uddalaka
Oh, my ignorant mind, of what avail are all your illusory lives ? Will the wise ever involve themselves in actions generating pains. Those who, not caring for the insatiable nectar of quiescence, long for material objects, resemble persons who give up beautiful garden with good fragrance in favour of a poisonous and hot oasis. Whether Brahma-loka or Patalaloka is reached by one, he will never be able to attain Nirvanic bliss without this supreme nectar of quiescence.
All these vain actions which are of the nature of the mind within, are productive of intense pains and are never pleasurable.
Oh ignorant and idiotic mind of mine why do you subject yourself to pleasures or pains ? Why is it, you are not able to fix yourself in the state of quiescence ?
Oh my ever-expanding foolish mind, do not die. Like the deer, through associating yourself with sound, the property of the organ of hearing. Neither by running after the property of touch arising from the skin, like a male elephant. Nor should you, O mind, associate yourself with sight of the eye, like a moth in the light of a lamp. Nor should you, O mind, associate yourself with taste, like a fish caught by a bait. Nor should you, O mind, be bound by odor, like bees in quest of honey. Here the deer, elephant, moth, fishes, and bees die through their attraction to their senses of sound, touch, form, taste and odor respectively. But if you are afflicted with all the five senses combined together, then where is true bliss to you ?
Oh you stainful mind, if these Vasanas of objects are mastered, then you have scored a tremendous victory. What for do I address you here. In those wise persons in whom Atma- Knowledge enquiry is fully developed, there exists not the (lower) mind.
How is it possible for the all-pervading eternal Knowledge, subtle as it is, to exist in the mind ? Can an elephant enter a Bilva fruit ?
The ideation of I pervades every where. I shall look upon this universe as the supreme Knowledge itself, pervading all the quarters, being invisible with out fluctuation and self shining. In that Knowledge, I do not find names or forms, dualities or non-dualities, smallness or great ness or any other characteristics. As I am myself the true Knowledge, you alone, oh mind of mine, that have generated all differences in this world are the cause of pains. I shall promptly destroy you through the dint of Knowledge developed through discrimination.
This you shall presently witness. How can I be the flesh, blood, bones, Prana composed of Vayu or any other thing pertaining to this body. While so, how can it be applied to them ? How can it be applied to the eyes, skin, fat ears, nose or the moist tongue ? The I is all-pervading one. Not even in the slightest degree can I exist in objects? This is the true vision (of knowledge). There is no other path ; Oh ignorant and artful mind of mine, you hast beguiled and intimidated me in all manner of ways me who am the stainless Knowledge itself, like wild dogs frightening a cow s calf.
I have, through divine laws, now discovered that villain of Ignorance who took out of my hands the jewel of Self Knowledge. Never hereafter shall I have to do anything with him.”
The five organs, though free from Vasanas, do yet incline towards their respective external objects. The Vasanas are not the cause of ail the organs. Therefore, oh ignorant five organs, if after purging the stains within you should perform all actions, there is no pain. Oh you mind, the seat of all Indryas (organs), may you cognize the Reality of Knowledge with the Indryas perfectly under your control. May you permanently attain Knowledge of non-dual Nirvanic bliss without any attractions (towards objects).
Having without any the least stains given up all Vasanas of I which is attended by its poisonous disease of objects and having overcome re-births through the means of the Mantra of non-desires, may you, oh mind, become of the nature of the No-Mind (Supreme Lord) and reach that state of infinite consciousness from where there is no return.
Then he began (to calm himself and) meditate powerfully through his all-pervading mind now brought into subjection without any fluctuation ; seated in Padmasana with his eyes partially opened like a half-blown lotus, this supreme personage uttered Pranava (Om) without any difficulty and with its appropriate highsounding intonation. Then Muni Uddhalaka who uttered Pranava of the nature of Knowledge began to cognize Brahman.
65
.... Then he reduced through his mind, organs and objects into one and meditated upon his all-full Knowledge as still as an ocean without waves, having previously controlled the speed of PranaVayu with his body and neck erect and thrust the tip of his tongue below the base of the uvula.
.................
Atmanusandhana has been likened to churning the curd to draw forth butter,
the mind being compared to the churning rod,
the heart to the curd
and the practice of constancy in the Self to the process of churning.
Just as by churning the curd, butter is extracted and by friction fire is kindled, even so, by unswerving vigilant constancy in the Self, ceaseless like the unbroken filamentary flow of oil, is generated the natural or changeless trance or nirvikalpa samadhi,
which readily and spontaneously yields that direct, immediate, unobstructed and universal perception of Brahman,
which is at once Knowledge and Experience and which transcends time and space.
