Monthly Archives: February 2009

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Infant And The Sage Consciousness: By Dr. Mourad Rashad

. Advaita and Yoga

Infant’s Consciousness and the Sage Consciousness

OR

Adam and the Garden of Eden

OR

Christ Consciousness and Man’s consciousness

If we consider that every born child is “Adam “and he is born in the Garden of Eden, then we can glimpse a lot of things.

Man is initially created an insightful awareness –when he was an infant until his early childhood. An insightful awareness that sincerely and devoutly contemplates the surroundings without any thought of him as a center. The surroundings or better termed the content of -so to say- “his” consciousness or awareness.

This content is what I call the “Divine Manifestation”. The child did not yet categorize nor differentiates a mother, a father, a tree, a mountain, a toy or –so to say- “his” body.

Why I call it Divine Manifestation? It is a Divine Manifestation from the perspective of the infant. What makes it a Divine Manifestation? It cares for and sustains the infant, all the infant’s needs are fulfilled instantaneously, and the infant lacks nothing. Perfection is fully realized in his immediate experience. If man contemplates this Divine Manifestation, he will realize that he opened “his” eyes and experienced this Divine Manifestation, “he” came into being in that Manifestation, “he” sprouted from that Manifestation, “he” was just in this Divine Manifestation. He might even call it the Creator of the appearances experienced. The Whole content of consciousness or awareness could be considered his Mother or Father. The infant opened “his” eyes and experienced this Divine Appearance, it was always there, and the infant came into It. This Divine Manifestation, when examined more closely from the position of the infant with a deep adult comprehension, It will be seen that It is ALL Caring, Sustains Itself and Sustains all the Manifestations or Appearances in It. It is ALL Caring and Sustaining, the ALL Supporting, the Only Doer and even the ALL and Only Aware; because from the infant perspective, the awareness is -so to say- not “his” yet, the infant did not yet attribute this Awareness to any individual and separate item in this Divine Manifestation. The ALL Cognizant and the ALL Wise. The Only Caring, Aware, Cognizant, Doer and Wise, every single Manifestation is being taken care of, supported and sustained. Care and Sustenance reaches every Manifestation according to its needs. Nothing is in excess. The Manifestations are harmoniously interwoven and wisely sustained. These attributes –just described- fit snugly to the attributes of The Lord, The Divine, or God. A God or a Divinity or a Lord that Reigns Alone, Dwells Alone, A One without a second and constitutes an integrated Oneness. An Oneness where the infant’s consciousness is an organic component in this Oneness of the Experience. That is why all religions consecrate and Praise this Pure and Innocent consciousness, because it mirrors the Divine Manifestation faithfully without any division and without any cleavage. In other words, This Pure Consciousness and the Divine Manifestation are actually ONE; they were never separated at any moment in time.

Nevertheless, due to the process of conditioning of the infant by his society, the infant grew an ego or a self-assertive egoistic mind. Man’s ego or self-assertive mind was created due to this process. This newly created ego, this newly created monster claimed the sustenance and care to itself, thus changed this original Pure Consciousness of man into the self-assertive egoistic mind. This self-assertive egoistic mind lost all devotion and appreciation to the Divine Manifestation and instead replaced it with egoistic and possessive love. Accordingly, the man with his self-assertive egoistic mind viewed what was originally a Divine Manifestation as fragmented separate and warring items. Separate items experiencing pain and misery. This transformation is for one sigle reason, just to exercise his own free will, to assert his own individual and separate existence. This is man’s illusion; this is the dream of the man having a self-assertive egoistic mind. That is why the human mystical legacy described man’s world as an illusion.

This transformation, of what was initially the One Integrated Divine Manifestation, is the worldly life of multiplicity we now experience, due to the influence of the self-assertive egoistic mind. Consequently, all harmony, care and support of that Divine Manifestation were lost totally and replaced by the chaotic world we now experience. This lead man to further use his self-assertive egoistic mind in order to try to imitate –poorly and vainly- the original Harmony, expressed in the Care and Sustenance of the Original Divine Manifestation. In other words, man with his self-assertive egoistic mind is trying to take the role of God’s Harmony in the newly transformed worldly life. For that reason man with his self-assertive egoistic mind and all its fantastic conceptual creations, were considered by the three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) as the original sin of Adam.

