Knowledge and Religion

What is ignorance

The thing that separates the path of Self-Knowledge from most paths that lead within is its immediacy. The energy and excitement of this path comes from the knowledge that what you are looking for it right here now. That’s because even now you are the Self.

You do not have to create the self or even destroy real obstacles. All you have to do is see fully what you are right now and you are free. So what is the obstacle to your freedom anyway? We call it ignorance.

But ignorance is a strange creature. After all what is it? Until you started reading this blog you were ignorant of it. For how long were you ignorant?

You can say that your ignorance was beginning-less. But it did have an end. In an instant you found out about this blog, in that instant your ignorance was put to an end. And it ended so completely it was like it never came into being.

Similarly, this path is called the path of sudden awakening. That’s because at one moment you feel that you are limited to an object that you see like the body, mind, or I thought. In an instant you see that, you were a mistaken; you find that you are the unlimited Consciousness. In that instant you see that limitation had never come into being and you are free.

So now here’s how things switch around. When I write about your self nature I don’t have to use my memory at all; it’s my direct experience. It’s like sitting here in Los Gatos, the town where I live, and writing an article about Los Gatos. I don’t have to remember what Los Gatos is like. All I have to do is look around.

But when I write on ignorance and suffering then I have to use my memory, and think back to what it was like to be limited, live in fear, and suffer. I have to think back to my practice and how I overcame the limitations and fear that you face now. It’s a good thing that I am writing this down before I forget about ignorance completely.

When I first heard of this teaching I was surprised that there was such complete freedom. Now I am surprised when I see suffering anywhere. I hope that this raises lots of questions in your mind. Limitation is not real. When you question it limitation falls apart.

And if you need help, ask here and we can explore and find answers together. If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

Finding that which you never lost

Here’s another verse from the poem on Self-knowledge by Sri Sankaracharya:

44. True—the self is always here and now; yet it is not apparent owing to ignorance. On ignorance being destroyed the self seems as if it were gained, like the necklace on one’s own neck.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

We don’t create our own Self-Nature we just overlook that which is right before our eyes. So what is this necklace on one’s own neck? I was really groggy this morning when I got up.

Right before leaving for work, I wanted to put on this very expensive necklace that my wife gave me. It was gold with diamonds in it. So I looked in the draw of my desk where I usually keep it. Sure enough it wasn’t there. I was starting to feel to feel uncomfortable as I was late for work and could not find my necklace.

So I looked in other places where I may have put it. I still couldn’t find it. My uncomfortableness turned into panic. Where did I put my valuable necklace? Then I asked my wife and she saw my problem right away and said, “There is one place where you forgot to look.” Then pointing to my neck she said, “Right on your own neck.” I was so sleepy I put on my necklace on and then forgot about it.

It wasn’t a matter of experience; the whole time I was experiencing my necklace. It was just a matter of ignorance as to where it was. Without any change in my experience, just by knowing that my necklace was where it belonged, my panic turned into relief.

Ok, so that’s fine for necklaces, but how does that apply to your own Self-Nature. I don’t have to give you your Self. You already have that. In fact the Self is all that you are. But taking yourself to be limited to the objects that you see, you miss the subject that you are. The problem is that the objects that you see are too small for you. It’s like wearing a shoe that doesn’t fit. That’s why you seem to suffer.

And thus you need a mirror so you can see what is on this side of your eyes. This Self is the one thing that you can’t see. Like the sun knows light by being light, you know the Self by being the Self, and not as a separate object. Once you know what you are you know what the objects that you see are too. And so you finally know what’s right before your eyes, the both sides become one.

And if you feel that this teaching is different from anything you ever heard you will have lots of questions. Please feel free to ask. Here questions are welcome and will set you free. Ignorance is just a series of assumptions. Questioning is the weapon that destroys the assumptions that seem to keep you stuck in limitation. And if you need help you can ask right here and we can explore and find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Michael 

The begining is very close to the end

Here are some more comments and questions from Andy:

Hi,
I read your reply online. Thanks for taking the time. I actually have never had any sort of a deep experience and have never really applied myself to meditation. For about a year now I have been on a search to make some sense out of life. It was brought on by being told that my work contract will not be renewed in 2008. I ended up reading some books on Quantum Physics which basically were saying that the ancient spiritual practices of the East were being confirmed by experimental science and so my search went in that direction.

