Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Compass)

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Be As You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair)". Rolling Stone. 2005-02-10. Archived from the original on 2018-01-28. Part III is about Gurus and transmission of teachings. It takes on such questions as: is a Guru necessary, and what constitutes a Guru (i.e. must it be a living human? Can it be a book?) The second chapter in this part is about sat-sang, which may be literally translated as “sitting with the guru,” but refers to a kind of transference that flows from being together.

And I can see myself becoming stronger and more stable and peaceful and happier all the time with these techniques.Beginners in self-enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana to put their attention on the inner feeling of ‘I’ and to hold that feeling as long as possible. They would be told that if their attention was distracted by other thoughts they should revert to awareness of the ‘I’-thought whenever they became aware that their attention had wandered. He suggested various aids to assist this process – one could ask oneself ‘Who am I?’ or ‘Where does this I come from ?’ – but the ultimate aim was to be continuously aware of the ‘I’ which assumes that it is responsible for all the activities of the body and the mind. If you looking for the way of enlightenment (self-realisation) or just answers, I guarantee this book is a must have, be warned though, his teachings are explained well in the book but to carry out the practice, well that's a totally different matter all together. very well written, amazing the feeling I get listening to this song 2016-03-18T19:44:26Z Comment by Ciscus It is more like learning to let go of all the illusions and discover and resonate with and be the eternal Self that you are, at one with all life, underlying all. I have heard this put in many ways in many teachings old and new, quite well, before. But the difference here, with the "I Am That I Am" and "Who Am I?" (or "Who Is It That Is Experiencing This Difficult Experience?") approach (repeating one of these consistently when in the face of doubt over external object-identification problems or just as an awakening agent for the soul), as well as the stable, calm, Self-assured, egoless way in which Sri Maharshi presents his tools and philosophy, through this I have found great inner peace, possibly for the first time in my entire life --

Question: When I do this and cling to my self, that is, the ‘I’-thought, other thoughts come and go, but I say to myself ‘Who am I?’ and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so? Find yourself and define yourself on your terms. Oscar Wilde once said with his usual wit: Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. As humorous as this might seem, it's a basic summation of the truth. Yet, you can't be yourself if you don't know, understand, and accept yourself first. It should be your primary goal to find this out. David Godman, who has created this lovely compilation of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teaching, was born in 1953, three years after Sri Ramama Maharshi passed away. Yet at an early age David Godman, while reading Arthur Osborne’s compilation of Ramana Maharshi’s teaching, felt his whole view of the world and himself transformed. That was the beginning of a life time dedicated to studying and sharing Ramana Maharshi’s teaching, and bringing forth this remarkable compilation. This practice of self-attention or awareness of the ‘I’-thought is a gentle technique which bypasses the usual repressive methods of controlling the mind. It is not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs. The method and goal of self-enquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not. In the early stages effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential, but once awareness of the ‘I’-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive. From then on it is more a process of being than doing, of effortless being rather than an effort to be. Ramana puts everything in clear and simple words, and Hindu terms and Sanskrit words are also explained. There is no need to be familiar with Hindu scripture before reading this book.Self-enquiry should not be regarded as a meditation practice that takes place at certain hours and in certain positions; it should continue throughout one’s waking hours, irrespective of what one is doing. Sri Ramana saw no conflict between working and self-enquiry and he maintained that with a little practice it could be done under any circumstances. He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal practice were good for beginners, but he never advocated long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of a meditative life. Avoid fixating on the past and not letting yourself grow. One of the most unhealthy approaches to being oneself is to make a decision that who you are is defined by a moment or period of time, after which you spend the rest of your life trying to still be that person from the past rather than someone who is still you but grows with the passing of each season and decade. Allow yourself this space to grow, to improve, to become wiser. [2] X Research source Even if you don't agree with all of Ramana's methods and ways of expressing nondual knowledge, there's no denying that this is an absolute classic in the field. For many this is the only book on nondualism they will ever need.

