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Don't think you must run away from conditionings or you must run away from your job or you must leave your family or you must do anything like this. Never concern yourself with the body. Mentally learn to let go; to think less. Cut down on your thinking and your thoughts. Some of you still believe that if you do not think about something, it will never happen. This is not true. As a matter of fact, it is reverse. If you do not think, then the true nature of yourself will be revealed, and the true nature of the universe will be revealed.
Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.
Namaste♥ à¥â™¥Pranam♥ à¥â™¥Namaskar"The PURE KNOWLEDGE of VEDANTA"
"THINK GLOBALLY, ACT HOMELY , SOCIALLY RELIGIOUSLY,SPIRITUALLY."
"SILENCE & DIVINE SILENCE"
"In SILENCE,speech is kept under control.This control is generally limited only to VAIKHARI ( audible speech)."
"If the mind becomes engrossed in JAPA or MEDITATION,then,in that silence,by focusing the mind on the desired object one can reach up to MADHYAMA (mental speech,ideas and thoughts),or even reach PASHYANTI (the finest impulse of sound, a level where sound vibrations rise from the MOOLADHAR (Chakra) and reach up to the heart,the first manifested consciousness,the seat of all knowledge.)"
"But in divine silence,,all four sounds ---PARA (transcendent sound,pure consciousness),PASCHYANTI,MADHYAMA and VAIKHARI--are silenced."
"Internally or externally,there is no object in front of one."
"All objects of perception, that is the ENTIRE UNIVERSE,are dissolved."
"The soul becomes established in its own self."
"This state is higher than the natural state of SILENCE of the Chitta ( Mind stuff,psyche), and it cannot be attained through any external means of instruction."
"Inner DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS ans SILENCE alone are necessary for this,which only DHAKSHINA is capable of doing."
"Although the TREASURE of INFINITE Knowledge is within,a human beings has every limited INTELLECT."
"Just as solitude is necessary for "SPIRITUAL PRACTICES",so purification of CONDUCT is possible only through "SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT."
"Every step we take has a relationship to SOCIAL and EXTERNAL Codes of CONDUCT(Charity, Purity, Unity and Divinity), Religiosity & Spirituality."
"To Tolerate,Respect and Unconditional love differences in opinion,as well as opposition is the Duty of a Social,Religious & Spiritual Gentleman,aspirant."
"Therein lies the welfare of the human beings,Gentleman,aspirant and of Social Conduct,Religious & Spiritual Practices (Within,Self Realization)."
"The world is incapable of understanding the FEELINGS and THOUGHTS of an true- individual,aspirant or devotee ."
"The Social Conductivity,Religiosity & Spirituality (Evolution of SELF) begins with "SELF EFFORTS (effort of an Individual being at individual Level,within)."
"Self- Introspection " must also be embraced as indispensable part of SOCIAL CONDUCTIVITY, RELIGIOSITY,SPIRITUALITY."
"Elimination of ILLUSION & Misconception is the GOAL of Social Conductivity,Religiosity & Spirituality i.e. Guru Tattwa,Prarabdha."
"THINK GLOBALLY, ACT HOMELY , SOCIALLY RELIGIOUSLY,SPIRITUALLY."{All are ONE & ONE is All. Dvaita (Duality,Diversity) v\s Advaita ( Non-Duality)}."
Guru Tattwa,,Poetyca,Prarbdha
" Consciousness of universal Frds. for Love & Peace within{Self Realized} with non-duality(Advaita),i.e. "Only One God" i.e. *{"Holy Human"}*
Guru Tattwa,,Poetyca,Prarbdha
"THINK GLOBALLY, ACT HOMELY , SOCIALLY RELIGIOUSLY,SPIRITUALLY."
"SILENCE & DIVINE SILENCE"
"In SILENCE,speech is kept under control.This control is generally limited only to VAIKHARI ( audible speech)."
"If the mind becomes engrossed in JAPA or MEDITATION,then,in that silence,by focusing the mind on the desired object one can reach up to MADHYAMA (mental speech,ideas and thoughts),or even reach PASHYANTI (the finest impulse of sound, a level where sound vibrations rise from the MOOLADHAR (Chakra) and reach up to the heart,the first manifested consciousness,the seat of all knowledge.)"
"But in divine silence,,all four sounds ---PARA (transcendent sound,pure consciousness),PASCHYANTI,MADHYAMA and VAIKHARI--are silenced."
"Internally or externally,there is no object in front of one."
"All objects of perception, that is the ENTIRE UNIVERSE,are dissolved."
"The soul becomes established in its own self."
"This state is higher than the natural state of SILENCE of the Chitta ( Mind stuff,psyche), and it cannot be attained through any external means of instruction."
"Inner DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS ans SILENCE alone are necessary for this,which only DHAKSHINA is capable of doing."
"Although the TREASURE of INFINITE Knowledge is within,a human beings has every limited INTELLECT."
"Just as solitude is necessary for "SPIRITUAL PRACTICES",so purification of CONDUCT is possible only through "SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT."
"Every step we take has a relationship to SOCIAL and EXTERNAL Codes of CONDUCT(Charity, Purity, Unity and Divinity), Religiosity & Spirituality."
"To Tolerate,Respect and Unconditional love differences in opinion,as well as opposition is the Duty of a Social,Religious & Spiritual Gentleman,aspirant."
"Therein lies the welfare of the human beings,Gentleman,aspirant and of Social Conduct,Religious & Spiritual Practices (Within,Self Realization)."
"The world is incapable of understanding the FEELINGS and THOUGHTS of an true- individual,aspirant or devotee ."
"The Social Conductivity,Religiosity & Spirituality (Evolution of SELF) begins with "SELF EFFORTS (effort of an Individual being at individual Level,within)."
"Self- Introspection " must also be embraced as indispensable part of SOCIAL CONDUCTIVITY, RELIGIOSITY,SPIRITUALITY."
"Elimination of ILLUSION & Misconception is the GOAL of Social Conductivity,Religiosity & Spirituality i.e. Guru Tattwa,Prarabdha."
"THINK GLOBALLY, ACT HOMELY , SOCIALLY RELIGIOUSLY,SPIRITUALLY."{All are ONE & ONE is All. Dvaita (Duality,Diversity) v\s Advaita ( Non-Duality)}."
Guru Tattwa,,Poetyca,Prarbdha
" Consciousness of universal Frds. for Love & Peace within{Self Realized} with non-duality(Advaita),i.e. "Only One God" i.e. *{"Holy Human"}*
Guru Tattwa,,Poetyca,Prarbdha
From Sandra Ma:
A Sufi mystic was very poor, hungry, rejected, tired of the journey. He went to a village in the night and the village wouldn't accept him. The village belonged to the orthodox people. They wouldn't even give him shelter in the town. The night was cold and he was hungry, tired, shivering with not enough clothes. He was sitting outside the town under a tree. His disciples were sitting there with great sadness, depression, even anger.