I think I've actually been searching all my life but have never persisted. Anyway, I believe everything that I read in your book, but believing and knowing are different things. One thing I don't get is this: We are told that we are not our bodies or our minds etc. Yet we are also told that everything that exists is all the one mind of God. But if that is so, then that must also include our bodies so how can we say we are not our bodies if our bodies are a part of God? This is a real problem for me because every time I want to "attempt" to BE myself this conflict comes up, of "rejecting" or "renouncing" the body, or seeing it as an illusion but at the same time trying to see everything as one.

I base this on a quote I read somewhere on either your site or on a site about Sri Ramana Maharshi, which roughly went "See the face of God in everything". Well that is easy until it comes to saying "I am not my body", because surely the face of God is also in my body since there is no duality so my body can't be separate. While I do believe that I am pure Awareness I don’t know what my attitude to my body/mind should be. To neglect it can't be ok, but to pamper it also not, but there has to be some conscious relationship to it since its senses are my only way to make my way in the "dream" world. For me, at the moment anyway, saying that I am not my body seems to be the opposite of seeing everything as one because if I'm not my body then my body is separate. Now after writing all that I'm more confused than ever,

Andy

Hi Andy,

It is good that now when you are facing a challenge in your life, you are looking for something deeper. Here you will not be disappointed. You will get to see the support and substance of the universe, not as theory, but by your own direct experience. And it is simpler and more amazing than any theory that you could construct with your mind.

You may not think this now, but it is a real advantage that you have not yet started a meditation practice. I’ve talked to so many people who have picked up this practice and that practice without any knowledge as to where these practices will lead.

So now out of habit, even though they heard about Self-Knowledge, they continue to struggle with their mind and struggle with their body. What a waste of time when as you rightly said the Self is everything. It is ridiculous to make up obstacles in your mind and then struggle with them. There has to be a better way.

So now, how to deal with this awkward thing called a body. First, before you decide whether to beat it and starve it, or to pamper it, look into the place of happiness. Happiness comes from the place where you experience it, and not from the objects that you see, including the body.

Now I don’t want you to know this as a theory. I want you to know this by your direct experience. So like an experimental scientist, the next time you feel happiness or peace notice were you experience it. Is it in an object that you see, or does it bubble up right from your core?

Once you are clear on exactly where happiness comes from, I think you will see that the body is innocent. It is not the cause of your happiness, and it is not the cause of your misery either. Thus treat the body like a temple. In this life you were fortunate to hear about this profound truth that can take you beyond birth and death. You recognized the value of this teaching. And now you have the opportunity to see fully the meaning of these words. So treat the body with care and use your life wisely.

Furthermore, once you find this happiness, which is unaffected by the ups and downs of life, you will be a renunciate. Not the image of a renunciate, living in a cave and begging for food. But as your life twists and turns, and as you lose and gain contracts, there will be an inner equanimity that cannot be touched. This equanimity springs right from the source, which is the real support of every being.

So start your meditation practice by looking into the source of happiness. But I don’t want to leave you without an answer to the question that bugs you the most. If I am not even the body and mind, how could I be everything?

At least you are smart enough to ask this question. I didn’t ask it and I got a complete surprise. That’s because in my practice, once I got a sense of how to proceed, I started eliminating everything objective, including the body and mind. I was the seer and everything that I saw was just an object in my Awareness and not me.

I thought that at the end I would eliminate everything and end up as pure space like Awareness. But to my surprise the world that I thought was outside came inside. I saw that the make up of the universe was just my mind. It was not separate from me in any way.

So what happened? When I was eliminating everything objective, I was eliminating all the limitations that I called myself. After all if I am limited to a body the world will appear to be made up of separate bodies. The same is true of any other limitation that I may take as true.

Without any limitations it turned out I was everything. It is like the space in a pot learning that it wasn’t limited by the pot. When it eliminated the walls of the pot it became all space.

But what I want to do is slow you down a little. This is not an insult to your intelligence. Here the beginning and the end are very close. What I want to do is make sure you see the difference between a beautiful theory in your mind, and the direct experience of reality.

It is better to go slowly, step by step, and be awed by the experiences that you have along the way, rather then pick up the theory in about two minutes and be stuck with just a theory. After all, why have a theory when you can stand beyond old age, disease, and death?

So everyday spend a little time and meditate on where you actually experience happiness. Remember, this is not where you think you experience happiness. It is where you actually experience it. So for lack of better words, feel it out and tell me what you find.

