You Attention Need --How Much

Everyone and everything in the universe need attention which is nothing but "getting others consciousness focused towards itself."

But all of them (except humans) demand/require a limited attention (in the form of reactions) for knowing/recognising their existence.

In the case of humans the demand of attention is much more than what is "NEEDED" for knowing their existence.

This may be termed as "greed for attention."

But the natural law is ---" The person who does not want more than NEEDED attention, gets maximum deeper attention (from heart) for the longest possible time period and the person who hankers of more than NEEDED attention gets maximum superficial attention(from mind) for the longest or shortest possible time period as the case may be."

Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, Mohhamad, Osho, Raman Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Bagawath, J.A.Krishnamurthy, U.G., Mirabai, Tukaram, Namdev, Kabir, Rahim, Sirdi Sai, Kiranji, Neemkaroli Baba, Eckhart Tolle, etc . falls under the first categry.

"The ego is nothing but a illusory shuttle representative of this greed for attention."

Fators affecting Interpretation of scriptures(Aparokshanubhuti Verse-18)

The factors responsible for wrong (sometimes opposite of what was meant) interpretations of scriptures:

1. In a happening of a thing a no of factors are working some of which are known, majority unknown and something unknowable.

...

2. As long as a person is living in experiencing(anubhuti) mode understand that he has not reached to the truth. In Gita Krishna says I am all the three, experiencer, the object of experiencing and the object that is being experienced. That is they cannot be separated. These terms(differentiation) have been used as concepts to make the seeker to understand something unconceivable.

3. The purpose of the person writing and the time (stage in which he is , whether before realization or after realization) of writing and for whom he is writing all are important.

4. Whether the word/phrases represent the final truth or experienced in transitional phase of his evolution of consciousness.

5. The ultimate truth in different form is 1. Everything is just happening on its own. 2. Nobody is doer. 3. There is nothing but God. 4. Aham Brahmashmi. 5. So Aham. 6. I Am That. 7. Kan-Kan Mein Bhagwan Hai. ----

6. Common declaration mentioned above as different expressions of truth must be kept in mind for reference purpose to see whether interpretation is going in right direction or not.

7. For understanding purpose the stages have been categorized as under (we know body and mind only about ourselves)

1. 1st stage- Duality- I am separate from others(including thing)

2. 2nd stage- Duality- I am separate from body.

3. 3rd stage- duality- I am separate from mind.

4. 4th stage- transitional - Sometimes I am body-mind and sometimes not.

5. 5th stage -non-dual- There is nothing but I i.e. I am in everything.

6. 6th stage –not perceivable or beyond or unknowable (neither dual nor non-dual)- I am whole or whole in me- no distinction between body, mind and soul-----feeling of separateness is no more. Hence nothing can be said about that state because for saying something some gap(feeling of separateness) must be there, but feelling of separateness has come to end. Existence of I ceases. The knowledge “Everything is happening on its own” down upon . He just become like any other thing or life form in nature. His power of discriminating also comes to an end.

a) In initial stage-Through discriminative self-analysis and logical thinking one should separate the Pure self within from the sheaths as one separates the rice from the husk, bran, etc., that are covering it.----Raman Maharshi

a) Final Stage-- The Yogi of perfect realisation and enlightenment sees through his “eye of wisdom” (Gyana Chakshush) the entire universe in his own Self and regards everything else as his own Self and nothing else.--- Raman Maharshi

Nothing whatever exists other than the Atman: the tangible universe is verily Atman. As pots and jars are verily made of clay and cannot be said to be anything but clay, so too, to the enlightened soul and that is perceived is the Self.---- Raman Maharshi

There exists nothing that is not Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like the mirage.---- Raman Maharshi

All that is perceived, or heard, is Brahman and nothing else. Attaining the knowledge of the Reality, one sees the Universe as the non-dual Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.----- Raman Maharshi

8. All the scriptures were written in poetry form as they were easy to remember/cram. They are also known as shruti as they were passed on from generation to generation by cramming/remembering. The problem with poem is that it can never be understood with full clarity as the background of the poem is not known to the interpreter.

9. The real meaning/interpretations of any saying is the understanding supported by direct or indirect evidences in such a way at a given point of time that eliminates further possibility of discussion.

