Though Bhagavan would make no adverse remarks about traditional practices, he did not support his devotees if they did so.
Echammal, one of his greatest devotees, told him with great pride about her puja with one lakh leaves.
Bhagavan remarked,
“Instead of pinching the plant, could you not pinch your own skin one lakh times and perform puja that way?”
A significant number of Bhagavan’s devotees were orthodox Brahmins. They ate in a separate enclosure in the dining room. Bhagavan never objected to this arrangement. But he did show his disapproval if any of the Brahmins looked down on members of the lower castes. A Brahmin woman in the Ashram avoided all non-Brahmins because she felt that any
contact with them would pollute her. If she were ever touched by a non-Brahmin, she would go up to Bhagavan and touch him to purify her. Once, on a jayanti day, someone touched her accidentally. She went to Bhagavan and said, Bhagavan, a Sudra has just touched me; please touch me to remove the impurity.
“Go away, I will not oblige you!” said Bhagavan angrily.
Bhagavan’s mother was a very orthodox lady, full of caste prejudices and superstitions. Bhagavan did not tolerate any of her ideas. He criticised her many times and was quite ruthless in destroying all that stood in the way of her emancipation from ignorance and fear. When she refused to
cook onions, which are taboo to a Brahmin widow, Bhagavan would show her one and say, “How mighty is this little bulb! It can stop my mother from going to heaven.”
— Excerpts from: Face to face with Ramana Maharshi. Chalam. (49).
Echammal, one of his greatest devotees, told him with great pride about her puja with one lakh leaves.
Bhagavan remarked,
“Instead of pinching the plant, could you not pinch your own skin one lakh times and perform puja that way?”
A significant number of Bhagavan’s devotees were orthodox Brahmins. They ate in a separate enclosure in the dining room. Bhagavan never objected to this arrangement. But he did show his disapproval if any of the Brahmins looked down on members of the lower castes. A Brahmin woman in the Ashram avoided all non-Brahmins because she felt that any
contact with them would pollute her. If she were ever touched by a non-Brahmin, she would go up to Bhagavan and touch him to purify her. Once, on a jayanti day, someone touched her accidentally. She went to Bhagavan and said, Bhagavan, a Sudra has just touched me; please touch me to remove the impurity.
“Go away, I will not oblige you!” said Bhagavan angrily.
Bhagavan’s mother was a very orthodox lady, full of caste prejudices and superstitions. Bhagavan did not tolerate any of her ideas. He criticised her many times and was quite ruthless in destroying all that stood in the way of her emancipation from ignorance and fear. When she refused to
cook onions, which are taboo to a Brahmin widow, Bhagavan would show her one and say, “How mighty is this little bulb! It can stop my mother from going to heaven.”
— Excerpts from: Face to face with Ramana Maharshi. Chalam. (49).
Whatever happens, happens. Everything happens according to what we deserve. Why worry in advance about it?
— Letters, 101
— Letters, 101
Uncertainties, doubts and fears are natural to everyone until the Self is realized. They are inseparable from the ego.
— Talk 612
— Talk 612
JNANA ALONE IS EVERYTHING
Q: What is reality?
Ramana: Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names. That which underlies these is the reality. It underlies limitations, being itself limitless. It is not bound. It underlies unrealities, itself being real. Reality is that which is. It is as it is. It transcends speech. It is beyond the expressions ‘existence, non-existence’, etc.
The reality which is the mere consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects, alone is the Self [atma]. In that Brahma-swarupa [real form of Brahman], which is abundant Self-awareness, there is not the least ignorance. The reality which shines fully, without misery and without a body, not only when the world is known but also when the world is not known, is your real form [nija-swarupa].
The radiance of consciousness-bliss, in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without, is the supreme and blissful primal reality. Its form is silence and it is declared by jnanis to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge [jnana].
Know that jnana alone is non-attachment; jnana alone is purity; jnana is the attainment of God; jnana which is devoid of forgetfulness of Self alone is immortality; jnana alone is everything.
