The previous 'Open Thread' appear to be malfunctioning by posting each comment twice. I am starting a new one to see if that solves the problem.
I omitted to mention earlier that a new feature has been added to the 'Recent Comments' box. Near the top there is an icon of two people. If you click on it, you will see a list of the users who have made the last twenty-five comments. If you then tick the white box to the left of the user's name, the recent comments of that particular user will be featured. You can then open them all with the 'expand all' option, or open them one by one by clicking on the plus sign.
If you want to do a search for older comments, click on the 'next' box and comments 26-50 will display. Click again and 51-75 will appear. And so on. The same search facility is available inside each twenty-five comment block.
I omitted to mention earlier that a new feature has been added to the 'Recent Comments' box. Near the top there is an icon of two people. If you click on it, you will see a list of the users who have made the last twenty-five comments. If you then tick the white box to the left of the user's name, the recent comments of that particular user will be featured. You can then open them all with the 'expand all' option, or open them one by one by clicking on the plus sign.
If you want to do a search for older comments, click on the 'next' box and comments 26-50 will display. Click again and 51-75 will appear. And so on. The same search facility is available inside each twenty-five comment block.
5,000 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 5000 Newer› Newest»Dear Peter,
Happenings like weddings and birthday parties [for which you have to necessarily go, because the person is very closely known]
are unavoidable.
But one can do something when some friend comes to your house and talks such things. When he starts talking about such mundane things
like Prices of rice and oil have terribly gone up or Sensex is not moving beyond 18000, one can do something like this. Tell him that you will explain ULLadu Narpadu. In
all enthusiasm you start explaining the first verse, ULLadu aladu ULLa uNar uLLatho, uLLa poruL uLLalaRa uLLathe uLLathaal... then he will quickly vacate the place, even politely
refusing the coffee you have offered! This trick, I have adopted on a few occasions successfully.
Nochur Venkataraman has made this great advice.
Sarva Jnanotttara Atma Sakshat Prakarana -
The above is an upa-agama describing advaita originally in Sanskrit. Sri Bhagavan has translated the work into 62 Tamizh verses in a meter called Nerisai
Venba metre. This is one of the lesser read teachings of Sri Bhagavan. Nevertheless it is important in the sense that it is chanted on every Thursday evenings under Tamizh parayana. The English version as translated by Dr. H. Ramamurthy has now been included in the latest edition of the Collected Works of Sri Bhagavan.
For the Tamizh verses of Sri Bhagavan, Smt. Kanakammal has written a detailed explanation and commentary.
Benedictory Verse:
[by Sri Bhagavan]:
This is the Direct Awareness of the Self,
Graciously expounded to Guha by Iswara Himself,
The foremost and first Lord, now teaching in Tamizh
Seated as the Self in my Heart.
That Siva further says:
1. Guha! I shall tell you about a different way
To reach that Reality which pervades partless in all,
Too subtle, though, to be grasped [by the mind].
2. By which the knowledge of Awareness is well attained,
Knowing which is to become Siva Himself,
What has not been told to any by me,
Today, from me that wisdom, hear!
3. Handed down by the lineage of gurus,
And beynd the ken of logicians,
This is for liberation from the bondage of the birth-death cycle.
Its supreme vision shines in all places.
4. He who is the One pervading all things,
He who has manifested as All,
He who has faces in all directions, who is beynd thought,
Who remains Himself as all the tattvas and transcends them too, is the Self.
5. He transcends all verities,
He is beyond the reach of speech, mind and name.
'I am That [Siva-Self]': thus you should meditate
Wtih perfectly undifferentiated mind.
contd.,
What I am is not What I think:
Stuart Rose: Mountain Path, Aradhana, 2005:
[Dr. Stuart Rose lives in Mid-Wales, U.K, where yoga and vedanta are taughty based on Patanjali's
Yoga Sutras and Sri Sankara's teachings.]
If there are answers, there are two that can be given to the question 'What am I?' and these few words explain them as they relate to the spiritual path. That word 'What' is used as the impersonal and neuter of the word 'Who'. Both words are likely to be equally inappropriate because what is referred to is beyond any form of identification.
The answers to the question: What am I? are that I am Brahman and I am a man, the latter being the sheath superimposing itself on the former - in so doing, a separation is thought to be created. The objective of my spiritual aspiration is to completely remove this sheath.
How can I do this as a 'man'? It is self-annihilation at which the mind balks vehemently. The Brahman that I am is unsullied by this conflict. The mind trying to escape from the engagement while irrevocably caught up in the fracas. There is no escape. In reality, there is no desire to escape because there is nowhere to escape. Why should I escape? What do I struggle?
What I am is an iota of beingness, awareness and blissfulness inseparable from an unending sea of the same, and -- althought inseparable - it is particularly this blissfulness which I ardently desire to exist fully with; to experience it as a human person. How can I experience the bliss of Brahman? As a human person, I can only experience the dualities of happiness and sadness and the rest. Is there some way in which I can merge into Brahman while being a 'man'? It seems possible that this could be the case because as a human person I am also Brahman. There must be a way to dissolve the sheath of of ignorance, in which I hide the fact of what I am in reality. The scriptures provide several routes. Sri Bhagavan Ramana is my light and the path here.
contd.,
What I am is not What I think:
by Stuart Rose: continues....
I feel strongly that the way by which I can achiever this clarity
through the heart, is through love in all its guises, which I see as a relative forms of the bliss of Brahman. I feel that by concentrating on this love I will reveal the fullness of bliss and I will reveal the obscured Brahman that I am. There seems to be no other way. This is not said in resignation, wishing there was another way, for the way of love leading to bliss is most joyous. It resolves all difficulties and guides me through all difficulties. It is the one constant that I can experience, livde and be aware of. Love is the heart of all activitiy, the heart of all things. Love is everywhere and always available.
What I am as a human being is limited to this body on this planet. What I am as Brahman is not limited to any physicalities. There is no restriction. It is a happiness which seems to be beyond the bounds of normal experience as a man or a woman. This is why a spiritual practice is needed to help transcend the 'man' while being a 'man'. Although this sounds impossible, at those exceptional times when the mind is completely silent, the sheah evaporates immediately. And there, enveloping all, the freedom of total bliss can be 'seen'.
So I do have the capactiy of being a 'man' and being Brahman, the capacity of beinbg the limited self and the unlimited Self, even with my eyes open and wide awake. This beingness is common to both.
contd.,
What I am is not What I think:
by Stuart Rose - continues....
Through detachment of the senses,
through relinquishing all thoughts,
love arises. Through unwrapping, unpacking, and undoing the limited, the unlimited is realized.
Why is then that I am not happy as a human being? Why do I find that being a 'man' is insufficiently satisfying, lacking in meaning? The Buddha had an answer. He said that all life is suffering. Human life is suffering even though there is relatively great joy during the experience - the senses, emotions and feelings. But all this is insufficient. In my heart, I was sure that thre was more to being human, although I did not know what it was for certain until I found beloved Ramana.
What is it that wants more than human life? Is it the human me, or something else? What could be that something be? I have no wish to live forever as a human person but what is the expeirence of the existence that I call Brahman? It is described as Being-Consciousness-Bliss, the most perfect state, without beginning and without end. So I cannot "become" Brahman, I can only "be Brahman." I am Brahman but I am ignorant of the fact. The wanting to become Brahman is evidence of my ignorance. How to shed this igorance? How yt to become what I already am? Only by stopping activity of the mind and quietening it.
I am a human being, but all I do is not done by me but by Brahman, which lives in me. Consciousness, I have, although it is not especially mine. Existence I have and bliss I sometimes glimpse but I cannot yet shed the superimposition of being a 'man' in order to hold it fully. Can Brahman be found while I am a 'man'? Can the sheath slip off while there is mind? It sounds contradictory. The body sheath is the mind. Again, Bhagavan Ramana, is the beacon.
contd.,
What I am is not what I think:
by Stuart Rose: continues....
Why I am so dissatisfied with being a human person? As a 'man',
I have scaled some of the heights of what being a 'man' entails, in achivements, through feelings and emotions, and found some of the
lows, too. More is just a repeat of the same with variations. I want no repetition. I want no more transcience. I want no more changeablity. I want permanence.
Am I like a spoiled child, who cannot have what he wants? The scriptures and sages tell me that what I desire is attainable and that there are various rigours through which I can obtainthe desired end. These rigours are of no consequence compared to the rewards of the goal. Above all these rigours are noting because Brahman is also rigours. Is never absent. Never at a distancve. Never in the future.
What holds me back? Is it fear of losing 'being a man'? The sheath of the mind is a tight net, illusory, seemingly impenetrable, yet only a smoke screen. I cannot understand why this smoke screen exists. This non-understanding is mine, of a 'man', do not exist in Brahman, only in the sheath of 'being a man'. The problems exist only in obscuring clouds. Only in the mist of confusion.
Give me a list of the things I need to give up in order to become Brahman and I will complete that list. But there is no list. I am already Brahman. This list is Brahman. The completion of list is Brahman. The list is already completed. It is my ignorance which tells me, falsely, that the list is not yet completed.
O joy of being Brahman. O joy of awareness of Being.
contd.,
Sarvajnanottara Atma Sakshatkaram:
continues....
6. Firmly established as the eternal entity,
Imperishable and undifferentiated,
The all-pervasive, partless Knowledge that cannot be fathomed by the mind,
It shines primal, with nothing to compare it to.
7. Without stain, indestructible, the totally serene,
The knowledge transcending all objects,
Beyond the pale of thought, conception and doubt,
That [Supreme] I am - no doubt about this.
8. That Supreme divinity, Siva, indeed am I,
Of the nature of all the mantras,
And transcending all the mantras,
Devoid of dissolution and creation.
9. What is visible, what is invisible, the moving and the
stationary -- all these are pervaded by me.
I am the Lord of this universe.
All shine because of me.
10. Filled with a variety of forms, one different from the other,
Filled with a galaxy of worlds,
All this universe, from Siva down to the earth,
Are established in me.
contd.,
Sri Ramana Corona: A Crown of Sonnets: Alan Jacobs:
[11]
Know you're Self not body, know that this certain!
In this Realization, there's no cause to leave home,
You can strive in the city, there's no need to roam.
To change style of life would all be in vain.
For mind remains with you, until it is slain.
Demonic ghost ego, source and fabric of thought
Creates body and the world, whereby we are caught.
Change of place, never changed the way we behave,
Whether living at home, in a forest or cave.
There are two ways by which our bonds may be freed:
Either ask 'to whom is this strange fate decreed?'
Or surrender false 'me' to be then stricken down,
So praying intensely for 'my will' to cease,
We leave it to Grace, to grant us release.
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Existence, Knowledge and Bliss:
63. Where Para [the subtlest form of speech] is silenced there would not arise any vibration of sound;
how could then the lips move about in that situation [to express]?
64. Having awakened, what is the good of talking about waking? Will one whose hunger is fully gratified go in for cooking food?
65. Once the sun rises, lamps take rest; when the field is full of harvest, does anyone think of ploughing a field?
66. Therefore, the pretext of freedom and bondage is over and the work has come to an end; the appreciation of the sermon remains [to be done by words.].
67. [Besides] if the thing [the Supreme] slips out of hands due to forgetfulness of the self or others, it is the word alone which can recapture it by remembrance.
68. Although the word, serving as reminder, parades its glory in the world, it has no virtue besides this [to boast of].
Chapter on Sat Chit Anandam concluded.
Living in the world: Osho:
[From the book - Joy - The Happiness that comes from within]
*
Just think of birds hoarding.. then a few birds will become rich and a few will become poor. Then the American birds will become the richest and the whole world will suffer. But they don't hoard, so there is no poverty. Have you ever seen a bird poor? Animals in the forest - nobody is poor, nobody is rich. In fact, you don't even see fat birds and lean and thin birds.
All the crows are almost alike. You cannot even recognize which is which. Why? They enjoy, they don't hoard.
Even to become fat means you are hoarding inside the body - that is a miserly mind. Misers become constipated. They cannot even throw out waste. They hoard. They control even defacation, they go on hoarding even rubbish. Hoarding is a habit with them.
To live in the moment, to live in the present, to live lovingly, to live in friendship, to care...then the world is nothing but a projected phenomenon of the individual soul.
When you are silent, rooted in your being, centered, your talents automatically start functioning. You start functioning the way you were born to function, you start functioning the destiny wants you to function. You become spontaneous. It makes you tremendously joyful, and that is more than enough.
You will never be able to come to yourself if you go too far.
An old man was sitting near Delhi and a young man was driving past. He came to a halt and asked the old man, "How far is Delhi?" The old man said, "If you go on the way you are going, and in the direction you are going, it is very very far. You will have to travel the whole earth. Becausde you have left Delhi two miles behind!"
What I am is not What I think:
Stuart Rose: continues...
Perhaps the way to become the Brahman that I already am is to commit mental suicide, to enact the annihilation of the mind, ending the I. The only way to reveal Brahman is to remove I-ness completely, to mentally die as a 'man'. This suicide is drastic, courageous and extremely desperate. But why am I desperate to become the Brahman I already am? Because desperate measures are needed in order to find this new being which is not a new being, but the original being, the sheathless being. A beingness completely free and blissful.
I talk of suicide but I do not mean suicide of the body. Far from it. The body needs to run its natural course. I am only talking of suicide of the mind. Annihilation of the thought of 'me'. Is that possible? What I am aiming for is not mindlessness but I-lessness. A state in which both the mind and the body live as normal but without I-attachment. There is individual life -- or perception -- only from the experiencer's point of view. There is no other point of view. Brahman has no point of view.
The existence that "I am" existed before I was born and will exist unchanged after I am gone. The fact that I lived makes no difference to the existence that I am. There is nothing I can do that will change this. There is no change in Brahman whether this person exists or not, which means that even on death I will not return to Brahman because there is no object that returns and no object to return to. Nothing changes. All remains existence, consciousness, bliss absolute. This is the fundamental truth.
contd.,
I am not What I think:
Stuart Rose: continues...
I am not lost because there is no where to be lost. If I feel I am lost, it is only because I am lost in the delusion of mind. But the mind can be forgotten and bliss remains. Such bliss. Such freedom.
This does not mean that I can do whatever I like without regard for anything else although, in absolute terms, what I think I do makes no difference. I need to follow the creed of being a good person by being peaceful, giving, helpful and accepting of help. There is nothing more that can be done if these are done. I am not greedy, full of hatred or jealous and and if I am any of these, I attend to it. At a deep level, I am very content. Everything will be left behind when I die.
Is this life a bubble on the ocean, forming at my birth and bursting on my death? I can think like a 'person', be like a 'person' but this is just appearance, not the reality. The ocean has not size, it has not no depth, it is all, and everything.
Every person is the same ocean. There is no escape. Only the mind thinks it escapes but it does not. It just exists for a while before the bubble bursts. But in reality, there is no mind, no bubble, no ocean. There is only existence. It is aware and it is bliss. There is nothing more to say. Nothing more need be thought.
I exist before this mind and body existed. I exist after they have gone. This mind is is the body and the universe and all it contains because without perception the universe does not exist. The universe, mind and body are inextricably linked, coming into existence and going out of existence together while Brahman remains unchanged.
When I lose my I-ness, the thought of me, all that is left is Brahman. Brahman alone exists.
concluded.
Sri Maharshi - The Master Story Teller: M.Sivaramakrishna: < Mountain Path - Aradhana, 2005>
*
Prof. M. Sivaramakrishna is the former Head of the Dept. English, Osmania University, Hyderabad. He is also an advisory member of the National Book Trust, Delhi.
*
Saints and Sages are fond of telling stories. One could call the tales story-shaped spirituality. Many reasons can be cited for this tendency to tell stories. The basic one is to avoid abstractions, or rather to make abstract ideas concrete. By giving an important teaching flesh and b blood, through characters and incidents, the idea becomes humanized though not in the sense humanists use it, but in the sense that the lessons are given human contexts. The aspirant [of whatever path] thus emphasizes and may draw the necessary lesson.
For children, "once upon a time..." is enough to make them forget all time. Most of us are children in the field of inner quest. Perhaps children, who, having lost their innocence, want to recapture and relive it. Hence the sages' strategy of telling stories.
Sri Ramana Maharshi is very much one of the these superb entrancing story tellers. His own life is a story; almost incredible in its beginnings, marvellous in its unobtrusive manifestation and awe-
inspiring in its temporal close. His uniquely creative mind intoxicated everyone with His narratives.
Stories are usually a blending of fact and fiction. But when an Incarnate Divine Being tells them, the telling is different. The tenets embodied in such stories are truths; neither mere facts nor vacuous fantasies they reflect and almost evoke deep emotions. While narrators tell, surges show; registering the essence of their stories in their own consciousness. Sri Maharshi could not, we have been told, tell stories without Himself getting deeply moved. For instance, Sri Bhagavan has been depicted thus: Describing Gautama's joy at Goddess Parvati's coming to his Ashram, it is said He could not go on, for tears filled His eyes and emotion choked His voice."
[Spiritual Stories as Told by Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramanasramam, 1986].
continued....
Sri Maharshi - The Master Storyteller: M. Sivaramakrishna:
continues...
Sri Bhagavan understood the oddity of an imperturbable Jnani such as Himself, becoming emotional. He explained: "I don't know how people who perform Hari Katha and explain such passages to audiences, manage to do it without breaking down before starting their work." [Spiritual Stories.] Telling stories without the teller breaking down! The situation seems odd; especially when a person like Sri Bhagavan Himself is subject to emotions.
Here is the difference, perhaps between Sri Bhagavan telling a story and a Bhagavathar telling it. When Suri Nagamma said that telling the story of Tara Vilasam, "He appears to have transformed Himself into Tara," Sri Bhagavan
was said to have remarked, "What to do? I identify myself with whosoever is before me, I have no separate identity. I am universal." [Spiritual Stories]. In short, the ego is left intact in an ordinary narrator; of course, it responds but impersonally, with an ephemeral emotion evoked by the story. Once the context is removed, the emotion dries up. In a Jnani the sensibility of emotion needs neither context nor pretext. The susceptibility is, simply, consciousness that is all pervasive and free from the slightest taint of ego.
continued...
Sri Maharshi - The Master Storyteller:
continues....
This leads us to uncover another dimension of this fascinating subject of Sages telling stories. Only Sages can tell a story with total emotional engagement yet remain detached. That is, the Sage remains insulated from the temporal nature in which all stories are formed. A Jnani detached but delightedly so, his/her detachment comes from delight in the fact, that in the cosmic system all our responses [emotional or cerebral] are responses to the drama of life, to the lila, the play of the Lord or Nature [whichever one prefers], Sympathetic uninvolvement, would,
perhaps, describe this.
There are many contexts, in Sri Bhagavan's own story, which illustrate this glorious detachment, superhuman, as it appears to us, in its endurance. Take the most significant: the 'last' phase of Sri Maharshi's life. The narrative of this phrase harrows with fear and wonder. How could or why should Sri Bhagavan suffer? With His admantine samkalpa, it is, we believe, possible to put an end to suffering in no time. Prarabdha, He does not have; in His life there is nothing to explain why He should suffer as He did. Why did He go through this? On the physical level, Sri Bhagavan's experience of suffering is, for us, even in imagination, intolerable to contemplate. Tears well up, the heart is, as it were, rent asunder and we inwardly cry in anguish: "We can't bear to tolerate this! How can this kind of thing befall one like Sri Bhagavan?"
Thus, we take a leap from the truths of the stories He tells [even now, and even in English His narrating voice, come through!] to His own story which is the Truth sustaining all those truths. If His own life story is read as a narrative, then it is as parallel to the delight we get from the other stories He told which we quite often forget, extensions, live centres of consciousness, of His own life story.
contd.,
Sri Maharshi - The Master Storyteller:
continues...
He told a story -- as using today's jargon -- an intertext, the text being His life. Quite often we miss this text. Thus, our responses to His suffering can be exquisitely moving, deeply felt. Yet, in this case, there is hardly any line we can draw between the devotees who knew the essential Bhagavan and the medical doctors who tried all methods to cure His body. That is, the overpowering emotion of the devotees, at seeing Sri Bhagavan suffer, required the further thrust that could transmute their suffering into Jnana.
The stories that Sri Bhagavan told and the stories abounding in His own life are a testing ground for awareness in all its complexity. For instance, take the seemingly simple story of sri Bhagavan gently correcting the attendant who sought to prevent an American lady from stretching out her stiff legs towards Him since doing so was 'disrespectful to Sri Bhagavan'. 'It is disrespectful, is it?', said Sri Bhagavan and promptly sat cross legged in spite of rheumatism causing Him considerable pain." [Spiritual Stories].
The devotee did not see beyond the etiquette of how to sit in the presence of a Sage. But Sri Bhagavan linked the incident to the classic story of Avvaiyar who, when asked to, correctly responded: "Tell me on which side Iswara is not present? Shall I turn this side?" This story happened in the presence of Siva who thus taught Parvati that He is present everywhere. So too Sri Bhagavan transfigured time and space declaring: "It is similar to that when people are asked not to stretch their legs towards Swami. Where He is not present?" Yes, indeed: Where is Sri Bhagavan not present? In the story and outside the story. In His story and the stories of all of us. But to link His story with ours is the greatest truth evident in the stories, He told. And if all of us are potential Jnanis our stories can be viewed as negatives waiting to be processed into positives, in which their full potential will be manifested. Sri Bhagavan, is, in this sense, while gentle, explosively persuasive and, above all, irresistible - because so positive.
concluded.
Tirumandiram - Tirumular:
Tantra 2: Tirtham - Holy Waters:
Verse 509:
ULLathin uLLe uLa pala tirthangaL
meLLakudainthu ninraadaar vinai kedap
paLLamum medum paranthu thirivare
kaLLa manam udaiya kalvi illore.
Within the body are many Holy Waters;
They take not gentle dips in them
And drive karma away;
Vainly do they roam hill and dale;
Witless men of confused mind theey are!
Verse 511:
ULLathin uLLe uNarum oruvanaik
KaLLathinaarum kalandhaRivar illai
VeLLathai naadi vidum avar theevinaip
PaLLathil ittathor pandharuLLane.
The Lord is within them,
Yet they know Him not,
They of faith false;
Limitless the flow of their evil deeds;
Down down the deep drain it goes,
Never its destination to know.
****
Tirumandiram - Tirumular -
Tantra 2 - Abuse of Siva Jnani
- Maaheswara Nindhai:
Verse 537:
AaNdaan adiyavar aarkum virodhigaL
AaNdaan adiyavar aiyameRRu uNbavar
Aandaan adiyarai veNdaathu pesinor
Thanthaam vizhuvathu thazh narakakume.
The Lord's devotee lives by alms,
Those who show animus to him,
However humble his condition be,
And those who abuse him as they will,
Shall into lowly hell fall.
Verse 538:
Jnaniyai nindhippavanum nalanenRe
Jnanidaya vandhippavunume nalvinai
yaana kodu vinai theervaaravan vayam
Ponapozhuthe pugum siva bhogame.
Those who deride the Jnani
Are rid of benefits of good deeds done;
Those who revere him as holy,
Are rid of harm of evil deeds done;
Those who reach Jnani's presence.
will verily taste Siva bhoga.
****
Atma Sakshatkaram - Sarva Jnanottaram:
continues....
11.
Whatever is seen in this world,
Whatever is heard in this world,
Whatever shines, conceptualized as
inside or outside,
All this is pervaded by me, the
all- pervading One. Realize this.
12.
Though considering himself as the
Self,
He desires to attain that Siva,
the Supreme Self, as one
apart.
Whoever meditates on Siva thus
in delusion,
Will not attain Sivahood by such
contemplation - know this.
13.
"Siva is other than me, I am other
than Siva",--
Uproot this attitude of
differentiation.
"I am indeed that Siva." --
This conviction that is non-dual,
ever practice.
14.
Full of this non dual conviction,
He who, everywhere, abides ever
in the Self,
Shall see, in all things, in all
bodies,
Only that Siva-Self - of this,
there is no doubt.
[Cf: Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam, Verse 5 of Sri Bhagavan.]
15.
Whoever has this conviction always
as of the one Self,
Shall rid himself of delusion,
and dual perception.
That Yogi will attain to
omniscience --
So it is said in the Vedas.
This you should know.
contd.,
Sri Ramana Corona -
A Crown of Sonnets: Alan Jacobs.
[12]
We leave it to Grace, to grant us release,
God will do this through the gaze
of his Sage,
He sends down His messenger for
great peace.
The realized Sage lives on here and now.
Ever abiding as Self unclouded by
the mind.
Humble, compassionate, loving and
kind.
Wisely profound, as his way clearly shows.
He steers the vessel of firm
devotees.
Fulfilling everyone's spiritual
need.
In deep silence, he sits, with
perfect ease,
To awaken those, whom his Teaching well heed.
Graciously, his great glance of
initiation,
Drives the mind inwards, to Self-Realization!
contd.,
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience:
Sant Jnaneswara:
Saptha kandanam - Disproving the Word:
1. Hail to the useful thing the 'word', celebrated as the donor of remembrance! Is it not a mirror that shows clearly the formless Supreme!
[When any word is uttered it puts the hearer in the mind of the thing or object or idea represented by it. As such the word acts as a remembrancer.]
2. There is absolutely no wonder that one which is visible is seen in a mirror; however, a mirror of the word makes visible which is not visible.
3. Like the sun, it [the word] is the illuminator of the descendents [the universe of forms and names] of the ancient unmanifest family [of Siva and Sakti]. Because of its one quality [sound] alone, the Space is called Ambara, a container of sounds.
4. The word itself is a flower of the Space [non existent, Akasa Pushpam], yet it bears the fruit of the universe. What is there immeasurable which cannot be measured by the word?
5. It is a torch which shows the way to what is to be done and what is forbidden. It is the arbitrator in disputes between bondage and freedom.
6. When it takes sides with ignorance, it makes the non-existing [world] to appear as real and the real thing [the Supreme] does not fetch even three cowries [the smallest legal tender then prevalent]. It is considered as trifling.
7. The child 'the word' like an exorcist has made the state of being [individual soul] to enter Pure Siva. [The Upanishads declare that the universe was created by the Supreme through the word, AUM,
which was the initial state - child state of the word. The three syllables which constitute this word, represent the gross, subtle and causal states of the world. All have emanated from Pure Siva. It is believed that an exorcist by chanting some mantras makes the evil spirit enter the body of a person possessed by it, makes it talk about the cause of its possession and then threatens the spirit to leave the body and thus the evil spirit stops haunting the person. Similarly, the word causes the ego state to enter Pure Siva and holds him in bondage. Later on the word, i.e. the knowledge of scriptures brings back to him the state of liberation.]
8. The so9ul which is imprisoned in the body is released by the word and the Atman is made to see his own self through the word.
9. The sun as he proceeds to usher the day incurs the wrath of the night [as the former destroys the latter.]. Therefore, the sun cannot be used as a simile to describe the word.
10. Praviritti and Nivritti which are opposed to each other go hand in hand with the help of the word alone.
contd.,
Tirumandiram - Tirumular:
Tantra 6 - ThuRavu - Renunciation:
Verse 1615:
PiRanthum IRanthum pedhamaiyaale
MaRanthu pala iruL neenga maRainthu
SiRantha Sivan aruL ser paruvathuth
ThuRantha uyirkkuch chudaroLi yaame.
A myriad times are they born and dead,
In a million folly they forget this;
And in the darkness of mala are
close enveloped;
When at last the hidden Grace of Siva bursts forth
And chases the night away,
Then is the moment for the soul to renounce;
When it does then, a radiant Light it becomes.
Verse 1616:
ARavan piRappili yaarum ilaathaan
URaivathu kaattaham uNbathu picchai
ThuRavanum kaNdeer thuRanthavar thammaip
PiRavi aRuthidum pithan kaNdeere.
He is Dharma. He is birthless, kinless;
In the wilds he abides, by alms he lives;
Know you, He has renounced all;
And to all those who renounce,
He sunders their bonds of birth
You insensate ones! Know thus.
***
N. Subrahmanyan - Fifty Years of Service:
[A.S. Krishnamoorthy & Michael Highburger.]
*
For devotees and regular visitors to the Asramam, Appichi Mama is a prominent figure. On any given day, one will find him somewhere about, either in Sri Bhagavan's Samadhi Hall or the Mother's Shrine, performing abhishekam or archana, answering letters from devotees, helping devotees with prayer intentions, chanting mantras, for the weekly Maha Nyasa or at Vedaparayana. It is rare for a visitor to come and not find him there, carefully observing Asramam ceremonies with his customary dignity and faith, rites he learnt, he says, through observation and no doubt, by Sri Bhagavan's Grace.
N. Subramanyan was born into a middle class family in Koovadu village in South Arcot District of Tamizh Nadu. He came to Sri Bhagavan in the early 1940s to study in the Vedapatasala. At that time, the school was quite small and informal as there was no resident teacher. Every afternoon at 3.00 pm. an instructor came from the town to tutor the boys in the Vedas and in general education. The young Subramanyan [it seems the young Subramanyan had a fondness for sweets and snacks as a boy and so the elder students of the Vedapatasala gave him the nickname "Appichi" the Tamizh day to day word for seets. Mama is equivalent to uncle], found that the demands on his time made single minded devotion to his studies difficult if not impossible. He was expected, like others, to toe the line and take up additional duties like food preparation, setting the dining hall for meals, and serving at meal times. This latter chore had hidden blessings as he regularly had the opportunity to serve Sri Bhagavan. In addition, twice each day, the young Subramanyan together with other students of the school chanted the Vedas in Sri Bhagavan's presence. Eight busy years passed in this way.
contd.,
N. Subramanyan - Fifty Years of Service: continues....
In the last days of Sri Bhagavan's earthly existence, Subrahmanyan's long time friend, Sri Krishnamurty, [Kittu Mama] was tending Sri Bhagavan daily, in what is now called Nirvana room, bringing naivedyam and tirtham [offering from puja]. As Sri Bhagavan's condition was delicate, few were allowed access. But Subramanyan was assisting Kittu, so he had the opportunity to be in close proximity to Sri Bhagavan. During the critical last days, Sri Bhagavan's physical weakness was such that He was unable to sit up in order to take tirtham and so asked Kittu Mama to pour it into His mouth as He lay prone. Once, as prasadam was brought, Sri Bhagavan said, "As you are making offering to my Mother's shrine, so do it to me. She is unable to eat it. Now I am also unable to eat it." [Mountain Path, October 1980].
