Muruganar on self-enquiry

I have started to compile a post that deals with Bhagavan’s attitude to meditation on names and forms, but it is turning out to be a long and complex one that will take several more days to complete. Here, meanwhile, is another installment from Sri Guru Ramana Prasadam, composed by Muruganar and translated by Robert Butler. The book will go to the press in the next few days and I hope that copies will be available sometime in December.

The enquiry that leads to true jnana

551

The network of thoughts that fills the mind branches out from the perception ‘I am the body’. The proper course of action is to ask the question, ‘What is the place in which this I-am-the-body idea has its source?’ and thus reach and become established within the Heart.

552

Know that the method of teaching which goes straight to the Heart is that of self-enquiry. When the question is asked, ‘Who in reality is this flawed “I”?’, the truth is revealed in a sudden inward illumination, like sunlight flashing in crystal.

553

Ignorance – ajnana – is the state of forgetting the Self, jnana, and becoming intoxicated with the mind’s propensity to differentiate. This ignorance is a delusion that will be dispelled by the enquiry that leads to jnana.

554

The Self dwells inseparably within every incarnated soul, shining out as the ‘I’. Thus, even if we merely repeat it over and over again as a mantra, it will transport us to the seat of the Heart that is union with that Self.

Muruganar’s comment: ‘God, the Atma Swarupa, dwells and shines within all jivas as ‘I’, its authentic name. Therefore, even if we meditate upon it in name only, that meditation will take the mind and establish it within the Heart, in which that Atma Swarupa shines.’

555

The Self, revealed as our true nature within the Heart through the power of self-enquiry, is none other than the peerless reality of the Supreme, which alone remains after this worldly illusion has faded into nothingness.

556

Taking refuge within the Heart, all conditional awareness will be eradicated. Thus the knowledge of the Real, the summit of the Vedas, will illuminate the Cave of the Heart like the rising sun at dawn, shining forth as ‘I-I’.

557

When through self-enquiry the ‘I’ suddenly expands to embrace the infinite fulfilment of the Supreme, the mind, previously weakened by suffering, will be revived, as it experiences its natural state, the peace of being merged in the Heart.

558

If the nature of the mind is closely investigated, the mind will be resolved into consciousness, and give way to the mauna of final liberation in the unalloyed clarity of the Self.

559

‘Who am I?’ is the source of all acts of questioning. If in stillness we direct our attention inward to the place of its arising, so that its truth is known, the dispute that gave rise to the question will be ended completely.

560

When we examine all the objects we hold onto, rejecting them one after the other saying, ‘not this’, ‘not this’, until none are left, the one rare thing that remains is the truth, reality, the ‘I’ that is merged in the Divine Hall of the Heart.

561

The nature of vasanas [inherited dispositions] is such that we take them to be ourselves. This propensity of the mind [to identify with objects of habit and desire] is like that of bees that instinctively rise up and rush towards nectar the moment they see it.

562

That which reveals the truth in which there is no room for duality, and shines as the inner Sadguru within the hearts of the superior ones [jnanis] so that they have merged with it, is the ‘I’, reality, the supreme reality that is without equal.

563

To realise through investigation that the nature [of reality] is beyond the reach of thought, and to slough off that treacherous mental imagination, making the Heart our permanent place of abode – that indeed is the pellucid state of supreme jnana.

564

Due to its false understanding, the mind perceives as foreign to itself that which is in fact not different from it. The practice of abidance in the Self is to firmly hold the mind in abeyance within the Heart. It is not an act of thinking.

565

Shining within the ‘I’ and inseparable from it, the reality of Brahman is the light which illumines mind-consciousness. To control that mind-consciousness, so that it is checked and restrained within that Brahman, is the true mark of Sivahood.

566

The truth of the Self will become established through that powerful state in which the mind subsides in samadhi. This occurs when consciousness, severing all connection with the outward-going mind, is firmly rooted within the Heart.

567

When the devotion accumulated over many births from ancient times fills our hearts and a clear understanding arises there through the power of his grace, so that we become one with the Self, never leaving its embrace, then indeed have we attained the sublime reality of union with God.

568

The fitting form of worship to the Lord who bears a third eye in his brow is to immerse oneself in the Heart. This state, in which the Heart is kept free from the taint of thoughts, is the straight path for those who seek the highest fulfilment.

569

In performing the sacrificial rituals contained in the sastras, the final oblation most worthy of praise and which brings joy to Lord Siva whose judgment is unerring, is to offer up in fitting manner one’s own self.

570

Know that those who have fully accomplished that one thing have fully accomplished all their religious duties, because its greatness far exceeds that of any other offering, and after it nothing whatsoever remains to be done.

571

That which is spoken of as the Life of life itself is the true life. That other ‘life’ is merely the body. That illusory knowledge mediated by the senses [suttarivu] is nothing but delusion. The pure consciousness that underlies it alone is true consciousness.

