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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 601 – 800 of 2142 Newer› Newest»SAmanna-phala Sutta:
In the SAmanna-phala Sutta, in the Digha-NikAya, we are told in an ascending scale what the ultimate fruits of Buddhist life are, and the scale terminates in the 'yathAbhUtam' acceptance of the world:
"With his heart thus serene, made pure, translucent, cultured, devoid of evil, supple, ready to act, firm, and impeturbable, he directs and bends downs to the knowledge of the destruction of the defilements (AsavA). He knows as it really is: 'This is pain'. He knows as it really is: 'This is the origin of pain'. He knows as it really is: 'This is the cessation of pain'. He knows as it really is: 'This is the path that leads to the cessation of pain'. He knows as they really are: 'These are the defilements.' He knows as it really is: 'This is the origin of defilements'. He knows as it really is: 'This is the cessation of the defilements'. He knows as it really is: 'This is the path that leads to the cessation of the defilements'. To him, thus knowing, thus seeing, the heart is set free from the defilement of lust (kAma), is set free from the defilements existence (bhAva), is set free from the defilement of ignorance, (avijjA). In him, thus set free, there arises the knowledge of his emancipation, and he knows: 'Rebirth has been destroyed. The higher life has been fulfilled. What had to be done has been accomplished. After this present life there will be no beyond!'
How shall we understand this? As in the case of the Twelve NidAnas, the Fourfold Noble Truth will surely fail to yield up its deepest signification when we approach it intellectually. For it is no more than a restatement of the dogma of dependent origination, however different from in form, the same principle is asserted both in Paticca-samup-pAda and in the Ariya -sacca. The latter points out the practical method of escape from the fetters of karma while the former draws out in view the plans of its modus operandi. As concepts, both formulas remain just what they are - that is, effectless and inefficient to produce a spiritual revolution. The Buddha's idea of formulating the Fourfold Truth was to see it practically applied to the realization of the ideal. The elaborate mental discipline which is explained in the previous parts of the SAmannaphala is but preparatory to this final catastrophe. Without a serene, pure, and firm heart, this truth can never be grasped as it really is. A keen, penetrating intellect may know of the truth and discourse about it, but as to its realization in life a disciplined mind is required.
******
IMAGES:
Katya Osborne:
(Advent 2004, Mountain Path.)
We spend much of our lives presenting an image to the world. The representation of the person we would prefer to be, or the one we think we are. Sometimes the image is so polished and well worked that it obscures whatever reality lies beneath. The curious thing is that very few people are fooled by the veneer that has taken such hard work to create; in fact, the person most likely to be fooled is the one who is behind the facade. The jolly fellow with a smile for everyone, but inside is filled with anger. He will find it hard to get rid of the anger as long as it lurks unacknowledged below the surface. The gracious lady who is terrified that the world might see her as someone who has struggled and fought to rise out of an unsavory start in life. More than likely she would be deeply admired if she allowed people to do so. Or even the saintly character who is hiding a bunch of sins. Why try so hard when most of those that he is trying to fool have multiple sins of their own and would probably rather ask for help and understanding from another sinner. Of course these examples are very simplistic and human beings are, for the most part, pretty complex, but nonetheless the general premise holds true. Many people come to believe that their deception represents the truth, although there are some who, when face with evidence, immediately strive to remove the smokescreen and get at the real person inside it. This takes a special type of courage; the brand that will recognize a lifelong defect and be prepared to deal with it instead of justifying it, and also be prepared to face those he has been trying to fool and deal with them.
continued......
Dear Ravi,
Thanks for your compliment on Alan Jacob's article on Advaita Goes West.' In fact I should say, the article was mild on Neo Advaita. In later years, some articles had come in Mountain Path, seriously criticizing the approaches of teachers/students of Neo Advaita.
Subramanian. R
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Katya Osborne:
continues......
The true guru has no artificial persona to be presented to the world, his reality is palpable and in many ways that is what we admire and are drawn to in the first instance. We become devotee and learn from one we trust with our inner welfare. Sadly, some people are so desperate for guidance that they fall in with a teacher who has neither the knowledge nor status to teach properly, in other words a person who presents a face that has fooled the public; or even worse, they find themselves at the mercy of a self-serving 'guru' who wants to equip himself with the glamorous goods of this world and cynically sees his disciples as victims.
How lucky we are to be under the aegis of Sri Bhagavan. He was, as being, stripped of all artificiality and in a sense He was childlike in His behavior. There is a difference between childlike and childish. As children we can behave quite naturally in a way that would be either affected or unsuitable in an adult.
When my brother Adam was about four years old he was sucking a sweet when he came running into the Hall to tell Sri Bhagavan something. Sri Bhagavan asked him if he was enjoying his sweet and Adam, without a thought, took it out of his mouth and offered to put it in Sri Bhagavan's hand. There was a gasp of shock from the orthodox individuals around, but Sri Bhagavan understood the spirit in which the offering was made and smiled at Adam. He said something along the lines of 'No, no, you keep it.' Completely unbothered Adam popped the sweet back in his mouth and went on with what he wanted to say. That whole episode has the charm of complete childish honesty, but could not be attempted by an adult without seeming bizarre or contrived. Equally guileless was the incident when my sister Frania, a year younger than Adam, came tottering unsteadily into the Hall wearing a cloth which someone had draped on her like a mini sari. She wanted to show Sri Bhagavan her new finery. I am reminded that all of us children used, as a matter of course, to come and show Sri Bhagavan or tell Him of anything interesting that came into our lives and although this time Sri Bhagavan smiled sweetly at her, many people laughed. Frania got annoyed at this and ripped off the sari which she left on the floor while she ran out in her knickers. Children have not yet developed the desire to seriously impress the world by being someone other than themselves. They do not wear a mask to hide behind, all that comes later as we grow up and become discontented with whatever look and personality we have been issued with originally. We don't like the original and so we try to hide behind some sort of camouflage that we feel suits us better. Could 'Who am I?' work from outside in, one wonders?
continued.....
IMAGES:
continues.....
There is a story about a lazy fellow who came to a village where people were known for their piety. He decided that he would sit under a tree in silence and wait to be fed. It worked so well for him that the days flowed into weeks, months and eventually years passed. He became the village saint and was fed and clothed by the entire community. At last he decided to speak and words of great wisdom fell from his lips. He had spent so much time in the self enforced contemplation that he had achieved
the real understanding! That may be like someone with handwriting that, when analyzed, reveals him to be an egoist, or greedy... or both. He makes an effort to change his writing and then finds that his character has altered to suit the calligraphy. Could that be I wonder? Is the chanting of mantras or the performing of rituals something that one hopes will work along those lines? Or perhaps we just have to try to find in ourselves the spirit of childhood before our eyes were clouded by ego-consciousness; the spirit of truth that we are born with.
When I was a little girl of around eight years of age I was playing on the Hill when Sri Bhagavan come walking down with a number of people around Him. Looking at Him I was filled with such an overwhelming feeling of love that I burst out with:
'Bhagavan! I love you so much.' There were coos of approval from those around and I thought that they were approving of me without knowing how naughty I could be, I did not want unearned praise so I hastily added:
'Of course I love the monkeys too!'
Gasps of shock naturally followed. The wonderful thing about being around Sri Bhagavan was that one knew that He could see into our hearts. Sri Bhagavan knew exactly what I meant and He just laughed and walked on. I had not yet developed the need for a persona and the precise truth was therefore most important. Adults who spoke in such a manner however could rarely be genuine. The impression created by someone trying to achieve childish innocence is, more often than not, merely embarrassing.
continued......
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continues......
When I was young, I noticed that a number of visitors to the Asramam were, to put it kindly, extremely cold. The ones who allowed the ego complete freedom to behave in any outrageous, self indulgent way they chose, and justified this lack of restriction with the excuse in insanity, got no sympathy whatsoever from Sri Bhagavan. He ignored them.
The real 'I' that we are looking for is not clothed in any sort of illusion; neither that of style nor that of spurious spirituality. The 'saintly' look can be just as much of a snare as the glitter of worldliness. In fact, specious sanctity is a particularly prevalent chimera among those who yearn to be spiritual guides in the ambit of a true guru. So many of these people seem to indulge in pious pasturing. The image that they create, consciously or not, is finely calculated to deceive the earnest disciple. Fortunately it is often not even harmful, except perhaps to the one one offering advice, and can lead him to developing an enormously inflated ego which is fed by a steady diet of worship. The image of 'spiritual adviser' in this case heavily overlaid that of the seeker. The devotees, however can often benefit to the degree of their own sincerity, although they obviously cannot learn from this type of teacher more than he has to give.
Sri Bhagavan has said (I paraphrase) that we are not striving to reach a goal, we are already there; we just have to get rid of the illusions that cloud our minds and then get rid of the mind.
S.S. Cohen quotes Sri Bhagavan as saying, 'Yes, the Guru does not bring about Self realization, but simply removes the obstacles to it. The Self is always realized....'
(Reflections on Talks, Ch.9).
continued......
IMAGES:
Katya Osborne:
continues.....
We have it all within our grasp at the outset and we assiduously cover it up with false images. The trouble is that a child, although it has a lot of qualities that we may envy, is not an adult and usually cannot appreciate the desirability of abandoning the ego in favor of Self realization. In fact, many adults cannot appreciate this either. Very often we inwardly qualify our aspirations with some some sort of almost unacknowledged stipulation that allows us to retain certain aspects of our 'individuality' that we cannot imagine being without. Often this caveat actually refers to an 'image' we have created that has taken us even further away from truth. I suppose that the trick is to recognize what is superimposed and then try to strip it away without changing one set of images for another. When I was about ten years old my idea of heaven was to own a watch, a torch and a fountain pen. Of course, when that day eventually came I discovered that I didn't really want them so much after all, but other acquisitions were now much more important and heaven was still out of reach. It is no use just changing our aspirations. We have to abandon the unreal image in favor of the truth.
I offer none of this as advice. I am not qualified to give advice. Neither am I propounding a path to follow. I am not qualified to do that either. I am merely speculating. It is tempting to do that even that when one is unsure of how to follow a spiritual path. I have never been able to truly meditate, inasmuch as I find it well nigh impossible to actually still the mind for more than a few minutes at best. Sitting with closed eyes in the Hall does not necessarily mean that the mind is not ticking away somewhere inside. Mine usually is.
continued......
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Sitting in a yogic pose is possibly a matter of practice. And yet there are people who can do it, and do it genuinely, which is much rarer. I worry also that there are so many words written to elucidate Sri Bhagavan's teaching, and the same text often mentions that He taught in silence! Sometimes, I wonder if a lot of the words are mere embellishment along the lines of writing....'at this moment in time', ...what we mean...'now'. 'Now' is what what we want to say but 'at this moment in time' sounds most interesting perhaps, or just words? If festooning with verbiage another form camouflage? Is breaking down into its component parts a help or merely an indulgence? A beautiful flower can be analysed botanically. It can be dissected and every part named. Petals, sepals, pistil, stamens, and so on. One then has every component of the flower scrutinized and evaluated and a treatise can be written on it. But what happened to the beauty and the scent that have been lost? A flower is definitely greater than the sum of its parts, but I suppose that we also need a botanical study in order to examine and learn, segment by segment, if that is our preference. Of course, it is hard to know how Sri Bhagavan's message could be passed on without the benefit of the written word, perhaps, one should follow where He is pointing rather than worshipping the signposts along the way.
It is probable that different types
of people need and respond to different sorts of discipline. I think Sri Bhagavan had a recipe for everyone, whatever their limitations. He certainly had an enormous cross section among His devout devotees. There were intellectuals and some could barely
read. There were businessmen and sadhus and every shade in between. There were doctor and lawyers, and pundits; singers and dancers and artists. There was at least one representative of almost all religion; there were Hindus, yes, but also Buddhists and Muslims and Christians and Jews and Parsis and more. They were, and still are, people from almost every country in the world. In one day, I have met people from Iceland, Israel and Ireland for example. Anyone who came, or comes to Him now can find solace and insight if that is what they want, for the Sadguru is the one who dwells everlastingly in Truth and can help anyone who sincerely wishes for it.
concluded.
Ghazal of Samsuddin Mohammad Hafiz:
If God is to seize anybody of each
of his sins
Earth would weep and the world would
moan.
On the surface of the earth you
commit a sin]
And are not afraid
Whereas in the sky of the moon is
afflicted by the adversities
Of evil deeds.
One of these nights I shall cry so
profoundly of my sins
That grass will grow from the place
of my worship.
Before the sovereign monarch a
blade of grass and a
Mountain are alike
Sometimes He does not care for a
mountain
Sometimes He censures even a blade
of grass.
So greatly shall I weep at the
farewell of my friend
That wherever he proceeds to
My tears will hinder his path.
You are virtuous, how could you
be evil:
On Doomsday you shall be spared
of accountability.
O Hafiz, when the king has resolved
to take away
The hearts of the afflicted
Who has the courage to prevent him
from doing
What he intends?
*****
The Power of Our Sensations - World creation.
Hans Heimer -
Mountain Path, Advent 2004:
Modern science has investigated the nature of our sensory faculties from many different angles. Biology, under the heading of anatomy and physiology, has examined animals and humans, with special reference to the nervous system and the brain. Medicine, psychology and psychiatry have in investigated the mind-body relationship from the conception to death, from health to illness, from normal to deficient. Since the invention and development of the computer, a new branch of science and engineering has been devoted to the problem of artificial intelligence and in so doing, has been forced to define and re-examine human intelligence and in doing so, has been forced to define and re-examine human intelligence, cognition and behavior. Philosophy also, since its inception in the East and in the West, has advanced theories based on the available evidence of the period, and modified those theories as new facts became available.
In the last quarter of the century, a new branch of knowledge called cognitive science, which incorporates aspects from all the above-mentioned disciplines, has sprung up. An enormous amount of work has been done in universities and laboratories to investigate cognition and consciousness, producing scientific papers and books. The tools for these investigations have become evermore refined, especially in the study of human body, human perception and behavior. The science of the nervous system, called neurology, aided by computerized scanning and imaging, has produced a wealth of information about the physical constitution about the physical aspects. However, the electrical and chemical processes and the physical constitution of the nervous system, especially the sensory organs and the brain, are so complex, that there is no one who claims to understand it all. There are many theories, but no agreement on a single theory. Nevertheless, there are is much interest to the followers of Vedanta in these theories, as some of these findings confirm and amplify the teachings of the seers and sages of that tradition.
continued......
punarvasu vaNNam:
Today is the punarvasu star day in the month of Aippasi. Sri Bhagavan
was born in Tiruchuzhi on the punarvasu star day in the month of Margazhi. Today there will be special pujas for Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingam to celebrate the punarvasu star day. Muruganar has written poems titled punarvasu vaNNam hailing that golden star of Sri Bhagavan's birth day.
I shall give one verse from Guru Ramana Prasadam of Muruganar and the translation of Robert Butler of that poem.
verse 402.
mAyak kiRiyAna vanjap pulavulahil
vAyaip piLanthu madhi mAzhkaluRum
vAzhvai eLLith
thAyiR perithum dhayAmikka sadguru
than
koil piNakkaLAk koodivAzh piLLaikAl
kayak karuthAR kaLippar mun mei
polach
chAyaik kulangkaLaith thAn pahattAk
kAttuRum poim
mAyaik kali naliya vArir perinbamya
jneyathu azhunthu siva nishtanu
buthikke.
402:
Summoning the band of maidens to join in the experience of Lord Siva (Sivanubhuti):
Maidens, you who - despising that deluded state of mind wherein men wander open mouthed in the deceitful world of senses spawned by maya's illusion - dwell together as temple maidens of the compassionate Saduguru who is more
than a mother to you! Putting an end to the deceitful trickery of maya - who parades her army of shadows in a dazzling array, as if they were real, before the eyes of those who delight in the 'I am the body' idea - come and bathe in the love whose nature is Supreme Bliss, come and embrace the state of absorption in Lord Siva! (Sivanubhuti).
******
The Power of our Sensations - World Creation:
continues.....
Average adults believe themselves to be individuals, with more or less independence, living in an external world, containing innumerable other living and non living objects, from the microscopic to macroscopic, residents of the planet Earth, in an infinite universe. This belief is developed in us from childhood and in most cases it stays with us till the day we die. The new born infant does not speak any language, but has life supporting instincts like hunger, desire for love and curiosity. The concepts of the ego,
'I', internal and external, the world of space and time, do not exist for the infant and are only acquired after years of development. Many of the processes of our intellectual growth are unconscious or very short, thus leaving no trace in our memory. Other items of our childhood development we have mostly forgotten and therefore as adults we take the aforementioned concepts for granted. As adults we take the 'I' to be our body and mind, with the skin of our body forming the border with the world, which by the process of differentiation we consider as the 'not-I'.
Our bodies contain sense organs, which the common sense point of view causes us to believe, convey messages from an independent external world to our mind, via the nervous system including its major organ, the brain. We believe the brain to be the interface between our body and our mind, and we assume that somehow our mind is enclosed in, or attached to, our head. These common sense beliefs, held more or less by the majority of the scientific community, have been the basis of the modern investigation into cognition and consciousness, the study now called cognitive science.
The sense of seeing is the most powerful of the sensations, it occupies nearly half of the outer folded layer of the brain, called the cortex. The action of seeing, which to us seems to be so simple and effortless, turns out on detailed investigation, to be among the most complex systems of a human being. It involves the whole body with its other sensory systems, the mind with all its faculties, and the whole life history of the individual, from conception and birth to adulthood. Vision and the other senses, are not matters of an effortless or passive perception, but are intelligent processes of active construction and creation, based on many years of growth and learning. The more courageous members of the scientific community have therefore concluded that the traditional common sense of view of cognition does not involve our mental representation of an existing external world. Rather it does involve the creation of a world, and our bodies and our selves are part of the created world.
continued......
The Power of our Sensations - World
Creation:
continues....
The world is created by our sensory faculties, and this includes all our concepts and theories about ourselves and the world. This profoundly earth shaking conclusion is based on the extensive scientific investigation of our sensory apparatus, on how mind and body develop together from infancy to adulthood and on how illness or malfunction of this apparatus change our world.
The investigation which have led science to these conclusions, can be summarized in a number of ways. Some of these investigations date from as long ago as the Renaissance, but the computer has played a significant part in items c) and d):
a) Drawings, paintings, mirrors, photographs, cinema, television;
all these on flat surfaces give us the impression of three dimensions and the last two, the illusory impression of seamless continuity.
b) Optical illusions and puzzles, such as geometric figures which at first appearance give one impression to the seer and then for no apparent reason, change in an instant to a different impression. Our sensory faculty is relying on memory to change the construct, without any apparent effort on our part.
c) Defects in our perception caused from birth or accidents, showing that shortcomings in our sensory apparatus leads to misconceptions. Studies of these problems lead s to a better understanding of our normal sensory apparatus. One example is phantom limbs, where a limb has been lost, but still causes pain or irritation as if limb had never been removed. A second one is recovery of sight after having been blind from infancy, where the process of learning to see, takes place in an adult as opposed to an infant and therefore vision remains a source of difficulty and apprehension. A third is damage to the brain, leading to impairment of vision, speech, relationships etc., There are many other examples.
d) Learning about the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system in the context of the theory of evolution; in particular identifying the relationships between perception or behavior and the various areas of the brain.
continued......
The Power of our Sensations - World Creation:
continues.....
This new scientific view of ourselves and the world corroborates the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, which state that the world is a concept based on name and form. 'Name' represents language, whereby we are taught to label our perceptions as objects, thus creating differentiations, including the duality of 'I' and 'not-I'. 'Form' represents our sensory perceptions, the visual ones most strongly, but metaphorically all our other sensory data. Advaita Vedanta goes further than scientific view, into the implications of that view. Advaita Vedanta asks us to investigate ourselves, to see and understand the process whereby an incorrect view, called 'ignorance', has arisen and what steps are necessary to remove that ignorance and to let it be replaced by true knowledge. Ignorance is part of the natural process of the development of a human being, who is conditioned by the environment and culture from the moment of birth, if not even earlier. This is a natural process of many years, leading to our acceptance of the common sense point of view of the particular culture in which we live. The astonishing thing is, that through our dream life we have an analogous experience to our walking life, showing that it is mind which creates the world, yet we persist in ignorance. In dreamless sleep, we can experience the happiness of a quiet mind, by dropping our fears and worries. This too is a help towards the same happy state, when fully awake.
continued....
The Power of our Sensations - World
Creation:
continues....
Advaita Vedanta teaches us to observe ourselves, to investigate, to reflect, to meditate and so remove our ignorance, thus allowing our real and permanent nature to shine forth. It is my experience, that when meditating and the state of cessation of thought is reached, awareness without any object is experienced. This awareness is interrupted from time to time by sensations, images, verbal thoughts, but all these are sequential and are experienced as of the same nature as the uninterrupted awareness. The ego or I-thought is also seen as a form of awareness. It is best to meditate initially with the eyes shut, because the sense of sight is so utterly overwhelming, but at a later stage it is possible to open
the eyes and remain in the meditative state. The profound insight from these meditations is that all our cognitive activities, even when not meditating, are of the nature of awareness or consciousness.
Meditation therefore slows down the natural process of perception and shows us that the world, including our bodies, is a concept based on our sensations and it is the sensations and associated emotions and thought, that are the elements of every so called physical and mental object. Successful meditation in the morning, helps me to cope with the problems of the day, especially if at appropriate moments, the meditative state is recalled. After studying the Mandukya Upanishad, with the commentaries of Gaudapada and Sankara, I also use, as an item of reflection, the mantra AUM. 'A' represents the waking state, 'U' the dreaming state, and 'M' the dreamless state of sleep, the whole word AUM representing the Self. This reminds me of my divine nature and the impermanence of the difficulties of the waking state. Finally when it is realized that everything, even the ego, is a manifestation of the Self (Brahman), then the mantra 'I' can be used, which Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi called the greatest of all the mantras. This then becomes I-I-I-I etc., because wherever or whatever we look at, touch, listen or think etc., it is 'I'. This removes the boundary of the I-sense from our skins into all limitless dimensions. Sri Bhagavan asked His
questioners to reflect on who says that there is an independent world? The world does not say it, but the questioner does, so the questioner is the source of the world concept, which is what cognitive science has now also confirmed. (See the book of Prof. Donald D. Hoffman of the University of California, Irvine,
titled VISUAL INTELLIGENCE; HOW WE CREATE WHAT WE SEE. 1998. W.W. Norton & Co., New York and London.)
concluded.
Is Enlightenment Knowledge or Experience?
James Swartz:
(Mountain Path, Deepam, 2007).
The Veda define enlightenment as freedom from suffering, the most desirable human goal. To attain freedom they present two 'apparently' contradictory paths. One, the experiential approach, is generally known as Yoga. It says that there are two basic states of experience, suffering and freedom freedom from suffering. There are many yogic lifestyles employing various yogas, techniques, which are meant to set one free. The most well known are Ashtanga Yoga, the eightfold path, and Kundalini Yoga, Both promise experiential enlightenment. 'Experiential' means that through spiritual practice one sets in motion a process that eventually results in freedom. Ashtanga Yoga helps the seeker patiently develop a disciplined mind, on that is capable of attaining Samadhi, a high thought-free state of Self Awareness which it defines as a key to freedom. Kundalini Yoga is also a disciplined approach that through certain rigorous practices, 'awakens' the dormant spiritual energy and generates, it is said, mystical experiences that lead to the 'final' experience, union of the individual with the universal.
The second approach to enlightenment is called Vedanta. Like Yoga it presents freedom from suffering as the most desirable human goal but it does not share the yogic view concerning the means.
To understand he validity of these views, we need to consider a basic
existential problem: What is the nature of Reality?
continued......
Is Enlightenment Knowledge or Experience?
continues......
If we are going to accept the popular perception of the Yoga view, reality needs to be dualistic. A dualist reality provides the proper conditions for actions and experience: an ego experiencer and a world of experienceable objects, subtle and gross, one of which is the Self, the pure experience of which is freedom. On the surface at least, this seems to be what we have: I am here, the world is there. I interact with the world and make experience happen. If I do the actions recommended by my particular brand of Yoga (meditation and the like) I can set myself free and attain a state of 'union' (yoga means union) or non duality. Non duality is freedom. Freedom from what? From limitations which are seemingly real and the struggle to be free. Why is non duality freedom? Because it is non dual reality there are no two states, suffering and freedom from suffering, bondage and liberation. Non dual awareness removes the ignorance of the Self, gives Self Knowledge and hence, gives freedom from limitations.
continued.......
Interesting letter by Robert Adams:
http://robert-adams.info/Robert's%20farewell%20letter%20to%20LA%20Satsang%20-%201995.pdf
Robert Adams audio speeches:
www.robert-adams.info
All this talk of yoga, posture and sitting cross legged! In short forcing yourself to sit through leg pain is unnecessary. The point is to tame the mind, not reconfigure your legs.
I found it quite beautiful:
The radiance Sutras
One day The Goddess sang to her lover Bhairava,
Beloved and radiant Lord of the space before birth,
Revealer of essence,
Slayer of the ignorance that binds us,
You, who in play have created this universe
and permeated all forms in it with never-ending truth.
I have been wondering . . .
I have been listening to the songs of creation,
I have heard the sacred sutras being sung,
and yet still I am curious.
What is this delight-filled universe
into which we find ourselves born?
What is this mysterious awareness shimmering
everywhere within it?
What are these instinctive energies
that undulate through our bodies,
moving us into action?
And this “matter” out of which our forms are made -
What are these dancing particles of condensed radiance,
Are they an illusionist's projection?
What is this power we call Life,
appearing as the play of flesh and breath?
How may I know this mystery and enter it more deeply?
Beloved, my attention is ensnared by a myriad of forms,
the innumerable individual entities everywhere.
Lead me into the wholeness beyond all these parts.
You, who hold the mysteries in your hand -
of will, knowledge and action,
Reveal to me the path of illumined knowing.
Lead me into joyous union
with the life of the universe.
Teach me that I may know it fully,
realize it deeply,
and breathe in the truth of it.
Is Enlightenment Knowledge or Experience?
continues.....
Vedanta sees a problem with the yogic view because it says that, contrary to appearances, reality is non dual and the nature of the Self. Though our experience of the Self is totally conditioned by dehatma buddhi ('I am the body' idea), because one is never without
Self and in truth one is never lacking non dual experience, and therefore the attempt to obtain such an experience is gratuitous. It says that you are a conscious being and that all your experiences are held together by one thread and that thread is you, Awareness or Consciousness. How can there be experience without you this Consciousness? You are It - is always present and Self evident in every form of experience. You are It is the very essence of experience. If this is true then the solution to suffering, liberation, is only available through understanding the nature of the reality, the Self. The 'path of understanding' is often called Jnana Yoga. We should be careful here and discriminate between analytical understanding of Vedanta (paroksha jnana) which ultimately does not remove suffering (dukhka) and it is direct, immediate knowledge (aparoksha jnana) which does liberate.
Vedanta contends that for the experiential argument to hold water the non dual ever free Self would have to be separate or away from you. But the nature of the Self (and there is only one Self according to the Upanishads) is Chaitanya (consciousness). What is always present is you, Consciousness. So the Self is never away from you, which is to say, it is never perceived as an object of experience.
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If it is an object then there was a time when it was not experienced and it will eventually not be perceived. But this is not possible because it contradicts experience. When did you not experience? When are you not aware? Even the absence of so called experience, like deep sleep, is experience, a pleasurable
one at that. Our problem is we are always wrongly experiencing the Self. The 'I am the body' identification tricks our experience of the self and gives us a false identity. (All Samadhi experiences should lead to jagrat sushupti, pure awareness untouched by body consciousness.)
Vedanta presents another argument that calls into question the yogic idea of enlightenment. Remember, he common misunderstanding is that Yoga counsels action, the result of which is enlightenment. The result is perceived as something positive that one gains. Whereas in Vedanta, you don't gain anything, but 'lose' ignorance. To do action a doer is required. But Vedanta contends that if there is a doer, the doer is limited in nature. Secondly, if the doer is limited, the results of its actions will necessarily be limited. But freedom, liberation, is limitless. No number of finite actions will ever add up to limitlessness. Vedanta says that enlightenment is the discovery that one is not a doer, that one is limitless, actionless Consciousness already, and it offers a proven means by which the Self can be known.
Vedanta also argues against the evolutionary or yogic view that the one Self, limitless consciousness, 'became' limited at some point in the distant past and is now involved in the patient process of evolving out is material roots toward some divine experience of oneness. If we accept the Yogic view that the Self is limited transformation of Pure Consciousness, or the product of material evolution, how will it ever know or experience limitless Consciousness? Just as the senses cannot experience the mind/ego entity, the mind/ego cannot 'experience' its far subtler source, the Self, for the mind simply dissolves. Only 'Experience' remains swallowing the 'experiencer ego'.
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Vedanta, does not however, dismiss Yoga altogether. It provisionally accepts Yoga's limited dream of duality and its experiential orientation because that is where we are when we begin to look for a way out. If we accept the idea that consciousness is transformed into a world of experience through some mystical or 'supra-mental' process
then as consciousness 'involves' itself with itself as a matter, its 'light' or consciousness is seemingly absorbed by the objects and apparently stops shining. For example, even though light reflecting off my body falls equally on a mirror and the black wall on which it hangs, I will only see myself in the mirror. The Self is also seemingly absorbed by a mind clouded with emotion and thought, making it unexperiential for all intents and purposes. It can, however, be 'experienced' in a mirror, like pure mind. So the way to get the experience of the reflection of Self is to purify the mind. This is the essence of Yoga as explained by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras.
Vedanta does not accept that the experience of the Self in the mind is freedom but it does value a pure mind for another reason: only a pure mind is capable of Self Inquiry. It is capable of Self inquiry because it has a clear experience-able (experiential) reflection of the Self as a basis for inquiry. Only Self Inquiry will produce freedom because Self Inquiry produces Self Knowledge, which is the removal of the ignorance about the ever free nature of the Self. The implication is that if this non dual reality we see that the problem of suffering is ignorance based.
In fact, Vedanta argues that Yoga experience, is at least as valuable as knowledge because you can't gain from knowledge unless you have a pure mind and you cannot get a pure mind is both the instrument of experience and the instrument of knowledge. Therefore, Yoga is essential for any one seeking freedom. As what? As a preparation for Self-knowledge. In this light epiphanies of all ilks, no matter how fleeting, aids for liberation. Vedanta only reminds the seeker that discrete experiences are impermanent and limited freedom is not freedom at all. In truth, Patanjali's Yoga does not contradict Vedanta, rather it culminates is jnana.
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Actually, the confusion that had bedeilled the spiritual world for millenia is a little more than a linguistic problem, but there in lays the rub. When enlightenment is presented experientially it is presented metaphorically as an attainment, a merger, a union or a shift. Merging, uniting and shifting are verbs. Verbs are action words that give idea that something happens or is happening. Of course, we know that if reality is non dual nothing ever happened. The perception of action is simply the operation of the moving instrument, i.e. by the mind, through which reality is being perceived. The moon seems to be racing across the sky when viewed against the backdrop of of moving clouds. When you no longer assume the mind's point of view, time, meaning motion, (and experience is just motion or change) stops.
And if it is a shift, what kind of shift is it? Is there any time when you are not conscious? If the answer is no (which happens to be the truth according to Vedanta and Patanjali's Yoga) then the 'shift' is merely a loss of ignorance, nor an experiential gain. Again, we should be careful to discriminate between unlimited pure consciousness and body consciousness.
Experiential language need not be a problem if you understand the limitation of words, and know that the implicit meaning of words, can produce knowledge. It is also acceptable if it is understood that literal interpretations of words can easily be misleading, particularly on the road to the enlightenment. Perhaps the unthinking acceptance of experiential words is the primary factor in the failure of seekers the world over to set themselves free. It is an enormous problem because modern spiritual literature and the words of deluded teachers create the impression that enlightenment is only experiential both because of their lack of scriptural knowledge as well as their own limited experience. Additionally, there is an insidious corollary to this misunderstanding: knowledge is 'only intellectual' and not a valid means of enlightenment. (Without aparoksha jnana all 'understanding' is intellectual only and does not liberate) True knowledge is a transformative power (jnana sakti). We cannot with our limited intellects conceive the simultaneous occurrence of pure knowledge and experience as being one and the same.
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Vedanta and any realized soul worth his or her salt, including one of the greatest modern sages, Sri Ramana Maharshi, categorically state that only through Self Knowledge is enlightenment is 'gained'. Knowledge in this sense is not a dead lump of facts but a supremely alive awareness, which is wholly experiential (aham sphurana).
To gain this knowledge a means is necessary. If you want to know the world you need senses. If you want to know ideas the senses will not work. You need an intellect. Inference and testimony are other valid means of knowledge. These means are fine when it comes to objects and ideas but how can they help if the Self is the object of knowledge? They cannot help because the Self cannot be objectified. Try to see yourself. You cannot because you are Consciousness and Consciousness is eternal and non dual. It does not split itself into subject and object and become you, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.
Objectifying the Self is rather like trying to see the eyes with the eyes. This example is useful in
another way, because the only way to see one's eyes is to look into a mirror. Two mirrors are available for the spiritual seeker, a pure mind gained through experience and the teachings of Vedanta. A pure mind is not enough for enlightenment, however, because any experience, including an experience of the Self, presumes an experiencer and something experienced, and is only as good as one's understanding or interpretation of it. In most cases, any experiencer can only interpret experience according to what it already knows. If the experiencer, the ego, is a product of Self-ignorance in the first place, this being a non dual reality, then any interpretation of the Self would be incorrect. In fact the belief that the Self can be attained through action (and the many other ignorances masquerading as knowledge in the spiritual world) is the result of incorrect understanding of the nature of the Self.
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In rare cases, like that of Bhagavan Ramana, it is possible to understand the nature of the Self without outside help apparently in one go. But this does not apply to the rest of us. However, help is definitely available in the form of Vedanta, a purified word mirror whose prakriyas (teachings), are sruti, revealed Self Knowledge. Revealed knowledge is knowledge that has not been contaminated by the human mind. The knowledge that makes up Vedanta is also confirmed
by smriti, the experience of Self Realized souls, like Sri Ramana and many others. Vedanta is a pramana (a means of knowledge) that has been setting people free for milliennia, not a philosophy or a school of thought.
Knowledge (vijnana) is not gained like in the same way as the accumulation of everyday experience is gained. It is the perception and the removal of ignorance. Coupled with a pure mind it provides the guidelines for Self Inquiry. The purpose of Self Inquiry is not to gain an experience experiential; it is to remove Self-ignorance.
Nobody can remove your ignorance but help is required for the removal of ignorance. Inquiry needs to be guided by knowledge, not by personal interpretation of Reality, which is always biased, based as is, on beliefs and opinions.
Simply by asking mentally 'Who am I?' will not help either. First, because the jury has not returned a verdict on this topic. Complete, earnest commitment is required to focus attention on the 'I-thought' (aham vritti) and to realize that you are limitless action-less Consciousness and not the experiencer entity you take yourself to be. Secondly, Self Inquiry is the application of discrimination between the real and the unreal. And to develop discrimination, one needs to understand the difference between the Self as pure Consciousness and the Self as mind or manifest consciousness, not with the idea of transcending or destroying the mind experientially but to destroy all experiential notions, including the pernicious idea that it is possible using the mind to transcend or destroy the mind at all.
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Discrimination removes one's identfication with the mind/ego/ - doer entity, which is not an actual experiential entity was we think. But only an erroneous self notion. Our ego is a false experiential entity which vanishes in the pure experience of the Self. Vedanta unfolds the method of discrimination by describing in great detail, the nature of the world, the individual and the Self.
This knowledge, however, gives only indirect knowledge, (paroksha jnana) which is not end in itself but must lead to the vichara marga of Sri Bhagavan and results in aparoksha anubhava (enlightenment).
Since the Sixties, the exponential increase in spiritual seeking is telling commentary on consumerism's limitations as a solution to the problem of suffering. Unfortunately, what could be a conscious search, is almost always a blind fumbling, an attempt to fashion a modern relevant means of Self Knowledge. Consequently we have the New Age with its plethora of quasi religious pseudo therapies, and since the Nineties there is Neo Advaita, the modern satsangh movement whose spiritual
deficiencies are apparent to even the untrained eye.
There is no need for a 'relevant' modern approach to the spiritual quest because there is nothing modern about human beings. A few material gadgets do not qualify the human race as spiritually evolved. Ignorance, greed, fear, superstition, selfishness, and vanity have not been dispelled on account of internet and the iPod. Human beings are human beings. It so happens that a long time ago, the Vedic seers solved the humaan problems once for all. For those who are inclined and qualified, the means of Self Knowledge that has served millennia is with us today in the form of the teaching tradition of Vedanta, the royal road to Self Realization.
CONCLUDED.
Approaches to the Study of Sri Sankara:
Part I - Jonathan Bader.
(Mountain Path - Oct.-Dec. 2005)
In 1952, the eminent Sanskrit scholar, Professor Ingalls called attention to the need for new efforts in the application of historical methods to the study of Sankara. (The Study of Sankaracharya). He suggested that the philosophical analysis of Sankara's thought could not proceed much further without the assistance of historical study. At this very time two other scholars, Hacker and Nakamura, were engaged in research which was to give new direction to the study of Sankara.
Prior to the publication of several important papers by the late Paul Hacker, there was much uncertainty as to which of the several hundred compositions traditionally ascribed to Sankara could be regarded as genuine. The one notable exception is the Brahmasutra commentary which is, by definition, the work of Sankara. This commentary (bhashya) represents his magnum opus and serves as the measure against which the other works attributed to him may be placed. Ingalls, for instance, had accepted only three other works, based on the testimony of Sankara's direct disciples. The existence of Suresvara's expositions (varttika-s) is certainly strong evidence that two of Sankara's Upanishad commentaries, the Taittiriya and Brahdaranyaka, are genuine. Likewise, in his Naishkarmya Siddhi, Suresvara's numerous citations of the Upadesa Sahasri suggest the authenticity of this independent treatise of Sankara's But clearly other criteria are needed here.
