Horizontal vs. Vertical Living

The mind operates horizontally in time and space, yesterday and tomorrow, cause and effect.
The heart is totally centered in the now.

To live a heart centered life, to find the Source of "I", one must live totally and completely in the present, to find the Truth of the present.

Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's Promises

1. My devotees have the qualifications to rejoice abundantly, like children of an emperor.

2. Abandon the drama [of the world] and seek the Self within. Remaining within, I will protect you, [ensuring] that no harm befalls you.

3. If you inquire and know me, the indweller, in that state there will be no reason for you to worry about the world.

4. For the cruel disease of burning samsara to end, the correct regimen is to entrust all your burdens on me.

5. In order that your needless anxieties cease, make sure that all your burdens are placed on me through the brave act of depending totally on grace.

6. If you completely surrender all your responsibilities to me, I will accept them as mine and manage them.

7. When bearing the entire burden remains my responsibility, why do you have any worries?

8. Long ago you offered your body, possessions and soul to me, making them mine, so why do you still regard these things as 'I' and 'mine' and associate yourself with them?

9. Seek my grace within the Heart. I will drive away your darkness and show you the light. This is my responsibility.


These Promises which were recorded by Sri Muruganar in Tamil verse. ~ from an interview of David Godman by Maalok in which DG describes these

The Best Time to Catch the "I"

The best time to catch the "I" is between two states.

In the early morning, prior to the sun rising, one can be aware:

Where do the body, mind and world come from?

Exactly how to they arise for me?

The subtle mind can be aware of the world waking up, the sun rising, without looking outward. One may be able to "feel" these within.

Prior to the "me" (the "I" thought), the mind , body and world awakening, there is a bright, radiant light, in which nothing is.

Change Your Internal Language

Change your internal language to match your experience. Normal language itself creates, acknowledges and expresses duality: a mind created "me" over here and everything else over there. Space and time are in the mind and must be transcended. Creation requires time and space in the mind. Without them, there is no creation.

Focus first on the screen behind the illusory sense objects. Focus on the radiant space in which all appears. The distance between an imagined "me" body/mind object and any other object is a mind-created distance. The stars are only there when you are seeing them. The seeing of them is yours. To see, without creating a distance, is to be the feeling of the stars. No separation. Seeing is entirely subjective, as is the whole universe. When you see something beautiful, allow it to fill your vision. Allow the distance between an imagined you and the imagined object to disappear. See without words.

Success

Success, to me, is
Moving toward the light on a vertical path;
Recognizing and celebrating my connectedness
with everyone, everything;
Holding the world in my heart;
Cleaning the prism
through which I experience the world;
Sharing, honestly, the laughter and the tears;
Creating joy, beauty, peace;
Trusting mySelf, living in my heart;
Being simple in thought, word, and action;
Abiding at the center of the circle;
Beginning each day with everything forgiven;
Asking;
Being here now;
Blessing each moment;
Dissolved by Love;
All boundaries gone;
An instrument of Peace.

The Window

There is no need
To go to the window
For further seeing.

Rather abide
At the center
Of your being.

For the more you leave it
The less you learn.

Search your heart and see
If he is wise
Who takes each turn.

The way to do
Is to BE.

Lao Tsu

Jnana

A Jnani's world is upside down and backwards when compared with the ABC world.

The whole dream of a "me" over here and "everything else" over there has been dissolved.

All language is constructed from a subject, an action and an object, time and space. If the subject, the illusory body/mind, has dissolved, none of these are real. There never was a someone located in the body.

Going all the way inward, the inside and outside dissolve. The mind which creates a "me" and "not me" has been dissolved by a giant tsunami of Light and Love a billion times greater than worldly light and love. The knot in the Heart, the block between the sentient and insentient, has dissolved. The pitcher of the Heart has become full and is running over onto everything.

The jnani, the sage IS Satsangh, but, in truth, there is no jnani object, there is just jnana.

The mind IS horizontal living. The Heart is vertical living. When the knot in the Heart is dissolved, all is arising from the Source and dissolving in each moment, now and now and now.

You will not be able to find a jnani with your eyes, but if your Heart is sensitive, is listening, your Heart will feel the Presence.

One must be very careful. To approach a jnani with a "getting" motive is to loose the greatest blessing obtainable in this life. A jnani must be approached with the sincerest humility. The jnani exists in the heart of the seeker and will not be fooled.