Summary: Talks-1

 58

D.: I meditate neti-neti (not this - not this). 

M.: No - that is not meditation. Find the source. 

You must reach the source without fail. 

The false ‘I’ will disappear and the real ‘I’ will be realised. 

The former cannot exist apart from the latter.

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D.: We surrender; but still there is no help. 

M.: Yes. If you have surrendered, you must be able to abide by the will of God and not make a grievance of what may not please you. 

Things may turn out differently from what they look apparently. 

Distress often leads men to faith in God.

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Talk 47. A Malayalee visitor expressed his concern for the misery of the world and his opinion that ‘Quest for Self’ looked selfish in the midst of such suffering environments. His solution appeared to be selfless work. 

M.: The sea is not aware of its wave. Similarly the Self is not aware of its ego. 

Note: This makes clear what Sri Bhagavan means by quest for the source of ego.

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D.: How to know the ‘I’? 

The ‘I’ is always there. There is obstruction to its knowledge and it is called ignorance. Remove the ignorance and knowledge shines forth. In fact this ignorance or even knowledge is not for Atman.

  They are only overgrowths to be cleared off. That is why Atman is said to be beyond knowledge and ignorance. It remains as it naturally is - that is all.

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when the vasanas are removed, jnana becomes unshaken and bears fruit.

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 When the senses are merged in darkness it is deep sleep; when merged in light it is samadhi. 

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In samadhi the head does not bend down because the senses are there though inactive; 

whereas the head bends down in sleep because the senses are merged in darkness.

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M.: The seekers fall into two classes; kritopasaka and akritopasaka. 

The former having already overcome his predisposition by steady devotion, his mind thus made pure, has had some kind of experience but does not comprehend it; as soon as he is instructed by a competent master, permanent experience results. 

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M.: Surrender is Bhakti Yoga. 

To reach the source of the ‘I-thought’ is the destruction of the ego, is the attainment of the goal, is prapatti (surrender), jnana, etc.

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Talk 141. .........every sentence imp:

The same gentleman later, after quoting a verse from Kaivalya, asked: “Can jnana be lost after being once attained?” 

M.: Jnana, once revealed, takes time to steady itself. 

The Self is certainly within the direct experience of everyone, but not as one imagines it to be. 

It is only as it is. 

This Experience is samadhi. 

Just as fire remains without scorching against incantations or other devices but scorches otherwise, so also the Self remains veiled by vasanas and reveals itself when there are no vasanas. 

Owing to the fluctuation of the vasanas, jnana takes time to steady itself.

 Unsteady jnana is not enough to check rebirths.

 Jnana cannot remain unshaken side by side with vasanas. 

True, that in the proximity of a great master, the vasanas will cease to be active, the mind becomes still and samadhi results, 

 similar to fire not scorching because of other devices.

 Thus the disciple gains true knowledge and right experience in the presence of the master. 

To remain unshaken in it, further efforts are necessary. 

He will know it to be his real Being and thus be liberated even while alive. 

Samadhi with closed eyes is certainly good, but one must go further until it is realised that actionlessness and action are not hostile to each other. 

Fear of loss of samadhi while one is active is the sign of ignorance. 

Samadhi must be the natural life of everyone. 

There is a state beyond our efforts or effortlessness. 

Until it is realised, effort is necessary. 

After tasting such Bliss, even once 

one will repeatedly try to regain it.

Having once experienced the Bliss of Peace no one would like to be out of it or engaged himself otherwise.

 It is as difficult for a Jnani to engage in thoughts as it is for an ajnani to be free from thought. 

The common man says that he does not know himself. He thinks many thoughts and cannot remain without thinking. 

Any kind of activity does not affect a Jnani. 

His mind remains ever in eternal Peace.

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M.: Those who have discovered great Truths have done so in the still depths of the Self.

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M.: Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion. 

After the camphor burns away no residue is left. 

The mind is the camphor. When it has resolved itself into the Self without leaving even the slightest trace behind, it is Realisation of the Self.

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Knowledge can remain unshaken only after all the vasanas are rooted out.

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D.: What is the difference between meditation and enquiry into the Self? 

M.: Meditation is possible only if the ego be kept up. There is the ego and the object meditated upon. The method is indirect. 

Whereas the Self is only one. Seeking the ego, i.e. its source, ego disappears. What is left over is the Self. This method is the direct one.

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D.: Even so, I do not understand. ‘I’, you say, is the wrong ‘I’ now. How to eliminate this wrong ‘I’? 

M.: You need not eliminate the wrong ‘I’. How can ‘I’ eliminate itself? 

All that you need to do is to find out its origin and abide there.

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  Learn what surrender is.

It is to merge in the source of the ego

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The fact is: There is Reality. It is not affected by any discussions. Let us abide as Reality and not engage in futile discussions as to its nature, etc.

185

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Sam: I am bramha ...a mentation..a vritti...no use

M.: “I am Brahman” is only a thought. Who says it? Brahman itself does not say so. What need is there for it to say it? Nor can the real ‘I’ say so. For ‘I’ always abides as Brahman. To be saying it is only a thought. Whose thought is it? All thoughts are from the unreal ‘I’. i.e. the ‘I’- thought. Remain without thinking. So long as there is thought there will be fear.

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D.: On what should we meditate? 

