[Advaita-l] Some basic questions on self realisation

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

1)
The need for a quiet atmosphere for meditation cannot be denied. The rishis did the meditation in the caves not for nothing. 
2)
Though one can say that real sanyasha should be in spirit, one has to practice it in real lifre through selfless work. We cannot be egoless just theoretically. The egolessness had to be reflected in the day to day affairs of the mundane life.
3)
The formal Sanyasha helps to a great extent. In the sanyashi's attire one can beg easly and people will also provide the bhiksha to the sanyashi. Similarly there are umpteen advantages of the formal sanyasha. One has thus to rspect the age-old procedures and understand their merits.
 
Regards,
 
Sunil K. Bhattacharjya


--- On Fri, 9/17/10, Ramesh Nagarajan <rameshnj18us at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Ramesh Nagarajan <rameshnj18us at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Some basic questions on self realisation
To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
Date: Friday, September 17, 2010, 10:39 PM


> 1)Could you please tell me whether it is possible for a  person to attain
self realisation whilst living as a professional person in the  phenomenal
world or is it >necessary to exclude onself in  the himalayas or some other
wilderness????

Yes it is absolutely possible whilst in the midst of samsara life as one of
the examples was Nisargadatta Maharaj.  The moment we think about Self
Realization, we could imagine it could be achieved when the external
environment is peaceful.  This is because we think that only others are
hindrance to
our ultimate goal.  We can do a simple test, where we can try to sit in one
place for an hour.  If we are honest, we will find that we are unable to do
so
because of constant chattering and the corresponding association that is
going on our mind.  So, it wouldn't matter if we sit in our house or
himalayas, our
thoughts are our enemy.  It is not easy to control the modification of the
mind.  It takes time to aware of our vasanas and gain purification of mind
through
Sadhana.

Personally speaking, I am married, have a kid and working for a firm. I
share my experience with humility and just to show the confidence that it is
all possible and it is within our hands.  By Bhagavan's (Ramana Maharishi is
my Guru) grace, I experienced the Truth that I am not the body and mind.
The experience has transformed me in many different ways.  The grace is
slowly taking me to higher levels of Jnaana. But it is a long way to go, to
make the experience permanent i.e, to abide in the Self at all times.  At
times I feel the disturbance due to vasanas, however reminding the
experience reveals my true enemy, which puts me back into abide in the Self
to regain peace.  So it is possible to experience the truth and experience
the grace, peace and bliss while living in a family.


> 2)Self realisation should be possible if one acts in the world without
ego but on their higher intelligence for the betterment of all. Am I
correct??

Yes.  But we need to understand the true meaning of ego and the higher
intelligence.  What is ego?  Identification and association of anything that
I am not
is ego.  We normally identify with so many things including my body, toy,
car, house, clothes etc., We associate ourselves with our thoughts. Now,
trying to
become a good or better human being sounds like a commendable and
high-minded thing to do, yet we cannot ultimately succeed in unless there is
a shift in
consciousness.  The shift in consciousness can happen only when we become
aware of our attachments, identification and association.  Please note that
if I do
all the good things in the world but if I have identification and
association with it, it won't take me to Self Realization because I still
have the thought
"I have done it".  Secondly, the higher intelligence can be referred to as
Self, God, Atman etc.,  We can truly understand this term only after
experience of
the Truth.  After the experience of the Truth and if that person can truly
abide in the Self (absence of ego) then whatever he does will be for the
betterment of all.  Until we experience we need to work towards
disidentification and disassociation with what we aren't through Sadhana.

>
> 3) Is it possible for a person to be self realised and not know it???

No.  One clear indication is the experience of the peace.  We will find that
the ultimate puzzle is solved.  We will also find the Supreme love (para
bhakthi) towards God. The experience will reveal the true enemy - the
association with the thoughts, which robs away our peace. We will also find
the source of grace, peace, love, beauty and joy which is within ourselves.
The scriptures become open book.  More importantly, the person should
experience transformation at all levels: body, mind and intellectually.  Or
else we could see that it is just an hallucination soon.  The seeker has now
access to the Self.  The seeker has to continue to abide in the Self, until
he could abide in the Self effortlessly.  Then the seeker is said to
Liberated.


> 4)I have heard it said many times that there are very few people who are
self realised but it seems to me that out of the six billion world
population there must >be quite a few who act in the world without ego other
wise there would be wars everyday. It also seems strange that god would make
something as evolutionarily >necessary as self realisation so rare that very
few people attain it. Could you please comment on this.

Please note the word ego should be used wisely.  Ego may or may not cause
wars.  People could say I do not have ego.  For some people ego is
prominent, while for others it is latent or clever enough (???) to manage
and hide from themselves and others.  As mentioned earlier, any form of
identification and association that which I am not is ego.  This
identification and association may or may not do harm to others directly,
but it is truly affecting that person. The reason for very few Self
Realization is because, it is hard to get rid of this ego. Putting vedanta
into practice will help us to slowly take away the sheath one by one of
false "I" to experience the true "I".
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