Tag Archives: Self-Inquiry
The Method For Self-Realization: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
Sometimes we see people debating the language and methodology of Sri Ramana’s teaching. The question is often raised, “What is the purest form of Ramana’s teaching”?
The answer is obvious. That form of the teaching is the purest, which works for you. What bring you to Self-Knowledge and Self-Realization is the highest teaching.
Sri Ramana’s teaching is very straight forward. Despite the volumes of books and hundreds of expert commentaries, the essential teaching is simple. It is all an open secret for everyone to see.
Sri Ramana always emphasized that our nature is that of pure, unstained consciousness. “Awareness is another name for you”, the Sage of Arunachala used to say. Our spirit is of the nature of unbroken awareness that continues regardless of what our physical makeup is or what mental state the mind is in (sleep, dreaming, waking). If we deeply understand this, we have arrived at the central truth of the teaching.
Sometimes the students of Advaita debate which words or terms best describe the process of inquiry. Those who know the nature of the Heart directly become indifferent to argumentation and do not quibble over trivialities.
All of these terms, self-attention, self-awareness, self-remembrance refer to the same process of the subject turning within to itself, the subject. Self-inquiry focuses the mind on its source and the result is clarity of awareness.
Awareness by its very nature is always aware of itself but it is not an object to itself. We cannot understand this except by being in the Heart of Awareness and being the Heart.
In the world of duality, Oneness can only be indicated, but it cannot be known. Oneness cannot be known in duality because it cannot be an object to itself. Oneness cannot be known in duality because it swallows up duality. To know the Oneness intimately, one has to become That and to recognize One Is That! Do you see the beauty of this paradox?
Sri Ramana used to say that there are not two selves where one self is aware of the second self. Similarly there are not two forms of awareness. However, through the duality and agency of the perceptual mind, we can say that awareness being aware of itself is a refined and a subtle form of atma vichara (Self-Inquiry).
Ultimately, even this duality, being that of the mind (that any method necessarily presumes), vanishes as One Awareness shines forth as the Self that is the Heart; that the ancients termed Sat-Chit-Ananda. Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. One whole mass without divisions.
Once Sri Ramana said the whole truth is contained in the words”Be Still”.
So if one is self-aware and still, one has grasped the method.
A quiet, peaceful, and content mind that is awake and turned within to its source has grasped the method and the process of Self-Inquiry. This process itself turns into the goal when the mind merges into the Heart for Self-Revelation.
The Root of Self-Inquiry: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
Realized Sages such as Bhagavan Sri Ramana have indicated the experience or the state of the Self. It is what it is.
It is the Heart of Existence, and Existence It Self. Sri Ramana used to say that It is only Being.
You can call it what you like. Self, No-Self, Shunya, Reality. What difference can it make? The ultimate Reality cannot be named. It has no name. There is no one outside of Reality to give it a name.
Ancient sages taught that the core of our being is pure Sat-Chit-Ananda which roughly translates from Sanskrit as Existence, Knowledge/Consciousness, Bliss as One.
It is devoid of thought or doubt or conflict, but utterly complete and supreme over its domain, its domain being no other than It Self.
It is the Eternal Reality which is not conscious of anything separate from it, being Pure Consciousness Itself.
It is beyond happiness and despair, destiny and free will, and beyond time and space.
It is beyond the different paths, philosophies, religions and conceptions of the Divine. All of these concepts are play of the mind which sees differences everywhere.
People with much confidence speak of their way, their path, and their religion. People speak of their God, their insights, their Realization, etc. This is all fine.
Self-Inquiry starts when an aspirant sincerely inquires with intensity, Who is this “I” which conceptualizes all such things.
The root question in Self-Inquiry is “Who Am I?” That is the method taught by Sri Ramana Maharshi for reflective Self-Inquiry.
Real introversion of the mind can only take place when we look directly for the source of our very existence.
