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Sri Ramana Maharshi
Welcome
I propose to use this blog primarily to air my occasional musings on any matters relating to the life and teachings of Ramana Maharshi. There will also be occasional contributions about Arunachala, the sacred mountain where Sri Ramana spent all of his adult life.
Articles and interviews on these topics can also be found on my site: www.davidgodman.org.
Articles and interviews on these topics can also be found on my site: www.davidgodman.org.
2,142 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 2001 – 2142 of 2142Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Conduct of the World:
82. Embracing conduct that is contrary to social conventions is not fitting for Jnanis even
if they have known all that needs to be known and attained the whole range of siddhis. Hence,
if at anytime you happen to be with any kind of group, at those times let your outward behavior
appear to be in harmony with those people.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai:
Investigation into Truth:
Vivarta Siddhanta
(The Doctrine of Illusory Appearance)
83. Through the Venba verse that begins, 'Because we perceive the world....' Guru Ramana -- who
teaches the one true beneficial attainment (Jnana) that is needed by the people of the world --
declared, out of His love for us, the doctrine of illusory appearance to be truth that bestows
the ultimate benefit, avoiding the consideration of other doctrines.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
84. In the same way that the wonderful scene that manifests in a fireworks display is already
present in the (unlit) fireworks, all the gross and subtle scenes that manifest through the brain are already present within the Heart in the form of ancient tale of vasanas, (mental habits and tendencies) that manifest in such a way that they can be seen externally. You should clearly understand this in your mind.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
85. God, the Self, manifests himself as the world with its multitudinous names and forms. But
unlike the potter who fashions a pot while remaining distinct from the mud, that is the material
cause for its creation, He does not remain as merely the efficient cause, performing the acts of creation, sustenance and destruction.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth.
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
86. Do not question, 'How indeed has this confusion arisen -- that the Self does not know that truth that it has manifested itself as the world?' If you inquire, 'For whom is this confusion?'
you will find that the confusions never existed.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
87. Saying that the Self has fashioned itself as the world is like saying that a rope has fashioned itself into a snake. On close examination, it is found that the snake does not exist at all. By the same token, there was not any time a world creation in which the Self apparently fashioned itself into the world.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman :
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
88. The form of snake is not different from the thought of it. When one studies the matter,
is it not that thought which causes the separate snake to be created in that rope, which sustains it as the cause of one's suffering, and which makes itself dissolve, when the truth of the non existence of the snake is realized?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind he manifestation of the world:
89. The seed, the sprout, the plant, and the tree are each in turn the cause of the next,
yet each of these effects fight against and destroys its cause. They are not created as
an effect, each from that one preceded it, except in the imagination of the deluded mind.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
90. The reality that is consciousness is indeed the Self.The world is objectified-consciousness, a distortion (within consciousness). If a rope (truly) existed as consciousness, would it seek someone else - a separate being - to become a snake?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
91. 'Did the Self move, losing its nature of unmoving being? Or else, how has this world
come to be?'. If this be asked, (the answer is,) 'The Self apparently experienced movement only
through ignorance, which is itself unreal. There never was at anytime movement for the Self.'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
92. When attention is paid exclusively to the infinite space that never gets fragmented,
the effect, the finite pot, will not shine at all. Therefore, it is an error to say that just
because the pot moves, the space within the pot moves as well.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world.
93. Since in the plenitude of the Self the imperfections - the inert body and the world that
comprise the non Self -- will never exist and shine, it is not logical to say that the Self too
experiences the movements of the body and world, which are bound for destruction.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
94. The Self abides motionless because of its all pervasive fullness. Because the apparent
connection between the Self and the mind-limitation seems to exist on account of ignorance --
which is the jiva perspective, the reflected consciousness that rises as 'I' - the Self too
appears to have experienced movement of Samsara that comprises birth and death, bondage and
liberation, and so on, is only for the Jiva and never for the Self, the transcendent reality.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into the Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
95. If it is asked, 'How has the Supreme Self, the one without a second, come to possess
the limitations of the mind,the form of ignorance?' the reply is, 'The limitation has attached
itself only through the deluded jiva-perspective. In truth, it never attached itself to the Self, consciousness.'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
96 The little Jiva will not rise as a tiny separate 'I'entity from the supreme reality that
is the plenitude of consciousness. Only from a ball of fire of finite size can tiny sparks
split off, fly away and fall to the ground.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
97. The body itself does not exist in the unrestricted view of the real Self, but only
in outward turned attention, which is the perspective of the mind, that has become deluded
through the expansion of Maya. Therefore, it is wrong to call the Self, which is the vast
expanse of consciousness, the owner-occupier of the of the body.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
98. It is only when you live your life by taking the body alone to be 'I' that the external
world, consisting of moving and unmoving objects, will manifest itself. Since, for the Self,
there is complete absence of external objects, whether far or near, it is therefore wrong to
say that it is an unaffected witness.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The truth behind the manifestation of the world:
99. The world does not exist without the body; the body never at anytime exists without the
mind; the mind does not exist at all apart from consciousness; and consciousness too does not
exist apart from being.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Ajata Siddhanta (The Doctrine of Non Creation)
100. Though Guru Ramana, who appeared as God incarnate, expounded numerous doctrines, as
befitted the different states and beliefs of the various devotees who sought refuge at His
feet, you should know that what we have heard Him affirm to intimate devotes in private,
as an act of grace, as His own true experience, is only the doctrine of Ajata (non creation).
