Unwavewringly established in the Self = Nishtha
https://www.davidgodman.org/allama-prabhu-prabhulinga-leelai/
[Allama replied:]
‘One who has eradicated as alien [to himself]the dense, fundamental illusion of egoity
and has, in full clarity, realised the Self –
such a one will be able to know Me also.
What point is there in speaking to one
who remains attached to the perishable body?’
So proclaimed He who knows jnanis
who have realised the truth non-dually.
Not recognising Your [true nature], like one intoxicated,
with pride in my heart, I contemplated evil deeds.
Later I stood before You, and contradicted You,
babbling wicked nonsense like a madman.
Like a hunter who kills and snatches away dear life,
I have committed all these sins.
Father, out of your great and enduring grace,
may You cleanse me of all of them
and be my gracious Master.’
and reveal to me the true reality that I desire,
that I may fully know it.’
Thus replied Gorakkar, who stood there, free of desire
for the body to which he had clung.
The Radiant Supreme, who cannot be known
by knowledge gained from mere learning,
realising his spiritual maturity,
felt compassion for him.
His [Allama’s] holy heart, which had attained
to the state of the divine, filled with joy.
‘Listen with devotion,’ He said:
Note well the meaning [of this word]:
The cave [guhai] is the Heart,
and the one who dwells within it is Isan, the Lord.
I Myself am the one who is implied
by the word Guhesan.’
Thus declared the Flawless One.
At this the siddha rejoiced in his heart,
and his face lit up as he asked:
‘If You are [the Lord], then why in Your hand,
that is like a tender blossoming lotus flower,
do You hold a Siva lingam? Please explain.’
Lord Arunagiri,
who now stands formless before me,
I have put to flight two-fold karma,
impossible to describe,
my soul’s threefold impurity,
so difficult to destroy,
and my unparalleled suffering.
a. Annamalai, meaning ‘unreachable or unapproachable mountain,’ is a common Tamil name for the mountain. The town of Tiruvannamalai combines the word ‘Annamalai’ with an honorific prefix.
Question: Who will attain this experience?
Answer: Only those who are pure and who have the prescribed qualifications will attain it.
The experience of reality – eternally abiding and shining as one, as blemishless, as fullness, and as truth – is attained only by those who are pure, who have a steady mind, who are noble,
and who are undergoing their final birth.
....
Question: Then what is the way to attain Sivam?
Answer: The way to see one’s Self is by rejecting everything else as maya.
Question: If one renounces the jnana sastras, how can one attain the bliss of liberation?
Answer: Liberation is only delighting in the Self through tranquillity and without anxiety. When this is attained, books are of no use.
One may know the jnana sastras, or take up good sanyasa,
or attempt to experience mauna samadhi,
but the indescribable bliss of liberation is only becoming the Self,
remaining without anxiety and experiencing bliss.
Question: As soon as one obtains this experience, who should be worshipped?
Answer: The Guru, one’s own Self and the body should be worshipped, seeing them as the reality.
I will worship as my own Self the gracious Guru who showed everything to be like jugglery,
or the Self that is realised after scrutinising everything,
or the body-temple that came to terminate the evil of birth.
Question: How to remove [or be rid of] the senses of perception?
Answer: They should be removed by seeing them as the Self.
O senses! You cherished and nourished me all these years. Now I have become blissful consciousness.
I have known you too, you who separate from me ...as my Self.
Henceforth, remain one with me, without becoming divergent.
Question: Will the mind subside through the above means?
Answer:
If it is firmly established in the experience of the Self,
it will then shine as consciousness and remain still.
As mind roamed about, I too was similar to it, thus allowing myself to remain in an unquiet state. With my mind remaining still and motionless, I too remained similar to it, shining and dwelling like gold.
....
Amrita Saram
https://www.davidgodman.org/tattuvaraya-and-sorupananda/6/
8 Declaring the good [or beneficial] path
Knowing them to be transient, renounce the thought of life here and hereafter. Walk the path of virtue.
Turn back the mind.
Seek the Self-realised.
Hasten to know the true nature of reality.
9 That which is rare
It is rare indeed to obtain a human birth. Even if one gets it, it is rarer to study the jnana scriptures. Rarer still is to become one who possesses renunciation.
But rarer than that is to become one possessing knowledge of reality.
