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Thus we come to understand that fate and free will are not elements contradicting each other.
We are finally brought to the conclusion that unconditional Self-surrender in which no room is given even to any kind of prayers, is the best karma (action).
This is nothing but Self-abidance.
Thus Sri Sadhu Om convinces us that the best Karma (Action), the best Bhakti (Devotion) and the best Jnana (Knowledge) is nothing but abiding in the Self, Our True Nature, through Self-enquiry, proving the verses of Shri Bhagavan
“This – permanently remaining absorbed into its source whence it had its rising – is Karma and Bhakti; this is Yoga and Jnana.” –
Upadesha Undiyar -Verse 10.
“The enquiry to whom is action (karma), non devotion, disunion and ignorance is itself Karma, Bhakti, Yoga and Jnana... The abidance as the Self is verily the truth”. – Ulladu Narpadhu - Anubandham - Verse 14.
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So long as a man experiences himself and the world as two separate entities, each having a distinct individual existence, he cannot in practice conceive even the mind transcending state of Parinirvana to be anything but a third which is distinct from himself and the world.
Lord Buddha declined to say anything about God in reply to those who asked about Him. But, knowing that it would serve no useful purpose to say anything not only about God but even about the world and its nature, in reply to people who asked about them Sri Bhagavan used to repeatedly insist,
“Let us see about God and the world afterwards; first know yourself”.
‘The world is real’,
‘No, it is an unreal appearance’;
‘The world is sentient’, ‘It is not’; ‘The world is happiness’, ‘It is not’; – what is the use of arguing thus in vain?
Having given up (attending to) the world, having known oneself, and both one and two (thoughts about non-duality and duality) having come to an end - that state in which ‘I’ (the ego) has ceased to exist is agreeable to all.
– Ulladu Narpadu verse 3
Thus Sri Bhagavan teaches that the first and foremost need for us is to know ourself, the first person.
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Do we not know about the existence of three persons, the first person, second person and third person? But have we made research on all these three persons and have we tried to find out what the nature of each one of them is?
No, we have so far made research only upon the second and third persons, and we have failed up till now to scrutinize or make research upon the first person.
How? See the way in which we make use of our power of attention when we wake up from sleep. As soon as we wake up, the first thing we know is our body, and then we notice the place where we are lying, the objects which surround us, the outside world and so on.
Knowing all these things is only a second person attention. Thus when we wake up, our power of attention springs out only towards second and third person objects.
Then, until we fall asleep again, our power of attention continues to dwell only upon the second and third persons by clinging to and experiencing the objects known through the five senses. At night, as soon as sleep overpowers us, our attention towards second and third persons ceases.
What exactly happens to the power of attention in sleep is not correctly known to anyone except to those who have attained Self Knowledge. In this manner, from the moment of waking up till the moment of going to sleep, from birth till death, from creation till dissolution, all people - indeed all living beings -
direct their power of attention only towards second and third person objects, and no one ever directs it towards the first person!
This great error is what is called the ‘original sin’.
All the ancient Sages of India realised the truth in the end only by knowing the real nature of this first person
Even in the West there have occasionally been people here and there who have attained Self-Knowledge in the same way. Therefore, if any of the people who have written heaps of books on psychology have not after all their research come to the same conclusion as that which is proclaimed by Vedanta, namely that ‘I’ alone is the absolute truth, and if they have not thereby attained the true experience of Self, we will have to conclude that their research was not a scrutiny of the correct first person. All that they have done was to attend to a second person object called ‘mind’.
As we saw earlier in this book, the word ‘mind’ is generally taken to be a collective name for the whole multitude of thoughts, although in actual fact the only fundamental and essential characteristic of the mind is the root thought ‘I’, the first person singular feeling. Thus the word ‘mind’ may be said to have two meanings. Its primary meaning is the subjective aspect of the mind, namely the first person thought ‘I’, while its secondary meaning is the objective aspect of the mind, namely the multitude of other thoughts, all of which exist only by depending upon this first thought ‘I’. This multitude of thoughts is only a crowd of second person objects.
All that psychologists have made research upon is this objective aspect of the mind, and they have never made research upon its subjective aspect, the first person thought ‘I’. Since all the thoughts which form the objective aspect the mind are only second persons, any research made upon them cannot be a scrutiny of the first person. It is only a research
made upon an object (drisya) which is known by us as other than ‘I’, the knowing subject (drik). Books on psychology, parapsychology and other such sciences which relate to the nature of the mind are merely the outcome of the research which has been made upon the mysteries of this second person mind, because such sciences are concerned only with investigating and knowing the mind as an object - that is, they merely seek to know what are the various ways in which the mind can function, what are all the secret powers which lie hidden within the mind, what are the means by which such wonderful powers may be roused and developed so that they can be used as supernatural attainments (siddhis) in order to achieve one’s own selfish ends, and so on and forth. Thus even sciences like psychology turn out to be only a research made upon a second person object. Just as other scientists make research upon gross second and third person objects such as atoms, psychologists make research upon a subtle second person object called mind. And just as the results which have been achieved through other branches of scientific research are only a mixture of good and evil, so the results which have been achieved through psychological research are also only a mixture of good and evil. Therefore, since psychological research has not resulted in the blissful peace of Self-Knowledge, which transcends all such dualities as good and evil, it is clear that such research is not an attention to the correct first person object.
Turning one’s attention towards oneself in order to find out ‘Who am I, who knows the mind?’ alone is the correct first person attention. Anyone who attends to himself in this manner, whoever he may be, will certainly attain the true Knowledge of Self.
Thus the principle teaching which He has given to the whole world is only the practice of Self-attention, which is the easy and direct path and which is so rational that is can be accepted and followed by all people.
Religion (mata) will exist only so long as the mind (mati) exists. In the abundantly peaceful great Silence in which that mind has merged in the heart by turning within scrutinizing itself (enquiring ‘who am I, this mind?’), no such religion can stand. – Guru Vachaka Kovai verse 993
The revelation or darsanam of Sri Ramana is only the absolute truth (paramarthikasatya) in which the path and the goal are found to be both one and the same. Since the eternal Self is non-dual and since there is no other path (to attain it) except (to attend to and thereby to abide as) Self, the goal to be attained is only Self and the path is only Self. Know them (the goal and the path) to be non different. – Guru Vachaka Kovai verse 579
Sri Bhagavan has shown us that it is only because man has not yet attained a correct knowledge of the first person, that it has been impossible for him to have a correct knowledge about the truth of the second and third person objects, the world and God, and that it is only because man has not yet attained a true knowledge about the second and third person objects–that is, only because man continues to have the wrong knowledge that the second and third persons are different from the truth of the first person –, that so much unnecessary confusion and strife prevails among the people of the world and that as a consequence so many misfortunes and calamities have befallen mankind.
Being the perfect spiritual doctor that He is, Sri Bhagavan has thus clearly and precisely diagnosed the exact nature of the dangerous disease which exists in the mind of mankind. Moreover, He has also prescribed an entirely new method of treatment– namely taking the medicine of Self-attention and observing the diet-restriction of completely abstaining from attending to second and third person objects–and thereby He has provided us with the perfect remedy which will surely remove the primal disease of mankind, the disease known as ‘original sin’.
If we scrutinize this method of treatment more deeply, we will understand that the medicine is devotion (bhakti) and the diet-restriction is desirelessness (vairagya).