At the end, you will be surprised by how deep Self-Knowledge runs. For instance if you know enough physics and math you will be able to look at the theory of Quantum Physics and see what’s true and the parts that don’t quite cut it. You will be able to write a reply to this theory and everyone will think that you’re the second coming of Eisenstein. But you will know this really simple secret. You are just describing the nature of consciousness, and you know consciousness because that’s who you are.

However there is a difference between a man of Self-Knowledge and a scientist. A scientist tries to learn what makes the universe tick. But you will see well beyond the universe. That’s because the universe, as vast as it might seem, is only a state of mind. You will find that your being, which is consciousness, and bliss is free of any state of mind.

And if you have more questions please feel free to ask. Here questioning sets you free. In my opinion we have too much faith. We have faith in what the world is, we have faith in what we are, and we have faith in what we think. This type of faith is not the faith that will set you free. So break it up with lots of questions. And if you need help you can ask right here and we can explore and find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael 

A proper introduction to your Self

So if you need an introduction to who you really are, here it is:

34. I am free from qualities and actionless, eternal, undifferentiated, untainted, formless, ever free and pure.

35. Like space, I am always pervading all, in and out, unswerving, ever equal in all, pure, untainted, clear and unshaken.

36. That which remains eternal, pure, ever-free, all alone, unbroken bliss, non-dual, Being-Consciousness-Bliss, transcendent am I.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

Well just in case you felt that you were deficient in some way or another now you know. That is unless you want to argue with one of the greatest sages that ever lived.

I can hear the argument now. Sankara says, “You are unbroken bliss!” and you say, “No I’m not.” Sankara says, “You are eternal, undifferentiated, untainted, formless, ever free and pure.” And you say, “No I’m not.” Who do you want to win that one? I think we can find good reason to give Sankara the benefit of the doubt here.

But I have good news; you are not looking for a state of mind, you are looking for a state of being. If you can follow what I am about to say here, you will cut years off your practice. Moreover, you will get to experience a state of being that you never would have dreamed possible, and you will be able to verify what Sankara said above without me elaborating on it any more.

The way you think when you read this blog, or write an article, or question is good. It helps you to grow and become aware of your vast potential. But this type of linear thinking is limited, and does not hold up to any state you may find yourself in. So when your identity shifts and broadens you have to think as that state, and not like this.

If you attempt to hang on to your habitual linear way of thinking when your identity begins to shift, you will find your mind spewing out garbage. That’s because this way of thinking is incapable of comprehending that state of being. And if you believe your thoughts you will find yourself in a fight with your mind.

If this seems confusing let’s attempt to illustrate what this means. I’m sure you heard of thinking from your gut. For instance you may have a gut feeling that this is where you can find an end to suffering. Right here you experienced a different way of thinking.

Or you may be in love and when you are in love, you think from your heart, right? Here’s a simple example where your state changed and so did your thinking. But let’s say you fell in love, but being a statistician you felt that you had to think about love from an analytical point of view.

It might sound a little like this, “Now I am 49.5% in love and it seems to be rising at a 5% slope. Now it is flattening out to 3%. Oh no, now I am running into a negative slope of 1.5%.” You can see that all of this thinking is just babble and has nothing to do with the state that you are in.

Or let’s say I started thinking like a tour guide. It might sound like this: “Welcome to the state of love. It is often depicted by the color red, and a picture of cupid shooting an arrow into the heart of his victim.” Now I hope you can see from these ridiculous examples that the only satisfying way to think about love is from love itself, and that is from the heart. You do not have to stop all the other thoughts. All you have to do is recognize that they come from the analytical mind trying to evaluate something it knows nothing about.

As you meditate more on your Self-Nature you will find your very identity start to shift out of limitation. It is important to recognize that as these shifts occur, the thinking that is valuable is the thinking that comes from within these states, not your thinking about the state.

You have to understand the new state that you discover from within it. Don’t assume that you are still the old identity visiting and experiencing this new and expanded space. If you shed your old identity, like a snake sheds its skin you will find that even when you are not looking or thinking about it you will remain as your new freedom.

How many people go into an art museum and read the captions on the paintings to try and figure out what they’re suppose to be experiencing? This is like trying to evaluate you new identity with your old way of thinking. What I want you to do is forget the captions and experience the paintings directly.

