Self Inquiry 15 - Knowingness Is Oneness

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.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Salaam.

Okay,

Self enquiry practice.

Though you consider yourself not a beginner,

You're still a beginner.

Though you've reached stage three,

You've just got a glimpse of stage three.

It's not become established yet.

You can get established in this oneness,

Knowingness,

This flowing thing that you said.

Yeah,

This experience that you had.

This is a continuous experience.

It's there continuously moment to moment when you are not stuck here.

You're here.

It's a continuous moment to moment experience.

You get it?

So you are still beginners.

This is for you.

Yeah,

Beginners and self enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana to put their attention on the inner feeling of I and to hold that feeling as long as possible.

Yeah,

That I sense or that who am I and you look inwards.

Now you hold on to it as long as possible.

You're going into stage three.

So here you hold it as long as possible.

Stay there.

Stay there.

Don't let it go.

Otherwise,

You lose this oneness,

This togetherness,

This flowing feeling,

The knowingness of everything.

We would be told that if their attention was distracted by other thoughts,

They should revert to awareness of the I thought whenever they became aware that their attention had wandered.

He suggested various aids to assist this process.

One could ask oneself who am I or where does this I come from?

But the ultimate aim was to be continuously aware of the I which assumes that it is responsible for all the activities of the body and the mind.

Yeah,

So you keep holding on to it,

Holding on to it,

Holding on to it.

Yeah,

Who am I or where does this I come from?

In the early stages of practice,

Attention to the feeling I is a mental activity.

Is it a mental activity for you right now?

No?

Okay,

For some it is some it is not okay.

In the early stages,

It is a mental activity which takes the form of a thought or a perception.

As the practice develops,

The thought I gives way to a subjectively experienced feeling of I.

How many of you have had that subjective experience when you go in?

Yeah,

So you've got that subjective feeling.

You recognize that experience.

Yeah,

Good.

Those who are not there yet,

It's okay.

We will start from the mental activity and get to the subjective feeling.

And when this feeling seizes to connect and identify with thoughts and objects,

It completely vanishes.

What remains is an experience of being in which the sense of individuality has temporarily seized to operate.

Did this happen?

Even for a second that you looked in.

Yeah,

The I feeling was gone.

Everything was gone for one second.

There's nothing just pure beingness and again I came up.

Yeah,

That temporary sensation is what he's mentioning here.

Yeah.

Sense of individuality is that I.

That temporarily seized,

That dropped,

That collapse of I.

The experience may be intermittent at first,

But with repeated practice,

It becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain.

Yes,

Is that a little encouragement?

Yeah,

You'll get there right now.

It might be intermittent,

But with a little bit of practice,

It will be something that you can be in continuously.

You can stay there,

Stay there,

Stay there.

Yeah,

It won't be an effort anymore.

When self-enquiry reaches this level,

There is an effortless awareness of being in which individual effort is no longer possible since the I who makes the effort has temporarily seized to exist.

Got it.

Initially,

You have to run after the train to get into the train and then once you're in the train,

There is no more running exactly like that.

You have to make that effort to turn inwards initially.

Yeah,

Just keep doing that.

Keep doing that.

Keep doing that.

A point will come where?

You're there only.

You're there for a long time.

So when you're on the train,

Do you need to run anymore?

There's no more running.

So temporarily,

The effort has seized.

Of course,

It won't last and again,

You will come back out again.

You will go in.

Keep doing this and then again,

You'll stay there,

Stay there,

Stay there.

Got it?

When you are inside,

It is effortless.

You don't have to make an effort because now you're there.

You've turned inwards.

Yeah.

So now there is no more effort required.

It is called effortlessness.

Very clear.

It is not self-realization since the I thought periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest level of practice.

Got it?

I hope you've not thought that you've got enlightened today.

It is not self-realization yet but it is the highest level of practice.

Yeah,

You have just started to get glimpses of it but you're not established yet.

Very very clear.

Everybody's please highlight that mark that.

Do not go back home with this thing that you are self-realized now.

The repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the vasanas which is the mental tendencies which cause the I thought to rise and when their hold has been sufficiently weakened,

The power of the absolute awareness destroys the residual tendency so completely and the I thought never rises again.

