Dr Raju Says Self-inquiry facilitates us to sit in the source of being

From the past 150 yrs there is rapid change in the structure of the human society all over the world due to rapid industrialization,over population,uneven distribution of wealth among humanity,unemployment,computerization,expansion of mass media through so many news papers with their concocted stories,electronic media through TV with thousands of channels banging our brain with so much information majority of which is unwanted and unwarrented. and all these combined together are keeping the man always in a state of thinking and so all our limited energy is confined to head only all the time.

Added to this our social upbringing with its conditioning and its customs,values and the educational system,all these encourage to think more,memorize more,accumulate knowledge more and such people are glorified in the present day society.

So everything around us is trying to keep our limited energy in the head only.Human society became completely head oriented,they forgot heart and left the soul in the darkness.Even when we are free we go on thinking or feeling something because that is the only thing we know of.We do not know how to relax in our source of being when we are free.

We go to clubs,cinemas,watching TV for hours together,playing computer games for hours,enjoying social net working for hours together,possessing wealth and money in the pursuit of pleasure and hoping to avoid pain and misery with all these available escapes.

All these involve thinking and keep our energy concentrated in head only.Any escape from “what is” involves thinking.But we do not know how to face and live with “what is” which demands passive awareness with a witnessing state of the mind.

If all energy is used in the head we will never be able to touch the source of our being which is eternal.So we must learn how to go inward and touch our source of being.Going inward simply means “not to go on moving in the head”.When energy leaves the source it turns intothoughts,feelings,emotions,relationships with the others and the nature.

But when energy does not move from the source either into mind,heart or outside it just there pulsating,vibrating and is synchronous with the heart beat of whole existence.This is possible in Self-inquiry.It facilitates the energy to come out of the head and go to its basic source.

When we sit at the very basic source there happens an implosion with the breaking of shell of the ego and the awareness so far imprisoned in the ego is released and becomes one with the infinite pure consciousness of the Self.Then a tremendous force arises and there is transformation of energy into light and love,compassion,creativity.Implosion does not mean that we have to stop thinking forever.

But we stop identifying with the body,with ideas,dogmas,beliefs etc permanently so thought loses its capacity to weave a personality again.In implosion we lose personality which is the shell of ego but individuality is retained.It is just like this.If a pot is there in an inverted position there is space inside the pot enclosed.(Ghatakasa) which is apparently is in separation from the rest of the infinite space(Mahakasa) by the pot.If the pot is broken the space inside the pot naturally becomes one with the infinite space of existence.Same thing happens with implosion.

The so called limited awareness of the mind(kinchijna) becomes one with the infinite pure consciousness and a great creative energy is released.It is just like placing the fish living in the limitations of aquarium in the infinite ocean.Realization simply means that we are always aware and alert and capable of moving into the source.When we need the head we can move the energy into the head and when there is need to love we can move energy into the heart.

This to and fro movement of energy from source to head and heart is quite obvious in saints like Buddha,Ramana Maharshi,Sri Ramakrishna,Osho and JK.When thinking is not needed we have to relax back into our source of being.Then blissfulness surrounds us as a radiation.And once in a while if there is a need we can manage all mental and heart functions efficiently without any disturbances.Whenever there is no need to function either from the mind or heart,we need not unnecessarily think or feel,but we can just “be”.

If we can be in a state of “being” even for few minutes in a day that is enough to know the nature of our being.This is for this understanding of our being that we are created.Existence wants to fulfill itself through us.Let us cooperate with the existence by being synchronous with it.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

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Ramana Maharshi Disciple About Self-inquiry---Witnessing consciousness--Pure Awareness

The body-mind complex of human being is a product of evolution.During the process of that evolution that entity gathers so many habits and tendencies that survive the physical death.

Mind will not be free of those tendencies and the consciousness of mind is limited and apparently imprisoned by those tendencies unless they are spent up by the mental and physical activity.So the tendencies are the source of mental activity and so physical activity as well.

So every human being is born with innate tendencies and he is getting identified with those tendencies and with the body which is the vehicle to execute the work for spending up of tendencies.So human is born to act.Tendencies direct our action.

We can do those acts unconsciously,habitually,mechanically or consciously,non-mechanically,non-habitually.We can practice doing things consciously.Vipassana is a method which helps us to do things consciously,first we try to be conscious of gross things like actions of the body,its breath etc,which later endows us the capacity to be conscious of subtle things like thoughts,emotions,feeling even as they arise.

In Self-inquiry we try to be conscious of subtle things directly which is possible for those with already having subtle intellect.Bhagawan clearly pointed out that Self-inquiry is not for everybody in general population.

In Self-inquiry we don't indulge in suppression of thoughts but we try to be conscious of thoughts,emotions,feelings.Consciousness(Spruha) is a quality of the mind.So we can practice such mental consciousness by being conscious of what we are doing physically,mentally,emotionally.Our ordinary activity is an unconscious
activity,mechanical,robot like.Once a retired military man is carrying a basket full of eggs for selling in the market.