Be As You Are, the Teachings of Ramana Maharshi edited by David Godman, p 11
Q: What is reality?
Ramana: Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names. That which underlies these is the reality. It underlies limitations, being itself limitless. It is not bound. It underlies unrealities, itself being real. Reality is that which is. It is as it is. It transcends speech. It is beyond the ex
The reality which is the mere consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects, alone is the Self [atma]. In that Brahma-swarupa [real form of Brahman], which is abundant Self-awareness, there is not the least ignorance. The reality which shines fully, without misery and without a body, not only when the world is known but also when the world is not known, is your real form [nija-swarupa].
The radiance of consciousness-bliss, in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without, is the supreme and blissful primal reality. Its form is silence and it is declared by jnanis to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge [jnana].
Know that jnana alone is non-attachment; jnana alone is purity; jnana is the attainment of God; jnana which is devoid of forgetfulness of Self alone is immortality; jnana alone is everything.
Be As You Are, the Teachings of Ramana Maharshi edited by David Godman, p 11
Sri Bhagavan says,
‘For Him who enjoys the bliss of Self,
which has risen by destroying the [individual] self [the mind or ego],
what single thing exists to do?
He does not know anything other than Self; [therefore] how to [or who can] conceive what His state is?’
Note: The sense of doership, the feeling ‘I am doing this action’, can exist only so long as the mind, whose form is the feeling ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that’, exists.
Therefore, when the mind is destroyed, the sense of doership is also destroyed.
Hence the yogi whose mind is dead and who thereby abides as Self, the reality, cannot be the doer of any action.
Whatever action He may appear to do exists only in the outlook of those who mistake Him to be the body which does the action.
~ Ulladu Narpadu, Verse31
Translation By MICHAEL JAMES.
‘For Him who enjoys the bliss of Self,
which has risen by destroying the [individual] self [the mind or ego],
what single thing exists to do?
He does not know anything other than Self; [therefore] how to [or who can] conceive what His state is?’
Note: The sense of doership, the feeling ‘I am doing this action’, can exist only so long as the mind, whose form is the feeling ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that’, exists.
Therefore, when the mind is destroyed, the sense of doership is also destroyed.
Hence the yogi whose mind is dead and who thereby abides as Self, the reality, cannot be the doer of any action.
Whatever action He may appear to do exists only in the outlook of those who mistake Him to be the body which does the action.
~ Ulladu Narpadu, Verse31
Translation By MICHAEL JAMES.
Once Bhagavan was asked whether it was true that by the grace of the guru the highest state is reached in a moment. Bhagavan replied,
“Yes. If the disciple is in a ripe state, the ajnana (ignorance) will be removed only by the avalokana (look) of the guru.”
He added,
“The kripa (grace) flows towards one in proportion to one’s merit. If the vessel is small, the kripa received will be small; if the vessel is big, the kripa will be proportionately more.”
Once, going through an English daily as usual, Bhagavan read somewhat aloud a sensational report of a new invention and smiled. After a pause he gently remarked, “One may acquire any number of powers, but without realising the yathartha (truth) one cannot acquire mano shanti
(peace of mind).
When someone asked,
“What is yathartha?”
Bhagavan replied,
“That which exists always,”
and added after a pause,
“Peace is our swabhava (nature). Just as a person who keeps a number of things in a
room and complains that there is no space in the room, we say there is no peace. Is not the space obtained automatically when the things are removed?”
~ Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi Selected Excerpts from K.R.K. Murthi(140)
“Yes. If the disciple is in a ripe state, the ajnana (ignorance) will be removed only by the avalokana (look) of the guru.”
He added,
“The kripa (grace) flows towards one in proportion to one’s merit. If the vessel is small, the kripa received will be small; if the vessel is big, the kripa will be proportionately more.”
Once, going through an English daily as usual, Bhagavan read somewhat aloud a sensational report of a new invention and smiled. After a pause he gently remarked, “One may acquire any number of powers, but without realising the yathartha (truth) one cannot acquire mano shanti
(peace of mind).