Yes,

This we've spoken of already.

If you stay here,

Stay here,

Stay here,

You're not giving attention to all this where where where of the mind and it weakens its power,

Weakens and weakens and weakens.

So the vasanas weakens just by not giving it attention because my attention is inside,

Inwards because I'm not giving the vasanas attention,

They weaken.

My complete attention is inwards.

I'm seeing this very very clearly.

So this gets weakened and weakened to a point where only residual are left.

What is residual?

Remnants of what?

Past habitual tendencies.

Perfect.

Past habitual tendencies.

I have a habit pattern.

I always act in this way with this person.

I always shout at the kid like this.

I always behave like this with this person.

Habit pattern.

So these are residual tendencies that I'm carrying and every time they only come up.

They only come up.

Now these remaining ones,

They will get wiped away just because I'm not giving those that come up in the present moment any attention.

I am focusing on the awareness.

Very very clear.

Yeah,

The power of the self-awareness itself destroys these vasanas.

Super clear?

Yeah,

Of course you will have to be very clear not to give in to those vasanas.

Yeah,

Lust can take you away,

Pull you away.

Thriving for money can pull you away.

Yeah,

Your greed can pull you away.

Not going away with that,

That you have to work on.

Are you getting that?

That part is separately attended to on the Buddha's path.

Here it is assumed you are there where you will work on it on your own.

If you think you will not work on it,

Then come down to Buddha's path,

Take the vows,

Start working on those tendencies and come back up and start doing this.

Some people have one foot down one foot up like I told you.

Yeah,

You could be one of them.

So if you see certain major vasanas arising then maybe three steps working on the morality part is very very important for you.

Only you can decide only you can look within and figure it out.

Right?

So you check,

Oh too many vasanas coming up.

They're not letting me stay in my awareness.

Okay,

Then this is something I really need to work on right now.

Then work on these not reacting,

Not giving into it,

Taking a vow.

Come what may,

Even if I lose money,

I will not lie.

Those kind of things really challenging yourself to be so pure that you are ready to give up those material things that you were running behind out of Loba moha dosha.

What is loba?

Dhrid moha.

Delusion means?

Not seeing reality as it is.

And dosha?

Thi bhud il vil aavarjat.

Yeah,

All negativities.

So if I see these three are there lurking beneath these three,

I have to work on so that I can stay in my awareness longer because only these things pull me out.

There's nothing else that pulls me out other than loba dosha moha.

Everything can be put under these three categories.

These three take my awareness away again.

I have to come back again.

They take my awareness away.

So what do I have to do?

Let me work on this.

Let me put my attention on dropping this loba dosha moha.

Whatever it is you have identified.

Yeah,

Work on them.

Come back to awareness.

You'll see your awareness getting strengthened and strengthened and strengthened.

And again,

You'll get back to this knowingness,

This flowing thing.

You are very clear.

Everything is oneness.

You can experience the oneness.

This is the only jnana that takes you directly to the experience of oneness.

Again,

You experience the oneness depending on your inner purity.

If you're very pure,

You experience it instantly.

If you're a little impure,

What happens?

You cannot experience it.

Did you notice that?

The moment a little distraction came up,

Some attraction aversion came up,

You lost it.

Again,

You had to do this process.

Again,

You were going there but again,

You were losing it because you'd given too much attention to the negativity.

Clear?

So the vasanas part,

I would like to emphasise you will have to work additional besides just turning inwards.

When you make a negative turn,

Then it also helps to overcome and work with your regular tendency.

Very easily,

You'll be able to work very easily and the more you work on these tendencies,

The more you turn inwards.

It feeds into each other.

Yeah,

Automatically.

So keep working on it and stay there.

Stay there.

That's like a blessing to even experience this awareness.

So many people just can't get beyond the words.

They cannot experience it.

You're very fortunate to experience.

Be there.

Be there.

It's really delicious.

So when you're watching sunset or sunrise,

It actually happens that you feel that on your last in that beauty.

So is that what you're for?

Yes,

Provided you don't get into the mind and say,

Oh,

This is beautiful.