And then he started praying and he said to God, 'You are wonderful! You always give me whatsoever I need.' This was too much.
A disciple said, 'Wait, now you are going too far, particularly on this night. These words are false. We are hungry, tired, with no clothes, and a cold night is descending. There are wild animals all around and we are rejected by the town, we are without shelter. For what are you giving your thankfulness to God? What do you mean when you say, "You always give me whatsoever I need?"'
The mystic said, 'Yes, I repeat it again: God gives me whatsoever I need. Tonight I need poverty, tonight I need being rejected, tonight I need to be hungry, in danger. Otherwise, why should He give it to me? It must be a need. It is needed and I have to be grateful. He looks after my needs so beautifully. He is really wonderful!'
This is an attitude that is unconcerned with the situation. The situation is not relevant.
Via Anand Zen.
A Sufi mystic was very poor, hungry, rejected, tired of the journey. He went to a village in the night and the village wouldn't accept him. The village belonged to the orthodox people. They wouldn't even give him shelter in the town. The night was cold and he was hungry, tired, shivering with not enough clothes. He was sitting outside the town under a tree. His disciples were sitting there with great sadness, depression, even anger.
And then he started praying and he said to God, 'You are wonderful! You always give me whatsoever I need.' This was too much.
A disciple said, 'Wait, now you are going too far, particularly on this night. These words are false. We are hungry, tired, with no clothes, and a cold night is descending. There are wild animals all around and we are rejected by the town, we are without shelter. For what are you giving your thankfulness to God? What do you mean when you say, "You always give me whatsoever I need?"'
The mystic said, 'Yes, I repeat it again: God gives me whatsoever I need. Tonight I need poverty, tonight I need being rejected, tonight I need to be hungry, in danger. Otherwise, why should He give it to me? It must be a need. It is needed and I have to be grateful. He looks after my needs so beautifully. He is really wonderful!'
This is an attitude that is unconcerned with the situation. The situation is not relevant.
Via Anand Zen.
The essence of mind is only awareness or consciousness. When the ego, however, dominates it, it functions as the reasoning, thinking or sensing faculty. The cosmic mind being not limited by the ego, has nothing separate from itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by "I am that I AM".
The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist the torturing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly therefore Bliss and misery are only modes of mind; but the weak mode is not easily interchangeable with the strong mode. Activity is weakness and consequently miserable; passivity is strength and therefore blissful. The dormant strength is not apparent and therefore not availed of.
The cosmic mind, manifesting in some rare being, is able to effect the linkage in others of the individual (weak) mind with the universal (strong) mind of the inner recess. Such a rare being is called the GURU or God in manifestation.
The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist the torturing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly therefore Bliss and misery are only modes of mind; but the weak mode is not easily interchangeable with the strong mode. Activity is weakness and consequently miserable; passivity is strength and therefore blissful. The dormant strength is not apparent and therefore not availed of.
The cosmic mind, manifesting in some rare being, is able to effect the linkage in others of the individual (weak) mind with the universal (strong) mind of the inner recess. Such a rare being is called the GURU or God in manifestation.
The potential of being human is to discover that state within oneself which is beyond effort, which cannot be maintained or sustained. No effort is required for being.
Once that realization has occurred, one sees that oneself is not the moving part, not emotion, not time, not space, not body, not relationship, not contact, not separation, not mind, not senses, not anything that belongs to the interrelated play of opposites.
Knowing I am not that, leaving all that to dance; not striving to control what is by nature restless and moving, but realizing oneself as that unmoving being, then one is free. That alone is freedom. Freedom beyond the concept of freedom. Not someone being free; free of somebody-ness.
Get this already and stop complaining :-):
You are not a victim of the universe, the universe is a direct victim of you (in a good way).
In other words, circumstances don't create your reality, your state of being does.
The more transparent your state of being, the higher your 'frequency', the more reality will mirror that and show up as malleable, empty, vibrant, playful, changeable, fun and as a loyal servant to whatever it is your heart truly resonates with beyond petty desires and wants based in fear.
The more you are confidently rested as your natural state of being - your enjoyable fearless frequency which is not of the world, but of your self/presence only - the more reality will mirror this to you.
When you assign causes outside of yourself, blame the world, someone else, judge the circumstances negatively, or any such act of 'pointing out there as the cause of what's in here', you are literally densifying yourself into a solid, seemingly separate individual in a solid, external reality.
The more you take ownership for your state of being, and stop projecting any causes for how you feel outside of yourself, the higher your frequency, the less you will give away your natural gift - the power to create through being.
So see that everything that happens is what you have attracted to yourself. Stop pointing fingers, and wake up to your greatest empowerment by taking ownership of your state of being and committing yourself to whatever practice works for you to anchor yourself in the 'inner joy', instead of seeing 'outer causes and circumstances mean something.'
Ignore the world, know only your own presence and the joy that lies within that. Let that joy be the response to whatever circumstances come to you, and have faith only in your own presence. That way you give reality a chance to mirror that for you.
There is no limit to what's possible. Discover this empowerment and be free from judgment. The secret to a happier, lighter, less solidified life circumstantially speaking, lies in owning your present response to this moment, your present state of being, your present frequency.
You are not a victim of the universe, the universe is a direct victim of you (in a good way).
In other words, circumstances don't create your reality, your state of being does.
The more transparent your state of being, the higher your 'frequency', the more reality will mirror that and show up as malleable, empty, vibrant, playful, changeable, fun and as a loyal servant to whatever it is your heart truly resonates with beyond petty desires and wants based in fear.
The more you are confidently rested as your natural state of being - your enjoyable fearless frequency which is not of the world, but of your self/presence only - the more reality will mirror this to you.
When you assign causes outside of yourself, blame the world, someone else, judge the circumstances negatively, or any such act of 'pointing out there as the cause of what's in here', you are literally densifying yourself into a solid, seemingly separate individual in a solid, external reality.
The more you take ownership for your state of being, and stop projecting any causes for how you feel outside of yourself, the higher your frequency, the less you will give away your natural gift - the power to create through being.
So see that everything that happens is what you have attracted to yourself. Stop pointing fingers, and wake up to your greatest empowerment by taking ownership of your state of being and committing yourself to whatever practice works for you to anchor yourself in the 'inner joy', instead of seeing 'outer causes and circumstances mean something.'
Ignore the world, know only your own presence and the joy that lies within that. Let that joy be the response to whatever circumstances come to you, and have faith only in your own presence. That way you give reality a chance to mirror that for you.
There is no limit to what's possible. Discover this empowerment and be free from judgment. The secret to a happier, lighter, less solidified life circumstantially speaking, lies in owning your present response to this moment, your present state of being, your present frequency.
