Stay As "I AM"

The primary aim is to fix the mind in the Heart at the feet of the Lord shining as the Self and never to forget Him. ~ Sri Ramana

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Annamalaiswami : I should, perhaps, always try to think : " I am That ".

Sri Bhagavan : Why should one think " I am That " ? He is That only. Does a man go on thinking that he is a man ?

Mr.Anantachari : The belief " I am a man " is so deep that we cannot help thinking so.

Sri Bhagavan : Why should you think " I am a man " ? If you are challenged, you may say, "I am a man". Therefore,the thought-"I am a man " - is called up when another thought, say, "I am an animal", protrudes itself. Similarly, the thought " I am That " is necessary only so long as the other thought " I am a man ", persists.

D.: The thought " I am a man " is so natural.

Sri Bhagavan : Not so. On the other hand, " I AM " is natural. Why do you qaulify it with " a man " ?

D.: "I am a man " is so obvious, whereas " I am That " is not understood by us.

Sri Bhagavan : You are neither "That " nor "This ". The truth is " I AM ". " I AM THAT I AM " according to the BIBLE also. Mere " Being " is alone natural. To limit it to " being a man " is uncalled for.

D.: (Humorously) If vote be taken, the majority will be on my side (Laughter).

Sri Bhagavan : I cast my vote also on your side (Laughter). I say also, " I am a man " ; but, I am not limited to the body. It is in " ME ". That is the difference.

D.: The limitation ( upadhi ) of being a man, cannot be got rid of.

Sri Bhagavan : How were you in deep sleep ? There was no thought of being a man.

D.: So, the state of deep sleep must be brought about even when one is awake.

Sri Bhagavan : It is jagrat--sushupti.

Some people even say that while they sleep they are enclosed somewhere in the body. They forget that such an idea did not persist in deep sleep, but rises up only on waking. They bring their waking--state to bear upon their deep sleep.

(The lights went down and all retired.)

-- from " TALKS WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI ", pp.555--56

Simply Be-Ing!

For those who live in Self as the beauty devoid of thought, There is nothing which should be thought of. That which should be adhered to is only the experience of silence, because in that supreme state nothing exists to be attained other than oneself. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

Realize your pure Be-ing. Let there be no confusion with the body. The body is the result of thoughts. The thoughts will play as usual, but you will not be affected. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

The Self is only Being, not being this or that. It is simple Being. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

Know that the mind which illumines the illusory world is [a mere reflected light] like the glittering mirror-light, reflecting the bright sunlight.

The powerful One who [always] clings to the reality will never be afraid, due to mental delusion, of anything at all.

It is by God's Grace that you think of God (Sri Ramana).

We are always the SELF.  Only, we don't realise it.

How to see God? To see Him is to be consumed by Him (Sri Ramana).

Know that the nature of Brahma-swarupa, which is [one] without another [i.e. which is non-dual is the ancient glory. Though that ancient swarupa [Self or Brahman] appears to be like a void [sunya] it is not a void; [it is] the one single existence-consciousness [sat-chit], which is the whole reality itself. (GURU VACHAKA KOVAI 1055)

ATMA VICHARA

The mind should discontinue its habit of perpetually moving outwards in an unlimited way, pointlessly enquiring ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Who is he?’ It should turn within, holding itself as the object [of attention] and without interruption zealously enquire ‘Who am I?’ This alone will confer the ultimate benefit.
Guru Vachaka Kovai v 384

When one unceasingly enquires ‘Who am I?’ with an acute intellect, the body-ego completely perishes through the attention that penetrates to the centre of oneself. There, reality will rise and flourish as ‘I-I’, terminating the differences that, like the azure blue of the sky, are mere appearances.
Guru Vachaka Kovai v 385

By means of the question, ‘Who is the one who questions?, all the questions that one asks, which arise through duality, will die at their very source. That question, ‘Who is the questioner?’, becoming the invincible Brahmastram, will obliterate the appearance of ‘otherness’ that manifests in the darkness of ignorance.
Guru Vachaka Kovai v386

SELF-REMEMBRANCE

Since consciousness is all pervasive, nothing can arise from within it and then become separate from it. The idea of a separate jiva is therefore just an erroneous idea that arises through ignorance.