M.: Who is the meditator? Ask the question first. Remain as the meditator. There is no need to meditate.

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Talk 208. 

It is enough that one surrenders oneself. 

Surrender is to give oneself up to the original cause of one’s being. 

Do not delude yourself by imagining such a source to be some God outside you. 

One’s source is within yourself. Give yourself up to it. 

That means that you should seek the source and merge in it.

Because you imagine yourself to be out of it, you raise the question 

“Where is the source?” 

Some contend that the sugar cannot taste its own sweetness and that a taster must taste and enjoy it. Similarly, an individual cannot be the Supreme and enjoy the 

Bliss of that state; therefore the individuality must be maintained on the one hand and God-head on the other so that enjoyment may result!

Is God insentient like sugar? How can one surrender oneself and yet retain one’s individuality for supreme enjoyment? Furthermore they say also that the soul, reaching the divine region and remaining there, serves the Supreme Being.

Can the sound of the word “service” deceive the Lord? Does He not know? Is He waiting for these people’s service? Would not He - the Pure Consciousness - ask in turn: “Who are you apart from Me that presume to serve Me?”

Still more, they assume that the individual soul becomes pure by being divested of the ego and fit for being the body of the Lord. Thus the Lord is the Spirit and the purified souls constitute His body and limbs! Can there be a soul for the souls? How many souls are there? 

..............you may read further from march part 9 ..talks..,,

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So long as there is individuality, one is the enjoyer and doer.

 But when individuality is given up, the Divine Will prevails and guides the course of events. 

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D.: How is annihilation of predispositions to be accomplished? 

M.: You are in that condition in realisation. 

D.: Does it mean that, holding on to the Self, the tendencies should be scorched as they begin to emerge? 

M.: They will themselves be scorched if only you remain as you truly are.

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211

D.: No. But still, I want to know how the Self could be realised. Is there any method leading to it? 

M.: Make effort. Just as water is got by boring a well, so also you realise the Self by investigation. 

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D.: Yes. But some find water readily and others with difficulty. 

M.: But you already see the moisture on the surface. You are hazily aware of the Self. Pursue it. When the effort ceases the Self shines forth. 

D.: How to train the mind to look within? 

M.: By practice. The mind is the intelligent phase leading to its own destruction, for Self to manifest.

D.: How to destroy the mind? 

M.: Water cannot be made dry water. Seek the Self; the mind will be destroyed.

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The wrong knowledge consists in the false identification of the Self with the body, the mind, etc. 

This false identity must go and there remains the Self.

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D.: How is that to happen? 

M.: By enquiry into the Self.

 D.: It is difficult. Can I realise the Self, Maharaj? Kindly tell me. It looks so difficult. 

M.: You are already the Self. 

Therefore realisation is common to everyone. Realisation knows no difference in the aspirants. This very doubt, “

Can I realise?” or the feeling, “I have not realised” are the obstacles. Be free from these also.

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D.: But there should be the experience. Unless I have the experience how can I be free from these afflicting thoughts? 

M.: These are also in the mind. 

They are there because you have identified yourself with the body. 

If this false identity drops away, ignorance vanishes and Truth is revealed.

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Renunciation is non-identification of the Self with the non-self.

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M.: Yes. When you see God in all, do you think of God or do you not?

 You should certainly keep God in your mind for seeing God all round you.

 Keeping God in your mind becomes dhyana. Dhyana is the stage before realisation.

Realisation is in the Self only. Dhyana must precede it. 

Whether you make dhyana of God or of Self, it is immaterial. The goal is the same. 

But you cannot escape the Self. 

You want to see God in all, but not in yourself? If all are God, are you not included in that all? Yourself being God, is it a wonder that all are God? There must be a seer and thinker for even the practice. Who is he?

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M.: Kevala nirvikalpa happens even in the tanumanasi stage (of attenuated mind). 

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D.: The middling and superior jnanis are said to be jivanmuktas. Kevala nirvikalpa is in tanumanasa. Where does one whose jnana is weak fit in? 

M.: He comes in sattvapatti (realisation) - 

whereas the middling and the superior ones come in asamsakti and padarthabhavini respectively.

...

D.: Is tanumanasi the same as mumukshutva? 

M.: No. The six qualities, discrimination, dispassion and mumukshutva, etc., precede subhechcha. The first stage follows mumukshutva, then comes vicharana (search), then the tenuous mind. Direct perception is in sattvapatti (realisation).

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M.: The whole cosmos is contained in one pinhole in the Heart. These passions are part of the cosmos. They are avidya (ignorance).

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M.: Abhyasa is only to prevent any disturbance to the inherent peace.

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D.: But saktipata is said to occur in karmasamya, i.e., when merit and demerit are equal. 

M.: Yes. Malaparipaka, karmasamya and saktipata mean the same, A man is running the course of his samskaras; when taught he is the Self, the teaching affects his mind and imagination runs riot. He feels helpless before the onrushing power. His experiences are only according to his imagination of the state “I

am the Self”, whatever he may conceive it to be. 

Saktipata alone confers the true and right experience. 

When the man is ripe for receiving the instruction and his mind is about to sink into the Heart, the instruction imparted works in a flash and he realises the Self all right.

Otherwise, there is always the struggle. 

Mano-nasa, jnana, and chittaikagrata (annihilation of the mind, knowledge and one-pointedness) means the same.

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