The feeling and sense of “I” or “Me” that everyone has naturally, is the clue to resolving the mystery of Existence.
Where does this sense of “I Am” comes from. Looking within and following this sense to its source leads to the Knowledge of the Self.
Namaste and love to all
Aids To Self Enquiry: By Alan Jacobs
“Those who leave the path of Self Enquiry, the way of liberation, and wander off along the myriad forest tracks, will encounter only confusion”. Bhagavan Ramana.
Self Enquiry is the Direct Path and Bhagavan’s great contribution for the modern age for all.
Self Enquiry is the backbone of the main weapon in Bhagavan’s teaching for eliminating the vasanas, tendencies and vrittis, the thought forms which act as a veil and occlude your Real Self. Continue reading
The Ribhu Gita: By Richard Clarke
Your true nature is always the undivided, nondual Brahman,
Which is a mass of Being-Consciousness-Bliss,
Motionless, ancient, still,
Eternal, without attributes,
Without confusions, without sheaths,
Without parts, without impurity,
Completely free from any illusion of duality,
Full, peerless, and the One.
From Song of Ribhu, Chapter two.
The Ribhu Gita is a spiritual text that was extensively used by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. It was one of the first books he read after Self-Realization, one whose message clearly accorded with what he had realized within himself. For many years during his life it was read to those at Ramanasramam. It is still read at Ramanasramam today. Ramana’s use and recommendation of this text has brought it into much wider visibility among those interested in his teachings and Advaita Vedanta.
A number of teachers in the tradition of Sri Ramana have been using these translations of the Ribhu Gita in their teaching. Above is a picture of Papaji reading from the English Translation of the Sanskrit version.
The Ribhu Gita is a book that is best read aloud, a few verses at one time. It is in an ancient form designed to be chanted, and they way it is written is most conducive to reading aloud, even if one is reading it to oneself.
The Ribhu Gita presents the timeless teaching of Self Knowledge, emphasized by Advaita Vedanta. Its fundamental tenet is the identity of the Self with Brahman, a term signifying the vast Absolute. This scripture presents the teaching given by the sage, Ribhu, to Nidaga to become enlightened into his true nature.
According to Annamalai Swami, “Bhagavan often said that we should read and study the Ribhu Gita regularly. In the Ribhu Gita it is said, ‘That bhavana “I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am Brahman, I am everything” is to be repeated again and again until this becomes the natural state.”
In describing the Self or Brahman, negation is primarily used because the Self can never be an object, can never be what is perceived or conceived. By negation in the process of Self-inquiry, the ignorance of identifying ones own existence with an individual body and mind is destroyed. This “destruction” of ignorance is really not the destruction of anything real, as the false identification as an individual just consists of assumptions, ideas. What remains after this so-called destruction is not anything new. It is not something achieved. It is not a transformation. It is what has been your innermost identity all the time.
As all differences are an illusory appearance
On Brahman, which is not different from the Self,
Due to conditionings of the Self like the defect of nescience (ignorance)
And conditionings of Brahman like maya (Illusion, delusion),
One should realize, by a practice of negation,
That all appearances are not a whit different from the substratum
And one should cognize the originless, endless,
Undivided identity of the Self and Brahman.
From Song of Ribhu, Chapter One
“The text is a relentless reiteration of uncompromising Advaita―that the Supreme Brahman, ‘That,’ is all that exists and exists not, that nothing else exists, the Self is Brahman and Brahman is the Self, I am that, I am all, and That is myself. This Awareness is moksha (liberation) which is attained by the way of knowledge and the certitude I-am-Brahman,” says Dr. H Ramamoorthy, one of the co-translators, in his Translator’s Introduction to the English translation of the Sanskrit version published by The Society of Abidance in Truth in 1995.
