So what is this core or reality ?

In the previous blog we decided that our core is the only unchanging thing and hence it may be the thing that we need to find the everlasting peace or joy that all of us are looking for. I as an individual change but I also have an aspect of myself that does not change - can I get more information about it? Well let us take a statement of Sri Ramana Maharshi - "


"How do you feel the ‘I’ now? Do you hold a mirror before you to know your own being? The awareness is the ‘I’. Realise it and that is the truth."

So this awarness or our own Being is the reality. This core is basically Being. It is referred in the Advaita philosophy as Sat Chit Anand (Being, Awareness, Bliss). These are the quality of our core. But many people contend that they cannot feel this Being. From here on things get difficult for many but according to Sri Ramana Maharshi, this is the easiest thing to do - that is to Be. To Be one has to do nothing. Infact one cannot ever "not be". Let us take these 2 questions:


1> Can you Be without thinking?

2> Can you think without Being?


To the first question we  are not sure, if we can be without thinking. I feel you can, atleast of a few nanoseconds. Infact between any 2 thoughts there is always a gap and thus we can safely say yes, I can be without thinking. Now let us take the second question, this we all know for SURE, that I cannot think without Being. I have to Be to think or else who is the thinker? Right? So we see there are 2 concepts here, thinking and Being. Of this we are all familiar with thinking but most of us have not spent sufficient time with this Being. This is what the ancient Hindu sages prescribed, and Sri Ramana Maharshi in the 20th century too. This is according to me the crux of the matter, to distinguish between thinking and Being and spend more time just Being. From this comes the Bliss that we all long for.

What is reality?

 Bear with me, this is a long one but I will try to make it as short as I can. 

Most of us, have some kind of idea about what we think is real and what we think is false. Most people would feel that if we can feel, see or hear something it is real. Is it? You feel, here and see things in your dream is it real? Well I don't want to get into this quite complicated subject, I will cut the chase. In Advaita (one of system of philosophy of Hinduism) we consider something as real if it exists always. Now this is a good test. But why should one be concerned about reality at all. Who cares, right? Well there is a good reason to care. Reality gives us a sense of stability, after all it is not going to change. The unreal will always create apprehension, it is going to change, and to what we don't know, it may be according to our expectations or may be not. In any case there is the sense of uncertainty that most of us know is not a good state. In fact the entire insurance industry is based on this uncertainty, as we humans don't like bad surprises. So having some reason to care about reality, now we can proceed to find out what is real out there.

Sadly we realize that there is nothing out there that does not change or is there ? Well people usually cite the sun, moon, earth etc as real unchanging things but we know according to science this is not the case. But then we can argue at least for practical purposes it is real. But there is a problem with this too. Every night as we go to sleep all these change - we experience daylight in our dreams, we sometimes dream of strange places may be not on earth, and so on. The point being that what we experience in one state changes in another state of mind like in waking or dreaming. This naturally makes us wonder about the things we think are real or permanent. Our dream and sleep states seem to be able to turn our solid real world upside down in a matter of minutes. But a dream is only a dream we need not worry about it, right? But in a dream we worry nevertheless. If you had a tiger chase us in our dream we know how much we run and perspire when we wake up. So our dream seems to be real atleast during the duration of the dream. 


An astute reader may say well the experiencer of the dream as well as waking world is real since he does not change.  How do we know we don't change after a dream? Do we? Deep within each of us we know our experiences change but we as the experiencer do not? This we know is true. I am always the same person. I don't change at my core even though my body or my experiences change. 


So we have come to a point that everything is pretty much unreal except our core as an individual. Well what is this core? If I find it may be I will be happier since now some of my anxiety of change can be allayed. So reality is that which does not change and the only thing that does not change seems to be our core. In the next blog we will try to go into this core.

It is all about Being

One key point that Sri Ramana Maharshi brings up is to distinguish between thinking and being. Especially thinking about being and being itself. For example in this quote:


"..The state we call realization is simply BEING oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything."


The difference is subtle but very important. According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, it is thought that binds one and causes suffering, like in this statement:


" ..You must exist in order that you may think. You may think these thoughts or other thoughts. The thoughts change but not you. Let go the passing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging Self. The thoughts form your bondage. If they are given up, there is release. The bondage is not external. So no external remedy need be sought for release. It is within your competence to think and thus to get bound or to cease thinking and thus be free. "


So it becomes clear that for realization, which is nothing but the state of simple and pure Being, one needs to avoid thinking. This sounds very counter intuitive but this is what the great Guru is prescribing. Once one trusts these words and avoids thought during meditation and at other times unless necessary one will be thrown back to a state of pure being. The difference can only be felt, it cannot be known in the conventional sense, since knowing implies thinking/analyzing etc. This leads us to the fact that feeling or experiencing is the key and not thinking.

Introduction

Hi,

I am hoping to blog about Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings here. It would primarily be based on some of the famous books like "Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi" and "Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi"

I have studied his books for some years now and feel that I can share some of my understanding to you and also learn in process. This is my interpretation of his teachings, and I am no expert this, I am just another student of this great teaching, so please take my interpretation with a grain of salt.


Regards
Arvind