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"BHAGAVAN, IS THIS IT?"
Once, I asked Chadwick, “Are you realized?” I have put this question to all of the old devotees like Muruganar, Cohen, Osborne, Sadhu Natanananda, Devaraja Mudaliar and others. None of them either said yes or no - all smiled. When I asked him whether he was realized, he did not say yes or no. Instead, he told me, “I will tell you what happened. After many years of my stay with Bhagavan - four or five years, I committed the mistake of trying to evaluate how much I have progressed spiritually. This is a thing any seeker should not do. I felt that I have not progressed. Many who saw me in Ramanasramam, looked at me like I was a sage or a saint saying, „Oh! He is so fortunate. He is so close to Bhagavan. He meditates so much. He is already in that state.‟ This created a contradiction in me as I personally felt that I was not progressing spiritually. However, having left the material life I could not go back to a worldly life either. I felt caught between the devil and the deep sea. I was sorrow stricken. I ran to Bhagavan‟s hall. He was alone. I told him, „Bhagavan, this is my plight. I am neither here nor there and this causes much sorrow in me.‟
Bhagavan looked at me compassionately and said, „Chadwick, who says all this?‟ Immediately, there was a current like shock in my body and I literally ran to my room, shut the doors and went into a neutral state. I was not bothered whether I was spiritually maturing or whether I would be able to stay in the world. I was in a neutral state of silence. A few days passed like that wherein I was neither happy nor worried.” The only luxury that Chadwick allowed himself was taking his bath in a bath tub which he had in the verandah of his cottage. One day, shortly after the above incident, something happened unexpectedly. As Chadwick told me later, “I was taking my bath and very honestly Ganesan, I was not in a spiritual state or in a prayerful mood when it suddenly dawned - the „I AM‟!”
He experienced it - not just as words. He was so ecstatic that he did not even dry himself. He just wrapped a towel around his waist and ran to the Old Hall from where a few days back he had run away. Fortunately, this time too, Bhagavan was alone. In this spiritual ecstasy of experiencing the „I AM‟, where there was no Chadwick, just the „I AM‟, he asked Bhagavan, “Bhagavan, is THIS it?” Chadwick recounted,
“Bhagavan gave me the most glorious smile, and then confirmed, „Yes, Chadwick, THIS is THAT!‟ I then asked him, „Bhagavan, is it so simple?‟ Bhagavan replied, „Yes it is that simple.‟ Since then, I‟ve never had any doubt.”
V. Ganesan in 'Ramana Periya Puranam'
Once, I asked Chadwick, “Are you realized?” I have put this question to all of the old devotees like Muruganar, Cohen, Osborne, Sadhu Natanananda, Devaraja Mudaliar and others. None of them either said yes or no - all smiled. When I asked him whether he was realized, he did not say yes or no. Instead, he told me, “I will tell you what happened. After many years of my stay with Bhagavan - four or five years, I committed the mistake of trying to evaluate how much I have progressed spiritually. This is a thing any seeker should not do. I felt that I have not progressed. Many who saw me in Ramanasramam, looked at me like I was a sage or a saint saying, „Oh! He is so fortunate. He is so close to Bhagavan. He meditates so much. He is already in that state.‟ This created a contradiction in me as I personally felt that I was not progressing spiritually. However, having left the material life I could not go back to a worldly life either. I felt caught between the devil and the deep sea. I was sorrow stricken. I ran to Bhagavan‟s hall. He was alone. I told him, „Bhagavan, this is my plight. I am neither here nor there and this causes much sorrow in me.‟
Bhagavan looked at me compassionately and said, „Chadwick, who says all this?‟ Immediately, there was a current like shock in my body and I literally ran to my room, shut the doors and went into a neutral state. I was not bothered whether I was spiritually maturing or whether I would be able to stay in the world. I was in a neutral state of silence. A few days passed like that wherein I was neither happy nor worried.” The only luxury that Chadwick allowed himself was taking his bath in a bath tub which he had in the verandah of his cottage. One day, shortly after the above incident, something happened unexpectedly. As Chadwick told me later, “I was taking my bath and very honestly Ganesan, I was not in a spiritual state or in a prayerful mood when it suddenly dawned - the „I AM‟!”