The origins of the Ribhu Gita are uncertain. It is contained within the Sivarahasya, an ancient Sanskrit epic devoted to Siva. It has been compared to the better-known Bhagavad Gita, contained within the epic, Mahabharata. Similar dialogs between Ribhu and Nidagha on the Self and Brahman are also found within the traditional 108 Upanisads, so it appears that the origin of the Ribhu Gita dates from the Upanisadic period, generally thought to be about 600 BCE.
The Ribhu Gita exists in two forms, the traditional Sanskrit version, and a Tamil version rendered in the late 1800s by Bhikshu Sastrigal, also known as Ulagantha Swamigal. Both versions have been translated into English by Dr. H. Ramamoorthy, a Sanskrit and Tamil scholar, and Nome, a Self-Realized sage in the United States of America, who realized the Truth revealed by Sri Ramana Maharshi and the Ribhu Gita in 1974. Both books, The Ribhu Gita and The Song of Ribhu (the Sanskrit and Tamil versions of the text) have been printed by the society of Abidance in Truth (SAT) and are available from their website (www.satramana.org).
These English translations have become the basis for a widening appreciation of this ancient nondual work. Translations have been made from these English translations into a number of other languages, including Italian, and Hindi. The Song of Ribhu has also been reprinted by Sri Ramanasramam and is available from their bookstore.
In addition to these two complete translations, there have been a number of partial translations published. One is a small pamphlet, Essence of Ribhu, available by download from Sri Ramanasramam – www.sriramanamaharshi.org . The other is The Heart of the Ribhu Gita, by F Jones, Los Angeles: Dawn Horse, 1973.
Nome has been teaching Self-inquiry, as taught by Sri Ramana, for about 30 years. He gives satsangs and holds retreats at the temple of The Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT), in Santa Cruz, CA, USA. For more information go to http://www.satramana.org. He has translated and published a number of books of Advaita Vedanta that otherwise would not be available in English. Many of these translations were done in collaboration with Dr. Ramamoorthy.
Mahasivaratri with Arunachala: By Richard Clarke
The night of March 6 – when there was no moon – was Mahasivaratri this year. This night honors Siva, seen in nonduality as Being-Consciousness absolute. It is the association with Siva that makes Arunachala such a holy mountain.
Instead of going into town to a temple, or doing pradakshina – walking around Arunachala – we decided to hold a Siva Puja at our house. Here are some photos.
The Altar set up near sun down
The altar has a picture of Siva, a lingam, a photo of Nome, and various puja materials.
Arunachala is is the background.
Puja Materials
Fruit and a coconut are common offering.
For Sivaratri it is important to have Bilva leaves as an offering.
Camphor is there for later use.
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Puja at midnight
Richard is offering Puja to the Sivalingam.
Coconut milk, cows milk, ghee, bilva leaves and flower petal are offered in turn.
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Lingam after Puja
After the Puja here is the broken coconut.
The lingam is covered with bliva leaves and flowers.
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Dawn over Arunachala after Mahasivaratri night
Richard and Carol were up most of the night, listening to recordings of chants, and spiritual discourses from their teacher, Nome.
In quiet times we meditated. For us this is a most holy night.
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Altar at dawn
Here is the altar at dawn. The lingam has been put back in its usual place, and wrapped with a flower mala.
Now we will go downstairs and go to sleep. This is along night, but spiritually fulfilling.
Easy And Natural Is The Way: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
Dear Friends,
Sahaj in Sanskrit means easy and natural.
There is saying in Hindi, “Sahaj pake so meetha hoy.”
It means that easy and natural cooking of food leads it to taste sweet.
It is something like the English saying that soup that simmers slowly or the cake that is baked slowly tastes best in the end.
These are metaphors for life. When we do something with care and love, the results are better. Sometimes we even say that, “this is a labor of love.” When we love what we do, it does not feel like work.
Everything has its nature. When we are true to our own nature, an easy authenticity takes over. Then we are not concerned about impressing others nor worried about how others are judging us.
Nature is showing us the way. Seasons are coming and going. Flowers bloom and then wither. We are breathing in and breathing out.
