The previous 'Open Thread' appear to be malfunctioning by posting each comment twice. I am starting a new one to see if that solves the problem.
I omitted to mention earlier that a new feature has been added to the 'Recent Comments' box. Near the top there is an icon of two people. If you click on it, you will see a list of the users who have made the last twenty-five comments. If you then tick the white box to the left of the user's name, the recent comments of that particular user will be featured. You can then open them all with the 'expand all' option, or open them one by one by clicking on the plus sign.
If you want to do a search for older comments, click on the 'next' box and comments 26-50 will display. Click again and 51-75 will appear. And so on. The same search facility is available inside each twenty-five comment block.
I omitted to mention earlier that a new feature has been added to the 'Recent Comments' box. Near the top there is an icon of two people. If you click on it, you will see a list of the users who have made the last twenty-five comments. If you then tick the white box to the left of the user's name, the recent comments of that particular user will be featured. You can then open them all with the 'expand all' option, or open them one by one by clicking on the plus sign.
If you want to do a search for older comments, click on the 'next' box and comments 26-50 will display. Click again and 51-75 will appear. And so on. The same search facility is available inside each twenty-five comment block.
5,000 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1801 – 2000 of 5000 Newer› Newest»Visions and experience of Bliss:
A Swiss lady described a photism
she had to Sri Bhagavan. While
she was sitting with her eyes
wide open, she saw Sri Bhagavan's
face becoming cherub-like and
draped in glorious flowers. She was
drawn in love towards that child-
like face.
Maharshi: The vision is in you mind. You love is the cause. Paul
Brunton saw me as a giant figure. You saw me like a child. Both are visions.
(The lady said: Paul Brunton asked me if I had any spiritual experiences here, and I denied it.
Now this happens.)
Maharshi: Do not be deceived by
visions.
Devotee: If one is miles away
in Europe and invokes your aid...
Maharshi: Where is Europe? It is in you.
Devotee: I have come here; I would like Maharshi to come there. [Saying it, she laughed gently. Silence for some minutes.]
Maharshi: You see the physical body and so you find limitations. Time and space operate on this plane. So long as you think of the gross body there will be differences found as different bodies. On the other hand, knowledge of the real Maharshi will set all doubts at rest.
....... Space is in you. The physical body is in space. but not you. Paul Brunton had his eyes closed when he saw the vision, whereas you had your eyes open, you say.
....
After a few minutes she asked if it is an advantage or a disadvantge
to see visions like this.
Maharshi: It is an advantage.
Sri Bhagavan continued: Probably you had been thinking of a child and that appeared in the vision...
Devotee: Yes, only of Siva -- of His child like face....
Maharshi; That's it.
Devotee: But Siva is the Destroyer...[meaning, not a child].
Maharshi: Yes - of sorrows.
[Talks No. 304, 26th Dec. 19 36.]
*****
Surrender and Grace:
Mr. Sridhar, a Hindu from Goa,
asked: What is 'kousalam'
[skill] in 'Yogah karmasu
kousalam' [Yoga is skill in action].
How is that gained?
Maharshi: Do actions without caring
for result. Do not think that you are the doer. Dedicate the work to
God. That is the skill and also
the way to gain it.
Devotee: 'Samatvam yoga uchyate'
[Equanimity is Yoga]. What is that equanimity?
Maharshi: It is unity in diversity. The universe is now seen to be diverse. See the common factor [sama] in all objects. When that is done equality in pairs of opposites [dwandwani] naturally follows. It is the latter which is however spoken of as equanimity ordinarily.
Devotee: How the common factor to be perceived in the diversity?
Maharshi: The seer is only one. They do not appear without the seer. There is no change in the seer, however much others may change.
Yogah karmasu kousalam = Skill in work is Yoga.
Samatvam yoga uchyate = Equanimity is Yoga.
Mamekam saranam vraja = Only surrender to Me.
Ekamevadwiteeyam = Only one without a second.
representing Karma, Yoga, Bhakti and Jnana convey the same meaning. They are only the single Truth presented in different aspects.
Mr. Ekanatha Rao: Is Grace necessary for it?
Maharshi: Yes.
Devotee: How to gain Divine Grace?
Maharshi: Surrender.
Devotee: Still I do not feel Grace.
Maharshi: Sincerity is wanting. Surrender should not be verbal nor conditional.
Passages from St. Justinian were read out to illustrate these statements.
Prayer is not verbal. It is from the heart. To merge into the Heart is prayer. That is also Grace.
The Azhwar says: "I was all along seeking Thee. But on realizing the Self I find you are the Self. The Self is my all, and so you are my All."
[Talks No. 319, 7th Jan. 1937.]
****
While explaining the stanza 6
in Arunachala Ashtakam, Sri
Bhagavan observed as follows:
The final word in the previous
stanza asks, "Is there one?"
The initial words in the present
stanza says, "Yes, there is
the One..." It proceeds, "Though it is the only One, yet by its wonderful power it gets reflected on the tiny dot 'I' [the ego] otherwise known as ignorance or the aggregate of latent tendencies; this reflected light is relative knowledge. This according to one's prarabdha [past karma now fructifying], manifests the inner latent tendencies as the outer gross world and withdraws the gross external world as the subtle internal tendencies; such power is called mind in the subtle plane and brain in the physical plane. This mind or brain acts as the magnifier to that Eternal One Being and shows It forth as the expanded universe. In the waking and dream states the mind is outward bent and in sleep it is inward bent. With the mind as the medium, the One Supreme Being seems diversified in the waking and dream states and remains withdrawn in the sleep state, or swoon etc., Therefore you are only That and cannot be otherwise. Whatever changes, the same one Being remains as yourself. There is nothing besides yourself."
The previous stanza says: "Once exposed to sunlight, a sensitive plate cannot take on image. Similarly the mind [sensitive plate] after exposure in Your Light, cannot reflect the world anymore. Moreover, the Sun is of You only. Should his rays be so powerful as to prevent images being formed, how much more so should Your Light be? It is thus said that there is nothing apart from the One Being. Yourself.
In the present stanza, the tiny dot is the ego. The tiny dot made up of darkness, the ego consisting of latent tendencies, the seer or the subject or the ego rising, it expands itself as the seen, the object or the antahkaranas [the inner organs]. The light must be dim in order to enable the ego to rise up. In broad daylight, a rope does not look like a snake. The rope itself cannot be seen in the thick darkness. So there is no chance of mistaking it for a snake. Only in dim light, in the dusk, in light darkened by shadows or in darkness lighted by dim light does the mistake occur of a rope seeming a snake. Similarly, it is for the Pure Radiant Being to rise up as the Ego, -- it is possible only in Its Light diffused through darkness. The darkness is otherwise known as the Original Ignorance [Original Sin]. The Light passing through it is called Reflected Light. The Reflected Light on its own merits is commonly known as the Pure Mind or Iswara or
God. Iswara is well known to be unified with Maya. In other words, the Reflected Light is Iswara.
[Talks No. 323. 7th Jan. 1937.]
******
"For He can well be loved, but he cannot be thought. By love he can be grasped and held, but by thought, neither grasped nor held. And therefore, though it may be good at times to think specifically of the kindness and excellence of God, and though this may be a light and a part of contemplation, all the same, in the work of contemplation itself, it must be cast down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And you must step above it stoutly but deftly, with a devout and delightful stirring of love, and struggle to pierce that darkness above you; and beat on that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love, and do not give up, whatever happens"
The Cloud of unknowing
Advaita and the manifesting world:
Devotee: In pure Advaita, can evolution, creation or manifestation
have any place? What about the theory of vivarta according to which
Brahman appears as the world without forgetting its essential nature, like the rope appearing as snake?
Maharshi: There are different methods of approach to prove the unreality of the universe. The example of dream is one among them. Jagrat, svapna and sushupti are all treated elaborately in the scripture in order that the Reality underlying them might be revealed. It is not meant to accentuate differences among the three states. The purpose must be kept clearly in view.
Now they say that the world is unreal. Of what degree of unreality is it? Is it like that of a son of a barren woman or a flower in the sky, mere worlds without any reference to facts? Whereas the world is a fact and not a mere word. The answer is that it is a superimposition on the one Reality, like appearance of a snake on a coiled rope seen in dim light.
But here too the wrong identity ceases as soon as the friend points out that it is a rope. Whereas in the matter of the world it persists even after it is known to be unreal. How is that? Again the appearance of water in a mirage persists even after the knowledge the mirage is recognized. So it is with the world. Though knowing it to be unreal, it continues to manifest.
But the water of the mirage is not sought to satisfy one's thirst. As soon as one knows that it is a mirage, one gives it up as useless and does not run after it for procuring water.
Devotee: Not so with the appearance of the world. Even after it is repeatedly declared to be false, one cannot avoid satisfying one's wants, from the world. How can the world be false?
Maharshi: It is like a man satisfying his dream wants by dream creation. There are objects, there are wants and there is satisfaction. The dream creation is as purposeful as the Jagrat world and yet it is not considered real.
Thus we see that each of these illustrations, serves a distinct purpose in establishing the stages of unreality. The realized sage finally declares that in the regenerate state of Jagrat world is also found to be as unreal as the dream world is found to be in the Jagrat state.
Each illusion should be understood in its proper context. It should not be studied as an isolated statement. It is a link in a chain. The purpose of all these is to direct the seeker's mind towards the One Reality underlying them all.
Devotee: Is there that difference in the philosophy of Sri Sankara and Gaudapada, which the learned Professor [Dr.S.Radhakrishnan] wants us to believe?
Maharshi: The difference is only in our imagination.
(Talks No. 399 - 15th April 1947]
******
How to realize the Self?
Mr. Ganapatram: How shall I find out "Who am I?"
Maharshi: Are there two selves for the one self to find the other?
Devotee: The Self must be only one consisting of two aspects of 'I' and sankalpa [i.e. of thinker and thought].
After a time he continued...
Please say how I shall realize the 'I'. Am I to make the japa 'Who am I?
Maharshi: No Japa of the kind is meant.
Devotee: Am I to think 'Who am I?'
Maharshi: You have known that the 'I-thought' springs forth. Hold the 'I-thought' and find its moola,
source.
Devotee: May I know the way?
Maharshi: Do as you have now been told and see.
Devotee: I do not know what I should do?
Maharshi: If it is anything objective, the way can be shown objectively. This is subjective.
Devotee: I do not understand.
Maharshi: What! Do you not understand that you are?
Devotee: Please tell me the way.
Maharshi: Is it necessary to show the way in the interior of your own house? This is within you.
Devotee: What do you advise me to do?
Maharshi: Why should you do anything and what you should do? Only keep quiet. Why not do so? Each one must do according to his own state.
Devotee: Please tell me what is suitable for me. I want to hear from you.
Maharshi: (No answer)
(Talks 486 - 2nd May 1938.]
******
The Inner Circle:
The Chosen Ones.
Devotee: Does God work His will through some chosen persons?
Maharshi: God is in all and works through all. But His presence is better recognized in purified minds. The pure ones reflect God's actions more clearly. Therefore, people say, they are the 'chosen ones'. But the 'chosen man' does not himself say so. If he thinks he is the intermediary then it is clear that he retains his individuality and that there is no complete surrender.
[From Talks.]
Sri Bhagavan has selected 10 stanza
from the famous work of Sri Sankara -
Sivananda Lahari - describing devotion [bhakti].
(1) What is bhakti?
Just as the ankola fruit falling from the tree rejoins it or a piece
of iron drawn to magnet, so also thoughts, after rising up, lose themselves in their original source. This is bhakti. The original source of thoughts is the
feet of the Lord, Iswara. Love of His Feet forms bhakti. (61)
(2) Fruit of bhakti:
The thick cloud of bhakti, formed in the transcendental sky of the Lord's Feet, pours down a rain of Bliss [ananda] and fills the lake of mind to overflowing. Only then the jiva, always transmigrating to no useful end, has his real purpose fulfilled. (76)
(3) Where to place bhakti?
Devotion to gods, who have themselves their origin and end, can result in fruits similarly with origin and end. In order to be in Bliss everlasting our devotion must be directed to its source, namely, the Feet of the ever blissful Lord. (83)
(4) Bhakti is a matter only for experience and not for words.
How can Logic or other polemics be of real use? Can the ghatapatas [favorite examples of logicians, meaning the pot and the cloth] save you in crisis? Why then waste yourself thinking of them and on discussion? Stop exercising the vocal organs and giving them pain. Think of the Feet of the Lord and drink the nectar! (6)
(5) Immortality is the fruit of Devotion:
At the sight of him who in his heart has fixed the Lord's Feet, Death is reminded of his bygone disastrous encounter with Markandeya and flees away. All the gods worship only Siva, placing their crowned heads at His feet. Such involuntary worship is only natural to Siva. Goddess Liberation, His consort, always remains part of Him. (65)
(6) If only Devotion be there -- the conditions of the jiva cannot affect him. However different the bodies, the mind alone is lost in the Lord's Feet. Bliss overflows! (10)
(7) Devotion always unimpaired:
Wherever or however it be, only let the mind lose itself in the Supreme. It is Yoga! It is Bliss! Or the Yogi or the Bliss incarnate! (12)
(8) Karma Yogi also is Bhakti:
To worship God with flowers and other external objects is troublesome. Only the lay single flower, the heart, at the feet of Siva and remain at Peace. Not to know this simple thing and to wander about! How foolish! What misery! (9)
(9) This Karma Yoga puts an end to one's samsara:
Whatever the order of life [asramam] of the devotee, only once thought of, Siva relieves the devotee of his load of samsara and takes it on Himself. (11)
(10) Devotion is Jnana:
The mind losing itself in Siva's Feet is Devotion. Ignorance lost!
Knowledge! Liberation! (91)
[Talks No. 428, 15th December 1937]
*****
Jnana, Mind and Body:
Devotee: Even as the hand is cut off, one must remain unaware of it because Bhagavad Gita declares that
the Self is different from the body.
Maharshi: Does Jnana consist in being unaware of the pain of injury?
Devotee: Should he not remain unaware of pain?
Maharshi: Major operations are performed under anaesthetics, keeping the patient unaware of the pain. Does the patient gain Jnana too, at the same time? Insensibility to pain cannot be Jnana.
Devotee: Should not a Jnani be insensible to pain?
Maharshi: Physical pain only follows body consciousness; it cannot be in the absence of body consciousness. Mind, being unaware of the body, cannot be aware of its pains and pleasures. Read the story of Indra and Ahalya in Yoga Vasishta; there death itself is said to be an act of mind.
Pains are dependent on the ego; they cannot be without 'I', but 'I' can remain without them.
(Talks 343, 23rd Jan. 1937)
*****
A Swami from Sri Ramakrishna Mission, had a very interesting conversation with Sri Bhagavan, in the course of which Sri Bhagavan observed:
Maharshi: Avidya [ignorance] is the obstacle for knowing your true nature even at the present moment.
Devotee: How is one to get over Avidya?
Maharshi: Ya na vidyate sa avidya [What is not, is Avidya]. So it is itself a myth. If it really be, how can it perish? Its being is false and so it disappears.
Devotee: Although I understand it intellectually, I cannot realize the Self.
Maharshi: Why should this thought
disturb your present state of realization?
Devotee: The Self is one. But yet I
do not find myself free from the present trouble.
Maharshi: Who says this? Is it the Self which is the only One. The
question contradicts itself.
Devotee: Grace is necessary for realization.
Maharshi: In as much as you, being a man, now understand that there is a higher power guiding you. It is due only to Grace. Grace is within you.
Iswaro gururatmeti [Iswara, Guru, and the Self are synonymous.
Devotee: I pray for that Grace.
Maharshi: Yes. Yes.
[Talks 496 of 9th June 1938.]
******
People often say that a mukta purusha
should go out and preach his message to the people, They argue, how can anyone be a mukta so long as there is misery by his side? True. But who is a mukta? Does he see misery beside him? They want to determine the state of a mukta without themselves realizing the state. From the standpoint of the mukta, their contention amounts to this:
A man dreams a dream in which he finds several persons. On waking up, he asks, "Have the dream individuals also awakened?" It is ridiculous.
Again, a good man says, "It does not matter even if I do not get mukti. Or let me be the last man to get it so that I shall help all others to be muktas before I am one." It is all very good. Imagine a dreamer saying, "May all these wake up before I do." The dreamer is no more absurd than the amiable philosopher aforesaid.
[Talks 498, 10th June 1948.]
Sannyasam:
To an Andhra seeker, Sri Bhagavan
said: Sannyasa is mentioned for one
who is fit. It consists in
reunciation not of material objects,
but of attachment to them. Sannyasa
can be practiced by anyone even at
home. Only one must be fit for it.
Again:
A Kutichaka is one who takes sannyasa
and lives in a hermitage.
A Bhahudaka is one who takes sannyasa and goes to places of pilgrimage.
A Hamsa is an upasaka sannyasi.
A Paramahamsa is a realized Sannyasi.
[Talks 588, 25th Nov. 1938]
*****
The following is taken from
the diary of Annamalai Swami,
a good devotee of Sri Bhagavan and
resident of Sri Ramanasramam.
The Teachings of Sri Ramana
Bhagavan:
1. That man who is active in the world
and yet remains desireless, without
losing sight of his own essential
nature, is alone a true man. This was in answer to the Swami who wanted to retire into a cave for practicing meditation.
2. He asked about Sannyasam. Should not a man renounce everything in order that he might get liberation?
Maharshi: Even better than the man who thinks 'I have renounced everything.' is the one who does his duty but does not think 'I do this' or 'I am the doer'. Even a sannyasi who thinks 'I am a Sannyasi' cannot be a true sannyasi whereas a householder who does not think 'I am a householder' is truly a sannyasi.
(Talks. 530 - 15th October 1938.]
*****
Tu Hai Malik mero...
http://indianraga.blogspot.com/2008/07/rashid-khan-silken-voice.html
sankar ganesh/Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
"One can attain the Knowledge of Brahman, too, by following the path of bhakti. God is
all-powerful. He may give His devotee Brahmajnana also, if He so wills. But the devotee
generally doesn't seek the Knowledge of the Absolute. He would rather have the
consciousness that God is the Master and he the servant, or that God is the Divine Mother
and he the child."
Again the Master says:
MASTER (to Prankrishna): "My Divine Mother is not only formless, She has forms as
well. One can see Her forms. One can behold Her incomparable beauty through feeling and
love. The Mother reveals Herself to Her devotees in different forms.
"I saw Her yesterday. She was clad in a seamless ochre-coloured garment, and She talked
with me."
Prankrishna studied the Vedanta and had been heard to say: "Brahman alone is real and the
world illusory. I am He."
Sri Ramakrishna further adds:
"Haladhari used to say that God is beyond both Being and Non-being. I told the Mother
about it and asked Her, 'Then is the divine form an illusion?' The Divine Mother appeared
to me in the form of Rati's mother and said, 'Do thou remain in bhava.' I repeated this to
Haladhari. Now and then I forget Her command and suffer. Once I broke my teeth because
I didn't remain in bhava. So I shall remain in bhava unless I receive a revelation from
heaven or have a direct experience to the contrary. I shall follow the path of love. What do
you say?"
PRANKRISHNA: "Yes, sir."
MASTER: "But why should I ask you about it? There is Someone within me who does all
these things through me. At times I used to remain in a mood of Godhood and would enjoy
no peace of mind unless I were being worshipped."
-----------------------------------
Since our minds are full of 'ideas' of Brahman or the formless self,as an antidote the childlike master often emphasised the aspect of 'Form'.The whole beauty of Navaratri puja is to affirm this aspect of God as 'Mother'.This way the inherent Love or devotion(which is not a product of thought)manifests.
A devotee does not Rationalize;He does not bother whether Divine Mother is Brahman or its shakti.He simply approaches as a child approaches its Mother.Let others say or think whatever;anyway they do not know who the Divine Mother is!Neither do they know what Self or Brahman is!
Yes,Navaratri is a wonderful Festival.
Namaskar.
Sankar ganesh/Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
SURENDRA (to the Master): "No one has sung anything about the Divine Mother today."
MASTER (pointing to the image): "Ah! Look at the beauty of the hall. The light of the
Divine Mother seems to have lighted the whole place. Such a sight fills the heart with joy.
Grief and desire for pleasure disappear.
"But can one not see God as formless Reality? Of course one can But not if one has the
slightest trace of worldliness. The rishis of olden times renounced everything and then
contemplated Satchidananda, the Indivisible Brahman.
"The Brahmajnanis of modern times sing of God as 'immutable, homogeneous'. It sounds
very dry to me. It seems as if the singers themselves don't enjoy the sweetness of God's
Bliss. One doesn't want a refreshing drink made with sugar candy if one is satisfied with
mere coarse treacle.
"Just see how happy you are, looking at this image of the Deity. But those who always cry
after the formless Reality do not get anything. They realize nothing either inside or
outside."
The Master sang a song to the Divine Mother:
O Mother, ever blissful as Thou art,
Do not deprive Thy worthless child of bliss!
My mind knows nothing but Thy Lotus Feet.
The King of Death scowls at me terribly;
Tell me, Mother, what shall I say to him?
It was my heart's desire to sail my boat
Across the ocean of this mortal life,
O Durga, with Thy name upon my lips.
I never dreamt that Thou wouldst drown me here
In the dark waters of this shoreless sea.
Both day and night I swim among its waves,
Chanting Thy saving name; yet even so
There is no end, O Mother, to my grief.
If I am drowned this time, in such a plight,
No one will ever chant Thy name again.
Again he sang:
Repeat, O mind, my Mother Durga's hallowed name!
Whoever treads the path, repeating "Durga! Durga!",
Siva Himself protects with His almighty trident.
Thou art the day, O Mother! Thou art the dusk and the night.
Sometimes Thou art man, and sometimes woman art Thou.
Thou mayest even say to me: "Step aside! Go away!"
Yet I shall cling to Thee, O Durga! Unto Thy feet
As Thine anklets I shall cling, making their tinkling sound.
Mother, when as the Kite Thou soarest in the sky,
There, in the water beneath, as a minnow I shall be swimming;
Upon me Thou wilt pounce, and pierce me through with Thy claws.
Thus, when the breath of life forsakes me in Thy grip,
Do not deny me the shelter of Thy Lotus Feet!
The Master saluted the divine image. As he came down the steps, he called softly to
Rakhal: "Where are my shoes? Are they missing?"
As the Master got into the carriage, Surendra and the other devotees bowed down before
him. Then the carriage started for Dakshineswar. The moon still lighted the streets."
Namaskar.
Navaratri Thoughts:
A respectable and orthodox
gentleman asked about Sri
Chakra.
Maharshi: It has a deep
significance. There are 43
corners with sacred syllables
in them. Its worship is a method
of concentration of mind. The
mind is wont to move externally.
It must be checked and turned within.
Its habit is to dwell on names and forms, for all external objects
possess names and forms. Such names
and forms are made symbolic mental
conceptions in order to divert the mind from external objects and make it dwell within itself. The idols,
mantras, yantras, are all meant to give food to the mind in its introvert state, so that it may later become capable of being concentrated, after which the superb state is reached automatically.
(Talks No. 405. 19th April 1937.)
Navaratri Thoughts:
Bhaskara Raya was a great
upasaka of Sakti. He ever
dwelt on thoughts of Sakti.
He was a Maharashtrian, a
householder and the king had
brought him from Maharashtra
and made him live in
Tiruvidaimaruthur, near Kumbakonam.
His commentary on Sri Lalita Sahasranamam is quite famous. Once he
was sitting at the outer portal of his house and was in deep meditation on Sakti, Sri Lalita Tripura Sundari.
He was unaware of the external world. A sannyasi came to the street and while passing on Bhaskararaya's house found him not to prostrate to him. He chided him. Bhaskararaya said: I was in meditation of Sakti and I am full of powerful energy. To prostrate to you will only do harm to you. The sannyasi did not believe all this. Then Raya said: Please keep your
kamandalu on the ground and I shall first prostrate to that kamandalu and this is a mark of respect for you.
The sannyasi accordingly did. When Raya prostrated to the kamandalu, it broke with a huge sound and became a thousand pieces and flew all over! The sannyasi understood Raya's power and simply left the place in shame.
Om Sri Matre Namah |
Om. Salutations to the Divine Mother.
******
Prahlada's story:
When Prahlada was in samadhi, Vishnu
thought within Himself : "This asura being in samadhi, all the asuras are
in peace. There is no fight, no trial
of strength, no search for power, nor the means for gaining power. In the absence of such means for power - yaga, yajna, etc., i.e. the gods are not thriving; there is no new creation; nor even in any existence justified. So I will wake him up; then the asuras will rise up; their original nature will manifest itself; the gods will challenge them; the asuras and others will then seek strength and adopt the means for its acquisition. Yajnas etc., will flourish; the gods will thrive. There will be more and more of creation, more of fight and I shall have enough to do."
So Vishnu awakened Prahlada, blessing him with eternal life and jivan mukti. Deva-asura fight was resumed and the older order of things was restored so that the universe continues in its eternal nature.
Devotee: How could God Himself wake up the asura element and bring about constant warfare? Is not Pure Goodness the nature of God?
Maharshi: Goodness is only relative. Good always implies bad also; they always co-exist. The one is obverse of the other.
(Talks No. 326, 13th Jan. 1937)
*****
In the course of an informal
conversation Sri Bhagavan
pointed out that Self Realization
is possible only for the fit. The
vasanas must be eliminated before
Jnana dawns. One must be like Janaka
for Jnana to dawn. One must be ready
to sacrifice everything for the Truth.
Complete renunciation is the index
of fitness.
(Talks No. 320, 7th Jan. 1937)
*****
While reading Raghuveeran,
- Ramayana written in easy
Malayalam prose -- there was
a passage relating how Hanuman
reached Lanka mentally before
he crossed over physically to that
island. Sri Bhagavan emphasized
the point that the mental approach
accomplishes the purpose earlier than the physical action.
Sri Bhagavan also related the following funny anecdote:
Ezhuthachan, a great Malayali saint and author, had a few fish concealed in him when he entered the temple. Some enemy reported it to the worshippers in the temple. The man was searched and taken to the king. The king asked him: "Why did you take the fish into the temple?" He replied: "It is not my fault. I had it concealed in my clothes. The others exposed the fish in the temple. The fault lies in exposure. Excreta within the body are not considered filthy. But when excreted, they are considered filthy. So also with this!"
[Talks No. 324, 11th January 1937].
******
Devotee: What is the object of
Self Realization?
Maharshi: Self Realization is
the final goal and it is the end
in itself.
Devotee: I mean, what is the use of Self Realization?
Maharshi: Why should you seek Self Realization? Why do you not rest content with your present state? It is evident that you are discontented with the present state. The discontent is at an end if you realize the Self.
Devotee: What is that Self Realization which removes the discontent? I am in the world and there are wars in it. Can Self Realization put an end to it?
Maharshi: Are you in the world? Or is the world in you?
Devotee: I do not understand. The world is certainly around me.
Maharshi: You speak of the world and happenings in it. They are mere ideas in you. The ideas are in the mind. The mind is within you. And so the world is within you.
Devotee: I do not follow you. Even if I do not think of the world, the world is still there.
Maharshi: Do you mean to say that the world is apart from the mind and it can exist in the absence of the mind?
Devotee: Yes.
Maharshi: Does the world exist in your deep sleep?
Devotee: It does.
Maharshi: Do you see it in your sleep?
Devotee: No. I don't. But others, who are awake, see it.
Maharshi: Are you so aware in your sleep? Or do you become aware of the other's knowledge now?
Devotee: In my waking state.
Maharshi: So you speak of waking knowledge and not of sleep experience. The existence of the world in your waking and dream states is admitted because they are the products of the mind. The mind is withdrawn in sleep and the world is in the condition of a seed. It becomes manifest over again when you wake up. The ego, springs forth, identifies itself with the body and sees the world. So the world is a mental creation.
Devotee: How can it be?
Maharshi: Do you not create a world in your dream? The waking state is also a long drawn out dream. There must be a seer behind the waking and dream experiences. Who is that seer? Is it the body?
Devotee: It cannot be.
Maharshi: Is it the mind?
Devotee: It must be so.
Maharshi: But you remain in the absence of the mind.
Devotee: How?
Maharshi: In your deep sleep.
Devotee: I do not know if I am then.
Maharshi: If you were not how do you recollect yesterday's experiences? Is it possible that there was a break in the continuity of the "I" during sleep?
Devotee: It may be.
Maharshi: If so, a Johnson may wake up as a Benson. How will the identity of the individual be established?
contd.,
The conversation continues...
Devotee: I don't know.
Maharshi: If this argument is not
clear, follow a different line. You
admit "I slept well". "I feel refreshed after a sound sleep." So sleep was your
experience. The experiencer now identifies himself with the "I" in the speaker. So this "I" must have been in deep sleep also.
Devotee: Yes.
Maharshi: So, "I" was in sleep, if the world was then there, did it say that it existed?
Devotee: No. But the world tells me its existence now. Even if I deny its existence, I may knock myself against a stone and hurt my foot. The injury proves the existence of the stone and so of the world.
Maharshi: Quite so. The stone hurts the foot. Does the foot say that there is the stone?
Devotee: No.____'I'.
Maharshi: Who is this "I"? It cannot be the body nor the mind as we have seen before. This "I" is the one who experiences the waking, dream and deep sleep states. The three states are changes which do not affect the individual. The experiences are like pictures passing on a screen in the cinema. The appearance and disappearance of the pictures do not affect the screen. So also, the three states alternate with one another leaving the Self unaffected. The waking and the dream states are creations of the mind. So the Self covers all. To know that the Self remains happy in its perfection is Self Realization. Its use lies in the realization of Perfection and thus of Happiness.
Devotee: Can it be complete happiness to remain Self realized if one does not contribute to the happiness of the world? How can one be so happy when t here is a war in Spain, a war in China? Is it not selfishness to remain Self realized without helping the world?
Maharshi: The Self was pointed out to you to cover the universe and also transcend it. The world cannot remain apart from the Self. If the realization of such Self be called selfishness, that selfishness must cover the world also. It is nothing contemptible.
contd.,
The conversation continues...
Devotee: Does not the realized
person continue to live just like
a non realized being?
Maharshi: Yes. With this difference
that the self realized being does not see the world as being apart from the Self, he possesses true knowledge and the internal happiness of being perfect, whereas the other person sees the world apart, feels imperfection and is miserable. Otherwise their
physical actions are similar.
Devotee: The realized being also knows that there are wars being waged in the world, just like the other man.
Maharshi: Yes.
Devotee: How then can he be happy?
Maharshi: Is the cinema screen affected by a scene of fire burning or sea rising? So it is with the Self.
The idea that I am the body or the mind, is so deep that one cannot get over it even if convinced otherwise. One experiences a dream and knows it to be unreal on waking. Waking experience is unreal in other states. So each state contradicts the others. They are therefore mere changes taking place in the seer, or phenomena appearing in the Self, which is unbroken and remains unaffected by them. Just as the waking, dream and deep sleep states are phenomena, so also birth, growth and death are phenomena in the Self, which continues to be unbroken and unaffected. Birth and death only ideas. They pertain to the body or the mind. The Self exists before the birth of this body and will remain after death of this body. So it is with the series of bodies taken up in succession. The Self is immortal. The phenomena are changeful and appear mortal. The fear of death is of the body. It is not true of the Self. Such fear is due to ignorance. Realization means True Knowledge of the Perfection and Immortality of the Self./ Mortality is only an idea and cause of misery. You get rid of it by realizing the Immortal nature of the Self.
concluded.
This Talks No. 487 is one of the shining rubies in the book. The questioner was sincere but was using intellect to prove his point. Sri Bhagavan patiently explained everything to him and drove home the Truth.
******
Miracles Happen Everyday:
by Dinshaw J. Bhakshi:
With Sri Ramana, miracles happen
everyday. Only devotees choose
not to report them as they are
so used to it and take it for
granted. However, I am tempted to
report how Sri Ramana miraculously
cured Suri Nagamma, the author of Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, when she was terminally ill with cancer.
My wife had died of cancer. Prarabdha had taken its course. But a question lingered in the mind. Could Sri Bhagavan have cured her? Not would He? But could He? I had wondered and wondered and kept asking Him mentally. Little did I even remotely dream that the answer would come not in words but from an experience which I saw with my own eyes. Had He not done so this doubt would have lingered till my last breath. It happened this way.
One day, Somasundaram, a staunch
devotee of Sri Bhagavan at Bombay, came to my office and said, "Come, let us go and meet Suri Nagamma." It did not occur to me that she had sent Somasundaram to me because she had heard from him as to how Dr. Donder [Dalai Lama's doctor] had saved the life of my cousin Perin Ghista.
We went to the Reserve Bank quarters where she was staying with a relative of hers. She was in a pitiable condition. She had to literally crawl to come near us and greet us. She told me, "Take me to Dharmasala and cure me." She explained that she wished to live because one more ardent wish of hers, to write an authentic biography of Sri Bhagavan in Telugu, remained to be fulfilled. "How can I do it in this condition?" she asked. I regretted my inability to help her as I could not travel and we left. Months passed. I forgot the incident. In failing health, I went to Sri Ramanasramam by car from Madras. But my condition was pretty bad. I had diahorrea. The driver who was from Tiruvannamalai had gone to see his relatives. I was desperate. He reported back unexpectedly and said: "Sri Bhagavan told me in dream. Your Master is sick. Go. I didn't even pack and left post haste without proper leave taking from my people."
The car started. I wanted to lie down. But I told myself let me have a last look at Arunachala and looked out of the rear window. I saw a lady walking. It looked like Suri Nagamma. 'Can't be' I said to myself, 'Can't be'. I left it at that. I was too sick to get down and verify.
Back in Madras, after I got better, I wondered whether I could have seen Suri Nagamma. She must have died long ago, I thought. While writing to Sri Ganesan of the Asramam, I wrote to him about how the mind had played tricks with me. My seeing Nagamma must surely have been a hallucination of mine, a product of my weak mental condition.
Ganesan replied saying that IT WAS SURI NAGAMMA whom I had seen! She had been cured of her cancer. My hairs stood on end. Sri Bhagavan has answered my doubts. "It couldn't be" I muttered to myself. I took me months to understand. Then it dawned on me in a sudden flash. If the sun rises only once the whole world would take a holiday and go to the sea to see the sun rise. But since it is an everyday occurrence nobody takes notice. So too with Sri Bhagavan's miracles. They happen everyday. Therefore we have ceased to notice them as they become part and parcel of our lives.
[From First Person accounts of Sri Ramana Maharshi's Miracles, RMCL, Bangalore.]
*******
Friends,
An excerpt from 'Guru Ramana':
People take siddhis as the sure sign of Perfection, but few
understand the subtle influence of the truly Perfect person,
who, without the deliberate use of miracles, works out the
transformation of the people who come into contact with
him, more so the genuine disciples, whom he actually turns
into muktas, or well on the way to mukti, of which external
siddhis are totally incapable. Many of those who have had
the inestimable privilege of a long stay with Bhagavan bear
witness to the blessedness which his mere presence conferred
on them. This is the highest and truest siddhi which always
accompanies Jnana (knowledge of the Self or Supreme
Perfection).
When the audience shrank, the Master at times became
humorously autobiographical about his early school and home
life, or about his many experiences on the hill with sadhus,devotees, etc. One of the stories was about a “miracle” he had
once performed in Skandashram, when his mother one day,
leaving him inside a room in deep samadhi, bolted him in
from outside and went to the town, and, on her return, to
her great surprise, found him seated under a tree in the garden
outside, and the door still bolted, as she had left it. She was
so impressed by this “miracle” that she told it to everyone she
met. The truth was, Bhagavan said, that he had unbolted the
two door-shutters from inside and then re-bolted them, as
before, from outside, from sheer habit.
Namaskar.
Friends,
An excerpt from The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Master:"Lakshmana said to Lava and Kusa: 'You are mere children; you don't know Rama's power.
At the touch of His feet, Ahalya, who had been turned into a stone, got back her human
form.' Lava and Kusa said: 'Revered sir, we know that. We have heard the story. The stone
became Ahalya because of the power of the holy man's words. The sage Gautama said to
her: "In the Tretayuga, Rama will pass this hermitage. You will become ahuman being
again at the touch of His feet."' Now, who can tell whether the miracle happened in order
that the sage's words should be fulfilled or on account of Rama's holiness?
"Everything happens by the will of God. If your spiritual consciousness has been awakened
at this place, know that I am only an instrument. 'Uncle Moon is everybody's uncle.' All
happens by the will of God."
-----------------------------------
Yes,there are unbelievers who have recovered from Terminal illnesses without seeking 'Grace' or 'Protection'.Such 'miracles' also happen.These things are of no consequence.
Namaskar.
Friends,
"A true lover does not seek anything from God. He prays only for pure love. He
doesn't want any powers or miracles."-Sri Ramakrishna.
An excerpt from The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Sri Ramakrishna was seated on the small couch. He asked M., "Well, why have I this
illness?"
M: "People will not have the courage to approach you unless you resemble them in all
respects. But they are amazed to find that in spite of such illness you don't know anything
but God."
MASTER (smiling): "Balaram also said, 'If even you can be ill, then why should we
wonder about our illnesses?' Lakshmana was amazed to see that Rama could not lift His
bow on account of His grief for Sita. 'Even Brahman weeps, entangled in the snare of the
five elements.'"
M: "Jesus Christ, too, wept like an ordinary man at the suffering of His devotees."
MASTER: "How was that?"
M: 'There were two sisters, Mary and Martha. Lazarus was their brother. All three were
devoted to Jesus. Lazarus died. Jesus was on His way to their house. One of the sisters,
Mary, ran out to meet Him. She fell at His feet and said weeping, 'Lord, if You had been
here, my brother would not have died!' Jesus wept to see her cry.
"Then Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus and called him by name. Immediately Lazarus
came back to life and walked out of the tomb."
MASTER: "But I cannot do those things."
M: "That is because you don't want to. These are miracles; therefore you aren't interested in
them. These things draw people's attention to their bodies. Then they do not think of
genuine devotion. That is why you don't perform miracles.
But there are many similarities between you and Jesus Christ."
MASTER (smiling): "What else?"
M: "You don't ask your devotees to fast or practise other austerities. You don't prescribe
hard and fast rules about food. Christ's disciples did not observe the sabbath; so the
Pharisees took them to task. Thereupon Jesus said: 'They have done well to eat. As long as
they are with the bridegroom they must make merry.
