Ramana Maharishi

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Comment by Tayira on October 18, 2009 at 2:36am

Fate and Free Will

Free will and destiny are ever existent. Destiny is the result of past action; it concerns the body. Let the body act as may suit it. Why are you concerned about it? Why do you pay attention to it? Free will and destiny last as long as the body lasts. But jnana transcends both. The Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. Whatever happens, happens as the result of one's past actions, of divine will and of other factors.
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 realizing one's helplessness and saying all the time, 'Not I, but Thou, oh Lord' and giving up all sense of 'I' and ‘mine’, and leaving it to the Lord to do what he likes with you. Complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether you achieve this effacement through Self-enquiry or bhakti marga (path).

Comment by Krishna Jaya on October 1, 2009 at 12:41am

One of my early memories...as a child of about five years, I asked my father, "Daddy, what if we're part of somebody else's dream and they wake up?"

He had no answer for this. Perhaps the reason I remember the incident is that his expression conveyed such perplexity which surprised me in one whom I assumed had all the answers to life's questions.

Comment by Tayira on September 28, 2009 at 7:07am

Major Chadwick's Dream Incident
Sadhu Arunachala (Major Alan Chadwick):

"We are such stuff As dreams are made of and our short life Is rounded by a sleep."

Shakespeare really did know what he was talking about and it was not just poetic effervescence. Maharshi used to say exactly the same.

I suppose I questioned Bhagavan more often on this subject than any others, though some doubts always remained for me. He had always warned that as soon as one doubt is cleared another will spring up in its place, and there is no end to doubts.

"But Bhagavan," I would repeat, "dreams are disconnected, while the waking experience goes on from where it left off and is admitted by all to be more or less continuous."

"Do you say this in your dreams?", Bhagavan would ask. "They seemed perfectly consistent and real to you then. It is only now, in your waking state that you question the reality of the experience. This is not logical."

Bhagavan refused to see the least difference between the two states, and in this he agreed with all the great Advaitic Seers. Some have questioned if Shankara did not draw a line of difference between these two states, but Bhagavan has persistently denied it. "Shankara did it apparently only for the purpose of clearer exposition," the Maharshi would explain.

However I tried to twist my questions, the answer I received was always the same: "Put your doubts when in the dream state itself. You do not question the waking state when you are awake, you accept it. You accept it in the same way you accept your dreams. Go beyond both states and all three states including deep sleep. Study them from that point of view. You now study one limitation from the point of view of another limitation. Could anything be more absurd? Go beyond all limitation, then come here with your doubts."

But in spite of this, doubt still remained. I somehow felt at the time of dreaming there was something unreal in it, not always of course, but just glimpses now and then.

"Doesn't that ever happen to you in your waking state too?" Bhagavan queried. "Don't you sometimes feel that the world you live in and the thing that is happening is unreal?" Still, in spite of all this, doubt persisted.

But one morning I went to Bhagavan and, much to his amusement, handed him a paper on which the following was written:

"Bhagavan remembers that I expressed some doubts about the resemblance between dreams and waking experience. Early in the morning most of these doubts were cleared by the following dream, which seemed particularly objective and real:

Indent "I was arguing philosophy with someone and pointed out that all experience was only subjective, that there was nothing outside the mind. The other person demurred, pointing out how solid everything was and how real experience seemed, and it could not be just personal imagination.

"I replied, 'No, it is nothing but a dream. Dream and waking experience are exactly the same.'

"'You say that now,' he replied, 'but you would never say a thing like that in your dream.'

"And then I woke up."

From the Call Divine, March 1954

Comment by Tayira on July 20, 2009 at 5:46am

No dear Krishna Java....I did not paint it....But I also think , like you , that it is a really beautiful painting!!!!!!! You are very welcome dear brother!!!!! Namaste!!!!!! Love and blessings!!!!!!

Comment by Krishna Jaya on July 20, 2009 at 5:08am

Thank you, Tayira, for the beautiful photo and thoughts. I haven't seen that picture before. And the painting you posted in May...did you paint it? Also very beautiful, especially the eyes, the windows of the soul, somebody once called them...

Om Namah Shivaya
Krishna Jaya

Comment by Tayira on July 20, 2009 at 2:52am

"The world is so unhappy because it is ignorant of the true Self. Man’s real nature is happiness. Happiness is inborn in the true Self. Man’s search for happiness is an unconscious search for his true Self. The true Self is imperishable; therefore, when a man finds it, he finds a happiness, which does not come to an end"
Ramana Maharishi

Comment by Tayira on May 18, 2009 at 4:57am

Mind is consciousness, which has limitations. We are orginally unlimited and perfect. Later on we take on limitations and become the mind.


Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work. Particular time for it is meant for novices.


When one makes the mind stick to one thought, the mind becomes rock-steady and the energy is conserved.


The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True "I" enjoys the stillness of bliss.


When the mind is left without anything to cling to, it becomes still.


The inquiry "who am I" turns the mind introvert and makes it calm.


There is no mind to control if you realise the self. The mind having vanished, the self shines forth. In the realised man, the mind may be active or inactive, the self remains for him.


Meditation helps concentration of the mind. Then the mind is free from thoughts and is in the meditated form.


Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness; by constant meditation it gains strength.


When we turn the mind inwards, God manifests as the inner consciousness.


See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away - the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.


The "I" thought is said to be the sum total of all thoughts. The source of the "I" thought has to be enquired into.


The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self.


Real attainment is to be fully conscious, to be aware of surroundings and the people around, to move among them all, but not to merge consciousness in the environment. One should remain in inner independent awareness.


Once the current of awareness of the self is set afoot, it becomes everlasting and continuous by intensification.


Realization is to get rid of the delusion that you have not realized.


Good thoughts keep off bad thoughts. They must themselves disappear before the state of realization.


Realization is our true nature. It is nothing new to be gained. What is new cannot be eternal. Therefore there is no need to be doubting whether we would gain or lose the self.


A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.


Turn the mind inward and cease thinking of yourself as the body; thereby you will come to know that the self is ever happy. Neither grief nor misery is experienced in this state.
Ramana Maharishi

Comment by meera on May 15, 2009 at 12:56pm

thanks a lot
krishna and prasanna

enjoyed very much the grateful dead... forever young ..spirit..
this song came at the right time...

and beautiful story of Ramana...very deep revelation of a living master...

Namasté

meera

Comment by Prasanna santhi on May 15, 2009 at 9:35am

Dear All,

Read the following link, its beautiful

http://sagribow.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/03/dakshinamurthy-s-stotram-explained-by-sri-ramana-maharishi.htm

Comment by Krishna Jaya on May 15, 2009 at 9:25am

thank you, meera...a very clear explanation

in return, i offer one of my favorite youtubes, a Bob Dylan song sung by Neil Young with the Grateful Dead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQfpaZGKhVk&NR=1

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