God is One Formless Being
They think not of Being One,
They think not of the Jiva,
They think not of Karmas two (Good and Bad),
They think not of Mayas two (Pure and Impure);
The One Being within
Stands as Sentience and fosters;
Formless is He,
He supports all.
Stanza 2390
They think not of Being One,
They think not of the Jiva,
They think not of Karmas two (Good and Bad),
They think not of Mayas two (Pure and Impure);
The One Being within
Stands as Sentience and fosters;
Formless is He,
He supports all.
Stanza 2390
God is at home, it's we who have gone out for a walk.
Question: I have read in a book by Romain Rolland about Ramakrishna that nirvikalpa samadhi is a terrible and terrifying experience. Is nirvikalpa so terrible? Are we then undergoing all these tedious processes of meditation, purification and discipline only to end in a state of terror? Are we going to turn into living corpses?
Bhagwan : People have all sorts of notions about nirvikalpa. Why speak of Romain Rolland? If those who have all the Upanishads and vedantic tradition at their disposal have fantastic notions about nirvikalpa, who can blame a westerner for similar notions? Some yogis by breathing exercises allow themselves to fall into a cataleptic state far deeper than dreamless sleep, in which they are aware of nothing, absolutely nothing, and they glorify it as nirvikalpa. Some others think that once you dip into nirvikalpa you become an altogether different being. Still others take nirvikalpa to be attainable only through a trance in which the world-consciousness is totally obliterated, as in a fainting fit. All this is due to their viewing it intellectually.
Nirvikalpa is chit – effortless, formless consciousness. Where does the terror come in, and where is the mystery in being oneself? To some people whose minds have become ripe from a long practice in the past, nirvikalpa comes suddenly as a flood, but to others it comes in the course of their spiritual practice, a practice which slowly wears down the obstructing thoughts and reveals the screen of pure awareness ‘I’-’I’. Further practice renders the screen permanently exposed. This is Self-realization, mukti, or sahaja samadhi, the natural, effortless state. Mere nonperception of the differences [vikalpas] outside is not the real nature of firm nirvikalpa. Know that the non-rising of differences [vikalpas] in the dead mind alone is the true nirvikalpa.
Bhagwan : People have all sorts of notions about nirvikalpa. Why speak of Romain Rolland? If those who have all the Upanishads and vedantic tradition at their disposal have fantastic notions about nirvikalpa, who can blame a westerner for similar notions? Some yogis by breathing exercises allow themselves to fall into a cataleptic state far deeper than dreamless sleep, in which they are aware of nothing, absolutely nothing, and they glorify it as nirvikalpa. Some others think that once you dip into nirvikalpa you become an altogether different being. Still others take nirvikalpa to be attainable only through a trance in which the world-consciousness is totally obliterated, as in a fainting fit. All this is due to their viewing it intellectually.
Nirvikalpa is chit – effortless, formless consciousness. Where does the terror come in, and where is the mystery in being oneself? To some people whose minds have become ripe from a long practice in the past, nirvikalpa comes suddenly as a flood, but to others it comes in the course of their spiritual practice, a practice which slowly wears down the obstructing thoughts and reveals the screen of pure awareness ‘I’-’I’. Further practice renders the screen permanently exposed. This is Self-realization, mukti, or sahaja samadhi, the natural, effortless state. Mere nonperception of the differences [vikalpas] outside is not the real nature of firm nirvikalpa. Know that the non-rising of differences [vikalpas] in the dead mind alone is the true nirvikalpa.
We go through life walking in the immense darkness of unknown realities with a little flashlight in our hands, imagining that only what our little light makes visible is real. We generally see and experience only an infinitesimally small sliver of what actually exists and remain strictly within the confines of what our tiny light illumines. The true power of life does not lie within the confines of our tiny light, but in the immense darkness of unknown realities that are the greater story of our lives. Our lives are much more immense than we know, and connected to vast currents of hidden influences and possibilities. But we must stretch out into the darkness with the full measure of our longing, and surrender to the greater unknown context of our lives in order to begin to embrace and be embraced by a Love that is awaiting our invitation. And it is not only an invitation in word but also in deed—the act of offering our Being and the fullness of our lives to the darkness of the unknown currents—eternal possibilities that we cannot control but must instead invite with heartfelt surrender.
