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.
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."
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
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.
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
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?"
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