Easy and natural is the way. Anything else makes it appear that somewhere other than where you already are, is more attractive.
All of these teachings of self-improvement, yoga, meditation methods, breathing techniques might have some meaning to someone at some point in time. Truly these are concepts only for the mind to struggle with. The whole premise of these teachings is that you are not OK just the way you are. Ultimately, it is the most splendid nonsense.
To be easy and natural is the way.
How does one become easy and natural? How does one follow the natural path?
To be easy and natural is, well, it is to be easy and natural; and it is best because it is easy and natural.
It is so simple is it not?
What is not easy and natural will produce inner and outer conflicts. We already have enough of those. Of course, for some people making more conflicts may be easy and natural. In that case, go for it (and you can’t help it anyway).
Being easy and natural in awareness allows for the recognition of the Self, which by its very nature is easy being, natural, and wholeness of awareness aware of itself as its own bliss. There is no good way to express it.
My teacher Chitrabhanu-ji (who was a monk for 29 years) once told me that as a young monk he was very very strict with himself. “Sometimes, too much judgment and discipline can be a form of violence with oneself”, he told me.
Another time when we were talking about gurus, I mentioned many names to him and asked his views of them.
Chitrabhanu-ji knew most of the gurus personally. These included J. Krishnamurti, Swami Muktananda, Sri Chinmoy, Rajneesh (Osho), Swami Chidananda, Swami Rama, Swami Satchitananda, etc.
Those gurus whom he liked, Chitrabhanu-ji would only say, “He is a good man.”
One day Chitrabhanu-ji said to me, “You should never follow a guru.” I looked at him puzzled (because he was my guru, you see).
He smiled and said in his thick Bombay accent, “What if the guru goes crazy and tells you to do strange and crazy and weird things…” I had a good hearty laugh! He added, “that does happen you know….”. I laughed even harder.
Well, it does happen you know.
As Sri Ramana never tired of saying,… the only true guru is your Heart, your own Self.
So wise sages tell the advanced aspirants to be perfectly natural. Make the effort, if natural. Follow a teaching if it is easy and makes sense.
If something makes no sense, there is no point in following it. So what if it is considered the supreme teaching and so on by someone well known. For all you know, what the supreme and well known people say could all be manure.
Think about it. What do they really know? How can they really know? What can anyone really and truly know?
So rest, if it feels natural to rest. Watch the spiritual parade pass by and not be moved by any teaching. Or join the parade and sing your song.
Your nature will make you act in a certain way. That is why you can be at perfect ease.
Self-remembrance, Awareness aware of itself, Self-abidance, all of these mean the same.
Easy and natural is simply being aware of one’s innate wakefulness through the winds of emotions, colors of life, and changes in scenery.
To the extent one can grasp it, simply remain aware and if you become conscious of some intangible cloud of unknowing which you cannot go through, become comfortable with it, stay with it, and breathe it in and out.
If you meditate on this and become aware, it will dawn on you with clarity. You will see.
Easy and natural is the way.
Namaste
Meditation, Self-Inquiry, and Self-Realization: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
Bhagavan Ramana Reclining
The distinction between Meditation and Self-Inquiry is subtle. However, in one way, understanding this difference is central to grasping the full import of teachings of the Sage of Arunachala, Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Sri Ramana used to say that meditations, affirmations, and other similar techniques presuppose the retention of the mind. To practice a mantra, visualization, pranayama, etc., requires the use and activity of the mind as an independent agent separate from the higher power. One of Sri Ramana’s favorite analogy was that asking the mind to subdue itself is like asking a thief to go ahead and capture itself. The mind will make a game of it, pretend to control itself, but will remain engaged in playing hide and seek.
Certain meditation practices no doubt have a calming and a relaxing effect. However, Sri Ramana states that in all such approaches, the mind remains dormant only temporarily. It rushes forth after sleep or meditation in its individual form when the proper stimulation presents itself. With all practices conducted with the mind, that have an object as their focus (mantra, breath, image, etc.), the seed of duality is already built in.
