Self-enquiry as taught by Sri Bhagwan is enough

[eranilkumarsinha]

Quote:
"if this is not lived, is not my life wasted?"


Dear Sri Udai, one who has made earnest and sincere effort to realize the Self need not worry on that count, for, Lord Sri Krishna in Ch. 6 of the Gita has assured that no effort made in the realm of spirituality is ever wasted. One regains the love for and relationship with the Divine that had developed in the previous birth, and they (love for and relation with the Divine) are the starting point in the next birth.  Lord says that in the next birth, such a one, coming in touch with the knowledge of the previous birth, strives even more than before for Perfection, though he may not be aware of it all, and even may not be initially willing to do any sadhana. The awareness of our being, acquired through His Grace and our effort cannot perish at mere death of the body. (In lighter veins) 

Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

The Master (Sri Ramakrishna) to Sri Keshab:
"Do you know what actually happens? When a house is on fire, at first a few things inside burn. Then comes the great commotion. Just so, the fire of Knowledge at first destroys such enemies of spiritual life as passion, anger, and so forth. Then comes the turn of the ego. And lastly a violent commotion is seen in the physical frame."
"You may think that everything is going to be over. But God will not release you as long as the slightest trace of your illness is left. You simply cannot leave the hospital if your name is registered there. As long as the illness is not perfectly cured, the doctor won't give you a permit to go. Why did you register your name in the hospital at all?" (All laugh)
Sri Keshab laughed again and again at the Master's allusion to the hospital.
Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna





Dear devotees, the holy Utterance 'As long as the illness is not perfectly cured, the doctor won't give you permit to go' is akin to Sri Bhagwan's Revelation that once one comes within the Ambit of the Guru's Gracious Gaze, there is no escape from the Jaw of His Grace till the slightest trace of ignorance persists in him. Hence after arriving, the apprehension that one may be left stranded--that is --neither one obtains that world nor this one, is totally unfounded.
Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

गुरू मूर्ती गती चंद्रमा, सेवक नैन चकोर |
आठ पहर निरखता रहे, गुरू मूर्ती की ओर ||
Sri Kabir

As a Chakor bird always looks at the moon, so also one should always meditate on the form of the Guru and abide by His Holy Utterances. (trans. by me-anil)

[eranilkumarsinha]

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Gitanjali, Sri Rabindranath Tagore

[eranilkumarsinha]

Thus spake Bhagwan Sri Ramana:

"It is asked why all this creation is so full of sorrow and evil. All one can say is that it is God's will, which is inscrutable. No motive, no desire, no end to achieve can be attributed to that infinite, all-wise and all-powerful Being. God is untouched by activities which take place in His presence. There is no meaning in attributing responsibility and motive to the One, before it became many. But God's will for the prescribed course of events is a good solution for the vexed question of free-will. If the mind is worried over what befalls us, or what has been committed or omitted by us, it is wise to give up the sense of responsibility and free-will, by regarding ourselves as the ordained instruments of the All-Wise and the All Powerful, to do and suffer as He pleases. Then He bears all the burdens and gives us peace."

[eranilkumarsinha]

नर नारी के सूख को, खांसि नहि पहिचान
त्यों ज्ञानि के सूख को, अज्ञानी नहि जान।
Sri Kabir

स्त्री पुरुष के मिलन के सुख को नपुंसक नहीं समझ सकता है।
इसी तरह ज्ञानी का सुख एक मूर्ख अज्ञानी नहीं जान सकता है।

Nar Nari ke sookh ko,khansi nahi pahichan
Tyon gyani ke sookh ko,aagani nahi jan.

As the pleasure of consummation of a man and a woman can never be known by an eunuch (an impotent man), so also the happiness of a Jnani can never be known by an ajnani (an ignorant one). (trans. by me-anil)

[eranilkumarsinha]

I AM alone: thou only art in Me:
I am the stream of Life that flows through thee:
I comprehend all substance, fill all space:
I am pure Being, by whom all things be.

I am thy Dawn, from darkness to release:
I am the Deep, wherein thy sorrows cease;
Be still! be still! and know that I am God:
Acquaint thyself with Me, and be at peace!


I am the Silence that is more than sound:
If therewithin thou lose thee, thou art found:
The stormless, shoreless Ocean, which is I--
Thou canst not breathe, but in its bosom drowned.

I am all Love: there is naught else but I;
I am all Power: the rest is phantasy:
Evil, and anguish, sorrow, death, and hell--
These are the fear-flung shadows of a lie.

