2024-08-31 RMF UK: Only by persistent practice can we gain the power to remain subsided in our being

In a Zoom meeting with the Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK on 31st August 2024, Michael answers various questions about Bhagavan’s teachings.
A clearer audio copy of this video can be listened to on Sri Ramana Teachings podcast (ramanahou.podb...) or downloaded from ramanahou.podb... and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened on the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from mediafire.com/...

[@SriRamanaTeachings]

A clearer audio copy of this video can be listened to on Sri Ramana Teachings podcast (ramanahou.podbean.com) or downloaded from ramanahou.podbean.com/e/only-by-persistent-practice-can-we-gain-the-power-to-remain-subsided-in-our-being and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened on the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from mediafire.com/file/ui4wkqi8b5zs8hz

[@christianandersson2217]

Thank You! 🙏

[@D.K.TyagiYT]

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Arunachala Ramanay 🙏

[@Virendra-x4f]

Thank you very much🌹🌹.

[@stevepalmer-drums]

Thank you. 🙏

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

One of the most important things I have come to understand from watching all these videos is that will does not necessarily imply action. We can use will to do nothing and put effort into it. For example, if there is a strong wind and we are holding on to a tree so that we do not get blown away by the wind, we are putting effort into it and using will but we are not doing anything. Understanding this is important to be able to practice self-investigation because neo-advaitism always says that putting effort into anything implies activity of the mind. However, we can put effort into just being and not doing anything. This is what self-attentiveness is all about and using will is important because during the practice our will to just be (sat vasana) has to be stronger than our will to do anything (visaya vasanas).

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

Bhagavan wrote in verse 28 of Ulladu Narpadu: "Like sinking wanting to see something that has fallen in water, sinking within restraining speech and breath by a sharpened mind it is necessary to know the place where the rising ego rises. Know." Notice the words "sinking wanting" because sinking is passive and wanting implies will. We must be willing to do nothing and sink into our own self.

[@SriRamanaTeachings]

Sri Sadhu Om summarises the practice of self-investigation in this song, Dhyāṉa-p Pāṭṭu or Song of meditation: vimeo.com/showcase/8558664/video/669230482 (English translation by Michael James) . For advertisement-free videos on teachings and songs related to Bhagavan Ramana, please visit vimeo.com/ramanahou and click 'showcases' on the bottom left. Each original work of Bhagavan Ramana has its own showcase with explanations of Michael James.

[@llusory_World]

❤❤🙏

[@amelmahmoud8221]

namo ramanaya..

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

Regarding drugs, I once had a dream in which I took some kind of drug and that experience made me realize that the mind can literally fabricate any experience and that no real substances need exist at all because a substance can simply be a thought.

[@PirateFrench]

During a really gnarly mushroom trip, I was being shown past versions of myself that I had outgrown, but I could experience that past version so vividly and clearly, I suddenly became petrified at the idea that I could forget this, and become trapped in that past version of myself all over again.

[@sureshgaikwad5004]

Yes you are right

[@rviswanathan]

🙏

[@patriciaching100]

eliminate vastness .. regulated to time.. time is a productive of ego.. Thank you Michael!!!

[@D1ASH2]

Hi Michael, I have a doubt. In The Path of Sri Ramana, Part Two, under Appendix 4a ( Explanatory Notes on Verse 6 of Arunachala Ashtakam) on page 184, para 2, last sentence, I quote " Bhagwan once revealed even a subtler secret, " It is not only that the Seld does not know other things but also does not know even: Itself" Unquote My doubt is the very meaning of the word Sat Chit is Existence Awareness. Then how come the Self does not know even itself? Kindly clarify. Ramakrishnan

[@SriRamanaTeachings]

Namaskaram. What he means is that what we actually are does not know itself by any act of knowing, as we know objects, because it knows itself just by being itself, as he points out in verse 26 of Upadēśa Undiyār: blog.sriramanateachings.org/2024/09/how-to-know-and-to-be-what-we-actually.html#uu26 Self-knowledge (ātma-jñāna) is therefore a completely different type of knowing than what we generally take to be ‘knowing’. Namo Ramanaya 🙏🙏🙏

[@Iiisgracebestill]

@@SriRamanaTeachings while existing in blissful awareness being nothing other. The i-thought, the I am the knower of things, imagines reality within its imaginary self. The ego self appearance, is concealment of reality. Unknowing the identity appearing falsely as human you is investigation of oneself. cx

