Is That The Real "i"?

Discussion in 'Queries on Religion & Spirituality' started by satchitananda, Mar 24, 2017.

  1. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Those moments when

    I have wondered how it was

    Not to exist or how it will be

    Not to be there

    The feeling of disbelief

    It can’t be

    I have always been there

    There was never a moment

    When I was not, nor one

    When I shall not be

    Is that the eternal ‘I’?
     
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  2. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    My dear Satchi
    Bagwan Ramana Maharshi spoke a lot on "I' and how to get rid of it. There is a book titled 'Hunting the "I" ' written by an ardent follower of Ramana by name Edward Muzika. A great book indeed! The subtitle of the book is 'Successful Self-Inquiry' It struck me as a bit inappropriate. The 'I' present in our psyche is the greatest hindrance to the realisation of the Eternal I. Even to Bagwan Rama, the realisation came in a flash. He did not have to labour hard for the realiasation of the Eternal I. I guess that banishing the I out of our psyche is not achievable through mere practice. Even the sage Viswamitra had trouble with it.
    Sri
     
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  3. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear CS, I so agree, it is not possible to banish the "I" (the physical entity) from our psyche through mere practice (as seems to be possible for us in present times and context). However, it does make one wonder from time to time, what is the 'atma' that is mentioned all over our philosophical texts? If one follows the 'neti, neti' method of elimination, then what is left over. Often when I am relaxed, I experience what I have mentioned in my post. I wonder what it will be like not to be. I can't imagine that state. I can't imagine a time when I was not or a time when I will not be. Yet, this seems impossible in the context of my current physical state. So is that feeling that 'not being' is impossible an expression or experience (however momentary - just a glimpse) of my 'real' self?
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2017
  4. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Precisely1 That was Ramana's experience. He suddenly saw himself as dead. He could see his body lying there. This is how he describes it:
    "The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: ‘Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.’ And I at once dramatized the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out stiff as though rigor mortis had set in and imitated a corpse so as to give greater reality to the inquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, so that neither the word ‘I’ or any other word could be uttered, ‘Well then,’ I said to myself, ‘this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of this body am I dead? Is the body ‘I’? It is silent and inert but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of the ‘I’ within me, apart from it. So I am Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. This means I am the deathless Spirit.’ All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truth which I perceived directly, almost without thought-process. ‘I’ was something very real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with my body was centred on that ‘I’. From that moment onwards the ‘I’ or Self focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death had vanished once and for all. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from that time on. Other thoughts might come and go like the various notes of music, but the ‘I’ continued like the fundamental sruti note that underlies and blends with all the other notes. Whether the body was engaged in talking, reading, or anything else, I was still centred on ‘I’. Previous to that crisis I had no clear perception of my Self and was not consciously attracted to it. I felt no perceptible or direct interest in it, much less any inclination to dwell permanently in it."
    Sri
     
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  5. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Interesting.

    This is as eloquent a way of expressing the thought as any other.
     
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