Spiritual life

7/27/2021

7/22/2021

This atman is not attained by instruction or by intelligence or by learning. By him whom he chooses is the atman attained. To him the atman reveals his own being. The one who has not turned away from wickedness, who has no peace, who is not concentrated, whose mind is restless-he cannot realize the atman, who is known by wisdom.

Krishna Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad 1.2.24-25. ve, p. 710

notes 16

Nurtureoneslife:

श्रीब्रह्मचैतन्य श्रीगोंदवलेकर महाराजांचा नामबोध

२२ जुलै २०२१ गुरुवार

गुरू आपल्याला अंतिम सुख दाखवितात.

आपण विषय मागत असतो आणि ते दिले तर आपण त्यात बुडून मरू हे गुरूंना माहीत असते; म्हणूनच गुरु आपल्याला त्यातून वाचविण्यासाठी चार गोष्टी सांगून पाहतो. आपण तेही न ऐकले, तर तो आपत्ती वगैरे आणून धाक दाखवितो. आपण त्याबद्दल रडत असलो तरी तो आपल्याला त्यातून वर ओढीतच असतो. आपण चांगले शिकले-सवरलेले; चांगले वयस्कर; तरीसुद्धा आपल्याला विषयात उडी घ्यावीशी वाटते. पण अंतिम सुख काय, हे गुरूला कळत असते. म्हणून तो सध्या दिसणाऱ्या सुखापासून आपल्याला परावृत्त करीत असतो. तेव्हा, आपण गुरुवचनावर विश्वास ठेवून त्याच्या आज्ञेप्रमाणे वागणे हेच श्रेयस्कर आहे. तो जे साधन सांगेल तेच करीत राहावे, म्हणजे आपल्याला अंतिम सुखाचा लाभ होईल. गुरू आज्ञा करतो म्हणजे काय करतो ? तर आपले मन जिथे गुंतले असेल तिथून त्याला काढण्याचा तो प्रयत्‍न करतो.

प्रापंचिक जन विषयप्राप्तीसाठी झटतात. पण विषय मागूनही जो देत नाही, त्यापासून परावृत्त करतो, तो संत.

॥ हरये नम: | हरये नम: | हरये नम: ||

श्रीब्रह्मचैतन्य श्रीगोंदवलेकर महाराजांचा नामबोध

२१ जुलै २०२१ बुधवार

वेदाप्रमाणे नामही अनादी, अनंत, अपौरुषेय आहे.

शास्त्रामध्ये असे सांगून ठेवले आहे की, कृतयुगामद्ये ध्यानाने, त्रेतायुगामध्ये हवनाने आणि द्वापारयुगामध्ये देवतार्चनाने भगवंताची प्राप्ती होते. परंतु कलियुगामध्ये त्यांपैकीं काहीच साध्य होणे शक्य नसल्याने, भगवंताचे केवळ नाम घेतले असता मनुष्याला त्याचे दर्शन घडते. वेद भगवंताचे वर्णन करतात. नामदेखील भगवंताचेच अस्तित्व प्रकट करते. प्रत्येक वेदमंत्राच्या आरंभी 'हरिः ॐ' असते, ते नामच आहे. आपले मन स्वच्छ नसेल तर भगवंत हात आखडता घेतो, पण खरी अनन्यता असेल तर पोटभर पुरवितो. इतक्या तन्मयतेने नाम घ्या की, 'मी नाम घेतो आहे' हे सुद्धा विसरून जा.

इतर साधनांनी लवकर साधल्यासारखे वाटेल पण ते तात्पुरते असते. नामाने थोडा

उशीर लागेल, पण जे साधेल ते कायमचे साधेल, कारण नामाने मुळापासून सुधारणा होते.

॥ हरये नम: | हरये नम: | हरये नम: ||

notes 15

To be free, do nothing.

Throw out everything. Be nothing also.

Because when you ask, ‘Mooji, what should I do?’

whatever I tell you, you will forget.

I point you to the highest, purest and

most obvious thing,

and you say, ‘Yes, yes, yes,

but can I ask another question?’

Another question?

You should be dead!

Why you are asking another question?

You, as the false self, should be dead, finished.

Why are you speaking all these things?

