The Yoga of Self-Inquiry: the Essence of Ramana Maharshi's Non-Dual Advaita Meditation for Enlightenment

- The Yoga of Self-Inquiry: the Essence of Ramana Maharshi's Non-Dual Advaita Meditation for Enlightenment

- Midpoint

The Yoga

of

Self-Inquiry

Books By Ramaji

1000

Who Am I? Meditation

No Mind No Problem

The Spiritual Heart

You Are Everything

Waking Up As Awareness

The Tao of Non-Doing

Heal Your Body, Free Your Mind

Warning From Kali 2013

The Yoga of Self-Inquiry

The Essence of Ramana Maharshi's

Non-Dual Advaita Meditation

for Enlightenment

By

Ramaji

The Yoga of Self-Inquiry

The Essence of Ramana Maharshi's

Non-Dual Advaita Meditation

for Enlightenment

Copyright © 2015 Ramaji

Ramaji.org

Ramaji Books

San Diego, California

Email: advaitaforidiots@gmail.com

Ramaji wishes to personally thank Prasant Radhakrishnan for his special contributions to this book. Prasant is an extremely gifted Indian classical and jazz saxophonist. His website is PrasantMusic.com.

The cover photograph of Sri Ramana Maharshi was taken by G. G. Welling in 1948. It is believed to be in public domain. This information and this particular image was accessed January, 2015. It is provided courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sri_Ramana_Maharshi_-_Portrait_-_G._G_Welling_-_1948.jpg.

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, either by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is for a reviewer who may quote brief passages in the review.

Table of Contents

You Are the Master Or You Are the Slave

The Two-Step Self-Inquiry Technique

Drop the Mind Into the Heart

The First Question: Who Is Having This Experience?

The Second Question: Where Do You Come From?

The Self-Inquiry Road Map

From "Batting Practice" to Falling into the Heart

Resting in the Heart As You Notice Your Thoughts

Noticing the Rising of Every Single Thought

You As the Heart Are the Source of Your Thoughts

The I-Thought Is the Hidden Mastermind or Big Dog Thought

Aham Sphurana: Light, Sound, Pulsation and Truth from the Heart

Sahaja and the Dissolution of the Point of Frozen Attention

Sahaja and the Disappearance of the World

The Joy of Self-Realization

The RASA Revolution

Journey to the Heart of Truth

Meet the Author

You Are the Master Or You Are the Slave

Self-inquiry is not a passive watching approach to meditation. It is dynamic and assertive. As your Self-inquiry practice builds strength, you will be able to notice each thought and deal with it. This is how you arrive at the true no thought state, the real Peace and sublime Silence.

When you are not conscious and aware of each rising thought, in just a few seconds you find yourself off on a joyride to a nowhere land of suffering. That's why Self-inquiry is difficult for many people. You are addicted to thinking. You believe your thoughts and identify with them. You don't realize that your constant torrent of thoughts is an out of control addiction.

If you want to be free from suffering, you must become the master of your thoughts. The only way to be a master of your thoughts when every thought is a potential thief of your happiness is to be aware of every single one of them and show each one of them who is the real boss.

If you are like most people, the mind is the master. You are the slave. It is the nature of the mind to allow for only two possibilities. It is the master or you are the master. Whoever is not the master becomes the slave. It would be nice if we could all be friends and just get along.

The mind will not allow that. The mind brings a sword. The mind brings division, confusion and suffering. The mind must be put down or made into a slave.

It is your life. Will you be the master or will you be the slave? The choice is yours.

The Two-Step Self-Inquiry Technique

The basic Self-inquiry technique I teach is a two-step method. You use it to confront thoughts and knock them back down into the Silence of the Heart. When a thought or experience arises, you ask "Who is having this experience?" followed by "Where do you come from?"

If you are familiar with the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, then, at least intellectually, you already know the answer to the second question. The I-thought comes from the heart. That's where all of the thoughts come from. They start in the heart and go up to the head.

Some people are able to experience the Heart on the right (Hridayam). This is the precise place where thoughts arise from according to Ramana. It corresponds to the causal chakra, a real location that can be felt in the body. Many of my students have experiences of Hridayam.

Most people have heard of Self-inquiry as "Who am I?" This two-step method breaks that generic question up into a logical sequence with two highly effective complementary parts.

"Who is having this experience of depression?" The answer is the I-thought.

"Where do you, the one having this experience, come from?" The answer is the heart.

The two questions are not a rigid formula. The first question can be in the form of "Who is having this thought?" or "Who is having this emotion?" or something else that works for you.

The second question does not have to be a certain place in the body. It is designed to break your identification with your thoughts. This identification includes the widespread illusion that your thoughts originate in your head. True, they are showing up in your head, but they were not born in your head. Sooner or later, you will see that your thoughts rise up.

Drop the Mind Into the Heart

The real goal of Self-inquiry is not to go on repeating "Who am I?" like a mantra. The goal is to fall into the heart. You drop from the head into the heart. Self-inquiry is a journey where you fall down into your heart. You rediscover your heart and then you live from it.

You shift from living in your head and following your thoughts to living in your intuitive feelings and following your heart. In the West, you are taught to be frightened of the idea of doing what your emotions tell you to do.

Negative emotions are produced by thoughts. There are always thoughts and stories to go with the negative emotions. Emotions and thoughts are mixed up in your head.

In contrast, the feelings that originate in your unpolluted pure heart are positive, true and beautiful. The pure feelings of your heart come from pure Being, from true Peace. The very nature of your real Being is peace, love, happiness, compassion, contentment and fulfillment.

The First Question:

Who Is Having This Experience?

For example, a person is extremely upset with someone. "I am very angry with John." Who is having this experience of being betry angry with John? "Oh, I am."

Well, who are you? You were not angry at John five minutes ago. Who or what is it exactly that can be okay with John five minutes ago and now be extremely angry with him?

You are saying "I am angry with him." Anger has arisen. You are identified with it. Hidden in this statement are a couple of beliefs that may not be obvious to you. One of them is "This anger is mine." Another belief is "This anger is about me."

The "you" or "I" who is having this experience believes these two things. This anger is mine and it is about me. But is that true? To be more precise, is that true of the spiritual real you?

Whoever is the "I" having that experience and believing that this anger is mine and it is about me has to be a thought. It cannot be your real Self. Only the mind, only the separate self, only the thinker-I, can have that experience.

The experience of being angry with John is the object. The experiencer is the pseudo-self. Anger is the experience. You as the I-thought are the experiencer. This is not the real you.

Your true Self does not have experiences like that. Your true Self is the effortless witness to those experiences. So whoever steps forth as the subject of the experience is the I-thought.

When you are enlightened, "angry with John" can still arise. But there is no "I" or "me" to claim it and take ownership. Nobody inside of you stands up and says "This is about me!"

It is about nobody. The emotional state "angry with John" arises within a wide open spacious presence. It comes and it goes. "Angry with John" is a cloud floating in a big blue sky.

Nobody is home to claim this thought, this emotion, this story. So the thought-emotion-story of "angry with John" comes and goes. It arrives but no delivery is taken of it. Then it leaves.

If you do not take delivery, then the package is not yours. It was never yours. If you do not throw out the hook "This is about me" to catch the package, you cannot catch it. Then you do not get caught by it. There is no separated isolated me to say "Hey, this package is for me."

Note that this is beyond witnessing. What is usually meant by witnessing is watching. You are being cool or distant. You are watching. But enlightenment does not mean to witness or to watch like that. Enlightenment means only wide open presence. There is nobody home to claim the package as their own. As a result, even when the package is delivered, it does not stay. There is nobody to claim it, nobody to hold onto it and nobody to reject it.