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The first breakthrough in establishing further criteria came with Hacker's discovery of a significant pattern occurring in the colophons of Sankara's compositions. Those works are likely to be genuine (by comparison with the Brahmasutra bhashya), he found, tended to be Sankara-Bhagavat. On the other hand, those whose authorship seemed doubtful were usually attributed to Sankaracharya. (The honorific acharya, generally denotes a teacher or spiritual preceptor. The title Bhagavat has a connotation something like that of 'Most Revered'. Sankara is also referred to his disciples as Bhagavatpada (lit. 'whose feet are holy') or Bhagavat-pujya-pada ('whose feet are to be worshipped'). The very designation Sankaracharya can indeed be a source of some confusion. For this title may apply equally to any of the pontiffs of the five monastic centers traditionally regarded as having been established by Sankara.
Hacker next devised a more substantial methodology based on a careful analysis of Sankara's use of certain technical terms. He discovered Sankara's understanding of avidya, namarupa, maya, and Isvara to be quite distinct from that of his followers. Accordingly, an examination of these terms becomes the focal point in a procedure which Hacker believes to work as 'a sieve with a mesh wide enough to let pass spurious works and close enough to retain or admit
even variations or development among authentic ones." (Sankara der Yogin)
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Hacker's conclusion is that only one independent treatise, the Upadesa Sahasri can be properly attributed to Sankara. The rest of his genuine compositions consist wholly of commentaries. These include, his bhashya-s on the Brhamasutra, the Bhagavad Gita, and ten upanishads. Brahadranyaka, Chandogya, Isa, Kena, Katha, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Mundaka, Mandukaya (including the Gaudapada karika), and Prasna. Hecker also recognizes the commentaries on the Yoga-sutra bhashya of Vyasa and the Adhytmapatala of Abasthamba dharma sutra.
Both Ingalls and Hajime Nakumara, have utilized Bhaskara's commentary on the Brahmasutra as the key to distinguishing Sankara's commentary appears to have been written in the period immediately following Sankara's death, circa AD 750.
What is remarkable about this work is its striking similarity to Sankara's bhashya. This is despite substantial differences in the view points of the two commentators. Indeed Bhaskara is sharply critical of Sankara. Ingalls cites an appropriate illustration in Bhaskara's remark on Sankara's concept of liberation: "Some us would rather be jackals in the forest than have your kind of release." (Until fairly recently it was generally accepted that Sankara's dates were AD 788-820. Nakumara has argued that the dates should be pushed back to 700-750. - Hajime Nakumara, A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy, Part I. Delhi 1983. The original Japanese publicatin was 1950-56. Ingalls and Karl Potter have largely accepted Nakumara's dates. But there are other scholars who do not. Vetter, for example, maintains that we cannot at present ascribe more precise dates than 650-800. Studien).)
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In view of such marked antipathy, it seems highly unlikely that Bhaskara would imitate Sankara. Yet there are numerous occasions where nearly identical passages occur in both commentaries. This would suggest that both are relying on an earlier interpreter. Ingalls calls this as yet unidentified Vedantin the 'Proto commentator'. (D. Ingalls, The Study of Sankaracharya). It appears that Bhaskara's criticism is concentrated on those very points where Sankara tends to differ from the Proto-commentator. From his reading of the Brahmasutra-s and a close examination of the two commentaries, Nakumara concludes that where the two differ, Bhaskara's is probably cloers to the original meaning of the sutra-s. (A History of Early Vedanta).
Whether Bhaskara's comment actually tallies with the 'original' meaning of the Brahmasutra, or merely represents an earlier interpretation of the work, (an adherent of Advaita Vedanta would argue that Sankara has rediscovered the 'original' meaning of the sutra-s. It might also be questioned that the Proto-commentator is necessarily representative of the earliest interpretation of the sutra-s.), it does provide a strong indication of the points at which Sankara has developed his own line of thought.
Ingalls has enumerated three fundamental approaches to Sankara's work: the traditional, the historical, and the philosophical. Most of the available material on Sankara is philosophically oriented. More often than not, the approach is that of comparative philosophy. Sankara's work has been compared with a wide range of philosophers - both ancient and modern including Plato, Plotinus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, Immanuel Kant, Fichte, and Bradley.
Some of the more recent work on Sankara has followed an historical approach. Among the most notable scholars here are Hacker, Nakumara, Ingalls, and Vetter. In spite of the substantial contribution of these scholars, there remain some serious draw backs in the application of historical methods to the study of Sankara. The identification of his authentic works may tend to stifle interest in some important texts. In Western academic circles, the Vivekachudamani, for instance, is discounted as a genuine composition of Sankara's. Yet within the Advaita school, this text is highly respected and is accepted as an integral part of the tradition. For the scholars, this text presents a wealth of significant philosophical material. It contains what is perhaps the most extensive discussion to be found on five kosa-s, a characteristic metaphysical doctrine of Vedanta. While the historian and philosopher may be tempted to simply reject the Vivekachudamani as a 'spurious' work, one studying the traditional approach has little choice but to examine it closely. This medieval text which is not only philosophically coherent, but profound in its interpretation of Vedanta, cannot be lightly dismissed.
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The question of authorship takes its place here as just one of the several issues, the text raises. (In India, it is now common practice to refer to 'Adi Sankaracharya' literally 'the original Sankara', in order to distinguish him from the numerous later Sankarachayas. While Adi Sankaracharya no doubt holds a very special place in the Indian tradition, the other Sankaracharyas are held in no less esteem. In the eyes of the traditionalists, there may not be much difference between Sankara's own works, and those which he has inspired or prompted others to write. In the literature of India there are numerous instances where a work is 'dictated' by a divine personage. We are inclined to regard with a fair degree of scepticism the belief that one and the same man could have written some three hundred works, many of which express widely diverging views. Yet this is not necessarily a problem in the eyes of the traditionally minded. The fact that he was so prolific in his short lifetime and could give expression to so broad a spectrum of religious orientations, is taken further proof of his divine power. Nowadays, traditional
scholars present two arguments justifying the ascription of such diverse works to Sankara.
The most common of these is that Sankara, in his comprehension, Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan proposes another explanation: he suggests that in order to spread the message of Advaita, Sankara utilized the terminology of other schools in order to appeal to their adherents.
This would account for the fact that the Dakshinamurti Stotra, to cite one example, is written in the language of Kashmiri Saivism. See Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan, Sankaracharya, New Delhi, 1968.)
Another shortcoming found in some historical studies is the tendency to fragment an otherwise unified
text. The Yogasutra is one work that has suffered at the hands of several different assailants. Stall has shown how mutually contradictory the various attempts at the dissection of this text have been. (Frits Stall, Exploring Mysticism - Hammondsworth, 1975.
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Sankara's work may also meet a similar fate. In the course of his careful study, which attempts to chart the development of Sankara's thought, Tilmann Vetter (Studien zur Lehre und Entwicklung Sankras, Vienna, 1979) finds that the chronological order in which the prose chapters of the Upadesa Sahasri were written differs from the sequence in which they appear in the various recensions of the text. He argues that the material in the first chapter represents a later trend of thought than of that of the second chapter. It is probably not Vetter's intention to fragment the Upadesa Sahasri gadyabandha (prose portion). His findings, however, could be all too easily stretched towards the conclusion, that this text is nothing more than a batch of unrelated short compositions.
Surely the project of tracing the development of Sankara's thought does have its own valid sphere of application. But it is essential that we do not lose sight of the fact that such a methodology represents only one approach among many. Even if we do accept Vetter's conclusions, there is no reason why the Upadesa Sahasri gadyabandha cannot still be regarded as a coherent text. Indeed, it is well recognized within the Advaita tradition, that the work's three chapters have been intentionally arranged so as to correspond to the three fold process of sravana-manana-nididhyasana. Whether Sankara actually composed the three prakrana-s with this in mind, or whether the arrangement was the later work of his disciples, it is clear that the Upadesa Sahasri gadyabanbandha can stand as a unified work.
Just as an exclusively historical perspective has its limitations, so too does the purely philosophical approach. To begin with, there is not much justification for the assumption that Sankara was first and foremost a philosopher. On the contrary, "He concentrates on what he considers the heart of the matter, the teaching that is necessary for moksha....His followers, while deeply attracted by this attitude, were forced to construct a metaphysical system that is in all respects coherent. (Daniel H.H. Ingall, 'Sankara on the Question: Whose is Avidya? Philosophy, East-West, 3 (1953).
This is not to say that metaphysics were unimportant for Sankara. It is simply that he did not see the development of a metaphysical system as an end in itself. The point is that liberation (moksha) is at the very apex of Sankara's metaphysical thought. He maintains that release from the rounds of transmigration is the direct result of the intuitive knowledge (anubhava) of Brahman. This ultimate reality is expressed in the Mahavakya - Thou art That, indicating the essential unity of the Self with Brahman. Where Sankara's emphasis on liberation is regarded primarily as a religious concern, it is not surprising to find that the subject is overlooked in favor of his discussion of more concrete philosophical issues. His role as an exegete is also glossed over by many of his philosophically
oriented admirers. This is ostensibly to forestall the possibility that Sankara's work be denigrated as mere scholasticism
or theology, neither of which are very fashionable in the eyes of contemporary philosophers.
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In order to properly investigate Sankara's teachings on liberation, it is necessary to take into account the traditional approach. Unfortunately, this has often been the exclusive domain of apologists whose appearance on the academic stage serves neither to illuminate the profundity of Sankara's thought, nor to reflect the Advaitin's way of life. Strictly speaking, this approach is for the practitioner, not the academic. Before embarking on the traditional path, the aspirant must have first demonstrated to the teacher that he has no taste for the pleasures of worldly life, his only desire being that of attaining liberation. The practice consists in the threefold discipline alluded to above. In brief, this involves (i) hearing the traditional teachings as imparted by the guru, (ii) reflecting deeply on the meaning of what has been heard until it is firmly grasped by the intellect, and (iii) utilizing the insights of the intellect in a special sort of meditation whose aim is to remove all trace of ignorance which obscures the true nature of the Self. Clearly, this method is suitable only for the dedicated and true believer. Still, there is no good reason for ignoring this approach in the course of one's study. On the contrary, an examination of Sankara's work which takes into account the perspective of the practitioner may well cast further light on the motives underlying the formulation of his Advaita doctrine.
Bearing in mind all these considerations, there seems good reason to follow the lead of Ingalls in acknowledging the value in all three approaches. In this series of essays, however, particular emphasis will be placed on the traditional mode. It is hoped that a focus on the practical side of Sankara's teachings will provide access to some areas of his thought which have thus far been explored by few outside the fold of his followers.
Part I - concluded.
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Approaches to the Study of Sankara:
Part II:
Jonathan Bader
(Mountain Path, Aradhana, 2006)
In the previous essay, we briefly reviewed the traditional, historical and philosophical approaches to the study of Sankara and his school of thought. There remains the problem of determining how Sankara himself is to be understood. In India he is defined largely in terms of the traditional accounts of his life. These sources portray him as a divine figure, an incarnation of Siva who has who has descended to earth in order to restore the true teachings of Hinduism in the face of encroachments by Buddhism and other 'heterodox' cults. He is aided in this task by his super-normal powers which enable him to fly through the air, assume other bodies, and predict the future. His life story is that of a prodigy who masters all branches of learning in his childhood and fulfills his entire mission in the brief span of thirty two years. This mythical perspective is in obvious contrast to the sort of perceptions arising from a critical approach, be it historical, psychological, or sociological. Yet as Eliade, Levi-Strauss, and other have shown, there is no need to assume that mythical thought is any less rigorous than scientific thought. To dismiss these mythical accounts as a series of stories concocted to impress Sankara's greatness upon credulous minds, is as simple minded as the criticism this attitude intends.
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Neither is the notion that myth involves a valid mode of thought meant to suggest that it represents a crude or primitive forerunner to modern science. Rather, the point is that in addressing itself to recognizable areas of concern - the social, religious, or philosophical - mythical thought functions on the basis of assumptions and perspectives which are merely different from those of critical scholarship.
The myth of Sankara might be seen, in part, as a response to the problem of individuality. Louis Dumont has drawn attention to the fact that the individual represents something of an anomaly in Indian society. His contention is that the renouncer stands out as the only real individual in a society which defines the particular man solely on the basis of his relationship to the group by virtue of his family and caste affiliations. (Louis Dumont, 'World Renunciation in Indian religions, in Contributions to Indian Sociology, IV, 1960). The
renouncer sannyasin) surrenders his caste identity, leaving the world behind in his quest for liberation.
This marks him as an individual and sets him apart from society as a whole. Though he probably has a guru and may even take up residence in an asrama, his spiritual practice remains his own responsibility. He is entirely on his own. His unique position in the society, or rather the fact that he is not bound to it, leaves him free to question all. As a result, he becomes, according to Dumont, the primary innovator in Indian thought and society.
That the renouncer is uncomfortable with the fact of his own individuality is, in Dumont's estimation, shown by his efforts to eliminate or transcend it. But how, in turn, does the society overcome its anxiety about the sannyasin? If he is truly outside the society is he not a threat to its stability? A scriptural justification of his position would be one obvious solution. The sannyasin's role and duties are indeed prescribed in a number of of sources, such as Manu's authoritative Dharmasastra (Sankara seems particularly partial to the authority of this dharmasastra, see 6.33 ff.).
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But perhaps this alone is not enough. At least on the more popular level, the realm of myth and the supernatural seems to provide an appropriate context into which the renouncer may be fitted. In his field-study of a multi-caste village, M.N. Srinivas provides a good indication of just how the man-in-the-world perceives the sannyasin:
'He was a holy, and he could rise above the demands of the body....they could subsist on the leaves of some plants and fresh air, cure diseases normally incurable, convert the base metals into gold and even make themselves invisible. The appearance of a sannyasin, his gestures, talk, food, etc., were reported in such a way as to suggest the existence of super natural powers. I wondered how individuals who were as keenly intelligent and hard headed as the villagers could suspend their disbelief so willingly....(M.N. Srinivas, The Remembered Village, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1980). This study was made in 1948, at a time when the village of Rampura had not yet been subjected to very extensive urban influence. There would most probably be more scepticism expressed there nowadays. Still, it is likely that the attitudes Srinivas describes remain fairly widespread, at least in rural areas.
This would suggest that the householder chooses to identify the renouncer with the supernatural. It may be that the threat posed by the sannyasin is not so much because he is outside the society, but rather he is out of context. By slotting him back into place, a sense of order is restored. In this light, it is not surprising to find that Sankara, one of the foremost among sannyasin-s, has become the key figure in a mythical drama.
In India, the realm of myth exhibits some striking similarities to the social order. This is particularly apparent in the complex but highly organized hierarchy of the various divine and supernatural forces. This pattern is clearly manifest in the myth of Sankara. Here the leading role is assigned to Siva, Lord of ascetics, in whose honor Sankara has been named. Brahma incarnates as Sankara's chief rival and eventual disciple, Mandanamisra. The goddess of learning, Sarasvati, naturally enough, becomes Mandana's wife. Ubhaya-Bharati. Three Vedic deities, Varuna, Vayu and Agni, take birth as other leading disciples of Sankara: Padmapada, Hastamalaka, and Totaka. (These details occur in the Sankara-dig-vijaya, which is by far the most popular of the Sankara hagiographies. There is also an English translation: The Traditional Life of Sri Sankaracharya by Madhava Vidyaranya, tr. Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, 1978. See also my Conquest of the Four Quarters, Aditya Prakashan Publications, 2000).
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Approaches to the Study of Sankara:
Part II - continues.....
While these accounts strive to remove, or at least modify, Sankara's individuality, most critical studies seem to take the very opposite approach. In its most extreme form, this attitude culminates in a European 'myth' of Sankara. For the origins of this myth, one need look no further than the 19th century Indologists. In particular, it was Paul Deussen who most clearly proclaimed Sankara as the Indian philosopher, - a south Asian equivalent of Plato, Kant or Schopenhauer. Yet even those scholars who are far less lavish in singing Sankara's praises, tend to see him in terms of the individual, the philosopher. Accordingly, he is expected to be consistent, systematic, and original. Where these qualities are lacking, he is soundly criticized. When for instance, he appears to blithely explain away a serious philosophical issue, one critic cannot resist castigating his 'refuse disposal' of problems. One manner of coping with the inconsistencies in Sankara's work, is to recognize them into a pattern which will demonstrate the evolutionary development of his thought. The creation of such a chronological chart lends a sense of order and clarity to what otherwise might seem an unwieldly mass of material, full of contradiction. But is this too not a kind of myth making?
Looking at the nature of mythical discourse from the Structuralist point of view, this assumption does not appear quite so far-fetched. According to Levi-Strauss, the purpose of myth is 'to provide a logical model capable of overcoming a contradiction.' (Claude Levi-Strauss, 'The Structural Study of Myth', in Structural Anthropology, tr. C. Jacobson and B.G. Schoepf, London, 1968). This is precisely the intention of those who would discover a chronological structure in Sankara's work. However, as Levi Strauss points out, the quality of a real contradiction is such that it cannot be resolved. As a result, mythical discourse 'grows spiral wise until the intellectual impulse which has originated it is exhausted. (ibid.). In other words, so long as the contradictions represent a significant problem, the myth will continue to be retold in a series of ever changing versions. A similar situation presents itself in the striking variations one meets in the different accounts of Sankara's evolution.
continued......
Approaches to the Study of Sankara:
Part II - continues....
Madeleine Biardeau prefaces her observations on Sankara's development with an appropriate note of caution.
"There is, perhaps, a danger in wishing to over systematize the thought of an author and to perceive relationships between different aspects of his work which appear as being independent because they respond to different problems. (Madeleine Biardeau, 'Quelques Reflexions sur l' Apophatisme de Sankara, IIJ, 3 (1959).
An attempt to explain any author's work, especially that of a traditional metaphysician, in terms of an evolutionary development of his thought has its obvious shortcomings. Wilhelm Halbfass comments that 'It is important to keep in the mind that the construction of Sanakra's development inevitably hypothetical. We have no factual biographical framework to which we could relate doctrinal variations; the framework itself has to be constructed out of such variations. This is further complicated by the fact that Sankara's writings do not simply present us with 'doctrines', but also with complex and ambiguous patterns relating one basic teaching or intent to a great variety of approaches and expressions, it requires extreme caution to identify 'inconsistencies' and 'contradictions' which would be illegitimate in Sankara;s own horizon and which would provide reliable, unambiguous clues for actual changes in his thought and for a development from earlier to later positions."
Studies in Kumarila and Sankara, Reinbek, 1983).
continued......
Annamalai Swami Liberation Day -
09.11.2012:
Annamalai Swami merged in Sri Bhagavan on 9th November 1995.
There will be special pujas for his Samadhi in Palakottu today.
*
Annamalai Swami came to Sri Bhagavan in the year 1928. Once when he was asked to distribute some sweets to all the devotees in the Hall, he did so and when on piece had still remained, he took it and thus had two pieces! As soon as he returned to the Hall, Sri Bhagavan asked him, 'What? you have taken two pieces?' This happened within a few months of his coming to Sri Bhagavan. He understood that Sri Bhagavan is a Sarvajna, all knowing Jnani. And he decided to surrender to him totally.
*
Once Swami asked Sri Bhagavan: 'How to remain for ever without forgetting God?'. Soon some children came and sang a song on Krishna: 'Let us churn the curds, let us churn the curds, without forgetting Krishnan.' Sri Bhagavan looked at Annamalai Swami and asked him, 'Have you understood now?'
*
Once Sri Bhagavan gave him a copy of Maharshi's Gospel neatly bound, and asked Annamalai Swami to read the book, particularly the chapter on 'Work and Renunciation'.
*
Annamalai Swami spent nearly all of the following ten years serving him initially as His attendant and subsequently as the supervisor of all the building projects that Sri Ramanasramam undertook during this period. The Vedapata Sala, Kitchen, dispensary, cowshed, store room - all these were built under his supervision, as instructed by Sri Bhagavan.
Once Yogi Ramiah told Sri Bhagavan: Annamalai Swami has melted with all these works for the past several years. Sri Bhagavan replied, 'Yes, yes, we have to give him rest.' He instructed him in 1938, to stop working in Sri Ramanasramam, saying that in future, he should devote himself in solitary meditation in
Palakottu, the community of sadhus that grew up on the western border of Sri Ramanasramam. Sri Bhagavan even went so far as to say that Annamalai Swami should not visit Him in the Asramam any more. However, Sri Bhagavan came to Palakottu everyday and often visited Annamalai Swami in his home, a small house that Sri Bhagavan Himself had helped to design.
****
(Source: Sri Ramana NinaivugaL and Final Talks, David Godman).
Annamalai Swami Liberation Day - 09.11.2012:
Once on the Hill, Annamlai Swami asked Sri Bhagavan: What is the difference between meditation with closed eyes and meditation with open eyes?
Sri Bhagavan replied: If one throws a rubber ball from a distance, it will come back to you. If one throws standing very close, the ball will bounce back to some other place. Thus meditation with closed eyes, the mind will run towards so many thoughts. This is only for the people who are not mature in their sadhana.
*
Once when Annamalai Swami was walking with Sri Bhagavan on the Hill, he asked: Bhagavan! If one gets a little food, and staying place to remain alone, one can do meditation all the time, is it
not?' Sri Bhagavan replied: If one thinks like this, then one has to take one more birth for that. There is no lonely place for anyone excepting in the mind. If you keep your mental eye closed, then there is no world at all.
*
Once Sri Bhagavan explained to Annamalai Swami, how one can never know a Jnani by merely seeing his outside appearance. He cited the examples of -
1. Thondar adip podi Azhwar.
2. Kaduveli Siddhar.
3. Sri Krishna,
4. A king who was immersed in bhakti within and his wife (Yoga Vasishta?)
He also quoted a verse from Vedanta Chudamani, to explain the state of a Jivanmukta.
*******
Annamalai Swami Liberation Day -
09.11.2012:
Annamalai Swami says:
'In 1928, a wandering Sadhu gave me a copy of Upadesa Undiyar by Sri Bhagavan. It contained a photo of the Maharshi. As soon as I saw the photo, I had the feeling that this was my Guru. Simultaneously, an intense desire arose within me to go and see Him. That night I had a dream in which I saw the Maharshi walking from the lower slopes of the Hill towards the Asramam. Next morning I decided to go and have His darshan.
Having arrived at about 1.00 pm. when approached the Hall, a part of the dream I had, repeated itself in real life. I saw Sri Bhagavan walk down the Hill as I had seen in the dream. When I sat down and Sri Bhagavan gazed at me in silence for about 1-15 minutes. I had a great feeling of physical relief and relaxation. It was like immersing myself in a cool pool after being in the hot sun. I asked for permission to stay, which was granted and I got a job as Sri Bhagavan's attendant. At that time Madhava Swami was doing the job by himself.
About ten days after my arrival, I asked Sri Bhagavan how I could attain Self realization? He replied: 'If you give up identifying with the body and meditate on the Self, you can attain Self realization.' As I was pondering over these remarks, Sri Bhagavan surprised me by saying,
"I was waiting for you. I was wondering when you would come." As a new comer I was too afraid to ask Him how He knew, or long He had been waiting. But I was delighted to hear Him speak like this because it seemed to indicate that it was my destiny to stay with Him.
A few days later, I asked: 'Scientists have invented and produced the air craft which can travel at great speeds in the sky. Why do you not give us a spiritual aircraft in which we can quickly and easily cross the sea of samasra?' Sri Bhagavan replied: 'The path of self inquiry is the aircraft you need. It is direct, fast and easy to use. You are already traveling very quickly towards realization. It is only because your mind that it seems that there is no movement.' In the years that followed, I had many spiritual talks with Sri Bhagavan but His basic message never changed. It was always: 'Do self inquiry, stop identifying with the body, and try to be aware of the Self, which is your real nature.'
*******
(Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad).
Annamalai Swami Liberation Day -
9.11.2012.
Annamlai Swami says:
When I first came to the Asramam, there were still some leopards in the area. They rarely came into the Asramam, but at night, they frequented the place where Sri Bhagavan used to attend to His nature's call. Once when a leopard appeared, he was not in the least afraid. He just looked at the leopard and said, 'Poda' (Go away!) and the leopard walked away.
Soon after I came I was given a new name by Sri Bhagavan. My original name was Sellaperumal. One day Sri Bhagavan mentioned that I reminded him of Annamalai Swami, who had been His attendant at the Skandasramam. And within a few days, my new identity got established.
After serving as an attendant for a month, Sri Bhagavan asked me to supervise construction work within the Asramam. My big assingment was supervising the construction of the cowshed on a scale much bigger than envisaged by the Sarvadhikari, as Sri Bhagavan wanted it that way. The problem was of funds, which came almost miraculously.
The editor of The Sunday Times, Madras, published a long complimentary article about Sri Bhagavan after he had His darshan. This article came to the attentioin of a prince in North India, who was much impressed by Sri Bhagavan. Sometime later, the prince went for a tiger hunt. He managed to track down the tiger but when he raised his rifle to shoot, he felt paralyzed by a wave of fear. Suddenly he remembered about Sri Bhagavan and prayed saying, 'If successful, I will not only send you Rs. 1000/- but also donate the head and skin of the tiger.' The paralysis left him and he killed the tiger and saved his own life also in the process, as the tiger was within the attacking distance.
Two days after all the quarrels about the size of the cowshed, post man appeared with Rs 1000. I took the money to Sri Bhagavan who remarked in a most casual way, 'Yes I have been expecting the money order. Take it to Sarvadhikari.'
*****
(Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad.)
Annamlai Swami Liberation
Day - 09.11. 2012:
Conversations with Annamalai Swami:
Q: How does the Jnani relate to his
body?
AS: The Jnani is not really aware of the body. Or if he is, he feels it like akasa, Space itself.
After one of the operations to remove the tumor on Sri Bhagavan's arms had been completed, I was worried enough to send a girl who worked for me to the Asramam, to ask how Sri Bhagavan was. I could not go because Sri Bhagavan had asked me not to visit Him. When this girl told Sri Bhagavan why she had come, He started laughing very loudly. I interpreted this to mean that nothing had really happened. His laughter was a message to me that Sri Bhagavan was not the body and that I should therefore not be upset or worried by anything that happened to it.
Years before, I was walking on the Hill, with Sri Bhagavan when He remarked, 'I don't feel the weight of the body at all. I feel as if I am walking weightlessly through the sky.' I sometimes have the same feeling when I am walking around.
Q: I was not here yesterday, but it seems that someone asked a question, about the vibration that comes of a Jnani. You also apparently talked about the vibrations that ordinary people and bad people give off. Can you repeat what you said?
AS: A Jnani's vibrations stay even after he leaves the body. All people leave vibrations in the places they have been and lived. Jnanis leave a good vibration and bad people leave a bad vibration. I am not talking about a gross physical phenomenon that everyone can feel. The vibration that a Jnanik leaves is subtle. Radio broadcasts can only be heard if one has radio that is tuned to the right frequency. You tune into a Jnani's vibrations by having a quiet, still mind. This is the 'wavelength' of the broadcast. If you have not tuned yourself to receive this frequency, you cannot expect experience or benefit from the vibrations that a Jnani may have left in a place.
Q: Is the intensity of the vibration more if we stay close to a living Jnani?
As: Yes.
Q: Is it the same with Arunachala?
AS: Yes. No doubt about it. Sri Bhagavan Himself has said that if one lives at the foot of Arunachala, one does not need any kind of initiation. If one's intentions are pure and holy, merely living here can be a good Sadhana. Guhai Namasivaya, a saint who lived on the Hill a few centuries ago, said in one of his poems that this Arunachala draws seekers in the same way that a magnet attracts iron. In ancient time, Sakti, the power this Hill was hidden but Sri Bhagavan made it open to everybody.
******
(Final Talks, David Godman.)
Annamalai Swami Liberation Day --- 09/11/2012.
Annamalai Swami reminisces:
Once Sri Bhagavan said: A true Guru
will not advise his disciple to do any sadhana. Since mukti is our real nature. What comes anew is not mukti. It may also disappear. Hence
no sadhana is necessary for a disciple excepting to remain still and focus on the Self within.
*
One when Sri Bhagavan was on the Hill, Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni told Him: If one could have Rs. 3.00 per month, one can do atma vichara. He wanted Sri Bhagavam's opinion. Sri Bhagavan said: If one could remain for ever without wanting anything, then, he can live in bliss.
Once on 26th October 1938, I (Annamalai Swami) strolled leisurely on the southern slopes of the Hill. On the way there were many bushes and thorns and my dhoti got frequently stuck with these. 'O why I came this way?' I was thinking. Suddenly in about 10 feet from me, there was printed paper on the ground. It was having 10 veNba verses by one k.V. Ramachandra Iyer, titled Sri Ramana Rishi Tiru Dasangam. It also contained Sri Bhagavan's photo. This must have been written about 20 years ago! I felt within me, 'Sarvam Ramana Mayam Jagat'
*
On 9th April 1939, some devotees asked Sri Bhagavan: 'What is Satsangh?' Sri Bhagavan said: 'Satsangh is only Atma sangh. When a person is not able to do that, such a sadhaka should go for sadhu sangh.
'When shall one get sadhu sangh?'
Sri Bhagavan: Earlier if one had done Isvara puja, japa, tapas, pilgrimages etc., in a proper manner, such person would get sadhu sangh. That is, a Sadguru would appear on his own for him. Saint Taymanavar has also said this in his verse.
*
On 2nd August 1939, I asked Sri Bhagavan: If one attains atma jnana, then all the three karmas are not there, you have said. However, Kaivalya Navaneetam says that a Jnani would suffer only prarabdha alone. How is it?
Sri Bhagavan said: Since prarabdha has been destined even before one becomes a Jnani, it is said like that. Howver this is only from the point of onlookers. There are several examples given for this:
a. If an arrow is shot by a hunter thinking that there is a tiger, the arrow will also hit if the target is a cow.
b. The electric fan even after being switched off, rotates for some time.
c. The burnt coir also appears like a good coir. But it is not fit for tying anything.
d. Even the tree that has been cut off, appears like a green tree. But it is not a living tree.
e. the roasted seeds also look like ordinary seeds. But these cannot sprout when planted.
A Jnani's prarabdha is also like that. From his own point of view, there is no prarabdha for him. But for the onlooker's point of view, it looks as if a Jnani also suffers prarabdha.
******
(Source: Sri Ramana NinaivugaL)
Friends,
I noticed a new train from Bangalore to Tiruvannamalai. The train passes via Bangalore at 10.30 pm and reaches Tiruvannamalai at 5.00 am enroute to Pondy, the next day. The train is tri-weekly. Ideally, there are trains on Sat night from Bangalore and Sunday night from Tiruvannamalai. This may be useful for Bangalore travellers.
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SANKARA:
Part II - continues.....
First of all, the differing perspectives from which each of these studies on Sankara is undertaken seems to be a major factor in determining what conclusions are obtained. There is the additional problem that Sankara, as Biardeau herself has noted, may well have a written a particular work in direct response to certain specific issues. This would result in differences in his works which cannot be explained merely in terms of development. Nevertheless, each of these critical studies happens to represent an important piece of scholarship, offering valuable insights into Sankara's thought. In pointing to the dynamic tensions, the logical contradictions, and the unresolved questions in his work, they raise issues which encourage further study of his thought. Some traditionalists, on the other hand, in seeking to minimize the contrasts in Sankara's nature, portray him as a rather dull and pedantic character who would inspire very little in the way of vital discussions.
One might well argue that all the material about Sankara could be taken as mythical discourse. Like the traditional accounts, the application of critical methods may be seen as efforts to create a sense of order in the face of the contradictions inherent in Sankara's life and work. Both perspectives, in turn, may perpetuate their own particular sets of contradictions. In the myths, for example, Sankara appears as the model sannyasin who renounces all the earthly attachments. Yet he maintains a strong bond with his mother and breaks with tradition in performing her funeral rites. Although upholding the vow of celibacy, from the time of his childhood, he revivifies the body of a dead king and proceeds to indulge himself in the pleasures of his wives and mistresses in order to mater the amatory arts (kama sastra). Both the traditional accounts and the critical studies involve a restructuring, a reconstruction of the pattern of Sankara's life. Neither is in itself sufficient to provide a comprehensive understanding of his thought. Yet both may be equally helpful, or distracting, in search of an approach to the study of Sankara.
continued.....
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SANKARA:
continues.....
In the context of these essays, Sankara is not seen as an original thinker, but rather, one who sought
to interpret the message of the Upanishads, in terms of what is perhaps their boldest metaphysical doctrine. Yajnavalkya and other early Vedantins had expressed the notion of a non dualistic absolute Reality, a quality-less Brahman. Sankara's contribution lay in his determination to demonstrate that this was the underlying truth which unified the diverse teachings of the Upanishads. His bhashya on the Brahmasutras established a precedent which no later commentator could afford to ignore, however much he might disagree with Sankara's position. In addition to his role as an exegete, Sankara was very much involved in the transmission of Vedanta teachings. This is demonstrated by the large number of practical treatises which are traditionally ascribed to him. Even if only one among these, the Upadesa Sahasri, is authentic, there is still available to us sufficient evidence to his teaching methods.
Aside from the influence of Sankara's thought has had upon his direct disciples and the Advaita school as a whole, his teachings have gradually been infused into the mainstream of Indian culture. Even the unlettered man may have at least a rough idea of Sankara's message. His place in society is therefore quite different from that of, say, Kant or Bradley. While we are not really accustomed to regarding profound metaphysical speculation as a cultural achievement, it is precisely on this basis that Sankara's thought commends itself to us. It would, of course, be foolish to approach Sankara in the hope that his work will reveal to us the nature of the Indian psyche. Rather, it is in Sankara that we find expression of some of its noble aspirants.
concluded.
MAYA:
(Mountain Path, Oct.-Dec. 2005)
Sanskrit: Illusion, unreality, magical power. In earlier Sanskrit literature, it meant art, wisdom, extraordinary powers. Its connotation in more recent texts, is that it is the power to make the unreal to appear as real and vice versa.
The root of Maya is 'ma' that means to measure. In other words, the immeasurable Brahman appears as if it is measured or limited by time and space. It displays the universal consciousness as a duality thus producing delusion and error. This maya can be regarded as a Sakti or attribute of Brahman. Brahman which is essentially attributeless, nirguna, when viewed in relation to maya is saguna or having attributes.
Sri Bhagavan differed from the conventional emphasis on maya as an independent active entity or Sakti. (A good analysis of this can be found in Day by Day with Bhagavan, 29th May 1946. See also Kaivalya Navaneetam, translated by Swami Ramananda Saraswati, Sri Ramanasramam).
He taught that maya is 'ya ma', meaning 'that which is not'. But this a truth that will be realized only when we know the Self as it really is. So long as we mistake ourselves to be an individual, we cannot but see the world of names and forms as real. Since this apparent individual and the world he sees are both products of maya, so long as we experience them we cannot experience the truth that maya is non existent. Though Sri Bhagavan taught that the ultimate truth is that maya (and all its products) are non existence, He also taught that so long as multiplicity appears to exist, the seeming experience of a power called maya - a power that makes the unreal to appear as real and the real to appear as unreal -- cannot be denied. When trying to understand Sri Bhagavan's teachings, we should understand each teaching in the context it is given, and should not mix up different levels of reality. The ultimate truth is ajata, that self alone exists, and that nothing else ever exists or even appears to exist. This is the truth we seek to realize, but until we do so, we remain in the state of relative truth, in which maya and all its products appear as real. The world we see is real as us, the individual who sees it, and we, this individual, are as real as maya -- the power of self forgetfulness that makes us think that we are what we are not.
Thus, it has been stated in Advaita Vedanta that this world of time and space which includes all things and beings contained in it are not real though they appear to be so. Though through the ages Self realized Masters have confirmed this based on first hand experience, it is a statement extremely difficult to understand.
Take for example an incident when one's hand is accidentally burnt. There are some who say that the fire, burning and pain are all maya. We would immediately dismiss this assertion because the pain experienced by us is very much real. Yet if one were asleep and dreamt that one's hand was burnt it seems real but upon waking up one would think it is a dream and realize that the fire and damaged hand are non existent. Would we not say that the incident was maya, that is, unreal?
continued......
MAYA:
continues......
Sri Bhagavan says, 'Maya makes us regard as non-existent the Self, the reality, which is present always and everywhere, all pervasive and self luminous. On the contrary, it makes us regard as real the individual soul (jiva), the world (jagat), and the Creator (para) which have been conclusively proved to be non existent. (Spiritual Instruction, Ch. 2 - answer to the question 5.)
How does this happen? Muruganar explains Sri Bhagavan's words: 'The changeless Self hides as transcendental reality and throws the three avasthas (states of deep sleep, dreaming and waking), like a juggler throwing his rope, in the mental sky and makes the individuals who mistake it to be true to climb up; thus conducting the show.' (Guru Vachaka Kovai, Verse 103, and Muruganar's paraphrase.)
The life experiences of human beings rotate through these three
states. Each state negates the other two and therefore none of these three states are real. And yet the transcendental knowledge to discriminate between what is real, what is unreal, is not available, and each state, is mistaken to be real while it lasts. That is because of maya.
