Emma Vendum - reworded

What do I need?

Ramana knows better what is good for me.

Can there be anything better than what he wants for me?

The happiness of a 'desireless' life.

That alone is happiness.

The consciousness 'free of thought' is the greatest happiness.

He is my Guru, who gives me a 'fearless' life.

Getting anything else is but misery.

With His grace, I am able to see only what is good for me.

He protects me every moment.

Not allowing the 'l' or the ego to rise.

He makes me act wisely as the situation demands.

Whenever, wherever.

Needless to say, only good will come out of it.

My gain is my Guru Ramana alone.

Nothing else.

What else can I need?

............................end......................................

Notes oct 2022

 What revolves in your mind 24/7 happens. it continues in the background.

is Atma in your background...in a similar manner.

Just like a lover thinks of her paramour 24/7?

Then a split second is enough...for it to transpire...

Do you know that obviously you want it?

do you know that you cannot live without it?

only then you qualify to get it.

Not otherwise.

The first pre-requisite is 'mumukshatva'.

Just like a girl from a lower socio eco structure is desperate to be accepted amongst a classy group of friends..and ponders 24/7 how to make the grade?

Just like an immigrant who decides that the US is his destination and is ready to pay whatever price for it.

Even his life.

His life will be worthless without it is what he has concluded.

Have you concluded that life is useless without achieving Atma ..like 'now'?

if you are in love with a girl, is it ok if you get her after 15 years?

or do you want her now?

Nisarga says ...forget all preparation and go directly for the Self.

When a girl from a chawl decides she wants to be classy...she hangs out only with classy girls.

She rejects the company of girls who have no clue what class is.

Similarly a mumukshutvu rejects the company of worldly minded people.

That girl doesn't listen to songs or watch programs that are not her calibre.

A mumukshutvu has no desire to know how an ignorant behaves and acts.

He is desperate for Hari.

His Hari fills him and makes him full.

He is fulfilled by his very thought.

Hari takes the responsibility of filling him.

Making him full.

Never to be emptied.

Ever again.

but the trick is to want him.

 now 

this moment

else its too late.

else you will  never get Him.

..and to be full, you have to be empty.

Totally devoid of concepts.

And obviously no wants or desires

To want Him desperately is the  magic of Grace.

If you want Him badly, you shall know how to get Him.

He himself shows you the trick how to get Him.

Else it's impossible.

If a woman's heart melts, it opens all the secret doors for her paramour.

For the ones she has not chosen, just a sky high iron gate remains. 

Never to be opened by any key in a hundred years.

No amount of shastras or chanting of mantras or yadnyas or some sorcery will take you to Atma.

But love alone shall take you to the Self.

To Atma. 

To Hari.

They are just not identical. They are the same.

Only One exists.

And unless He makes me want Him, how can the petty me 

have the courage to want Him?

You cannot play a game to win.

you have to 'win' the game first.

And then pretend to play.

That's how winners play.

Rest are only losers.

Born to be reborn.

Born only to suffer.

Born to get swept away by the tide of their destiny, resurrected from evil karma.

To get washed ashore like dead fish 

Only to be scavenged by the animals ashore.

Nature is red in tooth and claw for the unwary.

We might sing poems and songs of beauty.

Yet 'beast' is the destiny for the unrealised.

From Death to death, from one hell to another,

 is the destiny for the one who refuses to make Atma his final goal

Says Kathopanishad.

Can you hold on to the Pure I?

Therein lies God

And He always wants you.

always.

Mommy always wants the child.

To want Him is the key.

To melt in Him is the tapasya.

Sati is a symbolism for the one who wants sat and sat alone

and is ready to immolate himself for that goal.

The girl madly in love opens the secret door for her lover in her basement, 

otherwise covered by a pile of rubble.

No one knows the entrance but her.

Atma lies in the pinhole of your spiritual heart.

Clearly visible by being absolutely still.

That is the secret entrance.

The cave of the heart is that pinhole.

Stabdho bhavati says Narada muni.

Nerve currents still on seeing Him.

