Pérolas Advaita

Sumário

I - ENSINAMENTOS DE SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

Guru Vachaka Kovai 5

Be As You Are 47

Be As You Are (Vichara) 58

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi 88

Who am I? 131

Forty Verses 140

The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi 145

Spiritual Instruction 158

Gems from Bhagavan 160

Os Ensinamentos de Ramana Maharshi em Suas Próprias Palavras 165

Ensinamentos Espirituais 180

Diálogos e Ensinamentos 187

II - COMENTÁRIOS E RELATOS

Maha Yoga 198

Auto-inquirição 217

Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam 228

Living by the Words of Bhagavan 231

The Power of Arunachala 247

Reminiscências e Comentários 259

III - TEXTOS CLÁSSICOS DO ADVAITA

Ashtavakra Gita 264

Yoga Vasishta Sara 268

Sorupa Saram 270

Ellam Ondre 272

The Essence of the Ribhu Gita 286

Selections From Viveka-Chudamani Relating to Vairagya 288

Outros Textos 290

IV – OUTROS

No Mind - I Am the Self 300

Sri Ramana Darsanam 309

Bhagavad Gita – Versos Selecionados 316

Ensinamentos de Sri Ramana Maharshi

Guru Vachaka Kovai

Introversion

186. O miserable and extroverted people, failing to see the seer, you see only the seen! To dissolve duality by turning inwards instead of outwards is alone Blissful.

187. O mind, it is not wise for you to come out [in the form of thoughts]; it is

best to go within. Hide yourself deep within the Heart and escape from the tricks of Maya, who tries to upset you by drawing you outwards.

193. When the mind [i.e., the ego’s attention] which wanders outside, knowing

only other objects [2nd and 3rd persons] – begins to attend to its own nature, all other objects will disappear, and then, by experiencing it’s own true nature [i.e. Self], the pseudo-‘I’ will also die.

291. If one wants to be saved, one is given the following true and essential

advice: just as the tortoise draws all its five limbs within its shell, so one should draw the five senses within and turn one’s mind Selfward. This alone is happiness.

424. Though one has known many subtle, rare and wonderful things, can one

be a jnani until one comes to know the knower of them? Know that one cannot be. 451. To the extent that one dives within the Heart, to that extent one

experiences that happiness which, though really shining as the unbroken nature of one’s Self, is experienced interruptedly in so many different ways [by means of the sense-objects].

638. If, instead of seeing anything in front [of you] by the mind, you see by the

mind the one who sees, all will be found to be oneself, the seer; then all objective knowledges will be found to be foolish.

Self-enquiry

241. Whatever thought may rise, not to let it live or grow, but to destroy it then and there, without the least slackness, by merging it back into its Source, is powerful and intense Vairagya.

Sadhu Om: Formerly, we were taught by the Scriptures that Vairagya is to feel

aversion for our desires and to reject them, but now Sri Bhagavan teaches us that

true Vairagya is to maintain a vigilant Self-attention by which every thought, instead

of being allowed to rise and develop, is turned back and merged into its Source. 242. If, by the wonderful weapon of Self-enquiry, you would continue

destroying, one by one, all the innumerable foes – the vasanas rising in the form of thought – as and when each of them comes out of the fort – chittam – the enemy’s fort will finally be in your hands.

385. If one attends to the centre of oneself with a keen mind to know “Who am I?”, the identification ‘I am the body’ will die and the Reality will shine forth as ‘I-I’. Then all the illusory differences, which are like the blueness seen in the sky, will disappear.

386. All doubts and questions pertaining to duality and otherness will be

destroyed by the question “Who am I?” This question, “Who is this ‘I’ who doubts and asks about other things?”, will itself turn out to be the Brahmashtra, and will destroy the appearance of all otherness, which is nothing other than dark ignorance.

Michael James: The Brahmashtra is the greatest and most powerful Divine Weapon.

387. By destroying the mischievous and frisky1 ego through the enquiry, “Who

is this ‘I’ who sees the outside world through the deceitful senses?”, to remain permanently in Mei-Jnana-Para-Nishta is truly the means for one to attain Liberation.

388. The individual who enquires into his real nature, “Who am I?”, will die as

the ‘I’-less Self.

393. Those who take to the pure path of Self-enquiry are never derailed because, like the sun, this supremely direct path itself reveals to them its own unchallengeable clarity and uniqueness.

1 Frisky = brincalhão.

[394] Michael James: Pramada means inadvertence, i.e. giving up on the way

what has been undertaken; here pramada denotes slackness in Self-attention. Like

death, pramada may happen at any time or in any place, and therefore Self-attention

should be vigilantly maintained at all times and in all places. 396 One’s unceasing effort to turn the mind – which is always extroverted due

to the force of habit [cultivated in past births] – towards Self by the Self-enquiry “Who am I?” is [the significance of] the great war being fought between devas and asuras [which is described in the Puranas].

397. Whenever a thought arises, instead of trying even a little either to follow

it up or to fulfil it, it would be better to first enquire, “To whom did this thought arise?”

398. When one thus inwardly enquires, “Is it not to me that this thought has

arisen – then who am I?”, the mind will return to subside in its Source, and the already risen thought will also vanish.

399. When one daily practices in this manner, since the impurities are being

removed from the mind, it will become purer and purer to such an extent that the practice will become so easy that the mind will reach the Heart as soon as the enquiry is commenced.

400. Just as the creature which come out of the bushes to save their lives, being

unable to bear with the heat of the wild forest-fire, are surely burnt to death, so all the vasanas hiding in the Heart will be destroyed, being unable to stand before the growing and blazing fire of the strength of Self-enquiry.

405. It is only due to the delusion which is caused by not learning the Truth of

Self that jivas are suffering. Therefore, always take to the practice of Jnana – the inward enquiry “Who am I that is suffering?”

406. By contact with the philosopher’s stone – proper and unceasing enquiry –

the ghostly jiva will lose the rust of mental impurities and will be turned into the supreme Shiva.

[411] Sadhu Om. The only path or tapas which will destroy the ego is Self-

attention [which is often known as Self-enquiry]. (…)

Happiness is our true Nature, but through inattention born of ignorance, we

leave it, come out and suffer. Hence our natural and happy duty is to lovingly

restore Self-attention and to thus abide in our true Nature.

448. That which rises as ‘I’ in the body is mind. When an attempt is made to find out wherefrom this thought ‘I’ rises in the body, it [the ‘I’-thought, or mind, which thus searches] reaches the Heart, therefore, it is indeed from Heart [Self] that the mind rises.

Sadhu Om: These are the words of Sri Bhagavan in Who am I? When we wake

up the ‘I’-feeling rises from one place in the body and then spreads all over the

body; what is described in this verse as ‘first’ is that place. However, Sri Bhagavan

here gives us a clue that by so tracing the ‘I’-thought, a place will not be found, but

the tracing power, the one who traces, will dissolve into Self.

[548] Sadhu Om: Since whenever anything is known, our power of attention

takes the form of a thought [vritti] ‘I know other things’, a false delusion ‘I do not

know myself’ prevails. But when the discrimination [viveka] ‘Whenever I know any

other thing, it is known because I exist there, and hence every knowledge of my own

existence is already there’ shines more and more through enquiry [vichara], the

truth ‘There is no time in which I do not know myself’ will dawn. This is the eternal,

ever-attained state of Self-knowledge.

756. Other than Self-enquiry, which is the best [sadhana], there is no sadhana

whatsoever to make the mind subside. If made to subside by other sadhanas, the mind will remain a while as if subsided, but will rise up again.

763. Only to such a mind which has gained the inner strength of one-

pointedness, Self-enquiry will be successful. But a weak mind will be like wet wood put into the fire of jnana-vichara.

872. He who sees the seer [the knower of the mind, namely Self] will shine as

the Supreme Self Itself, having destroyed the sense of difference ‘I am different form the seer of the seer’ and having attained his own nature.

Sadhu Om: The central idea of this verse is that he who has seen Self will

shine as Self, having destroyed his individuality and having attained the non-dual

knowledge [advaita-jnana]. Though in verse 869 and other verses of this work Sri

Bhagavan says that it is wrong to ascribe to Self the function of ‘seeing’, in this

verse He refers to Self as ‘the seer of the seer’. The reason for this apparent

contradiction is that He is here talking from the ordinary level of understanding –

the same level of understanding on which most ancient scriptures such as Drik-Drisya Viveka were given. Therefore the reader should understand the expression

‘the seer of the seer’ to be figurative and not literal. 1023. If – instead of whirling with longing [for worldly pleasures] because of

objectively knowing other things which appear in front of it due to [its] objective attention – the wicked mind attends to itself, enquiring ‘Who am I who knows

objects?’, [it will attain that state of] abidance in its own reality which alone is the true state [of Self].

1061. Except the glorious attainment of the supreme Self, which is the greatest

thing [mahat], there is no [worthy] attainment in this life. To know and experience it [the supreme Self], destroy the worthless ego-self by enquiry [or scrutiny] done in the heart.

Self-attention

[244] Sadhu Om: Chit truly remains ever pure and the impurity of Maya is only apparent. This apparent association of the ever-pure Chit with Maya is known as ‘chittam’ and to remove ‘-tam’ [i.e., Maya], which is merely attention wrongly focussed on 2nd and 3rd persons, it is sufficient if attention is focused on the 1st person, because the ‘chittam’ will then be known to be the ever-shining Chit, Shiva.

[288] Sadhu Om: Self-attention is nothing but avoiding second and third

person attention.

294. Attention to one’s own Self, which is ever shining as ‘I’, the one undivided and pure Reality, is the only raft with which the jiva, who is deluded by thinking “I am the body”, can cross the ocean of unending births.

389. Restraining the mind from going outside [through the senses], and fixing

it always in its Source, Self, which is known as the Heart, so that the vain ‘I’-thought will not rise again, is the Atma-Vichara [Self-enquiry].

390. To know the Supreme Thing, which shines in the heart as Existence-

Consciousness, it is useless to search for It [as God] outside with great enthusiasm, instead of slowly and steadily attending to It [as It is] by remaining in solitude. [To search for It outside is] just like trying to dive within the water with a naked lamp in one’s hand, in order to find a person who has drowned in a flood.

432. Is it not because you are knowledge [i.e. consciousness] itself that you are able to know the world? If [instead of knowing the world] you turn your attention, taking that Consciousness alone as your target, It will Itself as the Guru reveal the Truth [i.e. Reality].

433. Only the truth of Self is worthy of being scrutinized and known. Taking It

alone as the target, one should keenly attend to It and know It in the heart [i.e.

within]. It can be known only by the silent and clear mind which is free from agitation and activity.

482. Not giving the least room in one’s heart – which is having a great love towards attending towards Self, the true form of God – to any thought raised by vasanas is the right way of offering oneself to the Lord.

579. Since Self is the eternal, non-dual Thing and since there is no means to

reach It other than Self-attention, know that Self itself is the path, Self itself is the goal, and that they [the path and the goal] are not different.

612. Undeluded by whatever [dyads and triads] appear or disappear in front of

you, always unwinkingly attend to Self. For, even if the non-vigilance [pramada] that disturbs Self-attention is very small, that evil that results from it will be very great.

Sri Muruganar: To be ever attentively awakened in one’s own state, Self,

without being glamoured by the appearance of any kinds of dyads and triads, is

Jnana-samadhi. That is Liberation too. If, on the other hand, one forgets Self, the

consciousness, and thinks even in the least that there are objects to be known, that

pramada – no matter how slight it may be – itself will cause great evil, just as even a

little drop of poison will do great harm.

642 One’s thinking that Self, which [in reality] is not other than oneself, is other and toiling very much to attain It through one’s own effort [through sadhanas], is just like one’s running after one’s own shadow to catch it.

644. Those who do not keenly attend to and know the existence-consciousness

which shines ever-unsetting in the heart, fall into maya through the objective attention caused by the ego, which rises and attacks with dense delusion.

[645] Michael James: Since the truth of oneself is ever shining in everyone as

‘I am’, it is not a thing to be known anew. Therefore, when the scriptures say “Know

the truth of thyself”, their real intention is simply to make us turn our attention

towards the ever-known ‘I am’, thereby giving up the attention towards second and

third person objects, for such objective attention alone is wrong knowledge or

ajnana. (…).

647. Do not look at this, do not look at that. If you simply remain without

looking at anything, then by that powerful look at [one’s own] being [that is, by that powerful attention to Self, ‘I am’], you will become the supreme reality which has the outlook of the unlimited space of consciousness [chit-akasa].

730. Attending to one’s own Self is said to be the supreme devotion to God, who is unattainable by the mind and so on, because these two [the Self attended to by the enquirer and the God worshipped by the devotees] are in nature [swarupam] one and the same.

742. He who well and truly meditates upon himself, who is consciousness, will

be established in Siva, the Self.

750. Whatever one thinks of unceasingly [until one’s death], by the power of such thinking one becomes that. [Since one will therefore become Self if one always meditates upon Self] if with great love one practises [Self-attention] and [thereby] knows the nature of the attachments [‘I’ and ‘mine’] and abides in Self so that the attachments are destroyed, the disease [of ajnana] which causes birth [and death] will not approach one.

[759] Michael James: (…) Since Self, the reality (Sat), shines as consciousness

(Chit) itself, It does not need any other consciousness in order to know Itself as ‘I

am’. Hence, the real Self-light (Self-consciousness) is the only aid required in order

to enquire into and know Self.

[783] Sadhu Om: We should know that the state of our own Self is Liberation,

the eternal happiness, and it is ever our own right. We experience miseries only

because we turn our attention outwards, leaving Self. Therefore, the sadhana to

achieve the seemingly lost happiness is just to turn our attention back towards Self,

the source from which we rose and came out as a jiva. 827. If one unceasingly and firmly clings to the true Being [Self] and thereby

achieves clarity [of true knowledge], the attachments, which are superimposed appearances like the blueness of the sky, will of their own accord go away leaving one pure.

921. [By confronting it] no one can destroy the [mind’s] nature [of rising and

jumping out through the senses]. [The only way to destroy it is to] ignore it as something non-existent [i.e. as a mere false appearance]. If you know and consciously abide in Self, the base [for the rising and setting] of the [mind’s] nature, the velocity of the [mind’s] nature [i.e. the velocity with which it rises and jumps out through the senses] will gradually come to an end [since there will be no one to attend to it].

Sadhu Om: (…) If one tries to kill the mind-maya by confronting it directly

[that is, by struggling to control the thoughts, the rising and jumping nature of the

mind], one will in fact be giving fresh strength to it. Since the mind [i.e. the rising

and jumping nature of the mind] is an object known to us, we should treat it as a

second person and ignore it by turning our attention towards the first person, the

mere feeling ‘I’. The mind will then lose the power of Grace [anugraha-sakti] and

thus it will gradually subside and die of its own accord.

[969] Michael James: One who is standing neck-deep in the flooding water of

the Ganga need only bend down in order to drink and quench his thirst. Likewise,

since God or Guru is always bestowing His Grace upon us by shining within us as ‘I

am’, we need only turn our attention within towards that ‘I am’ in order to drink

and quench our thirst for His Grace.

[982] Michael James: Pramada or inattentiveness to Self, one’s own being,

comes into existence only when the ego, the unreal feeling ‘I am so-and-so’, rises

due to superimposition of the adjunct [upadhi] ‘so-and-so’ upon the pure

consciousness ‘I am’. Since the superimposition of this adjunct veils the true nature

of Self, the pure ‘I am’, and makes it appear as if non-existent, pramada is said to

murder Self.

1005. The state in which one does not see any second-person object, the state in which one does not hear a second-person object, the state in which one does not know any second-person object – know that state alone is the infinite [bhuma].

Michael James: (…) From the present verse we have to understand that any

state in which there is even the least knowledge of any second- or third-person

object is not the true state of Self, the real waking; it is only another dream

occurring in the sleep of Self-forgetfulness (refer here to The Path of Sri Ramana –

Part One, p. 143). Therefore, whatever state we may experience, even if it be a

divine or heavenly state such as living in Siva Loka or Vaikuntha, so long as we

experience anything other than the mere Self-consciousness ‘I am’, we should

enquire ‘Who knows these other things?’ and thereby turn our attention back

towards the first person feeling ‘I’. When the attention is thus fixed more and more

intensely upon the first person, the rising of that first person (the ego or mind which

sees those other things) will subside more and more, until finally it merges forever

in its source, whereupon the true state of Self, in which nothing other than the mere

Self-consciousness ‘I am’ is known, will be experienced.

[1022] Sadhu Om and Michael James: The very nature of the ego is to attend

only to things other than itself. Therefore, the ego does not know who or what it is

(…). But if this transient and unreal ego, which rises in the form of the wrong

knowledge ‘I am this’ or ‘I am that’, tries to turn its attention away from the world

of second and third persons, which it projects through the five senses, and towards

itself, the first person, in order to find out ‘Who am I?’, it will subside into its

source, the heart or Self, whereupon the eternal and real state will shine forth of its

own accord in the form of the true knowledge ‘I am I’.

[1096] Sadhu Om: (…) The real ‘observance of reality’ [sat-achara] is to

prevent the mind from thus running after second and third persons and to make it

abide instead in Self, the real first-person consciousness. [1192] Sadhu Om: The only method to still the wandering mind permanently is

for one to attend silently to oneself [the first person, ‘I’], and not for one to attend to

the wandering mind, which is nothing but a bundle of ever-changing thoughts

pertaining to second and third persons. However, do we not nowadays hear that

many would-be gurus are advising aspirants, “Go on watching the thoughts of the

mind,” as if this were a true method of spiritual practice [jnana-abhyasa]? Since all

the thoughts of the mind are nothing but worthless second and third persons, to

attend to those thoughts is a useless method which is recommended only by

Vedantins who lack true experience. To reveal that this method is of no use for

permanently stilling [i.e. destroying] the mind, Sri Bhagavan says in this verse,

“The [correct] method is for one to remain silently attending to oneself [the first

person] alone, and not for one to attend to the wavering mind [which is a bundle of

second and third person objects]”. (…) It should be understood that whenever Sri

Bhagavan recommends us to scrutinize the mind, He does not mean that we should

attend to thoughts pertaining to second or third persons, but only that we should

attend to and scrutinize the first person or ego the root-thought ‘I’. If we thus attend

to the thought ‘I’, it will automatically subside and disappear, whereas if we attend

to other thoughts, they will multiply and wax in strength. Therefore, in the present

verse Sri Bhagavan reveals that if we attend to the thoughts of the wavering mind,

we will be slipping down from our natural state of Self-abidance, in which no

second or third person can be known. [1225] Sadhu Om: “The path which destroys attachment, the enemy” is [as

shown in the previous verse] to remain in Self, having given up objective knowledge,

in other words, to attend only to Self and not to any second or third person objects.

“Merely being” means remaining still with the mere consciousness ‘I am’ and

without knowing any other thing.

Self-abidance / Be Still / Be as you are

175. The only worthy occupation is to thoroughly absorb the ego by turning Selfward and, without allowing it to rise, to thus abide quietly, like a waveless ocean, in Self-Knowledge, having annihilated the delusive mind-ghost, which had been wandering about unobstructed.

184.. While Self, the Source and Reality of the ego – which can only know objects other than itself through its senses – alone should be clung to, all an

aspirant’s efforts to concentrate on other objects [which are all second and third persons], are just like ignoring something while trying to grasp its shadow.

383. The [impure] mind, which deludes itself as if it were limited, is the jivatman [i.e. individual soul], who suffers as if he were bound. If it remains still, without likes, dislikes or wonder, that [pure] mind is itself the Paramatman [i.e. Self].

547. If one remains merely as consciousness [that is, as ‘I am’, in other words, in Self-abidance, atma-nishtha], ignorance [which is one of the dyad of ignorance and knowledge] will not exist. Hence, ignorance is false; Self-consciousness alone is real. When correctly known, it is ignorance to say that there is ignorance. Verily, pure consciousness is our nature. Thus should you know.

578. Accept the ever-shining Self-knowledge to be the only reality. Reject all the triads, deciding them to be an imaginary dream.

640. Since the divine bliss is such that it will shine of its own accord if one

simply remains still [remains as one’s own existence-consciousness], instead of enquiring into oneself and knowing that one is really nothing but the supreme Self, which is devoid of coming and going, and thereby enjoying that bliss, it is, alas, a pity that one unnecessarily wanders [attending to second and third persons, that is, that one unnecessarily toils much in the paths of puja, dhyana and so on].

769. Self-abidance [atma-nishtha], which shines without defect, alone will destroy all bondage, which is non-Self. [On the other hand] discrimination [viveka] which distinguishes the real, one’s own nature, from the unreal, is only an aid to pure desirelessness.

773. What our Lord [Sri Ramana] firmly teaches us to take to as the greatest and most powerful tapas is only this much, “Summa iru” [‘Just be’ or ‘Be still’], and not any other duty for the mind to do in the form of thoughts [such as meditation, yoga and so on].

Sadhu Om: Since rebirth is due to the karmas performed by mind, speech and

body, Liberation will only be attained by just being still without the least action of

these three instruments. (…). 774. The lazy state of just being and shining [as ‘I am’] is the state of Self, and

that is the highest state that one can become. Revere as most virtuous ones those who have attained that lazy state, which cannot be attained except by very great and rare tapas.

894. Abiding in one’s natural consciousness, ‘I am’, is samadhi. Being freed from the adjunct-mixed awareness [‘I am so-and-so’, ‘I am the body’, ‘I am a man’, ‘I am this or that’ and so on], firmly abide in this boundless [adjunct-free] state [of real samadhi].

896. Unlike the rising and setting ‘I’ [the ego], Self remains shining always.

Therefore reject and thereby destroy the false first person, ‘I [am so-and-so]’, and shine as the real ‘I’ [Self].

956. If one clings only to the knowledge [of one’s own Self] as the real refuge,

then the misery of birth [or the birth of misery], which is caused by ignorance, will come to an end.

981. He [i.e. Self] who exists as the form of consciousness, will not become

non-existent. If one remains devoid of other knowledges, [that is] if the deceptive, unreal and dual imaginations [superimposed] on consciousness are removed, for oneself who [thus] exists as [mere] consciousness there will be no destruction.

984. The powerful One who [always] clings to the reality will never be afraid,

due to mental delusion, of anything at all. Sadhu Om: A feeling of fear can arise in one only so long as one is deluded

into thinking that there really exists anything other than oneself. But the Hero who

has attained the strength of Self-abidance [nishta-bala] has the firm, unshakeable

experience that He, the reality, alone exists. Therefore, since no other thing exists in

His outlook, neither fear nor confusion can arise for Him.

1010. If, to the very end, one makes a full effort to attain abidance [as Self], which removes bondage [in the form] of desires [sankalpas], just as a snake removes its skin, what emerges is [only] the open and empty space of Jnana.

1224. Unless the objective knowledge [the mind which knows second and third

person objects] is completely destroyed, the attachment to the world, which is formed by the senses, which bind the soul, cannot be severed. The destruction of that [objective] knowledge by [one’s] remaining in the state of Self, which is nishtha, alone is the nature of liberation which one enjoys.

Self is Bliss

264. The Heart, where the Supreme Silence of God’s Grace is shining, is the only state of Kaivalyam, in the Presence of which the rare pleasure of all the heavens are revealed to be nothing.

Michael James: Kaivalyam is the state of Supreme Oneness.

Sadhu Om: Sri Bhagavan used to compare all the pleasures available in the

celestial worlds, including even Brahma Loka, to the tiny specks of moonlight which

fall on the ground through the dense foliage of a large tree, whereas the Jnani’s

experience of Bliss is like the full moon-shine in an open space.

297. Do not wander outside, eating the scorching2 sand of worldly pleasures,

which are non-Self; come home to the Heart where Peace is shining as a vast, everlasting, cool shade, and enjoy the feast of the Bliss of Self.

1027. Jnanis know that the taste of Self [atma-rasam] alone is the best taste

[ati-rasam], and hence they abide in the state of Self. Those who do not know that the happiness of Self alone is definitely the highest, abide in the state of the world [i.e. they remain immersed in worldly life seeking only mundane pleasures].

[1028] Michael James: The musk-deer emits a pleasant odour, but not

knowing that the odour is coming only from itself, it runs here and there in search of

the source of that odour. Similarly, not knowing that all the happiness they enjoy

comes only from their own Self, whose very nature is happiness, ignorant people

(ajnanis) run after worldly objects in search of happiness. 1029. That which is called happiness is only the nature of Self; Self is not other

than perfect happiness. That which is called happiness alone exists. Knowing that fact and abiding in that state of Self, enjoy bliss eternally.

1077. Know that for those who abide within with dutiful love [for Self], bliss

will surgingly rise more and more. Bliss, love, Siva, Self, Grace, knowledge, peace and liberation – all these are [only names for] one’s own real nature.

1201. The life of Self – the true knowledge [mey-jnana] which shines forth

devoid of the ego-sense due to the drowning [of the ego] in its source when the madness of desire for the petty, illusory and delusive sense-objects has been completely destroyed – alone is that which can [truly] satisfy the mind.

1202. Those whose hearts are surging with joy by experiencing the ever-new

ambrosia [amrita] of Self, which shines brightly in the pure Silence, will not be spoilt in the world by experiencing the petty sense-objects, which give a little mad pleasure caused by mental delusion. 2 Scorch = chamusca; tostar, crestar, sapecar; arrastar, devastar.

Desirelessness and Vairagya

149. The experience of Vedanta is possible only for those who have completely given up all desires. For the desirous it is far away, and they should therefore try to rid themselves of all other desires by the desire for God, who is free from desires.

237. Supreme Jnana dawns with ease only for those fortunate ones in whose

hearts dispassion towards the pleasures of this world and the next springs forth naturally in this birth.

239. O my dear friend Vairagya who is always enlightening me with

Knowledge by destroying the dense delusion of desire, please do not abandon me who ever claim your friendship.

371. Desire makes even an atom appear as great as Mount Meru before it is

achieved, and vice versa after it is achieved, and thus [desire] makes one always poor. Hence we have never seen any bottomless abyss that is as impossible to fill as desire, which can never be satisfied.

373. Will the mind which drowns in love for the Feet of the Lord start to dance

in ecstasy, jumping as before into the delusion of married life and sexual pleasure? 374. Sages, the Knowers of the Truth, declare that the destruction of all mental

activities [chitta-vrittis] is alone the greatest Happiness. Therefore desirelessness [i.e. the attitude of indifference], which is devoid of both likes and dislikes, is the best means.

375. Those who have desire are afflicted by the wretched anger when their

desire is obstructed, and so it is certain that desire is inherent in anger. Therefore, when all the [six] vices are dying, desire dies last. Michael James: The six vices are

desire, anger, miserliness, confusion (i.e. the inability to discern the truth), pride

and jealousy. [376] Sadhu Om: Desire implies always a movement of the mind towards a

second or third person.

377. He who never thinks, “I want this; I do not have that”, will be ever contented with only those things which come to him according to his prarabdha. Will such a person leave his state of contentment and worry himself foolishly?

378. Except for the one who has completely cut the tie of desires, the false appearance [that he is a suffering jiva] will not cease. Therefore, without any hesitation, one should cut even the desire for the great Divine Happiness.

379. O foolish mind who is suffering due to the desire for the petty pleasures

of this world and of the next, if you remain quiet [i.e. without desire] you will certainly attain that State of Bliss which surely transcends the pleasures of these two.

582. The Sage Dadhyangatharvana, who had experienced [the bliss of] Self, once said, “The pleasure that Indra enjoys with his wife, Ayirani, is not better than the pleasure enjoyed by a dog with its bitch”.

583. For a ravenous hunger, even a gruel of broken rice or a porridge of wild-

rice flour will be the most delicious food. [Therefore,] in this world, the cause of pleasure lies not in the nature of the sense-objects, but only in the intensity of desire for it.

584. That which exists [sat] itself is consciousness [chit]. The consciousness

itself is bliss [ananda]. Deriving pleasure from other things is mere delusion [that is, the pleasure we suppose we derive from other things is illusory, false]. Tell me, except in the clear and real Self-existence, can there be real happiness in the imaginary sense-objects?

587. The minds of ignorant people, having forgotten the divine life which is

flourishing in the heart and which [alone] is worthy of being known and enjoyed, will meltingly long for the taste of sense-pleasures, which are insignificant fragments.

588. Mean-minded people, being objects of ridicule, will dip only into the pit,

the filthy spring of sex; they will never reject it and lovingly take a bath, drowning in the ocean of the supreme bliss of Siva.

589. For those aspirants who have great and intense eagerness to enjoy the ripe

fruit of unlimited supreme bliss, the sense-pleasures, which are worthy to be liked and enjoyed only by blind people [people blinded by ignorance] who do not know how to save themselves from ruin, are the lowest and fit only for rejection.

[590] Sadhu Om: (…) Since we are happiness or contentment itself, it is

foolish for us to expect to derive contentment from food [sense-objects]. If we, the

existence [sat], the fullness of contentment [ananda], desire to obtain sense-objects

for our contentment, our nature of fullness of contentment is made by that desire

into a nature of deficiency; thus it [the desire] swallows us [kills us] by creating an

insatiable fire of desire.

[591] Sadhu Om: Since food and similar objects of enjoyment make the jivas

crave for them more and more as they are enjoyed more and more, they take the

jivas far away from the desire for Self (…).

592. Just as by [feeding it with] ghee, a fire will blaze forth and will not be extinguished, so by satisfying desires, the fire of desire will never subside.

593. “Oh, is it only by touch [or bite]?” On scrutiny, [the answer will be], “No,

even by sight or mere thought of it, the snake of the five-sense-desires kills the soul!” Hence, we have never seen a more poisonous snake then sense-desire.

[754] Sadhu Om: Rather than achieving whatever one desires, to have no

desire at all is the perfect state of happiness. In other words, since every desire is

nothing but a thought, the power of non-thinking is greater than the power of

achieving whatever is thought of.

764. Those advanced souls who have given up all desires, knowing that increasing misery alone is the fruit of desires, will attain the eternal bliss of Self by taking to the direct path of Self-enquiry.

859. Only those who are dead to desires for [the pleasures of] the vast delusive

panorama of the world will have their life transformed into Siva. There will be no bliss by any means other than the dawn of the pure and fresh experience of Self.

Sadhu Om: It is emphasised here that true happiness lies not in the fulfilment

of desires, but only in the destruction of desires.

[1012] Michael James: Desire is the sole cause of misery, and it can arise

only if something other than oneself exists. Therefore, since Silence, the state of Self,

is the space of mere consciousness in which nothing other than Self exists, it alone is

worthy to be attained. In order to attain this Silence, the ego, the wrong knowledge

‘I am the body’, must be destroyed, having being found to be nothing but a non-

existent ignorance.

[1025] Sadhu Om: (…) Even the pleasures of living in the various kinds of

heavens such as Brahma Loka are trivial and unreal, and hence they cannot satisfy

our yearning for complete and perfect happiness any more than the water of a

mirage can quench our thirst. Therefore, the only state which is truly worthy to be

loved and aspired for is the state of Self.

Renunciation

77. If you ask, “What is the benefit of sacrificing the innumerable sensual

pleasures and retaining mere Consciousness?”, [we reply that] the fruit of Jnana is the eternal and unbroken experience of the Bliss of Self.

752. As long as a thought arises in one that a thing is indispensable, let one

have and enjoy it. But when, through some bitter experiences, a thought rises to be rid of it, it should be given up at once.

825. Instead of clinging to this wonderful but utterly false world for refuge [or

instead of depending upon it for happiness] and thereby drowning in it, it is wise to renounce it inwardly like a shell of a tamarind fruit and forget it totally.

828. The path of renunciation is a slippery ground. Slipping away even mentally will lead to great ruin. Therefore, it is the duty of one who walks on the path of renunciation, the slippery ground, to protect himself lest the treacherous forgetfulness should stealthily3 enter his heart.

Sadhu Om: For those who are beginning on the path of renunciation, the word

‘forgetfulness’ used here will denote the forgetfulness of observances such as sense-

control and control of conduct and character, while for those who are well

advanced on the path, it will denote the forgetfulness of Self. 829. Since it is impossible to know beforehand the last moment of one’s life, it

is best for one who has a firm determination [to put an end to birth and death] to renounce at the very moment he gets disgust for the body and world.

Sri Muruganar: Since vairagya, the firm determination to put an end to birth

and death, is the correct sign of maturity, one should take to renunciation

[sannyasa] as soon as a disgust arises in one for the body and world, no matter to

which of the four ashramas [modes of life] one may belong at that time. The

ascending order of ashramas is applicable only to ordinary seekers and not to those

mature aspirants who have intense vairagya.

830. Just as a fruit falls from the tree when ripe, so an aspirant will certainly

renounce his family life like saltless gruel as soon as he becomes fully mature, unless his prarabdha interferes as an obstacle.

Sadhu Om: If the prarabdha of such a mature aspirant is to remain at home, it

will obstruct his outward renunciation, yet he will remain in his family with

complete inner detachment. Since prarabdha controls one’s outer life, the ashramas

come only according to prarabdha; but since prarabdha cannot obstruct one’s inner

3 Stealthily = furtivamente; às escondidas.

renunciation, true non-attachment [vairagya] can arise in one no matter to which of

the ashramas one may belong.

834. Only those who, considering the world as worthless, have fearlessly renounced it with great courage, are the wise ones who definitely see the Supreme Reality. Others are fools who see only what is unreal.

836. That which remains unrenounced after all that can be renounced has been renounced – that existence shining in the Heart as the real Self, alone is the attainment of bliss abundant.

837. For those who have made the rarest renunciation, that of the ego, nothing

remains to be renounced. 839. The majestic one [the true renunciant] who wanders carefree, possessing

nothing and refusing everything, bewilders and perplexing even the mind of a king who can give anything! Ah, what a wonder!

[840] Sadhu Om: So long as a sannyas feels ‘I have renounced everything’, is

it not clear that he has a sense of identification with the body, ‘I am so-and-so’, and

a sense of doership, ‘I have renounced’? Therefore his renunciation is not a true

one. On the other hand, if a family man does not feel ‘I am a householder’ or ‘I have

a family’, is he not free from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’? Therefore he alone is the

true renunciant. Thus this verse teaches that giving up the ego, the sense of ‘I’, is

truly giving up everything.

592-a. Since death [yama-tattva] comes in the form of forgetfulness [of Self], for the minds of those who [seek to] attain a life of immortality, the five sense objects, whose nature is tamas and which function together, it is more dangerous than [any] deadly, cruel poison.

Michael James: Knowing objects through any of the five senses, causes one to

lose one’s Self-attention, in other words, to forget Self. Such forgetfulness (pramada)

or loss of Self-attention is declared by Sages to be death (see verse 394 of this work,

and verses 321 to 329 of Vivekachudamani). Therefore, those who are practising

Self-enquiry in order to attain the immortal state of Self, should be careful not to

allow even the least room in their heart for desire for sense-objects.

Ego (Abandon it; is Unreal; Destroy it)

131. Those who live the life of an ego, desirously entertaining themselves with the pleasures of false sense objects, will be doomed to delusion. The only life worth living is revelling4 in the Supreme Consciousness – that is, being Self.

159. The life of the filthy ego, which mistakes a body both as ‘I’ and as ‘my place’, is merely a false imagination seen as a dream in the pure, real, Supreme Self.

160. This fictitious jiva, who lives as ‘I [am the body]’, is also one of the pictures on the screen.

Sadhu Om: The jiva, our false being, is a mere projection upon the screen of

our true Being, Self. In a cinema picture showing the scene of a royal court, the king

is seen viewing his court; just as he appears to be a seer, though in fact he is one of

the insentient pictures [i.e., the seen], so also the jiva appears to be a seer viewing

the world, though in fact he is also one of the insentient pictures projected on the

screen of Self. Refer to verse 871 and note.

162. He who has destroyed the ego is alone the true Sannyasin and the true Brahmin; but, hard indeed is the complete destruction of the heavy burden of the ego borne by those Sannyasins who feel “I belong to the highest ashrama” and by those brahmins who feel “I belong to the highest caste”.

170. If, of their own accord, even the Wind God could not stir, nor could the Fire God burn a wisp straw, how can an ordinary jiva do anything at all with its separate ego-strength?

351. When scrutinized, is there any existing thing such as ego, the troublemaker, except a mere name [‘I’]? Certainly not! If at all anything exists [for the name ‘I’], it is truly Self, just as the thing which exists for the false [name] snake is truly a rope.

354. Do not doubt, with fear, what will happen when you completely lose your individuality [jiva-bodha]. The true State of Self will then Itself be yours, just as one will permanently remain firm on the ground when one loses one’s hold on the branch of a tree.

Sadhu Om: The significance of this simile can best be understood from the

following story: A man was once seen standing under a tree, but clinging to a

branch above his head, as if for dear life. When his friends asked him why he was

clinging with so much fear to the branch, he replied that if he let go he would fall to

the ground. Wondering at his foolishness, his friends pointed out to him that he was

already standing on the ground, and that he therefore had nothing to fear; after

4 Revel = deletar-se em.

much trouble they persuaded him to let go of the branch, whereupon he discovered

the truth of their assurance. Those who fear to lose their individuality are just like

this man; but clinging to their individuality they are gaining nothing, and if they

once let go of it they will know for themselves that they are always the Ever-Blissful

Self, and that there was never anything for them to fear.

441. Just as the snake sheds its skin without any suffering, it is our worthy duty to shed the five sheaths, which cause misery on account of fast attachment to them.

[784] Sadhu Om: (…) The jiva always has the freedom to desire the loss of

individuality or ego. Therefore, it is sufficient if the liking for the non-rising of the

ego arises in one’s Heart; be sure that the liking will be fulfilled by Grace.

846. Do not make any real and firm effort except to annihilate the feeling ‘I am the body’ [the ego]. Know that the ego, ‘I am the body’, is the sole cause of all samsara-dukha [the miseries of life].

849. Though the good dharmas [righteous acts] are said to be so many, just as

the golden ornaments are many, the sole reality of all those dharmas is self-sacrifice [tyaga], just as the sole reality of all ornaments is gold.

860. If you ask, “What is that great death which will not bring any more birth

and which will destroy the innumerable births and consequent deaths?”, it is the death of the ignorance ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

[975] Sadhu Om: (…) The ego seems to be real because it is a mixture of the

unreal name and form of the body and the real consciousness of Self. Therefore it is

Self, the real aspect of the ego, which makes the unreal names and forms of the

world appear to be real. [977] Sadhu Om: (…) The wrong knowledge which identifies this body as ‘I’ is

the ego. It is only during the time of the ego’s functioning and only in the outlook of

the ego, which thus mistakes the unreal, insentient and miserable body as being

real, sentient and a source of happiness [that is, as being sat-chit-ananda], that this

world appears to be real [sat], the living beings in it appear to be sentient [chit] and

the objects in it appear to be a source of happiness [ananda].

1220. For the thought [chitta-vritti] which undergoes suffering by thinking itself – who is [in its real nature nothing but] the screen, the unmoving base – to be a moving picture [the soul or jiva], the proper thing to do is to abide firmly in the state of Silence, having completely subsided [through Self-attention].

Sadhu Om: The chitta-vritti mentioned in this verse is the soul, the ego or ‘I’-

thought [aham-vritti], whose real nature is only Self, the unmoving base, but who

wrongly identifies himself to be a body, one of the moving pictures on the screen,

and who thereby sees and desires the other pictures, the world and God. (…)

[1230] Sadhu Om: Since the mind is itself an unreal and non-existent entity,

everything which is known by the mind as real or existent, is in fact unreal and non-

existent. Hence, if Self were something which could be known by the mind, it would

also be unreal, would it not? But since Self is declared by Sages to be that which

cannot be known by the mind, it alone is that which truly exists and is real.

Loss of Doership 151. Every jiva experiences his own prarabdha, which is catalysed by the

mere Presence of Shiva as the Witness dwelling in the heart of each one. Hence, the jiva who does not delude himself by thinking that he is the experiencer of prarabdha, but knows that he is mere Existence-Consciousness, is none but Shiva.

466. The pure Bliss of peace will shine within only for those who have lost the

sense of doership. For, this foolish sense of doership alone is the poisonous seed that brings forth all evil fruits.

467. Instead of going on, driven by the restless thoughts, performing actions

such as ‘I should do this, I should give up that’ as if they were worthy to be done, acting according to how the Grace of God, the Lord of our soul, leads us, is the right form of truly worshipping Him.

[469] Sadhu Om: Rather than upon their own effort [which is only the sense of

doership], devotees or aspirants always depend upon the power of the Grace of the

Supreme. (…) The correct way of understanding Sri Bhagavan’s instruction here is

that aspirants should completely and without doubting cling to the Self-

consciousness ‘I-I’. Like a child which, not even trying to know what is good for

itself, depends solely upon its mother, if an aspirant, not even trying to know any

scriptures, trying to do any yoga, or expecting any help from outside, simply clings

to the ‘I’-consciousness, that alone is sufficient and he will easily and surely be

saved form all delusion and pitfalls. Since clinging to the ‘I’-consciousness is merely

a ‘being’ and not a ‘doing’, neither does it need doership nor does it turn out to be

action [karma] even. Thus the aspirant naturally ever abides in Self. Sri Bhagavan

advises that this Self-abidance alone is the state of one’s remaining in the service of

the Lord.

Mind (Control; Stop it; destroy it)

[678] Sadhu Om: The true fasting is not refraining from feeding the stomach,

but refraining from feeding the five senses [by not providing them with the objects of

pleasure]. (…).

780. Leaving the state of Self, do not think any thought [even the first thought, ‘I’]; if you do, repent for it and do not commit the same folly again. “Do nothing for which you will repent; if you do, it is better not to do such a thing again.”

[781] Sri Muruganar: (…) Therefore Sri Bhagavan says, “Do not lament, ‘Ah,

when shall I be united with Self?’,” for it is better to spend in Self attention that time

which one spends in such lamenting.

[898] Sadhu Om: A wave is a wave so long as it moves; when that same wave

settles down without moving, it is the ocean. Similarly, the mind is the mind so long

as it moves and is limited; when the mind becomes still and unlimited, it is God or

Brahman. (…)

913. For those who allow their mind to wander here and there, everything will

go wrong. Sadhu Om: The mind should be controlled and made to subside, and should

not be allowed to be dragged here and there by its vasanas. 917. Just as the sun cannot be seen in a densely clouded sky, so one’s own Self

cannot be seen in a mind-sky which is darkened by a dense cloud of thoughts. [922] Michael James: So long as one experiences a difference between the

seer and the seen, the mind can in no way be brought under control. And until one

knows the true nature of oneself, one cannot experience that the seer and the seen

are nothing but oneself and are hence non-different. Therefore, the only means to

destroy the mind and thereby to control it effectively is to know one’s own true

nature. (…).

943. Not thinking about what has happened in the past and not thinking about

what is to come [i/n the future], but remaining as an unattached witness even to all that is happening [in the present] and being blissful because of abundant peace, is the sign of granthi-bheda.

Conduct, Virtues, Daily Life

81. Realising the truth of Self within your heart and ever abiding as the Supreme, act according to the human role which you have taken in this world, as if you taste its pleasures and pains.

329. Many are the evils that can befall one, if one associates with those mad

people whose beautiful mouths alone chatter, but whose minds remain confused. The best association to have is only with those who dwell in the Supreme Silence, through having annihilated their minds.

488. Good people [aspirants] should not with dejection hate enemies even a

little, however bad they may be. For even hatred, like desire, is fit to be hated. [489] Sadhu Om: An aspirant means one who truly wants to destroy his ego-

sense. He and his ego-sense are one and the same. Through the paths of both self-

surrender and Self-enquiry, what he rejects or hates is the ego or himself. Since

those [his enemies] who hate or scold him are also doing the same, they are pointed

out here to be great helpers in his project. (…) Similarly, the more appreciation an

aspirant receives, the less will be the subsidence of his ego. Thus, rather than his

appreciators, his enemies are helping the aspirant in his sadhana. 494. One’s greatness increases to the extent one becomes humble. The reason

why God is Supreme to such an extent that the whole universe bows to Him, is His sublime state of humility in which the deluded ego never rises unknowingly.

495. For a wise aspirant who seeks to gain true greatness, it is best to pay his

homage [namaskarams] to others until complete egolessness is achieved. On the other hand, it is indeed dangerous for him to accept homage from others.

493. By the crime of excess, even the nectar will become poison. By the crime

of excess, many are the evils. Hence one should realize the crime of excess and remove it.

524. The very nature of argument is to veil the truth. Since it is nothing but an

art of illusion and imagination, it will delude and confuse the mind. Therefore, no one who has fallen into the dark hole of arguments will see the Sunlight, Self-knowledge.

525. Words [and thoughts] do not reveal Self. On the contrary, they veil it

completely. Therefore, be alert in controlling both speech and thought so that Self, which is hidden by them, will shine of Its own accord.

526. Do not lend your intellect [buddhi] as a slave to the gymnastics of

eloquence [in the form of speech and poetry] and to the jugglery of arguments. Know the truth, Self, by turning the pure sattvic mind within and thereby destroying the illusion of otherness.

573. Do not perform any good action [karma] through a bad means, thinking ‘It is sufficient if it bears good fruit’. Because, if the means is bad, even a good action will turn out to be a bad one. Therefore, even the means of doing good actions should be pure.

574. Those alone are good actions [karmas] which are done lovingly and with

a peaceful and pure mind. All those actions which are done with an agitated, desirous and impure mind are to be classed only as evil actions.

623. Because it brings one under the great evil of yielding to non-vigilance

[pramada], through which one is made to think that one is worthless and mean body, while in fact one is the supreme Brahman, fame [or praise] is to be rejected with great contempt5 and is not at all to be aspired for by wise people.

624. By exposing oneself due to the desire of being praised by others, one is

unnecessarily removing one’s protection and creating obstacles to the sadhana one has undertaken.

Sadhu Om: The desire for the annihilation of the ego is the right sign of atma-

sadhana. But fame and praise are things to be gained only by the ego. Therefore, if

one has a desire for fame it means that one does not like to destroy the ego. That is

why Sri Bhagavan says that the one who has desire for fame is himself creating

obstacles to his sadhana. Therefore, if the atma-sadhana is to progress unobstructed

and well protected, it is better for an aspirant to live a life of unknown name and

unknown place.

665. For those first-grade sadhus who aspire only to reach the Feet of Lord Siva [God], it is better to live as an object to be pitied in the eyes of the worldly people rather than to be envied.

676. Just like the one thorn which is used to remove another thorn which has

pricked deep and is giving pain, even those good tendencies [subha vasanas], after removing the bad tendencies [asubha vasanas] in the heart, should also be discarded [since they are also a bondage].

787. If one always sees only the good qualities in others instead of seeing any bad, one’s life will be very pleasant, having no room for any disgust. 5 Contempt = desprezo.

788. Unless one follows the principle, “That which is essential to be reformed

is only my own mind”, one’s mind will become more and more impure by seeing the defects of others.

790. To err is human nature; yet if those who are strong in having virtuous

behaviour err, it is good for them to admit their errors and to reform themselves, instead of hiding them in order to maintain their prestige.

791. Since the prescribed observances [niyamas] help one for a long distance,

they are fit to be accepted and observed. But when they [are found to] obstruct the highest practice, the enquiry for true knowledge [mey-jnana-vichara], give them up as useless.

Sadhu Om: All niyamas are prescribed only to develop the sattvic quality in

the mind. (…) Since the rising of an ‘I’ is necessary to observe niyamas, and since in

vichara this ‘I’ should not be allowed to rise at all, the niyamas will leave the

aspirant of their own accord, like withered leaves falling from a tree.

793. Let that which happens, happen as it has to happen [i.e. as it is destined by

God to happen]. Do not think to go against it even in the least. Without doing anything as a new starting, abide as one with the Sakshi [Self] who peacefully shines in the Heart.

[795] So that it may not leave me, graciously retain in me the virtue of seeing

in every creature I see, at least one good quality shining more in them than in me

and of thereby being humble and submissive towards them. Sri Ramana Sahasram, verse 31

807. All that one gives to others, one is giving only to oneself. If this truth is

known, who will refrain from giving to others? 808. Since everyone is one’s own Self, whoever does whatever [good or bad]

to whomever, is only doing it to himself. [Therefore, one should only do good to others.]

809. By giving alms to Sridhara [Lord Vishnu] Mahabali became great, even

though he was pressed and sent to Patala Loka [by the Lord’s Feet]. Therefore, “Though it is only a ruin that befalls one by giving, it is worthy to give even at the cost of selling oneself”.

810. He who is ever joyous, giving words assuring refuge [abhaya] to all

creatures and behaving in such a way that they will not be afraid of him, does not

fear even Yama [the God of death], since he is established in the state of equality, having the outlook of Self.

811. When a strong man by his physical strength does harm to a weak person,

the dharma [of an aspirant] is not to become agitated [or to start angrily attacking the wrongdoer] but is to be compassionate towards the weak, knowing that God, who pities the weak, will punish the wicked properly.

[814] Sadhu Om: It is well know that Sri Bhagavan remained unruffled

6 and

His face was as cheerful as ever when some thieves beat Him, when hundreds of

hornets stung His thigh, and finally when the tumour on His left arm gave

unbearable pain continuously for eleven months. Yet there were occasions on which

Sri Bhagavan melted and shed tears when some devotees came to Him grieving over

the loss of their children or relatives, or when they were suffering with some

incurable disease. Thus Sri Bhagavan Himself exemplified the idea expressed in this

verse. 816. It is wrong for those who try to live a just life to leave the state of equality

and to take specially for themselves some rights which are not available to all alike. 817. If others have some right, then only should one avail oneself of that right.

If some right is denied to others, it would be wrong for one to avail oneself of it. 818. Those who go against the state of equality are those who go against God,

who is equality itself. Though they perform due worship to God, they are completely rejecting God-worship.

821. Since the Supreme Himself, who stands as the Lord in the heart of all,

shines as Truth [satyam], the abode [of all virtues], one should not break one’s given word, even though it is at a time of danger to one’s life. If one breaks it, unfailing misery will result.

826. A heavy building raised on foundations which are not strongly built, will

collapse in devastation and disgrace. Therefore it is essential from the very outset for aspirants who work hard [on their spiritual path] to adhere strictly and at any cost to the preliminary observances.

Sri Muruganar: Preliminary observances [charyas] here mean devotion

[bhakti] and non-attachment [vairagya]. Sadhu Om: If an aspirant does not from

the very outset develop the necessary strength of character by practising control of

the senses, when he is taught the Advaitic truth by the scriptures or Guru, he will be

shaken by his worldly desire before attaining Jnana and will experience a downfall.

6 Unruffled = imperturbável.

Sri Muruganar: It is essential in the beginning for aspirants to make an effort to

practise controlling the chitta-vrittis [the mind’s running after sense-objects]. If a

beginner moves closely among worldly objects, pretending as if he is free from

attachment, he will at last experience disappointment.

908. When scrutinized, among all the many qualities necessary for those who wish to attain the imperishable Liberation, it is the attitude of a great liking to be in permanent solitude that must be well established in their mind.

1090. Observance of being indifferent towards everything by preventing the

wicked anger and desire so that the confusion of the defective mind-illusion [mana-

maya] may be destroyed, alone is the best life lived in accordance with reality [sat-

achara vazhkkai]. Observe [such a life].

The Wold (is Unreal; is only mind)

30. If it is thus said that this world is a mere play of thoughts, why, even when the mind is quiet, does the world-scene, like a dream, suddenly appear in front of us? That is due to the stored momentum of past imaginations!

67. It is the result of the delusion I-am-the-limited-body, that the world, which is nothing but Consciousness, is known as a second entity, separate from Consciousness.

84. All that is perceived by the mind was already within the heart. Know that all perceptions are a reproduction of past tendencies now being projected outside [through the five senses].

542. To see the one Self, the reality which is devoid of anything false, as many and different is what is ignorance. Therefore, whatever thing appears in whatever name and form, to see it in its real nature [as Self] is what is knowledge.

550. In the same manner as a dream appears in the mind-space by mere mental imagination, the scene of this world-picture [as our life] appears in this waking state. Therefore, to abide in Self by firmly knowing thus, by destroying all objective knowledge [the knowledge of second and third persons in this waking state] and by annihilating all the foolish desires for the objective scenes here, alone is worthy.

[639] Sadhu Om: (…) It is indirectly but firmly instructed here that to know

Self is the easiest, because the reality [sat] of the seer [the ego] is in truth Self, the

one reality, which we want to see or know. (…) When the real nature of the ego,

which lives only by feeding upon the names and forms, which rise and set, is

scrutinized [enquired into] and found to be Self or Brahman, the true reality [sat],

which does not have the false nature of rising and setting, then the reality of the

world will also be found to be Self. Refer here to verse 4 of Ulladu Narpadu, where

Sri Bhagavan asks, “Can the seen be otherwise than the eye (the seer)?”. Only then

will the absolute truth, namely that even the world is real – that it is Brahman itself -

be properly understood [refer here to verses 50 and 52 of this work]. Till then, it is

indispensable [and since it will help one to reach the absolute reality, it is also

highly recommendable] for the aspirants to take the reality [sat] of the seer, the ego,

to be unreal or asat, and also to conclude that, since the world has the same reality

[sat] as the seer, it is unreal.

822. The boat may remain in water, but if water enters the boat it will bring great catastrophe. [Likewise] a man may live in the world, but if the world enters [the mind of] the man the whole life will be miserable.

Sri Muruganar: (…) No harm will befall one by one’s merely living in the

world; but all miseries come into existence only because of one’s desire to enjoy the

world.

824. One who is free at heart from any attachment will never be at any risk, even though engaged in all [activities], because of the clarity with which his mind shines.

870. If I feel that I see the world, what is the secret behind this? It is that a world of sense-objects and a seer of it rise in ‘me’, the space of the perfect and true light of unbroken [Self-]Knowledge. Know thus definitely.

Sadhu Om: This world-appearance, which is composed of the five sense-

knowledges, and the jiva who sees it are not real. They are mere false appearances

like a mirage, having Self as their base, and they appear only with the help of the

light of Self. Moreover, this world-appearance is not even seen by Self, but only by

the jiva, who is himself a part of it (…).

876. Until the false appearance of the snake goes, the real rope, the base, will not be known. [Likewise] until the false appearance of the world vanishes, the real Self, the base, will not be seen.

890. “Except the non-dual whole [Self], all the mundane multiplicities imposed

on It as ‘this’ or ‘that’ are not real even in the least; they are all nothing but a complete illusion superimposed on It” – such alone is the final verdict [of all Jnanis].

903. O very great and rare wise men, what is the nature of change? Are the appearance and disappearance of all these things really going on continuously, or are they merely [seeming changes] appearing and disappearing [in the ever-unchanging reality]?

952. One’s own reality [Self], which shines within everyone as Heart, is the ocean of unalloyed bliss. Therefore misery, which is unreal like the blueness of the sky, truly does not exist except in mere imagination.

Sadhu Om: (…) The dyad ‘pleasure and pain’ is an illusion or imagination

which seems to exist only because of the defective outlook of the ego, the rising of

which is itself unreal. Therefore misery can only be as real as the ego.. [953] Sadhu Om: (…) When one wakes up from the sleep of Self-forgetfulness,

in which the dream of one’s present life is occurring, one will realize that all the

miseries that one experienced as a jiva are in truth unreal and non-existent (…).

Throughout this chapter Sri Bhagavan expounds the truth that misery is non-existent

in order to strengthen the titiksha [the forbearance or ability to endure misery] in

aspirants, lest7 they should become disheartened and give up their sadhana on

account of the various miseries which occur in their life.

[1081] Michael James: The only difference between two dolls made of

ambrosia, one in the form of a master and the other in the form of a slave, is their

names and forms. Their substance, the ambrosia (amrita) or nectar of immortality, is

one and the same. Similarly, the substance or reality of both God (Siva) and the soul

(jiva) is the one immortal Self, and the seeming difference between them lies only in

their names and forms.

1095. The divine life [of abiding as Self] alone is the life of supreme reality. On the other hand, life in the world which is seen, is a life of delusion. What an illusion [maya] it is to live a life of fear [fearing death]. Is not that [life of fear] merely [one’s] drowning in the play of the mind-illusion [mano-maya]?

1216. If they see the many moving pictures, they do not see the one unmoving

screen, the base. Those who see the unmoving screen do not see any of the pictures. This is the nature of a cinema theatre.

Self is Unaffected

554. All the karmas that one has seen that one has done in dream, will not give fruit in the waking state. Likewise, all the karmas done in this waking state by the deluded ego-sense will not give fruit in the state of Self-awakening.

7 Lest = a fim de que não.

[564] Sadhu Om: (…)Even though Self, the non-dual one, seems to become a

jiva and suffer through many births and deaths, in reality Self is unaffected by these

false appearances. This is illustrated by the example of a sleeper, who ever remains

really the same, unaffected person who was previously lying safe on the soft bed.

B9. Forgetting Self, mistaking the body for Self, taking innumerable births,

and at last knowing Self and being Self is just like waking from a dream of wandering all over the world. Know thus.

[736] Sadhu Om: Just as the cinema screen, which is the base pervading all

the pictures, is not burnt by a picture of fire or drenched by a picture of a flood, so

Self, the Supreme Reality which is the base pervading all activities, is not affected by

any number of activities. Therefore, since the one who attends to Self remains as

Self itself, he is not affected by any number of activities he may appear to be doing.

[888] Michael James: (…) “That [the rope] is the rope; this [the seeming

snake] is also the rope. Even when this snake merges [disappears] into that rope, it

is the rope. Even when this snake goes out [as if a snake] from that rope, the rope

alone remains.” In other words, just as in truth the rope alone exists, so in truth

Brahman, the whole, alone exists; and just as the seeming snake is a false

appearance, so the seeming world is a false appearance. Neither the going out

(manifestation) of this world-appearance nor its merging again into Brahman is

real. Brahman ever remains as the immutable and unchanging whole.

906. Know that not even the least defect [or change] caused by the activities [in the world] will affect the unchanging Self, just as not even the least defect [or change] caused by the other [four] elements, earth, water, wind and fire, will affect the vast space.

1047. All the worlds are a moving picture-show, [whereas] Self is the

unmoving [screen of] real consciousness. 1053. That which appears [whatever it may be], let it appear; that which

disappears [whatever it may be], let it all disappear. What [loss or gain] is it to Self knowledge? That which remains after everything has entered and ceased to exist in the oneness [kevalam] of Siva – who surges as the Whole [purnam] – alone is Self, one’s own nature.

The Guru

245. The beauty of external objects induces pleasure but does great harm; inner purity, however, is not like this, so it alone is the true beauty. [This is why] wise men adore the One who is pure in heart and say with wonder, “This is God in human form”.

269. Truly, perfect discipleship – which is the steadfast Supreme Devotion that flares up8 with the merging of the ego into the Light of Supreme Stillness [i.e. Self-Consciousness] – is alone the right Guruship. Thus you should know.

277. The gracious look of the Guru, the philosophers’ stone, will transmute

even the jiva’s impure nature, the rusty iron, into pure Jnana, the gold. Therefore, the worthiest thing to choose, seek and steadfastly cling to is the Darshan of the Guru’s gracious look.

[281] Sadhu Om: When a river merges into the ocean, all its attributes, such

as its speed, current and shape, are destroyed, yet not one drop of its substance, the

water, is lost. Similarly, when a jiva, “I am so-and-so”, meets the glance of the

Guru’s eyes, all his attributes, such as “so-and-so”, are destroyed, yet his

substance, the Self-Consciousness [Sat-Chit] “I am”, shines unaffected and alone;

therefore it is said that the Guru “kills without killing”.

283. Just as the sight of a lion appearing in its dream will awaken an elephant from sleep, so also the Darshan of the Sadguru will awaken the disciple from the dream of this present waking state, which is merely an illusion, into the state of Jnana.shanti Shanti

290. Shanti [i.e., Peace or Bliss], which is loved by everyone, cannot at all be

attained by anyone, at any place, at any time, or by any means, unless the mind is subdued by the Grace of the Sadguru. Therefore, turn towards His Grace with one-pointed devotion.

321. Though one has shaken off all vices, secured all virtues, renounced all

relatives, and observed all the austerities prescribed by the Shastras, can one reach Eternal Bliss unless one meets the Jnana-Guru? [No, one cannot!]

798. Yet, the duty of a disciple is, even in dream, to follow steadfastly and to

abide by the worthy teaching given from His immortal experience by the Guru, who shines with the highest divine quality, that of uncaused Grace [avyaja Karuna].

8 To flare up = chamejar.

800. The words of Sages say that if one does wrong [apacharam] to God, it can be rectified by the Guru, but an apacharam done to the Guru cannot be rectified even by God.

965. If you, thinking of Him [God or Guru], take one step [towards Him], in

response to that, more [graciously] than even a mother, that Lord, thinking of you, will Himself come nine steps [towards you] and receive [you]. See, such is His Grace!

[1126] Michael James: (…) Sri Bhagavan often used to extol the great

efficacy of sat-sang (association or contact with a Jnani), and He also used to point

out that mental contact is better than mere physical contact (see Day by Day, 9-3-

46). That is why Sri Bhagavan assures in this verse that by one’s thinking of the

Jnani’s form, the true light of Self-knowledge will shine forth from within. That is

also the reason why Sri Bhagavan affirmed that by one’s merely thinking of the form

of Arunachala, Mukti would be attained. Therefore, devotees need not fear that Sri

Bhagavan’s sat-sang is no longer available now that His physical form has passed

away; His sat-sang is always available to those who turn their mind towards Him.

Surrender and Faith

470. The Lord who has fed you today will ever do so well. Therefore, live carefree, placing all your burden at His feet and having no thought of tomorrow or the future.

471. Know well that even performing tapas and yoga with the intention ‘I

should become an instrument in the hands of the Lord Siva’ is a blemish 9 to complete self-surrender, which is the highest form of being in His service.

Sadhu Om: Since even the thought ‘I am an instrument in the Lord’s hand’ is

a means by which the ego retains its individuality, it is directly opposed to the spirit

of complete self-surrender, the ‘I’-lessness. Are there not many good-natured people

who engage themselves in prayers, worship, yoga and such virtuous acts with the

aim of achieving power from God and doing good to the world as one divinely

commissioned? It is exposed here that even such endeavours are egotistical and

hence contrary to self-surrender.

9 Blemish = mancha, mácula.

472. One’s thus becoming a slave to the Lord and one’s remaining quiet and silent, devoid even of the egotistical thought ‘I am His slave’, is Self-abidance, and this is the supreme Knowledge.

473. Seated in the Heart of everyone as Heart, the Lord will ordain everything

according to one’s destiny [prarabdha]. Therefore, if we unswervingly abide in Self, our source, all will happen unerringly.

474. Those who have the strong faith, “He who has planted this tree will water

it”, will never be distressed. If he [who planted it] sees the tree drying up, let even that pathetic sight be only his burden.

Michael James: Devotees with great faith in God never feel concern for the

needs of their life, because they are so sure that God will never abandon them. Even

when it happens that they are not provided with their needs, they do not feel that

they are afflicted; they simply endure with it patiently, feeling that it is only God

who has to suffer by seeing them troubled. Hence on all occasions they are happy.

This verse thus assures that for such devotees there is no misery at all in life.

480. “Offer the self to the Lord”, they say. Then whose else is it but His

already? Therefore, it is one’s duty to repent for having stolen His possession [as ‘I’ and ‘mine’] and to restore it back to His Lotus Feet.

481. There will be no cause for fear for one whose mind abides by the will of

the Lord praying, “O Lord, let nothing happen according to my wish; let only Thy will be done”.

519. It is very rare to get full faith in One [God or Guru]. If such a faith

blossoms in the heart [due to past merits], do protect and nourish it, since it is similar to a new-born baby, without spoiling it by giving room to any doubts or suspicion, just as, if one possessed the Kamadenu, one would bring it up with great care and love.

664. Forgetting everything that has to be obtained either in this world or in the

next, enduring perfectly and with patience all the obstacles that come, and not being disheartened by any amount of poverty that comes, live in the way in which God’s Grace leads you.

1191. It is not possible for anyone to do anything opposed to the ordinance

[niyati] of God, who has the ability to do [anything and] everything. [Therefore] to remain silent at the Feet [of God], having given up [all] the anxieties of the wicked, defective and delusive mind, is best.

Love and Devotion

370. If you love others only for their bodies or their souls [i.e. their egos], you will suffer from grief when their bodies die and their souls depart. Therefore, in order to be free from such grief, have true Love towards Self, which is the real Life of the soul.

512. Though the non-dual knowledge [advaita jnana] is difficult to attain, it

becomes easy to attain when the true love, bhakti, for the Feet of the Lord [Siva] becomes intense, since His Grace, the revealing Light which dispels ignorance, then begins to flow.

[652] Sadhu Om: When the true nature of love is realized, it will completely

cease to take the form of desire, which is its ‘vritti rupa’ [that is, which love is in the

form of a vritti or movement]. When desire is thus removed, all its five offshoots10

,

namely anger, miserliness, delusion, arrogance and jealousy, will also cease to exist

[refer to verse 375]. Since all the problems of life are based upon only these six

vices, it is said that the knot of all problems in life will be severed by realizing the

true nature of love. The truth of love is nothing but Self. How? Since the real nature

of Self is asti-bhati-priya or sat-chit-ananda, love [priya] or ananda cannot be

different form Self. This is why the Sages declare that love is God.

722. On scrutiny, supreme devotion [parabhakti] and Jnana are in nature one and the same. To say that one of these two is a means to the other is due to not knowing the nature of either of them.

731. Know that the path of jnana and the path of bhakti are inter-related.

Follow these inseparable two paths without dividing one from the other. B 13. Attending to Self is devotion to the supreme Lord, because the Lord

exists as Self. 734. Those who have one-pointed devotion towards God, like the magnetic

needle [of a ship’s compass] which always stands facing towards the north, will never be perplexed and go astray in the ocean of attachment of this world.

[974] Sadhu Om: The true knowledge of Self, which always shines naturally,

is the fullness of non-dual bliss [ananda], because it shines as the truth of love.

Existence [sat], consciousness [chit] and bliss [ananda] are not really three, but one

and the same. We should know that being conscious [chit] of our own existence [sat]

10 Offshoot = desdobramento.

is itself bliss [ananda]. Verse 979 should be referred to here. The love for oneself

shines in all jivas because self-love is the very nature of Self. Therefore, since love is

the nature of Self, and since Self is the very form of supreme happiness, it is wrong

to regard happiness as being the result of love; instead of thus regarding love and

happiness as being cause and effect, we should understand that love is itself

happiness. Since by loving Self one knows Self and by knowing Self one loves Self,

we should also understand that love is itself happiness. Since by loving Self one

knows Self and by knowing Self one loves Self, we should also understand that

knowledge itself is love, which is happiness. Since Self is one’s own existence or

being, it can never become an object to be known, and hence knowing Self is nothing

but being Self; thus we should understand that being [sat] itself is knowledge [chit],

which is both happiness [ananda] and love [priyam].

Karma, Destiny and Effort

692. Since it is only one’s effort put forth in the past births which afterwards, on ripening, becomes the prarabdha [of the present and future births], know that it is also possible for oneself, who had previously put forth that effort, to change the prarabdha through the rare effort [of turning towards Self].

[693] Sadhu Om and Michael James: When the mind drowns in Self, the

sense of doership and that of experiencership are lost. Then, since there remains no

one to experience the prarabdha, it is said that the prarabdha has been conquered. 697. For those who uninterruptedly concentrate upon the unlimited and all-

pervading space of consciousness [chitrambalam], there is not even an iota of fate [prarabdha]. This alone is what is meant by the scriptural saying, “Fate does not exist for those who seek heaven”.

Miscelaneous

222. If an aspirant treading on the path of Liberation develops a liking for siddhis, his ego will wax and hence his bondage will become denser.

[226] Sadhu Om: Birth and death only befall the body, but taking the body to

be ‘I’ we feel “I am born, and I will die”. If we wish to become immortal we

therefore merely have to cast off this illusory identification with the body, and we

will then realise that we are the Ever-Unborn and Ever-Immortal Self.

[392] Sadhu Om: When one wakes up from either kind of mano-laya, the

vasanas start functioning as before, and so no progress is made in laya, however

long one may remain in it. Therefore it is said that it is not sufficient to stop with

mano-laya, even if it is kevala-nirvikalpa-samadhi. Laya results because the mind is

restrained from dwelling upon external sense-objects, but though the mind is not

wandering and is therefore peaceful in this state, one cannot progress further.

Whenever the mind wakes up from laya, it will be quiet and peaceful [i.e. it will not

be wandering towards objects], and therefore one should make use of such a

peaceful mind by directing it towards Self-attention;’ because only through Self-

attention can mano-nasha [i.e. destruction of the mind] be attained.

413. Just as it is impossible to trace the path through which a bird flew in the sky and the path through which a fish swam in the water, so it is also impossible to trace the path by which Jnanis have reached the Self.

518. All days, all planets, all yogas and all orais are auspicious days, auspicious planets, auspicious yogas and auspicious orais for an aspirant to do this upasana [spiritual practice].

572. It is only the results of one’s good and bad actions [karmas] done in the past that come in one’s present life as one’s pleasures and pains, and also as one’s friends and mighty foes, who are the instrumental cause for them [one’s pleasures and pains].

617. The many afflictions which occur with severity like thunderbolts in the

life of great devotees are only to establish their pure mind more and more firmly [in tapas, that is, in Self-abidance] and not to shake them down [from it].

618. Discriminating and knowing well that all the sufferings that come by

prarabdha in his life are sent to him by God’s Grace in order to make his mind stronger and thereby save him, let an aspirant bear with them patiently as tapas

without being alarmed even in the least. 619. Just as a gem taken from a mine will not have full lustre if it is not

polished on the grindstone, so the real tapas, the sadhana which one is doing, will not shine well if it is not provided with trials and tribulations on its way.

