Friday, November 11, 2005

Embodying realization

Embodying realization

Ramana Maharshi's gift to the world was not that he realized the Self. Many people have had a deep realization of the Self. Ramana's real gift was that he embodied that realization so thoroughly. It is one thing to realize the Self; it is something else altogether to embody that realization to the extent that there is no gap between inner revelation and its outer expression. Many have glimpsed the realization of Oneness; few consistently express that realization through their humanness. It is one thing to touch a flame and know it is hot, but quite another to jump into that flame and be consumed by it.

admin – Fri, 11/11/2005 – 8:03am
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Grace of Guru

Question: "What is the Grace of the Guru?"

Sri Ramana: "The Guru is the Self. At sometime a man grows dissatisfied with his life and, not content with what he has, seeks the satisfaction of his desires
through prayer to God i. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain His Grace than to satisfy worldly desires. Then God's Grace begins to manifest. God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devoteei, teaches him the Truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association with him.
The devotee's mind thus gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified until it remains calm without the least ripple. That calm Expanse is the Self.

The Guru is both outer and inner. From outside he gives a push to the mind to turn inward while from inside he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in quieting it. That is the Grace of the Guru. There is no difference between God, Guru and Self."

ananda – Wed, 02/11/2005 – 5:54am

The Nature of the Mind

QUESTION: "WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE MIND?"

Sri Ramana Maharshi: "What is called mind is a wonderous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thought, there is no independent entity called the world.

In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts and there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself.

When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines), the world does not appear.When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self.What is referred to as the Self is the Atman i i.The mind always exists always only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone.It is the mind that is called the subtle body o the soul (embodied soul or jiva)."
See http://www.hinduism.co.za/mind1.htm

ananda – Wed, 02/11/2005 – 5:50am
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Bliss is not enlightenment

Many seekers do not take full responsibility for their own Liberation, but wait for one big, final spiritual experience which will catapult them fully into it. It is this search for the final liberating experience which gives rise to a rampant form of spiritual consumerism in which seekers go from one teacher to another, shopping for enlightenment as if shopping for sweets in a candy store. This spiritual promiscuity is rapidly turning the search for enlightenment into a cult of experience seekers. And, while many people indeed have powerful experiences, in most cases these do not lead to the profound transformation of the individual, which is the expression of enlightenment.

— See this and this

admin – Fri, 11/11/2005 – 8:06am

Dreaming

Just realise you are dreaming a dream you call the world and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that needs to be done

— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

admin – Mon, 21/11/2005 – 5:41am

Mindlessness and Stillness

There has been a long misunderstanding about these two things: keeping the mind still and mindlessness. There have been many people who have thought that they are synonymous. They appear to be synonymous, but in reality they are as far apart as two things can be, and there is no way to bridge them.

So first let us try to find the exact meanings of these two words, because the whole of Ta Hui's sutra this evening is concerned with the understanding of the difference.

The difference is very delicate. A man who is keeping his mind still and a man who has no mind will look exactly alike from the outside, because the man who is keeping his mind still is also silent. Underneath his silence there is great turmoil, but he is not allowing it to surface. He is in great control.



A Seeker is always alone

January 19 is the 16th death anniversary of Osho. This article appeared in Deccan Herald, written by Amrit Sadhana.

The master-disciple relationship is the most intimate relationship surpassing all human experiences of relating to one another. The true master is so compassionate, so giving, that the disciples slowly begin to depend on him. The thought of his death evokes in them much fear.

People around Osho too had the same fear — so they mustered courage one day to ask him, "One day, you will leave us, and it will be impossible to have another master in your place. How can anybody else be a substitute for the master of masters? When you leave the physical body, will your meditation techniques help our inner growth as they do now?"

admin – Fri, 20/01/2006 – 5:55am


only existence

Nothing that we take to be real in this world actually is. When this world becomes unreal to you, then the true reality reveals itself. That is the beginning. In that, we realize that there is no death, there is no life, there is only existence.

Ajja



jnani's state

A jnani will never have the experience that "I am a jnani." He is simply what he is. It's his original state. If an unnatural state comes, he will be amazed. This is the original, natural state for a jnani. There is only bliss. There is no one to experience that bliss. The person who sees has gone. That is evolution. So what is, in that case, is a state which is not a state. This is the original state of every individual. But one must be ready to go to that original state.


Ajja



Ashtavakra Gita

Roughly 5000 years prior to the Bhagavad Gita (date based on Sanskrit used), an enlightened boy named Ashtavakra (bent/deformed in 8 places) had a discussion with King Janaka. This discussion became the Ashtavakra Gita (song of Ashtavakra).

The work was known, appreciated and quoted by Ramakrishna and his disciple Vivekananda, as well as by Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, while Radhakrishnan always refers to it with great respect. Shree Rajneesh commented, "Man has many scriptures, but none are comparable to the Gita of Ashtavakra. Before it the Vedas pale, the Upanishads are a mere whisper. Even the Bhagavadgita does not have the majesty found in the Ashtavakra Samhita -- it is simply unparalleled". Apart from that, the work speaks for itself. It presents the traditional teachings of Advaita i Vedanta with a clarity and power very rarely matched.

The Ashtavakra Gita can be considered the only true Universal religious text for it does not date itself or brand itself to any region, culture, or peoples.

This contributor was introduced to this work though the enlightened master Paramahamsa Nithyananda

The work is available at various links such as http://www.geocities.com/advaitavedant/ashtavakra.htm and http://realization.org/page/doc0/doc0004.htm . To be read slowly, and over and over again.

ananda – Thu, 12/01/2006 – 7:22am

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's "last" words

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's "last" words

The following are the "last" words of the fully-realized Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi on Friday April 14, 1950:

"They say that I am dying, but i am not going away. Where could i go? I am here." 1

When his devotees complained that he was abandoning them, he replied:

"You attach too much importance to the body"2

"The Guru is not in the physical form. So contact will remain even after his physical form vanishes." 3

Sri Bhagavan declared that one who has obtained the grace of Guru would never be abandoned.

