Q. Ramana Maharshi described a "Direct Path" to nondual awakening to reach the "thought free" state? What is that? What makes it "Direct"? How does it work?
G. An earlier blog, "Why don't more meditators reach the "thought-free" state?", detailed the many traditions that regard the "thought-free" state as their goal for nondual awakening, as thoughts cause our stress, anxiety, worry, craving, etc. The name "Direct Path" for the approach of self-inquiry as a route to nondual awakening comes from its most famous modern advocate, Ramana Maharshi:
"When the mind unceasingly investigates its own nature, it transpires that there is no such thing as mind. This is the direct path for all".
This is Ramana's direct approach - there is no religious doctrine, no place to go or lengthy training, nothing except just investigating what your mind is.
This self-inquiry approach was also recommended by Nisargadatta Maharaj, Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and earlier folk.
In "my" book , Happiness Beyond Thought: A Practical Guide to Awakening, there are approaches that provide insights and understanding of your mind and thoughts which are the core of "The Direct Path"; let's look at some.
Why do we even have an "I" with its self-referential narrative "thoughts"? If you were interviewing the "I" for a job, what would its "job description" be? When i ask that in workshops i get: “protect me from harm”, “make good choices”, “remember what is important”, “remember only good experiences”, “don’t obsess about the past”, “make me happy”, “know what’s going to happen to me”, etc. Is the "I" really capable of delivering these expectations? Can your thoughts really do that?
What types of thoughts do you have? Have you ever looked at them?
Just take a few minutes and sit quietly, just watching the breath. C'mon just do it; FB can wait...Let the breath slow, and focus on the exhales, until you can see separate thoughts or short thought streams on one subject. Create three buckets for different thoughts. If thoughts were real, you could use external buckets, but since thoughts are just thoughts, you will need internal buckets (also only thoughts.)
The first bucket is for thoughts about the past: pains, pleasures, regrets, joys, “shudas,” “cudas,” etc. The second bucket is for thoughts about the present: what is NOW, right this instant. The third bucket is for thoughts about the future: plans, fantasies, fears, hoped for successes, pleasures, etc.
Do not count "sensations" as thoughts. If a sensation is followed by naming, categorization, analysis, a story or something to be done about it, that’s not NOW. The sensation is gone and thought is on the scene with a doer going to do something with/about it.
For example, you hear a car passing - it can be just the sound without a hearer or something that is heard. If the sound becomes a car, a car outside, a car outside making too much noise, a car outside making too much noise that someone needs to do something about, etc., then that isn't the present, it's the past.
Fill your buckets for a few minutes. Which of your buckets are nearly full? Are any buckets almost empty? What does this tell you?
we live our lives in our thoughts about the past and future, almost never in what is unfolding, NOW. When eating, you think about work. When working, you think about going to a party. At the party, you think about talking to someone (anyone) else, what to say next, what you said that was stupid or brilliant, or being at a better party. This is a second-hand life. Your thoughts rob you of your life, your happiness and presence. Don’t let your life be like the John Lennon quote, “what happens to you while you’re making other plans.”
As many times as I have done this w/folk, no one ever draws a straight line. we believe our thoughts are a series of rational considerations with reasoned conclusions. Is that what your thoughts are? Do you control your thinking? Do you decide what the next topic of thoughts is and when it starts? Who’s driving this bus?
How are our thoughts constructed? What are they "about"?
Again, sitting still and following your breath, focus on exhales until you reach a calm, centered space.
Construct two "thought" buckets. The first bucket is for thoughts with “I,” “me,” or “my,” which can be explicit or implied. The second bucket is for thoughts that do not have an “I,” “me,” or “my” in them.
After several minutes, examine your buckets. Did you have many thoughts that didn’t have an “I” or its sisters somewhere in them?
Most folk find that most of their thoughts contain the “I”. It really is “all about you”. we believe that our thoughts are about the world’s problems, the cure for cancer, etc., when it is actually always about us.