An Original Sin, for which Adam deserved to be expelled from the Garden of Eden. Why Adam, deserved this punishment? Because by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good an evil Adam acted as if he is God. Adam, with his newly acquired knowledge of good and evil thought that he will know what is good for his life and what is bad for his life, thus he has no further need for God.

That damned transformation of the original Divine Manifestation into the chaotic worldly life is only redeemable through regaining man’s initial pure and innocent consciousness or awareness. This can only take place by renouncing the acquired self-assertive instincts and re-attaining the genuine spirit of fathomless devotional reverence that has characterized man’s perception of the content of his awareness during his infancy and early childhood. In other words man has to do without his self-assertive egoistic mind and cultivate the devotional awareness that will inhibit and prevent man from taking the liberties of mutilating and fragmenting that holy ALL SUSTAINING content into the multiplicity of limitless differentiated items. Diverse items that can serve as objects to man’s free will or doer-ship under the influence of man’s self-assertive egoistic mind.

In the Gospel of Thomas Logion # 4

Jesus said, “The person old in days won’t hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one.”

In the Gospel of Thomas Logion # 22

Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, “These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father’s) kingdom.” They said to him, “Then shall we enter the (Father’s) kingdom as babies?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].”

It is that fathomless devotional reverence (what all religions term it Love of God) is man’s sole safeguard against any relapse into his heretical worship of the worldly diversity and multiplicity.

This is Christ Consciousness and this is the Sage Consciousness; in contradistinction to the infant’s Consciousness. What is the difference between Christ Consciousness and the infant’s Consciousness? Christ Consciousness have made the full journey from an infant with Pure Consciousness to a man with a self-assertive egoistic mind –with all the pain and misery- and finally returned home as a man with an infant’s Pure Consciousness. A man with the Pure Consciousness of the infant, together the understanding and the reverence to this virgin Pure Consciousness. While the infant has a cycle to complete, because he yielded to the tiniest temptation to let that virgin Pure Conscious become transformed to the self-assertive egoistic mind under the influence of conditioning.

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The Divine and The Ego: By Dr. Mourad Rashad

. Advaita and Yoga

To understand that the ego is the disease, the mind is the disease, this is true understanding. What is the difference between ego or mind and insight or Consciousness?

Insight is a gift from the Divine, is a link with the Divine, and is the unbreakable bond with the Divine. Insight appears when your consciousness is temporarily freed from the influence of the ego or mind and regains its original condition.

One has to know, that we are born with only an Insightful Consciousness, later on, due to the child’s conditioning by the society, this Insightful Consciousness is transformed to our everyday mind or our ego, which in turn transforms the Original Divine Existence into our everyday world we experience. This is the problem. Our everyday mind or ego is our transformed Original Nature due to conditioning by the society and is the root cause of experiencing our world with all its pains and miseries together with a trivial scent of pleasure and fun, instead of experiencing the Divine Existence. The mind or ego is not our true nature.

This original Insightful Consciousness is what is meant by the word “Heart” in mystical and spiritual literature.

Originally, this Insightful Consciousness is integrated with the Divine Existence. It never departed from this Divine Existence. This Insightful Consciousness is the breath of God in Adam’s nostril -according to Genesis. This is the Spark, the Flame, and the Spirit of God with humans.

When you know that the ego is the disease, the mind is the disease, conditioning by the society is the disease, then you start the process of de-conditioning, you start unlearning what you have learnt, in order to regain the Insightful Consciousness, which will guide you back to be in perpetual integration with the Divine Existence. A Divine Existence that is Wise, Cognizant, Deathless, Eternal and Blissful.

Then Insight starts to clear, you see the world in a different light, you start glimpsing the Divine Existence, and you start learning from your life. You look at life more appreciatively, you become no longer interested in seeing your old world, because now you come to know that there is a Divine Existence underlying what you used to call and experience by your mind or ego as my world. Moreover, your ticket back to this Divine Existence is de-conditioning to regain your original Insightful Consciousness.