Atma ramo bhavati.

Dwells in the cave  of the heart with his Hari, his Ram.

Matto bhavati.

Loses body consciousness on reaching Him.

..He wants you

Only as much as you want Him.

No more, no less.

Unless He shows you the way,

There is no way.

..................................end...................................

What is pure love?

That which is free of desires

Of any wants

Of any hankering

Free of vasanas 

Free of concepts

...The state of not wanting is Pure Love.

..........................................end.................................

tulsi

Sound Celestial

Listen, O friend, to the thunderous roar of Shabd,
Which reverberates throughout the firmament.
Water, which becomes turbid by relishing the earth,
Gets cleansed of its impurities when filtered.
Waves of pure bliss emanate from the heart
When the moss that covers it is removed.

Hold the arrow, be still, stretch the bow taut,
Fix your aim sharp at the target, pierce the firmament.
The invisible world is contained within the human eye,
So say and describe all men of inner knowledge.

Behold the Brahmand within, through your astral eye.
When that eye is opened, everything stands revealed.

.....

In whom longing for the Beloved hath taken abode,
Every moment his body becometh feeble and enervated.
A stream of tears constantly flows from his eyes;
The pangs of pain ceaselessly smart his body and mind.

Like rivers in Sawan and Bhadon, overflows the stream of my love.
Day and night I long for Him and tears fall like incessant rain.

The pain for my Beloved increasingly penetrates my being every moment;
My attention can be transfixed on nought but him,
Even as the moon bird never gets satiated by looking at the moon.

Dark clouds gather and burst with thunder, and lightning dazzles the eyes.
The peacock crows in delight and the rain bird sings his longing.
I yearn for thee evermore, my body keeps wasting away in anguish.

When I listen to the Sound, I lose my patience and I write to my Beloved.
With mind and soul as my couriers, I send my message to His inaccessible abode.

When I hear the tidings of His well-being,
My heart is filled with love and delight.
Ever since this yearning for the Lord has taken hold of me,
I have severed all connections with the world.

.....

Up till now I have lost much and wasted life in idle pursuits.

The grace of Lord Rama has aroused me from sleep.

Awakened now, I shall not allow myself to be victimized by Maya (illusion).

I have gained the grace of the Lord's Name. I shall hold it fast to my bosom and not let it from me for a second.

The beautiful form of the Lord I shall cherish in my mind.

Long has this world mocked me, making me a slave of the senses.

Now I shall have no more of it.

I am now a bee at my Lord's Lotus Feet and shall not allow my mind to leave the enjoyment of their nectar for a moment.

........

Lightning flashed in my eye, O friend,
And brightly did shine the light of the moon.
I got a glimpse of the Invisible within,
And thirst and longing for the Lord were aroused.
My ears received the boon of Unstruck Music,
And Knowledge came like the explosion of light, O Friend.
Dark clouds began to scatter and the sight
Of the Divine Mansion was revealed unto me.
Beyond the sun, the moon and the tunnel,
Tulsi beheld the abode of the Lord Almighty.

........

..........................end................................................

KS-7

 part 15

528

M.: First surrender and see. The doubts arise because of the absence of surrender. 

Acquire strength by surrender and then your surroundings will be found to have improved to the degree of strength acquired by you.

.

........

You can entertain these thoughts or relinquish them. The former is bondage and the latter is release. 

D.: It is not quite clear to me. 

M.: You must exist in order that you may think. 

You may think these thoughts or other thoughts. 

The thoughts change but not you. 

Let go the passing thoughts and hold on to the unchanging Self.

 The thoughts form your bondage. If they are given up, there is release. 

The bondage is not external. So no external remedy need be sought for release. 

It is within your competence to think and thus to get bound or to cease thinking and thus be free. 

D.: But it is not easy to remain without thinking. 

M.: You need not cease thinking. 

Only think of the root of the thoughts. 

Seek it and find it. 

The Self shines by itself. 

When that is found the thoughts cease of their own accord. That is freedom from bondage.

........

