I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[winterknight]

53 minutes ago, Preetom said:

I'll definitely start reading TSRM then. Thanks

I agree with you on this one. He is heavily concerned with the Tamil translations in his writings(and lectures), he goes on translating stuff frequently which I personally found distracting and redundant.And about being independent jnani, he never claims to be one. He always credits Maharshi for whatever knowledge he has gathered and whatever he has done in this non-duality business. This is a common theme with almost all the direct students of Maharshi. They only acknowledge one Guru and that's Maharshi himself. Michael James basically sees himself as an interpreter of the essence of Maharshi's teachings in English Language. 

Ah, see, this is the problem. You can't really interpret Maharshi's teachings without being a jnani yourself. Otherwise it's just regarding the outer garments of the teaching.

Quote

I'd suggest you read the first 8.5 pages of the introduction of his book ''Happiness and the art of being''. It's a giant book, the introduction itself being over 50 pages long. But just read the 1st 7-8 pages. I found it explaining almost all the core concepts of non duality and the practice as well in a precise manner. And also would be happy to hear your review on the short read. I'm linking the book.
http://www.happinessofbeing.com/Happiness_and_the_Art_of_Being.pdf

Ok, I read it. It's not horrible, but it's not great.

A couple of choice quotes:

"Whatever turmoil our mind may be in, in the centre of our being there always exists a state of perfect peace and joy, like the calm in the eye of a storm."

I already don't like this metaphor. A calm in the eye of the storm suggests that the calm is a small space in the center when rather the calm is everywhere. It is the storm that is small and passing; actually, more than that -- the storm itself is nothing but the calm.

 

"Happiness is thus a state of being – a state in which our mind’s habitual agitation is calmed. The activity of our mind disturbs it from its calm state of just being, and causes it to lose sight of its own innermost happiness. To enjoy happiness, therefore, all our mind need do is to cease all activity, returning calmly to its natural state of inactive being, as it does daily in deep sleep."

This is misleading. True happiness is... precisely not a state. It is our constant, unchanged, always-existing nature.

It is the case regardless of whatever happens in our mind.

Granted that a relative bliss may be more in a calmer mind, and that such a calm mind is indeed a wonderful thing, true happiness is beyond all objects, including a calm mind. True happiness is the removal of ignorance, the ignorance that makes us believe that what is in our mind is what determines our happiness.

This quote is dangerous, too, as it implies that if the mind keeps thinking, happiness is inaccessible. This is not so unless thinking if understood in a very specific way. Namely, to the jnani, thinking is not thinking, because the "I" that is identified with the thinker is understood as false. 

 

"Therefore to master the art of being happy, we must master the art and science of just being. We must discover what the innermost core of our being is, and we must learn to abide consciously and constantly in that state of pure being, which underlies and supports (but nevertheless remains unaffected by) all the superficial activities of our mind: thinking, feeling and perceiving, remembering and forgetting, and so on."

Again, pure being is not a state. It seems like a state to a seeker, but it is constant.

This whole thing suggests that it's all about practice, like learning an instrument. It only seems so for a while. In truth it is more like a misconception that is dispelled.

It's not a skill, it's not a science, it's not an art, it's not a practice (except temporarily) -- it is about a seeing that dispels an illusion.

Edited April 5, 2019 by winterknight

[FoxFoxFox]

8 hours ago, winterknight said:

It's basically just a selection of excerpts from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, which is much more comprehensive. And Godman's interpretations are shaky, I sometimes think.

I fully agree with the assertion that Godman's interpretations is shaky. Actually I would say that he misses the point entirely. Back in the day, it really threw me off. It took me a long while to fully understand how to do self-inquiry properly. 

[AlwaysBeNice]

Due to the lack of order in the Ramana books, I made this by the way

http://theessenceoframana.weebly.com

[winterknight]

1 hour ago, Ero said:

(quoted by mistake) 

@winterknight Can a grounded experience help with self - inquiry? Like getting in a mindfulness state, yet not withdrawing from the senses. 

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Can you elaborate?

1 hour ago, Ero said:

@winterknight Do your energy and life involvement have anything to do with consciousness as a consequence of recognizing it? 

Yes and no. It's not really "my" consciousness; never was, indeed. But from the onlookers' perspective, yes, of course -- do I not seem to be on this forum?

52 minutes ago, Ero said:

@winterknight

Is the first recognition of awareness? Then for e. g that everything is consciousness. Then God and etc? 

I'm asking one, because I've read of the Buddha's different stages of awakening, heard some teachers and etc. 

Two, cause in my experience when I experience emptiness with no form or thought, I haven't recognized some of the supposed different aspects. 