He experienced it - not just as words. He was so ecstatic that he did not even dry himself. He just wrapped a towel around his waist and ran to the Old Hall from where a few days back he had run away. Fortunately, this time too, Bhagavan was alone. In this spiritual ecstasy of experiencing the „I AM‟, where there was no Chadwick, just the „I AM‟, he asked Bhagavan, “Bhagavan, is THIS it?” Chadwick recounted,
“Bhagavan gave me the most glorious smile, and then confirmed, „Yes, Chadwick, THIS is THAT!‟ I then asked him, „Bhagavan, is it so simple?‟ Bhagavan replied, „Yes it is that simple.‟ Since then, I‟ve never had any doubt.”
V. Ganesan in 'Ramana Periya Puranam'
Realize your pure Being. Let there be no confusion with the body. The body is the result of thoughts. The thoughts will play as usual, but you will not be affected.
GURU VACHAKA KOVAI
FOCUSSING INTENTLY ON THE SOURCE
782 To investigate what is our birth place and to merge in that birth place is of all methods the best for rooting out the suffering that exists only in the place we have entered.
Muruganar: The miseries of birth appear only in the place that one has entered, that is, the mind that manifests as the body and the world. They do not arise in the place of one's birth, the Heart. Therefore, by enquiring through Self-ward attention, 'What is the place of my birth?', a person should reach and abide in his source, the Heart. Out of all the techniques that are suitable for destroying the miseries of birth, this is the best.
Just as a woman, suffering intolerably in her father-in-law's house, obtains peace in her mother's house, so the mind, harried by samsaric suffering, wins peace by returning to its source.
FOCUSSING INTENTLY ON THE SOURCE
782 To investigate what is our birth place and to merge in that birth place is of all methods the best for rooting out the suffering that exists only in the place we have entered.
Muruganar: The miseries of birth appear only in the place that one has entered, that is, the mind that manifests as the body and the world. They do not arise in the place of one's birth, the Heart. Therefore, by enquiring through Self-ward attention, 'What is the place of my birth?', a person should reach and abide in his source, the Heart. Out of all the techniques that are suitable for destroying the miseries of birth, this is the best.
Just as a woman, suffering intolerably in her father-in-law's house, obtains peace in her mother's house, so the mind, harried by samsaric suffering, wins peace by returning to its source.
Keep your mind still. The aim of all practices is to give up all practices.
Questioner: How shall I overcome my passions?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Find their root and then it will be easy. (Later) What are the passions? Kama (lust), krodha (anger), etc. Why do they arise? Because of likes and dislikes towards the objects seen. How do the objects project themselves in your view? Because of your avidya, i.e., ignorance. Ignorance of what? Of the Self. Thus, if you find the Self and abide therein there will be no trouble owing to the passions.
(Later) Again, what is the cause of the passions? Desire to be happy or enjoy pleasure. Why does the desire for happiness arise? Because your nature is happiness itself and it is natural that you come into your own. This happiness is not found anywhere besides the Self. Do not look for it elsewhere. But seek the Self and abide therein. Still again, that happiness which is natural is simply re-discovered, so it cannot be lost. Whereas the happiness arising from other objects are external and thus liable to be lost. Therefore it cannot be permanent and so it is not worth seeking. Moreover craving for pleasures should not be encouraged. One cannot put out burning fire by pouring petrol over it. An attempt to satisfy your craving for the time being, so that the passion may later be suppressed, is simply foolish.
There are, no doubt, other methods for the suppression of passion. They are (1) regulated food, (2) fasting, (3) yoga practice, (4) medicines. But their effects are transitory. The passions reappear with greater force as soon as the check is removed. The only way to overcome them is to eradicate them. That is done by finding their source as stated above.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Find their root and then it will be easy. (Later) What are the passions? Kama (lust), krodha (anger), etc. Why do they arise? Because of likes and dislikes towards the objects seen. How do the objects project themselves in your view? Because of your avidya, i.e., ignorance. Ignorance of what? Of the Self. Thus, if you find the Self and abide therein there will be no trouble owing to the passions.
