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Last night was Meditations. In this case the Satsang hall was kept dark except for candle light, and most of it was a sitting meditation with Nome. I was talking with someone from South India beforehand (2 hours from Tirruvanamalai where Maharshi lived). He said that he had just gotten into Maharshi similarly with me, and that he hadn't really practiced Self-inquiry but enjoyed going to RamanaAshram. He said that after he moved to Santa Cruz he checked the paper and it turned out this Maharshi dedicated temple was close by, 2 minutes drive. He said he was skeptical as the pictures of it had a 5 star hotel look.(Interestingly it was constructed D.I.Y. by a Nome devotee, everything is done by hand) But he said clearly Nome had reached a deep degree of peace. As we talked it turned out he had read most of what I had read, and the David Godman books about Realized devotees of Maharshi. So he was in the same boat as me. We both entered the temple together. I had come in a state of intense anxiety about worldly things but started to get peaceful sitting in the front row of the Satsang hall (I've sat in the same front seat everytime). The front seats are floor chairs with a cushion, extremely comfortable. The floor of the satsang hall is carpeted. At every event so far I've been about 5 feet from Nome. Since I had come in agitated when Nome started explaining Self-inquiry, that there has been only consciousness, unchanging, eternal. I really attempted ferociously to inquire because of the worldly anxieties I had been suffering earlier. It was about a half hour meditation. I hallucenate intensely with Nome, sometimes he had a beard (he doesn't have one), sometimes he looked like Julius Caesar. There is a weird effect from him because there is total egoic silence, he is like a deep void, spiritual chasm, or a temple of ancient mysteries. But when he talks he can seem quite human, almost a boyish charm at times. After a half hour of really attemping inquiry and him sitting silently he said if anyone wants to comment on their meditations please feel free to do so. I raised my hand. He called on me. Oh yeah, I should mention at previous satsangs he had looked at me. This time, he didn't and was noticeably non-validating.(which was kind of perfect) I described exactly what had happened. The intensity, the agitation with which I had been attempting inquiry, and that various I's arose, various thoughts based on individual notions. I said that I was attempting to be without an I, and since I could see Nome is without an I, I put alot of my focus on him. He gave a slow majestic nod with a serious expression. I can't remember the specifics of our 10 minute conversaion but I remember the gist, and I remember certain things about it. He never leaves me in any doubt that he is fully Realized, a jnani. There is a feeling of magnetic, or supernatural peace in dialoguing with him, it's very strong. His motions are almost too slow and my mind is magnetically drawn in. I can feel what it is like to be egoless in dialoguing with him, the deep sense of peace and contentment as if problems never existed, but it can also feel vulnerable. I did bring that up when he asked, he had asked something about the nature of the one who is agitated. And I had said something about how even though they may be unreal, these false egoic notions, offer an illusion of safety. He said that "they certainly cause the agitation you spoke of". His main focus was on, what is central to Advaita teachings, that the real Self, the non-individualized Self is eternal, was not born, does not die, is non-attached, does not suffer. I spoke of how I wasn't sure I was aware of this real Self, and that often my inquiry is out at the branches, and since i'm not aware of the deep peace, inquiry is only a mental exercise. There was a current in his presence passing through me, and I said I do feel a deep peace. He said, "well, Peace is of the nature of the eternal". Indicating that the peace is of the Real Self. At one point he said, "Is it clear for you now?" And I, smart ass that I am said, "well if you mean, am I self-Realized, will an egoic notion never arise me for again. Then I'd have to say,probably not" (everyone laughed, Nome smiled), "But you have certainly given me a way to proceed." I said, running it by him, that if any non-eternal thing arises, disregard it as unreal. Nome grinned, and it looked like touched his nose and followed it up with something along the lines of. "Something more substantial then that, it isn't you". So the method I took from it, of Self=inquiry is that anything that isn't eternal should be disregarded as unreal, and not me. This could be perception, thought, experiences, suffering, pleasure, anything really that is of form and non-eternal is not real, and is not me, and should be disregarded accordingly. The real me, is what is eternal, and formless. The thing that made it so cool, was that in this dialogue I felt it, this almost electric current of the Real Self, this deep flow of peace that feels magnetic is coursing through my body. Also in dialoguing with him, he doesn't leave you and move on to other questioners until you are absolutely sure how to proceed. When I made the smart-ass comment he said. "Well, is it clear for you what to do when something arises for you?" essentially when I'm walking down the street, or when I leave Santa Cruz. I talked with the South Indian person again after, and mentioned that it was cool to have Self-Inquiry explained to me for the first time by someone who had succeeded at it. He concurred. It was funny he had talked about how before Satsang he was reading Letters of Maharshi, letters written to and from Maharshi. to someone else I mentioned my 9 month correspondence with Nome, and he looked at me like he made the connection of it being essentially the same. And afterwards he mentioned how people would be initiated by Maharshi into Self-inquiry but few would practice it. I said that was what was cool about what just happened. I essentially was initiated by Nome into Self-inquiry. In my correspondence, I had been mainly talking about worldly attachments, trouble, depression, anxiety. And he had focused on happiness being within.