Fwd: Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-50

[Guest guest]

ThePowerOfSilence , " saikali6362 "

<saikali6362 wrote:

 

Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-50

 

The notion of individuality is only the " I " -thought manifesting

itself in different ways. Instead of regarding the different

activities of the mind (such as ego, intellect and memory) as

separate functions He (Sri Ramana) preferred to view them all as

different forms of the " I " -thought. Since He equated individuality

with the mind and the mind with the " I " -thought it follows that the

disappearance of individuality (i.e Self-realization) implies the

disappearance of both the mind and the " I " -thought. He regarded

the " I " -thought as a mistaken assumption which has no real existence

of its own.

 

Arranging thoughts in the order of value, the " I " -thought is the all-

important thought. Personality idea or thought is also the root or

the stem of all other thoughts, since each idea or thought arises

only as someone's thought and is not known to exist independently

of the ego. The ego therefore exhibits thought activity. The

second and third persons [he, you, that, etc.] do not appear except

to the first person . Therefore they arise only after the first

person appears, so all the three persons seem to rise and sink

together. Trace then the ultimate cause of " I " or personality.

The birth of the " I " -thought is one's own birth, its death is the

person's death. After the " I " -thought has arisen, the wrong

identity with the body arises. Get rid of the " I " -thought. So long

as " I " is alive there is grief. When " I " ceases to exist there is

no grief.

The ego's phenomenal existence is transcended when you dive into the

source from where the " I " -thought rises.

The " I am the body " idea is the primary source of all subsequent

identifications and its dissolution is the principal aim of Self-

enquiry.

Sri Ramana maintained that this tendency towards self-limiting

identifications could be checked by trying to separate the

subject " I " from the objects of thought which it identified with

(regard oneself as sharing characteristics of (another person);

associate oneself). Since the individual " I " -thought cannot exist

without an object, if attention is focused on the subjective

feeling of " I " or " I am " with such intensity that the thoughts " I am

this " or " I am that " do not arise, then the individual " I " will be

unable to connect with objects. If this awareness of " I " is

sustained, the individual " I " (the " I " -thought) will disappear and

in its place there will be a direct experience of the Self. This

constant attention to the inner awareness of " I " or " I am " was

called Self-enquiry (Vichara) by Sri Ramana and he constantly

recommended it as the most efficient and direct way of discovering

the unreality of the " I " -thought.

Source: Various reliable publications of / on Sri Ramana Maharshi's

teachings.

--- End forwarded message ---