'KNOW THYSELF' ( Self-Realization ) - is the key for a better living ~ Swaathmaaraaman

 'In order to realize that inherent and untainted happiness, it is essential that ONE should know ONE SELF~ Ramana Maharshi

Eternal, Pure, Groundless, Death and Birth Free
Pervasive, ever Immaculate
Distant, Near, Enveloping Effulgence of Void,
The Support of all, the Fullness of Bliss.
The Cit-Form beyond thought and speech,
That which thus stood,
The Expanse Vast that generates Bliss
Let us contemplate.
- Thayumanavar

Hence 'SELF'-'GOD'-'BRAHMAN or 'TRUTH-BEING-EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS and BLISS remains beyond 'BODY-MIND-INTELLECT complex - THOUGHTS - beyond 'SPACE'-'TIME- and 'CAUSATION' ~Swaathmaaraaman

 

'Time and space are not conditions in which we live, but modes by which we think'.

- Albert Einstein

'Self-Realization'is nothing but seeing consciousness through the 'EYE' of consciousness and merging in it ~ Swaathmaaraaman

 'Who am I? Whence am I? On finding the source, you realize the state of Absolute Consciousness. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

'Everybody is 'Self-Realized' without being aware of ~ `Swaathmaaraaman`

Questioner: How am I to realize that State in which the vasanas are effectively destroyed?

 Sri Ramana Maharshi: 'You are in that State now!

'Self' or 'Athman' is nothing but 'Truth-Being-Existence-Consciousness and Bliss'~ Swaathmaaraaman.

 'Atman alone exists and is real'. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

'SELF' is 'transcendental' 'BEING' and not BECOMING ~ Swaathmaaraaman

 'The Self is only Being, not being this or that. It is simple Being ~ Ramana Maharshi

'You see the objects on forgetting your own Self. If you keep hold of your Self, you will not see the objective world. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

'NAAHAM' - 'DEHAM' (I am not the 'BODY') 'KOHAM' (Who am I ?) - 'SOHAM' ( I am pure 'CONSCIOUSNESS') ~ Swaathmaaraaman

*Glimpses of Self-Realization*- Swaathmaaraaman

'The phenomenal World appears in 'SELF-FORGETFULNESS' and disappears in 'SELF-AWARENESS' - SWAATHMAARAAMAN

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

'Engage yourself in the living present. The future will take care of itself'.

-Ramana Maharshi.

'VIJNANA BHAIRAVA TANTRA'

31. With intangible breath in center of forehead, as this reaches heart at the moment of sleep, have direction over dreams and over death itself.
32. As, subjectively, letters flow into words and words into sentences, and as, objectively, circles flow into worlds and worlds into principles, find at last these converging in our being.

33. Gracious one, play the universe is an empty shell wherein your mind frolics infinitely.
34. Look upon a bowl without seeing the sides or the material. In a few moments become aware.
35. Abide in some place endlessly spacious, clear of trees, hills, habitations. Thence comes the end of mind pressures.
36. Sweet-hearted one, meditate on knowing and not knowing, existing and not existing. Then leave both aside that you may be.
37. Look lovingly on some object Do not go on to another object. Here, in the middle of this object — the blessing.
38. Feel cosmos as translucent ever-living Presence.
39. With utmost devotion, center on the two junctions of breath and know the knower.

'ABSOLUTE TRUTH' is transcendental - beyond the field of 'KNOWN' ~ Swaathmaaraaman

Neither space nor air is the Reality;
Neither earth nor fire is the Reality.
If there's only the limitless One, all is Shiva;
Which, then, is the cloud and which is the rain?

If there's no distinction between a thought-image and the world,
If there's no distinction between a thought-image and the gods,
If there's only the limitless One, all is Shiva;
How, then, could there be a distinction between the Real and the unreal?
There's no distinction between the living and the dead;
There's no distinction between alike and different.
If there's only the limitless One, all is Shiva;
How, then, could one speak of going or coming?

~ Dattatreya's Song of the Avadhut (6.9-11)

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'YOGI’S PENANCE' - 'Manolaya' (stillness of mind) and ''Manonasa (destruction of mind) ~ Ramana Maharshi.

Bhagavan narrated the following story to illustrate the distinction between 'Manolaya' (stillness of mind) and ''Manonasa (destruction of mind).

A YOGI WAS doing penance (tapas) for a number of years on the banks of the Ganges. When he had attained a high degree of concentration, he believed that to remain in that state for prolonged periods constituted salvation and therefore continued practicing it. One day, before going into samadhi (a state of deep concentration), he felt thirsty and asked his disciple to bring some water for drinking from the Ganges; but before the disciple could return with the water, he had gone into samadhi, and he remained in that state for countless years. When he woke up from this experience, the first thing he did was to say, “water! water!”; but there was neither his disciple nor the Ganges in sight.

The first thing which he asked for was water because, before going into deep concentration, the topmost thought in his mind was about water; by concentration, however deep and prolonged it might have been, he had only been able to lull his thoughts temporarily; therefore when he revived consciousness this topmost thought flew up with all the speed and force of a flood breaking through the dykes. If this was the case with regard to a thought which took shape immediately before he sat for meditation, there is no doubt that other thoughts which had taken deeper root earlier would still remain annihilated. If annihilation of thoughts is salvation, can he be said to have attained salvation?

The moral is that one should not be taken away by the spell of temporary stillness but pursue the inquiry till the last vasana is eradicated.

From , Spiritual Stories'

*POINTS TO PONDER* - 'CONCENTRATION ON THAT WHICH IS FREE FROM THOUGHTS AND YET THEIR CORE' - The 'ABSOLUTE TRUTH' is there - displacing the triads, i.e., the knower, the knowledge and the known. The triads are only appearances in time and space, whereas the Reality lies beyond and behind them. They are like a mirage over the Reality. They are the result of delusion ~ Talks with 'Ramana Maharshi'

*POINTS TO PONDER*

'CONCENTRATION ON THAT WHICH IS FREE FROM THOUGHTS AND YET THEIR CORE'

D.: Distractions result from inherited tendencies. Can they be cast off too?

Bhagavan: Yes. Many have done so. Believe it! They did so because they believed they could. Vasanas (predispositions) can be obliterated. It is done by concentration on that which is free from vasanas and yet is their core.

D.: How long is the practice to continue?

M.: Till success is achieved and until yoga-liberation becomes permanent. Success begets success. If one distraction is conquered the next is conquered and so on, until all are finally conquered. The process is like reducing an enemy’s fort by slaying its man-power - one by one, as each issues out.

D.: What is the goal of this process?
M.: Realizing the Real.

D.: What is the nature of the Reality?
M.: (a) Existence without beginning or end - eternal. (b) Existence everywhere, endless, infinite.

(c) Existence underlying all forms, all changes, all forces, all matter and all spirit.

The many change and pass away (phenomena), whereas the One always endures (noumenon).

(d) The one displacing the triads, i.e., the knower, the knowledge and the known. The triads are only appearances in time and space, whereas the Reality lies beyond and behind them. They are like a mirage over the Reality. They are the result of delusion.

Talks with 'Ramana Maharshi'

*Glimpses of Self-Realization* - 'DEVIKALOTTARA'- Quotes.

The state in which the mind is bereft of any support to cling to, ever faultless and pure, and devoid of worldly attachments, is the nature of liberation attained through knowledge. Keep this firmly in mind.
Dispelling all attachments completely, and fixing that mind in the Heart firmly, persist in your practice always in order to strengthen the awareness, which then shines forth with great effulgence and clarity.
Know that whoever meditates on that supreme void, and becomes established in it by virtue of constant practice, will definitely attain the great state which is beyond birth and death.