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ULLADU NAARPADU (also spelt as Ulladu Narpadu): Comments By Professor V. Krishnamurthy

. Advaita and Yoga, INSPIRATIONAL, TEACHERS . , , ,

ULLADU NAARPADU

The famous Vedantic poem in Tamil by Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi

(consisting of two preliminary verses called Mangalam, 40 verses which form the main text , and another 40 verses called the Appendix)

Translation into English by Lakshmana Sharma

Detailed Commentary in Tamil by Lakshmana Sharma,

adapted into English by Profvk

 

 

Mangalam – 1

Text in Tamil:

uLLadu aladu uLLa uNarvu uLado?

uLLa poruL uLLal aRa uLLatte uLLadAl

uLLal enum uLLa poruL uLLal evan?

uLLatte uLLapaDi uLLade uLLal uNar.

 

 

Translation (Lakshmana Sharma)

 

Can there be a sense of existence without something that is? Is Real Consciousness  a thing other than That? Since that (Reality) dwells, thought free, in the Heart, how can It – Itself named the Heart – be meditated on?

And who is there, distinct from It, to meditate on It, the Self whose nature is Reality Consciousness?

Know that to meditate on It is just to be at one with It within the Heart.

 

Incidentally the Mangalam-1 Verse has been translated by Prof. K. Swaminathan as follows:

“Unless Reality exists, can thought of it arise? Since, devoid of thought, Reality exists within as Heart, how to know the Reality we term the Heart? To know That is merely to be That in the Heart.

The first sentence may also be rendered thus: Can there be Knowledge of Reality other than existing as Reality?”

 

I am giving the original Tamil for us all to see the majesty of Ramana’s classical Tamil (even if one does not understand Tamil!).

 

 

Commentary on the first line

 

There are two meanings for this line. Both are valid. These are the first two sentences of the translation.

 

 

On the first meaning of first line

 

 

Can there be a sense of Existence without something that is? Here the conclusion is there exists something that always is. The jIva-Ishvara-jagat (soul-God-universe) which appears as real is not real, but there is a substratum (*adhishTAnam* of Reality underneath. This is the truth declared by the Upanishads, which call this Reality ‘Brahman’. Bhagavan himself explains this as follows:

 

 

“Every one sees himself and the universe around him. He thinks both are real. If they are real they should always appear, not off and on. But they appear and also disappear. They appear in the waking and dream state but not in the deep sleep state. In other words they appear only when the mind is there. They do not appear when the mind is not there. Therefore the seer JIva and the seen universe are only thought-forms of the mind and not real. Where these thoughts arise from, where they merge, that is the only shining Reality”. This same content is going to be given by Verse beginning with ‘ulagaRivum onRAy’ (Verse #7) later.

 

 

So what appears only off and on is unreal and what appears always uninterruptedly is Real. Recall B.G. *nAsato vidyate bhAvo …*. Which gives the distinction between sat and asat. ‘What does not exist before and after, is only non-existent even in the present but only appears to exist’ says Gaudapada in his Karika. Those who accept this maxim of Reality are advaitins. Others are dvaitins.

 

 

The standard example for this unreal appearance of the universe and the Reality of the AdhishTAnam is the snake-rope example. Brahman is the adhishhTAnam (sub-stratum, base) ; jIva-Ishvara-jagat is Aropitam (Superposed entities).

 

 

The snake which is imagined hides the rope which exists. So also the imagined jIva–Ishvara-jagat hides the existent Brahman. So long as Brahman is seen only as the universe (By the way ‘Universe’ here will include jIva and Ishvara also because if the universe is not there, the JIva and Ishvara also are not there), Brahman will not be seen or known as brahman. When by Atman-Realisation, Wisdom arises, the universe will not be seen as universe but as Brahman, the only Reality. This appearance and disappearance form the characteristic of mAyA. Really mAyA is not real. But that will be known only on Self-Realisation. Before that, that is, so long as the universe is taken to be real, one has to say mAyA exists. This mAyA is also called avidyA or ajnAna.

