The path of Ramana -2

https://www.happinessofbeing.com/The_Path_of_Sri_Ramana_Part_Two.pdf

210 pgs total


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...After an ‘I’ rises, everything rises... - Ulladu Narpadu verse 23 If the ego comes into existence, everything will come into existence. If the ego does not exist, everything will not exist. The ego itself is everything. - Ulladu Narpadu verse 26 If the thought ‘I’ does not exist, no other things will exist.... – Sri Arunachala Ashtakam verse 7





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But for the most advanced and mature aspirants who possess perfect courage and clarity of intellect, the Vedas teach only the final truth known as ‘no creation’ (ajata), the import of which is as follows: “No such thing as the world has ever come into existence; what you see is not the world; it is only you, the real Self. Other than you, nothing has ever existed. There never was any such thing as creation, sustenance or destruction. You alone exist”.

That is, while teaching the truth of ajata, the Vedas do not at all accept the existence of the world even as a false appearance. The reason why they finally have to deny the existence of the world so entirely is that the world could exist as a false appearance only if there were a mind to see it, and in actual truth there is no such thing as mind at all.

When one scrutinizes the form of the mind without forgetfulness, (it will be found that) there is no such thing as mind... – Upadesa Undiyar verse 17. When the mind is thus found to be ever non - existent, the world-appearance seen by it will also be found to be non-existent. Hence ajata alone is the absolute truth (paramarthika satya).


...............  Upadesha Undiyar....27 pgs ...............



As revealed by Sri Bhagavan in verse 30 of Upadesa Undiyar, real tapas is nothing but the complete subsidence of the ego or sense of separate individuality, whose form is the feeling ‘I am the body’, which gives rise to the sense of doership, the feeling ‘I am performing karma’.

................


Knowing how gross and unrefined the minds of the ascetics had become due to their longstanding attachment to karma, Lord Siva knew that it would not be possible to bring them immediately to the path of Self-enquiry, which alone is the direct path to liberation. Therefore He had to guide them towards the path of Self-enquiry in a gradual and roundabout way. That is why in the first fifteen verses of Upadesa Undiyar it was necessary for Sri Bhagavan to summarize the paths of nishkamya karma, bhakti and yoga, which Lord Siva first had to teach to the ascetics in order to elevate their minds gradually to the level of maturity in which they could understand that liberation can ultimately be attained only through the path of Self-enquiry. Only after summarizing those paths could Sri Bhagavan begin in verse 16 to summarize His own path of Self-enquiry, which is the true path of jnana.

............

He (shiva) had to lead them gradually from the grosser methods of spiritual practice such as puja, japa, dhyana and pranayama towards the most refined method of practice, namely Self-enquiry or Self-attention.

Though Sri Bhagavan no doubt accepted the validity of such spiritual practices as indirect and roundabout means, which if practiced with devotion and without the desire for attaining any selfish end, would gradually purify the mind and would thereby sooner or later lead an aspirant to the direct path of self-enquiry (as indicated by Sri Bhagavan in verse 3 of Upadesa Undiyar), the main purpose of His assuming a human form in our present age was not merely to give an approval to those ancient indirect practices. The main purpose of His life was to teach to the world the correct method of practising the simple and direct path of Self-enquiry, which is not only the only path which can ultimately lead one to the goal of Self-knowledge, but which is also the spiritual path which is most suited to the rational and scientific temperament of modern man. That is why Sri Bhagavan always put the main emphasis of His teaching upon the path of Self enquiry, which is a short-cut means that bypasses the need for all other kinds of spiritual practice.

Having come to this point, in verse 9 Sri Bhagavan declares that to abide in one’s own true state of mere being, which is attained by the strength of such ananyabhava or Self-attention and which transcends meditation, is the truth of supreme devotion or para-bhakti.

Rather than anya-bhava, ananya-bhava [done with the conviction] ‘He is I’ is indeed the best among all [the various kinds of meditation].


