march part 23

 https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Talks-with-Sri-Ramana-Maharshi--complete.pdf

558

Talk 570. 

A visitor:Nirguna upasana is said to be difficult and risky. He quoted the verse from Sri Bhagavad Gita, avyaktahi etc. (the manifest, etc.) 

M.: What is manifest is considered to be unmanifest and doubt is created. Can anything be more immediate and intimate than the Self? Can anything be more plain? 

D.: Saguna upasana seems easier. 

M.: Do what is easy for you.

582

Talk 578. 

Coming here, some people do not ask about themselves. They ask: “Does the sage, liberated while alive (Jivanmukta), see the world? Is he affected by Karma? What is liberation after being disembodied? Is one liberated only after being disembodied or even while alive in the body? Should the body of the sage resolve itself in light or disappear from view in any other manner? Can he be liberated though the body is left behind as a corpse?” 

Their questions are endless. Why worry oneself in so many ways? 

Does liberation consist in knowing these? Therefore I say to them, 

“Leave liberation alone. Is there bondage? Know this. See yourself first and foremost.”

......

Talk 579. 

Avarana (veiling) does not hide the jiva in entirety; he knows that he is; only he does not know who he is. He sees the world; but not that it is only Brahman. It is light in darkness (or knowledge in ignorance).

572

Talk 591. D.: Seekers who are in immediate proximity of the Master can get grace by darsana, sparsana, etc. (look, touch, etc.). But how does one get the same grace when the person is at a distance? 

M.: By yoga drishti (yogic look).

......

D.: What is the efficacy of the name? 

Sri Bhagavan read out the extract from the Vision. It was a translation of Namdev’s stanzas. 

D.: How does the name help Realisation? 

M.: The original name is always going on spontaneously without any effort on the part of the individual. That name is aham - ‘I’. But when it becomes manifest it manifests as ahamkara - the ego. The oral repetition of nama leads one to mental repetition which finally resolves itself into the eternal vibration.

.......

Sri Bhagavan said: They pray to God and finish with “Thy Will be done!” 

If His Will be done why do they pray at all? 

It is true that the Divine Will prevails at all times and under all circumstances. 

The individuals cannot act of their own accord. Recognise the force of the Divine Will and keep quiet.

 Each one is looked after by God. He has created all. You are one among 2,000 millions. When He looks after so many will He omit you? Even common sense dictates that one should abide by His Will.

Again there is no need to let Him know your needs. He knows them Himself and will look after

 them.

........

Help yourself so that you may become strong. That is done by complete surrender. 

That means you offer yourself to Him. 

So you cannot retain your individuality after surrender. 

You then abide by His Will.

 Thus Silence is the Highest of all achievements. 

Silence is the ocean in which all the rivers of all the religions discharge themselves. So says Thayumanavar. He also adds that the Vedic religion is the only one which combines both philosophy and religion.

........

M.: They are for those who seek instructions. If you are firm in your belief in the guidance of God, stick to it, and do not concern yourself with what happens around you. Furthermore, there may be happiness or misery. Be equally indifferent to both and abide in the faith of God. That will be so only when one’s faith is strong that God looks after all of us.

....

579

M.: Now what is your real nature? Is it writing, walking, or being? The one unalterable reality is Being. Until you realise that state of pure being you should pursue the enquiry. If once you are established in it there will be no further worry. No one will enquire into the source of thoughts unless thoughts arise. So long as you think “I am walking,” “I am writing,” enquire who does it. These actions will however go on when one is firmly established in the Self. Does a man always say, “I am a man, I am a man, I am a man,” every moment of his life? He does not say so and yet all his actions are going on.

D.: Is an intellectual understanding of the Truth necessary? 

M.: Yes. Otherwise why does not the person realise God or the Self at once, i.e. as soon as he is told that God is all or the Self is all? That shows some wavering on his part. He must argue with himself and gradually convince himself of the Truth before his faith becomes firm.

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580

Talk 597. A Swiss lady, Mrs. J. C. S. Hick-Riddingh, asked: “Does Self Realisation imply occult powers also?” 

M.: The Self is the most intimate and eternal Being whereas the siddhis are foreign. The one requires effort to acquire and the other does not. The powers are sought by the mind which must be kept alert whereas the Self is realised when the mind is destroyed. The powers manifest only when there is the ego. The ego makes you aware of others and in its absence there are no others to be seen. The Self is beyond the ego and is realised after the ego is eliminated. The elimination of the ego makes one unaware of others. How can the question of others arise and where is the use of occult powers for a Self-Realised Being? Self-Realisation may be accompanied by occult powers or it may not be. If the person had sought such powers before Realisation, he may get the powers after Realisation. 

There are others who had not sought such powers and had attempted only Self-Realisation. 

They do not manifest such powers. These powers may also be sought and gained even after Self Realisation. But then they are used for a definite purpose, i.e. the benefit of others as in the case of Chudala. Sikhidhvaja was a pious king. His spouse was Chudala. They received instructions from a sage. The king, being busy with the administration of his kingdom, could not put the instructions into practice, whereas Chudala put them into practice and gained Self-Realisation. Consequently she appeared more charming than before. The king was struck by her growing charm and asked her about it. She said that all charm was due to the Self and he was only noting the charm of Self-Realisation in her. He said that she was silly. There were great tapasvis who could not realise the Self even after long periods of tapas and what about a silly woman who was all along in the family and in the worldly life?

D.: Does the sage use occult powers for making others realise the Self or is the mere fact of his Self-Realisation enough for it?

M.: The force of his Self-Realisation is far more powerful than the use of all other powers. Inasmuch as there is no ego in him, there are not others for him. What is the highest benefit that can be conferred on others? It is happiness. Happiness is born of Peace. Peace can reign only when there is no disturbance. Disturbance is due to thoughts which arise in the mind. When the mind itself is absent there will be perfect Peace. 

Unless a person had annihilated his mind he cannot gain peace and be happy. Unless he himself is happy he cannot bestow happiness on others. When there is no mind he cannot be aware of others. So the mere fact of his Self-Realisation is itself enough to make all others happy.

.......

D.: Can samadhi come and go? 

M.: What is samadhi? Samadhi is one’s essential nature. How then can it come or go? If you do not realise your essential nature, your sight remains obstructed. What is the obstruction? Find it and remove it. So one’s efforts are meant only for the removal of obstructions which hide the true vision. The real nature remains the same. When once it is realised it is permanent. 

.......

D.: But Mr. Brunton says that he had one hour’s samadhi. Therefore I asked the question. 

M.: A practiser gains peace of mind and is happy. That peace is the result of his efforts. But the real state must be effortless. 

The effortless samadhi is the true one and the perfect state. It is permanent. 

The efforts are spasmodic and so also their results. 

When the real, effortless, permanent, happy nature is realised it will be found to be not inconsistent with the ordinary activities of life. 

The samadhi reached after efforts looks like abstraction from the external activities. A person might be so abstracted or live freely among people without detriment to his Peace and Happiness because that is his true nature or the Self.

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