Mind & Happiness 149

In Verse 43 of Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai Sri Ramana prays to Arunachala, who is our Real Self in its function as guru, the Power of Grace that bestows true Self-Knowledge:  tāṉē tāṉē tattuvam idaṉai-t tāṉē kaṭṭuvāy aruṇācalā.

The Tamil word tāṉ is a singular reflexive pronoun meaning "oneself", "myself", "itself", "your self", & so on, & the letter ē that is appended to it is an emphatic suffix that conveys the sense "itself", "alone", or "indeed".  Thus the meaning of this quintessential prayer is:

"Myself itself alone is tattva [the Reality].  Show this [to me] your Self,  Arunachala."

Our Real Self is the only "truly existing" tattva, the one Non-Dual Infinite & Absolute Reality. We can know this only when it shows itself to us, which it does by drawing our Mind or power of attention inwards, towards Itself.  Our Real Self thereby dissolves us by absorbing us as one with Itself, our own Essential Existence.  So long as we pay even the least attention to anything other than our Essential Existence, we cannot know our self as we really are.

Since all the other so-called tattvas – which include our Intellect, our Ego, our Mind, our 5ive Sense-organs, our 5 organs of action, the 5 tanmātras, which are the subtle essences of each of the 5 forms of Sense perception, namely sound, touch, form, taste & smell, & the 5 elements, namely Space, air, water, fire & earth – appear & disappear, they are merely ephemeral apparitions or illusions, & hence they are not real tattvas.  Since the World is composed of these ephemeral & Illusory tattvas, it is itself a mere illusion, & therefore Sri Ramana concludes the 17^th paragraph of Nāṉ Yār? by saying that we should consider it to be a mere Dream.  Hence, since our Body is a part of this illusory & dreamlike World, we should consider it likewise to be merely an unreal Illusion, a product of our own power of Imagination.

Since none of these other tattvas are Real, neither they nor anything composed of them can be our True Self, & therefore we should not waste our time & energy thinking about them, enumerating them, classifying them or examining their properties, but should ignore them entirely & instead attend only to our real "I" – our Fundamental & Essential Consciousness of our own True Existence.  The only need we have to consider our Body, our Mind & all our other adjuncts is to understand the fact that they are un-real, & are therefore not "I".

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.

Mind & Happiness 148

The portion added by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai to Nan Yar? [Who Am I?] may appear to be of some use as an aid to understanding Sri Ramana's simple answer, "Knowledge alone is I."  However, the presentation & wording of this added portion does not truly reflect Sri Ramana"s natural style of teaching, or his usual choice of words.  His natural style was always to answer questions briefly, simply & to the point.  Unless he was talking to someone whose Mind was already steeped in the complex & often obscure concepts & terminology of traditional vēdānta, he generally avoided using such concepts & terminology, & instead used only simple Tamil words, or words borrowed from Sanskrit whose meaning was clear & straightforward.  Since many people who came to him were not well versed in traditional vēdāntic or yōgic concepts, he avoided as far as possible cluttering & burdening their Minds with such concepts, except for a few that were really useful & pertinent.

In particular, he avoided all the detailed descriptions & classifications of the "non-self" – whatever is not our Real Self – which are given in many traditional texts.  As Sri Ramana writes in the 17^th paragraph of Nāṉ Yār?:

"Just as no benefit [is to be gained] by a person, who should sweep up & throw away rubbish, scrutinising it, so no benefit [is to be gained] by a person, who should know [his or her real] self, calculating that the tattvas [detailed aspects of an objective 'realm'] , which are concealing [our real] self, are 'this many' & scrutinising their qualities, instead of gathering up & rejecting all of them.  It is necessary [for us] to consider the World [which is composed of these tattvas] like a Dream."

That is, in plainer English, just as we would derive no benefit by scrutinising a mass of rubbish, instead of just sweeping it up & throwing it away, so we will derive no benefit by enumerating & investigating the nature of the tattvas, which constitute all that is "non-self" & which therefore obscure our knowledge of our Real Self, instead of rejecting all of them & thereby knowing our Real Self, which is the one true Existence or Essential Substance that underlies their imaginary  appearance.