Thus in this verse Sri Bhagavan reveals how all the practices of karma yoga and bhakti yoga mentioned in the previous four verses must finally merge in the practice of Self-attention or Selfenquiry, and in the next verse He reveals that by the strength of such Self-attention one will attain the state of Self-abidance, which is the truth of supreme devotion

other practises  ........self attention....self abidance.

By the strength of meditation [that is, by the strength of such ananya-bhava or Self-attention], abiding in the state of being, which transcends meditation, alone is the truth of supreme devotion [para-bhakti-tattva].


Tattava Darshanam

 ‘The mind, which is withdrawn from what-is-seen (drisya), seeing its own nature of consciousness, is the seeing of the reality (tattva-darsanam)’.

repeated:

When one scrutinizes the form of the mind without forgetfulness [that is, without pramada or slackness of attention], [it will be found that] there is no such thing as mind; this is the direct path for all.

Note: In the previous verse Sri Bhagavan taught that the mind knowing its own form of light (or consciousness) is true knowledge, and in this verse He teaches how the mind is thus to know its own form of light. When one vigilantly scrutinizes the form of a snake seen in the twilight, it will be found that there is no such thing as a snake at all, and that what was appearing as a snake is nothing but a rope. Similarly, when the mind scrutinizes its own form without forgetfulness – that is without pramada (slackness of attention) resulting either in the rising of thoughts or in sleep – it will be found that there is no such thing as mind at all, and that what was appearing as the mind is nothing but Self, the pure existence-consciousness ‘I am’. Just as the rope is the sole reality of the unreal snake, so this existence-consciousness, which is the form of light mentioned in the previous verse, is the sole reality of the unreal mind.

dnyana Vichara

When one scrutinizes within thus, ‘What is the rising-place of ‘I’?’, the ‘I’ will die. This is Selfenquiry [jnana-vichara].

No upadhis = God

Knowing oneself having given up [one’s own] adjuncts [upadhis], is itself knowing God, because He shines as oneself [as one’s own reality, ‘I am’].

Tanmaya nishtha

Being Self is itself knowing Self, because Self is that which is not two. This is abidance as the reality (tanmaya-nishta).

‘The soul [jiva] who attains here the supreme bliss which transcends bondage and liberation, is indeed divine [daivikah]’


The best Tapa

‘What [is experienced] if one knows that which remains after ‘I’ has ceased to exist, that alone is excellent tapas’ – thus said Lord Ramana, who is Self.




..................cont path of Ramana -2..


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aparokshanubhuti 116:
 “Making one’s outlook of the nature of knowledge (jnanamaya), one should see the world as Brahman”.

The same truth is also expressed by Sri Bhagavan in verse 52 and 54 of Guru Vachaka Kovai :

Having transformed one’s outlook as of the nature of knowledge (jnanamaya), if one sees through that outlook, which is of the nature of real knowledge, the world (consisting) of the five elements beginning with space will be (seen as) real, being (found to be nothing but) the supreme reality, which is of the nature of knowledge. See thus.

Since that sight (which is seen) cannot be otherwise than the eye which sees, know for certain that to the knower of reality (mey-jnani) who due to the cessation of (all mental) activities, sees with the outlook which has became existence-consciousnessbliss (sat-chit-ananda); this world is that (existenceconsciousness–bliss) alone.

When one always abides unswervingly in one’s own state without knowing (any differences such as) ‘oneself’ and ‘others’... who is there other than oneself? –Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham verse 38.

There is no becoming, no destruction, no one in bondage, no one having desire to be released, no one making effort (to attain liberation) and no one who has attained Liberation. Know that this is the absolute truth (paramartha). – Upadesa Tanippakkal verse 24


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In due course, however, because of the clarity and strength which he will gain by repeatedly practicing Self-attention, it will become possible for him to notice the exact moment when Self-attention is lost, and thus it will become possible for him to regain it immediately

On all the occasions when he thus clearly cognizes the moment when Self-attention is lost and the moment when it is regained, the aspirant will be able to know very easily from his own experience how the world is created by his losing Self-attention and how it is then destroyed by his regaining Self-attention.