Ecstatic love ♥♥♥
*******************
Ramanatha brahmachari used to feed bhagavan with such love and devotion that bhagavan felt that he had been captured by his love.That is why bhagavan said on one occasion ," i am only afraid of two devotees,Ramanatha brahmachari and Mudhaliar paatti".It was not physical fear,it was more a feeling of helplessness.If a devotee has a strong ,burning love for his Guru,the Guru is compelled to do anything that the devotee asks."Bhagavan always felt apprehensive whenever ramanatha brahmachari appeared because he knew that he would be unable to resist any of his requests.Ramakrishna paramahamsa once expressed the same idea when he said: When you have attained ecstatic love you have found the rope to tie God with'.
*******************
Ramanatha brahmachari used to feed bhagavan with such love and devotion that bhagavan felt that he had been captured by his love.That is why bhagavan said on one occasion ," i am only afraid of two devotees,Ramanatha brahmachari and Mudhaliar paatti".It was not physical fear,it was more a feeling of helplessness.If a devotee has a strong ,burning love for his Guru,the Guru is compelled to do anything that the devotee asks."Bhagavan always felt apprehensive whenever ramanatha brahmachari appeared because he knew that he would be unable to resist any of his requests.Ramakrishna paramahamsa once expressed the same idea when he said: When you have attained ecstatic love you have found the rope to tie God with'.
I was talking to a friend who mentioned that she often felt worthless, a failure, a waste of space. I pointed her to a place where she could finally see that there was infinite worth in feeling worthless, that even worthlessness had a rightful place in her, that as a child of consciousness, as a wave in the ocean of life, it was worth something, and that she was vast enough to contain ALL waves - worthiness, worthlessness, and the rest.
Why should she limit herself to just feeling one thing all the time? Why should she be 'the worthy one' and nothing else? Was she really so contained, so small, so bounded, so limited? Was she not, in fact, the wide open space of consciousness itself, the no-thing that holds everything, making space for all of life?
Worthlessness was her guru, waking her up from her trance of worth, shattering her limited, one-sided image of herself, enlightening her to the true indefinable vastness that she was. The true worth she had always sought was actually hidden there at the very heart of her most intense feelings of worthlessness. They just needed to be faced, met, embraced, that's all. They were simply lost children, looking for a home in her, having been denied entry time and time again up until now.
Standing in the midst of worthlessness, we discovered that we were truly worthy of it. Our feelings of unworthiness have so much worth, and there we truly meet, in intimacy. How ingenious that worth would hide inside worthlessness - the last place we'd ever think to look. This play of apparent opposites is stunning.
Why should she limit herself to just feeling one thing all the time? Why should she be 'the worthy one' and nothing else? Was she really so contained, so small, so bounded, so limited? Was she not, in fact, the wide open space of consciousness itself, the no-thing that holds everything, making space for all of life?
Worthlessness was her guru, waking her up from her trance of worth, shattering her limited, one-sided image of herself, enlightening her to the true indefinable vastness that she was. The true worth she had always sought was actually hidden there at the very heart of her most intense feelings of worthlessness. They just needed to be faced, met, embraced, that's all. They were simply lost children, looking for a home in her, having been denied entry time and time again up until now.
Standing in the midst of worthlessness, we discovered that we were truly worthy of it. Our feelings of unworthiness have so much worth, and there we truly meet, in intimacy. How ingenious that worth would hide inside worthlessness - the last place we'd ever think to look. This play of apparent opposites is stunning.
Ð’Ñе еÑÑ‚ÑŒ пуÑтота, понимаете? Ð’Ñе еÑÑ‚ÑŒ безмолвие. Ðтот Ñтул пуÑÑ‚. Ðта комната пуÑта, в ней ничего не проиÑходит. Облака пуÑÑ‚Ñ‹, Ñвет пуÑÑ‚, тело - оно пуÑто. Ðтот ум не ÑущеÑтвует, кроме как мыÑль, ÐºÐ¾Ñ‚Ð¾Ñ€Ð°Ñ Ñ‚Ð¾Ð¶Ðµ пуÑта. Смех пуÑÑ‚. Плач пуÑÑ‚. Разговор пуÑÑ‚... Ланч - пуÑÑ‚. Безмолвие пуÑто. ГромкоÑÑ‚ÑŒ и шум пуÑÑ‚Ñ‹. Ðо не превращайте Ñто в объект. Ðе превращайте пуÑтоту в ещё одну ловушку. Иначе кто-нибудь Ñкажет "Я более пуÑÑ‚, чем Ñ‚Ñ‹". Понимаете? ПуÑтота за пределами Ñамой концепции пуÑтоты. И Ñто уже так. Ðе пытайтеÑÑŒ попаÑÑ‚ÑŒ туда. Ðто уже так. Признайте, заново откройте то, в чем и из чего воÑпринимаетÑÑ Ð´Ð°Ð¶Ðµ шум.
What is the importance of the company we keep, in relation to our journey to the Divine? The Divine Master explains to us through absolutely wonderful examples today.
Iron turns into rust if it seeks the company of soil. It glows, softens and takes on useful shapes, if it enjoys the company of fire. Dust can fly if it chooses the wind as its friend; however if it prefers water, it has to end as slime in a pit. It has neither wing nor foot, yet it can either fly or walk, rise or fall, according to the friend it selects. Knowing this truth, the great saint, Kabir once said: "Here are my prostrations to the good, here are my prostrations to the bad." When asked why he offered salutations to the bad, he replied, "My prostrations to the bad, so that they may leave me alone. I do the same before good, so that they might remain near me always." You are shaped by the company you keep.
- Divine Discourse, Nov 14, 1976.
Iron turns into rust if it seeks the company of soil. It glows, softens and takes on useful shapes, if it enjoys the company of fire. Dust can fly if it chooses the wind as its friend; however if it prefers water, it has to end as slime in a pit. It has neither wing nor foot, yet it can either fly or walk, rise or fall, according to the friend it selects. Knowing this truth, the great saint, Kabir once said: "Here are my prostrations to the good, here are my prostrations to the bad." When asked why he offered salutations to the bad, he replied, "My prostrations to the bad, so that they may leave me alone. I do the same before good, so that they might remain near me always." You are shaped by the company you keep.
- Divine Discourse, Nov 14, 1976.
You are existing at many planes simultaneously at this moment. The only reason you don’t know of your other identities is because you’re so attached to this one. But this one or that one; don’t get lost, don’t stick anywhere. It’s just more stuff. Go for broke, awake totally.
It is not difficult to be free. Freedom is within you. Love is within you and you are searching at the supermarket. This samsara is a supermarket dealing in commodities. Turn your back on it and you are free. Return home.
The sun is so big, much bigger than the earth, yet a single cloud can hide the sun. Clouds are thoughts. Likewise, the I-thought is hiding the Self. The I-thought is hiding peace, beauty, and love. How to remove the cloud? Inquire, and it will vanish when you inquire, because it is not real.
The sun is so big, much bigger than the earth, yet a single cloud can hide the sun. Clouds are thoughts. Likewise, the I-thought is hiding the Self. The I-thought is hiding peace, beauty, and love. How to remove the cloud? Inquire, and it will vanish when you inquire, because it is not real.
