Sri Annamalai Swami
Q: So there is no special method for diving within. It happens by itself. Is this true?
AS:It doesn't happen by itself. You have to go on making effort until the point where you become totally effortless. Up till that moment your effort is needed. The mind only gets dissolved in the Self by constant practice. At that moment the 'I am the body' idea disappears, just as darkness disappears when the sun rises.
Q: I have read several books about the practical side of Bhagavan's teachings. Mouni Sadhu wrote about the 'I' current. Osborne wrote about a current that is not physical, but which can be felt physically. My understanding is that these writers were describing a current of some sort that helps sadhaks to be aware. It is said in these books that it can be felt very strongly. What is this current? Is it a special grace of Ramana, or is it common to all paths?
AS:Ramana and other Gurus only show us the ways. We have to walk on the path ourselves to realize the truth. If you want to go to America, having someone tell you where it is and how to get there will not magically transport you to that place. You have to go to the airport and get on the plane yourself. You have to carry out the instructions the Guru has give you until you realize the truth for yourself. Grace takes us to the Guru. Grace shows us the way home by guiding in the right direction, but we still have to do the work ourselves.
Q: My question is not so much about grace itself. It is about this I-current tat I have been reading about. Is it the grace of Ramana? is it the grace of the Self? I don't know the answer to this question but I feel this current strongly inside me.
AS: This current, this I AM consciousness, is present within all of us. It is not something special that devotees of one particular Guru have. It is our nature, and as such it is common to all. But only a few souls are mature enough or ripe enough to be aware of it. Though it is present within all of us, grace puts us in touch with it and gives us a taste of what it is like. And once that taste is there, the thirst to realize the self follows.
Thayumanavar, a Tamil saint whom Bhagavan often quoted, wrote in one of his poems:
'My Guru merely told me that I am consciousness. Having heard this, I held onto consciousness. What he told me was just one sentence, but I cannot describe the bliss I attained from holding onto that one simple sentence. Through that one sentence I attained a peace and a happiness that can never be explained in words.'
Q: I have read several books about the practical side of Bhagavan's teachings. Mouni Sadhu wrote about the 'I' current. Osborne wrote about a current that is not physical, but which can be felt physically. My understanding is that these writers were describing a current of some sort that helps sadhaks to be aware. It is said in these books that it can be felt very strongly. What is this current? Is it a special grace of Ramana, or is it common to all paths?
AS:Ramana and other Gurus only show us the ways. We have to walk on the path ourselves to realize the truth. If you want to go to America, having someone tell you where it is and how to get there will not magically transport you to that place. You have to go to the airport and get on the plane yourself. You have to carry out the instructions the Guru has give you until you realize the truth for yourself. Grace takes us to the Guru. Grace shows us the way home by guiding in the right direction, but we still have to do the work ourselves.
Q: My question is not so much about grace itself. It is about this I-current tat I have been reading about. Is it the grace of Ramana? is it the grace of the Self? I don't know the answer to this question but I feel this current strongly inside me.
AS: This current, this I AM consciousness, is present within all of us. It is not something special that devotees of one particular Guru have. It is our nature, and as such it is common to all. But only a few souls are mature enough or ripe enough to be aware of it. Though it is present within all of us, grace puts us in touch with it and gives us a taste of what it is like. And once that taste is there, the thirst to realize the self follows.
Thayumanavar, a Tamil saint whom Bhagavan often quoted, wrote in one of his poems:
'My Guru merely told me that I am consciousness. Having heard this, I held onto consciousness. What he told me was just one sentence, but I cannot describe the bliss I attained from holding onto that one simple sentence. Through that one sentence I attained a peace and a happiness that can never be explained in words.'
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