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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Spirituality & Beliefs > Non Duality

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  #1  
Old 15-03-2021, 09:32 AM
Mak6831 Mak6831 is offline
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A guide for staying the I Am

Hello, I've read a lot of stuff here that I dont seem to resonate with a lot, so i thought I would set up this thread in order to for people to share truth along our path to freedom. I have read much of I Am That, I have read some of ramana maharshi, I enjoy listening to rupert spira and mooji. can people please give me more advice to stay as 'I am', I am constantly getting distracted. I know this is my mind but i haven't been able to become established within I am
Any advice dudes?
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  #2  
Old 15-03-2021, 12:11 PM
Miss Hepburn Miss Hepburn is offline
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Well, be gentle with yourself. We all get distracted ---I used to say 'Distraction is the enemy".
Picture if a baby crawls to the edge of the bed - we don't roughly pick it up and boom, place it back in the middle of the bed, no.
We gently just pick it up and gently place it in the safer center.
Same with a record needle - we ever-so gently place the needle back where we want it.

For me, it helps to surround myself with reminders of, (whatever you want to call 'it') love, Reality, God,
who we really are, what we really want...
That could be anything from books, videos , youtubes, movies, music, walking in nature,
volunteering at a senior center.
Place yourself gently in the midst of 'higher stuff'.

If a fat person wants to lose weight, do they buy cookies and surround themselves with temptations? No.
They put up photos of how they want to look in jeans and buy Fitness magazines, see what I mean?

And holy company is very important.
Hope this helps and welcome here.
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*I'll text in Navy Blue when I'm speaking as a Mod. :)


Prepare yourself for the coming astral journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of God-perception.
Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles.
Meditate unceasingly, that you may quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free from every form of misery. ~Paramahansa's Guru's Guru
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  #3  
Old 15-03-2021, 02:21 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mak6831
Any advice dudes?

Practice.

The question is which practices? That probably depends on your temperament. I'm more analytical and contemplative so for me that's Jnana, Raja & Karma yogas.

Jnana - texts and lectures on the Upanishads & Bhagavad Gita primarily and my go-to lecturer is Swami Sarvapriyananda at Vedanta NY -https://www.youtube.com/c/VedantaNY/videos

Raja - Mainly Mindfulness of breath/Calm abiding and an effortless meditation (call it resting in awareness or choiceless awareness or just sitting or do nothing meditation or Shikantaza).

Karma - Work as Witness - https://vedanta.org/yoga-spiritual-p...rk-karma-yoga/

Jnanis take a different but equally effective tack. They know that although the body or the mind performs action, in reality they do no work at all. In the midst of intense activity, they rest in the deep stillness of the Atman. Maintaining the attitude of a witness, jnanis continually remember that they are not the body, not the mind. They know the Atman is not subject to fatigue or anxiety or excitement; pure, perfect and free, the Atman has no struggle to engage in, no goal to attain.

That resting in the deep stillness of Atman is the same place of resting in awareness meditation so those two practices dovetail nicely, one while in formal practice (meditation) and the other throughout the day's mundane activities.
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  #4  
Old 15-03-2021, 02:27 PM
Mak6831 Mak6831 is offline
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I appreciate your words, I hadn't consider treating distraction this way. I think it is a less egoically constricted way of looking at it. For some reason anger is arising today, I'm not sure if i should seek out the 'I' that is identified to the anger and find the root cause or should I remain impartial to the anger. It seems to be taking over my perception, Im not sure if i should inquire into it as im scared of maybe ruining my intention meaning im no longer on this path solely for truth but a in order reduce my suffering which may perpetuate the illusory sense of self. does anybody have any ideas about anger, it seems to have such a strong hold.
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  #5  
Old 15-03-2021, 02:36 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mak6831
I appreciate your words, I hadn't consider treating distraction this way. I think it is a less egoically constricted way of looking at it and i shall view it like this from now on!. For some reason anger is arising today, I'm not sure if i should seek out the 'I' that is identified to the anger and find the root cause or should I remain impartial to the anger. It seems to be taking over my perception, Im not sure if i should inquire into it as im scared of maybe ruining my intention meaning im no longer on this path solely for truth but a in order reduce my suffering which may perpetuate the illusory sense of self. does anybody have any ideas about anger, it seems to have such a strong hold.

What Ramana Maharshi taught is classic Vedantic Self-inquiry, and that is negating everything we are not. So it's not inquiring into the nature of anger but inquiring into the nature of Self and the only way to do that is to negate everything that isn't Self. The reason being just like the face cannot see itself neither can Self directly inquire into Itself.

