tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post3124861501175712909..comments2023-10-16T13:06:42.360+01:00Comments on Happiness of Being: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: How to be self-attentive even while we are engaged in other activities?Michael Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-10339796849807783752019-02-01T21:00:13.280+00:002019-02-01T21:00:13.280+00:00In the article call "What unites us is not th...In the article call "What unites us is not the action itself, but the desire or will with which we do it" (I can´t find the place of the article to post in it) you say that: "that the force that drives most of these actions is our will" referring to the Actions performed by the five bodies or wrappings. And I wonder: What is it that drives that will can determine something? Can we consider that a will is such if it needs something to mobilize it? Especially when what we are referring to is the will as one of the five koshas. Or is that will ultimately expressing the deep desire of the Self penetrating into this dream of apparent separation to lead us out of it?<br /><br />I say it in the sense that an aspect of the ego is the conscious Presence or Consciousness I Am that is like the Holy Spirit present in the character as the bridge between the dream and the Reality of our Full Being or Atma SwarupaYo Soy Tu Mismohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09470280747360615744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-25770819387897588062019-02-01T19:12:15.061+00:002019-02-01T19:12:15.061+00:00Thank you very much Michael. I am going to read al...Thank you very much Michael. I am going to read all the articles you wrote in relation with this topic. <br />With love <br />YSTM Yo Soy Tu Mismohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09470280747360615744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-42628464240502314772019-01-31T23:07:24.654+00:002019-01-31T23:07:24.654+00:00Yo Soy Tu Mismo, in answer to your questions, what...Yo Soy Tu Mismo, in answer to <a href="#c7990115371209727745" rel="nofollow">your questions</a>, what is already predetermined is all that we are to experience (in the sense of all that is to happen to us) in this life, but not all that we do. In order for us to experience whatever we are predetermined to experience, and in order for us not to experience whatever we are not predetermined to experience, we may need to do certain actions, so such actions are predetermined. However, the actions of our mind, speech and body are driven not only by our <i>prārabdha</i> (whatever we are predetermined to experience) but also by our will, so some actions are driven entirely by <i>prārabdha</i>, some are driven entirely by our will, and others are driven by both <i>prārabdha</i> and our will working more or less in synchronisation.<br /><br />Actions driven partly or wholly by our will are called <i>āgāmya</i>, and the fruits of <i>āgāmya</i> are stored as <i>sañcita</i>, from which God or <i>guru</i> selects which fruit are to be experienced as <i>prārabdha</i> in each life. Therefore <i>prārabdha</i> is the fruit of actions we have done by our will in previous lives.<br /><br />I have explained all this in more detail in several of my articles, including most recently in <a href="https://happinessofbeing.blogspot.com/2018/09/like-everything-else-karma-is-created.html" rel="nofollow">Like everything else, <i>karma</i> is created solely by ego’s misuse of its will (<i>cittam</i>), so what needs to be rectified is its will</a>.<br /><br />Regarding your second question, ‘The will of the self can generate something or is it just an attribution that the ego arrogates to the thought that emerges in consciousness?’, what do you mean by ‘the will of the self’? Do you mean the will of our real nature (<i>ātma-svarūpa</i>) or the will of ego?<br /><br />The will of our real nature is just to be as it is, not to do or to experience anything, because it is infinite happiness and is therefore perfectly content as it is. What is discontented is only ego, so it is only ego that wants to experience phenomena and therefore to do actions in order to experience them. Hence it is only ego’s will that creates <i>āgāmya</i>, and consequently it is only ego that must experience <i>prārabdha</i>, the fruit of its own <i>āgāmya</i>.<br /><br />That is, by rising as ego we seemingly separate ourself from infinite happiness, which is our real nature, so as ego we are perpetually dissatisfied, and our dissatisfaction drives us to seek happiness. However, having separated ourself from real happiness, we mistakenly believe that happiness is something other than ourself, so we seek it outside ourself in the appearance of phenomena. This is what gives rise to our will (our desires, attachments, likes, dislikes, hopes, fears and so on), and our will drives us to do actions in order to achieve whatever we desire.<br /><br />What creates everything is only ourself as ego, and the power by which we create everything is our will, so yes, ‘The will of the self [ourself as ego] can generate something’, and it creates or generates not only something but everything.Michael Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-1706399460877844632019-01-31T18:26:02.574+00:002019-01-31T18:26:02.574+00:00Michael,