After Sri Bhagavan's Mahanirvana, Asramam activities were curtailed. Appichi Mama took leave and began a 2 year course in Teachers' Training. He studied privately his ESLC examination, and worked in two schools During this time, he married and started a family, eventually being blessed with four sons. Ramana Sundaram, Sriraman, Arunacahlam and Nagarajan and one daughter, Lalita.
In 1954, while working as a Head Master in school, Subramanyan received a letter from the Asramam. At that time Major Chadwick was urging regular performance of Sri Chakra Puja [a Devi Puja still performed in Mothder Shrine, six times in each month]. As there was need for an additional Brahmin pujari, Chadwick had his eye on Subramanyan to fill the position. Though already securely employed, and in spite of the pittance which was all that the Asramam could offer as salary, he took the call as coming directly from Sri Bhagavan.
When he came to the Asramam that June for the summer vacation, he stayed on, leaving his position as Head Master of the school for ever.
[Chadwick became the benefactor of both Kittu and Appichi Mama, providing them with land in Ramana Nagar and financial resources to build their respective family homes.]
N. Subramanyan - Fifty Years of Service:
continues....
Life in the Asramam was tough in those days. There were few resouces
and a lot of work. All were called up to do their share. Subramanyan found himself running many errands, making regular trips to town, working in the kitchen, doing gardening, plumbing, cleaning and even doing the electrical wiring for he then new Morvi Guesthouse. And all this alongside his priestly obligations!
Sometimes, the burden of work became too much. Once in 1961, many years after coming to live permanently at the Asramam, Appichi Mama was in despair: "I have come to be in Sri Bhagavan's Presence and to serve Sri Bhagavan," he thought, "in reality, I am spending all my time doing mundane tasks." Just when he decided that the time had come to him to leave, he had a vivid dream in which Sri Bhagavan came to him.
Sri Bhagavan was returning from His walk on the Hill, but arrived not behind the kitchen as usual, but instead He came directly to where Subramanyan was standing, near Lakshmi's Samadhi. Sri Bhagavan approached him and the young priest bowed to Him and, surprisingly found the following words coming from his own mouth: "Bhagavan, I've come to work!" Sri Bhagavan smiled, looking straight at him, said, "Yes, Yes!" and with a kind gesture gave His blessing.
Appichi Mama took his dream as inspired directly by Sri Bhagavan: it dispelled his doubts about remaining at the Asramam. He never again thought of leaving and found his heart a little lighter when faced with simple chores.
The priest recounts numerous encounters with Sri Bhagavan in the kitchen and dining hall where he and Kittu Mama served food, albeit timidly at times. Sri Bhagavan noticed everything and the two youngsters knew their master set a great store by the correct way of serving. They both once said, "Serving food with the Maharshi sitting and watching us was nerve wracking work. Everything had to be done exactly right and there He would sit, childlike, but with His eyes moving everywhere with vigilance." [Mountain Path, Oct. 1980]. Sri Bhagavan also listened to the boys' parayana. Morning and evening chanting took place near the well in summer and in the Jubilee Hall the rest of the time and Sri Bhagavan was always present, listening quietly and attentively, interrupting on occasion to correct mistakes.
contd.,
N. Subramanyan - Fifty years of Service: continues....
In the mid 1940s, the young Subramanyan was entrusted with setting out banana leaves and water for the meals, and serving pickle. One summer evening, after Shantammal had served Sri Bhagavan His meal and the lad was serving pickle. Sri Bhagavan asked him for a second helping of buttermilk. This was not Sri Bhagavan's habit -- He normally took less than others and would not ask for second helpings. But this night, He had commented on the green mango pickle of which He was quite fond, saying, "What the Mother fails to do, i.e. get her son to have a second helping, the pickle succeeds in doing!" With that young Subramanyan brought more buttermilk. There were two buckets of buttermilk kept in the kitchen, one sour and one sweet. Sri Bhagavan preferred the latter. Subramanyan was unaware that the two buckets had been inadvertently interchanged and served Sri Bhagavan from the wrong one. Sri Bhagavan made no comment, but Chinnaswami was quite angry and the kitchen staff berated the boy. The priest recalls how he avoided Sri Bhagavan's glance for four days, such was his embarassment.
Subramanyan has many stories to tell of those early dasy and of his interactions with Sri Bhagavan. One time, when he was serving in the dining hall, a frog came hopping along, inevitably makikng its way towards Sri Bhagavan's meal. The lad stepped forward to prevent the creature from trespassing onto Sri Bhagavan's banana leaf. But Sri Bhagavan stopped him, saying, "Why do you do that? Let him go his own way!" Since that time, Subramanyan took this as an upadesa regarding all other creatures in the Asramam, accepting that any of them might be siddhas coming to have Sri Bhagavan's darsan. In all the years since, if a gecko [lizard] or some other creatures approached Sri Bhagavan's Samadhi, the priest never interfered, reminded of that night in his youth when the frog hopped across Sri Bhagavan's banana leaf.
contd.,
N. Subramanyan - Fifty Years of Service: continues....
Another scene is from early morning Parayana in the 1940s. It was the sacred month of Margazhi [mid December to mid January] so dear to the Gods with its emphasis on early morning worship. At 4.30 AM., prior to the 5 AM., Vedaparayna, Sri Bhagavan, Asramites, Vedapatasala students were reciting the Tamizh Pallandu, a prayer of praise to the guru, invoking the divine, and bidding that He 'live long'. Sri Bhagavan's attendant, Sivananda, enthusiastically joined in the recitation but his grasp of formal Tamizh was limited, he made several grievous errors. At first Sri Bhagavan was amused but finally he pulled up the attendant as the later had inadvertently changed some of text's verses of praise into curses. Sivananda did his best to follow Sri Bhagavan's advice but did not improve much even after Sri Bhagavan's numerous suggestions. In the end, the poor man felt quite mortified and ashamed of himself. However, subsequently, when the group recited verses containing Sivananda's name, Sri Bhagavan changed them a little to give them a flattering and edifying flavour, in order to soothe the attendant's feelings.
Devotees have commented on the head priest's devotin to Sri Bhagavan noticing the tears of love well up in him at times during puja. Often he sings along with those offering Tamizh devotional songs before the fianl arti. And on occasions during Sri Chakra Puja, he renders the service himself.
Likewise his gift for decorating altars is known to devotees, particularly the way he bejewels and adorns Yogamba [goddess taken out on procession during festival times, in Mother's Temple], during the nine days of Navaratri. On the sixth day, when linga puja is enacted, many visitors come to Sri Ramanasramam, as it is the only place still doing this decoration according to local tradition. [Sri Arunachaleswarar Temple dispensed with it some decades ago.].
Appichi Mama learned how to decorate altars by watching the school drawing master from town who used to do it regularly. But this expert never revealed the secrets of his skill, always doing his decorating behind the curtains. When he stopped coming, even though Kittu was head priest, the job fell to the younger priest who had a knack for it.
contd.,
N. Subramanyam - Fifty Years of Service: continues...
Appichi Mama's many years of experience are evident. On special occasions, devotees and visitors marvel at the adornments of Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingam with its galrlands of varying sizes and lengths, with flowers of a dozen colours. On Jayanti, Aradhana or Kartigai Deepam, he proceeds patiently and painstakingly until Sri Bhagavan's Mahalingam look as inspiring and impressing as that in the ancient Arunachaleswarar Temple on its festival days.
During his fifty years at the Asramam, as Priest, Appichi Mama feels that the most rewarding feature of his work has been his role as intercessor for prayers and petitions made to Sri Bhagavan. In times of crisis, devotees write to the Asramam, beseeching Sri Bhagavan's intervention, either through special prayers [sankalpa] or specific pujas. The head priest is required to respond to these requests on a daily basis as part of his priestly function, making direct prayers to Sri Bhagavan on behalf of those in difficulty. The Asramam has received numerous letters from devotees down through years reporting miraculous deliverances from their calamities. For Appichi Mama, seeing Sri Bhagavan bless His devotees repeatedly over the decades has been the greatest miracle of all; bearing witness to Sri Bhagavan's enduring presence and power, both in Sri Ramanasramam and elsewhere.
Needles to say, for Appichi Mama the memory of those early years has been a source of strength. To have been saturated by the radiance of Sri Bhagavan on a daily basis through all the impressionable years of his adoloscence was truly a great grace. No doubt this prepared him for the vital role he plays in Sri Ramanasramam.
[The article is completed here. This is from Aradhana 2005 issue of Mountain Path.]
N. Subramanyan - Appichi Mama -
*
I posted about N. Subramanyan [Appichi Mama] from Ardhana 2005
issue of Mountain Path. This information is from July-Sept.2007.
Appichi Mama -1927-2007:
After some 65 years of service since coming to Sri Bhagavan, on the morning of Wednesday, June 27th 2007, Appichi Mama suffered a stroke and was taken to a local hospital in T'malai. He was relocated to CMC Hospital Vellore and it was diagnosed as that he had a cerebral aneurysmand that surgery was required. But with each passing day, he seemed to be making progress. On Monday, July 2,
2007, an angio gram /endovacular coiling treatment was successfully performed, but due to complications his blood pressure fell and at 12.10 midnight, he suddenly passed away. Early Tuesday morning his body was brought to T'malai and last rites were performed at 4.00 pm that evening.
Appachi Mama is survived by his wife Parvatam, and four sons and one daughter and eight grandchildren.
We may all take comfort that after a long life of service to Sri Bhagavan, this beloved devotee has found lasting peace in the Heart of Ramana and Arunachala.
concluded.
Osho - From his book, Joy - Happiness comes from within:
Responsibility and freedom are two sides of the same coin. And because you think others are responsible for your misery, that is why there are charlatans, so called saviors, messengers of god, prophets who go on telling you, "You have not to do anything, just follow me, and I will save you. I am your shepherd and you are my sheep.
Strange that not a single person stood up against people like Jesus Christ and said, "It is utterly insulting to say that you are the shepherd and we are the sheep, you are savior and we are just dependent on your compassion, that our whole religion is just to believe you." But because we have been throwing the responsibilities for our misery on others, we have accepted the corollary that bliss will also come from others.
Naturally, if misery comes from others, then bliss has to come from others. But then what are You doing? You are neither responsible for misery nor are you responsible for the bliss -- then what is your function? What is your purpose? Are you just a puppet, and all the strings are on the hands of others?
You are not respectful of your humanity. You do not respect yourself. You don't have any love for your own being, for your own freedom.
Perhaps that is the way one learns -- by falling, one gets up again, by going astray, one comes back again. You commit a mistake...and you learn not to commit the same mistake again.
And have you seen ever anybody in the world making anybody blissful? That too depends on you, on your silence, your love, your peace, your trust. And the miracle happens - no one does it.
In Tibet, one Marpa went to a guru and he surrendered to the guru and he trusted the guru totally. And he asked the guru: What am I supposed to do now? The guru said: Once you have surrendered to me, you are not supposed to do anything. Just believe in me. My name is the mantra for you. Whenever you are in difficulty, just remember my name and everything will be alright. Marpa touched his guru's feet and left. He walked on the river! Other disciples asked the master, how come, we seniors could not do this? The Master replied: Your trust in me is still inadequate.
***
Once again the children and I are fighting a battle
using spring grasses.
Now advancing, now retreating, each time with more
refinement.
Twilight--everyone has returned home;
The bright, round moon helps me to endure the
loneliness.
The Autumn nights have lengthened
And the cold has begun to penetrate my mattress.
My sixtieth year is near,
Yet there is no one to take pity on this weak old body.
The rain has finally stopped; now just a thin stream
trickles from the roof.
All night the incessant cry of insects:
Wide awake, unable to sleep,
Leaning on my pillow, I watch the pure bright rays of
sunrise.
O, that my priest's robe were wide enough to gather
up all the suffering people
In this floating world.
~Ryokan
Dear hey jude,
Wonderful. I did not understand it much but it has got a message that
gives first inexplicable sorrow and then great peace. I always like T.S. Eliot for such poems of mystery and mysticism.
What are the roots that clutch and
What branches grow out of this stony rubbish?
Son of man, for you know only a heap of broken images,
Where the sun beats, dry trees give no shelter and cricket no relief.
*
And women come and go
Talking of Michaelangelo.
*
Someone said to me in Asramam:
I did not understand much of Sri
Ramana's philosophy. But reading His works gives me great peace!
Raja Iyer, Post Master of Sri
Ramanasramam, P.O. and an ardent devotee of Sri Bhagavan, in his article in Ramana Smriti,
A Birth Centenary Offering, 1980:
.......
One night at 8 pm. a dead child, hidden in a box, was brought to the Asramam from a village near Repalli, Andhra Pradesh. It was the parent's only child and they
bought it, hoping against hope, that Sri Bhagavan would revive him. After the night meal, at about 10 pm. the mother told Sri Bhagavan, her tale of woe. He said nothing. In the morning the body of the child was cremated. Later Sri Bhagavan remarked:
"Hope has brought them from a long distance. Were I to revive the child, there would be no end to dead bodies being brought here."
The parents left after two days with their grief soothed and richer in wisdom.
Sri Ramana Corona: A Crown of
Sonnets - Alan Jacobs:
[13]
Driving the mind inwards, to Self realization,
He grants sage passage through life's stormy ocean;
What frail soul will ever be excluded
From the presence of the holy
Supreme?
No matter how depressed or deluded,
His mercy never ends, and will always redeem,
Raising the soul from the depths of depression,
To free one from the 'I am the body' obsession,
From passions that churn desire and aversion.
His fair breeze weafts clear equnimity;
Enmeshed no more in worldly adversity,
Never perturbed by praise nor foul
enmity,
We learn that there's the greatest giving
In knowing all are Self, and so truly living.
contd.,
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
16.
He who is praised in all scriptures
As the unborn, the Isvara,
That formless and attributeless
Self,
He indeed am I - there is no
doubt about this.
17.
Only he who does not know his
true nature,
Is a Jiva subject to the dharmas
of birth, death, and so on.
He who knows his true Self is one
who is eternal,
He is the pure, He is Siva.
Without doubt, know this.
18.
Hence, what men of discrimination
should enquire into carefully
And directly realize is the Self
That itself shines twofold,
As the transcendental and the
inferior divisions, the gross
and the subtle.
19.
The Supreme Nirvana is the higher,
The inferior is manifest as
the creation,
Mantras are spoken of as its
gross form,
What abides in changeless
awareness is the subtle.
20.
Shanmukha! Without realizing It
What avails explanations thereof
in endless ways, tell me?
All this is only a wonderful
display of words,
The cause for the delusion of the
mind.
contd.,
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial
Experience: Sant Jnaneswara.
Saptha Kandanam - Disproving the word:
11> It [the word] makes its own
sacrifice in order to assist the knowledge of the Supreme. To what extent to extol the word?
12> Nay, the word though famous as a reminder [of the Supreme] has not kinship with the Supreme.
13> The Atman has absolutely no use of the word. How dies the self, conceived Atman [all eternal knowledge] need the obligation of anyone?
14> Whether remembered or forgottten or becomes visible as an object, the soul is only one substance without a second.
15> How can one remember or forget oneself? Can the tongue have taste or no taste of the tongue itself?
16> Only fully awake cannot have sleep. How can there be the feeling of being awake? In that way, there is neither remembrance nor forgetfulness with the Substance [the Supreme]
17> The sun knows no night. How can he then know the day? In that way, the Atman abides without either remembrance or forgetfulness.
18> In short, where there is neither remembrance nor forgetfulness what is the need of a rememberancer? Therefore in this context, the word has nothing to do.
19> One more good purpose is really served by the word. But one does not muster courage to think of it.
20> One who says that the word destroys ignorance and then Atman reveals itself, would be mad.
contd.,
Varanasi Subbalakshmi Amma -
from Ramana Smriti: A Birth Centenary Offering, 1980:
*
At that time, Sri Bhagavan would not take buttermilk with his rice, except in the hot summer months. He insisted that the butter milk should be fresh and sweet, but what was sserved to him had to be served to each one. If anything would run short, he was the one to go without. One summer evening, the butter milk got very sour. The next evening the same thing happened. On third day, I got some good, fresh milk and set it for curds. It was not enough to sserve all. In my anxiety for Sri Bhagavan's welfare, I argued with myself, "Everybody has curds all year around. Sri Bhagavan takes butter milk and that only in summer. For two days, He went without buttermilk. Surely it is only right that He should get some curds once." I was so sure of my reasoning that I decided to serve some curds to Sri Bhagavan without His permission. The next day, when He was eating rice with pepper rasam, I went to Him with a cup of buttermilk in one hand and a cup of curds in the other. I coolly dumped the curds over His rice and waited to pour the buttermilk into His cupped hands, as usual.
He touched the curds with His fingers, lifted His head and looked at me. That look scorched meto the very depths of my soul.
In the evening when I was taking leave of Him, He turned His face away from me... Next day, He told Tenamma not to serve Him buttermilk any longer. "Why, Swami?" she asked. "Buttermilk becomes curds for my sake," He replied ironically.
.......
Two days passed. I also gave up buttermilk, which was not easy. Then I fell at His feet and cried: "Give me wisdom. I have sinned against you. I may not offend you again, I am in agony and it will not stop until you have your buttermilk again."
He said: "No, no, why do you worry? I happened to have a cold and is not buttermilk bad for colds?"
That very afternoon, Echammal brought some curds and Sri Bhagavan said, "Tell Subbalakshmi not to suffer. I shall have my buttermilk."
***
Journey Into Oneself:
T.C. Gopalakrishnan - MP Apr.-June 2008.
[T.C. Gopalakrishnan Ph.D. taught at the IIT Madras and North Carolina University. He is a member of the International Association for Near Death Studies, U.S.A.]
This world offers many opportunities, both outwardly and inwardly. Most human beings, are lost in the outward ones and remain unaware of their inner realms. While religious practice do take us somewhat inside, they too soon become organized into mental patterns that feed the ego. Thus, notwithstanding the true import of religions, externalization of the mind continues under the facade of the religions, in the sense that Group Fanaticism is not so strong under them. It is true that the meditative systems put a brake on the incessant swirling of thoughts and thus help produce a calmer mind. Their beneficial effects are seen in the realms of both mental and physical health. However, unfortuantely, the meditative systems too feed the "I" in the form of expected achievements in the spiritual realm. It means that the ego gains ground while giving the impression that it is getting dissolved. This self deception seems to escape notice in the vast majority of people.
Such observations as above can be quite unpleasant to those who have invested psychologically in their attachment to religious or meditative systems. Those who are bold enough to acknowledge the above facts are the ones who can appreciate the value of aloneness and how it can guide us in the journey into oneself. They ask a fundamental question, "Can there be a truly inward movement that does not feed the ego overtly or covertly?" It is interesting to note that such people don't ask, "How am I to dissolve the ego?" Those two questions are indeed significantly different.
contd.,
Journey Into Oneself:
T.C. Gopalakrishnan - continues...
The difference between the above two questions can be seen in their respective emphases. The first reflects an eagerness to understand oneself while the second emphasizes an achievement by the "I", This is where Sri Ramana Maharshi's query "Who am I?" is relevant. Without understanding who are what the "I" is, to let it chase some achievement is obviously an unintelligent thing to do. When one senses this, the attention automatically turns inward to discover the source of the "I". People who have gone that far know that the question "Who am I?" HAS NO ANSWER within the intelligibility of the thought-ridden mind. They know that the answer is experiential and so, non verbal. The inward drive begins with that understanding.
Dissolution of the habit ridden, externalized state of mind takes place when there is simple self awareness. It is a spiritual awakening not based on any man made system.
The invward dive is not one of psychological introspection, nor is it one of intellectual analysis. During the inward journey, deep passivity characterizes the mental state. Its quiet potency is observed in its ability to melt the crystal into which the mind is hardened by repetitive thought in the form of "I", "me" and the "mine". It is something like the iceberg. When that crystallized entity melts under sunshine and dissolved in the surrounding water, its contents return to the source and the crystal disappears. This may sound enigmatic in the beginning but inquisitiveness keeps us at it and the associated expanding awareness [the sunshine!] gives us the impetus to melt.
The journey into Oneself cannot proceed through any formula. This is because formulae are routed in the past and the Journey requires absolute spontaneity. The deeper Self is in the eternal now and anything from the past can only serve to cloud the situation and defile the pure witness attitude in the now. Once we sense this, we move away from all systems that promise a reward at the end of a road. As J. Krishnamurty points out, Enlightenment is not a result, is not a reward. Bhagavan Rajaneesh asks what validity can there be in struggling to find a road that will lead us to the hou8se in which we are already sitting! Such attempts can only take us away from the source. Not trying to move away creates a situation in which the natural gravity from the source pulls us in.
That says something about what triggers and sustains the journey into Oneself.
contd.,
Osho - in the book Joy - The Happiness that comes from within:
There is infinitely more, but your wanting it is a barrier in reaching it. Desiring is like a wall that surrounds you. Non desiring becomes a door.
This is one of the most paradoxical but very fundamental laws of life. Desire, and you will miss it. Don't desire and it is yours.
Jesus says: Seek and ye shall find. Buddha says: Seek ye not. Otherwise you will miss it. Jesus says: Ask and it shall be given to you. Buddha says: Ask not; otherwise it will never be given to you. Jesus says: Knock and the
doors shall be opened. Buddha says: Wait, ..look.. the doors are not closed at all. If you knock, your very knocking shows that you are knocking somewhere else -- on the wall - because the doors are always open!
Jesus is as enlightened as Buddha -because there is no question of being more enlightened or less enlightened.
So why this difference? The difference comes from the people
to whom Jesus is speaking. He is speaking to people who are uninitiated, uninitiated into mysteries of life. Buddha is speaking to a totally different kind of group -- the inititates, the adpets, those who can understand the paradoxical.
****
Journey Into Oneself:
continues...
We realize that the inward journey
is not in time. It is a matter of the centre of Consciousness in us expanding in the NOW so that the centre disappears. There is an intuitive sensing that what transpires is inntrinsically healthy and does not become meaningful through an expected end result. The process becomes all important and any value for results recede into nothingness. There are many issues in our lives that can give us a push in that direction. They serve as guide posts and keep us focussed on the intriguing puzzle of the inward journey. Some of thes arise as questions in the following manner:
1> Why is that, even after practising a religious system for years, freedom from fear, attachkent, and hatred does not take place? The practice only puts a lid on them and makes it appear as if they are gone. [Hope is fixed on the future through conceptual expectations. Smug satisfaction may be there in thought that one's seat in heaven is confirmed!].
2> Why are the antagonists too -- the atheists and agnostics -- who put themselves against the 'religionists' do find that freedom?
Both the antagonists and protagonists of religion seem to be barking up the wrong tree!
3> Do the shocks in life point to something that we are unwilling to see or acknowledge?
4> Can the philosophical content of Death serve as an affectionate teacher?
5> What roles do light heartedness and cheerfulness play in the inward journey?
6> Is the beckoning of sorrow in life an invitation to visit the hidden corners themselves?
7> Unknowingly, we build a psychological wall around us through the thought of "I" "me' and "mine". Are there pointers in our daily life that can alert us to the fact, and perhaps open a door in that wall?
contd.,
Journey to Oneself:
{T.C. Gopalakrishnan}
A strange self-awareness beging to settle in us as we apply ourselves to these puzzles. A natural tenderness towards everyone and everything becomes a concommitant factor to this journey of discovery. One realizes rather early that arguments and debates have no place in that exalted movment. However, discussions with others, even if it may appear to be only intellectual, is not considered anathema. In this connection, a book self-published by the writer of this article may be found interesting. It is entitled In Quest of the Deeper Self - a Joyous Adventure [Sudarshan Graphics, Chennai, can be obtained by contacting gkrih2005@yahoo.co.in for online purchases.] The book is meant to be a wayside companion to thos who would find the above puzzles interesting. A new theme, outlined as the Estoeric Field, is presented for the readers to reflect on. The topic of death and the message from near death experience [NDE] are looked into. The following lnes occur in connection with those esoteric themes.
"Investigation of death and afte life is helpful in understanding who we are beyond the thought projected image of us. That is, moving from the form to the formless. This understanding takes place as a growing intensity of spontaneity when there is no moving away from the "NOW". The moving away causes one to hold on to unsubstantial things and so it sustains a disturbable state of mind. Death reminds us of the unsubstantiality of mind projected things and thus can urge us to pay attention to what lies beyond the apparent and outside the transient. Anything ephemeral cannot be intrinsically substantial."
Taking the inward journey does not mean that the person becomes an ascetic in the conventional sense of the word. It means inward asceticism that does not in any way a healthy practical life. On the contrary, it helps one apply oneself spiritedly to all aspects of life. That is how joviality and mirthfulness too find a place in it. Such comprehensive attention brings about wholesome living.
We are allon a sacred journey of life. Is this a fact? Each one has to discover the truth behind this. The noisy mind and its obstruction to the inner dive will be sensed during this discovery. Movement towards the inner silence is the essential feature in the quest towards the deeper Self. In the process of this movement, we come up on a pervasive background serenity. To lead one's daily life from that serenity somehow makes it all very meaningful.
concluded.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
[Tr. By Dr. H. Ramamurthy.]
21.
All the dharmas [qualities, nama
rupa] abide in the Self.
Whichever of them the Jiva imagines
And concentrates on again and again
It will attain to the same - there
is no doubt of this.
22.
Thus has been told by me as the
knowledge of the Self
What has been gathered succinctly
in a condensed form.
All, by means, is of the nature of
the Self.
23.
The deities, the Vedas, the fire
sacrifices,
The various gifts to priests in the
course of these rites --
None of this exists there [in the
nature of the Self].
Be attuned to the blemishless,
omni-faceted, steadfast knowledge
of the Self.
24.
To the jiva drowning in the vast
ocean of the birth-death cycle,
And seeking a refuge,
What affords refuge is only
knowledge of the Self,
Not anything else - know this.
25.
He who becoming the Supreme,
Realizes its nature firmly as it
really is,
Shall, though he may experience
all [these] changing states,
Rest in liberation without effort
- be aware of this.
contd.,
Sri Ramana Corona:
A Crown of Sonnets: Alan Jacobs:
13]
Driving the mind inwards, to Self
Realization,
He grants safe passage through
life's stormy ocean;
What frail sould will ever be
excluded
From the presence of the holy
Supreme?
No matter how depraved or deluded,
His mercy never ends, and will
always redeem,
Raisingthe soul from the
depth of depression.
To free one from the "I am the
body" obsession.
From passions that churn desire
and aversion,
His fair breeze wafts clear
equanimity;
Enmeshed no more in wordly
adversity,
Never perturbed by praise nor
foul enmity.
We learn that there's the
greatest giving
In knowing all are Self,
and so truly living.
contd.,
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Sapta Kandanam - Disproving the Word:
21.
That the sun destroys night and then makes his appearance -
such a rubbish talk will not be tolerated in the clean city of truth.
22.
Is there such a sleep which feels annoyed by the state of awakening?
Is there any process of waking which wakes up one who is already awake?
23.
Therefore, there is in fact, niether ignorance for destruction nor any such substance as the Atman that can enter its state.
24.
The state of ignorance is really like that of a child being born of a barren woman. What could then be cut into pieces by an axe of logic?
25.
Has the rainbow any real existence as it looks, could not any archer have tied a string to it to use it as a bow?
26.
Had the mirage [water] sufficed to display the feat of sipping by the sage Agastya, then logic of thinking would have beaten hollow ignorance.
27.
Had there been ignorance in the world which could bear the onslaught of the word then why should not the real fire be able to consume the celestial city of Gandharvas?
28.
Darkness does not stay when it comes in contact with light. Then what is there for the light to extinguish?
29.
Or if someone longs for a lamp to see the day that would be a futile business.
30.
Nothing is traced on the spot where no no shadow falls, to the same extent nothing is discovered on the spot even where the shadow falls.
contd,,
Ramana Smriti:
Sundaram - [later Sadhu Trivenigiri
Swami.]
Once a lunar eclipse was due at about 7.00 pm., which is the usual meal time in the Asramam. It was decided by the management that food would be served at 5.30 pm. to enable management that food would be served at 5.30 pm., to enable everybody avoid taking food during the eclipse, but Sri Bhagavan was niether consulted nor informed. Perhaps it was taken for granted that meals are not taken during an eclipse. The bell rang at 5.30 pm. Sri Bhagavan enquired what the bell was for. He was told that the dinner was to be early for an eclipse was coming. "Oh, is it so?" said Sri Bhagavan, but He did not join the others in the dining hall. No food was served. At 7.30 pm. Sri Bhagavan looked significantly at the clock , but there was no bell. At 9.30 pm., the bell was sounded, and all sat down for food, but Sri Bhagavan did not appear. People were told that Sri Bhagavan was not hungry and they had their dinner without Him.