Oh,

I have seen this before.

It is just like the sunset in Seattle finished.

You're away from that awareness.

The awareness does not have words in it.

There's no talking.

Yeah,

Just the being,

Just the being,

Just the being.

Okay.

I'll read that part again.

Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the vasanas or mental tendencies which cause the I thought to rise.

And when their whole has been sufficiently weakened,

The power of the absolute awareness destroys the residual tendencies so completely that the I thought never rises again.

Such a consolation.

Wow.

That state is so achievable.

This is the final and irreversible state of self-realization.

This practice of self-attention or awareness of the I thought is a gentle technique.

You cannot force it.

Those who are forcing it.

Did you realize it doesn't happen?

So then you realize,

Oh,

I'm working too hard.

Relax.

It's a relaxing technique.

It's not a concentration.

That's why you have to let go and you have to just be.

Yeah,

Then it was very easy.

Got it.

So it's a gentle technique.

You cannot force it.

Yeah,

Which bypasses the usual repressive methods of controlling the mind.

Yeah,

We're not controlling the mind with anything.

Yes,

No sound,

No music,

Nothing to push you to focus on to control the mind.

It's just a natural relaxation.

The ego assures you,

Don't worry,

I got you.

Yeah,

I could actually feel that thought in my mind that ego wanted to exist that moment and then I did smile and relaxation,

Which I learned.

It always takes me.

Good,

Good,

Good,

Good.

It is not an exercise in concentration,

Nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts.

It merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs.

Is this very clear?

We are not suppressing any thoughts.

We are not forcing anything.

We are not controlling the mind.

Got it.

It's not a repressive method.

It's a very gentle method of relaxing into awareness.

Yes,

Very,

Very clear about this.

Yeah,

Okay.

The method and goal of self-inquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not.

Where do you withdraw your attention from?

Objects and thoughts,

Mind,

Body,

Breath,

Emotions,

Feelings,

Everything.

I just withdraw from this and I go to what I am.

So this I am not and I'm going to what I am.

In the early stages,

Effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential.

But once awareness of the I feeling has been firmly established,

Further effort is counter productive.

You get it?

You cannot try to force beyond a point.

It doesn't work.

In fact,

The opposite will happen.

You will come back to thinking.

Happen?

Yes,

So to just stay in the awareness and just be now.

Now you have to relax there.

What is the meaning of effortlessness there?

Just relax there.

Don't have to try to understand it.

You don't have to try to experience.

Okay,

I'm going to experience the knowing this.

She was talking about what happened.

You're out.

Did you get it?

There is nothing to experience there.

There you have to just go and relax.

See that is home.

I go there to sleep.

Yeah,

I go there to rest.

I go there to relax.

Not to know,

Not to learn.

Yeah,

Learning happens when I get out of it automatically.

When you got out of it,

You realize you're feeling so one with the tree.

When you were feeling it,

You were just there.

You're just experiencing that wellness.

You have to get out of it to put the words together.

Did you get it?

Yeah.

So am I saying the thing that happened to you?

So recognize when you are there,

You don't make an effort.

Otherwise it becomes counterproductive.

Counterproductive means you get into mind,

Thought.

You're out of there.

Just be,

Just be,

Just be.

You will experience what I am saying.

The quality is experiential.

It cannot be understood in words by the mind.

The mind cannot go there.

Did you understand that now?

The mind cannot go there for ages.

You've been hearing the sentence.

Every scripture told you the mind cannot go there.

Now,

Do you understand the moment mind goes there?

You are not there.

You're out of there.

Very clear now?

Finally.

Okay,

From then on it is more a process of being than doing.

Of effortless being rather than an effort to be.

Yeah,

It is effortless being rather than to be.

Even in to be,

I have to be.

Do you get it?

There is no I there anymore.

So who has to be?

Nothing.

Nobody.

Let go.

The relaxing,

The letting go will let you be in it.

The letting go will make that flowing feeling come back.

The letting go makes that knowingness,

The recognition that there are no objects.

The recognition of how all this is Maya comes back.

Yes,

Right now you're out of it.

Go back to it.

Just there and now relax there.