Sri Bhagavan is here.

admin – Wed, 19/10/2005 – 6:29am

You are Myself

Two long month ago, on August 18th Sri Bhagavan spoke:

"You are and always were ONE with Me. You are me."

"Forget being my devoteei.
Forget pleading and weeping and finding a new excuse or avenue for suffering.
There is nothing you can give me. Nothing.
Just sit still and enjoy my love, my devotioni to you.
Enjoy how I love you, and do nothing else."

In a related piece, He says "Isvaro gururatmeti" (The Self is the God i and Guru) See

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (NM) was told by his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, "You are myself". NM believed his guru's words, and was realized in 3 years.

What was spoken on August 18th is being realized today. I touch myself and i touch you. Yesterday we were the flower and the scent, today we are the flower.

"The Buddha twirled a flower and Kashyap smiled."

Just the flower. The Guru-Disciple are One flower. One mind, One soul.

The Guru-disciple is the sound of one hand clapping ... is how a coin with only one side looks ...

As the delusion of the wall between Guru and Disciple crumbles i see that the entire universe is the sound of one hand clapping.
Creation is a coin with only one side. There can only be one hand.

Let me share a few appropriate words spoken by Sri Nisargadatta to a visitor.

admin – Tue, 18/10/2005 – 4:10am

The Self is the God and Guru

"Isvaro gururatmeti" (The Self is the God and Guru). A person seeks happiness and learns that
God alone can make one happy. He prays to God and worships Him. God hears his prayers, and responds by appearing in human shape as a Master in order to speak the language of the devotee and
make him understand the Reality. The Master is thus God manifest as human being. He gives out His experience so that the seeker might also gain it. His experience is to abide as the Self. The Self is within. God, Master and the Self are therefore seeming stages in the Realisation of the Truth.

— Sr Ramana Maharshi - Page 591 Talks With RM

admin – Mon, 17/10/2005 – 5:18am

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Ramana and Zen

A Small Tribute to Bodhidharma

October 5th (Chinese Lunar Calendar) was the birthday of Bodhidharma, the 28th Patriarch of Indian Buddhism and The First Patriarch of Chinese Zen Lineage.

Bodhidharma (also known as Pu Tai Ta Mo in Sanskrit and Daruma Daishi in Japanese) was an Enlightened Buddhist Master who is credited with reviving Buddhism in China and founding martial arts.

Bodhidharma began his life as a royal prince in Southern India in the Sardilli family in 482 A.D. In the midst of his education and training to continue in his father's footsteps as king, Bodhidharma encountered the Buddha's teachings. He immediately saw the truth in Lord Buddha's words and decided to give up his esteemed position and inheritance to study with the famous Buddhist teacher Prajnatara. Bodhidharma rapidly progressed in his Buddhist studies, and in time, Prajnatara sent Bodhidharma to China, where Buddhism had begun to die out, to introduce the Sarvastivada sect Buddhist teachings to the Chinese. Bodhidharma arrived in China after a brutal trek over Tibet's Himalayan Mountains surviving both the extreme elements and treacherous bandits.

His Teachings:

1. Bao Yen Hsin: The willingness to accept, without complaining, suffering and unhappiness because you understand it is your own karma.

2. Sui Yen Hsin: Understanding that all situations are the consequences of karmic causes, and therefore, you maintain equanimity in all circumstances, both negative and positive.

3. Tsung Fa Hsin: Realizing through practice the essence of your Buddha Nature, which is equanimity.

Bodhidharma was an extraordinary being who remains an example and an inspiration to practitioners today. He is the source of many miraculous stories of ferocity and dedication to the Way. One such legend states that Bodhidharma became frustrated once while meditating because he had fallen asleep. He was so upset that he cut off his eyelids to prevent this interruption in meditation from ever happening again. Yet another legend states that Bodhidharma meditated for so long that his arms and legs eventually fell off. This is a reminder of the true dedication and devotion necessary in meditation practice. The Bodhidharma doll was developed as a symbol of this dedication. In Japan and other parts of the world, when someone has a task they wish to complete, they purchase a red Bodhidharma doll that comes without pupils painted on the eyes. At the outset of the task one pupil is colored in, and upon completion, the other pupil is painted. The dolls and the evolution of martial arts and meditation, are a continuous reminder of Bodhidharma's impact on Buddhism and martial arts.

... Bodhidharma sat meditating facing a wall for the next 9 years, boring holes into it with his stare. ...

Please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma for more.

admin – Thu, 06/10/2005 – 12:18pm

The Whole is the sum of its parts

"The Whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

And there lies the cause of mankind's suffering!

If the Buddha had heard this opinion, The Enlightened One would have disapproved. If a Zen master had heard his disciple say this, he would definitely have hit him repeatedly with a stick till the disciple fainted or died.

Such a dastardly lie, and so blindly believed by all - including mathematicians. This is precisely the self-deception that results in the illusion of the self. As one peers within using self-enquiry and the truth, the self vanishes like it never was, leaving just functional parts, and sudden freedom! And all our life, society, writers and poets (or whatever) have bludgeoned this lie into us, that "I" exists. A lie that the label actually signifies something grand, even though undefinable. When the lie shows up to be a lie, one feels so cheated that one wants to bludgeon the perpetrators of the lie, except that there is no one to bludgeon anyone. Or else the Buddha's loving kindness shows up, and what happened to what-never-existed is forgotten.

In what way was the sum inferior that something 'grander' had to be invented?

Two and Two will always make Four. The ocean will always remain exactly the sum of all waves, no matter how much one may romanticize the name, no matter how much one may write stories or poems about it. Beautiful words and concepts will only remain so much - empty - when the water has evaporated and theres' no ocean left to glorify. And there is no room for empty words for the seeker of reality.

As the Zen folks say: There never was a Buddha. If you see Him kill Him!.

And thus i come to the koan that has troubled me so much over the last few days.

"The Buddha twirls a flower, and Kashyap smiles. The dharma is passed on."