Sri Bhagavan has also clearly explained that the correct way of taking the medicine of Self-enquiry is to attend to oneself in order to find out ‘Who am I’? and He has given us many clues to facilitate this practice. All of these things He has taught us, from His own experience of Self-Knowledge, which dawned in Him all of a sudden without His having studied any books and without His having had any other person as a Guru to teach Him. Hence the sole purpose of this exposition of Sri Bhagavan’s teachings is to enable mankind to know the correct target towards which it should aim the arrow of its attention and to enable it thereby to direct its research towards the proper goal.
...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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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).
44 imp
If oneself is a form (the body), the world and God will be likewise (that is, they will also be forms); if oneself is not a form, who can see their forms, and how? Can the sight (that which is seen) be otherwise than the eye (the seer) ?...
– Ulladu Narpadu verse 4
On account of the ego, the feeling ‘I am the body’, experiencing all the worlds, which are not other than consciousness, as if they were different from oneself, who is that consciousness, is a creation of the dense and expansive delusion (of ajnana or ignorance of one’s true nature). – Guru Vachaka Kovai verse 67.
imp
Having limited and transformed oneself into a body, and having transformed the knowledge gathered through the five senses of that body into the world, one sees that the world, which is nothing other than one’s own real Self, as objects which are other than oneself, and one is thereby deluded with likes and dislikes for those objects. Such confusion alone is what is called the world-illusion (jagat-maya). – Sadhanai Saram verse 44.
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
If we turn our power of attention towards “our own” Self, our limited sense of individuality will cease to exist, and hence the appearances of the world and God will come to an end.
We can understand this truth even from our experience in the ordinary state of sleep. When we are asleep, we do not have even the least knowledge or doubt about either the world or God. Why? Because in sleep we, the ego, the limited first person feeling ‘I am this body’, do not exist, and hence the other two entities, the world and God, do not exist. Thus merely by our creating ourself as a limited individual soul on account of our pramada or forgetfulness of Self, we simultaneously become the one who has created the other two entities, the world and God
Without ignorance (about an object), knowledge (about that object) does not exist; (similarly) without (that) knowledge, that ignorance does not exist... – Ulladu Narpadu verse 10
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If an aspirant truly engages himself in the practice of Self-attention, he will often feel as if the state of Self-consciousness, which is his own true nature, is clearly known for some time and as if it is afterwards obscured.
On such occasion he will be able to understand very clearly from his own experience how the world-appearance vanishes and how it again comes into existence.
Because of the speed of forgetfulness or pramada by which he swerve from the state of Self-attention, it may be difficult in the beginning for an aspirant to notice exactly when he loses his hold on Self-attention.
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.
So long as he continues to give importance to these two states, which are nothing but mere appearances, he will be liable to build castles in the air by imagining that he can eliminate pain from this mixture of pleasure and pain, which is one of the many dyads, and that he can thereby make pleasure alone prevail in two states of creation and sustenance. Though such a person may be very broad-minded, generous-hearted and compassionate, since he may even be deluded to the extent of believing that the miseries which we now see in the world would not have existed if, the functions of creations and sustenance had been performed in accordance with his own visionary ideas, and thus he will find fault even with God, who is now performing those functions and he will wistfully imagine that he must take responsibility for carrying out a reform in the present manner in which God is governing the world. He will then proceed to draw up wonderful plans whereby he hopes to transform this world into a blissful heaven and remove all the miseries seen in it, even hoping to make the body of man immortal.
Such a well-intentioned but deluded person will then begin to ponder how and from where he can acquire the divine power or sakti which is necessary in order for him to carry out this wonderful unselfish plan of his, and he will begin to devise and practice many new kinds of yoga in the hopes of achieving such power.
Finally, however, he will have to come to the conclusion that he can obtain such power only from God, the almighty Supreme Lord who is at present creating and sustaining this whole world, and so he will then select the method of complete self-surrender as a means of begging and acquiring such power from Him. Being confident that the unlimited power of God will surely be showered upon him if he adopts this method, and believing that with that power he can fulfil all the wonderful plans which he has drawn up, he will be waiting in eager expectation for the day when that power will descend from above.
Knowing that there were people who were actually so deluded as to imagine, like the man described above, that it was both necessary and possible for them to bring about a radical reformation in the manner in which the world had been created and was being governed by God, Sri Bhagavan composed the following two verses : The buffonery of the madmen who, not knowing the manner in which they function by sakti (that is, not knowing the truth that it is only by the atmasakti or power of Self that they are enabled to function and perform activities), engage in activities saying, “We shall obtain all occult powers (siddhis)”, is like the story of the cripple who said, “If someone helps me to stand, what are these enemies (that is, how powerless they will be in front of me)?” See, when God is bearing the burden of the world, the pseudo soul (imagining as if it were) bearing (that burden) is a mockery like the form of a gopuram-tangi (a sculptured figure which seems to support the top of a temple
tower with great strain, but which in fact is itself supported by the tower). Whose fault is it if someone who is travelling in a train, which is bearing a great burden, undergoes suffering by bearing (his small) burden on (his own) head instead of placing it on the train?
– Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham verse 15 & 17
But if the man described above really takes to the path of complete self-surrender in order to acquire from God the power which is necessary for him to bring about such a radical reformation in the creation, what will actually happen in the end? If and when the surrender becomes complete, the mind or ego which had risen as ‘I am so-and-so’ and which had cherished all the wonderful notions mentioned above, will surely drown and perish in Self, the source from which it had risen, thereby losing its separate individuality. Until and unless the ego is thus annihilated, the surrender cannot be said to be complete. Since a person therefore cannot remain as a separate individual entity after he has completely surrendered himself to God, upon whom is the divine power to descend, and who is to make use of that power to reform the world? Thus in the end all the hopes and ambitions cherished by this poor man will turn out to be completely meaningless and absurd, just like the patently ficticious story told in Kaivalya Navanitam, chapter 2, verse 89. The son of a barren woman and the man seen superimposed on a post, wearing wreaths of flowers imagined in the sky, haggled about the
price of the silver in the mother-of-pearl, began to fight in the city shining in the clouds, stabbed each other with the horns of a hare, became exhausted and died, after which they both became ghosts: on hearing such a story, no wise man will be deceived. Why should any man unnecessarily tax his brain and confuse himself by cherishing such ideas and ambitions?
When Sri Bhagavan was once asked about the beliefs of a certain philosopher who cherished the strange notions mentioned above, He briefly replied,
‘Let the surrender first become complete; we can see about everything else afterwards’.
Why did He reply in this way?
Transforming this world into a heaven devoid of misery and making man immortal are not things which have to be newly done. Even now the world is truly nothing other than Brahman, the blissful Supreme Reality, and man is in his true nature nothing other than Self, the immortal spirit. Therefore the world and man do not n
ow 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.
The defects which we now see in the world and in man are not defects in God’s creation but are only defects in our own outlook. Therefore there is no use in trying to rectify God’s
creation by usurping His power; if we wish to rectify all the defects which we see, we must rectify our own outlook; there is no other way. Those who know the reality will declare that there is no defect in creation (srishti), but that there is a defect only in outlook (drishti).
– Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham, vol. 1, verse 1696.