10. Stupid- In common parlance someone who does something without having knowledge of what/why he is doing for.

In a sense all of us are stupid as we have no idea about who we are, why we are, from where we come, where we will go, where we are, why we are, what my shape and size are, etc. and we go on doing as if we are doer.

These existential questions have not even found themselves in our top 10 priority listof task/goal of our life. We go on behaving as if we are body and mind only due to attachment which again is due to misunderstanding the facts as it is. However this stupidity goes on decreasing with progress in spiritual life i.e. while heading towards the unfolding/revelation of the truth. This (attachment/stupidity) remains up to the last point albeit in maximum minimized level , but comes to an end as soon as understanding happens.

11. All the words like God, Atma, Self, Parmatma, etc. were conceptualized by our great Rishis for the beginners on the path of religion in which generally those people are attracted who have found security of their basic needs. Their consciousness now shifts to mind and now mind demands something new whether it is material or spiritual it does not matter to the mind. If the Rishis would have told that there is nothing to achieve, nowhere to go/reach, etc. about the ‘truth” do you think anybody would have got attracted as there is no food for thought in such answers which are in fact true.

Looking into the above I think that the experiences of this verse is not the reflection of the truth but these anubhuties were realized by Shri Shanrachrya during initial stages of his journey as he is differentiating between soul, mind and body which(differentiation) is not true. This is good to start with for a seeker as Raman Maharshi said in the interview.

Nature of Reality-Raman Maharshi Interview

Raman Maharshi Interview

Question: How has srishti (creation) come about? Some say it is predestined. Others say it the Lord's leela or sport. What is the truth?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Various accounts are given in books. But is there creation? Only if there is creation do we have to explain how it came about. We may not know about all these theories but we certainly know... that we exist. Why not know the '`I'' and then see if there is a creation?

Question: In the Vedanta of Sri Sankaracharya the principle of the creation of the world has been accepted for the sake of beginners, but for the advanced the principle of non-creation is put forward. What is your view on this matter?

Maharshi: "There is no dissolution or creation, no one in bondage, nor anyone pursuing spiritual practices. There is no one desiring liberation nor anyone liberated. This is the absolute truth." This sloka (verse) appears in the second chapter of Gaudapada's Karika. One who is established in the Self sees this by his knowledge of reality.

Question: Is not the Self the cause of this world we see around us?

Maharshi: Self itself appears as the world of diverse names and forms. However, Self does not act as the efficient cause (nimitta karana), creating, sustaining and destroying it. Do not ask `Why does the confusion of Self, not knowing the truth that it itself appears as the world arise?' If instead you enquire `To whom does this confusion occur?', it will be discovered that no such confusion ever existed for Self.

Questioner: You seem to be an exponent of ajata doctrine of advaita Vedanta.

Maharshi: I do not teach only the ajata doctrine. I approve of all schools. The same truth has to be expressed in different ways to suit the capacity of the hearer.

The Ajata doctrine says, `Nothing exists except the one reality. There is no birth or death, no projection or drawing in, no seeker, no bondage, no liberation. The one unity alone exists.'

To such as find it difficult to grasp this truth and who ask, `How can we ignore this solid world we see all around us?', the dream experience is pointed out and they are told, `All that you see depends on the seer. Apart from the seer, there is no seen.' This is called the drishti-srishti vada or the argument that one first creates out of one's mind and then sees what one's mind itself has created. Some people cannot grasp even this and they continue to argue in the following terms:

`The dream experience is so short, while the world always exists. The dream experience was limited to me. But the world is felt and seen not only by me, but by so many others. We cannot call such a world non-existent.'

When people argue in this way they can be given a srishti-drishti theory, for example, `God first created such and such a thing, out of such and such an element, and then something else was created, and so on.' That alone will satisfy this class. Their minds are otherwise not satisfied and they ask themselves, `How can all geography, all maps, all sciences, stars, planets and the rules governing or relating to them and all knowledge be totally untrue?' To such it is best to say, `Yes, God created all this and so you see it.'

Question: But all these cannot be true. Only one doctrine can be true.

Sri Ramana Maharshi: """All these theories are only to suit the capacity of the learner. The absolute can only be one."""

The Vedanta says that the cosmos springs into view simultaneously with the seer and that there is no detailed process of creation. This is said to be yugapat-srishti (instantaneous creation). It is quite similar to the creations in dream where the experiencer springs up simultaneously with the objects of experience.