667. Every moment [i.e., many millions of times in a second] each atom [in the

universe] is destroyed and newly created. Since this is going on unceasingly, it appears as if they [the objects of the universe] are the same [objects] existing continuously. Know thus.

674. Whatever thing [among the above-said alien objects, which are not ‘I’] acts in whatever way, remain aloof from those activities [that is, from the notion that it is ‘I’ who acts] and simply be a witness to them.

Sadhu Om: The instructions ‘simply be a witness to them’ which Sri Bhagavan

gives in this verse should be correctly understood. The word ‘witness’ [sakshi] is

used in Vedantic scriptures in a special sense, and it should be understood

accordingly. The scriptures explain that Self or Brahman is a witness to all activities

just as the sun is a witness to all that happens on earth, that is to say, all activities

take place in and because of the mere presence of Self, just as all that happens on

earth takes place in and because of the mere presence of the sun. However, just as

the sun is unconcerned with [that is, does not attend to] all that happens on earth,

so Self is unconcerned with [that is, does not attend to] all the activities that take

place in Its presence. Refer here to the work Who am I? in which Sri Bhagavan has

clearly explained this simile of the sun, which is unaffected by and unconcerned with

all that happens on earth.

Therefore, when Sri Bhagavan says in this verse that we should simply be a

witness to all things, He does not mean that we should remain like the sun,

unattached to and unconcerned with whatever happens or does not happen in our

presence. This is why He also says in this verse, ‘remain aloof from them’, for one

who is truly aloof from something will not be in the least concerned with that thing

and will not attend to it. So long as one attends to something, it means that one is

concerned with that thing, in other words, that one is attached to it. That is why in

the work Who am I? Sri Bhagavan defines non-attachment, the state of remaining

aloof from the non-Self, thus, “Not attending to what-is-other [anya] is non-

attachment [vairagya] or desirelessness [nirasa]”.

However, unfortunately nowadays many writers and lecturers who have

merely read the Vedantic scriptures but have never understood the correct practice

by which one can separate oneself from the non-Self, recommend to people that one

should witness or observe [that is, attend to] all that happens. Thus they have

created a false belief in the minds of many aspirants that to witness or observe

objects is a Jnana-sadhana, and that by so witnessing things one can detach oneself

from them. In truth, however, such objective attention is only a means of becoming

attached to objects, and can never be a means of becoming detached from them.

That is why Sri Bhagavan has taught that Self-enquiry, which is an attention to the

first person or subject [i.e. a non-objective attention], is the sole means of knowing

Self and thereby detaching oneself from the non-Self.

679. Since diet-regulation develops the sattvic quality of the mind, it will help a long way in Self-enquiry. Therefore, what is the need for one, due to confusion, to long for any other observances [niyama]? Diet-regulation alone will suffice.

Sri Muruganar: Aspirants on the path of Self-enquiry often concern

themselves about the many other observances [niyamas] which may aid their

sadhana. But diet regulation alone will be sufficient, since it is the highest of all

observances. [685] Sri Muruganar: The subsidence [i.e. control] of all the instruments of

knowledge [karanas] naturally at all times will be possible only when the ego

subsides permanently. Therefore, aspirants should aim only to destroy the ego.

Trying to control each of the above said instruments individually is not the direct

path.

694. When even in worldly affairs success is impossible without proper zeal [shraddha] in one’s endeavour, one should not allow the zeal [shraddha] in doing spiritual practice to diminish until one becomes one with the limitless Supreme.

714. Of all the many thousand names, none is so truly apt, so really beautiful,

as this name [‘I’ or ‘am’] for God, who abides in the heart without thought. 715. Of all the known names of God, the name ‘I-I’ alone will triumphantly

shine when the ego is destroyed, rising as the silent Supreme Word, [mouna-para-

vak] in the heart-space of those whose attention is introverted. 716. Even if one unceasingly remembers that divine name ‘I-I’, it will safely

lead one to the source from which thoughts rise, thereby destroying the body-rooted ego.

Sadhu Om: This verse conveys the same teaching that is given by Sri

Bhagavan in the following sentence of Who am I?: “Even if one incessantly thinks

‘I, I’, it will lead to that place [the source of the mind].” 745. To say that one who practised Self-abidance [nishtha] by clinging to the

Lord, Self, the form of consciousness, lost his balance of mind and became insane, is just like saying that by drinking the nectar of immortality one died. Know thus.

Sadhu Om: It is wrong to say, as worldly people sometimes do, that someone

has become mad by following the path of Self-enquiry. In this verse Sri Bhagavan

assures us that one will never suffer from any such mental disorder by following this

path, and that on the contrary one will achieve greater clarity and strength of mind.

746. If you desire to attain the eternal greatness devoid of the defect of birth and death, the correct sadhana is to meditate upon that time [namely the presen]) which does not have the least modification of coming and going.

Sadhu Om: (…) This verse gives us the rare clue that atma-sadhana can be

done not only in the form of attending to the first person [out of the three persons],

but also in the form of attending to the present [out of the three times]. In whichever

of these two forms one may do the atma-sadhana, both the first person and the

present time will disappear, being found to be truly non-existent, and the eternal

greatness devoid of birth and death will be attained. Refer also to The Path of Sri

Ramana – Part One, pages 135 to 136.

[803] Sadhu Om: (…) Let us suppose that a man is dreaming that he and his

comrades have been attacked by a tiger. Some of his comrades are wounded and the

tiger is about to attack again, so the man calls out in his dream asking someone to

bring a rifle and a first-aid-box. His shouting is heard by a friend who is awake.

Now what is the truly kind and useful help that the waking friend can give to the

dreaming man? Will it be of any use if he brings a rifle and a first-aid-box? If he

merely taps the man and wakes him up, will that not be the best help, both to the

dreaming man and his wounded comrades? All the miseries of a jiva are

experienced by him in a dream which is occurring in the long sleep of Self-

forgetfulness, and hence his waking up from that dream is the only solution for all

his miseries. Since the jiva can be awakened to Self-knowledge only by someone who

is already awake, a Jnani alone can do real good to the jiva. If any ajnani tries to

relieve the sufferings of another, he will be just like someone in dream bringing a

rifle and first-aid-box; since he does not know the real cause of the dreaming man’s

suffering all his help will be just like one blind man leading another blind man.

819. If one’s conscience, according to which one has [always] been acting, once tells one not to live in a [seemingly] good society, it is better for one to live alone rather than to live in that society, rejecting one’s pure conscience.

Sadhu Om: This verse is an instruction given to some good devotees like Sri

Muruganar who came to live in the Ashram, believing it to be a favourable

environment for their spiritual progress, but who soon had to leave and live alone

outside the Ashram, having found for one reason or another that it was not a

suitable environment. When a seemingly good society is thus bound by an advanced

aspirant to be unsuitable, he should follow his conscience and live alone, and should

not continue to depend in any way upon that society.

Sri Muruganar: If one’s conscience, being driven by prarabdha, separates

and prevents one from living in a good society, it will be better for a wise aspirant to

live alone instead of rejecting his pure conscience by trying to live among the same

group of people.

[887] Sri Muruganar: Since a state which comes at one time and goes away at

another time is not the final state, no matter how glorious and blissful it may be, it

will not be eternal. If one’s own natural state is itself the final state, then there will

be no destruction for it. It is only natural and just that any state other than one’s

own natural state will go away from one at some time.

[892] Sadhu Om: This verse clearly depicts the real experience of an aspirant.

Is it not the experience of many sincere aspirants that, after learning about the true

nature of Self through hearing [sravana] and reflection [manana], they struggle

hard in the practice [nididhyasana] of Self-attention but repeatedly fail in their

attempts, until finally they feel weary and dejected, knowing their own inability?

This verse encourages such aspirants by pointing out that when the mind, which is

the root-cause of all efforts, thus comes to a complete standstill due to utter

weariness, that is exactly the moment when Self will shine forth clearly and without

obstruction. (…).

[932] Sadhu Om: (…) Sri Bhagavan used to say that if the least difference or

diversity is perceived, it means that the ego or individuality is there, so if difference

is experienced, non-difference or unity would merely be a theoretical proposition

and not an actual experience. 936. If one does not take to the deluded life of modern civilization, if one

rejects the liking towards the useless worldly knowledges [such as sciences, arts and languages], and if one removes the sense of differentiation [bheda-buddhi] between Siva [or Paramatma] and the soul [or jivatma], then only will the true import of Siva Jnana Bodham shine forth.

945. Whoever has whatever experiences, wherever and through whatever

things, all those experiences are on scrutiny [found to be] nothing but a [reflected] part of Self-experience.

1103. Being deluded in this life, wandering around the whole world and

experiencing misery [on account of one’s desiring so many things], is foolish. Abide in the Feet of the Supreme Siva, the [state of] Silence which is Sadasiva and which destroys the movements [chalanas] caused by the ego.

[1156] Sadhu Om: (…)After engaging oneself in the sadhana of knowing Self,

making research in the scriptures is of no use. Scriptures are useful only to turn us

towards the path of Self-enquiry, and are of no further use to us during the time

when we are engaged in practice or nididhyasana. This is what is meant by Sri

Bhagavan in the work Who am I? when He said, “For Rama to know himself to be

Rama, is a mirror necessary? ... All that one has learnt will at one time have to be

forgotten.” B27 Questions and answers exist only in the language of this duality [dvaita];

in non-duality they do not exist. [1185] Sadhu Om: Through whatever path one may proceed towards the state

of Liberation, one can finally enter that state only through the gateway of Silence –

the gateway of egolessness or mindlessness. (…)

Silence, Quietude

521. The pure state of having very great attachment to Self and having no attachment to any other thing is verily one’s state of Silence. Learning to remain as ‘I am that Silence’ and ever abiding as It is, is the true mental worship [manasika

puja].

796. Higher than quietude there is no achievement; higher than quietude there is no effort; higher than quietude there is no tapas; higher than quietude there is no deathless life.

Sri Muruganar: What is here called quietude is the state of stillness of mind.

This can be achieved only by unceasing enquiry [vichara]. When the mind knows

that in truth there is nothing to reject or to accept, it will lose its movements

[chalana] and will abide in supreme peace [parama-santi]. (…).

1207. Only so long as there are other thoughts in the heart, can there be a thought of God conceived by one’s mind. The death of even that thought [of God] due to the death of [all] other thoughts [including the root-thought ‘I’], alone is the true thought [of God], the unthought thought.

Jnana

243. If the world that is seen is found to be not apart from the seer, that is Jnana. Vairagya is clinging fast to Self and rejecting this world with detachment viewing it as merely void.

910. Whatever and however much [good or bad] either comes [to one] or goes

[away from one], to remain as other than the knower of them and to be unaffected by them, unlike a straw carried away by the wind, is Jnana.

915. To root out the weed-like three desires [the desires for women, wealth and

fame] even before they sprout out, and to make the mind subside and remain still like an ocean without wind-created waves, is Jnana.

[963] Sadhu Om: Only when a thing is felt to be other than oneself, will a fear

of it or a desire for it arise in one. Since no other thing exists in the non-dual state of

Self-knowledge, there can arise no fear or desire in that state, and hence it alone is

the state of true fearlessness or heroism. (…)

999. Even by those who have united [with Self], the happiness of union cannot be thought of but can only be experienced. Those who have united [cannot think even of] the method by which they have attained [that state of] Silence, annihilating the ego-sense in that anandatitam [that state transcending bliss].

Michael James: (…) In that state we cannot think that we have followed any

path or method; we will merely realize that we are ever as we are, and that we have

never undergone even the least change or movement of any kind. 1120. He who has attained the life of a Jnani in the heart, will not derive even

the least pleasure from the life of the fleshy body and the petty [five] senses. Is not that life of Silence itself the unlimited and unbroken experience of [the bliss of] the supreme Brahman?

1160. If the verdict is that actionlessness alone is Jnana, [then it would mean

that] the verdict is that even the actionlessness due to leprosy is Jnana! Know that that exalted state in which one has given up likes and dislikes for actions [and for their fruits] and which is devoid of any doership [literally, responsibility] in the mind, alone is the state of Jnana.

1166. Those [the Jnanis] who are joyfully content at heart with whatever

comes [of its own accord due to prarabdha], who have transcended all the dyads [dvandvas], who are devoid of jealousy and who have attained the state of peace in the midst of success and failure, will not be bound by the actions [karmas] which they [seem to] do.

1245. [Sri Muruganar’s Experience] In my [non-dual] outlook [in which I

alone exist as the reality], you do not exist but only I; in your [non-dual] outlook [when you realize that you alone exist as the reality], I do not exist but only you; in one’s own [non-dual] outlook [when one has realized the truth], others do not exist but only oneself. When [the truth is thus] known, all of them [I, you, oneself and others] are [nothing but] ‘I’ [the Self].

The Final Truth

B28. There is no becoming [creation], destruction, bondage, desire to sever [bondage], effort [made for liberation] for those who have attained [liberation]. Know that this is the supreme truth [paramartha]!

Sadhu Om: (…) Thus, as the final conclusion of this work, Guru Vachaka

Kovai, which is also known as ‘The Light of Supreme Truth’ [paramartha dipam],

Sri Bhagavan reveals that Self – which always shines without beginning or end and

without any change as the single, non-dual existence-consciousness-bliss [sat-chit-

ananda] in the form ‘I am’ – alone is the supreme truth [paramartha]), and that

everything else is a mere play of maya and is therefore completely unreal and non-

existent (…). [1228] Michael James: A rope can appear to be a snake only in a dim light,

and not in complete darkness or in clear light. Likewise, the ever-existing Self or

Brahman can appear to be the non-existent names and forms [the world, soul and

God] only in the dim light of ignorance [the mind-light], and not in the complete

darkness of sleep or in the clear light of Self-knowledge. (…) That is, just as the

rope alone ever exists both when it appears to be the non-existent snake and when it

is seen as it is, so consciousness alone ever exists both when it appears to be the

non-existent names and forms and when it shines as it is.

Be As You Are David Godman

Introduction Sri Ramana frequently said that his verbal teachings were only given out

to those who were unable to understand his silence. Silence represented his teachings in its most direct and concentrated form.

Among his higher teachings, there are expressions of the truth in its highest form (like: all is consciousness; there is no ego…), but, for the sake of those who could not understand or were unwilling to accept the undiluted truth, he also diluted his teachings and spoke from a more relative level – which inevitably led to many contradictions (since he was trying to meat the needs of different people).

1 – The Nature of the Self Q: What is this awareness and how can one obtain and cultivate it? A: You are awareness. Awareness is another name of you. Since you are

awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.

A: Awareness of the Self is absolute and requires no objects. A: The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not knowing

anything or becoming anything. A: The world does not exist without the body, the body never exists

without the mind, the mind never exists without consciousness and consciousness never exists without the reality.

A: We have simply to throw out all the age-long samskaras which are inside us. When all of them have been given-up, the Self will shine alone.

A: Existence or consciousness is the only reality. Consciousness plus waking, we call waking. Consciousness plus sleep, we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go.

A: There is no difference between the mind and the Self. The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the ego and all the world.

2 – Self-Awareness and Self-Ignorance [D.G.: As soon as one ceases to imagine that one is an individual person,

inhabiting a particular body, the whole superstructure of wrong ideas collapses and is replaced by a conscious and permanent awareness of the real Self.]

Q: Since realization is not possible without the destruction of vasanas, how I am to realize that state in which the tendencies are effectively destroyed?

A: You are in that state now. Q: Does it mean that by holding on to the Self, the vasanas should be

destroyed as and when they emerge? A: They will themselves be destroyed if you remain as you are. A: The wrong knowledge is the false identification of the Self with the

body and mind. This false identification must go, and then Self alone remains. A: The ultimate truth is so simple. It is nothing more than being in the

pristine state. This is all that need be said. A: There is the continuity of being in all the three states, but no

continuity of the individual and the objects. (…) Therefore the state of being is permanent and the body and the world are not. They are fleeting phenomena passing on the screen of being-consciousness which is eternal and stationary.

A: The Self you seek to know is truly yourself. Your supposed ignorance causes you needless grief like that of the ten foolish men who grieved at the loss of the tenth man who was never lost. (…) Hence I say know you are really infinite pure being, the Self. You are always the Self and nothing but the self. Therefore, you can never be really ignorant of the Self.

A: All that is required of you is to give up the thought that you are this body and give up all the thoughts of external things or the not-Self.

Q: If the ego is non-existent, why does it give us trouble? A: To whom is the trouble? The trouble is also imagined. Trouble and

pleasure are only for the ego. A: When you try to trace the ego, which is the basis of the perception of

the world and everything else, you find the ego does not exist at all and neither does all the creation you see.

A: The habits of mind [vasanas] are the obstacles that hinder realization of the Self.

A: Jnana is eternal and natural, ajnana is unnatural and unreal. A: Unless the samskaras cease to exist, there will always be doubt and

confusion. A: Take no notice of the ego and its activities, but see only the light

behind. The ego is the thought “I”. The true “I” is the self.

A: When the Self is sought, the mind is nowhere. Abiding in the Self, one need not worry about the mind.

Q: It will take some years to realize the Self. A: Why years? The idea of time is only in our mind. (…) There is no

time for the Self. Time arises as an idea after the ego arises.

3 – The Jnani A: Differentiation is threefold: 1) of the same kind; 2) of a different kind;

3) as parts in itself. A: For the ajnani the standard of reality is the waking state, whereas for

the jnani the standard of reality is reality itself. A: My existence is like the space; though this body speaks like the radio,

there is no one inside as a door. (…) Some power acts through the jnani’s body and uses his body to perform actions.

[The jnani’s acts only for the sake of others.] [The jnani is unaffected by all actions and states.] A: Taking another body means throwing a veil, however subtle, upon

reality, which is bondage. Liberation is absolute and irrevocable. A: You see a reflection in the mirror and the mirror. You know the mirror

to be the reality and the picture in it a mere reflection. Is it necessary that to see the mirror we should cease to see the reflection in it? [Explanation of the Sahaja state, in which the jnani sees the world.]

II – Enquiry and Surrender11 ‘I exist’ is the only permanent self-evident experience of everyone.

Nothing else is so self-evident as ‘I am’. (…) So to do self-enquiry and be that ‘I am’ is the only thing to do. ‘I am’ is reality. I am this or that is unreal. I am is truth, another name for Self.

7 – Surrender [D.G.: Sri Ramana pointed out that any relationship with God was an

illusory one since God alone exists.]

11 [Chapters 4-6 are in presented fully in this compilation.]

[D.G.: The final destruction of the “I” takes place only if the self-surrender has been completely motiveless. If it is done with a desire for grace or Self-realization it can never be more than partial surrender.]

A: (…) You can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender; your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord’s will taking place.

A: One of two things must be done. Either surrender because you admit your inability and require a higher power to help you, or investigate the cause of misery by going to the source and merging into the Self.

A: It is the higher power which does everything and man is only a tool. If he accepts that position he is free from troubles otherwise he courts them.

A: Worshipping the formless reality by unthought thought is the best kind of worship. But when one is not fit for such formless worship of God, worship of form done is suitable.

8 – The Guru “These moving with sages closely, and in sympathetic contact, gradually

absorb the samadhi habit from them.” A: Activity is creation. Activity is the destruction of one’s inherent

happiness. If activity is advocated the adviser is not a master but a killer. A: He is the proper Guru to whom your mind is attuned. A: I have never said that there is no need for a Guru. (…) The Guru is

absolutely necessary. The Upanishads say that none but a Guru can take a man out of the jungle of intellect and sense perceptions.

A: So long as duality persists in you the Guru is necessary. (…) Guru is necessary so long as there is ignorance.

A: Grace is the Self. You are never out of its operation. It is always there. A: There is a state beyond our efforts or effortlessness. Until it is realized

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 wants to be out of it or to engage in any other activity.

9 – Silence and Sat-Sanga [D.G.: Sri Ramana said that the most important element in sat-sanga was

the mental connection with the Guru.] A: Spoken words are of no use whatsoever if the eyes of the Guru meet

the eyes of the disciple. A: Guru is not the physical form. So the contact will remain even after

the physical form of the Guru vanishes.

Q: If the search has to be made within, is it necessary to be in the physical proximity of the Master?

A: It is necessary to be so until all doubts are at an end. A: By remaining in contact with realized sages the man gradually losses

ignorance until its removal is complete. (…) Sankara has said that in all the three world there is no boat like sat-sanga to carry one safely across the ocean of samsara.

10 – Meditation and Concentration “This path [atma vichara] is the direct path; all other are indirect ways.

The first lead to the self, the others else where. And even if the latter do arrive at the Self it is only because they lead at the end to the first path which ultimately carries them to the goal. So, in the end, the aspirants must adopt the first path. Why not do so now? Why waste time?”

A: He who engages in investigation starts by holding on to himself, and by asking himself “Who am I?”, the Self becomes clear to him.

A: Why do you wish to meditate at all? Because you wish to do so you are told “fix the mind in the Self”. Why do you not remain as you are without meditating?

A: Pleasure and pain are aspects of the mind only. Our essential nature is happiness. But we have forgotten the Self and imagine that the body or the mind is the Self. It is that wrong identity that gives rise to misery.

Q: Bhagavan, whenever I meditate, I feel great heat in the head and, if I

persist, my whole body burns. What is the remedy? A: If concentration is made with the brain, sensations of heat and even

headache ensue. Concentration has to be made in the Heart, which is cool and refreshing. Relax and your meditation will be easy. Keep your mind steady by gently warding off all intruding thoughts but without strain soon you will succeed.

Q: How do I prevent myself falling asleep in meditation? A: If you try to prevent sleep it will mean thinking in meditation, which

must be avoided. But if you slip into sleep while meditating, the meditation will continue even during and after sleep. (…) Waking and sleeping are mere pictures on the screen of the native, thought-free state. Let them pass unnoticed.

A: If a single thought prevails, all other thoughts are put off and finally

eradicated. So long as diversity prevails there are bad thoughts. A: All thoughts are from the unreal “I”-thought. Remain without

thinking. So long as there is thought there will be fear.

A: Concentration is only a means of giving up thoughts. A: Unbroken “I, I” is the infinite ocean. The ego, the “I”-thought,

remains only a bubble on it and is called Jiva or individual soul. The bubble too is water for when it bursts it only mixes with the ocean. When it remains a bubble it is still a part of the ocean.

A: Sense-perceptions can only be indirect knowledge, and not direct knowledge. Only one’s own awareness is direct knowledge, and that is the common experience of one and all. No aids are needed to know one’s own Self.

11 – Mantras and Japa A: Bhakti, Vichara and Japa are only different forms of our efforts to

keep out the unreality. The unreality is an obsession at present but our true nature is reality. We are wrongly persisting in unreality, that is, attachment to thoughts and worldly activities. Cessation of these will reveal the truth.

12 – Life in the World [D.G.: Instead of advising physical renunciation Sri Ramana told all his

devotes that it would be spiritually more productive for them to discharge their normal duties and obligations with an awareness that there was no individual “I” performing or accepting responsibility for the acts which the body performed.]

A: The mental obstacles even increase greatly in new surroundings. It is no help to change the environment.

A: Make no effort either to work or to renounce; it is your effort which is the bondage. (…) So, leave it to the higher power; you cannot renounce or retain as you choose.

Q: Should one keeps part of one’s attention on the physical work? A: The Self is all. Are you apart from the Self? Or can the work go on

without the Self? The Self is universal, so all actions will go on whether you strain yourself to be engaged in them or not. The work will go on of itself. Thus Krishna told Arjuna that he need not trouble to kill the Kauravas because they were already slain by God. It was nor for him to resolve to work and worry himself about it, but to allow his own nature to carry out the will of the higher power.

A: When you walk from one pace to another you do not attend to the steps you take and yet you find yourself after a time at your goal. You see how the business of walking goes on without your attending to it? So also with other kinds of work.

A: What is the under current which vivifies the mind, enables it to do all this work? It is the Self. So that is the real source of your activity. Simple be aware

of it during your work and do not forget it. (…) Keep the remembrance of your real nature alive, even while working, and avoid haste which causes you to forget. Be deliberate. Practice meditation to still the mind and cause it to become aware of its true relationship to the Self which supports it. Do not imagine that it is you who are doing the work. Think that is the underlying current which is doing it. Identify yourself with the current.

A: If a man has a strong desire for the higher life then the sex tendency will subside.

Q: I am carried away by the sight of the breasts of a young woman

neighbor and I am often tempted to commit adultery with her. What should I do? A: You are always pure. It is your senses and body which tempt you and

which you confuse with your real Self. So first know who is tempted and who is there to tempt. But even if you do commit adultery, do not think about it afterwards, because you are yourself always pure. You are not the sinner.

A: It amounts to this, that sleep and food should not be taken in excess. If

you want to cut off either of them completely, your mind will always be directed towards them.

13 – Yoga A: A jnani can help people whatever path they choose to follow. A: Each person has come into manifestation for a certain purpose and

that purpose will be accomplished whether he considers himself to be the actor or not.

A: When you transcend the body-consciousness, the “others” also disappear.

14 – Samadhi “There are grades of experience for the individual but not of reality. What

ever may be the experiences, the experiencer is one and the same.” A: Holding on to reality is samadhi. A: Turiya is obtainable in savikalpa samadhi. A: Sahaja nirvikalpa is manonasa, whereas Kevala nirvikalpa is

manolaya. A: In samadhi there is only the feeling “I am” and no thoughts. The

experience of “I am” is “being still”. A: Hold the Self even during mental activities.

16 – Problems and Experiences [D.G.: Sri Ramana tended to play down the importance of most spiritual

experiences and if they were reported to him he would usually stress that is was more important to be aware of the experiencer than to indulge in or analyze the experience. (…) On the whole he tended to discourage interest in them.]

Q: Sometimes, while in meditation, I feel blissful and tears come to my eyes. At other times I do not have them. Why?

A: Bliss is a thing which is always there and is not something that comes and goes. That which comes and goes is a creation of the mind and you should not worry about it.

Q: When I try to be without all thoughts, I pass into sleep. What should I

do about it? A: Once you go to sleep you can do nothing in that state. But while you

are awake, try to keep away all thoughts. Why think about sleep? Even that is a thought, is it not? If you are able to be without any thoughts while you are awake, that is enough.

A: The final obstacle in meditation is ecstasy; you feel great bliss and

happiness and want to stay in that ecstasy. Do not yield to it but pass on to the next stage which is great calm. The calm is higher than the ecstasy.

A: All that is needed is to give up thinking of objects other than the Self. Meditation is not so much thinking of the Self as giving up thinking of the not-Self. When you give up thinking of outward objects and prevent your mind from going outwards by turning it inwards and fixing it in the Self, the Self alone remains.

A: The more you get fixed in the Self the more other thoughts will drop off of themselves.

A: For those who can practice Self-enquiry all rules and discipline are unnecessary.

A: Do not regret tamas, but when sattva comes into play, hold on to it and make the best of it.

A: Pain [in the body] is inevitable as a result of discarding the vasanas which you have had for so long.

A: The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge the progress.

17 – The Reality of the World “All metaphysical discussion is profitless unless it causes us to seek

within the Self for the true reality.” A: The knower and his misperceptions appear simultaneously, and when

the knowledge of the Self is obtained, they disappear simultaneously.

A: Whatever you see happening in the waking state happens only to the knower, and since the knower is unreal, nothing in fact ever happens.

18 – Reincarnation Q: Do not one’s actions affect the person in later births? A: Are you born now? Why do you think of other births? The fact is that

there is neither birth nor death. Let him who is born think of death and palliatives for it.

Q: Are past and future mere imagination? A: Yes, even the present is mere imagination, for the sense of time is

purely mental. Space is similarly mental. Therefore birth and rebirth, which take place in time and space, cannot be other than imagination.

A: Thirst for life is inherent in the very nature of life, which is absolute

existence – sat. Although indestructible by nature, by false identification with its destructible instrument, the body, consciousness imbibes a false apprehension of its destructibility. Because of that false identification it tries to perpetuate the body, and that results in a succession of births.

19 – The Nature of God [D.G.: Speaking from this ultimate level, Sri Ramana’s statements on

God can be summarized in the following way: 1) He is immanent and formless, He is pure being and pure

consciousness; 2) manifestation appears in Him and through His power, but He

is not its creator. God never acts, He just is. He has neither will or desire.

3) Individuality is the illusion that we are not identical with God; when the illusion is dispelled, what remains is God.]

A: Iswara, the personal God, the supreme creator of the universe really

does exist. But this is true only from the relative standpoint of those who have not realized the truth, those people who believe in the reality of individual souls. From the absolute point of view the sage cannot accept any other existence than the impersonal Self, one and formless.

20 – Suffering and Morality A: A woman is just a woman, but one mind calls her “mother”, another

“sister”, and still another “aunt” and so on. Men love woman, hate snakes, and are indifferent to the grass and stones by the roadside. These value-judgments are the cause of all misery in the world.

A: Misery is nothing but an illusion caused by the unreal sense of individuality.

A: When you seek to reduce the suffering of any fellow man or fellow creature, whether your efforts succeed or not, you are yourself evolving spiritually, specially if such service is rendered disinterestedly, not with the feeling “I am doing this”, but in the spirit “God is making me the channel of this service; He is the doer and I am the instrument.”

21 – Karma, Destiny and Free Will [D.G.: Sri Ramana regarded the law of karma as a manifestation of God’s

will. He said: “The subconscious of a man is a warehouse of good and bad karma. Iswara chooses from this warehouse what he sees will best suit the spiritual evolution at the time of each man, whether pleasant or painful. Thus there is nothing arbitrary (…) Iswara is the one who distributes the fruits of actions to each person according to his karma.]

A: The more you prune a plant, the more vigorously it grows. The more you rectify your karma, the more it accumulates.

A: Why do you say about the actions the body performs “I do this” or “I did that”? As long as you identify yourself with the body like that you are affected by the consequences of actions, that is to say, while you identify with the body you accumulate good and bad karma.

A: Those who know that what is to be experienced by them in this life is only what is already destined in their prarabdha will never feel perturbed about what is to be experienced. Know that all one’s experiences will be thrust upon one whether one wills them or not.

Q: If a thing comes to me without any planning or working for it and I

enjoy it, will there be no bad consequences from it? A: It is not so. Every act must have its consequences. If anything comes

your way by reason of prarabdha, you can’t help it. If you take what comes without any special attachment, and without any desire for more of it or for a repetition of it, it will not harm you by leading you to further births. On the other hand, if you enjoy it with great attachment and naturally desire more of it, it is bound to lead to more and more births.

A: The body will go through the actions rendered inevitable by prarabdha and a man is free either to identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruit of its actions, or be detached from it and be a mere witness of its activities.

A: As long as individuality lasts there is free will.

Be As You Are (Vichara) Edited by David Godman

4 - SELF-ENQUIRY – THEORY It will be remembered that in the chapter of Self-awareness and Self-

ignorance Sri Ramana maintained that Self-realisation could be brought about merely by giving up the idea that there is an individual self, which functions through the body and the mind. A few of his advanced devotees were able to do this quickly and easily, but the others found it virtually impossible to discard the ingrained habits of a lifetime without undertaking some form of spiritual practice.

Sri Ramana sympathised with their predicament and whenever he was asked to prescribe a spiritual practice which would facilitate Self-awareness he would recommend a technique he called self-enquiry. This practice was the cornerstone of his practical philosophy and the next three chapters will be devoted to a detailed presentation of all its aspects.

Before embarking on a description of the technique itself it will be necessary to explain Sri Ramana's views on the nature of the mind since the aim of self-enquiry is to discover by direct experience, that the mind is non-existent. According to Sri Ramana, every conscious activity of the mind or body revolves around the tacit assumption that there is an 'I' who is doing something. The common factor in 'I think', 'I remember','I am acting', is the 'I' who assumes that it is responsible for all these activities. Sri Ramana called this common factor the 'I'-thought [aham-vritti].

Literally aham-vritti means "mental modification of 'I' ". The Self or real 'I' never imagines that it is doing or thinking anything; the 'I' that imagines all this is a mental fiction and so it is called a mental modification of the Self. Since this is a rather cumbersome translation of aham-vritti it is usually translated as 'I'-thought.

Sri Ramana upheld the view that the notion of individuality is only the 'I'-thought manifesting itself in different ways. Instead of regarding the different activities of the mind [such as ego, intellect and memory] as separate functions he preferred to view them all as different forms of the 'I'-thought. Since he equated individuality with the mind and the mind with the 'I'-thought it follows that the disappearance of the sense of individuality [i.e. Self-realisation] implies the disappearance of both the mind and the 'I'-thought. This is confirmed by his frequent

statements to the effect that after Self-realisation there is no thinker of thoughts, no performer of actions and no awareness of individual existence.

Since he upheld the notion that the Self is the only existing reality he regarded the 'I'-thought as a mistaken assumption which has no real existence of its own. He explained its appearance by saying that it can only appear to exist by identifying with an object. When the thoughts arise the 'I'-thought claims ownership of them- 'I think', 'I believe', 'I want', 'I am acting' - but there is no separate 'I'-thought that exists independently of the objects that it is identifying with. It only appears to exist as a real continuous entity because of the incessant flow of identification which are continually taking place. Almost all of these identifications can be traced back to an initial assumption that the 'I' is limited to the body, either as an owner-occupant or co-extensive with its physical form. This 'I am the body' idea is the primary source of all subsequent wrong identifications and its dissolution is the principal aim of self-enquiry.

Sri Ramana maintained that this tendency towards self-limiting identifications could be checked by trying to separate the subject 'I' from the objects of thought which it identified with. Since the individual 'I'-thought cannot exist without an object, if attention is focused on the subjective feeling of 'I' or 'I am' with such intensity that the thoughts 'I am this' or 'I am that' do not arise, then the individual 'I' will be unable to connect with objects. If this awareness of 'I' is sustained, the individual 'I' [the 'I'-thought] will disappear and in its place there will be a direct experience of the Self. This constant attention to the inner awareness of 'I' or 'I am' was called self-enquiry [vichara] by Sri Ramana and he constantly recommended it as the most efficient and direct way of discovering the unreality of the 'I'-thought.

In Sri Ramana's terminology the 'I'-thought rises from the Self or the Heart and subsides back into the Self when its tendency to identify itself with thought objects ceases. Because of this he often tailored his advice to conform to this image of a rising and subsiding 'I'. He might say 'trace the "I"-thought back to its source', or 'find out where the "I" rises from', but the implication was always the same. Whatever the language used he was advising his devotees to maintain awareness of the 'I'-thought until it dissolved in the source from which it came.

He sometimes mentioned that thinking or repeating 'I' mentally would also lead one in the right direction but it is important to note that this is only a preliminary stage of the practice. The repetition of 'I' still involves a subject (the 'I'-thought) having a perception of an object [the thoughts 'I, I'] and while such duality exists the 'I'-thought will continue to thrive. It only finally disappears when the perception of all objects, both physical and mental, ceases. This is not brought about by being aware of an 'I', but only by being the 'I'. This stage of experiencing the subject rather than being aware of an object is the culminating phase of self-enquiry.

This important distinction is the key element which distinguishes self-enquiry from nearly all other spiritual practices and it explains why Sri Ramana consistently maintained that most other practices were ineffective. He often pointed

out that traditional meditations and yoga practices necessitated the existence of a subject who meditates on an object and he would usually add that such a relationship sustained the 'I'-thought instead of eliminating it. In his view such practices may effectively quieten the mind, and they may even produce blissful experiences, but they will never culminate in Self-realisation because the 'I'-thought is not being isolated and deprived of its identity.

The conversations which comprise this chapter mostly deal with Sri Ramana's views on the theoretical background of self-enquiry.

*************************************************** Q: What is the nature of the mind? A: The mind is nothing other than the 'I'-thought. The mind and the ego

are one and the same. The other mental faculties such as the intellect and the memory are only this. Mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), the storehouse of mental tendencies (chittam), and ego (ahamkara); all these are only the one mind itself. This is like different names being given to a man according to his different functions. The individual soul (jiva) is nothing but this soul or ego.

Q: How shall we discover the nature of the mind, that is, its ultimate

cause, or the noumenon of which it is a manifestation? A: Arranging thoughts in the order of value, the 'I'-thought is the all-

important thought. Personality-idea or thought is also the root or the stem of all other thoughts, since each idea or thought arises only as someone's thought and is not known to exist independently of the ego. The ego therefore exhibits thought-activity. The second and the third persons [he, you, that, etc.] do not appear except to the first person [I]. Therefore they arise only after the first person appears, so all the three persons seem to rise and sink together. Trace, then, the ultimate cause of 'I' or personality.

From where does this 'I' arise? Seek for it within; it then vanishes. This is the pursuit of wisdom. When the mind unceasingly investigates its own nature, it transpires that there is no such thing as mind. This is the direct path for all. The mind is merely thoughts. Of all thoughts the thought 'I' is the root. Therefore the mind is only the thought 'I'.

The birth of the 'I'-thought is one's own birth; its death is the person's death. After the 'I'-thought has arisen, the wrong identity with the body arises. Get rid of the 'I'-thought. So long as 'I' is alive there is grief. When 'I' ceases to exist there is no grief.

Q: Yes, but when I take to the 'I'-thought, other thoughts arise and disturb me.

A: See whose thoughts they are. They will vanish. They have their root in the single 'I'-thought. Hold it and they will disappear.

Q: How can any enquiry initiated by the ego reveal its own unreality? A: The ego's phenomenal existence is transcended when you dive into the

source from where the 'I'-thought rises. Q: But is not the aham-vritti [modifications of the mind], only one of the

three forms in which the ego manifests itself? Yoga Vasishtha and other ancient texts describe the ego as having a threefold form.

A: It is so. The ego is described as having three bodies, the gross, the subtle and the causal, but that is only for the purpose of analytical exposition. If the method of enquiry were to depend on the ego's form, you may take it that enquiry would become altogether impossible, because the forms the ego may assume are legion. Therefore, for the purpose of self-enquiry you have to proceed on the basis that the ego has but one form, namely that of aham-vritti.

Q: But it may prove inadequate for realising jnana (knowledge). A: Self-enquiry by following the clue of aham-vritti is just like the dog

tracing his master by the scent. The master may be at some distant unknown place, but that does not stand in the way of the dog tracing him. The master's scent is an infallible clue for the animal and nothing else, such as the dress he wears, or his build and stature, etc., counts. To that scent the dog holds on undistractedly while searching for him, and finally it succeeds in tracing him.

Q: The question still remains why the quest for the source of aham-vritti,

as distinguished from other vrittis [modifications of the mind], should be considered the direct means to Self-realisation.

A: Although the concept of 'I'-ness or 'I am'-ness is by usage known as aham-vritti it is not really a vritti [modification] like other vrittis of the mind. Because unlike the other vrittis which have no essential interrelation, the aham-vritti is equally and essentially related to each and every vritti of the mind. Without the aham-vritti there can be no other vritti, but the aham-vritti can subsist by itself without depending on any other vritti of the mind. The aham-vritti is therefore fundamentally different from other vrittis.

So then, the search for the source of the aham-vritti is not merely the search for the basis of one of the forms of the ego but for the very source itself from which arises the 'I am'-ness.

In other words, the quest for and the realisation of the source of the ego in the form of aham-vritti necessarily implies the transcendence of the ego in every one of its possible forms.

Q: Conceding that the aham-vritti essentially comprises all the forms of

the ego, why should that vritti alone be chosen as the means for self-enquiry? A: Because it is the one irreducible datum of your experience and

because seeking its source is the only practicable course you can adopt to realise the Self. The ego is said to have a causal body [the state of the 'I' during sleep], but how can you make it the subject of your investigation? When the ego adopts that form, you are immersed in the darkness of sleep.

Q: But is not the ego in its subtle and causal forms too intangible to be

tackled through the enquiry into the source of aham-vritti conducted while the mind is awake?

A: No. The enquiry into the source of aham-vritti touches the very existence of the ego. Therefore the subtlety of the ego's form is not a material consideration.

Q: While the one aim is to realise the unconditioned, pure being of the

Self, which is in no way dependent on the ego, how can enquiry pertaining to the ego in the form of aham-vritti be of any use?

A: From the functional point of view the ego has one and only one characteristic. The ego functions as the knot between the Self which is pure consciousness and the physical body which is inert and insentient. The ego is therefore called the chit-jada-granthi [knot between consciousness and the inert].

In your investigation into the source of aham-vritti, you take the essential chit [consciousness] aspect of the ego. For this reason the enquiry must lead to the realisation of pure consciousness of the Self.

You must distinguish between the 'I', pure in itself, and the 'I'-thought. The latter being merely a thought, sees subject and object, sleeps, wakes up, eats and thinks, dies and is reborn. But the pure 'I' is the pure being, eternal existence, free from ignorance and thought-illusion. If you stay as the 'I', your being alone, without thought, the 'I'-thought will disappear and the delusion will vanish forever. In a cinema show you can see pictures only in a very dim light or in darkness. But when all the lights are switched on, the pictures disappear. So also in the floodlight of the supreme atman [Self] all objects disappear.

Q: That is the transcendental state. A: No. Transcending what, and by whom? You alone exist. Q: It is said that the Self is beyond the mind and yet the realisation is

with the mind. 'The mind cannot think it. It cannot be thought of by the mind and the mind alone can realise it.' How are these contradictions to be reconciled?

A: Atman [Self] is realised with Mruta Manas [dead mind], that is, mind devoid of thoughts and turned inward. Then the mind sees its own source and becomes that (the Self). It is not as the subject perceiving an object.

When the room is dark a lamp is necessary to illumine the eyes to cognize objects. But when the sun has risen there is no need of a lamp to see objects. To see the sun no lamp is necessary, it is enough that you turn your eyes towards the self-luminous sun. Similarly with the mind. To see objects the reflected light of the mind is necessary. To see the Heart it is enough that the mind is turned towards it. Then mind loses itself and Heart shine forth.

The essence of mind is only awareness or consciousness. When the ego, however, dominates it, it functions as the reasoning, thinking or sensing faculty. The cosmic mind, being not limited by the ego, has nothing separate from itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by 'I am that I am'.

When the mind perishes in the supreme consciousness of one's own Self, know that all the various powers beginning with the power of liking [and including the power of doing and the power of knowing] will entirely disappear, being found to be an unreal imagination appearing in one's own form of consciousness. The impure mind, which functions as thinking and forgetting, alone is samsara, which is the cycle of birth and death. The real 'I' in which the activity of thinking and forgetting has perished, alone is the pure liberation. It is devoid of pramada (forgetfulness of Self) which is the cause of birth and death.

Q: How is the ego to be destroyed? A: Hold the ego first and then ask how it is to be destroyed. Who asks the

question? It is the ego. This question is a sure way to cherish the ego and not to kill it. If you seek the ego you will find that it does not exist. That is the way to destroy it.

Q: How is realisation made possible? A: There is an absolute Self from which a spark proceeds as from a fire.

The spark is called the ego. In the case of an ignorant man it identifies itself with an object simultaneously with its rise. It cannot remain independent of such association with objects. The association is ajnana or ignorance and its destruction is the object of our efforts. If its objectifying tendency is killed it remains pure, and also merges into the source. The wrong identification with the body is dehatma buddhi ['I am the body' idea]. This must go before good results follow.

The 'I' in its purity is experienced in intervals between the two states or

two thoughts. Ego is like that caterpillar, which leaves its hold only after catching another. Its true nature can be found when it is out of contact with objects or thoughts. This ghostly ego which is devoid of form comes into existence by grasping a form; grasping a form it endures; feeding upon forms which it grasps it

waxes more, leaving one form it grasps another form, but when sought for it takes to flight.

Only if that first person, the ego, in the form 'I am the body', exists will the second and third persons [you, he, they etc.] exist. If by one's scrutinizing the truth of the first person the first person is destroyed, the second and third persons will cease to exist and one's own nature, which will then shine as one, will truly be the state of Self.

The thought 'I am this body of flesh and blood' is the one thread on which are strung the various other thoughts. Therefore, if we turn inwards enquiring 'Where is this 'I?' all thoughts [including the 'I'-thought] will come to an end and Self-knowledge will then spontaneously shine forth.

Q: When I read Sri Bhagavan's works I find that investigation is said to

be the one method for realization. A: Yes, that is vichara (self-enquiry). Q: How is that to be done? A: The questioner must admit the existence of his Self. 'I am' is the

realisation. To pursue the clue till realization is vichara (self-enquiry). Vichara and realisation are the same.

Q: It is elusive. What shall I meditate upon? A: Meditation requires an object to meditate upon, whereas there is only

the subject without the object in vichara . Meditation differs from vichara in this way.

Q: Is not dhyana one of the efficient processes for realisation? A: Dhyana is concentration on an object. It fulfils the purpose of keeping

away diverse thoughts and fixing the mind on a single thought, which must also disappear before realisation. But realisation is nothing new to be acquired. It is already there, but obstructed by a screen of thoughts. All our attempts are directed to lifting this screen and then realisation is revealed.

If seekers are advised to meditate, many may go away satisfied with the advice. But someone among them may turn round and ask,'Who am I to meditate on an object?' Such a one must be told to find the Self. That is the finality. That is vichara .

Q: Will vichara alone do in the absence of meditation? A: Vichara is the process and the goal also. 'I am' is the goal and the final

reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara . When spontaneous and natural, it is realisation. If one leaves aside vichara , the most efficacious sadhana [spiritual practice], there are no other adequate means whatever to make the mind subside. If made to subside by other means, it will remain as if subsided but will rise again.

Self-enquiry is the one infallible means, the only direct one, to realise the unconditioned, absolute being that you really are.

Q: Why should self-enquiry alone be considered the direct means to

jnana (knowledge)? A: Because every kind of sadhana (spiritual practice) except that of

atma-vichara (self-enquiry) presupposes the retention of the mind as the instrument for carrying on the sadhana, and without the mind it cannot be practised. The ego may take different and subtler forms at the different stages of one's practice, but is itself never destroyed.

When king Janaka exclaimed, 'Now I have discovered the thief who has been ruining me all along. He shall be dealt with summarily', the king was really referring to the ego or the mind.

Q: But the thief may well be apprehended by the other sadhana as well. A: The attempts to destroy the ego or the mind through sadhanas

(spiritual practices) other than atma-vichara (self-enquiry) is just like the thief pretending to be a policeman to catch the thief, that is, himself. Atma-vichara alone can reveal the truth that neither the ego nor the mind really exists, and enable one to realise the pure, undifferentiated being of the Self or the absolute.

Having realised the Self, nothing remains to be known, because it is perfect bliss, it is the all.

Q: Why is self-enquiry more direct than other methods? A: Attention to one's own Self, which is ever shining as 'I', the one

undivided and pure reality, is the only raft with which the individual, who is deluded by thinking 'I am the body', can cross the ocean of unending births.

Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method, whereas all other methods are done only by retaining the ego. In those paths there arise so many doubts and the eternal question 'Who am I?' remains to be tackled finally. But in this method the final question is the only one and it is raised from the beginning. No sadhanas are necessary for engaging in this quest.

There is no greater mystery than this- that being the reality we seek to gain reality. We think that there is something hiding our reality and that it must be destroyed before the reality is gained. It is ridiculous. A day will dawn when you will yourself laugh at your past efforts. That which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.

5 - SELF-ENQUIRY – PRACTICE Beginners in self-enquiry were advised by Sri Ramana to put their

attention on the inner feeling of 'I' and to hold that feeling as long as possible. They would be told that if their attention was distracted by other thoughts they should revert to awareness of the 'I'-thought whenever they became aware that their attention had wandered. He suggested various aids to assist this process - one could ask onesel 'Who am I?' or 'Where does this I come from?' - but the ultimate aim was to be continuously aware of the 'I' which assumes that it is responsible for all the activities of the body and the mind.

In the early stages of practice attention to the feeling 'I' is a mental activity which takes the form of a thought or a perception. As the practice develops, the thought 'I' gives way to a subjectively experienced feeling of 'I', and when this feeling ceases to connect and identify with thoughts and objects, it completely vanishes. What remains is an experience of being in which the sense of individuality has temporarily ceased to operate. The experience may be intermittent at first but with repeated practice it becomes easier and easier to reach and maintain. When self-enquiry reaches this level there is an effortless awareness of being in which individual effort is no longer possible since the 'I' who makes the effort has temporarily ceased to exist. It is not Self-realisation since the 'I'-thought periodically reasserts itself but it is the highest level of practice. Repeated experience of this state of being weakens and destroys the vasanas - mental tendencies - which cause the ''I'-thought to rise, and, when their hold has been sufficiently weakened, the power of the Self destroys the residual tendencies so completely that the 'I'-thought never rises again. This is the final and irreversible state of Self-realisation.

This practice of Self-attention or awareness of the 'I'-thought is a gentle technique, which bypasses the usual repressive methods of controlling the mind. It is not an exercise in concentration, nor does it aim at suppressing thoughts; it merely invokes awareness of the source from which the mind springs. The method and goal of self-enquiry is to abide in the source of the mind and to be aware of what one really is by withdrawing attention and interest from what one is not. In the early stages effort in the form of transferring attention from the thoughts to the thinker is essential, but once awareness of the 'I'-feeling has been firmly established, further effort is counter-productive. From then on it is more a process of being than doing, of effortless being rather than an effort to be.

Being what one already is is effortless since beingness is always present and always experienced. On the other hand, pretending to be what one is not - i.e. the body and the mind - requires continuous mental effort even though the effort is nearly always at a subconscious level. It therefore follows that in the higher stages of self-enquiry effort takes attention away from the experience of being while the

cessation of mental effort reveals it. Ultimately, the Self is not discovered as a result of doing anything, but only by being.

As Sri Ramana Maharshi himself once remarked: Do not meditate - be!

Do not think that you are - be!

Don't think about being - you are! Self-enquiry should not be regarded as a meditation practice that takes

place at certain hours and in certain positions; it should continue throughout one's waking hours, irrespective of what one is doing. Sri Ramana saw no conflict between working and self enquiry and he maintained that with a little practice it could be done under any circumstances.

He did sometimes say that regular periods of formal practice were good for beginners, but he never advocated long periods of sitting meditation and he always showed his disapproval when any of his devotees expressed a desire to give up their mundane activities in favour of a meditative life.

*********************************************************** Q: You say one can realise the Self by a search for it. What is the

character of this search? A: You are the mind and think that you are the mind. The mind is nothing

but thoughts. Now behind every particular thought there is a general thought, which is the 'I', that is yourself. Let us call this 'I' the first thought. Stick to this 'I'--thought and question it to find out what it is. When this question takes strong hold on you, you cannot think of other thoughts.

Q: When I do this and cling to myself, that is, the 'I'-thought, other

thoughts come and go, but I say to myself 'Who am I?' and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so?

A: This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the 'I'-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the 'I' which commenced the quest.

Q: What is this something else? A: That is the Self, the import of 'I'. It is not the ego. It is the supreme

being itself.

Q: But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest but the thoughts are endless. If one thought is rejected, another comes and there seems to be no end at all.

A: I do not say you must go on rejecting thoughts. Cling to yourself, that is, to the 'I'-thought. When your interest keeps you to that single idea, other thoughts will automatically get rejected and they will vanish.

Q: And so rejection of thoughts is not necessary? A: No. It may be necessary for a time or for some. You fancy that there is

no end if one goes on rejecting every thought when it rises. It is not true, there is an end. If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self. At that level it is not necessary to make an effort to reject thoughts.

Q: Then it is possible to be without effort, without strain. A: Not only that, it is impossible for you to make an effort beyond a

certain extent. Q: I want to be further enlightened. Should I try to make no efforts at all? A: Here it is impossible for you to be without effort. When you go

deeper, it is impossible for you to make any effort. If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into the source of aham-

vritti (ego-sense), the vasanas (mental tendencies) become extinct. The light of the Self falls on the vasanas and produces the phenomenon of reflection we call the mind. Thus, when the vasanas become extinct the mind also disappears, being absorbed into the light of the one reality, the Heart.

This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know. What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and one-pointed enquiry into the source of the aham-vritti.

Q: How should a beginner start this practice? A: The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry 'Who am I?' The

thought 'Who am I?' destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre. If other thoughts rise one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire 'To whom did they rise?' What does it matter however many thoughts rise? At the very moment that each thought rises, if one vigilantly enquires 'To whom did this rise?', it will be known 'To me'. If one then enquiries 'Who am I?', the mind will turn back to its source (the Self) and the thought which had risen will also subside. By repeatedly practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.

Although tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya vasanas), which have been recurring down the ages, rise in countless numbers like the waves of the ocean, they will all perish as meditation on one's nature becomes more and more

intense. Without giving room even to the doubting thought, 'Is it possible to destroy all these tendencies (vasanas) and to remain as Self alone?', one should persistently cling fast to self-attention.

As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects in the mind, the enquiry 'Who am I?' is necessary. As and when thoughts rise, one should annihilate all of them through enquiry then and there in their very place of origin. Not attending to what-is-other (anya) is non-attachment (vairagya) or desirelessness (nirasa). Not leaving Self is knowledge (jnana). In truth, these two (desirelessness and knowledge) are one and the same. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist, dives into the sea and takes the pearl lying at the bottom, so everyone, diving deep within himself with non-attachment, can attain the pearl of Self. If one resorts uninterruptedly to remembrance of one's real nature (swarupa- smarana) until one attains Self, that alone will be sufficient.

Enquiring 'Who am I that is in bondage?' and knowing one's real nature (swarupa) alone is liberation. Always keeping the mind fixed in Self alone is called 'sef-enquiry', whereas meditation (dhyana) is thinking oneself to be the absolute (Brahman), which is existence-consciousness-bliss (Sat-Chit-Ananda).

Q: The Yogis say that one must renounce this world and go off into

secluded jungles if one wishes to find the truth. A: The life of action need not be renounced. If you meditate for an hour

or two every day you can then carry on with your duties. If you meditate in the right manner then the current of mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst of your work. It is as though there were two ways of expressing the same idea; the same line which you take in meditation will be expressed in your activities.

Q: What will be the result of doing that? A: As you go on you will find that your attitude towards people, events

and objects gradually changes. Your actions will tend to follow your meditations of their own accord.

Q: Then you do not agree with the yogis? A: Giving up the false self is the true renunciation. Q: How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of worldly

activity? A: There is no conflict between work and wisdom. Q: Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities in one's

profession, for instance, and at the same time get enlightenment? A: Why not? But in that case one will not think that it is the old

personality which is doing the work, because one's consciousness will gradually become transferred until it is centred in that which is beyond the little self.

Q: If a person is engaged in work, there will be little time left for him to

meditate. A: Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual

novices. A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is at work or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in solitude.

Q: Then you do not teach the way of yoga? A: The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull

with a stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull by holding out a handful of grass.

Q: How is that done? A: You have to ask yourself the question 'Who am I?' This investigation

will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you, which is behind the mind. Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.

Q: Seeking the 'I' there is nothing to be seen. A: Because you are accustomed to identify yourself with the body and

sight with the eye, therefore you say you do not see anything. What is there to be seen? Who is to see? How to see? There is only one consciousness which, manifesting as 'I'-thought, identifies itself with the body, projects itself through the eyes and sees the objects around. The individual is limited in the waking state and expects to see something different. The evidence of his senses will be seal of authority. But he will not admit that the seer, the seen and the seeing are all manifestations of the same consciousness - namely, 'I, I'. Contemplation helps one to overcome the illusion that the Self must be visual. In truth, there is nothing visual.

How do you feel the 'I' now? Do you hold a mirror before you to know your own being? The awareness is the 'I'. Realise it and that is the truth.

Q: Upon enquiring into the origin of thoughts there is perception of 'I'.

But it does not satisfy me. A: Quite right. The perception of 'I' is associated with a form, may be the

body. There should be nothing associated with the pure Self. The Self is the unassociated, pure reality, in whose light the body and the ego shine. On stilling all thoughts the pure consciousness remains.

Just on waking from sleep and before becoming aware of the world there is that pure 'I, I'. Hold on to it without sleeping or without allowing thoughts to possess you. If that is held firm it does not matter even if the world is seen. The seer remains unaffected by the phenomena.

What is the ego? Enquire. The body is insentient and cannot say 'I'. The Self is pure consciousness and non-dual. It cannot say 'I'. No one says 'I' in sleep.

What is the ego then? It is something intermediate between the inert body and the Self. It has no locus standi. If sought for it vanishes like a ghost. At night a man may imagine that there is a ghost by his side because of the play of shadows. If he looks closely he discovers that the ghost is not really there, and what he imagined to be a ghost vanishes. The ghost was never there. So also with the ego. It is an intangible link between the body and pure consciousness. It is not real. So long as one does not look closely at it, it continues to give trouble. But when one looks for it, it is found not to exist.

There is another story, which illustrates this. In Hindu marriage functions the feasts often continue for five or six days. On one of these occasions a stranger was mistaken for the best man by the bride's party and they therefore treated him with special regard. Seeing him treated with special regard by the bride's party, the bridegroom's party considered him to be some man of importance related to the bride's party and therefore they too showed him special respect. The stranger had altogether a happy time of it. He was also all along aware of the real situation. On one occasion the groom's party wanted to refer to him on some point and so they asked the bride's party about him. Immediately he scented trouble and made himself scarce. So it is with the ego. If you looked for it, it disappears. If not, it continues to give trouble.

Q: If I try to make the 'Who am I?' enquiry, I fall into sleep.What should

I do? A: Persist in the enquiry throughout your waking hours. That would be

quite enough. If you keep on making the enquiry till you fall asleep, the enquiry will go on during sleep also. Take up the enquiry again as soon as you wake up.

Q: How can I get peace? I do not seem to obtain it through vichara

(enquiry). A: Peace is your natural state. It is the mind that obstructs the natural

state. If you do not experience peace it means that your vichara (enquiry) has been made only in the mind. Investigate what the mind is, and it will disappear.

There is no such thing as mind apart from thought. Nevertheless, because of the emergence of thought, you surmise something from which it starts and term that the mind. When you probe to see what it is, you find there is really no such thing as mind. When the mind has thus vanished, you realise eternal peace.

Q: When I am engaged in enquiry as to the source from which the 'I'

springs, I arrive at a stage of stillness of mind beyond which I find myself unable to proceed further. I have no thought of any kind and there is an emptiness, a blankness. A mild light pervades and I feel that it is myself bodiless. I have neither cognition nor vision of body or form. The experience lasts nearly half an hour and is pleasing. Would I be correct in concluding that all that was necessary to secure eternal happiness, that is freedom or salvation or whatever one calls it, was to

continue the practice till the experience could be maintained for hours, days and months together?

A: This does not mean salvation. Such a condition is termed Manolaya or

temporary stillness of thought. Manolaya means concentration, temporarily arresting the movement of thoughts. As soon as this concentration ceases, thoughts, old and new, rush in as usual; and even if this temporary lulling12 of mind should last a thousand years, it will never lead to total destruction of thought, which is what is called liberation from birth and death.

The practitioner must therefore be ever on the alert and enquire within as to who has this experience, who realises its pleasantness. Without this enquiry he will go into a long trance or deep sleep (yoga nidra). Due to the absence of a proper guide at this stage of spiritual practice, many have been deluded and fallen a prey to a false sense of liberation and only a few have managed to reach the goal safely.

The following story illustrates the point very well. A yogi was doing penance (tapas) for a number of years on the banks of the Ganges. When he had attained a high degree of concentration, he believed that continuance in that stage for prolonged periods constituted liberation and practised it. One day, before going into deep concentration, he felt thirsty and called to his disciple to bring a little drinking water from the Ganges. But before the disciple arrived with the water, he had gone into yoga nidra and remained in that state for countless years, during which time much water flowed under the bridge. When he woke up from this experience he immediately called "Water!Water!"; but there was neither his disciple nor the Ganges in sight.

The first thing that he asked for was water because, before going into deep concentration, the topmost layer of thought in his mind was water and by concentration, however deep and prolonged it might have been, he had only been able temporarily to lull his thoughts. When he regained consciousness this topmost thought flew up with all the speed and force of a flood breaking through the dykes. If this were the case with regard to a thought which took shape immediately before he sat for meditation, there is no doubt that thoughts which took root earlier would also remain unannihilated. If annihilation of thoughts is liberation, can he be said to have attained salvation?

Sadhakas (seekers) rarely understand the difference between this temporary stilling of the mind (manolaya) and permanent destruction of thoughts (manonasa). In manolaya there is temporary subsidence of thought-waves, and though this temporary period may even last for a thousand years, thoughts, which are thus temporarily stilled, rise up as soon as the manolaya ceases.

One must therefore watch one's spiritual progress carefully. One must not allow oneself to be overtaken by such spells of stillness of thought. The moment one experiences this, one must revive consciousness and enquire within as to who it is

12 Lull = acalmar, adormecer.

who experiences this stillness. While not allowing any thoughts to intrude, one must not, at the same time, be overtaken by this deep sleep (yoga nidra) or self-hypnotism.

Though this is a sign of progress towards the goal, yet it is also the point where the divergence between the road to liberation and yoga nidra take place. The easy way, the direct way, the shortest cut to salvation is the enquiry method. By such enquiry, you will drive the thought force deeper till it reaches its source and merges therein. It is then that you will have the response from within and find that you rest there, destroying all thoughts once and for all.

Q: This "I"-thought rises from me. But I do not know the Self. A: All these are only mental concepts. You are now identifying yourself

with a wrong 'I', which is the 'I'-thought. This 'I'-thought rises and sinks, whereas the true significance of 'I' is beyond both. There cannot be a break in your being. You who slept are also now awake. There is no unhappiness in your deep sleep whereas it exists now. What is it that has happened now so that this difference is experienced? There was no 'I'-thought in your sleep, whereas it is present now. The true 'I' is not apparent and the false 'I' is parading itself. This false 'I' is the obstacle to your right knowledge. Find out from where this false 'I' arises. Then it will disappear. You will then be only what you are, that is, absolute being.

Q: How to do it? I have not succeeded so far. A: Search for the source of the 'I'-thought. That is all that one has to do.

The universe exists on account of the 'I'-thought [the false 'I']. If that ends there is an end to misery also. The false 'I' will end only when its source is sought.

Again people often ask how the mind is controlled. I say to them, 'Show me the mind and then you will know what to do.' The fact is that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you extinguish it by the thought of doing so or by a desire? Your thoughts and desires are part and parcel of the mind. The mind is simply fattened by new thoughts rising up. 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. Yoga teaches chitta

vritti nirodha (control of the activities of the mind). But I say atma vichara (self-investigation). This is the practical way. Chitta vritti nirodha is brought about in sleep, swoon, or by starvation. As soon as the cause is withdrawn there is a recrudescence of thoughts. Of what use is it then? In the state of stupor there is peace and no misery. But misery recurs when the stupor is removed. So nirodha (control) is useless and cannot be of lasting benefit.

How then can the benefit be made lasting? It is by finding the cause of misery. Misery is due to the perception of objects. If they are not there, there will be no contingent thoughts and so misery is wiped off. 'How will objects cease to be?' is the next question. The srutis (scriptures) and the sages say that the objects are only mental creations. They have no substantive being. Investigate the matter and

ascertain the truth of the statement. The result will be the conclusion that the objective world is in the subjective consciousness. The Self is thus the only reality, which permeates and also envelops the world. Since there is no duality, no thoughts will arise to disturb your peace. This is realisation of the Self.

The Self is eternal and so also is realisation. Abhyasa (spiritual practice) 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.

Q: Why is concentration ineffective? A: To ask the mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the

policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So you must turn inward and see from where the mind rises and then it will cease to exist.

Q: In turning the mind inwards, are we not still employing the mind? A: Of course we are employing the mind. It is well known and admitted

that only with the help of the mind can the mind be killed. But instead of setting about saying there is a mind, and I want to kill it, begin to seek the source of the mind, and you find the mind does not exist at all. The mind, turned outwards, results in thoughts and objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self.

Q: Even so, I do not understand. 'I', you say, is the wrong 'I' now. How to

eliminate the wrong 'I'? A: 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. Your efforts can extend only thus far. Then the beyond will take care of itself. You are helpless there. No effort can reach it.

Q: If 'I' am always, here and now, why do I not feel so? A: That is it. Who says it is not felt? Does the real 'I' say it or the false 'I'?

Examine it. You will find it is the wrong 'I'. The wrong 'I' is the obstruction. It has to be removed in order that the true 'I' may not be hidden. The feeling that I have not realised is the obstruction to realisation. In fact it is already realised and there is nothing more to be realised. Otherwise, the realisation will be new.

If it has not existed so far, it must take place hereafter. What is born will also die. If realisation is not eternal it is not worth having. Therefore what we seek is not that which must happen afresh. It is only that which is eternal but not now known due to obstructions. It is that which we seek. All that we need to do is remove the obstruction. That which is eternal is not known to be so because of ignorance. Ignorance is the obstruction. Get over the ignorance and all will be well.

The ignorance is identical with the 'I'-thought. Find its source and it will vanish. The 'I'-thought is like a spirit which, although not palpable, rises up simultaneously with the body, flourishes and disappears with it. The body-

consciousness is the wrong 'I'. Give up this body-consciousness. It is done by seeking the source of the 'I'. The body does not say 'I am'. It is you who say, 'I am the body'. Find out who this 'I' is. Seeking its source it will vanish.

Q: How long can the mind stay or be kept in the Heart? A: The period extends by practice. Q: What happens at the end of the period? A: The mind returns to the present normal state. Unity in the Heart is

replaced by a variety of perceived phenomena. This is called the outgoing mind. The Heart-going mind is called the resting mind.

When one daily practises more and more in this manner, the mind will become extremely pure due to the removal of its defects and the practice will become so easy that the purified mind will plunge into the Heart as soon as the enquiry is commenced.

Q: Is it possible for a person who once has had the experience of Sat-

Chit-Ananda in meditation to identify himself with the body when out of meditation?

A: Yes, it is possible, but he gradually loses the identification in the course of his practice. In the floodlight of the Self the darkness of illusion dissipates forever.

Experience gained without rooting out all the vasanas [latent impressions or mental tendencies] cannot remain steady. Effort must be made to eradicate the vasanas knowledge can only remain unshaken after all the vasanas are rooted out.

We have to contend against age-long mental tendencies. They will all go. Only they go comparatively soon in the case of those who have made sadhana (spiritual practice) in the past and later in the case of others.

Q: Do these tendencies go gradually or will they suddenly all disappear

one day? I ask this because although I have remained here for a long time I do not perceive any gradual change in me.

A: When the sun rises, does the darkness go gradually or all at once? Q: How can I tell if I am making progress with my enquiry? A: 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.

Q: Doubts are always arising. Hence my question.

A: A doubt arises and is cleared. Another arises and that is cleared, making way for yet another; and so it goes on. So there is no possibility of clearing away all doubts. See to whom the doubts arise. Go to their source and abide in it. Then they cease to arise. That is how doubts are to be cleared.

Q: Should I go on asking 'Who am I?' without answering? Who asks

whom? Which bhavana (attitude) should be in the mind at the time of enquiry? What is 'I', the Self or the ego?

A: In the enquiry 'Who am I?', 'I' is the ego. The question really means, what is the source or origin of this ego? You need not have any bhavana (attitude) in the mind. All that is required is that you must give up the bhavana (attitude) that you are the body, of such and such a description, with such and such a name, etc. There is no need to have a bhavana about your real nature. It exists as it always does. It is real and no bhavana.

Q: But is it not funny that the 'I' should be searching for the 'I'? Does not

the enquiry 'Who am I?' turn out in the end to be an empty formula? Or, am I to put the question to myself endlessly, repeating it like some mantra?

A: Self-enquiry is certainly not an empty formula and it is more than the repetition of any mantra. If the enquiry 'Who am I?' were a mere mental questioning, it would not be of much value. The very purpose of self-enquiry is to focus the entire mind at its source. It is not, therefore, a case of one 'I' searching for another 'I'. Much less is self-enquiry an empty formula, for it involves an intense activity of the entire mind to keep it steadily poised13 in pure Self-awareness.

Q: Is it enough if I spend some time in the mornings and some time in the

evenings for this atma-vichara (self-enquiry)? Or should I do it always, even when I am writing or walking?

A: 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' or 'I am writing', enquire who does it.

Q: If I go on rejecting thoughts can I call it vichara (enquiry)? A: It may be a stepping stone. But really vichara begins when you cling

to your Self and are already off the mental movement, the thought waves. Q: Then vichara (enquiry) is not intellectual? A: No, it is antara vichara, inner quest.

13 Poised = equilibrado, repousado.

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

Q: I asked Mother in Sri Aurobindo Ashram the following question: 'I

keep my mind blank without thought arising so that God might show Himself in His true being. But I do not perceive anything.' The reply was to this effect: 'The attitude is right. The power will come down from above. It is a direct experience.' Should I do anything further?

A: Be what you are. There is nothing to come down or become manifest. All that is necessary is to lose the ego. That which is is always there. Even now you are that. You are not apart from it. What do you wait for? The thought, 'I have not seen', the expectation to see and the desire of getting something, are all the workings of the ego. You have fallen into snares of the ego. The ego says all these and not you. Be yourself and nothing more!

Once born you reach something. If you reach it you return also. Therefore leave off all this verbiage. Be as you are. See who you are and remain as the Self, free from birth, going, coming and returning.

Q: How is one to know the Self? A: Knowing the Self means being the Self. Can you say that you do not

know the Self? Though you cannot see your own eyes and not provided with a mirror to look in, do you deny the existence of your eyes? Similarly, you are aware of the Self even though the Self is not objectified. Or, do you deny your Self because it is not objectified? When you say ‘I cannot know the Self’, it means absence in terms of relative knowledge that you identify yourself with it. Such wrong identity has forged the difficulty of not knowing the obvious Self because it cannot be objectified. And then you ask 'how is one to know the Self?'.

Q: You talk of being. Being what? A: Your duty is to be and not to be this or that. 'I am that I am' sums up

the whole truth. The method is summed up in the words 'Be still'. What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape is the cause of trouble. Give up the notion that 'I am so and so'. All that is required to realise the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that? Hence atma vidya [Self-knowledge] is the easiest to attain.