If the doctor has signed your death certificate,

can you argue with his autopsy report?

You are speechless.

At least, this will bring back some fresh air.

Because this chatter is not going anywhere.

You can spend many months, even years,

talking like this, but I tell you,

It is not going anywhere.

This is why I have told you the story about Buddha:

How he said to one man who wanted to challenge him

in a philosophical debate, ‘Don’t ask me any questions.’

This man was a big debater, knows and talks about everything. He has defeated all opponents.

Buddha said,

‘Before we debate you must agree

to sit with me in silence for one year.

But you must not ask me anything.

You can stay with me, but don't talk to me.

I don’t want to hear anything from you.

I don’t want to hear your ideas.

I don’t want your experience,

because you don’t yet know who you are.

It’s all nothing.

Can you do that?

Can you spend this time with me and not speak?’

The man agreed, but of course he went through hell.

He was experiencing withdrawal.

He is so used to thinking and talking a lot.

But now he is told, ‘No, don't talk to me.

You are also not allowed to talk with anyone in my house. Keep quiet. Be like a chair.

I don’t have conversations with my chair. Keep quiet.’

This must have burnt him.

But something in him must have known:

This man’s words are powerful!

And he stayed. He honoured his word.

Mind was not given any space.

And what happened?

A deep silence.

As his mind fell into deep silence,

a profound peace entered his being.

When peace came, he realised

he had never felt peace before.

All previous noise left.

He surrendered and became a disciple of the Buddha.

So of course not many people are going to be with me

if I am up front and direct like this with you.

But if I accept you as my disciples, my best disciples,

I also have to talk with you like this.

Keep quiet.

Meet and be one with silence,

then come and talk to me.

First find silence inside the heart.

Before that, don't speak.

After you really meet silence in the heart,

fall in love with silence,

she will not betray or disappoint you.

Then talk to me as much as you want.

Such a teaching I give.

But who will follow?

Can you imagine a teacher with no students?

Then no teacher.

💖 Mooji

notes 14

The Vedas say:

“The Heart is like a lotus turned down, or a plantain bud.”

“There is a bright spot atom-like, like the end of a grain of paddy.”

“That spot is like a flame and in its centre, transcendental Brahman is seated.”

Which is that Heart?

Is it the heart of the physiologists?

If so, the physiologists know best.

The Heart of the Upanishads is construed as Hridayam, meaning:

This (is) the centre.

That is, it is where the mind rises and subsides.

That is the seat of Realisation.

When I say that it is the Self the people

imagine that it is within the body. When I ask where the Self remains in one’s sleep they seem to think that it is within the body, but unaware of the body and its surroundings like a man confined in a dark room.

To such people it is necessary to say that the seat of Realisation is somewhere within the body. The name of the centre is the Heart; but it is confounded with the heart organ.

When a man dreams, he creates himself (i.e., the ahamkar, the seer) and the surroundings. All of them are later withdrawn into himself.

The one became many, along with the seer.

Similarly also, the one becomes many in the waking state.

The objective world is really subjective. An astronomer discovers a new star at immeasurable distance and announces that its light takes thousands of light years to

reach the earth. Well, where is the star in fact? Is it not in the observer?

But people wonder how a huge globe, larger than the Sun, at such a distance can be contained in the brain-cells of a man. The space, the magnitudes and the paradox are all in the mind only.

How do they exist there?

Inasmuch as you become aware of them, you must admit a light which illumines them. These thoughts are absent in sleep but rise up on waking. So this light is transient, having an origin and an end.

The consciousness of ‘I’ is permanent and continuous. So this cannot be the aforesaid light. It is different but has no independent

existence.

Therefore it must be abhasa (reflected light). The light in the brain is thus reflected knowledge (abhasa samvit) or reflected

being (abhasa sat). The true knowledge (Samvit) or Being (Sat) is in the centre called Heart (Hridaya).

When one wakes up from sleep it is reflected in the head, and so the head is no longer lying prone but rises up. From there the consciousness spreads all over the body and so the superimposed ‘I’ functions as the wakeful entity.

The pure light in the brain is suddha manas (the pure mind) which later becomes contaminated and is malina manas, the one ordinarily found.