MASTER: "What does that mean?"
M: "Christ meant that as long as the disciples live with the Incarnation of God, they should
only make merry. Why should they be sorrowful? But when He returns to His own abode in
heaven, then will come the days of their sorrow and suffering."
MASTER (smiling): "Do you find anything else in me that is similar to Christ?"
M: "Yes, sir. You say: 'The youngsters are not yet touched by: "woman and gold"; they
will be able to assimilate instruction. It is like keeping milk in a new pot: the milk may turn
sour if it is kept in a pot in which curd has been made.' Christ also spoke like that."
MASTER: "What did He say?"
M: "'If new wine is kept in an old bottle, the bottle may crack. If an old cloth is patched
with new cloth, the old cloth tears away.'
"Further, you tell us that you and the Mother are one. Likewise, Christ said, 'I and My
Father are one.' "
MASTER (smiling): "Anything else?"
M: "You say to us, 'God will surely listen to you if you call on Him earnestly.' So also
Christ said, 'Knock and it shall be opened unto you.'
Namaskar.
Reincarnation:
There was a reference to re-
incarnation. Reincarnation of
Shanti Devi tallies with the
human standards of time. Whereas
the latest case reported of a boy
of seven is different. The boy
is seven years now. He recalls
his past births. Enquiries go to
show that the previous body was
given up only 10 months ago.
The question arises how the
matter stood for six years and two months previous to the death of the former body. Did the soul occupy two bodies at the same time?
Sri Bhagavan pointed out that the seven years is according to the boy. Ten months is according to the observer. The difference is due to these two different upadhis. The boy's experience extending to seven years has been calculated by the observer to cover only 10 months of his own
time.
Sri Bhagavan again referred to
Lila's story in Yoga Vasishta.
[Talks 261, 1st October 1936.]
*****
Navaratri Thoughts:
What is the hue of the form of
Sakti? She is usually told as
to be green or blue like her
brother Narayana. However, the
saint poets speak about her as lotus colored. Siva is of course of golden red, Ponnaar meniyane... says Tevaram. Then how does she get lotus red colour. Perhaps because of sharing half of the body of Siva!
Abhirami Bhattar says in his famous Abhirami Andati, Verse 58:
Arunam puytathum, en chittam
puyathum, amarnthirukkkum,
Tharunam puya mulai thyal nallaL,
thahai ser nayanak
Karunam puyamum vadhanaam puyamum,
karaam puyamum
Saranam puyamum allaal kandilen
oru thanjamume!
The saint says that that great
good lady is my sole refuge. She is there as golden red in the early morning sun - dawn, she is
there in my golden red Heart. Her breasts are like golden red lotuses. Her compassion filled eyes are like golden red lotuses. Her face is golden red lotus. Her feet, which are my refuge, are also golden red lotuses.
A riot of golden read lotuses!
Saint Manikkavachagar also says, about Siva, in Tiruchadakam, Tiruvachakam, 5.3.7:
Thanthanai senthaamaraik kaadanaiya meni!
You have me, your body, which is
like a lotus jungle!
Om Sri Maharajnai Namah:
Salutations to the Holy Mother,
who is the Queen! [Lalita]
*****
Arthur Osborne - A fully surrendered
great devotee:
V. Ganesan:
In spite of my repeated protests Mr.
Osborne always addressed all his letters to me as Sri Ganesan. But to my great delight and relief he called me affectionately Ganesh while talking to me. In all official matters connected with the Mountain Path, he never treated me as his subordinate. In spite of his vast superiority he did not let me feel it. I was spiritually immature and inexperienced in my capacity as Managing Editor, yet he treated me as an equal. He approached problems from common standpoints and never took any advantage by virtue of his position. It does not mean that he always stooped to my level. He was firm in his views, but came down to my level of understanding. Sharing the problem with me he also lifted me up to his level and gave me courage to persevere. It needs tremendous patience and a sympathetic heart to do so!
I used to tell him or write him everything that I heard or thought - often criticisms about the journal from friends and visitors. He would patiently hear or read them and always exhibited a balanced judgement in analyzing each problem independently. His views on each question expressed in polite but unmistakable terms. Finer expressions in language, a nobler approach to life and its problems and a deeper understanding of the spiritual path, are among others that I gained from my contact with him.
contd.,
Arthur Osborne - A fully
surrendered great devotee:
V.Ganesan - continues...
Whenever there was good material he
immediately accepted it the same as he rejected unworthy articles from whatever source they might have come. There was a devotee who thought Mr.Osborne was prejudiced against him. I asked the devotee to write an article and submit it
but he was firm that Mr. Osborne would reject it on seeing the name of the contributor. However, he did write it and gave it to me and I sent the article to the editor without any comments. Not only was the article accepted but Mr. Osborne liked it so much that he divided it into 3 convenient instalments and published them in three issues of our journal. This devotee later apologized to me unconditionally!
One more devotee was accusing Mr. Osborne of unnecessarily rewriting articles sent by Indians and passing those received from Westerners untouched. I made him submit an article [he is a good writer in English] and without comments sent into Mr. Osborne who edited the article with only three alterations correcting three verbal mistakes. I sent this corrected copy to the contributor and he apologized saying he was sorry for his unfounded criticism. There were ever so many misgivings like this which were cleared. I preferred to give them practical proofs rather than argue with them.
I cannot but mention here two instances of Mr. Osborne's attitude to two critics who were also devotees. They complained about him. If articles by them were found unsuitable, they felt insulted and hence insulted Mr. Osborne in turn. He reacted to these insults like the Buddha; if an insult is not accepted it returns to the giver like any other gift. He was not affected. I felt miserable on such occasions and he consoled me: "Service to Guru is not always easy. It is no like pleasing a superior in an office. It is a dedicated sincere effort leaving the results to the Guru!"
contd.,
Arthur Osborne: A fully
surrendered great devotee:
V. Ganesan - continues....
Whenever there were difficult
situations, not necessarily
problems, and we talked it over and I used to take the stand of not reacting immediately, but 'to see how things develop'. He understood this approach of mine, as waiting for directions from Him, whereas any other would have looked at it as expression of escapism and shirking responsibility. When my attitude proved correct, he would say so! He was the one man who understood my inner feelings and thoughts and on whose understanding I could always count and whose guidance put me on the right track.
I would like to reproduce a letter that I received in reply to mine written in utter dejection and fatigue, when I was over worked and lacked proper support from my colleagues, on the one hand and on the other was criticized for no valid reasons whatsoever.
Dear Sri Ganesan 23rd June 1966
Glad to hear that the work is going on well. We must not be too upset by people's criticism. But at the same time, we must examine it to see if anything is justified in it and if so try to correct what is wrong. So long as the work is done as a service to Sri Bhagavan it can go on whether people are helpful or not. Perhaps people who criticized do not realize how much work has to be done. After all, you know that at the Asramam, there are people who criticize my work on the journal too. In fact you hold three posts - office manager, advertising editor and chief sub editor in charge of page making, and I don't think of any one else who would combine them with the same enthusiasm and ability, so you will have to continue doing Sri Bhagavan's work whether people criticize or not.
For us, what is necessary is a constant examination of motive. Do I want to dominate or to serve Sri Bhagavan? Do I want to impress X or Y or Z or to serve Sri Bhagavan? Do I want to win praise or to serve Sri Bhagavan?
Best wishes for the work you are doing,
Yours in Bhagavan,
[Sd.] Arthur Osborne.
contd.,
Arthur Osborne: A fully
surrendered great devotee:
V. Ganesan - continues....
I was in Madras supervising the
printing of the July 1966 issue
and after reading and re-reading
the above reply of Mr. Osborne,
I lost, in a flash as it were,
all feelings of dejection and
worry. My enthusiasm and interest
were revived. I completed the printing and returned to the Asramam very happily!
One more citation from his letter to me will prove how helpful he had been to me and how well he guided me. On 24th June 1965, he wrote to me the following letter to Madras:
"As for some people being jealous, I expected that. Human nature is such that nothing can succeed without provoking jealousy. They may even try to create animosity between us. Our best policy is just to take no notice and concentrate on doing Sri Bhagavan's work to the best of our ability and maintaining a high standard in every way so that people have nothing to criticize. With all the best wishes. May the Grace of Sri Bhagavan support you in your work!
Who is going to give me such practical advice and invaluable guidance hereafter?
To have a glimpse of Mr. Arthur Osborne's simplicity and greatness I will giver a few personal occurrences. I once asked him:
"You prostrate to Sri Bhagavan's shrine. While doing so do you prostrate to the idol [lingam] on the Samadhi or superimpose Sri Bhagavan on it and hence do it?" He looked at me smilingly and said: "I prostrate to Sri Bhagavan!" The answer, as prompt as it was simple and direct, left a profound impression on me with its deep impact. I found in that answer the transcendence of all theoretical philosophy and for the first time, I experienced that in "experience" - practical living - theory and its practical use are totally transcended. Till then it was hazy to me but now I understood it. Another significant fact I also realized, namely, that traditional customs are not a barrier but can be a real help in their own sphere. This Mr. Osborne did not explain in so many words, but in his presence and the sincerity with which he replied I 'understood' it in its real essence! I also realized that day how potent and powerful are the sayings of great souls and how limited and weak the long expositions of the learned!
On another occasion, I asked him:
"If we squint we see two objects everywhere which one of the two is the true and real and which untrue and unreal?" This was my sincere doubt. He was happy to hear it and said: "It is a good approach to disprove the non existence of the objective world. Why don't you ponder over it deeply and develop it into a good article?" He appreciated such practical approaches and reflections as subjects of articles for the Mountain Path.
contd.,
Arthur Osborne: A fully
surrendered great devotee:
V. Ganesan - continues....
In the editorial of January 1969,
page 1, he has written: It is not a question of whether there is a God apart from you but whether there is you apart from God. I was so much impressed by the depth and clarity of it. I rushed to his house and expressed my happiness over it. He reacted pleasantly:
"Do you like it? Yes, it is a great saying and contains the essence of the entire panorama of philosophies and sayings of all saints." I was prompted to ask how he could write such magnificent truths in such clear and simple language. He replied that it was the Grace of Sri Bhagavan, that he could write from intuition totally guided by Him from within.
One more passage which thrilled me was in his editorial for October 1967, p. 269. "It is tremendously exhilarating to learn for the first time the truth of the One Self and the possibility of Self Realization. At last life has a meaning and a purpose!" The whole day and night I was swimming in thin air of elation after reading this very first sentence in his editorial. I congratulated him for giving me such a wonderful experience through that sentence. His reply was: "It is all Sri Bhagavan's Grace. If you can feel so thrilled it is a proof that I have communicated the intuitive message correctly. I am grateful to you!" Can we ever even dream of finding another such noble great personage? Mr. Osborne was great in his humility. Never have I seen him claim honours for himself. He always dedicated to the grace of his Guru.
Ms. Osborne was a poet at heart. I still recollect the day when his face lit up with a happy smile on hearing the following from me: "Sri Muruganar in reply to a question as to why he doesn't go out to see saints said that his eyes were blinded totally by having looked at a Sun and hence he could not see anything
else."
Mr. Osborne remarked how beautiful it was and that only Muruganar could have expressed it so poetically. He added: "Usually we would say that Sri Bhagavan is the greatest of all saints, but see how a poet puts the blame on himself while all the same he affirms that for him, there is no greater saint to be seen than his Master!" He liked Sri Muruganar's
poems translated into English by Prof. K. Swaminathan very much
and wanted to publish them in entirety in the journal.
contd.,
Arthur Osborne - A full
surrendered great devotee:
V. Ganesan - continues...
I must show my gratitude to Mr.
Osborne by making public the
support he gave to the Asramam management. He did not interfere in
the Asramam matters and kept aloof
from them but when there was a crisis he gave his full support as in 1965, when he expressed it clearly: "I would not say Venkittu's [T.N. Venkataraman] management is the best but for me there cannot be anything better as he is the choice of my Guru. I will not hesitate to give him my
full fledged support and help at any time." He did immense help then to tide over the very difficult days. In addition to moral support he wrote answers himself to those who were doubting the proper running of the Asramam or damaging its prestige. He stood firm in his support saying that he was giving full support saying that he was giving it fully realizing the implications and would no go back on it under any circumstances. Through the columns of the Mountain Path, he brought out the real facts and day to day happenings in the Asramam, in such a convincing manner that many more old and new devotees were powerfully drawn to the abode of Sri Bhagavan. He considered it our bounden duty to help seekers on the path to find the grace and peace radiating from Arunachala. His concern was to help them spiritually.
*
He lived in Arunachala both on the physical and on the highest spiritual planes. Till the last day, he didn't like to go away from here. On the day, he retruned from London, he said to me in such a happy frame of mind: I am delighted to be back at Arunachala. You know I nearly passed out thrice in London and it was Sri Bhagavan who revivedc me everytime. And see, today I am back in Arunachala! It is all His Grace! These words still linger in my ears!
He always lived in Arunachala. And still lives in Arunachala, ever guiding us and helping us spiritually. May Arthur Osborne bless us all!
concluded.
Vichara Sangraham:
I.M.Nome - Commentary:
Vichara Sanghram which was taught
to Gambhiram Sesayyar is now available only in the form of a running essay. Originally, it was
also in the form of Question and Answers as in the case of Who am I? Mr. I.M. Nome has taken the question and answer type version and has written detailed commentary.
*
Invocation: Is there any way of adoring the Supreme, which is all accept by abiding firmly as That!
*
I.
Disciple: Master! What is the means to gain the state of eternal Bliss, ever devoid of misery?
The Maharshi: Apart from the statement in the Veda that wherever there is the body, there is misery, this is also a direct experience of the people. Therefore, one should inquire into one's true nature, which is ever bodiless, and one should remain as such. This is the means to gaining that state.
Commentary of I.M. Nome:
Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanya!
The Absolute is, by its very nature, Bliss. All beings seek this profound happiness, yet only they who seek it in the Absolute find it. The various approaches to realizing the Absolute manifest as he myriad modes of worship. The essence of all modes of worship is the dissolution of the ego, which is but a figment of imagination. From and in the ego, is all ignorance, and ignorance alone is the cause of suffering. Worship destroys this illusory entity, ego, is true worship, or adoration. It yields Self Knowledge, which is the state of unceasing bliss.
That which is the Supreme is in all at all times. Dualism is a product of delusion. Nonduality is the nature of reality. One Existence is. It is all pervasive. There is neither you nor I, neither the world, nor anyone to experience it, neither creation nor destruction - nothing whatsoever at any time. The Absolute, the One Self, alone exists eternally.
Sri Bhagavan declares that there is no other way of truly adoring, or worshipping, the Absolute, which is that one, non dual Being, except by firmly abiding as That. This is the highest explanation of spiritual practice and how such is undifferentiated from Realization itself. Spiritual practice is for the purpose of enabling one to abide in the egoless natural state of the Self. In this egoless natural state, the Self and the Absolute are realized as identical, for the Absolute is non objective, and the Self - Being Itself - is not an individual entity. To worship without a trace of ego is sublime. In such worship, none of the illusions and sufferings of the ego remain. The worshipper and the worshipped are directly experienced as one and the same. Abidance as That, firm, without the least trace of mis- identification or dualism, is the supreme worship of the Supreme. Since the Supreme is all, how can the illusion of a separate entity continue? By compassionate word of the Maharshi, by the pure Knowledge revealed by the Maharshi, and by the illimitable Grace of the Maharshi, we know this to be the Truth.
contd.,
Vichara Sanghaham -
Question and Answer Type -
Commentary by I.M. Nome.
I. continues....
The earnest disciple, who aspires
for Self Realization, seeks liberation from samsara, the illusory cycle of birth, death and repetitive suffering. Such a disciple not feeling the immediate, uninterrupted, ever existent Presence of the Self, seeks that eternal Bliss. Wisely, he approaches the great Sage, the Maharshi. Sri Bhagavan is Being-
Consciousness Bliss itself. He abides eternally as the Self. To receive any instruction from Him is the most wondrous blessing. The Presence of such a Jnani is that of unalloyed, undecaying Grace. To experience it in any manner whatsoever, is the most blessed opportunity anyone could ever have. It heralds in the destruction of samsara as the rising sun at dawn does the disappearance of darkness. For those thirsty for Knowledge and Peace, He is the nectarean ocean Truth and Bliss. For those stricken with the disease of suffering and fever of delusion, His very Presence is the perfect remedy of permanent happiness and the cool, clear Knowledge of Reality. Such a Guru as the Maharshi brings one from darkness to light, from the unreal to the Real, from death to immortality.
The Self is the perfect fullness of supreme Bliss. If ignorance regarding its nature prevails in one's experience, such ignorance of the character of misidentification, results in the illusion of bondage, which is experienced as suffering. Therefore, to eliminate suffering, one should destroy the illusory, limiting fetters. To destroy such bondage, one should abandon the misidentificaion constituting ignorance. When such ignorance is abandoned, Self Knowledge shines resplendently, and the Bliss of that abidance in Self Knowledge is unconditional and unending. For the purpose of revealing this sublime Knowledge of the Self, the Maharshi bestows instruction regarding the inquiry to know the Self.
Why should one inquire? It is to realize the Self as it is. What is the motivation for inquiring? It is the desire for happiness, which is the intuition of the nature of the Self. Thus, Sri Bhagavan's teachings expressed in Who am I?: "Every living being longs always to be happy untainted by sorrow; and everyone has the greatest love for himself, which is solely due to the fact that happiness is his real nature. Hence in order to realize the inherent nature and untainted happiness, which, indeed, he daily experiences when the mind is subdued in sleep, i is essential that he should know himself. For obtaining such knowledge, the inquiry, Who am I? in quest of the Self is the means par excellence." As Being is Bliss, there is no other way, to abide in happiness, than Realization of the Self. Just as the desire for happiness cannot be stopped, but can be fulfilled only in this way, so the inquiry does not cease but is completed only in the non dual Realization.
contd.,
R.Subramanian,
"He looked at me smilingly and said: "I prostrate to Sri Bhagavan!"
Wonderful post on 'Arthur osborne by Sri Ganesan'.Thanks very much.
coming to the Muruganar's statement and Osborne's response-" but see how a poet puts the blame on himself while all the same he affirms that for him, there is no greater saint to be seen than his Master!"
I do not think that this is the essence-It just means that we go to a sage for 'light'-and having seen the 'Sun' and being 'blinded'(There is now no more need to seek Light!),the question of going to see a 'Saint' or someone does not arise.
In his Totakashtakam,Verse 6 ,Totakacharya pays obeisance to his Guru Sri Sanakara by calling him ahimAmsu(Sun):
jagatImavitum kalitAkritayO
vicharanti mahAmahasachalata: |
ahimAmsurivAtra vibhAsi gurO
bhavasankara dEsika mE saraNam ||
Oh Teacher ! For the purpose of saving the world the Great Ones
take various forms and wander in disguise. Of these great Ones,
You shine like the sun ! Be Thou my refuge, Oh, Master Sankara!
This is not to say that others are 'Lesser';only they are in 'disguise'.They are all manifestations of one 'Sun'only.
-----------------------------------
This syndrome is something that one encounters quite frequently-"My guru is the Greatest"-Subtly or overtly.
This simply means that 'My choice'or 'My Liking' is the best!
It is not unlike a person saying 'labrador' is the best or 'German shepherd' is the Best ,implying 'my pet' is the best.
Namaskar.
R.subramanian,
"To worship without a trace of ego is sublime"
If there is no trace of ego,where is the question of Worship?
I find Master Nome's commentary a little verbose-" All beings seek this profound happiness, yet only they who seek it in the Absolute find it"
Just what is the 'absolute' and what is 'seeking in the absolute'?
A commentary should not be a Dissertation.It should be brief,if need be.Many a time I find the 'Original'is clearer than the 'Commentary',especially the wonderful 'Srimad Bhagavad Gita'.
Namaskar.
Vichara Sangraham -
Question and Answer Type:
I.M. Nome's commentary.
I. continues.....
The Maharshi says that the misidentification with the body --
the illusion of its existence and the ignorance of conceiving it as one's identity, -- is, indeed, the cause of misery. This is revealed in the ancient scriptures, the Vedas, as well, which, especially in the Upanishads, contain the sacred teachings of ancient Sages. The wisdom contained therein is read or heard, reflected upon, and profoundly meditated upon, until it is realized by those who desire to know the timeless Truth. Such ancient teaching, as with that of Sri Bhagavan, is a description of experience, both in its explanation of suffering of illusion and in its revelation of the Reality of the Self. One has only to abandon the sankalpas [notions assumed to be valid due simply to lack of inquiry] in order to recognize the irrefutable truth revealed by the Maharshi and by other sages who, throughout time, expounded this pure Advaita Vedanta.
To equate the Self with the body is ignorance and misery. To know the true nature of the Self to be bodiless is blissful Self Knowledge. Compare and contrast the changeful, sporadic, limited, objective, dependent, indirectly known, transitory character of the body with the immutable, continuous, unlimited, non objective, non dependent, directly known, eternal nature of the Self, you realize how the Self is not the body. The Self is not the body, nor in a body, nor in possession of a body. The Self's nature is forever infinite and formless. It is bodiless Being Consciousness Bliss. To be as you are, as forever unmodified Being, is Realization and Bliss. The inquiry, proclaims that Sri Ramana Maharshi, the glorious Guru, is the means of attaining that state, while the state itself is means of attaining the state, while the state itself is sahaja - natural, innate, and effortless -- and truly has no alternative. Therefore in Who am I? the Maharshi says: "That which is Bliss is, verily, the Self. Bliss and the Self are not distinct and separate, but are one and identical. And that alone is Real."
May all deeply meditate upon the Truth revealed by the Maharshi and, abiding in His Grace and in that Truth revealed, dwell in perpetual Bliss and Peace. Whoever deeply inquires as instructed by the Maharshi realizes the true nature of the Self to be ever bodiless, and, liberated from bondage and its consequent suffering, abides in infinite Wisdom and Bliss.
Om Sri Ramanarapanamastu.
Om May this be an offering to Sri Ramana.
I - concluded.
*****
Dear Ravi,
Osborne, I find from Ganesan's essay
was a sincere and truly surrendered
devotee of Sri Bhagavan. As for,
Muruganar's comment, I have seen the Tamizh version: Indha Jnana suryanaik kandapin, en kaNgaL
kurudahi vittana. Ini Naan yarai kaNben? Perhaps this is something
like Tamizh usage, "PuRanthozhak
KaRpu." Just as a chaste Tamizh housewife of classical times worship only her husband and she does not even go to temples! So with saints who are having only one Ishta devata or Ishta guru.
Perhaps the English rendering is
a little complicated, and confuses the real purport of Muruganar's words.
The fact is that after coming to
Sri Bhagavan, Muruganar never composed poems on any persons or gods or even visited temples.
******
R.subramanian,
"The fact is that after coming to
Sri Bhagavan, Muruganar never composed poems on any persons or gods or even visited temples."
Adoration is different than admiration.In adoration there is no 'second' to compare.Admiration is of the mind,and admits 'High' and 'Low'differences,and comparisons.
Admiration is often mistaken for adoration.
The 'Eka Nishta' is this adoration to the 'Ishta'.
Namaskar.
Navaratri Thoughts:
As in the Advaita, we have in
the Tantric philosophy also one
ultimate Reality called here,
Parama Siva, who is again conceived of as being both nishkala and sakala [partless whole and with parts].
And as in the Advaita, the world is
considered a lesser reality in a sense; for it owes existence to the association of Brahman with Maya, or to use the Tantric terms, Siva with Sakti. But, while Maya in the Advaita is anirvachaniya, or that which cannot be described, to be either true or false, Sakti in the Tantric philosophy possesses as much reality as Siva. In fact, the two are identical or may be called concorporate. Thus, while the changes in the world are less real in the sense that they are only the temporary modifications of the same identity, viz., Siva-Sakti, they are real in the sense that they are the modifications of an entity which is entirely real. The
Advaita says that there is no real change, but only the appearance of it. The Tantra on the other hand, says that the ultimate Reality is immutable in one aspect but undergoes a real evolution in another aspect. Tantra's doctrine is unity in duality and duality in unity.
Om Siva, Sivasktykya rupini,
Sri Lalitambika | [Lalita]
*******
The Self and the world:
Devotee: Does Bhagavan see the
world as part and parcel of Himself?
How does He see the world?
Maharshi: The Self alone IS, and
nothing else. However, it is differentiated owing to ignorance.
Differentiation is three fold: 1.
of the same kind; 2. of a different kind, and 3. as parts in itself. The world is not another self similar to the self. It is no different from the self; nor is it part of the self.
Devotee: Is not the world reflected on the Self?
Maharshi: For reflection there must be an object and an image. But the Self does not admit of these differences.
Devotee: Does not then Bhagavan see the world?
Maharshi: Whom do you mean by Bhagavan?
Devotee: A Jiva more advanced than I.
Maharshi: If you understand your jiva the other jiva is also understood.
Devotee: I do not want to discuss. I want to learn. Please instruct me.
Maharshi: Because you desire to learn, discussion is unavoidable. Leave all this aside. Consider your sleep. Are you then aware of bondage or do you seek means for release? Are you then aware of the body itself? The sense of bondage is associated with the body. Otherwise there is no bondage, no material to bind with no one to be bound. These appear, however, in your wakeful state. Consider to whom they appear.
Devotee: To the mind.
Maharshi: Watch the mind. You must stand aloof from it. You are not the mind. And the Self will remain for ever.
Devotee: Does Sri Bhagavan believe in evolution?
Maharshi: Evolution must be from one state to another. When no differences are admitted, how can evolution arise?
Devotee: Why does Sri Krishna say, "After several rebirths the seeker gains knowledge and thus knows Me." There must be evolution from stage to stage.
Maharshi: How does Bhagavad Gita begin? "Neither I was, nor you, nor these chiefs, etc.," "Neither is born, nor does it die, etc.," So there is no birth, no death, no present as you look at it. Reality is, and will be. It is changeless. Later, Arjuna asked Sri Krishna how he could have lived before Aditya. Then, Krishna seeing Arjuna was confounding Him with the gross body, spoke to him accordingly. The instruction is for one who sees diversity. In reality, there is no bondage, nor mukti for himself or for others from the Jnani's standpoint.
{Talks. 264, 20th October 1936.}
*******
Sivapraksam Pillai:
Michael James: continues....
Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai was born
on Saturday the 7th August 1875, in
the village of Idaiyanpaalchori, west of Chidambram, as the sone of one Muthuswami Pillai and his wife
Swarnammal. His parents were pious and orthodox Saivites belonging to a farming community known as Kaakaatha Vellalar. Hoping that their son would not only prosper
in the material life but would also continue to uphold the family tradition of piety, the foundation of which was rooted in the rich soil of Tamizh Saivite literature, they arranged for him study both English and Tamizh at school. As he grew up, they found that both their hopes showed signs of being fulfilled, for he was not only an intelligent student but was also naturally endowed with all good qualities such as devotion, humility, patience, honesty and kindness towards all living beings. He had an inquiring mind and an eagerness to understand the truth underlying the appearance of our life in this world, so at college, he chose to study philosophy as his major subject. While at college, the question 'Who is this I who whirls about
in the world attached to this body?' arose spontaneously in his mind, but in spite of studying many books, he could find no satisfactory answer to his deeply
felt doubt, and hence he began to feel a strong yearning to meet a great soul who could give him the answer he was seeking.
contd.,
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James: continues...
After graduating from college,
he was married to a girl named
Parvati, and in the year 1900,
he was given employment in the
Revenue Department of the South
Arcot District Collectorate. In
1902, he happened to visit Tiruvannamalai for the first time
on some official duty, and there he heard of the saintly and ascetic life lived by a young boy on the Hill, whom all people referred to with great respect as Brahmana Swami. Sri Pillai at once climbed up the Hill to Guhainamsivayar Temple, where the Brahmana Swami was then staying, and on seeing the divine lustre which shone in the face of the silent young asceic, he felt strongly attracted to Him as a piece of iron to a magnet. Immediately he asked Him the question, Who am I? which had been haunting his mind for so many years. Little could he have known at that time, however, that the young Sage he saw seated quietly before him was born in this world with a divine mission to reveal the direct path of Self enquiry, through which alone, the true answer to the question Who am I? could be experienced within the heart. Such is the working of the divine Grace that the fit and worthy disciple had thus been automatically drawn to the proper Guru.
Since in those early days, Sri Bhagavan rarely spoke except to His faithful attendant Pazhani Swami, He answered Pillai's question by writing on the sandy ground. For a number of day, Pillai continued to ask Him a series of questions, all of which He answered by writing either on the sand or on a slate and most of His answers were later noted down by Pillai from memory. Some of the answers Pillai received at that time, he later incorporated in lines 37 to 73 of one of his Tamizh poems Anugraha Ahaval, in which he describes some of the experiences he had of Sri Bhagavan's Grace. Later, in the year 1923, when some friends of his decided to print this poem and another poem entitled Sri Ramana Charita Ahaval, in which he narrates the story of Sri Bhagavan's life, he edited in the form of thirteen questions and answers, a brief summary of the teachings he received from Sri Bhagavan in 1902, and this was printed under title Nan Yar? as an appendix to the small book containing those two poems.
contd.,
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James: continues....
Since in 1923, very few works
containing the original teachings
of Sri Bhagavan had come into existence, this brief appendix and the Anugraha Ahaal created such a stir of interest among the Tamizh devotees of Sri Bhagavan, that Pillai was soon prevailed upon to edit a more detailed record of the teachings he received from Sri Bhagavan in 1902. And thus an enlarged version of Nan Yar? came to be published as a separate booklet containing thirty questions and answers. Soon afterwards, Sri Bhagavan Himself rewrote these thirty questions and answers in the form of an essay, which is now included in the Collected Works - Sri Ramana Nool Tirattu.
After receiving these teachings in 1902, Pillai was convinced that Sri Bhagavan was God in human form, and firmly believing that to have darshan of such a great Jnani was the best of all spiritual practices, he began to visit Him once a month. For some years, he continued thus, but as the time went by he began to find his job an obstacle to ceaseless Self inquiry, and so he submitted his resignation. Knowing his good qualities and character, his superior officer, who was an Englishman, did not accept his resignation. Taking this to be the divine will, for some more time Pillai continued his job, but in a detached and disinterested manner. In the meanwhile, his wife and only son passed away. This strengthened his vairagya, and knowing the body to be impermanent, he decided that he should not waste the precious days of his life, but should dedicate all his time to following the path of Self inquiry taught by his divine guru. Therefore in 1910, he again submitted his resignation after giving the requisite prior notice to his employer.
One of the reasons which prompted him to take this decisive step was as follows: In Sri Bhagavan's Presence he would sometimes effortlessly and spontaneously experience a state in which all movements of the body and mind were stilled, and he also sometimes used experience the same state even when sincerely attending to his official work. At such times, he would automatically forget the surroundings and his mind would turn Selfwards. Referring to this state, which he understood to be the result of Sri Bhagavan's power of Grace, in lines 75 to 79 of Anugraha Ahaval, he sings, "subduing all my karmas by Your power, absorbing me within this body as the form of mere Consciousness, You graciously taught me the path if inquiry.'
contd.,
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James: continues.....
After resigning his job, Pillai
came to Tiruvannamlai and informed
Sri Bhagavan, whereupon Sri Bhagavan quoted verse 341 of Tirukural. "From whatever one has withdrawn oneself, from that one will experience no suffering." Taking this to be Sri Bhagavan's approval of his resignation, Pillai returned to his village to practice Self inquiry earnestly and unceasingly.
However, after some time, Pillai found his attempts to practice Self inquiry unceasingly were being obstructed by lustful desires which began burning him. Unable to overcome this problem even by praying inwardly to his Guru, and bearing in mind both the Vedic injunction cited in Kaivalya Navaneetam 2.75, "If you are afflicted with lust, embrace your wife.", and the words of Sri Bhagavan, "Marriage is a means to remove the sense of difference between man and woman." [Sri
Ramana Pada Maalai Verse 31], he decided that he should marry once again. But many obstacles stood in the way of his carrying out this decision, not least of all being his financially unsound status, and thus his mind was placed in a state of dilemma. Finally in April 1913, he decided to appeal to the Almighty, and hence wrote four questions on a paper, "What am I do to escape all miseries of the world? Should I marry a girl I have in mind? If I should not, why not? If I should, how to acquire the necessary money for that? [Anugraha Ahaval, lines 139-145], and humbly placed the paper at the feet of Lord Vinayaka in his village temple, with the prayer
that if the answers were vouchsafed to him during that night, he would abide by them steadfastly, but that if no answers were forthcoming, he would seek the guidance of Sri Bhagavan in Tiruvannamalai.
contd.,
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James:
continues....
Though Pillai waited all night
in patient expectation, no answers
were vouchsafed to him, and hence
he started at once for Tiruvannmalai. Hesitating to broach
openly the subject he had in mind with Sri Bhagavan, he sat quietly in His Presence, for several days. As he observed the detached life lived by Sri Bhagavan, through example, Sri Bhagavan silently impressed upon him that 'not desiring anything, making the expanding mind subside, attending to the Self and abiding as Self is alone the good path to attain what is beneficial. [Anugraha Ahaval, lines 150-152.]. Thus Pillai was made to feel that it would be base-minded on his part to ask Sri Bhagavan questions about such petty matters as marriage and money, and hence he decided to return to his village without asking any questions.
After deciding thus, but before he could start for his village, Pillai had several visions of Sri Bhagavan occurring over a period of a few days, both in waking and dream. These visions which he has described in lines 156-200 of Anugraha Ahaval made a powerful impression on his mind, and as a result he felt completely relieved of his problems and of the desire to marry again. The thought of returning to his village also vanished from his mind, and thus he remained in Sri Bhagavan's Presence for some more days. Since on an earlier occasion Sri Bhagavan had once told him, "Eating when hunger comes by begging food from house to house is an aid to destroy the ego', Pillai one day had his head shaven clean and come and prostrated to Sri Bhagavan, with the idea of going to get his food and at later stage to a life of complete outward renunciation. Sri Bhagavan at once understood what Pillai had in mind, but either due to His knowing the lot destiny had in store for him, or due to a compassionate feeling that he should not suffer in future by living only upon alms, Sri Bhagavan looked at him, and said, "It is good to grow a tuft." and after a pause, "One can practice self inquiry while remaining at home." [Sri Ramana Deva Maalai, Verse 15].
contd.,
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James:
continues....
Soon after this incident, Pillai's
maternal aunt came to Tiruvannamalai, having noticed his prolonged absence from home. When she informed Sri Bhagavan that she wished to take Pillai back home,
He readily gave His consent. Writing about this, Sri Manikkam Pillai, infers that since Sri Bhagavan was not in favour of Pillai taking a life of complete
outward renunciation, it was by His divine Grace, that at the same time, a thought was kindled in the mind of his aunt to take him back home. [Sri Sivaprakasa Charitamamum Maalaiyum.]. Understanding that it was the will of Sri Bhagavan that he should return home, Pillai left Tiruvannamalai along with his aunt. From that time onwards he began to live a life of solitude in a Vinayaka Temple on the outskirts of his village or in the nearby woods, and he devoted his time exclusively to the practice of self inquiry.
After some time, however, a change began to take place in his outward behavior. Sometimes for no apparent reason he would suddenly start laughing with irrepressible joy; he would often chant Tiruvachakam and other hymns in a loud voice. He would pay obeisance with folded hands to all form which he saw. And he began wearing only a loin cloth with a vibhuti bag tucked into it. He smeared his whole body with holy ashes. He carried a long staff, he forgot all codes [acharas] of caste and religion and without any sense of difference he began frequenting places such as cremation grounds and the 'cheris' [the ares of lower castes]. During this period he made a barefoot pilgrimage to the temple of Lord Muruga at Vayalur, near Tiruchirapalli. When he saw the form of Lord Muruga in that temple, it appeared to him that the spear in the Lord's hand was moving. Deeply moved on seeing this, tears welled forth from eyes, and with great devotion he sang the praises of the Lord. While returning home, he readily accepted and ate stale gruel and other sour food from anyone who offered it. As a result of his walking such a long distance everyday, his feet began bleeding, but nevertheless he continued to hobble on slowly. One night, while he was sleeping in a public resting lace, someone stole his upper cloth. Since his loin cloth became covered with fine red dust due to his walking along the mud roads, it appeared like the ochre cloth of a sannyasi. With a long staff in his hand, and wearing only a dust covered loin cloth, when he returned to his village he appeared like an image of Lord Muruga, Himself. Since he was formerly having a desire to be a sannyasi, it was perhaps by divine Grace that during this period of his life, that desire was temporarily fulfilled in this manner.
contd.,
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James: continues....
Soon after his return from Vayalur,
Pillai regained his normal state and with increased Vairagya he continued his steady and persevering practice of Self inquiry, and for sometime, he also observed outward mouna. From that time onwards, little change was seen in his outward life. For many years he would unfailingly visit Tiruvannamalai three or four times a year and would stay each time for ten or fifteen days in the Presence of Sri Bhagavan. Except for these visits to Tiruvannamalai, he seldom stirred out of his village. Since the time he returned from Tiruvannamalai in May 1913, all his material needs were taken care of by his brother, Sri Kunchthapadam Pillai and the latter's wife, both of whom served him with great love and devotion A fellow village Sri. Mu. Manikkam Pillai became attached to Pillai from the early days and attended on him as a devoted disciple for more than thirty years.
Such was the respect with which local people regarded Pillai that some years after his return from Vayalur, he received a honorary appointment as a juror in the Manjakuppam Sessions Court. Saddened by this unexpected turn of events, he composed four Venbas in which he prayed to Sri Bhagavan and asked: Do you think it is justic to think of sending me to a court of justice? [Sri Sivaprakasa Charitamum and Maalaiyum]. However, understanding that such a work came only according to prarabdha and was to be experienced with a detached attitude free of likes of dislikes, for some years, he served as a juror whenever he was called upon to do so. In a similar manner, on another occasion, he was called upon o render honorary service in connection with the local census. Since he was well known for his impartiality and sense of justice, local people used to come to him for advice and guidance in matters concerning court cases and disputes about the ownership of land or houses, and he always gave his help without expecting any return. Since his advice on such matters and on other personal problems invariably turned to be correct, many people came to regard his words as deiva vak or divine utterances. He also used to explain meaning of spiritual texts in Tamizh to all who came to him seeking clarification.
