stefos Posted October 28, 2014 Hi everyone, I don't know if any of you have heard or read about SNM. If you haven't I suggest reading "I AM THAT" which is a series of dialogues he had with people. He was very direct...very no nonsense and very keen on bringing people back to the Self. Comments? Stefos 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve Posted October 29, 2014 Great teacher and great book! All I need to say about him is contained in my sig... The most concise, literary description of reality I have encountered. _/\_ 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
forestofemptiness Posted October 30, 2014 I think I AM THAT Is deceptive. Some of us reading it walked away thinking that the point was to sustain a feeling of I AM. Big mistake. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stefos Posted October 31, 2014 I think I AM THAT Is deceptive. Some of us reading it walked away thinking that the point was to sustain a feeling of I AM. Big mistake. Hi forestofempitness, I understand what you're saying................A book is a book and it CAN work on people actually. However, the best thing is to find a Guru. After all, a teacher is kind of indispensible. Stefos 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3bob Posted October 31, 2014 Buddhist terminology, interpretations and or meanings don't apply at a Hindu forum, its a big mistake to think so... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer Posted October 31, 2014 Yes very good. Also Robert Adams Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lifeforce Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) Teacher's, guru's, authority figures etc, are not needed for self-inquiry. The words of these enlightened people are enough to turn the mind. Edited October 31, 2014 by lifeforce 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nikolai1 Posted October 31, 2014 forestemptiness Some of us reading it walked away thinking that the point was to sustain a feeling of I AM. Big mistake. why is this a mistake? I thought this was the point of the book? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
forestofemptiness Posted October 31, 2014 The feeling "I AM" is a feeling. It has a specific form and it lasts for a specific duration. It is a vritti. If you try to cling to it, or hold on to it, you are essentially trying to make it into something that it isn't. But I don't think that's the point of the exercise. The point, in my mind, is to investigate the sense of I AM, not to sustain it. From Maurice Frydman, the editor of I Am That: To delve into the sense of 'I', so real and vital, in order to reach its source is the essence of the Nisarga Yoga of Sri Maharaj. Not being a continuous experience, the sense of 'I' must have a source from which it flows and to which it returns. This timeless source of conscious being is what Sri Maharaj calls the Self-nature, Self-being, swarupa. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stefos Posted October 31, 2014 Buddhist terminology, interpretations and or meanings don't apply at a Hindu forum, its a big mistake to think so... Not necessarily! Why not investigate this from the Buddhist perspective? As long as clear understanding is there, there is no issue. This is America where I live and thinking IS encouraged and promoted. Go Ahead Everybody! Stefos Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nikolai1 Posted November 2, 2014 Forestemptiness Some of us reading it walked away thinking that the point was to sustain a feeling of I AM. Big mistake. Wikipedia consider this to be his trademark quotation: Establish yourself firmly in the awareness of 'I AM'. This is the beginning, and also the end of all endeavour. Similar sentiments litter pretty much each page of 'I Am That'. As far as technique goes this is his teaching. But you are right to suggest that something further will happen spontaneously, and that there is more to the message than just following the technique Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted November 2, 2014 (edited) I think I AM THAT Is deceptive. Some of us reading it walked away thinking that the point was to sustain a feeling of I AM. Big mistake. That is correct. You must sustain the feeling of "I am". But what is missed, and is hard to understand in that book is that what you are seeking is beyond the "I am". The "I am" dissolves revealing the witness of the "I am". You must perform samyama, one pointed attention, on the feeling of "I am" until it dissolves, revealing what is beyond. The video I posted explains that more clearly than the book. What happens if you pursue this kind of inquiry is that at first you realize that there is a conceptual "I am" which you construct through thoughts, which disappears if you do not think. That is not the "feeling of I am". The feeling of "I am" comes from a region just to the right of the physical heart, and resembles a thumb. It is the pure feeling of "I am". If you are lucky, one time you may spontaneously point your awareness downward through the neck and chest to the right of your heart and behold a wonderful loving little "you" down there looking back up at your conceptual mind. Magic! But focusing directly on this location is not proper practice. You must focus on the feeling of "I am" for it pervades everywhere. Then keep focusing. The feeling of "I am" has no location. When it dissolves you will find yourself in an immense space and the "you" you were is just a pin prick of a point of view. When, that pure essence of the beyond manifests into the normal reality unencumbered by conceptual mind or tainted by the winds, it is the most mind blowing experience you can ever imagine. You are everything. You feel immense love, bliss, silence, clarity, luminosity.... Love yourself. Accept all that you are unconditionally, warts and all. You have to love yourself in order to break through and be able to remain in the feeling of "I am". Send love to your heart. Send gratitude. Be thankful. It will respond with a shower of tingles. You are on the right path... Edited November 2, 2014 by Tibetan_Ice 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boy Posted November 2, 2014 (edited) ... Edited December 1, 2014 by Boy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted November 2, 2014 Disregard this nonsense. If you are going to call this nonsense, then you should state your reasons and try to support your point of view. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