This provides an important approach to awakening by using "self-inquiry" into the nature of the “I” as the most direct way to be free from the tyranny of narrative thoughts. we can either focus on the myriad objects, an endless process, or we can simply deconstruct the subject. This is the often overlooked key.
There are other useful, powerful exercises: a) Where do your thoughts come from and where do they go to? b) Can you predict your thoughts for the next two minutes? and c) Is there only one "I"?
So now what do we do?
Self-inquiry is simply the direct questioning the nature of the "I", which we have seen is the root of self-referential narrative. Ramana, in his early 20s, gave responses to questions which became "Who Am I?", one of the most succinct and direct discussions on how this work is to be done. It is a short, free, downloadable pamphlet. IME, it is all you need. i give it to anyone with whom i work directly. A typical passage, which is a good summary of self-inquiry:
The wiki article on "Self-Inquiry" is worth reading. It was probably written by David Godman, who wrote Be As You Are, an accessible compendium of/on Ramana Maharshi. David was kind enough to review my book. Strongly recommend David's Living By The Words of Bhagavan; an excellent description of life in Ramana's ashram and "discipleship". Check out video of Annamalai Swami, the central figure.
There is more in Happiness Beyond Thought (profits go to kids in south India) on self-inquiry in asanas, pranayama, meditation, chanting, etc., which question to use, when to change it, how and when to do it, etc. The book is basically about "self-inquiry". Also, c/o www.happiness-beyond-thought.com.
BTW, Ramana's philosophy is similar to advaita Vedanta, so similar that Ramana's Upadesa Saram, or "essence of the teaching", is taught at major advaita Vedanta workshops and seminars as a complete "short course" in advaita. However, practices are typically different. For example, some advaita teachers don't condone meditation per se, believing that "as the problem is ignorance, it can only be solved by knowledge, not practices". That hasn't been my experience.
There are several books with the name "The Direct Path", or something close to it, by Greg Goode, Andrew Harvey and others; i haven't read them. If any of you do, let me know what you think.
G. An earlier blog, "Why don't more meditators reach the "thought-free" state?", detailed the many traditions that regard the "thought-free" state as their goal for nondual awakening, as thoughts cause our stress, anxiety, worry, craving, etc. The name "Direct Path" for the approach of self-inquiry as a route to nondual awakening comes from its most famous modern advocate, Ramana Maharshi:
 |
| Ramana Maharshi |
"When the mind unceasingly investigates its own nature, it transpires that there is no such thing as mind. This is the direct path for all".
This is Ramana's direct approach - there is no religious doctrine, no place to go or lengthy training, nothing except just investigating what your mind is.
This self-inquiry approach was also recommended by Nisargadatta Maharaj, Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and earlier folk.
In "my" book , Happiness Beyond Thought: A Practical Guide to Awakening, there are approaches that provide insights and understanding of your mind and thoughts which are the core of "The Direct Path"; let's look at some.
Why do we even have an "I" with its self-referential narrative "thoughts"? If you were interviewing the "I" for a job, what would its "job description" be? When i ask that in workshops i get: “protect me from harm”, “make good choices”, “remember what is important”, “remember only good experiences”, “don’t obsess about the past”, “make me happy”, “know what’s going to happen to me”, etc. Is the "I" really capable of delivering these expectations? Can your thoughts really do that?
What types of thoughts do you have? Have you ever looked at them?
Just take a few minutes and sit quietly, just watching the breath. C'mon just do it; FB can wait...Let the breath slow, and focus on the exhales, until you can see separate thoughts or short thought streams on one subject. Create three buckets for different thoughts. If thoughts were real, you could use external buckets, but since thoughts are just thoughts, you will need internal buckets (also only thoughts.)
The first bucket is for thoughts about the past: pains, pleasures, regrets, joys, “shudas,” “cudas,” etc. The second bucket is for thoughts about the present: what is NOW, right this instant. The third bucket is for thoughts about the future: plans, fantasies, fears, hoped for successes, pleasures, etc.
Do not count "sensations" as thoughts. If a sensation is followed by naming, categorization, analysis, a story or something to be done about it, that’s not NOW. The sensation is gone and thought is on the scene with a doer going to do something with/about it.
