Sri Ramana Maharshi - Who am I ?(....cont 6)

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Sri Ramana Maharshi - Who am I ?

 

( ..................contd.. from previous post)

 

Question: Are there any other means for making the mind quiescent ?

 

To make the mind subside, there is no adequate means except

enquiry. If controlled by other means, the mind will remain in an apparent

state of subsidence, but will rise again. For example, through 'pranayama'

[breath control] the mind will subside. However, the mind will remain

controlled only as long as the 'prana' is controlled. When the 'prana' comes

out, the mind will also come out and wander under the influence of 'vasanas'.

The source of the mind and the 'prana' is one and the same. Thought itself is

the nature of the mind, and the thought 'I' which indeed is the mind's primal

thought, is itself the 'ahankara' [the ego]. From where the ego originates,

from there alone the breath also rises. Therefore, when the mind subsides, the

'prana' will also subside, and when 'prana' subsides, the mind will also

subside. However, although the mind subsides in deep sleep, the 'prana' does

not subside. It

is arranged in this way as a divine plan for the protection of the body and so

that others do not take the body to be dead. When the mind subsides in the

waking state and in 'samadhi', the 'prana' also subsides. The 'prana' is the

gross form of the mind. Until the time of death, the mind retains the 'prana'

in the body. When the body dies, the mind forcibly carries away the 'prana'.

Therefore, 'pranayama' is only an aid for controlling the mind; it will not

bring about its destruction.

 

[ Sri David Godman's Comments :

According to the 'Upanishads', 'prana' is the principle of life

and consciousness. It is the life breath of all the beings in the universe.

They are born through it, live by it, and when they die, their individual

'prana' dissolves into the cosmic 'prana'. 'Prana' is usually translated as

'breath' or 'vital breath', but this is only one of many of its manifestations

in the human body. It is absorbed by both breathing and eating and by the

'prana vayus' (mentioned earlier) into energy that sustains the body. Since it

is assimilated through breathing, it is widely held that one can control the

'prana' in the body by controlling the breathing.

According to yoga philosophy, and other schools of thought

agree, mind and 'prana' are intimately connected. The collective name for all

the mental faculties is 'chitta', which is divided into:

(a) 'manas' (the mind), which has the faculties of attention and

choosing.

(b) 'buddhi' (the intellect), which reasons and determines

distinctions.

© 'ahankara', the individual feeling of 'I', sometimes merely

translated as ego.

 

'chitta' according to yoga philosophy, is propelled by 'prana'

and 'vasanas' and moves in the direction of whichever force is more powerful.

Thus, the yogis maintain that by controlling the breath, which indirectly

controls the flow of 'pranas', the 'chitta' can be controlled. Bhagavan gives

His own views on this later in the essay.

 

The referance to 'samadhi' needs some explanation. According to

Bhagavan (Guru Vachaka Kovai, verse 898), "'Samadhi' is the state in which the

unbroken experiance of existance is attained by the still mind."

Elsewhere he has said, more simply, "Holding onto reality is

'samadhi'. (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no.391.)

Though Bhagavan would sometimes say that a person in 'samadhi' is

experiancing the 'Self', these 'samadhis' do not constitute permanent

realisation. They are temporary states in which the mind is either completely

still or in abeyance.]

 

............. to be continued.

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