M.: The experience is the same. Every person experiences the Self consciously or unconsciously. The ajnani’s experience is clouded by his latencies whereas the jnani’s is not so. The jnani’s experience of the Self is therefore distinct and permanent. 

A practiser may by long practice gain a glimpse of the Reality. This experience may be vivid for the time being. And yet he will be distracted by the old vasanas and so his experience will not avail him. 

Such a man must continue his manana and nididhyasana so that all the obstacles may be destroyed. He will then be able to remain permanently in the Real State.

......

575

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.

....

577............................................

Talk 596. 

A visitor asked: Sri Bhagavan said last night that God is guiding us. Then why should we make an effort to do anything? 

M.: Who asks you to do so? If there was that faith in the guidance of God this question would not have arisen. 

D.: The fact is that God guides us. Then what is the use of these instructions to people?

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. 

Mr. Chopra asked: “How shall I secure that firm faith?” 

M.: Exactly. It is for such as these who want instructions. There are persons who seek freedom from misery. 

They are told that God guides all and so there need not be any concern about what happens.

 If they are of the best type they at once believe it and firmly abide by faith in God. 

But there are others who are not so easily convinced of the truth of the bare statement. 

They ask: “Who is God? What is His nature? Where is He? How can He be realised?” and so on. 

In order to satisfy them intellectual discussion is found necessary. 

Statements are made, their pros and cons are argued, and the truth is thus made clear to the intellect.

 When the matter is understood intellectually the earnest seeker begins to apply it practically. 

He argues at every moment, “For whom are these thoughts? Who am I?” and so forth, until he is well-established in the conviction that a Higher Power guides us. 

That is firmness of faith. 

Then all his doubts are cleared and he needs no further instructions.

.....

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. 

.....part 15 ends

part 16

605

The object here is the Universal Being-Consciousness which is all-pervading and therefore immanent in all. It need not be cognised by reflection alone; it is self-resplendent. 

Therefore the seeker’s aim must be to drain away the vasanas from the heart and let no reflection obstruct the Light of Eternal Consciousness.

This is achieved by the search for the origin of the ego and by diving into the heart. This is the direct method for Self-Realisation. 

One who adopts it need not worry about nadis, the brain, the Sushumna, the Paranadi, the Kundalini, pranayama or the six centres. 

.......

D.: I understand it. But there is no happiness beyond it.

 M.: The intellect is the instrument wherewith to know unknown things. 

But you are already known, being the Self which is itself knowledge;

 so you do not become the object of knowledge. 

The intellect makes you see things outside, and not that which is its own source. 

........

The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-Realisation. 

But Self-Realisation itself does not admit of progress; it is ever the same. The Self remains always in realisation. 

The obstacles are thoughts. 

Progress is measured by the degree of removal of the obstacles to understanding that the Self is always realised.

 So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. 

So you go to their Source, where they do not arise.

....

M.: Just so. The common man is aware of himself only when modifications arise in the intellect (vijnanamaya kosa); these modifications are transient; they arise and set. Hence the vijnanamaya (intellect) is called a kosa or sheath. 

When pure awareness is left over it is itself the Chit (Self) or the Supreme. To be in one’s natural state on the subsidence of thoughts is bliss; if that bliss be transient - arising and setting - then it is only the sheath of bliss (Anandamaya kosa), not the pure Self. 

What is needed is to fix the attention on the pure ‘I’ after the subsidence of all thoughts and not to lose hold of it.

 This has to be described as an extremely subtle thought; else it cannot be spoken of at all, since it is no other than the Real Self. Who is to speak of it, to whom and how?

This is well explained in the Kaivalyam and the Viveka Chudamani. 

Thus though in sleep the awareness of the Self is not lost, the ignorance of the jiva is not affected by it. 

For this ignorance to be destroyed this subtle state of mind (vrittijnanam) is necessary. 

In the sunshine cotton does not burn. But if the cotton be placed under a lens it catches fire and is consumed by the rays of the Sun passing through the lens. 

So too, though the awareness of the Self is present at all times, it is not inimical to ignorance. 