1 The jnani’s actions
For both the jnani and the ajnani external conduct in activities such as eating look identical.
But the mind of jnani is quite different.
Though the breast of a woman is the same for both her baby and her husband, their mental development [leads to] different [results].
[Elsewhere in his writings Tattuvaraya expands on the idea in the last sentence by saying that when a lady’s breast is fondled by her baby it gives milk, but when it is fondled by her husband she feels intense joy, and she desires immediate union with him.
For the ajnani actions are undertaken to yield sensory pleasures, but those same actions, if performed by a jnani, yield the bliss of the Self.
13 Greatness of the jnani
Space is extremely vast, but the great maya that gave birth to it is mere clay in the hands of Iswara. If one ponders over it, there is no one greater than Siva,
but the one who has contained Siva in his mind is greater than Siva Himself.
17 Improper conduct
Those cruel hypocrites who have not removed the faults in their deluded minds, claiming, without having gained the true jnana born of yoga, that they are abiding as the one reality merely for the sake of food, will not attain liberation, and neither will those who hold them in their thoughts [their followers].
[‘For the sake of food’ denotes any kind of material benefit that is gained from pretending to be enlightened.]
44 Renunciation
Those who want to bring to an end this birth in which one is caught in ignorance should realise that even the body is superfluous, and renounce completely.
For those who do not, it is not easy to attain liberation, which is freedom from taking birth and dying.
[The verse includes an indirect reference to Tirukkural 345: ‘For those who seek an end to birth, the body itself is a superfluous burden. What then can we say of other forms of attachment?’]
92 The noble way
If the truth is known clearly, then that path which remains without conflict with any other path will be the path of becoming sat.
If there is God’s grace, it is easy to attain.
In the absence of God’s grace, it will be difficult for anyone.
185 The mature disciple
He who has realised in his mind, the impermanence of the body,
he who feels like one caught in a raging fire,
or like the frog in the mouth of an angry cobra
– his heart, is like the prey caught in the tiger’s clasp.
186 The immature disciple
They do not have tapas, purity, truth and compassion.
They do not worship the feet of the Guru. They do not believe in reality. They are eager to make money. Their thoughts are on enjoyments. It is not proper to bestow grace on these.
187 The immature disciple
The teaching which for some leads to clear attainment will for some others lead to perverse understanding. Though pure water is all the same, when the cow consumes it, she yields milk, but when the cobra consumes it, it yields poison.
.................
Paduturai
Mind of mine! Instead of remaining satisfied with what you get, wherever you get it, thinking it sufficient, you get up, not giving yourself the time to blink, and run around. Realise that this is the seed of a poverty that can never be eradicated. It is also the veiling [that will appear in or cause] the next birth.
..........Isanya desikar
He spent many years in this cave, apparently trying to immerse himself in the state of nirvikalpa samadhi.
45
In my identity with the body I had the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ in the three states of waking, dream and sleep.
By Your gracious love this sense has vanished like a dream.
You made me turn to you, O Arunachala, You who burn like a flame.
You burnt away my Self-forgetfulness.
11
O Supreme Bliss! Eternal Plenitude! Teacher of Nama Sivaya! You who cannot be approached by the Agamas, the Puranas, the Itihasas and the Vedas! Father! Eternal One! The husband of Mother Unnamulai who resides in Arunai!
Please instruct me about the supreme state: the single, infinite state that is full of silence, in which the flood of the unified taste of peace prevails, where the body and all enjoyments are blissfully forgotten, where true knowledge shines like the sun. This is the yogic state that is called ‘Being still’.
65
I worshipped the Supreme Siva and by plunging into the ocean of his grace, found him to be the substratum.
The bliss experienced by his devotees is inexplicable. Even the Vedas and the Agamas fail to describe it.
76
The Self, fullness and perfection, can neither be described nor rejected. It is a state of bliss and knowledge beyond words, having no day and no night. It is called nishtha by the Vedas. The Self, complete in itself, is not something that can be caught hold of.
Nishta is derived from a word which means ‘balanced” or ‘in a state of equilibrium’. It denotes a state in which one is unwaveringly established in the Self.
.......
78
What Supreme shall we catch hold of?
What is it that catches?
The undivided whole, knowledge itself, is that Supreme.
The greatness of those who can directly speak of this is indescribable.
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