I wonder how many people know today that Ramana Maharshi was famous during his lifetime for giving initiation or transmission to visitors by looking into their eyes. He often did this for almost an hour at a time. His devotees at the ashram sometimes called this his “glance of grace.” The effect was often strong […]
Author: Freddie
Where are the Self-realized people who teach Ramana’s method based on their own experience?
I don’t know of a single living person who: 1. Claims to have reached Ramana’s state by following the method that he taught, and 2. Teaches that method. The only person I can think of who met those criteria was Arunachala Ramana, the man who started Aham and wrote this book, but he died in […]
Fish space out when they hear about water Experience is to you as water is to fish.
Today’s topic is a hard one for the same reason that fish get bored and stop listening when you tell them they’re floating in water. Everything you’ve ever known has been an experience, just like fish have always been in water. This topic is not only boring, it’s incomprehensible, because if everything has always been […]
A chat with ChatGPT about consciousness
I’ve been a computer programmer for 40 years, and I think the idea that computers may become conscious is complete nonsense. That idea is based on the mistaken belief that consciousness and information processing have a special relationship to each other. Consciousness feels love, pain, fear, heat, desire, disgust, and so forth — none of […]
How I became convinced that Self-realization is not a myth
An episode from my life came up in a comment the other day. It may sound trivial but it made a huge impression on me. I’ll do my best to describe it but it may be one of those things you had to be there to appreciate. In 2005 I spent a few weeks with […]
Sri Mahaprabu could not find the mind
Quoted from Journey of Sri Mahaprabu. Black emphasis is Mahaprabu’s; green is Freddie’s. Then came the words from Karl [Renz], as if he had read Mahaprabu’s mind. “Come on, ask the question!” (He probably saw the smile on my [Mahaprabu’s] face) Mahaprabu: “Myself?” Karl: “Yes! You.” Mahaprabu: “You are telling ‘Drop the mind.’ But how […]
Dream sadhana
I’m writing this post to answer a question that A Ramana Devotee, who wrote this guest article a few years ago, asked recently in a comment. A useful concept before I start: Years ago my friend Jyothi invented the term “imposed sadhana” to describe a spiritual practice that we do without choice. Nisargadatta gave an […]
My thoughts about this blog
For the last couple of days I’ve been trying to start posting again after a hiatus because several people asked me to. I’m having a lot of trouble because the only thing that interests me nowadays is Self-realization and I’m not Self-realized so I can’t write about it. When I say “Self-realization” I mean Ramana’s […]
Muzika on watching the waking state come to us
Reminder: When I write about spiritual teachers I’m not necessarily recommending them or endorsing claims about their states. A couple of weeks ago I happened to listen to one of Ed Muzika’s satsang talks in which he gives a first-hand description of something that Ramana often recommended: noticing the process of waking from deep sleep. […]
Piraro and Wayno
In case you don’t get the joke, people used to chant “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!” at protest marches against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s. A good illustration of Self-enquiry: Cartoons by Dan Piraro and Waymo. See their website Bizzaro.com.