Sri Bhagavan would never grant holiness to His body or to anything that touched His body. Once a devotee asked Him for a morself of food from His leaf as a sign of grace. Sri Bhagavan refused point blank. "Even if I give you so little, others will ask for as much and there will be nothing left for me," He joked.
****
Ramna Smirti - 1980:
The ego in its desperation for survival goes so far as to make even the concept of itself [the idea of a limikted, embodied person] and object of thought, there by creating the illusion that it has been apprehended.
The seeker thus deluded might spend a liftime scrutinizing and studying his captive prize. But he must eventually ask, "Who is he that has so admirably apprehended the ego?"
Thus he will see how his capitve ego is a decoy only, and the real culprit exists still, strengthened even, by a new invisibility.
[Ira]
***
Osho - Joy - The Happiness That
Comes From Within:
Enlightenment is not something to be achieved, it is just a state to be lived. When I say I achieved enlightenment, I simply mean that I decided to "live" it. Enought is enough! And since then I have lived it. It is a decision that now you are not interested in creating problems - that is all. It is a decision that now you are finished with all this nonsense of creating problems and finding solutions.
All this nonsense is a game you are playing with yourself. You yourself are hiding and you yourself are seeking -- you are both parties. I am not talking about anything ridiculous -- you understand it. You are laughing at yourself. Just watch yourself laughing, just look at your own smile - you understand it. It has to be so because it is your own game. You are hiding and waiting for yourself to be able to seek and find yourself.
You can find yourself right now because it is you that is hiding.
That's why Zen Masters go on hitting people. Whenever somebody comes and says, "I would like to be a buddha," the Master gets very angry. The person is asking nonsense, he is a buddha. If Buddha comes to me and asks how to be a Buddha, what am I supposed to do? I will hit his head! "Whom do you think you are fooling? Youm are a Buddha."
****
Sattvic Feeling: Rolf Skarnitzl:
[Aradhana 2005 of Mountain Path.]
*
The influence of Sattva in sadhana is essential, because sattva opens the path to enlightenment. For that reason, a sadhak strives persistently for sattva to dominate in his or her mind.
The strength of each guna's expression in an individual is directly dependent on how often it can manifest itself. The guna - 'rajas' operates most often since a typical feature of tendencies is extroversion, i.e. the turning of the mind outwards and a fascination for external things.
Such a mind feasts on the objects presented by the senses. Rajas -
thus tends to be the most developed guna in most people.
The tendencies are the cause of unrest of the mind. They also veil the ability to discriminate. If a sadhak is to free himself of their tyranny, he has to deliberately pay close attention to sattva and use it to 'brighten up' his personality. He has to wage a heroic fight against a hydra-headed dragon [the tendencies] which emits on how he or she elimiates the influence of tamas and weakens the influence of the tendencies. He or she will become keenly sensitive to tamas, once having felt its veiling character. One must not allow tamas any space to expand.
It is difficult to weaken the influence of tendencies so that more space is given to sattva. To achieve this weakening, the mind, which is usually focused on external things must be concentrated inside. There are two methods for this; meditation and sattvic feeling.
The mind cannot be permanently introverted without the regular practice of meditation which requires an intense effort of will. When a sadhak focuses on his inner world, he turns attention of the mind inside. If meditation is pursued often and long enough, the mind becomes introverted.
All sadhanas agree, though, that if a sadhak is to be successful on the path, he or she has to make unceasing effort. It is not enough to have 'office hours' set for sadhana, and leave the rest of the time, to self indulgence. The tendencies, with their natural interest in external things which will extrovert the mind.
contd.,
Sattvic Feeling:
Rolf Skarnitzl: continues...
It is useful to applly the second method -- sattvic intellect - to
encourage the mind's introversion. The sword of discrimination is applied to the wide variety of tamasic tendencies. Detachment is also necesary. We should not grant these forces any importance by remembering their passing character and their non-I element.
The positive application of sattvic intellect consists in paying deliberate attention to sattvic thoughts and sattvic feeling. This provides space for the growh of sattva, and allows for the gradual harmonization of motiviating factors by sattva. One has to be very alert and control the activity of motivating factors which externalize the mind. Whenever possible one must immeidately switch on positive sattvic thoughts and sattvic feelings. If the mind is repeatedly introverted the tendencies will fail to get satisfied and will weaken. This occurs after persistent practice only. But the sadhak shold be warned that the tendencies can retreat into the deeper layers of the mind and wait there for their opportunity. The sadhak may believe that they have been weakened or mastered. But when discipline is relaxed a sadhak tends to be surprised by the suddenness and intensity of their explosion.
Sattvic feeling is characterized by a sense of overall lightness, high spirits, inner brightness, calm and harmonious peace, subtle understanding, tenderness and refined emotions.
Sattvic feeling manifests when we encounter the beauties of nature, be it the tender gracefulness of flowers, or the fascinating wonder of landscapes. It comes when we watch the tender feeding of nestlings by their parents. It rings out when we stand in front of an artistic work of immense beauty or when we listen to a beautiful music. It arises when we experience positive harmonious relations with other people, especially devoted help pursued unselfishly and inconspicuously. Sattvic feeling also appears when we come across a wise expression of truth, when hidden aspects of truth and justice are revealed to us. It arises most intensively at the sigh of a face of a sattvic being and in such a person's presence.
contd.,
Sattvic Feeling:
A strong sattvic being is evoked when we concentrate intellectually on a noble topic and contemplate it, when we study spiritual literature or the lives of sages and saints, since all these are expressions of sattvic beings. Prayer is a very good way to introducee sattvic feelings. Sattva grows in the company of advanced sadhaks and even more so in the presence of saints and sages.
A sadhak is recommended to open himself/herself consciously to situations which evoke sattvic feeling. It is beneficial to let such a situation act on oneself and then store them in the memory so they can be evoked as often as possible because of their refreshing nature. With practice it becomes easier to evoke sattvic feeling and it will start to dominate the sadhak's mind and heart. This is a sign of maturity.
The systematic training of emotional habits is of paramaount importance. In practice, this means that a sadhak will support those habits which do not disturb sattva. The more the mind is pervaded by sattvic influence, the more it is able to respond to more subtle impulses and the less interested it is in reacting to the vibrations of ordinary rajasic life.The more a sadhak develops respect, affection, devotedness, compassion, and desire to serve his fellow human beings, the more subtle the personality becomes and the more detached he or she will be from the raw impulses of rajasic life. The aim is to retain sattvice feeling without interruption. The sadhak is advised to be sharply alert and to notice what causes the decline or interruption of sattvic feeling. When that happens, one should trace one's mind and behaviour back to the point where the sattvic feeling was intact. One should recognize the deviation, the point of error. One should resolve to ensure the continuity of sattvic feeling when similar situations arise in the future. But he or she should no brood over the mistake and thereby reactivate the loss of sattva.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
[Tr. Dr. H. Ramamurthy]
26.
There is no greater blessings anywhere,
Then the gaining of the Self.
Meditate ever on the Self. He who
is the Self,
Is indeed the one all-pervasive
Supreme Self - be aware of this.
27.
The Self is not the prana nor
apana,
Nor the instruments superior to
these, the senses, mind and such.
Reach ever in thought of the Self.
The Omniscient and the Perfect.
28.
It is neither inside nor outside,
Not afar, nor nearby, nor does it
fit in any place.
That Supreme is formless, all
pervasive and effulgent,
Diret your thoughts ever to it.
29.
Permeating the 'inner' and the
'outer',
Ever differentiated through
[ conceots of ]
Across, above and below
Everywhere and at all times firmly
established is
The Void, the self luminous Self
Ever meditate on it; and more and
more.
30.
Not a void, not a non void,
It is also a non void and a void,
Pervasive everywhere, but without
predilections --
Ever think of this Self.
contd.,
Sri Ramana Corona:
A Crown of Sonnets - Alan Jacobs:
14]
In knowing all are Self, and so truly living,
We thank the great Sage who is ever giving.
We praise the Lord, who leads us to His feet,
Without ceasing, he's forever reviving.
He grants that freedom, our real surviving.
He severs the grip of bondage's chains,
He frees the soul, where confusion
reigns,
He bestows both compassion and deep peace,
He sends out his grace to grant us release.
He teaches the truth that Consciousness is all.
And Self Enquiry to raise us up from our fall.
We praise God almighty who is ever living,
This crown of my verses is out thanksgiving!
contd.,
Sri Ramana Ashottaram - 108 Holy
Names of Sri Ramana:
The Tamizh original was made by
Viswanatha Swami. The 108 Names
almost cover the life of Sri Bhagavan, His death experience, His arrival at Tiruvannamalai, His teachings to Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni, His teachings triggered by Muruganar by way of Upadesa Undiyar, ULLadu Narpadu etc., and His avatara as Muruga, His boon of deliverance to Mother Azhagamma and Cow Lakshmi. Viswanatha Swami himself has written a brief commentary on each Name. There is an invocatory verse and a benedictory verse, originally written in Sanskrit and rendered in Tamizh by Sri Bhagavan Himself! Prof. K. Swaminathan has rendered the Names in Sanskrit with English meaning and brief commentary.
Name 82 is considered most significant by Prof. K. Swaminathan.
Om Sri Maatrumuktividhaayakaaya Namah |
Ordainer of Mother's moksha.
Sri Swaminathan writes -
"Biographically, as an even in human history, what happened on May 19, 1922, [Vaisaka Bahula Navami] was only next in importance to the great illumination of July 16, 1896....On the last day, as she was lay dying, Sri Bhagavan was by her side all the time, His right hand on her heaving chest, His left hand upon her head. Some devotees were chanting Rama Nama, others reciting Vedas. In such a holy atmosphere, sanctified by Sri Bhagavan's close contact, she breathed her last. It was then 8 pm., Sri Bhagavan looked particularly happy, and seemed to feel free as a bird, having been released from His obligation to Mother. Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni who was living in Mango Tree Cave, was then present in Skandasramam. He declared that she had attained moksha by the grace of her son. Her body was buried, not cremated. ....In giving moksha to His mother, Sri Bhagavan played the part of Siva, Mrutunjaya, the Conqueror of Death....Again matru also means cow. The Name also refers to the grace bestowed on Cow Lakshmi.....Like the mutual love of Mother and child, the cow-calf relationship is a concerete fact, besides being a powerful symbol. Love is the living link between nature and the supernatural, between time and the timeless. Also, matru means the measure. knower, and refers to Jiva, the individual. Sri Bhagavan's grace and the gift of moksha are available to anyone who turns towards Him in love and lets His love govern one's life.
****
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Sabdha Kandanam - Disproving the Word:
31.
In a waking state, one knows that the dream, was false. Likewise. there exists no ignorance even in the state of ignorance.
32.
Is there anything special, in somebody having houseful of fictitious jewlllery created by a magician or if such a person is robbed of all such jewellery by plundering?
33.
Were one to eat lakhs of imaginary daintites, what else would it amount to except total fasting!
34.
It may be all dry where there is no mirage; but could there be any moisture where there is mirage?
35.
If it [ignorance] really existed as it appears to be, then men, ricefields and lakes would all be overful with raining, as shown in a picture.
36.
Had it been possible to write letters with a solution of darkness itm would be waste of efforts to prepare ink.
37.
Do not eyes see that the sky is blue, when it is really not what it appears to be? Understand the false appearance of the ignorance in the same way.
38.
In a very innocent manner, the ignorance goes ont telling, " I do not exist as the name Avidya indicates".
39.
And secondly by swearing before God is indescribable, the ignorance has proved its non existence.
40.
For, if it [ignorance] does exist, why not it stand determination before reason? The floor will have just mark if a jar happens to be on it. {If a thing exists, then it will leave a mark on the spot where it exists.}.
contd.,
Ramana Smriti -
A Brith Centenary Offering: 1980:
Gouri Ammal - She is the eldest daugher of Dr. Narayana Iyer.
*
Later I came to stay near Sri Bhagavan. A house was built for me at Ramana Nagar, where I stayed for eight years. Those were the most memorable and fruitful years of my life. How sweet they were and how many miracles happened before my very eyes! Once Dr. Srinivasa Rao was telling Sri Bhagavan, how good it would be for him to eat more pine apples, when somebody entered the Hall with a heap of pine apples on a tray! On another occasion, Sri Bhagavan mentioned one Gajanana Sarma [disciple of Kavyakanta, one of the questioners in Sri Ramana Gits] who used to stay with Him some years back, and enquired about his present whereabouts and doings. At that very moment, the post master entered the Hall and in the mail that there was a letter from Ganajana Sarma with photos and details about his life, Ashram and disciples. Sri Bhagavan said: "Look at this! how wonderful! I was telling about him just now and here it all comes."
contd.,
Tales about Sri Bhagavan:
1. as rendered by one Subramanian:
This happened about two years before Sri Bhagavan's Maha Nirvana.
One morning Sri Bhagavan was in the Hall surrounded by devotees from many lands. It was time for lunch and everybody was hungry. At that time, Sri Bhagavan was suffering from severe rheumatism in His knees, which were swollen and gave Him severe pain; to get up He had to rub them first to remove the stiffness and it would take sometime. At last He got upm slowly from the sofa, and leaning on His walking stick, He was about to go through the doorway when He noticed a village milkman, wrapped in a cotton shawl, with a mudpot hanging on a strap from his shoulder. Sri Bhagavan stopped, looked at him and exclaimed: "Look, is it not Chinnappaya?" "Yes, is me, Swami," the villager replied with devotion and respect. Sri Bhagavan asked: "How are you? Are you well? Have you come to see me? You have done very well. But what is in your pot? Have you brought some koozhu [gruel]?" "Yes, Swami, I have brought some koozhu," replied the milkman shyly. "Then come, let me have it." Sri Bhagavan put away His stick, cupped His hands together and bent forward holding His hands near His lips. The milkman started pouring the porridge from his pot in a thin stream into Sri Bhagavan's hands, as He sipped it with His chin between His wrists. The poor man's face was beaming with joy and Sri Bhagavan was drinking steadily, as if the grey porridge was nectar to Him.
The dining hall was full of hungry and somewhat angry people. One of them came out to see what could be the cause of the delay in Sri Bhagavan's coming, and when he saw, what kind of lunch Sri Bhagavan was talking, he exclaimed: How unfair, Bhagavan! We are all waiting for you and you are late for the sake of the peasant!" Sri Bhagavan grew indignant. "What, do you all think that I am here for your sake only? Did I belong to you? Did you care for me when I was in the Hill? Nobody wanted me then, only the shepherds, who would share their koozhu with me." And He went into the dining hall along with the milkman following Him.
****
Osho - Joy - The Happiness That comes from Within:
Humanity goes on accumulationg a certain quantity of neurosis, madness. Each decade, it has to throw it out. So when there is a war - war means when humanity has gone made as a whole - then there is no need to go mad privately. What is the point? All are mad - then there is no point in trying to be privately mad. When one nation is murdering another, and there is so much suicide and murdger, what is the point of doign these things on your own? You can simply watch TV and enjoy, you can read it in papers and have thrill.
The problem is not war, the problem is individual neurosis.
Change the root -- a radical transformation is needed; ordinary reformation won't do. But then you may not understand -- I go on talking about meditation but you can't see the relationship; how meditation is related with war. I see the relationship; you don't see the relationship.
My understanding is this: that even if one percent of humanity becomes meditative, wars will disppear. And there is no other way. That much meditative energy has to be released. If one percent of humanity -- that means one in a hundred people -- becomes meditative, things will have a totally different arrangment. Greed will be less; naturally poverty will be less; poverty does not exist because things are scarce; poverty exists because people are hoarding, because people are greedy. Only when we hoard either in secret godowns or in our stomachs, there is poverty in the world. The earth has other wise enough to give us.
*****
Sattvic Feeling:
Rolf Skarnitzl:
continues....
It is important to constantly reminding oneself of the nature of one's true 'I'. The habit of reminding onself is not achieved by a mere decision, but is the result of persistent effort. It is not possible to free oneself of the obstacles created by one's tendenceies, until sadhka has matured. The best method by which permanent awareness of the supreme "I" is gained is Sri Ramana Maharshi's self enquiry method.
If a sadhaka persistently seeks to develop sattva he creates a sattvic orientation in his mind, and thus consciously contributes to the sattvic transformation of his personality in whatever activity he performs. He knows that pursuing this aim is not an end in itself because sattvic feeling is not his ultimate objective. But a sattvically influenced mind is much better preparaed for meditation and self observation, than an ordinary mind left to its own devices. Sattvic feeling thus contributes to the sadhaka's understanding of Reality, which is the objecive of every sadhaka's life. A permanent undertone of sattvic feeling in the mind is the sign of an advanced sadhaka.
When we move about in the world and do not want to hurt anyone, sattvic feeling is a simple and excellent guide to correct behaviour. It replaces the volumes of book which teach us in confusing detail how to act in various kinds of situations. If our mind is in tune with sattvic feeling, then what we are doing is in harmony with the situation we are in.
Practically, it means that the sadhaka retains sattvic feeling within herself/himself, at least as an undertone, through the introversion of mind. The other part of the mind remains outside, relating to the world and responding to its demands. Such emotional balance fills the personality with feelings of harmony and peace.
CONCLUDED.
Friends,
An excerpt from The gospel of Sri Ramarishna:
Efficacy of japa and prayer
DEVOTEE: "How can I develop love for God?"
MASTER: "Repeat His name, and sins will disappear. Thus you will destroy lust, anger,
the desire for creature comforts, and so on."
DEVOTEE: "How can I take delight in God's name?"
MASTER: "Pray to God with a yearning heart that you may take delight in His name. He
will certainly fulfil your heart's desire."
So saying, the Master sang a song in his sweet voice, pleading with the Divine Mother to
show Her grace to suffering men:
O Mother, I have no one else to blame:
Alas! I sink in the well these very hands have dug.
With the six passions for my spade,
I dug a pit in the sacred land of earth;
And now the dark water of death gushes forth!
How can I save myself, O my Redeemer?
Surely I have been my own enemy;
How can I now ward off this dark water of death?
Behold, the waters rise to my chest!
How can I save myself? O Mother, save me!
Thou art my only Refuge; with Thy protecting glance
Take me across to the other shore of the world.
The Master sang again:
What a delirious fever is this that I suffer from!
O Mother, Thy grace is my only cure.
False pride is the fever that racks my wasted form;
"I" and "mine" are my cry. Oh, what a wicked delusion!
My quenchless thirst for wealth and friends is never-ceasing;
How, then, shall I sustain my life?
Talk about things unreal, this is my wretched delirium,
And I indulge in it always, O Giver of all good fortune!
My eyes in seeming sleep are closed, my stomach is
filled
With the vile worms of cruelty.
Alas! I wander about absorbed in unmeaning deeds;
Even for Thy holy name I have no taste, O Mother!
I doubt that I shall ever be cured of this malady.
Then the Master said: " 'Even for Thy holy name I have no taste.' A typhoid patient has
very little chance of recovery if he loses all taste for food; but his life need not be despaired
of if he enjoys food even a little. That is why one should cultivate a taste for God's name.
Any name will do-Durga, Krishna, or Siva. Then if, through the chanting of the name, one's
attachment to God grows day by day, and joy fills the soul, one has nothing to fear. The
delirium will certainly disappear; the grace of God will certainly descend.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
Excellent. Name and form shall take one to the realization of nameless and formless Self. Sri Ramakrishna says "Take me across to the other side of the shore." Yes. God or Guru only can take us safe to the other side of the shore. To cross over the bhava sagaram, he is the only boatman. Sri Ramana Ashottaram says: Om Samsararnava thakaraya Namah: One who helps the devotee suffering in the ocean of samsara to reach the shore. Arunagiri Natha sings in Tiru VeLaikaran Vahuppu:
Yadu nilai aRRu aliayum ezhu piRavik kadalai, yera vidum naR karunai odakkaranum....
He [Muruga] takes me across the shore when I was deluded going here and there in the ocean of samsara, he is reliable refuge of a boatman.
'poverty exists because people are hoarding, because people are greedy'-Osho
It is surprising to hear osho talking about hoarding . He of the 90 rolls royces fame. ;)
best,
R.Subramanian/Friends,
The way of devotion is beyond all rationalizations.In the following conversation,Sri Bhagavan brings this out beautifully:
Devotee: I have been reading the Five Hymns. I find that the hymns are addressed to Arunachala by you. You are an advaitin. How do you then address God as a separate Being?
Maharshi:The devotee, God and the Hymns are all the Self.
Devotee: But you are addressing God. You are specifying this Arunachala Hill as God.
Maharshi: You can identify the Self with the body. Should not the devotee identify the Self with Arunachala?
Devotee: If Arunachala be the Self why should it be specially picked out among so many other hills? God is everywhere. Why do you specify Him as Arunachala?
Maharshi:What has attracted you here to this place? What has attracted all these people around?
Devotee: Sri Bhagavan.
Maharshi: How was I attracted here? By Arunachala. The Power cannot be denied. Again Arunachala is within and not without. The Self is Arunachala.
-----------------------------------
we find that Sri Ramakrishna says the same thing.He used to say-BhAgavata Bhakta Bhagavan.
One day, listening to a recitation of the Bhagavata on the verandah of the Radhakanta
temple he fell into a divine mood and saw the enchanting form of Krishna. He perceived
the luminous rays issuing from Krishna's Lotus Feet in the form of a stout rope, which
touched first the Bhagavata and then his own chest, connecting all three - God, the
scripture, and the devotee. "After this vision," he used to say, "I came to realize that
Bhagavan, Bhakta, and Bhagavata - God, Devotee, and Scripture - are in reality one and the
same."
Again he says:
"But the Reality is one and the same. The difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is
verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of
knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God."
Dear m,
I fully agree with you. In this same blog I have written that Osho does not have self realization and he was having 364 Rolls Royces and an AIDS carrying body. However this book contained some good anecdotes and stories and I started writing it with half a mind. I think I should stop writing more from this book.
Punarvasu of Vaisaka - 5.06.2011
Today is Punarvasu star. Sri Bhagavan's birth star. Today in the
Asramam, special abhishekam will be done for Sri Ramaneswara Maha Lingam in the evening with a golden casket on the Lingam. Muruganar Swami has written about the glory of Punarvasu,
in his poem Punarvasu VaNNam. However, I have covered most of Punarvasu VaNNam song. Today I thought I could give one song from Tiruchuzhial Padigam, Muruganar describing the glory of Tiruchuzhi, Sri Bhagavan's birth place. Both are available in Sri Ramana Sannidhi MuRai.
I read this Tiruchuzhial Padigam daily.
Verse 1:
Tamizh verse starts as Veda nanmudi mel viLanguRu....
Lord Ramana, Master of Wisdom shining
On the Vedas' lofty crown,
Because I came to you I've gained
This bliss unparalleled.
Lord of ancient Pandiyan Tiruchuzhi,
Be still, clear minds adored,
I may perhaps sometimes forget you,
But my tongue shall for ever your
Name utter.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
continues....
31.
Afflictionless, and without any
support for itself,
Bereft of caste, name and form --
That taintless, attributeless Self
Unceasingly meditate upon It.
32.
With no refuge, nothing to support
it,
Beyond the range of comprehension,
without parallel,
Faultless by nature, the eternal --
The Self that is such, meditate
upon it joyfully , forever.
33.
Embracing dispassion and thus
desisting from all karmic activity
Shying away from society,
One should, thereafter, ever
meditate upon
The Self within oneself, by
oneself --
Be aware of this.
34.
Country, lineage, the traditional
castes and styles of life,
Effacing the thoughts arising in
the wake of these,
The wise man should meditate daily,
Upon his nature.
35.
"This is the mantra", "This is
the deity".
"This is indeed what is called
meditation".
"This indeed is tapas" --
Casting afar all thoughts,
Concentrate on the nature of your
own Self.
contd.,
Allan Chadwick:
I have often marvelled how Bhagavan seemed to change. He takes on an entirely different form on different occasions. I do not know if others have experienced this too. But sometimes when I walk into the hall I see my mother come back to life, sitting in front of me. The same expression of welcome, the same loving interest in the look with which I am regarded as I take a seat. It is almost uncanny. Yet why should I be surprised? Is he not universal? Does he not take on all forms if we were only pure enough in mind to see it?
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience:
Sant Jnaneswara -
continues:
Sabdha Kandanam: Disproving the Word.
41. It is not a finding of the intellect, that the Atman destroys
ignorance and reveals himself. He is like the sun who has no darkness to destroy before revealing himself.
42. After all, the ignorance is illusive; not only that it hides its illusivness. It is non existence is thus proved to be true.
43.
Thus in many ways, it has been shown that ipso facto ignorance has no existence. Against whom
then would the word raise its hand for striking?
44.
Were the shadow to be forcefully struck with an iron bar, the bar itself would dash against the ground or were one to slap the sky the hand itself would suffer dislocation.
45.
Drinking the mirage water, or embracing the sky cavity or kissing the reflection.
46.
Excitement would wear out and all efforts would go waste; likewise becomes the state of rational thinking in trying to destroy ignorance.
47.
Were only to devote one's life time to destroy ignorance, any attempt in that direction would be like peeling off the back of the sky cavity.
48.
Or like, drawing milk from the nipple hanging from the neck of a he-goat, or finding the way through sockets of the knees or preparing dried wafers from the tubers of the evening time.
49.
Or like, squeezing ample juice by pounding yawning and feeding the torso with that juice mixed with laziness.
50.
Or like, reversing the water current in the channel, or turning over the shadow or twisting the fibres of the wind into a rope.
contd.,
Golden Jubilee Souvenir - 1946:
From the article of Major Chadwick - Sadhu Arunachala:
An Australian journalist came to the Asramam, quite why he came is a mystery, I doubt if he would be able to tell himself. Anyhow he did come and in the course of his visit came to see me in my room. It was obvious from the first moment that I was a tremendous problem to him. Why an European should shut himself away in a place like this was beyond his comprehension. He asked many questions but none of my replies satisified him, how could they? Especially as he had not the first idea of what the Asramam was or what people were doing here. I didn't even write, then what on earth did I do! At length he could contain himself no longer and bluntly asked me what I was doing here. Now here was a problem to answer. If I had tried to tell him the truth he would never have understood, that I realized, so making the best of it I just said that here I found peace of mind. I knew it was an inadequate answer but hoped it would stave off further enquiries.
He looked at me seriously for a few minutes and then said pityingly: "Oh, I see, I have never been troubled in that way myself."
All I had succeeded in doing was in confirming him the convictioin that I was insane. And was there not after all, some ground for his belief? Here have I been spending [wasting - he would say] half a life time searching for something I already possess. I know that I possess it too, which makes matters appear worse.
.....
Why I came? Why do I stay here [permanently]? Because I want to. Doubtless there are many learned writers to this volume will be able to give philoosophical and cast iron replies to this question. I leave the reader to them. I am not particularly interested. To my metal Sri Bhagavan was a magnet and as yet his magnetism has lost none of its force. I am helpless.
.....All talk, all empty words. "There is nothing" and that's the end of it. No method. Nothing to discard, nothing to find. Nothing at all is except the "I". Why worry about anything else. Just BE, now and always, as you were, as you are, and as you will be.
*****
Ramana Smrti: A Birth Centenary Offering: 1980:
Wolter A. Keers:
[excerpts]
From What Does He mean to me?
Pondering over the editor's request for an article, I am asking myself, 'What has Sri Bhagavan meant to me?' And I find it impossible to give a neat answer to this question.
The first thing, perhaps, is that He opened my heart. Immediately as I saw Him, even from a distance, I recognized that this was what I had been looking for. But when I say that this was radiating, all penetrating and all overthrowing love, striking me with the power of lightning, I know that only those who had the same experience will know what I mean. To anybody else, all this is verbiage, at best creating an image of someone very magnificent.
Inside and outside the Ashrams in the world, crowds of people put their face saying, "Oh, how marvellous, such a Maharshi, such a wonderful teaching."
Beware, let us face it; in the eyes of common sense an appearance like Sri Ramana Maharshi is the embodiment of the most outrageous and perhaps even dangerous lunacy that man could think of.
Well, Sri Ramana Maharshi was the Unimaginable, and therefore indescribable.
Perhaps it is after all, not such a blessing to India that in that country [and there is no country I love and respect more than India] one can believe and say all the right things wihtout being locked up. For it makes it possible that you may repeat the right words and remain fast asleep. But if you live in London or Melbourne or Ottawa or Amsterdam, and you go to the baker early in the morning and you tell him, "Of course I was never borne!" and you repeat it to the green grocer and so to a policeman and to a doctor, I'd like to see how long you still roam free in the streets of of such cities [without being locked up in a police station or a lunatic asylum...]....For to go to the Asramam and to read the Talks with Ramana Maharshi requires no guts, these days. But to see what He meant; that you, fool, are one
big bankruptcy; that....
In literature, all over the world, one finds magnificent descriptions of sorrow. But who can describe happiness? Happiness is a state
without ego and therefore without a someone in it to describe it or even to remember it. What we remember is its afterglow, its reflection in feeling and the body, not the moment when we were present as Happiness itself, as Happiness only..
contd.,
Sri Ramana Corona: A Crown of
Sonnets - Alan Jacobs:
[15]
To regain that Selfhood we lost from birth,
That's the sage wisdom by which we
are graced.
This is the highest wisdom proclaimed on earth.
Just seek for the source where mind is based.
Take refuge in the all loving Lord.
Who can be known by enquiring 'Who frees?'
He cuts you loose with his mighty sword.
One with the Self, as the Absolute sees.
Returning to Self, one birthright of peace,
Know you're the Self, not body, know that is certain!
We leave it to grace, to grant us release.
