Method

[Nanda Kumar]

I would have thought all this stuff would've been found in "Talks with
Ramana Maharishi". Anyway if it isn't, here goes :

"Therefore it's also said that the sole necessity for Self Realization is
purity of mind. The only impurity of mind is thought. To make it thought
free is to keep it pure.

Method suggested by Ramana :

Q. How should an aspirant start his practice?
A. The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry, "Who am I?". The
thought "Who am I?" destroying all other thoughts will itself finally be
destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre. If other
thoughts rise one should without attempting to complete them, enquire,
"To whom did they rise?". What does it matter however many thoughts
rise? At the very moment each thought rises, if one vigilantly enquires,
"to whom did this rise?", it will be known "To me". If one then enquires,
"Who am I?", the mind will then turn back to its source [the Self] and the
thought which has risen will subside. By repeatedly practicing thus, the
power of the mind to abide in its source increases.

I'll post the rest in a couple of mails.

>From  Thu Oct 23 18:29:05 1997
Message-Id: <THU.23.OCT.1997.182905.0400.>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 18:29:05 -0400
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
Organization: Home Personal Account
Subject: Re: There is no ...
Comments: To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
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On Thu, 23 Oct 1997, Ram Chandran wrote:

{excerpts from J Krishnamurthy's lectures:
> When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts, he will see
> the division between the thinker and thought, the observer and the
> observed, the experiencer and the experience.  He will discover that
> this division is an illusion.  Then only is there pure observation which
> is insight without any shadow of the past or of time.  This timeless
> insight brings about a deep radical mutation in the mind....
>                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Prashant Sharma <psharma at BUPHY.BU.EDU> wrote:

>>  Can somebody take the trouble of defining
>>  this mind that JK is referring to?  Is there
>>  an "individual mind" which can be "mutated"?
>> Regards.
>> Prashant.

Namaskar:

        I believe that the statement "This timeless insight brings about a
deep  radical mutation in the mind," refers to the Self-realization of
the Atman.  The duality is present when there is a division between the
thinker and thought, the observer and the observation.  A quantum takes
place while negating the mind illusions!   Deepak Chopra has also
recognized timeless mind in his book "Ageless Body and Timeless Mind."
He also describes the quantum change that takes place in the body and
the mind. Your question is relevant to understand the significance of
the Advaita philosophy, as postulated by Sri. Sankaracharyar.  I
interpret your question as:  Does duality ever exist?  According to pure
Advaita, there should be no duality of mind or soul!  However, only the
realized person can experience the TRUTH that there is no duality.  The
answer comes from inside and not from outside.  The question, the
questioner, the answerer and the answerer are the same (Brahman).
        It may be possible to develop an intellectual answer using mathematical
limit theorem.  The realized insight, WISDOM (Vidya)  is ETERNAL. This
implies that the time of Ignorance (Avidya)  is only FINITE and
consequently  negligible! Mathematically, the statement that "I am
Brahman" is eternally TRUE for  almost all the time except for an
epsilon amount of finite time! Once we agree to tolerate ignorance for
an epsilon moment of time, independent mind does not exist. The illusion
of duality (Avidya) due to Karma also will be experienced only for an
epsilon amount of time and afterwards WISDOM stays for ever.
        The question why I am not a REALIZED person right now  is mystic! I
know that at the most, I will remain ignorant for an epsilon amount of
time and I have to wait for the mutation of my impure mind! I am willing
to wait patiently for that finite amount of time in order to enjoy the
eternal PEACE!

Regards,
Ram Chandran