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


The 'SELF' cannot be found in books; you have to find it-for yourself-within yourself.

`RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*
  Knowledge of the Self, which knows all, is Knowledge in perfection. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION (extracts) PRACTICE (Abhyasa) - Ramana Maharshi.

1. What is the method of practice?

"As the Self of a person who tries to attain Self-Realization is not different from him and as there is nothing other than or superior to him to be attained by him, Self-Realization being only the realization of one’s own nature, the seeker of Liberation realizes, without doubts or misconceptions, his real nature by distinguishing the eternal from the transient, and never swerves from his natural state. This is known as the practice of knowledge. This is the inquiry leading to Self-Realization."

2. Can this path of inquiry be followed by all aspirants?

"This is suitable only for the ripe souls. The rest should follow different methods according to the state of their minds."

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'SELF' is 'TURIYA'- the fourth state of consciousness- the substratum for all the other three states of consciousness-waking, dreaming and sleeping. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

Samadhi is one's natural state. It is the undercurrent in all the three states of waking, dreaming and sleeping. The Self is not in these states, but these states are in the Self. If we get samadhi in our waking state, that will persist in deep sleep also. The distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness belongs to the realm of mind, which is transcended by the state of the real SeIf.

Q: So one should always be trying to reach samadhi?
"Sages say that the state of equilibrium which is devoid of the ego alone is 'mouna-samadhi' [the samadhi of silence], the pinnacle of knowledge. Until one attains 'mouna-samadhi', the state in which one is the ego-less reality, seek only the annihilation of `I' as your aim.
~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER* - 'SATSANGAM' - “Satsangatve nissangatvam, nissangatve nirmohatvam, nirmohatve nischalatatvam, nischalatatve jivanmuktih” - (Shankara) : First you must decide what is sat sang. It means association with sat or Reality. One who knows or has realized sat is also regarded as sat. Such association with sat or with one who knows sat is absolutely necessary for all - RAMANA MAHARSHI

D.: How can one become 'jitasangadoshah' (free from the stain of association)?
M.: By satsanga (association with the wise).

“Satsangatve nissangatvam, nissangatve nirmohatvam,
nirmohatve nischalatatvam, nischalatatve jivanmuktih.” (Shankara)

Satsanga means sanga (association) with sat. Sat is only the Self. Since the Self is not now understood to be Sat, the company of the sage who has thus understood it is sought. That is Sat-sanga. Introversion results. Then Sat is revealed.
For whom is association? For whom is dosha?
D.: To the Self.
M.: No. The Self is pure and unaffected. The impurities affect only the ego.

D.: How is one to overcome regrets? M.: By realizing the Divinity in him. D.: How? M.: By practice.
D.: What kind of practice?
M.: Meditation.
D.: Mind is not steady while meditating.
M.: It will be all right by practice.
D.: How is the mind to be steadied?
M.: By strengthening it.
D.: How to strengthen it?
M.: It grows strong by satsanga (the company of the wise).

Visitor: All that I want to know is whether sat sang is necessary and whether my coming here will help me or not.
Bhagavan: First you must decide what is sat sang. It means association with sat or Reality. One who knows or has realized sat is also regarded as sat. Such association with sat or with one who knows sat is absolutely necessary for all.
Sankara has said (Bhagavan here quoted the Sanskrit verse) that in all the three worlds there is no boat like sat sang to carry one safely across the ocean of births and deaths.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER* - 'SELF-REMEMBRANCE' - With your consciousness hold fast to and never abandon the substratum, your real nature, the Supreme that can neither be held nor relinquished - RAMANA MAHARSHI

Remembering the Self, one’s real nature, without faltering even slightly, is the eminent victory of true jnana.

With your consciousness hold fast to and never abandon the substratum, your real nature, the Supreme that can neither be held nor relinquished.

Is the Self something far away that you have to touch? The higher Self exists as one but it is only your thoughts that make you feel it is not.
You can neither think about it nor forget it.

Other than the thought of the Self, any other thought you ay associate with, is a mere mental construct, foreign to that Self.

Thinking of the Self is to abide as that tranquil consciousness. Padam, the true swarupa, can neither be remembered nor forgotten.

The Self is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is the reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or that.
All such thoughts would only end in bondage. The purport of meditation on the Self is to make the mind take the ‘form’ of the Self. In the middle of the heart-cave is the pure Brahman directly manifest as the Self in the form of ‘I-I’. Can there be greater ignorance than to think of It in manifold ways, without knowing it as aforementioned?

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER* - MEDITATION WITH 'FORMS' AND 'CONSCIOUS MERGING' - What is contemplation? It is merging into the source consciously - RAMANA MAHARSHI

We have become rooted in forms and so we require a concrete form for meditating upon. Only that which we contemplate will in the end remain over. When you contemplate the other thoughts disappear. So long as you need to contemplate there are other thoughts, Where are you? You contemplate because you exist. For the contemplator must contemplate. The contemplation can only be where he is. Contemplation wards off all other thoughts. You should merge yourself in the source. At times we merge in the source unconsciously, as in sleep, death, swoon, etc. What is contemplation? It is merging into the source consciously. Then the fear of death, of swoon, etc. will disappear, because you are able to merge into the source consciously.
Why fear death? Death cannot mean non-being. Why do you love sleep, but not death? Do you not think now? Are you not existing now? Did you not exist in your sleep? Even a child says that it slept well and happily. It admits its existence in sleep, unconsciously though. So, consciousness is our true nature. We cannot remain unconscious. We however say that we were unconscious in our sleep because we refer to qualified consciousness. The world, the body, etc., are so embedded in us that this relative consciousness is taken to be the Self. Does anyone say in his sleep that he is unconscious? He says so now. This is the state of relative consciousness. Therefore he speaks of relative consciousness and not of abstract consciousness. Absolute consciousness is beyond relative consciousness or unconsciousness.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

Distracted as we are by various thoughts, if we would continuously contemplate the Self, which is Itself God, this single thought would in due course replace all distraction and would itself ultimately vanish; the pure Consciousness that alone finally remains is God. This is Liberation.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

All knowledge is meant only to lead the person to the realization of the Self. The scriptures or religions are well-known to be for that purpose. What do they all mean? Leave alone what they say of the past or of the future; for it is only speculative. But the present existence is within the experience of all. Realize the pure Being. There is an end to all discourses and disputes.

~ Ramana Maharshi

The Self is ever-present. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

 

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

Till you reach the state of jnana and thus wake out of maya you must do social service by relieving suffering whenever you see it. But even then you must do it without ahankara, i.e., without the sense of 'I am the doer', but with the feeling 'I am the Lord’s tool'.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*POINTS TO PONDER* - 'ATTAINMENT' (Arudha) - ‘I am not the tattvas, beginning with the body and ending with nada [sound] but the Self which is 'Existence-Consciousness-Bliss’, this is said to be the attainment of firm knowledge - RAMANA MAHARSHI

1. What is the state of attainment of knowledge?

It is firm and effortless abidance in the Self in which the mind which has become one with the Self does not subsequently emerge again at any time. Everyone, when he thinks of his body, usually and naturally has the idea, ‘I am not a goat or a cow, or any other animal, but a human being’. Similarly, when he naturally has the 'Self-awareness', ‘I am not the tattvas, beginning with the body and ending with nada [sound] but the Self which is existence-consciousness-bliss’, this is said to be the attainment of firm knowledge.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*Glimpses of Self-Realization* - ‘WHO AM I?’ (extracts) - Collected Works - Of all thoughts that arise in the mind, the thought 'I' is the first one. It is only after the rise of this [thought] that other thoughts arise. It is only after the first personal pronoun arises that the second and third personal pronouns appear. Without the first person, the second and third persons cannot exist - Ramana Maharshi

Every living being longs to be perpetually happy, without any misery. Since in everyone the highest love is alone felt for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause of love, in order to attain that happiness, which is one's real nature and which is experienced daily in the mindless state of deep sleep, it is necessary to know oneself. To achieve that, inquiry in the form 'Who am I?' is the foremost means.