For example, you hear a car passing - it can be just the sound without a hearer or something that is heard. If the sound becomes a car, a car outside, a car outside making too much noise, a car outside making too much noise that someone needs to do something about, etc., then that isn't the present, it's the past.
we live our lives in our thoughts about the past and future, almost never in what is unfolding, NOW. When eating, you think about work. When working, you think about going to a party. At the party, you think about talking to someone (anyone) else, what to say next, what you said that was stupid or brilliant, or being at a better party. This is a second-hand life. Your thoughts rob you of your life, your happiness and presence. Don’t let your life be like the John Lennon quote, “what happens to you while you’re making other plans.”
How do your thoughts "behave"? Are they about one thing, or many things?
Still and quiet, a piece of paper in front of you, close your eyes and draw the flow of your thought streams. As a thought arises about one topic, draw a straight line until that topic is replaced by a thought stream on another topic. Then draw the line in another direction until that thought stream is interrupted by another. Continue for a few minutes.
What does your paper look like? Is your thinking a long, continuous stream of thoughts about one topic, or is it random, even chaotic, with many short streams on many unrelated topics? Which of the patterns shown was yours?
 |
| Tracing the patterns of our thoughts |
As many times as I have done this w/folk, no one ever draws a straight line. we believe our thoughts are a series of rational considerations with reasoned conclusions. Is that what your thoughts are? Do you control your thinking? Do you decide what the next topic of thoughts is and when it starts? Who’s driving this bus?
How are our thoughts constructed? What are they "about"?
Again, sitting still and following your breath, focus on exhales until you reach a calm, centered space.
Construct two "thought" buckets. The first bucket is for thoughts with “I,” “me,” or “my,” which can be explicit or implied. The second bucket is for thoughts that do not have an “I,” “me,” or “my” in them.
After several minutes, examine your buckets. Did you have many thoughts that didn’t have an “I” or its sisters somewhere in them?
Most folk find that most of their thoughts contain the “I”. It really is “all about you”. we believe that our thoughts are about the world’s problems, the cure for cancer, etc., when it is actually always about us.
This provides an important approach to awakening by using "self-inquiry" into the nature of the “I” as the most direct way to be free from the tyranny of narrative thoughts. we can either focus on the myriad objects, an endless process, or we can simply deconstruct the subject. This is the often overlooked key.
There are other useful, powerful exercises: a) Where do your thoughts come from and where do they go to? b) Can you predict your thoughts for the next two minutes? and c) Is there only one "I"?
So now what do we do?
Self-inquiry is simply the direct questioning the nature of the "I", which we have seen is the root of self-referential narrative. Ramana, in his early 20s, gave responses to questions which became "Who Am I?", one of the most succinct and direct discussions on how this work is to be done. It is a short, free, downloadable pamphlet. IME, it is all you need. i give it to anyone with whom i work directly. A typical passage, which is a good summary of self-inquiry:
“When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, ‘To whom has this thought arisen?’ The answer that would emerge would be ‘to me’. Thereupon if one inquires ‘Who am I?’ the mind will go back to its source and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.”
 |
| David Godman Author of "Be As You Are" |
There is more in Happiness Beyond Thought (profits go to kids in south India) on self-inquiry in asanas, pranayama, meditation, chanting, etc., which question to use, when to change it, how and when to do it, etc. The book is basically about "self-inquiry". Also, c/o www.happiness-beyond-thought.com.
BTW, Ramana's philosophy is similar to advaita Vedanta, so similar that Ramana's Upadesa Saram, or "essence of the teaching", is taught at major advaita Vedanta workshops and seminars as a complete "short course" in advaita. However, practices are typically different. For example, some advaita teachers don't condone meditation per se, believing that "as the problem is ignorance, it can only be solved by knowledge, not practices". That hasn't been my experience.
There are several books with the name "The Direct Path", or something close to it, by Greg Goode, Andrew Harvey and others; i haven't read them. If any of you do, let me know what you think.
