Guest guest Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Q: We are advised to concentrate on the spot in the forehead between the eyebrows. Is this right? A: Everyone is aware - `I am'. Leaving aside that awareness one goes about in search of God. What is the use of fixing one's attention between the eyebrows? It is mere folly to say that God is between the eyebrows. The aim of such advice is to help the mind to concentrate. It is one of the forcible methods to check the mind and prevent its dissipation. It is forcibly directed into one channel. It is a help to concentration. But the best means of realization is the enquiry `Who am I?' The present trouble is to the mind and it must be removed by the mind only. Q: I do not always concentrate on the same centre in the body. Sometimes I find it easier to concentrate on one centre and sometimes on another. And sometimes when I concentrate on one centre the thought of its own accord goes and fixes itself in another. Why is that? A: It may be because of past practices of yours. But in any case it is immaterial on which centre you concentrate since the real Heart is in every centre and even outside the body. On whatever part of the body you may concentrate or on whatever external object, the Heart is there. Q: Can one concentrate at one time on one centre and at another time on another or should one concentrate always consistently on the same centre? A: As I have just said, there can be no harm wherever you concentrate, because concentration is only a means of giving up thoughts. Whatever the centre or object on which you concentrate, he who concentrates is always the same. Q: Some say that one should practise meditation on gross objects only. It may be disastrous if one constantly seeks to kill the mind. A: For whom is it disastrous? Can there be disaster apart from the Self ? Unbroken `I, I' is the infinite ocean. The ego, the `I'-thought, remains only a bubble on it and is called jiva or individual soul. The bubble too is water for when it bursts it only mixes in the ocean. When it remains a bubble it is still a part of the ocean. Ignorant of this simple truth, innumerable methods under different denominations, such as yoga, bhakti, karma, each again with many modifications, are being taught with great skill and in intricate detail only to entice the seekers and confuse their minds. So also are the religions and sects and dogmas. What are they all for ? Only for knowing the Self. They are aids and practices required for knowing the Self. Objects perceived by the senses are spoken of as immediate knowledge [pratyaksba]. Can anything be as direct as the Self - always experienced without the aid of the senses? Sense-perceptions can only be indirect knowledge, and not direct knowledge. Only one's own awareness is direct knowledge, and that is the common experience of one and all. No aids are needed to know one's own Self. ~ end of chapter .................... >> taken from >> Be As You Are, The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi>> Edited by David Godman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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