Sri Sadhu Om / Michael L.

[Guest guest]

Dear Michael L.,

 

I'm responding in this group to the message you just posted on

the "Talks on Inquiry" group because the latter is shutting down.

 

I think your decision to refer people to Sri Sadhu Om and

Sri Muruganar is a good one. "Path of Sri Ramana, Part One"

by Sri Sadhu Om contains what I've found to be the clearest

explanation of self-enquiry. Particularly chapters 7 and 8.

 

Sri Sadhu Om describes self-enquiry as "I-attention,self-attention,"

and "self-abidance." The basic idea is to pay attention to that which

feels like "I."

 

I think that a person who understands this will read "Talks With

Ramana Maharshi" and "Who Am I?" and recognize that Sri

Ramana is recommending "self-attention." But if a person comes

to those books without that initial understanding, they are

likely to come away from those books with all sorts of mistaken

ideas because the language is difficult to understand, and because

those books don't always distinguish clearly between the various

topics treated in them.

 

One of the most interesting parts of Sri Sadhu Om's book is the

annotated version of "Who Am I?" which he includes at the end as

the first appendix. He inserts his own comments in parentheses to

make clear that some portions of the document that are difficult to

understand are actually prescriptions for self-attention.

 

Sri Muruganar's poetry has the same virtues. I'll end this message

by quoting a prose translation of verse 385 from his work Guru

Vachaka Kovai:

 

.. If one attends to the centre of oneself with a keen mind

.. to know "Who am I?", the identification 'I am the body'

.. will die and the Reality will shine forth as 'I-I'. Then all

.. the illusory differences, which are like the blueness seen

.. in the sky, will disappear.

 

I like the phrase "centre of oneself." None of these verbal

formulations gets the idea across very well, but this one comes

a lot closer than most.

 

Best wishes,

 

Rob

[Guest guest]

RamanaMaharshi, "Rob Sacks" <editor@r...>

wrote:

> Dear Michael L.,

>

> I'm responding in this group to the message you just posted on

> the "Talks on Inquiry" group because the latter is shutting down.

>

> I think your decision to refer people to Sri Sadhu Om and

> Sri Muruganar is a good one. "Path of Sri Ramana, Part One"

> by Sri Sadhu Om contains what I've found to be the clearest

> explanation of self-enquiry. Particularly chapters 7 and 8.

 

Dear Rob:

 

Thank you. Yes I agree

>

> Sri Sadhu Om describes self-enquiry as "I-attention,self-

attention,"

> and "self-abidance." The basic idea is to pay attention to that

which

> feels like "I."

 

Yes, those chapters and those statements provide an excellent bridge

to a new way of understanding Self-inquiry, and indeed the new

understanding is far better described as Self-abidance.

There are many other such statements in those two chapters

that also turn the focus away from I-thought

and towards I-consciousness, and towards Self-attention.

 

Statements such as Self-attention are very helpful.

That still may leave a question as to what is meant by Self.

That is why I went on from there to Garland of Guru's sayings.

 

>From Garland by Sri Muruganar:

 

1038. "Awareness is not a quality of the Self.

The Self is without qualities.

Awareness is not an action of the Self. The Self does nothing.

The Self, our Being, IS Awareness."

 

Since the Self is awareness,

Self-attention is attention attending to awareness.

 

Sine the Self is awareness, Self-awareness is:

awareness of awareness.

 

Because our awareness, our attention is something immediately

available, immediate abidance is available.

 

Sometimes something can be so simple that it is missed.

But something simple can be quite profound also.

 

So instead of using the word Self,

which leaves one wondering what the Self is,

one uses the word awareness,

and the door to immediate abidance has been opened.

 

Garland 418:

 

"The only true and full awareness is awareness of awareness.

 

Till awareness is awareness of itself, it knows no peace at all."

 

432. "Is it not because you are yourself awareness

 

that you now perceive this universe?

 

If you observe awareness steadily,

 

this awareness itself as Guru will reveal the Truth."

 

638. "If instead of looking outward at objects,

 

you observe that looking,

 

all things now shine as I, the seer.

 

Perception of objects is mere illusion."

 

Since the Self is awareness,

and since awareness is immediately available,

to use the word awareness instead of Self in practice instructions

eliminates any misunderstanding of the meaning of Self-awareness.

It makes direct abidance immediately available

in the form of awareness of awareness.

 

There are as Annamalai Swami points out

no questions, no problems, no misery there.

No question Who am I? is ever asked,

because one is not taking any detour into thought.

 

Questioner:

 

"It is difficult for me to stay focused on the `I'-thought,

 

especially when I am in the middle of worldly activities.

 

Is it enough to be aware of awareness,

 

of consciousness in general?"

 

Sri Annamalai Swami:

 

"If you are conscious of consciousness,

 

there is no duality.

 

Everything is included in consciousness."

 

Questioner:

 

"But is it enough to be aware of the awareness?"

 

Annamalai Swami:

 

"You are repeating the question, so I will repeat the answer.

 

If you remain in the state of consciousness,

 

there will be nothing apart from it.

 

No problems, no misery, no questions."

 

There are so many misconceptions about Self-inquiry

that Sri Sadhu Om points out in those two chapters.

The folly of flinging thoughts at thoughts.

Sri Sadhu Om points out that what is needed is to deprive

the thoughts of attention, not to fling questions at thoughts.

Self-attention is what is needed, not second person attention.

Those two chapters are worth reading over and over, many many times.

Also the advantage of reading those two chapters is one

can see what he was pointing out in context.

So many, many, many misconceptions are cleared up by Sri Sadhu Om.

Then one can see it really does matter what source one uses

when studying what are supposedly Sri Ramana's teachings.

Sri Sadhu Om in those two chapters

is not trying to be argumentative.

There is a much better approach

and there are huge defects in the usual approaches,

his motivation in pointing all that out is love.

 

If one then goes on to Garland of Guru's sayings

to pick up where Sri Sadhu Om left off,

then one can get the precise clarification

of how to abide as the Self, right now.

Sri Muruganar uses the word Awareness in

365 of the 1254 Sayings.

 

The clarity of three Sages working on the clearest possible

communication is what one finds in Garland.

 

However, there are 1254 sayings there.

Thus in order follow Sri Ramana's recomendation against

endless reading and specifically against large works,

as can be found here:

 

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

 

one must reduce it even further.

 

Thank you Rob.

 

Take care,

 

with Love,

 

Michael L.

[Guest guest]

Dear Michael ,Self-Abidance can be construed as being different from Self

Enquiry .Self Abidance

in the Heart or that which you feel as I {Real I-I-I or the Self of Awareness]is

a great practice

..But Self Enquiry as set out in WHO AM I and SELF ENQUIRY by Sri Ramana is

searching for the

source of the ego or I thought .But I suppose 'each devotee practices according

to their

inclination and what suits them best'.Some find one approach easier and some

another .Love,in His

Grace,Alan

 

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