When we are in the waking state, we should not enter into deep sleep or dreaming states, which are also subject to maya. We should break away from maya and enter into the fourth state, Sri Bhagavan explains: 'The individual self living through three states of waking, deep sleep, and dream again and again is not our real Self (Atma). Reality (Self) is different. It is like witness unaffected by these three states and is called 'turiya' or the fourth (state). When this state is realized the other three states terminate and therefore calling it fourth state or witness also becomes meaningless. Hence it is called turiyatita or transcendental. (Spiritual Instruction, Ch. 4, the answer to question 8.)
How does one do it? Sri Bhagavan says: 'Our activities in the world are accomplished intermittently by our fragmented mind (Self). But being still within (mouna) is accomplished by the whole mind (Self or atma vyavahara) without break. Maya is destroyed only engaging with supreme effort in mouna. It is not destroyed by any other means. (ibid. Ch. 2, the answer to question 4.)
Let us therefore lose our self in mouna and break the clutches of maya.
concluded.
Jnana Yoga -
Mountain Path, Deepam, 2007.
Jonathan Bader:
The qualifications that Sankara prescribes for the aspirant set a standard that appears to be so demanding as to exclude all but the most superior of seekers. One suspects that those who fulfill the requirements would already be on the verge of Self realization. Yet Sankara is unwilling to provide instruction for the pupil who is not so adequately prepared. He speaks of students who have not acted in accord with dharma, who are careless in everyday matters and who are lacking in firm preliminary knowledge. (Upadesasahasri, gadyabandha (prose portion, 1.4. - hereafter USG). Sankara suggests that such pupils might follow the restraints and observances (yama-niyama) (ibid), which, of course, constitute the first two stages of the ashtanga yoga. In a similar vein, he utilizes the distinction drawn in the Yogasutra bhashya of Vyasa - (YSBh) between the indirect means (the first five arigas) and the direct means (samyama) of yoga practice. In applying this notion
to the Upanishads, he describes ritual action as constituting the remote means (bahyatara) to follow the restraints and observances, which, of course, constitute, the first two stages of the ashtanga yoga. In a similar vein, he utilizes the distinction drawn in the YSBh between the indirect means and the direct means of yoga practice. In applying this notion to the Upanishads, he describes ritual action as constituting the remote means to knowledge in contrast to the direct (prtyasanna) means such as attaining calmness of mind. (Brahmasutra Bhashya 3.4.27; 4.1.18).
One of the themes which runs throughout the whole of Sankara's work is his insistence that ritual action (karman) and knowledge (jnana) are not to be combined (samucchchaya) as a means to liberation. (Sankara's frequent discussion of the subject suggests that many Vedantins of his day accepted the validity of combining ritual action and knowledge). Since
ritual actions are dependent upon an agent, they are not regarded as the means to the knowledge of Brahman, which is self established. Even in the context of the Bhagavad Gita, where karma yoga, the way of disciplined activity, is held in such high esteem, Sankara still maintains his position that the two are not to be combined. In order to diminish the prominent place given in the Gita to karma yoga, Sankara emphasizes a way of knowledge, Jnana Yoga, as the means to liberation. But he concedes that Karma Yoga can be a means to Jnana Yoga. A series of preliminary disciplines may serve to prepare the aspirant for Jnana Yoga.
continued......
Jnana Yoga:
continues.....
In Bhagavad Gita Bhashya (GBh) 5.12
and 5.24 Sankara goes so far as to sketch out the stages of spiritual discipline in which this progression would occur. However, he does not fully elaborate upon the way in which such a plan may be carried out. Indeed, he may well have suggested it simply as a device to demonstrate the essential harmony between the techniques advocated in the Gita and those of his Advaita Vedanta. Yet judging from the nature of his practical instrcutions in the Upadesa Sahasri, there is good reason to believe that the method outlined in the GBh may have been followed by his students. Sankara's scheme serves as a useful point of reference for an analysis of the Advaita method of spiritual discipline. Sankara enumerates the following stages: (a) purification of the mind (sattva suddhi); (b) the advent of knowledge (jnana prapti); (c) renunciation of all ritual action (sarva karma sannyasa); and (d) steadiness in knowledge (jnana nishta).
Of the four functions of ritual action, which Sankara describes as production (utpada), attainment (apti), modification (vikara) and purification (samskara). (USP metrical portion 17.49). Only purification has a particular place in the Jnana Yoga. Certainly, it is not Brahman, the eternally pure (nitya suddha) that stands in need of purification. Concerning the aspirant, however, there is something to be purified, so long as there are obstacles that prevent
him from engaging in the path of knowledge. It is in order to remove such barriers as an accumulation of demerit, that the seeker practices purification of the mind. To this end, he might involve himself in sacrifice, the giving of gifts, study of Veda, austerity, and fasting. (S. Mayeda for instance, asserts that Sankara contradicts himself in accepting actions such as purification while demanding the renunciation the action of actions. Sangaku Mayeda, A Thousand Teachings, The Upadesa Sahasri of Sankara, Tokyo, 1979).
Yet, it is not for the sake of knowledge that these ritual actions are performed, but merely to purify the mind to facilitate the arising of knowledge.
This 'arising' serves to indicate the second stage of the path. Since the first step was a preliminary, it is (b), Jnana prapti, which more properly signifies the commencement upon the path of knowledge. Sankara stresses throughout his works, that the aspirant must renounce all ritual actions, that is, (c). What exactly is it that the student is expected to do?. Sankara's position on the renunciation of ritual action certainly appears problematical. Several scholars are inclined to argue that his views on the subject are wholly contradictory. (ibid). How indeed can the aspirant embark upon the way of knowledge if he must also renounce all ritual actions?
continued....
Hello, everyone.
I once posted my question about coexistence of Maya(Sakti, Mind, Prakriti) and Brahman(Atman). Recently, My old question somehow arise in me again, so I searched answer with more knowledge than I had before when I searched the answer last time, but again failed to find answer that satisfy me.
Why can illusory motion and impurity and multiplicity arise in motionless and pure and one Brahman, even if they are illusion?
The ultimate answer of question may be 'they never arise', but it don't explain the phenomenon before me.
It is only my view, in early Buddism, it was not necessary to explain such paradox because Buddha didn't explain utlimate reality so clearly like vedanta. Nirvana is expressed as only annihilation of ignorance or bad emotion(like haterd, lust). He might not explain ultimate reality in detail to evade explaining such paradox. Bhagavan explained Brahman(Atman) in detail when he asked to do so but his position seem to be simillar to Buddha. First find out 'who you are' and think about your doubt later. He put stress on the practicality.
I have been practicing atma vichara though insufficently, I still can't still set aside my thinking mind. But I am improving little by little! To be honest,I think I can practice with more confidence if I don't see pradox about teaching of vedanta, so my serach of my question. I may rely on the intellect too much.
thank you
Shiba, Why trouble yourself about Maya? The truth is you don't know. All I can say is continue with your devotion and self enquiry as best you can. We're all in the same boat more or less. "Somewhere along the line,
that which is true is being made to appear false,
because that which is false is accepted as truth."
Jnana Yoga:
continues......
In GBh (Bhagavadgita Bhashya) 5.12 and 5.24 Sankara goes so far as to sketch out the stages of spiritual discipline in which this progression would occur. However, he does not fully elaborate upon the way in which such a plan may be carried out. Indeed, he may well have suggested it simply as a device to demonstrate the essential harmony between the techniques advocated in the Gita and those of his Advaita Vedanta. Yet judging from the nature of his practical instructions in the Upadesasahasri, there is good reason to believe that the method outlined in GBh may have been followed by his students., Sankara's scheme serves as a useful point of reference for an analysis of the Advaita method of spiritual discipline. Sankara enumerates the following stages:
(a) purification of the mind (sattvasuddhi);
(b) the advent of knowledge (jnana prapti);
(c) renunication of all ritual actions (sarva karma sannyasa);
(d) steadiness in knowledge (jnana nishta).
Of the four functions of ritual action which Sankara describes as production (utpada), attainment (apti), modification (vikara) and purification (samskara). (Upadesa Sahasri, padyabandha -metrical portion, 17.49, hereafter USP), only purification has a particular place in Jnana Yoga. Certainly it is not Brahman, the eternally pure (nitya suddha) that stands in need of purification. Concerning the aspirant, however, there is something to be purified, so long as there are obstacles that prevent him from engaging in the path of knowledge. It is in order to remove such barriers as an accumulation of demerit that the seeker practices purification of the mind. To this end, he might involve himself in sacrifice, the giving of gifts, study of Veda, austerity, and fasting. (S. Mayeda for instance, asserts that Sankara contradicts himself in accepting actions such as purification while demanding the renunciation of actions. Sengaku Mayeda. A Thousand Teachings: Upadesa Sahasri of Sankara, Tokyo, 1979). Yet, it is not for the sake of knowledge that these ritual actions are performed, but merely to purify the mid to facilitate the arising of knowledge.
This 'arising' serves to indicate the second stage of the path. Since the first step was a preliminary, it is (b), Jnana prapti, which more properly signifies the commencement upon the path of knowledge. Sankara stresses throughout his works that the aspirant must renounce all ritual actions, that is, (c). What exactly is it that student is expected to do? Sankara's position on the renunciation of ritual action certain appears problematical. Several scholars are inclined to argue that his views on the subject are wholly contradictory. (ibid.) How indeed can the aspirant embark upon the way of knowledge if he must also renounce all ritual actions?
continued.....
Jnana Yoga:
continues......
Sankara's understanding of the nature of the aspirant may well shed some light on this problem. He sets four preconditions for aspirant: (1) an ability to distinguish between the temporal and the eternal; (2) dispassion for the enjoyment of the fruits of one's actions both here and hereafter; (3) attainment of the means of tranquility, self restraint and the like; (4) the desire for liberation. (BSBh 1.1.1.)
At first glance, all but the fourth of these qualifications might easily be mistaken for indications of Self Realization. (Paul Deussen notes this peculiarity but does not elaborate. The System of the Vedanta. tr. C. Johnston, Chicago, 1912). The process of (1), discrimination, involves the ability to distinguish the Self from the non-Self, the rope from the snake. If the aspirant were already able to effect this discrimination, he would immediately understand the meaning of tat tvam asi. There would be nothing further for him to do. The qualities designated in (3) raise a similar question. Sankara is undoubtedly referring here to Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (BU) 4.4.23. Yet, this passage contains the description of a sage is who is ALREADY a knower of Brahman. There is only one logical explanation for the stipulation of these pre-requisites. Although the aspirant is expected to demonstrate such qualities, he would not as yet have fully established them as the sole
characteristics of his personality. It is for this reason that Sankara advises the teacher to repeatedly relate the teachings to the student until they are firmly grasped. (USG 1.2.)
continued......
Jnana Yoga:
continues.....
It would seem that (4), mumukshutva, is contingent upon (2), renunciation (viraga), in as much as, the harboring of worldly or even other worldly desires, is compatible with the desire for liberation. (Sankara enumerates three types of desires which are to be abandoned; those relating to this world which can be obtained through sons; those of the realm of the ancestors which are sought through rites; and the world of gods which can be reached through meditation. See Brhadaranyaka Upanishad bhashya (BUBh) 3.5.1. But what is more significant here is that Sankara has not required in (2) that one must renounce all ritual actions as he did in stage (c) of the discipline set out in GBh. Rather, he asks only that one have dispassion (viraga) for the results one obtains from his actions. This notion is very close to the idea presented in Gita 4.20: 'Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action....though engaged in karma he does not do anything.' But Sankara differs markedly from the Gita in his assertion that one should renounce all ritual actions. The Gita on the other hand, insists that one must engage in activity.
If Sankara's statements on renunciation are taken strictly on face value, he would be enmeshed in self contradiction. For surely, the student must engage in ritual activity in approaching the teacher, or even in hearing the sacred word, both of which are essential to the practice of Advaita. It seems unlikely that Sankara could have totally ignored the common sense argument presented in Gita 3.8. The gist of the argument is that without action one could not even maintain the life process of the body. But Sankara obviously did not want to support this position. He purposely obscures the meaning of the text by suggesting a very different interpretation in his commentary. If it were possible to directly confront Sankara here concerning his stand on renunciation, his response might be that one need not cease to act of respiration but should simply renounce the idea that 'I am breathing'. This is the position he takes in BUBh 1.4.7. He argues that there is no need for injunctions to meditation. For these can only suggest that a meditator is separate from the object of his meditation. Yet, he does not dispute the need for meditation. Sankara's stance becomes still clearer in USP 13.17: 'how can concentration, or non concentration, or anything else which is to be done belong to me?' (See S. Mayeda, A Thousand Teachings: The Upadesa Sahasri of Sankara). It is only based on this awareness that he proceeds to uphold the value of meditation: 'with concentrated mind one should always know everything as Atman.' (USP 13.25, in Mayeda).
continued.....
Jnana Yoga:
continues....
It may be well to summarize here the implications of Sankara's position on renunciation. (i) Engaging in ritual action cannot be conjoined with knowledge as a means of liberation. Since all actions are dependent upon the notion of agency, they are ultimately the effect of ignorance (avidyai-karyatva). As true knowledge and ignorance are while incompatible, it becomes the impossibility for the aspirant to continue to perform ritual actions. (ii) Yet ritual action is not wholly rejected, but rather relegated to the role of an indirect means or preliminary to Jnana yoga (iii) Ritual action is not to be literally abandoned, but all attachment to action based on the notion 'I am the agent' is to be rejected outright. (Sankara certainly engaged in a great deal of activity in the course of his short lifetime. His prolific writings and extensive travels points to the fact that he did engage in activity in the spirit of Gita 4.20.). The question remains as to why Sankara urges the aspirant to renounce all ritual action, instead of providing him with more precise and literal instructions. Mayeda's observation that Sankara wished to shock the students into a new awareness may well be on the right track. (S. Mayeda, A Thousand Teachings: The Upadesa Sahasri of Sankara).
Having renounced all ritual actions, the aspirant, desirous of release, enters upon the final stage in the path of knowledge, Jnana-nishta. Sankara has adopted this expression from the text of Gita 18.50 (nishta jnanasya) and uses it throughout the the GBh to denote the yoga of knowledge. (Sankara defines nishta as 'completion' (paryavasanna), in order to suggest that jnana yoga is the culmination of the other types of yoga described in the Gita. Nishta also signifies 'devotion'. In GBH 18.55 Sankara cites Jnana Yoga as the equivalent to ananya-bhakti, single minded devotion, which the Gita takes as the highest form of bhakti. In Mundakar Upanishad Bhashya 1.2.12, Sankara states that the expression brahma-nishta signifies one who, having abandoned all ritual actions, is absorbed only in non dual Brahman. For Sankara, Jnana-nishta refers to the process by which steadfastness in knowledge is achieved, and designates the culmination of Jnana Yoga. He explains Jnana nishta as 'the determined effort of establishing a current of thought concerning the inner Self. (G.Bh. 18.55).
continued......
Jnana Yoga:
continues.....
Sankara's reference to a 'current of thought' is certainly suggestive of meditation. (Sankara explains meditation in terms of a current, samtana in Prasna Upanishad, 5.1. and similarly as samtata in GBh 13.24. Both terms are synonymous with pravaha which he utilizes to describe meditation in BSBh 4.1.8. and GBh 12.3. But he is careful to point out that the process of Jnana nishta is not needed to establish true knowledge. Effort is not required for the sake of knowledge. The current of thought is only maintained with regard to stopping of the conception of the Self in terms of what is non-Self. (GBh 18.50).
At this point, the somewhat hypothetical scheme of Jnana Yoga must be left aside. The very idea that there can be a progression in a path of knowledge is 'merely an antecedent of the true knowledge of the Self which in which there can be no successive stages.' (BSBh 4.1.3. tr. Thilabut, Volume 11). Ultimately Sankara's teaching on liberation relies upon the concept of two truths. Meditation can only be assigned a place in the lower order of reality. For the practice of meditation entails the notion of multiplicity. There must be a meditator (sadhaka), an object of meditation (sadhana). With his insistence on non duality, Sankara is, in a way, challenging the validity of the scriptures and the teacher. If there is to be no distinction between the guru and his disciple, then what is the point of the teachings? Sankara contends that until true knowledge
presents itself, the conventional notion of reality remains valid and that there is indeed an aspirant who follows the teachings. (ibid.) Therefore, the aim of scriptures in prescribing meditation is not to invoke immediate knowledge, but merely to direct the aspirant's attention to it. Meditation, then, will not lead to the highest truth.
If Sankara is to develop a method of liberation, that is in conformity with the principles of his Advaita Vedanta, it must function from the stand point of the highest truth. Insofar as his notion of Jnana nishta involves a discriminative awareness of the differences between Self and non-Self, it provides a glimpse of teachings which Sankara presents to the true seekers of liberation. For them, there is nothing to be attained. But they must find a way to remove the misconception that cause the Self to appear as non-Self. To this end, Sankara has proposed a process whereby the aspirant cultivates the faculty of discriminative insight, based solely on the assertion of a non dual reality.
concluded.
Dear, hey jude
If I can do as you say it may be best, but I am not so good. I need mouna upadesa. And my practice should make me worth to accept mouna upadesa.
thank you
Tanmayam:
Tamizh:
Thaan : I
Mayam : full of; pervasive.
Thaan in Tamizh means 'I' and 'tan'
is the possessive case, that is, 'my'. Tan in Tamizh conveys the idea of 'self'. It is the reflexive pronoun, conveying the meanings of 'himself, herself, itself, oneself', but is also used to refer to the concept of 'self' in general, as for example, 'the Self', a synonym for the Absolute Consciousness or Parabrahman.
Maya is a Sanskrit suffix, which is appended to worlds to indicate nature, quality, possession, abundance, property or likeness. If you were placed in the mid-ocean, you would see nothing but water everywher; and you could then say,
'Everywhere it is all water-mayam.'
Other examples would be tejomayam, (that which is) of the nature of light and manomayam (that which is) of the nature of mind.
'Tanmayam' therefore has the import of feeling the presence of one's own Self everywhere.
The word tan-mai, which means, literally 'self ness' is the word used to designate the First Person, in grammatical terms, the Person who says, 'I'. Thus we can see that, even in its grammar, Tamizh emodies the metaphysical truth that this 'I' is synonymous with the sense of 'self.'. This relation is perfectly expressed in Ulladu Narpadu, Verse 14 in which Sri Bhagavan says:
If the First Person exists (tanmai undale), the Second and Third Persons will also be in existence. But if, upon one's investigation into the reality of its nature, the First Person is destroyed, the Second and Third Persons will also cease to be, and Self-nature, shining alone, (onraay olirum tan mai) will verily be revealed as one's own nature, tan nilaimai.
Tanmayam, therefore, can be said to mean, 'that which is, of the nature of the Self, the Absolute Consciousness' or simply 'that which is of one's nature', 'that which is of the nature of 'I'.
Is there is a litmus test to know whether one is in ignorance (ajnana) or has attained self realization, (jnana)?
Yes. There is. So long as there is anniyam, perceptions of things and beings, 'as other than' oneself, we are in ignorance. Only when we are
in tanmayam, when nothing is seen to exist apart from oneself, is there Jnana.
continued......
Tanmayam -
continues....
Tanmayam is non dual. The entire universe is our Omnipresent Being. Anniyam is dual. We perceive things and beings as other than ourselves. There is the sense of separation; the subject-object division.
Tanmayam is a beautiful and profound word. It indicates the highest meaning in both Sankskrit and Tamizh - a perfect fusion in its Upanishadic import of two entirely different languages. In Sanskrit, it means brahma mayam, full of Brahman, (Tat indicates Brahman). In Tamizh, it means Atma Mayam, seeing everything as pervaded by one's own Self. It is thus a unique phrase which encapsulates the mahavakya vichara. Thou Art That, that is, tat tvam asi. Tat and Tvam coalesce in the phrase tanmayam, culminating in the vision of Tat and Tvam as one homogenous, boundless Self.
Sri Bhagavan cherished a special fascination with this phrase which is manifest in many of His compositions. (Upadesa Undiyar, Verse 26; Ulladu Narpadu, Verse 31, Appala Pattu, Verse 4; Navamani Malai, Verse 8. The celebrated Mundaka Upanishad exhorts every seeker to become tanmayam: 'sharavat tanmaya bhavet'. II.ii. 4).
Sri Bhagavan talks of Jnana as tanmaya-nishta. Whatever one thinks of as being tanmayam is incorrect since it is a state state of being which transcends thought. Tanmayam is not deependent on thought for the recognition that it exists. That which is the basis of thought and beyond thought, cannot be captured in thought. How can the physical eye see itself? It can only see its reflection in a mirror. Likewise, 'I' can only indirectly 'see' itself in an object. It does not see itself but only a reflection of itself. If that is so, then how shall we proceed?
All we can do is the sadhana based on Sri Bhagavan's instructions regarding self inquiry or self surrender. The results of our practice may turn out to be like a river in flood,as the rush of insights passes through our consciousness or they may be so sluggish as to be indiscernible, like the slow disintegration of the salt doll when immersed repeatedly in the ocean. We should not lose heart if the results of our efforts are imperceptible to us.
continued.....
Tanmayam -
continues.....
Learning (sravana), contemplation (manana) and practice (nidhidhyasana) should continue throughout our life. (Muruganar's preface to Guru Vachaka Kovai, 'Within Oneself' with paraphrase.)
Like lightning, 'suddenly something' can happen when least expect it -- when we have surrendered. The Omnipresent Being which pervades the entire universe can reveal itself as the Self. We realize that nothing exists apart from the all pervasive Self and that alone is called tanmayam, which is non dual. Effortless unbroken abidance in this visioin is tanmaya nishta or kaivalya stithi, the intuitive experience that 'I alone exist' or 'All that exists is Me alone.'
This recognition of Being may not continue because of residual vasanas and we may revert to anniyam, duality, which is our usual state of being a subject perceiving objects. This veils the substratum of tanmayam. However having had a glimpse of tanmayam which in Sanskrit is known as nitya-anubhava, as it is ever available to the inward gaze.
Tanmayam and anniyam are mutually exclusive and not complementary. When one perceives anniyam, tanmayam is obscured; when one is in tanmayam, anniyam has vanished,m only the gestalt changes. This can be verified by any sadhak within oneself. Once there is a glimpse of tanmayam, even though he may be pulled back again and again into anniyam, the sadhak discovers endless energy and enthusiasm to strive repeatedly for immersion in tanmayam.
continued......
Tanmayam:
continues....
Muruganar captures this struggling phase of a sadhak in his inimitable style in the Ramana Puranam.
217-220: When the 'I' thought does not arise,/and I unite as pure being with Him,/He remains merged with me/shining out as my very own fullness./However, the very moment/I raise my head thinking 'I',/to perceive His ancient form/ He sees my oddness, scorns me,/ and conceals Himself from me.
221-226: If I then bow down my head and die,/He flourishes within me,/shining His light as before./Thus, the majesty of the Lord/will shine forth/only before the 'I' arises,/and after the 'I' subsides./Who, then, will have the power/ to tell of His greatness,/ which can only be known through the God-consciousness/in which the 'I' is absent,/and not through the awareness/in which the 'I' is experienced. (Ramana Puranam, verses 217-226. David Godman, Dr. T.V. Venkatasubramanian, & Robert Butler.).
Muruganar futher says: 'Reality indicated by Om is the non dual Self beyond thoughts and words; and hence the declaration that there is nothing to equal or excel Self. He is Arunachala, pure consciousness, illumining the intellect from within. He, being non dual, cannot be known by individuals, who identify with body and mind by forgetting their Self nature as pure consciousness, not withstanding their intellectual brilliance, in the realm of objective matters. (Self is veiled as it were). And therefore, the assertion that nobody can know Him as an object. Self shines only when individuality is lost either by self surrender or self inquiry; that is mouna, the peace that passes understanding. Only in mouna, the feeling of tanmayam within, knowing (actually Being) Arunachala is possible. (Commentary of Aksharamanamalai, Verse 13, Muruganar.)
Let us pray to Sri Bhagavan for His Grace to help us stay in tanmayam forever without reversion to anniyam.
concluded.
Tanmayam:
continues....
Muruganar captures this struggling phase of a sadhak in his inimitable style in the Ramana Puranam.
217-220: When the 'I' thought does not arise,/and I unite as pure being with Him,/He remains merged with me/shining out as my very own fullness./However, the very moment/I raise my head thinking 'I',/to perceive His ancient form/ He sees my oddness, scorns me,/ and conceals Himself from me.
221-226: If I then bow down my head and die,/He flourishes within me,/shining His light as before./Thus, the majesty of the Lord/will shine forth/only before the 'I' arises,/and after the 'I' subsides./Who, then, will have the power/ to tell of His greatness,/ which can only be known through the God-consciousness/in which the 'I' is absent,/and not through the awareness/in which the 'I' is experienced. (Ramana Puranam, verses 217-226. David Godman, Dr. T.V. Venkatasubramanian, & Robert Butler.).
Muruganar futher says: 'Reality indicated by Om is the non dual Self beyond thoughts and words; and hence the declaration that there is nothing to equal or excel Self. He is Arunachala, pure consciousness, illumining the intellect from within. He, being non dual, cannot be known by individuals, who identify with body and mind by forgetting their Self nature as pure consciousness, not withstanding their intellectual brilliance, in the realm of objective matters. (Self is veiled as it were). And therefore, the assertion that nobody can know Him as an object. Self shines only when individuality is lost either by self surrender or self inquiry; that is mouna, the peace that passes understanding. Only in mouna, the feeling of tanmayam within, knowing (actually Being) Arunachala is possible. (Commentary of Aksharamanamalai, Verse 13, Muruganar.)
Let us pray to Sri Bhagavan for His Grace to help us stay in tanmayam forever without reversion to anniyam.
concluded.
Seshadri Swami's Childhood Home:
V.V. Raghav.
(Mountain Path, Aradhana, 2006)
Beginning in 1969-70, the Tamizh magazine Ananda Vikatan wrote on the glory of Arunachala in a series of articles extending some 101 weeks. Though the serial was started as a commemoration to Sri Seshadri Swami on his birth centenary, ultimately the life and teaching of Sri Bhagavan came to be its highlight. Nevertheless, there appeared numerous reflections on the life of Seshadri Swami who was at the time largely unknown to the world except for the residents of Tiruvannamalai and devotees of Sri Ramana. Even Seshadri Swami's samadhi adjacent to Sri Ramanasramam remained mostly unnoticed until recently. It was only in the 1980s, some fifty years after Seshadri Swami's Mahasamadhi (Swami attained siddhi on January 14, 1929), the devotees began to visit his Samadhi and administrators began offering accommodation for visitors.
The relationship between Sri Bhagavan and Seshadri Swami goes back to the very first days of Sri Bhagavan's arrival in Tiruvannamalai. Having arrived some six years before Sri Bhagavan, Seshadri Swami knew the lay of the land and came to the young Bhagavan's rescue on a couple of occasions. It was Seshadri Swami who protected Bhagavan from local urchins and who was instrumental in having Bhagavan taken out of Patala Lingam when His body was in need of care.
Sri Seshadri was senior to Sri Bhagavan by nine years and once, while admonishing a devotee, Tiruvallur Subrahmanya Mudaliar, an ambitious businessman who was regularly entangled in legal disputes, the Swami said, 'Look, the income of my younger brother is ten thousand rupees per month; for me it is one thousand. Why don't you try to earn at least a hundred?' Mudaliar understood that the 'income' mentioned by the Swami meant spiritual wealth and the 'younger brother' meant Sri Bhagavan. On numerous occasions, Seshadri Swami directed devotees to Sri Bhagavan and even turned away Sri Bhagavan devotees who came to him for advice both because he believed one should have only one guru, and because he held Sri Bhagavan in such high esteem. (Ramana Leela, Ch. 25). In the light of this, it is no wonder that the series of articles in Ananda Vikatan ended up focusing more on the life of Sri Bhagavan.
continued......
Seshadri Swami's Childhood Home:
continues.....
The author of the serial Sri Bharanidharan, was devoted to Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Paramacharya, Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati Mahaswamigal. During a discussion with the Paramacharya, the topic of identifying the childhood home of Seshadri Swami arose and the Mahaswami urged the author to try and locate it. After extensive research, a small dwelling on the perimeter of the Sri Varadarajaswami temple wall in Vishnu Kanchi was identified as Seshadri Swami's family house. (Seshadri Swami was born in Vandavasi. At an early age, his father died unexpectedly and young Seshadri went to live with his mother's musician-scholar uncle, Kamakoti Sastri, who raised the lad.). In 1977, at the Paramacharya's insistence, the house was acquired by the Peetam for posterity and a committee was formed to maintain it. Mahaswami asked Sri Bharanidharan to prepare a large color portrait of Seshadri Swami for installation inside. After all the renovations had been carried out, the Paramacharya pointed out an interesting coincidence: five of the persons involved in the project, though unrelated, bore the name 'Seshadri'. On a subsequent occasion, when speaking of the greatness of Seshadri Swami, the Mahaswami posed the following vibrant question: 'Will I ever become like Seshadri Swamigal? Can I ever reach such supreme eminence? (Sage of Love and Grace, 2005).
Needless to say, Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati Mahaswami had high regard for Seshadri Swami, so much so, that he took pains to establish a permanent shrine at the saint's childhood home. For pilgrims and devotees wishing to visit, the site is located at No;. 6 Varadarajaswamy Temple, South Mada Street, Vishnu Kanchi in Kanchipuram and has a full time priest attending.
concluded.
தான தத்த தத்த தந்த தான தத்த தத்த தந்த
தான தத்த தத்த தந்த ...... தனதான
......... பாடல் .........
ஓல மிட்டி ரைத்தெ ழுந்த வேலை வட்ட மிட்ட இந்த
ஊர்மு கிற்ற ருக்க ளொன்று ...... மவராரென்
றூம ரைப்ர சித்த ரென்று மூட ரைச்ச மர்த்த ரென்றும்
ஊன ரைப்ர புக்க ளென்று ...... மறியாமற்
கோல முத்த மிழ்ப்ர பந்த மால ருக்கு ரைத்த நந்த
கோடி யிச்சை செப்பி வம்பி ...... லுழல்நாயேன்
கோப மற்று மற்று மந்த மோக மற்று னைப்ப ணிந்து
கூடு தற்கு முத்தி யென்று ...... தருவாயே
வாலை துர்க்கை சக்தி யம்பி லோக கத்தர் பித்தர் பங்கில்
மாது பெற்றெ டுத்து கந்த ...... சிறியோனே
வாரி பொட்டெ ழக்ர வுஞ்சம் வீழ நெட்ட யிற்று ரந்த
வாகை மற்பு யப்ர சண்ட ...... மயில்வீரா
ஞால வட்ட முற்ற வுண்டு நாக மெத்தை யிற்று யின்ற
நார ணற்க ருட்சு ரந்த ...... மருகோனே
நாலு திக்கும் வெற்றி கொண்ட சூர பத்ம னைக்க ளைந்த
நாக பட்டி னத்த மர்ந்த ...... பெருமாளே.
I felt like posting this wonderful song of Arunagiri Nathar, in his Tiruppugazh. The song is about the Muruga in Nagappatinam, a sea side town.
This town is ever hearing the noise of waves and is surrounded by the sea (Bay of Bengal). I am singing songs in praise of rich landlords of this town calling them as as the
fruit-giving trees of the town.
I am calling those dumb fellows as good discoursers, I am singing those lame fellows as prabhus (kings), I am singing those ignorant fellows as very intelligent. I am singing many prabadhantas (songs) and tell my crores of desires like house, gold, land etc., I am suffering like a dog without any reward.
O Muruga when shall I praise you without delusion and anger and seek only merger with You?
You are the younger son of Bala, also called Durga, and Amba and one who occupies the left side of that mad Siva.
O the great warrior who made the Krauncha mountain to fall into pieces and fall on the sea and had the garland of victory on your shoulders and who fought riding on the peacock!
You are the beloved nephew of Naryayana who lies in his bed of Adisesha that surrounds the ocean.
You graced him when he suffered under the rule of Surapadama.
You vanquished Surapadma, who has won all the four directions.
O Muruga of Nagapattinam, I pray to You.
*****
Coming to our Senses:
(Mountain Path, editorial, Oct. -
Dec. 2005)
Human beings are programmed for curiosity with the corollary of yearning for something better. Our intelligence constantly strives to push back and enlarge our boundaries, be they mental, emotional or physical. In the Vedas, we find hymns that praise the various gods Indra, Varuna, Mitra, and Vayu among others. If we explore the meaning of these hymns we realize that the rishis are praising a god on order to gain the power of discernment, so that they too can enjoy the Soma, the divine light of pure being. Indra i the power of the mind which is able to evoke the energies of pure existence; Vayu, stimulates the juice of Soma that can flow and purify our mortal mind; Varuna is the power and clarity which removes the impurities and limitations of the imperfect mind, and Mitra is the activity of love and joy in harmony, which is the foundation of a strong and bright intellect that discriminates between what is true and what is false.
Today the traditional tools are available to us are hard to come by and the gods seem to be silent. The modern world disparages for the most part of the reality of the inner, unseen world where the gods and demons exist. The one justification for the truth of an ideal appears to be its physical manifestation; in this way, truth has been inverted and leaves us dissatisfied. Wealth and power are the tokens by which people evaluate their own worth. They see the jealousy and envy of others as confirmation of their own value, while instead of praise for others we hear the ridicule as though in some way that underlies our own worth.
continued......
Coming to our Senses:
continues.....
For those who fail to head 'common sense' and are reluctant to embrace the overt security of society with its subtle conventions, there is the dilemma as to what they should do without compromising this inner urge that asks inconvenient questions. It is not so much a rational decision as a compulsion. Like the salmon trying desperately to find its way home. We meet these awkward people frequently in our lives and it is interesting to observe the many ways in which their craving for certainty, evolves. They may see a desirable yet distant object and embark on a pilgrimage. They may give in to the lure of danger like racing cars or climbing mountains,* or develop a hobby that satisfies their appetite for solitude where they can think their private thoughts without hindrance -- there are many anglers who have never caught a fish and wouldn't know what to do with one if they did. We all in fact, create a private bubble, in which to be free of customary constraints. In whatever form it takes this personal quest may constitute the
whole meaning of life to many people. Without hesitation, they make sacrifices that appear enormous to others. For them it is nothing, for what they value is greater than the sum of the benefits that they now enjoy. What exactly it is they cannot say but it does involve a sense of harmony and rightness at the moment.
* "When climbing, the presence of mind that one needs in dangerous situations makes one naturally undistracted, that that undistractedness is what generates awareness and a feeling of being completely alive. Every action becomes meaningful because each movement is a matter of life and death. As on rock climber reportedly said, when asked why he climbed high and extremely difficult vertical cliffs solo, without a rope." (Touching My Father's Soul, by Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Ebury Press, 2001)
continued......
Coming to our Senses:
continues.....
Some follow a different path that leads them to look for truth in a microscope or test tube or even in the fluctuations of the stock markets, while for others who have neither knowledge nor the persistence to find their way, there is often a fall into licentiousness and worldly self gratification. The sceptic finds consolation in the reassurance that the ultimate truth does not exist. The down to earth pragmatist can find his goal in the preparation of delicious food and the enjoyment of eating. The poet addresses the ideal dream in ecstatic prayers of worship and vain songs of despair. The musician tries to capture the distant notes of harmony.
Whatever symbols the seeker uses in his objective quest none has been able to persuade the world that what they have found is the ultimate fulfillment. Yet, we do hear reports from those rare souls who succeed in establishing a communication with some higher spirit in them. They seem to have prevailed where others were ineffectual. These rare souls have become whole and radiant with peace in a way that is instantly recognized and brooks no denial. They aver that there is something immaterial which is the true and final object of people's longing.
There have been so many similar reports over the centuries by those who came back to tell us of their journey and discovery that we cannot dismiss their assertions as delusions simply because we lacked the opportunity or courage to penetrate beyond the mist of our own confusion. So remote are some of the conclusions we read and hear that if we wish to follow the same trail we need a definite preparation that requires us to leave behind our preconceptions. This elimination of our stale habits of thought and feeling which so far have not lead anywhere is a prerequisite if we are to be open to the unknown, the new, unimaginable to which mystics so often refer.
continued.......
Coming to our Senses:
continues.....
They say purification is the gateway to knowledge. We need to come to this encounter with the unknown with clear minds free of prejudice and also free of the convention of taking the visible world as the only reality. We must give up our assumptions and enter a state that stimulates nothingness. In Sufi literature it is called, faqr; in Christianity apatheia; in Hinduism, the one pointed absorption of dhyana. We cannot begin to understand what those masters of the inner reality speak about until we too are able to enter in some measure that silence where our so called solid world seems but another dream with little substance.
Where do we start? We can only start with what we have, our sense of 'I', the self conscious individual who is pondering the quest. No arguments can shake our conviction that we are alive and exist. To this 'I' comes a perpetual stream of messages and experiences. A human being is defined by his or her encounter with their specific world and how they react to it. What are these experiences that we undergo in the course of every day life? And what do they mean? We encounter the external world through our senses as we interpret and construct our universe from the impulses that arrive in our brain. Through our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin we attempt to create a coherent image, which is consistent and safe. To live we are forced to engage with it and to gain its compliance if our physical body is to survive.
The mind accepts, rejects, sorts and combines these impressions gathered by the five senses and creates concept, which is attributed to the external world. The world consequently consists of impressions. If one carefully considers this idea then the world cannot be something external to the mind. The world is in the mind. If we take this thought to its conclusion, we can say the mind IS the world. The world is the unique creation of an individual. Each person creates their own world and the inter-exchange between different people's worlds is a dialogue taut with its own private language and significance. Each person is an artist who creates their own world using an individual palette of ideas.
