ON HAVING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO SADHANA ~ ~RAMANA MAHARSHI

If you regard Brahman, your own real nature, as something different from you, it will feel shy, separate from you and slip away.

Any effort to reach reality, thinking it to be different from oneself, will cause the non-dual experience, wherein one abides as reality, to go extremely far away.

Do not falter, even for a moment, believing that you face insurmountable obstacles [on the path], but remain vigilant in the unfailing and guaranteed method you have adopted - that of not forgetting the Self.

Bhagavan: All thoughts such as 'attainment is hard,' or 'Self-realization is far from me’ or, ‘I have got many difficulties to overcome to know the reality,' should be given up as they are obstacles; they are created by this false self, ego.

It is harmful to regard as important the ecstatic experiences of a mind that has not clearly known reality through the sakti of Siva.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

Padamalai, edited by David Godman, p 231

*POINTS TO PONDER* - THE JNANI IS BEYOND THE BODY-MIND ~Ramana Maharshi

THE JNANI IS BEYOND THE BODY-MIND


You are under the impression you are the body. So you think the Jnani also has a body. Does the Jnani say He has a body? He may look to you as having a body and doing things with the body as others do. The burnt rope still looks like a rope but it cannot serve as a rope if you try to bind anything with it. As long as one identifies oneself with the body, all of this is difficult to understand.

GEMS
by: Ramana Maharshi

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - SELF-REALIZATION IS NEITHER GAINED NOR LOST, IT IS TIMELESSLY PRESENT ~Ramana Maharshi

M.: The Self is always realized. Were Realization something to be gained hereafter there is an equal chance of its being lost. It will thus be only transitory. Transitory bliss brings pain in its train. It cannot be liberation which is eternal.
Were it true that you realize it later it means that you are not realized now. Absence of Realization of the present moment may be repeated at any moment in the future, for Time is infinite. So too, such realization is impermanent. But that is not true. It is wrong to consider Realization to be impermanent. It is the True Eternal State which cannot change.
D.: Yes, I shall understand it in course of time.
M.:You are already That.Time and space can not affect the Self.They are in you; so also all that you see around you are in you. There is a story to illustrate this point: A lady had a precious necklace round her neck. Once in her excitement she forgot it and thought that the necklace was lost. She became anxious and looked for it in her home but could not find it. She asked her friends and neighbors if they knew anything about the necklace. They did not. At last a kind friend of hers told her to feel the necklace round the neck. She found that it had all along been round her neck and she was happy! When others asked her later if she found the necklace which was lost, she said, “Yes, I have found it.” She still felt that she had recovered a lost jewel.

Now did she lose it at all? It was all along round her neck. But judge her feelings. She is happy as if she had recovered a lost jewel. Similarly with us, we imagine that we would realize that Self some time, whereas we are never anything but the Self.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.

*POINTS TO PONDER* - BHAGAVAN SAID TO A QUESTIONER: The Self is pure and absolute, One and alone. There are no two selves so that one may know the other ~Ramana Maharshi

BHAGAVAN SAID TO A QUESTIONER:


"See wherefrom the thought arises. It is the mind. See for whom the mind or intellect functions. For the ego. Merge the intellect in the ego and seek the source of the ego. The ego disappears. ‘I know’ and ‘I do not know’ imply a subject and an object. They are due to duality.

The Self is pure and absolute, One and alone. There are no two selves so that one may know the other. What is duality then? It cannot be the Self which is One and alone. It must be non-Self. Duality is the characteristic of the ego. When thoughts arise duality is present; know it to be the ego, and seek its source.

The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-Realisation. But Self-Realisation itself does not admit of progress; it is ever the same. The Self remains always in realisation. The obstacles are thoughts. Progress is measured by the degree of removal of the obstacles to understanding that the Self is always realised. So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. So you go to their Source, where they do not arise."

RAMANA MAHARSHI (TALKS , no 618)

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'RAMANA MAHARSHI'

To see God and not the Self that sees is only to see a projection of the mind.

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'SILENCE' is the language of 'BRAHMA VIDYA'; since the percentage of communication of 'SILENCE' is hundred. Those who are adepts in the language of 'SILENCE' can very easily attain 'Self-Realization', 'Sahaja-Samadhi' (Peace-Inherent) and 'Liberation-in-Life'. -SWAATHMAA RAAMAN.

PREACHING THE TRUTH

D: Why does not Bhagavan go about and preach the Truth to the people at large?
M: How do you know I am not doing it? Does preaching consist in mounting a platform and haranguing the people around? Preaching is simple communication of knowledge; it can really be done in silence only. What do you think of a man who listens to a sermon for an hour and goes away without having been impressed by it so as to change his life? Compare him with another, who sits in a holy presence and goes away after sometime with his outlook on life totally changed. Which is the better, to preach loudly without effect or to sit silently sending out inner force?

RAMANA MAHARSHI (MAHARSHI’S GOSPEL)

*Glimpses of Self-Realization* - *SPIRITUAL STORIES* As told by 'Ramana Maharshi' - “Brahman is not anything new or apart from oneself and no particular time or place is needed to realize it”. “That Thou Art” (Tat tvam asi). That is the Self, eternal and infinite.