To believe in Him under any particular form is not enough. Accept Him in His numberless forms, shapes and modes of being, in everything that exists. Aim at the whole and all your actions will be whole.
When you investigate the one who's interested in a life in the world, and you find out that...that one is just as much a perceived phenomenon as the 'world' is...somehow through this discovery the Self is revealed...where are your attachments in that moment of recognition?...where is your desire?...where are your fears?...where is your self-interest?...everything is blown away.
The senses are still functioning, the images of the world are still there...but the attachments and the fears are gone, because the one who would experience them disappeared...you are now the Self...This is what Bhagavan means when he says...
'When you are the Self, the world is not seen'...
The senses are still functioning, the images of the world are still there...but the attachments and the fears are gone, because the one who would experience them disappeared...you are now the Self...This is what Bhagavan means when he says...
'When you are the Self, the world is not seen'...
QUESTION: so would you say that Bhagavan was very tolerant of people who treated him badly?
ANNAMALAI SWAMY:
yes. He never responded in a negative way to criticism.Sometimes he would even laugh when people said bad things about him.He was indifferent to praise and blame.They didn't touch him.
When perumal swamy printed his insulting book about Bhagavan, Bhagavan simply said,keep the book in front of the ashram so that people can read it there.The good people won't believe it,but when the bad people read it,they will stay away and leave me in peace.'
This happened in the 1930s at a time when large crowds of people were started to come to ramanasramam.Perumal swamy did a good job of distributing the book himself,for many of the casual visitors from town stopped coming.It was a bit of a break for us because many people would just come at meal times,hoping to get a free meal. These free loaders were a disturbance for all of us.
ANNAMALAI SWAMY:
yes. He never responded in a negative way to criticism.Sometimes he would even laugh when people said bad things about him.He was indifferent to praise and blame.They didn't touch him.
When perumal swamy printed his insulting book about Bhagavan, Bhagavan simply said,keep the book in front of the ashram so that people can read it there.The good people won't believe it,but when the bad people read it,they will stay away and leave me in peace.'
This happened in the 1930s at a time when large crowds of people were started to come to ramanasramam.Perumal swamy did a good job of distributing the book himself,for many of the casual visitors from town stopped coming.It was a bit of a break for us because many people would just come at meal times,hoping to get a free meal. These free loaders were a disturbance for all of us.
The conception, that some liberated master is greater than another begets dogmatism and ignorance. In Omnipresence there is no labor foreman, no president, nor servant; no great, greater, and greatest. All are equal and one with the Spirit - a joyous conclave of Divine Amity.
Life - who lives it?
Knowledge - who seeks it?
Death - who fears it?
Paths - who follows them?
Enlightment - who attains it?
...
I do.
Now, find out what 'I' is.
Knowledge - who seeks it?
Death - who fears it?
Paths - who follows them?
Enlightment - who attains it?
...
I do.
Now, find out what 'I' is.
Some believe in existence.
Others believe nothing exists.
Rare is the one who believes nothing
And is never confused.
Others believe nothing exists.
Rare is the one who believes nothing
And is never confused.
As I see it, there's no Buddha, no living beings, no long ago, no now.
If you want to get it, you've already got it -it's not something that requires time.
There's no religious practice, no enlightenment, no getting anything, no missing out on anything.
At no time is there any other Dharma superior to this.
If anyone claims there is a Dharma superior to this, I say it must be a dream, a phantom.
All I have to say to you is simply this.
If you want to get it, you've already got it -it's not something that requires time.
There's no religious practice, no enlightenment, no getting anything, no missing out on anything.
At no time is there any other Dharma superior to this.
If anyone claims there is a Dharma superior to this, I say it must be a dream, a phantom.
All I have to say to you is simply this.
Concentration
Q: Is concentration one of the sadhanas (spiritual practices)?
M: Concentration is not thinking of one thing only. Rather, it is the putting off of all other thoughts, which obstruct the vision of our true nature. All our efforts are only directed towards lifting the veil of ignorance. Now it appears difficult to quell the thoughts, but in the regenerated state, it will be found more difficult to activate them! Why should we think of these things? There is the Self alone. Thoughts can function only if there are objects -- but there are no objects, so how can thoughts arise at all? Habit makes us believe that it is difficult to cease thinking. If this error were discovered, one would not be so foolish as to exert oneself unnecessarily.
Q: But the mind slips away from our control.
M: That may be so. Do not think of it. When you recollect, bring it back and turn it inward. That is enough. No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not one's birthright. The successful few owe their success to their perseverance.
This message is from the book Conscious Immortality, Conversations with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Recorded by Paul Brunton and Munagala Venkartaramiah and published by Sri Ramanasramam.
Q: Is concentration one of the sadhanas (spiritual practices)?
M: Concentration is not thinking of one thing only. Rather, it is the putting off of all other thoughts, which obstruct the vision of our true nature. All our efforts are only directed towards lifting the veil of ignorance. Now it appears difficult to quell the thoughts, but in the regenerated state, it will be found more difficult to activate them! Why should we think of these things? There is the Self alone. Thoughts can function only if there are objects -- but there are no objects, so how can thoughts arise at all? Habit makes us believe that it is difficult to cease thinking. If this error were discovered, one would not be so foolish as to exert oneself unnecessarily.
Q: But the mind slips away from our control.
M: That may be so. Do not think of it. When you recollect, bring it back and turn it inward. That is enough. No one succeeds without effort. Mind control is not one's birthright. The successful few owe their success to their perseverance.
This message is from the book Conscious Immortality, Conversations with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Recorded by Paul Brunton and Munagala Venkartaramiah and published by Sri Ramanasramam.
Visitor: Is the state of ‘being still’ a state involving effort or effortless?
It is not an effortless state of indolence. All mundane
activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with
the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks.
But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara) or
remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed
with the entire mind and without break.
Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be destroyed
by any other act is completely destroyed by this intense activity
which is called ‘silence’ (mauna).
It is not an effortless state of indolence. All mundane
activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed with
the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks.
But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara) or
remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed
with the entire mind and without break.
Maya (delusion or ignorance) which cannot be destroyed
by any other act is completely destroyed by this intense activity
which is called ‘silence’ (mauna).
Mrs Dhar desired to know how meditation could become steady.
MAHARSHI: What is meditation? It consists in expulsion of thoughts. All the present troubles are due to thoughts and themselves thoughts. That is happiness and also meditation.
DEVOTEE: How are thoughts given up?
M : The thoughts are for the thinker. Remain as the Self of the thinker and there is an end of thoughts.
Mr. Dhar asked Sri Bhagavan why Brahma, who is Perfection, creates and puts us to ordeals for regaining Him.
M : Where is the individual who asks this question? He is in the universe and included in the creation. How does he raise the question when he is bound in the creation? He must go beyond it and see if any question arises then.
MAHARSHI: What is meditation? It consists in expulsion of thoughts. All the present troubles are due to thoughts and themselves thoughts. That is happiness and also meditation.
