Preetom

@winterknight When Ramana Maharshi advices something like "Be the Self. Or remain firmly as Self", what are the possible ways a seeker can interpret this instruction?

It doesn't bother me. But I can't name what it does to me

Oh God why do I cringe so much every time I read that? Kudos to you sir! You have the extraordinary ability of creating a churning in my gut...phew

I'll definitely start reading TSRM then. Thanks I agree with you on this one. He is heavily concerned with the Tamil translations in his writings(and lectures), he goes on translating stuff frequently which I personally found distracting and redundant. And about being independent jnani, he never claims to be one. He always credits Maharshi for whatever knowledge he has gathered and whatever he has done in this non-duality business. This is a common theme with almost all the direct students of Maharshi. They only acknowledge one Guru and that's Maharshi himself. Michael James basically sees himself as an interpreter of the essence of Maharshi's teachings in English Language. I'd suggest you read the first 8.5 pages of the introduction of his book ''Happiness and the art of being''. It's a giant book, the introduction itself being over 50 pages long. But just read the 1st 7-8 pages. I found it explaining almost all the core concepts of non duality and the practice as well in a precise manner. And also would be happy to hear your review on the short read. I'm linking the book. http://www.happinessofbeing.com/Happiness_and_the_Art_of_Being.pdf

Of course. You wouldn't be able to 'survive' one day without pursuing conditional happiness. Start taking full responsibility and approach this path with a solid strategy. There are lots of trap and it's so easy to fall in many. Have a look at this useful post. Do not blame and shame yourself for pursuing conditional happiness. As an ego mind you can never stop that search. Focus on Truth/Enlightenment, unconditional happiness will come as a byproduct. You don't have to seek unconditional happiness Yeah that's the best case scenario but 99% will never get it. There are many level you can grasp a realization. One who has viscerally felt the shallowness, futility and hidden pain in the search for happiness will finally stop. He will rather sit alone and cry instead of seeking happiness in objects. The question is how convinced one has become of the fact there is no happiness in objects through contemplation and keen scrutiny? Anyone hardly ever thinks about this.

Those are some good question. But I really hope you don't stop there and go further to seek what unconditional happiness really is. It can't be completely explained with a conditioned language. Enlightenment/Truth is the ONLY way through which unconditional happiness is possible.In fact they are the same thing. No amount of physical doing, psychological gymnastics will do the work. Never! You'll have to clearly see how things really are. It's impossible to talk about post-enlightenment state. Lets just say that 'you' won't be there anymore to do stuff and seek happiness. Other people might see you doing shit and searching happiness but that's their delusion

Ego is just God having a confused and bad day

The unconditional happiness that spirituality promises is not really a phenomenal experience. It's a condition where for the first time you don't care about happiness. The dynamic of searching for happiness ceases. And what do we call the absence of search for happiness? It's called unconditional happiness

Shouldn't you be more concerned about the ingenious fact that how only an idea or belief can make your life a living hell?

Well God wrote his letter. He doesn't give a shit about how people will take it. Just like God created everything but doesn't care at all how everyone is shitting all over it

Well if he is attempting to shit on God, he'll have to go through the right hand of God first which is me

Like what? Are you referring to me or to God?

*Both nondual and dual police are on the way to arrest God*

He became the enlightened master but maybe forgot to get back to fetching water and cutting woods

Wow your life must have been a standstill in that year. It was totally worth it though

Maybe you could look into it again once more. I have to admit I've got a good understanding of Maharshi's teachings due to Michael James and Sri Sadhu Om's interpretations. On the contrary, Michael James claims that Talks with Maharshi can easily confuse people. As Maharshi always replied based on the level of of the seeker, it sounds contradictory when it is compiled in such a big book. Plus the usual translator Murugunar(not the Enlightened Sri Murugunar) used to heavily interpret things from his devotional viewpoints in a biased manner.

Yes that is a great book. I also like Michael James Happiness and the art of being which explains Maharshi's teachings in a very clear way

ugly arts are Creations as well

I just complimented him ffs

Joseph ''fookin enlightened'' Maynor we have a winner!

How successful have you been so far in your project of pretending to be an unenlightened master in order to irritate an enlightened master?

@theking00 Yeah you are not God. You are also not what you currently take yourself to be

Not sure if you've vowed to find out if you can bother an enlightened master or not

Indeed. Repeated reading and absorption does feel like deep self inquiry itself from time to time. There is a potency in the words spoken by a Jnani which works its magic when the time is right.

God needs to keep his lungs warm. If not HE, then who else is there to smoke?