One naughty child said "attention".Immediately the military man made a military salute and the basket fell down and eggs are destroyed.Majority of us so used to act mechanically from the past memory like that.

If we can bring such acts to the conscious level by cultivating mental consciousness,then such act becomes witnessing.Bhagawan says mind has a conscious aspect and a dynamic aspect.

The conscious aspect is the witnessor and the dynamic aspect are represented by breath(Prana) and thought.That is why breath and thought are interrelated because they arise from the same source.

In his death experience Bhagawan witnessed the dynamic aspect of mind in form of thought of death fear.Then dynamic aspect came to a standstill and both breath and thought are stopped.

From that witnessing state which is dual he immediately jumped into awareness which is non-dual state in a timeless dimension.This immediate jumping into pure consciousness which is adjunct-less from a dual state of witnessing is a rare event in spiritual history.Usually it takes very long time to gather courage to make a jump into the unknowable entity of pure conscious being.

When we cultivate conscious aspect of mind it becomes a witnessor to the dynamic aspect of the mind.So witnessing is an act,you are doing it,the ego is there.So the phenomenon of witnessing is divided between the subject and the object.It is a relationship between the subject and the object.

Today during my morning walk i observed dark monsoon clouds passing southwards,it is raining with beautiful smell of earth,a very pleasant atmosphere with different types of birds flying playfully and sparkling in the background of dark clouds.

I heard beautiful singing of birds,their exchange of sounds between them, greenery
of the trees,a human praying with a mike in his hand,a school bus passing through the road.All this seeing,hearing of birds,smelling of earth,feeling the cool air are all part of witnessing.

So mind and senses are channels for flow of consciousness with its intrinsic quality of witnessing.When i perceive all these i don't have any other thoughts but i am very much there as the center of perception of all these and so i am the subject and the things perceived are the objects.In a way i am witnessing without any judgement just seeing the facts as they are.

When i am lost in thoughts for few moments that witnessing,that perception is lost for the time being even though the object is there before us obviously.Again i am conscious and started witnessing again.

This is possible when we cultivate mental consciousness.That cultivation of mental consciousness is in our hands and we have that much freedom.In Self-inquiry also in the initial stages there is a subject,a center from which we observe the thoughts which are objects of the perception of the witnessor.

Sometimes during Self-inquiry we are lost in jungle of thoughts and we no longer witness the thought because we become one with the thoughts.Again we comeback to senses and start witnessing the thoughts.There is no need to make it a problem for going astray like this and getting frustrated.

This is part of Self-inquiry.We cannot be in a state of witnessing all the time uninterruptedly in the early stages of Self-inquiry.Witnessing is also an activity but it is a higher activity when compared to ordinary activity.In this ordinary activity is done consciously.

Mind as such is a medium of duality.It is always conscious(Spruha) of something and there is always someone who is conscious.Mind as such is a source of all duality,all divisions whether they are between the subject and the object,activity or inactivity,consciousness or unconsciousness.Every type of duality is mental.

Consciousness(Spruha) is a means towards witnessing.(Sakshi tattwa).If we begin to be conscious of the activities of body-mind complex we achieve witnessing.Witnessing comes as a consequence,a by product of consciousness.

The more we become conscious,the more we go into witnessing,the more we come to be a witness.Witnessing will become a method to land in our natural state non-dual pure awareness.If we become conscious of our own consciousness,it goes on increasing and the unconsciousness goes on decreasing.

This is exactly what happens in Self-inquiry.If we become 100% conscious,we become a witness.Once we come to a stage of witnessor jumping into pure awareness(Aeruka) is easy and witnessing is a means to achieve pure awareness and in this there is no limitation to consciousness because the limiting factors become extinct.

So we lose the "doer",we lose the subjectivity,we lose the egocentricity.The pure awareness is a consciousness without any center,without any source,without any motivation.So in pure awareness mind dissolves in it and becomes a part of that and there is no entity to be conscious about it.

Some Ramana devotees say that we must be aware of awareness.Do they know the import of such statement?So in Self-inquiry ordinary doing is brought to conscious level and is witnessed by witnessing consciosnes which is dual in nature but that higher doing witnessing through which we can transcend the mind and land in pure awareness of Self which is there waiting for you and draws you towards itself which is your source
of being.

Then you are in a state of non-doing,Summa iru.Sitting silently and doing nothing and bliss overflows without any center and flows undirected.This is our natural state of being.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

Source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=422538236864

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Ramana Maharshi Disciple About Destruction of the mind (Manonasa).

If the mind is cleared of tendencies there is no obstruction to the reflection of effulgence of self and in vedantic jargon it is called manonasa(destruction of the mind),it should not be understood as a literal destruction. Mind will be there but ego is annihilated. It is the tendencies that cause spurious growth of the ego which interferes with the reflection of self effulgence.