From 'Out of The Silence' Sri James Rhodes




Dear devotees, it is remarkable that the great Work 'Out of The Silence', from which the above stanzas have been cited, was composed perhaps in the late nineteenth century by the great Poet, Sri James Rhoades (1841-1923), who is also the author of the famous works, such as, 'City of Five Gates' and 'The First Thought'.

Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

A science student strolls in  to the Presence of Bhagwan Sri Ramana:

Student: Science tells us that the atom is made of a nucleus in the centre, with electrons moving round it in the intervening space. Is the relation between God and the Perfect Man the same as these or different? I mean, although God and the Jnani are one unit, yet they preserve their separate identities.

Sri Bhagwan: Who is the Perfect Man?

Student: He who has perfected himself by sadhana.

Sri Bhagwan: So you think yourself imperfect that you ask this question. Will it not then be better for you to perform sadhana and perfect yourself and then you will know what happens? Why bother now about a state which comes only after Perfection. The fact is that you are even now perfect and your supposed imperfection is only your own creation.




Dear devotees, I wish to say that if one is at least intellectually convinced of the Existence of one Self, which is the Self of all selves (Sri Paul Brunton has termed It as the Overself), and one has come out of the region of probability, with regard to one's Real Self, by Divine Grace, it is better to perform sadhana and actually discover It for oneself, rather than to seek to endlessly satiate the mental curiosity about the things Divine.

Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

Quote from Sri Nishta:

"M.: Simply through your powerful attention to Being, become the reality, the vast eye, the unbounded space of consciousness."


"To discover something.
To dis - cover.
To cease covering."


"Knowing only thoughts, concepts, the unbounded space of consciousness is covered and remains hidden."

"Cease covering with a simple shift of attention to that sense of Being-ness, that all without fail, possess. One need not fight thoughts, nor stop them, nor do anything other than make a simple shift to your own eternal Being-ness."

"Initially, that Being-ness is only a glimpse. It is still "seen" through the lens of attachments. Perseverance, and IT becomes the only view."





Dear Sri Nishta,

My Goodness!!! It is simply wonderful! But why have you locked this important  thread, such that others cannot share their understanding with you? Anyway, kindly keep posting such beautiful posts. Yes, perseverance, till  IT becomes the Only View, is what is required of one, on the Straight Path of Enquiry. Beautifully said, dear Sri Nishta! I am cent percent certain that Guru's Grace is showering on you!

Thanks very much.
Pranam,
 Anil 
 

[eranilkumarsinha]

Thus Spake Bhagwan Sri Ramana:

"Soul, mind and ego are words. There are no real entities of the kind. Consciousness is the only truth."

"The Truth is that the Self is constant and unintermittent Awareness. The object of enquiry is to find the true nature of the Self as Awareness. Let one practise enquiry so long as separateness is perceived. Once realisation arises there is no further need for enquiry. The question will also not arise. Can the  awareness ever think of questioning who is aware? Awareness remains pure and simple."

"To imagine Muladhara at the bottom, the Heart at the centre or the head at the top or over all these is all wrong. In one word, to think is not your real nature."

"Why is intellect developed? It has a purpose. The purpose is that it should show the way to realise the Self. It must be put to that use."

Source: Talks

[eranilkumarsinha]

The Lord is not Beyond Reach


Mighty is the Lord
The Flying Fortess He destroyed.
Thus despair not That He is your reach beyond;
Sure is the Lord to seekers true
In them He abideth, Grace abounding.

Tirumantiram

[eranilkumarsinha]

राम  बुलावा  भेजिया , दिया  कबीरा  रोय  |
जो  सुख  साधू  संग  में , सो  बैकुंठ  न  होय  ||
Sri Kabir

When Ram (God) beckoned him to come, Kabir wept. The happiness that is in Satsanga cannot be attained even in heaven or paradise. (trans. by me-anil)


Dear devotees, the first line of the popular Verse ( राम  बुलावा  भेजिया , दिया  कबीरा  रोय )  has intrigued, and even time and again, overwhelmed me. Hence the posting here.  Anil 

[eranilkumarsinha]

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa:
"Nishtha leads to bhakti; bhakti, when mature, becomes bhava; bhava when concentrated, becomes mahabhava; and last of all is prema. Prema is lie a chord: by prema God is bound to the devotee; He can no longer run away. An ordinary man can at best achieve bhava. None but an Isvarakoti attains mahabhava and prema. Chaitanyadeva attained them."

"What is the meaning of jnanayoga? It is the path by which a man can realize the true nature of his own Self; it is the awareness that Brahman alone is true nature. Prahlada sometimes was aware of his identity with Brahman. And sometimes he would see that God was one and he another; at such times he would remain in the mood of bhakti."

