SELF – EXPERIENCE

Excerpts from talks given in Satsang in Tiruvannamalai, in February of 2004.
Edited by Kristin Davis.

Emptiness – Heart open. Heart open means without covering of mind…then Self Grace enters. Heart open means BE in Silence, without mind…with the mind there is no Silence. Mind is always wandering, always changing…so it receives only experiences. Silence means no movement, no changing. Self never sees the mind…it is the Heart. Self or Heart is beyond the mind. So, no movement, no changes, no ideas, no action of mind – that is the Heart.

Grace is always flowing. According to the maturity of mind, the devotee is receiving that Grace. There may be many thoughts inside, but they are going on their way. No problem from those thoughts. Why? There is no attachment with their mind…already they have given their Heart to Self.

Sometimes Heart is open, sometimes closed. Any attachment to thought, immediately the Heart closes…then ego enters into the movie. If you always open your Heart, no movie at all…always Self Experience. So many devotees are on the mind level. Sometimes there is no mind, at that moment Heart opens…but then immediately they are losing that real Self state by covering again. The covering is illusion. If you have always Peace and Bliss, no duality…that is the Self. It is easy to understand.

BE Peaceful…this is enough! If any attachment with any thought arises, question, ‚Who am I?‘, BE still…BE Silence.

Be without thinking, without effort, without memory…the Self has no need. Some devotees are losing Self Experience with attachment to the mind; some are losing Self Experience by thinking about their experiences; some are losing Self Experience by discussions; some are losing Self Experience by trying to test others. The false ‚I‘ has so many ways to success itself, so that devotees cannot understand the false I’s action. But the Jnani knows every movement, every thought, every action of the false ‚I’…so, he never loses his Consciousness.

The world does not need your experiences, the world does not need your presence, the world has no need of you! Because everything is illusion…there is no world at all. Before your birth did you know the world? Why unnecessary talking about the world, about persons…you are losing your strength, you are wasting your time. We do not know before birth…we are leaving these persons after death. Are they helpful for enlightenment?

Enlightenment never comes by our effort…Enlightenment is very easy. ‚But why is it so difficult, why is it not possible for us?‘ We are thinking unnecessarily, wandering, and have unnecessary attachments…that is the difficulty. Everything is unnecessary, because Self is doing everything.

Is there anything inside? No, nothing inside. Only creation, according to your interests or desires or attachments. If your mind has no interest in the world, automatically it goes back to where it comes from. There is no need for effort. If the mind does not go out, automatically it enters into the Self. No need of any effort…automatically it is going to its Home. Home is the Heart.

Be free of your mind…be free always. The bird is flying with freedom. Be free inside. You do not need any thoughts, any ideas, any mind…because Self Power is always limitless. If you have any idea, immediately there is bondage…so, it is difficult to come out from your cage.

Know God without mind. So, see your mind with awareness, then mind disappears. If any covering arises, question, ‚Who am I?‘. God has no mind. God has no form and name. Mind never knows God.

You are trying to remove all difficulties and problems. Where are they? They are in the mind. But you are thinking the problem is outside…it is in the mind only. So, if you go anywhere, do anything, the problem is not solved.

See inside…mind is thoughts. Thought means form and name…every thought has form and name. Any form, any name…that is thought, mind. See inside…so many thoughts are arising, lakhs of thoughts. The mind has lakhs of thoughts, quick movements, so many movements, so many changes. You are seeing those thoughts, total mind. But Self is beyond the mind – God is beyond the mind. Mind is coming from Self, but if any thought comes, immediately you forget Self and God because of your thought. Thought has form and name, Self has no form and name…so you are going far away from Self. God has no form, no name, no body, no world, no mind, no knowing, no knowledge, no movement, no change, no effort to God. God is always Natural and everywhere.

Your mind is coming from Self…if it has attachment with the body, immediately you are thinking, ‚I am the body‘, and that thought goes searching in the world for the sake of the body. Your every thought is identified with form and name, not with Self…so, every thought is a problem, every thought is ego, every thought is illusion. So, how can you know the Self? Sometimes you are thinking, ‚I am the Self‘, but the thought ‚I am the Self‘ is also mind. Self has no thought…every thought is ego.