'Who am I?' The physical body, composed of the seven dhatus, is not 'I'. ...
Even the mind that thinks is not 'I'. In the state of deep sleep vishaya vasanas remain. Devoid of sensory knowledge and activity, even this [state] is not 'I'. After negating all of the above as 'not I, not I', the knowledge that alone remains is itself 'I'. The nature of knowledge is sat-chit-ananda [being-consciousness-bliss].

If the mind, which is the cause of all knowledge and all actions, subsides, the perception of the world will cease. ...

That which is called 'mind', which projects all thoughts, is an awesome power existing within the Self, one's real nature. If we discard all thoughts and look [to see what remains when there are no thoughts, it will be found that] there is no such entity as mind remaining separate [from those thoughts]. Therefore, thought itself is the nature of the mind. There is no such thing as 'the world' independent of thoughts. ...
Consequently, when the world appears, the Self is not seen, and when the Self appears or shines, the world will not appear.

That which arises in the physical body as 'I' is the mind. If one inquires, 'In what place in the body does this ''I'' first arise?' it will be known to be in the hridayam. That is the birthplace of the mind. Even if one incessantly thinks 'I, I', it will lead to that place. Of all thoughts that arise in the mind, the thought 'I' is the first one. It is only after the rise of this [thought] that other thoughts arise. It is only after the first personal pronoun arises that the second and third personal pronouns appear. Without the first person, the second and third persons cannot exist.

Collected Works- Ramana Maharshi

*POINTS TO PONDER* - Through the steady practice of Self-Inquiry the mind can be trained in such a way that it automatically flows towards the Self in the waking and dream states. It is very difficult at first, but with practice it can be done. Repeated Self-Inquiry makes the mind go back into the Self.

STEADY PRACTICE

Q: The mind is always flowing like an unstoppable river. Most of the time I am not even capable of reaching the Self. How can I hold to something that I can't even get near?

AS: When it rises, the mind automatically goes out to the world. If you do Self-Enquiry you can train it to flow towards the Self.

In deep sleep the mind automatically goes to the Self, but you are not aware of it. Through the steady practice of Self-Inquiry the mind can be trained in such a way that it automatically flows towards the Self in the waking and dream states. It is very difficult at first, but with practice it can be done. Repeated Self-Inquiry makes the mind go back into the Self.

Other methods may produce good experiences but the good experiences will not make the mind go back into the Self and stay there.

Q: How much meditation is good? How many hours a day?

AS: Meditation must be continuous. The current of meditation must be present in all your activities. With practice, meditation and work can go on simultaneously.

Living by the Words of Bhagavan , p.280

One must realize that he is not the doer, but that he is only a tool of some Higher Power. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'BUDDHA'

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - When, through the grace of God, devotion and ecstatic love are awakened in his heart, then he altogether forgets virtue and sin - Thoughts of repentance and penance do not bother him at all - Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

In the beginning of spiritual life a man should think about sin and how to get rid of it. But when, through the grace of God, devotion and ecstatic love are awakened in his heart, then he altogether forgets virtue and sin. Then he leaves the scriptures and their injunctions far behind. Thoughts of repentance and penance do not bother him at all.
~ Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

To bring about peace means to be free from thoughts and to abide as Pure Consciousness. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

The sage does not 'know' the 'Self', because he is the 'Self'.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*POINTS TO PONDER* - 'Self-Forgetfulness' or 'ATHMA-VISMRUTHI ( Concealment- AVARANA ) results in manifestation ( projection- VIKSHEPA ) of the 'Phenomenal World' and 'Self-Awareness' or 'ATHMA-SMRUTHI' results in dissolution of the 'Phenomenal World'; and the Phenomenal world is nothing but 'SELF'( Pure Consciousness ) with 'names and forms'. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

What is the nature of maya?

Maya is that which makes us regard as nonexistent the Self, the Reality, which is always and everywhere present, all- pervasive and Self-luminous, and as existent the individual soul (jiva), the world (jagat), and God (para) which have been conclusively proved to be nonexistent at all times and places.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER*


  INQUIRYINTO THE 'I' AND CONCENTRATION
ON THE HEART CENTER

D.: There are said to be six (subtle) organs of different colors in the chest, of which the spiritual heart is said to be the one situated two fingers’ breadth, to the right from the center! But the heart is also said to be formless. Does that mean that we should imagine it to have a form and meditate on this?

B.: No; only the quest – ‘Who am I?’ is necessary. That which continues to exist throughout sleep and waking is the same being in both; but while waking there is unhappiness and therefore the effort to remove it. When asked who awakes from sleep, you say ‘I’. Hold fast to this ‘I’. If that is done the Eternal Being reveals itself. The most important thing is the investigation of the ‘I’ and not concentration on the heart centre. There is no such thing as the ‘inner’ and the ‘outer’. Both words mean the same or nothing at all.
Nevertheless, there is also the practice of concentration on the heart-center, which is a form of spiritual exercise. Only he who concentrates on the heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still, with no thoughts, whereas those who concentrate on any other center cannot retain awareness without thought but only infer that the mind was still after it has become active again.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

“Again, if one persists in inquiring, "what is this mind of mine" it will be found that there is no such thing as "mind". This is the direct path.”

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* We shall keep our windows of 'Self-Inquiry' open ; let the breeze of 'Grace' come in. We shall keep our doors of 'Self-Surrender' open ; let the tempest of 'Grace' get in. Let the hurricane of 'Self-Realization' 'Sahaja Samadhi' and 'Liberation-in-Life', blow away the dry leaves of our phenomenal existence. ~Swaathmaaraaman

BUT GRACE IS NEEDED MOST ...


Realization is the result of the Guru’s grace, more than teachings, lectures, meditations, etc. They are only secondary aids, whereas the former is the primary and essential cause.

Guru’s grace is always there. You imagine it to be something somewhere high up in the sky, far away and which has to descend. It is really inside you in your Heart, and the moment, by any of the methods, you effect subsidence or merger of the mind into its source, the grace rushes forth, spouting as from a spring from within you.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER* -

SELF-ENQUIRY ... not even uttering the word “I”, one should inquire keenly thus: “Now, what is it that rises as ‘I’”. Then, there would shine in the Heart a kind of wordless illumination of the form ‘I’ ‘I’. That is, there would shine of its own accord the pure consciousness which is unlimited and one, the limited and the many thoughts having disappeared. If one remains quiescent without abandoning that (experience), the egoity, the individual sense, of the form ‘I am the body’ will be totally destroyed, and at the end the final thought, viz. the ‘I’- form also will be quenched like the fire that burns camphor. The great sages and scriptures declare that this alone is Release. -From 'Self-Inquiry'

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - MOUNA IS ETERNAL SPEECH : RAMANA MAHARSHI

A visitor asked: ‘What is mouna (silence)?’
M.: Mouna is not closing the mouth. It is eternal speech.
D.: I do not understand.
M.: That state which transcends speech and thought is mouna.

