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| Ramana Maharshi and Swami Lakshman Joo |
(from "The yoga of Kashmir Shaivism" by Swami Shankarananda):
To swiftly review the three upayas, they are
Anavopaya - Method based on bodily action
Shaktopaya - Method based on the mind
Shambhavopaya - The method emphasizing immersion in awareness itself.
I have held back the best for the last, the mysterious fourth upaya, anupaya, the 'non-way'. In this upaya the Guru explains the truth and the aspirant grasps it at once. It is also called the way of divine recognition and is marked by a ripe student and a powerful transmission of grace.
Ramana Maharshi was renowned for asking seekers to meditate on 'Who am I?' What has not been appreciated is how often he told seekers - before he prescribed the 'Who Am I' inquiry' - 'Why not remain as you are?' This instruction flowed from Ramana's divine vision, his Shiva drishti. A great being sees the world as shimmering Consciousness, inherently perfect. Similarly, he sees each person radiating the light of the Self. Each one is a unique manifestation of Shiva and is to be honored and respected.
So Ramana's first line of instruction was often to invite the seeker to share his vision: "You are Shiva as you are. Why change? Why do sadhana? Just understand who you are, be who you are". This was an invitation to anupaya. Only after the bewildered seeker demonstrated that he did not understand this instruction would Ramana go down an upaya or two and ask them to inquire, 'Who am I' or say a mantra.
Though you could scarcely call Ramana a Shaivite - both his personality and the tone of his teaching were intensely Vedantic - in this one thing, Ramana was being a Shaivite since he followed the method of offering the highest upaya first.
Ramana's method gives a clear understanding about the way the upayas work. Imagine a Shaivite sage being approached by a seeker who asks to be taught. The sage, like Ramana says, "Remain as you are. You are Shiva. There is nothing wrong", offering anupaya.
The seeker says, 'I can't do that, I need practice'.
Sage: Okay, focus on pure awareness. Use your will to stay present to Consciousness Itself. Now he is offering shambhavopya.
The seeker says, "I can't do that".
The sage says, "Why not?"
Seeker: My mind keeps coming in and pulling me away.
Sage: Okay. Purify your mind. Focus on the thought 'I am Consciousness', repeat the mantra. Now he is offering shaktopaya
Seeker: I can't do that either.
Sage: Why not?
Seeker: I am obsessed by sex and money and wordly ambition
Sage: Okay, get married. Get a job. Give some money to the ashram. Do hatha yoga, do breathing exercises and meditate on the form of your Guru or deity. Now he is offering anavopya.
Seeker: Thank you. O Master, please give me your blessing.
Each upaya solves the difficulty the seeker has with the one above it.
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Vira Chandra: In another place of the book Swami Shankarananda makes a caution,
"There are two essential methods. One of these is to merge everything into the highest tattva in a single sweep. By saying, 'I am Shiva', meditating directly on Shiva tattva, the personal self merges in the highest. The second method is to laboriously, stage by stage merge each tattva into the one prior to it. I will not deny that the express-method is excellent. But a cautionary note: I have known many yogis who have leapt to the highest without doing the groundwork lower down. Consequently they could not hold their attainment.
Ramana Maharshi did his whole sadhana in half an hour, but his samavesha was so powerful that personal elements never pulled him down.
Therefore do use the great G-Statements like' I am Shiva', by all means, but at the same time do not overlook the humble anavopaya. Do the hard work: encounter everything, stand face to face with it, inquire into it, understand it."
if a dog is put on a throne and dressed up in royal clothes, then for a while it will look like it is really a king. But if you throw a bone, then the dog will immediately jump off the throne, losing all his clothes and crown along the way.
In the example above, the seeker has the humility to admit that he is incapable of following a particular upaya. But if there is no humility, then a person falls into a very serious trap, trying to imitate the behavior of the Siddhas. He sits on the Throne of Divine Identity, while, like a dog, he does not get rid of the pollution of the ego and animal nature, so thus, when some external bait appears, immediately starts acting like a maha-pashu, not as Realized Being.
Also, it needs to be noted that when, for example, Utpaladeva explains Ishvara-Pratbhijna or is praying in Shivastotravali, he speaks of himself not as Maheshvara, but as a servant miraculously transformed into such by the inconceivable Maheshvara.
Often the Guru does not say - "I am Shiva", but says: "You are Shiva", and this is essential. For example, Ramana Maharshi himself never claimed that he was Shiva Himself, Arunachaleshvara, but people spoke of him as - "this is Arunachaleshvara Himself."
There are two sides here, outwardly contradicting each other - but if you rise above the apparent contradictions - there are no contradiction. Abhinavagupta sometimes wrote [for example, in Paratrishika-Vivarana] about himself as a devotee of Shiva (Bhairava), - "a black bee at the feet of Maheshvara" but often, already through the line, he wrote that Bhairava is his soul [for example, in Bhairavastava]
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