am not This Knowing

Who am I if I am not this Doing

Who am I if this Doing is not Mine

Who am I if this Loving is not in Me

WHo am I if This is not Love of

a simple name I called unto Myself

This

a Breath unto the Void

 

Who am I?

 

 

 

Love and Peace,

Ana