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Ajata Siddhanta - The Doctrine of Non Creation:
101. The truth of this preeminent state (Ajata) was taught to Arjuna by Lord Krishna in the
beginning in the chapter two of Bhagavad Gita. Krishna spoke of other doctrines in the following
chapters because of Arjuna's bewilderment that arose from his inability to assimilate it.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai -Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Conceding Creation:
102. The deeper intention of the scriptures in describing the sequence of creation in
different ways is not to proclaim the correct theory of creation but to promote inquiry
into the Supreme Reality that is the primal source of creation. This is the real purport
behind the Sastras (scriptures) that describe the details of creation.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Activities of God:
103. Self, the conjuror, abides without change in the state of Turiya, and through the power
of His Maya, He remains hidden from the view of those who are infatuated by it. He throws the
rope of the avasthas into the space of the mind, making the experiencers who are attached to those states climb the rope. Through them He sports, manifesting a strange and changeful magical show.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Activities of God:
104. In the perspective of those whose attention is externalized, Parameswara (the Supreme
Lord), who empowered Maya with authority, will appear as if he too is subject to the treacherous
authority that powerful Maya exercises.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Activities of God:
105. In the same way that the manifold classes of sentient beings and insentient objects get
involved in various movements through the mere presence of the sun, which rises in the sky
without any volition (sankalpa), the actions of the world take place through the mere presence
of the Lord.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Activities of God:
106. In the mere presence of the brilliant sun, the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus bud
blossoms, the flower of the water-lily closes, and the many creatures of the world move
about or return to rest.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The activities of God:
107. In the mere presence of the moon the moonstone exudes water; the water lily blossoms and the lotus flower closes. The iron needle stirs in the presence of the magnet. All of these are naturally accomplished through a powerful presence.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The activities of God:
108. The embodied Jivas who are subject to the five activities in the presence of God - who
is without a trace of sankalpa -- enter upon the many courses of action dictated by their
karmically determined destiny and then, realizing the futility of action, turn within and
attain liberation.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The activities of God:
109. Events in the world do not affect the sun, nor do the four knowable elements (earth, water,
fire and air) have any interplay with the limitless ether. Similarly, it is certain that the actions of Jivas will not have any connection to the Lord, who is free of the mind. This is his
unique nature.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigating into Truth:
The Three Prime Entities (the Soul, God and the World:
110. If the Jiva thoroughly inquires in the heart who the Jiva is, Jiva itself will be found
to be non existent and Siva will be revealed. When the seer who enthusiastically see the world
has ceased to exist, it will be pure madness to regard the seen world as existing.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Three Prime Entities ( The Soul, God and the World)
111. Thus, when the other two entities (jiva and world) have perished, Sivam alone is
indisputably exists. Although this is the defect free truth, how can he whose ego is dead
think of that truth as non dual?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Three Prime Entities (The Soul, God, and the World):
112. 'If even in the state of ultimate truth (Paramartha), the Jiva and the world are as real
as God, then God's nature -- complete and utter fullness - becomes imperfect.' It is not proper
to make this claim unless we accept that God is subject to limitation.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means for the total cessation of the differentiated view that comprises, seer, seen and seeing:
114. If, in a cinema show, the diffused (projected light) merges with and disappears in broad
daylight, the cinema scenes that shine in the projected light will disappear. Similarly, if the
unreal and impermanent mind-light merges with and is lost in the light of pure Consciousness,
eternal reality, the false scenes comprising of the triputi (the seer, the seeing and the seen)
will cease once and for all.
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means for the total cessation of the differentiated view that comprises seer, seen and seeing:
115. If it is asked, 'When the prime entity is only one, why do all teachers and religions soften their stance and accept initially that it is beneficial to say that the prime entities are three?' the answer is: 'Unless it is agreed that all the three entities are real, the Jiva, being whirled about by externalized attention (suttarivu), will not be able to accept that One, the reality.'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Veiling:
116. The particulars about the past history of the Jiva, which are full of details about, the suffering he inflicted on others and the suffering inflicted on him by others, in innumerable
past lives, do not remain in the Jiva's consciousness. Know clearly that this complete forgetfulness, a veiling, is an act of grace by God towards the Jivas.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Veiling:
117: Even the limited memory, which prompts the mind the rising of thoughts about a few incidents from this one life, makes the life of the Jiva, wholly miserable. Because of this, forgetfulness alone deserves to be greatly desired.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - (Vyaktitva):
118. Individual gods (and goddesses) and their powers appear to be real on account of the imagination of the minds of those who marvel at and admire them. But in the Self, the reality
that transcends the mind, Maya - this imagination of the mind that bewilders the Jiva -
is false at all times.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - Vyaktitva:
119. The Jivanmukta has attained the state of reality that shines, transcending individuality
and non individuality. If one insists that, in this experience, he still has a distinct individuality, such an assertion arises only through the limited knowledge of pandits who
are bound to the false. The form of Jivanmuktas is the Space of consciousness, which is the clean mirror that reflects whatever is placed before it. The individuality that seems to exist for these (Jivanuktas) is only the reflection of the individuality of those who love individuality.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - Vyaktitva:
120. After the 'I am the body' ego has vanished, in those who inquire earnestly, they shine
forever in the Heart, as the supreme reality, as consciousness. How, therefore, can one declare, 'This person is a peerless Jnani', 'That person is peerless Jnani?' Are they, in truth, bodily forms? Answer!
