this book finally reached me and it's one hell of a very good read.
it is about the life and teachings of Sri Lakshmana Swamy (a direct disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi) and Mathru Sri Sarada and it's written perfectly by brother David Godman.
hi alwayson, i would appreciate it if you could share with me where Sri Ramana says that.
about Sri Lakshmana, in his early days of sadhana he says that his thoughts stopped arising and even the thought of hunger stopped for him and that made him neglect a lot of his body needs... ("from the book")
from what i've understood from the book: everything became automatic and it was the silent outpouring of the Self which manifested in action...
i honestly think that the book is a wonderful read and do recommend it a lot, it's worth every cent and much more.
plus Sri Lakshmana Swami almost says the same exact thing as Yogani concerning ripe devotees and those who can receive the Guru's Grace or practice self enquiry and those who cannot.
btw there's been an interaction between me and Yogani lately about the subject of the death of the mind on email and this is his reply:
quote:The mind will never become dead until we are dead. It goes from being a tool of identified self to being a tool of unidentified Self. What becomes dead in this life is identification of our awareness as self with things in time and space. That is not death of the mind. It is the illumination of the mind in divine outpouring. It is the same thing we are talking about as Ramana and everyone who has this experience. Only the words are different. The point of view is colored by culture and language. But it is the same thing that happens in everyone. AYP leads there gradually. Some claim it can be instant. I agree that it can be instant once one is ripe (living deep in witness), but becoming ripe is definitely not instant. So it is word-play again.
I read it somewhere on the internet. I think I might have also read it second hand in "Silence of the Heart".
I think it says in "Silence of the Heart" that Ramana said he still had evil thoughts.
But then he says the thoughtstream is a rope pretending to be a snake.
I recall reading how Ramana thought ill of the planning authorities at one point in the development of Sri Ramanashramam, and got angry with them, because they were not allowing him to have his way.
It's not about not thinking. It's about seeing there is no thinker to take delivery of thoughts and their effects.
NO MIND, I AM THE SELF
Posted - Dec 13 2009 : 05:24:51 AM