When someone asked,
“What is yathartha?”
Bhagavan replied,
“That which exists always,”
and added after a pause,
“Peace is our swabhava (nature). Just as a person who keeps a number of things in a
room and complains that there is no space in the room, we say there is no peace. Is not the space obtained automatically when the things are removed?”
~ Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi Selected Excerpts from K.R.K. Murthi(140)
Devotee: “It is said that the Mahatma looks upon all with the same kindness. Why then do they tenderly receive some, reply to some and not to others, when asked, shout at some and show indifference towards others?”
Bhagavan: “Yes. All the children are the same for the father. He wishes them all well. Hence he treats them with love and anger according to their propensities, and thus gives them training. Children who are gentle, remain aloof with fear and do not ask for anything; they should be cajoled with love and tenderness and given whatever they want. Those who are bold, ask for and take whatever they want. Those who are vagrant should be reprimanded and kept in their proper places. Those who are stupid should be neglected and left to fend for themselves. In the same manner Mahatmas have to be loving or harsh according to the merits of the devotees.”
Bhagavan: “Yes. All the children are the same for the father. He wishes them all well. Hence he treats them with love and anger according to their propensities, and thus gives them training. Children who are gentle, remain aloof with fear and do not ask for anything; they should be cajoled with love and tenderness and given whatever they want. Those who are bold, ask for and take whatever they want. Those who are vagrant should be reprimanded and kept in their proper places. Those who are stupid should be neglected and left to fend for themselves. In the same manner Mahatmas have to be loving or harsh according to the merits of the devotees.”
Mr. Cohen. Vivekachudamani speaks of the ‘I’-‘I’ Consciousness as eternally shining in the Heart, but no one is aware of it.
Bhagavan. Yes, all men without exception have it, in whatever state they may be – the waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep,
– and whether they are conscious of it or not.
C. In the Talks section of Sat-Darshana-Bhashya, the ‘I’-‘I’ is referred to as the Absolute Consciousness, yet Bhagavan once told me that any realisation before Sahaja Nirvikalpa is intellectual.
Bh. Yes, the ‘I’-‘I’ Consciousness is the Absolute. Though it comes before Sahaja, there is in it as in Sahaja itself the subtle
intellect; the difference being that in the latter the sense of forms disappears, which is not the case in the former.
C. Bhagavan, you said yesterday that there exists in the human body a hole as small as a pinpoint, from which consciousness
always bubbles out to the body. Is it open or shut?
Bh. It is always shut, being the knot of ignorance which ties the body to consciousness. When the mind drops in the temporary Kevala Nirvikalpa it opens but shuts again.
In Sahaja it remains always open.
C. How is it during the experience of ‘I’-‘I’ Consciousness?
Bh. This Consciousness is the key which opens it permanently.
- GURU RAMANA. Chapter: Meditation.
Bhagavan. Yes, all men without exception have it, in whatever state they may be – the waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep,
– and whether they are conscious of it or not.
C. In the Talks section of Sat-Darshana-Bhashya, the ‘I’-‘I’ is referred to as the Absolute Consciousness, yet Bhagavan once told me that any realisation before Sahaja Nirvikalpa is intellectual.
Bh. Yes, the ‘I’-‘I’ Consciousness is the Absolute. Though it comes before Sahaja, there is in it as in Sahaja itself the subtle
intellect; the difference being that in the latter the sense of forms disappears, which is not the case in the former.
C. Bhagavan, you said yesterday that there exists in the human body a hole as small as a pinpoint, from which consciousness
always bubbles out to the body. Is it open or shut?
Bh. It is always shut, being the knot of ignorance which ties the body to consciousness. When the mind drops in the temporary Kevala Nirvikalpa it opens but shuts again.
In Sahaja it remains always open.
C. How is it during the experience of ‘I’-‘I’ Consciousness?
Bh. This Consciousness is the key which opens it permanently.
