Bhagavan Buddha said: - Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.
The word Brahman or
Sat has no proper equivalent in English. The nearest is the ultimate reality
or the ultimate truth. The intellectuals however apply reality to individual objects
or to the multiplicity of them all, whereas Advaitins apply it to the
non-duality. Brahman is called "That" because it is something not
known yet by the seeker.
The Seeker has to overcome all the doubts and confusion in later stages in Self-inquiry. The seeker finds some doubts and confusion, which cannot be overcome if the inquiry is practiced in the present format prescribed in the Self-inquiry book. The deeper self-search reveals the fact that the self-inquiry in the present format will yield the only half-truth.
Some of the doubts and confusion in the Self-inquiry book:-
If the mind is the same as Atman (consciousness), how can it vanish--when the mind appears and disappears as Waking or dream?
How can one be certain when one leaves the external world--when the person is within the world?
Why leave the external world when everything is Brahman---when everything is Brahman why create division between the world and its perceiver?
Who has the subtle mind projecting through the brain and senses? How can one see his subtle mind?--when the brain is also a piece of the gross matter? ---then how can the brain come into existence after the world is created if the latter depends on the brain.
The heart is an idea created by the mind, how the mind can emerge from it---when the heart disappears along with the mind and reappears along with the mind, how the mind emerges from it.
In deep sleep, swoon, and trance, the mind turns inwards and enjoys its natural state--if so why should one inquire if one gets Atman in sleep. With drugs, one can get sleep and peace or bliss.
If sleep gives Brahman then why trouble with inquiry--better get it through pills. There are many seekers practicing inquiry for many years and waiting for something mystical to happen, why nothing happens, and why their inquiry does not yield fruits.
Since Sage Ramana Maharishi is not present physically to guide us, therefore, the seeker to overcome these obstacles in the path of inquiry on his own.
I was surprised to know David Godman’s interview with Mr. Sivapraksh Pillai (one of the close aid to Sage Ramana Maharishi) that even after 50 long years he was unable to achieve his goal through inquiry, hats off to his sincere and honest statement.
In my honest opinion with all the due respect to every person who was involved in recording and publishing the Self-inquiry which is the greatest treasure and which opens the golden gate to the seeker to enter into the spiritual world from the religious world, still, there is lots confusion and doubts which are impossible to get answer the way the inquiry is presented in the books. But one will be able to overcome the same after lots of research.
It is impossible to do research in the present framework of the Self-inquiry. Since everyone is waiting for some mystic experience to happen and refuses to verify and accept the truth because of their conservative outlook. Even the intellectual- classes who have authored many books are viewed and judged Ramana from a mystic point of view were unable to deliver goods due to their inherited religious background. Sri, Ramana Maharishi was mystic for the mass but he was Gnani for the class.
It is impossible to do research in the present framework of the Self-inquiry. Since everyone is waiting for some mystic experience to happen and refuses to verify and accept the truth because of their conservative outlook. Even the intellectual- classes who have authored many books are viewed and judged Ramana from a mystic point of view were unable to deliver goods due to their inherited religious background. Sri, Ramana Maharishi was mystic for the mass but he was Gnani for the class.
It also becomes evident that different people who have interviewed Sage Ramana Maharishi at different times had different backgrounds and mindsets. Therefore it is necessary to bifurcate the religious views of Sage Ramana Maharishi from his spiritual views to get the hidden essence of Sage Ramana Maharishi’s teaching. The great Sage Ramana Maharishi WHO AM "I?, therefore it is necessary for the seeker to go beyond WHO AM 'I'? inquiry to cross the threshold of duality.
Remember:~
Jung says that Ramana's desire to escape the ego is Self-contradictory, because, without Maharishi’s personal ego, there would be no Shri Ramana at all.
Most of the Indian teaching is so overwhelmingly great that it means little whether the author is called Ramakrishna or Vivekananda or Shri Aurobindo, etc. Jung seems to be saying "If you have seen one Indian holy man, you have seen them all."
Jung says that the Indian lacks the epistemological standpoint; he is still pre-Kantian, with no psychology: To the Indian, it is clear that the Self as the originating ground of the psyche is not different from God, and that, so far as a man is in the Self, he is not only contained in God but actually is God.
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Santthosh Kumaar:~ “Many Gurus in the past believed the Self is within the body and they imagine and write their own theories on it and propagated. The Self is not within the physical body, but the world in which body (you) exists is within the Soul.
The body-based theories are nothing to with the Atmic path. The Soul, the Self is bodiless because it is ever formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.
