Guru on Nostr: #SriRamanaMaharshi : The Living Guru -- The Ramana Way Perhaps it is easier to say ...

#SriRamanaMaharshi :
The Living Guru --
The Ramana Way

Perhaps it is easier to say what the Ramana Way is not than to say what it is. It is not based on theoretical speculations. It is not conceptual. For thoughts arise only when the mind's attention is not on oneself but on the core of the mind, the 'I', it would be the death of thought. No thought can arise till attention wavers. This core-attention would push back the mind to its conscious source. The enquiry as to whom the thoughts arise for is only necessary if and when the mind is distracted and therefore incapable of holding on to self-attention. Then, and only then, one has no option except to shift attention back to itself by questioning for whom it arises. By doing this attention reverts back to the thinker, away from the thought which was the distraction.

The second vital point to remember is that Ramana is not against devotion. His path is not an "intellectual path" . In fact intuition and feeling have the primary place in it. Why does one say so? This is because of the importance and the need for Sadgurus Ramanas guidance and support to stay on course, to prevent the straying of the mind in thought forms. Ramana himself emphasizes this when he draws attention to the fact and says " Arunachala , is my guru . Have I not composed many verses in his praise?" Some of his compositions which extol the role of Arunachala as guru par excellence go straight to the heart. Those who have read his 'Five hymns on Arunachala know only too well its power to melt ones heart, to fill one with emotional longing to be united with Ramana, with the Self.

There is no question of practical 'advaita', non dualism with guru Ramana. One has to feel his presence through every possible means of worship, to "offer incense at his holy feet".

The third vital point to be kept in mind is that in the Ramana way one does not still the mind, or lull it into spells of quietness, long or short. For when the mind is troubled, pestered by unending thought streams, one thinks of a quiet mind, a still mind as a tremendous achievement. One regards it as a worthwhile goal. A greater mistake is added on when those who have stilled their minds labour under false belief of having attained the goal itself, when they are convinced that practices have yielded full fruit. So one goes through varied breath control exercises and meditation techniques. All this for the prized still mind hence one finds Ramana cautioning against what he labels "mano laya" or a mind which is lulled into silence. When it happens one has to be alert to awaken the consciousness and ensure uninterrupted self-attention. Having said what the Ramana path is not, one can venture to say what it is. The term 'venture' is used because when an experience is described, the description itself may be taken as reality and not the experience. Subject to this danger one has to indicate what it means . It is sometimes said that the answer to the question 'who am I?" is found in the experience of Self-abidance. How does one experience this? It is experienced by the pure mind. Such a mind which is the reflection of fullness of consciousness, experiences an overflowing bliss. Ramana describes this brimming blissfulness, as an 'I-I' feeling for it is continuous, without any break. It is felt in the region of the spiritual heart, located on the right side of the chest. Why? Because the spiritual heart is the source of the mind which experiences this bliss. This bliss is not disturbed by action or thoughts for they would take place automatically and spontaneously . This is the state of the jnanis, the firm natural state which Ramana in his abundant grace enables one to discover for oneself.