Destruction of tendencies amounts to destruction of the ego. In English it is termed as no mind state(Amanaska state in vedantic jargon).In this state all physiological functions continue through mind but only the anomaly of volition(sankalpa) and doubt(vikalpa) is destroyed forever.

Source: The Book On Self Enquiry By Sri Surya Narayana Raju

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Suryanarayana Raju: In the awareness of Self-inquiry there is transmutation in our way of life

At present our way of life is dictated by thought i.e mind and unfortunately it is behaving like our master now.

Thought which is the outcome of past has not changed man from the time immemorial because past is limited and the action done through it is always incomplete resulting in perennial conflict and so brings fresh problems.

The inner creates the outer and the outer shapes the inner and this ebb and flow of
action and reaction is the movement of thought.Thought has made the thinker and
the same thought divides the thinker and the thought,tries to shape and control
the thought.

Thought being limited tries to invent a limitless entity called God and such type of God is just a projection of thought.

Thought has its role to play in the physical phenomenal reality.If i want to go to
hospital from my home thought is necessary,if i want to drive a car thought is necessary,to diagnose a disease or do surgery thought is necessary,to write an article like this thought is necessary.But at present it is encroaching and functioning all the time in the psychological arena where it has created troubles and still trying to correct and manipulate those psychological problems created by itself.

How can the creator of problem solve the problems created by itself?How can darkness through away darkness.We have to bring in light to through away darkness.There is no other go.Einstein said a problem cannot be solved by the same level of awareness at which the problem is created.

Socrates said true wisdom comes when thought realizes how little it understands the life,about itself and the world around it.Its range of perception is very limited.When thought understands this it becomes still when it is confronted with psychological problems created by it.

Once there is stillness of thought born out of understanding,Self-inquiry progresses smoothly and easily.The passive awareness which happens during Self-inquiry perceives the problems created by the thought in the psyche particularly the problems born out of relating with the others with ego which leads to toxic relationship with separativeness.

Einstein feels that this separative feeling with each other is just an optical illusion but that illusion is causing havoc in human society.In the passive perception in Self-inquiry the problems created by thought flower and reveal their network to the passive awareness and in that very revelation there is the withering of problem.

In the psychological arena just perception is complete action.In Self-inquiry we just perceive the contents and problems of the mind,it is a complete action without any residue of non-understanding and so there is no conflict what so ever.

Carl Jung says that our vision becomes clear when we look with our heart.He says those who look outside dreams,those who look inside awakens.Thought takes us away from our source and land us in the dimension of dreams which happen in spacio-time.

Life is miserable if we are not aware.We think this object knowing awareness is real awareness but this is part of metaphysical sleep in which mind modifies itself continuously from one state to the another i.e deep sleep state,dream mode,waking mode.

Such a life is a bed of thorns of anger,violence,greed,hatred,ambition,possessiveness,arrogance,pomp,desire,jealousy and all these result in sorrow,misery,despair,hopelessness,anguish.

When we are aware whatever we do and demechanize what we call the routine things,we
develop skill to watch subtle things like thoughts,feelings,moods,emotions.This is possible in Self-inquiry.Man is not imprisoned by outer circumstances but by his unconscious instincts and his own biological past.

The awareness of Self-inquiry brings these to conscious level and in the very perception of them without judging or condemning or justifying is to be free from them.Then anger becomes compassion,hate becomes love,greed becomes sharing,darkness of life becomes light with the advent of awareness in Self-inquiry.Everything ugly in the mind is transmutated in the awareness of Self-inquiry.

When we reverse our gear from unconsciousness to consciousness,diverting our awareness from the objects to the perceiver(observer) of them this mutation happens.This is the Art of Self-inquiry.Then life of thorns becomes a bed of roses.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

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Suryanarayana Raju: Self-inquiry is the way to go beyond the concept of death

Body is a flux,continuously changing,moving.It has nothing of eternal in it.If you are identified with the body through 'I" thought ofcourse the fear of death will be constantly there.You can live but you can live only in fear.

In fact, the body is dying every moment.The body dies every day.Death is a process.Death is not an event; it is a long process.By and by, the body comes to a point where it cannot hold itself.

It disintegrates.How can one live? How can one celebrate? How can one dance and sing and be? Impossible.The death won’t allow it. The death is too much and too close.

So Bhagawan faced this fact of fear there and then when he had intense death fear at the age of 16 in Madurai.He has great Sankalpa bala.He felt now this body is dead,it will be taken for cremation to the burial ground.

With the death of the body am i dead ? His body is really dead and developed
Rigor mortis.But he observed that his awareness survived the death of the body.
So he existentially came to know that his essential nature is awareness but not
the body-mind complex with which we are identified with and feel that we are that
body-mind complex.

What Bhagawan did is real Self-inquiry.Death is a concept of "I" thought.In death of physical body "I" thought becomes fearful of losing identity with the body and feels "I am dying".So death is concept of "I" thought.