All these are however contained in the Self. The body and its counterparts are in the Self. The Self is not confined in the body, as is commonly supposed.

🕉Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.Talk 474

"If you take the appearance to be real you will never know the Real itself, although it the Real alone that exists. This point is illustrated by the analogy of the 'snake in the rope'. As long as you see the snake you cannot see the rope as such. The non-existent snake becomes real to you, while the real rope seems wholly non, existent as such."

~ Sri Raman Maharishi.

notes 13

विरह क्या है?

भक्ति के मार्ग पर विरह आधी यात्रा है, और मिलन शेष आधी। दो ही कदम हैं भक्ति कें—विरह और मिलन। पहले विरह, फिर मिलन। जो विरही है, वही मिलेगा। विरह का अर्थ है कि मुझे पता नहीं कि मैं कौन हूं। विरह का अर्थ है कि मुझे पता नहीं परमात्मा कहां है, कहा छिपा है। विरह का अर्थ है कि मुझे मेरे जीवन का अर्थ नहीं मिलता। विरह का अर्थ है, आंसू और आंसू मेरी आत्मा पर फैले हैं, मैं रो रहा हूं? मैं पुकार रहा हूं; राह नहीं सूझती, अंधेरा है, मैं टटोल रहा हूं; मैं भटक रहा हूं; मैं गिर रहा हूं; मैं उठ रहा हूं। विरह प्यास है। विरह अभीप्सा है। कुछ है जो प्रकट नहीं हो रहा है, और जो प्रकट हो जाए तो जीवन का अर्थ मिल जाए, जीवन में संगति आ जाए। संगीत आ जाए। कुछ है जो अनुभव में आता है भीतर कि पास ही है, फिर भी चूक—चूक जाता है। कुछ है जिसकी अचेतन में ध्वनि सुनाई पड़ती है, लेकिन चेतन तक नहीं आ पाती।

विरह का अर्थ है, परमात्मा है और मुझे नहीं मिल पा रहा है। तो मैं रोऊं, तो मैं पुकारूं, तो मैं गिरूं उसके अतात चरणों में, तो मैं उस अज्ञात के लिए दीए जलाऊ, आरती सजाऊं, फूलमालाएं गूथूं; मैं खाली हूं और मेहमान आ नहीं रहा है—मेहमान है निश्चित, इसकी प्रतीति होनी शुरू होती है भक्त को कि परमात्मा है निश्चित, हर तरफ उसकी छाया सरकती मालूम पड़ती है, फूलों मे उसका रूप दिखाई पड़ता है, पक्षियों में उसकी उड़ान मालूम होती है, झरनों में उसका कलकल नाद मालूम होता है, अस्पष्ट सी अनुभूति होती है, पगध्वनि सुनाई पड़ती है कभी—कभी किन्हीं क्षणों में और किसी—किसी झरोखे से वह झांक जाता है, किसी सपने में उसकी छाया पड़ती है, प्रतिध्वनि सुनाई पड़ती है—दूर की—एहसास होने लगता है कि है तो जरूर, लेकिन कब छाती से छाती मिले, कब आलिंगन हो!

विरह का अर्थ है, ऐसी चित्त की दशा जिसे एहसास तो होना शुरू हुआ, लेकिन एहसास अभी अनुभूति नहीं बना है। जिसे परमात्मा की प्रतीति अनुभव में तो आने लगी, लेकिन आमना—सामना नहीं हुआ, दरस—परस नहीं हुआ है। ध्वनि सुनी है कहीं से, लेकिन कहा से आती है, स्रोत नहीं मिल रहा है। ध्वनि सुनकर ही भक्त मस्त हो गया है। जैसे मदारी ने अपनी तुरही बजाई हो और सांप अपनी पोल में छिपा हुआ तड़फने लगे, ऐसा विरह है। सरकने लगे ध्वनि के स्रोत की तरफ, मस्त होने लगे, मदमस्त होने लगे।