The moment you try to understand it,

You get out of it.

There's no trying to understand.

There's no trying to be.

Just rest.

Getting it?

At home.

Being at home.

The way you're at home.

Like that.

Being what one already is effortless since beingness is always present and always experienced.

I'm experiencing it every time everybody reminding you.

So it's always there really.

I don't have to remind you anymore.

Now you remind yourself.

It is always experienced.

On the other hand,

Pretending to be what one is not that is the body and the mind requires continuous mental effort even though the effort is nearly always at a subconscious level.

Now you will start seeing it.

What I mean by saying oh so much effort to think.

Now it will become more and more clear because this is so effortless just being in the awareness.

You become lazy.

Who wants to do the thinking?

You do the thinking.

I'm there.

Yeah.

Not that when something is required you will go out there and do the action but that unnecessary repeated thought.

He said this.

She said this.

Then this happened.

That happened.

What will happen tomorrow?

What happens at retirement?

Do I have enough funds?

Who are the children taken care of?

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Unnecessary you're going on and on.

Not required.

Okay and again come back.

Okay and again come back.

Just be.

Super easy.

It is therefore it's therefore follows that in the higher stages of self-enquiry effort takes attention away from the experience of being while the cessation of mental effort reveals it.

In the higher stages of self-enquiry effort takes attention away from the experience.

You were there and the moment you started making an effort in that experience it.

It's gone.

So how many of us experience that?

Okay,

And the second part of this sentence sentences.

While the cessation of mental effort reveals it.

When that mental effort ceased you could be in awareness.

Yes.

You could everybody experience this.

That's how you went there right?

So everybody experience this.

Ultimately the self or the absolute awareness is not discovered as a result of doing anything.

But only by being.

This is very very clear now.

Yeah.

As Sri Ramana himself once remarked.

Do not meditate.

Be.

Do not think that you are.

Be.

Don't think about being.

You are.

That's why they try to do.

Hahaha.

Yeah,

You love these words,

Hah?

Don't do anything.

Don't do anything.

Don't do anything.

You are very chalu.

Again you are in the mind.

Hahaha.

He didn't say that anywhere.

Don't do work.

I don't see it over there at all.

Created by Meenu.

Meenu gyaan.

Okay.

Self-enquiry should not be regarded as a meditation practice that takes place at certain hours and in certain positions.

It should continue throughout one's waking hours irrespective of what one is doing.

Yes,

That's your home going instruction already there.

You are telling us the same thing from Patanjali.

Sri Ramana saw no conflict between working and self-enquiry and he maintained that with a little practice it could be done under any circumstances.

He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal practice were good for beginners but he never advocated long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of a meditative life.

He is so opposite of all the ones you heard before,

Right?

It's like totally 360.

Yes,

360 brings you to the same place.

180.

Again,

You don't take this as a shortcut.

Aridwa,

He says I don't have to meditate.

You're a lazy person,

You have lots of asanas and you're still not at this stage of being a ripe mango then you have to go back to meditation.

That I already read yesterday.

You want me to read again?

You're very clear,

No?

If you are not a ripe mango,

What do you have to do?

You go to your jnana and dhyana.

Yes,

But if you are the ripe mango,

The session was probably for you.

I don't know.

You look within and you decide.

Maybe you are there.

You've reached home.

Fantastic.

There was a reason why this session happened.

So then for you,

This applies.

The question and answers we can do tomorrow of this chapter.

In the previous chapter,

His description of meditation was also different because he was describing that meditation means using an object and focusing on the object.

So that is not his meditation.

It is the other meditations.

Yeah,

So he's emphasizing this is not a meditation.

Don't treat this as a concentration practice,

But constantly an awareness,

A relaxation.

Again and again being relaxed,

Being aware,

Being there.

You've reached home.

You don't need a meditation practice if you're already home because the same thing Buddha is teaching you.

Step one,

Step two,

Step three,

Step four,

Step five,

Step six,

Step seven,

Step eight and finally at nine you're home.

If at nine I'm going to get home and I already know the skill of getting home and I keep getting home easier this way,

Then maybe that is not for me.

But if I cannot maintain being at home,

I just tasted it.

