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QUESTION
30
Disciple: Even though the heart and the Brahmarandhra
alone are the loci fit for meditation, could one meditate,
if necessary, on the six mystic centres (adharas)?
Master:
The six mystic centres, etc., which are said to be loci
of meditation, are but products of imagination. All
these are meant for beginners in yoga. With reference
to meditation on the six centres, the Shiva-yogins say,
"God, who is of the nature of the non-dual, plenary,
consciousness-self, manifests, sustains and resolves
us all. It is a great sin to spoil that Reality by superimposing
on it various names and forms such as Ganapati, Brahma,
Vishnu, Rudra, Mahesvara, and Sadashiva",
and the Vedantins declare, "All those are but imaginations
of the mind." Therefore, if one knows one's Self
which is of the nature of consciousness that knows everything,
one knows everything. The great ones have also said:
"When that One is known as it is in Itself, all that
has not been known becomes known." If we who are
endowed with various thoughts meditate on God that is
the Self we would get rid of the plurality of thoughts
by that one thought; and then even that one thought
would vanish. This is what is meant by saying that knowing
one's Self is knowing God. This knowledge is release.
QUESTION
31
Disciple: How is one to think of the Self?
Master:
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 as that. The very
thought of thinking will 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 the
pure Brahman is directly manifest as the Self in the
form 'I-I'. Can there be greater ignorance than to think
of it in manifold ways, without knowing it as aforementioned?
QUESTION
32
Disciple: It was stated that Brahman is manifest
as the Self in the form 'I-I', in the heart. To facilitate
an understanding of this statement, can it be still
further explained?
Master:
Is it not within the experience of all that during deep
sleep, swoon, etc., there is no knowledge whatsoever,
i.e. neither self-knowledge nor other-knowledge? Afterwards,
when there is experience of the form "I have woken up
from sleep" or "I have recovered from swoon" -- is that
not a mode of specific knowledge that has arisen from
the aforementioned distinctionless state? This specific
knowledge is called vijnana. This vijnana
becomes manifest only as pertaining to either the Self
or the not-self, and not by itself. When it pertains
to the Self, it is called true knowledge, knowledge
in the form of that mental mode whose object is the
Self, or knowledge which has for its content the impartite
(Self); and when it relates to the not-self, it is called
ignorance. The state of this vijnana, when it
pertains to the Self and is manifest as of the form
of the Self, is said to be the 'I'-manifestation. This
manifestation cannot take place as apart from the Real
(i.e. the Self). It is this manifestation that serves
as the mark for the direct experience of the Real. Yet,
this by itself cannot constitute the state of being
the Real. That, depending on which this manifestation
takes place is the basic reality which is also called
prajnana. The Vedantic text Prajnanam Brahma
teaches the same truth.
Know this as the purport of the scripture also. The
Self which is self-luminous and the witness of everything
manifests itself as residing in the vijnanakosa
(sheath of the intellect). By the mental mode which
is impartite, seize this Self as your goal and enjoy
it as the Self.
Copyright
Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, India.
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