इस विरह को शांडिल्य ने कहा—बड़ा उपयोगी है। जब दो विरही मिल जाते हैं, रोते हैं और एक—दूसरे को रुलाते हैं और प्रभु की महिमा बखान करते हैं, प्रभु की उपस्थिति की चर्चा करते है, प्रभु की झलकें एक—दूसरे से आदान—प्रदान करते हैं, तब सत्संग होता है। उसी सत्संग में धीरे— धीरे अनुभव निखरते हैं, साफ होते हैं। सोना विरह की अग्नि से गुजर—गुजरकर खालिस कुंदन बनता है। और एक दफा मजा आने लगता है आसुओ का—क्योकि ये आंसू परमात्मा के लिए हैं, ये दुख के आंसू नहीं हैं, ये बड़े अहोभाव के आंसू है; इतना भी क्या कम है कि हमें उसका एहसास होने लगा, हम धन्यभागी हैं कि हमें उसका एहसास होने लगा, अभागे है बहुत जिन्हें यह पता ही नहीं है कि परमात्मा जैसी कोई बात होती है, जिन्होंने कभी इस शब्द पर दो क्षण विचार नहीं किया है, जिन्हें प्रार्थना का कोई अर्थ नहीं मालूम।

आओ फिर नज्म कहें

फिर किसी दर्द को सहला के सुजा लें आखें

फिर किसी दुखती हुई रग से छुआ दें नश्तर

या किसी भूली हुई राह पे मुड़कर इक बार

नाम लेकर किसी हमनाम को आवाज ही दे लें

फिर कोई नज्म कहें

आओ फिर कोई नज्म कहें

जब दो विरही मिलते हैं—और विरहियो का मिलन सत्संग है। जब दो प्रेमी मिल जाते हैं, या चार प्रेमी मिल बैठते हैं, तो करते क्या हैं? रोते हैं और रुलाते हैं। रोमाचित होते हैं, एक दूसरे की भावदशा को पीते हैं, एक दूसरे की भावदशा से आदोलित होते हैं, एक—दूसरे से संक्रामित होते हैं।

आओ फिर नज्म कहें

फिर किसी दर्द को सहला के सुजा ले आखें

फिर किसी दुखती हुई रग से छुआ दें नश्तर

या किसी भूली हुई राह पे मुड़कर इक बार

नाम लेकर किसी हमनाम को आवाज ही दे लें

फिर कोई नज्म कहें

इन घड़ियों में परमात्मा और थोड़े करीब आ जाता है। जितने तुम्हारे आंसू गहन होते हैं, उतना परमात्मा करीब आ जाता है—आंसू भरी आखें ही उसे देखने में समर्थ हो पाती हैं। आंसू से भरी आखें पात्र हो जाती हैं। लबालब। आंसू से भरी आखें तुम्हारी प्रार्थना से भरी आखें हैं, झलक उसकी गहराने लगती है। जितनी झलक गहराती है, उतनी तडूफ भी गहराने लगती है।

मगर निठुर न तुम रुके, मगर निठुर न तुम रुके

notes 12

Nurtureoneslife:

Leave everything to God, your burden will cease and He will take on your burden. He knows what to do.

While God sustains the burden of the world, the spurious ego assumes its burden grimacing like an image on a tower seeming to support it.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Realization of Atman

Atman is realized with mruta manas(dead mind) i.e. mind devoid of thoughts and turned inward. Then the mind sees it's own source and becomes That. It is not as the subject perceiving the object.

When the room is dark a lamp is necessary to illumined and eyes to cognize objects. But when the sun is risen there is no need for a lamp, and the objects are seen; and to see the sun, no lamp is necessary, it is enough if you turn your eyes towards the self-luminous sun.

Similarly with the mind. To see the objects the reflected light of the mind is necessary. To see the Heart it is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then the mind loses itself and the Heart shines forth.- Ramana Maharshi ( Talks 99)

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2 Verse 1

Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusudana, Krishna, spoke the following words.

Everything we see is changing, always changing. There must be something unchanging as the basis and source of all this.

(Day by Day with Bhagavan)

FIND THE WITNESS

Q: Is there any genuine difference between dream experience and the waking state?

M: Because you find the dream creations transitory in relation to the waking state, there is said to be a difference. The difference is only apparent and not real.

The states of deep sleep, waking, and dream are accretions of the ego; the Self is the witness of all. The Self transcends them all. This Witness-Consciousness should be found.