He drives the mind inwards, to Self realization,
In knowing all are Self, and so
truly living,
This crown of my verses is our
thanksgiving!
concluded.
[Courtesy: Sri Ramana Maharshi -The Supreme Guru - Alan Jacobs.
Yogi Impressions - Mumbai.]
Vichara Mala: Nochur Venkataraman:
When Nochur Venkataraman came to
Bangalore for a discourse on
Sivanubhavam etc., there were a few CDs [which contains his discourse on ULLadu Narpadu, Srimad Bhagavadtam - Uddhava Gita and Srimad Bhagavad Gita] and a couple of booklets containing Sanskrit slokas on Sri Bhagavan and His vichara marga, apart from his Malayalam biography of Sri Bhagavan. I could buy ULLadu Narapdu discourses done over 5 years in Chennai and also the booklets. One such booklet is Vichara Mala. This contains 105 Sanskrit slokas about his guru Sri Bhagavan.
I shall give the English translation of a few verses:
1. My Lord, Guru Ramana, told "You are not the body nor the jiva. You are the Self -- which is immaculate awareness. Give up the delusion and wake up. For you, there is no cause for suffering like this. [Suffering is only imagination.]
2. By mere listening to that, the darkness which clouded the vision of the Self was removed. That Ramana Desika, who is the radiant sun of bliss and awareness, I worship with love.
3. Ramana Desika, who shines as pure consciousness inside, within the heart and as the divine Guru outside [in the external world] who is nothing but immaculate awareness, I worship with ove. Atman appears before an yearning aspirant in the form of a Guru. So Guru is the concrete form of Atma.
4. He who is an ocean of compassion and ambrosia, who is also the splendrous Sun of the blissful Self, one who bestows the secret of Self Enquiry in the form of 'Who am I?', that Ramana Desika, I worship with love.
5. The Self is always attained as "I", "I", shining in the heart of One who makes us aware of this Truth, that Ramana Desika, I worship with love.
6. One who is the topmost of the saints who belong to the family of Aruna Hill, one who is the embodiment of compassion and who shines like the golden red sun of the dawn, that Ramana Desika I worship with love.
7. That ever auspicious one Sadasiva, who is the witness of waking, dream and deep sleep states, who is the eternal emancipation, that Ramana Desika, I worship with love.
8. Brahman alone is, the world is not. You are also nothing but this Brahman, there is no doubt in this. One who gives this saving knowledge, that glorious Ramana Desika, I worship with love.
[invocatory verses - concluded.]
contd.,
From Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam, Suri Nagamma:
Once Mahaswami Kanchi Chandrasekhara Saraswathi Swami had come to Tiruvannamalai for a few days's stay and discourses. He had told some pandits that Sannyasa for women is not permissible. Four or five days later Raju Sastri and other pandits well versed in the Vedas and who were coming from town daily for Vedaparayana before Sri Bhagavan and Mahanyasam in the Mother's Temple came a little earlier than usual and told Sri Bhagavan and they had been served orders from Chadrasekhara Saraswati prohibiting them from doing Mahanyasa Puja in Mother's Temple. Thereupon, Sri Bhagavan said: In Sri Ramana Gita, in reply to a question, Smt Visalakshi, wife of Kavyakanta asked I have already given a reply, viz., for those women who have become parivrajakas through the practice of Jnana, there is no prohibition either for Sannyasam or for Samadhi. What more is there to be said now?
The pandits then asked: What reply should we give to that Swami of Kanchi? Sri Bhagavan said: Why are you concerned about arguments and counter arguments? So long as he is the head of that peetam he must observe and practice the rules and regulations of that peetam. He has therefore sent his prohibitory orders. It is better to continue quietly our work. Whoever amongs you want to come, may come, others may keep away. Why raise all sorts of doubts?
The pandits were fully convinced and continued to perform Vedaparayana and Mahanyasa Puja as before.
****
Suri Nagamma - Letters from Sri
Ramanasramam:
Letter no, 95 dated 15th Feb. 1947:
The magazine Thyagi published last month, a review on the recently printed Tamil Puranam called Tiruchuzhi. In the review they included three verses taken out froom the book called, Tiruchuzhi Venba Andati, for the purpose of comparison.
The venba is poetry with double meanings. Since is in praise of Bhoominatha [i.e. Siva in Tiruchuzhi also called as Tirumeni Nadhar], it is pleasant to hear it sung.
Sri Bhagavan explained the gist of these verses.
O Bhuminatha, all the gods are praising you as a hero unaided, on the assumption that you have achieved victory by your own powers, unaided by anyone in the fight against Tripurasuras. But are you not Ardhanareeswara?, half man and half woman; so would you have achieved in the fight agains Tripurasuras, if you had not been aided by the Goddess Sahayavalli? The left side of your body is hers. Could you have stretched your bow, without her aid?
Dear David,
In this letter Suri Nagamma mentions about one Tiruchuzhi Venba Andati? Have you come across this book? Could you find it in archives? Because the Letters say that the book Venba Andati was received from the editors of the magazine on the next day.
***
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
36.
The Self is without thought.
Give no room for the arising of
thought --
Of one's prior involvement with
thought.
Settle the thinking mind in the
Self
Nullify thought.
37.
The Self cannot be thought of,
nor can it not be thought of.
It is not thought itself,
It is itself thought --
That which does not lean towards
any of the above,
The Supreme that is the Self,
ever meditate upon it.
38.
Meditate ever on That
Which is beyond the reach of
thought,
Allowing no refuge for the mind.
The joy that is attained in
abundance in that Self,
Beyond all tattvas and complete-
39.
- Withou8t differentiation, and
beyond the reach of thought,
Without any precedent and extolled
as the supreme bliss,
Be immeersed in it.
40.
Discarding all desire for objects,
Destroying the modes of the mind,
The non dual state of being,
When the mind ceases to be,
Is called supreme bliss.
contd.,
R.Subramanian,
"Meditate ever on That
Which is beyond the reach of
thought"
Not just this excerpt,but most of this particular post seems just well intentioned 'Thought' and 'words'.I wonder whether it can be translated into practice.
Namaskar.
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Sabdha Kandanam - Disproving the Word:
51.
Or like, killing the goblin or stuffing the reflections in a pillow cover, or feeling pleasure in combing the hair on a palm;
52.
Or like breaking the non existent pot, or plucking the flowers of the sky, or breakign with ease the horns of a hare;
53.
Or like preparing ink from camphor,
or collecting lamp-black from a gem lamp, or happinly performing the marriage of the child of a barren woman;
54.
Or like feeding the Cakor* of the nether world with the nectar of the moon on a new moon day, or straining out small amphibious creatures from the mirage water.
* Cakor is a heavenly birs or a bird that is said to feed on moon beams.
55.
To waht extent to expaiate on this subject? The ignorance is made up of non existence; how can it be destroyed by words?
56.
The words cannot gain the status of 'evidence' by destroying that which does not exist, in the way, the darkness has no appearance in darkness.
57.
Ignorance has no form. To say something about it, no ingenuity will be useful like a lamp lit on the court yard at noon.
58.
Those going for harvesting without sowing the field, what else would they derive but the feeling of shame.
59.
One who has wrapped up his body with nakedness would have done well to sit at home doing nothing.
60.
Is it of any use in having rains where there is water? Similarly diffusion of light of words will be of no avail in destroying the ignorance.
contd.,
Talk 131.
M.: No. Only the quest “Who am I?” is necessary.
What remains all through deep sleep and waking is the same. But in waking there is unhappiness and the effort to remove it. Asked who wakes up from sleep you say ‘I’.
.
Now you are told to hold fast to this ‘I’. If it is done the eternal Being will reveal Itself.
Dear Ravi,
I agree. Sri Bhagavan used to say:
"You are all saying that you are not able to live without thinking. I am telling you: I am not able to think at all."
That is why Sri Bhagavan has said, as a concession, instead of having a million thoughts, have one thought, [mantra japa] to attain orientation which will aid atma vicharam. He gave the mantra Siva, Siva to Muruganar, Annamalai Swami and to one unknown Harijan.
Hello
once a post has been posted, can i edit it, or must i delete and re-post.
thanks
Vichara Maala: Nochur Venkataraman:
Guru:
9. Many, in disguise of gurus move about, deluding and deceving those foolish people, who depend on them. Beware of them and protect yourself from their deceptive influence. One who is caught in the net of a fraud can be released only by a real Guru.
10.
One who has realized the Self, by abiding as the Self, with the authority of the Upanishads, intuitive reasoning and above all, one's own true experience and whose heart is purged of all vasanas and who is an ocean of mercy alone, is declared as a Guru.
11.
One who beholds the non dual and changeless Self in all beings alone should be known as a real Guru, and not a person who has become miserable by wandering in mere words of scriptures.
12.
Considering oneself as a great Guru many deluded fools move about enslaving thousands as their disciples. Beware of them! Discard them from a distance like a poisonous snake.
13.
One who never considers oneself as a Guru and others as his disciples, one looks at all with an equal vision aone is a Guru. Great Masters like Ramana and Ramakrishna never even once said that they were Gurus.
14.
One who by the austerity of Jnana and with the intuitive knowledge of the real self remains inebriated drinking the nectar of the bliss of Atman should be known as a Guru.
15.
One who has the power to protect the Self [from the ocean of delusion by giving Self Knowledge] and who teaches the seeker, 'You do not exist, nor 'I' nor this world, everything is Brahman alone.' is the real Guru. The real Guru alone will tell the truth that, the 'ego' is falsehood. From it alone comes the delusion of the world, Guru and others.
16.
A seeker who has travelled through many janmas and has suffered by various actions, wants the peace of complete actionlessness. A real Guru who ever relaxeds in the actionless Brahman makes the disciple also one with that abiding peace.
17. You are not the body nor the mind. You are verily Brahman. One who thus clearly makes us experience the Truth is the Guru of all the gurus.
18.
One who is ever rooted in Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi [i.e clear permanent experience of non dual awareness] will transmit the secret knowledge of Brahman through mere silence. The Chit sakti vilasa is more eloquent than any language to expound Brahma vidya.
contd.,
Peter,
I do not think that the posts, once posted, can be edited straight away.What I do is copy the post onto a word document,delete the post and repost it after editing the word document.
Namaskar.
thanks Ravi
Ramana Smriti: A Birth Centenary Offering - 1980:
Article of Wolter A. Keers:
What Does He mean to me?
continues....
Ramana Maharshi is not the frail, old, dying body that I saw reclining on a chair, but the Unimaginable, egolessness, pure radiance, and the body, however much we may have loved its appearance, was merely a glittering diamond reflecting the light that He really was.
I did not understand all this, when I first arrived. To me, He was something like a divine person, and I waqs inclined to compare Him with Jesus or Buddha. But Jesus or Buddha were images in my head, formed on the basis of the belief in which I had been brought up, and on stories heard and read later on. And Sri Ramana Maharshi, from the first second I saw Him, was anything but an image in my head. He was a bomb exploding the myth of my life until then, within a few minutes, and without a word. His famous, to some, notorious question, "Who am I?" immediately got totally new colour. For several years, at home, I had been meditating on it, and it had something of a mystical, yogic and philosophical ring about it. Now it turned into, "Who on earth do you think you are, that you should be so important as to cultivate a garden full of problems and questions?" And this was not by way of condemning my 'self', my ego as it is usually called in Vedantic circles -- but the question took this form in a sphere of utter astonishment; how, boy, tell me, how have you been so misled as to think that you or your ego had any importance? Instead of seeing that an ego is mere stupidity or belief in a fantasy, you have been cherishing it and even cultivating it by feeding it with important questions and problems. Your life until now was led by a belief in something totally imaginary.
contd.,
What does He mean to me?
Wolter A. Keers - continues...
Again, there was no condemnation in this -- it was a discovery, something revealed to me,m suddenly, and leaving me in utter amazement. Perhaps that is what triggered it. His mere Presence revealed to me how utterly stupid I had been until then, that it was love which revealed it, not the criticizing father-knows-better attitude that we know only too well. My darkness was revealed by the mere confrontation with light -- light that did not condemn me or wish to change me, but accepted and loved me totally and unconditionally, light, as I understood later, that saw me as nothing but light.
What I did not understand at the time, was that this confrontatin inevitably threw me back, as it were, upon the love that I was myself. Seeing 'myself' as an oddity with problems implied that I was taken to a position beyond this 'myself', to that one Consciousness, that all beings have in common and outside of which nothing is. In this confrontation, this 'myself' was no longer the 'I' which I had lived so far, but a curious object, a little whirlpool of light within an ocean of light.
I have described my 'adventures' with Sri Bhagavan elsewhere. How I rebelled at one moment, finding that this all-overpowering bilss and radiance left me the moment I left the Asramam premises, and how He then broke my inner walls; how as my stay with Him had unfortunately been only less than two months, as His body was gradually dropping away like a worn out leaf from a tree, not all problems and questions had been answered and dissolved; how, very soon after His 'departure' I got His darshan and He referred to me a person, most venerable and exalted, who in the course of the following years, allowed me to be near Him until He could say that His work on me had been completed.
contd.,
What does He mean to me?
Wolter A. Keers:
continues....
In other words, it was only three or four years later that the full impace of what His silence had revealed to me became clear and 'my own'. Perhaps these last
two words and their inverted commas indicate the problem. Sri Bhagavan never gave anyone the possibility to believe that you, as a person, could realize the truth. The axis, the central point in the sadhana that He proposed to most of us, was the invitation to examine who put questions, who came to see Him, who wanted to realize, who felt exalted or miserable or angry, who desired or shunned, and so on.
Recently I heard a 'realized person' say to one of His pupils, "There is only one question -- that is the question 'Who am I?'" But we come with many, many questions, as our belief that we are a person has begotten many other beliefs such as the belief that if we are to realize the truth, we are to behave in a certain way, that we should or should not eat and drink certain things, that love is an object that one person can give to or receive from another person, and so on. All such questions stand solved, the moment the question - Who am I? - is solved, when the light that we are and have always been is suddenly recognized in all perceptions, in the ones usually called 'good' no more than in the ones usually called 'bad'; in the perceptions usually called 'the world' and in perceptions called 'the ego'. Self realization is never found by attempts to change the person, the ego that we are not. It dawns, the moment it is made possible, and that is when there is a full realization of the fact that "I am noit the ego and I have no ego." I am That unimaginable something in which all things, including the thought 'I am a person' arises, and which remains over after such perceived thoughts or feelings or sensorial perceptions have dissolved into it.
contd.,
What does He mean to me?
-Wolter A. Keers:
Once Sri Bhagavan asked someone:
" How do you know that you are not realized?" If you ponder over it, you will find that this question is like an earthquake. Who says so indeed? It is the person, a mere habit of thought that says it is not realized. How can a habit of thought or, for that matter, any thought at all know what I am? On the face of it, it seems extremely humble and it is certainly most acceptable to say, "Ah, poor me, I am not realized, no, no, far from it." In reality it is lunacy to believe that though could ever know what "I am". It is the arrogance, the vanity of thought, to imagine the unimaginable and to have opinions about it.
So, pondering deeply over this question, one cannot but come to the conclusion that once again Sri Bhagavan told us the plain and naked truth, when He said, "The Self is always realized."
If you wish to have information about Britain, you do not go to the Turkish embassy, and if you wish to have information about Turkey you do not go to the British embassy. But in matters of Self-enquiry we do so all the time. We ask the not-Self about the Self and we investigate the image of the Absolute instead of realizing that the Absolute is unimaginable. A Turk may have visited Britain and someone from British may have lived in Turkey, but thought and thoughtlessness can never be reconciled. in an idea or image. So it is not by changing thought and though holier behaviour that the Self is realized, but through the insight that no information whatsoever can be obtained by what body and senses perceive, by what thought says or by what feeling tell us; the self is always the Self, the Absolute Reality, and can never become an object to which we might listen. So direct contemplation of the self is out of question.
But we may for instance, direct our attention to what remains over when thoughts, feelings, and sense perceptions have disappeared. Only that, which is always there, is entitled to the disappeared. Only that which is always here, is entitled to the name "I". Thoughts and feelings and perceptions leave us as fast as they have come. Therefore, we can never be anything perceived. We are that which remains over when nothing is perceived but the Presence that we are, and in which all perceptions arise.
What happens in practice, is that when awareness is directed to the Self, it dissolves into the Self and awareness becomes aware of itself.
contd.,
What does He mean to me?
Wolter A. Keers:
continues....
But it is essential, one way or the other, that the answer to the question, 'Who am I?' is clearly seen on all levels; countless are the yogis who, by directing attention to awareness, got into all kinds of samadhi, and came out just as ignorant as they were before -- and even more so. This is because it has not been shown to them that the 'I' the person, is nothing but a thought, an image which appears in Consciousness like a wave in water or a current of air in space. When the wave and the current have gone, water remains, space remains, quite unchanged, completely unaffected. What has remained water and space has remained space.
To the yogi, who has not seen this, the belief will cling thast the 'I', the person, was in samadhi, and this is perhaps more dangerous than the other superstition that "I am an ignorant person." Many people, even amongst the world famous spiritual leaders of our time,got stuck up there, in India as in the West. They talk about growing still largedr, reacher still higher states, having still purer love and so on, and completely miss the point that anything which can change is a percieved something and that we can never be defined as limited, by what is perceived within us. They talk about enjoying God's love, failing see that in love there is no 'I' to enjoy anything and that love is our real nature; that there, we are present as love, not as an "I" that loves.
It seems obvious, so evident, that 'I love' and unfortunately 'I hate', also from time to time. The question Who am I? helps us to get entangled from the ever so obvious. When we face this question, one day, the trap will release us. But face it we must.
You as an ego are born afresh infinite times every day, but there is no reality and no permanency in you, and only the telephone needs to ring to wipe out the I-thought or I feeling; and indeed, in reality you do not exist other than as an "imaginary image" in your own head. In reality you were never born...to realize all that requires courage, and lots of it, if only because it goes straight against common sense and accepted truths and respectability. But what Sri Ramana Maharhi, the radiant Master, sand for is murder!
contd.,
What does He mean to me:
Wolter A. Keers: continues....
What He wants is death of you as a body and you as a mind. He or His words propagate the total disapperance of everything you call "I" and at all levels. What we now call 'my body' is a standpoint that must go. There is no such thing. What we now call 'my thoughts, my feelings' must go. There is no such thing as 'me or 'mine'. And when the illusion 'me' goes, that which we call a body now, will be seen as non existent, unless in imagination; what we now call 'my mind' will turn out to be non-existent, unless in imagination. Whose imagination? The 'me' is part of the imagined, just like the dreamer is part of the dream. When the dream disappears, so does the dreamer.
Yogis usually make a mistake when they try to kill thought by refusing it and clubbing it on the head, the moment it appears. To them, thought is the enemy, and a very real one that must be fought. To others, equally unfortunate persons, the I-am-the-body idea is such an obstacle and such a situation of unhappiness, that they kill the body. What such misled people fail to see is that the real death they seek is the disappearance of the idea 'I am the body' and I am this mind. When thought is seen as nothing but consciousness or clarity, as nothing but a whirlpool of light, thought disappears and light remains. This is the real death that we seek, and the return to life as it really is, ever now.
When it is seen that every perception, sensorial or mental, is nothing but a movement in consciousness, in light, then, from that moment on, every perception chants the glory of this clarity, just one can see a save as a song of the sea.
Of every hundred people to who come to visit Ashrams and gurus, ninety nine come to seek food for their imaginary ego. That is why so many frauds succeed in misleading many thousands of well-intentioned people. Such imposters hand out intellectual food and even the most authentic texts, and a pleasing atmosphere for feeling, and in exchange they humbly accept their dollars.
contd.,
Extracts from Talk 146
1] Realisation is already there.
2] Is there anyone who is not realising the Self? Does anyone deny his own existence?
3] The Self is only one. If limited it is the ego. If unlimited it is Infinite and is the Reality.
4] Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and Reality will shine forth by itself.
5] The mind cannot kill itself. So your business is to find the real nature of the mind. Then you will know that there is no mind.
6] Take no notice of the ego and its activities, but see only the light behind. The quest “Who am I?” is the axe with which to cut off the ego.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weXKuURMgMs&feature=channel_video_title
Peter, I thought you may find this of interest: 'Just look away from all that happens in your mind and bring it to the feeling
"I am". The "I am" is not a direction. It is the negation of all direction.
Ultimately even the "I am" will have to go, for you need not keep on asserting
what is obvious. Bringing the mind to the feeling "I am" merely helps in
turning the mind away from everything else. When the mind is kept away from its
preoccupations, it becomes quiet. If you do not disturb this quiet and stay in
it, you find that it is permeated with a light and a love you have never known;
and yet you recognize it at once as your own nature. Once you have passed
through this experience, you will never be the same man again; the unruly mind
may break its peace and obliterate its vision; but it is bound to return,
provided the effort is sustained; until the day when all bonds are broken,
delusions and attachments end, and life becomes supremely concentrated in the
present'
Nisargadatta
hey jude, thanks
yes I know the quote you posted and NM quite well
and I interpret RM and NM as essentially advising the same, accept RM tends to say hold onto the ‘I’ and use inquiry to come back to it, where as N tends to say hold onto the ‘I am’ and simply shift attention to come back to it
that said, researching “I Am That” some time ago I found a good number of quotes where NM had advised the use of inquiry to come back to the sense of ‘I am’:
self-inquiry quotes
.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
[Tr. Dr. H. Ramamurthy]
41.
All directions, all places, all
times
Are conducive for the yoga of the
Self, so say the scriptures.
Differences of castes and orders
of life and such,
Cannot cause any difference in the
nature of knowledge.
42.
The colour of milk is one, the
colours of the cows are many,
So too the nature of knowledge,
observe the wise ones.
Sages of various marks and
attributes,
Are like the cows, their
realization is the same;
This is an example we should know.
43.
Brahman intimately pervades all,
It shines with faces in all
directions.
Established in It without pause,
Think not of difference of regions
or directions.
44.
In this world, there is no mark,
lifestyle, or tradition,
He has nothing to gain by any
action; no action is required
of him,
Nor do injunctions prescribing
action apply to him, - know
this.
45.
Moving or standing or sleeping,
Waking or taking food or water,
In the face of the wind, the cold
and the sun,
Unaffected he is, in all states,
at any times.
contd.,
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience:
Sant Jnaneswara:
Sabdha kandanam - Disproving the word:
61> Measure is praiseworthy till it seeks to measure the sky cavity. The existence of a lamp is vain if it could make darkness and nothing else.
62> Should the tongue taste the sky dainties, its name rasana would be simply a redundant name.
63> Could the wife-hood of a woman whose husband is alive have any glory if the husband is not alive? Eating the core of a plantain tree means not eating at all.
64> Does not the sun shed light on either gross or subtle objects? Yet, does he not become useless in the case of night?
65> What is there that cannot be seen by the vision? Yet, it is unable to see sleep since it cannot be had by one who is awake.
66> Were the Cakor* to search for the moon during day time, it would mean the extreme limit of futility of that search.
[a Puranic bird which is said to live only consuming moon beams]
67> A reader becomes dumb if a blank paper is put before him or a walker is rendered crippled if it were to ascend the sky cavity.
68> If the words were to get ready to demolish ignorance in confrontation, it would be a meaningless chatter.
69> Should the moon rise on a new moon's day, will it do any harm to darkness? Such becomes the state of reason [words] in point of destroying the ignorance.
70> Were one to take a meal which is not prepared, it means fasting only. One who sees without the eyesight means that he is blind.
Vichara Maala: Nochur Venkataraman:
Guru - continues...
19. How can one tortured by the burning midday sun of ego attain peace, without drinking the cool waters of Jnana which removes the the 'doership' in him. The real Guru is one who removes the heat by giving you cool waters.
20. Many are the gurus who teach a mantra or some scripturs to the disciple. But a Jnani is above all these gurus as he bestows the knowledge of the Self. He alone should be considered as a Sadguru.
21. All the other great ones merge in the Jnani. So, by constantly contemplating the Jnani, a person will be released.
22. For Atman, Atman alone is Guru, none else can be Guru. Atman alone assumes the radiant form of a Guru and appears in the external world.
23. With knowledge, those wise men who understand Guru as the Self and never as the body, gets released from the polluting influence of body consciousness.
24. Those fools who look at Guru as the body are deluded by maya as the one who sees the snake in a rope in the darkness of night.
25. One who arrests the external movement of the mind and awakens the intelligence of self abidance in a seeker through the teaching of self knowledge is a real Guru.
26. As the fragrance of a flower wafts all around the tree, so too the fragrance of realization in the form of rejuvenating peace will waft around an enlightened person.
27. In their very presence the intellect and the mind become absolutely quiet. But this fortune of meeting a Jivanmukta is very very rare.
28. If unmotivated and ceaseless devotion in the Lord is developed, the great yogis - enlightened beings will come to you by themselves attracted by that pure devotion.
29.
So, O, noble one, by all means, put heart to develop devotion. Devotion is the greatest amongst the various means to liberation.
30.
There is no doubt that thee real and supreme devotion is to meditate on the real Self. But that kind of devotion willl dawn only by the contact with illumined souls and their Grace. [dualistic bhakti will take us in its pure form to the real jnanis who will bestow para bhakti and jnana bodham].
contd.,
Ramana Smriti - A Birth Centenary Offering - 1980:
Article by Wolter A. Keers:
What does He mean to me?
continues....
But Sri Ramana Maharshi has never given me anything. When I arrived, regarding myself as a poor man in need of help, He revealed to me that I was more than a millionaire, and the source of all things. Nor has Sri Ramana Maharshi asked anything from me - not even my love or respect. It was His mere Presence that uncovered or unleashed in me what cannot be described by words, such as love or respect. It went deeper than the deepest feeling. My meeting with Him was in no way a matter of giving or receiving, even though for a long time I thought so [He had given me His love, I had given Him my heart]. It was the naked, radiant confrontation of illusion and truth, in which confrontation and illusion could not stand up. It was wiped away, but not because He wanted it. He wanted nothing, and accepted me as I was. He did not wish to change me, but He saw me as I really was -- a whirlppol of light in an ocean of light.
Perhaps it was the radiant certainty that He was, that broke through my fears and desires and enabled me to let go of the desire to enrich an imaginary 'me'. Does it mean something to you when I say that what He meant and means to me, is the mere fact, that He was what He was, and is what He is? This certainty made me face and later realize the ageless, timeless, unimaginable fact, so utterly simple, -- I am what I am the unthinkable.
contd.,
Ramana Smriti - A Birth Centenary Offering - 1980:
Article of Woler A. Keers:
What does He mean to me?
continues..
A good deal more than half of the film reels called 'my life' have been projected. I do not know how many more are waiting but what does it matter? So far as the film has shown the best and the worst; it has shown scenes of violence, death, war, blind hatred, sadness, and utter despair. It has also shown the scenes of tenderness, of exaltation, the sudden flash of insight when, suddenly for a moment, the screen remains white, and I am there, all along, on looker a moment ago, something like 'spacenes' now.
Here I sit, in the sshadown of the temple, back against its wall.
Opposite: Blazing light.
Behind Him, sand, coconut palms. A monkey walks behind Him, just a few yards away, its baby clasping itself under its protected place. Squirrels running up and down the palms. An attendant moves a fan, to protect Him from the heat./
Silence.
Somone apporaches, prostrates before Him, and hands a bundle of incense sticks to one of the attendants, who lights them. A wave of scent floats through the stillness.
What does He mean to me? What does all this mean to me? The question has now become absurd, really I look at Him. He makes it clear that I am this stillness.
The stillness that He is, the stillness that I am, is the meaning of things. To find it, people do whatever they do, hoping that it will make them happy and lead them to this stillness, that is the perfect equilibrium, deep unfathomable peace, fulfilment of everything, root of all joy where no desire can survive.
contd.,
What Does He mean to me?
Wolter A. Keers - continues....
I am the meaning of all things, the stillness behind the pictures projected, upon the screen. They all point to one thing - that I am their beholder and that their meaning dervies from me. As long as there is the belief that "I am a person" their meaning is fear and desire, pleasure and pain, the constant search for love. The moment it is revealed that I am all, the meaning changes. Love does not search for love. It recognizes it everywhere. This inmost meaning, not a thought and not a feeling, may yet be called love. That is what human beings are - love, in search of itself, a whirlpool of light in an ocean of light.
Deep dreamless sleep is the dark, dark-blue stillness, the peac e from which all things arise - the waking state, the dream. Thse states are what we call "all things". Once this is seen, the waking state, the world, is peace with form. When form dissolves, peace remains. But no "I" to speak of. The "I" is part of the states. When the states disappear, what we really are remains, nameless, I-less, formless, source of the universe that we call the waking state or dream.
He called it the "I-I", to make us understand. It has no name, for in it, there is no one to name it. Words can give only a hint. Like - I am that I am. The rest is Silencc.
I would like to give one more paragraphs from Wolter A. Keers chapter from David Godman's book The Power of the Presence - Part III.
concluded.
From David Godman's book The Power of The Presence - Volume 3:
About Wolter A. Keers: [excerpts]
.....
Roda McIver, a Bombay devotee who had been living near Sri Bhagavan for several years, took me to the Asramam a few hours later and pointed out Sri Bhagavan to me. From some distance away, I saw Him sitting on a chair in the small passageway that connected His room with the Hall where He met with visitors and devotees. The mere sight of Him made me tremble all over. It was not because of nerves or uneasiness, it was because I had come face to face with the divine. This recognition affected me so much, my body shook
involuntarily. I looked at this being who had been the focus of all my dreams, hopes and expectations for so many years. There could have been a let down, a disappointing realization, that I had come so far just to see an ordinary-looking man sitting on a chair. But this was not what I saw, not what I experienced. As I gazed at Sri Bhagavan, I felt I saw God himself sitting there. In that early morning meeting I saw a blazing light that had taken human form. It was more radiant than anything I had ever seen before.
