Identification
An educated visitor asked Bhagavan about dvaita and advaita.M.: Identification with the body is dvaita. Non-identification is advaita. (Ramana Maharshi - Talk 35)
posted at 7:36 PM
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The Mountain Path
The Mountain PathSri Ramana Maharshi website now has some Mountain Paths available as eBooks. The site reveals that -Sri Ramanasramam is currently in the process of transferring all of the 'Mountain Path' editions from 1964 up to the present day to converted to Ebook format.Currently we have uploaded the issues from the year 2003 to 2007. The remaining issues will be uploaded shortly.Labels: books, om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya, RamanaMaharshi
posted at 3:41 PM
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Roasting more chestnuts on an open fire
All objective knowledge, all thought forms, all visibleobjects, all things heard, all questions and answers, all the foodconsumed and all other illusions, not being apart from the Self,should be regarded as Brahman-Self only. (Ch.13, v.2)Firmly abiding in the Self one acquires the totality of all knowledge and achieves the successful completion of all endeavours and duties. In that state one should abide blissfuland still, eschewing the least ripple of thought. (Ch.26, v.25)and yet...There are no such things as achieved objectives and the efforts leading to them, association with the wise or the ignorant, efforts of learning and knowledge acquired, acts ofenquiry and practice, the learner or the learned, and any goalsachieved. What exists is only Brahman, the effulgent Awareness-Self. (Ch.23, v.10)and yet...That realised person who abides in the Brahman-Self,and has lost all feelings of differentiation of self and non-self, isthe Jnani or Mukta Purusha. Such a Jnani is rare to find evenby searching among millions of people. If one has the lucky opportunity of getting his darshan (personal view and contact) one attains purification from all his sins, and what is more,such a person’s ego gets liquidated at once. (Ch.19, v.10)....The universe was neither born, nor maintained, nor dissolved; this is the plain truth. The basic screen of pureBeing-Awareness-Stillness devoid of all the moving shadowpictures of name and form of the universe is the sole, eternalExistence. (Ch.2, v.33)and yet...In me, the pure Awareness-Self, the universe is born, maintained and dissolved as the mind. Therefore, thereare no mind and thought forms of objects apart from me the Self. In this firm experience one should ever abide.(Ch.32, v.35)The existence of the illusion of silver in mother of pearlis not a reality apart from the reality of mother of pearl, whichis the basic reality. The illusion of the universe is based on themind, which again is an illusion based on the still Awareness-Being-Self. (Ch.2, v.35)...Ignorance and indifference in regard to the enquiryof the truth about one-self is the store house of nescience andtrouble, blocking the view of the Self, and creating in a splitsecond all sorts of illusions and harassment of mental worry.Non-enquiry renders bhavana impossible. (Ch.32, v.19)In short, non-enquiry will steep one for ever in theocean of samsara (earthly suffering). There is no greater enemyfor one than non-enquiry. Therefore, this habit must beovercome in order to fix the mind in the bhavana which leadsto abidance in the Self. (Ch.32, v.20)Enquiry should be made this wise: With the kind helpof the Sat Guru one should enquire ‘Who am I? what is thisworld? what is the reality behind all these?’ (Ch.32, v.21)The conscious introspective concentration of Self-enquiry (‘Who am I’?) kills all thoughts and destroys the densedarkness of nescience; it effaces all worry; it illuminates theintellect with the radiance of pure awareness; it wipes out allconceptual confusions; it fixes one in Siva-Self; it transforms a host of impending disasters into auspicious events; andlastly, it destroys the ego-mind utterly with all its afflictions.(Ch.32, v.24)Whatever names and forms are seen by me in my dreamare not anything apart from me. Even so, this world seen by mein my waking state is not anything apart from me, the Awareness-Self that I am. The wise one should give up all differentiation of Self and non-Self, and abide as pure Self only. (Ch.35, v.23)Confusing! It doesn't have to be. There are two perspectives in this chatter. It moves from one to the other as sadhakas should do. It makes no pretense. Understand that sadhana and "functioning as an individual in the world of name and form" are one and the same. Stop the pretense. Talking the game is falsehood. One must play it!! The inanimate mind is entirely dependent on the impetus behind it.To hold on to the conviction born of Self-enquirythat “I am no doubt the Screen — Brahman-Self, and the worldpicture thereon, though evanescent, is no doubt ‘I am Self’only”, and to abide still and blissful in that conviction is theacme of all sadhanas, like divine worship, charitable gifts, spiritualausterities, mantra-japa and samadhi as well. (Ch.16, v.41)and finally... for all the advaita twitterers that decry the dualistic notions of bhakti...Why waste words? This is the truth in a nutshell. Only those who have earned the Grace of our Lord Siva by long devotional worship will get the rare opportunity of reading thisscriptural text which leads to the bliss of peace everlasting inBrahman-Self. (Ch.27, v.44):)Quotes from Prof. N. R. Krishnamoorthi Aiyer's "The Essence of Ribhu Gita" available as pdf download from Ramanasramam web siteLabels: advaita, society
posted at 11:22 AM
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New Ramana Maharshi Book