The truth of oneself alone is worthy to be scrutinised and known. Taking it as the target of one's attention, one should keenly know it in the Heart. This knowledge of oneself will be revealed only to the consciousness which is silent, clear and free from the activity of the agitated and suffering mind. Know that the consciousness which always shines in the Heart as the formless Self, 'I', and which is

known by one's being still without thinking about anything as existent or non-existent, alone is the perfect reality.

6 - SELF-ENQUIRY – MISCONCEPTIONS Sri Ramana's philosophical pronouncements were very similar to those

upheld by the followers of Advaita [non-dualistic] Vedanta, an Indian philosophical school which has flourished for well over a thousand years. Sri Ramana and the Advaitins agree on most theoretical matters but their attitudes to practice are radically different. While Sri Ramana advocated self-enquiry, most advaitic teachers recommended a system of meditation which mentally affirmed that the Self was the only reality. These affirmations such as "I am Brahman" or "I am He", are usually used as mantras, or, more rarely, one meditates on their meaning and tries to experience the implicationsof the statement. Because self-enquiry often starts with the question "Who am I?", many of the traditional followers of Advaita assumed that the answer to the question was "I am Brahman" and they occupied their minds with repetitions of this mental solution.

Sri Ramana criticised this approach by saying that while the mind was constantly engaged in finding or repeating solutions to the question it would never sink into its source and disappear. He was equally critical, for the same reason, of those who tried to use "Who am I?" as a mantra, saying that both approaches missed the point of self-enquiry. The question "Who am I?", he said, is not an invitation to analyse the mind and to come to conclusions about its nature, nor is it a mantric formula, it is simply a tool which facilitates redirecting attention from the objects of thought and perception to the thinker and perceiver of them. In Sri Ramana Maharshi's opinion, the solution to the question "Who am I?" is not to be found in or by the mind since the only real answer is the experience of the absence of mind.

Another widespread misunderstanding arose from the belief that the Self could be discovered by mentally rejecting all the objects of thought and perception as not-self. Traditionally this is called the Neti-neti approach (not this, not this). The practitioner of this system verbally rejects all the objects that the "I" identifies with "I am not the mind", "I am not the body", etc. in the expectation that the real "I" will eventually be experienced in the pure uncontaminated form. Hinduism calls this practice "self-enquiry" and, because of the identity of names, it was often confused with Sri Ramana's method. Sri Ramana's attitude to this traditional system of self-analysis was wholly negative and he discouraged his own followers from practising it by telling them that it was an intellectual activity which could not take them

beyond the mind. In his standard reply to questions about the effectiveness of this practice he would say that the "I"-thought is sustained by such acts of discrimination and that the 'I' which eliminates the body and the mind as "not I" can never eliminate itself.

The followers of the "I am Brahman" and "Neti-neti" schools share a common belief that the Self can be discovered by the mind, either through affirmation or negation. This belief that the mind can, by its own activities, reach the Self is the root of most of the misconceptions about the practice of self-enquiry. A classic example of this is the belief that self-enquiry involves concentrating on a particular centre in the body called the Heart-centre. This widely held view results from a misinterpretation of some of Sri Ramana Maharshi's statements on the Heart, and to understand how this belief has come about it will be necessary to take a closer look at some of his ideas on the subject.

In describing the origin of the 'I'-thought he sometimes said that it arose to the brain through a channel which started from a centre in the right hand side of the chest. He called this centre the Heart centre and said that when the 'I'-thought subsided into the Self it went back into the centre and disappeared. He also said that when the Self is consciously experienced, there is a tangible awareness that this centre is the source of both the mind and the world. However, these statements are not strictly true and Sri Ramana sometimes qualified them by saying that they were only schematic representationswhich were given to those people who persisted in identifying with their bodies. He said that the Heart is not really located in the body and that from the highest standpoint it is equally untrue to say that the 'I' thought arises and subsides into this centre on the right of the chest.

Because Sri Ramana often said - Find the place where the "I" arises - or - Find the source of the mind - , many people interpreted these statements to mean that they should concentrate in this particular centre while doing self-enquiry. Sri Ramana rejected this interpretation many times by saying that the source of the mind or the 'I' could only be discovered through attention to the 'I'-thought and not through concentration on a particular part of the body. He did sometimes say that putting attention on this centreis a good concentration practice, but he never associated it with self-enquiry.

He also occasionally said that meditation on the Heart was an effective way of reaching the Self, but again, he never said that this should be done by concentrating on the Heart-centre. Instead he said that one should meditate on the Heart 'as it is'. The Heart 'as it is' is not a location, it is the immanent Self and one can only be aware of its real nature by being it. It cannot be reached by concentration.

Although there are several potentially ambiguous comments of this kind about the Heart and the Heart-centre, in all his writings and recorded conversations there is not a single statement to support the contention that self-enquiry is to be practised by concentrating on this centre. In fact, by closely examining his statements on the subject one can only conclude that while the experience of the Self

contains an awareness of this centre, concentration on this centre will not result in the experience of the Self.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Q: I begin to ask myself 'Who am I?', eliminate the body as not 'I', the

breath as not 'I', and I am not able to proceed further. A: Well, that is as far as the intellect can go. Your process is only

intellectual. Indeed, all the scriptures mention the process only to guide the seeker to know the truth. The truth cannot be directly pointed out. Hence this intellectual process. You see, the one who eliminates all the "not I" cannot eliminate the "I". To say "I am not this" or "I am that" there must be the "I". This "I" is only the ego or the "I" - thought. After the rising up of this 'I'-thought, all other thoughts arise. The 'I'-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled out all others are at the same time uprooted. Therefore seek the root "I", question yourself "Who am I?". Find out its source, and then all these other ideas will vanish and the pure Self will remain.

Q: How to do it? A: The "I" is always there - in deep sleep, in dream and in wakefulness.

The one in sleep is the same as that who now speaks. There is always the feeling of 'I'. Otherwise do you deny your existence? You do not. You say 'I am'. Find out who is.

Q: I meditate Neti-neti [ not this-not this ]. A: 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. There is now wrong identification of the Self with the body, senses, etc. You proceed to discard these, and this is neti. This can be done only by holding to the one which cannot be discarded. That is 'iti' [that which is].

Q: When I think 'Who am I?', the answer comes 'I am not this mortal

body but I am Chaitanya, Atma (consciousness, the Self).' And suddenly another question arises, 'Why has Atma (Self) come into Maya (illusion)?' or in other words, 'Why has God created this world?'

A: To enquire 'Who am I?' really means trying to find out the source of the ego or the 'I'-thought. You are not to think of other thoughts, such as 'I am not this body'. Seeking the source of 'I' serves as a means of getting rid of all other

thoughts. We should not give scope to other thoughts, such as you mention, but must keep the attention fixed on finding out the source of the 'I'-thought by asking, as each thought arises, to whom the thought arises. If the answer is 'I get the thought' continue the enquiry by asking 'Who is this "I" and what is its source?'

Q: Am I to keep on repeating 'Who am I?' so as to makes a mantra of it? A: No. 'Who am I?' is not a mantra. It means that you must find out

where in you arises the 'I'-thought, which is the source of all other thoughts. Q: Shall I meditate on 'I am Brahman' [Aham Brahmasmi]? A: The text is not meant for thinking 'I am Brahman'. Aham ['I'] is known

to every one. Find out the 'I'. The 'I' is already Brahman. You need not think so. Simply find out the 'I'.

Q: Is not discarding the sheaths [Neti-neti] mentioned in the sastras? A: After the rise of the 'I'-thought there is the false identification of the 'I'

with the body, the senses, the mind, etc. 'I' is wrongly associated with them and the true 'I' is lost sight of. In order to sift the pure 'I' from the contaminated 'I', this discarding is mentioned. But it does not mean exactly discarding of the non-self, it means the finding of the real Self. The real Self is the infinite 'I'. That 'I' is perfection. It is eternal. It has no origin and no end. The other 'I' is born and also dies. It is impermanent. See to whom the changing thoughts belong. They will be found to arise after the 'I'-thought. Hold the 'I'-thought and they subside. Trace back the source of the 'I'-thought. The Self alone will remain.

Q: It is difficult to follow. I understand the theory. But what is the

practice? A: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the

investigation of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary. Who is it? It is 'I'. Be that 'I'. It is the direct method. The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.

Q: I am aware of the 'I'. Yet my troubles are not ended. A: This 'I'-thought is not pure. It is contaminated with the association of

the body and senses. See to whom the trouble is. It is to the 'I'-thought. Hold it. Then the other thoughts vanish.

Q: Yes. How to do it? That is the whole trouble. A: Think 'I, I', and hold to that one thought to the exclusion of all others. Q: Is not affirmation of God more effective than the quest, 'Who am I?'

Affirmation is positive, whereas the other is negation. Moreover, it indicates separateness.

A: So long as you seek to know how to realise, this advice is given to find your Self. Your seeking the method denotes your separateness.

Q: Is it not better to say 'I am the Supreme Being' than ask 'Who am I?' A: Who affirms? There must be one to do it. Find that one. Q: Is not meditation better than investigation? A: Meditation implies mental imagery, whereas investigation is for the

reality. The former is objective, whereas the latter is subjective. Q: There must be a scientific approach to this subject. A: To eschew unreality and seek the reality is scientific. Q: I mean there must a gradual elimination, first of the mind, then of the

intellect, then of the ego. A: The Self alone is real. All others are unreal. The mind and intellect do

not remain apart from you. The Bible says, 'Be still and know that I am God.' Stillness is the sole requisite for the realisation of the Self as God.

Q: Is Soham [the affirmation 'I am He'] the same as 'Who am I?' A: Aham ('I') alone is common to them. One is Soham. The other is

Koham (Who am I?). They are different. Why should we go on saying soham? One must find out the real 'I'. In the question 'Who am I?', 'I' refers to the ego. Trying to trace it and find its source, we see it has no separate existence but merges in the real 'I'.

You see the difficulty. Vichara (enquiry) is different in method from the meditation Sivoham or Soham ('I am Siva' or 'I am He'). I rather lay stress upon Self-knowledge, for you are first concerned with yourself before you proceed to know the world and its Lord. The soham meditation or 'I am Brahman' meditation is more or less a mental thought. But the quest for the Self I speak of is a direct method, indeed superior to the other meditation. The moment you start looking for the self and go deeper and deeper, the real Self is waiting there to take you in. Then whatever is done is done by something else and you have no hand in it. In this process, all doubts and discussions are automatically given up just as one who sleeps forgets, for the time being, all his cares.

Q: What certainty is there that something else waits there to welcome

me? A: When one is a sufficiently developed soul (pakvi) one becomes

naturally convinced. Q: How is this development possible?

A: Various answers are given. But whatever the previous development, vichara quickens the development.

Q: That is arguing in a circle. I am developed and so I am suitable for the

quest but the quest itself causes me to develop. A: The mind has always this sort of difficulty. It wants a certain theory to

satisfy itself. Really, no theory is necessary for the man who seriously desires to approach God or to realise his own true being.

Q: No doubt the method taught by Bhagavan is direct. But it is so

difficult. We do not know how to begin it. If we go on asking, 'Who am I?, who am I?' like a japa (repetition of the name of God) or a mantra, it becomes dull. In other methods there is something preliminary and positive with which one can begin and then go step by step. But in Bhagavan's method, there is no such thing, and to seek the Self at once, though direct, is difficult.

A: Ramana Maharshi: You yourself concede it is the direct method. It is the direct and easy method. When going after other things that are alien to us is so easy, how can it be difficult for one to go to one's own Self? You talk of where to begin? There is no beginning and no end. You are yourself in the beginning and the end. If you are here and the Self somewhere else, and you have to reach that Self, you may be told how to start, how to travel and then how to reach.

Suppose you who are now in Ramanasramam ask, 'I want to go to Ramanasramam. How shall I start and how to reach it?', what is one to say? A man's search for the Self is like that. He is always the Self and nothing else.

You say 'Who am I?' becomes a japa. It is not meant that you should go on asking 'Who am I?' In that case, thought will not so easily die. In the direct method, as you call it, in asking yourself 'Who am I?', you are told to concentrate within yourself where the 'I'-thought, the root of all other thoughts, arise. As the Self is not outside but inside you, you are asked to dive within, instead of going without. What can be more easy than going to yourself?

But the fact remains that to some this method will seem difficult and will not appeal. That is why so many different methods have been taught. Each of them will appeal to some as the best and easiest. That is according to their pakva or fitness. But to some, nothing except the vichara marga (the path of enquiry) will appeal. They will ask, 'You want me to know or to see this or that. But who is the knower, the seer?' Whatever other method may be chosen, there will be always a doer. That cannot be escaped.

One must find out who the doer is. Till then, the sadhana (spiritual practice) cannot be ended. So eventually all must come to find out 'Who am I?'

You complain that there is nothing preliminary or positive to start with. You have the 'I' to start with. You know you exist always, whereas the body does not exist always, for example in sleep. Sleep reveals that you exist even without a

body. We identify the 'I' with the body, we regard the Self as having a body, and as having limits, and hence all our trouble.

All that we have to do is to give up identifying the Self with the body, with forms and limits, and then we shall know ourselves as the Self that we always are.

Q: Am I to think 'Who am I?' A: You have known that the 'I'-thought springs forth. Hold the 'I'-thought

and find its source. Q: May I know the way? A: Do as you have now been told and see. Q: I do not understand what I should do. A: If it is anything objective the way can be shown objectively. This is

subjective. Q: But I do not understand. A: What! Do you not understand that you are? Q: Please tell me the way. A: Is it necessary to show the way in the interior of your own home? This

is within you. Q: You have said that the Heart is the centre of the Self. A: Yes, it is the one supreme centre of the Self. You need have no doubt

about it. The real Self is there in the Heart behind the jiva or ego self. Q: Now be please to tell me where it is in the body. A: You cannot know it with your mind. You cannot realise it by

imagination, when I tell you here is the centre (pointing to the right side of the chest). The only direct way to realise it is to cease to fantasize and try to be yourself. When you realise, you automatically feel that the centre is there.

This is the centre, the Heart, spoken of in the scriptures as hrit-guha (cavity of the heart), arul (grace), ullam (the Heart).

Q: In no book have I found it stated that it is there. A: Long after I came here I chanced upon a verse in the Malayalam

version of Ashtangahridayam, the standard work on Ayurveda (science of life, health and medicine), wherein the Ojas Sthana (source of bodily vitality or place of light) is mentioned as being located in the right side of the chest and called the seat of consciousness (samvit). But I know of no other work which refers to it as being located there.

Q: Can I be sure that the ancients meant this centre by the term 'Heart'? A: Yes that is so. But you should try to have rather than to locate the

experience. A man need not find out where his eyes are situated when he wants to see. The Heart is there ever open to you if you care to enter it, ever supporting all your movements even when you are unaware. It is perhaps more proper to say that the Self is the Heart itself than to say that it is in the Heart. Really, the Self is the centre itself. It is everywhere, aware of itself as 'Heart', the Self-awareness.

Q: In that case, how can it be localised in any part of the body? Fixing a

place for the Heart would imply setting physiological limitations to that which is beyond space and time.

A: That is right. But the person who puts the question about the position of the Heart considers himself as existing with or in the body. While putting the question now, would you say that your body alone is here but you are speaking from somewhere else? No, you accept your bodily existence. It is from this point of view that any reference to a physical body comes to be made.

Truly speaking, pure consciousness is indivisible, it is without parts. It has no form and shape, no 'within' and 'without'. There is no 'right' or 'left' for it. Pure consciousness, which is the Heart, includes all, and nothing is outside or apart from it. That is the ultimate truth.

From this absolute standpoint, the Heart, Self or consciousness can have no particular place assigned to it in the physical body. What is the reason? The body is itself a mere projection of the mind, and the mind is but a poor reflection of the radiant Heart. How can that, in which everything is contained be itself confined as a tiny part within the physical body which is but an infinitesimal, phenomenal manifestation of the one reality?

But people do not understand this. They cannot help thinking in terms of the physical body and the world. For instance, you say, 'I have come to this ashram all the way from my country beyond the Himalayas'. But that is not the truth. Where is 'coming' or 'going' or any movement whatever, for the one, all-pervading spirit which you really are? You are where you have always been. It is your body that moved or was conveyed from place to place till it reached this ashram. This is the simple truth, but to a person who considers himself a subject living in an objective world, it appears as something altogether visionary! It is by coming down to the level ordinary understanding that a place is assigned to the Heart in the physical body.

Q: How then shall I understand Sri Bhagavan's statement that the

experience of the heart-centre is at the particular place in the chest? A: Once you accept that from the true and absolute standpoint, the Heart

as pure consciousness is beyond space and time, it will be easy for you to understand the rest in its correct perspective.

Q: The Heart is said to be on the right, on the left, or in the centre. With

such differences of opinion how are we to meditate on it? A: You are and it is a fact. Dhyana (meditation) is by you, of you, and in

you. It must go on where you are. It cannot be outside you. So you are the centre of dhyana and that is the Heart.

Doubts arise only when you identify it with something tangible and physical. Heart is no conception, no object for meditation. The Self remains all alone. You see the body in the Heart, the world is also in it. There is nothing separate from it. So, all kinds of efforts are located there only.

Q: You say the 'I'-thought rises from the Heart-centre. Should we seek its

source there? A: I ask you to see where the 'I' arises in your body, but it is really not

quite correct to say that the 'I' rises from and merges in the Heart in the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for the reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it, since it alone is.

Q: Should I meditate on the right chest in order to meditate on the Heart? A: The Heart is not physical. Meditation should not be on the right or the

left. Meditation should be on the Self. Everyone knows 'I am'. Who is the 'I'? It will be neither within nor without, neither on the right nor on the left. 'I am'- that is all. Leave alone the idea of right and left. They pertain to the body. The Heart is the Self. Realise it and then you will see for yourself. There is no need to know where and what the Heart is. It will do its work if you engage in the quest for the Self.

Q: What is the Heart referred to in the verse of Upadesa Saram where it

is said, 'Abiding in the Heart is the best Karma, Yoga, Bhakti (devotion) and Jnana (knowledge)?

A: That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which all finally merge, is the Heart referred to.

Q: How can we conceive of such a Heart? A: Why should you conceive of anything? You have only to see from

where the 'I' springs. That from which all thoughts of embodied beings issue forth is called the Heart. All descriptions of it are only mental concepts.

Q: There are said to be six organs of different colours in the chest, of

which the Heart is said to be two finger-breaths to the right of the middle line. But the Heart is also formless. Should we then imagine it to have a shape and meditate on it?

A: No. Only the quest 'Who am I?' is necessary. What remains all through deep sleep and waking is the same. But in waking there is unhappiness and

the effort to remove it. Asked who wakes up from sleep you say 'I'. Now you are told to hold fast to this 'I'. If it is done the eternal being will reveal itself. Investigation of 'I' is the point and not meditation on the Heart-centre. There is nothing like within or without. Both mean either the same thing or nothing.

Of course there is also the practice of meditation on the Heart-centre. It is only a practice and not investigation. Only the one who meditates on the Heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still, whereas those who meditate on other centres cannot be so aware but infer that the mind was still only after it becomes again active.

In whatever place in the body one thinks Self to be residing, due to the power of that thinking it will appear to the one who thinks thus as if Self is residing in that place. However, the beloved Heart alone is the refuge for the rising and subsiding of that 'I'. Know that though it is said that the Heart exists both inside and outside, in absolute truth it does not exist both inside and outside, because the body, which appears as the base of the differences 'inside' and 'outside', is an imagination of the thinking mind. Heart, the source, is the beginning, the middle and the end of all. Heart, the supreme space, is never a form. It is the light of truth.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

A question was asked by a sannyasin (monk) about how to prevent the

mind from being distracted. M.: You see the objects on forgetting your own Self. If you keep hold of

your Self, you will not see the objective world. (6) D.: Can destiny (karma) ever come to an end? M.: The karmas carry the seeds of their own destruction in themselves.

(11) M.: Be the Self and the desires and doubts will disappear. If you go the

way of your thoughts you will be carried away by them and you will find yourself in an endless maze. (13)

D.: What is illusion? M.: To whom is the illusion? Find it out. Then illusion will vanish.

Generally people want to know about illusion and do not examine to whom it is. It is foolish. Illusion is outside and unknown. But the seeker is considered to be known and is inside. Find out what is immediate, intimate, instead of trying to find out what is distant and unknown. (17)

M.: Brahmacharya is ‘living in Brahman’. It has no connection with

celibacy as commonly understood. A real brahmachari, that is one who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause of all the misery. (17)

D.: How does book-lore help in Self-Realisation? M.: Only so far as to make one spiritually-minded. (23) D.: Thoughts cease suddenly, then ‘I-I’ rises up as suddenly and

continues. It is only in the feeling and not in the intellect. Can it be right? M.: It is certainly right. Thoughts must cease and reason disappear for ‘I-

I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the prime factor and not reason.

D.: When I see outside it disappears. What is to be done? M.: It must be held tight. D.: If one is active with such remembrance, will the actions be always

right? M.: They ought to be. However, such a person is not concerned with the

right or wrong of his actions. Such a person’s actions are God’s and therefore they must be right. (24)

M.: A separate being (Self) appears to know something apart from itself

(non-Self). That is, the subject is aware of the object. The seer is drik; the seen is drisya. (...)This ego is of the nature of chit (intelligence); achit (insentient object) is only negation of chit. Therefore the underlying essence is akin to the subject and not the object. Seeking the drik, until all drisya disappears, the drik will become subtler and subtler until the absolute drik alone survives. This process is called drisyavilaya (the disappearance of the objective world).

D.: When and how is the disappearance of the objective world (drisyavilaya) to be effected?

M.: It is complete when the relative subject, namely the mind, is eliminated. The mind is the creator of the subject and the object and is the cause of the dualistic idea. Therefore, it is the cause of the wrong notion of limited self and the misery consequent on such erroneous idea. (...) This mind is always seen as being related to, or acting on, some non-mind or matter, and never by itself. Therefore mind and matter co-exist. (25)

M.: The mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its

restlessness; give it peace; make it free from distractions; train it to look inward; make this a habit. This is done by ignoring the external world and removing the obstacles to peace of mind.

D.: How is restlessness removed from the mind? M.: External contacts - contacts with objects other than itself – make the

mind restless. Loss of interest in non-Self, (vairagya) is the first step. Then the habits of introspection and concentration follow. They are characterised by control of external senses, internal faculties, etc. (sama, dama, etc.) ending in samadhi (undistracted mind). (26)

M.: If the mind is distracted, ask the question promptly, “To whom do

these distracting thoughts arise?” That takes you back to the ‘I’ point promptly. D.: How long can the mind stay or be kept in the Heart? M.: The period extends by practice. D.: What happens at the end of the period? M.: The mind returns to the present normal state. Unity in the Heart is

replaced by variety of phenomena perceived. This is called the outgoing mind. The heart-going mind is called the resting mind.

D.: Is all this process merely intellectual or does it exhibit feeling predominantly?

M.: The latter. D.: How do all thoughts cease when the mind is in the Heart? M.: By force of will, with strong faith in the truth of the Master’s

teaching to that effect. (27) D.: Distractions result from inherited tendencies. Can they be cast off

too? M.: Yes. Many have done so. Believe it! They did so because they

believed they could. Vasanas (predispositions) can be obliterated. It is done by concentration on that which is free from vasanas and yet is their core.

M.: When there is contact of a desirable sort or memory thereof, and when there is freedom from undesirable contacts or memory thereof, we say there is happiness. Such happiness is relative and is better called pleasure.

But men want absolute and permanent happiness. This does not reside in objects, but in the Absolute. It is Peace free from pain and pleasure - it is a neutral state. (...)

If the mind is restless on account of a sense of the imperfect and unsatisfactory character of what befalls us or what is committed or omitted by us, then it is wise to drop the sense of responsibility and free-will by regarding ourselves as the ordained instruments of the All-wise and All-powerful, to do and suffer as He pleases. He carries all burdens and gives us peace. (28)

D.: When an endeavour is made to lead the right life and to concentrate

thought on the Self, there is often a downfall and break. What is to be done? M.: It will come all right in the end. There is the steady impulse of your

determination that sets you on your feet again after every downfall and breakdown. Gradually the obstacles are all overcome and your current becomes stronger. Everything comes right in the end. Steady determination is what is required. (29)

M.: Are you not the Self? Why trouble about other matters? Take the

essence; reject other learned theories as useless. (32) M.: Identification with the body is dvaita. Non-identification is advaita.

(35) M.: So long as there is the doer he must reap the fruits of his action. If he

does not think himself the doer there is no action for him. He is an ascetic who has renounced worldly life (sanyasin). (...)If the fruits of actions do not affect the person he is free from action. (39 e 40)

D.: So we must rid ourselves of lust (kama), anger, (krodha), etc. M.: Give up thoughts. You need not give up anything else. You must be

there to see anything. It is the Self. Self is ever-conscious.

D.: Are pilgrimages, etc., good? M.: Yes. D.: What effort is necessary for reaching the Self? M.: ‘I’ should be destroyed. Self is not to be reached. Is there any

moment when Self is not? It is not new. Be as you are. What is new cannot be permanent. What is real must always exist.

D.: Heaven and hell - what are they? M.: You carry heaven and hell with you. Your lust, anger, etc., produce

these regions. They are like dreams. D.: What is that one thing, knowing which all doubts are solved? M.: Know the doubter. If the doubter be held, the doubts will not arise.

(41) M.: ‘Outside’ - For whom is inside or outside? They can be only so long

as there are the subject and object. For whom are these two again? They both will resolve into the subject only. See who is in the subject. The investigation leads you to pure consciousness beyond the subject. (42)

D.: The work-a-day world is distracting. M.: Do not allow yourself to be distracted. Enquire for whom there is

distraction. It will not afflict you after a little practice. D.: Even the attempt is impossible. M.: Make it and it will be found not so difficult. D.: But the answer does not come for the search inward. M.: The enquirer is the answer and no other answer can come. What

comes afresh cannot be true. What always is, is true. (44) M.: Stay here or elsewhere must be understood to be the same and to

have the same effect. (45) M.: The mind is only the identity of the Self with the body. (...) The false

ego is associated with objects; this ego itself is its own object. Objectivity is the falsity. Subject is alone the Reality. Do not confound yourself with the object, namely the body. This gives rise to the false ego, consequently of the world and your movements therein with the resulting misery. Do not think yourself to be this, that or anything; to be so and so, or to be such and such. Only leave off the falsity. (...) Look, the Self is only Be-ing, not being this or that. It is simple Being. Be - and there is an end of the ignorance. Enquire for whom is the ignorance. (...)Realise your pure Be-ing. Let there be no confusion with the body. The body is the result of thoughts. The thoughts will play as usual, but you will not be affected. You were not concerned with the body when asleep; so you can always remain. (46)

M.: Actions form no bondage. Bondage is only the false notion. “I am the doer.” Leave off such thoughts and let the body and senses play their role, unimpeded by your interference. (46)

M.: An ‘I’ rises forth with every thought and with its disappearance that ‘I’ disappears too. Many ‘I’s are born and die every moment. The subsisting mind is the real trouble. That is the thief according to Janaka. Find him out and you will be happy. (49)

M.: The Being-consciousness is always there, eternal and pure. The rising-consciousness rises forth and disappears. It is transient. (53)

M.: Let the Higher Power do what is inevitable and let me act only

according to its dictates. The actions are not mine. Therefore the result of the actions cannot be mine. If one thinks and acts so, where is the trouble? Be it varnasrama

dharma or loukika dharma (worldly activities), it is immaterial. (...) Arjuna refused to fight. Krishna said: “So long as you refuse to fight, you

have the sense of doership. Who are you to refrain or to act? Give up the notion of doership.” Until that sense disappears you are bound to act. You are being manipulated by a Higher Power. You are admitting it by your own refusal to submit to it. Instead recognise the Power and submit as a tool. (Or to put it differently), if you refuse you will be forcibly drawn into it. Instead of being an unwilling worker, be a willing one. “Rather, be fixed in the Self and act according to nature without the thought of doership. Then the results of action will not affect you. That is manliness and heroism.” Thus, ‘inherence in the Self’ is the sum and substance of Gita teaching. (58)

M.: The mind is contaminated when it takes in objects. Otherwise, it is

pure. The main factor in dhyana is to keep the mind active in its own pursuit without taking in external impressions or thinking of other matters. (61)

M.: If the man mistakes himself for the subject, objects must necessarily appear different from him. They are periodically withdrawn and projected, creating the world and the subject’s enjoyment of the same. If, on the other hand, the man feels himself to be the screen on which the subject and object are projected there can be no confusion, and he can remain watching their appearance and disappearance without any perturbation to the Self. (62)

M.: It is the Higher Power which does everything and the man is only a tool. If he accepts that position he is free from troubles; otherwise he courts them. (63)

She : How to reconcile work with meditation? M.: Who is the worker? Let him who works ask the question. You are

always the Self. You are not the mind. It is the mind which raises these questions. Work proceeds, always in the presence of the Self only. Work is no hindrance to realisation. It is the mistaken identity of the worker that troubles one. Get rid of the false identity. (68)

D.: How to find the Atman?

M.: There is no investigation into the Atman. The investigation can only be into the non-self. Elimination of the non-self is alone possible. The Self being always self evident will shine forth of itself. (...)

D.: Our work-a-day life is not compatible with such efforts. M.: Why do you think that you are active? (78) M.: (After a long time). The Upanishads and scriptures say that human

beings are only animals unless they are realised beings. Possibly they are worse also. (79)

D.: How to turn the mind away from the world? M.: Is there the world? I mean apart from the Self? Does the world say

that it exists? It is you who say that there is a world. Find out the Self who says it. (81)

D.: Having once experienced the Supreme Bliss, how can one stray away

from it? M.: Oh yes! It happens. The predisposition adhering to him from time

immemorial will draw him out and so ignorance overtakes him. D.: What are the obstacles to remaining steady in unbroken Bliss? How

can they be overcome? M.: The obstacles are: (1) Ignorance which is forgetfulness of one’s pure being. (2) Doubt which consists in wondering if even the experience was of the Real or of the unreal. (3) Error which consists in the “I-am-the-body” idea, and thinking that the world is real. These are overcome by hearing the truth, reflection on it and concentration. (95) Maj. Chadwick later expressed a certain involuntary fear while

meditating. He feels the spirit separated from the gross body and the sensation creates a fright.

M.: To whom is the fright? It is all due to the habit of identifying the body with the Self. Repeated experience of separation will make one familiar and the fright will cease. (96)

M.: It is the nature of the mind to wander. You are not the mind. The

mind springs up and sinks down. It is impermanent, transitory, whereas you are eternal. There is nothing but the Self. To inhere in the Self is the thing. Never mind the mind. If its source is sought, it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected. (...) The mind, the body and the world are not separate from the Self. They rise from and sink into the Self. They do not remain apart from the Self. Can they be different from the Self? Only be aware of the Self. Why worry about these shadows? How do they affect the Self? (97)

M.: Spiritual matters cannot be fitted into rationalism. Spirituality is

transcendental. (101) D.: All this is so difficult. M.: The idea of difficulty is itself wrong. It will not help you to gain

what you want. Again I ask: “Who finds it difficult?” D.: I see that I am coming round to ‘I’. M.: Because you are always that and never away from that. There is

nothing so simple as being the Self. It requires no effort, no aid. One has to leave off the wrong identity and be in his eternal, natural, inherent state. (101)

Mr. C. R. Wright, his [Swami Yogananda’s] secretary, asked: How shall I

realise God? M.: God is an unknown entity. Moreover He is external. Whereas, the

Self is always with you and it is you. Why do you leave out what is intimate and go in for what is external? (...)

D.: What is this Self again? M.: The Self is known to everyone but not clearly. You always exist. The

Be-ing is the Self. ‘I am’ is the name of God. Of all the definitions of God, none is indeed so well put as the Biblical statement “I AM THAT I AM”

D.: How to get Bliss? M.: Bliss is not something to be got. On the other hand you are always

Bliss. This desire is born of the sense of incompleteness. To whom is this sense of incompleteness? Enquire. (...)You are That, here and now.… That is the master key for solving all doubts. The doubts arise in the mind. The mind is born of the ego. The ego rises from the Self. Search the source of the ego and the Self is revealed. That alone remains. (106)

D.: Jiva is said to be bound by karma. Is it so? M.: Let karma enjoy its fruits. As long as you are the doer so long are

you the enjoyer. D.: How to get released from karma. M.: See whose karma it is. You will find you are not the doer. Then you

will be free. This requires grace of God for which you should pray to Him, worship Him and meditate on Him. The karma which takes place without effort, i.e ., involuntary action, is not binding.

Even a jnani is acting as seen by his bodily movements. There can be no karma without effort or without intentions (sankalpas). Therefore there are sankalpas for all. They are of two kinds (1) one, binding - bandha-hetu and the other (2) mutki-hetu - not binding. The former must be given up and the latter must be cultivated. There is no fruit without previous karma; no karma without previous

sankalpa . Even mutki must be the result of effort so long as the sense of doership persists. (116)

D.: Well, if God has no form is it proper to worship idols? M.: Leave God alone because He is unknown. What about you? Have

you a form? (...)So long as you are formful why should you not worship the formless God as being formful? (121)

M.: Moksha is to know that you were not born. “Be still and know that I

am God.” To be still is not to think. Know, and not think, is the word. (131) M.: Being perfect, why do you feel yourself imperfect? Such is the

teaching of all the religions. Whatever may be the experiences, the experiencer is one and the same. ‘I’ is purna - perfection. There is no diversity in sleep. That indicates perfection.

D.: Being perfect, why do I not feel it? M.: Nor is imperfection felt in deep sleep. The ‘I’ in sleep being perfect,

why does the waking ‘I’ feel imperfect? Because the one who feels imperfect is a spurious offshoot, a differentiation from the Infinite - a segregation from God.

M.: Learn first what you are. This requires no sastras, no scholarship. This is simple experience. The state of being is now and here all along. You have lost hold of yourself and are asking others for guidance. The purpose of philosophy is to turn you inward. “If you know your Self, no evil can come to you. Since you asked me I have taught you.”

The ego comes up only holding you (the Self). Hold yourself and the ego will vanish. (132)

D.: What is the significance of the Silence of Dakshinamurti ? M.: Many are the explanations given by scholars and sages. Have it any

way you please. (133) Lakshman Brahmachari of Sri Ramakrishna Mission asked: “Can one

imagine oneself as witness of the thoughts?” M.: It is not the natural state. It is only an idea (bhavana) - an aid to

stilling the mind. The Self is ever the witness, whether so imagined or not. There is no need to so imagine except for that purpose. But it is best to remain as one’s Self. (137)

M.: Why should one be meditating ‘I am Brahman’? Only the

annihilation of ‘I’ is Liberation. But it can be gained only by keeping the ‘I-I’ always in view. So the need for the investigation of the ‘I’ thought. If the ‘I’ is not let go, no blank can result to the seeker. Otherwise meditation will end in sleep. (139)

M.: 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. (141)

M.: The state free from thoughts is the only real state. There are neither

good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only. It is beyond quality. If there is unity, there will also be duality. The numeral one gives rise to other numbers. The truth is neither one nor two. IT is as it is.

D.: The difficulty is to be in the thought-free state. M.: Leave the thought-free state to itself. Do not think of it as pertaining

to you. Just as when you walk, you involuntarily take steps, so too in your actions; but the thought-free state is not affected by your actions.

D.: What is it that is discriminative in action? M.: Discrimination will be automatic, intuitive. (146) M.: The quest “Who am I?” is the axe with which to cut off the ego.

(146) In reply to a sadhu who asked if Bhakti consisted in forgetting the body,

etc. Sri Bhagavan said: “What do you care for the body? Practise Bhakti and don’t worry about what happens to the body.” (149)

M.: The discomforts [in meditation] will not worry you if your concentration is right. Do not mind the discomforts. Keep your mind steady in meditation. If you have not the strength and endurance to bear mosquito stings how do you hope to gain realisation of the Self? Realisation must be amidst all the turmoils of life. If you make yourself comfortable and go to bed you fall asleep. Face the troubles but keep yourself steady in meditation. (150)

M.: Subjugation of senses is a necessary preliminary for Self-Realisation. (151)

M.: If you hold the Self there is no second person to scorn you. When you see the world you have lost hold of the Self. On the contrary, hold the Self and the world will not appear. (151)

M r. Cohen: I get into meditation and reach a point which may be called

peace and a contemplative mood. What should be the next step? M.: Peace is Self-Realisation. Peace need not be disturbed. One should

aim at Peace only. D.: But I do not have the satisfaction.

M.: Because your peace is temporary. If made permanent it is called Realisation. (155)14

D.: I have been influenced by deeds and thoughts. M.: Thoughts and deeds are the same. M.: The Man is sin. There was no man-sense in deep sleep. The body-

thought brings out the idea of sin. The birth of thought is itself sin. To another question the Master said: Everyone sees only the Self. The

divine forms are only like bubbles in the ocean of Reality, or like pictures moving on a screen.

M.: There is only one master and that is the Self. (164) D.: Is there any necessity to obey physical laws, i.e ., dieting? M.: These are in imagination only. (166) M.: Diversity lies in your imagination only. Unitary Being need not be

acquired. (167) M.: Because you think you are the body, you see another as the body.

Difference in sex arises. But you are not the body. Be the real Self. Then there is no sex. (168)

M.: The best is heart to heart speech and heart to heart hearing. That is the best upadesa. (171)

M.: Experience gained without rooting out all the vasanas cannot remain steady. Efforts must be made to eradicate the vasanas. (172)

D.: What is the nirvana of Buddha? M.: Loss of individuality. (176) M.: There is really nothing to witness. IT is simply BEING. (180) M.: Once born you reach something; if you reach it you return also.

Therefore leave off all this verbiage! Be as you are. See who you are and remain as the Self, free from birth, going, coming and returning.

D.: True. However often this truth is heard, still it eludes us and we forget it.

M.: Quite so. Reminders are often necessary. (181) M.: Be what you are. There is nothing to come down or become

manifest. All that is needful is to lose the ego. That which is, is always there. Even now you are That. You are not apart from it. The blank is seen by you. You are there

14 Ver Talk 223.

to see the blank. What do you wait for? The thought “I have not seen,” the expectation to see and the desire of getting something, are all the working of the ego. You have fallen into the snares of the ego. The ego says all these and not you. Be yourself and nothing more! (183)

M.: That which is not created has no end. That which exists cannot be observed. It is unobservable. We must find out what it is that appears; the destruction of that which appears is the end. That which exists,exists for ever;that which newly appears is later lost. (186)

M.: Activity [of the mind] is weakness and consequently miserable; passivity is strength and therefore blissful. (188)

D.: What does Maharshi say about hatha yoga or Tantric practices? M.: Maharshi does not criticise any of the existing methods. All are good

for the purification of the mind. Because the purified mind alone is capable of grasping his method and sticking to its practice. (189)

M.: Find that on which all the rest are superimposed and you then remain

as the pure Self. (189) D.: How is work to be done ordinarily for an aspirant? M.: Without self-identification with the actor. For instance, did you

intend visiting this place while in Paris? D.: No! M.: You see how you are acting without your intention to do so? The

Gita says that a man cannot remain without acting. The purpose of one’s birth will be fulfilled whether you will it or not. Let the purpose fulfil itself. (189)

M.: That happiness which is the result of enjoyment by the senses is the

same as that of liberation. (...) In fact there may not be found any individual in the world who possesses all the qualities in perfection necessary for an aspirant as mentioned in Yoga Sutras, etc. Still pursuit of Self-knowledge should not be abandoned.

Everyone is the Self by his own experience. Still he is not aware, he identifies the Self with the body and feels miserable. This is the greatest of all mysteries. One is the Self. Why not abide as the Self and be done with miseries?

In the beginning one has to be told that he is not the body, because he thinks that he is the body only. Whereas he is the body and all else. The body is only a part. Let him know it finally. He must first discern consciousness from insentience and be the consciousness only. Later let him realise that insentience is not apart from consciousness.

This is discrimination (viveka). The initial discrimination must persist to the end. Its fruit is liberation. (192)

M.: Free-will and destiny are ever-existent. Destiny is the result of past action; it concerns the body. Let the body act as may suit it. Why are you concerned with it? Why do you pay attention to it? Free-will and Destiny last as long as the body lasts. But wisdom (jnana) transcends both. The Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. Should anything happen, it happens as the result of one’s past actions, of divine will and of other factors. (193)

M.: Mind is intangible. In fact, it does not exist. The surest way of control is to seek it. Then its activities cease.

M.: Do you know that you are ignorant? Knowledge of ignorance is no ignorance. (194)

D.: From where did ignorance come? M.: There is no such thing as ignorance. It never arises. Everyone is

Knowledge [Jnana] itself. (199) M.: Turn your vision inward and then the whole world will be full of

Supreme Spirit. The world is said to be illusion. Illusion is really Truth. (199) M.: Learn what surrender is. It is to merge in the source of the ego. The

ego is surrendered to the Self. Everything is dear to us because of love of the Self. The Self is that to which we surrender our ego and let the Supreme Power, i.e ., the Self, do what it pleases. The ego is already the Self’s. We have no rights over the ego, even as it is. However, supposing we had, we must surrender them. (201)

M.: 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. (201)

M.: 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. (202)

M.: There will be no pain if the physical outlook is given up and if the person exists as the Self. Mourning is not the index of true love. It betrays love of the object, of its shape only. That is not love. True love is shown by the certainty that the object of love is in the Self and that it can never become non-existent. (203)

M.: There is no mental function in the absence of individuality. Individuality and mind functions are co-existent. The one cannot remain without the other.

D.: On what should we meditate?(204) M.: Who is the meditator? Ask the question first. Remain as the

meditator. There is no need to meditate. (205) M.: So long as there is individuality, one is the enjoyer and doer. But if it

is lost, the divine Will prevails and guides the course of events. (209) M.: Action is impelled by desire; desire arises only after the rise of the

ego; and this ego owes its origin to a Higher Power on which its existence depends. It cannot remain apart. Why then prattle, “I do, I act, or I function”? (210)

M.: The mind must be alert and meditation pursued unremittingly even when it is at peace. Then it sinks into the heart. (223)

D.: What is that higher happiness? M.: To be free from anxieties. Possessions create anxieties such as their

safeguarding, their utilisation, etc. Non-possession does not bring any anxieties in its train. Therefore Siva resigned everything in favour of Vishnu and He himself went away happy. Divestment of possessions is the highest happiness. (225)

D.: Is there thought in Samadhi? Or is there not? M.: There will only be the feeling ‘I am’ and no other thoughts. D.: Is not ‘I am’ a thought? M.: The egoless ‘I am’ is not thought. It is realisation. The meaning or

significance of ‘I’ is God. The experience of ‘I am’ is to Be Still. (226) M.: Sastra learning is itself a vasana. Realisation is only in samadhi.

(230) M.: Search for unreality is fruitless. Therefore seek the reality, i.e., the

Self. That is the way to rule over the mind. There is only one thing Real! (237) M.: Having lost hold of the Self the thoughts afflict you; the world is

seen, doubts arise, also anxiety for the future. Hold fast to the Self, these will disappear. (240)

M.: God is in all and in the seer. Where else can God be seen? He cannot

be found outside. He should be felt within. To see the objects, mind is necessary. To conceive God in them is a mental operation. But that is not real. The consciousness within, purged15 of the mind, is felt as God.

D.: There are, say, beautiful colours. It is a pleasure to watch them. We can see God in them.

M.: They are all mental conceptions. D.: There are more than colours. I mentioned colours only as an example. M.: They are also similarly mental. D.: There is the body also - the senses and the mind. The soul makes use

of all these for knowing things. M.: The objects or feelings or thoughts are all mental conceptions. The

mind rises after the rise of the I-thought or the ego. Wherefrom does the ego rise? From the abstract consciousness or Pure intelligence.

D.: Is it the soul? M.: Soul, mind or ego are mere words. There are no entities of the kind.

Consciousness is the only truth. (244)

15 Purged = expurgado, purificado

M.: Pleasure consists in turning and keeping the mind within; pain in sending it outward. There is only pleasure. (244)

M.: Soul and God are only mental conceptions. D.: Is God only a mental conception? M.: Yes. Do you think of God in sleep? (244) M.: Wakefulness passes off, I am; the dream state passes off, I am; the

sleep state passes off, I am. They repeat themselves, and yet I am. They are like pictures moving on the screen in a cinema show. They do not affect the screen. Similarly also, I remain unaffected although these states pass off. (244)

D.: How can the mind be made to vanish? M.: No attempt is made to destroy it. To think or wish it is itself a

thought. If the thinker is sought, the thoughts will disappear. D.: Will they disappear of themselves? It looks so difficult. M.: They will disappear because they are unreal. The idea of difficulty is

itself an obstacle to realisation. It must be overcome. To remain as the Self is not difficult. (244)

M.: Blankness is the evil result of searching the mind. The mind must be

cut off, root and branch. See who the thinker is, who the seeker is. Abide as the thinker, the seeker. All thoughts will disappear.

D.: Then there will be the ego - the thinker. M.: That ego is pure Ego purged of thoughts. It is the same as the Self.

So long as false identification persists doubts will persist, questions will arise, there will be no end of them. Doubts will cease only when the non-self is put an end to. (...) Only when the thinker is not held do objects appear outside or doubts arise in the mind. (245)

M.: The mistake lies in thinking that ‘I’ is what ‘I’ is not. ‘I’ is not

insentient. ‘I’ cannot be the inert body. The body’s movements are confounded with ‘I’ and misery is the result. Whether the body works or not, ‘I’ remains free and happy. The ajnani’s ‘I’ is the body only. That is the whole error. The jnani’s ‘I’ includes the body and everything else. Clearly some intermediate entity arises and gives rise to the confusion. (248)

M.: The real ‘I’ is silent. One should not think ‘I am this – I am not that’. To say ‘this or that’ is wrong. They are also limitations. Only ‘I am’ is the truth. Silence is ‘I’. (248)

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. (251)

M.: 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. (251)

M.: 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. (251)

D.: How to control lust, anger, etc.? M.: Whose are these passions? Find out. If you remain as the Self, there

will be found to be nothing apart from the Self. Then there will be no need to control, etc. (252)

M.: The attempt to recall the past is mere waste of time. (260) M.: Avidya is ignorance. It implies subject and object. Become the

subject and there will be no object. (263) M.: Watch the mind. You must stand aloof from it. You are not the mind.

And the Self will remain ever. (264) M.: A Higher Power is leading you. Be led by the same. D.: But I am not aware of it. Please make me aware of it. M.: The Higher Power knows what to do and how to do it. Trust it. (265) M.: The real Self is the Infinite ‘I-I’, i.e., ‘I’ is perfection. It is eternal. It

has no origin and no end. The other ‘I’ is born and also dies. It is impermanent. See to whom are the changing thoughts. They will be found to arise after the ‘I-thought’. Hold the ‘I-thought’. They subside. Trace back the source of the ‘I-thought’. The Self alone will remain.

D.: It is difficult to follow. I understand the theory. But what is the practice?

M.: The other methods are meant for those who cannot take to the investigation of the Self. Even to repeat Aham Brahmasmi or think of it, a doer is necessary. Who is it? It is ‘I’. Be that ‘I’. It is the direct method. The other methods also will ultimately lead everyone to this method of the investigation of the Self.

D.: I am aware of the ‘I’. Yet my troubles are not ended. M.: This ‘I-thought’ is not pure. It is contaminated with the association of

the body and senses. See to whom the trouble is. It is to the ‘I-thought’. Hold it. Then the other thoughts vanish.

D.: Yes. How to do it? That is the whole trouble. M.: Think ‘I’ ‘I’ ‘I’ and hold to that one thought to the exclusion of all

others. (266) D.: How to discern the ego from the Perfect ‘I-I’? M.: That which rises and falls is the transient ‘I’. That which has neither

origin nor end is the permanent ‘I-I’ consciousness. (268)

M.: Mind is only the dynamic power (sakti) of the Self. (268) D.: Is it morally right for a man to renounce his household duties when

he once realises that his highest duty is Atma-chintana (continuous thought on the Self)?

M.: This desire to renounce things is the obstacle. The Self is simple renunciation. The Self has renounced all.

D.: It is true from Bhagavan’s standpoint. But for us .... my work demands the best part of my time and energy; often I am too tired to devote myself to Atma-chintana.

M.: The feeling “I work” is the hindrance. Enquire, “Who works?” Remember, “Who am I?”. The work will not bind you. It will go on automatically. Make no effort either to work or to renounce work. Your effort is the bondage. What is bound to happen will happen. (268)

D.: Grace was said to be the Self. Should I then surrender to my own

Self? M.: Yes. To the one from whom Grace is sought. God, Guru and Self are

only different forms of the same. (271) D.: What is to be done by us for ameliorating the condition of the world? M.: If you remain free from pain, there will be no pain anywhere. The

trouble now is due to your seeing the world externally and also thinking that there is pain there. But both the world and the pain are within you. If you look within there will be no pain. (272)

M.: If you consider yourself as the body the world appears to be external.

If you are the Self the world appears as Brahman. (272) M.: Bhakti and Self-Enquiry are one and the same. The Self of the

Advaitins is the God of the bhaktas. (274) M.: A madman clings to samskaras, whereas a jnani does not. That is the

only difference between the two. Jnana is madness of a kind. (275) M.: The mind is the object and the ‘I’ is the subject. Can there be will

without the ‘I’? It is comprised in the ‘I’. The ‘I-thought’ is the vijnanamaya kosa (intellectual sheath). Will is included in it. (277)

M.: Knowledge implies ignorance of what lies beyond what is known. Knowledge is always limited. (278)

D.: Can a sanyasi remain in the midst of samsara? M.: So long as one thinks that he is a sanyasi, he is not one, so long as

one does not think of samsara, he is not a samsari; on the other hand he is a sanyasi. (283)

M.: By constantly keeping our aim on our source, our ego is dissolved in

its source, like a doll of salt in the ocean. (286) M.: Unless prarabdha is completely exhausted the ego will be rising up

in its pure form even in jivanmuktas. (286) M.: There is the absolute Self from which a spark proceeds as from fire.

The spark is called the ego. In the case of an ignorant man it identifies itself with an object simultaneously with its rise. It cannot remain independent of such association with objects. This association is ajnana or ignorance, whose destruction is the objective of our efforts. If its objectifying tendency is killed it remains pure, and also merges into the source. The wrong identification with the body is dehatmabuddhi (‘I-am-the-body’ idea).

M.: Concentration is impossible so long as there are predispositions. They obstruct Bhakti also. (287)

M.: Abhyasa and vairagya are necessary. Vairagya is the absence of diffused thoughts; abhyasa is concentration on one thought only. The one is the positive and the other the negative aspect of meditation. (287)

M.: Maya has no independent existence. Having brought out the illusion of the world as real, she continues to play upon the ignorance of the victims. When the reality of her not being is found, she disappears. (288)

M.: Samskara is samsara. (290) D.: But I am imperfect. M.: Why bring in imperfection? Why are you not perfect? Did you feel

imperfection in your sleep? Why do you not remain so even now? Bring sleep into the waking state (jagrat sushupti) and you will be all right. Ya nisa sarva bhootanam

... pasyato muneh ... (That which is night for the ignorant is day for the wise). (...) D.: The mind is not steady in meditation. M.: Whenever it wanders, turn it inward again and again. D.: When duhka (misery) overpowers me, enquiry is impossible. M.: Because the mind is too weak. Make it strong. (...) D.: Abhyasa (practice) should give me that power. M.: Practice is power. If thoughts are reduced to a single thought the

mind is said to have grown strong. When practice remains unshaken it becomes sahaja (natural).

D.: What is such practice? M.: Enquiring into the Self. That is all. Fix the mind on the SELF. (290) M.: One-pointedness means cessation of mental activities. Forgetfulness

must be for the self - well, of what? Of the Self? Are there then two selves? Practice removes the samskaras.

D.: But samskaras are infinite and eternal - from beginningless time.

M.: This itself is a samskara. Give up that idea and all samskaras will disappear at once. (290)

M.: That Peace is the Real nature. Contrary ideas are only

superimpositions. (293) M.: Meditation is, truly speaking, Atmanishtha (to be fixed as the Self).

But when thoughts cross the mind and an effort is made to eliminate them the effort is usually termed meditation. Atmanishtha is your real nature. Remain as you are. That is the aim. (294)

M.: Why do you wish to meditate at all? Because you wish to do so you are told Atma samstham manah krtva (fixing the mind in the Self); why do you not remain as you are without meditating? What is that manah (mind)? When all thoughts are eliminated it becomes Atma samstha (fixed in the Self). (294)

M.: Yes. Direct knowledge does not require intellectual discourses. Everyone says “I am”. Is there anything more to realise? (295)

D.: How is prarabdha (past karma) related to purushakara (one’s own

effort here)? M.: Prarabdha is karma (action). There must be a karta (doer) for it. See

who the karta is. Purushakara is effort. See who exerts. There is identity established. The one who seeks to know their relation is himself the link. (295)

M.: Each one seeks happiness but is misled into thinking pain associated

pleasures as happiness. Such happiness is transient. His mistaken activity gives him short-lived pleasure. Pain and pleasure alternate with one another in the world. To discriminate between the pain-producing and pleasure-producing matters and to confine oneself to the happiness-producing pursuit only is vairagya. What is it that will not be followed by pain? He seeks it and engages in it. Otherwise, the man has one foot in the world and another foot in the spiritual pursuit. (302)

M.: The peace often gained must be remembered at other times. That peace is your natural and permanent state. By continuous practice it will become natural. That is called the ‘current.’ That is your true nature. (303)

M.: Aham vritti (‘I-thought’) is broken, Aham sphurana (the light of ‘I-I’) is unbroken, continuous. After the thoughts subside, the light shines forth. (307)

D.: Viveka is said to be discrimination between the Self and the non-self.

What is the non-self? M.: There is no non-self, in fact. The non-self also exists in the Self. It is

the Self which speaks of the non-self because it has forgotten itself. Having lost hold of itself, it conceives something as non-self, which is after all nothing but itself. (310)

M.: But you say you are not aware. It requires constant attention to itself. No other effort is necessary. Your effort is only meant not to allow yourself to be distracted by other thoughts. (312)

M.: All the actions will go on whether you engage in them voluntarily or not. The work will go on automatically. Attending to the Self includes attending to the work. (313)

M.: What is not continuous cannot be real. If real, the thing must ever be real - and not real for a short time and unreal at other times. (315)

D.: Since I have not realised the Self I say that I do not understand my

permanent state of trance. 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. (317)

M.: Because dwiteeyadvai bhayam bhavati - fear is always of a second

one. Of what are you afraid? D.: By reason of the perception of the body, the senses, the world, Isvara,

doership, enjoyment etc. M.: Why do you see them if they cause fear? D.: Because they are inescapable. M.: But it is you who sees them. For whom is the fear? Is it for them? D.: No, it is for me. M.: Because you see them, you fear them. Do not see them and there will

be no fear. D.: What then should I do in the waking state? M.: Be the Self; there will be no second thing to cause you fear. (318) D.: Samatvam yoga uchyate (Equanimity is yoga). What is that

equanimity? M.: It is unity in diversity. The universe is now seen to be diverse. See

the common factor (sama) in all the objects. When that is done equality in the pairs of opposites (dwandwani) naturally follows. It is the latter which is however spoken of as equanimity ordinarily.

D.: Impurities of limitation, ignorance and desire (anava, mayika, and kamya) place obstacles in the way of meditation. How to conquer them?

M.: Not to be swayed by them. D.: The obstacles are powerful and obstruct meditation. M.: If a Higher Power is recognised and surrendered to, how will they

obstruct you? If you say “They are powerful,” the source of their Power must be held so that they do not obstruct you. (319)

M.: When there is no thought, no ‘I’, and nothing in fact except yourself, you are happy. That is the whole Truth.

D.: But I am unable to do it. I am too weak to realise my Self. M.: In that case surrender yourself unreservedly and the Higher Power

will reveal Itself. 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. (321)

D.: What should one do in order to remain free from thoughts as advised

by you? Is it only the enquiry “Who am I?” M.: Only to remain still. Do it and see. D.: It is impossible. M.: Exactly. For the same reason the enquiry “Who am I?” is advised.

(322) D.: Will half an hour a day [of japa] do for it? M.: It must be done always, or as long as you can. (322) M.: If one realises that the thoughts arise from the Self and abide in their

source, the mind will disappear. (326) M.: The bliss of peace is too good to be disturbed. A man fast asleep

hates to be awakened and ordered to mind his business. The bliss of sleep is too enthralling to be sacrificed to the work born of thoughts. The thought-free state is one’s primal state and full of bliss. Is it not miserable to leave such a state for the thought-ridden and unhappy one? (326)

M: There can be no body in the absence of thought. (327) M.: The feeling of limitation is the work of the mind. (327) D.: How will the sexual impulse cease to be? M.: When differentiation ceases. D.: How can it be effected? M.: The other sex and its relation are only mental concepts. The

Upanishad says that all are dear because the Self is beloved of all. One’s happiness is within; the love is of the Self only. It is only within; do not think it to be without: then differentiation ceases to operate. (335)

M.: There is always consciousness and nothing but that. What you are

now considering to be body-consciousness is due to supermiposition. (340) M.: [All] the thoughts arise from the I-thought which in its turn arises

from the Self. (341)

M.: Thoughts, good or bad, take you farther and not nearer, because the Self is more intimate than thoughts. You are Self, whereas the thoughts are alien to the Self. (341)

D.: Is it right to think that all that happens to us are God’s ordainment,

and therefore only good? M.: Of course it is. Yet all others and God are not apart from the Self.

How can thoughts of them arise when you remain as the Self? (341) M.: Whom does the ant sting? It is the body. You are not the body. So

long as you identify yourself with the body, you see the ants, plants, etc. If you remain as the Self, there are not others apart from the Self.

D.: The body feels the pain of the sting. M.: If the body feels it, let it ask. Let the body take care of itself. How

does it matter to you? (341) M.: As the mind tends to go out turn it inwards then and there. It goes out

owing to the habit of looking for happiness outside oneself; but the knowledge that the external objects are not the cause of happiness will keep it in check. This is vairagya or dispassion. Only after perfect vairagya the mind becomes steady. (344)

M.: What is not, is always lost; what is, is ever present, here and now. This is the eternal order of things. (344)

D.: The mind continues to feel partial towards children, possibly because

of the form sometimes used to personify the Ideal. How can this preference be outgrown?

M.: Hold the Self. Why think of children and reactions towards them? D.: This third visit to Tiruvannamalai seems to have intensified the sense

of egoism in me and made meditation less easy. Is this an unimportant passing phase or a sign that I should avoid such places hereafter?

M.: It is imaginary. This place or another is within you. Such imaginations must end so that the places have nothing to do with the activities of the mind. Even your surroundings are not of your own accord; they are there as a matter of course. You must rise above them and not get yourself involved. (348)

M.: If the surrender is complete all sense of individuality is lost and there

is thus no cause for misery. (350) M.: Unless something permanent is held, the transitory nature of the

world cannot be understood. (351) M.: Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and

personality. If that is stopped there is quietude. (354)

M.: “I am that I am.” “I am” is God - not thinking, “I am God”. Realise “I am” and do not think I am. “Know I am God” - it is said, and not “Think I am God.”

Later Sri Bhagavan continued: It is said “I AM that I AM”. That means a person must abide as the ‘I’. He is always the ‘I’ alone. He is nothing else. Yet he asks “Who am I?” A victim of illusion would ask “Who am I?” and not a man fully aware of himself. The wrong identity of the Self with the non-self makes you ask, “Who am I?” (...)So also, being the Self, if one asks how to realise the Self it looks absurd. You are the Self. Remain as the Self. That is all. (354)

M.: It is due to weakness of mind that peace once gained is later lost.

(360) M.: “I am” alone is; and not “I am so and so”, or “I am such and such”.

When existence is absolute it is right; when it is particularised it is wrong. That is the whole truth. (363)

M.: “Knowing the Self” means “Being the Self”. (...)you are aware of the Self even though the Self is not objectified. Or, do you deny your Self because it is not objectified? When you say “I cannot know the Self” it means absence in terms of relative knowledge, because you have been so accustomed to relative knowledge that you identify yourself with it. Such wrong identity has forged the difficulty of not knowing the obvious Self because it cannot be objectified; and you ask. “How is one to know the Self?” Your difficulty is centred in “How”? (363)

M.: (Aham, aham) ‘I-I’ is the Self; (Aham idam) “I am this” or “I and that” is the ego. When the ‘I’ is kept up as ‘I’ alone it is the Self; when it flies at a tangent and says “this” it is the ego. (...) “I AM” is God. (363)

M.: There is now wrong identification of the Self with the body, senses, etc. You proceed to discard these, and this is neti. This can be done only by holding to the one which cannot be discarded. That is iti alone. (366)

M.: Misery is due to multifarious thoughts. If the thoughts are unified and centred on a single item there is no misery, but happiness is the result. Then, even the thought, “I do something” is absent; nor will there be an eye on the fruit of action. (371)

D.: Does Bliss consist only in the absence of unhappiness, or is it

anything positive? M.: It is positive. Loss of unhappiness and rise of happiness are

simultaneous. (372) D.: Is the mind an upadhi (limiting adjunct)? M.: Yes. (376) D.: Are we to keep anything against a rainy day; or to live a precarious

life for spiritual attainments?

M.: God looks after everything. (377) D.: How did the wrong identity arise? M.: Due to thoughts. (379) M.: Objects do not come and tell you that they are, but it is you who says

that there are the objects. The objects are therefore what the seer makes of them. They have no existence independent of the subject. (387)

M.: The questioner must admit the existence of his self. “I AM” is the

Realisation. To pursue the clue till Realisation is vichara. Vichara and Realisation are the same. (390)

M.: Vichara is the process and the goal also. ‘I AM’ is the goal and the final Reality. To hold to it with effort is vichara. When spontaneous and natural it is Realisation. (390)

M.: Looking at the mind with the mind, or fixing the mind in the Self, brings the mind under control of the Self. (394)

M.: You are life unconditioned. These bodies attach themselves to you as mental projections and you are now afflicted by ‘I-am-the-body’ idea. If this idea ceases you are your Self. (396)

M.: ‘I-am-the-body’ thought is ignorance; that the body is not apart from the Self is knowledge. (396)

M.: So long as there is the sense of separation there will be afflicting thoughts. (...) [Example of the stone thrown up and the flying bird] Thus, you see, wherever there is a sense of separateness from the source there is agitation and movement until the sense of separateness is lost. (396)

M.: The body identity is due to extroversion and the wandering of the mind. To continue in that state will only keep one in an endless tangle and there will be no peace. Seek your source, merge in the Self and remain all alone. (396)

M.: The body is a necessary adjunct of the ego. (396) M.: Are there things to think of? There is only the Self. Thoughts can

function only if there are objects. But there are no objects. How can thoughts arise at all? (398)

M.: Maya is the sakti of Isvara or the activity or Reality. (399) D.: We recollect our dreams in our jagrat but not vice-versa. M.: Not right again. In the dream you identify yourself with the one now

speaking. (399) M.: The mind functions both as light and as objects. If divested of things

the light alone will remain over. (...) If the light, i.e., the cogniser or the consciousness is seen, there will be no object to be seen. Pure light, i.e., Consciousness, will alone remain over. (404)

M.: Seeing and knowing are the functions of the mind. In nirvana there is nothing but the blissful pure consciousness “I am.” (406)

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. (406)

M.: All that is necessary is the stern belief that you are the Self. (406) D.: If God is all why does the individual suffer for his actions? Are not

the actions prompted by Him for which the individual is made to suffer? M.: He who thinks he is the doer is also the sufferer. (...) D.: When will the suffering cease? M.: Not until individuality is lost. If both the good and bad actions are

His, why should you think that the enjoyment and suffering are alone yours? He who does good or bad, also enjoys pleasure or suffers pain. Leave it there and do not superimpose suffering on yourself. (420)

M.: Your idea of will-power is success insured. Will-power should be understood to be the strength of mind which makes it capable for meeting success or failure with equanimity. It is not synonymous with certain success. Why should one’s attempts be always attended with success? Success develops arrogance and the man’s spiritual progress is thus arrested. Failure on the other hand is beneficial, inasmuch as it opens the eyes of the man to his limitations and prepares him to surrender himself. Self-surrender is synonymous with eternal happiness. Therefore one should try to gain the equipoise of mind under all circumstances. That is will-power. Again, success and failure are the results of prarabdha and not of will-power. (423)

M.: The mind in its external activities gives rise to the world. Such activities fritter away the strength of the mind. Its strength lies in being confined to itself with the external activities arrested. (423)

M.: The more the mind expands, the farther it goes and renders Self-Realisation more difficult and complicated. The man must directly see the seer and realise the Self. (427)

M.: In order to give up the sense of doership one must seek to find out who the doer is. (429)

M.: Simple Being is the Self (433) D.: Aham ‘I’ applies to the individual and also to Brahman. It is rather

unfortunate. M.: It is upadhi bheda (owing to different limiting adjuncts). The bodily

limitations pertain to the aham (‘I’) of the jiva, whereas the universal limitations pertain to the aham (‘I’) of Brahman. Take off the upadhi (limiting adjunct); the ‘I’ (Aham) is pure and single. (433)

D.: Can I throw myself at the mercy of the Sadguru?

M.: Yes. Instructions are necessary only so long as one has not surrendered oneself. (...)

D.: You seem to speak Jnana yoga. This is Jnana yoga. M.: Yes, it is. D.: But surrender is Bhakti yoga. M.: Both are the same After some time the man continued: Then I have to conclude that I am

Consciousness and that nothing occurs except by my presence. M.: It is one thing to conclude it by reasoning and another thing to be

convinced. (434) M.: Those who have limited the unlimited Self have committed suicide

by putting on such limitations. (435) M.: What is to be done? Reality is One only. How can It be realised?

Realisation is thus an illusion. Practice seems to be necessary. Who is to practise? Looking for the doer, the act and the accessories disappear. (439)

M.: The question implies that the realised man is not the questioner. Why should you concern yourself with another? Your duty is to look to yourself and not ask of others. (445)

Vedantachudamani: When he [the jivanmukta] seems keenly interested in the wonders of the world, he is only ridiculing the ignorance born of superimposition. If he appears indulging in sexual pleasures, he must be taken to enjoy the ever-inherent Bliss of the Self, which, divided Itself into the Individual Self and the Universal Self, delights in their reunion to regain Its original Nature. If he appears wrathful he means well to the offenders. All his actions should be taken to be only divine manifestations on the plane of humanity. There should not arise even the least doubt as to his being emancipated while yet alive. He lives only for the good of the world. (449)

M.: Siva is the Being assuming these forms and the Consciousness seeing them. That is to say, Siva is the background underlying both the subject and the object. (450)

M.: All the present troubles are due to thoughts and are themselves

thoughts. Give up thoughts. That is happiness and also meditation. D.: How are thoughts given up? M.: The thoughts are for the thinker. Remain as the Self of the thinker

and there is an end of thoughts. (452) M.: To see wrong in another is one’s own wrong. The discrimination

between right and wrong is the origin of the sin. One’s own sin is reflected outside and the individual in ignorance superimposes it on another. The best course for one is to reach the state in which such discrimination does not arise. Do you see wrong

or right in your sleep? Did you not exist in sleep? Be asleep even in the wakeful state. Abide as the Self and remain uncontaminated by what goes on around. Moreover, however much you might advise them, your hearers may not rectify themselves. Be in the right yourself and remain silent. Your silence will have more effect than your words or deeds. (453)

M.: It is wrong to suppose that awareness has passing phases. The Self is always aware. When the Self identifies itself as the seer it sees objects. The creation of the subject and the object is the creation of the world. Subjects and objects are creations in Pure Consciousness. (453)

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. (453)

M.: The Truth is that 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. (454)

M.: 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? (454)

M.: The ‘I’ is first created and then the world. The world is created by the ‘I’ which in its turn rises up from the Self. The riddle of the creation of the world is thus solved if you solve the creation of the ‘I’. So I say, find your Self. (455)

The lady being laid up is unable to go to the hall and so feels unhappy

that, though near, she cannot go into the hall. This was mentioned to Sri Bhagavan. He said, “Well, thinking like this keeps her always in the Presence. This is better than remaining in the hall and thinking of something else.” (455)

M.: This thought, ‘I am not able to concentrate,’ is itself an obstacle.

Why should the thought arise? (462) M.: The true nature of the Self is declared to be Peace. If the same peace

is not found, the non-finding is only a thought which is alien to the Self. One practises meditation only to get rid of these alien fancies. So, then, a thought must be quelled as soon as it rises. Whenever a thought arises, do not be carried away by it. You become aware of the body when you forget the Self. But can you forget the Self? Being the Self how can you forget it? There must be two selves for one to forget the other. It is absurd. So the Self is not depressed; it is not imperfect: it is ever happy. The contrary feeling is a mere thought which has actually no stamina in it. Be rid of thoughts. Why should one attempt meditation? Being the Self one remains always realised, only be free from thoughts. (462)

M.: The body itself is a thought. Be as you really are. There is no reason to be depressed. (462)

M.: Surrender can take effect only when done with full knowledge. Such knowledge comes after enquiry. It ends in surrender. (462)

M.: The Self makes the universe what it is by His Sakti, and yet He does not Himself act. Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, “I am not the doer and yet actions go on”. It is clear from the Mahabharata that very wonderful actions were effected by Him. Yet He says that He is not the doer. It is like the sun and the world actions. (467)

M.: If the fruits are according to his desire he [the jiva] is happy; otherwise he is miserable. Happiness and misery are due to his attachment. If actions were to take place without attachment there would be no expectation of fruit. (467)

M.: Atman acts through the ego. All actions are due to efforts only. (467) D.: I meant to say that no one else has the courage to put things straight

like Maharshi. M.: Where is the courage in saying things as they are? (469) [As a European Countess was leaving for Europe tonight she requested

him to bless her and her family.] M.: You do not go anywhere away from the Presence as you imagine.

