Gems From Bhagavan: 'Who am I?' - Enquiry

[Guest guest]

Breath and mind arise from the same source and when one of them is

controlled the other is also controlled. As a matter of fact, in the quest

method - which is more correctly 'Whence am I?' and not merely 'Who am I?' -

we are not simply trying to eliminate, saying, 'We are not the body, nor the

senses and so on', to reach what remains as the ultimate reality, but we

trying to find out whence the 'I-thought' or the ego arises within us. The

method contains within it, though implicitly and not expressly, the watching

of the breath. When we watch wherefrom the 'I-thought' arises, we are

necessarily watching the source of breath also, as the 'I-thought' and the

breath arise from the same place.

 

(Gems from Bhagavan, selected by A. Devaraja Mudaliar)

[Guest guest]

During Self-enquiry, is it this "I" the ego that is sensed on the right side

of the heart or is it the "I-I"? Many thanks in advance for your

clarification. Regards,

Venkat

 

 

On 1/10/06, Peter <not_2 wrote:

>

>

> When we enquire within 'Who am I?' the 'I' investigated is the ego. It is

> that which makes vichara (enquiry) also. The Self has no vichara. That

> which makes the enquiry is the ego. The 'I' about which the enquiry is

> made

> is also the ego. As the result of the enquiry the ego ceases to exist and

> only the Self is found to exist.

>

> (Gems from Bhagavan, selected by A. Devaraja Mudaliar)

>

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Venkat,

 

Ramana teaches that everything arises from and returns to the Heart. Both

subject and object, the ' I - thought ' and all the vasanas (tendencies)

proceed from it. He states that when the source of the 'I', the ego, is

sought for, such a search if diligently maintained ultimately brings us to

the Heart where the 'I-I' throbs as the Self. Sometimes this throbbing of

the 'I-I' is referred to as the 'sphurana' - the light of 'I-I'.

 

'Aham, Aham', 'I-I' is the Self, the Heart.

Aham Idam, 'I am this' or 'I am that', is the ego.

 

In the benedictory verse to Ulladhu Narpadu (or "Forty Verses on Reality")

Ramana states the following:

 

"Can there be a sense of existence without something that is? Is Real

Consciousness a thing other than That? Since that (Reality) dwells, thought

free, in the Heart, how can It, itself named the Heart, - be meditated on?

And who is there, distinct from It, to meditate on It, the Self whose nature

is Reality Consciousness? Know that to meditate on It is just to be at one

with It within the Heart."

(translation, Lakshmana Sarma).

 

Best wishes,

 

P.

 

 

 

 

RamanaMaharshi [RamanaMaharshi]

On Behalf Of S Venkatraman

14 January 2006 03:26

RamanaMaharshi

Re: [RamanaMaharshi] Gems From Bhagavan: 'Who am I?' - Enquiry

 

During Self-enquiry, is it this "I" the ego that is sensed on the right side

of the heart or is it the "I-I"? Many thanks in advance for your

clarification. Regards, Venkat