tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post63031509104138193..comments2023-10-16T13:06:42.360+01:00Comments on Happiness of Being: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: How to avoid following or completing any thought whatsoever?Michael Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-37660133893210591762017-06-01T15:08:46.518+01:002017-06-01T15:08:46.518+01:00Sanjay Lohia,
" If we wake up in the morning...Sanjay Lohia,<br /><br />" If we wake up in the morning having dreamt, we feel that when that dream comes to an end, we are in this dream [this current waking-state], because this state is just another dream."<br />So there are not three alternating states of consciousness (waking/dream and sleep) but only two states namely dream and sleep.<br />However, our real nature is said to be only one atma-svarupa or turiyatita or sat-chit-ananda.<br />luggage on the headnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-68506157967603119462017-05-31T13:06:28.492+01:002017-05-31T13:06:28.492+01:00luggage on the head, I thank you pointing out my t...luggage on the head, I thank you pointing out my typo. As you correct, it should be 'except' and not 'expect'. Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-58150350193301419132017-05-31T10:11:08.168+01:002017-05-31T10:11:08.168+01:00Sanjay Lohia,
many thanks for transcribing a video...Sanjay Lohia,<br />many thanks for transcribing a video -interview/discussion with Michael James.<br /><br />"M: (laughs) the answer in the same. The ego merges back into its source, and its source being you, yourself. From where else can you come expect from you – it rises from you and it subsides in you."<br /><br />Please avoid repeating the same mix-up typo: we should read 'except' instead of 'expect'.<br />But as you wrote your extract is not verbatim. Smile.luggage on the headnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-76754360941333374972017-05-27T13:07:12.862+01:002017-05-27T13:07:12.862+01:00The latest video uploaded to Michael’s YouTube cha...The latest video uploaded to Michael’s YouTube channel is one that was taken during a meeting of <i>Sri Ramana Center, Houston</i> (via Skype). This video is titled: <i>2017-05-20 Sri Ramana Center, Houston: discussion with Michael James on Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu verse 4</i>. The following is an extract from this video (it is not verbatim):<br /><br />Devotee: While we are waiting to be reborn - to grasp or occupy another physical body – where does our ego exist at that period of time?<br /><br />Michael: Where in your ego in sleep?<br /><br />D: I don’t know.<br /><br />M: (laughs) the answer in the same. The ego merges back into its source, and its source being you, yourself. From where else can you come expect from you – it rises from you and it subsides in you. <br /><br />Sometimes when a dream ends we enter another dream. If we wake up in the morning having dreamt, we feel that when that dream comes to an end, we are in this dream [this current waking-state], because this state is just another dream.<br /><br />But sometimes when a dream comes to an end, we merge into sleep. So when this present dream comes to an end there is one of two possibilities – either we immediately start another dream or we may merge for a while in sleep. The most probable thing is that we merge for a while in sleep, because dreaming is a very tiring business. We are not able to dream more than 16 hours a day in this present dream. We get tired and we go back to sleep again, because dreaming involves constant activity of the mind.<br /><br />So after 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years of dreaming, this dream will also come to an end. Hence we will welcome a good-good sleep after that. But the sleep won’t last long, unless we ourself have died – that is, we the ego has died. <br /> <br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-72181789776030417872017-05-27T07:44:27.846+01:002017-05-27T07:44:27.846+01:00suttarivu, as you imply, we can permanently abide ...suttarivu, as you imply, we can permanently abide in ourself only when our ego is annihilated. This is not an easily attainable goal, because, as Bhagavan used to explain, mind-control in not our birth-right. We have to work very hard for it, and it may take many births to achieve this goal, or it may happen the very next moment - what does it matter, because time itself is an illusion. In a dream we may feel that we have spent eighty or ninety years in the same body, but when we get up from sleep we will realise that those ‘eighty or ninety years’ was experienced by us only in a few minutes.<br /><br />Our only worthwhile job is attend to ourself from moment-to moment, and then leave the final fruition of our efforts in the loving hands of Bhagavan. His love for us and our efforts at self-investigation can never fail. We can be absolutely certain of this fact. <br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-43165761850842824962017-05-26T21:31:38.963+01:002017-05-26T21:31:38.963+01:00Sanjay Lohia,
