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Technology of Self - Sivavakiyar

ஓடி ஓடி ஓடி ஓடி உட்கலந்த சோதியை
நாடி நாடி நாடி நாடி நாட்களும் கழிந்து போய்
வாடி வாடி வாடி வாடி மாண்டுபோன மாந்தர்கள்
கோடி கோடி கோடி கோடி எண்ணிறந்த கோடியே 

Millions Millions and Millions 
Run Run and Run
Seek Seek and Seek Without
Grieve, Grieve Grieve and Perish
While it is already there—
An abiding flame Within

Me : Swamy,  What is there inside us as an abiding flame ? Why do you say millions have perished looking for it ?

Sivavakiyar :  I will quote verses from Upanishad and you will understand.

Me                 :  I have read Upanishads and they go over my head, I want to know directly and first hand from you.

Sivavakiyar :  Let me do a thought experiment with you. When you say “I am aware of this or I am aware of that , what are you                                    aware of ?”

Me :  I am aware of my feelings, I remember the food I ate this morning; I am aware of it, I am aware of what I see, what I  smell and what I taste and what I hear.

Sivavakiyar :  Yes, you can see, touch , feel and experience all objects  and you are aware of them. But where is the “I” that is  experiencing all these and that is aware of all these ?
  Can you take a step towards the “I”, the subject of your experience ?

Me                    : mm.. No.

Sivavakiyar : When you try to do it , what is that you experience ? When your attention is removed from the objects that are 
perceived by your 5 senses and drawn inwards, 
Where does the attention go ?

Me : It does not go anywhere , however I feel an inward focus.

Sivavakiyar : It cannot find because the awareness can only attach to something that has objective qualities—of shape, size,smell
etc. Do you feel a spaciousness and quietening of the mind when your attention tries to locate the “I” ?
                          
Me : Yes.

Sivavakiyar : Explain the nature of that experience ? When you withdraw the outward flow of awareness through your senses, 
what happens?

Me : There is a cessation of attention. My breath deepens, my body relaxes ; I feel the relaxation in my cheeks.


Sivavakiyar : That is your sense of being , or beingness. Do you feel your sense of being expanding in ever widening circles ?

Me : Yes. Strangely, free from the stranglehold of my thoughts, I feel peaceful.

Sivavakiyar : So there is something that is aware of your experience and that is your true “You”— the flame of consciousness, 
not the one your have constructed about yourselves   through your thoughts and feelings It is already inside you. It is the same for everybody—in the past, present or future. The peace that you feel inside is
  the real happiness.

Millions , out of ignorance, run hither and tither, expect happiness and peace through the
enjoyment of the senses.

அள்ளி நீரை இட்டதேது அங்கையில் குழைந்ததேது
மெல்லவே மினமினவென்று விளம்புகின்ற மூடர்காள்
கள்ள வேடம் இட்டதேது கண்ணை மூடி விட்டதேது
மெள்ளவே குருக்களே விளம்பிடீர் விளம்பிடீர்!

Mixing ash with drops of water 
They smear their whole body
And murmur  below their breath; 
Tell these idiots - O Gurus
What is  subtle and hidden in all beings
That closes the eyes when they die

Me: Swamy, Why do you call idiots those who do their daily prayers after ablutions ?
Ag: Putting out an outward aura of purity and uttering mantras in a show of piety fools nobody.
       The dull witted man thinks he is only this body-mind.  He remains believing in his separate self and
       does many rituals with a view to please the gods and attain boons. 
       
       While the truth is, God that he seeks to propitiates is inside him, surreptitiously.

       Ask yourselves, who is behind all your senses, who is behind Prana , the vital energy that rejuvenates the mind and
       directs it towards sensory objects.  By investigating one's own experience of reality, it should be evident that God is inside us
       in the  form of Consciousness that is our true SELF.
         
          



ஆதியாகி அண்டரண்டம் அப்புறத்தும் அப்புறம்
சோதியாகி நின்றிலங்கு சுருதி நாத சோமனை
போதியாமல் தம்முளே பெற்றுணர்ந்த ஞானிகள்
சாதிபேதம் என்பதொன்று சற்றுமில்லை இல்லையே!!!



Giving rise to all  in this Universe 
Glowing ever present in the Beyond  
Is the Lord,  Somasundaram
The great ones who abide in SELF
See him in all and do not
Discriminate as high and low
Among people

                                                                                                                                                   --To be continued
                                                                                                                                                      Translated by Ramanan Venkataraman

                                                                         
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