Part 1 - Michael James about Happiness And The Art Of Being based on teachings of Ramana Maharshi

May 25, 2009

Some other spiritual practices do force our mind to subside, but such subsidence is only temporary, because it is not accompanied by clear self-attentiveness. Therefore in the eighth paragraph of Nan Yar? Sri Ramana says:

To make the mind subside [permanently], there are no adequate means other than vichara [investigation, that is, the art of selfattentive being]. If restrained by other means, the mind will remain as if subsided, [but] will emerge again. Even by pranayama [breath-restraint], the mind will subside; however,[though] the mind remains subsided so long as the breath remains subsided, when the breath emerges [or becomes manifest] it will also emerge and wander under the sway of [its] vasanas [inclinations, impulses or desires]. The birthplace both of the mind and of the prana [the breath or life-force] is one.Thought alone is the svarupa [the ‘own form’] of the mind. The thought ‘I’ alone is the first [or basic] thought of the mind; it alone is the ego. From where the ego arises, from there alone the breath also arises. Therefore when the mind subsides the prana also [subsides], [and] when the prana subsides the mind also subsides.However in sleep, even though the mind has subsided, the breath does not subside. It is arranged thus by the ordinance of God for the purpose of protecting the body, and so that other people do not wonder whether that body has died. When the mind subsides in waking and in samadhi [any of the various types of mental absorption that result from yogic or other forms of spiritual practice], the prana subsides. The prana is said to be the gross form of the mind. Until the time of death the mind keeps the prana in the body, and at the moment the body dies it [the mind] grabs and takes it [the prana] away.Therefore pranayama is just an aid to restrain the mind, but will not bring about mano-nasa [the annihilation of the mind].

Like pranayama, all other forms of spiritual practice except the art of self-attentive being are merely aids which enable us to restrain our mind temporarily, but which cannot by themselves enable us to destroy it. We can effectively destroy our mind only by remaining in our natural state of perfectly clear self-attentive being, and by no other means whatsoever.

This truth, which was explicitly stated by Sri Ramana in the first two sentences of the eighth paragraph of Nan Yar?, is further emphasised by him with some more examples in the ninth paragraph:Just like pranayama, murti-dhyana [meditation upon a form of God], mantra-japa [repetition of sacred words such as a name of God] and ahara-niyama [restriction of diet, particularly the restriction of consuming only vegetarian food] are [just] aids that restrain the mind [but will not bring about its annihilation].By both murti-dhyana and mantra-japa the mind gains onepointedness [or concentration]. Just as, if [someone] gives a chain in the trunk of an elephant, which is always moving [swinging about trying to catch hold of something or other],that elephant will proceed holding it fast without [grabbing and] holding fast anything else, so indeed the mind, which is always moving [wandering about thinking of something or other], will, if trained in [the practice of thinking of] any one [particular] name or form [of God], remain holding it fast [without thinking unnecessary thoughts about anything else]. Because the mind spreads out [scattering its energy] as innumerable thoughts, each thought becomes extremely weak. For the mind which has gained one-pointedness when thoughts shrink and shrink [that is, which has gained one-pointedness due to the progressive reduction of its thoughts] and which has thereby gained strength, atma-vichara [self-investigation, which is the art of self-attentive being] will be easily accomplished. By mita sattvika ahara-niyama [the restraint of consuming only a moderate quantity of pure or sattvika food], which is the best among all restrictions, the sattva-guna [the quality of calmness, clarity or ‘being-ness’] of the mind will increase and [thereby] help will arise for self-investigation.

The quantity and quality of the food we should consume is described by Sri Ramana as mita and sattvika. The word mita refers to the quantity of food we should consume, and means measured, limited, frugal or moderate. The word sattvika refers to the quality of food we should consume, and basically means pure and wholesome, or more precisely, endowed with the quality known as sattva, which literally means being-ness, ‘is’-ness, essence or reality, and which by extension means calmness, clarity, purity, wisdom, goodness and virtue. The restriction or niyama of eating only sattvika food means abstaining from all types of non-sattvika food, which includes all meat, fish and eggs, all intoxicants such as alcohol and tobacco, and all other substances that excite passions or dull the clarity of our mind in any way.

Since one of the important principles underlying the observance of consuming only sattvika food is ahimsa, the compassionate principle of ‘non-harming’ or avoidance of causing suffering to any living being, any food whose production involves or is associated with the suffering of any human being or other creature must be considered as being not sattvika. In our present-day circumstances,therefore, the only food that can truly be considered as being sattvika is that which is organically produced, fairly traded and above all vegan.