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If we realize, from what has been said above, the fact that the real cause of all the miseries that appear to us in the world is solely due to our defective outlook that has come into existence as a result of our contracting our limitless blissful Nature of existence into a limited body through the unlimited freedom inherent in us of using our Will, it will then become obvious that the only wise thing to do, is to put an end to the disease of the appearance of the world and body (through Self-attention) and be ever blissful.
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This is explained by Sri Bhagavan Ramana in verse 17 of ‘Ulladu Narpadu’:- “For those who have not realised the Self and as well for those who have realised the Self, this body is ‘I’; but, for those who have not realised the Self, the ‘I’ is confined only to the limit of the body; 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. Know that this is the only difference between these two.”
Sri Bhagavan Ramana in verse 18 of ‘Ulladu Narpadu’:-
“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”
...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.
“In the heart at first you see Him who is everywhere;
Only then that all exists as Him you’ll be aware.”
- Dhyanappattu - Sadanai Saram.
But by viewing the world and the living beings in it as God, at least by mind, a great good does result namely the purification of mind. This is the hidden aim of Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga allows a man to discriminate and decide what is good for himself and what is good for others according even to his ordinary mind and allows him to act accordingly. But it is to be known that the purpose of this allowance is neither the complete eradication of the miseries of the world nor the capturing of God, the inaccessible One.
orld nor the capturing of God, the inaccessible One. Sri Bhagavan Ramana gives out the method and the result of Karma Yoga in ‘Upadesha Undiyar’, verse 3: “Acts performed without attachment to the results and dedicated to the Lord, purify the mind and point the way to Liberation”.
Therefore the purpose of Karma Yoga is only the purification of the mind. This purpose being the hidden aim, is enjoined in Karma Yoga.
“You have the right only to do; but never the right over the results thereof...”
– Bhagavad Gita-Chapter II-verse 47
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Both the purification of the mind and thereby its ability to discriminate rightly grow simultaneously in the aspirant.
Therefore, as his mind becomes purer and purer it gets the high clarity through which his power of understanding becomes sharper and sharper.
Now only, with this, he is able to understand the necessity of rightly knowing the Self, and how the appearance of the world and God is connected with Self knowledge and also,
how purification of the mind is the sole aim of Karma Yoga, as it has been explained so far in this chapter.
Indeed, what greater benefit than this clarity of mind is worthy to be attained through Karma Yoga?
For, the aspirant is now really qualified for the science of Self by which the Supreme Truth will dawn in him!
It is this process that is pointed out in the verse 3 of ‘Upadesha Undiyar’ by Sri Bhagavan referred to previously.
If we know what is the impurity in the mind, the way in which it is removed by the practice of Karma Yoga will also be clearly understood; ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are the impurities in the mind or ‘Chittam’. If these impurities which form the ‘tam’ in ‘Chittam’ are removed,‘Chittam’ will remain as ‘Chit’ (Pure Consciousness) which it really ever IS.
“Just like a colourless prism appears to be red when near a red flower, Chit (Consciousness) appears to be chittam – the mind, when the impurities ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are superimposed on It. When these, which are caused by Maya, are removed it shines as ever as Chit”.
- Guru Vachaka Kovai - Verse No. 244
..
waves inseparable from ocean.
all existence rooted in being.
.........
‘I’ and ‘mine’ are the root-impurities of all other innumerable impurities such as lust, anger and the like. Even out of these two, the possessive form ‘mine’ can have an existence only because of ‘I’. Where there is no ‘I’, there will be no ‘mine’.
Though in its pure nature ‘I’ is the Self, it is taken to be impure because of its attributes which are alien to it and experienced as ‘I’ am-this, I am-this body, ‘I am-a man or I am-so and so’.
Hence, the attributes appended to ‘I AM’ alone, are the ‘root-impurity’.
Till this impurities are removed, Self, Existence-Consciousness (Sat-Chit) is called ego.
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.
Then, one with sincere yearning, at once starts rejecting every thing saying, “Let it not be for me”. This leads to renunciation.
Another type of aspirant kindles within himself the feeling of sacrifice saying, “Let all these (of mine) be for others and not for me”*.
Karma Yoga is framed having the principle of the second type of aspirant as its base!
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. He who was all this time being carried along by the current of the tributary Jamuna, has now been handed over to the Ganges, the mother river. Here the Jamuna symbolizes the path of Karma (Karma Yoga) while the Ganges symbolizes both the path of Love (Bhakti Yoga) and the path of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga). These two are, like the Ganges, ever flowing into the ocean of Brahman unfailingly taking along the aspirant who falls into their current.
To attain Existence–Consciousness–Bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda), the Self or Brahman, Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda) themselves act as the two Paths i.e., to reach Existence, the Supreme (Sat), Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda or Priya) are the only Paths. The Path of Consciousness (Chit) is the Path of Knowledge (Jnana Marga) and the Path of Bliss (Ananda) is the Path of Love (Bhakti Marga). To say the truth, Brahman, the Sat itself stretches its two arms – Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda) – to draw us to itself or in other words lays Itself down under our feet as the Path of Knowledge and the Path of Love for us to tread upon. Thus, the holy words, “I am the Path and I am the Goal” are proved. The Path is to attend to ‘I am’ and the Goal is to remain as ‘I am’!
Bhakti
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So also, Love or Bhakti has different degrees of superiority or inferiority according to the different degrees of the purity of the mind of jeevas.
In this manner, the love or Bhakti present in different jeevas can be classified into five classes. The fully purified love will shine as Shiva!
1st std vishaya bhakti
2nd std vishaya bhakti alone, but names and forms of god means to fulfill them
3rd std worshipping only 1 god
3A- love for objects not for god
3b love for god
4 - ripened love for guru. complete dispassion for worldly objects
5 love for guru replaced by Love for Self (pg 151 end )
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The main point of Yoga is to collect the scattered thoughts into one and fix the mind on that one thought only.
The worship of God is a means to focus the mind on one point, setting aside the other innumerable thoughts concerning one’s daily activities rising (in one) during the waking state.
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,
then thousands of unnecessary thoughts will depart.
But this alone is not sufficient.
The important point in Bhakti Yoga is to fix the mind on one name and form of God, and not change the worship from one name and form of God to another and thereby allowing the mind to branch out into so many thoughts and waver.
“By association with Sat – the Truth, the attachment (towards worldly objects) goes away...”
– ‘Ulladu Narpadu – Supplement’ - verse 1.
“My child, what are you lacking? Why do you call me so anxiously? What happened to you?”
The Man answers:- “O Lord, forgive me for my mistake of loving the objects of the world instead of loving You, the perfect Love Itself.”
“O Annamalai, Form of Love itself! Thou hast claimed me who have no such love to make me think of Thee and pine for Thee and melt me like fire melts wax.
Does it befit Thee now to let me waste away by failing to bestow upon me the love for Thee?
O Bliss born out of Love!
O Nectar springing up in the heart of Thy devotees!
What can I say to Thee!
Thy will is my will and that itself is my happiness, O Lord of my life!
–‘Sri Arunachala Pathikam’ - verse 2
“O Supreme! I am the foremost of those who do not have such excellent discrimination as to give up all worldly attachments and cling only to Thy Feet.
Taking all my burden as yours, ordain the ‘mine’ in all actions to cease.
What indeed can be a burden to Thee that sustaineth the whole universe? O Lord, enough of the trouble I have had by leaving Thee and by bearing the burden of this world on my head. O Arunachala, who art the Lord! Think no more of keeping me away from Thy Feet.”