.....
I was invited to sit down among a group of men. There were perhaps ten or twenty of us. I found a place where I could lean my back against a wall and look at Him. And then I feasted my eyes on His form. I looked, looked, and looked, soaking up every emanation of this radiance. Long, long ago, when I was very young, I had believed that God was some magnificent being, having a human form that radiated light and goodness. I had long since abandoned this childhood belief, believing it to be fairy story that was told only to credulous children. Yet now this childhood belief turned out to be true, because here before me was a human form that seemed to be made of light itself. How to describe what I experienced on that first morning? God became manifest before my eyes, announcing His Presence to me by radiating a blazing, penetrating light, a light that went right through me like X-rays.
......
contd., [excerpts only]
Wolters A. Keers chapter from the
Power of the Presence - continues...
excerpts only:
Sitting in Sri Bhagavan's presence, I felt a quiet lucidity. All thoughts and problems would be swept away, burnt in the raging fire of His Presence. But after a few hours of being alone in my room, my old thoughts and problems would eventually rise up again. I began to feel a spirit of rebellion rising within me. I felt I had to confront Sri Bhagavan with this problem. I had not come to Him for blissful experiences, I had come to Him to seek a permanent end to my mind and all its problems.
That day, when I walked in for the afternoon darshan, I refused to melt away into His radiance. This had been my usual habit up till then. I refused the blessing of mental quietness that He had been bestowing upon me every time I had so far walked into His Presence. It was a most difficult gift to refuse because His peaceful emanations were so powerful and so tempting to sink into. As I sat there, stubbornly refusing them, I had the embarrassed feeling I was slapping my own mother in the face. I persisted wit my intransigence because it was not a heavenly hour I was in search of. I was looking for lasting liberation from ignorance.
That day when I passed in front of Him and greeted Him in the traditional Indian style, a quick smile passed over His face. That was all. I somehow felt that He knew what I had come for that day. Was He smiling at the audacity of my demand, or was He smiling because He knew that I had come to understand that He had something to offer that was worth infinitely more than temporary blissful state.....Sri Bhagavan paid no attention to me at all. He seemed utterly self contained, completely detached from everything that was going in front of Him, but I knew that at subtle level He was engaging with all thoughts and desires that were being beamed at Him from the assembled masses.
contd.,
Wolter A. Keers chapter in Part III of David Godman's The Power of The Presence. excerpts only: continues...
Darshan that day was being given on the northern side of the new Hall in an open space that has now been taken over by the Samadhi Hall., Sri Bhagavan, sitting on His sofa, had His back to the granite wall of the new Hall.... I sat quite close to where Sri Bhagavan's mortal remains were eventually buried.
I began to bombard Sri Bhagavan with thoughts. With all the mental energy I could summon up, I shot out my complaint at Him.
"Bhagavan! Of what use is all your radiance to me if I cannot solve my mental problems the moment I leave you?
This, with minor variations, I repeated again and again.
Sri Bhagavan took no notice. He continued to go through His everyday routine, showing no indication that He had heard my mental complaint. Frustrated, I concentrated on Him even more. I tried to shake His indifference with my thoughts. I felt I was off. The whole force of my will was founded on one thought: I must have an answer; I must have an answer:
Finally my mental persistence paid off.
He turned in my direction and looked at me with a smile of utter amazement on His face.
'What do you want?' said His smile.
Then His expression changed, and its new configuration exclaimed: "You are looking for your glasses, and they are on your nose!"
No words passed His lips. But these messages came to me with unbelievable clarity. There was no doubt or conjecture or imagination. Sri Bhagavan continued to gaze at me. Perhaps He was waiting for some kind of response.
Suddenly His eyes emitted light and spat fire at me. I can think of no other way of describing that sudden explosion in His gaze. His powerful look went straight into me, boring away at everything that made me think I was different and separate from Him. I felt right hand side Heart centre began to get warm. I had often felt it during the course of my meditation, and I had often had the feeling of being absorbed and consumed by this centre. But this was completely different. The heart centre got warmer and warmer as He continued to gaze at me until I felt to be a hot, fiery ball, glowing inside me. It felt as if Sri Bhagavan was charging it with some immensely powerful spiritual electricity because, as He continued to look at me, I had the unmistakable feeling that this heart-centre was some kind of spiritual dynamo that was emitting sparks of light and energy. I felt as if some enormously potent electric apparatus had been suddenly transplanted into my chest. I sat rigid and straight, my eyes glued to His. Fire flowed from His glowing eyes and drilled into the core of my being.
contd.,
Wolter A. Keers chapter in David Godman's book, Part III of The Power of The Presence: excerpts only.
continues....
"Kill me," I prayed.
How long this transmission lasted, I cannot stay. Time and Space had no meaning in that never-ending moment when our eyes were locked together. At some point, I though,
I realized that my body could do no longer stand the strain. The fire in my chest had expanded to the point where I felt that I was about to explode. Mentally, I asked Him to let me go.
I had received what I had come for. In writing this account of initiation I received from Him as His eyes met mine, I realize I have only given the briefest explanation and indication of what
actually happened in those moments. There was a complete transformation, inside and out, and it all happened without a word being spoken. That communication through silence was clearer and more direct than any explanation that could have been given in words.
Sri Bhagavan had taken me to the limit of my readiness. When I felt I could not contain any more of His power, I withdrew from the encounter. I knew that three was still work to do, but I felt that the infusion of grace that Sri Bhagavan had blessed me with on that day, would do its own work, in its own time. I had received my parting gift from Him, and I could have asked for nothing more valuable.
I stayed in Tiruvannamalai, until a few days before Sri Bhagavan's passing away. By that time, there were at least a thousand people trying to see Him everyday. I felt I should leave Him alone to pass away in peace. Having received by blessing and my initiation, I gave my place in the crowd to those who might still have been seeking their own final benediction.
contd.,
Wolters A. Keers story from David
Godman's The Power of The Presence, Part III - continues... excerpts only:
Back in Bombay, I knew, though, that this metamorphosis was not enough. My two months with Sri Bhagavan had turned me inside out and upside down. My mind and heart had been illuminated by His Grace. But I also knew that the time I had spent with Him had been too short to remove all the obstacles. The states of silence, or burning ecstasy, had been wonderful, but by dwelling in them all those weeks, I had been blinded to the existence of underlying problems in my mind. Fundamental aspects of my mind had lain dormant and certain mistakes and tendencies had not been recognized. I had for instance, very strong yogic tendencies and I had always been convinced that Consciousness arose from the Kundalini. The correct view as taught by Sri Bhagavan, that Kundalini appears as Consciousness, was only pointed out o me a few weeks after Sri Bhagavan left His body. .... My stay with Sri Bhagavan ahd not wiped out my mental slate as clean as I originally thought. As my mind slowly started reactivate itself in Bombay, other thoughts arose that revealed to me that I had not fully grasped the radical essence of Sri Bhagavan's teachings and experience.... Though I was far from satisfied with my spiritual state, I did not suffer or worry to the extent I had earlier done in Europe. Being with Sri Bhagavan had given me unshakable conviction that He was looking after me. I knew that He was supervising my spiritual welfare. I knew that His guidance would never cease simply because He had shed His body.l I waited patiently, with full confidence.
Three months after His physical departure, I had a vision of Sri Bhagavan that amply justified my faith that He would continue to guide me. I used to imagine myself in the Hall, speaking with Him about the various issues that were still bothering me. During one of these imaginary exercises, I suddenly found myself transported to Sri Ramanasramam. And once more I was sitting opposite Him. I was quite close to Him, but the Hall was crowded with perhaps two hundred people. And it did not seem likely that I would get a chance to speak with Him about the problems that were bothering me.
I found myself, silently wishing, "O Bhagavan, I wish I were alone with you."
Almost immediately a person near me got up and prostrated and left. This initiated a whole procession of departures. One by one, everyone in the Hall made some kind of obeisance to Sri Bhagavan and then left. Within a couple of minutes Sri Bhagavan and I were left alone in the Hall. I edged closer and sat next to His feet.
I looked at Him and remarked: "How wonderful it is to be alone with Sri Bhagavan."
He smiled at me. How can that smile ever be described? It contained a whole world. On this occasion, I felt I was being bathed in radiant glow of love and light. At the same time, there was slight trace of humor there, a hint of amusement that my mind could still hold on to such an unenlightened position.
Very slowly, articulating each syllable, with great care, He said, "Are...you... ever... alone?"
contd.,
Wolter A. Keers story from David
Godman's The Power of The Presence:
Part III - only excerpts. continues..
This remark so typical of Sri Bhagavan, made me glow with happiness and recognition. I immediately understood what He meant.
I felt completely at home again, both physically and spiritually.
I asked Him what I should do about all the various mental problems that had arisen in the months since His physical departure. Instead of giving me specific answers to my questions, He told me that I should go and spend some time with another venerable teacher whose name I recognized when Sri Bhagavan mentioned to me. Assessing my mental state, Sri Bhagavan must have realized that I would most benefit from continuing to be in the presence of a living teacher. I followed His advice and spent several years with this man, remaining with him until I felt all my problems had been overcome.
Of course, having been with a teacher, as great as Sri Bhagavan, I wanted to know if this teacher was equally qualified.
"Is he realized?" I asked.
Sri Bhagavan replied, with a typical, cryptic answer: "He is neither realized, nor not realized!"
Initially I did not understand this remark but after a few days later, I suddenly understood that Sri Bhagavan was giving me the Jnani's view point. ...In giving this answer, Sri Bhagavan refused to deal with me at a conceptual level. He refused to take part in the labelling game, - is he enlightened or not? - that all unenlightened people love to indulge in.
I went to this man as directed by Sri Bhagavan, and in his presence, I found confirmation of everything of Sri Bhagavan had told me.
......
......
......
Looking back over the brief period of less than 2 months I spent in His Presence, and over the years that His less tangible presence has been visiting and guiding me, I find myself occasionally asking, 'Who is this Sri Bhagavan? What does He mean to me? I find it impossible to give a neat answer to this question.
But I can that He opened my heart. This is in the sense, a kind of breaking open in which the mind is flooded by a glow of divine energy that infuses one's being with happiness and burns up the notions of separateness that are the cause of all our suffering.
CONCLUDED.
R.Subramanian,
" He told me that I should go and spend some time with another venerable teacher whose name I recognized when Sri Bhagavan mentioned to me. Assessing my mental state, Sri Bhagavan must have realized that I would most benefit from continuing to be in the presence of a living teacher. I followed His advice and spent several years with this man, remaining with him until I felt all my problems had been overcome.
Of course, having been with a teacher, as great as Sri Bhagavan, I wanted to know if this teacher was equally qualified."
I find the writing of this devotee a mixed bag.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
This passage also gave me some unrest as to why should this guy who had been so generously helped by Sri
Bhagavan, to go to another teacher? He himself has further clarified, that His Presence helped him on many
occasions after Maha Nirvana. In such a situation, his going to another teacher, was something that I could not also stomach. David writes in his The Power of The Presence, that he went to Kerala and had been with some learned teacher. Later he also went to Nisargadatta Maharaj. For
such an evolved devotee, these things appear to me as spurious efforts.
R.subramanaian,
I also find this passage of Keers a sort of borrowed fiction:
"countless are the yogis who, by directing attention to awareness, got into all kinds of samadhi, and came out just as ignorant as they were before -- and even more so. This is because it has not been shown to them that the 'I' the person,is nothing but a thought, an image which appears in Consciousness like a wave in water or a current of air in space. When the wave and the current have gone, water remains, space remains, quite unchanged, completely unaffected. What has remained water and space has remained space."
I find this absolutely presumptutous,pure imagination.The rest of his writings are also mixed.
Namaskar.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram -
[Tr. Dr. H. Ramamurthy]
46.
Fear, indigence, burning fever,
indigestion --
Even when these affect
One established in the Self,
Peaceful and shining in full,
He is never at his wit's end;
he savours satisfaction
merged in the Self.
47.
"Whether going forward or
returning, I am not the one
that moves
Forward or back. When enquired
into there is no going or coming
In the ever changing dharma of
Prakrti, the cause of illusive
creation,
I never was immersed, nor am I now
48.
"All activities prescribed are
the work of Prakrti, illusion.
This Prakrti, is the source of
all action.
I am the Immaculate, I am the
Actionless," thus indeed
The wise man reflects. He is the
knower of truth.
49.
For him there is no bondage of
delusive Prakrti,
He has earned the name of the
liberated one.
He will never be touched by the
defects
Spoken of as the evolutes of
Prakrti.
50.
A lamp shines, destroying darkness
with its light.
So too destroying the enveloping
darkness arising from
inexplicable ignorance,
The Self, pure light of knowledge
shines.
contd.,
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Sabdha Kandanam: Disproving the Word.
71. Were the word to try to convey the meaning of a thing that does not exist, it would get destroyed
along with its meaning without serving any purpose.
72. Now, should it be said that ignorance does not exist? Nothing remains of the word itself in trhying to destroy ignorance.
73. Therefore, were the reason [word] to confront ignorance to destroy it, it will only bring its own destruction.
74. The death of ignorance would have established the credibility
of the word as proof; but the ignorance because of its non existence does not permit that to happen.
75. To say that the word will attain importance, by displaying the Atman its own self is something impossible.
76. Is there any country where a person gets married to self? Is there an eclipse in which the sun eclipses himself/
77. Or has it happened that - the sky proceeds to meet itself, or the sea rushes into itself, or a palm of hand touches itself?
78. Or the sun causes itself to rise, or a fruit bears another fruit, or smell enjoys its own fragrance?
79. It may be possible instantly to make all the animate and inanimate objects to drink water but can water be made to drink itself?
80. Is there a single day, among the three hundred and sixty days, of the year, when the sun could see himself with his own eyes?
contd.,
Vichara Maala : Nochur Venkataraman:
31. Through devotion the import
of the Vedic mantra - 'Everything
is pervaded by God' {Isavasyam idam sarvam] will be clear like daylight. By that experience one will get liberated.
32. By renouncing sensual pleasures the mind will become pure. To purify the mind perform actions without attachment.
33. Giving up attachment is not so easy. One has to have the contact of great saints to develop detachment. By the power of their presence, one will be free from all bonda.
34. For one who is attached
to the pleasures of family etc., it will be extremely miserable when he has to give up the enjoyment of pleasures. On the other hand, the very same renunication of pleasures itself
will confer abiding peace for a person of discrimination and passion.
35. All pleasures by their very nature are the source of misery.
A wise man even though is enjoying
them due to prarabdha should move through them with the full knowledge of their defects. With a placid mind, he experiences them and end them then and there.
36. All pleasures bonr of contact will leave us one day or other, there is no doubt about this. When they leave a person who is addicted to them they cause immense suffering of separation in him.
37. On the other hand, for a person who is dispassionate through critical undertanding of the transcient nature of pleasures will enjoy rejunvenating coolness when the pleasures leave him by themselves.
38. Those pleasures which are by prarabdha unavoidable should be experienced without any attachment - i.e. desire to continue them. By this, the tendency to enjoy them will be extinguished.
39. One should give up attachment and aversion to all experiences with the contemplation that everything is divine. With this deifying vision if one extinguishes the force of prarabdha, one will attain the
ground of one's being very quickly.
40. Misery visits the embodied beings by the grace of the Lord only to give them total disapassion in the enjoyment of worldly pleasures. So one should not despise misery. Grace comes in disguise of misery. Only an intelligent seeker will recognize the pressence of Lord's grace during immsense misery. Every misery is an affectionate letter from the Lord with his loving signature.
contd.,
Ramana Smrti:
T.K. Sundaresa Iyer:
On a Sivaratri day, after dinner, Sri Bhagavan was reclining on the sofa surrounded by many devotees.
A sadhu suggested that, since this was a most auspicious night, the meaning of the verses, in praise
of Sri Dakshinamurty should be made clear. Sri Bhagavan gave His approval and all were eagerly waiting for Him to say something.
He simply sat, gazing at us. We were gradually absorbed in ever deepening silence, which was not disturbed by the clock striking the hour, every hour, until ast 4. am. None moved or talked. Time and space ceased to exist. Sri Bhagavan's grace kept us in peace and silence for seven hours! In this silence, Sri Bhagavan taught us the ultimate, like Dakshinamurty. At the stroke of four, Sri Bhagavan asked us whether we had understood the meaning of silence. Like waves on the infinite ocean of bliss, we fell at Sri Bhagavan's feet.
****
Ramana Smrti:
Sage - Acting:
Wei Wu Wei:
If someone were to ask what are the greatest words recorded as having spoken by Sri Ramana Maharshi, despite the immense range of choice one might reply without hestitation - the adjective 'greatest' being taken to imply 'of greatest import'. Factually the words were wirtten rather than spoken, in the form in which I know them, introducing His Upadesa Saram.
They are "It is not by action but by renunciation of action that one attains Liberation."
Could any words be more fundamental? Surely nothing expressed in relative language could point more directly towards reintegration.
Let us examine them more closely. What is action? In relativity it denotes 'reaction'. The Maharshi is speaking of positive acting, so that its repudiation produces the absence of that kind of acting
which is volitional and reactive, leaving acting which is non reacting, which is not action by a 'self' but is being acted, letting be acted, pure and direct acting, acting which is not reaction.
Such, surely, is Sage-Acting.
*****
Honouring the Great One:
Marie B. Byles:
[Ramana Smrti: A Birth Centenary Offering - 1980]:
When a great one dies, his followers sseek to make his teaching which has meant so much to them, known to others. Hence arises the custom of celebrating the birth and death anniversaries of the Great Ones who have passed from mortal sight. When he has been dead for many years, the dates tend to get a little mixed and be celebrated at different times in different countries, and miraculous things take place on these dates, or so the records say.
When Buddha was dying one of the monks noted that sweet music sounded and the Sal trees were flowering out of season and dropping their flowers upon him. The monk is said to have remarked that even the trees were honouring him. The Buddha replied and we cannot off often remember that reply:
"It is not by this fact, I am honoured. I am honoured by the monk and nun and the devout layman and laywoman who walk according to the precepts and honour the Dhamma.
In our endeavours to make thje teaching of Sri Bhagavan Ramana known on this anniversary of His birth, let us remember that it is not by commemoration of such events, desirable though they be but living our lives in accordance with His teachings that we honour Him. Do we ceaselessly ask ourselves, "Who am I?" Do we look within and find that we are not the body or the mind and still less the troublesome ego. Are we always conscious that we are the spiritual life which is beyond all words and all descriptions? Do we remember to leave self behind and hold fast to the Self beyond name and form? In thus constantly practicing Sri Bhagavn Ramana's teachings do we truly honour Him.
*****
What is Neo-Advaita? James Swartz:
Aradhan, 2007 of Mountain Path:
In the Eighties, the Western spiritual world became reacquainted with Sri Ramana Maharshi, a great Sage in the Vedic tradition, who had achieved international recognition around the middle of the century but, though greatly respected, did not have a significant following since His leaving the mortal coil in the Fifties. The rediscovery of Sri Ramana roughly coincided with the rise of "Neo Advaita", a Satsangh based 'movement' tha has little in common with Sri Ramana except the idea of moksha, freedom from the problems of samsara.
What accounts for the popularity of the Neo Advaita movement? I think it would be fair to say that the secret lies more in the sangh than the sat. The Sanskrit word Sat means 'what is', in other words, the nondual Self. The word Sangh from Sanga means an association or a company of like minded people. What Sat and Sanga are combined, it means 'keeping the company of Truth', the Self, in other words, an inquiring mind fixed on the Self. Since only a mind that is properly prepared is capable of achieving this condition and Neo Advaita has no technique for producing this kind of mind, we have to look outselves to understand its appeal.
The breakdown of the traditional family structure in Western societies since World War II produced two generations of love-starved middle class people. The amazing popularity of Ammaji, the 'hugging' saint, testifies to this sad fact. So I think it is not unreasonable that the sense of 'community' provided by a Sangh explains the appeal of Neo Advaita, not its power to transform the mind or its teachings of enlightenment. Perhaps it would have an even greater appeal were it to teach that the inner Self is Parama Prema Swarupa -- of the nature of non dual love.
contd.,
What is Neo Advaita? James Swartz:
continues...
Neo Advaita then, it seems, is actually a lifestyle dedicated to solving the Western problem of alienation, throug providing social contact, than a legitimate sadhana. In Vedic culture the lifestyle that prepares the mind is called sadhana, the "means of attainment". Sadhana is a time honoured method that creates an inner Sanga between the conflicting parts of psyche. It is an evoluationary approach because the mind is very conservative instrument, much extroverted by the pressure of vasanas, the subconscious tendencies that produce the samsaric state of mind. So progress is incremental, if not downright glacial. It is not uncommon that many years are required to produce an integrated, clear and balanced mind, one capable of Self realization. Neo Advaita does not endorse sadhana because the children of the modern age are conditioned to the idea of instant gratification.
The Neo Advaitic saying, "No method, no Path, no Guru, no Ego" seems to echo the "not this, not this" appraoch found in traditional Vedanta. Negate everything and the ever-free Self is realized by default! But here the apparent similarity ends.
Perhaps the best way to approach Neo Advaita is not so much by what it teaches as by what it doesn't. Probably the most obvious omission from the standpoint of traditional Vedanta is burdened with a democratic ethos, the idea being that anyone fresh off the street can gain instant enlightenment. Traditional Vedanta disagrees, insisting instead that a seeker be discriminating, dispassionate, calm of mind, and endoresed with a 'burning' desire for liberation along with secondary qualifications like devotion, faith, perseverance and so on. In other words, it requires, a mature adult not under the spell of his or her likes and dislikes, with a one-pointed desire to know the Truth.
The reason for this insistence is based on the fact that enlightenment takes place in the mind. An unprepared, immature mind, buffeted by the strong winds of fear and desire, is incapable of grasping and retaining the knowledge. "I am limitless Awareness, and this body/mind."
And it is by this knowledge alone -to quote Sri Ramana and Sri Sankara before Him -- the freedom is realized. A Neo Advaita guru
espousing this view wouod find it difficult indeed to find disciples.
contd.,
What is Neo Advaita?: Aradhana - 2007 of Mountain Path:
James Swartz: continues....
It would be impossible to under estimate the importance of Karma Yoga in Vedic tradition. Karma Yoga is an attitude that one takes with respect to one's actions and the results of one's actions. It is based on the understanding that a person has every right to act, with the idea of getting a certain result, but that the result is not under the control of the doer of the action. The result is a consequence of the appropriateness and timeliness of the action and the nature of the field in which the action happens. Because the results of one's action are not up to the doer, whatever result, postive or negative, comes, it should be gladly accepted as a 'gift' from God. Because it is the identification of the doer with the action and its result that produces binding vasanas, the Karma Yoga attitude reduces the vasana load and eventually causes attention to turn inward and meditate on the Self. A mind prepared for Self Realization, becomes peaceful, pure, and rock-solid. It takes pleasure in itself and is indifferent to the temporary joys that come from the senses and their objects. A mind prepared by Karma Yoga is well qualified for Self Realization.
Karma Yoga is not taught in the Neo Advaitic world not only because it dismisses the idea of doership outright, but because the application of the Karma Yoga attitude requires patience and dilgence, qualities not in evidence of in people seeking instant enlightenment. Karma Yoga requires continuous monitoring of one's motivations and reactions to curb the subjective and objective happenings and the willingness to change one's attitude when observation reveals it to be vasana producing. It requires great awareness and diligence because the vasanas continually divert spiritual practices, change is incremental and gradual.
contd.,
Subramanian
James Swartz collected his ideas on Vedanta from Swami Dayananda. These differ from Bhagavan's in several crucial respects. Swartz in his writings, for example, insists that 'enlightenment takes place in the mind' whereas Bhagavan taught that moksha was mano-nasa, the extinction of mind.
Swartz regards karma yoga as an essential preliminary to successful sadhana. Bhagavan clearly did not.
I discussed Swami Dayananda's and Swartz's views on Bhagavan and his teachings in a 2008 post. You can find it here:
http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/10/through-knowledge-or-through-practice.html
There are some links there that cover the subject in more depth.
On an unrelated topic I was unable to locate a copy of Tiruchuzhi Venba Antadi that you asked me about. If a copy comes my way, I will let you know.
Dear David,
Thank you for your clarification.
In fact when I read and wrote later about the Karma Yoga portion of the article, I found it to be inconsistent with Sri Bhagavan's teachings. In the same way, author writes about the need of yajna also later in the article, which is not in Sri Bhagavan's scheme of things. Sri Bhagavan agreed to the chanting of Vedas and also the Sri Chakra installation in Mother's Temple, but He did not indicate any great importance to yajna.
I think, I shall not write further part of this article.
Thank you,
Friends,
An excerpt from The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Two ways of Yoga
MANILAL: "What then is our duty?"
MASTER: "To remain somehow united with God. There are two ways: karmayoga and
manoyoga. Householders practise yoga through karma, the performance of duty.
There are four stages of life: brahmacharya, garhasthya, vanaprastha, and sannyas.
Sannyasis must renounce those karmas which are performed with special ends in view; but
they should perform the daily obligatory karmas, giving up all desire for results. Sannyasis
are united with God by such karmas as the acceptance of the staff, the receiving of alms,
going on pilgrimage, and the performance of worship and japa.
"It doesn't matter what kind of action you are engaged in. You can be united with God
through any action provided that, performing it, you give up all desire for its result.
"There is the other path: manoyoga. A yogi practising this discipline doesn't show any
outward sign. He is inwardly united with God. Take Jadabharata and Sukadeva, for
instance. There are many other yogis of this class, but these two are well known. They
shave neither hair nor beard.
"All actions drop away when a man reaches the stage of the paramahamsa. He always
remembers the ideal and meditates on it. He is always united with God in his mind. If he
ever performs an action it is to teach men.
"A man may be united with God either through action or through inwardness of thought,
but he can know everything through bhakti. Through bhakti one spontaneously experiences
kumbhaka. The nerve currents and breathing calm down when the mind is concentrated.
Again, the mind is concentrated when the nerve currents and breathing calm down. Then
the buddhi, the discriminating power, becomes steady. The man who achieves this state is
not himself aware of it.
Efficacy of bhakti-yoga
"One can attain everything through bhakti yoga. I wept before the Mother and prayed, 'O
Mother, please tell me, please reveal to me, what the yogis have realized through yoga and
the jnanis through discrimination.' And the Mother has revealed everything to me. She
reveals everything if the devotee cries to Her with a yearning heart. She has shown me
everything that is in the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Puranas, and the Tantra."
Namaskar.
Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
"All worship and spiritual discipline are directed to one end alone, namely, to get rid of
worldly attachment. The more you meditate on God, the less you will be attached to the
trifling things of the world. The more you love the Lotus Feet of God, the less you will
crave the things of the world or pay heed to creature comforts. You will look on another
man's wife as your mother and regard your own wife as your companion in spiritual life.
You will get rid of your bestial desires and acquire godly qualities. You will be totally
unattached to the world. Though you may still have to live in the world, you will live as a
jivamnukta. The disciples of Sri Chaitanya lived as householders in a spirit of detachment.
"You may quote thousands of arguments from Vedanta philosophy to a true lover of God,
and try to explain the world as a dream, but you cannot shake his devotion to God. In spite
of all your efforts he will come back to his devotion.
"A man born with an element of Siva becomes a jnani; his mind is always inclined to the
feeling that the world is unreal and Brahman alone is real. But when a man is born with an
element of Vishnu he. develops ecstatic love of God. That love can never be destroyed. It
may wane a little now and then, when he indulges in philosophical reasoning, but it
ultimately returns to him increased a thousandfold."
Namaskar.
Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
After the devotees had left the Master, Mahimacharan brought Hazra to the room. M. was
present. Mahima said to Sri Ramakrishna: "Sir, I have a complaint against you. Why have
you asked Hazra to go home? He has no desire to return to his family."
Duty to one's mother
MASTER: "His mother has told Ramlal how much she is suffering on account of his being
away from home; so I have asked Hazra to go home, at least for three days, and see her.
Can anyone succeed in spiritual discipline if it causes suffering for. his mother? While
visiting Vrindiivan I had almost made up my mind to live there, when I remembered my
mother. I said to myself, 'My mother will weep if I stay away from her.' So I returned here
with Mathur Babu. Besides, why should a jnani like Hazra be afraid of going back to the
world?"
MAHIMA, (with a smile): "Sir, that would be a pertinent question if Hazra were a jnani."
MASTER (smiling): "Oh, Hazra has attained everything. He has just a little attachment to
the world because of his children and a small debt. As people say, my aunt is now in perfect
health, only she is slightly ill!"
MAHIMA: "Where, sir, is Hazra's knowledge?"
MASTER (smiling): "Oh, you don't know! Everybody says Hazra is quite a man.
Everybody knows that he lives in the Dakshineswar temple garden. People talk of nothing
but Hazra. Who would bother to mention my name?" (All laugh.)
HAZRA: "You, sir, are incomparable. You have no peer in the world.Therefore nobody
understands you."
MASTER: "There you are! To be sure, no one can have dealings with the incomparable. So
why should people mention me at all?"
MAHIMA: "What does he know, sir? He will do your bidding."
MASTER: "That is not so. You had better ask him about it. He said to me, 'You and I are
on even terms.'"
MAHIMA: "He argues a great deal."