...........
Talk 372.
D.: Horripilation, sobbing voice, joyful tears, etc., are mentioned in Atma Vidya Vilasa and other works. Are these found in samadhi, or before, or after?
M.: All these are the symptoms of exceedingly subtle modes of mind (vrittis). Without duality they cannot remain. Samadhi is Perfect Peace where these cannot find place. After emerging from samadhi the remembrance of the state gives rise to these symptoms. In bhakti marga (path of devotion) these are the precursors to samadhi.
....................
http://athma-spiritualbliss.blogspot.com/2012/08/athma-vidya-vilasa-of-avadhootha.html
From Atma VidyA VILASA;
Only some exceptional
individuals who have acquired the necessary qualifications
such as total detachment etc. can attain to self knowledge.
like a blind or deaf person. 15.
....
Talk 378.
In a conversation with an Andhra visitor, Sri Bhagavan quoted:
Asamsayam mahabaho mano durnigraham chalam Abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena cha grhyate — Bh. Gita, Ch. VI, 35
Without doubt, O mighty-armed Hero, the mind is restless, hard to curb. Yet by constant effort, Partha, matched with detachment - curbed it is.
To explain vairagya Sri Bhagavan again quoted:
Sankalpaprabhavan kamams tyaktva sarvan aseshatah Manasaivendriyagramam viniyamya samantatah — (Ch. VI, 24)
Having cast out without remains all longing born of thought for self, Having drawn in by mind alone his team of senses from all sides
- As for practice (abhyasa):
Sanaissanairuparamet buddhya dhritigrhitaya Atmasamstham manah krtva na kinchidapi chintayet — (VI - 25)
By slow approaches let him come to rest, with patient, rock-poised Will; His mind at home in Selfhood pure, Let him create no thought at all
Again for jnana:
Yato yato nischarati manas chanchalam asthiram Tatastato niyamyaitad atmanyeva vasam nayet — (VI - 26)
Though over and over the fickle mind, all restlessness, a-wandering goes, Still over and over let his regain control, and poise it back in Self.
....
162
M.: It is also said in the same place that the mind is to be introverted and made to merge into the Self; that the practice must be long because it is slow; and must be continued until it is totally merged in the Self.
....................
namdev visoba khechar story
The moral of the story is clear. Visions of God have their place below the plane of Self-Realisation.
...............
172
Talk 391.
The same sannyasi visitor, Swami Lokesananda, asked about samadhi.
M.: (1) Holding on to Reality is samadhi.
Oh my ever-expanding foolish mind, do not die. Like the deer, through associating yourself with sound, the property of the organ of hearing. Neither by running after the property of touch arising from the skin, like a male elephant. Nor should you, O mind, associate yourself with sight of the eye, like a moth in the light of a lamp. Nor should you, O mind, associate yourself with taste, like a fish caught by a bait. Nor should you, O mind, be bound by odor, like bees in quest of honey. Here the deer, elephant, moth, fishes, and bees die through their attraction to their senses of sound, touch, form, taste and odor respectively. But if you are afflicted with all the five senses combined together, then where is true bliss to you ?
Oh you stainful mind, if these Vasanas of objects are mastered, then you have scored a tremendous victory. What for do I address you here. In those wise persons in whom Atma- Knowledge enquiry is fully developed, there exists not the (lower) mind.
How is it possible for the all-pervading eternal Knowledge, subtle as it is, to exist in the mind ? Can an elephant enter a Bilva fruit ?
The ideation of I pervades every where. I shall look upon this universe as the supreme Knowledge itself, pervading all the quarters, being invisible with out fluctuation and self shining. In that Knowledge, I do not find names or forms, dualities or non-dualities, smallness or great ness or any other characteristics. As I am myself the true Knowledge, you alone, oh mind of mine, that have generated all differences in this world are the cause of pains. I shall promptly destroy you through the dint of Knowledge developed through discrimination.
This you shall presently witness. How can I be the flesh, blood, bones, Prana composed of Vayu or any other thing pertaining to this body. While so, how can it be applied to them ? How can it be applied to the eyes, skin, fat ears, nose or the moist tongue ? The I is all-pervading one. Not even in the slightest degree can I exist in objects? This is the true vision (of knowledge). There is no other path ; Oh ignorant and artful mind of mine, you hast beguiled and intimidated me in all manner of ways me who am the stainless Knowledge itself, like wild dogs frightening a cow s calf.
I have, through divine laws, now discovered that villain of Ignorance who took out of my hands the jewel of Self Knowledge. Never hereafter shall I have to do anything with him.”