- GURU RAMANA. Chapter: Meditation.
BIRTH OF RAMANA MAHARSHI
... It is recorded that a blind woman present in the delivery
room had a vision of a wondrous light and said, “He who is born today in your house must be a divine being.”
~ Gabriele Ebert
... It is recorded that a blind woman present in the delivery
room had a vision of a wondrous light and said, “He who is born today in your house must be a divine being.”
~ Gabriele Ebert
A visitor asked:
V. What meditation (dhyana) is the best?
Bhagavan. The best meditation is that which continues in all the three states. It must be so intense as not to give room
even to the thought “I am meditating”. As waking and dream states will thus be fully occupied by it, deep sleep may also be deemed to be an undifferentiated dhyana.....
V. What is the difference between sushumna nadi and atma nadi?
Bh. Sushumna is the central nadi which functions in the practice of yoga, that is, in dynamic dhyana and for the attainment of siddhis (psychic powers) and which the
yogis claim to end in the sahasrara, the brain.
Atmanadi, Paranadi or Amritanadi is the force current which rises from Heart to the sahasrara in the static dhyana of the jnana marga, which leads to Self-realisation. Sushumna has finally to merge in the Atmanadi which supports it.
The nadis are the nervous system along which consciousness flows from Heart to the whole organism.
~ GURU RAMANA. Chapter: MEDITATION.
V. What meditation (dhyana) is the best?
Bhagavan. The best meditation is that which continues in all the three states. It must be so intense as not to give room
even to the thought “I am meditating”. As waking and dream states will thus be fully occupied by it, deep sleep may also be deemed to be an undifferentiated dhyana.....
V. What is the difference between sushumna nadi and atma nadi?
Bh. Sushumna is the central nadi which functions in the practice of yoga, that is, in dynamic dhyana and for the attainment of siddhis (psychic powers) and which the
yogis claim to end in the sahasrara, the brain.
Atmanadi, Paranadi or Amritanadi is the force current which rises from Heart to the sahasrara in the static dhyana of the jnana marga, which leads to Self-realisation. Sushumna has finally to merge in the Atmanadi which supports it.
The nadis are the nervous system along which consciousness flows from Heart to the whole organism.
~ GURU RAMANA. Chapter: MEDITATION.
Reading Many Books
It was in 1940 that one day one of the devotees sitting in the hall raised the topic regarding the utility of reading books on religion and philosophy.
In reply Sri Ramana Maharshi said,
"You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the mirror shows you that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of it. You may go on looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will tell you the same thing, but no mirror can ever shave you. You have to shave yourself. Instead of wasting time looking into mirror after mirror it is best to start shaving after having looked into the first mirror and known the truth.
So also all books will tell you the same truth, perhaps in slightly different ways. Instead of wasting time reading book after book why not realize for yourself what was obvious from the very first book."
~ The Maharshi Newsletter, Sep/Oct 2002
It was in 1940 that one day one of the devotees sitting in the hall raised the topic regarding the utility of reading books on religion and philosophy.
In reply Sri Ramana Maharshi said,
"You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the mirror shows you that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of it. You may go on looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will tell you the same thing, but no mirror can ever shave you. You have to shave yourself. Instead of wasting time looking into mirror after mirror it is best to start shaving after having looked into the first mirror and known the truth.
So also all books will tell you the same truth, perhaps in slightly different ways. Instead of wasting time reading book after book why not realize for yourself what was obvious from the very first book."
~ The Maharshi Newsletter, Sep/Oct 2002
There is neither creation nor destruction, neither destiny nor free will, neither path nor achievement. This is the final truth.
I don’t know what kundalini is.
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Kundalini is one name
given by the yogic people for
what may be called the atma sakti inside the body.
The vichara school calls the same power jnana.
The bhakta calls it love or bhakti.
The yogic school says that
this power is dormant in muladhara
at the base of the spinal cord and
that it must be
roused and taken through the various chakras
on to sahasrara at the top,
in the brain,
to attain moksha.
