Author: Tom Das
The joke about the Devil and the fragment of Truth | Jiddu Krishnamurti
Q. Why does Vedanta insist on there being a Self? No-self makes more sense to me | the I AM|
Qestioner: Why do you say that non-duality means ‘there is only you’? For me it makes more sense to say ‘there is no you’?
Tom: Yes, many people say it the way you do, but there is a specific reason why it is said in the traditional scriptures that ‘only I exist ‘ or ‘only you exist’ as opposed to ‘there is no I’ or ‘there is no you’.
The ‘I’ or ‘I AM’ is being pointed out as indicating the reality.
Why is this?
It is because only when we turn towards the ‘I Am’ or the Subject can the non-dual reality be intuited. Otherwise, as you say, the knowledge remains only on the conceptual level for the ego-mind. This is more fully explained in Chapter 8 of The Path of Sri Ramana.
I also explain this more here.
Arunachala is the Self, Arunachala is Ramana Maharshi
Only you exist
Nonduality means that only you exist.
And I am not speaking of the ‘body-mind’, but That which cannot be put into words, That which you truly are.
Q. Isn’t it the ego that wants to turn within or end the ego? | Why we need to turn within | Advaita Paradox
Q. Isn’t it the ego that wants to turn within or end the ego?
Tom: yes, it is only the ego, also known as thought or mind, that requires a teaching or needs to turn within.
Because the ego-I is an unreal illusion and doesn’t really exist, when it turns within towards the Subject or I AM, the ego and all multiplicity/duality disappear and the (true) Self is revealed as Self by the Self.
Through (the ego) turning within, the Reality that is Eternal Timeless Thoughtless Bliss-Love is revealed. This Reality is what you are, what you have always been, and is beyond words, but the above words (…thoughtless bliss…) are just used as indicators.
Without turning within, it is merely the ego proclaiming ‘there is no ego’ or ‘all is already perfect’ or something similar, and the teaching remains on the superficial levels of concepts and words only, and the illusion of suffering and duality continue.
As long as ego-mind-thoughts persist, there is need for effort or spiritual practice (sadhana), for ego-mind-thought is duality, ego-mind-thought is suffering.
As long as separation or multiplicity is perceived in any way shape or form, there is need for effort or sadhana.
As long as identification with body-mind continues (and therefore desire, fear and suffering continue), there is need for effort or sadhana.
However the Self itself is beyond any such efforts!
Oh, the paradox! However, turn within towards your Self, towards I AM, towards the Subject, and all these paradoxes will be resolved and dissolved in the Reality-That-Is.
❤️
Also see:
HOW TO END EGO-SUFFERING (and why other spiritual paths tend not to ultimately work)
Emptiness vs Fullness
Sometimes non-duality is described as nothing or emptiness. But this is only from the point of view of the mind. In truth, non-duality is total and utter fullness, it is not empty in the least.
It is the total cessation of suffering, it is the total extinction of multiplicity, duality and individuality.
It is beyond words but we can call it unchanging incomparable fullness-beingness-bliss or love absolute.
Oh Arunachala! Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Guru. Bhakti.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was often said to have had no guru, but he himself considered the mountain-hill Arunachala to be his Guru.
Ramana considered the actual form of Arunachala to be the divine Self, the Pure Consciousness dwelling in the Heart. This is a very strange notion for the rational Western mind, but for those who have tasted Bhakti, or devotional love, it makes complete sense.
Maybe some of you have experienced this: the Guru grips you, magnetically pulls you towards Him (or Her or It) and showers you with His Grace – you have no choice but to Obey. You somehow become convinced that the Guru’s form is itself the Absolute, the Pure Consciousness that Alone Is, and have no choice but to fall at His feet in Loving Devotion.
Ramana wrote very little himself, but of his written works he did write several devotional poetic works effusively…
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Sadhanai Saram (the essence of spiritual practice): Devotion and Self-Enquiry | Ramana Maharshi | Advaita Vedanta | PDF download
The PDF file available on this link contains beautiful profound & essential Advaita Vedanta teachings for those who are genuinely seeking liberation. We find this text not only summarises Bhagavan Sri Ramana’s teachings and Advaita Vedanta teachings, but goes into them in tremendous depth with a clarity that is often not found elsewhere, Namaste
The following are the first 21 verses from Sadhanai Saram (The Essence of Spiritual Practice) by Sri Sadhu Om. This text contains very beautiful and deep teachings for those who are genuinely seeking liberation. We find this text not only summarises the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana as well as Advaita Vedanta teachings, but goes into them in tremendous depth with a clarity that is often not found elsewhere.
These initial verses presented below beautifully display both devotion to Bhagavan and the path of Self-Enquiry.
You can download the full text of Sadhanai Saram here as a PDF file
Invocation
- O Sri Ramana, bestow Your Grace upon me so that I may in experience flawlessly attain the unequalled and unsurpassed essence of the practice (sadhana) of Self-knowledge, the excellent path “Who am I?” which you have discovered to be the central and foremost among all the various paths.
- O Sri…
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Tom Das 