Thus the aspirant will come to know with absolute certainty that his giving room to slackness in Self-attention is the means by which the body and world are created,

that his maintaining slackness in Self-attention on account of his lack of interest either to notice that such slackness had occurred or to put an end to it, is the means by which the world is sustained,

 and that his firmly abiding once again in his own real and, blissful state of pure Consciousness, which is devoid of the limitations of name and form,

having vigilantly known the exact moment when slackness in Self-attention occurred

 and having thereby put an end to it, is the means’ by which the world is destroyed.


When the aspirant comes to know this truth from his own direct experience, he will realise himself to be the perfect Supreme Reality which transcends the three functions of creation, sustenance and destruction, and hence he will remain unshakably established in the state of absolute peace.


A person will feel no liking to take to the practice of Self-attention until he gains the proper discrimination whereby he can understand that the two states of creation and sustenance, which are merely a mixture of pleasure and pain, are not worthy to be cherished and pursued.


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....whereby he can understand that the two states of creation and sustenance, which are merely a mixture of pleasure and pain, are not worthy to be cherished and pursued.


Therefore the world and man do not now need to be made either blissful or immortal. All that we need to do is to see them as they really are. That is why Sages say, “Making one’s outlook of the nature of knowledge, one should see the world as Brahman”

(drishtim jnanamayin kritva pasyet brahmamayam jagat).

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...and for those who have realised the Self within the body (i.e., in this very life time), the ‘I’ shines as the limitless Self.

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“The world is real for those who have not realised the Self as well as for those who have realised.

 For those who have not realised, the reality is of the measure (i.e, name and form) of the world:

For those who have realised, the reality shines as the nameless and formless substratum of the world.

 Know that this is the only difference between these two”.

The Jnani’s Selfishness is verily the real and right kind of “Unselfishness” glorified by the people till now. On the other hand, if other’s welfare is decided with whatever amount of generosity coming through the satvic mood that may rise at times in the poor mind of the Jeeva, (no matter how marvelously brilliant his intellect is or how well versed he is in all the different branches of learning) whose knowledge is confined to the idea ‘I am the body’, it will end only in the ill-fare of the world!!

........But, to really experience the universe as God (which is really worshipping it) is possible only,

 after realising the true nature of the Self, 

where the world and God will not remain as entities other than the Self.

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The true purpose of Yoga is only to remove this root-impurity.

The methods of removing the impurities vary according to the maturity of the aspirants. Consequently different Yogas had to be framed. To the aspirants who are very intent on removing their impurities, the impurity in the form of ‘mine’ being gross rather than the impurity in the form of ‘I’ which is subtle, come first within the range of their perception.

 Just as a dirty cloth becomes purer and purer as it is beaten and squeezed more and more** so also every unselfish activity of his, serves the purpose of dealing a blow upon his ‘mine-ness’ and thereby makes his mind purer and purer.


If we minutely scrutinise every injunction and prohibition such as fasting, charitable deeds and other codes of conduct as enjoined by the Vedas, to be followed by people in their daily actions (Nitya-Karma anushtana), it will become clear that all these aim at making one to sacrifice at least a bit of ‘mine-ness’ and put a check on one’s craving for the worldly enjoyments.

Thus out of the two impurities ‘I’ and ‘mine’, as ‘mine’ is easily noticeable, it is no wonder that all good people with noble aspiration generally first try to tackle only the ‘mine-ness’.


For, such a mind which is thus purified through the renunciation of ‘mine-ness’ another truth also will dawn :- “This ‘mine’ is just like the leaves and branches of a tree. No matter with what effort and how many times they are cut, the leaves and branches -‘mine-ness’ – will, under favourable conditions, keep on sprouting again and again in some form or other in their own time. Therefore, the root ‘I’ should be traced out and annihilated”.

Even for this truth to dawn, is it not necessary that the restless intensity of ‘mine-ness’ should be lessened to a very great extent?

