Tranquil Mind II (Contd)

By Super Admin

Ramana Maharshi
Continued From The First Page

The third obstacle to the earnest and steadfast pursuit of search for the source of 'I' is the distractions caused by technological explosions. A young friend assured me that by the year 2005, the Indian T.V. viewers would have one thousand channels to choose from. One would have thought that the present fifty is enough of a distraction. Another young friend told me that on the latest model computer it is very easy to chat with anyone in the world as long as one wished. The attention shifts completely to entertainment, information, relationships, away from the one who wishes to be entertained, to be informed and so on. Nothing is or can be a distraction for one whose mind is merged in its source the Heart.

The spiritual practice on the Ramana path is essentially to get linked to one's true dimension from the very beginning. The mind, the 'I' along with its associated thoughts, is the past.

The mind is Time. If one switches his attention to 'I' and then to its source one almost cuts clear of the past in the form of thoughts, and even of the single 'I'- thought which does not survive the attention paid to it. On exposure to its source it merges into it. As a result while correctly practising the Ramana way one must perforce experience natural happiness for such periods when the mind is merged in its source. When the 'I' emerges again as a separate 'I'-thought due to habit, it has to be merged back time and again into its source till it loses its tendency to look for happiness outside instead of experiencing and being that naturally.

Before closing one might refer to the fact that the words of Ramana's 'Eight Verses' on Arunachala, the opening quote, appeared before his mind's eye during one of his circuits around Arunachala in his Virupaksha days. The words literally compelled him to put them down. Perhaps that is why we find the quintessence of his teachings communicated directly and forcefully in these verses.

What more does an earnest seeker need? How can he fail if he makes these inspired words his own?

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