forestofemptiness Posted November 3, 2014 Of course, by making the mistake I did, I also learned a very important lesson. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3bob Posted November 3, 2014 (edited) Not necessarily! Why not investigate this from the Buddhist perspective? As long as clear understanding is there, there is no issue. This is America where I live and thinking IS encouraged and promoted. Go Ahead Everybody! Stefos Why not be polite (aka the noble 8 fold path) and investigate the Buddhist perspective via the Buddhist forum? That is what any respectful Buddhist student or enlightened Lama would do... Btw and also, the free-for-all-probable-mash-up-mess you allude to is available via the often bloody general forum. Edited November 3, 2014 by 3bob 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stefos Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) Why not be polite (aka the noble 8 fold path) and investigate the Buddhist perspective via the Buddhist forum? That is what any respectful Buddhist student or enlightened Lama would do... Btw and also, the free-for-all-probable-mash-up-mess you allude to is available via the often bloody general forum. 3bob, I AM being polite and I WAS being polite....honestly. You are taking things I post as if I posted them in an agressive mode and I never meant it as such.........Sorry, it's your perception sir, not mine. Furthermore, I was referring to doing a comparative spiritual/religious study of both systems concurrently. Examining both beliefs via similar, IF possible, terminology..seeing where they agree and disagree. There is nothing "wrong" with that and IMHO it should be encouraged in order to promote a healthy understanding of a particular spirituality's worldview for those who don't hold it. Stefos P.S. I'm not a New Ager and therefore won't mish-mash things together, I assure you. Have a wonderful evening and a great tomorrow. Edited November 4, 2014 by stefos 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boy Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) ... Edited December 1, 2014 by Boy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nikolai1 Posted November 4, 2014 Boy No. You’re the one spouting an incoherent, self contradictory, ludicrous and totally unsubstantiated mess that has absolutely nothing to do with the teachings of Nisargadatta What Tibetan Ice said about the heart centre sound more like Ramana Maharshi, but RM and Nisargadatta are basically very compatible even if Nasrgadatta ghad no experience of the right-sided heart centre, I think you're being a bit harsh on him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dwai Posted November 4, 2014 3bob, I AM being polite and I WAS being polite....honestly. You are taking things I post as if I posted them in an agressive mode and I never meant it as such.........Sorry, it's your perception sir, not mine. Furthermore, I was referring to doing a comparative spiritual/religious study of both systems concurrently. Examining both beliefs via similar, IF possible, terminology..seeing where they agree and disagree. There is nothing "wrong" with that and IMHO it should be encouraged in order to promote a healthy understanding of a particular spirituality's worldview for those who don't hold it. Stefos P.S. I'm not a New Ager and therefore won't mish-mash things together, I assure you. Have a wonderful evening and a great tomorrow. I think the consternation is rooted in the cacophony that usually ensues once Buddhist concepts are discussed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boy Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) ... Edited December 1, 2014 by Boy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stefos Posted November 4, 2014 I think the consternation is rooted in the cacophony that usually ensues once Buddhist concepts are discussed Hi Dwai, This gentleman has been having issues since we had a bit of "blowout" some time ago. I don't care if he doesn't like it. He didn't pay for the server on this site, firstly and second, I have done nothing wrong to the man. Absolutely ZERO. Tell me if I did and I'll publicly apologize for my infraction. Thank you and Be well sir! Stefos 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted November 5, 2014 My Guru told me: ...Go back to that state of pure being, where the I am is still in its purity before it got contaminated with I am this or I am that. Your burden is of false self-identificationsabandon them all. My guru told me, Trust me, I tell you: you are Divine. Take it as the absolute truth. Your joy is divine, your suffering is divine too. All comes from God. Remember it always. You are God, your will alone is done. I did believe him and soon realized how wonderfully true and accurate were his words. I did not condition my mind by thinking, I am God, I am wonderful, I am beyond. I simply followed his instruction, which was to focus the mind on pure being, I am, and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the I am in my mind and soon the peace and joy and deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappearedmyself, my guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained, and unfathomable silence. (I Am That, Dialogue 51, April 16, 1971).[web 7] 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tibetan_Ice Posted November 5, 2014 He's very stubborn, harshness will only do him good. "Right-sided heart centre", however, is complete bullshit, explicitly refuted by Ramana himself. I have seen that heart center. Ramana is laughing at you now... Heart In the centre of the cavity of the Heart the sole Brahman shines by itself as the Atman (Self) in the feeling of `I-I'. Reach the Heart by diving within yourself, either with control of breath, or with thought concentrated on the quest of the Self. You will thus get fixed in the Self. I have been saying all along that the Heart Centre is on the right side, even when learned men differed from me. I speak from experience. I knew it even in my home during my trances (samadhi). Again during the incident recorded in Self- Realization, I had a very clear vision and experience. All of a sudden a light came from one side erasing the world-vision. I felt that the heart on the left had stopped and the body became blue and inert. Vasudeva Sastri embraced the body and wept over my death, but I could not speak. All the time I was feeling that the Heart Centre on the right was working as well as ever. This state lasted fifteen or twenty minutes. Then suddenly something shot out from the right to the left like a rocket bursting into the sky. The blood resumed circulation and the normal condition of the body was restored. The entire universe is condensed in the body and the entire body in the Heart. Thus the Heart is the nucleus of the whole universe. This world is not other than the mind, the mind is not other than the Heart; that is the whole truth. The source is a point without any dimensions. It expands as the cosmos on the one hand and as Infinite bliss on the other. That point is the pivot. From it a single vasana starts and expands as the experiencer (`I'), the experience and the experienced (the world). http://bhagavan-ramana.org/heart.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