The Presence is everywhere. The body moves from place to place; yet it does not leave the one Presence. So no one can be out of sight of the Supreme Presence. Since you identify one body with Sri Bhagavan and another body with yourself, you find two separate entities and speak of going away from here. Wherever you may be, you cannot leave ME. (470)

M.: The distinction between avatars and jnanis is absurd. (471) D.: How shall I get it quicker? Suppose I concentrate two hours today. If

I try to lengthen the period the next day, I fall asleep because I get tired of the job. M.: You do not get tired in sleep. The same person is now present here.

Why should you be tired now? Because your mind is restless and wanders, it gets tired, and not you.

D.: I am a business man. How shall I get on with business and get peace of mind also?

M.: This is also a thought. Give up this thought also and remain as your true Self.

D.: It is said: Do your duty without any expectation of results. How shall I get that frame of mind?

M.: You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all. (...)

D.: God must enable us to get rid of thoughts.

M.: This is again a thought. Let that which has incarnated raise the question. You are not that because you are free from thoughts. (472)

M.: Be free from thoughts. Do not hold on to anything. They do not hold

you. Be yourself. (472) D.: Maharshi advises that the mind should be divested of thoughts. M.: This is itself a thought. D.: When all thoughts disappear what remains over? M.: Is the mind different from thoughts? D.: No. The mind is made up of thoughts. My point is this: When all

thoughts are got rid of, how shall I concentrate the mind? M.: Is not this also a thought? (472) M.: Your thoughts are unreal and changeful. You want to hold the

Reality. That is exactly what I say. The thoughts are unreal. Get rid of them. (472) M.: Surrender to be complete must be unquestioning. (472) D.: I practise pranayama. It generates heat in the body. What should I

do? M.: The heat will pass away when the mind gains calm. D.: That is true but most difficult. M.: This is again a thought which is an obstacle. (472) M.: You can never find the mind through mind. Pass beyond it in order to

find it non-existent. D.: Then one must directly go to seek the ego. Is it so? M.: That’s it. (473) D.: What then is the mind? M.: Mind is consciousness which has put on limitations. You are

originally unlimited and perfect. Later you take on limitations and become the mind. (473)

M.: The objective world is really subjective. (474) M.: The fact of your existence is also your realisation (477) M.: What is maya? The knowledge that the mind is divorced from the

Reality is maya. The mind is in Reality only and not apart. This knowledge is the elimination of maya. (477)

M.: How do you know that you exist if you have not realised your existence? Your very existence is realisation. You cannot imagine a point of time when you do not exist. So there is no period of time when realisation is not. (477)

D.: How to know the Power of God? M.: You say ‘I AM’. That is it. What else can say I AM? One’s own

being is His Power. The trouble arises only when one says, “I am this or that, such and such.” Do not do it - Be yourself. That is all. (478)

M.: Bliss consists in not forgetting your being. How can you be

otherwise than what you really are? (478) M.: You are, and then the objects are also seen. “Without me, these do

not exist” - this knowledge is permeation. (478) M.: Does one’s own being require a proof? Only remain aware of your

own Self, all else will be known. (479) M.: Be still and know that I AM GOD. “Stillness” here means “Being

free from thoughts”. D.: This does not answer the question. The planet has a future – what is it

to be? M.: Time and space are functions of thoughts. If thoughts do not arise

there will be no future or the Earth. (480) M.: Can one remain without the Self? No. So no one is away from sat

sanga. (482) M.: Misery is due to objects. If they are not there, there will be no

contingent thoughts and so misery is wiped off. “How will objects cease to be?” is the next question. The shrutis and the sages say that the objects are only mental creations. They have no substantive being. Investigate the matter and ascertain the truth of the statement. The result will be the conclusion that the objective world is in the subjective consciousness. The Self is thus the only Reality which permeates and also envelops the world. Since there is no duality, no thoughts will arise to disturb your peace. This is Realisation of the Self. (485)

D.: What do you advise me to do? M.: Why should you do anything and what should you do? Only keep

quiet. Why not do so? Each one must do according to his own state. (486) M.: One experiences a dream and knows it to be unreal on waking.

Waking experience is unreal in other states. So each state contradicts the others. They are therefore mere changes taking place in the seer, or phenomena appearing in the Self, which is unbroken and remains unaffected by them. (487)

M.: The pain is felt so long as the object is different from oneself. But when the Self is found to be an undivided whole who and what is there to feel? (487)

D.: One lives fifty years and finds a continuity in the waking experience which is absent in dreams.

M.: You go to sleep and dream a dream in which the experiences of fifty years are condensed within the short duration of the dream, say five minutes. There is also a continuity in the dream. Which is real now? Is the period covering fifty years of your waking state real or the short duration of five minutes of your dream? The standards of time differ in the two states. That is all. There is no other difference between the experiences. (487)

D.: How is Brahmacharya to be practised in order that it may be

successfully lived up to? M.: It is a matter of will-power. Satvic food, prayers, etc., are useful aids

to it. (…) D.: Some young men take the vow of brahmacharya without knowing its

full implications. When they find it difficult to carry it out in practice, they seek our advice.

M.: They need not take a vow but they may try it without the vow. (…) D.: But all the disciples of a guru are not of the same degree of

advancement. There are found lapses in a few cases. Who is responsible for such lapses?

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. (491)

M.: “I-am-the-body” idea will become extinct only on Self-Realisation.

With its extinction the vasanas become extinct and all virtues will remain ever. (491)

D.: I wanted to practise Raja Yoga. I could not do it because of my

physical unfitness. The mind also began to wander with the movement of the body. M.: If the mind be kept immovable let the body change as much as it

likes. D.: Is it not a handicap to the beginner? M.: Attempts must be made in spite of handicaps. D.: Of course. But they will be momentary. M.: The idea of ‘momentary’ is one among so many other ideas. (491) M.: The more the desires are fulfilled, the deeper grows the samskara.

They must become weaker before they cease to assert themselves. That weakness is brought about by restraining oneself and not by losing oneself in desires.

D.: How can they be rendered weaker? M.: By knowledge. You know that you are not the mind. The desires are

in the mind. Such knowledge helps one to control them.

D.: But they are not controlled in our practical lives. M.: Every time you attempt satisfaction of a desire the knowledge comes

that it is better to desist. Repeated reminders of this kind will in due course weaken the desires. (495)

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. (495) D.: How is one to get over Avidya? M.: Ya na vidyate sa avidya (What is not, is avidya). So it is itself a

myth. If it really be, how can it perish? Its being is false and so it disappears. D.: Although I understand it intellectually, I cannot realise the Self. M.: Why should this thought disturb your present state of realisation?

(496) M.: Effort is needed so long as there is mind. (500) M.: Body and ego rise up together and sink together. (501) M.: The desire for permanency of happiness and of peace bespeaks16

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. (502)

M.: There is room for kama (desire) so long as there is an object apart from the subject (i.e., duality). There can be no desire if there is no object. The state of no-desire is moksha. (…) Because of duality a desire arises for the acquisition of the object. (502)

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. (502)

M.: True strength accrues by keeping in the right direction without swerving from it. (502)

M.: You will also realise that it is the Master who is your very Self and there is nothing but Him. (503)

M.: 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

16 Bespeak = revelar, indicar; prever; ajustar; encomendar.

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? (503)

M.: I AM is the abiding and fundamental Reality. (…)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. (503)

M.: Why do you exert yourself so much to effect reforms? Go to sleep and see if there are differences. There you obliterate differences without any effort. (Laughter). (507)

M.: All mistake the mind-consciousness for Self-Consciousness. (512) M.: [After a long discussion] 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. (513)

D.: Non-resistance seems to be the only remedy for all kinds of evil such

as slander. M.: Quite so. If one abuses another or injures him the remedy does not lie

in retort or resistance. Simply keep quiet. This quiet will bring peace to the injured but make the offender restless until he is driven to admit his error to the injured party. (517)

M.: Ahamkriti (the ego) is not the same as aham. The latter is the

Supreme Reality whereas the former is the ego. It is to be overcome before the Truth is realised. The Supreme Being is unmanifest and the first sign of manifestation is Aham Sphurana (light of ‘I’). (…) That is the original name of the Reality. (518)

D.: Is it proper that one prays to God or Guru when one is afflicted by

worldly ills? M.: Undoubtedly. (518) M.: The mahavakyas and their interpretation lead to interminable

discussions and keep the minds of the seekers engaged externally. To turn the mind inward the man must directly settle down in the ‘I’. Then there is an end of external activities and perfect Peace prevails. (519)

D.: But the jiva has not realised the Absolute and imagines itself separate. M.: Jiva is separate because it must exist in order to imagine something.

(520)

D.: But thinking is necessary even for realisation. M.: That thinking is aimed at the elimination of all thinking. (520) M.: The state of desirelessness in sleep made you no less happy than

now. You did not feel any want. You did not make yourself miserable by not entertaining desires. But now you entertain desires because you are limited to this human frame. Why do you wish to retain these limitations and continue to entertain desires? (…)The functions of the waking state are those of the ego which is synonymous with the ‘I’. Find out who this ‘I’ is. On doing so and abiding as ‘I’, all these doubts will be cleared up. (520)

D.: How shall I overcome my passions? M.: Find their root and then it will be easy. (Later) What are the

passions? Kama (lust), krodha (anger), etc. Why do they arise? Because of likes and dislikes towards the objects seen. How do the objects project themselves in your view? Because of your avidya, i.e., ignorance. Ignorance of what? Of the Self. Thus, if you find the Self and abide therein there will be no trouble owing to the passions.

(Later) Again, what is the cause of the passions? Desire to be happy or enjoy pleasure. Why does the desire for happiness arise? Because your nature is happiness itself and it is natural that you come into your own. This happiness is not found anywhere besides the Self. Do not look for it elsewhere. But seek the Self and abide therein. (…) Moreover craving for pleasures should not be encouraged. One cannot put out burning fire by pouring petrol over it. An attempt to satisfy your craving for the time being, so that the passion may later be suppressed, is simply foolish. (523)

M.: Because you think that so-and-so is your wife and so-and-so are your

children you also think that you are bound to them. These thoughts are yours. They owe their very existence to 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. (524)

M.: One should act in such a manner that the bondage is not strengthened but gets weakened. That is selfless action. (525)

D.: Does the practice make one ill? M.: Maybe. But all will be rightly adjusted of its own accord. (528) M.: Even better than the man who thinks “I have renounced everything”

is the one who does his duty but does not think “I do this” or “I am the doer”. (530) M.: All are gurus to us. The wicked say by their evil deeds, “Do not

come near me”. The good are always good. So then, all persons are like gurus to us. (541)

M.: Pain or pleasure is the result of past Karma and not of the present Karma. Pain and pleasure alternate with each other. One must suffer or enjoy them patiently without being carried away by them. One must always try to hold on to the Self. When one is active one should not care for the results and must not be swayed by the pain or pleasure met with occasionally. He who is indifferent to pain or pleasure can alone be happy. (546)

Sri Bhagavan once recounted how Kavyakantha Ganapathi Muni asked

Him: My own opinion is that a man can live on Rs. 3 a month. What is Sri Bhagavan’s opinion in the matter?

M.: A man can live happily only if he knows that he requires nothing wherewith17 to live. (555)

M.: [The bull analogy] So also the mind must be trained to take to right

ways. It will gradually grow accustomed to good ways and will not return to wrong ways. (563)

M.: The senses are mere instruments of perception. You are the seer. Remain as the seer only. What else is there to see? Such is the state in deep sleep. (564)

M.: When the fleeting thoughts give way to the pleasure at the sight of mangoes, it is priya, when he gets them as his own, the pleasure is moda; lastly, when he eats them, the pleasure is pramoda. All the three kinds of pleasure are owing to the disappearance of other thoughts.(566)

M.: Why fear death? Because of the ‘I-am-the-body’ idea. All are fully aware of the death of the body and its cremation. That the body is lost in death is well-known. Owing to the I-am-the-body notion, death is feared as being the loss of Oneself. Birth and death pertain to the body only; but they are superimposed on the Self, giving rise to the delusion that birth and death relate to the Self. (567)

M.: Surrender consists in giving up oneself and one’s possessions to the Lord of Mercy. Then what is left over for the man? Nothing - neither himself nor his

17 Wherewith= dinheiro, recurso.

possessions. The body liable to be born and to die having been made over to the Lord, the man need no longer worry about it. Then birth and death cannot strike terror. The cause of fear was the body; it is no longer his; why should he fear now? Or where is the identity of the individual to be frightened? (…) Surrender is synonymous with Bliss itself. (567)

M.: There is the moon. Let anyone look at her from any place at any

time; she is the same moon. Everyone knows it. Now suppose that there are several receptacles of water reflecting the moon. The images are all different from one another and from the moon herself. If one of the receptacles falls to pieces, that reflection disappears. Its disappearance does not affect the real moon or the other reflections. It is similar with an individual attaining Liberation. He alone is liberated.

(…) The ego, the world and the individuals are all due to the person’s vasanas. When they perish, that person’s hallucinations disappear, that is to say one pitcher18 is broken and the relative reflection is at an end. The fact is that the Self is never bound. There can therefore be no Release for It. All the troubles are for the ego only. (571)

M.: The Self is not a seer. (571) D.: How then are you giving the same instruction without distinction to

visitors? M.: What do I say? The ego in each one must die. Let him reflect on it. Is

there this ego or is there not? By repeated reflection one becomes more and more fit. (572)

M.: The ego not arising, the whole chain of mishaps 19 disappears.

Therefore prevent the rise of the ego. This can be done by remaining in your own real nature; then lust, anger, etc., are conquered. (575)

M.: Nothing is independent of the Self, not even ignorance; for ignorance is only the power of the Self, remaining there without affecting It. However it affects the ‘I’-conceit, i.e., the jiva. Therefore ignorance is of the jiva. (575)

M.: Avarana (veiling) does not hide the jiva in entirety; he knows that he is; only he does not know who he is. (579)

M.: The ego is insentient: united with the light from the Self, it is called jiva. But the ego and the light cannot be seen distinct from each other; they are always united together. The mixed product is the jiva, the root of all differentiation. (579)

D.: How shall I pray to God?

18 Pitcher= jarro 19 Mishap = acidente, infortúnio.

M.: There must be ‘I’ who prays to God. ‘I’ is certainly immediate and intimate, whereas God is not thought so. Find out that which is more intimate and then the other may be ascertained and prayed to if necessary. (580)

M.: Every gift implies unselfishness. That is the whole content of

nishkama Karma (unselfish action). It means true renunciation. If the giving nature is developed it becomes tyaga

20. If anything is willingly given away it is a delight to the giver and to the receiver. (…)When ‘I’ is given up it is jnana. When the nature to give away is developed it results in jnana. (581)

M.: If one goes on wanting, one’s wants cannot be fulfilled. Whereas if one remains desireless anything will be forthcoming. (582)

M.: Environment, time and objects are all in me. How can they be independent of me? They may change, but I remain unchanging, always the same. The objects can be differentiated by means of their names and forms, whereas each one’s name is only one and that is ‘I’. Ask anyone, he says ‘I’ and speaks of himself as ‘I’, even if He is Isvara. His name too is ‘I’ only. (582)

D.: How is one to be quiet? It is so difficult to be so. Should we practise

yoga for it? Or is there any other means for it? M.: What is not difficult looks difficult. A man is prone21 to wander

about. He is told to stay quiet at home, but finds it difficult to do so because he wants to wander about. (586)

M.: Sannyasa is mentioned for one who is fit. It consists in renunciation

not of material objects but of attachment to them. Sannyasa can be practised by anyone even at home. Only one must be fit for it. (588)

M.: Pure Knowledge does not contain objects in it nor reflect objects. Only with the limiting adjunct, the mind, it reflects the world. (589)

M.: Your forgetfulness implies knowledge, for you know you forgot; otherwise how can you speak of forgetting it? So forgetfulness also is Chit-akasa

(Chit-ether) only. (589) M.: Consciousness is the reality. When that consciousness is associated

with upadhis you speak of self-consciousness, unconsciousness, subconsciousness, super-consciousness, human-consciousness, dog-consciousness, tree-consciousness and so on. The unaltering common factor in all of them is consciousness. (591)

M.: Still more, why do you pray? Because you are helpless yourself and

you want the Higher Power to help you. Well, does not your Creator and Protector know your weakness? Should you parade your weakness in order to make Him know it?

D.: But God helps those who help themselves. 20 Renunciar, abandonar. 21 Prone = propenso, inclinado.

M.: Certainly. Help yourself and that is itself according to God’s Will. Every action is prompted by Him only. As for prayer for the sake of others, it looks so unselfish on the surface of it. But analyse the feeling and you will detect selfishness there also. You desire others’ happiness so that you may be happy. Or you want the credit for having interceded on others’ behalf. God does not require an intermediary. Mind your business and all will be well.

D.: Does not God work His Will through some chosen person? M.: God is in all and works through all. But His presence is better

recognised in purified minds. The pure ones reflect God’s actions more clearly than the impure minds. Therefore people say that they are the chosen ones. But the ‘chosen’ man does not himself say so. If he thinks that he is the intermediary then it is clear that he retains his individuality and that there is no complete surrender. (…) A realised man does not see others as different from oneself. How can he pray at all, and to whom and for what? His very presence is the consummation of happiness for all. So long as you think that there are others different from you, you pray for them. But the sense of separateness is ignorance. (…) God knows His business and does not require your intercession for others. (594)

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. (596)

D.: We also have faith in God. M.: If it had been firm no questions would have arisen. (596) M.: The enquiry into the Self is inclusive of all, faith, devotion, jnana,

yoga and all. (596) 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. (596)

M.: The point is that occult powers are sought and gained for the benefit

of others by Self-Realised persons also. But the sages are not deluded by the possession of such powers. (597)

M.: How is the mind known to us? Owing to its activities, namely, thoughts. Whenever thoughts arise remember they are all modes of Perumal [God] and they cannot be otherwise, this is enough; this is the surrender of the mind. Can anything exist independent of Perumal? All is Perumal alone. He acts through all. Why worry ourselves? (600)

M.: If the mind is not made use of, there is no concept of time. (601) M.: He who instructs an ardent seeker to do this or that is not a true

master. The seeker is already afflicted by his activities and wants Peace and Rest. In other words he wants cessation of his activities. (...) Activity is creation; activity is the destruction of one’s inherent happiness. (601)

M.: When people try to give up thoughts their object is frustrated by their very attempt. (601)

M.: The thought I am That is necessary only so long as the other thought

I am a man persists. D.: The thought ‘I am a man’ is so firm that it cannot he got rid of. M.: Be your true Self. Why should you think ‘I am a man’? D.: The thought ‘I am a man’ is so natural. M.: Not so. On the other hand ‘I am’ is natural. Why do you qualify it

with ‘a man’? D.: ‘I am a man’ is so obvious whereas ‘I am That’ is not understood by

us. M.: You are neither That nor This. The truth is ‘I am’. “I AM that I AM”

according to the Bible also. Mere Being is alone natural. To limit it to ‘being a man’ is uncalled for.

D.: (Humorously) If votes be taken the majority will be on my side. (Laughter)

M.: I cast my vote also on your side (Laughter). I say also ‘I am a man’: but I am not limited to the body. It is IN ME. That is the difference. (601)

M.: Infinity and Perfection do not admit of parts. If a finite being comes

out of infinity the perfection of infinity is marred. Thus your statement is a contradiction in terms. (602)

D.: But I am not aware in my sleep. M.: True, there is no awareness of the body or of the world. But you must

exist in your sleep in order to say now “I was not aware in my sleep”. Who says so now? It is the wakeful person. The sleeper cannot say so. That is to say, the individual who is now identifying the Self with the body says that such awareness did not exist in sleep. (609)

M.: From That the thoughts proceed. What are all our experiences but thoughts? Pleasure and pain are mere thoughts. They are within ourselves. If you are free from thoughts and yet aware, you are That Perfect Being. (609)

M.: Transitory bliss brings pain in its train22. (609) M.: Being is continuous. The thoughts are discontinuous. So which is

permanent? (610) M.: There is no use asking hypotetical questions. (610) M.: See who you are. That is the whole instruction. (611) M.: The purpose of your visit is fulfilled if the doubts do not arise

hereafter, and you apply yourself steadily in the search for the Self. (612) M.: All that is required is only to look closely and the ghost vanishes.

The ghost was never there. So also with the ego. It is an intangible link between the body and Pure Consciousness. It is not real. (612)

D.: If the ego is unreal and troublesome why did we take so much pains

to develop it? M.: Its growth and the trouble consequent on such growth make you look

for the cause of it all. Its development is for its own destruction. (612) M.: One should not be elated on having his desire fulfilled or

disappointed on being frustrated. To be elated on the fulfilment of desire is so deceitful. A gain will certainly be lost ultimately. Therefore elation must end in pain at a future date. One should not give place to feelings of pleasure or pain, come what may. How do the events affect the person? You do not grow by acquiring something nor wither away by losing it. You remain what you always are. (614)

M.: Accept with equanimity whatever happens. For pleasure and pain are mere mental modes. They have no relation to the objective realities. (614)

M.: The vasanas which lie imbedded in an atomic condition grow in size in their passage from the heart to the brain. The brain is the screen on which the images of the vasanas are thrown and it is also the place of their functional distribution. (616)

M.: Intellect is only an instrument of the Self. It cannot help you to know what is beyond itself. (...)The intellect makes you see things outside, and not that which is its own source. (618)

M.: When thoughts arise duality is present; know it to be the ego, and seek its source. (618)

M.: Thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. So you go to their Source, where they do not arise. (618)

M.: The desire for happiness (sukha prema) is a proof of the ever-existing happiness of the Self. Otherwise how can desire for it arise in you? If headache was natural to human beings no one would try to get rid of it. But

22 That is, results in pain.

everyone that has a headache tries to get rid of it, because he has known a time when he had no headache. He desires only that which is natural to him. (...) The primal bliss is obscured by the non-self which is synonymous with non-bliss or misery. Duhkha nasam = sukha prapti. (Loss of unhappiness amounts to gain of happiness.) Happiness mixed with misery is only misery. When misery is eliminated then the ever-present bliss is said to be gained. Pleasure which ends in pain is misery. (619)

M.: As a rule Vijnanamaya kosa prevails on waking. (619) M.: Why do you leave yourself and go after something external? (619) M.: 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? (624)

M.: The present world would cease to interest you if you awake from this waking dream (samsara) and realise that it is a part of your Self, and not an objective reality. Because you think that you are apart from the objects around you, you desire a thing. But if you understand that the thing was only a thought-form you would no longer desire it. All things are like bubbles on water. You are the water and the objects are the bubbles. They cannot exist apart from the water, but they are not quite the same as the water. (625)

D.: I feel I am like froth23. M.: Cease that identification with the unreal and know your real identity.

Then you will be firm and no doubts can arise. D.: But I am the froth. M.: Because you think that way there is worry. It is a wrong imagination.

Accept your true identity with the Real. Be the water and not the froth. That is done by diving in.24

D.: If I dive in, I shall find........ M.: But even without diving in, you are That. The ideas of exterior and

interior exist only so long as you do not accept your real identity. (625) D.: Is it not that the ‘I’ exists only in relation to a ‘this’ (aham - idam)? M.: ‘I’, ‘this’ appear together now. But ‘this’ is contained (vyaptam) in

the ‘I’ - they are not apart. ‘This’ has to merge into and become one with ‘I’. The ‘I’ that remains over is the true ‘I’. (626)

D.: How the disciple ought to behave? M.: That differs according to the type of disciple - student, householder,

what are his own ingrained mental tendencies and so on. (627)

23 Froth = Ondas. 24 Ver resumo do Maha Yoga¸ ao final do capítulo 12.

Mrs. D. said there were breaks in her awareness and desired to know how the awareness might be made continuous.

M.: Breaks are due to thoughts. You cannot be aware of breaks unless you think so. It is only a thought. Repeat the old practice, “To whom do thoughts arise?” Keep up the practice until there are no breaks. Practice alone will bring about continuity of awareness. (629)

M.: If the subject be known then the objects will merge in the subject.

(634) M.: On the vanishing of objects, fear arises. That is, the mind being

bound to objects there is suffering when the objects are absent. (634) M.: Duality implies ignorance. (635) M.: [While speaking to Mr. K. L. Sarma] Leaving out what is intimate

and immediate, why should one seek the rest? The scriptures say “That Thou art”. In this statement ‘Thou’ is directly experienced; but leaving it out they go on seeking ‘That’! (639)

M.: The former is vichara - Who am I? (Koham?) It represents jnana. The latter is dhyana - Whence am I? (Kutoham?) This admits a jivatma which seeks the Paramatma. (642)

M.: Freedom from passions is the essential requisite. When that is accomplished all else is accomplished. (643)

M.: Karma yoga is that yoga in which the person does not arrogate to

himself the function of being the actor. The actions go on automatically. D.: Is it the non-attachment to the fruits of actions? M.: The question arises only if there is the actor. It is being all along said

that you should not consider yourself the actor. (643) D.: What I mean is this. You are a Perfect Being; I am a sinner. You tell

me that I being a sinner must be reborn in order to perfect myself? M.: No, I do not say so. On the other hand I say that you have no birth

and therefore no death. D.: Do you mean to say that I was not born? M.: Yes, you are now thinking that you are the body and therefore

confuse yourself with its birth and death. But you are not the body and you have no birth and death.

D.: Do you not uphold the theory of rebirth? M.: No. On the other hand, I want to remove your confusion that you will

be reborn. It is you who think that you will be reborn. See for whom this question arises. Unless the questioner is found, the questions can never be set at rest.

D.: This is no answer to my question. M.: On the other hand, this is the answer to elucidate the point and all

other doubts as well. (644)

M.: It is only rarely that a man becomes introverted. The intellect

delights in investigating the past and the future but does not look to the present. (644)

M.: Sadhanas are needed so long as one has not realised it. They are for putting an end to obstacles. Finally there comes a stage when a person feels helpless notwithstanding the Sadhanas. He is unable to pursue the much-cherished sadhana also. It is then that God’s Power is realised. The Self reveals itself. (647)

M.: The sadhak must remain as the Self. If he cannot do so, he must ascertain the true meaning of the ‘I’ and constantly revert to it whenever other thoughts arise. That is the practice. (647)

M.: No long process is necessary to know the Self. Is it to be pointed out by another. (647)

M.: After hearing the Self to be the Brahman the person finds the true import of the Self and reverts to it whenever he is diverted from it. Here is the whole process of Realisation. (647)

M.: Bhakti is not different from mutki. Bhakti is being as the Self (Swarupa). (650)

M.: When He has taken you up nothing will assail you. (650) M.: The truth is that the world appears as a passing shadow in a flood of

light. Light is necessary to see that shadow also. The shadow does not deserve any special notice, analysis or discussion. (651)

D.: I seem to be wandering in a forest because I do not find the way. M.: This idea of being in a forest must go. It is such ideas which are at

the root of the trouble. (653) M.: Now, consider the situation. You are an unchanging and continuous

being who remains in all these states which are constantly changing and therefore transient. But you are always there. It follows that these fleeting objects are mere phenomena which appear on your being like pictures which move across a screen. The screen does not move when the picture moves. Similarly, you do not move from where you are even when the body leaves the home and mixes in society. Your body, the society, the forest and the ways are all in you; you are not in them. You are the body also but not this body only. If you remain as your pure Self, the body and its movements need not affect you. (653)

M.: What is Bliss but your own being? You are not apart from Being

which is the same as Bliss. You are now thinking that you are the mind or the body which are both changing and transient. But you are unchanging and eternal. That is what you should know.

D.: It is darkness and I am ignorant.

M.: This ignorance must go. Again, who says ‘I am ignorant’? He must be the witness of ignorance. That is what you are. Socrates said, “I know that I do not know.” Can it be ignorance? It is wisdom.

Another asked: Should we understand the world as transient (anitya)? M.: Why so? Because you are now considering it to be permanent (nitya)

the Scriptures tell you that it is not so in order to wean you from wrong ideas. This should be done by knowing yourself to be eternal (nitya) and not by branding the world as transitory (anitya). (653)

M.: Indifference is advised. But what is it? It is absence of love and

hatred. (653) M.: Sri Krishna also says in the Gita, whether Arjuna liked it or not he

would be forced to fight. When there is work to be done by you, you cannot keep away; nor can you continue to do a thing when you are not required to do it, that is to say, when the work allotted to you has been done. In short, the work will go on and you must take your share in it - the share which is allotted to you.

D.: How is it to be done? M.: Like an actor playing his part in a drama - free from love or hatred.

(653)

Who am I? An English translation of Nan Yar?

By Sri Sadhu Om

INTRODUCTION In the years 1901 to 1902, when Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was

living in Virupaksha cave on the Holy Hill Arunachala, a devotee by name Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai was attracted to Him and approcahed Him with a number of questions. Sri Bhagavan, who was at that time talking very little, not because of an vow but because He had no inclination to talk, answered most of his questions by writing either in the sand, on a plate or on scraps of paper. The teachings which Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai thus received were first published in 1923 in question and answer form under the title Nan Yar? (Who am I?). Soon afterwards, Sri Bhagavan Himself rearranged and rewrote these questions and answers in an essay form, thus making Nan Yar? into a connected and coherent exposition.

In addition to the question and answer version containing twent-eight questions, which is nowadays published as a separate booklet, there is another version containing only fourteen questions, which is printed in Sri Ramana Vijayam (a Tamil biography of Sri Bhagavan), and an english translation of which is given in Self-Realisation. However, it is only the essay version of this work that is included in Sri Ramana Nutrirattu (the Tamil collected workd of Sri Ramana), and since this version was prepared by Sri Bhagavan Himself, it is to be considered as the principal, authentic and authoritative version.

The essay version was based largely upon the version containing twenty-eight questions and answers, but while preparing it Sri Bhagavan newly wrote and added some portions (such as the whole of the first paragraph), omitted other portions (such as the answers to questions 4 and 5, the first sentence of the answer to question 6, parts of the answer to question 20, and so on) and modified, expanded and improved other portions (such as the answer to question 27). However, most of the sentences He did not change at all, but simply rearranged the ideas and connected them in a more logical and coherent order.

The first question asked by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai was, “Nan Yar?” (Who am I?), to which Bhagavan replied, “Arive nan”, which means “Knowledge alone is I”, the Tamil word “arivu” being approximately equivalent to the Sanscrit word “jnana” or the english word “knowledge”. Sivaprakasam Pillai then asked, “What is the nature of (this) knowledge?”, and Sri Bhagavan answered, “Arivin

swarupam sat-chit-anandam” (The nature of this knowledge is existence-

consciousness-bliss). Except these two answers, the whole of the second paragraph was not part of the replies actually given by Sri Bhagavan. Therefore, when the manuscript of this work was first brought to Him by Sri Manikkam Pillai, the disciple of Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, He asked with wonder, “I did not give this portion, how did it find place here?”25 “When Sivaprakasam Pillai was copying Bhagavan`s answers in his notebook, he added this portion thinking it would help him to understand that first answer more cleary”, explained Manikkam Pillai. “Oh yes, he was already familiar with the scriptural teaching ‘neti, neti’, and for that reason he would have thought so”, remarked Sri Bhagavan. Later, while preparing the essay version, Sri Bhagavan did not, however, omit this added portion, but simply marked His own answers in bold type.

Among all the prose works of Sri Bhagavan, Nan Yar? holds a place of undisputed an unequalled prominence. Indeed, it may be regarded as the very corner-stone of Sri Bhagavan`s teachings, for within these twenty brief paragraphs all His basic teachings are summarized in a clear and undiluted fashion. Therefore, on account of the importance of this work, for which we owe a great debt of gratitude to Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai26, an English translation is given here.

While preparing this translation, an attempt has been made to make it as precise and as faithful to the original Tamil as possible, even if at times this had to be at the expense of an elegant style of English. The division of the text into paragraphs and sentences, and the order of the sentences, corresponds exactly to the original, and as far as possible the structure of each sentence is of the same form as that in the original. All the portions which are printed in bold in the orginal are also in bold in this translation, while other key sentences which are not in bold in Tamil have here been printed in italics. In the whole of the original text, only one word is within brackets, namely, in the fourth paragraph, the word “shines” (prakasikkum) after the word “Self appears”. All other portions which are within brackets in this translation have been included either to indicate the exact Tamil or Sanskrit word used in the original, or to make the meaning of the text more clear, or to complete the sense of a sentence which, when literally translated, does not form a complete or distinctly intelligible sentence in English. The footnotes have similarly been added in the translation and none of them are in the original. While translating, all the other existing translations of this work have also been closely compared in order that none of their good points (such as appropriate words, formations of sentences, and so on) should be missed in this translation.

25 Since the nature of Sri Bhagavan is to avoid using the obscure terminology of the scriptures (sastras) and thereby confusing the reader, He would not have liked to mention all the scriptural classifications of the non-Self given in this portion. 26 The reader may be interested to hear the following incident, which indicates that this sincere and whole-hearted disciple attained the goal for which he so earnestly sought. When, in 1948, a telegram was brought to Sri Bhagavan conveying the news of the passing away of Sri Sivraprakasam Pillai, He remarked, “Sivaprakasam sivaprakasamanar”, which means “Sivraprakasam has become Siva-

prakasam, the light of Siva!”

TEXT Since all living baings (jivas) desire to be happy always, without any

misery, since in everyone supreme love (parama priyam) exist only for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause of love, in order to obtain that happiness, which is one’s very nature and which is experienced daily in deep sleep, where there is no mind, it is necessary for one to know oneself. For that, enquiry (jnana vichara) in the form “Who am I?” alone is the principal means (mukhya sadhana).

Who am I? The gross body, which is composed of the seven dhatus (chyle, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, bone and semen), is not “I”. The five sense organs (jnanendriyas), namely the ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose, which induvidually and respectively know the five sense-knowleges (vishayas), namely sound, touch, sight, taste and smell, are not “I”. The five organs of action (karmendriyas), namely the mouth, legs, hands, anus, and genitals, the functions of which are (respectively) speaking, walking, giving, excreting and enjoying, are not “I”. The five vital airs such as prana, which perform the five vital functions such as respiration, are not “I”. Even the mind, which thinks, is not “I”. Even the ignorance (of deep sleep), in which only the latent tendencies towards sense-knowleges (vishaya-vasanas) remain and which is devoid of all sense knowleges and all actions, is not “I”. After negating as “not I, not I” all that is mentioned above, the knowledge which remains alone, itself is “I”. The nature of (this) knowledge is existence-consciousness-bliss (slat-

chit-ananda). If the mind, which is the cause (and base) of all knowledge (all

objective knowledge) and all action, subsides, the perception of the world (jagat-

drishti) will cease. Just as the knowledge of the rope, which is the base, will not be obtained unless the knowledge of the snake, the superimposition, goes, so the realization of the Self (swarupa-darsanam), which is the base, will not be obtained unless the perception of the world (jagat-drishti), which is a superimposition, ceases.

What is called mind (manam) is a wondrous power existing in the Self (atma-swarupam). It projects all thoughts. If we set aside all thoughts and see, there will be no such things as mind remaining separate; therefore, thought itself is the nature (or form) of the mind. Other than thoughts, there is no such thing as the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, (and hence) there is no world; in waking and dream there are thoughts, (and hence) there is the world also. Just as the spider spins out the thread from within itself and again withdraws it into itself, so the mind projects the world from within itself and again absorbs it into itself. When the mind comes out (rises) from the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears, Self will not appear; and when Self appears (shines), the world will not appear. If one goes on scrutinizing the nature of the mind, it will finally be found that “oneself” alone is (what is now mistaken to be) the mind. What is (here) called “oneself” (tan) is verily Self (atma-swarupam). The mind can exist only by always

depending upon something gross (that is, only by always identifying a gross name-and-form, a body, as “I”); by itself it cannot stand. It is the mind alone that is called the subtle body (sukshma sarira) or soul (jiva).

That which rises in this body as “I” (“I am this body”) is the mind. If one enquires “In which place in the body does the thought ‘I’ rise first?”, it will be known to be in the heart (hridayam)27. That is the source (literally, birth-place) of the mind. Even if one incessantly thinks “I, I”, it will lead to that place (our true state, Self). Of hall the thoughts that rise in the mind, the thought “I” (the feeling “I am the body”) is the first thought. It is only after the rising of this that all other thoughts rise. It is only after the rising of the first person (the subject, “I”, whose form is the feeling “I am this body” or “I am so-and-so”) that the second and third persons (the objects, “you”, “he”, “she”, “it”, “this”, “that”, and so on) appear; without the first person, the second and third persons will not exist.

The mind will subside only by means of the enquiry “Who am I?”. The thought “Who am I?” (which is but a means for turnin our attention Selfwards), destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre. If other thoughts rise (thereby indicating that Self-attention is lost), one should, without attempting to complete them, enquire “Tho whom did they rise?”. What does it matter however many thoughts rise? (The means to set aside thought-attention and regain Self-attention is as follows: ) At the very moment that each though rises, if one vigilantly enquires “To whom did this rise?”, it will be known “To me”. If one then enquires “Who am I?”, the mind (our power of attention) will turn back (from the thought) to its source (Self); (then, since no one is there to attent to it) the thought which had risen will also subside. By repeatedly

practising thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases. When the mind (the attention), which is subtle, goes out through the brain and sense-organs (which are gross), the names-and-forms (the objects of the world), which are gross, appear; when it abides in the heart (its source, Self), the names-and-forms disappear. Keeping the mind in the heart (through the above-described mesans of fixing our attention in Self), not allowing it to go out, alone is called “Selfwardness” (ahamkham) or “introversion” (antarmukham). Allowing it to go out from the heart alone is called “extroversion” (bahirmukham). When the mind thus abides in the

27 As a general rule, whenever Sri Bhagavan uses the word “place” (idam), He is reffering to our true state, Self, rather than to an place limited by time and space. This is confirmed in the next paragraph of this work, where He says, “The place (idam) where even the slightest trace of the thought “I” does not exist, alone is Self (swarupam)”. Therefore, when He says in this sentence, “If one enquires ‘In which place in the body….”, what He in fact expects us to do is to enquire “From what?”, in which case the answer will not be a place in the body, but only “we”, Self, the truly existing Thing (refer to pages 109 to 110 of The Path of Sri Ramana, Part One). Hence, as Sri Bhagavan Himself often explained, the true import of the word “heart” (hridayam) is not a limited place in the body, but only the unlimited Self (refer to Upadesa Manjari, chapter two, answer to question 9). However, since the mind or ego can rise only by identifying a body as “I”, a place for its rising can also be pointed out in the body, “two digits to the right from the centre of the chest”, though of course such a place can never be the absolute reality.

heart, the “I” (the thought “I”, the ego), which is the root of all thoughts, having vanished, the ever-existing Self alone will shine. The place (or state) where even the slightest trace of the thought “I” does not exist, alone is Self (swarupam). That alone is called silence (maunam). To be still (summa iruppadu) in this manner alone is called “seeing through (the eye of) knowledge” (jnana-drishti). To be still is to make the mind subside in Self (through Sef-attention). Other than this, knowing the thoughts of others, knowing the three times (past, present and future), knowing events in distant places – all these can nerver be jnana-drishti.

What really exists is Self (atma-swarupam) alone. The world, soul and God are superimpositions in It like the silver in the mother-of-pearl; these three appear simultaneously and disappear simultaneously. Self itself is the world; Self itself is “I” (the soul); Self itself is God; all is the Supreme Self (siva-swarupam).

To make the mind subside, there is no adequate means other than

enquiry (vichara). If controlled by other means, the mind will remain as if subsided,

but will rise again. Even by breath-control (pranayama) the mind will subside; however, the mind will remain subsided only so long as the breath (prana) remains subsided, and when the prana comes out the mind will also come out and wander under the sway of tendencies (vasanas). The source of the mind and of the prana is one and the same. Thought itself is the nature of the mind. The thought “I” is indeed the first thought of the mind; that itself is the ego (ahamkara). From where the ego originates, from there alone the breath also rises. Therefore, when the mind subsides the prana will also subside, and when the prana subsides the mind will also subside. But in deep sleep (sushupti), although the mind subsides, the prana does not subside. It is arranged thus by God`s plan for the protection of the body and so that others may not mistake the body to be dead. When the mind subsides in the waking state and in Self-absorption (samadhi), the prana subsides. The prana is the gross form of the mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps the prana in the body, and when the body dies, the mind forcibly carries away the prana. Therefore, pranayama is a mere aid for controlling the mind, but will not bring about the destruction of the mind (mano-nasa).28

Just like the pranayama, meditation upon a form of God (murti-

dhyana), repetition of sacred words (mantra-japa) and regulation of diet (ahara-

niyama) are mere aids for controlling the mind (but will never by themselves bring about its destruction). Through murti-dhyana and through mantra-japa, the mind gains one-pointedness (ekagram). Just as when a chain is given to an elephant to hold in its trunk, which is always wandering (here and there trying to catch hold of things), that elephant will go along holding only the chain instead of trying to catch

28 Since the mind is able to carry away the prana forcibly at the time of death, we have to understand that the prana is less powerfull than the mind. That is why Sri Bhagavan says that pranayama is merely an aid for controlling the mind, but that it cannot bring about the destruction of the mind. If, on the other hand, the mind is controlled (made to subside) through Self-enquiry (atma-vichara) and right knowledge (jnana), that alone will be sufficient, and we need not then bother about controlling the prana.

any other thing, so also when the mind, which is alwyas wandering, is trained to hold on to any one name or form (of God), it will only cling to that. Because the mind branches out into innumerable thoughts, each thought becomes very weak. As thoughts subside more and more, one-pointedness is gained, and for the mind which has thereby gained strenght, Self-enquiry (atma-vichara) will easily be attained.29 Through mita sattvika ahara-niyama

30, which is the best of all regulations, the sattvic quality of the mind, having been increased, becomes and aid to Self-enquiry.

Although tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya-vasanas), which have been recurring down the ages, rise in countless number like the waves of the ocean, they will all perish as Self-attention (swarupa-dhyana) becomes more and more intense. Without giving room even to the doubting thought, “Is it possible to destroy all these tendencies (vasanas) and to remain as Self alone?”, one should persistingly cling fast to Self-attention. However great a sinner one may be, if, not lamenting “Oh, I am a sinner! How can I attain salvation?” but completely giving up even the thought that one is a sinner, one is steadfast in Self-attention, one will surely be saved31.

As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects (vishaya-

vasanas) in the mind, so long the enquiry “Who am I?” is necessary. As and when thoughts rise, one should annihilate all of them through enquiry then and there in their very place of origin. Not attenting to what-is-other (anya, that is, to any second or third person object) is non-attachment (vairagya) or desirelessness (nirasa); not leaving Self is knowledge (jnana). In truth, these two (desirelessness and knowledge) are one and the same. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist, dives into the sea and takes the pearl lying at the bottom, so everyone, diving deep within himself with non-attachment (vairagya), can attain the pearl of Self. If one resorts uninterruptedly to Self-remembrance (swarupa-smaranai, that is, remembrace of or attention to the mere feeling “I”) until one attains Self, that alone will be sufficient. As long as there are enemies within the fort, they will continue to

29 The reader may here refer to pages 73-76 (of The Path of Sri Ramana, Part One), where it is explained precisely in which manner the practice of japa and dhyana may be an aid, making it easy to attain Self-abidence, which is Self-enquiry. In this context, we would also do well to remember the following instruction of Sri Bhagavan: “One should not use the name (or form) of God mechanically and superficially, without the feeling of devotion (bhakti). To use the name of God, one must call upon Him with yearning and unreservedly surrender to Him.” (Maharshi`s Gospel, Book One, chapter four). 30 Mita sattvika ahara-niyama means regulating one`s diet by taking only moderate quantities of food (mita ahara) and by strictly avoiding non-sattvic foods, that is, all non-vegetarian foods such as eggs, fish and meat, all intoxicants such as alcohol and tabacco, excessively pungent, sour and salty tastes, excess of onions and garlics, and so on. Furthermore, the Sanskrit word “ahara” means “that which is taken in”, so in a broader sense ahara-niyama means not only regulation of diet, but also regulation of all that is taken in by the mind through the five senses. 31 The Tamil Word used here is “uruppaduvam”, which in an ordinary sense means “will be properly shaped”, “will be reformed” or “will succeed in one`s endeavour”, but in a deeper sense means “will attain Self” (uru = Self or swarupa; paduvam = will attain or will be establish in).

come out. If one continues to cut all of them as and when they come, the fort will fall into our hands.

God and Guru are in truth not different. Just as the prey that has fallen into the jaws of a tiger cannot escape, so those who have come under the glance of the Guru`s Grace will surely be saved and will never be forsaken; yet, one should follow without fail the path shown by the Guru.

Remaining firmily in Self-abidence (atma-nistha), without giving even

the least room to the rising of any thought other than the thought of Self (atma-chintanai)32

, is surrendering oneself to God. However much burden we throw on God, He bears all of it. Since the one Supreme Ruling Power (parameswara sakti) is performing all activities, why should we, instead of yielding ourself to it, constantly think, “I should act in this way; I shoul act in that way”? When we know the train is bearing all the burdens, why should we who travel in it, instead of placing even our small luggage in it and being happily at ease, suffer by bearing it (our luggage) on our own head?

What is called happiness (sukham) is but the nature of Self; happiness and Self are not different. Self-happiness (atma-sukham) alone exists; that alone is real. There is no happiness at all in even a single one of the things of the world. We think we derive happiness from them on account of our wrong discrimination (aviveka). When the mind comes out, it experiences misery (duhkam). In truth, whenever our thoughts (desires) are fulfilled, the mind, turning back to its source (Self), experiences Self-happiness alone. Similarly, during the time of sleep, Self-absorption (samadhi) and swoon, and when the things that we like are obtained and when evil befalls the things that we dislike, the mind becomes introverted and experiences Self-happiness alone. In this way the mind wanders without rest, going out leaving the Self, and (then again) returning within. Under the tree, the shade is delightful. Outside, the sun`s heat is scorching. A person who is wandering outside reaches the shade and is cooled. After a while he starts out, but, unable to bear the scorching of the heat, comes again under the tree. In this ways, he is engaged in going from the shade into the hot sunshine, and coming back from the hot sunshine into the shade. He who acts in this manner is a person lacking discrimination (aviveki). But a person of discrimination (viveki) will never leave the shade. Similarly, the mind of the Sage (jnani) never leaves Brahman (that is, Self). But the mind of the ignorant one (ajnani) is such that wandering in the world it suffer, and turning back to Brahman for a while enjoys happiness. What is called the world is

32 “The thought of Self” (atma-chintanai) means only Self-attention. Though Sri Bhagavan here uses the word “thought” (chintanai) to denote Self-attention, it is to be understood that Self-attention is not a mental activity. Attending to Self is nothing but abiding as Self, and hence it is not a “doing” but “being”, that is, it is not a mental activity but our natural state of mere existence. Refer to the first benedictory verse of Ulladu Narpadu (quoted on page 94 of The Path of Sri

Ramana, Part One), in which Sri Bhagavan has reealed that the correct way to “think of” (meditate upon) Self is to abide in Self as Self.

nothing but thought. When the world disappears, that is, when there is no thought, the mind experiences bliss (ananda); when the world appears, it experiences misery.

Just as in the mere presence of the sun, which rises without desire (ichcha), intention (sankalpa) or effort (yatnam), the sun-stone (the magnifying lens) emits fire, the lotus blossoms, water evaporates and people begin, perform and stop their work, and just as in front of a magnet the needle moves, so it is through the mere influence of the presence of God, who is without intention (sankalpa), that the souls (jivas), who are governed by the three divine functions (muttozhil) or five divine funcionts (panchakrityas)33, perform and stop their activities in accordance with their respective karmas (that is, in accordance not only with their prarabdha

karma or destiny, but also with their purva karma-vasanas or former tendencies towards action). Nevertheless, He (God) is not one who has intention (sankalpa). Not even a single action (karma) will affect (literally, touch) Him. That is like the actions in the world not affecting the sun, and like the good and bad qualities of the other four elements (namely earth, water, air and fire) not affecting the all-percading space (the fifth element).

Since it is said in all the scriptures that in order to attain liberation (mukti) one should control34 the mind, after coming to know that mind-control (mano-nigraha) alone is the final decision (injunction) of the scriptures, to read the scriptures unlimitedly is fruitless. In order to control the mind, it is necessary to enquire who one is, (then) how, instead (of enquiring thus within oneself) to enquire (and know who one is) in the scriptures? One should know oneself through one`s own eye of knowledge (jnana-kan). For Rama to know himself to be Rama, is a mirror necessary? “Oneself”35 is within the five sheaths (pancha kosas); whereas the scriptures are outside them. Therefore, enquiring in the scriptures about oneself, who is to be enquired into (attended to) setting aside even the five sheaths, is futile. Enquiring “Who am I that am in bondage?” and knowing one`s real nature

33 According to the different classifications given in scriptures, the divine functions are said to be three, namely creation (srishti), sustenance (sthiri) and destruction (samhara), or five, namely these three plus veiling (tirodhana) and Grace (anugraha). 34 The Tamil Word used here by Sri Bhagavan for “control” is “adakku”, which literally means “make subside” or “make cease from activity”. Such control (adakkam) or subsidence (odukkam) may be either temporary (mano-laya or temporary subsidence of mind) or permanent (mano-nasa or complete destruction of the mind), as said by Sri Bhagavan in verse 13 of Upadesa Undhiyar. In this context, however, the word “control” (adakku) means only “destroy”, for Sri Bhagavan has revealed in verse 40 of Ulladu Narpadu that destruction of the ego (or mind) alone is liberation. 35 In this context, the Word “oneself” (tan) denotes the ego, which identifies the five sheaths as “I” and “my place”, rather than Self, which is beyond all limitations such as “in” and “out”. Just as Rama does not need a mirror in order to know that the body called “Rama” is himself, since the feeling “I am Rama, this body” is within that body, so we do not need scriptues to know that we exist, since the feeling of our existence is not withing the scriptures but only within the five sheaths, which are now felt to be “I”. Therefore, in order to know who we are, we must attend not to the scriptures, which are outside the fice sheaths, but only to the feeling “I”, which is within the five sheaths. Moreover, since the five sheaths are veiling our true nature, even they are to be set aside (left unattended to) when we thus enquire into (attend to) ourself.

(swarupam) alone is liberation (mukti). Always keeping the mind (the attention) fixed

in Self (in the feeling “I”) alone is called “Self-enquiry” (atma-vichara); whereas meditation (dhyana) is thinking oneself to be the Absolute (brahman), which is existence-consciousness-bliss (sat-chit-ananda). All that one has learnt will at one time have to be forgotten.

Just as is fruitless for one to scrutinize the garbage which is to be collectively thrown away, so it is fruitless for one who is to know himself to count the number and scrutinize the properties of the tattvas (the principles that constitute the world, soul and God) which are veiling oneself, instead of collectively casting all of them aside36. One should consider the universe (one`s whole life in this world) to be like a dream.

Except that waking is long and dream is short37, there is no difference (between the two). To the extent to which all the events which happen in waking appear to be real, to that same extent even the events which happen in dream appear at that time to be real. In dream, the mind assumes another body. In both waking and dream, thoughts and names-and-forms (objects) come into existence simultaneously (and hence there is no difference between these two states).

There are not two minds, a good mind and a bad mind. The mind is only one. Tendencies (vasanas) alone are of two kinds, auspicious (subha) and inauspicious (asubha). When the mind is under the influence of auspicious tendencies it is called a good mind, and when it is under the influence of inauspicious tendencies, a bad mind. However bad others may appear to be, one should not dislike them. Likes and dislikes are both to be disliked. One should not allow the mind to dwell much upon worldly matters. As far as possible, one should not interefere in the affairs of others. All that one gives to others, one gives only to oneself. If this truth is known, who indeed will not give to others?

If oneself (the ego) rises, all will rise; if oneself subsides, all will subside. To the extent to which we behave humbly, to that extent (and that extent only) will good result. If one can remain controlling the mind (keeping the mind subsided), one can live anywhere.

36 From the opinion of Sri Bhagavan expressed in this sentence, the reader can now understand why it was said in the first footnote of the introduction [page 2, footnote 1], “…He would not have liked to mention all the scriptural classifications of the non-Self (the tattvas which are veiling our true nature) given in this portion”. 37 Though Sri Bhagavan says that waking is long and dream is short, He reveals the actual truth in verse 560 of Guru Vachaka Kovai, where He says: “The answer ‘Waking is long and dream is short’ was given as a mere (formal) reply to the questioner. (In truth, however, no such difference exists, because, since time itself is a mental conception,) the conception of differences in time (such as “long” and “short”) appears to be true only because of the deceitful play of maya, the mind.”

Forty Verses Sri Ramana Maharshi

Tradução: Arthur Osborne 1. From our perception of the world there follows acceptance of a unique

First Principle possessing various powers. Pictures of name and form, the person who sees, the screen on which he sees, and the light by which he sees: he himself is all of these.

2. All religions postulate the three fundamentals, the world, the soul, and

God, but it is only the one Reality that manifests Itself as these three. One can say, 'The three are really three' only so long as the ego lasts. Therefore, to inhere in one's own Being, where the 'I', or ego, is dead, is the perfect State.

3. 'The world is real.' 'No, it, is a mere illusory appearance.' 'The world is

conscious.' 'No.' 'The world is happiness.' 'No.' What use is it to argue thus? That State is agreeable to all, wherein, having given up the objective outlook, one knows one's Self and loses all notions either of unity or duality, of oneself and the ego.

4. If one has form oneself, the world and God also will appear to have

form, but if one is formless, who is it that sees those forms, and how? Without the eye can any object be seen? The seeing Self is the Eye, and that Eye is the Eye of Infinity.

5. The body is a form composed of the five-fold sheath; therefore, all the

five sheaths are implied in the term, body. Apart from the body does the world exist? Has anyone seen the world without the body?

6. The world is nothing more than an embodiment of the objects

perceived by the five sense-organs. Since, through these five sense-organs, a single mind perceives the world, the world is nothing but the mind. Apart from the mind can there be a world?

7. Although the world and knowledge thereof rise and set together it is by

knowledge alone that the world is made apparent. That Perfection wherein the world and knowledge thereof rise and set, and which shines without rising and setting, is alone the Reality.

8. Under whatever name and form one may worship the Absolute Reality,

it is only a means for realizing It without name and form. That alone is true realization, wherein one knows oneself in relation to that Reality, attains peace and realizes one's identity with it.

9. The duality of subject and object and trinity of seer, sight, and seen can

exist only if supported by the One. If one turns inward in search of that One Reality they fall away. Those who see this are those who see Wisdom. They are never in doubt.

10. Ordinary knowledge is always accompanied by ignorance, and

ignorance by knowledge; the only true Knowledge is that by which one knows the Self through enquiring whose is the knowledge and ignorance.

11. Is it not, rather, ignorance to know all else without knowing oneself,

the knower? As soon as one knows the Self, which is the substratum of knowledge and ignorance, knowledge and ignorance perish.

12. That alone is true Knowledge which is neither knowledge nor

ignorance. What is known is not true Knowledge. Since the Self shines with nothing else to know or to make known, It alone is Knowledge. It is not a void.

13. The Self, which is Knowledge, is the only Reality. Knowledge of

multiplicity is false knowledge. This false knowledge, which is really ignorance, cannot exist apart from the Self, which is Knowledge-Reality. The variety of gold ornaments is unreal, since none of them can exist without the gold of which they are all made.

14. If the first person, I, exists, then the second and third persons, you

and he, will also exist. By enquiring into the nature of the I, the I perishes. With it 'you' and 'he' also perish. The resultant state, which shines as Absolute Being, is one's own natural state, the Self.

15. Only with reference to the present can the past and the future exist.

They too, while current, are the present. To try to determine the nature of the past and the future while ignoring the present is like trying to count without the unit.

16. Apart from us where is time and where is space? If we are bodies, we

are involved in time and space, but are we? We are one and identical now, then, and forever, here, and everywhere. Therefore we, timeless, and spaceless Being, alone are.

17. To those who have not realized the Self, as well as to those who have,

the word 'I' refers to the body, but with this difference, that for those who have not

realized, the 'I' is confined to the body whereas for those who have realized the Self within the body the 'I' shines as the limitless Self.

18. To those who have not realized (the Self) as well as to those who

have the world is real. But to those who have not realized, Truth is adapted to the measure of the world, whereas to those that have, Truth shines as the Formless Perfection, and as the Substratum of the world. This is all the difference between them.

19. Only those who have no knowledge of the Source of destiny and free-

will dispute as to which of them prevails. They that know the Self as the one Source of destiny and free-will are free from both. Will they again get entangled in them?

20. He who sees God without seeing the Self sees only a mental image.

They say that he who sees the Self sees God. He who, having completely lost the ego, sees the Self, has found God, because the Self does not exist apart from God.

21. What is the Truth of the scriptures which declare that if one sees the

Self one sees God? How can one see one's Self? If, since one is a single being, one cannot see one's Self, how can one see God? Only by becoming a prey to Him.

22. The Divine gives light to the mind and shines within it. Except by

turning the mind inward and fixing it in the Divine, there is no other way to know Him through the mind.

23. The body does not say 'I'. No one will argue that even in deep sleep

the 'I' ceases to exist. Once the 'I' emerges, all else emerges. With a keen mind enquire whence this 'I' emerges.

24. This inert body does not say 'I'. Reality-Consciousness does not

emerge. Between the two, and limited to the measure of the body, something emerges as 'I'. It is this that is known as Chit-jada-granthi (the knot between the Conscious and the inert), and also as bondage, soul, subtle-body, ego, samsara, mind, and so forth.

25. It. comes into being equipped with a form, and as long as it retains

a form it endures. Having a form, it feeds and grows big. But if you investigate it this evil spirit, which has no form of its own, relinquishes its grip on form and takes to flight.

26. If the ego is, everything else also is. If the ego is not, nothing else

is. Indeed, the ego is all. Therefore the enquiry as to what this ego is, is the only way of giving up everything.

27. The State of non-emergence of 'I' is the state of being THAT.

Without questing for that State of the non-emergence of 'I' and attaining It, how can one accomplish one's own extinction, from which the 'I' does not revive? Without that attainment how is it possible to abide in one's true State, where one is THAT?

28. Just as a man would dive in order to get something that had fallen

into the water, so one should dive into oneself, with a keen one-pointed mind, controlling speech and breath, and find the place whence the 'I' originates.

29. The only enquiry leading to Self-realization is seeking the Source

of the 'I' with in-turned mind and without uttering the word 'I'. Meditation on 'I amnot this; I am That' may be an aid to the enquiry but it cannot be the enquiry.

30. If one enquires 'Who am I?' within the mind, the individual 'I' falls

down abashed as soon as one reaches the Heart and immediately Reality manifests itself spontaneously as 'I-I'. Although it reveals itself as 'I', it is not the ego but the Perfect Being, the Absolute Self.

31. For Him who is immersed in the bliss of the Self, arising from the

extinction of the ego, what remains to be accomplished? He is not aware of anything (as) other than the Self. Who can apprehend his State?

32. Although the scriptures proclaim 'Thou art That', it is only a sign of

weakness of mind to meditate 'I am That, not this', because you are eternally That. What has to be done is to investigate what one really is and remain That.

33. It is ridiculous to say either 'I have not realized the Self' or 'I have

realized the Self'; are there two selves, for one to be the object of the other's realization? It is a truth within the experience of everyone that there is only one Self.

34. It is due to illusion born of ignorance that men fail to recognise That

which is always and for everybody the inherent Reality dwelling in its natural Heart-centre and to abide in it, and that instead they argue that it exists or does not exist, that it has form or has not form, or is non-dual or dual.

35. To seek and abide in the Reality that is always attained, is the only

Attainment. All other attainments (siddhis) are such as are acquired in dreams. Can they appear real to someone who has woken up from sleep? Can they that are established in the Reality and are free from maya, be deluded by them?

36. Only if the thought 'I am the body' occurs will the meditation 'I am not

this, I am That', help one to abide as That. Why should we for ever be thinking, 'I am That'? Is it necessary for man to go on thinking 'I am a man'? Are we not always That?

37. The contention, 'Dualism during practice, non-dualism on

Attainment', is also false. While one is anxiously searching, as well as when one has found one's Self, who else is one but the tenth man?

38. As long as a man is the doer, he also reaps the fruit of his deeds, but,

as soon as he realizes the Self through enquiry as to who is the doer his sense of being the doer falls away and the triple karma is ended. This is the state of eternal Liberation.

39. Only so long as one considers oneself bound, do thoughts of bondage

and Liberation continue. When one enquires who is bound the Self is realized, eternally attained, and eternally free. When thought of bondage comes to an end, can thought of Liberation survive?

40. If it is said, that Liberation is of three kinds, with form or without

form or with and without form, then let me tell you that the extinction of three forms of Liberation is the only true Liberation.

The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi

A – ORIGINAL WORKS

Self –Enquiry [To think orimagine the Self is itself bondage.] To think whether a certain thing may be eaten is a thought-form of the

mind. “It is good. It is not good. It can be eaten. It cannot be eaten”: discriminating noticons like these constitute the discriminative intellect.

The apparent subjectivity of the Self exist only on the plane of relativity and vanish in the Absolute.

Vedantins consider a sacrilege to regard the One Supreme Self as the separate gods.

The only way to overcome obstructions to your meditation is to forbid the mind to dwell on them and to introvert it into the Self and there witness unconcernedly dall that happens; ther is no other method. Do not even for amoment lose sight of the Self.

Distracted as we are by arious thoughts, if we would continually contemplate the Self, which is Itself God, this single thought would in due course replace all distraction and would itself ultimately vanish; the pure Consciousness that alone finally remains is God. This is Liberation. (…) Even though the mind wanders restlessly, involved in external matters, and so is forgetful of its own Self, one should remain aleert and remember: “The body is not I. Who am I?” Enquire in this way, turning the mind back to its primal state. (…) This is the whole truth in a nutshell.

Just as a Brahmin actor does not forget that he is a Brahmin, whatever part he may be acting, so also a man should not confuse himself with his body, bud should have a firm awareness of his being the Self, whatever his activity may be.

Shuch thoughts as “Is this good or that?”, “Is this to be done or that?” should not be allowed to arise. Immediately a thought arises, it should be annihilated at its source. If entertained even for a little while, it will hurl38 one down headlong

38 Hurl down = derrubar.

like a tracherous39 friend. Can the mind which is fixed in its original State possess and ego-sense, or have any problem to solve? Do not such thoughts themselves constitute bondage? Hence when such thoughts arise due to past tendencies, not only should the mind be curbed and turned back to its true State, but also it should be made to remain unconcerned and indifferent to external happenings. Is it not due to Self-forgerfulness that such thoughts arise and cause more and more misery? Though the discriminating thought, “I am not the doer; all actions are merely the reactions of the body, senses and mind”, is an aid for turninght back the mind to its primal state, nevertheless it is still a thought, but one which is necessary for those minds which are laddicted to much thinking.

Gradually one should, by all possible means, try always to be aware of the Self. Everything is achieved if one succeeds in this. Let not the mind be diverted to any other object. One should abide in the Self without the sense of being the doer, even when engaged in work born of destiny, like a madman.

Because experience is not possible without the mind, Realization takes place with the subtle mind. Since videhamukti connotes the entire dissolution of even the subtle mind, this State is beyond experience. It is the transcendental State.

Forgetfulness of the Self is the source of all misery.

Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala 1. (a) Thou dost root out the ego of those who meditate on Thee in the

Heart, Oh Arunachala! 4. Was it for Thy pleasure or for my sake Thou didst win me? If now

Thou turn me away, the world will blame Thee, Oh Arunachala! 11. Even when the thieves of the five senses break in upon me, art Thou

not still in my Heart, Oh Arunachala? 19. Shine as my Guru, making me free from faults and worthy of Thy

Grace, Oh Arunachala! 20. Save me from the cruel snares of fascinating women and honour me

with union with Thyself, Oh Arunachala! 23. Sweet fruit within my hands, let me be mad with ecstasy, drunk with

the bliss of Thy essence, Oh Arunachala! 27. Dazzling Sun that swallowest up all the universe in Thy rays, open

the lotus of my Heart, I pray, Oh Arunachala! 30. Tear off these robes, expose me naked, then robe me with Thy love,

Oh Arunachala! 34. Unless Thou embrace me, I shall melt away in tears of anguish, Oh

Arunachala!

39 Treacherous = traiçoeiro.

35. If spurned by Thee, alas! What rests for me but the torment of my prarabdha?5 What hope is left for me, Oh Arunachala?

48. When I took shelter under Thee as my One God, Thou didst destroy me altogether, Oh Arunachala!

51. (a) Unless Thou extend Thy hand of grace in mercy and embrace me, I am lost, Oh Arunachala!

60. In my unloving self Thou didst create a passion for Thee; therefore forsake me not, Oh Arunachala!

63. Regard me! Take thought of me! Touch me! Mature me! Make me one with Thee, Oh Arunachala!

64. Grant me Thy Grace ere the poison of delusion grips me and, rising to my head, kills me, Oh Arunachala!

72. Be Thou my stay and my support lest I droop helpless like a tender creeper, Oh Arunachala!

78. I am a fool who prays only when overwhelmed (by misery), yet disappoint me not, Oh Arunachala!

92. Thou didst take aim (at me) with darts of love and then devoured me alive, Oh Arunachala!

93. Thou art the primal being, whereas I count not in this nor the other world. What didst Thou gain then by my worthless self, Oh Arunachala?

101. As snow in water, let me melt as love in Thee, Who art love itself, Oh Arunachala!

106. Familiar to Thine ears are the sweet songs of votaries who melt to the very bones with love for Thee, yet let my poor strains also be acceptable, Oh Arunachala!

Haven of my refuge! Let Thy pleasure be mine, for that way lies my joy,

Lord of my life! I have discovered a new thing! This hill, the lodestone of lives, arrests the

movements of anyone who so much as thinks of it, draws him face to face with it, and fixes him motionless like itself, to feed upon his soul thus ripened. What (a wonder) is this! Oh souls! beware of It and live!5 Such a destroyer of lives is this magnificent Arunachala, which shines within the Heart!

Hearken; It stands as an insentient hill. Its action is mysterious, past

human understanding. A bird which rises from the earth and soars into the sky can find no place

of rest in midair, but must return again to earth. So indeed must all retrace their path, and when the soul finds the way back to its source, it will sink and be merged in Thee, Oh Arunachala, Thou ocean of bliss!

Forty Verses: Supplement Invocation That which is the Support, the Soul, the Source, the Purpose and the

Power of all this world, the Reality behind all this Appearance, That indeed exists. Let That, the Truth, abide in our Heart. (Yoga Vasishta, 8, v.12)

The Text 1. In the company of sages, attachment vanishes; and with attachment,

illusion. Freed from illusion, one attains stability, and thence liberation while yet alive. Seek therefore the company of sages. (from Bhajagovindam, the “Mohamudagaram Hymn,” by Shankaracharya)

2. Not by listening to preachers, nor by study of books, not by meritorious deeds nor by any other means can one attain that Supreme State, which is attainable only through association with the sages and the clear quest of the Self. (a verse from the Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 12 - v.17)

3. When one has learned to love the company of sages, wherefore all these rules of discipline? When a pleasant, cool southern breeze is blowing, what need is there for a fan? (a verse from the Yoga Vasishta)

4. Fever is overcome by the cool light of the moon; want, by the good wish-yielding tree; and sin by the Holy Ganges. Those three — fever and want and sin — all flee at the august sight of the peerless sage. (Subhashita Ratna

Bhandargara, chapt. 3, v. 6) 5. Holy rivers, which are only water, and idols, which are made of stone

and clay, are not as mighty as the sages. For while they make one pure in course of countless days, the sage’s eyes by a mere glance purify at once. (from Srimad

Bhagavatam, chapt. 48, v. 31, tenth canto) 6. Disciple: Who is God? Master: He who knows the mind. D: My Self, the Spirit, knows my mind. M: Therefore you are God; and also the sruti declares that there is only one God, the Knower. 7. M: By what light do you see? D: The sun by day, the lamp by night. M: By what light do you see these lights? D: The eye. M: By what light do you see the eye? D: The mind. M: By what light do you know the mind? D: My Self. M: You then are the Light of Lights.

D: Yes, That I am. (from Ekasloki, by Shankaracharya) 8. In the centre of the Heart-Cave there shines alone the one Brahman as

the ‘I, I’, the Atman. Reach the Heart by diving deep in quest of the Self, or by

controlling the mind with the breath, and stay established in the Atman.

9. In the lotus of the Heart is pure and changeless Consciousness in the form of the Self. When the ego is removed, this Consciousness of Self bestows liberation of soul. (Devikalottaram, v. 46)

10. The body is like an earthen pot, inert. Because it has no

consciousness of ‘I’, and because daily in bodiless sleep we touch our real nature,

the body is not ‘I’. Then who is this ‘I’? Where is this ‘I’? In the Heart-cave of those

that question thus, there shineth forth as ‘I’, Himself, the Lord Siva of Arunachala.

11. Who is born? It is only he who asks ‘Whence am I born?’ that is truly

born in Brahman, the Prime Source. He indeed is born eternally; He is the Lord of

saints; He is the ever-new. (On celebrating Sri Bhagavan’s jayanti)) 12. Cast off the notion, ‘This vile flesh am I,’ and seek the ceaseless bliss

of Self. To seek the Self while cherishing this perishing flesh is like trying to cross a stream by clinging to a crocodile.40

13. The way of charity, penance, sacrifice, dharma, yoga and bhakti; and

the Goal of Heaven, Reality, Peace, Truth, Grace, Silence, Stability, Deathless

Death, Knowledge, Renunciation, Liberation, Bliss — all this is only ceasing to

think that the body is the Self.

14. What is action, or devotion, or union, or knowledge? It is to inquire,

‘Whose is this action, or indifference, or separateness, or ignorance?’ Inquiring

thus, the ego vanishes. To abide as the Self, wherein these eight have never been,

this is True existence.