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

It is not really something we have to take on faith. In deep sleep, all that exists is ourselves and nothing else. In deep sleep, we do not direct our attention inward or outward, we simply exist. However, we do not only exist because we are also aware of our existence. This means that consciousness and existence are the same because only we exist in deep sleep as awareness of our existence. There is no "way" in which the self knows itself because knowledge is the substance of existence. To know anything else we have to direct our attention to something we are not, so knowledge of phenomena is fundamentally different from self-knowledge. When we direct our attention to something we are not, the first thing that arises is the consciousness "I am the body" and all other phenomena derive their existence from this limited consciousness and are not conscious in themselves, so they do not exist when we are not conscious of them. Only our own consciousness is self-shining. Anyway, that's how I understand it.

[@Iiisgracebestill]

@@LieutenantBoreyko Its amazing that when we lay our heads down to sleep every night, we have to let go of all of our thoughts dreams, desires and everything else we’ve held onto in order to gain the bliss of a few hours sleep. If while trying to fall asleep any room is given to any random thoughts, then sleep seems far off and futile. In the same way self enquiry is similar to falling asleep. The reason people breathe is to have a life signs. If not for the breathing a sleeping body may look like a dead one. If you were dead or asleep how would you ever know ? You know when you wake up that you never were asleep awake or dreaming, it had all been a wonderful illusion and interesting figment of imagination. Sleep well, wake up soon. Be grace be still. cx

[@Iiisgracebestill]

@@LieutenantBoreyko who has knowledge of phenomena? Phenomena only happen in the imagination of the i thought. The thought I am phenomena is falsely identifying as a person. A person can see phenomena only after identifying itself as phenomena. Which came first The phenomena that saw or The phenomena that was seen? You are not the phenomena you take yourself to be. You are that one pure self awareness conscious bliss. cx

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

In general I think people try to switch to ajata too quickly in order to bypass drishti-srishti and the result is a mental paralysis which makes it difficult to undertake spiritual practice. In Advaitic circles everyone keeps saying "nothing ever happened", "there is no purpose" etc. and speaks as if every sentence expresses some absolute quintessence of all existence but in reality it all takes place on the surface of the mind addicted to the experience of external stimuli and not in the depths of the self. The truth is that if you are reading this comment then ajata is not a fact for you but just an idea. From the perspective of the pure self neither the world nor the ego has come into being but the ego exists from its own point of view so self-investigation is necessary for ajata to become a fact for us.

[@mohanbhaibhad3703]

Thank you very much madam Shalini and Sir Michael James since 2018 I am listening to him and foundation speeches Still, I cannot understand if every thing is Brahman why I do not feel that Sachchidananda why ego rises and why question cannot be answered what is the cause of rising us ego, I am suffering very much from this body and mind. I have tried to look in to or investigate myself but I am not successful Actions did in the past give lots of regrets

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

I am not Michael but I will try to answer you. Everything is Brahman but our arising as "I am the body" consciousness creates a subject and object division because we desire to experience things that we are not. In "I am the body" consciousness only "I am" is real and we must want to experience this consciousness in isolation from all phenomena. The ego is not some cataclysm that "happened" to us because we ourselves arise as the ego and it is our desires that create the external world. We are not victims but the cause. We are tired of this world but the truth is that instead of wanting to wake up we simply desire a better dream. As for why there is no explanation for the arising of the ego, it is that the ego does not really exist but appears to exist when we desire to experience things that we are not. When we try to turn our attention to ourselves it turns out that the ego does not exist. If you really want to know the answer to the question why this snake appeared the only answer is "it appeared because you did not look at it carefully". This is why on the path of self-investigation we do not ask "why does it exist?" but "does it even exist?". It is called "investigation" for a reason.

[@sureshgaikwad5004]

​@@LieutenantBoreykoVery well explained sir.

[@shilpamurdeshwar5788]

Agamya is instant fruit of karma ie if one puts hand in fire one gets burnt,instant,when this agamya doesn't hv proper situation to give fruit it will go into Sanchita that is piles of karma from many births in the past if the soul is having grace of god the sanchita will turn into Prarbhdha that is u will be born in such a fly where these karmas will come to fruition n the soul will get gati which is progress.When one does karma without the feeling of doer ship karmas will not have any impact on the soul.Nishkam karma is what bhagwaan Krishna has told in the Self-realization is not simple one doesn't get anything but there is loss of everything.when u completely give ur self u r vulnerable but Hari is there to save u.That is y most of us do not give up ego.Ppl going away from ur life is a good sign not to worry at all ,if someone doesn't treat u right say sorry to bramha n see that person who hates u as brahma.