If by meditation the subtle state of thought is won, then ignorance is destroyed. 

Also in Viveka Chudamani: ativa sukshmam paramatma tattvam na sthoola drishtya (the exceedingly subtle Supreme Self cannot be seen by the gross eye) and 

esha svayam jyotirasesha sakshi (this is Self-shining and witnesses all). 

This subtle mental state is not a modification of mind called vritti.

 Because the mental states are of two kinds. One is the natural state and the other is a transformation into forms of objects.

 The first is the truth, and the other is according to the doer (kartru-tantra). 

When the latter perishes, jale kataka renuvat (like the clearing nut paste in water) the former will remain over. 

The means for this end is meditation.

 Though this is with the triad of distinction (triputi) it will finally end in pure awareness (jnanam)

 Meditation needs effort: jnanam is effortless. 

Meditation can be done, or not done, or wrongly done, jnanam is not so. 

Meditation is described as kartru-tantra (as doer’s own), jnanam as vastu-tantra (the Supreme’s own)

...part 16 ends.....

part 17

D.: But Chudala says to Sikhidhvaja that she simply helped to trim the wick. 

M.: That refers to nididhyasana. 

By sravana, Knowledge dawns. That is the flame. 

By manana, the Knowledge is not allowed to vanish. Just as the flame is protected by a wind-screen, so the other thoughts are not allowed to overwhelm the right knowledge. 

By nididhyasana, the flame is kept up to burn bright by trimming the wick. Whenever other thoughts arise, the mind is turned inward to the light of true knowledge. 

When this becomes natural, it is samadhi.

 The enquiry “Who am I?” is the sravana.

 The ascertainment of the true import of ‘I’ is the manana. 

The practical application on each occasion is nididhyasana. 

Being as ‘I’ is samadhi.

........

641

Any kind of meditation is good. 

But if the sense of separateness is lost and the object of meditation or the subject who meditates is alone left behind without anything else to know, it is jnana. 

.........

The mind which has obtained a burning desire for Self-attention, which is Self-enquiry, is said to be the fully mature one (pakva manas). 

Sam: Who is pari pakva?

One who has a burning desire to stay with the Self and Self alone.

..........................end............................

Key sentences 6

 Talk 466. 

Mr. Vaidyalingam, an employee of the National Bank: By meditation manifestation disappears and then ananda results. It is short-lived. How is it made ever abiding? 

M.: By scorching the predispositions. 

Sam: Scorching the pre-dispositions = Tapa.

......

When egoity ceases to be, actions become spontaneous.

.....

Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind by means of the mind.

The only way of doing it is to find its source and hold on to it. 

The mind will then fade away of its own accord. 

......part 13 ends

part 14 dec 30, 2021

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

490

In the course of the discourse Sri Bhagavan also made a few points clearer: 

Abhyasa consists in withdrawal within the Self every time you are disturbed by thought. 

It is not concentration or destruction of the mind but withdrawal into the Self.

 Dhyana, bhakti, japa, etc., are aids to keep out the multiplicity of thoughts. A single thought prevails which too eventually dissolves in the Self.

The questioner quoted that the mind starved of ideas amounted to realisation and asked what the experience is in that state.

 He himself read out a passage from Mr. Brunton that it was indescribable. The answer was there. He again ventured out that it must be like looking through an unsilvered mirror, as contrasted with the present experience corresponding to looking on a silvered mirror. 

Sri Bhagavan said it was a mirror facing another clear mirror, i.e. no reflection.

.....

Realisation means True Knowledge of the Perfection and Immortality of the Self. 

...

496

Talk 489.

 Another group of visitors was asking the method of Realisation. 

In the course of a reply Sri Bhagavan said: 

“Holding the mind and investigating it is advised for a beginner. 

But what is the mind after all? It is a projection of the Self. 

See for whom it appears and from where it rises. 

The ‘I-thought’ will be found to be the root-cause. 

Go deeper; the ‘I-thought’ disappears and there is an infinitely expanded ‘I-consciousness’. 