One more example, how many people travel to a different country with a different culture and never experience that culture? That’s because they bring their old thinking to this new situation. I come from the United States and I am not well traveled. But since my wife is Swiss, I had the opportunity to go to Switzerland.

Here I was surprised to notice that the Swiss sense of time and space was really different than in the United States. It was a difference in culture that I had not expected. But by experiencing things through the eyes of the Swiss, I felt that my horizons really expanded by my trip to Switzerland. If I had brought my old American way of thinking to Switzerland , I would have missed this wonderful opportunity.

And now let’s travel to another country and see how things look from here. This country is your own self-nature, and you know it because you are it. Here the whole universe is inside of your. Like there is nothing that is outside of space, there is nothing outside of you. What is inside, what is outside, what is all around is just your own mind. Your identity is the one mind.

Everything is your own thought from the trees, to the stars, to the chair that you are sitting on. And when your mind disappears the whole universe disappears too, and like a dream when you wake up it was never there.

But you are comfortable sitting right in your own home, the source of Consciousness and Bliss. You remain as the peace, which is the background and substance of your mind, and of the whole universe. Just remain here and be at peace. Because here lies your true identity.

The best way to describe your own self-nature is to be there yourself. And I hope that this blog raises lots of questions for you. That’s because the best way to step out of limitation and into your innate freedom is to question. And if you need help with your questions ask here and we can find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

Are you free from death

Here’s is another wonderful verse from the poem Self Knowledge by Sankara:

31. The whole objective world such as the body is born of ignorance and transient like a bubble on water. Know the Self to be distinct from it and identical with the supreme.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

In this verse lies the secret of Self-Knowledge. In order to know this secret you have to answer two questions. First, ignorant of what? Second, how can anything be free from transience?

Ok, if Sankara says that ignorance is the cause of this world that we see, what is this ignorance? We have five senses and a mind, and they are all directed outward. There is no sense directed back to look at the knower of the mind, senses, and world.

Looking outward we see objects but we miss the substance that they are made of. They are made from our nature which is consciousness and bliss. Not knowing the source of happiness we feel incomplete and hope to gain happiness from the things that we sense. And so the world comes into being so that we can find the happiness and completion that we long for.

But the world of objects is in constant motion. Not only are the objects changing, but our senses and mind are changing too. It is astounding when you realize all the things that have to come together so you can gain happiness from something as simple as an ice cream cone.

First the object has to be there in a condition that we can eat it. That is un-melted and clean. Next our appetite has to be there. If we are sick in the stomach, ice cream might be the last thing that we would ever desire. Next our mind has to be there. If as we are about to bite into are favorite ice cream cone, and we hear that our best friend passed away, all the happiness that we hoped to get from the ice cream disappears.

So finally there comes a point where you start to doubt if you are ever going to find the happiness and completion that you want in the world. At that point are you left forsaken with no happiness? No, by the grace of God you find a mirror who points you inward. That mirror is a sage and he or she points you to the place where you actually experience happiness. 

So with the knowledge that happiness comes from inside, and not from objects in the world you practice. And before long you see that happiness, which you thought was out there, is on the inside, and not a separate thing. You are now well on your way to waking up.

Ok, now for our second question. Everything that we see is in motion. It is born, matures, goes through old age, and in the end there is death. This applies to the universe itself as well as all of the objects in it. Even if an object lasts for billions of years on its last day life seems too short. 

This is what we call transience. No creature wants to die and disappear. So is there a place were we can find refuge from old age, disease, and death?

It is obvious that on the level of the mind we cannot know a changeless state. That’s because the mind can only know by comparing one object to another. It knows old by young, long by short, big by small, and fast by slow. But with stillness there is no place for the mind to get a foothold into it. So if you want to know a place that is changeless there has to be another way of knowing, doesn’t there?

When you wonder about transience the sage comes along and, like a mirror, points you back to the place where you stand. That’s the place where you see all of the changes from. Without a reference point of stillness, how would you know about all the changes, including those occurring in your mind?

Since you know your mind, it is obvious that you stand free of your thoughts, as the stillness of Consciousness. So you know stillness because you are stillness and not as a separate object.

I often wonder about why so many people try to control and still their mind, even when their aim is Self-Knowledge. Believe me, to a sage, trying to control your mind is ludicrous; it’s like trying to control the Buddha. What I think happens is that people mix up the still Awareness, which is the background of the mind, and think it is a state of mind.