[@fizywig]

Surely attending/ investigating the " snake" I.e. Ego leads to the " realisation" that it is a " phantom"/ formless? Is this realisation almost immediate ? And we are left with inner " Silence" which in traditional " Advaita Vedanta" we must then attend to. It is this Silence investigation which truly leads to " Enlightenment and not merely " attending to I" Indeed, didn't Ramana state that " Silence is my highest teaching" ?

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

This becomes immediate the moment the last inclination to experience things that we are not disappears and overcoming these inclinations may take a long or short time depending on how much we want to experience only ourselves. Usually our love is almost non-existent so the best option is to prepare for a long and arduous process and not expect immediate enlightenment. Self-investigation is not the investigation of silence but the investigation of our experience of "I Am". The purpose of self-investigation is not to experience peace of mind although peace of mind is a side effect of focusing only on ourselves. Metaphorically we can say that "silence is the highest teaching" but in a literal sense the teaching of Ramana is contained in his original writings. To experience this silence we have to investigate who we are and to investigate who we are we have to understand what Bhagavan taught. When people talk about silence as the "true teaching" they are talking about it to justify their spiritual laziness and unwillingness to study and practice.

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

@johnmcdonald260 Directing attention to ourselves leads to becoming able to experience our consciousness in isolation from all the things we are not. This is a skill we must acquire. If self-investigation does not lead to anything, then the practice is pointless and we can simply lie down and tell ourselves "I am already That". Self-investigation does not lead to any specific objective experience, but it is a mistake to say that there is no specific goal. Our goal is to experience ourselves as we really are, and self-investigation is necessary because now we do not experience who we really are.

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

@johnmcdonald260 "If one clings fast to uninterrupted svarūpa-smaraṇa [self-remembrance] until one attains svarūpa [one’s own real nature, namely oneself as one actually is], that alone is sufficient." Nan Ar, paragraph 11 "When the form of the mind is annihilated, for the great yōgi who remains permanently as the reality, there is not a single doing. He has attained his nature." Upadesa Undiyar, verse 15 "Being [as one actually is] knowing poruḷ [the one real substance, which is oneself], which exists as siddham [what is always accomplished], is [real] siddhi [accomplishment]." Ulladu Narpadu, verse 35 "Like sinking wanting to see something that has fallen in water, sinking within restraining speech and breath by a sharpened mind it is necessary to know the place where the rising ego rises. Know." Ulladu Narpadu, verse 28 Bhagavan claimed that experiencing who we really are is an "attainment." Although the ego does not exist from the perspective of pure awareness, the ego does exist from its own perspective, so the ego must investigate itself to discover that it does not really exist. When the ego knows itself, it is no longer the ego. As the ego, we must try to know ourselves, and this does not imply that the ego exists, because our goal is to find out whether the ego exists. The way you describe it leads to spiritual lethargy and does not motivate one to undertake the practice. If you say that the "I am the body" consciousness is what we really are, then you are right that we have no goal. However, if we are not satisfied with being the body, then we must want to attain the goal of being aware of ourselves as we really are.

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

@johnmcdonald260 Another example: "Like sinking wanting to see something that has fallen in water, sinking within restraining speech and breath by a sharpened mind it is necessary to know the place where the rising ego rises. Know." - Ulladu Narpadu, verse 28. In short, as long as we are conscious of being a body, we experience that we have lost our original state of happiness and must sink within to regain our true self.

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

@johnmcdonald260 Thanks for your sincere and non-sarcastic farewell. There is a very simple way to check whether I am experiencing myself as I really am. Do I experience that I am the body? Do I perceive the world? If my answer is "yes," then I am not experiencing who I really am. "If the mind, which is the cause for all awareness [of things other than oneself] and for all activity, ceases [or subsides], jagad-dṛṣṭi [perception of the world] will depart [or be dispelled]. Just as unless awareness of the imaginary snake goes, awareness of the rope, [which is] the adhiṣṭhāna [basis, base or foundation], will not arise, unless perception of the world, which is kalpita [a fabrication, imagination or mental creation], departs, darśana [seeing or sight] of svarūpa [one’s own form or real nature], [which is] the adhiṣṭhāna, will not arise." - Nan Yar, paragraph 3. Self-investigation is a practice that can lead us to the awareness that the ego that perceives the body and the world is unreal, so we have a clear goal to achieve even if in the end we realize that we were never anything but pure consciousness. Statements like "there is nothing to achieve" tell us what we experience at the end of all our efforts, but to tell ourselves that there is nothing to achieve when we experience being a body is absurd. Effort is literally the only thing we have to care about, and without effort all these final statements will be just a superficial idea to us. Forgive me, but I follow the guidance of Bhagavan, not the "pointers" of neo-advaitists on the internet.