The five organs, though free from Vasanas, do yet incline towards their respective external objects. The Vasanas are not the cause of ail the organs. Therefore, oh ignorant five organs, if after purging the stains within you should perform all actions, there is no pain. Oh you mind, the seat of all Indryas (organs), may you cognize the Reality of Knowledge with the Indryas perfectly under your control. May you permanently attain Knowledge of non-dual Nirvanic bliss without any attractions (towards objects).
Having without any the least stains given up all Vasanas of I which is attended by its poisonous disease of objects and having overcome re-births through the means of the Mantra of non-desires, may you, oh mind, become of the nature of the No-Mind (Supreme Lord) and reach that state of infinite consciousness from where there is no return.
Then he began (to calm himself and) meditate powerfully through his all-pervading mind now brought into subjection without any fluctuation ; seated in Padmasana with his eyes partially opened like a half-blown lotus, this supreme personage uttered Pranava (Om) without any difficulty and with its appropriate highsounding intonation. Then Muni Uddhalaka who uttered Pranava of the nature of Knowledge began to cognize Brahman.
65
.... Then he reduced through his mind, organs and objects into one and meditated upon his all-full Knowledge as still as an ocean without waves, having previously controlled the speed of PranaVayu with his body and neck erect and thrust the tip of his tongue below the base of the uvula.
.................
Atmanusandhana has been likened to churning the curd to draw forth butter,
the mind being compared to the churning rod,
the heart to the curd
and the practice of constancy in the Self to the process of churning.
Just as by churning the curd, butter is extracted and by friction fire is kindled, even so, by unswerving vigilant constancy in the Self, ceaseless like the unbroken filamentary flow of oil, is generated the natural or changeless trance or nirvikalpa samadhi,
which readily and spontaneously yields that direct, immediate, unobstructed and universal perception of Brahman,
which is at once Knowledge and Experience and which transcends time and space.
...........
Talk 372.
D.: Horripilation, sobbing voice, joyful tears, etc., are mentioned in Atma Vidya Vilasa and other works. Are these found in samadhi, or before, or after?
M.: All these are the symptoms of exceedingly subtle modes of mind (vrittis). Without duality they cannot remain. Samadhi is Perfect Peace where these cannot find place. After emerging from samadhi the remembrance of the state gives rise to these symptoms. In bhakti marga (path of devotion) these are the precursors to samadhi.
....................
http://athma-spiritualbliss.blogspot.com/2012/08/athma-vidya-vilasa-of-avadhootha.html
From Atma VidyA VILASA;
Only some exceptional
individuals who have acquired the necessary qualifications
such as total detachment etc. can attain to self knowledge.
The wise man, having cast off his natural propensities born of prakriti, having realized his real nature as Sat,
Chith and Ananda, rejoices having attained to high
state of bliss by a mere compassionate glance of the
great teacher. 7.
great teacher. 7.
He wanders about with his desires crushed and with his pride, self-esteem and envy discarded, realising in his
mind that this universe in its entirety is unsubstantial
and of the nature of Maya alone. 12.
mind that this universe in its entirety is unsubstantial
and of the nature of Maya alone. 12.
The yogi , free of (all) burdens, rejoices in the bliss within,knowing for certain that, in reality, there is
no trace of Maya or any of it's effects in the pure Self. 13.
no trace of Maya or any of it's effects in the pure Self. 13.
He sports like a child without any idea of `I' or `you',
immersed in the ocean of pure happiness, (innocently)
delighted at the various actions of (worldly) men. 14.
immersed in the ocean of pure happiness, (innocently)
delighted at the various actions of (worldly) men. 14.
Having discarded the (illusory) bondage of karma and delighting in the Atman,the prince of sannyasies wanders
about in the outskirts of the jungle as if he were an idiot,like a blind or deaf person. 15.
Having skillfully caught the fickle deer of his mind with the net of enquiry, he, the unique one, reposes in his own abode, tired of hunting in the forests of the Vedas. 23.
....
Talk 378.
In a conversation with an Andhra visitor, Sri Bhagavan quoted:
Asamsayam mahabaho mano durnigraham chalam Abhyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena cha grhyate — Bh. Gita, Ch. VI, 35
Without doubt, O mighty-armed Hero, the mind is restless, hard to curb. Yet by constant effort, Partha, matched with detachment - curbed it is.