If you find yourself by habit trying to still your mind, it is better to recognize that your identity is not the flow of thoughts, but the still, non-volitional, ever present witness. Standing as the witness, let your mind alone. It will find its own balance.

If you think that this will completely stunt your spiritual growth look at it this way. When your heart is filled with joy do really care what you are thinking about? Stand as joy and let the thoughts do as they please.

Ok, now back to the subject again. Just when you think that things are hopeless. You are caught in suffering and seem to be drowning in the waves of change, which lead to old age, disease, and death, by grace, a sage comes along and points you to the last place you would expect. That is your own Self-Nature.

You grab on to either your Existence, Consciousness, or Bliss and hanging on for dear life you ride it to the source. There, at your very source you find the everlasting peace that you were looking for; this peace is unborn and will never die. See that’s what Sri Sankara was talking about.

So if liberation is your goal, make this one change in your life. Question as much as you can. Become a pest because you question so much. Why plod along with concepts that seem to cause limitation and suffering when by simply questing them you can find your freedom. And if you need help with your questions ask here and we can find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

A faster method to reach enlightment

Here is a question from Andy who just read, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive.”

Hello,
I just finished reading "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive". I have to say that at the end I was rather disappointed, for the following reason. Near the start of the book you mention certain methods of meditation (Hatha Yoga, "others work with visualizations" etc.). This chapter (Where can I go) gives the impression that we are going to learn a method of meditation which is more efficient than those mentioned.

Then in the chapter called "Then who am I anyway" on page 20, you state "I point out how vast and experiential THIS meditation is..........". Well, for me, once again the impression is given that this book is about a method of meditation which is more efficient than the traditional methods.

But when we come to the end of the book there has been no practical instructions on how we can overcome the belief that our bodies and the physical world etc. are real. Most people searching for enlightenment/realization anyway believe that our true nature is whats left when mind/body/world etc. are absent, but believing that and getting there are two different things, and so as I stated above, I was disappointed that there is actually nothing in this book that shows us HOW to get there (where we already are).

Or maybe I misunderstood along the way. Any clarification would be appreciated,

Andy

Hi Andy and thank you for taking the time to read “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive” and to ask this question. It's always amazing to me how much time people spend in their meditations battling with their bodies and their thoughts.

What I think they do is that in this vast mind, which the Buddha called the “Buddha Mind,” they stake out one tiny spot and call it me. The rest they call other. Then standing as this spot they ask, “What secret and efficient technique can I use to find Self Realization?” 

Well here’s the secret, you are already what you are looking for. Yes That Self that you are looking for is Yourself. Of course if you feel limited and if you suffer then you want to find this freedom. But this sets up an awkward situation. Most secret techniques assume that you learn something, and then you do something, or think something, or in some cases you don’t do something, and you don’t think something.

Then once you get your actions and thoughts lined up bingo, you somehow reach enlightenment, at least as long as your thoughts and actions stay put. But as they tend to do, the body and the thoughts change, and that’s when you feel as if you lose your enlightenment. Then it’s back to the drawing board to find that state again.

Here’s where I come in. I can sell you “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive volume 2” on how to reach the next stage of enlightenment. Maybe I’ll double the price of that one.

But all joking aside, if you know anything about what the sages of the past and present say, you know that you are unborn and undying existence-consciousness-bliss, that you are the essence of mind, which neither comes nor goes. I am sure you know that the method you use has to line up with the place that you want to go. So how could a series of thoughts and actions take you to that, which was there before thoughts and actions ever came into being?

But I am not leaving you high and dry. I am not saying that here’s an amazing state of enlightenment, but you can’t get there. Rather I am saying that there must be a different way.

What you are looking for is a matter of identity. Even now before you do one thing, you are not limited to the thought ‘I’. Just like you don’t have to think that you are a man to remain a man, you don’t have to think about consciousness to remain as consciousness. You know consciousness because you are a conscious being.

Ok so here’s the secret technique, just separate what you’re supposed to experience from what you actually experience. Look at your experience directly and see if it lines up with all of the rumors that you heard, like you are a body with a mind inside, and all of the other little thoughts that are supposed to tell you what you are like “I can’t.” Even the thought that the mind/body/world etc. are absent, is just a rumor until by your direct experience, you see what it means.