The word tattva, whose etymological meaning is "it-ness" or "that-ness", basically means that which is real, true & essential, the "reality", "truth", or "essence", but it is commonly used to mean any basic element or constituent quality that is considered to be real.  In this context, therefore, the plural term tattvas denotes all the ontological principles – the basic "elements", essential components or abstract qualities of which all things are supposed to be made. The various schools of Indian philosophy each give their own classification of these so-called tattvas, & each reckon that there are a different number of them, a number that usually does not exceed 36 [commonly 24].  However, though some of them may use a different word to describe it,

most of these schools agree that the original & fundamental tattva is paramātman, the "Supreme Self" or "Transcendent Spirit", which is also called puruṣa, the primal "Person" or "Spirit".  This puruṣa or paramātman is in fact our own Real Self, our own spirit or Essential Self-Conscious Existence, which we always experience as "I exist".  Since this Primal Spirit "I exist" is the only tattva that exists permanently, without either appearing or disappearing, it is the only Real tattva.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.

Mind & Happiness 147

In Nāṉ Yār? "Who am I ?", the qualification of the word "Knowledge" by the addition of the defining clause "that stands detached [separated or alone] having done nēti [by thinking] that all the above things are not 'I' " is potentially misleading, because it could create the impression that simply by thinking nēti nēti, "not thus, not thus" or "this is not I, this is not I", we can detach our

Essential Consciousness or Knowledge "I exist" from everything with which we now confuse it.

In fact, many "scholars" who attempt to explain the ancient texts of vēdānta, which often describe this process of nēti nēti or negation of all that is not our Real Self, interpret it to be the actual means by which we can attain Self-Knowledge.  However, the Sages who first taught the rational

process of Self-Analysis called nēti nēti did not intend it to be understood as the actual technique of practical or empirical research, but only as the "theoretical" basis upon which the empirical technique of ātma-vicāra or Self-Investigation should be based.

The rational & analytical process which is described in the ancient texts of vēdānta as nēti nēti or "not thus, not thus" is essentially a "logical" analysis of our experience of our Self.  If we do not 1^st critically analyze our experience of our Self in this manner, we would not be able to understand either the reason why we should seek true self-knowledge, or what exactly we should scrutinize in order to know our Real Self.

So long as we imagine that we are really our physical Body, our thinking Mind or any other object, we will imagine that we can know our self by attending to such things, & hence we will not be able to understand what is really meant by the terms ātma-vicāra, Self-Investigation, Self-Examination, Self-Scrutiny, Self-Inquiry, Self-Attention, Self-Attentiveness, or Self-Remembrance.

Only when we understand the essential theory that we are nothing other than our Fundamental Non-Dual Self-Consciousness – our adjunct-free Consciousness of our own mere Existence, which we experience just as "I exist" & not as "I am this" – will we be able to understand what actually is the "Self" or "I" that we should scrutinize or attend to.

Once we have understood that we are truly not our physical Body, not our thinking Mind, nor any other object known by us, we should not continue thinking, "this Body is not I", "this Mind is not I", & so on, but should withdraw our attention from all such things, & focus it wholly & exclusively upon our real & Essential Existence.

We cannot know our Real Self by thinking [even in negating] of anything that is not "I", but only by investigating, scrutinizing, or attending keenly to that which is really "I" – to that which we really are, to our Essential Existence.  Unless we withdraw our attention entirely from all other things, we will not be able to focus it wholly & exclusively upon our Essential Existence, which we always experience as "I exist".  Unless we focus it thus upon our Essential Existence, we will not be able to attain the Non-Dual experience of true Self-Knowledge.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.