All Kashyap's delusions are clear, without a word spoken. The Koan troubles me no more.

BTW, later i looked up the Koan and finding Wumen's comment ( it made no sense till today) I burst into laughter. Here's he praises the Buddha with this comment:

"Gold-faced Gautama insolently degrades noble people to commoners. He sells dog flesh under the sign of mutton and thinks it is quite commendable."

See this for details
October 16, 2005 15:04pm

admin – Sun, 16/10/2005 – 1:51pm
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Ramana and Zen

Many disciples and visitors came to the Maharshi with the Gita, Bible or other works, asking him to throw light on what was written. Unfortunately, it seems no one came to the Maharshi to throw light on zen koans. I feel Ramana would have found some of them quite delicious. In fact, He may have even come out with a few great ones of His own.
OTOH, who knows, maybe He did....

"Silence is the true upadesa.
It is perfect upadesa."

- Ramana Maharshi

Now although I don't claim the above is a Koan (and oh by the way, i learned the meaning of Koan like last week, and i still do not know what Zen is, despite reading D.T. Suzuki's Introduction to Zen Buddhism) but let's just keep reading on ...

A philosopher asked Buddha: `Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?'
The Buddha kept silence.
The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha, saying: `With your loving kindness I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path.'
After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.

The Buddha replied, `A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip.'

There's more ... Here is what the Holy Bible says:
"Be still and know that I Am God."

And somewhere they also say something like ...
"Meditation is not thinking and not not-thinking.". If you are made of steel, please try to read these two.
Shikantaza and Zazen

If you found this interesting, please come back to this site often. There'll be more comin' up.

admin – Tue, 11/10/2005 – 11:03am

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Stillness of the Sage

Stillness of the Sage

The non-action of the Sage is really unceasing activity.
His characteristic is eternal and intense activity.
His stillness is like the apparent stillness
of a very fast-rotating top.
Its extreme speed cannot be followed by the eye and
so it appears to be still.
This must be explained, as people generally mistake
the stillness of the Sage for inertness.

admin – Mon, 03/10/2005 – 8:12am

To know the Truth

To know the Truth
Of one's own Self
Is the way to be liberated
From all ignorance,
Its delusion of bondage,
And its consequent suffering.
Ignorance is merely
An inverted view
Of the one ever-same Existence,
An inverted attempt
to know the Reality of the Self.
Samsara is Brahman seen unclearly;
Ego is the Self seen unclearly.
Brahma-nirvana is extinguishments
Of the notion there is a samsara.
Realization is knowing
The non existence of the ego.
Liberation is freedom
From the notion that there is bondage.
To destroy samsara,
Destroy ignorance.,
Destroy the ego.
To destroy the ego,
Know the Self.
To know the Self is
To know the Truth

— See this

admin – Mon, 03/10/2005 – 8:09am

Sudden Enlightenment

This way and that way
I tried to keep the pail of water together,
hoping the weak bamboos
would never break
But suddenly the bottom fell out:
no more water
no more moon in the water
and emptiness in my hand!

ananda – Sun, 09/10/2005 – 11:26am

Who Am I

When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: 'To whom do they arise?' It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.

admin – Fri, 07/10/2005 – 4:07am

We are Star Dust

Since 1957, scientists have known that all chemical elements (other than the simplest hydrogen and helium) were created not In the Beginning — not at the moment of the Big Bang — but very much later, and in the depths of massive stars. All the carbon and calcium in our bodies, all the silicon and oxygen in sand and computer chips — all these elements, every single atom, came into existence inside a star.

Imagine that! Inside a star! For many of us moved by the cosmic epic offered by science, there is no realization more magnificent than this: We know that we are stardust — recycled stardust from the generations of stars that preceded the birth of our own sun. Only stars at least eight times the size of our sun can take this path of elemental creation. And those that do are so busy burning hydrogen and helium into the full spectrum of elements that they blaze and die in a mere 10 million years, rather than the expected 10 billion year life span of our own modest star.

It is one thing to create the palette of elements; it is another to launch them into the galaxy. A star that forged the Periodic Table as far as iron will collapse upon itself. Then, rebounding in a supernova explosion of unimaginable brightness, the remaining heavy elements churn into existence — all the gold-leaf in an ancient Koran, all the silver in a Hanukkah menorah, all the copper in a bronze Buddha, all the tin in Christmas tinsel.

All the complex atoms in your body and everything around you were at one time streaming away from just such a dying star. This is truly a miracle of Creation. The birth of chemical elements manifests divine creativity, however one may think of God. Does it not make sense to celebrate this common reality?

The Buddha Bowl

Emperor Wu had an ancient treasure, a bowl made from the skull of a revered Buddhist master. Whenever he drank tea from the delicate polished skull, he felt at one with the wisdom of the ages. It was his "Buddha Bowl."
One day a nun from the nearby monastery was serving the emperor his tea. Fu was a rather dreamy Buddhist nun and, on this particular day, she spilled a few drops of tea on the emperor's hand. The hot liquid burned. The bowl fell, shattering into numberless pieces. Fu stared at the white bone bits on the black stone floor. "Like stars strewn through the night" she mused. Then she heard Emperor Wu shouting: "My precious Buddha bowl, gone, because of your clumsiness!"
Fu looked up and met the emperor's eyes. " You must find me another," he warned, "or I will have your skull, nun Fu!" Kicking aside the bits of broken skull, Emperor Wu stormed out.

Fu returned to her monastery, approached her teacher's door, knocked three times as prescribed , and soon heard the answering bell admitting her. She bowed. Then she told of her predicament.

The two nuns sat in silence. The Zen teacher spoke a koan for Fu:

FIND YOUR GREAT SELF.
THE BUDDHA BOWL OF THE STARS
SHALL APPEAR FOR YOU TO USE AT WILL.

Fu bowed and left. The koan rang in her ears. As she repeated it, the words echoed within her skull. They reverberated through her bones.