Pillai continued to visit Tiruvannamalai up to the year, 1947, though in the later years, due to old age he was not able to visit as frequently as before. Once, while feeling depressed at his inability to visit Sri Bhagavan more frequently, he consoled himself by composing a Tamizh verse which means - "Without understanding what Ramana darsanam really is, why are you disconsolate longing for Ramana darsanam? Ramana swarupa is itself my own swarupa. and hence Ramana darsanam is only my knowing myself. [Sri Sivaprakasa Charitamum Maalaiyum.]
contd.,
R.Subramanian/Friends,
Wonderful story of Sri sivaprakasam pillai.How when Sri Bhagavan received the telegram of his passing away,he said-'Sivaprakasam sivaprakAsamAnAr'-meaning 'Sivaprakasam has become Siva-Prakasam'!
The Ramanajali group has brought out a CD of sivaprakasam pillai's 'ramana pAda pancharatnam'.The inner side of the Album cover has all the 5 songs printed.The songs are well rendered.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
Sivaprakasam Pillai's story
is a wonder to show how Sri
Bhagavan takes over and rules
over people. With all his
piccadillos, Sri Bhagavan took
him under His control and saw
to it that he reaches the shore!
I don't have CD of Ramanapada
Pancharatnam. But the maiden
rendering of these five songs
done by Smt. Sulochana and group
was in the Samadhi Hall during
one of my visits and I heard
the songs in full. It was on a
morning after breakfast, say around 9 am.
Sri Ramana Charita Ahaval and Sri Ramana Anugraha Ahaval, were available in a single book [old edition] and I picked up the same in the book depot of the Asramam only. The price, an unbelievable Rs.5.00!
******
Navaratri Thoughts:
When we compare the Lalita
Sahasranama with Chandi, we see
what a great change has come over
the worship of the Goddess through
the influences of the tantric ideas. As in the earlier poem, we have in Lalita too references to the fight of the Goddess with a demon. But the war in Lalita is a on a more refined plane, as Bhanda is a more refined Asura than the bison-headed Mahisha. And as their names indicate, Lalita represents the gentle side, the Chandi, the fierce side of the Goddess. Probably both the fights were meant to be allegories. If so, Mahisha is the beast in man and Bhanda, the ego in man and Devi is the divine spark in him.
To realize God in himself, man has to conquer first of all the beast in himself and, at a later stage, the egoism in himself. The second fight is on a much higher level and with superior weapons like meditation, japa, vichara etc.,
Throughout the litany, there is long description of her marvellous beauty, her jewels, her flowers, her smiles and glances and her likes and dislikes are all revealed to us with such exquisite skill that we feel the gracious Presence of the Devi and believe that she is really, as the poet says, Maha Laavanya Sevadhih - a treasure house of beauty. Abhirami Bhattar says, Azhagukku oruvarum ovvaatha valli! No one can match her beauty, no one can show a candle to her! She is Soundarya Lahari, and that is why, Sri Sankara chose the phrase for his
book that was to come later.
******
Another visitor asked:
What should we do to make the
mind still?
Sri Bhagavan: First let the mind
be caught hold of and brought here;
then we shall consider ways and
means of stilling it.
Devotee: I meant so say that it is
always changing -- even when we our
japa.
Maharshi: Japa is meant only for stilling the mind.
Devotee: What Japa is good for it?
Maharshi: Anything suitable, such
as Gayatri.
Devotee; Will Gayatri do?
Maharshi: Can anything excel it?
Only those who cannot do it look for others. It contains the whole
range of truth in it. Chanting will lead to dhyana and it is the means for realizing the Self.
Devotee: Will half an hour a day do for it?
Maharshi: It must be done always
or as long as you can.
[Talks No. 322, 7th Jan. 1937]
******
Sivaprakasam Pillai:
Michael James: continues.....
During his many visits to Sri
Bhagavan, especially in the early
years, Pillai received from Him
many upadesas, some of which were
of a general nature and some of
which were very personal. Many of the more striking of these upadesas
have been recorded by him in his poems Sri Ramana Pada Maalai, Sri
Ramana Sadguru Maalai and Sri Ramana Deva Maalai. In these poems and also in Vinnappam, [request; submission], he repeatedly prays for His Grace, expressing his own inability to follow the upadesa given by Him. However, on reading his prayers,
we should not feel dejected thinking "If even he could not follow Sri Bhagavan's teachings, what hope is there for us?" When we feel our inability to follow the Guru's teachings, that is in fact the working of the Guru's Grace, because as Sri Bhagavan says in Verse 794 of Guru Vachaka Kovai, "The fruit of the Guru's making a failure of one's efforts is induce one to seek the grace of the Guru by making one understand that that the attainment of Self Knowledge cannot be achieved by one's own efforts but only by the Guru's Grace."
Although Pillai must often have felt [as does any other sincere sadhaka] his inability to follow Sri Bhagavan's teachings, the fact that he was gaining the real fruit of his repeated efforts, which were only seemingly unsuccessful. Moreover when a devotee one asked Sri Bhagavan, "Sivaprakasam Pillai, who is such a good man, such an ardent devotee and a longstanding disciple, has written a poem saying that Sri Bhagavan's instructions could not be carried out by him effectively in practice, what can be the lot of others then ?", Sri Bhagavan replied, "Sri Adi Sankara also says similar things when he composes songs in praise of any deity. How else can they praise God?" [Talks 630]. That is, if one adopts the jivabhava and praises God, one cannot but sing of the limitation and shortcomings of one's individual existence, as can be seen even from the Hymns sung by Sri Bhagavan Himself in praise of Arunachala.
contd.,
Sivaprakassam Pillai:
Michael James - continues....
Moreover the fact that Pillai finally achieved the goal of Self
Knowledge for which he so earnestly strove and prayed, was subtly indicated by Sri Bhagavan Himself. That is, after Pillai passed away on Tuesday, he 12th Jan. 1948, a telegram was sent to Sri Bhagavan conveying the news, and on seeing the telegram, Sri Bhagavan said in Tamizh: "Sivaprakasam, Sivaprakasamanar." which means 'Sivaprakasam has become Siva-
Effulgence, the Light of Siva.'
*****
The Place of Nan Yar in Sri Ramana Literature:
Among the five prose works contained in Sri Ramana Nool Tirattu, the collected works of
Sri Ramana, the work Nan Yar? holds a place of unique eminence,
both because of its genesis and contents. That is, not only does it contain an extremely clear and undiluted account of the very core of Sri Bhagavan's teachings, but it is also the only prose work written by Sri Bhagavan Himself. Whereas Vivekachudamani and Drik-Drsya Viveka are works translaed by Sri Bhagavan from Sanskrit and whereas Vichara Sangraham and Upadesa Manjari are works recorded and edited by devotees, Nan Yar? not only contains the original teachings of Sri Bhagavan but also holds the unique distinction of having been edited and re-written by Sri Bhagavan Himself in the form of a twenty paragraph essay. However more than any other factor, which has really earned this small work a place of such great esteem in the hearts of all devotees of Sri Bhagavan is the fact that in such simple and direct language, it reveals truths of such great depth and practical value.
Of His own accord Sri Bhagavan never sought to give any teachings to anyone. All that He taught during the 54 years He lived in Tiruvannamalai was taught only in response to the questions and prayers of those who came to Him seeking His guidance, and hence His teachings were always given in such a manner as to suit the needs of the individuals who sought them. For this reason, His most pure and undiluted teachings were given only in response to those who came to Him with the most pure and undiluted yearning to know the truth. Among the devotees who were endowed with such yearning and whom Sri Bhagavan has chosen for the role of eliciting from Him His teachings, the foremost are undoubtedly Sri Muruganar and Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai. Just as the world of spiritual aspirants is eternally indebted to Sri Muruganar for eliciting from Sri Bhagavan Ulladu Narpadu, Upadesa Undiyar, Atma Vidya Kirtanam and other verses and poems containing His teachings in their purest form, so we are also indebted to Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai for eliciting from Him the priceless teachings contained in Nan Yar?
concluded.
******
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary devotee:
Michael James:
When God incarnates Himself on earth in the form of the Sadguru,
He does not come alone. He brings with Him highly mature souls, in answer to whose prayers, He gives His true teachings to the world,
and through whom He afterwards expounds the makes clear those teachings, using their mind, speech and body, as His pure instruments to instruct the world, both through words and example. Though such devotees come for the benefit of the world, their attention is never turned towards the world but is ever turned towards God, who shines as the Sadguru and within as Self. Among such rare, exemplary and pure devotees whom Sri Ramana Bhagavan, the Loka Maha Guru, brought with Him to the world is surely to be counted the late Swami Sri Sadhu Om.
Though he was one of the foremost devotees of Sri Bhagavan during his own lifetime, Sri Sadhu Om remained little known to the world, except perhaps to a small circle of sincere Ramana devotees. A man of many gifts and talents -- indeed a versatile genius - he nevertheless chose to live and pass away from the world without the least stain of name and fame. To say that he was a poet of surpassing excellence a talented musician, a philosopher, a faithful exponent of Sri Bhagavan's teachings, a man of deep and one pointed devotion, clear spiritual insight and perfect humility, is to describe but a few of his many gifts and virtues. But none of these qualities, either outward or inward, even deterred him in the least from whole heartedly following the principal precept taught and exemplified by Bhagavan Sri Ramana, namely that we should deny ourself by giving no importance to our own individual entity, and should thus completely erase the ego.
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om -
An exemplary devotee:
Michael James - continues..
It was this self effacing attitude
of Sri Sadhu Om which was responsible
for his remaining unknown even to
many devotees of Sri Bhagavan. A few
years ago, when a friend wanted to
write and publish an article about
Sri Sadhu Om, he objected humbly,
explaining that he preferred to remain unknown to the world and pointing out to Verse 623 of Guru
Vachaka Kovai, in which Sri Bhagavan says:
"Because it brings one under the great evil of yielding to pramada
[forgetfulness of the Self] through which one is made to think that one is the worthless and mean body, while in fact, one is the Supreme Brahman.
Fame or praise is to be rejected with great contempt and is not at all to be aspired for by the wise people."
Those who have had the good fortune of knowing Sri Sadhu Om personally will understand how typical this response is of his unassuming and retiring nature. Many friends have under different circumstances received similar replies from him. For instance, when someone wrote from Australia asking Sri Sadhu Om to send a photograph of himself, he replied, "Sri Bhagavan being the Guru common to yourself and myself, His name and form alone are to be glorified and adored; my photo is therefore immaterial." On another occasion, when a sincere Ramana devotee wrote from America inviting Sri Sadhu Om to 'come to the West and guide us', he replied, 'Since He who has guided me to His home is the Father, Lord and inmost Self of one and all, does He not know best how to guide home earnest seekers, wherever they may be? Why then should an ego rise with the thought 'I should guide these people?' If an 'I' were thus to rise, would not such a conceited action be casting a shame upon the Grace on the non dual Lord Ramana?'
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
devotee:
Michael James - continues...
Only from those who thus deny
their ego so entirely can we learn
and properly understand the unique
path of egolessness revealed to the world by Sri Bhagavan. Only by such pure and humble souls who thus strictly follow Sri Bhagavan's radical and highly refined teachings can the world be truly benefited. As Sri Bhagavan says in Who am I? "To the extent to which we behave humbly, to that extent will good result." We can do real service to the world only by turning our attention away from it and towards Self, thereby preventing even the least rising of the ego. To live thus without the rising of "I" is the true path taught and exemplified by Sri Bhagavan and this alone was the way followed and lived by Sri Sadhu Om!
Sri Bhagavan has shown only two paths for the salvation of mankind, namely, Self inquiry and self surrender, and both these paths find rich and happy expression in the thousands of Tamil songs and verses composed by Sri Sadhu Om. On reading his verses, we find that they are filled not only with fervent and one-pointed devotion to Sri Bhagavan, but also that His teachings are deftly and beautifully woven into them, thus transforming even prayers and praises into profound works of Jnana and Bhakti.
Many of the songs of Sri Sadhu Om have been chosen by individual Ramana bhaktas for daily recitation, because earnest seekers find in his verses ample expression of their own love for Sri Bhagavan and all of their own longing for His Grace. Two books of his songs Sri Ramana Gitam and Sri Ramana VarNangal, have been published by the Ashram, and a number of his other verses have been published by individual devotees in small books and pamphlets. However, many of his verses yet remain unpublished and are known only to a few devotees, for he was always indifferent to the publication of his works. Whatever he sang, he sang only for Sri Bhagavan, so unless the initiative was taken by others, his writings remained unknown to the world. In one of the prefatory verses of Sri Ramana Sahasram, a thousand verses in Venba metre praying for Jnana, a work which may perhaps be called his poetical magnum opus, he writes, "These Venbas are not for print, approval or appreciation of loving friends. These are my words of love, the lover's appeal to the Beloved, the Lord of my heart, made with great inner yearning, and hence it is not proper for others to overhear them."
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
devotee:
Michael James - continues....
It is, nevertheless, the experience
of those who have been blessed with
having a close and intimate contact with him that, more than all his poems and other writings, it is Sri Sadhu Om's exemplary way of living that truly teaches us how to follow the path of Sri Ramana. In this present day, when so many multifarious ideas are being propagated in the name of spirituality and when seekers are found to be straying in great confusion from one guru to another, believing that the Satsanga of a so called 'living
guru' is necessary, many devotees of Sri Bhagavan have received great inspiration and encouragement from Sri Sadhu Om's
chaste and one pointed love for Sri Bhagavan and from his unshakeable conviction that Sri Bhagavan is ever with us, guiding and sustaining us from within.
"Sri Bhagavan's help and guidance is never lacking or insufficient," Sri Sadhu Om often used to assure people, "indeed, His grace is the sole existing reality in this false world. There can never be any need for any devotee of Sri Bhagavan to go to any other God or Guru. No intermediary is necessary between Him and us. Of His own accord, He directly contacts the heart of each devotee who comes to Him, without the need for any intercession from others. To obtain His Sat sangha, we have but to think of Him, pray to Him, read His teachings, reflect on them and practice them. Such mental contact with the Sadguru is the best Sat sangha. And if at all we want Satsangha with His physical form, He is ever will be standing here in the form of Arunachala. In His works, Sri Bhagavan has revealed that Arunachala is Himself, and He has said that just as we identify our bodies as 'I', so Lord Siva, the Supreme Reality, who is none other than Sri Bhagavan, has chosen to identify this Hill as "I" in order to guide us and give us solace. Arunachala is no better form of outward Sat sangha than to live in Tiruvannamalai and to do Arunachala-pradaskhina.
contd.,
R.Subramanian,
"Sivaprakasam Pillai's story
is a wonder to show how Sri
Bhagavan takes over and rules
over people."
I see this differently.I simply see what a devotee sri Pillai was/is.If we are simple and childlike,and sincerely seek God,irrespective of our failings Grace is bound to lift us out of the mire.
How we try idolize the Guru!I find this statement attributed to Sadhu Om a little muddled-"There can never be any need for any devotee of Sri Bhagavan to go to any other God or Guru."
Who is the 'Bhagavan' that he is alluding to and who are the 'other God or Guru'?I often come across this tendency of the cult prone 'Devotee'.
When someone sees me in Sri saibaba shrine ,immediately the question will be asked-'Oh!you are also a Sai Devotee';If I am seen in R K Mutt,the question will be whether I am a 'Ramakrishna Devotee';if I am seen in Sri Ramanasramam,whether I am a 'Ramana Devotee'.
My Reply is a simple :'No.I do not attach myself to these Bandwagons.'
This is not to say that there is no point in the 'Ishta' or Chosen Deity.The true devotee should have the firm understanding that the Ishta is the all and excludes none-Like Sri Ramakrishna says so simply and beautifully-'Uncle Moon is everyone's uncle'.God is-He it is who manifested as Adi Guru Dakshinamoorthy,Sri sankara,sri Ramajucharya,sri Madhwacharya, Sri Ramakrishna , Sri Bhagavan,as Sri saibaba,As Kanchi Mahaswami,as all the Gurus.
As Sri Ramakrishna says over and over again-
1."If you ever see me instructing you, then know that it is Satchidananda Himself
that does so."
2."If somebody addresses me as guru, I say to him: 'Go away, you fool! How can I be a
teacher?' There is no teacher except Satchidananda. There is no refuge except Him. He
alone is the Ferryman to take one across the ocean of the world."
Likewise Sri bhagavan says that He is the Supreme paramatman who sports as pure awareness in the heart cave of all jivas.
Unless we learn to understand the Guru as synonymous with God,we will be caught in our pet fancies.We will become akin to members of 'Star Club'.
Namaskar.
Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
Dogmatism in religion
MASTER (to Balaram's father and the others): "The Bhaktamala is one of the Vaishnava
books. It is a fine book. It describes the lives of the various Vaishnava devotees. But it is
one-sided. At one place the author found peace of mind only after compelling Bhagavati,
the Divine Mother, to take Her initiation according to the Vaishnava discipline.
"Once I spoke highly of Vaishnavcharan to Mathur and persuaded him to invite
Vaishnavcharan to his house. Mathur welcomed him with great courtesy. He fed his guest
from silver plates. Then do you know what happened? Vaishnav said in front of Mathur,
'You will achieve nothing whatsoever in spiritual life unless you accept Krishna as your
Ideal.' Mathur was a follower of the Sakta cult and a worshipper of the Divine Mother. At
once his face became crimson. I nudged Vaishnavcharan.
"I understand that the Bhagavata also contains some statements like that. I hear that it is
said there that trying to cross the ocean of the world without accepting Krishna as the Ideal
Deity is like trying to cross a great sea by holding the tail of a dog. Each sect magnifies its
own view.
"The Saktas, too, try to belittle the Vaishnavas. The Vaishnavas say that Krishna alone is
the Helmsman to take one across the ocean of the world. The Saktas retort: 'Oh, yes! We
agree to that. Our Divine Mother is the Empress of the Universe. Why should She bother
about a ferry-boat? Therefore She has engaged that fellow Krishna for the purpose.' (All
laugh.)
"Besides, how vain people are about their own sects! There are weavers in the villages near
Kamarpukur. Many of them are Vaishnavas and like to talk big. They say: 'Which Vishnu
does he worship? The Preserver? Oh, we wouldn't touch him!' Or: 'Which Siva are you
talking about? We accept the Atmaramasiva.' Or again, 'Please explain to us which Hari
you worship'. They spin their yarn and indulge in talk like that.
"Rati's mother, Rani Katyayani's favourite confidante, is a follower of Vaishnavcharan. She
is a bigoted Vaishnava. She used to visit me very frequently, and none could outdo her in
devotion. One day she noticed me eating the prasad from the Kali temple. Since then I
haven't seen even her shadow."
Master's harmony of religions
"He is indeed a real man who has harmonized everything. Most people are one-sided. But I
find that all opinions point to the One. All views-the Sakta, the Vaishnava, the Vedantahave
that One for their centre. He who is formless is, again, endowed with form. It is He
who appears in different forms: The attributeless Brahman is my Father. God with
attributes is my Mother. Whom shall I blame? Whom shall I praise? The two pans of the
scales are equally heavy.'
"He who is described in the Vedas is also described in the Tantras and the Puranas. All of
them speak about the one Satchidananda. The Nitya and the Lila are the two aspects of the
one Reality. It is described in the Vedas as 'Om Satchidananda Brahman', in the Tantras as
'Om Satchidananda Siva', the ever-pure Siva, and in the Puranas as 'Om Satchidananda
Krishna'. All the scriptures, the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras, speak only of one
Satchidananda. It is stated in the Vaishnava scripture that it is Krishna Himself who has
become Kali."
Namaskar.
Subramaniam,
Thanks for the cut piece from Talks about Reincarnation of a 7 year old boy boy's.I went and read Lila's story in Yoga Vasishtam.Very clever and fascinating story that could easily make a Hollywood movie.
I am not sure if the boy's story is the same as Lila's.There is an important difference.In the boy's story
a)the 7 year old boy
b)the observer/questioner
c)the previous incarnation which died only 10 months ago are all in the same realm.
In Lila's story the difference in age is across two different realms.
So I am not sure if there is reporting error in the Talks(Talk- 261) or did I not understand correctly?
Here is the Lila story from Venkatesanands:
http://www.venkatesaya.com/241_vasistha01_months_tags/index.vasistha01_months_tags.php?m=2&d=21
and here is the Talk-261
************************
Talk 261.
There was a reference to reincarnation. Reincarnation of Shanti Devi
tallies with the human standards of time. Whereas the latest case
reported of a boy of seven is different. The boy is seven years now.
He recalls his past births. Enquiries go to show that the previous body
was given up 10 months ago.
The question arises how the matter stood for six years and two months
previous to the death of the former body. Did the soul occupy two
bodies at the same time?
Sri Bhagavan pointed out that the seven years is according to the
boy; ten months is according to the observer. The difference is
due to these two different upadhis. The boy’s experience extending
to seven years has been calculated by the observer to cover only 10
months of his own time.
Sri Bhagavan again referred to Lila’s story in Yoga Vasishta.
Dear Zee,
I am not sure. I have taken
Talks 261 from the latest
edition, Slim edition, 2010.
I read it once this morning.
There appears to be no mistake.
I should also check up the
previous edition
******
Navaratri Thoughts:
As a literary form, the Sahasranama,
{Lalita] is peculiar to Sanskrit
literature, like the sutra and samaasa. Probably as a set-off against the prolixities and wild
exaggerations of our popular literature, we have these elliptical, mnemonic literary forms from which every unnecessary word is removed. In the Sahasranama the poet has to express his religious feelings and his philosophy of life, as well as his theological beliefs, through names he coins for his deity. He has no room here for the elaboration of his subject, not even for logical connection between one statement and another. Topics have to be huddled together, like the words in samaasa, without any connecting links. And, in a Sahasranama, when samaasas themselves are huddled together without even a conjunction, the resulting structure is like a building in which the walls are formed by neatly chiseled stones being placed one above the other without any mortar or cement between them. Hence as a literary form, the Sahasranama has its own obvious disadvantages as well as advantages. If it encourages brevity and restraint, it also encourages incoherence and obscurity. When the poet is not required to show any logical connection he easily succumbs to the temptation of not conceiving any. The besetting drawback of many a Sahasranama is that all thinking is sacrificed to the tin gods of alliteration and assonance. Hence we often have more sound than sense Alliteration, no doubt, a special value in such a mnemonic literary form ass the Sahasranama, but when it is secured at the expense of logical sequence it gives an
uncomfortable jolt to the mind of the reader who is not content to be a mere parrot. In this respect the Lalita Sahasranama is much better than many other Sahasranamas. There is so much logical connections implied in the names that they easily fall into sections like those dealing with the physical form of Goddess, her with Bhandasura, her different abodes, her manifestations in the chakras of the human body and so on.
See the following:
Tatvaasana tatvamayi pnacha kosantra sthitha |
Nihsima mahima nitya yauvana mada salini ||
Mada ghurnita raktakshi mada patala ganda bhuh |
Chandana drava digdhaangi champeya kusuma priya ||
Kusala komalakara kurukulla kuleswari |
Kula kundaalaya kaula marga tapara sevita ||
Kumara gananathamba tustih pustir matir dhrith |
Santih svastimati kaantir nandini vighna naasini ||
******
The aristocratic lady again came
after a few days, went straight
to Bhagavan, saluted Him and
said:
"I came last time with my husband
and children. I was thinking of their food and time was pressing.
So I could not stay here as long as I would have wished. But I was later worried over the hurried nature of the visit. I have returned now to sit quiet and imbibe Sri Bhagavan's Grace.
May He give me strength of mind!"
The hall was already kept clear of people. She sat on a crude carpet in front of Sri Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan said smiling: "Yes. Silence is perpetual speaking., Ordinary speech hinders that heart-to heart talk."
She agreed and sat quiet. Sri Bhagavan was sitting reclining on the sofa. His eyes were fixed in her direction with a gracious smile on His lips. Both remained silent and motionless for an hour.
Prasad was distributed. The lady said: Now I want to return....
"This time I shall not say 'is the last time I shall come' as I said on former occasions. I do not know, but it may be so. Yet Maharshi should give me strength of mind.
"I long for bhakti. I want more of this longing. Even realization does not matter for me. Let me strong in my longing."
Maharshi: If the longing is there, Realization will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Subhechcha is the doorway for realization.
Devotee: Let it be so. But I am content with longing. Even when I am away from this place, I must no relax in my devotion. May Sri Bhagavan give me necessary strength. Such longing could only be through His Grace. I am personally too weak.......
Maharshi: You repeated visit to this place indicate the extension of Grace....A Higher Power is leading you. Be led by the same.
[Talks 265, 21st Oct. 1936.]
******
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
Devotee:
Michael James: continues....
Sri Sadhu Om truly stood as a peerless example of perfect Guru-
bhakti. Though there were some people who wished to take him as their guru, he always steadfastly refused to accept for himself the position of a Guru. He often used
to point to the shining example of Sri Muruganar, who was the foremost disciple of Sri Bhagavan yet who never accepted for himself the position of Guru even after Sri Bhagavan had left the body. Sri Sadhu Om used to say that one of the important signs of a true disciple of Sri Bhagavan is that he will never accept for himself the position of Guru but will always encourage all devotees to take Sri Bhagavan alone as their Guru. Occasionally people used to ask Sri Sadhu Om whether it is not necessary for an aspirant to have a 'living guru', but he always replied, 'The guru alone is living, we are all dead. If by the term 'living guru' you mean a Guru whose body is still living, then such a living guru will one day become a dead guru. What is the use of such a guru who will not be living for ever? But if you take Sri Bhagavan alone as your guru, then you will have an ever-living guru, because Sri Bhagavan is the ever existing Self shining in the hearts of all people."
However, although Sri Sadhu Om thus denied the need for a 'Living Guru', he always emphasized the need for us to accept one particular name and form as our Guru. Only a very few rare souls like Sri Bhagavan and Lord Buddha have attained Self Knowledge without a guru, in name and form.
For the majority of spiritual aspirants, a Guru in name and form is absolutely necessary, though that name and form need not be the name and form of a person whose body is now living. Of all the
names and forms, assured Sri Sadhu Om, the ideal one for us all to accept as our Guru is that of Sri Bhagavan, who will ever live and shine as an unqualled and unsurpassed manifestation of Divine Grace.
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
Devotee:
Michael James - continues....
In spite of his genius as a
poet, musician and philosopher,
which could easily have earned
him quick fame and popularity
if he had so desired, Sri Sadhu Om
always lived in such a simple and
humble fashion that anyone would
naturally take him to be only an
ordinary devotee. He truly hid his greatness in a most perfect fashion. However, those of us who were blessed with the rare fortune of associating with him closely, found in him an ocean of abundant love and kindness. For each one of us, whether young or old, adult or child, educated or uneducated, he had some special love, and he moved is each of us at our own
level. With a child, he was a child, with a philosopher, he was a philosopher, with a worker, he was a worker, and with a devotee, he was a devotee. And all this was without the least pretence or acting. He naturally fitted into whatever role came to him. He never assumed any air of superiority, and he never liked to be treated with any special regard or reverence. He moved with everyone just like a friend, a brother or an equal. Though many of us inwardly knew his greatness, somehow he always managed to make us overlook his greatness and treat him as an ordinary friend.
Thus, by his simplicity, Sri Sadhu Om made it clear that he did not want people to place him on any sort of pedestal. Even with regard to his poetry, he never liked to claim any credit for himself, for he did not feel any sense of doership in composing his verses. Sometimes, like a child rejoicing with wonder over a toy given to it by its mother, Sri Sadhu Om would innocently wonder at his own poetry, feeling that it was not his own but something given to him by Sri Bhagavan. When people used to praise his poems and songs, he would sometimes say, with childlike simplicity, "When I see these verses, I myself wonder whether I could really have composed them. Truly it can only be Sri Bhagavan and not I who has given such verses."
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
Devotee:
Michael James - continues....
Hence Sri Sadhu Om's simple,
selfless and open way of living,
his warm, cheerful and loving nature, his patience and forbearance, his readiness at any time to do any work that came to him, no matter how small or insignificant it might appear to be, his strong sense of Sri Bhagavan's protection and guidance, his fearless way of standing by the truth, his indifference to praise and blame, his staunch adherence to Sri Bhagvan's teachings, his attitude of complete surrender to and dependence upon Sri Bhagavan, whom he adored as his Mother, Father, God, Guru and sole Lord and Protector, and above all, his total denial of his own individuality, made him an altogether exemplary disciple of his great Master, and has helped many sincere aspirants to understand more clearly the glory of an egoless life and the correct and practical way of following Sri Bhagavan's path in our day to day lives.
The intimate friendship which existed between Sri Muruganar and Sri Sadhu Om is well known., On the very first day that Sri Sadhu Om came to Sri Bhagavan in 1945, Sri Bhagavan sent him to meet Sri Muruganar and to show him his song Kuyilodu KooRal, which had spontaneously surged forth from his heart while he was travelling by train from Thanjavur to Tiruvannamalai. The close literary association which was thus forged by Sri Bhagavan between these two pure devotees proved in time to be the most fruitful. Through his association with Sri Murugnar, Sri Sadhu Om was able to learn many subtle points about classical Tamizh grammar and prosody, to gain a deep insight into the terse and cryptic style of Tamizh used by Sri Bhagavan in His works, and also to perfect his own innate but untrained poetic genius. In return, Sri Sadhu Om did singular service to Sri Muruganar in helping him to finalize his verses and to preserve them for posterity. As Sri Muruganar used to say, 'One for tapas, two for Tamizh' [Tavattukku oruvar, Tamizhukku iruvar], because such refined literary work can be done perfectly when two equally accomplished poets assist each
other. Because of his tireless and willing labor, his thorough knowledge of Sri Muruganar's style and subject, his own literary skill and practical understanding of Sri Bhagavan's teachings, Sri Sadhu Om could render real assistance to Sri Muruganar in all his literary work.
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
Devotee:
Michael James - continues....
Knowing this, Sri Muruganar once
said during his last days, "If Sadhu Om is not entrusted with full responsibility for preserving and editing my all unpublished verses, then it will be better to bundle all of them together and offer them into the Deepam-fire on top of Arunachala or drown them in the Bay of Bengal."
Another old devotee with whom Sri
Sadhu Om had a very intimate and long standing friendship was Sri Natananada Swami. Indeed Sri Muruganar, Sri Natanananda and Sri Sadhu Om formed a trio of accomplished Tamizh poets wholly dedicated to Sri Bhagavan and His teachings. Though Sri Natanananda was a very senior disciple of Sri Bhagavan, having first come to Him in the year 1918, and though he was many years older than Sri Sadhu Om, he recognized the true greatness of Sri Sadhu Om and often expressed his profound love and admiration for him. Sri Natanananda has sung more than 70 verses on Sri Sadhu Om's life and works, and in some of these
he has declared openly his high spiritual attainment. For instance, in a poem entitled Nenjakak KaNNI, [A Poem addressed to the Heart], Sri Natanananda has dedicated twenty six verses on Sri Sadhu Om, in which he sings:
"O heart, due to the quality of contentment, Sri Sadhu Om has for ever attained perfect tranquility of mind in Bhuma [the state of Brahman]."
"O heart, it is very rare to revel like him [Sadhu Om] in the satbhava 'Who is there other than oneself?' just like a bee which has drunk honey.
In other verses, Sri Natanananda sings of the melting love and selfless service of Sri Sadhu Om, who had truly melted as love in Sri Arunachalaramana - as ice melts in water. For instance, in the first three verses of Sadhu Padigam, Sri Natananada sings:
"The life Sadhu Om is a good example of one of the true affirmations which all the Vedas declare in unison, namely that for those elevated souls who take pleasure in caring for the welfare of others, rather than for their own welfare, even the world of gods is a mere trifle."
"Love is Siva; the nature of love is rendering blissful help to the helpless," say the Sages. The close associates of the true devotee Sadhu Om can clearly understand this truth from his life."
"Knowing that renunciation and service are like flower and its fragrance, the perfect Guru Bhagavan Ramana was the embodiment of service, giving joy even to cows and dogs. Sadhu Om reminds everyone of the greatness of Sri Bhagavan by following the same path."
contd.,
Sri Sadhu Om - An exemplary
Devotee:
Michael James - continues....
In many of his verses Sri Sadhu
Om has prayed to Sri Bhagavan to keep him unknown to the world and to protect him from the great peril of name and fame. Throughout most of Sri Sadhu Om's life, Sri Bhagavan fulfilled this prayer of his, though during the last few years more and more devotees came to know of the greatness of Sri Sadhu Om and gradually and more of his writings came to be published in the form of books or in the form of articles which [at my pressing request], he allowed to be published in the Mountain Path. Hence, when an awareness of his greatness was thus being to spread among the world-wide family of Sri Bhagavan's devotees, it was perhaps appropriate and in keeping with his prayer that Sri Bhagavan should at this time choose to withdraw from our midst the physical presence of Sri Sadhu Om.
The end of Sri Sadhu Om's bodily life came in a most sudden and unexpected fashion. On the evening of Thursday, 14th March 1984, which was the first of the Tamizh month Panguni, he did giri pradaksshina, and after returning
home, he took food and went to bed as usual. During the night, he had a cerebral haemorrhage, and when we found him early next morning he was partially paralyzed and unable to speak. On the advice of the local doctor we rushed him to JIPMER hospital in Pondicherry, but by midnight of Friday, the
doctors there told us that the
heemorrhage was very severe and that that there was no possibility of treating it any way. Since Sri Sadhu Om's wish was to shed the body only in Tiruvannamalai, on Saturday morning we brought him back to Tiruvannamalai and lad him on a bed in the hall of my house in the view of the Holy Hill of Arunachala. By the next morning, Sunday, 17th March, it was clear that his breathing was slowly and gently subsiding, so all friends and devotees who had gathered from far and near assembled around his bed and began to chant Sri Arunachala Akshramana Maalai. At 9.05 am. while we were all singing the final refrain Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva, our beloved Swami peacefully breathed his last and was absorbed for ever in absolute union with his Divine Father, Sadguru Bhagavan Sri Arunachalaramana.
contd.,
Subramaniam,
Here is the Shanti Devi's reincarnation story that is mentioned in Talk261.Apparently Gandhiji appointed a committe to investigate this case.
http://www.paulwayman.co.uk/plrart3.pdf
In this case though there is no problem with time differences.But as mentioned in Talk-261 in the case of the boy who died only 10 months ago is now 7 year old and that is what is brough to Bhagawan's notice.
This discrepancy of time is also there in Lila's story of Yoga Vasistha but there is a difference between Lila's story and the boy's.
In the boy's story the difference of age is in the same realm and all the parties discussing it including ourselves are in the same realm(time) where as in Lila's story the king is 70 year old barely after one year after death in a different realm.
This is where I cant get round Bhagwan's explaination.
After reading the "Story of Lila" in Yoga Vashishtam, it dawns in the mind how silly and strong are worldly desires and attachments to objects of senses. The whole cosmic magic is spun out of One Infinite Being-Consciousness (Self). But it seems to be tremendously overwhelming and very tough battle getting out of this magic web without tightly holding onto the feet of Iswara/Guru (of course, mentally).
Zee,
"This discrepancy of time is also there in Lila's story of Yoga Vasistha but there is a difference between Lila's story and the boy's.
In the boy's story the difference of age is in the same realm and all the parties discussing it including ourselves are in the same realm(time) where as in Lila's story the king is 70 year old barely after one year after death in a different realm."
I agree with you on the difference between Lila's story and the boy's.
But in Yoga Vasishtha there is another story of a King to whom a discrepancy such as the boy's does occur within the same realm. I will try and find out the exact story. It was something about a King getting lost in a forest and then forgetting his previous life and becoming a member of a tribe.
Sri Sadhu Om: An exemplary
devotee:
Michael James: continues....
We had known for some years that
Sri Sadhu Om was suffering from
high Blood Pressure, B.P., but he
was never interested in taking
any treatment for it. He used to say in his useful cheerful fashion:
"B.P. means Bhagavan's Protection, so why should we take any treatment for it?" On a number of occasions friends urged him to take some treatment, but whatever treatment was tried did not agree with him and made him feel too weak to attend even to his normal work, so he would soon discontinue it. Once, about a month before his end, he said to me, "Really this BP is the best of all diseases and the easiest way to leave the body. One minute we will be there, and the next minute we will be gone. It will be no trouble either to us or to others." So he cast off the burden of his physical body in just the manner he had wished, a coolie throwing down his burden after reaching the destination o like a person throwing away his leaf after taking his food.
In retrospect, we could see that he had been giving us many hints in recent years that his end was approaching, but few of us had taken his hints seriously. For instance, at the time of Sivaratri in 1983, some friends were taling about a certain boy and one of them casually remarked: He is now studying in plus 2, whereupon Sri Sadhu Om smiled and said, "I am in in minus two." And on many occasions during the last few years he used to say, "I already have packed my bags and am ready o go." But I for one was who never able to take such hints very seriously, and I used to dismiss them just as general observations of the transitoriness and uncertainty of our life in this world. To me Sri Sadhu Om was full of life and joy that I was never able to imagine that he could leave us so soon.
Though the sudden disappearance of his physical presence was a great shock at the time, after three months I have gradually come to understand that he has not really left us. Only the physical body has gone, but the great ocean of love and clear knowledge which maintained itself through that body will ever be with us, shining as inseparably one with Sri Bhagavan.
Sri Sadhu Om has left behind him a great legacy of spiritual writings both in poetry and in prose. The bulk of it yet remains to be published and translated, but in due time his writings will come to be treasured as an invaluable part of the vast spiritual heritage which Sri Bhagavan has bestowed upon the world. Thus Sri Sadhu Om's exemplary way of life and his precious writings will live for ever in the hearts of the devotees of Sri Bhagavan.
concluded.
R.Subramanian,
Indeed Sri Sadhu Om is a wonderful devotee and his simple and inspiring songs in easy Tamil on Sri Bhagavan are very well rendered by the Devoted Ramananjali group.Michael James is indeed blessed to have had the invaluable association(satsangha )with this great soul.
Namaskar.
Thanks Ramprax.