If you have Peace inside, that Peace is not coming by your effort. If you are absent, if the mind is absent, only Self remains. Peace is the Power of Self. So Peace never happens by your effort. If mind is absent, if the mind disappears, then Self remains. If there is no seer, that is Self Experience…that is your Natural State. Self Experience does not come by your effort…because every thought is illusion.

If you think, ‚I am the Self‘ – that is false ‚I‘, that is ego. You are the Self, but how can you say it? With thought, with the mind? No. Mind must disappear and there must be full Consciousness…this is not the waking state or dream or deep sleep. There is no effort, no method. Any method of meditation is only to mind.

God is ruling the universe…God knows everything. The Grace of Self enters into our Heart very naturally by God or Guru. It is never possible to receive Grace by the ego. Ego is always creating thoughts, all illusion…so, it never knows Self. So, all your life, from birth to death, is illusion. All your life is waste because there is no permanent feeling…only temporary attractions, temporary relief, temporary joy. Everyone is living for the temporary…everything is temporary.

See inside…so many lakhs of thoughts are arising. You are thinking, ‚That is the life‘. You are thinking those thoughts are real. You are living by, you are going with, you are attached to those thoughts throughout your life…but they are created by you. In deep sleep there is no creation of thoughts…no problem, no body, no world. Before birth and after death, you do not know the body and the world. You are thinking, ‚I know everything’…you are knowing only illusion. There are lakhs of thoughts in your mind. God is beyond the mind.

How can you reach the State of God? With mind? No. Mind and all thoughts are far away from the Self. Mind is creating all illusion. But you are thinking all is true and real. What is the ego? The creation of thought is ego. Your mind, your thoughts, are creating the world…and you are living according to your creation of the world. You are going, going, going, wandering…but everything is illusion. ‚Oh!‘, you are thinking, ‚It is good, it is necessary, it is helpful to me.‘ What is the meaning of need? What is the meaning of any word, any idea, any feeling? What is real? Absence of mind, disappearance of mind is real. It is permanent, it is always. So, no death to your Natural State. You are good in your mind, you are bad in you mind…there is no good or bad to the Self. Self has no mind – Self is always the same. So, one who wants Realization, his work is always within.

From where are these thoughts coming? In deep sleep you have no thoughts; sometimes in meditation you have no thoughts. So, find out the birthplace of these thoughts. If you want to find out the source of these thoughts you must go within. How to enter inwards? Now, if you have any desire, immediately mind has attachment with the desire and you are going outside, far away from the Self. When the desire succeeds, the mind enters the Self and at that moment you have a little satisfaction, a little joy and peace…but it is temporary because another thought, another desire comes…and so life goes on in this manner, in this way. There is no permanent solution, no salvation in life. So, your work is to enter within.

Always your mind is creating so many lakhs of ideas and desires; it has so many movements and changes. It is only a dream! That dream is not the Self – Self has no dream! So, with your ideas, with your desires, you will never enter into the Self. So…inwards. ‚Within‘ means not seeing inside…not seeing light, not seeing emptiness. ‚Within‘ means not going inside…there is nothing to go within. Stop your attachments, stop your desires…that is the way to enter into the Heart.

Self knows everything…what is good for you, what is necessary for you. Unnecessarily the ego is creating nonsense. So, your duty is to stop, to remove! Then, very naturally, Self Power arises and increases. So, Self Realization means stop your attachment to your mind. You are removing all your thoughts and desires with the Grace of the Self or Guru…not by your effort. Stopping of your thoughts, and everything is going with the Grace of Self or Guru. Move, do everything, without attachment, with Peace…then Self Power increases. No attachment with the mind – that is Self Experience.

The Self Realized person is also seeing the world. He is moving with all devotees. How? He has no attachment with any thought. He has no attachment with any method, any light, any experience, any feeling, any object. He has no attachment, because Self is independent and has no attachment with anything. Then how do the Realized move in the world, how do they talk with others, how do they give advise to devotees? The Jnani has no ego. He has no attachment to any thought, feeling or experience…because he has no ego, only Self.