DEVOTEE: How are thoughts given up?
M : The thoughts are for the thinker. Remain as the Self of the thinker and there is an end of thoughts.
Mr. Dhar asked Sri Bhagavan why Brahma, who is Perfection, creates and puts us to ordeals for regaining Him.
M : Where is the individual who asks this question? He is in the universe and included in the creation. How does he raise the question when he is bound in the creation? He must go beyond it and see if any question arises then.
Atisha
Atisha is one of the rare masters, rare in the sense that he was taught by three enlightened masters. It has never happened before, and never since. To be a disciple of three enlightened masters is simply unbelievable -- because one enlightened master is enough. But this story, that he was taught by three enlightened masters, has a metaphorical significance also. And it is true, it is historical too.
The three masters that Atisha remained with for many years were: first, Dharmakirti, a great Buddhist mystic. He taught him no-mind, he taught him emptiness, he taught him how to be thoughtless, he taught him how to drop all content from the mind and be contentless. The second master was Dharmarakshita, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him love, compassion. And the third master was Yogin Maitreya, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him the art of taking the suffering of others and absorbing it into your own heart: love in action.
This could happen because all these three masters were great friends. They had started their search together; while they were on the way they had remained together, and when they attained they were still together.
Atisha became a disciple of Dharmakirti. Dharmakirti said to him, "I will teach you the first principle. And for the second you go to Dharmarakshita, and for the third to Yogin Maitreya. This way you will know all the three faces of the ultimate reality, the three faces of God -- the trinity, the TRIMURTI. And this way you will learn each face from the person who is the most perfect in it."
These are the three ways people reach to the ultimate. If you reach through emptiness you attain the other two also, but your path remains basically that of emptiness -- you know more about emptiness, so emptiness will be emphasized in whatsoever you teach.
That's what happened in Buddha's case. He had attained through emptiness, hence his whole teaching became emptiness-oriented. There is no God in Buddha's teaching, because God is a thought, a content, an object -- God is the other, and Buddha had attained by dropping the other. Buddha had attained by emptying his mind totally, hence there is no place for God, no place for anything at all. His path is the purest VIA NEGATIVA.
That was also the case with Dharmakirti. He was the perfect master of emptiness, a master par excellence of emptiness. And when Atisha had learned how to be empty, the master said, "It will be better for you to go to Dharmarakshita for the next step, because he has attained from a totally different path. Just as you can reach Everest from different sides, he has reached from a totally different path, the path of compassion. I can also teach you the path of compassion, but my knowing about that path is only known from the top.
"I have reached through the path of emptiness. Once you reach the top, you can look down at all the paths, they are all available to your vision. But to follow a path in its different dimensions, to follow a path in all its details, small details, is a totally different thing." And to look at it from a helicopter or from the mountain-top is certainly a different vision; it is a bird's-eye view.
And Dharmakirti said, "If there had been nobody available here, I would have taught you the other too. But when a man like Dharmarakshita is just here, my neighbor, living in another cave just nearby, it is better you go to him."
First one has to become empty, utterly empty. But you have not to cling to emptiness, otherwise your life will never know the positive expression of religion. Your life will miss the poetry, the joy of sharing; you will remain empty. You will have a kind of freedom, but your freedom will be only freedom from, it will not be freedom FOR. And unless a freedom is both -- freedom from and freedom for -- something is missing, something is lacking; your freedom will be poor. Just to be free from is a poor kind of freedom.
The real freedom starts only when you are free for. You can sing a song and you can dance a dance and you can celebrate and you can start overflowing. That's what compassion is.
Man lives in passion. When the mind disappears, passion is transformed into compassion. Passion means you are a beggar with a begging-bowl; you are asking and asking for more and more from everybody; you are exploiting others. Your relationships are nothing but exploitations -- cunning devices to possess the other, very clever strategies to dominate. When you are living in the mind, in passion, your whole life is power politics. Even your love, even your social service, even your humanitarian works, are nothing but power politics. Deep down, there is a desire to be powerful over others.
The same energy, when the mind is dropped, becomes compassion. And it takes a totally new turn. It is no longer begging; you become an emperor, you start giving. Now you have something -- you had it always, but because of the mind, you were not aware of it. The mind was functioning like darkness around you, and you were unaware of the light within. The mind was creating an illusion of being a beggar, while all the time you had been an emperor. The mind was creating a dream; in reality you never needed anything. All had already been given. All that you need, all that you can need, is already the case.
God is within you, but because of the mind -- mind means dreaming, desiring -- you never look within, you go on rushing outwards. You keep yourself in the background, your eyes are turned towards the outside, they have become focused there. That's what the mind is all about: focusing the eyes on the outside.
And one has to learn how to unfocus them from there -- how to make them loose, less rigid, more liquid, so that they can turn inwards. Once you have seen who you are, the beggar disappears. In fact it had never existed; it was just a dream, an idea.
The mind is creating all your misery. With the mind gone, misery is gone, and suddenly you are full of energy. And the energy needs expression, sharing; it wants to become a song, a dance, a celebration. That is compassion: you start sharing.
Atisha learned compassion from Dharmarakshita. But compassion has two faces. One is inactive compassion: the meditator sits silently in his cave, showering his compassion over the whole existence. But it is a very inactive kind of compassion. You have to go to him to partake of it, he will not come to you. You will have to go to the mountains to his cave to share his joy; he will not come to you. He will not move in any way, he will not take any active step. He will not flow towards others, he will not seek and search for the people with whom he can share his dance. He will wait.
This is a feminine kind of compassion: just like a woman waits -- she never takes the initiative, she never goes to the man. She may love the man, but she will never be the first to say "I love you." She will wait; she will hope that one day or other, sooner or later, the man will propose. Woman is inactive love, passive love. Man is active love, man takes the initiative.
And in the same way, compassion has two possibilities: the feminine and the masculine. From Dharmarakshita, Atisha learned the feminine art of being in love with existence. One more step was needed: Dharmarakshita told him, "Go to Yogin Maitreya" -- these three masters were all living together in the same vicinity -- "Go to Yogin Maitreya and learn how to transform the baser energy into active energy, so love becomes active."
And once love is active, compassion is active, you have passed through all the three dimensions of truth -- you have known all. You have known utter emptiness, you have known compassion arising, you have known compassion showering. Life is fulfilled only when all these three have happened.
Because Atisha learned under three enlightened masters, he is called Atisha the Thrice Great. Nothing more is known about his ordinary life, when and where exactly he was born. He existed somewhere in the eleventh century. He was born in India, but the moment his love became active he started moving towards Tibet, as if a great magnet were pulling him there. In the Himalayas he attained; then he never came back to India.
He moved towards Tibet, his love showered on Tibet. He transformed the whole quality of Tibetan consciousness. He was a miracle-worker; whatsoever he touched was transformed into gold. He was one of the greatest alchemists the world has ever known.