Gary,
ReplyDeleteGregs book is very well set out and consists mainly of a series of 40 exercises of an experiential nature. Now I should add a few other points. I have had the book since it came out about 6 months or so and for some reason really resisted reading it. I would read a bit then stop. I would selectively read bits of it and stop again. Each time I read it I would do one of the experiments.
A short while ago the "I" just dissolved whilst reading at my desk. I had been involved in some fairly focussed and intense 'direct path' style inquiry for a few days prior to this and I am sure this also assisted in dissolving the illusory "I". It was clearly seen to be an illusion. Quite frankly a very ordinary experience not what I was expecting. Where were all the bells and whistles, I said to my wife this must be a "B" great awakening...ha ha.
Four decades of seeking doing all the usual meditations, TM Zen then Vipassana and then there was all the readings, podcasts and lets not forget youtube videos. I still read a few nondual writings especially ones I had read before because it is like reading the paper with a new set of glasses, everything is clear and effortless.
Getting back to Greg's book, The main point for me that came across was that the so called search should be focussed on the experiential to discover that you are already that for which you are searching. The mind is not a good tool for this.
For some reason I now like to read nondual type blogs and yours is especially interesting.
Cheers
Ian
Hi Ian:
ReplyDeleteTks for the recommendation for Greg Goode's book which, i believe, manifested as "The Direct Path: A User's Guide."
re your dissolution of the "I" being "frankly a very ordinary experience not what I was expecting. Where were all the bells and whistles...", that is a not uncommon experience for awakenings after long times seeking. In your four decades, you had developed a great deal of understanding, unwound a lot of conditioning, and opened and repatterned a lot of neural networks, etc. IME, it was similarly non-spectacular as it had been after 25 years of practice.
The explosive awakenings are generally with folk who have not had that degree of preparation, a.k.a. Eckhart Tolle and even Ramana Maharshi, and are generally followed with years of integration and stabilization.
Agree w/Greg's comments that the search should be focused on the experiential.
As is your experience, after the page turned, there is an interest in finding an intellectual framework within which to place it. IME, Toni Packer told me to read "I Am That" Nisargadatta's masterpiece, with which i was totally unfamiliar. i found every word of it to be perfect and absolutely "spot on" with the experience. Advaita fit perfectly.
Great you are finding the blog useful.
stillness
gary
Hi Gary, I sat down and did the exercise of observing the types of thought that you describe above, for a few minutes, and putting them in buckets. It turns out that while there were a couple of images from the past that popped up, and a couple of imaginings of future events, most thought content was, hmmm... sort of in the abstract? Not on any timeline. Vague awareness of my friend existing. An image of the face of someone I know. Thoughts that were questions, such as, "Is this a future thought?" or "Is there an I attached to this?" Half-formed thoughts or understandings that would take some work to put into language and can't be placed on a timeline. A number of the thoughts were actually impulses, such as an impulse to grab a cushion, to move closer to the bed, to reset the timer. Are these what you would call "future" thoughts? Or are these what you would call "me thoughts with the i implied"? What is an example of a "now" thought? Would you say a little more of what you meant by "I/me/mine" is implied. Can you give an example? Thank you for your direct and matter-of-fact approach, I'm really enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteHi Tate,
DeleteThe exercise is to show that there are only "future" or "past" thoughts...there are no "now" thoughts.
Many of what some folk call "now" thoughts are about something that is going to be done, or has just been done, i.e. they are really "recent past" or "near future".
An image of someone from the past, is generated from a "past thought". An impulse to grab a cushion, move closer to the bed or reset the timer is a "future" thought as it isn't actually being done "now", but it will/might be done in the future.
If you are living in "now", the cushion is grabbed, the movement to the bed happens, and the timer is reset, without narration.
Even if there is only a "feeling", as you have noticed, there is an "i" implied there, as in "i should reset the timer", or "no, it can wait, i need to sit longer".
If there are thoughts, there is always an i/me/my there at the root of them. It is in the evolved structure of our languaging as "I do something to an object", which was what enabled our species to begin assigning different tasks to different folk.
