Sharing my limited self-realization experiences and associated sadhana (spiritual practices) with interested genuine seekers

The main contents of this post were shared as a public Google Drive PDF document dated 24 May 2023, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_OLX_MWOeN8i4_lbNwrbp2Y-QWST7CFJ/view?usp=sharing . So the date of contents of this post is 24 May 2023. The contents below have been slightly edited as they were converted to HTML from the original Word document used to create above PDF.

Associated blog post giving some background: Sharing my limited self-realization experiences - document links, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2023/05/sharing-my-limited-self-realization.html .

What do I mean by limited self-realization experiences?

With some meditation effort, I am able to quieten/stop the mind and experience the core of my being which is an awareness that never changes (changeless awareness) and which has not changed over my life. This is different from my mental being/mind which has changed over my life. Of course, it is also different from my physical body which has also changed over my life.

Further, I am never able to get to a state where the changeless awareness core of my being is not there or absent. In other words, it is always there and can never be denied.

While experiencing the changeless awareness core of my being, I have the feeling or intuitively know that it will be there (not die) when the body dies.

I view the above as a limited self-realization experience / Atma realization experience.

It is limited due to the following:

1. If I am having significant bodily distress/pain, I am not able to go beyond the body consciousness and I want to remove or alleviate the distress, say by visiting the doctor.
2. I have never been able to go into a trance (Samadhi state) or go beyond body consciousness.
3. I do not experience this awareness core of my being as being present in everybody.

Note that I believe that great self-realized masters have experiences of Samadhi state, experiencing that they are in all, and also have ability to go beyond body consciousness or show superhuman endurance, when the body is facing significant distress/pain.

I also do not have any siddhis like mind reading or knowing past birth and future of myself let alone past, present and future of others. But I think such powers are there only with Avatars like Bhagavan Sri Shirdi Sai Baba and Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and some Siddha Purushas. I think most self-realized masters have not had, or do not have, such powers.

What is the benefit of identifying and experiencing the changeless awareness core of one's being?

In my case, prior to around 2008/2009, I had read a lot about the Atma being changeless awareness but had not identified and experienced the changeless awareness core of my being – Atma/Self. So I was feeling rather dissatisfied then. After I identified and experienced the changeless awareness core of my being (Atma/Self), I felt very happy and satisfied as it validated what I had read about Atma in scripture and teachings of spiritual masters.

"Who am I?" had been a big question for me. I deeply desired to know the answer to this question from an experience point of view. By identifying and experiencing the changeless awareness core of my being (Atma), I felt that I had, and still have, some clear knowledge of "Who am I", though I still don't have the full knowledge about it. This limited knowledge and experience of Atma has also been very satisfying to have.

I think this limited Atma experience reduces the stress and fear about life in the world. We then know from some experience and some intuition that there is a changeless awareness core of one's being that is unaffected by all the problems in the world, looks upon the world as a witness, and which never dies. So I think it reduces fear of death (of the body) too.

There is an experience of deep peace and contentment when one is experiencing the changeless awareness core of one's being. So when one is being disturbed by worries and one seeks to have some peace, one can try to meditate and experience the deep peace and contentment when one is experiencing the changeless awareness core of one's being. But, in my case, I cannot always get into this state when I am beset with some worries or have some other issues. So, for me, it works sometimes to give me peace and contentment but sometimes I have to handle it in some other way (like Namasmarana and prayer to God).

Who may or may not benefit by reading about and discussing my limited self-realization experiences with me?

If a person has already experienced a changeless awareness core of his/her being which is always there, then that person has already experienced what I have experienced and so would not benefit or not benefit much by reading about and discussing my limited self-realization experiences with me.

If a person is mainly on the path of devotion and has strong faith that God is with him/her and is there to help him/her whenever required, and the person is not much interested in doing contemplation and meditation to know his/her reality (like Who am I? contemplation and meditation), then that person may not benefit or not benefit much by reading about and discussing my limited self-realization experiences with me.

If a person is deeply interested in doing contemplation and meditation to know his/her reality (like Who am I? contemplation and meditation), and has not yet experienced a changeless awareness core of his/her being which is always there (and thinks that he/she has changed over time and that there is no part of him/her that is unchanging), then that person may, I repeat may, benefit by reading about and discussing my limited self-realization experiences with me. Such a person may also be on the path of devotion with strong faith in God but may also be interested to experience changeless awareness core of his/her being through contemplation and meditation.

