I am sure in your life, somewhere you had the occasion to tell a lie. Now in order to support the lie, you have found that you have to create more lies. This is to convince others of the falsehood. A lie very rarely stands on its own. It requires supporting constructs which are either half truths or lies themselves. We sometimes go to the extent of believing in the lie. If we do that we have a twin life. An outward exterior where we behave as truthful person while in the interior we have that lie within us. A stage comes when we justify ourselves of the lie in terms of convictions, beliefs etc and is done actually to help someone and that it is harmless etc. So you can see that a lie always creates a series of situations which are unstable. We cannot reconcile it with reality however hard we try. You can be the shrewdest person ,but you will not survive this struggle. This is why most convicts get caught.You can never build anything out of pure imaginary constructs.
The situation we understand clearly is exactly what happens when we tie an identity to an lie called the ego. An ego or false self is the greatest lie imaginable. An unlimited identity is tied to a small limited body-mind system and we live in this lie whole through our life trying to support it with another bigger set of lies and convictions. It so happens we are also ignorant of this mountain of lies. In life at least when we tell a lie ,we know we are telling a lie. But ego is one which induces you to forget the lie after creating it. Now after doing this it tells you stories about you , interpretations to convince you of the perceptions.
Accepting that this needs to be rectified is the first step. However you can see that people fall back even after accepting the lie. They don't want to come out of the foolish paradise that they have created themselves. Spiritual life is just a way to eradicate this parasite from our system so as to become truthful. Because more truthful you are, lesser the burden on you to support it.The effort is only to stay there. As you become lighter, actions happen spontaneously. Instead of becoming narrower in our action we extend out in actions and expand out our mind. The more expansive it is freer you feel and peaceful it is.
The ego or false self is more of an instrument to comprehend our surroundings so that the being can exist. What has happened is that this instrument is given the glorious distinction of our identity.Impressions are used to create memories and vasanas. This is to give us a sense of continuity of existence through the faulty system of ego. When you ask someone how is life, ego intervenes tells them about the sad memories of your existence, the fleeting nostalgic instances of happiness that were there. Happiness is held as an illusory thing by the ego since it itself is far from it. What is more it convinces you so much that there is no other identity possible other than ego so that you are trapped for ever. Whatever you try to do to come out of its clutches, it is resisted by it with all strength. Afterwards it would mock at you and say " See what happened?. Did you achieve anything?"
There is only one thing that the ego is afraid of . That is the secret. The moment you turn inward and question as to the existence of the ego, it will die. That is why atmavichara of self abidance is such a powerful tool as explained by Ramana Maharshi. The question "Who am I?" or "Where am I ?" to the mind , if you diligently do, results in its running away . However there is a trap here. This is not a question to the mind that we need to ask. It is more like a probe into our being feeling for the answer, more like an insight. An insight is not brought about by logical deductive thinking. It is more of an intuitive probe. We turn the mind inward and probe into its innards trying to transcend it. The more the time you spend in self abidance the lesser the impact of ego. Finally a time comes when it becomes natural in you. If you ask a question to the mind "Who am I?", all it creates is a sequence of nonsense answers on the top of thoughts. What we need is an insight as to the reality not a question and answer session with the mind.
There are no prescribed methods here. It is a subjective experiential effort. You need to evolve a method on your own using whatever method that is comfortable for you. As thoughts come in your mind become aware of them and try to probe deep into your being of its source. If your probing is right, the thought vanishes. Remember you are not trying to kill the thought. You are just watching it and probing its source in the awareness.
When we do realize and settle down on our true identity or awareness, the thoughts , the sensations, misery ,happiness are all perceived as just fleeting things which you watch from a vantage point of self. You do use the mind but only for perceiving the reality exactly as it is nothing more and nothing less. You transact in the world with an instrument called mind.
The situation we understand clearly is exactly what happens when we tie an identity to an lie called the ego. An ego or false self is the greatest lie imaginable. An unlimited identity is tied to a small limited body-mind system and we live in this lie whole through our life trying to support it with another bigger set of lies and convictions. It so happens we are also ignorant of this mountain of lies. In life at least when we tell a lie ,we know we are telling a lie. But ego is one which induces you to forget the lie after creating it. Now after doing this it tells you stories about you , interpretations to convince you of the perceptions.
Accepting that this needs to be rectified is the first step. However you can see that people fall back even after accepting the lie. They don't want to come out of the foolish paradise that they have created themselves. Spiritual life is just a way to eradicate this parasite from our system so as to become truthful. Because more truthful you are, lesser the burden on you to support it.The effort is only to stay there. As you become lighter, actions happen spontaneously. Instead of becoming narrower in our action we extend out in actions and expand out our mind. The more expansive it is freer you feel and peaceful it is.
The ego or false self is more of an instrument to comprehend our surroundings so that the being can exist. What has happened is that this instrument is given the glorious distinction of our identity.Impressions are used to create memories and vasanas. This is to give us a sense of continuity of existence through the faulty system of ego. When you ask someone how is life, ego intervenes tells them about the sad memories of your existence, the fleeting nostalgic instances of happiness that were there. Happiness is held as an illusory thing by the ego since it itself is far from it. What is more it convinces you so much that there is no other identity possible other than ego so that you are trapped for ever. Whatever you try to do to come out of its clutches, it is resisted by it with all strength. Afterwards it would mock at you and say " See what happened?. Did you achieve anything?"
There is only one thing that the ego is afraid of . That is the secret. The moment you turn inward and question as to the existence of the ego, it will die. That is why atmavichara of self abidance is such a powerful tool as explained by Ramana Maharshi. The question "Who am I?" or "Where am I ?" to the mind , if you diligently do, results in its running away . However there is a trap here. This is not a question to the mind that we need to ask. It is more like a probe into our being feeling for the answer, more like an insight. An insight is not brought about by logical deductive thinking. It is more of an intuitive probe. We turn the mind inward and probe into its innards trying to transcend it. The more the time you spend in self abidance the lesser the impact of ego. Finally a time comes when it becomes natural in you. If you ask a question to the mind "Who am I?", all it creates is a sequence of nonsense answers on the top of thoughts. What we need is an insight as to the reality not a question and answer session with the mind.
There are no prescribed methods here. It is a subjective experiential effort. You need to evolve a method on your own using whatever method that is comfortable for you. As thoughts come in your mind become aware of them and try to probe deep into your being of its source. If your probing is right, the thought vanishes. Remember you are not trying to kill the thought. You are just watching it and probing its source in the awareness.
When we do realize and settle down on our true identity or awareness, the thoughts , the sensations, misery ,happiness are all perceived as just fleeting things which you watch from a vantage point of self. You do use the mind but only for perceiving the reality exactly as it is nothing more and nothing less. You transact in the world with an instrument called mind.
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