Until this understanding comes to an earnest seeker 

through the proper discrimination of the purified mind that ‘I’ is the right root-impurity and that it has to be rooted out,

service to humanity, sacrifice for others and similar unselfish activities in the line of Karma Yoga will be going on in his life making up the major part of his endeavour.

Then, according to his previous tendencies and tastes he steps into either the path of devotion (Bhakti Yoga) or the path of knowledge (Jnana Yoga) which alone are directly concerned with the annihilation of the ego, the root-impurity.

The Path is to attend to ‘I am’ and the Goal is to remain as ‘I am’!

..............

72 chp 2 bhakti

“Since his mind form is thus destroyed, and since he is established in the Supreme Truth, for that great Yogi there is not even a single karma to do. For, He has attained His Natural State!” – Upadesha Undiyar, verse 15.


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He who has not yet come to the School (the Vedas) where Bhakti is purified, is still a beast.


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“Because the mind branches out into innumerable thoughts, the power of attention of each thought
becomes very weak. As thought subside more and more, the mind becomes one-pointed and thereby gains strength” ‘Who Am I?’ – Bhagavan Sri Ramana

The main point of Yoga is to collect the scattered thoughts into one and fix the mind on that one thought only.


In the Path of Love (Bhakti Marga) when such confidence in God: “God will look after everything in my life; why should I think and worry about it” increases, thousands of unnecessary thoughts will depart.


“From now onwards there is no such thing for me as a need in my life. Let anything take place in my life as you will ” “… all such sorts of ups and downs, happiness or misery, prosperity or poverty, honour or dishonour, fame or ill-fame…” The only need is You alone; fulfill that one need of mine, my Lord! – Sri Ramalinga Swamy.

“Shouldst Thou forsake me, I will be miserable. So, do bless me that when I leave the body I do not lose hold of Thee”. – ‘Arunachala Aksharamanamalai’ - Verse 96.

“When will the wave of thought in me cease so that I may reach Thee, the most minute as well as the most great?” – ‘Arunachala Aksharamanamalai’ - Verse 57.

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Knowing that the present pangs of separation of our Man are due to his love for Him (God) and this in turn is due to not having the right knowledge of His reality, (Real Nature) and that the only remedy for this is to bestow upon him the Supreme Knowledge; God withdraws from the sight of the Man His unreal aspects, the name and form.

...he has become Godmad having no thoughts for wife, children, house or work, but he remains drowned in the meditation on his Beloved Krishna


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The knowing of your Self (Sat) is spontaneously ever present, because you are Knowledge itself. So also, even any feeling of love in you cannot be but you, because you are Love itself.

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The Self-awareness eternally shining and ever directly experienced as ‘I-I’ within you, is the real Feet of your Sad-Guru. Cling to it. That alone will lead you to the goal.

“The true form of prostration (Namaskaram) to the Guru is to remain in the Supreme Silence where, the sense of differentiation, Master-disciple, God-man, cannot rise through the delusion born of the ignorant ego.” –‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’-Verse 310

“The dissolving of the ice - the ego sense ‘I am the body’ into the ocean – the Guru-Awareness – that is the same as the oneness of Self-Awareness, is the true worship of the Guru.” – ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’ - Verse 315

“After submitting oneself – the ego, as a prey to the Guru who is the source of the Silence of Perfection, experiencing what remains in the heart - Awareness, is receiving the consecrated food (prasad) from the Guru.” – ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’ - Verse 302

“Only when you know your Self, no harm can befall you….” -‘Kaivalyam’ - Chapter I - Verse 13


Therefore, you must understand that diving deep within in quest of the Self (‘I’ – the Reality) is the only true way of worshipping your Guru.

“Only those who do not know the Self, the eternal Truth as ‘I’, but merely know the transitory body as ‘I’, will see enthusiastically, for a short while, the different names and farms of God and wonder at them.” - G.V.K. - Verse 1070

“All the manifestations of God that are obtained through worship, appear and disappear. Therefore, Self, one’s true Nature, shining ever, without appearing and disappearing, alone is the True God.” – ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’ - Verse 1073

He alone truly knows me who knows me as I myself know me.

