A few weeks ago I was inside the Ramanasramam archive building, helping a South African film crew find material for a documentary they were making in the ashram, when I spotted a Betacam film tape labelled 'Annamalai Swami'. The ashram does not have equipment to play this format but I made some enquiries and discovered that the film was a master of an interview that Jim Lemkin had had with Annamalai Swami in 1993. At that point Jim was working in Tiruvannamalai on a film about the nature of happiness. Annamalai Swami was one of the people he interviewed while he was collecting material. I remember his making this film, and I also remember that at some point he ran out of funds. I suggested that he go to Lucknow to make a film about Papaji instead. Jim had been there before and been impressed by Papaji. I knew there were people there who would fund his project if Papaji approved.
Jim went to Lucknow, made his pitch to Papaji, and Papaji gave his approval to the project. Papaji then asked me to help him make the film. I ended up doing long filmed interviews with Papaji and shorter ones with many of his devotees. The interview I did with Papaji in the Botanical Gardens in Lucknow appeared in print in Papaji Interviews, and an edited version came out as a film entitled Summa Iru. The film itself, directed by Jim, came out under the title Call Off The Search.
Jim went to Lucknow, made his pitch to Papaji, and Papaji gave his approval to the project. Papaji then asked me to help him make the film. I ended up doing long filmed interviews with Papaji and shorter ones with many of his devotees. The interview I did with Papaji in the Botanical Gardens in Lucknow appeared in print in Papaji Interviews, and an edited version came out as a film entitled Summa Iru. The film itself, directed by Jim, came out under the title Call Off The Search.
The material for the 'happiness' project went into a kind of limbo. So far as I am aware, none of it has ever appeared. A few days ago I contacted Jim about the material he had filmed here in 1993 and asked if he still had a usable copy of it. He did, and he was happy to send me a DVD master from which copies could be made. I watched the Annamalai Swami interview a few days ago and found it to be a wonderfully evocative experience. It brought back many happy memories of sitting in Annamalai Swami's little room, asking him questions about his life and his relationship with Bhagavan.
The interview is seventy-three minutes long, and visually it is superb. The sound is not quite so good. The translations made by Sundaram, Annamalai Swami's interpreter, are sometimes difficult to make out, but with a little concentrated effort, they can all be deciphered. The first ten minutes or so are devoted to a summary of how Annamalai Swami heard about Bhagavan and came to him in 1928. The remainder is Jim asking questions about Self-realisation and practice. Annamalai Swami replies to them in a typical eloquent and forceful way. This interview will be a great treat for anyone who has appreciated Annamalai Swami's Guru bhakti and his simple but practical teachings.
I emailed Jim about the interview and asked if I could distribute it for him. He agreed but said that he didn't want anyone to make any money out of it. That means I will be selling it at cost price and asking buyers not to sell it on to anyone else at a profit. This morning I contacted the business in Mumbai that makes DVDs for Ramanasramam and its manager agreed to make 500 copies for me for around Rs 40 per copy. That's just under one dollar US. That will be the sale price, plus postage. In India that means about Rs 55; elsewhere, probably around $2 US, depending on how much the package weighs. The manager of the copying company promised delivery in 30 days, but I don't take estimates like that very seriously.
So, this is just an announcement that this new product will be available sometime later this year. I have to design a label and a cover, which will add a few days to the process, but I hope to have my 500 copies before the end of next month. I will put a notification on this blog when copies are available for distribution.
The interview is seventy-three minutes long, and visually it is superb. The sound is not quite so good. The translations made by Sundaram, Annamalai Swami's interpreter, are sometimes difficult to make out, but with a little concentrated effort, they can all be deciphered. The first ten minutes or so are devoted to a summary of how Annamalai Swami heard about Bhagavan and came to him in 1928. The remainder is Jim asking questions about Self-realisation and practice. Annamalai Swami replies to them in a typical eloquent and forceful way. This interview will be a great treat for anyone who has appreciated Annamalai Swami's Guru bhakti and his simple but practical teachings.