Sri Ramana Maharshi features in Motilal Banarsidass Newsletter this month (June 2008).There is a mention of the book "Ramana Maharshi's Philosophy of Existence and Modern Science" by J. Sithamparanathan. This book is said to "lucidly set out the viewpoints of Science and Eastern mysticism to drive home the idea that there appears to be convergence of views between them in their vision of reality. ... the author has chosen him [i.e. Ramana Maharshi] as the ideal representative of the votaries of the perennial truth - Sanatana Dharma."Another mention:Arvind Sharma [McGill University], in his "Chips from an Indic Workshop" series, writes about "Karma of the Jivanmukta A New Interpretation" which explores Karma in light of Maharshi's insight. He says, "The thought of Ramana Maharshi offers an intriguing insight into this scheme. Note that sañcita karma belongs to the past and kriyamAna or AgAmi karma pertains to the future. In the light of the following admonition of Ramana Maharshi acquires a new force: "...live always in the present and only in it. There is no past or future, save in the mind." [this quote from Ramana Maharshi is referenced in the article as having been taken from "Timeless in Time: Sri Ramana Maharshi" - A.R. Natarajan, 2006; 108]Originally posted to RamanaMaharshi Yahoo GroupLabels: RamanaMaharshi
posted at 12:38 AM
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Contact of any two things is samsara...
N G Chandorkar bowed to Sai and said: Enough of this Samsara for me. As the Sastras describe it, samsara is really nissara i.e., worthless. Break its fetters off from me, Baba. What first seems to be joy here is seen to be sorrow at the end. Fate leads us a nice dance here and there. I cannot discover even a bit of happiness in this Samsara. I am quite disgusted, I do not wish to touch it, Baba, any further.Baba: What crazy and delusive talk is yours! There is some truth in it – mixed up with error. As long as the body remains, samsara remains. None escapes it. How can you? Even I am caught up in it. Samsara is various sorts. It is like the surface of the body. Kama (desire) Krodha (anger) etc., and any mixture of these is samsara. All mental and bodily processes are samsara. The contact of any two things is samsara. By going away to a forest you cannot escape samsara. Your present condition, has been brought about by yourself. What is the use of irritation at it? This Deha Prarabdha is result of the karma done by you in former births. This body was, therefore, born. The jiva takes birth in body to work out former Karma. Without suffering the results of Prarabdha Karma, you cannot get rid of it. All persons, all creatures differ in form etc., Why? Because of previous karma of each. Difference between species, like difference between individuals is due to the same cause. See the difference between the rich man’s dog lolling on sofa and the poor man’s running about in search of crumbs. That is due to Deha Prarabdha. (Sai Baba's Charters and Sayings, compiled by B.V. Narasimha Swami)Labels: karma, sai baba
posted at 4:49 PM
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Preordainment
Q: Since all is preordained, is our self-realisation also preordained? Or are we free there at least?M: Destiny refers only to name and shape. Since you are neither body nor mind, destiny has no control over you. You are completely free. The cup is conditioned by its shape, material, use and so on. But the space within the cup is free. It happens to be in the cup only when viewed in connection with the cup. Otherwise it is just space. As long as there is a body, you appear to be embodied. Without the body you are not disembodied -- you Just are.Even destiny is but an idea. Words can be put together in so many ways! Statements can differ, but do they make any change in the actual? There are so many theories devised for explaining things -- all are plausible, none is true. When you drive a car, you are subjected to the laws of mechanics and chemistry: step out of the car and you are under the laws of physiology and biochemistry. (Nisargadatta Maharaj in "I Am That")---------D.: Has man any Free-Will or is everything in his life predestined and preordained?M.: Free-Will holds the field in association with individuality. As long as individuality lasts so long there is Free-Will. All the sastras are based on this fact and they advise directing the Free-Will in the right channel. Find out to whom Free-Will or Destiny matters. Abide in it. Then these two are transcended. That is the only purpose of discussing these questions. To whom do these questions arise? Find out and be at peace. (Sri Ramana Maharshi in Talk number 426)Labels: Atma vichara, Enquiry, karma, nisargadatta, RamanaMaharshi
posted at 1:59 PM
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RamanaMaharshi Yahoo Group
A little while back an old friend, from the early days of Yahoo Clubs, was miffed about the closure of the old RamanaMaharshi Yahoo Group [as were many others]. At the time, I suggested he might join another group or even open his own. He chose the first path. However, things did not work out for him, at the group I suggested.Yesterday, having confirmed availability of the URL and having written to me for approval [no approval was necessary but it was very nice of him], he has re-opened the RamanaMaharshi Yahoo Group, with the same address as before http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RamanaMaharshi/Labels: om namo bhagavate sri ramanaya, RamanaMaharshi
posted at 10:34 AM
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Perishable - imperishable
