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

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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 themind, either through affirmation or negation. This belief that themind can, by its own activities, reach the Self is the root of most ofthe misconceptions about the practice of self-enquiry. A classic exampleof this is the belief that self-enquiry involves concentrating on aparticular centre in the body called the Heart-centre. This widelyheld view results from a misinterpretation of some of Sri RamanaMaharshi's statements on the Heart, and to understand how thisbelief has come about it will be necessary to take a closer look at someof his ideas on the subject.In describing the origin of the `I'-thought he sometimes saidthat it arose to the brain through a channel which started from acentre in the right hand side of the chest. He called this centre theHeart centre and said that when the `I'-thought subsided intothe Self it went back into the centre and disappeared. He also said thatwhen the Self is consciously experienced, there is a tangible awarenessthat this centre is the source of both the mind and the world.However, these statements are not strictly true and Sri RamanaMaharshi sometimes qualified them by saying that they were onlyschematic representations which were given to those people who persistedin identifying with their bodies. He said that the Heart is not reallylocated in the body and that from the highest standpoint it is equallyuntrue to say that the `I'-thought arises and subsides intothis 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 peopleinterpreted these statements to mean that they should concentrate inthis particular centre while doing self-enquiry. Sri Ramana Maharshirejected this interpretation many times by saying that the source ofthe mind or the `I' could only be discovered through attentionto the `I'-thought and not through concentration on aparticular part of the body. He did sometimes say that puttingattention on this centre is a good concentration practice, but henever associated it with self-enquiry. He also occasionally said thatmeditation on the Heart was an effective way of reaching the Self, butagain, he never said that this should be done by concentrating on theHeart-centre. Instead he said that one should meditate on the Heart`as it is'. The Heart `as it is' is not a location, itis the immanent Self and one can only be aware of its real nature bybeing it. It cannot be reached by concentration.Although there are several potentially ambiguous comments of this kindabout the Heart and the Heart-centre, in all his writings and recordedconversations there is not a single statement to support thecontention that self-enquiry is to be practised by concentrating onthis centre. In fact, by closely examining his statements on the subjectone can only conclude that while the experience of the Self containsan awareness of this centre, concentration on this centre will notresult in the experience of the Self.---