This process of destroying our vasanas as soon as they rise in the form of thoughts is described by Sri Ramana in more detail in the tenth and eleventh paragraphs of Nan Yar?. In the tenth paragraph he says:Even though vishaya-vasanas [our latent impulsions or desires to attend to things other than ourself], which come from time immemorial, rise [as thoughts] in countless numbers like oceanwaves,they will all be destroyed when svarupa-dhyana [selfattentiveness] increases and increases. Without giving room to the doubting thought, ‘Is it possible to dissolve so many vasanas and be [or remain] only as self?’, [we] should cling tenaciously to self-attentiveness. However great a sinner a person may be, if instead of lamenting and weeping, ‘I am a sinner! How am I going to be saved?’, [he] completely rejects the thought that he is a sinner and is zealous [or steadfast] in self-attentiveness, he will certainly be reformed [or transformed into the true ‘form’ of thought-free self-conscious being].

In the eleventh paragraph of Nan Yar? Sri Ramana goes on to explain more about how the practice of self-attentive being enables us to destroy all our vasanas or latent desires to experience things other than ourself:

As long as vishaya-vasanas [latent impulsions or desires to attend to anything other than ourself] exist in [our] mind, so long the investigation ‘who am I?’ is necessary. As and when thoughts arise, then and there it is necessary [for us] to annihilate them all by investigation [keen and vigilant selfattentiveness] in the very place from which they arise. Being [abiding or remaining] without attending to [anything] other [than ourself] is vairagya [dispassion] or nirasa [desirelessness]; being [abiding or remaining] without leaving [separating from or letting go of our real] self is jñana [knowledge]. In truth [these] two [desirelessness and true knowledge] are only one. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist and submerging, picks up a pearl which lies in the ocean, so each person, submerging [beneath the surface activity of their mind] and sinking [deep] within themself with vairagya [freedom from desire or passion for anything other than being],can attain the pearl of self. If one clings fast to uninterrupted svarupa-smarana [self-remembrance] until one attains svarupa [one’s own essential self], that alone [will be] sufficient. So long as enemies are within the fort, they will continue coming out from it. If [we] continue destroying [or cutting down] all of them as and when they come, the fort will [eventually] come into [our] possession.

.... To Be Contiuned-- Om namo Bhagavate Sri RamanayaPrasanth Jalasutram

May 25, 2009

Namaste

Dear Prasanth

tku so much for these postings!

in Sri Ramana Maharshi

michael

-

Prasanth Jalasutram

undisclosed-recipients:

Monday, May 25, 2009 8:45 PM

Part 1 - Michael James about Happiness And The Art Of Being based on teachings of Ramana Maharshi