Mind & Happiness 146

The publication of Nāṉ Yār? rewritten by Sri Ramana did not remove the detailed nēti nēti portion that Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai had inserted, but instead simply instructed that the 1^st question & the actual words of his first 2 answers should be printed in bold type in order to distinguish them from the inserted nēti nēti portion.  The 1^st question, the inserted portion, & Sri Ramana's 1^st 2 answers together constitute the 2^nd paragraph, the meaning of which is as follows:

"Who am I? The sthūla dēha [the "gross" or physical Body], which is [composed] of the sapta dhātus [the 7 constituents, namely chyle, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, bone, & semen], is not "I".  The 5 jñānēndriyas [sense organs], namely the ears, skin, eyes, tongue, & nose, which individually [& respectively] know the 5 viṣayas [sense "domains" or types of sense perception], namely sound, touch [texture & other qualities perceived by touch], form [shape, color, & other qualities perceived by sight], taste, & smell, are also not "I".  The 5 karmēndriyas [organs of action], namely the vocal cords, feet [or legs], hands [or arms], anus, & genitals, which [respectively] do the 5 actions, namely speaking, walking, holding [or giving], excretion, & [sexual] enjoyment, are also not "I".  The pañca vāyus [the 5 "winds" (prāṇas), "vital airs" or metabolic forces], beginning with prāṇa [breath], which perform the 5 [metabolic] functions,

beginning with respiration, are also not "I".  The Mind, which thinks, is also not "I".  The ignorance [the absence of all dualistic knowledge] that is combined with only viṣaya-vāsanās [latent inclinations, impulsions, desires, liking, or taste for sense perceptions or sense enjoyments] when all sense perceptions & all actions have been severed [as in Deep Dreamless Sleep], is also not "I".  Having done nēti [negation, elimination, or denial of whatever is not our Self by thinking] that all the above things are not "I", the knowledge that [then] stands detached alone is "I".  The nature of [this] knowledge ["I exist"] is sat-cit-ānanda [Existence-Consciousness-Bliss]."

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.

Mind & Happiness 145

Ramana's disciple Nome

As our "self-remembrance" thus becomes more firmly established, our clarity of Self-Consciousness will gradually increase, until finally, we are able to experience & know our Essential Existence with full & perfect clarity.

When we once experience our self as we really are, our delusion of "self-ignorance" will be destroyed, & thus we will discover that we are nothing but our own Real & Essential Existence, which always knows itself with perfect & ever-unfading clarity.

Another fact that is related to the to the 1^st 2 questions that Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai asked Sri Ramana was following on from his 1^st 2 questions.  Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai asked Sri Ramana many other questions, & Sri Ramana answered most of them by writing either on the sandy ground or on a slate or slips of paper that Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai gave him.  Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai copied many of these questions & answers in a notebook, & more than 20 years later he was requested by other devotees to publish them as a small booklet. The 1^st edition of this booklet was published in 1923 under the title Nāṉ Yār?, which means "Who am I ?", or more precisely "I [am] Who ?"

Before its publication, a draft of this booklet was shown to Sri Ramana for his approval, & when he read it he noticed that Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai had expanded his original answer to the 1^st question, adding a detailed list of things that we mistake our Self to be, but that in fact we are not.

On seeing this, he remarked that he had not answered in such a detailed manner, but then explained that, because Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai was familiar with nēti nēti, he had added such detail thinking that it would help him to understand his answer more clearly.

By the term nēti nēti, Sri Ramana meant the rational process of Self-Analysis described in the ancient texts of vēdānta, a process that involves the analytical elimination or denial of everything that is not "I".  The word nēti is a compound of two words, na, which means "not", & iti, which means "thus".  Hence nēti nēti literally means "not thus, not thus."  The ancient texts of vēdānta use these words nēti nēti when explaining the rational basis for the theory that our Body, our Senses, our Life-force, our Mind, & even the Ignorance that we seemingly experience in Deep Dreamless Sleep are all not "I".

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.

Mind & Happiness 144

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana in Verses 17 & 18 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu affirms NOT the Reality of the limited form  of this Body & World, but is only the Reality of our own Essential Formless & therefore Infinite Existence, which always experiences Itself & nothing other than Itself.