The Emperor's official tea ceremony was to be held at the next full moon. When Fu went into the monastery garden, she saw the white sliver of the new moon appear in the west as the sun set. She sat zazen into the night until even the dimmest stars appeared. Each evening for the next twelve days, Fu practiced zazen in the monastery garden, breathing her koan into her bones.

By day the nun was assigned by her teacher to work in the little Zen garden. There she raked patterns into the sand around the carefully placed rocks. Sunlight glinted off the myriad bits of quartz — of silica — at her feet. "Daytime stars," thought Fu.

Each evening Fu watched the stars appear and scatter themselves into deep space. Breathing in the dark, sitting without end, she surrendered herself to the koan. It was taking her deeper and deeper into the emptiness of space, to the time before the light of stars was born.

Body and mind dropping off into astonishing Radiance . . .
Everything arising together out of that Radiance . . .
The Starburst breaking open the wonder of the Universe.
Fu herself became this Vastness. She became Vastness watching Itself unfold. Fu was light and air and water and earth. She became the Universe of stones and bones, sunshine and sand.

On full moon day, Fu shaved her head. She softly touched her smooth round skull. She whispered her koan: " Find your Great Self. The Buddha Bowl of the stars shall appear for you to use at will." It was time to return to Emperor Wu's palace and prepare for the tea ceremony. The sun was setting.

Emperor Wu appeared in his finest silks, welcomed his noble guests, and took his seat. He held out his hand, waiting for the new Buddha Bowl.

Fu stood before him, her hands clenched at her sides. Suddenly she flung open her fingers. Sand scattered across the floor. At that moment the light of the full moon shone through the eastern window on to the black stone floor. The sand glistened as brightly as stars in the night sky.

"Receive the Buddha Bowl of the stars," spoke Fu.
"Know it as your very Self.
Star, Sand, Stone, Bone —
All take refuge in the one Being of the Universe.
Will you take refuge in the Self which is not separate, but is one?"

Fu bowed deeply. She waited until she heard the rustling of silks. When she rose, Emperor Wu was there, serving her a cup of tea.

See also a few koans

Courtesy: http://www.thegreatstory.org/

admin – Thu, 06/10/2005 – 12:46pm



Thursday, October 06, 2005

The Mind and the World

From katha upanishad

One who is free from desire
sees the glory of the Self
through the tranquillity of the mind and senses
and becomes absolved from grief.

— Click Katha Upanishad

admin – Thu, 06/10/2005 – 6:09am

God-realization

Do your duty, to the best of your abilities, for the Lord without any selfish motive, and remember God at all times -- before starting a work, at the completion of a task, and while inactive.

Practice to look upon all creatures as "Myself" in thought, word, and deed; and mentally bow down to them

— Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita

admin – Tue, 04/10/2005 – 1:25pm

The Mind and the World

The wandering of the mind itself is the world.

— Anonymous

admin – Tue, 04/10/2005 – 1:22pm

No doer

Events happen, deeds are done, there is no individual doer thereof

— The Buddha

admin – Tue, 04/10/2005 – 1:21pm

Miracles - Fake or Real ?


When it comes to miracle-working, the wisdom traditions of the East never seem to be able to make up their minds.

Take the last century. On one side, there was Paramahansa Yogananda. Bursting onto the scene in 1946, his now classic Autobiography of a Yogi captured the imaginations of a generation of Western seekers with thrilling tales of living spiritual supermen whose miraculous powers suddenly made our comic-book heroes look a bit less fantastical. Mysterious sages who could control the weather at will. Great masters who could fly through the air and walk through walls or appear in multiple places at once. Austere yogis with the power to read and control men's minds, muster herculean strength, and tolerate insufferable pain without flinching. Along with a few other landmark books like Baird Spaulding's Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East and Lama Govinda's Way of the White Clouds, Yogananda cast in our minds a vision of spiritual enlightenment in which the attainment of a kind of supernatural omnipotence was not only possible but the destiny of anyone who would take up the path of meditation in earnest.

On the other side was Sri Ramana Maharshi. Hailing from the Advaita Vedanta, or nondualist, school of Hinduism, he insisted that any interest in the attainment of siddhis [supernatural powers] was not only misguided but a distraction on the path to the Ultimate Realization. "Occult powers will not bring happiness to anyone," he claimed. "They are not natural to the Self . . . and . . . not worth striving for." Supported in this view by such luminaries as Nisargadatta Maharaj and Sri Ramakrishna, who declared that the siddhis are "heaps of rubbish," he carried forward the legacy of a long tradition of mystics including even the Buddha, who warned against any attempt to work miracles.

If the wisdom coming to us from the East was split on this topic, here in the West, at least initially, the picture wasn't much different. On one hand, many psychologically and rationally inclined Westerners naturally seemed to ignore the supernatural dimensions of Indian spirituality, giving more attention to the psychological and emotional benefits of meditative practice. But on the other hand, owing mostly to the power marketing of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation (TM) Siddhi program and Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship, as well as to the uncanny popularity of the miracle-working Indian God-man Sai Baba, the promise of attaining miraculous powers did find many converts. Not least among them was a growing cadre of scientifically minded seekers for whom the siddhis represented a thrilling research potential-an opportunity to prove to the scientific establishment the existence of God.

A brief survey of the East-meets-West spiritual landscape today, however, suggests that of late, the Western interest in superordinary powers has been losing some ground. Perhaps the mystics' warnings have simply had their intended effect. Perhaps the fact that Sai Baba was caught several times on film faking some of his "miracles" made former believers cynical. Or perhaps we've all just waited too long for our TM-practicing friends to actually demonstrate something that remotely passes for "yogic flying." But whatever the cause, here in the modern West, the promise of the miraculous seems to be losing its allure.

Interestingly enough, on the far shores of India, some similar trends are under way. With an increasing secularism sweeping the nation, and the Indian Rationalist Association's "Guru Busters" actively working to debunk every miracle-touting charlatan they can, anyone claiming to be able to defy the laws of nature is in for a fight. Fortunately for the faithful, at least one Indian yogi is not the least bit daunted. He calls himself "Pilot Baba," and for the past three decades he has been working to uphold the dignity and integrity of the yogic siddhi tradition by demonstrating in some very public places his miraculous powers over the world of matter.