 

 

When the rope appears as snake, the appearance is due to the confusion in the mind of the seer. Now the jIva-Ishvara-jagat appearance is due to what? Is there a consciousness other than Brahman and is it that which shows the universe to us? Is Brahman inert or conscious? Is consciousness Brahman or is consciousness a quality of Brahman? The replies to these are given by the second meaning of the first line of the verse. It is actually the second sentence that appears in the translation.

 

 

 

On the second meaning of first line.

 

Is Real Consciousness a thing other than That?

 

What exists – false or real – what sense makes it explicit? This consciousness is not different from what absolutely exists. That itself is a bundle of consciousness – of the form of Knowledge (jnAna-svarUpa). In order for this to express itself there is no cognizing source other than itself. That which exists expresses itself by its own luminiscence of consciousness. It is self-effulgent. This is the substance of the 2nd meaning.

 

 

 

 

At the time of Ignorance Brahman appears as the universe. At the state 

of jnAna that itself expresses as the sat-cid-Atman (and nothing else). For both expressions it is the knowledge-factor of brahman that is the shining Light.

 

 [ Footnote: For the universe to appear it is again the Light of Brahman that shines. The Light of Brahman is not totally hidden by the universe. The akhaNDa-brahma-chaitanyam itself sparks as the speck of ego and that shows up the universe] .

 

 

 

 

There is one more implication in this sentence. Since we said there is no other consciousness distinct from Brahman, the universe that appears to be different must be only a false sensation. And he who sees this universe as a real show, is also having only a false sensation. Bhagavan says the seer or jIva who sees this universe is also part and parcel of this show of universe. This same idea comes again in the verse beginning with ‘nAmulagam’ (Verse #1).

 

 

 

 

In the Appendix (anubandham) to this text Bhagavan calls this ‘false soul’ or ‘false jIva’. Vedanta books call this ‘cidAbhAsa’ (also false consciousness). Ignorant people think of this jIva as AtmA; they call this jIvAtmA and call God as paramAtmA, as if there are two AtmAs. This text-line tells us that other than this ever-existent Brahman there is no one to be called jIva. Therefore we, that is, the AtmA is Brahman and not something else. This is the brahmAtmaikya conclusion of all Upanishads. This is also the considered conclusion of Adi Shankara. This is the Absolute pAramArthika truth that will be clear by the experience of jnAna. We think in our Ignorance, that the false jIva is AtmA and other things are different from it.

 

 

 

All this means: Brahman is what exists. It is the only Reality. It is also the Consciousness that expresses itself. Therefore Brahman is AtmA. There is nothing different from it either sentient or not. It has no differences like the seer and the seen. This is the conclusion of advaita.

 

 

Note that this text-line does not tell you that brahman HAS consciousness. Brahman IS consciousness – that is the teaching. If something has consciousness it means it has consciousness as a quality or qualification. In that case it will be callled buddhi. Actually this is not different from the mind. For mind, to be conscious is not its nature. It is its quality or qualification. Therefore consciousness of the mind is not permanent or stable. In sleep the mind’s consciousness vanishes. The consciousness that is the nature of brahman is not of this kind. It is eternal and unchanging. It is unaffected by time and space. Even when all the universe disappears, even in that primordial state, it exists.

 

 

That Brahman is jnAna-svarUpa is to be known by the teaching that we receive. But it can also be inferred by logic. Such a logic appears in the first meaning of this text line. We saw therein that it is Brahman that is the origin as well as destination of all thoughts of the mind. So Brahman is the source of this sentient mind; so this brahman has either sentience or is itself sentience. If it HAS sentience it is like the mind and so not a reality. Thus it is neither insentient nor an entity which has sentience. Then what is it? It IS sentience, consciousness (chit or chaitanyam). This is the conclusion of all Vedanta. Therefore it is called sat-chit.

