No Mind I Am The SELF

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A snip ..By David Godman

 

It was Sri Ramana's basic thesis that the individual self if nothing more than a

thought or an idea. He said that this thought, which he called the 'I'-thought,

originates from a place called the heart center which he located on the right

side of the chest in the human body*. From there the "I"-thought rises up to the

brain and identifies itself with the body: 'I am this body'. It then creates the

illusion that there is a mind or an individual self which inhabits the body and

which controls all its thoughts and actions. The 'I'-thought accomplishes this

by identifying itself with all the thoughts and perceptions that go on in the

body: for example, 'I' am feeling happy etc. Thus, the idea that one is an

individual person is generated and sustained by the 'I'-thought and by its habit

of constantly attaching itself to all the thoughts that arise. Sri Ramana

maintained that one could reverse this process by depriving the 'I'-thought of

all the thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. Sri Ramana

taught that this 'I"-thought is actually an unreal entity, and that it only

appears to exist when it identifies itself with other thoughts. He said that if

one can break the connection between the 'I' thought and the thoughts that it

identifies with, then the 'I'-thought itself will subside and finally disappear.

Sri Ramana suggested that this could be done by mentally holding on to the

'I'-thought, that is the inner feeling of 'I' or 'I am', and excluding all other

thoughts. As an aid to keeping one's attention on this inner feeling of 'I' he

recommended that one should constantly question oneself 'Who am I' or 'Where

does this "I" come from?'. He said that if one can keep one's attention firmly

on this feeling of 'I' and if one can exclude all other thoughts, then the

'I"-thought will start to subside in the Heart-center.

This according to Raman Maharshi, is as much as the devotee can do by

himself. When the devotee has freed his mind of all thoughts except for the

'I'-thought, the power of the Self pulls the 'I'-thought back into the

Heart-center and eventually destroys it so completely that it never rises again.

This is the moment of Self realization. When this happens the mind and the

individual self {both of which Sri Ramana equated with the 'I'-thought} are

destroyed for ever. Only the Atman or the Self then remains..

 

 

*not to be confused with the heart chakra of kundalini yoga