Though we are Infinite & Absolute Existence, we do not know our Self as such because we ignore our Essential Existence & imagine our Self to be a finite Body.  So habituated have we become to ignoring our own Existence that even in Deep Dreamless Sleep, when we cease imagining our Self to be a Body, & therefore cease knowing any other thing, we appear to be ignorant of the Real Nature of our Essential Existence, "I exist".

However, though we appear to be ignorant of our Real Nature in all our 3 States of Consciousness, in Truth our Essential Existence always knows itself clearly as the Infinite, Absolute & non-dual Consciousness "I exist".  Our Essential Existence never ignores or is ignorant of our Real Nature.  That which is ignorant of our Real Nature is only our Mind, & therefore we appear to be ignorant of our Real Nature only because we imagine our Self to be our Mind.

Since our "self-ignorance" is therefore not Real but only imaginary, in order to put an end to it all we need do is cultivate the habit of remembering or Existence attentive to our own Essential Existence, "I exist".  As Sri Ramana says in the 11^th paragraph of Nāṉ Yār?:

"[…] If one clings firmly to uninterrupted svarūpa-smaraṇa [remembrance of one's own Essential Nature or Real Self, "I exist"] until one attains svarūpa [that is, until one attains True Knowledge of one's own Essential Nature], that alone [will be] sufficient. […]"

In this 1 sentence, Sri Ramana encapsulates the empirical method of ātma-vicāra or Self-Investigation, which is the only means by which we can attain true Self-Knowledge – true experiential Knowledge of our own Real Nature.

Since we appear not to know the True Nature of our Essential Existence, our own Real Self, only because of our long-established habit of ignoring it, we can know it only by cultivating the opposite habit of constantly remembering or being attentive to it.

In practice we may initially be unable to remember our ExistenceConsciousness "I exist" uninterruptedly, but by remembering it repeatedly & frequently, we can gradually cultivate the habit of remembering it even while we are engaged in other activities.  Whatever we may be doing or thinking, we exist, & therefore we can remember our "Existence" even while we see to be "doing".  As we become more accustomed to remembering our Existence, we will find that we remember it more frequently & easily, in spite of any amount of distracting external influences.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.

Mind & Happiness 143

In Verse 18 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu Sri Ramana says that for Sages the Reality is the formless Substratum, Foundation, or Base that supports the World, thereby implying once again that in their experience the Reality is the One Essence or True Substance that underlies Everything, including all the manifold forms of this World.

That is, since our True Self or Real "I" is the Infinite Reality, nothing can be separate from or other than our True Self. Therefore our True Self alone truly exists, & whatever else appears to exist is not anything other than our True Self, but is just an imaginary form that it appears to be.

Since neither our Body nor this World can have any reality other than our own Consciousness, in which they appear as thoughts or mental images, they are in essence nothing but our own

Consciousness.

Since Sages experience only the Absolute Reality, which is Infinite, In-divisible, & therefore perfectly Non-Dual Self-Conscious Existence, Sages do not experience any forms or any limitations.  Sages know only the formless & limitless reality, which is their own True Self.

Since Sages know that the one real "I" alone is, they know that there is nothing that is not "I" or not Real.  Hence from their Absolute Non-Dual perspective, they say that everything is "I" & is therefore Real.  That is, since they do not experience this Body or World as limited forms but only as their own formless & therefore Un-limited Reality, they say that this Body is "I" & this World is "Real".

Therefore, when Sri Ramana says that for Sages this Body is "I" & this World is "Real", he does not mean that our Body as such is "I" or this World as such is Real, but only that as our own formless & Limit-less Real Self, which is their True Essence & sole Reality, they are both "I" & Real.

The above themes & 2500 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 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs available on:

jstiga.wordpress.com/

"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

–  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – the other Blog noted below is entitled "Non-Duality & Science", & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a "comic book") have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted here. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential "New–Age" Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much "with him", as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, the goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & "saving the World."]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via "John Stiga" etc, on the "Wayback Machine" Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on "Amazon.com", reference-able by the author "John Stiga", each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.