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality -Vyaktitva:
121. In the hearts of those who earnestly inquire, Jnana alone permanently exists as the
supreme reality. After the 'I am the body' ego has vanished, are they in truth bodily forms,
such that might say of them, 'That one is peerless Jnani'. This one is a peerless Jnani.'
***
(The previous two verses bear the same number that is 120.
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - Vyaktitva.
121. You, who, with a great eagerness and an expectation of seeing miracles, wander around
looking a this Mahatam and that Mahatama! If you inquire into the real nature of your own
Mahatma (great Self), reach the Heart and realize it (the great Self), then every Mahatma will
be found to be only that one Self.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - Vyaktitva:
122.Unless one's connection with individuality is destroyed at its root, one will not become
a true Jnani, free of the sense of deoership (kartrutva). Even if one attains a Supreme and
eminent state of tapas, that can be marveled at, one is still a Sadhaka who is qualified to
realize the truth.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - Vyaktitva:
123. If one abandons the knowledge of reality that is totally free of individuality, all the
many siddhis performed with the ego mind will assuredly be profitless. Therefore, who else but a worthless person - who clings tenaciously to individuality without realizing the undivided Atma Swarupa that is his true nature -- will desire those multiple siddhis that cause mental delusion?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Individuality - Vyaktitva:
124. The Jnani firmly abides as the undivided Self and shines above all others by rooting out
individuality. He alone comprises all the Siddhas who appear to be separate and multiple on
account of individuality. All the many siddhis that appear to manifest through them (the Siddhas) in fact belong to the Jnani who, firmly established in his real state, remains as a mere witness of them. He is Dakshinamurti himself.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association:
Bhagavan's Verse 1:
Completely abandon the idea that the disgusting body is 'I'. Realize the Self that is unceasing
and ever present bliss. To think of knowing the Self while cherishing the body, which is bound
for destruction, is like seizing a crocodile as a raft to cross a river.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association:
125. The 'greatness' of those claim that they are trying to know themselves, while at the same
time remaining excessively attached to the body, is that of an ignoramus who, believing a
crocodile to be a log, grabs it as a raft to cross the river.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association:
126. The Self is existence - consciousness - bliss, so subtle, it is beyond the reach of the
mind and speech. If, instead of laboring hard to meditate on the Self by practicing Self abidance, one wastes one's life striving hard to care for a body that is transient, insentient, misery inducing and extremely gross - as though this is the ultimate goal of life - this is like the stupid act of utilizing water, drawn from a well by hard labor, to cultivate useless weeds instead of valuable rice.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association
127. Those who rejoice in the insignificant (and miserable) life of living as a Jiva,
which has arisen through the ego-perspective ( 'I am the body'), have abandoned as though
non existent the magnificent and transcendent life that exists to be enjoyed as the infinite
supreme bliss in the Heart.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai; Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association:
128. Without realizing that the world that appears in front of them (ultimately) brings about their ruin, those who cling to it, believing it to be real and beneficial, will drown and be
ruined in the sea of samsara, like someone who climbs on a floating bear, taking it to be a raft.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association:
129. Like a person, who, through delusion, interprets the comings and goings of the vehicle
he is riding in as his own movements, those who have not realized the true nature, will impose
upon themselves the Samsara experienced by the ego self and suffer.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
False Association:
130. Peace can never be attained by one who subjects himself to ignorance by embracing the
body and the world, regarding them as enduring and beneficial. Equally, suffering or fear
will never be experienced by one who renounces this ignorance and reaches the permanent resting
place of the ego, the Heart, clinging tenaciously to it like a udumbu lizard, without letting go.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
false Association:
131. The mind of the Jiva. who delights in unreal activity - the life lived as an ego --
will be extremely deluded. The only thing worth reveling in is the life of grace lived
as consciousness, the supreme, the ego free Atma Swarupa.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Pandit - (The Knowledgeable Scholar)
132. Why do many of you who have associated with me call me a Pandit? The indispensable and
characteristic mark of the true pandit is simply that he knows by deep inquiry the one who has
studied, right from the beginning, all the arts and sciences that are apart from him in such a way that they cease, having turned out to be ignorance.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into the Truth:
The Pandit (The Knowledgeable Scholar)
133. By inquiry deeply within oneself, 'Who is the one who has known all the arts and sciences?'
the ego that says 'I am the one who has known' ceases immediately, without raising its head.
Along with it, the knowledge of the arts and sciences that was gathered by the ego also ceases.