There is no absolute reality because it is dependent on what the variable mind makes of it. There is no direct, unmediated relationship between the world and the mind. We live with second hand information. We construct the world by using concepts derived from the information provided by our senses. The evidence of the senses is variable and therefore cannot be accepted as a corroboration of the true nature of the world. The external limit of our senses is the boundary of our physical explorations and to know oneself is only to know one's personal universe. We are locked up with the limitations of our sensory capacity. (Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason stated that we can never know the nature of things but only what filters through our senses and is processed by our mind at second hand. We can never directly experience the THING IN ITSELF.)
continued......
Coming to our Senses:
continues.....
There are mystics who have the aptitude to see color as sound and sound as color. Some animals see the infrared things, which we too can see, but only with the aid of machinery. The world sends us the same messages but with an alteration in our senses, we would receive the impressions in a different way, which are no less true. Therefore, our senses cannot lead to an absolute, an unchanging reality, which we do require as a substratum upon which the passing show exists. A still center of the spinning world is essential.
If we are completely dependent upon our fallible senses for knowledge of the world, who is it who decides what is true and false? Who discriminates between what is absolute and what is impermanent? When the mind is in constant flux who are we to decide what is real and what illusion? We seek a transcendent principle applicable to all circumstances, one that presupposes a standard which is not dependent upon the senses for confirmation/
Meister Eckhart said that the word SUM, I am, cannot be spoken by any creature but God alone. Because we are so identified with the senses, we identify our being, our sense of 'I' with Jnanendriyas (the five faculties of sensation) and Karmendriyas (five faculties of action). We forget the base upon which the impressions are made -- the great white invisible screen of Consciousness untainted by the stream of forms emitted in the attempt to visualize and understand who we are. We create forms with our mind and are swallowed up by the spell of their convincing allure.
There is the famous analogy of Plato who proposed that we all are like prisoners chained to a wall in the cave. WE are unable to turn round towards the light of a fire at the entrance of the cave and so all we can see are the flickering images on the all in front of us that are but shadows of those activities. Our world is made up of shadows and we never see things as they are. Sri Bhagavan in Spiritual Instruction gave a similar illustration of the movie theater to illustrate the process of identification with the effects of activity rather than seeking the source of the activity. He explained the Self was the light shining of its own accord. When the film of latent tendencies is passed across the lens of limited individuality, the light of the Self throws the movement of the dream and waking states on to the
clear screen of consciousness. (The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi, pp. 59-60, Sri Ramanasramam 2001. See also Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, Suri Nagamma, pp.310-311, 1995).
To see for ourselves and experience
directly the source of being, we should not depend on external images or ideas that have taken form as thought, but turn round and go right back to the heart of ou9r predicament: Who is it who sees? Who is it who is Conscious?
concluded.
Deepavali - 2012:
During Sri Bhagavan's times, devotees used to come to Sri Bhagavan very early in the morning and submit sweetmeats prepared for Deepavali, fruits and a pair of new coupinas. Sri Bhagavan also used to accept them. Then there will be lunch with payasam and or some delicacies.
Today in the early morning the Asramam inmates fire crackers and then join the puja for Matrubhuteswara Lingam and Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingam. At 11.30 am there will be lunch with payasam and delicacies.
Once Sri Bhagavan composed two verses on the significance of Deepavali.
1. The day that Narayana grinds to
death the
naraka-ego in the quest of
knowledge, inquiring
whence the naraka-I rises to
rule the narka-world,
that day is the light festival
of Naraka chaturdasi.
2. To search and slay the sinner,
the naraka ego
corrupted by the thought that
one is is the naraka-form,
the false body-tenement, and to
shine as
the true Self, this is
Deepavali indeed.
I wish David and all blog members
a Happy and Prosperous Deepavali, and pray that Sri Bhagavan should shower His Grace more and more on us.
Subramanian. R
Padam's glance of grace:
On this Deepavali day, let us remember the grace of Bhagavan as
enumerated by Muruganar in his Padamalai:
334. Through its glance, golden Padam
dammed up in my Heart, the ocean of
Sivananda - that which cannot be dammed up.
2899. Padam is the eye of grace that looked upon me in such a way that the open expanse of that grace, which cannot be contained, was confined with my very Heart.
588. The light of Mauna illumined face as golden Padam dispensed the graced of Jnana through His radiant gaze.
2227. Through His grace filled glance, golden, bewitching Padam destroyed my infatuation with the
ego-mind, scooping me up and consuming me with relish.
1370. The grace bestowing gaze of Padam shot forth, granting me, in the form of deep absorption, the victorious sword of exalted swarupa Jnana.
2465. Having abolished the defect of the poison like delusive ego by looking at me, with his Jnana-bestowing eyes, Padam resides within my Heart.
(tr. David Godman)
******
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part I - The Path of Peace.*
*(An accurate translation of 'Sadhana in Advaita' would be Spiritual Practice in Non Duality', but I prefer to describe this practice as 'The Path of Peace', because the practice of Advaita aims at Supreme Peace.)
Swami Madhurananda.
*
As a sadhana, advaita requires that we already have the deep conviction that the way we generally deal with the world only creates pain and sorrow. This suffering can be traced to our sense of a separate individual self. Such an understanding will reveal the futility of all experiences, including spiritual ones, which are primarily centered on a person's individuality. The knowledge that life is transient inspires urgency and earnestness in the desire to resolve these existential problems. It creates the zeal and fire needed to do so. This, as we will see, develops into a search for unadulterated peace within one's everyday life. I must add here that one is not, at the outset, required to believe that one's individuality is the primary cause of one's suffering. It is enough if one genuinely desires to be free of suffering. Such a one will, in due course, realize that it is individuality -- the mistaken belief that a separate 'self' exists -- that is the cause of all sorrows. Through sincere investigation, eventually, the spontaneous revelation that 'I am the Reality' will come to such a seeker.
By performing whole-hearted sadhana, one's love for true peace -- or the 'Self' -- increases. One also starts to take refuge in concepts such as, 'I am Brahman' or 'I am the Supreme Reality' or 'I am not the body-mind complex'. Though thinking thus is merely a mental activity that has to be given up sooner or later, it helps aspirants to weaken their identification with the body and to get rid of the tendency of the mind to dwell on worldly things. Contemplating the truth of one's nature again and again, renders the mind pure, so that any doubt about one's true identity galvanizes our attention via the inquiry 'Who am I?'
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part I - Swami Madhurananda:
continues.....
If one's discrimination is clear and sharp and if one has the innermost feeling that one's suffering has no end on the individual level and that there is no way in which we can go beyond the ego if we use the mind, then the method of inquiry can take an altogether different turn. When we first try the method of self inquiry, asking ourselves 'Who am I?' this is usually because of our trust in Sri Bhagavan or the scriptures. This means that our inquiry does not arise from our own existential doubt about our identity. It merely parrots what is actually Sri Ramana's 'question' or someone else's question. But until the question 'Who am I?' 'What am I?' becomes OUR QUESTION, burning and all consuming, arising from our own existential experience of our helplessness and desperate seeking, until then we will not be practicing self inquiry. Because it is only when we are totally consumed by this investigation, this search for our true nature, that we will experience the profound power of this method.
We will then experience the profound power of this method. We will then experience self inquiry as A STATE OF DEEP STILLNESS that has the capacity TO CUT OFF THE VERY ROOT OF OUR HABITUAL, UNCONSCIOUS, THINKING PATTERNS. Inquiry that does not arise from our own existential insecurity, anxiety and despair is merely a repetitive exercise that ends up becoming dry and monotonous, or inducing sleep. It is not the path Sri Bhagavan taught, which wakes up to our ever existing real nature.
Therefore genuine self inquiry cannot be intellectually defined or even discussed, because it is a state that is beyond the thinking mind. Self investigation, as Sri Bhagavan taught it, it is not one ego-I searching for another ego-I. Nor does it mean that the mind searches for its 'source' in terms of THINKING and analyzing or in terms of any kind of DESTINATION to be reached in the realm of time and space. Real inquiry is the search for the source of thought WHICH IS BEYOND TIME AND SPACE. Therefore, it is a happening, completely outside mental activity, where QUESTIONING ITSELF IS EXPERIENCE AS STILLNESS.
continued......
SADHANA IN ADVAITA:
continues....
True Inquiry only happens if and if and if......
1. The question Who am I? must arise spontaneously and naturally. Without genuine doubts as to one's true nature, self questioning becomes mechanical and dry. This does not mean that one should artificially create questions in one's mind, because this merely triggers more thinking. Also I do not mean that we should not try to do self inquiry when we feel no existential doubt. Irrespective of whether our self questioning arises naturally or not, we should subdue all thoughts, without thinking about anything, and inquire 'Who am I?'. Eventually genuine self questioning will arise, and with it will come an experience of profound peace that is spontaneous. Through practicing in this way, one automatically enters a mode of being where self inquiry -- the investigation of the ego-mind -- arises naturally again and again, repeatedly bringing an experience of deep peace. Through practice one gets addicted to this dynamic peace which is one's own true nature.
2. Further, one must also have the absolute conviction that THERE IS NO ANSWER TO THE QUESTION 'WHO AM I?' on the level of thought, and that whatever answer arises as a thought is utterly false. If one thinks one knows the answer, inquiry comes to an end then and there, because the mind, instead of becoming still, is filled with thoughts.
Self inquiry can only happen when one says in utter helplessness, 'I do not know anything about myself.' A Vedantin once told me that the moment he asked, 'Who am I?' the answer came immediately to him, 'I am Brahman'. But this merely shows that he had no uncertainty about his identity at all. He was cocksure that he was Brahman, which is why the answer came immediately. But all he had was a mere concept of reality, which he had got from outside sources, not from his own
experience of reality. This won't work at all on practical level, to mitigate one's suffering and bring peace, which is the goal of advaita. How can self inquiry work for people who are full of concepts - false knowledge - about their true nature? In other words, how can the mind - which is merely a 'bundle of thoughts', in Sri Bhagavan's words -- subside through THINKING. This can never happen.
continued.....
Sadhana in Advaita:
continues......
3. Once inquiry starts happening it leads to moments of utter helplessness and fear for the ego. That is why intense inquiry into 'Who am I?' What is this sense of 'I'? results in a deep and profound SILENCE of the mind, which in turn, through, practice, will lead one to the understanding that ONE IS THE 'STILLNESS' ITSELF. This insight can come only in the moments of silence. Silence is the greatest teacher, the true teacher and the only teacher, when it comes to Reality. Then, after practicing inquiry, this deep stillness of mind may begin to happen even without asking 'Who am I?. In any case, one should remain 'dynamically still' - this is the essence of self inquiry, This dynamic stillness is the highest state one can wish for in an advaitic practice. The understanding 'I am stillness' can, of course, also come to spiritual practitioners who have not used the method of self inquiry. In any case, whatever method is used, all sincere seekers need to experience this deep stillness that is so alive, so dynamic, again and again, until they remain utterly at peace, tranquil and unshakable in the midst of all life's disturbances.
Immense blessings of this stillness:
This wonderful peace 'which passeth all understanding', will bring the realization that one is intimately related to every object that is perceived through spontaneous non volitional perception. Whether these objects are words, images or sensory perceptions of the external world, one will come to recognize that no object can be the cause of disturbance to one's ever existing peace. One will therefore no longer
seek to get rid of any object, recognizing that all objects are within our field of perception exist as long as the body exists. One comes to see very clearly that it is OUR MIND, with its unceasing urge TO BECOME someone or to GET something -- including enlightenment -- that is the mian cause of all our suffering. Also, one realizes that though one has the capacity to think, thoughts and mind cannot be perceived.
continued.....
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part I - continues.....
Happiness lies in not allowing the mind to breed thoughts. Then sadhana means just RETURNING to this extremely lively stillness again and again. Such a practice will weaken the habitual, unconscious thought processes which are very powerful and otherwise almost impossible to subdue. The practitioner returns to stillness repeatedly, whether with her eyes closed or open, with her hands at work or free. Physical activity does not affect advaitic sadhana. One can experience the most profound stillness even with eyes open or when running. Such a stillness may come to us then, even if it does not come to us when we are doing formal sitting meditation. Thus the experience of this dynamic stillness has nothing to do with sitting or not sitting, because this stillness is not a state of sedation. Advaitic practice does not estrange us from this beautiful river called life. All that it requires is that we avoid engaging the mind in thinking when life does not demand it.
With practice, as the days pass, all our habitual tendencies or negative emotions, even those in suppressed form at unconscious levels, come to the surface of the mind, and slowly lose their hold.
One feels a deepening sense of relief and gratitude that such a way out of suffering has been discovered. This abiding in stillness is the surest method, unlike other techniques, all of which employ the mind and therefore give only temporary peace. In this profound stillness, the unconditioning of the mind - in other words, the weakening of the vasanas (latent mental tendencies) - happens most effortlessly. The practitioner's deadliest enemy, the unconscious patterns of habitual thought. which cause him to repeatedly lose himself in the mind's unceasing chatter and day dreaming, are steadily weakened.
continued.....
Sadhana in Advaita:
continues.....
The breakthrough in sadhana happens when one realizes that one IS stillness itself. This constitutes a total paradigm shift in one's practice. It is a radical jump. It entails a moving away from one's habitual self centeredness to an impersonal 'no center'. When one IS stillness, one can accept all objects as good or bad ends. One experiences the external world in an entirely new way. One no longer rejects any external object through aversion, seeking its absence from one's perception. This is because one no longer sees objects as EXTERNAL. Every object becomes a pointer to one's own existence. It is the THINKING mind that says, 'This is an object and it is inert, having no connection with my own existence.' Instead, if there is NO THOUGHT, then, from the depths of stillness, you experience a deep affinity with every object that you perceive. Every object of perception becomes an opportunity to EXPERIENCE this stillness, which is your own existence. At this point in the practice, the simple fact that ONE'S TRUE NATURE IS EXISTENCE ITSELF, becomes self evident. This realization constitutes our liberation from the doubting mind, which many of us have. Intellectual discussion about attaining reality becomes not just meaningless but even painful compared to the peace of this stillness.
At this juncture, a question may arise for Sri Bhagavan's devotees, namely, 'There is another path in advaita, which is 'surrender', so why should I bother about this stillness?' If by 'surrender' one means reminding oneself again and again that it is God's will that makes everything happen, then this is a mental technique - and a good
one - for calming the mind. But the advaitic understanding of 'surrender' is very different. In Sri Bhagavan's teaching it is 'to be still'. Here 'surrender' is the same as Self Inquiry. Sri Bhagavan Himself has said that surrender and inquiry are one and the same as a state of mind. The only difference is in the terms used. Bhakti (the path of devotion) uses the term 'surrender'. Jnana (the path of knowledge) uses the terms 'inquiry' and 'stillness'.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
continues.... (Part I)
Sri Bhagavan said that this state of stillness leads directly to the state of unbroken; 'I AM - I AM'. This state is unchanging. It continues through the three states of deep sleep, waking state, and the dream state. Sages describes this state as Absolute Perfection. This is the goal of the advaitin and the fulfillment of all Sadhana.
What the Stillness is NOT:
I must make clear what this stillness is not, as there are many misconceptions about it.
1. Nowadays, unfortunately, there are many people who glibly say, 'We are Reality, we are Stillness, so we don't have to do anything. There is no need for Sadhana. Doing anything is an obstacle and conflicts with the ever existing Stillness.' This is a statement of profound wisdom. But unfortunately,
many people who make this kind of statement, do so very casually, using it as an excuse to avoid practice and to indulge in whims and fancies of their undisciplined minds. This is not at all Stillness. It may be noticed that such people either hold a theory of 'no free will, only predestination.' Or they scholars who gratify their egos by such pronouncements. Such people are very shallow. They have no experience of true stillness. The 'lazy' stillness they proclaim has nothing to do with advaitic practice, for they confuse their self indulgence with advaitic 'effortlessness'.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part I - continues.....
Further, a true sages does not propound any theory. When we hold on to a theory the mind becomes very active. The theory of predestination may be of help to beginners, as it can tranquilize the mind. But advaitc practice has nothing to do with any concept. In this practice we seek to uncondition and release the mind from the entire of vasanas. Thus, no matter how 'true' an idea may be, it cannot liberate us, because, when engaged with an idea, the mind becomes active. No idea can still the mind.
2. Today there is much discussion of various practices of 'awareness' especially in some schools of Vipassana meditation. Here one must be extremely careful. Both 'Vipassana' and 'awareness' are terms that are used in very different ways by a wide variety of schools. I want to emphasize that some of these 'awareness' practices are not identical with the practice of inquiry as taught by Sri Bhagavan. That is, they will not bring one to the unconditioned state of stillness. Sri Bhagavan taught that our existence is not different from awareness - they are one and the same thing. He emphasized this repeatedly. Therefore, the state of awareness, as described by Him, is a state in which the awareness of emotions happens automatically, without any deliberate effort. On the other hand, if one THINKS that one has to TRY to be aware of one's emotions and sensations, not only is mental effort is present, but a subject-object relation has arisen. This is the crux of the problem.
If one is a sincere practitioner this can be easily tested. If one knows that 'I am', one's nature, is nothing but awareness, one can handle even the most painful emotions quite easily. This is simply not possible if one's 'awareness' is a merely a mental exercise. If the mind is involved, one can handle only mild to moderate emotions. Further, when one's mind is active in one's sadhana, one is always looking for shortcuts - through books and teachers - to an external goal. As long as one believes that objects have an independent external existence, quite separate from one's perception of them, mental activity continues unabated. Such practice does not still the mind. But it is mental stillness that is the whole point of advaitic practice.
In practices that use the mind, the practitioner may have the feeling that he can give up God -- yet he is still unable to let go of his own mind. But this is precisely what is required. The day must come when he has to recognize the hard fact that every time he directs his mind to an emotion, a sensation of an object 'outside' himself, he instantly MOVES AWAY FROM STILLNESS. Only then he will recognize that he has to give up all techniques that involves the mind. Yes, finally one has to realize that one IS awareness or stillness itself. It is solely in this state of profound stillness, where all objects have vanished, that one arrives at the heart of self inquiry.
Part I - concluded.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - Mountain Path, July-October, 2006:
Pitfalls in Advaita Sadhana:
Swami Madhurananda.
As every field of investigation has its traps, so too with Advaita sadhana or Advaitic practice. The traps do not lie in the sadhana itself, but in the way we perceive it. They can be categorized as follows: 1) snares of intellect; 2) laya; 3) spiritual experiences; 4) the thought 'I am enlightened!'; and 5) the idea that Advaitic practice is not relevant to daily life.
Snares of the intellect:
The intellect creates traps in two ways.
i) The most formidable trap is the idea that a sharp mind can grasp Reality intellectually. This is the greatest hurdle against a deepening of insight. It is largely intellectuals who are attracted to Advaita, and they tend to believe that by analyzing Vedantic concepts they can easily attain the state of Reality. But this is like chasing a mirage when seeking water.
Many traditional teachers emphasize shastra-dhyana (studying the scriptures), as the central practice in Advaita sadhana. In India, if a monk tells us this we are carried away. We think, 'What an easy way to enlightenment for us intellectuals! How blessed we are!' Intellectuals tend to fall into this trap, thinking: 'How beautiful it is to know that Vedanta teaches that our nature itself is Reality and that our only problem is ignorance!' This statement is absolutely true as it asserts that we are already That which we seek. The problem, however, lies in the teaching that it is through thinking and through study of the scriptures (sastras)that we will gain enlightenment. Endless scriptural study is a serious error because it strengthens the habit of THINKING. Such a study is founded on a fundamental error, different from an error in mathematics, or physics, because it assumes that (a) one has a 'self' and is an individual person; and that (b) one needs something external to oneself to help one to get rid of this 'truly existing' selfhood. The moment you depend on the thinking mind to guide you, you implicitly assume that your Reality is not here and now, and that to discover our Reality by seeking it in the future, when it is already here right now? The more you study and the more you reflect on concepts in order to gain enlightenment, the more you indirectly assert that you are NOT Reality. In thinking like this, you are falsely conditioning your mind, reinforcing your ignorance. Because as long as the thinking mind is in full swing, Advaita is out of question. To realize Non Duality through thinking is an impossibility.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues.....
I wonder whether the teachers who emphasize the study of sastras as the only way to enlightenment ever make the disciples realize the futility of endless study and endless thinking. If teachers don't do this, how is that deep sense of true surrender to arise in the heart of the practitioner? But if they do this, would anybody study Vedanta for years and years? Unless study is done in order to negate the need for any engagement of the mind and the intellect in the search for existential truth, it is entirely futile. Any serious seeker who is a mature practitioner will see the absurdity of extensive scriptural study in order to realize the Truth. Sri Bhagavan was once asked by a crestfallen devotee, 'What can I do, as I have not studied Vedanta?' A most beautiful humorous answer came from this glorious sage. Sri Bhagavan replied that to study the scriptures in order to know one's Self is like a man shaving the image of his face in a mirror, rather than his own face.
Reality, of course, is not the birthright of intellectuals, it belongs to everyone, intellectual or not. Anyone who claims tat it can only be understood by intellectuals is guilty of blasphemy. Reality or Non Duality is our true nature, not the intellect, which is impermanent and a delusion. It disappears the moment we enter deep, dreamless sleep. A fine intellect is granted to a few, but Reality is granted to all. So if we seek absolute peace we can embrace Advaita with full confidence. Our earnest desire to be free of suffering and to gain peace is enough to take us to Reality.
continued.....
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues.....
(ii) Another trap that intellectuals may fall into, is in misunderstanding the Upanishadic dictum, 'I am Brahman', Reality, the Self. Intellectuals generally have the tendency, though perhaps only unconsciously, to look for prestige and authority in which case, it can take then a very long time, to realize that it is NOT the egocentric individual who realizes 'I am Brahman'. Sri Bhagavan very clearly explained that OUR TRUE NATURE, which is the 'Real I' or 'Brahman' or the Formless Absolute, is not this pseudo 'I' which everyone thinks of as 'I'. It is Reality that knows itself as Reality, it is not a person, not an individual, who knows Reality. It is Brahman who realizes Brahman. The personality, the ego, CAN NEVER know Reality. It is the SILENCING and subduing of the personality/mind in the absolute stillness of the true Self-nature, which provides the opportunity to know the Real. this is the undeniable fact.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues....
2) Laya:
Laya is the pleasant, peaceful state one may get into while meditating. One acquires it through persistent meditation, but its apparent peacefulness is actually mental torpor or mental 'sinking'. This is a very tricky state of mind, which requires great alertness. If one is not aware of the danger of laya, one might meditate for many years without ever beginning to purify one's deep rooted vasanas. So it is important to be on one's guard always against laya. In laya one feels very calm. But the alert practitioner notices that though he or she was peaceful, something was missing. This awareness only arises, however, if one has repeatedly entered the state of dynamic stillness. A practitioner who knows this wonderful stillness will not be deceived by laya. However, if one has not experienced true stillness, laya may be difficult to identity. One way to do this, is to check whether, within the stillness, one also has a vivid awareness that one EXISTS. Another way is to honestly examine one's reactions to external objects. If one follows one's attractions and aversions as instinctively as ever, or if one still blames the 'external' world for one's sufferings, the one's meditation practice is not moving towards awakening, but towards laya. If one is alert against sinking into laya, one can return to dynamic stillness just by asking the mind the question Who am I?. Thus the very act of noticing laya is enough to destroy it, and to put one in the state of genuine stillness.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues.....
3) Spiritual Experiences:
To long for spiritual experiences is merely to extend one's search for pleasure in the gross world to more subtle planes. It shows that THE EGO-MIND'S DESIRE FOR PLEASURE IS INTENSE. Those who get these experiences do everything they can to repeat them. They get the feeling that they are superior to others. However, those who have experienced real peace realize that no other experience is as soothing and pleasant as this peace.
All experiences, including spiritual ones, fail to give us lasting satisfaction. We therefore continually seek new experiences. There is no end to this grasping. But, despite new spiritual experiences, peace remains absent. Only the practitioner who has tasted the dynamic peace, will know how precious it is, of more worth than any experience, whether sensory or spiritual. One should therefore aim for this peace alone. The wise person seeks only this peace, by returning afresh to the silence of the Self again and again.
The search for ANY experience, whether the rising of the Kundalini or a vision of God, only binds us to the body. Even giving importance to the 'heart'center' on the right side of the chest may bind us to knowing the Real, which is here and now. If someone looks forward to spiritual experiences he starts living in conflict, because he moves away from the ever existing stillness within him, which he can experience at any moment. Or he may suppress difficult emotions when they arise, thus losing precious opportunity to clean them away. Such cleansing or purification of one's emotions give one immense opportunities to experience dynamic stillness even when one's senses are wide awake. It is possible to experience Peace even with one's eyes wide open. All these important opportunities are missed if one is fixated on gaining spiritual experiences, like feeling the vibrations of the 'Heart Center'. We must understand very clearly that Reality is our own true nature, our Self-nature, and that it is everywhere and now here. Only then will the conflict in our minds end, and the destruction of our vasanas begin. This alone enables us to turn to the ever existing Peace within us.
continued.....
two new you tube clips of david godman "who am i?and who dies?"is now available
cheechi muppurak kAdu neeRezhach
chAdi nidhdhiraik kOsam vEraRa
jeevan mukthiyiR kUdavE kaLiththu ...... anubUthi
sEra aRbudhak kOla mAmena
sUri yabbuvik kERi yAduga
seelam vaiththaruL thERi yEyiruk ...... kaRiyAmal
pAsam vittuvit Odi pOnadhup
pOdhu mippadik kAgi lEninip
pAzh vazhik adaikkAmalE pidiththu ...... adiyEnaip
pAra daikkalak kOla mAm enath
thApa riththunith thAra meedhenap
pAdha padmanaR bOdhaiyE dharith ...... aruLvAyE
dhEsil dhushta nishtUra kOdhudai
sUrai vettiyet tAsai yEzhbuvith
dhEvar muththarkat kEdha mEthavirthth ...... aruLvOnE
seerpa daiththazhaR sUla mAn mazhup
pANi viththurup pAdha nOrpuRa
seer thigazh pughazh pAvai yeenapoR ...... gurunAtha
kAsi muththamizhk kUda lEzhmalaik
kOva laththiyiR kAna nAnmaRaik
kAdu poRkirik kAzhi yArurpoR ...... pulivELUr
kALa hasthi appAl sirAmalai
dhEsa mutrumup pUjai mEvi naR
kAma kachchiyiR sAla mEvupoR ...... perumALE.
*
This week being Skanda Sashti, I have given the above anglicized version of Tiruppugazh sung by Arunagiri Natha in Chidambaram.
Subramanian. R
heechi muppurak kAdu: Down, down with the three slags (namely, arrogance, karma and delusion) which are the three evil mountains, Thiripuram; these are like wild forests
neeRezhach chAdi: that must be burnt down to ashes;
nidhdhiraik kOsam vEraRa: sleepiness and the five shrouds* that cover the soul will have to be annihilated;
jeevan mukthiyiR kUdavE: the soul must be liberated, attaining eternal bliss;
kaLiththu anubUthi sEra: it should experience rapturous enlightenment;
aRbudhak kOla mAmena sUri yabbuvik kERi yAduga: it should create a wonderful vision of climbing up to the land of the sun and dancing in ecstasy;
seelam vaiththaruL thERi yEyiruk kaRiyAmal: For all that, I have to follow the righteous path and realise Your grace, steadily remaining in tranquility. Not knowing how to accomplish that
pAsam vittuvit Odi pOnadhup: I am being hounded by attachments which seem to go away for some time but return to me with a vengence.
pOdhu mippadik kAgi lEn: I have had it, and enough is enough. I do not want to be subjected to this misery.
inip pAzh vazhik adaikkAmalE pidiththu adiyEnai: Henceforth, please do not thrust me into this disgusting track and kindly take charge of me;
pAra daikkalak kOla mAm enath thApariththu: please be compassionate and bless me with Your vision that is the only salvation for me in this world;
nith thAra meedhenap pAdha padmanaR bOdhaiyE dharith aruLvAyE: and grant me an eternal jewel to wear that is nothing but Your hallowed lotus feet!
dhEsil dhushta nishtUra kOdhudai sUrai vetti: He was an ignorant, wicked and evil one; he was full of blemishes; that SUran was destroyed by You;
yet tAsai yEzhbuvith dhEvar muththarkat kEdha mEthavirthth aruLvOnE: and the celestials and ascetic sages in all the eight directions of the seven worlds were relieved of their miseries by Your grace!
seerpa daiththazhaR sUla mAn mazhup pANi: He (Lord SivA) holds in His hands the eminent fire, a trident, a deer and a pick-axe;
viththurup pAdhan: His feet are red like coral;
OrpuRa seer thigazh pughazh pAvai yeenapoR gurunAtha: on the side of His body, the celebrated Goddess PArvathi DEvi is seated elegantly; and She delivered You, oh handsome Master!
kAsi muththamizhk kUda lEzhmalai: KAsi (Varanasi), Madhurai (famous for the three branches of Tamil), the seven hills (ThiruvEnkatam),
kOva laththiyiR kAna nAnmaRaik kAdu: ThirukkOvalUr, ThiruvAnaikkA, VedAraNyam (the forest of the four vEdAs),
poRkirik kAzhi yArurpoR pulivELUr: Kanagamalai, SeegAzhi, ThiruvArUr, beautiful Chidhambaram,
kALa hasthi appAl sirAmalai: KALahasthi and ThirisirApalli are a few abodes of Yours,
dhEsa mutrumup pUjai mEvi: besides several places throughout the country, where You are worshipped all the three times of the day.
naRkAma kachchiyiR sAla mEvupoR perumALE.: You are seated with relish at the holy place, KAmakOttam in Kacchi (kAnjeepuram), Oh Handsome and Great One!
* The five shrouds (kOsam) are as follows: annamaya kOsam - consisting of food and the body, prAANamaya kOsam - consisting of active organs like tongue, arms, legs, genitals etc. and life, manOmaya kOsam - consisting of the mind, vignAnamaya kOsam - consisting of the sensory organs and intellect, Anandamaya kOsam - the innermost shroud covering the soul where delusory bliss is experienced.
*
This is meaning of the Tiruppugazh
song given in the last post.
Subramanian. R
heechi muppurak kAdu: Down, down with the three slags (namely, arrogance, karma and delusion) which are the three evil mountains, Thiripuram; these are like wild forests
neeRezhach chAdi: that must be burnt down to ashes;
nidhdhiraik kOsam vEraRa: sleepiness and the five shrouds* that cover the soul will have to be annihilated;
jeevan mukthiyiR kUdavE: the soul must be liberated, attaining eternal bliss;
kaLiththu anubUthi sEra: it should experience rapturous enlightenment;
aRbudhak kOla mAmena sUri yabbuvik kERi yAduga: it should create a wonderful vision of climbing up to the land of the sun and dancing in ecstasy;
seelam vaiththaruL thERi yEyiruk kaRiyAmal: For all that, I have to follow the righteous path and realise Your grace, steadily remaining in tranquility. Not knowing how to accomplish that
pAsam vittuvit Odi pOnadhup: I am being hounded by attachments which seem to go away for some time but return to me with a vengence.
pOdhu mippadik kAgi lEn: I have had it, and enough is enough. I do not want to be subjected to this misery.
inip pAzh vazhik adaikkAmalE pidiththu adiyEnai: Henceforth, please do not thrust me into this disgusting track and kindly take charge of me;
pAra daikkalak kOla mAm enath thApariththu: please be compassionate and bless me with Your vision that is the only salvation for me in this world;
nith thAra meedhenap pAdha padmanaR bOdhaiyE dharith aruLvAyE: and grant me an eternal jewel to wear that is nothing but Your hallowed lotus feet!
dhEsil dhushta nishtUra kOdhudai sUrai vetti: He was an ignorant, wicked and evil one; he was full of blemishes; that SUran was destroyed by You;
yet tAsai yEzhbuvith dhEvar muththarkat kEdha mEthavirthth aruLvOnE: and the celestials and ascetic sages in all the eight directions of the seven worlds were relieved of their miseries by Your grace!
seerpa daiththazhaR sUla mAn mazhup pANi: He (Lord SivA) holds in His hands the eminent fire, a trident, a deer and a pick-axe;
viththurup pAdhan: His feet are red like coral;
OrpuRa seer thigazh pughazh pAvai yeenapoR gurunAtha: on the side of His body, the celebrated Goddess PArvathi DEvi is seated elegantly; and She delivered You, oh handsome Master!
kAsi muththamizhk kUda lEzhmalai: KAsi (Varanasi), Madhurai (famous for the three branches of Tamil), the seven hills (ThiruvEnkatam),
kOva laththiyiR kAna nAnmaRaik kAdu: ThirukkOvalUr, ThiruvAnaikkA, VedAraNyam (the forest of the four vEdAs),
poRkirik kAzhi yArurpoR pulivELUr: Kanagamalai, SeegAzhi, ThiruvArUr, beautiful Chidhambaram,
kALa hasthi appAl sirAmalai: KALahasthi and ThirisirApalli are a few abodes of Yours,
dhEsa mutrumup pUjai mEvi: besides several places throughout the country, where You are worshipped all the three times of the day.
naRkAma kachchiyiR sAla mEvupoR perumALE.: You are seated with relish at the holy place, KAmakOttam in Kacchi (kAnjeepuram), Oh Handsome and Great One!
* The five shrouds (kOsam) are as follows: annamaya kOsam - consisting of food and the body, prAANamaya kOsam - consisting of active organs like tongue, arms, legs, genitals etc. and life, manOmaya kOsam - consisting of the mind, vignAnamaya kOsam - consisting of the sensory organs and intellect, Anandamaya kOsam - the innermost shroud covering the soul where delusory bliss is experienced.
*
This is meaning of the Tiruppugazh
song given in the last post.
Subramanian. R
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - Pitfalls in Sadhana:
(Advent, 2006, Mountain Path.)
Swami Madhurananda
continues........
4) The thought 'I am the enlightened one':
Due to their brief glimpses of dynamic peace, some people, even though they are just beginners, claim that they are fully enlightened. This is mere delusion. Enlightenment is not state where one says, 'I am enlightened!' How great I am! All other beings need to be saved by me! As has already been explained, this is because enlightenment is not an experience that happens to an individual. It is NOT a personal experience. It is impersonal. Yet it does not happen in isolation from other beings. This is the paradox that the great Nisargadatta Maharaj described as the experience, 'I am nothing, and yet, I am everything'. So if a person says, 'I am enlightened, you are not!' we can be sure he is not enlightened at all!
As long as someone searches for pleasure in any form, he or she is not enlightened. As long as he feels psychological pain, he is not enlightened. Physical pain, however, is the result of prarabdha and so can afflict a Jnani. However, because of the perfect equannimity with which the Jnani regards it, it is reduced in intensity. So, no person can claim 'I am enlightened' but still be depressed or jealous or riddled with psychological desire. Egocentric emotions are extremely subtle operations of one's thought processes, and are related to one's thoughts about the past and the future. They do not exist in a Jnani, because all self centered mental activities have ceased in his or her mind.
It is true that enlightenment is the simplest thing, and that a person looks no different after achieving it. He remains simple and unaffected. We unfortunately tend to mistake simplicity for spiritual shallowness. But a sage is at once extremely simple and very profound. He has swallowed the entire universe of names and forms, and revels in supreme unfathomable peace. The state of such a sage cannot even be guessed at. His supreme Peace is known to him alone. This is why it is ludicrous when modern 'gurus' give certificates of enlightenment to their disciples, endorsing them as teachers. Someone who needs the confirmation of others regarding his own enlightenment is surely the king of ignorance, not wisdom. He seeks name and fame, not the welfare of suffering sentient beings. Both the so-called 'gurus' and their misguided disciples who advertise their 'enlightenment', are bereft of wisdom, because their focus is on worldly gain.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues.....
Enlightenment is a TOTAL shift in one's outlook on the world. One's experience of Reality moves from THINKING that it exists externally (objectively), to EXPERIENCING (internally). As a consequence, one's experience does not need any external proof at all. How foolish it is to think that this subjective climax of perfection needs objective confirmation. When Sri Bhagavan was enlightened, He knew nothing about Brahmajnana let alone what the word Brahman meant. It was only many years later, when spiritual books such as Vivekachudamani were read to Him by His devotees, that He discovered that what they described was His own experience. His experience had been so comprehensive, so all-embracing, that He had not even tried to know whether others had had the same experience.
Nowadays, 'enlightened' people are sprouting like mushrooms, in every nook and corner of the world. Anyone with a quick, shrewd intellect, and with no sense of guilt about exploiting others, can claim 'I am enlightened' and thereafter do very well. In the name of 'freedom', such pseudo gurus defend their abnormal or immoral behavior, and easily prove that 3=4, while their blinkered followers blindly rationalize their behavior. In sharp contrast to these antics, the enlightened sage abides in unbroken awareness, sublimely tranquil. He knows that he has no death. It is only when we come to truly understand that WE CONTINUE TO EXIST EVEN WHEN THE BODY AND THE WORLD ARE ABSENT, as in the state of deep, dreamless sleep), that we will know that we too, like the sage, are deathless and eternal.
continued.....
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues.....
I must admit that I am not enlightened. And whatever I have written above regarding enlightenment, is merely what I have understood from reading the teachings of Sri Bhagavaan and Nisargadatta Maharaj. So nobody needs to accept what I say, as it is second hand information. If desire still arises in our minds, then our peace is not continuous. And this means that our insight is very limited. We must try to abide in a state of unbroken stillness -- this is the truest Sadhana in Advaitic practice. There is one danger here, however. Because there is no further effort involved once one has entered this state of dynamic peace, this stage can give only the illusory feeling that one
is enlightened. One must guard against this delusion.
continued......
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II:
continues.....