I think you may be referring to the story of King Lavana:
http://www.suryadevananda.org/index.php?page=story-of-lavana
The story fo Lavana too is not the in the same realm.So this story too does not fit the condition of the Boy's story in Talk-261
Dear Ravi,
Sri Sadhu Om is a proficient
Tamizh poet and a great Ramana
bhakta and thus paired with
Sri Muruganar well. He has
written GVK commentary, for
each verse briefly. His The
Path of Ramana in two volumes
is quite popular among Western
devotees of Sri Bhagavan. His
Tamizh verses, as you said are in
easy Tamizh and can be read and
understood straightaway if one
is somewhat good in classical Tamizh verses. Michael James
had a special relationship with
Sri Sadhu Om and both have also
written, as a joint project, commentary on ULLadu Narapdu
in English.
*****
Navaratri Thoughts:
About Sri Lalita:
The convention of having exactly
one thousand names is more a dis-
advantage than an advantage. For it is not always easy to devise a thousand names for the god or goddess you worship without repeating yourself. And repetition of a name with the same meaning is forbidden by "the rules of the game'. So, when the legitimate subject matter is over in five or six hundred names, the poet
is forced to complete the list by something far-fetched or fanciful, just as in actual worship of the deity, when all the flowers on hand are exhausted, we used the colored rice [akshata] in their stead to complete the ritual. And if, by mischance, he repeats a name which has already been used, the commentator who comes in his wake has to rack his brains to give it a different meaning or cut into two different bits and give some forced interpretation to each of the bits! Moreover, if logical connection has no leg to stand on even when coherent material is at hand, it vanishes into thin air amidst these insubstantial word juggleries.
Fortunately, there are not many instances of these defects in the Lalita Sahasranama. On the whole the poet has been able to raise a very noble monument to the Goddess in spite of exceedingly difficult literary form he has chosen to adopt here.
Om Chicchaktyai Namah | 416
Salutation to Her who is the Power of Consciousness.
Om Chetana rupaayai Namah | 417
Salutations to Her who is Pure Consciousness Itself.
****
R.Subramanian,
Who is the 'Brihaspathi' who is commenting on lalitha Sahasranamam?Looks like he is taking an attendance Roll call by calling on the Names of The Divine Mother and does not expect Repetition !
Is this supposed to be a Navaratri offering?Why this condescending tone?Is he trying to evaluate the names?
Please clarify.
Namaskar.
Dear Ravi,
It is from one Prof. D.S.
Sarma of Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
He must be a Sakta but in this
essay, he has dealt with Laita
Sahasranama as a piece of
poetry.
****
Mr. Cohen, a resident disciple,
was speaking of yoga method.
Maharshi remarked: Patanjali's
first sutra is applicable to
all systems of yoga. The aim is
the cessation of mental activities.
The methods differ. So long as there is effort made towards that goal it is called yoga. The effort is the
yoga.
The cessation can be brought about in so many ways.
1. By examining the mind itself.
When the mind is examined, its activities cease automatically. This is the method of Jnana. The pure mind is the Self.
2. Looking for the source of the mind is another method. The source may be said to be God or Self or Consciousness.
3. Concentrating upon one thought make all other thoughts disappear. Finally that thought also disappears; and
4. Hatha Yoga.
All methods are one and the same inasmuch as they all tend to the same goal.
It is necessary to be aware while controlling thoughts. Otherwise it will lead to sleep. The awareness, the chief factor, is indicated by the fact of Patanjali emphasizing pratyahara, dharana, dhyana samadhi even after pranayama. Pranayama makes the mind steady and suppresses thoughts. Then why develop further? Because awareness then is the one necessary factor. Such states can be imitated by taking morphia, chloroform, etc., They do not lead to Moksha because they lack awareness.
[Talks No. 191, 30th May 1936]
*****
S.S. Cohen - The Practical
Sadhaka:
[A.R. Natarajan]
It was on the 3rd of February
1936, that S.S. Cohen arrived at
Sri Ramanasramam. For three months before that he was burning with the desire to meet Sri Bhagavan who
had captivated his mind and heart.
Forty years earlier he had come to India, in 1927, from his homeland of Iraq, in search of a key to the mystery of life. Being a qualified
accountant, he worked as a professional accountant for a few
years in Bombay. But he never forgot the purpose which had brought him to India. So, after a while, he joined the Theosophical
Society, Adyar, in Madras and became a serious student. But he could not find in it the fulfilment he had sought, When he heard of Sri Bhagavan and read some of his books it worked as a magic. His fervor brought him to Sri Ramanasramam, for Sri Ramana's attraction is irresistible to those who are bent on serious practice and sadhana. "Joy and peace suffused his being filling him with a delightful feeling of purity and well being." The next three years were the most wonderful ones in Cohen's life. "Bhagavan was then enjoying the sound, robust, healthy middle age and and was available at almost all hours of the day to the devotees." For Cohen the years 1936-38 were filled with bliss for he could sit near Sri Bhagavan's couch and speak to Sri Bhagavan intimately, tell him about his troubles and show his correspondence without the slightest inhibition. Even after dinner between 8 pm and 10 pm Cohen would there be in the Hall for a 'family chat'.
contd.,
R.Subramanaian,
D.S Sarma was a professor in college!No wonder he is taking a Roll call!I recall reading how he had invited JK to deliver a Talk and was distincly uncomfortble when JK launched a Broad side on Tradition!
In this article,he is parading his Ignorance on the very significance of Sahasra Nama.I find this totally devoid of substance and entirely hollow.
Namaskar.
Zee,
I guess you missed this last portion of the story. Here it is:
*************
Vasistha continued:
The day after his hallucinatory experience king Lavana thought:
"I should actually go to those places that I saw in the vision; perhaps they exist in reality".
Immediately, he set out with his retinue and proceeded in a southerly direction.
Soon, he came across the very scenes of his vision and the type of people whom he had seen then.
He met the very people whom he knew during his existence as a tribesman.
He even saw his own destitute children.
He saw there an old woman who was weeping and screaming in agony:
"O my beloved husband, where have you gone, leaving us all here.
I have lost my beautiful daughter who had an extraordinary stroke of luck to obtain a handsome king for her husband.
Where have they all gone?
Alas, I have lost all of them."
The king approached her, consoled her and learnt from her that she was indeed the mother of his tribal wife!
Out of compassion he gave them enough wealth to meet their needs and to help them out of the drought that had stricken the whole countryside, even as he had seen the day before.
He dwelt among them for some time and then returned to his palace.
The next morning, the king asked me to explain the mystery and was fully satisfied with my answer.
*************
This means that King Lavana had experienced in a few moments more than seven years of another life and that too within the same realm.
Regards,
Ram
S.S. Cohen - The Practical
Sadhaka.
[A.R. Natarajan.]
continues....
Cohen had an unerring sense of
what was the best for his sadhana.
Hence, within a month of his arrival, he started contstructing
a small cottage for himself in Palakottu adjacent to the Asramam, where Sri Bhagavan used to go for His walks. On the day fixed for house warming, griha-pravesam, at about noon Sri Ramana Himself strolled in. After the ceremony, Sri Bhagavan left. Cohen followed Him and approached Him, "Bhagavan, you have given a home for my body, I now need your grace to grant the eternal home for my soul, for which I broke all human ties and came." Sri Ramana stopped and gazed silently in the calm waters of the tank for a few seconds and replied, "Your firm conviction brought you here; where is room for doubt?" Indeed, 'where is his room for doubt?' reflected Cohen.
The three years which followed the griha-pravesam were years of extreme effort. They were years of intense sadhana, so intense that Cohen felt a strong urge to have a break in his life in Tiruvannamalai. He mentioned a strong urge to go on pilgrimage to Sri Bhagavan who gave His consent and also made inquiries about the arrangements he had made. Cohen left Sri Ramanasramam towards the end of 1938 and returned only in July 1940.
Though Cohen was thus away from Sri Ramana's physical proximity for a couple of years, he would often feel the strong presence of Sri Bhagavan in his meditative hours and he would sometimes cry as he did in Kanyakumari, saying, "Oh Bhagavan, how mighty are you, how sublime and all pervasive is the immaculate purity of your mind! How serene and adorable is your countenance! How cool and refreshing your smile! How sweet are your words! How radiant is your all embracing love!" and so on. During this period of his absence from Sri Bhagavan,
Cohen spent about six months with Swami Ramdas in Anandashram and was greatly impressed with the devotion which 'oozed fom every pore of his being.'
contd.,
S.S. Cohen: A Practical Sadhaka:
[A.R. Natarajan.]
continues....
Cohen was a serious practitioner
of path and a fearless
questioner. Thanks to this, we
have Sri Ramana's lucid illumination of many spiritual topics in reply to the questions
put by Cohen. A couple of these relating to meditation would be worth recalling:
C: Does the inquiry 'Who am I?' lead to any spot in the body?
Bhagavan: Evidently, self consciousness is in relation to the individual himself and has therefore to be experienced in his own being, with a centre in the body as the centre of experience.
...It is known to yogis and sadhakas by the name of sphurana.
C: How to reach this centre? Is it simply by the inquiry 'Who am I?'
N; Yes. It will take you up. You must do it with a calm mind.
C: Is the vibratory movement of the centre felt simultaneously with the experience of pure consciousness, or before, or after?
B: Sphurana can be felt in a subtle way with the experience of pure consciousness even when meditation has sufficiently stabilized and deepened.
Fortunately for posterity of Cohen
has maintained a diary recording many of his important conversations and those which Sri Bhagavan had with the visitors from 1936 to 1939 and again for the period from 1940 to 1950. He had also kept a day-to-day record for the period from 16th June 1948 to 14th April 1950, when Sri Ramana specifically demonstrated what it means to be totally unidentified with the body. This diary and record has been published under the title Guru Ramana.
Cohen was constantly reflecting on Sri Bhagavan's conversations and he shared with other devotees through the 'Reflections on the Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.' His condensed translation of Srimad Bhagavata is a class by itself.
Cohen remained in Tiruvannamalai for some years after Sri Bhagavan's Maha Nirvana. Later he shifted to Vellore where he lived for some years. In the last years of his life he was an inmate of Sri Ramanasramam, regaling the devotees with his great sense of humor and making them recall in every detail those wonderful yeas when Sri Ramana was in mortal coil.
Cohen merged with Sro Bhagavan on 27.5.1980 and he was buried in Korangu Thottam, near the Asramam, within a marble top coffin like structure and the details about his merger are engraved there.
concluded.
S. S. Cohen's body took a detour before it finally was buried in the ashram. He had been practising as a homeoepath in Vellore but wanted to spend his final years in the ashram. He made an arrangement with the president of Ramanasramam that he could remain in the ashram for the rest of his life. Cohen gave all the rights to Guru Ramana to the ashram (prior to that it was a private publication) and he made a Rs 1,000 donation to the ashram so that he could be buried in the ashram next to Chadwick, who was a close friend of his.
Unfortunately, before he passed away the president (T. V. Venkataraman) decided that no more devotees would be buried inside the ashram grounds. When Cohen finally passed away, he was buried in the public graveyard near Yama Lingam.
Zbigniev Buday, one of Cohen's friends, complained about this to Ganesan and reminded him of the agreement that Cohen had made with the ashram. Ganesan promised to bring Cohen's body back into the ashram when his father was away visiting his family and then present the samadhi as a fait accompli on his return.
When Venkataraman next went to Bangalore, a party was sent to Yama Lingam to recover the body. Unfortunately, the grave had not been marked and no one was sure where it had been. Cohen's attendant, who used to push his wheelchair around in his final years, claimed that he recognised Cohen's plastic false teeth, which had not decomposed, and so all the bones that were adjacent to the teeth were brought back and reburied in the ashram. I don't think there can be any certainty that these are the bones of Cohen, but it was still a nice gesture for Ganesan to make.
I spoke to Cohen a couple of days after I first arrived in the ashram in 1976. When I asked him where he was from, he laughed and replied, 'The last time I was there it was called "Turkish Mesopotamia".'
I deduced from that that he had left what is now Iraq sometime before the end of the First World War, which was when the Ottoman Empire was finally dissolved. I know he was one of the founding members of The Order of the Star, the organisation that was set up to promote J. Krishnamurti as the new Messiah. I don't know for sure, but I think he came straight to India from Iraq before the end of the First World War.
Kavyakanta - A Colossus of
Learning and Tapas:
K. Natesan:
Sri Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni [1878-
1936], who was unique in being at
once a scholar, poet, patriot, political thinker and tapasvi, was one of the most celebrated figures of his times. Various branches of Sanskrit learning - the Vedas, Upanishads, Ithihasas, Puranas, Mantra Sastra, philosophy, grammar,
poetry, alankara, astrology and Ayur veda -- were all mastered by him quite early in life. He could speak fluently in Sanskrit and compose poems extempore. An assembly of pandits in Nadia held in the year 1900, was so impressed by his poetic powers and in particular his skill in the special literary exercise of completing a verse begun by another poet that they conferred on him the title of Kavyakantha [one from whose throat
poetry gushed spontaneously].
A Sanskrit poet even at the age of 12, Kavyakantha had also drunk deep at the fount of religious literature and was well set for a rigorous spiritual life before he was eighteen. After his marriage he engaged himself in serious spiritual practice, visiting various holy centres for the purpose. He was a firm believer in mantra japa and in its power to solve all problems, including that of Indian Independence. Siva Panchakshari was his favorite mantra, and he recited it a crore of times. In 1903, he came to Arunachala to perform tapas. He visited Sri Ramana Maharshi twice before he accepted his teacher's job at Vellore in 1904. With his organizing ability, he gathered a group of students whose mantra japa was to generate enough spiritual energy to cure the ills of the nation and promote its welfare. In fact, it was his strong conviction, like Swami Vivekananda's, that national welfare should be placed above the individual salvation. He soon resigned his job at Vellore and returned to Arunachala in 1907. It was at this stage that he sought
and gained the grace of Sri Ramana Maharshi, who was then known as Bramana Swami.
contd.,
Thanks Ramprax.Yes that last bit of the story was missing in the link I gave.
I read it quickly and yes that story seems to fit the conditions of the Boy's story in Talk-261.I have to study both stories again carefully.Strange why Bhagawan pointed to the story of Lila and not Lavana.
These two stories confuse any one totally.Suddenly, what is real , unreal, illusion, delusion all is now blurred.We now do not even have a state of momentary permanence from which base we can judge other states.We do not know if we have to take these stories literally of just to get the idea.Even if they are only imaginary we have the story of the boy in Talk-261 which apparently happened in our Real world although no details are given in the Talk nor a detailed investigation conducted like in the famous case of Shanti Devi.
I feel constant contemplation of the essence of these two(Lila and Lavana) stories together can do more damage to the Ego than tools like Self-Enquiry.It is not just that life is a dream/imagination but sometimes can be dream in the dream of a dream and shifting between dreams(Lila story) or appear simultaneous like in the Lavana story.
Thanks Ramprax for the links.
Dear David,
Thank you for giving correct information about the burial and
subsequent shifting to Korangu
Thottam for a coffin like samadhi.
In fact, it is said that Viswantha
Swami's body also met with the same
fate and it was relocated to the
present place along with Ramaswami
Pillai and Kunju Swsami.
******
Kavyakantha - A Colossus of
Learning and Tapas:
K. Natesan - continues....
An intellectual and spiritual giant
who had high achievements to his
credit and a host of followers as well, Kavyakantha still felt that his life's purpose was not fufilled. He remembered Brahmana Swami whom he had met before and went to Him again. This was to give
him the inner peace that he still seemed to lack. The meeting was of profound significance not only for Kavyakantha but for the world at large, which could learn from such a high authority about the real stature of Sri Bhagavan Ramana.
Kavyakantha approached the Virupaksha Cave where Brahmana Swami was staying, and prostrating himself before Him, said in a trembling voice: "All that has to be read I have read. Even Vedanta Sastra I have fully understood. I have performed japa to my heart's content. Yet I have not up to this time understood what tapas is. Hence I have sought refuge at thy feet. Pray enlighten me about the nature of tapas." For fifteen minutes Sri Bhagavan silently gazed at Kavyakantha, He then spoke: "If one watches whence this notion "I"
springs the mind will be absorbed into that. That is tapas. If a mantra is repeated and attention is directed to the source whence the mantra-sound is produced, the mind will be absorbed in that. That is tapas."
The scholar was filled with joy and announced that the upadesa was original, and that Brahmana Swami was a Maharshi and should be so called thereafter, He gave the full name of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi to Brahmana Swami, whose
original name had been Venkataraman
[named after the Lord of Tirupati].
Kavyakantha was now the foremost disciple of Sri Ramana. His disciples also came to the Maharshi. They sought and obtained clarification on many doubtful points. His Sri Ramana Gita recording these questions and answers (between the years 1913 and
1917) is divided into 18 chapters like the Bhagavad Gita and is a great source of inspiration.
His Ramana Chatvarimsat is a hymn well known to devotees and is recited daily before Sri Bhagavan's
shrine. Moving to various places he finally settled down in a village near Kharagpur and passed away in 1936. He was an eventful life spent in writing, research, tapas and guiding his disciples.
contd.,
Navaratri Thoughts:
Saraswati Puja reminds me of some
poets who were graced in a special
manner by Devi/Saraswati. The earliest one is Kalidasa, who was
blessed with poetic talents by Maha Kali of Ujjain. In Tamizh, we have
got Ottakuthar, who lived at the time of Kambar, in 10th century AD. He was doing tapas in Koothanur Saraswati Temple and did pujas to
Saraswati with white lotuses and
acquired great poetic talents.
So also was Kumara Gurupara Swamigal. He was born dumb and he
went to Meenakshi Temple and prayed to Goddesss and he not only got his
ability to speak but also great talents in poetry. Meenakshi is said to have come as a young girl
and write on the young boy's tongue, with the result of which he got speaking ability and poetic talents. He was then advised to go to Tiruchendur where he prayed to \
Muruga and wrote the famous Kandar
Kali Venba. He also wrote Sakala Kala Valli Malai on Saraswati.
Sri Sankara in Soundarya Lahari
[Verse 75] says about Devi's breast milk. He says that her breast milk is very essence of Vak Devata, Saraswati and with that the famous
child of Dravida, acquired great gift of poetry.
Kanchi Mahaswami says that the child of Dravida refers to Tiru
Jnana Sambandhar, who was given breast milk when he was just 3 years old, and when he was crying
not seeing his father, who was bathing in the temple tank of Sirkazhi.
*****
Two lady visitors returned in the
morning and the younger one asked:
"Is the experience of the Highest
State the same to all? Or is there any difference?
Naharshi: The Highest State is the same and the experience is also the same.
Devotee: But I find some difference in the interpretations put on the Highest Truth.
Maharshi: The interpretations are made with the mind. The minds are different and so the interpretations are different.
Devotee: I mean to ask if the seers express themselves differently?
Maharshi: The expressions may differ according to the nature of the seekers. They are meant to guide the seekers.
Devotee: One seer speaks in the terms of Christianity, another in
those of Islam, a third of Buddhism
etc., Is that due to their upbringing?
Maharshi: Whatever may be their upbringing, their experience is the same. But the modes of expression
differ according to circumstances.
[Talks 595, 16th December 1938.]
****
This evening after Parayana,
Venkatarama Iyer came and told
Sri Bhagavan: "It seems that Mrs.
Taleyarkhan and her guest, a cousin
of Sir Mirza of Mysore, were sitting on the Hill, talking about Bhagavan and the Hill, and Mrs. Taleyarkhan said: "Bhagavan is a walking God and all our prayers are answered. That is my experience. Bhagavan says this Hill is God Himself. I cannot understand all that, but Bhagavan says so, so I believe it."
Thereupon her friend replied: "I would take it as a sign, according to our Persian beliefs, if it would rain." Almost immediately there was
a shower and they came to me drenched and told me about it."
[Day by Day, 2nd July 1946.]
****
Bhagavan was reading something from a Malayalam book yesterday afternoon.
Someone nearby enquired whether it was the Vasishtam, and Bhagavan replied in the affirmative. A Pandit who was there began discussing the stories in the Vasishtam, and said,
"Swami, there will be several bondages for the attainment of realization, will there not?"
Bhagavan, who was reclining on the sofa, sat up and said, "Yes, that is so. They are bondages of the
past, the future and the present."
"Of the past bondages, there is a story in the Upanishads and also in the Vasudeva Mananam. A brahmin with a large family, acquired a she-buffalo and, by selling milk, curds, ghee etc., he maintained his family. He was fully occupied the whole day with obtaining fodder, green grass, cotton seed, etc., for the buffalo and in feeding her. His wife and children passed away, one after another. He then concentrated all his love and affection on the buffalo, but, after a time, the buffalo too passed away. Being thus left alone and disgusted with family life, he took to sannyasa, renouncing the world and began practicing prayer and meditation at the feet of a Holy Teacher.
"After some days, the Guru called him and said, 'You have been doing sadhana for several days now. Have you found any benefit from them?'
The brahmin then related the above story of his life, and said, 'Swami, at that time, I used to love the buffalo mostly because it was the mainstay of my family. Though it passed away, long ago, yet when I am deeply engrossed in meditation, it always appears in my thoughts. What am I to do?' The guru, realizing that it was a past bondage, said, "My dear friend, the Brahman is said to be asti, bhati and priyam. Asti means omnipresent; bhati means lustre; priyam means love. The buffalo, being an object of your love, it is also the Brahman. It has a name and a form;
so what you should do is to give
up your own name and form as well as those of the buffalo. If that is done, what remains is the Brahman Itself. Therefore, give up names
and forms and meditate. The brahmin
then meditated, giving up both of them and attained realization. Name and form are past bondages.
[Letters, 25th Sept. 1947]
****
Friends,
On this vijayadasami day,where the air is vibrant with the presence of The Divine Mother,I wish to share this excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.Other Great ones may have composed Stotras,composed works,but no one exemplified how it is to Live as a Child of the Divine Mother like Sri Ramakrishna did.Here is the excerpt from the wonderful Chapter 5 'The Master and Keshab':
October 27, 1882
Master's boat trip with Keshab
IT WAS FRIDAY, the day of the Lakshmi Puja. Keshab Chandra Sen had arranged a boat trip on the Ganges forSri Ramakrishna.
About four o'clock in the afternoon the steamboat with Keshab and his Brahmo followers cast anchor in theGanges alongside the Kāli temple at Dakshineswar. The passengers saw in front of them the bathing-ghat and thechandni. To their left, in the temple compound, stood six temples of Śiva, and to their right another group of sixŚiva temples. The white steeple of the Kāli temple, the tree-tops of the Panchavati, and the silhouette of pine-trees stood high against the blue autumn sky. The gardens between the two nahabats were filled with fragrantflowers, and along the bank of the Ganges were rows of flowering plants. The blue sky was reflected in the brownwater of the river, the sacred Ganges, associated with the most ancient traditions of Aryan civilization. The outerworld appeared soft and serene, and the hearts of the Brahmo devotees were filled with peace.
......................
The steamer had been going toward Calcutta; but the passengers, with their eyes fixed on the Master and theirears given to his nectar-like words, were oblivious of its motion. Dakshineswar, with its temples and gardens, wasleft behind. The paddles of the boat churned the waters of the Ganges with a murmuring sound. But thedevotees were indifferent to all this. Spellbound, they looked on a great yogi, his face lighted with a divine smile,his countenance radiating love, his eyes sparkling with joy-a man who had renounced all for God and who knewnothing but God. Unceasing words of wisdom flowed from his lips.
Reasoning of jnanis
MASTIER: "The jnanis, who adhere to the non-dualistic philosophy of Vedanta, say that the acts of creation,preservation, and destruction, the universe itself and all its living beings, are the manifestations of Śakti, theDivine Power. If you reason it out, you will realize that all these are as illusory as a dream. Brahman alone is theReality, and all else is unreal. Even this very Śakti is unsubstantial, like a dream.
"But though you reason all your life, unless you are established in samādhi, you cannot go beyond the jurisdictionof Śakti. Even when you say, 'I am meditating', or 'I am contemplating', still you are moving in the realm ofŚakti, within Its power."
continued....
Friends,
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna continued....
Identity of Brahman and Śakti
"Thus Brahman and Śakti are identical. If you accept the one, you must accept the other. It is like fire and itspower to burn. If you see the fire, you must recognize its power to burn also. You cannot think of fire without itspower to burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire. You cannot conceive of the sun's rays withoutthe sun, nor can you conceive of the sun without its rays.
"What is milk like? Oh, you say, it is something white. You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness, andagain, you cannot think of the whiteness without the milk.
"Thus one cannot think of Brahman without Śakti, or of Śakti without Brahman. One cannot think of the Absolutewithout the Relative, or of the Relative without the Absolute.
"The Primordial Power is ever at play. She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were. This Poweris called Kāli. Kāli is verily Brahman, and Brahman is verily Kāli. It is one and the same Reality. When we thinkof It as inactive, that is to say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction, then we call ItBrahman. But when It engages in these activities, then we call It Kāli or Śakti. The Reality is one and the same;the difference is in name and form.
"It is like water, called in different languages by different names, such as 'jal', 'pani', and so forth. There arethree or four ghats on a lake. The Hindus, who drink water at one place, call it 'jal'. The Mussalmans at anotherplace call it 'pani'. And the English at a third place call it 'water'. All three denote one and the same thing, thedifference being in the name only. In the same way, some address the Reality as 'Allah', some as 'God', some as 'Brahman', some as 'Kāli', and others by such names as 'Rama', 'Jesus', 'Durga', 'Hari'."
Namaskar.
Kavyakantha - A Colossus of
Learning and Tapas:
K. Natesan - continues...
The work of Kavyakantha numbering
over a hundred fall under numerous categories. There are hymns, sutras, commentaries, researches in Rig Veda, a model constitution for India, and even fiction. Uma Sahasram sings in a thousand verses the glories of the Divine Mother. A few hundred verses towards the end of this work were composed in the immediate presence of Sri Bhagavan in an incredibly short time, Kavyakantha keeping four men busy writing to his dictation. Indrani
Saptasathi, Chandi Trisati and Gita
Mala are other important works, the last being praise of deities like
Indra and Agni. The most outstanding of his sutras is that on Dasa Maha Vidya, which reconciles the Vedantic and Tantric schools on the subject of ten cosmic powers. The Sahasranama strings together Indra's thousand names culled from the Rig Veda. His Rig Vedic commentaries have brought within the reach of readers an abstruse subject which needed clarification. His research work on the Mahabharata deals with the question of its Vedic basis. Sat
Darsanam, a rendering in Sanskrit of Sri Bhagavan's Ulladu Narpadu, and a commentary on his Upadesa Saram are very popular with the devotees of Sri Bhagavan.
As evidence of Kavyakantha's burning patriotism, the following may be cited from his Indrani Saptasati:
"O Mother! I take refuge at thy feet so that my country may prosper, this country long beaten, shattered and weeping."
"May the enemies of dharma perish.
May friends of our land prosper. this would gladden my heart. O Divine Mother, I take refuge at thy feet."
"O beloved Indra! Spies dog the heels of our mighty men. We are afraid even to give vent to our sorrows. They bow to Thee for Grace. Refuge at Thy feet!"
It may also be recalled at the Belgaum Congress [Dec. 1924], he spoke for nearly an hour in Sanskrit to the surprise and delight of Gandhiji, Malaviya and other leaders.
concluded.
The Muni and the Maharshi:\
A.R. Natarajan:
When we think of Kavyakantha Muni,
the image of ancient Rishis like
Vasishta, Atreya and the like come to our mind. Gigantic in the strength born of his endless austerities, filled with passion for the proper understanding of the
Vedic texts and love for motherland, the Muni strode the narrow world liked a colossus. We are told that he was dumb in his early childhood, in direct contrast to his poetic outpourings of his later years which matched those of Kalidasa. Was he a modern Hastamalaka preferring silence to worldly prattle until the physical pain of branding forced him to speak? One cannot say. But that as it may, he was born in a family steeped in the lore of sacred mantras and he was a natural heir to it. He mastered the scriptures and could go to the very root of the meaning of Vedic riks. What marked him out was his passion for austerities, for uttering the sacred mantras times without number. Even so after his marriage,
we find him departing for Bhubaneshwar for a severe spell of such penance.
This penchant for wandering from one sacred place to another was his second nature, and though he was fully endowed with the power which flows from ceaseless penance, though he readily and easily attracted followers, he was humble enough to recognize that somehow his penance was incomplete. He had neither the vision of his favorite god Siva, which he had longed for nor had he the peace of mind which must follow a single minded spiritual effort. At this stage,the divine took a hand in his historic meeting with Arunachala Ramana on a hot afternoon in Virupaksha Cave in November 1907.
Who is this Arunachala Ramana? None can really know and if anyone were to ask what is the nature of this Sadguru, 'one has to only hang down the head and remain silent like a statue'. His own Mother Azhagammal saw Him as the snake-decked Lord Siva. Raghavachari saw Him first as Dakshinamurty and this form too vanished and vast space alone remained. Even though none can fathom the glory of Ramana, we can say a few things which are part of the record. Self Knowledge came to His door, unsought, giving credence
to the old adage that 'Atman reveals itself to those whom it chooses.' It may be this knowledge
dawned because of the constant 'sphurana' of Arunachala within His
Heart from the age of innocence. Or it could be due to His Samadhi like sleep or it may be because of His life's purpose was to be a living embodiment of the power of Arunachala. One can only guess at the cause. Whatever knowledge He had of the scriptures was only that He picked up later to explain their import to Pazhaniswami and others. But this made no difedrence for He was constantly rooted in the Self. What He taught came from direct experience. Seekers of truth could no more resist His attraction than a bee could a flower in full bloom.
continued.
Dear All,
What is the kind of Tapas/Austerities Sri Ganapathi Muni used to perform? In his biography, he decides that he will perform Tapas, retires to a place (like Nasik) and spends many days "doing Tapas". What is this Tapas he was doing?
I am aware of the definition of Tapas which Bhagavan has given. But, I am eager to know the Tapas which Sri Ganapati Muni used to do.
Regards Murali
The 'I' which rises will also subside. That is the individual 'I'
or the 'I' concept. That which does not rise will not subside. It IS and will be for ever. That is the universal "I", the perfect "I", or
realization of the Self.
At 5.30 pm., the Swiss lady complains to Sri Bhagavan that she gets a headache if meditation be prolonged for some time.
Maharshi: If the meditator and meditation be understood to be the same there will be no headache or similar complaints.
Devotee: But they are different. How shall we consider them to be the same?
Maharshi: That is due to your outlook. There is only one and there are no differences. On meditation the relative consciousness will vanish. That is not annihilation; for Absolute Consciousness arises. The Bible itself says, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."....if you consider yourself to be the body there is some difficulty in understanding
the statement. On the other hand if you know who you really are, the Kingdom of Heaven and all are included in your true Self. They are concepts arising after the ego has arisen. Drishtim jnanamayeem krtva pasyet Brahmamayam jagat -
direct your look within and make it absolute. With that absolute awareness realized, look without and you will realize the universe to be not apart from the realized Absolute.
Because your outlook is externally directed you speak of a 'without'.
In that state you are advised to look 'within'. This 'within' is relative to the 'without' you are seeking. In fact, the Self is neither without nor within.
Speaking of Heaven one thinks of it as above or below, within or without, since one is accustomed to relative knowledge. One seeks only objective knowledge and hence these ideas.
Really speaking there is neither up nor down, neither in nor out. If they were real they must be present
in dreamless deep sleep also. For what is real must be continuous and permanent. Did you feel 'in' or 'out' in sleep? Of course not.
[Talks 311 of 2nd Jan. 1937]
*****
Soon after Parayana was over, at
6.15 p.m., the monkeys [seeing that the window near Sri Bhagavan at which
they used to come and beg for fruits
and nuts were closed] came near the doorway on the same side, and the ladies and children who wanted to go out of the Hall by that doorway were frightened. In connection with this,
Mr. Viswantha Iyer used the word 'manthi' and said it denoted a male monkey. I said, "I believe it means the very reverse. See this from Pillai Perumal Iyengar, maN moolam thaa venRu manthi kadvaRkuraippa....
(the manthi asked her mate roots from the earth)." Thereupon Muruganar said, 'manthi' is used generally to denote both sexes and especially to denote the female sex. Sri Bhagavan quoted manthikuRaLai yotthenillai [I am not like the little one of a moneky] of Saint Pattinathar and said, "There evidently it must refer to the mother monkey" and went on to recollect one song from
Tiruppugazh and another from Pattianathar's UdaRkooRRu vaNNam [Udarkkotruvannam] in which the word 'manthi' occurs. These two songs were picked up at once. The first one is Pazhani Vaguppu. The portion referred to in it was read out by Sri Bhagavan and explained to us. It is in praise of the fertility of Pazhani and says, "The manthi sitting on the areca-nut tree sees the flowers of the sandal wood trees nearby and, thinking that they are hoods of snakes, jumps in fear on to another tree, and the branches vacated, first bending down and then rising up strike against the fully ripe plantain fruits hanging in bunches in the plantain trees nearby and scatter the plantains, which in their turn fall on the jack fruit lying underneath and set flowing
the honey forming in them, so that the same honey released in huge quantities flow in streams and waters the adjoining forest of shanbaga trees." All this was explained by Sri Bhagavan. On previous occasions, I have heard Sri Bhagavan give this as an example of our poets exaggerating the fertility of a country. The other lines in Pattinathar were also picked up. They are: varuvathu pova thorumuthu koonu manthi enumbadi kunthi natandhu, mathiyum izhanthu sevi thimir vanthu... Sri Bhagavan read this song right up to
the end, reading the same according
to the metre.
(Day by Day, 26.1.1946)
*****
Listening to the stories by Kunju
Swami, we had gone beyond Adi Annamalai. On reaching Vettavalam Mandapam, he asked us whether we had heard why Sri Bhagavan had written the verse 31 of the Supplement to the Forty Verses. On answering in the negative, Kunju Swami related the following incident.
"One night, as we were going round the Hill with Sri Bhagavan, just about here, two or three fully loaded bullock carts were passing along. The people in the cart were sound asleep, their legs stretched out, and free from all cares. Pointing them out to us, Sri Bhagavan said: "Did you see that?
It is like the natural state, Sahaja Nishta. For the Realized One the Self [Atman] which sleeps in the body, all the three states are the same, namely that of waking, dream and deep sleep states. For example, this cart is going, the man in the cart is asleep; that is like working of the body of a Realized Soul. The body is for him a cart. While in motion, while standing still, or while being unloaded, the man goes on sleeping." Subsequently, the same idea was expressed in the verse referred to above, which was also written in prose in Telugu."
(To the Realized Soul who is asleep in the gross body the states of activity, samadhi, and deep sleep mean no more than a cart's moving, stopping and being unyoked mean to a traveler who is asleep in the cart.")
(Letters, 30th November 1947).
*****
The Muni and the Maharshi:
A.R. Natarajan - continues....
Sri Ramana had already begun His spiritual ministration with His message to His Mother and clarifications to Gambhiram Seshaier and Sivaprakasam Pillai. But He preferred to hide His state behind the facade of verbal silence. The Muni himself had 'darshan' of the Maharshi on two earlier occasions and had been deeply impressed by His Brahmic State. But the time was not yet ripe. The Muni had not come to a deadend, to a state of utter desperation, without which no surrender to the Sadguru was possible. Such a state came on this sacred day, for it then dawned on the Muni that in spite of his vast erudition, his ceaseless repetition of the holy syllables, he was only at the threshold. For some reason his tapas had not yet yielded the desired results. While clasping with his hands the feet of Sri Ramana, he opened for himself the floodgates of Sri Ramana's Grace. The Muni's distress was the world's opportunity. The Muni's spiritual
status was such and his yearning
was so evident, that Sri Ramana's love overflowed in His breaking the self imposed silence of eleven long years. The world was not to be denied Sri Ramana's soft and ambrosial voice. To the Muni and to each of us, through the message given to him, the true meaning of tapss has been revealed. In emphasizing the need for the switching of attention from thoughts to the thinker, to the first person 'I' and to the origin of sound from sound, Sri Ramana opened up His straight and easy path to all. What an epoch making
break of silence it has been! When one recalls the flow of spiritual ministration of Sri Ramana from its gentle beginning at this point to the torrential level in the last decade when He was in the body, one is filled with gratitude to the Muni for having been the channel of the divined in this purpose.
For the Muni, it was a watershed stage. He had been blessed with a peerless Sadguru whom he joyously proclaimed to be the sage among the
sages, the Maharshi, God in the human form, Bhagavan. Henceforth, throughout his life the Muni never forgot that his greatest good fortune was that the Maharshi wss his guru.
contd.,
The Muni and the Maharshi:
A.R. Natarajan. Continues...
Students of Sri Bhagavan's life know only too well that all His compositions and and clarifications were only in response to the insistent request of one or other of His devotees. To Pazhani Swami, we owe Akshara Mana Maalai and to Sri Muruganar, Upadesa Undiyar and ULLadu Narpadu. To the Muni goes the credit for Sri Ramana Gita. The Muni and a band of eight seekers covered the whole gamut of spiritual problems through the questions raised by them between 1913 and 1917. The issues raised by them were so fundamental that we find Sri Bhagavan expounding on His own on some of the topics like The Science of the Heart and Mind Control. The mellifluous Sanskrit in which the questions and answers have been recorded and the lyrical praise of Sri Ramana in Chapters XI and XVIII have made this work a modern Upanishad - Sri Ramanopanishad. Since the Vedas and the Upanishads are in Sanskrit, Sri Ramana Gita and the Muni's translation later of ULLadu Narpadu
into Sanskrit as Sad Darsanam have enaboled many to understand the true value of the Maharshi's teachings against the backdrop of the rich tradition of the Sanskrit
scriptures.
Having tasted a brimful of guru's grace on the twentieth day of the composition of Uma Sahasram, when the Muni completed two hundred verses in just a few hours, the Muni knew the power of Sri Ramana's Presence. Compelled by the inner urge for more and more austerities, the Muni would go to various sacred places like Padaiveedu, Mahendra Mountains and Gokarna. But he would always return to Arunachala, to Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. The Muni reaped the benefit of his firm faith through the Kapalabheda experience [the splitting of the crown of the skull] which came to him.
The Muni's faith in Sri Ramana's words was total and unflinching. When Azhagammal attained Mukti, it was he who set all controversies at rest by insisting that the Mother should be interred in a Samadhi because she was an illumined person, For the Muni, the words of Sri Ramana that His Mother had been absorbed in the Heart were sacrosant and there could be no room for doubt.