Some other spiritual practices do force our mind to subside, but such subsidence is only temporary, because it is not accompanied by clear self-attentiveness. Therefore in the eighth paragraph of Nan Yar? Sri Ramana says:To make the mind subside [permanently], there are no adequate means other than vichara [investigation, that is, the art of selfattentive being]. If restrained by other means, the mind will remain as if subsided, [but] will emerge again. Even by pranayama [breath-restraint], the mind will subside; however,[though] the mind remains subsided so long as the breath remains subsided, when the breath emerges [or becomes manifest] it will also emerge and wander under the sway of [its] vasanas [inclinations, impulses or desires]. The birthplace both of the mind and of the prana [the breath or life-force] is one.Thought alone is the svarupa [the ‘own form’] of the mind. The thought ‘I’ alone is the first [or basic] thought of the mind; it alone is the ego. From where the ego arises, from there alone the breath also arises. Therefore when the mind subsides the prana also [subsides], [and] when the prana subsides the mind also subsides.However in sleep, even though the mind has subsided, the breath does not subside. It is arranged thus by the ordinance of God for the purpose of protecting the body, and so that other people do not wonder whether that body has died. When the mind subsides in waking and in samadhi [any of the various types of mental absorption that result from yogic or other forms of spiritual practice], the prana subsides. The prana is said to be the gross form of the mind. Until the time of death the mind keeps the prana in the body, and at the moment the body dies it [the mind] grabs and takes it [the prana] away.Therefore pranayama is just an aid to restrain the mind, but will not bring about mano-nasa [the annihilation of the mind].Like pranayama, all other forms of spiritual practice except the art of self-attentive being are merely aids which enable us to restrain our mind temporarily, but which cannot by themselves enable us to destroy it. We can effectively destroy our mind only by remaining in our natural state of perfectly clear self-attentive being, and by no other means whatsoever.This truth, which was explicitly stated by Sri Ramana in the first two sentences of the eighth paragraph of Nan Yar?, is further emphasised by him with some more examples in the ninth paragraph:Just like pranayama, murti-dhyana [meditation upon a form of God], mantra-japa [repetition of sacred words such as a name of God] and ahara-niyama [restriction of diet, particularly the restriction of consuming only vegetarian food] are [just] aids that restrain the mind [but will not bring about its annihilation].By both murti-dhyana and mantra-japa the mind gains onepointedness [or concentration]. Just as, if [someone] gives a chain in the trunk of an elephant, which is always moving [swinging about trying to catch hold of something or other],that elephant will proceed holding it fast without [grabbing and] holding fast anything else, so indeed the mind, which is always moving [wandering about thinking of something or other], will, if trained in [the practice of thinking of] any one [particular] name or form [of God], remain holding it fast [without thinking unnecessary thoughts about anything else]. Because the mind spreads out [scattering its energy] as innumerable thoughts, each thought becomes extremely weak. For the mind which has gained one-pointedness when thoughts shrink and shrink [that is, which has gained one-pointedness due to the progressive reduction of its thoughts] and which has thereby gained strength, atma-vichara [self-investigation, which is the art of self-attentive being] will be easily accomplished. By mita sattvika ahara-niyama [the restraint of consuming only a moderate quantity of pure or sattvika food], which is the best among all restrictions, the sattva-guna [the quality of calmness, clarity or ‘being-ness’] of the mind will increase and [thereby] help will arise for self-investigation.The quantity and quality of the food we should consume is described by Sri Ramana as mita and sattvika. The word mita refers to the quantity of food we should consume, and means measured, limited, frugal or moderate. The word sattvika refers to the quality of food we should consume, and basically means pure and wholesome, or more precisely, endowed with the quality known as sattva, which literally means being-ness, ‘is’-ness, essence or reality, and which by extension means calmness, clarity, purity, wisdom, goodness and virtue. The restriction or niyama of eating only sattvika food means abstaining from all types of non-sattvika food, which includes all meat, fish and eggs, all intoxicants such as alcohol and tobacco, and all other substances that excite passions or dull the clarity of our mind in any way.Since one of the important principles underlying the observance of consuming only sattvika food is ahimsa, the compassionate principle of ‘non-harming’ or avoidance of causing suffering to any living being, any food whose production involves or is associated with the suffering of any human being or other creature must be considered as being not sattvika. In our present-day circumstances,therefore, the only food that can truly be considered as being sattvika is that which is organically produced, fairly traded and above all vegan.This process of destroying our vasanas as soon as they rise in the form of thoughts is described by Sri Ramana in more detail in the tenth and eleventh paragraphs of Nan Yar?. In the tenth paragraph he says:Even though vishaya-vasanas [our latent impulsions or desires to attend to things other than ourself], which come from time immemorial, rise [as thoughts] in countless numbers like oceanwaves,they will all be destroyed when svarupa-dhyana [selfattentiveness] increases and increases. Without giving room to the doubting thought, ‘Is it possible to dissolve so many vasanas and be [or remain] only as self?’, [we] should cling tenaciously to self-attentiveness. However great a sinner a person may be, if instead of lamenting and weeping, ‘I am a sinner! How am I going to be saved?’, [he] completely rejects the thought that he is a sinner and is zealous [or steadfast] in self-attentiveness, he will certainly be reformed [or transformed into the true ‘form’ of thought-free self-conscious being].In the eleventh paragraph of Nan Yar? Sri Ramana goes on to explain more about how the practice of self-attentive being enables us to destroy all our vasanas or latent desires to experience things other than ourself:As long as vishaya-vasanas [latent impulsions or desires to attend to anything other than ourself] exist in [our] mind, so long the investigation ‘who am I?’ is necessary. As and when thoughts arise, then and there it is necessary [for us] to annihilate them all by investigation [keen and vigilant selfattentiveness] in the very place from which they arise. Being [abiding or remaining] without attending to [anything] other [than ourself] is vairagya [dispassion] or nirasa [desirelessness]; being [abiding or remaining] without leaving [separating from or letting go of our real] self is jñana [knowledge]. In truth [these] two [desirelessness and true knowledge] are only one. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist and submerging, picks up a pearl which lies in the ocean, so each person, submerging [beneath the surface activity of their mind] and sinking [deep] within themself with vairagya [freedom from desire or passion for anything other than being],can attain the pearl of self. If one clings fast to uninterrupted svarupa-smarana [self-remembrance] until one attains svarupa [one’s own essential self], that alone [will be] sufficient. So long as enemies are within the fort, they will continue coming out from it. If [we] continue destroying [or cutting down] all of them as and when they come, the fort will [eventually] come into [our] possession.

.... To Be Contiuned

-- Om namo Bhagavate Sri RamanayaPrasanth Jalasutram

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