Only he who has unerringly known, as it really is, his true state, the Self, that remains after
this inquiry, is a Pandit. How can someone with an ego, who has not known the Atma Swarupa,
become a Pandit?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Pandit (the Knowledgeable Scholar):
134. Only those who have learned the way to forget completely everything that has been known through Suttarivu (objectifying consciousness) and who have established themselves in the Heart
through self inquiry are realizers of the Truth. Conversely, those who unceasingly attempt to recollect the things they have forgotten will sink into Samsara, which is wholly conceptual.
They will unnecessarily fret, suffer, and be mentally confused.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Pandit (the Knowledgeable Scholar):
135. O you worthless man! You know so well everything that is other than your Self, and who
feel proud and vain, thinking, 'Who is there to equal me?' When the Jnani, the one who is
established in the Self, questions you, 'You great scholar! Who is this 'you' who has known
everything?' you are totally bewildered and, unable to answer that question, you bow your
upright head in shame. May your foolish mind be turned to dust and be completely destoroyed!
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Pandit (the Knowledgeable Scholar):
136, One who is ever devoted to Self abidance is in a state that is devoid of falsity. Only
he who remains firmly there though the clear knowledge of the reality that arises when doubt
and wrong understanding, which are the components of delusion, wear away and die, is the one
who has seen further shore of worldly knowledge.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Pandit (the Knowledgeable Scholar):
137. The hard to know reality exists as 'I', the natural name of the first person that shines
along with its predicate 'am'. Only he who is able to know it really is, after his ego has been
destroyed, is a true scholar, free of ignorance.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Poet:
138. On feeling thoroughly mortified by the realization that he has debased his tongue by singing
praises of human beings, let the mind of the poet dissolve and firmly resolve: 'From now on I
will sing only the glory of God and not about people (who identify with their ) foul bodes.'
(By doing this,) let him live honorably.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Poet:
139. The poet should dedicate the gift of poetry attained by the grace of God solely to His feet.
Those who instead use it to praise unworthy human beings, are, alas, pushing Mother Saraswati
who resides on their tongue, into profession of prostitution.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Poet:
140. The state of a still Heart comes from the destruction of the ego through self attention
in such a way that one does not get caught in the five sheaths - annamaya kosa and so on -
which are not the Self. It is only in this state of Heart clarity that true poetry will spring
forth.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
141. All the Jnana scriptures that teach the way to redemption proclaim in unison that
restraining and stilling the mind is the best means for liberation. This is also emphasized
by Jnanis. If, after a certain amount of study, one knows this to be the inner purport of
the scriptures, one should then direct one's whole effort towards that practice. What is the use of continuously studying more and more scriptures without doing this?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
142. If those whose conduct is unfit even to embark on the spiritual life engage in the
study of Vedantic scriptures, they defile those excellent texts, which exist and shine
with supremely unblemished purity.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
143. The knowledge of scriptures should prompt one to reach the Heart, the source of the ego, by relying on the grace of God as the primary support in such a way that the ego ceases to be. If it does not help in this way, the knowledge borne as burden by those who behave as if they are the body, the illusory lump of flesh, is nothing but the swinging dewlap of a goat.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
144.Mental confusion and misery can lead only end by the revelation of one's real nature,
which results from the mind's destruction through the practice of some form of sadhana.
Expecting to end the confusion of mind by mere study, is like a horse's horn, an impossibility.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
145:
To the Vijnana Uyir (the ego self), which swrils unceasingly in bewilderment like the wind,
and which is without stability, the knowledge of arts and sciences is a place bustling with
noise. Only the Heart, its source, is the everlasting abode of intense peace.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
146. Only those adepts in inquiry who, abandoning the vast Vedas and Agamas, take
being consciousness as their reliable guide and inquire within themselves, will,.through
the shining of pure being, completely cut off the desire for the sapless sense objects.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Futility of Scholarship:
147. Through your great love of learning you may with great enthusiasm, learn the Jnana
of scriptures, thinking, 'These books which are the basis for attaining the clarity of immaculate Jnana, are certainly worth knowing.' However, when you later attain maturity
and attempt to sink into the source, you will definitely have to forget completely the scriptural knowledge which, with great effort, you previously learned and mastered.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Truth about Vedanta:
148. Those crazy minded people who do not know as real anything other than the object of
senses, and who are thereby ruined, will term the Jnana that flourishes luxuriantly through
dispassion towards sense objects 'dry Vedanta'.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Truth about Vedanta:
149. The non dual experience will only be obtained by those who have completely given up
desires. For those with desires, it is far far away. Hence it is proper for those with desires to direct their ways towards God, who is desire-less, so that through desire for God
the desires that arise through the delusion that objects exist and are different from oneself will become extinct.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David GodmanL
Investigation into Truth:
Prarabdha's Way:
150. Those who have realized that prarabdha itself serves up one's food (and other necessities for sustaining the body) will never feel anxious or agitated about food. You should know that for all people, whether they desire it or not, that (ordained) food will not fail to come.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Prarabdha's Way:
151. Siva shines within each Jiva as the Witness, enabling him (the Jiva) to experience
his Prarabdha through his (Siva's) presence. Whoever knows his nature to be mere being-
consciousness, without imagining through ignorance that he is the experiencer of Prarabdha,
shines as the supreme person, Siva.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Might of Prarabdha:
152. Through the light of a lamp, even darkness that exists a long distance away departs,
but the darkness that is present at the foot of the lamp post is not removed by the lamp.
