Spiritual life is always with its ups and downs. One moment we are elated and another we feel we are lost. There is always the sense of ego grasping us and binding us down into this world. As long as we have this body we always would be like that. But the important point to note is that are we aware of the fact that our attention wavered?. If so it means that our awareness is showing us that our attention went back to the person instead of being in the presence. Now ask yourself who is aware of the fact that your attention wavered?. That is the real I. Only the unchanging self can observe the changing self. We need a background of changeless-ness to observe change. That which is unchanging is the real self I. If you say my attention wavered a bit, the entity saying that must itself be unchanging . Look for that sense in you and stay with that sense.
In Kena upanishad , the understanding of the self is described by the disciple
"It is not understood by the wisest of the wise. It is capable of being understood by the utmost fool of the fools. "
Why is this not understood by the wisest of the wise?. Because when you think you know the self, you are actually understanding it using your intellect or mind. Reading a lot of the scriptures and listening to great gurus, wise people would think they have understood paramartha. But it is only an understanding and it is still to be experienced in real life and practiced to be BrahmaNishta . Why can it be understood by the fool of the fools. Because the self is so near to you, and if you don't know the shastras, you can experience it if you are unwavering,
So the Self or Brahman is not knowable and yet is not unknown. It is not knowable because it is not subject to ordinary means of intellectualizing since it is not an object like the body or mind. At the same time it is not unknown because in experience you can feel it and have even identify with it.
The true nature of your self is seen everywhere. Look around you. Each and every object, each and every person is moving in that consciousness only. So even in the person who is angry at you his mind and his hands are moving in the consciousness. The same consciousness that enables you to see and comprehend the anger. There is nothing that is not illumined by it. We don't see the illumining reality and look for it everywhere. In each and every movement , each and every thought you are experiencing its presence. Just as you start seeing things in that deep way, just feel for it. Think about what is that the thing behaves this way. It must be consciousness.
An example of this reality which is hidden and yet shining through all objects is the presence of moon in the night which illumines the night sky and all objects. The sun is the source of this light but it is not experienced directly at night. Just like that the source of all movement, the source of all objects and their interactions are all happening because of this pure consciousness. So you are seeing the Brahman indirectly all the time.
When Ramana Maharshi was asked to show God, he just moved his fingers and the people listening started to see in the direction pointed. But he said , " See it is not the direction, it is the movement of the fingers you should feel. The movement cannot come without the pure consciousness. The cause of these is God or the Self".
Spiritual practice is not elaborate at all. It is about feeling for the stillness within. The poignant silence of the unwavering bliss within us. And identifying itself with it as the one who is observing all. Pure existence ,knowledge and bliss merged into that unchanging reality. How light life would become if you identify your true identity. Instead of the playful energy of the child like ego , your stillness beckons you into the ocean of truth.
Only through direct experience would you sense the reality. All experience good or bad is an opportunity for you to see truth. After all good and bad are labels made by the ego from its stand point. If experience is just experienced without doership who is affected by it?.
One budhist monk had a dream that he was a butterfly in that dream. He woke up from the dream and he was unhappy. So his disciples asked him "Guru why are you unhappy. After all it was only a dream". Then he replied. "How do i know whether i am a monk dreaming that i am a butterfly. It could be well that i am actually a butterfly dreaming that i am a monk".
Whatever you think doesn't make any difference. In your life time how you live is unimportant to the ultimate reality. Truth is always the same whether you realize it or not. But understanding it will considerably lighten your journey because falsehoods are always a burden.
In Kena upanishad , the understanding of the self is described by the disciple
"It is not understood by the wisest of the wise. It is capable of being understood by the utmost fool of the fools. "
Why is this not understood by the wisest of the wise?. Because when you think you know the self, you are actually understanding it using your intellect or mind. Reading a lot of the scriptures and listening to great gurus, wise people would think they have understood paramartha. But it is only an understanding and it is still to be experienced in real life and practiced to be BrahmaNishta . Why can it be understood by the fool of the fools. Because the self is so near to you, and if you don't know the shastras, you can experience it if you are unwavering,
So the Self or Brahman is not knowable and yet is not unknown. It is not knowable because it is not subject to ordinary means of intellectualizing since it is not an object like the body or mind. At the same time it is not unknown because in experience you can feel it and have even identify with it.
The true nature of your self is seen everywhere. Look around you. Each and every object, each and every person is moving in that consciousness only. So even in the person who is angry at you his mind and his hands are moving in the consciousness. The same consciousness that enables you to see and comprehend the anger. There is nothing that is not illumined by it. We don't see the illumining reality and look for it everywhere. In each and every movement , each and every thought you are experiencing its presence. Just as you start seeing things in that deep way, just feel for it. Think about what is that the thing behaves this way. It must be consciousness.
An example of this reality which is hidden and yet shining through all objects is the presence of moon in the night which illumines the night sky and all objects. The sun is the source of this light but it is not experienced directly at night. Just like that the source of all movement, the source of all objects and their interactions are all happening because of this pure consciousness. So you are seeing the Brahman indirectly all the time.
When Ramana Maharshi was asked to show God, he just moved his fingers and the people listening started to see in the direction pointed. But he said , " See it is not the direction, it is the movement of the fingers you should feel. The movement cannot come without the pure consciousness. The cause of these is God or the Self".
Spiritual practice is not elaborate at all. It is about feeling for the stillness within. The poignant silence of the unwavering bliss within us. And identifying itself with it as the one who is observing all. Pure existence ,knowledge and bliss merged into that unchanging reality. How light life would become if you identify your true identity. Instead of the playful energy of the child like ego , your stillness beckons you into the ocean of truth.
Only through direct experience would you sense the reality. All experience good or bad is an opportunity for you to see truth. After all good and bad are labels made by the ego from its stand point. If experience is just experienced without doership who is affected by it?.
One budhist monk had a dream that he was a butterfly in that dream. He woke up from the dream and he was unhappy. So his disciples asked him "Guru why are you unhappy. After all it was only a dream". Then he replied. "How do i know whether i am a monk dreaming that i am a butterfly. It could be well that i am actually a butterfly dreaming that i am a monk".
Whatever you think doesn't make any difference. In your life time how you live is unimportant to the ultimate reality. Truth is always the same whether you realize it or not. But understanding it will considerably lighten your journey because falsehoods are always a burden.
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