I emailed Jim about the interview and asked if I could distribute it for him. He agreed but said that he didn't want anyone to make any money out of it. That means I will be selling it at cost price and asking buyers not to sell it on to anyone else at a profit. This morning I contacted the business in Mumbai that makes DVDs for Ramanasramam and its manager agreed to make 500 copies for me for around Rs 40 per copy. That's just under one dollar US. That will be the sale price, plus postage. In India that means about Rs 55; elsewhere, probably around $2 US, depending on how much the package weighs. The manager of the copying company promised delivery in 30 days, but I don't take estimates like that very seriously.
So, this is just an announcement that this new product will be available sometime later this year. I have to design a label and a cover, which will add a few days to the process, but I hope to have my 500 copies before the end of next month. I will put a notification on this blog when copies are available for distribution.
53 comments:
Hi David,
Will this documentary be available at Sri Ramanasramam?
Regards,
Maneesha.
Dear David, Annamalai Swami is
not leaving us. I read his chapter in the Power of the Presence and
became emotional to the point of tears. The DVD could be
made available through Sri
Ramanasramam with a type-script of the conversation to it. If it has to be procured from you, you may leave the address in T.malai in the blog so that we can send the requisite amount to you.
I doubt if the DVD will be available in the bookstore at Ramanasramam since Jim has specified that no one should make any money out of it. However, I will be happy to supply copies myself to anyone who wants to watch it.
Subramanian
Annamalai Swami's Tamil comments come across loud and clear. Sundaram was sitting off to one side, some distance from the microphone. His contributions are audible, but not as clear as Annamalai Swami's. I did think of adding English subtitles, but that is beyond my technical competence.
David Godman!I cannot thank you adequately for all that you have done and still doing in gathering and disseminating the timeless ambrosia of Sri Bhagavan and his devotees.I am eagerly looking forward to seeing Sri Annamalai Swami through that video!This is a great boon for all who have been fortunate in having met this this GREAT GURU BHAKTA!The word GREAT seems to be bombastic and out of place whenever we talk about this utterly SIMPLE and UNASSUMING person!It brings to my mind's eye how he used to bring out his simple mat from the inner room and spread it out for us to sit!
Just want to share one CONCRETE treasure that he gave me and which is kept in my Pooja shrine.This is a small trapezoidal rock that he gave to me.Before giving it he briefed me that HE FOUND THESE 2 ROCK PIECES(He gave one to me and one to my B-in-Law)by the side of Arunachala and divined some ATTRACTIVE POWER(AAKARSHANA SHAKTI is the word he used)in these."can pooja be performed to this?"-he asked.It was a momentous decision for me!I am not given to things like pooja!All the same I did not want to jeopardise my chance of securing the rare TREASURE by .I quickly asked him -"Is Lalitha Sahasranamam okay?(I just banked on my wife!She does this chanting!This came in handy.!)Swami replied "Yes.That is okay" and gave me this TREASURE OF ARUNACHALA.He gave the other piece to my B-in-Law which he has kept in his pooja room(in USA).
Same way,I got your book-LIVING BY THE WORDS OF BHAGAVAN as a compliment from swami with his autograph.This book ,I gave to one of my acquaintance and he is yet to return it back!The last time when I reminded him,he said that it is perhaps bundled along with other books and has reached some inaccessible nook in his loft!"Can't we buy another copy"was his very HELPFUL suggestion.I told him that there is something in that earlier copy that cannot be bought!He has promised to retrieve this copy back.
Meantime,I gat a mail from my cousin Siva that he is currently reading the same book!(Swami gave 2 copies ,one for siva and one for me.Siva carried it for me).
Thanks once again for all your INVALUABLE SERVICE.It looks plain to me that Sri Bhagavan has commissioned you to do all this.I also remember how you were instrumental in bringing to light that marvellous book-At the Feet of Bhagavan-Reminiscences of Sri T K sundaresa Iyer.This small book is a Rare Gem.(Which one is Not!All of Sri Bhagavan or his devotees are fascinating.)
Dear David/rav, coming to talk of
stones from the Hill, a villager gave me a small black stone, about
4 cms long and said that it is from
the Hill. I took it and am keeping in my specs pouch, even though I do not do any pooja. If the Hill could be the Self, why not a stone from the Hill. There is no big or small in the Brahman!
Dear David Godman,
would it be possible to have - how do you say it in English? - a script with the text of this interview for downloading?
Regards,
Clemens Vargas Ramos
Oldenburg, Germany
Dear David,
Please, add me on the list for the
DVD about Annamalai Swami!
