The devotee or the seeker of the Self who becomes discouraged by the thought ‘When shall I attain the natural state?’ hinders progress on the path of deliverance by having such a thought.
The aspirant for deliverance must be full of enthusiasm, with his mind in the sattvic mood. He should engage in this quest, remembering the teaching that time is unreal.
Always and everywhere there are doorways for getting at the question ‘Who am I?’ By any one of these the seeker must again and again engage his mind in this quest.
The nature of the answer to this question is next indicated.
The answer to this question is not an intellectual conclusion. The correct answer to it is only the experience of the real Self. The supreme state arises on the death of the ego, the questioner who calls himself the individual self.
The real Self will shine as it really is only in the natural, thought-free state of the Self. In other states the real Self will not shine as it really is due to its being mixed up with intellectual views.
Another hindrance to success in the quest is now stated.
If the mind thus engaged in the quest becomes unconscious [as in deep sleep], the effort so far made becomes unfruitful. [So,] the seeker should awaken the mind from this unconsciousness and again engage it in the quest.
What is needed is not unconsciousness of the mind, but its complete extinction. This is clearly stated next, and it was also pointed out in Bhagavan’s Upadesa Saram.
Mental quiescence has been explained by the Guru as being of two kinds, as latency in unconsciousness and final extinction. In hatha yoga there are many methods of attaining unconsciousness, such as suspension of the breath.
The difference between these two is then explained.
The mind, when it has gone into latency together with its habits of activity, will later become active again to produce the worldly life. The mind that has been extinguished will lose its habits of action and thus becomes like a seed that has been roasted.
As roasted seed does not sprout, so the mind that has become extinct cannot be reborn again.
Ignorance binds the ignorant one by means of [these] habits. If the mind remains wide-awake in the quest, then the destruction of these habits will ensue.
Right awareness dawns on the complete extinction of the mind, whereby all the mental habits also are lost. Deliverance is affirmed by all sages to be none other than the final and complete destruction of the mental habits.
Apart from latency there is another obstacle, craving for sense-pleasures. This is pointed out next.
One should overcome both desire and latency and keep the mind concentrated in the quest. In the quest for the real Self, this is like balancing on the keen edge of the razor.
The uniqueness of this method, the quest, is next explained.
In all the other yogas it is assumed that there is an entity called the ‘soul’, having defects, namely action and the rest, and the yogi makes efforts to make himself free from those defects.
For eradicating the defect of being an actor, there is the yoga of action; for getting rid of separateness [from God] there is the yoga of devotion; for the cure of the defect of [seeing] differences there is the yoga of mind-control; and for the eradication of ignorance there is the yoga of right awareness.
These yogas are ridiculed by pointing out the truth of the real Self.
While being himself the same as the Supreme Being, the ignorant man, thinking himself to be someone other than He, through delusion tries to become one with Him by various yogas! What else is there more absurd than this?
The superiority of the quest is then shown.
When, by taking hold of the consciousness-element of the soul, the quest is made for the Self, the root of the soul, the Self, who is free from all defects, shines alone; there the soul does not survive.
Hence this [quest] is named ‘the great yoga’. There is no other yoga equal to this, or greater. All the yogas are included in it, and may be used as auxiliaries to this one, as may be found suitable.
This yoga, the quest of the source of the soul, is itself all the yogas. It is the yoga of action, the yoga of devotion, the yoga of restraining the mind and also the yoga of right awareness.
This quest of the real Self, it is next pointed out, is not to be practised as a meditation.
Since this quest takes the form of a question, it is not to be practised as a mode of meditation. By this question, the mind dives into the Heart, which it does not do by any series of meditations.
Some practise continuous meditation on the truth of one’s own Self, after listening to and reflecting upon that truth. This method is different from the quest for the Self that is taught by Ramana.
The method taught by Bhagavan is not an affirmation, but a question. The threefold process is further explained.
In the Chandogya Upanishad the identity of the Supreme Being and the real Self is taught by the sentence, ‘Thou art That’. This identity is confirmed by distinguishing between the literal and the intended meanings [of the terms used].