MASTER: "Now and then he teaches me a lesson. (All laugh.) Sometimes I scold him
when he argues too much. Later, when I am lying in bed inside the mosquito curtain, I feel
unhappy at the idea of having offended him. So I leave the bed, go to Hazra, and salute
him. Then I feel peace of mind.
(To Hazra) "Why do you address the Pure Atman as 'Isvara'? The Pure Atman is inactive
and is the Witness of the three states. When I think of the acts of creation, preservation, and
destruction, then I call the Pure Atman 'Isvara'. What is the Pure Atman like? It is like a
magnet lying at a great distance from a needle. The needle moves, but the magnet lies
motionless, inactive."
The beauty of the Kathamrita is that it gives not just the 'teachings' but the contextual setting ,enhancing the 'application',not to speak of the Humour and intimate,downright simple way in which these are expressed.
The Great Master talks to others as their Equal,sharing their sense and sensibility,yet driving home the central point that God alone is Real.
Namaskar.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
[Dr. H. Ramamurthy]
51.
Just as fire, with the fuel
consumed vanishes into the
unmanifest
So too the yogi contemplating,
without break, the Self attains
[to the unmanifest].
52.
When a pot is carried, though
the space within the pot,
Is conceived of as carried,
Is it no solely the pot that is
carried?
The Self too, like Space, remains
motionless.
53.
When the pot breaks, the space in
the pot
Merges with the great Space.
When the inert body passes away,
the Self, seemingly in the body
Becomes immediately one with the
Supreme Self.
54.
Thus, the Authority [behind
creation] the omnisciennce Lord
Spoke on that occasion [to his
son Guha] with finality;
"One who is liberated, freed from
all bondage
Realizes omni-presence and
endless absolute Awareness."
55.
Discarding totally all the agamas,
Attaining the taintless samadhi
of merging in the Self
Realizing that nothing further
remains to be done
Destroy all wrong ideas in the
mind, of difference.
contd.,
Ramana Smrti: 1980:
Shantamma:
Once, the Maharaja of Mysore, visited the Asramam. He would
not visit Sri Bhagavan in the Hall
and asked for a private interview.
We were perplexed, for Sri Bhagavan never allowed such a thing. Whatever had to be said was said in public, by letter or in the mind. Finally, it was decided to bring the Maharaja in when Sri Bhagavan was having His bath. The Maharaja entered the bathroom and we were all standing outside. Trays and trays of costly presents
and all kinds of sweets and dainties were offered at Sri Bhagavan's feet. For ten minutes, the Maharaja just stood lookin gand then prostrated before Sri Bhagavan. Tears flowing from his eyes actually made Sri Bhagavan's feet. He sobbed for sometime and went away.
The Maharaja had told Him: "They made me a Maharaja and bound me to the throne. For the sin of being born a king I lost the chance of sitting at your feet and serving in your glorious presence. I cannot stay here and I do not hope to come again. Only these few minutes are mine. I can only pray for your grace."
After sometime, the Asramam received a long letter from the Maharaja in his own handwriting. At the end, he had wanted to know where he could get the incense sticks used in the Asramam. They were Mysore incense sticks, but what could not be purchased was their fragrance, when they were glowing in Bhagavan's presence.
****
Ramana Smrti: 1980:
Shantamma:
One day, when I was still new in the kitchen, I served Sri Bhagavan with a few more pieces of potato than the rest. Sri Bhagavan noticed
it and got very angry with me. He turned His face away, and would not look at those who were serving good. I could not make out the cause of His anger and wondered who it was who had offended Him. The women who worked in the kitchen would collect around Him to take leave of Him in the evening, after the work was over. Usually He would exchange a few words with us, enquire who was accompanying us, whether we had a lantern, and so on. That day, He gave me a sign to come near. "What did you do tonight?" "I don't know Swami, have I done something wrong?" "You served me more curry than others?" "What does it matter, I did it with love and devotion." "I felt ashamed to eat more than others. Have you come all this way to stuff me with food? You should always serve me less than others." "But, Bhagavan,
how can I treat you worse than others?" "Is this the way to please me? Do you hope to earn grace through potato curry?"
"Forgive me, Bhagavan! I shall respect your wishes." "The more you love my people, the more you love me." said Sri Bhagavan finally. The matter was closed.
****
Vichara Maala: Nochur Venkataraman:
41. Whatever misery comes, it should be known as nothing but the grace of the Self. By the experience of that, all the effects of the accumulated past actions will be burnt instantaneously.
42. A wise man should endure all pains with the attitude of penance, when they come in one's life as the effect of past evil deeds.
43. Realization dawns when the effects of sinful deeds are extinguished. The effects of action will be extinguished by experiencing them without attachment or aversion.
44. "O Lord! let me have constant experience of miseries." Thus prayed Kunti, the best among the knowers of spiritual secret, to the Lord. Kunti prayed for more and more sorrow in her life, so that she could ever remember Krishna and seek refuge in him.
45. Sorrow is the root cause of dispassion especially for those who are attached to the family life etc., The Lord blessed his devotees by giving them painful experiences and these experiences operate in them as an involuntary tapas.
46. The wind of grace blows on him who is totally purified through dispassion. The force of that wind of grace will take him to the divine presence of a Jnana Desika.
*****end of chapter on Guru.
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Sabdha Kandanam: Disproving the Word:
81. When the God of destruction gets angry he will burn the three worlds. But beyond that can he burn the fire itself?
82. Has even the God Brahma any means to stand before himself without a mirror?
83. Can the vision enter itself, or can the taste taste itself, or can one who is awake awaken himself? It has never happened.
84. How can it be that the sandal wood should apply its paste to itself, or the colour paint itself or a pearl wear its own lustre?
85. How could it happen -- gold testing its own fineness, or he lamp lighting its own light or liquidity merging into liquid state?
86. The Lord Siva, hled the moon on his crown but can the moon hold herself on her head?
87. How can Knowledge call on the Atman who is crystallized Knowledge only?
88. It is not possible to know
oneself by one's own senses of knowledge in the way the eyes cannot by themselves see them.
89. The knowledge can know itself as the object of knowledge, only if a mirror can see itself in it.
90. The knife can rush and pierce anything even beyond the visible horizon but can it pierce its own body?
contd.,
Modern Advaita - Its Lure and Snares: Swami Tanmaya Chaitanya:
[Mountain Path - Advent 2007]
Advaita Vedanta is a spiritual tradition whose authority begins coevally with the origin of Vedas, a sacred body of revealed knowledge that was not man made.
[apuresheyam]. This sublime heritage has been the heart of Hindu spirituality and in India today, continues to be an energetic catalyst. It has endured the past thousands of years and remains as valid today as it was from the unreachable past.
A disturbing trend has been emerging in modern times, where a new breed of spiritual movement, generally answering to Neo Advaita, claims to guide many new seekers but is actually fraught with wrong impressions. It rests on a dubious logic regarding what Advaita Vedanta really means. As its own core is the mistaken hypothesis that all one need to 'do' is to be oneself and 'just see' the truth. Our everyday mind is regarded as irrelevant and the clearing of all its cobwebs is deemed redundant nuisance because you are already That and therefore nothing further is needed. The burning issue How? is dismissed glibly as a wrong question!
In traditional Vedanta the emphasis is placed on first purifiying and preparing the mind before one can begin to grasp and realize the higher teachings. It is clear we do have a mind and it cannot be simply wished away. All knowledge takes place nowhere else other than in the mind and only by educating it along the right lines one can ever hope to reach a stage where it becomes possible to transcend thought and see oneself as the actionless Consciousness. Sri Bhagavan reveals the dichotomy of thinking in spurious peddlers of Advaita by pointing out the inconsistency of people "who want to give up all efforts only when it comes to sadhana" while never flinching from utmost exertions to secure all creature comforts in the realm of everyday life. [vyavahara].
contd.,
The Sage's Activity in Inactivity:
{Golden Jubilee Souvenir - 1946:
Eliza Maillart.]
....Sooner or later, Westerners who come to know the Maharshi feel constrained to say how puzzled they are by the inactivity of the Sage. "Why doesn't He help the world? Preach? Travel? Condemn this? Advise that? Humanity is committing suicide; surely it is urgent to do something about it." We come from a continent where six months of beastly cold weather might partly explain that particular genius which forces us to be physically active, to be on the move all the time, to shape things with our hands, our will altering the spects as well as the dimensions of the earth.
The Maharshi has already met such reiterated remarks with many a wise or witty answer. Slowly the Westerner might have learned a few things -- among them the truth that the thought precedes action. One must first of all learn to think properly and having done so one can hope for right action to follow.
Even when we go to the East, in search of its wisdom, we remain at the level of understanding of the hurried visitor, who, having identified with his body, is convinced that one has to be visibly active. It is perhaps unnecessary to explain to him that inactivity is the basis of its corollary, activity; that the useful wheel could not exist or work without a motionless centre. It is unnecessary to comment upon the verse of the Bhagavad Gita about seeing inacitivity in activity and activity in inactivity, which proves that one can eventually be established beyond such opposites.
But with reference to the standpoint of the common man I would like to make a remark that might interest a few of my friends at home. That remark is borne out by what I felt strongly at Tiruvannamalai.
Even supposing that such great ones as the Maharshi could be really inactive, that they simply sat among us but were otherwise lost to the world, neither meditating, praying, nor receiving the respects of their devotees, even were such an impossible case possible -- I say their activity is tremendous. They are the salt of the earth. Their influence spreads out far away and is unconsciously felt even by workers hardly ever giving a thought to such sages. Something intangible emanates from these realized men; rather, what they stand, for permeates the land they inhabit. Odeur de saintete... they sanctify the place through their presence. A kind of euilibrium is brought into being in the mind of the people. Whatever happens -- good or bad -- in the daily life of these men, everything seems to be in order because the Sage is there.
****
Tirumandiram - Tirumular:
Tantra 7 - Ch.31 Bodhan - Lord as
Giver of Light of Jnana -
Verse 2017:
Jivanena Sivanennna veRillai,
Jivanaar Sivanaarai aRihilar
Jivanaar Sivanaarai aRinthapin
Jivanaar Sivanittu iruppare.
Jiva and Siva
Separate are not;
Jiva knows not Siva;
When Jiva knows Siva,
Jiva becomes Siva.
Siva and Jiva are one and the same. With the knowledge of Siva, [after conquering ignorance] Jiva becomes Siva.
Verse 2018:
GuNaviLakkahiya kootha piranum
MaNaviLakkahiya mannuirk kellam,
BanaviLakkahiya palthalai nagam,
GaNaviLakkahiya kaNkaaNi aahume.
The Dancing Lord is the Light benovalent,
He is joyous Light for creation of all;
He adorns many hooded serpent with gemlike shining eyes
He is the cluster of lights that overseas all.
****
Tirumandiram - Tirumular:
Tantra 8: Suddha-asuddham:
Verse 2555:
Thooyathu vaaLaa vaithathu thooneRi
Thooyathu vaaLa nathan tirunamam
Thooyathu vaaLa attama siddhiyum
Thooyathu vaaLa thooyadich cholle.
Purity in Silence is the way of purity;
Purity in Silence is Lord's Name;
Purity in Silence are siddhis eight;
Purity in Silence are the holy feet.
Verse 2556:
PoruLathu vaininRa puNNiyan enthai
AruLathu poRRum adiyavar anRich
ChuraLathu vai ninRa thunbach chuzhiyil
MaruLathu vaach chintai mayanguhinRare.
The quintessnece of Truth is my Holy Father
Only they who adore Him
Are in His grace accepted;
The rest,
Caught in whirl of misery,
In the dark stupor lie.
****
Hi Mr.David,
You say:
Swartz regards karma yoga as an essential preliminary to successful sadhana. Bhagavan clearly did not.
Just on the above specific point with due respect:I would remind Bhagawan on many occassions suggested different paths to different people based on their evolution.The very word Vedanta(Veda + anta) itself says that the Jnaana part of Vedas is the 'Later' part, one that comes after Purva(prior) which is Karma.I believe Karma is mainly to get rid of Klesaas(tamas).There is no need of any debate on this.People can try different paths briefly and can come to a conclusion.In the first place for many people the choice is natural like what type of food you prefer.For some in the transition stages these doubts do appear.But most follow a combination of different paths.I personally believe introduction of Atma Vichara to the unripe would result in an unbalanced development of 'stuck in the rut'.It would result in a premature development of Sattva at the expense of Rajas and then what is left is a bit of Tamas and Sattva which I am calling stuck in the rut.This same point I tried to put to a famous Abbot by questioning the validity of preaching Mindfulness to the Laymen.For a layman Daana and Seela are primary.I believe it is not for a reason that Jnaana has been riddled in the Bible and Koran and why the Vaishnavites condemn the Advaitins.I believe all the paths starting with Chaaravaka,Hatha Yoga,Raja/Kundalini Yoga,Kriya,Right and Left Saaktheyam,Karma,Bhakthi,Neti-Neti,Intellect(Mano vichara) to Atma Vichara are perfect and valid paths to those that are suitable to it.THERE IS NO SHORTCUT.One cannot jump up to the top floor.One has to walk up stair by stair unless ofcourse Moksha/Liberation can be given and taken.ofocurse one can rock the boat by Atma Vichara but the process will be equivally violent like the Kundalini awakening of the famous Gopi Krishna.
Regards,
-z
z/friends,
I agree with z.To say that sri Bhagavan did not consider Karma marga as a preliminary aid(indispensable or otherwise)seems to fall flat-as Sri Bhagavan has said that Self enquiry is for the matured ones.He just did not debar anyone from attempting it;on the contrary he encouraged all those who wanted to practise it.
Sri Bhagavan's upadesa undhiyar verses 3 and 4 makes this position very clear-that a mind steeped in the ways of desire and fulfilment of desires through action cannot be directly lifted to practise self Enquiry.
I came across this myopic statement by Michael james in his prelude to upadesa undiyar(posted on David's website):
"Knowing how gross and unrefined the minds of the ascetics had become due to their long-standing attachment to karma, Lord Siva knew that it would not be possible to bring them immediately to the path of Self-enquiry, which alone is the direct path to liberation. Therefore He had to guide them towards the path of Self-enquiry in a gradual and roundabout way. That is why in the first fifteen verses of Upadesa Undiyar it was necessary for Sri Bhagavan to summarize the paths of nishkamya karma, bhakti and yoga, which Lord Siva first had to teach to the ascetics in order to elevate their minds gradually to the level of maturity in which they could understand that liberation can ultimately be attained only through the path of Self-enquiry. Only after summarizing those paths could Sri Bhagavan begin in verse 16 to summarize His own path of Self-enquiry, which is the true path of jnana.
Either due to their not knowing the story which led to the origin of Upadesa Undiyar, or due to their not having deeply pondered over the connection which exists between that story and the content of Upadesa Undiyar, many devotees have wrongly assumed that Upadesa Undiyar or Upadesa Saram is the essence of Sri Ramana’s teachings. However, from the facts which we have seen above, it will be clear to the reader that Sri Bhagavan did not write this work with the intention of setting forth the essence of His own teachings, but only with the intention of setting forth the essence of the teachings which Lord Siva gave in ancient days to the ascetics in the Daruka Forest according to their own level of mental maturity."
Why should sri Muruganar leave this work to be composed by Sri Bhagavan if it had only a narrative significance?Why should Sri Bhagavan set forth in such a wonderful and concise,graded manner the teachings of siva(as if siva was someone who lived in the past and that his teachings were valid only to those ignorant rishis who lived at that time!)if it had only a historical and temporal value!???
Does Michael James believe that the present day seekers are more qualified and ready to pursue Self Enquiry than the tapasvis of the 'Old World'????
We only need to recall Echammal's story of plucking the bael leaves for doing archana to Sri Bhagavan and seshadri swami-how when she complained to Sri Bhagavan that she was finding it hard to find the leaves in the required quantity-Sri Bhagavan avised her to just pinch herself in place of every leaf that she had planned to offer!When Echammal protested saying that it would be painful,Sri Bhagavan drove home the point that it would pain the Tree if its leaves are plucked.when echammal asked Sri bhagavan as to why he did not advise her in the first instance when she proposed to perform the puja,he simply told her-"Should not one know that plucking leaves would be painful to the Tree."
This is typical of Sri Bhagavan in that he simply allowed the freedom to devotees to find their bearings,at the same time encouraging them to do Self Enquiry.He did advocate other paths depending on the seeker.
Namaskar.
Ravi and Z
It is true that Bhagavan gave advice that suited the predilections of the people he was speaking to. In Talks, 30th January 1935, there is the following exchange:
D.: Yes, yes, I see! Sri Krishna has said in the Gita that work must be performed without attachment and such work is better than idleness. Is it Karma Yoga?
M.: What is said is given out to suit the temperament of the hearers.
However, when he was asked to rank the various yogas in order of usefulness and effectivness, karma yoga always came last. This is from 'Talks', talk no. 27
D.: How are they practised?
M.: An examination of the ephemeral nature of external phenomena leads to vairagya. Hence enquiry (vichara) is the first and foremost step to be taken. When vichara continues automatically, it results in a contempt for wealth, fame, ease, pleasure, etc. The ‘I’ thought becomes clearer for inspection. The source of ‘I’ is the Heart - the final goal. If, however, the aspirant is not temperamentally suited to Vichara Marga (to the introspective analytical method), he must develop bhakti (devotion) to an ideal - may be God, Guru, humanity in general, ethical laws, or even the idea of beauty. When one of these takes possession of the individual, other attachments grow weaker, i.e., dispassion (vairagya) develops. Attachment for the ideal simultaneously grows and finally holds the field. Thus ekagrata (concentration) grows simultaneously and imperceptibly - with or without visions and direct aids.
In the absence of enquiry and devotion, the natural sedative pranayama (breath regulation) may be tried. This is known as Yoga Marga. If life is imperilled the whole interest centres round the one point, the saving of life. If the breath is held the mind cannot afford to (and does not) jump at its pets - external objects. Thus there is rest for the mind so long as the breath is held. All attention being turned on breath or its regulation, other interests are lost. Again, passions are attended with irregular breathing, whereas calm and happiness are attended with slow and regular breathing. Paroxysm of joy is in fact as painful as one of pain, and both are accompanied by ruffled breaths. Real peace is happiness. Pleasures do not form happiness. The mind improves by practice and becomes finer just as the razor’s edge is sharpened by stropping. The mind is then better able to tackle internal or external problems. If an aspirant be unsuited temperamentally for the first two methods and circumstantially (on account of age) for the third method, he must try the Karma Marga (doing good deeds, for example, social service). His nobler instincts become more evident and he derives impersonal pleasure. His smaller self is less assertive and has a chance of expanding its good side. The man becomes duly equipped for one of the three aforesaid paths. His intuition may also develop directly by this single method.
This is a clear statement that Bhagavan thought that the practice of karma yoga was only for those who were unfit for other methods or temperamentally unsuited to them. It is not regarded as an essential preliminary to other more effective methods.
In my most recent post 'Bhagavan as I knew him' Devaraja Mudaliar concluded his contribution with the following remarks:
Though Bhagavan always said this vichara method was the best, he almost always added, ‘If you say this method is too hard for you, or if you are too weak to follow it, you had better completely surrender to God. The same result will follow.’
Thus he advocated the bhakthi method almost in equal measure, saying that the bhakta will eventually come to realise there is only the Self and not a dichotomy of God and devotee. I never, however, saw Bhagavan recommend either the karma yoga or raja yoga methods.
David/Friends,
"This is a clear statement that Bhagavan thought that the practice of karma yoga was only for those who were unfit for other methods or temperamentally unsuited to them. It is not regarded as an essential preliminary to other more effective methods."
I will respond to this interesting subject in snippets,as i do not have time(and the skill as well!)to deal with this in a wholistic all encompassing ,definitive manner.
Let me begin with a few small preliminary statements:
1.Atma or the Self is subtler than the subtlest and it does require a subtle mind to perceive(may not be the Right word!)the Self.
2.It follows from the above statement that a Gross mind steeped in desires and attachments has to be made subtle(by whatever means)and prepared in this manner to be fit for the perception of the Fundamental Truth of one's existence-The Self or God.
3.It is not as if Jnana ,Bhakti or Karma are distinct,discrete processes-All are concommitant.When the activity is Gross,we conveniently call it Karma and when it is subtle we call it Jnana Vicahara-All are activity only ranging from Gross to subtle.
All activity has to be imbued with Attention and Devotion to become fit to be called 'Yoga'.
With this preliminary statements,I would like to understand what Si Bhagavan says in this statement which again confirms that Sri Bhagavan is advocating a Graded process:
"M.: An examination of the ephemeral nature of external phenomena leads to vairagya. Hence enquiry (vichara) is the first and foremost step to be taken. When vichara continues automatically, it results in a contempt for wealth, fame, ease, pleasure, etc. The ‘I’ thought becomes clearer for inspection.
I understand that Sri Bhagavan is emphasising that 'Discrimination' needs to be there to develop 'Vairagya'and it is only when these are there that the 'I' thought becomes clearer for inspection.(We can understand the limitations of the Translator in conveying what Sri Bhagavan actually said!Yet we can get the Drift of what he said).
Now examining of the 'ephemeral nature of External phenomena ' cannot be done in isolation but only in one's relationship with the world process.This relationship necessarily would involve Karma and when done with Attention(Discrimination is uncovered by this attention)it is part of Karma Yoga process.Without this attention,it just adds to the load of Karma.
This is what the Gita says that Karma yoga is Skill in works-and it gradually leads from karma motivated by desire to disinterested Karma-Doing what has to be done in a dispassionate manner.
Continued...
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanottaram:
[Tr. Dr. H. Ramamurthy]
56.
Enquiring without break into that
special knowledge [concerning the
Self]
The yogi attain ever, the state of
negation [of reality] of body
That pure Jnani, thus committed to
the upholding
Of this dharma [regarding the
falsity of body-based
dualities]
Resplendent within and without
The Liberated One wanders where-
ever it pleases him.
57.
Omniscience, bliss and wisdom,
Independence, limitless strength,
Attaining these he shines, the
Self without afflictions,
With an immaculate body he merges
in Siva.
58.
Japa of the name, worship, bathing
in holy waters, ritual
sacrifices,
Nor any other practices are
relevant here.
The fruits of dharma and adharma
Water oblations to the forefathers
None of these are necessary for
him.
59.
No injunctions to observe, no fasts
Nothing required by way of
engagement with, or turning
away, from, activity,
No vows of celibacy for him,
know this.
60.
[To the one bodiless while yet
alive,] The ending of the bodily
existence,
Through falling into fire or
water-bodies, or off a cliff
Is irrelevant.
Enjoy the feast of the Knowledge
of Siva, eternal, and pure
Rid of the rules applying to all
creations, move abut as you
please.
contd,.
Vichara Maala:
Nochur Venkataraman:
Jnanopadesam:
47. With the mind deeply introverted into the heart, if one enquires the samvith, i.e. Consciousness which shines as 'I am' to all, the real nature of the self will shine forth. One has to do this by paying attention to the 'I-thought'. 'I-thought' is the root of the mind and it will take us to the 'I am' which is Pure Consciousness.
48. That awarenes that shines forth as "I am" in the childhood yers remains unchanged and the same awareness shines forth as 'I am' in the old age also. That remains unchanged in the absence of body also.
49-50. That changelss, formless and still awareness, which as "I am" continues behind all the changing states like waking, dream, and deep sleep should be contemplated or rather convinced as " I am that". Thus knowing it as the real Self, a controlled one should be looking at all the objects right from 'ego' to the 'body' like a pot or cloth.
51. Pure experience is shining forth as "I am" and self effulgent. All other things illumined by it - seen as objects are all illusory by nature. Every object other than the "I am" ness is only sensory perception. "I am" ness alone is experienced.
52. Pure Consciousness which shines forth as "I am" in the heart cave here and now is nothing but Brahman. The 'ego' is only a reflection and it deludes us by putting the form of the self. The ego, though it masquerades as the self is flimsy. It changes in the dream and merges in deep sleep. The individuality which merges in deep sleep and emerges as waking is the fale self. Real Self is that which is existent even during deep sleep.
contd.,
Ramana Smrti: 1980:
Robin E. Lagemann:
Devotee: Why should Self Enquiry
alone be considered as the direct means to Jnana?
Sri Bhagavan: Because every kind of sadhana except that of Atma Vichara presupposes the retention of mind, as the instrument for carrying out the sadhana, and without the mind it cannot be practiced. The ego may take different and subtler forms at different stages of one's practice, but itself is never destroyed. The attempt to destroy the ego or the mind through the sadhana other than Atma Vichara, is just like the thief turning policeman to catch the thief, that his himself. Atma Vichara alone can reveal the truth that neither ego nor the mind really exists, and enables one to realize the pure undifferentiated Being of the Self or the Absolute. Having realized the Self, nothing remains to be known, because it is perfect Bliss, it is All.
contd.,
Ramana Smrti: 1980:
S. Bhanu Sharma:
Sri Bhagavan's Silence:
I came to Bangalore in 1935, with the blessings of Sri Bhagavan Ramana. I was under the care of a Polish engineer, Mr. Maurice Frydman, who was a frequent visitor to the Asramam. In 1937,
one of his Dutch friends, Dr. G.H. Mees, a staunch philosopher, came to visit him and was discussing philosophy with him. Dr, Mees said that he had not been able to get clarfication on certain points in Indian philosophy, despite all his efforts. Mr. Frydman suggested that he go and meet Sri Bhagavan and that from Him, he was sure to get what he wanted.
I was asked to accompany Dr. Mees to introduce him to Sri Bhagavan. Dr. Mees noted down all his questions on a sheet of paper.
We arrived at about 8.30 a.m. prostrated before Sri Bhagavan and sat down in the Hall in front of Him. Several devotees were putting questions and Sri Bhagavan was answering them. Dr. Mees kept silent, and at 10.45. am. I reminded him about his questions. He said that he no longer had any doubt on any point and tehat all of the answers had become clear to him after the darshan of Sri Bhaavan.
Thus was t he grace of Sri Bhagavan bestowed on devotees without their asking, when they went to Him for His blessings.
****
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: sant Jnaneswara:
91. The tip of a tongue, having experienced all kinds of flavours
may have bcome expert in tasting. But it is not able to taste itself by means.
92. On that score, has the gonue stopped its functions of tasting? Not at all. It continues as it is.
93. In that way, the Atman - Sat Chit Ananda stands fully self accomplished by itself. What new new knowledge the word can give to Him since everything is His own only.
94. By evidence whatsoever, the Supreme does not permit Himself to be proved or disproved. Being self sufficient, in his case, there is no giving or taking. No acceptance nor rejection.
95.Therefore, it should not be concluded that the word would attain fame by making the Atman gain the state of Atman.
contd.,
Dear Z and friends, How can I help others?: Question If one remains quiet how is action to go on? Where is the place for karma yoga?
Ramana Maharshi : Let us first understand what karma is, whose karma it is and who is the doer. Analysing them and enquiring into their truth, one is obliged to remain as the Self in peace. Nevertheless even in that state the actions will go on.
Question : How will the actions go on if I do not act?
Ramana Maharshi : Who asks this question? Is it the Self or another? Is the Self concerned with actions?
Question : No, not the Self. It is another, different from the Self.
Ramana Maharshi : So it is plain that the Self is not concerned with actions and so the question does not arise.
Question : I want to do karma yoga. How can I help others?
Ramana Maharshi : Who is there for you to help? Who is the `I' that is going to help others? First clear up that point and then everything will settle itself.
Question : That means `realize the Self.' Does my realization help others?
Ramana Maharshi : Yes, and it is the best help that you can possibly render to others. But really there are no others to be helped. For the realized being sees only the Self, just as the goldsmith sees only the gold while valuing it in various jewels made of gold. When you identify yourself with the body, name and form are there. But when you transcend the body-consciousness, the others also disappear. The realized one does not see the world as different from himself.
Dear David, Ravi, and others:
Naishkarmya Siddhi - Sureswara:
Mimamsa claims that that action [karma] is primary and that knowledge [jnana] is secondary. In their parlance, action is the pradhana [first] and knowledge is guna. However, Sureswara objects to to this posiiton, and on three grounds. Firstly, according to Advaita, knowledge is the 'end' and acrtion is the indirect means thereto. This being the case, how can one claim tha they exist together in combination at the same time? Their very relation is one of means and end, as such, this relation is not a combination at all. Secondly, if action is a means to knowledge and knowledge is a means to liberation, then it follows that together they cannot be the means to liberation. Finally, actions which are performed in a previous life can be the means to knowledge in a later life. If this is so, then the question of a combination cannot arise.
As for the third option, i.e thje status of action and knowledge being equal in regard to liberation, this too, cannot stand a close analysis. If action is what is sublated, and knowledge is the sublator, then where is the scope for a combination? Ignorance is opposed to knowledge. Further, ignorance is concerned with unreal. Thus, even as light is opposed to darkness, and can have no combination, so, too, knowledge is opposed to ignorance and can have no possible combination.
A KNOWER'S RELATION TO ACTION:
One who has secured the knowledge of Brahman, is not subject to injunctions, either prescription or prohibitions. Why? One who is free from the body [Vidheha] is free from doubt [Vita Sandeha] through the practice of of "not this, not this." Freedom from the body is freedom from both the gross and subtle bodies. Freedom from doubt is freedom
from the causal body. When this occurs, one looks upon the psycho-physical organism, as the non self, and pays no heed to their activity.
Sureswara gives an analogy to exemplify this point: Just a child imagines that his clay elephant is a real elephant, and proceeds to play with it, so do the deluded people of the world superimpose the body etc., onto the Self and proceed to behave in variou8s ways.
