Category Archives: Gurus

All Are In God

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Arunachala, Gurus, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, Meditation, Ramana Maharishi, Spirituality, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , , , , , ,

“Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same. But you cannot escape the Self. You want to see God in all, but not in yourself? If all are God, are you not included in that all?” Sri Ramana speaking in Talk 254 (Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi).

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

Sri Ramana: 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).

The Fundamental Truth Of Being Alone

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Bhagavad Gita, Gurus, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, Love, Meditation, Ramana Maharishi, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , , , , , , ,

We have come alone in this world.

We will leave alone.

Behind all the glamour and colors of this world, the great joys and laughter, and all the pain and horrific suffering, the fact of being alone is a constant for all beings.

Meditation on this fundamental truth serves as a gateway to Self-Realization.

Describing this state, Maharshi Patanjali (Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) says in Book 1, the third verse, “The Seer now rests in His own nature.”

The Nature of Satsang

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If we find the company of good people on our path, it enhances our life in every way.

In Sanskrit, we call this, Satsang (Spiritual Fellowship).

Sages emphasize the power of Satsang to transform our life.

The Satsang need not be physical or face to face. Coming into contact with the thoughts of great saints and yogis via books or other media also constitutes Satsang.

Sri Ramana used to say that physical contact with the Guru is not important. It is the mental and spiritual contact that is critical and central for our growth.

All Love

The Search For True Love

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Arunachala, Gurus, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, Love, Meditation, Ramana Maharishi, Self-Inquiry, Spirituality, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , , , , , , ,

The search for true love is really the search for the ultimate reality of this universe.

It manifests outwardly as the search for that perfect person, the search for God, the search for the mystery of our existence.

Underlying all fears and anxieties is the fundamental agitation of not knowing who we are.

To solve this existential riddle, Sri Ramana advocates the sincere and keen inquiry that focuses on the question, “Who Am I?” 

It is this inward focus with intent and intensity, that leads the mind to dive deep into the very heart of the unknown.

It is in the deepest core of our being, that we find the Heart, that is in reality the Self.

One never feels complete until one realizes that one who has been pursued and sought as one’s true love is one’s own Self.

In coming close to the Self, one is drawn to the Self, and then by Grace merges with the Self, the very Heart of Existence and becomes That.

Bhagavan Ramana used to say, “The Self is always there. It is you. There is nothing but you.”

The Most Powerful Yoga

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Live your life without hurting anyone. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj in “I Am That”

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Image (4) lak_Instructing.jpg for post 104

Meet your own self. Be with your own self, listen to it, obey it, cherish it, keep it in mind ceaselessly.

You need no other guide. As long as your urge for truth affects your daily life, all is well with you.

Live your life without hurting anybody.

Harmlessness is a most powerful form of Yoga and it will take you speedily to your goal.

This is what I call nisarga yoga, the Natural yoga.

It is the art of living in peace and harmony, in friendliness and love.

The fruit of it is happiness, uncaused and endless.

Nisargadatta Maharaj in “I Am That”

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Solitude is in the Mind

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Gurus, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, Love, Meditation, Nonviolence, PERSONAL . , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ramana Maharshi often spoke about the true nature of solitude. He has explained a number of times that silence, peace, and solitude are not a function of our environment but our mental state. Indeed solitude is in the mind and not to be found somewhere outside.

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The Self Cannot Be Found In Books

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Gurus, Meditation, Ramana Maharishi, Self-Inquiry, Tantra, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , , , , , , ,

“You may go on reading any number of books on Vedanta. They can only tell you ‘Realize the Self’. The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself in yourself.” Bhagavan Ramana in Gems ~ Chapter 8.

Sri Ramana here states the truth directly and unmistakably. No matter how many books one reads, one cannot gain Self-Realization.

Reading, thinking, and conceptualizing involve mental activity. Yet, it is this mental activity that distracts us and covers up the pure essence of being.

It is the mind itself that has to subside into the Heart and dissolve in it. Upon the merging of the mind in the Heart, the Self, recognition of our true nature is instantaneous. With the mind absent as the intermediary, the wordless Realization is immediate. One recognizes and says that “It has been Me all along. I am the Self.”

This recognition is beyond thoughts, words, and concepts. We use the words only to indicate that our real Self stands always Self-revealed.

Bhagavan Ramana teaches that once we become conscious of our power of attention to scan its own nature, we should focus on that.

in the classic quote given at the beginning of the article, Bhagavan Ramana emphasizes the role of deliberate and conscious introversion of the mind by shifting our attention from perceptions to the perceiver via self-inquiry.

OM Shanti!

Namaste

Note: The featured picture is from Mirela Skerbic on Facebook

The Nature of Joy

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Gurus, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, LIFESTYLE, Love, Meditation, Ramana Maharishi, Self-Inquiry, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , , , , ,

I have left all my practices,

and words of the wise

now sound like noises

in the city at lunch time.

On entering the heart of awareness,

I saw that

joy is simply the glow of contentment

devoid of longing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nature of the Ego

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“When the ego rises, all things rise with it. When the ego is not, there is nothing else. Since the ego thus is everything, to question ‘What is this thing?’ is the extinction of all things”.

The quote above from Bhagavan Ramana is from ‘Reality in Forty Verses’ (‘Ulladu Narpadu’), v. 26. It can be found in Bhagavad’s “Collected Works”.

Here Bhagavan eloquently points out that one cannot force oneself to give up the ego. The very attempt to discard the ego, is itself based on the assumption of separation from the whole. In other words, the effort to conquer the ego is based on egotism!

Such forced efforts to overcome the ego end up only reinforcing the notion that we are “separate” from the Universal Existence. With such attempts, the nonexistent phantom of the ego appears real in our imagination.

Hence Bhagavan Ramana says, “Question, what is this thing, this ego which manifests as a sense of separateness from the whole”? Where does it come from?”

This inquiry requires us to simply bring our attention to the sense of identity, the sense of “I AM”. It is only by bringing quiet, nonjudgmental attention on the ego, that the ego can be see through as unreal. The method is simple and yet the mind has to be made pure and subtle to grasp it.

Love to all

Namaste

 

ONLY AS SICK AS WE ARE SECRET

. Gurus, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, LIFESTYLE, PERSONAL, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga . , , ,

From the very gifted and insightful mystic writer from Arunachala, Mira Prabhu. Thank you Mira.

mira prabhu

ed54db0481b9c9836e19388d8ce6f3d0Anyone who has grown up in a traditional community knows that one is strongly urged to never speak about the skeletons rattling around in both individual and community closets. As for me, I was so open with strangers right from the get go that my conformist mother would warn me to hush. “Your big mouth will get you into trouble,” she’d say sternly. “There’s no need to tell everyone how you think or feel. If you continue like this, no one will marry you.” I would snigger, thrilled at the thought that this innate habit of frank communication would repel prospective partners who didn’t appreciate honesty. Life had thrown enough chains on me already—why on earth would I want one more?

My mother was wrong. My wildness drew people to me. But I had seen too much already to be dazzled by the usual courtship rituals and already horrified by what…

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