The terms ‘Thou’ and ‘That’, if taken in the literal sense, tend to show that there can be no such identity. Hence, the intended meanings are sought, so that the identity may be accepted as true. The identity is not of the apparent self, but of the real Self, with the Supreme Being. At the same time the Supreme Being is not the personal God but the impersonal being of the Upanishads. Both are of the nature of consciousness, and it is this consciousness that is the real essence of both. Thus, the identity is true.
It has been assumed by the traditional schools of Advaita Vedanta that this sentence conveys an injunction to meditate on the teaching. Actually, as Bhagavan says, the sentence states only a fact. The acceptance of it as a fact is not enough. And meditation is no better. What is needed is to verify the fact by reaching and remaining in the mind-free state, called also the natural state. What he has said is as follows:
Sri Ramana says that, without an enquiry into the intended meaning of the term ‘That’ in the sentence, one should make a quest for the truth of the real Self, who is indicated by the term ‘thou’.
This quest leads up to the mind-free state in which the real Self shines unhindered by the veil of ignorance, which is the ego, the false self. Then it will be realised that there is only one entity, which is the real Self and also the impersonal Supreme Being of the Upanishads.
Bhagavan calls the quest the direct path. It bypasses the meditation mentioned before.
By this quest the aspirant obtains the direct experience of the real Self in the transcendental state. For him that has thus succeeded in this quest, there is no need for continuous meditation or prolonged reflection.
It is here taken for granted that the aspirant accepts the teaching of the identity as true. This acceptance arises through his faith in the Guru who has that experience, and who is therefore a competent witness of that truth.
So, there is no injunction to meditate in the sentence cited.
In the sentence of the ancient revelation ‘You are That’, no meditation has been enjoined. What is said by implication is that in the egoless state the sage has the experience that the impersonal is identical with his own real Self.
Since it is settled by the sentence of the Vedanta that one’s own real Self, disentangled from the veiling sheaths, is the supreme reality, to attain the experience of identity between that reality and the Self, what else will work except the quest of that Self?
This is obvious, says Bhagavan. The real meaning of the text, ‘Thou art That,’ is next set forth according to the spirit of Bhagavan’s teachings.
The meaning of that vedantic text [You are That] is this: the Supreme Being himself shines as the real Self. If, seeking that Self, one gives up the notion ‘I am the body’ and becomes aware of one’s true nature, one becomes firmly fixed in the Heart and shines as That.
Has the meditation on the truth any use at all?
The quest of the truth of the Self is alone the direct path to the right awareness of the Self. The meditation spoken of is a preliminary aid to this quest. It is for breaking up the idea of the body as the Self.
This is what Bhagavan has said. In the way shown the meditation is useful for those who are not able to free themselves from their ego-sense, by which the body is identified as the Self.
The obstacles that may lie on the path are next dealt with.
Diving into the Heart in this quest of the Self does not occur in those who have weak minds. For them, the mind’s strength, being subdivided among innumerable thoughts, is insignificant.
One-pointedness of the mind is needed. A mind that is one-pointed will be strong enough for this purpose. Curbing of the variety of thoughts is the expedient to be adopted.
The one-pointedness of the mind in the quest is itself the strength of mind that is needed, and nothing else. He who has this strength of mind is called ‘valiant’ because he has the skill to protect his intellect from being frittered away.
By the practice of meditation mental strength will be intensified. Therefore meditation is an aid to the quest. After first achieving stillness of mind by meditation, the valiant aspirant must seek the truth of his own Self.
Then the question arises, ‘What is to be taken as the object of meditation?’
For the seeker of deliverance the best of all possible objects for meditation is the consciousness that has the form ‘I’, since this is the essence of the real Self. By this meditation alone, the mind will naturally dive into the Heart. Such is the teaching of our great Guru.
‘I’, he has pointed out, is the name of that impersonal being, the subject matter of the Vedantas. He has said that this name is even holier than the pranava [Om].
An alternative method for stilling the mind’s thoughts, as recommended by Bhagavan, is stated next.
Alternatively, if the aspirant for deliverance stills the mind by pure kumbhaka [retention of breath], without puraka and rechaka [inhalation and exhalation], and thus engages in the quest, then his mind will dive into the Heart.
Ordinary pranayama consists of the three parts, breathing in (puraka), retaining the breath within (kumbhaka), and breathing out (rechaka). But here the middle part (kumbhaka) alone is recommended as a means of stilling the mind. This may be mastered by steady practice. This is called kevala kumbhaka.