(Later) Again, what is the cause of the passions? Desire to be happy or enjoy pleasure. Why does the desire for happiness arise? Because your nature is happiness itself and it is natural that you come into your own. This happiness is not found anywhere besides the Self. Do not look for it elsewhere. But seek the Self and abide therein. Still again, that happiness which is natural is simply re-discovered, so it cannot be lost. Whereas the happiness arising from other objects are external and thus liable to be lost. Therefore it cannot be permanent and so it is not worth seeking. Moreover craving for pleasures should not be encouraged. One cannot put out burning fire by pouring petrol over it. An attempt to satisfy your craving for the time being, so that the passion may later be suppressed, is simply foolish.
There are, no doubt, other methods for the suppression of passion. They are (1) regulated food, (2) fasting, (3) yoga practice, (4) medicines. But their effects are transitory. The passions reappear with greater force as soon as the check is removed. The only way to overcome them is to eradicate them. That is done by finding their source as stated above.
See to whom are the changing thoughts.
They will be found to arise after the 'I-thought'.
Hold the 'I-thought'.
They subside.
Trace back the source of the 'I-thought'.
The Self alone will remain.
They will be found to arise after the 'I-thought'.
Hold the 'I-thought'.
They subside.
Trace back the source of the 'I-thought'.
The Self alone will remain.
Why should you trouble yourself about the future? You do not even properly know about the present. Take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.
Mind always wants a certain theory to satisfy itself.
Really, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously desires to approach God or to realise his own true being.
Really, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously desires to approach God or to realise his own true being.
Is it the world that says "I am real", or is it you?
When a person has realized,
a universal life-current takes possession of him
and he becomes an instrument in its hands.
His own separate will is gone.
This is the real Self-surrender.
This is the highest kundalini (the divine cosmic energy),
this is real bhakti (devotion),
this is jnana (knowledge of the Self).
a universal life-current takes possession of him
and he becomes an instrument in its hands.
His own separate will is gone.
This is the real Self-surrender.
This is the highest kundalini (the divine cosmic energy),
this is real bhakti (devotion),
this is jnana (knowledge of the Self).
God, on being worshipped, bestows steadiness in devotion which leads to surrender. On the devotee surrendering, God shows His mercy by manifesting as the Guru. The Guru, otherwise God, guides the devotee, saying that God is in you and He is the Self. This leads to introversion of the mind and finally to realization.
BHAGAVAN'S DIALOGUE WITH AN AMERICAN LADY
The following questions were asked by an aristocratic-looking American lady. Bhagavan's answers are a succinct summary of his practical teachings.
Question: What is the truth that I have to attain? Please explain it and show it to me.
Bhagavan: What we have to attain and what is desired by everyone is endless happiness. Although we seek to attain it in various ways, it is not something to be sought or attained as a new experience.
Our real nature is the 'I' feeling which is experienced by everyone. It is within us and nowhere else.
Although we are always experiencing it, our minds are wandering, always seeking it, thinking in ignorance that it is something apart from us. This is like a person saying with his own tongue that he has no tongue.
Question: If this is so, why did so many sadhanas [spiritual
practices] come to be created?
Bhagavan: The sadhanas came to be formed only to get rid of the thought that it [the Self] is something to be newly attained.
The root of the illusion is the thought which ignores the Self and which thinks instead, 'I am this body'.
After this thought rises it expands in a moment into several thousand thoughts and conceals the Self. The reality of the Self will only shine if all these thoughts are removed. Afterwards, what remains is only Brahmananda [the
bliss of Brahman].
Question: I am now sitting peacefully without the thought 'I am this body'. Is this the state of reality?
Bhagavan: This state must remain as it is without any change.