Someone once asked Sri Ramana whether Self-Inquiry that he advocated was also not a mental activity. If so, it must be presumed as having the same difficulty and limitation as other meditative techniques.
Sri Ramana acknowledged that Self-Inquiry also made use of the mind in initial stages. However, he held that in asking oneself the question “Who am I?” in a serious, alert, and an intense way, the mind was being concentrated and driven inwards towards its Source. This Source is not a form or a sound but the very origin from which the mind arises.
Therefore, in Self-Inquiry, the full power of attention is brought to bear upon this question, “Who am I”? This question does not have an intellectual answer. Asking it is meant for becoming aware of consciousness as existence that permeates us as our root identity. It is this feeling and sense that everyone has of themselves as “I Am”. From childhood to old age, we are aware of this sense of existence without having to give it a name.
This subtle awareness has no form. It is this self-awareness, independent of thoughts, that one has to abide in and follow to the Source. If grace allows for that, the Supreme Heart that the ancients called Sat-Chit-Ananda, reveals It Self. It is really a Self-Revelation. The Heart is recognized as one’s own identity independent of thoughts, personality, mind, etc.
Sri Ramana maintained that although Self-Inquiry required initial use of the mind, after a certain point a spontaneous power took over. The response to serious Self-Inquiry comes from within. Sri Ramana referred to this Source within as the Heart. Self-Inquiry stirred the inner power of the Heart which then became like a magnet pulling the mind within so that Self-Recognition and Self-Realization of Supreme Bliss as our nature could take place.
Namaste
Self-Inquiry_The Science of Self-Realization: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
According to Advaita Vedanta, the science of Self-Realization (which we call Self-Inquiry), requires a different approach than the sciences involved in discovering the complexities of the Universe. Both approaches are similar in one way in that our consciousness with focused attention and awareness is used as an instrument of perception to gain knowledge.
Sciences involving the exploration of the universe and its laws focus the attention outside to perceived objects (time, space, matter, laws of motion, gravity, mass, etc.) to determine their nature. When attention and awareness are focused on such analysis, the relationships between various objects according to universal laws becomes clear. This is due to the inherent power of consciousness to discover and make known to itself anything that it focuses attention on. That is how sciences (Mathematics, Physics, Medicine, etc.) move forward.
However, the theoretical limit to understanding objective phenomena is always there to the extent that the observed phenomena is based on the very nature of the observer. It is not clear how precisely the relationship between the subject and the object can be determined scientifically. Philosophically, this is due to the logical difficulty of separating the subject from the object and demonstrating their independence.
Science of the Self, however, is a radical departure from the physical sciences and has a different aim. Here attention is directed inwards towards the subject and not outwards towards objects of perception. The classic methodology given by Sri Ramana for Self-Inquiry is to ask oneself with attention and inquire, “Who am I?” This is done in order to introvert the mind and drive it deeper into its source. In Self-Inquiry, the quality of consciousness itself becomes the center of attention. In this method, consciousness is not focused anywhere or on anything other than itself.
Language is not perfect but there are many ways to say this. Attention focused on attention itself is Self-Inquiry. Consciousness becoming self-focused is Self-Inquiry. Mind turning inwards to its source is Self-Inquiry. Awareness aware of itself is Self-Inquiry. All of these are variations of the same process and basically refer to the same thing. These statements indicate that one should quietly abide in one’s own sense of identity and being with full awareness.
This is not an easy notion to grasp. The Self-Inquiry methodology does not present the aspirant with an image or a sound to concentrate on. Because we are so dependent on our sense of hearing and sight even for meditation and prayer, Self-Inquiry presents a challenge. People often find it difficult to know what to focus in doing the Self-Inquiry because they associate their identity and thus consciousness strongly with the body.