The idea that Advaita does not relate to day-to-day life:
Many Advaitins develop an aversion to the world, because they have heard, again and again, that it is 'unreal'. But Sri Bhagavan never for a moment asked us to give up the world, or to seek seclusion. He was very serious when He repeatedly dissuaded His devotees from seeking secluded lives. Why did He do this? Because once you understand what 'stillness' actually is, the world and the worldly activities become immense opportunities to turn your attention to the Self. As wed become more acquainted with this extraordinary 'stillness' we will realize that it is always available to us, it exists in every moment, even in the midst of people and activities. 'Life in relationship' always brings up some emotions. But when an emotion arises within us, this dynamic stillness cleans it away. It may take us some time to purify our deepest and strongest emotions. Often, we will find that we have been carried away by them. But this does not matter, because our Heart tells us that it is merely a question of time before we transcend them. The kind of brooding that we are addicted to, and the added suffering that this created for us, will not arise, even though we may suffer at the moment of feeling an emotion. Experiencing this process of purification gives us immense confidence.
Once this understanding comes to us, we will not run away from the world, declaring that it is merely a dream. When we say that the world is a dream, we need to understand that it is unreal only if it is perceived as an inherently existing object. But it is not unreal if it is seen as a changing, transient manifestation of the Real. Like us, in its true nature, it is not different from Reality. If we perceive this, then contact with the world becomes an opportunity to experience the Self within the safety of our own dynamic stillness.
continued.....
Sadhana in Advaita:
Part II - continues.......
When it eventually dawns on us that we are that stillness which is present every moment, we will see that what obstructs our recognition of our true nature is our habitual emotions (vasanas). All of sadhana is meant solely to destroy these deluded mental responses. Reality itself does not need our sadhana, it is we who need sadhana. J.Krishnamurti, whose words are full of wisdom, throws much light on this. He stressed that life is 'movement in relationship', and that it gives us rich opportunities to observe our mental conditioning. This does not mean that we have to fight our emotions, or be depressed by them. If we understand this, the fragmentation of life in the name of sadhana comes to an end. We no longer alienate ourselves from life, recognizing that all of life is sacred. We no longer suffer by dividing our lives into conflicting sacred and profane spheres. All so-called obstacles to spiritual progress are instead recognized as opportunities to let go and to be anchored within the silence of the heart. We no longer grasp at 'external objects' and therefore are no longer afraid of any aspect of life.
We therefore do not seek to run away from the world, or to opt for seclusion. We no longer feel that the teachings of Advaita are not relevant to daily life. We stop running away from our hidden emotions, which previously we were afraid to face, because they threatened our sense of inner security. So, instead of giving up an active life of work, because
we mistakenly believe that our engagement with the world is an obstacle to practice, we should ask ourselves whether we have really understood Sri Ramana. Is not our desire for seclusion merely an egocentric intellectual construct, which has more to do with our fears and desires, than with genuine sadhana? This is usually the case with those who say that worldly life is an obstacle to search for the Self. Such an attitude shows a complete misunderstanding of what 'stillness' -- or 'being still' -- actually means in Sri Bhagavan's teachings.
To conclude: sadhana in Advaita begins with various techniques to calm the mind. They all require mental effort. Then, somewhere along the line, one starts the practice of self inquiry. Through this sadhana thoughts are repeatedly subdued and the state of effortless dynamic silence is repeatedly glimpsed. With diligent practice, the aspirant is taken to the state that Sri Bhagavan summed up thus: 'Be still and know that I am God.' This Biblical quote, as Sri Bhagavan pointed out, summarizes the very heart of Vedanta. By this method one realizes the truth of one's nature and also avoids mistakes in one's practice.
CONCLUDED.
SILENCE:
(Editorial - Advent, 2006, Mountain Path.)
The one Self, the Sole Reality, alone exists eternally. When even the Ancient Teacher, Dakshinamurti, revealed It through speechless eloquence, who else could convey It by speech?
-Verse 5, Five Verses on the Self.
It has been reported by one who was fortunate enough to sit in the Old Hall when Sri Bhagavan was there in His body, that often the place was vibrant with lively conversation or with laughter when Sri Bhagavan told a story or a joke. There was intense concentration when someone would perhaps ask a question which was keenly listened to by many people sitting there, and the answer was of utmost interest. People asked for Sri Bhagavan's opinion on matters of a doctrine, or even for His opinion on an item in the newspaper. Every day was full and vivid, but most of all when Sri Bhagavan would suddenly switch off from the outer world and turn inwards. From seeming like an ordinary, albeit special man, He was transformed into an awesome and godlike being. His whole demeanor was majestic and withdrawn. The Hall became instantly and spontaneously silent. One could hear a pin drop and people even tried to breathe quietly. The sheer power of Sri Bhagavan's silence had an impact more commanding than any speech.
People today who visit the Asramam for the first time often ask whether there is a living guru who can give them instructions. Invariably the answer is that though Sri Ramana left His physical body in 1950, His presence is very much evident and if one was to sit quietly in the Hall, His grace would become so obvious that any further need for verbal confirmation would be unnecessary. It is the experience of those who have waited with patience and with faith that the grace of wisdom and the healing balm of understanding was granted, and in such abundance that they could scarcely have dreamt possible.
What is this grace and how is it that in silence we can receive clarification and healing for the problems and sufferings which beset us?
In His lifetime Sri Bhagavan often referred to 'automatic divine action' when people came into His presence and their unasked questions were answered or their anguish assuaged. They were subtly transformed without a word being said. It was such a common occurrence, for those who lived long enough in His presence that they took it for granted that His grace was always available in direction proportion to their need.
The fact that we turn to Sri Bhagavan in the first instance reveals that we are aware that there is something missing in our lives. It expresses itself as confusion and pain; a discontent which cannot be identified; a physical ailment which medicine cannot cure. There is a lack of peace and we hunger for a solution.
What we fail to recognize in the beginning is that the cause of the discontent is within ourselves and not, as we apparently think, solely from some external source. It is much easier to blame others for our difficulties. We accuse outside circumstances or other people for the predicament we are in rather than accept even a modicum of responsibility for our quandary.
continued......
Silence:
It has been said that on our journey through life, if we have not listened to our inner conscience which guides us, life will create the circumstances, including such suffering as is necessary for us to wake up and act properly to lift the
clouds of ignorance which envelop us. The first step we should make is to be aware of who we think we are.
For those who think this world is a mindless machines where events occur by happenstance then the idea
the idea that each of us has a destiny is absurd. But if we do believe there is meaning in our lives then the notion that we each are in search of a profound sense of purpose resonates in some deep area of the heart and influences who we are. We each face the choice of being heroes or heroines in our quest, or victims who are at the mercy of each passing discord.
We need silence to listen to that inner prompting which mysteriously crops up at crucial moments in our lives. It is impossible to be receptive when the cacophony of the mind refuses to be stilled. The noise turns us round and round with no apparent solution. We can see clearly in those blessed moments when we are peace with ourselves and the world around us. They are rare moments and we pine for their recurrence.
There are degrees of silence as they are of sound. We recognize the difference between, say, a whisper or a song and a clamor or din. The silence Sri Bhagavan expressed is entirely different. There is a clear distinction between the silence which is an absence of noise and the silence which transcends both conventional silence and sound. In Hinduism there is the sound of OM which is the basis of all sound and can disclose the unfathomable silence of the universe. In Christianity, it is said that 'In the beginning was the Word'. Any sound must have emerged from the cradle of silence, and the power of that silence is tremendous as was the silence that surrounded Sri Bhagavan when He discarded His everyday persona.
continued......
Silence:
continues....
The front gates of the Asramam are an invitation to enter and receive an infusion of peace we crave. There seems to be a curtain which is parted as we walk into the precincts of the Asramam. We sense there is something different in the atmosphere. There is a shift in our consciousness. we seem more alive. There is a quickening of the spirit -- we have felt the first glimmering of what is called grace.
There are many stories in the numerous spiritual traditions about the workings of grace. It is an essential ingredient in the transformation of the student who seeks truth. Until we experience the effects of grace for ourselves there is no adequate way to describe its function except by metaphor. It is like the sun which releases light and frees us from the dingy grayness which infects our outlook. It is a confident energy field which restores to us the sense of fullness and completeness. It is a radiance which warms the heart and welcomes us home.
Perhaps there is a mechanical explanation for the functioning of grace but for our limited minds it is a miracle. What we do know is that is available and its successful expression manifests through the benign influence of the sacred catalyst, Sri Ramana.
How do we actively contact this presence? The key is silence.
It is said that Sri Bhagavan is a manifestation of Dakshinamurti that aspect of Siva who as the supreme teacher of knowledge (jnana), teaches in silence. (Sankara in his commentary of the Brahma Sutras quotes the sage Baskali who is questioned about the absolute. He remains silent each time his student requested him for understanding. After the student's third appeal, the sage said, " I am teaching but you do not follow. The Self is Silence." (Brahma Sutra, 3.2.7.)
continued......
Silence:
continues.....
In order to receive we first must be empty of our own expectations. It is silence that it is possible to meet and fuse with this charismatic presence. Sri Bhagavan is not a personality who must be won with gifts or flattery. This presence is entirely free of any demands. It is openness to listen which awakens the dialogue. Sri Bhagavan once said, 'When heart speaks to heart what need for words?'
When we are silent there are no barriers to understanding. The mind is quiescent and receptive. It is only in then in mutual consent we can experience the momentous sensation of oneness, the sense of wholeness.
Silence is not emptiness as we normally know it. It is not a negative, on the contrary it is a potency, an expansion which is unaffected by distraction. When we sit quietly in the Hall and enter deeply into that timeless space, what need is there for explanations. It is self evident and fresh.
In the outward silence of the Old Hall, the inner silence releases us from gravity of our desires and fears. We realize we are not dependent on the fulfillment of desires in order to be happy. The grace itself is our fulfillment.
After our first taste of grace, we tend to think that it is necessary for us to be in physical silence to be absorbed in tranquility. This is incorrect. With time and effort we understand that it is not the corporeal silence that is a pre-requisite to enter into the heart, but mental silence. It is not an emptiness but an acute awareness of now. By cultivating equanimity and patience, our mind matures to the point when it is irrelevant whether external world is quiet or not. We are unaffected.
continued......
Silence:
continues.....
When the Matrubhuteswara Temple, the Mother's shrine, was being built in the late 1930s to 1948, there was the constant background sound of stone chipping. There were some who complained to Sri Bhagavan about the relative lack of silence in the Asramam. In response, Sri Bhagavan said that we should ignore the sound by focusing our attention on the inquiry...to whom is the noise a distraction?
The ideal human state is one of pure consciousness, however if this state proves elusive, it can be of help to focus the attention on the gap between the sounds, and thus appreciate the formless awareness. It can lessen our dependency on identification with form, most notably in this case with noise!
If one could make yet another analogy, then sound could no doubt be associated with color, in which case silence would then be white, in other words, an absence of color. In physics we learn about the prism which focuses all the colors, but when they are all blended into one... then we get white which looks like an absence of color but it is in fact all the colors united into one whole. Similarly deep silence of the quiet mind can subsume noise; it recognizes nose but is unaffected by it.
Silence is not dependent on the absence of assault by exterior sound. It is always there, humming, if we but listen. It is the background, the screen upon which our thoughts rise and fall. Silence is the sound of that spacious awareness which captivates and draws us deep into the Heart. When we 'hear' the silence, it is not we who command it; rather it is we who are absorbed by it. True silence is not an activity, it is a state. We cannot make silence -- it is there to be discovered and the sensitive comprehension of Sri Bhagavan's presence makes it possible.
concluded.
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
(Editorial, Aradhana, 2006)
Who is the youthful guru beneath the
banyan tree?
Very old are the pupils who seek him.
The handsome teacher's speech in
silence.
Cleared are all the pupil's doubts.
-Dakshinamurti Stotram.
A clue to Sri Bhagavan's role in this world can be discovered in His association with Dakshinamurti, the manifestation of Siva as the supreme teacher. During His early days on Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan said that He discovered a secret place on the north side of the Hill where lay a secluded banyan tree. It was here that He was stung by bees for intruding on this sacred site. He immediately understood that He was not proceed further. In response to His invasion of this space, He allowed the bees to sting Him until their anger was spent. Years later, when He related this story in the Old Hall, some devotees decided that they would try to locate the site. They told no one and explored the area of the Hill that Sri Bhagavan had generally indicated. They became lost and one of them, Muruganar, was overcome with such fatigue that it made him briefly mentally unbalanced. They eventually managed to drag themselves away and later they sheepishly reported their activity to Sri Bhagavan. He reprimanded them for their furtive attempt to intrude into a place where they had no business to be.
Who is this Dakshinamurti and what is the significance of this figure in the advaitic tradition? And why do Sri Bhagavan's devotees identify Dakshinamurti with Sri Ramana?
continued.......
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
continues.....
The first substantial historical record about Dakshinamurti is in the Suta Samhita of the Skanda Purana.*
* ("He removes the ignorance of the devotees, with the fingers of the hand held in jnana-mudra, a specific configuration signifying the essential identity of jiva and Isvara. His body is half-woman, the woman being his own Supreme power of infinite happiness, not different from himself. Dharma in the form of a Bull is beside him. The sages who live a life of dharma and who are well versed in the Vedic knowledge are all around him. He is sitting under a banyan tree, which stands for Maya. He is the repository of all branches of knowledge. He is the Lord of the lords, immutable. He relieves the devotees from the clutches of samsara by giving them knowledge about their own Atman. This Lord of Creation, sustenance, and annihilation is known by the name of Dakshinamurti." Quoted in Sri
Dakshinamurti Stotram of Sri Sankaracharya by Swami Tattvavidananda Saraswati, D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd. Delhi, 2002.)
It is believed that Sankara studied the Suta Samhita eighteen times before composing his Brahma Sutra Bhashya. Perhaps it was Sankara's familiarity with this text which eventually inspired him to compose the profound Sri Dakshinamurti Stotram.
There is also a Dakshinamurti Upanishad but some scholars regard it as a later interpolation into the canon.*
(*Alladi Mahadeva Sastry in a footnote to the Dakshinamurti Upanishad, states that it belongs to the Krishna Yajur Veda. See his Dakshinamurti Stotra, Samata Books, Chennai, 1984. N.S. Subramanian gives a resume of this 49th Upanishad, in which Markandeya speaks of Siva-tattva as the highest non differentiated state of perception. See his Encyclopaedia of the Upanishads, Sterling Publishers, 1990.)
In popular worship today there is a statue of this god on the southern side of the main shrine of Saivite temples in the south of India, though it is rare a temple is dedicated exclusively to it.
continued......
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
continues....
According to Hindu mythology Dakshinamurti is a manifestation of Siva who taught the four sons of Brahma in silence. It is said he sits under a banyan tree, his left leg crossed over the right knee in virasana, his lower right hand poised in the chinmudra which indicates perfection, and his lower left clasps a bunch of palm leaves, to indicate that he is the master of the established teachings. On his upper right hand he holds the drum which indicates he is in harmony with time and creation because it is vibration which manifests as form. His upper left hand holds a flame, the fire of knowledge which destroys ignorance.
The word Dakshinamurti can be divided into two parts: dakshina and murti. The more familiar meaning is that dakshina means south and right and murti means form. In other words, that form which faces south. In Hindu mythology Yama, the god of death faces north, so that when Dakshinamurti faces south, there is no death. He is immortal. He triumphs over death - he is Mrutyunjaya.
There is another meaning also based on Sanskrit roots. Dakshina means clever, skillful, and right hand. (See The Secret of the Vedas, by Sri Aurobindo, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, 1996. "We have Dakshina associated with the manifestation of knowledge, (she) represents the separative intuitional discrimination.") Daksha meant at one time, discernment, judgement, discriminative thought power. There is a sense of mental capacity derived from the sense of division, or discrimination, viveka. There are several variations on 'ds' which means to hurt but in its positive sense it also means competent, and able. It is akin to the root dis: competent, fit, careful, attentive. Discrimination is a force and it is where advaita or inquiry into what is true and what is false begins.
continued.....
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
continues....
There is a further esoteric meaning, 'Dakshinamurti is the effulgent Self as revealed by Sri Ramana. Dakshinamurti is experienced at the center on the right side (dakshina) and yet he is formless (amurti), that is limitless. Dakshinamurti is the very form of awareness (dakshina).... We find this interpretation in the Dakshinamurti Upanishad (semushee dakshina proktha). (Hindu Inconology: Daksinamurti, by Viswanatha Swami, Mountain Path, Jan. 1976).
Finally, Alain Danielou relates to the five components (kala) of Siva and the manifestation of speech. He says that Dakshinamurti who represents the being-in-knowledge or intellect (vijnana maya murti), is equated with the root of knowledge which streams forth like the rays of the sun. The sun is the sum total of knowledge and is at the center of the solar world. In symbolic orientation, the center, the point of origin, is called the north. The aim of knowledge is the flow toward the south, that is, creation: thus the Southern Image, Dakshinamurti. (Hindu Polytheism, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1964).
The same idea is connected to Avalokiteswara, the Buddhist bodhisattva, whose name connotes the lord who looks down on the world, (ava=descent; loka=world; iswara=lord). While Dakhsinamurti or Avalokiteswara looks down in silence and compassion, we look north or up to receive their grace.
This is all very well in an academic sense but to those of us who want to understand the close relationship of Sri Bhagavan to Dakshinamurti we need to turn to Sri Bhagavan for clarification. He made a direct reference to Dakhsinamurti in the second verse of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam:
Who is the Seer? When I sought within, I watched what survived the disappearance of the seer (viz., the Self). No thought arose to say, 'I saw'. How then could be thought 'I did not see' arise? Who has the power to convey this in words, when You appearing as Dakshinamurti, cold do so in ancient days by silence only? Only to convey by silence Your (transcendent) State, You stand as a Hill, shining from heaven to earth.
continued.....
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
continues.....
In this verse, Sri Bhagavan goes straight to the heart of our dilemma as human beings. Who is it really who is conscious? Who knows that they exist? What is this knowledge which streams forth from an impenetrable region of the intellect which reveals us who we are?
What is also interesting here, is Sri Bhagavan' statement that the reason for Arunachala's existence is to shine forth conveying by silence the transcendent state of
being.
Sri Bhagavan states that Siva appeared in the form of Dakshinamurti in order to teach the sons of Brahma - Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, and Sanatsjuta: 'They desired guidance for realization of the Self. They were the best equipped individuals for Self Realization. Guidance should be only from the best of Masters. Who could it be but Siva - the yogaraja. Siva appeared before them sitting under the sacred banyan tree. Being yogaraja should He practice yoga? He went into samadhi as He sat. He was in Perfect Repose. Silence prevailed. They saw Him. The effect was immediate. They fell into samadhi and their doubts were at an end. (Talks No. 569).
In short, we associate the non dual realization -- the advaitic tradition - with Dakshinamurti because the ultimate truth cannot be conveyed in words or concepts. It is in silence that we hear the truth. Dakshinamurti epitomizes the act of potent silence which awakens jnana in us. For the many who have experienced the grace of Sri Bhagavan's silence this is perfectly understood. Once we have tasted this mysterious, addictive silence we realize it is what we have always been seeking; it resolves the conflicts of the mind; it heals the heart. It is the true
north which guides us home.
continued.......
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
continues....
In respect to the story which opened this editorial, the question that arises is whether there is an entity called Dakshinamurti who resides on sacred Arunachala? And can we approach him?
The name describes not a person who is historical or legendary, but a principle which reflects the pure light of Jnana. Such an entity does not exist in this physical realm but on a subtle plane such as that which Sri Bhagavan described when He told that 'inside' Arunachala was a celestial city. Unless we too have the eye of Jnana it would be highly unlikely we could approach such a being.
What we are meant to understand from the legend of Dakshinamurti is that we too are 'sons of Brahma' --- we too are a blend of desires and like those mystic sons we seek understanding. We all stand in wonder before this singular Hill which stands silent, inspirational and entirely distinct from the other hills on the plain. We wonder how it is possible to come into contact with this divine mystery. Up close it is a paradox. It intimidates us with its stern aloofness and yet its mild slopes invite us to come closer. It appears to be an inert pile of rock and yet it exerts a subtle and energetic influence on all of us. In the end, intellect and the power of articulation are defeated and we are led to crucial insight; we slowly begin to appreciate that concepts are not important. It does not matter how much knowledge we acquire. Arunachala will strike us dumb each time we attempt to identify it with a thought or feeling. The best approach is a quiet mind because we can then, free of concepts, identify with this universal consciousness, which by some miracle beyond human understanding, has manifested itself as an edifice of rock.
continued......
Dakshinamurti and Sri Bhagavan:
continues....
Sri Bhagavan was in awe of Arunachala. In the presence of this allegedly timeless phenomenon we grope to capture the depth of its universal and fundamental character. All the workings of our conditioned mind are futile. The simple prerequisite is to be absorbed into Arunachala and drop the volcano of our bubbling senses and extinguish our individuality, our sense of separateness. We can enter into the stillness, which is capable of conveying the 'transcendental state', not by thoughts but by identification or absorption. We only need to read in Sri Bhagavan's devotional outpourings His overwhelming love to realize the importance of this.
Sri Bhagavan told us that Arunachala was His guru. It was Arunachala which inexorably drew Him from Madurai. It was Arunachala that opened the eyes of the young Venkataraman and absorbed Him into its sacred mystery.
Sri Bhagavan moved down from Skandasramam in 1922, to what is the present site of the Asramam. The coincidence of choosing the southern side of Arunachaoa for His abode is intriguing in the context of Dakshinamurti traditionally facing south. Near the Asramam is the small, rare shrine dedicated to Dakshinamurti. (A new Dakshinamurti idol has been installed on the ground floor of the new library at the far end of the Asramam). And though we should not read too much into it, in the Old Hall and other places where He lived, Sri Bhagavan sat facing more or less south giving darshan. Sri Bhagavan was so identified with Arunachala and the expression of its Sakti as Dakshinamurti he was spontaneously in accord with its expression.
Sri Bhagavan quoted quite often from the Dakshinamurti Stotram composed by Sankara, which was His very first translation from Sanskrit into Tamizh during His Virupaksha days. In the invocatory verse which He composed for His translation He wrote: 'That Sankara who came as Dakshinamurti to grant peace to the great ascetics, who revealed his true state of silence, and who has expounded the nature of the Self in this hymn, abides
in me.'
This is a very clear and definite statement about how Sri Bhagavan saw His role as a guru. The manner of Sri Bhagavan's teaching 'method' is consonant with Dakshinamurti. He taught in silence. Let us listen in silence.
concluded.
Surrender:
(Editorial, Mountain Path, Advent, 2007)
Some years after Sri Ramana arrived at Arunachala, His mother and His elder brother came with the specific intention of asking Him to return with them to the family home at Madurai. Despite their pleas, Sri Bhagavan was unmoved and declined to answer as He was not speaking at that time. Eventually He did reply in writing on a slip of paper:
'The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their destiny (prarabdha karma). Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent." (Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge by Arthur Osborne, Ch. 5.)
Sri Bhagavan had surrendered to a higher power He called Arunachala, which transcended personal considerations. He was not being intentionally cruel, not was He in denial. He neither rejected nor acceded to His mother's request. Here plea was beside the point. He simply saw further and deeper than the forces at work in this world contained a higher a purpose for Him.
Later in life, Sri Bhagavan was often asked what alternative method was available for those who found self inquiry too difficult. He would reply that aside from self inquiry there is surrender. When we reflect on Sri Ramana's life we realize that He exemplified both paths to enlightenment. On the fateful day that transformed His life in Madurai, in 1896, driven by the fear of death, He plunged deep within and discovered the sense of His own intrinsic being. He realized that His so called separate individuality is a phantom. Freed of implicit demands as a member of a family, He remembered the call of Arunachala and surrendered to this divine power. The attraction to Arunachala had originally been ignited by an uncle who had visited there several years earlier. The young Venkataraman was awestruck at the very name of Arunachala and when the time came, like a mythic hero He stepped out of the familiar patterns and went 'in quest of his Father.' (I have set out in quest of my Father in accordance with His command. It is on a virtuous enterprise that this has embarked, therefore let none grieve over this act and let no money be spent in search of this. - Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge, Arthur Osborne, Ch.3).
continued.....
Surrender:
continues......
There are critical times in our lives when we apparently have definitive choices, we are faced with decision which will irrevocably affect the way we live. However we should always bear in mind that our only real choice is whether to identify with these choices or not; that is why Sri Bhagavan advised us to pay heed to each moment of our lives; nothing is too small that we can dismiss it outright without appropriate consideration. If we see events and people in their proper perspective then we can surrender to the moment and do what is apt.
In our relationship with Sri Bhagavan it would be a mistake to think that surrender is a passive posture in which we wait helpless and supine for something to happen to us -- in this case, hopefully, the guru's grace. Surrender is not a feeble, vulnerable attitude of abject submission, nor is a magic ticket which renders us free of any responsibility to make an effort. Right surrender is just as intense and subtle as self inquiry. It requires us to be open and alert to the workings of the guru's grace. It calls for trust that what happens is for the best even in the midst of seeming disaster and discord, for life is a mirror which shows us at each moment who we think we are. It is a reflection of our thoughts and deeds.
continued......
Today is Skanda Sashti. In Tiruchendur, they enact the scenes
of Muruga vanquishing, Gajamukasura,
Simhamukhasura and Surapadma, the three demons who were even keeping in captivity of all devas including Brahma and Vishu. He ruled for many many years. Skanda who came from the third eye of Siva killed them. Saint Arunagiri Nathar's Tiruppugah songs describe this feat in many songs. I am giving a part of one Tiruchendur Tiruppugazh to mark this occasion:
மறிமானு கந்த இறையோன்ம கிழ்ந்து
வழிபாடு தந்த ...... மதியாளா
மலைமாவு சிந்த அலைவேலை யஞ்ச
வடிவேலெ றிந்த ...... அதிதீரா
அறிவால றிந்து னிருதாளி றைஞ்சு
மடியாரி டைஞ்சல் ...... களைவோனே
அழகான செம்பொன் மயில்மேல மர்ந்து
அலைவாயு கந்த ...... பெருமாளே.
******
Surrender:
continues.....
These two approaches advised by Sri Bhagavan, self inquiry and surrender, are actually two sides of the same coin. Both are based on the premise that we have a definite center of consciousness we call 'I'. We have the choice of either questioning the fundamental assumptions we have about the identity by asking 'Who am I?', or by assuming that we are who we seem, willingly offering this image up like a yagna, a sacrifice in order to achieve the same clarity. The Sanskrit word for surrender is saranagati, which literally means 'to offer oneself up'. (Sarana means protection and agati means approaching for. Thus it means approaching for protection or seeking refuge. The implication is that one does not depend on one's own strength but seeks or offers up one's trust in a higher power). By letting go of notions we have consciously or more often unconsciously adopted, we are released from cycle of cause and effect. We consciously flow with the tide of events without resistance or without demanding that things be altered according to our wishes. We accept the reality which occurs before our eyes and trust that what happens is for the best no matter how unlikely that may seem. When we are alert in the moment of life is an endless series of opportunities to learn. ("There is a tide in the affairs of men,/Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,/Omitted, all the voyages of their life/Is bound in shallows and in miseries./On such a full sea we are now afloat,/And we must take the current when it serves,/Or lose our venture." Act IV, Scene III, Julius Caesar - W. Shakespeare.)
For some people the term surrender has a passive, negative connotation of defeat and weakness. This is not the intention when we discuss the activity of surrender. Acceptance is another legitimate expression. Our minds by nature produce thoughts and our heart, emotions. This is their nature and to stop thought and emotion makes us zombies. When we surrender to a situation or recognize and accept a thought, we are not overwhelmed and swept away by the power of it; we do not deny it but see that because situations and thoughts come and go, they are inherently unstable and contain no lasting substance; we only empower them when we identify with our thoughts rather than observing and remembering our sense of being which has no name or form.
continued......
Surrender:
continues......
In our lives we should use thought much like a tool but more often we are engulfed by our thoughts. The attitude of calm acceptance is a position of strength and courage. When we surrender to the moment and accept or recognize things as they are without reacting, we are untouched; we achieve detachment (vairagya).
It is not easy to establish this state. In the same way that we use a thorn to remove a thorn, we can methodically use the mind through self inquiry to cleanse itself of useless and disturbing thoughts. We surrender confident in the knowledge that it is what is best for us.
When surrender or acceptance occurs there are two ways of reacting: either we can consciously reject further involvement for we see no purpose in it, or we assent and allow what is to happen unfold without resistance.
Our attitude to challenges can take many guises. According to the habits of mind which we have adopted, we see life either as an opportunity to learn and grow or a
world of disappointment because it rarely lives up to our expectations.
We can consciously cultivate an attitude which will assist us to overcome our deficiencies and ignorance. Surrender in these circumstances means commitment to what we think and feel is important and in our case, it is the relationship to the guru or the truth. There is a difference between the impersonal (nirguna) aspect of Brahman and the personal (saguna) aspect of a deity or guru.
Mahatma Gandhi was the example of one wholly committed to the nirguna aspect, the impersonal Truth which overrode all personal considerations. Mirabhai is an example of one who personalized the truth in the form of Giridhar, Lord Krishna. She spoke to him; she played with him and ultimately was absorbed into him. Sri Bhagavan encapsulated both aspects in His devotion and one pointed attention to this sovereign force, Arunachala.
continued......
Surrender:
continues.....
WE see in Sri Bhagavan's hearfelt song, 'The Marital Garland of Letters', the intense longing of the heart for that which was both friend and mentor. (Verse 102). For us too, Arunachala is a mysterious magnet which draws us and we can in a positive act of surrender succumb to its spell with love. We see in Sri Bhagavan's outpourings that Arunachala is not an unfeeling pile of rocks, any more than a guru is merely a body, but rather a living entity whose compassion can cleanse the impurities of the devotee who is open and receptive.
All our thoughts and feelings are legitimate tools towards understanding. It is a question of realizing that our attitude determines whether we can transcend the pair of opposites. It is important to focus the mind to the exclusion of all impermanent, distracting thoughts which eat up one's time and energy. By nature mind wavers and if we carefully scrutinize the thoughts which are churned out, we see a see-saw as we veer from one extreme to another. Our purpose is to remain engaged and be attentive to the passing moment without identifying with it.
We then can see that thoughts come in pairs: attraction, repulsion; love, hatred; activity and indolence; humility and contempt. When we concentrate on them we realize that they are parts of a whole. Until we recognize and pay heed to their significance we cannot be free of their binding power. If we can we see that they do not detract but rather enhance the richness of our understanding, then instead of enemies they become our friends.
Arunachala and Sri Ramana are one steady star; the fixed pole by which we travel. When we surrender to the journey they guide us not by interference but by identification, for we too part of the whole. When we let go and surrender to the moment there is no difference between us for 'we are caught in the trap of Thy Grace.' (Verse 102).
concluded.
The Question of Identity:
(Editorial, Jayanti, 2007, Mountain Path:)
The great mystery which lies at the heart of our lives in the question of identity. Who we are or rather, who we think we are, is the basis of our self regard and behavior. We are forever on the look out for signs that confirm the way we see ourselves. We look out for sings that confirm the way we see ourselves. We look into other people's faces for hints as to what they think of us. The inert mirror is both our trusty friend and obdurate enemy. We read books on philosophy and psychology, history and novels, news papers and magazines not just to satisfy our curiosity but also to tell us where we stand in the world. The possibilities are endless. We but rarely ask ourselves who we actually are. We would rather trust some external source of authority than our own inner voice.
Sri Bhagavan has described this myopic behavior in a comment on the inordinate fascination with book knowledge (sastra-vasana). He said it is similar to a person who, when standing in front of a mirror, shaves the face in the mirror rather than his own face.
At anytime a human being can imagine himself from many diverse points of view. Although widely varying, all are legitimate and fairly normal unless they become obsessive. At every moment we are faced with an infinite number of possibilities but due to our conditioning we repeatedly identify with just a few, to such an extent that we assume these masks to be indelible. The passage of time can be irrelevant when we reflect our personae. A small recent triumph can call to mind a long gone sense of well being, just as some school yard humiliation of decades gone by can infect us with never forgotten bitterness of regret. There are moments in our lives which we define we who we are.
There comes a point when the burden of these notions suffocates us and we wish to throw them off, like uncomfortable ghosts. We long to be free of the past and the image of ourselves that we wear so constantly. We want to be free though we are not sure what that entails. (The ego is like one's shadow thrown on the ground. If one attempts to bury it, it will be foolish. The Self is only one. If limited it is the ego. If unlimited it is Infinite and is the Reality, Talks No. 146).
continued.....
The Question of Identity:
continues.....
From the metaphysical or universal point of view the personal aspect is necessarily inadequate. The individual lies in the realm of manifestation and we understand that every moment of our existence is transient. Manifestation is in constant flux. Nothing remains the same from one moment to the next, and who we think we are is subject to countless pressures that bend and twist us with the winds of circumstance.
From childhood we learn to recognize the faces and to judge if they are benign or threatening. We assume certain facial expressions to communicate our thoughts or emotions whether consciously or, more often, involuntarily. With time and habit we become frozen with narrow gestures. It is related about Abraham Lincoln when he was president of the United States that he received in his office one of the secretaries of of his cabinet. After meeting was completed and the official left, Lincoln remarked to his personal secretary that he did not like the face of that man. The secretary replied that he could not help what his face looked like. Lincoln replied that every person after the age of forty is responsible for his own face.
The key to understanding is to know who we are. Our reason for living is to become conscious both of our physical and mental states and transcend these conditions and be absorbed into 'That'. According to Sri Bhagavan's teachings we are advised to either question our identity by the query 'Who am I?' or surrender to the Master.
There is a fundamental distinction between what is called the 'Self' and the self, the transcendental and permanent principle and the transient and limited series of modifications we call the ego or ahamkara. The latter assumes the garb of the transcendental principle but with one difference; the ego is dependent upon form for its existence. It cannot exist without identifying itself with a static form in time and space. In advaitic terminology it is called chit-jada-granthi, the knot of insentience. The aim of our quest is not attain something but to disabuse ourselves of the false assumption that we are someone or something in particular. We are not separate (advaita) from that transcendent principle. The dilemma we encounter is that the instant we think we must attain or possess that principle we have made it an object and are consequently seperate from it. (Since however the physical body cannot subsist with life apart from Consciousness, bodily awareness has to be sustained by pure Consciousness. The former, by its nature, is limited to and can never be co extensive with the latter which is infinite and eternal. Body consciousness is merely a monad-like, miniature reflection of the Pure Consciousness with which the Sage has realized his identity. Maharshi's Gospel, Book II, Ch; IV. The Heart is the Self.)
continued.......
Hello, everyone.
I read the 'Bhagavan's death experience' in this bolg. It is very nice post. I have some question about this post.
1.
Who wrote the material in italics? who is the editor? Mr.Godman?
2.
I read the account of death experience in chapter 6 of 'Know Yourself' which is compiled by A.R.Natarajan. The account is from 'The Mountain Path' April,1981,p68. The account of the post is longer than that of 'Know yourself' and a few different words are used between the two accounts. For example, there is a sentence of the post 'It was that current, force or center that constitute my Self,'. In 'Know yourself' the word 'Self' is replaced by the word 'personality'.
Why are there such diffecnces? I feel the usage of the words in the post is more natural than that of 'Know Yourself'.
thank you
The italicised portions in the post were written by me. I was editing The Mountain Path in 1981, when the article was first published, and I added these comments in the issue you referred to. I copied the comments and republished them in the post you read.
Narasimha Swami wrote in Self-Realization that Bhagavan said, 'I felt the full force of my personality' but I doubt that this is what Bhagavan actually said. It is clear from the context that Bhagavan is describing an experience of the impersonal Self, not the limited personality.
Thank you very much for your reply, Mr.Godman.
I agree with you that Bhagavan is describing an experience of impersonal Self. But how do you think about my second question. In 'Know Yourself' there are two sentences which use 'personality'.
'It was that current, force, or center that constituded my personality,'
'The awakeing gave me a continuous idea or feeling of my personality being a current, force, or Avesam,'
Can I think that you replaced 'personality' with 'Self' when you posted the account.
And in addition to this, in 'More on Bhagavan's death experience', as a anonymous said in comment, I think 'individuality or personality' is not appropriate to the context. After ceasing to identify him with body, Bhagavan experessed him as I-conciousness, so 'individuality-consciousness' is felt strange to me.
thank you
Dear David,
Sri. M.P. Pandit in his small book,
calls Sri Bhagavan as a mighty impersonality!
Subramanian. R
Death Experience?
I had one a few months ago nothing like the one the Maharshi or UG had but more of the Mind/Psyche/Dont know??.When I was sleeping at night a black flow was coming to get me from a few yards behind my sleeping head and 'me' was represented by a shining silvery bolb in the centre of my mind.I cud see the black flow coming and in seconds on top me(silvery blob).Nothing to do with scary Ghost stuff or anything like that.Oh how desperately I tried to fight back to live all in seconds.I almost died and came back.The Life force almost died for a blip of a second and I realized I came back.
I am 100% sure this NOT a Dream nor a Vivid Dream or a Vision or dark Ghost stuff ot witchcraft.I never had a vision anyway to know what a Vision is like but it was certainly a Death Experience.Although I hate to put labels probably a death experience of the psyche rather than the physical death experience of the Maharshi and UG.
-Z
I had a quick nap and I saw it was a 'fear of death' that existed in the Unconscious.The 'Death Experience' probably was a response to that fear that existed in the Unconscious.
-Z
The Question of Identity:
continues......
Laughter is perhaps one of the greatest aids in treating life as it comes without undue solemnity. Sri Bhagavan was known for His sense of humor and for His sharp wit. There is a tendency for spiritual seekers to take themselves far too seriously.
For example, it was once related to me that a new arrival from Europe asked a resident swami what to do next as she had realized the Self after three days in the Asramam and was at a loss to the next step, assuming that there was one. This is cause for a wry smile but if we examine ourselves closely we all delude ourselves each day with our petty achievements. Detachment and discrimination are required at each moment of our lives if we are not to be sucked in by the fancies of the mind.