The Second Question:

Where Do You Come From?

After asking "Who is having this experience?" next you ask "Where do you come from?"

Where does this one who is having this negative thought-emotion mixture experience come from? It is experienced in the head or brain. But is that really where it is coming from?

You may get the answer "from the heart" or something like that. Or that second question might actually knock the thought down to the heart, down to a deeper feeling place that's usually felt to be in the chest in either the center or to the right. You can call this your core.

The heart is your pure feeling of being or your sense of simple existing. Without that feeling or sensing of your bare pure essential existence, then your thinker-I, the one who says "I am this or that," would not refer to anybody or anything at all. It would just be another passing thought. What makes the I-thought the I-thought is this humble sense of existing or being.

It is not "I think, therefore I am." It is the exact opposite! The reality is "I am, therefore I think." You can go without thoughts and you will still feel that you exist. Your senses still work. You still have emotions and body sensations. Before the separate little I, there is the Am. Being is first and it is Silent. It is Source. It has no thoughts. It is the womb or source of thoughts.

The Self-Inquiry Road Map

My goal when working with somebody who is doing Self-inquiry or something similar is first I try to find out where you are at in the Self-inquiry process. I have been coaching people on how to do Self-inquiry for years. O have developed a model or map.

There's a certain sequence of insights or breakthroughs that usually happen in a certain order. One thing has to happen and then the next thing can happen.

I will explain that sequence to you so you have this overview and you have knowledge of this spiritual process. You can figure where you're at within that process and let that knowledge percolate in you. You can let your inner creativity, your inner spiritual genius work with that.

From "Batting Practice"

to Falling into the Heart

At the very beginning your are dealing with lots of thoughts all the time and it's like batting practice. The best you can do is take a swing with the two-step inquiry and hope to knock down thoughts. If you are keeping up the inquiry "Who is having this experience?" and then asking the second question, you're doing really good.

At this early stage, it's impossible to be aware of every single thought. There are just too many of them. If you are like most people, you are inundated all day long with stressful thoughts, overwhelmed by an avalanche of negative thoughts.

You are barely surviving. You are like a prisoner living on the food and water. You are not free. Your mind is in charge. You don't realize that you are imprisoned by your thoughts. Your mind is a terrible taskmaster. Your mind keeps you in a jail cell all day long.

Where you will end up is the exact opposite. The person starting out is overwhelmed by these many thoughts like tidal wave after overwhelming tidal wave. The situation is out of control.

In the beginning it is natural to think "What can I possibly do about this mind?" You believe that you really have this mind entity, that you own it and it is you. Yet it's controlling you and making you unhappy every day. This doesn't make sense. It's a real paradox.

When you decide you want to get free of the mind, then you begin to investigate the mind. What is the mind? Is there really such a thing as the mind? Can I really go free of it?

When you finally look right at the mind, you see there is no mind. There are only thoughts. You discover how to be conscious and present with your thoughts. You don't push them away. You don't latch on to them. You don't ignore them, either. You are aware of each and every thought. You are vividly aware of each one of them in a fresh alive rewarding way.

Certain things start to happen. You have a new ability to be with your thoughts. Not only are you more aware of them, you are able recognize them as soon as they happen. You notice that they rise up. You can even be aware of a thought right when it appears and starts to rise up.

When you get to the middle point of the Self-inquiry journey, you usually become aware that the belief that thoughts come from your head is not correct. You experience for yourself that your thoughts rise up. You may not be sure where exactly they rise up from, but you know your head is not the source of your thoughts. A deeper place in you or a deeper part of you is the source of your thoughts. This deeper place is close to the real you that is totally free.

Resting in the Heart

As You Notice Your Thoughts

As the center of gravity of your natural attention drops down, you become stabilized in pure feeling, or pure feeling of being (sense of existing) in the heart. There's the direct knowledge, the experience that thoughts are actually rising up from the heart to go to the head.

This is happening all day long and many times each minute. It's a nonstop thing. So that's the first step to real freedom. You're no longer living in your head. You're no longer just diving into that river of thoughts. Now you start to live from your heart. This reduces the number of thoughts and it dramatically slows down the thoughts.

Some people do not become aware of the heart. They become aware of some kind of openness or spaciousness instead. It is seen that thoughts arise or bubble up from this open space. That is okay. Getting in touch with the heart sensation in the body is helpful but it is not needed.

The first milestone is to discover the heart and begin living there, to begin being there in meditation and also in the daily life. That's the first milestone of beginning to stabilize in the heart which you could describe as the pure feeling of Being which has no thoughts in it.

Noticing the Rising of Every Single Thought

The next milestone is where you have the ability to notice every single thought for at least a few minutes while meditating. Your tendency will still be to notice the thought and then follow it up to the head because that's what you're used to doing. You're noticing it rise up from the heart, but you do not stay in the heart. You follow it from the heart up to the head.

Next you catch all of your thoughts but you stay in the heart. The thought begins to rise up, but you don't follow it. Or you return immediately to the heart if you did.

As you maintain being aware of every thought for at least a few minutes along with being aware of how thoughts rise up from you as the heart, you begin to understand that thoughts originate from you as the heart. You realize that you are the mother for all these thoughts.

You As the Heart

Are the Source of Your Thoughts

When you are no longer chasing your thoughts up to your head and getting involved with them there, you begin to see that what makes the world seem real is your thoughts. You've taken your energy, your life, your soul, your true Self and used it to identify with these thoughts, to invest emotionally in these thoughts and to get enmeshed on these thoughts.

That is like creating a movie theater and now you're watching your own movie, but you forgot that it is you who have created all of this. Living in the heart and noticing the thoughts arising is like knowing that you wrote the script.

As you further stabilize in the heart, you discover the sublime purity, peace, love, happiness, bliss, kindness, compassion, contentment, joy and fulfillment that live in the heart. All of the wonderful positive feelings are natural to the heart.

All of these beautiful feelings live naturally in the heart because there are no thoughts in it at all. So there's nothing in it to divide, pollute, negate and create conflict. Those are all actions of the mind, of thought and of the I-thought specifically.

When there are no thoughts, it's already pure. It's the purity that is prior the notion and motion of thought. There is no fly in the ointment. This pure heart is free of thoughts.

You get more and more precise with the observation of thoughts arising from you as the heart. What gets exposed eventually as a result of this precision is the hidden I-thought.

This is the real reason why you must get to the point where you are aware of every thought fo periods of time during sitting meditation. As the space between thoughts opens up and gets bigger, the one primary thought, the king thought or the mastermind thought behind all the other thoughts, gets exposed and is revealed naked as it is. This is the I-thought.

The I-Thought Is the Hidden Mastermind

or Big Dog Thought

This is the I-thought that Ramana Maharshi talked about. Ramana called it the "I am the body" thought. This I-thought hides behind all the other thoughts. If you do not diligently cut through that crowd of thoughts that he is throwing at you, then you will never get to him.

He's very good at hiding. He's very good at distracting. He has lots of tricks, lots of games that he plays. He's an expert at all of this. But if you've been very diligent and meticulous and precise in tracking these thoughts, then what will happen is that big gaps begin to appear between each thought, and in that space between the thoughts, eventually what happens is you see the I-thought itself rising up from the heart.

You know it's the I-thought. You can just tell. You just know. This I-thought is shooting up from the heart. It may be felt to specifically be the Heart on the right (Hridayam) or it may just be the feeling area in the chest where the breath subsides on the exhale.

For some students, there is no detection of the heart marker in the chest. The classic location is just to the right of center. Even there is no noticing of the heart, it is usually noticed that thoughts rise up.