viSvam paro jîva iti trirüpam vibhãti satyam paramekameva |jñãnam bhavennaiva tu vãda esha jñãnam tvahankãravinãSa eva || 57 ||(Sri Ramanaparavidyopanishad)The one supreme reality appears as the three - "the world, God and the individual entity" -but one must not conclude that this is right awareness. Right awareness is, in fact, destruction of the ego.avinãSi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam |vinãSam avyayasyãsya na kaScit kartum arhati ||(Bhagavad Gita - 2; 17)Know that, by which all this is pervaded, to be indestructible. No one is able to effect the destruction of the imperishable.Labels: acalayoga, advaita, Enquiry, RamanaMaharshi, Sanskrit
posted at 8:28 AM
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Bhakti is not different from mukti
From Talk 650M.: Bhakti is not different from mukti. Bhakti is being as the Self (Swarupa). One is always that. He realises it by the means he adopts. What is bhakti? To think of God. That means: only one thought prevails to the exclusion of all other thoughts. That thought is of God which is the Self or it is the Self surrendered unto God. When He has taken you up nothing will assail you. The absence of thoughts is bhakti. It is also mukti.The jnana method is said to be vichara (enquiry). That is nothing but ‘supreme devotion’ (parabhakti). The difference is in words only. You think that bhakti is meditation on the Supreme Being. So long as there is vibhakti (the sense of separateness), bhakti (reunion) is sought. The process will lead to the ultimate goal as is said in Srimad Bhagavad Gita:arto jignasuh artharthi jnani cha Bharatarshabhatesham jnani nityayukta ekabhaktir visishyate— Ch. VII (l6, 17).Any kind of meditation is good. But if the sense of separateness is lost and the object of meditation or the subject who meditates is alone left behind without anything else to know, it is jnana. Jnana is said to be ekabhakti (single-minded devotion). The jnani is the finality because he has become the Self and there is nothing more to do. He is also perfect and so fearless, dwitiyat vai bhayam bhavati - only the existence of a second gives rise to fear. This is mukti. It is also bhakti.Labels: bhakti, RamanaMaharshi, Sanskrit
posted at 5:53 PM
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Any Road
"Any Road" George Harrison"Govinda Jaya Jaya" produced by George HarrisonLabels: bhakti, videos
posted at 12:41 PM
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Srila Prabhupada on "ahankara"
"...we should inquire into the existence of the ego, the finest material substance. What is ego? I am pure soul, but with my intelligence and mind I am in contact with matter, and I have identified myself with matter. This is false ego. I am pure soul, but I am identifying falsely. For example, I am identifying with the land, thinking that I am Indian, or that I am American. This is called ahankara. Ahankara means the point where the pure soul touches matter. That junction is called ahankara. Ahankara is still finer than intelligence. Krsna says that these are the eight material elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. False ego means falseidentification. Our nescient life has begun from this false identification -- thinking that I am this matter, although I am seeing every day, at every moment, that I am not this matter. Soul is permanently existing, while matter is changing. This misconception, this illusion, is called ahankara, false ego. And your liberation means when you are out of this false ego. What is that status? Aham brahmasmi. I am Brahman, I am spirit. That is the beginning of liberation." (Excerpted from “Krsna Consciousness the Topmost Yoga System” by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, courtesy of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, www.Krishna.com)The very word ahankara means "I am doing this, I am doing that, and therefore I have become so big." (Excerpted from “A Second Chance” by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, courtesy of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, www.Krishna.com)---Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 7, Text 4bhumir apo 'nalo vayuhkham mano buddhir eva caahankara itiyam mebhinna prakrtir astadhaSYNONYMSbhumih--earth; apah--water; analah--fire; vayuh--air; kham--ether;manah--mind; buddhih--intelligence; eva--certainly; ca--and; ahankarah--false ego; iti--thus; iyam--all these; me--My; bhinna--separated;prakrtih--energies; astadha--total eight.TRANSLATIONEarth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego--alltogether these eight constitute My separated material energies. (Excerpted from “Bhagavad-gita As It Is” by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, courtesy of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, www.Krishna.com)Labels: acalayoga, Atma vichara, Enquiry, vichara, Who am I
posted at 5:37 PM
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Ramana Maharshi on video
Ramana Maharshi Documentary
Material Contamination
Identification
The Mountain Path
Roasting more chestnuts on an open fire
New Ramana Maharshi Book
Contact of any two things is samsara...
Preordainment
RamanaMaharshi Yahoo Group
Perishable - imperishable
Bhakti is not different from mukti
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"Who am I?"The question and answer version. "Who am I?" is the title given to a set of questions and answers bearing on Self-enquiry.
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Self-enquiry (atma vichara) is the means by which the impostor or ego is sought and defeated. Self-enquiry is ego's final question.
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