Aham and Aham-vritti #2

[Guest guest]

Terms defined.

 

aham vrtti... " I " thought

vrtti....mental concept..

 

D: The question still remains why the quest fo the source of aham-

vrtti, as distinguished from other vrttis, should be considered the

direct means to Self-realization.

 

M: The word aham is very suggestive. The two letters of the word,

namely A and HA, are the first and the last letters of the Sanskrit

alphabet. The suggestion intended to be conveyed by the word is that

it compreises all. How? Because aham signifies existence itself.

Although the concept of " I " -ness or " I " -am " -ness is by usage

known as aham-vrtti, it is not really a vrtti like the other vrttis

of the mind. Because unlike the other vrttis, which have no

essential interrelation, the aham-vrtti, is equally and essentially

related to each and every vrtti of the mind. Without the aham-vrtti

there can be no other vrtti, but the aham-vrtti can subsist by

itself without depending on any other vrtti of the mind. The aham

vrtti is fundamentally different from any other vrttis.

So, then, the search for the source of the aham-vrtti is the

search not merely for the basis of one of the forms of the ego, but

for the very source itself from which arises the " I-am " -ness. In

other words, the quest for and the realization of the Source of the

ego in the form of aham-vrtti necessariily implies the transcendence

of the ego in everyone of its possible forms.

 

D: Conceding that the aham-vrtti essentially comprises all the forms

of the ego, why should that vrtti alone be choses as the means for

Self-inquiry?

 

M: Because it is the one irreducible datum of your experience;

because seeking its souce is the only practicable course you can

adopt to realize the Self. The ego is said to have a causal body,

but how can you make it the subject of you investigation? When the

ego adopts that form, you are immersed in the darkness of sleep.

 

D: But is not the ego in its subtle and causal forms too intangible

to be tackled through the inquiry into the source of aham-vrtti

conducted while the mind is awake?

 

M: No. The inqury into the source of aham-vrtti touches the very

existence of the ego. Therefore the subtlety of the ego's form is

not a material consideration.

 

 

 

 

From The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi