Guest guest Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 Dear Jim , You write > > Accepting the teaching as just another thought is not a danger, it's > part of the process by which the understanding may start out by > gathering information for the mind for many many years but end in a > sudden, total FELT realization and conviction that (for one thing) > you are not an ego/person as you took your self to be and that the > ego/person is not even real but a fictional character that you > created way back in eary childhood to help you cope with your > surroundings while covering or burying you true/real self. When all > that information culminates in the sudden felt conviction and belief > that you are not a someone/person, etc. you magically become what you > already are and were all along. Thanks to all that intellectual > information, you now realize without doubt what and who you are and > always were/will be. Give yourself whatever label/title you choose - > God, Self, All, Me, That, This, Brahman, Love, Tao, Joy, etc. if it > satisfies someone's mind/intellect but you just know beyond words and > concepts what you are as - I agree with you here.Ramesh says the first step is the intellectual understanding of his basic concepts{Advaita]then they will percolate down to the heart om their own without having to do anything special .Ramana also says on occaisions in Talks that a clear intellectual study of the teachings is a primary step.-------! > > > > Now spiritual practice ,which Ramesh does not deny .I have heard > him say in Mumbai "if it is the > > will of the Source you will do spiritual practice and nothing can > stop you". > > It could be said that it is the will of impersonal Consciousness that > personal consciousness will do spiritual practice and nothing can > stop impersonal consciousness. All there is is Consciousness yes, this how Ramesh puts it.you have his phraseology to a T > > > > He himself had a long > > search originally inspired by Ramana ,he had a Traditional Guru , > as a Brahman , he obeyed his > > Guru and did the necessary Sadhanas .When he met Nisagaddatta > through reading about him in the > > Mountain Path he was led after three years to the "ultimate > understanding" > > > > The point about the Sadhaka is that he follows practices prescribed > by his Master[in our case > > Bhagavan] so that we are utterly convinced that there is no Jim or > Alan and there is no trace of > > him left. > > LOL...there will be a trace of him left so long as one functions in > the world but it won't be a significant or dominant trace - it will > be a phantom in the background of your real life instead of the cruel > master of you as this little trace used to be....LOL. > When you are utterly convinced and feel the total absence of a > personal self that you no longer believe in, take seriously or > acknowledge as even existing - accept in your imagination, you will > have become yourself - alone. After that, you will no longer be a > seeker, Sadhaka or whatever title you used to carry - unless you take > such labels for practical/social purposes such as Bhagvan, Master, > Your Honor, Officer, etc. Yes once the understanding happens and the sense of personal doership goes that will be the case. > > > > That is what Atma Vichara is designed to do ,otherwise saying there > is no > > Alan,Jim,Michael or Gabriel could be in many cases just words. > > > Yet just words in many cases is the prelude to the final, sudden > awakening, realization and conviction or transformation, etc. So > just words can be an important and useful part of the process back to > one's self/being/reality. Yes , providing they are progressed by some study .in effect Balsekar's teaching is a form of Self enquiry into the question of personal doership and his 'Acceptance' is synonymous with surrender ..He has his own language . > > Without folks like Ramesh, Poonja, Nisargadatta, etc. it might be > difficult to figure our what Ramana taught and one could take the > Atma Vichara to be just an intellectual/verbal/conceptual method to > discover what can be said but maybe never felt or realized - that you > are the Self/God etc. They do help a great many people initially who then move on to read the source of the Renaissance of Advaita Vedanta in modern times , Ramana Maharshi . > > Quoteing from WHO CARES by Ramesh Balsekar: > > As long as you say "I am That," the persnal "I" is a separate one > from the Source, and what I am saying is, there is no "I" at all - > the "I" meaning the "me." The ego does not become one with the > Source. The ego disappears into the Source when there is the total > unconditional acceptance that there never was the ego. It is only a > direct withdrawl into impersonality that is more likely to bring > about the startling transformation known as metanoesis, whereby there > is a sudden and immediate conviction that the identitfication with a > separate individual entity never did really exist and was essintially > nothing but an illusion. > > Thanks for sharing your knowledge of Ramesh and his teachings as they > relate to Ramana. It may interest you to know that Watkins Publishing comissioned me to compile an anthology of Ramesh's Teaching .It is called the Wisdom of Balsekar and collates his teaching under main headings from A to Z .It is only from his written works -not transcripts -these are covered by others.The book has been finished .Ramesh has approved it .Wayne has written the intro .Although it is advertised on Amazon , it will not be distributed until nect Summer as the Publishers want time to pre-sell to book shops etc. Thanks for an enjoyable exchange. Best wishes , Alan ______________________ BT Broadband - Free modem offer, sign up online today and save £80 http://bt..co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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