Ramana again3

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

 

In yesterday's post we saw the answers given by Bhagawan to the

following questions:

 

1) Will there be realisation of the Self even while the world is

there, and taken to be real ?

 

2) What is the nature of the mind ?

 

Now let us proceed to the next ......

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi - Who am I ?

 

Question: What is the path of enquiry for understanding the nature

of the mind?

 

That which arises in the physical body as 'I' is the mind.

If one enquires, ' In what place in the body does this " I " first

arise?' it will be known to be in the 'hridayam' . That is the

birthplace of the mind. Even if one incessantly thinks 'I, I' ,it

will lead to that place. Of all thoughts that arise in the mind, the

thought 'I' is the first one. It is only after the rise of this

[thought] that other thoughts arise, It is only after the first

personal pronoun arises that the second and third personal pronouns

appear. Without the first person, the second and third persons

cannot exist.

 

Question: How will the mind become quiescent ?

 

The mind will only subside by means of the enquiry 'Who am

I?' The thought 'Who am I?', destroying all other thoughts, will

itself be finally destroyed like the stick used for stirring the

funeral pyre.

 

......... to be

continued

[ Notes: It is interesting to read Sri.David Godman's commentary /

explanation on the term ' Hridayam '. He says ......

'Hridayam' is usually translated as 'Heart' , but it has

no connection with the physical heart. Bhagavan used it as a synonym

for the Self, pointing out on several occasions that it could be

split up into two parts, 'hrit' and 'ayam', which together

mean, 'this is the centre'. Sometimes he would say that the 'I' -

thought arises from the 'hridyam' and eventually subsides there

again. He would also sometimes indicate that the spiritual Heart was

inside the body on the right aside of the chest, but he would often

qualify this by saying that this was only true from the standpoint

of those who identified themselves with a body. For a 'jnani',one

who has realised the Self, the 'hridayam' or Heart is not located

anywhere, or even everywhere, because it is beyond all spatial

concepts. The following answer (refer 'Day by Day with Bhagawan,

23.5.46.) summarises Bhagavan's views on this matter :

" I ask you to see where the 'I' arises in your body, but

it is not really quite true to say that the 'I' rises from and

merges on the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for

the reality, and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There

can be no in or out for it since it alone is ... so long as one

identifies with the body and thinks that he is in the body, he is

advised to see where in the body the 'I' -thought rises and merges

again. "

A hint of this can also be found in this paragraph of 'Who am

I?' in the sentance in which Bhagavan asks devotees to enquire 'In

what place in the body does this " I " first arise?'

Ordinarily, 'idam', which is translated here as 'place', means

only that, but Bhagavan often gave it a broader meaning by using it

to signify the state of the Self. Later in the essay, for example,

he writes, The place [idam] where even the slightest trace of " I "

does not exist is 'swarupa' [one's real nature].

Sadhu Natanananda, on the flyleaf of his Tamil work 'Sri Ramana

Darshanam', records a similar statement from Bhagavan: 'Those who

resort to this place [idam] will obtain 'Atma-jnana' automatically'.

Clearly, he cannot be speaking of the physical environment of his

ashram because paying a visit there didn't necessarily result in

enlightenment.

So, when Bhagavan writes 'In what place....' he is not

necessarily indicating that one should look for the 'I' in a

particular location. He is instead saying that that the 'I' rises

from the dimensionless Self, and that one should seek its source

there.

As he once told Kapali Sastri, (pls refer 'Sad Darshana

Bhashya' pp.xvii - xix.) ' You should try to have rather than locate

the experience '. ]

 

 

Ever Yours in Sri Bhagavan

Dora