This is why Sri Ramana used to say that Self-Inquiry is not for everyone to take on immediately. I have observed this phenomena carefully for a long time. People find meditation, yoga, tantra, chakras, and kundalini methods much more interesting and exciting to talk about and practice than Self-Inquiry. It is because all of these Yoga systems are directly or indirectly based on producing changes in the physical or the subtle bodies which one can experience.
Consumption of experience in some form or another is natural to all living beings. Self-Inquiry points, however, to the subject; the one who experiences. What is the nature of the one who experiences? Self-Inquiry shifts our attention from perception to the perceiver. Who is the one who perceives and experiences reality?
The practice of meditation and yoga leads the mind to temporarily withdraw the senses from objects of perception. However, internal perceptions in meditative states or Samadhi will most likely still exist. These internal perceptions may manifest in a number of ways including that of visions of angels, holy sages, the Goddess. Various spiritual and religious symbols often appear spontaneously in the mental eye of the aspirant during meditation or contemplative prayer and there may also be experiences of lucid dreaming states. So even in higher meditation states, the distinction between the subject and the objects of perception continues as we engage in and consume one experience after another.
Self-Inquiry, on the other hand, is found to be boring and irrelevant by many people because it promises them no special experience to enjoy other than being their own self. People should always do what feels natural. Nothing can be forced.
Eventually with the practice of meditation and other types of yogas, the mind becomes more subtle. The understanding of the nature of consciousness as free from outer perception (of physical objects) as well as internal perceptions (dreams, visions, other mental experiences) can then start to emerge. Once the independent nature of consciousness (free from all perceptions) is understood, one can recognize the essential quality of existence and pure being in the midst of various experiences.
When attention/awareness become self-focused, that is called Self-Inquiry. When attention lights up attention, awareness lights up awareness, consciousness lights up consciousness, Self is Realized as Sat-Chit-Ananda, the ultimate subject, the very core of being. Sri Ramana called it simply the Heart, whose nature is that of silence which is beyond all understanding.
Lovers Love Completely: The Goddess Mystery. By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar
Picture of Arunachala by Gabriele Ebert
Song to the Goddess
Either let me be intoxicated
in your love completely
or put on my robes of joy
and rob me absolutely.
Judge me guilty
in the court of love
or absolve me absolutely;
find me flawed if you like
but never hold me weakly.
No middle ground is possible
for lovers who love completely!
Love, Consciousness, and Bliss
The great sage of Arunachala, Sri Ramana Maharshi, used to say that all deep thinking people are fascinated by the nature of consciousness. The outer world of time and space is known only through ones’ own mind. Therefore, the mystery of mind and consciousness has been a magnet of attraction for philosopher, yogis, sages, and scientists. Upanishads say that one should know “That” by which all else is known.
What is “That”, which makes all else visible and known? The ancient philosophy outlined in the Upanishads, the sacred Hindu scriptures, refers to “That” as Sat-Chit-Ananda, the core of one’s being which is Absolute Bliss, Absolute Existence, Absolute Consciousness, and we can also say that it is the same as Absolute Love which makes all human love possible. Sri Ramana used to say that “Love is the actual form of God.”
For one irresistibly pulled by the hunger of Self-Knowledge that manifests in one’s own heart, the turning within to “That” Absolute Love and Bliss happens at some point. When consciousness spontaneously starts the process of scanning its own formless form, this churning results in the beauty and self-delight of awareness which underlies all manifestations of energy (Shakti).
Appearance of the Supreme Goddess
In many of the mystical traditions of Hinduism, the manifestations of this energy, resulting from consciousness becoming focused on its own nature, take the forms of Devi. Devi is the Supreme Goddess, who appears in visions and dreams of devotees according to their mental and spiritual condition to nurture, protect, bless, and guide them.