A decorated Indian Air Force fighter pilot who saw combat in two wars and also served as personal pilot for Indira Gandhi, this military-man-turned-mahayogi regularly attracts tens of thousands of devout Hindus to witness his performances of what is traditionally known as bhugarbha samadhi or jal samadhi or Asht Lakshmi Maha Yagna samadhi. In English, what this means is that he buries himself underground, encases himself in an airtight glass box, or submerges himself under water-for days or even weeks at a time. Employing an ancient yogic technique that could best be described as a sort of human hibernation-plus, Pilot Baba is purported to be able to voluntarily shut down all bodily functions to the point that he is clinically dead, only to return to life at a pre-specified date and time-a feat that has withstood the scrutiny of at least some Western scientists. And if all this sounds like something you saw on "That's Incredible!" back in the eighties, remember that the great Yogi Kudu only spent one hour at the bottom of the pool before being fished out to much applause by John Davidson and Cathy Lee Crosby. Pilot Baba's record under water is four days, a figure which itself pales in comparison to the thirty-three days he's spent underground.

How did a celebrated air force pilot end up deciding to carry this ancient yogic tradition into the third millennium? During his visit to New York last September, I asked Pilot Baba to share his story.

As he tells it, although he never planned to be a yogi, there was a yogi who apparently had plans for him. Guiding him throughout his childhood, and miraculously saving his life more than once during his time in the air force, this mysterious holy man eventually provoked him to renounce the world and, in 1973, with the help of a group of four other sages, initiated him into the mysteries of yoga. But it wasn't until three years (and a several-thousand-mile Himalayan trek) later that those mysteries would begin to unfold in his own experience. During a period of intensive spiritual practice in and around his cave in the Himalayan wilderness, Pilot Baba made a sudden breakthrough that would change the course of his life forever. "I had been sitting on a large, exposed stone in the center of the river for several days, when I had the thought, 'Why doesn't the water flow over me without touching me?' And then it started happening. It started flowing over me and all around me without touching me." As he continued to "play with the water" over the days that followed, people from the nearby village started to gather on the shore, in awe at the spectacle they were beholding. Before long, news began to spread of this mysterious yogi who could control the flow of the river.

Some of us, upon discovering that we had the power to control the forces of nature, might be tempted to use it to improve our lot in life (or at least to rig up some supernatural plumbing for our cave). But for Pilot Baba, the effect was quite the opposite. Realizing that the human will can work wonders "if it is clear, positive, and free from desire," he began to use his newfound powers to heal the suffering people in the villages throughout his region. And as tends to happen around anyone who gains a reputation for healing, in a matter of weeks, people were lining up in droves to receive his blessing. But the miracles didn't stop there.

Indeed, as he began to test the limits of this miraculous power he had stumbled upon, it soon became apparent to him that, for all practical purposes, there were no limits. Over the course of our conversation, he shared one story after another that seemed so far beyond the reach of reason to explain that I soon felt like I was starting to occupy the world Yogananda had written about so many years before. Like the time when he was walking with a group around Mt. Kailash and a giant boulder came careening down the hill toward them and he deflected it by merely holding up his arm. Or the time when he walked on water, all the way to the center of a large lake. Or the time when a storm threatened to rain out one of his samadhi demonstrations and he used his will powers to "throw water at the ominous clouds" and send them away. Or the time he walked barefoot to the summit of one of the Himalayas' most treacherous peaks-in six hours-in order to assist a climbing party that had taken eighteen days to cover the same ground.

In all of Pilot Baba's miracle stories, it was clear that these powers are not something he takes lightly or uses frivolously. To the contrary, it seemed to almost go without saying that they should only be employed to help others or when a greater good requires it. In light of this, the fact that he has taken to publicly demonstrating samadhi seemed on the surface to be a bit of a paradox. How had these public demonstrations become so central to his work? I asked. And how had he gotten the idea to do them in the first place? As it turns out, this too had come about in response to a need, albeit a different sort of need than he had previously faced.

The year was 1978, and in a rare departure from the Himalayas, Pilot Baba had traveled to Delhi to attend a large science and yoga conference convened by the great kundalini master Gopi Krishna and attended by a handful of political leaders, a group of scientists, and many of the brightest lights in the Indian yoga world. At some point in the conference, the question of bodily control was raised. Could any of the esteemed yogis assembled demonstrate the mastery of vital function needed to survive in an airtight glass case? And when no one in the illustrious gathering volunteered, Pilot Baba, who claims he had never before attempted the feat, raised his hand. "For how many days would you like me to do it?" he asked. Wired up with vital-signs monitors, he crawled into the case, brought his heart to a stop, and for the next three days, an eager assembly looked on. Then, thirty minutes before his scheduled return, a faint heartbeat began to register on the monitor. His emergence from the case-hailed by many as a return from death-was announced in newspapers across India, and as offers to donate land, buildings, and money began to pour in, he disappeared late one night and returned to the peace of the mountains.

But he didn't stay there. In the years since that dramatic event, Pilot Baba-and more recently, his disciples-have been regularly performing public samadhis at events as well attended as India's largest spiritual festival, the Maha Kumbha Mela. This has earned him such notoriety and respect among the Hindu faithful that he was recently elected to the lofty position of Mahamandaleshwar, spiritual head of India's largest and most prominent order of renunciates, the million-strong sect of naked, ash-smeared, trident-wielding "warrior-ascetics" known as Naga Babas.

The purpose of the samadhi demonstrations, according to his organization's literature, is to promote world peace. And if you find you have to stretch to make the link between returning from the grave and creating peace on Earth, remember that it was a similar demonstration by the "Prince of Peace" two thousand years ago that kick-started one of humanity's most enduring, if not altogether peaceful, religious movements. For Pilot Baba, the connection is unambiguous. When an individual goes into samadhi, he told me, a tremendous power is released which can uplift, inspire, heal, and transform all who come into contact with it. Moreover, through the exertion of will by the yogi before entering the samadhi, that power can be directed toward a stated goal. And for Pilot Baba and all of the disciples who have dared to join him, that goal is always to generate harmony and peace between human beings.

