Talks mar 13

 225

D.: Do we not see God in concrete form? 

M.: Yes. God is seen in the mind. The concrete form may be seen. Still it is only in the devotee’s mind. 

The form and appearance of God-manifestation are determined by the mind of the devotee. But it is not the finality. There is the sense of duality. It is like a dream-vision. 

After God is perceived, vichara commences. 

That ends in Realisation of the Self. 

Vichara is the ultimate route.

 Of course, a few find vichara practicable. 

Others find bhakti easier.

D.: Did not Mr. Brunton find you in London? Was it only a dream? 

M.: Yes. He had the vision. He saw me in his mind. 

D.: Did he not see this concrete form? 

M.: Yes, still in his mind. 

D.: How shall I reach the Self? 

M.: There is no reaching the Self. If the Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not now and here, but that it should be got anew. 

What is got afresh, will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. So I say, the Self is not reached. You are the Self. You are already That. 

The fact is that you are ignorant of your blissful state. Ignorance supervenes and draws a veil over the pure Bliss. Attempts are directed only to remove this ignorance. This ignorance consists in wrong knowledge. 

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. 

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. 

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.

.227

The fact is that you are not the body. The Self does not move. The world moves in it. You are only what you are. There is no change in you. So then even after what looks like departure from here, you are here and there and everywhere. These scenes shift. As for Grace - Grace is within you. If it is external it is useless. Grace is the Self. You are never out of its operation. Grace is always there.

.......

D.: I mean that when I remember your form, my mind should be strengthened and that response should come from your side too. I should not be left to my individual efforts which are after all only weak. 

M.: Grace is the Self. I have already said, “If you remember Bhagavan, you are prompted to do so by the Self.” Is not Grace already there? Is there a moment when Grace is not operating in you? Your remembrance is the forerunner of Grace. That is the response, that is the stimulus, that is the Self and that is Grace. There is no cause for anxiety.

...

D.: Is not samsara a hindrance? Do not all the holy books advocate renunciation? 

M.: Samsara is only in your mind. The world does not speak out, saying ‘I am the world’. Otherwise, it must be ever there - not excluding your sleep. Since it is not in sleep it is impermanent. Being impermanent it has no stamina. 

Having no stamina it is easily subdued by the Self. 

The Self alone is permanent. 

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

On the disappearance of ignorance the non-self ceases to exist. 

That is true renunciation.

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D.: How is the mind to dive into the Heart?

 M.: The mind now sees itself diversified as the universe. If the diversity is not manifest it remains in its own essence, that is the Heart. 

Entering the Heart means remaining without distractions. 

The Heart is the only Reality. 

The mind is only a transient phase. 

To remain as one’s Self is to enter the Heart. 

Because a man identifies himself with the body he sees the world separate from him. 

This wrong identification arises because he has lost his moorings and has swerved from his original state.

 He is now advised to give up all these false ideas, to trace back his source and remain as the Self. In that state, there are no differences. No questions will arise. All the sastras are meant only to make the man retrace his steps to the original source. He need not gain anything new. He must only give up his false ideas and useless accretions. Instead of doing it he tries to catch hold of something strange and mysterious because he believes that his happiness lies elsewhere. That is the mistake. If one remains as the Self there is bliss. Probably he thinks that being quiet does not bring about the state of bliss. That is due to his ignorance. The only practice is to find out “to whom these questions arise.”

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D.: Is this a True Path to the realisation of the, One Self? Is it not easier for some thus to practise seeing Bhagavan in whatever meets the mind than to seek the Super-Mental through the mental inquiry “Who am I?” 

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?

D.: Through poetry, music, japa, bhajan, beautiful landscapes, reading the lives of spiritual heroes, etc., one sometimes experiences a true sense of all-unity. Is that feeling of deep blissful quiet (wherein the personal self has no place) the “entering into the heart” whereof Bhagavan speaks? Will practice of that lead to a deeper samadhi, and so ultimately to a full vision of the Real? 

M.: Again, there is happiness at agreeable sights, etc. It is the happiness inherent in the Self. That happiness is not alien and after. You are diving into the Pure Self on occasions which you consider pleasurable. That diving reveals the Self-existent Bliss.

But the association of ideas is responsible for foisting this bliss on to other things or happenings. In fact, it is within you. On these occasions you are plunging into the Self, though unconsciously. If you do so consciously you call it Realisation. 

I want you to dive consciously into the Self, i.e. into the Heart.

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Talk 255. 

D.: If the Self be always realised we should only keep still. Is that so? 

M.: If you can keep still without engaging in any other pursuits, it is very good. If that cannot be done, where is the use of being quiet so far as realisation is concerned? So long as one is obliged to be active, let him not give up the attempt to realise the Self.

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