A sudden ray of light through the miasma of confused thoughts can result in a abrupt crispness of mind which creates a burst of happiness. This surge is short-lived as the old entrenched vasanas will reassert themselves, sometimes with unexpected virulence. For someone who naively thought they had achieved the ultimate goal it is a grave experience. The golden dream of themselves at the center of the universe is shattered. It is a question of small steps, not giant leaps.
People can deceive themselves by claiming that they are, to use the now much abused jargon, 'Self realized' and therefore are not identified with their body. This statement is all well and good, however, there is a caveat. If they are not the body then with this assumption comes the realization that it is irrelevant whether their body is hungry, cold or ill. The moment we think to preserve or give undue importance to our physical body it reveals an attachment which is contradicted by our declaration that we are not the body. A picture can be conjured up of the dedicated but undiscerning seeker dressed in the regulation robes, surrounded by a selection of 'necessary' paraphernalia whilst performing various complicated exercises and all the while declaiming 'I am not the body'. for the great majority of us, every minute reaction of the body is registered and analyzed to see if it brings pleasure or pain.
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The Question of Identity:
continues.....
The one who can definitely say was not the body was Sri Ramana Maharshi. As a mere boy when He first came to Tiruvannamalai, He found Himself in the Patala Lingam shrine where He remained in a state of samadhi neither eating nor sleeping nor aware of the insects that were feeding off His body. If it were not for Seshadri Swami who fed Him and ministered to His body He would never have physically survived. THAT is what it means to truly feel that one is not the body.
We are all vulnerable whatever the appearance to the contrary. We walk the proverbial razor's edge each moment of our lives. A single incident can irretrievably affect us. There is an element of danger each time we travel on a public road and if the stars are unkind we face the prospect of annihilation in a flash. As long as we fear and guard against accidents of death, who can say they are the unaffected Self, the Supreme Siva? We are convinced the body corresponds to us and ask, how can we be free of its limitations?
If Sri Bhagavan is to be believed, however thick the wall of self regard and opinions, we are all at heart unsullied by thought and emotion. The question is: can we stop filling ourselves with ideas and activities which detract us from this unconditional clarity?
Who am I? Who is it who is asking the question? If we listen carefully there is no answer. There is silence, and if we are patient, a sense of wholeness which is indescribable issues forth. It needs for nothing, it asks for nothing. This silence disregards completely our compulsions and the need to justify ourselves. If we have the courage to enter its embrace our conflicts dissolve.
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The Question of Identity:
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There are many reported cases of seekers who entered Sri Bhagavan's presence with minds buzzing with important questions which demanded to be answered. For many of them they did not even open their mouths to ask. They were enveloped by the mysterious power of Sri Bhagavan's silence and all their questions dropped away like so much irrelevant noise. It is no different today, when we enter the silence of the Old Hall or if elsewhere, attuned to Sri Bhagavan's charisma. That mysterious presence awaits us without preconception or judgement.
Our identity is like an image in a mirror. It reflects but of itself it cannot see. Who is it who sees? Who am I? Again and again we come to this point. The operative word is 'be' for we can neither go forward nor go back. We seem stuck. This is an important clue. By 'being' we actively enter into that silent gap and slip free of our sense of separation and identity. The invitation is always available. The first step is ours to take. What it is and who we are, are questions we cannot answer. By themselves, all our reading and all the explanations we have imbibed are sufficient. They are but a preparation for this experience.
When we open and are touched by Sri Bhagavan's impersonal gaze, which recognizes no difference, our questions are not so much resolved as beside the point. Once accepted, our identity is no longer a predicament; we realize it is immaterial and enter the stream of low-key, spacious awareness we associate with Sri Bhagavan.
concluded.
The Nature of Our Mind:
Michael James:
(Jayanti 2007, Mountain Path.)
(an abridged extract from Happiness and the Art of Being - A layman's introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.)
What we call our 'mind' is just a limited and distorted form of our fundamental consciousness 'I am' - a spurious form of consciousness that identifies itself with a particular body, and that appears to exist only in the states of waking and dream, and disappears in deep sleep. Since this mind is the primary obstacle that stands in the way of our knowing ourself as we really are, let us now examine it more closely. What is the nature of this distorted form of consciousness that we call our 'mind'?
Our mind as we know it is just a bundle of thoughts -- thoughts, that is, in the very broadest sense of the term, namely anything that our mind forms and experiences within itself, such as any perception, conception, idea, belief, feeling, emotion, desire, fear or suchliike. All thoughts are just images that our mind forms within itself by its power of imagination. Except our fundamental consciousness 'I am', everything that our mind knows or experiences is only a thought. Even our perceptions are thoughts or mental images that our mind forms within itself by its wonderful power of imagination. Whether perceptions in the waking state are formed only by our mind's power of imagination without any external stimuli, as in dream, or whether they are formed by our mind's power of imagination in response to actual external stimuli, is something, we can know for certain only when we discover the ultimate truth about our mind.
Because the fact that all our perceptions are only thoughts is so important, let us examine it more closely, using the example of sight. According to the 'scientific' explanation of the process of seeing, light from outside world enters our eyeballs and stimulates electrochemical reactions in our retinas. These then stimulate a chain of further electrochemical reactions along our optic nerves, and these in turn reach our brain causing more electrochemical activity to take place there. Thus far the process is clear cut and simple to understand. But then something mysterious happens. Our mind, which is a form of consciousness that interfaces with our brain, then somehow interprets all this electro chemical activity by forming images within itself that we believe to correspond to the shape, color and size of external objects, and to their relative distance from our body. But all we actually know when we see something, is the image that our mind has formed within itself.
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The Nature of Our Mind:
continues.....
Our belief that such images correspond to actual external objects, and all our scientific explanations of the process by which light from those objects stimulates our mind to form such images, are also only images or thoughts that our mind has formed within itself. The same applies to all the images of sound, smell, taste, and touch that our mind forms within itself, supposedly in response to external stimuli.
Therefore all that we know of the external world is actually only the images or thoughts that our mind is constantly forming within itself. Do we not have to accept, therefore, that the world that we think we perceive outside ourself may be nothing other than thoughts that our mind has formed within itself, just as the worlds that we see in our dreams are? Even if we are not ready to accept the fact that the world may actually be nothing but our own thoughts, must we not at least accept the fact that the world as we know it, and as we ever can know it, is indeed nothing but thoughts?
Of all the thoughts that are formed in our mind, the first is the thought 'I'. Our mind first forms itself as the thought 'I', and only after does it form other thoughts. Without an 'I' to think them, no other thoughts could be formed. All the other thoughts formed in our mind are constantly coming and going, but the thought 'I' persists so long as our mind itself persists. Thus the thought 'I' is the root of all other thoughts, and is the one essential thought without which there would be no such thing as 'mind'.
Therefore our mind consists of two distinct elements, namely the knowing subject, the root thought 'I', and the known objects, all the other thoughts that are formed and experienced by 'I'. However, thought it consists of these two distinct elements, the one fundamental and essential element of our mind is the root thought 'I'. Hence, though we use the term 'mind' as a collective term for both the thinker and its thoughts, the mind is in essence just the thinker, the root thought 'I' that thinks all other thoughts. This simple but important truth is expressed succinctly by Sri Ramana in Upadesa Undiyar, Verse 18.
Our mind is only a multitude of thoughts. Of all the countless thoughts that are formed in our mind, the thought 'I' alone is the root. What is called 'mind' is 'I'.
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The Nature of Our Mind:
continues.....
Just as on analysis our mind can thus be resolved into being in essence only this fundamental thought 'I', so on further analysis this fundamental thought 'I' can be resolved into being in essence only consciousness. Because it knows other thoughts, this thought 'I' is a form of consciousness, but because it is formed only by feeling 'I-am-such-and-such-person', and because it loses its separate form in sleep, when it ceases to feel thus, it is not our permanent and real form of consciousness, 'I am'. Because it can rise only by identifying a physical body as 'I' as it does both in waking and dream, it is a mixed and contaminated form of consciousness, a consciousness that
confuses itself with a body, feeling mistakenly 'I am this body, an individual person called 'so-and-so.'.
What we mean when we say 'I am such and such a person' is that we are an individual consciousness that identifies itself with an adjunct, a particular body. This identification of our consciousness with a particular body is what defines us as a person or individual. Our individuality is thus nothing other than this adjunct-bound consciousness that feels 'I am the body'. By mistaking itself to be a particular body, this consciousness confines itself within the limits of that body, and feels itself to be separate individual consciousness 'I am this body'. This seemingly separate individual consciousness 'I am this body' is what we call by various names such as the mind, the ego, the psyche or the soul.
In religious terminology, our limited individual consciousness 'I am this body' is what is called our 'soul', whereas our unlimited fundamental consciousness 'I am' is what is called our 'spirit', our 'heart' or the 'core of our soul'. The popular belief that our whole self is a compound of these three elements, our body, our soul, and our spirit, is rooted in wrong identification of ourself with a particular body. Though we know ourself to be one, because of our mistaken identification of ourself with a body, we wrongly imagine ourself to be all these three different things. This notion of ours is logically absurd, but since we are one, how can three quite different things be ourself?
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The Nature of Our Mind:
continues......
Everyday in sleep both our body and our soul (our mind) disappear, yet we continue to exist, and to know that we exist. Therefore, since we remain in sleep without either our body or our soul, neither of these two elements can be our real self. In truth, therefore, these three elements, constitute only our false individual self, which is a mere illusion. Our real self consists of only one element, the fundamental and essential element that we call our 'Spirit', which is our single non dual consciousness of being, 'I am'.
Because this non dual Spirit is entirely distinct from our body and our individual soul, it is not limited in any way, nor is it divided. Therefore, the Spirit that exists as the Heart or core of each individual soul is essentially the same single, undivided, non dual and infinite consciousness of being. What each one of us experiences as our essential consciousness of being, 'I am', is the same non dual consciousness that exists in every other living being.
Because our mind or soul is a form of consciousness that has limited itself within the confines of a particular body,and because it sees many other bodies, each of which seems to have consciousness if its own, in the outlook of our mind there appear to be many other minds.
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The Nature of Our Mind:
continues.....
However, because the fundamental consciousness, 'I am', which is experienced by each of us as the essential core of our being, always exists as it is, without limiting itself in any way by identifying itself with an adjunct, there is in reality, only one consciousness, 'I am', even though due to our distorted individualized consciousness we think that the 'I am' in each person is different to that in every other person. The mind or separate individual 'I' that we see in each person is just a different reflection of the one original 'I' that we see in each person is just a different reflection of the one original 'I' that exists in the innermost depth of each one of us, just as the bright light that we see in each fragment of a broken mirror lying on the ground is just a different reflection of the one sun shining brightly in the sky.
Though it is formed only by imagining itself to be a particular body, the mind of each one of us nevertheless contains within itself the light of our original consciousness 'I am'. Just as each reflected sun lying on the ground could not be formed without borrowing the light of consciousness, from its original source, 'I am', and without at the same time borrowing all the limitations of a physical body, our mind could not rise into existence. Thus our mind is a mixture composed of two contrary and discordant elements, the essential element of consciousness and the superimposed element of physical limitations.
concluded.
'Na' iti, 'Na'iti:
The Power of Now:
I.S, Madugula:
(Advent, 2007, Mountain Path.)
Thou, over whom thy Immortality
Broods like the Day, a master o'er
a Slave
A Presence which is not to be put
by;
(Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, VIII, by William Wordsworth, 1770-1850).
Everything around us, according to the poet, reminds us of our divine origin, whether we are creationists or evolutionists. For the latter, there was the ever present Energy leading up to the Big Bang. The Presence just cannot be ignored. "The earth and every common sight is appareled in celestial light. (ibid. I.4)
Neti Neti:
Generally and somewhat approximately translated as 'Not this, not this', the concept of neti if far reaching and overarching in Upanishadic philosophy. (Brh. Up. 2.3.6; 3.9.26; 4.2.4; 4.4.22; & 4.5.15).
Indeed, it is the every essence of that philosophy and the core of its teaching. Whatsoever is perceived by the senses and grasped by the mind and intellect is suffused by the Self which, simultaneously, is greater than the totality of the sensory input. The Self is the knower of all knowers. No one or nothing can know It. But the individual self can attempt to find its kinship -- in fact, identity -- with It by jettisoning all the detritus acquired through assortment of 'limiting adjuncts' along the path of life. The uncontrolled mind is a major culprit in the obscuring of the Self. Sankara says that one should comprehend the identity of the individual self and Universal Self by rejecting the limitations such as body, mind, space, time etc., (Atmabodha, 30). This brief essay aims to discuss that process of liberation of the individual from the shackles of fortuitous circumstances that define the so called 'human condition.'
Let us start first by checking Sri Bhagavan's take on the concept of neti: then remain silent. Their Sience is the Real State. This is the meaning of exposition of silence. When the source of the 'I' - thought is reached it vanishes and what remains over is the Self.
(Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 130).
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'Na'iti, 'Na'iti:
continues.....
There is no wrong identification of the Self with the body, senses, etc., You proceed to discard these, and this 'neti'. This can be done only by holding to the one which cannot be discarded. That is 'iti' alone. (Talks No. 366).
When a devotee claims that 'neti, neti' is merely a negative approach to the Self and not a positive guide, Sri Bhagavan explains:
'A man wants to know what he is. He sees animals and objects around him. He is told: 'You are not a cow, not a horse, not a tree, not this, not that, and so on.' If again he asks saying,'You have not said what I am', the answer will be said, 'It is not said you are not a man.' He must find out for himself that he is a man. So you must find out for yourself what you are.
'You are told, 'You are not this body, nor the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor anything you can think of; find out what truly you are.' silence denotes that the questioner is himself is the Self that is to be found.' (Talks No. 620).
Analyze This (idam)
In Vedantic terminology, idam refers to all that is seen, ranging from one's body all the way to the created universe. It is the world as we know it, with all its diversity. It can also refer to the mind insofar as it is of the nature of the matter. Given this conglomeration of disparate elements, it is totally different from the Spirit, which is unified. Its consciousness, where it exists, is derivative. Idam by definition is inert, insensitive, all unilluminated. However, because of the reflected illumination, it appears to be conscious and lively. Logically, anything that admits multiplicity and variety cannot be permanent or self sufficient. In it there is room for emotion, attachment, fear and death. Idam is born, suffers, and dies. It is seen as opposed to the seer.
continued......
'Na'iti 'Na' iti:
continues......
In Sri Sankara's succinct formulation:
The object is the seen and the eye is the seer. The eye is the seen and the mind is its seer. The mind with all its properties is the seen and the Self the witnesses that mind. (Drg Drsya Viveka 1)
That is, the Self witnesses the mind that sees the eye that sees the object. Thus what all constitutes idam can be said to exist not by itself but because of information inherently supplied by the Self. The Self is the knower of all there is to know that goes by the rubric idam. It is very important to keep this in mind when discussing the phenomenal world and its spurious existence.
Analyze That (tat):
That is what Thou art, according to the scripture, but, before the equation is realized one needs to experience at the gut level (in buddhi, that is (Atmabodha) that That is the Ultimate, the Real, the Changeless - Brahman. It is the Universal Soul - subsuming the individual soul, jiva. That is what remains at the end of the neti process of elimination of idam or This. Since nature abhors a vacuum, the consciousness previously squandered on idam will now reflect That. Put another way, one can say that, after the total rejection of idam, That emerges in all its glory as the perennial substratum. Until one becomes capable of remaining for ever in the effulgence of That, idam keeps exerting its pernicious influence on the jiva and tries to drag him down the murky waters of desire and samsara. However, once the rays of Immortality have quicekend one's being, there is no turning back. In the midst of worldly existence, hope springs eternal and bliss fills the crevices of the psyche. It is this kind of unforgettable happiness that Wordsworth refers to in the last stanza: (Immortality IX):
O Joy! That in our embers
Is something that doth live,
That nature remembers
What was so fugitive!
The thought of our past years
in me doth breed
Perpetual benediction:
.... I raise
...........
The song of thanks and praise
For those first afflictions,
Those shadowy recollections.
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'Na'iti, 'Na'iti:
continues.....
Note that the poet speaks of a past time and its vague recollection in the present. It appears that he is not able to transform the past memory into a current, living experience. To that extent, he is not living in the NOW, which is the source of his dissatisfaction. His present is not the eternal present, which is beyond space and time, where there is neither memory nor recollection. It simply is, but this 'is' is not relative to a past or a future. It is entirely tense-less. It is only a NOW of that kind that can bless us with total freedom and deliver us from the tyranny of memory. Memory is the inability of the mind to relinquish impressions of the past experience (Yoga Sutra I.11) and, as such, its nature is the very antithesis of Pure Consciousness that characterizes the NOW.
And NOW:
Having analyzed idam and tat (speaking only from a tentative point of view, for by definition, tat is unalayzable, we have to conclude that, when the mind is wiped out from the picture, consciousness is 'refined, converted and realigned from the 'coarse to the fine'. A new type of seeing becomes prominent, and perception, awareness, and experience conform more adequately and fully to the various levels of reality and truth in the universe. (Encyclopaedia of Religion, Consciousness, States of.) Furthermore there will be a 'new and vivid awareness of being in the present moment. (ibid.). We are now looking at Immortality face to face, the kind that the poet experienced as a child and vividly remembers as an adult.
Sri Bhagavan's exposition of consciousness is authoritative, the state of having been experienced at firsthand. (Talks No. 453).
It is wrong to suppose that awareness has passing phases. The Self is always aware. When the Self identifies itself as the seer it sees objects. The creation of the subject and the object is the creation of the world. Subjects and objects are creations in Pure Consciousness. You see pictures moving on the screen in a cinema show. When you are intent on the pictures you are not aware of the
screen. But the pictures cannot be seen without the screen behind. The world stands for the pictures and Consciousness stands for the screen. The Consciousness is Pure. It is the same as the Self which is eternal and unchanging. Get rid of the subject and the object and Pure Consciousness will alone remain.
Wordsworth laments that the 'heaven that lies about us in our infancy' is relentlessly obfuscated by the prison house of the world into which the 'growing Boy' enters, though he is still attended 'by the vision splendid' on his way. Then,
At length the Man perceives it die
away.
And fade into the light of the
common day.
continued......
Dear, Mr.Godman
I translated 'Bhagavan's death experience' into Japanease and posted it in my blog. The following address is that of my translation.
http://arunachala-saint.blogspot.jp/2012/11/blog-post_22.html
thank you
Shiba,
Nice translation this:
Self Realization』の中に見つけられます。それは初めて書かれた本格的な伝記であり、そのまま引用するか、内容をまとめるのであれ、その後の記述は彼のものに大きく依るとこととなっています。その本の記述はバガヴァーンの言葉を直接的に写し取ったものではなく、著者はそのことを、その本のほとんどの版に見受けられる脚注において明らかにしています。彼は１９３０年の６週間にわたりバガヴァーンと交わした一連の会話を、彼自身の言葉で要約しただけであると言いました。以下の記述には、彼の最終的な記述がもとにしている２つの会話が現れます。それらは、いまだ存在している会話の唯一の記録ですが、幸いにも体験の全ての知られている側面にわたっており、それよりはるかに価値のある資料が失われていることは考えにくいことで
Back to square One.
-z
'Na'iti, 'Na'iti:
continues.....
That is, idam surreptitiously creeps into the territory of tat or so it appears. But there is hope. The poet continues: (ibid. IX, 1-4.1)
Oh joy! that in our embers
Is something that doth live,
The nature yet remembers
What was so fugitive!
So the memory of the glimpses of immortality thankfully persists, egging us on to relive those experiences over and over again.
That is where NOW comes into picture. We can relive that memory, and continue to live in the once experienced bliss. NOW, as we noted, is not just the present tense as opposed to the past and the future. Spacewise, it is infinite. Timewise, it is eternal.
In NOW there is no feeling, because the mind has been frozen in time, or has merged into its origins. The experience of idam will be seen for what it is: it is an illusion. There is no seeing or hearing, for the senses disappear along with the mind. No speech, either, for that, too, has merged in the mind. (Brahmasutra IV.ii.1).
The negation of idam can be a two fold process: idam is only a mental projection and a shadow, but that shadow can be substantiated by looking upon it as the play of Brahman, as an affirmation of the Eternal Presence. (Sankara, Apaokshanubhuti, 122.)
NOW is a single moment that is eternal in duration, or Eternity in an Instant, if you will. Devoid of action. Devoid of fear, because no others exist. Peaceful, Blissful. Utterly without emotion, because there is no mind. (Atmabodha, 33). Deathless. Motionless
To sum up: the world is negated so that its substratum can be affirmed. What you see is an aberration of your mind. Neti makes you focus on what is behind the images by seeing right through them. Neither you nor they exist in the NOW, but for only the light of knowledge and the illumination of understanding.
That is the Instant Immortal, the realization of the intimations adumbrated in Wordsworth's ode. It is Immortality itself. The power of NOW is the power of Pure Consciousness. No love or hate, attachment or detachment, desire or desirelessness. Happiness pursues YOU, and you are drowned in it. Idam then becomes totally irrelevant.
This is not laboratory science that one reproduces. Yet, incredible as it may see, we all have experienced this NOW -- or at least peeked at it -- at one time or another and have tasted the bliss of unbeknownst to us. The trick is to make a habit of it and abide in it all times. It is the 'presence' which 'cannot be put by.'
concluded.
Jnana Becomes Bhakti:
Kamala Devi.
(April-June 2006, Mountain Path.)
As a young person, I was very attracted to intellectual pursuits.
I liked to read and have philosophical conversations, exchanging ideas with my friends. Though physically somewhat lazy, intellectual consideration gave me pleasure.
I first heard of Sri Bhagavan from the book, A Search in Secret India by Paul Brunton. How many people have been drawn to Sri Bhagavan due to this book! As I read Brunton's description of His entering the Hall and beholding Sri Bhagavan sitting silently, surrounded by devotees, I felt my whole body respond, my heart leaping and hairs standing on end. I knew in that moment that I had found my guru. I was so certain that I did not stop to wonder if He would accept me as one of His own. When I saw a photo of Sri Bhagavan, I saw confirmation in His eyes and felt His living presence in the radiance and love of His glance.
From then on, there was a single focus for my life and my nature seemed to change. Everything I did could not be done as an offering to Sri Bhagavan the Beloved One. I felt full of energy. I no longer hurried through my tasks but paid attention to doing them carefully. The Hill of Fire Sanctuary offered endless opportunities for creative service, looking after my children, the other inmates, the few visitors, yoga students, vegetable and flower garden and rooms. I had no desire to go out. The Sanctuary
became almost synonymous with Sri Bhagavan, a place in which I could give my whole Self.
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Jnana Becomes Bhakti:
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My mind was taken up by thoughts of Sri Bhagavan and Sri Arunachala. Two books were my great joy and inspiration for many years: Talks and the Collected Works. I became attracted more and more to Sri Bhagavan's sublime hymns to Sri Arunachala. Reading them, I never ceased to be breathtaken by the beauty of His words, even in translation. Mind became empty as Heart became full. Arunachala Pancharatna became especially dear to me; so much so that I had strong desire to be able to read it in the original Sanskrit. Though I had tried previously to learn the Sanskrit letters, I had found the task too difficult, but now, as I studied the words of the hymn, one by one the letters became familiar to me, until I slowly learned to read. When I could read the hymn right through, I found that I wanted to sing it. As I emphasized the long sounds, a tune suggested itself. Many years later, when I read the hymn sung in Sri Ramanasramam, I was greatly surprised to find that it was the same tune which I had been singing.
When I lay down at night to sleep, I would silently repeat the five verses in English until I drifted into sleep.
Be Thou the Sun and open the Lotus of my Heart in Bliss!
Was there ever a more beautiful prayer than this?
Some days, I would be afflicted by thoughts due to some unfortunate communications in my relationships or other difficulties, conflicts and worries. At such times I was unable to stay in Self Inquiry. The pain of having such a tortured mental state led me to adopt the persistent, silent repetition f the two words Arunachala Ramana. These words became a soothing balm, eventually calming the storm of thoughts and feelings, returning my attention to the present moment. It is amazing that the purifying power of these names gets stronger and stronger with use.
In this way, I have seen how a simple, regular, spiritual practice can become so potent that it can bring about Instant Bliss.
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Jnana Becomes Bhakti:
continues......
I came to understand more about the nature of addiction through these practices. In the West, many remedies have been tried to help people overcome addictions of different kinds. Understanding the nature of the mind, it becomes clear that to develop these 'addictions' of a spiritually beneficial nature can gradually (or even quickly) lessen the hold of harmful and unhappy tendencies. As As Arunachala Ramana of Arunachala AHAM Ashram points out, 'What we resist, persists.'; so it is no use fighting addiction, as egoic 'will power' is unreliable.
Acknowledging our powerlessness, we can surrender the limiting habit to God or Guru and practice Self Abidance -- or in more tumultuous states of mind, we can practice pranayama, japa and kindness to others. I am reminded of the Serenity Prayer said by the Alcoholics Anonymous Community world wide:
Lord, grant me the serenity to
accept that which I cannot change
The courage to change that which I
can,
And the wisdom to know the
difference.
Sri Bhagavan has clearly stated that whatever we undertake with an attitude of humility will have good results.
Having heard the Truth from Sri Bhagavan, I realized that I need learn nothing more, but only practice remaining open to the Grace of Remembrance. So, this former intellectual became a bhakta, delighting in Service and Singing to the Lord. Along with Sri Bhagavan's 'Reply to the Mother', which I took as upadesa, it was impossible to ask Sri Bhagavan for anything further, although sometimes in extremes I have begged Him to 'Help me!' And He does, He responds immediately.
continued.......
Jnana Becomes Bhakti:
continues.....
He who is contented with his lot
From jealousy is free
Balanced in affluence and mishap
Not bound by action he.
The above verse paraphrased from the Bhagavad Gita and quoted in Collected Works made a deep impression on me. I have found it helpful in many circumstances. Contemplating Sri Bhagavan's words, I began to 'taste' the meaning of surrender. Of course, I had known the word, but I came to understand that it was a state which I could practice.
The wonder of Sri Bhagavan's teaching is that it is intensely practical and reasonable. Some people may think that spiritual life is living with one's head in the clouds, but Sri Bhagavan's way removes the clouds to let us abide in the full light of the present moment, where we can operate efficiently, but without attachment to results. Many beautiful books have been written about the Way of Truth but Sri Bhagavan engages us in direct knowledge - Jnana.
To love is to know me
My innermost being, the Truth I am.
Through this knowledge he enters at
once to my Being.
All that he does is offered before
me in Utter Surrender.
My Grace is upon him, He finds the
Eternal,
The place unchanging.
-Bhagavad Gita
Another saying of Sri Bhagavan's which offers us tremendous encouragement is:
Earnest efforts never fail
Success is bound to result
So, we need only give full attention to the task of each moment, which is really the supreme
task of Being, not Doing. In loving the Guru, we will never be abandoned.
Melting more and more with longing,
I took refuge in You.
There itself You stood revealed,
Arunachala!
concluded.
Viveka Chudamani of Sri Sankara:
John Grimes.
(Mountain Path, Oct.-Dec. 2005)
Advaita Vedanta is one of the most important and widely studied schools of thought in Hindu religion and the Vivekachudamani is not only one of the most important texts in the Advaita tradition but also the most popular philosophical work ascribed to the great Indian philosopher, Sri Sankara. There are some modern scholars who are of the opinion that Sri Sankara is not the author of this text and part of my introduction to this great work attempts to answer this great work attempts to answer their objections.
The Vivekachudamani is in the form of a dialogue between a preceptor (guru) and a pupil (sishya) expounding the quintessence of Advaita in which the pupil humbly approaches the preceptor and, having served the teacher selflessly, implores to be rescued from worldly existence (samsara). The guru promises to teach the way to liberation which culminates in the ecstatic experience of one's own Self.
Sankara (c.650-700 CE) is considered to be a giant among giants, a living legend and probably the most venerated philosopher in India's long history. Advaita Vedanta hagiographies declare that a youthful Sankara composed Viveka Chudamani (Crown Jewel of Discrimination) in the Asrama of his Guru, Govinda Bhagavadpada, along the banks of the Narmada river, when he was barely a teenager.
Advaita Vedanta tradition avers that not every individual will possess the necessary qualifications (i.e knowledge of Sanskrit grammar, the requisite philosophical training, and so on)
to study the three fundamental source books (prasthana traya) (Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahmasutras). Thus teachers, out of compassion, composed what are known as independent treatises (prakarana grantha), which serve as introduction manuals.
continued.....
Vivekachudamani of Sri Sankara;
continues....
Such works contain four independent elements (anubandha cahusthya): the determination of fitness of a student for the study of the treatise (adhikari); the subject matter (vishaya); the mutual relationship between the treatise and the subject matter (sambandha); and the object to be attained by he study (prayojana). The Crown Jewel of Discrimination is one such work whose clarity makes it extremely popular both among spiritual adepts and aspirants alike. It places maximum importance upon discrimination (viveka) in one's quest for liberation. Its main purport is to analyze the Self (Atman) and reveal that the individual self (jiva) is really the Supreme Self (Atman) or That (Brahman).
Because of the importance of Vivekachudamani I decided to create an accessible translation of the entire text which includes copious Upanishadic cross-references to most of its 580 verses. All those interested in Indian religion and philosophy, Hindu studies, or Sanskrit, may find this readable English translation of an Indian philosophical classic invaluable.
This new version contains an annotated English translation of the Vivekachudamani based upon the original Sanskrit text found in the Samata Edition of the Complete Works of Sri Sankaracharya, Volume III, Upadesa rachanavali.
With nine English translations already in existence, why another one text. (Sri Chandraskehara Bharati, the Sankaracharya of Sringeri wrote a commentary in Sanskrit and has been translated into English. Of all the translations to date, it is clearly the most scholarly and faithful to the original style. Being a 'Sankaracharya' himself, perhaps this is to be expected.). Circumstances and contexts change. Assessments and interpretations are legion. Every language contains innumerable ambiguities. Strategic decisions vary and there are at least four strategic decisions: (i) stylistic; (ii) pedagogical; (iii) interpretative; (iv) motivational. Translations present difficult questions. Some translators emphasize content while others emphasize form. Some employ primarily the historical approach and others the structuralist approach. Then there are issues of gender and feminist perspectives.
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Vivekachudamani of Sri Sankara:
continues......
The final word of Advaita, both implicitly and explicitly, is that every individual s the Absolute (ayam Atman Brahma; tat tvam asi; aham brahmasmi). Thus, to be faithful to this insight I have used inclusive language in my translation and made it reader friendly for both sexes. The truth of history is the truth of historian. (See Fiorenza's 'Remembering The Past in Creating the Future: Historical-Critical Scholarship and Feminist Biblical Interpretation, for a wonderful presentation of the pitfalls of invoking, what one thinks is, history, in Feminist Perspectives on Biblical Scholarship, Chicago, Scholars Press, 1985). Time, place, context, tradition and audience all have their parts to play. Going beyond a mere professional interest, my desire is to present a text which speaks of those who read it today.
The Works of Sankara:
During Sankara's relatively short life, more than four hundred works including commentaries and sub commentaries (bhashya and varttika), independent works (prakarasa), and hymns, poetry, and praises of deities (stotra, stava, stuti) have been attributed to him. There is a school of academic research which considers that the majority of these works are apocryphal. It is possible that this list of works grew to such proportions because, in order to give a book authenticity, it has long been a common practice in India to attribute it to a famous author. Further, all the heads of various Sankara monasteries (matadipati or jagadguru) have borne the title 'Sankaracharya' and thus any works, which they wrote could easily be mistaken for, and legitimately called, a work of Sankaracharya.
The question of determining the authenticity of which works are truly Sankara's is controversial and vexing. One of the early criteria considered by critical scholarship for determining Sankara's authorship of a given work was whether it was commented upon or quoted in one of the early commentaries. (Thus, because of Suresvara's commentaries on the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad Bhashya, Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya and quotations from the Upadesa Sahasri in the Naishkarmya Siddhi, they are considered authentic works of Sankara's.) However, this criterion of subsequent commentaries or mention therein is as easily doubtable as to the doubt Sankara himself. Certainty is still lacking.
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Vivekachudamani of Sri Sankara:
continues......
The German scholar Paul Hacker was one of the first modern scholars to formulate the problem of authorship clearly and to propose methods of investigation thereon. He proposed three main principles for determining the validity of a work. Check the colophon of a work and observe whether it is attributed merely to Sankaracharya or more authentically to 'Bhagavat' or any of its versions such as 'Bhagavadpada' and 'Bhagavatpujypada'; check for references in the works of his immediate disciples; and analyzew the contents and/or special use of terminology in the work in question. However, it must be noted that Sankara's authorship cannot be CONCLUSIVELY solved by an analysis of a particular work's contents, table of categories, terminology, or colophon. Further, plethora of ascribed poetical works neither contain strict philosophical terminology, logical argumentation, nor colophons. Thus, the debate rages on.
The question of determining the authenticity of the writings attributed to Sankara is a complicated issue. The fact that the allegedly lived such a short life coupled with the plethora of works of such diverse character attributed to him makes the issue all the more difficult. Which ones are genuine? Tradition wants to accept them all. Modern critics tend to be at the other extreme and be reluctant to accept more than three or four of the possibilities. However, I will take up this issue of authenticity with regard to whether or not Sankara was the author of the Vivekachudamani.
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Vivekachudamani of Sri Sankara:
continues......
The Vivekachudamani:
Within Indian philosophy there a number of source books. The Vedas and Upanishads comprise the primary scriptures (sruti). The Epics (Itihasa) including the Bhagavadgita, the Puranas, the Law Books (Dharma Sastra), and the philosophical literature (darshana) comprise the secondary scriptures (smrti). Among the philosophical literature, Vedanta recognizes the prasthana traya (Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahmasutras) as foundational source books requires not only a qualified teacher, but also a profound knowledge of Sanskrit and a proficiency in grammar, logic, investigation, and
Vedic lore.
Sankara, knowing that not all people would be qualified to study the foundational source books, compassionately wrote what are known as independent philosophical treatises (prakara grantha) the elements of which were mentioned earlier in this article. Though the Upadesa Sahasri (A Thousand Teachings) is the only independent treatise that modern scholars have unequivocally ascribed to Sankara, tradition claims that among the more important independent works which Sankara wrote are Atmabodha, Aparokshanubhuti, Panchikarana, Satasloki, and Sarva Vedanta Sangraha.
The Viveka Chudamani is one such independent philosophical treatise and is perhaps the most popular of the prakaranas ascribed to Sankara. As its name indicates - chudamani or crown jewel of Viveka or discrimination - discrimination is of paramount importance in one's quest of liberation. In a recent article, ('To be Heard and
Done, But Never Quite Seen', Francis X. Clooney, The Human Condition, ed. Robert C. Neville, SUNY Press, 2001.) Francis Clooney describes the Viveka Chudamani as a 'pedagogical masterpiece exclusively for male brahmins'. I take issue with this claim, as my commentary on Verse 2 states. This entire issue has been well documented in a recent book by Roger Marcaurelle. (Freedom Through Inner Renunciation, SUNY Press, 2000).
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Viveka Chudamani of Sri Sankara:
continues.....
Prof. D. Ingalls declares that there are four texts, which are indubitably Sankara's on the evidence of his direct disciples. These are: Brahmasutra Bhashya, Brhdaranyaka Upanishad Bhashya, Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya and Upadesa Sahasri. (D. Ingalls, The Study of Sankaracharya, Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Volume XXXII 1952). He then states that 'if we then find a single occurrence of some distinctive theory on a problem of Vedanta philosophy (which does not appear in his Brahmasutra Bhashya), whatever the traditional ascription of this other work may be, we have prima facie evidence that it is not by Sankara. (ibid.) Then, he concludes with absolute certainty that Sankara definitely did not write Viveka Chudamani on the basis of reasoning, the author of it has (i) made an absolute equation of the waking and dream states, and (ii) employed the theory of indescribability (anirvachaniya).
On the other hand, Hacker, who pointed out that Sankara uses the word 'anirvachaniya' in a quite different sense from that found in the Vivekachudamani still accepts the work as genuine based on the colophon. (It should be pointed out that Hacker mentions two places in his other writings that he does not accept the Viveka Chudamani as an authentic work of Sankara see page 30 and 128 of Philology and Confrontation).
All this being given, a strong case can be made that the Viveka Chudamani is a genuine work of Sankara's and that it differs in certain respects from his other works in that it addresses itself to a different audience and has a different emphasis and purpose. There is no rule that insists that a prakarana treatise should be consistent with a commentary. Indian Philosophical works must conform to a prescribed form, setting forth, in an ordered manner, their leading concepts and doctrines. Prakarana compositions, on the other hand, are short manuals which confine themselves to some essential topics of a given theme.
In the case of the Viveka Chudamani, it is a manual for spiritual disciplines (sadhana). Unlike many other texts ascribed to Sankara, it places an emphasis on spiritual practices, which purify the mind; it emphasizes the horrors of the world; it makes numerous precise lists with very fine distinctions; it prolifically mentions 'wise men' and expands te scope as to who and what a wise man is. Obviously, one of the consequences of these latter reference is to draw attention to, and invoke, tradition, lineage, and authority. The Viveka Chudamani advises the spiritual aspirant to revere and worship the teacher as a means of progressing in one's spiritual life. Thus, in all likelihood, the numerous references to 'wise men' not only serve to honor a tradition of sages and places Truth above any person but also to encourage the aspirant to seek an adept.
continued......
Viveka Chudamani and Sri Sankara:
continues......
