Talks mar 29

 500

Talk 493. 

An Andhra visitor: What will aid me to fix my attention always at Thy Holy Feet? 

M.: The thought ‘Am I ever away from the feet?’

D.: How is this thought to be fixed? 

M.: By driving away other thoughts which counteract this.

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D.: But we are advised not to fall into sleep during meditation. 

M.: That is stupor you must guard against. That sleep which alternates with waking is not true sleep. That waking which alternates with sleep is not true waking. Are you now awake? You are not. You are required to wake up to your real state. You should not fall into false sleep nor keep falsely awake. 

Hence: Laye sambodhayeccittam vikshiptam samayet punah. What does it mean? It means that you should not fall into any one of these states but remain amidst them in your true unsullied nature. 

D.: The states are of our mind only. 

M.: Whose mind? Hold it and see. 

D.: The mind cannot be held. It is that which creates all these. It is known only by its effects and not in its true nature. 

M.: Quite so. You see the colours of the spectrum. Together they form the white light. But seven colours are seen through the prism. Similarly, the one Self resolves itself into so many phases, mind, world, body, etc. The Self is seen as the mind, the body or the world. That is to say, it becomes whatever you perceive it to be. 

D.: These are difficult to follow in practice. I will hold on to God and surrender. 

M.: That is the best. 

D.: How can I do my duties without attachment? There is my wife, there are my children. I must do my duty towards them. Affection is necessary. Am I right? 

M.: How do you do your work in the College? 

D.: (laughing) For wages. 

M.: Not because you are attached, simply as doing your duty. 

D.: But my pupils expect me to love them. 

M.: “Detachment in the interior and attachment in appearance,” says Yoga Vasishta.

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507

M.: The Jnani sees no one as an ajnani. All are only jnanis in his sight. In the ignorant state one superimposes his ignorance on a Jnani and mistakes him for a doer. In the state of jnana, the Jnani sees nothing separate from the Self. The Self is all shining and only pure jnana. So there is no ajnana in his sight. There is an illustration for this kind of allusion or super-imposition. Two friends went to sleep side by side. One of them dreamt that both of them had gone on a long journey and had strange experiences. On waking up he recapitulated them and asked his friend if it was not so. The other one simply ridiculed him saying that it was only his dream and could not affect the other. So it is with the ajnani who superimposes his illusive ideas on others.  

Regarding ajnana in early youth and jnana at the present time, Sri Bhagavan said: 

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.

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D.: Until the seeker realizes that he is the sought, the above questions arise for him (the former). 

M.: True. See if you are the seeker. The Self is often mistaken for the knower.

Is there not the Self in deep sleep, i.e. nescience? 

Therefore the Self is beyond knower and knowledge. 

These doubts are in the realm of mind. 

To speak from this point of view, the advice is to keep the mind clear, and when rajas and tamas are wiped off, then the satva mind alone exists. 

So the ‘I’ vanishes in the satva (oonadhal kan). Jnana chakshus does not mean that it is an organ of perception like the other sense-organs. Jnanameva chakshuh. Television, etc. are not functions of jnana chakshus. So long as there is a subject and also an object it is only relative knowledge. Jnana lies beyond relative knowledge. It is absolute. The Self is the source of subject and object. Now ignorance prevailing, the subject is taken to be the source. 

The subject is the knower and forms one of the triads whose components cannot exist independent of one another. So the subject or the knower cannot be the ultimate Reality. Reality lies beyond subject and object. When realised there will be no room for doubt. 

“Bhidyate hridayagranthih chhidyante sarvasamsayah.” The heart knot is snapped; doubts are set at rest. That is called pratyaksha and not what you are thinking of. 

Avidya nasa is alone Self-Realisation. Self-Realisation is only owpacharika. SelfRealisation is only a euphemism for elimination of ignorance.

Talk 501. 

A young Mysorean asked: D.: How did I get this body? 

