Upadesa Undiyar: Verse 19, 20, 30

If one keenly investigates what is the awareness that now shines as ‘I’, then in [one’s] heart a kind of sphurippu (an awareness [prajñā] of one’s own existence that is limitless and endowed with a fresh clarity, distinct from the limited body-awareness called ‘I’) alone will appear itself to itself [oneself to oneself] without sound as ‘I am I’. 

As soon as the mind reaches the heart [its core and essence, which is pure awareness] [by] inwardly investigating who am I, when [thereby] he who is ‘I’ [ego] dies, one thing [or the one] appears spontaneously [or as oneself] as ‘I am I’ [that is, as awareness of oneself as oneself alone]. 

Though it appears, it is not ‘I’ [namely ego]. It is pūṉḏṟam [the whole or pūrṇa, which is infinite, eternal and unchanging], the poruḷ [the real substance or vastu] that is oneself. (Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu verse 30) 

When one investigates within [or inwardly investigates] what the place is from which one [or it] rises as ‘I’ [ego or mind], ‘I’ will die. This is jñāna-vicāra [awareness-investigation]. (Upadēśa Undiyār verse 19) 

In the place where ‘I’ [namely ego, the false awareness ‘I am this’] merges, that, the one, appears spontaneously [or as oneself] as ‘I am I’. That itself [or that, oneself] is pūṉḏṟam [pūrṇa: the infinite whole or entirety of what is]. (Upadēśa Undiyār verse 20) 

Thus Spake Ramana

2. Reality is at once Being and Consciousness. To know That is to be That in the Heart, transcending thought. Absolute surrender to the Supreme Lord, whereby the 'I' and 'mine' are destroyed, is the one means to realize Immortality. The Supreme Being, the one the supreme method of attainment

10. You say that this is the ‘age of reason’ and that the teaching must be in accordance with reason. I ask: ‘Whose is the intellect?’ You must answer ‘My intellect’. So the intellect is your tool. You use it for measuring variety. It is not yourself nor is it something independent of yourself. You are the abiding reality, while the intellect is just a phenomenon. You must find and get hold of yourself. 

There is no intellect in dreamless sleep. There is none in a child. The intellect develops with age. But how could there be any development or manifestation of the intellect without the seed of it in sleep or childhood? 

Why go to history to discover this fundamental fact? The degree of truth in the history is the same as the degree of truth in the historian.

12. This world, which you try to prove to be real, is all the time mocking at you for seeking to know it, without first knowing yourself. How can the knowledge of objects arising in relative existence to one who does not know the truth of himself, the knower, be true knowledge? If one rightly knows the truth of him named I', in whom both knowledge and its opposite subsist, then along with ignorance relative knowledge also will cease.

13. The world and the mind arise and set together as one; but of the two, the world owes its appearance to the mind alone; That alone is real in which this (inseparable) pair, the world and the mind, has risings and settings; that Reality is the one infinite Consciousness, having neither rising nor setting.

17.⁠ ⁠When the sense of 'I am the body' arises then the notions of 'you and 'he' also arise; but when, by the quest of the Truth underlying the 'I', the 'I' sense is put an end to, then the notions of 'you' and 'he' also cease. That which then shines as the sole remainder is the true Self.

20.⁠ ⁠The mind is nothing but the stream of thoughts, that passes over Consciousness. Of all these thoughts, the first one is the thought, 'I am this body'. This is a false thought; but because it is taken as true, it is possible for other thoughts to arise. So the mind is just an outgrowth of the primary ignorance and is therefore unreal.

23. If the inquiry is made whether mind exists, it will be found that mind does not exist. That is control of mind. Otherwise if the mind is taken to exist and one seeks to control it, it amounts to the mind controlling the mind, just like a thief turning out as a policeman to catch the thief, that is himself.

24. This insentient body does not say 'I'; no one ever says 'I did not exist in sleep'; but all this comes into being only after the rising of the ego; seek therefore the Source wherefrom the ego rises, by concentrating the mind on the quest.

30.⁠ ⁠You say dreamless sleep is empty of all consciousness after waking from sleep. You do not say so in sleep itself. That in you which now says that sleep is unconsciousness, is your mind. But it was not present in your sleep, and it is natural for the mind to be ignorant of the consciousness that is in sleep. Not having experienced sleep, it is unable to remember what it was like, and makes mistakes about it. The state of deep sleep is beyond the mind."

31.⁠ ⁠The Self who is Consciousness is alone real, and nothing else. All so called knowledge, which is manifold, is only ignorance. This ignorance is unreal, since it has no existence of its own, apart from the Consciousness which is the Self, just as the jewels made of gold have no existence apart from the real gold.