When this is told, some people are not satisfied for they are deeply rooted in objective knowledge. They seek to find out how there can be sudden creation. They argue that an effect must be preceded by a cause. In short, they desire an explanation for the existence of the world which they see around them. ""Then the srutis (scriptures) try to satisfy their curiosity by theories of creation.""

This method of dealing with the subject of creation is called krama-srishti (gradual creation). But the true seeker can content with yugapat-srishti, instantaneous creation.

There may be any number of theories of creation. All of them extend outwardly. There will be no limit to them because time and space are unlimited. They are however only in the mind. If you see the mind, time and space are transcended and the Self is realised.

Creation is explained scientifically or logically to one's own satisfaction. But is there any finality about it? Such explanations are called krama-srishti (gradual creation). On the other hand, drishti-srishti (simultaneous creation) is yugapat-srishti. Without the seer there are no objects seen. Find the seer and the creation is comprised in him. Why look outward and go on explaining the phenomena which are endless?

Where are you now? Are you in the world or is the world within you? You must admit that the world is not perceived in your sleep although you cannot deny your existence then. The world appears when you wake up. So where is it? Clearly the world is your thought. Thoughts are your projections. The "I" is first created and then the world. The world is created by the "I" which in its turn rises up from the Self. The riddle of the creation of the world is thus solved if you solve the creation of the "I". So I say, find your Self.

Again, does the world come and ask you `Why do "I" exist? How was "I" created?' It is you who ask the question. The questioner must establish the relationship between the world and himself. He must admit that the world is his own imagination. Who imagines it?

Let him again find the "I" and then the Self. Moreover, all the scientific and theological explanations do not harmonise. The diversities in such theories clearly show the uselessness of seeking such explanations. Such explanations are purely mental and intellectual and nothing more. Still, all of them are true according to the standpoint of the individual.

There is no creation in the state of realisation. When one sees the world, one does not see oneself. When one sees the Self, the world is not seen. So see the Self and realise that there has been no creation.

Question: "Brahman is real. The world is illusion" is the stock phrase of Sri Sankaracharya. Yet others say, "The world is reality." Which is true?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Both statements are true. They refer to different stages of development and are spoken from different points of view.

The aspirant starts with the definition, that which is real exists always. Then he eliminates the world as unreal because it is changing. "The seeker ultimately reaches the Self and there finds unity as the prevailing note. Then, that which was originally rejected as being unreal is found to be a part of the unity. Being absorbed in the reality, the world also is real. There is only being in Self-realisation, and nothing but being."

Question: Sri Bhagavan (Ramana Maharshi) often says that Maya (illusion) and reality are the same. How can that be?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Sankara was criticised for his views on Maya without being understood. He said that 1. Brahman is real, 2. The universe is unreal, and 3. The universe is Brahman.

He did not stop at the second, because the third explains the other two. It signifies that the universe is real if perceived as the Self, and unreal if perceived apart from the Self. Hence Maya and reality are one and the same.

Question: So the world is not really illusory?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: At the level of the spiritual seeker you have got to say that the world is an illusion. There is no other way.

When a man forgets that he is a Brahman, who is real, permanent and omnipresent, and deludes himself into thinking that he is a body in the universe which is filled with bodies that are transitory, and labours under that delusion, you have got to remind him that the world is unreal and a delusion. Why? Because his vision which has forgotten its own Self is dwelling in the external, material universe. It will not turn inwards into introspection unless you impress on him that all this external material universe is unreal.

When once he realises his own Self he will know that there is nothing other than his own Self and he will come to look upon the whole universe as Brahman.

There is no universe without the Self. So long as a man does not see the Self which is the origin of all, but looks only at the external world as real and permanent, you have to tell him that all this external universe is an illusion. You cannot help it.

Take a paper. We see only the script, and nobody notices the paper on which the script is written. The paper is there whether the script on it is there or not. To those who look upon the script as real, you have to say that it is unreal, an illusion, since it rests upon the paper. The wise man looks upon both the paper and script as one. So also with Brahman and the universe.

Question: So the world is real when it is experienced as the Self and unreal when it is seen as separate names and forms?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Just as fire is obscured by smoke, the shining light of consciousness is obscured by the assemblage of names and forms, the world. When by compassionate divine grace the mind becomes clear, the nature of the world will be known to be not the illusory forms but only the reality.