D.: How to achieve it?
M.: Hold some concept firmly and trace it back. By such concentration silence results. When practice becomes natural it will end in silence.

Meditation without mental activity is silence. Subjugation of the mind is meditation. Deep meditation is eternal speech.

D.: How will worldly transaction go on if one observes silence?
M.: When women walk with water pots on their heads and chat with their companions they remain very careful, their thoughts concentrated on the loads on their heads. Similarly when a sage engages in activities, these do not disturb him because his mind abides in Brahman.

The Master said on another occasion: “Only the sage is a true devotee.”

Talk 231.and 232

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


“There is a state when words cease and silence prevails.”

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER*


THE PATH IS AN INDIVIDUAL MATTER


Each seeker after God should be allowed to go his own way, the way for which he alone may be built (meant). It will not do to convert him to another path by violence. The Guru will go with the disciple in his own path and then gradually turn him onto the Supreme path at the ripe moment. Suppose a car is going at top speed. To stop it at once or to turn it at once would be attended with disastrous consequences.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

GEMS

PRACTICE DURING ACTIVITY: The enquirer is the answer and no other answer can come. What comes afresh cannot be true. What always is, is true.~TALKS no 44 ( RAMANA MAHARSHI )

‘What always is, is true.’


Mr. Ekanath Rao, an Engineer, asked Sri Bhagavan if solitude is necessary for vichara.

M.: There is solitude everywhere. The individual is solitary always. His business is to find it out within, and not seek it without.

D.: The work-a-day world is distracting.
M.: Do not allow yourself to be distracted. Inquire for whom there is distraction. It will not afflict you after a little practice.

D.: Even the attempt is impossible.
M.: Make it and it will be found not so difficult.

D.: But the answer does not come for the search inward.
M.: The enquirer is the answer and no other answer can come. What comes afresh cannot be true. What always is, is true.

TALKS no 44 ( RAMANA MAHARSHI )

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry "Who am I?" is required. ~ RAMANA MAHARSHI

"Who am I"? Question No 15: How long should inquiry be practiced? Bhagawan: As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry "Who am I?" is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry. If one resorts to contemplation of the Self UN-intermittently, until the Self is gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*Glimpses of Self-Realization* - Essence of 'Mandukyopanishad' by 'Swami Sivananda' : The wise think that the fourth, Turiya, is not that which is conscious of the internal (subjective) world, nor that which is conscious of the external (objective) world, nor that which is conscious of both, nor that which is a compact mass of knowledge, nor that which is simple consciousness, nor that which is insentient. It is unseen, unrelated, incomprehensible, undefinable, unthinkable, indescribable, the sole essence of the consciousness of the Self with no trace of the conditioned world, the peaceful, all-bliss, non-dual. This is the Atman, the Self and it is to be realized.

 Essence of the 'Mandukyopanishad'

by 'Swami Sivananda'

INTRODUCTION


Om bhadram karnebhih srinuyama devah
Bhadram pasyemakshabhiryajatrah,
Sthirairangaistushtuvamsa-stanubhih
vyasema devahitam yadayuh.

Svasti na indro vriddhasravah
svasti nah pushah visvavedah,
Svasti nastarkshyo arishtanemih
svasti no brihaspatirdadhatu,

Om Santih, Santih, Santih.
Om, O gods, may we, with our ears, hear what is auspicious; O ye! Fit to be worshipped, may we, with our eyes, see what is auspicious; may we enjoy the life allotted to us by the gods, offering our praise with our bodies strong of limb. May Indra, the powerful, the ancient of fame, vouchsafe us prosperity. May He, the nourisher and the possessor of all wealth, give us what is well for us. May the Lord of swift motion be propitious to us, and may the protector of the great ones protect us too.

1. Om, the word, is all this. Its further explanation is this. All that is past, present and future is verily Om. That which is beyond the triple conception of time, is verily Om.

2. All this is verily Brahman. This Atman (the Supreme Self) is Brahman. This Atman has four quarters, four feet, not like those of a cow, but like the fractions of a coin

3. The first quarter is Vaisvanara whose sphere is the state of waking, who is conscious of the external objects, who has seven limbs and nineteen mouths and who enjoys the gross objects.

4. The second quarter is the Taijasa whose sphere or field or place is dream, who is conscious of internal objects, who has seven limbs and nineteen mouths and enjoys the subtle objects.

5. That is the state of deep sleep wherein the sleeper does not desire any objects nor does he see any dream. The third quarter or condition is the Prajna whose sphere is deep sleep, in whom all experiences have become one, who is verily a mass of consciousness, who is full of bliss, who enjoys bliss, and who is the way leading to the knowledge (of the two other states).

6. This is the Lord of all, this is the knower of all, this is the internal Ruler, this is the cause of all, this is verily the Origin and End of all beings.

7. The wise think that the fourth, Turiya, is not that which is conscious of the internal (subjective) world, nor that which is conscious of the external (objective) world, nor that which is conscious of both, nor that which is a compact mass of knowledge, nor that which is simple consciousness, nor that which is insentient. It is unseen, unrelated, incomprehensible, undefinable, unthinkable, indescribable, the sole essence of the consciousness of the Self with no trace of the conditioned world, the peaceful, all-bliss, non-dual. This is the Atman, the Self and it is to be realized.

8. This is that Atman even with regard to the letters (of the word Om); it is the Omkara with its parts. The quarters are the parts, and the parts the quarters. The parts of OM are 'A', 'U' and 'M'.

9. The first part 'A' is Vaisvanara whose sphere is the condition of waking, on account of all-pervasiveness, or on account of being the first. He who knows this obtains verily all desires and becomes the first.

10. Taijasa, whose sphere of activity is the dream state, is represented by the letter 'U' ,the second letter of Om, on account of superiority, or on account of being middle. He who knows this becomes great in knowledge and the equal of all. No one ignorant of Brahman is born in his family.

11. Prajna, whose sphere is deep sleep, is 'M', the third part (letter) of Om, because it is both the measure and that wherein all become one. He who knows this is able to measure all and to comprehend all within himself.

12. That which has no parts is the fourth, transcendental, destitute of phenomenal existence, all bliss and non-dual. This verily is Omkara. He who knows this merges his self in the Self.

HERE 'MANDUKYOPANISHAD' ENDS

'SELF' is nothing but TRUTH-BEING- EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS and BLISS; already attained by every body. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

A visitor asked, “What should one, who is an absolute beginner, do in this (i.e., spiritual) line?”

Bhagavan: The very fact that you put this question shows you know what to do. It is because you feel the want of peace, that you are anxious to take some steps to secure peace. Because I have a little pain in my foot, I am applying this ointment.

Visitor: What is the method to be adopted for securing peace?

B: The conception that there is a goal and a path to it, is wrong. We are the goal or peace always. To get rid of the notion that we are not peace is all that is required.

V: All books say that the guidance of a Guru is necessary.

B: The Guru will say only what I am saying now. He will not give you anything you have not already. It is impossible for anyone to get what he has not got already. Even if he gets any such thing, it will go as it came. What comes will also go. What always is will alone remain. The Guru cannot give you anything new, which you have not already. Removal of the notion that we have not realized the Self is all that is required. We are always the Self. Only, we don’t realize it.

*POINTS TO PONDER*


1. You who wish to celebrate a birthday, inquire first who was born. One’s true birthday is when one enters into the 'Eternal Being' which shines forever without birth or death.
2. Of all days on one’s birthday one should mourn one’s fall (into samsara). To celebrate it as a festival is like adorning and glorifying a corpse. To seek one’s Self and merge in it is wisdom.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

The universe exists within the Self. Therefore, it is real, but only because it obtains its reality from the Self. We call it unreal, however, to indicate its changing appearance and transient form, whereas we call the Self real because it is changeless.