To start with see if happiness comes from what you see or do, or if it comes right from where you experience it. If you try this method you will find that what you actually experience is a lot brighter and more amazing than you might have thought. If nothing else you will find that life becomes fresh and new. And I have confidence that you will see that the you, and enlightenment are one and the same. All this without setting up your mind and body as an obstacle, and then struggling with them.

By the way, here is a link to an article on how we meditate. See the last article called sitting meditation at,

http://www.light-up-your-life.com/Newsletter/Vol_I_number6.html

Use this to get ideas on how you can set op a meditation practice that inspires yourself.

If you feel suffering, sometimes the cause is based on assumptions that are so close to you that you just overlook them. That’s when it is good to ask questions. Just remember that when you find the assumptions that seem to cause limitations these assumptions are gone. That’s because they cannot stand up to the bright light of Awareness. And if you ask here we will destroy limitation together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

 

 

The why and how of spiritual practice

Even a Supreme master, like Sankara, when he talks about your Self-Nature refers you to the ancient masters of the Vedanta. That’s because it’s important that you know that the truth of your own Self-Nature does not depend on any teacher.

It was there before the appearance of this teacher; it is there while this teacher appears to be alive, and able to sneak this secret wisdom onto the internet, for all to see; and when this teacher appears to pass away, he shines as the same self that he was in life.

So here’s the next verse from Sri Sankara’s poem on Self-Knowledge:

Doubt: If everybody is the light of Consciousness that shines by its own light then everybody must be effortlessly realized. So what’s the big deal?

(30) On the strength of the Vedic teachings, not this — not this, eliminate the assumed limitations that you put on the Self, and realize that you identity is not an individual but the Supreme Consciousness and Bliss; you are that!

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

This is the path of Self-Knowledge. But this is a different type of knowledge than you might be used to. When you pursue most types of knowledge you attempt to read, and learn as much as you can about the subject that you are interested in.

But in this knowledge you unlearn. That’s because even now you are the same perfection that you were before you were born. Today for instance, in Aikido class some of the families brought their babies to class. I could still see the perfection shining in the babies’ eyes. They were curious and open, with an inner smile. In the beginning that’s the way you were too.

But as you grew up you started to learn many things about yourself. Like how you were the body that crawled around, and the mind that wanted food, and mommy. You started to learn that the happiness that you experienced came from objects in the world.

Then as you grew up even more, you learned many more things about your identity. That you are a son or a daughter, a mother or a father, a doctor, lawyer, or a teacher. You also learned about the world, your mind, and your body too. You assumed that you were learning the facts.

So everything that you learned about your self said that you are limited to a mind and body that looks for happiness in the world. But at some point in your life, this starts to feel too limited. That’s when by grace you stumble across articles like this one, hidden on the vast internet, that point you back to your original nature.

Here we say that the sense of limitation is only an assumption and not what’s true. But of course if you feel suffering then it will feel like limitation is real. So that’s why you practice and you meditate with intensity. Because you want to remove these unfounded assumptions of limitation, so you can find the freedom that is innately yours.

When a student once asked Ramana Maharshi, “How can I find myself?” Maharshi answered, “Go back the way you came.” He did not mean go back to the United States . He meant unlearn everything that you learned about yourself.

So how do you do this? It is called “not this — not this”. This means that you are the seer and not an object that you see. Simply eliminate what you see as not being your identity, and rest in your natural state of Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss.

Just remember this one little thing and you will be on your way to Liberation. As you do not see your eyes, but see from them, you do see your Self. You know your Self because you are your Self. This Self is your true home and it is here that you can truly rest in peace.

If you attempt to find your home in a state of mind, or as the body it will be like resting on an alligator, mistaking it for a log. One snap of its jaws and you will be caught by old age, disease and death.

But like when the clouds move away and the sun appears, when you find your true identity the sense of a separate I disappears so completely that it's as if it never came into being. You stand as the sun and not as a separate observer of the sun.

You find the freedom that was always there just waiting for you to notice it. This freedom does not depend on the condition of the world, the body, or the mind. In fact you will find that there is no reason why you are free. But you can say this, “You are free because your nature is freedom.”

Hidden in these blogs is a secret map that takes you from where you think you now stand to freedom. If you look at the archives, and start with the earliest blogs, and read forward you will find this map.

As I said above, suffering and limitation is caused by mere assumptions. By simply questioning these assumptions they will fall apart. That’s why here we encourage questioning. Why live your life by dully plodding along and never questioning the things that seem to limit you?