The Viveka Chudamani offers us an intellectually clear approach and analysis of the inner self and equates it with the Paramatma, the Supreme Self. It elucidates that our self in substance, is Brahman appearing manifold in name and form as jiva (individual soul) and jagat (world). We are given an intimation of Atmajnana. Though it is only textual knowledge, the purpose of the Viveka Chudamani is to inspire us to pursue a Sadhana with faith and determination to experience of our true nature.
The Viveka Chudamani had an important role in the life and teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi. He first read the text in 1901 CA and discovered that the experience described in the text were in accord with His own experience. He found it a valuable tool to teach others who came to Him for instruction, in particular Gambhiram Seshayyar who was responsible for compiling the questions and answers in Self Inquiry, the first work published in Sri Bhagavan's name. It was because Gambhiram Seshayyar could hardly read Sanskrit that He requested Sri Bhagavan to translate the text into Tamizh. Sri Bhagavan acceded to the request and began to 'write a free and explanatory paraphrase of the Sanskrit in Tamizh porse.' (See Sri Bhagavan's Introduction to Viveka Chudamani, tr. by Sadhu Om and Michael James in Mountain Path, October 1985). The first edition of the Tamizh translation was published in 1908.
What is remarkable about Sri Bhagavan's translation is that He had never formally studied Sanskrit. Because of His own abidance in the state described in Viveka Chudamani, He easily understood the implied and hidden meanings in the text. His translation clarifies many subtle points in the text. And even in the English translation of the Tamizh, the reader can sense the originality and precision of Sri Bhagavan's rendering.
concluded.
VIDYA:
(Advent, 2007, Mountain Path.)
VIDYA mean knowledge. Vedanta classifies all knowledge under two categories: Vastu tantra and Purusha tantra. When knowledge pertains to knowing a thing 'as it is', such as knowing the earth revolves round the sun or a tree is a tree then it is Vastu tantra. With the cognition of an object, ignorance about it disappears and knowledge automatically emerges and its true to the nature of the object; a rose cannot be known as an orange! Vastu tantra is dependent on the object (Vastu) itself and leaves no room for choice. Thus, right knowledge of a thing can be only one but wrong knowledge can be many which is not knowledge at all but only ignorance parading otherwise.
Purusha tantra refers to what a person does, such as creating a pot out of existing clay with a specific end use in view. This type of knowledge is dependent upon the subject (person) who makes a deliberate intelligent effort. All inventions thus come under the purusha tantra such as an electric bulb while discoveries of laws of nature such as gravitation belong to Vastu tantra. For instance, the knowledge that electricity is simply a the flow of electrons is Vastu tantra because there is no other way in which it can be understood. However, its potential can be exploited in countless ways such as a heater or a fan and therefore these would constitute Purusha tantra because these involve variety, choice and creative effort. Upasana Siddhi, Mantra Siddhi etc., which invoke the grace of specific deities (ishta devatas) are typical examples of Purusha tantra as the results are in direct proportion to the type and extent of the efforts exercised by the recipient of the grace.
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VIDYA:
continues...........
In other words, there is a PURE knowledge (Vastu tantra) outside our control (because it cannot be created but only discovered and experienced), and an applied knowledge which we we can intelligently manipulate (Purusha tantra). In the spiritual context, knowledge of Brahman is always invariant and universal irrespective of whoever gains it; Sadhana only facilitates REVELATION but does not produce, modify or refine it. Thus mystics of all climes and ages speak the same language whenever they express their experience. Therefore, knowledge of the Self is Vastu tantra and it is 'sadhya' (already accomplished but merely awaits discovery) while Sadhana which involves variety, choice and effort is entirely Purusha tantra.
Liberation is always in the form of Knowledge alone (moksha jnana rupena eva) which is Vastu tantra and therefore independent of the seeker's preferences or prejudices or any mental projection for that matter. Hence the Upanishads celebrate it as Para vidya (higher knowledge) as opposed to Apara vidya (inferior knowledge pertaining to objects that are non-Self). This Para vidya is the ultimate purpose of Vedanta which is to end the transmigratory existence of birth and death cycle. Vedanta talks of three stages in achieving this: karma, upasana, and jnana. The first two can (and should) be combined because they come under Purusha tantra; they purify and prepare the mind for the third and final stage of Jnana, which stands alone (Kaivalya), being Vastu tantra). Liberation is not dependent on our limited view point or opinion. This is an important distinction because many people confuse their own individual, limited knowledge (which is at best a perspective) with that knowledge which is independent and self sufficient. True knowledge can only be met and understood on its own terms. We cannot manipulate Atma Vidya and bring it to our incomplete level of understanding. We must relinquish our restricted understanding and allow ourselves to be taken over and transformed by this higher truth. For everything else is a mere superimposition (mithya) which does not truly count.
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VIDYA:
continues.....
Normally our mindset is incapable of appreciating anything outside (or higher than) its own series of parameters. An Eskimo cannot comprehend the educational value of a polar bear in a zoo. For the Eskimo, a bear means food that he kills to survive. Robert Browning says famously in a poem that a lumberjack will not value even a poet like him unless he too wields the axe with equal ease! It requires a deep humility to expose oneself to new knowledge and higher understanding.
Thought creates divisions in order to function. If a distinction cannot be made then there cannot be evaluation, judgement and action. Thought breaks down knowledge into component elements so that the mechanics of cause and effect can be comprehended and acted upon. Therein lies the utility of thought and hence its functional value in the plane of vyavahara (phenomenal existence). However, the very same tool is inadequate when we focus on paramarthika satyam (Absolute Reality). Our mind is confronted with a dilemma because the thinking process is dependent upon the capacity to differentiate. It ceases to exist as a so called entity of its capacity to explain collapses. It cannot comprehend the ultimate reality which transcends all sense of distinction. The mind cannot break down into discrete parts that which transcends all divisions including the fundamental subject-object division.
What we solicit is a liberating knowledge that is immediate and incontrovertible (abadhitam). Atma Vidya alone fulfills this criterion because it is Para Vidya. In Vedantic parlance, causal ignorance (mula avidya) can be eliminated only by immediate and direct knowledge (aparoksha anubhava).
If our reasoning power is unreliable and insufficient per se, what other valid means do we have to arrive at self knowledge? It is through scriptural revelations (sabda pramana) -- the evidence of others who have gone before us, discovered another terrain of consciousness and left a trail for us to pursue. In any discipline of knowledge, we are dependent on the documentation of others, be it say medicine for information as to how we should be cured. An individual does not start from scratch every time he learns a new skill nor does he re-invent the wheel all over. Why should be spiritual pursuit alone be an exception?
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VIDYA;
continues......
Scriptural authority (sruti( aids our quest and an intelligent and pragmatic seeker relies on such authentic verbal testimony. To rebel against tradition and discard scriptural guidance would be unreasonable and juvenile. When we repose faith in (sraddha) in sruti
pramana, it opens up the possibility to learn from a competent master (acharya) who makes our task easier if we faithfully adhere to his instructions. However, the knowledge revealed by the scriptures must become our own experience (aparoskha jnanam) if the revelations are to be fulfilled. They can only show us the path but it is we who have to walk the path; sadhana is always purusha tantra and we cannot escape our responsibility. This inner journey cannot be undertaken without the staff of faith (sraddha). We travel as far as possible with reason without ever contradicting it but when the teacher or scripture dwells on that which is beyond reason we must rely on faith to accept and follow their advice until we can verify through out own experience what we they thought.
One should be careful however not to be trapped by mere erudition. Scholarship is infinite and can make on go round in endless circles of smug complacence. To know Truth one must dedicate heart and mind to the quest. Sastra vichara can help prepare the ground but cannot catapult us ON ITS OWN into a quantum leap beyond the known. That can take place only in nidhidhyasana where one dwells in thought-free awareness of the Self. There is no substitute for immediate knowledge (aparoksha jnanam). 'An intelligent seeker who has studied the scriptures well enough to grasp their essence but intent on gaining the experience of truth must unhesitatingly giver up fancy for all book knowledge (Sasra vasana) like one discards the chaff and goes for the grain.' (Amirta Bindu Upanishad). Thus one goes from vaak vichara (reflecting on verbal testimony) to atma vichara (dwelling on the Self) until one attains anubhava siddhi (Self Realization). The direct knowledge that one is not the body is itself the experience. When the ancient link with the body is severed with regard to one's identity there arises an experiential unity.
concluded.
The Real is Unknowable & the Knowable is Unreal:
Robert Powell:
(Mountain Path, Jan-Mar. 2003):
One of our great difficulties is the power of sense perception in producing various misperceptions. For what we perceive is not at all what IS. It must be well understood that what IS is what IS only and cannot be described. It can only be referred to. But one must be ever mindful of the fact that even such a reference lies entirely within the field of ignorance, and such fundamental ignorance of our nature is a prescription for suffering.
Most people think that the basic duality lies within the apparent opposition mind/matter, but therein lies actually no duality at all. Mind depends on matter for its existence and matter in turn depends on mind for its perception. Each has a little of its antipode in it.
The Real cannot be perceived, for it lies beyond the field of perception, or perhaps better, prior to the field of perception. A description can be given only of entities of space and time, but the latter are the product of sensory perception -- that is, the body and its physiological processes. Since perception is a function of bodily processes and 'body' itself is ultimately a physiological, mental concept, it has no ultimate reality. We are like waves in the ocean looking at other waves, but missing the ocean in our perception.
Directly connected with this situation, is the question of language and the inherent area of confusion. Existing forms of communication are based on the faulty idea that the reality is tangible and communicable. Since ultimate truth is incommunicable, by any means, this directly impinges on our means of communication. Thus, when a spiritual master like Sri Ramana Maharshi talks about the Self, He is not referring to any one particular individual. He refers to That which underlies all individuals and all observable and imaginable objects -- in other words, the Totality. This Totality cannot be imagined because it is beyond thought. And is infinitely more than an integration of finite entities.
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The Real is Unknowable & the Knowable is Unreal:
continues.....
Most spiritual efforts have as their foundation the manipulation by, and of, the mind, whereas it can be seen that the first requirement is the relinquishing of all efforts, all manipulation in the mental sphere -- in fact, its total dismissal -- for all that is based on thought and has no more reality than our imagination.
Man thinks he is an island in a world of plurality, in which he can control or manipulate his environment so as to create more security for himself. He is totally unaware of that the so called 'individual' is powerless to do anything, because there simply is no entity present to do anything. That 'individual' is a product of imagination. Such relinquishment is in itself something major because it is in the nature of a total cessation. This somehow goes against the grain, our natural state of 'doing things', making efforts to achieve results, which has become one continuous movement of incessant activity. However, what we think we have moved or achieved is merely the progression of a dream and has no reality to it. Thus, what is required is only the waking up from this dream. Such a waking up necessitates the cessation of all activities to reach anywhere and the letting go of all ambitions, even so called spiritual goals. It means a complete ending of what one is and has always stood for. But first it must be clearly seen that no effort can be of any help in this just as it is impossible to go into the deep sleep state, by making a tremendous effort to 'fall' asleep, as 'falling' is an involuntary act. Thus the linguistic aspect of this fact points to the state of no effort being of the essence.
continued......
The Real is Unknowable and the Knowable is Unreal:
continues.....
Realizing the Self as non divisible in space and time, means there is only the 'I' and all others do not exist or are part of me, in the same way that that I am part of all others. The Self is a Unity in which time and space no longer have any existence. Thus, the readers may justifiably say with me: 'When I was born the Whole Universe came into my view, and with my death the whole manifestation ceases to exist. Truly, there is only the Self and there are no others.' Birth and death are really non existent; only the Self exists. The closest we are to this state is that of dreamless sleep. To realize this in the wakeful state is knowing the Ground of our being, or Self Realization, when all differences are and separations are eliminated.
This brings us finally to the question of knowledge. Since 'knowledge' is always fully within the realm of thought, no amount of thought or speculation can help us in the spiritual quest. Going one step further, even the 'quest' itself can be of no help to attain the Self, since such quests always deal with entities, and it is the very entities that are alien to the sphere of no-mind that is the Self. This reminds me of a discussion meeting in which one of the regular participants opined that after many years of taking an interest in the spiritual life, his position was still that of an agnostic. He missed the point although it was a subtle one. The agnostic, if given he magic key to understanding the universe, would only be too happy with it. His attitude is still one of clinging to one of the dualities, of not knowing, of denying the existence of the 'not-material'. He does not know subconsciously leaves open the possibility that somewhere resides a rational blue print explaining everything. Essentially, he feels the support that knowledge -- even that of negative knowledge - can give him to carry him through life. The true advaitin on the other hand, who has fully seen the total irrelevance of thought and knowledge, knows that so long as the mind is involved in any way, -- even a negative one -- an underlying matrix of contradiction with its special kind of pain will persist and the Self will not reveal itself.
Finally, from a broader point of view, there is the question of action, especially that for the purpose of realization. If all entities are unreal, of the nature of dreams, as are the actions performed with them or on them, what is one to do?
This is actually the wrong sort of question. For the simple truth is: You cannot do anything in this respect, for any such action is done by the 'I', which is unreal in the first place and can therefore never lead to the real. Quite simply, when the unreality of the doer is denied and recognized as void, all action on the imagined, unreal level stops automatically and one is purely the Self.
One then has awakened from the dream. In that awakening there is no longer the 'me' and others, the past, present, and future. All is the NOW, and there is only the NOW! When I was born, the whole universe and all others were born within me, and there were and are no others separate from me. And when I die, the Universe dies with me, for all are contained within me, the non dual Self. Seeing the light will immediately and spontaneously eliminate darkness, of the real once and for all. One wakes up from the dream of unreality. But this realization excludes any sort of action, that is, it embraces everything and everyone. It is purely HERE AND NOW, and recognizes no separate entities.
concluded.
Ramana Maharshi and Rene Guenon:
(Original in French, Xavier Accart.
Tr. Cecil Bethel. - Excerpts.)
Advent - 2007, Mountain Path:
Guenon deliberately contrasted Sri Aurobindo's Ashram with that of Sri Ramana Maharshi, which seemed to him quite traditional. "He is perhaps the greatest", writes Silvia Ceccomori; "He is also the most simple among the great masters."
Sri Ramana has sometimes been compared to Sri Ramakrishna in so far as he was called to live the non-duality in the line of Sankara, while at the same time giving an important place to bhakti. He was born in the southern part of India, where He lived throughout His life.
At sixteen years, the young Venkatarman took upon Himself a simulated experience of death in order to be free from the fear of dying. It left Him radically transformed. He became aware that He was not this body but an immortal spirit which transcended it. From the thoughts which sprang forth in Him, He realized the Self on which all His inner activity was concentrated. "From the moment, the fascinating power of this 'Self' situated at the very heart definitely took precedence," the fear of death having disappeared for Him. He then left His family home leaving a message: "I go in search of my Father, according to the order He has given me." He went to the sacred Hill of Arunachala where He stayed from 1896, until His death in 1950. Those who came to seek Him called Him Maharshi, that is to say, the great saint for whom the truth if always present. However, strictly speaking He never accepted any disciple.
continued......
Ramana Maharshi and Rene Guenon:
continues.....
The testimony of Paul Brunton (1898-1981) in A Search in Secret India, explains clearly the method of the Sage of Arunachala. After a battery of questions from the English journalist, He kept quiet for a moment. He then asked about the subject of the 'I' who had raised the question. He was thus impelled to reflect on his 'intimate nature' in a continuous meditation. It was a question of striving towards knowing his true nature by asking himself what constituted his very essence. By meditation and concentration, (his) being became aware that he was neither the body, nor the subtle form, nor the vital force, nor the mind, nor even the totality of potentialities remaining in the undifferentiated state of deep sleep. This being could therefore only be identified as the one subsisting after all these elements had been eliminated. It was the pure conscience, the Self residing in the heart. Thus, the ultimate result of this research was 'absorption' in the source of existence. If it implied the 'extinction' of the individuality as such, this 'extinction' very far from leaving a void, made it appear a truly infinite 'plenitude'. The Self was in fact the perfect unity of Sat-Chit-Ananda, the Hindu trinity, according to Guenon, was the nearest to the conception of the Christian Trinity. (Nevertheless, he added that there was a great difference between the points of view to which were linked to these notions.).
Brunton's book which came out in English in 1935 and in French in 1937, contributed to introducing Ramana Maharshi to Westerners. Several Europeans were profoundly influenced by meeting the great Rishi. Dom Henri Le Saux, a Bendictine monk from the Abbey of Saint-Anne of Kergonan who came to evangelize India, wrote; 'O my Beloved, why do you hide yourself under the features of Siva and Arunachala, of Ramana the Rishi... to give me Your grace?'
continued......
Ramana Maharshi and Rene Guenon:
continues......
Many of Guenon's readers became aware of the sage's teachings through various publications, or even went to see Him at the foot of Arunachala, symbol of the Heart of the World, representing the immanence of the 'Supreme Consciousness' in all beings. Many were struck by His exceptional depth. Jacques-Henry Levesque, a friend of Blaise Cendrars and reader of Guenon, left an unpublished essay on the holy man.
There were two admirers of Guenon's work who were important for the dissemination of the Maharshi's teaching. The first was Arthur Osborne, an Englishman, who made a translation of 'The Crisis of the Modern World' which appeared in London in 1942. After the Second World War he came to Ramana and wrote several books, notably a biography, Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge. Later in 1964, he edited a review The Mountain Path under the inspiration of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
The second is Henri Hartung who discovered the works of Guenon around 1938, at the age of seventeen. He was born in Paris in 1921, and later while living in Lyon he met Oliveier de Carfort, a person of private means who spent his life in deepening his knowledge of the traditional doctrines. One evening, Carfort had asked this young man if he knew Rene Guenon. He lent him Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines, and from then on Hartung regularly read Guenon's books. In 1947, on a business voyage to India, he was approached in a cafe by Raja Rao. The latter, although following the teaching of another master (Krishna Menon, better known as Swami Atmananda of Kerala), suggested that he go to the Asramam of Ramana
Maharshi.
continued.....
Ramana Maharshi and Rene Guenon:
continues......
He did and the meeting was decisive. After Brunton and Jean Herbert (an eminent French translator of Hindu texts and the teachings particularly of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramana Maharshi and Swami Ramdas. A chapter has been dedicated to him in the book of X. accart.), Hartung contributed most towards the diffusion of the teachings of the Hindu sage among the French-speaking public. He later acknowledged his dual debt to the metaphysician of Cairo and the Sage of Arunachala. On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Sri Ramana Maharshi in 1979, he published with Editions du Cerf a work dedicated to the latter. This book 'owes much to Rene Guenon who represented for him, through what he had been and all that he had written, a permanent inner force'. (Hartung, Henri, Spiritualite et autogestion, Rene Guenon, Ramana Maharshi, Lausanne, L'Age d'homme, 1978). It echoes a significant debate of the synthesis that some have wished to make between the written teaching of Guenon and the oral teaching of Ramana Maharshi:
"Arthur Osborne - like that which happened to me several years later - had heard some Europeans make a distinction between the influence that Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi radiated and initiation such as Rene Guenon had defined. Thus he posed to the Maharshi himself this question:....Ramana approved the point of view according to which His presence like His indications are practical means of spiritual realization (sadhana). (Arthur Osborne, The Mountain Path, Volume 15, 1978).
Guenon had presented the case of Ramana Maharshi as departing from the normal conditions of initiation. The character of the 'spontaneity' of His realization - He never had a human master -- represented an exceptional path. Probably Guenon considered it as that which Islamic esoterism calls an 'afrad', that is to say, a 'recluse', a category difficult to define, which seemed to have certain similarities, according to him, to the case of Padre Pio or his own. This is why the Maharshi - if He replied to visitors' questions - did not deliver
'a regular teaching' but exercised rather what Guenon called an 'action of presence'. "Furthermore, the imparting of Knowledge could only take place in silence, by a radiance of inner force which is incomparably more powerful than the word and all other manifestations of some outer activity." Thus Guenon could write to Hartung, at the time of the death of the holy man that he "understood the emotion only too well as the news of the death of Sri Ramana had also affected him likewise." He himself was 'very sad(...) for all those who would have still had a great need of His Presence."
Guenon also underlined the eminence of this figure in his letters as well as in his many reviews from 1935-1940. He wrote to Hartung in 1949: 'At the Asramam, like Sri Ramana Himself, one feels that everything is really in order from the traditional point of view, and that there is certainly no more or less doubtful element. Moreover it seems that Ramana on His part heard of Guenon. According to Hartung, He called him 'the great sufi.'
concluded.
Upasana -
Jonathan Bader:
(Deepam, 2006, Mountain Path.)
In the early Upanishads, upsasna is the term most frequently employed to designate the process of meditation. Dhyana also occurs occasionally, but does not have the distinctive sense which it acquires in the later Upanishads, and, more especially in the Yoga Sutra. Derived from the verbal root 'as' 'to sit', upasana is literally 'sitting near'. Its particular significance is that of 'serving, honoring, worshipping'.
'Upasana means reaching by the mind the form of a deity or something else, as delineated in scriptural passages relating to meditation and concentrating the mind on it -- uninterrupted by secular thoughts, until identity with that deity or thing, is imagined in the same degree in which identity is now imagined by s with our body. (tr. by M. Hiriyanna, 'The Training of the Vedantin').
Sankara's reference to the deity (devata) as an object of meditation shows that upasana involves an element of worship. This is further emphasized in Brahmasutra Bhashya 4.1.1.: 'Thus we say in ordinary life that a person is 'devoted' (upaste) to a teacher or king if he follows him with mind set steadily on him.' (Vedanta Sutra of Bhadarayana, with the Commentary by
Sankara, tr. George Thibaut). Despite this analogy to ordinary experience, meditation is not clearly a secular practice. As Sankara indicates, the object of
concentration is to be drawn exclusively from scripture.
continued.....
Upasana.
Jonathan Bader:
continues.....
The real aim of Upasana is to effect a correspondence of subject (meditator) and object (of the meditation), 'identity with that deity'. The notion of attaining identity and so reuniting the sacred and the mundane can be traced back to Vedic ritual sacrifice. The Purusha Sukta, for example, describes how creation results from gods's sacrificial offering of the primordial man. This divine sacrifice becomes the model for human behavior, man's creative undertakings are similarly to be initiated by means of sacrifice. In this way, sacrifice is understood to be the very link between the gods and man. This correspondence between the divine and human realms is sought in order to satisfy man's material needs as well as his deeper spiritual aspirations, for sacrifice is believed to provide prosperity and fecundity.
The Vedic rituals were transformed in such a way that sacrifice became the upasana of Upanishads. In Brhadranyaka Upanishad Bhashya 3.1.6, Sankara refers to an upasana which substitutes meditation for ritual action. He explains that meditation is a more effective means of obtaining the desired results. To begin with, any defect in the performance of the ritual, however minor, could invalidate the whole procedure. He points to another problem in the substantial expenditure some of the sacrifices require. Few could afford the expense of the more elaborate rituals and are thus deprived of the boons they confer. There are perhaps other factors which contributed to the transformation of ritual. J.F. Staal suggests that ritual practice may have degenerated so that it could no longer effect the sacred identity. (Advaita and Neo Platonism, Madras, 1961). He argues that in the earlier Vedic sacrifice there was no distinction between 'inner' and 'outer' experience. The ritual process reflected the essential unity of what was later to be distinguished as body and mind. It was the development of self consciousness which destroyed this unity and led to a gradual decline in the efficacy of the sacrifice. But meditation may have simply been an easier way.
continued.....
Upasana:
Jonathan Bader:
continues......
The opening passages of the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad link ritual with upasana in the setting of a grand cosmic drama. The secret of creation is symbolically revealed as a great horse sacrifice (asvamedha). Prajapati, the creator, first appears on the scene as death, having devoured all that he had made manifest. Yet the creative urge arose in him anew. He made himself the sacrificial offering. His body became gradually swollen (asvat) until there emerged a horse (asva). He then reflected upon the horse in the following manner:
'The head of the sacrificial horse is the dawn, its eye the Sun, its vital force the air...Its back is heaven, its belly the sky, its hoof the earth, its sides the four quarters.' (The Bh.Up. with the commentary of Sankaracharya, tr. Swami Madhavananda, Mayavati, 1975).
In the Upanishad, however, it is meditation alone which effects the sacred identity. Prajapati discovers the identity of the creator and his creation and so shows the way to immortality through meditation: 'He becomes his self and he becomes one with these deities.' (The Brh. Up. 1.2.7. in Madvaananda).
Throughout the Indian tradition there is clear expression of the belief that the realms of thought and matter are inter-related. It is said that mental activity, especially the meditation, has the power to effect change on the physical plane. Sankara reinforces this notion with a maxim e cites on several occasions: 'However, one meditates on him, that indeed he becomes.' (Tam yatha yathopaste tad eva bhavati). The idea is that one attains identity with a particular object, one inherits or assumes those properties which characterize the object. The same concept underlies the notion of the sacred word.
continued.....
Upasama:
continues.....
The spoken word had a mysterious, supernatural power; it contained within itself the essence of the thing denoted. To 'know the name of anything was to control the thing. The word means wisdom, knowledge; and knowledge....was magic power. (Franklin Edgerton, The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy, London, 1965.)
Indeed the sacred word is often the basis of upasana in the Upanishads. Numerous illustrations are found in the Chandogya Upanishad, a veritable treasury of meditations, the second chapter of which is almost entirely devoted to a description of various upasanas, developed from the chants of the Sama Veda. The upasanas comprise layer upon layer of identifications. Through this series of identifications, the meditator acquires the power inherent in the object of the meditation.
Sankara acknowledges the acquisition of power as one of the three traditionally designated goals of upasana. (Brahma Sutra Bhashya 3.2.21.). A second goal is the averting of danger. The third, and the highest, attainment is promised as the culmination of a meditation on the Sun: He obtains the victory of the sun, indeed a victory, higher than the victory of the sun...which leads beyond death.
(Chandogya Upanishad 2.10.6).
In the Vedic tradition the correct manner of pronunciation (siksha) is in itself an important basis for the comprehension of the sacred word. In Taittiriya Upanishad 1.3. two facets of pronunciation are discussed. The first involves simply a process of recitation, and only receives brief mention. The second is an extensive elaboration of an esoteric interpretation of pronunciation, developed through meditation on the conjunction of syllables. The proper relationship of the syllables is the subject of a variety of upasanas, the first of which is a meditation on the world (loka).
continued.......
Upasana:
continues.....
The earth is taken to represent the initial syllable while the second syllable corresponds to heaven. The space between is rerpresented by ether (akasa), and the link that joints the syllables is air (vayu). The student is guided to recognize the distinctive qualities of each syllable, and also the intervening space. Indeed, he himself participates in the process of conjunction. For it is the power of the air, or wind, generated by his own pronunciation of the syllables, that actually serves to link them. (See Eight Upanishads, with commentary of Sankaracharya, tr. Swami Gambhirananda. - 2 volumes - Mayavati, vol. 1).
In this way the syllables are understood to be far more than mere building blocks for words. Their inter-relationship becomes a microcosm which mirrors a cosmic pattern. This awareness leads the student to the comprehension of such esoteric utterances (vyahari) as bhur-bhuvah-suvah, which he chants thrice daily at the commencement of his diurnal rites (samdhya): 'Bhuh is this world, bhuvah the atmosphere, suvah is the yonder world...he who knows this knows Brahman. (Taittiriya Upanishad, 1.5.1) tr. S. Radhakrishnan).
Since Brahman is so closely associated with the power of the world, it is not surprising to find that the pre-eminent symbol used in meditation on Brahman is the sacred symbol Om. 'The world which all the Vedas rehearse, and which all austerities proclaim...That syllable, truly, indeed, is Brahman, that syllable indeed is the supreme. Knowing that syllable, truly indeed, whatever one desires is his. That is the best support. That is the supreme support. (Katha, 2.15-17).
Om is the ultimate support of meditation. (Prasna 5.2). It is the bow which directs the arrow of the Self to Brahman, the mark. (Mundaka 2.2.4.). It is the fire stick which, when rubbed by the practice of meditation, reveals the hidden divinity. (Svetasvatara 1.14.). But despite the prominence of the sacred syllable Om in upasana, there is little procedural detail supplies in the accounts of these well known meditations.
Fortunately, another important upasana is elaborated somewhat more fully. The meditation on Brahman as symbolized by the term satya, real, or true, involves the establishment of an identity by means of an esoteric understanding of the word. The upasana is introduced with the assertion that the Self is immortal (amrita), that is Brahman. The next identification is that of Brahman and satyam. (Chandogya, 8.3.5. tr. Hume.)
Sankara stresses that upasana is characterized by a uniform flow of thoughts, tulya pratyaya-santatir. (Taittiriya 1.2.3.). Clearly, a good deal of discipline is required if the current of thought is to be maintained. But the accounts have little advice to offer the meditator on just how the practice is to proceed. They focus instead upon the object of the meditation, elaborating in great detail the ritual and symbolic themes representing 'that deity' with whom identity is sought.
concluded.
Stillness:
(Editorial, Deepam, 2006, Mountain Path.)
In one of the amateur movies taken of Sri Bhagavan there is a sequence which shows Him in a characterisitic position, half reclining on a couch in the Jubilee Hall giving darshan. It seems to have been taken during an important festival in the Asramam, such as Jayanti, His birthday, because there is an animated cluster of devotees standing at the head of he couch, facing the camera. The camera is positioned directly in front of the couch at right angles to Sri Bhagavan who is looking out into the distance beyond His feet without the slightest acknowledgement that He is anything but alone. Behind Sri Bhagavan in profile, beyond the widely spaced bamboo screen, one can see in the distance, the steady flicker of light on the leaves of trees. It is not a hurried shot and the viewer has the leisure to catch all details in the frame. The first impression is that it is a moving sequence because of the animation of some of the devotees, but then a doubt arises because Sri Bhagavan is so still. When you scan the frame everything seems perfectly normal and yet one begins to wonder if the composition is a still photograph. Is this because Sri Bhagavan appears as motionless as a rock? Then one's eye roams the set scene. Yes, the devotees are there and one sees the movement, yes, Sri Bhagavan is there but is He breathing? It is a puzzle and then one notices in the background the play of light on the leaves. There is mobility as the dappled leaves wave in the breeze and yes, definitely it is a moving camera scene. The wonder arises, how can Sri Bhagavan be so still? It doesn't seem normal. In fact, it is
not normal for what one has witnessed is a demonstration of that unique stillness so many experienced in His presence.
continued......
Stillness:
continues.....
There were some who tried to communicate this awesome sight though they knew their words were pale, unsatisfactory descriptions because Sri Bhagavan was there, yet He was not. He eluded capture like the wind vainly grasped by the hand. We are describing an 'activity' which is completely detached from its surroundings and has neither apparent cause nor effect. It was independent of the witness' expectations and influence. Sri Bhagavan not only seemed alone, He was alone. We, in the many years after the fact of His appearance on this earth, still marvel at the powerful impact of His unique spiritual presence. How is it that people could sit for hours before this person who aside from giving wise words of instructions apparently did nothing?
What is this stillness which Sri Bhagavan demonstrated and why do we gravitate towards someone who exemplified this startling quality?
For most of us stillness is a relative term. We may be physically still at night during sleep. We may be emotionally quiet as we listen sympathetically to another person. We may so completely concentrate on our work to the exclusion of all else that time seems to stop. But this is not the same dynamic as that of Sri Bhagavan, because His stillness was not an absence of opposing forces, the neutralization of conflict or a concerted effort to remain still. It was not the ignoring of time and place by an absent mindedness. It is an awareness which lives in the eternal present. Sri Bhagavan did not identify with stillness -- in fact, it is quite the contrary, stillness expressed itself as Sri Bhagavan. We should not confuse this stillness with inactivity. It is the highest, most intense activity possible, a powerful force as opposed to a mere negative lack of action.
continued......
Stillness:
continues......
In Sri Bhagavan's stillness, we see the reconciliation of contradictory influences. There was equilibrium untouched by the inevitable conflicts created by circumstances or by the numerous strong personalities who surrounded Him.
And why was Sri Bhagavan still? It is because He wanted nothing, absolutely nothing. He was supremely content to be in the moment desiring nothing, excepting nothing. He lived in the serene, boundless sense of being. We encounter this mystery with a mixture of bewilderment, frustration, admiration, envy and finally as understanding dawns, awe. For we too, wish to be free from the tyranny of compulsion.
This kind of aloof behavior was disconcerting for those who expected Sri Bhagavan to react to circumstances. Quite often people would appeal to Sri Bhagavan to favor their side of an argument. They would generally be disappointed as He would be unmoved not because He did not see, say the apparent injustice, but because He knew in the field of human activity the stream of manifestation is impersonal and if we identify with one strand or quality, life throws up a contradictory force that has its own raison d'etre. When we are engrossed by this multiplicity and take sides we lose sight of the purpose of why sit at His feet, invoke His name and follow His teaching.
We intuitively recognize someone who is not bound by the same laws as ourselves. There was a great peace emanating from Sri Bhagavan and like the sun He radiated an energy which brought solace and understanding to those who were open to this power of influence.
We see in Sri Bhagavan someone who is free of the normal conventions. His walking stick, water pot and kuapina were all He required. His daily life was infinitely rich in close attention in detail as can be seen in the care He took in the transcription of Tamizh advaitic texts, and He strictly adhered to a routine convenient to both Himself and all who came for the express purpose of being in His presence. A close devotee, Viswanatha Swami, once said that people may gain a false impression of Sri Bhagavan if they read, say Talks. He said that Sri Bhagavan frequently remained completely silent for days. The daily schedule in the Asramam was so fixed that Sri Bhagavan automatically did what was necessary at the appropriate time without a word spoken. The two clocks in the Old Hall kept meticulous time and the calendar was scrupulously kept up to date. For someone who apparently lived in the timeless, Sri Bhagavan was fully aware of time's movement and was not mesmerized by change.
continued......
The Greatness of Arunachala -
Extracts from Chapter I, the Holy City, of the Arunachala Purana:
Original Tamizh verses: Saiva Ellappa Navalar.
Tr. Robert Butler.
(Advent, 2007, Mountain Path)
Introduction:
The Arunachala Purana is a sthala purana portraying the greatness of the holy Hill Arunachala. The material is drawn in the main from the Arunachala Mahatmyam, a section of book, I, of the Sanskrit Skanda Purana, itself one of the 18 major Puranas. It was written in the 16th century when it became popular to praise the greatness of specific sthala, (holy places of worship and pilgrimage), usually in the vernacular, in this case Tamizh, and drawing on local myth and legend to elaborate stories. Saiva Ellappa Navalar, the author, was one of the major composers of such works. The encyclopaedia of Tamizh literature, Abhithana Chintamani, lists 5 others being composed by him. He also wrote two fairly extensive poems in praise of Arunachala, the Arunai Andati and the Arunai Kalampakam, both of which are extant. The excerpt given here constitutes the greater part of Chapter I and extols Arunachala as standing above all the other holy places of India. The style is colorful, poetic and vigorous with few of the rhetorical and didactic excesses that mark the Mahatmyam itself.
There is no complete translation of this work in English, although abbreviated excerpts, compiled by J. Jayaraman, have appeared in an Asramam publication and have been published as a series in The Mountain Path, under the title Arunachala Puranam Vignettes. The text can also be found in the internet by tracing the name. Additionally, Chapter 9, King Vallalan of Tiruvannamlaai a section inspired by local history and legend and not part of the Mahatmyam, has been published with an introduction and notes on his own website by David Godman.
continued......
The Greatness of Arunachala:
continues.....
Nandi is the gatekeeper of Siva's palace on Mount Kailash, he is also in some traditions the head of Siva
of Siva's army of attendants, the ganas, and he is also Siva's foremost disciple, one of the primal gurus. Here he is picture seated in Lord Siva's palace giving upadesa to the assembled sages and rishis.....
24. Exercising the holy ordinance of Lord Siva,
in whose locks the moon and the
Ganga are interwined
whose shoulders are fourfold
who wears the Brahmin's three-
corded string
whose fair and holy loins are ever
girt with a tiger's skin
whose fair is gathered up in a knot
whose deep gaze threefold
whose body is smeared with white
ash
so that it resembles a mountain of
red coral
over which the moon spills her pale
light,
he whose hands never loosen their
grasp
on the deer, sceptre, sword and
battle axe
stands guard upon Mount Kailash's
silvery peak.
25. He resembles the One
whose hue is that of fresh picked
flowers
whose holy throat is stained with
black
who rides upon a fine white bull
whose Cloud of compassion pours
down its rain
to nurture the crop of the Saiva
faith.
He was as life itself to his father
Siladan,*
watching over him whilst his five
senses
were turned inward and subdued.
All the Gods pay homage at the red
lotuses of his feet.
Nandi is his holy name.
(*Siladan is one of the rishis and the father of Nandi, seemingly through adoption.)
continued......
The Greatness of Arunachala:
continues......
26. Shining with the combined radiance of the moon and river Ganga, the divine form of the Lord Himself, and the holy ash that so decorously adorns it, stands Mount Kailash, upon whose summit the Gods with Indra at their head throng closely together, the tumultuous clash of crown upon jewelled crown dusting its slopes with a powder of gold and precious gems, so that it resembles golden Mount Meru itself.
27. Atop this mountain stands a mantapam, with pillars of diamond, sturdy as Mount Mandara cornices of rubies massed together, capitals carved from red coral, and cross beams of emerald, its walls decorated with seamless mosaics of sapphire gems, and its ceiling plated with moonstone.
28. It happened one time that Nandi was seated therein upon a lion throne inlaid with pearls on either side, resting his lotus feet upon a noble footstool studded with bulky sapphires, holding court upon Mount Kailash, his left leg resting upon the back of the Demon Muyalagan,* as he expounded the arcane secrets of the Vedas, to the assembled rishis, as if he were Lord Siva Himself.