The jnanis think this power is centred in the heart, and so on.
~ Day by day with Bhagavan, 11-11-45
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Kundalini is one name
given by the yogic people for
what may be called the atma sakti inside the body.
The vichara school calls the same power jnana.
The bhakta calls it love or bhakti.
The yogic school says that
this power is dormant in muladhara
at the base of the spinal cord and
that it must be
roused and taken through the various chakras
on to sahasrara at the top,
in the brain,
to attain moksha.
The jnanis think this power is centred in the heart, and so on.
~ Day by day with Bhagavan, 11-11-45
RAMANA MAHARSHI : HIS LIFE by Gabriele Ebert.
It is reported that Sri Ramana appeared to some devotees in the form of God or light. His mother once saw Ramana as Shiva, with a garland of snakes, then again she saw him in the form of light. Ganapati Muni and others had different visions of him too. When Roda McIver met Maharshi for the first time, he appeared to her as a splendid light. She reports, “Bhagavan had gone up the hill when I arrived, and I was told to wait on the footpath for His return. I did not see Him coming, but suddenly I saw a brilliant light before me, like the sun rising. I lifted my head and saw Bhagavan standing before me. He looked at me, nodded and smiled. At that moment I felt something happening in me which I had never experienced before in my life! The Sun that He was, He revealed at that moment that He was the Light, the Fire of Knowledge!”
It is also reported that people were healed in the presence of the Maharshi. As, for example, a little boy, whose name was also Ramana and who had been bitten by some kind of poisonous animal. When the parents brought the boy to the Maharshi he was already unconscious and had almost stopped breathing. Sri Ramana passed his hands over the boy’s body saying, “It is nothing. He will be all right.” And indeed, little Ramana soon recovered.
M.A. Piggot reports a similar occurrence. Someone had brought a man into the Hall who had been bitten by a snake and lay him down before Sri Ramana. “We all watched, fear gripping our hearts. Not so he, who sat looking into the far distance while the victim writhed in pain. Calm and compassion was in that look, and infinite peace. After what seemed like hours, the twitching ceased and the man appeared to sleep. Then the one who had brought in the sufferer gently touched him. The man rose, prostrated himself before the Maharshi and went out cured.”
It is reported that Sri Ramana appeared to some devotees in the form of God or light. His mother once saw Ramana as Shiva, with a garland of snakes, then again she saw him in the form of light. Ganapati Muni and others had different visions of him too. When Roda McIver met Maharshi for the first time, he appeared to her as a splendid light. She reports, “Bhagavan had gone up the hill when I arrived, and I was told to wait on the footpath for His return. I did not see Him coming, but suddenly I saw a brilliant light before me, like the sun rising. I lifted my head and saw Bhagavan standing before me. He looked at me, nodded and smiled. At that moment I felt something happening in me which I had never experienced before in my life! The Sun that He was, He revealed at that moment that He was the Light, the Fire of Knowledge!”
It is also reported that people were healed in the presence of the Maharshi. As, for example, a little boy, whose name was also Ramana and who had been bitten by some kind of poisonous animal. When the parents brought the boy to the Maharshi he was already unconscious and had almost stopped breathing. Sri Ramana passed his hands over the boy’s body saying, “It is nothing. He will be all right.” And indeed, little Ramana soon recovered.
M.A. Piggot reports a similar occurrence. Someone had brought a man into the Hall who had been bitten by a snake and lay him down before Sri Ramana. “We all watched, fear gripping our hearts. Not so he, who sat looking into the far distance while the victim writhed in pain. Calm and compassion was in that look, and infinite peace. After what seemed like hours, the twitching ceased and the man appeared to sleep. Then the one who had brought in the sufferer gently touched him. The man rose, prostrated himself before the Maharshi and went out cured.”
MAYA
Of all the aspects of Advaita philosophy that of Maya is the most difficult to understand, still more to explain. Some interpret it as ignorance, others as dream, others still as illusion, and nothing but experience can explain it satisfactorily. In the meantime considerable misunderstanding is created by explanations – the more it is explained, the more obscure it becomes.
