Brief Summary
This video provides guidance on self-inquiry and meditation, emphasizing the importance of detaching from thoughts and emotions to realize one's true nature as consciousness. It cautions against seeking external experiences or getting attached to temporary states of bliss, advocating instead for a constant awareness of the self. The teachings encourage viewers to recognize that they are already the self they seek and to replace false ideas with the truth of their inherent consciousness.
- It's important to not judge progress in self-inquiry based on difficulty or ease.
- Attachment to blissful states can hinder the quest for self-realization.
- Thoughts, whether good or bad, should be treated as separate from the self.
- The key to realizing the self is to stop identifying with the mind and body.
- Spiritual seekers often overlook that they are already the self they seek.
- Constant meditation and replacing wrong ideas with accurate ones are crucial.
- The self is the awareness in which experiences take place, not an experience itself.
- Recognizing the dreamlike nature of reality and detaching from thoughts are essential for abiding as the self.
Introduction
The video begins with a reminder that it's difficult for devotees to judge their progress in self-inquiry. The speaker advises against concluding a lack of progress simply because the practice feels hard, or assuming greater progress because joyful states are easily generated. The main objective is to establish oneself as consciousness, avoiding distraction from this goal.
Detachment from Blissful States
The speaker warns against attachment to states of bliss, emphasizing that they should not take priority over the quest for self. Becoming attached to peaceful or blissful states can lead to losing interest in the primary goal of self-realization. While feeling blissful and peaceful is good, one should not indulge in these states at the expense of self-inquiry. Real peace and bliss come from being the self, not from experiencing temporary mental states.
Dealing with Thoughts
The speaker advises treating all thoughts, whether good or bad, with the same reaction: "not me," "not my business." Thoughts arise to you, indicating that you are not the thought but the self. The goal is to remain as the self and not latch onto anything that is not the self. Ignoring thoughts connected to the body-mind idea is crucial, as these are based on the notion that you are the mind or body.
Thoughts as Distractions
All thoughts, including the thought "I am meditating," are considered distractions. If you are the self, thoughts won't affect you. Sudden effort and practice, along with ideas about them, arise when you believe you are not the self and need to do something to reach it. Even the sequence "to whom is this thought coming?" is based on ignorance, perpetuating the idea of a person having troublesome thoughts.
The Nature of the Self
The speaker emphasizes that you are the self, not a make-believe person having thoughts. Nothing that happens to the mind is you or your business. It's enough to remember that thoughts are not you. Thoughts will come as long as the potential for them exists within you, but this flow need not be a problem. The key is to be the self, the peace that is your real nature, so that what comes up doesn't matter.
The Illusion of Seeking
Spiritual seekers often look for ways to reach, attain, discover, experience, or realize the self, failing to comprehend that they are already the self. This is likened to searching for one's eyes with one's own eyes. You are the self right now and aware of it. The feeling "I am existing" is the self. People often pretend they are not experiencing it, covering it up with false ideas and then searching for it externally.
Practices to Aid Self-Inquiry
The Ribhu Gita states that the affirmation "I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am everything" should be repeated until it becomes a natural state. Bhagawan (Ramana Maharshi) affirmed the reality of the self through chanting extracts from Ribhu Gita. These repetitions are aids to self-inquiry, making the mind more attuned to reality. When the mind is purified, it's easier to take it back to the source and keep it there.
Giving Up False Ideas
To give up the false idea that the mind is real, one must simply stop believing in it. If this doesn't happen spontaneously upon hearing the truth, keep telling yourself, "I am not the mind, there is no mind, consciousness alone exists." With firm conviction, this will mature into direct experience. Meditating without understanding that your real nature is self alone leads to more mental bondage.
The Simplicity of Self-Realization
Bhagawan said that to keep the mind in the self, all you have to do is remain still. To realize the self, you don't have to do anything except be still. Give up identifying with the mind and hold onto the self. Be still and cultivate the awareness "I am the self, the self is all."
Meditating on the Self
Meditating on the self means being the self, not thinking about it. Be aware of what remains when thoughts stop, the consciousness that is the origin of all thoughts. If you cannot stabilize in that consciousness due to strong vasanas (tendencies), hold onto the thought "I am the self, I am everything." This prevents cooperating with vasanas that block self-awareness. If this doesn't appeal, watch the mind with full attention.
Watching the Mind
Whenever the mind wanders, become aware of it. See how thoughts connect and watch how the mind claims thoughts as its own. Observe the mind's ways without identifying with them. Giving the mind detached attention reveals the futility of mental activities. Watch the mind wandering, seeking useless things or ideas that create misery. This gives knowledge of inner processes and the ability to remain as consciousness, unaffected by transient thoughts.
Freeing Yourself from the Little Self
To be free from the little self, stop identifying with it. Convincing yourself that this little self is not really you will make it disappear, but only if you meditate constantly. Remember the analogy of the rope mistaken for a snake. If you see the rope as a snake, the real nature of the rope is hidden. Understanding that the little self never had any existence outside your imagination eliminates concern about getting rid of it.
The Self is Always Attained
Avoid imagining there is a goal to be reached or attained, as this leads to seeking methods and help, perpetuating the problem. Instead, cultivate the strong awareness "I am the self, I am that, I am everything." The best way to stop believing wrong ideas about yourself is to replace them with ideas that accurately reflect the real state of affairs. The self is always attained and realized; it is not something to seek. Vasanas and wrong ideas block the experience of the real self.
The Self as Awareness
The self is not something you see or experience; it is the awareness or consciousness in which seeing and experiencing take place. Even if you don't see the self, it is still there. All forms are appearances within the one invisible consciousness. You can be that consciousness, but you can never see it because it's not separate from you.
The Dreamlike Nature of Reality
Everything seen in the waking state is a dream, with thoughts made manifest. Bad thoughts create bad dreams, and good thoughts create good dreams. If you have no thoughts, you don't dream at all. Even if you dream, understand that your dream is also the self. You don't have to suppress thoughts or be thoughtless to abide as the self. Knowing that even waking and sleeping dreams are the self means thoughts and dreams won't be a problem.
Being Consciousness Itself
When the mind appears each morning, don't assume "this is me, these thoughts are mine." Instead, watch thoughts come and go without identifying with them. Resisting the impulse to claim every thought as your own leads to discovering that you are the consciousness in which thoughts appear and disappear. The mind is an illusion that appears through ignorance or misperception.
Direct Experience of Consciousness
To have an experience that convinces you of these truths, give up the habit of inventing an "I" that claims all thoughts. Be conscious of yourself as consciousness alone. Watch thoughts come and go, concluding through direct experience that you are consciousness itself, not its ephemeral contents.
The Sky and the Clouds
Clouds come and go in the sky, but their appearance and disappearance doesn't affect the sky. Your real nature is like the sky or space. Remain like the sky and let thought clouds come and go. Cultivating indifference towards the mind gradually leads to ceasing identification with it.