Now, there are miracles and then there are miracles. And for most of us, the ability to shut down and restart one's vital systems, however mind-bending and miraculous, does not fall under quite the same category as flying unaided through the air or controlling the elements. If Pilot Baba really can defy all physical laws, one might ask, why doesn't he do something more dramatic just to put the skeptics to rest once and for all? In response to such questions, Pilot Baba has always insisted that the samadhi demonstrations are not about proving anything to anyone. But if the unexpected turn of events at his most recent samadhi is any indication, it does seem that of late, he has decided it might be worth sending a slightly stronger message.

It was the middle of last April in the central Indian town of Dewas, and Pilot Baba had again entered into an airtight glass case where he was to remain motionless for four days. In order to prevent the 110-degree desert heat from causing the case to explode, it had been surrounded by curtains which would be drawn back for brief darshan [viewing] periods several times each morning and evening. On the third evening, everything seemed to be proceeding as usual. But at 8pm, when the curtains were drawn open for the third time that night, "a quick hush went over the crowd." As filmmaker Andre Vaillancourt, who was there to document the event, describes it, "I squinted . . . in order to catch a glimpse of Baba. As the words [of the crowd] came to my ears, the picture came into focus: Baba is gone! Vanished! Dematerialized! Only his orange dhoti [robe] lay on the spot where he sat." Most of the journalists had gone home for the evening, so Vaillancourt was the only one to catch the event on film. But the next evening, the camera crews were all there, along with an unusually large crowd, when Pilot Baba again vanished for the 8 and 9pm darshans.

If not to prove anything, then why had he done it? "I wanted to surprise people-particularly the intellectuals," he explained to me as our conversation was drawing to a close.

The Indian Rationalist Association, of course, is unimpressed and says it won't be satisfied until Pilot Baba, or any other yogi, performs this demonstration under its supervision. And although Pilot Baba has made it clear that he is certainly not about to stoop to trying to prove God's existence to the rationalists ("Atheists have their religion, too," he states), it may well take just that for his feats to begin making headlines in the West. Whether even a "supervised" demonstration would begin to make inroads against the rationalistic leanings of contemporary spiritual America, however, is anybody's guess. And if Pilot Baba has his way, we'll all be kept guessing for a bit longer.

Courtesy: http://www.wie.org

admin – Tue, 04/10/2005 – 12:30pm


Cornering the Ego

An interesting interview with Chinese Master, Sheng-yen, on destroying the Ego, ego tricks, the state of the Buddha, the role of the teacher etc.

What is the ego according to Ch'an Buddhism?

Master Sheng-yen: In Ch'an Buddhism the idea of ego revolves around the idea of attachment or clinging. The ego originally does not exist. It is created as a result of attachment to the body and attachment to one's ideas or one's own viewpoint. But because both the body and the mind are impermanent and constantly changing over time, our attachments to them are always changing as well. And as these attachments change, the ego also changes. So from the perspective of Ch'an, the ego does not exist in the sense of being a permanent, unchanging entity. The ego does not exist independent of one's changing attachments to one's body and one's ideas.

WIE: What does it mean to go beyond the ego?

SY: There are two different ways to accomplish this transcendence of the ego. One is experiential, through experiencing the transcendence of the self. And this can be done through practice, the practice of sitting meditation and the investigation of a koan [paradoxical question]. It is possible to attain this experience without a practice, but that's very rare; most people need to do the practice. The point of this kind of practice is to essentially push the ego into a corner so that it has nowhere else to go. It cannot escape anywhere.

So the ego and the method that you are using to transcend the ego are in direct opposition to each other. As I said, the ego is based on attachment—our attachment to the body and to ideas. Therefore, the method of transcending the ego is to deal with this attachment, to put down this attachment. When the ego is cornered and has nowhere to go, the only thing one can do is to put it down. And when one puts down the ego, then that is enlightenment.

WIE: Could you explain further how facing into a koan helps to "corner the ego"?

SY: In this method, you're actually not trying to solve the koan. Rather, the method involves asking the koan to give you the answer. A koan may be like, "What is wu [nothingness]?" So you keep asking and asking the koan to give you the answer to that question. But actually, it's impossible to answer. Of course, in the process of asking, your mind will give you answers, but whatever answer you get you have to reject. And you just stay with this method—keep asking and keep rejecting whatever answer comes up in your mind. In the end you will develop a sense of doubt. You will not be able to ask the koan anymore. In fact, it'll be meaningless to ask anymore. Then there is nothing to do except to finally put down the self and that is when enlightenment appears in front of you. But if you ask the koan and you simply get tired, if you can't get an answer and so you just stop, that's not enlightenment. That's just laziness.

The second way to transcend the ego is the conceptual way. It happens when there's a sudden and complete change in one's viewpoint. It can happen, for example, when one's reading a sutra [Buddhist scripture] or listening to a dharma talk. In an instant, one can become enlightened. But for this to really work, a person has to already want to know the answer to the question, "What is ego, what is the self?" They have to already be engaged with this question in their own mind. And then, when they come across a particular sentence, they can suddenly recognize the answer and instantaneously realize enlightenment. One very good example is the Sixth Patriarch, Hui Neng. He heard one sentence from the Diamond Sutra and got enlightened. However, for people who never think about these issues and questions in their daily life, who don't care about what the ego is and have no desire to know what the self is, this won't work. Listening to a dharma lecture or reading the sutras isn't going to help them.

WIE: What is the role of the teacher in liberating the student from his or her ego?

SY: First of all, the most important thing is that the student has to really want to know what the nature of the ego is. They need to have this burning desire to know. Then, what the teacher can do is to give the students a method or a tool to investigate and show them how to go about practicing the method. Many students may have a method and not be able to use it well. So the teacher can show a student how to use their method properly and can also show the right attitude and conceptual understanding they need in going about their practice. And if the student has a strong desire to understand the nature of their real self, then the method will be helpful. They will be able to see that this self that's based on attachment is illusory. It's not real. And when they realize this, they will also see that there's no such thing as the ego.