Sri Ramana Maharshi Jayanti
30 December 1879 - 14 April 1950
Salutations and boundless gratitude,
love and veneration to
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi,
the sage of Arunachala,
on his 139th Jayanti (birthday).
Following the Tamil calendar,
this auspicious day was celebrated
at Sri Ramanashramam on 24 December.
‘The Self is the only One.
If it is limited, it is the ego.
If unlimited, it is infinite. It is the Reality.’
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
'All seekers of the Truth should turn their
heads and hearts towards Sri Ramana Maharshi
on this very day and leave them there.
For it is He, as a pure expression of the Supreme Being
—The Unborn Awareness,
who has opened the door to Nirvana for all Humanity.
How fortunate are we to be sat at his holy feet
in veneration to the Limitless.'
December 30, 2018
30 December 1879 - 14 April 1950
Salutations and boundless gratitude,
love and veneration to
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi,
the sage of Arunachala,
on his 139th Jayanti (birthday).
Following the Tamil calendar,
this auspicious day was celebrated
at Sri Ramanashramam on 24 December.
‘The Self is the only One.
If it is limited, it is the ego.
If unlimited, it is infinite. It is the Reality.’
~ Sri Ramana Maharshi
'All seekers of the Truth should turn their
heads and hearts towards Sri Ramana Maharshi
on this very day and leave them there.
For it is He, as a pure ex
—The Unborn Awareness,
who has opened the door to Nirvana for all Humanity.
How fortunate are we to be sat at his holy feet
in veneration to the Limitless.'
December 30, 2018
Men seek retreats for themselves - in the country, by the sea, in the hills - and you yourself are particularly prone to this yearning. But all this is quite unphilosophic, when it is open to you, at any time you want, to retreat into yourself. No retreat offers someone more quiet and relaxation than that into his own mind, especially if he can dip into thoughts there which put him at immediate and complete ease: and by ease I simply mean a well-ordered life. So constantly give yourself this retreat, and renew yourself. The doctrines you will visit there should be few and fundamental, sufficient at one meeting to wash away all your pain and send you back free of resentment at what you must rejoin. And what is it you will resent? Human wickedness? Recall the conclusion that rational creatures are born for each other's sake, that tolerance is a part of justice, that wrongdoing is not deliberate. Consider the number of people who spent their lives in enmity, suspicion, hatred, outright war, and were then laid out for burial or reduced to ashes. Stop, then. Or will you fret at your allocation from the Whole? Revisit the alternatives -providence or atoms - and the many indications that the universe is a kind of community. But will matters of the flesh still have their hold on you? Consider that the mind, once it has abstracted itself and come to know its own defining power, has no contact with the movement of the bodily spirit, be that smooth or troubled: and finally remember all that you have heard and agreed about pain and pleasure. Well then, will a little fame distract you? Look at the speed of universal oblivion, the gulf of immeasurable time both before and after, the vacuity of applause, the indiscriminate fickleness of your apparent supporters, the tiny room in which all this is confined. The whole earth is a mere point in space: what a minute cranny within this is your own habitation, and how many and what sort will sing your praises here! Finally, then, remember this retreat into your own little territory within yourself. Above all, no agonies, no tensions. Be your own master, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal creature. And here are two of the most immediately useful thoughts you will dip into. First that things cannot touch the mind: they are external and inert; anxieties can only come from your internal judgement. Second, that all these things you see will change almost as you look at them, and then will be no more. Constantly bring to mind all that you yourself have already seen changed. The universe is change: life is judgement.
~ Meditations, Book IV
~ Meditations, Book IV
"Everybody" is always effortlessly aware but most of time, if not all the time, believing to be limited to what they are effortlessly aware of.
IT IS NOT YOUR WORK
D: Is a set meditation necessary for strengthening the mind?
M: Not if you keep the idea always before you that it is not your work. At first, effort is needed to remind yourself of it, but later on it becomes natural and continuous. The work will go on of its own accord, and your peace will remain undisturbed.
Meditation is your true nature. You call it meditation now, because there are other thoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled, you remain alone — that is, in the state of meditation free from thoughts; and that is your real nature, which you are now trying to gain by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called meditation. But when the practice becomes firm, the real nature shows itself as true meditation.
- Maharshi's Gospel
D: Is a set meditation necessary for strengthening the mind?
