Rough Notebook-Open Forum

[atmavichar100]

CONVERSATIONS WITH ANNAMALAI SWAMI
Bhagavan once told a story about a man who wanted to bury his own shadow in a deep pit. He dug the pit and stood in such a position that his shadow was on the bottom of it. The man then tried to bury it by covering it with earth. Each time he threw some soil in the hole the shadow appeared on top of it. Of course, he never succeeded in burying the shadow.
Many people behave like this when they meditate. They take the mind to be real, try to fight it and kill it, and always fail. These fights against the mind are all mental activities which strengthen the mind instead of weakening it.
If you want to get rid of the mind, all you have to do is understand that it is 'not me?. Cultivate the awareness 'I am the immanent consciousness?.
When that understanding becomes firm, the non-existent mind will not trouble you.
- LWB, p. 266

[Balaji]

Dear Forum members

I opened " Arunachala Ramana" in Facebook. Pl share your postings in fb

https://www.facebook.com/groups/314515262264647/

[atmavichar100]

Thanks Balaji .I have sent a request for joining .

[Balaji]

I added mr atmavichar sir

[atmavichar100]

[atmavichar100]

We talk of attaining the Self, of reaching God with time.
There is nothing to attain. We are already Self-Existent. Nor will there ever be a time when we shall be nearer to God than now. We are now ever blissful, Self-Existent, the Infinite. Our consciousness is unbroken, continuous and eternal.
It is all maya, self-hypnotism, to imagine that now we are otherwise. De-hypnotize yourself. It is ego, ahankara, which deludes itself that there are two selves, one of which we are conscious now (the person) and one the higher, the Divine, of which we shall one day become conscious. This is false. There is only one Self and it is fully conscious now and ever. There is neither past, present nor future for it since it is out of time.
- Conscious Immortality

[atmavichar100]

Question: How to uproot the weariness, fear, and anxiety that arise during meditation?
Ramana: Find out to whom these questions occur. By conducting this inquiry these things will disappear. These things are impermanent. Do not pay attention to them. When there is knowledge of duality, fear arises. Fear only comes when you think that there are others apart from you.
If you direct your mind towards the Self, fear and anxiety will go away. In your present state, when your mind is agitated, if you remove one kind of fear, another will rise up and there will be no end of them. It is a laborious task to pluck the leaves off a tree one by one.
The "I" feeling is the root of all thoughts. If you destroy the root, the leaves and branches will wither away. Instead of forming bad habits and taking medicine for them, it is better to see that such bad habits are not formed.
- The Power of the Presence

[atmavichar100]

Navarathri Worship 2017 in Sri Ramana Ashram

As part of the Navaratri worship, Ashram established the Divine Mother in a throne. Devotees carried Her Divine Majesty Sri Tripura Sundari in a short procession and enthroned Her at the entrance to the Mathrubutheswara Temple. It is a delusion for the devotees to believe that they carried Her, whereas the truth is that she is the Mover of everything from an atom to the galaxy moves them.
Regular worship for Navaratri will commence from tomorrow. The Mother's Grace is boundless. Her mercy is illimitable; Her knowledge infinite; Her power immeasurable; Her glory ineffable; and Her splendour indescribable. She gives you material prosperity as well as spiritual freedom.
Devi-worship or Shakti-worship is therefore the worship of God?s glory, of God?s greatness and supremacy. It is adoration of the Almighty. Devi is the conscious power of the Deva. The Upanishad says, ?The Para Shakti, the Supreme Power of this God manifests in various ways, this power is the nature of God manifesting as knowledge, strength and activity.? Shakti is Cosmic Power wielded by an extremely compassionate Heart. Navaratri is the festive occasion of the ?nine-day-worship of Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Sarasvati? the Divinity of the Universe adored in three ways.

[atmavichar100]

We talk of attaining the Self, of reaching God with time.
There is nothing to attain. We are already Self-Existent. Nor will there ever be a time when we shall be nearer to God than now. We are now ever blissful, Self-Existent, the Infinite. Our consciousness is unbroken, continuous and eternal.
It is all maya, self-hypnotism, to imagine that now we are otherwise. De-hypnotize yourself. It is ego, ahankara, which deludes itself that there are two selves, one of which we are conscious now (the person) and one the higher, the Divine, of which we shall one day become conscious. This is false. There is only one Self and it is fully conscious now and ever. There is neither past, present nor future for it since it is out of time.
- Conscious Immortality

[atmavichar100]

[Ravi.N]

எவ்வுயிரும் என்னுயிர்போல் எண்ணி யிரங்கவும்நின்
தெய்வ அருட்கருணை செய்யாய் பராபரமே.

Grant me Thy Divine Grace
To consider all life as my life
And so commiserate in sympathy,
Oh Para Param!                                                 -Verse 65, para para kanni  -Thayumanavar

Learn to make the world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own   -Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi
                                 

[atmavichar100]

?Meditation is to effortlessly turn the mind toward that energy which energizes mind.? ? Papaji

[atmavichar100]

Q. Why the sorrow and evil in the universe?
A. God?s will!
Q. Why?
A. Inscrutable. No motive can be attributed to that Power; no desire, no goal to achieve, can be asserted of that all-wise, all-powerful being.
God like the sun is untouched by the activities which take place in His presence. If the mind is unsatisfied or restless on account of events, it is a good solution to accept God?s will as the solution; thus it is wise to drop the sense of responsibility and free will, by regarding ourselves as the instruments of God, to do and suffer as He pleases. [Talk 28]
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi from the book Conscious Immortality

[atmavichar100]

[atmavichar100]

CONVERSATIONS WITH ANNAMALAI SWAMI
After a few months in Palakottu I noticed that my mind was beginning to get quieter and quieter. During my working days my mind had been constantly occupied with thoughts about building matters. The mind would continue its incessant activities even after the end of each day's work. Plans, problems, and theoretical solutions to problems, would continue to fill my mind long after
the actual work was over. I found it very hard to meditate under such circumstances.
Bhagavan had told me, 'You are not the body, you are not the mind. You are the pure consciousness, the Self. You are all-pervasive. Be aware of this at all times, even while you are working.'
I tried very hard to put this upadesa into practice while I was working, but I cannot say that I had much success.
When I moved to Palakottu I found it far easier to practice
Bhagavan's teachings. My mind became much quieter and even my body began to change. While I had been working in Ramanasramam there had always been a lot of heat in my body. Working with lime made the body feel very hot and I compounded the problem by spending a large part of each day out in the sun.
After a few months of meditation in Palakottu my mind became relatively quiet and still and a wonderful coolness pervaded my body. In the course of time, after many years of practice, both of these conditions became permanent.
Living by the Words, p 201