Ramana's technique

[Maadhavan Srinivasan]

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>Date:         Thu, 23 Oct 1997 09:38:30 -0600
>Reply-To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
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>From: Nanda Kumar <nkumar at OPPENHEIMERFUNDS.COM>
>Subject:      Ramana's technique
>Comments: To: ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU
>To: ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU
>
>I'm reading this book called "The experential dimension of Advaita
>Vedanta" by Arvind Sharma and there's is an interesting techinque
>devised by Ramana Maharishi which is quoted in the book :
>
>"Aspirants in self-enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana to put their
>attention on the inner feeling of 'I' and to hold that feeling as long
as
>possible. They would be told that if their attention was distracted by
>other thoughts they should revert to the awareness of the 'I' thought
>whenever they became aware that their attention had wandered. He
>suggested various aids to ask oneself 'Who am I?' or 'Where does this I
>come from?' - but the ultimate aim was to be continuously aware of the
'I'
>which assumes that it is responsible for all the activities of the body
and
>the mind.
>
>In the early stages of practice attention to the feeling 'I' is a
mental activity
>which takes the form of a thought or a perception. As the practice
>develops the thought 'I' gives way to a subjectively experienced
feeling
>of 'I', and when this feeling ceases to connect and identify with
thoughts
>and objects it completely vanishes. What remains is an experience of
>being in which the sense of individuality has temporarily ceased to
>operate. The experience may be intermittent at first but with repeated
>practice it becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain. When
>self-enquiry reaches this level there is an effortless awareness of
being
>in which individual effort is no longer possible since the 'I' who
makes the
>effort has temporarily ceased to exist. It's not Self-Realization since
the 'I'
>thought periodically reasserts itself but it's the highest level of
practice.
>Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the
>mental tendencies which cause the 'I' thought to rise and when their
hold
>has been sufficiently weakened, the power of the Self destroys the
>residual tendencies so completely that the 'I' thought never rises
again.
>This is the final and irreversible state of Self-Realization."
>
Excellent Narration.

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