Only those people whose minds are devoid of the evil power of Maya, having given up the knowledge of the world and being unattached to it, and having thereby attained the knowledge of the self-shining Supreme Reality, can correctly know the meaning of the statement "The world is real." If one's outlook has been transformed to the nature of real knowledge, the world of the five elements beginning with space (akasha) will be real, being the Supreme Reality, which is the nature of knowledge.

The original state of this empty world, which is bewildering and crowded with many names and forms, is bliss, which is one, just as the egg-yolk of a multi-coloured peacock is only one. Know this truth by

Our shuttle illusory (non-existent) ego has to hit

In connection with my earlier posting "Our shuttle illusory (non-existent) ego will not be visible unless somehow we are pushed to the corner......"

"Our shuttle illusory (non-existent) ego will not be visible unless somehow we are pushed to the corner. And unless it(ego) becomes visible there is no chance of it's annihilation which is the main goal of so called spirituality and the scriptures."

It appears to me that the above statement has been misunderstood by 180 degree.

I still stick to the statement (pushing to ...) because ""without feeling of getting pushed to the corner or without feeling of getting hurt"" , there is no way to know for the seeker that the "appearance of the ego still persists.

The seeker must realise the pres...ence of illusory existence by whatever means possible he can, ""otherwise there is no possibility of evolution of consciousness or shift in attitude"", as this is the prime goal. So far as "the way of love" to achieve this is concerned, it is a great fallacy in its own as nobody have ever got separated from the love at any given point of time as the love (life) is the only binding force in the known/unknown universe. Hence question of the path of love does not arise at all. Acting of loving is a different issue.

How it (pushing to the corner of feeling that he/she has been pushed to the corner) will happen is a different issue and has to be thought/perceived by the seeker only.

It appears from the comments that I am suggesting people (especially the so called Masters) to push their disciple to the corner. No I did not mean that at all, but "happening of misunderstanding is quite normal". The comments (understanding) on my statement (pushing...) is not based on the facts/ truths(existential) what they are propagating.

The fact (the so called Masters "know ?') that the master is not capable of doing so with their disciples, because the Master is not concerned "whether anybody is getting hurt or getting pushed to the corner, as in Him the power of discrimination is no more there. He is just like any "panchbhuta" who by no means can discriminate as they are established in their true nature. Hence from Master's side this (pushing....) is not a valid statement.

Then how can it happen ?

It can happen only with the seeker's own effort if he is really seeking . He must be prepared to do so for this to happen. It all depends upon his maturity/ preparedness. His/her maturity is a sign of his/her openness which is the one and only precondition for the seeker. The proverb "Aa(come) bail (ox) mujhe (me) mar(hurt)" has to be made a reality by the seeker himself. Hence the statement (pushing.....) has to be understood in proper way in reference to the truth. One should not react immediately , otherwise it is a sign of the person's immaturity.

Thinking and Intelligence

Thinking is arduous as it requires application of a lot of intelligence while imitation is very easy as no intelligence is required at all for imitating.

A child imitating in his/her childhood can be understood as that makes sense because without this he/she cannot learn. This is just like installation of operating system in the computer. "But its continuation for the whole life does not make sense."

All the practices being done without application of mind i.e. without getting convinced from the core of heart, are nothing but imitations for which belief is the basic reason. In what garb they are being done is immaterial.

Constructive criticism is must

If somebody is not still ready for his constructive criticism by others, understand that he is still not prepared to start the journey i.e. he is not a seeker at all, because the required openness (which is one and the only precondition for being a seeker) is still lacking in him/her.

""""Immediate reaction""" on "his/her constructive criticism" is a sign of his/her non-preparedness.

"Response is just opposite to the reaction, as it takes much more time to happen compared to reaction. "

"Masters and serious seekers always respond, never react."

Not to be taught or practiced

The various descriptions of truth like

"I am Bhamhashmi",

"So Aham",

"All is God",

"There is nothing but God" etc. expressed by realised ones

and

the characters/actions like

"appreciating everything",

"realising that everything is happening on its own",

"seeing divinity in everything",

"expressing love for everything", etc. flowing through a realised ones ,

can never be made a part of practice or teaching.