15. Not realizing that they themselves are moved by an energy not their

own, some fools are busy seeking miraculous powers. Their antics are like the

boasting of a cripple who says to his friends: ‘If you raise me to my feet, these

enemies are nothing before me.’

16. Since the stilling of the mind is true liberation and miraculous powers

are unattainable without an act of the mind, how can they whose mind is set on such

powers enter the bliss of liberation which is the ending of all activity of the mind?

17. While God sustains the burden of the world, the spurious ego assumes

its burden, grimacing like an image on a tower, seeming to support it. If the

traveller in a carriage, which can carry any weight, does not lay his luggage down

but carries it painfully on his head, whose is the fault?

18. Between the two paps, below the chest, above the stomach, there are six organs of various colours. Of these, one, looking like a lily bud, is the Heart, at

40 The first two lines of the original verse were composed by the Maharshi and the second two are from the Vivekachudamani, v. 84.

two digits’ distance to the right of the centre. (from Ashtanga Hridayam, Malayalam)

19. Its mouth is closed. Within its cavity is seated a heavy darkness, filled with all desires; all the great nerves are centred there; the home it is of breath, mind, light of knowledge. (from Ashtanga Hridayam, Malayalam)

20. The Lord whose home is the interior of the Heart-Lotus is extolled as Lord of the Cave. If by force of practice the feeling ‘I am He, I am the Lord of the Cave’ becomes firmly established, as firmly as your present notion that you are the ego is established in the body, and thus you stand forth as that Lord of the Cave, the illusion that you are the perishable body will vanish like darkness before the rising sun. (composed by Bhagavan, employing the ideas of two verses found in the Prabhulinga Leela, v. 45, 46, Kannada)

21. When Rama asked, ‘Which is the great mirror in which we see these images of things? What is it that is called the Heart of all the beings in the world?’ Vasishta answered, ‘When we reflect we see that all the beings in the world have two different hearts.’ (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 78 - v. 32, 33)

22. One of these is worth acceptance, the other worth rejection. Listen how they differ. The organ called the heart placed somewhere in the chest of the physical body is worth rejection. The Heart which is of the form of Pure Awareness is worth acceptance; it is both within and without — it has no inside or out. (Yoga

Vasishta, 5 - 78 - v. 34, 35) 23. That indeed is the essential Heart and in it all this world abides. It is

the mirror in which all things are seen. It is the source of all wealth. Hence Awareness may be termed the Heart of all beings. The Heart is not a part of the perishable body inert like a stone. (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 78 - 36, 37)

24. Therefore by the practice of merging the ego in the pure Heart which is all-Awareness, the tendencies of the mind as well as the breath will be subdued. (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 78 - v. 38)

25. By constantly meditating in the Heart, ‘That pure unconditioned Awareness that is Siva, That am I,’ remove all attachment of the ego. (Devikalottara, v. 47)

26. Having investigated the various states of being, and seizing firmly by the mind that State of Supreme Reality, play your part, O hero, ever in the world. You have known the Truth which is at the Heart of all kinds of appearances. Without ever turning away from that Reality, play in the world, O hero, as if in love with it. (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 18 - v. 20 to 23)

27. Seeming to have enthusiasm and delight, seeming to have excitement and aversion, seeming to exercise initiative and perseverance, and yet without attachment, play, O hero, in the world. Released from all bonds of attachment and with equanimity of mind, acting outwardly in all situations in accordance with the part you have assumed, play as you please, O hero, in the world. (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 18 - v. 24 to 26)

28. He who by Knowledge of the Atman is established in the Truth, he who has vanquished the five senses — call him the fire of knowledge, the wielder of the thunderbolt of Knowledge, the Conqueror of Time and the Hero who has slain death. (a verse from the Yoga Vasishta)

29. Just as on the earth with the coming of spring the tree shines in fresh beauty of foliage, even so he who has seen the Truth will shine with growing lustre, intelligence and power. (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 76 - v. 20)

30. Like one to whom a tale is told while his thoughts are wandering far away, the mind which is free from attachment is inactive while it acts. But the mind immersed in attachments is active, though it does not act, like the sleeper lying motionless here, who in his dream climbs a hill and tumbles down. (Yoga Vasishta, 5 - 56 - v. 13, 14)

31. As the movement of the cart, its standing still and its being unyoked

are to the passenger asleep in the cart, even so are action, contemplation and sleep

to the Sage asleep in the cart of his body.

32. For one who seeks waking, dreaming or sleep there is a state beyond

these three, a wakeful sleep, a fourth state called the turiya. But because this turiya

state alone is real and the three apparent states are illusory, the ‘fourth’ state is

indeed the transcendental state.

33. The statement that the jnani retains prarabdha while free from

sanchita and agami is only a formal answer to the questions of the ignorant. Of

several wives none escapes widowhood when the husband dies; even so, when the

doer goes, all three karmas vanish.

34. For unlearned folk there is only one family consisting of wife, children and dependants. But in the mind of those with much learning there are many families of books, theories and opinions as obstacles to yoga. (Subhashita

Ratna Bhandagara, Prakarana VI, Shanta Rasa Nirdesha, v. 13) 35. What is the use of letters to those lettered folk who do not seek to

wipe out the letters of fate by inquiring, ‘Whence are we born?’ What else are they

but gramaphones, O Lord of Arunachala? They learn and repeat words without

realizing their meaning.

36. The unlettered are easier saved than those who are learned but

unsubdued. The unlettered are free from the clutches of the demon Pride, they are

free from the malady of many whirling thoughts and words; they are free from the

mad pursuit of wealth; they are free from many, many ills.

37. Though a man looks on the world as a wisp of straw and holds all sacred lore in his hand, it is hard for him to escape from thralldom if he has yielded to vile Flattery, the harlot. (from Sadhaka Avasta, by Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra)

38. Without thinking of oneself as apart from others, without swerving

from one’s true state, if one abides always in one’s Self, who is there alien to one?

What matters it what people say of one? What matters it if one praises or blames

oneself?

39. Keep advaita within the Heart. Do not ever carry it into action. Even if you apply it to all the three worlds, O Son, it is not to be applied to the Guru. (Tattvopadesa, v. 87, by Shankaracharya)

40. I shall declare truly the essence of the final doctrine of the Vedanta: when the ego dies and becomes That, the Self of Pure Awareness, That alone abides.

Miscellaneous Verses This excreta-making body for Self he who mistakes Is worse than one who, borna a pig, for food excreta takes. Deep sleep can e’er be had while wide awake By search for Self. In dream and waking states Pursue the quest for Self without a break So long as sleep’s ignorance them permeates. B – ADPTATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS

Atma Sakshatmakara (Agama) 28. Concentrate the mind neither within, nor without, nor far, nor near,

but on pure Transcendence. 38. Meditate ever on that which is beyond the reach of the mind, allowing

no refuge for the mind. The joy that is attained in abundance in that Self, that is beyond all verities and complete.

48. “Actions are of the body, and the bod is the result of actions. I do not act in any way, nor am I associated with the bod”; thus thinks the perfect, regenerated one.

Devikalottara (Agama) 9. The stabilization of the restless mind is the only true pilgrimage, the

onl alms-giving and the only penance. 12. One who has recoiled from sensual pleasures and devoted himself to

undefiled, pure wisdom, is sure to achieve everlasting Moksha, even if he does not consciously seek it.

20. Since whatever a person sees, thinks of, and seeks to accomplish by his actions influences his destiny, let him meditate on that which is beyond perception, and even imagination.

27. The mind, hankering after things of the world, is more restless than a monkey. If one controls it from wandering after external things and holds it in the void of non-matter one will attain liberation directly.

30. The expanding mind will attain peace, becoming still of its own accord, if it is deprived of something to hold on, just as fire gets extinguished gradually if not fed with fuel.

35. Make the mind, which always clings to some support (attaching itself to sense-objects), devoid of all such supports. Making the mind, which is restless in clinging to external supports, motionless, do not disturb that tranquillity even a little.

39. If the mind falls asleep, awaken it. Then if it starts wandering, make it quiet. If you reach the state where there is neither sleep nor movement of mind, stay still in that, the natural (real) state.

65. Renounce completely all religious edicts and disciplines. Since all kinds of action result in bondage, give up all action plans, mental conflicts, and attachment to one’s caste duties.

77. Avoid unnecessary arguments and worldly associations. Do not create misunderstanding among others. Do not join religious bodies well versed in many scriptures (sastras). Give up both words of abuse and words of praise.

Vivekachudamani (Shankara) Therefore the scriptures have rightly declared that action can never

produce liberation. In order to obtain liberation one must heroically renounce even the very desire for the pleasures of this world. Then one must seek the perfect guru who is the embodiment of peace and must concentrate one’s mind and meditate ceaselessly on that into which one is initiated.

The aspirant must indeed have these qualities in order to attain abidance in the Self; without them there can be no realization of the Truth. Let us see what these are:

1. Discrimination between the real and the unreal is the firm conviction that Brahman alone is the Truth and that the world is unreal.

2. We both observe and learn from the scriptures that all pleasures experienced by animate beings, from Brahma downwards, are transient and impermanent and involve sorrows and imperfections; giving up the desire for them is vairagya or non-attachment.

3. (a) Tranquillity implies fixing the mind upon its target by meditating frequently on the imperfections of things and becoming dissatisfied with them.

(b) Self-control means controlling the outer and inner sense organs and fixing them in their respective centres.

(c) Withdrawal means giving up all outer activity by fixing the mind on its target so firmly that it is not led by its previous tendencies to dwell on objects.

(d) Forbearance means the endurance of any sorrows that may befall without trying to avoid them.

(e) Faith, which is the cause of Self-realization, is the outcome of firm conviction of the truth of Vedantic scriptures and of the words of the Guru.

(f) Concentration is making every effort to fix the mind on the pure Brahman despite its wandering nature. These are said to be the six qualifications needed for the practice of samadhi.

4. Intense yearning for liberation arises from the desire to free oneself by realizing one’s true nature. (…) If the yearning is intense these qualifications speedily bear fruit. But if renunciation and yearning are weak, the result may be mere appearance like a mirage in the desert.

One must pass over the great forest of the sastras, which only yields confusion of mind, and must instead actually experience the Self through the Guru.

The primary means of obtaining liberation is vairagya (dispassion). Other qualities such as tranquillity, self-control, forbearance, and renunciation of activity can come later.

The evil effects of sense objects are more harmful than the poison of the cobra, because poison only kills him who takes it, whereas sense objects bring destruction to him who sees them or even thinks of them. (…) Therefore, if you really want liberation cast away the pleasure of sense objects as though they were poison. Hold firmly to the virtues of contentment, compassion, forgiveness, sincerity, tranquillity, and self-control. Give up all actions performed out of attachment to the body, and strive ceaselessly for liberation from the bondage caused by ignorance. This body is finally consumed, whether by earth, fire, beasts, or birds. He who, forgetting his real nature, mistakes this body for the Self, gets attached to it and cherishes it and by so doing becomes the murderer of the Self. He who still cares for the body while seeking the Self, is like one who catches hold of a crocodile to cross a river. Infatuation with the body is indeed fatal to the aspirant after liberation. Only he who overcomes this infatuation attains liberation.

The ego is the actor and enjoyer, identifying itself with the body as ‘I’. Under the influence of the three gunas it assumes the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. When sense objects are to its liking it becomes happy, when not, unhappy. Thus, pleasure and pain pertain to the ego and are not characteristics of the

ever-blissful Self. Objects appear to be pleasant because of the Self and not because of any inherent bliss that is in them.

That inner Self, as the primeval spirit, eternal, ever effulgent, full and infinite Bliss, single, indivisible, whole and living, shines in everyone as the witnessing awareness.

Mistaking the body or not-I for the Self or I, is the cause of all misery, that is, of all bondage.

[The ignorant one,] mistaking the non-Self for the Self, is overpowered by mental states and submerged in the fathomless ocean of samsara full of the poison of sense enjoyments, and, now sinking, now rising, he finds no way of escape.

Therefore the bondage of samsara is only superimposed on the Self by the mind. Actually it has no reality. Just as the wind gathers the clouds in the sky and then disperses them, so the mind causes the bondage but also causes liberation. The mind first creates in man an attachment to the body and to all sense objects, with the result that he is bound by his attachment like a beast tethered by a rope. Under the influence of rajas and tamas it is enfeebled and entangles man in desire for the body and objects, but under the influence of sattva it breaks away from rajas

and tamas and attains to non-attachment and discrimination and rejects sense objects as though they were poison. Therefore the wise seeker after liberation must first establish himself in discrimination and desirelessness.

Out of desire for liberation you should root out all other desires, renounce activity and take to perpetual preoccupation with Truth (sravana, manana) which will lead on to perpetual meditation (nididhyasana).

The discarding of the beginningless ignorance with its cause and effects and bodies and states, is like the ending of the beginningless nonexistence, or the ending of a dream when the waking state supervenes. Liberation from the bondage of the false ego concept can never come about except through knowledge acquired by discrimination between the Self and the non-Self. Therefore you also must discriminate in order to remove the nonexistent ego.

He who meditates has no work to do except beg and perform his natural functions. He must never forget the Self by giving room for worldly speech and sense objects.

Give up this false physical self just as an actor gives up his role and remains himself. By knowledge acquired through Self-enquiry discard both microcosm and macrocosm as unreal and, abiding in the unbroken stillness, remain ever at rest in the perfect Bliss as unqualified Brahman.

Therefore you, too, give up the ‘I-sense’ in the ego, which appears like being and assumes that it is the doer, whereas it is only the reflected light of the Self. Turn inwards all the thought-forms that adhere to the ego. He is an enemy of yours, so kill him with the sword of knowledge.

Ego revives through thoughts of sense objects. The increase of effects makes their seed or cause flourish, while the decay of effects destroys their cause

also; therefore you should first destroy the effects. If thoughts, which are the effect, flourish, the ego with its tendencies, which is the cause, also flourishes. From thoughts, outer activities arise, and from these two together the tendencies develop and create the bondage to which souls are subject. In order to escape from this, thoughts, activity, and tendencies must all three be abolished. The best way of doing this is to hold firmly to the view that ‘All this that appears as separate names and forms is Brahman itself.’ This view must be held to at all times and places and in all states. Firm holding to this attitude reduces activity, and this results in a decline of thoughts, which in turn destroys the latent tendencies. Destruction of the latent tendencies is indeed deliverance. Therefore develop this helpful tendency to regard everything as Brahman.

If, through wrong understanding and swerving from reality, a man’s consciousness slips even the least bit from the target of his own Self, it will enter into outer things and leap from one to another as a ball slips from your hand and rolls down a flight of stairs. It will begin to consider outer experiences good for it and thence will arise the desire to enjoy them. That will lead to participation in them, which in turn will destroy his abidance in the Self.

We also see that shutting out external objects gives the mind a clear perception of the Self, which in turn results in the destruction of the bondage of samsara. Therefore the abandonment of all objective reality is the way to deliverance.

Only when the subject is perfectly distinguished from objects, like milk from water, will the veiling power be destroyed.

Restraint of speech, not accepting anything from others, conquest of desire, renunciation of action, continence, and Solitude are all aids in the early stages of this samadhi yoga. Solitude helps to quieten the senses, and thereby the mind also. Stillness of mind destroys the tendencies and thereby gives perpetual experience of the essential Bliss of Brahman. Therefore the yogi must always exert himself to restrain the mind.

Complete nonattachment is the only path for him who aspires to the bliss of union with the bride of liberation. Non-attachment combined with Self-knowledge wins the kingdom of deliverance. Non-attachment and knowledge are like the wings of a bird needed for ascending the mount of deliverance, and if either of them is lacking it cannot be attained.

Knowledge of a mirage keeps one away from it, and ignorance that it is a mirage leads one to seek it. Similarly, knowledge leads to the path of release and ignorance leads to worldly pursuits.

The perfection of non-attachment is when previous tendencies to seek enjoyment no longer arise. The perfection of knowledge is when the ‘I-sense’ no longer pertains to the body. The perfection of Solitude is when thoughts subside through perpetual striving and, dissolving in Brahman, no longer turn outwards.

Remain indifferent to the body and senses and outer things that follow you like a shadow. (…) Have no likes and dislikes in what is experienced at the moment and no thought of what may happen in the future.

[About the Jnani] He feels no happiness or sorrow on account of outer conditions, whether agreeable or disagreeable, and has no likes or dislikes. He accepts like a child all conditions that surround him owing to the desires of others. Just as an innocent boy is absorbed in his game without worrying about hunger, thirst, or physical distress, so is the sage absorbed in the play of his own Self without ego-consciousness and delights permanently in the Self. (...)No code or rule of conduct binds him, for he is permanently free. Although sleeping on the ground like a child or madman, he remains ever fixed in Vedanta. Mother Earth is the flowery couch on which he lies. He sleeps without fear in the forest or cemetery, for his sport and pleasure are in Brahman. He who is the universal Self assumes at will countless forms and has countless experiences. In one place he behaves like an idiot, in another like a learned man, and in third like one deluded. Again, in one place he moves about as a man of peace, in another as a king, in another as a beggar eating out of his hand for want of a bowl. At one place he is seen to be adored, at another decried. Thus he lives everywhere and the Truth behind him cannot be perceived by others. (…) The body of a liberated man, like a log of wood tossed up and down by the current of a river, may sometimes be immersed in pleasure owing to his prarabdha but even though this is so, due to the effects of latent tendencies in prarabdha, as with the body of a worldly person, he still remains the witness in his state of inner silence, the hub of the wheel, free from desire and aversion and utterly indifferent. He neither attaches the senses to the objects that give pleasure nor detaches them.

Spiritual Instruction [The marks of an earnest disciple] An intense longing for the removal of

sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure.

Although in absolute truth the state of the Guru is that of oneself it is

very hard for the Self which has become the individual soul (jiva) through ignorance to realize its true state or nature without the grace of the Guru.

All one’s actions performed with unselfish devotion, with the aid of the

three purified instruments (body, speech and mind), in the capacity of the servant of the Lord, become the Lord’s actions, and to stand forth free from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

The seeker of Liberation realizes, without doubts or misconceptions, his

real nature by distinguishing the eternal from the transient, and never swerves from his natural state.

[Sadhu Natanananda`s comment] As all the mental activities like

remembering, forgetting, desiring, hating, attracting, discarding, etc., are modifications of the mind, they cannot be one’s true state. Simple, changeless being is one’s true nature. Therefore to know the truth of one’s being and to be it, is known as release from bondage and the destruction of the knot (granthi nasam). Until this state of tranquillity of mind is firmly attained, the practice of unswerving abidance in the Self and keeping the mind unsoiled by various thoughts, is essential for an aspirant.

All mundane activities which are ordinarily called effort are performed

with the aid of a portion of the mind and with frequent breaks. But the act of communion with the Self (atma vyavahara) or remaining still inwardly is intense activity which is performed with the entire mind and without break.

Wherever particular objects are known it is the Self which has known

itself in the form of those objects. Whenever particular things are perceived, the enquiry “Who is it that sees

them”? should be made; they will then disappear at once.

[Sadhu Natanananda`s comment] If the moments that are wasted in thinking of the objects which are not the Self, are spent on enquiry into the Self, Self-Realization will be attained in a very short time. (…)The excellence of the practice (sadhana) lies in not giving room for even a single mental concept (vritti).

Prarabdha concerns only the out-turned, not the in-turned mind. One

who seeks his real Self will not be afraid of any obstacle. The effort that is made to get rid of attachment to one’s body is really

towards abiding in the Self. Maturity of thought and enquiry alone removes attachment to the body, not the stations of life. (…)But, as the discipline of asceticism (sanyasasrama) is the means for attaining dispassion (vairagya), and as dispassion is the means for enquiry, joining an order of ascetics may be regarded, in a way, as a means of enquiry through dispassion. Instead of wasting one’s life by entering the order of ascetics before one is fit for it, it is better to live the householder’s life. In order to fix the mind in the Self which is its true nature it is necessary to separate it from the family of fancies (samkalpas) and doubts (vikalpas), that is to renounce the family (samsara) in the mind. This is the real asceticism.

Act without an sense of involvement in your mind. For he knows the truth that all activities take place in his mere presence

and that he does nothing. Hence he will remain as the silent witness of all the activities taking place.

As the various means of knowledge, such as control of senses, etc., are

included in brahmacharya the virtuous practices duly followed by those who belong to the order of students (brahmacharins) are very helpful for their improvement.

The existence of this existence-consciousness can be inferred by the

objects illuminated by it. It does not become the object of consciousness. The Self is present in all perceptions as the perceiver. There are no

objects to be seen when the ‘I’ is absent. For all these reasons it may undoubtedly be said that everything comes out of the Self and goes back to the Self.

Karma alone is responsible for the activity or inactivity of the sages The state of pure being which is common to all and which is always

experienced directly by everybody is one’s true nature. The conclusion is that all experiences in the enlightened as well as the ignorant state, which may be described by newer and newer words, are opposed to one’s real nature.

Gems from Bhagavan Happiness is the nature of the Self. They are not different. The only

happiness there is, is of the Self. That is the truth. There is no happiness in worldly objects.

‘No want’ is the greatest bliss. It can be realized only by experience.

Even an emperor is no match for a man with no wants. The seer and the seen are mere shadows on the screen which is the only

reality, supporting all the pictures. In the world also, the seer and the seen together constitute the mind, and the mind is supported by or based on the Self.

You must help the man as a means of worshipping God in that man. All

such service is for the Self and not for anybody else. You are not helping anybody else, but only yourself.

Self and maya are one. (...) Self can be capable of producing illusion

without being illusory. A conjuror may create for our entertainment the illusion of people, animals and things, and we see all of them as clearly as we see him, but after the performance he alone remains and all the visions he created have disappeared. He is not a part of the vision but solid and real.

Vedanta says that the cosmos springs into view simultaneously with the

seer. There is no creation by stages or steps. It is similar to the creation in dream where the experiencer and the objects of experience come into existence at the same time.

We are so engrossed with the objects or appearances revealed by the

light, that we pay no attention to the light. (...)The thing to do is to concentrate on the seer and not on the seen, not on the objects, but on the Light which reveals them.

If one withdraws within the Self there is an end of all pain. The pain is

felt so long as the object is different from oneself. But when the Self is found to be an undivided whole, who and what is there to feel?

The Upanishadic text ‘I am Brahman’ only means Brahman exists as ‘I’.

There is no other way of controlling the mind except as prescribed in the

books like the Gita, drawing in the mind as often as it strays or goes outward, and fixing it in the Self. Of course it will not be easy to do it. It will come only with practice or sadhana.

We call this a white cloth, but the cloth and its whiteness cannot be

separated; and it is the same with the illumination and the mind that unite to form the ego.

If we control the mind, it does not matter where we live. All doubts will cease only when the doubter and his source have been

found. Seek for the source of the doubter, and you find he is really nonexistent. All regard the unreal as real. What is required is that you give up

regarding the unreal as real. The object of all meditation (dhyana) or japa is only that, to give up all thoughts regarding the non-self.

First know who you are. This requires no sastras (scripture) or

scholarship. This is simple experience. The state of being is now and here all along. You have lost hold of yourself and are asking others for guidance. The purpose of philosophy is to turn the mind inward. “If you know yourself, no evil can come to you. Because you asked me I have told you this” (see Kaivalya Navaneeta). The ego comes up only by holding you (the Self). Hold yourself and the ego will vanish.

Instead of submitting ourselves to It, why should we always be planning,

‘We should do this or that’. There are two ways of achieving surrender. One is looking into the source

of the ‘I’ and merging into that source. The other is feeling, ‘I am helpless myself, God alone is all powerful, and except by throwing myself completely on Him, there is no other means of safety for me’; and thus gradually developing the conviction that God alone exists and the ego does not count. Both methods lead to the same goal. Complete surrender is another name for jnana or liberation.

It is asked, why all this creation is so full of sorrow and evil. All one can

say is that it is God’s will, which is inscrutable. God’s will for the prescribed course of events is a good solution for the

vexed question of free-will. If the mind is worried over what befalls us, or what has been committed or omitted by us, it is wise to give up the sense of responsibility and free-will, by regarding ourselves as the ordained instruments of the All-Wise and the

All- Powerful, to do and suffer as He pleases. Then He bears all the burdens and gives us peace.

Throw all responsibility on God and do not bear the burden yourself.

What can destiny do to you then?’ D: Partial surrender — well, can it undo destiny? B: Oh yes, it can. D: Is not destiny due to past karma? B: If one has surrendered to God, God will look to it. Your nature is bliss. Find that on which all the rest are superimposed and

you then remain as the pure Self. Sankara has said: “In all the three worlds there is no boat like satsang to

carry one safely across the ocean of births and deaths.” The state we call Realization is simply being oneself, not knowing

anything or becoming anything. That which is, is peace. All that we need do is to keep quiet. Peace is our

real nature. We spoil it. What is required is that we cease to spoil it. For instance, there is space in a hall (room). We are not going to create space anew. We fill up the place with various articles. If we want space, all that we need do is to remove all those articles and we get space. Similarly, if we remove all the rubbish from the mind the peace will become manifest. That which is obstructing the peace must be removed. Peace is the only Reality.

We have simply to throw out all the age-long samskaras (innate

tendencies) which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.

Effortless and choiceless awareness is our Real State. If we can attain It

or be in It, it is all right. But one cannot reach It without effort, the effort of deliberate meditation. All the agelong vasanas (latent tendencies) carry the mind outwards and turn it to external objects. All such thoughts have to be given up and the mind turned inward.

The Self is not attained by doing anything other than remaining still and

being as we are. Knowing one’s Self is only being one’s Self, as there is no second

existence. This is Self-realization.

If we regard ourselves as the doers of action we shall also be the enjoyers

of the fruits of such action. If by enquiring who does these actions one realizes one’s Self, the sense that one is the doer vanishes and with it all the three kinds of karma.

So long as there is the sense of separation there will be afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the sense of separation ends, there is peace.

As there is only Being, without a second, anything seen cannot be real.

That is the truth. There is a state beyond our efforts or effortlessness. Until that is realized,

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

First one sees the Self as objects, then one sees the Self as void, and then

one sees the Self as the Self; only in this last case is there no seeing because seeing is becoming.

The Source is a point without any dimensions. It expands as the cosmos

on the one hand and as Infinite bliss on the other. That point is the pivot. From it a single vasana starts and expands as the experiencer (‘I’), the experience and the experienced (the world).

Concentrating one’s thoughts solely on the Self will lead to happiness or

bliss. Drawing in the thoughts, restraining them and preventing them from going outwards is called vairagya. Fixing them in the Self is sadhana or abhyasa

(practice). Your efforts can be made even now – in whatever environment you are

now. The environment will never change according to your desire. If objects have an independent existence, i.e., if they exist anywhere apart

from you, then it may be possible for you to go away from them. But they do not exist apart from you; they owe their existence to you, your thoughts. So where can you go to escape them?

Nothing that the body does should shake you from abidance in the Self.

Such abidance will never interfere with the proper and effective discharge of whatever duties the body has, any more than the actor’s being aware of his real status in life interferes with his acting a part on the stage.

If the passions are something external to us, we can take arms and

ammunition and conquer them. They all come from within us. If by looking into the source whence they come, we prevent their coming up and we shall conquer them. It is the world and the objects in it that arouse our passions. But the world and these objects are only created by our mind. They do not exist during our deep sleep.

Or again take the screen illustration: There is a screen. On that screen

first appears the figure of a king. He sits on a throne. Then before him in that same screen a play begins with various figures and objects and the king on the screen watches the play on the same screen. The seer and the seen are mere shadows on the screen, which is the only reality supporting these pictures. In the world also, the seer and the seen together constitute the mind and the mind is supported by, or based on, the Self.

You have discovered That which is the Reality inside your Heart behind

all the appearances of this world. So, without ever letting That out of your sight, disport yourself as you like in the world. Seeming to have enthusiasm and gratification, anxieties and aversions (but really having none of them), seeming to begin and persevere in endeavours (but really having no attachment to such efforts), engage yourself in the affairs of the world without any detriment to yourself. Freeing yourself from all sorts of bonds, maintaining the same equanimity and doing work externally in conformity with the environment in which you find yourself, disport yourself as you like in the world.

Avoid desire and aversion. Do not engage the mind much in the affairs of

the world. As far as possible do not get entangled in the affairs of others. When I lay down with limbs outstretched and mentally enacted the death

scene, and realized that the body would be taken and cremated and yet I would live, some force, call it atmic power or anything else, rose within me and took possession of me. With that I was reborn and I became a new man. I became indifferent to everything afterwards, having neither likes nor dislikes.

Not desiring the non-Self is dispassion (vairagya). Inhering in the Self is

Jnana. Both are the same.

Os Ensinamentos de Ramana Maharshi em Suas Próprias Palavras

Edited by Arthur Osborne

1- A Teoria Básica D.: Existem graus de ilusão? B.: A ilusão é em si ilusória. Ela deve ser vista por alguém que encontra-

se fora dela, mas como pode um observador assim estar sujeito a ela? Então, como ele pode falar de graus de ilusão?41

A ilusão é aquilo que faz os seres tomarem por real e existente por si

aquilo que é inexistente e irreal, isto é, a trilogia mundo-ego-Deus.42 Tudo o que nasce deve morrer; tudo o que é adquirido será perdido. Você

nasceu? [Não,] você existe eternamente. O Eu Real nunca pode ser perdido.43 Se os méritos e deméritos de um homem são iguais ele renasce

imediatamente na Terra; se os seus méritos superam seus deméritos ele primeiro vai ao céu em seu corpo sutil, já se seus deméritos superam seus méritos ele vai primeiro ao inferno. Mas em ambos os casos ele renasce posteriormente na Terra. Tudo isso é descrito nas escrituras, mas na verdade não existe nem nascimento nem morte; cada um simplesmente permanece como realmente é. Apenas isso é a Verdade.44

S.: Mas a partir de meu próprio nível de entendimento eu vejo a mim

mesma e ao meu filho como reais. B.: Você pensava sobre o seu filho antes dele nascer? O pensamento veio

depois dele nascer, e continua após sua morte. Ele só é o seu filho na medida em que você pensa nele. Para onde ele foi? Para a fonte de onde ele surgiu. Enquanto você continuar existindo ele continua também. Mas se você deixar de se identificar com o corpo e realizar o Eu Real essa confusão desaparecerá. Você é eterna, e verá que os outros também o são. Enquanto isso não for realizado haverá sempre a tristeza e o

41 T., 446 42 S.I., Capítulo II, § 5 43 T., 20 44 T., 573

desgosto, fruto dos falsos valores que são produzidos pelo conhecimento errôneo e pela identificação errônea.45

B.: Que felicidade você pode obter das coisas exteriores a você mesmo?

Quando você a obtém, quanto tempo ela dura? Se você negar o ego e ignorá-lo, você estará livre. Se você o aceitar, ele

irá lhe impor limitações e levá-lo a lutar em vão para superá-las. Foi assim que o “ladrão” arruinou o Rei Janaka. Ser o Eu que você realmente é, é o único meio de realizar a Bem-Aventurança que é sempre sua.46

B.: [Para um devoto que tinha perdido seu filho] A tristeza só existe

enquanto a pessoa pensa que possui uma forma definida, mas se a forma é transcendida a pessoa conhece o Eu Único como eterno. Não existe nascimento nem morte. Apenas o corpo nasce, e o corpo é uma criação do ego. No entanto, o ego não é comumente percebido sem o corpo, e por isso você o identifica com o corpo. O que importa é o pensamento. (...) Se um homem pensa que ele nasceu ele inevitavelmente sentirá medo da morte. Deixe que ele descubra se ele alguma vez nasceu ou se existe nascimento para o Eu Real.47

D.: Se alguém que nós amamos morre isso nos faz sofrer. Nós

deveríamos, então, para evitar este sofrimento, amar a todos igualmente ou não amar ninguém em absoluto?

B.: Se alguém que amamos morre isso causa sofrimento àquele que continua vivo. A maneira de se livrar do sofrimento é não continuar vivendo. Mate o sofredor – assim quem está lá para sofrer? O ego deve morrer, é o único jeito. As duas alternativas que você sugere dão no mesmo. Quando percebemos que todos são apenas o Eu Único, quem está lá para amar ou odiar?48

D.: Estou com dor de dente – isso é apenas um pensamento? B.: Sim. D.: Então por que eu não consigo simplesmente pensar que meu dente

está normal e assim me curar? B.: Não se sente a dor de dente quando se está absorto em outros

pensamentos ou quando se está dormindo. D.: Mas ela ainda sim continua. B.: A convicção humana de que o mundo é real é tão forte que é difícil se

libertar dela. Mas o mundo não é mais real do que o sujeito que o vê.

45 T., 276 46 M.G., pp 38-39 47 T., 80 48 T., 252

D.: No momento está acontecendo a guerra Sino-Japonesa. Se ela é apenas imaginação, pode o Bhagavan imaginar que ela não está acontecendo e assim acabar com ela?

B.: (Rindo) O Bhagavan que você vê (como um ser exterior) é tanto um pensamento seu quanto a própria guerra Sino-Japonesa.49

B.: A Bem-Aventurança do Eu Real só pode se manifestar numa mente

que se torna sutil e estável por meio da meditação. Aquele que experimenta essa Bem-Aventurança alcança a libertação ainda neste corpo.50

Por óbvio, ele insistia na necessidade da pureza mental. Quando alguém

reclamava que era muito fraco para resistir às tendências inferiores, Bhagavan simplesmente lhe dizia para se esforçar mais. Porém, dependendo do temperamento do buscador ele dizia para este descobrir quem tem tendências inferiores, ou simplesmente para confiar em Deus.

B.: O livre arbítrio é o presente surgindo para uma faculdade limitada de

visão e vontade. Este mesmo ego, quando olha para suas atividades passadas, percebe que elas se desenvolveram segundo certas “leis” ou regras – sendo o seu próprio livre arbítrio um dos elos dessa corrente causal. Então o ego percebe que a Onipotência e Onisciência Divinas agiram através do seu aparente livre arbítrio. Então a pessoa chega à conclusão de que o ego é guiado pelas aparências.51

D.: Os deuses, Ishvara e Vishnu, e seus céus, Kailas e Vaikuntha, são

reais? B.: Tão reais quanto você no seu corpo. D.: O que eu quero saber é se eles possuem uma existência fenomenal, tal

como o meu corpo, ou se são meras ficções, tais como os chifres de uma lebre? B.: Eles de fato existem. D.: Sendo assim, eles devem estar em algum lugar. Onde eles estão? B.: Em você.

Arunachala está dentro e não fora. O Eu Real é Arunachala.52 Por que se preocupar com Deus? Nós não sabemos se Deus existe mas

sabemos que existimos, então primeiro concentre-se em si mesmo. Descubra quem você é.53

49 T., 451 50 S.E., § 11 51 T., 28 52 T., 273 53 T., 63

Todo o Vedanta está contido nas duas declarações bíblicas “Eu sou o que Eu sou” e “Permaneça imóvel e saiba que Eu sou Deus.

D.: Então o que me impede de conhecer a mim mesmo ou Deus? B.: A sua mente que divaga e seus caminhos desvirtuados.54 B.: Entregar-se completamente significa que você deve aceitar a vontade

de Deus, e não reclamar do que não lhe agrada. As coisas podem se revelar diferentes do que pareciam. O sofrimento e a aflição muitas vezes levam a pessoa a ter fé em Deus.55

B.: Eles rezam a Deus e no final da oração dizem: “Seja feita a Vossa

vontade”. Se a vontade Dele vai ser feita, então por que eles oram? (...) Não é necessário dizer a Ele o que você precisa. Ele conhece muito bem suas verdadeiras necessidades, e cuidará de atendê-las.56

D.: As nossas preces são atendidas? B.: Sim, elas são atendidas. Nenhum pensamento é emitido em vão. Cada

pensamento produzirá o seu efeito em um ponto ou em outro. A força do pensamento nunca será em vão.57

Q.: Mas qual é o método? B.: Volte para o lugar de onde você veio. Q.: De onde eu vim? B.: É exatamente isso que você precisa descobrir. (...) Q.: Qual é a prova que tenho? B.: Alguém precisa de alguma prova de sua própria existência? Apenas

esteja consciente de si mesmo e todo o resto será conhecido. Q.: Então por que os dualistas e não-dualistas discutem tanto? B.: Se cada um deles se ocupasse apenas da sua tarefa (de buscar a

Realização) não haveria discussões.58

2- Da Teoria à Prática B.: É verdade que não estamos aprisionados. Quer dizer, para o Eu Real

não há prisão. E também é verdade que cedo ou tarde você retornará à sua Fonte. Mas enquanto isso, se você cometer más ações, como você as chama, você terá que

54 M.G., pp.42-43 55 T., 43 56 T., 594 57 D.D., p. 266-267 58 T., 479

enfrentar as suas conseqüências. Você não pode escapar disso. Se um homem lhe bate, você pode dizer: “Eu sou livre. Eu não sou afetado pela surra e a dor não existe para mim. Deixa ele continuar batendo”? Se você realmente chegou a esse ponto então você pode fazer o que quiser; caso contrário, qual é a utilidade de apenas dizer em palavras que você é livre [enquanto ainda não é]?59

Todas as atividades que o corpo deve passar foram determinadas no

momento em que ele veio à existência. Não cabe a você aceitá-las ou rejeitá-las. A única liberdade que você tem é voltar-se para dentro e aí renunciar às atividades.60

B.: Por que este corpo surgiu? Ele foi feito para passar pelas várias

experiências que foram determinadas para a pessoa nesta vida... Quanto à liberdade, o homem é sempre livre para não se identificar com o corpo e para não se deixar afetar pelos prazeres e dores resultantes das atividades do corpo.61

D.: O ser humano tem algum livre arbítrio ou tudo na sua vida é

predeterminado? B.: O livre arbítrio existe junto com a individualidade. Enquanto houver

individualidade haverá livre arbítrio. As escrituras todas se baseiam nesse ponto e aconselham direcionar o livre arbítrio na direção certa.

[Predestinação na teoria mas o livre arbítrio na prática.] B.: Assim, a consciência natural e não discriminativa só é alcançada

depois do esforço da meditação. A forma da meditação vai depender do que lhe atrai mais. Veja o que lhe ajuda a afastar todos os outros pensamentos e adote isso para sua meditação.

B.: Se você consegue apenas permanecer quieto sem se envolver em

nenhuma outra atividade, isso é ótimo. Mas se isso não for possível, qual é a utilidade de permanecer inativo apenas em relação à busca pela Realização [e ativo em relação ao resto]?

Enquanto houver ego o esforço é necessário. Quando o ego cessa as ações

se tornam espontâneas.62 Ninguém tem sucesso sem esforço. O controle da mente não é seu direito

de nascença – os poucos que dominam a mente alcançaram isso graças ao seu esforço perseverante.63

59 D.D., pp. 288-289 60 D.D., p. 245 61 D.D., pp. 91-92 62 T., 467 63 T., 398

O esforço é necessário até o momento da Realização.64 B.: Você pensar que deve fazer um esforço para se libertar desse sonho

da vigília, e os esforços que você faz para alcançar a Realização, são tudo partes do sonho.65

B.: Entregue-se de uma vez por todas e acabe com o desejo. Enquanto

houver a noção de que você é o agente, o desejo vai continuar, e assim o ego também.66

3 - A Vida no Mundo B.: Por que os seus deveres ou ocupações na vida deveriam atrapalhar o

seu esforço espiritual? Por exemplo, há uma diferença entre suas atividades em casa e no trabalho. No trabalho você está desapegado: você apenas cumpre o seu dever e não se importa com o que vai acontecer, não está preocupado com o ganho ou perda do seu chefe ou empregador. Os seus deveres com a família, por outro lado, são desempenhados com apego: você está sempre preocupado se as suas ações vão trazer benefício a você e sua família. Mas é possível desempenhar todas as atividades da vida com desapego e ver apenas o Eu Superior como real. É errado pensar que se você permanecer fixado interiormente no Eu Real os seus deveres na vida não serão bem desempenhados. É como um ator no palco: ele se veste do personagem, age como ele e até sente que é parte da peça, mas na verdade sabe que na vida real não é o personagem, mas outra pessoa. Da mesma maneira, por que deveria a consciência do corpo ou o sentimento “eu-sou-o-corpo” lhe perturbar, uma vez que você saiba que na verdade você não é o corpo mas sim o Eu Real? Nada que o corpo faça deveria afastá-lo da permanência como Eu real. Permanecer fixado no Eu Real não irá interferir com o desempenho adequado e efetivo de quaisquer deveres que o corpo tenha, assim como o fato de o ator saber a sua verdadeira identidade não interfere no personagem que ele representa no palco.67

B.: Não há nenhuma lei que diga que as ações só podem ser feitas com

base no sentimento “eu-sou-o-agente”, então não há motivo para perguntar se elas podem ser feitas e os deveres serem cumpridos sem essa noção. Pegue como exemplo o caso de um contador que trabalha o dia inteiro no escritório e cumpre suas tarefas diligentemente. Pode parecer aos olhos dos outros que ele está carregando nas costas todas as responsabilidades financeiras da instituição; porém,

64 T., 78 65 D.D., p. 16 66 T., 354 67 D.D., p. 232

se ele estiver consciente que não é pessoalmente afetado pelas entradas e saídas de capital ele conseguirá permanecer desapegado e livre da noção “eu-sou-o-agente”, embora desempenhe suas tarefas perfeitamente bem. Da mesma forma, é possível a um sábio pai de família que busque ardorosamente a Libertação cumprir seus deveres sem nenhum apego, considerando a si mesmo apenas como um mero instrumento para isso. Uma atividade assim não é um obstáculo ao Caminho do Conhecimento (jnana-marga), e nem é o Conhecimento um fator que impeça o cumprimento dos deveres da vida. A Compreensão e a atividade nunca são mutuamente excludentes – uma não atrapalha a outra.68

B.: A ação feita abnegadamente purifica a mente e a ajuda a concentrar-

se na meditação. D.: Mas e se eu fosse apenas meditar constantemente sem fazer mais

nada? B.: Tente e veja. As suas tendências mentais inerentes não lhe deixarão

em paz. A meditação só acontece passo a passo, através do enfraquecimento dessas tendências por meio da graça do Guru.69

D.: Eu não sinto mais nenhum prazer em minha vida familiar. Não me

resta mais nada para fazer lá; eu fiz tudo o que deveria ser feito e agora já tem netos e netas na casa. Eu deveria continuar lá ou deveria abandonar a casa e ir embora?

B.: Você deve ficar onde você está agora. Mas onde está você? Você está na casa ou a casa está em você? Existe alguma casa separada de você? Se você se estabilizar na sua própria morada você verá que todas as coisas desaparecerão em você e perguntas como essas se tornarão desnecessárias.

D.: Então eu devo continuar em casa? B.: Você deve continuar no seu verdadeiro estado.70 B.: O mundo está apenas na mente. (...) Renúncia é a não-identificação

do Eu com o não-Eu. Quando a ignorância desaparece, o não-Eu cessa de existir. Essa é a verdadeira renúncia.

B.: Os esforços sinceros nunca falham – com certeza eles resultarão em sucesso.71

B.: No entanto, é mil vezes mais tolo querer carregar o seu próprio fardo

uma vez que se tenha iniciado a busca espiritual, quer seja pelo caminho do conhecimento (jnana) quer pelo da devoção (bhakti).

68 S.I., Capítulo II, § 23-25 69 T., 634 70 T., 634 71 T., 251

B.: O Senhor do universo carrega todo o fardo – você apenas imagina fazê-lo. Você pode seguramente entregar todos os seus fardos e problemas a Ele. Então o que quer que você precise fazer acontecerá no momento certo, e você será apenas um instrumento para isso. Não imagine que você não possa agir a não ser que tenha o desejo de fazê-lo. Não é o desejo que lhe dá a força necessária [para agir] – a força é a de Deus.72

B.: Por que se preocupar com o futuro? Você nem conhece o presente

direito. Cuide do presente e o futuro cuidará de si próprio. B.: Como você é, assim é o mundo. Qual é a utilidade de tentar entender

o mundo sem entender a si mesmo? Os buscadores da Verdade não precisam se preocupar com isso. As pessoas desperdiçam sua energia com essas perguntas desnecessárias.73

B.: Durante o seu trabalho a pessoa deve se render ao Poder Maior e

nunca perder de vista que é este Poder que faz tudo. Então como ficar orgulhoso? A pessoa não deveria nem se preocupar com o resultado de suas ações. Só assim o karma será altruísta.74

E.W.: Se existissem cem pessoas que realizaram o Eu Real, isso não seria

um benefício maior ao mundo? B.: Quando você diz “Eu Real” você está se referindo ao ilimitado, mas

quando você fala em “pessoas” você limita o significado. Há apenas um Eu Infinito. (...) E.W.: Na Europa as pessoas não entendem que um homem pode ajudar a

humanidade mesmo vivendo isolado. As pessoas imaginam que apenas aqueles que trabalham no mundo podem ser úteis. Quando essa confusão vai terminar? A mente dos europeus vai continuar patinando na lama ou vai compreender a Verdade?

B.: Esqueça-se de “Europa” ou “América”. Onde eles estão senão na sua própria mente? Compreenda o seu verdadeiro Eu e então tudo mais é compreendido. Se você vê inúmeras pessoas em um sonho e depois acorda e se lembra do sonho, você vai tentar descobrir se essas pessoas que você criou no sonho também estão acordadas?75

72 S.D.B., p. XXVI e XXVII 73 R.M., p. 184-185 74 T., 502 75 T., 20

4 - O Guru B.: Isso depende do que você chama de Guru. Um Guru não precisa

necessariamente ter uma forma física. Dattatreya disse que teve vinte e quatro Gurus – os cinco elementos, etc. Isso quer dizer que tudo no mundo era seu Guru. O Guru é absolutamente necessário. Os Upanishads dizem que ninguém além do Guru pode tirar o homem da selva das percepções sensoriais e formações mentais; logo, o Guru é indispensável.76

B.: É verdade que o Ser do Guru é idêntico ao do discípulo. No entanto,

apenas muito raramente uma pessoa pode compreender seu verdadeiro Ser sem a graça do Guru.77

B.: O mestre está no interior. Se ele fosse um ser estranho pelo qual você

espera, ele também estaria fadado a desaparecer. De que adianta um ser transitório como esse?

(...) D.: Então, o que o devoto deve fazer? B.: Ele só precisa viver de acordo com as palavras do Mestre e trabalhar

no seu interior. Com o tempo você perceberá que a Felicidade só surge quando você

deixa de existir. A fim de alcançar esse estado você deve entregar-se. Então o mestre perceberá que você está em um estado propício para receber o ensinamento, e assim Ele irá guiá-lo.78

B.: Se o eu individual for buscado ele não será encontrado em lugar

algum. Isso é o Guru. Assim era Dakshinamurti.79 D.: Então Bhagavan tem discípulos? B.: Como eu disse, do ponto de vista do discípulo a Graça do Guru é

como um oceano: se ele vier com um copo ele sairá com um copo cheio. Não faz sentido dizer que o oceano é mesquinho; quanto maior for o recipiente mais água ele poderá carregar. Depende tudo do discípulo.80

Eles dizem que estou morrendo, mas eu não vou embora. Onde eu

poderia ir? Eu estou aqui.81

76 R.M., p. 169-170 77 S.I., capítulo I, § 1-4 78 M.G., pp. 26-27 79 T., 398 80 R.M., pp. 167-168 81 R.M., p. 222

5 - Auto-Inquirição B.: A individualidade [o pensamento “eu”] é aquilo que está consciente

da existência dos pensamentos e da sua seqüência. Essa individualidade é o ego ou, como as pessoas dizem, é o “eu”.

B.: As noções de prisão e libertação são meras modificações mentais

(vrittis). (...) Se, portanto, a pessoa investigar [em busca dessa] fonte: “Para quem existe a prisão e libertação?”, será descoberto que é “Para mim”, isto é, para a própria pessoa. Se então ela investigar “Quem sou eu?” sinceramente, descobrirá que não existe o “eu” e “meu”. Aquilo que “sobra”, uma vez que o “eu” desaparece – ou melhor, é visto como não existente –, é realizado de forma vívida e direta como o Eu que ilumina a si mesmo e que é como é. Essa Realização viva, que é a experiência direta e imediata da Verdade Suprema, vem naturalmente, sem nada de especial sobre ela, a todos aqueles que, permanecendo assim como são, mergulham interiormente sem permitir que a mente se exteriorize nem por um momento, e nem desperdiçam seu tempo em conversas vãs.82

V.: Imagine que eu tenha o pensamento “cavalo”, e procure saber de onde

ele veio. Fazendo isso eu vejo que ele vem da memória, e que esta surgiu da percepção passada de um “cavalo”, mas isso é tudo.

B.: Quem lhe pediu para pensar tudo isso? Esses também são pensamentos... Qual é o bem que você espera ganhar pensando assim sobre a memória e a percepção? O “eu” que tem essa percepção e memória, de onde ele vem? Descubra. A percepção, a memória e qualquer outra experiência surgem sempre para este “eu”. Você não tem essas experiências durante o sono e mesmo assim você existe enquanto dorme, assim como existe agora. Isso apenas mostra que o EU continua enquanto as outras coisas vão e vem. (...)

B.: Você veio da mesma Fonte em que estava durante o sono. V.: Os Upanishads dizem: Aquele que conhece Brahman torna-se

Brahman. B.: Não se trata de “tornar-se” mas sim de Ser.83 “Não existe ‘realizar o Eu Superior’” – o Bhagavan costumava assim

lembrar, aos que perguntavam, que apenas o Eu Real é, agora e sempre, e que não é algo novo a ser descoberto. Esse paradoxo é a essência do não-dualismo.

B.: Tudo o que você precisa fazer é abandonar a sua identificação com

esse corpo e abandonar todos os pensamentos de coisas externas, isto é, de coisas

82 S.I., capítulo IV, § 15 83 D.D., pp. 268-269

que não são o Eu Real. Por mais que a mente se exteriorize em direção aos objetos dos sentidos, detenha-a e fixe-a no Eu. Esse é todo esforço que você precisa fazer.84

B.: Todos buscam apenas aquilo que lhes trará felicidade. A sua mente

divaga em direção aos objetos exteriores pois você acredita que encontrará felicidade neles; mas descubra de onde a felicidade realmente vem, mesmo a felicidade que você acredita originar-se dos objetos dos sentidos. 85 Então você perceberá que toda felicidade vem apenas do Eu e, com isso, será capaz de permanecer no Eu [devido à força do seu desejo natural por felicidade].86

B.: Concentração não é pensar sobre algo. Pelo contrário, é excluir todos

os pensamentos, já que todos os pensamentos obstruem a experiência do verdadeiro ser da pessoa.87

D.: Se o “eu” é uma ilusão, quem é que afasta este “eu”? B.: O “Eu” afasta a ilusão do “eu” e mesmo assim continua sendo “Eu” –

tal é o paradoxo da Auto-Realização. Mas os seres Realizados não vêem nenhum paradoxo nisto.

(...) Você pode abandonar esta ou aquela das “minhas” posses; mas se, ao

invés disso, você abandonar o “eu” e “meu”, tudo é abandonado de uma vez só, e a própria semente da posse é destruída. Com isso corta-se o mal pela raiz. Mas a força do desapego deve ser grande para que isso seja possível. A ânsia de fazer isso deve ser igual à ânsia de alguém que está sendo afogado e tem que subir à superfície para respirar.88

B.: O que é necessário é manter-se sempre fixo no Eu Real. Os

obstáculos a isso são, por um lado, as distrações causadas pelas coisas do mundo (incluindo objetos dos sentidos, desejos e tendências) e, por outro, o sono. (...) Mas outro método é simplesmente não se preocupar com o sono. Quando quer que ele venha, você não pode evitá-lo, então simplesmente mantenha-se fixo no Eu Real, ou na sua meditação, em cada momento da sua vida desperta, e retorne à meditação no momento em que você acordar. Isso será suficiente. Assim, mesmo durante o sono a mesma corrente de consciência estará trabalhando.89

B.: Você nunca deve ficar satisfeito com qualquer experiência que tenha.

Quer você sinta prazer ou medo, pergunte-se quem sente isso e continue seus 84 D.D., p. 332 85 Sadhu Om dizia que a compreensão de que a felicidade encontra-se nointerior e não nos objetos exteriores é uma condição sine qua non para o controle da mente. [Nota minha] 86 D.D., p. 298 87 T., 398 88 T., 28 89 D.D., pp. 279-280

esforços até que prazer e medo sejam ambos transcendidos e que a dualidade cesse, permanecendo assim apenas a Realidade. Não há nada de errado em experimentar essas coisas, desde que você não pare por aí90

B.: Não se importe se há visões, sons, vazio, ou qualquer outra coisa.

Você está presente nessas experiências ou não? Você deve ter estado lá para poder dizer que experimentou um vazio. Permanecer fixo neste “você” do início ao fim é a busca. (...) É a mente que vê objetos e tem experiências que se depara com o vazio quando pára de ver e experimentar, mas essa mente não é você. Você é a iluminação constante que dá vida tanto à experiência quanto ao vazio.

(...) Nos versos 212 e 213 do Vivekachudamani, depois de o discípulo dizer: “Agora que eliminei os cinco revestimentos como sendo não-Eu, percebo que nada permanece”, o Guru responde que o Eu Real, ou ISTO, pelo qual todas as modificações – inclusive o ego e suas criações e a ausência delas (o vazio) – são percebidas, está sempre lá.91

B.: A mente é pura por natureza, mas se contamina quando se envolve

com os objetos. O ideal é mantê-la ativa em sua busca sem abrir as portas para as impressões sensoriais e sem pensar em outras coisas.92

B.: Para aqueles que seguem jnana marga (o caminho do Conhecimento)

a auto-inquirição é suficiente para desenvolver todas as qualidades divinas – eles não precisam se preocupar em fazer mais nada.93

B.: A Consciência que percebe o vazio é o Eu Real. B.: Permaneça sem pensar. Enquanto houver pensamento haverá medo.94

90 D.D., p. 224 91 D.D., pp. 277-279 92 T., 61. 93 D.D., p. 276 94 T., 202

6 - Outros Métodos B.: Todo mundo está consciente de que existe. No entanto as pessoas se

esquecem dessa consciência e vão buscar Deus. Qual é a utilidade de fixar a atenção entre as sobrancelhas? O objetivo de tal conselho é ajudar a mente a se concentrar. É um método poderoso de controlar a mente e evitar sua disperção.

B.: Você se considera o sujeito, o observador, e o ponto no qual você fixa

a sua atenção se torna o objeto visto. Isto é apenas bhavana. Quando, ao contrário, você vê o próprio observador, você mergulha no Eu Real e torna-se um com ele – isso é o Coração.

D.: Não é útil fazer um voto de silêncio? B.: Um voto é apenas um voto. Ele pode ajudar a meditação até certo

ponto; mas qual é a utilidade de meramente manter a boca fechada se você permite à sua mente mover-se desenfreadamente? Por outro lado, se a mente está envolvida na meditação qual a necessidade da fala? Nada é tão bom quanto a própria meditação. Qual é a utilidade de um voto de silêncio se a pessoa está absorta na atividade [mental]?95

D.: O que ajuda a (1) concentração e (2) a superação das distrações? B.: Fisicamente, o sistema digestivo e demais órgãos devem estar livres

de irritação. Para isso a alimentação deve ser regulada em qualidade e quantidade. (...) Mentalmente, tenha interesse em apenas uma coisa e fixe sua mente nisso. Deixe esse interesse absorvê-lo completamente excluindo todo o resto. Isso é desapego (vairagya) e concentração.96

B.: Tudo o que se fala sobre a entrega é como roubar açúcar de uma

imagem de açúcar de Ganesha e depois oferecê-lo ao mesmo Ganesha. Você diz que oferece seu corpo e alma e todas as suas posses a Deus – mas eles são seus para você poder oferecer? No máximo você pode dizer: “Eu erroneamente imaginei até agora que essas coisas, que na verdade são Vossas, eram minhas. Agora percebo que elas pertencem a Vós, e não mais agirei como se minhas fossem”. E esse conhecimento de que não existe nada além de Deus (Brahman) ou Eu Real (Atman), de que “eu” e “meu” são meras ficções, e que apenas o Eu Real existe, é Jnana.97

95 T., 371 96 T., 28 97 D.D., p. 49

B.: “Semelhante ao sono”, está correto. É o estado natural. Como você agora se identifica com o ego, você olha para o estado natural como se fosse algo que interrompesse seu trabalho ou prática. Então você deve ter essa experiência repetida até que você perceba que esse estado é seu estado natural.98

D.: Swami, como pode o domínio do ego ser afrouxado? B.: Não se acrescentando novas vasanas (tendências mentais) a ele.99 B.: O exame da natureza transitória das coisas exteriores leva ao

desapego (vairagya). Assim, a investigação ou inquirição é o primeiro e mais importante passo. Quando ela se torna automática resulta em indiferença à riqueza, fama, conforto, prazeres, etc. Então o pensamento-“eu” é investigado até chegar-se à fonte do “eu”, o Coração, que é a meta final.100

7 - A Meta B.: “Não se preocupe com a Libertação. Primeiro descubra se há

aprisionamento. Investigue a você mesmo primeiro”.101 D.: Pode a Auto-Realização uma vez alcançada ser perdida? B.: A Realização leva tempo para se estabilizar. O Eu Real certamente

está dentro da experiência direta de todos, mas não da forma como eles imaginam. Só se pode dizer que ele é como é. (...) Devido à flutuação das vasanas, a Realização demora a se estabilizar. A Realização súbita não é suficiente para acabar com o ciclo de renascimentos, e ela não pode se tornar permanente enquanto houver vasanas. Na presença de um grande mestre as vasanas deixam de ser ativas e a mente se torna quieta, de forma que o samadhi (absorção no Real) resulta, assim como na presença de vários meios [mágicos] o fogo não queima. Assim, na presença do mestre o discípulo ganha conhecimento verdadeiro e uma experiência correta. Mas para isso ser estabilizado é necessário um esforço adicional. Então o discípulo saberá que isso é seu verdadeiro Ser, e assim será libertado mesmo enquanto no corpo.102

D.: Esse método parece ser mais rápido que o método comum de

desenvolver as virtudes postas como necessárias à Realização. B.: Sim. Todos os erros e defeitos estão centrados no ego. Quando o ego

desaparece a Realização resulta naturalmente.103

98 M.G., p. 17-18 99 T., 173 100 T., 27 101 T., 578 102 T., 141 103 T., 146

B.: A paz só pode reinar quando não há perturbação, e a perturbação

existe por causa dos pensamentos que surgem na mente. Quando a mente está ausente, há paz perfeita. A menos que a pessoa tenha aniquilado a mente, ela não pode ter paz e ser feliz. E se a própria pessoa não for feliz ela não poderá dar felicidade aos “outros”.104

Então, “EU-SOU” é Deus.105 D.: O que é samadhi? B.: No yoga o termo é usado para indicar um certo tipo de transe (ou

absorção meditativa), e há vários tipos de samadhi. Mas o samadhi sobre o qual estou falando é diferente; é sahaja samadhi. Nesse estado você permanece calmo e sereno durante a atividade. Você percebe que é movido pelo Eu Real dentro de você, e permanece não afetado por qualquer coisa que você faça, diga, ou pense.106

B.: Tanto o homem Realizado quanto o não Realizado tem sensações. A

diferença é que o não realizado se identifica com o corpo que tem sensações, enquanto que o Iluminado sabe que tudo isso é o Eu Real, que tudo é Brahman (O Absoluto). Se há dor deixe-a ser; ela também faz parte do Eu, e o Eu é perfeito.107

D.: Podemos pensar sem a mente? B.: Os pensamentos podem continuar, assim como as outras atividades.

Eles não perturbam a Consciência Suprema.108 B.: Se você agarrar-se ao Eu Real, o surgimento das imagens não irá

enganá-lo. Também não vai mais importar se as imagens aparecem ou desaparecem.109

104 M.G., p. 30 105 T., 503 106 S.D.B., p. X 107 T., 383 108 T., 43 109 M.G., p., 47.

Ensinamentos Espirituais Ramana Maharshi

Ramana escreveu: “O que não deve acontecer, não acontecerá, não

importa o quanto você deseje. O que deve acontecer, acontecerá, não importa tudo o que você faça para evitar.”

Prática (Abhyāsa) Os que seguem a inquirição percebem que a mente manifesta ao fim das

perguntas é Brahman. Os que praticam meditação percebem que a mente manifesta ao fim da meditação é objeto de meditação. Cabe ao aspirante praticar de modo ininterrupto um desses métodos.

Onde todos os pensamentos chegam a um fim é o Eu Real. Todos os pensamentos surgem apenas na consciência individual (jiva)

que esqueceu sua natureza e se tornou exteriorizada. Sempre que coisas específicas são percebidas, a pergunta “Quem é que as vê?” deve ser feita; assim, elas desaparecerão no mesmo instante.

Meditação é a faculdade de habitar o Eu Real sem desviar-se e sem se sentir em meditação. Desviando-se, aparecerão fenômenos que irão enganá-lo.

Deve-se praticar até que a mente atinja, sem esforço, um estado onde inexistam o “eu” e o “meu”.

Só existe medo em quem percebe pelo menos uma ligeira diferença entre si e Brahman.

Trabalho e Renúncia Se o Eu Real fosse algo novo a ser adquirido, se necessitasse de esforço,

de nada valeria buscá-lo. O que não é natural, não é Eterno. A ação realizada sem apego não afeta ao indivíduo. O sentimento de que

é você que age é o obstáculo. Viver em Deus é a única atitude (bhavana). Não faça esforços para trabalhar nem para renunciar ao trabalho; seus

esforços é que são o estorvo. Permita que sua própria natureza realize a vontade do Poder Supremo. As ações prosseguirão por si mesmas. O corpo e suas atividades não estão separados do Eu Real.

O homem que pensa serem os seus atos separados do Eu Real é como o ator que quer representar sem a tela.

Para o iluminado, todos os estados e ações são a mesma coisa (pois ele olha a tela).

Você precisa se libertar da idéia de que você ainda não realizou o Eu Real. Você é o Eu Real.

Para o kevala nirvikalpa samadhi, as atividades do corpo e da mente são obstruções à sua realização. A mente do sujeito mergulha na luz e, depois de voltar, o sujeito faz a distinção entre atividade e samadhi. No sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi, contudo, a mente se dissipou na Luz e foi destruída. As diferenças e obstruções não existem e as atividades de tal ser não são perceptíveis a ele. A mente está dissolvida na beatitude do Eu Real.

Silêncio e Solidão O silêncio interior é a entrega ao Eu Real, é viver sem o sentido do ego. A solidão está na mente do homem. Aquele que está sempre com a mente

serena e é desapegado está sempre em solidão. Todos têm consciência do Eu Real e, mesmo quem não sabe disso, ao ver

objetos, enxerga apenas Ele.

Controle da Mente No homem realizado, a mente pode ser passiva ou ativa: só existe o Eu

Real. A mente, o corpo e o mundo não estão separados dEle. Se a mente se volta para o interior, para a Fonte (o Coração), o

conhecimento objetivo cessa e brilha apenas o Eu Real. Quando o sol aparece, a luz refletida da lua não mais é necessária. Para ver o Sol (Coração, Eu Real), basta olhar para ele (voltar sua mente para o interior).

A duração da paz é proporcional à resistência e fortaleza da mente, adquirida com a prática constante.

Como a mente pode ser tranqüilizada? Enxergando a sua fonte, para que possa desaparecer, ou rendendo-se, a fim de que a mente possa ser submetida. A entrega ao Eu Real eqüivale ao conhecimento dEste. O ego só se submete quando reconhece o Poder Superior.

O samsāra existe apenas na mente. A renúncia é a não-identificação com o não-Eu Real, isto é Advaita. Com

isso o não-Eu Real desaparece. Dvaita (dualidade) só subsiste quando há identificação.

Bhakti e Jñana Deve-se pensar em Deus todo o tempo por vê-lo sempre, e isso se tornará

uma meditação, que é o estágio anterior à compreensão. Ver Deus é ser Deus. O estado do Eu Real é Jnana. Para habitar o Eu Real, é preciso amá-lo.

Ele e Deus são os mesmos; o amor a um é o amor a outro; e isso é bhakti. Jñana e bhakti são o mesmo.

A entrega só é eficaz quando feita com o total conhecimento do seu real significado, o que só surge após investigação e reflexão. A entrega absoluta a Deus (em pensamentos, palavras e atos) é igual a Jñāna. Para ser completa, a entrega deve ser incondicional, sem pedir nada dEle.

A entrega total engloba tudo: Conhecimento, desapego, Devoção e Amor.

Eu Real e Individualidade Nos estados de vigília (jāgrat) e sonho (svapna) você está associado ao

corpo e à mente; no estado de sono (susupti), não. O ego não é um com o corpo, pois pode se separar dele (como no estado de sono). Deve-se perceber isto no estado de vigília. (?)

A verdadeira natureza do ego é conhecida quando este não mantém contato com objetos.

O ajñani não tem consciência de susupti durante o sonho e a vigília; no caso do jñani, ao contrário, usufrui sua Experiência contínua e transcendental, e mesmo quando os resquícios de ego surgem, ele mantém sua atenção na Fonte.

Todos são suicidas, pois no atual estilo de vida, o Estado natural e eterno é sufocado pela ignorância.

Quando o prārabdha está extinto, o ego dissolve-se totalmente, sem deixar traços, e ocorre a Libertação final. Antes disso, o ego apenas ascende, o que parece ocorrer no caso dos jivānmuktas.

Realização do Eu Real Apenas samādhi pode revelar a Verdade. Nos outros estados, o Real é

obscurecido pela mente. No samadhi existe apenas o sentimento “Eu sou” e nenhum pensamento. Isso é quietude.

Exterior e interior, objeto e sujeito, tudo se converte no sujeito. Veja quem é o sujeito, e essa investigação o levará à Consciência pura, que transcende o sujeito.

Continuar como é, sem questionamento nem dúvidas, é seu estado natural.

O seu dever é SER, e não ser isto ou aquilo. “Eu sou o que sou” resume toda a verdade. O método é “ser em quietude”. Quietude significa “Destrua-se”, pois o ego é o problema. “Eu-Eu” é o Eu Real. “Eu sou isto” é o ego. Para realizar o Eu Real, basta a quietude. Que poderia ser mais fácil?

O Guru e sua Graça Enquanto você acreditar-se separado e se identificar com o que é

transitório, o Mestre físico também será necessário. Quando essas coisas cessam, não haverá outro Mestre que o Eu Real.

O Guru depende do estado evolutivo do devoto. Ele trabalha no interior guiando o homem no caminho certo até que ele encontre o Eu Real em si.

O devoto deve entregar-se ao Mestre e viver segundo seus ensinamentos. Com o tempo, ele perceberá que a glória brota quando ele deixa de existir e para isso é preciso entregar-se. Aí o devoto estará pronto.

Se a entrega é completa, desaparece o “meu” e “eu”, e não há mais sofrimento. O Ser é Ananda.

O Silêncio do Guru é o trabalho mais poderoso, e é mais significativo que todas as escrituras.

Entregue-se sem reservas e deixa o resto por cargo do Mestre. Alguns jñanis, após a morte, podem assumir trabalhos, mas não todos. A felicidade nasce da paz, e a paz verdadeira só pode existir sem a mente.

E, só uma pessoa sendo feliz é que ela poderá dar felicidade aos “outros”.

Paz e Felicidade Devido ao surgimento do pensamento, nós pressupomos a existência da

mente. Porém, investigando sobre a sua natureza, veremos que ela não existe. Assim, ela desaparecerá e você realizará a Paz eterna.

Auto-Inquirição Quem é que diz “Não conheço o Eu Real”? Quem é “eu” na sua

afirmação? O que não é sabido? Todas as distinções entre “eu” e “você” são ilusórias. A Beatitude do Eu Real encontra-se sempre contigo, e a encontrará se

buscar sinceramente. Ser o que você é, é o único jeito de realizá-la.

A causa de todo o seu sofrimento é você, seu ego. Você se impõe limitações e, em seguida, luta em vão para transcendê-las. Se você negar o ego e o abandonar, ignorando-o, você será livre.

O Absoluto que você procura conhecer é você, e sua ignorância é apenas imaginária. É como os dez homens da parábola, que julgavam ter perdido um companheiro pois sempre contavam nove no grupo, esquecendo de contar a si mesmos. Assim, quando eles “descobriram” que eram dez, por acaso um décimo homem foi adicionado? Em algum momento ele foi perdido? Os homens aprenderam algo de novo, sabendo que eram sempre dez?

O mesmo ocorre com você. Não há razão para sentir-se desprezível e infeliz. Você mesmo limita sua natureza Infinita e depois chora por ser criatura limitada. Assim, você escolhe alguma sadhana para transcender limitações que não existem. Mas se sua sadhana pressupõe tais limitações, como poderá ajudá-lo a transcendê-las?

Sadhana e Graça O Silêncio é a verdadeira Forma de Deus.110 Se queremos que Deus faça tudo por nós, então devemos nos entregar a

Ele. Caso contrário, deixemos Deus em paz e conheçamos a nós mesmos. O Guru está sempre em busca do aspirante sincero. Deus é pessoal, é sempre a primeira pessoa, o “Eu”. A entrega é uma poderosa oração.

O Jñani e o Mundo Sem o conhecimento de si mesmo, o sujeito que conhece (sem o qual não

há conhecimento), não é possível conhecer o objeto, o mundo. Primeiro conhece a ti mesmo.

Tome por exemplo o cinema. Antes do filme ser projetado na tela, só há a tela. Quando o filme acaba, só há a tela. Enquanto o filme está passando, ele se sobrepõe à tela e parece real. Porém, ao tentar pegar as imagens (mundo, maya), você toca na tela (Eu Real).

Apenas o Eu Real existe e se você se ater a Ele, não se iludirá com as imagens, e também não fará diferença se existem ou não imagens. Ignorando Ele, o ajñani vê apenas as imagens, como se estas existissem separado dEle.