Giving up your identification with the body if you would remain quietly absorbed in the sense of the Totality – in the “I AM” – without attachment, you will know all that is to be known. When you thus remain immersed in Consciousness, the personal, identified consciousness having lost the power of maya, will itself take you to its Source, which is what you Are – Reality.

The world does not exist without the body; the body never at any time exists without the mind; the mind does not exist at all apart from consciousness; and consciousness too does not exist apart from being.

Hold on to the sense of “I AM” to the exclusion of everything else. The mind being thus silent, will shine with a new light and vibrate in the Totality. When you keep “I AM” feeling in the focus of awareness and watch yourself ceaselessly – when there is continuous witnessing of all movements in Consciousness – the conscious and the unconscious will for a time play the game of hide and seek until finally the two become one and the one becomes the Totality. The individual then merges in the witness, the witness in pure Being.

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Remembering the Self, one’s real nature, without faltering even slightly, is the eminent victory of true jnana.

With your consciousness hold fast to and never abandon the substratum, your real nature, the Supreme that can neither be held nor relinquished.

Is the Self something far away that you have to touch? The higher Self exists as one but it is only your thoughts that make you feel it is not. You can neither think about it nor forget it.

Other than the thought of the Self, any other thought you ay associate with, is a mere mental construct, foreign to that Self. 

Thinking of the Self is to abide as that tranquil consciousness. Padam, the true swarupa, can neither be remembered nor forgotten.

The Self is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is the reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or that. All such thoughts would only end in bondage. The purport of meditation on the Self is to make the mind take the ‘form’ of the Self. In the middle of the heart-cave is the pure Brahman directly manifest as the Self in the form of ‘I-I’. Can there be greater ignorance than to think of It in manifold ways, without knowing it as aforementioned?

-Padamalai

Gems From Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi

1. This is suitable only for ripe souls. The rest should follow different methods according to the state of their minds.
2. To all deep-thinking minds, the enquiry about the “I” and its nature has an irresistible fascination. Where the “I” merges, another entity emerges as “I” - “I” of its own accord. That is the perfect Self. The duality of subject and object and trinity of seer, sight, and seen can exist only if supported by the One. If one turns inward in search of that One Reality they fall away. Those who see this are those who see Wisdom – No more in doubt.
3. The ignorance is identical with the “I”-thought. Find its source and it will vanish. That which rises in this body as “I” is the mind. Thoughts alone constitute the mind; and for all thoughts the base or source is the “I” thought. “I” is the mind.
4. When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: “To whom do they arise?” It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?" The answer that would emerge would be "To me." Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?,” the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. Once the effort ceases, the state becomes natural and the Supreme takes possession of the person with an unbroken current. Until it has become permanently natural and your habitual state, know that you have not realized the Self, only glimpsed it.
5. We are ever in sushupti. Becoming aware of it in jagrat is samadhi. Aham vritti (I-thought) is broken, Aham sphurana (the “I-I”) is unbroken, continuous. The ajnani cannot remain long in sushupti because his ego pushes him out of it. The Jnani, although he has scorched the ego, it continues to rise again and again due to prarabdha. So, for both the Jnani and the ajnani the ego springs up, but with this difference: whereas the Jnani enjoys the transcendental experience, keeping its lakshya (aim, attention) always fixed on its source, … the ajnani is completely ignorant of it. The former is not harmful, being a mere skeleton of its normal self, like a burnt-up rope. By constantly fixing its attention on the Source, the Heart, the ego gets dissolved into it like a salt doll which has fallen into the ocean.
6. The “I” casts off the illusion of “I” and yet remains as “I”. The I-I Consciousness is a prelude to Self-Realization: when it becomes permanent (Sahaja), it is Self-Realization, Liberation. Knowing the Self is being the Self. To know the Self is to be the Self – as there are not two separate selves. This (state) is thanmaya nishta (abiding as That).
7. Before one becomes established in the Self without any breaks, without any changes, one has to contact and enjoy the Self many times. By steady meditation and the continued practice of self-inquiry, one will finally become permanently established in the Self, without any breaks.
8. A person can still carry on with the ordinary day to day business but he does not identify himself with the activities, but watches them like a dreamer watching a dream. There is no more to do, and no more to be attained. This is the Supreme State of Absolute Bliss. In the words of Bhagavan, it is the SELF and it can be realized by one and all by Self-enquiry.
9. The Self is that where there is absolutely no “I”-thought. That is called “Silence.” The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is “I”; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self. Undifferentiated consciousness is the only true reality. The word “Aham “ is itself 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 comprises all. How? Because Aham signifies existence itself.