Whatever the Muni did had the stamp of authentic greatness. In one lunar eclipse day, the Muni completed a brief commentary on Upadesa Saram. He wrote just one chapter of his intended biography on Sri Ramana. The birth of the birthless and what an inspired one it is!
contd.,
The Muni and the Maharshi:
A.R. Natarajan - continues....
In the last few years of his life,
the Muni was physically separated from Sri Ramana. The Muni's epistles from Sirsi would 'soothen even the savage beast.' What love, what confidence in Sri Ramana's transcending, space-negating presence! Where is time, where is space, for one like Sri Ramana? Where are the limits to His power to transform, to make one the whole? This is the constant theme of these letters. Whatever the Muni wrote about Sri Ramana, be it the Forty Verses in Praise, Chatvarimsat, the rapturous verses in Sri Ramana Gita or the epistles, the Muni would pour into it his total personality and intensity of his feeling can be felt by all readers. For, the Muni was passionately involved in whatever he did. In Sri Ramana, he recognized fully that his relationship was with one for whom the human garb was just a cloak.
The story of the Muni epitomizes
the abundance of Sri Ramana's grace. Before giving his message on the true meaning of 'tapas', Sri Ramana gazed silently at the Muni
for fifteen minutes, an overt act of transfer of grace so that the message could go home. Whenever the Muni sought His advice, be it through questions recorded in Sri Ramana Gita or on other occasions,
Sri Ramana would draw the Muni's attention back to the 'source watching' with evident and tender concern. One can readily see the respect which Sri Ramana instilled
in others for the Muni. All Sanskrit works would be referred to him for advice. We find in the Talks, Day by Day, several laudatory references to the Muni by Sri Ramana. For his part, in spite
of all the vicissitudes in life, through all the situations brought about by concern for reform and
regeneration of the country, the Muni was single-minded in broadcasting the divinity of Sri Ramnana which he felt with his every breath. Out of the tender story of the disciples and the Sadguru, between Nayana and Sri Ramana, something indefinable but extraordinarily beautiful and evergreen has been bequeathed to posterity.
concluded.
Subramanian,
I am not a big fan of A.R.Natarajan guessing from your posts.With all due respects to the devotee Mr.A.R.Natarajan, he is a bit verbal, a bit of his own take and and a bit of belly rumbling.There is enough original literature out there about Bhagavan and his retinue which is self-explainatory and that should be and is enough.If you squeeze the lemon too much you will only get bitter taste.
I am also not a big fan of devotees' outpouring of mousy poetry unless one knows that language and enjoys the flowery language side of things.Like Sri Sadhu Om pointed out it is personal stuff between the devotee and his lord unless there is something in it for us to learn or talnded play of words for the language lovers.A lot of tamil devotional poetry posted here falls into that category especially the ones in praise of Lord Shiva.Someone wrote something entitled Bhagawan's marriage with Knowledge.How weird way to express.I think such belly rumblings should be left at it.
The new GVK by Mr.David et al too is too repetitive and all over over and so destroys the fame of Bhagawan's crisp,pithy,cutting and bang on the point style.If not for Mr.David's writings and explainations every now and then it would have been a lot more boring book.Ideally in the future releases I hope they cut down the number of verses to one third or so to take away the redundancy and 'all over' style.'Be As You Are' is the best book on Bhagawan's teachings.
A Tribute to Viswanatha Swami:
by Evelyn Kaselow:
With Sri Bhagavan's Grace, I believe
that few people have benefited as much as I in the company of the saintly Swami Viswanatha. All of
us in Arunachala Asramam looked on him as the embodiment of Sri Bhagavan, and he treated us just as Sri Bhagavan would have, as no less than his own children, nieces or nephews. In fact, he very graciously said as much to me himself. On the occasion when I went to Swami's room for my daily 'Sanskrit' class', I took my seat by his side as usual. Unexpectedly,
a Kashmiri gentleman had come that day, and Swami enthusiastically said to him, "You see how, like a little girl, she feel no shyness to sit by my side? I am an unmarried man, I have no issues, but I have
my brothers' children - she is like one of them!" This same solicitude was extended to all our Asrama members and only demonstrates his extreme graciousness. Swami, out of his kindness as well, reprimanded us if we spent too much money on various Asrama projects. He would personally advice us about when and how to go on pradakshina or up the
Hill. And on one occasion, a day after he had advised me not to go on pradakshina, with a mischievous
look in his eyes, he inquired, "So did you go around the Hill this morning?" Naturally I had not. Her personally intervened when two other devotees in our Asramam had intended to climb the Hill before going to Madras the same day. Swami requested them to forego this climb, which they did. Like Arunachala, he could appear aloof.
Yet at one and the same time, he was disinterested witness and a most compassionate father for us.
It was in August 1973, that Sri Bhagavan ushered us into Swami's presence for the first time. Ganesan introduced us to him. A passage from my diary follows:
"Cloudless was the day which dawned to usher us into the presence of Sri Viswanatha Swami, reminding us of the Self which shines 'by its own light as a ruby unaffected by any outward object. How could we record our impressions of one whose even amazingly insignificant remarks and actions and silences appeared to us to be the purest teachings of the Truth? Are we capable of expressing it in words while 'Thou in ancient days, as Dakshinamurti, couldst do so by silence only? He appeared to be Thy embodiment. 'To see Sri Bhagavan was to see the ever present reality of the absolute.', he said. And again, "There is a centre in man where there is no ignorance, where there is Pure Awareness. His words, reflecting the Truth, proceeded from Truth itself. It seemed to us that his individual being had long ago left him and all that remained was Thou.
"Seeing his austerely furnished room containing little more than two hard benches, one for himself and one for visitors, and the two
pieces of cloth he possessed to cover his body in South Indian style, we noted the poor reflection they cast on our more complicated lives.
contd.,
The decline of Buddhism in Asia: Christian churches in Singapore (and everywhere else in Asia) are dynamic, socially engaged, highly motivated and well-organized. Their outreach strategies are also highly effective, although some would describe them as intrusive and aggressive as well. Nonetheless, they bring in the converts. Trying to find out about Dhamma from the average Buddhist rarely works because they rarely know any. Temples and societies emphasise ritual activities rather than solid Dhamma education. During the 1980s the decline of Buddhism slowed somewhat probably because of the introduction of religious knowledge in schools. This meant that a generation of nominally Buddhist kids got from school what they never got from the temple – some basic knowledge of the Dhamma.
Dear Zee,
1. Many devotees of Sri Bhagavan write in their own style but their
devotion to Sri Bhagavan cannot be
questioned. ARN may sound a little
verbose but that is his style. His
devotion to the direct devotees
of Sri Bhagavan is as high as yours and mine.
2. Regarding Tamizh poems, Sri Bhagavan spoke Tamizh and wrote in
Tamizh. His outpourings are only
on Siva. So here and there, a Tamizh poem on Siva by me or other
writers cannot be avoided in the blog. Of course non-Tamizh devotees
may find it difficult to understand. It is like writing about some Zen koans and one has to read the English translations and understand them to the extent possible.
3. As regards Guru Vachaka Kovai of
Sri Muruganar/Sri Bhagavan, it has
been written in crisp, classical Tamizh. I spent two months in reading and understanding Tamizh original GVK. Then I also took up
Sri Sadhu Om's brief comments also.
As regards, David's English translation, I am of the view that it is the best and full translation of the work available. Of course,
one cannot bring the same crispy style of Muruganar in translation.
For that matter, all translations
are definitely watery, somewhat loosely packed, like adding water to honey. This is because every
language has its uniqueness and translation cannot do full justice
to the original. I have been told
that King James Version and New
English version of the Bible from the original Hebrew is also somewhat loosely packed and the essence of original Hebrew is not there. You may be aware, that all
Koran translations from original Arabic are, for the same reason, called only as commentaries and not translations. In the mosques, they chant / read only Arabic version
and if one has to understand the meaning, he has to come home and see the English 'translation.' A friend of mine spent 2 years in Chennai to learn Russian to appreciate War and Peace in original. Not of all of us can make such Himalayan efforts to know a language and read the original. David's GVK is intended for non-Tamizh readers and devotees of Sri Bhagavan and he has done justice to it to the best of his ability.
****
Devotee: Vichara Sagaram relates four obstacles to Self Realization...
Maharshi: Why only four? Some say they are nine. Sleep is one of them.
What is sleep? It is only obverse of waking. It cannot be independent of waking. Sleep is unalloyed Self. Do not think you are awake. Sleep cannot be, nor the three states either. Only forgetting the Self you say you dreamed. Can anything exist in the absence of the Self?
Why do you leave it out and hold the non-self?
As the mind tends to go out turn it
inwards then and there. It goes out owing to the habit of looking for happiness outside oneself. But the Knowledge that the external objects are not the cause of happiness will keep it in check. This is Vairagya or dispassion. Only after perfect Vairagya the mind becomes steady.
The mind is only a mixture of knowledge and ignorance or of sleep and waking. It functions in five ways: Kshipta [active]; Moodha [dull]; Vishipta [distracted]; Kashaya [latent] and Ekagrya [one pointed].
Of these Kashaya is only the latency of tendencies and not the tendencies themselves such as attachment, repulsion etc.,
Yourself being Ananda [bliss], why should enjoy it saying, 'Ah! How blissful!' This is Rasavada.
During the marriage ceremonies a virgin feels happy as a bride without experiencing the embrace of man. This is rasavada.
Devotee: Jivanmukti (liberated while being alive) itself being ananda....
Sri Bhagavan interrupted: Do not look for Sastras. What is Jivanmukti? What is ananda? Liberation itself is in doubt. What are all these words? Can they be independent of the Self?
Devotee: Only we have no experience of all this.
Maharshi: What is not, is always lost. What is, is ever present, here and now. This is the eternal order of things. Example: Necklace
round the neck.
(Talks 344, 23rd Jan. 1937)
*****
In the afternoon, Mrs. Ranga Iyer
sang almost the whole of the book Ramanamritam [where the song Sri
Ramana Jnana Vivaham is also there.] composed by her son about the marriage of Sri Bhagavan to Jnana. Sri Bhagavan listened very graciously. One of the songs referred to an incident in His fifth or sixth year, when, for something that He had done, His father said: 'Take away His cloth and drive Him out'. I asked Sri Bhagavan about this and it led Him to talk about those early years and
about a group photograph of His father and others were taken in the hospital compound and another that was taken later of His father and His uncle. He said that it was from a copy of the group of His father, recovered from Ranga Iyer's house, that we got the photograph of His father that hangs in the dining hall but that the other photograph, the one with Sri Bhagavan in it, had been lost.
[Day by Day, 28.5.1946]
*******
Vritti Janya Jnanam:
This morning, one of the inmates of the Asramam, Sri Sundaresa Iyer, sat near Sri Bhagavan's sofa, book in hand, waiting and watching Sri Bhagavan's face for a favorable sign, then quietly asked, "In this book it is written in one place 'mano vritti jnanam'. What is the meaning of mano vritti jnanam'?
"It means that the Self [Atma] cannot be realized at all unless there is mental action [mano vritti]. They say, 'We must know the Self, we should know the Self, and we have known the Self.' How do they know it? Let us agree that we are in existence. Even so, it is not necessary that there should be some action [vritti], to know that?
Hence, the action of the mind which is turned within is called Knowledge [Vijnana]and that which is turned with is called Ignorance [Ajnana]. Vijnana is also called mind or chittam. When that vritti is antarmukham [turned inward] it has to be called buddhi or aham. all these put together are known as
Antahkaranam. Aham is achalam [steady; immovable]. But wit the aid of this antahkaranam, the panchbhutas [five elements] came into existence. These elements individually and collectively multiplied and the body with its various limbs came into existence. discarding the present creation, which has come into existence with the support of anatahkaranam, when the mind become antarmukham, vritti
janya jnanam [awareness of thed Self generated by action] appears. That means, you will know the source of action [vritti]. That source, or origin, is called Aham sphurana or the Self. However, it is only by the mind that that is to be known. That is why it is called mano vritti jnanam. That means it is is the mind which is suddha tattvam [pure, the first and the bestg of the three gunas which are supposed to constitute the external world]. It is that which manifests itself in innumerable ways and it is that which remains still, all by itself. You may call it by whatever
name you like; any name," said Sri Bhagavan.
(Letters, 13th Jan. 1948)
****
A Tribute to Viswanatha Swami:
(Evelyn Kaselow)
"Before leaving, some verses of Swami
Abhedananada were quoted for us in
Sanskrit and their import given, "we who enjoyed the company of one who was the Lord incarnate are not so blessed with faith as you who, upon merely hearing His name [never having seen Him], have given Him your hearts." This most gracious condescension was not wasted on us by one whose life had been spent with Thee. Unworthy though we be, such a remark was coveted as the relic of a saint and truly more dear to us were the words and stories which were to fall as fresh dew on our parched souls from him."
Following our pilgrimage to Arunachala in 1973, [when all seven devotees of Arunachala Ashrama had travelled together], I didn't get to see Swami Viswanatha again for five years. When I returned to Arunachala on Sri Bhagavan's Jayanti Day in January 1979, we found the same solicitude and compassion as before. In spite of his weakened physical condition, numerous literary projects and voluminous editing for the Mountain Path, Swamiji found an hour each day to give a 'Sanskrit class'. Despite my repeated requests that he teach me this or that composition of his own, Swamiji absolutely insisted on concentrating uniquely on Sri Bhagavan's works and teachings. However exalted his own state of mind may have been, Swamiji was first and foremost a devotee of Sri Bhagavan.
On one occasion, I had requested Swamiji to narrate some incidents from his association with Sri Bhagavan. Significantly, he prefaced his stories saying, "Sri
Bhagavan has given me the experience that He is none other than my own Self. He is not external to me." This was to be one of my last conversations with him.,
Sri Bhagavan gave me the grace not to delude myself with the expectation of seeing Swami Viswanatha again in physical form, so how much more poignant was my leave-taking in March 1979. Swamiji knew this as well, and he couldn't have been more compassionate. When I met him last in front of Sri Bhagavan's Samadhi, Mrs. McIver who was also there told me. "He is my oldest friend here - he took me on
my first giripradakshina." "He may not be my oldest friend, but he is my best friend," I said. Laughingly, Swamiji graciously exclaimed, "Friend, child, daughter, niece - she is all these to me. I feel she is my own child." How these parting words assured me of Swamiji's continuing solicitude and interest in me and all of us in Arunachala Ashrama.
Numerous are the anecdotes and incidents which one could recount about this man who so immaculately exemplified Sri Bhagavan's Teachings, yet we are content here to offer these few in honor of him whose Presence, even as that of Sri Bhagavan continues to guide us.
(Sri Viswanatha Swami's Aradhana falls on 22.10.2011)
concluded.
******
Question: You say that I am the Self, and that I don't even need to look inwards to discover it. I think that
Grace is needed to experience the truth of this statement, since the effort of any kind seems to be counterproductive.
Annamalai Swami: Grace is always present, always available, but for it to be effective, one must be in a state to receive it and make full use of it. If you want to take a full cup of water from a lake, you have to immerse the cup first. If you want to fill your mind with grace, submerge it fully in the Self. In that place, the grace will manifest in you as peace and happiness.
Question: Does the mind die gradually or suddenly?
Annamalai Swami: One answer is: "When the sun comes up, does darkness disappear suddenly or gradually?
Sri Bhagavan, speaking on this topic, once remarked: "Someone mistakes a rope hanging in darkness for a snake. He then asks how many years it will take for the snake to die."
This is the better answer: If the mind does not exist, it cannot die
either quickly or slowly.
[From Final Talks, David Godman]
*****
Shantananda Puri's Gita Sara and
Talks quotations:
Shantananda Puri has given the 42
verses of Gita Saram of Sri Bhagavan and has also given with each verse,
a suitable quotation from Talks.
29:
Kama krodha viyktaanaam
yatinaam yata chetassaam |
Abhito brahma nirvaanam
vartate viditaatmanaam ||
[V.26]
In respect of those monks who are
free from lust and anger, and having subdued their mind have realized their Self, the ultimate beatitude called liberation is a fait accompli from all sides.
Lust and anger are the two greatest stumbling blocks against liberation. Anger is the gross manifestation of lust and desire. As the source of lust and anger is the mind it is only the monks who have subdued their mind by severe
spiritual practices [sadhana], who will be able to control their passion and anger. When once it is done, it will be easy for them to attain liberation while alive not to speak of freedom after death.
When Sri Bhagavan Ramana was asked to confirm whether "we must rid ourselves of lust, anger, etc.," His reply was Give up thoughts. You need not give up anything else. You must be there to see anything. It is the Self. Self is ever conscious." [Talks 41]
"Kama and Krodha must vasnish before Self Realization."
[Talks No 491]
****
Question: What other questions did
Swami ask during his early days in
Sri Ramanasramam?
Annamalai Swami: When I first came to
Sri Bhagavan, I used to ask questions
about liberation. What is bondage?
What is freedom? And so on.
Muruganar who was sitting next to me on one of these occasions, laughed and said, "This boy does'nt even know what liberation is and what bondage is."
I think he was amused by the innocence of my inquiries. After
I began serving Sri Bhagavan, I listened very attentively to all the philosophical explanations that He gave. I also talked to Chadwick
and other devotees about various aspects of Vedanta. I gradually absorbed the teachings until a point came where I could say that I had a good working knowledge of Sri Bhagavan's teachings and the various other systems that were
being discussed in His Presence.
In one of his later songs, Muruganar wrote about Sri Bhagavan,
"You make wise people of those who come to you in an ignorant state.
This is the grace of Sri Ramana."
I always felt that this was a reference to me.
It was not easy in the beginning.
When I first came to the Asramam, I was so forgetful I rarely remembered anything that Sri Bhagavan said. Because I was so forgetful, I used to keep a paper and pencil and write down whatever Sri Bhagavan was saying.
I felt that my forgetfulness was a hindrance to absorbing Sri Bhagavan's teachings, so one day, I approached Him and said: "Bhagavan!
My memory is very bad. Could you please bless me with a good one."
Sri Bhagavan looked into my eyes for a few minutes without saying anything. From that day on, my memory became very clear and sharp, so much so, I gave up carrying my pencil and paper.
[Final Talks - David Godman.]
*****
Devotee: Sri Ramakrishna touched
Vivekananda and the latter realized
Bliss. Is it possible?
Maharshi: Sri Ramakrishna did not touch all for that purpose. He did
not create Atma. He did not create
Realization. Vivekananda was ripe.
He was anxious to realize. He must have completed the preliminary course in his past births. Such is possible for ripe persons only.
Devotee: Can't the same miracle be worked for all?
Maharshi: If they are fit. Fitness is the point. A strong man controls the weaker man. A strong mind controls the weaker mind. That was what happened in the case cited. The effect was only temporary. Why
did Vivekananda not sit quiet? Why did he wander about after such a miracle? Because the effect was only temporary.
........
........
Devotee: How to control the lust, anger etc.,?
Maharshi: Whose are these passions?
Find out. If you remain as the Self, there will be found to be nothing apart from the Self. Then there will be no need to control, etc.,
Devotee: If a person whom we love dies, grief results. Shall we avoid such grief by either loving all alike or by not loving at all?
Maharshi: If one dies, it results in grief for the other who lives. The way to get rid of grief IS NOT TO LIVE. Kill the one who grieves. Who will remain there to suffer? The ego must die. That is the only way.
The two alternatives amount to the same state. When all have become the one Self, who is there to be loved or hated?
[From Talks. 252 of 30th Sept. 1936.]
******
About 8 am. Nagamma came into the Hall and prostrated herself before
Sri Bhagavan, after having gone round the Hall a few times. Sri Bhagavan said: "Ah! you too have started going round. Have you learned it from Ravanamma? She used to go round and round, till I spoke to her about it
other day. If one goes round like that, everybody who come here, thinks, 'Apparently the proper thing here is to go round' and starts going round. Thus all people go round. After all, the proper pradakshina is going round the Self, or more accurately, to realize that we are the Self and that within us all the countless spheres revolve, going round and round, as described in in the following stanza of Ribhu Gita, [3rd chapter, 39th verse].
An English translation of this verse is as follows:
Reflecting "I am the all-blissful
Self"
Is worship as with words and
flowers.
True circumambulation is the
thought,
'In me the million universes roll',
He who knows all beings bow to him
And he to none,
He bows before the Mahalinga-Self.
"Some go on doing a number of namaskarams, eg., that Janaki, she goes on striking her head down countless times along with namaskarams.She goes round a number of times. At each window she falls down and does a number of namaskarams. However much I tell her, she won't leave off such practices." Somebody here interjected, "It seems she is known to Sri Bhagavan since her childhood." Sri Bhagavan said, "Yes, yes," and continued, "There are others who come and fall before me while I am moving. They lie prostrate for some minutes. I cannot stand for them on account of my physical infirmity, So I walk on, telling myself, "Only if we do namaskarams we will be benefitted.
After all, true namaskaram is only giving up the 'I' sense, or killing the ego.' "
I said, "Bhagavan Himself advises us to go round the Hill, for instance, I know Sri Bhagavan is also not against going round the image of a temple. There are people here who have the faith that going round Sri Bhagavan, is as good as going round the temple image or the Hill. How can we object to that?"
Sri Bhagavan said, "I don't say such things should not be done. But the best going round is going round yourself, or the bhava expressed in the verse quoted. The other pradaskhinams are not condemned. The Jnani, though he knows that meditation on the Self is the best worship, will join in all other kinds of worship for the good of others and as an example to them.
In fact, he may observe all the other ways even more correctly and steadfastly than those who follow
only those paths and know nothing about Jnana. That is referred to in the following verse, also occurring in Ribhu Gita.
The gist is, "If the Guru refers to dvaita when teaching advaita to the disciple, it is not to be regarded as his real teaching any more than one should regard as real as the grief of one who weeps for the dead, because he is paid so."
[From Day by Day, 15th April, 1946].
*****
This morning, a young Tamizhian asked
Sri Bhagavan, "Swami, it is said that there is no world without the individual soul and god. What is the meaning of it?"
"Yes", Sri Bhagavan told him, 'the world, individual soul and god are the embodiment of the three qualities or gunas."
"Is the Personal God, Iswara, to be included in the three qualities?" asked the young man.
"Certainly", said Sri Bhagavan. "In that group, the goodness [sattvam]
is the personal god, Iswara; activity [rajas] is the individual soul [jiva]; and heaviness [tamas]
is the world [jagat]'. It is said that the Self is pure goodness [Suddha sattvam]"
A young Bengali who was present asked, "Swami, Samadhi is said to be of two sorts: kevala nirvikalpa and sahaja nirvikalpa. What are their attributes?"
Sri Bhagavan looked kindly at him, and said, "One who accustoms himself naturally to meditation [dhyana] and enjoys the bliss of meditation, will not lose his samadhi state, whatever external work he does, whatever thought may come to him. This is called Sahaja
Nirvikalpa Samadhi. It is these two states that are called complete destruction [nasa] and suppression [laya]. Nasa is Sahaja Nirvikalpam
and Laya is Kevala Nirvikalpam.
Those who are in the laya [suppressed] samadhi state will have to bring the mind back under
control from time to time. If the mind is destroyed, it will not sprout again. The mind will then be something like a fried seed. Whatever is done by such people is just incidental. They will not slide down from their high state. Those who are in the Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi state are not siddhas. There are mere sadhakas [practitioners]. Those who are in the Sahaja Nirvikalpa state are like a light in a windless place, or the ocean without waves. That is, there is no movement. They cannot find anything which is different from themselves. For those who, do not reach that state, everything appears to be different from themselves.
[From Letters, 30th October 1947]
*****
Question: I have heard that when people came close to Sri Ramana Maharshi, they could feel a penetrating peace. As I sit there in the presence of Swamiji, I feel nothing. Why is this?
Annamalai Swami: Not everyone felt peace in Sri Bhagavan's Presence. Madhava Swami served Sri Bhagavan as His personal attendant for many years, but he claimed he felt no peace there. He used to have the same complaint as you. In his later days, he used to say, "People are saying that whenever they are in the presence of Sri Bhagqavan, they feel tremendous peace. But when I go inside Sri Bhagavan's Hall, it is like hell for me."
I am telling you this because the answer to your question is, 'whether you feel peace or not in a Jnani's presence depends on your maturity.' People who are mature are sensitive to the Jnani's Presence. Such people will immediately experience peace when they come into the presence of a Jnani. Others have to wait. Buds are ready to bloom open when the sun's rays fall on them. Those who are not ready have to wait.
Question: In other words, is it because of my immaturity that I am not able feel peace in the presence of Swamiji?
Annamalai Swami: Don't make this kind of judgement about yourself. Don't think that you are not mature. If you hold on to this kind of thought, this will be a hindrance to your realization, because the truth is already within you.
[From Final Talks; Annamalai Swami.
Ed. David Godman.]
****
Kunju Swami:
Dr. Sharada.
The very thought of Kunju Swami brings joy. He exuded it in such great measure. Anyone going into his presence could not be infected with cheer and happiness. I have not been to the Asramam since his samadhi on 7th August this year, [1992]. I often wonder how the emptiness will be when I walk up the tiny garden path and climb the steps in Korangu Thottam to find the bench vacant, or perhaps, no bench at all. Yet, even as I begin to wonder, no emptiness comes before the mind's eye, it is instantly filled with the image of Kunju Swami, seated on the bench, with some regular visitors squatting nearby. The immediate thought is only of his warm welcome.
One could hear him talk of the same incident or recite the same verse a hundred times over and it was always fresh. The freshness of his spirit permeated all that he said and did. How often would he have regaled us with details of his special giripradakshina, the one he performed everyday, perhaps till the very day of his samadhi. This giripradakshina was done with the mind so it could be taken at a leisurely pace. He would enthuse us to perform such giripradakshina when we were away from Arunachala. For Arunachala the mind is most important, because it is that unique kshetra which bestows liberation on all who think of it.
Swami would never tire of stressing the extraordinary glory of Arunachala. Whenver the Ramana Bala Kendra children went to see him, he would remind of their good fortune at having come to Arunachala and just being at Sri Ramanasramam. Once, I had worn the judgement cap. I was feeling sore that we were not serious enough of making the best
use of the Asramam atmosphere. It was on that occasion that Swami first reiterated the importance of simply being present at the Asramam. One may do no sadhana, he said, one may not even consciously
dwell more on Sri Bhagavan, one may merely playful, but the impact of the atmosphere could not be escaped. We are in such dread of lepers lest their disease should cling to us, he said. That is merely, a physical disease, however infectious. What can one say of germs of Jnana that pervaded the entire Asramam? This was the hallowed ground where Sri Bhagavan had lived and walked. Every inch of ground in the Asramam, on the Hill in the pradakshina road carried the infectious bacteria of Self Knowledge. None could escape it. Swami has taught me never to judge myself or anyone coming to Arunachala, to the Asramam. Yes, being there is enough.
contd.,
Kunju Swami:
continues....
After completing the mental pradakshina, where would Swami sleep? With his head under Sri Bhagavan's couch, directly under the protection of Sri Bhagavan's feet. "If we were to insist on sleeping in the Old Hall, the Asramam authorities would naturally forbid it', he would say jokingly.
'But who can prevent us if our pradakshina is mental? There is absolute freedom.' Then Swami would remember how they always slept with their heads under Sri Bhagavan's couch in the early years of the Asramam, for fear of wild cats entering the premises. Not stopping there, he would gustily quote the verse which declares that even the Lord of Death cannot approach those who have taken refuge at the Jnani's feet. Therefore the best protection from all fear was under Sri Bhagavan's feet! What to say of fear when no desire could enter the domain? With characteristic simplicity Swami would demonstrate his total surrender to Sri Bhagavan. 'Why should we worry about liberation? As children of Sri Bhagavan, it is our birthright. The son of Kubera [the god of wealth] will not hunt for a clerk's job, will he? Sri Bhagavan's wealth, His Jnana, is our inheritance. If that wealth is not His, then what use is it to us? Thus Swami would enthuse us time and again.
He ever exuded joy and cheer. Even when he talked of ill health he made so light of it, that one was struck more by his humor. Like the time he lodged an 'official complaint' against Ganesan Anna for writing about him in the Mountain Path. "You write that Swami has a wealth of anecdotes about Sri Bhagqavan to narrate, and here the stream of visitors is unending." It was not that Swami ever tired of talking about Sri Bhagavan, but his legs would ache from sitting for hours at a stretch. So what was the
remedy? Swami asked the attendant, inattentively massage his legs with medicinal oils. The attendant, inattentively massaged them instead with honey! Did Swami lose his temper? That was an impossibility. Did he complain? Not at all. That afternoon when we visited him he cheerfully narrated the whole course of events [it was only in this contest that he 'complained' against Ganesan Anna as well.] 'What did Swami do?' he was asked. 'Waited to see whether the honey was an effective massaging agent. I thought I could announce to the world that a new remedy for aches and pains had been discovered', he said casting a spell of laughter, then added in mock seriousness, 'but it was not to be, the remedy didn't click' This meant that the ache still continued, but how unaffected he was by it. That is why we rarely paid attention to his inconvenience. Thus I walked into his room on a day after Sivaratri and demanded stories that would keep me awake. With what affection he responded!
contd.,
Gita Saram and Talks:
Teshaam Jnani nityyukutah Eka
bhaktir visishyate |
Priyo hi jnaanino[a] tyartham aham
sa cha mama priyah ||
Out of the four categories of devotees, [bhaktas], the man of knowledge [Jnani] who is ever united with me and has exclusive single-pointed devotion towards me the Supreme Lord is highly distinguished. I [Supreme Lord] am extremely dear to the Jnani and he is also extremely dear to me.
The Lord had categorized his bhaktas [devotees] into four categories - "The afflicted [tired of miseries of the world], the person with a mind of inquiry [scientist] who wants to know the ultimate truth who wants to know the ultimate truth, the seeker after worldly possessions [wealth,
promotion etc.,] and lastly a man of knowledge." Then a question may arise as to who among them can be considered as the most beloved of the Lord. So far as the Jnani is concerned, as he remains as the Supreme Self [Paramatman], naturally he is at the top.
"There is no Jnana as it is commonly understood. The ordinary ideas of Jnana and Ajnana are only relative and false. They are not real and therefore not abiding. The
true state is the non dual self. It is eternal and abides whether one
is aware or not." (Talks No. 499)
In other words, Jnani's name is included in the category of bhaktas to make the common ignorant people understand. Otherwise Jnani is himself the Absolute Self or Supreme Being and it is not correct to categorize him as a bhakta. Being the Absolute Self, the question of his being dear to the Self also does not arise. The language of this verse is language of ignorance to enable a lay man to understand.
*****
From Mountain Path -Jan-Mar, 2011
EVER PRESENT
Billy Doyle:
it's strange how we identify
ourselves
with the discontinuity
the I-image that manifests
intermittently
ignoring the continuity
ever present awareness
it's strange how we identify
ourselves
with the contents
the ever changing images of the
personality
ignoring the container
consciousness itself
we're taken by the beads on the
necklace
ignoring the support of the string.
[From a collection titled The Mirage of Separation by Billy Doyle. Published by Non Duality
Press, Salisbury, UK.]
*****
From Mountain Path - June/Sept. 2011:
IT
By Billy Doyle:
it's before you see
it's before you hear
it's before you think
how can you doubt it
it's nearer than the nearest
it needs no eyes to see it
it needs no ears to hear it
it needs no mind to think it.
[From a collection of poems titled
The Mirage of Separation by Billy
Doyle. Published by Non Duality
Press, Salisbury, UK.]
*****
When WRITTEN DOCUMENTS are read,
a reader must interpret words
and symbols that describe a world
made up of objects and events.
A cultural community
of readers thus gets trained to use
constructed forms of information
organized externally
by instituted schools of thought.
Where SPOKEN WORDS are heard alive,
a listener may there reflect
to knowing that is found expressed.
An individual student thus
is led to discovery
of knowledge that a teacher shows.
[From the article The Objective Science and Non Dual Knowledge,
by Ananda Wood, Mountain Path,
July-Sept. 2011.]
****
Friends,
An excerpt from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,where M is reading out the story of Devi Choudharani by the novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterji>Sri Ramakrishna had met Bankim a few days back.
Saturday, December 27, 1884
M. continued with the story of Prafulla:
Prafulla finished her studies and then practised spiritual austerity for many days.
Then one day Bhavani visited her; he wanted to instruct her about selfless work. He
quoted to her from the Gita : "Therefore do thou always perform obligatory actions
without attachment; by performing action without attachment one attains to the
highest."
He told her the three characteristics of disinterested action: first, control of the
sense-organs; second, absence of egotism; and third, surrendering the fruit of
action to Sri Krishna. He further told her that no dharma is possible for the
egotistic person. Quoting from the Gita, he said: "The gunas of Prakriti perform all
action. With the understanding deluded by egotism, man thinks, I am the doer."
Bhavani next spoke to her about surrendering the fruit of action to Sri Krishna.
Again he quoted from the Gita : "Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest,
whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, O son of Kunti, do
that as an offering unto Me."
MASTER: "This is fine. These are the words of the Gita; one cannot refute them. But
something else must be noted. The author speaks about surrendering the fruit of action to
Sri Krishna, but not about cultivating bhakti for Him."
Continued...
Friends,
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna continued...
"M: "No, that is not especially mentioned here.
Next Prafulla and Bhavani talked about the use of money. Prafulla said that she
offered all her wealth to Krishna."
M. read from the book again.
PRAFULLA: "Like my actions, I offer all my wealth to Sri Krishna."
BHAVANI: "All?"
PRAFULLA: "Yes, all."
BHAVANI: "In that case you won't he able to perform action in a detached spirit. If
you have to work to earn your food, you will be attached to that work. Hence there
are two alternatives before you: either you will have to get your food by begging, or
you will have to live on your money. Even a beggar becomes attached to the alms
he receives; therefore you must use your own money to maintain your body."
M. (to the Master, smiling): "That is the nature of the calculating mind."
MASTER: "Yes, that is the nature of the calculating mind; that is the way the worldly man
thinks. But he who seeks God plunges headlong; he doesn't calculate about how much or
how little he needs for the protection of his body."
M: "Next Bhavani asked Prafulla, 'How will you offer all this money to Sri Krishna?'
Prafulla said: 'Why, Sri Krishna dwells in all beings. I shall distribute the money among
them.' Bhavani answered, 'Good! Good!'
"Quoting from the Gita , Bhavani said: 'He who sees Me in all things and all things
in Me, never becomes separated from Me, nor do I become separated from him.
That yogi who, established in unity, worships Me dwelling in all beings, abides in
Me, whatever his mode of life. O Arjuna, that yogi is regarded as the highest who
judges the pleasure and pain of all beings by the same standard that he applies to
himself."
MASTER: "These are the characteristics of the highest bhakta."
----------------------------------
One of the common failings is to Latch onto a few stray verses of The wonderful Srimad Bhagavad gita and say that this is What Lord Sri Krishna actuallymeant and that the rest are for 'Laymen'!
The Gita does not distinguish between a genuine Yogi,Jnani or a Bhakta-They are synonymous.
Namaskar.
Devotee: It is said that the Universe
consists of light and sound. Are these two constituents like the light and sound in the physical world? Can they be seen and heard with the physical organs - eye and ear? Or are
they to be experienced only subjectively?
Maharshi: Light and sound correspond bindu and nada in Tantrik terminology, and to the mind and life-current in the Vedantic. They are gross, subtle and transcendental. The organs can perceive the gross aspect. The other aspects are are not so perceptible. The subtle can be inferred and the transcendental is only transcendental.
Devotee: Hinduism lays down reincarnation of the Jiva. What happens to the Jiva during the interval between the death of one body and the birth of the next one?
Maharshi: Solve this question by referring to the state of deep sleep. What happens to you in sleep?
Devotee: I do not know.
Maharshi: Yet you exist. Therefore the existence beyond knowledge and ignorance is indicated. Although ignorance was prevailing, according to your present idea, yet you did not say so in sleep. You continued to exist all the same. Mere ignorance does not rule out the fact of your existence.
Devotee: In the practice of meditation are there any signs of the nature of subjective experience or otherwise, which will indicate the aspirant's progress towards Self Realization?
Maharshi: The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measure to gauge the progress.
Devotee: Is it necessary to take sannyasa for Self Realization?
Maharshi: Sannyasa is to renounce one's individuality. This is not the same as tonsure and ochre robes. A man may be a grihi. Yet, if he does not think he is a grihi,
he is a sannayasi. On the contrary a man may wear ochre robes and wander about. Yet if he thinks he is a sannyasi, he is not that. To think of sannyasa defeats its own purpose.
[From Talks, 427, June 12, 1937.]
*****
About 3.30 pm., Sri Bhagavan was reading a letter going to the post.
After returning it to Mauni, He said,
"One says my subtle body is three miles long - three miles," and laughed. It seems Mr. G.V.S. of Nellore came across of Swami, Narasimham, I think by name, who said this. He also said Aurobindo's subtle body was three furlongs long. Nagamma reported this. Sri Bhagavan laughed and said, "How long is his own subtle body?"
Sri Bhagavan read out from a Tamizh journal, a passage which said, "It is false philosophy which regards the world as false or full of misery. If you learn to use the intelligence and the power which is latent within you, you can live happily in this world." After reading this out, Sri Bhagavan said, "These people belong to the school which believes in sakti and siddhis." He also added, "But I suppose they too will have to die."
This morning we had gruel and groundnuts for breakfast. Sri Bhagavan told us this sort of gruel used to be given to Him by the famous Keerai Patti in those days and so they thought they would try and prepare the same here today. It is made of milk, rice, with fenugeek, a little garlic, a little dried ginger, a little salt and sugar. Sri Bhagavan said that the gruel had not come out quite well and that a little more salt should
have been added.
In the evening, after Parayana, Viswanath read out some songs form Uma Sahasram and also some other Sanskrit songs of Nayana on the goddess, apparently because this is Varalakshmi Vrata day.
[Day by Day, August 9, 1946.]
****
Yesterday afternoon, a devotee approached Sri Bhagavan and said,
"Swami, for one who has realized his Self, it is said that he will not have the three states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep. Is that a fact?"