Se você busca a Verdade, não tem outra alternativa senão considerar o mundo como irreal. Caso contrário, sua mente estará sempre em busca dele. Se você considera a aparência real, nunca conhecerá o verdadeiro Real, embora só o Real

110 Mauna Ishwara-Pranidhana (Nota minha).

exista. Na analogia da cobra e da corda: só a corda existe (real), mas quando você só enxerga a cobra (aparência), o que é real (a corda), parece não existir como tal.

Tanto o mundo físico quanto o dos sonhos são irreais, são criações da mente. Mas a mente não consegue negar a sua realidade enquanto se encontra em um deles. Isso só acontece quando você afasta sua mente do mundo e permanece no interior. Daí você vê.

Se você tem consciência de algo, em essência tem consciência de si mesmo. A Realidade é sat-chit, Ser-Consciência, e jamais um exclui o outro.

Adote na prática o que você aceita na teoria, e esqueça do resto. As escrituras devem guiar todos à Verdade e as aspirantes possuem características mentais diferentes. O que você não pode aceitar considere como argumentos auxiliares.

O Coração é o Eu Real Apesar de ser onipresente, designa-se um local no corpo físico para o

Coração (lado direito do peito) para que se chegue ao nível de compreensão comum. Enquanto pura Consciência, ele está além do espaço-tempo.

Para o Sábio, a sua consciência física é apenas um raio refletido do Ser infinito.

Na Realização, não existe um centro objetivo onde se sente a experiência. Quando você vê o próprio observador, você mergulha no Eu Real. O resultado final de qualquer dhyāna é o fim da existência do objeto

sobre o qual o praticante concentra a mente. Então, sujeito e objeto tornam-se o Coração.

Todo pensamento é uma exteriorização da mente. O pensamento sempre segue a visão física ou mental.

Aham e Aham-Vrtti O ego possui uma forma tripla (física, sutil e causal), mas ele só é

descrito assim para fins analíticos. Visando a inquirição, procede-se como se o ego apenas possuísse a forma do pensamento “eu”.

O aham-vrtti (pensamento-“eu”) pode existir por si mesmo, sem depender e outros vrttis (conceitos), sendo assim o vrtti essencial. A busca e a realização da Fonte do ego na forma de ahma-vrtti implica a transcendência do ego em todas as suas formas.

No jñani, o ego “subsiste” na pura forma sáttvica. O ajñani vê apenas a mente, mero reflexo de Luz de Consciência pura,

proveniente do Coração. Ele ignora o coração, pois sua mente é exteriorizada e jamais buscou sua Fonte.

Assim como a água no pote reflete o sol dentro de seus estreitos limites, também as tendências da mente (vāsanās) captam a Luz proveniente do Coração e a reflete na forma do ego. O ajñani, vendo apenas esse reflexo, crê-se um ser finito.

Se a mente se volta ao interior através da inquirição “Quem sou eu?” as vāsanās são extintas e o fenômenos da reflexão (mente) também o é. A mente é absorvida no Coração.

A prática contínua da auto-inquirição revelará que a mente e seus três estados são irreais, e que você é o Eu Real, infinito e eterno.

Diálogos e Ensinamentos

Conscious Immortality Q: How can we root out the sex idea? M: By rooting out the false idea of the body being the Self. There is no

sex in the Self. Be the real Self, then there will be no trouble with sex. Q: What is renunciation? M: Giving up the ego. Q: Is it not giving up possessions? M: The possessor too. Q: I have committed a sexual sin. M: Even if you have, it does not matter, so long as you do not think

afterwards that you have done so. The Self is not aware of any sin and renunciation of sex is internal, not merely of the body.

Q: How can the mind be controlled? M: There are two methods. One is to see what the mind is, then it will

subside. The second is to focus on something else - the predominant idea will eliminate all others. The object is up to the individual.

It is necessary to be aware while controlling thoughts, otherwise it will lead to sleep. Awareness is the chief factor, as indicated by the emphasis on pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi, even after pranayama. Pranayama makes the mind steady and suppresses thoughts. Why is this not enough? Because awareness then is the one necessary factor. Such states are imitated by taking morphine, chloroform etc, but they do not lead to liberation.

Q: What is the difference between meditation and Self-enquiry? M: Meditation is possible only if the ego is retained; there is the ego and

the object meditated upon. This method is indirect. However, if we seek the ego-source, the ego disappears and what remains is the Self. This method is the direct one.

Q: (On another occasion) What is the difference between meditation and vichara?

M: Meditation can be upon an object, external or otherwise. Thus subject and object differ. In vichara, both subject and object are the same - the Self.

Q: How can the mind be made to go?

M: No attempt should be made to destroy it. To think or wish is in itself a thought. If the thinker is sought, the thoughts will disappear.

Q: Will they disappear by themselves? It seems so difficult. M: They will disappear because they are unreal. The idea of difficulty is

itself an obstacle to realization. It must be overcome. To remain as the Self is not difficult. This thought of difficulty is the chief obstacle. A little practice in discovering the source of ‘I’ will make you think differently. Absolute freedom from thoughts is the state conducive to such recognition of the Self. Mind is but an aggregate of thoughts.

M: The ‘I’ is always there - there is always the feeling of ‘I’, otherwise

could you deny your existence? The reality of yourself cannot be questioned. The Self is the primal reality. The ordinary person unconsciously takes reality to be their true inner reality plus everything which has come into their consciousness as pertaining to themselves - body, etc. This they have to unlearn.111

“By repeated practice one can become accustomed to turning inwards and

finding the Self. One must always and constantly make an effort, until one has permanently realized. Once the effort ceases, the state becomes natural and the Supreme takes possession of the person with an unbroken current. Until it has become permanently natural and your habitual state, know that you have not realized the Self, only glimpsed it.”

Day by day with Bhagavan “You imagine one cannot do work if the mind is killed. Why do you

suppose that it is the mind alone that can make one do work. There may be other causes which can also produce activity. Look at this clock, for instance. It is working without a mind. Again suppose we say the jnani has a mind. His mind is very different from the ordinary man’s mind. He is like the man who is hearing a story told with his mind all on some distant object. The mind rid of vasanas, though doing work, is not doing work. On the other hand, if the mind is full of vasanas, it is doing work even if the body is not active or moving.”

Question 3: “I find surrender is easier. I want to adopt that path.” Answer: “By whatever path you go, you will have to lose yourself in the

One. Surrender is complete only when you reach the stage ‘Thou art all’ and ‘Thy will be done’. (…) The state is not different from jnana. In soham there is dvaita. In surrender there is advaita. In the reality there is neither dvaita nor advaita, but That

111 Continuação do diálogo da página 80, depois de “the pure Self will remain”, no final da primeira resposta do Bhagavan.

which is, is. Surrender appears easy because people imagine that, once they say with their lips ‘I surrender’ and put their burdens on their Lord, they can be free and do what they like. But the fact is that you can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender and that your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord’s Will taking its place. Such death of the ego is nothing different from jnana. So by whatever path you may go, you must come to jnana or oneness.”

Question 4: “How am I to deal with my passions? Am I to check them or

satisfy them? If I follow Bhagavan’s method and ask, ‘To whom are these passions?’ they do not seem to die but grow stronger.”

Answer: “That only shows you are not going about my method properly. The right way is to find out the root of all passions, the source whence they proceed, and get rid of that. If you check the passions, they may get suppressed for the moment, but will appear again. If you satisfy them, they will be satisfied only for the moment and will again crave satisfaction. Satisfying desires and thereby trying to root them out is like trying to quench fire by pouring kerosene oil over it. The only way is to find the root of desire and thus remove it.”

Another visitor asked Bhagavan, “If I try to make the ‘Who am I?’ enquiry, I fall into sleep. What should I do?”

Bhagavan: “Persist in the enquiry throughout your waking hours. That would be quite enough. If you keep on making the enquiry till you fall asleep, the enquiry will go on during sleep also. Take up the enquiry again as soon as you wake up.”

Another visitor said, “Jnanis generally retire from active life and do not

engage in any worldly activity.” Bhagavan: “They may or may not. Some, even after realising, carry on

trade or business or rule over a kingdom. Some retire into forests and abstain from all acts except those absolutely necessary to keep life in the body. So, we cannot say all jnanis give up activity and retire from life.”

Question 4: What is the best way of dealing with desires, with a view to

getting rid of them - satisfying them or suppressing them? Bhagavan: If a desire can be got rid of by satisfying it, there will be no

harm in satisfying such a desire. But desires generally are not eradicated by satisfaction. Trying to root them out that way is like pouring spirits to quench fire. At the same time, the proper remedy is not forcible suppression, since such repression is bound to react sooner or later into forceful surging up with undesirable consequences. The proper way to get rid of a desire is to find out “Who gets the desire? What is its source?” When this is found, the desire is rooted out and it will never again emerge or grow. Small desires such as the desire to eat, drink and sleep and attend to calls of nature, though these may also be classed among desires, you can safely satisfy. They will not implant vasanas in your mind, necessitating further

birth. Those activities are just necessary to carry on life and are not likely to develop or leave behind vasanas or tendencies. As a general rule, therefore, there is no harm in satisfying a desire where the satisfaction will not lead to further desires by creating vasanas in the mind.

“When you pass into sleep, that state, in which you were before falling

asleep, will continue and again, when you wake up, you will continue from where you had left off when you fell into slumber. So long as there are thoughts of activity, so long would there be sleep also. Thought and sleep are counterparts of one and the same thing. Bhagavan quoted the Gita and said, ‘We should not sleep very much or go without it altogether, but sleep only moderately. To prevent too much sleep, we must try and have no thoughts or chalana (movement of the mind), we must eat only sattvic food and that only in moderate measure, and not indulge in too much physical activity. The more we control thought, activity and food the more shall we be able to control sleep.’”

The first question is : What is maya? And the answer is : It is

anirvachaniya or indescribable. The second question is : To whom does it come? And the answer is : To

the mind or ego who feels that he is a separate entity, who thinks : ‘I do this’ or ‘this is mine’.

The third question is : Where does it come from and how did it originate? And the answer is : Nobody can say.

The fourth question is : How did it arise? And the answer is : Through non-vichara, through failure to ask : who am I?

Bhagavan: No learning or knowledge of Scriptures is necessary to know

the Self, as no man requires a mirror to see himself. All knowledge is required only to be given up eventually as notSelf. Nor is household work or cares with children necessarily an obstacle. If you can do nothing more, at least continue saying ‘I, I’ to yourself mentally all the time, as advised in Who am I?, whatever work you may be doing and whether you are sitting, standing or walking. ‘I’ is the name of God. It is the first and greatest of all mantras. Even OM is second to it.

Khanna: The jiva is said to be mind plus illumination. What is it that

desires Self-realization and what is it that obstructs our path to Self-realization? It is said that the mind obstructs and the illumination helps.

Bhagavan: Although we describe the jiva as mind plus the reflected light of the Self, in actual practice, in life, you cannot separate the two, just as, in the illustrations we used yesterday, you can’t separate cloth and whiteness in a white cloth or fire and iron in a red-hot rod. The mind can do nothing by itself. It emerges only with the illumination and can do no action, good or bad, except with the illumination. But while the illumination is always there, enabling the mind to act

well or ill, the pleasure or pain resulting from such action is not felt by the illumination, just as when you hammer a red-hot rod112 it is not the fire but the iron that gets the hammering.

Guru-Ramana-Vachana-Mala 103. God’s grace consists in the act that He shines in the heart of every

one as the Self; that power of grace does not exclude any one, whether good or otherwise.

148. Oh mind, thou hast already suffered, thinking ‘I am a jiva;’ do not

fall into worse delusion by believing ‘I am Brahman;’ in the Transcendental State there is no one answering to the name of ‘I’.

152. The state of liberated Being can be reached only by dying; but dying

does not consist in destruction of the body; one should understand that true death is the extinction of the ideas ‘I and mine’.

174. The mightiest tapas (mental discipline) is to remain at peace, giving

up egotism and the notion of doership (in actions), by the understanding that God does everything.

219. There never was any bondage for the Self who is the only Reality

(there is); He is ever free and aware; the one that is bound is the illusory jiva (ego). 312. He whose mind is swallowed by the Light of the Self is not affected

as before by anything whatever, though seeing, hearing, smelling, eating foods, breathing and walking (as before).

Maharshi’s Gospel M. Self-enquiry by following the clue of Aham-vritti is just like the dog

tracing its master by his scent. The master may be at some distant,unknown place, but that does not at all stand in the way of the dog tracing him. The master’s scent is an infallible clue for the animal, and nothing else, such as the dress he wears, or his build and stature etc., counts. To that scent the dog holds on undistractedly while searching for him, and finally it succeeds in tracing him. Likewise in your quest for the Self, the one infallible clue is the Aham-vritti, the ‘I-am’-ness which is the

112 Rod = vara, bastão, barra.

primary datum of your experience. No other clue can lead you direct to Self-realization.

Reflections on Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi 9. “Soul, mind and ego are mere words. These are not real entities.

Consciousness is the only truth. Its nature is Bliss. Bliss alone is - enjoyer and enjoyment both merge in it. Pleasure consists in turning and keeping the mind within; pain in sending it outward. There is only pleasure. Absence of pleasure is called pain. One’s nature is pleasure - bliss.”

“Siva is both the Being assuming the forms in the universe as well as the

consciousness that sees them. That is to say Siva is the background underlying both the subject and the object - Siva is repose and Siva is action. Whatever it is said to be, it is only Consciousness, whether in repose or in action.”

Maya is thus not the parent but the offspring of the senses. (?) 6. “Is there no ‘I-am-the-body’ idea for the Jnani? If, for instance, Sri

Bhagavan is bitten by an insect, is there no sensation? Bhagavan: “There is the sensation and there is also the ‘I-am-the-body’

idea. The latter is common to both the Jnani and the ajnani with this difference, that the ajnani thinks ‘only the body is myself’, whereas the Jnani knows ‘all this is the Self’ or ‘all this is Brahman’; if there be pain, let it be. It is also part of the Self. The Self is perfect. (…) However, since prarabdha is conceded in his case, vasanas also must be supposed to exist. But they are only vasanas for enjoyment, leaving no impressions to be the seeds for future karma.”

Revelation 70. “When the mind attains fixity in this the real Heart by the Quest of

the Self, there occurs the extinction of all mental taints, and the vital air ceases to move also.”

COMENTARY: The first sentence was explained by the Master himself

as follows : “Everyone is aware of two things, namely himself the seer and the world which he sees; and he assumes also that they are both real. But that alone is real,

which has a continuous existence : judged by this test the two, the seer and his

spectacle, are both unreal. These two, appear intermittently; they are apparent in the waking and dream states alone; in the state of deep sleep they cease to appear; that is they appear whenever the mind is active, and disappear as soon as the mind ceases to function. Therefore the two are but thoughts of the mind. There must be something from which the mind arises, and into which it subsides. That something must have a continuous, uninterrupted existence; that is, It must be the Reality.” This teaching is confirmed as follows. The world and its seer are but thoughts in the mind; the mind is unreal, because it has no continuity of existence; but though unreal, it is conscious; that which gives to the mind its appearance of reality is its consciousness; but this consciousness is not its own, but belongs to its source; this source must necessarily be consciousness, as otherwise it cannot be the source of the mind’s consciousness; since the mind includes the world, the world cannot have a separate source. To distinguish this Consciousness which is the sole Reality, It is called Pure Consciousness.

Sat-Darshana-Bashya and Talks with Maharshi D: If I go on rejecting thoughts can I call it Vichara? M: It may be a stepping stone. But really Vichara begins when you cling

to your Self and are already off the mental movement, the thought-waves. D: That is Dhyana? M: To stick to a position unassailed by thoughts is Abhyasa or Sadhana;

you are watchful. But the condition grows intenser and deeper when your effort and all responsibilities are taken away from you; that is Aroodha, Siddhi state.

D: This seems to contradict the statements that the Self is beyond the

mind, that the mind cannot know Brahman, that it is beyond thought and speech (avangmanasagochara).

M: That is why they say that the mind is two fold: there is the higher pure mind as well as the lower impure mind. The impure mind cannot know it but the pure mind knows. It does not mean that the pure mind measures the immeasurable Self, the Brahman. It means that the Self makes itself felt in the pure mind so that even when you are in the midst of thoughts you feel the Presence, you realise the truth that you are one with the deeper Self and that the thought- waves are there only on the surface.

D: That means the manonasha or the ahamkara nasha. The destruction of the mind or of the ego you speak of is then not an absolute destruction.

M: Yes. The mind gets clear of impurities and become pure enough to reflect the truth, the real Self. This is impossible when the ego is active and assertive.

D: Then when you say “know thyself” you want me to know the ego-self?

M: But the moment the ego-self tried to know itself, it changes its character; it begins to partake less and less of the Jada (matter), in which it is absorbed, and more and more of the Consciousness of the Self, the Atman.

Spiritual Stories D: I fear that Self-realisation is no easy thing to attain. M: Why impede yourself by anticipating failure? Push on. Self-

realisation will come to an earnest seeker in a trice. To illustrate this, Sri Bhagavan told the following story. [King Janaka attaining jnana in a single act after surrendering completely to Sage Ashtavraka.]

Sri Bhagavan drew from the story the following moral: “Have the best

intention, but act in such a way not to win praise, but to incur blame. Resist the temptation to justify yourself even when you are just”.

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi M.: You know that you know nothing. Find out that knowledge. That is

liberation (mukti). 43. Mr. Raghaviah: How shall we co-relate the higher experience with the

lower experience (meaning spiritual experience with mundane affairs)? M.: There is only one experience. What are the worldly experiences but

those built up on the false ‘I’? Ask the most successful man of the world if he knows his Self. He will say “No’’. What can any one know without knowing the Self? All worldly knowledge is built upon such a flimsy foundation.

Mr. Ramamurthi: How to know the ‘Real I’ as distinct from the ‘false I’? M.: Is there any one who is not aware of himself? Each one knows, but

yet does not know, the Self. A strange paradox. The Master added later, “If the enquiry is made whether mind exists, it

will be found that mind does not exist. That is control of mind. Otherwise, if the mind is taken to exist and one seeks to control it, it amounts to mind controlling the mind, just like a thief turning out to be a policeman to catch the thief. i.e., himself. Mind persists in that way alone, but eludes itself.’’

213. Mr. B. C. Das asked why the mind cannot be turned inward in spite

of repeated attempts.

M.: It is done by practice and dispassion and that succeeds only gradually. The mind, having been so long a cow accustomed to graze stealthily on others’ estates, is not easily confined to her stall. However much her keeper tempts her with luscious grass and fine fodder, she refuses the first time; then she takes a bit; but her innate tendency to stray away asserts itself; and she slips away; on being repeatedly tempted by the owner, she accustoms herself to the stall; finally even if let loose she would not stray away. Similarly with the mind. If once it finds its inner happiness it will not wander outward.

D.: How is the ‘I’-‘I’ consciousness felt? M.: As an unbroken awareness of ‘I’. It is simply consciousness. 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. M.: Who is this witness? You speak of ‘witness’. There must be an

object and a subject to witness. These are creations of the mind. The idea of witness is in the mind. If there was the witness of oblivion did he say, ‘I witness oblivion’? You, with your mind, said just now that there must be a witness. Who was the witness? You must reply ‘I’. Who is that ‘I’ again? You are identifying yourself with the ego and say ‘I’. Is this ego ‘I’, the witness? It is the mind that speaks. It cannot be witness of itself. With self-imposed limitations you think that there is a witness of mind and of oblivion. You also say, “I am the witness’’. That one who witnesses the oblivion must say, “I witness oblivion’’.The present mind cannot arrogate to itself that position.The whole position becomes thus untenable. Consciousness is unlimited. On becoming limited it simply arrogates to itself the position. There is really nothing to witness. IT is simple BEING.

137. Lakshman Brahmachari of Sri Ramakrishna Mission asked: “Can

one imagine oneself as witness of the thoughts?’’ M.: It is not the natural state. It is only an idea (bhavana) - an aid to

stilling the mind. The Self is ever the witness, whether so imagined or not. There is no need to so imagine except for that purpose. But it is best to remain as one’s Self.

M.: The means for this end is meditation. Though this is with the triad of

distinction (tripuri) 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 kartrutantra (as doer’s own), jnanam as vastu-tantra (the Supreme’s own).

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. Jnana is said to be ekabhakti (single-

minded devotion). The Jnani is the finality because he has become the Self and there is nothing wrong to do. He is also perfect and so fearless, dwitiyat val bhayam

bhavati - only the existence of a second gives rise to fear. That is mukti. It is also bhakti.

D.: Thoughts cease suddenly, then ‘I-I’ rises up as suddenly and

continues. It is only in the feeling and not in the intellect. Can it be right? M.: It is certainly right. Thoughts must cease and reason disappear for ‘I-

I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the prime factor and not reason. D.: Moreover it is not in the head but in the right side of the chest. M.: It ought to be so. Because the heart is there. D.: When I see outside it disappears. What is to be done? M.: It must be held tight. D.: If one is active with such remembrance, will the actions be always

right? M.: They ought to be. However, such a person is not concerned with the

right or wrong of his actions. Such a person’s actions are God’s and therefore they must be right.

M.: Divine Grace is essential for Realisation. It leads one to God-realisation. But such Grace is vouchsafed only to him who is a true devotee or a yogin, who has striven hard and ceaselessly on the path towards freedom.

The Collected Works Of Ramana Maharshi 8. Better than viewing Him as Other,

Indeed the noblest attitude of all,

Is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within,

The very ‘I’. 6. Disciple: ‘Who is God?’ Master: ‘He who knows the mind.’ D: ‘My Self, the Spirit, knows my mind.’ M: ‘Therefore you are God: and also because the Sruti declares that there

is only one God, the Knower.

Comentários & Relatos

De discíplos de Sri Ramana Maharshi

Maha Yoga Sri K. Lakshmana Sarma

MAHA YOGA has been described as a process of unlearning. Its

follower has to unlearn all his knowledge, because, being in relativity, it is ignorance, and therefore a hindrance.

1 – The Sage of Arunachala From this we see that a sustained and one-pointed resolve to find the real

Self —which is the highest and purest form of devotion — is the means of winning that Self. This is in accord with a text of the ancient Revelation which says: “He alone shall find this Self, who is powerfully attracted to Him in complete devotion; to him that Self reveals Himself as He really is.”

2 – Are We Happy? When we are dreaming of pleasant things we do not awake: but we do so

as soon as we see visions of a frightful nature. A life of placid enjoyment is naturally inimical to serious thinking on serious subjects.

Happiness and pleasure are two entirely different things. It may be said that desire is the cause of our being exiled from the

happiness that is within us, and its momentary cessation just allows us to taste a little of that happiness for the time being.

So desire and fear are the two enemies of happiness. And so long as we are content to remain subject to them, we shall never be really happy. To be subject to desire or fear is itself unhappiness; and the more intense the desire or the fear, the keener is the unhappiness

The fact is, desire is like a bottomless pit which one can never fill up, or like the allconsuming fire which burns the fiercer, the more we feed it.

3 – Ignorance A truth that is misunderstood is more fatal than sheer ignorance. Questioning the outside world can never lead to anything but ignorance.

The study of books engenders the notion that the Self is something outside, needing to be known as an object, through the medium of the mind.

In this examination we must be guided by absolute devotion to the Truth; the Gita tells us: “He that loves the Truth and subdues his whole being to the love of the Truth, shall find it.” This condition is very important. Surely there can be no partial love of the Truth; such love implies a love of untruth in greater or less degree. Perfect love of the Truth means a perfect readiness to renounce whatever shall be found to be untrue, as a result of an impartial examination.

4 – Authority The usefulness of the intellect is limited by its origin, namely the primary

ignorance. To those that are unaware of their subjection to this ignorance, and to those also who are content to remain in subjection to it, the intellect is a good enough tool for all their purposes. That is to say, it is an excellent tool in the service of that ignorance. But for the purpose of transcending it, it is of little use. The utmost that the intellect can do for us is to recognise its own limitations and cease to hinder our Quest of the Truth.

5 – The World Since we are to turn our backs on the world after all, it does not matter to

us what the world may be. All inquiries about the not-Self are vain, if not mischievous, because it

delays the main enterprise, the Quest of the Self. Why do thoughts intrude into the mind even when they are not wanted?

The Sages say it is because we have the belief that the world is real. The Sage of Arunachala tells us in one of his compositions that but for our belief that the world is real, it would be quite easy for us to obtain the Revelation of the Self.

It may be asked what this belief of ours has to do with the Quest. One reason is this. Whatever we hold to be real has an unquestionable right of entry into the mind; thoughts regarding realities cannot be denied admittance by a mere fiat of the will. But that is not all. We now regard the world as real in a sense in which it is not real. And by so regarding it we make it impossible for ourselves to realise the Self, until we give up our false belief. It so happens that the very thing that obscures the Self for us is the world itself.

How can that be? The Sages tell us that the Self is the Reality underlying the world; just as, when a rope is mistaken for a snake, the snake obscures the rope, so the world obscures the Self. There is only one Reality, which in our ignorance appears to us as the world, and will appear as it really is, as the Self, when we transcend the ignorance. When we shall Experience the Truth, we shall find that

what now appears to us as this multiple world of names and forms in time and space is just the real Self, who is the indivisible Reality, nameless, formless, timeless, spaceless and changeless. And it is axiomatic that appearance excludes the reality; as long as the rope is supposed to be a snake, it cannot appear as the rope it really is; the false snake effectually conceals the real rope. The same is the case with the Self. So long as the Self appears to us as the world, we shall not realise Him as the Self; the world-appearance effectually conceals the Self; and it will do so until we get rid of the appearance; and we cannot do so unless we understand that the world-appearance is unreal. For this reason the Reality — which is also the Self — is practically non-existent for him that believes the world to be real, just as the rope is non-existent for him that sees it as a snake.

Apart from the Reality the world has no existence. But its appearance as the world does not affect the Reality; for It never really became the world, just as the rope never really became a snake.

The Sages recommend the cultivation of the belief that the world is unreal, even though it is not the whole truth about the world.

The teaching that the world is not real as such will become self-evident as soon as one comes to feel that ignorance of the Self is the one source of all worldly knowledge.

This standard of reality is thus expressed: That alone is real which exists

unchanged and without intermission. This means that things whose existence is limited by time or space, are not real.

Acharya Gaudapada said: “Whatever has no existence before and after does not exist even now.” (...) The Gita verse tells us that a thing is not real simply because it seems to exist at some time; because a thing that really exists is never without existence. Gaudapada simply applies this principle and gives the result, namely that a thing which begins to appear at some time and ceases to appear afterwards, is really non-existent all the time. Thus continuity of existence without

change is the test of reality. It is also axiomatic that the Real is a thing that exists in Its own right, independently of other things.

The unreality of the world should be understood by us — so we are told by the Sage — by means of three analogies, namely the rope mistaken for a serpent, the waste land on which a mirage appears, and dreams. The Sage has told us that all the three analogies are necessary and should be taken together.

We thus understand that the world is not real as such, because it does not satisfy that test of reality given by the Sages.

The ancient lore is twofold. One part of it is addressed to those who are not conscious of being in ignorance, and therefore have no use for a teaching intended to dispel that ignorance. The other part of the ancient lore is addressed to those that are conscious of the ignorance and are in earnest to escape from it. These two parts are quite distinct.

Neither the mind nor the world is real. This is so, not only because they do not appear continuously, but also because they have no existence of their own, independently of the Reality, in which their risings and settings take place.

Our chief difficulty in accepting this teaching is this. We have become accustomed to the thought that the world exists outside of us, and that we ourselves are the body, or that we are the mind, which is in the body. We have also assumed that the mind is an exceedingly small thing as compared with the world, and that makes it difficult for us to conceive how this wide world can be in the mind, or can be one with the mind. (...)The simple solution of the difficulty lies in this, that all these assumptions are out-growths of the primary ignorance, the ego-sense, and are therefore discredited.

There is another argument for the objectivity of the world, namely, that it appears the same to all observers. (...)The Sage tells us that this argument is invalid, because it involves the false assumption that there are different observers. He explains the apparent ‘agreement among observers’ as being due to the fact that there is only one observer in all of them.

The truth is this. The mind itself by its own power of self-deception creates hypothetical world corresponding to its sensations, along with the container of the world, an ‘outside,’ — and projects it into the ‘outside’. This creation and projection are involuntary and unconscious processes, and hence the mind never questions the existence of an outside and of an objective world in this outside.

By its power of abstraction, the mind can impart to whatever it imagines a semblance of reality, by which it is itself deceived for the time being, just as in dreams. The sense of reality varies according to the concentration of the mind and the consequent vividness of the mental images created. When witnessing a wellplanned and well-acted play on a stage, we are deceived into a belief, however short-lived, that what we see is real. The same thing happens when we are reading a novel written by a great literary artist. In both these cases the characters and events have no real existence. But they rouse powerful emotions in us, because of the illusion of reality created by the artist and assisted by our own imagination.

Distinctions and variety are the very life and soul of the world-appearance. All these are the progeny, says the Sage, of the primal ignorance. Among these distinctions we find time and space.

Time and space are mental forms, coming into existence subjectively after the ego-sense.

The Sage tells us that we are neither the body nor the mind, but the eternal ‘I am’, which is unchangeable, and which runs like a thread through the succession of thoughts. (...)We should reject the varying thoughts that pass, and isolate the pure ‘I am’, which is the Self.

Individuality and the plurality of souls are illusions, the offspring of the ignorance ‘I am the body’. This very ignorance is the sole root of all sense of difference.

“The knower is ever greater than the known, and the seer than the seen.”

That which is known is in the knower, and that which is seen is in the seer; the vast expanse of the sky is in the mind, not outside, because the mind is everywhere and there is no outside to it.

The root of all these superstitions is the initial error of taking it for granted that one single body is the Self, and all the rest not-Self.

Forms are created by the very act of seeing. When we dream we fully believe that we are seeing an external world

composed of persons and things, extended in time and space, substantially similar to the waking world. This idea of externality is the cause of our taking the dream-world to be real; and this belief persists so long as we are dreaming. We have not the least doubt at that time that the dream-world is outside of us and real. (...)It is only when we awake that we are able to see that it was only a dream — that there was no external world, but only a mental image which was so vivid as to create the illusion of externality and reality.

Whether in dream or in waking, if one turns aside from the world and tries to see him that sees that world, the world and its seer would vanish together, and the Self alone would remain.

The mind, says the Sage of Arunachala, is nothing but the stream of thoughts that passes over Consciousness. Of all these thoughts, the first one is the thought ‘I am this body’. This is a false thought; but because it is taken as true, it is possible for other thoughts to arise. So the mind is just an outgrowth of the primary ignorance, and is therefore unreal.

6 – The Soul What then is this little self? The Sage tells us here that it is a hypothetical

being, a chimera of the mind, compounded of the light of Consciousness and the body. These two utterly unlike things are confused together; the result is this incongruous being called the individual soul, which says, ‘I am so-and-so’.

The thought ‘I am this body’ is the primary thought. It is like a thread on which all the other thoughts are strung. Hence the ego is indistinguishable from the mind. In fact the mind is but an expanded form of the ego.

We thus learn that the so-called soul is nothing but the ego, which is due to a confusion of two elements which are distinct and can never mix (...).The mixing up of the two, explains the Sage, is like a marriage contracted by a bachelor in a dream, where the bridegroom is real, but the bride is not; when the dreamer awakes, he finds himself as much a bachelor as before.

Since the mind has no existence apart from this spurious entity, the ego, it follows that all the creations of the mind, including ignorance and bondage, and the consequent conditioned existence consisting of enjoyment and suffering — which we call ‘life’ — are outgrowths of the ego, and partake of its unreality.

Thus the whole of this conditioned existence, which we call life, is founded on this lie, the individual soul.

This was clearly taught by the Sage Sankara as follows: “Only so long as there is an identification (effected by the mind) of the real Self with the intellect is there an appearance of individuality and of conditioned existence for that Self. But in reality there is no such being as the individual soul, other than the spurious entity imagined by the intellect. In the study of the Vedanta we do not find (support for the existence of) any conscious entity having an existence of its own, apart from the Supreme Being, who is ever-free and all-knowing.

The ego is the only source of all our life-experiences; they are what they are because of the ego.

The individual soul being unreal, it follows that there is no perceiver of the world. (...)If we accept the view that the spectacle, namely the world, is unreal in any sense, then we must also accept the view that the seer of the world is unreal in the same sense and to the same extent. The spectator is in fact an integral part of the world; both in waking and in dream the spectator and the spectacle form one single whole, appearing and vanishing together.

Just like the impostor in this parable is the ego. It is neither the real Self, nor the body; so long as no inquiry is made, the ego persists and enjoys the status of the real Self; but when an inquiry is made — when the quest of the real Self is begun and persisted in — it will vanish, leaving no trace.

Thus the ego is simply the ignorance that limits the real Self to a single body out of a multitude of bodies, all of which are its own creation.

Thus we have the curious result that the ego is itself bondage, as well as the sufferer from it. It follows from this that the ego is for ever debarred from113 the enjoyment of deliverance. How can bondage ever become free? Besides, in that

state, only what is utterly real can survive, and the ego is not real. Those that nourish the hope of winning Deliverance without losing individuality are doomed to disappointment.

We need to realise in all its implications the fact that the ego itself is the source of all the evil that besets life. But to most inquirers the ego is dear as life itself, because they think it is themselves, and do not want to lose it. They would rather suffer all the ills of life than be happy without it.

The higher the teaching, the greater are the evils due to its misapplication. Incompetent persons read the books, and assume that the ego itself, with all its vices, is infinite, allpowerful, and above the law of right and wrong.

“Thou art not the body, nor the senses, nor the mind, nor the vital force, nor the ego. Thou art That which will shine as the pure ‘I AM’ when, by the renunciation of the original sin* — which is just the notion of selfhood in these — and by the Quest of the real Self, the mind is utterly extinguished in the Heart and the world ceases to be seen.”

113 Debarred from = impedido de, proibido de.

What the Sage means is that the Reality transcends the mind, while creeds are purely mental. Therefore no creed can be a faithful description of the Reality.

We thus see that the ego is the primal seed of all this manifoldness — not only of the world of objects, but also of the world of ideas.

Do not to get entangled in the false belief that differences are real. We are told that whoever takes differences to be real shall die again and again. He that imagines the least difference between himself and the Truth shall be the victim of fear. Whatever is conceived by one as other than the Self has the power to deceive him.

While the ego-sense survives, the world appearance is inescapable. But though the ego is itself ignorance and the origin of all sin and

suffering, this ego has very great importance in our inquiry, because it holds the clue to the finding of the real Self.

The first step in the Quest of the real Self is to understand that Self is not

the body — physical or mental. Thus the ego itself is a proof that we exist. We are not the ego; we are

That from which the ego takes its rise. That must be found by seeking the Source of the ego.

The ego must become considerably attenuated for the teaching of the Sages to be understood.

The true meaning of the teaching is that though the soul as such is a non-entity, there is in it an element of reality, namely the light of consciousness proceeding from the real Self, and experienced by us as ‘I am’.

Since surrender is the culmination of devotion, the seeker of Deliverance needs to cherish devotion to the real Self. When this devotion becomes perfect, then it will be possible to enter on and persist in the Quest till success is won — till the real Self reveals Himself.

7 – God The truth about God is that He is no other than the real Self, otherwise

described as the Reality and as Pure Consciousness. As such He is not a Person, and is not related to the world of persons and things in any way. The relation of cause and effect, which is usually said to exist between the Reality and the world, is not real at all.

God, as He really is, is therefore nameless, formless and without attributes of any kind. If He had attributes, He would be in relativity, and therefore unreal.

The truth is, ignorance is no more an existing thing than its products, the world, the soul and God. Ignorance does not exist for the real Self. It is a mere hypothesis, which is used as a means of conveying the teaching. We have seen that

ignorance is no other than the ego, which has no existence at all. Hence ignorance, the origin of all creation, does not exist even now.

Rightly was it said by Gautama Buddha that “if there be not an unchanging and unchangeable Reality, there can be no Deliverance for us from samsara (relative existence).”

Personality means existence in one’s own right, as a being separate from all other beings. The claim to such existence is based on the ego-sense. The ego-mind is aware of itself as conscious and intelligent. This consciousness is not its own, but a minute fraction of the Consciousness which is the Self, just as the light of the image of the sun seen in a mirror is a minute fraction of the sun’s own light. The notion that the mind or soul is a conscious entity is described in the sacred lore and by the Sage as an act of theft. This theft has to be undone by surrendering to the Reality the mind, with the ego reflected in it, by understanding that the Reality is the Self.

8 – The Egoless State The Sage of Arunachala points out that the ego itself — the arch-enemy

of Happiness — is the parent of all doubts. He is raising them as a means of postponing the day of his own extinction. To entertain these doubts and waste our time and energies in seeking solutions for them is to play into the hands of the enemy. (...)Thus we have clear warning that an endless raising of doubts is just a means of giving a new lease of life to the ego.

To the perfectly ripe disciple — that is, one who is in profound earnest to win the Revelation of the Self — these questions are of no importance.

The state of egolessness is not nothingness; for the Self is there in His real Nature — as He really is, unlimited by the ego.

Taittiriya Upanishad tells us also that “he that finds that Self — who is concealed in the Heart — shall enjoy that profound happiness, which is the simultaneous fulfilment of all desires.”

The Egoless State is the negation of all these three states. Our own Sage tells us that this world of waking is one indivisible whole,

so that we should either take the whole as ourselves — if we can — or renounce the whole as an illusion.

The fact is that the world has no existence apart from the body. So the whole world is our body — a creation and projection of the egomind — just as it is in dreams.

There are five bodies, or rather five sheaths, covering the indwelling Self and concealing him. All these put together make up the body; and hence so long as one or more of these sheaths are left, the self is not bodiless, and hence can see a world corresponding to the remaining sheaths. (...) Hence in every case, where a world is seen, there is also a body for the ego.

We are mistaken in our supposition that dreamless sleep is empty of all consciousness. When this question was raised by someone, the Sage said: “You say so after waking from sleep. You do not do so in sleep itself. That in you which now

says that sleep is unconsciousness is your mind. But it was not present in your sleep, so it is natural for the mind to be ignorant of the consciousness there is in sleep. Not having experienced sleep, it is unable to remember what it was like, and makes mistakes about it. The state of deep sleep is beyond the mind.”

The Sage continued: “When you awake from sleep you say ‘I slept

happily and feel refreshed.’ So sleep was your experience. He that remembers the happiness of sleep — saying ‘I slept happily’ — cannot be other than the one that experienced that happiness. The two are one and the same.”

[Conversation between the Maharshi and a visitor.]“It would be selfishness for anyone to remain in that State, enjoying happiness, especially if he did nothing to contribute to the happiness of the world.” “You are told about this State so that you may win that State and thereby realise the truth that the world has no existence apart from your Self. When you realize this, the word ‘selfishness’ will have no meaning, since the world will be merged in the Self.” “Does the Sage know that there are wars and suffering in the world? If he does, how can he be happy?” “If a picture of a flood or a fire passes over a cinema screen, does it affect the screen? The real Self is just like this screen. He is unaffected by the events of the world. Suffering is possible only while there is distinction between subject and object. This distinction does not exist in the Egoless State.

Thus we have ample proof that there is a continuing self of some sort in sleep. That that self is not the soul, but the real Self of the Upanishads, is what we learn from the Sages. From our experience of sleep we learn also that the true Self can exist without the body and the mind; there being no body of any kind in sleep, there is no ego-sense in it.

The Anandamaya is not to be confounded with Ananda, which is the real Self in the Egoless State, not veiled by bodies or sheaths. The Sage tells us that the last sheath is only hypothetical, invented for the purposes of teaching.

This Sat is also Chit, Consciousness. For nothing is real that does not exist in its own right. Whatever has no consciousness can exist only by consciousness. That is why the Sages say that the world is mental.

Consciousness, therefore, is not to be understood as a mere attribute of the real Self, but as Its very essence. This Consciousness is manifest as the ‘I am’, the common factor of all thoughts and of all perceptions. (...) Consciousness alone exists; there is nothing else.

This Supreme Consciousness, say the Upanishads, existed alone in the beginning — when all this universe did not exist. It created out of itself the bodies of creatures, and Itself entered into them as soul. This becoming or creation is not to be taken as an event that happened actually; we shall see that presently.

Mind is just a mysterious power of the Self, by which the One Self appears as many. Only when the mind rises, do the three — God, the soul and the world — appear.

Egolessness is impersonality. (...) Personality seems to be something, and impersonality nothing. But that is because we do not easily see that personality is limitation to a body, while impersonality is just the absence of all limitation. In both there is the same Consciousness. Personality is consciousness cabined, cribbed and confined, and Impersonality is Consciousness as It really is, unconfined, infinite and pure. (...) Impersonality is Consciousness undiminished.

The Sage tells us that unhappiness is no other than this separation of the mind from the Self, and that happiness is just the return of the mind to its Source, the Self. The mind is active as mind when it is separate from the Self. To become aware of anything is to disconnect the mind from the Self, and that is unhappiness. Not to be aware of things or thoughts is happiness. For then we are the Self.

Happiness is the very nature of that Self, and hence the Egoless State is the one thing that is desirable, beyond all comparison with anything that there is in relativity.

The world did not come into existence from the Reality. The latter is wholly unrelated to the former.

The consequence is that we can only know what the Self is not, never what the Self is. In the final teaching, no attempt is made to tell us anything about the positive content of the State. (...)“he that speaks about It has not seen It; he that

has seen It does not speak.” For a very very small price — the surrender of the ego — this infinitely

great One, the Self, is to be had. But this small price has to be paid. No one is afraid to go to sleep, says the Sage, though it is egoless. So

why should one be afraid to lose the ego — the cause of all Fear — once for all, and thereby win Fearlessness?

Really, as the Sages testify, this ego-ridden existence is death — the only death there is — because it keeps us in perpetual exile from our true Life, namely the real Self; having lost That, we have lost all.

[About Siddhis] To the genuine seeker of the Self they sometimes come unsought, before he attains egolessness; in that case they are to him a snare114; he must renounce them, and after they pass from him, must begin over again.

The Sage is not aware of having become free. Once he was asked when

he became free. He replied: “Nothing has happened to Me; I am as I have always been”.

114 Snare = armadilha.

9 – The Quest The Sage explained it thus: “The ego cannot be subjugated by one that

takes it to be real. It is just like one’s own shadow. (...)He can get rid of it only by looking away from it, at himself, the original of the shadow. Then the shadow will not worry him. The seekers of Deliverance are like the man in this parable. They fail to see that the ego is but a shadow of the Self. What they have to do is to turn away from it, towards the Self, of which it is the shadow.”

We have seen already that the ego has an element of reality mixed up in it, namely the light of Consciousness, manifest as ‘I am’. This ‘I am’, we know, is real, because it is the part that is constant and unchanging. We need to reject the unreal part, the sheaths or bodies, and take the remainder, the pure ‘I am’. This ‘I am’ is a clue to the finding of the real Self. By holding on to this clue, the Sage tells us, we can surely find the Self. (...)It is the only clue the seeker has for finding the Self. But it is an infallible clue. He must get and keep hold of it, fix his mind on it to the exclusion of all other things. It will then surely take his mind to the Self, the source of the ‘I am’.

“(...) I can reject these as not myself, because they are objects seen by me. I cannot reject this ‘I am’, because it is that from which body and mind are rejected. Hence the ‘I am’ is the truth of Me. All else is not I.”

The strength of the mind consists in its freedom from distraction by the multiplicity of thoughts that usually arise and dissipate its energies; and it is unquestionable that only a strong mind can reach the goal, never a weak one.

“You are told that the ego is not your real Self; if you accept it, then you have only to search for and find that which is your real Self, the real being of which the ego is a false appearance. Why then do you meditate ‘I am That’? That only gives a fresh lease of life to the ego. It is like some one trying to avoid ‘thinking of the monkey when taking medicine’; by the very act of trying he admits the thought. The source or truth of the ego must be traced and found. Meditating ‘I am That’ is of no use; for meditation is by the mind, and the Self is beyond the mind. (...)”

The Quest of the real Self consists in gathering together all the energies of body and mind by banishing all alien thoughts, and then directing all those energies into a single current, namely the resolve to find the answer to the question ‘Who am I?’. The question may also take the form of ‘Whence am I?’. ‘Who am I?’ means ‘What is the Truth of me?’; ‘Whence am I?’ means ‘What is the Source of the sense of self in the ego?’

[The formless ‘I am’] By the force of the resolve in this Quest the consciousness is reduced to and kept steadily in this formless state, and by this the vicious circle is broken and the Egoless State is won.

The seeker must be devoted to the finding of the real Self — the source of the ‘I am’ in the ego — by the ingathering of all the vital and mental energies and directing them Heartwards. The resolve to find the Self is the dynamic element in the Quest, without which there can be no diving into the Heart; the question ‘Who

am I?’, or ‘Whence am I?’, implies this resolve. To him that so dives, says the Sage, success is assured; for then, says he, some mysterious force arises from within and takes possession of his mind and takes it straight to the Heart; if the seeker be pure of mind and free from love of individuality he would yield himself unreservedly to this force and get the highest of all rewards; for whatever a man is devoted to, that he gets, and there is nothing higher than the real Self. He that has not this perfect devotion will need to practise the Quest repeatedly till the mind becomes pure and strong, or to practise some kind of meditation or devotion to God.

Devotion implies renunciation, which means nonattachment to the unreal; so we are taught by the Sages; he that is greatly devoted to any one thing is so far indifferent to other things; he that is devoted to the Self that is inside is so far indifferent to the world that is outside. (...) Renunciation strengthens the mind and ensures success in the Quest; this we know from common worldly experience; whoever is devoted to any worldly end renounces of his own accord whatever stands in the way, and gains his end.

If the seeker has not the needful strength of devotion, so that the breathing does not stop of itself, he is advised to bring about suspension of the breath by the simple method of watching the breathing process.

The seeker of the real Self must have as much perseverance and patience as is involved in attempting to dry up the ocean by removing water from it drop by drop.

Every alien thought that arises in the Quest and is quelled adds to the mind’s strength, says the Sage, and thus takes the seeker one step nearer to his goal.

When the seeker has persisted long enough in the Quest, and the power from within has arisen and taken possession of the mind, the Heart is quickly reached; that is to say, the mind becomes reduced to the state of pure Consciousness.

The Sage recommends also meditation of the pure ‘I am’ or ‘I’ — ‘Aham’

— as an equivalent of the Quest. From this we may understand, that to the extent we realise that the Self is

not the doer, it is not necessary for the earnest seeker to retire from his worldly activities — to become a recluse or hermit — in order to prosecute this Quest: he may just allow the mind and the senses to do their work automatically, remembering that he himself is not the doer; all the time he may be active in the Quest, or in meditation, just as one thinks while walking.

The Sage tells us that dissolution of the mind in the Self is accomplished by steadily cultivating the knowledge that the mind is but a phantom of the Self, and that this can be done while going through one’s everyday activities. These activities can thus be utilised as a preparation for the Quest.

A great power for good, which the disciple must utilise wherever possible, is the society of Sages.

Reflection on the truth of Advaita tends to dissolve the ego and develop devotion to the Truth. But action from the Advaitic standpoint is suicidal, because the enemy would be in charge of such action. While ignorance is alive, duality

persists in appearing as real, because of the ego-sense, and truly Advaitic action is impossible. The Sage alone can put Advaita into action, because he is egoless. Hence the sacred lore and also the Sage advise us to restrict our activities and not to extend them, so as to give as little scope as possible for the ego to frustrate our efforts.

Devotion to the Guru as God incarnate is proper and necessary, as we shall see later. Until one becomes egoless, therefore, it would be unwise to try to look upon the Guru as oneself, because the actual result will be something quite different.

[Verses from Lakshmana Sarma`s Guru Ramana Vachana Mala.] “Forgetting (the Self) is verily Death; therefore for him that is out to

conquer Death by the Quest, the one rule to fulfil is not to forget.” “Until the ego dies finally, humility alone is good for the sadhaka; he

should never accept homage done to him by others.” “For one that is devoted to the Highest, it is better to be in a worldly

condition to be pitied by men, than in one that would cause envy.” “Indifference all round, with the mind serene, without desire and without

hate, is the beautiful way of life for sadhakas.” “To be unattached and at peace, resigning all burden to God the

Almighty, is the highest tapas.” “As the magnetic needle swerves not from the north, so those that have

their minds devoted to God do not swerve from the right path through illusion.”115 “Never give way to anxiety, thinking ‘When shall I attain this State?’ It is

beyond space and time, and therefore is neither far nor near.” “The notion ‘I am an unstable soul’ has arisen by letting go one’s

immovable Nature. The sadhaka should cast off this notion and rest in the Supreme Silence.”

“This is the device for overcoming the capricious nature of the mind. Look upon all that is perceived and on the perceiver as the real Self.”

“As a thorn that is used for taking out a thorn, should be thrown aside, so a good thought, that is useful for driving out an evil thought, should also be given up.”

“As one dives into the sea with a (heavy) stone and takes out pearls, so one should dive with non-attachment into the Heart and gain the Self.”

In [the practice of] the four Yogas the follower takes the ego to be

himself, and thus attributes to the Self some one or other of the defects that appear in himself because of the conclusion. (...) All the Yogas are included in the Quest.

115 GVK, 734.

10 – The Sage The Sage observes the rule enunciated in the Gita (3.26) that no one’s

faith should be disturbed. Therefore when ardent dualists are present, the Sage is very careful in what he says. He does not, while they are present, give out clear Advaitic teaching. But as soon as the dualists go out, he turns round to the Advaitis that remain, and apologetically explains to them that he had to water down the teaching to suit the dualists.

To be able to recognise a Sage one must be a genuine devotee of the real Self. This implies a refinement of understanding, a humbleness of spirit and other virtues. Deliverance consists in the reduction to nothingness of what is always nothing; the threefold false appearance is unreal even now, but appears as real through ignorance.

This non-perception of differences is twofold, as nonperception of difference between oneself and others and nonperception of difference among others. The former is manifested by the Sage’s indifference to praise and censure. The latter is seen in what is termed the ‘equal eye’.

While even a trace of egoism remains, the hearing of praise or censure will automatically cause a sense of pleasure or pain.

Equal vision does not consist in acting as if all human beings are equal, as such. Not equality, but unity, is the teaching, and that can be realised only by oneself becoming egoless. In this connection we may remember the caution against applying the teaching of Non-difference in action.

“It is wrongly said by the ignorant that the Sage sees difference, but enjoys non-difference in them. The truth is that he does not see difference at all.”

Disciples ought not, we are told, to entertain the notion that the Sage is embodied. In the same book it is said: “Understand that he that regards as really embodied, the Sage, his Guru — who appears like a human being, but who is really Infinite Consciousness — is sinful and of impure mind.”

Thus we have to conclude that the Sage does not see the world and has no part or lot in it. What seem to us to be his activities are not therefore really his. Being egoless and mindless, he does not will those actions. The self-same power, by which the activities of all creatures are prompted and sustained, is behind those of the Sage also, with this difference, that while the ignorant think they themselves are the doers, the Sage does not think so. He acts automatically as a sleepy child eats, when roused and fed by his mother. If agency has to be ascribed to somebody, let it rather be ascribed to God, than to the Sage, because while God is in one point of view the regulator of the world, the Sage has nothing to do with the world.

The real Self is never an agent. Agency is ascribed to him only through ignorance.

The socalled mind of a Sage is not really mind, but Pure Consciousness. Since the Sage is mindless, he is in no way related to the world and its

affairs. That is the essence of his being free. He does not feel obliged to do certain

things or not to do certain other things. Whatever he does, he does spontaneously and automatically, without fore-thought, as one would do that has no mind.

11 – Devotion What we learn from the saints is not the pure Truth, but truth in relativity.

But because the way followed by the saints leads ultimately to Egolessness, therefore the Sages freely approve of that way, though they do not approve of the narrowness and crudity of the utterances of many of the saints.

To attribute name and form to the Reality, thereby adding personality to It and making It into what we call God — is quite proper and necessary as a means of mental purification.

A certain degree of egolessness is implicit in devotion, and character is proportional to the degree of one’s egolessness. Hence one should devote some attention to the improvement of character. This, of course, is necessary for all — for seekers of the Self, as well as for devotees. (...) Hence regulation of conduct is necessary for him that aspires to the highest good. In the ancient lore we are told that he that would find the Truth must have eschewed wrong-doing, subdued his passions

and attained mental harmony. Truth and goodness are essentially the same. (...) The seeker must have what it calls the ‘godly endowment’ in order to reach the goal; this includes ‘fearlessness, clear thinking, meditativeness, readiness to give, control of mind and body, reverence to whatever is holy, love of truth, straightforwardness, non-injury, forbearance, not telling tales, compassion, freedom from greed, gentleness, shrinking from wrong-doing, not being capricious.

Devotion is already there in all men; it only needs to be refined and directed to proper objects; when directed to ignoble objects it is called attachment; but when it is diverted from them and fixed on holy objects or ends it is called devotion.

A legendary devotee named Prahlada, we are told, prayed thus: “May I ever bear unto Thee the love wich the ignorant bear to the means of pleasure they find in the world.”

Devotion should not be conceived as a means to some end. In the Quest of the Truth also there is duality till the Source is reached.

So too it is in devotion. “(...) But there is another kind of man who turns round and says: ‘There

are two, God and I; before knowing God who is far off, let me know the closer one, myself’; for him the Quest is prescribed. Really devotion and the Quest are the same.” On another occasion the Sage said to someone: “God is as real as you are.”

The point is that when one thinks one is not equal to the enterprise of finding the Self it is an enormous advantage to one if one believes in God and becomes inspired with devotion to Him.

So, a theoretical knowledge of the Truth of Non-duality, far from being a bar to devotion, is actually a great aid to it. Convinced Non-dualists have been sincere and ardent devotees. (...) There is no practical incompatibility between that Truth and devotion. In fact the Unity is in the transcendental State, while devotion is in relativity.

The advaiti or Non-dualist gives to God the whole of his love, whereas the Dvaiti (or Dualist) gives Him only a part. The self is the dearest of all things, as the Upanishads say, because whatever is dear to us is so for the sake of the Self, not for its own sake. When the two are taken as two, then love is necessarily divided. When the two are one, the love is undivided.

The greatness of God as God is in relativity — in Maya — but the Nature of God as the Self is the Absolute Truth, beyond Maya.

Devotion consists in the spontaneous turning of the mind to God; this can be only when one finds happiness in thoughts of God. (...)Devotion therefore is a form of emotion, a mode of feeling; it has different levels. (...)Being essentially a poet, the devotee has all the weakness and all the strength of that tribe; he is often guilty of extravagances, but he is also susceptible to inspiration.

The Sage can be a Saint, but it is hard for the Saint to be also a Sage. (...) When love is perfect then the Saint becomes a Sage.

There is therefore not the least difference in respect of the final goal between the devotee and the seeker of the real Self. The call of the real Self comes to the lover of the Truth in one form and to the lover of God the devotee, in another form; that is all the difference. (...)The goal that is attained by the seeker through the Quest is attained by the devotee through self-surrender.

Self-surrender is the condition of the perfect working of Grace. (...)The surrenderer, says the Sage, need not worry about his own good and evil actions of the past; their reactions would not work to his disadvantage; for Grace would dispose of them so as to turn them to his advantage.

“All that one needs to do is to surrender oneself to the Source of oneself. There is no need to get confused by calling that Source God and assuming that it is somewhere outside. One’s Source is within oneself. To that Source the surrender should be made; that is, one should seek that Source and by the very force of that

search merge into It. The question ‘Where is the Source?’ can arise only if it be thought that the Self is different from the Source. If the ego becomes merged into its Source, then there is no ego, no individual soul; that is, the seeker becomes one with the Source. That being the case, where is surrendering? Who is to surrender and to whom? And what is there to be surrendered? This loss of individuality — which even now does not really exist — is devotion, wisdom and the Quest.”

“The Vaishnava Saint Nammazhvar sang as follows: ‘Not knowing the truth of myself I was deluded by the ideas ‘I’ and ‘mine’; but when I came to know myself I knew also that Thou art both I and mine.’ So true devotion is to know oneself aright.”

“To think of yourself as something separate from the Source, namely God, is itself theft; for by this you appropriate what belongs to God.” (...)What is really meant by the term self-surrender is just the cessation of this theft, by the recognition by the devotee that he himself has no separate existence.

“If the surrender be real, then who is there remaining, able to question

God’s doing?” (...) Self-surrender must be without reservations and without conditions; there is no room in it for bargaining.

By the first simile we are reminded that the so-called individual soul has no consciousness of its own, and therefore does not really bear the burdens of life, which are borne by God alone. By the second simile we are shown that he that will not surrender himself to God’s grace has to suffer worries without end, while the devotee that cultivates the attitude of surrender is free from cares, and therefore happy, even now.

12 – Some more Sayings of the Sage “Truth of the Self is too simple for the generality of men. (...)The mature

mind alone can grasp and accept the simple and naked truth.” Original sin: According to all the Sages the ego-life is not truly life, but

death. Fate or Free-will, which determines one’s life? “One must know the

truth of him that seems to be affected, or not affected, by fate. (...)Fate has a beginning — a cause — and that is action; and that cannot be without a free-will; free-will being therefore the first cause, it is the predominant factor, and by cultivating free-will one can conquer fate.” Cultivating free-will implies the process of inquiry and the Quest taught by the Sage.

Is not a Guru necessary? “A teacher would be needed if one had to learn something new; but this is a case of unlearning.”

How to overcome the worries of life? Sage asked: “Do these worries affect you in sleep?” The visitor admitted that they did not. The Sage asked him again: “Are you the very same man now, or are you different from him that slept without any worry?” “Yes, I am the same person.” The Sage then said: “Then surely those worries do not belong to you. It is your own fault if you assume that they are yours.”

Meditation and Mind-control. “When meditation is well established it can no more be given up; it will go on automatically even during work, play and other activities. It will go on even in sleep.”

“When camphor burns, no residue is left. The mind must be like camphor; it must melt away and be wholly consumed by the earnest resolve to find and be the real Self; by this resolve the ‘Who am I?’ Quest becomes efficacious. When the mind is thus consumed — when no trace of it as mind is left — it has become resolved into the Self.”

Being asked how one can find his Guru, the Sage said: “By intense meditation.”

“When the Self is realised, then samadhi can neither be attempted nor given up.”

“Meditation is impeded by vasanas (proclivities or affinities of the mind); hence it becomes effective through the progressive weakening of the vasanas.

“People ask me how to control the mind. I reply: ‘Show me the mind.’ The mind is no more than the series of thoughts. How can it be controlled by one of those thoughts, namely the desire to control the mind? It is foolish to seek to end the mind by the mind itself. The only way is to find the mind’s Source and keep hold of It. Then the mind will fade away of itself. (...) There are just two ways of controlling the mind. Either seek its Source, or surrender it to be struck down by the Supreme Power.”

“If the mind refuses to help in seeking the Source, let it go and wait for its return; then turn it inwards. No one succeeds without patient perseverance.”

How to endure Grief. “By turning the mind inwards one can overcome the worst of griefs. Grief is possible only when one thinks of oneself as a body.”

“Find out to whom the thoughts belong. Ask wherefrom they arise. They must spring from the Self, which is Consciousness.”

How should we act in the world? “One should act in the world like an actor on the stage. In all actions there is in the background the real Self as the underlying principle; remember that and act.”

Intellect. “The intellect cannot help imagining the Self as being of the size and shape of the body.”

“Nothing that is seen is real.” On seeing God. “Seeing objects and conceiving God in them are mental

processes. But that is not seeing God, because He is within.” The expression ‘seeing God in all things’ means the understanding that God is the Reality on which the world-appearance is imposed.”

How to make the Quest, ‘Who am I?’ “The way is subjective, not objective; so it cannot and need not be shown by another. Is it necessary to show anyone the way inside his own house? If the seeker keeps his mind still, that will be enough.”

Answer to the Question, ‘Who am I?’ “An answer that comes in and by the mind is no answer at all.” The answer is the Egoless State.

On Eternal Life. “Forgetting the Self is Death. Remembering It is Life. You desire eternal life. Why? Because the present life (in relativity) is unbearable. Why is it so? Because it is not your real Nature. You are in truth the pure Spirit; but you identify It with a body, which is a projection of the mind, an objectified thought, and the mind in its turn has originated from the pure Spirit. (...) Life in the body is conditioned life. But you are Life Unconditioned. You will recover your true nature as Unconditioned Life, if the idea ‘I am the body’ dies”.

Can the Self be lost? “Misery is due to the great multitude of discordant thoughts that prevail in the mind. If all the thoughts be replaced by one single thought, there will be no misery. Then even the sense of doership and the consequent expectation of the results of actions will cease.”

The True State. “Your duty is simply TO BE — not to be this or that. When the ‘I’ flies off at a tangent, saying ‘I am this’, it is egoism, ignorance. When it shines as the pure ‘I’ it is the real Self.”

Heroism. “When the ‘I’ rises, it itself becomes both subject and object. When the ‘I’ does not rise (as ego), there is neither subject, nor object. For the ripe one, no more needs to be said; knowing this, he turns his mind inward, away from all this.”

Is the Self the Witness? “The idea of the Self being the Witness is in the mind. It may be useful for helping to still the mind’s restlessness. But it is not the absolute Truth of the Self. Witnessing is relative to objects witnessed. Both the witness and his object are mental creations.”

Samadhi and Ecstasy. “In Samadhi itself there is only perfect Peace. Ecstasy comes when the mind revives at the end of Samadhi, with the remembrance of the Peace of Samadhi.”

Washing off the mind’s impurities. “The Experience of the Self (Jnana) will Itself wash off all the impurities of the mind.”

On Annihilating Karma. “The more you seek to annihilate Karma, the more will it increase. You should seek the root of Karma, the ego, and destroy it.”

Birth-Control versus Morality. Question: “Is birthcontrol inimical to morality?” Answer: “The Maha Bharata says that the more one yields to desire, the more insatiable it will become.”

Waking and dream compared. “If by Experience of the True Self he comes to know that the world is but a thought-form, it will cease to interest him.”

Renouncing family-ties. “In sleep you were not aware of ‘your family.’ And you are the same being now. But now you are aware of the family and feel that it binds you, and think of renouncing it. Do the members of ‘your’ family bind you to themselves, or do you bind yourself to them? It is enough if you give up the thought ‘This is my family’. Thoughts change, but not you. Keep hold of the unchanging you. To do so, you do not need to stop the mind’s thinking. Just remember the Source of the thoughts and be in earnest to find It.”

Surrender. “The sacred lore is of value only so long as one does not turn inwards, in the Quest of the Self. As soon as he does so, all that he has learnt of it will be forgotten and lost.”

On being firm and unaffected. Criticising the outlook which says ‘I am like froth on the Ocean of Consciousness,’ the Sage said: “To think so is the root of all worries, and should be given up. The Self is the Ocean and the world and the souls are the froth on it. If one knows and remembers this always, then one will be firm and free from doubts and worries. This truth is verified by diving into the Heart by the Quest.”

Auto-inquirição Capítulo 7 do livro “The Path of Sri Ramana”, de Sri Sadhu Om

Tradução para o português: Ana Lucia Fonte Revisão da tradução: Giovanni Dienstmann Ao ouvirem a expressão “Auto-inquirição” (atma-vichara), as pessoas

geralmente acham que seu significado é investigar dentro do Eu, ou sobre o Eu. Mas como fazer isso? Quem é que investiga dentro do Eu, ou quem é que investiga sobre o Eu? O que a inquirição realmente significa? Essas questões surgem naturalmente, não é mesmo?

Logo que ouvimos os termos “Atma-vichara” ou “Brahma-vichara”,

muitos de nós naturalmente consideram que exista algum tipo de efulgência ou um poder sem forma dentro do nosso corpo e que nós vamos descobrir o que ele é, onde ele está, e como ele é. Essa idéia não está correta, porque o Eu Real (atman) não existe como um objeto a ser conhecido por nós que buscamos conhecê-lo! Como o Eu Real brilha como a verdadeira natureza daquele que tenta conhecê-Lo, a Auto-inquirição não significa investigar dentro de um objeto de segunda ou terceira pessoa. É a fim de nos fazer compreender isso desde o início que Bhagavan Ramana chamou a Auto-inquirição de “Quem sou eu?”, assim conduzindo nossa atenção diretamente para a primeira pessoa. Nesta pergunta “Quem sou eu?”, “Eu sou” denota o Eu Real e “quem” significa a inquirição.

Quem é que vai investigar dentro Eu Real? Para quem é necessária essa

inquirição? É para o Eu Real? Não. Como o Eu Real é o sempre-atingido, o sempre-puro, o sempre-liberto e sempre-abençoado TODO, Ele não fará nenhuma inquirição, e nem precisa fazê-lo! Tudo bem, então é somente o ego que precisa fazer a inquirição. Esse ego pode conhecer o Eu Real? Como foi dito nos capítulos anteriores, esse ego é uma falsa aparência, não tendo existência própria. Ele é um

insignificante e ínfimo sentimento de “eu”, que se aquieta e perde sua forma no sono profundo. Então, pode o Eu Real se tornar um objeto a ser conhecido pelo ego? Não, o ego não pode conhecer o Eu Real! Assim, quando se percebe que a Auto-inquirição é desnecessária para o Eu Real, e que o Auto-conhecimento é impossível para o ego, surgem as perguntas: “Qual é, então, o método prático de fazer a Auto-inquirição? Por que esse termo ‘Auto-inquirição’ é encontrado nas escrituras?” Não devemos examinar essas questões e descobrir? Então vamos fazê-lo.

Existe uma diferença entre o sentido no qual o termo “inquirição” é usado

por Sri Bhagavan e o sentido no qual as escrituras o usam. As escrituras advogam a negação dos cinco revestimentos, que são o corpo, o prana (as forças vitais e a respiração), a mente, o intelecto e a escuridão da ignorância, como “não Eu, não Eu” (neti, neti). Mas quem é que os negará, e como? Se for a mente (ou o intelecto), ela pode negar, na melhor das hipóteses, somente o corpo físico insenciente e o prana, que são os objetos percebidos por ela. Além desses, como pode a mente negar a si mesma, sua própria forma? E quando ela não pode nem mesmo negar a si mesma, como pode negar os outros dois revestimentos, o intelecto (vijnanamaya kosa) e a escuridão da ignorância (anandamaya kosa), que estão além de seu campo de percepção? Durante a prática da inquirição, portanto, o que mais a mente pode fazer para permanecer como o Eu Real exceto repetir mentalmente, “Eu não sou este corpo, Eu não sou este prana?”. A partir disso, fica claro que a “inquirição” não é um processo de uma coisa investigando sobre uma outra coisa. Por essa razão é que a inquirição “Quem sou eu?” ensinada por Sri Bhagavan deve ser entendida como significando Auto-atenção (isto é, a atenção voltada somente à primeira pessoa, o sentimento “eu”).

A natureza da mente é sempre voltar-se para outras coisas que não ela

própria, isto é, conhecer somente segunda e terceira pessoas. Dessa forma, se a mente se volta para uma coisa, significa que ela está aderindo (se apegando) a essa coisa. A atenção em si mesma é apego! Como a mente pensa sobre o corpo e o prana – embora com a intenção de decidir “isto não sou eu, isto não sou eu” – tal atenção é somente um meio de se tornar apegada a eles e não pode ser um meio de negá-los! Isso é o que qualquer verdadeiro aspirante experimenta em sua prática. Então, qual é o segredo oculto nisso?

Como, quer nós saibamos ou não, o Eu Real - que agora é erroneamente

considerado por nós como sendo desconhecido - é verdadeiramente a nossa realidade, a própria natureza de nossa atenção (a atenção do Supremo Eu) é em si mesma a Graça (anugraha). Isso significa que qualquer coisa para a qual voltamos

nossa atenção, testemunhamos1, observamos ou olhamos, essa coisa é nutrida e florescerá, sendo abençoada pela Graça. Embora agora você possa pensar que é uma alma individual, como o poder da atenção do indivíduo não passa de um reflexo do “poder conhecedor” (chit-shakti) do Eu Real, aquilo sobre o qual ele cai ou é fixado é nutrido pela Graça e floresce mais e mais! Portanto, quanto mais o poder da atenção da mente for dirigido aos objetos de segunda e terceira pessoa, tanto mais a força (kriya-bala) para voltar-se para aqueles objetos, quanto a ignorância – o conhecimento dos cinco sentidos na forma de pensamentos sobre eles – crescerão, e não diminuirão! Nós já não dissemos que todos os nossos pensamentos não são nada mais do que atenção voltada para os objetos de segunda e terceira pessoas? Conseqüentemente, quanto mais nos voltarmos para a mente, mais os pensamentos – que são as formas (os objetos de segunda e terceira pessoa) do mundo –se multiplicarão e serão alimentados. Isso é realmente um obstáculo. Quanto mais nossa atenção – o olhar da Graça (anugraha-drishti) – voltar-se para a mente, mais sua natureza dispersiva e seu domínio crescerão. É por isso que é impossível para a mente negar qualquer coisa pensando2 “Eu não sou isto, Eu não sou isto” (neti,

neti). Por outro lado, se nossa atenção (a atenção do Eu Real) é direcionada somente para nós mesmos, apenas o conhecimento da nossa existência é nutrido, e como não é dada atenção à mente, ela é privada de sua força, do suporte de nossa Graça. “Quando deixados parados sem uso, o ferro e a maldade enferrujam” – de acordo com esse provérbio Tâmil, como a atenção não está voltada para as sementes de vasanas

3, cuja natureza é surgir furtiva e maldosamente, todas elas têm que permanecer quietas, e assim elas secam como sementes privadas de água, e se tornam fracas demais para germinarem e crescerem sob a forma de plantas-

1 A prática de testemunhar pensamentos e eventos, que é muito recomendada hoje em dia pelos oradores e escritores, nunca foi recomendada mesmo que minimamente por Sri Bhagavan. Na verdade, quando Ele era perguntado sobre o que deveria ser feito quando os pensamentos surgem (isto é, quando a atenção é desviada para a segunda ou terceira pessoas) durante a sadhana, Ele sempre respondia do mesmo modo como fez para Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai no “Who am I?”, onde Ele diz, “Se outros pensamentos surgem, você deve, sem tentar completá-los, perguntar ‘Para quem eles surgiram?’. O que importa que muitos pensamentos surjam? No exato momento em que cada pensamento surge, se você vigilantemente perguntar ‘Para quem isso surgiu?’, a resposta será ‘Para mim’. Se então você perguntar ‘Quem sou eu?’, a mente (nosso poder de atenção) retornará (do pensamento) para sua fonte (o Eu Real)”. Além do mais, quando mais tarde Ele diz no mesmo trabalho, “Não voltar-se para o que-é-outro (isto é, para qualquer segunda ou terceira pessoa) é não-apego (vairagya) ou ausência de desejos (nirasa)”, nós devemos compreender claramente que voltar-se para (testemunhar, olhar, observar ou ver) qualquer outra coisa além do Eu Real é em si mesmo apego, e quando entendermos assim nós perceberemos quão sem sentido e inábeis são as instruções tais como “Observe todos os pensamentos e eventos com desapego” ou “Testemunhe seus pensamentos, mas não se apegue a eles”, que são ensinadas pelos assim chamados gurus dos dias de hoje. 2 É por isso que os aspirantes que, a fim de destruir pensamentos ruins como desejos ardentes, raiva e assim por diante, lutam contra eles, e desse modo, pensam sobre eles, falham em seus esforços; enquanto que os aspirantes que praticam a Auto-inquirição, voltam toda a sua atenção para o Eu Real, com uma atitude de indiferença em relação a esses pensamentos ruins, e assim os ultrapassam facilmente. 3 Predisposições, hábitos e tendências latentes.

pensamentos. Então, quando o fogo do Auto-conhecimento (jnana) queimar, essas tendências (vasanas), como lenha bem seca, sucumbirã a ele. Essa é a única forma de efetivar a destruição total de todas as tendências (vasanakshaya).