 

 

 

 

Alternatively we can also argue as follows:

 

 

It is not correct to say that Brahman HAS sentience. Therefore it has to be either insentient or Caitanyam (Sentience, Consciousness) itself. If you accept it is insentient then it means it is not self-effulgent; for all insentient things show up only by an external intelligence. Then the question arises: how is brahman effulgent, by what intelligence? The opponent would say it is effulgent by an intelligence outside of it. Now the question is: That caitanyam – is it *sat* (existent) or *asat* (non-existent)? Certainly not non-existent; for a non-existent thing never lights up anything. If you say it is *sat* then it becomes *sat* and *cit* . Thus we have accepted that the same entity can be both *sat* and *cit*. In that case, the earlier mentioned brahman which exists, can as well be also *cit*. This is the easy way out. Thus it turns out that the existent Brahman which is the adhishhTAnam for the universe is self-effulgent, in other words, in order to show it there is no other intelligence necessary. On the other hand, if we say that this existent thing is not self-effulgent, then in order to show it there must be another cit (intelligence). That also cannot be said to be self-effulgent, by the above logic. Thus another intelligence has to be postulated. So we have to go on postulating non-self-effulgent intelligences, — a series of them. This is then an infinite regress (anavasthA-doshha). Thus the conclusion is the Brahman which is the Reality is self-effulgent.

 

 

Thus it is clear that Brahman is by nature Existence as well as Intelligence. That is why it is called *sat-cit*. But this does not exhaust the svarUpa of Brahman. Its svarUpa can be understood only by experience not by any other means.

 

So the mind which appears to have sentience is really not so. It is also insentient (jaDa) like the universe.

 

 

In fact this Brahman is our AtmA. But then why does it not show up like that for us? Why are we thinking that we are finite beings who suffer all the unhappiness and revolve in this samsAra? The answer comes in the next portion of the Mangalam first verse.

The next sentence in the Mangalam – 1 Verse

 

uLLa-poruL uLLal-aRa uLLatte uLLadAl

uLLamenum uLLa-poruL uLLal evan?

 

 

 

Translation

Since that (Reality) dwells, thought- free, in the Heart, how can It – Itself named the Heart – be meditated on? And who is there, distinct from It, to meditate on It, the Self whose nature is Reality Consciousness?

 

 

[Note by VK: Bhagavan Ramana’s masterly handling of classical poetic Tamil can be appreciated even by non-Tamil people, when I tell you that he uses the words

uLLam = mind;

uLLadu = that which exists; (uL = interior, content);

uLLal = thinking, thought, meditation (comes from the verb form)

uLLam = heart (Bhagavan Ramana’s usage, when the context permits),

in all possible combinations so that the verse manifests as a lilting poetry!]

 

 

Commentary

 

Here the Tamil word ‘evan’ must be taken in two meanings, namely, ‘who?’ and ‘how?’, according to Bhagavan’s own words. [That is why, in Lakshmana Sharma’s translation above, there are two sentences in English for this one sentence of Tamil].

 

 

In sum, this sentence says: The svarUpa of brahman is without mind [Note: thought-free = uLLal-aRa] and full of peace; it is in the heart (uLLam). This Reality (the existing thing = *uLLa-poruL*) will show up only in the heart, that is devoid of the mind (uLLal-aRa = mind-without). When the mind is active and poised outside It will not show up ‘as is’ (=*uLLapaDi*). What does it mean to say it will not show up as is. It means it will show up as jIva-Ishvara-jagat. By this very reason Brahman cannot be thought of (=*uLLal*) by the mind.

 

 

Why cannot Brahman be thought of by the mind? There are several reasons for this. One of them will be understood when we come to the verse *madikkoLi tandu* (Verse #22). But here there are two reasons given. 1. Mind by nature imagines differences in Brahman of pure non-duality, and treats them as real; 2. There is no intelligence, sentience (*cit*) other than Brahman to meditate on it or think of it.

 

 

We shall consider the first reason. First mind imagines a duality of inside and outside (the mind) and thinks that there are universes, other jIvas, God – all of these are outside. This is mind’s nature. We have already seen that all this imagined world etc. have an adhishhTAna (substratum) reality of Brahman and they are all Aropitam (superposed) on that Brahman. By the logic that the superposed thing hides the show-up of the existence of the substratum, the superposed universe hides the existence of the substratum of Brahman. So long as mind is focussed outside (=*bahir-mukham*) brahman, instead of showing up as is, shows up as jIva-Ishvara-jagat. Once the mind is focussed inside (*antar-mukham*) it joins up with its original location, the heart, and there mind loses its ‘mind’-nature and ‘vanishes’. So the three kinds of shows, namely jIva, Ishvara and jagat also do not show up and Brahman shows up as the AtmA, without any obstacle. Of course mind does not see it, nor does it know!