In Self-inquiry we witness everything consciously.That which is witnessed is not you.
You are the witnessor.So the world of objects,body,mind is not you.One who is capable of witnessing life is also capable of witnessing death.

In death your awareness don't die,the awareness that is imprisoned in body-mind complex is released.If you don't die rightly i.e if you don't achieve the total orgasm that death is,you will be born again you missed it and you have to be given another opportunity.

A life of awareness is a real life.A life of mind is a dead life.The one who identifies with the mind thinks continuously,brooding,playing with words.Life is an opportunity to be here and now but he always thinks of somewhere else.

This is utopia which means "that which never comes".Movement of mind is just an animation of the contents of the mind on the background of screen of awareness.We are identified with the animation and we completely forgot the screen of awareness.

To shift our attention from this animation to the screen of awareness Self-inquiry is the way.If we don't give energy to this animated movement by just being aware of it like a mirror,the movement of the mind stops.

In Self-inquiry which is done with awareness we no longer give energy to such outgoing mind and so the awareness is not directed and so there is no apparent movement of it through mind,awareness falls on itself and when this happens for the first time we taste the nature of life and we receive something unknown,unbelievable,unexpected,never even dreamed of and we don't feel like leaving that state like Bhagawan.

It is so blissful,tranquil,serene,without any pain,sorrow,limitation.This light of awareness is called Purusha by Hindus.The word Purusha means the dawn in the city(body-mind complex filled with the light of awareness),he who is filled with light,he who is filled with wisdom and eternal happiness,a citizen of heaven.

It can be also pronounced as Pu rhusha which means whose passions are purified
and who has become deathless.All these qualities are there in Bhagawan and he is
the Purusha mentioned in Bhagawad Gita.Our material nature is body-mind complex(Prakruti) in which light of Purusha is reflected and makes our material nature to get animated.

Our essential nature is Purusha which can be discovered through Self-inquiry like Bhagawan.We just forgot our nature of Purusha due to superimposition of our material nature on Purusha.This is due to the defect of superimposition(Adhyasa).To claim back our Purushahood which is our essential nature and which is birthless and deathless, Self-inquiry is the way.

There is death only to our material nature of body-mind complex when the energy of reflection of Purusha is withdrawn from it.Death can exist only in the ignorance of what life is and we taste life which is existence plus awareness i.e Pure awareness,
Purusha, in Self-inquiry.

So in Self-inquiry we go beyond the concept of death because we go beyond the the concept of "I" thought and we attain to the state of immortality.This is Asatoma Sadgamaya,Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya,Mrutyorma amrutangamaya.So let us practice Self-inquiry sincerely and attain to this eternal state of being.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

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Importance of awareness and Self-inquiry in daily life

Many of us feel that we are the body.Intellectuals feel that their essential nature is mind.Truth seeker imagines that he is the Self but he has no first hand experience of it.

Self,mind,body are they separate entities or do they belong to a single integrated being? How to find it out whether they are separate or integrated whole.Daily we walk early in the morning.It is the body that walks.But we are superimposing that activity of the body on us and say "I am walking".

In vedantic jargon it called Adhyasa(defect of superimposition).Usually we walk mechanically and we usually go on thinking while walking.So we are not aware of walking.We are not aware of surroundings while walking.It is almost a somnambulism.

Are we aware of the birds,their songs,trees with their beauty,flowers,clouds,the beauty of crane flying in the background dark clouds of monsoon,are we sensitive to all these?

Majority of us are lost in our thoughts which takes us to an illusory territory.Why it is happening like that? It is because we are unaware to the present moment.If we start de-mechanizing the walking by being aware of walking thinking stops.Thinking is not needed while walking just as thinking is not needed while breathing.

When there is no thinking we are aware of the surroundings,we perceive the beauty of birds,the sounds that they make,one bird respond to the sound made by the other bird,the beauty of flowers,trees,the smell of air while raining,we become sensitive to all these without any thought.

In that thought-free state there is joy.But the mind of an average human being has such a momentum and rush of thoughts many times he is lost in thoughts missing the beauty of surroundings which is quite obvious.

Unless we are aware to these gross aspects we cannot develop the skill to be aware of subtle things like thoughts and mental activity.Whatever we do we must do it with awareness then only we become aware of subtle things.

If we develop the capacity to be aware of subtle things we develop the capacity to de-mechanize the thought process.At present we are thinking mechanically in unawareness.

We are superimposing that activity of thought and are saying "I am thinking".The thought process is going on even when it is not required and has no role to play.

It is just like while we are sitting if we move our hands incessantly and awkwardly
without any cause it looks mad,same is the situation with thinking,at present
its activity is out of our hands and thought is running amok.

Normal human being means he is a socially adjustable being with the mask of personality with this type of perverted and uncontrollable thinking.All this is due to lack of awareness resulting in a mechanistic thinking and Self-inquiry de-mechanizes this by bringing in awareness.