According Jesus: "The Kingdom o...Sanjay Lohia,<br />According Jesus: "The Kingdom of heaven is within you. This is literally true, because we can find true rest, peace and satisfaction only when we calmly abide in ourself."<br />In the same breath we must emphasize that the 'calm abode in ourself' means nothing other than the complete annihilation of the ego. It is indeed not an affair in no time at all to eradicate/stamp out one's ego. The required willing of one's own ego's death is not an easy attainable weapon. That Bhagavan leaves our return to our source seemingly entirely up to our ignorance or ignorant pipe dreams does not make our work easier. To be able to exert all the necessary tenacious and unceasing efforts to self-investigation calling on all our strength is certainly indispensable.<br /><br />suttarivunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-4552362775874591212017-05-26T16:18:34.066+01:002017-05-26T16:18:34.066+01:00suttarivu, it is not only you but almost all of us...suttarivu, it is not only you but almost all of us are slaves of my minds. It is the nature of the mind to constantly run here and there like an overactive child, and since we run with this running mind, we are definitely slaves to our mind. It is because of this that Bhagavan used to say: <i>don’t run with your running mind</i>.<br /> <br />Yes, as you imply, to the extent we take interest in our mental activities to that extent we are in hell, because our thoughts are nothing but another name for ‘misery’. Therefore, to the extent we turn away from our thoughts and try to attend ourself alone, we are in relative heaven. Remember what Jesus said: <i>The Kingdom of heaven is within you</i>. This is literally true, because we can find true rest, peace and satisfaction only when we calmly abide in ourself.<br /><br />Yes, sooner or later we will surely overcome our mind, because, as Bhagavan said, like a bird flying in the sky can have rest only when it returns to the ground, likewise we can have real rest only when we return to our ground – ourself as we really are. However, we should be willing to do so, because Bhagavan will not force us to do so if we do not want to. <br /><br />Therefore, we need tenacious effort to overcome our mind – unceasing efforts at self-investigation. <br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-20273452240249072712017-05-25T23:13:15.644+01:002017-05-25T23:13:15.644+01:00Noob,
what all is going to happen... ?Noob,<br />what all is going to happen... ?suttarivunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-62761593120110030322017-05-25T22:15:23.030+01:002017-05-25T22:15:23.030+01:00It is all going to happen in less time than takes ...It is all going to happen in less time than takes to tellNoobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12797750547512929881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-6397239024879478682017-05-25T21:31:13.831+01:002017-05-25T21:31:13.831+01:00Sanjay Srivastava, thank you for your consistent r...Sanjay Srivastava, thank you for your consistent reply.<br />"A package of colour, touch, smell, taste and sound" as a package of sense perception is as you say in the end only "just a mental image". <br />Because all mental images occur in our awareness we should not have scant regard for them. Also, a thought is not anything of which we should have a low opinion.<br />Even when our usual awareness is certainly not (the same as) our pure self-awareness it is our only instrument to keep ourself in tune with our natural happiness of being - if I do not go off on the wrong track. Is it not said that this ego is essential only atma-svarupa i.e. our actual self ? Therefore mental images - thoughts - are generally not pointless or in vain.tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-86475374199423203392017-05-25T15:17:00.254+01:002017-05-25T15:17:00.254+01:00jeremy lennon,
you are right in saying that "...jeremy lennon,<br />you are right in saying that "without the existence of the mind and all its senses there would be no way of knowing or imagining a body or anything else."<br />But of course I admit that I could not already dispose myself of the mind.<br />My question therefore admittedly was put merely from the viewpoint of (my) the mind.<br />Likewise my mind cannot get much practical benefit from repeating parrot-fashion Bhagavan's teaching when the mind does not have made the same own experience. At least I store that teaching in my mind's memory and hope to understand it later if I would then be ready/ripe to grasp it completely. If you know from your own experience <br />not any difference between projecting a waking body and a dream body then you may use your advantageous experience for your spiritual development.<br />Kind regards.tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-2782469432463220822017-05-25T14:52:51.770+01:002017-05-25T14:52:51.770+01:00"How can a gross physical body be "just ..."How can a gross physical body be "just a thought" ? Do we not experience thoughts as much subtler than the gross body ?"<br /><br />Our experience of physical body consists of nothing apart from a package of colour, touch, smell, taste and sound- all of which are just mental images. In this sense, physical body is a thought. <br /><br />Mental images come in different flavours. Some produce an experience of colour, some of sound, and yet some other- of subtle thoughts.Sanjay Srivastavahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12178069405979485331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-3626099287805752872017-05-25T14:25:55.007+01:002017-05-25T14:25:55.007+01:00Sanjay Lohia,