– ‘Sri Arunachala Pathikam’- verse 9
“O Arunachala, like a magnet attracts iron and cannot release it, attract me and without leaving me, be ever in union with me.”
–‘Arunachala Aksharamanamalai’ - verse 16.
“O Arunachala, as ice dissolves in water (and becomes water), dissolve me in Love, in Thee, the form of Love.” –‘Arunachala Aksharamanamalai’ - verse 101.
“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
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preme. “For Thee I am longing, but without the true knowledge, and I am weary! Do Thou grant me the Supreme Knowledge of Thee, so That my weariness may go, O Arunachala.” – ‘Arunachala Aksharamanamalai’ – Verse 40
...imp......
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.
The Man now wonders aimlessly like an insane; sometimes walking, sometimes stopping, endlessly and untiringly cries out in agony and calls “Krishna, O Krishna” in low or high pitch.
He has become God mad, having no thoughts for wife, children, house or work.
But he remains drowned in the meditation on his Beloved Krishna
Who has overwhelmed him even without his effort!
This Man who is now suffering from the pangs of separation, is just in the same state of mind as Saint Appar on his way to see Lord Shiva in Kailas;
Sri Ramakrishna who even tried to kill himself weeping for his Divine Mother Kali; Sri Chaitanya who became mad for Sri Krishna; Sita who when imprisoned in Lanka (Ceylon) was longing for Sri Rama and Bharata who searched for Sri Rama in the forest.
Sometimes even some more lives (Janmas) may pass in this state of pangs of separation!
no matter how much, one is able to get the company of one of the names and forms of God, that cannot be the state of permanent attainment of God; soon or later that name and form will have to vanish.
“… realizing one’s own truth in the truth of that True Thing (the Supreme) and being one with It, having been resolved into It, is the true Seeing (realization). Thus should you know”.
– ‘Ulladu Narpadu’ – Verse 8.
Realising the oneness of one’s own Self as the true nature of God and to merge into It without any residue of individuality, alone is the true seeing and the true attainment of God.
Is it not?
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It is to be noted here that, though Namdev recognised that every space (for second and third persons) are a place for the Shivalingam; the True Knowledge did not blossom in him, until his attention was drawn to his own SELF, the first person, by the action of placing the Feet on his own head. Only then the Truth was realised.
This clearly proves the ‘teaching of Sri Bhagavan Ramana that, unless one experiences one’s Self, the knowledge that everything is Brahman cannot be perfect and true;
although one accepts that everything is Brahman and tries to see the world as such; it will be only an imagination.
“...when the first person (ego) ceases to be, through enquiry into the truth of the first person, the second and third persons come to an end. That state of Being in which all (I, II and III persons) shine as one, is the true nature of the Self” –Ulladu Narpadu, - Verse 14.
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.
“Even though one may worship the Supreme in whatever form, giving (Him) whatever name, and even though it is the way to see the Supreme in that name and form, realising one’s own Truth in the truth of that True Thing (the Supreme), and being one with It having been resolved into It, is the only true seeing. Thus should you know.”
-‘Ulladu Narpadu’ - Verse 8*
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Where is the time for him, in the flood of his intense yearning for the Supreme Truth, to repent over the days wasted with those gurus or to feel hate or disregard towards them? He goes ahead forgetting them!
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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 otherlesness, Self.
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).
The love that springs upon other things can never be the full one (poorna).
When love is full (poorna), the defect in the form of the movement of springing upon other things will not be there.
The fullness of love unbroken and all-pervading is ‘Not with an other (Non-dual)’.
He alone who has love, but ‘Not for an other’ (Ananya Bhakti) is one who has the Full Love (Sampoorna Bhakti).
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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.
“...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
Though one’s love for oneself is the greatest of all love towards any other objects in the world, when the true Love for the Guru (true Guru Bhakti) dawns,
the love felt by the disciple towards the Guru is greater than even the love towards oneself, the ego. But while experiencing the truth of the Self, the love towards the real Self is found to be greater than one’s love even towards one’s Guru. All this time it has been said that one loves oneself more than anything else because of the love towards the Self. But, as everyone is under the wrong idea that the ego is one’s Self (because ego is a false entity; a reflection of the Self) one does not experience the love towards the real Self.
When the Guru who is verily his Self, comes in front of the disciple who is fully matured as to be able to have real Love for Guru (Guru Bhakti),
he, the disciple is able to feel his love towards the Self
- but only in the human form in front of him.
Hence it has been pointed out above that the love felt towards the Guru is even greater than the love felt towards oneself, the ego.
Though his Guru is his Self and although his love towards his Guru is indirectly Self-love, so long as he sees his Guru – his Self – as a second person, his love towards his Guru is not fully refined into the Self Love, until he experiences his Guru within as his Self.
That is why the Guru now proves and convinces our Man that his Love for the Guru (Guru Bhakti) is less than his love for the Self (Swatma Bhakti).
Yes, but, why has it been said that even the Guru’s love towards the disciple is less than one’s Love towards the Self?
In the view of the Guru, there is no one other than the Self.
Therefore, His love is truly not a love towards a second entity as disciple. The Guru never views anyone as a disciple – an other than Himself.
But, as the Guru pointed out to the disciple that, so long as the disciple thinks that the Guru is a separate entity, he (the disciple) has to consider the Guru’s love to be a love from one entity to another.
Truly it is not so; because the Guru never sees him as a second.
That is why, even the Guru’s love towards the disciple (which is only in the disciple’s view) is explained as being inferior.
If we, with this in mind, listen to the following words of Sri Ramana, “I have neither Guru nor disciple”, we shall be able to understand what He really meant. One who is truly the Guru cannot see anyone as disciple. A Guru is a Guru only in the view of the disciple.
Thus, when the rain water – the Man, is fully absorbed in the vast lake of his Love for his Guru (Guru Bhakti), the Guru stirs him to break away the bank of the lake i.e., the limitation of his Love for the Guru and makes the rain water – the Man, flow into the ocean of Bliss, the Self.
Because of his excellent fitness the Man, who was listening to the words of his Guru with rapt attention, was able, at the very time of hearing about the Truth (shravana) to complete his reflections (manana) and practices (nidhidhyasana) simultaneously.
He becomes speechless, thoughtless and motionless.
He remains drowned in the ocean of Supreme Silence.
As the river – the Man reaches its source, the ocean – the Self, the motion of running – the action – effort ceases completely. When the feeling of love has thus been refined to perfection through the aforesaid course,
the Man is promoted from the Love for the Guru (Guru Bhakti) to the Love for the Self (Swatma Bhakti) i.e., from IVth to Vth standard of our School.
The Man, being now freed from the confusion in the form of desire, fear and delusion which he had on account of the wrong outlook of seeing his own Self as multiplicity is well established in the Self through Self-attention.
This Self-abidance indeed is the acme of LOVE.
Hence forth, according to the criteria given in the work, everyone of us should examine oneself and find out into which standard one fits and try to qualify for the next.
This examination of ourselves as to whether our love is a love for objects (vishaya bhakti) or a truly interested Love for God (Daiva Bhakti), should be very sincere, lest we deceive ourselves by overestimating our qualification and be temporarily contented.
