Ramana Gita Study Group Ch 7 V.1,2,3, [AR Natarajan]

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RamanaMaharshi, Alan Jacobs

<alanadamsjacobs> wrote:

SELF ENQUIRY-COMPETENCE AND COMPONENTS

 

SRI RAMANA GITA CHAPER 7

 

KRISHNA BHIKSHU TRANS.

 

1.The seventh canto narrates the splendid dialogue between Karshni

of the Bharadvaja family and

Acharya Ramana.

 

2.Karshni asked;

 

What is the nature of self Enquiry ?

 

Which is the result hoped for by its pursuit ?

 

is a greater good obtainable following any other path ?

 

Bhagavan said:

 

The 'I Thought' is said to be the totality of all thoughts.

 

The Source of that 'I Thought'must be searched for [investigated].

 

 

=====

alan

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Ramana Gita [translation &commentary by AR Natarajan ]

 

Chapter 7 `Self Enquiry'

Vs 1

This seventh chapter records the excellent conversation between

Karshni of Bharadvaja line and Acharya Ramana.

Vs 2

What constitutes self-enquiry? What is its utility? Can better

results be achieved through other methods?

 

Commentary

Daivarata had been advised by Ramana to pursue non-objective

enquiry, an enquiry centred on the subject, the individual,

steadfastly and single mindedly*. (The tools used for achieving

this are explained in later verses.) The questioner (in vs 2) wishes

to know the relative merits of this path and that of others like

breath-control, incantations, repetition of sacred words and the

like. . . . Even a fool would not wish to act without seeking

benefit. Hence the need to know about the value of this method, self-

enquiry.

[*Ramana Gita Ch 3, v 5]

 

Vs 3

The `I'-thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts.

Enquire

into the source of this `I'-thought.

 

Commentary

In Science of the Heart (Ch. 5), Ramana has already indicated, on

the basis of his own experience, that the `I'-thought is the

core or

essence of the mind and that it springs from the Heart.* . . .the

enquiry `Whence am I?' has been repeatedly stressed by Ramana

in all

his teachings – `Wherefrom does this `I' –thought

arise?' if one

enquires thus, it vanishes;** `On the rising of the ego

everything

rises; with its subsidence all subsides; the ego is therefore all,

tracking it is the way to victory over everything.'#

[*Ibid Ch 5, v 3. **Upadesa Saram v 19. #sat darshanam v 26]

The first essential for the search is the attitude of enquiry, an

attitude of doubt about our identity and the strong urge to find it.

Next, of course is to gather together the distracted, scattered mind

at the core by fixing attention on the root `I'-thought. The

mind

should be turned inwards and kept active in the quest without taking

in external impressions or thinking of other things. Vigilance is

needed not only to ward off distracting thoughts, but also to

proceed deeper within, but not be taken in by mental quietness. The

one for whom the silence exists has to be enquired into. Paradoxical

as it may seem, there is no escape from effort till the

`I'-thought,

the mind, is sucked into the Heart. If properly directed, the joy of

the journey itself will sustain the effort. The onward process of

effort (and tasting bliss of the Self) and slackening of effort (and

slipping back to the thought world) goes on till Self-abidance is

continuous, till the `I'-thought stays merged in its source,

the

Heart.

 

Self-enquiry is the straight path because in this method the final

question is the one that is raised from the beginning. The nature of

the mind is enquired into straightaway. Ramana explained to Paul

Brunton the advantage of self-enquiry, `Mental quiet is easier to

attain and earlier, but the goal is mental destruction. Most paths

lead to the first. Whereas self-enquiry leads to it quickly and then

to the second'.* In other words, other means may also lead to

the

subsidence of the mind, but it would rise again. For, they imply

the retention of the mind as the instrument of practice, which

would lead to its perpetuation. The ego may take different and

subtler forms at different stages of ones practice but it is itself

never destroyed.** Another basic advantage of self-enquiry is that

it can be practised wherever one is and in whatever situation. It

does not depend on outer circumstances, the shaping of which may be

beyond ones control.

[*Conscious Immortality – Paul Brunton, **Maharshi's Gospel

–P 51]

 

All spiritual effort is to get back to the Heart. For this,

attention to the `I'-thought is an effective means because

`it is

the only clue we have about ourselves'. It is like a dog tracking

the master from whom it has parted, by unerringly holding on to his

scent. `I' is the sense of existence in the ego, the reality

which

is mixed up with the erroneous idea of identification as

`this'. If

one holds on to the `I' to the exclusion of everything else

then it

would lead one back to the Heart for it is an `infallible'

clue.

Tracking the `I' thought to its source is a

`spiritual treasure hunt'. And in this what is required is to

isolate the ego from its associates, other thoughts, to question its

false quietude, and to push beyond, where effort is no longer

possible. The seeker, the individual, would be `drawn within' into

the source and only a vast beatitude would endure.*

[*The Ramana Way in Search of Self –Kumari Sarada]

 

= = = = =

anu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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