Category Archives: Spirituality

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Sage of Arunachala

. Ramana Maharishi, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Yoga . , , , ,

The greatest yogis of the day and Shankracharyas came and visited Bhagavan Ramana.

They saw an ordinary frail man, who had nothing, sitting there on the rocks.

Bhagavan Ramana did not try to impress anyone.

The highest yogic adepts and saints instantly saw that they were in the presence of the Eternal Presence ItSelf.

bhagavan-sitting-and-a-person-offering-his-respect

 

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The Nature of Humility

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

Sri Ramana’s teaching is that the ego/mind merges in the Heart in two ways.

First, we can investigate the nature of the ego and examine the sense of “I” that we naturally feel and see where it arises. To do this, one needs to still the mind and with a purified and subtle intellect trace the “I” back to its source, the Heart. This is the yogic path of Jnana.

The second approach is to simply surrender the ego/mind without reservation to the Lord and accept that it is never our will but the Lord’s will as to what happens. If this attitude of “not my will but thine my Lord” penetrates deeply into our being, then we become accepting of everything. We see that worries and anxieties associated with ego/mind do not belong to us as we have surrendered our individual identity to the Lord. This is the approach of devotion and leads to the ego/mind merging into the Heart where the Lord sits as Eternal Existence.

“If ego rises, all will rise. If the ego merges, all will merge. The more we are humble, the better it is for us”. ~ Sri Ramana in “Gems”, Chapter XIII.

Photo art in this article is from Andreas Farasitis.

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Food is Sacred

. ART & POETRY, Food and Drink, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, Satsang, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Yoga . , , ,

May all beings be healthy and happy and enjoy fullness without being too full.

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Vegan Salad with Mango pieces

Sri Ramana spent many years cooking for others at the Ashram and even gave precise instructions to those in the kitchen on cooking! He was a taskmaster and did not allow any food to be wasted.

The Upanishads remind us that food is sacred. “Food (anna) itself is Brahma” ~  Taittiriya Upanishad.

Bhagavan Ramana taught the devotees that food influences our body and mind, and should be selected with care, prepared well, and eaten in moderation.

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Kundalini Yoga Practice: By Pieter Schoonheim Samara

. Kundalini, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , , ,

It is often said that Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, comprises all systems of yoga. This is meant more in the sense that the result and benefits of other systems of yoga gradually and suddenly emerge into the experience of the Kundalini Yoga practitioner, such that one will notice the emergence of a deep intuition of posture and prana, and awaken to the experiences of shakti, laya, bhakti, and gyan (jnana), which emerge spontaneously into consciousness. While providing all the benefits of physical and mental health, fitness and fortitude, Kundalini Yoga is entirely different in approach, practice, technique, benefit and result than any other system of yoga. Kundalini Yoga is a Path towards direct experience of the non-dual all-pervasive and single Self.

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Song of Mahamudra:Tilopa

. ART & POETRY, Hinduism, INSPIRATIONAL, Meditation, Spirituality, Wisdom, Yoga . , , , , ,

Cut the root of a tree
And the leaves will wither;
Cut the root of your mind
And Samsara falls.

The light of any lamp
Dispels in a moment
The darkness of long kalpas;
The strong light of the mind
In but a flash will burn
The veil of ignorance.

Whoever clings to mind sees not
The truth of what’s
Beyond the mind.
Whoever strives to practice Dharma
Finds not the truth of
Beyond-practice.
To know what is Beyond both mind and practice,
One should cut cleanly through the root of mind
And stare naked.
One should thus break away
From all distinctions and remain at ease.

-From Tilopa’s ‘The Song of Mahamudra’ (translated by Garma C.C. Chang).

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The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you: Rumi

. ART & POETRY, INSPIRATIONAL, Love, Spirituality, Wisdom . , , , ,

Rumi’s poetry often centers on the search for the Beloved and the union with the Beloved.

It echoes the poetry of Bhagavan Ramana and the verses Bhagavan wrote to Arunachala.

Rumi says, “The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you”.

It was the same with Bhagavan Ramana. The minute he heard the name Arunachala, he associated it with something majestic, God Himself and started looking for it.

hindu_deity_qd15_l

The minute I heard my first love story

I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.

From Open Secret: Versions of Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks / Translated by John Moyne

 

 

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The Nature of Enlightenment in Advaita

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Hinduism, Ramana Maharishi, Satsang, Spirituality, Wisdom, Yoga

Dear Harsha: In many Eastern traditions it is believed that once a person is fully Self-Realized or Enlightened, he or she attains complete perfection and becomes omniscient and all knowing about three periods of time (past, present, and the future) anywhere in the entire universe. What would be Sri Ramana Maharshi’s view on this? Was Sri Ramana really all knowing and perfect in every way?

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Dear Harsha:

In many Eastern traditions it is believed that once a person is fully Self-Realized or Enlightened, he or she attains complete perfection and becomes omniscient and all knowing about three periods of time (past, present, and the future) anywhere in the entire universe. What would be Sri Ramana Maharshi’s view on this? Was Sri Ramana really all knowing and perfect in every way?
_______

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The Nature of Now

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Gurus, Hinduism, Meditation, PERSONAL, Satsang, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga

Our very nature is that of presence. We are not in the present. We are the present.

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Without a calm mind, one cannot experience the ultimate reality, the underlying oneness, as one’s own Self.

Spiritual practices (prayer, meditation, deep breathing, yoga) have value because they remove the agitation of the mind.

A peaceful mind, steady in awareness, can understand the purest teaching at the most subtle level.

Therefore the practical advice of the sages is to not bother anyone and not be bothered by others.

To reach the highest state and to know one’s own Heart as the Self, one has to become absolutely indifferent to both external and internal perceptions.

i-am-the-now

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Awareness Aware Of ItSelf

. ADVAITA & YOGA, Spirituality, TEACHERS, Wisdom, Yoga . , ,

Sri Ramana used to say that what we give to others, we give to our self. That is the basic truth of the spiritual path.

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Awareness quietly aware of itself is the subtlest spiritual practice.

Its power can be understood fully when the mind is free from agitation.

The ancient sages knew that to make the mind calm and peaceful we must reflect on the interconnectedness of life and treat all life as precious and sacred.

Sri Ramana used to say that what we give to others, we give to our self.

That is the basic truth of the spiritual path.

May all beings be free from sorrow.

awareness-luthar

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On Ordinariness of Awakening: By Latha Ramanan

. ADVAITA & YOGA, INSPIRATIONAL, PERSONAL, Ramana Maharishi, Spirituality, Wisdom, Yoga .

“We discover the ordinariness of awakening. Gratitude, compassion and universal love encompass us, as we realise that everything in this universe is part of us – the oneness is felt. There are no more enemies, no peaks to achieve and no resistance to the ordinary flow of life”. ~ Latha Ramanan

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It is the simple things in life that teach the greatest lessons in our lives.

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