Ramana Maharshi Vedanta Analogies, & Ashtavakra part 2

[for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

[reprise of the prior Maharshi analogy in his own words]

Consciousness is the Screen on which all the pictures come & go. The Screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it.  Because by long  habit we have been regarding the 3 states as real as if the Real that we call the state of mere Consciousness.

[a similar "Panchadasi" analogy quoted by Sri Ramana   Maharshi]

A light that is kept on the stage of a theatre. When a drama is being played, the light is there, which illuminates, without any distinction, all the actors, whether they be kings or servants or dancers, & also all the audience. That light will be there before the drama begins, during the performance & also after the performance is over. Similarly, the Light within, that is, the Self, gives light to the Ego [ahamkara], the Intellect [buddhi], the Memory [chitta]. & the Mind [manas] without itself being subject to processes of growth & decay.

[Maharshi comments about Consciousness as the "Witness" & the "3 states"  of Mind]

Actually, the idea of the Self being the Witness is only in the Mind; it is not the Absolute Truth of the Self.  Witnessing is relative to objects witnessed.  Both the Witness & his object are mental creations.  There is only 1 state, that of Consciousness or Consciousness of Existence.

Although during Deep Dreamless Sleep & other states ["unconsciousness" of various kinds] there is no feeling of the Ego, that Self remains attributeless, & continues to shine of itself.

The 3 states of Waking, Dream & Deep Dreamless Sleep cannot be real. They simply come & go.  The Real will always exist. The True "I" or Existence that alone persists in all the 3 states is Real. The other 3 are not real & so it is not possible to say they have such & such a degree of Reality.  We may roughly put it like this. Existence or Consciousness is the only Reality.  Consciousness plus waking, we call Waking. Consciousness plus sleep, we call Deep Dreamless Sleep. Consciousness plus dream, we call Dream.

There is no difference between Dream & the Waking State except that the Dream is short & the Waking long.  Both are the result of the Mind.  Because the waking state is long, we imagine that it is our real state.

[Ashtavakra selectioms]

15.1 – The pure-hearted man fulfils the supreme purpose of Life through the instructions of his Guru, even though they be casually imparted.

15.4 – You are not the body. You do not have a Body.  You are neither the Do-er nor the Enjoy-er [includes sufferer].  You are Consciousness only – the timeless Witness & ever free, so live happily.

15.5 – Attachment & aversion are attributes of the Mind. You are not the Mind & the Mind does not belong to you. Free from scheming & doubting, know yourself to be Consciousness itself, changeless, undivided, free.

15.6 – Knowing that the Self is the Self of all beings, & that all beings "abide" in the Self, be free of Ego – personal identity & the sense of “mine”.

15.7 – You are That Consciousness in which the Universes rise like waves in the Sea.

15.11 – In the infinite Ocean of the Self, universes rise & fall like waves.

15.14 – Whatever you perceive is your Self & you alone. How can bracelets, armlets, & anklets be other than the gold they are made of ?

15.15 – Renounce all sense of distinction, such as: “I am this one,” & “I am not that one.”

15.16 – Your Ignorance alone creates the Universe. In Reality you are the One that alone exists.  There is nothing other than yourself.

15.17 – One who knows for certain that the Universe is Illusion, one becomes desireless, Pure Consciousness itself, & finds Peace as if nothing else existed.

15.19 – Do not disturb your Mind with acquiring or releasing anything. Abide at peace the bliss of the Self.

16.5 – When the Mind is free of opposites like: “This I have done” & “This remains to be done,” one becomes indifferent to merit, wealth, pleasure, & also Liberation.

16.6 – One who is averse to Sense objects avoids them. One who desires them becomes attached. But he who neither rejects nor desires is neither unattached nor attached.

16.7 – Desire & Aversion, Attachment & Non-attachment – all derive from an absence of discrimination. 

16.9 – One who is attached to the World thinks renouncing it will relieve his suffering.  One who is attached to nothing is free & does not feel miserable even in the World.

16.10 – He who retains the feeling of "I-ness" even in regard to Liberation, is neither enlightened nor a true seeker.  He suffers his own misery.

17.2 – The knower of Truth is never troubled in this World nor inwardly in any way, for he knows the Self fills the whole Universe.

17.4  – Rare is the one with not attachment to things he has enjoyed, nor hankering after things he has not enjoyed,

17.5 – Those who desire pleasure & those who desire Liberation are both common in the World. Rare though is the great soul who desires neither enjoyment nor Liberation.

17.6 – Only the enlightened has no attachment to what is admirable, prosperous, pleasure, Life or Death.

17.7 – The man of Knowledge neither cares for the Universe nor desires its dissolution.  He lives happily on whatever comes his way.

17.8 – Knowing the Self, with Mind empty & at Peace, the Sage lives happily while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, or eating.

17.9 – There is no attachment or non-attachment for one in whom the Ocean of the World has dried up. His gaze is withdrawn inward, his actions are without motive, his Senses seek nothing.

17.12 – Whether seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, taking, speaking, or walking, the great soul is beyond action & non-action, & truly free.

17.13 – The liberated soul is free from desires & attachments to objects everywhere.  He does not blame or praise, give or take, rejoice or become disappointed, ever free.

17.14 – Whether he meets a women full of love, or death approaching him, the great soul remains undisturbed, centered in his own Self Nature.  He is truly free.

17.15 – The Sage of equal vision sees no difference between happiness & suffering, man & woman, adversity & success.  Everything is seen to be the same.

17.16 – Having transcended his role as an individual person, the liberated Sage has neither aggression nor compulsion to show compassion, neither arrogance nor humility, anxiety nor wonder.  His Worldly life is exhausted.

17.17 – The liberated man has neither aversion toward nor craving for Sense objects, With his Mind ever detached, he is unconcerned with what is attained & what remains un-attained.

17.19 – Desires extinguished, free of thoughts of “I” & “mine,” & “This I am”, knowing for certain that there is no objective thing that exists, for the knower of Truth, though he appears to act, he in truth performs no actions.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]