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But, if after attending the School in any of the Ist, IInd and IIIrd (a) standard, one feels that it is better to revert to the aforesaid worldly life, one becomes a Yoga Bhrashta (one fallen from Yoga).
Such a thing has no chance to happen for those who have reached the IIIrd(b) standard.
There may be some aspirants who believing that they are in IIIrd (a) standard become dispirited as they do not obtain the fulfilment of all their desires and decide to read again the Ist or IInd standard text books, which means that they are fit only for those lower standards.
Some among us, are in the habit of going to many gurus and showing their love to them saying :
“My aim is Liberation only, and not any of the pleasures of this world and of the next. Therefore mine is the Love for the Guru (Guru Bhakti), and I have the right qualification for my being in the IVth standard of the School”.
Some others having the same thought, are in the habit of visiting so many temples of different names and forms of God saying also that their aim is Liberation only. Because they state that, they do not want any of the pleasures of the world and, that they desire Liberation only, they have to be considered as belonging to IIIrd ( b) standard;
or because they visit many gurus, it seems that they may have Guru Bhakti, the qualification for the IVth standard.
It is not so, since their going to different gurus is nothing but going to different names and forms, their love, not being focussed on one point only, is weakened by being scattered towards so many different directions and becomes inefficient to go deep into the instructions of any of the gurus and follow them. They get no real benefit from the teachings of those gurus. Suppose we see one of our friends coming out of a restaurant and entering another one – what does it mean? Does this not show that he has taken nothing to satisfy his hunger from that restaurant? If again we see him coming out of even that restaurant and going to another one, it means that he is still starving! Should he had eaten anything in anyone of the restaurants, would he not return directly to his lodging? Some explain away their actions with such lame excuses: “In that restaurant the rice is well cooked; so I take it from there. In this other one sambar* is excellent; the vegetables are tasty in the third one; there is a fresh supply of vadai* and appalam* daily in the fourth one; so I go there!” This is exactly like one saying, “I learn Hathayoga and Pranayama from that guru; I take initiations of Mantras from another. When I go to that guru I practise Karma-Yoga. I am taught Bhakti Yoga by still another one. I practise Vasi-Yoga (a form of Pranayama) with this guru and I am explained Advaita by that one......... Therefore, I go to all these great ones!” What does this really mean? Not even one of these gurus is understood rightly!
“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
The Guru Bhakti in the IVth standard is like the chastity of the wife towards her husband. This is why we call the Guru as ‘Guru-Natha’ or ‘Divine Husband’
“To say the truth, he who knows the Truth (MeiJnani) is different from he who knows of the Truth in the scriptures (Vijnani). 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
“He who orders” ‘do’s and ‘don’ts” to those who come to him is both Death (Yama) and the Creator (Brahma) to them. But the truly Divine Guru is one who proves them that nothing is to be accomplished newly by them.” – Guruvachaka Kovai’ - Verse 271*
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“My Guru is a Jnani. He totally condemns occult powers (Siddhis). But I would like to acquire them. My mind cannot be at rest until I get Siddhis. I don’t worry about taking many more births; but I want Siddhis along with Jnana and not Jnana only…..” “My Guru often advises us to merge within unmindful of the world; but I prefer doing unselfish service (Karma Yoga) for my country and for the whole world. I feel that a life of service to humanity is better than the life of one who remains quietly in a remote cave.”... “My Guru teaches the Path of Love; but my mind is inclined towards Raja-Yoga” “The aim of my Guru is this (pointing out the heart), but mine is that (pointing out to the top of the head)”. The so-called disciples who are making such controversial statements about the teachings of the Gurus, are not the fit disciples to those Gurus and it is not for such people that those Gurus have come. 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 as Sri Bhagavan Ramana declares in verse two of Arunachala Patikam, “...
What have I to say? Thy will is my will and that Itself is my happiness, O Lord of my life, Arunachala !”
From what we have seen above we come to understand that Jnana and Bhakti – Consciousness (Chit) and Bliss (Ananda) are the real aspects of Brahman. As Brahman is Existence (Sat) and Sat is the Reality, Bhakti and Jnana – the real aspects of Brahman – are nothing but Sat, the Reality, i.e., the real Bhakti or the real Jnana are nothing but Brahman Itself. According to the Supreme Teaching:
“ Brahman alone shines directly as ‘I-I’, - the Atman” –Ulladu Narpadu, Supp. - Verse 8
Bhakti and Jnana pave the way to the Self. To be as the Self is Jnana; and without loving the Self how to be It? So, if one is as Self, it is the state of fullness of Love. 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’
The attainment of the Self is the highest aim of the Vedas; and that alone is the real teaching of Bhagavan Ramana. 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).
As the nature of the love in the human being varies from the primitive man, to the man who abides in the Self, different grades of instructions are taught by the scriptures to uplift the people step by step. This explains why, different types of teachers are necessary to teach the different grades. Scholars in scriptures, instructors on Mantras, Yantras, Tantras etc., expounders (Pravachanakarthas) of holy texts (Puranas and Ithihasas) – though not knowers of the Self, but only students up to the IIIrd standard of our School – are necessary throughout the world throughout ages. To help these students – teachers are necessary for the aspirants who are in a lower standard, until those aspirants are promoted to the next standard. Their preaching of the principles of ethics, devotion to God,
importance of Karmas, dispassion towards worldly enjoyments – let us not care whether they follow and acquire knowledge and experience of their own teachings – is always needed for the progress of humanity. But, as it is always seen that they compel their followers to believe that whatever they preach alone is final, and to become fanatics to such an extent of hating all other instructions for further progress when presented to them; we should be careful to see that our own understanding does not get confused by them. We should ourselves, try to find out the standard to which we belong in the School of purification of love with the help of clarifications given above; but, at the same time we should not have any kind of abhorrence towards those teachers, teachings and thoughts with their various peculiar ideas about God, goal, service etc. We should have love and tolerance towards them rather than objecting to their clinging to Karmas etc. 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
162 ...bhakti ends..
............Karma .......................162
But, as the Power of Willing (Ichcha Shakti) is extroverted through the mind, senses and body, the result is that the individual separates himself more and more away from Happiness, the Source.
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But, as the Power of Willing (Ichcha Shakti) is extroverted through the mind, senses and body, the result is that the individual separates himself more and more away from Happiness, the Source.
lose his balance of mind and therefore he is able to endure the Prarabdha cheerfully. In this case the fruit of the experiencing of the Prarabdha will be according to God’s expectation, i.e., to mature one’s mind for a speedy attainment of the Goal. Thus we may conclude
(a): we have the original freedom to yield or not to yield to the Will of God;
(b) by yielding to His Will our progress is improved and accelerated;
(c) by not yielding to His Will, our progress is minimised and retarded and we will have to undergo a similar experience of Prarabdha in future births so that we may progress, as we could have done in this birth itself, had we yielded to the Will of God.
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Some may ask whether even God cannot change or arrest the Prarabdha. As God is the Ordainer of Prarabdha He has the Perfect Freedom either to change or arrest the experiencing of Prarabdha, if one completely surrenders to Him, praying to him, “O my Lord, You know my inability to endure the sufferings; protect me by bestowing the strength of endurance”, then only, as our original freedom is not used in the way of preventing Him, He can do anything as He wishes; i.e., either to allow the Prarabdha, change it or stop it.
This is exactly what is proclaimed by 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.”