So if liberation interests you at all, make this one change in your life. Question as much as you can. Become a pest because you question so much. And most of all question everything that seems to cause suffering. And if you need help with your questions ask here and we can find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

Stepping into the light

A return to your true identity as the light of Consciousness, puts an end to suffering and limitation. Here Sankara gives some clear instruction on how to return to the source that you never left:

(28) Only the Self illumines the senses, intellect, etc. as a lamp does objects such as pots. The Self is not illumined by them as they are inert.

Doubt: If the Self cannot be made know by the intellect there will be no knower to know the Self and thus the Self cannot be known.

(29) Answer: To see a light, no other light is needed. So also, the self being self-effulgent needs no other means of knowledge. It shines by itself.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

So the question is how can ‘I’ know the Self? What the questioner overlooks is that she is taking the thought ‘I’ to be herself. But like every other thought that she thinks, ‘I’ is just a thought. If you concede the thoughts are anything at all, they are inert objects. So can you be an inert object?

Just look for yourself. Do you feel like an inert object, or do you feel like an intelligent being? If it wasn’t for your light these thoughts couldn’t even exist. So objects depend on your light to come into being like a fan depends on electricity to do its job.

Electricity has nothing to do with fan but they both have to come together for the fan to move. Similarly, thoughts have nothing to do with you, the awareness that illumines them. But without your light there would be no thinking.

So at this point you may think, if ‘I’ can’t know this Self, then what good is this Self; it is just a fantasy. Once again here you are taking the Self to be an object, apart from yourself, that you see. But you have to know the Self in a different way. You don’t know it by standing apart and looking at it like you look at a thought. You know the Self because you are the Self. Indeed the Self stands in its own glory without the need for a separate light.

So in your meditations notice how you are the light that illumines the thoughts, and not any of the particular thoughts. You do not do this by will or discipline. As proof, even if you get swept away by an old and painful thought pattern, you are aware of that too. When this wave that arises in your mind subsides, notice that you were aware the whole time.

Even if you fall asleep during your meditation and think, “Darn I just fell asleep!” it only proves that you were aware of falling asleep. When you wake up again notice that you are even aware of being absent.

The result of this type of meditation is that more and more you will find your self standing in your natural state. You will no longer identify as a thought in the mind. And you know what will happen? Even your mind will celebrate and feel your freedom. You will see that what you thought was your enemy, the mind, is actually your friend and helper.

One last thing that’s worth mentioning here. You can wake up and take your rightful place as Awareness very quickly. That’s because what you are looking for you already are. Just remember that if you embrace this path you are on the path of sudden awakening.

And if you feel stuck in any old and limiting framework, start asking questions. You will find that when you question suffering it will fall apart. That’s because when you question limits it shows that you no longer believe in them. And if you need help just ask here and we can destroy suffering together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

 

 

If you are afraid, look here

I love to quote other masters like Sankara. In these masters is the evidence that I didn’t create or think up the Self. That your own nature was there, before there was even a before. So here is another verse from Sankara’s verses on Self Knowledge.

27. Like a snake in the rope, mistaking the person for the Self, one is subject to fear. If, on the other hand, one knows oneself not as the person but as the supreme Self, one is altogether free from fear.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

Self-Knowledge equals freedom from fear. But what is this snake in the rope?

It’s the evening and the sun is setting with a red glow over the hills. You are walking through the brush, in a hurry to make it home before it gets dark. You feel a bite on you leg. Turning around you are confronted by a venomous rattle snake. You limp to the other side of the road as fast as you can. Then you sit down and start to cry. As you feel the pain slowly creeping up your leg you know that you are going to die.

Now you are shaking with fear as you wonder exactly what death is like. Are you going to go to heaven or to hell? Then you start thinking of all of your loved ones, and all of the things that you wanted to accomplish. You get sadder and the tears stream out of your eyes.

Just as the last ray of the sun sinks over the hill, an old man with a white beard and a flashlight walks by. He sees you and asked, “What is the matter.” You tell him about the snake bite. That it was much too late to get help, and you are going to die.

The old man asked, “Where was that snake.” You point across the path and the old man turns on his flashlight and shines it there. And through your tears you can see an old rope strung from a bush.

