Hello and Thanks

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

The messages on this list are like gold. I have

familiarised myself with Ramanas teachings and have

spent the last year reading many different threads

under the banner of Non-Duality. I am hopeful that

progress is being made - However the mind is tricky

and I now seem addicted to the pleasure of the

teachings!? It feels like a deep thirst.

 

I will just try and watch and keep asking - who is

addicted to the teachings?

 

All efforts lead away from the truth? Can I ever move

away from the truth? - confusion arises. I read the

teachings and things seem clear, so I read something

else and things seem clear and then I read something

else.....

 

There is no question here, just an expression - I

write this and things seem clear =)

 

>From the part of me that smiles with gratitude at the

teachings - Thankyou, I will continue to read. As to

who thanks and who reads I shall eniquire further.

 

Thankyou

 

Ed Cooper

 

 

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> There are 4 messages in this issue.

>

> Topics in this digest:

>

> 1. THE HIDDEN POWER

> "saikali6362"

> <saikali6362

> 2. Thanks to Bhagavan

> "simhadileep"

> <simhadileep

> 3. The True Import of the word, "I"

> Harsha

> 4. Re: THE HIDDEN POWER

> Sister Judith Thackray-OSAh

> <thckry_jdth

>

>

>

______________________

>

______________________

>

> Message: 1

> Sat, 15 Jan 2005 04:55:34 -0000

> "saikali6362" <saikali6362

> THE HIDDEN POWER

>

>

>

> THE HIDDEN POWER

>

> When we say something is "hidden" it means it is

> available but not

> at present for us. We have to search for it as one

> would if he

> knows a family treasure is buried in one's paddy

> field or one's

> ancestral home. But unlike personal treasures, the

> power for which

> are now looking is a universally available one, to

> you, to me and to

> everyone. This makes a lot of difference for it

> means that it is

> open to one and all to find this power and make it

> one's own.

>

> The power we are referring to is also of a different

> kind. Usually

> we associate power with position, political or

> hierarchical, or that

> flowing from wealth or learning or excellence in

> particular fields.

> Such power is in the hands of a few thousands only.

> It also has its

> ebbs and flows. But the power now written about can

> be harnessed by

> everyone who is earnest, vigilant, and steadfast in

> the effort to

> discover the hidden power.

>

> What is the nature of this power? It is the power of

> a silent mind,

> a mind which is alert, alive and yet passive. It is

> a mind whose

> calmness, whose repose, whose peace is undisturbed

> by relationships,

> by ideas, by the inevitable successes and failures

> of life. It is a

> mind that functions without loss of any logic or

> reason. It is the

> mind which we have lost and which we have to find.

>

> In any treasure hunt, success depends on the leading

> clues by

> following of which one can unearth the lost

> treasure. Otherwise, it

> would be a wild goose chase. Would it not? It is

> precisely here that

> Sadguru Ramana steps in with his various guidelines

> and his weapon

> of self-enquiry, which is based on his own

> experience. The advantage

> of his method is that the path avoids detours,

> by-lanes, and

> diversions and takes one straight to the goal.

>

> The first clue which Ramana gives is that one should

> somehow manage

> to squeeze at least a little time for questing, for

> trying to find

> what life is all about. Is there nothing more to

> life than its daily

> routines, its hectic holiday schedules, its endless

> seeking of

> money, position, and constant effort at pushing

> ahead at doing one

> better than the other person? If this idea is

> instilled into your

> mind, then, you may take a good look at your

> topsy-turvy values.

>

> Of what use is it if you conquer the whole world, if

> your mind is in

> chaos, if your heart is shriveled and you cannot

> even sleep without

> tranquilizers? If you do not put a brake to the

> hectic pace of life

> you have set for yourself, it might lead to an

> imbalance, overall,

> in your life. You may have the pride of your bank

> balance

> overflowing with funds, of watching the upward graph

> of the business

> group and so on. But you might be neglecting your

> wife, losing touch

> with your children, becoming friendless and lonely.

> What indeed is

> the net gain if as a result of your warped,

> sectional view you have

> elbowed happiness out of your life? Hence, Ramana's

> emphasis on

> taking things in their stride, on being conscious

> whether you have

> purchased anxiety and fear while grasping more than

> you can handle.

> This contemplation of fundamental values, of course,

> should be in

> the backdrop of remembering the fact that all effort

> is in the last

> analysis only for power, peace and happiness.

>

> The next basic clue of Ramana is to warn against the

> danger of

> identifications and excessive attachments. Ramana

> would say, "Why

> don't you act as an actor on the stage or the

> cashier in the bank?

> Does either of them identify himself with the role

> he plays or with

> the cash he is handling?" After all, life is not

> made to order. It

> is a dynamic flow, a divine drama in which you have

> the option of

> playing your role well or ill. Each one has a

> multi-role to play

> each day, as a boss, as a son or daughter, husband,

> father, friend

> and so on. For instance, you cannot dote on your

> children at the

> cost of ignoring your parents. A certain degree of

> detached-

> attachment needs to be cultivated, being conscious

> of where to draw

> the line, to be free from the binding aspects of

> identifications.

>

> Yet another vital clue Ramana gives is that thought

> addiction is

> just as bad as drug-addiction. What does one mean by

> thought-

> addiction? One can understand this by posing the

> question, how would

> we feel if we do not have thoughts, if we are

> thought-free? Scared

> stiff? Wouldn't we be? This is natural for we

> associate the power of

> the mind with its capacity to think fast, and in an

> orderly manner.

> To us the mind is the only energy source from which

> one derives his

> vitality, and zest for life. For we foist on the

> mind, the power to

> reason, infer, discriminate and remember. This

> universal assumptions

> needs examination if we are to break new ground. One

> has to go into

> the question as to whether thinking is possible

> without the mind. Is

> there "thinking without the mind"? yes, says Ramana.

> For, the mind

> is not the primary energy source. We have wrongly

> located it there

> by habit. But the primary energy source is the

> fullness of

> consciousness, the spiritual heart, from which the

> mind itself

> derives its energy. It is therefore only a secondary

> energy source

> and now it is emaciated, anaemic due to constant

> loss of energy in

> the form of million thoughts.

>

>

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

 

 

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