572

All that is perceived as separate from consciousness is insentient. It will ultimately prove to be a mere error and cease to exist. Therefore, since the indivisible Reality that dwells within is consciousness itself, you should firmly reject as unreal anything which appears separate from that consciousness.

573

The Self shines through its very nature as a beautiful radiance within the Heart, as all thought subsides. Realising that the power of thought could never truly grasp it, you should abandon all such conceptualisation.

574

Is it fitting that we should seek to embrace our own Self by means of intellectual effort mediated by the senses, rather than by becoming a prey to the supreme reality that shines as that Self, and being annihilated through merging with its non-dual nature?

575

Whatever it is that attracts the mind will always cause a disturbance within it, giving rise to the cycle of pleasure and pain. Will this happen if, turning inward, the mind attains the realisation of the reality which lies within the Heart?

576

The enduring attainment is to become established in the Heart, abiding as the pure ‘I’, unruffled by the fierce gale whipped up by all the various [conflicting] branches of knowledge that are apprehended through the mind and senses, and cause us [only] agitation.

577

All universes are contained in that infinitesimally subtle awareness, without marks, without qualities, without any attributes whatsoever and free of all defect: the all-pervading and indivisible Sivam.

578

All dualistic concepts such as ‘this world’ and ‘the next world’ are merely unreal mental creations. Know that when these fall away and are no more, the one true reality underlying all worlds is none other than the unalloyed supreme intelligence of Sivam.

579

The supreme reality – in which the noble nature of pure grace flourishes, and which merges with us so that all the many false appearances such as ‘this birth’ and ‘the next birth’ cease to exist – shines out as the truth-imbued and flawless ‘I’.

580

In the unreal state where our true nature is veiled, the creations of the mind that swirl about are mere names and forms. But even these will be revealed to be of the nature of pure consciousness in the state of peace that prevails as Sivam, the Self.

581

The world is apprehended as separate from Sivam due to the error of sense-mediated perception [suttarivu]. This is caused by fruitlessly occupying oneself with mental concepts – which are the cause of birth – and failing to engage in the spiritual practice of turning inward.

582

The soul is nothing other than the Siva lingam itself. It is a grievous error for those who are unable to concentrate their attention and realise this through the subtle awareness that enters the Heart and asks, ‘Who am I? to wail and lament as if they were sinners.

583

Those who pursue the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ until the last vestige of identification with the physical body is eradicated from their hearts will gain the treasure that, like the sky itself, pervades all things as the Self, Sadasiva, shining as itself alone.

584

The correct expiation for living beings who feel they have erred is to abide steadfastly in the reality of the Heart, the unwritten lore of the Vedas, through the self-enquiry that asks, ‘For whom is the sin?’

Sri Ramana Guru Prasadam

Robert Butler, who collaborated with me and Venkatasubramanian on translations of Padamalai and Guru Vachaka Kovai, has spent the last year or so translating two volumes of Muruganar’s devotional poetry. Some readers may remember that Robert translated Muruganar’s Sri Ramana Anubhuti in the 1990s and that the resulting work was brought out under the title Non-Dual Consciousness, The Flood Tide of Bliss. This was an incomplete rendering of part one of Sri Ramana Anubhuti. Robert was not happy with this book because he felt that his translation skills and his ignorance of Muruganar’s style and terminology had led him to make many errors. Now, having immersed himself in Muruganar translations for the last six years, he feels far better equipped to bring out an accurate and elegant version of the original verses. He has revised his translations of many of the verses that appeared in the 1990s edition and added to them all the missing verses that failed to appear in his original translation. He has also added the whole of the text of part two of Sri Ramana Anubhuti, none of whose verses appeared in the earlier work. His translation will be published in a few months’ time under the title Sri Ramana Guru Prasadadam. This is the name of the two combined volumes in the current Tamil edition of the work. Dr T. V. Venkatasubramanian, who edited the Tamil edition that was published by Sri Ramanasramam, has helped Robert to extract accurate meanings from some of the more obscure verses, but the final published version is very much Robert’s own.

I think this is a truly great book of devotional poetry, one that I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in Bhagavan and his teachings.

Here is a sample of the verses, taken from a section entitled ‘The gaze of the Lord’. I will add more selections in the days and weeks to come, and I will make an announcement here when the book is available.

48

I was blighted like a useless corpse, bereft of life and decaying, with no worthwhile goal to aim for, until the gaze of the unique Master granted me his grace and engendered in my heart the realisation of the Self, the intangible beacon of consciousness.

49

Entirely banishing lust and all the rest, my gracious Lord, guru Ramana, true wisdom’s flame, watches over me. Through his very glance he revealed to me the upsurge of divine love, which is the savour of the experience of loving union with Lord Siva, sweet like the rich juice of a ripe mango.

50

It was the gaze of the unique Master that revealed the eternally shining existence, the Self-nature within my heart, as my own experience, so that I awoke into an awareness far wider than the normal waking state, that of jnana, in which the delusion caused by the mind’s divided consciousness is destroyed completely.