Not only can He change or arrest the Prarabdba, but He can also order the Agamya to give fruit immediately by including it in the Prarabdha.
The story of Markandeya is an illustration for the former and the story of Adi Shankara and the poor woman for the latter.
A brief sketch of each story is given below:-
1. Though according to Prarabdha the lifespan of Markandeya was only sixteen years, he obtained the preservation of his life by surrendering to Lord Shiva.
2. While Adi Shankara was begging for His food, a poor lady gave Him a small fruit, but through the window of her hut! It then became known to Adi Shankara that she was so poor as not to be able to open the door for the lack of clothing (on her body) to give Him the fruit through the door. A great compassion rose in His heart. He composed verses in praise of Goddess Lakshmi* (Kanakadhara Stotram). When the Goddess appeared to Him, Adi Shankara asked Her to grant wealth to that poor lady. Goddess Lakshmi pointed out that there was no provision in her Prarabdha which He Himself, Lord Shankara, had ordained. Adi Shankara recommended that the present charitable act of that poor woman in giving the small fruit to Him, should be included in her Prarabdha and wealth granted to her, then and there. At once there was a shower of gold fruits for her in answer to the recommendation of Adi Shankara. Here it is shown that the fruit of Agamya can be included into the Prarabdha by the Ordainer. The second mistake one commits through the ‘original freedom to will and act’ is, beginning to do Agamyas while at the same time allowing the Prarabdha to take its course; i.e., the individual, being compelled by his likes and dislikes to increase the happiness and to remove the miseries in future births, begins to do Agamya. Because he does not know that happiness is his own nature, he engages himself in so many different karmas, wishfully thinking that he can obtain happiness with the help of his mind, senses, body and objects of the world. In this manner, at the time of the death of the body, innumerable Agamyas are added to the already piled up Himalayas of his Sanchita making it grow higher and higher.
“The results of actions having passed away after being experienced, leaving seeds (vasanas – tendencies), cast the agent into an ocean of action. Therefore, the results of actions yield not Liberation.” – ‘Upadesha Undiyar’ - Verse 2
Thus with his ‘original freedom to will and act’ man commits two kinds of mistakes. How to rectify these two mistakes? At this stage the God who, according to the conception of the man, is other than himself and All-knowing, All-powerful and All-merciful, shows compassion towards him and when the man who has been suffering throughout so many births in the past, prays to Him that it is His duty to give him the Right-Knowledge, comes to his help. Is it not He who, as we have already said in the previous chapter ‘Bhakti’, when prayed to by the Man for the attainment of worldly objects, gave him the portion of ‘Karma Kandas’ of the Vedas as a Teacher
for the 1st and IInd standards of our School, as well as the fruits of his karmas? He now answering his prayers, comes to him in the form of a Guru to help him to find out how he has committed the above two mistakes through his ‘original freedom to will and act’ and to teach him how to use correctly that freedom. To this individual who, having forgotten his Real State of Bliss through his own ‘freedom to will and act’, is now suffocating for happiness, making efforts in the form of karmas with his limited power and knowledge; who else can be a real helper except his loving God? For, He knows that to completely fulfil his desire for happiness is nothing else but, to remove his state of forgetfulness of Self, making him thus become aware of his Original State.
Now, God makes use of the Sanchita of the individual in such a way that will help him to get True Knowledge. Is not a portion of the Sanchita of the individual selected and allotted as Prarabdha whenever he takes a birth? The karmas will be selected by God as Prarabdha in such a way, i.e., what kind of karmas (good or bad), at what time (in which circumstances of which birth) and in which way (the order of priority to, experience pain or pleasure) that while experiencing the results of those karmas the individual will grow more and more disgusted and, will be drawn to the conclusion that performing karmas is useless. This is His boundless Grace! Is it not?
Not knowing this, but yet believing that God is All-powerful, All-knowing and All-merciful, if the man compellingly prays to Him: “Change my destiny (Prarabdha), add more to my happiness and lessen the
miseries in my destiny”; instead of completely surrendering himself to Him, that is only ignorance; it is only finding fault, on account of his little intellect, with God’s plan. What does his prayer show? It shows only that he accuses God, whom he praised to be All knowing, not to be wise enough to determine his Prarabdha properly! i.e., he makes the ‘All-knowing’ – ‘not knowing’!
In the same manner, when the miseries in his Prarabdha are not removed by his prayers, he is dejected. What does this dejection show? It shows that he feels God, whom he praised to be All-powerful is not that powerful enough, to stop his miseries, i.e., through his dejection he makes the ‘All-powerful’ – ‘not powerful’!! Not only this; when he tries to find a reason why God does not stop his miseries, he concludes that He is not willing to do so; what does this conclusion show? It shows that he declares God, whom he praised to be All-merciful, not to be kind in helping him, i.e., through his conclusion he makes the ‘All-merciful’ – ‘merciless’!!! Does it not?
What makes him do so? Is it not his desire for the cessation of miseries and the attainment of happiness? Even a person who is now enjoying a happy life, fears some future unexpected miseries and he worries; or he may be longing for an even happier life in future.
Another man who is now suffering, is wistfully longing for the day when the miseries will come to an end and, be replaced by happiness. For these reasons we like to know the future course of our life; but, this is an unnecessary mental activity. Someone asked Sri Bhagavan Ramana: “Can we know about our past lives and about the future of our present life and about our future births?”
Sri Bhagavan answered:- “If the man, who is confused and much worried with the thoughts about his present activities, is given to understand the past and future, will he not be even more confused and miserable? Will his life then not become a hell! It is only ignorance to search for the knowledge of the past and future, while ignoring to know the truth of his present as ‘Who am I?”.
“...Without knowing the truth of the present, seeking to know the past and future, is like trying to count without knowing the nature of ‘one’, the unit.” – ‘Ulladu Narpadu’ - Verse 15
If an aspirant says that he is longing for Liberation, but at the same time shows a great deal of interest in those arts and crafts, he cannot be a real devotee or a real enquirer. For, a real devotee will never ask God to alter his Prarabdha because he has surrendered his ‘original freedom to will and act’ to Him; no more a real enquirer will make an effort towards any other thing except to attend to the Self, because he knows the right use of his ‘original freedom to will and act’.
If he is really a devotee or an enquirer (i.e., a student in the IIIrd (b) or IVth standard of our School) will he have a taste or even the slightest inclination towards these arts and crafts? He will certainly not; for hecannot!
Should he do so, it only betrays, in the three ways his lack of love and faith in God. The necessity of these arts and crafts has to vanish in the state of complete surrender. Thus sings Manickavachakar:--
“The very moment You took me as Your own, I lost my individuality! You may do good or wrong to me! Who am I to interfere, O my Lord!”
From what has been said above it would be wrong if any reader comes to the conclusion that we are declaring that those arts and crafts are bogus or that we hate them. But, let the reader know that we merely conclude that they are good only for the students in Ist, IInd and IIIrd (a) standards of our School, but not at all necessary to an aspirant aiming for the Truth only.
If we really have love and faith in God, we should unconditionally surrender ourselves to Him as it is said by Sri Bhagavan Ramana:
“O Annamalai... Can I have then any grievance? O my (real) Soul, do whatever Thou wilt; but grant me, O Beloved, only ever increasing love for Thy Feet.”