Like in this example, conjunction between the imaginary and real [or between action and knoweldge] is admitted by Advaitin in certain instances, i.e mithya jnana. Another example is:
When an individual takes the stump of a tree for a thief, he becomes frighteneed, and runs away.
Whenever knowledge functions, as the prompter and acion occurs for what is prompted superimposition or false knowledge will occur.
However, right knowledge of samyag jnana, does not lead to any action. If an individual has right knowledge of the tree stump, flight will not be logical consequence. Likewise, if an individual has right knowledge of the Self, such knowledge will be a factor in an injunction to action. The Self neither acts nor is acted upon. To generalize this principle, since knowledge is opposed to action, knowledge cannot be found in conjunction with action. Thjose that of a similar nature, can coexist, but not those which of a different nature.
According to Advaita, action can never be the means and knowledge the end product. Why? Because liberation is said to be imperishable while fruits of karma are only perishable, nitya phala and anitya phala. Or again, knowledge can only be obtained through a valid means of knowledge [pramana] and as the object, so the knowedge. The content of knowledge is Brahman or Atman which is immutable and not what is accomplished through action.
Mere action alone [kevala karma] cannot give liberation.
{Naishkarmya Siddhi. I. 54 to 60.]
****
Dear David,
Ashtavakra Samhita:
On activity:
X.7. For how many births, have you not done hard and painful work with body, with mind, and with speech? Therefore cease at least today.
XVI. 4: Happiness belongs to that master idler* to whom even THE CLOSING AND OPENING OF EYELIDS IS AN AFFLICTION, and to none else.
{* master idler - pani lethu vaadu, as Sri Bhagavan had said.}
XVIII. 57:
The sense of duty, indeed, is the world of relativity. It is transcended by the wise one who realizes himself as all pervasive, formless, immutable and untainted.
****
Ravi and others
The following story, narrated by Kunju Swami, first appeared in Bhagavan Sri Ramana, a Pictorial Biography, page 74. I reprinted it on page five of Padamalai:
Once, when Ganapati Muni was present in the hall, a group of villagers asked, ‘How are we to control the mind?’
In reply Bhagavan asked them to look into the origin of the mind and explained the path of self-enquiry. Soon they left and Bhagavan as usual went out for a walk.
Remarking to the others [Ganapati] Muni said, ‘The path of Self-knowledge which Bhagavan teaches is so difficult even for the learned, and Bhagavan advocated it to the poor villagers. I doubt whether they understood it and still less whether they can practise it. If Bhagavan had advised them to practise some puja or japa, that would have been more practical.’
When this was conveyed to Bhagavan, he commented, ‘What to do? This is what I know. If a teaching is to be imparted according to the traditional way, one must first see whether the recipient is qualified or not. Then puja, japa or dhyana are prescribed step by step. Later the Guru says that this is all only preliminary and one has to transcend all this. Finally, the ultimate truth that “Brahman alone is real” is revealed and to realise this, the direct path of self-enquiry is to be taught. Why this roundabout process? Should we not state the ultimate truth and direct path at the beginning itself rather than advocating many methods and rejecting them at the end?’
Ravi
I understand the point you are making about Michael James' comments on the first half of Upadesa Undiyar, but if you look at those verses you will see that Bhagavan is making a 'hierarchy of effectiveness' that is very similar to the one I posted from Talks. He is not saying that the practices he lists in the first few verses should be mastered before the later ones can be done effectively. He is simply presenting a series of approaches to sadhana in increasing order of effectiveness.
Hi folks,
Its nice to see a few others and David himself putting up the occasional comment on Subramanian’s blog! :-)))
-------------
Just a comment on a somewhat peripheral issue. Z wrote: “The very word Vedanta(Veda + anta) itself says that the Jnaana part of Vedas is the 'Later' part, one that comes after Purva(prior) which is Karma…”
Actually, in my humble opinion, “Vedanta” does not really mean the “later part (or the end) of the Vedas”. This is only the literal and the very basic meaning.
Since the root “Vid” from which “Veda” itself is derived, means “to know”, the term “Vedanta”, as defined by the great Acaryas of Vedanta, means, the “END OF KNOWLEDGE”. So the “Vedanta” portions of the “Vedas” are not only the end of ignorance, but also the end of knowledge. Esoterically meaning thereof, that to fathom the true import of the Vedanta texts one has to step beyond both Ignorance and Knowledge; beyond the perceptual act of “knowing” and thus beyond the in-the-world duads and triads. And is also a gentle hint - that to get rid of Ignorance is easy (which the main body of the Vedas does), but to get rid of Knowledge is really tough (and so special texts are needed). On similar lines is this Isavasya verse that goes as:
[verse 9] “Those who are devoted to Avidya (Ignorance) enter into blinding darkness. Into darkness greater than that, as it were, do those enter who delight in Vidya (Knowledge).”
Best wishes
David,
Yes,I am aware of Sri Bhagavan's recommendation to the villager.A seeker who asks 'How to control the mind'-be he learned or otherwise,city dweller or villager-This question ,if earnest indicates a certain ripeness-Sri Bhagavan might have spotted this and advised accordingly.
For all we know there might have been another Mastan swami among them-we do not know!
I also recall the other villager who was advised to repeat the name of the Village deity by Sri Bhagavan,when that villager asked him 'How I can be saved? in that wonderful story narrated by Prof Swaminathan.
We have to remember that Sri Rmakrishna himself was one such unlettered villager,yet these things do not matter in the least-It is only the purity of Heart that matters.
More Later from where I left off.I find the many branches growing already with other aspects thrown in-Like Karma Yoga being Equated to 'Doing Good to others',etc,etc.The interesting thing is that each one has his own conception of Karma Yoga!
Namaskar.
Hey Jude and others,
Thanks for ur reply.You Qoute Bhagawan: Who is there for you to help?.This is only an ideal, the End.If that statement really applied to you, you would not have replied as who is there for you to reply?As long as you have desires; those desires are to do with others in the society for eg: Kaamini,Kaanchan and Keerthi(KKK). You need others/society to have sex or gain wealth, or to be praised.ALL KNOWLEDGE COMES THROUGH KARMA.THERE IS NO OTHER SOURCE OF DIRECT KNOWLEDGE.Knowledge gained thru books, teachers, speculation and intuition is also through knowledge gained from your experiences or the experiences of others.Experience can only be had thru the world.One cannot quench desires by mere speculation.So the world/society is indispensable and once you are in the society Karma through various ways becomes indispensible.Once souls have enough Karma/experience they primarily deal with thoughts.It is like the big nations which did a lot of physical nuclear tests and with the data gathered they say there is no more need for physical nuclear tests but speculation on the data gathered will be enough now to create models.The many paths may not grant you liberation but will help you to still/calm the mind.The 'others' may be maya but you need another thorn(Karma etc) to remove the thorn of Maaya.Like I said before debating on this long is futile especially when it takes very little time to learn Atma Vichara.One can do proper Atma Vichara for say six months and come to their own conlclusion.I dont know what I did but at one point there was only one predominant thought: Will I die without my desires being fulfilled.It was only the thought that I(ego) will die without realising what I stand for;that stopped me from going further.Now the next question was can I intellectually tell myself that Sex,money and fame do not last long and are temporary.NO.The next step was to continue with the world and pursue a balance of desires and discipline(karma,Yoga etc).One need not hide behind Bhagawan or Sureshwara to make their opinion.Try it for yourself.
Regards,
-Z
Teaching of Self Inquiry:
Dear David & others,
Once in Pachaiamman Kovil, where Sri Bhagavan was staying with Viswanatha Swami and Kavyakanta and othres, some monkeys came to Him and sat quietly in front of Him looking at Him with all sraddha and no monkey pranks. Sri Bhagavan started telling them about Atma Vichara. Soon Viswanatha Swami came and said: "Bhagavan! Atma Vichara is so difficult, how can of all beings, monkeys can understnd that?"
Sri Bhagavan replied: "Viswanatha! I have been telling Atma Vichara to you all. How many of you have understood that? Like that, some monkeys may understand and many others may not!"
Kavyakanta broke into a huge laughter that he rolled on the floor and laughed as if his bones might break.
Sri Bhagavan has said what He experienced. One can reach Tiruvannamalai directly from Bangalore via Krishnagiri and Chengam or one can go to Madras, come back to Vellore, Tindivanam and then reach T'malai.
****
Dear Arvind,
I understand the subtle humor in your comment. Shall I take it this way, two or three original comments + any amount of response commments, daily from tomorrow the 11th June?
What do you say David? Are my numerous comments suffocating others? Graham Boyd also told me this and there after I stopped writing original posts there and am attending only to replies to others, since 2009.
When I write something, I am only a pen and it is Sri Bhagavan who is writing. If I am writing some nonsense, then I am not only my pen and also my ego, breathing over the neck of Sri Bhagavan.
I sit before my comp. without any preparations for the day. Of course, the book shelf is near me. All the choice is Sri Bhagavan's. e.g. This morning, when I wrote about Naishkarmya Siddhi, the book came to my mind at 7. am. and I saw it in a particular rack. That is all. The use of it was directed by Sri Bhagavan.
****
Thanks Arvind for your comment on Vedanta.I did not know myself and I just wrote that based on speculation. But now looking up the internet I find a line in wikipedia definition of Vedanta that:(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta) Vedānta is also called Uttarā Mīmāṃsā
which is what I said.
Thanks,
-Z
R.Subramanian,
Thanks for your posts.You may like to examine the following statements in your latest Post:
1."When I write something, I am only a pen and it is Sri Bhagavan who is writing."
2."Graham Boyd also told me this and there after I stopped writing original posts there and am attending only to replies to others, since 2009."
I would take it that if it is Sri Bhagavan who prompts your posts,you should listen to him than listen to Graham Boyd.How do you reconcile this?
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
Sri Bhagavan instructed me as Sri
Graham Boyd.
Just as Siva came as a humble person to Saint Manikkavachagar.
He says in Tiru Sadhakam, Ananda titam, Verse 1:
EeeRilatha nee eLiyai yahi vanthu
OLi sei maanudamaahi nokkiyum.....
The incomparable endless You, {Siva}, came as a humble human being with all effulgence and then looked at me.
****
R.Subramanian,
Godspeed to you.It is only if we have given up all sense of 'I' and 'mine' that we may truly say what you have claimed.
I do agree that it is an excellent attitude to accept all as coming from 'God' or 'Guru'-but we need to feel this without any 'ifs' and 'buts'-without exception.
Namaskar.
Dear David, Ravi and others,
I have not read any book of commentary on Upadesa Undiyar, by
Michael James, but in his Happiness and Art of Being, he writes about Verse 10 of Upadesa Undiyar. {I call this Atom Bomb of verse of Upadesa Undiyar]:
This state of just being, in which our mind or individual self has completely subsided, is not only the pinnacle of true devotion or love, but is also the ultimate goal and fulfilment of the other three spiritual paths, the paths of desireless action, union, and knowing, as affirmed by Sri Ramana in Verse 10 of Upadesa Undiyar:
Being {firmly established as our real self} having subsided in [our] rising place [the core of our being, which is the source from which we had risen as our mind], that is karma and bhakti, that is yoga and jnana.
Though it is our mind that sets out to practise any of the four paths, or types of spiritual endeavour, namely the path of karma or action performed without desire for any reward, the path of bhakti or devotion, the path of yoga or union, and the path of jnana or knowing, our mind is in fact the only obstacle that stands in the way of our achieving the goal of these four paths. Therefore, the final end of each of these paths can only be reached only when our mind, which struggles to practise them, finally subsides in the state of being, which is the source from which it had originally risen. Thus complete self surrender is the true goal of all forms of spiritual practice.
contd.,
Michael James on Verse 10 of Upadesa Undiyar:
Even self investigation, which is the true path of knowing or jnana, is necessary only because we have not yet surrendered ourself completely. Since the correct practice of self investigation, is not doing anything, but is just being, we cannot practise it correctly without surrendering ourself, -- our 'doing' self or thinking mind. Conversely, since we cannot effectively surrender our false finite self, without knowing what we really are, the correct practice of self surrender is to keenly scrutinize ourself and thereby to subside in the state of just being. Thus, in practice self investigation and self surrender are inseprarable from each other, like two sides of a single sheet of paper.
When we try to surrender ourself, we have to be extremely vigilant to ensure that our mind or individual self does not surreptitiously rise to think of anything. Since our mind rises onlyt when we think of or attend to anything than ourself, we can
prevent it from rising only by vigilantly attending to the source from which it rises, which is our own real self.
When we thus attend vigilantly to our own innermost being, we will be able to detect our mind at the very moment it rises, and thus we will be able to crush its rising instantaneously. In fact, if we are vigilantly self attentive, our mind will not be able to rise at all, because it actually rises only on account of our slackness in self attention.
contd.,
Michael James commentary on Upadesa Undiyar Verse 10:
To return once again to our discussion, of the thirteenth paragraph of Naan Yaar?, in the third sentence, Sri Ramana asks,:
"Since one Parameswara Sakti is driving all activities, why should we always think, 'it is necessary [for me] to act in this way; it is necessary [for me] to act in that way?' instead of being having yielded to that?" Besides what we have discussed already, there are two more important points to note in this sentence.
Firstly, when He asks us why we should think that we need to do this or that, the meaning He implies, is not only that it is unnecessary, for us to do anything, but also that it is unnecessary for us 'to think' anything. If we truly believe tehat God is doing everything, and is always taking care of every living being, including ourself, we will hae the confidence to place upon Him the burden of thinking for us and thus we will be freed of the burden of thinking anything for ourself.
If we really surrender ourself entirely to God, He will take control of our mind, speech and body, and will make them act in whatever way is appropriate in all situtations. Only when we thus cease to think anything, will our surrender to God be complete.
contd.,
R.Subramanian,
Sri Bhagavan's original verse is amply clear .Michael James commentary seems to me a little too studied and verbose ,gives an impression of a cat chasing its tail.
Namaskar.
Micheal James - Verse 10 of Upadesa Undiyar:
Secondly, the words that I have translated as 'insead of being having yielded to that' are very significant, because they are an apt description of what real self surrender, is. In the original Tamizh, the words used by Sri Ramana are adarku adangi iraamal. {Who am I? 13th paragraph}. The
word adarku means "to that", or "to it" that is, to the one Parameswara Sakti or 'Supreme ruling Power'. The word 'adangi' is a past participle, that means not only 'having yielded', but also having subsided, settled , shrunk, laid down, submitted, been subdued, become still, ceased or disappeared. The 'iraamal' means 'without being' or 'instead of being'. Thus the meaning implied by these words is that true self-surrender is a state of just being, having yielded or submitted ourself to God, and having thereby subsided, settled down and become still, and having in fact, ceased altogether to exist as a seperate individual.
As we saw earlier, God is our own self, and he appears to be separate from us olhy because we have limited ourself as finite consciousness. In other words, as soon as we delude ourself into imagining that we are a finite individual, our own real self manifests as God, the power that guides and controls our entire life as an individual, and that thereby gradually leads to us back towards our natural state of the true self knowledge.
contd.,
Michael James - On Upadesa Undiyar Verse 10:
However, God is not the only form in which our real self manifests to guide us back to itself. At a certain stage in our spiritual development, our real self also manifests as Guru, and in this
form, it reveals to us through spoken or written words, the truth that ourself are infinite being, consciousness and happiness, and that to experience ourself as such we should scrutinize ourself and thereby surrender our false individual self. When we have once heard or read this truth revealed by our real self in the form of guru, and if we have been genuinely attracted by this truth, we have truly come under the influence of guru, and we are therefore well on our way to reaching our final goal of true knowledge.
[Cf: Saint Manikkavachagar, Tiru Sadhakam, Ananda titam, Verse 1and Kovil Tirupadigam Verses 7 and 10].
This state in which we have come under the influence of guru is described by Sri Ramana, in the
12th paragraph of Naan Yaar? "as being caught or ensnared in the glance of guru's grace."
God and Guru are in truth not different. Just as that [prey] which has been caught in the jaws of a tiger will not return, so those who have been caught in the glance of Guru's grace, [aruL paarvai] will surely be saved by him and will never instead be forsaken; nevertheless, it is necessary for them, to proceed or behave or act, unfailingly to the path that Guru has shown.
Though real Guru outwardly appears to be a human being, he is in fact God in human form, manifested to prompt us to turn our mind towards the source from which it had risen, and thereby to subside and merge in that source for ever.
*********
Calling out to me
As they return home:
Wild geese at night.
I went there
To beg rise
But the blooming bush clover
Among the stones
Made me forget the reason.
My legacy-
What will it be?
Flowers in spring,
The Cuckoo in summer,
And the crimson maples
of autumn..
-Ryokan
David/Friends,
For my second series of snippets,I will draw from the fine article-Bhagavan and ThAunmAnavar by David &company,that has this conversation from 'Living by the words of Bhagavan':
"Question: What is satsang?
Bhagavan: Satsang means only Atma sang [association with the Self]. Only those who cannot practise that are to practise being in the company of realised beings or sadhus.
Question: When does one get the company of sadhus?
Bhagavan: opportunity to be in the company of a Sadguru comes effortlessly to those who have performed worship of God, japa, tapas, pilgrimages etc for long periods in their previous births.Here is a verse by Thayumanavar that points out the same thing:
For those who, in the prescribed manner,
have embarked upon the [pilgrim] path
of divine images, holy sites and holy tanks,
a Sadguru, too, will come
to speak one unique word,
O Supreme of Supremes!"
Only he who has done plenty of nishkamya punyas [austerities performed without any thought of a reward or consequence] in previous births will get abundant faith in the Guru. Having faith in the Guru’s words, such a man will follow the path and reach the goal of liberation."
It is amply clear that Sri Bhagavan most definitely considered certain practices as preliminary,and that a certain degree of preparation is essential before one can even find a satguru and even hear that 'one word'.
continued....
Dear Z and friends, Your reply was honest and revealing. 'Though we see Bhagavan and marvel at him, though we adore him, though we profess faith in his words that his state is ours also, we are not attracted by it. We offer many, many excuses, voiced and unvoiced. We do not want a state that transcends desire, for we firmly believe that only in the fulfillment of desire lies joy. We do not want to love the world, for that seems to us too vast, too abstract, too indefinite. We are afraid!'
I have friends who are staunch Christians and they are always doing 'good works' They go to India and Africa to convert and help the heathens. Karma yoga can be a trap like no other. You may think you being helful and selfless but pride rears its head, instead of feeling humble, you feel you are really making a difference!
Friends,
In this third snippet,I will share this wonderful excerpt from Swami Vivekananda -on the essence of Karma Yoga.We know how each one of us carry different ideas about this subject-all of these have their validity in varying degree.We need to understand the root idea from which all these spring.Back to Swami Vivekananda:
"There is a sage in India, a great Yogi, one of the most wonderful
men I have ever seen in my life. He is a peculiar man, he will not
teach any one; if you ask him a question he will not answer. It is
too much for him to take up the position of a teacher, he will not
do it. If you ask a question, and wait for some days, in the course
of conversation he will bring up the subject, and wonderful light
will he throw on it. He told me once the secret of work, "Let the
end and the means be joined into one." When you are doing any
work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the
highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time
being.
This is the essence and we may apply this to whatever idea that we may carry about Karma yoga-and see whether it stands validated.
We may apply it to Sri Bhagavan's Upadesa undiyar verse 10 as well and find it says the same thing.
As long as the 'means' and the 'end' are seperate,there is only Karma-when the 'Means' become the 'end',when they are 'joined',so to say,it is Karma Yoga.
It can be readily seen that this is not different than Jnana or Bhakti-They all co-exist.
Karma Yoga is not preliminary to any other Yoga;In fact,one may say that it is the culmination of all other Yogas.
Continued....
Dear Z and friends, I just want to add, of course there is no one enlightened on this site and unlikely to be so in the next 48 hours. However if you have a longing for liberation, you won't feel at home in the world of materialism. When everyone only thinks about chasing their own advantage, and is trying to become someone in the world, it's understandable that you don't really feel at home there. Maybe it's not a bad idea to be quiet or spend more time with like-minded people face to face or even online.
Friends,
I like this quote of jean sibelius,the great Finnish Classical Music composer:
"If someone writes about my music and finds, let us say, a feeling of nature in it, all well and good. Let him say that, as long as we have it clear within ourselves, we do not become a part of the music's innermost sound and sense through analysis ... Compositions are like butterflies. Touch them even once and the dust of hue is gone. They can, of course, still fly, but are nowhere as beautiful ..."
All Rationalizations in the spiritual domain fall flat like what Jean sibelius has said.
m's post of that poem reminds me about the Glorious fifth symphony of this composer,who i would rate alongside Beethoven as a Great symphonist.
"One day, on his routine walk through the countryside, Sibelius watched as sixteen swans flew overhead, a sight which took his breath away:
One of my greatest experiences! My God what beauty! ... Their call the same woodwind type as that of cranes, but without tremolo. The swan-call closer to trumpet, although there is something of a sarrusophone sound. A low refrain reminiscent of a small child crying. Nature's Mysticism and Life's Angst! The Fifth Symphony's finale-theme: Legato in the trumpets!
This momentary encounter with nature's glorious beauty evidently inspired the awe-inspiring yet gently heroic swinging horn theme of the Fifth Symphony's finale. The orchestral strings summon a great ascending wind of energy before the mighty breaths that nature breathes into the horns begin their song. Axel Carpelan called it, after the composer's own image, "the incomparable swan hymn" (Dec 15, 1916).
The swinging horns are soon joined by a long-breathed melody on the woodwinds, which intone a beautifully simple hymn-like theme above the undulating current of basses. As the swans soar into ever higher spheres of living spirit, Sibelius modulates the potent music into a glorious C major, creating what many have acknowledged as one of the most magnificent and affirmative climaxes in music."
m, you may like to checkout this link:
http://inkpot.com/classical/sibsym5.html
Namaskar.
Atma Sakshat Prakaranam:
Sarva Jnanotttaram:
[Tr. Dr. H. Ramamurthy}
56.
Enquiring without break into that
special knowledge, [concerning
Self]
The yogi attains ever, the state
of negation [of reality] of body
That pure Jnani, thus committed
to upholding
Of this dharma [regarding the
falsity of body-based dualities]
Respledent within and without,
The Liberated One wanders wherever
it pleases him.
57.
Omniscinece, bliss and wisdom,
Independence, limitless strength-
Attaining these he shines, the
Self without afflictions.
With an immaculate body, he merges
in Siva.
58.
Japa of the name, worship, bathing
in holy waters, ritual sacrifices
Nor any other practices are
relevant here.
The fruits of dharma and adharma,
Water obalations to the
forefathers,
None of these are necessary
for him.
59.
No injunctions to observe, no
fasts,
Nothing required by way of
engagement with, or turning
away from, activity
No vows of celibacy for him,
know this.
60.
{To the one, bodiless while yet
alive} The ending of the
boidly existence
Through falling into fire or
water bodies, or off a cliff
Is irrelevant.
Enjoy the feast of the Knowledge
of Siva, eternal and pure.
Rid of the rules applying to all
creation, move about as you
please.
61.
I tell you this is the Truth, the
Truth, the Truth, thrice over
Guha!*
There is nothing greater than
this,
Nothing greater is there to be
known,
Nothing at al, anywhere, ever.
62.
With conviction purified [in
non dual attitude]
He [the yogi] regards the sacred
in all that he sees
And meditating there on the
Immaculate
He shall attain [my Supreme]
Awareness.
concluded.
*This agama is said to have been
the teachings of Siva to Guha,
Skanda or Muruga.
concluded.
*****
Amritanubhava - Ambrosial Experience: Sant Jnaneswara:
Ajnana Kandanam - Disproving Ignorance:
1. As a matter of fact, but for the instigation of the knowledge,
ignorance would have remained concealed to the ears of a person.
That, he would never have heard about ignorance.
2. Taking shelter of darkness, a
glow-worm shines with its head light. Likewise the ignorance,
which has no origin is totally sham.
3. A drean's greatness lies in a dream. Darkness is recognized in darkness. So is the greatness of ignorance in ingnorance only.
4. Horses of clay cannot be disciplined for use. Or the ornaments created by a magician cannot be worn.
5. The ignorance even though pricked in the house of the all-knowing [Supreme] does nothing else. Would the moonlight ever raise waves in the mirage?
6. And what is called knowledge is ignroance in another form. One can be kept hidden and the other shown its place.
7. Now, let alone this preface! Let us first search ignorance. Knowing the truth about it, we would come to know that knowledge also is false.
8. If ignorance lives in real knowledge [Atman] as the part of its body, then why does it not render ignorant that [Atman] where it resides.
9. Where there is ignorance, everything else is turned into ignorance. That is the nature of ignorance.
10. Even some scriptures opine that the Atman itself is ignorance. The latter though dwelling in it envelopes the former.
11. If ignorance existed in the seed form, even before the creation of duality, who was there to know of it then?
12. If ignorance, because of its own state of ignorance cannot know itself, how can it testify its own existence?
13. Therefore, were it to be asserted that ignorance makes itself known by itself, such a conflicting assertion would make the one asserting to observe silence.
14. The only knowing one is Atman and if he is fooled by ignorance, then who will take note of that ignorance?
15. If it [ignorance] cannot for its own sake render the knowing one [Atman] not knowing [ignorance]
then one ought to feel ashamed of calling such as ignorance.
contd.,
From Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi's 125th Jayanti - 2004 -
Souvenir:
Silence:
Samarender Reddy:
Thoughts upon thoughts upon
thoughts
At every moment I find
Parading as mind.
No sooner than I think
Their reign is done
They are back again
With unending inventory and supply.
Thoughts upon thoughts upon
thoughts
In stark solitude
And in boisterous company.
But the Sage speaks of silence.
Which puts to shame
Any thought, however well thought
And crowns itself the victor
In the scheme of things.
*****
Subramanian. R wrote:
"Are my numerous comments suffocating others?"
I have to humbly say "Yes". I come to this blog looking for an active discussion on various topics. Now a days, I have to patiently search in the deluge of posts as to where some discussion is happening and many times I miss.
Pardon me if I am direct.
Regards Murali
All Indians Pls join the two hundred thousand plus in this KarmaYoga Yagna before we become a nation of gun totting and drug dealing ghettos:
https://www.facebook.com/IndiACor#!/IndiACor
David/Friends,
Here is Snippet no.4
"but if you look at those verses you will see that Bhagavan is making a 'hierarchy of effectiveness' that is very similar to the one I posted from Talks. He is not saying that the practices he lists in the first few verses should be mastered before the later ones can be done effectively. He is simply presenting a series of approaches to sadhana in increasing order of effectiveness. "
The effectiveness of Sadhana depends on the earnestness and maturity of the seeker and not in the approach-If we go through the verses(1 to 10),we see that
Sri bhagavan has graded the general line of development of Sadhana-It starts with action with the desire for Results(a vast majority of people belong to this category)and introduces Isvara(Karta) as the ordainer of results;in the very next verse he expounds how this pusuit of karma based on the desire for Results sows the seed for more and more karma ,drowning one in the sea of Karma-It could never lead one 'Home'(Liberation).
In the very next verse (no. 3),he expounds that Nishkamya Karma as an offering to isvara would change the course and set one on course(show the way to the goal).
In verse 4 he shows how the sadhana proceeds from Gross to subtle(puja with the Body,Japa with the speech and meditation with the mind)and here he does talk about this ascension in this order.
Verse 5 defines puja of Iswara- considering all the countless forms in this universe as that of God and worshipping him through these.
In Verse 6,he traces the Progression of Japa-How it proceeds from Gross to subtle-One begins by chanting the mantra aloud,then only utters it by just moving the lips with the softest of sounds,and onto just mental repetition, leading (naturally )to Meditation.
Anyone who has practised japa will easily perceive how this natural progression works .Without chanting the mantra(say Gayatri) aloud and hearing oneself in the process,it will not be possible to chant the mantra in the mind and still less 'meditate'on its essence.
Continued....
The grades of effectiveness is not what is being considered in real world.For eg: If we look at sample data Lakshmana Swamy used primarily Pranayama and Japa.Mathru Sri Sarada despite repeated advises by Swamy to do Atma Vichara stuck to meditation on form.Papaji, Japa.In all the stories and in all the books that I have read I did not come across many if not any who adopted Atma Vichara as their primary method.So I conclude in practise/real world it is not 'effectiveness' but mainly 'taste/predilection' that seems to be the main factor.Ofcourse except our Mr.m here on this blog:)I like your looking for the thief in the dark example that you gave me a while ago.I did not understand it in the beginning but I think I got the essense although I have rarely done it.Thanks 'm'.I also like Thakur talking about the element of Siva and Vishnu.I knew these intuitively and was pleased to see these words from Thakur.How many things I have read in the books are actually true when I get a pinch/whiff of those.This also reminds me of Ibn Arabi's statement of the ladders of ascension(paths) being fixed even when we were may be single cell organisms.
Astrologically speaking there is one more way to find out your path.In your Navamsa horoscope look at the house before the one where your Atmakaaraka is placed.The planets in those house will tell about your Ishta devata.I guess we can apply that to the paths as well.Jupiter stands for Siva and Sun stands for Vishnu and planets like Moon,venus stands for motherly devotion like Kaali, Durga etc and Rahu for Tantra or exotic, Ketu for Ganesh and it goes on.I have both Sun and Jupiter and I can sense intuitively both the whiffs of Siva and Vishnu tattva.Lord Vishnu is aahlaada and Lord Siva cannot be put in words.Siva tattva is massively and blindingly ....no sorry it cannot be put in words.You would have to experience it yourself and remember I am only talking about whiffs.For the western natives it cud be interpreted as their bhaava towards god i.e fatherly, motherly etc.Many times there will be planets in that particular house and that is when one is in transition stages to figure out his path.