If the heart has not been found, but there is resting in spacious open awareness, then the I-thought may not get detected. It is possible to achieve Self-realization without consciously noticing the I-thought, but the strength of the Self-inquiry path is that the I-thought is consciously detected and deliberately destroyed by abiding without ceasing in the heart.

When the Heart on the right is known, then you may have special yogic experiences called Aham Spurana. You may experience Amrita Nadi, the pathway from the Heart on the right to the Crown chakra. The I-thought uses this Amrita Nadi pathway all day long to go from the Heart (heart) to the Crown (brain). But you do not need these experiences to realize the Self.

Aham Sphurana: Light, Sound, Pulsation

and Truth from the Heart

Doing Self-inquiry or repeating "I-I" with feeling in the heart, there may be the sensing of pulsation or vibration in the heart. Many spiritual experiences in the heart region are possible.

I want to make this point because there are many Advaita and non-duality teachers who say that these spiritual phenomena in the heart, especially the Heart on the right (Hridayam), are false. This is complete and total nonsense. Experiences in the heart region are a positive sign. They are an indication of spiritual progress. It means the heart is calling out to the person.

Apparently these teachers have not had these experiences themselves. It shocks me, but even some Self-inquiry teachers deny the role of the heart and its awakening. It often plays a significant role in the Self-inquiry journey.

Many of my students have felt throbbing, pain, pressure, pulsation, vibration, sound, light or other strong localized sensation at the location just to the right of center in the chest described by Ramana Maharshi. These sensations in the right chest area can be dramatic and intense. This is especially true when the Heart on the right, the Hridayam, is first starting to open.

A few people have even gone to the doctor because they were worried that these unusual sensations on the right side could be a sign or symptom of a heart attack. Yet when they checked them out, they were told that they were fine and their physical heart is fine.

These events are a spontaneous activation of the Heart on the right. It is speaking to you. It is awakening in you. That is important. It represents the deep sleep state in you. The deep sleep state is where your natural innate enlightenment resides. You are deliberately bringing the deep sleep state into your conscious waking state. Your enlightenment is the result.

These heart region events are called Aham Spurana. They are signs that the spiritual Heart is waking up and that the connection between the heart and the Crown chakra, the Amrita Nadi, is getting activated also. The Heart is the Self. These heart area signs are a strong and definite indication that the Self, your true Self, is waking up.

Sometimes these sensations begin in the center of the chest in the area usually associated with Anahata chakra. I have used the word "heart" with lower to include this area. What I have often seen is that when you are doing Self-inquiry the awakening can start in the center and then spread over to the right, resulting in conscious experience of the Heart on the right.

That is why I say over and over "Just be thought-free feeling the heart. Do not be concerned with details at first. Just open your heart, feel your heart and stay in your heart all the time."

Another phenomenon is that you may see light radiating from from the Heart on the right. It may look like there is a golden sun there. Or you may see clear light or colored light. These are all signs of the Heart on the right waking up in your waking state.

These spiritual experiences are wonderfully positive signs. They mean that the Heart on the right is being activated and opening up. It is becoming a conscious peaceful presence in your waking state. You are being brought to the brink of enlightenment.

The way enlightenment works according to Ramana Maharshi is that the deep sleep state is brought into the waking state. The waking state is already awake. We don't have to wake up the waking state. Some people try to wake up in the deep sleep state. That's not what Ramana Maharshi taught.

He was teaching you're already awake in the waking state and that's the state you should be concerned with now. That's your correct place to focus. Enlightenment is intrinsic to the deep sleep state because there is naturally bliss and non-differentiation of objects.

Bringing the deep sleep state into the waking state is exactly the same as waking up the Heart on the right in the waking state. The Heart on the right, Hridayam, literally is deep sleep.

Your process is to bring deep sleep into the waking state. When the Heart on the right is activated and opened up and its power is growing, that is the deep sleep state entering into the waking state. It is seeping into, permeating and eventually saturating your waking state.

That will automatically lead to enlightenment because the deep sleep state is already enlightened. It is enlightened right now, but it is tamasic, meaning its dull and clouded over.

It is enlightened but unconscious. The waking state is conscious but not enlightened. You are bringing natural enlightenment that's not conscious (deep sleep) into the conscious waking state that's not enlightened. The result is the effortless joy, peace and freedom of Sahaja.

After this process of awakening the deep sleep state in the waking state is completed, you now have conscious enlightenment in the waking state! This is the great Peace that you seek.

Sahaja and the Dissolution of

the Point of Frozen Attention

So it's only after the I-thought has been eliminated that then you have pure awareness or pure Realization of the Heart or the Self. Then what happens is a couple of things.

You then experience the Absolute or the Self. It is totally thought free. It has no thoughts in it at all. In terms of being a human being and going about daily life, it's called Sahaja, the natural state, meaning there's simply no thoughts in it at all.

It's completely natural and it's completely effortless. It's like a state of meditation, but it's characterized by no attention. So sometimes it is called "no meditation." You cannot focus the attention. This is because that fixation of awareness called attention has been dissolved.

There's nothing to write and there's no writing instrument. There's no board to write on. So that's why the natural state can be maintained effortlessly because it's there all of the time.

Attention is a frozen form of awareness that the mind uses like a pen or pencil to write all of it's content with. With no marker, it can't write anymore. Even so, there will still be thoughts and emotions. But that entity that you knew before that you called the mind will not be able to function anymore. Your subjective states will then be due to your karma, nothing else.

Once you are permanently established in the no thought state or the Sahaja state, meaning you have realized the Self, then you can have thoughts or not have thoughts. It won't matter to you because the I-thought is gone. There is nothing that will claim those thoughts, grab them, get attached to them or try to push them away. Thoughts don't matter either way.

Sahaja and the Disappearance of the World

Another thing that happens is that what you experienced as the world goes away and what you experienced as other people goes away. The reason is all of that was thoughts. Even at an advanced level of enlightenment you still have the impression "There is a world out there." When you are with people, you still feel "There's somebody over there in that body!"

You still feel a little bit of localized density here and feel a little bit of density in the form of a somebody or something over there. Even though you may feel very peaceful, you may still have such a strong sense of world that you think "I've got to save the world!"

In truth, there is no world "out there." The way you save the world is by seeing that the world is only thoughts. In the total seeing of this, the world disappears. Since now there is no world, it can be said that it has been saved. The world full of conflict and suffering was an illusion.

This apparent world has density, substance, significance and a story. All of that goes when the I-thought goes. All of that absolutely goes. It is gone like it never ever happened. It is gone like it never existed. It doesn't exist and in reality it has never actually ever existed.

You could say it's like you are watching a movie and you know with absolute certainty that it's only a movie. If the hero in the movie dies, you don't freak out as if a real person has died. Likewise, if the movie stops it doesn't mean that you are going to die. It's just a movie!

You will know that the whole world and everybody in it is just a movie. Just like a movie, it is not real, it was never real and it will never be real. That's what was happening. The I-thought loved that movie. The I-thought created that movie. But it was never actually real.

But even to say it is like a movie or a dream is to give it too much substance. It is more accurate to think of something and then forget about it to the point that you never ever remember thinking that thought. Then it does not exist for you even if at one time it seemed to exist for you. The memory itself is forgotten.

The Joy of Self-Realization

It's a very big deal to get rid of this I-thought once and for all. Then what's experienced is that everything is your Self. There is no world and there is no other. This is full enlightenment.

Then simply everything is your Self. It's a very natural thing. The paradox in this gift from God is that then you can have world and other yet you experience all of that as literally your own Self. Like it's all your own body. It's all quite literally your very own Self.

