Michael James about nature of reality based on teachings of Ramana Maharshi - Final Part

[Guest guest]

Therefore we cannot attain liberation by ‘doing’ anything but only by just

‘being’. That is, liberation from the bondage of our present illusion that

we are a finite individual, who does actions by mind, speech and body,

cannot be achieved by our doing action of any sort whatsoever, but only by

our being just the absolutely nondual self-conscious being that we always

really are. Since the goal that we seek to achieve is just action-free

self-conscious being, the only path or means by which we can achieve it is

likewise just action-free self-conscious being.

 

Though the imaginary person we mistake to be ourself in waking and the

imaginary person we mistake ourself to be in a dream are essentially the

same person, in that it is our same mind that as each of them experiences a

corresponding world, we speak of them as if they were two different persons

for two closely related reasons. Firstly and most obviously, the body that

we mistake to be ourself in a dream is not the same body that we mistake to

be ourself in this waking state. Secondly, in a dream we not only identify

ourself with another imaginary body, but we also consequently identify

ourself with the experiences we undergo in that body, whereas when we wake

up we cease to identify ourself either with that body or with those

experiences.

 

As distinct mental images, not only the world and God but even our own

individual self or mind exists only in our imagination. As soon as we

imagine ourself to be a separate individual, the world and God also come

into existence as separate entities. The reality of each one of these three

basic entities is inseparable from the reality of the other two. Though all

three of them are imaginary, so long as we experience the existence of

ourself as an individual, we will also experience the existence of the world

and God.

 

As Sri Ramana says in the seventh paragraph of Nan Yar?

 

That which actually exists is only atma-svarupa [our own essential self].

The world, soul and God are kalpanaigal [imaginations, mental creations or

fabrications] in it [our essential self], like [the imaginary] silver [that

we see] in a shell. These three [basic elements of relativity or duality]

appear at the same time and disappear at the same time. [Our] svarupa [our

‘own form’ or essential self] alone is the world; [our] svarupa alone is ‘I’

[our mind or individual self]; [our] svarupa alone is God; everything is

siva-svarupa [our essential self, which is siva, the absolute and only truly

existing reality].

 

Since God is in truth our own real self, he loves us as himself, and his

only ‘will’ or ‘desire’ is that we should be perfectly happy. Because he

loves each and every living being as himself, and because he therefore loves

us all to be infinitely happy as he is, all religions teach the fundamental

truth that God is love.

 

Though in the limited and distorted view of our mind God appears to perform

certain functions, in reality he is just being, and hence he does not do

anything. All the functions that he appears to perform happen due to his

mere presence, without him actually doing anything. This fact is explained

graphically by Sri Ramana in the fifteenth paragraph of Nan Yar?:

 

Just as in the mere presence of the sun, which rose without iccha [wish,

desire or liking], samkalpa [volition or intention], [or] yatna [effort or

exertion], a crystal stone [or magnifying lens] will emit fire, a lotus will

blossom, water will evaporate, and people of the world will engage in [or

begin] their respective activities, do [those activities] and subside [or

cease being active], and [just as] in front of a magnet a needle will move,

[so] jivas [living beings], who are caught in [the finite state governed by]

muttozhil [the threefold function of God, namely the creation, sustenance

and dissolution of the world] or panchakrityas [the five functions of God,

namely creation, sustenance, dissolution, concealment and grace], which

happen due to nothing but the special nature of the presence of God, move

[busy themselves, perform activities, make effort or strive] and subside

[cease being active, become still or sleep] in accordance with their

respective karmas [that is, in accordance not only with their prarabdha

karma or destiny, which impels them to do whatever actions are necessary in

order for them to experience all the pleasant and unpleasant things that

they are destined to experience, but also with their karma vasanas, their

inclinations or impulsions to desire, think and act in particular ways,

which impel them to make effort to experience certain pleasant things that

they are not destined to experience, and to avoid certain unpleasant things

that they are destined to experience]. Nevertheless, he [God] is not

samkalpa sahitar [a person connected with or possessing volition or

intention].Even one karma does not adhere to him [that is, he is not bound

or affected by any karma or action whatsoever]. That is like world-actions

[the actions happening here on earth] not adhering to [or affecting] the

sun, and [like] the qualities and defects of the other four elements [earth,

water, air and fire] not adhering to the all-pervading space.

 

So long as any action is done, there has to be something or someone who is

doing that action, so from our relative standpoint we are correct in

believing that God is the ultimate doer of everything.The fact that he is

just being, and that due to his mere being or presence all actions appear to

be done, can be fully comprehended by us only when we experience ourself as

just being, and thereby discover that we have never done anything, and that

all action or ‘doing’ was a mere imagination that existed only in the

distorted view of our unreal mind.

 

The root of all the relative problems that we experience in our life is our

mind. Our mind by its power of imagination creates all duality and

relativity, and duality and relativity inevitably give rise to conflict and

complexity. The problems of the relative world will persist in one form or

other so long as we seek to solve them only by relative means.

 

No relative solution can solve a relative problem perfectly or absolutely.

As soon as one relative problem is solved, or appears to be solved, another

relative problem pops up. In a relative world,therefore, a problem-free life

is inconceivable. Utopia can never be experienced in a world of duality and

relativity, but only in a state beyond all duality and relativity – in a

state of absolute non-duality.

 

Source: Happiness and The Art of Being Book

which is a layman’s introduction to the philosophy and practice of the

spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana By Michael James

 

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Om namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Prasanth Jalasutram