Se nos dizem “Abandone o leste”, o modo hábil de fazer isso é fazê-lo

como se tivesse sido dito, “Vá para o oeste!” Da mesma maneira, quando nos dizem “Descartem os cinco revestimentos, que não são o Eu Real”, o modo hábil de descartar o não-Eu é focar nossa atenção em nós mesmos: “O que é este Eu?” ou “Quem sou eu?”. Pensar “Eu não sou isto, nem isto” (neti, neti), é um método negativo. Sabendo que esse método negativo é tão inábil quanto dizer “Tome o remédio sem pensar em um macaco”4, Sri Bhagavan nos mostrou o modo inteligente de tomar o remédio sem pensar em um macaco, nos dando a chave, “Tome o remédio pensando em um elefante”, isto é, Ele substituiu o antigo método negativo pelo método positivo “Quem sou eu?”

“...Verdadeiramente, o ego é tudo! Por isso a inquirição ‘O que ele é?’ (em outras palavras, ‘Quem sou eu, este ego?’) é a verdadeira desistência (renúncia) de tudo, Saiba que é assim!” “Ulladhu Narpadhu (Quarenta Versos sobre a Realidade) ”, verso 28

Verdadeiramente, tudo (isto é, os cinco revestimentos e suas projeções – todos esses mundos) é o ego. Então, prestar atenção ao sentimento “eu”, perguntando “O que ele é?” ou “Quem é este eu?”, é a única forma de renunciar, descartar, eliminar, ou negar os cinco revestimentos. Assim Bhagavan Ramana declarou categoricamente que somente a Auto-atenção é a técnica correta de eliminar os cinco revestimentos!

Sendo assim, com que finalidade as escrituras usaram o termo

“inquirição” para indicar o método “não isto, não isto?” (neti-neti). Por acaso pelo método de “não isto, não isto”, nós não podemos formular intelectualmente (isto é, através de paroksha) o teste dado no quarto parágrafo do capítulo 4 deste livro, “Uma coisa certamente não é o ‘eu’ se é possível para alguém experimentar ‘eu sou’ mesmo na ausência dessa coisa”? Enquanto existir o conhecimento equivocado “Eu sou o corpo” relativo aos cinco revestimentos ou três corpos anteriormente citados, não será a atenção prestada à primeira pessoa automaticamente uma atenção dirigida a um revestimento ou a um corpo – uma segunda pessoa? Mas se usarmos esse teste, poderemos descobrir que todas essas atenções não são a atenção da primeira pessoa propriamente dita. Portanto, em primeiro lugar é necessário ter uma convicção

4 Há uma história tradicional de um médico prescrevendo um remédio para um paciente com a condição de que o mesmo deveria ser tomado somente enquanto ele não pensasse em um macaco; mas o paciente não conseguia tomar o remédio sob essa condição, porque toda vez que ele tentava fazê-lo, o pensamento de um macaco certamente surgia.

intelectual que estes [revestimentos] não são o “eu”, a fim de poder praticar a Auto-atenção sem perder nossa direção. Somente a discriminação5 através da qual nós adquirimos essa convicção é que tem sido chamada de “inquirição” pelas escrituras. Então, o que deve fazer um aspirante após discriminar assim? Como pode a atenção a estes cinco revestimentos, mesmo com uma intenção de eliminá-los, ser uma atenção voltada para o Eu Real? Portanto, enquanto se pratica a Auto-inquirição, ao invés de tomar qualquer um dos cinco revestimentos como o objeto da nossa atenção, devemos fixar nossa atenção somente na consciência-“Eu”, que existe e brilha como “si-mesmo”, como a única, e como uma testemunha que se mantém à parte destes revestimentos.

Ao invés de ser direcionado para alguma segunda ou terceira pessoa, não

está assim o nosso poder de atenção, que até aqui era chamado de mente ou intelecto, agora dirigido somente à primeira pessoa? Embora formalmente nos referimos a ele como “direcionado”, na verdade ele não é da natureza de um “fazer” (kriya-rupam) na forma de direcionar ou ser direcionado; é da natureza de “ser” ou “existir” (sat-rupam). Porque a segunda e a terceira pessoas (incluindo os pensamentos) são estranhos ou externos a nós, nossa atenção prestada a eles era da natureza de um “fazer” (kriya). Mas essa mesma atenção, quando fixada sobre o sentimento interior da primeira pessoa, “eu”, perde a natureza de “voltar-se para” e permanece na forma de “ser”, e portanto ela é da natureza de “não-fazer” (akriya) ou “inação” (nishkriya). Enquanto nosso poder de atenção estava residindo sobre segundas e terceiras pessoas, ele era chamado “a mente” ou “o intelecto”, e seu “voltar-se para” era um “fazer” (kriya) ou uma “ação” (karma). Somente aquilo que é feito pela mente é uma ação. Mas, por outro lado, logo que a atenção é fixada sobre a primeira pessoa (ou Eu Real), ela perde seus nomes vulgares tais como mente, intelecto ou ego. Além do mais, esta atenção não é mais uma ação, mas “inação” (akarma) ou o estado de “apenas ser” (summa irutal). Portanto, a mente que se volta para o Eu Real não é mais a mente; ela é o aspecto consciência do Eu Real (atma-chit-rupam)! Da mesma forma, enquanto se volta para a segundas e terceiras pessoas (o mundo), ela não é o aspecto consciência do Eu Real; ela é a mente, a forma refletida da consciência (chit-abhasa-rupam)! Por isso, como a Auto-atenção não é um fazer (kriya), ela não é uma ação (karma). Isto é, somente o Eu Real realiza o Eu Real; o ego não o faz!

A mente plenamente madura (pakva-manas) é aquela que conquistou um

desejo ardente pela Auto-atenção, que é a Auto-inquirição. Como agora ela não está nem um pouco inclinada a voltar-se para alguma segunda ou terceira pessoa, pode-se dizer que ela alcançou o ápice do desapego (vairagya). Pois todos os tipos de desejos e apegos não pertencem somente à segunda e à terceira pessoas? Como esta 5 A discriminação tratada no capítulo 4 deste livro também tem o mesmo objetivo em vista, no entanto ela não é processo real da inquirição. Somente o que está exposto no último capítulo deste livro é o verdadeiro método da Auto-inquirição.

mente, que compreendeu muito bem que (como já visto em capítulos anteriores) somente a consciência que brilha como o “Eu” é a fonte da felicidade real e completa, agora busca o Eu Real devido a sua ânsia natural pela felicidade, esse desejo intenso de voltar-se para o Eu Real é realmente a mais alta forma de devoção (bhakti). É exatamente essa Auto-atenção da mente, que está assim completamente amadurecida por tamanha devoção e desapego (bhakti-

vairagya), que deve ser chamada a inquirição “Quem sou eu?” ensinada por Bhagavan Sri Ramana! Bem, não irá uma mente assimtão madura, que vem para o caminho de Sri Ramana, concordando voluntariamente em engajar-se na Auto-atenção, realizar o Eu? Não, não, deu início ao seu fim! Concordando em cometer suicídio, ela coloca seu pescoço (através da Auto-atenção) no cadafalso onde será sacrificada! Como? Somente enquanto ela estava voltada para a segunda e para a terceira pessoas ela tinha o nome “mente”. Mas tão logo a Auto-atenção é iniciada, seu nome e forma (seu nome como a mente e sua forma como os pensamentos) são perdidos. Então nós não podemos mais dizer que a Auto-atenção ou a Auto-inquirição é feita pela mente. Nem é a mente que se volta para o Eu Real, nem é a natural e espontânea Auto-atenção do aspecto consciência do Eu Real (atma-chit-

rupam) – que não é a mente – uma atividade! “Seria então uma mentira nua se qualquer homem dissesse que ele Realizou o Eu, mergulhando interiormente Através da prática da inquirição apropriada. Não para conhecer [o Eu Real] mas para morrer É o valor do ego imprestável! Somente por Arunachala , o Eu Real, que o Eu Real é conhecido!” –

Sri Arunachala Venba, verso 39

O sentimento “eu sou” é a experiência comum a todas as pessoas. Nessa expressão, “sou” é a consciência ou o conhecimento. Esse conhecimento não é de alguma coisa externa, é o conhecimento de si mesmo. Isto é chit (a consciência). Essa consciência é “nós”. “Nós somos verdadeiramente Consciência”, diz Sri Bhagavan no “Upadesa Undhiyar” (A Essência da Instrução), verso 23. Este é o nosso “ser” (isto é, nossa verdadeira existência) ou sat. Esse é chamado “Aquilo que é” (ulladhu). Assim, na expressão “eu sou”, “eu” é a existência (sat) e “sou” é a consciência (chit). Quando o Eu Real, nossa natureza de existência-consciência (sat-

chit-swarupam), ao invés de brilhar sozinho como a pura consciência “Eu sou”, brilha misturado com um atributo (upadhi) como “Eu sou um homem, Eu sou Rama, Eu sou tal e tal, Eu sou isto ou aquilo”, então essa consciência misturada é o ego. Essa consciência misturada somente pode surgir pelo agarrar-se a um nome e forma. Quando sentimos “Eu sou um homem, Eu sou Rama, Eu estou sentado, Eu estou deitado”, não fica claro que nós erroneamente tomamos o corpo como sendo

“nós”, e que assumimos seu nome e posturas como “Eu sou isto e Eu sou assim”? O sentimento “isto e assim” que surgiu agora misturado com a pura consciência “Eu sou” (sat-chit) é o que é chamado “pensamento”. Esse é o primeiro pensamento.

O sentimento “eu sou um homem, eu sou tal e tal” é somente um

pensamento. Mas a consciência “Eu sou” não é um pensamento; ela é a verdadeira natureza de nosso “ser”. A consciência misturada “Eu sou isto ou aquilo” é um pensamento que surge a partit de nosso “ser”. É somente depois do surgimento desse pensamento – a consciência misturada (a primeira pessoa) – que todos os outros pensamentos, que são o conhecimento de segunda e terceira pessoas, surgem.

“Somente se a primeira pessoa existe, a segunda e a terceira pessoa

existirão...” “Ulladu Narpadu” (Quarenta Versos sobre a Realidade), verso 14 Essa consciência misturada, a primeira pessoa, é chamada nosso

“surgimento” ou o surgimento do ego. Essa é a primeira atividade mental (adi-

vritti)! Por isso: “Pensar é uma atividade mental (vritti): ser não é uma atividade mental! “Atma Vichara Patikam” (Onze Versos sobre a Auto inquirição),

verso 1, por Sadhu Om

A pura existência-consciência, “Eu sou”, não é um pensamento; essa

consciência é a nossa natureza (swarupam). “Eu sou um homem” não é nossa pura consciência; é somente nosso pensamento! Assim, antes de mais nada é essencial para os aspirantes que praticam a inquirição “Quem sou eu?”, compreender a diferença entre nosso “ser” e nosso “surgir” (isto é, entre a existência e o pensamento).

Bhagavan Sri Ramana aconselhou que a Auto-inquirição fosse feita ou na

forma “Quem sou eu?” ou na forma “De onde sou eu?”. Ouvindo essas duas sentenças interrogativas, muitos aspirantes têm mantido várias opiniões a seu respeito e ficaram confusos sobre qual delas praticar, e como! Mesmo entre aqueles que consideram que ambas são a mesma coisa, muitos têm apenas uma compreensão superficial e não investigaram profundamente como elas são idênticas. Alguns que tentam seguir a primeira, “Quem sou eu?”, começam simplesmente repetindo como um papagaio, vocalmente ou mentalmente, a expressão “Quem sou eu? Quem sou eu?” como se ela fosse um mantra-japa. Isso está completamente errado! Repetir “Quem sou eu?” dessa maneira é tão ruim como meditar sobre, ou repetir (fazer japa de) os Grandes Ditos (mahavakyas) tais como “Eu sou Brahman” e assim por diante, desse modo prejudicando o verdadeiro objetivo para o qual eles foram revelados! O

próprio Sri Bhagavan disse repetidamente, “‘Quem sou eu?’ não deve ser repetida mecanicamente”! Alguns outros, achando que estão seguindo a segunda forma interrogativa, “De onde sou eu?”, tentam se concentrar no lado direito do peito (onde eles imaginam que se localize algo como um coração espiritual), esperando uma resposta tal como “Eu sou daqui”! Esse método não é melhor do que o antigo método de meditar sobre qualquer um dos seis centros yóguicos (shad-chakras) no corpo! Pois, por acaso pensar sobre qualquer lugar no corpo não é somente uma atenção voltada à segunda pessoa (uma atenção objetiva)? Antes de começar a explicar a técnica da Auto-inquirição, não é da máxima importância que todos esses conceitos errôneos sejam removidos? Portanto, vamos ver como eles podem ser removidos.

Em Sânscrito, os termos “atman” e “aham” ambos significam “Eu”. Por

isso, “atma-vichara” (a Auto-inquirição) significa uma atenção buscando “Quem é este eu?”. Ela pode ser melhor chamada de “atenção ao eu”, “Auto-atenção” ou “permanência no Eu”. A consciência “Eu” assim apontada aqui é o sentimento da primeira pessoa. Mas, como nós já dissemos, deve ser compreendido que a consciência misturada com atributos como “Eu sou isto” ou “Eu sou aquilo” é o ego (ahamkara) ou a alma individual (jiva), ao passo que a consciência pura, vazia de atributos e brilhando sozinha como “Eu-Eu” (ou “Eu sou o que Eu sou”) é o Eu Real (atman), o Absoluto (Brahman) ou Deus (Iswara). Isso não implica em dizer que a consciência da primeira pessoa, o “Eu”, pode ser tanto o ego como o Eu Real? Como geralmente todas as pessoas tomam o sentimento de ego (“Eu sou o corpo”) como sendo o “Eu”, o ego também recebe o nome “eu” (atman) e é chamado “eu individual” (jivatma) por algumas escrituras ainda hoje. É só por essa razão que mesmo a atenção ao ego, perguntando “O que é ele?” ou “Quem é ele?”, é também chamada nas escrituras de “Auto-inquirição” (atma-vichara). Contudo, não está claro que o Eu Real, a existência-consciência, não precisa fazer qualquer inquirição nem pode estar sujeito a qualquer inquirição? Foi apenas com o propósito de corrigir esse defeito que Bhagavan Ramana chamou-a “Quem sou eu?”, preferindo essa expressão ao invés do antigo termo “Auto-inquirição” (atma-vichara)! O ego, o sentimento de “eu” geralmente tomado pelas pessoas como sendo a consciência da primeira pessoa, não é a real consciência da primeira pessoa; apenas o Eu Real é a verdadeira consciência da primeira pessoa. O sentimento de ego, que é meramente uma sombra dele [do Eu Real], é uma falsa consciência da primeira pessoa. Quando se investiga dentro desse ego, o que ele é ou quem ele é, ele desaparece porque na verdade ele é não-existente, e o inquiridor, não tendo nada mais a fazer, se estabelece no Eu Real como Eu Real.

Porque ela surge, brotando do Eu Real, a falsa consciência da primeira

pessoa [o ego] mencionada acima tem que surgir em um lugar e um tempo determinados. Portanto, a pergunta “De onde sou eu?” significa somente “De onde (de que lugar) o ego surge?”. Um lugar de surgimento só pode ser para o ego. Mas

para o Eu Real, já que Ele não tem surgimento ou desaparecimento, não pode haver lugar ou momento determinados.

“Quando examinados, apenas nós – a Coisa sempre-conhecida – somos;

então onde está o tempo e onde está o espaço? Se nós somos (pensamos erroneamente ser) o corpo, nós estaremos envolvidos no tempo e no espaço; mas, nós somos o corpo? Como nós somos o Um, agora, depois e para sempre, esse Um no espaço, aqui, lá e em todo o lugar6, apenas nós – o Eu Absoluto além do tempo e do espaço – somos!”.

“Ulladu Narpadu” (Quarenta Versos sobre a Existência), verso 16

– assim diz Sri Bhagavan. Portanto, investigar “De onde sou eu?” é

o mesmo que investigar “De onde é o ego?”. A questão “De onde sou eu?” será aplicável somente ao surgimento do ego, que é condicionado pelo tempo e pelo espaço. Sri Bhagavan espera que compreendamos que o significado do termo “De onde?” ou “De que lugar?” é “Do que?”. Quando tomado nesse sentido, ao invés de um lugar ou tempo surgindo como uma resposta, apenas a Auto-existência, “nós”, a Coisa (vastu), é experimentada como a resposta. Se, por outro lado, nós anteciparmos um lugar como uma resposta à pergunta “De onde?”, um lugar - condicionado pelo tempo e pelo espaço - será experimentado dentro do corpo “dois dedos a partir do centro para o lado direito do peito” (como dito no “Ulladu

Narpadhu – Anubandham” (Suplemento aos Quarenta Versos sobre a Existência, verso 18). Contudo, essa não é a experiência última ou absoluta. Porque Sri Bhagavan afirmou categoricamente que o Coração (hridayam) é verdadeiramente a Autoconsciência, que é sem tempo, sem espaço, sem nome e sem forma.

“Aquele que pensa que o Eu Real (ou o Coração) está dentro do corpo

insenciente, enquanto que na verdade o corpo está dentro do Eu Real, é como aquele que pensa que a tela, que é o suporte das imagens de cinema, está contida dentro das imagens!”

“Ekatma Panchakam” (Cinco versos sobre o Eu Real), verso 3

Encontrar um lugar no corpo como sendo o ponto de surgimento do ego em resposta à questão “De onde?” não é o objetivo dos ensinamentos de Sri Bhagavan; nem é este o fruto a ser obtido pela prática da Auto-inquirição. Sri Bhagavan declarou claramente o objetivo de Seus ensinamentos e o fruto a ser ganho pela busca do local de surgimento do ego como segue:

“Quando buscado dentro ‘Qual é o lugar de onde ele surge como eu?’, o

‘eu’ (o ego) morrerá! Isso é a Auto-Inquirição (jnana-vichara).”

6 O tempo e o espaço aparentemente existem em nós (o Eu Real), mas nós não estamos neles nem somos limitados por eles. A experiência do Jnani é somente “Eu sou” e não “Eu estou em todos os lugares e em todos os tempos”.

“Upadesa Undhiyar” (A Essência da Instrução), verso 19

Portanto, o resultado que é visado por essa busca do local de surgimento

do ego é a aniquilação deste ego e não uma experiência de um lugar no corpo. É somente em resposta às pessoas imaturas que – incapazes mesmo de ter uma compreensão intelectual (paroksha jnana) sobre a natureza do Eu Real, que brilha sozinho como o Um, a Coisa não-dual, não limitada por (na verdade, absolutamente não conectada com) tempo e espaço, não limitada mesmo pela forma: “O Absoluto (Brahman) está em todo lugar, o Absoluto está em todos os tempos, o Absoluto é todas as coisas” – sempre levantam a questão, “Onde é a sede do Eu Real no corpo?”, que as escrituras e algumas vezes até mesmo Sri Bhagavan tiveram que dizer: “...dois dedos para a direita (a partir do centro do peito) é o coração”7. Por isso, esse lugar-coração (hridaya-stanam) não é a Realidade última ou absoluta. O leitor pode aqui se referir ao “Maharshi’s Gospel”, Livro II, capítulo IV, “O Coração é o Eu Real” (8a edição 1969, páginas 68 a 72; 9a edição, 1979, páginas 72 a 76).

Assim, voltar-se para si mesmo na forma “De onde sou eu?” é investigar

o ego, o “eu-que surge”. Mas, enquanto investigando “Quem sou eu?”, existem alguns aspirantes que tomam o sentimento “Eu” como sendo seu “ser” (existência) e não seu “surgimento”! Se feita assim, isso é atenção ao Eu Real. É apenas para compreender claramente a diferença entre essas duas formas de inquirição, que a diferença entre nosso “surgir” e nosso “ser” foi explicada anteriormente neste capítulo. Assim como o significado correto do termo “meditação sobre Brahman” (brahma-dhyanam) usado pelas escrituras até agora é explicado por Sri Bhagavan nas duas últimas linhas do primeiro verso beneditório do “Ulladu Narpadu (Quarenta Versos)” como sendo “residir no Coração como Ele é” (quer dizer, permanecer como o Eu Real é a maneira certa de meditar sobre ele), assim também o significado correto do termo “Auto-inquirição” (atma-vichara) é aqui corretamente explicado como sendo “voltar-se ao Eu Real” (ou prestar atenção ao Eu Real). 7 É importante ressalvar que o lugar do coração “dois dedos para a direita a partir do centro do peito” não está incluído no “Ulladu Narpadhu” (os quarenta versos principais), onde são dados os ensinamentos originais e diretos de Sri Bhagavan, mas somente no “Ulladu Narpadu – Anubandham” (os quarenta versos suplementares), já que essa é meramente uma das verdades diluídas que as escrituras condescendentemente respondem em concessão à fraqueza dos aspirantes imaturos. Além do mais, esses dois versos, o 18 e o 19, não são composições originais de Sri Bhagavan, mas apenas traduções de um trabalho Malayalam chamado “Ashtanga Hridayam”, que não é nem mesmo um texto espiritual, mas sim médico. Também deve ser observado aqui que esses dois versos não recomendam de modo algum, nem mesmo mencionam, a prática da concentrar a atenção sobre este ponto no corpo, dois dedos para a direita a partir do centro do peito. Na verdade, em nenhum lugar – nem em Seus trabalhos originais, nem em Suas traduções de trabalhos de outros, nem mesmo em quaisquer das conversas com Ele gravadas por devotos – Sri Bhagavan alguma vez recomendou essa prática (porque a meditação sobre o lado direito do peito ou sobre qualquer outra parte do corpo transitório, insenciente e exterior não é nada além de uma atenção à segunda pessoa, um objeto que não o “Eu”). E, quando perguntado a respeito, Ele de fato costumava condená-la (veja “Talks with Ramana Maharshi”, número 273).

Em ambos os tipos de inquirição (“Quem sou eu?” ou “De onde sou

eu?”), como a atenção do aspirante está focada unicamente sobre ele mesmo, nada menos do que o Eu Real (atman) – que é o verdadeiro significado da palavra “eu” – será finalmente experienciado. Portanto, o resultado final de ambas as investigações, “De onde sou eu?” e “Quem sou eu?”, é o mesmo! Como? Aquele que busca “De onde sou eu?” está seguindo o ego, cuja forma é “Eu sou tal e tal”, e enquanto faz assim, o atributo “tal e tal”, não tendo existência real, morre no caminho, e assim ele permanece estabelecido no Eu Real, o sobrevivente “Eu sou”. Por outro lado, aquele que busca “Quem sou eu?” mergulha sem esforço em seu verdadeiro “ser” (o Eu Real) natural, que brilha sempre como “Eu sou o que eu sou”. Portanto, quer seja feita na forma “De onde sou eu?”, ou “Quem sou eu?”, o que é absolutamente essencial é que a Auto-atenção deve ser perseguida até o derradeiro fim. Além do mais, não é necessário para os aspirantes sinceros nem nomear de antemão o sentimento “Eu” como sendo o ego ou como o Eu Real. Por acaso existem duas pessoas no aspirante, o ego e o Eu Real? Se diz isso porque, como todos nós temos a experiência “Eu sou somente um e não dois”, nós não devemos dar espaço para um sentimento dual imaginário – um “Eu” buscando um outro “Eu” – ao discriminar o ego e o Eu Real como sendo o “eu inferior” e o “eu superior”.

“...Existem dois eus, para um ser um objeto a ser conhecido pelo outro?

Isso porque a verdadeira experiência de todas é ‘Eu sou um’ !”. “Ulladu Narpadhu” (Quarenta Versos sobre a Existência), verso 33

– pergunta Sri Bhagavan. Assim, é suficiente agarrarmos o sentimento “Eu” ininterruptamente até o

fim. Essa atenção ao sentimento “Eu”, a experiência diária comum de todos, é o que se chama Auto-atenção. Para aqueles que aceitam como seu conhecimento básico a consciência-“Eu sou o corpo” (jiva bhava), sendo incapazes de duvidar de sua existência (a existência do ego), é apropriado praticar a Auto-atenção (isto é, fazer a Auto-inquirição) na forma “De onde sou eu?”. Por outro lado, para aqueles que, ao invés de supor que eles têm uma individualidade (jiva bhava) como “Eu sou tal e tal” ou “Eu sou isto”, voltam-se assim para, “O que é este sentimento que brilha como eu sou?”, é conveniente fixar-se na Auto-atenção na forma “Quem sou eu?”. O que é importante assegurar-se é que, durante a prática (sadhana), nossa atenção esteja voltada exclusivamente para o “Eu”, o sentimento singular da primeira pessoa.

Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Arunachalaramanaya!

Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam

Sadhu Om`s Comments Attaining true clarity is not possible for a mind which is impure. What is

an impure mind? It is a mind whose light is polluted and made dim by being soaked in the dirt of worlndly desires and attachments. So the mind should first have become pure by the removal of all that dirt in the form of desires and attachments. That is, the mind should be freed of the fetters of all its strong likes and dislikes, attachments and aversions. Only such a mind can be a fit instrument for self-enquiry, because only such a mind can give up its habit of always dwelling upon external objects and turn selfwards.

The real nature of ‘I’ is not the mind which rises, wanders about and

again subsidies, but is only the reality which always exists and shines as the mere being consciousness without any rising, wandering or subsiding. That is, the form of ‘I’ means the reality which is the true import of the word ‘I’.

That is, just as a river attains quiescence and loses its separate existence

when it merges in the ocean, so that rising ‘I’ or ego becomes motionless and ceases to exist as a separate entity when it merges in the being ‘I’, which is Arunachala.

In order to purify the mind, that is, to weaken the strength of its vishaya

vasanas, the only two means are self-enquiry and nishkamya bhakti (devotion that is not motivated by desire for any selfish aim). For those whose minds were so impure that they lacked the strength to practise even a little self-enquiry, Sri Bhagavan used to recommend only nishkamya bhakti as a means of purifying the mind. But there are some aspirants whose minds are so clouded with various impure vasanas that they feel no attraction to the path of bhakti. Only for such aspirants is the method of pranayama prescribed.

“Your glory lies where you cease to exist”, says Sri Bhagavan (MG, p.

37). Withdrawing the attention from second and third persons is called

antarmukham or introversion, whereas focusing the attention on ‘I’ is called ahamukham or facing selfward. Though ahamukham includes in itself

antarmukham, antarmukham does not necessarily include ahamukham. That is, though the attention is withdrawn from external objects, it is not necessarily focused keenly on the consciousness ‘I’. The state in which the attention is thus withdrawn from external objects but not fixed keenly on self is called manolaya. (…) Though the manolaya which is thus achieved by the practice of raja-yoga is glorified by the name nirvikalpa samadhi (thought-free absorption of the mind), it is in fact no more helpful to spiritual progress than is the daily sleep experienced by all people. (…) Therefore the main aim to achieve is the mind knowing its form of light, while giving up external objects is only subsidiary to this and is not by itself a complete or worthy aim.

If the mind has been surrendered to Arunachala, one loses the freedom or

right to use that mind to think any thought. The mind being surrendered to God means the state in which the mind has subsided completely and merged in self. So long as the mind has any separate existence of its own, it cannot be said to be a mind which is truly surrendered to God. (…)If anyone surrenders his mind to God, what remains thereafter is only self.

Thinking everything to be God is an attitude of mind which is appropriate

to an aspirant who is following the path of nishkamya bhakti, but actually seeing everything as God is possible only in the state in which the thinking mind has been surrendered and has thereby merged in the state of non-duality in which nothing is seen as other than self.

Scrutinizing the source of ‘I’ is called self-enquiry, whereas meditating

upon ‘I’ is called self-attention, but though the words differ, in practice they are one and the same.

It is said in Sri Ramana Gitam: “In this world which is a crowd who do

not understand the guru’s words, those who have attained grace will not move their tongue.” Even if we know the truth, we should not tell it openly, because people are not ready to accept it. (…)Unless anyone asks us, we should not tell anything.

[Summary] Let us now see the connection underlying all the main ideas

expressed by Sri Bhagavan in these five verses: Arunachala is the real self which is ever shining in the heart as ‘I’ (verse 2); the entire world of multiplicity is a mere picture which appears and disappears only in self (verse 2); since this world-appearance seemingly conceals the real nature of self, in order to know self as it is, we should give up attending to external objects (verse 4) and, with a pure mind which is facing selfwards (verse 3), we should meditate upon the consciousness ‘I’ which shines in the heart (verse 4); by thus attending to ‘I’, we will clearly know its true nature (verse 3), which is the light of self-consciousness (verse 4), and thus the mind will cease to exist as a separate entity by merging in self like a river merging

in the ocean (verse 3); when the mind is thus surrendered into the ocean of self-consciousness, which is Arunachala, it will shine as self, whose nature is to see itself always (verse 5); when by the light of the grace of Arunachala, which is the sun of self-knowledge, the mind-bud which was swelling with devotion is thus made to blossom fully as the lotus of pure self-consciousness, the entire world-appearance which was seen by that mind will be swallowed by the brilliant light of self-knowledge, which will then be experienced as the ocean of amrita which is the fullness of grace (verse 1); when everything is thus swallowed by the light of self, it will be realized that what was previously seen as ‘everything’ is in fact nothing but self itself, and hence, since no otherness will be experienced in that state, due to its own natural self-love self will love ‘everything’ as itself (verse 5); since misery is experienced only because the mind sees the manifold objects of this world-appearances as other than itself, when the mind drowns in self what will remain shining is only the ocean of bliss (verse 5).

Living by the Words of Bhagavan

David Godman

PART I - Annamalais Swami’s life with Bhagavan

The poet Pattinatar has said: “The one who renounces the home is crores [tens of millions] of times greater than the one who, living as a householder, does many punyas and dharma. The one who renounces the mind is crores of times greater than the one who renounces the home. The one who has transcended the mind and all duality – how can I express the greatness as that person?”

A.S.: How to avoid misery? Bhagavan: Know and always hold on to the Self. Disregard the body and

the mind. To identify with them is misery. Dive deep into the heart, the source of being and peace, and establish yourself there.

In the years that followed I had many other spiritual talks with Bhagavan,

but his basic message has always: “Do self-enquiry, stop identifying with the body and try to be aware of the Self which is your real nature”.

[Incident: sweets distribution. Moral: the Guru is always watching me – be alert.]

[Sometimes, in giving instructions, Bhagavan would be very succinct. The disciple had to find for himself the way…]

[Incident: working under the sun; frustration. “Even if this whole body is destroyed in Bhagavan’s service, I will stand by His words and do whatever He asks as me.”]

While the work was going on, enough donations would come to cover all the costs. If no building works were in progress, no donations would come.

[Bhagavan, criticizing Annamalai’s complaints: “Isn’t seeing the defects of others feeding the mind?”]

Bhagavan never tolerated sloppy workmanship. (…) Sometimes, if Bhagavan was not satisfied with the way that a particular job was being done, he would personally intervene and do the work himself.

[Annamalai Swami used to drink the water that Bhagavan used to wash his hands as a prasad.]

[Episode of Bhagavan doing Annamalai’s job] I understand his silent lesson: attending to the work which Bhagavan assigns is more important than taking off for meditation or giri pradakshina.

[Bhagavan speaking of Coutrallam Swami] “He is a good devotee but he does not show his devotion externally. The devotion is all inside. He hides it so well that most people think he is not a good devotee. I like this kind of devotion very much.”

[On being asked why He never wasted anything] “All these things are created by God. We should not waste even small things. If it is useful for someone, it is good to keep it.” And: “Your father tells me that you are buying many useless things. Don’t spend in excess of your income. You must be thrifty116. Fire, debt, sense objects and poison. Even a drop of any of these is capable of destroying us.”

[Bhagavan disliked elaborated meals consisting is several dishes. The mind gets dissipated by thinking what to eat. It is best to eat simply: only rice and one vegetable dish is enough.]

[On responding to a lady worker in the kitchen] “She is working for the sake of her ego. She has the feeling ‘I am doing all this work. I am responsible for everything in the kitchen.’ She is trying to show people that she is doing all the work and trying to get a good name because of it. She is complaining so that people will become aware of how much she is working. Tell her to work less.”

Bhagavan prized humility above all other virtues. [During a meeting, a stray dog started to bark and everyone got

distracted, including Jackie the dog. Then Bhagavan gently chided 117 him by saying:] “You just close your eyes. You just close your eyes. You just close your eyes. If you do this you will not be able to see the dog.” Jackie obeyed.

[Madhava Swami used to complain when beautiful women came for darshan. Them Bhagavan would reprimand him by saying:] “Why see then as women? Just see your Self.” [And on other occasions, when he was complaining about the crowds:] “Why do you see these people as ‘others’ and make distinctions? Attend to your serving duties and see your own Self. See the others as forms of God, or see all others as forms of the Self.”

Bhagavan strongly opposed the killing of all the higher life-forms. He gave orders that even snakes and scorpions should not be killed inside the ashram. The general rule seemed to be insects could be killed if they were causing pain or were potentially harmful, but all higher forms of life, including dangerous and poisonous animals, were sacrosanct.

[About killing mosquitoes Bhagavan once replied:] “If you were to take your complaint against mosquitoes to a court of law, the mosquitoes would win the case. Their dharma [the rules that they must live by] is to bite and sting. They are teaching you that you are not the body. You object to their stings only because you identify with the body.” 116 Thrifty = frugal, econômico. 117 Chide = repreender, ralhar, reprovar.

[Six books that Bhagavan recommended to Annamalai Swami: Kaivalya Navanitan, Ribhu Gita, Ashtavraka Gita, Swarupa Saram, Yoga Vasishta, and, specially, Ellam Ondre.]

Bhagavan: “It is the nature of the universe to be differentiated, but within each person there should be no sense of differentiation.”

Bhagavan said that doing pradakshina once a day was a good way to keep the mind in sattva guna. “For all aliments of body and mind giri pradakshina is good medicine.”

[Bhagavan, after being criticized by a devotee, and agreeing with him, told Annamalai Swami:] “It is true. My ‘I’ has been permanently spoilt.”

[Bhagavan was indifferent to criticism and would never argue back.] Bhagavan: “If everyone did his own appointed duty [swadharma],

without swerving from it, it would be easy to reach the Self.” Bhagavan: “I don’t like seeing people come and do namaskaram.” [Incident of the “soldier devotee”. Moral: strong devotion.] Bhagavan: “The greatest worship is worshipping the Guru’s feet that are

within oneself.” [About Chinnaswami and Ganapati Muni’s dispute:] Bhagavan: “No

one, however great, can give another person either liberation or bondage. It is natural for a person to think that he should be well known to the people of the world and be praised by then. But if this thought is present once cannot attain true greatness or happiness. (…) What is the use of others knowing your greatness?”

“Those who suppress the thought ‘I am great’ by not paying any attention to it, the Vedas will say they are great. Those who say ‘I am great’ are small people.” – Sivabhoga Saram, verse 36.

On many occasions Bhagavan told me: “Become envious of any one lower than you. You must become very small. In fact you must become nothing. Only a person who is nothing can abide in the self.” On another occasion he told me: “No one should be our inferior. One who has learned to be the inferior will become superior to all.”

[From Paul Brunton`s Manuscript:] Maharshi said that the material services and work and manual and office labor of an ashram were really intended for a lower order of minds, whilst these who were more advanced could do their meditations away from an ashram in their own solitude.]

Ramakrishna Paramahansa said: “If anyone insults your Guru, you should throw him out of the ashram or leave yourself in disgrace.”

[Once, when Annamalai Swami was having sexual thoughts, Bhagavan made him stay bare foot on a very hot rock. The pain was so strong that he forgot the sexual thoughts. On another occasion, Annamalai was complaining that the desire for women had arisen in him three days ago, and that since then he was not able to sleep or eat. Bhagavan said: “Why should you always be thinking that an evil thought occurred at such and such a time in the past? If you instead meditate ‘to whom does this thought come?’ it will fly away of its own accord. You are neither

the body nor the mind, you are the Self. Meditate on this and all your desires will leave you.”

Maurice Frydman came to the hall to complain that his donation had not been properly spent, Bhagavan said, rather angrily, “When you give something you should regard the matter as closed. How dare you use this gift to further your ego?”

[Once Annamalai Swami got angry at a worker for having disobeyed him, and hit the worker. Then he told Bhagavan about this and apologized. Bhagavan said:] “The anger that came at 9 am has already gone. Why are you still thinking that you got angry and hit someone? Why are you still carrying these thoughts in your mind? Instead of feeling guilty about what you have done, enquire ‘to whom did all this anger come?’ Find out the real nature of the person who got angry, this morning. For activity, that anger was needed. Now it is all over, you do not need to think about it any more. So drop that memory of anger and proceed with the next job.”

Bhagavan repeatedly told me: “Don’t forget your real nature. It is not necessary that you should sit and meditate. You should meditate all the time, even while you are working.” In order to keep my attention on the self while I was working I adopted, with Bhagavan’s permission, the traditional approaches of “neti-

neti” and affirmation: “I am not the body and the mind; I am the Self; I am everything.”

“I have decided to leave the ashram”, I said. “I want to go to Palakottu to live alone and meditate.” “Ah! Very good! Very good!” exclaimed Bhagavan.

Bhagavan himself had instructed me, shortly after I moved to Palakottu: “Don’t ask anyone anything. You should live in whatever God decides to send you, so long as it is sattvic food. Keep aloof from the things that are going on ground you. Stay in your own hut as much as possible and don’t waste your time visiting other people.”

Annamalai Swami: I have this desire to live in a place where nobody

visits. I feel another desire to get food without any effort. I also want to meditate constantly with my eyes closed, without seeing the world at all. These desires often come to me. Are they good or bad?

Bhagavan: If you have desires such as these, you have to take another birth to fulfill then. What does it matter when you stay? Keep your mind always in the Self. There is no solitary place apart from the Self. Wherever the mind is, that place is always crowded. It is not necessary to close the eyes when you meditate. It will be sufficient if you merely close the mind’s eye. There is no world outside you which is not in the mind. One who leads a righteous life will never make plans of this sort. Why? Because God has already decided what will happen to us even before sending us into this world.

Once Bhagavan asked me what I was cooking. When I told me him, “Oh rice and sambar” he was very pleased. “Very good”, he exclaimed. “The simple life is the best.”

Bhagavan: Who cleared the path? A.S: I did it because I had noticed some thorns while I was out for a

walk. Bhagavan: Why are you reflecting on this which you have done? (…) If

you do not look back at the acts that you have done, a lot of benefits will come to you.

My life with Bhagavan tough me the value of faith, obedience and

surrender. When I obeyed Bhagavan’s words, or had complete faith that he would look after all my spiritual and physical needs, everything went well. When I tried to mould my own destiny (such as the time I went to live in the cave and the time I ran away to Polur) things went badly. Life’s lessons have thought me the value and the necessity of complete surrender. If one surrenders completely to Bhagavan; if one lives by his words, ignoring all others; if one has enough faith in Bhagavan to stop making plans shout the future; if one can banish all doubts and worries by having faith in Bhagavan’s omnipotence – then, and only then, Bhagavan will bend and mould one’s circumstances, transforming then in such a way that one’s spiritual and physical needs are always satisfied.

Bhagavan: “If one has no faith in God one will commit a lot of sins and be miserable. But you, you are a mature devotee. When the mind has attained maturity, in that mature state, if one thinks that one is separate from God, one will fall into the same state as an atheist who has no belief in God.”

Bhagavan: “The true Bhagavan resides in your heart as your own Self. This is who I truly am.”

PART II - Diary Extracts

“Our real mature is the ‘I’ feeling, which is always experienced by everyone. It is within us.”

“To give up the thought that we are alien to God is to see God.” “One attains God and one remains in the state of Self when the thought of

wanting to attain stops.” “Because the Self exists just as the feeling ‘I am’ Atma Vidya is very easy

indeed. The easiest path is to see the one who is going to attain the Atma.” Q: What is satsang?

B: Satsang means only Atma sang [association with the self]. Only those who cannot practice that are to practice being in the company of realized beings or sadhus.

“Only he who has done plenty of nishkamya karma in previous births will

get abundant faith in the Guru. Having faith in the Guru’s words, such a man will follow the path and reach the goal of liberation.”

Q: Because I have a wife and children I have many problems. I cannot

escape from then. B: The outer samsara cannot do anything to you. Only the inner samsara

must be given up. Q: This only last five minutes. Then it gets changed. B: [After keeping quite for some time] This kind of thought must go. [Dattatreya’s Gurus…] “Even the strong male elephant undergoes

suffering by coming in contact with the female elephant. From this I learned that a man is likewise subjected to suffering if he is touched by a woman or spends time in their proximity. (…) From dear I understood that a sannyasin should not take notice of sense objects. (…) I learned from the child that one should be oblivious to honor and dishonor. (…) From the arrow maker I learned that one should be one-pointed in one’s aims.”

B: The vrittis [activities] of Iswara and [of] the Jnani are one and the

same. But in the avatara purushas the bodies will change until the end of a kalpa. This does not happen with the jnanis.

B: Discharge your family duties with the same indifference that you

discharge your office work. The things that come and go in your office don’t cause you to worry. Do all your jobs and duties with this same detachment.

Q: Difficulties keep coming to me. When will they stop? B: If you give up the I-am-the-body idea all your difficulties will fly

away. B: One may leave the village but one cannot leave oneself. If the village

exits apart from oneself, it may be left. To live alone at the place of Self is like living in the forest. If you leave the Self, even if you go and live in a forest, it will be the same as living in a city. (…) The one who does not think that he is the one who is doing all his actions is superior to the one who thinks that he has renounced everything.

B: Silence is ceaseless speech. To remain still is to work ceaselessly. (…)

If you don’t speak, God will come and speak. The greatest scripture is silent

exposition. Only if you read this scripture will all doubts cease. Otherwise, even if you read crores of books countless times, doubts will never cease.

Q: I do not know where the “I” is. B: Be where the “I” is. [Bhagavan allowed and was satisfied when Annamalai Swami decided to

make a vow of silence in order to avoid wasting time in hearing other peoples gossip.]

[Bhagavan said that it was very good that Annamalai Swami breaths got suspended in his stomach while he meditated.]

B: The world is always changing. It is not permanent. But we exist

unchanged in all the three states as working, dreaming and sleeping. Nobody can truthfully say “I did no exist during these three states.” Therefore we must conclude that this “I” is the permanent substance because everything else is in a state of perpetual flux. If you never forget this, this is liberation.

A.S.: I often get stomach pains. What should I do about then? B: What to do about it? The body itself is a big disease. To destroy this

disease all we have to do is keep quiet. All other diseases will then leave even earlier.

B: Don’t make any medicine for my sake and then give it to me. Taking

medicine only increases the disease. As the donkey [the disease] comes, so it will go. Let me put up with it till goes away.

B: You say that you are always experiencing suffering. That is only your thoughts. Happiness alone exists. What come and goes is suffering.

B: It is good if suffering comes to devotees. (…) All sufferings are given for the sole purpose of purifying the mind of the devotee. If we are patient, happiness will follow.

B: If a person has done a lot of punya in the past, right at this moment whatever he thinks will happen. But he will not be changing what is destined.

B: Everyone is getting happiness and suffering as a result of the karma which has been carried forward from previous births. Accepting both patiently and remaining in the Self, doing whatever actions one happens to be engaged in without seeking happiness in them – that alone is good.

B: If I say “I awake” it follows that “I slept”. When waking comes we

must be in the state that we were in when we were asleep. When sleep comes we must awake. That is the state as awakened sleep.

Q: That is not possible for me. B: The greatest obstacle is the thought, “it is impossible for me”. Q: What to do when this thought catches hold of us and shakes us?

B: The thought does not catch hold of us and shakes us. The thought catching hold of us shakes itself.

Q: If this is so, how can I control the mind? B: Controlling the mind implies the need as a second mind to control the

first. Trying to control the mind is like someone attempting the impossible task of measuring the length of his own shadow by himself.

How were we in sleep? We are now the same [bodiless and mindless] “I” that we were when we were asleep. Our first mistake is to leave that state and take the body to be “I”.

Q: Ajnana must been destroyed. Am I right? B: It will be sufficient if you investigate the one whose ajnana must be

destroyed. B: Meditators must not work too much, nor should they fill their

stomachs with excessive food. When the stomach is mostly empty, one will go higher spiritually.

B: Happiness is our natural state. Suffering occurs when one leaves the Self and thinks that the body and mind are “I”.

B: If you remain in the “don’t want” state, everything will come to you. That is why both likes and dislikes are not wanted.

B: The feeling “I am” is directly evident to everyone. What happiness is there in seeing any particular God if one ignores this feeling? (…) Fixing the attention between the eyebrows is just a violent form of sadhana whose aim is to concentrate the mind. Enquiring “Who I am?” is a much easier method of controlling the mind.

B: Desire is the root of anger. Desirelessness is absolute happiness. (…) Desire is maya. Desirelessness is God.

B: He is a real man who does not let go his hold on the Self state while he is attending to whatever problems come of their own accord and without his desire.

B: The man who loves the all-supporting God with the understanding that nothing can be achieved by his own actions, and who expects instead that all actions will be performed by God alone, that man is led every minute by God alone the path of truth.

B: Why do you think “why didn’t I meditate?” or “why didn’t I work?” If the thoughts “I did” and “I didn’t are given up, then all actions will end up as meditation. In that state meditation cannot be given up. This is the state of sahaja

samadhi. B: First know yourself; leave alone the idea of teaching others. B: You are the Self. If there is anything separate from you, you can think

about doing good or bad things to it. But if you yourself are the only thing that exists, how can there be any likes or dislikes? Desirelessness is absolute bliss.

B: It is sufficient to go on observing the place from where the mind arises.

PART III - Conversations with Annamalai Swami

Q: What is the easiest way to be free of the “little self”? A.S.: Stop identifying with it. If you can convince yourself “this little self

is not really me”, it will just disappear. A.S.: If you can understand that this “little self” never at any time had

any existence outside your imagination, you will not be concerned about ways and means of getting rid of it. (…) You don’t need any methods to get rid of the wrong ideas you have about yourself. All you have to do is stop believing then. The best way to do this is to replace then with ideas that more accurately reflect the real state of affairs. (…) You must generate the conviction, “I am the all-pervasive consciousness in which all bodies and minds in the world are appearing and disappearing. I am that consciousness which remains unchanged and unaffected by these appearances and disappearances.” Stabilize yourself in that conviction. That is all you need to do.

A.S.: These fights against the mind are all mental activities which strengthen the mind instead of weakening it. If you want to get rid of the mind, all you have to do is to understand that it is “not me”.

A.S.: If you can resist the impulse to claim each and every thought as your own, you will come to a startling conclusion: you will discover that you are the consciousness in which the thoughts appear and disappear. (…) Be conscious of yourself as consciousness alone, watch all the thoughts come and go. Come to the conclusion, by direct experience, that you are really consciousness itself, not is ephemeral contents. (…) If you cultivate this attitude of indifference towards the mind, gradually you will cease to identify with it.

A.S.: Whenever obstacles come on the path, think of them as “not me”. (…) Stand back from the mountain of problems [and vasanas], refuse to acknowledge that they are yours, and they will dissolve and disappear before you eyes. (…) Don’t fight them; just ignore them. Don’t accept delivery of all the wrong ideas that keep coming to you. (…) Rest quietly in the feeling of “I am”, which is consciousness, and cultivate the attitude that all thoughts, all perceptions, are “not me”. (…) Mental problems feed on the attention that you give them. The more you worry about them, the stronger they become. If you ignore them, they lose their power and finally vanish.

A.S.: Even our desire to transcend our vasanas is a vasana. When we think “I must meditate” or “I must make an effort” we are just organizing a fight between two different vasanas. You can only escape the habits of the mind by

abiding in consciousness as consciousness. Be who you are. Be as you are. Just be still. Ignore all the vasanas that rise in the mind and instead fix your attention in the Self.

A.S.: If there is too much physical stillness, tama guna arises and predominates. (…) If sattva guna predominates one experiences peace, bliss, clarity and absence of wondering thoughts. That is the stillness that Bhagavan was prescribing.

A.S.: While you are still making judgments about what is good and what is bad, you are identifying with the mind and making new karma for yourself.

A.S.: You must learn to recognize vasanas when they arise. That is the only way. If you can catch them early enough and frequently enough they will not cause you much trouble. If you want to pay attention to a special area of danger, watch how the five senses operate. (…) Learn to watch how the mind reacts to sense impressions. If you can stop the mind from reacting to sense impressions you can eliminate a large number of your vasanas.

A.S.: Those who meditate a lot often develop a subtle form of ego. They become pleased with the idea that they are making some progress; they become pleased with the states of peace and bliss that they enjoy; they become pleased that they have learned to exercise some control over their wayward118 minds; or they may derive some satisfaction from the fact that they have found a good Guru or a good method of meditation. All these feelings are ego feelings. When ego feelings are present, awareness of the Self is absent. The thought “I am meditating” is an ego thought. If real meditation is taking place, this thought cannot arise.

Don’t worry about whether you are making progress or not. Just keep your attention on the Self twenty-four hours a day. Meditation is not something that should be done in a particular position at a particular time. It is an awareness and an attitude that must persist through the day. To be effective, meditation must be continuous. (…) You will not be able to reach the Self and stay there without a prolonged, continuous effort. Each time you give up trying, or get distracted, some of your previous effort goes to waste.

(…) You divide your life up into different activities: “I am eating”, “I am meditating”, “I am working”, etc. If you have ideas like those you are still identifying with the body. Get rid of all these you are still identifying with the simple thought “I am the Self”. Hold on to that idea and don’t let go. Don’t give these I-am-the-body ideas any attention. (…) Stay firmly in the Self and don’t allow the mind to identify with anything that the body does.

A.S.: Seal off the entrances and exits to the mind by not reacting to rising thoughts or sense impressions. Don’t let new ideas, judgments, likes, dislikes, etc., enter the mind, and don’t let rising thoughts flourish and escape your attention. When you have sealed off the mind in this way challenge each emerging thought as it appears by asking, “where have you come from?” or “who is the person who is

118 Inconstante, volúvel, instável

having this thought?”(…) However, if you relax your vigilance even for a few seconds and allow new thoughts to escape and develop unchallenged, the slag119 will be lifted and the mind will regain some or all of this former strength. (…) In the fort of the mind the occupants, which are thoughts, need a thinker to pay attention to them and indulge120 in them. If the thinker withholds his attention from rising thoughts or challenges them before they have a chance to develop, the thoughts will all die of starvation.

When you have eradicated all thoughts except for the thinker himself by ceaseless enquiry or by refusing to give them any attention, the “I-thought sinks into the heart and surrenders, leaving behind it only an awareness of consciousness. This surrender will only take place when the “I”- thought has ceased to identify with rising thoughts. While there are still stray thoughts which attract or evade your attention, the “I” – thought will always be directing is attention outwards rather than inwards. The purpose of Self-enquiry is to make the “I”- thought move inwards, towards the Self. This will happen automatically as soon as you cease to be interested in any of your rising thoughts.

A.S.: If you want to do Self-enquiry effectively and properly you should stick to that method alone. Other methods may be good in their own right but they are not good as preparations for Self-enquiry. (…) The best preparation for Self-enquiry is Self-enquiry.

A.S.: Hold onto Self as tenaciously as you can and don’t let anything or anyone loosen your grip.

A.S.: Meditation must be continuous. The current of meditation must be present in all your activities.

A.S.: All desires are of the ego, and the ego is dissolved by steadily abiding in the Self. If you succumb to your desires you identify with your ego.

A.S.: Don’t put too much attention to the body. If you worry about the well-being of your body, you identify with it more and more. If you can keep your attention on the Self without being distracted by unpleasant bodily sensations, you are healthy enough to do sadhana.

A.S.: This precious birth is not given to us to be wasted in sensual pleasures. It is given to us only to know our true Self.

A.S.: If you associate with bad or worldly people your meditation will be disturbed by their thought currents. It is best to avoid their company. One should not hate or dislike them, one should just stay out of their way. (…) Self-ignorance can be contagious.

A.S.: To like one thing instead of another is sansara; to like and love all things is wisdom.

A.S.: If you take the attitude that all happenings in the world are dream events your mind becomes tranquil.

119 Slag = cerco, sítio 120 Indulge = entregar-se a, abandonar-se a, deliciar-se com, satisfazer, saciar.

A.S.: When we cease to identify with the body and the mind we become aware that this pure consciousness [“I am”] is unaffected by any of the changes and events that appear to take place within it.

A.S.: Doing any form of sadhana without first understanding that the individual Self is non-existent is self-indulgence.

A.S.: Be aware of the consciousness that is the origin of all your thoughts. Be that consciousness. Feel that is what you really are. If you do this you are meditating on the Self. But if you cannot stabilize yourself in that consciousness because your vasanas are too strong and too active, it is beneficial to hold onto the thought “I am the Self; I am everything”.

Q: We are so accustomed with maya. That is why it is so difficult for us

to make progress. A.S.: Again, enquire: “For whom is this difficulty?” Don’t give reality to

the very thing that is causing you all your trouble. A.S.: You must learn to see the Guru in all things, you must learn to see

the Guru everywhere. A.S.: Don’t be attached to your problems and don’t worry about them.

Let all your problems go and put them in the hands of Bhagavan. Cultivate the feeling “this is God’s problem, not mine.”

A.S.: When you meditate earnestly all the jivanmuktas of the past and present respond to your effort by sending you blessings of light.

A.S.: If you think about time and start to worry about how much longer it will be before you realize the Self, your attention will be on the mind and not on the Self.

A.S.: To experience the Self you have to dive deep into consciousness “I am”.

A.S.: Bhagavan said, “Keeping the mind in the heart is Self-enquiry.” If you cannot do this by asking “Who am I?” or by taking the “I”-thought back to its source, then the meditation on the awareness “I am the all-pervasive Self” is a great aid. (…) When one is able to abide in the Self directly, one doesn’t need aids like this. But if this is not possible these practices can definitely help one.

A.S.: The desire-filled mind only experiences the bliss of the Self in a very diluted form. If you want the full bliss of the Self, and if you want to experience it permanently, you will have to give up all your desires and attachments. There is no other way. The mind cannot rest quietly in the depths of the Self until it has learned to ignore all the impulses that try to make it look for pleasure and satisfaction in the outside world.

All desires can cause you trouble, even spiritual ones. Sometimes, even e desire to meditate can be a hindrance.

A.S.: Go deeply into feeling of “I”. Be aware of it so strongly and so intensely that no other thoughts have the energy to arise and distract you. If you hold this feeling of “I” long enough and strongly enough, the false “I” will vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent “I” consciousness itself.

Q: It seems so logical and so simple but it’s so hard to give up one’s defective vision.

A.S.: Don’t be oppressed or depressed by such thoughts. Keep on asking yourself: “Who finds it hard?”, “Who has defective vision?” Don’t allow thoughts like these to take your attention away from the source, the Self.

A.S.: Finding a Guru is the greatest blessing that can happen to a person

in this life. A.S.: Remember that the perceptions of the mind are not real because the

perceiver himself is not real. If we always enquire “To whom is this experience happening?” the false perceiver and the false experience will both subside.

A.S.: If, after coming out of the silence, one immediately takes the body as “I”, one has not has been experiencing the true silence. In the pursuit of inner silence, one should not enter laya. If you have any awareness that you are sitting or meditating, you are not experiencing the Self, you are experiencing the ego.

A.S.: If you come to some peaceful or silent place in your meditation and

the thought arises, “should I rest in silence or carry on with meditation?” you should carry on with your meditation because this thought alone indicates that you have no establish yourself in the Self.

It is not good to think too much about your meditation practice. Just do it and keep on doing it until you have the firm conviction that nothing that appears in the mind has anything to do with the real you. If you pay attention to thoughts and feelings while you meditate and try to use them to evaluate how well or how badly you are meditating, you will never reach the ultimate silence. Instead you will just get bogged down in mental concepts.

A.S.: The experience of this “I am” is God. All of us have this “I am”,

this basic sense of existing. This consciousness is the ultimate and only reality. A.S.: If you have a choice it is better to do sadhana near a Guru or in a

sacred place where the vibrations are good. If this is not possible, a place in the country will be better then a place in the city. (…) If you are going to live in a noisy or distracting environment you must learn the art of sleeping while you are awake. You must learn how to stay conscious all the time and yet at the same time not be aware of any noises or potential disturbances that are going on around you.

A.S.: Prarabdha only pertains to the activities of the body. No prarabdha can prevent you from turning inwards and putting your attention on the Self.

A.S.: If you have a desire to have satsang or a desire to be always engaged in medication on the Self, these things will happen. If your desire is strong enough the power of the Self will make all the arrangements for you. It will send you a Guru or satsang, or whatever else you might need. If you are earnestly doing meditation on the Self, everything you need will automatically come to you.

Bhagavan once said: “If you can give up all ideas about differences, that alone will be enough.”

A.S.: While you are still trying to disentangle yourself from the mind it

will be helpful for you to avoid the company of people who are not doing sadhana. Whenever it is not possible, make an extra effort to withdraw into the Self.

A.S.: When you remain as Self, in complete stillness, no maya is created. A.S.: It is enough if you can simply relax in this “I am”. Whatever

happens in this “I am”, this consciousness, just be indifferent to it. Bhagavan: “All forms are God and all activities are His.” Bhagavan: “If you put too much food in the stomach your energy and you

ability to remain aware of consciousness will diminish. But if the amount of quantity in the stomach is less, your awareness will be good.

A.S.: You should not make judgments about the world. If you think, “A

quiet environment is good; a noisy one is bad”, you will inevitably get caught up in the working of the mind.

A.S.: The mind derives all its energy from the attention you give to thoughts and emotions.

Bhagavan: “Getting association with jnanis is very important for people who want to make spiritual progress.” In Yoga Vasistha it is said that one who gets association with a jnani will gain mukti in only four or five lifetimes.

Bhagavan once told me: “Hold onto the Self. If you can do that you need no other practice. This is the ultimate and final sadhana.”

A.S.: Loving or liking one particular person is not good. Feel love

towards everyone. That is desirelessness. Bhagavan: “There is nothing wrong with God’s creation. Misery and

suffering only exist in the mind.” A.S.: Finding a great Guru like Bhagavan depends on one’s karma. One

cannot hope to find such a Guru unless one has done tapas in previous lives. (…) If you have the opportunity to stay with a Guru you should not waste your good fortune by leaving him or by indulging in worldly activities in his vicinity.

Those who still have many karmas to undergo cannot follow the path of jnana successfully because they don’t have the capacity to be quiet and still.

A.S.: Even the image, the form of Bhagavan, is maya. He resides with us as the Self. That is the real Bhagavan.

A.S.: The one who gets the most grace is the one who is completely desireless. Such a person will have no desire even for moksha.

A.S.: Arunachala radiates the grace of the Self. If you walk around it with reverence, keeping your mind quiet or thinking of the Self, you are having satsang of the Self. (…) If you have faith that Arunachala is a Guru who will guide you, it will respond with the appropriate guidance. But to get this guidance one must surrender to the mountain and have strong faith in it. (…) A desire to stay here in Arunachala is a good desire and may be encouraged.

A.S.: It is always good to worship the Guru, but abiding in the Guru’s teaching is for better.

A.S.: Don’t get attached to states of bliss or give them priority over the quest for the Self. If you become attached to peaceful or blissful states you may lose interest in your main quest. It is good to feel peaceful and blissful, but don’t indulge yourself in these states at the expense of Self-enquiry. (…) If you enjoy temporary states of peace and bliss in the mind, the experience of peace and bliss will make you not want to subside in the Self and disappear.

A.S.: If there is any sexual desire you will lose some spiritual power. Even if you just look at someone and feel some desire towards them, you lose a little spiritual energy. (…) If you are serious about sadhana, remain unmarried and put all your energy into Self-enquiry. You cannot hold onto Self while you still have strong attachments to other people.

A.S.: While your mind is on the Self it is drying out. When it is on the world it is getting wet again. The effort you expend in keeping the mind turned towards the Self is never wasted.

A.S.: If you are constantly aware of the possibility that you may die of any moment, your enthusiasm to practice will increase. Cultivate this awareness.

A.S.: If you have to come into contact with a lot of people, try to make yourself aware of their good points and don’t dwell on their bad points. If you see good in people you radiate a harmonious, loving energy which uplifts those who are around you.

A.S.: Experiencing manolaya is not helpful to your sadhana. Laya is not meditation, it is unconsciousness; it is tamaguna in a very strong form. Meditation needs an awake mind, not an unconscious one. [One form of nirvikalpa samadhi is just like laya.]

A.S.: If you want to get rid of your vasanas you must learn to practice non-involvement. If you feel yourself identifying with a vasana when it starts to rise, remind yourself, “This vasana is not me” and with draw into the Self.

A.S.: Energy is increased in solitude. When you are alone it is less likely to go out thought the indryas [five senses] and the mind.

A.S.: Let the mind go wherever it wants to go. You don’t have to pay any attention to all its wonderings. Just be the Self and don’t concern yourself with the

activities of the mind. (…) The mind only wonders around all day because you identify with it and pay attention to all its activities. If you could establish yourself as consciousness alone, thoughts would no longer have any power to distract you. When you have no interests in thoughts they fade away as soon as they appear. (…) You can only stop the flow of thoughts by refusing to have any interest in it. [If you fight or repress them, you will only be giving them new energy.]

If you remain in the source, the Self, you can easily catch each thought as it rises. If you don’t catch the thoughts as they rise, they sprout, become plants and if you still neglect them, they grow into great trees. (…) If you can be continuously aware of each thought as it rises, and if you can be so indifferent to it that it doesn’t sprout or flourish you are well on the way to escaping from the entanglements of mind.

A.S.: Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no attachments at all. If you have the slightest interest in any particular thought, it will evade you attentiveness. (…) If you are continuously alert, the mind cannot delude you.

A.S.: When you know that everything that is happening is only appearing on the screen of consciousness, and that you yourself are the screen on which it all appears, nothing can touch you, harm you or make you afraid.

A.S.: One can only make progress on the spiritual path if one is prepared to give up all ones attachments.

A.S.: King Janaka was ready and willing to give up everything he had in a single act of surrender. If you have attained this degree of spiritual maturity, you can get jnana by a single act of surrender.

A.S.: If you can focus your mind on this “I am” you need not do anything else. You do not have to cultivate a particular attitude it [like love or devotion].

A.S.: If you give up attachment to all thoughts except for the thought of

the Self, you will find yourself being pulled automatically into the peace of the Self. If you practice intensively and correct, you will find that the experience of this peace is addictive. When this happens you will lose interest in everything except the Self.

[While we are still in maya we must accept the Guru-discipline relationship as real and have a deep feeling of reverence towards the Guru (and not treating his as just any other manifestation of the Self.)] One should only leave the Guru if he tells is to go.

A.S.: Maya is so firmly established in us that only the illusory Guru-lion

in our dream can give us a big enough shock to wake us.

The Power of Arunachala (First published in The Mountain Path, 1982, pp. 75-84.)

By Michael James

The Thought of Arunachala By seeing Chidambaram, by being born, in Tiruvarur, by dying in Kasi,

or by merely thinking of Arunachala, one will surely attain Liberation. The supreme knowledge (Self-knowledge), the import of Vedanta, which

cannot be attained without great difficulty, can easily be attained by anyone who sees the form of this hill from wherever it is visible or who even thinks of it by mind from afar.(1)

Such is the assurance given by Lord Siva in the Arunachala Mahatmyam about the power of the mere thought of Arunachala, and this assurance has received striking confirmation from the life and teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

In the second line of the first verse of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam Sri Bhagavan tells us that from his very earliest childhood, when he knew no other thing, Arunachala was shining his mind as the 'most great'. And this thought of Arunachala so worked in his mind that at the age of sixteen a great fear of death arose in him and turned his mind Selfwards to drown forever in its source.

In his writings Sri Bhagavan has repeatedly confirmed the mysterious power that the thought of Arunachala has over the mind. In his Tamil Collected

Works, under the picture of Arunachala, there is a verse that can be considered as his dhyana sloka (verse of contemplation) upon his Sadguru, Arunachala Siva.

In this verse he sings, 'This is Arunachala-Siva, the ocean of grace that bestows liberation when thought of''.

In the first verse of Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai (The Marital

Garland of Letters) he sings, 'O Arunachala, you root out the ego of those who think of you in the heart as ''Arunachala'''.

In the 102nd verse of Aksharamanamalai, he sings, 'O Arunachala, the moment I thought of Arunai [the holy town of Arunachala] I was caught in the trap of your grace. Can the net of your grace ever fail?'

And in the last line of the second verse of Sri Arunachala

Navamanimalai (The Necklet of Nine Gems) he sings, 'Mukti Ninaikka varul

Arunachalam,' meaning, 'Arunachala, the mere thought of which bestows liberation'. But only in the tenth verse of Sri Arunachala Patikam does Sri Bhagavan

actually reveal how the thought of Arunachala works in the mind to root out the ego. In this verse he sings:

I have seen a wonder, a magnetic hill that forcibly attracts the soul.

Arresting the activities of the soul who thinks of it even once, drawing it to face itself, the One, making it thus motionless like itself, it feeds upon that sweet [pure and ripened] soul. What a wonder is this! O souls, be saved by thinking of this great Arunagiri, which shines in the mind as the destroyer of the soul [the ego].

The words 'oru tanadu abhimukhamaha irttu,' 'drawing it to face itself, the One,' used here by Sri Bhagavan are a mystic way of saying 'drawing the soul to turn inwards and face Self, the one reality'. Thus in this verse Sri Bhagavan reveals how the thought of Arunachala works within the mind to arrest its activities, to attract its attention towards Self and thereby to make it still. In other words, Sri Bhagavan assures that the thought of Arunachala will lead the mind to the path of Self-enquiry, the 'direct path for all', as indeed happened in his own case.

Knowing from personal experience this unique power of Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan confidently advises us in the last line of this verse, 'O souls, be saved by thinking of this great Arunagiri, which shines in the mind as the destroyer of the soul!'

The Form of Arunachala Sri Bhagavan has said that Arunachala is the supreme Self that shines as

'I' in the hearts of all living beings. In other words, Arunachala is truly the non-dual reality that transcends time, space, name and form. Hence, many of the verses in The

Five Hymns to Arunachala, being very mystic in nature, can well be interpreted as applying to the nameless and formless Self, rather than to the name and form of Arunachala. For this reason, some devotees tend to view Sri Bhagavan's revelation about the power of Arunachala as being purely allegorical, and a few even ask, 'When Arunachala is the Self, why should we attach any particular importance to this hill'.(2)

In order to understand more fully the importance that Sri Bhagavan attached to the name and form of this hill, it is necessary for us to take a broad view of his teachings. In verse four of Ulladu Narpadu (The Forty Verses on Reality) Sri Bhagavan says, 'If oneself is a form, the world and God will also be likewise'. That is, they will also be forms. In the first line of the third verse of Sri Arunachala

Ashtakam he addresses Arunachala and sings, 'When I approach you, regarding you as having form, you stand here as a hill on earth'.

That is, so long as we identify the body as 'I', it is equally true that this hill is God. Indeed, Sri Bhagavan used to say that because we identify the body as 'I', Lord Siva, the Supreme Reality, out of his immense compassion for us, identifies this hill as 'I', so that we may see him, think of him and thereby receive his grace and guidance. 'Only to reveal your [transcendent] state without speech [i.e. through

silence], you stand as a hill shining from earth to sky,' sings Sri Bhagavan in the last line of the second verse of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam.