The world is represented in oneself and oneself is the world and there is no world apart from one`s own 'SELF' ( TRUTH-BEING- EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS and BLISS).
~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - THE GRACE OF THE GURU - I AM THAT no 71 (NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ)

Maharaj: The Guru is basically without desire. He sees what happens, but feels no urge to interfere. He makes no choices, takes no decisions. As pure witness, he watches what is going on and remains unaffected.
Q: But his work suffers.
M: Victory is always his -- in the end. He knows that if the disciples do not learn from his words, they will learn from their own mistakes. Inwardly he remains quiet and silent. He has no sense of being a separate person. The entire universe is his own, including his disciples with their petty plans. Nothing in particular affects him, or, which comes to the same, the entire universe affects him in equal measure.

I AM THAT no 71 (NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ)

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned. ~ RAMANA MAHARSHI

"Who am I"


Question No 23: Is there any use reading books for those who long for release?

Bhagawan: All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what one's Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one's Self with one's own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - -You are an unchanging and continuous being who remains in all these states which are constantly changing and therefore transient. But you are always there. It follows that these fleeting objects are mere phenomena which appear on your being like pictures which move across a screen. The screen does not move when the picture moves. Similarly, you do not move from where you are even when the body leaves the home and mixes in society. Your body, the society, the forest and the ways are all in you; you are not in them. You are the body also but not this body only. If you remain as your pure Self, the body and its movements need not affect you ~ RAMANA MAHARSHI

Some teachers who attended the Teachers' Guild meeting in the town came on a visit to the hall. One of them asked Sri Bhagavan: "I seem to be wandering in a forest because I do not find the way."

M.: This idea of being in a forest must go. It is such ideas which are at the root of the trouble.

D.: But I do not find the way.

M.: Where is the forest and where is the way unless they are in you? You are as you are and yet you speak of a forest and ways.

D.: But I am obliged to move in society.

M.: Society is also an idea similar to that of the forest.

D.: I leave my home and go and mix in society.

M.: Who does it?

D.: The body moves and does all.

M.: Quite so. Now that you identify yourself with the body you feel the trouble. The trouble is in your mind. You think that you are the body or that you are the mind. But there are occasions when you are free from both. For example in deep slumber, you create a body and a world in your dream. That represents your mental activities. In your waking state you think that you are the body and then the idea of forest and the rest arise. Now, consider the situation. You are an unchanging and continuous being who remains in all these states which are constantly changing and therefore transient. But you are always there. It follows that these fleeting objects are mere phenomena which appear on your being like pictures which move across a screen. The screen does not move when the picture moves. Similarly, you do not move from where you are even when the body leaves the home and mixes in society. Your body, the society, the forest and the ways are all in you; you are not in them. You are the body also but not this body only. If you remain as your pure Self, the body and its movements need not affect you.

D.: This can be realized only by the Grace of the master. I was reading Sri Bhagavata; it says that Bliss can be had only by the dust of the Master's feet. I pray for Grace.

M.: What is Bliss but your own being? You are not apart from Being which is the same as Bliss. You are now thinking that you are the mind or the body which are both changing and transient. But you are unchanging and eternal. That is what you should know.

D.: It is darkness and I am ignorant.

M.: This ignorance must go. Again, who says `I am ignorant'? He must be the witness of ignorance. That is what you are. Socrates said, "I know that I do not know." Can it be ignorance? It is wisdom.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


In all manner of ways possible one should endeavor gradually not to forget one’s (true) Self that is God. If that is accomplished, all will be accomplished. The mind should not be directed to any other matter. Even though one may perform, like a mad person, the actions that are the result of prarabdha-karma, one should retain the mind in the Self-state without letting the thought ‘I do’ arise. Have not countless bhaktas (devotees) performed their numerous empirical functions with an attitude of indifference?

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

'SELF-REALIZATION' - On ultimate inquiry, i.e., after reaching the goal, the method and means adopted are found to be themselves the goal. The Guru turns out ultimately to be God and God turns out to be your own real “Self”. ~ RAMANA MAHARSHI

'SELF-REALIZATION'


D: Can I get knowledge of the “Self,” that is can I experience direct realization of the “Self ” ?

B: Why? Who is there without a knowledge of the “Self ”? Everyone has experience of the “Self ”.

D: But I do not realize it.

B: The fact is that all the while you know the “Self ”. How can the self not know the Self. Only you, the self, have got into the habit of thinking that you are this, you are that and you are the other. It is the wrong notion that produces or constitutes 'viparita bhavana' of the Self at present, and that is why you say you do not know the Self. What is to be done is to get rid of that wrong notion of the Self. That then clears up the Self-knowledge or Self-realization.

D: How can I get rid of that viparita bhavana? Can any ordinary man get rid of it? If so, how?

B: Yes. That is possible and is being done. There are many ways — Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, Yoga, etc., are being adopted — all for the removal of this viparita bhavana. But the main way is simple.

D: But I am ignorant of the method and of the ‘Self ’.
B: Who is ignorant of what? Ask the question and pursue the inquiry as to who it is that is said to be ignorant. Once you put the question, trying to probe into the ‘I’, the ‘I’ disappears. Then what survives is Self-knowledge or Self-realization.

D: But how to get at that? Isn’t a Guru’s help needed? Isn’t God’s help needed?
B: Why? In practice all this is adopted. But on ultimate inquiry, i.e., after reaching the goal, the method and means adopted are found to be themselves the goal. The Guru turns out ultimately to be God and God turns out to be your own real “Self”.

D: But isn’t the Guru’s grace or God’s grace necessary for one’s progress in the vichara? (Enquiry).
B: Yes. But the vichara that you are making is itself the Guru’s grace or God’s grace.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


Sannyasa is only the renunciation of the ‘I’ thought, and not the rejection of the external objects. He who has renounced (the “I” thought) thus remains the same whether he is alone or in the midst of the extensive samsara (empirical world).

- from 'Self-inquiry', Q&A No. 14

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

The Self is here and now, it is the only Reality. There is nothing else.
~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


If you know the Self there will be no darkness, no ignorance, and no misery.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

'SRI RAMANA' AS I KNEW HIM

– 'Swami Sivananda', Rishikesh

As a matter of my immediate spiritual experience, Sri Ramana is the living, talking, seeing, guiding transcendental Reality, bent on transfiguring with its Light the higher levels of our purified consciousness. Sri Ramana is here and now with us; he is more easily accessible to us now than he was when environed in the limitations of a bodily mansion; he is more palpable to our inner faith and thought and spirit now than when the glimpses of his Godhead were given us through the half-closed eyes of the clay-tenement he indwelt at Arunachala. Offer Sri Ramana the conditions of the devotion of your heart, the earnest longing of your soul, the mountain- moving faith in him, a certain receptivity of the Light and Grace of his all-pervading Presence. He is standing as a Reality, more real than your physical experiences, than your mental preoccupations, awaiting to be touched, felt and known by you. The Powers and the Presence of the liberated Consciousness of Sri Ramana are here with us, to be sensed and experienced and utilized by our aspiring natures, by our purified hearts and minds. I know of a few sadhakas who have been directly contacting Sri Ramana not only in the hours of intense meditation, but in their normal life whenever they direct a single thought towards him. We would be in perpetual attunement with Sri Ramana if only we can transcend the heavy limitations of an egoistic mode of consciousness.
The central message of Sri Ramana was that we should subject ourselves to psychological self-observation, liberate ourselves from the ego-idea; grow conscious of the pure spiritual ‘I-awareness’ and live in it as he lived in it all through the life of his physical embodiment and is living in it now. By the magic-working offices of prayer, by the power of the sincerity of our longing for his Experience, let us elevate our consciousness from the brilliant impurities of the mind, from the insistent vehemence of the vital nature, from every form of egoistic existence; this done, I assure you, we would experience Sri Ramana’s living Presence here and now. It is the imperfection of our surrender unto the Maharshi, of our faith in him, of our effort to realize him here and now, that is obscuring our vision, the perception, and experience of his Divine Grace, Presence and Light. Therefore we need to take to a little more of intense inner spiritual sadhana in order that Sri Ramana may be a matter of our immediate experience: it is then that the Light and Love of all-pervading Ramana possess our entire being and gives us a knowledge as to how dynamically active he is in the higher consciousness of spiritual humanity. I offer my heartfelt prayers to Sri Ramana.
(Surpassing Love And Grace)

LEVELS OF MEDITATION


D.: What should one think of when meditating?