The Soul which is present in the form of consciousness pervades in everything and everywhere in all three states. Thus, everything is consciousness. There is no second thing that exists other than consciousness.
The one who says he is already enlightened is ignorant. The person who says I am enlightened is unaware of the fact that the Self is not he, because he and his experience of the world, is the product of ignorance. Only ignorant says he is already enlightened. Without the Advaitic wisdom, ignorance will not vanish.
The one which says ‘I am enlightened’ itself is the ego. The one which feels it is he or she is also the ego. The ego is the false Self (you or waking entity) within the false experience (waking). The ego, body, and the world appear together and disappear together. It is foolish to venture to try to destroy the ego because the ego is the very basis of the physical existence (universe in, which we exist).
People say I AM THAT ~ I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not I, it is erroneous to use the word ‘I’ for the Self, because ‘I’ represents the form, time, and space whereas the Soul, the innermost Self is formless, timeless, and spaceless existence.
It is erroneous to identify the Soul the Self as the 'I' or 'I AM' because the Soul the innermost Self is not 'I' or I AM’. The Soul the innermost Self, is that witnesses the coming and going, of the 'I'.
Bhagavad Gita: ~ “The permanent is always there, only the transient ‘I’ comes and goes. (2.18)
The ‘I’ disappears as deep sleep, so what is the use of being attached to it? It is impermanent and illusory because ‘I’ is physical awareness. Physical awareness is not Self-awareness. ‘I-less awareness is Self-awareness.
To understand the false nature of the ‘I’, the Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary.
The Self is not ‘I’, but the Self is the Soul which is the witness of the ‘I’. Holding the ‘I as the Self leads to hallucination based on the imagination.
Remember:~
The ego, body, and the world are the product of ignorance. Without ignorance, the ego, body, and the world cease to exist. Thus getting rid of ignorance is very much necessary. Only through Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the ignorance vanishes.
The people who are venturing to get rid of the ego will never succeed. How the ego can get rid of itself. The ego is the waking entity (You). The ego, body, and the world appear together and disappear together.
Human psychology is based on the false self (ego or waking entity or you) within the false experience (waking or illusion). Whatever is based on the false Self and false experience is bound to be a falsehood. Thus, perfect understanding ‘what is what’ is needed to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth.
Thus, one must realize how this world, which confronts him, is an illusion? And on what standpoint the world is an illusion. Without knowing ‘what is mind? ‘What is the substance of the mind?’ ‘What is the source of the mind? The truth will not reveal. Thinking the mind is within the physical body is the greatest obstacle in the pursuit of truth. Thus, a deeper investigation is very much necessary to unfold the mystery of the mind.
Nothing is needed for acquiring Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana other than perfect understanding, assimilation, and realization of ‘what is what”
The dualistic illusion is present only when form, time, and space are present. The form, time, and space are one, in essence. The ego, body, and the world are one, in essence. The birth, life, death, and the world are one, in essence. The three states are one, in essence. That essence is consciousness. The thinker & thought and the world are one, in essence. Thus, there is no division in consciousness in reality.
The Soul, the Self is the fullness of the consciousness without the illusory division of For, time, and space.
Remember:~
The dissolution of the ego alone is not the step to the realization of truth hidden by ignorance. The ego, body, and the world appear together and they disappear together. The ego, body, and the world appear together as ‘I’. Without ‘I’ there is no ego, no physical body, and no world. ‘I’ is not limited to the physical entity but ‘I’ is the mind. The mind is present in the form of the universe. The universe appears as waking or dream (duality (I)) and disappears as deep sleep (non-duality (I-LESS-Soul).
The one which appears as waking or dream (duality) and disappears as deep sleep(nonduality) is the Soul which is in the form of consciousness.
The Soul is the Self. The Soul is the witness of the three states (witnessed). The witness and the witnessed (three states) are one in essence. That essence is consciousness.
Thus, there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Consciousness is the ultimate truth or Brahman. Only getting rid of ignorance through wisdom is the only way, which leads to Advaitic Self-Awareness in the midst of duality.
Till you think you are an individual separate from the world and world that existed prior to you and you are born in it afterward the ignorance will prevail as a reality. Till ignorance is there the ‘I’ prevails as reality.
If the ‘I’ prevails as reality then the world in which you exist prevails as a reality. If the world in which you exist as a reality then the dualistic illusion is experienced as a reality.
Perfect understanding of ‘what is what’ helps you to overcome ignorance (I). Until ‘I’ is there the ignorance is there. Until ignorance is there you will not be able to unfold the mystery hidden by the ‘I’.:~Santthosh Kumaar
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