 

 

Here we have talked as if there is something called heart or *uLLam* which is the ‘location’ for Brahman but in reality it is not different from brahman; so neither it is the location nor does brahman is ‘located’ in a place. The seeker who is after Self-Realisation needs to change from his look-outside to a look-inside and for this purpose the heart was spoken of as a sAdhana (means) and there is nothing more meant. The heart (spiritual interior) itself is Brahman. Look at the 2nd line in the above text: *uLLamenum uLLa poruL*:

uLLam = heart,

*enum* = named

*uLLa poruL* = that which exists.

This means: Brahman itself is what is called the heart, because uLLa-poruL is brahman only.

 

 

Since brahman is in this (inner) heart, it shows up as is when the mind has vanished. When the mind is otherwise engaged outside, It will not show up. We already observed that that is when all the imaginations about the three things happen and they hide brahman. Thus it is clear that those whose minds are turned outside will not realise brahman.

 

 

Now we shall go to the second reason: namely, to think of Brahman, there is no other sentient entity (cetana). The jIva that thinks of itself as knowing another entity is a false jIva. When the mind is turned outside, such a false jIva appears to be real. When mind turns inside, that is, merges in the uLLam (heart) , that false jIva vanishes. The false jIva is only an imagination; so there is no one to meditate on Brahman. The conclusion is: brahman is not amenable to the mind’s thinking.

 

 

Then how do we ever ‘think’ of or meditate on, the Brahman which is the Atman? This question is answered by the fourth line of Mangalam-1 verse.

 

 

Fourth Line of the Verse

 

uLLatte uLLapaDi uLLade uLLal uNar.

 

 

“Know that to meditate on It is just to be at one with It within the Heart.”

 

*uNar* = know(that)

*uLLal* = meditation

*uLLade* =(is) just only being, abiding in, (Tamil: *iruttal*)

*uLLatte* = in the heart

*uLLapaDi* = as (It) is.

 

 

Commentary

 

This line describes Atma-jnAna-anubhavam (Self-Realisation-Experience). Mind to be seated in the heart, and abiding in brahman that is nothing but that heart, and to lose its mind-status, so that brahman, unmoving and peaceful, is ‘seen/known’ as Atman: this is known as dhyAnam.

 

 

But mark it. Though we have said this is dhyAnam it is not the meditation by the mind. Meditation caused by the mind has three facets in it, namely, the meditator, the meditated object and the meditation. But this dhyAnam above is devoid of these three components. Since other than this everything else is not considered to be dhyAnam, this is said to be dhyAnam in the text. Bhagavan Ramana says this is pUjA, this is bhakti, this is darshan, this is Knowledge. All benefits supposed to be accrued by these are only accrued by this; not otherwise. What is called mukti or mokshha is this. This is also known as the Fourth (turIya) state. To get to this state the sAdhanA is described later in the verse beginning with ‘ezhumbum-aganthai’ (Verse #28).

 

 

 

 Continued in ULLADU NAARPADU – Mangalam 2

********************************************************************

 

 

 

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Self-Nature, Faith, and Attention: By V. Ganesan

. Advaita and Yoga, TEACHERS . , ,

This posting is from a series of ‘sharings’ done by V. Ganesan in Tiruvannamalai in 2009.

Bhagavan Ramana emphasized that nothing is more productive of the highest spiritual results than concentration of the mind on one’s True Nature, which is the Absolute Reality, God and Inner Guru.

To adhere to this injunction of Sri Bhagavan, even the physical form of the Guru should not be an obstacle for a true seeker. Listen to the story of Uddhava in “Srimad Bhagavatham” :–

When Lord Krishna ended His mission on earth and was prepared to return to his eternal abode in Heaven, Uddhava, who was greatly attached to His person, appealed to Him with tears in his eyes to take him along with Him, saying :   “I have strong forebodings, O Supreme Lord, that after destroying the Yadu race you will leave the earth altogether.  I cannot bear to be away from your holy feet even for a moment.  Grant that I may be taken with You to Your Divine Abode in Heaven.  How can I now be separated from you ?”