BHAGAVAN: What is meditation? It is the suspension of thoughts. You are perturbed by thoughts which rush one after another. Hold on to one thought so that others are expelled. Continuous practice gives the necessary strength of mind to engage in meditation. Meditation differs according to the degree of advancement of the seeker.

If one is fit for it one can hold directly to the thinker; and the thinker will automatically sink into his source, which is Pure Consciousness. If one cannot directly hold on to the thinker, one must meditate on God; and in due course the same individual will have become sufficiently pure to hold on to the thinker and sink into the absolute Being.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


There is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here and now but that it is yet to be obtained. What is got afresh will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say the Self is not reached. You are the Self; you are already That.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER*


A visitor remarks that it is cruel of God’s leela to make the knowledge of the Self so hard.

Bhagavan: (laughing) - Knowing the Self is being the Self, and being means existence – one’s own existence, which no one denies, any more than one denies one’s eyes, although one cannot see them. The trouble lies with your desire to objectify the Self, in the same way as you objectify your eyes when you place a mirror before them. You have been so accustomed to objectivity that you lost the knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified. Who is to know the self? Can the insentient body know it? All the time you speak and think of your ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’, yet when questioned you deny knowledge of it. You are the Self, yet you ask how to know the Self. Where then is God’s leela and where its cruelty? It is because of this denial of the Self by people that the Shastras speak of maya, leela, etc.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

God never forsakes one who has surrendered.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER*


Remaining quiet is what is called wisdom-insight. To remain quiet is to resolve the mind in the Self. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*WORDS OF WISDOM*


"A person who was very fond of sweet dishes was helping himself to a second serving, when a lizard fell in his plate. He lost all fondness for the sweets and threw it away. Likewise, when one realizes the limits of worldly pleasure, attachment to them will wither away." —AMMA

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

SELF= TRUTH-BEING-EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS-BLISS

~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

The 'Self' you seek to know is truly 'yourself'.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER* - Shifting one`s attention from 'DEHOHAM - BUDDHI'(I am the body consciousness) to 'BRAHMOHAM - BUDDHI' (I am pure consciousness); one can very easily attain 'SAHAJA-SAMADHI' (Peace-Inherent) and 'LIBERATION-IN-LIFE'. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

SELF - ENQUIRY (VICHARASANGRAHAM)

OF BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI


INVOCATION Is there any way of adoring the Supreme which is all, except by abiding firmly as That!

Disciple: Master! What is the means to gain the state of eternal bliss, ever devoid of misery?

Master: Apart from the statement in the Veda that wherever there is body there is misery, this is also the direct experience of all people; therefore, one should enquire into one’s true nature which is ever bodiless, and one should remain as such. This is the means to gaining that state.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - You know that you are! You are already aware of yourself. Seek it out and it will expand to infinity. Be that. ~RAMANA MAHARSHI : The ultimate in meditation should be 'BY YOU'- 'OF YOU' and 'WITH IN YOU' ~Swaathmaaraaman

And it is a fact that dhyana is 'By You', 'Of You' and 'In You'.


It must go on where you are. It cannot be outside of you. So you are the center of dhyana and that is called the Heart. A location is given to it only with reference to the body.

Where are you? You are not out of the body but pervade it. Still you admit a center where from all your thoughts start and wherein they subside.
You are there even when your limbs would be amputated; and with defective senses you are still present.

So a center of consciousness must be admitted. That is called the Heart.
Heart is only another name for the Self.

Doubts arise only when you identify it with something tangible and physical.

Heart is no conception, no object for meditation. It is the Self and the seat of meditation.

Q: But the mind slips away.

Bhagavan: Be it so. Do not think of it. When you recollect, bring it back and turn it inward. That is enough. No on succeeds without efforts. Mind control is not one’s birthright. The successful few owe their success to their perseverance.

You are already aware of yourself. Seek it out and it will expand to infinity. Be that.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

'The ego vanishes. Self alone shines'. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

*POINTS TO PONDER* - In the states of waking and dream try to remain as you were in the state of deep sleep. As you are by nature unattached, you have to convert the state of ignorant deep sleep, in which you were formless and unattached, into conscious deep sleep. It is only by doing this that you can remain established in your real nature ~ Ramana Maharshi: 'SAHAJA SAMADHI' is nothing but 'CONSCIOUS DEEP SLEEP' ~ Swaathmaaraaman

THE MOUNT 'ARUNAACHALA'

BHAGAVAN’S UPADESA TO SADHU NATANANANDA


I (S.N.)beseeched him fervently in the following words:

“It is my great desire that I should actually experience your gracious wisdom. Kindly fulfill my desire.”

In those days Sri Ramana was not speaking much. Still, he spoke kindly as follows:

“Is it the body in front of me that desires to obtain my grace? Or is it the awareness within it? If it is the awareness, is it not now looking upon itself as the body and making this request? If so, let the awareness first of all know its real nature. It will then automatically know God and my grace.
The truth of this can be realized even here and now.”

Besides speaking like this, he also explained it in the following way, using examples from my daily experience that I could understand and relate to.

“It is not the body that desires to obtain the grace. Therefore, it is clear that it is the awareness that shines here as ‘you’.
To you who are the nature of awareness there is no connection during sleep with the body, the senses, the life force [prana] and the mind. On waking up you identify yourself with them, even without your knowledge. This is your experience. All that you have to do hereafter is see that you do not identify yourself with them. In the states of waking and dream try to remain as you were in the state of deep sleep.
As you are by nature unattached, you have to convert the state of ignorant deep sleep, in which you were formless and unattached, into conscious deep sleep. It is only by doing this that you can remain established in your real nature.

You should never forget that this experience will come only through long practice. This experience will make it clear that your real nature is not different from the nature of God.”

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

"The foundation of spirituality is not blind faith. It is inquiry; it is an intense exploration within one’s own self." -  Amma

*POINTS TO PONDER* - GOD'S POWER IS REALIZED WHEN OUR EFFORTS ARE NO LONGER HELPFUL - Sadhanas are needed so long as one has not realized it. They are for putting an end to obstacles. Finally there comes a stage when a person feels helpless notwithstanding the sadhanas. He is unable to pursue the much-cherished sadhana also. It is then that God’s Power is realized. The Self reveals itself. ~Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi no 647

D.: We are trying to stop thoughts. Gandhiji also says that thought is an obstacle to God’s guidance. So it is the natural state. Though natural, yet how difficult to realize. They say that sadhanas are necessary and also that they are obstacles. We get confused.