Awareness keeps the thought where it is expected to function and prevents anomalous
thinking.If one is aware many human problems are solved.Awareness is the panacea
for problems of humanity and Self-inquiry is the way for it.

To fulfill basic needs we require only few thoughts for action. But we are indulging in unnecessary thinking and action, which i feel should be curtailed in sadhana(Spiritual discipline) stage. This is very vital. Thought traffic is reduced when one is in uninterrupted awareness,(Sada Apramada) as told by Sanat kumara.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

Source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=415979071864

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Suryanarayana Raju: Witnessing consciousness in Self-inquiry keeps the mind in its proper place

Hindus say offer the flower of your mind (mano pushpa) to God.They are right.There is a great insight in that.Unless we put away our mind in the initial stages as an offering to God through surrender we cannot find the way to our own "Self" which is veiled and hidden under the mind.

Mind is the greatest biological evolution.It has not to be thrown away in the waste paper basket in the name of spiritual discipline.It is a great instrument given as a gift to us by the existence.But we have to find the master who can use it.

This is here Self-inquiry has a significant role to play in finding our master who can use his mind in a sane manner effectively.Right now mind is behaving like a master and using you.Till one finds his own "Self" everybody is a slave to his ego.Once you find your "Self",the mind becomes your slave.Seeing the "Self"
with its splendor as the master,mind is reduced and recognizes what its position is and stop behaving like a master any longer.

When i was a student when the master is not there in the class students used to do all sorts of things like playing,singing,jumping, quarrelling with each other and one of them assuming the role of the master.This is their natural behavior when master is not there in the class room.

Once the master enters the class room,every child used to sit where he is expected to be including the one who assumed the role of master.

Same is the case with the contents of the mind which make up the mind
when the master of "Self" is yet to come.To find and invite this master Self-inquiry is the way and the witnessing consciousness is the medium of finding the master.Witnessing consciousness is synonymous with the spiritual heart.Witnessing is simply slipping out of the mind gracefully.

The moment you start witnessing the thought process you have slipped out of it without creating any fight with it.You are watching the thought flow standing aside,it is just like watching a heavy traffic on the road of a city
in rush hour sitting silently and watching it from your balcony.As awareness level increases thought traffic slows down because we no longer participate in it and giving any strength to it.

One devotee asked Bhagawan what is the parameter of spiritual progress? He said if the thought traffic is minimal or almost absent he is said to be progressing spiritually.

To observe the contents hidden in the deep unconscious layers of the mind to be aware while we relate with others is very important because in that mirror of relationship the hidden contents of the mind brought to the conscious level.

The other day one of our friend pointed out that i have "lifted" a discourse of Osho and published it as note in my own name.It is the best opportunity for me to know my intention in posting that note,is it for pure learning or for sharing a precious material written by some other person,not mentioning his name and pretend as though it is my own understanding to gain fame,am i posting the notes with doer-ship etc.

Unless that challenge from the other is not faced we will not know that content of the mind at the conscious level.So we should not escape from relating with the others which many times bring pain to the ego in course of time,just because of getting exposed in relationship.Many do not want to be exposed and simply they escape and run away from relationship which amounts to running away from life because life is relationship.

Our innate tendencies will not be revealed and spent out if we avoid
relationship with the other.Unless the tendencies are spent out thought process will be out of our control.The word Moksha means release of consciousness from its apparent imprisonment i tendencies.

Vasanakshayam(annjhilation of tendencies) is Moksham (Self realization) says Adi Sankara.Tendencies are annihilated through spending up of them only.That is why we should not renounce and escape from the world because the world and people in it are mirror in which our face can be seen on our own.

The destruction of that reflected image happens in Self-inquiry but that destruction of that image does not amount to your destruction.When that image is destroyed, for the first time you will taste the bliss of ultimate freedom.But people are afraid to jump into this unknowable,unchartered space and so they avoid Self-inquiry on some plea or the other.

We have to start witnessing without making direct attack on the mind.Self-inquiry is nothing but putting the mind aside and bringing the witnessing consciousness which is always there with us but hidden deep under the mind.Mind resists this putting aside of it because who want to be put aside from a place where it assumed that it is the master of us for centuries.

And we want to put it aside for something which we do not know what it is? So it must be put aside lovingly and carefully,gently.In the initial stages mind will not allow you to remain as a witness for long.You can experiment it for yourself by trying to witness the Sun rise or Sun set,just observing the ethereal space of the sky
or hearing the song of a bird early in the morning.

Then you will come to know the strength of your mind.Mind will take you somewhere in a few moments because if you are present in the present tense minding i.e thinking is not possible and mind feels it like a death for it and starts its activity somehow.

I asked one friend in UK who worked as an assistant for the editor for mountain path for 3 yrs in Ramanasramam,why he came back to UK leaving such a great opportunity to live in the presence of Bhagawan.He is an honest man.He told me that he used to sit in the old hall of Bhagawan for meditation but in few moments there uncontrollable flow of thoughts started and he tried his best to come back to tranquility but mind never cooperated with him.He felt he is in war with his own mind.

