Desire for salvation (Re: Who am I ?)

[M Suresh]

I wrote:

>  I do not think enquiry has any dangers associated with it
>  like other forms of meditation, hatha yoga etc. may have which
>  require them to have the personal guidance of a guru at all
>  times.
>
>-Suresh.

  By the above statement I did not want to pronounce any method as
  superior or inferior.

  Neither was it my intention to put myself on a higher platform by
  claiming to practise enquiry, or claiming that I am firmly on the
  path of self-realization. Generally I do not re-iterate that I am
  an ajnani every now and then because it serves no one any purpose.
  Re-affirming ignorance every now and then will only cause the actor
  ego to act out the role of humility very effectively.

  I was only comparing the possible ill effects of doing enquiry without
  a guru's guidance, with other forms of meditation and hatha yoga
  practised without a guru's guidance.

  I have read in Paul Brunton's "Search in Secret India", where a hatha
  yogi recounts how he practised prAnAyAma ( breath control exercises )
  without a guru after reading from a book. He developed hallucinations
  and a crack in the skull. Similiarly meditation techniques like focusing
  thought on a particular object may cause ill effects if not guided by an
  advanced, or realised guru, especially so in the initial stages.

  Whereas if one practises self-enquiry without a guru one may not make
  much progress and eventually give it up. But it will not cause any
  dangerous effects. Again this conclusion is based on Ramana Maharishi's
  statement that enquiry can be practised by all. There may be facts of
  physical/mental ill effects on practising enquiry which prove me wrong.

  Similiarly puja & japa too may not have side effects if practised without
  the guidance of a guru.

-Suresh.