In the same way, those disciples who stay a long way away from the Guru get redeemed by
worshipping in their hearts the Jnana Guru who cannot be limited by time and space. Even so, some of those who get the good fortune of staying physically close to the Guru, like his
shadow, do not become ripe in Jnana, losing their ego darkness, but die ripe only in physical age. This is due to their immaturity.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Might of Prarabdha:
153. What is the reason that the two - supreme Atma Jnana and the eight great siddhis,
beginning with Anima - do not unfailingly co exist in the way the people desire? The reason
is that the nature of Prarabdha is two fold for people of the world. Hence attaining Jnana
and possessing the wealth of siddhis are different from each other.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Nature of Self and Jiva:
154. The nature of the bogus ego-mind is similar to that of a mischievous demon;
it excitedly revels; it roams unrestrained, indulging in deceit; it burgeons with many
concepts. By knowing objects it wallows and suffers. However, one's true nature is to be
and shine.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Power of Vasanas:
155. Among the few rare Jivas who practice Self abidance, those who are not able to remain
firm on the river bank, which is the state of the Self, will be burled by those mischieveous
boys, the Vasanas, into the swirling river, the life of Samsara, and will suffer.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Ego Knot:
156. When you deviate from attending carefully to the beauty of the exalted consciousness-space, which is the real nature of the perceiver, and rise as a separate 'I' through self
conceit, this is the one lapse that leads you into the error of seeing a world of objects
in front of you.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Ego Knot:
157. Seizing the body as 'I', the treacherous, illusory and fundamental ego knot leads
an evil life. Seeing the many varieties of sense objects which are unreal, like the azure
color in the sky, it takes them to be real through its deluded vision and becomes stronger
through its desire for them.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Ego Knot:
158. The sight which cannot see its own bondage free nature is one over which the cataract
of bondage has spread. In this perspective it clothes itself with the five bodily sheaths,
taking them to be 'I' and also appears in front of itself as the world.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Ego Knot:
159. The ego, the anava impurity, which arose and took the body as its dwelling place,
and which you mistake through delusion to be your real nature, is not a finite entity
that truly exists. It is an imaginary and dream like appearance that is experienced through
forgetfulness of your own Self, the reality, the fullness of consciousness that, like space,
is everything and nothing.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Ego Knot:
160. The spurious jiva, which wallows and suffers as 'I' is also one of the many many
shadowy pictures that appear on the screen.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Strength of the Ego:
161. If the ego is destroyed, one becomes a true devotee; if the ego is destroyed,
one also becomes a Jnanil if the ego is destroyed, at that very moment grace stands
revealed.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Strength of the Ego:
162. Only he who, through firm Jnana, is freed from the 'I am the body' ego is a true
brahmin and a true sannysin. However, the ego borne on their heads by brahmins who are
proud of their caste and by sannyasins who are proud of the Asrama is extremely difficult
to get rid of completely.
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman;
Investigation into Truth:
The strength of Ego:
163. One does not become a brahmin merely by the comprehensive mastery of chanting the four
Vedas, so long as one continues to perceive objects as separate from oneself. Only he who has known the destruction of the ego that has learned the Vedas, is in truth, a brahmin who
has known the purport of the Vedas. He who has not seen this destruction will fall from his Self state, as a hair falls from the head; he will be censured by others and swelter mentally.
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Strength of the Ego
164. The saint Kannappa's love for Siva was so boundless, he gouged out his eye and fixed
it on Siva's face. yet even for him a trace of 'I am the body' remained through the feeling
that he has beautiful eyes, until he gouged one out and offered it to Siva. So, the complete annihilation of the ego is extremely difficult indeed.
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Strength of the Ego:
165. By accepting, when it was offered to Him, the eye of Kannappa, who was proud of his eyes, it was the intention of the Lord Siva, with an eye on His forehead, to avoid the ruination of
his devotee through having the evil belief that the inert body is 'I'. This is the glory
of devotion to Siva.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
166. If one thoroughly investigate the divine play of God, the Foremost One, who remains
the source, one discovers that, the divine ordinance is as follows: 'In this world, if
the ego rises, all else will rise; if it subsides, all else will subside as well.'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
167. The Jivas, who are all bound to total ignorance, experience the ego life in the
three worlds. This is nothing but the dance of a Zombie who has possessed a corpse on
a funeral pyre in the cremation ground.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
168. Listen! People cannot even think unless prompted to do so by the all embracing
and impartial Chit Sakti (the power of consciousness) that has benevolence towards all.
Here in this world the jumping about of people, excited by the feeling 'I will accomplish
this!', is indeed a great wonder.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
169. This is similar to the ludicrous story of the cripple who boasted: 'If only someone
will now lift me and prop me up, I will single-handedly fight this army of aggressive enemies,
rout them, and raise a pile of corpses!'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
BHAGAVAN VERSE 2:
Without realizing that they are moving around only through the power of God, madmen
perform a ridiculous dance, strutting about, declaring, 'We will attain all the Siddhis!'
