Miles

[Guest guest]

Dear Miles:

You wrote.

"On a personal level, my participation is limited, from time to time, through

ill-health. Today, even this message is painful."

 

I am asking you about how you are reacting to your "ill heath",? Has your

practice and Ramana's teaching been of benefit to your experiencing of your body

problems? Can you stay with the pain and return to your sense of conscious

presence? Feel free not to respond to this inquiry.

 

You said it was ok to post from Nisargadatta on occasion.

This passage from "I am that", deals with pain and may be helpful for those

experiencing it. I hope that I too may abide in the wisdom of what follows.

Love,

Alton

 

Q: If reality itself is bliss, then pleasure in some way must be related to it.

M: Let us not proceed by verbal logic. The bliss of reality does not exclude

suffering. Besides, you know only pleasure, not the bliss of pure being. So

let us examine pleasure at its own level.

If you look to yourself in your moments of pleasure or pain, you will

invariable find that it is not the thing in itself that is pleasant or painful,

but the situation of which it is a part. Pleasure lies in the relationship

between the enjoyer and the enjoyed. And the essence of it is acceptance.

Whatever may be the situation, if it is acceptable, it is pleasant. If it is

not acceptable, it is painful. What makes it acceptable is not important; the

cause may be physical, or psychological, or untraceable; acceptance is the

decisive factor. obviously, suffering is due to non-acceptance.

Q: Pain in not acceptable.

N: Why not? Did you ever try? Do try and you will find in pain a joy which

pleasure cannot yield, for the simple reason that acceptance of pain takes you

much deeper that pleasure does.

The personal self by its very nature is constantly pursuing pleasure and

avoiding pain. The ending of this pattern is the ending of the self. The

ending of the self with its desires and fear enables you to return to you real

nature, the source of all happiness and peace. The perennial desire for

pleasure is the reflection of the timeless harmony within. It is an observable

fact that one becomes self-conscious only when caught in the conflict between

pleasure and pain, which demands choice and decision. It is this clash between

desire and fear that causes anger, which is the great destroyer of sanity in

life..When pain is accepted for what it is , a lesson and a warning, and deeply

looked into and heeded, the separation between pain and pleasure breaks down,

both become experience-- painful when resisted, joyful when accepted.

Q: Do you advise shunning pleasure and pursuing pain?

M: No nor pursuing pleasure and shunning pain. Accept both as they come, enjoy

both while they last, let them go, as they must.

Q: How can I possible enjoy pain? Physical pain calls for action.

M: Of course And so does mental. The bliss is in the awareness of it, in not

shrinking, or in any way turning away form it.

All happiness comes from awareness. The more we are conscious , the deeper the

joy. Acceptance of pain, non-resistance, courage and endurance---these open

deep and perennial sources of real happiness, true bliss.

Q: Why should pain be more effective than pleasure?

M: Pleasure is readily accepted, while all the powers of the self reject pain.

As the acceptance of pain is the denial of the self, and the self stands in the

way of true happiness, the wholehearted acceptance of pain release the springs

of happiness.

Q: Does acceptance of suffering act the same way?

M: The fact of pain is easily brought within the focus of awareness. With

suffering it is not that simple. To focus suffering is not enough, for mental

life, as we know it, is one continuous stream of suffering. To reach the deeper

layers of suffering you must go to its roots and uncover their vast underground

network, where fear and desire are closely interwoven and the currents of life's

energy oppose, obstruct and destroy each other.

Q: How can I set right a tangle which is entirely below the level of my

consciousness?

M: By being with yourself, the "I AM"; by watching yourself in your daily life

with alert interest, with the intention to understand rather than to judge, in

full acceptance of whatever may emerge, because it is there, you encourage the

deep to come to the surface and enrich your life and consciousness with its

captive energies. This is the great work of awareness; it removes obstacles and

releases energies by understanding the nature of life and mind. Intelligence is

the door to freedom and alert attention is the mother in intelligence.

Q: One more question. Why does pleasure end in pain?

M: Everything has a beginning and an end and so does pleasure. Don't anticipate

and don't regret, and there will be no pain, it is memory and imagination that

cause suffering. Of course pain after pleasure may be due to the misuse of the

body or the mind. The body knows its measure , but the mind does not. Its

appetites are numberless and limitless. Watch your mind with great diligence;

for there lies you bondage and also the key to freedom.