That is otherwise called Hiranyagarbha. 

When it puts on limitations it appears as individuals.”

.............

M.: If Realisation be something outside you a way can be shown consistent with the safety of the individual, his capacity. etc. 

Then the questions if it is realisable and, if so, in what time - will also arise. But here, Realisation is of the Self. You cannot remain without the Self. The Self is always realised. But only you do not recognise the fact. 

The Realisation is now obscured by the present world idea. 

The world is now seen outside you and the idea associated with it obscures your real nature. 

All that is needed is to overcome this ignorance and then the Self stands revealed. 

No special effort is necessary to realise the Self. 

All efforts are for eliminating the present obscuration of the Truth. 

...........

...........

M.: There is no connection between Self-Realisation and individual predispositions (samskara). It is not always possible to live up to the ideal of the Guru. 

D.: Do not passions affect Realisation? 

M.: The attempt to cleanse oneself will be automatic. 

D.: Is it not necessary to wash off all impurities before Realisation? 

M.: Jnana will wash them clean.

.....

M.: Investigate and see if there is any individuality at all. Ask this question after solving this problem.

 Nammalvar says: “In ignorance I took the ego to be myself; however,

 with the right knowledge,

 the ego is nowhere 

and only you remain as the Self.” 

.......

 There is no jnana as it is commonly understood. 

The ordinary ideas of jnana and ajnana are only relative and false. 

They are not real and therefore not abiding. 

The true state is the non-dual Self. 

It is eternal and abides whether one is aware or not. It is like kanthabharana or the tenth man.

..

524

Knowledge (jnana) is not incompatible with ignorance (ajnana) because the Self in purity is found to remain along with ignorance-seed (ajnana beeja) in sleep. But the incompatibility arises only in the waking and dream states. 

Ajnana has two aspects: avarana (veiling) and vikshepa (multiplicity). 

Of these, avarana (veiling) denotes the veil hiding the Truth. That prevails in sleep. Multiplicity (vikshepa) is activity in different times.

This gives rise to diversity and prevails in waking and dream states (jagrat and svapna). If the veil, i.e. avarana is lifted, the Truth is perceived. 

It is lifted for a Jnani and so his karana sarira (causal body) ceases to exist. 

Vikshepa alone continues for him. Even so, it is not the same for a Jnani as it is for an ajnani. 

..

The ajnani has all kinds of vasanas, i.e. kartrtva (doership) and bhoktrtva (enjoyership), 

whereas the Jnani has ceased to be doer (karta). 

...

Thus only one kind of vasana obtains for him. 

That too is very weak and does not overpower him, because he is always aware of the Sat-Chit-Ananda nature of the Self. 

The tenuous bhoktrtva vasana is the only remnant of the mind left in the Jnani and he therefore appears to be living in the body.

 This explanation when applied to the mantra amounts to this: 

A Jnani has his karana sarira destroyed.

The sthula sarira (gross body) has no effect on him 

and is for all practical purposes destroyed too. 

The sukshma sarira (subtle body) alone remains. It is otherwise called ativahika sarira.

 It is this which is held by all persons after the physical body is given up. And with this they traverse to other lokas until another suitable physical body is taken. 

The Jnani is supposed to move in Brahmaloka with this sukshma sarira. 

Then that is also dissolved and he passes to final Liberation. 

The whole explanation is meant only for the onlooker. 

The Jnani himself will never raise such questions. 

He knows by his experience that he is not bound by any kind of limitations.

........

D.: What is the ‘final emancipation’ according to the foregoing explanation? 

M.: The ativahika or the sukshma sarira corresponds to the pure light which one experiences just after sleep and before the rise of the ego. 

It is Cosmic Consciousness. 

That is only the Light reflected from the Heart.

  When the reflection ceases and abides as the Original Light in the Heart it is final emancipation.

.....

D.: But Yoga Vasishtha says that the chitta (mind) of a jivanmukta is achala (unchanging). 

M.: So it is. Achala chitta (unchanging mind) is the same as suddha manas (pure mind).