M: Not if you keep the idea always before you that it is not your work. At first, effort is needed to remind yourself of it, but later on it becomes natural and continuous. The work will go on of its own accord, and your peace will remain undisturbed.
Meditation is your true nature. You call it meditation now, because there are other thoughts distracting you. When these thoughts are dispelled, you remain alone — that is, in the state of meditation free from thoughts; and that is your real nature, which you are now trying to gain by keeping away other thoughts. Such keeping away of other thoughts is now called meditation. But when the practice becomes firm, the real nature shows itself as true meditation.
- Maharshi's Gospel
Blessed is the spirit of Christ
—so powerful that 2,000 years after
leaving the body, this light shines today
throughout the world.
May all who hold inside their heart
the true desire for freedom,
come swiftly to the recognition of the pure Self
and be timelessly happy.
Wherever you are, may Grace wash away
the trivia that distract you.
May all who meet you on the path of life
be transformed through this encounter.
May they be so touched by your light, peace and joy,
that they are compelled to search
within themselves to find the light
that they see in you.
Let this Freedom be contagious,
let this Love be contagious,
let this Truth be contagious.
This is your true responsibility
—to live out the fullness of your Being.
Merry Christmas!
Dec 24, 2018
—so powerful that 2,000 years after
leaving the body, this light shines today
throughout the world.
May all who hold inside their heart
the true desire for freedom,
come swiftly to the recognition of the pure Self
and be timelessly happy.
Wherever you are, may Grace wash away
the trivia that distract you.
May all who meet you on the path of life
be transformed through this encounter.
May they be so touched by your light, peace and joy,
that they are compelled to search
within themselves to find the light
that they see in you.
Let this Freedom be contagious,
let this Love be contagious,
let this Truth be contagious.
This is your true responsibility
—to live out the fullness of your Being.
Merry Christmas!
Dec 24, 2018
After God-realization, one sees that God manifests Himself in all things. However, there is a greater degree of His manifestation in the human being. And He is manifested more in devotees endowed with the quality of sattva - people who have no desire at all to enjoy `lust and gold'.
WORK AND RENUNCIATION
Disciple: What is the highest goal of spiritual experience for man?
Maharshi: Self-realization.
D: Can a married man realize the Self?
M: Certainly. Married or unmarried, a man can realize the Self; because That is here and now.
If it were not so, but attainable by some effort at some time, and if it were new and had to be acquired, it would not be worth pursuit. Because, what is not natural is not permanent either. But what I say is that the Self is here and now, and alone.
- Maharshi's Gospel
Disciple: What is the highest goal of spiritual experience for man?
Maharshi: Self-realization.
D: Can a married man realize the Self?
M: Certainly. Married or unmarried, a man can realize the Self; because That is here and now.
If it were not so, but attainable by some effort at some time, and if it were new and had to be acquired, it would not be worth pursuit. Because, what is not natural is not permanent either. But what I say is that the Self is here and now, and alone.
- Maharshi's Gospel
WHAT IS MEANT BY SAMSARA?
During the early days of my arrival here, on one day at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, a middle-aged Andhra, who had come recently, asked Bhagavan, “Swami, as I repeat Rama Namam (the name of Rama) regularly every morning and every evening for an hour, other thoughts come in, one by one, increase from time to time and ultimately find that I have forgotten my japam. What shall I do?”
“At that time catch hold of that name (Rama Namam)” said Bhagavan. We all laughed. Poor man! He felt grieved and said,
“The reasons for these interruption is the samsara (family), is not it? I am therefore thinking of abandoning the samsara.”
Bhagavan said, “Oh! Is that so? What really is meant by samsara? Is it within or without?” “Wife, children and others” he said. “Is that all the samsara? What have they done? Please find out first what really is meant by samsara. Afterwards we shall consider the question of abandoning them,” said Bhagavan. He could not reply and so kept quiet, crestfallen.
Bhagavan’s heart was full of compassion. With a look full of tender kindness he said, “Supposing you leave your wife and children. If you are here this will become another kind of samsara. Supposing you take to sannyasa. Another kind of samsara comes into existence in the shape of a karra (walking stick), kamandalu (water bowl) and the like. Why all that? Samsara means samsara of the mind. If you leave that samsara, it will be the same thing wherever you are. Nothing troubles you.”