The Goddess is depicted in Hindu art in hundreds if not thousands of ways. This art is part of the Indian history, culture, and Hindu traditions. It comes from the inspired imagination of the artists and is based on the ancient stories about the Goddess and Her powers.
However, no artwork can really capture the form of the Goddess who appears in the mystic eye of the aspirant. She appears to each devotee in a unique way according to what best suits the nature and personality of the person at that time. As the yogi evolves in the spiritual path, the visionary forms of the Goddess can change along with that.
So a relationship develops between the devotee and the Goddess or the Divine Beloved. Like human relationships between lovers, it is not always easy.
Sometimes, the devotee cannot bear the separation and wants immediate union and consummation. He may even blame and question the Goddess as to why She has left him in the middle of the path after taking his hand.
Song of Despair to the Goddess
Play hide and seek
not too much longer
and risk this longing
get even stronger;
when people ask unashamedly
why your love flees from me
what honest answer can I make
and can you also say for sure
that in choosing me as your lover
you have made some grave mistake.
But the Goddess realizes that it is not time and waits for the moment to be ripe for the final liberation. Many of the love poems of mystics to the Goddess have come from this intermediate level of spiritual experiences where the Supreme Beloved appears to plays hide and seek with them.
Sri Ramana and Marital Garland of Letters
In the classic Tamil poem, “The Marital Garland of Letters” the Sage of Arunachala, Sri Ramana Maharshi, chides the Divine Beloved in some of the verses and apologizes for having done so in other verses. He begs Arunachala to fully embrace him (as the devotee) and utterly consume him in love; Because only then he will have peace.
Ramana writes:
Verse 23. “Sweet fruit within my hands, let me be mad with ecstasy, drunk with the bliss of Thy essence, Oh Arunachala!”
Verse 34. “Unless Thou embrace me, I shall melt away in tears of anguish, Oh Arunachala!”
Verse 60. “In my unloving self Thou didst create a passion for Thee; therefore forsake me not, Oh Arunachala!”
Hindu Mystical Bhakti Poetry
The love pattern of alternating between despair and ecstasy (Does She/He love me or love me not), joy and sadness (When will the Goddess/Divine Beloved visit again) is common in the poetry of many Hindu saints and mystics. Even the seeming confusion about the relationship itself, which makes the devotee beg sometimes for love and other times actually blame, chide, and command the Goddess/Divine Beloved, can be seen in some of the poems including the Marital Garland of Letters.
Although the Marital Garland of Letters by Sri Ramana is embedded in the Indian spiritual, historical, and cultural context, the symbolism of a lover who is in complete despair because of an incomplete consummation with her/his beloved is universally understood.
Summary
People who are in love with and fascinated by the mystery of consciousness have felt that mysterious pull of the Heart from within themselves. Who can really explain ways of the Divine and the different forms She/He manifests in.
What is the first step on this path of love? No one can say for sure. Was it the smile and look of a Sage, the grace of the Divine Mother, the kiss of the Goddess, or the kindness of a teacher or a friend? There must be many possibilities that make us aware of the Heart within, whose nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda, that which is the source of the ultimate bliss.
This memory once awakened brings upon the experience of pure being, and attracts the devotee to the truth of her/his own nature. This gentle pull within makes itself felt. It does not let go until the Truth of one’s own Heart is recognized, and there is nothing left to let go.
Some say that it is the Goddess Herself, who takes the devotee into the Heart and then reveals Herself as the Universal Heart. The complete identity between the devotee, the Goddess, and the Heart thus established, everything disappears. There is only that Heart of Love and Fullness, eternal consciousness completely at rest in its own nature.
Knowing That is Self-Knowledge. That is the final consummation.
“I came to feed on Thee, but Thou hast fed on me; now there is peace, Oh Arunachala!” Verse 28. Marital Garland of Letters.
NOTE: Some of the verses on the Goddess in this article are from a longer poem on the Goddess by Dr. Harsh K. Luthar.
Luthar.com 
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