Nurtureoneslife:
.
Mr. Ellappa Chettiar, a member of the Legislative Council of Madras Presidency and an influential Hindu, asked: “Why is it said that the knowledge born of hearing is not firm, whereas that born of contemplation is firm?”
Maharshi: On the other hand it is said that hearsay knowledge (paroksha) is not firm, whereas that born of one’s own realisation (aparoksha) is firm. It is also said that hearing helps the intellectual understanding of the Truth, that meditation makes the understanding clear, and finally that contemplation brings about realisation of the Truth. Furthermore, they say also that all such knowledge is not firm and that it is firm only when it is as clear and intimate as a gooseberry in the hollow of one’s palm. There are those who affirm that hearing alone will suffice, because a competent person who had already, perhaps in previous incarnations, qualified himself, realises and abides in peace as soon as he hears the Truth told him only once, whereas the person not so qualified must pass through the stages prescribed above, before falling into samadhi.
(Talk 21)
As you are so life will appear for you. It is you who can change the world you see, because all you see is what you interpret. What is really there, is only God. Mooji
Until realization there will be karma, that is action and reaction. After realization, there will be no karma and no world.
Sri Ramana Maharshi
10. What is the end of the path of knowledge (jnana) or Vedanta?
It is to know the truth that the 'I' is not different from the Lord (Isvara) and to be free from the feeling of being the doer (kartrtva, ahamkara).
11. How can it be said that the end of both these paths is the same?
Whatever the means,
the destruction of the sense 'I' and 'mine' is the goal,
and as these are interdependent,
the destruction of either of them causes the destruction of the other;
therefore
in order to achieve that state of Silence which is beyond thought and word,
either the path of knowledge which removes the sense of 'I' or
the path of devotion which removes the sense of 'mine', will suffice.
So there is no doubt that the end of the paths of devotion and knowledge is one and the same.
NOTE: So long as the 'I' exists it is necessary to accept the Lord also. If any one wishes to regain easily the supreme state of identity (sayujya) now lost to him, it is only proper that he should accept this conclusion.
- Sri Ramana Maharshi. Spiritual Instruction.
Whatever appears in the book of Life is already written by the Author. Mooji
A Jnani who,
having destroyed the ego,
abides in the state of Self,
which is Jnana,
bestows Self-knowledge upon those who, troubled by miseries,
come to Him with faith
by destroying the delusion of their body-identification;
His doing so is [the real] kindness to
jivas [jiva-karunya].
All other kinds of kindness are of no avail [and hence are not at all real kindness].
Sadhu Om: This verse clearly stresses that bestowing Self-knowledge alone is real kindness in the name of charity,
philanthropy or jiva-karunya
– even trying to heavenize the world
– is not at all real kindness.
Since the state of being a jiva is itself the greatest misery, the real kindness to jivas is
the Sadguru’s bestowing upon them Self-knowledge and thereby removing their jivahood and granting them Sivahood.
Let us suppose that a man is dreaming that he and his comrades have been attacked by a tiger. Some of his comrades are wounded and the tiger is about to attack again,
so the man calls out in his dream asking someone to bring a rifle and a first-aid-box. His shouting is heard by a friend who is awake.
Now what is the truly kind and useful help that the waking friend can give to the dreaming man? Will it be of any use if he brings a rifle and a first-aid-box?
If he merely taps the man and wakes him up, will that not be the best help, both to the dreaming man and his wounded
comrades?
All the miseries of a jiva are experienced by him in a dream which is occurring in the long sleep of Self-forgetfulness, and hence his waking up from that dream is the only solution for all his miseries. Since the jiva can be awakened to Self-knowledge only by someone who is already awake, a Jnani alone can do real good to the jiva. If any
ajnani tries to relieve the sufferings of another, he will be just like someone in dream bringing a rifle and first-aid-box; since he does not know the real cause of the dreaming man’s suffering all his help will be just like one blind man leading
another blind man.
- The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Guru Vachaka Kovai. Verse 803.
The Practice of the Truth. Chapter 71.
Kindness to Jivas.
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Your duty is
to be:
and not to be
this or that.
“I AM that I AM”
sums up the whole truth.
The method is summed up in
“BE STILL”.
What does “stillness” mean?
It means “destroy yourself ”.
Because any form or shape is the cause of trouble.
Give up that notion that “I am so and so.”
๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท
“ The I' is always there –
in deep sleep, in dream and in wakefulness.
The one in sleep is the same as that who now speaks.
There is always the feeling of I'.
Otherwise do you deny your existence?
You do not.
You say `I am'.
