Nonduality Salon (/ \)
The Self, Maya, and the Heart: The
Fundamentals of Non-Dualism, page 3
These quotes state that the all pervading Self, as
Brahman, is situated in the Heart, and from there light
the body and the mind. To gain some clarification about
the relationship between the Heart, the Self, and Maya,
I've also quoted from the Sri Ramana Gita, which focuses
on jnana or enquiry into the Self. (As an analogy, the
Heart is to the body like the singularity of a Black Hole
in the Universe. It represents the substratum, ground or
basis behind all appearances.)
"The 'I'-thought is said to be the root of all
thoughts. In brief, that from which the 'I'-thought"
springs forth is the heart. (verse 3)
"The heart is different from the blood circulating
organ. 'Hridayam' stands for Hird 'the center which sucks
in everything', and ayam, 'this', and it thus stands for
the Self. (v 5)
The location of the Heart is on the right side of the
chest, not at all on the left. The light (of awareness)
flows from the heart through the sushumna (para nadi*) to
Sahasrara (thousand petalled lotus in the brain). (verse
6)
"From there it flows to the entire body, and then
all experiences of the world arise.
Viewing them as different from the Light, one gets caught
up in samsara. (verse 7)
"The Sahasrara of one who abides in the Self is
nothing but pure Light. Any thought that approaches it
cannot survive. (verse 8)
"The universe is nothing but the mind, and the mind
is nothing but the heart. Thus, the entire story of the
universe culminates in the heart. (verse 12)
"The notion that the seer is different from the seen
is only in the mind. For those that abide in the Heart,
the seer and the seen are one. (verse 19)
Sri Ramana Gita, Ch V, p. 26-27
It becomes apparent from reading all these Gitas that
they all state that it is only due to lack of enquiry
into the nature of the "I"-sense in the body
and mind that the True identity of one's self as the
Self, with the all pervading, causeless, Brahman is not
realizes.
Once this enquiry is made the (para nadi) nerve referred
to in the above quote from the Katha Upanishad, begins to
resonate or pulsate "I as I" or "I, I, I,
I, ..." versus the constant grasping of attention to
"I-this", "I-that", and so forth with
each rising thought.
To paraphrase, when the sense of "I" becomes
localized through single enquiry, the nerve referred to
begins to radiate incandescently, and the whole body is
outshined in a blaze of living Light, having no more
separation from the all pervasive Brahman. (This is
similar to matter that blazes when sucked into a Black
Hole.)
In the chapter concerning the vision of God in His
Universal Form, Krishna tells Arjuna, after revealing to
him essentially what He, as the Self of all, Witnesses,
states:
"Neither by study of the scriptures, nor by
austerities, nor by alms giving, can I be seen....
But by single minded and intense devotion, that Form of
Mine may be completely known, and seen, and entered
into..." Bhagavad Gita, p. 97
Krishna further states concerning the various methods of
devotion that:
"Certainly, all these are noble: But the man of
discrimination [between Self and not self*], I see as my
very Self. For he alone loves me because I am Myself: The
last and only goal of his devoted heart." Bhagavad
Gita, p. 72 [*my italics]
In the Sri Ramana Gita the points regarding this subject
- the knot between the Self and the body/mind, and their
final break were made in the most concisely to the point
manner, as follows:
"The nexus of the body and the Self is called the
granthi (knot). It is only by this connection with the
Self that one is aware of the body. (verse 3)
"This body is insentient. The Self is pure
awareness. The connection between the two is deduced
through intellect. (verse 4)
"Enveloped by the defused light of pure awareness,
the body functions. Owing to non-apprehension (of the
world) in sleep, (swoon) and so on, the location of the
Self has to be inferred. (verse 5)
"Even as the subtle forces like the electric current
pass through visible wires, the light of awareness flows
through a nadi (nerve) in the body. (verse 6)
"The effulgent light of pure awareness, taking hold
of a center, lights up the entire body as the Sun
illumines the world. (verse 7)
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