Practise of self enquiry

[Guest guest]

I understand that atma-vicara (AV) should be going on all the time, but should

we allocate some hours for doing _just_ AV. I have started doing it between

4:30am and 6:30am when it is quiet. And again at night.

2. that brings me to the next question. Is it preferable to do AV in a quiet

place ? Which again means we may have to schedule it, if we live in a noisy

distracting area. I am also planning to go off to a queit place in the country

where i can put in a few weeks of AV undisturbed. Does this (intensive periods

of AV) sound like a good idea.

3. Does one actually say the words "To whom did this thought come ?" in the

mind, or is it an unspoken question?After asking this question, what do we do

.... sit absolutely queitly, or try looking around for that "I". I find my eyes

rolling around under the lids looking for something visible, even tho i know

the "I" wont be some visible entity.

In Ramana,Ananda

[Guest guest]

A few additional comments:

 

Yes, it is important that inquiry not become something that is like a

mental habit (drudgery). Inquiry is an investigation into what is

Real and what is not. What is Real is always there. What comes and

goes is not real. (You should note that EVERYTHING that is objective -

whether gross like your body or subtle like a thought - comes and

goes.

 

When I first started inquiry I found it very good to have a regular

time, when I am at my best, for practice. I found early in the

morning the best. I have continued to have this as a regular part of

practice. It has been this way for years now, and seems to me to be

a 'base' of practice.

 

As practice deepens, one finds naturally that one extends the inquiry

to the rest of the day. First I would recommend to get you 'base'

practice flourishing. As it grows, it will extend. As your practice

deepens you will find a natural facination with the inquiry, with

finding (then reposing in) what is Real.

 

The other thing about inquiry that is vital (at least for me. I think

too for others). Inquiry, finding out what is Real and what is

unreal, is intimately related to spiritual discrimination. Ramana

says again and again that Realization is a matter of removing the

ignorance, whereupon the Self shines as it is. Discrimination is a

key process in this.

 

This discrimination has been a key element in my practice for a

number of years, and it continuues to take practice deeper. I have

learned to discriminate from gross to subtle.

Am I this body? And I the senses? Am I the life force? Am I thought?

Am I the intellect?

 

I have learned to take my time. Inquiry and discrimination break up

mental habits that have accumulated over years (and life times). It

is much more important to be through than to be quick. In the

discrimination I look at something, loike the body, or some part of

that body. I ask myself, "Is that who I am?" After looking for a

while I will notice that whatever it is, it is something that

I 'see,' that I know. The seer is never in the seen. The sages say

this, and practice confirms it. Since I know that which is objective,

then I know that the objective is not who I am. At this point again I

inquire, kind of like this, "Since (what I was discriminating) is not

who I am, just WHO AM I?" For me that has taken the inquiry much

deeper. And the inner peace from the inquiry has filled my life.

 

Keep practicing. Keep asking questions (to abandon you ignornance).

If you can find a living sage who lives this Truth, sit with him, ask

his questions, clear your doubts.

 

You are blessed with Ramana's grace. Let this grace fill you until

there is nothing left of your individual idea of your self, and only

the Self remains.

 

Not two,

Richard

RamanaMaharshi, Ananda <oneness.univ

wrote:

>

> I have just started practicing self-enquiry (after returning from

> Arunachala). I have some questions:

>

> 1. I understand from some of the mails here that it should not

become

> routine, or a drudgery. Does that mean i should _not _ allocate

certain

> hours for doing it at the exclusion of other activities?

>

> I understand that atma-vicara (AV) should be going on all the time,

but

> should we allocate some hours for doing _just_ AV. I have started

doing it