Sri Bhagavan said kindly, "What makes you say that they do not have the three states? In saying that, "I had a dream; I was in deep sleep; I am awake", you must admit that you were there in all the three states. That makes it clear that you were there all the time. If you remain as you are now, you are in the wakeful state. This becomes hidden in the dream state, and the dream state disappears when you are in deep sleep. You were there then, you are there now, and you are there at all times. The three states come and go, but you are always there. It is like a cinema. The screen is always there.
Several types of pictures appear on the screen and disappear. Nothing sticks to the screen. It remains a screen. Similarly, you remain your own Self in all the three states. If you know that, the three states will not trouble you, just as the pictures which appear on the screen do not stick to it. That means that the three states will not stick to you. On the screen, you sometimes see huge ocean with endless waves, that disappears. Another time, you see fire spreading all around; that too disappears. The screen is there on both the occasions. Did the screen get wet with water or did it get burned by the fire? Nothing affected the screen. In the same way, the things that happen during the wakeful, dream and sleep states do not affect you at all. You remain your own Self."
The questioner: "Does that mean that, although people have all three states, wakefulness, dream and deep sleep, these do not affect the people?"
Sri Bhagavan: Yes. That is it. All these states come and go. The Self is not bothered. It has only one state.
The questioner: Does that mean that such a person will be in this world as a mere witness?
Sri Bhagavan: That is so. for this
very thing, Vidyaranya, in the tenth chapter of the Panchadasi, gives as example the light that is kept on the stage of a theatre. When a dream is being played, the light is there, which illuminates, without any distinction, all the actors, whether they are kings or servants or dancers, and also all the audience. That light will be there before the drama begins, during the performance and also after the performance is over. Similarly, the light within, that is, the Self, gives light to the ego, the intelligence, the mind, and the lower mind [ahankara, buddhi, chitta and manas] without itself being subject to processes of growth and decay. Although during deep sleep and other states, there is no feeling of the ego, that Self remains attributeless, and continues to shine of itself. That is the meaning. There will be
no doubts whatsoever if one finds who the one is and what the one is by Self inquiry.
[Letters, April 28, 1948]
*****
Kunju Swami:
Dr. Sarada.
continues.
Swami regaled me with story after story, punctuated now and then with the awakening, "Oh! sleep is coming, yest, it is now definitely there' whenever I nodded off. So he cajoled me awake despite my repeated tendency to fall asleep. He was gently telling me to be alert, to remain alert always. A subtle forerunner of his clearer instruction, "Go to Videha Rajya -
the kingdom of no body - consciousness, there Sri Bhagavan reigns' on one of the last visits before his Samadhi. He himself was ever alert. One would tip-toe to the door-frame and catch him snoozing in the easy chair, legs placed up on the supports. Before one could tiptoe away again, he would have noticed the movement of the shadow and call, 'Come in, come in'. When one went in and introduced oneself, the welcome would be enthusiastic as every. No trace of sleepiness, no trace of being disturbed, ever alert. Indeed, a resident of the Videha Rajya.
On our final visit to Swami, one advance copy of his reminiscences translated into English arrived from the press and was shown to him by Ganesan Anna. There did not seem to be any sign of his having registered our presence. Probably the body was too weak to respond. Then Ganesan Anna quoted half a verse from Sri Bhagavan's work and Swami completed it in instantaneous response! Phelgm and cough interrupted the continuous torrent of verses which would usually flow, yet how moving was that moment when he responded so readily. We were at Madras, scheduled to record the "Annamalai Tevara Poonkottu" when we got the news of Swami's Samadhi. The recording could not be cancelled - it was to take place within the hour and involved many people, or perhaps, could it have been? Would Swami be ever so slightly irritated at my Arunachala Avasaram, as he often teased our busy schedule? I wondered. No, I could not imagine him so. Every memory of Swami was only of an ever loving friend. If I walk up those garden steps though, I should come round the other way for Swami insist that was the Raja Marga, the straight path, Ner Vazhi. No bylanes for Sri Bhagavan's followers he would say. 'Only the straight path of self inquiry.' He rarely spoke of Sri Bhagavan's teachings but these words are enough.
He exemplified the inner bliss of the Self in every moment, yet his serious attention and tender sharing in moments of despair were complete. On an occasion when I was depressed, but had not expressed it to him, as we took leave of him, he especially told my father, "Take care of Sarada. I am only worried about her.' At all other times when we asked for his blessing he would reiterate, "Here is always anugraham - Grace is every present, only we must learn to turn to it."
Swami made the turning seem so simple, so spontaneous. Like the fragrance of the sampangi flower clings to the hand that has strung it, so the joy and love that Kunju Swami exuded will always perfume the lives of all who came in touch
with him.
concluded.
Sadhu Natanananda:
[by Editor, the Mountain Path]
Sri Natesa Mudaliar, more familiarly known as Sadhu Natanananda, was by profession a primary school teacher.
In his youth, he was inspired by Swami Vivekananda's lectures on Jnana Yoga and he was eagerly looking for a Master of the calibre of Sri Ramakrishna, a teacher he greatly admired. In 1918, on his first visit to Skandasramam, the Maharshi remained silent, and since Natanananda did not presume to speak first, came away disappointed. He visited the Maharshi a few more times, but on each occasion, the Maharshi remained silent. Having failed to perceive the silent teachings of the Maharshi, he decided to go on pilgrimage to Kasi. He traveled on foot, and on the way at Sriperupudur, a Vaishnava sadhu advised him to return to the presence of Sri Ramana Maharshi. The mysterious sadhu affirmed that the Maharshi alone would be his savior, and he physically stopped Sadhu Natananda and would not allow him to advance a step further on his proposed pilgrimage!
Sadhu Natananda went back to his home and wrote a letter to the Maharshi praying for Grace and Upadesa [teaching]. He waited for a month and no reply came. Undaunted, he wrote again a letter and sent it by registered post.
A few days after this, the Maharshi appeared in his dream and said: "do not think constantly of me; you have first to secure the favor of god Mahaeswara. First meditate on Him and secure His grace and my help will follow as a matter of course. Sadhu Natananda followed these instructions and meditated on the form of Siva, and after a few days, he received an answer to his letter. "The Maharshi does not reply letters. You can come and see Him in person."
Following the instructions he had received in his dream, he went first to the Arunachaleswara Temple to secure Maheswara's Grace, and he then decided to meet the Maharshi the following day. A brahmin whom he met in the temple tried to dissuade him from going, but without success.
contd.,
Swami Natanananda:
[by Editor, Mountain Path]
continues....
On the other hand, Seshadri Swami, whom he met the next day, was far more encouraging, and gaining confidence from this interview, he proceeded up the Hill to Skandasramam. On this occasion, he sat for five or six hours before the Maharshi, but no words passed between them. Disappointed, he left again, but thereafter each month he came back for a day and sat there, mutely imploring, but the Maharshi never spoke to him and he himself did not presume to speak first. After a full year had elapsed in this way, he could endure it no longer and at last he said: "I wish to learn and experience what your Grace is, as people differ in their accounts of it." Sri Bhagavan replied, "I am always giving my Grace. If you cannot apprehend it what am I to do?"
Even now he did not understand the silent upadesa, but after this exchange had taken place, he began to receive instructions from Sri Bhagavan, in his dreams. After this his devotion developed and he began
to compose Tamizh poems in praise of Sri Bhagavan. After this, he finally received, more fully than most others, the verbal instructions that he had so longed for, which are contained in the small booklet "Spiritual Instruction", first published as "A Catechism of Instruction."
The thirty two years contact with Sadhu Natananda eventually had with the Maharshi brought many interesting experiences. One of the more interesting ones was related by him in the following terms.
contd.,
Sadhu Natanananda:
[by Editor, Mountain Path]
continues....
"On one Vyasapoornima Day, Ganapati
Muni, Kapali Sastri, along with a group of Sanskrit scholars, were walking round the Hill and they stepped off at the Asramam to pay
their respects to the Maharshi. When they were seated in the Old Hall, they started discussing philosophy in Sanskrit. I was listening to the discussion and I knew that they were discussing philosophy but I could not follow the meaning. Because of this, my
mind began to wander and I became quite agitated wondering when the day would dawn when I would have the experiences which they were talking about. My longing for these experiences was so intense that I lost all consciousness of the body. I was not sure how long I had remained in that state, but suddenly a voice brought back my normal consciousness. All the others had left and only Sri Bhagavan remained in the Hall.
"Why are you dejected?" said the voice. "If you were really unfit to realize the Self in this life then you could not have come to this place at all. That power which drew you here will make you realize the Self. If not today, it is bound to fulfill its commitment. There is no reason why you should feel dejected." It was these gracious words which brought me back to life
and peace entered my soul immediately."
Sadhu Natanananda continued to stay in Ramana Nagar after Sri Bhagavan's Maha Nirvana. He preferred to remain silent and never engaged in idle conversation. Curious visitors and miracle mongers would find him quite dumb and when scholars came for intellectual discussions or to test his knowledge, he would conceal his sharp intellect and pose an ignorant layman. During this period he compiled a Tamizh book 'Ramana Darsnaam", which contains selected incidents from Sri Bhagavan's life, some of his own experiences, and many comments on Sri Bhagavan's teachings. He also a wrote in Tamizh on the Five Hymns of Arunachala. Despite his reclusive habits, he always welcomes spiritual seekers who came for advice or for explanations on Sri Bhagavan's teachings. He restricted his activities to the compound in which he lived; his rare visits to the Asramam were usually in response to requests from the Asramam President, who wanted him to attend special functions.
His passing away has left an irreplaceable gap in the ranks of that small body of devotees who have moved intimately with Sri Bhagavan and who have fully absorbed the import of His teachings.
[Sri Ramana Darsanam, has been translated in English by David
Godman.]
concluded.
Annamalai Swami: Sri Bhagavan watched me very closely in the years that I served Him in the Asramam. One time, I went to the Mother's Temple where may people were talking about worldly matters. Sri Bhagavan called me back saying, "Why should you go to that crowd? Don't go to crowded places. If
you move with the crowd, their vasanas will infect you."
Sri Bhagavan always encouraged me to live a solitary life and not mix
with other people. That was the path He picked for me. Other
people got different advice that was equally good for them, But while He actively discouraged me from socializing. He also discouraged me from sitting quietly and meditating during the years that I was working in the Asramam. In this period of my life, if Sri Bhagavan saw me sitting with my eyes closed, He would call out to me and give me some work to do.
On one of these occasions, He told me: "Don't sit and meditate. It will be enough if you don't forget that you are the Self. Keep this in your mind all the time while you are working. This sadhana will be
enough for you. The real Sadhana is not to forget the Self. It is not sitting quietly with one's eyes closed. You are always the Self. Just don't forget it."
Sri Bhagavan's way does not create a war between the mind and the body. He does not make people sit down and fight the mind with closed eyes. Usually when you sit in meditation, you are struggling to achieve something, fighting to gain control over the mind. Sri Bhagavan did not advise us to engage in this kind of fight. He told us that there is no need to engage in a war against the mind. Because the mind does not have any real, fundamental existence. This mind, He said, is nothing but a shadow. He advised me to be continuously aware of the Self while I did the ordinary things of everyday life, and in my case, this was enough.
[From Final Talks, Ed. David Godman.]
*******
Mr. Bose, the Bengali Engineer, has since read Gaudapada Karikas and Sir
S. Radhakrishnan's Indian Philosophy and so asked questions as follows:
Devotee: Is there any genuine difference between dream experience and waking state?
Maharshi: Because you find the dream creations transitory in relation to the waking state, there is said to be a difference. The difference is only apparent and not real.
Devotee: Is the waking state independent of existing objects?
Maharshi: Were it so, the objects must exist without the seer, that is to say, the object must tell you that it exists. Does it do so? For example, does a cow moving in front of you say that she is moving? Or do you say of your own accord, 'There is a cow moving'? The objects exist because of the seer cognizing them.
Devotee: Gaudapada in Maandukya Karikas says that there is no difference between the two states from the standpoint of Reality - Absolute.
Maharshi: Of course not.
Devotee: I believe Sri Bhagavan also says so. Prof. Radhakrishnan in his Indian Philosophy says that in his Brahma Sutra commentary, Sri Sankara makes a distinction between the two states. Is it a fact? If so, what is it? How can there be any distinction from the view point of Reality? So long as the mind exists in any form there will be distinction. But from the standpoint of Atman, non-dual Brahman, can there be any distinction?
Maharshi: The dream is for the one who says he is awake. In fact, wakefulness and dream are equally unreal from the standpoint of the Absolute.
Devotee: In pure Advaita can evolution, creation or manifestation have any place> What about the theory of vivarta according to which Brahman appears as the world without forgetting its essential nature, like the rope appearing as snake?
Maharshi: There are different methods of approach to prove the unreality of the universe. The example of dream is one among them. Jagrat, svapna and sushupti are all treated elaborately in the scripture in order that the Reality underlying them might be revealed. It is not meant to accentuate the differences among the three states. The purpose must be kept clearly in view.
Now they say that the world is unreal. Of what degree of unreality is it? Is it like that of a son of a barren mother or flower in the sky, mere words without any reference to the facts? Whereas the world is a fact and not a mere word. The answer is that it is superimposition on the one Reality, like the appearance of a snake on a coiled rope seen in dim light.
[this is from Talks No. 399 of April, 15, 1937.]
contd.,
Talks No. 399 of April 15, 1937
continues.....
Maharshi - continues....
But here too the wrong identity ceases as soon as the friend points out that it is a rope. Whereas in the matter of the world, it persists even after it is known to be unreal. How is that? Again the appearance of water in a mirage persists even after the knowledge of the mirage is recognized. So it is with the world. Though knowing it to be unreal, it continues to manifest.
But the water of the mirage is not sought to satisfy one's thirst. As soon as one knows that it is a mirage, one gives it up as useless and does not run after it for procuring water.
Devotee: No so with the appearance of the world. Even after it is repeatedly declared to be false one cannot avoid satisfying one's wants from the world. How can the world be false?
Maharshi: It is like a man satisfying his dream wants by dream creations. There are objects, there are wants and there is satisfaction. The dream creation is as purposeful as the jagrat world and yet it is not considered real.
Thus we see that each of these illustrations serves a distinct purpose in establishing the stages of unreality. The realized sage finally declares that in the regenerate state, the jagrat world is also found to be as unreal as the dream world is found to be in the jagrat state.
Each illustration should be understood in its proper context. It should not be studied as an isolated statement. It is link in a chain. The purpose of all these is to direct the seeker's mind towards the one Reality underlying them all.
Devotee: Is there that the difference in philosophy of Sankara and Gaudapada which the learned professor wants us to believe?
Maharshi: The difference is only in our imagination.
Devotee: Sir S. Radhakrishnan writes:
"The general idea pervading Gaudapada's work that bondage and liberation, the individual soul and the world are all unreal, makes a caustic critic observe that the theory which has nothing better to say that an unreal soul is trying to escape from an unreal Supreme Good, may itself be an unreality. It is one thing to say that the unchangeable reality expressing itself in the changing universe without forfeiting its nature is a mystery, and another to dismiss the whole changing universe as a mere mirage. If we have to play the game of life we cannot do so with the conviction that the play is a show and all the prizes in it are mere blanks. No philosophy can consistently hold such a theory and be at rest with itself. The greatest condemnation of such a theory is that we are obliged to occupy ourselves with objects of existence and value of which we are continually denying in theory. It only shows that there is something else which includes and transcends the world but it does not imply the world is a dream."
contd.,
Talks No. 399 of April 15, 1937
continues...
Maharshi: As was already said, the purpose of the whole philosophy is to indicate the underlying Reality whether of the jagrat, svapna and sushupti states, or the individual souls, the world and god.
There are three outlooks possible:
1. The Vyavaharika: The man sees the world in all its variety, surmises the creator and believes in himself as the subject. All these are thus reduced to the three fundamentals, jagrat, jiva and Isvara. He learns the existence of the creator and tries to reach him in order to gain immortality. If one is thus released from bondage, there are other individuals existing as before who should work out their own salvation. He more or less admits the One Reality underlying all these phenomena. The phenomena are due to the play of Maya. Maya is the sakti of Isvara or the activity of the Reality. Thus, existence of different souls, objects etc., do not clash with the advaitic point of view.
2. The Pratibhasika: The Jagrat, Jiva and Isvara are all cognized
by the seer only. They do not have any existence independent of him. So there is only one Jiva, be it the individual or God. All else is simply a myth.
3. The Paramarthika: i.e Ajatavada [no creation doctrine] which admits of no second. There is no reality or absence of it, no seeking or gaining, no bondage or liberation and so on.
The question arises why then do all the sastras speak of the Lord as the creator? How can the creature that you create the creator and argue that the Jagrat, Jiva and Isvara are mental conceptions only?
The answer is as follows:
You know that your father of this Jagrat state is dead and that several years have elapsed since his death. However you see him in your dream and recognize him to be your father, of whom you were born and who has left patrimony to you.
Here the creator is in the creature. Again, you dream that you are serving a king and that you are part in the administrative wheel of the kingdom. As soon as you wake up all of them have disappeared leaving you, the single individual, behind. Where were they all? Only in yourself. The same analogy holds good in the other case also.
contd.,
Talks No. 399 of April 15, 1937
continues....
Devotee: In the Vyavaharika, above
mentioned, how does Maya come in?
Maharshi: Maya is only Isvara-Sakti
or the activity of the Reality.
Devotee: Why does it become active?
Maharshi: How can this question arise? You are yourself within its fold. Are you standing apart from
that universal activity in order to ask this question? The same Power is raising this doubt in order that all doubts may finally cease.
Devotee: The dream world is not purposeful as the Jagrat world, because we do not feel that wants are satisfied.
Maharshi: You are not right. There are thirst and hunger in dream also. You might have had your fill and kept over the remaining food for the next day. Nevertheless you feel hungry in dream. This food does not help you. Your dream-hunger can be satisfied only by eating dream-food. Dream wants are satisfied by dream creations only.
Devotee: We recollect our dreams in our jagrat but not vice versa.
Maharshi: Not right again. In the dream you identify yourself with the one now speaking.
Devotee: But we do not know that we are dreaming as apart from waking
as we do now.
Maharshi: The dream is the combination of jagrat and sushupti. It is due to the samskaras of the jagrat state. Hence we remember dreams at present. Samskaras are not formed contrariwise. Therefore also we are not aware of the dream
and jagrat simultaneously. Still everyone will recollect strange perplexities in dream. One wonders
if he dreams or is awake. He argues
and determines that he is only awake. When really awake, he finds that it was all only a dream.
concluded.
This morning, questions were put up
by a visitor, by name S.P. Tayal:
SPT: I have been doing sadhana for
nearly 20 years and I can see no progress. What should I do?
Bhagavan: I may be able to say something if I know what the sadhana is.
SPT: From about 5 'O clock every morning I concentrate on the thought that the Self alone is real and all else unreal. Although I have been doing this for about 20 years I cannot concentrate for more than two minutes without my thoughts wandering.
Bhagavan: There is no other way to succeed than to draw the mind back every time it turns outwards and fix it in the Self. There is no need for meditation or mantra or japa or dhyana or anything of the sort, because these are our real nature. All that is needed is to give up thinking of objects other than the Self. Meditation is not so much thinking of the Self as thinking of the non-Self. When you give up thinking of outward objects and prevent your mind from going outwards and turn it inward and fix it in the Self, the Self alone will remain.
SPT: What should I do to overcome the pull of these thoughts and desires? How should I regulate my life so as to attain control of my thoughts?
Bhagavan: The more you get fixed in the Self, the more other thoughts will drop off by themselves. The mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts, and the I-thought is the root of all of them. When you see who is this "I" and whence it proceeds all thoughts get merged in the Self.
Regulation of life, such as getting up at a fixed hour, bathing, doing mantra, japa etc., observing ritual, all this is for people who do not feel drawn to Self inquiry or are not capable of it. But for those who can practice this method, all rules and disciplines are unnecessary.
[From Day by Day, entry dated July 18, 1946.]
****
BONDAGES;
[From Letters, September, 26, 1947]
A devotee who had been listening to all that Sri Bhagavan had said yesterday morning, about past bondages, came and sat near Sri Bhagavan today.
The devotee spoke: Yesterday, Sri Bhagavan was pleased to tell us about past bondages, but He did not tell us anything about present and future bondages.
"That is so," said Sri Bhagavan, "but then has not Sri Vidyaranya, in his Panchadasi explained in detail about future bondages and the way in which deliverance from them can be had?"
"I have not read the Panchadasi,"
said the devotee.
"Then I will tell you," said Sri Bhagavan, and proceeded to expound it.
"Present bondages are said to be of four types - vishaya asakti lakshanam, buddhi mandyam, kutharkam and viparyaya durargraham.
The first of these means great desire for material things; the second inability to grasp the teachings and expositions of the Guru; the third means to understand perversely the teachings of the Guru; the fourth is to feel egoistically that 'I am learned in the Vedas', 'I am a Pandit', 'I am an ascetic' These four are called present bondages. If it is asked how these can be overcomem the first can be overcome by tranquility [sama], by curbing the evil propensities of the mind [dama], by detachment [uparati] and by indifference to external things [titiksha]. The second type can be overcome by hearing the teachings of the Guru over and over again; the third by reflection or contemplation; and the fourth by profound meditation on a thought. If, in this way, the obstacles are
removed and destroyed, seekers get confirmed in their belief that they are themselves the embodiment of the Self [atma swarupam].
contd.,
Letters, entry dated September 20,
1947 - continues.
BONDAGES:
Sri Bhagavan further continued...
"As for future bondages, they arise
from acts done without anyone knowing they are sinful. How can this be discovered? A seeker should recognize it as a future bondage when some action presents itself which makes him feel that he wishes to do it because the doing of it is an act of human kindness and sympathy; and so he is tempted into doing it. He does not realize that the act will be the cause of future bondage. If he thinks that, by being a non-doer [akarta] and wordly-detached [asanga], the fulfilment of the desire will not affect him and he can therefore do the act, he will become bound all the same and will be freed from the bondage only after several more births. That future bondages result in re-births is authoritatively stated in the Scriptures [srutis and smritis]. Vasudeva, for instance had one more birth, Bharata had two more, and others many more. Hence a seeker must bear in mind the three bondages and carefully avoid them. If he does not avoid them there can be no doubt that he will have more births. 'Whosoever is released from these three bondages, for him deliverance [mukti] is certgain,'
said Vidyaranya. All this is mentioned also in the Vasudeva Mananam in which, in addition to this, a number of stories are related. The story of Bharjuva said that of Yajnapasu are particularly interesting, as also that of Asura
Vasana. For each aspect of these bondages, a separate story is given by way of illustration. Have you not read them that?"
"I did read it when young but did not realize that it contains such important matters. I will look into it again, Bhagavan."
With that, the devotee took his leave of Sri Bhagavan.
concluded.
Question: When I was in Germany, I used to meditate in front of Sri
Bhagavan's picture and feel very
peaceful. One day, while I was sitting as usual in front of Sri Bhagavan's picture, a light started
emerging from the eyes of Sri Bhagavan. It flowed out of the photo and embraced me. Soon afterwards I went into peaceful, blissful, timeless state that I had never experienced before. I totally forgot about my body, and my surroundings. There was only a peace and consciousness. That experience made a deep impression on me, it created a strong yearning in me to regain the experience. But I never got it back. No matter how much I try, I never feel that I am getting any closer to it. How can I get this experience back?
Annamalai Swami: By constant self inquiry, 'Who had the experience, and who lost it? Who has the yearning to regain it? Who has all these thoughts about it?' If you follow this approach, you will ultimately realize who you are.
The experience you had didn't come from somewhere else. It is already within you. Find out who had the experience.
Question: In order to do self inquiry, we have to use the mind, which is mostly troublesome and in reality does not even exist. Why is this?
Annamalai Swami: The mind that we use for self inquiry is the pure mind, the sattvic mind. By using this sattvic mind we do self inquiry to remove the impure mind, which is rajas and tamas. If you keep on doing self inquiry with the sattvic mind, ultimately, this sattvic mind will be dissolved in the Self.
Question: Some time ago, I felt very depressed and couldn't get out of this state. One day while I was doing giripradaskhina, which I do everyday, I stopped on Sri Bhagavan's bridge [the parapet wall of a culvert about four miles from Sri Ramanasramam] and started meditating on Arunachala with closed eyes. Suddenly the depression lifted and was replaced by peace. This depression has not returned.
Annamalai Swami: The one who had the depression was not you. Your real nature is peace. Don't identify yourself with either the mind or with the depressed states it produces. These are not you.
[From Final Talks, Ed. David Godman.]
******
While discussing karma, Sri Bhagavan said: "Karma has its fruits [phala].
They are like cause and effect. The interrelation of a cause and its effect is due to a Sakti whom we call God. God is phala-data [dispenser of fruit].
A visitor had been speaking of the Self having forgotten its true nature. Sri Bhagavan after some time said: "People speak of memory and oblivion of the Fullness of the Self. Oblivion and memory are only thought forms. They will alternate so long as there are thoughts. But Reality lies beyond these. Memory or oblivion must be dependent on something. That something must be foreign too. Otherwise there cannot be oblivion. It is called 'I' by everyone. When one looks for it, it is not found because it is not real. Hence "I" is synonymous with illusion or ignorance [maya, avidya, or ajnana]. To know that there never was ignorance is the goal of all the spiritual teachings. Ignorance must be of one who is aware. Awareness is Jnana. Jnana is eternal and natural. Ajnana is unnatural and unreal.
Devotee: Having heard this truth, why does not one remain content?
Maharshi: Because samskaras have not been destroyed. Unless the samskaras cease to exist, there will always be doubt and confusion [sandeha, viparita]. All efforts are directed to destroying doubt and confusion. To do so, their roots must be cut. Their roots are the samskaras. These are rendered ineffective by practice as prescribed by the Guru. The Guru leaves it to the seeker to do this much so that he might himself find out that there is no ignorance. This truth mentioned is in the stage of the hearing of the Truth [sravana]. That is not drdha [firm]. For making it unshaken, one has to practice reflection [manana]
and one pointedness [nididhyasana]. These two processes scorch the seeds of vasanas so that they are rendered ineffective.
Some extraordinary persons get drdha jnana [unshaken knowledge] even on hearing the Truth only once [sakrchhravana matrena]. Because they are krthopasakah [advanced seekers], whereas the akrthopasakah [raw seekers] take longer to gain drdha jnana. People ask: "How did ingorance [avidya] arise at all?" We have to say to them: "Ignorance never arose. It has no real being. That which, is, is only Vidya [knowledge]."
Devotee: Why then do I not realize it?
Maharshi: Because of the samskaras. However, find out who does not realize and what he does not realize. Then it will be clear that there is no avidya [ignorance].
[From Talks No. 289, November, 30,
1936].
****
This morning, Yogi Ramiah arrived.
At about 9.30 am. Sri Bhagavan was looking into the Tamizh paper Hindustan and read out to me the following dialogue from it.
1st man: It is only if sorrows or troubles come to us, that we think of God.
2nd man: Ah, you fool. If we are always thinking of God, how can any sorrows or troubles come to us?
Why Sri Bhagavan drew my attention to this, I do not know. I wonder if it is because I generally argue with Him that it should not be necessary for an all-powerful and all-loving God to make us pass through pain to turn us towards Him.
[Day by Day, entry dated, August 4, 1946.]
****
Vairagya, Bodha, Uparati:
{Non attachment, illumination, desirelessness.]
I have recently been reading the Vasudeva Mananam. Yesterday, I read in the chapter of Vairagyabodoparati,
that, if Realization be attained, then liberation, can be gained even without vairagya [non attachment] and uparati [desirelessness].
I asked Sri Bhagavan how that could be, as according to the ancients, the sign of a Realized Soul [Jnani]
is non attachment. Sri Bhagavan replied: "It is true that non attachment is the sign of a realized soul. But it is also stated in the same book that any apparent attachment one may be conscious of pertains to the body only and not to the Self. That attachment is a deterrent to the complete happiness of a Jivan Mukta i.e of one delivered from worldly bonds during his lifetime. Whereas for the Videha Mukta [one who is delivered from worldly bonds only at death], Realization alone is important. When it is stated liberation can be gained by obtaining Realization even without non attachment and desirelessness, it means that liberation is gained only at the time of death. It cannot be said, however, that it will be of waste, if one has non attachment and desirelessness yet not realization, for they will enable one to attain heaven [punyaloka]. It is all mentioned in Vasudeva Mananam.
I then asked how realization could ever be attained without non attachment and desirelessness.
Sri Bhagavan explained, "Non attachment, illumination and desirelessness, these three, will not remain separate from one another. After attaining realization, though one may continue outwardly to show attachment, inwardly non attachment will necessarily be there. It is however said to be a hindrance to the complete enjoyment of bliss by a Jivan Mukta. Owing to the strength of the results of past actions [prarabdha], he acts as one having inherent tendencies [vasanas]. But, strictly speaking, attachment will not touch him. That is why it is said to be the result of past actions."
continued..
Vairagya, Bodha and Uparati:
continues....
I asked whether that meant that, even though one attained knowledge of the Self, one would not be able, were past actions to remain too strong, to discard inherent tendencies, and that, until those inherent tendencies were destroyed, one could not attain undisturbed peace.
Sri Bhagavan replied: "Yes, those who are firm in their Vairagya, bodha and uparati are indeed in a high state of realization, that means they are jivan muktas. If instead those for whom Self Realization alone is the most important, but out of prarabdha they move about as if they have attachments, they remain conscious of the fact that they actually do not affect them. That is why in Vasishtam, it is said that even in the third stage, vasanas get exterminated and the mind gets destroyed. If it is asked when the fourth stage is reached and where is the need for the fifth and the sixth stage, some vague replies are given. So long as there is a doubt, there is an explanation. The disappearance of all doubts is realization."
"For a Realized Soul," I asked, "to the extent to which he has non attachment, will he to that extent have tranquillity and peace; while to the extent that his attachment grows, will he to that extent be further removed from tranquillity?"
"Yes", said Sri Bhagavan, "that is the meaning." And so saying, He was again silent.
concluded.
[From Letters, dated October 28, 1947].
******
(A foreign woman came to see Annamalai Swami. While she was prostrating to him, she seemed to become unconscious of her surroundings and she remained lying on the floor at his feet for about ten minutes. This was not the first time that she had fallen into this
state while in Annamalai Swami's presence. After watching her for sometime, he shouted to her:)
Annamalai Swami: You should not go into laya [a trance like state] and like this! It is becoming a habit with you. It may give some kind of temporary happiness, but it is not a happiness that helps you spiritually. It is the same as sleep. Even worldly activities are better than this laya. Get out of this habit!
[Addressing the other people present] People occasionally went into states like this in front of Sri Bhagavan. He never encouraged them, even the ones who appeared to be in deep meditation.
I remember one occasion when Sri Bhagavan noticed a man who had been sitting motionless in the Hall at least for an hour, apparently in a deep meditation. Sri Bhagavan was not fooled.
He called to Kunju Swami and others who were present, 'Shout at him, shake him, and when he wakes up, take him on giri pradakshina! This is no better than sleep. This state is not good for him. He is just wasting his time sitting like
this.'
Sri Bhagavan warned us about this state, and often He cited stories of sadhus who9 had been stuck in this state for years. One of the most frequently told was a story about a sadhu who asked his disciple for a glass of water. While he was waiting for the man to return, he went into a deep laya state that persisted for many many years. He was in this state for so long, his disciple died, the river changed its course, and different rulers came and went.
When he opened his eyes, his first comment was, 'Where is my glass of water?' Before he went into laya, this thought was uppermost in his mind, and decades later, this thought was still there.
Sri Bhagavan's comment on this story was, "These states are not helpful. They are not Samadhi."
[From Final Talks, Ed. David Godman.]
*****
Sri Ramanasram:
[The following is from an essay written by one Ramana Dasa [K.Seshuiyer] from Kakinada. This must have been written around 1930-33. It has been found out from Archives. The original spelling and
grammar used by the author have been retained. Sri Sehuiyer is said to have been in contact with Sri Bhagavan, even from 1920.]
The Asram has got a book depot attached to it called Sri Ramanasramam Book Depot, in which all Asramam publications alone are available, along with the photos of
Bhagavan. This branch is under the management of one Somasundara Swami, another Bhakta.
In this connection, I cannot ease my conscience without saying something of the Nellore family, who have come from Nellore and settled themselves here in a rented house in the town, solely for the purpose of rendering some service to Bhagavan and his Asram and obtaining his Grace. The family consists of 5 brothers, one of whom is Sri Sambasiva Rao, a Ba.Bl. and an Advocate in Nellore. Two of his younger brothers are with him in Nellore itself, having been employed in the educational line there. Another of his younger brothers is one Satyanarayana Rao, a trained teacher employed in Mahant High School, Vellore. The youngest, Narasinga Rao, a BA.BL a young man of over 27 years of age, has not set up his practice anywhere but is living here with his mother, wife and the only sister Lakshmi Ammal. All the members of the family are highly devoted towards Bhagavan and the Asram, and it is this family that daily brings some tiffin everyday at 2.30 p.m., distributes them among all those that are present here in the Asram, remain in the ?Asram till nightfall, and then depart home. This Narasinga Rao renders his little bit of assistance to Niranjananda Swami in his correspondence, accounts, and other similar office duties of the Asram. The ladies that go to the Asram, along with permanent inmates above referred to, will be accommodated by them in their house for the night. The devotion of that young lady Lakshmiammal to Bhagavan is boundless. It will be really ennobling for any to see this selfless band of workers, willingly and lovingly sacrifice themselves and toiling all the day in the service of the Asram and its bhaktas, without the least desire for the fruits of their doings. This is the real nishkamya karma. It is only Bhagavan's Grace that is giving them all the strength and endurance, which the nature of their service demands, without which none of them will be able to lift his [their] or her little finger. All the worldly happiness is there without pains, sorrows, cares and anxieties of the world.
Peace and happiness reign everywhere, O, what potentialities
are there in detached spiritual life of service and surrender!
contd.,
Sri Ramasram:
[Seshuiyer] continues...
The Temple services are being attended to by a Brahmin bachelor
Ramanatha Dikshitar, past middle age,
a good spinner, and a Vedic scholar
dedicated his life to the Asram, and a willing obliger to all bhaktas. He is also in charge of Asram pet deer, a calf still, named Valli after the consort of God Subramania. Looking after her needs has devolved on Ramanatha Dikshitar. There is also another old Sadhu, Ramananda Swamy, who is also in charge of [the] Temple. [The] Flower department is under charge of Annamalai Swamy and Hanumantha Reddy.
The most important service is that in the kitchen, for on this depends the physical sustenance of bhaktas. One Ranga Rao, an educated, respectable Brahmin belonging to Madhva caste, who was for sometime in war services also, [and] having become a widower turned to spiritual pursuits, became attached to to Bhagavan. And one of the bhaktas of Vasishta Goutamany, also took to this ktichn service of the Asram and had laid many under obligation. His father is also alive and a pensioner, a very old gentleman who has also for some time taken to this service. Though Ranga Rao never knew cooking before he came to Ashram, he is now a past master in the art. A very indefatigable worker. With complete self surrender, he was attending to the most difficult part of Asram's service, for some years, and now he is in another taluk town, Polur, in an independent Asram, rendering his
service of healing to whole humanity by taking to medicine. On all important occasions, he will fly down to Asram and contribute his mite in the shape of his selfless service. Now that important and difficult duty is being attended to by two women bhaktas, Andhra Brahmin widows, one from Ramnad district in south and another from Nellore in the north. One past middle age, another passing through middle age. Santhamma and Subbalakshami, by names. Both of them are educated in Tamil and Telugu, come out of very respectable families possessing some means for their livelihood; but have settled themselves in the Asram, dedicated to Asram service. It is an unwritten convention in the Asram that ladies are not permitted to sleep in the Asram precincts during night. That is strictly observed in the Asram, and so these two ladies, that toil all day in the kitchen, return very late to town and come again at 6 a.m. everyday to attend to the breakfast service and remain 'til 9 p.m.
contd.,
Sri Ramanasram:
{Seshuiyer] continues....
The Asram has no funds of its own, or any trust endowments as similar institutions have; not even an appeal for funds is permitted. The Asram is being maintained, partly, by monthly voluntary subscriptions from some bhaktas who can afford to contribute, without the least feeling of any discomfiture, as such amounts after all do not amount to more Anas 100 a month. But the main income is derived by bikshas and donation from casual visitors and bhaktas that go there everyday. Biksha is the offering of food to Bhagavan, and Bhagavan will not touch anything which is not shared by all his devotees there present in the Asram, including animal relations, and further Bhagavan will not stir out of the
Asram. He is almost as immobile as his Lord Arunachala and, so one should try to bear the expenses of feeding in the Asram for that day, if he wants to play the host to Bhagavan. Even here, there is no particular rate fixed. Whatever one can afford to contribute, from Anas 5 onwards, will be gladly accepted for biksha. Any amount, however insignificant, will be accepted as donation. The bhaktas also contribute a little. In this manner, there may be atleast 10 bikshas in a month. Sometimes a few rupees may be saved out of Jayanti donations and sometimes not. The Book Depot also contributes a little. Without any thought of providing for the morrow, the Asram is eking its magnificent existence from day to day, never at any moment feeling any want. The average number of persons fed will be about 40 to 50 every meal, including permanent inmates.
Turning to the hall where Bhagavan lives, as soon as one enters there and prostrates before him, Bhagavan will gaze for a few seconds on the visitor, with his eyes gleaning in spiritual splendour, and then [one]
will be asked to seat oneself there. If he happens to have brought any fruits or edibles, Bhagavan will take only a little of it, just a pinch, and the rest will be distributed among all of those that are within the precincts of the Asram, One will be completely enjoy that peace of mind, the eternal bliss so long as he is there.
