Self-Atma: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi Part Two

[Guest guest]

Without the many tributaries, streams and rivers of the Blossom Time

it will be almost impossible for humanity to know/realize what the

Ocean of Self is all about

 

>

> The evidence is nailed on the front door of www.sahajayoga.org/

>

> The collective claim of the SY organization that Self Realization is

> Kundalini awakening is so simplistic that it defies logic and common

> sense. This ignorance is the very reason they believe that all they

> need is awaken the kundalini, thus instantly making the person self-

> realized!!! Despite that claim, hundreds of thousands have walked

> away from Sahaja Yoga despite the so-called bestowing of 'self-

> realization'; despite having attained the same self-realization that

> SYs have; despite feeling the same Cool Breeze. Only SYs think they

> are self-realized all the time, the proof being the Cool Breeze.

>

> But the Cool Breeze is evidence of second birth by the Spirit, not

> realization of that Spirit! This was only realized by me after years

> away from the collective, away from all their ignorance and rituals.

> You cannot realize your Spirit (Self) in Sahaja Yoga because of the

> collective mindset--chakras, kundalini, nadis, etc., (SYSSR)--and

> the constant, compulsive need of treatments to keep them clean.

>

 

Part Two

 

Self-Atma

The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Edited by David Godman

 

Question: You some times say the Self is silence. Why is this?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: For those who live in Self as the beauty devoid of thought,

there is nothing, which should be thought of. That which should be adhered to is

only the experience of silence, because in that supreme state nothing exists to

be attained other than oneself.

 

Question: What is Mouna (silence)?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: That state which transcends speech and thought is mouna.

That which is, is mouna. How can mouna be explained in words?

 

Sages say that the state in which the thought " I " (the ego) does not rise even

in the least, alone is Self (swarupa) which is silence (mouna). That silent Self

alone is God; Self alone is the jiva (individual soul). Self alone is this

ancient world.

 

All other kinds of knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the

experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge. Know that the

many objective differences are not real but are mere superimpositions on Self,

which is the form of true knowledge.

 

Question: As the bodies and the selves animating them are everywhere actually

observed to be innumerable how can it be said that the Self is only one?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: If the idea `I am the body' is accepted, the selves are

multiple. The state in which this idea vanishes is the Self since in that state

there are no other objects. It is for this reason that the Self is regarded as

one only.

 

Since the body itself does not exist in the natural outlook of the real Self,

but only in the extroverted outlook of the mind which is deluded by the power of

illusion, to call Self, the space of consciousness, Dehi (the possessor of the

body) is wrong.

 

The world does not exist without the body, the body never exists without the

mind, the mind never exists without consciousness, and consciousness never

exists without the Reality.

 

For the wise one who has known Self by diving within himself, there is nothing

other than Self to be known. Why? Because since the ego, which identifies the

form of a body as " I " has perished, he (the wise one) is the formless existence–

consciousness.

 

The jnani (one who has realised the Self) knows he is the Self and that nothing,

neither his body nor anything else, exists but the Self. To such a one what

difference could the presence or absence of a body make?

 

It is false to speak of realisation. What is there to realise? The Real is as it

always is. We are not creating anything new, or achieving something, which we

did not have before.

 

The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit.

The space in the pit or the well has not been created by us. We have just

removed the earth, which was filling the space there. The space was there then

and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long

Samskaras (innate tendencies) which are inside us. When all of them have been

given up, the Self will shine alone.

 

Question: But how to do this and attain liberation?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Liberation is our very nature. We are that. The very fact

that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all bondage is our real

nature. It is not to be freshly acquired. All that is necessary is to get rid of

the false notion that we are bound. When we achieve that, there will be no

desire or thought of any sort. So long as one desires liberation, so long, you

may take it, one is in bondage.

 

Question: For one who has realised his Self, it is said that he will not have

the three states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep. Is that a fact?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: What makes you say that they do not have the three states?

In saying, `I had a dream; I was in deep sleep; I am awake', you must admit that

you were there in all three states. That makes it clear that you were there all

the time. If you remain as you are now, you are in the wakeful state; this

becomes hidden in the dream state; and the dream state disappears when you are

in deep sleep. You were there then, you are there now, and you are there at all

times. The three states come and go, but you are always there.

 

It is like a cinema. The screen is always there but several types of pictures

appear on the screen and then disappear. Nothing sticks to the screen, it

remains a screen. Similarly, you remain your own Self in all the three states.

If you know that, the three states will not trouble you, just as the pictures

which appear on the screen do not stick to it. On the screen, you sometimes see

a huge ocean with endless waves; that disappears. Another time, you see fire

spreading all around; that too disappears. The screen is there on both

occasions. Did the screen get wet with the water or was it burnt by fire?

Nothing affected the screen. In the same way, the things that happen during the

wakeful, dream and sleep states do not affect you at all; you remain your own

Self.

 

Question: Brahman (the Supreme Reality) is said to be sat-chit-ananda. What does

that mean?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes. That is so. That which is, in only Sat. That is called

Brahman. The lustre of Sat is Chit and its nature is Ananda. These are not

different from Sat. All the three together are known as Sat-Chit-Ananda.

 

Question: As the Self is existence (Sat) and consciousness (Chit) what is the

reason for describing it as different from the existent and the non-existent,

the sentient and the insentient?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Although the Self is real, as it comprises everything, it

does not give room for questions involving duality about its reality or

unreality. Therefore it is said to be different from the real and the unreal.

Similarly, even though it is consciousness, since there is nothing for it to

know or to make itself known to, it is said to be different from the sentient

and the insentient.

 

Sat-Chit-Ananda is said to indicate that the Supreme is not asat (different from

being), not achit (different from consciousness) and not an ananda (different

from bliss). Because we are in the phenomenal world we speak of the Self as

Sat-Chit-Ananda.

 

www.hinduism.co.za/self-.htm