You can still interact with people, interact with the world, but now you can do so freely only with no sense of limitation or restriction due to them. Now there's no duality, there's no me and you. There is no "I'm trying to figure you out figure out what to do with you."

There's only I. Only universal I. Only the one supreme Self. There is nothing to figure out.

There's nothing that "I" as the Self can do or would want to do about it anyway. It's all just simply happening. But ultimately there's nothing happening at all because there is no world, there's only the Self. So there's a sense of a diamond solid pure Peace. That is your Self.

This world thing is sort of like an adornment, like a necklace or necktie that you wear or something. There is definitely an experience of something we can call the world. There is an experience of the five senses that is going on here.

But what happens is we start to describe it and then we look at the calendar. We see what day it is and what time it is and then we say "Oh, I've got to be at this place and see this person and do these things!" What is all that? It's only thoughts.

You get involved in all of these thoughts to this extreme degree because you are identified with the physical body. You believe it is the source of your identity. This identification with the body, this belief "I am the body," this is the I-thought. Once you have fallen for this false belief, fallen into the trance state that it creates, then the projection of the world that most people see and struggle in manifests. There is no such world at all. There is only the Self.

The so-called "world" is thoughts imposed on a raw indescribable NOW experience that is impossible without the primal intuitive felt sense of existence. In Self-realization what happens is that this felt sense of existence expands to 100%. Then when the sense of existence of your Beingness has expanded to 100%, it turns out there's no room left for anything else!

The RASA Revolution

As I come to the end of this guide to the essence of Self-inquiry, I would like to share that I have another ability besides being a spiritual teacher, author and coach. It is called RASA.

RASA (Ramaji Advaita Shaktipat Attunement) is a spiritual transmission with the power to awaken the Heart and move a person immediately into non-duality. This activation can take a person into enlightenment. Non-dual enlightenment can be at one of four main levels. Stabilization at the highest level is what I call Self-realization or realizing the Absolute.

Many seekers report that the RASA transmission of Grace from Divine Mother in support of non-dual awakening has accelerated their spiritual progress. I deliver RASA via Skype, live online video streaming or in person to individuals and groups.

It is impossible to make a guarantee for a process like this, but it is true that people are getting awakened as a direct result of receiving the RASA Grace transmission. As of March, 2015, 29 people have attained full enlightenment or Self-realization (LOC 1000) after getting RASA.

There are another 33 individuals around the world have received RASA and stabilized in enlightenment. This means they moved up in level of consciousness (LOC) to non-dual levels of consciousness. This brings the total of non-dual realizers from RASA to 62 persons.

To be honest, I do not know how RASA works. It is a gift, a mystery, a blessing from God. It may be related to what is called "golden Kundalini" which descends into the Crown chakra from above. It may be associated with the Supramental Descent predicted by Sri Aurobindo. Myself and others have perceived it as a golden light descending from above. Gold is the color of the Supramental according to the Mother. She was Aurobindo's spiritual partner.

Spiritual transmission is a familiar idea to many in the global spiritual community. The notion is that being in the presence of an awakened teacher will facilitate and help to precipitate your own stabilized awakening. The term "satsang" is used to refer to various spiritual benefits that may arise around an enlightened person. The Sanskrit word means "in the company of truth."

My contribution to this time-honored method of spiritual empowerment is RASA. The RASA transmission is given in Silence over the Internet via video Skype. It takes 15 minutes.

RASA can be given to groups as well as individuals. It does not require any talking other than a brief introduction. The recipient does not have to believe in RASA or, for that matter, in anything at all. No background in spirituality is required.

All that is asked is a willingness to receive. In the beginning, RASA was given for free. A donation is now requested so that many more people can receive RASA in support of their non-dual awakening. In the current format, I include a one hour Skype chat and consultation. I give RASA at the end.

The Story of the RASA Grace Transmission

The RASA story starts early Spring, 2011 in Palm Springs, California. It began with a heart-felt gesture for my wife.

She had come down with an immune system disease for which no cure could be found. It hurt my heart to see her suffering. I figured it was time for me to try healing again.

Even though I had learned complicated energetic techniques, the form of spiritual healing that I had always come back to was also the most simple. I could easily do it from my heart.

You may be familiar with this healing format. I placed my hands above my wife's head and prayed for the Divine Light to come down. According to the Will of God, bring healing or another form of Grace that will help this person's situation.

My wife sat in a chair. I stood behind her. I held my hands above her head. I prayed from deep in my heart for a healing.

I held my hands straight out with the palms vertical. They were above her head about a foot on either side. Based on what I knew about keeping the Crown chakra open, I did not want to cover it up by holding my palms over her head.

I was surprised to feel a new energy gather above her head. My hands moved spontaneously back and forth. When I felt the process had completed itself, I sat down. This was new and different. I was eager to know what she had experienced.

"I could really feel that!" she said. "There was strong heat. It went all through my body. I am feeling really good now."

I was very encouraged by her report. A few days later, she told me "I'm sorry, but even though I was feeling better, I think I'm back to where I was at before."

Still believing that I was performing some kind of physical healing, I began giving the "healing" sessions to my wife three times a week. She would feel much better for about the next 24 hours. Then the positive changes would decline. Where I saw significant lasting improvement was in her attitude. It was not life-changing for her at a physical health level as I had hoped.

Then it struck me that what might be happening is that somehow these spiritual treatments were raising her LOC (Level of Consciousness). At this point, I had already started assessing the LOCs of various spiritual teachers, celebrities and other public personalities. It was easy to assess her LOC.

In brief, according to my system, if a person has an LOC that is above 600, then they are stabilized in non-duality and they are enlightened. However, in my research I discovered that the range of enlightened individuals goes from approximately 640 to 1000. The LOC 1000 individual is fully enlightened and Self-realized.

I began tracking and recording my wife's LOC before the treatment and in the hours and days after the treatment. Yes, her LOC was going up. As her LOC moved up, she was able to maintain stable psychological and spiritual gains.

In 2011, after a long break of more than a decade, I went back to being a public non-duality teacher. I was now talking to people from around the world via the Internet on Skype. It struck me that the next logical step was to give RASA to these spiritual students, track the results and get their feedback.

The results were consistent. The LOC of every person that I gave RASA to went up into high non-duality levels for a short period of time. Some were able to hold onto this boost. As a result, they began living in their daily life at a level of LOC 640 or above. For these people, RASA changed their lives.

Divine Mother's Global Gift: RASA Transmission Reports

In spite of its spiritual power, RASA is surprisingly soft and gentle. It is often described as being feminine in nature with the ability to saturate and sweetly complete the recipient.

Many have described it as a benevolent descending force. Some have seen it as being white, gold or golden white color. Without exception, it has been found to be totally harmless.

Some people who received the RASA transmission gave me feedback that I could publish here. In a few cases, the name of the RASA recipients has been kept private at their request. The original emails are on file at my office in San Diego, CA. They have been edited for spelling, sense and continuity.

RASA REPORT ONE — CLAIRE (FRANCE)

RASA 1:

During your transmission yesterday, I had a clear sense of expansion, opening, light, some sensations of the Kundalini running up my spine… Later when I sat, the feelings described above remained with short intervals of just witnessing, lightness and vastness. Today, still, I feel lighter and vaster… So…. this RASA thing is really working!!!

RASA 2:

I am clearly feeling the effect of the RASA… I will tell you next time if it has faded or not, but for now, it feels quite stable, both in my sitting [meditation] practice and in my daily activity. I feel more spacious and connected to the ground of being.

RASA 3:

Thank you for your time and wonderful teaching. It was as if words were flowing through you and my whole being was absorbing and feeling their resonance deep inside, from a place which was only recognizing something I already knew.