Lord Krishna answered that it would be in Uddhava’s own interest not to cling to His body but to stay on after Him and practice the Inner Yoga in the Himalayas, after shaking off all attachments to his family and kinsfolk, keeping his mind fixed wholly on Him, within his Heart.

Sri Krishna added : “You must always remember, dear friend Uddhava, that whatever is thought by the mind, perceived by the eyes and ears and spoken by the tongue is the creation of the mind and therefore illusory. By controlling your mind and senses, you will see the world as only the projection of your own Self and that your Self is in ME, the Supreme Lord.  Possessed of this Wisdom, be immersed in the Supreme Peace of Self-Realisation. Then, you will experience no obstruction in regaining ME, in your Heart.”

There was a pious lady, who once prayed to Sri Bhagavan to bless her by selecting a few important verses from his written works, so as to help her progress in her spiritual emancipation.  Sri Bhagavan gave her a glance of compassion.  It seemed to endorse Jesus Christ’s statement : “Ask, it shall be given”.  Instantly, he quoted two verses from “Sri Bhagavad Gita ”. He had already selected 42 verses from out of the 700 and odd total verses of the ‘Gita ’ and had translated them into Tamil verses.  They are :

“The faith of everyone is according to his nature.  Man is
essentially endowed with faith.  What his faith is, that
indeed is he.”  —  [xvii (3) ]

“One who has faith and one-pointed attention and has
subdued his senses, attains Wisdom.  Having gained
Wisdom, he speedily attains Supreme Peace.” – [ iv (39) ]

These two are Verses 17 and 18  of  “The Song Celestial ”- the 42 verses that Sri Bhagavan had selected from the ancient classical, spiritual treatise : ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ .

The first verse [ No.17 ]  affirms the traditionally upheld ‘Law of Karma’, which dictates that one’s present life is due to the past actions and that one’s nature is thus ever controlled. The second verse [ No.18 ], however, postulates the certain possibility of one’s turning one’s attention within and thus getting rooted in Wisdom, resulting in the attainment of Supreme Peace.

Whatever is one’s sadhana-mode – as referred to in verse 17 – one is always free to make a concerted effort to turn one’s attention inwards and thus supersede the law of karma and be established in the SELF . The choice is all the time available to each seeker in the solid form of  “ NOW”.

Ignore one should the ‘prarabdha’  and pay full attention [ within ] to ATTENTION !   The very effort of one to plunge within is due to Grace, affirms Bhagavan Ramana !

Attention is “NOW”, which swallows one’s ‘faith’ and one’s  ‘nature’, thus establishing one in the Supreme Truth of Existence, the  “ I AM ” .

All ‘karmas’ project a ‘past’ and  then a ‘future’ – the two non-existents. Bhagavan Ramana’s commandment is :

“ Shift your attention from non-truth to Truth.”

Let us remove our attention from the ‘past’ and ‘future’ and one-pointedly plunge our full attention within – on NOW – and be supremely happy !

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Related post: Satsang with Ganesan

V. Ganesan Bio

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Born in 1936, up to the age of 14 years old, Ganesan grew up in the presence and proximity of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. His sacred memory of the Great Master is rich in its content; and, even at that tender age he could see Sri Ramana as the greatest compassionate human being.

On April 14, 1950 – the day the Great Master chose to leave the body – the adolescent Ganesan stood near the entrance to the room where Sri Ramana was lying and was fortunate to witness the brilliant flash of Light that later moved towards the top of the Holy Hill – Arunachala.

Ganesan obtained a Master’s Degree in Philosophy; and, then came to stay permanently at “Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai” – the sacred abode of Sri Ramana Maharshi – taking care of the Old Devotees of Sri Ramana. He did it as his sole sadhana (spiritual practice). In that way, he collected the reminiscences of Sri Maharshi from those Old Devotees which have never before been recorded.

His close contacts with sages and saints, including Swami Ramdas, Mother Krishnabai, J. Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Yogi Ramsuratkumar, he says, have deepened and widened his understanding of the ‘Direct Teaching’ of the Maharshi. However, he feels himself to be an insignificant ‘dust’ at the Holy Feet of Bhagavan Ramana.