You gave me some calming spiritual advice some 3-4 weeks ago, for which I am grateful.
Regards,
Marianne Uhrendorf
marianne.uhrendorf@elisanet.fi
Dear David
My interest in the teachings of Bhagawan Ramana rose after reading your book "Living by the words of Bhagawan" .I am happy that you have found an old video footage of Annamalai Swamy .Can u post the transcript of the same in your blog / web site ?
David,
What excellent news to wake up to this morning! You sure know how to get all us bloggers excited. ;>) I too would support the idea of a transcript of the interview, available as a download on your website, if it's not too much work for you. Maybe even one of us could do the transcribing, if you sent a copy of the tape. Just a thought. I know I'd be happy to do it.
Ravi, it is fascinating and inspiring to read of your personal contacts with Annamalai Swami. How very fortunate to have had opportunities to sit with him and to even receive a 'concrete treasure' from his hand! My heart melts just thinking about it....
Thank you for all you do, David!!
salutations to all:
the prospect of getting a video recording of annamalai swami's interview made me very happy...so were the many other interesting comments expressed in the past few days...from the posts, i could also guess that most of you (subramanian, arvind, murali, ravi, jupes, a few anonymous'and many others) are very experienced. notwithstanding everything else, since nothing may be a better place than david's blog to discuss about bhagavan's most important teaching, viz., 'vichara' (at least in my humble opinion), i would like to SUGGEST & REQUEST something :
from a strict sadhaka perspective, could we all share as to how exactly we practise self-inquiry? ...by 'practice', i mean every detail that goes into the actual process (both the 'why' and the how')... this way all of us could benefit each other, may be in the best possible way...and wherever we have a doubt/lack of clarity, who better than david to correct or clarify as well as offer the much-required prescription to render our vichara more effective.
let me also add a note that, it seems, at least to me, that we can call ourselves as a devotee of bhagavan if and only if we practise vichara...some of you, or even most of you, may not agree with this last statement of mine because bhagavan also emphasized 'saranagati' or self-surrender... infact, if i am not wrong, i remember david mentioning in one of his long interviews (posted on his site) that only a few among the many who regularly visit ramanasramam actually try to practise vichara as their principal means of sadhana (for a variety of reasons)...yet, as we all know, for bhagavan, the most effective means to 'surrender' too lay through 'vichara'!
(and i really don't understand when people talk of submitting to god's will while thinking & doing their 'own' will most of the time...of course, i don't mean here that saying 'god made me think this way' or 'do this way' is not genuine but don't you think that to mean it 'honestly' requires a very high order of maturity, which is nearly not possible during the better part of this weird journey?)
Hi David,
It is exciting to know about the video of Annamalai Swami's Interview. Would it be possible to make the contents of the DVD available for free download online (like on your website)? This could be a really good way to ensure that no one makes profit out of selling the DVDs. Also, more people can be involved in the transcription effort without having to send them a copy of the DVD.
Regards,
Ram
A KIND REQUEST TO ALL:
Since this interview won't be sold for a profit, it's important to make sure that it doesn't lead to a loss for the person who is distributing it - David. If the transcript of the interview is posted online or if it freely available for download on the web, David will incur a loss on the 500 copies he has ordered because nobody will bother to buy it from him. So, I suggest that those who are interested in listening to Annamalai Swami kindly buy the CDs from David. Thanks!
Arch
Anonymous,I truly appreciate your sensitivity.This is very important for any seeker as my Master used to emphasise.
S.-I appreciate and respect your emphasis on 'Vichara'.Yes,it is important that this Forum should not be reduced to a mere "Cheer Club"!All the same as you have rightly pointed that Self Surrender is a very key part of Sri Bhagavan's Teaching.Yet SELF Surrender is not Easy to come by-Vichara will ultimately lead to that.Each one of us is striving in our own little way.As Sri Ramakrishna says,If a Child does not know how to call its Father and calls him by any other name,The Father Knows that it is calling him and will still respond.To say that one is devoted to Sri Bhagavan only if one Pursues Vichara-I imagine putting this to Sri Bhagavan.I leave it at that.