-‘Sri Arunachala Navamani Malai’ - Verse 7
“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
It is such devotee alone who, knowing this well and accepting it, was mentioned in the previous
chapter as a qualified student in the IVth standard of our School.
And it is only to such student that the method of rectifying the two mistakes in using the ‘freedom to will and act’, mentioned above, can be explained. Verily, only for the sake of such few devotees, who by experiencing the results of karmas through so many births have been maturing through dispassion towards karmas,
God comes in the form of a Guru!
At first the individual thinks that the Guru in front of him is a man Iike himself.
But, as the Guru is really none other but his very Self - which is Love, it is no wonder that he feels such a natural, boundless.
irresistable flow of love springing forth towards his Guru
The Guru now instructs him how to handle his ‘original freedom to will and act’:- “Using your freedom to know the Reality, your Self, is the only right use. If you do not know or cannot do that, handover or surrender completely that freedom to God; so that He may use it on your behalf in any way He likes. That means, either know the right way of using it, or restore it to the hands of God, who knows how to use it”. 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.
Not only that, he is also able to understand that whatever has happened to him in the past through his Prarabdha as ordained by God,
before he took to his present spiritual path, were also incidents favourable to lessen the activities of his mind and make him turn Self-ward. To the disciple who is now wondering about his new outlook on life, these loving words of Sri Ramana flash through his mind:- “Know this to be by the Grace of your Guru who is acting from outside to push you within.”
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As soon as he gets this new outlook on life, he feels ashamed to pray any longer to his God or Guru to alter his destiny (Prarabdha); because, he now finds that all the activities going on in his life are only to make him turn Self-ward.
In short, in the eyes of such a matured disciple, the Prarabdha becomes completely non-existent.
He does not use the word ‘Prarabdha’,
but points out to it as ‘The loving Will of my Lord;
His Will is my pleasure!’.
Now the surrender completes itself
– the life has been changed into one immense Bliss,
even the greatest tortures now appear to him,
[as sings Saint Appar:
* “(Where I was placed) under the shade of the Feet of my Lord, I felt as if on the cool bank of a pond in the spring full moon, under the pleasant touch of the southern breeze while the Veena is playing sweet melody”.
His mind so transformed is no longer a ‘mind’, It is Self – his very nature.
We can say that, what was previously called ‘mind’ is now destroyed. Thus we are able to understand that the experiencership
(Bhoktrutva) is destroyed along with the doership (Kartrutva).
Having his two aspects thus destroyed, the jeeva’s keeping quite is the ‘BE STILL’ (Summa Iru).
And THIS is the real teaching (Upadesha) of the Guru.
To BE so STILL is the real service to God and to the Guru.
And to BE so STILL is really to live in the Divine.
And THIS is the original Natural State.
To will to be so still, i.e., to like to be so still, or to will not to be so still, i.e., to do, is under one’s will. For, the ‘Perfect Freedom to will and act’ is one’s very nature – Brahman, the Self.
It is said above that the destruction of the doership is itself the destruction of the experiencership also.
The same power – our Perfect Freedom, which imagined a separate entity as a doer, when now, on the contrary, acts in the form of an intense Power to Will (Ichcha Shakti) and an intense Power to Act (Kriya Shakti) to BE STILL,
this un-equalled Power - the DYNAMIC STILLNESS destroys the insignificant, false and imaginary ‘ichcha and kriya shakti’ used for the creation, sustenance and destruction of the universe.
At this stage, the unnatural superimposition made by the aforesaid power of imagination to see the Self, by the Self, in the Self - as many, ceases!
Now, as the aspirant experiences the real Awakening into his True Nature which ever shines as ONE with no otherness – the Perfect SELF alone, the sleep of ignorance in which the dream of birth and death of the individual (the doer) appeared, disappears!! When the doership is thus destroyed, who stands there for experiencership?
Hence, the heap or Sanchita, with its good and bad results of the karmas performed, disappears like a dream, just as both debts and gains in a dream disappear on waking-up.
It is what is mentioned in ‘Kaivalyam’.
“Just as a bundle of cotton is burnt to ashes, during the Great Fire of Dissolution, Sanchita, the wonderful seed of diversified fruits – innumerable births - is utterly burnt to ashes by the Fire of Knowledge.” – ‘Kaivalyam’ - Chapter I -Verse 96.
and in Bhagavad Gita:--
“ ... The Fire of Knowledge burns ALL karmas to ashes.” –‘Bhagavad Gita’ - Chapter IV - Verse 37.
It has already been said that there will be no more Agamya after the doership has been destroyed. Up till now it has been said in scriptures, to pacify the questioners, that the Prarabdha which remains after Sanchita and Agamya have been destroyed is to be experienced, and that it will end only with the death of the body. But, it is to be understood that this is not said for those fully mature aspirants who have a keen discrimination. For, they are expected to apply here a little reflection, i.e., since the doership and the experiencership are the two faces of the jeeva, the individual (like the two faces of a coin), how can the experiencership still live after the doership has been destroyed by the dawn of Self-Knowledge? It cannot!
When the experiencership is thus lost, who is there to experience the Prarabdha and how? No one! Will not the Prarabdha be nullified since there is no experiencer? Therefore, for the Jnani there is truly none of the three Karmas; but, as an ignorant and immature aspirant takes the Jnani to be a body – he cannot do otherwise - the scriptures have to tell him that the Jnani has Prarabdha alone. That is why the Supreme, who takes the form of different Gurus at different times to frame rules – the different scriptures – now appearing in the form of Sri Ramana, gives for the benefit of the highly mature souls, the following amendment to the scriptures, which He had Himself framed at different times:-
“To say that Sanchita and Agamya will not adhere to a Jnani, but Prarabdha does remain (to be experienced by Him) is only a superficial reply to the question put by others. Just as none of the wives will remain unwidowed when the husband dies, so also, all the three Karmas will cease to exist when the doer (ego) dies. Thus should you know” - ‘Ulladu Narpadu – Supplement’ - Verse 33
The aspirant who is on the path of Love (Bhakti) believes that there is a God or Guru and that He protects him, with the hope that He will do for him whatever is good. Such an aspirant, while using his ‘original freedom to will and act’, surrenders his doership to Him; therefore he, no longer has to make efforts (Agamyas), and thus BEcomes STILL.
There is another kind of aspirants who, not believing in God or Guru, deeply scrutinize the nature
of their efforts and activities while experiencing the different joys and trials of life and who finally come to understand the right use of their ‘original freedom to will and act’. Through their ‘original freedom to will and act’ they withdraw their attention from second and third person objects and by attending to the Self, giving no room for (imaginary) inattention in their quest, they try to regain the Truth of the Self – the state of actionless-ness. Thus they BEcome STILL.
The freedom to like either; to make a complete surrender to God or to dispel the ignorance – in the form of an imaginary inattention, through Self-enquiry, and the freedom to act accordingly is in the individual; never it is obstructed; for, it is the very nature of Brahman. But for this freedom alone, Moksha or Liberation or the complete relief from miseries would be absolutely impossible and all Gurus and scriptures from time immemorial would become unnecessary and in vain!