He has traveled widely and spread the ‘Direct Teaching’ of Sri Ramana Maharshi, in its pristine purity, wherever he was invited to give talks.

He has authored a few books on the life and teaching of Bhagavan Ramana. Among others, “Purushothama Ramana”, “Be the Self”, “Moments Remembered”, “Direct Teaching of Bhagavan Ramana” and “Practising Self-Enquiry” , are very popular.

At the veranda of his cottage – “Ananda Ramana” – he meets earnest seekers, every Monday and Thursday, between 9.30 and 11 a.m., sharing with them the spiritual treasure entrusted with him by all these holy and sacred souls.

Harsha's avatar

Surrender in Advaita: By Dr. K. Sadananda

. Advaita and Yoga . , ,

The following question was put to Sada-ji (Dr. Sadananda), an eminent scholar on Hindu metaphysics of Advaita-Vedanta (Feb. 12, 1999) on the Advaitin Sangha:

Please explain what is the place of surrender in an advaitin’s search for Self-knowledge?. What should he surrender to? What shall prompt him to surrender?

with pranams
vijayakumar

Editor’s Note: Dr. Sadananda’s answer is given below with minor edits by me. I am not a Sanskrit scholar and so if there are mistakes in my edits, please let me know and I will correct these quickly. Thanks.

Dr. Sadananda answers:

Bhagavan Ramana describes this beautifully in Updesh Sara:

ahami naashabaagyahamaham taayaa|
spurati hRit swayam param puurNa sat||

When the false I falls (ego is surrendered), then in that place aham, aham – I am – I am – swayam spurati – spontaneously rises.

This “I am” that rises is different from the previous “I am” (ego) with notions that I am this and that etc.

This pure and unconditional rising  is paramam – supreme (there is nothing beyond it); It is puurnam – Infinite without limitations since limitations belong to “this” and “that”.  It is Sat swaruupam – nature of pure existence with no qualifications attached to “I am”.

Where does it rise?  Where else but in ones own inner core of personality where “I am” (ego) is currently rising along with notions that  I am body, mind, or intellect etc. With the surrendering of ego, the false notions about my self are replaced by the true knowledge of my self. It becomes clear that as the self is in all, all are in myself.

sarva bhuutasta maatmaanam sarva bhuutanica aatmani –

What should I surrender to?

In pure Advaita Vedanta, the surrendering is not someone surrendering to another person.

Advaita teaches through negation of what I am not.  In scriptures, this process is given as – neti – neti, etc. I am not this and not this and not this, etc.. Whatsoever can be objectified by me, I am not.

Through negation one ascertains who one is.

Realization of what I am searching for, I am searching with! Do you see the beauty of it?

Tat twam asi – neti neti is a part of the inquiry of who I am not, by negating what I am not. What is left after all negations is the subject who is negating. The subject cannot negate oneself. That I am!

This very inquiry is the surrendering of the ego.  As J. Krishnamurthi puts it;

The very observation of ones conditioning releases one from his conditioning. Knowledge of who I am then rises.

In vishishhTaadvaita the knowledge of the Lord rises. There the Lord is different from me yet I am part of Him not independent of Him. The total is one – Creation is the gross manifestation of the subtle existence.

What prompts one to surrender?

There is a famous sloka in the Mundaka Upanishad –

pariiksha locaan karma chitaan brahmano
nirvedamaayaa naasch kRitah kRitena
tat viJNaanaartham sa guru mevaabhigachhet
samit paaNiH strotriyam brahman nishTaam||

At some stage in life – a question arises – what does all this means? One is looking for happiness in all pursuits and one is unable to get an everlasting happiness from the external  world and relationships.

By examining ones’ owns action- prompted results, one realizes that by doing action one cannot gain any everlasting happiness. That is the time, the scripture advises the student to approach a proper teacher to guide one self. One should approach a teacher with full humility with an attitude of service to that teacher who is fully established in the truth and who can come down and communicate this knowledge to the student.

So what prompts one to surrender? The clear realization that all other means are not useful to secure what one is looking for – an eternal happiness.

Hari Om!
Sadananda