Q: My question I not yet fully answered; why are man's pleasures destructive?

Why does he find so much pleasure in destruction? Life's concern lies in

protection, perpetuation and expansion of itself. In this it is guided by pain

and pleasure. At what point do they become destructive?

M: When the mind takes over , remember and anticipates, it exaggerates, it

distorts, it overlooks. The past is projected into the future and the future

betrays the expectations. The organ of sensation and action are stimulated

beyond capacity and the inevitable breakdown down. The object of pleasure

cannot yield what is expected of them and get worn out, or destroyed, by misuse.

It result in excess of pain where pleasure was looked for.

Q: We destroy not only ourselves, but others too.

M: Naturally selfishness is always destructive. Desire and fear both are

self-centered states. Between desire and fear anger arises, with anger hatred,

with hatred passion for destruction. War is hatred in action, organized and

equipped with all the instrument of death.

FROM "I AM THAT" DIALOGUES OF THE SAGE NISARAGADATTA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Alton,

 

> I am asking you about how you are reacting to your "ill heath",? Has your

> practice and Ramana's teaching been of benefit to your experiencing of your

> body problems? Can you stay with the pain and return to your sense of

> conscious presence? Feel free not to respond to this inquiry.

 

If we must, we should, each, examine these things for ourselves. What I have

to say may be of no use. Here is a response to the inquiry.

 

There is never a return to consciousness. Rather consciousness is the

unique, eternal, consistent 'experience'.

 

Pain is a natural response of the body. Who denies it? Like pleasure it can

become a full on 'experience'. Where the problem might arise is in the

denial, or non-acceptance, of the pain, resulting in the desire to replace

it with something more pleasurable. Is pain separate from me? Is pleasure

separate from me? Are pleasure and pain independent entities? By desiring

pleasure and eschewing pain all is lost!! I take a painkiller and get a bit

of relief.

 

Sometimes the body suffers and it is hard to stand up, sometimes a headache

might interfere with daily tasks, with a broken leg it's no longer possible

to long jump, etc. The body reacts accordingly. There's a process to go

through. If that involves medical help, so be it.

 

Self Enquiry is a constant throughout all these 'experiences'/'processes'.

 

 

Miles

[Guest guest]

Dearest Miles:

You wrote:

"it's no longer possible to long jump"

 

YOU'VE ALREADY MADE THE LONG JUMP TO THE "SELF", WHICH WAS NEVER FAR.

THANKS FOR MAKING THE EFFORT TO RESPOND. I KNOW HOW HARD IT MUST BE.

LOVE,

ALTON

 

 

 

 

RamanaMaharshi, Miles Wright <ramana.bhakta@v...> wrote:

> Dear Alton,

>

> > I am asking you about how you are reacting to your "ill heath",?

Has your

> > practice and Ramana's teaching been of benefit to your

experiencing of your

> > body problems? Can you stay with the pain and return to your

sense of

> > conscious presence? Feel free not to respond to this inquiry.

>

> If we must, we should, each, examine these things for ourselves.

What I have

> to say may be of no use. Here is a response to the inquiry.

>

> There is never a return to consciousness. Rather consciousness is

the

> unique, eternal, consistent 'experience'.

>

> Pain is a natural response of the body. Who denies it? Like

pleasure it can

> become a full on 'experience'. Where the problem might arise is in

the

> denial, or non-acceptance, of the pain, resulting in the desire to

replace

> it with something more pleasurable. Is pain separate from me? Is

pleasure

> separate from me? Are pleasure and pain independent entities? By

desiring

> pleasure and eschewing pain all is lost!! I take a painkiller and

get a bit

> of relief.

>

> Sometimes the body suffers and it is hard to stand up, sometimes a

headache

> might interfere with daily tasks, with a broken leg it's no longer

possible

> to long jump, etc. The body reacts accordingly. There's a process

to go

> through. If that involves medical help, so be it.

>

> Self Enquiry is a constant throughout all

these 'experiences'/'processes'.

>

>

> Miles