Some, believing that Jnana can be obtained only through Prarabdha, live lazily, i.e., not even desiring to obtain Jnana. But such people show their laziness only so far as their desires and efforts towards obtaining Jnana are concerned, putting the blame on Prarabdha and being at the mercy of Prarabdha’s grace! But at the same time they never show laziness towards their worldly activities, i.e., they show their enterprising spirit in trying to obstruct the function of Prarabdha (to lessen the miseries and to increase the happiness that come through Prarabdha), which can never be obstructed or altered. The net result will be NIL. They who are so enterprising in doing what they
need not and should not do, are lazy in doing what they necessarily should do – the effort to destroy the doership by Self-attention. This is the pinnacle of ignorance! Therefore, those who have faith in God should be enterprising in surrendering the doership to Him, others in enquiring into the Self which is the only right use of their ‘freedom to will and act.’
But some among us may ask: “By the limited knowing power (Alpa-Chit-Shakti) of the individual which is merely an imaginary reflection of the power of the True and un-limited Knowledge (Akhanda-ChitShakti), it is impossible to attain the State of Perfection (the Supreme). Is not the Grace of the power of that True unlimited Knowledge which Itself is God or Guru necessary?” Yes, indeed it is necessary! Because help is needed, IT gives help to those who have faith in God, in their efforts to surrender their ‘I-ness’, by bestowing upon them a tremendous capacity to surrender.
This is what is meant by the saying, “Take one step towards God; He will take ten steps towards you.” While to the aspirant who, though having no faith in God or Guru, makes intense effort, with enthusiasm, in enquiring into the Self, his Reality, the Self acts as Guru and gives help from within as well as from without (external). IT shines in the form of that clarity of understanding that makes him understand through the outer events in his life, that the outgoing attention IS only misery. IT shines in the form of Bliss within and makes him turn within towards IT and know ‘This Bliss is my real state’, thus attracting him to merely BE. In this way the Grace of the Guru or God helps even him from within and without.
189
“Verily the Self is the Supreme Principle (Reality). Do Thou, Thyself reveal this to me, O Arunachala”. – Arunachala Akshramanamalai - Verse 43
Therefore let neither of these two types of aspirants be worried about the scarcity of the Grace of the Supreme.
That Supreme Grace is ever ready to flow - to say the truth,
It is ever-flowing.
This Revealing is always possible and done by Grace only.
Pain and pleasure may come according to Prarabdha; but the aspirant ever has his own freedom to remain in that centre, from where he cannot be moved by them: for, this alone he has freedom and not for obstructing the function of Prarabdha.
When the ‘freedom to will and act’ is applied to like and to make efforts to BE STILL, the doership is destroyed.
Along with the doership, the experiencership, which is necessary to experience all the three karmas, is also destroyed.
Only with this freedom can we reach the Goal; should this freedom not be there, there would be no hope.
This Freedom alone – which is nothing but GRACE – paves the way for us to be freed from karmas. This alone is the real secret of the karmas.
Thus should we know!
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190 Self Effort
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The self-effort in destroying the karmas, is attending to the Self.
We can say that Awakening or Liberation is “Being aware of the Self” (for, Self and Its Awareness are one and the same). Suppose a man is said to have awakened from sleep or dream; what does it mean? It means that he has returned to his self-
awareness (body-consciousness), in which he was before his sleep or dream, i.e., that he has returned from the dream-body and dream world-consciousness to the present body and world-consciousness which is their root.
What makes a person who is having a dream wake up? There are two causes:-
(1) When the karma which started (to give fruit) a dream comes to an end, the dream ends either in sleep or in waking.
(2) When, due to the shock of extreme fear, happiness or misery experienced during a dream it happens that the attention of the dreamer* is knowingly or unknowingly drawn towards himself, the first person in the dream, i. e., his mind or attention is forced to return to the Heart, i.e., towards the first person in the dream. So also when the Prarabdha which started the present waking state (life) is exhausted, this waking state (life) comes to an end, i.e., to the state of death, like a dream ends in sleep. In this way, the ending of Prarabdha will end only this waking state but cannot give the Awakening.
192
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.
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.
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verse 69 of ‘The Bridal Garland of Letters’ : “Do Thou grant me Thy full union with me so that my mind which is filled with worldly tendencies, may be filled with the tendency for Perfection, Thy True Nature, O Arunachala!
Therefore, let no one ‘depend upon Prarabdha for Liberation. Liberation is in no way connected with Prarabdha. Prarabdha belongs to the face of experiencership concerning the fruit of action which is in direct opposition to Selfeffort as shown in the diagram. But Liberation is solely connected with the non-tendency -”Beingness in nature’,
i.e., Liberation is possible through the resumption of the tendency’ Beingness-in-nature’ the state of Doing-lessness or Actionless - action, (i.e., doershipless-action) which is the correct spiritual practice for Liberation, the right Self-attention.
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. Therefore, without doubting whether there is room for Liberation in our Prarabdha and being depressed over it by trying to read the Prarabdha through astrology, palmistry, I-chin, numerology etc, (for, these arts and crafts cannot reveal it), let us turn Self-ward with great courage and attain Liberation through the tendency ‘Beingness-in-nature’.
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202
Explanatory Notes on Verse 6 of ‘Shri Arunachala Ashtakam’ Verse 6:
“O Heart, the Light of Self-Awareness! Thou, the only Thing (Being), alone art. In Thee is a wondrous Power which is none other than Thee. From It rise, by the whirl of Prarabdha, series of subtle (atom-like), dark, mist-like thoughts illumined by the reflected light of the mind. These mists are seen as shadowy pictures of (subtle) world within, on the mirror of this mind-light and, as the pictures of material world outside projected though the five senses such as eyes etc., just like a cinema show projected through a lens. O Hill of Grace, let them appear or let them not appear; what does it matter? They are not apart from Thee.”
Arunachala, the Heart, is the only Thing that exists. “It is the Light of Self-Awareness.
‘The Five Gems to Shri Arunachala (Shri Arunachala Pancharatnam)’ by Shri Bhagavan Ramana;”... Engulfing the entire universe (of names and forms) with the spreading rays of the light of Supreme Knowledge...”. It is thus taught that the pictures of the world (of dyads and triads) cannot exist in the original light of the Self. Therefore, when asked in verse 10 of ‘Ulladu Narpadu’ “To whom are the ignorance and knowledge?” We should be able to reply that it is only for the ego.
We should also know that, if the ego is enquired into as to what it is, it will disappear, and thus seeing the non-existence of the ego, is the right understanding of the base of dyads and triads and when thus we understand; the Self-Knowledge dawns, and dyads and triads disappear. In the light of the Self the base of dyads and triads, i. e., the ego, itself is found to be non-existent and hence along with it the non-existence of the dyads and triads. When, Self, the absolute base is experienced, ego the base of dyads and triads will
disappear. As the conclusion of the commentators does not go against the final truth, we have to console ourselves in knowing that their writing will not greatly mislead the reader; but the reader should understand that the intention of Shri Bhagavan is to tell us that the base of the dyads and triads is the ego, and not the Self.
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Verse 8 : “If one worships the Supreme in whatever form, giving Him whatever name, it is the way to see the Supreme in that name and form; yet, realizing one’s own truth in the truth of that True Thing (the Supreme) and being one with It, having been resolved into It, is the True Seeing (Realization). Thus should you know!”
“The appearance of the world in dream, waking, our whole life, and the creation as well as the non appearance of the world in swoon, sleep, death and dissolution are not apart from Thee, the Self Awareness, O Arunachala, the Hill of Grace!”
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