With it, we were able to do something no other species could. we could gather very large groups, eventually millions, and assign and then re-assign them new tasks as desired. With that capability, we wiped out other competing hominid species and dominated the planet, for good or ill.
There are some "yes, buts" that allow, through a different neural circuit...tasking, planning and problem solving to occur with "thoughts", but they are of a very different "feel" and nature, and are not problematic. The video "What 'no thoughts' means...3 different kinds of thoughts" @ https://youtu.be/WnWxCgiZfrc is a useful discussion on the neural architecture behind this.
Trust this is useful.
Hi Gary,
ReplyDeleteI am happy I found your website. I've been on the spiritual path for many years, read books etc. but although I've been meditating for many years I never took it very seriously, mainly did nature contemplation and music meditation but about 5 years ago I started to take it seriously meditating daily for the last 5 years after learning TM. I don't agree with lots of stuff about TM but overall I think it's pretty good technique. Over the last three years after becoming a Dad I have been dealing with health anxiety, fear of cancer etc. I find it funny when people say, I should not fear, you can attract etc. as if "getting" rid of fear was something easy. Unless people experience anxiety, panic attacks they don't really understand how it feels.
Anyways, I am grateful for it because I am learning a lot about the way the mind works and I believe it's part of my spiritual path to go through it. It is true, we grow the most when we go through difficulties. The bla bla bla network you talk about just deepened my understanding and shows me that I am on the right path to deal better with my anxiety.
Lately also meditating on death which budists recommend including Dalai Lama.
Correct if I am wrong but you say self inquiry was the best path for you to reach "stillness" and shut down the DMN but I wonder if it wasn't a sort of coincidence and actually it was your dedication, 10k+ hours of meditation etc. that caused your awakening. I mean, in one of your articles you mentioned " moves from software to being the hardware”, hard-wired into the brain…automatic, unconscious". People jump from technique to technique, look for different gurus when what they really need is thousand and thousand of practise to "hardwire".
I read little about RM, skipped the be as you are book, read some of his talks which can be very deep. I have a Christianity background and don't agree with some stuff he says about Jesus but I believe we can learn from anyone and no one really knows the "full truth". We all have our enlightenment moments, our unique experiences with the divine.
I was wondering if you could share the self-enquiry panflet with me so I can try. I really liked the passage you mentioned on this article "With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.”
I started doing the Kirtan Kriya meditation after watching your video. Really like it. Amazing how using both hands with fingers in opposite direction takes the mind away. It is not easy but worth practicing. First time I heard about mudras. Thank you.
Anyways, thanks for your website and all info and I hope you keep posting new stuff now that I found your website. :)
Murilo
Hi Murilo,
DeleteAs these are comments on this blog, let's focus on where you say "I wonder if it wasn't a sort of coincidence and actually it was your dedication, 10k+ hours of meditation etc. that caused your awakening."
No, it isn't just doing the hours of meditation, it really has to be self-inquiry...simply asking "Where am I?", What is this?, Who hears?", etc. as described in "Happiness Beyond Thought: A Practical Guide to Awakening".
If you look under "Show More" in any of my youTube videos, you'll see links to all of my work, all free in some format, including my books.
As proof that it must be self-inquiry, there was a famous study @ Yale University where 100 experienced meditation practitioners with an average of 7000 hours of practice, were put in a "real time fMRI" and the behavior of the key center in the Default Mode Network was monitored.
99 of the folk were practitioners of Buddhist "mindfulness" practices...i was the only one who practiced self-inquiry. my results were clearly different from and superior to those of the Buddhist "mindfulness" practices.
This is described in the article "The Neuroscience of Suffering - And Its End" @ http://psychologytomorrowmagazine.com/jeff-warren-neuroscience-suffering-end/.
The self-inquiry pamphlet, "Who Am I?" is available free as a .pdf @ https://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/who_am_I.pdf.
Trust this is useful.
stillness
gary
Thanks a lot Gary.
ReplyDeleteStillness