In the Self, there are not three states: no waking, no sleeping, no deep sleep. It is ever there.

In sleep, in trance, in absent-mindedness, there is no differentiation. Is that which was absent then, now present? The difference is only due to mind. The mind is sometimes present and at other times absent; there is no change in the Reality.

It is the same person who was in sleep who is now awake. Limitation is only in the mind. The Self is the same throughout. The Self exists in the absence of mind also.

- Conscious Immortality

notes 11

Nurtureoneslife:

3. What is bliss?

It is the experience of joy (or peace) in the state of vijnana free of all activities and

similar to deep sleep.

This is also called the state of kevala nirvikalpa (remaining without concepts).

4. What is the state beyond bliss?

It is the state of unceasing peace of mind which is found in the state of absolute

quiescence, jagrat-sushupti (lit. sleep with awareness) which resembles inactive deep

sleep. In this state, in spite of the activity of the body and the senses, there is no

external awareness, like a child immersed in sleep* (who is not conscious of the food

given to him by his mother).

A yogi who is in this state is inactive even while engaged in activity. This is also called sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi (natural state of absorption in oneself without concepts).

* The acts of sleeping children like eating and drinking are acts only in the eyes of

others and not in their own. They do not therefore really do those acts in spite of their appearing to do them.

- The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Spiritual Instruction.

Chapter III. Verses 3 & 4.

Experience (Anubhava)

"When you are happy alone, when you can live with yourself, there is no intrinsic necessity to be in relationship. That does not mean that you will not relate. But to relate is one thing, and to be in relationship is quite another. Relationship is a kind of bondage, relating is sharing.

You will relate with many people, you will share your joy with many people, but you will not depend on anyone in particular and you will not allow anybody else to depend on you. You will not be dependent, and you will not allow anybody to be dependent on you.

Then you live out of freedom, out of joy, out of love.”

OSHO

Be Still and Know, Talk #1

What is Jnana?

Some people think that there are different stages in Jnana. The Self is nitya aparoksha i.e. ever realized, knowingly or unknowingly. Sravana(listening), they argue , should therefore be aparoksha jnana(directly experienced) and not paroksha jnana(indirect knowledge). But Jnana should result in dukha nivritti(loss of misery) whereas sravana alone does not bring it about. Therefore they say, though aparoksha, it is not unshaken; the rising of vasanas is the cause of it's being weak( not unchanging); when the vasanas are removed, jnana becomes unshaken and bears fruit.

Others say sravana is only paroksha jnana. By manana(reflection) it becomes aparoksha spasmodically. The obstruction to it's continuity is the vasanas: they rise up with reinforced vigour after manana. They must be held in check. Such vigilance consists in remembering = "I am not the body" and adhering to the aparoksha anubhava(direct experience) which has been had in course of manana(reflection). Such practice is called nidhidhyasana and eradicates the vasanas. Then dawns the sahaja state. That is Jnana, sure.

The aparoksha in manana cannot effect dukha nivritti( loss of misery) and cannot amount to moksha i.e. release from bondage because the vasanas periodically overpower the jnana. Hence it is called adridha(weak) and becomes firm after the vasanas have been eradicated by nidhidhyasana (one- pointedness) - Ramana Maharshi ( Talks 57)

One who has become enamored with the song within, one who is united with the inner universal pulse, such a one has become immune to the buffeting of the storms of circumstance without.

*******

In true acceptance of the will of God, there is no accepter at all.

Ultimate understanding can only be pure silence.

There is no question of any "one" understanding anything or accepting anything.

Ramesh Balsekar

24th May

"Ultimately there is the sudden realization that all there is, is Consciousness, that all that has happened, and is happening, and will happen is because of God's will and not because of the efforts of the fictitious "me". This sudden realization, itself because of God's Grace, means enlightenment or awakening."

- from THE BHAGAVAD GITA -

The divine consciousness is present everywhere, expressing itself in various different forms.

https://wisdom.srisriravishankar.org/if-you-realize-this-simple-truth-will-remain-unshaken/

The divine consciousness is present everywhere, expressing itself in various different forms. It is just like the light that projects at the cinema, where one light passes through different films, and different imprinted characters are being projected onto the screen from it. Without the light, there is no film. There is no hero, no heroine, no villain, nothing! They are all just figures projected on a film with a single light. The same light is the hero and heroine, and many different characters on the screen.The same light can be a mouse and a lion. Behind all these characters is only one beam of white light. The brave one is one who can see that if this person is that way, and that person is that way, it is all just play and display of one consciousness.