This is the ludicrous statement of the cripple who boasted, 'If someone will only lift me
up, of what significance will these enemies for me?'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
170. When, alas, even the gods Vayu and Agni respectively had no power at all either to stir
or burn a flimsy and insignificant wisp of straw, who can accomplish any task through the power that rises in him as 'I'? How could it be possible?
(The story is from Kenopanishad)
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
171. Losing their Jnana drishti (the vision that comes from true knowledge) through the
veiling that obstructs Jnana, suffering intensely through the bondage of evil karma and,
as a consequence, losing sight of the supreme, Jivas rise as 'I' and dance the comic dance
of an image on a temple tower that appears to bear the tower itself.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
172 &173: Through steam power a train runs rapidly over long distances, effortlessly
hauling heavy loads as though they were wisps of straw. Will wise ones who travel on it
carry their individual luggage on their heads? Likewise, since the omnipotent supreme power
is itself bearing all the multiple burdens through its inherent nature, the perfect course
for Jivas is to place all their heavy burdens - their many anxieties -- on that power of
consciousness and remain free of cares.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
Bhagavan 3: As God is bearing the burden of the world, the actions of the spurious jiva
who pretends to bear it, is comparable to the ridiculous act of a sculpted image on a temple
tower that strains and grimaces as if it is bearing the weight of the tower. If a passenger
on a train that easily hauls its heavy load carries his luggage on his head and suffers,
instead of putting it down in the compartment, whose fault is it?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
174. The trembling of the body accompanied by a sensation of fear, which arise as one
becomes absorbed in meditation, is due to the remnants of the ego consciousness that still
clings. When he ego that subsided by clinging to the form dies completely, and one abides
as the pure expanse, the space of consciousness, the trembling and fear will cease and
tranquility will be experienced.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
175. The best course of action is to remain still like an ocean in which the waves have
subsided, with the ego restrained and focused (on the Self) through the consciousness that is free from the deluding of a mind-ghost that cavorts around unfettered.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Dance of the Ego:
176. Extricate yourself from the ego delusion, which does not even know its own nature,
and realize, through the experiential knowledge that all is God's doing, the rare truth,
that 'not even an atom stirs except through God.' By observing this practice you thus
achieve the total destruction of the sense of doership (Kartrutva buddhi), which is an evil
sin. This is, indeed, the true power that one attains through tapas.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Usurping the Self:
177. The Self, which is vast space that is all consciousness, manifests from itself the many
worlds and jivas that appear to be multiple, sustains them in itself and withdraws them into
itself. Those ignorant ones who have become bewildered, forgetting their Self State, are
truly usurpers of the Self.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Heaven and Hell:
178. People of the world! Don't argue and quarrel among yourselves about the reality of
other worlds that are said to begin with heaven (and include the deva and asura realms).
As long as and to whatever extent this world is real, till then and to that extent all
other worlds, beginning with heaven, will also be real.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Heaven and Hell:
179. If those 'geniuses' who assert that they have known through intellectual analysis
that the body and the world really exist in he way that their senses tell them, let them,'
examine the situation along with us and we will tell them, 'Not only does the perceived world truly exist, but innumerable worlds of the gods, the heavens and hells, and so on,
that are mentioned in the books.'
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Terror of Hell:
180. only those who do not know the real nature of hell, the punishment of the world,
will say that they shudder in fear of it. But those who know the real nature of the hell,
the evil mistake ('I am the body'), will discover the means to end it and will surely reach
the state of truth.
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Conquest of Naraka:
181. They say that Lord Narayna killed the demon Naraka. But really Naraka is the ego
that parades itself by taking the hellish body to be 'I'. Hence, those who inquire into
the source of this Naraka and destroy him are indeed Narayana, the killer of Naraka.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Conquest of Naraka:
182. Taken on Naraka Chaturdasi, the auspicious bath that symbolizes the conquest of Naraka
is actually bathing in the waters of true knowledge after killing Naraka, the ego, by tracking
him down to his place of residence.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Conquest of Naraka:
Bhagavan 4:
Naraka is he who rules the world of Hell by taking the hellish body to be 'I'. Hence, who
slays Naraka with the discuss of Jnana by inquiring 'From where does this Naraka arise?' is
Lord Narayana Himself. That day indeed is the auspicious Naraka Chaturdasi Day.
