Ribhu Gita (Tamil) Ch 35:
(21)
Sage of intense spiritual practice !
Casting aside all ideas of difference
By the differenceless Knowledge of the Supreme.
The Knowledge that all appearances of superimposition arise
in me.
Who am eternal Knowledge,
And therefore indeed, all “I”, the perfectly full Knowledge,
And that “I”, the expanse of Knowledge, am Brahman.
Abide changelessly in the Self.
(22)
Like the truth of a Mirage seen superimposed on the hot
ground,
Being ultimately only the ground itself ,
Whatever is seen as a superimposition on the Self, the
Substratum,
Is only the Self,
And differenceless "I am Brahman".
Casting aside all ideas of difference
By such differenceless Knowledge of the Supreme.
Abide changelessly in the Self.
(23)
Like the "truth" that all that is seen in me is a
Dream.
Is nothing apart from me.
All that is seen in me during the Waking
State
Is never anything apart from me.
Casting aside all ideas of difference
By the differenceless Knowledge that “I” with nothing apart
am Brahman,
And by the differenceless Knowledge of the Supreme with
nothing apart.
Abide changelessly in the Self.
(24)
If the World and such really exist,
They should be changelessly present in Deep Dreamless Sleep.
Since all these do not exit in Deep Dreamless Sleep,
All these are dream-stuff. illusion.
I who remain unchanged am Brahman.
Casting aside all ideas of difference,
By the pure differenceless Knowledge of the Supreme,
Abide changelessly in the Self.
Some disciple of Ramana Maharshi quotes:
Many are those who take qualified experiences of taste, light, sound and so on to be the final attainment of Self-knowledge and because they have had these experiences they think that they have attained liberation and they become more and more entangled in attention to second and third persons, thus losing their foothold on Self-attention. Such aspirants are called "those
fallen from yoga." This is similar to a man bound for NYC getting down from the train at some intermediate
station, thinking "Verily, this is NYC", being
deluded by its attractive grandeur!
A sincere aspirant should arrange his work in such a way that he will spend only a portion of his time
and energy for maintaining the body, so that he can utilize the remaining time and energy in striving to earn the great profit of Self-knowledge.
Based on the Teachings of a great Sage:
It follows that in thinking of Past & Future occurrences,
we do so only with reference to a Present time. But without a subsistent Past &
Future. we could not form any notion of the Present. There cannot indeed be a Present,
since there is neither a Past nor a Future time. Consciousness alone subsists
& Consciousness alone is Ever-Present.
From a standpoint that is still in Duality, thought appears
as the principle of Consciousness objectified, But in order that Consciousness may seem to be
objectified, an independent agent is
needed: & nothing can exist independently of Consciousness.
Thought is the apparent objectification of Consciousness. Let me add, moreover, that each thought as
such has an object & that the 2 are inseparable. Now time, or the notion of succession, is one
such object. Time too is Consciousness objectified.
We measure the passage of time by the observation of
movements in natural objects like the Sun. Observation implies the remembrance of
successive Sensory Perceptions. Were it
not for these memories, our Notion of Time, if we could ever have acquired it,
would fade into the experience of Pure Being, as it does whenever mental
activity ceases.
The absence of mental activity cannot properly be called a State
[of mind], since it transcends Time. If we wish to understand what it is, we must
abstract every idea of duration from
our Mind. This is not impossible, for a
thought as such is always at one with its Object. If we make timelessness the object of thought,
all that is objective drops away
& we realize Timelessness as pure, changeless, Being.
There remains the question as to why the principle of Consciousness,
which is immutable & impersonal, should come to appear as the duality of a conscious
subject & its object. As to the situating of experience in Time, when
we are thinking of a specific object, nothing else is present to Consciousness
& there is no idea then of the object's location. A separate thought, or series of thoughts, is
required in order to situate that one object in relation to others. These determinative [location] thoughts follow almost invariably.
The Maharshi has said that the Self, which is its own
Realization, is Being. It is not an occurrence, but it is Being.
The Self is Consciousness, itself. Even
now, Consciousness is not an event. It
is not something occurring to you. Even
now, your own Existence is not occurring to you. It is not occurring slowly, rapidly, in
intervals, or even continually. It is
not something occurring. Rather, it is
something that is [a timeless, from Past Eternity to Forever, always,
everywhere, without anything else, solid Reality].
The Quest to know one's Self is, simultaneously, the Quest
to know ultimate Reality. Reality is That
which is. That which is your Existence,
the real Self, is That which is.
There are not 2 of you, a “self” that you supposedly are, & a Self
that will happen to you, as if you would acquire or attain it. The Maharshi has made this abundantly clear when
he says, 'There are not 2 selves, one to realize another."
Every effort should be made, & one should persevere with
utmost intensity in such a way to know the Self, but keep in Mind that it is Self-Knowledge,
the Self knowing itself, & not an objective occurrence.
How are you to know the Self ? You are to know the Self without any
intermediary. The same things that would
act as intermediaries should be set aside as just so many misidentifications,
for they are not your real Self. As you
inquire, set aside, as not having anything to do with a definition of your
Self, all that occurs in the World, & anything perceived by your Senses,
inclusive of the Body. Such is not your
identity, & any bodily state or Sense experience is unrelated to the Realization
if the Self, or Knowledge of the Self.
Thought should be set aside. You do not know the Self
through thought. Whatever your Knowledge is of the Self that if true we even
now, such as the fact of your own Existence, is not through thought. You
do not require thought to know that you exist.
Similarly, the Realization of the Self is not thought–dependent. Inquiry, likewise, is not thought–dependent.
Of course, one may commence meditation by thinking, "Who am I ?" Yet, as soon as the Inquiry turns further
inward, the experience is that of Consciousness abiding quite free of
any thought, even the thought of "I".
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