Every thought has ego, so every thought is a problem. Immediately duality arises…good/bad, love/hate, like/dislike. Every duality is arising with the ego. Now, if you remove your ego, then every thought has no ego. If you remove ego, no duality. One who has no ego – he is the Self. Then he sees everything equal…everything in the world is equal because there is no creator of duality. There are no differences because Self has no difference. Ego always has difference, so remove your ego…then seeing differences is impossible because there is no creator of duality in the Self. So, you must kill your ego! Until the killing of the ego, no problem is solved. If you kill your ego…no good or bad, no love or hate, no duality…you are the Self.

So, the Jnani is talking to every devotee with Heart, heartfully…with full Self. He does not know difference; he does not know form and name; he does not know the world. He has no ego, no mind…he is the Self. The Jnani is also seeing the world…he is talking with devotees, he is going to many places, but he always has the same state of Self. He knows only Self…everything is Self. You are thinking, ‚Oh! Everyone is the Self‘. So, you are trying to see equality in all with your ego…impossible. Remove your ego. The Jnani is always the same. You are thinking about God; the Jnani never thinks about God. In God there is no difference…there is no difference between God and you.

If you create any difference, any separation – that is thought, that is ego, that is duality. So, stop! BE…without thoughts, without experiences, without light, without seeing, without emptiness. BE stillness…BE Silence. No experiencer – no seer. If you have seer, focus your attention, full concentration on that seer…remove it. Anything within? BE with full Consciousness, full Awareness…then everything disappears. Full Consciousness…without seer, without experiencer. If you see anything, there is seer; if you experience anything, there is experiencer. So, remove all that which is covering Self…see with full Consciousness, full Awareness. See the mind…don’t lose your Awareness. Every thought, every idea, covers your Self Experience. So, remove…all must disappear! And you must kill mind with full Consciousness!

Self Experience is never by your effort. Your desires, your dualities, your form and name will never help for Realization. Self is always…there is no need of mind or effort. Self Grace burns your ego, your thoughts, your illusion. Self is removing everything…that is its work. But you are thinking you are removing everything. This is a great drama, a great movie…

You are thinking, you are knowing, you are saying, all the time, ‚I am, I know, I got, I’m hearing, I’m talking‘. Every thought has false ‚I’…so, you must remove false ‚I‘. Don’t think about your Self Realization; don’t think about your mind; don’t think about the world. Focus your attention on the false ‚I’…then it is easy to burn the false ‚I‘. You are only to remove the false ‚I‘ alone…this is enough. Illusion depends on the false ‚I’…so, when you remove the false ‚I‘, only Self remains and everything is Self. Everything…every thought, every object, the world, the sense organs and body, everything is the Self. If you don’t remove the false ‚I‘, everything is false. The false ‚I‘ has no real existence.

You never need to think about your greatness or your Self Experience or your Peace, because that is Self…It is your Natural State, so it is not coming by your effort. You have the false ‚I‘, so you are thinking, ‚I am great‘. Remove your false ‚I‘ and tell me about your greatness…tell me about your greatness in deep sleep. The devotee has Grace within…use that Grace to remove the false ‚I‘. BE still…BE Silence…Self knows everything. See your mind with Peace and Awareness…It removes very naturally. But if there is any attachment with any thought, immediately question, ‚To Whom?‘. See your thought, see your mind, with Peace and calm…every thought will be removed very easily. If you question, ‚To Whom?‘ this problem, this worry, this difficulty, the false ‚I‘ will fall. Question, ‚Is it to me?‘, ‚Who am I?‘ – this is the direct method. Otherwise, every experience, every thought, every method, is being created by the false ‚I‘.

The mind is endless, but if you find out the Source of the mind, then that is the end of mind. Until then, there is no end to mind. If you know the Source of mind, if you reach the birthplace of thought, that is the end. At this point, your self is only a thought because the mind is endless…but if you reach the Source of thought, then the mind is a dot (point) in the limitless (endless) Self. No mind – only Self. Then you see, you act, direct by the Self.

The Self is endless…so, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi said that the Self is limitless and everywhere, and that if anyone is far away in distance from him, this is not a problem because he is (always) everywhere. So, no mind – limitless, endless Self. If you reach the Source of the mind…no mind, endless Self. If the mind disappears, then you don’t know who you are, what you are, and there is no world to think and talk about…everywhere, everything is only Self. If you know who you are – that is limited, that is the false ‚I‘. Self has no thoughts, no questions, no answers.