(*Muyalagan is the dwarf upon whom Nataraja performs his dance.)
continued.......
The Greatness of Arunachala:
continues......
At this point, at the request of Markandeya, who is amongst the assembled rishis. Nandi explains that final liberation may be gained by bathing in holy rivers and visiting holy places, and then proceeds to the list some of the major ones, ending with the worlds.
43. To be born or to die in holy places such as these, to delight one's eyes with the sight of them, to perform ritual ablutions there, bringing joy to the holy mind of the effulgent Light who dances in the pure transcendent sphere of the divine, to accumulate wealth and to employ it liberally in the creation of broad groves and temples to Lord Siva, is to obtain for oneself the highest bliss, declared Nandi, to which the sage (Markandeya) replied:
44. To perform such works at each of these incomparable rivers and holy sites is impossibility even for siddhas and sages, and the Gods themselves in their exalted state. Could such a thing be easily accomplished by man, whose lifetime is as brief as a lightning flash? And even were it so, Supreme One, it would still beyond the reach of the various animal and plant life-forms!
45. Pray tell if there is one place where knowledge of Lord Siva, earned through endless aeons of seking, bathing in all these holy rivers, and visiting all these blissful shrines, might be gained in a short time without hardship, even by seekers who have missing limbs, are lacking in wisdom, are morally debased or are destined for the tortures of Hell, or by the beasts of the field, and all other beings!
continued....
The Greatness of Arunachala:
continues.....
As soon as he whose austerities defeated Death himself, and other assembled rishis, had finished speaking, and had made obeisance, touching the lotuses of his feet with the lotuses of their hands, Nandi filled with deep compassion, began to speak: There is one such holy shrine where liberation may be gained in this way; I shall reveal to you, he said, silencing the assembly with a gesture. Then, reflecting upon Arunagiri's black throated Lord, he fell into a rapturous trance.
47. All the hairs of his body stood up on end, he shivered and trembled, rivers of tears bust forth from both his eyes, and speech deserted him as, palms joined in prayer, he remained for a long while in a state of deep absorption. Then, uttering these words of praise; 'You who wear the river Ganga in your hair! Arunagiri's Lord! You whose eyes are Fire! My own Lord and Master!, he recovered his senses and began his exposition.
48. I shall speak only truth: this is indeed a place which, of itself, confers liberation. Its names are legion. Is it within even my power to speak of them all? However, I shall list a tiny fraction of them,. One of its names is Gauri, giver of supernatural powers, another is City of Light, another Southern Arunai, yet another City which is the glorious realm of Lord Siva, another City of Vayu, the deeply wise.
49. If you were to place the seven holy cities (Ayodhaya, Madurai, Mayapuri, Kasi, Kanchi, Avanti and Dvaraka) and all the other holy sites with them in one dish, and this one in the other dish, and weighed one against the other, this shining City would outweigh them all. Its name is City of Liberation. Its name is City of Knowledge. Its name is Foremost Abode of Iswara and Immaculate City. Its name is Southern Kailash. Its name is Sonagiri.
continued.....
Mahadeepam - 2012:
The Mahadeepam for seeing which the gods and goddesses were waiting at the heavens, was seen by my mortal eyes, around 6.00 p. in Jaya TV and Graham's webcam photo. First the smoke was seen and then the Light
along with full moon.
Subramanian. R
After seeing the Mahadepam, I only remembered Manikkavachagar's song in Arutpathu, Verse 1:
சோதியே சுடரே சூழொளி விளக்கே
சுரிசூழற் பணைமுலை மடந்தை
பாதியே பரனே பால்கொள்வெண்ணீற்றாய்
பங்கயத் தயனுமா லறியா
நீதியே செல்வத் திருப்பெருந்துறையில்
நிறைமலர்க் குருந்தமே வியசீர்
ஆதியே அடியேன் ஆதரித் தழைத்தால்
அதெந்துவே என் றரு ளாயே. 458
Subramanian. R
The Greatness of Arunachala:
(Arunachala Puranam -)
Robert Butler:
continues.....
50. This City cannot be laid waste even by he fiery whirlwinds, tidal waves, and the seven clouds which attend the universe's dissolution. Nor can it be affected in any way by depravity, disaster, famine and the diseases which arise from disorders of the three humors. It is that excellent City where great yogis and successive incarnations of Lord Vishnu have performed worship. It is that divine City where the six and ninety Brahmins who sprang from the lotus flower of Madhavan's navel made puja.
51. It is quite unique upon this earth. It is not recent in origin, for when the world itself, the Gods and the soaring vault of heaven came into being, it was there at that time. Unfailingly, it stands at the Veda's end. In that place an imperishable Mountain stands. Firmly established within the lotus-like heavenly sphere, in the Southern quarter it abides everlastingly, bringing prosperity to this world, girt by vast oceans.
52. Arsa, Rakshasa, Asura, Daivata, garlanded Manusa, Svyambu -- such are the names that are given to the Siva lingams that illuminate holy shrines everywhere, with their radiance. But here it is the beauteous Mountain itself which stands as the Lingam.
53. In the first (Krta) Yuga, it was a Mountain of bright red flame, then, in the Treta Yuga, of ruby. In the Dvapara Yuga, it shone with luster of pure gold, and in the Kali Yuga (The Age of Iron, the current yuga, reckoned to have begun in 3102 BCE.) in which we now dwell it is formed of stone. Its name is Arunachala, the Red Mountain.
continued......
The Greatness of Arunachala:
(Arunachala Puranam):
continues....
54. If the seven clouds, whose massed forms pour down rain as all incarnation ceases at the Yuga's end, were each to be multiplied ten million-fold, and to rain down drops the size of palmyra fruits for a thousand years, all the rain
would be reduced to mere river upon the Mountain.
55. Since Hari and Ayan (Brahma) wandered through endless time, unable to fathom its size, could anything else be said to be equal to it? The horses will pull the Sun's chariot rush through heavens to drink at the Mountain tanks, which even Celestial River praises.
56. White clouds gather about its foot, as if it were actually standing on top of Mount Kailash, which itself fills our mind with wonder. And to describe the light that appears there in cool month of Kartikai, we might say it resembles the jewel in the diadem of the Goddess Earth.
57. When The First One, whose greatness Mal (Vishnu) and Brahma, he who faces four directions, were unable to measure, took the form of a fragrant Mountain, Himavat rejoiced in his heart saying: 'It is good. Now my son in law and I are both of the same race.'
58. The twelve constellations, Sun and steadfast Moon all circle it, keeping to the right. Could even my understanding sufficient to describe its high state?, said Nandi. Notwithstanding this, the force of his inner voice desire compelled him to continue:
In Verses 59,60 & 61 Nandi describes some of the mountains that stand in the eight directions around Arunachala, then continues....
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The Greatness of Arunachala:
(Arunachala Puranam.)
continues.....
62. In that holy place, whose glory is equal even to her own, the Earth's Mother performed austerities so many and so great that she merged with the One who is my own Master, and became his left half? (The story of how Paravti came to win Lord Siva as her husband and finally take her place as the left side of his holy is told in Chapters 3,4,5, of the Arunachala Puranam.) Knowing this, how could anyone hope to speak of its goodness?
63. Mal (Vishnu) and Ayan as boar and swan sought diligently, yet were unable to take the measure of that Mountain whose nature gloriously embodies mantra, bhuvana and sattva. (Three of the six adhvan, paths to liberation in Saivite religion. Each of which, in initiation, is shown to be absorbed by the next one until the last is absorbed by the tirodhana sakti (concealing power) and this is in its turn by Siva.) and were thus released from the sin of pride.
64. Beginning with these first ones and continuing up to the present day, many are those who have attained the deathless state of liberation, through dwelling on Aruna in their thoughts, through lovingly speaking of its praises, through hearing of it, and then coming to gaze upon it, through performing pradakshina of it on foot, though dwelling there in a state of righteousness, through walking in the path of truth there, through bathing in its local tanks, and through carrying out good works, performing holy service in the temple and worshipping there at the feet of that Effulgent Light.
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The Greatness of Arunachala:
(Arunachala Puranam.)
continues.....
65. That holy place is in the Tamizh land. There, the river Pennai is praised as the ida nadi, the Seyyaru as the pingala, and the Kamalai of great renown, as the sushumna. A single act of bathing in these will yield fruit a thousand fold. Thirty three times ten millions sages will perform religious austerities there. Its equal cannot be found anywhere, whether it be in the world of men below, or that of Gods on high. Thus spoke Nandi.
67. The sage Markandeya rejoiced inwardly and his heart melted on hearing of Aruna's majesty from the mouth of One in whom no defect can be found. However, unable to comprehend how its greatness could be so exceed that of all the other holy shrines, he spoke again: 'My understanding is feeble,' he said, 'and there is something you said which is not clear to me.' 'Let me know it, then', said Nandi, who understands all things within his heart. Whereupon the sage spoke these words:
68. You have declared that to gaze upon Thillai, to die in Kasi, to be born in glorious Arur or simply to meditate upon Aruna whose greatness knows no measure, is the means to gain final liberation! Hear me, Master, and deign to explain why you spoke of Aruna, surrounded by water lilies all around, as the greatest of them all. To which Nandi graciously replied:
69. The actions of being born and dying cannot be achieved through the power of thought alone. (The implication is that to gain liberation at Kasi and the other Sthalas, one actually has to be born there, die there etc., one cannot simply imagine that one had done so.). Creatures that fly in the air, some wild animals, trees and other life forms with a single sense, (trees and plants are deemed to have only a single sense, that of touch), the depraved who are steeped in sin, and those who are blind cannot aspire to worship in the Hall, where the Lord performs his Holy Dance. This is easy only to a very few, coming as it does as a reward for the highest moral and spiritual attainment. To the rest, it is difficult thing indeed.
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The Greatness of Arunachala:
(Arunachala Puranam.)
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70. Those born out of wedlock, those who have renounced their religion, those illegitimately born of widows, those of low caste, murderers, those who have lost limbs, fierce savages, and those who dwell at a great distance, if they but once with righteous intention to fix their thoughts upon Mount Aruna, abode of compassion, the result will be liberation. Not only these, but also wild beasts, plants, trees, lotus flowers and related species, all will gain liberation, either by looking upon it, or germinating and growing there.
71. All stones in that place are lingams. It is indeed the Abode of Lord Siva. All trees are wish granting trees of Indra's Heaven. Its rippling waters are the Ganga, flowing through our Lord's matted locks. The food eaten there is the ambrosia of the Gods. When men move about in that place, it is the earth performing pradakshina around it. Words spoken here are holy scripture, and to fall asleep there is to be absorbed in Samadhi, beyond the mind's delusion. Could there be any other place which is its equal?
72. Whether they are guardians of the the three sacrificial fires, or are fully versed in the knowledge of the four Vedas, whether they are the ministrants of the five sacrifices, whether they perform austerities or carry out good works of whatever kind, or are practitioners of the eight fold path of Yoga, if they do not fix their thoughts, upon that holy shrine, there will be for them no final liberation. That is why even the Gods in heaven have taken birth as holy men, meditated upon it, and thereby attained that deathless state.
73. Those who dwell in the matchless Svarga, feasting on ambrosia, and those who severally stand guard over this Garden of Pleasure and other worlds desire to be born there, believing birth in that city, even as a mere worm, to be the greater good. Except for those who have performed one hundred sacrifices, birth in that noble place, is not attainable. Whilst it is easy for those who are recipients of the Lord's grace, it is difficult for the other Gods and the most eminent even amongst men.
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The Greatness of Arunachala:
(Arunachala Puranam.)
continues......
74. In all other holy places, the glittering presence of Lord Siva dwells like a flawless gem, encased in a setting of impure gold, silver, brass, copper or worthless iron. But in that richly abuadant place which is called Aruna, where our gracious Lord is enthroned in majesty, it is as if that same jewel were set in sheet of pure gold. Thus spoke Nandi, the holy one, the embodiment of grace.
75. It is the eyes which light up the holy visage, which lends luster to those dark eyes. And the combined effect of these causes the whole body to shine. In the same way, it is due to the Supreme One that Aruna shines and due to Aruna's City that our Master shines. And it is due to the Immaculate One and noble Aruna together, that holy shrines without number, all of them, shine out. Thus its glory far exceeds that of all other shrines, declared Nandi.
76. If water is poured on to the roots of a plant, its fragrant flowers, leaves and shoots, will be refreshed. Similarly, if puja, however modest, is performed in the prescribed manner in Aruna's City the result is as if puja of the most distinguished order had taken place in Kasi, or any of the other holy places. If puja is not performed here, what does it matter if it is performed in the other holy places, or indeed in none of them?
77. If those who dwell in Arunachala, which the whole world reveres, entertain doubts in their heart, and conceiving a desire for some other holy shrine, depart and go to that place, the austerities and righteous deeds they have performed previously will become worthless. However highly born, they will become the lowest of low. However greatly endowed with good qualities, they will become morally debased. Though living, they will be as the dead. The same fate awaits those who claim that any other shrine is equal.
78. Thus, having pleasingly described and explained to the rishis, the great glory of Aruna, Lord Nandi, who bears the fawn, battle axe, and sword remained at peace.
concluded.
Does anyone have a clue why the inner path has been closed off to the public?
I'm not interested in the official line of The forestry department as it doesn't ring true.
Responsibility:
(Editorial - Apr. - Jun. 2012)
Our journey is principally an internal one of removing the sense of doership from all our activities. The chief obstacle to understanding is our mind with its habitual thoughts (vasanas). No matter how sophisticated our mind and however well intentioned we may be, invariably we become attached to our activities and their results. The temptation to attribute ourselves the impersonal working of destiny is normally too great to resist. Even when we deny ourselves there is a trace of doership.
Two vulnerable swamis were in a temple praying. Each one bowed his head and with the hushed vehemence repeated: 'O Lord I am nothing. You alone are everything.' The cleaning man for the temple who was illiterate heard this prayer and was deeply impressed. He too when he could spare a moment started to pray with all his heart, 'Oh, Lord, I am nothing. You alone are everything.' One day the two swamis heard him at prayer and one turned to the other and sneering said, 'Who is he to think he is nothing?'
Where then is the responsibility for all we do and manifest in our existence? Are we accountable for each and every one of our thoughts and actions or are we pretenders, powerless in the face of impersonal forces beyond our comprehension? Are we mere puppets on the wind?
From the absolute point of view we have no free will and are all subject to our prarabdha karma. As Sri Bhagavan said to His Mother:
'The Ordainer controls the fat of of souls in accordance with their prarabdha karma. Whatever is destined not to happen, will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen, will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.' (Arthur Osborne, Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge).
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Responsibility:
continues.....
Happy are those who have surrendered in complete faith to the higher power guiding our destiny. But for those of us, who are struggling, what does it mean to surrender and where are the boundaries of our responsibility for who we are? Does Sri Bhagavan's admonition to His Mother imply a carte blanche to do as we please since we are not in control and therefore not responsible for our behavior?
A century after its sinking in April 1912, the Titanic still grips our imagination. There have been greater catastrophes in terms of the loss of human life but the Titanic continues to engage our imagination. The White Star line which built the huge Titanic created the safest modern ship of its day. This was the era in Europe when people believed technology was the answer to every problem and that man's supremacy though not complete, was assured. It was just a question of time before they would be master of all they surveyed. The Titanic was symbolic of that age's zeitgeist, deluded by its own power and false dreams.
Why then did the Titanic sink and who ultimately was responsible for the disaster? The Captain, Edward J. Smith, was an experienced man brought out of retirement for this one voyage, to break the speed record over the Atlantic on this prestigious new boat. The primary reasons for the disaster were attributed to a failure to take heed of radio warnings from other ships about icebergs and to the fact that the ship was traveling too fast to take evasive action. J. Bruce Ismay, the owner of The White Star line survived the tragedy and lived the rest of his life in denial that he had anything to do with it? (Wilson, Frances, How to Survive the Titanic: The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay, Bloomsbury, 2011). Rescued by the ocean liner Carpathia, he looked a desolate man whose life and career was wrecked beyond repair.
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Responsibility:
continues.....
In the initial inquiry he repeated over and over again: "I am not in anyway responsible." A bully, rich and arrogant, he tried to wriggle out of the inquiries by evasion and bare faced lies and spent rest of this life avoiding all talk of the Titanic. One startling vignette of the actual sinking of the ship was that Ismay rowed to safety on one of the life boats full of women and children that he claimed he never actually saw the ship sink. This is a lie, because for him to row away from the ship he would be facing backwards and would have surely seen the calamity. The level of denial is staggering.
We see then in Ismay a failure of a small man to realize and accept responsibility. There was neither nobility nor heroism. His misconduct was that of a petty man. He was well illustrated Shakespeare's immortal lines, 'Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste death but once.' (One man did stay at his station and in the time honored tradition, Captain Edward J. Smith went down with the ship. Another, John Jacob Astor, who was one of the wealthiest men in America, allowed others ahead of him onto the lifeboats and was last seen smoking on the deck with another passenger.).
At the other end of the scale there is the classic Indian spiritual illustration of responsibility illustrated by the dilemma Arjuna confronted on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. In his case, urged on and advised by Lord Krishna, Arjuna accepts his responsibility, however horrid the consequences may be and vigorously fought the forces of adharma.
We see in the modern age, another hero Mahatma Gandhi who accepted responsibility for the riots which erupted during the freedom struggle. His response is instructive. If we identify with any object, ideal or purpose, as say Gandhiji did with the voice of the people in India, then we are affected by the actions incurred over the course of time. We are inevitably swept along by our decision to identify with the object of our desire, gross or subtle.
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Responsibility:
continues....
In our own attitude and behavior we generally fall between these two extreme examples of an Ismay or a Gandhiji. Though there are crucial life defining moments in our life when we are called to rise to a challenge, our life in general, rarely contains an obvious black or white choice. It is mostly grey and made up of tiny moments that when added up are decisive in influencing how we think and act. From small seeds huge trees grow for both good and bad.
How then do we remain silent in the wave of destiny which carries us along as either a willing, joyful participant or a frustrated recalcitrant? For the purpose of this editorial let us focus on the danger of the negative refusal to engage with that which is before us, as those who surrender and accept the responsibility for what they are, have learnt this lesson already.
Malcontent occurs when we refuse to accept the train of events and demand that they be different. We want people and actions to fulfill our expectations. We do not want to own up to our shortcomings. It is invariably someone else's mistake when things go wrong. The attitude of 'Why me?' taints our behavior when life becomes unpleasant. We find reasons to be right and just as many for another person to be mistaken.
There are many, many psychological exercises that can ameliorate our suffering but ultimately it come down to one question: What does he experience teach me? If we unflinchingly look negativity in the eye, we will see that always we bear to some degree of responsibility for its occurrence. However miniscule our participation we could have anticipated its disruption and taken remedial action. Not to do anything is an action; passivity in the face of choice is consent. We are doomed to commit the same mistake over and over again until we learn. 'Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.' (Attributed to Edmund Burke, the 18th century statesman. The American philosopher George Santayana slightly modified this quote in his own writings. 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' It has also been misquoted as 'Those who forget their history are destined to repeat it.')
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Responsibility:
continues.....
So how do we reconcile Sri Bhagavan's injunction to remain silent, because fate will happen however much we try to avoid it? What then of the advice to actively change our conduct by accepting the responsibility for that which happens anyway? This is a conundrum that can be answered simply by another question. How identified are with our body and mind? The moment we realize that our quandary is based on ignorance we can see clarity is of the essence. That is why we meditate, perform devotions and act to the best of our ability without an ulterior motive. The purified mind sees all its activities clearly and accepts that which our desires and fears have obscured. To see clearly releases us from the chains of identification. It is no longer a question of responsibility for the sattvic mind now has developed the power of attention to realize the source of 'I'. It has no name and no form and therefore no karma.
The key is consciousness. Consciousness is indivisible. One is either conscious or one is not. There is no partial consciousness. It is not a quality or a quantity. It is the one constant not subject to change and as such is unaffected by the laws of cause and effect. For us to exist we cannot be conscious. We cannot know it as separate from ourselves, we can only become That.
When we realize it, it makes no difference whether our desires are fulfilled or not, whether our minds are happy or sad, whether our body experiences pain or pleasure. Whether we are an Ismay or Gandhiji, it makes no difference though we reap the reward with out bodies and minds, for the choices we have made. The coward and the fool are part of our nature, as the hero and wise one. 'Seeing his kinsman thus all arrayed...' Arjuna's predicament on the battle field is ours. Our thoughts are our relatives. Our enemies are our negativities.
Our task is to see directly that Consciousness is peerless. It is untouched. It is That without a second. To do this demands we be silently alert with all our heart and let loose the arrow of intention.
concluded.
Sanatana Dharma:
(Editorial - Deepam, 2004 of MountainPath.)
The term Hinduism is a recent word of convenience used to indicate the land and people to who live east of Indus River. It is indicative of the Indian psyche that it accepted this classification which much the same ease with which is absorbed many elements of the Mughals and other Muslim invaders without in the main, losing its own intrinsic identity. In fact, Hinduism is probably the only major religion and culture to bear the full brunt of the extraordinary surge of Islam over the past thousands years and retain its own character.
The people who live from the snows Kashmir to the shores of Kanyakumari should however rather be recognized as adherents to an Indian way of life entitled the Sanatana Dharma. It is an important distinction and we should be aware of it as much. By knowing this, we can better gauge and understand the
roots of this principal and its relevance to us. Otherwise, like the blind we grope as its enormous structure and make glib conclusions which can mislead us.
There is no exact English equivalent for the expression Sanatana Dharma. One approach could be the term 'philosophia perennis' or perennial wisdom. But we remain really just as perplexed as if we had stuck with the original Sanskrit. Both are technical expressions which demand a certain prior knowledge. What we are looking for contrary-wise is understanding. We do require facts but not at the expense of insight, for scholarship can obscure just as much as it can facilitate understanding.
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Sanatana Dharma:
continues......
The word dharma is fundamental to our understanding. It is not a fixed term but fluid and applicable to a wide range of conditions. Indeed, one could say that to understand dharma is to understand life itself. Dharma is that subtle, comprehensive power which holds things together in their correct proportion. The root of the word is 'dhri' which has the meaning of carrying, supporting or sustaining. Without this concept of stability we are doomed to endure a maze of rapidly altered states whose constant is one of confusion. This root word is almost identical with another one, 'dhru' which means pole. It indicates the unchanging axis around which the change occurs. (See Rene Guenon, Studies in Hinduism, Chapter 11, Sanatana Dharma, Sophia Perennis, New York.
2001.)
And Santana? It implies duration and perpetuity. It has the quality of being indefinite. It cannot however be defined by a specific time and place. The term 'sanatana' indicates that dharma applies equally to all beings and their states of manifestation. Again we see here the idea of permanence and stability.
But where is it that binds a Brahmin in Kashmir with one who lives in the very south of the country with some thousand or more miles away among Tamizhs and Malayalis? When we consider the historical conditions of, say two thousand years ago, it is astonishing to find that aside from local customs pertaining to food o dress, they have everything in common. One underlying language, Sanskrit; one ritual contained in the Vedas and one outlook which is liberation from the cycle of birth and death in this material universe. If they were brought together they can communicate easily. How was this possible? How is it that over so many centuries this glue has held together so many disparate people, for the Bengalis distinct from the Gujaratis, the Marathis from the Assamese? And today would the voice of Sri Ramana Maharshi, a South Indian born man inspire so many people of such a diversity unless it resonated with instantly recognizable truth. That is why His influence has spread not only throughout India but also among westerners and peoples even farther east such as from Japan and Korea.
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Sanatana Dharma:
continues.....
One man, born in an obscure village, of upright but not influential or powerful parents, Sri Ramana as His life progressed steadily assumed the status of a god among those who fell under the spell of His sagacity and compassion. Was He unique or was He a familiar product of this so called Sanatana Dharma? If He could
rose to such heights of recognition because of an undoubted integrity why not us? Like Sri Ramana, do we too need to be born in obscurity and enjoy sports rather than academic life? Do we need a superb memory that can carry a dreamer over the pitfalls of any exam system be it in the halls of academia or on the highways of becoming a 'success'?
The answer obviously is No. Each of us is unique and each has his or her own path to walk. Nobody can do it for us. Circumstances determine the terrain we must traverse to understand who we are. It is only by understanding this that there is an opportunity to transcend our limitations. Before we can fly we must confront the obstacles on the ground. It is only by being true to our path do we adhere to our svadharma. This is crucial to an understanding of what the santana dharma offers us, as a consolation in the face of anomalies in our personal and public life. And also as an alternative to the mindless, knee-jerk reactions we tend to indulge in when buffeted by the demands of the society within which we live.
Is there any criterion, method or medium by which we can judge our progress through life? Yes. It is called the Sanatana Dharma.
Some may think this ancient way an anachronism in our smart, modern day and age. It is all very well to have ideals but do they feed us? Do they fulfill our human desires? In short, according to commonly accepted current wisdom, we should 'wake up' and 'get real' and not indulge in a so called fantasy.
The 'conventional' trend of thought can only sink us further into the 'set of values' which pervades our present confused generation. If we further dare to ask what is the point of this hurried and anxious scramble for wealth, status and security? We do it because others do it and we feel accepted. We are reassured that we are on the right track. But are we? The fact that so many people are searching for an alternative set of values should tell us something.
That being the case, what does the realization of a young man in Madurai in 1896, have to do with the focus of our investigation into the sanatana dharma? What did He discover and what did He realize which totally and irreparably transformed His life and in consequence, ours? What happened to Sri Ramana was not that He discovered something but more to the point, He was engulfed by the power of a living principle. Like the proverbial moth naturally attracted to the light or like the astonishing migratory bird who unerringly track the magnetic lines of the two polar caps. Sri Ramana was overwhelmed by the surge of His inquiry. He was at one moment sucked out the skin of His narrow physical world and at the same time, stripped of all illusion and transformed into a complete human being. This was made possible by unwavering adherence to the single
unifying and universal life force, the sanatana dharma.
Do we dare ask the same question as He did? Are we ready to take that risk and give up the beliefs of our small restless world? What is our svadharma?
concluded.
LETTERS TO FRIENDS:
Swami Sadhu Om:
(Many people used to correspond with Swami Sadhu in matters of Sri Bhagavan and Arunachala. Some of Sadhu Om's responses are given below:)
(Oct.- Dec. 2005, Mountain Path.)
Sat Sangh:
Sri Bhagavan used to say that the very ground here at Arunachala is Jnana Bhoomi, a place of Knowledge.
Before Sri Bhagavan appeared on the scene, we all took Satsangh merely to mean the company of good people. But He made us understand that Sat Sangh is association with Sat (Pure Being). However, until we are able to ever abide in Sat as Sat, we can take the association with those who ever abide in Sat to be Sat Sangh. Yet, since we take such people to be the body (we can't do otherwise, while we take ourselves to be the body), we may feel when their body dies that we lose their immediate company or association. But Arunachala is always here -- and no one can deny that this Hill is Sat. Therefore, Sat Sangh is alwys available at Arunachala and pradakshina is the best Sat Sangh of all.
When a needle is stroked by a magnet, it does not gain a new magnetic property since the needle's own true nature is magnetic -- its magnetism is apparently hidden until it association with a magnet. Similarly, we do not gain anything new from Sat Sangh. Because Sat Sangh merely reveals our true nature, which is Sat, just as the magnetism of a needle is revealed by the repeated contact with the magnet, so are we helped to know our true nature, by repeated pradaksxhina of the Hill on contact with Jnani.
Clue to know Self
Sri Bhagavan has given us so many clues to know the Self. 'Turn towards the Self' is helpful when we sit for practice, though truly we cannot turn, since self cannot be said to be in one place and not in the other. When we are much overwhelmed by miseries, however, and we feel unable to turn to the Self, we can try 'shifting' by thinking in this manner.
The miseries come to the body or mind to say, the person Sankaran, but am I this person? Did I feel 'I am Sankaran' in sleep?' What then is the 'I feeling' which is mixed with Sankaran, mind, body etc.,? By thinking thus we may get the chance to focus our attention to the mere 'I'.
When we want to sift a diamond from the heap of pebbles, we attend to the heap and in doing so, our attention is caught by the diamond. Similarly, if we want to sift the 'I' from the mind, by scrutinizing
the mind to find the 'I', our attention will be caught by the 'I' and we will find that there is no mind at all -- this is the clue Sri Bhagavan gives in the Upadesa Undiyar, Verse 17.
continued.....
punarvasu vaNNam:
Today, the 2nd December is the punarvasu star day in the Tamizh month of Kartigai. In the next month,
Margazhi in Tamizh falls the punarvasu star day, the birth star of Sri Bhagavan.
Sri Muruganar has composed 11 verses in Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai (1814 to 1824) on the glory of punarvasu, punarvasu vaNNam.
One of the verses says:
The devotees among themselves will be enthusiastically talking about their Master, as if that is their food and flourish. The glory of Sri Ramanan, which is the music and they talk about this immeasurably on this day of glorious day of punarvasu star.
The Asramam celebrates this day with special pujas to Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingam.
Subramanian. R
Letters to Friends - Sri Sadhu Om:
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Gita Rahasya:
In the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10, Verse 37, Sri Krishna says, '....Among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna...' Most people understand by this that Krishna is praising Arjuna, but Sri Bhagavan pointed out that it was not so. This was one of the many chances that Krishna gave to Arjuna to understand the Truth. But Arjuna did not grasp it. What Arjuna should have felt on hearing these words is: 'If He is Arjuna, I am not -- then who cam I?' and thus he should erase the ego -- the feeling 'I am Arjuna.'
Why is it that man is attracted to woman and woman is attracted to man?
When this question was put to me, I could at first only think of the answer, which Sri Bhagavan would have given. 'Why do you think that you are a man? Because you take the body to be yourself, you feel 'I am a man' or 'I am a woman.' Find out whether you are the body!' Really this is the right answer, but since the question was asked sincerely, I wanted to give something more as an answer. For a few days, I could think of no suitable answer because it was hard for me to imagine what that attraction was that they felt. However, after about 4 days, the answer came to me.
In every magnet, there are two opposite poles, north and south. Similarly, in every body there are the two opposite sexes male and female. Either we identify with the male body or the female body. If we feel I am a male, we are naturally attracted to female bodies, just as a north pole is attracted to a south pole! We learn in physics that if a magnetic bar is placed beneath a card and iron feelings are spread evenly on card, we have a pattern which shows us where the magnetic attraction is strongest, where it is weakest, and where it is nil. If we move a little to either side of the center, we feel the pull of either north or south. So also in the center of every individual is point where sex attraction is nil.
What is that center? Where is the that point that is common to both man and woman? It is I AM. Males feel I am a man. Females feel I am a woman -- in that 'I am' there is no sex. That's why Sri Bhagavan says: come to the center, come to the Heart, remain as I AM - then only you can overcome the sex attraction. So long as we move even to a little to one side or the other side of the center -- so long we have the slightest identification 'I am a man' or 'I am a woman', we cannot overcome sex attraction. Moreover, if we forcibly try to reject the sex feeling (by attending to it instead of ignoring it), it would be like cutting the magnet bar in the center. When it is thus broken, two new bars, each with their own north and south pole are generated. The previous center in the single bar then shifts to a new place, a center, in the two new bars. What is more, now there are two bars or lines of thoughts and the power of attraction is doubled. When we try to reject sex by maintaining forced celibacy, we actually strengthen it.
The correct way to conquer sex is ignoring the identification 'I am a man' or 'I am a woman' and attending instead to the mere I AM!
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Letters to Friends: Sri Sadhu Om:
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The Secret of Mantras:
Once in Sri Bhagavan's Presence, a devotee asked what was the benefit of the mantra 'Namo Ramanaya', and another devotee replied: 'mano marana' (i.e. death of mind - marana is the word used in Ulladu Narpadu Verse 2). Sri Bhagavan laughed and approved the interpretation. We can also interpret it as: mano ramana (i.e. he who rejoices over the mind or he who gives happiness to the mind).
The secret of mantras is that particular sounds have peculiar influences over the mind. The mantra Arunachala Siva has the power to subside the mind because it was given for that purpose by Sri Bhagavan. My own experience is that the syllable 'NA' in Ramana and Arunachala kindles in us the same power which we use when we withdraw the mind from the second and third persons towards the first person. But no combination of sounds as great a power to subside the mind as the simple mantra 'I', we do not depend upon the power of the sound because that word spelt in one's own mother tongue, denotes for everyone the feeling of his own being. 'I' is the greatest and most powserful mantra even greater than Om. (See Day by Day with Bhagavan entry dated 28.6.1946.) This is one of the unique discoveries of Sri Bhagavan.
In the past the platform heroes of philosophy have exaggerated the greatness of 'Om'. In Arunachala Aksharamana Malai Verse 13, Sri Bhagavan does not call Arunachala 'Om' but the meaning of 'Om' (Omkara poruL). What is important, what is to be meditated upon is not the the word or sound 'Om', but That which is denoted by the word.
concluded.
Tapas:
(Skt: austerity; to burn.)
The term describes action engaged in by the spiritual seeker to achieve true knowledge. It is often used to describe the action of a yogi who employs a specific meditation practice to gain power or siddhis.
The aim of traditional seekers is declared as Isvara Darsan, that is, to see God. The actual implication of this aim is to become united with God, which is indicated by the term yoga or union. The seekers who do yoga are engaged in tapas as prescribed by Vedas or the later Indian classical scriptures, and are usually guided by a guru, a spiritual preceptor.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was exceptional. He did not study any scriptures nor did He require a human preceptor. He spontaenously engaged in Vichara and accomplished in minutes what takes other seekers a lifetime or more. His teachings are radical because they are based on His unique experiment and experience, sadhana and anubhava. The traditional scriptures give us some limited instructions on Vichara. But it is Sri Bhagavan's understanding of Vichara and tapas that are fundamentally different from the traditional scriptures, which reveals to the royal road to Self Knowledge.
The fundamental difference of perception of tapas can be seen in the text, Upadesa Saram or as it is known in Tamizh, Upadesa Undiyar. The tapas performed by the rishis in the forest of Daruka in order to acquire siddhis can only lead to self aggrandizement and consequent disgrace whereas the right tapas brings about the destruction of the ego which is liberation.
Sri Bhagavan deftly composed simple but profound verses on all the kinds of tapas in thirty terse verses. In the first fifteen verses, He covers the four types of of traditional yoga and in the second half, He instructs us about Vichara, both theory and application.
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Tapas:
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Muruganar who composed the concluding verse 30 of Upadesa Undiayar records Sri Bhagavan's concluding statement on tapas:
'What (is experienced) if one knows that which remains after 'I' (ego self) has ceased to exist, that alone is excellent tapas - thus said Lord Ramana, the Self.'
Though Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni had practiced numerous kinds of tapas according to the scriptural injunctions, he realized that his understanding was inadequate and requested Sri Bhagavan to explain the true meaning of tapas. Sri Bhagavan replied: 'If one watches whence the notion 'I' arises, the mind is absorbed into That. That is tapas. When a mantra is repeated, if one watches the Source from which the mantra sound is produced the mind is absorbed in That. That is tapas.'
What is the means recommended by Sri Bhagavan?
'When one investigates the source of 'I' within, the 'I' will die. This is self inquiry.'
When we seek the source of our 'I' there is no definitive 'place' where it resides. It is elusive like trying to catch the wind in you hands. It is not a fixed entity that is dependent on time and space as we know it. So then, how are we to find the source of 'I' with our mind when it does not exists in any conventional locality?
Who asks this question? Who is the one who searches for oneself? Sri Bhagavan requests us to remain in the source of that consciousness which asks the question. To turn the attention of the mind within so that it is fixed upon the sense of existence of its source is tapas. It is not the thoughts, which reveals the truth; it is the pure consciousness (Chit) which reveals the truth of being (Sat).
'There is no other consciousness to know that which exists (the reality or Sat). Therefore existence (Sat) is also consciousness (Chit) and we are that (the real Self).'
Tapas is the abidance in the Self. It is not abidance by the mind in the Self, because that presupposes the mind and the so called Self are different. Rather, in that pure state of consciousness:
'Being the Self is knowing the Self, because the Self is (one and) not two. This is Self abidance.'
concluded.
Inquiring into the Nature of the Self:
John Grimes:
In order to realize that one is the Self, one must inquire into the true nature of the Self. The Self which is not in the least hypothetical. It is the most immediate, direct, and certain perception of all. Because one accepts oneself as the origin of thought, sight, sound and emotion and so forth, one has faith that what one thinks, sees, hears, and feels is 'real'. Instead, why not doubt the evanescent things such as thoughts, sights and sounds, and hold that which is always there and is the foundation of it all, your Self. The 'I am' can never be changed into an 'I am not'. What is experienced is always open to doubt. But that someone experiences it is certain.
Is there a truth anywhere which is so definite that it cannot possibly be doubted? Advaita avers that the only things which one can never logically doubts in the existence of one's own Self. No matter where one seeks or how esoteric the search, ultimately it must be realized that there is a universal constant, one is always there. Why, the very act of doubting oneself is but an affirmation of oneself, for one can always ask, 'Who exactly is doing the doubting? To say that 'I do not exist' is to affirm the 'I' who is disbelieving.
Advaita asks one to inquire into exactly who this 'I' is. For a start, how do you refer to yourself? Only as this one single syllable, 'I'. Every person says 'I', but few of us make the effort to know what this 'I' means? Who exactly are we alluding to as 'I'? One usually assumes that one is referring to the physical body when one speaks of 'I'. But a little reflection will reveal that the 'I' cannot be the physical body. The body itself cannot say 'I' for it is inert. One says, 'This is my coat, this is my hair, this is my body, this is my name.' What is 'mine' belongs to me. What belongs to me is not me. I am separate from it, I possess it. Whatever I possess I can dispense with and still remain who I am.
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