Many times he forgot where he is and only after quite sometime he came to senses and found himself in the old hall wasting time as he put it.See how powerful became the momentum of thought activity which is beyond our control because all the time we are cultivating the thought for everything even in the contexts where it is not required and its presence is inimical.He is not an exceptional case he represents the whole humanity.

Many times while doing Self-inquiry we forget we are witnessing the thought activity.Sanat kumara says that this forgetfulness of witnessing consciousness is Pramada which means that which brings danger to our being.But there is no need for frustration because it is part of our growth.The very awareness that we are so far are not witnessing is enough to continue the Self-inquiry.Bringing the mind in tune with the witnessing consciousness is the great "Art of Self-inquiry".But in the beginning mind is going to be against any effort to put it aside.

But don't create an enemy out of such resisting mind by condemning or hurting it.Mind creates many hindrances before the master i.e "Self" is awakened but once the mind sees the immense light of Self inside you,it spontaneously falls in tune with your inner "Self".

There is no question of fighting then from the side of the mind.But before finding the "Self' mind will give you every fight if you are going to leave it behind or put it aside.Mind is a great complicated mechanism born out of evolution like the body,we have to preserve it,not fight with it or hurt it because it is a very useful
instrument once the "Self' is found.It is a hindrance before finding the "Self' but it is a precious instrument to execute marvelous work after finding the "Self".

All masters used their mind effectively for the welfare of all beings in the existence.Condemning the body-mind complex is a sado-masochist tendency but not a spiritual trait.Only thing is that the body-mind complex should be shown its proper place to function effectively in the light of "Self" and not allowing it assume that it is our master of our life which it is doing for many many centuries.So Self-inquiry is the art knowing what to ignore.


About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

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Pure awareness--Ego awareness and Self-inquiry By Sri Surya Narayana Raju

Above Photo of Dr Raju Garu is taken In the garden of JK center.

Suppose on a plain paper we mark a zero with a pencil,we feel that zero mark is really zero.If we carefully observe even when we think that mark of pencil indicates zero with no value its background is plain paper which is there even before marking zero by the pencil and it will be there even after erasing the pencil mark of zero.

Similarly on the screen of awareness for functional purpose awareness mind is created whose essential nature is nothingness.That mind gives direction to the awareness so that awareness can function in the fleeting phenomenal reality.Mind has an utilitarian value in the phenomenal reality because awareness acts through it,just like pencil mark of zero on the plain paper has utilitarian value.Noe if we want have only plain paper we have to erase the pencil mark of zero.

Similarly if we want to know the nature of awareness which is the background of mind,first we must know the nature of mind which is nothingness.Once we know that a gestalt in our attitude happens and we observe the nature of awareness which is the background of the mind.

We direct our attention towards the source of mind which is awareness.The real can be known only through the false, so the ego is a must. One has to pass through it. It is a discipline. The real can be known only through the illusion. You cannot know the truth directly.

First you have to know that which is not true. First you have to encounter the untrue. Through that encounter you become capable of knowing the truth. If you know the false as the false, truth will dawn upon you. So you have two centers. One center you come with, which is given by existence itself. That is the self. And the other center, which is created by the society, is the ego.

It is a false thing - and it is a very great trick. Through the ego the society is controlling you. You have to behave in a certain way, because only then does the society appreciate you. You have to walk in a certain way; you have to laugh in a certain way; you have to follow certain manners, a morality, a code. Only then will the society appreciate you, and if it doesn't, you ego will be shaken. And when the ego is shaken, you don't know where you are, who you are.

The others have given you the idea. That idea is the ego.That which is given by the existence is the screen of awareness.That which is written on your screen by the society is the false center of awareness or ego.If we are aware that our essential nature is screen of awareness that which is written on the screen will not affect us.

Suppose there is news paper,we can see the letters on it and forget for the time being that writing and reading of letters are possible only because paper is there to write or read something on it.If we are aware of the fact then gestalt happens and we recognize that paper is the background of all these letters.Just as letters written with white chalk piece on a black board are very clear,we can see the contents of the mind,its thoughts,feelings with the background of awareness which is possible in Self-inquiry.

The ego is not individual. Ego is a social phenomenon - it is society, its not you. But it gives you a function in the society, a hierarchy in the society. And if you remain satisfied with it, you will miss the whole opportunity of finding the self.

And that's why you are so miserable. Try to understand it as deeply as possible, because this has to be thrown. And unless you throw it you will never be able to attain to the self. Because you are addicted to the center, you cannot move, and you cannot look at the self. This throwing is possible only through Self-inquiry.