Recognize, that the one consciousness which appears to be perfect somewhere is really not perfect, and that which appears imperfect somewhere is not really imperfect. It is all made up of one being, one field of energy. One who focuses on this and understands this deep within, crosses over this world of death to immortality. Nothing whatsoever can shake him or her. The ephemeral happenings do not touch the one who is connected with the universal energy.

So, from you projecting your mind onto everybody, you see everybody as the projection of that one consciousness. This is the journey of life, from ignorance to enlightenment. In ignorance you project your emotions on others, you are angry at everyone, you say and you think everyone is angry at you. You have an ego, you think everyone else have an ego too. You are negative, you think others are negative.You do not respect people, and you think that others do not respect you. You do not love others, and you think others do not love you. You are projecting your mind on to others, and this is ignorance.

See the whole universe as the projection of consciousness. It is not an individual who is doing this or that. It is all a play and display of a universal phenomenon, everyone is like a rag doll. Knowing this, is enlightenment. This is something to be done right here.

When you die, you will carry all your memory, cravings, aversions and hatred with you. This is a great loss to you, as the mind is meant to experience infinity. Instead of ingraining infinity in the finite mind, you drag the mind through the mud. You criticize and complain, and this is not worth carrying. Let others form their own ideas, let them seem imperfect. But you should not carry that and spoil yourself. #srisri

The word "Karna" means the one who listens. Listen to

spiritual teachings, but do not keep them confined only to the ear.

Act accordingly. Only one who acts will benefit. One who puts into

practice the teachings of the Sadguru, will attain Brahman. One must listen to and understand the science of life, and then you will be happy. You will get experience according to your faith.

If you meditate on God as the Life-Force, as the Life-Energy, then you will be the Life-Energy. We are not worldly. Discard the concept that you are an individual. If you actually live as a sage, you will attain the state of Brahman. If you live as the Self, you will be one with the Almighty God, Narayana.

Sadguru Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Leave your existence to existence,

Stop caring for yourself so much

and let the universe care for you;

It is the best mother.

_Mooji ✨

notes 10

Nurtureoneslife:

It is false to speak of Realisation.

What is there to realise?

The real is as it is, ever.

How to real-ise it?

All that is required is this.

We have real-ised the unreal, i.e., regarded as real what is unreal. We have to give up this attitude.

That is all that is required for us to attain jnana.

We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before.

The illustration given in books is this.

We dig a well and create a huge pit.

The akasa [space] in the pit or well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth which was filling the akasa there.

The akasa was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long samskaras which are inside us, and when all of them have been given up, the Self will shine, alone.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

From ‘Day by Day with Bhagavan', 9-1-46 Afternoon ❤️

There is no entity by the name mind. Because of the emergence of thoughts we surmise something from which they start. That we term mind. When we probe to see what it is, there is nothing like it. After it has vanished, Peace will be found to remain eternal.

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Verse 22 Upadēśa Undiyār by Ramana Maharshi

Since body, mind, intellect, life and darkness are all jaḍa and asat, they are not ‘I’, which is sat.

Michael James notes: Since [the five sheaths, namely] body, life, mind, intellect and darkness [consisting of viṣaya-vāsanās, inclinations or desires to be aware of things other than oneself] are all jaḍa [non-aware] and asat [unreal or non-existent], they are not ‘I’, which is [cit, what is aware, and] sat [what actually exists].

A person begins with dissatisfaction.

Not content with the world.

he seeks satisfaction of desires by prayers to God;

his mind is purified;

he longs to know God more than to satisfy his carnal desires.

Then God's Grace begins to manifest.

God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee; teaches him the Truth;

purifies the mind by his teachings and contact;

the mind gains strength, is able to turn inward;

with meditation it is purified yet further,

and eventually remains still without the least ripple.

That stillness is the Self.

The Guru is both exterior and interior.