37.⁠ ⁠Grace is within you. If it is external, it is useless. Grace is the Self. It is not something to be acquired from others. All that is necessary is to know its existence in you. You are never out of its operation. Grace is ever there. It is not manifest because of ignorance prevailing. With sraddha, it will become manifest. Sraddha, Grace, Light, Spirit are all synonymous with the Self.

38.⁠ ⁠Meditation requires an object to meditate upon, whereas in vichara or introspection, there is only the subject without the object. Meditation differs from vichara in this way. Vichara is the process and goal also. 'I AM' is the goal and the final reality. To hold on to this Pure Being with effort is vichara. When it is spontaneous and natural, it is Realization.

40.⁠ ⁠The seen, regarded as an independent entity, independent of the Self, is unreal. The seen is not different from the seer. What exists is the one Self, not a seer and a seen. The seen regarded as the Self is real.

42.⁠ ⁠Renunciation and Realization are the same. They are different aspects of the same state. Giving up the non-self is renunciation. Inhering in the Self is jnana or Self-realization. One is the negative and the other the positive aspect of the same, single truth.

47.⁠ ⁠When a devotee reaches a certain stage and becomes fit for en-lightenment, the same God whom he was worshipping comes as Guru and leads him on. The Guru comes only to tell him, 'God is within yourself. Dive within and realize. God, Guru and the Self are the same.

52.⁠ ⁠Knowing the Self is being the Self, and being means existence - one's own existence - which no one denies, any more than one denies one's eyes, although one cannot see them. 

The trouble lies with your desire to objectify the Self, in the same way as you objectify your eyes, when you place a mirror before them. You have been so accustomed to objectify that you lost the knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified. Who is to know the Self? Can the insentient body or mind know it? All the time you speak and think of your 'I', ‘I', 'I', yet when questioned you deny knowledge of it. You are the Self, yet you ask as to how to know the Self!

56. In deep sleep you are entirely free from thoughts, because the 'I-thought' is absent. The moment the 'I-thought' rises on waking, all other thoughts rush out spontaneously. The wisest thing for one to do is therefore to catch hold of this leading thought, the 'I-thought', and dissect it - who and what it is - giving thereby no chance to other thoughts to distract one. There lies the true value of the vichara and its efficacy.

64.⁠ ⁠Existence or Consciousness is the only reality. Consciousness plus waking, we call waking. Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness plus sleep, we call sleep. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. Because by long habit we have been regarding these three states as real, we call the state of mere awareness or consciousness the fourth. There is however no fourth state, but only one state.

65.⁠ ⁠It is said the whole Vedanta can be compressed into four words, deham, naham, koham, soham. Deham is naham, the body is not 'I’. If one enquires koham i.e. Who am I? i.e., if one enquires whence this 'I' springs and realizes it, then in the heart of such a one the Omnipresent God will shine as 'I' as sa aham or soham; i.e. he will know 'That I am', i.e., That is ‘I'.

67.⁠ ⁠‘Know Thyself' is what is usually said. Even that is not correct. For if we talk of knowing the Self, there must be two Selves, one a knowing Self, another the Self which is known, and the process of knowing. The state we call Realization is simply being one-self, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realized, he is that which alone is and which alone has always been

68.⁠ ⁠‘I exist' is the only permanent, self-evident experience of every one. Nothing else is so self-evident (praty-aksha) as 'I am'. What people call 'self-evident' viz., the experience they get through the senses, is far from self-evident. The Self alone is that. Pratyaksha is another name for the Self. So, to do Self-analysis and be 'I am' is the only thing to do. 'I am' is reality. I am this or that is unreal.

76. The vision implies the seer. The seer cannot deny the existence of the Self. There is no moment when the Self as Consciousness does not exist; nor can the seer remain apart from Consciousness. This Consciousness is the eternal Being and the only Being. The seer cannot see himself. Does he deny his existence because he cannot see himself with the eyes as pratyaksha (in vision)? No! So, pratyaksha does not mean seeing but BE-ing."

Aksharamanamalai - Verse 1

Paraphrase: Arunachala! You will tear out by the roots the egos of those devotees who consider themselves to be not different from yourself, thinking in their minds ‘I am Arunachala.’

Nirvana Shatakam

Verse 1

In the first verse is the negation of the subtle body and the subtle elements which form the subtle body.

mano-buddhyahaṅkāra-cittāni nāhaṁ

na ca śrotra-jihve na ca ghrāṇa-netre,

na ca vyoma-bhūmirna tejo na vāyuḥ

cidānanda-rūpaḥ śivo’haṁ śivo’ham. (1)

I am not the mind, intellect, ego or memory (the four aspects of what is known as antaḥkaraṇa). Nor am I (the five organs of perception) the ear, tongue, nose, eyes, (or skin), nor (the five elements) the space, earth, fire, air and water. 