The RASA is still active and this time it’s a feeling of deepening – digging, actually, describes the feeling better – into the right side of my chest. [Note: This is Hridayam, the Heart on the right that Sri Ramana Maharshi spoke about.]

RASA 4:

I feel a strong penetrating Shakti entering in me during and after the RASA transmissions… I feel connected to the Mother/ Ground of Being.

RASA 5:

I find that the RASA transmission or attunement or blessing is very empowering. The energy does dissolve after some time, but it feels like it sustains me. I wondered if it is just like a power shot, a vitamin shot, but then even if it is a vitamin shot, vitamins are good, right? They are good for your body, they are good for your spirit.

It feels like it is really energy from Source that you are transmitting and something in me, Source in me, recognizes it and gets empowered by it. It’s amazing that you are able to transmit that, yet it is definitely not you! As much as I respect you, it totally feels like it is Source, you know, it’s not a human thing… and yet it is a human thing because we all have it!

RASA REPORT TWO — CERRIDWEN (U.K.)

I have had a big shift in consciousness. I was wondering if the Shaktipat was taking place already!

I keep feeling my crown chakra tingle. Thank you so much for the blessing the other day ;) I really felt the energy and had such beautiful dreams… sort of interspersed with energy surges and slipping in and out of different realities.

I do feel different ;) it could of course be that I have someone to connect with on the earth plane that has answers to my questions!

Usually people expect me to have the answers lol. Did you suggest three shaktipats? If so I’d like to book another one and two of my friends would like one too… Let me know how best you think it is for me to continue to raise my LOC with you ;).

Effects are subtle but profound! I’ve actually felt a little bit on shifting sands and experienced a change/shift. With clients amazing insights pop into my head I’ve really noticed that! With clients so emotional as I’ve untangled there blah!

I’ve been more aware of my thoughts… Sometimes I can spin into a spiral when the old tape starts playing but I’ve been able to halt that process and examine what the belief system is that creates the thought and so on.

I’ve managed to close a door on a very old wound rather peacefully. I’m not yet enlightened I think I slip in and out and experience moments of non duality! I’d like to progress further certainly.

My intuition is razor sharp! Like a laser beam! I feel really connected and most fears have dissipated. I’m willing to follow my bliss and silence my ego.

Also and this is a big shift! I always wanted to escape my ego and ‘get out of it’ but recently I’ve been do grateful to it for how it has served me so far and I feel more like integrating and living it rather than stepping out of it! It’s served me well rather than being my enemy.

What else? I’ve met or connected to a man who’s evolved and a vibrational match… I never thought that would occur and just a whole series of people have been drawn to me.

I love it but I have felt the initial euphoria and wowness subside which made me think yeah it’s integrated! Time for my next leap lol. Feel free to add my testimonial etc to the website. I’m happy to promote and support you in getting this energy out there! Thank you for your generosity of spirit and your energy!

RASA REPORT THREE — MR. H. D. (BANGLADESH)

Although it has been only 1.5 days since I have received RASA from you, I can’t wait any longer to tell you about the effect of RASA on me. I have observed a sharp decrease of mundane thoughts. If one person goes from a very crowded and noisy place to a quiet library, he will definitely feel the silence. Similarly I can experience the silence. It’s like the noises of thoughts in my head are muted or put on a lower decibel. It’s wonderful!!

When I took RASA (Saturday morning in our time zone), I felt the slight feeling of pressure above my head all day. However, on second day of RASA, I don’t feel this sensation anymore. Thanks for your amazing RASA session with me.

RASA REPORT FOUR — CHRIS (AUSTRALIA)

The session itself was simple and short. Resting into the breath I soon noticed that my state had shifted, subtly more even and brighter. I felt/saw as if three fire pokers were removed from the top of my heart and then a greater spaciousness was obvious around the top of my head.

I then noticed there was an energy descending, or perhaps emerging in and as me, because there was no front edge to it, no wave as it entered and transformed, it just smoothly became me. It had the quality of deep relaxation and a subtle yet thick bliss. It was profoundly subtle and extremely full field of Goddess Love, as if an ocean was above me pouring into/through/as me with the barest golden hue, if it ever glinted in the immense darkness, and despite the sense of scale it felt utterly intimate.

The sense of the descending field of love continued through a brief meditation, and then uninterrupted through an argument with my partner where I got quite emotionally triggered. Experiencing that was remarkable.

It reached a point hours later, around sundown, where the vibrational impact felt so deep and full that I needed to lay down. Some organic processing or subtle-digesting occurred over a few hours…. phone call from my partner, a completely unexpected breakthrough between us into deeper harmony, and then I noticed I felt clear, brighter and smoother throughout my inner awareness.

RASA REPORT FIVE — TAUREN (U.S.A.)

I just wanted to report my experience with RASA thus far. I woke up this morning still feeling the effects. I feel like I have undergone an ego lobotomy of sorts… LOL. I feel a sort of spacious feeling above my head and in front of my third eye.

I have notice a dramatic decrease in mental activity. I still have thoughts, but they are more like commentaries about what I am doing at the moment… and they are more in the periphery if that makes sense?

Thoughts are happening but I feel more anchored in my heart. I feel like my thoughts are more focused… like they are more clear when they do happen… instead of out of control ramblings.

I love this feeling. I am not really thinking about the past or anything like that. I feel more anchored in the present and feel more love. I feel like there was a shift that took place. I have tried different forms of meditation in the last few years. Recently, I was doing a mantra meditation using “I AM” as the mantra.

However, this morning… I didn’t feel like “efforting” with a mantra. Instead, I decided to simply watch my thoughts and use Self-Inquiry if anything arouse. I just sat as an awareness and watched for any thoughts. If anything arose, I used self inquiry. The 15 minute meditation seemed to pass really fast… it felt like 5 minutes. Anyways, just wanted to share my experience. Thanks, Tauren.

RASA REPORT SIX — MARY (U.S.A.)

RASA 1:

My first sense was the odd dichotomy of the loud external plane take-off sounds vs. the Deep, Silent, Stillness where "I" was somehow present in. I could hear the the external sounds, but the Silence was so much louder.

My body disappeared, I had no sensation of my body except one point where my ankle bone touched my leg as I sat in a cross legged position. The session felt decades long, time wise, but not accompanied by any feeling of "when will this end"... rather the sense was here is Home. Here It is.

Felt some pressure at the base of my skull at one point, but the Deep Awareness of this right side of my chest seemed all that was… cocoon like, actually. Felt so deeply present, enveloped in the strength of Stillness.

A couple of hours later I had to lie down, felt quite tired. And then the sensation was of an internal purposeful "spring cleaning" within my body. It felt like an orchestrated directed cleanse of my internal body.

I tried to talk on the phone after and realized I couldn’t hold the other persons thoughts to respond… I really needed to still sit and be silent.

I can say now I feel alive, the right side of my chest "feels"…where before I found peace there, but it felt restricted.

I feel some opening there, with the left Heart sometimes seeming to palpate/ pressure/ almost to distract me from journeying to the Right side. It feels like it is trying to energetically push thru some tributary from my left Heart to my right Heart. Thank you. Thank you.

RASA 2:

I am still feeling the after effects/glow of the first RASA;) My primary loudest shift is the new found palpable awareness of that Space of pure Awareness. A knowing of what that "feels" like for me, as of now.

It indeed seems to always remind me throughout the day, either through gentle beckoning or some negative emotional trigger to "remember me, bring me forward, sink into me, I am all that." And a delicate dance ensues of remembering, forgetting, merging.

Wanted to share my Rasa #2 experience...