Poor man! He mustered up some courage and said, “Yes, that is it, Swami. How to give up that samsara of the mind?” Bhagavan said, “That is just it; you said you were doing the japam of Rama Namam. During the train of thoughts, you said you were sometimes reminded of the fact that you had forgotten the japam of Rama Namam. Try to remind yourself of that fact as often as possible and catch hold of the name of Rama frequently. Other thoughts will then slowly decrease. For the japam of nam (repeating the name of the Lord) several stages have been prescribed.
It is better to repeat the name by the mere motion of the lips than by repeating it aloud; better than that is to repeat it in the mind, and the best is dhyanam.
Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 2nd December, 1945
During the early days of my arrival here, on one day at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, a middle-aged Andhra, who had come recently, asked Bhagavan, “Swami, as I repeat Rama Namam (the name of Rama) regularly every morning and every evening for an hour, other thoughts come in, one by one, increase from time to time and ultimately find that I have forgotten my japam. What shall I do?”
“At that time catch hold of that name (Rama Namam)” said Bhagavan. We all laughed. Poor man! He felt grieved and said,
“The reasons for these interruption is the samsara (family), is not it? I am therefore thinking of abandoning the samsara.”
Bhagavan said, “Oh! Is that so? What really is meant by samsara? Is it within or without?” “Wife, children and others” he said. “Is that all the samsara? What have they done? Please find out first what really is meant by samsara. Afterwards we shall consider the question of abandoning them,” said Bhagavan. He could not reply and so kept quiet, crestfallen.
Bhagavan’s heart was full of compassion. With a look full of tender kindness he said, “Supposing you leave your wife and children. If you are here this will become another kind of samsara. Supposing you take to sannyasa. Another kind of samsara comes into existence in the shape of a karra (walking stick), kamandalu (water bowl) and the like. Why all that? Samsara means samsara of the mind. If you leave that samsara, it will be the same thing wherever you are. Nothing troubles you.”
Poor man! He mustered up some courage and said, “Yes, that is it, Swami. How to give up that samsara of the mind?” Bhagavan said, “That is just it; you said you were doing the japam of Rama Namam. During the train of thoughts, you said you were sometimes reminded of the fact that you had forgotten the japam of Rama Namam. Try to remind yourself of that fact as often as possible and catch hold of the name of Rama frequently. Other thoughts will then slowly decrease. For the japam of nam (repeating the name of the Lord) several stages have been prescribed.
It is better to repeat the name by the mere motion of the lips than by repeating it aloud; better than that is to repeat it in the mind, and the best is dhyanam.
Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 2nd December, 1945
THE PLACE OF THE HEART
D: But I have heard it said by a Saint that his spiritual experience is felt at the place between the eyebrows.
M: As I said previously, that is the ultimate and perfect Realization which transcends subject-object relation. When that is achieved, it does not matter where the spiritual experience is felt.
D: But the question is, which is the correct view of the two, namely, (1) that the centre of spiritual experience is the place between the eyebrows, (2) that it is the heart.
M: For purposes of practice you may concentrate between the eyebrows, it would then be bhavana or imaginative contemplation of the mind; whereas the supreme state of anubhava or Realization, with which you become wholly identified and in which your individuality is completely dissolved, transcends the mind. Then, there can be no objectified centre to be experienced by you as a subject distinct and separate from it.
- Maharshi's Gospel
D: But I have heard it said by a Saint that his spiritual experience is felt at the place between the eyebrows.
M: As I said previously, that is the ultimate and perfect Realization which transcends subject-object relation. When that is achieved, it does not matter where the spiritual experience is felt.
D: But the question is, which is the correct view of the two, namely, (1) that the centre of spiritual experience is the place between the eyebrows, (2) that it is the heart.
M: For purposes of practice you may concentrate between the eyebrows, it would then be bhavana or imaginative contemplation of the mind; whereas the supreme state of anubhava or Realization, with which you become wholly identified and in which your individuality is completely dissolved, transcends the mind. Then, there can be no objectified centre to be experienced by you as a subject distinct and separate from it.
- Maharshi's Gospel
You ask, ‘What breaks this spell of delusion?
Is it determination?’ No.
The Self does not need determination.
You don’t need some extra strength, courage or blessing.