Many had expressed to me that, before they entered the hall, they wanted to worry Bhagavan with a number of questions, but, the moment they saw him and sat before him, the questions vanished and their minds attained a calm and peace, which they could not express. Such is the silent Anugrha of Bhagavan. And if one were to pursue the quickening awakened in the minds by the silent awakening with an earnest search of Truth, investigating into who that 'I' that arises in him is and whence that had arisen, this momentary peace, which one realizes in his presence, will convert itself into eternal Peace and Bliss leading one to salvation from the cycle of births and deaths. Some have said to me that even material desires are sometimes fulfilled, dangers and difficulties averted by his Grace, and that was their experience. I do not know anything about it, but I can assure, from my experience, spiritual awakening and a turn to inward quest can be got by his Grace. Even with regard to material desires, this much can be said from my experience, that whatever you desire for, within the precincts of the Asram, for the benefit of the Asram and yourself, this is somehow fulfilled by its supply. All this is mystery, and one ought to experience for oneself about all these, as experiences may vary with individuals, and so I shall stop here.
[From Mountain Path, April-June 2011. Abridged by me.]
******
Sometimes I would wonder whether I am in David Godman's Blog or Subramanian. R's Blog. Subramanian. R's home must be a library of spiritual books.
Dear Subramanian. R, please don't take the above seriously, just for fun. Able to learn so many valuable lessons from your writings apart Mr.Ravi's writings. Thanks for them now and here after.
With regard to Siva Visishtadvaitam
[i.e. Saiva Siddhantam], Sri Bhagavan
said:
Garudoham bhavana - "I am Garuda" -
conception does not make a garuda
[eagle] of a man. All the same, the
poisonous effects of snake-bite are
cured. Similarly, with Sivoham bhavana, [I-am-Siva] conception also. One is not transformed into Siva, but the ruinous effects of the ego are put an end to. Or the person retains his individuality but remains pure, i.e. fit for constituting a part of the body of Siva. Becoming so he can enjoy the
Supreme Bliss. That is liberation -
say Saiva Siddhantam. This simply betrays the love of their individuality and is in no way the true experience of liberation.
[Talks 339, January 23, 1937]
****
G. Mehta: If I am not the body, am
I responsible for the consequences of my good and bad actions?
Bhagavan: If you are not the body and do not have the idea 'I-am-the-doer' the consequence of your good or bad actions will not affect you. Why do you say about the actions the body performs 'I do this' or 'I did that?' As long as you identify yourself with the body like that, you are affected by the consequences of the actions and you have merit or demerit.
G. Mehta: Then I am not responsible for the consequences of good or bad actions?
Bhagavan: If you are not, why do you bother about the question?
G. Mehta: Then does that mean that if you one has not the sense of 'I do this' or 'I am the doer', one need not do anything at all?
Bhagavan: The question of doing only arises if you are the body.
This Mehta tells me that he has been in Africa for the past 20 years, visiting India from time to time. He comes from Ahmedabad. For the last six years he has not been able to come owing to the war. Early this year he received a letter from the Asramam that he would be able to come this year
and it turned out so in spite of great difficulties.
[From Day by Day, June 20, 1946]
*****
EDUCATED PEOPLE:
Yesterday, Sri Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and family came here.
Having had Sri Bhagavan's darshan, they went to the great Arunachleswara Temple in the town and, after taking food and rest, came to Sri Bhagavan to take leave of Him. Sri Bhagavan graciously nodded His head, giving them leave to go. Having known the ladies of the party, I went to their car to see them off, and then came back to the Hall. I sat down and Sri Bhagavan asked if they had gone. I replied in the affirmative. "Ten years ago", said Sri Bhagavan, "they were here; Pravananda Swami is a first cousin of his."
After a short while, Sri Bhagavan noticed that the European and the Gujarati ladies, sitting by me were asking me something, and so enquired what they were saying. I said that they were enquiring as to whether Radhakrishnan had asked Sri Bhagavan any questions.
"I see", said Sri Bhagavan. "No, they are all well-read people, they know everything. What is there for them to ask?"
An Andhra gentleman: "Did he ask any questions when he came last time?"
Sri Bhagavan: "No. It was the same thing last time too. He had heard everything about me from Pravanananda Swami, and when he came here, he just sat, and never opened his mouth."
The devotee: "Outside, he gives lectures in a grand style. Why did he sit here without any talk or discussion?"
Sri Bhagavan with a laugh, said, "In 1938, Rajendra Prasad came here and it was the same thing with him too. Although he was here for four or five days, he did not ask questions even once. He used to sit
quietly in a corner with closed eyes., Only when he was leaving did he want to know what message, if any, I had for the Mahatma Gandhi. Even that he prevailed upon someone else to ask for him."
The devotee: "It seems that Sri Bhagavan said that the Mahatma was always in communion with the inner
Self, that the inner Self is here, there and everywhere, and that there is nothing that needs to be communicated. Is that so?"
Sri Bhagavan: "Yes, indeed. Jamnalal Bajaj also came at that time, and it was the same with him too, he used to sit in a corner quietly, without anyone being aware of where exactly he was sitting. In the early morning, when we were all cutting vegetables, he would join us in the work. It was only at the end that he asked us a few questions and had his doubts cleared."
[From Letters, April 4, 1948.]
*****
Munagala Venkataramiah - The Recorder
[A.R. Natarajan]
"The Talks" has been a source of perennial inspiration to generations of spiritual seekers all over the world for more than five decades now. Its sweetness was first savored in 1936 when extracts from it were published under the title "Maharshi's Gospel". Its extraordinary drawing power and pull places each of us, you, me and everyone of us, in a deep debt of gratitude to the 'recordist' of the Talks. The great ones prefer to remain anonymous and wish to hide their identity behind a pseudonym, be it 'M' [Mahendranath Gupta] to whom we own the classic Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna or Munagala
Venaktaramiah, who just called himself 'Recorder'. But for Major Chadwick, the identity of the recordist might never have been known. It is a vast galaxy of 'chosen ones'. The Muni, Muruganar,
Narasimhaswami, Paul Brunton, Mungala just to mention a few. Sri Ramana used them as the pure spiritual channels of His power, as communicators of His Teachings.
Destiny's ways are strange. While
Venkataramiah's elder brother and three younger brothers went to Veda Patasala, he alone received English education. Was he not to be cast in the role of interpreter and translator of Sri Bhagavan? But having been born in a family steeped in Vedantic tradition, understanding of the various Advaitic works, which he studied later, was easy for him and was of great use in his future assignment.
After a brilliant academic career, he worked for several years as a lecturer in Chemistry and later as a head of government factory at Madras. Life was proceeding on an even keel. Even so he had an urge to read the scriptures. He mastered the ten principal Upanishads, Brahma Sutram and the Bhagavad Gita under Sri Suri Babu Narayan of Bengal. The ground was being prepared. He was getting qualified for the monumental work to come.
He had the first darshan of Sri Ramana in 1918, when He was at Skandasramam and later in 1927 with his family. But it was only five years later, in 1932, that he was ready to surrender himself to the Sadguru. We have the parallel in the case of Ganapati Muni who had met Sri Ramana round the turn of 19th century, but became His man, His disciple, only in 1907. The time has to ripen.
contd.,
Munagala Venkataramiah - The Recorder
continues...
Suddenly without notice, in 1932, his job was terminated. He had a daughter to be married and young sons to be educated. He was left high and dry and penniless. Apparently fate had dealt its worst blow. In reality, however, it was the greatest good fortune which caused the event. One should say it was not only his rare good fortune but that of all seekers of truth too. For it is this 'tragedy' which brought him to Sri Ramana in a mood of surrender. In his hour of calamity, in his period of 'great distress', for 'his own peace of mind' he became an inmate of the Asramam. The sweet, refreshing and enlightening words of the Master acted as soothing balm to his troubled heart. To understand his Master's teachings better, he began recording carefully His utterances and explanations. A new relationship began between Saduguru Ramana and this humble student. The world had to have the Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. It was Sri Bhagavan's benediction on Munagala, and through him, to the entire humanity. From May 1935 to April 1939, for a period of four years Munagala recorded with reverential attention the conversations of the devotees and visitors with Sri Ramana and His replies. Even more difficult was his role as an interpreter for the words of his Master came steadily from His direct experience and had to be properly communicated to the questioner and other ardent seekers
without any wrong overtones. Munagala was ideally suited for this work for he had thoroughly absorbed the teachings and Sri Ramana's way of expounding it in the years in which he had been an
Asramite. As one goes through the book the whole electrifying atmosphere of the Old Hall is recreated. We once again sit at Sri Ramana's feet, 'drinking in every word which falls from His lips.'
About this time, Grant Duff, who was closely related to the then Governor of Madras, became a staunch devotee of Sri Ramana. When he learnt about the injustice perpetrated on Munagala by the Government he promptly took up his case of redressal and was sure to have succeeded in the attempt. Had it happened Munagala would have had to go back to his job in the Government. The divine had other plans in store. The Governor concerned went on leave at this crucial juncture and the very person who was responsible for the 'wrongful termination' of Mungala's job became the acting Governor. He promptly dismissed the petition on Munagala filed on Munagala's behalf. The incident underscores the fact that we cannot know what is 'good' or 'bad'. The 'distress'
of Munagala brought him to Sri Ramana so that we may learn through him how to deal with sorrow, an inevitable companion of life. When worldly fortunes seemed to shine again, the strong mercy of Sri Ramana protected Munagala remained to be done and he had become Sri Ramana's property.
contd.,
Munagala Venkataramiah - The Recorder
continues...
Though Munagala painstakingly and whole heartedly worked at his job,
as the official interpreter of Sri
Ramana's court, he had no attachment to the record maintained by him. When the Asramam management requested him to make over these notes to them, he gladly did so. He knew that it belonged to all and that each one could turn to it for purification of the mind as he himself had done.
Having been born in Sholavandan, in
Madurai district of Tamizh Nadu, he was completely at home in Tamizh though his mother tongue was Telugu. This was a great asset not only in his years as the recordist but also for his task as translator of Tamizh Vedantic works which he studied under the guidance of Sri Ramana. Authentic English translations of Tripura Rahasya, Arunachala Maahatmyam, Advaita Bodha Deepika, Kaivalya Naveneetam followed. So self effacing was he that he felt no record of the beauty of his intimate and personal relationship with Sri Ramana.
Munagala spent several years at Sri
Ramanasramam, after Sri Bhagavan's
Maha Nirvana, feeling and communicating His Continuous Presence. In 1955, he took to the ochre robes but this was only an outward symbol of his true inner renunciation. Munagala was abosorbed in Sri Ramana in 1963.
What a rich and full life! One wonders how his pen was so powerful. On reflection it is clear that it was not his pen. It was Sri Ramana's mighty power and limitless grace that flowed though it in order that we may be redeemed.
concluded.
Question: Is fasting beneficial? I have heard that thoughts diminish
when one restricts one's food.
Annamalai Swami: This may happen, but one should be careful not to take it to extreme lengths. Bhagavan said that sattvic food in moderate quantities was the best external aid for sadhakas. Starving oneself will not produce long term benefits. Bhagavan also advised that we should starve the mind of thoughts rather than starve the body of food. We need to keep the body in good health in order to do good sadhana. Depriving it of food
and making it weak is not a step in the right direction.
One of Bhagavan's devotees, Lakshmana Sarma, was a great advocate of naturopathy and fasting. He was a good devotee who wrote an excellent commentary on Ulladu Narpadu. Bhagavan gave him many lessons on this work, and Lakshmana Sarma 's commentary incorporated the explanations that Bhagavan Himself gave.
During the 1940s, a boy of about twenty years of age came from London. A bomb blast had affected his hearing. Lakshmana Sarma wanted to treat him through naturopathy. Usually this involves going on a fast, although there are several other aspects to the treatment as well. The boy was put on a fast for several days, but unfortunately in
this case, there was no improvement. The fasting treatment was extended but the boy became weaker and weaker. Eventually, he became so weak, he died. Right until the end the boy was expecting that this treatment would cure him, but in the end it brought about his death. These treatments have to be taken carefully and there are many people who will not be benefited by them.
(From Final Talks, Ed. David Godman.]
******
“Sometimes I would wonder whether I am in David Godman's Blog or Subramanian.”
Subramanian, the problem I find with your copious posting is that it stifles discussion. A person puts up a post and they can guarantee it will get lost in a sea of your posts.
Hence, it would be polite for you to start your own independent blog.
That’s not to say don’t post here, please do; just in a more regulated fashion so others can contribute without being swamped.
Regards and best wishes
Friends,
An excerpt from the Talks that Subramanian had posted on this thread:
"Devotee: Does Sri Bhagavan believe in evolution?
Maharshi: Evolution must be from one state to another. When no differences are admitted, how can evolution arise?
Devotee: Why does Sri Krishna say, "After several rebirths the seeker gains knowledge and thus knows Me." There must be evolution from stage to stage.
Maharshi: How does Bhagavad Gita begin? "Neither I was, nor you, nor these chiefs, etc.," "Neither is born, nor does it die, etc.," So there is no birth, no death, no present as you look at it. Reality is, and will be. It is changeless. Later, Arjuna asked Sri Krishna how he could have lived before Aditya. Then, Krishna seeing Arjuna was confounding Him with the gross body, spoke to him accordingly. The instruction is for one who sees diversity. In reality, there is no bondage, nor mukti for himself or for others from the Jnani's standpoint.
{Talks. 264, 20th October 1936.}"
This set of verses are wonderfully brought out by The Sage of Kanchi in all their aspects.I am copying it from the advaitham.blogspot.com (Beautifully translated by Lt.col KTSV sarma ):
"Krishna said that, the Sanaatana Dharma that he had conveyed as instructions to the Sun once upon a time, that had been passed on from father to son and practised for eons of time had become weakened and ignored and that it is the same Upadesa that he is once again giving to Arjuna now! We saw the slokas in Gita about this. In the elation and euphoria of his picture painting Arjuna had completely forgotten or unaware of the fact that this man Krishna standing in front of him in human form as a relative of his was none other than God Himself in human form! So in reaction to Krishna’s statement Arjuna responds with wonder as to how, Krishna born now could have instructed the Sun, who in turn could have tutored Iktshvaaku, the foremost of the Surya Vamsa (Sun Dynasty), some million years back! “aparam bhavato janma, param janma vivasvata: I katam etat vijaaneeyaam tvam aadow proktavaan iti II” (Gita IV – 4.)
171. For this question, Bhagawan says, “Before this I have had many Janmas and so have you been born a number of times. I know about all of them, but you do not know!” “baheeni me vyateetaani janmaani tava cha Arjuna I taanyaham veda sarvaaNi, na tvam vetta Parantapa II” (Gita IV – 5.) Krishna did not stop with that statement. Had he stopped, Arjuna could have taken him for another human being and would not have questioned him further keeping his doubt to himself as to how could this man be able to remember all the past lives! Even if he had asked a question, it would not have been, “How could you have had so many births?” It would have been, “How do you remember all that?” For us it is no problem since he cannot fool us as though he is just a simple human being and we will not doubt as to how the all knowing God can remember all the past. But, we will have another big question coming up. It is alright for Arjuna to have had many lives and accumulated a bag of Karma and is now born as Arjuna. But this Krishna is God’s Avatara. How are we to accept that he has had many lives? Why should he do so? He knew that there will be such questions. He also knew while saying it that whatever he says is not only meant for Arjuna at that time but are being recorded by Vyasa for posterity. So, without any questions from Arjuna he clarifies thus in the next stanza.
Continued....
Friends,
The Sage of Kanchi on the Bhagavad gita continued...
172. “I am not stuck in the jaws of the Law of Karma, having to take repeated lives because of it. I am the stuff of no birth and no death. I am not like the mortal human being undergoing many changes by (prakruti’s) natures’ variations and mind’s vascillations! I am the eternally constant and changeless ‘Avyayaatma’. For all the elements I am the ‘Easwara’. Despite being so (‘api san’), I come into being keeping the Nature which is the cause of all creation under my control, that is ‘situate myself as and when and where required’, ‘prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya sambhavaami aatma maayayaa’.” (Gita IV – 6.) Let us look at the whole stanza, “ajo api san – navyayaatma bhootaanaam easwaro api san I prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya sambhavaami aatma maayaya II”."
As the whole universe is seen to appear by Maya, he does not have to subject himself to the rules of nature, to be born. Both the animate and inanimate world is all his appearances only. There is nothing other than God. So this Prakruti, world, universe, nature, Maya, so many life forms are all that one reality only. But these forms do not know themselves. All the forms with life and without life are under the control of nature while the nature is under his control. So for him to be seemingly being born is what is known as Avatara. Continuing the same logic, for the question that is likely to arise as a corollary, as to why does he have to take an Avatara the answer comes in the next two stanzas of Gita IV – 7 & 8. He says, “yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanir bhavati bhaaratha I abhyuththaanam adharmasya tad aatmaanam srujaami aham II paritraaNaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrutaam dharma samstaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge II”
174. He started saying that he knew all the past lives and that Arjuna does not. Then he spoke about his past lives. Then he tells us how he comes in to being and why he does so, in these stanzas. What is he saying? Whenever there is threat for Dharma – ‘yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanir bhavathi’, by which the opposite of dharma multiply; that is when there is rampantly more immorality and corruption, to control such eventuality ‘abhyuththaanam adharmasya’; then, ‘tadaa’; I situate myself as and when and where required, ‘aatmaanam srujaamyaham’. What happens when Dharmam is on the decline? The good and saintly people will suffer in the hands of the bad and corrupt. Isn’t it? The saintly well behaved have to be saved and the corrupt will have to be punished. So, ‘paritraaNaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrutaam’ and to re-establish the rule of moral laws, he situates himself in every Yuga, ‘dharma samstaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge’! That is the positive promise given by God in Bhagawat Gita!
continued...
Friends,
The Sage of Kanchi on The Bhagavad Gita continued...
"The Clue for the Secret of Avatara. Why did he say that he comes amidst us having brought the Nature under his control? Here in the Fourth Chapter he says, ‘prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya’. Elsewhere in the same Gita, he says ‘prakrutim swaam avashtabhya’ (Gita IX – 8). These two words, ‘adhishtaaya and avashtabhya’ means the same as ‘vaseekrutya’, that is ‘having brought it under his control’. Actually in both places, that is how our AachaaryaaL has interpreted in the Bhashyam, using the word ‘vaseekrutya’! Here in Chapter Four of Gita, he is talking about how he is taking Avatara for establishing Dharma. There in Chapter Nine he is talking about how at the end of each Pralaya, after total absorption he lets out the life forms once again to go through Karma, that is re-creation after due absorption. In both the places he has used the phrase ‘having brought the nature under my control’. Here is the clue for the secret of God’s Avatara. The clue is the fact that in both places of his Avatara and re-creation of the rest of the life forms after the deluge of Pralaya; he is virtually using the same phrase, ‘prakrutim swaam adhishtaaya / avashtabhya’ and our AachaaryaaL has given the meaning for both these two words ‘adhishtaaya and avashtabhya’ as ‘vaseekrutya’ to mean having brought under control!"
-----------------------------------
We have discussed on this topic in this blog-Please visit:
http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2010/01/reincarnating-jnanis.html
Namaskar.
Swami Lokesananda, a sannyasi, asked
Sri Bhagavan:
"Is there prarabdha for a Jivanmukta?"
Maharshi: Who is the questioner? From
whom does the question proceed? Is it a Jivanmukta who is asking?
Devotee: No, I am not a mukta as yet.
Maharshi: Then, why not let the Jivanmukta ask the question for himself?
Devotee: The doubt is for me.
Maharshi: Quite so. The Ajnani has doubt but not a Jnani.
Devotee: According to the creed that there is no creation [ajatavada], the explanations of Sri Bhagavan are faultless. But are they admissible in other schools?
Maharshi: There are three methods of approach in Advaita Vada.
1. The Ajatavada is represented by no loss, no creation, no one bound, no sadhaka, no one desirous of liberation, no liberation. This is the Supreme Truth. (Maandukya Karika, II - 32.).
According to this, there is only One and it admits of no discussion.
2. Drishti Srishti Vada is illustrated thus: Simultaneous creation. There are two friends sleeping side by side. One of them dreams that he goes to Benares with his friend and returns. He tells his friend that both of them have been to Benares. The other denies it. That statement is true from the standpoint of one and the denial from that of the other.
3. Srishti drishti Vada is plain. Gradual creation and knowledge of it.
Karma is posited as past karma, etc., prarabdha, agami and sanchita. There must be kartrutva
[doership], karta [doer] for it. Karma [action] cannot be for the body because it is insentient. It is only so long as dehatma buddhi,
(I am the body idea) lasts. After transcending dehatma buddhi one becomes a jnani. In the absence of the idea [buddha] there cannot be either kartrutva or karta. So a jnani has no karma. That is his experience. Otherwise, he is not a jnani. However an ajnani identifies the jnani with his body, which the jnani does not do. So the ajnani finds the jnani acting, because this body is active, and therefore he asks if the jnani is not affected by prarabdha.
The scriptures say that jnana is the fire which burns away all karma [sarvakarmani]. Sarva [all] is interpreted in two ways: 1. to include prarabdha and 2. to exclude it. In the first way: if a man with three wives dies, it is asked, "can two of them be called widows and the the third not?" All are widows. So it is with prarabdha, agami, and sanchita. When there is no karta, none of them can hold out any longer.
The second explanation is, however, given only to satisfy the enquirer. It is said that all karma is burnt away, leaving prarabdha alone . The body is said to continue in the functions for which it has taken its birth. That is prarabdha. But from the jnani's point of view here is only the Self which manifests in such variety. There is no body or karma apart from the Self, so that the actions do not affect him.
[From Talks No. 383, April 5, 1937.]
****
In the afternoon, I showed Sri Bhagavan, the passage in today's Sunday Times, where Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan, in his radio talk, quotes Sri Sankara's reference to his own experience as proof of the existence of the jivanmukta and about the controversies concerning various kinds of mukti. Sri Bhagavan then read out passages from a Tamizh book called The Truth of Advaita in which all doubts about the state of the jivanmukta are raised and answered. Then He said:
"Various illustrations are given in
books to enable us to understand how the jnani can live and act without the mind, although living and acting require the use of mind. The potter's wheel goes on turning round even after the potter has ceased to turn it because the pot is finished. In the same way, the electric fan goes on revolving for some minutes after we switch of the current. the prarabdha which created the body will make it go through all these activities it was meant for. But, the jnani goes though all these activities without the notion that he is the doer of them. It is hard to understand how this is possible. The illustration generally given is that the jnani performs actions in some such way as a child that is roused from sleep to eat, eats but does not remember next morning that it ate. It has to be remembered that all these explanations are not for the jnani. He knows and has no doubts. He knows that he is not the body and is not doing anything even though his body may be engaged in some activity. These explanations are for the onlookers who think of the jnani as one with a body and cannot help identifying him with his body.
"There are various controversies or schools of though as to whether a jnani can continue to live in physical body after realization. some hold that one who dies cannot be a jnani, put forward all sorts of funny notions. If a man must at once leave his body when he realizes the Self, I wonder how any knowledge of the Self or the state of realization can come down to other people. and that would mean that all those who have given us the fruits of their Self realization in books cannot be considered jnanis because they went on living after realization. And if it is held that a man cannot be considered a jnani so long as he performs actions in the world [and action is impossible without the mind], then not only great Sages who carried on various kinds of work after attaining jnana must not be considered jnanis, but gods also, and Iswara Himself, since He continues looking after the world.
The fact is that any amount of action can be performed, and performed quite well, by the jnani without his identifying himself with it in anyway or ever imagining that he is the doer. Some power acts through his body and uses his body to get the work done."
[From Day by Day, May 5, 1946.]
****
After hearing what Sri Bhagavan has said yesterday about the kamandalams, a devotee asked,"Is it a fact that somebody asked Sri Bhagavan to give him the tiger's skin on which Sri Bhagavan was sitting and, as it was being taken away, someone prevented him from doing so?" Sri Bhagavan said with a smile, "Yes. That happened only after we came here. It was in 1924, or about that time. One sadhu came here to seek me. I happened to be seated at that time on a tiger's skin. He cast his eyes upon it. Waiting for an opportunity when no one was with me, he said, "Swami, I want the tiger's skin, Please give it to me." I said that I had no objection to give it, but if anyone saw him taking it away, they might not keep quiet. He said that there was no one present at the time and that he would manage to walk away with it before anyone could notice it. I said, 'All right. Just as you like. I will get up. Take it. But if anyone sees you stops you from going away with it, I won't be responsible.' So saying, I got up. He took the tiger's skin, rolled it, tied it and was going out with it when Dandapani Swami, who was coming in, happened to notice it. He said, "What nonsense! Sri Bhagavan sits on that tiger's skin, You can't take it away." The sadhu protested, saying, 'I am taking it away with Bhagavan's permission.' Dandapani Swami, however, remonstrated saying, 'Was it proper for you to ask for it, when Bhagavan was sitting on it? Is it proper for you to take it away? No. That cannot be allowed.' Thereupon both of them came to me for resolving the dispute. I told Dandapani Swami that the sadhu pressed me to give it him the tiger's skin and so I gave it away but that I had already warned him about others preventing him from taking it away if they noticed it. I left it to them both to resolve the dispute as best as they could. Dandapani Swami found fault with sadhu saying that it was highly improper for him to have asked Bhagavan to get up from his seat and to have asked him to give away the tiger's skin. Finally Dandapani Swami prevented it from being taken away." We were all very much amused.
A devotee said, "Bhagavan, you have replied to them both in a very funny away."
Bhagavan, "What to do? Some one brings that tiger's skin and requests me to sit on it. I accede to his request. Some one else comes here and says,"Please get up. I want that tiger's skin." So I get up. What do I lose? Dandapani Swami prevented that sadhu from taking it away. He was then in power. They could settle the score between themselves. Why should I bother?"
Devotee: "So Bhagavan has no part or lot in the matter?"
Bhagavan: "No. I have no right, and I have no troubles."
[From Letters, February 15, 1949.]
*****
Aruna - A steadfast devotee:
Roland Olson:
[From Mountain Path, July-September,
2011]
If you were at the Asramam in the final years of the twentieth century, you might have seen her at Tamizh Parayana in the evening - short in stature, gray hair pulled back in a bun, a cloth bag hung on her shoulder, carrying annotated notes on Sri Bhagavan's Tamizh works. We all knew her as Aruna. Her dress was old and shapeless, her glasses were large, giving her a scholarly look and she spoke a soft, clipped French accent. A fierce determination shone through her unassuming form and those who knew her recognized a keen intelligence and an inner singleness of purpose that tolerated no obstacles. The twinkling of an eye could transform
her from an amused, humble devotee into a fire-breathing dragon.
She was a staunch devotee of Sri Bhagavasn from the 1950s. She was also a Tamizh scholar who studied with Sri Sadhu Om in Tiruvannamalai and a registered nurse who helped care Muruganar in his final illness. She visited the Asramam for the first time in 1960 and returned permanently at the age of forty in 1969. She had little money but her fierce determination to settle down at the foot of Arunachala held her in good stead.
Who was this woman? What motivated her life to the Spiritual Quest following the path of Sri Bhagavan at Arunachala? What did she mean to me personally in my spiritual quest?
Arlette Hans was born in France in 1929. She was the only child of a French couple and as a teenager witnessed the complete destruction of her hometown during the Second World War. In a moment of despair on a bridge overlooking a river, she presented God with an ultimatum: Tell me what this life is about or give me leave to check out! Within a week the school librarian handed her a copy of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and told her, "I thought of you when this book arrived."
This book led her to the feet of her beloved Guru, Swami Siddheswarnanada of the Ramakrishna Order, and and an ardent devotee of Sri Bhagavan. Many years later she told me, 'When I came into the room,he motioned me to sit down in a chair, but I sat on the floor. He laughed and sat down on the floor too." In that first interview, after she had spilled out her doubts, worries and troubles, the Swami made no comment except to smile and tell her to come back after a week. She remained completely devoted to him for the rest of her life.
The next twenty years were busy ones. While she lived at Swami Siddheswarananda's Vedanta Center in Gretz, she was sent by him to learn English at Oxford University
in England. It was with his blessings, that she undertook formal nurse's training at Edinburgh, Scotland, and worked as a nurse-midwife with the Eskimos at the North Pole. Swami Siddheswarananda left his mortal body in 1957. In 1960, Arlette visited Sri Ramanasramam for the first time. Both her parents had died by the end of 1960s and it was then Arlette realized that she had belonged to Arunachala. Swami Siddheswarananda had after all given her the name Aruna many years before and told her that she would
understand its signficance later in life.
contd.,
Friends,
In verse 6 of Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita,Lord Sri Krishna says :
ajo 'pi sann avyayatma
bhutanam isvaro 'pi san
prakritim svam adhishthaya
sambhavamy atma-mayaya
ajah -- unborn; api -- although; san -- being so; avyaya -- without deterioration; atma -- body; bhutanam -- of all those who are born; isvarah -- the Supreme Lord; api -- although; san -- being so; prakritim -- in the transcendental form; svam -- of Myself; adhishthaya -- being so situated; sambhavami -- I do incarnate; atma-mayaya -- by My internal energy.
-----------------------------------
It is interesting to find an exact parallel in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.Here is the excerpt:
"As long as God keeps the awareness of 'I' in us, so long do sense-objects exist; and we
cannot very well speak of the world as a dream. There is fire in the hearth; therefore the
rice and pulse and potatoes and the other vegetables jump about in the pot. They jump
about as if to say: 'We are here! We are jumping!' This body is the pot. The mind and
intelligence are the water. The objects of the senses are the rice, potatoes, and other
vegetables. The 'I-consciousness' identified with the senses says, 'I am jumping about.' And
Satchidananda is the fire.
"Hence the Bhakti scriptures describe this very world as a 'mansion of mirth'. Ramprasad
sang in one of his songs, 'This world is a framework of illusion.' Another devotee gave the
reply, 'This very world is a mansion of mirth.' As the saying goes, 'The devotee of Kali, free
while living, is full of Eternal Bliss.' The bhakta sees that He who is God has also become
maya. Again, He Himself has become the universe and all its living beings. The bhakta sees
God, maya, the universe, and the living beings as one. Some devotees see everything as
Rama: it is Rama alone who has become everything. Some see everything as Radha and
Krishna. To them it is Krishna alone who has become the twenty-four cosmic principles. It
is like seeing everything green through green glasses.
"But the Bhakti scriptures admit that the manifestations of Power are different in different
beings. It is Rama who has become everything, no doubt; but He manifests Himself more in
some than in others. There is one kind of manifestation of Rama in the Incarnation of God,
and another in men. Even the Incarnations are conscious of the body. Embodiment is due to
maya. Rama wept for Sita. But the Incarnation of God puts a bandage over His eyes by His
own will, like children playing blindman's buff. The children stop playing when their
mother calls them. It is quite different, however, with the ordinary man. The cloth his eyes
are bandaged with is fastened to his back with screws, as it were. There are eight fetters.
Shame, hatred, fear, caste, lineage, good conduct, grief, and secretiveness-these are the
eight fetters. And they cannot be unfastened without the help of a guru."
Namaskar.
Devotee: Horripilation, sobbing voice, joyful tears, etc., are mentioned in Atma Vidya Vilasa and
other works. Are these found in samadhi, or before or after?
Maharshi: All these are the symptoms of exceedingly subtle modes of mind (vrittis). Without duality they cannot remain. Samadhi is Perfect Peace where these cannot find place. After emerging from Samadhi, the remembrance of the state gives rise to these symptoms. In bhakti marga, there are the precursors to Samadhi.
Devotee: Are they not so in the path of Jnana?
Maharshi: May be. There is no definiteness about it. It depends on the nature of the individual. Individuality entirely lost, these cannot find a place. Even the slightest trace of it being present, these symptoms become manifest.
Manikkavachagar and other saints have spoken of these symptoms. They say tears rush forth involuntarily and irrepressibly. Though aware of tears, they are unable to repress them. I had the same experience when I was staying in Virupaksa Cave.
Devotee: Deep sleep state is said to be experience of Bliss, yet, on recollecting it the hairs do not stand on end. Why should they do so, if the Samadhi state is recollected?
Maharshi: Samadhi means sleep in waking state [jagrat sushupti]. Bliss is overpowering and the experience is very c;ear, whereas it is different in sleep.
Devotee: Can we put it that in sleep state there is no unhappiness, nor happiness, i.e
the experience is negative and not positive.
Maharshi: But the recollection is
positive - 'I slept happily' - says the man. So there must be the experience of happiness in sleep.
Devotee: Does Bliss consist only in the absence of unhappiness, or is it anything positive?
Maharshi: It is positive. Loss of unhappiness and rise of happiness are simultaneous.
Devotee: Can it be that the recollection of happiness in sleep is not clear and so there is no horripilation, etc.,?
Maharshi: The Bliss of Samadhi is a perfectly clear experience and its recollection also is similar. But the experience of sleep is otherwise.
[From Talks No. 372, February 23,
1937.]
******
This morning, Mrs. Taleyarkhan told
Sri Bhagavan, "Bhagavan, I have got a letter from Shanta [the Maharani of Barods]. Sri Bhagavan has performed a miracle and she is writing about it.
It seems she went out in a car and on the way the car broke down and the driver could do nothing about it. So, it seems, he took the Rani's permission and went to phone for another car. Meanwhile, it sees a striking-looking and mild sadhu suddenly appeared on the scene and touched the car and said, "You can go on now." The driver returned and when he started the engine, the car moved on without any trouble. The Rani thinks it was all Sri Bhagavan's Grace, She is writing, expressing regret for her inability to be present at the Jubilee." So saying Mrs. Taleyarkhan showed the letter and Sri Bhagavan perused it.
[From Day by Day, August 14, 1946.]
****
Absolute Surrender:
This morning an Andhra youth handed over a letter to Sri Bhagavan in which it was written: "Swamiji! They say that one can obtain everything if one takes refuge in God wholly and solely, and without any thought of any other. Does it mean sitting still at one place, and contemplating God entirely,
at all times, discarding all thoughts, including even about food which is essential for the sustenance of the body? Does it mean that when one gets ill, one should not think of medicine and treatment, but entrust one's health or sickness exclusively to Providence? from the definition of sththia prajna given in Gita, [II.71], 'The man who sheds all longing and moves without concern, free from the sense of 'I' and 'mine', he attains peace.
"It means the discarding of all desires. Therefore should we devote ourselves exclusively to the contemplation of God, and accept food, water, etc., only if they are available by God's grace, without asking for them? Or does it mean that we should make a little effort? Bhagavan! Please explain the secret of this saranagati."
Sri Bhagavan saw that letter leisurely and told the people near him: "Look! 'Ananya saranagati' means to be without any attachment of thoughts, no doubt, but does it mean to discard thoughts even of food and water etc., which are essential for the sustenance of the physical body? He asks, 'should I eat only if I get anything by God's direction, and without my asking for it? Or should I make a little effort?' All right! Let us take it that what we have to eat comes of its own accord. But even then, who is to eat? Suppose somebody put in our mouth, should we not swallow it, at least? Is that not an effort? He asked, 'If I become sick, should I take medicine or should I keep quiet leaving my health and sickness in the hands of God?' 'Kshudvyadeh aaharam', it is said. There are two meanings to this. One is, since kshuth i.e hunger, is also like sickness, so for the sickness called hunger, the medicine called food must be given; the other is: like medicine for vyadhi [sickness], food for kshuth [hunger] must be given. In the book Sadhana Panchakam written by Sankara, it is stated, 'kshudvyadhischa chikitsyatam pratidinam bhiksoushadham bhudyatam'. It means, for treatment of the disease called hunger, eat food received as alms. But then one must at least go out for bhiksha. If all people close their eyes and sit still saying if the food comes, we eat, ho9w is the world to get on? Hence on must take things as they come in accordance with one's traditions and must be free from the feeling that one is doing them for oneself. The feeling that I am doing is the bondage. It is therefore necessary to consider and find out the method whereby such a feeling can be overcome, instead of doubting as to whether medicine should be administered if one is sick or whether food should be taken if one is hungry. Such doubts will continue to come up and will never end. Even such doubts as, 'May I groan if there is pain? May I inhale air after exhaling?' also
occur. Call it Iswara or call it karma -- some karta will carry on everything in this world according to the development of the mind of each individual. If the responsibility is thrown on him [the karta], things will go on of their own accord.
contd.,
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER:
continues...
Sri Bhagavan continued: "We walk on this ground. While doing so, do we consider at every step whether we should raise one leg after the other or stop at some stage? Isn't the walking done automatically? The same is the case with inhaling and exhaling. No special effort is made
to inhale or exhale. The same is the case with this life also. Can we give up anything if we want to or do anything we please? Quite a number of things are done automatically without our being conscious of it. Complete surrender to God means giving up all thoughts and concentrating the mind on Him. If we can concentrate on Him, other thoughts disappear. If mano-vak-kaya karmas i.e actions of mind, speech and body are merged with
God, all the burdens of our life will be on Him. Lord Krishna told Arjuna in the Gita.
To those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no other, to those ever harmonious, I bring full security and attend to their needs. [IX.22].
"Arjuna had to do the fighting. So Krishna said, 'Place all the burden on Me, do your duty. You are merely an instrument. I will see to everything. Nothing will bother you.' But then, before one surrenders to God, one should know what it is that surrenders. Unless all thoughts are given up there can't be surrender. When there are no thoughts at all, what remains is only the Self. So surrender will only be to one's Self. If surrender is in terms of bhakti, the burden should be thrown to God, and if it is in terms of karma, karma should be performed until one knows one's own Self. The result is the same in either case. Surrender means to enquire and know about one's own Self and then remain in the Self. What is there apart from the Self?"
That young man said, "What is the path by which it can be known?" Sri Bhagavan replied: "In the Gita several paths are indicated. You are asked to do dhyana. If you are not able to do it, then bhakti or yoga or nishkama karma. Many more have been indicated. And one of the paths must be followed. One's own self is always there. Things happen automatically in accordance with the samskaras.
"The feeling that the doer is "I" is itself bondage. If the feeling is got rid of by vichara, these questions do not arise. Saranagati is not the mere act of sitting with closed eyes. If all sit like that, how are they to get on in this world?"
[From Letters, April, 10, 1947]
concluded.
Ravi, Mr.Subramanian and other friends,
You may be knowing that the Ramakrishna Math publishes two English Magazines every month - The Vedanta Kesari and the Prabuddha Bharata.
The Math has now come out with a digitised version of all the issues of both the above magazines in a DVD format (a kind of e-Book, I guess).
The Vedanta Kesari DVD contains all the issues from May 1914 to December 2009. Last week, I purchased this DVD (the cost is Rs. 500/-)
The features of the DVD are :
1. You can navigate between years, titles and authors.
2. You can search Articles and Authors
3. You can search, copy and paste text.
4. And you can print each page.
I did a brief search on articles/reference to Sri Ramana and found quite a few articles. (There was a tribute to Sri Ramana after he left his body).
