Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-82

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Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-82

 

Summa Iru

 

Tamil: Summa: Still

Iru : Be

 

Summa Iru: Be Still; be quiet (or) be as you are.

 

The grace of the guru can only function without any impediment when

one can `be still' in the true sense of the expression. `Being

still' does not mean `to be physically inactive'; it is the mind

that should dissolve into pure consciousness. When the mind attends

to the sense of self it is no more the mind as such, it is the

consciousness aspect of the Self (atma-chit-rupam).

 

Our sense of individuality or ego sense generally identifies with

our body-mind complex. However, one can discern that our identity is

more with the mind than with the body. This can be easily verified

by anyone. When one is physically `here' and mentally `elsewhere'

such a person is really `there' and not `here' at that point of

time. A person is `here' whose mind is united with the body.

Bhagavan says: `Mind is nothing but thoughts; "I thought" (ego self)

is the root of all thoughts. "I thought" is (therefore) the mind.'1

So long as latent tendencies (vasanas) are present, thoughts will

erupt one after another. It is not possible for anyone to be in a

state of pure awareness while in the grip of unconscious

identification with thoughts.

 

Bhagavan instructs us to investigate the `I thought' with the pure

mind, that is, with the attention withdrawn from objects and turned

towards the subject. (See Arunachala Pancharatnam) Alternatively he

suggests surrender of the mind to Arunachala, the Self or Heart.

When one's mind is thus immersed in the Self without emerging as a

separate entity, Grace automatically takes over and dissolves the

mind. The `I thought', the root of all thought is lost forever and

Self- brightness alone remains.

 

To `be still'(summa iru) is the same as to be established in the

Self after the dissolution of the mind, the ego self. Thereafter,

who is there to make the effort ? The so-called seeker does not

exist. The maker of effort has been liquidated and no more effort by

way of spiritual practice is possible as an act of will (iccha).

Like breathing `being still' becomes a spontaneous expression of

spiritual activity.

 

Bhagavan says: `When one is immersed in the (everlasting) bliss of

the Self effulgence, revealed after the destruction of the ego self,

nothing more remains to be done. How can he think of his state of

being (which transcends the mind) who knows nothing apart from

Himself.'2

 

Only such a Self-realized master can `be still' in the true sense.

All others though seekers engaged in spiritual practices, perceive,

as individuals, things and beings as apart from themselves. It is

self- defeating for seekers to refrain from spiritual practices

thinking that all they have to do is to `be still' or `do nothing'.

For their `not doing' is still a form of doing because they think

they are performing actions.

 

`What our Lord Ramana firmly advises us to take to, as the greatest

and most powerful tapas, is only this much, "be still" and not

anything else (dhyana yoga etc.) as the duty to be performed by the

mind.'3

 

Sadhana is not doing, but being. Withdrawing attention from external

objects both of the world and the mind, and clinging to the first

person, `I', alone is sadhana. All that we need to practice is to be

still with remembrance of the feeling `I'.

 

`Bhagavan: Effortless and choiceless awareness is our real nature.

If we can attain it or be in that state, it is all right. But one

cannot reach it without effort, the effort of deliberate meditation.

All the age-long vasanas carry the mind outward and turn it to

external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind

turned inward. For that, effort is necessary for most people. Of

course everybody, every book says, "Summa Iru" i.e., "Be quiet or

still". But it is not easy. That is why all this effort is

necessary. Even if we find one who has at once achieved the mauna or

Supreme state indicated by "Summa Iru", you may take it that the

effort necessary has already been finished in a previous life. So

that, effortless and choiceless awareness, is reached only after

deliberate meditation. That meditation can take any form which

appeals to you best. See what helps you to keep away all other

thoughts and adopt that method for your meditation.'4

_______________________

1. Upadesa Undhiyar, v. 18.

2. Ulladu Narpadu, v. 31.

3. Guru Vachaka Kovai, v. 773.

4. Day by Day with Bhagavan, 11th January 1946.

 

>From The Mountain Path, December, 2005