Sri Surya Narayana Raju Warns Us Regarding Neo-advaitins ( Neo Means Mordern)

Note : Neo-advaitins understanding is a perverted one.As long as mind is there its projection of world is there which functions according to natural laws.Nobody is beyond above these laws.

a) Once one elephant charged at Adi Sankara,he immediately ran and climbed a tree to save his body.

b) JK used to hit his head against a wall unable to bear very severe headache and asked god to relieve it by taking prana from his body.

c) Lord Krishna ran away from Delhi to Madhura when he heard King Jarasandha is coming to kill him.

d) Totapuri who conferred non-dual Self knowledge to Ramakrishna tried to commit suicide by jumping into Ganges but Ramakrishna saved him through his yogic power by lowering the level of Ganges.

All these are Self realized masters.The phenomenal reality has its own reality.(Vyavaharika satya).

Neo advaitins are new group of idiots talking about Self without having any Self experience and having no comprehensive understanding on this subject.

All forms of idiocy is possible in USA and it is having a more of entertainment value than real exposition on Advaita.

Once Adi Sankara is walking through a street saying "Sivoham',"Sivoham",a man behind him repeated the same.

To teach him a lesson Adi Sankara took boiling tin and swallowed it and continued his walk as usual.The man behind him is afraid to see this unexpected event and stopped imitating Adi Sankara.

Neo Advaitins are just like parrots repeating the words of great masters without any understanding.Take no notice of them.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

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Is there a need to achieve anything in this world? By Sri Dr Surya Narayana Raju

Above Is latest photo of Dr Raju taken at entrance of Jk(J.krishna Murthy) center.

Mind and world appear and disappear simultaneously.So both are interrelated and interdependent.When the mind does not perceive the world as in deep sleep,swoon,samadhi it becomes no-mind.

So world must be a projection of the mind.Mind being consciousness in movement world must also be consciousness in movement.The sanskrit word Jagat(world) literally means that which always changes moves.So movement is common factor to both.If they don't move they cease to exist.

So mind is the world.

A child is born without any knowledge, any consciousness of his own self. And when a child is born the first thing he becomes aware of is not himself; the first thing he becomes aware of is the other. It is natural, because the eyes open outwards, the hands touch others, the ears listen to others, the tongue tastes food and the nose smells the outside. All these senses open outwards.

That is what birth means. Birth means coming into this world, the world of the outside. So when a child is born, he is born into this world. He opens his eyes, sees others. 'Other' means the thou. He becomes aware of the mother first. Then, by and by, he becomes aware of his own body. That too is the other,that too belongs to the world. He is hungry and he feels the body; his need is satisfied, he forgets the
body.So child observes the seen as a witnessing consciousness including his own body.He is yet to develop an ego so he sees the world without any separative feeling.

Now starts the genesis of the ego.

First he becomes aware of you, thou, other, and then by and by, in contrast to you, thou, he becomes aware of himself.This awareness is a reflected awareness. He is not aware of who he is. He is simply aware of the mother and what she thinks about him. If she smiles, if she appreciates the child, if she says, "You are beautiful," if she hugs and kisses him, the child feels good about himself. Now an ego is born.

Through appreciation, love, care, he feels he is good, he feels he is valuable, he feels he has some significance.

A center is born.

But this center is a reflected center. It is not his real being. He does not know who he is; he simply knows what others think about him. And this is the ego: the reflection, what others think. If nobody thinks that he is of any use, nobody appreciates him, nobody smiles, then too an ego is born: an ill ego; sad,rejected, like a wound; feeling inferior, worthless. This too is the ego. This too is a reflection.

First the mother - and mother means the world in the beginning. Then others will join the mother, and the world goes on growing. And the more the world grows, the more complex the ego becomes, because many others' opinions are reflected.

The ego is an accumulated phenomenon, a by-product of living with others. If a child lives totally alone,he will never come to grow an ego. But that is not going to help. He will remain like an animal. That doesn't mean that he will come to know the real self, no.

In this way the essential witnessing consciousness "I am" is mixed with adjuncts like the body,thinking faculty,intellect,memory resulting in a compound consciousness as "I' thought or I-am-the-body-idea" which imagines itself to be a body,so limited (kinchigna) so feels separated from rest of the existence,it is a distorted false form of "Real I" consciousness 'I am".So mind is imagining itself to be not only the body but also the underlying Self consciousness "I am".

Mind cannot rise without imagining itself to be our real Self consciousness.The mind comes into existence by superimposing imaginary adjuncts on the basic form of consciousness "I am".Human requires basic needs like food,shelter,clothing,medical aid,job etc for his maintenance.For this he has to earn in right means.This is normal and physiological.

Once ego is crystallized it starts comparing with others,becomes rabidly ambitious, competitive,starts possessing what he earns,because he has goal to reach through achieving lives a life of purpose and a man with purpose is angry,violent.

In this way an achieving life relates with the existence in a pathological way and thinks that the other separate and contrary to his life.In this process of achieving and becoming desiring takes strong roots which makes us future oriented bypassing the present.A man of desire misses and sacrifices the present moment for a future which is yet to be.Some monks have non-achievement as their life goal and this is also an attitude of achieving in a different manner.