These "Seven Points of Mind Training" are the fundamental teaching that he gave to Tibet -- a gift from India to Tibet. India has given great gifts to the world. Atisha is one of those great gifts. Just as India gave Bodhidharma to China, India gave Atisha to Tibet. Tibet is infinitely indebted to this man.
Atisha is one of the rare masters, rare in the sense that he was taught by three enlightened masters. It has never happened before, and never since. To be a disciple of three enlightened masters is simply unbelievable -- because one enlightened master is enough. But this story, that he was taught by three enlightened masters, has a metaphorical significance also. And it is true, it is historical too.
The three masters that Atisha remained with for many years were: first, Dharmakirti, a great Buddhist mystic. He taught him no-mind, he taught him emptiness, he taught him how to be thoughtless, he taught him how to drop all content from the mind and be contentless. The second master was Dharmarakshita, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him love, compassion. And the third master was Yogin Maitreya, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him the art of taking the suffering of others and absorbing it into your own heart: love in action.
This could happen because all these three masters were great friends. They had started their search together; while they were on the way they had remained together, and when they attained they were still together.
Atisha became a disciple of Dharmakirti. Dharmakirti said to him, "I will teach you the first principle. And for the second you go to Dharmarakshita, and for the third to Yogin Maitreya. This way you will know all the three faces of the ultimate reality, the three faces of God -- the trinity, the TRIMURTI. And this way you will learn each face from the person who is the most perfect in it."
These are the three ways people reach to the ultimate. If you reach through emptiness you attain the other two also, but your path remains basically that of emptiness -- you know more about emptiness, so emptiness will be emphasized in whatsoever you teach.
That's what happened in Buddha's case. He had attained through emptiness, hence his whole teaching became emptiness-oriented. There is no God in Buddha's teaching, because God is a thought, a content, an object -- God is the other, and Buddha had attained by dropping the other. Buddha had attained by emptying his mind totally, hence there is no place for God, no place for anything at all. His path is the purest VIA NEGATIVA.
That was also the case with Dharmakirti. He was the perfect master of emptiness, a master par excellence of emptiness. And when Atisha had learned how to be empty, the master said, "It will be better for you to go to Dharmarakshita for the next step, because he has attained from a totally different path. Just as you can reach Everest from different sides, he has reached from a totally different path, the path of compassion. I can also teach you the path of compassion, but my knowing about that path is only known from the top.
"I have reached through the path of emptiness. Once you reach the top, you can look down at all the paths, they are all available to your vision. But to follow a path in its different dimensions, to follow a path in all its details, small details, is a totally different thing." And to look at it from a helicopter or from the mountain-top is certainly a different vision; it is a bird's-eye view.
And Dharmakirti said, "If there had been nobody available here, I would have taught you the other too. But when a man like Dharmarakshita is just here, my neighbor, living in another cave just nearby, it is better you go to him."
First one has to become empty, utterly empty. But you have not to cling to emptiness, otherwise your life will never know the positive expression of religion. Your life will miss the poetry, the joy of sharing; you will remain empty. You will have a kind of freedom, but your freedom will be only freedom from, it will not be freedom FOR. And unless a freedom is both -- freedom from and freedom for -- something is missing, something is lacking; your freedom will be poor. Just to be free from is a poor kind of freedom.
The real freedom starts only when you are free for. You can sing a song and you can dance a dance and you can celebrate and you can start overflowing. That's what compassion is.
Man lives in passion. When the mind disappears, passion is transformed into compassion. Passion means you are a beggar with a begging-bowl; you are asking and asking for more and more from everybody; you are exploiting others. Your relationships are nothing but exploitations -- cunning devices to possess the other, very clever strategies to dominate. When you are living in the mind, in passion, your whole life is power politics. Even your love, even your social service, even your humanitarian works, are nothing but power politics. Deep down, there is a desire to be powerful over others.
The same energy, when the mind is dropped, becomes compassion. And it takes a totally new turn. It is no longer begging; you become an emperor, you start giving. Now you have something -- you had it always, but because of the mind, you were not aware of it. The mind was functioning like darkness around you, and you were unaware of the light within. The mind was creating an illusion of being a beggar, while all the time you had been an emperor. The mind was creating a dream; in reality you never needed anything. All had already been given. All that you need, all that you can need, is already the case.
God is within you, but because of the mind -- mind means dreaming, desiring -- you never look within, you go on rushing outwards. You keep yourself in the background, your eyes are turned towards the outside, they have become focused there. That's what the mind is all about: focusing the eyes on the outside.
And one has to learn how to unfocus them from there -- how to make them loose, less rigid, more liquid, so that they can turn inwards. Once you have seen who you are, the beggar disappears. In fact it had never existed; it was just a dream, an idea.
The mind is creating all your misery. With the mind gone, misery is gone, and suddenly you are full of energy. And the energy needs expression, sharing; it wants to become a song, a dance, a celebration. That is compassion: you start sharing.
Atisha learned compassion from Dharmarakshita. But compassion has two faces. One is inactive compassion: the meditator sits silently in his cave, showering his compassion over the whole existence. But it is a very inactive kind of compassion. You have to go to him to partake of it, he will not come to you. You will have to go to the mountains to his cave to share his joy; he will not come to you. He will not move in any way, he will not take any active step. He will not flow towards others, he will not seek and search for the people with whom he can share his dance. He will wait.
This is a feminine kind of compassion: just like a woman waits -- she never takes the initiative, she never goes to the man. She may love the man, but she will never be the first to say "I love you." She will wait; she will hope that one day or other, sooner or later, the man will propose. Woman is inactive love, passive love. Man is active love, man takes the initiative.
And in the same way, compassion has two possibilities: the feminine and the masculine. From Dharmarakshita, Atisha learned the feminine art of being in love with existence. One more step was needed: Dharmarakshita told him, "Go to Yogin Maitreya" -- these three masters were all living together in the same vicinity -- "Go to Yogin Maitreya and learn how to transform the baser energy into active energy, so love becomes active."
And once love is active, compassion is active, you have passed through all the three dimensions of truth -- you have known all.
You have known utter emptiness, you have known compassion arising, you have known compassion showering. Life is fulfilled only when all these three have happened.
Because Atisha learned under three enlightened masters, he is called Atisha the Thrice Great. Nothing more is known about his ordinary life, when and where exactly he was born. He existed somewhere in the eleventh century. He was born in India, but the moment his love became active he started moving towards Tibet, as if a great magnet were pulling him there. In the Himalayas he attained; then he never came back to India.
He moved towards Tibet, his love showered on Tibet. He transformed the whole quality of Tibetan consciousness. He was a miracle-worker; whatsoever he touched was transformed into gold. He was one of the greatest alchemists the world has ever known.
These "Seven Points of Mind Training" are the fundamental teaching that he gave to Tibet -- a gift from India to Tibet. India has given great gifts to the world. Atisha is one of those great gifts. Just as India gave Bodhidharma to China, India gave Atisha to Tibet. Tibet is infinitely indebted to this man.
