Guest guest Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Hello all I've been reading the works of Ramana Maharishi and for the past two weeks have made a lot of effort to practise self-enquiry as much as I can. However, I'm unsure about some things and would appreciate some clarification. Firstly, am i right in thinking that practising self-enquiry is to be aware of being aware? Is the question "who am i" then just a tool to turn awareness on itself and not a question to which we should try to find an answer? secondly, I'm now able to easily turn my attention on itself, i.e. be aware of being aware, but only with constant mental chatter in the background. i have to continually ask "who am i?", "how do i know i am?", "what does it feel like to be?" etc to turn my attention to myself. I'm unable to "feel" awareness without thinking about it. Even when i think there's no thought, the thought that there is no thought is there Sometimes, the chatter is incredibly quiet but it's there. Is this something that will develop with practise? in other words, is this normal for someone new to self enquiry and should I not worry about it or am I going about it completly wrong? thanks for reading alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Hi All: I have been a slient reader too in this group for months now, and not completely dwelt into the art of self-enquiry. The reason is I have a primary question. How does it help to know or do the self-enquiry, when we have so much of pressure, in my day to day life, I am often out of job, searching for a new one desperately to feed the family, or someone is seriously ill they need an attention, or that we have panicking situations that often arise for us to take quick decisive actions... Where does it take us from here, the self-enquiry, if we have to do anyway attend to such day-to-day matters that require so many thoughts and decisions to be taken instantantaneously. Instead to my mundane existence, I have done some temporal experiments of repeating "Ohm Namo Bhagavate Ramanaya", or my Guru Shirdi Sai's name, silently repeating in myself and found that that reduced and helped in my nervousness, which was one of the causes of my problems... Sridhar. __._,_.___ Terms of Use | Un Recent Activity 3 New Members Visit Your Group New business? Get new customers. List your web site in Search. Y! GeoCities Share Interests Connect with others on the web. Start a group in 3 easy steps. Connect with others. . __,_._,___ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Dear Alex, just some comments. That self-enquire mean be to be aware of being aware - no!! This is like a dog biting into its own tail and certainly not what Ramana meant. It comes into discussions at times, but it seems me a quite wrong understanding as it will only lead to the question: "Who is aware of awareness?" - So now here we are again on the eternal roundabout Self-Enquiry is certainly meant as an earnest question, the most earnest there is. "Who am I?" If one knows a bit about Zen-koans - this is the direction it can take. Not the mind can answer this question. The mind may be tempted to find all kinds of answers first - but it always ends in "not this - not that". So what then? This is the way the Zen-teacher acts. The disciples comes with all kinds of answers to the teacher - and the teacher will refuse them all. Here with the vichara happens something similar. This can lead to a strong feeling of helplessness - even confusion or frustration. One may also be tempted to give up or leave it at rest for a while. But the question does not leave you anymore, once it really is asked. So sooner or later one has to take up the path again - and it goes deeper."Who am I?" The mind finally gives up. This may be the time to understand what the mind really is. - just a bundle of thoughts, which all are built up on the "I"-thought, as Ramana said. What happens, when this individual "I-thought" vanishes? It vanishes each night in deep sleep and also in the verysmall pauses from one thought to the other. Being attentive to what happens there is helpful. What happens when the mind is silent - do we still exist? Yes, of course. This should not be a way of thinking, though pondering about may also be helpful - but rather of experience and become aware of facts. If this comments are helpful to you or not I can't say. What is really good is to read through Ramana's "Who am I?" carefully. Kind regards Gabriele Firstly, am i right in thinking that practising self-enquiry is to be aware of being aware? Is the question "who am i" then just a tool to turn awareness on itself and not a question to which we should try to find an answer? secondly, I'm now able to easily turn my attention on itself, i.e. be aware of being aware, but only with constant mental chatter in the background. i have to continually ask "who am i?", "how do i know i am?", "what does it feel like to be?" etc to turn my attention to myself. I'm unable to "feel" awareness without thinking about it. Even when i think there's no thought, the thought that there is no thought is there Sometimes, the chatter is incredibly quiet but it's there. Is this something that will develop with practise? in other words, is this normal for someone new to self enquiry and should I not worry about it or am I going about it completly wrong? thanks for reading alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2006 Report Share Posted September 22, 2006 Vanakkam Sridhar! whatever you do or feel or think, Bhagawan has always stressed that we should make an effort to remember that "I-am-not-the-doer" ...... just keep repeating "Aum Namoh Bhagavathey Sri Ramanayaa" or 'your' Guru's name silently......the very fact that you say such lines, is an indication that the Grace is there. all these and more comprise of our sadhana ...... Anbudan Sridhar Ramaswamy <sridharr24 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote: Hi All: I have been a slient reader too in this group for months now, and not completely dwelt into the art of self-enquiry. The reason is I have a primary question. How does it help to know or do the self-enquiry, when we have so much of pressure, in my day to day life, I am often out of job, searching for a new one desperately to feed the family, or someone is seriously ill they need an attention, or that we have panicking situations that often arise for us to take quick decisive actions... Where does it take us from here, the self-enquiry, if we have to do anyway attend to such day-to-day matters that require so many thoughts and decisions to be taken instantantaneously. Instead to my mundane existence, I have done some temporal experiments of repeating "Ohm Namo Bhagavate Ramanaya", or my Guru Shirdi Sai's name, silently repeating in myself and found that that reduced and helped in my nervousness, which was one of the causes of my problems... Sridhar. PEACE through SURRENDER ... All-new Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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