On being “I Am” and Asking “Who am I?”
The Ratu Bagus Shaking Meditation and Self Enquiry.
The juxtaposition of the Ratu Bagus Shaking Meditation with Self Enquiry has untold potential in raising personal awareness as questions which arise are addressed and answered together in Truth (Satsang).
Why is this so?
Ratu is speaking more of remaining with the “I Am”, of relinquishing attachment to all that is not “I Am” as you shake and move your body. This is the way to personal freedom and happiness as you release the hold mind and all its associated baggage has over you. To assist in this you are encouraged to carry within you the mantra “Om Swastiastu Ratu Bagus” : “Welcome to the Good King”. The “Good King” is described as your soul, connecting you as you shake to the Divine Energy which is at the heart of Creation, of Life itself. As you begin to sweat and warm up the fire intensifies within you and the garbage of mind and memory with which you have identified to this point is burned away leaving you free to be the “I Am”. This is a powerful process with the potential to transform, to change the way you view yourself, the world and your place within it.
It becomes clear at this point, I suggest, that you could go one more step in this, one crucial step which could take you deeply into this journey of Self realisation, if you remain with the “I Am” and ask the question that now burns within you:
“Who Am I?” (Nan Yar).
It is in Self Enquiry that this question is addressed through a simple but radical practice taught by Sri Ramana Maharshi and his devotee H.L.W.Poonja – Papaji.
The practice is this:
As questions, feelings, thoughts, doubts, anxieties arise within you are invited to become the witness, to stand back, to ask…..who feels this, who believes this, who is doubting, who is fearful?…. I do, I am, me……You then ask “Who am I?” You remain with the question resisting the temptation to seek an answer through mind. In this process the mind quietens and as awareness blossoms answers arise within you. The question “Who Am I?” becomes the stick poking the fire as all untruth, all false identification, all belief and doubt, all the accumulated baggage of mind and memory that has been your story until this time, is consumed. Ultimately the question itself is thrown into the fire no longer required as True Self, that which I Am, is realised.
So just why does the juxtaposition of the Ratu Shaking Meditation and Self Enquiry work so effectively in being a powerful force for personal change? Having shaken authentically for an hour or so you have been present with the “I Am”. You have dropped much of the mind baggage and burned away much of the garbage that has held you back. You are ready to take the next step and ask the question……. “Who Am I?”….. with an openness that has grown during your period of shaking. This is a simple but powerful process as you are, in Self Enquiry, invited to remain with the question without seeking an answer…..and it works in unexpected ways as you enter into Satsang with a willingness to ask and answer any questions that arise within you. As the fire that is Satsang consumes all that remains of the story that has held you back you move into a place of personal freedom and bliss that is your birthright and which you never lost…..you are home.
Try it! Next time you shake, as you remain with the “I Am”, move on a little and ask “Who Am I?” remaining with the question without seeking an answer. For, after all, how can the flavour of anything be known until you have tasted of it……?
Michael Vincent
December 2010
For more information on Self Enquiry and the Ratu Bagus Shaking Meditation :
Ratu Bagus –
Self Enquiry –
www.avadhuta.com Papaji –