Just thought I should post this for your info (in case you are not already aware).
If the Ramana Ashram could bring out similar DVDs on the Mountain Path and the Call Divine, that would be nice (this would be a boon for those who frequently travel)
Thank you,
shiv
Shiv,
Thanks very much.Yes,I have these DVDs(Prabuddha Bharata and Vedanta Kesari collection).The copy and paste does not seem to work;Looks like it may not be possible as these are Digitized version of the Original.
Namaskar.
Aruna - A Steadfast Devotee:
by Roland Olson:
Mountain Path, July-Sept. 2011:
Continues....
Her first visit to Arunachala had filled her with a nameless dread and when she moved back there permanently, life was not easy. The
Asramam was not the modern busy centre that we see today. There was no supermarket across the street, no water filter in the dining hall, no modern accommodations for the visitors, and, worse, many who had flocked to the Asramam in the Maharshi's declining years seemed to have forgotten His very existence. Accommodations of any kind were not easy for an attractive single Western woman, and adjusting to the climate was an enormous challenge in itself. Finding a niche for herself and her skills, and a daily routine in the Ramana community took time.
She began to find her way though. The writings of Sri Bhagavan in Tamuizh fascinated her and she began to associate with the great Tamizh scholar Sri Sadhu Om. Sri Bhagavan's most ardent devotee, the great Tamizh poet and saint, Muruganar, was available to devotees and Aruna was able to sit at his feet and absorb Sri Bhagavan's teachings. In time, she would come to nurse him in his final illness. Eventually, with the help of a resident sadhu with a background in engineering, she had a house, "Summa" - built about three kilometers west of the Asramam on the pradakshina road. She laid out a garden, acquired a motor scooter and shuttled back and forth to the Asramam. In later years, she assisted Professor Swaminathan when he began translating Sri Muruganar's Garland
of Guru's Sayings.
I had the good fortune to meet Aruna for the first time in January, 1988 at the Asramam bookstall, where she introduced herself to me. I was new to the
Asramam and to India and her warmth and kindness were a great personal boon. I remember, as if it were yesterday, stopping by Summa on a sunny South Indian afternoon as I did pradakshina. The first to greet me as I approached the green iron fence was her little dog Putzi. There were numerous cups of tea and a tour of her garden and stories of Swami Siddheswarananada and his kindness toward her. This was but the first of many visits and meals and stories shared. In those first happy years of our friendship she taught my daughter and niece how to tie a sari, told stories of her family's resistance to the German invasion of France, cooked French food for my aged mother when she visited the Asramamm, gave me advice on my own wardrobe and told many stories of Sri Bhagavan, His devotees and the Asramam life.
One afternoon as we wandered in her garden, peering into the well and checking the progress of her vegetables and flowers, she told me the story of her fierce friend, the porcupine. "You must always be careful of what you ask of Arunachala," she said, "When I was a girl in France during the war, times were hard and we had to depend on our vegetable garden. At first, small animals came and ate our vegetables but then a porcupine moved in and we lost far fewer vegetables. We came to look on this fierce little animal as our friend and our next door neighbor was so intrigued that he even painted a picture of it. I had not thought of my friend the porcupine in many years but then I looked at the Hill and asked, "Where is my little porcupine now?" Several days later, there was a package for me in the mail and a letter from my old neighbor. He explained that he was old and moving out of his house, and he had decided to send me the portrait of the porcupine that he had painted so many years before!"
contd.,
Aruna - A Steadfast Devotee:
continues....
As Aruna grew old her health began to fail, and she had a couple of accidents on her motorbike but none of this affected her intense devotion to Sri Bhagavan and her dedication to her Tamizh studies. She unfailingly sang Tamizh parayana in the evening at Sri Bhagavban's Samadhi. Poor eyesight, due to macular degeneration and failed cataract surgery hindered her work in translating 'Forty Verses on Reality', Ulladu Narpadu, and 'The Essence of Instruction', Upadesa Saram but with the help of a powerful magnifying glass, she carried on.
The last time I saw her was in August of 1997. By then her health was so poor she had moved into an
apartment across the road from the Asramam. I had typed her translation and commentary on 'Forty Verses on Reality', and had it bound as a book for her. I am not a scholar but on that visit we pored together her Tamizh to French translations, which she was now translating into English.
She prepared several meals for me and there were many cups of tea. She spoke of growing up in wartime
France and her life in Tiruvannamalai, how difficult it had been for her when she came as a single woman to stay permanently in 1969. In her wry way she always manged to fill me in all the Asramam news too. It was clear that she didn't feel well. She complained that her kidney weren't working right, and it was painful to watch her bend over her magnifying glass as she tried to decipher her notes. When I tried to suggest that it might be time to surrender her scholarly pursuits to something less demanding she strenuously objected.
When it was time for us to say our good-byes and for me to return to the US, she took a bundle out of her cloth bag and pressed it into my hands. "I want you to take this with you." It was her translation of Ulladu Narpadu into English, and the initial work of Upadesa Undiyar. I was appalled and objected strenuously because I knew how precious these were to her, but she insisted. "They will be safe with you," she said. Did she know that time was running out for her?
the end came mercifully quick for her on March 25, 1999. She suffered a heart attack in the sunrise hour of the morning. As a trained nurse, she knew it was serious. Unable to move she called out to her neighbors through a window to get help. The neighbors were forced to enter the house through a broken window. They made her as comfortable as possible. Before medical help could arrive, her body gradually became cold from the extremities. The neighbors began to chant Aksharamana Maalai as she slowly detached from her physical body. Without a struggle and fully conscious, she peacefully left this world. She was indeed blessed.
When I got the news it was hard for me to believe that she was gone. To others she may have been a staunch unswerving devotee of Sri Bhagavan, an ardent Tamizh scholar and a faithful member of the Asramam community. To me she was much more. She was a personal example of perseverance in the face of difficulties, an explicator of the Master's teachings, a provider of comfort-food in a bewildering welter of wonderful, unfamiliar Tamzhian fare, a source of stories,
personal and cosmic. When I came back to the Asramam in those first ten years, I knew she would be there to smooth my path. She was my friend.
concluded.
Mr. Shamanna from Mysore asked Sri Bhagavan: Kindly explain Aham Sphurana (the light of 'I-I').
Maharshi: "I" is not known in sleep. On waking "I" is perceived associated with the body, the world and non-self in general. Such associated "I" is Aham Vritti. When Aham represents the Self only it is Aham Sphurana. This is natural to the Jnani and is itself called Jnana by Jnanis, or bhakti by bhaktas. Though ever present, including in sleep, it is not perceived. It cannot be known in sleep all at once. It must first be realized in the waking state, for it is our true nature underlying all the three states. Efforts must be made only in the Jagrat (waking) state and the Self realized here and now. It will afterwards be understood and realized to be continuous Self,uninterrupted by Jagrat, svapana and suhupti. Thus it is ahandakara vritti (unbroken experience). Vritti is used for lack of a better expression. It should not be understood to mean literally a vritti. In that case, vritti will resemble an 'ocean-like river', which is absurd. Vritti is of short duration, it is qualified, directed consciousness; or absolute
consciousness broken up by cognition of thoughts, senses, etc., Vritti is the function of the mind, whereas the continuous consciousness transcends the mind. This is the natural, primal state of the Jnani or the liberated being. That is unbroken experience. It asserts itself when relative consciousness subsides. Aham Vritti [I-thought] is broken. Aham Sphurana (the light of 'I-I') is unbroken, continuous. After the thoughts subside, the light shines
forth.
[Talks No. 307, December 27, 1936]
****
The Greatness of Man:
One of the Andhras asked, "Swami, what is the easiest way to attain moksha?"
Sri Bhagavan said with a smile: "That is just what I am explaining now. As and when the mind goes astray, it should be turned inward and made to steady itself in the thought of the Self. That is the only way."
Another said: "To do it so, the repeating of the name of Rama is good, is it not?"\
"Certainly it is good", said Sri Bhagavan, "What could be better? The greatness of the Japa [repeating] of the name of Rama is extraordinary," and looking at me, He said, "You know the story of Namadeva. He is reported to have told one devotee, "If you want to know the greatness of the name of Rama, you must first know what your own name is, (Own name means one's real nature, Swarupam], who you are and how you were born. Unless you know your own origin, you will not know your name." The idea is found in the abhangas of Namadeva written in Marathi language. Someone wrote Adhyatama Ramayana in great detail in the Malayalam language. It is stated in that book that when Anjaneya went in search of Sita, he seated himself opposite Ravana in the Durbar Hall on a high pedestal and fearlessly spoke to him thus: 'O Ravana, I give you a teaching, for attaining liberation. Please listen to me carefully. It is certain that the Self gets purified by intense devotion to Hari, who is in the lotus of the Heart at all times. The ego gets destroyed and then the sin gets destroyed. Afterwards, in its place, the knowledge of the Self, the two letters 'Ra' and 'ma' which are like mantras, will repeat themselves within you automatically. What more is required for a person who has this knowledge, however little it might be? Hence worship the lotus feet of Vishnu, which will remove all worldly fears, which are dear to all devotees and which shine as brightly as the light of a crore of suns. Give up ignorance of your mind. This has been mentioned in two or three slokas in the Sanskrit Adyatma Ramayanam but not as elaborately as in the Malayalam text. Is the greatness of the name of Rama ordinary?"
"But one thing. The method of repeating the name must be known. In the case of all japa it is stated 'pranayme viniyogha ' which means that the breath is to be controlled first, and the japa should be done. In other words, the mind must be controlled. Sambanda is a devotee of Siva. He explained in a verse the way to do the japa of Panchakshari [five letters] of Lord Siva's name. It meaning is that one should close navadwaras [the nine apertures of human body, i.e. two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, anus and the organ of generation], lock them and seal them, Otherwise the mind will run away. After sealing the nine doors, do Panchakshari japa. If, by controlling the senses, the mind can be controlled, i.e. submerged, that which remains is the Self. One meditates on one's Self and the japa becomes one's own Self."
[From, Letters, May 2, 1948]
****
There is nothing but water in the holy pools.
I know, I have been swimming in them.
All the gods sculpted of wood or ivory can't say a word.
I know, I have been crying out to them.
The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words.
I looked through their covers one day sideways.
What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through.
If you have not lived through something, it is not true.
Kabir
hey jude/Friends,
Wonderful saying of Kabir.
Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 'Self Reliance'says pretty much the same thing:
"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on the plot of ground which is given him to till."
This is the perspective of the 'Intellect'(even if it be that of an enlightened soul).Interestingly Sri Ramakrishna reminescing about his trips to Holy Places says this:
"While visiting the holy places, I would sometimes suffer great agony. Once I went with Mathur to Raja Babu's drawing-room in Benares. I found that they talked there only of worldly matters - money, real estate, and thelike. At this I burst into tears. I said to the Divine Mother, weeping: 'Mother! Where hast Thou brought me? I was much better off at Dakshineswar.' In Allahabad I noticed the same things that I saw elsewhere - the same ponds, the same grass, the same trees, the same tamarind-leaves.
Master's ecstasy at Vrindāvan
"But one undoubtedly finds inspiration in a holy place. I accompanied Mathur Babu to Vrindāvan. Hriday and the ladies of Mathur's family were in our party. No sooner did I see the Kaliyadaman Ghat than a divine emotion surged up within me. I was completely overwhelmed. Hriday used to bathe me there as if I were a small child.
"In the dusk I would walk on the bank of the Jamuna when the cattle returned along the sandy banks from their pastures. At the very sight of those cows the thought of Krishna would flash in my mind. I would run along like a madman, crying: 'Oh, where is Krishna? Where is my Krishna?'
"I went to Syamakunda and Radhakunda in a palanquin and got out to visit the holy Mount Govardhan. At the very sight of the mount I was overpowered with divine emotion and ran to the top. I lost all consciousness of the world around me. The residents of the place helped me to come down. On my way to the sacred pools of Syamakunda and Radhakunda, when I saw the meadows, the trees, the shrubs, the birds, and the deer, I was overcome with ecstasy. My clothes became wet with tears. I said: 'O Krishna! Everything here is as it was in the olden days. You alone are absent.' Seated inside the palanquin I lost all power of speech. Hriday followed the palanquin. He had warned the bearers to be careful about me."
This Divine Bhava is at the root of all these things-whether it is the Teertha,the Scriptures;When approached with this Bhava,everything acquires a significance.
Arunachala may be the 'Ancient Rock'for some geologist,but to the Devotee ,it is the Self,vast, immeasurable,immovable.
Namaskar.
In the course of conversation, someone referred to the fact that when Mr. Brunton and a lady were walking home in the night, they saw a bright glow on half of the Hill moving slowly and gently from North to South.
Sri Bhagavan said: This Hill is said to be wisdom in visible shape.
Devotee: How is it visible to the physical eye?
Maharshi: Sambandar had sung, "The One who fascinated my heart or the captivator of my heart, I sing Him in my mind." The Heart is captivated. Consequently the mind must have sunk into the Heart. And yet there is the remembrance which enables the saint to sing of God later.
Then the experience of a young disciple was mentioned. The young man, educated and in good circumstances, in good health and sober mind, was once facing Sri Bhagavan's picture in his home and meditating on the figure. The figure suddenly appeared animated with life, which threw the young man into a spasm of fear. He called out for his mother. His mother came and asked him what the matter was. He was surrounded by his relatives who were perplexed by his appearance. He was aware of their presence, but was still overpowered by a mysterious force which he tried to resist. He became unconscious for a short time. Fear seized him as he regained consciousness. The people became anxious and tried to bring him round with medicines.
When later he came to Tiruvannamalai he had some foreboding of similar experience. The proximity of Sri Bhagavan prevented any untoward happening. But whenever he wandered away from the Hall, he found the force almost irresistible and himself in the grip of fear.
Sri Bhagavan said: "Is it so? No one told me this before."
A devotee asked, if it was not Saktinipata [descent of divine power]?
Maharshi: Yes, it is. A madman clings to samskaras, whereas a Jnani does not. That is the only difference between the two. Jnana is madness of a kind.
Devotee: But Saktinipata is said occur in karmasamya, i.e when merit and demerit are equal.
Maharshi: Yes. Malaparipaka, karmasamya and Saktinipata mean the same. A man running the course of his samskaras; when taught he is the Self, the teaching affects his mind and imagination runs riot. He feels helpless before the onrushing power. His experiences are only according to his imagination of the state "I am the Self", whatever he may conceive it to be. Saktinipata alone confers the true and right experience.
When the man is ripe for receiving the instruction and his mind is about to sink into the Heart, the instruction imparted works in a flash and he realizes the Self all right. Otherwise, there is always the struggle.
Mano-nasa, Jnana and Chittaikagrata (annihilation of mind, Knowledge, and one-pointedness) means the same.
(Talks No. 275, November 5, 1936.)
****
Nagamma asked me to get her the Asramam book in which Telugu poems are written so that she could copy in it those of L.N. Sastri. I took it out and gave it to her. Then I told Sri Bhagavan: "It seems that this L.N. Sastri is a great poet. Nagamma is all praise for his poems and tells me that he is about the best Telugu poet who9 has come to Sri Bhagavan for the past five or six years." G. Subba Rao said: Yes. I agree, he is a great poet.
Sri Bhagavan said, "He is a pandit in the Raja's College at Vijayanagaram. Nobody would take him for such a great poet. He looked a very ordinary man. He wants to become an Aasu Kavi [one who can compose extempore poems on any given subject]. But all this is only activity of the mind. The more you exercise the mind and the more success you have in composing verses or doing Satavadanam (giving attention to many things at a time) the less peace you have. What use is to acquire such accomplishments if you don't acquire peace? But if you tell such people this, it does not appeal to them. They can't keep quiet. They must be composing songs. As Nayana used to say: "In going forward one can run any distance at any speed, but when it is a question of going backward, that is turning the mind inwards, even one step is hard to take."
"Somehow it never occurs to me to write any book or compose poems. All the songs I have made were made at the request of someone or other in connection with some particular event. Even the Reality in Forty Verses, of which so many commentaries and translations now exist, was not planned as a book but consists of verses composed at different times and afterwards arranged as a book by Muruganar and others. The only poems that came to me spontaneously and compelled me, as it were, to compose them, without anyone urging me to do so, are the Ashtakam and Padigam. The first day the opening words of Padigam suddenly came to me one morning, and even if I tried to suppress them, saying, "What have I to do with these words?" they would not be suppressed till I composed a song beginning with them, and all the words flowed easily without any effort. In the same way, the second stanza was made the next day and the succeeding ones the following days, one each day. Only the tenth and eleventh were composed on the same day.
The next day, I started out to go round the Hill. Pazhaniswami was walking behind me, and after we had gone some way, Ayyaswami seems to have called him back and given him a pencil and paper saying, "For some days now Swami has been composing poems everyday. He may do so today as well, so you had better take this paper and pencil with you." I learnt about this only when I noticed that Pazhani was not with me for a while but came and joined me later. That day, before I returned to Skandasramam, I wrote of six of the eight stanzas of Ashtakam. Either that evening or the next day, Narayana Reddi came. He was at that time living in Vellore as an agent of Singer & Co., and he used to come from time to time. Ayyaswami and Pazhaniswami told him about the poems and he said, "Give them to me at once and I will go and print them." He had already published some books about me. When he insisted on taking the
poems, I told him he could do so and could publish the first eleven as Padigam and the rest, which were in a different meter, as Ashtakam. To make up the Ashtakam I at once composed two more stanzas and he took all the 19 stanzas with him to get them published.
[From Day by Day, May 9, 1946].
****
Which is the Foot and which is the Head?
This afternoon, at 3 O'Clock, a devotee stood near Sri Bhagavan's sofa and said, "Swami, I have only one desire, namely to put my head on Sri Bhagavan's foot and do namaskaram, (obeisance). Sri Bhagavan must grant me this favor." "Oh! is that the desire! But then which is the foot and which is the head?" asked Sri Bhagavan. No reply. After pausing for a while, Sri Bhagavan said, "Where the self merges, that is the foot." "Where is that place? asked the devotee. "Where? It is in one's own Self. The feeling of "I,I" the ego, is the head. Where that aham vritti [ego] dissolves, that is the foot of the Guru."
"It is said that bhakti should be like mother, father, Guru and God, but if the individual self gets dissolved, how is it possible to serve them with bhakti?" he asked.
Sri Bhagavan said, "What is the meaning of the individual self getting dissolved? It means, making that bhakti expansive. Everything is from one's own self. Hence, if one is in one's own self, one get the Shakti [energy] to broad base them all." That devotee said, "Does dissolving one's self in its own place mean that with buddhi [developed mind] one discards the annamaya and other kosas [sheaths of the body] and after that discards the buddhi itself?"
Sri Bhagavan replied, "Where do you go if you discard buddhi? The buddhi remaining in its own state is the knowing of one's own state. To eliminate or discard the various elements mentioned already, buddhi must be used like a punishing rod.
The buddhi is described as of the two parts, unclean and clean. When it is associated with the work of the antahkarana it is stated to be unclean. This is known as mind and ahankara. When buddhi is used as a punishing rod to drive away those things and to give up the inspiration of the Self [aham sphurana], i.e. "I" it is known as clean buddhi. If that is caught and the rest is discarded, that which is, remains as it is."
Further questioning was, "It is said that buddhi must be made one with Atma. How is that? Sri Bhagavan replied: "How can it be made one with Atma when it is not a thing which comes from outside? It is within oneself. The feeling or the shadow of Atma is buddhi. If that buddhi, the static thing, is known, one remains as one's own self. Some call that buddhi, some
shakti and some call it aham. Whatever the name, it must be caught hold of firmly to drive away all that comes from elsewhere."
[Letters, April 24, 1947]
****
With Sri Bhagavan on a walk to the
Samudram Lake:
[From the Souvenir celebrating the centenary of Advent of Sri Bhagavan, 1896-1996.]
T.K. Sundaresa Iyer. [originally from the Call Divine, April, 1, 1958]
The Samudram Lake at the foot of Arunachala and near Sri Ramanasramam is a very extensive one, the summer rains nor the winter monsoons in Tiruvannamalai rarely fill up this tank except once in a way when it overflows.
Thus it overflowed once long ago. The sight of it was very grand and the overflow at the outlet was wide as a river. The tank really seemed a sea [Samudram]. Sri Bhagavan told us that it was called 'Samudram' because a certain local ruler had this tank constructed as a miniature sea to give an idea to his Queen of what a sea would look like; for she never had seen one and she a carrying one now desired to.
The overflow of the Samudram Tank in Tiruvannamalai is such a rare event and people thronged to see the sight. Afterwards they came to Sri Bhagavan and talked about it.
One morning after breakfast the devotees in the Hall expressed to Sri Bhagavan a desire to visit the Samudram. Sri Bhagavan was humane enough to accept the suggestion and all of us went for a stroll to see it. The tank bund is over two miles long and we walked from the Asrmamam to the tank about a mile and then the whole distance of the bund. The presence of Sri Bhagavan and His words were more interesting to us than the brimming tank and the grand view of the lake at the foot of the holy Arunachalam.
Sri Bhagavan talked of many things, of which I remember, at this distance of time, only two topics of interest.
At one place, Sri Bhagavan pointed out a palmyra tree which had decayed at the trip and embrace of a parasite banyan tree. Some bird had dropped the seed of banyan into the palmyra and as the banyan began its growth, the palmyra got struck, and cloven and stunted in its growth. Drawing our attention to this phenomenon, Sri Bhagavan remarked that is just the effect of the look of Grace of the Jnani. One look into a soul and the whole tree of vasanas gathered through cycles of births is burnt down and decays. Then the reality of Atman is experienced. In the analogy, the tree of vasanas is the palmyra and the look of the Guru [the seed of Grace] is the banyan. Thus Sri Bhagavan explained to us the effect of contact with a Mahapurusha. The supreme Jnana that is obtained by the touch of the Satpurusha, can never be obtained by the study of any number of scriptures or any store of punya karma [virtuous deeds] or by other sadhanas.
Then when we were actually at the outlet of the overflow at the end of the lake, we all marvelled at the width of it which was as wide a river. We stayed there for sometime and then returned.
On the return walk, we happened to pass the sluice, at the middle of the bund. Pointing to it, Sri Bhagavan remarked: "Look at this small outlet as opposed to the big one at the end. But for the small hole through which trickle the stream of water, the huge contents of the lake would not be helpful to the vegetation. If the bund breaks it would be a regular deluge and the entire crops would be destroyed. Only if served, properly
regulated through this sluice, are the plants helped to growth.
So too is the Brahmic Consciousness. Unless the Bliss of of this consciousness is gifted through the grace of the Guru, in seasoned outlets, the soul cannot be helped to vasana-kshaya [the destruction of the tendencies of the mental mode]; for in this process, the Atman abiding as such in its oneness with the Brahman, is established in the Astipada [the state of Being] of the Guru.
contd.,
With Sri Bhagavan on a walk to the
Samudram Lake.
T.K. Sundaresa Iyer.
[From Call Divine, April 1, 1958]
continues...
Holding on to its aspects of Sat Chit, the work of vasana-kshaya proceeds as and when the thought forms arise to propel the mind into action i.e. in its Rajasic nature. This work of vasana-kshaya becomes possible only in the proximity of the Guru. Hence the Guru himself is like the sluice and irrigates the souls with the grace out of His kripa-samudram [ocean of Grace] needed for the abidance as the Atman and doing the vasana-kshaya. Whereas, if the bund is broken, the full force of the whole lake rushes through sweeping everything before it. This resembles a sadhaka receiving the full force of Brahmic Consciousness without the intervening and mitigating grace of the Guru's sluice and so physically dies without the benefit of effecting the destruction of the vasanas.
concluded.
Mr. Thomas, Professor of Sanskrit,
University of Oxford, had presided over the Oriental Conference in Trivandrum and on his way to Calcutta, he visited Sri Bhagavan. He is an elderly gentleman with a broad forehead and a quiet manner. He speaks softly and slowly. He evinces great interest in oriental literature, especially Sanskrit. He had heard the richness of Tamizh. He desired to know which of the English translations of Srimad Bhagavad Gita was the best. The Hall was crowded and a few of them mentioned, with each his own opinion, Taibaut's, Mahadeva Sastri's, Telang's, etc., Sri Bhagavan made mention of F.T. Brooks. Mr. Thomas desires one in metrical form because it is the proper vehicle for rasa [the essence] contained in it. Rasa is also Peace, he said.
Maharshi: Yes. Brahman is only Rasa.
Devotee: Rasa is also Bliss.
Maharshi: Rasa, Ananda, Peace are all names of the same Bliss.
The Professor was shown Mr. Grant Duff's speech in the Philosophical Conference held in Paris. Later the book 'Dharma' by Dr. G.H. Mees was placed in his hands, on seeing which he asked what Sri Bhagavan thought of castes.
Maharshi: The castes relate to bodies and not to the Self. The Self is Bliss. To realize Bliss one realizes the Self. No need to worry oneself about caste, etc.,
Deovtee: The ahamkar is also called the Self.
Maharshi: Ahamkar is limited, whereas the Self is beyond it.
.......
.......
Devotee: Love postulates duality.
How can the Self be the object of Love?
Maharshi: Love is not different from the Self. Love of an object is of an inferior order and cannot endure. Whereas the Self is Love, in other words, God is Love.
[From Talks No. 433, December 26,
1937.}
****
A visitor asked Sri Bhagavan. "How has srishti [creation] come about? Some say it is due to karma. Others say it is the Lord's lila or sport.
What is the truth?"
Bhagavan: Various accounts are given in books. But is there creation? Only if there is creation, we have to explain how it came about. All that, we may not know. But that we exist now is certain. Why not know the "I" and the present and then see if there is a creation?
Some young men who had come with an introduction from the Ramakrishna Mission at Madras, asked Sri Bhagavan, "Which is the proper path for us to follow?"
Bhagavan: When you speak of a path, where are you now? and where do you want to go? If these are known, then we can talk of the path. Know first where you are and what you are. There is nothing to be reached. You are always as you really are. But you don't realize it. That is all.
A little while after, one of the visitors asked Sri Bhagavan, "I am now following the path of Japa. Is that all right?
Bhagavan: Yes. It is quite good. You can continue in that.
[From Day by Day, February 17, 1946, Afternoon.]
****
The Sacredness of the Feet of the Guru:
This afternoon, when I went to Sri Bhagavan, I found someone singing a song, "Guru Pada Mahima." After the singing was over, looking at me, Sri Bhagavan said, "These songs have been written by Tatvaraya Swami. You have heard of the sacredness of the feet of the Guru, haven't you? "Yes, I have heard the songs. As the meaning of the songs is profound, I thought some great personage must have written them," I said. "Yes. There is a story behind it", remarked Sri Bhagavan. When I inquired what it was, Sri Bhagavan leisurely related to us the story as follows:
Both Tattvarya and Swarupananda decided to in search of a Sadguru, in two different directions. Before they parted they came to an understanding. Whoever finds a Sadguru should show him to the other. However much Tatvarayar searched, he could not find a Sadguru. Swsrupananda, who was the uncle of Tatvaraya was naturally an older man. He went about for some time, got tired, and rested in a place. Feeling he could no longer go about in search, he prayed to the Lord, "Oh, Iswara! I can no longer move about. So you yourself
should send me a Sadguru. Having placed the burden on the Lord, he sat down in silence. By God's
grace, a Sadguru came there by himself, and gave him tatva upadesa. It is the gist of the upadesa that got composed as a song, named Tattvasaram. That book has been published with a commentary and is very famous. The understanding arrived at by the uncle and his nephew, could not be implemented as the Guru passed away soon after. Under the circumstances, the uncle himself gave upadesa to his nephew. Swarupananda rote only one book but Tatvaraya sang innumerable songs; amongst them Gurupada Mahima is one. Though many other songs also are available, now several have been lost.
(Letters, April 8, 1948.]
****
Punarvasu VaNNam:
The Glory of Punarvasu star [asterism]
Today, October 19, 2011 is the day of Punarvasu Star. This day is in Thula month. Sri Bhaagavan was born in Tiruchuzhi on a Punarvasu star day [very early morning] in 1879, in the Tamizh month of Dhanur.
In Sri Ramanasramam, every month the day of Punarvasu star is observed with elaborate abhishekam, alankaram and arti for Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingam, since it is
Sri Bhagavan's birth day. Muruganar in his Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai has sung the glory of Punarvasu star, in his Punarvasu VaNNam verses.
In VazhvaRivuRoo, [Awakening to Life] in Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai,
we can see a couple of verses.
711. ENNilatha eNNam eNNi yengum
ezhai maandhare,
MaNNile kavalai aRRu
vaazhthalo vaRun kanaa,
KaNNiyitta yavaiyum kanindhu
nalgum Venkatap
PuNNiyathiyaga moorthi
poonruLin vaazhume!
You, poor folk afflicted by your,
Countless thoughts and yearnings,
Carefree life on earth is but an
Interrupted dream,
Venkata with tender heart gives us
all
Live in golden grace of this
Embodiment of holy sacrifice.
713. PeNdu piLLai kanRu kaalip per
anaithum emanar
SeNdu koNdu adikkum jnanRu
seer kulainthu veezhume
MaNdu neer vaLaagam meedhu iv
vaazhvu mayam athaliR
KaNdu Venkatesar thaaLai kai
thozhuthu vaazhume.
713. Wife and children and cattle
wealth
Collapse and fall and fade
away
On that day when the god of
Death
Comes brandishing his whip.
Existence on this sea-girt
earth
Is but a transient illusion
Seeing this, live a worthy
life
Worshipping Venkata's Feet.
Om Sri Purushottamaaya Namah |
****
RIPENESS:
Bharatananda.
[From Mountain Path, April 1976]
The burning regret which, many, probably, share with me, is that full
advantage was not taken of those happy and precious days when He was
with us physically also - eating, taking, laughing, welcoming all, open to all. Reality was there - in abundance and for the taking, but we enclosed ourselves in timidity, in false humility, in self-deprecation and false excuses. We took a cupful when the ocean was at our hand.
Now He is still with us, but no longer so easily accessible. To find Him again, we must overcome the very obstacles which prevented
us from seeing Him as He was and going with Him where He wanted to take us. It was fear and desire that stood in the way -- the desire for the pleasure of the past and fear of austere responsibility of a higher state of being. It was the same old story - the threshold of maturity of mind and heart which most of us refuse to cross. 'Ripeness is all', He used to say - and now ripeness is the condition of finding Him again.
We ripen when we refuse to drift,
when striving ceaselessly becomes a way of life, when dispassion born of insight becomes spontaneous. When the search WHO AM I? becomes a mere torch and the flame all-important, it will mean that we are ripening fast. We cannot accelerate that ripening, but we can remove the obstacles of fear and greed, indolence and fancy, prejudice and pride. He is there and waiting, timelessly. It is we who keep Him waiting.
****
In reply to Sri K.L. Sarma, Sri Bhagavan spoke about Dakshinamurti Stotra [of Sri Sankara] as follows:
I originally intended to write a commentary on it. Mr. Ranganatha Iyer took away by Tamizh version of the Stotra and printed it along with Appalapattu. He later asked me to enlarge it. I had the introduction ready. He saw it and took it away for printing. I did not proceed with the work. As for the Stotra:
Brahma, the creator, created four sons from his mind. They were Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatkumara and Sanatsujata. They asked their creator why they were brought into existence. Brahma said: "I must create the universe. But I want to go to do tapas for realizing the Self. You are brought forth in order that you may create the universe. That will multiply by yourselves." They did not like this idea. They wandered why they should
take the trouble on themselves. It is natural for one to seek the Source. They therefore wanted to regain their source and be happy. So they did not obey the commands of Brhama but left him. They desired guidance for realization of the Self. they were best equipped individuals for Self Realization. guidance should be only from the best of Masters. Who could it be but Siva - the Yogiraja. Siva appeared before them sitting under the sacred banyan tree. Being Yogiraja 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.
Silence is the true Upadesa. It is the perfect Upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced seeker. The others are unable to draw full inspiration from it. Therefore they require words to explain the Truth. But Truth is beyond words. It does not admit of explanation. All that is possible to do is only to indicate It. How is that to be done?
The people are under an illusion. If the spell is removed they will realize the Truth. They must be told to realize the falsity of the illusion. Then they will try to escape its snares. Vairagya will result. They will enquire into the Truth, i.e seek the Self. That will make them abide as the Self. Sri Sankara being an avatar of Siva, was full of compassion for fallen
beings. He wanted all of them to realize their blissful Self. He could not reach them all with His silence. So he composed the Dakshinamurti Stotram in the form of a hymn so that people may read it and understand the Truth.
What is the nature of the illusion?
All are in the grip of enjoyment, i.e bhokta, bhogyam, bhoga. this is due to the wrong notion that bhogya
vastu [objects of enjoyment] are real. The ego, the world and the creator are the fundamentals underlying the illusion. If they are known to be not apart from the Self there will be no more illusion.
The first four stanzas deal with the world. It is shown to be the same as the Master whose Self is that of the seeker also, or the Master to whom the seeker surrenders himself. The second four stanzas deal with the individual whose Self is shown to
be the Self of the Master. The ninth stanza deals with Isvara and the tenth with the Siddhi or Realization.
Such is the scheme of the stotra.
Which is the darpana [miror] here? A mirror, as we know it, is an insentient object which reflects light. What corresponds to a mirror in an individual? The light of the Self luminous Self is reflected on the Mahatattva. The reflected light is the mind-ether or the pure mind.
This illumines the vasanas of the in individual and hence the sense of 'I' and 'this' arises.
Again, a superficial reading of the slokas makes one believe that the bondage, liberation, etc.,are all related to the Master i.e Sri Dakshinamurti. It is absurd. Surrender Him is meant.
[From Talks No. 569, November 7, 1938.]
****
In the afternoon, the following two questions were put by Mr. Bhargava, an elderly visitor from Jhansi, in U.P.
1. How am I to search for the "I" from start to finish?
2. When I meditate, I reach a stage where there is vacuum or void. How should I proceed from there?
Bhagavan: Never mind whether there are visions or sounds or anything else or whether there is void. Are you present during all this or are you not? You must have been there even during the void to be able to say that you experienced a void. To be fixed in that 'you' is the quest of for the "I" from start to finish.
In all books of Vedanta you will find this question of void or of nothing being left, raised by the disciple and answered by the Guru.
It is the mind that sees objects and has experiences and that finds a void when it ceases to see and experience, but that is not 'you'. You are the constant illumination that lights up both the experiences and the void. It is like the theatre light that enables you to see the theatre, the actors and the play while the play is going on but also remains alight and enables you to say that there is no play on when it is all finished. Or there is another illustration. We see objects all around us, but in complete darkness we do not see them and we say, "I see nothing". Even then the eyes are there to say that they see nothing. In the same way, you are there even in the void you mention.
You are the Witness of the three bodies, the gross, the subtle, and the causal, and of the three states, waking, dream and deep sleep, and of the three times, past, present, and future, and also of this void. In the story of the tenth man, when each of the ten counted and thought there were only nine, each one forgetting to count himself, there is a stage when they think one is missing and don't know who it is. And that corresponds to the void. We are so accustomed to the notion that all all that we see around us are permanent and that we are this body, that when all this ceases to exist, we imagine and fear that we also have ceased to exist.
Sri Bhagavan also quoted Verses 212 and 213 from Vivekachudamani, in which the disciple says, "After I eliminate the five sheaths as not-
Self, I find that nothing at all remains." And the Guru replied that the Self or That by which all modifications including the ego and its creatures, and their absence [that is void] are perceived is always there.
[From Day by Day, July 21, 1946.]
****
NATURE:
This afternoon, at 3 O'clock an Englishman asked Sri Bhagavan something in English in which the word 'Nature' occurred a number of times and Sri Bhagavan replied as follows:
"These questions would not arise if one knew one's own nature well. They will continued to arise till one knows it. Until then we will be under the delusion that all these unnatural things are natural. We have to understand that the true state is always there and at all times. We discard that which is there and wish for that which is not there, and suffer on that account. All that comes and goes is unreal. The soul always remains in its natural place. As long as we do not realize that truth, we suffer."
"Where can we this soul? How can we know it?" was the next question.
"Where can we see the soul? This question is like staying in Sri Ramanasramam and asking where Sri Ramanasramam is. The soul is at all times in you and everywhere and to imagine that it is somewhere far off and search for it, is like performing Panduranga bhajan. This bhajan commences in the first quarter of the night with tinkling bells tied to the feet of devotees and with the brass lamp stand placed in the center of the house. The devotees go round and round the lamp stand, dancing rhythmically to the tune, "Pandaripur is thus far! Pandaripur is thus far! Come on! Proceed", but as they go round and round, they actually do not proceed even half a yard closer to Pandaripur. By the time of the third quarter of the night is reached, they will begin to sing, "See! There is Pandaripur. Here is Pandaripur. See, see!" During the first quarter of the night they were going round the same lamp as now in the third quarter. It dawns, and they sing, "We have arrived at Pandaripur. This is Pandaripur," and so saying, salute the same lamp stand and end the bhajan. It is the same with this also. We go round and round in search of Atma [Soul] saying, "Where is Atma? Where is it?" till at last the dawn of Jnana drishti [vision of knowledge] is reached, and we say, "this is Atma, this is me." We should acquire that vision. When once that vision is reached, there will be no attachments even if the Jnani mixes with the world and moves about in it. When once you put on shoes you feet do not feel the pain of walking on any number of stones or thorns on the way. You walk about without fear or care, where is be mountains or hillocks on the way. In the same way, everything will be natural to those who have attained the Jnana Drishti. What is there apart from one's own Self?
"That natural state can be known only after all this worldly vision subsides." "But how is to subside?" was the next question.
Sri Bhagavan replied, "If the mind subsides, the whole world subsides. Mind is the cause of all this. If that subsides, the natural state presents itself. The soul proclaims itself at all times as "I","I". It is self luminous! It is here. All this is THAT. We are in that only. Being in it, why search for It? The ancients say:
"Making the vision absorbed in Jnana one sees the world."
Dhrishtim Jnanamayim krutha Brahmanyam Jagat.
[From Letters, January 28, 1947].
****
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