 “Those who do not understand that the JnanaGuru is the formless Supreme Space though he appears in the human form, are the vilest of all criminals.” – ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’ - Verse 274

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Guru is the Self. Attaining the Self alone is to attain God or Guru. On the other hand, so long as you see your God or Guru as different from your Self, you cannot know the Self which is the state of Perfect Freedom. So long as there is the feeling of separateness, fear is bound to be there. If you want to be free from fear (the state of fearlessness) be in the state of otherlessness, Self. But that does not mean that your Guru is no longer there.

When you dive within and are established in the heart, you will know that your Self is the true nature of your SadGuru.

It is in that state alone that you are ever with your Guru. Your Love of the Self (Swatma Bhakti) i.e., your (ego’s) merging into the Self, is verily your true Love of the Guru (Guru-Bhakti).

“Because one has no Love (Swatma Bhakti) to listen to the teaching of the Supreme Self ever going on in the heart, one comes out with great enthusiastic delusion. Because of this one needs a Guru outside.” –

 ‘Guru Vachaka Kovai’ - Verse 272

Till then all your present love towards this gross name and form in the name of the Love for the Guru (Guru Bhakti) is only a divided love, a partial love. This is nothing but the defective state of love.


.............’ (Ananya Bhakti) is one who has the Full Love (Sampoorna Bhakti).


The final state of refinement of the feeling of Love will be experienced as the unshakable Self-abidance.


A state of love less than that, is not at all either Supreme Love (Para Bhakti) or the Fullness of Love (Sampoorna Bhakti),


 and this Love is Self and this Love is Shiva.

When love abides as itself, it is the full and perfect Love. When the Love takes the form of movement, it is fragmented and becomes desire which springs upon other objects. It is Love when it is in the form of unbroken Existence; it is desire when it is in the form of movement or fragmentation.

As second and third person objects are fragments, your love towards them will be in the form of a mere desire – even towards such a loved one as your Guru.


But, when the Love abides in the unbroken being of the first person – the Self, It is full and perfect.


This state of Love of Self (Swatma Bhakti) is the final state of refinement of love and is called Supreme Love (Para Bhakti), Non-dual Love (Ananya Bhakti).

“...Remaining in one’s own real Beingness is the very truth of Supreme Love” –‘Upadesha Undiyar’ - Verse 9

So long as you think that your Guru’s Divine Love towards you is a love that springs from one entity to an other, certainly this love (your Guru’s love towards you) is to be taken as a divided love. Therefore, it is a lesser one than your love towards Self.


“…One who has such ‘Love for not an other’ drowns in Thee, the Self the form of Bliss.”

 –‘Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam’ Verse 5



If we scrutinize deeper, we will find that even the love which the individual had towards himself all this time when he was taking the body and mind as himself, even that very love becomes so trivial that it cannot stand comparison with the love which now flows towards his Guru.

 Therefore, the disciple is now ready to be indifferent towards his own mind and body (which he was taking all this time as his Self) and even to sacrifice them for the sake of his Guru. Guru is really his Self.

“When the mind remains permanently absorbed in its source whence it had its rising – it is Karma, Bhakti; it is Yoga and Jnana also.” – ‘Upadesha Undiyar’ - Verse 10

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The Guru Bhakti in the IVth standard is like the chastity of the wife towards her husband.




The only essential thing to do for those who want to cut the knot of the bondage of ignorance,

is to quit those who know the scriptures

and to join those who abide in the Self, the Knowers of Truth.”

–‘Guruvachaka Kovai’ - Verse 1158




“The only worthy disciplehood which is the steadfast Supreme Devotion

that springs up with the merging of the ego into the Light of Supreme Silence (or Self-Awareness), is verily the right Guruship. 

Thus should you know” –‘Guruvachaka Kovai’- Verse 269



We have to know that to adhere entirely to the teachings of one’s Guru, without any reservation such as one’s own inclination, principle, aim, wishes etc.. is to have Sad-Guru Bhakti

 If one has ‘Bhakti one cannot but be as the Self. So Bhakti and Jnana are not two but the Self, like the two faces of the same coin.