To explain vairagya Sri Bhagavan again quoted:
Sankalpaprabhavan kamams tyaktva sarvan aseshatah Manasaivendriyagramam viniyamya samantatah — (Ch. VI, 24)
Having cast out without remains all longing born of thought for self, Having drawn in by mind alone his team of senses from all sides
- As for practice (abhyasa):
Sanaissanairuparamet buddhya dhritigrhitaya Atmasamstham manah krtva na kinchidapi chintayet — (VI - 25)
By slow approaches let him come to rest, with patient, rock-poised Will; His mind at home in Selfhood pure, Let him create no thought at all
Again for jnana:
Yato yato nischarati manas chanchalam asthiram Tatastato niyamyaitad atmanyeva vasam nayet — (VI - 26)
Though over and over the fickle mind, all restlessness, a-wandering goes, Still over and over let his regain control, and poise it back in Self.
....
162
M.: It is also said in the same place that the mind is to be introverted and made to merge into the Self; that the practice must be long because it is slow; and must be continued until it is totally merged in the Self.
....................
namdev visoba khechar story
The moral of the story is clear. Visions of God have their place below the plane of Self-Realisation.
...............
172
Talk 391.
The same sannyasi visitor, Swami Lokesananda, asked about samadhi.
M.: (1) Holding on to Reality is samadhi.
(2) Holding on to Reality with effort is savikalpa samadhi.
(3) Merging in Reality and remaining unaware of the world is nirvikalpa samadhi.
(4) Merging in Ignorance and remaining unaware of the world is sleep. (Head bends but not in samadhi).
(5) Remaining in the primal, pure natural state without effort is sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi.
D.: They say that Kundalini must be roused before Realisation and that its awakening makes the body feel hot. Is that so?
M.: The yogis call it Kundalini Sakti. It is the same as vritti 1 of the form of God (Bhagavatakara vritti) of the bhaktas and vritti of the form of Brahman (Brahmakara vritti) of the jnanis.
It must be preliminary to Realisation.
The sensation produced may be said to be hot
..............
Talk 392
Great explanation by Ramana about futility of dry polemics:
Later Sri Bhagavan continued: The intricate maze of philosophy of different schools is said to clarify matters and reveal the Truth. But in fact they create confusion where no confusion need exist
But in fact they create confusion where no confusion need exist. To understand anything there must be the Self. The Self is obvious. Why not remain as the Self? What need to explain the non-self?
...
Take the Vedanta for instance:
They say there are fifteen kinds of prana. The student is made to commit the names to memory and also their functions. The air goes up and is called prana; goes down and is called apana; operates the indriyas and is called something. Why all this? Why do you classify, give names and enumerate the functions, and so on? Is it not enough to know that one prana does the whole work?
The antahkarana thinks, desires, wills, reasons, etc., and each function is attributed to one name such as mind, intellect, etc. Has anyone seen the pranas or the antahkaranas? Have they any real existence? They are mere conceptions. When and where will such conceptions end?
Consider the following: A man sleeps. He says on waking that he slept. The question is asked: ‘Why does he not say in his sleep that he is sleeping?’ The answer is given that he is sunk in the Self and cannot speak, like a man who has dived in water to bring out something from the bottom. The diver cannot speak under water; when he has actually recovered the articles he comes out and speaks. Well, what is the explanation?
Being in water, water will flow into his mouth if he were to open the mouth for speaking. Is it not simple?
But the philosopher is not content with this simple fact. He explains, saying that fire is the deity presiding over speech; that it is inimical to water and therefore cannot function!
This is called philosophy and the learners are struggling to learn all this!
Is it not a sheer waste of time?
Again the Gods are said to preside over the limbs and senses of the individual (vyashti). They are the limbs and senses of Virat (samashti). So they go on explaining Hiranyagarbha, etc. Why should confusion be created and then explained away? Ah! Fortunate is the man who does not involve himself in this maze! I was indeed fortunate that I never took to it.
Had I taken to it, I would probably be nowhere
- always in confusion.
My purva vasanas (former tendencies) directly took me to the enquiry “Who am I?”
I was indeed fortunate!
....
.... imp .....
The mind should be made to rest in the Heart till the destruction of the `I-thought' which is of the form of ignorance, residing in the Heart.
This itself is jnana.
This alone is dhyana also.
The rest are a mere digression of words, digression of the texts.
Thus the scriptures proclaim.
Therefore, if one gains the skill of retaining the mind in one's Self through some means or other, one need not worry about other matters.
.........
The experience of Self is possible only for the mind that has become subtle and unmoving as a result of prolonged meditation.
He who is thus endowed with a mind that has become subtle, and who has the experience of the Self is called a jivanmukta.
.............
YOGI RAMIAH’S ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCES
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).
.....
..... 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.
.............
74/209
k to a
“Rather, be fixed in the Self and act according to nature without the thought of doership. Then the results of action will not affect you. That is manliness and heroism.”
