[Advaita-l] Ramana Yoga Sutras (7)

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
http://www.arunachala.org/newsletters/2011/jul-aug
 
V. “manasasvam chinvata” Searching for one’s self with the mind
 
I. The self here, is one’s self, not the Atman which is beyond
search. One’s self is a little entity; the search is to know
whence that idea of ‘I’ arises, that is to say, who is this little
self? In “Ulladu Narpadu” Bhagavan says, “The real Self
does not say ‘I’; the body cannot say ‘I’; in between the
two arises this thought ‘I’ which firmly clings to the body. If
you search for its nature which is of a phantom devil, it
disappears.” When thoughts disappear into their source,
even this thought ‘I’ should also disappear. This ‘I’ thought
is the primary thought, and the other thoughts cannot sprout
without it.
 
2. This enquiry is sometimes based on the previously-mentioned
practice of watching the breath. Normally, we
are not able to catch up with the speed with which one
thought succeeds another. It is as if the series of frames on
the cinema reel succeed each other with such rapidity that
we get the impression of one continuous picture. Therefore
it is only when we can slow down this mental process and
are able to catch each single thought by itself that we can
enquire about it. In slowing down thoughts, we have used
the process of watching the breath. (We can also take the
illustration of a slowed motion picture here, say, of horse
racing.)
 
3. When a thought by itself appears, Bhagavan asks us to
enquire with a searching mind to whom it arises. It is an
intellectual affair, not a negation of all thought as some
contend. We hold to the thought and try to follow it up by
asking to whom it occurs. Obviously it occurs to the notional
‘I’, for the real ‘I’ has no thought. Bhagavan asks us to
proceed and see whence that notion arises. It must
necessarily be to the consciousness, that is to say, to the
Atman where even the ‘I-thought’ does not exist. If one
repeats this process continuously without any break, this
process leads to the Atman. It is like a firebrand that burns
other brands and itself too.
 
4. There is another slight modification. Instead of questioning
to whom the thought occurs, enquire whence the thought
arises. We mean any thought, not the thought of ‘I’ only.
All thoughts must arise from the consciousness and they
are directed towards the world and all our ideas connected
with it. If we try to cut across the connection with this
world, only the consciousness remains; this is the Atman.
In this process there is only one step: whence does this
thought arise? In the previous paragraph we have talked
of a process in which there are two steps: the first is
searching for the source of each thought, and the second
is searching for the source of the ‘I-thought’.
 
5. These processes are called by Bhagavan the ‘sarala
marga’, or the straight and easy path. At any rate, they
are easy for those who can turn their minds inward and
away from the objects of the world. But if one, as a
preceding step, follows the first path of watching the breath,
it will be quite easy for anybody.
 
6. The point to note is, we do not negate thought as does
the Sankara method. Sankara says, “When a thought
occurs, dismiss it immediately.” Here we do not do that;
we retain the thought and attempt to seek its source. I
once asked Bhagavan how it is possible to trace the root
of a tree all the while without remembering the trunk of
the tree; how could we go to the source of the thought
without holding on to the thought?” Bhagavan replied,
“Practice and see.”
 
Bhagavan compares this method to each enemy
soldier coming out of the fort alone, when he can be easily
killed; if one thought comes out, one can easily kill it. If all
the warriors in the fort rally forth at once, it will be difficult
to repulse them. Therefore, slow down the speed of the
thoughts first, catch each thought and by seeking its source,
destroy it.
 
In the supplement to “Ulladu Narpadu” there is a verse
which lends support to the idea that this Self enquiry is
performed without the mind. The matter is elucidated in
the explanation of the next aphorism. In this aphorism it is
clearly stated that it is the mind which carries on this Self
enquiry.
 
(Continued in next post)