If it changes after a while you will know that other thoughts have not gone.
LIVING BY THE WORDS OF BHAGAVAN, p. 214, 215
The following questions were asked by an aristocratic-looking American lady. Bhagavan's answers are a succinct summary of his practical teachings.
Question: What is the truth that I have to attain? Please explain it and show it to me.
Bhagavan: What we have to attain and what is desired by everyone is endless happiness. Although we seek to attain it in various ways, it is not something to be sought or attained as a new experience.
Our real nature is the 'I' feeling which is experienced by everyone. It is within us and nowhere else.
Although we are always experiencing it, our minds are wandering, always seeking it, thinking in ignorance that it is something apart from us. This is like a person saying with his own tongue that he has no tongue.
Question: If this is so, why did so many sadhanas [spiritual
practices] come to be created?
Bhagavan: The sadhanas came to be formed only to get rid of the thought that it [the Self] is something to be newly attained.
The root of the illusion is the thought which ignores the Self and which thinks instead, 'I am this body'.
After this thought rises it expands in a moment into several thousand thoughts and conceals the Self. The reality of the Self will only shine if all these thoughts are removed. Afterwards, what remains is only Brahmananda [the
bliss of Brahman].
Question: I am now sitting peacefully without the thought 'I am this body'. Is this the state of reality?
Bhagavan: This state must remain as it is without any change.
If it changes after a while you will know that other thoughts have not gone.
LIVING BY THE WORDS OF BHAGAVAN, p. 214, 215
Forgetting everything that has to be obtained either in this world or in the next, enduring perfectly and with patience all the obstacles that come, and not being disheartened by any amount of poverty that comes, live in the way in which God’s Grace leads you.
(GURU VACHAKA KOVAI: 664)
(GURU VACHAKA KOVAI: 664)
UPADESA SARAM
The Essence of Instruction
19. When one turns within and searches
Whence this ‘I' thought arises,
The shamed ‘I’ vanishes
And wisdom’s quest begins.
20. Where this ‘I’ notion fades,
Now there as I, as I, arises
The One, the very Self,
The Infinite.
21. Of the term, ‘I’
the permanent import Is ‘That’.
For even in deep sleep
Where we have no sense of ‘I’
We do not cease to be.
The Essence of Instruction
19. When one turns within and searches
Whence this ‘I' thought arises,
The shamed ‘I’ vanishes
And wisdom’s quest begins.
20. Where this ‘I’ notion fades,
Now there as I, as I, arises
The One, the very Self,
The Infinite.
21. Of the term, ‘I’
the permanent import Is ‘That’.
For even in deep sleep
Where we have no sense of ‘I’
We do not cease to be.
As in the night when the sun is not present, one sees the light in the moon, the man who is not present in the heart, sees merely the mind.
Question: How is the ego to be destroyed ?
Maharshi: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed. Who asks this question ? It is the ego. Can the ego ever agree to kill itself ? This question is a sure way to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek the ego you will find it does not exist.
That is the way to destroy it.
Maharshi: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed. Who asks this question ? It is the ego. Can the ego ever agree to kill itself ? This question is a sure way to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek the ego you will find it does not exist.
That is the way to destroy it.
REAL MEANING OF PUJA
Puja really is - the losing of one's individuality in that which is worshipped.
Puja really is - the losing of one's individuality in that which is worshipped.
It is the false identity of the Self with the body that causes the idea of preference, etc.
Are you the body?
Were you aware of it when you were fast asleep last night?
No!
What is it that exists now and troubles you?
It is `I'.
Get rid of it and be happy.
Are you the body?
Were you aware of it when you were fast asleep last night?
No!
What is it that exists now and troubles you?
It is `I'.
Get rid of it and be happy.
People do all sorts of funny things
according to their preconceived notions.
We have merely to keep quiet
witnessing them.
according to their preconceived notions.
We have merely to keep quiet
witnessing them.
All are seeing God always. But they do not know it.
