Who am I, Paragraph 14

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Paragraph 14

 

If in this manner the mind becomes absorbed in the Heart, the ego

or `I'. Which is the center of the multitude of thoughts and pure

Consciousness or Self, which subsists during all the states of the

mind, alone remains resplendent. It is this state where there is not

the slightest trace of the `I'-thought, that is the true Being of

oneself. And that is called Quiescence or Mouna (Silence).

 

COMMENTS

 

These comments come now more from what I have been taught, rather

than my direct experience. My inquiry has brought me where it is

(often) easy to get the mind quiet. I have had several experiences

of greater depth, but these have just come and gone. There is a kind

of samadhi that Ramana talks about, I think of it as "samadhi on a

string," kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. In Talks, 187, 13 March 1936,

Ramana describes kevala "… the mind lies immersed in the Light of the

Self. (whereas the same lies in darkness in deep sleep)" and sahaja

nirvikalpa samadhi, "… the mind has resolved itself into the Self and

been lost."

 

Sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi is where Ramana `stood.' It is where my

teacher `stands.'

 

In my deepest experience I have experienced the mind as totally quiet

as in deep sleep, but "illumined by Being."

 

Ramana instructs the seeker to look very deeply within to what is

true "during all states of the mind." These are sleep, dreaming and

deep sleep. For me, this meditation has been a good one. If I see

the body as real while in the waking state, where does the reality

come from in my dream?

 

In my deepest experiences I have known the Silence. In this Silence,

all that might become a distraction is just like foam on a bubble;

insubstantial and not at all binding. Sometimes when I meditate, I

look at the Silence. You can `hear' it `behind' all the `noise.'

The `noise' exists in Silence and depends on Silence for its very

existence.

 

*****

>From Osborn's "the Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi." This is the

text version that had been edited by Ramana before final publication.

You comments are invited.

 

We are Not two,

Richard