I wouldn't worry about different aspects and all that, maps of sequences of awakenings and all that. 

They're just distractions.

Knowledge is one. You'll know when you grasp "who you are" -- it will become quite obvious.

Then you might "lose it" and then have to go back and attempt it again. So repeat and repeat.

You'll know it without a doubt when it is clear -- and until that clarity is achieved, everything else is a sideshow.

[winterknight]

4 hours ago, Ero said:

When you're almost primordial. After a cold shower, when focusing on the breath for a long period of time, after a run, whilst fasting. I get it after meditation as well. There's just that thoughtless clarity of your sensations, surroundings and so on. 

Sure, it can be helpful, but it's not necessary. Whether you're in that state or a different state, the question is -- to whom is that state occurring?

Quote

 

I feel like you're pointing to something subtle I can't quite get. What I meant is did the dropping of the attachements influence your involvement with life? Would I see a difference if I saw a before and after from my pov ?

 

Sure -- it would probably seem like I was more at peace and less in "need" of anyone or anything. But that's not necessarily true for everyone. Best not to have expectations and just focus on yourself, because the externals can be very misleading.

[Preetom]

@winterknight

When Ramana Maharshi advices something like "Be the Self. Or remain firmly as Self", what are the possible ways a seeker can interpret this instruction? 

[FoxFoxFox]

@Preetom Considering how you already are the Self, only remove ignorance. Ignorance is only a major distraction, it's the mind's illusion of controlling life. When you ask "who am I?" in Self-inquiry, the mind becomes one-pointed and begins going through all its usual answers (I am the body, etc etc). With Winterknight's caveat of disregarding answers that are in the form of objects, it should quickly dawn on you that there isn't actually an "I" who is the doer. In reality, that "I" is just the product of the mind's inferring from reality.  

You've heard the analogy of the Self as light or as a 'screen' before, I'm sure. Well if you investigate that analogy and see what it's actually pointing to that should work. When you are asleep, your existence continues without the mind, the body or the "I" and you are in peace. When you wake up, the "I" appears and you suffer. But your existence is unbroken. What remains in sleep is Self only, directly experiencing void. 

[Nahm]

@AlwaysBeNice Excellent site. Great work. 

“We must find the absolute – nothing less.”

??

[winterknight]

3 hours ago, Preetom said:

@winterknight

When Ramana Maharshi advices something like "Be the Self. Or remain firmly as Self", what are the possible ways a seeker can interpret this instruction? 

Well, you already are Self. So what Maharshi means is to simply stop imagining you are anything other than that. 

In short, it's an instruction to utterly relax and go slack, to worry about nothing, to want nothing, to try for nothing, to exert no effort, to let your mind go vacant.

It's an instruction to stop thinking.

It's a surrender instruction -- just give up all effort and any desire for anything.

If you "try" it, you'll quickly find that it entails self-inquiry too, because who is hearing this instruction and who is trying it? Nothing wrong with that, of course.

But one will discover sooner or later that even the concept of "trying it" is one step too far. When you think "how to do it?" you've already stepped into the ego. You've already stepped into the illusion that you are the one who does things, including "being Self."

Ideally the instruction is heard and the mind simply goes quiet. The quiet mind, which does not pay any voluntary, effortful attention to the world, to the body, to desire, to thought, to feeling, to any particular object, goal, means or method... because it wants nothing, because it is nothing...

this is Self-attention; this is simply being Self.

Edited April 8, 2019 by winterknight

[Aakash]

i have had extended periods of being able to be the one who is aware of thoughts, sensations, identifications as a self, anything to do with being human

but this itself still feels like an identification in my direct experience

when i inquire into who i am? who is the one having these thoughts, sensations, identifications as self, even the letter "i" 

the answer is always silence, because whenever i go to the "i" feeling, it comes and goes, it comes from silence and goes back to silence

my question is, why do i feel like "i" am still this silence? 

how do i get rid of it? 

(again i count up in a strange loop, because the one who is asking this question is also the coming from silence, so it's not "me" who is asking the question") 

Edited April 8, 2019 by Aakash

[winterknight]

4 minutes ago, Aakash said:

i have had extended periods of being able to be the one who is aware of thoughts, sensations, identifications as a self, anything to do with being human

but this itself still feels like an identification in my direct experience

It is.

Quote

when i inquire into who i am? who is the one having these thoughts, sensations, identifications as self, even the letter "i" 

the answer is always silence, because whenever i go to the "i" feeling, it comes and goes, it comes from silence and goes back to silence

Let the answer always be silence -- that's no problem. Through this question, bring the mind back to silence again and again and again, hundreds or even thousands of times. Let not a thought go by without asking to whom it occurs.