From the exterior he gives a push to the mind to turn inward; from the interior he pulls the mind towards the Self

and helps the mind to achieve quietness.

That is Grace.

Hence there is no difference between God, Guru and Self.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi ~ Talk 198

Devotee: Is the Universal Soul (Paramatma) always different from us?

Maharshi: That is the common belief, but it is wrong. Think of Him as not different from you, and then you achieve identity of Self with God.

(Talk 31)

God self is here and now. Witness it.

“Meditation is not a conditioning; it is simply sitting silently, doing nothing, just enjoying the silence -- the silence of the night, the silence of the early morning... And slowly, slowly you become acquainted with the silence that pervades your inner being. Then the moment you close your eyes you fall into the pool of a silent lake, which is fathomless.

And out of that silence you are rejuvenated every moment.Out of that silence comes your love, comes your beauty, comes a special depth to your eyes, and a self-respect.”

OSHO|"Socrates Poisoned Again After 25 Centuries"

There is no need to avoid false thoughts or seek true ones, because ALL thought is spontaneous, involuntary and without substance.

It is neither to be accepted nor rejected but IGNORED, so that it disappears as spontaneously as it appeared.

*******

For the sage, there is no illusion of the manifest universe at all and there is therefore no question of the duality called relationship, male/female, good/bad or otherwise.

He moves through life as if it is real, but never gets involved because his mind is always whole.

Ramesh Balsekar

17th May

notes 9

Nurtureoneslife:

14. What is dhyana (meditation)?

It is abiding as one's Self without swerving in any way from one's real nature and

without feeling that one is meditating.

As one is not in the least conscious of the

different states (waking, dreaming, etc.) in this condition, the sleep (noticeable) here

is also regarded as dhyana.

15. What is the difference between dhyana and samadhi?

Dhyana is achieved through deliberate mental effort; in samadhi there is no such

effort.

16. What are the factors to be kept in view in dhyana ?

It is important for one who is established in his Self (atma nista) to see that he does

not swerve in the least from this absorption. By swerving from his true nature he may

see before him bright effulgences, etc., or hear (unusual) sounds or regard as real the

visions of gods appearing within or outside himself. He should not be deceived by

these and forget himself.

NOTE: (i) If the moments that are wasted in thinking of the objects which are not the

Self, are spent on enquiry into the Self, self-realization will be attained in a very short time.

(ii) Until the mind becomes established in itself some kind of bhavana

(contemplation of a personified god or goddess with deep emotion and religious

feeling) is essential. Otherwise the mind will be frequently assailed by wayward thoughts or sleep.

(iii) Without spending all the time in practising bhavanas like 'I am Siva' or 'I am Brahman', which are regarded as nirgunopasana (contemplation of the

attributeless Brahman), the method of enquiry into oneself should be practised as soon as the mental strength which is the result of such upasana (contemplation) is attained.

(iv) The excellence of the practice (sadhana) lies in not giving room for even a single mental concept (vritti).

- The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Spiritual Instruction.

Chapter II. Practice (Abhyasa)

Q: When a man realizes the Self, what will he see?

Sri Ramana Maharshi :

There is no seeing.

Seeing is only being.

The state of Self-realization, as we call it,

is not attaining something new or

reaching some goal which is far away,

but simply being

that which you always are and which you always have been.

All that is needed is that

you give up your realization of the not-true as true.

All of us are regarding as real that which is not real.

We have only to give up this practice on our part.

Then we shall realize the Self as the Self;

in other words, `Be the Self'.

At one stage you will laugh at yourself for trying to discover the Self which is so self-evident.

So, what can we say to this question?

That stage transcends the seer and the seen.

There is no seer there to see anything.

The seer who is seeing all this now ceases to exist and

the Self alone remains.

~ Be as you are

"Don't believe your thoughts. 'I am the body' is a thought. 'I am the mind' is a thought. 'I am the doer' is a thought. Worry is only a thought. Fear is only a thought. Death is only a thought.

When all thoughts are stilled, Pure Consciousness remains over. To bring about peace means to be free from thoughts and to abide as Pure Consciousness.

The thoughts change but not you. Let go the passing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging Self."

~ Ramana Maharshi

Everything returns to its original source,

has to return to its original source.

