Greetings Friends!
Welcome to Perennial Meditations (Saturday Review) — A weekly recap of meditations on the art of living. Below are links to this week’s meditations, podcasts, and a Saturday Meditation.
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On Being As You Are
This week’s Saturday Meditation comes from Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, edited by David Godman (our upcoming book for Reading & the Good Life). To the question: “When someone realizes the Self, what will they see?” Maharshi responded,
There is no seeing. Seeing is only being. The state of Self-realisation, as we call it, is not attaining something new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being that which you always are and which you always have been. All that is needed is that you give up your realisation of the not-true as true. All of us are regarding as real that which is not real. We have only to give up this practice on our part. Then we shall realise the Self as the Self; in other words, ‘Be the Self’. At one stage you will laugh at yourself for trying to discover the Self which is so self-evident. […]
Maharshi defined the Self by saying that the real Self or real ‘I’ is, contrary to perceptible experience, not an experience of individuality but a non-personal, all-inclusive awareness. It is not to be confused with the individual self, which he said was essentially non-existent, being a fabrication of the mind which obscures the true experience of the real Self.
Reflection Questions (Pick one or create your own):
What would “being as you are” look like in daily life?
How might knowing yourself connect with being yourself?
This Week’s Meditations…
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Thank you for reading and listening this week; I hope you found something useful for daily life.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. As always, feel free to comment, ask questions, or make suggestions!