The aspirant for deliverance must be full of enthusiasm, with his mind in the sattvic mood. He should engage in this quest, remembering the teaching that time is unreal.
Always and everywhere there are doorways for getting at the question ‘Who am I?’ By any one of these the seeker must again and again engage his mind in this quest.
The nature of the answer to this question is next indicated.
The answer to this question is not an intellectual conclusion. The correct answer to it is only the experience of the real Self. The supreme state arises on the death of the ego, the questioner who calls himself the individual self.
The real Self will shine as it really is only in the natural, thought-free state of the Self. In other states the real Self will not shine as it really is due to its being mixed up with intellectual views.
Another hindrance to success in the quest is now stated.
If the mind thus engaged in the quest becomes unconscious [as in deep sleep], the effort so far made becomes unfruitful. [So,] the seeker should awaken the mind from this unconsciousness and again engage it in the quest.
What is needed is not unconsciousness of the mind, but its complete extinction. This is clearly stated next, and it was also pointed out in Bhagavan’s Upadesa Saram.
Mental quiescence has been explained by the Guru as being of two kinds, as latency in unconsciousness and final extinction. In hatha yoga there are many methods of attaining unconsciousness, such as suspension of the breath.
The difference between these two is then explained.
The mind, when it has gone into latency together with its habits of activity, will later become active again to produce the worldly life. The mind that has been extinguished will lose its habits of action and thus becomes like a seed that has been roasted.
As roasted seed does not sprout, so the mind that has become extinct cannot be reborn again.
Ignorance binds the ignorant one by means of [these] habits. If the mind remains wide-awake in the quest, then the destruction of these habits will ensue.
Right awareness dawns on the complete extinction of the mind, whereby all the mental habits also are lost. Deliverance is affirmed by all sages to be none other than the final and complete destruction of the mental habits.
Apart from latency there is another obstacle, craving for sense-pleasures. This is pointed out next.
One should overcome both desire and latency and keep the mind concentrated in the quest. In the quest for the real Self, this is like balancing on the keen edge of the razor.
The uniqueness of this method, the quest, is next explained.
In all the other yogas it is assumed that there is an entity called the ‘soul’, having defects, namely action and the rest, and the yogi makes efforts to make himself free from those defects.
For eradicating the defect of being an actor, there is the yoga of action; for getting rid of separateness [from God] there is the yoga of devotion; for the cure of the defect of [seeing] differences there is the yoga of mind-control; and for the eradication of ignorance there is the yoga of right awareness.
These yogas are ridiculed by pointing out the truth of the real Self.
While being himself the same as the Supreme Being, the ignorant man, thinking himself to be someone other than He, through delusion tries to become one with Him by various yogas! What else is there more absurd than this?
The superiority of the quest is then shown.
When, by taking hold of the consciousness-element of the soul, the quest is made for the Self, the root of the soul, the Self, who is free from all defects, shines alone; there the soul does not survive.
Hence this [quest] is named ‘the great yoga’. There is no other yoga equal to this, or greater. All the yogas are included in it, and may be used as auxiliaries to this one, as may be found suitable.
This yoga, the quest of the source of the soul, is itself all the yogas. It is the yoga of action, the yoga of devotion, the yoga of restraining the mind and also the yoga of right awareness.
This quest of the real Self, it is next pointed out, is not to be practised as a meditation.
Since this quest takes the form of a question, it is not to be practised as a mode of meditation. By this question, the mind dives into the Heart, which it does not do by any series of meditations.
Some practise continuous meditation on the truth of one’s own Self, after listening to and reflecting upon that truth. This method is different from the quest for the Self that is taught by Ramana.
The method taught by Bhagavan is not an affirmation, but a question. The threefold process is further explained.
In the Chandogya Upanishad the identity of the Supreme Being and the real Self is taught by the sentence, ‘Thou art That’. This identity is confirmed by distinguishing between the literal and the intended meanings [of the terms used].
The terms ‘Thou’ and ‘That’, if taken in the literal sense, tend to show that there can be no such identity. Hence, the intended meanings are sought, so that the identity may be accepted as true. The identity is not of the apparent self, but of the real Self, with the Supreme Being. At the same time the Supreme Being is not the personal God but the impersonal being of the Upanishads. Both are of the nature of consciousness, and it is this consciousness that is the real essence of both. Thus, the identity is true.