I feel an extra bright illumination localized in my head region, it is so full and alive. There is some slight pressure at the base of my skull, but what I am most cognizant of is the pressure in a short section of the suborbital ridges of both my eyes ( I know, like weird and precise:). The sensation is as if something is "stuck" there and the Light is working on opening.

Deep calm envelops. Beams of light emanate from my head down into my body/field and appear like streamers of swaying ribbon connected to the top of a Maypole.

I feel as if I go "in and out" with my mind… one minute remembering I need to pay a bill, the next oh yes, I want to sink in here… although there is no anxiety to make the thoughts or experience any different.

I see a flash of Babaji before me and think it must be my mind remembering a picture I saw of him recently. And then in a flash I am out of my body and observing myself sitting in lotus posture floating in "Space." Calmness is.

I have the sensation of different energetic "layers" of my body being shown. From the right side of my body, streams of light are precisely directed into these different layers. I am witnessing this light show. And then I feel you ending the session. I was quite tired after meditating and went to sleep for a deep 20 minutes.

It is as if my "alive" switch has been turned on since receiving these sessions and talking with you. There seems to be a very active internal "doing" re: working with emotions/thoughts, but it seems to be supported by this new awareness of Awareness.

I feel as if a "spark" has been lit within. Life is happening as always, yet another "life" is simultaneously happening... that’s what it feel like! Who am "I"? What is this "I"? Who is "I"? Right Heart, sinking, beckoning, remembering.

Deep heart gratitude. I am truly grateful you are here in my life. Wow!!! So in awe of the always unfolding.

You bring a joy and a smile, thanks, Mary from California

RASA REPORT SEVEN — OIVIND (NORWAY)

The RASA session was excellent. I could feel the energy lift. The tension in the Heart [on the right] area was reduced. I was surprised that I hardly had any thoughts during our session. My experience afterward is that I encountered a new deeper layer of tension in the Heart area. Things are going well!

Now I feel the Self is more and more taking over - no need for "effort meditation" - feels more spontaneous - and feeling in Heart of melting and opening up.

In meditation it feels like open space/sky, peaceful/silent but still full, with body tensions melting and a flowing/pulsating energy inside - feels like Self is slowly melting "Me" away - and I cannot do anything about it - I feel completely helpless - LOL :)

RASA REPORT EIGHT — MR. K (U.S.A.)

RASA took me out of my head and threw me into a blissful state. I felt more alive than ever. I saw auras and experienced a deep, peaceful energy that I had no idea could be accessed so quickly and easily.

My consciousness reoriented from ego-based perception to pure being. As my false sense of self began to fall away, my overall experience of reality felt brighter, livelier, more peaceful, and ever-expanding.

RASA REPORT NINE — MR. B (CANADA)

I did notice a shift after our RASA session. That evening I had trouble sleeping because I had a major wave and anxiety and fear. By the next day it lifted. What happens now takes priority, with greater clarity about what is important.

In fact, nothing really feels to be of great concern — everything seems to have the same degree of presence. Anxiety about what has happened or what might happen down the road has fallen away to a great degree.

It is like going through the motions of being in a movie and watching a movie at the same time — nothing is really personal, it is all a script. At the same time, everything feels more personal, insofar as everything feels more present. To use an analogy, in this frame of mind, I would perceive an elephant and a mouse as equally present with equal priority.

RASA REPORT TEN — MRS. A (U.K.)

I just wanted to thank you again for your RASA via Skype. I feel it deeply. Even as I am writing this email, I feel extreme happiness that starts within the Heart but spreads like wildfire within me.

There is also a feeling of pressure on top of the head. My husband reported that I was glowing. I cannot even express the gratitude I feel at the moment for what you have given me.

Talking with you has appeased my confusion and frustration. Before getting in contact with you I had promised my self that you would be the last teacher and teaching I would seek as the road has been so long and difficult. Thankfully I am happy to report that I feel a deep connection to you which I will trust.

You asked me to be specific and detailed about my experience. RASA felt soft yet very strong. It was powerful and forceful yet feminine. Even though I say forceful, it was not aggressive. It was a descending force down from above.

I felt it was the energy of Kali Ma. This energy is merciless. It is merciless mercy, mercy without mercy. It is all done with infinite love. It is merciless Love Absolute.

It is a fierce fearless force unforgiving to anything that is not aligned with Truth. It will destroy everything that keeps you in the illusion of separation.

RASA REPORT ELEVEN — MR. M (U.S.A.)

Very gentle and relaxing. The RASA sessions opened my body and awareness to more of the downward flow of Shakti — tingling, soft, and expansive. Later in the following days, unpleasant emotional activity showed release and settling.

While my energy system was already in various states of openness, the RASA helped further stimulate the Crown and Heart on the right. This was new to me and is just in the beginning stages.

It helped calm recently elevated automatic movement activity [involuntary purifying motions of the body, or kriyas]. A side effect was the increased awareness that what occurs in the flow of life happens on it's own.

RASA REPORT TWELVE — MR. Z (HONG KONG)

I had been experiencing non-doership before the RASA session. Yet after the session, the detachment was more pronounced, and life flows effortlessly and miraculously.

Last night, intuitively I turned all my senses inward, and I arrived at this place just like the gap between thoughts or the place of pure awareness. The bliss was immense. It was like the RASA session had cleared a path for me to get there.

My meditation happens mostly at night and in bed these days. The gap between sleeping and waking becomes longer everyday and the bliss is massive. Still working on bringing that bliss and peace to daily life.

I hope I can have a chance to talk to you for clarification on the practice of self-inquiry. The sessions with you have really speed up the journey leaps and bounds. I am so grateful for your guidance and blessings.

The RASA sessions have helped me tremendously. My life right now is full of moments of non-doership with the realization that "I" is just a concept.

Thank you once again. Mr. Z in Hong Kong.

The RASA Mystery: Direct Download of Divine Grace?

A good description of RASA seems to be that it is a "direct non-dual download of Grace from Divine Mother." But if you don't believe in Divine Mother, the feminine side of God, or if you have a problem with the idea of getting a spiritual blessing, I don't want you to miss out. Labels don't matter.

What really matters is the experience itself. You can get that no matter what form of God you believe in. You can get that even if you don't believe in any kind of God at all.

As long as you believe in yourself, in the sense that you know that you exist, that you are conscious, then you are qualified to receive this revolutionary blessing for your enlightenment. The only thing needed is the willingness to receive the RASA.

A loving Higher Power is involved with RASA that wants to help people become spiritually free. If you are interested in spiritual freedom, especially if you've been working at it for awhile, then RASA is worthy of your serious consideration. There are no qualifications. Just relax and receive. That is it.

I recommend at least three RASAs. Once a month or once a week seem to work best. Then after you get three RASAs, you can decide if you need anymore. They are still helpful even if you are already established in non-duality. In fact, when students come to me who are already in non-duality (above LOC 640) due to their previous spiritual efforts, it is pretty much guaranteed that they will complete their spiritual journey and quickly get to LOC 1000.

The only exceptions have been individuals who chose to stop receiving RASA. Since they were making excellent progress towards LOC 1000, their motivation for doing so remains a mystery to me. Those who have stayed the course and received RASAs all got to LOC 1000.

In all cases it is typical for the RASA to take the recipient up to LOC 1000 briefly right after the RASA is delivered. This means the RASA is literally bringing down the highest level of consciousness. This is the exact opposite of effort based approaches of "climbing the spiritual mountain." With RASA, you start at the top! Your enlightened Self embraces you from above.