Gems From Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

1. The ‘I am’ came first, it’s ever present, ever available, refuse all thoughts except ‘I am’, stay there. You are sure of the ‘I am’, it’s the totality of being, remember ‘I am’ and it’s enough to heal your mind and take you beyond. Hold on to the ‘I am’ to the exclusion of everything else, the ‘I am’ in movement creates the world, the ‘I am’ at peace becomes the Absolute. 
2. Immortality is freedom from the feeling ‘I am’, to have that freedom remain in the sense ‘I am’, it’s simple, it’s crude, yet it works! The ‘I am’ is the sum total of all that you perceive, it’s time bound, the ‘I am’ itself is an illusion, you are not the ‘I am’ you are prior to it. The knowledge “I Am” has spontaneously appeared on your Absolute state; therefore it is an illusion. The feeling “I Am” is itself an illusion, therefore whatever is seen through this illusion cannot be real.
3. The ‘I am’ is your greatest foe and greatest friend, foe when binding to the illusion as body, friend when taking out of the illusion as body. The beginning and the end of knowledge is the ‘I am’, be attentive to the ‘I am’, once you understand it, you are apart from it. The ‘I am’ concept is the last out post of the illusion, hold on to it, stabilize in the ‘I am’, then you are no more an individual. As long as we imagine ourselves to be separate personalities, one quite apart from another, we cannot grasp reality, which is essentially impersonal. First we must know ourselves as witnesses only, dimensionless and timeless centres of observation, and then realize that immense ocean of pure awareness, which is both mind and matter and beyond both.
4. Only be the ‘I am’, just be, the ‘I am’ has appeared on your homogenous state, the one free of the ‘I am’ is liberated, you are prior to the ‘I am’. Remain focused on the ‘I am’ till it goes into oblivion, then the eternal is, Absolute is, Parabrahman is. 
5. Prior to birth where was the ‘I am’? Don’t contaminate the ‘I am’ with the body idea, “I” as the Absolute “Am”; not the ‘I am’. Understand that the knowledge ‘I am’ has dawned on you and all are its manifestations, in this understanding you realize you are not the ‘I am’. When this concept ‘I am’ departs there would be no memory left that ‘I was’ and ‘I had’ those experiences, the very memory will be erased. 
6. Out of the nothingness, the ‘I am’ or beingness has come, there is no individual, the knowledge ‘I am’ not the individual – has to go back to its source. Go on to know the ‘I am’ without words, you must be that and not deviate from it for even a moment, and then it would disappear. 
7. Just sit and know that “you are” the “I Am” without words, nothing else has to be done; shortly you will arrive to your natural Absolute state. What is it in you that understands this knowledge “I Am” without a name, title or word? Sink in that innermost center and witness the knowledge “I Am”. Sitting quietly, being one with the knowledge ‘I am’, you would lose all concern with the world, then the ‘I am’ would also go, leaving you as the Absolute. The core of this consciousness is the quality ‘I am’, there is no personality or individual there, reside there and transcend it.
8. Limit your interests and activities to what is needed for you and your dependents' barest needs. Save all your energies and time for breaking the wall your mind had built around you. The dissolution of personality is followed always by a sense of great relief, as if a heavy burden has fallen off. Every existence is my existence, every consciousness is my consciousness, every sorrow is my sorrow and every joy is my joy - this is universal life. You will see the world as a show, the most entertaining show indeed.
9. Be friendly with your undifferentiated state, your true Self. There was never any division, but you are under the delusion that you are not one with it. You are never bound by body and mind. You are limitless. You, the Absolute are aloof, you are beyond any experience. In the absence of the basic concept 'I am' there is no thought, there is no consciousness. Consciousness is a great fraud; it is the cause of all suffering.