PADAMALAI
The unreality of the ego
30 Neither in this world nor anywhere else
does there exist for you a malevolent enemy like the ego.
31 Enquire within and know the source of the ego so that the ego departs and the experience of Atma-swarupa surges.
32 If you enquire within yourself and know the nature of the powerful ego-ghost, then, like the [presumed] best man, it will run away and disappear.
Bhagavan: In a Hindu marriage function, the feasts continue five or six days. A stranger was mistaken for the best man by the bride's party and they therefore treated him with special regard. Seeing him treated with special regard by the bride's party, the bridegroom's party considered him to be some man of importance related to the bride's party and therefore they too showed him special respect. The stranger had altogether a happy time of it.
He was also all along aware of the real situation. On one occasion the groom's party wanted to refer to him on some
point. They asked for him. He scented trouble and made
himself scarce.
So it is with the ego. If looked for, it disappears. If not, it continues to give trouble.
Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity
it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by
itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego.
The unreality of the ego
30 Neither in this world nor anywhere else
does there exist for you a malevolent enemy like the ego.
31 Enquire within and know the source of the ego so that the ego departs and the experience of Atma-swarupa surges.
32 If you enquire within yourself and know the nature of the powerful ego-ghost, then, like the [presumed] best man, it will run away and disappear.
Bhagavan: In a Hindu marriage function, the feasts continue five or six days. A stranger was mistaken for the best man by the bride's party and they therefore treated him with special regard. Seeing him treated with special regard by the bride's party, the bridegroom's party considered him to be some man of importance related to the bride's party and therefore they too showed him special respect. The stranger had altogether a happy time of it.
He was also all along aware of the real situation. On one occasion the groom's party wanted to refer to him on some
point. They asked for him. He scented trouble and made
himself scarce.
So it is with the ego. If looked for, it disappears. If not, it continues to give trouble.
Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity
it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by
itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego.
Knowing THAT which survives the annihilation of ‘I’ is alone the true Tapas!
UPADESA SARAM
The Essence of Instruction
10. Absorption in the Heart of being,
Whence we sprang,
Is the path of action, of devotion,
Of yoga and of knowledge.
11. Holding the breath controls the mind,
Like a bird caught in a net.
Breath-regulation helps
Absorption in the Heart.
12. Mind and breath (as thought and action)
Fork out like two branches.
But both spring
From a single root.
The Essence of Instruction
10. Absorption in the Heart of being,
Whence we sprang,
Is the path of action, of devotion,
Of yoga and of knowledge.
11. Holding the breath controls the mind,
Like a bird caught in a net.
Breath-regulation helps
Absorption in the Heart.
12. Mind and breath (as thought and action)
Fork out like two branches.
But both spring
From a single root.
UPADESA SARAM
The Essence of Instruction
7. Better than spells of meditation
Is one continuous current,
Steady as a stream,
Or downward flow of oil.
8. Better than viewing Him as Other,
Indeed the noblest attitude of all,
Is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within,
The very ‘I’.
9. Abidance in pure being
Transcending thought through love intense
Is the very essence
Of supreme devotion.
The Essence of Instruction
7. Better than spells of meditation
Is one continuous current,
Steady as a stream,
Or downward flow of oil.
8. Better than viewing Him as Other,
Indeed the noblest attitude of all,
Is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within,
The very ‘I’.
9. Abidance in pure being
Transcending thought through love intense
Is the very essence
Of supreme devotion.
What is your real nature? Is it writing, walking or being? The one unalterable reality is being. Until you realize that state of pure being you should pursue the enquiry. If once you are established in it there will be no further worry. No one will enquire into the source of thoughts unless thoughts arise. So long as you think ‘I am walking’ or ‘I am writing’, enquire who does it.
Silence is the most potent form of work. The guru is quiet and peace prevails in all. His silence is more vast and more emphatic than the scriptures put together. In fact the guru is always within you. The guru’s silence is the loudest teaching. It is also grace in its highest form. Silence is the true teaching. It is the perfect teaching.
Beings
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