We should go beyond achieving and non-achieving and live a natural way of life.Achieving attitude of mind is the seed of conflict,violence,disorder,strife,war in the society.Just imagine there are 750 crore achieving minds in the world whose interests are against each other.

Total wealth of the world is in the hands of 2% rich people and so rest of the population are denied the basic needs of life.So see the danger of achieving attitude of mind and its consequences on the individual and so the society.Achieving attitude is only to fulfill psychological appetites for which there is no limit.Can real be achieved?Is it wise to run after to achieve that which is false.

In life actually there is no need to achieve anything for psychological purpose. If one starts for achieving Self that is also a self centered activity.Self is not achievable but it is there for you to become one with it through Self-Inquiry.

Note: Through this message Dr Raju Garu is not asking people to be lazy and not to work.It is aimed to point out the consequences and futility of achieving something in life just for gratification of mind.Vast majority of humanity are denied access to basic needs because of rabid ambition of chosen few.In many countries it is the corporates that frame the laws which suits them and govern the whole world.They are given many subsidies to improve their industrial empires.

The steel king of the world Mr.Lakshmi Mittal is not paying any income tax while an old servant maid working in his house is paying 20% of her earnings as income tax.Kindly observe how corrupt is the social morality which is actually immoral.In Africa millions are dying due to starvation and in USA millions are suffering from over eating.So we are all responsible for suffering of fellow human beings.Mahatma Gandhi said world has enough resources to fulfill basic needs of all but its resources are not enough to fulfill the ambition of chosen few who are responsible for the suffering for fellow human being.Unless we bring in awareness that achieving attitude of mind brings destruction to the individual who is indulging in it and society at large.

Science has advanced so much that even if we work for four hours a day for 5 days in a week everybody will be provided with all basic facilities.The culture of exploiting and getting exploited must end through awareness of the futility of doing such stupid things.We should not work with doership with an eye on fruit of action which contaminates the action.Working without doership amounts to Akarma but laziness is not akarma.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

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Sri SuryaNarayana Raju about The nature of consciousness,mind and the need for Self-inquiry

Mind is consciousness in movement.When that movement stops minding stops.Suppose we are walking and if stop walking legs will be there but the process,the function of walking stops.It is like pedalling a cycle.As long as you pedal the cycle moves,if you stop pedalling the cycle stops moving but cycle will be there.So when minding stops consciousness remains as a silent pool of energy.You are that consciousness.

Minding is a function of consciousness but your nature is not the minding.The nature of minding is movement.If that movement is stopped due to any reason there is nothing like mind.Thought is the mind.If there is stilling of thought due to any reason there is no entity like mind(naiva manasam).

In such a state we encounter static aspect of consciousness in full senses.The nature of such static consciousness is existence,Self-knowledge(awareness),bliss (Tranquility,peace).

You think you are the mind. This fallacy that you are the mind gives the mind total freedom, because then there is no one to master it, to control it. There is no one! Mind itself becomes the master. It may become the master, but that mastery is just seemingly so.

Try once and you can break that mastery – it is false.This breaking up of process of minding is possible in Self-inquiry.Then you will know for yourself about what is the nature of static aspect of consciousness and what is the nature of the minding which is just the dynamic function of consciousness.

There is nothing wrong in minding but identity with that minding and thinking that minding as the “me”(thinker) is the wrong state of affairs.Then we go on minding (thinking) whether it is required or not.Self-inquiry stops that pathological minding,(thinking) and we develop mastery over the minding(thinking).

If we master the minding(thinking) it is one of the best servant.But at present mind is behaving like a master without any control bringing so much disaster,disorder,chaos to the individual and society at large.Through Self-inquiry we develop the capacity to allow minding(thinking) when it is necessary and stop minding(thinking) where it has no role to play.

For example thought i.e minding(thinking) has no role to play in human relation but we are relating with the other through thought only which definitely brings conflict,strife in the relationship.Then if we can posit in static aspect of consciousness during relating with the other,the relating is based on present moment and we have a healthy relationship.

In science,technology we require minding and we should allow minding there.Once that task is over we should not go on minding but we should be back to our natural center of static aspect of consciousness and enjoy the serenity,tranquility,peace,bliss of it.This is possible through Self-inquiry.

Then we become the master of our own mind which is superior than being emperor of the whole world.Existence feels fulfilled through us by becoming master of the mind.This is the purpose for which we are born on earth but we are preoccupied with doing all sorts of silly things which takes us no where from the present state of highly disordered life.

About the Author

Sri Suryanarayana Raju is interested in Self-Enquiry in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi,Osho,JK.He wrote two books on "Self-Enquiry" and "Commented on Upadesa Saram and Akshara Mana Malai". available for download at http://www.esnips.com/ web/ramana-maharshi

http://www.facebook.com/Arunachalasiva

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