“Without the power of gravitation, can anything remain stable on earth? So also, the pull of gravitation is Bhakti; the remaining stable is Jnana. Therefore, neither of them can remain without the other.” – ‘Sadanai Saram’

That Path of Knowledge, i.e., the enquiry ‘Who am I?’ which results in the dawning of Self-Knowledge is explained as ‘The Path of Sri Ramana’ (Part One).

Now, as the love in its perfectly refined state shines as Self alone, the method of purifying the love up to Self-Love (Swatma Bhakti) is explained as ‘The Path of Sri Ramana’ (Part Two).

Unless they come to us completely disgusted with their practices and ask for a better truth, we should not interfere and disturb the course of others. Let us encourage every one of them in their own way. “One who knows the Truth should not create confusion in the minds of ignorants who are attached to karmas…” –‘Bhagavad Gita’- Chapter III – Verse 26



..........................          chp 2  bhakti ends.......................


162 chp 3 karma


What does it mean when we say that we are perfectly free? It means that we have the Power (Shakti) to do every thing as we Will (Ichcha).


 He mistakes the nature of his unlimited non-dual, perfect Knowledge, Self, to be the mind or sense-knowledge which knows other things only (other than Self through the senses).

dwitiya

He who once saw not an other, now sees others and is either afraid of them or attracted towards them

... Sage Auvaiyar when she said, “For those who surrender in Shiva (Shivaya nama) there is no possibility of danger befalling them.

This alone is Free Will. If not surrendered, every thing will become Fate.”




“O Arunachala….O Bliss born out of Love! What is there for me to say? Thy Will is my will and Thy Will is Itself my happiness.” -‘Sri Arunachala Pathikam’ - Verse 2



Thus the Guru places in front of the disciple the path of Self-enquiry and the path of Self-surrender – the path of Knowledge and the path of Love (Jnana Marga and Bhakti Marga).

From that time onwards the devotee, who takes to either Self-enquiry or Self-surrender, is able to understand that whatever happens in his life is only favourable to lessen the activities of his mind and make him turn Self-ward.


 If one turns one’s attention towards the first person (the subject) in the waking state, the waking should come to an end, leaving one in the State of Awakening.


This Self-ward turn is Being only, and not doing; hence it is not a thought or karma.

imp

Only this kind of Self-effort is called the effort of destroying karmas. This alone will lead to Liberation. As all other efforts of attention are towards second and third persons objects, they are only generating karmas and will not give Liberation. Such is the truth! Yet, some of us used to say that even Jnana, the Awakening, is the result of Prarabdha. It is wrong. Jnana is not bound by, but transcending the results of karmas. The aforesaid second kind of Self-effort will be known as the Natural State (Sahaja State) when it is found to be going on effortlessly. This is the state of Effortless-effort – Dynamic Stillness.

So long as one’s efforts are towards second and third persons (i.e., effort in generating karmas) the tendencies derived from them are ‘Doingness-innature’, which will never yield Liberation, the annihilation of the ego!


...Therefore, let no one ‘depend upon Prarabdha for Liberation. Liberation is in no way connected with Prarabdha.

From what has been said above, we must realize the facts that Liberation is not at all bound by Prarabdha and that the strength of such spiritual practice (Atma-Sadhana) done in past births, will resume itself and help one in the present birth also.

.... let us turn Self-ward with great courage and attain Liberation through the tendency ‘Beingness-in-nature’.

‘Being’ alone is the True Knowledge and not ‘knowing’. Self-Knowledge is subjective and not objective. “Even such knowing the Self is nothing but Being the Self” says Shri Bhagavan in verse No. 26 of ‘Upadesha Undiyar’. This ‘Being the Self’ is the Pure Awareness ‘I AM’.

...In the last two lines of this verse (verse 3) Shri Bhagavan gives His is own experience that the individuality does not exist when the Knowledge of the Supreme – Self, dawns

.......................the end.................





Ulladu narpadu

pg 252 imp ..cant copy