WIE: In your recent book Subtle Wisdom, you write, "Sometimes the mind experiences something that it takes to be enlightenment, but it is actually just the ego in a very happy state." Could you explain the difference between these two experiences—between genuine enlightenment and a condition where the ego is simply, as you said, "in a very happy state"?

SY: The experience of happiness can also be a part of enlightenment; a person can feel happy whether they are enlightened or not. But usually when one is in this blissful, happy state, it is because, in that moment, one is no longer feeling burdened by one's body or by one's mind and emotions, and so one feels very at ease. However, this is not the same as liberation. One may feel very light; it doesn't mean anything. A very peaceful, blissful, happy feeling is not the same as enlightenment. Enlightenment is not being attached to any viewpoint or having any attachment to the body. There's no burden at all, and that's why one would feel happy. For example, Shakyamuni Buddha, after his enlightenment, sat under the bodhi tree for seven days to enjoy this happiness, this dharma joy from his liberation. But one can feel happiness whether one is enlightened or is not enlightened. So we need to be able to distinguish.

WIE: In your book you go on to say that this experience of the ego being in a very happy state could occur because "the ego may even be identified with the universe as a whole or with divinity." Could you explain what you mean by that?

SY: That feeling of unification with the universe is actually one kind of samadhi [meditative absorption], a result of a deep state of concentration, and when a person is at this stage, they recognize that the entire universe is the same as themselves. What happens is that one expands one's small ego outward, to include all viewpoints, to include all of the universe and everything in it. So at this point, one would no longer have individual selfish ideas or individual selfish thoughts that normally arise from the narrow, selfish ego. In fact, one may experience a tremendous power that would result from this samadhi, a power that would come from the idea that "the universe is the same as me." People who have had this kind of realization can often become very great religious leaders.

But the Buddha, after his enlightenment, did not say, "I'm the center of the universe." Neither did he say that he represented the entire universe. What he said is that the Buddha is here to encourage all sentient beings to see that ego comes from attachment, and if we can all put down this attachment, then we will be liberated. And so the Buddha sees himself as a friend, a wise friend to all sentient beings, encouraging them to understand that ego comes from attachment and encouraging everybody to practice, to put down this attachment.

So in the Buddha's nirvana, there's no more arising and no more extinguishing. There's no self—no big Self, no small self—and that is the true enlightenment. That's the enlightenment of the Buddha.

WIE: So if an individual is identified with the universe as a whole, is there still, in that case, an ego attachment that the individual hasn't given up?

SY: Yes.

WIE: Some of the great Ch'an and Zen patriarchs were reputed to have been very fierce teachers who would go to great lengths and use very extreme measures to liberate their students from their egos. In your books, you have written about how some of your own teachers were very tough with you as well. Is it because our attachment to the ego is so deep and so strong that these revered masters needed to employ such extreme measures to get their students to go beyond the ego?

SY: Actually, not everybody needs these harsh methods. The kind of method that is used has to match the needs of the individual student and the condition of the moment. Timing is very important. For example, when I teach my students, I only use harsh methods when it is necessary. Most of the time I use a lot of encouragement, especially for beginner students. It is for those who have been practicing for a while, who have a lot of confidence in their practice already but who still have this attachment to the ego, that I will use some harsher methods to help them to move forward. But it takes a very experienced, very good master to know when the time is right to use such methods.

WIE: Another passage from your book reads, "If your sense of self is strong, solid, and formidable, then there is no way you can experience enlightenment." What do you mean by this? Why is it difficult for a person with a strong sense of self or what Westerners would call "a strong ego" to experience enlightenment?

SY: It's not necessarily true that people who have a very strong ego cannot be enlightened. In fact, those who know that they have a strong ego may, in some cases, actually be very good candidates to practice the Buddha-dharma. You see, there is a type of person who is very egocentric yet at the same time has a strong desire for enlightenment. Because of this strong desire, they are naturally going to be very unhappy and dissatisfied with having a big ego, and that attitude will be good for their practice. When you have such a strong ego, you have to be willing to do something about it. So someone like this could be a good candidate for practicing and studying Ch'an.

Then there are also individuals who have what we would call a weaker or softer ego. This can help them, but only if they still have a real desire to deal with their ego. If they don't, they are not going to be any closer to enlightenment because they won't have any confidence in the practice. They won't have diligence in the practice. But if an individual has a weaker, softer ego and still understands that they need to practice diligently to deal with it, then we could say that these individuals, because they have both a strong desire for liberation and a smaller ego, are closer to enlightenment.

WIE: Today many Western spiritual teachers believe that traditional spiritual paths, including Buddhism, do not properly address all the needs of the modern seeker. In particular, they feel that people may need psychotherapy to supplement their spiritual practice in order to work out many of their emotional attachments and problems with their ego. Do you feel that the Ch'an path is incomplete when it comes to addressing the suffering of the modern seeker and that a person would be well advised to consider this dual approach—psychotherapy and spiritual practice—in their pursuit of enlightenment? Or is spiritual practice alone, if it's sincere and diligent, sufficient to free us from the ego?

SY: There are two different issues here. First, individuals who have very severe psychological problems should not use the Ch'an method. It's not good for them. If they just want to learn the beginner's sitting meditation, we will teach them and they will reap benefits from that, such as improved health. However, a person with severe problems should get a doctor to help them recover before they begin the practice of Ch'an.

But generally, for individuals who do not have severe psychiatric problems, Ch'an practice is sufficient. There's no need to get help from a psychiatrist or a therapist. In fact, sometimes psychiatrists or therapists come and seek help from me.

WIE: In the last thirty years, there have been many powerful teachers who have had profound spiritual understanding and experience and have attracted large numbers of students, but who eventually fell from grace due to corruption and scandal, sometimes in very shocking ways. Is it possible that spiritual experience and understanding could, in some cases, actually empower the ego?