M.: Sadhanas are needed so long as one has not realized it. They are for putting an end to obstacles. Finally there comes a stage when a person feels helpless notwithstanding the sadhanas. He is unable to pursue the much-cherished sadhana also. It is then that God’s Power is realized. The Self reveals itself.

D.: If the state is natural, why does it not overcome the unnatural phases and assert itself over the rest?
M.: Is there anything besides that? Does anyone see anything besides the Self? One is always aware of the Self. So It is always Itself.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi no 647

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - Upadesa also means showing a distant object quite near. It is brought home to the disciple that the Brahman which he believes to be distant and different from himself is near and not different from himself ~ BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI)

1. What are the marks of a real teacher (Sadguru)?

Steady abidance in the Self, looking at all with an equal eye, unshakeable courage at all times, in all places and circumstances, etc.

2. What are the marks of an earnest disciple (sadsisya)?

An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure.

3. What are the characteristics of instruction (upadesa)?

The word ‘upadesa’ means : ‘near the place or seat’ (upa - near, desa - place or seat). The Guru who is the embodiment of that which is indicated by the terms Sat, Chit, and Ananda (Existence, Consciousness and Bliss), prevents the disciple who, on account of his acceptance of the forms of the objects of the senses, has swerved from his true state and is consequently distressed and buffeted by joys and sorrows, from continuing so and establishes him in his own real nature without differentiation.

Upadesa also means showing a distant object quite near. It is brought home to the disciple that the Brahman which he believes to be distant and different from himself is near and not different from himself.

-from CHAPTER 1: INSTRUCTION (Upadesa) of 'Spiritual Instruction (OF BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI)'

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'AHAM' GRAHA SADHANA' (Paying attention to one`s own 'SELF' or 'I'-am ness), is the easiest of all methods, for accomplishing 'Self-Realization', 'Sahaja Samadhi' (Peace-Inherent) and 'Liberation-in-Life'; already attained by every body- unaware of. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

The first letter in Sanskrit is 'Aa' and the last letter 'Ha' and 'Aha' thus includes everything from beginning to end. The word 'Ayam' means that which exists, Self-shining and Self-evident. 'Ayam', 'Atma', 'Aham', all refer to the same thing. In the Bible also, 'I AM' is given as the name of God.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - Loss of ego is itself the attainment of God. 'Knowing oneself is knowing God, knowing God is only being God. Since Self-Realization is God-Realization, Self and God are not two different things ~ Ramana Maharshi”: 'GOD' + 'EGO' = 'MAN' : 'MAN' - 'EGO = 'GOD' : ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

GOD, GURU AND SELF


“I have seen God! I have seen him face to face! I am seeing
God just as clearly as you are seeing me. Those who have seen the truth can also show it to others. There is no room for doubt in these direct revelations.”

These were the words of grace vouchsafed by Sri
Ramakrishna. By these divine visions he revealed that Self-realization was possible through the grace of the great ones.
Appearing in the latter part of the same century in South India, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, who shone as the sun of the Self, shedding his grace throughout the world, went one step further in his pronouncements than Sri Ramakrishna. In his teachings he proclaimed that there is no God apart from the person who sees him; that there is no one who is not aware of his own being; that one's own being is God's being; and that Being is both the Self and God. Sri Bhagavan summarized these ideas when he proclaimed the divine nature of man in the following terms:

“There is no one who has not seen God. God vision is natural to all. Ignorance is only the non-awareness of the truth of this natural Self-experience. As wrong knowledge, ajnana, is only ego, which is the attachment to the body, loss of ego is itself the attainment of God. Knowing oneself is knowing God, knowing God is only being God. Since Self-Realization is God-Realization, Self and God are not two different things.”

Bhagavan confirmed this when he wrote verses twenty-four and twenty-five of Upadesa Undiyar:

24 By their existing nature, God and soul are only one substance. Their adjunct [upadhi] knowledge alone is different.

25 Knowing oneself, having given up adjuncts [upadhis], is itself knowing God because he shines as one’s Self.

- Sadhu Natanananda in ‘The Power of the Presenc

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - When the windows of 'SELF-INQUIRY' are kept open, the breeze of 'GRACE' may get in from one`s own 'SELF' ( GURU ) , resulting in 'Self-Realization', 'Sahaja Samadhi' (Peace-Inherent) and 'Liberation-in-Life'. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

If it be true that the Guru is one’s own Self (Atman), what is the principle underlying the doctrine which says that, however learned a disciple may be or whatever occult powers he may possess, he cannot attain self-realization (Atma-siddhi) without the grace of the Guru?

Although in absolute truth the state of the Guru is that of oneself it is very hard for the Self which has become the individual soul (jiva) through ignorance to realize its true state or nature without the grace of the Guru.

All mental concepts are controlled by the mere presence of the real Guru. If he were to say to one who arrogantly claims that he has seen the further shore of the ocean of learning or one who claims arrogantly that he can perform deeds which are well-nigh impossible, “Yes, you learnt all that is to be learnt, but have you learnt (to know) yourself? And you who are capable of performing deeds which are almost impossible, have you seen yourself?”, they will bow their heads (in shame) and remain silent. Thus it is evident that only by the grace of the Guru and by no other accomplishment is it possible to know oneself.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

The individual soul of the form of ‘I’ is the ego. The Self which is of the nature of intelligence (chit) has no sense of ‘I’. Nor does the insentient body possess a sense of ‘I’. The mysterious appearance of a delusive ego between the intelligent and the insentient, being the root cause of all these troubles, upon its destruction by whatever means, that which really exists will be seen as it is. This is called Liberation (moksha).

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'SWOSWOROOPAANUSANDHAANAM BHAKTHIRITHYABHIDHEEYATHE...

"Upadesa Saram"


Verse 9: 'Bhava sunyasad bhava susthitih bhavana balad bhaktir uttama'

Verse 9:
“By the power of meditation, devoid of thoughts one is established in true being, and this is supreme devotion.”

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER*


The realization of truth is the same for both Indians and Europeans. Admittedly the way to it may be harder for those who are engrossed in worldly life, but even then one can and must conquer.
~RAMANA MAHARSHI
 
-Bhagavan in 'The Maharshi and His Message' by Paul Brunton, Ch. 3 ('IN A JUNGLE HERMITAGE')

'ALL THIS TIME I HAVE BEEN SPEAKING IN MY OWN LANGUAGE' - RAMANA MAHARSHI: The language of 'BRAHMA-VIDYA' is 'SILENCE'; and the percentage of communication by 'SILENCE' is hundred. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

Chhaganlal V. Yogi

Sri Bhagavan's language was that of silence. The speech delivered through this medium was full of miraculous potency, as the following anecdote reveals.

When he was staying in Virupaksha Cave, a District Collector and a Deputy Collector came there for his darshan. After prostrating to Sri Bhagavan, the District Collector began to speak, narrating at length all the sadhanas he had done and all the spiritual literature he had read. At the end of his speech he confessed that in spite of all these activities peace was as far from him now as it had ever been.

As soon as he had finished, the Deputy Collector began to tell his own story, which was equally long. These two speeches took quite a long time to deliver, but Sri Bhagavan did not interrupt them even once. He continued to remain in silence even after the speeches had ended. The senior Collector gave up waiting for a reply and delivered yet another long speech.

Sri Bhagavan listened in silence and continued to remain in silence when the speech was over. The officer, not surprisingly, was a little put out by Sri Bhagavan's unresponsiveness. He said in an aggrieved tone of voice, "We have been speaking to you for a long time, but you don't open your mouth at all. Please tell us something. Anything, however brief, will do."