"So who is that is aware of thi...Sanjay Lohia,<br />"So who is that is aware of this body; who is that is aware of this mind? This way we have to go deeper and deeper within ourself."<br />Those are really blessed who can "in this way go deeper and deeper within" themself.<br />As far as I'm concerned: Most of my time I seem to be a slave of the mind. So seemingly I have the hell on earth. But anyway my courage, hope and confidence that I will overcome even (the mind-born) heaven and hell do not desert me. suttarivunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-39455061878112174832017-05-25T13:50:26.644+01:002017-05-25T13:50:26.644+01:00tane tan(e), You ask "How can a gross physica...tane tan(e), You ask "How can a gross physical body be "just a thought" ?<br />My understanding of Bhagavan's teachings, as transmiited here by Michael, is that all phenomena, including the body, are projections of the mind. In dream we project a dream body and effectively there is no way of proving conclusively that waking is any different. Furthermore, without the existence of the mind and all its senses there would be no way of knowing or imagining a body or anything else.Jeremy Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04582866861617640609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-52703511217375039932017-05-24T18:45:14.427+01:002017-05-24T18:45:14.427+01:00The following is an extract from a video titled: 2...The following is an extract from a video titled: <i>2017-04-15 Sri Ramana Center, Houston: discussion with Michael James on Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu verse 3</i> (it is not verbatim):<br /><br />Michael: The way to any investigation will be revealed as the investigation progresses. As the investigation progresses, more and more unnecessary things are eliminated; we come closer and closer to the point that we are looking for.<br /><br />So also it is exactly the same with self-investigation. Now we seem to be this person with a body, but obviously attending to this body is not attending to oneself, because this body appears and disappears. Attending to this mind is not attending to oneself, because this mind appears and disappears. <br /><br />So who is that is aware of this body; who is that is aware of this mind? This way we have to go deeper and deeper within ourself.<br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-58887124786282348182017-05-24T17:31:42.109+01:002017-05-24T17:31:42.109+01:00The latest video uploaded to Michael’s YouTube cha...The latest video uploaded to Michael’s YouTube channel is one that was taken during a meeting of <i>Sri Ramana Center, Houston</i> (via Skype). This video is titled: <i>2017-05-20 Sri Ramana Center, Houston: discussion with Michael James on Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu verse 4</i>. The following is an extract from this video (it is not verbatim):<br /><br /><i>Heaven and hell</i><br /><br />Devotee: Why do you say about the concepts of hell and heaven mentioned in many scriptures?<br /><br />Michael: Heaven and hell are in the same place – they are in this very world. They are all in your own mind. For some people even in their present life they live in hell. If we are made to work in a sweatshop for 18 hours a day for barely subsistent wages, that is hell. If we were born in another age, we could have been slaves – constantly under the orders of a master, beaten and everything, such a life is pretty much a hell.<br /><br />But even if we have wealth, health and everything […] are the rich people happy? They make hell of their own lives, because their desires are endless, they are never satisfied. So heaven and hell are in our own mind. If we are satisfies with the lot that God has given us in this life that is relatively speaking heaven. If we are dissatisfied even with all the pleasures, this life is hell. <br /><br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-48310967125201620952017-05-22T22:20:31.129+01:002017-05-22T22:20:31.129+01:00Michael,
section 3.,
"The mind [the ego] stan...Michael,<br />section 3.,<br />"The mind [the ego] stands only by always going after [conforming, attaching itself or attending to] a sthūlam [something gross, namely a physical body, which is just a thought]; solitarily it does not stand."<br />How can a gross physical body be "just a thought" ? Do we not experience thoughts as much subtler than the gross body ?tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-69436227132203937342017-05-22T15:04:03.437+01:002017-05-22T15:04:03.437+01:00Michael,
section 1.,
