Fwd: from: No Mind I Am The Self.. David Godman

[Guest guest]

ThePowerOfSilence , " Gloria Lee " <gleelee

wrote:

 

from: No Mind I Am The Self.. David Godman

 

 

 

The followers of the `I am Brahman' and `Neti-Neti'

schools share a common belief that the Self can be discovered by the

mind, either through affirmation or negation. This belief that the

mind can, by its own activities, reach the Self is the root of most of

the misconceptions about the practice of self-enquiry. A classic

example

of this is the belief that self-enquiry involves concentrating on a

particular centre in the body called the Heart-centre. This widely

held view results from a misinterpretation of some of Sri Ramana

Maharshi's statements on the Heart, and to understand how this

belief has come about it will be necessary to take a closer look at

some

of his ideas on the subject.

 

In describing the origin of the `I'-thought he sometimes said

that it arose to the brain through a channel which started from a

centre in the right hand side of the chest. He called this centre the

Heart centre and said that when the `I'-thought subsided into

the Self it went back into the centre and disappeared. He also said

that

when the Self is consciously experienced, there is a tangible

awareness

that this centre is the source of both the mind and the world.

However, these statements are not strictly true and Sri Ramana

Maharshi sometimes qualified them by saying that they were only

schematic representations which were given to those people who

persisted

in identifying with their bodies. He said that the Heart is not really

located in the body and that from the highest standpoint it is equally

untrue to say that the `I'-thought arises and subsides into

this centre on the right of the chest.

 

Because Sri Ramana Maharshi often said `Find the place where the " I "

arises' or `Find the source of the mind', many people

interpreted these statements to mean that they should concentrate in

this particular centre while doing self-enquiry. Sri Ramana Maharshi

rejected this interpretation many times by saying that the source of

the mind or the `I' could only be discovered through attention

to the `I'-thought and not through concentration on a

particular part of the body. He did sometimes say that putting

attention on this centre is a good concentration practice, but he

never associated it with self-enquiry. He also occasionally said that

meditation on the Heart was an effective way of reaching the Self, but

again, he never said that this should be done by concentrating on the

Heart-centre. Instead he said that one should meditate on the Heart

`as it is'. The Heart `as it is' is not a location, it

is the immanent Self and one can only be aware of its real nature by

being it. It cannot be reached by concentration.

 

Although there are several potentially ambiguous comments of this kind

about the Heart and the Heart-centre, in all his writings and recorded

conversations there is not a single statement to support the

contention that self-enquiry is to be practised by concentrating on

this centre. In fact, by closely examining his statements on the

subject

one can only conclude that while the experience of the Self contains

an awareness of this centre, concentration on this centre will not

result in the experience of the Self.

 

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