Self Inquiry 13 - Self Enquiry Theory

Listen to Ektaji talk about Ramana Maharshi's self-inquiry teachings. These teachings are aimed at the experiential understanding of the true nature of the self and that consciousness is the only existing reality.

Transcript

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Why self-inquiry more direct than other methods?

Attention to one's own absolute awareness which is ever shining as I,

The one undivided and pure reality,

Is the only raft with which the individual who is deluded by thinking,

I am the body can cross the ocean of unending births.

Basically you'll cross the ocean of the samsara through the raft of being in pure absolute awareness.

Reality is simply the loss of ego.

Destroy the ego by seeking its identity.

Because the ego is no entity,

It will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself.

It's going to happen automatically.

You don't have to do much.

You just come back to pointing inwards,

Being with the absolute awareness.

Ego doesn't have its own reality.

It starts weakening,

Weakening,

Weakening and gets destroyed by itself.

So destroy the ego just by seeking its identity.

Where is it?

Is it there?

It's not there.

Who am I?

Who is this I?

You're seeking its identity by asking this question.

Who am I?

No,

It's not there.

When you went in,

What did you find?

Nothing.

Do you see it?

It does not exist.

I do not exist.

There is no I.

Do you remember doing it in Ashtavakra Gita the first time?

I do not exist.

Then I give you homework,

Go take a walk and mull over this.

I do not exist.

What does Ashtavakra mean by saying this?

This I do not exist.

Because the ego is no entity,

It will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself.

This is the direct method whereas all other methods are done only by retaining the ego.

Are you getting it?

In those paths there arise so many doubts.

Did you experience them?

Yeah,

And the eternal question,

Who am I remains to be tackled finally.

Yeah,

It was never tackled.

But in this method,

The final question is the only one and it is raised from the beginning.

No sadhana's are necessary for engaging in this quest.

Did you hear that?

Again the lazy man will say wow so nice I don't have to meditate every day.

You have to be aware.

Every moment to moment.

This is a bigger sadhana.

Then you're 20 minutes on the cushion.

That was easier in fact.

20 minutes and you're done.

Hats off.

Yeah,

This is even more actually.

There is no greater mystery than this.

That being the reality we seek to gain reality.

We think that there is something hiding our reality and that it must be destroyed before the reality is gained.

It is ridiculous.

Yeah.

What is he saying?

All that the reality is covered by some veil and I have to unveil it and find the truth that is hidden.

Oh,

I have to attain it.

There is nothing to attain.

It's all hogwash.

All ridiculous.

Yes,

Get out of these beliefs.

He says.

You had to learn all that because you're so ignorant in the world lost in Maya lost in materialism lost in those things.

So you have to do this be good do this do this sadhana do this seva do this do this be like this.

Now you started running running running running.

Okay,

There is no way to go stop.

You're on a treadmill.

Then suddenly you look down really.

Yeah.

It's hard to accept I know.

But if you go back it is there in each and every scripture one line is there a hidden line.

It's there in the Upanishads.

It was there in Ashtavakra.

It was there in Patanjali.

It was there in Narada.

It was there in Sri Swetha and there is nowhere to go.

You are already home.

You are already enlightened remember.

It was there hidden in every scripture.

But your ego wants to run.

No your ego wants to strive.

So all the striving tools are given to you.

The smart one heard that oh,

There is nowhere to go.

But the ones who were run by the ego wanted to keep running.

So they kept running.

Yeah,

So this line is there in every scripture.

There is nowhere to go.

You are already enlightened.

You are already home.

Right there on.

It has been given to you.

It's not that all the scriptures were a dhukha.

They were not.

Yeah,

They were feeding the ego minded person who wanted a tool to strive and they were telling the answer to one who had already reached there both for the raw and the ripe.

Ashwa Thama has the time to do that.

She is very educated on this.

Correct.

Okay.

So there is no greater mystery than this that being the reality we seek to gain reality.

We think that there is something hiding our reality and that it must be destroyed before the reality is gained.

It is ridiculous.

A day will dawn when you will yourself laugh at your past efforts.

That which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.

Are you laughing yet?

Good job.

If you're laughing you've come a full circle.

Multiple times.

Not once.

Good.

You reached home.

Good job.

Even after knowing all this we still have to continue living our material life.

Yes.

Still have to pay the bills.

Yes you pay your bills.

You do everything.

I'm still doing everything.

It's more harder now knowing this is still happening.

You do everything like a play.

Solar play.

For a little while I do whatever I do in this world.

Again I go back to my awareness.

Again I come out,

Do my work,

Come back to the awareness.

Again I go out,

Do my work,

Come back to the awareness.

It is constant coming.

A point will come when there is no more coming and going out.

You'll notice the flow.

It's just a part of the flow and then you start seeing what I say that it is like a space and everything is in it.

It is of it.

Everything is a part of it.

It's very easy then.

Then there is no more Dvandua like you have in the mind.

Because for you it's still background and foreground.

I want you to practice today a little more so you can go to the next stage.

This is a higher stage.

It's easier there.

Drop this background and foreground.

It is more than that.

Keep practicing.

Who am I?

Be in that awareness.

Be in that awareness.

Be there.

Again and again.

You'll find your answers only there.

Only there.

Not in the mind.

Not in logical analysis.

Not in chit chat with each other.

Because both of you are equally ignorant.

No point talking to the other ignorant person.

Right?

Both of you in the same boat.

You want to talk?

Talk to Lamana.

Better you experience.

When you experience you don't have doubts.

What did he say about the other path?

Lots of doubts will come up and they came no?

Every now and then you have doubts.