The old man points to a twig with a little blood on it right next to the rope. The old man said, “See that twig with the blood on it; that’s what scratched you.” He said, “What you thought was a snake is only a rope.” With that knowledge and the evidence to back it up, your fear and sorrow turned to joy and the two of you walked home together.

Now I am sure this is exactly how they told the story in ancient India. But just in case I accidentally took a few liberties the meaning is the same. After all nothing really changed. The snake was always a rope. So the thing that caused your sadness and fear was not the snake, because the snake wasn’t even there. It was just the thought of the snake, which was an illusion.

Now when are you free from fear? When you feel safe. When you’re in the safety of your own home. But as long as you feel that there is another lurking outside the walls of your house, who could get to you in an instant, there is room for fear.

This other could be another animal or person, but it could also be the changing condition of your body, and mind. How many people who practice meditation assume that their mind is their enemy and spend their meditation fighting with their mind?

What they do is take the one mind, remember one without a second, divide it into two, and then in your meditation the thought of ‘I’ fights the rest of the mind. You get those dialogs in your head where you yell, "Shut up; shut up!" and mind yells back, "Why should I!"

But what if you discover that you are not centered in the mind at all. That your real identity is not a thought in your mind, but the supreme Self, which is Consciousness and Bliss. If you weren’t limited by the walls that you thought made you up, wouldn’t you be everything?

When you see that there is nothing separate and different from you, and that there is no out there separate from you, where can there be fear? Now just like the old man didn’t create the rope, you don’t create this oneness. It is there for you to discover. And the way you discover it is by being the Consciousness and Bliss that you are. Standing here you will see the way things really are.

So start questioning the way you think things are. That’s like questioning the snake. When you look to see what the snake is you find only the rope. When you question your mind you find that it is only the supreme Consciousness, your own Self-Nature. And if you need help resolving limitation ask here and we will dissolve it in truth.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

 

Where is find lasting happiness

Here is another verse from the great Indian Sage, Sankara from his poem, Self Knowledge.

Doubt: Sometimes or other every individual experiences, “I am happy,” and thus the being-consciousness-bliss experience is plane. How can one make the experience one and unchanging?

(25) Answer: Being-Consciousness is the Self; the ‘I’ mode or modification is of the intellect; these are distinctly two. However, owing to ignorance, the individual mixes them together and thinks, ‘I know’ and acts accordingly.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

The question here is how can I be happy always? But there is one problem with this question. That is the meaning of the word I. Here the questioner is taking a mere thought ‘I’ to be his or her self.

How can a thought that by its nature is always in motion, experience lasting anything? If our nature is just the thought ‘I’ you would have to concede that it is impossible to find this lasting happiness. 

But what if your nature is the still consciousness that knows the thoughts? To get a sense of what this is you have to ask the question, “Where do I stand so I can see the changes that occur in my mind?” If you were in motion, and the mind was in motion how could you see change?

Also where do you stand so that you can see your thoughts at all? If you were just a thought how could that one thought be aware of the other thoughts in your mind? Look for yourself and see if this is true.

What these questions point to is that you are not a thought at all, but the changeless still awareness that sees the presence and the absence of thoughts.

The problem is that our mind can only see that which changes. Since our self-nature is still, there is no way that our mind can grasp it. So we have to find another way; we know the Self, because we are the Self, and not as a separate thing.

But because you don’t see the place where you stand, you can easily overlook it, and take it to be the thought of ‘I’. This is too limited for you. That’s because this ‘I’ thought connects with the mind and body, which are afflicted with old age, disease, and death.

Now taking something that’s limited like a thought to be your self is a critical error; I call it a supper superimposition; it is the difference between finding lasting happiness, or being tossed around by the ups and downs of life, like a leaf floating in the ocean. If you make a mistake this big you have to blame it on something, right? So here we blame it on ignorance.

But ignorance is a nebulous substance. For instance how long have you been ignorant of this blog site? Your ignorance was infinite, right? With one exception, you found this site, and in that instant you were freed of your ignorance.

How long have you been ignorant of your self-nature? You can’t really say. But when this knowledge dawns ignorance disappears so completely, that it is as if it never came to be. Then you get to stand in your natural freedom.

So you do not have to create lasting happiness. You already are it. Just recognize that happiness lies in the stillness of Consciousness, and not in a mere thought or experience.

What I said here is different enough that it should raise lots of questions for you. If you are surprised or even afraid, ask and find out more. One thing you can say for sure about this type of meditation; it will never get boarding.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael