Conscious Immortality

Maharshi : Let activities go on. The do not affect the pure Self. The  difficulty is that people think they are the doer. This is a mistake. It is the higher power which does everything and people are only its tools. If they accept that position they will be free from troubles , otherwise they court them. 

The sculptured figure on the temple tower shows great strain , but really, the tower rests on the ground, and that supports the figure. The figure is a part of the tower , but is made to look as if it is bearing the weight of the tower. Is it not funny ? It is the same with the person who takes on himself the sense of doing.

Q: What is your opinion of social reform.

M: Self-reform automatically brings about social reform. Confine yourself to self-reform. Social reform will take care of itself.

Somebody commented that the Gita preached karma yoga , because it taught that one should act with selfless motives.

 M: No. This can only be achieved after knowing the illusoriness of ego , i.e. jnana. Hence it really taught jnana yoga,which is the highest , and that we should act by letting the universal act through us.

Q: I am a doctor. How can I best heal people ?

M: The permanent cure is jnana ; the patients must realize it for themselves , and that depends on their maturity. Otherwise when one disease goes another will come.

Conscious Immortality

Maharshi to Robert Adams - " Do not react "

Ramana Maharshi said to Robert Adams :

"The only spiritual life you need is not to react."

To be calm is the greatest asset in the world.

It's the greatest siddhi, the greatest power you can have.

If you can only learn to be calm you will solve every problem.

This is something you must remember.

When you are perfectly calm, time stops.

There is no time, karma stops, samskaras stop.

Everything becomes null and void.

For when you are calm you are one with the entire energy of the universe and everything will go well with you.

To be calm means you are in control.

You're not worried about the situation, the outcome.

What is going to happen tomorrow.To be calm means everything is alright.

There is nothing to worry about, nothing to fret over.

This is also the meaning of the biblical saying, 
"Be still and know that I am God."

To be calm is to be still.

~~ Robert Adams - T177: The Only Spiritual Life You Need Is Not To React!

Talk 34 with Yogi Ramaiah

YOGI RAMIAH’S ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCES- 
How to do contemplation (mananam of Self)
----
Talk 34.
Sitting in Maharshi’s presence brings peace of mind. I used to sit in
samadhi for three or four hours together. Then I felt my mind took a
form and came out from within. By constant practice and meditation
it entered the Heart and was merged into it. I conclude that the Heart
is the resting place of mind. The result is peace. When the mind is
absorbed in the Heart, the Self is realised. This could be felt even at
the stage of concentration (dharana).

I asked Maharshi about contemplation. He taught me as follows:-
When a man dies the funeral pyre is prepared and the body is laid flat
on the pyre. The pyre is lit. The skin is burnt, then the flesh and then
the bones until the whole body falls to ashes. 
What remains thereafter?
The mind. 
The question arises, 
‘How many are there in this body - one or two?’ 

If two, why do people say ‘I’ and not ‘we’? There is therefore only one. 

Whence is it born?

 What is its nature (swaroopa)?

Enquiring thus the mind also disappears. 

Then what remains over isseen to be ‘I’. 
The next question is ‘Who am I?’ 
The Self alone. This is contemplation. 

It is how I did it.  By this process attachment to the body (dehavasana) is destroyed. The ego vanishes. Self alone shines. 

One
method of getting mind-dissolution (manolaya) is association with
great ones - the yoga adepts (Yoga arudhas). They are perfect adepts
in samadhi. Self-Realisation has been easy, natural, and perpetual to
them. 
Those moving with them closely and in sympathetic contact gradually absorb the samadhi habit from them.

Parce 1 - 29 March 2020

Questioner: What should one think of when meditating? 


Ramana: What is meditation? 

It is the suspension of thoughts. You are perturbed by thoughts which rush one after another. Hold on to one thought so that others are expelled. 

Continuous practice gives the necessary strength of mind to engage in meditation. 


Meditation differs according to the degree of advancement of the seeker. 

If one is fit for it one can hold directly to the thinker; and the thinker will automatically sink into his source, which is Pure Consciousness. 


If one cannot directly hold on to the thinker, one must meditate on God;  and in due course the same individual will have become sufficiently pure to hold on to the thinker and sink into the absolute Being.

~ Ramana Maharshi


You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the mirror shows you that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of it. You may go on looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will tell you the same, but no mirror can ever shave you. You have to shave yourself. 

Instead of wasting time looking into mirror after mirror it is best to start shaving after having looked into the first mirror and known the truth. 

So also all the books will tell you the same truth, perhaps in slightly different ways. Instead of wasting time reading book after book why not realise for yourself what was obvious from the very first book. 

~ Ramana Maharshi

If you have no thoughts, there is no time; no time means no mind; no mind means no memory; no memory means no garbage; no garbage means no samsara; no samsara means no cycle (of birth and death); no cycle means no suffering.

~ Papaji

The mind derives its strength from your attention, from your interest and your belief.

~ Mooji

----
In your world you are truly alone, enclosed in your ever-changing dream, which you take for life. 

My world is an open world, common to all, accessible to all.


 In my world there is community, insight, love, real quality; the individual is the total, the totality – is in the individual. 

All are one and the One is all.
~ Nisargdatta Maharaj

A visitor: “The Supreme Spirit (Brahman) is Real. The world (jagat)
is illusion,” is the stock phrase of Sri Sankaracharya. Yet others
say, “The world is reality”. Which is true?

M.: Both statements are true. 
They refer to different stages of development and are spoken from different points of view. 

The
aspirant (abhyasi) starts with the definition, 
that which is real exists always; then he eliminates the world as unreal because it is changing. It cannot be real; ‘not this, not this!’ 

The seeker ultimately reaches the Self and there finds unity as the prevailing note. 

Then,
that which was originally rejected as being unreal is found to be a part of the unity. 
Being absorbed in the Reality, the world also is Real. 

There is only being in Self-Realisation, and nothing but being.


Again Reality is used in a different sense and is applied loosely by
some thinkers to objects. They say that the reflected (adhyasika)
Reality admits of degrees which are named:
(1) Vyavaharika satya ( everyday life) - this chair is seen by me and is real.
(2) Pratibhasika satya (illusory) - Illusion of a serpent in a
coiled rope. 
The appearance is real to the man who thinks so. This phenomenon appears at a point of time and under certain circumstances.

(3) Paramartika satya (ultimate) - Reality is that which remains
the same always and without change.

If Reality be used in the wider sense the world may be said to
have the everyday life and illusory degrees(vyavaharika and pratibhasika satya). 

Some, however, deny even the reality of
practical life - vyavaharika satya and consider it to be only projection of the mind. According to them it is only pratibhasika
satya, i.e., an illusion.

YOGI RAMIAH’S ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCES

Jaya Guru Ramana Raya 🙇‍♂🙇‍♂🙇‍♂🙇‍♂🙇‍♂👣👣👣👣👣

To whom should I surrender? 

To your Self. 


If you begin to do just that. While you are at work. While you are washing the dishes, while you are watching TV, you always remember to surrender. 

And one day the inner teacher pulls your mind inward to the Source and you Awaken. 

You become your Self. 

~ Robert Adams


The Meaning Of 'Spiritual Practice'

'Spiritual practices actually mean a hankering for God alone - a longing for Him alone by discarding this world, forgetting all thoughts of name and fame, physical comfort, and even one's own existence, and having no anxiety about lives here or  hereafter, or about anything else. God will reveal Himself out of His mercy to one who wants Him in such a way.'

Swami Shivananda
a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
[in For seekers of God]

What is the aim of Sadhana / Satsang

When your mind begins to think, stop it, catch it, put an end to it. 

Many of you are still under the impression that you come to hear lectures, talks. Let me ask you, how many lectures, how many talks have you been to all of your life? And what has it done for you? 

It simply adds more confusion. Always remember what you are trying to do. You're not trying to add more knowledge to your ignorance. 

You're trying to empty yourself of all your knowledge, all of your ignorance, everything that you have accumulated. 

You want to become empty. 

Yet most people seem to go to different teachers, read many books, and they add on. 

They keep adding, adding, adding, adding, adding. Yet the day must come in your life, when you stand naked before God, so-to-speak, when you have no crutches to hold onto. 


All the books are gone, there are no more teachers for you, there's no one to ask for help, there's no one to ask if you're on the right path. 

It is then that your sadhana actually begins. Ponder this very well. Your sadhana, your spiritual practice does not begin when you've gone to many teachers, and you've read many books. 


It actually begins when you give up everything. 

That's when real sadhana begins, when you have surrendered everything, when you've emptied yourself of all knowledge, all desires for liberation. 


When you have become an empty shell, then your spiritual life begins. 


Until that time you're only playing games with yourself.


 ~ Robert Adams

Savior

Q-Who is there to save all of us in our homes?


Except  Guru Ramana Raya, no one else can save this world whether u take his name or not,he is the only Guide who can save all of us.

Whether you are nearer or far on this earth,he is the only saviour. 


Who are in trobles,nearer to death for every one Sri Ramana you are the only refuge for us.

Like crow after drinking water in his palm left her life,in your presence, Gave samadhi for birds,why not your grace to all of us.

You have lost thirst & appetite, went beyond wounds at patalalingam during your sadhana,grant me such devotion towards you.

You were witness to all the things,except you no one is here to save us.

Except sri Ramana no one can give moksha in this world or earth. 

Om namo Guru Ramanaya

Paul Brunton , F2F with Maharshi

PAUL BRUNTON'S RECOLLECTIONS OF SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

- This man has freed himself from all problems, and no woe can touch him.

- In this extraordinary peace, I find a sense of exaltation and lightness. Time seems to stand still. My heart is released from its burden of care.

- I enjoy an ineffable tranquility merely by sitting for a while in the neighbourhood of the Maharshi.

- A force greater than my rationalistic mind awes me until it ends by overwhelming me.

- Day after day brings fresh indications of the greatness of this man. His silence and reserve are habitual. One can easily count up the number of words he uses in a single day.

- It is clear that his mere presence provides many with spiritual assurance.

- There are moments when I feel this power of his so greatly that I know that he has only to issue the most disturbing command and I will readily obey it. But the Maharshi is the last person in the world to place his followers in the chain of servile obedience, and allows everyone the utmost freedom of action. In this respect he is quite refreshingly different from most of the teachers and yogis I have met in India.

- I have been led to one of the last of India’s spiritual supermen.

- I like him greatly because he is so simple and modest, when an atmosphere of authentic greatness lies so palpably around him.

- Each phrase that fell from his lips seemed to contain some precious fragment of essential truth. In the presence of the Maharshi one felt security and inward peace. The spiritual radiations that emanated from him were all penetrating.

- He was the most understanding man I have ever known.

- Upon all the evidence one fact is incontrovertibly clear that he was a pure channel for a Higher Power.

SOURCE: Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi

Last parcel 28 March 2020 Sat

We are actually experiencing the Reality only; still, we do not know it. 

Is it not a wonder of wonders? 

Reality is simply the loss of the ego. 

The quest "Who am I?" is the axe with which to cut off the ego. 

~ Ramana Maharshi

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. 

Live in silence. 

Flow down and down in always widening rings of being. 

~ Rumi

Just as a man would dive in order to get something that had fallen into the water, so one should dive into oneself with a keen, one-pointed mind, controlling speech and breath, and find the place whence the 'I' originates. 

The only enquiry leading to Self-realization is seeking the source of the word 'I'. 

~ Ramana Maharshi

Improving the ego is not a required spiritual practice because there is no end to improvement and no such thing as perfection concerning 'the ego'. 

As the ego's preoccupation with improvement decreases, the sense of peace increases. 

Eventually when the ego dissolves, what remains is the peace that it was looking for. 

~ Mooji


If you sit down and just keep quiet - you are in the state of Self-awareness. 

Keeping quiet means being without any techniques, effort or intention to meditate, not following the thought stream, not pursuing the senses, no imagination. 

Such an intense Self-focusing comes without any effort. 

Then, by itself, out of nowhere, wisdom and insights come. 

If you keep quiet and don't stir any thought nor intention then life comes in it, life happens in it. 

~ Mooji


When you live in This you will not have any desires for anything else; 

likewise, you will only be in This when you give up all desires, even the desire to be in It. 

Give up all desires to stay here or there or anywhere and give up the desire for 'this' and for 'that'. Give up all desires. 

~ Papaji

The objects of the inner dialogues are only from the past and so this chatter must be stopped, it must be controlled. 

This dialogue is only memory and it has to be controlled. 

This self-control is with a small 's' and refers to controlling the mind, the thoughts of the mind. 

Self control is when your mind is not leaking anything perishable, when your mind touches nothing that fades. No clinging to the past, no thoughts, no expectations for any future. 

Keeping mind between past and future is mind control and this is your face. 

This is not so easy. 

People have been trying to do this for so long. 

Five thousand years ago Arjuna asked Krishna how to control the mind which is as difficult to grasp as air. Krishna said: "By Abhyasa, practice, and Vairagya, non-attachment, you will control the mind. 

Vairagya is being non-attached to objects. Abhyasa is bringing the mind back from its objects and establishing it in me". 

So sit quiet and watch the mind. 

It will want to go and enjoy the past experiences and enjoyments. Bring it back. 

If you are aware of the thief it will not steal from you, but if you are not aware then the thief will not let you be happy. 

It will loot the property of peace. This happens everyday and we enjoy it. 

We actually make friends with the snake. Keep after this inner dialogue and it will stop, if you have strong determination. 

All these objects of the mind are only projections. 


Only when you stop the projecting will you be happy. 


When the projection is finished then only the screen is left. 

This screen is the same before, during, and after the projections. 

When mind stops there is no projection, this is the blissful state. 


~ Papaji

Do not think yourself to be this, that or anything; to be so and so, or to be such and such... 

Be - and there is an end of the ignorance. 

Enquire for whom is the ignorance.

 ~ Ramana Maharshi

I don't give any exercise or practice because all practice is in time and is in mind. 

What I recommend is to simply stay quiet, don't make effort, don't think. 

This is all you have to do now. 

Do this now. 

~ Papaji


If you know you are bound you are no longer bound because by knowing the bondage you separate yourself from it, you objectify it. 

With this release, the 'I' that was bound pours into Consciousness like a river pours into the ocean.

~ Papaji

You can't find true peace so don't try to search for it. 

What is left when you give up searching?

 ~ Papaji

It is easy. 

You complicate it! 

It is simple. 

Don't make any effort, stay quiet and the noisy surface dialogues will cease. 

Then the substratum will rise up to the top. 

It is simple. 

Follow this. 

~ Papaji


Countless vishaya-vasanas (subtle tendencies of the mind in relation to objects of sense-gratification), coming one after the other in quick succession like the waves of the ocean, agitate the mind. 

Nevertheless they too subside and finally get destroyed with progressive practice of Atma dhyana or meditation on the Self.


Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi

Prolonged deep peace is the sign of progress
-----

Does not one find some kind of peace while in meditation? 

That is the sign of progress. That peace will be deeper and more prolonged with continued practice. 


It will also lead to the goal. 

~ Ramana Maharshi

Self-realization comes to everyone the same way basically. 

But if you have to do sadhana, you have to do sadhana. 

As long as you believe you're the ego or the body or the mind, then you have to do sadhana. And that helps you to become quiet and still. 

And when you're quiet and still, realization comes of its own accord. 

~ Robert Adams

Q- Why I should give up my desires?

----
All desires must be given up, because by desiring you take the shape of your desires. 

When no desires remain, you revert to your natural state.

 ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q- What happens to our mind(concepts) in sadhana?

___


Stick to your own consciousness, remain in that. 

All the burden of your concepts, you should fuse into your consciousness. 

~ Nisargadatta Maharaj


Source : March / April 2000 The Maharshi 

The Lord of the Universe does not need our services. If occasionally we do something for the devotees , it is out of his compassion for us. Serving the devotees in however humble a way is service to Sri Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan served the devotees in a unique way. He used to get up around 2 o' clock in the morning , cut vegetables and prepared food for them, day after day, for years. He used to grind rice for idly ; He used to prepare chutney, etc., day after day out of love for the devotees. He is happy when a devotee serves other devotees without expecting anything in return. If we are given an opportunity to serve a devotee in any way, it is because of the Grace of Sri Bhagavan. We cannot choose to serve; we are chosen by Him.

— Dr. K. Subrahmanian

In the course of an informal conversation Sri Bhagavan pointed out that Self-Realisation is possible only for the fit. The vasanas must be eliminated before jnana dawns. One must be like Janaka for jnana to dawn. One must be ready to sacrifice everything for the Truth. Complete renunciation is the index of fitness.


— Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk # 320



You don’t have to wait for something ‘meaningful’ to come into your life so that you can finally enjoy what you do. 

There is more meaning in joy than you will ever need. 

The ‘waiting to start living’ syndrome is one of the most common delusions of the unconscious state. 



Eckhart Tolle

Talk 04 May 1937 SS Cohen

HAPPINESS AND MISERY IN CREATION
================================

4th May, 1937
A book is being read in which a question occurs whether the world was created for happiness or misery. 
All eyes turn to Sri Bhagavan for the answer.

Bhagavan. Creation is neither good nor bad; it is as it is. 

It is the human mind which puts all sorts of constructions on it, as it sees things from its own angle and as it suits
its own interests. 
A woman is just a woman, but one mind calls her “mother,” another “sister,” and still another “aunt” and so on. 

Men love women, hate snakes, and are
indifferent to the grass and stones by the roadside. These connections are the causes of all the misery in the world.

Creation is like a peepul tree: birds come to eat its fruit, or take shelter under its branches, men cool themselves
in its shade, but some may hang themselves on it. Yet the tree continues to lead its quiet life, unconcerned with,
and unaware of, all the uses it is put to. 

It is the human mind that creates its own difficulties and then cries for help. 

Is God so partial as to give peace to one person and sorrow to another? 

In creation there is room for everything, but man refuses to see the good, the healthy and the beautiful, and goes on whining, like the hungry man who sits beside a tasty dish and, instead of stretching out his hand to satisfy his hunger, he goes on lamenting.

Whose fault is it, God’s or man’s? 

But fortunately for man, God, in His infinite mercy, never forsakes him. He
always gives him new chances by providing Gurus and Scriptures to guide him to find the errors of his ways
and ultimately gain eternal happiness.

Visitor. We know that the pleasures of this world are useless and even painful, yet we long for them. What is the way
of ending that longing?

Bhagavan. Think of God and attachments will gradually drop from you. If you wait till all desires disappear to start your devotion and prayer, you will have to wait a very,
very long time indeed.

~ GURU RAMANA
MEMORIES AND NOTES
By S. S. COHEN

Maha samaadhi time

According to the directions of Sri Bhagavan, no one was prevented from seeing Him till the very end. After His body had been seated in padmasanam (LOTUS POSTURE), every breath went on steadily, and at 8.47 p.m. on Friday the 14th April 1950 Sri Bhagavan removed His human disguise and shone unveiled in His own nature as the Whole – the one infinite space of Self, where there is no coming or going. At that moment, devotees on the temple veranda saw a bright light flash and engulf the small room where Sri Bhagavan was seated, but before they were able to conclude that it could have been a powerful photographic flash-light, others who were standing in the open exclaimed, “Jyoti, jyoti (LIGHT, LIGHT) in the sky,” for a brilliant meteor had suddenly appeared in the sky; it moved northward towards Arunachalam and vanished behind the summit. Glory to Sri Ramana, the Light of Arunachalam!
The sacred body of Bhagavan Sri Ramana was interred between the Hall where He had lived continuously for about twenty-eight years and Sri Matrubhuteswara temple. A Sivalingam was installed on His Samadhi and named Sri Ramanalinga Murti. A simple yet majestic temple was erected over it and was consecrated by Kumbhabhishekam on the 18th June 1967; later a large auditorium was added to it for conducting celebrations.
The Shrine of Grace (sannidhi) of Sri Arunachalaramanan, who by His life exemplified the truth ‘I am not this body, I am the ever-existing Supreme Thing’, is ever quenching the thirst of the world for Jnana with the nectar of Grace flowing in the form of Silence.

THE PATH OF SRI RAMANA

Talk 31 Maharshi

We all are seeing God always but don't know about it
----

Talk 31.
A visitor asked: What to do to get liberation (moksha)?
M.: Learn what liberation is.
D.: Should I do worship (upasana) for it?
M.: Worship is for mind control (chitta nirodha) and concentration.
D.: Should I do idol worship? Is there any harm in it?
M.: So long as you think you are the body there is no harm.
D.: How to get over the cycle of births and deaths?
M.: Learn what it means.
D.: Should I not leave my wife and family?
M.: How do they harm you? First find out who you are.
D.: Should not one give up wife, wealth, home?
M.: Learn first what samsara is. Is all that samsara? Have there not
been men living among them and getting realisation?
D.: What are the steps of practical training (sadhana) for it?
M.: It depends on the qualifications and the nature of the seeker.
D.: I am doing idol worship.
M.: Go on with it. It leads to concentration of mind. 
Get one-pointed.
All will come out right. People think that freedom (moksha) is
somewhere yonder and should be sought out. They are wrong.
Freedom (moksha) is only knowing the Self within yourself.
Concentrate and you will get it. Your mind is the cycle of births
and deaths (samsara).
D.: My mind is very unsteady. What should I do?

M.: Fix your attention on any single thing and try to hold on to it.
All will be right.
D.: I find concentration difficult.
M.: Go on practising. 
Your concentration will be as easy as breathing.
That will be the crown of your achievements.
D.: Are not abstinence and pure food helpful?
M.: Yes, all that is good. (Then Maharshi concentrates and silently
gazes at vacancy, and thus sets an example to the questioner).
D.: Do I not require Yoga?
M.: What is it but the means to concentration?
D.: To help concentration, is it not good to have some aids?
M.: Breath-regulation, etc., are such helps.
D.: Is it not possible to get a vision of God?
M.: Yes. You see this and that. Why not see God? Only you must know what God is. All are seeing God always. But they do not know it.
You find out what God is. People see, yet see not, because they
know not God.
D.: Should I not go on with repetition of sacred syllables, (mantra
japa), e.g., Krishna or Rama’s name, when I worship images?
M.: Mental japa is very good. That helps meditation. Mind gets
identified with the repetition and then you get to know what
worship (puja) really is - the losing of one’s individuality in that which is worshipped.
D.: Is the Universal Soul (Paramatma) always different from us?
M.: 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.
D.: Is it not the Advaita doctrine to become one with God?
M.: Where is becoming? The thinker is all the while the Real. He
ultimately realises the fact. Sometimes we forget our identities, as
in sleep and dreams. But God is perpetual consciousness.
D.: Is not the Master’s guidance necessary, besides idol worship?
M.: How did you start it without advice?
D.: From sacred books (puranas).

M.: Yes. Someone tells you of God, or Bhagavan Himself tells you.
In the latter case God Himself is your Master. What matters it who
the Master is? We really are one with Master or Bhagavan. The
Master is God; one discovers it in the end. There is no difference
between human-guru and God-guru.
D.: If we have done virtuous action (punya) the achievement will not
leave us. I hope.
M.: You will reap your destiny (prarabdha) that way.
D.: Will not a Wise Master be a great help in pointing out the way?
M.: Yes. If you go on working with the light available, you will meet
your Master, as he himself will be seeking you.
D.: Is there a difference between prapatti (self-surrender) and the
Path of Yoga of the Seers?
M.: Jnana Marga and Bhakti Marga (prapatti) are one and the same.
Self-surrender leads to realisation just as enquiry does. Complete
self-surrender means that you have no further thought of ‘I’. Then all
your predispositions (samskaras) are washed off and you are free. You
should not continue as a separate entity at the end of either course.
D.: Do not we go to Heaven (svarga), etc. as the result of our actions?
M.: That is as true as the present existence. But if we enquire
who we are and discover the Self, what need is there to think
of heaven, etc.?
D.: Should I not try to escape rebirth?
M.: Yes. Find out who is born and who has the trouble of existence now.
When you are asleep do you think of rebirths or even the present
existence, etc.? So find out whence the present problem arises and
there is the solution also. You will discover that there is no birth, no
present trouble or unhappiness, etc. All is That; All is Bliss; we are
freed from rebirth in fact. Why fret over the misery of rebirth?

Your loss is the gain - Nisargadatta

[07:20, 3/28/2020] +91 94904 68388: Your Loss is the Gain- Great secrets


Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Q: Has one to be afraid of his own self?

M: Not afraid, for the self means well. But it must be taken seriously. It calls for attention and obedience; when it is not listened to, it turns from persuasion to compulsion, for while it can wait, it shall not be denied. 

The difficulty lies not with the Guru, inner or outer. The Guru is always available. It is the ripe disciple that is lacking. When a person is not ready, what can be done?

Q: Ready or willing?

M: Both. It comes to the same. In India, we call it adhikari. It means both capable and entitled.

Q: Can the outer Guru grant initiation (deeksha)?

M: He can give all kinds of initiations, but the initiation into the Reality must come from within.

Q: Who gives the ultimate initiation?

M: It is self-given.

Q: I feel we are running in circles. After all, I know one self only, the present, empirical self. The inner or higher self is but an idea conceived to explain and encourage. We talk of it as having independent existence. It hasn't.

M: The outer self and the inner both are imagined. The obsession of being an 'I' needs another obsession with a super-I to get cured, as one needs another thorn to remove a thorn, or another poison to neutralize a poison. All assertion calls for a denial, but this is the first step only. The next is to go beyond both.

Q: I do understand that the outer Guru is needed to call my attention to myself and to the urgent
need of doing something about myself. I also understand how helpless he is when it comes to any deep change in me. But here you bring in the sadguru, the inner Guru, beginningless, changeless, the root of being, the standing promise, the certain goal. Is he a concept or a reality?

M: He is the only reality. All else is shadow, cast by the body mind (deha-buddhi) on the face of time. Of course, even a shadow is related to reality, but by itself it is not real.

Q: I am the only reality I know. The sadguru is there as long as I think of him. What do I gain by shifting reality to him?

M: Your loss is the gain. When the shadow is seen to be a shadow only, you stop following it. You turn around and discover the sun which was there all the time - behind your back.

Q: Does the inner Guru also teach?

M: He grants the conviction that you are the eternal, changeless, reality-consciousness-love, within and beyond all appearances.

Q: A conviction is not enough. There must be certainty.

M: Quite right. But in this case certainty takes the shape of courage. Fear ceases absolutely. This state of fearlessness is so unmistakably new, yet felt deeply as one's own, that it cannot be denied. It is like loving one's own child. Who can doubt it?

Q: We hear of progress in our spiritual endeavors. What kind of progress do you have in mind?

M: When you go beyond progress, you will know what is progress.

Q: What makes us progress?

M: Silence is the main factor. In peace and silence you grow.

Q: The mind is so absolutely restless. For quieting it what is the way?

M: Trust the teacher. Take my own case. My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense I AM and to give attention to nothing else. I just objeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense of I AM, it may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked! Obedience is a powerful solvent of all desires and fears.

Just turn away from all that occupies the mind: do whatever work you have to complete but avoid new obligations; keep empty, keep available, resist not what comes uninvited.

In the end you reach a state of non-grasping, of joyful non-attachment, or inner ease and freedom indescribable, yet wonderfully real.
[07:29, 3/28/2020] +91 94904 68388: Call for to put both steps together in to spiritual discipline leaving worldly mind
----
A young man from Trichy asked Sri Bhagavan on the mention in Upadesa Manjari of atyanta vairagyam (total dispassion) as the qualification of a ripe disciple. He continued: "What is vairagya? Detachment from worldly pursuits and desire for salvation. Is it not so?"

Maharshi: Who has not got it?

Each one seeks happiness but is misled into thinking pain-associated pleasures as happiness. Such happiness is transient. 

His mistaken activity gives him short-lived pleasure. Pain and pleasure alternate with one another in the world. 

To discriminate between the pain-producing and pleasure-producing matters and to confine oneself to the happiness-producing pursuit only is vairagya. 

What is it that will not be followed by pain? He seeks it and engages in it. 

Otherwise, the man has one foot in the world and another foot in the spiritual pursuit (without progressing satisfactorily in either field).

— Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshii, No. 302

Talks 426 & 427

ETERNAL SELF AND BIRTH/DEATH

D.: What are the fundamental tests for discovering men of great spirituality, since some are reported to behave like insane people?
M.: The jnani’s mind is known only to the Jnani. One must be a Jnani oneself in order to understand another Jnani. However, the peace of mind which permeates the saint’s atmosphere is the only means by which the seeker understands the greatness of the saint. His words or actions or appearance are no indications of his greatness, for they are ordinarily beyond the comprehension of common people.

D.: In the practice of meditation are there any signs of the nature of subjective experience or otherwise, which will indicate the aspirant’s progress towards Self-Realization
M.: The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measure to gauge the progress.


D.: Are intellect and emotion, like the physical body, growths which come with the birth of man; and do they dissolve or survive after death?
M.: Before considering what happens after death, just consider what happens in your sleep. Sleep is only the interval between two waking states. Do they survive that interval?

D.: Yes, they do.
M.: The same holds good for death also. They represent body consciousness and nothing more. If you are the body they always hold on to you. If you are not the body they do not affect you. The one who was in sleep is now in waking state just speaking. You were not the body in sleep. Are you the body now? Find it out. Then the whole problem is solved.

Similarly, that which is born must die. Whose is the birth? Were you born? If you say you were, of whose birth are you speaking? 
It is the body which was born and it is that which will die. 
How do birth and death affect the eternal Self? 
Think and say to whom the questions arise. Then you will know.

D.: Hinduism lays down reincarnation of the jiva. What happens to the jiva during the interval between the death of one body and the birth of the next one?
M.: Solve this question by referring to the state of sleep. What happens to you in sleep?

D.: I do not know.
M.: Yet you exist. Therefore, existence beyond knowledge and ignorance is indicated. Although ignorance was prevailing, according to your present idea, yet you did not say so in sleep. You continued to exist all the same. Mere ignorance does not rule out the fact of your existence…..


Talk 426 ,427 Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Parcel 3 - 28 March 2020

Even ordinarily we notice that our pain is related to the attitude of our mind. When we have some acute pain, and a person we like walks in, our pain is relieved to some extent. When a person we dislike walks in, our pain becomes worse. In other words, our pain increases or decreases according to the state of our mind at a particular moment. Sri Bhagavan asks us to remove the mind altogether so that we won't feel the pain at all. He says: 'Therefore turn inwards and seek the Self and there will be an end both of the world and its miseries.. When body-consciousness goes, suffering goes. Prayer is good in that it makes us lose ourselves in the contemplation of the Supreme Being. When the mind is lost in contemplation, there is considerable reduction in pain. But prayer will not remove suffering totally. The individual will feel the suffering when his mind is not at prayer. Puja, japa, and prayer are all good in that they take our mind off our suffering for a while.

While they are all good as a temporary measure, removal of suffering is possible only through elimination of body-consciousness. Sri Bhagavan says: 'If one remains free from pain thus, there won't be any pain anywhere. The trouble now is due to your seeing the world outside yourself and thinking there is pain in it. But both the world and the pain are within you; if you turn inward, there will be no pain.'

To the charge that those who eliminate suffering thus are selfish and do not worry about others, Sri Bhagavan says: 'The world is not external to you. Because you wrongly identify yourself with the body, you see the world outside you and its suffering becomes apparent to you; but the world and its sufferings are not real. Seek the reality and get rid of this unreal feeling.' The understanding of oneself is the ending of suffering. The question of selfishness doesn't arise as in that state, only the Self will be seen in everybody and everything. But Sri Bhagavan doesn't say we should be indifferent to the sufferings of others. So long as we have body-consciousness, we shall be conscious of our sufferings and those of others and would be interested in removing them. Compassion is really 'your pain in my heart'. When we remove the sufferings of others, we become less 'me'-centered. But in this way, we cannot remove all the pain in the world. As pain is dependent on the ego, Sri Bhagavan suggests the removal of the ego; pain will also disappear.

This is not just theory. Sri Bhagavan exemplified what he said. When he had cancer, he behaved as if it belonged to another. He was as serene as ever and gave darshan to all till the very end. There wasn't a trace of pain on his face. His detachment from the body was total.

RELIGION'S VIEWS ON BIRTH AND DEATH 

Sri Ramana Maharshi on Death


D: How long is the interval between death and re-birth?

Bhagavan  would  never  admit  that  differences  in  mode  of expression  or  formulation  of  doctrine  between  the  various religions signified real contradiction, since the Truth to which they point is One and Immutable.

D.: Is the Buddhist view that there is no continuous entity answering to the idea of the individual soul right or not? Is this consistent with the Hindu doctrine of a reincarnating ego? Is the soul a continuous entity which reincarnates again and again, according to the Hindu doctrine, or is it a mere conglomeration of mental tendencies?

B.: The  real  Self  is  continuous  and  unaffected.  
The reincarnating ego belongs to a lower plane, that of thought. It is transcended by Self-realisation.

Reincarnations are due to a spurious offshoot of Being and are therefore denied by the Buddhists. The human state is due to a mingling of the sentient with the insentient.

Sometimes it was not a question of reincarnation but grieving over the death of a loved one. A lady who had come from North India asked Bhagavan whether it was possible to know
the posthumous state of an individual.

B.: It is possible, but why try. Such facts are only as real as the person who seeks them.
L.: The birth of a person and his life and death are real to us.
B.: Because you wrongly identify yourself with the body, you think of the other also as a body. Neither you nor he is the body.

L.:  But  from  my  own  level  of  understanding,  I  regard myself and my son as real.

B.: The birth of the 'I'-thought is a person's birth and its death is his death. After the 'I'-thought has arisen, the wrong identification with the body rises. Identifying yourself with the body makes you falsely identify others also with their bodies. Just as your body was born and grows and will die, so you think the other also was born, grew and died. Did you think of your son before he was born? The thought came after his birth and continues even after his death. He is your son only in so far as you think of him. Where has he gone? To the source from which he sprang. So long as you continue to exist, he does too. But if you cease to identify yourself with the body and realise the true Self, this confusion will vanish. You are eternal and others also will be found to be eternal. Until this is realised there will always be grief due to false values which are caused by wrong knowledge and wrong identification.

On the death of King George V, two devotees were discussing the matter in the hall and seemed upset.

Bhagavan said: What is it to you who dies or is lost? 
Die yourself and be lost, becoming one with the Self of all (on the ego's extinction).

And finally, about the importance of death. Religions stress the importance of the frame of mind in which a person dies and his last thoughts at death. But Bhagavan reminded people that it is necessary to be well prepared beforehand; if not, undesirable tendencies will rise up at death, too powerful to be controlled.

D.: Even if I cannot realise in my lifetime, let me at least not forget on my death-bed. Let me have a glimpse of Reality at least at the moment of death, so that it may stand me in good stead in the future.

B.: It is said in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter VIII, that whatever is a person's last thought at death determines his next birth. But it is necessary to experience Reality now, in this life, in order to experience it at death. Consider whether this present moment is any different from the last one at death and try to be in the desired state.

Source: Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi in his own words by Arthur Osborne, Chapter Two

RAMAKANT MAHARAJ 

RAMAKANT  Maharaj is a direct disciple of the late Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and spent 19 years with him. From 1962, he visited Nisargadatta Maharaj and listened to his lectures regularly, until his master's Mahasamadhi in 1981. During the last decade or so at his ashram in Nashik, Ramakant Maharaj has been introducing devotees from around the world to the ultimate Truth.


Ramakant Maharaj: Why all the struggle and fighting to understand words and meanings, all this intellectual analysis, comparisons and conclusions? Reality has nothing to do with words, and nothing to do with the intellect. It is beyond all body-knowledge.

You can't say how you were prior to beingness.
There were no words, no knowledge, nothing.
Words cannot describe "nothing".

Spiritual knowledge is OK for the body-form, for as long as the body-form exists. When the body-form disappears, who knows what will happen? After conviction, this knowledge [jnana] comes quick and sharp, very quickly, with an edge. When this happens, there is no longer any need for peace or happiness.

Happiness and peace are for the body,
Because existence in the body-form is intolerable.

The moment you are convinced that the body-form is not your ultimate Truth, then whatever "negative" thing may happen to the body, is viewed with some distance, like something that has happened to your neighbour's child, and not to you. You will feel it because this body is a material body. At the same time though, you will not be involved because it is your neighbour's child, and not you.

Detachment is one of the signs of realisation.





Question: Before this stage, there is a strong sense of ownership, that people own their bodies which is very important.

Maharaj: Oh yes! But not ownership, you are not the owner. It is the five elements. You are staying on a rental basis. It is just the borrowing force of the body: you are borrowing water, borrowing food. For a few years you have a license, then the license is extended, Keep Out! As soon as you stop providing food and water?

Question: Then you get thrown out of your house!

Maharaj: It is a cage, not a house. You are staying in a cage and chewing a carrot. It may be a golden cage, silver cage, brass cage, whatever comes one's way. Rich people make a golden cage, and the poor people get an iron cage.

Question: It is still a cage.

Maharaj: The sage is staying within that cage. It is a "sage-cage". The moment you have conviction, you will break open that cage. I'm giving you courage:

You are to leave! Open the cage!
Open it wide!
You are a free bird!

These are the ways of conviction, using stories, various words, metaphors and analogies. But listen to me! The whole of spiritual science is just talking about this unborn child.

At the initial stage, people do listen.
But afterwards, there are not so many
Who continue to go deeper and deeper into the Reality.
They much prefer to dissect the teachings And contest the words that have been used to express them.

When it comes to the crunch, generally, people are not so keen to turn within and be quiet. They are more comfortable with the old ways of body-knowledge. They find it easier to discuss and debate the meaning of Reality. This is pointless!

Reality is not up for discussion or debate.

This is why I ask everyone the same question: 
"What is your conclusion after reading all the spiritual books?" If you are fearless, then OK, you will hopefully be fearless when the time comes to leave the body. But make sure! If fear is still roaming around you, then all your literary pursuits have been a waste of time.

Trembling in the face of fear, is not knowledge.
Knowledge has to be useful to you on your deathbed.

Spirituality makes you fearless, with the result that you have spontaneous peace and happiness. Just like, if you have no money in your pocket, you have no reason to be afraid of the thief! Let the thief come! Your pocket is empty! Now that you have conviction, it will help you at this time. There will be no fear, nothing, just peace. Some day or other, you are to leave this house.

Every day you are to say to yourself,
"This house is not mine."Forget it!

You have an opportunity to use this body to know your Selfless Self, and how you were prior to beingness. Every moment in your life is very, very important. Every moment in your life is very, very important. Otherwise, there will be another dream, another dream, another dream.

You are to come out of this vicious circle.
You can do it with your own power.
Break the vicious circle with your own power.
You can break it because
You are ultimate Reality.

Don't sign anything blindly again! You are unborn. Be cautious! Don't ignore Reality because of pressures from external forces, invisible forces. Don't ignore Reality because of spiritual forces, physical forces, mental forces, logical forces, intellectual forces.

Don't ignore Reality.

Everyone's trying to impress his own ideas in the name of the masters. Generally, it is expected that you nod your head to them and say, "Correct, correct". Not you! Not you, not you any more!

Now you can decide what is correct or incorrect,
Authentic or inauthentic,
Using the mirror of knowledge,
In the light of that mirror of knowledge,
You can discriminate and decide.

You have conviction! You may need to use some words, just remember that words are not ultimate Truth.

Don't become a victim of words again.
Don't fall into that trap again.
It happens. I have seen it happening.

Question: I am not going to be seduced by any books or teachers, Maharaj. You don't have to worry about that. I understand their body-knowledge limitations. And why should I look for book-knowledge, when Self-knowledge is unfolding as never before?

Maharaj: Very nice! We have created the words and given them their meanings. We are using words all the time. Take the words, "God" and "donkey". We say "God" is a deity, whereas "donkey" is an animal. If we were to say that "Donkey means Deity", what happens? Nothing! It is simply the words that have changed, not the essence or substance. Forget about the words. Be with Reality! Have a nice time, enjoy your spirituality.

Be quiet and happy!

TALK NO 30 

Talk 30. 
you are not the sinner

------
Mr. N. Natesa Iyer, the leader of the Bar in a South Indian town, an
orthodox Brahmin, asked: “Are the gods Iswara or Vishnu and their
sacred regions Kailasa or Vaikuntha real?
M.: As real as you are in this body.
D.: Do they possess a vyavahara satya, i.e., phenomenal existence,
like my body? Or are they fictions like the horn of a hare?
M.: They do exist.
D.: If so, they must be somewhere. Where are they?
M.: Persons who have seen them say that they exist somewhere. So
we must accept their statement.
D.: Where do they exist?
M.: In you.
D.: Then it is only idea - that which I can create and control?
M.: Everything is like that.
D.: But I can create pure fictions e.g., hare’s horn or only part
truths, e.g. mirage, while there are also facts irrespective of my
imagination. Do the gods Iswara or Vishnu exist like that?
M.: Yes.
D.: Is He subject to pralaya (cosmic dissolution)?
M.: Why? Man becoming aware of the Self transcends cosmic
dissolution (pralaya) and becomes liberated (mukta). Why not
God (Iswara) who is infinitely wiser and abler?

D.: Do devas and pisachas (devils) exist similarly?
M.: Yes.
D.: How are we to conceive of Supreme Consciousness (Chaitanya
Brahman)?
M.: As that which is.
D.: Should it be thought of as Self-Effulgent?
M.: It transcends light and darkness. An individual (jiva) sees both.
The Self enlightens the individual to see light and darkness.
D.: Should it be realised as “I am not the body, nor the agent, nor the
enjoyer, etc.”?
M.: Why these thoughts? Do we now think that we are men, etc.? By
not thinking so, do we cease to be men?
D.: Should one realise it then by the scriptural text such as “There
are no differences here”.
M.: Why even that?
D.: If we think “I am the real,” will it do?
M.: All thoughts are inconsistent with realisation. The correct state is
to exclude thoughts of ourselves and all other thoughts. Thought
is one thing and realisation is quite another.
D.: Is it not necessary or at least advantageous to render the body
invisible in one’s spiritual progress?
M.: Why do you think of that? Are you the body?
D.: No. But advanced spirituality must effect a change in the body.
Is it not so?
M.: What change do you desire in the body, and why?
D.: Is not invisibility evidence of advanced Wisdom (jnana)?
M.: In that case, all those who spoke, who wrote and who passed their
lives in the sight of others must be considered ignorant (ajnanis)!
D.: But the sages Vasistha and Valmiki possessed such powers?
M.: It might have been their fate (prarabdha) to develop such powers
(siddhis) side by side with their wisdom (jnana). Why should you
aim at that which is not essential but apt to prove a hindrance to

wisdom (jnana)? Does the Sage (Jnani) feel oppressed by his body
being visible?
D.: No.
M.: A hypnotist can render himself suddenly invisible. Is he therefore
a Sage (Jnani)?
D.: No.
M.: Visibility and invisibility refer to a seer. Who is that seer? Solve
that first. Other matters are unimportant.
D.: The Vedas contain conflicting accounts of Cosmogony. Ether is
said to be the first creation in one place; vital energy (prana) in
another place; something else in yet another; water in still another,
and so on. How are these to be reconciled? Do not these impair the
credibility of the Vedas?
M.: Different seers saw different aspects of truths at different times,
each emphasising some one view. Why do you worry about their
conflicting statements? The essential aim of the Veda is to teach us the
nature of the imperishable Atman and show us that we are That.
D.: I am satisfied with that portion.
M.: Then treat all the rest as artha vada (auxiliary arguments) or
expositions for the sake of the ignorant who seek to trace the genesis
of things and matters.
D.: I am a sinner. I do not perform religious sacrifices (homas), etc.
Shall I have painful rebirths for that reason? Pray save me!
M.: Why do you say that you are a sinner? 
Your trust in God is sufficient to save you from rebirths. Cast all burden on Him.
In the Tiruvachagam it is said: 
“Though I am worse than a dog, you have graciously undertaken to protect me. This delusion of birth and death is maintained by you. Moreover, am I the person to sift and judge? Am I the Lord here? 
Oh Maheswara! It is for you to
roll me through bodies (by births and deaths) or to keep me fixed
at your own feet.” Therefore have faith and that will save you.
D.: Sir, I have faith - and still I encounter difficulties. Weakness and
giddiness afflict me after I practise concentration.
M.: Breath-control (pranayama) properly performed should increase
one’s strength.

D.: I have my professional work and yet I want to be in perpetual
dhyana. Will they conflict with each other?
M.: There will be no conflict. As you practise both and develop
your powers you will be able to attend to both. You will begin
to look on business as a dream. Says the Bhagavad Gita: “That
which is the night of all beings, for the disciplined man is the
time of waking; when other beings are waking, then is it night
for the sage who seeth.” (11.69.)

ASHTA VAKRA CHAPTER 8 

Chapter VIII.  MIND
__


ASHTAVAKRA said:

1. Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something.

2. Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything, or hold on to anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything.

3. Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses.

4. When there is no "me", that is liberation, and when there is "me" there is bondage. Consider this carefully, and neither hold on to anything nor reject anything.

????????????? ?? ??? ?????????????????: |
?????? ??????????? ? ???? ??? ?????? || 31|| 6th chapter

The yogi who is established in union with me, and worships me as the Supreme Soul residing in all beings, dwells only in me, though engaged in all kinds of activities.

Commentary:

God is all-pervading in the world. He is also seated in everyone’s heart as the Supreme Soul. In verse 18.61, Shree Krishna states: “I am situated in the hearts of all living beings.” Thus, within the body of each living being, there are two personalities—the soul and the Supreme Soul.

Those in material consciousness see everyone as the body, and make distinctions on the basis of caste, creed, sex, age, social status, etc.

Those in superior consciousness see everyone as the soul. Thus in verse 5.18, Shree Krishna states: 

“The learned, with the eyes of divine knowledge, see with equal vision a Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.”

The elevated yogis in even higher consciousness see God seated as the Supreme Soul in everyone. They also perceive the world, but they are unconcerned about it. They are like the hansas, the swans who can drink the milk and leave out the water from a mixture of milk and water.

The most elevated yogis are called paramahansas. They only see God, and have no perception of the world. This was the level of realization of Shukadev, the son of Ved Vyas, as stated in the Shrimad Bhagavatam:

ya? pravrajantam anupetam apeta k?itya?

dvaipayano viraha-katara ajuhava

putreti tan-mayataya taravo ’bhinedusta?

sarva-bhuta-h?idaya? munim anato ’smi (1.2.2)[v24]

When Shukadev entered the renounced order of sanyas, walking away from home in his childhood itself, he was at such an elevated level that he had no perception of the world. He did not even notice the beautiful women bathing in the nude in a lake, while he happened to pass by there. All that he perceived was God; all that he heard was God; all that he thought was God.

In this verse, Shree Krishna is talking about the perfected yogis who are in the third and fourth stages of the above levels of realization.


Gita??

??????????? ??????? ??? ?????? ???????? |
???? ?? ??? ?? ??:?? ? ???? ???? ??: || 32|| 6th chspter Gita
I regard them to be perfect yogis who see the true equality of all living beings and respond to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were their own.

Commentary:

We consider all the limbs of our body as ours, and are equally concerned if any of them is damaged. We are incontrovertible in the conviction that the harm done to any of our limbs is harm done to ourselves. Similarly, those who see God in all beings consider the joys and sorrows of others as their own. Therefore, such yogis are always the well-wishers of all souls and they strive for the eternal benefit of all. This is the sama-darshana (equality of vision) of perfected yogis.

ASHTAVAKRA CHAP 8


ASHTAVAKRA said:

1. Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something.

2. Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything, or hold on to anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything.

3. Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses.

4. When there is no "me", that is liberation, and when there is "me" there is bondage. Consider this carefully, and neither hold on to anything nor reject anything.

Chapter 4- Astavakra Gita - Knower

--

ASHTAVAKRA said:

1. The wise person of Self-knowledge, playing the game of worldly enjoyment, bears no resemblance whatever to samsara's bewildered beasts of burden.

2. Truly the yogi feels no excitement even at being established in that state which all the devas from Indra down yearn for disconsolately.

3. He who has known That is untouched within by good deeds or bad, just as space is not touched by smoke, however much it may appear to be.

4. Who can prevent the great-souled person who has known this whole world as Himself from living as he pleases?

5. Of all four categories of beings, from Brahma down to the last clump of grass, only the man of knowledge is capable of eliminating desire and aversion.

6. Rare is the man who knows Himself as the non-dual Lord of the world, and he who knows This is not afraid of anything.

Ekatma Panchakam. (These are the last verses composed by Bhagavan.)

1. When, forgetting the Self, one thinks
That the body is oneself and goes
Through innumerable births
And in the end remembers and becomes
The Self, know this is only like
Awaking from a dream wherein
One has wandered over all the world.

2. One ever is the Self. To ask oneself
`Who and whereabouts am I?'
Is like the drunken man's enquiring
`Who am I?' and `Where am I?'

3. The body is within the Self. And yet
One thinks one is inside the inert body,
Like some spectator who supposes
That the screen on which the picture is thrown
Is within the picture.

4. Does an ornament of gold exist
Apart from the gold? Can the body exist
Apart from the Self?
The ignorant one thinks `I am the body';
The enlightened knows `I am the Self'.

5. The Self alone, the Sole Reality,
Exists for ever.
If of yore the First of Teachers
Revealed it through unbroken silence
Say who can reveal it in spoken words?

(Translated by Prof. K. Swaminathan)

SKILLFUL DEALING WITH DESIRES

Q: What is the best way of dealing with desires, with a view to getting rid of them — satisfying them or suppressing them?

Bhagavan: If a desire can be got rid of by satisfying it, there will be no harm in satisfying such a desire. But desires generally are not eradicated by satisfaction. Trying to root them out that way is like pouring spirits to quench a fire.

At the same time, the proper remedy is not forcible suppression, since such repression is bound to react sooner or later into forceful surging up with undesirable consequences.

The proper way to get rid of a desire is to find out “Who gets the desire? What is its source?” When this is found, the desire is rooted out and it will never again emerge or grow.

- Day by Day, p. 197

Q: Is there such a thing as free will? 

A: Whose will is it ? 
So long as there is the sense of doership, there is the sense of enjoyment and of individual will. But if this sense is lost through the practice of vichara, the divine will will act and guide the course of events. Fate is overcome by jnana, Selfknowledge, 
which is beyond will and fate.

Q: I can understand that the outstanding events in a man's life, such as his country, nationality, family, career or profession, 
marriage, death, etc., are all predestined by his karma, but can it be that all the details of his life, down to the minutest, have already 
been determined? 
Now, for instance, I put this fan that is in my hand down on the floor here. Can it be that it was already decided that on such and such a day, at such and such an hour, I should move the fan like this and put it down here? 

A: Certainly. Whatever this body is to do and whatever experiences it is to pass through was already decided when it came into existence. 

Q: What becomes then of man's freedom and responsibility for his actions? 

 A: The only freedom man has is to strive for and acquire the jnana which will enable him not to identify himself with the body. The body will go through the actions rendered inevitable by prarabdha and a man is free either to identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruits of its actions, or to be detached from it and be a mere 
witness of its activities. 

Q: So free will is a myth? 

A: Free will holds the field in association with individuality. As long as individuality lasts there is free will. All the scriptures are based on this fact and they advise directing the free will in the right channel. 
Find out to whom free will or destiny matters. Find out where they come from, and abide in their source. If you do this, both of them are transcended. That is the only purpose of discussing these questions. 
To whom do these questions arise? Find out and be at peace. 

Q: If what is destined to happen will happen, is there any use in prayer or effort or should we just remain idle?

A: There are only two ways to conquer destiny or be independent of it. 
One is to enquire for whom is this destiny and discover that only the ego is bound by destiny and not the Self, and that the ego is non-existent. 
The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to the Lord, by realising one's helplessness and saying all the time, `Not I but thou, O Lord', 
giving up all sense of `I' and `mine' and 
leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with you. 

Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as the devotee wants this or that from the Lord. 
True surrender is love of God for the sake of love and nothing else, not even for the sake of liberation. In other words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether you achieve this effacement through self-enquiry or through 
bhakti marga.

? Be as you are. 
The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi edited by David Godman.