Sri Bhagavan finally spoke to them saying, "All this time I have been speaking in my own language. What can I do if you won't listen to it?"

The Collector was an intelligent man, well versed in spiritual matters. He caught the meaning of Sri Bhagavan's cryptic reply. Suddenly overpowered with devotion, he fell down at the feet of Sri Bhagavan and chanted a Sanskrit verse from Sankaracharya's "Sri Dakshinamurty Stotra":

"Look at the wonder under the banyan tree!
While the disciples are old and gray-haired,
The teacher is a blooming youth.
And though the Master's speech is simple silence,
The doubts of the disciples are all resolved!"

Both of the visitors then abandoned their speeches and questions, preferring instead to sit before Sri Bhagavan in silent meditation. They got the peace they had come looking for and departed fully satisfied.

*Glimpses of Self-Realization* - 'Self-Inquiry' ( WHO am I ? ) will result in instantaneous 'Self-Realization' and 'Sahaja- Samadhi ( Peace-Inherent ). ~Swaathmaaraaman

Devotee: What are the obstacles which hinder realization of the Self?

M.: They are habits of mind (vasanas).

D.: How to overcome the mental habits (vasanas)?

M.: By realizing the Self.

D.: That is a vicious circle.

M.: It is the ego which raises such difficulties, creating obstacles and then suffers from the perplexity of apparent paradoxes. Find out who makes the inquiries and the Self will be found.

-from Talk 13 of 'Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi'

'KARMA YOGA', 'BHAKTHI YOGA' and 'NJNANA YOGA' , MERGE IN 'SELF-REALIZATION'. -SWAATHMAARAAMAN

"Upadesa Saram"

Verse 10: 'hrusthale manah svasthata kriya Bhakti yoga Bodhasca nischitam'

Verse 10:
“Having subsided in the place of rising in one's own source of real Self, is an action (karma) without desire, Bhakti (devotion), that is Yoga (union with God), and Jnana (true knowledge).”

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

'GOD'-'GURU' and 'SELF' are one and the same reality - 'TRUTH-BEING-EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS and BLISS'. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied with it, and, not content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires, through prayer to God etc. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain His grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God’s grace begins to manifest. God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the Truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The devotee’s mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple.
That calm expanse is the Self.
The Guru is both ‘external’ and ‘internal’. From the ‘exterior’ he gives a push to the mind to turn inward; from the ‘interior’ He pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting of the mind. That is guru kripa. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - The absolute truth is 'TRANSCENDENTAL'- beyond 'BEING' and 'BECOMING'- the 'ZERO-STATION' of 'SAHAJA-SAMADHI'. ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

'You do not grow by acquiring something nor wither away by losing it. You remain what you always are'.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*POINTS TO PONDER* - The Bhagavad Gita says: "The unreal hath no being; the real never cease to be; the truth about both hath been perceived by the seers of the essence of things." "The real is ever real, the unreal is ever unreal." Again: "He is not born, nor doth he die; nor, having been, cease he anymore to be; unborn, perpetual, eternal ancient, he is not slain when the body is slaughtered." Accordingly, there is neither birth nor death. from Talk 203 (17th June, 1936) of 'Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi'

It is said, "The wife is one-half of the body". So her death is very painful. This pain is however due to one's outlook being physical; it disappears if the outlook is that of the Self. The Brahadaranyaka Upanishad says , "The wife is dear because of the love of the Self". If the wife and others are identified with the Self, how then will pain arise? Nevertheless such disasters shake the mind of philosophers also.

We are happy in deep sleep. We remain then as the pure Self. The same we are just now too. In such sleep there was neither the wife nor others nor even `I'. Now they become apparent and give rise to pleasure or pain. Why should not the Self, which was blissful in deep sleep, continue its blissful nature even now? The sole obstruction to such continuity is the wrong identification of the Self with the body.

The Bhagavad Gita says: "The unreal hath no being; the real never cease to be; the truth about both hath been perceived by the seers of the essence of things." "The real is ever real, the unreal is ever unreal." Again: "He is not born, nor doth he die; nor, having been, cease he anymore to be; unborn, perpetual, eternal ancient, he is not slain when the body is slaughtered." Accordingly, there is neither birth nor death. Waking is birth and sleep is death.

Was the wife with you when you went out to the office, or in your deep sleep? She was away from you. You were satisfied because of your thought that she was somewhere. Whereas now you think that she is not. The difference lies in the different thoughts. That is the cause of pain. The pain is because of the thought of the wife's non- being. All this is the mischief of the mind. The fellow (i.e. the mind) creates pain for himself even when there is pleasure. But pleasure and pain are mental creations.

Again, why mourn the dead? They are free from bondage. Mourning is the chain forged by the mind to bind itself to the dead.

- from Talk 203 (17th June, 1936) of 'Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi'

*POINTS TO PONDER* - 'Upadesa Saram', verse 23, 26 (RAMANA MAHARSHI)

For knowing That which Is
There is no other knower.
Hence Being is Awareness
And we are all Awareness.

To know the Self is but to be the Self,
For It is non-dual.
In such knowledge
One abides as That.

- Upadesa Saram, verse 23, 26 (RAMANA MAHARSHI)

*POINTS TO PONDER* - Advice on Sadhana:The necessity of serious sadhana: Ramana Maharshi

  1. In order that your mind should become firm, observe with full attention your duty, which is the practice of sadhana.

2. Instead of practicing sadhana superficially, follow it intensively in such a way that your mind is totally immersed in it.

3. Only the aspiration towards the fair firmament of supreme consciousness, which has no final goal other than mauna, is most worthy endeavor.

4. Grace will not combine with a bat-like mentality. Stick with intensity to one [path]. Bats nibble at one fruit and fly away, looking for another fruit to nibble at. They never stay long enough in one place to finish a single fruit.

5. All meditation practices are the means that enable the attainment of the strength of mind that is necessary for Atmanishta.

Question: How is the mind to be eliminated or relative consciousness transcended?

Bhagavan: The mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its restlessness; give it peace; make it free from distractions; train it to look inward; make this a habit. This is done by ignoring the external world and removing the obstacles to peace of mind.

Question: How is restlessness removed from the mind?

Bhagavan: External contacts - contacts with objects other than itself - make the mind restless. Loss of interest in non-Self [vairagya] is the first step. Then the habits of introspection and introspection and concentration follow. They are characterized by control of external senses, internal faculties, [sama, dama, etc.] ending in samadhi [un distracted mind].

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - LOSE "YOURSELF" (EGO); TO GAIN "YOUR"SELF" ( TRUTH-BEING-EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS- BLISS). ~SWAATHMAARAAMAN

The sense of ‘I’ pertains to the person, the body and brain. When a man knows his true Self for the first time something else arises from the depths of his being and takes possession of him. That something is behind the mind; it is infinite, divine, eternal. Some people call it the Kingdom of Heaven, others call it the soul and others again Nirvana, and Hindus call it Liberation; you may give it what name you wish. When this happens a man has not really lost himself; rather he has found himself.

Unless and until a man embarks on this quest of the true Self, doubt and uncertainty will follow his footsteps through life. The greatest kings and statesmen try to rule others when in their heart of hearts they know that they cannot rule themselves. Yet the greatest power is at the command of the man who has penetrated to his inmost depth. . . . What is the use of knowing about everything else when you do not yet know who you are? Men avoid this inquiry into the true Self, but what else is there so worthy to be undertaken?

~RAMANA MAHARSHI