Regards,
-Z
My practice lately, or attempt at getting free of the ego, has been a direct questioning into the sources of my suffering. How am I using my mind? And I notice certain uses of my mind that are more conducive to being in Grace, and suffering. Judgements, irritation, anger of and toward others. A solution I've found to that is turning it on myself. How am I doing that also, and how could I do better? i.e. 'so and so is such a jerk', but how am I being a jerk, and how could I do better? That way, it stays introspective, and keeps the mind from going out. While Sri Bhagavan may not have said anything negative about sexuality. Lust, craving, etc. I have found antithetical to being in a state of Grace. I notice the similarities between wanting some kind of gratification from another, and other negative things like cannabalism. This way my mind learns to turn within, and examine itself. Worries, I've found that the only solution for me to worries, are to just completely drop them. If all else fails, surrender to God. Besides that, no method. Because I think these different tendencies that cause suffering, or really how I'm defining myself as an I. If the tendencies that make up the I, and keep it bound are addressed. I find myself in a profound state of formless Bliss. Even in a worldly sense i'm not really losing anything except my attachments, and suffering.
Devi Kalottara Jnanachara Vicharam:
This is another Upa-agama that Sri
Bhagavan has rendered in Tamizh verses. Sri Bhagavan says in His introduction:
...It is the essence of all Agama Sastras on matter of spiritual knowledge. This is verily the boat which can rescue the mortals struggling hard, sinking, and rising, in the sorrowful ocean of samsara of endless cycles of births and deaths and take them by the direct path to the shore of liberation.....
[Tr. T.K. Jayaraman]
Invocation:
Meditate in the Heart upon Lord Ganesa -- the silent, non dual, universal witness -- who is the nectar of divine bliss and is full of grace, shining as the bountiful flowering of aspirants following the path of spiritual wisdom revealed in Devi Kalottara, which was expounded by Lord Iswara into the ears of Goddess Iswari.
The Text:
Devi:
1. O Lord of all celestial beings! I yearn to know that path of supreme wisdom and the code of conduct by which one can get liberation, so that all humanity may attain salvation. I request you to enlighten me on them, out of your Grace.
Iswara:
2. O queen among women! So that everyone may attain knowledge, I shall clearly explain to you today the highest knowledge and all the discipline to be followed, by which discerning seekers will attain liberation, which is free from any blemish and is difficult to describe.
3. O Lady with fair countenance! Understand that one who is not able to realize the Truth in his Heart by this knowledge of spiritual wisdom known as Kala Jnana, can never attain it even by studying countless crores of sastras spread out like the sky.
4. Therefore cast aside all fears [on following this path] and shed all doubts. Giving up attachment or desire for anything, be ardent in seeking the ultimate knowledge with wholehearted devotion and with a clear mind without any trace of confusion.
contd.,
Devi Kalottara Jnanachara Vicharam:
continues...
5. Claiming nothing as 'mine', filled with compassion, giving protection to all living beings, so that no creature fears you, yearning for liberation, absorbed in yoga [the union of jiva and para],-- the fusion of the individual self with the universal Self, study with work and follow wholeheartedly and steadfastly the single path shown therein.
6-7. If one is to describe the person who can bring under control his mind, which is restless and turbulent like a whirlwind, and maintain it in a tranquil state, he is verily Brahma [the god who creates the world], Siva [the saviour who shows the path to salvation] and Vishnu [the sustainer of the world]; he is Indra, king of devas and Lord Subrahmanya, [the chief commander of all the celestial forces]; he is Brihaspati, the guru of all devas; he is a supreme yogi, and one who has achieved the result of performing all austerities; he is a great scholar [who has mastered all the Vedas and sastras], and an outstanding man; he is one who has achieved the true spiritual goal.
8-9. The means by which this mind, which is restless and moves about quicker than the wind, can be brought under control, is indeed to obtain liberation; it is indeed what is good for those who seek the permanent Reality; it itself is Pure Consciousness. And the state of firmness; moreover, it alone is the righteous duty to be followed by discerning aspirants; it alone is the pilgrimage to holy waters; it alone is charity; it alone is austerities. Know that there is no doubt about this.
10. When the mind moves even a little, that is samsara - worldly bondage. When the mind abides firmly and motionlessly in the state of Self, that is mukti - liberation. This is certain. Therefore know that the wise man must hold his mind firm by supreme Self Awareness.
contd.,
Devi Kalottaram - Jnanachara Vicharam:
11. The happiness attained in this aloneness is the highest, boundless bliss. Which learned persons will not revel in that Supreme Reality, in which there is absolutely no action, tell me?
12. Being rid of worldly knowledge, the great hero who has acquired pure wisdom, in which there are no sense objects, and which is all pervading and without any form, will attain immutable moksha without fail, even though he may have no desire to attain even liberation.
13. The consciousness [chaitanya] associated with the aspect of 'am' is called Sakti. The universe shines by its light. All of creation is Sakti's sankalpa [thought]. The state [of mind] which is completely devoid of attachment is the pure wisdom to be attained.
14. The void, which is the infinite and all encompassing one whole without a second, which is just the effulgence to pure wisdom, which is completely devoid of visible phenomena and which consists of the aspect 'I', is the seed which fructifies as liberation, bestowing salvation by enabling one to unite with the Supreme.
15. Instead of following this direct path, do not ever contemplate, even in the least, upon chakras [located in six adharas, centres of body], nadis [subtle nerves that produce ten divine sounds such as pranava], the deities associated with the lotus seats [in adharas beginning with Vinayaka], the mantraksharas [potent sound syllables for the worship of these deities] and the diverse mandala murtis [the God-aspects, starting from those controlling the sun [Surya Mandala], the moon [Chandra Manadala], and fire [Agni mandala]]
Some aspirants indulge in severe austerities and arduous practices, mastering several techniques and incidentally attaining extraordinary supernatural powers as well. All these are to be shunned as they do not lead to ultimate peace and joy. On the other hand, the path of Kala Jnana described here, is a direct path to mukti.]
contd.,
I send you this poem as it's so apt as we have Possums in our roof and they thud and bang around at dawn.
'to the stillness
of the morning
but life sent me a mouse
with loud feet on the ceiling
a wild dancer
I wanted to bask in the peacefulness
of the dawning
but life sent me a bird
flapping its wings & chirping madly
trying to force its way
into the attic
It's not what bothers us
but what we love with
that gives us nothing to hide
Run your words all over me
until you run out of words
Let's fall silent
the way we fall in love
The silence that can be disturbed
isn't the silence
we listen to.'
Hi folks,
On Upadesa Undiyar:
Are the initial verses of UU in the “hierarchy of effectiveness”, or, “in the general line of development of Sadhana”, and so on? In my humble opinion, yes and no, and it really does not matter if they are either or none. Please let me explain.
I believe that the initial verses of UU have to be read in context of the unique setting. The instructions are posed towards a group of Great Rishis living in the Daruka forest; Rishis who are so far advanced in spiritual pursuits (done in the proper order maybe, or even otherwise) that already they are far above what ordinary folks like us could imagine, as exemplified by their possessing supernatural powers and taking on the Great Gods Themselves.
So Bhagavan’s initial verses, both as a “hierarchy of effectiveness”, AND as the “general, traditional line of development of sadhana”, present approaches that are essentially to be rejected NOW, howsoever relevant they were earlier. It doesn’t really matter what was that particular sadhana that was done earlier, or its hierarchy. Now when the Rishis want to push for Liberation, they have to reject them ALL, in toto. Essentially Bhagavan is saying that – OK you guys did all this stuff in this and this order, but now dump it all and concentrate on the seeking the Source of the ‘I’, concentrate on Atma Vichara.
To support this contention, let me present the incident way back (in 1907 was it?), when Ganapati Muni rushed to Bhagavan and fell at His feet. We all know the anecdote well. We may remember that Ganapati Muni by then was already at the pinnacle of traditional sadhana, a great Guru himself, and possessing significant supernatural powers much like the great Rishis of Daruka forest. (Anecdote dialogue below from “Bhagavan & Nayana”, SRA pub).
Ganapati Muni said: “I have read all the Sastras, performed japa of the famous mantras, observed hundreds of penances and austerities. Yet I have no Realisation. Is my tapas tainted, is there any shortcoming, or perhaps I do not know the method. I am said to be a learned man, yet I do not know. I take refuge in Thee. Help me out.”
Sri Bhagavan replied (after gazing at him steadily for some time): “Find out wherefrom this ‘I’ springs forth and merge at its Source; that is tapas. Find out wherefrom the sound of the mantra in japa rises up and merge there; that is tapas.”
And that I believe is exactly how the UU goes. The Rishis, so to speak, have surrendered to Lord Siva and asked for help like Ganapati Muni did. And Bhagavan, then for the Muni, and herein again in the UU, gives in essence exactly the same instruction. Which is - move on, what you did, how you did, in whatever order you did, was fine. But for Liberation, now do Atma Vichara.
Best wishes
David/Arvind/Friends,
Continuing on the theme of Fitness and development-Snippet no.5(from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi)
"Talk 40.
The Brahmin questioner resumed: “How do we know that action is
ours or not?”
M.: If the fruits of actions do not affect the person he is free from
action.
D.: Is intellectual knowledge enough?
M.: Unless intellectually known, how to practice it? Learn it
intellectually first, then do not stop with that. Practise it.
Maharshi then made certain remarks: “When you adhere to one
philosophical system (siddhanta) you are obliged to condemn
the others. That is the case with the heads of monasteries
(matadhipatis)”.
All people cannot be expected to do the same kind of action.
Each one acts according to his temperament and past lives.
Wisdom, Devotion, Action (jnana, bhakti, karma) are all
interlocked. Meditation on forms is according to one’s own mind.
It is meant for ridding oneself of other forms and confining oneself
to one form. It leads to the goal. It is impossible to fix the mind
in the Heart to start with. So these aids are necessary. Krishna
says that there is no birth (janma) to you, me, etc., and later says
he was born before Aditya, etc. Arjuna disputes it. Therefore it is
certain that each one thinks of God according to his own degree
of advancement."
continued...
Arvind/Friends,
"And Bhagavan, then for the Muni, and herein again in the UU, gives in essence exactly the same instruction. Which is - move on, what you did, how you did, in whatever order you did, was fine. But for Liberation, now do Atma Vichara."
I have a couple of questions for Arvind:
1.Do you mean to say that Sri Bhagavan after essaying all the approaches finally recommends abandoning them in favour of Self Enquiry?
2.Did Sri Ganapathi Muni get convinced by Sri Bhagavan and pursue Self Enquiry?
3.Are you saying that Liberation is not possible without Atma vichara?
Namaskar.
Friends,
Continuing on the theme of Fitness and development-Snippet no.6(from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi)
"18th June, 1935
Talk 55.
D.: Can advaita be realised by japa of holy names; say Rama,
Krishna, etc.?
M.: Yes.
D.: Is it not a means of an inferior order?
M.: Have you been told to make japa or to discuss its order in the
scheme of things?
Silence."
1st February, 1936
Talk 152.
Mrs. Kelly desired to know how she should best learn to meditate.
Sri Bhagavan asked if she had made japa (rolling beads as Roman
Catholics do). She said: “No”.
M.: Have you thought of God, His qualities, etc.?
D.: I have read, talked, etc. about such themes.
M.: Well, if the same be revolved in the mind without open expression
through the senses it is meditation.
D.: I mean meditation as signified in The Secret Path and Who am I?
M.: Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion. After the
camphor burns away no residue is left. The mind is the camphor;
when it has resolved itself into the Self without leaving even the
slightest trace behind, it is Realisation of the Self."
continued....
Dear Arvind,
The background story of Upadesa Undiyar is Daruka forest story as versified by Muruganar. The teachings of Siva, he wanted Sri
Bhagavan to compose. Sri Bhagavan wrote Upadesa Undiyar. Here it is clear that karma, according to Sri
Bhagavan, shall not render liberation. It shall bring about only chitta suddhi and then show the way to Vicharam. It is only an aid to Atma Vichram. Then, Sri Bhagavan speaks about japa, puja, dhyanam etc., Of these, dhyanam, which is done mentally is the highest [Verse 4]. Here again, He says "to meditate that all 8 forms are god". [Verse 5 ]. Again dhyanam and japam should be done within lips, and not aloud. [Verse 6]. Then it should be continuous and not intermittant [Verse 7]. The Verse 8 is more important. You do dhyana/japa by holding Him as with in as "I".
So all these are only aids not a stepwise progress towards atma vichara. The Verse 9 describes the supreme devotion - as abidance in Pure Being "transcending thought" is the very essence of supreme
devotion.
One devotee in the Asramam told me: In the olden days, some young man used to cycle in a ground for 48 hours or 96 hours etc., There the cyclist does not change cycles, does not go beyond the fixed ground. But he is aided by orange juice, lime juice, icewater, or by giving a new banian to wear, since the one wearing one is totally sweated and he even wears the new banian while cycling.
Thus Atma Vichara is continuous cycling till one gets the goal i.e. finishing 96 hours. "The other aids are by the way of moorthi dhyanam, mantra japam etc., are only sahayam - aids." [Who am I?]. They are not ladder
rungs to reach self inquiry.
The Verse 10 is of course, the Atom Bomb verse, which sums up everything.
Again Viveka Choodamani [I am referring to Ulaganatha Swami's verses and Sri Bhagavan's prose] clearly says in Verses 8 -18:
Sastra anustanam, deva pujas, karma anushatanam,devata upasanas, like these, even whatever you do, for kalpa koti kaalam i.e for eons, UNLESS ONE INVESTIGATES ON BRAHMAN-ATMA AIKYA JNANAM, LIBERATION WILL NEVER MATERIALIZE.
****
Dear Arvind,
This morning I wrote on Devi Kalottaram. There again, in the preface, Sri Bhagavan clearly sayss that this is the essence of all agama sastras on spiritual disciplines. Devi Kalottaram grades all the other paths as futile.
****
R.Subramanian,
Wonderful elucidation.
"So all these are only aids not a stepwise progress towards atma vichara."
Yes,The Goal is not a Result or destination.This is the significance of 'undhi' and 'Para'-
Undhu means'Lunge' or 'Propel' and 'PaRa'-this refrain in each and every verse implies that the Quantum leap can take place with any approach,at any moment in time-It ultimately depends on the earnestness and maturity of the aspirant.It is Divine Grace that answers the mounting aspiration that clinches it .
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
I am of the view:
1. that Sri Bhagavan recommended only Atma Vichara. He said total self surrender to Devarja Mudaliar and some mantras like Siva, Siva to Muruganar and Annamalai Swami and to an unknown Harijan, because they had expressed difficulties.
Here again, there are only aids and not ladder rungs.
2. Ganapati Muni did not pursue self enquiry, because he had multifarious sankalpas. Of course he wes capable of total self denial like eating only plantain fruits skins etc., He did tapas
in Renuka Devi Temple in Padaiveedu, and also in some other temples. He was also a great adept in Yogasastra. [Tiruvottiyur story]. But he never pursued self enqiiry in the manner in which he was told by Sri Bhagavan.
3. Atma Vichara alone can confer liberation. And no mantra japas, suhirtha karmas, deva pujas etc.,
This is also clear from Sri Sankara's Viveka Chudamani. {Please refer Ulagantha Swami's
Tamizh verses 8 to 18. And Sri Bhagavan's prose rendering.
****
Dear arvind, Ravi,
I was checking up Atma Bodham [I referred to Sri Bhagavan's Tamizh
versification] in regard to atma
vichara and other paths and whether anything is said on these paths.
Atma Bodham starts with these three verses which succinctly clinch the issue.
1. This - Atma Bodha - is meant to fulfil the want of the seekers of liberation, who, by their prolonged tapas*, have already cleansed themselves** and become mentally peaceful and free from desires.
* tapas here is essentially self denial and to ** attain chittasuddhi.
2. Of all the means to liberation, Knowledge is the only direct one - as essential as fire to cooking; without it, liberation cannot be gained.
3. Not being opposed to ignorance, karma does not destroy it. On the other hand, Knowledge destroys ignorance as surely as light does darkness.
Here the futility of karmas for attaining liberation is clearly described.
5. The Jiva is mixed up with ignorance. By constant practice of knowledge, the jiva becomes pure, because knowledge disappears along with ignroance, as cleansing powder nut with the impurities in the water.
Here,knowledge means worldly knowledge/scriptural knowledge. Both vanish as soon as Knowledge shines.
Thus in these initial verses,
1. Karma as a means to liberation is ruled out. 2. Only Knowledge is the direct path., are clearly understood.
*****
Dear arvind and Ravi,
I have not today posted these verses of Devi Kalottaram, this morning. However, I am giving these two verses to elucidate the importance of atma vichara vis a vis other paths.
16.
Those who seek everlasting liberation need not endeavour to practice repetition and countless verse mantras, and the method of yoga such as breath control, breath retention and concentration.
17.
There is no room for performing pujas, namaskarams, japa, dhyana and so on. Hear from me, that the highest truth acclaimed in the Vedas can be known only through
Jnana. Hence there is absolutely no
need to know anything outside of oneself.
****
Dear Ravi, arvind,
Now, let us see what Muruganar himself says in his prose rendering of the purport of Upadesa Undiyar. This has been given in English by S. Ram Mohan in the Souvenir of 125th Jayanti of Sri Bhagavan, 2004.
To be useful to people at different levels of spiritual evolution, each one in their particular station in spiritual life, Sri Bhagavan gave us Upadesa Undiyar, which elucidates in a succinct from the entire methodology of spiritual practice. It is true that there an be no one among the billions of the world's populace who does not want to accomplish something.
The majority are convinced that prosperity is bestowed only via the performance of rituals or karma. They mistake karma to be the Transcendent Power. They argue thatm like a calf instinctively finding its mother cow among a herd that includes several cows, the karma will similarly seek the right result by itself. This argument is fallacious. The calf being sentienet, whereas the rituals or karma are insentient. The performer of the insentient karma can receive the benefit of his actions only by the mandat of the Lord who is the embodiment of pure knowledge, bestower of all results. He is the ultimate bestower and ultimate controller of all. Impersonal actions on the one hand are accompanied by experiencing the direct result of a particular action; on the other hand the actions leave behind a memory trace, in the form of vasanas or latencies.
The nature of vasana is to seek repetitive actions. This leads you on and pushes you further down into the endless ocean of samsara. IT WILL NEVER LEAD YOU TO LIBERATION. However, when the karma [action] is performed distinetrestedly and with the attitude of surrender, to the Lord, it purifies the mind [CHITTA SUDDHI] and DIRECTS YOU TO THE PATH OF LIBERATION.
Ritualistic worship, chanting hymns, and meditation are successively works of the body, speech and mind. Each one is subtler than the previous one. The best form of worship is to take all objects around you as the embodiment of God [ellamum un uruvai anniyamil anbu seyyum annon...Pancharatnam, Verse 5] and offer your service to them [Irai paNi niRRal]
It is preferable to repeat the name of the Lord than to engage in the singing hymns of praise. Again, it is better to do the low voice chant than to chant aloud. The best repeition is the mental one called meditation. The meditation should not be in discrete spells. It should be continuous current of meditation like a stream of flowing oil. The best of all is to view the Lord as "I", your own Self. It is much better than viewing Him as somebody outside you.
contd.,
Dear Arvind, Ravi,
Upadesa Undiyar - A Summary by
Muruganar Swami: Tr. Ram Mohan,
continues...
Abidance in the Pure Being via
a transcedental mental attitude is the essence of supreme devotion. Absorption in the heart of being from when we came up constitutes a path of action, devotion, union and knowledge. This is the transcendental devotion that is common to all paths. The mind has the tendency for expanding outward. A technique for focusing the mind inward is pranayama or breath control. By holding the breath the mind is held like a bird caught in a net. Breath control facilitates, absorption in the heart. The mind and breath are like two branches, which have suprng from the same root.
Absorption is of two sorts, temporary submergence and ultimate destruction. The temporarily merged mind is called manolaya, it will rise again. Whereas once the mind is totally destroyed, it can never rise again. When breath is controlled and thought focused resolutely on the object of meditation, mind is turned inward towards of the core of being; then if the mind is held permenently in the Heart, it fades away and dies. When the mind thusm dies, the great spiritual yogi gets established in his own natural Self and for him, there is no deliberate action to perform. All hjappens seamlessly and spontaneously.
So far the essence of the path devotion, meditation and union has been given.
Now comes the path of Enquiry for the 'deserving' ones. It is called true wisdom when the mind turns away from outer objects and enquires regading its own nature and becomes free because of the wisdom it discovers. When that which is called the mind unceasingly and silently enquires into its own form, it realizes that thre is nothing designated as 'mind' exists here. This approach is called the direct path. Thoughts alone make up the mind and for all these, "I" is the root. Hence "I" thought and mind is synonymous. Holding on to single pointed attention and turning within, searching as to from where this "I" thoughts arise, makes the false "I" ashamed and it vanishes. When this "I" ends and ego fades away, there shines "I","I", which is One, which is the very Self and Infinite.
*****
Hi Subramanian:
You quote from Devi K:
-----------
There is no room for performing pujas, namaskarams, japa, dhyana and so on. Hear from me, that the highest truth acclaimed in the Vedas can be known only through
Jnana. Hence there is absolutely no
need to know anything outside of oneself.
They say the outer world is a reflection of the inside.So when we work on the outside we are actually polishing the inside.Shaving the picture in the mirror means simultaneously shaving your face.If we love our chosen Deity so much it only means we love ourselves so much.So I cannot see how performing :'pujas, namaskarams, japa, dhyana and so on' in the outside world is different from Jnaana??Jnaana is not something apart from the samsaara/world.I might not myself do japa etc but I would not consider anyone doing it apart from jnaana.Absorbed in the means is Jnaana.
Regards,
-Z
R.subramanian,
1."1. that Sri Bhagavan recommended only Atma Vichara. He said total self surrender to Devarja Mudaliar and some mantras like Siva, Siva to Muruganar and Annamalai Swami and to an unknown Harijan, because they had expressed difficulties.
Here again, there are only aids and not ladder rungs."
Sri Bhagavan advocated Self Enquiry because that was the path he travelled(although it took him perhaps a moment!).However he also recommended other paths as equally valid and effective.
Whatever the path,it has to progress from Gross to subtle.
2.It is clear that Sri Ganapathy muni was not cutout for Self Enquiry.
"3. Atma Vichara alone can confer liberation. And no mantra japas, suhirtha karmas, deva pujas etc.,"
I have to disagree here.Please refer what I have posted already from 'Talks with Sri Ramana maharshi'.
Here is an excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
"MASTER (to Jaygopal): "One should not harbour malice toward any person or any
opinion. The believers in the formless God and the worshippers of God with form are all,
without exception, going toward God alone. The jnani, the yogi, the bhakta-all, without
exception, are seeking Him alone. The follower of the path of knowledge calls Him
'Brahman'. The yogi calls Him 'Atman' or 'Paramatman'. The bhakta calls Him 'Bhagavan'.
Further, it is said that there is the Eternal Lord and His Eternal Servant."
JAYGOPAL: "How can we know that all paths are true?"
MASTER: "A man can reach God if he follows one path rjghtly. Then he can learn about
all the other paths. It is like reaching the roof by some means or other. Then one is able
to climb down by the wooden or stone stairs, by a bamboo pole, or even by a rope.
"A devotee can know everything when God's grace descends on him. If you but realize
Him, you will be able to know all about Him. You should somehow meet the master of a
house and become acquainted with him; then he himself will tell you how many houses he
owns and all about his gardens and government seurities."
Namaskar.
Hi Ravi, Subramanian, folks,
Well, already plenty of responses to your questions Ravi, and your own as well. Sorry am a little late on the show!
Don’t want to overkill the topic, hence am refraining from a response now unless you specifically mention so.
Best wishes
R.Subramanian,
"3. Not being opposed to ignorance, karma does not destroy it. On the other hand, Knowledge destroys ignorance as surely as light does darkness."
I have always found this a little misleading.
Light does not destroy darkness-Darkness is only absence of Light.This absence is on account of some lid that shuts off light-the mind covered with a lid is what is called mooda mathi(as in Bhaja Govindam,verse no1).In tamil as well,the word for lid is mooDi.This lid has to be removed and this is possible only by uncovering or lifting it-This Lifting implies Karma(however subtle!).Once this 'Lid'(made up of Karma vasanas)is lifted,the Light of the self shines of its own accord.No need to destroy 'Ignorance'through 'Knowledge'!
What the above statement means is that Gross Karma cannot uncover the Truth-that is all.
Namaskar.
Arvind,
"Don’t want to overkill the topic, hence am refraining from a response now unless you specifically mention so."
Fully appreciate your position.Perhaps,you may like to summarize the discussions.(I have in mind a particular conversation of Sri Bhagavan ,where he answers a question-What is the best Approach?(paraphrased);I need to dig this out(Perhaps David may readily know this),but before I reach there,there are still a few snippets that are part of this discussion.)
Namaskar.
Friends,
Here is snippet No.6 from 'The Letters from Sri Ramanasramam':
The devotee: “According to the material world, we have
to say, ‘this is mine’, must we not?”
“Yes, indeed,” replied Bhagavan, “we have to say so.
By merely saying so, however, there is no need to think
that we are all that, and get immersed in the pleasures and
sorrows relating to that. When we ride in a carriage, do we
feel that we are the carriage? Take the example of the sun;
it shines in water in a small pot, in big rivers and in a mirror.
Its image is there. But just because of that, does it think
that it is all that? The same thing with us. All the trouble
arises if one thinks one is the body. If one rejects that
thought, then, like the sun, one will shine everywhere and
be all-pervading.”
The devotee: “It is for that, is it not, that Bhagavan says
that the best thing to do is to follow the path of Self-enquiry
of ‘Who am I’?”
Bhagavan: “Yes; but in the Vasishtam it is mentioned
that Vasishta told Rama that the path of Self-enquiry should
not be shown to anyone who is not sufficiently qualified. In
some other books it has been stated that spiritual practices
should be done for several births, or for at least twelve years
under a Guru. As people would be scared away if I said that
spiritual practices had to be done for several births, I tell
them, ‘You have liberation already within you; you have
merely to rid yourselves of exterior things that have come
upon you’. Spiritual practices are for that alone. Even so,
the Ancients have not said all this for nothing. If a person is
told that he is the Godhead, Brahman itself, and that he is
already liberated, he may not do any spiritual practices,
thinking that he already has that which is required and does
not want anything more. That is why these Vedantic matters
should not be told to spiritually undeveloped people
(anadhikaris); there is no other reason.” And Bhagavan smiled."
Clearly Sri Bhagavan accepts the 'Fitness'(or maturity' required)aspect.
Many of us would like to think we are fully equipped,for anything that interests us,including self enquiry or Japa!In one sense,this is alright,in that by pursuing it earnestly we will be helped along.Here again,it is the earnestness that matters and not the approach.
Namaskar.
Dear m and friends, Ryokan's poems are wonderful; the colour, longing and poetic intensity are all there. Here is another poem you might like. "I built my cottage among the habitations of men,
And yet there is no clamor of carriages and horses.
You ask: "Sir, how can this be done?"
"A heart that is distant creates its own solitude."
I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge,
Then gaze afar towards the southern hills.
The mountain air is fresh at the dusk of day;
The flying birds in flocks return.
In these things there lies a deep meaning;
I want to tell it, but have forgotten the words."
Tao YuanMing
Dear Anon.,
Anything outside means 'duality'. The Self is Non dual consciousness.
It is experiential. To highlight this aspect only, all worships, japas, etc., involving duality is slighted here. One can attain Jnana without any of these aids. But if these aids are required by someone, then there is no other go.
Once some devotee asked Sri Bhagavan: Bhagavan! If Siva comes before You, what will you say?
Sri Bhagavan said: "I shall tell Him, not to keep this business of coming and going. Staying within me for ever."
All the sadhanas imply duality. In bhakti too, unless and until it
matures into self surrender, where ego is submitted, it is dual.
***
Dear Ravi,
"Atma Vichara alone can confer liberation. Suhirta karmas, deva pujas etc.," This is from Viveka
Chudamani. To agree with Sri Sankara or not is left to you,
SRK' case was a different one. He not only practiced different paths in Hinduism but also tried Islam etc., I have not however read SRK in great detail.
Dear Ravi,
"3. Not being opposed to ignorance,
karma does not destroy it....."
This is again from Sri Sankara. Atma Bodham. To agree with Sri Sankara or not is left to you.
****
Devi Kalottaram: Jnanachara Vicharam:
continues....
16. Those who seek everlasting liberation, need not endeavour to practice repetition and countless
verse mantras and methods of yoga such as breath control, breath retention and concentration.
17. There is no room for performing puja, namaskaram, japa, dhyana and so on. Hear from me that the highest truth acclaimed in the Vedas can be known only through Jnana. Hence there is absolutely no need to know anything outside of oneself.
18. For those whose mind are constantly expanding, clinging to external objects, factors will always arise causing increasing bondage. If the outward-wandering mind is turned inwards to stay in its natural state, know that one will not undergo any suffering in the world.
19. Unite with that one totality, which is all-pervasive, which has no inside or outside, which is bereft of all concepts of directions such as above, below, in between, which assumes all forms in creation and yet is itself formless, which can be known only by itself, and which is self luminous.
20. Peeople perform their actions having their own aims in mind, and they accordingly reap the consequences of their actions, by attaining those aims. Therefore do not engage in such actions, which are not free from flaws [leading to bondage]. Turn the attention completely away from external objects and concentrate only upon the That [the Self] which cannot be seen.
contd.,
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