"As long as viṣaya-vāsa...Michael, <br />section 1.,<br />"As long as viṣaya-vāsanās exist in the mind, so long the investigation who am I is necessary. As and when thoughts appear, then and there it is necessary to annihilate them all by vicāraṇā [investigation or vigilant self-attentiveness] in the very place from which they arise."<br />Sometimes I am not even aware that thoughts appear because I seem to be nothing other than a bundle of thoughts which sound like a swarm of bees. At such opportunities - when I become aware of that awkward/oppressive/fatal situation - I make the most of the opportunity and let start immediately scrupulous self-investigation at least for some short time. I hope that this a sensible conduct.tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-428282422383351372017-05-20T20:48:36.151+01:002017-05-20T20:48:36.151+01:00Michael,
section 3.,
regarding my yesterday commen...Michael,<br />section 3.,<br />regarding my yesterday comment I have to correct: "When the ego rises, it does so by projecting and attaching itself to a body, which it mistakes to be itself, and along with that body it projects and attaches itself to numerous other thoughts. This is the nature of the ego, and it cannot stand without constantly projecting and grasping thoughts." is mentioned in section 3. not 4.tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-54488564076396634412017-05-20T20:39:56.133+01:002017-05-20T20:39:56.133+01:00Michael,
section 4.,
"Being ātma-niṣṭhāparaṉ ...Michael,<br />section 4.,<br />"Being ātma-niṣṭhāparaṉ [one who is steadily fixed in oneself], giving not even the slightest room to the rising of any cintana [thought] other than ātma-cintana [thought of oneself or self-attentiveness], alone is giving oneself to God."<br />If I am not very much mistaken there is a significant difference in meaning: <br />Without any doubt "oneself" in the last part of the sentence('giving oneself to God') means our ego whereas in the other two cases "oneself" ('fixed in oneself') and ('thought of oneself or self-attentiveness'))represents our real nature.tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-30416893666726414962017-05-19T21:13:56.128+01:002017-05-19T21:13:56.128+01:00Michael,
section 4.,
"When the ego rises, it ...Michael,<br />section 4.,<br />"When the ego rises, it does so by projecting and attaching itself to a body, which it mistakes to be itself, and along with that body it projects and attaches itself to numerous other thoughts. This is the nature of the ego, and it cannot stand without constantly projecting and grasping thoughts."<br />In optics projecting projected images on a surface or screen requires a projector (an apparatus that consists of a light source with a system of lenses) and a screen. <br />Imagining (grasping) forms/thoughts by the ego is said to be similar. In which way can that physical event be applied to the asserted mental projection of the mind/ego-awarenees ?<br />Presumably there is no other light used than our self-awareness.<br />Which are the mental lenses and what functions as the mental screen ?<br />tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-91891765565646723372017-05-19T14:16:42.468+01:002017-05-19T14:16:42.468+01:00Michael,
section 5.,
"That is, whatever else ...Michael,<br />section 5.,<br />"That is, whatever else we may be aware of, we are aware of it against a background of permanent self-awareness, but though we are always self-aware, we are usually negligently self-aware, because we are more interested in being aware of other things than in our fundamental awareness of ourself."<br />Spoken from my current viewpoint of ignorance: The reason why we are more interested in being aware of other things than in our fundamental awareness of ourself is in most cases that our fundamental self-awareness seems to be not tangible or concretly available/accessible. Moreover it seems to be not able to be directly experienced.<br />The difficulty of access actually gives me something to chew on. For years I feel like a soldier who was left outside the gates of his inner town (of awareness).tane tan(e)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-59598813843405293212017-05-17T22:35:21.879+01:002017-05-17T22:35:21.879+01:00Sanjay,
Thank you for that wonderful anecdote abou...Sanjay,<br />Thank you for that wonderful anecdote about Bagavan and the boy eating his food!<br />Jeremy Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04582866861617640609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-62563876636266688782017-05-17T21:07:08.382+01:002017-05-17T21:07:08.382+01:00Appropriator,
are you the appropriate authority to...Appropriator,<br />are you the appropriate authority to leave a message to anyone ?<br />Of course, you are free to take on any identity whatever you like.I'm not a robotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-7943874445755289162017-05-17T17:56:35.310+01:002017-05-17T17:56:35.310+01:00Greetings Joseph Brukner. I also like to take on d...Greetings Joseph Brukner. I also like to take on different anonymous identities.Identity Appropriatornoreply@blogger.com