Thus, ‘inherence in the Self’ is the sum and substance of Gita teaching. Finally, the Master Himself added, “If a man be established in the Self these doubts would not arise. They arise only until he is established there.”
...
D.: How long is a Guru necessary for Self-Realisation?
M.: Guru is necessary so long as there is the laghu. (Pun on Guru = heavy; laghu = light). Laghu is due to the self-imposed but wrong limitation of the Self. God, on being worshipped, bestows steadiness
in devotion which leads to surrender. On the devotee surrendering, God shows His mercy by manifesting as the Guru. The Guru, otherwise God, guides the devotee, saying that God is in you and He is the Self.
imp
This leads to introversion of the mind and finally to realisation. Effort is necessary up to the state of realisation.
Even then the Self should spontaneously become evident.
Otherwise happiness will not be complete.
Up to that state of spontaneity there must be effort in some form or another
D.: They say that a visit to Sages helps Self-Realisation?
M.: Yes. So it does.
...
D.: What if one meditates incessantly without Karma?
M.: Try and see. The vasanas will not let you do it.
....
understanding not difficult...but letting go very difficult.
all...just in consciousness...not apart. water lake ..all mountain, birds, sky ..in it....
all...just in consciousness...not apart. water lake ..all mountain, birds, sky ..in it....
....
50-51. D.: How is it that even scholars in Vedanta have not succeeded in the pursuit of enquiry?
M.: Though they always study Vedanta and give lessons to others yet in the absence of desirelesness they do not practise what they have learnt
D.: And what do they do otherwise?
M.: Like a parrot they reproduce the Vedantic jargon but do not put the teachings into practice.
D.: What does Vedanta teach?
M.: The Vedanta teaches a man to know that all but the non-dual Brahman is laden with misery.
M.: Though they always study Vedanta and give lessons to others yet in the absence of desirelesness they do not practise what they have learnt
D.: And what do they do otherwise?
M.: Like a parrot they reproduce the Vedantic jargon but do not put the teachings into practice.
D.: What does Vedanta teach?
M.: The Vedanta teaches a man to know that all but the non-dual Brahman is laden with misery.
Therefore to leave off all desires for enjoyment, to be free from love or hate, thoroughly to cut the knot of the ego appearing as ‘I’, you,
he, this, that, mine and yours, to rid himself of the notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, to live unconcerned with the pairs of opposites as heat and cold, pain and pleasure, etc., to remain fixed in the perfect knowledge of the equality of all and making no distinction of any kind, never to be aware of anything but Brahman, and always to be experiencing the Bliss of the non dual Self.
Though Vedanta is read and well understood, if dispassion is not practised, the desire for pleasures will not fade away. There is no dislike for pleasing things and the desire for them cannot leave the person. Because desire is not checked, love, anger, etc., the ego or the ‘false-I’ in the obnoxious body, the sense of possession represented by ‘I’ or ‘mine’ of things agreeable to the body, the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, and false values, will not disappear. However well read one may be, unless the teachings are put into practice, one is not really learned. Only like a parrot the man will be repeating that Brahman alone is real and all else is false.
D.: Why should he be so?
M.: The knowers say that like a dog delighting in offal, this man also delights in external pleasures. Though always busy with Vedanta, reading and teaching it, he is no better than a mean dog
...............No doubt a study of Vedanta makes one discerning. But if this is not accompanied by dispassion etc., it is useless and does not lead to enquiry.
he, this, that, mine and yours, to rid himself of the notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, to live unconcerned with the pairs of opposites as heat and cold, pain and pleasure, etc., to remain fixed in the perfect knowledge of the equality of all and making no distinction of any kind, never to be aware of anything but Brahman, and always to be experiencing the Bliss of the non dual Self.
Though Vedanta is read and well understood, if dispassion is not practised, the desire for pleasures will not fade away. There is no dislike for pleasing things and the desire for them cannot leave the person. Because desire is not checked, love, anger, etc., the ego or the ‘false-I’ in the obnoxious body, the sense of possession represented by ‘I’ or ‘mine’ of things agreeable to the body, the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, and false values, will not disappear. However well read one may be, unless the teachings are put into practice, one is not really learned. Only like a parrot the man will be repeating that Brahman alone is real and all else is false.
D.: Why should he be so?
M.: The knowers say that like a dog delighting in offal, this man also delights in external pleasures. Though always busy with Vedanta, reading and teaching it, he is no better than a mean dog
...............No doubt a study of Vedanta makes one discerning. But if this is not accompanied by dispassion etc., it is useless and does not lead to enquiry.
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