In one of the Ashrams I visited in 1939 I met a Canadian lady. She had come to India “in search of Truth,” and had visited many yogis and Ashrams, the last of which was the Ramakrishna Mutt in Madras. We talked as usual on yoga, meditation, etc., but when I mentioned the word “maya”, she gasped, clutched her throat, and dropped her voice: “Don’t say it,” she whispered, “those people of Ramakrishna Mission were about to destroy me, but God came to my rescue and I escaped.”
I: How do you mean, did they want to kill you? They are sannyasis.
She: Not my body, but my soul. They told me that nothing exists: no world, no human beings, no trees, nothing, nothing – all is illusion, all my own imagination and that I cannot kill the illusion till I surrender myself. Where will I be without my soul and mind?
I had no alternative but to change the subject.
But Sri Bhagavan’s explanations are superb, as will be seen from the following dialogues.
15th April 1937
1. Mr. C. wanted to know the mystery of this gigantic world illusion.
C. We speak of the world as illusion, yet everything in it follows rigid laws, which proves it to be well-planned and well-regulated.
Bhagavan: Yes, he who projected the illusion gave it the appearance of order and sound planning.
C. All spiritual institutions except the Advaitic give prominence to the creative aspect of Reality, which they name God. They speak of prophets, saints, scriptures, etc. Are they all illusion?
Bhagavan: They all exist in the same way as you, the questioner, exist. You are in the relative world, so they are; or else you would not have known of them. In dreams, one also sees a well-regulated world with saints, scriptures, etc., but the moment one wakes up they all disappear. So also waking from this dream world into the Supreme Consciousness causes them all to disappear.
C: But how out of Truth does illusion, falsehood spring up?
Bhagavan: Maya is not falsehood, although it has the appearance of it, but the active side of Reality. It is the maker of forms in Consciousness and form means variety, which causes illusion – mind you, all this variety is in consciousness and nowhere else; it is only in the mind. One jiva, seeing another jiva, forgets its identity with it and thinks of it as separate from itself.
But the moment it turns its attention on its own nature as consciousness, and not as form, the illusion of diversity or separateness breaks as a dream breaks when waking takes place.
C. It is hard to conceive God, the formless, giving rise to forms.
Bhagavan: Why hard? Does not your mind remain formless when you do not perceive or think, say, in deep sleep, in samadhi, or in a swoon? And does it not create space and relationship when it thinks and impels your body to act?
Just as your mind devises and your body executes in one homogeneous, automatic act, so automatic, in fact, that most people are not aware of the process, so does the Divine Intelligence devise and plan and His Energy automatically and spontaneously acts – the thought and the act are one integral whole. This Creative Energy which is implicit in Pure Intelligence is called by various names, one of which is maya or shakti, the Creator of forms or images.
Of all the aspects of Advaita philosophy that of Maya is the most difficult to understand, still more to explain. Some interpret it as ignorance, others as dream, others still as illusion, and nothing but experience can explain it satisfactorily. In the meantime considerable misunderstanding is created by explanations – the more it is explained, the more obscure it becomes.
In one of the Ashrams I visited in 1939 I met a Canadian lady. She had come to India “in search of Truth,” and had visited many yogis and Ashrams, the last of which was the Ramakrishna Mutt in Madras. We talked as usual on yoga, meditation, etc., but when I mentioned the word “maya”, she gasped, clutched her throat, and dropped her voice: “Don’t say it,” she whispered, “those people of Ramakrishna Mission were about to destroy me, but God came to my rescue and I escaped.”
I: How do you mean, did they want to kill you? They are sannyasis.
She: Not my body, but my soul. They told me that nothing exists: no world, no human beings, no trees, nothing, nothing – all is illusion, all my own imagination and that I cannot kill the illusion till I surrender myself. Where will I be without my soul and mind?
I had no alternative but to change the subject.