 The jnani’s manas is said to be suddha manas. The Yoga Vasishtha also says that Brahman is no other than the jnani’s mind. So Brahman is suddha manas only.

D.: Will the description of Brahman as Sat-Chit-Ananda suit this suddha manas? For this too will be destroyed in the final emancipation. 

M.: If suddha manas is admitted, the Bliss (Ananda) experienced by the Jnani must also be admitted to be reflected. This reflection must finally merge into the Original. Therefore the jivanmukti state is compared to the reflection of a spotless mirror in another similar mirror. What will be found in such a reflection? Pure Akasa (Ether). Similarly, the jnani’s reflected Bliss (Ananda) represents only the true Bliss. These are all only words. 

It is enough that a person becomes antarmukhi (inward-bent). 

The sastras are not needed for an inward turned mind. They are meant for the rest.

.....

To turn the mind inward the man must directly settle down in the ‘I’. 

.......

...............end..........14 ends......................

Key sentences 5

 Part 10 dec 2021

300

 ....M.: This is only a repetition. That is the obstruction. 

This arises because you think that the non-self is you. 

That is the mistake.

Do not take the non-self to be the Self. 

Then the Self will be evident to you.

.....

Rebirth is due to vasanas which are binding. But they are destroyed in the state of Self-realisation.

.........

Talk 320.

 In the course of an informal conversation Sri Bhagavan pointed out that 

Self-Realisation is possible only for the fit. 

The vasanas must be eliminated before jnana dawns.

 One must be like Janaka for jnana to dawn. 

One must be ready to sacrifice everything for the Truth. 

Complete renunciation is the index of fitness.

....

M.: Why do you want to know of Brahman apart from yourself? The scripture says “You are That”. 

The Self is intimate to you and you cannot indeed be without the Self. 

Realise it. 

That is the Realisation of Brahman also.

.......

D.: What is unconditional surrender? 

M.: If one surrenders oneself there will be no one to ask questions or to be thought of. 

Either the thoughts are eliminated by holding on to the root-thought ‘I’ or 

one surrenders oneself unconditionally to the Higher Power. 

These are the only two ways for Realisation.

......

Sri Bhagavan said the whole Vedanta is contained in the two Biblical statements: 

“I am that I am” and

 “Be still and know that I am God.”

..........

Churning the mind: 

To install the mind firmly in the heart until these forces are destroyed and to awaken with unswerving, ceaseless vigilance the true and cognate tendency which is characteristic of the Atman and is expressed by the dicta, Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman), and Brahmaivaham (Brahman alone am I) is termed nididhyasana or atmanusandhana, i.e. constancy in the Self. This is otherwise called Bhakti, Yoga and Dhyana. 

Sam:Constancy in the Self is called Bhakti, Yoga, Dnyana.

Atmanusandhana has been likened to churning the curd to draw forth butter, 

the mind being compared to the churning rod, 

the heart to the curd 

and the practice of constancy in the Self to the process of churning. 

Just as by churning the curd butter is extracted and by friction fire is kindled, 

even so, 

By unswerving vigilant constancy in the Self, 

ceaseless like the unbroken filamentary flow of oil,

 is generated the natural or changeless trance or nirvikalpa samadhi.

It readily and spontaneously yields that direct, immediate, unobstructed and universal perception of Brahman.

It is at once Knowledge and Experience and which transcends time and space.

........

342

The thought rises up as the subject and object. 

‘I’ alone being held, all else disappears.

 It is enough, 

but only to the competent few.

......

yogic paranadi is from muladhara and 

the jnana paranadi is from the Heart. 

The truth is that the paranadi should be entered.

.......

Again if there is an image reflected there must be a source and also accessories like the Sun and a pot of water for reflection. 

To do away with the reflection either the surface is covered up corresponding to reaching the fontanelle according to the yogis or 

the water is drained away which is called tapas (Tapo Brahmeti - tapas is Brahman). 

That is to say,  the thoughts or the brain activities are made to cease. This is jnana-marga.