Self Realization is possible for all devotees but it is taking so much time. Why? So much wrong in the mind, that is the delay. For that delay you are the cause. If you don’t lose your Peace, if you have full Awareness of Peace, it is easy and within a short time Self Realization is possible. Don’t lose your Peace and Consciousness…Peace and Consciousness never allow any false ‚I‘. If you lose your Peace and Consciousness, immediately thought covers Self…but it is only illusion and a dream. You are the God, but you are weak in the mind with false ‚I‘. With thought, with attraction, with attachment, with interest, you have become weak, weak, weak. Remove that weakness of mind…that attachment with thought. Have attachment with Heart, attachment with Peace, attachment with Self! If you have attachment with Self, no problem, no difficulty, with anyone in the world.

Detachment is possible with Peace and Self Enquiry – ‚To Whom?‘, ‚Is it to me?‘, ‚Who am I?‘. If you follow any method other than Peace or Self Enquiry, only false ‚I‘ is creating that method. False ‚I‘ has temporary relief, temporary happiness, temporary experience only. This is the direct method for anyone who heartfully wants Self Realization…other methods may be useful for purification of the mind or for health of the body. Desires, attachments, attractions never allow one to practice Self Realization, because they are the creation of the ego and have full power. So, if you are attracted, attached, interested with any form and name, you are forgetting, you are going far away from Self Experience (Self Realization). But if you are attracted, attached, interested in the Self (the Heart), it is easy to Realize the Self…Self Power enters into those devotees.

You are knowing all objects, everything, with the mind. That same mind is seeing Guru and God, form and name. You are having good feeling, good experience…but to whom? To mind. If you have any good experience before any Guru or God or in any place, at any time…who got? Mind. So, you are knowing the world, all experiences, Guru, everything in the universe with the mind…only mind.

This mind is not in deep sleep. Where is your mind? Everything disappears…so, you don’t know the Guru and you don’t know the God and you don’t know the world. Why? Mind knows only if there is form and name…if there is no form and name, it doesn’t know anything. If there is form and name, the mind becomes that form and name…then there is good/bad, love/hate, like/dislike, duality arises. Everything, every thought, every feeling, is mind. Mind itself is illusion. There is no reality to mind because there is always so much change, so much movement. The movie is going so fast…how can you know Self? You are understanding the advise of Gurus and you are reading many books. ‚I know everything‘, you are saying, but where is this knowledge in deep sleep? Then you are not knowing anything…everything is absent, everything is gone. Why? Because this is only a movie.

So many devotees are trying for Enlightenment with their mind…mind has so much change, mind (itself) is illusion. What is the use of change in illusion? Mind is seeing form and name, its creation, outside and inside. Is it Enlightenment? Does Enlightenment change? You are only seeing the movie…not the screen. Beyond the mind there is Self. How can you see the Self? When the movie is going on, are you able to see the screen?

When you close your eyes, you are seeing the movie inside; when you open your eyes, you are seeing the movie outside. You don’t know the Self. Where is the Self? Not in the movie…it is not in the world, in any object. When you have mind, everything is mind. Everything is mind creation, everything!

Mind is equal to darkness; Enlightenment is equal to illumination. Is there any darkness where there is illumination? Self is beyond the mind. How can you see the Self with your mind, with your thoughts, with your ideas? How can you go beyond the mind? Only the mind is saying, ‚I am going beyond the mind. Yes, this is the Self.’…this is mind creation, mind action. With any thought it is not possible to see, to reach, the Self. There is no need to know the Self. Practice, method, is needed to remove the mind. Practice, method, is for removing, removing…not adding, not seeing, not knowing.

So many devotees are practicing for so many hours, with so much difficulty, with so many thoughts. ‚I have no concentration, what can I do? Yes, I shall try!‘ Here you cannot understand your position because it is ego, the false ‚I‘, that is trying. It is the ego that has disappointments and is creating practice and method and everything. One is to concentrate on one thought, all thoughts become one thought…but that one thought is ego, false ‚I’…still there is a seer. That should disappear.