Edited April 8, 2019 by winterknight

[Aakash]

@winterknight what about the question, where is the "i" coming from 

i never seen the find an answer to this, it's like the "I" is an illusion, therefore theoretically it should not even feel like an i 

it is like i'm the one who is aware of a self i called mine 

and then it comes from silence and nothing. 

[winterknight]

7 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@winterknight what about the question, where is the "i" coming from 

i never seen the find an answer to this, it's like the "I" is an illusion, therefore theoretically it should not even feel like an i 

it is like i'm the one who is aware of a self i called mine 

There is an answer to this, but it's not an answer in words. Saying the "I is an illusion" is just a thought. 

The fact is that there is someone who is aware of a self, who is aware of itself being aware. How do you know that you are aware, and who knows it?

Again, you clearly DO know that you are aware. That is not an illusion. The question is: how do you know it, and who knows it? Where is that knowledge coming from?

Quote

and then it comes from silence and nothing.

What did I say above about silence?

[Preetom]

@winterknight

I have another question.

What is a healthy and most helpful attitude for a seeker regarding the concept 'God'? What if the seeker is not so inclined to the word or concept of God in the first place?

Btw thanks 3Foxes for answering as well.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Preetom

[winterknight]

4 minutes ago, Preetom said:

@winterknight

I have another question.

What is a healthy and most helpful attitude for a seeker regarding the concept 'God'? What if the seeker is not so inclined to the word or concept of God in the first place?

Btw thanks 3Foxes for answering as well.

If a seeker is inclined to God, then devotion to God is a good thing. Devotion to God consists most importantly in self-inquiry and surrender. But prayer is a good thing too if the seeker is so inclined.

If the seeker is not so inclined,  it's fine not to worship God -- simply self-inquire and surrender. But the seeker must be open to the idea of there being something beyond this merely material universe. Without that faith, they're probably not going to go far.

[Aakash]

OHH MYYY GOOD 

I AM AWARE, IT IS AN OBJECT! I AM AWARE OF BEING AWARE 

HOW DO I KNOW I AM AWARE, BECAUSE I AM AWARE OF BEING AWARE 

SO WHO IS THE ONE WHO IS AWARE               OOOOOHHHH MYYYYYY GODDD 

THE ANSWER IS NOT A VERBAL ANSWER 

thats why i can't answer it, or get you to answer it for me 

BUT WHO IS AWARE! 

Edited April 8, 2019 by Aakash

[nistake]

What's your opinion about spiritual bypassing?

[Preetom]

3 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@Preetom OHH MYYY GOOD 

I AM AWARE, IT IS AN OBJECT! I AM AWARE OF BEING AWARE 

HOW DO I KNOW I AM AWARE, BECAUSE I AM AWARE OF BEING AWARE 

SO WHO IS THE ONE WHO IS AWARE               OOOOOHHHH MYYYYYY GODDD 

THE ANSWER IS NOT A VERBAL ANSWER 

thats why i can't answer it, or get you to answer it for me 

BUT WHO IS AWARE! 

Rest.

It doesn't matter if you are hearing loudly or quietly. Doesn't matter if you are hearing from near or far.

Who is the hearer of these thoughts?

11 minutes ago, winterknight said:

If a seeker is inclined to God, then devotion to God is a good thing. Devotion to God consists most importantly in self-inquiry and surrender. But prayer is a good thing too if the seeker is so inclined.

If the seeker is not so inclined,  it's fine not to worship God -- simply self-inquire and surrender. But the seeker must be open to the idea of there being something beyond this merely material universe. Without that faith, they're probably not going to go far.

Thanks for your answer. The last line is vital. Because if one doesn't open up to the possibility that he might not be what he has always taken himself to be(or any knowledge for that matter), there is no self inquiry to begin with.

So one definitely needs intellectual understanding and conviction to have some openness to the unknown and something non-verbal to begin with

[winterknight]

9 minutes ago, Aakash said:

OHH MYYY GOOD 

I AM AWARE, IT IS AN OBJECT! I AM AWARE OF BEING AWARE 

HOW DO I KNOW I AM AWARE, BECAUSE I AM AWARE OF BEING AWARE 

SO WHO IS THE ONE WHO IS AWARE               OOOOOHHHH MYYYYYY GODDD 

THE ANSWER IS NOT A VERBAL ANSWER 

thats why i can't answer it, or get you to answer it for me 

BUT WHO IS AWARE! 

sounds like a glimpse of the truth

[winterknight]

7 minutes ago, nistake said:

What's your opinion about spiritual bypassing?

An overrated term, though sometimes it can be valid. Maybe a more specific question with details from your life/path would be more helpful?

Edited April 8, 2019 by winterknight