Seeing, not thinking

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi:

>From Talk 618, February 1st, 1939:

Sri Ramana:

"So thoughts must be checked

by seeking to whom they arise.

So you go to their Source,

where they do not arise."

Questioner:

"Doubts are always arising. Hence my question."

Sri Ramana:

"A doubt arises and is cleared;

another arises and is cleared,

making way for another;

and so it goes on.

So there is no possibility of clearing away all doubts.

See to whom the doubts arise.

Go to their source and abide in it.

Then they cease to arise.

That is how doubts are to be cleared."

Notice that above Sri Ramana does not say
think to whom the doubts arise.
He says "see to whom these doubts arise".
See, not think.

To think about who I am
or to think about to whom do the doubts or thoughts arise,
would defeat the purpose of clearing away the obstacles
which are thoughts. Sri Ramana said:
"So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise"
Seeking to whom they arise, not thinking about to whom they arise.
Thinking about to whom they arise
has the opposite of the intended effect,
because instead of checking thoughts,
thinking about to whom they arise stirs up more thinking.
Instead of clearing away doubts, one creates more doubts
by thinking about to whom do these thoughts arise.

"Seeking to whom they arise"

"So you go to their Source, where they do not arise"

Sri Ramana says go to their Source,
he does not say think about their source.

"See to whom the doubts arise"

Awareness watching Awareness is seeing.

Remaining there is abiding.

"So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise"

How does one do that?

In the very next sentence Sri Ramana gives that instruction:

"So you go to their source where they do not arise"

What is their Source?

It is the Self.

What is the Self?

It is Awareness.

Thus Awareness watching Awareness is going to the Source.

Remaining as Awareness watching Awareness is abiding thus.

Awareness watching Awareness is awareness aware of awareness.

So, why use the word "watching"?

The same reason Sri Ramana uses the word "see" above.

Humans are already in the habit of seeing or watching things.
One then uses that same familiar habit of watching or seeing,
and turns it inward so that now awareness watches awareness
instead of watching things and thoughts etc.

So, it is building on the familiar.
For most humans awareness aware of awareness is not a familiar habit.
However, seeing or watching things and thoughts is a familiar habit.
The meaning of awareness aware of awareness and
awareness watching awareness is the same.
However, the language watching or seeing brings in the familiar.
A familiar habit to watch or to see.

Therefore Sri Ramana uses the word see in the sentence:

"See to whom these thoughts arise"

And I prefer to use the word watching in the sentence:

"Awareness watching awareness"

Sri Ramana could have said
be aware of to whom these thougts arise.
However, then he would be leaving the familiar.
Humans are accustomed to seeing things and thoughts,
they have that habit. By using the word see,
Sri Ramana stays with the familiar habit of seeing
and points it in a new direction, towards "to whom".

These thoughts are arising to awareness.
Thus seeing to whom these thoughts arise
is awareness watching awareness.

It is not thinking about to whom these thoughts arise,
it is "see to whom these thoughts arise".

It is not thinking about the Source,
it is "Go to their Source and abide in it".

Take care,

with Love,

Michael L.

om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya
Sri Bhagavan said:
'You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. All that you have to do
is to give up being aware of other things; that is, of the not-Self. If one
gives up being aware of them, then pure awareness alone remains, and that is
the Self.'
(Day by Day with Bhagavan)