thank you for your comment. As you say it...Michael,<br />thank you for your comment. As you say it seems to me that the necessary surrendering of ego will happen only gradually in step with the growing conviction of its absolute necessity.<br />anadi-anantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08815024045988099944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-22626403748983842722019-01-31T18:04:46.269+00:002019-01-31T18:04:46.269+00:00Josef, what you write in your comment of 30 Januar...Josef, what you write in your comment of <a href="#c3812184251549961833" rel="nofollow">30 January 2019 at 20:22</a> is a description of the nature of ego. As ego we are aware of ourself as a body and mind, so whatever actions are done by this body or mind are experienced by us as actions done by us. This is the sense of doership (<i>kartṛtva buddhi</i>), and because of this it seems to us that we need to do certain actions to take care of this body and to achieve whatever else we want to achieve, which is what is called <i>kartavya buddhi</i>, the sense of duty or obligation, the feeling ‘I ought [or need] to do this’. Both <i>kartṛtva buddhi</i> and <i>kartavya buddhi</i> are the nature of ego, so we can give them up entirely only by surrendering ourself, this ego.<br /><br />Surrendering ourself entirely is the goal towards which we are working. It does not happen overnight, but is a gradual process, like the growth of a bud and its ultimate blossoming as a flower. We are not yet willing to surrender ourself entirely, but if that willingness were not growing within our heart, we would have no interest in trying to follow Bhagavan’s path.<br /><br />So is there any hope for us? Yes, there certainly is. Bhagavan is a patient and attentive gardener. Having sown the seed of love in our heart, he will unfailingly tend and nurture it until it grows and consumes us. As he says in the <a href="http://happinessofbeing.com/nan_yar.html#para12" rel="nofollow">twelfth paragraph</a> of <i>Nāṉ Ār?</i>:<br /><br />கடவுளும் குருவும் உண்மையில் வேறல்லர். புலிவாயிற் பட்டது எவ்வாறு திரும்பாதோ, அவ்வாறே குருவினருட்பார்வையிற் பட்டவர்கள் அவரால் ரக்ஷிக்கப்படுவரே யன்றி யொருக்காலும் கைவிடப்படார்; எனினும், குரு காட்டிய வழிப்படி தவறாது நடக்க வேண்டும்.<br /><br /><i>kaḍavuḷ-um guru-v-um uṇmaiyil vēṟallar. puli-vāyil paṭṭadu evvāṟu tirumbādō, avvāṟē guruviṉ-aruḷ-pārvaiyil paṭṭavargaḷ avarāl rakṣikka-p-paḍuvarē y-aṉḏṟi y-oru-k-kāl-um kaiviḍa-p-paḍār; eṉiṉum, guru kāṭṭiya vaṙi-p-paḍi tavaṟādu naḍakka vēṇḍum</i>.<br /><br /><b>English translation:</b> God and <i>guru</i> are in truth not different. Just as what has been caught in the jaws of a tiger will not return, so those who have been caught in the look [or glance] of <i>guru</i>’s grace will never be forsaken but will surely be saved by him; nevertheless, it is necessary to walk unfailingly in accordance with the path that <i>guru</i> has shown.Michael Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-19700141170854571952019-01-31T10:10:22.757+00:002019-01-31T10:10:22.757+00:00Thanks for this helpful article, Michael. I've...Thanks for this helpful article, Michael. I've got to the stage where at intervals throughout the day I suddenly remember "Oh! I'm supposed to be self-attentive. Oh dear! What happened? I've been completely immersed in pramâda/self-negligence, which is just where I don't want to be!" But at least I am here! Bhagavan found me and he led me here to you. I am willing to listen, to learn.Jeremy Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04582866861617640609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-79901153712097277452019-01-31T09:18:55.940+00:002019-01-31T09:18:55.940+00:00Michael, I don’t understand when you say “Not all ...Michael, I don’t understand when you say “Not all of our activities are necessarily driven by our destiny, because many of our actions are driven by our will “ <br /><br />So is not everything predetermined already? The will of the self can generate something or is it just an attribution that the ego arrogates to the thought that emerges in consciousness?Yo Soy Tu Mismohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11355836871633635065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-37225415430956801512019-01-30T21:12:59.826+00:002019-01-30T21:12:59.826+00:00Michael,
unfortunately I am far away from complete...Michael,<br />unfortunately I am far away from complete surrender of myself in the blazing glory of pure and all-consuming self-awareness. Because I have not developed sufficient love (bhakti) to be always and exclusively self-attentive, I am evidently not able to avoid thinking of other things at least to some extent let alone to intensify practising being self-attentive. Therefore my love to be so did not increase, and consequently I am still inclined to think of anything else. As things stand now I only can pin my hopes on to become willing and ready to let go all my personal unrewarding belief which obviously is stuck in unwanted rigidity. For this purpose I will try to open my heart completely, unreservedly and unconditionally to Arunachala. So the battle is opened and I hope I will be able and prepared to fight to the death.:-)anadi-anantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08815024045988099944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-38121842515499618332019-01-30T20:22:55.615+00:002019-01-30T20:22:55.615+00:00Michael,
I am not able or ready to believe that &q...Michael,<br />I am not able or ready to believe that "one paramēśvara śakti [supreme ruling power or power of God] is driving all kāryas [whatever needs or ought to be done or to happen], ...and that the train is going bearing all the burdens...<br />Instead of this somehow I feel it is my duty to carry all the burdens placed on me.<br />Therefore instead of remaining happily leaving my small luggage placed on the train I in a way suffer bearing my luggage on my head. Is there any hope for me ?anadi-anantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08815024045988099944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-34472110332433723082019-01-30T06:51:42.986+00:002019-01-30T06:51:42.986+00:00Thanks, Michael. You tell the same thing in so man...Thanks, Michael. You tell the same thing in so many ways, but still, we do not get tired of reading your articles. This article is another small gem! Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.com