Find out who is.”
๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท
“ If you hold this feeling of ‘I’
long enough and strongly enough,
the false ‘I’ will vanish
leaving only
the unbroken awareness of the real,
immanent ‘I’,
consciousness itself.”
๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท
“ The only permanent thing is Reality;
and that is the Self.
You say “I am”,“I am going”,“I am speaking”,“I am working”, etc.
Hyphenate “I am” in all of them.
Thus I - AM.
That is the abiding and fundamental Reality.
This truth was taught by God to Moses: “I AM that I-AM”.
“Be still and know that I-AM God.”
so “I-AM” is God.
You know that you are.
You cannot deny your existence
at any moment of time.
For you must be there
in order to deny it.
This (Pure Existence) is understood
by stilling your mind.
The mind is the outgoing faculty
of the individual.
If that is turned within,
it becomes still in course of time and
that “I-AM” alone prevails.
“I-AM” is the whole Truth.”
~~~~
When a devotee asked Bhagavan Ramana for two upadesas (instructions) regarding liberation, Sri Ramana replied,
“What do I know? Everything is an upadesa. Worship of the Divine is the only
upadesa.”
- Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk§59.
Between these two seemingly simple statements, one may recount numerous upadesas that he gave during his lifetime. Bhagavan,
who was established in the state of unceasing Self-abidance (sahaja-samadhi) compassionately taught spiritual seekers in various ways ranging from Silence, to ‘Who am I?’ to ‘Nothing has ever happened’,
to ‘You are the creator of the universe’, to ‘Totally surrender to the Lord who is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient’.
Firstly, Sri Ramana said, “Silence is the true upadesa. It is the perfect upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced seeker. Others are unable to draw full inspiration from it. Therefore they require words to explain the Truth. But Truth is beyond words. It does not admit of explanation.”
- Talk§569
He often praised Silence as the clearest upadesa, the primary, the highest form of Grace. He said that all other upadesas are derived from Silence and therefore are secondary.
Then there is Sri Ramana’s path of Self-enquiry (atma vichara), asking the question, “Who am I?”.
He replied, when asked which is the best method of spiritual practice (sadhana), “That depends on the temperament of the individual. Every person is born with latent
tendencies (samskara) from their past lives. One method will prove easy to one person and another to another. There can be no general rule.”
- Talk§580.
If Bhagavan had to employ words, he usually advocated Self-enquiry.
“Self-enquiry is the direct method. All other methods are practised while retaining the ego and therefore many doubts arise and the ultimate question still remains to be tackled in the end. But in this method the final question is the only one and is raised from the very beginning.”
- Talk§146.
The theory of non-origination, that states that nothing has ever truly been born or has died (ajata-vada) was expounded by the paramaguru of Adi Sankara, Gaudapada.
- Mandukya Karika; also Katha Up. 1.2.18. ‘The knowing Self is never born;
nor does it die at any time’;
Bhagavad Gita 2.20.
‘The Self is neither born nor does it die.’
However, even this perspective admits that it is but an approximation to the Truth, a statement with which Sri Ramana is in complete agreement.
Thus Gaudapada said,
“Ajati is meaningful only so long as jati (birth) carries meaning. The absolute Truth is that no word can designate or describe the Self.”
- Mandukya Karika 4, 74
From this perspective there is no creation, no birth, no death, no dissolution, no bondage, no liberation, and no one striving for liberation.
Bhagavan remarked,
“The Truth was revealed even at the start. For the very first sloka of Sri Krishna’s upadesa to Arjuna starts: ‘No birth and no death, no change, etc.’”
- Talk§611.
It is a Sage’s experience that nothing has ever happened, because the Self alone exists as the sole unchanging Reality. From this perspective, the relative reality of the world is not denied. A Sage perceives appearances like anyone else. However, the Sage does not perceive the world as comprised of separate objects. An appearance is not unreal merely because it is an appearance. The real nature of an appearance is inseparable from the Self and partakes of its reality.
What is not real is to mentally construct an illusory world of separate, interacting objects.
Bhagavan said,
“The Vedantins do not say the world is unreal. That is a misunderstanding. If they did, what would be the meaning of the Vedantic text: ‘All this is Brahman’?
They only mean that the world is unreal as world, but it is real as Self. If you regard the world as not Self it is not real. Everything, whether you call it world or maya or lila or sakti, must be within the Self and not apart from it. There can be no sakti apart from the sakta.”
- Day by Day with Bhagavan, 2002. 3-7-46. p.266.
- Keyword: Upadesa. John Grimes
Mountain Path. July 2016.