All these are however on the assumption that the jiva is separate from the Self or Brahman. 

But are we separate? “No”, says the Jnani. 

The ego is simply wrong identity of the Self with the non-self,

 as in the case of a colourless crystal and its coloured background. 

The crystal though colourless appears red because of its background. If the background is removed the crystal shines in its original purity. So it is with the Self and the antahkaranas.

Still again the illustration is not quite appropriate. For the ego has its source from the Self and is not separate like the background from the crystal. 

Having its source from the Self, the ego must only be retraced in order that it might merge in its source. 

The centre of the ego and its core is called the Heart, the same as the Self.

..........

Self surrender = self control.

D.: What is Self-surrender? 

M.: It is the same as self-control. 

Control is effected by removal of samskaras which imply the functioning of the ego. 

The ego submits only when it recognises the Higher Power. 

Such recognition is surrender or submission, or self-control. 

Otherwise the ego remains stuck up like the image carved on a tower, making a pretence by its strained look and posture that it is supporting the tower on its shoulders. The ego cannot exist without the Power but thinks that it acts of its own accord.

.........

External samadhi is holding on to the Reality while witnessing the world, without reacting to it from within. 

There is the stillness of a waveless ocean. 

The internal samadhi involves loss of body consciousness.

......

D.: Is loss of body-consciousness a perquisite to the attainment of sahaja samadhi?

 M.: What is body-consciousness? Analyse it. 

There must be a body and consciousness limited to it which together make up body consciousness. 

These must lie in another Consciousness which is absolute and unaffected. Hold it. That is samadhi. 

It exists when there is no body-consciousness because it transcends the latter, it also exists when there is the body-consciousness. 

So it is always there. 

What does it matter whether body-consciousness is lost or retained? When lost it is internal samadhi: when retained, it is external samadhi. That is all. A person must remain in any of the six samadhis so that sahaja samadhi may be easy for him.

........

D.: The mind does not sink into that state even for a second. 

M.: A strong conviction is necessary that I am the Self, transcending the mind and the phenomena.

.......

D.: Nevertheless, the mind proves to be a cord against attempts to sink it. 

M.: What does it matter if the mind is active? It is so only on the substratum of the Self. Hold the Self even during mental activities.

D.: I cannot go within sufficiently deep. 

M.: It is wrong to say so. Where are you now if not in the Self? 

Where should you go? 

All that is necessary is the stern belief that you are the Self. 

Say rather that the other activities throw a veil on you. 

D.: Yes, it is so. 

M.: That means that the conviction is weak.

........part 11 ends.

part 12

The man must directly see the seer and realise the Self.

...

.......422

M.: Being insentient, it does not say so. But the individual is sentient and cannot function apart from consciousness. The Self is Pure Consciousness. Yet the man identifies himself with the body which is itself insentient and does not say “I am the body” of its own accord. 

Someone else says so. The unlimited Self does not. Who else is he that says so? A spurious ‘I’ arises between the Pure Consciousness and the insentient body and imagines itself limited to the body. Seek this and it will vanish as a phantom. 

That phantom is the ego, or the mind or the individuality. 

All the sastras are based on the rise of this phantom, whose elimination is their purpose. 

The present state is mere illusion. 

Disillusionment is the goal and nothing more.

.....

Yoga Vasishta clearly defines Liberation as the abandonment of the false.

 And remaining as Being.

....

D.: What should one think of when meditating?

 M.: What is meditation? It is expulsion of thoughts. You are perturbed by thoughts which rush one after another. Hold on to one thought so that others are expelled. 

Continuous practice gives the necessary strength of mind to engage in meditation. 

Meditation differs according to the degree of advancement of the seeker. 

If one is fit for it one might directly hold the thinker. 

The thinker will automatically sink into his source, namely Pure Consciousness.

 If one cannot directly hold the thinker one must meditate on God.

In due course the same individual will have become sufficiently pure 

to hold the thinker 

and sink into absolute Being.

..........

