Q&A Slow and difficult Meeting a living Jnana Loosing my mind

[Guest guest]

THE MAHARSHI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September/October 2002Vol. 12 - No. 5

 

 

 

Produced & Edited byDennis HartelDr. Anil K. Sharma

 

 

 

Letters and Comments

 

Slow and Difficult

 

I have read the MAHARSHI newsletters on your web site and appreciate all the information found on this site.

I have a personal question. So much has been said about how slow and difficult this practice into Self-enquiry is. Why must this be so if you are a sincere seeker? Sometime ago, you said that the door is always open to Self-realization, but one must bend his head low in order to enter, as the entrance is very low. Again why must this be so? Should this not be something easily accessible if one is searching in earnest? Or is this method not suitable for some.

- M. Bose, Canada

 

In the first stanza of his poem "Atma Vidya," Bhagavan has written: "Self-knowledge is an easy thing,/ The easiest thing there is.", and he goes on to say: "...This path than others is far easier,/ Therefore be still and keep a silent hold/ On tongue and mind and body. That which is,/ The Self-effulgent, will rise within...." Certainly, it is easy for the spiritually mature, but may appear difficult for others. These ‘others’ will have to persevere perhaps for a whole lifetime.

Directly in proportion to the intensity of your sincerity is Self-enquiry made easy or difficult. "Bending one’s head low to enter through the door of Self-realization" means simply that one must become perfectly humble in all things. It is a metaphor for a state of mind in which we become nothing and the Self or God is all. It was said by the Sri Ramana in the course of a conversation.

The Maharshi also said there are two methods: Self-surrender or Self-enquiry. The earnest seeker should adopt that method which seems easiest and natural to his or her temperament. The fact is that those who write to us are experiencing some difficulty in understanding the theory and its application. There are also some who become disheartened because of lack of apparent progress. Our answers are directed toward the particular doubt or problem with the hope that it may encourage the seeker to struggle on, for the ideal of Self-realization is truly the only worthwhile endeavor which gives real meaning to our lives.

- Editor

 

Meet a Living Jnani

 

I would like to ask you where I could meet a living Jnani, whether in India or US. Thank you very much in advance for your answer.With Love,

Sergei Petrov, Estonia

 

Yes, you can meet a living Jnani. It could happen in Russia, USA, India or even right where you are now. How to find the living Jnani? Totally dedicate your life to the search for Jnana within you. If you do this with one-pointedness and perseverance the Jnani or Jnana will automatically come to you. Since only a true Jnani can know another Jnani, there is no other sure way of finding a Jnani than this.

- Editor

 

Losing My Mind

 

I believe we have emailed one another a few years back... I have a comment/question. I am writing to you as I guessed from your writings that you are ‘advanced’ with respect to RM’s teachings and could perhaps shed light to my ‘situation’. My ‘problem’ is that I have engaged in Self-enquiry for a few years now...and am drowning deeper in the silence day by day...slowly but SURELY; disappearing...initially.... I wondered if this would affect my ability to work .... Initially this was not an issue...however...now that even producing a single thought is an unbelievable effort...and I am literally losing my mind...I am barely able to do my job effectively.... I have begun training as a doctor...and considering it is effort to make just one thought... you can guess how I am feeling at the hos-pital...SO...although Advaita says things are happening...I am now looking

incompetent regardless...(I used to be intelligent...ha) so I guess my question...if I have one that is...is whether you have encountered this problem and what have you done...? The way I feel now is that it does not look like I will be able to practise medicine...(how can one be a doctor if you can’t think??)... any thoughts would be appreciated.

An Indian Student Doctor

 

When Venkataraman experienced full awareness of his immortal Self, completely identifying with It, he was then unable to function in the normal way that a boy of sixteen does in South India. The individuality was swept away by a tidal wave of bliss-awareness and he was henceforth lost in that eternal ocean of Satchitananda. For many years he didn’t speak and barely moved about, so absorbed was he.

If you honestly experience that your practice of Self-enquiry has absorbed you into that bliss-awareness to the extent that you feel no inclination to move your mind to obtain anything, by all means drown yourself into that ocean of immortality and freedom. That is the purpose of life. Your prarabdha will dictate the future actions of the body.

On the other hand, if your deep silence does not produce that inexplicable bliss, pure awareness and freedom, be cautious. The disinclination to think and deep quietude may be indications of progress, but only the total loss of individuality can bring about the final experience. We have found that if aspirants renounce all activity before the ground is fully prepared, the planted seeds of spirituality may sprout, grow some, but soon wither for lack of nourishment. So in most cases it is better to spend as much time as possible in the mornings and evenings with one-pointed spiritual practice, perform your daily work as a service in a detached, efficient manner and always keep before your mind’s eye the goal shown to us by the Sage of Arunachala, that is, total Self Abidance. In this manner your work will not be a hindrance to your spiritual practice; it will

be part of it. And at some point you will wake up and find that the pure-awareness-current is alive and pulsating even in the midst of complicated surgery.

- Editor.

 

 

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