RASA is a uniquely graceful opportunity for you to rise to higher enlightened LOCs swiftly and easily whatever your current LOC may be. RASA is able to deliver this kind of boost because it is a descending divine "heavenly" force that originates at literally the LOC 1000 level. The best word for such a blessing is Grace. The question is can you stabilize at 1000? The question is not can RASA deliver. RASA delivers it, but can you receive it?

The spirit of RASA is to act fast and deliver fully. That means you could be the next RASA recipient who goes to LOC 1000 after receiving just one RASA. It takes you to 1000 starting off anyway. One person took six days to stabilize at LOC 1000 after receiving one RASA! That is the record. Those results are not typical.

Act fast and deliver fully means that when I give the RASA, it is in the spirit that the RASA will do its thing, raise you into a non-dual LOC and you will stay there. The goal in reality is to take you to LOC 1000 immediately and keep you at 1000! My goal is to accomplish this in just one RASA session. Then my work is done. There is no training, no next level. RASA is it.

Some people come to me for general spiritual self-help coaching. Some people continue to get RASA and work with me until they get to LOC 1000. Some people request coaching after reaching LOC 1000.

There are many myths and misconceptions about the everyday experience of "full enlightenment" or LOC 1000 (classic Self-realization). For this reason, some people seek my support for a period of several months after they achieve LOC 1000 in order deeply stabilize in the Self and transcend the doubts and confusion that naturally arise.

If you would like to schedule a RASA transmission to activate your enlightenment, you can go to my web site. Click the PayPal button to pay the reasonable requested donation.

Ramaji.org

Since I do what I do out of love with the intention of helping people to be happy and be their true Self, I have zero interest in building an organization, cultivating lots of followers or organizing a system of teachings with multiple levels.

As I have told numerous people during their RASA session, my goal is to make myself obsolete. It is clear to me that you are the Self. You may benefit greatly from RASA and from spiritual coaching right now, but your true Guru is within.

If you want to contact me personally, then use the email found in the section at the back of the book called "Meet the Author." Or you can visit Ramaji.org and use the convenient Contact Form that you will find located at the top left of the website.

Take Care, Many Blessings in the Self,

Ramaji

Journey to the Heart of Truth

When I (Ramaji) was 16 years old and living in a suburb of Los Angeles, California, I had a lucid dream that changed my life. In this dream, I was in India. I was with a yoga guru who spoke to me in Sanskrit. He took me through many hatha yoga postures, then I ended up sitting in padmasana, in lotus posture.

The next thing that happened was literally mind-blowing. Everything exploded and my sense of separate self that I had been feeling in the dream dissolved totally and completely into a blissful peaceful Ocean of White Light.

When I woke up the next morning, my Kundalini was awakened. I also had amazing psychic powers. I'm not going to go into details, but I will say having this sudden unexpected Kundalini awakening was very difficult. It was hard enough just being a teenager. The extremes of emotion from the Kundalini were astonishing.

I managed to muddle my way through this crisis. I was in high school. I was still living with my parents. Though I knew next to nothing about yoga, meditation or Eastern religion, I knew enlightenment was real and that it was better than anything else.

I had a reading by a gifted spiritual psychic. She told me that I would have to wait a long time. She predicted that I would not see fruition of my spiritual yearnings until my 40s or 50s. She said I would have to be very patient.

It turned out she was right. To a teenager, waiting for the fulfillment of your heart's desire until you're 40 or so sounds like an eternity. Yet I sensed this delay was in my destiny.

What this experience did is force me to recalibrate everything in my inquisitive young life. Now life was transparent. It was just going through the motions. All the usual things that a young man could get excited about didn't amount to a hill of beans.

I had experienced a blissful transcendental Light that made everything else meaningless. All that life offered was now nonsense. Life was a cosmic joke, but I didn't know the punchline.

It was a paradoxical situation. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me doubt God. It made me love God. But one thing was for sure. I could never go back.

In the 1970s, I got involved with some marginal gurus. I made mistakes and I learned from them. I became a vegetarian. I started doing hatha yoga every morning.

In the early 1980s, I ended up living in a Sivananda ashram in Hollywood, California. It was there that my spiritual practice began to stabilize. The assistant head of the yoga center was studying Vipassana meditation. I learned about it from her.

I took up Vipassana ("Insight") meditation in earnest. I would meditate one or two hours a day. I developed my own style of Vipassana that expanded on mindfulness while walking to include the tactile contact with sensory objects during the day.

The kind of Vipassana that I studied focused on fleeting body sensations. The goal was to detect the impermanence in these ever changing body sensations. This realization of spiritual science becomes possible when concentration is built up.

I had the good fortune to study with the Venerable Shinzen Young. He is a wonderful human being and a brilliant enlightened spiritual teacher. He has achieved much success as a meditation master. His success is well-deserved.

Even though he taught a contemporary approach based on science, I was drawn to an old Buddhist text Vishuddimagga (Path of Purification). I studied it and learned about the classical stages of the unfolding of impermanence. This traditional sequence of spiritual events or milestones on the road to Nibbana (Nirvana) is described by a few modern Vipassana teachers, too.

I was living in a huge bustling Western city. I still went through the stages exactly as described in this book. These stages culminated precisely as the old book had predicted in the flash of Nirvana. I was doing walking meditation on a driveway in the back of the meditation retreat house in downtown Los Angeles when it happened. Since Vipassana had been good to me, I stuck with it for seven years. But there came a time when it began to feel restrictive and limiting.

It is a brilliant practice, but my clock of destiny was ticking. It was time to move on. Advaita and Vipassana agree on the universal factor of impermanence as the key ("Anicca" in Pali). Vipassana is the Buddha's version of Self-inquiry meditation.

I was deep into my Vipassana meditation lifestyle when I met Kali at the Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Vedanta Temple in Hollywood, California. I was meditating and the big statue of Kali they keep on a stage at the front moved. I saw Her walk by. Then I smelled the most lovely fragrance of sandalwood.

Then She started talking to me. Mother Kali has a distinct way of talking. She talks like she is in total command. She is the general and you are the private. She said "You are mine. I own you. Your body is mine. I am in control of your destiny."

I was surprisingly at ease with the sudden turn of events. In my mind, I calmly replied "Okay, I believe you. If that is true, then what is next?"

Whispering in my ear, Kali continued. "If you agree to this spiritual contract with me, then I will totally fulfill my side of the bargain. I can guarantee that you will attain spiritual liberation in this lifetime. You must be willing to surrender unconditionally to me from this point forward. Anything less than total surrender is unacceptable."

I was hearing Her voice from outside of my head. It was not my voice. It was a female voice that I had not heard before.

Though she sounded stern and demanding, I could feel her boundless love and compassion for me. "If you comply, then I will control your life circumstances in order to guarantee your realization. I cannot force this on you. What is your decision?"

I seriously doubt She said all of this. She is a Divine Mother of few words! But that is the essence of what She said to me. Without hesitation, I said "Yes. I surrender completely to you. I give my life over to you. My life is yours now."

She smiled. Then just as quickly as She had appeared, Her Presence was gone.

When I asked somebody on the grounds about the statue of Kali standing at the front of the stage, he acted surprised. The next time I visited the temple, Her statue had been moved behind a padlocked iron fence. Kali in jail! I laughed out loud.

In early 1988, out of the blue the thought came to me that “My last name has the name of God, Ram, in it, so my guru is going to have Ram in his name.” The thought just kept repeating over and over.

At this same time, I experienced a strange but not unpleasant metallic taste in the middle of my tongue. I have not felt that taste since. My impression is it was from Akasha (the etheric element).

A few months later I saw Ramesh’s picture in a Hollywood paper. I instantly knew it was him. I intuitively knew with total certainty that meeting him was my destiny. He was going to change my life.