"Hanuman said, 'O Rama, sometimes I find that You are the whole and I a part, sometimes that You are the Master and I Your servant; but O Rama, when I have the Knowledge of Reality, I see that You are I and I am You.'"

Sri Girish: 'Ah!'   

Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna



Dear Devotees,

The Master says that none but an Isvarakoti attains mahabhava and prema. What is to be done then? This is why whenever someone asked Sri Bhagwan as to how to know God, He almost always taught that there must be an 'I' who wanted to know God. 'I' is certainly immediate and intimate, whereas God is not thought be so, and is unknown. And therefore, He always taught to find out that which was more intimate and immediate. So, in my view, solution lies in the Teaching:



"Unless the supreme Reality (God or Self) Itself reveals Itself in the Heart, the delusion (maya) of this world-dream will not end. The enquiry 'Who am I who sees this dream?' is the worship (upasana) which brings forth (the Grace of the Supreme for) this revelation."
V. 729, GVK




Dear devotees, merging into Source, there is Unity Only. And realizing God of one's devotion, there will be Unity only. So, Sri Bhagwan has taught that if one is told to have bhakti for God and he does so straightaway, it is very good indeed. If one is, however, not able to do so, he must be taught Vichara. Enquiry done with great love for the Self, and realizing the I-GOD, is indeed one Infallible Means to attain the Goal of life.

Thanks very much.
Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

To be thinking not any thought
Is transcendental meditation they say.
That is the state of grace.
Grace comes from meditation.
It is the state of absence of self-consciousness.

The state of Grace kindles Bliss.
The nature of Bliss is Bliss itself.
Beyond it is nothing.
Only those who have attained that Bliss
Have become birthless.

All the rest is known
As wife, children, relations
And other tainted attachments.
In a word,
They are but expressions of desire.

Sri Thaumanavar



Dear devotees, 'To be thinking not any thought is transcendental meditation' has been explained by Sri Bhagwan thus:
"Only so long as there are other thoughts in the Heart can there be a thought of God conceived by one's mind. Destruction of even that thought of God due to destruction of all other thoughts alone is the unthought thought, which is the true thought of God."
 



Dear devotees, when the actors leave the stage, only the light illuming the stage remains. So also, when all thoughts are destroyed, what remains is the Self, which is only constant and unintermittent Awareness (Light).  In pure, simple and blissful Awareness, who is to be aware of whom? Sri Bhagwan says that remaining in such a State is alone the true thought of God, which is unthought thought, as it were. And remaining in such a State, effortlessly as well as permanently, is the Realization, Sri Bhagwan speaks of.     
Pranam,
 Anil

[eranilkumarsinha]

Dear devotees, what follows is an excerpt from the book 'My Life And Quest', written by Sri Arthur Osborne:

BRIEF ETERNITY

IT WAS ABOUT 6 o'clock one June morning in 1956 that the first awakening to Reality occurred. I was alone in the room when I awoke and sat up in bed. My wife and Frania were sleeping in the next room, and Catherine had already married and left us. I just was -- my Self, the beginningless, immutable Self. I had thought 'nothing is changed'. In theory I already understood that it is not anything new; what is eternal cannot be new, what is new cannot be eternal. The only description is what Bhagavan has given: 'It is as it is.' Only now I experienced it. There was no excitement, no joy or ecstasy, just an immeasurable contentment, the natural state, the wholeness of simple being. There was the thought: 'It is impossible ever to be bored'. The mind seemed like a dark screen that had shut out true consciousness and was now rolled up and pushed away. Of course, it is a paradox to speak of the mind being rolled up and at the same time of thoughts coming. Similarly, the mind of the realized man, such as Bhagavan, is said to be dead, but he has thoughts. It seems quite natural when it happens. Perhaps the best explanation would be that the mind as an active centre originating ideas, imagination, plans, worries, hopes and fears ceases to function, but the mind as a mirror condensing pure awareness into thoughts still works.




Dear devotees, how else Natural State can be described but by the Revelation 'IT  IS  AS  IT  IS?' However, the line 'the mind as a mirror condensing pure awareness into thoughts still works' needs to be explained. The meaning of 'condensing' here, in my view, is the same as in the statement 'steam condenses to water when it touches a cold surface'. So also, mind is the mirror of the pure awareness condensing into thoughts. And this is the Pure Mind, which is only aware.  Such a mind can no longer project ideas, imaginations, plans, worries, hopes and fears anymore. This is what is implied in the Biblical Mahavakya 'I  AM  THAT  I AM'. 

Pranam,
 Anil