You don’t need anything,
for you are perfect and beyond need.
You are Truth itself, but presently you cannot step out of
what you always thought of as yourself,
your constructed self-image or self-portrait.
Your mind is not accepting that it is already done.
It is not even done.
It is neither finished nor unfinished.
It just Is.
Is it determination?’ No.
The Self does not need determination.
You don’t need some extra strength, courage or blessing.
You don’t need anything,
for you are perfect and beyond need.
You are Truth itself, but presently you cannot step out of
what you always thought of as yourself,
your constructed self-image or self-portrait.
Your mind is not accepting that it is already done.
It is not even done.
It is neither finished nor unfinished.
It just Is.
The Master is both within and without,
so he creates conditions to drive you inwards and at the same time
prepares the interior to drag you to the Centre.
~ Path of Self-Knowledge, 14
so he creates conditions to drive you inwards and at the same time
prepares the interior to drag you to the Centre.
~ Path of Self-Knowledge, 14
You are pure Awareness.
You are not Awareness sometimes
and sometimes not Awareness.
The idea that you are only sometimes awareness
and sometimes not awareness
is itself an idea appearing in Awareness.
Be aware of this.
You are not Awareness sometimes
and sometimes not Awareness.
The idea that you are only sometimes awareness
and sometimes not awareness
is itself an idea appearing in Awareness.
Be aware of this.
If you could look inside the Heart of any and every single human being, you would fall in love with them completely. If you see the inside as it really IS and not as your mind projects it to be, you would be so purely in love with the whole thing.
SAMADHI ALONE CAN REVEAL THE TRUTH
D: What is the use of samadhi and does thought subsist then?
M: Samadhi alone can reveal the Truth. Thoughts cast a veil over Reality, and so It is not realized as such in states other than samadhi.
In samadhi there is only the feeling ‘I AM’ and no thoughts. The experience ‘I AM’ is being still.
- Maharshi’s Gospel
D: What is the use of samadhi and does thought subsist then?
M: Samadhi alone can reveal the Truth. Thoughts cast a veil over Reality, and so It is not realized as such in states other than samadhi.
In samadhi there is only the feeling ‘I AM’ and no thoughts. The experience ‘I AM’ is being still.
- Maharshi’s Gospel
The greatest form of ego for an individual is to present himself as a teacher and become a guru.
~ Ramana Periya, Puranam, p. 135
~ Ramana Periya, Puranam, p. 135
True knowledge means to be empty;
empty of identity and belief in
and attachment to psychological conditioning.
There is a great space and silence
here in the emptiness.
A great intelligence looks out from that space
as the unfathomable Self.
You are one with this One.
This unity is love and Truth.
empty of identity and belief in
and attachment to psychological conditioning.
There is a great space and silence
here in the emptiness.
A great intelligence looks out from that space
as the unfathomable Self.
You are one with this One.
This unity is love and Truth.
Meenakshi was the wife of Muruganar, an outstanding devotee of Sri Ramana and a great poet:
Though my marriage was celebrated in a grand manner, I hardly had any married life worth the name. Soon after my marriage, my father left home and became a permanent inmate of Sri Ramanasramam and lived as Dandapani Swami. My husband who was a Tamil teacher in a Mission School got a copy of Aksharamanamalai from my father. After reading it he left home and reached Sri Ramanasramam and got totally
absorbed in Bhagavan. When I reached there, I found him and yet did not find him for he was now wholly of Bhagavan, and point blank refused to accept me as his wife.Yet I stayed at the Ashram.
In those days, the Ashram comprised just two cottages set in the most picturesque surroundings. There was the backdrop of the Arunachala hill in all its majesty. Bhagavan would do the cooking and I would assist him. The inmates were only about ten and we would literally feast on Bhagavan. Sri Ramana would teach me some new Tamil devotional song each day, and make me recite it the next day to ensure that I had learnt the same properly.
One day while all were meditating, my thoughts strayed. I started wishing for a cup of coffee. Bhagavan knew everyone’s thoughts. He said, “While everyone is meditating on the Self, Meenakshi is meditating on coffee.” Just then Manavasi Ramaswami Iyer arrived with iddlies and coffee for all of us. Bhagavan jokingly said, “Meenakshi’s tapas has borne fruit, please serve her first.”
