Very small book...Read it and u will come know to know the purest form of Spiritual Knowledge...No theories, no jargons and no mysteries. Spiritual laws have been explained in very simple way. The cost of the book is Rs.7/- and 16 Pages.
- “Who am I?” can be summarized as the core concept of the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
- The “I” thought is the first to arise in the mind. When the enquiry “Who am I?” is persistently pursued, all other thoughts get destroyed, and finally the “I” thought itself vanished leaving the supreme non-dual Self alone.
- When the false identification of the Self with the phenomena of non-self such as the body and mind, ends, then there will be an illumination.
- Body changes, Mind changes, Karma changes, Spirit also changes (otherwise it cannot be merged in Supreme Power or God). If “I” am not the body, mind, karma or soul, then what am “I”? As seers said, We are Supreme Power.
- The process of enquiry is not an easy one. As one enquires, “Who am I?”, other thoughts will arise and one should not yield to them and ask oneself “To whom do these thoughts arise?”.
- Through constant enquiry one should make the mind stay in its source, without allowing it to wander away and get lost in the mazes of thought created by itself.
- There are many methods practised by different people such as chanting, meditation, yoga and other disciplines only to train the mind to stay on single source of thought and improve concentration.
- “CONCENTRATION & NO THOUGHT” are the basic foundations for spirituality. No growth in spiritual path unless we have these both.
- As we go on identifying and knowing what is real and unreal (thoughts which are real and unreal pertaining to you), u will not entertain unnecessary thoughts by which you slowly destroy the thoughts and the Self is realized.
- ‘Not this’ – if u can do this for every thought or idea u get, then not only u can control urself from unnecessary thoughts but also will get the best thought for a particular problem or situation.
- The problem of man is that he is not actually what he thinks and is far away from reality. We assume, guess and feel about ourselves which is always far from truth.
- When the world (feelings, emotions, expectations, realizations, etc.) which is what is seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self.
- Mind causes all thoughts. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. In deep sleep there are no thoughts and there is no world. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self (as the residue). What is referred to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross and cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (jiva). (Can anyone explain this in more simple way and in depth…pls.).
- That which rises as “I” in this body is the mind.
- Thought = I = Mind = Heart.
- Arises = arises = arises = stay in
- To whom has this thought arised? To body, to mind, to ego, to inferiority complex in us, to self image, to your social reputation….check every thought in this manner, then u will have a clear understanding of your emotions.
- Classify every thought as to whom – mind OK – But is this thought related to Body, Mind, Senses, Ego, hatred, love, passion, self image, inferiority complex, customs, past experience or your expectations.
- Thought arises -> to whom has this thought arise -> Answer is me -> who am I? -> Mind -> which type of emotions this mind is having at present -> Emotions of body, ego, senses, hatred, love, passion, self image, inferiority complex, customs, past experiences or your expectations.
- When thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire “to whom do they arise? And what type of thoughts are they?” When you question your thoughts without any attachment and see them as they are, those thoughts and their effects on you will go away. Then that moment that thought dies away. As soon as a thought dies, mind will fall on another or new thought. Then u has to handle in it in the same way. The time between the death of a thought and birth of a thought is the most valuable to us. This stage of no thought is what we all desire and are trying all types of methods only to retain that stage. As u increase this ‘no thought stage’ u will go INTERNALLY more and more and EXTERNALLY less and less. Continued practice is what is required to RETAIN this stage and many people spent all their life time for this gain mastery of this stage. This stage is the most important stage for meditator and is the foundation for all other spiritual practices.
- When the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled and when the breath is controlled, the mind becomes quiescent.
- Q: one pointed concentration is accepting only one thought and rejecting all other thoughts. Though one is accepting a single thought or mantra or image, he is rejecting all others. So it brings the person almost to the same place of “Who am I?” method?
- Through meditation on the forms of God and through repetition of mantras, the mind becomes one-pointed. When the mind is occupied with a name or form, it will grasp that alone. When the mind expands in the form of countless thoughts, each thought becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind becomes one-pointed and strong.
- Without yielding to the doubt ‘Is it possible or not?’ one should persistently hold on to the meditation of the Self.
- Try not thinking of the Results. Try and Try inspite of many failures.
- One should completely renounce the thought “I am a sinner” and concentrate keenly on meditation of the Self; then one would surely succeed.
- Mind is only one. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds – auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil.
- The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people.
- All that one gives to others one gives to one’s self.
- As thoughts arise, they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry.
- The Self is that where there is absolutely no ‘I’ thought. That is called “Silence”.
- Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self.
- Bhakti Marg: Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how and what should not be done and how not? We know the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?
- As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any residue in the very place of their origin is non-attachment.
- One can know oneself only with one’s own eye of knowledge and not with somebody else’s.
- There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.
- Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects.
- When the mind goes out, it experiences misery.
- When the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned and enjoys pure Self-Happiness.
- What is called the world is only a thought.
- When there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness and when the thought appears, it goes through misery.
- Remaining quiet is what is called wisdom-insight. To remain quiet is to resolve the mind in the Self.
- Desirelessness is refraining from turning the mind towards any object.