Coming to 'VICHARA',the way I practise(Experience is a disqualification here!Like in the Software industry!)is to be ONESELF.Not pursue it as a QUESTION and expecting an answer.This I do when I enjoy the peace of just being.At other times I let devotion take the better of me.VICHARA cannot be reduced a FORMULA.If one is not able to do this spontaneously the next best is to read what Sri Bhagavan says about it(from the Books).READING (SRAVANA)is a powerful means.What cannot be achieved by the EGO's Efforts is simply possible by listening to the Great Souls(Here nothing helps like Devotion!).I am presently reading I AM THAT -conversations with Sri Nisaragadutta Maharaj.Superb Book.Reading this is VICHARA.Vichara is not performed,it has to happen.
Please take whatever I have communicated as just SHARING.
Ravi
Thanks for the long comment and your memories of Annamalai Swami.
I do remember that he seemed to regard some rocks as having a special power. When he was fairly young he was wandering near the top of Arunachala. He saw a large rock and was immediately attracted to it. Many years later, when he was walking at the foot of the mountain, he discovered that this same rock had been washed down to the foot of the hill after a cyclone had caused a major landslide on one side of the hill. He had the rock hauled to his ashram and asked his devotees to install it as a lingam over his body when he passed away. The rock was installed there at his request, but now it seems to have disappeared, and I have no idea why. Maybe Sundaram would know when it went, and why. I remember his showing this rock to me. He asked me to listen to the sound it made when he hit it with a little metal hammer. It did seem to have a slightly different sound to the other rocks that he hit with the same hammer.
Good luck with recovering your signed copy of Living by the Words of Bhagavan. The book is currently out of print, but I hope to have a new printing available in a few weeks' time
Subramanian
Some of the small black pebbles that one finds on the hill are magnetite, a magnetic iron ore. You can find out if your pebble is magnetite by putting it next to a magnet. If it is, it will stick. Although these pebbles can be found on most parts of the hill, there seem to be more of them on the east side.
clemens vargos ramos
A English transcript would be much easier for me to organise than subtitles. It might be possible to add it to the DVD so it could be opened and printed by anyone who bought a copy.
Mangalananda
I am not compiling a list just yet. When I have copies for distribution, I will make an announcement here and on my site.
Very good point, Anonymous. I hadn't thought of that. I guess we should hear what David has to say on all of this. For myself, having a transcript of the interview is not at all the same as having a dvd, where I can see images of Annamalai Swami and hear him speak. In fact, since David said that the translation was hard to hear, I was thinking of the transcript as an aid for getting the content of the interview. I would definitely buy a dvd even if there was a transcript.
Krishnanand
Yes, I can post the transcript on this blog. If someone appears who knows how to add subtitles, I will do that as well, even though it may result in some delays.
Jupes
I will copy the sound from the film. If no one here volunteers to do the work, I can email the file to you. Thanks for the offer.
Whoops! I guess David and I were posting almost at the same time. I was responding without knowing his comments.
Jeez, and it just happened again! Our posts were one minute apart.
That sounds good, David. It would be an honor and a privilege to work on it, if there are no volunteers from your end. If you do email it I should send you a friend's email address who can receive such files, since I probably can't get it on my own computer.
S
Your wish is granted. I have just made a new post where anyone can contribute their thoughts about the practice of Bhagavan's teachings.
ramprax
Having the whole film available on my site is another possibility, or I could just make it available through a file-sharing programme. Thanks for the suggestion.
anonymous
Thanks for your concern. I think I can get through 500 copies at cost price within a year. If not, then it is just my offering to Arunachala.
salutations to all:
(not sure but posting this in the 'annamalai swami interview' section)
it's always a pleasure to see sayings from sri ramakrishna's 'gospel' in RAVI'S posts...the 'gospel' indeed is a class apart and one-of-a-kind...whenever i have read the 'gospel', i have, more or less, always felt the delightful scene being played right before my mind's eye filling me with joy & tears...coming back, i have a couple of things to say (neither of them with any intention to argue):
(i)of course, we are tottering kids with faltering steps, but since our 'father' as bhagavan has given as this priceless gem of "vichara" to call upon 'him' (or the 'self'), why not make the best of it...i would be perfectly
right if i say that it was sri ramakrishna (thakur) who as my 'loving mother', knowing my bent of mind, led me to sri ramana (bhagavan), my 'graceful father'
(ii) am talking at my level where i could at best say honestly that am 'trying to do vichara' because 'doing vichara' perhaps has to be spontaneous...yet, i also humbly submit that whether it be reading the most inspiring book (e.g: 'i am that') or keenly 'listening to realized beings' or even simply 'feeling peaceful', these are 'not' vichara...