Atisha is one of the rare masters, rare in the sense that he was taught by three enlightened masters. It has never happened before, and never since. To be a disciple of three enlightened masters is simply unbelievable -- because one enlightened master is enough. But this story, that he was taught by three enlightened masters, has a metaphorical significance also. And it is true, it is historical too.
The three masters that Atisha remained with for many years were: first, Dharmakirti, a great Buddhist mystic. He taught him no-mind, he taught him emptiness, he taught him how to be thoughtless, he taught him how to drop all content from the mind and be contentless. The second master was Dharmarakshita, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him love, compassion. And the third master was Yogin Maitreya, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him the art of taking the suffering of others and absorbing it into your own heart: love in action.
This could happen because all these three masters were great friends. They had started their search together; while they were on the way they had remained together, and when they attained they were still together.
Atisha became a disciple of Dharmakirti. Dharmakirti said to him, "I will teach you the first principle. And for the second you go to Dharmarakshita, and for the third to Yogin Maitreya. This way you will know all the three faces of the ultimate reality, the three faces of God -- the trinity, the TRIMURTI. And this way you will learn each face from the person who is the most perfect in it."
These are the three ways people reach to the ultimate. If you reach through emptiness you attain the other two also, but your path remains basically that of emptiness -- you know more about emptiness, so emptiness will be emphasized in whatsoever you teach.
That's what happened in Buddha's case. He had attained through emptiness, hence his whole teaching became emptiness-oriented. There is no God in Buddha's teaching, because God is a thought, a content, an object -- God is the other, and Buddha had attained by dropping the other. Buddha had attained by emptying his mind totally, hence there is no place for God, no place for anything at all. His path is the purest VIA NEGATIVA.
That was also the case with Dharmakirti. He was the perfect master of emptiness, a master par excellence of emptiness. And when Atisha had learned how to be empty, the master said, "It will be better for you to go to Dharmarakshita for the next step, because he has attained from a totally different path. Just as you can reach Everest from different sides, he has reached from a totally different path, the path of compassion. I can also teach you the path of compassion, but my knowing about that path is only known from the top.
"I have reached through the path of emptiness. Once you reach the top, you can look down at all the paths, they are all available to your vision. But to follow a path in its different dimensions, to follow a path in all its details, small details, is a totally different thing." And to look at it from a helicopter or from the mountain-top is certainly a different vision; it is a bird's-eye view.
And Dharmakirti said, "If there had been nobody available here, I would have taught you the other too. But when a man like Dharmarakshita is just here, my neighbor, living in another cave just nearby, it is better you go to him."
First one has to become empty, utterly empty. But you have not to cling to emptiness, otherwise your life will never know the positive expression of religion. Your life will miss the poetry, the joy of sharing; you will remain empty. You will have a kind of freedom, but your freedom will be only freedom from, it will not be freedom FOR. And unless a freedom is both -- freedom from and freedom for -- something is missing, something is lacking; your freedom will be poor. Just to be free from is a poor kind of freedom.
The real freedom starts only when you are free for. You can sing a song and you can dance a dance and you can celebrate and you can start overflowing. That's what compassion is.
Man lives in passion. When the mind disappears, passion is transformed into compassion. Passion means you are a beggar with a begging-bowl; you are asking and asking for more and more from everybody; you are exploiting others. Your relationships are nothing but exploitations -- cunning devices to possess the other, very clever strategies to dominate. When you are living in the mind, in passion, your whole life is power politics. Even your love, even your social service, even your humanitarian works, are nothing but power politics. Deep down, there is a desire to be powerful over others.
The same energy, when the mind is dropped, becomes compassion. And it takes a totally new turn. It is no longer begging; you become an emperor, you start giving. Now you have something -- you had it always, but because of the mind, you were not aware of it. The mind was functioning like darkness around you, and you were unaware of the light within. The mind was creating an illusion of being a beggar, while all the time you had been an emperor. The mind was creating a dream; in reality you never needed anything. All had already been given. All that you need, all that you can need, is already the case.
God is within you, but because of the mind -- mind means dreaming, desiring -- you never look within, you go on rushing outwards. You keep yourself in the background, your eyes are turned towards the outside, they have become focused there. That's what the mind is all about: focusing the eyes on the outside.
And one has to learn how to unfocus them from there -- how to make them loose, less rigid, more liquid, so that they can turn inwards. Once you have seen who you are, the beggar disappears. In fact it had never existed; it was just a dream, an idea.
The mind is creating all your misery. With the mind gone, misery is gone, and suddenly you are full of energy. And the energy needs expression, sharing; it wants to become a song, a dance, a celebration. That is compassion: you start sharing.
Atisha learned compassion from Dharmarakshita. But compassion has two faces. One is inactive compassion: the meditator sits silently in his cave, showering his compassion over the whole existence. But it is a very inactive kind of compassion. You have to go to him to partake of it, he will not come to you. You will have to go to the mountains to his cave to share his joy; he will not come to you. He will not move in any way, he will not take any active step. He will not flow towards others, he will not seek and search for the people with whom he can share his dance. He will wait.
This is a feminine kind of compassion: just like a woman waits -- she never takes the initiative, she never goes to the man. She may love the man, but she will never be the first to say "I love you." She will wait; she will hope that one day or other, sooner or later, the man will propose. Woman is inactive love, passive love. Man is active love, man takes the initiative.
And in the same way, compassion has two possibilities: the feminine and the masculine. From Dharmarakshita, Atisha learned the feminine art of being in love with existence. One more step was needed: Dharmarakshita told him, "Go to Yogin Maitreya" -- these three masters were all living together in the same vicinity -- "Go to Yogin Maitreya and learn how to transform the baser energy into active energy, so love becomes active."
And once love is active, compassion is active, you have passed through all the three dimensions of truth -- you have known all. You have known utter emptiness, you have known compassion arising, you have known compassion showering. Life is fulfilled only when all these three have happened.
Because Atisha learned under three enlightened masters, he is called Atisha the Thrice Great. Nothing more is known about his ordinary life, when and where exactly he was born. He existed somewhere in the eleventh century. He was born in India, but the moment his love became active he started moving towards Tibet, as if a great magnet were pulling him there. In the Himalayas he attained; then he never came back to India.
He moved towards Tibet, his love showered on Tibet. He transformed the whole quality of Tibetan consciousness. He was a miracle-worker; whatsoever he touched was transformed into gold. He was one of the greatest alchemists the world has ever known.
These "Seven Points of Mind Training" are the fundamental teaching that he gave to Tibet -- a gift from India to Tibet. India has given great gifts to the world. Atisha is one of those great gifts. Just as India gave Bodhidharma to China, India gave Atisha to Tibet. Tibet is infinitely indebted to this man.
Atisha is one of the rare masters, rare in the sense that he was taught by three enlightened masters. It has never happened before, and never since. To be a disciple of three enlightened masters is simply unbelievable -- because one enlightened master is enough. But this story, that he was taught by three enlightened masters, has a metaphorical significance also. And it is true, it is historical too.