5 Page Document: My Limited Self-Realization Experiences – Points

Interested persons may please go through my document titled, “My Limited Self-Realization Experiences – Points” which is available as a post: https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2023/05/my-limited-self-realization-experiences.html and as a PDF download - short link: https://bit.ly/raviiyerlsre , full link:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wXGvGTTck1D3wNFVrSATJAglJdlPCBj4/view?usp=sharing . I am providing this document as free service (seva) and without any commercial objective whatsoever.

Interested persons can discuss my experiences with me; How can the discussion take place?

After a person has gone through above mentioned document titled, “My Limited Self-Realization Experiences – Points”, if the person is interested in having a discussion with me, I can be contacted over Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7 ) or by email (riyer02@gmail.com ). After initial exchange there, if we feel we can go ahead, we can meet in my small flat in outside ashram Puttaparthi (after scheduling it), or if the person is not based in Puttaparthi, after scheduling it, we can have a phone call which could even be over WhatsApp or perhaps even over Facebook. Note that as I face some health issues, it is possible that the scheduled visit or call may have to be postponed at short notice. Further note that I am offering this discussion as free service (seva) and without any commercial objective whatsoever.

I am NOT a Guru teaching Vedic Dharma but only a spiritual aspirant; Then why write about my experiences and make a discussion offer? What about youngsters?

I clearly am not a spiritual master or Guru. I am just a spiritual aspirant with my fair share of human flaws.

I cannot advise youngsters about following Vedic Dharma and not getting too carried away with today's materialistic world. I think Gurus and Avatars like Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and Bhagavan Sri Shirdi Sai Baba, and Swamijis including Peethadhipathis like Shankaracharyas are the right persons to advise on such matters.

My document about my limited self realization experiences and related offer to discuss it are very limited, and are about my experiences of changeless and undeniable awareness core of my being which I believe is the Self or Atma. But I think that some may, I repeat may, be interested to read about and discuss with me these limited experiences I had and which I continue to have on a regular basis. If they are interested and read about and possibly discuss it with me, it becomes a small seva (free service) activity which may benefit them. That is why I wrote the document and am making this offer.

My document and related discussion offer are not limited to Vedic Dharma persons. I am willing to share it with non-‌Hindus and also atheists who are genuinely interested in such topics.

In response to a question, I thought about youngsters in the context of my limited offering. Who among youngsters would be interested in such matters?

People read and hear about Atma so much in India, and some outside India too hear and read about it. Youngsters too would read and hear about it (like I did when I was young in Mumbai/Dombivli). Many youngsters would believe in Atma but not have much or any experience of it as a changeless awareness entity separate from the changing mind and body, and among these youngsters, most would be focused on achieving worldly goals in their lives and not interested in doing contemplation and meditation sadhana to experience the Atma (as a changeless awareness entity separate from the changing mind and body). Only a few would be interested enough in trying to experience the Atma that they would do some contemplation (Who am I? type of contemplation) and meditation to progress towards that experience. It is only these few youngsters who may be interested in my offering. [When I was a youngster in Mumbai/Dombivli, I was interested in these matters and would read books on it and attend discourses of spiritual masters about it in Mumbai. If I had been told about somebody offering to share their limited self-realization experience (experience of changeless and undeniable awareness which is referred to as self/Atma) and related sadhana in a document with a possibility of a one-on-one discussion, I would surely have tried to read the document and meet that person and discuss it.]

Some background about me

I am very grateful to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba for all the love and guidance he has given me. I am also grateful to, and a well wisher of, Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and associated institutions like hospitals for the service they have provided to me, and to people of Puttaparthi and elsewhere in general.  I live in Puttaparthi outside Prasanthi Nilayam ashram (Puttaparthi ashram) and am currently not associated with the ashram system or Sathya Sai organization but am a well wisher of them. I follow the law of the land and try hard to follow ethics in the context of Andhra Pradesh state and India.

More about me & my books and blogs is available on the Internet: short link: https://bit.ly/ravisiyer, full link: https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/about-ravi-s-iyer.html .