(even to think of bhagavan while doing vichara is still only a thought that has to be given up as an impediment to focus back on the fundamental 'i'-thought!)
Dear Davi Godman
Thanking you for brining up New DVD .
Hi David,
Thanks a lot for considering my humble suggestion. Even if the contents of the DVD were made available for download, I would love to have buy the DVD.
Regards,
Ram
Hi David,
Am replying to the Annamalai Swami film and the post on self-enquiry.
I became a devotee of Bhagavan because of Self Enquiry. As I found that I could practise it, I developed a sense of ego about it. Subsequently, I forgot how to do it correctly. It became a mere mental exercise which led to many frustrations.
The path back started with me surrendering (at least partially) to Bhagavan. The next thing that happened was the re-reading of the latter portion of 'Living By The Words Of Bhagavan' with an attitude of utter humility. And due to the Grace of Bhagavan, Self Enquiry is slightly easier now.
The DVD is a blessing from Bhagavan Himself, and am eagerly waiting for it. I just hope that through His Grace, I will be able to purchase a copy .
Nandu
Dear sir,
I would like to have a copy of this dvd once it arrives. Please let me know if i can pay through paypal.
thank you
Vimal Anand
Dear Friends,
My cousin Ravi refered this site to me and I felt blessed to go thro the comments on Sri Bhagavan,Sri Annamalai Swami and on many interesting facets of Gyana.
Reading about Sri Annamalai Swami kindles memories kept sacred in my heart's archives.It was thro Ravi's introduction I had the fortune of meeting this true disciple of Bhagavan and could spend a good deal of time with the Gyani since I had to tour Thiruvannamalai on official work.
My evenings would be spent with him and Sundaram in discussing spiritual matters and on mamy an occasion the Swami would personally feed me food with so much of love.When I tried to stop him from personally serving food on my leaf, he would reject my suggestion saying, " How to express love!" with his childlike smile.
Once on such an occasion of discussion suddenly I heard a sound of a switch and when I turned in that direction I was surprised to see Sundaram smiling showing his tape recorder as a sign of completing the recording of the conversation!
Later he gave me a copy of the casette which I shared with many of my fellow-sadhakas but alas, as Ravi has lost his copy of the Biography of Sri Annamalai Swami,my sacred possession also vanished!
After the passing away of Annamalai Swami, I went to the Ashram and met Sundaram but somehow could not get a copy of it though Sundaram said that he had preserved the casette.
Years rolled by and I also moved abroad but I would not give up.Couple of years back when I went again to the ashram,I met another good devotee who knew the whole episode and got me a copy saying that my years of yearning would not go waste!Swami's voice came back to me after 2 decades!
May he continue to bless us all from his eternal silence!
Krishnanand
Yes, I can post the transcript on this blog. If someone appears who knows how to add subtitles, I will do that as well, even though it may result in some delays.
Dear David Godman,
would it be possible to have - how do you say it in English? - a script with the text of this interview for downloading?
Regards,
Clemens Vargas Ramos
Oldenburg, Germany
Ravi
Thanks for the long comment and your memories of Annamalai Swami.
I do remember that he seemed to regard some rocks as having a special power. When he was fairly young he was wandering near the top of Arunachala. He saw a large rock and was immediately attracted to it. Many years later, when he was walking at the foot of the mountain, he discovered that this same rock had been washed down to the foot of the hill after a cyclone had caused a major landslide on one side of the hill. He had the rock hauled to his ashram and asked his devotees to install it as a lingam over his body when he passed away. The rock was installed there at his request, but now it seems to have disappeared, and I have no idea why. Maybe Sundaram would know when it went, and why. I remember his showing this rock to me. He asked me to listen to the sound it made when he hit it with a little metal hammer. It did seem to have a slightly different sound to the other rocks that he hit with the same hammer.
Good luck with recovering your signed copy of Living by the Words of Bhagavan. The book is currently out of print, but I hope to have a new printing available in a few weeks' time
Dear David,
I have been puzzled by Bhagavan's
statement that when thoughts cease the world also dissappers.
Quoting from "Arunachala Shiva" your commentary on Ramamna Maharshi's "Who am I?"