In the early stages of practice attention to the feeling ‘I’ is a mental activity which takes the form of a thought or a perception. As the practice develops, the thought ‘I’ gives way to a subjectively experienced feeling of ‘I’, and when this feeling ceases to connect and identify with thoughts and objects it completely vanishes. What remains is an experience of being in which the sense of individuality has temporarily ceased to operate. The experience may be intermittent at first but with repeated practice it becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain. When self-enquiry reaches this level there is an effortless awareness of being in which individual effort is no longer possible since the ‘I’ who makes the effort has temporarily ceased to exist. It is not Self-realisation since the ‘I’-thought periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest level of practice. Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the vasanas (mental tendencies) which cause the ‘I’-thought to rise, and, when their hold has been sufficiently weakened, the power of the Self destroys the residual tendencies so completely that the ‘I’-thought never rises again. This is the final and irreversible state of Self-realisation. For something so abstract and odd i have to say that i enjoyed it enormously. It makes me a little sad to think i will probably never wrap my head around what he's talking about, but that doesn't mean i reject his ideas either. I was very impressed with Ramana Maharshi. As with many abstruse spiritual texts, they refer to mental states that are rarefied and experiential. It is not really possible to truly grasp what he is talking about unless one has experienced the same strange states as he, a bit like hearing a description of the ocean without ever actually having seen it, smelt it, felt the enormity of it. I suspect since humankind first developed an awareness of a spiritual dimension to existence Self Enquiry in some form has been practised. Indeed Self Enquiry is an ancient Practice embraced by the major religions and one which has inspired many in all walks of life. A great deal has been written over the centuries on this Practice, much of it complex, esoteric and, notably into the 21st century, empty and wordy rhetoric that has little to do with the Practice itself and simply confuses the would-be seeker of Truth.It does not require "controlling your thoughts," embracing an external Deity, following a specific arduous path of meditation, renunciation, or discipline, or any more of the heavy mind-and-body-stuff which often adds more a burden to your already established thought-baggage than it is worth. This is chapter five of Be As You Are . The notes and sources for the material used can be found in the print edition. The introductory remarks are by the editor, David Godman. Except that I will continue to study and practice his teachings, and sooner or later, share them with my thousands of psychic astrology clients, for their health and happiness too. This song hasn given people a lot of inspriration to do many things. Including me. Good Job Mike Posner! 2016-11-07T01:10:44Z Comment by Rosalinda Cozzi This song inspires me to draw thank you so much! ;) and this makes me cry a bit this has so many feels and I felt like I wanted to change myself but when I heard this song I wanted to stay different and be myself thank u...;) 2016-11-03T19:21:16Z Comment by BeanDip

I don't know how I have not come across Sri Maharshi's teachings before but am glad that I have done so, as he has coherently put into words what has been floating around in my head since a young boy. At age 16, he heard somebody mention "Arunachala." Although he didn't know what the word meant (it's the name of a holy hill associated with the god Shiva) he became greatly excited. At about the same time he came across a copy of Sekkilar's Periyapuranam, a book that describes the lives of Shaivite saints, and became fascinated by it. In the middle of 1896, at age 16, he was suddenly overcome by the feeling that he was about to die. He lay down on the floor, made his body stiff, and held his breath. "My body is dead now," he said to himself, "but I am still alive." In a flood of spiritual awareness he realized he was spirit, not his body. this song as inspired me to draw more and share the drawings it as inspired get in to muse gorp, so thank you so so so so so so so much. 2021-05-14T20:05:49Z Comment by CollectorPart V discusses samadhi, siddhi (supernormal psychic powers that some yogis believe can be achieved), and other challenges and phenomena that may be experienced during one’s practice of self-inquiry. While superpowers sound cool, Sri Ramana (as well as Patanjali) warned against he pursuit of these abilities as they become distractions from obtaining self-realization.