After being abandoned by Muruganar, who would not take me as wife even after Bhagavan’s intervention, one day I wept bitterly before Bhagavan. He asked, “Did anyone chide you?” “No Bhagavan, I was only cursing my fate.” With a heart brimming with love he said, “Meenakshi, why don’t you have faith in my words? What is there in the family life of
which you are so enamoured? My protection is always there for you”.
FACE TO FACE WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI
Though my marriage was celebrated in a grand manner, I hardly had any married life worth the name. Soon after my marriage, my father left home and became a permanent inmate of Sri Ramanasramam and lived as Dandapani Swami. My husband who was a Tamil teacher in a Mission School got a copy of Aksharamanamalai from my father. After reading it he left home and reached Sri Ramanasramam and got totally
absorbed in Bhagavan. When I reached there, I found him and yet did not find him for he was now wholly of Bhagavan, and point blank refused to accept me as his wife.Yet I stayed at the Ashram.
In those days, the Ashram comprised just two cottages set in the most picturesque surroundings. There was the backdrop of the Arunachala hill in all its majesty. Bhagavan would do the cooking and I would assist him. The inmates were only about ten and we would literally feast on Bhagavan. Sri Ramana would teach me some new Tamil devotional song each day, and make me recite it the next day to ensure that I had learnt the same properly.
One day while all were meditating, my thoughts strayed. I started wishing for a cup of coffee. Bhagavan knew everyone’s thoughts. He said, “While everyone is meditating on the Self, Meenakshi is meditating on coffee.” Just then Manavasi Ramaswami Iyer arrived with iddlies and coffee for all of us. Bhagavan jokingly said, “Meenakshi’s tapas has borne fruit, please serve her first.”
After being abandoned by Muruganar, who would not take me as wife even after Bhagavan’s intervention, one day I wept bitterly before Bhagavan. He asked, “Did anyone chide you?” “No Bhagavan, I was only cursing my fate.” With a heart brimming with love he said, “Meenakshi, why don’t you have faith in my words? What is there in the family life of
which you are so enamoured? My protection is always there for you”.
FACE TO FACE WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI
Padam's power
One day when I was sitting by the side of Bhagavan I felt so miserable that I put the following question to him: "Is the 'sankalpa' (will or intention) of the jnani not capable of warding off the destinies of the devotees?"
Bhagavan smiled and said:" Does the jnani have a 'sankalpa' at all? The 'jivanmukta' (liberated being) can have no sankalpas whatsoever. It is just impossible."
I continued:" Then what is the fate of all of us who pray to you to have grace on us and save us? Will we not be benefited or saved by sitting in front of you, or by coming to you?"
Bhagavan turned graciously to me and said:"...a person's bad karma will be considerably reduced while he is in the presence of a jnani. A jnani has no sankalpas but his 'sannhidi' (presence) is the most powerful force.
He need not have sankalpa, but his presiding presence, the most powerful force can do wonders: save souls, give peace of mind,, even give liberation to ripe souls. Your prayers are not answered by him but absorbed by his presence. His presence saves you, wards off the karma and gives you the boons as the case may be, (but) involuntarily. The jnani does save the devotees, but not by sankalpa, which is non-existent in him, only through his presiding presence, his sannhidi.
PADAMALAI
Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi recorded by Muruganar
-edited and annotated by D.Godman
One day when I was sitting by the side of Bhagavan I felt so miserable that I put the following question to him: "Is the 'sankalpa' (will or intention) of the jnani not capable of warding off the destinies of the devotees?"
Bhagavan smiled and said:" Does the jnani have a 'sankalpa' at all? The 'jivanmukta' (liberated being) can have no sankalpas whatsoever. It is just impossible."
I continued:" Then what is the fate of all of us who pray to you to have grace on us and save us? Will we not be benefited or saved by sitting in front of you, or by coming to you?"
Bhagavan turned graciously to me and said:"...a person's bad karma will be considerably reduced while he is in the presence of a jnani. A jnani has no sankalpas but his 'sannhidi' (presence) is the most powerful force.
He need not have sankalpa, but his presiding presence, the most powerful force can do wonders: save souls, give peace of mind,, even give liberation to ripe souls. Your prayers are not answered by him but absorbed by his presence. His presence saves you, wards off the karma and gives you the boons as the case may be, (but) involuntarily. The jnani does save the devotees, but not by sankalpa, which is non-existent in him, only through his presiding presence, his sannhidi.
