Self realization

THOUGHT

Self-realization is the cessation of thoughts and all mental activity. Thoughts are like bubbles upon the surface of the sea, the Self. Thoughts are predispositions accumulated through innumerable former births, in the chitta. 

Their annihilation must be the aim. To be free from them is purity. 

People are deluded by the confusing of the conscious Self with the insentient body; this delusion must cease. 

No effort is needed to realize the ever-present Self, just remove the delusion.

Absence of thought does not mean a void. There must be one to know the void. 

Knowledge and ignorance are of the mind. They are not born of duality, but the Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. 
It is self-luminous. 

There is no necessity to see the Self with another Self. 
There are not two selves. What is not Self is non-self. The non-self cannot see the Self. 

There cannot be seeing or hearing. The Self lies beyond, all alone as pure Consciousness.

Guru pornima

Guru is one who is “heavy” (with knowledge, wisdom and inner experience) and hence holds us fast lest we be swept by the waves of ignorance and be drowned in the ocean of material existence. Traditionally, a Guru is a God Realized Being – one who has merged with Divinity and remains back on earth to teach those who yearn for Divinity.

All existence has come from the Supreme Brahman and nothing exists apart from Divinity. All creation is veiled by maya or illusion and it is difficult for us to know or understand Divinity. In great compassion, Divinity manifested a portion of itself which retains the memory of Godhood and sent it to teach us. This is the Guru. Only God can be Guru as only God knows God!

We obtain information and knowledge from schools and colleges which helps us to earn a livelihood. The knowledge and wisdom imparted by the Guru helps us to live in the right manner. The wisdom imparted by the Guru helps us to set benchmarks for ourselves and we are propelled to reach out and attain higher standards in thought, word and deed. The light of the Guru penetrates every nook and corner of our lives and being and we see the world and life anew and afresh. We realize our inner potential and develop to the fullest extent under the guidance of the Guru. The Grace of the Guru helps us to finally merge with Divinity.

There are as many paths to God as there are people. Each of us is a unique being with a different approach to God. Hence we have a large number and variety of Gurus. Sri Krishna speaks of a variety of paths in the Bhagwad Geeta – karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, japa yoga, dhyana yoga etc. Each Guru imparts the knowledge, wisdom and practices best suited to his disciple.

Nowadays, any person who imparts knowledge or wisdom or unique insight is labelled ‘Guru’. We have Internet Gurus, Management Gurus, Music and Dance Gurus, Drama Gurus, Storytellers, Horoscope Readers and Palmists who are Gurus , Exercise Gurus and Think Positive Gurus and so on. They too have their roles in making our lives better.

Veda Vyasa classified and codified the huge findings, knowledge, wisdom and experiences of the Rishis of India into Vedas, Upanishads, Puranans and the great epic of Mahabharata. His literary works are extraordinary and their high spiritual stature and wisdom make them outstanding. His works guide us even today and hence he is a great ‘Loka Guru’ – a Guru to the world!

The Guru Purnima is a day dedicated to honor Veda Vyasa and the Gurus who guide and steer our lives towards Divinity. With so many ‘Gurus’ in our lives, it is also a day when we should think of each of them with gratitude and reverence for help rendered in our times of need. Let this day of Guru Purnima be filled with love and appreciation to all the Gurus in our life. Let us also do our bit in serving our Gurus in thanksgiving.

~Neela Iyer

 http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/events-festivals/inner-meaning-guru-purnima

Ramana says

Quotes 1.1

Karma yoga

Sri Ramana Maharshi ~~~ Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 643:

M.: The Gita starts saying that you are not the body,
that you are not therefore the karta.(...he who does an act....)

Q.: What is the significance?

M.: That one should act without thinking that oneself is the actor.
The actions go on despite his egolessness.

The person has come into manifestation for a certain purpose.
That purpose will be accomplished whether he considers
himself the actor or not.

Q.: What is Karma yoga?
Is it non-attachment to Karma or its fruit?

M.: Karma yoga is that yoga in which the person
does not arrogate to himself the function of being the actor.
The actions go on automatically.

Q.: Is it the non-attachment to the fruits of actions?

M.: The question arises only if there is the actor.
It is being all along said that you should not consider yourself the actor.

Q.: So Karma yoga is kartrtva buddhi rahita karma -
action without the sense of doership.

M.: Yes. Quite so.

Q.: The Gita teaches active life from beginning to end.

M.: Yes, the actor-less action.

Q.: Is it then necessary to leave the home and lead a life of renunciation?

M.: Is the home in you? Or are you in the home?

Q.: It is in my mind.

M.: Then what becomes of you when you leave
the physical environment?

Q.: Now I see.
Renunciation is only action without the sense of being the karta.
Is there not action for a jivanmukta?

M.: Who raises the question? Is he a jivanmukta or another?

Q.: Not a jivanmukta.

M.: Let the question be raised after jivanmukti is gained,
if it is found necessary.
Mukti is admitted to be freedom from the mental activities also.
Can a mukta think of action?

Q.: Even if he gives up the action, the action will not leave him.
Is it not so?

M.: With what is he identified in order that this question might apply?

Q.: Yes, I see all right.
My doubts are now cleared.

Emptiness

Thoughts manifest themselves within emptiness and are reabsorbed into it like a face appears and disappears in a mirror; the face has never been in the mirror, and when it ceases to be reflected in it, it has not really ceased to exist.

The mirror itself has never changed.

So, before departing on the spiritual path, we remain in the so-called "impure" state of samsara, which is, in appearance, governed by ignorance. When we commit ourselves to that path, we cross a state where ignorance and wisdom are mixed.

At the end, at the moment of Enlightenment, only pure wisdom exists. But all the way along this spiritual journey, although there is an appearance of transformation, the nature of the mind has never changed: it was not corrupted on entry onto the path, and it was not improved at the time of realisation.
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

NO MIND

NO MIND

There is no entity, as such, which we can call 'mind'. Because thoughts emerge, we assume that there is something from which they emerge, and we term it 'mind'. When we probe to see what it is, we discover that there is nothing there. After it has thus disappeared, eternal peace remains.

'Thinking' or 'the dis­criminating faculty' are mere names. Whether it is 'ego', 'mind' or 'intellect', it is the same. Whose mind is it? Whose intellect is it? It is the ego's. Is the ego real? No. We are confused by the ego and call it 'intellect' or 'mind'.

Desire for sleep or the fear of death exists when the mind is active, and not in the respective states themselves. The mind knows that the body entity persists and reappears after sleep. Therefore sleep is not attended with any fear but with the pleasure of being without a body. No existence is sought. On the other hand, the mind is not sure of its reappearance after so­ called death and therefore dreads it.
- Conscious Immortality