I come out.

I taste it and I come out.

Then what do I have to do?

I have to go back to the drawing board.

Now that only you know.

You decide.

If by doing this practice you can get rid of your vasanas and be established in that awareness and experience this knowingness and this oneness that you felt today,

All the time then you've reached home.

Very clear?

I'm not trying to hold on to my practice of meditation,

But the meditation that I did,

The 10 day retreat that I did,

It helped in cleansing and sharpened something,

Awareness and that helped me.

Yeah,

So then that's what so we yeah,

We come down one step humbly and we do that and with the same humility if this works with open eye do this.

Yes,

Yes,

Because the meditation that I have been doing is also the same as this.

So now I have a closed eye practice and an open eye practice.

Correct.

Yes.

So if you have a silent meditation,

No sound meditation,

She's doing the Buddha's practice the no sound practice.

So that takes you to the same state.

The last step of that.

The step 9 is the same when you are in and the collapse of the eye happens.

It's exactly the same.

Yeah,

But not sound meditation.

Sound meditations will not take you here.

The collapse of eye will not happen.

So you decide what works for you accordingly,

You do okay for the evening.

Your practice is continuous.

You have to continuously keep being in awareness again and again again and again again and again.

If the mind comes up with oh my other friend felt this so the others that person felt the oneness how it didn't happen to me don't get into all this.

It doesn't matter.

It's all the ego talking.

We just learned it today.

Yeah,

It's not important.

It's a little kid screaming in the middle of Walmart.

I don't have to give him attention.

I just turn my attention inwards.

Can you do that?

Yeah,

Rest of the evening.

We will maintain silence at home not to do too much talking just as much as is required for the kids.

No talking to adults.

Tell the women silence.

Just be just be again and again just be.

Yeah,

Make it a very strong practice again.

Go out for a walk.

And then again after the sun sets is a little dark again.

Go out in the darkness for a walk.

See the sky.

See the objects in the darkness.

It's a different feel.

In the night.

Yeah,

So do more two more walks.

The self-inquiry walk.

Who am I walk and be there just be every time you go out back in every time you go out.

Who am I every time I go out.

Am I aware?

Again and again back in back in.

Yeah,

You won't give into the mind today.

No giving into the ego.

Yes,

Then pull the reins tight again and again here today.

All good.

Any any questions before you leave?

What's coming home today?

Huh?

There are no thoughts coming.

Oh,

Beautiful.

There's nothing to pull in there.

Then you are in awareness.

Now you have to be effortless.

That means you got there and you're not very sure about it.

That's what he just described.

Now be effortless.

Just be.

To stay in that rest in that there are no thoughts and no sensations.

It's quiet.

Just being quiet.

Yeah.

Just be don't try to look for something in it.

You're trying to look for something in quiet.

What is there there has to be an experience in quiet.

I think it's quiet.

No,

There has to be an experience.

I has to collapse.

You let that I collapse.

Good now just collapse in it.

You can collapse in it with eyes open.

Do you know that?

Just collapse in it.

Switch off.

There's nothing to know.

Nothing to see.

Nothing to grasp.

Just be.

Sink into it.

Give me more words.

Drown into it.

Get sucked into it as if a vacuum is sucking you in.

Get sucked into it.

Very nice.

Ice melting in the water.

Melt into it.

Allow it to happen.

You're not allowing it to happen.

The surrounding noises like then much along with the surrounding noises.

You will have different noises now when you go home.

No,

Not necessary.

You're going to have this kind of quietness there.

So whatever it is accepting all that you merge into the awareness.

Without thinking,

Without logic,

Without interfering with it.

Just be.

Very,

Very clear.

Any questions online?

There's one question.

When the deepest impression comes up as a thought,

It becomes difficult to go back to the awareness.

It's like the ego wants to keep holding on to it and drowning into it.

What to do?

Again,

There is no other shortcut.

This is the shortest cut I've given you.

Again,

Treat your ego like a child in the middle of Walmart screaming and shouting.

You're looking words.

Will come behind you.

You don't go behind it.

You don't go looking for something.

You just go in rest.

Very,

Very clear.

Oh.

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