****
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The conquest of Naraka:
183. Know clearly that Naraka is the one condemned to ruin through taking as 'I' the foul
mass of flesh, the hell that is the body, while Deepavali is the eternal radiance of the
Supreme Self that shines after Naraka, the reflection, has been destroyed following the
inquiry into his nature.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai:
Investigation into Truth:
The Conquest of Naraka:
Bhagavan 5:
Clearly know that (the auspicious day of) Deepavali denotes shining as the Self by seeking
and destroying the great sinner Naraka, who ruined himself by regarding as 'I' the prison
of the body, the source of misery that truly is Hell.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Greatness of Ahamukha (Facing towards the Self):
184. Consciousness, one's real nature, which is the basis of knowing the non Self objects,
is the excellent anchorage for the meditation practice of aspirants. If, unaware of this,
they meditate and toil by holding onto another object imagined within that Self,this is like
grasping a shadow, the illusory reflection, while ignoring the real object.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
185. The intellect, which is the Suttarivu, the individual consciousness, loses its focus
and suffers by constantly directing attention towards objects and their attributes. The way
to make it (individual consciousness) unite with and subside in one's Swarupa (true nature)
is to begin taking it, wholeheartedly, as the object of attention through the inquiry 'Who is the 'I' who is paying attention to sordid sense objects?'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
186. You perceivers! You who endure endless suffering through perceiving objects of sense
without first perceiving the one in whose sight they appear! Happiness is simply removal of the sense of duality. This occurs when attention is turned inward instead of outward.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
O Mind! It is not wise for you to come out and show yourself. Realizing that merging
your consciousness in the Heart alone bestows on you the ultimate benefit, stay within and
safeguard yourself from Maya, who seeks every possible means of capsizing you by drawing
you outwards.
contd.,
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai -Translation by David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
188. Rather than wasting one's life by racing around seeking sense pleasures and dancing
with the intoxication of them, the wiser course is to seek, through consciousness, one's
real nature and live merged in it, obtaining the ultimate benefit in the Heart.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
189. Dualistic pairs of opposing thoughts are the cause of your misery as they afflict the
mind. They banish the bliss of peace, your nature, preventing you from experiencing it.
Hence the proper course is to ensure the total cessation of mental vrittis (activities) in
such a way that opposing thought pairs do not gain a hold over the mind.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
190. You people who go flying like birds to one only Siva shrine after another, not realizing that Siva is dwelling within you! Supreme Sivam is the Consciousness that has subsided and
focused itself, without the slightest movement, in the Heart.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
191. Rather than allowing the mind to spread outwards, like the sail of ship, to
be ruined by the strong winds of objects of sense, it is wisdom to dive deep and enter
the Heart in order to attain the state of stillness, and there be like an anchor that
sinks deep and lies settled on the broad ocean's bed.
***
Guru vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
192. Swarupa, the supreme, is in the Heart, the abode of virtuous. To be qualified to
have the darshan of this Swarupa one only has to keep the outward rushing mind fixed fully
within, maintaining continuous vigil over it. Know that this is true heroism (dhira).
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The means of subsiding in the Heart:
193. If the ego ridden mind, which is always wandering around perceiving the objects of
non Self, begins enthusiastically to pay attention to its own nature, the limited and
fragmentary jiva state will perish through the knowledge of its real nature that shines
spontaneously and fully in the Heart, with nothing else existing apart from it.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The World of God:
194. The notion that the world of Siva exists far, far away arises on account of the
illusion of the ego, the 'I am the body' idea. Be firmly convinced that the immaculate
world of Siva, which one should reach, does not exist any where else except in one one's
Heart.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The World of God:
195: You are the all pervading light that is your own distinctive possession.
This light creates not only the space for existence of that world but also reveals
and illumines it through its wonderful power. To shine as this light is truly that the
kingdom of God is within you.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The World of God:
196. The transcendental turiya firmament surges as fullness, as if it is a new experience,
in the serene and focused minds of devotees, who belong wholly and solely to God. You should now that this turiya firmament is alone and the rarely attained Siva Loka which flourishes as the light of Swarupa.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The State of Sivam:
197. When the deluding ego ghost, the scattered mind, is uprooted, the imaginary division
between sentient and insentient also ceases. The Jiva that then merges in the light of
Sahaja Samadhi, the experience of extremely pure and peaceful awareness, is immaculate
Sivam itself.
(((
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The mind in which ego defilement has perished is Siva swarupa itself:
198. By sinking deep within the Heart one become consciousness. The ego, the non Self,
departs, and all the accumulated false mental concepts, the defilement of the mind,cease
and perish. Such a mind, which is Pure Sattva, is Siva Swarupa, and it deserves to be known
as Consciousness, the Supreme.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigating into Truth:
The mind in which ego defilement has perished is Siva Swarupa itself:
199. God, the extremely subtle one who transcends everything, is present everywhere,
without any absence, as the Self, limitless Sivam. If the expanded mind merges into its
Source, and attains clarity, becoming free of defilement, it will clearly experience Sivam.
contd.,
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Hari and Hara (Vishnu and Siva) are not different:
200. People say that the God beneath the banyan tree (Siva as Dakshinamurti) bestows Jnana
to Jivas but Hari (Vishnu) is the one who bestows the supreme state of liberation (Parama-
Pada). As the firm Jnana is itself the supreme state that takes the form of the expanse
of consciousness, Jnana bestowing Siva and liberation bestowing Hari are not different.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Sakti and Sivam:
201. The Jnana Sakti (the mind), which emerges and expands in the form of activity,
cannot function at all independently of the Atma Swarupa,the absolute being. This Atma
Swarupa,which is mere being and which exists as the primal source for everything, is
indeed the pure Sivam, that resides in Chidambaram,the Hall of Consciousness.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Sakti and Sivam:
202. By what attainment does the mind, through experiencing permanent supreme bliss,
cease wandering around, seeking what is other than itself? It is Sivam, the Heart that
bestows the ever new intense experience of Janan. That Sivam, is mind's delight.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Sakti and Sivam:
203. The minds of devotees who are intoxicated with a boundless love for being are
gopikas. The Heart that completely destroys the ego's dominance, in which the ruddy flame
of a lamp attracts and destroys moths, is the Lord Krishna, the beloved of the gopikas.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Siva Puja:
Declaring the true nature of Siva Puja.