M.: You speak of ‘I’ and the ‘body’. There is the relationship between the two. You are not therefore the body. The question does not occur to the body because it is inert. There is an occasion when you are not aware of the body - namely, in deep sleep. The question does not arise then. Nevertheless you are there in sleep. To whom does the question arise now? 

D.: The ego. 

M.: Yes. The body and the ego rise up together and sink together. There is an occasion when you are not associated with the ego in deep sleep. Now you are associated with the ego. Of these two states which is your real state? You are present in sleep and the same “You” is present now too. Why should the doubt arise now and not then? You are right in saying that it is for the ego. You are not the ego. The ego is intermediate between the Self and the body. You are the Self. Find out the origin of the ego and see if the doubt persists. 

Sri Bhagavan added after a few minutes: The answer, according to sastras, will be that the body is due to karma. The question will be how did karma arise? We must say “from a previous body” and so on without end. The direct method of attack is not to depend on invisible hypotheses but to ask “Whose Karma is it? Or whose body?” Hence I answered in this manner. This is more purposeful.

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509

Talk 502. 

Sjt. Rajendra Prasad and Sjt. Jamnalal Bajaj with others are on a visit to Sri Maharshi. 16th August - Sjt. J. B. asked questions: 

D.: How is the mind to be steadily kept right? 

M.: All living beings are aware of their surroundings and therefore intellect must be surmised in all of them. At the same time, there is a difference between the intellect of man and that of other animals, because man not only sees the world as it is and acts accordingly, but also seeks fulfilment of desires and is not satisfied with the existing state of affairs. In his attempt to fulfil his desires he extends his vision far and wide and yet he turns away dissatisfied. He now begins to think and reason. The desire for permanency of happiness and of peace bespeaks such permanency in his own nature. 

Therefore he seeks to find and regain his own nature, i.e. his Self. 

That found, all is found. 

Such inward seeking is the path to be gained by man’s intellect. The intellect itself realises after continuous practice that it is enabled by some Higher Power to function. It cannot itself reach that Power. So it ceases to function after a certain stage. 

When it thus ceases to function the Supreme Power is still left there all alone. 

That is Realisation. That is the finality. That is the goal. 

It is thus plain that the purpose of the intellect is to realise its own dependence upon the Higher Power and its inability to reach the same. So it must annihilate itself before the goal is gained.

(redo bold)

510

Here J. B. tried to make himself clear by saying that what he meant by sadbuddhi was not the same as buddhi. It means that which holds fast to the good, the right and the chosen path. He wanted to know how such steadfastness could be gained. 

M.: What is wanted for gaining the highest goal is loss of individuality. The intellect is co-extensive with individuality. Loss of individuality can only be after the disappearance of buddhi, good or bad. The question therefore does not arise.

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D.: But yet one must know the right thing, choose the right path, practise the right dharma and hold fast to it. Otherwise he is lost. 

M.: True strength accrues by keeping in the right direction without swerving from it. 

D.: Difficulties are met with. How is one to get the strength necessary to overcome the obstacles which beset one’s path? 

 M.: By means of devotion and company of the sages. 

D.: Loss of individuality was just before mentioned as a prerequisite to moksha. Now devotion and association with the wise are advised as the methods. Is there not individuality implied in them e.g., in “I am a bhakta”, “I am a satsangi”? 

M.: The method is pointed out to the seeker. The seeker has certainly not lost his individuality so far. Otherwise the question would not have arisen. The way is shown to effect the loss of individuality of the seeker. It is thus appropriate. 

D.: Is the desire for swaraj right? 

M.: Such desire no doubt begins with self-interest. Yet practical work for the goal gradually widens the outlook so that the individual becomes merged in the country. Such merging of the individuality is desirable and the related karma is nishkama (unselfish) . 

D.: If swaraj is gained after a long struggle and terrible sacrifices, is not the person justified in being pleased with the result and elated by it? 