If you -understand life then you understand death also.

Life is a forgetfulness of the original source,

and death is again a remembrance.

Life is going away from the original source,

death is coming back home.

Death is not ugly, death is beautiful.

But death is beautiful only for those who have

lived their life unhindered, uninhibited. unsuppressed.

Death is beautiful only for those who have lived their life beautifully, who have not been afraid to live, who have been courageous enough to live -- who loved, who danced, who celebrated.

Death becomes the ultimate celebration

if your life is a celebration.

Let me tell you in this way:

whatsoever your life was, death reveals it.

If you have been miserable in life,

death reveals misery.

Death is a great revealer.

0sho

"Even the perceiver and 'the seeker' can be perceived. Have you noticed this? The 'I Doer'. Let it go. When the seeker is no longer there, you are free. Simply dissolve until there is no one to claim success or failure."

Q: Of what nature is the realization of westerners who relate that they have had flashes of cosmic consciousness?

Sri Ramana Maharshi :

It came as a flash and disappeared as such.

That which has a beginning must also end.

Only when the ever-present consciousness is realized will it be permanent. Consciousness is indeed always with us.

Everyone knows I am'.

No one can deny his own being.

The man in deep sleep is not aware;

while awake he seems to be aware.

But it is the same person.

There is no change in the one who slept

and the one who is now awake.

In deep sleep he was not aware of his body

and so there was no body-consciousness.

In the wakeful state he is aware of his body

and so there is body-consciousness.

Therefore the difference lies in the emergence of body-consciousness and not in any change in the real consciousness.

The body and body-consciousness arise together

and sink together.

All this amounts to saying that there are no limitations in deep sleep, whereas there are limitations in the waking state.

These limitations are the bondage.

The feeling The body is I' is the error.

This false sense of I' must go.

The real I' is always there.

It is here and now.

It never appears anew and disappears again.

That which is must also persist for ever.

That which appears anew will also be lost.

Compare deep sleep and waking.

The body appears in one state but not in the other.

Therefore the body will be lost.

The consciousness was pre-existent and will survive the body.

There is no one who does not say I am'.

The wrong knowledge of I am the body' is the cause of all the mischief.

This wrong knowledge must go.

That is realization.

Realization is not acquisition of anything new

nor is it a new faculty.

It is only removal of all camouflage.

The ultimate truth is so simple.

It is nothing more than being in the pristine state.

This is all that need be said.

~ From Be as you are book

When a man looks for experience,

he becomes the body. When he looks

for knowledge, he becomes the mind.

When he looks for God, he becomes

the Heart. When he looks for Truth,

he becomes nothing 💛

Mooji

Talk 317

Devotee: It is still theoretical to me. How shall I get the trance (the natural state)?

Maharshi: Trance is only temporary in its effects. There is happiness so long as it lasts. After rising from it the old vasanas return. Unless the vasanas are destroyed in sahaja samadhi (effortless samadhi), there is no good of trance.

Devotee: But trance must precede sahaja samadhi?

Maharshi: Trance is the natural state. Although there are activities and phenomena, yet they do not affect the trance. If they are realised to be not apart from the Self, the Self is realised. Where is the use of trance unless it brings about enduring peace of mind? Know that even now you are in trance whatever happens. That is all.

Talk 317

Devotee: It is still theoretical to me. How shall I get the trance (the natural state)?

Devotee: But trance must precede sahaja samadhi?

When the mind is divested of the qualities of darkness and activity by constant meditation, the Bliss of the Self will clearly

manifest within the subtle mind.

Yogis gain omniscience by means of such mind-expanse.

He alone who has achieved such subtlety of mind and has gained Realization of the Self is Liberated while still alive. The same state has been described in Rama Gita as the Brahman beyond attributes, the one universal undifferentiated Spirit.

He who has attained the unbroken

eternal State beyond even that, transcending mind and speech, is called videhamukta; that is, when even the aforesaid subtle mind is destroyed, the experience of Bliss as such also ceases.

He is drowned and dissolved in the fathomless Ocean of Bliss and is unaware of anything apart. This is videhamukti. There is nothing beyond it. It is the end of all.

- Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Words of Grace.