PADAMALAI
Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi recorded by Muruganar
-edited and annotated by D.Godman
You would never go and sleep in your enemy's house. You'd have one eye open, one eye closed, because there's no trust and because there's fear. Then, how can there be love in such a place? Love comes when you don't have a "trading love." You have a love in spite of people judging you. You have a love for them but not for their "person". You see, you think you have to love a person's "person". And that is very difficult, meaning the idea someone has about their self. Someone once said, I am not seeing the world as it really is. I am seeing the world as I am. Everything begins in your "I Amness". As you come to recognize, to go beyond the superficial facade of a "person", and move back into the Place of Presence inside yourself, then all your fears will go. Knowledge will come. Silence will come, or they will appear to come. They've always been there in fact. Let's say they're unveiled rather than they come. They may be experienced as though they come, because you feel like you're discovering them again for the first time.
Everyone is committing suicide.
The eternal, blissful, natural state has been smothered by this ignorant life. In this way the present life is due to the killing of the eternal, positive existence.
Is it not really a case of suicide? So, why worry about killing etc.?
~ Maharshi's Gospel
The eternal, blissful, natural state has been smothered by this ignorant life. In this way the present life is due to the killing of the eternal, positive existence.
Is it not really a case of suicide? So, why worry about killing etc.?
~ Maharshi's Gospel
SLEEP DURING WAKING
D: I cannot remain in sushupti as long as I like and also be in it at will, just as I am in the waking state? What is the jnani’s experience of these three states?
M: Sushupti does exist in your waking state also. You are in sushupti even now. That should be consciously entered into and reached in this very waking state. There is no real going in and coming out of it. To be aware of sushupti in the jagrat state is jagrat-sushupti and that is samadhi.
The ajnani cannot remain long in sushupti, because he is forced by his nature to emerge from it. His ego is not dead and it will rise again and again. But the jnani crushes the ego at its source. It may seem to emerge at times in his case also as if impelled by prarabdha.
That is, in the case of the jnani also, for all outward purposes prarabdha would seem to sustain or keep up the ego, as in the case of the ajnani; but there is this fundamental difference, that the ajnani’s ego when it rises up (really it has subsided except in deep sleep) is quite ignorant of its source; in other words, the ajnani is not aware of his sushupti in his dream and waking states;
in the case of the jnani, on the contrary, the rise or existence of the ego is only apparent, and he enjoys his unbroken, transcendental experience in spite of such apparent rise or existence of the ego, keeping his attention (lakshya) always on the Source. This ego is harmless; it is merely like the skeleton of a burnt rope — though with a form, it is useless to tie up anything. By constantly keeping one’s attention on the Source, the ego is dissolved in that Source like a salt-doll in the sea.
- Maharshi’s Gospel, p. 29
D: I cannot remain in sushupti as long as I like and also be in it at will, just as I am in the waking state? What is the jnani’s experience of these three states?
M: Sushupti does exist in your waking state also. You are in sushupti even now. That should be consciously entered into and reached in this very waking state. There is no real going in and coming out of it. To be aware of sushupti in the jagrat state is jagrat-sushupti and that is samadhi.
The ajnani cannot remain long in sushupti, because he is forced by his nature to emerge from it. His ego is not dead and it will rise again and again. But the jnani crushes the ego at its source. It may seem to emerge at times in his case also as if impelled by prarabdha.
That is, in the case of the jnani also, for all outward purposes prarabdha would seem to sustain or keep up the ego, as in the case of the ajnani; but there is this fundamental difference, that the ajnani’s ego when it rises up (really it has subsided except in deep sleep) is quite ignorant of its source; in other words, the ajnani is not aware of his sushupti in his dream and waking states;
in the case of the jnani, on the contrary, the rise or existence of the ego is only apparent, and he enjoys his unbroken, transcendental experience in spite of such apparent rise or existence of the ego, keeping his attention (lakshya) always on the Source. This ego is harmless; it is merely like the skeleton of a burnt rope — though with a form, it is useless to tie up anything. By constantly keeping one’s attention on the Source, the ego is dissolved in that Source like a salt-doll in the sea.
- Maharshi’s Gospel, p. 29
Beings
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