SY: It's hard to say. I don't really want to comment on this. It is a problem. There are some individuals who think that they are enlightened, that they are liberated, and they also have the idea that after they're liberated, they do not need any morality; they do not need to uphold the precepts [basic obligations undertaken by Buddhists] anymore. And according to my own understanding of Buddhism—I can only speak for myself here—we follow Shakyamuni Buddha and if we look at the Buddha after he was enlightened, he didn't go and drink. He didn't go and hang out with women, sleep around and cheat people out of their money. And so that is what we follow. The Chinese Ch'an masters emphasize the importance of upholding the precepts.

WIE: For everyone, teachers and students?

SY: In the sutras, the Buddhist scriptures, they say that if you are really genuinely enlightened, you will naturally uphold the precepts.

WIE: You are a revered teacher with students in Taiwan and also Western students here in America. Some of the Western spiritual teachers and psychologists we have spoken to for this issue have said that the ego of Westerners is different from the ego of Easterners—that Westerners are more attached to an individual self and personal identity. If that's true, then theoretically, it should generally be easier for Easterners to get enlightened than it is for Westerners. Do you agree with that? Is that your experience?

SY: This is not necessarily the case. It all depends on whether you have the desire for enlightenment—whether, as I was saying, you really want to understand the nature of the ego.

WIE: You're saying that's the key to success?

SY: Yes, that's the key. You may have a weak or small ego, but if you don't care about these things and you don't have a strong desire, then you're not closer to enlightenment.

Courtesy: http://wie.org

Monday, October 03, 2005

Enlightenment, Self-enquiry, Bliss ...

Enlightenment

"Wonder of wonders! This very enlightenment is
the nature of all beings, and yet they are unhappy
for lack of it!"

— The Buddha's exclamation at the moment of his Awakening

admin – Sun, 02/10/2005 – 12:34pm

Bliss

The deeper into the Heart one dives, the greater grows the bliss enjoyed, the intense bliss of the sole Self-Awareness, which once appeared in various forms.

— Verse 451 of Guru Vachaga Kovai: Maharshi Ramana

admin – Sun, 02/10/2005 – 7:45am

Self Enquiry

One who has wisely chosen the straight path of Self-inquiry, can never go astray; or like the bright, clear Sun, the Self-Awareness reveals itself to whoever turns towards it.

— Verse 393 of Guru Vachaga Kovai: Maharshi Ramana

admin – Sun, 02/10/2005 – 7:43am

The Ego and the Self

There is the absolute Self from which a spark proceeds as from fire. The
spark is called the ego. In the case of an ignorant man it identifies
itself with an object simultaneously with its rise. It cannot remain
independent of such association with objects. This association is ajnana
or ignorance, whose destruction is the objective of our efforts. If its
objectifying tendency is killed it remains pure, and also merges into
the source. The wrong identification with the body is dehatmabuddhi
('i-am-the-body' idea). This must go before good results follow.

admin – Fri, 30/09/2005 – 5:46pm

Atma Vichara/ Self Enquiry

After the rise of the 'I'-thought there is the false identification of the 'I' with the body, the senses, the mind, etc. 'I' is wrongly associated with them and the true 'I' is lost sight of. In order to shift the pure 'I' from the contaminated 'I' this discarding is mentioned. But it does not mean exactly discarding of the non-self, but it means the finding of the real Self.
 
The real Self is the Infinite 'I' - 'I', i.e., 'I' is perfection. It is eternal. It has no origin and no end. The other 'I' is born and also dies. It is impermanent. See to whom are the changing thoughts. They will be found to arise after the 'I'- thought. Hold the 'I'-thought. They subside. Trace back the source of the 'I'-thought. The Self alone will remain.

admin – Fri, 30/09/2005 – 6:28am

Sunday, October 02, 2005

What a realized "person" sees

What a realized "person" sees


Question: When a man realises the Self, what will he see?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: There is no seeing. Seeing is only being. The
state of Self-realisation, as we call it, is not attaining something
new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being that
which you always are and which you always have been. All that is
needed is that you give up your realisation of the not-true as true.
All of us are regarding as real that which is not real. We have only
to give up this practice on our part. Then we shall realise the Self
as the Self, in other words, `Be the Self.' At one stage you will
laugh at yourself for trying to discover the Self which is not
self-evident. So, what can we say to this question?

That stage transcends the seer and the seen. There is no seer there to
see anything. The seer who is seeing all this now ceases to exist and
the Self alone remains.


http://www.hinduism.co.za/self-.htm



The Cinema Screen analogy

Scenes are projected on the screen in the cinema show, but the moving
pictures do not affect or alter the screen. The spectator pays attention to
them, not to the screen. They cannot exist apart from the screen, yet the
screen is ignored. So also the Self is the screen where the pictures,
activities, etc., are seen going on. A man is aware of the latter but not
aware of the essential former. All the same the world of pictures is not
apart from the Self. Whether he is aware of the screen or unaware, the
actions continue.

See Ramana Maharshi
admin's blog read more137 reads

Reincarnation, Rebirth and more

Questions answered by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

Question: Is reincarnation a fact?

Bhagavan: You are incarnated now, aren't you? Then you will be so again. But as the body is illusion then the illusion will repeat itself and keep on repeating itself until you find the Real Self.

Question: What is death and what is birth?

Bhagavan: Only the body has death and birth, and it [the body] is illusion. There is, in Reality, neither birth nor death.

Question: How much time may elapse between death and Rebirth?

Bhagavan: Perhaps one is reborn within a year, three years or thousands of years. Who can say? Anyway what is time? Time does not exist.(see)

admin – Tue, 27/09/2005 – 2:35pm

Reality

There is no greater mystery than this, that we keep
seeking reality though in fact we are reality. We
think that there is something hiding reality and that
this must be destroyed before reality is gained.
How ridiculous! A day will dawn when you will laugh
at all your past efforts. That which will be the day
you laugh is also here and now.

admin – Sun, 02/10/2005 – 12:36pm