"What is the nature of the mind?"[Q8]
There is no such thing as the world independent of thoughts. (...) Just as the spider emits the
the tread of a web from within
itself and withdraws it again into itself, in the same way the mind projects the world from within itself and later reabsorbs it into
itself."
Yet, Bhagavan knew how to walk to the ashram kitchen and prepare good food.
Please, David, clarify this dilemma.
Marianne
Dear David,
I just remembered, that I have asked for the DVD about Annamalai Swami in July 19th 2008! I have forgotten it altogether, but now I ask is any DVD left? If so, could I get it? Has a new edition of "Living by the Words of Bhagavan" been published?
Best wishes
Mangalananda
As Bhagavan once remarked, with reference to himself and Gandhi:
Our business is to keep quiet. If we enter into all these [political activities], people will naturally ask, and justifiably, ‘Why is he interfering in all these instead of keeping quiet?’ Similarly if Mahatma Gandhi keeps quiet leaving aside all his activities, they will ask, ‘Why is he keeping quiet instead of engaging in all these activities?’ He must do what he has come for. We must do what we have come for.
The guru knows what it "looks" like, the student doesn't. It's
like a camouflaged moth against tree bark. The student
doesn't know what to look for. All s/he sees is bark. The guru
waits for the moth to "move". The student has to see the
move for the guru to point out the moth. Then the student
understands that they've been seeing the moth all along, they
just didn't know what they were looking at.
Marianne,
When Sri Ramana speaks of "the world" disappearing when thoughts cease, he is not merely referring to internal thoughts, but the recognition that all perception is also just a thought-form. When all thoughts, including perceptions, are resolved in their source, the world they seem to represent "disappears". Instead, their source is seen everywhere as everything.
Take the example of watching a TV show. Imagine a TV that was completely immersive, that was so absorbing of one's attention that one forgets it's just a TV, and begins to think of it as an actual world. One becomes identified with it as one's real experience, and the objects in it seem real, and it seems to represent a "world" we are in. Then, somehow we inspect it and notice that it's not actually a world at all, it's just a TV set. Suddenly this "world" disappears, and instead we see it as merely a bunch of electrons glowing on a screen. It was just a dream.
That doesn't mean that the images disappear, but they are recognized as not being real in themselves, and not representing a "world" either, just a modification of electron-energy and light. That phenomena of light doesn't disappear, it's just recognized for what it actually is. And that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the show or interact with it. We just know that it isn't a world we are interacting with. It's a game, a story, a leela. In reality, it is merely Brahman.
And so it is with a Jnani like Sri Ramana. He can prepare and eat food, knowing all the while that none of this is actually taking place in any world. It's all Brahman to him. He's aware that we don't see it that way, because we are entranced with it all, and think we are in a world. And he knows that the only way "out" of this illusion is to inspect it closely and see its source. Which is what self-enquiry is all about. When we see its source and recognize it in Brahman, yes, the "world" disappears. The patterns of energy and consciousness we thought were a world don't disappear, but the interpretation of it as a "world" does.
Mangalananda
The Annamalai Swami DVD is still available. I assume you are in India. If you send me a postal MO for Rs 30, I can post one to you. My address is:
David Godman
Sri Ramanasramam
Tiruvannamalai 606603
Tamil Nadu
When the Sino-Japanese war was on, someone asked Bhagavan whether, since the world was just projected thought, he could think about the the war and stop it. To which Bhagavan replied, 'The Bhagavan you see and the war are both projections of your mind'.
He gave a similar reply when someone asked him why, if he didn't see a world, he stepped over the door frame of the old hall each time he went out, instead of tripping over it.
In whose world does Bhagavan preparing good food appear? Only your own. There is no other world in which an independently existing Bhagavan makes good food.
In the drishti-srishti creation theory that Bhagavan taught and asked all devotees to accept as the most useful model of reality, you project a world out of your thoughts in the same way that you project a dream world. Just as the dream world vanishes on waking, when you awake from the waking state into jnana, the world of the waking state also vanishes.