So what did I do? I decided to wait a year because I wanted to have one last year before I ran into the spiritual freight train called Ramesh! Looking back at it, it was a bizarre reaction. My thought at the time was “I’m not quite ready.”

Fast forward to my encounter with Ramesh Balsekar in Solana Beach, October, 1989. I saw him later at other group meetings. This first time was at “Joe’s Crab Shack" with about 50 people.

I have never loved a man like I loved him. I felt that he was my spiritual father. I love my biological father totally, yet the spiritual connection with Ramesh transcended everything. I felt an ocean of love. I would cry and cry tears of joy.

The last event I went to took place in Pennsylvania, USA. I finally had a chance to talk to him one on one in a way. He was hanging out after giving a talk to the large group.

I walked rather timidly up to the small group that had gathered around him in the back of the room. He abruptly stopped talking to them and turned to me.

I remember his penetrating gaze locking my eyes in place. There was no escaping those magnificent eyes! I told him how much I loved him and how I wanted to come to India to be his servant. He looked genuinely shocked. "Oh, no," he said, "that is nonsense! You should not be lingering around. I have given you everything I can give you. Go study with other teachers if you like. Or just do whatever you want. It won't matter. I have given you everything. Now you must move on with your life. I cannot help you anymore."

I said "Thank you" and reached out to give him a hug, which he accepted. The joy and gratitude you feel with the person who has revealed the Self to you simply cannot be described. So even though this was the last thing I wanted to hear, I intuitively knew he was right. I never saw him again. He lives on in my heart and in my life.

My journey then took me back to Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and Sri Ramana Maharshi. I studied their teachings all over again and practiced the unique meditations they taught.

In 2006, Kundalini completed Her journey to the Crown chakra. A passageway from the Crown down to the Heart on the right called Amrita Nadi was revealed to me.

There was a life-transforming flash of Amrita Nadi. It was the ultimate spiritual experience of my life. Amrita Nadi ("channel of immortality") and Hridayam (the causal Heart on the right side of the chest) are talked about by Sri Ramana Maharshi. The awakening of Amrita Nadi has been described as "the light of a thousand suns." The world turns translucent and disappears in a blaze of Divine Light.

When the world returns, it is not the same world. That world is gone forever. There is only the one supreme Self. You can still perceive the world and function in the world, but for you the world is literally the universal Self. I have come full circle.

During this phase, I fought my final battles with the I-thought. Taking the living sage Sri Lakshmana Swamy at his word, I prayed for Grace and assistance in the final elimination of this most formidable adversary. Even though Sri Lakshmana lived in Tiruvannamalai, he had promised that those who asked for his Grace would receive it regardless of physical distance.

The confident smiling face of Sri Lakshmana appeared in my Heart on the right about half a dozen times. Surrounded by a sacred glow, his enthralling radiant visage provided tangible assurance that I would achieve my quest with his Grace.

As a direct disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Lakshmana gave me the blessed direct connection to Ramana's glorious lineage. In addition to Grace from Sri Lakshmana Swamy, I also experienced receiving Grace firsthand from Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and Sri Papaji.

Earlier in my sadhana, I had received the transmission of Grace from my Buddhist meditation teacher, Venerable Shinzen Young and, of course, Sri Ramesh Balsekar. Based on my own experience, I am convinced that Grace in some form will be needed to put down the I-thought.

The Light that was revealed in 1966 was the Light that was realized in 2006. In February, 2008, I completed the quest. In 2012, I moved to San Diego and began giving public satsang.

Peace, Love and Blessings in the One Supreme Self, Ramaji

Meet the Author

Ramaji

San Diego, California

Ramaji teaches Advaita and non-duality in San Diego, California. There is a monthly satsang meeting in the area organized via Meetup.com. A free live video streaming of RASA for world peace and global enlightenment is offered weekly at Ramaji.tv. To receive RASA one on one via Skype, please go to Ramaji's main website Ramaji.org.

Ramaji's first awakening was at the age of 16 via Kundalini in a lucid dream. Since that time, he has kept a detailed journal of his spiritual journey. Ramaji personally went through many steps slowly and with precision. This has put him in a perfect position to be a teacher and a one on one spiritual coach.

Ramaji is the author of 1000, a groundbreaking guide to the path of enlightenment and the levels of consciousness from the lowest to the highest. This unique guide to the evolution of human consciousness is based on a lifetime of intuitively evaluating people. Ramaji has a natural gift for accurately assessing a person's LOC or Level of Consciousness.

Ramaji offers a powerful unique spiritual transmission called RASA in support of rapid non-dual awakening. RASA is easy and effortless. It is divine Grace descending into you. All that is asked is that you be relaxed and receptive. Nothing else is required. You can reach Ramaji is via his web site Ramaji.org.

Ramaji works with students all over the world via email and Skype. He has students in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Russia, Germany, Spain, Australia, Austria, Mexico, Norway and Finland.

The RASA transmission from Divine Mother in support of your enlightenment includes a one hour consultation where you can ask any questions that you want. After your Skype RASA session with Ramaji, you have access to him via email.

The new direction for Ramaji is delivering RASA to groups. This is the result of his discovery that the benefit is the same.

RASA (Ramaji Advaita Shaktipat Attunement) delivers the Grace of Divine Mother for accelerated spiritual awakening. This Grace or Blessing has the power to rapidly raise your level of consciousness, yet it is very gentle. Many people have shifted into enlightenment (stabilization in a non-dual LOC between 640 and 1000) immediately after receiving RASA.

Ramaji is also the author of The Spiritual Heart. These early dialogs from 1994 to 2012 focus on the nature of the I-thought, how it arises and how it controls the world. It covers the Heart on the right, Kundalini, the role of intimate relationships and other aspects of the path touched upon by Ramana Maharshi but rarely discussed in modern Advaita and non-duality.

His one of a kind meditation guide No Mind No Problem shows an effortless new way of dealing with the mind that embraces the moment while allowing your natural happiness to emerge in an enjoyable way. People tired of repetitive methods will enjoy his approach. It invokes rejuvenating joys of curiosity, thought-free creativity and deep inspired "doing nothing."

Waking Up As Awareness shows how to access the "gap" at the moment of waking from sleep where the Self or lucid aware presence is naked. Ramana taught about this rare opportunity.

When Ramaji was studying Vipassana, Buddhist meditation teacher Robert Hover taught him a radical secret self-healing system developed by a great Buddhist master who lived in a cave in the jungles of (then) Burma. This little-known method applies the power of the mind directly to physical, emotional or mental problems for fast powerful results. Ramaji delivers a full training course in his book Heal Your Body, Free Your Mind.

Brand new! Ramaji is delivering free RASA via live global video streaming at Ramaji.tv.

Ramaji offers high energy spiritual music at RamajiMusic.com. Designed to transmit enlightened frequencies, this uplifting fun music will effortlessly facilitate your spiritual awakening. The full 16 song playlist is 100% free for listening or download.

How to Contact Ramaji Plus New Live Video Streaming of RASA (Global Free Access)

Ramaji.org (the website to get an appointment for one on one RASA via Skype)

Ramaji.tv (Drop by for a free LIVE video streaming of the RASA transmission offered once a week by Ramaji for world peace and global enlightenment. The live streaming event schedule varies weekly in order to accommodate different time zones around the world. The delivery date and time for the next live streaming RASA event is posted at the website.)

Meetup.com/Ramaji-Satsang-Group/ (San Diego non-dual meditation meetings open to all)

YouTube Channel: Ramaji Satsang

Email: advaitaforidiots@gmail.com

RamajiMusic.com (16 free songs at enlightened frequencies to facilitate your awakening)