[@muire8915]

2 minutes or 200 lives? I haven't read all of Bhagavan's teachings yet but it he seems every time he's been asked about rebirth he would direct the questioner back to themselves by saying "First ask who is born and reborn." This particular question is important to me because I feel so lost and stuck in my desires and addictions that there isn't any hope of overcoming them by the time this body expires. @SriRamanaTeachings Does Bhagavan have anything to say about whether or not progress is lost and if a seeker may end up just getting lost in Maya again and may never find Advaita again in endless time? Sorry, this is a fear of mine.

[@SriRamanaTeachings]

Namaskaram. As Bhagavan Krishna explained in the Bhagavad Gita, and as Bhagavan Ramana clarified, in each life we start off in terms of spiritual progress from wherever we left off in our previous life, so whatever spiritual progress we have made is not lost. That is, what we as ego take from one life to the next is our vāsanās, so if we strengthen our sat-vāsanā and weaken our viṣaya-vāsanās in this life, this will be carried over to our next life, so you need not fear about this. Death and rebirth are just like changing our clothes, so however much sat-vāsanā we earn while wearing this set of clothes will remain with us when we put on a new set of clothes. Namo Ramanaya 🙏🙏🙏

[@muire8915]

@@SriRamanaTeachings Thank you very much for the kind reply.

[@Iiisgracebestill]

Hi Michael bhagavan You are that oneself alone, the absolute pure whole reality. However the nature of humanity, which is to be one who was born. I is the human nature. This pride of humanity is to do and achieve anything the human spirit can conceive or mind can imagine. The pride of humanity sounds similar to ego don’t ya think.?! Because you think you are ego you see the world and others. You imagine something other than you exists. cx

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

The problem is not humanity but the ego which dreams about itself and about other living beings and inanimate objects. What is the problem with humanity in the dream? Only the dreamer is the problem. That is why Bhagavan taught drishti-srishti vada so that we stop looking for problems outside.

[@Iiisgracebestill]

@@LieutenantBoreyko yes the thought I am dreams it exists in human form, as a personal ego dreaming of human things. What really exists is only you. It’s just that you see yourself as one of many other individual ones coexisting on a planet that in reality is nothing more than the thought I am itself. You think there is someone else dreaming but other than you there is no one or nothing else. cx

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

@@Iiisgracebestill The thought "I" itself is the consciousness of being a body and did not exist before the body came into being. The moment the thought "I" appears, it appears as a body. A dream is not a projection of a person but of the dreamer who identifies with one body (person). The dreamer always experiences himself as a person but it is not the person who dreams but the dreamer. I am not writing this to correct you but for myself.

[@LieutenantBoreyko]

@@Iiisgracebestill The thought "I" is only the thought "I am this body." Other beings are not the thought "I" but something that "I" experiences as things that are not "I." "I am this body" is the subject and the thinker and everything else is the objects and thoughts thought by the thinker. The thinker identifies with one particular body and is conscious of being that body so when he perceives other bodies behaving in a similar way he assumes that each body has a separate "I," but this is only an assumption. We never experience the existence of other minds but only the behaviors of other bodies and these behaviors are simply objects experienced in one mind.

[@Iiisgracebestill]

@@LieutenantBoreyko who would be the one that sees humanity, one who sees. If there is a human species, if there is, who is the first person who see it? cx Today you claim humanity is living beings and inanimate objects appearing in a dream. You say only the dreamer is the problem. The one having the dream is you. You alone exist. You imagine a world outside, so you go off in your imagination and dream this life of illusion. There is only you. Nothing else. You dreaming this whole ego fantasy, is just you,that oneself falsely forgetting that you alone and existence happiness blissful selfawareness. cx

[@arunachalaful]

🙏