Now, suppose a devotee has reached a state of no words but is losing his Awareness, there are no thoughts but there is a seer…still there is ego…so, he falls asleep. If there are no thoughts, it is samadhi or deep sleep where there is no Consciousness. Self Consciousness is beyond the mind. So, he is practicing on a deep level, but it is a forgetful state (no world)…still there is ego.

Now, suppose a devotee is seeing and knowing Arunachala Hill…he has no Self Awareness. This is also a forgetful state…he does not know the Self Awareness. ‚So, how can I live if I forget all?‘, you may be wondering. You are forgetting all in sleep and you have no Awareness in the waking state also. You completely lose this knowledge in deep sleep and also after death. Where is Awareness? It is beyond the mind. How, when, do you see the movie screen? When there is no movie, then you see the screen. If you are knowing the movie, you are knowing mind only…not the Self. So, you never understand any Guru, any Lord, God…you understand only your ideas, your limit, your change. The Self has no change…Self is beyond the mind.

Who can see the Guru truly, who can see God truly, who can see the world perfectly? One who has Self Experience…only that one can see everything truly and perfectly. The Grace of Guru, the Grace of God, the Grace of Self, helps for Self Experience. How does the Jnani help for Self Experience? He has no movie…only Self Experience. He has no mind…only Self Enlightenment. So, with the Jnani’s Grace you are having Self Experience, not by your effort. When Self Grace enters, your effort and mind disappear…only Self, your Natural State, remains. You are Self, not mind…Grace enters from beyond the mind. Now, when you have Self Experience, the movie stops…at intermission you see the screen, but then the movie starts again when ego is still there. Self Grace and Power enters your Heart and immediately there is Self Experience. It will remove tendencies and desires which are obstacles, very naturally, without effort.

If you want something in the world, something to the body, this is ego arising and covering your Self Experience…this is mind covering. Self never goes, never changes, because Self is not in the movie. The waking, dreaming and sleep states are moving, one by one, on the Self…but no touch to the Self. Detachment comes with Self Grace and Power…never by the mind. So, if you have Peace, Silence, there is detachment. Only detachment is necessary…not learning, not knowing. But you cannot understand this perfectly, because immediately mind is covering with your interest, with your idea…ego is trying to success itself. So…BE still…Self knows everything. It is burning, It is removing very naturally, without your effort. Until the burning of all your mind, until the burning of all your ego, there is covering of illusion (covering of imagination). Everything depends upon God. Without God’s Grace or Self Grace, Self Realization is not possible. If you heartfully practice, if you surrender or trust, that is happening because of Grace…the mind never knows Grace.

Who is your enemy in the world? Your ego. Who is the dangerous one in the world? Your ego. Who is the main cause of difficulties, of birth and death, of everything? The cheater is the ego. But you are neglecting this dangerous fellow…that is the problem. See your ego, see your mind. All tendencies, attractions, desires, slowly will vanish…but this is not your doing, it is by the Grace of Self. So keep quiet.

Without mind, tell me who are you? There is no world without your mind. Tell me about God, about your body and the world, about anything, without your mind. So, everything is mind…but mind comes from the Self. So, Self Experience means death of the ego, death of the mind. Self Enlightenment is complete salvation.

A soldier is going to war…if he has fear, how can he fight? One who has desires and attachments and attractions…how can he fight the ego? There is so much fear…the one who has fear, that soldier is dying in the war. So, now, fight with your ego…if you are brave, fight with your ego. You are the Light of all lights in the world…dive inwards! Kill all your desires and attachments…dive inwards to the Self! Do not come out…there is no need to come out into the world. Cut your bondage! You have Power and Grace within…if you have this idea, immediately God helps you. If you do not kill your ego, you will always be tricked by the ego. The ego has so many plans…you can never understand those plans. Be a witness to the ego. The movie production and drama can easily be recognized when there is witness to the mind. If you have no witness, then you are searching, searching, always searching. Do not trust your mind. Do not give any value to your mind.

If you have Peace and Awareness, that is Self Experience, your Natural State. BE Peaceful…this is enough. Watch your mind…if any thought arises, immediately question, ‚Who am I?‘. BE Silence.