Broken Yogi, I really like your analogy. The personality 'I' is filled with emotion and attachment and that brings with it suffering and sorrow. We don't see the SELF or the Seer and only see the seen. It is like saying we do not see the Forest for the trees. 'Forest is the Self and the trees are the seen--phenomenal world.'
the world as a dream
I think one of the difficulties for the ajnani to understand the dream character of what he calls "others", "me" and "world" is this:
It is not so difficult for him to understand that thoughts are sheer ideas, and that ideas cannot have reality. But frequently the ajnani believes to be affected by the actions of others. He may say: For me the world is like a dream, but for others it is not. He says that because he feels the need to protect his bodily existence. It is clear that this implies his view of his own bodily existence as an absolute reality as well as those of "others".
The dream character of the world includes all seen and unseen. And it includes furthermore that not the "world" is a dream but our way to see it. (Sankara perhaps would say: The world cannot have more reality than the one seeing it. When the seer is unreal then how can the seen be real?)
There is no need to discuss this further because it is already beautifully explained in many texts, for example Tripura Rahasja.
The movie "The Matrix", I feel gives an idea that the World is a creation of mind.
Thanks, Sankar Ganesh.
Dear David,
I sent you a comment mailing it to you personally and not to the blog. I will now answer to your mail in the proper manner here.
Thank you for your illustrative
answer about how does a jnani see
the world. I will study drishti- sishtri.
What about the DVD of Annamalai Swami Interview, - I am happy there are some left. But how will I
pay for it? I don't live in India, I live in Finland. My "civil" name
is Marianne Uhrendorf, and address is:Suvikuja 4 A 17, 02120 Espoo, Finland?
Has the new edition of "Living by the Words of Bhagavan" arrived from the press?
My best regards
Mangalananda
Mangalananda
I have not ordered a new printing of Living by the Words of Bhagavan yet since I still have a few boxes of the previous edition left.
If you want the Annamalai Swami DVD, please send $1 US to me via Paypal. My email address is david_godman@yahoo.co.uk. I will post it to the address you have given me.
Hi David,
Thanks a lot for all the material.
Two years back I had an experience when a powerful force overtook me while I was meditating and I can experience the force inside me till date. This current acts with a great force on my brain when I am in the waking state.
However, as I sleep the current slowly moves into the chest area, right of the depression. I try to notice as much as possible but then I am asleep.
I have had glimpses of a white light as and when I wake up in the nights, but can't perceive it at any time later even with effect.
The current is so strong as it acts on my brain that my attention turns towards it always as it works upon my brain, twisting, turning etc. The strong current makes me remain still as I just keep observing it to an extent that my breathe also comes to a stand still and my eyes don't wink.
Once the current became identified, this state was natural to me. So now, though I am involved in activities outside, its as though I have some hold on the activity going inside - because of which I don't feel the sense of doing anything nor am worried about anything.
In the initial years I was worried if I was possessed but I don't even care for anything now. I don't know what I am going through, but know for sure that I am neither lost nor the same person before.
Just wanted to share my experiences. Please let me know your thoughts on this.
salutations to all:
darshan:
we are, surely i am, fortunate and blessed to have one as you in our amidst. a friend remarked to me on reading your comment, which i repeat here: may be, you simply have to stand at bhagavAn's sannidhi (& gaze at aruNAchala) - perhaps, the job might be done once and for all :-)
Thanks S.
I will definitely plan a visit to Tiruvannamalai sometime soon.
Heartful devotion to Ramana.
Hi Ravi,
Thank you for your long and lucid
answer to my question about how a jnani sees the world. I have through David Godman's and your
answers understood this matter. It
is all about the same analogy as in
"a bracelet and gold."
Mangalananda
It seems that the prolific writer of this blog Mr.Ravi is in partial hibernation. Hope, he soon comes out of it to entertain/enlighten his readers, not just Mangalananda alone.
"It seems that the prolific writer of this blog Mr.Ravi is in partial hibernation. Hope, he soon comes out of it to entertain/enlighten his readers, not just Mangalananda alone."
People have been pouncing on him for his views for last many days. No wonder he has turned a l'le sordid. It became personal than just view/opinion.
Ravi,
Please be assured that there are few people, who would still like to know your views. (Didn't interfere during those exchanges as everything seemed to have been taken personally by everyone who participated.)
Sorry for my bad English - that was supposed to be "reserved" than "sordid".
Apologies again.
I can do audio processing to clean up so many of these audio recordings...
they need transcribing like the interview with Annamalai Swami
Johnag@post.com
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