Every now and then you have doubts on the other paths.

Yeah?

It's very simple.

Just be in awareness.

Just be in awareness.

Just be Sakshi.

Be there.

Be there.

Be there.

Yes.

You have to be there all the time.

It's a higher sadhana than sitting for 20 minutes.

20 minutes was just training Pawan to get there.

Now Pawan has become mentally prepared to do more sadhana.

Okay now you do this Pawan.

Now all day.

Move from 20 minutes to all day.

Open eyed sadhana.

So as long as in this path effort is there then we are still not there.

But whenever that state happens effortlessly that's the time.

No but that effort counts towards that effortlessness.

You have to go into the swimming pool and fumble and stumble in the water.

Gasp get all the water in your lungs 10 times before you become a swimmer.

Perfect swimmer.

Right?

So you can't say those days were a waste.

No those days were a practice that brought you here where you became a champion.

How did you become a champion?

It's thanks to all those days of striving.

Got it?

Yeah it's training.

You're just training yourself because it's new territory.

You're so used to this territory.

This is fun.

This territory is new.

You have to move here move here again and again inside inside inside inside.

Yeah only with effort will it happen not otherwise.

That means like every word you speak out of your mouth you have to ask that question.

Yes who is asking this?

So think think before you talk.

This is required.

Who's asking this?

Who is this?

Fine.

When answering the question who?

You've got to ask that question.

Why am I answering?

Not why there is who?

Who?

Who is answering?

Who?

All the time.

You will notice you'll become silent automatically.

If you have an earnest practice of this you'll become a very silent person because you'll start finding everything so stupid and futile.

And people will sit around with you.

Good very nice.

But who is what's wrong with you and them?

Exactly.

Who is not you but them?

Them.

They will start finding mistakes in themselves when they see you as the quieter one.

Anybody who is asking?

I think me and my like with practice it comes because yesterday it was kind of hard for me to differentiate between the object and subject and then you're focusing on both.

My head was hurting at one point even as I was putting too much stress but today it has become a little natural.

It's not under person but at least it's getting there.

It's not too much of stress.

So I think the next stage where we're talking today becomes natural too.

But the thing is the brain should accept it.

We should accept it.

Brain?

Okay sorry I'm not going to.

.

.

Ego ego ego.

You have very nice words for ego you know na?

I know.

Brain,

Mind,

Mind.

Oh.

Oh.

Brain.

What's your name?

I'm Ego.

Yeah.

Just in the last two days that we've been doing this I've known in finding that awareness just everything else has gotten quiet.

And for me that's a big feat because I'm all over the place.

So just now I feel like I'm doing something right per se or understanding what's being given to me because I'm starting to be able to let that go.

That's amazing.

It's really really a big thing.

Make that effort.

Take her as an inspiration.

Yeah.

Be in awareness again and again and again.

Now wake up,

Recognize self-talk is not normal.

It is not normal.

That is your biggest disease.

You recognize that I do this a lot and stop.

Stop yourself every time you notice I'm going on and on and on and on.

Who's talking?

Who's saying this nonsense?

Again.

In.

Just be.

Just be.

Just be.

What is the quality of that?

Silence.

We've done that.

It's silence.

It's nothingness.

It's peace.

Calmness.

Calmness.

We've done all this.

What is the quality of it?

I'm not giving you the answer if you're looking at me for the answer.

I'm looking for the answer from there.

It's all nice words you've heard before.

Experience has to come from experience.

You need more practice.

More practice.

What is it made of?

Loneliness is all you're getting.

Blankness is all you're getting.

Good.

Be in that blank.

Just keep being in the blank.

The longer you stay there,

The easier it is to identify.

Yeah.

And?

Meaning the surface of the giant.

Yeah.

Which object?

Any object that I can be right now to the world.

But the bridge of the trees.

And I'm in front of my smoke more than what was alive.

And I think around the trees.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

She's already at stage three.

Again,

You have to go out for your walk.

Ten minutes.

Really just being in awareness again and again.

Turn inwards again and again.

Turn inwards.

Just look at the tree.

Just look at the flowers.

Don't look at each other.

How are you so interested in each other?

Aren't you bored of the same faces?

You meet almost every whatever once a week,

Twice a month.

Just enough looking at each other.

Inwards.

Be more interested in your own self.

You will get there.

You'll get there.

Very good.

She talks softly.

You didn't hear it.

You work on it.

It has to be your experience.

Not her experience.

And there's you want to compete with her.

And then you want to fool yourself again.

You've been doing this in the past.

Somebody else shares something.

Now you want to be like that.

You also start sharing.

But you've not felt it and you know it.

It was just to impress the other person.

But you were not there.

And then you hope to get there.

And in your head,

You keep fooling yourself.

We keep doing this practice.

I will get there.

What happened with the sadhana?

Ridiculous he calls it.

Wake up.

Again and again wake up.

In.

Not on an external object.

Back to the subject.

I have to be in the subject.

Yes.

Ready for another walk?

Yes.

Just being in the subject.

In that awareness.

What was happening in that awareness when you're just there and looking at the objects like the tree,

Like the grass,

Like the flowers.

Yeah,

Like the road,

Like the houses.

When you are looking at these objects,

What is happening?

Yeah,

For that you have to be in the awareness.

Very clear.

Just with yourself,

Just with yourself.

Just with that awareness.

And see what happens in that awareness and come back and tell me your answer.

10 minutes.

10 minutes again online people.

10 minutes.

You will walk with the awareness of awareness itself.

Who am I from outside?

I go back inside.

10 minutes walk.

Who am I walk?

10 minutes walk.

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