Preface

Scattered throughout the religious scriptures of India, parables and stories abound, weaving a colorful thread around the most profound spiritual truths of mankind. Handed down from parent to child these religious treasures of India remain a relevant force today. In Sri Ramana’s own words the beauty and wisdom contained in such stories are made ever more beautiful and the essence made even clearer. Sri Bhagavan would not only tell the story but would act out the part to the delight of His devotees. If the story was particularly moving, tears would flow freely from His eyes. “Such was the attraction of these stories”.
While Bhagavan was reading and explaining a story about Tara Vilasam His eyes became full of tears and His voice became tremulous. It looked as if the whole drama was being enacted in His presence. Noticing this Suri Nagamma remarked, “Bhagavan appears to have been transformed into Tara herself”. Pulling Himself together the Master said with a smile, “What to do? I identify myself with whosoever is before me, I have no separate identity. I am universal”. 

Self-Surrender

D:
I fear that 'Self-Realization' is no easy thing to attain.
M:
Why impede yourself by anticipating failure? Push on. 'Self-Realization' will come to an earnest seeker in a trice. To illustrate this, Sri Bhagavan told the following story.
King Janaka was listening to a philosophical treatise read by the state pandit, where in a passage occurred to the effect that a rider who had placed one foot in the stirrup, contemplating upon realization, could realize the Self before he lifted the other foot to place it in the other stirrup. That is, the passage taught, that when realization comes, it comes in an instant. The king stopped the pandit from proceeding admitted that he was only a bookworm and was unable to impart practical wisdom. Janaka suggested that the text was either false or exaggerated, but the pandit would not agree to this. Though he himself was unable to impart practical wisdom, he maintained that the text could not be false or exaggerated, since it contained the words of wise Sages of the past. Janaka was annoyed with the pandit and in a fit of rage condemned him to prison. He then inflicted the same punishment on every pandit who passed for a wise man but was unable to prove this scriptural text. For fear of being imprisoned, some pandits fled the country in voluntary exile. While two or three of them were running through a thick forest, a Sage called Ashtavakra (Ashta means ‘eight’ and vakra means ‘bends’. Ashtavakra was so named because his body had eight deformities), who though young in age was wise in learning, happened to cross their path. Having learnt their plight, Ashtavakra offered to prove the text true to the king and thereby have the imprisoned pandits released. Impressed by his bold assurance, they took him in a palanquin to the king. At the sight of the Sage, the king stood up and saluted him with great reverence. Ashtavakra then ordered the king to release all the
Pandits . Janaka thought that such an order could come only from one who had the capacity to set his doubts at rest, and hence he released all the pandits and asked the Sage whether he could summon the horse.
The Sage advised him not to be in a hurry and suggested that they should go to a solitary spot. Thereupon the king on his horse and the Sage in a palanquin went out of the city towards the forest.
When they reached the forest the Sage asked the king to send back the retinue. The King did as he was asked, and then placing one of his feet in the stirrup, he requested the Sage to prove the scriptural text. But the Sage replied by asking whether the position in which they stood indicated a proper Master- disciple relationship. The King then understood that he should show due reverence towards Ashtavakra, and prayed to him for Grace. The Sage then addressed him as ‘Janaka’, since he was no longer a king and told him that before being taught 'Brahma-Jnana' , a true disciple should surrender himself and all his possessions to his Master. “So be it”, said the king. ”So be it” replied the Sage and disappeared into the forest. From that moment Janaka stood transfixed with one foot in the stirrup and the other dangling in the air, as if he were a statue. (Saying this Sri Bhagavan imitated the posture of King Janaka).
Time passed by, and the citizens, finding no signs of their King returning, grew anxious and began to search for him. They came to the place where Janaka was standing transfixed and were dismayed to find him unaware of their presence and indifferent to their earnest inquiries. They therefore began searching for Ashtavakra who, they thought, must be a charlatan that had cast a spell upon their king, and vowed vengeance upon him. At the same time, being concerned with the king’s condition and wanting to minister to him, they brought him back to the city on a palanquin. The king, however, continued to remain in the same condition.
At last, having found Ashtavakra, the ministers entreated him to remove the alleged spell and bring the king back to his normal condition. At the same time they charged him with the responsibility for having cast the spell. Ashtavakra treated their ignorant remarks with contempt and called the name of
Janaka, who immediately saluted him, and responded to his call.
The ministers were surprised. Ashtavakra told the king that he was being maliciously accused by the people of having brought him to some sad plight and asked him to tell the truth. On hearing this, the king angrily asked, ‘Who said so?’ The Ministers were taken by surprise and pleaded for mercy.
Thereupon, the Sage advised the king to resume his normal functions, adding that 'Brahma-Jnana' could be taught only to competent persons and that since the king had successfully passed the test, he would now impart it to him. Then the Sage remained alone with the king during the night and taught him the ultimate Truth, saying “Brahman is not anything new or apart from oneself and no particular time or place is needed to realize it”. He finally concluded by saying, “That Thou Art” (Tat tvam asi). That is the Self, eternal and infinite.
The next morning the ministers found that the king called the assembly and performed his functions as usual. In the assembled Court Ashtavakra asked the king whether his former doubt about whether 'Brahma-jnana' could be attained as suddenly and as quickly as mentioned in the scriptures was cleared, and if so to bring the horse and demonstrate the truth of it.
The king was all humility now and said: “Lord!, Because of my immaturity, I doubted the correctness of the scriptural text. I now realize every letter of it is true”. The ministers thanked the sage.

RAMANA MAHARSHI