It has been assumed by the traditional schools of Advaita Vedanta that this sentence conveys an injunction to meditate on the teaching. Actually, as Bhagavan says, the sentence states only a fact. The acceptance of it as a fact is not enough. And meditation is no better. What is needed is to verify the fact by reaching and remaining in the mind-free state, called also the natural state. What he has said is as follows:
Sri Ramana says that, without an enquiry into the intended meaning of the term ‘That’ in the sentence, one should make a quest for the truth of the real Self, who is indicated by the term ‘thou’.
This quest leads up to the mind-free state in which the real Self shines unhindered by the veil of ignorance, which is the ego, the false self. Then it will be realised that there is only one entity, which is the real Self and also the impersonal Supreme Being of the Upanishads.
Bhagavan calls the quest the direct path. It bypasses the meditation mentioned before.
By this quest the aspirant obtains the direct experience of the real Self in the transcendental state. For him that has thus succeeded in this quest, there is no need for continuous meditation or prolonged reflection.
It is here taken for granted that the aspirant accepts the teaching of the identity as true. This acceptance arises through his faith in the Guru who has that experience, and who is therefore a competent witness of that truth.
So, there is no injunction to meditate in the sentence cited.
In the sentence of the ancient revelation ‘You are That’, no meditation has been enjoined. What is said by implication is that in the egoless state the sage has the experience that the impersonal is identical with his own real Self.
Since it is settled by the sentence of the Vedanta that one’s own real Self, disentangled from the veiling sheaths, is the supreme reality, to attain the experience of identity between that reality and the Self, what else will work except the quest of that Self?
This is obvious, says Bhagavan. The real meaning of the text, ‘Thou art That,’ is next set forth according to the spirit of Bhagavan’s teachings.
The meaning of that vedantic text [You are That] is this: the Supreme Being himself shines as the real Self. If, seeking that Self, one gives up the notion ‘I am the body’ and becomes aware of one’s true nature, one becomes firmly fixed in the Heart and shines as That.
Has the meditation on the truth any use at all?
The quest of the truth of the Self is alone the direct path to the right awareness of the Self. The meditation spoken of is a preliminary aid to this quest. It is for breaking up the idea of the body as the Self.
This is what Bhagavan has said. In the way shown the meditation is useful for those who are not able to free themselves from their ego-sense, by which the body is identified as the Self.
The obstacles that may lie on the path are next dealt with.
Diving into the Heart in this quest of the Self does not occur in those who have weak minds. For them, the mind’s strength, being subdivided among innumerable thoughts, is insignificant.
One-pointedness of the mind is needed. A mind that is one-pointed will be strong enough for this purpose. Curbing of the variety of thoughts is the expedient to be adopted.
The one-pointedness of the mind in the quest is itself the strength of mind that is needed, and nothing else. He who has this strength of mind is called ‘valiant’ because he has the skill to protect his intellect from being frittered away.
By the practice of meditation mental strength will be intensified. Therefore meditation is an aid to the quest. After first achieving stillness of mind by meditation, the valiant aspirant must seek the truth of his own Self.
Then the question arises, ‘What is to be taken as the object of meditation?’
For the seeker of deliverance the best of all possible objects for meditation is the consciousness that has the form ‘I’, since this is the essence of the real Self. By this meditation alone, the mind will naturally dive into the Heart. Such is the teaching of our great Guru.
‘I’, he has pointed out, is the name of that impersonal being, the subject matter of the Vedantas. He has said that this name is even holier than the pranava [Om].
An alternative method for stilling the mind’s thoughts, as recommended by Bhagavan, is stated next.
Alternatively, if the aspirant for deliverance stills the mind by pure kumbhaka [retention of breath], without puraka and rechaka [inhalation and exhalation], and thus engages in the quest, then his mind will dive into the Heart.
Ordinary pranayama consists of the three parts, breathing in (puraka), retaining the breath within (kumbhaka), and breathing out (rechaka). But here the middle part (kumbhaka) alone is recommended as a means of stilling the mind. This may be mastered by steady practice. This is called kevala kumbhaka.
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