The three masters that Atisha remained with for many years were: first, Dharmakirti, a great Buddhist mystic. He taught him no-mind, he taught him emptiness, he taught him how to be thoughtless, he taught him how to drop all content from the mind and be contentless. The second master was Dharmarakshita, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him love, compassion. And the third master was Yogin Maitreya, another Buddhist mystic. He taught him the art of taking the suffering of others and absorbing it into your own heart: love in action.
This could happen because all these three masters were great friends. They had started their search together; while they were on the way they had remained together, and when they attained they were still together.
Atisha became a disciple of Dharmakirti. Dharmakirti said to him, "I will teach you the first principle. And for the second you go to Dharmarakshita, and for the third to Yogin Maitreya. This way you will know all the three faces of the ultimate reality, the three faces of God -- the trinity, the TRIMURTI. And this way you will learn each face from the person who is the most perfect in it."
These are the three ways people reach to the ultimate. If you reach through emptiness you attain the other two also, but your path remains basically that of emptiness -- you know more about emptiness, so emptiness will be emphasized in whatsoever you teach.
That's what happened in Buddha's case. He had attained through emptiness, hence his whole teaching became emptiness-oriented. There is no God in Buddha's teaching, because God is a thought, a content, an object -- God is the other, and Buddha had attained by dropping the other. Buddha had attained by emptying his mind totally, hence there is no place for God, no place for anything at all. His path is the purest VIA NEGATIVA.
That was also the case with Dharmakirti. He was the perfect master of emptiness, a master par excellence of emptiness. And when Atisha had learned how to be empty, the master said, "It will be better for you to go to Dharmarakshita for the next step, because he has attained from a totally different path. Just as you can reach Everest from different sides, he has reached from a totally different path, the path of compassion. I can also teach you the path of compassion, but my knowing about that path is only known from the top.
"I have reached through the path of emptiness. Once you reach the top, you can look down at all the paths, they are all available to your vision. But to follow a path in its different dimensions, to follow a path in all its details, small details, is a totally different thing." And to look at it from a helicopter or from the mountain-top is certainly a different vision; it is a bird's-eye view.
And Dharmakirti said, "If there had been nobody available here, I would have taught you the other too. But when a man like Dharmarakshita is just here, my neighbor, living in another cave just nearby, it is better you go to him."
First one has to become empty, utterly empty. But you have not to cling to emptiness, otherwise your life will never know the positive expression of religion. Your life will miss the poetry, the joy of sharing; you will remain empty. You will have a kind of freedom, but your freedom will be only freedom from, it will not be freedom FOR. And unless a freedom is both -- freedom from and freedom for -- something is missing, something is lacking; your freedom will be poor. Just to be free from is a poor kind of freedom.
The real freedom starts only when you are free for. You can sing a song and you can dance a dance and you can celebrate and you can start overflowing. That's what compassion is.
Man lives in passion. When the mind disappears, passion is transformed into compassion. Passion means you are a beggar with a begging-bowl; you are asking and asking for more and more from everybody; you are exploiting others. Your relationships are nothing but exploitations -- cunning devices to possess the other, very clever strategies to dominate. When you are living in the mind, in passion, your whole life is power politics. Even your love, even your social service, even your humanitarian works, are nothing but power politics. Deep down, there is a desire to be powerful over others.
The same energy, when the mind is dropped, becomes compassion. And it takes a totally new turn. It is no longer begging; you become an emperor, you start giving. Now you have something -- you had it always, but because of the mind, you were not aware of it. The mind was functioning like darkness around you, and you were unaware of the light within. The mind was creating an illusion of being a beggar, while all the time you had been an emperor. The mind was creating a dream; in reality you never needed anything. All had already been given. All that you need, all that you can need, is already the case.
God is within you, but because of the mind -- mind means dreaming, desiring -- you never look within, you go on rushing outwards. You keep yourself in the background, your eyes are turned towards the outside, they have become focused there. That's what the mind is all about: focusing the eyes on the outside.
And one has to learn how to unfocus them from there -- how to make them loose, less rigid, more liquid, so that they can turn inwards. Once you have seen who you are, the beggar disappears. In fact it had never existed; it was just a dream, an idea.
The mind is creating all your misery. With the mind gone, misery is gone, and suddenly you are full of energy. And the energy needs expression, sharing; it wants to become a song, a dance, a celebration. That is compassion: you start sharing.
Atisha learned compassion from Dharmarakshita. But compassion has two faces. One is inactive compassion: the meditator sits silently in his cave, showering his compassion over the whole existence. But it is a very inactive kind of compassion. You have to go to him to partake of it, he will not come to you. You will have to go to the mountains to his cave to share his joy; he will not come to you. He will not move in any way, he will not take any active step. He will not flow towards others, he will not seek and search for the people with whom he can share his dance. He will wait.
This is a feminine kind of compassion: just like a woman waits -- she never takes the initiative, she never goes to the man. She may love the man, but she will never be the first to say "I love you." She will wait; she will hope that one day or other, sooner or later, the man will propose. Woman is inactive love, passive love. Man is active love, man takes the initiative.
And in the same way, compassion has two possibilities: the feminine and the masculine. From Dharmarakshita, Atisha learned the feminine art of being in love with existence. One more step was needed: Dharmarakshita told him, "Go to Yogin Maitreya" -- these three masters were all living together in the same vicinity -- "Go to Yogin Maitreya and learn how to transform the baser energy into active energy, so love becomes active."
And once love is active, compassion is active, you have passed through all the three dimensions of truth -- you have known all.
You have known utter emptiness, you have known compassion arising, you have known compassion showering. Life is fulfilled only when all these three have happened.
Because Atisha learned under three enlightened masters, he is called Atisha the Thrice Great. Nothing more is known about his ordinary life, when and where exactly he was born. He existed somewhere in the eleventh century. He was born in India, but the moment his love became active he started moving towards Tibet, as if a great magnet were pulling him there. In the Himalayas he attained; then he never came back to India.
He moved towards Tibet, his love showered on Tibet. He transformed the whole quality of Tibetan consciousness. He was a miracle-worker; whatsoever he touched was transformed into gold. He was one of the greatest alchemists the world has ever known.
These "Seven Points of Mind Training" are the fundamental teaching that he gave to Tibet -- a gift from India to Tibet. India has given great gifts to the world. Atisha is one of those great gifts. Just as India gave Bodhidharma to China, India gave Atisha to Tibet. Tibet is infinitely indebted to this man.
Freedom to do what one likes is really bondage, while being free to do what one must, what is right, is real freedom.
You don't have to study so much.
The way in which mind studies
it accumulates information.
But you are the information-less Being.
Find That and be That!
And what needs to be known
arises spontaneously in you.
The way in which mind studies
it accumulates information.
But you are the information-less Being.
Find That and be That!
And what needs to be known
arises spontaneously in you.
Beings
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