51

As the dark prison of mental bondage crumbled and disappeared, I became his servant, finding joyous life in the open sky of his ambrosial grace. The knot which locked my consciousness to the physical body was sundered by the bright sword of my Master’s glance and was no more.

52

When, with the unerring arrow of his glance of jnana, my guru, the supreme Lord, sundered the knot between my body and my consciousness, and my mind, transformed into the supernal sky of his grace, became clear and radiant, the veiling deception of bitter worldly bondage disappeared and the truth I then saw was my own Self.

53

Sundering the [fusion of] consciousness and the insentient that is the perplexed wandering mind, the acute grace-bestowing gaze of the great jewel, guru Ramana, was consummated in me as the expanse of grace, rare mauna, such that the sorrow of birth that stems from Self-forgetfulness was entirely abolished.

54

Subduing me and bringing me under his control, he drew my consciousness to himself with the irresistible magnet of his grace. From the profound depths of his mauna, his gracious glance cleaved the knot of my ego’s ruinous cravings in an instant. How great is the power of his piercing gaze!

55

Lost in the fruitless round of birth and death, I surrendered before my Master and my heart became clear and serene through his gracious gaze. Then, through the luminous spiritual practice in which I embraced his holy feet as the true path, I merged with the nature of the Real, so that the disastrous error [of forgetting my true nature] was no more.

56

Through the forgetfulness [pramada] that arose through the error of failing to enquire what was truly real, I revelled in the illusory existence of the physical body. But the Lord, through his glance of grace, united with my consciousness, and brought me into harmony with true existence, the fullness of the open sky [of the Self].

57

Through the grace-bestowing gaze of the Lord, of which I am totally unworthy, the miraculous and wonderful magic trick of the world’s illusion fell away, and as both bondage and liberation faded like a daydream, I merged into the state of the Self, which is my own radiant nature.

58

I was a learned fool. My flawed mind knew nothing until I came to dwell with him whose glance filled my heart with the light of awareness. Dwelling in that gracious state of peace whose nature is mauna, so hard to gain and know, I entered into union with the deathless state of the knowledge of reality.

59

Siva Ramana, whose gracious form is purest gold, came, drawing my wicked self to him and making me his servant. Under his gaze, true awareness has manifested as divine love through the bright and pure reality of his nature, whose form is supreme bliss.

60

Through his captivating gaze that is filled with the harmonious joy of the unalloyed grace whose nature is impossible to conceive, the Lord bestowed his sweetness upon me like divine nectar, sweet to the taste, such that my heart softened and melted as he ruled me through a consciousness whose nature is love.

61

His gracious gaze entered my heart, bestowing Siva-consciousness in all its fullness, so that the fear created by all the petty woes of my erring mind disappeared completely. And as the consciousness of the ghost-like ego, which is preoccupied with the multifarious and bewildering world of appearances, vanished, a life of fulfilment began for me at his holy feet.

62

The Brahmin Lord, bestowing his blissful grace, cast his gaze upon me, so that the falsehood of the bitter worldly bondage that bound my existence ever more tightly was abolished, and as the delusion of my confused thinking completely subsided, my heart shone as the all-pervasive expanse [of the Self].

63

When guru Ramana, whose nature is profound absorption in the divine, freed me from all uncertainty, [revealing that] perceiving is itself creating, the threefold division of objective knowledge was exposed within my heart as mere trickery, and under Selfhood’s steady gaze my restless mind stood still.

64

The Master Conjuror, he turned his gaze upon me, angrily destroying all the three cities [of my threefold body]. And suddenly, as liberation’s vast realm opened up before me, earth was transformed in an instant into heaven as he performed his divine illusion before my very eyes.

65

I was bound for destruction through my disastrous attachment to the world’s illusory reality, until, under my fair Lord’s gracious gaze, my understanding was flooded with the delightful experience of Lord Siva’s bliss, and I entered a new life in the boundless realm of mauna, the supreme reality.

66

A noble lion, he fixed the victorious gaze of jnana upon the forehead of the rutting elephant of my ego, which was drunk with self-conceit, filling me with the sweet nectar of a fitting union with Lord Siva, so that the inner experience of divine wisdom became my whole existence.

67

Enmired in my mind’s impurity, bound to the wheel of worldly attachments, I was like a raving madman, bent on self destruction until, through the grace of my Lord’s glance, I experienced in my heart the ever-present truth, the very nature of liberation.

68

When the Lord’s gracious gaze fell upon me, my heart was filled with the Self’s divine radiance in which all distinctions are obliterated, so that my evil and treacherous ego self faded in the spreading glory of divine realisation’s dawn, and was no more.

69

I was enfolded by the clear bright light of his gracious gaze, and in that state of peace, calm and clear, where the taint of the ego is no more, and where the mind is free of the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, which are the creations of a deluded mind, here in this very place, my experience ripened into liberation.