M.: Leave God alone. Speak for yourself. You do not know God. He is only what you think of Him. Is he apart from you? He is that Pure Consciousness in which all ideas are formed. You are that Consciousness.

......

M.: There is confusion between the means and the end (i.e. sadhana and sadhya). Who is the enquirer? The aspirant and not the siddha. 

Enquiry signifies that the enquirer considers himself separate from enquiry.

 So long as this duality lasts the enquiry must be continued,

 i.e. until the individuality disappears and the Self is realised to be only the eternal Be-ing (including enquiry and enquirer). 

The Truth is that  the Self is constant and unintermittent Awareness.

 The object of enquiry is to find the true nature of the Self as Awareness.

 Let one practise enquiry so long as separateness is perceived. 

If once realisation arises there is no further need for enquiry. 

The question will also not arise. 

Can awareness ever think of questioning who is aware? 

Awareness remains pure and simple.

 The enquirer is aware of his own individuality.

 Enquiry does not stand in the way of his individual awareness; nor does external work interfere with such awareness. 

If work, seemingly external, does not obstruct the individual awareness, will the work, realised to be not separate from the Self, obstruct the uninterrupted Awareness of the Self, which is One without a second and which is not an individual separate from work?

........

D.: Sri Bhagavan’s answers do not permit us to put further questions, not because our minds are peaceful but we are unable to argue the point. Our discontent is not at an end. For the physical ailments to go the mental ailments should go. Both go when thoughts go. Thoughts do not go without effort. 

Effort is not possible with the present weakness of mind. The mind requires grace to gain strength. Grace must manifest only after surrender. So all questions, wittingly or unwittingly, amount to asking for Sri Bhagavan’s Grace. 

M.: Smiled and said, “Yes.” 

....

D.: Surrender is said to be bhakti. But Sri Bhagavan is known to favour enquiry for the Self. There is thus confusion in the hearer. 

M.: Surrender can take effect only when done with full knowledge. 

Such knowledge comes after enquiry. 

It ends in surrender.

........

D.: The knowledge of the Supreme Being is after transcending the individual self. This is jnana. Where is the need for surrender?

 M.: Quite so. There is no difference between dnyana and surrender. (Smile).

 ...

D.: How is the questioner satisfied then? The only alternative left is association with the wise or devotion to God (satsanga or Isvara bhakti). 

M.: Smiled and said, “Yes.”

......

465

Talk 465. 

Sri Bhagavan explained to a retired Judge of the High Court some points in the Upadesa Saram as follows:- 

(1) Meditation should remain unbroken as a current. If unbroken it is called samadhi or Kundalini sakti. 

(2) The mind may be latent and merge in the Self; it must necessarily rise up again; after it rises up one finds oneself only as ever before. For in this state the mental predispositions are present there in latent form to re manifest under favourable conditions. 

(3) Again the mind activities can be completely destroyed. This differs from the former mind, for here the attachment is lost, never to reappear. 

Even though the man sees the world after he has been in the samadhi state, the world will be taken only at its worth, that is to say it is the phenomenon of the One Reality. 

The True Being can be realised only in samadhi. 

What was then is also now. 

Otherwise it cannot be Reality or Ever-present Being. 

What was in samadhi is here and now too. Hold it and it is your natural condition of Being. 

Samadhi practice must lead to it. 

Otherwise how can nirvikalpa samadhi be of any use in which a man remains as a log of wood? 

He must necessarily rise up from it sometime or other and face the world. 

But in sahaja samadhi he remains unaffected by the world. So many pictures pass over the cinema screen: fire burns away everything; water drenches all; but the screen remains unaffected. 

The scenes are only phenomena which pass away leaving the screen as it was. Similarly the world phenomena simply pass on before the Jnani, leaving him unaffected. 

You may say that people find pain or pleasure in worldly phenomena. It is owing to superimposition. This must not happen. With this end in view practice is made. 

Practice lies in one of the two courses: devotion or knowledge. Even these are not the goals. 

Samadhi must be gained. 

It must be continuously practised until sahaja samadhi results. 

Then there remains nothing more to do.

..................end...........................................