If one goes deep enough into that line of inquiry even the "I" thought is negated and one is left with pure Awareness. Call it No-Mind or absence of Vrittis (modifications of mind i.e. thoughts).
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  #6  
Old 15-03-2021, 02:40 PM
Mak6831 Mak6831 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy
If one goes deep enough into that line of inquiry even the "I" thought is negated and one is left with pure Awareness. Call it No-Mind or absence of Vrittis (modifications of mind i.e. thoughts).
So is pure awareness the Self
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  #7  
Old 15-03-2021, 02:57 PM
A human Being A human Being is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mak6831
I appreciate your words, I hadn't consider treating distraction this way. I think it is a less egoically constricted way of looking at it. For some reason anger is arising today, I'm not sure if i should seek out the 'I' that is identified to the anger and find the root cause or should I remain impartial to the anger. It seems to be taking over my perception, Im not sure if i should inquire into it as im scared of maybe ruining my intention meaning im no longer on this path solely for truth but a in order reduce my suffering which may perpetuate the illusory sense of self. does anybody have any ideas about anger, it seems to have such a strong hold.
Might be an idea to just sit with the anger - become intimate with it, notice what it feels like in the body, notice if it causes particular areas of the body to become tight and tense and allow those areas to relax and let go. Emotions like anger, resentment, bitterness, etc., are what's known as secondary or 'cover' emotions, they tend to be covering over other emotions such as grief and fear, and it's those deeper emotions that need to be felt, I think, in order to be able to let go of the anger.
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  #8  
Old 15-03-2021, 03:07 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mak6831
So is pure awareness the Self

From the perspective of Advaita, yes.
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  #9  
Old 15-03-2021, 04:13 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy
What Ramana Maharshi taught is classic Vedantic Self-inquiry, and that is negating everything we are not. So it's not inquiring into the nature of anger but inquiring into the nature of Self and the only way to do that is to negate everything that isn't Self. The reason being just like the face cannot see itself neither can Self directly inquire into Itself.

If one goes deep enough into that line of inquiry even the "I" thought is negated and one is left with pure Awareness. Call it No-Mind or absence of Vrittis (modifications of mind i.e. thoughts).

Taking this a bit further...

Anything that's limited by time, space and causation isn't Self. In other words anything that changes isn't Self. Self is ever-present and unchanging. Without limit. Body changes. Mind changes, Thoughts change. Emotions change. Memory changes. Knowledge changes. Beliefs change. What doesn't change is the Awareness within which all these arise, linger for a time and then subside. Anger isn't there, then it's there for a time and then it isn't there.

That's Step 1 of Two Steps to the Not-Two: Swami Sarvapriyananda https://youtu.be/kPdsAPlK2Js
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  #10  
Old 15-03-2021, 04:51 PM
Miss Hepburn Miss Hepburn is offline
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Hi Mak, I'm glad you came here.
Anger to me is like trash that smells outside your window...get rid of it...no need to analyze it...or rub it all over you.
Get rid of it. If it comes back, get rid of it again.
*Learn Thought Control*...recognize thoughts that are unhealthy and unwanted.
Anger, worry jealousy, indignation, low self-esteem, pride,
(doesn't matter which one) are the products of the egoic mind ---Christians can say it's the devil or the enemy.

It's part of the the bag of tricks used to take us away from knowing all is well - trust this path and sweep the obstacles
away you may trip over.

If you want to practice a therapy technique to get anger out of you ---letting of steam is a good way.
-Picture the incident or person that makes you mad - and now
-yell AT THAT very thing -
-hit a pillow with a tennis racket or a foam baseball bat...
-scream irrational things.
Ex: "I hate that you, you never should have had children!", "How dare you you said that to me; YOU're the loser!"
It should not take more than 2 minutes and you will blow off so much steam ---
you just don't have anymore anger about the 'thing' left in you.

Then, follow that with imagining an unpleasant incident vividly, maybe the same one ---except now you
re-write the 'scene' saying to the person what you wish you would have .
Feel the power and satisfaction. Smile: it cements that feeling in you.
You reprogrammed your subconscious mind. You're the victor, not the victim filled with shame or anger.
(I didn't just make all this up ---these are basic therapy techniques of professionals.) :)


Free yourself up so you can now sit peacefully and be aware of awareness.
Practice. JASG often steals my lines.
__________________

.
*I'll text in Navy Blue when I'm speaking as a Mod. :)


Prepare yourself for the coming astral journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of God-perception.
Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles.
Meditate unceasingly, that you may quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free from every form of misery. ~Paramahansa's Guru's Guru
.


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