204.You should firmly convinced that the authentic Siva Puja is the
state of profound peace in which, through thought free thought, one remains
habitually and inseparably in harmony with Atma Swarupa, the fullness, the pure
being consciousness.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Siva Puja:
204. You should be firmly convinced that the authentic Siva Puja is the state of profound
peace in which, through thought free thought, one remains habitually and inseparably in
harmony with Atma Swarupa, the fullness, the pure consciousness.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Siva Puja:
205. Markandeya fought and conquered death and attained the immortal state through Siva
Puja he performed, thus living beyond life ordained for him, making unswerving fate err,
and escaping from inescapable death. Hence, if anyone worships Siva, the killer of Yama,
by inquiring with full awareness, then Yama's noose, which has the power to ensnare,
without exception, all jivas, will in these exceptional cases, get frayed and cut and be
unable to catch them.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Siva Puja:
206. Once you have reached the intellectual understanding of non difference in which you
know that the beautiful forms, which are deemed to be eight, are the forms of God, our Lord,then all worship offered in an appropriate way to them is exalted Siva Puja.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai:
Investigation into Truth:
The Truth of Namaskaram:
207. The significance of the imperfect Jiva's namaskaram, when he places his proud head
beneath the holy feet of his Master, is the subduing of the individual consciousness
(Jiva bodham) that proclaims itself as 'I' and its subjugation by Siva consciousness
(Siva bodham).
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Idol Worship:
208. You who condemn idol worship, without realizing its deep mystical significance
through a heart that melts with love! How is it that you continuously worship as 'I'
the idol which takes the form of inert body that parades itself in a false and illusory
way?
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Vibhuti (Sacred Ashes.)
209. The Jiva is the form of ego, the spurious consciousness that has acquired the
beginning-less mass of previous accumulated Vasanas, which are present in the Heart.
The residue of sacred ash that remains merged in the Heart as Absolute Being when that
form is burned and totally destroyed by the fire of Jnana is the true form of God's para
(transcendent) Vibhuti.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai: Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Vbhuti (Sacred Ashes):
210. God has manifested, assuming grace form of the Guru, the brahmin, to bestow the
supreme benefit on devotees. The disciple's ego consciousness that flutters in fright
in the world, like a deer caught in a net, is the cow dung. To bring about the total
destruction of its form, the brahmin, utters unique word, not through gross speech but
through transcendent speech. He kindles the fire of pure Jnana; he calcines it (the cow
dung) in the holy place of the Heart. He bestows (the residue) with delight on the
disciple, blessing him as follows:'May a life life wholly as Sivam flouish!' Such is
Para Vibhti.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Vibhuti (Sacred Ashes):
211. Those who wear that vibhuti are unequaled in every way in this vast world. The pure
being, the Vibhuti of Jnana, the thought free wonder, is indeed the inexhaustible supreme
wealth.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Vibhuti (Sacred Ashes):
212. Those who worship with devotion the reality that is Vibhuti will themselves mature
into Vibhuti. Vibhuti is only the Atma Swarupa consciousness in which the ego has died.
Wear that Vibhuti by loving Atma Swarupa and abiding as That.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai:
Investigation into Truth:
Vibhuti (Sacred Ashes):
213. Through the inquiry 'Who am I?' the ego, the spurious version of consciousness, turns
towards the Self and begins to get destroyed. When it reaches its birthplace, the Heart,
it is destroyed completely. The fire of Atma Jnana catches and rages there, transforming
totally the three worlds into a single mass of red light This fire is the symbolic significance of red kumkum.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
The Bull Mount of Siva:
214. The inner motive behind the Puranas assigning to Lord Siva items such as the bull,
the serpent and the trident, as mount, ornament of weapon respectively, is to gradually
engender in the people the vision that perceives all forms as the form of God, the
substratum.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Power and Peace:
215. The power of the Self is only the power of divine grace. Accordingly, there is no deed
that cannot be successfully accomplished through the power of the Self. It is the squalid
delusion that dances, taking the body as 'I', that makes some assert, 'What the power of the
Self cannot accomplish, the strength of shoulder and sword can.'
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Power and Peace:
216. Those who declare that power and peace are different, as if they are independent
of each other, do not know the truth of them as it really is. That which is extolled
as peace through turning inwards to face the Self is seen as power, when the view is
externalized.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr. David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Power and Peace:
Bhagavan Verse No. 6:
That which is declared to be peace in the Heartward view is itself power in the outward view. To those who have inquired and known the Truth, the two are one and the same.
***
Guru Vachaka Kovai - Tr.David Godman:
Investigation into Truth:
Power and Peace:
217. In a mind in which excellent tapas flourishes the power to punish other in diverse
ways grows in abundance. However, the sole hall mark of true Jnana, which is divine
in nature, is the possession of a simple nature, rich in love and grace.
***
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