The
all pervasive Self, as Brahman, is situated
in the Heart, which from there lights the
body and the mind. To gain some clarification
about the relationship between the Heart,
the Self, and Maya, Sri Ramana Maharshi states
as follows:
"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. (verse 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 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.
| "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) |
|
| "Owing
to the diffusion of light in the body, one
has experiences in the body. That center of
radiation, the sages say, is the Heart. (verse
8) |
|
| "From
the play of the forces in the body, one infers
the flow of the light of awareness. The forces
course through the body, each hugging their
own special nadi. (verse 9) |
|
| "The particular
nadi through which pure awareness flows is
called sushumna*. It is also called atma nadi,
para nadi, and amrita nadi. (verse 10) [*between
the Heart and the brain] |
|
| "As the
light pervades the entire body, one gets attached
to the body, mistakes the body for the Self
and regards the world as different from oneself.
(verse 11) |
|
| "When
the discerning one renounces attachment and
the identification of himself with the body
and pursues one-pointed enquiry, a churning
starts in the nadis. (verse 12) |
|
| "With this
churning of the nadis, the Self gets separated
from the other nadis and, clinging to one
nadi alone, shines forth. "When the effulgent
light of awareness shines in atma nadi alone,
nothing else shines except the Self. (verse
14) |
|
| "He for
whom the Atman (Self) alone shines within,
without, and everywhere, as (clearly as) objects
to the ignorant, is called one who has cut
the nexus. (verse 16) |
|
| "When the
light, withdrawn from all other nadis, dwells
in one nadi alone, the bond (between awareness
and the body) is sundered and the light abides
as the Self. (verse 18) |
|
| "Since
such a one has no sense of doership, his karma,
it is said, is completely destroyed. As nothing
but the Self exists, no doubts arise for him.
(verse 21) |
|
| "Once the
knot is cut, one is never bound again. This
is considered the state of power and peace
supreme." (verse 22) |
|
| Sri
Ramana Gita, Ch:IX, p. 49-55 |
|
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. (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.
This is similar to matter that blazes when sucked
into a Black Hole.)
(Excerpt above is from "The
Self, Maya and the Heart: The Philosophy of Non-Dualism")
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