M.: He must have in the course of his work surrendered himself to the Higher Power whose Might must be kept in mind and never lost sight of. How then can he be elated? He should not even care for the result of his actions. Then alone the karma becomes unselfish. 

D.: How can unerring rectitude be ensured for the worker? 

M.: If he has surrendered himself to God or to Guru the Power to which he had surrendered will take him on the right course. The worker need no longer concern himself about the rectitude or otherwise of the course. The doubt will arise only if he fails to obey the Master in all details.

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513

Talk 503. 

An American gentleman, Mr. J. M. Lorey, has been staying in the Asramam for about two months. He asked: I am leaving tonight. It gives me pain to tear myself away from this place. But I must go to America. I ask for a message from the Master. The Master understands me even better than I do myself. So I pray for a message to keep me up when I am away from the Master. 

M.: The Master is not outside you as you seem to imagine. He is within, is in fact the Self. Recognise this truth. Seek within you and find Him there. Then you will have constant communion with Him. The message is always there; it is never silent; it can never forsake you: nor can you ever move away from the Master. Your mind is outgoing. Because of that tendency it sees objects as being outside and the Master among them. But the Truth is different. The Master is the Self. Turn the mind within and you will find the objects within. You will also realise that it is the Master who is your very Self and there is nothing but Him. Because you identify yourself with the body you have accepted objects as being outside you. But are you the body? You are not. You are the Self. There are all the objects and the whole universe. Nothing can escape the Self. How then can you move away from the Master who is your very Self? Suppose your body moves from  place to place; does it ever move away from your Self? Similarly, you can never be without the Master. Mr. Lorey was struck by the answer although he was already familiar with the Master’s ways. 

He was even visibly moved. He prayed that the Grace of the Master might abide with him. 

Sri Bhagavan: The Master being the Self. Grace is inseparable from the Self. 

Mr. L. Saluted Sri Maharshi with intense fervour, saying: that he might be enabled to realise the Truth. M.: Is there any moment when you have not realised the Self? Can you ever be apart from the Self? You are always That.

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M.: That is good. If you surrender yourself to the Higher Power all is well. That Power sees your affairs through. Only so long as you think that you are the worker you are obliged to reap the fruits of your actions. If on the other hand, you surrender yourself and recognise your individual self as only a tool of the Higher Power, that Power will take over your affairs along with the fruits of actions. You are no longer affected by them and the work goes on unhampered. Whether you recognise the Power or not the scheme of things does not alter. Only there is a change of outlook. Why should you bear your load on the head when you are travelling on a train? It carries you and your load whether the load is on your head or on the floor of the train. You are not lessening the burden of the train by keeping it on your  head but only straining yourself unnecessarily. Similar is the sense of doership in the world by the individuals.

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M.: It is right. Reality is only one and that is the self. All the rest are mere Phenomena in it, of it and by it. The seer, the objects and the sight, all are the self only. Can anyone see or hear, leaving the self aside? What difference does it make to see or hear anyone in close proximity or over enormous distance? The organs of sight and hearing are needed in both cases; so also the mind is required. None of them can be dispensed with in either case. There is dependence one way or another. Why then should there be a glamour about clairvoyance or clairaudience? Moreover, what is acquired will also be lost in due course. They can never be permanent. The only permanent thing is Reality; and that is the Self. You say “I am”, “I am going”, “I am speaking”, “I am working”, etc. Hyphenate “I am” in all of them. Thus I - Am. That is the abiding and fundamental Reality. This truth was taught by God to Moses: “I Am that I-Am”. “Be still and know that I-Am God.” so “I-Am” is God. 

You know that you are. You cannot deny your existence at any moment of time. 

For you must be there in order to deny it. 

This Pure Existence is understood by stilling your mind. 

The mind is the outgoing faculty of the individual. If that is turned within, it becomes still in course of time and that “I-AM” alone prevails. “I-AM” is the whole Truth.

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