But Sri Bhagavan’s explanations are superb, as will be seen from the following dialogues.
15th April 1937
1. Mr. C. wanted to know the mystery of this gigantic world illusion.
C. We speak of the world as illusion, yet everything in it follows rigid laws, which proves it to be well-planned and well-regulated.
Bhagavan: Yes, he who projected the illusion gave it the appearance of order and sound planning.
C. All spiritual institutions except the Advaitic give prominence to the creative aspect of Reality, which they name God. They speak of prophets, saints, scriptures, etc. Are they all illusion?
Bhagavan: They all exist in the same way as you, the questioner, exist. You are in the relative world, so they are; or else you would not have known of them. In dreams, one also sees a well-regulated world with saints, scriptures, etc., but the moment one wakes up they all disappear. So also waking from this dream world into the Supreme Consciousness causes them all to disappear.
C: But how out of Truth does illusion, falsehood spring up?
Bhagavan: Maya is not falsehood, although it has the appearance of it, but the active side of Reality. It is the maker of forms in Consciousness and form means variety, which causes illusion – mind you, all this variety is in consciousness and nowhere else; it is only in the mind. One jiva, seeing another jiva, forgets its identity with it and thinks of it as separate from itself.
But the moment it turns its attention on its own nature as consciousness, and not as form, the illusion of diversity or separateness breaks as a dream breaks when waking takes place.
C. It is hard to conceive God, the formless, giving rise to forms.
Bhagavan: Why hard? Does not your mind remain formless when you do not perceive or think, say, in deep sleep, in samadhi, or in a swoon? And does it not create space and relationship when it thinks and impels your body to act?
Just as your mind devises and your body executes in one homogeneous, automatic act, so automatic, in fact, that most people are not aware of the process, so does the Divine Intelligence devise and plan and His Energy automatically and spontaneously acts – the thought and the act are one integral whole. This Creative Energy which is implicit in Pure Intelligence is called by various names, one of which is maya or shakti, the Creator of forms or images.
Wherever you concentrate and on whatever centre there must be a you to concentrate, and that is what you must concentrate on.
~ Day by day 18-7-46
~ Day by day 18-7-46
Bhagavan talks about Suicide
Killing the innocent body is certainly wrong. Suicide must be committed on the mind, where the suffering is deposited, and not on the body, which is insentient and feels nothing. The mind is the real culprit, being the creator of the anguish which tempts to suicide, but by an error of judgement, the innocent, insentient body is punished for it.
Killing the innocent body is certainly wrong. Suicide must be committed on the mind, where the suffering is deposited, and not on the body, which is insentient and feels nothing. The mind is the real culprit, being the creator of the anguish which tempts to suicide, but by an error of judgement, the innocent, insentient body is punished for it.
Nothing happens by accident in the divine scheme of things.
To seek to know the significance of life is itself the result of good karma in past births. Those who do not seek such knowledge are simply wasting their lives.
Q: Did you give your mother salvation on her death-bed?
M: Can anyone give liberation to another? No. One's own
jnana alone can give one liberation.
Q: (Meher)Baba says he is an avatar(incarnation). Is that true?
M: What have I to say? This is a question that seekers after truth need not consider. People that are on the lower rungs of the ladder waste their energies over such questions.
Everyone is an avatar of God. One who knows the truth sees God in every face and everyone else as a manifestation of God.
- Conscious Immortality
M: Can anyone give liberation to another? No. One's own
jnana alone can give one liberation.
Q: (Meher)Baba says he is an avatar(incarnation). Is that true?
M: What have I to say? This is a question that seekers after truth need not consider. People that are on the lower rungs of the ladder waste their energies over such questions.
Everyone is an avatar of God. One who knows the truth sees God in every face and everyone else as a manifestation of God.
- Conscious Immortality
When you see that the mind invents everything, all will vanish. The good will vanish, the evil will vanish, and you will remain as you are.
A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.
The greatest obstacle to enlightenment is getting past your delusion that you are not already enlightened.
Beings
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