I am pure Knowledge and Bliss, I am Śiva, auspiciousness itself.

---

Our inner instrument (antaḥkaraṇa) comprises of four aspects each having its own function. The mind that thinks or imagines, the intellect that discriminates and decides, the ego that calls itself the self, the doer and enjoyer, and the memory that recollects past experiences. 

The five senses are the ability to hear, feel, see, taste and smell. 

The sāttvika aspects of the five elements (space, air, fire, water and earth) in their subtle form are called the tanmātrās. They are the material cause that constitute the subtle body. 

The subtle body (sūkṣma śarīra) along with its constituent elements is here negated as not being the true Self. 

Obviously the true Self (ātmā) being the illuminator, or the enlivener of everything else including the subtle body, cannot be those illumined objects. Then, what is the true Self, the real I? 

The affirmation comes from Bhagavān Śaṅkara, 

‘I am of the nature of pure Consciousness and Bliss Supreme – the one Reality behind everything – I am Śiva, the auspicious.’ 

When we constantly and sincerely start practising meditation, chanting the verses and reflecting on them in this way, the mind slowly acquires a certain calmness, purity and clarity and becomes capable of abiding in the Truth.

Nisargadatta Gita

 1. 1. The ‘I am’ came first; it is ever present, ever available. Refuse all thoughts except ‘I am’. Stay there.

This ‘I am’ is still there with you, ever present, ever available. It was and still is the first thought. Refuse all other thoughts and come back there and stay there. 

So try to understand and grasp this ‘beingness’ or ‘I amness’ that is inherent in you. 

The more precisely and clearly you do it the more rapid will be your progress.

What is reality

 "Everyone is aware of two things, namely himself, the seer, and the world which he sees; and he assumes that they are both real. But that alone is real which has a continuous existence. Judged by this test, the two, the seer and the spectacle, are both unreal: these two appear intermittently. They are apparent in the waking and dream state alone. In the state of deep sleep, they cease to appear. That is, they appear. That is, they appear when the mind is active, and disappear as soon as the mind ceases to function. Therefore, the two are but thoughts of the mind. 

There must be something from which the mind arises, and into which it subsides. That something must have a continuous, uninterrupted existence. That is, it must be the reality!" 

- Ramana Maharshi

DeMello: Being a Changed Person

In your pursuit of awareness, don't make demands.

You can't imitate Christ by imitating his external behaviour. You've got to be Christ. Then you'll know exactly what to do in a particular situation, given your temperament, your character, and the character and temperament of the person you're dealing with. No one has to tell you. But to do that, you must be what Christ was. An external imitation will get you nowhere.

If you think that compassion implies softness, there's no way I can describe compassion to you, absolutely no way, because compassion can be very hard. Compassion can be very rude, compassion can jolt you, compassion can roll up its sleeves and operate on you. Compassion is all kinds of things. Compassion can be very soft, but there's no way of knowing that. 

It's only when you become love -- in other words, when you have dropped your illusions and attachments -- that you will "know." 

As you identify less and less with the "me," you will be more at ease with everybody and with everything. Do you know why? Because you are no longer afraid of being hurt or not liked. You no longer desire to impress anyone.

Nobody was mean to you. Somebody was mean to what he or she thought was you, but not to you. Nobody ever rejects you; they're only rejecting what they think you are. But that cuts both ways. Nobody ever accepts you either. Until people come awake, they are simply accepting or rejecting their image of you. They've fashioned an image of you, and they're rejecting or accepting that. See how devastating it is to go deeply into that. It's a bit too liberating. But how easy it is to love people when you understand this. How easy it is to love everyone when you don't identify with what they imagine you are or they are. It becomes easy to love them, to love everybody. 

One can not say anything about the awakened state; one can only talk about the sleeping state. One hints at the awakened state. One cannot say anything about happiness. Happiness cannot be defined. What can be defined is misery. Drop unhappiness and you will know. Love cannot be defined; unlove can. Drop unlove, drop fear, and you will know. We want to find out what the awakened person is like. But you'll know only when you get there. 

Am I implying, for example, that we shouldn't make demands on our children? What I said was: "You don't have a right to make any demands." Sooner or later that child is going to have to get rid of you, in keeping with the injunction of the Lord. And you're going to have no rights over him at all. In fact, he really isn't your child and he never was. He belongs to life, not to you. No one belongs to you. What you're talking about is a child's education.

When I talk about not having expectations of others, or not making demands on them, I mean expectations and demands for my well-being.