So long as we feel the name and form of our body to be 'I', we cannot conceive God as being anything but a name and form. Even if we think that God is formless, that very thought about God itself is a form - a mere mental conception. This is why Sri Bhagavan says in the second line of the third verse of Ashtakam, 'If one tries to think of your nature as formless, he is like one who wanders throughout the world to see the sky'.(3)

Being the perfect spiritual Master that he was, Sri Bhagavan knew well how important and necessary is the form of God for the human mind, which is ever attached to forms. And from his own personal experience he knew the unique power of the form of Arunachala, a power that cannot be found in such abundance in any other form of God, namely the power to turn the mind towards Self and thereby to root out the ego.

In verse eleven of Sri Arunachala Patikam Sri Bhagavan exclaims with joy and wonder, 'Lo! How many are there like me who have been destroyed by thinking this hill to be the Supreme… ,' thereby assuring us that if we regard this hill as God, our egos will surely be destroyed. Though Arunachala appears outwardly as a hill of mere insentient rock, the true devotee understands it to be the all-knowing, all-loving and all-powerful Supreme Lord, who is guiding him both from within and without at every step and turn of life, leading him steadily and surely towards the goal of egolessness. 'What a wonder! It stands as if an insentient hill [yet] its action is mysterious - impossible for anyone to understand,' sings Sri Bhagavan in the first line of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam.

The Name of Arunachala Of all the names of God, the name dearest to the heart of Sri Bhagavan

was Arunachala. Every one of the 108 verses of Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai

ends with the name Arunachala, and the refrain is 'Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala!' From the great love that Sri Bhagavan had for this name, it is clear that he regarded it as being no less powerful than the form of Arunachala. This fact is confirmed in verse seventy of Aksharamanamalai in which Sri Bhagavan sings, 'O Arunachala, the very moment I thought of your name, you caught me and drew me to yourself. Who can understand your greatness?'

There are many incidents in the life of Sri Bhagavan that illustrate his great love for the divine name Arunachala, but perhaps the most striking occurred during his last moments. About twenty-five minutes before he left his body, the assembled devotees began to chant Aksharamanamalai. Hearing the name of his beloved Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan opened his eyes, which shone with love, and tears of ecstasy rolled down his cheeks.

Though Sri Bhagavan never gave mantra diksha nor formally accepted anyone as his disciple, many devotees believe that Arunachala is the nama-mantra that he has bestowed upon the whole world. When a Guru formally gives a mantra to his disciple, he explains to him the meaning and significance of each letter of the mantra and tells him the fruit to be gained by meditating upon that mantra. In the same manner, in the second verse of Sri Arunachala Navamanimalai Sri Bhagavan has explained the meaning of each syllable in the name Arunachala and he has declared that mere thought of this name will bestow liberation. From this we can infer that Arunachala is the jnana-panchakshari, the five-syllable mantra that bestows jnana. Moreover, tradition tells us that when a mantra is given by a jnani and when he explains the significance of each syllable of that mantra, he is actually putting his own power into that mantra. Therefore, if any devotees of Sri Bhagavan wish to have a mantra, they can very well, take Arunachala to be the mantra openly given to them by him.

The power of the name Arunachala was once directly confirmed by Sri Bhagavan. In 1948 a certain devotee came to him from Bombay, and with him he brought a notebook in which he had written the name 'Arunachala Siva' many thousands of times. On the last page of this notebook the devotee wrote a prayer to the following effect, 'O Bhagavan, in the life of Sarada Devi [the wife of Sri Ramakrishna] it is written that she has said that if even an animal dies in Kasi it will attain liberation. Therefore, graciously bestow upon be the boon of death in Kasi.' and gave the notebook to Sri Bhagavan.

Bhagavan looked through the notebook and when he came to the last page he read out loud the devotee's prayer: at once he expressed the greatest surprise and exclaimed, 'Smaranat Arunachalam!'

The words 'Smaranat Arunachalam' mean 'by remembering Arunachala', and they occur in the very same Sanskrit verse that says that by dying in Kasi one will attain liberation. Bhagavan then turned to the revolving bookcase by his side and took out a book,probably the Arunachala Mahatmyam. Opening it as if at random, he read out a sentence in Tamil that said, 'One ''Arunachala'' is equal power to one crore ''Om Nama Sivaya'''.

'Om Nama Sivaya' is believed by Saivas all over India to be the most sacred and powerful mantra. After reading out a few other portions of this book that emphasized the unique greatness and power of Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan finally laid it aside and explained to the devotee that not everyone can see Chidambaram, not everyone can be born in Tiruvarur, and not everyone can die in Kasi, but anyone and everyone can think of Arunachala from wherever they may be, and thereby they will surely attain liberation.

From this incident we can understand how unhesitatingly Sri Bhagavan encouraged devotees to have absolute faith in Arunachala. If devotees of a sceptical frame of mind came to him and asked him how mere thought of Arunachala could bestow liberation, he used to explain the allegorical significance of this saying, since that alone would satisfy their mind.(4) But if devotees came to him with simple,

child-like faith, he would strengthen their faith and confirm the literal meaning of this saying, since he knew from personal experience the great power of the name and form of Arunachala.

The Unique Sanctity of Arunachala In India there are countless holy places (kshetras) that are sacred to Lord

Siva or to some other name and form of God, and many of them are more well-known and popular than Arunachala. Yet there is a verse in the Arunachala

Mahatmyam, which has been selected and translated into Tamil by Sri Bhagavan, that says:

Arunachala is truly the holy place. Of all holy places it is the most sacred!

Know that it is the heart of the world. It is truly Siva himself! It is his heart-abode, a secret kshetra. In that place the Lord ever abides the hill of light named Arunachala.

Whenever Sri Bhagavan asked about the special sanctity of Arunachala,

he used to explain that other holy places such as Kailas, Kasi and Chidambaram are sacred because they are the abodes of Lord Siva whereas Arunachala is Lord Siva himself.(5) However, as the above verse of Arunachala Mahatmyam says, Arunachala is a secret kshetra. Because it is this place that bestows jnana and because most people have so many other desires and do not truly want jnana, Arunachala has always remained comparatively little known. But to those few who seek jnana, Arunachala always makes itself known through some means or other.

The unique sanctity and power of Arunachala-kshetra was once confirmed by an incident that happened in the life of Sri Bhagavan. Because of his great love for Sri Bhagavan, a certain devotee wanted to take him to his native place, Chidambaram. But rather than directly ask Sri Bhagavan to come to Chidambaram, he began to ask him if he had ever been to see Lord Nataraja in Chidambaram Temple. When Sri Bhagavan replied that he had not, the devotee began to describe the greatness of Chidambaram, saying that it was the most sacred Siva-kshetra in South India, that so many saints and sages had lived there and had sung in praise of Lord Nataraja, and so on and so forth. Sri Bhagavan listened to all he said with patient interest, but showed no signs of wanting to visit Chidambaram.

Seeing this, the devotee at last said, 'Chidambaram is even greater than Arunachala, because among the panchabuta lingams [the lingams representing the five elements] Chidambaram is the space-lingam while Arunachala is only the fire-lingam.(6) Since the four elements, earth, water, air and fire, finally have to merge in space, space is the principal element.'

Hearing this, Sri Bhagavan smiled and said, 'All the five elements come into existence only when Sakti seemingly forsakes her identify with Lord Siva, the Supreme Self (Paramatman). Since the five elements are thus only the creations of

Sakti, she is superior to all of them. Therefore, more important than the place where the elements merge, is the place where Sakti herself merges. Because Sakti is dancing in Chidambaram, Lord Siva has to dance before her and thereby make her become motionless. But in Arunachala Lord Siva remains ever motionless (achala), and hence Sakti automatically and effortlessly merges in him through great love. Therefore, Arunachala shines as the foremost and most powerful kshetra, because here Sakti, who has seemingly created all this manifold appearance, herself merges into the Lord. So for those mature aspirants who seek to put an end to the false appearance of duality, the most powerful help is to be found only in Arunachala-kshetra.'

Subsequently, on 24th June 1928, Sri Bhagavan summarized this reply of his in the form of a verse, which later became the first verse of Sri Arunachala

Navamanimalai. In this verse he says: Though he is truly motionless by nature, in the court [of Chidambaram]

Lord Siva dances before Sakti, thereby making her motionless. But know that [in Tiruvannamalai] Lord Arunachala shines triumphant, that Sakti having merged in his motionless form.

The Gurutvam of Arunachala Arunachala has always been renowned as the bestower of liberation, the

destroyer of the ego, the remover of the false notion 'I am the body' - as the jnana-Guru par excellence.

When Brahma and Vishnu began to quarrel, being deluded by pride and egoism, Lord Arunachala Siva appeared before them in the form of a column of fire, thereby vanquishing their egoism and teaching them true knowledge. When Sakti, Goddess Parvati, wished to attain a state in which she could do no wrong, Lord Siva sent her to Arunachala, where she merged and became one with him. Thus, even to Brahma and Vishnu, Arunachala was Guru, and to Parvati it was the place where she lost her separate individuality.

Throughout the ages saints and sages have sung verses in Sanskrit, Tamil and other Indian languages extolling the unique power of Arunachala to root out the ego and to bestow Self-knowledge. All the four great Saiva sages of Tamil Nadu, Manikkavachagar, Sundaramurti, Appar and Jnanasambandhar, have sung in praise of Arunachala. In one verse often pointed out by Sri Bhagavan, Jnanasambandhar described this hill as being jnana-tiral, a dense mass of jnana. And Sundaramurti, singing in Tiruvanaikka, remembers Arunachala and sings, 'O Annamalai, you can be known only to those who give up the attachment to the body'.

These puranic stories and songs of ancient sages all confirm the fact that Arunachala is the supreme jnana-Guru. But this fact has received its most striking confirmation from Sri Bhagavan. In verse nineteen of Aksharamanamalai he explicitly states that Arunachala shines as the form of his Guru; and in the same

verse he reveals the function of the real Guru, namely to destroy all our defects, including the root-defect, the ego, to bestow all good qualities upon us and to rule over us.

In many of his other verses Sri Bhagavan has clearly indicated that the role of Arunachala is the role of the Sadguru. For example, in Aksharamanamalai he sings that Arunachala roots out the ego of those who think of it (verse 1), that it annihilates those who approach it as God (verse 48) and that it destroys the attachment of those who come to it with attachment (verse 77). He also reveals that Arunachala instructs through silence (verse 36) and that it teaches the path of self-enquiry (verse 44); and he shows us the way of praying to Arunachala to bestow jnana (verse 40) to reveal Self as the reality (verse 43) and to make us give up the attachment to the body (verse 75). He has also confirmed from his own experience the power of Arunachala as Guru. In verse eight of Sri Arunachala Navamanimalai he sings that, in order to put an end to his sufferings in the world, Arunachala 'gave me his own state'; and in verse nine he describes the wonder of Arunachala's grace saying, 'You entered my mind, drew me and established me in your own state'.

All that Sri Bhagavan has said about the power of Arunachala tallies exactly with what he has said about the power of the Guru. In verse 268 of Guru

Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) he says that the Guru is he who possesses the supreme power to make any soul who comes to him merge into Self, the knowledge beyond all speech. The Guru works in many ways to make the disciple merge into Self. 'He gives a push from ''without'' and exerts a pull from ''within'', so that you may be fixed in the Centre,' says Sri Bhagavan in Maharshi's

Gospel, p. 36. From 'without' the Guru gives verbal instructions to turn the disciple's mind towards Self, and he also enables the disciple to have association (satsang) with his form, and thereby to gain the necessary strength and love to turn within and attend to Self. To give verbal instructions it is necessary for the Guru to be in human form, but to give satsang and subtle inner guidance he may be in any form.

Sri Bhagavan has come as the Guru in human form to give us all the necessary verbal instructions, and he has revealed that Arunachala is the Guru in the form of a hill with which we can always have satsang. Like any human body, the human form of the Guru will inevitably pass away one day, whereas the form of Arunachala will always remain. Thus, though Sri Bhagavan has left his human form, he has provided us with all the requisite outward help: he has left us with a permanent record of his verbal teachings, and he has shown us a form with which we can always have satsang. Therefore, for the devotees of Sri Bhagavan there will never be any need to search for another outer Guru, because all the necessary help and guidance is ever available for us in the form of the teachings of Sri Bhagavan and the satsang of Arunachala.

The power of the satsang of Arunachala was often confirmed by Sri Bhagavan. Dr. T. N. Krishnaswamy records in the Ramana Pictorial Souvenir, p. 7 that Sri Bhagavan once said to him:

The whole hill is sacred. It is Siva himself. Just as we identify ourselves with a body, so Siva has chosen to identify himself with his hill. Arunachala is pure wisdom (jnana) in the form of a hill. It is out of compassion to those who seek him that he has chosen to reveal himself in the form of a hill visible to the eye. The seeker will obtain guidance and solace by staying near this hill.

Arunachala-pradakshina Arunachala is the physical embodiment of Sat, the reality, and hence to

have contact with it in any manner is satsang. To think of Arunachala is satsang, to see Arunachala is satsang, and to live near Arunachala is satsang. But one very special way of having satsang with Arunachala is to do Arunagiri-pradakshina, that it is, to walk barefoot round the hill keeping it to one's right-side.

The great importance that Sri Bhagavan attached to giri-pradakshina is well known to all the devotees who lived with him. He himself did pradakshina countless times, and he actively and spontaneously encouraged devotees to follow his example.

'Bhagavan, who scarcely ever gave advice to devotees unless asked, wholeheartedly encouraged their going round the hill as conducive to progress in sadhana,' writes Lucia Osborne in The Mountain Path, January 1974, p. 3.

Devaraja Mudaliar records that the importance of pradakshina became evident to him 'from the frequent references by Bhagavan himself to its great significance, and from the fact that thousands of people do it, including almost all the close disciples of Bhagavan, even those who may be considered the most advanced among them.' (My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p. 64)

Though comparatively little has been recorded of what Sri Bhagavan used to say about the power of pradakshina, there is no doubt that he considered it to be an act having great spiritual efficacy. In fact he used to say that the benefits which can be gained by meditation and various other forms of mind-control only after great struggle and effort, will be effortlessly gained by those who go round the hill.

'Bhagavan often said that those unable to meditate would succeed in their endeavour by circumambulating Arunachala,' writes Suri Nagamma in My Life at

Sri Ramanasramam, p. 144. Kunju Swami records on p. 108 of Enadu Ninaivugal that Bhagavan once

told him. 'What is better than pradakshina? That alone is sufficient.' While extolling the spiritual efficacy of pradakshina, Sri Bhagavan

sometimes used to narrate the story of King Vajrangada Pandya, which is told in the Arunachala Mahatmyam. Vajrangada Pandya was a powerful monarch who ruled over most of South India, but one day he was told by some celestial beings that in this previous birth he had been Indra, the ruler of heaven, and that if he worshipped Arunachala he could regain his former position. On hearing this, he at once

renounced his kingdom and, with the intense desire to become Indra, he began to worship Arunachala by going around the hill three times a day. After three years of such worship, Lord Siva appeared before him and offered him any boon he wished to pray for. Though his original ambition had been to become Indra, his mind had been matured by doing so many pradakshinas, he now realized that it was worthless to pray for such a transitory pleasure. He therefore prayed to Lord Siva for the eternal happiness of Self-knowledge. This story thus aptly illustrates that even if a person begins to do pradakshina for the fulfillment of worldly desires, his mind will in time be matured and he will gain proper discrimination (viveka), desirelessness (vairagya) and love for Self (swatma-bhakti).

Generally, whenever sages or scriptures prescribe any form of dualistic worship, whether for the fulfillment of worldly desires or for the attainment of Self-knowledge, they always say that it must be done with faith. But Sri Bhagavan used to say that the power of Arunachala is such that even if one does pradakshina with no faith, it will still have its effect and will surely purify the mind. Devaraja Mudaliar records on p. 64 of My Recollections that Sri Bhagavan told him, 'For everybody it is good to make circuit of the hill. It does not even matter whether one has faith in this pradakshina or not; just as fire will burn all who touch it whether they believe in it or not, so the hill will do good to all those who go round it.'

Because Arunachala is the 'fire of knowledge' (jnanagni) in the form of a hill, the outgoing tendencies (vasanas) of the mind are automatically scorched when one goes round it. When damp wood is brought close to a fire, it will gradually be dried, and at a certain point it will itself catch fire. Similarly, when the mind which is soaked with worldly tendencies goes round the hill, the tendencies will gradually dry up and at a certain point the mind will become fit to be burnt by the fire of jnana. That is why Sri Bhagavan said to Kunju Swami, 'This hill is the storehouse of all spiritual power. Going round It benefits you in all ways'. (The Mountain Path, April 1979, p. 75)

The spiritual benefits of pradakshina have been described by Sri Sadhu Om in one of his Tamil poems, Sri Arunachala Pradakshina Manbu. In verses six and seven he says, 'A cow grazing round and round its peg, does not know that the length of its rope is thereby decreasing. Similarly, when you go round and round Arunachala, how can your mind know that it is thereby subsiding? When the cow goes round more and more, at one point it will be bound tightly to its peg. Similarly when the mind lovingly goes more and more round Annamalai [Arunachala], which is Self, it will finally stand still in Self-abidance, having lost all it movements [vrittis].'

In verse eight he says, 'It is a well-proven truth that the minds of those devotees who ever go round Annamalai achieve great love to turn within towards Self. Annamalai is the blazing, wild hill of fire [the fire of Jnana] that burns all our worldly desires into ashes.' And in verse nine he gives the simile of a piece of iron being rubbed against a magnet; just as the scattered atoms of iron are all aligned by the magnet to face in one uniform direction, thereby transforming the iron into a

magnet, so when a person goes round Arunachala, the divine magnet, his scattered mind, is turned towards Self and is thereby transformed into Self.

Sri Muruganar, who was a great sage and one of the foremost disciples of Sri Bhagavan, was noted as a staunch lover of pradakshina. In the days of Sri Bhagavan he used to write to any friends who were coming to see him, 'You will find me either in Bhagavan's hall or on the giri-pradakshina road,' and it is said that at one time he even used to go round the hill daily. How he first came to know about the greatness of giri-pradakshina is related by Kunju Swami in The Mountain Path, April 1979, p. 83, as follows:

Sometime after he came here, Sri Muruganar asked Bhagavan about the

spiritual benefit of going round the hill (giri-pradakshina). Bhagavan asked him to go round it first and them come to him. Sri Muruganar followed his advice and told Bhagavan that he lost his dehatma buddhi [sense of identification with the body] after a while and regained it only after reaching Adi-Annamalai [a village on the way]. He reported to Sri Bhagavan that the experience was unexpected and unique. Sri Bhagavan smiled and said, 'Do you now understand?'

This incident proves very clearly the power of pradakshina, and it shows

that mature souls can even lose their sense of identification with the body by going round the hill. It also illustrates what Sri Bhagavan meant when he used to say that while going round the hill one can experience sanchara-samadhi, a thought-free state of bliss while walking.

Though such a thought-free state is not experienced by all devotees when they go round the Hill, that does not mean that their pradakshina is not yielding fruit. The main benefit of pradakshina is that the tendencies (vasanas) are slowly made to lose their grip over the mind, but just as a child cannot easily perceive its own growth, so the mind cannot easily perceive the weakening of its own vasanas.

However, one very notable feature about pradakshina that can be perceived by anyone and which clearly indicates its spiritual efficacy is the extraordinary power of attraction it exerts over the minds of devotees. For no special reason one feels attracted to go round Arunachala again and again.

'Go round the hill once. You will see that it will attract you,' said Sri Bhagavan to Devaraja Mudaliar (My Recollections, p.65).

'Bhagavan used to say that if one went round the hill once or twice, the hill itself would draw one to go round it again. I have found it true. Now this is happening to Dr. Syed,' writes Devaraja Mudaliar in Day by Day with Bhagavan, 19th December, 1945.

In Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, volume 2, letter 98, Suri Nagamma records Sri Bhagavan as saying, 'The dhyana [meditation] that you cannot get into while sitting, you get into automatically if you go for pradakshina. The place and atmosphere here are like that. However unable a person is to walk, if he once goes round the hill he will feel like going again and again. The more you go, the more the

enthusiasm for it. It never decreases. Once a person is accustomed to the happiness of pradakshina, he can never give it up.'

Just as the mind is automatically attracted to the Guru, knowing intuitively that he can bestow eternal bliss, for the same reason the mind feels automatically attracted to giri pradakshina.

Arunachala-Ramana To understand the power of Arunachala, it is first necessary to understand

the relationship that existed between Arunachala and Bhagavan. To Bhagavan, Arunachala was Mother, Father, Guru and God - it was his all in all, his own Self.

Sri Bhagavan often said, 'God, Guru and Self are one and the same,' and to him Arunachala was all three of these. In verse forty-eight of Aksharamanamalai he refers to Arunachala as his God, in verse nineteen as his Guru, and in verse five of Atma Vidya Kirtanam (The Song on the Science of Self) as 'Annamalai, my Self'.

Truly, Arunachala is Ramana and Ramana is Arunachala. The two are inseparable. Arunachala is Ramana in the form of a hill, and Ramana is Arunachala in human form. The oneness that Sri Bhagavan felt with Arunachala is disclosed in many of his verses.

When a devotee enquired about his true nature, he replied, 'Arunachala-Ramana is the Supreme Self who blissfully abides as consciousness in the heart-cave of all souls beginning with Hari (Lord Vishnu)….'

The same name, 'Arunachala-Ramana', which he used while referring to himself, he also uses while addressing the hill in the last verse of Aksharamanamalai, and in verse ninety he calls the hill 'Ramana'. When Sri Bhagavan composed Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam (The Five Gems) in Sansksrit, a devotee composed a concluding verse in which he said that these five verses were an Upanishad revealed by Srimad Ramana Maharshi. Later, when Sri Bhagavan translated this hymn into Tamil, he adapted this concluding verse and substituted the name 'Arunagiri-Ramana' for the name 'Srimad Ramana Maharshi', thereby indicating that it was Arunagiri (Arunachala) itself in the form of Ramana who sang this hymn. From all this, it is clear that Sri Bhagavan experienced no individuality or existence of his own separate from Arunachala.

Though Bhagavan Ramana has left his human form, he will always remain shining here in the form of Arunachala, giving guidance and solace to his devotees. Therefore, the power of Arunachala is the power of Ramana - the power of the Sadguru's grace.

O Arunachala, ocean of grace in the form of a hill, bestow grace upon me!

(Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai, verse 17)

(1) This verse is the fifth of the seven verses that Sri Bhagavan selected from

the Arunachala Mahatmyam and translated into Tamil. (2) In Talks, talk no. 273, it is recorded that Dr Syed once asked a similar

question to Sri Bhagavan, who in reply pointed out that the hill had attracted to itself all the assembled devotees, including Sri Bhagavan himself, and that the power of the hill therefore could not be denied.

(3) The futility of trying to conceive God as being formless when we are unable to know ourself as the formless Self, is well illustrated by a dialogue that Sri Bhagavan once had with some Muslims, which is recorded on p. 28 of Maha Yoga and in Talks, talk no. 121.

(4) An example of how Sri Bhagavan used to give this type of explanation can be found in Talks no. 473 (p. 448).

(5) See similar comments recorded in Talks (n. 143), and Sri Ramana

Reminiscences, p. 37. (6) Though Arunachala is generally considered to be one of the panchabhuta-

lingams, Sri Bhagavan used to point out that It is truly not a lingam of ordinary fire, which is one among the five gross elements, but is a lingam of the fire of knowledge, the fire that burns the ego to destruction.

Reminiscências e Comentários

A Sadhu’s Reminiscences Bhagavan had a great sense of humour and when talking a smile was

never far from his face. He had many jokes in his repertoire and was a magnificent actor, he would always dramatise the protagonists of any story he related. When the recital was very pathetic he would be filled with emotion and unable to proceed. When people came to him with their family stories he would laugh with the happy and at times shed tears with the bereaved. In this way he seemed to reciprocate the emotions of others. He never raised his voice and if he did occasionally seem angry there was no sign of it on the surface of his Peace.

He preferred every sort of simplicity and liked to sit on the floor, but a

couch had been forced upon him and this became his home for most of the twenty-four hours of the day. He would never, if he could help it, allow any preference to be shown to him. And in the dining-hall he was adamant on this point. Even if some special medicine or tonic were given to him he wanted to share it with everybody. “If it is good for me then it must be good for the rest,” he would argue and make them distribute it round the dining-hall. He would wander out on to the Hill a few times a day, and if any attachment to anything on earth could be said of him, it was surely an attachment to the Hill. He loved it and said it was God Himself.

He used to say that it was the top of the spiritual axis of the earth; there

must, he said, be another mountain corresponding to Arunachala at exactly the opposite side of the globe, the corresponding pole of the axis. (The Region of the Andes in Ecuador)

Bhagavan never encouraged people who came and started to confess their

sins. He would not allow them to continue but shut them up by telling them not to dwell on the past but to find out who they were now in the present. The point was not the act but attachment to it that mattered.

Yet even supposing one has got rid of most of one’s Vasanas, how does attainment actually occur? On this question of attaining Self-realization Bhagavan told me that in the early stages a person who was regularly meditating would usually at first go into a trance which would probably last for some thirty minutes, and if he continued with his Tapas properly such Samadhi would become more frequent. So carried away by it would he be that he would be able to think of nothing but slipping away to some quiet corner to meditate undisturbed. He would lose all interest in everything else until that time when he became established in the Self and no more meditation was necessary. He had then attained Sahaja Samadhi or his natural state. But there were no fixed rules.

At the Feet of Bhagavan Pointing to the moon and the beautiful sky, Sri Bhagavan said: “Nayana!

If the sun, the moon, and all the stars have their being in ME, and the Sun himself goes round my hip with his satellites, who am I? who am I?’’

Bhagavan once said: “Meditate incessantly on ‘Aham brahmasmi’ until it

becomes permanent; later on, be freed from even this thought and be the Self Itself alone. Seeing any thing apart from the Divine is the cause of the sense of difference and so of fear. The thought-waves that rise in the mind are the cause of bondage. When there is no mind, there is neither world nor individual soul. The conquest of the mind is the greatest of all conquests. It is the Divine Himself who appears as world, individual and the beyond. So abidance as the Divine all times and in all places will result in conquering the mind. Then will you come to realize ‘All is the Divine; I am that Self’ and you will attain the natural state.”

Letters from and Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam And if any devotees prayed to him to heal himself, he used to say “What

have I to do with this?” or “What can I do?” [Someody got horrified with the state of Ramana`s body…] Bhagavan

remarked, “Oh, the body? Why? What has happened? It is shaking. What if it shakes?” So saying, he suppressed the shivering, and looking at his attendants, said with a laugh, “That is Nataraja’s dance. Why should you be afraid? If every day the body is giving you darshan in its static form, today it is giving it to you in a dance pose. Why all this anxiety?” So saying, he sat there in dignified silence.

[A man said that he would like to make an offering to Bhagavan but he couldn`t, for he was very poor and he only had some already cooked food, of poor quality] “Bhagavan, seemingly very pleased, exclaimed, ‘Oh! Cooked food, is it? That is excellent. Why be ashamed? It will be very good. Let me have it’. As the old man was still hesitating, Bhagavan took the pot from him, sat down under a tree and told his followers to unload all the things they had brought. We unloaded accordingly. Bhagavan took out from among the cooking things, a big open mouthed tinlined vessel into which he put all the food, poured in a lot of water, and mixed it well into a paste with his hand; then from some left-overs amongst our things, he took out some limes and squeezed the juice into the mixture, poured in some buttermilk, and made the whole thing into a liquid. Finally he mixed some salt and dry ginger powder, then took out a tumbler full of the liquid, drank it, and said, ‘Oh, this is delicious!’ Then looking at us all, he said, ‘All of you, mix some sugar with that milk left over and drink it; our luggage will be lighter. I have this food; so what need have I for the milk? This is first rate food for me in this hot weather. It is also very nourishing, and has many other good qualities too. But you wouldn’t like it, do drink the milk, and please give my share of it and the sugar to this old man’.

[In “Moments Remembered”] “Sri Bhagavan used to go into the kitchen

by 4 a.m. and start cutting vegetables; one or two of us would also join and help. Sometime the amount of vegetables used to startle us. Bhagavan managed to cut much more and more quickly than the rest of us. “At such times we would look up at the clock in our impatience to finish the job and try and have another nap. Bhagavan would sense our impatience and say: ‘Why do you look at the clock?’ We tried to bluff Bhagavan saying: ‘If only we could complete the work before 5, we could meditate for an hour.’ Bhagavan would mildly retort: ‘The allotted work has to be completed in time. Other thoughts are obstacles, not the amount of work. Doing the allotted work in time is itself meditation. Go ahead and do the job with full attention.’ Sri Bhagavan thus taught us the importance of right, honest work”.

My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Many can testify the outstanding effect of his presence. Nevertheless, it

did occasionally happen that something disturbed the peace and happiness for a while. On one such occasion I asked Bhagavan: “Why do such interruptions come? Does it mean that we have ceased to have Bhagavan’s Grace then?” With what graciousness did Bhagavan reply: “You, crazy fellow! The trouble or want of peace comes only because of Grace.”

On other occasions also Bhagavan has similarly told me: “You people are

glad and grateful to God when things you regard as good come to you. That is right,

but you should be equally grateful when things you regard as bad come to you. That is where you fail.”

Ramana Arunachala An attendant once rebuked a European woman for sitting with her legs

stretched out. Bhagavan at once sat up crosslegged and continued so despite the pain caused by the rheumatism in his knees. When the devotees protested, he replied that the attendant’s orders were for every one, and it was only when the lesson had been driven home that he consented to relax.

Throughout the long and painful sickness that finally killed his body he

submitted loyally, one after another, to the doctors who were put in charge, never complaining, never asking for a change of treatment.

Textos Clássicos do Advaita

Ashtavakra Gita translated by John Richards

I. Janaka said: 2. If you are seeking liberation, my son, avoid the objects of the senses

like poison and cultivate tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as the antidote.

4. If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds.

6. Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, so you are always free.

9. Burn down the forest of ignorance with the fire of the understanding that "I am the one pure awareness," and be happy and free from distress.

13. Meditate on yourself as motionless awareness, free from any dualism, giving up the mistaken idea that you are just a derivative consciousness or anything external or internal.

17. You are unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable, unfathomable awareness, unperturbable: so hold to nothing but consciousness.

II. Janaka said: 4. Waves, foam, and bubbles do not differ from water. In the same way,

all this which has emanated from oneself is no other than oneself. 16. Truly dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it

than the realisation that all this that we see is unreal, and that I am the one stainless reality, consisting of consciousness.

17. I am pure awareness though through ignorance I have imagined myself to have additional attributes. By continually reflecting like this, my dwelling place is in the Unimagined.

20. The body, heaven and hell, bondage and liberation, and fear too, all this is pure imagination. What is there left to do for me whose very nature is consciousness?

25. How wonderful it is that in the infinite ocean of myself the waves of living beings arise, collide, play, and disappear, in accordance with their nature.

III. Ashtavakra said: 2. Truly, when one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure in the

objects of mistaken perception, just as greed arises for the mistaken silver in one who does not know mother of pearl for what it is.

10. The great-souled person sees even his own body in action as if it were someone else's, so how should he be disturbed by praise or blame?

13. How should a strong-minded person who knows that what he sees is by its very nature nothing, consider one thing to be grasped and another to be rejected?

V. Ashtavakra said: 3. In spite of being in front of your eyes, all this, being insubstantial, does

not exist in you, spotless as you are. It is an appearance like the snake in a rope, so you can find peace.

VII. Janaka said: 5. I am pure consciousness, and the world is like a magician's show. How

could I imagine there is anything there to take up or reject? VIII. Ashtavakra said: 1. Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about

something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something.

IX. Ashtavakra said: 2. Rare indeed, my son, is the lucky man whose observation of the

world's behaviour has led to the extinction of his thirst for living, thirst for pleasure, and thirst for knowledge.

8. One's desires are samsara. Knowing this, abandon them. The renunciation of them is the renunciation of it. Now you can remain as you are.

X. Ashtavakra said: 2. Look on such things as friends, land, money, property, wife, and

bequests121 as nothing but a dream or a magician's show lasting three or five days. 3. Wherever a desire occurs, see samsara in it. Establishing yourself in

firm dispassion, be free of passion and happy. 7. Enough of wealth, sensuality, and good deeds. In the forest of samsara

the mind has never found satisfaction in these. 8. How many births have you not done hard and painful labour with

body, mind, and speech. Now at last, stop!

121 Bequest = legado; doação.

XII. Janaka said: 1. First of all I was averse to physical activity, then to lengthy speech,

and finally to thought itself, which is why I am now established. 2. In the absence of delight in sound and the other senses, and by the fact

that I am myself not an object of the senses, my mind is focused and free from distraction -- which is why I am now established.

6. Just as the performance of actions is due to ignorance, so their abandonment is too. By fully recognising this truth, I am now established.

XV. Ashtavakra said: 4. You are not the body, nor is the body yours, nor are you the doer of

actions or the reaper of their consequences. You are eternally pure consciousness, the witness, in need of nothing -- so live happily.

5. Desire and anger are objects of the mind, but the mind is not yours, nor ever has been. You are choiceless awareness itself and unchanging -- so live happily.

6. Recognising oneself in all beings, and all beings in oneself, be happy, free from the sense of responsibility and free from preoccupation with "me."

13. How can there be either birth, karma, or responsibility in that one unchanging, peaceful, unblemished, and infinite consciousness which is you?

19. Being pure consciousness, do not disturb your mind with thoughts of for and against. Be at peace and remain happily in yourself, the essence ofjoy.

20. Give up meditation completely but don't let the mind hold on to anything. You are free by nature, so what will you achieve by forcing the mind?

XVI. Ashtavakra said: 1. My son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will

not be established within until you can forget everything. 4. Happiness belongs to noone but that supremely lazy man for whom

even opening and closing his eyes is a bother. XVII. Ashtavakra said: 15. There is no distinction between pleasure and pain, man and woman,

success and failure for the wise man who looks on everything as equal. 19. A man free of "me" and "mine" and of a sense of responsibility,

aware that "Nothing exists," with all desires extinguished within, does not act even in acting.

XVIII. Ashtavakra said: 2. One may get all sorts of pleasure by the acquisition of various objects

of enjoyment, but one cannot be happy except by the renunciation of everything. 8. Knowing himself to be God, and being and non-being just imagination,

what should the man free from desire learn, say, or do?

18. The wise man, unlike the worldly man, does not see inner stillness, distraction, or fault in himself, even when living like a worldly man.

21. He who is desireless, self-reliant, independent, and free of bonds functions like a dead leaf blown about by the wind of causality.

22. There is neither joy nor sorrow for one who has transcended samsara. With a peaceful mind he lives as if without a body.

25. "This action was done by the body but not by me." The pure-natured person thinking like this, is not acting even when acting.

26. He who acts without being able to say why, but is not thereby a fool, he is one liberated while still alive, happy and blessed. He is happy even in samsara.

29. He who feels responsibility within, acts even when doing nothing, but there is no sense of done or undone for the wise man who is free from the sense of responsibility.

31. He whose mind does not set out to meditate or act, still meditates and acts but withoutn an object.

33. The ignorant make a great effort to practise one-pointedness and the stopping of thought, while the wise see nothing to be done and remain in themselves like those asleep.

51. When one sees oneself as neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, then all mind waves come to an end.

61. Even abstention from action has the effect of action in a fool, while even the action of the wise man brings the fruits of inaction.

67. Glorious is he who has abandoned all goals and is the incarnation of the satisfaction, which is his very nature, and whose inner focus on the Unconditioned is quite spontaneous.

71. There are no rules, dispassion, renunciation, or meditation for one who is pure receptivity by nature, and admits no knowable form of being.

82. The dispassionate man does not praise the good or blame the wicked. Content and equal in pain and pleasure, he sees nothing that needs doing.

85. The wise man, who lives on whatever happens to come to him, roams wherever he pleases, and sleeps wherever the sun happens to set, is at peace everywhere.

89. Who can compare with that contented, liberated soul who pays no regard to anything and has no desire left in his heart?

100. A man at peace does not run off to popular resorts or to the forest. Whatever and wherever, he remains the same.

XX. Janaka said: 4. For him who is always free from individual characteristics there is no

antecedent causal action, no liberation during life, and no fulfilment at death. 14. There is no being or non-being, no unity or dualism. What more is

there to say? There is nothing outside of me.

Yoga Vasishta Sara I. 16. That perverted man who, even after knowing that worldly objects

are deceptive, still thinks of them, is an ass not a man. I. 17. Even the slightest thought immerses a man in sorrow; when devoid

of all thoughts he enjoys imperishable bliss. I. 26. O Rama, it is indeed nobler to wander begging about the streets of

the outcasts (chandalas), an earthen bowl in hand, than to live a life steeped in ignorance.

II. 2. Samsara rises when the mind becomes active and ceases when it is still. Still the mind, therefore, by controlling the breath and the latent desires (vasanas).

II. 3. This worthless (lit. burnt out) samsara is born of one’s imagination and vanishes in the absence of imagination. It is certain that it is absolutely unsubstantial.

II. 10. Just as the trees on the bank of a lake are reflected in the water, so also all these varied objects are reflected in the vast mirror of our consciousness.

II. 23. This fascinating world rises like a wave in the ambrosial ocean of consciousness and dissolves in it. How then can it be different from it (i.e.

consciousness) in the middle (i.e. when it appears)? III. 22. If, by perceiving that the objects of perception do not really exist,

the mind is completely freed (from those objects) there ensues the supreme bliss of liberation.

IV. 1. Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind.

IV. 3. Just as fire born out of wind (fanned into a flame) is extinguished by the same wind, so also that which is born of imagination is destroyed by imagination itself.

IV. 5. The idea of Self in what is not the Self is due to incorrect understanding. The idea of reality in what is unreal, O Rama, know that to be the mind (chittam).

IV. 7. It is the nature of the mind to accept certain things and to reject others; this is bondage, nothing else.

IV. 13. When one knows the real truth about acceptance and rejection and does not think of anything but abides in himself, abandoning everything, (his) mind does not come into existence.

VI. 1. I, the pure, stainless and infinite Consciousness beyond maya, look upon this body in action like the body of another.

VI. 2. The mind, the intellect, the senses, etc. are all the play of Consciousness. They are unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of insight.

VI. 7. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or fall in me who am the ocean of infinite Consciousness; there is no increase or decrease in me.

VII. 4. Burn the forest of duality with the fire of the conviction, ‘I am the one pure Consciousness’ and remain happy.

VII. 5. You are bound firmly on all sides by the idea, I am the body’. Cut that bond by the sword of knowledge ‘I am Consciousness’ and be happy.

VII. 7. Remain always as pure Consciousness which is your constant (i.e.

true) nature beyond the states of waking, dream and deep sleep. VII. 12. O Raghava, what have you to do with this inert and dumb body?

Why do you feel helpless and miserable by joys and sorrows on account of it? VII. 14. The mere knowledge that this body is like a piece of wood or a

clod of earth enables one to realize the Supreme Self. VIII. 1. If you separate yourself from the body and abide at ease in

Consciousness you will become one (the sole Reality), everything else appearing (insignificant) like grass.

IX. 2. When the conviction that everything is the space-like (i.e. all pervasive) Consciousness becomes firm the jiva comes to an end like a lamp without oil.

IX. 5. A child superimposes a (real) elephant on a clay elephant and plays with it; even so, an ignorant man superimposes the body, etc., on the Self and carries on his activities.

IX. 15. Just as fire thrown into a large sheet of water loses its quality, so also Consciousness in contact with the unreal and the inert seems to lose its real nature and becomes inert.

IX. 30. The idea of a consciousness and an object of consciousness is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. Consciousness, the object of consciousness and everything else is the Self; this is the gist of all systems of philosophy.

IX. 31. There is only consciousness here; this universe is nothing but consciousness; you are consciousness; I am consciousness; the worlds are consciousness - that is the conclusion.

X. 1. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry.

X. 2. The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the senseobjects is bondage; freedom from it is liberation.

X. 29. Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived.

X. 32. He who has transcended both good and evil does not, like a child, refrain from prohibited acts from a sense of sin, nor does he do what is prescribed from a sense of merit.

Sorupa Saram By Sorupananda

The indescribable illusion is also consciousness. The one who perceives everything and the act of perceiving are also consciousness.

My Guru instructed: ‘Sir, the world appearance and its substratum – all

these are you. There is no one who does not say “I”. Therefore enquire thoroughly into the “I”.’

In the waking state I will witness the dance of the five organs of action

and the five organs of sense. In dream I will witness the dance of the mind. In thought-free sleep I will dance the object-free void-dance. However, I will [always] remain as the exalted essence [the Self].

Only the ‘I’ whose form is consciousness is the real ‘I’. All other ‘I’s will

get bound to a form and go through birth and death. Whatever comes, whatever actions are performed, in whatever I may

delight, I am only pure consciousness, remaining aloof and aware, without becoming any of them.

I lived as ‘someone’. I laboured in vain for ‘somebody’. I underwent

change, taking a thousand names. Now, enough of this! I have seen myself, that which is hard for me to discover. Oh, now I am free!

Question: What is to be rejected as asat [unreal], and what is to be

accepted as sat [reality]? Answer: Reject objects that are known as asat and accept consciousness

as sat. This is tranquillity. All the tattvas [principles] that one knows are foreign to oneself. While

rejecting these objects as ‘not-Self’, realise the Self through the consciousness that remains as the one who rejects objects. This is tranquillity.

Everything other than my Self is false. They [the pure ones] will not utter harsh words; they will not hate

anyone; they will be of cheerful countenance; whatever things they relish, they will

not use them for themselves but will offer them to the great ones; they will not associate with evil persons; they will not curse anyone; their eyes will not blaze with anger. These are the ones who will rid themselves of birth.

They will not value as real those things that are destructible; they will never speak out, saying, ‘This is good and this is bad’; they will not grieve over events of the past; they will not condemn anything; they are the exalted ones.

They will not speak contemptuously of the ordinances of the Vedas; they will not remain without chanting and melting with devotion as long as they live; they will not forget death; they will not get attached to this world through weakness of mind; they are the ones who will not be born again.

Question: In that case, can sannyasa be good? Answer: True bliss, which is present in those who renounce the ego, is

not there in sannyasa. How, then, can it be good? To see one’s Self, what sastra is needed? What sadhana is necessary? Is

not all this a mad game? Question: Then what is the way to attain Sivam? Answer: The way to see one’s Self is by rejecting everything else as

maya. If one remains without movement as the Self, like the column supporting

the windmill, the prarabdha will exhaust itself. Question: How to remove [or be rid of] the senses of perception? Answer: They should be removed by seeing them as the Self. Question: How to be rid of desires? Answer: Through desire for realisation of the truth. Question: How to dissolve the mind? Answer: It should be dissolved in the Self, which is its basis. Whatever is to come, let it come. Whatever is to leave, let it leave. I will

not reject even a life of living on alms as defective. Neither do I desire even the state of Brahma.

Ellam Ondre

Preface MEN COURT HAPPINESS and shun misery. It is the same with other

beings also. This holds good for the common run of mankind. But the higher order is bent upon right conduct, enduring patiently the good or evil that it may bring. Fellowship with these will be lasting, whereas fellowship with ordinary people will not be. Good will result to the world through fellowship with the higher order only.

The question then arises: "What is right?'' The point is important, but the answer has not been found. Why? Because what is right is determined by circumstances. However comprehensive a work may be written on the subject, there will always be circumstances not envisaged by the author. Therefore it becomes necessary to realize that state which will enable us to assess the various conditions and determine what is right.

That state is one only. There are no states like it. Although it is single, it is extraordinary that the worldly wise consider it exceedingly rare. Nothing can be more extraordinary than this. That unique state is very clearly taught in the Upanishads. In this book I have put down the same truth according to my understanding. I have considered it my duty. I do not claim originality. The six chapters of this book are so closely interrelated that some point which may be expected in one chapter may be found in another. Again a few points which may not be clear on a superficial reading will become clear upon closer study. More may be gathered from major works or Sages. Universal Mother, Master true, save us!

-- The Author

I – Unity 1. All including the world seen by you and yourself, the seer of the world,

is one only. 2. All that you consider as I, you, he, she and it, is one only. 3. What you consider to be sentient beings and what you consider to be

insentient, such as earth, air, fire and water is all one. 4. The good which is derived by your considering all as one cannot be

had by considering each as separate from the other. Therefore all is one.

5. The knowledge of the unity of all, is good for you and good for others as well. Therefore all is one.

6. He who sees "I am separate," "you are separate," "he is separate" and so on, acts one way to himself and another way to others. He cannot help doing so. The thought "I am separate, others are separate" is the seed from which grows the tree of differing actions in relation to different persons. How can there be any lapse from righteousness for a person who knows the unity of himself with others? As long as the germ of differentiation is there, the tree of differing actions will flourish, even unawares. Therefore give up differentiation. All is one only.

7. Ask: "If in the world all things appear different, how can I consider all as one? Is there any way of gaining this knowledge?" The reply is: "In the same tree we see leaves, flowers, berries and branches, different from one another, yet they are all one because they are all included in the word 'tree'. Their root is the same; their sap122 is the same. Similarly, all things, all bodies, all organisms are from the same source and activated by a single life principle." Therefore all is one.

8. Oh good man! Is the statement that "All is one," good or evil? Think for yourself. Just as the person will always be righteous who regards himself like others and others like himself, how can any evil attach itself to him who knows himself to be others and the others to be himself? Tell me if there is any better way for obtaining good than the knowledge of unity? Certainly other methods cannot be as good as this one. How can anyone love others more than when knowing them to be himself, to know them in unity-love as unity, for they are truly one.

9. Who can share the mental peace and freshness of the knower of unity? He has no cares. The Good of all is his own good. A mother considers her children's well-being to be her own well-being. Still, her love is not perfect because she thinks she is separate and her children are separate. The love of a Sage, who has realized the unity of all, far excels even the love of a mother. There is no other means of gaining such love than the knowledge of unity. Therefore all is one.

10. Know that the world as a whole is your undecaying body and that you are the everlasting life of the whole world. Tell me if there is any harm in doing so? Who fears to go the harmless way? Be courageous. The Vedas teach this very truth. There is nothing but yourself. All good will be yours. Yea, you become the good itself. All that others gain from you will be good only. Who will work evil to his own body and soul? A remedy is applied if there is an abscess123 in the body. Even if the remedy is painful, it is meant to do good only. Such will be some of your actions; they will also be for the good of the world. For that reason, you will not be involved in differentiation. I put it briefly: The knower of unity will act as one should. In fact, the knowledge of unity makes him act. He cannot err. In the world, he is God made visible. All is one.

122 Sap = seiva. 123 Abscess = abscesso.

II – You 1. Who are you? Are you this body? If so, why are you not aware of a

serpent crawling on it when you are in deep sleep? So then can you be this body? No, certainly not. You must be other than this body.

2. Sometimes in sleep you dream. There you identify yourself with someone. Can you be that one? You cannot be. Otherwise, what becomes of that individual on your waking? You are not he. Furthermore, you are ashamed of having identified yourself with him. Clearly, you are not that particular person. You are the one that stands apart from him.

3. Recall the state of dreamless slumber124. What is your state then? Can that be your true nature? Surely you will not subscribe to this belief. Why? Because you are not so foolish as to identify yourself with the massive darkness which obstructs you from knowing the state you are in. Discerned by the intellect from the things around, how can you admit yourself to be the same as ignorance or blank? Or, how can it truly be your real nature? It cannot be. You are the knower who knows that this state remains one of dense darkness veiling your true nature. How can you be that which you have experienced and condemned? Therefore you are not the dark ignorance of deep sleep. You stand apart from this too.

4. When it is said that even this gross body is not you, can you be any other thing which is yet farther125 away from you? In the same way that you are not this gross body, you are not anything farther from the body, nor the dream person, nor the ignorance of deep sleep. You are distinct from these three states and this world.

5. These three states can be reduced to two conditions only-namely, the one of the subject and object, and the other is the unawareness of the subject itself. The former includes the waking and dream states, whereas the latter represents deep slumber. All your experiences are comprised in these two conditions only. Both of them are foreign to you. Your true nature remains distinct from them.

6. If you ask what that is, it is called turiya, which means the fourth state. Why is this name used? This name is proper because it seems to say the three states of your experience-waking, dream and deep sleep-are foreign to you and your true state is the fourth, which is different from these three. Should the three states, waking, dream and deep sleep, be taken to form one long dream, the fourth state represents the waking from this dream. Thus it is more withdrawn than deep sleep, also more wakeful than the waking state. Therefore your true state is that fourth one which is distinguished from the waking, dream and deep sleep states. You are that only. What is this fourth state? It is knowledge which does not particularize anything. It is not unaware of itself. That is to say, the fourth state is Pure

124 Slumber = sono. 125 Farther = mais remoto, mais distante.

Knowledge which is not conscious of any object, but not unconscious itself. Only he who has realized it even for a trice, has realized the Truth. You are that only.

8. What is there more for him who has gained the fourth state? Practically, it is not possible for anyone to remain forever in that state, that is, the state of no particular knowledge. He who has realized the fourth state later wakes up in this world, but for him this world is not as before. He sees that what he realized as the fourth state, shines forth as all this. He will not imagine this world as distinct from that Pure Knowledge. Thus what he saw within, he now sees without in a different form. In the place of the differentiation of old, he is now established in the state of non-differentiation everywhere. Now, he is all. There is nothing distinct from himself. His eyes closed or open, howsoever the things may change, his state remains unchanged. This is the state of Brahman. This is the natural eternal state. You are that ever-true state.

9. There is nothing beyond this state. The words, 'inward' and 'outward' have no meaning for him. All is one. His body, speech and mind cannot function selfishly. Their workings will be grace for the good of all. The fragmentary "I" is lost forever. His ego can never revive. Therefore he is said to be liberated here and now. He does not live because his body lives, nor does he die because his body dies. He is eternal. There is nothing other than he. You are He.

10. Who is God? He is grace. What is Grace? Awareness without the fragmentary ego. How can one know that there is such a state? Only if one realizes it. The Vedas laud126 such a one as having realized God and become one with Him. Therefore the greatest good that one can derive from the world and the greatest good which one can render unto it, is to realize this state. In fact, there are no states besides this. They appear in the state of ignorance. For him who knows, there is one state only. You are that.

III – God 1. Who is God? God is He who has transcended all that is seen by us. If

transcending this world, is there no relation between Him and this world? Not a particle here is unrelated to Him. Then what is meant by transcending the world? The world comprises us and the objects seen by us. In other words, the animate and inanimate together form the world. What shall we say of Him who created the beings and things? Of these two, we say the conscious beings to be superior. All that we can apprehend is that He belongs to the highest order of beings known to us. Our intellect cannot proceed further. Thus, our Creator is superior to us; He cannot be apprehended by our intellect; therefore His Name, Transcended Being, "Kadawul,"

126 Laud= elogiar, louvar; (s) louvor, elogio.

means that He surpasses our intellect. Hence His Name is "Kadawul" - Transcended Being.

2. Can God then not be made known to us? Not quite so. In a way, He is known to us. This much of His Grace is enough for us. We have no need for all His Greatness. He has made known so much of His Greatness as will suffice to eradicate our misery. There is no reason for Him to reveal a jot127 more of His Power than is necessary to remedy our defects in the present state. Thus He is known according to our needs. Nay, He is in our grasp. However limitless, He is within reach of our knowledge to some extent.

3. What is it which brings Him within reach of our knowledge? That He is known as Being-Consciousness-Bliss.

Being denotes that which is imperishable, that which exists forever. Should He become nonexistent at any time, who is His Destroyer? Who created Him? Since the perishable nature of all leads to the inference that they are lorded over 128 by One who is imperishable, this immortal Overlord is God. His imperishable nature is Being (Sat).

Now, what is Consciousness (Chit)? By Consciousness we mean knowledge. This is absolute Knowledge, and not like our erring intellectual knowledge. Irregularity or mistake cannot stain its actions. It is Knowledge, pure and simple. Frequently He teaches us saying, "Your knowledge is irregular and erring." How orderly are even the insentient objects of His creation! It is known to many how an atheist was taught a good lesson when he derided129 the scheme of things saying, "Why did He make the seed so small for the banyan tree which is so big?" That an insentient thing is found in good order and later becomes useful, implies a conscious agency at work. Can a simple, insentient thing do something which is possible for unfailing knowledge only? Or, can't it be done by our inadequate knowledge? No, it can never be. Therefore God is said to be Consciousness (Chit) also.

Now, what is Bliss? It is the state of being free from desire for anything. It is Peace which is ever full. Were He to desire anything, how could He be better than ourselves? How could we gain Bliss from Him? He Himself would require another being to fulfil His desires. But who would think Him to be so? The state of self-contentment is that of Bliss also. Therefore He is called Bliss (Ananda).

The three-Being, Consciousness and Bliss-are inseparable; otherwise, they would become naught individually. Hence, He is known as Being-Consciousness-Bliss (Satchitananda). Thus God remains not only transcendent but also falls within the reach of our knowledge as Being-Consciousness-Bliss.

4. He who has gained the fourth state and sees all as one, only he knows God truly as Being-Consciousness-Bliss. Words cannot express nor the ears hear

127 Jot = um pouquinho. 128 To lord over = dominar, ser senhor de. 129 Deride = ridicularizar.

how such a one is united with God; it is a matter of realization. But there are ways and means for such realization. They can be spoken of, learned and acted upon.

5. He who can be realized thus, is God. He has no name; we give Him a name. He has no form; we give Him a form. Where is the harm in doing so? What name is not His, or what form is not His? Where is the sound or form in which He is not? Therefore, in the absence of true knowledge of Him you can name Him as you please or imagine Him as of any form so to remember Him. Your hope for His Grace without any effort on your part is utterly fruitless. Should it be possible to have His Grace without any effort on your side, all would be alike; there would be no reason for any difference. He has shown us the ways and means. Make effort, reach the goal, be happy. Your idleness and selfishness make you expect His Grace without your effort. The rule for all is for you too. Do not relax your efforts. God can be realized by your effort only.

6. There is an effort which excels all others. This may, however, appear to be less effective than devotion to God with name and form. Nevertheless, this is the more efficient. It is simply the love which you extend to all beings, whether good or bad. In the absence of such love to all, your devotion to God amounts to a mere parody130. Of what use are you to God? That you seek fulfilment of your desires from God without doing your duty towards the needy in the world must be attributed to your selfishness. In God's presence, there is no use for such. The workings that take place in His presence are all unselfish. Therefore, think that all the Centers are His and He is in all the Centers and thus be devoted to Him. God is truly bound by such high devotion.

7. As you go on ascribing names and forms to God and showing love to all because you have understood all names and forms to be His, your mind will gradually mature. Just as the taste improves with the ripening of a fruit, so also you will recognize the waxing of good and the waning131 of evil in you. As your mind matures, there will come a time when you should meet your Master. This is not to say that you go in search of him or he comes in search of you. At the right time the meeting will happen. All are moving in their own ways. Your fitness brings you together, makes you trust him, makes him teach you the right way, also makes you follow the his instructions. That is the straight way to reach God, which is to gain the fourth state. You will follow the way and reach your goal which is Being-Consciousness-Bliss, which is God.

8. The way shown by the Master is final, straight and making for unity. It is well-tried, natural, and free from pain. When you are following the way shown by the master, doubts will not arise; there will be no fear. Are not fear and doubt the characteristics of the ways of darkness? How can they meet you in the way of Truth shown by the Master? In this manner, the way will itself speak to you and say that it is the right one. In that way, there will be nothing more for you to do but to meet your Master and learn from him. That way will be familiar to you, as the Master and 130 Parody = paródia. 131 Wane = diminuir, enfraquecer, decrescer; minguar.

God have made it so. Before you, he had treaded the way. He has shown you the way and you are following him. To how many will you show the same way? And how many more will follow the same way later? Obviously fear and doubt have no place in the way of truth. When once you have taken a step forward you will step back. The master's help is only for the first step forward. You need not do anything for your master in order to have the way shown to you. Know him to be the messenger of God sent down to disclose the way to the fit who have become ripe by their own efforts in either or both the directions mentioned earlier. It is God who sends this godly messenger just when you are ripe.

9. Practice with faith in the period of ignorance is called Bhakti; the same, with knowledge, is called Jnana. Of the two divisions of Bhakti, the one is devotion to God with name and form, and the other is karma which is love for all. Of the two divisions of Jnana, the practice of the true way shown by the Master is called yoga and the resulting state is called Jnana. It is natural for all to believe in something which is not seen and then to find it. Those who do not believe can never find. Therefore, the believers will gain something sometime or other and the unbelievers never gain anything. You can believe even for the simple reason that faith in God is not harmful. Thereby you can share the good effects. This world is meant only for creating faith in you. This is the purpose of creation. Have faith and you can reach God.

10. Though you may not believe all that is said of God, believe at least "There is God." This seed is very potent in its growth. It is so mighty as to negate all else and fill all by itself. It is so almighty that you will not see anything besides God, not even yourself. Truly, God is all.

IV – Peace 1. What is peace? Although the world persists when a man is in deep

sleep, does he have any cares concerning it? His mind is tranquil and refreshed. Should his mind be in the same degree calm and refreshed even when he is face to face with the world and is active therein, then there is peace.

2. Can the mind remain so even when the world confronts us? It depends upon our estimate of the world. The mind is more excited when one's own property is plundered132 than when another's property is similarly plundered. Of one's own things, the loss of one thing causes greater concern than those of another. Why? Because our estimate of the things is the cause of the degree of the delight or anxiety concerning them. Therefore, should one learn to regard all equally, the mind will be extremely peaceful. Or should all things be considered as our own and highly prized,

132 Plunder = pilhar, saquear.

then too there is no cause for pain. Why? What will a man regret? The mind which knows that universal concern is beyond its capacity, must needs become tranquil. Also when one feels that one has no claim on anything or that everything is perishable, the mind will remain cool. Thus there will be lasting peace if one looks on all as of the same value. Peace is dependent upon one's intellectual appraisals133.

3. I shall now illustrate this. A man wakes up from a dream. His mind is happy or troubled according to his opinion of the things seen in the dream. But on waking, his mind remains unaffected by all the happenings in the dream; it remains the same. Why? Because, only now his mind has learned to value all the matters of the dream equally. He is not sorry for the cessation of the dream. Why? He is convinced that the dream is not everlasting and must end on waking. In the same manner, should a man be convinced that he cannot but wake up sometime from the long dream of the world, his mind will be unchanging. It is the state of freshness. This is the state of Peace.

4. This is not to say that his relation with the world will cease. Now only peace and freshness of the mind are his. His actions cannot but vary according to circumstances. The only change in him after the mind has become peaceful is this: his mind has known the truth and become unattached; therefore, it rests in peace. His actions though changeful will always be impartial. But the actions of others are changing and cannot be impartial. Thus, the coolness of the mind produces enormous good not only to himself but also to the world at large. Peace shows the way to right conduct.

5. A man walks with a lighted lamp in his hand. Can there be any hostility between the light and the ups and downs on the way? There cannot be. But light and darkness cannot be together. The light chases away darkness, it discloses134 the ups and downs on the way and makes the man walk carefully, whether he moves up, down, or sideways. It removes the cause of vain complaints, such as, "That snag135 hurt my foot" or "This hollow made me slip." Similarly, after peace is gained, the state of peace makes the man neither hate nor antagonize the world. Rather it dispels the darkness which conceals from our view the true nature of the world and its snags. In the absence of the light of Peace which enables people to adjust themselves to varying circumstances, they condemn the world as full of misery, as they would complain of the snags on the road. Therefore a man who has gained the utmost peace after knowing the whole world as a complicated dream, should not be considered either unrelated to the world or unconcerned with its activities; he alone stands in effective concord with it; only he is competent to be a man of action. Thus Peace is that which regulates one's duties.

6. The concern of a man of Peace in the actions of the world lies in rectifying them. Should he feel fear before this world, what hope of reformation can there be, especially from those who esteem it and want to possess it? They are in the

133 Appraisal = avaliação; apreceiação. 134 Disclose = revelar, expor. 135 Snag = toco, tronco, obstáculo.

grip of selfishness, blind to impartiality. To guide the blind on the way or treat the blindness of the eye, one's eyesight must itself be good. Similarly, it is for him to reform the world who has already discerned his unchanging nature from the changeful nature of the world and become peaceful. These cannot help serving the world. Why? Can anyone be so hard hearted as not to lift up a child when it slips and falls? So also for the wise ones who can rightly appraise the troubles of the world and help the people. Because he has already withdrawn himself from the mind and body the sage feels no concern under the strain of service to the world, just as the life principle does not suffer even when loaded carts pass over the corpse it has left behind (by itself). He will not shrink from work or trouble. Only truly realized peace can bestow such courage and coolness.

7. To all appearances Peace will look poor and quite weak. But in effect, it beats all. In tenacity and courage, it surpasses all. After all, success depends on these qualities. Even if Mount Meru should topple over, the incident will hardly produce a gentle smile in the man of peace, or it will leave him unmoved. This state is helpful both for worldly and spiritual matters. True happiness in the world is his, and that happiness comes out of release from bondage. Peace means doing good to any one in any manner.

8. The obstacles to peace are several. They are meant to prove the man. When they confront us we should be wide awake and keep the delicate flower of the mind distant from even their shadows. If the flower of the mind be crushed, it will lose its fragrance, freshness and color; it will neither be useful to you, nor can it be presented to others, nor offered to God. Know that your mind is more delicate than even a blossom. By means of a peaceful mind, all your duties to yourself, to others and to God must be discharged. Let it release the same freshness throughout. All blessings for the mind are contained in Peace.

9. Unremittingly136 worship the God of your Self with the flower of your mind. Let the children of the mental modes watch this worship. Gradually they will learn to cast away their childish pranks137 and desire to delight like yourself. As they watch your Peace, they will themselves recoil138 from their vagaries139. Continue the worship patiently. Be not led away by the vagaries of the mind. On the contrary, they should become peaceful by your peace. All must get peace.

10. I shall finish in one word: The essence of all the Vedas is "Peace."

136 Unremittingly = sem diminuir. 137 Pranks = travessuras. 138 Recoil = recuar, retroceder. 139 Vagaries = caprichos, manias.

V - Action 1. All action is God's. His power has fixed each thing into its own

individual function. By His agency the insentient objects and the sentient beings do their work. All actions are His.

2. All are doing their respective work. So what has God to do with it? We will first consider the sentient beings and, later on, the insentient objects. We are sentient beings. Let us first see whose actions are ours. We all desire a higher state and work for it. But our achievements are not uniform. Sometimes the goal is the same and so is the work, but why is there a difference in the results? Here God makes us understand that the action is His. Otherwise all must be alike. The difference in the conditions cannot be accounted for. Can there be anyone who does not wish to improve his position? Whatever their intention towards others, their intention towards themselves is surely honest. The conditions of people of the same intention are yet different. This is because all actions are of God.

3. All beings have the same intention; yet their efforts are of different degrees, so also their states. After saying this, the question arises: What is effort? Is it not simply a mental image? All these images have the same origin, namely, the common intention of all. Why then should the image of effort differ in each? Here too God makes us see that all actions are His.

4. If it is said that notwithstanding the same intention, the effort can vary according to individual capacity, the question arises: What is the source of this capacity? It is of the body and mind. The environment may also affect it. One must take account of all the factors before one makes an effort. However, these factors are not under one's control so that the effort may not be equal to the task. Therefore all actions are God's.

5. Again, if it is said that the body, the mind and the environment will gradually be made equal to the task, it implies a present incapacity. This is to admit that all actions are God's.

6. Now, is it for good or bad that people do not gain their objectives? It is certainly good. Why? Most of them are selfish. Judge for yourself if their success is for the good of the world or otherwise. You may ask: Should not the attempts of the unselfish be entirely successful? Though to all appearances they may look unselfish, yet they are not free from blemishes. These depend on the ego. If the imagined unselfishness has given rise to a sense of superiority over others, God frustrates their purpose and teaches them that "You are also like others and I govern you". On the other hand, free from selfishness and free from ego is the representative of God, within whom the cloud of ego that conceals God does not exist and from whom God is ever shining forth. To such a one of true purpose (Sattva Sankalpa) all his intentions come out true. God shines forth directly in him. There is no darkness in him. Only he knows the Divine purpose as it is. Through him God fulfills the purpose of His creation. All actions are God's.

7. If it is asked: Is there not a single person of true intent? And why should not the world have all blessings in full? The answer, which is a secret, is that the sages who are aware that all actions are God's, wish to make it known to others as well. There is no greater good than to know that all actions are God's and not our own. This knowledge contains all the blessings in itself. Therefore the intention of the sages is to clearly instruct others in the knowledge of God and His actions. Even so, they do not say "Know God this very instant," but they teach the ways and means to knowledge and encourage us in right conduct-this much only. They do not say, "Be emancipated at once." Why? Because this is not possible for the common people. Nor do the sages say to God, "Liberate the people at once." Because the sages are free from the ego and think, "God knows what He should do and when to do it. What is there for me to say to Him?" Thus they wish only to do their work, without any interest in the fruits this work may produce. They have known that God alone dispenses the fruits of actions. Simply they watch the course of events in the world and do their work, never thinking of creating a world of their own. Why? To do so is a form of egoism. The creation is as it should be. Everything is in order. All actions are God's.

8. Knowing their actions are subservient to the Higher Power, how could they hope to achieve something dear to their hearts? No, they cannot. They will do their work simply as a duty. The scriptures say, "Do work, but do not think of its fruits." Just as anger unconsciously overpowers a man even though he is determined not to get angry, so also the sages of true intent (Sattva Sankalpa) may be shocked by the iniquities140 of the world and unwittingly141 think, "God, let that be made good!" If so, then it will certainly happen and good will prevail. This is the cause of some extraordinary events in the world. These extraordinary events are the results of a wish stealing into the mind of a sage. This is the law of nature. Who can change it? All actions are God's.

9. Whatever takes place, it is in the natural order of things. Also, it is right. Everything happens by His will alone. In truth, it is not wrong to think "He makes the thief steal." Why? Because at the time of punishment He also makes the thief suffer for the robbery. Thus, there should be no ill-will directed towards the thief. Such is the fruit of the knowledge that all actions are God's. Although there is no ill-will towards the thief, there is a dislike of theft. This is also the result of our knowledge that all actions are God's. How is this? Because the thief himself dislikes theft: Would he keep quiet if his own belongings were stolen by another? He would not. Who can be unaware that good is right and evil is wrong? Therefore the knowledge that all actions are God's will bring into the world an era of orderly conduct. Our knowledge does not extend further. We can repeat only what we know. We need not worry about what lies beyond our knowledge. This too is God's will.

10. One of the fruits of knowledge granted to us by God is the knowledge that all actions are God's. We are powerless to ask God, "Why do you act thus?" 140 Iniquites = injustiças. 141 Unwittingly = não-intencional, involuntário; desprevinido, desavisado.

Because the fruits of our actions are not always according to our desire, all religions admit similar states of our powerlessness. In other words, because our powers are limited, we cannot but say that all actions are God's. The law which applies to us, applies to insentient objects also. Our law is no better than theirs. All is one. Even though some do not admit that all actions are God's, yet they admit their own incapacity. This itself is the act of God.

VI – Ego 1. Oh ego, all the evils of the world are from you. To crush you, the kings

make laws and the wise give lessons. In spite of their efforts from time immemorial, alas! you are yet alive; you simply go into hiding and reappear again and again. Can there be no end to you? Yea, it is surely approaching. Another Ego has started to kill you. It is the Universal Ego called "I am Brahman".

2. Eh! ego, think not that your enemy is of your kind. You are perishable whereas He is not. You are conceited as "I" because you always differentiate as "I", "you" and "he," but your enemy is free from this conceit. How? He harmonizes all differences, resolves all into Himself. Moreover, you feel enmity towards Him because he has arisen to kill you. But He has no ill-feelings towards you. How is this? Because you are not to be found in His presence. He regards you as a part of His limbs. Your loss in his proximity is the working of your own falsity; He would not think of killing you because you are of no consequence in His sight. Therefore, ego, you are His enemy, but He is not yours. More briefly put, you are your own enemy. Why? Owing to your greed you flaunted142 yourself before the Great One as you would elsewhere. Instantly, you were lost; therefore, the Universal Self obscures you by devouring you and then shines forth as All-light.

3. Eh! ego, the evils of your works have no limits. You are not content unless you are exalted above others and others are lowered before you. Endless are your desires, such as "By what title shall I gain honor?" "In what form shall I appear elegant?" "Do others bow to me? Do others obey me in silence?" "Do others say that no one excels me?". Alas! How short is your life! And yet to how much do you aspire! And how much evil you do! You have deluded yourself that there is happiness in such ideas and in differentiating yourself from all others. This is not to your good. Why not? Are not others also entitled to all these? What is your share in things which are common to millions and millions of others? Such being the case, do not desire in vain to rule over all. By your vain desire you bring about evil to yourself and to others. Listen to my friendly advice. Truly speaking, He whom you regard as your mortal enemy is your friend. He knows how to make you worthy of

142 Flaunt = ostentar; tremular.

true greatness and blessings. Surrender to Him. This Universal Ego does not treat you as an enemy but is your greatest benefactor.

4. By no means can you discover what He will make of you unless you surrender yourself to Him. However much I may speak of it, you cannot understand. It is a matter of experience. Doubtless He will do nothing less than exalt you to His state. Therefore, be not perplexed about your future; directly surrender yourself. You can always turn away if joy does not overtake you from the very instant of surrender. Just as the drinking of milk starts with an agreeable taste and ends with the satisfaction of hunger, so also surrender starts with delight and ends with Perfect Bliss, which lies beyond even pleasure and pain. Therefore your goal, without doubt, is this Universal Ego (I-am-Brahman).

5. What will be your new name after surrender? There is no name besides yours. The Vedas laud you; the world praises you; the essence of religious teachings is yourself. Then what is your form? All forms are yours. There is no form which is not yours. What is installed in the temples of worship is you; what is described in the Vedas is you; festivities and celebrations are all for you. Now what can be your power? In your presence the world is active; each is what it is, because of you. Briefly said, all things glorify you and bear witness to your being. They are duty bound to do so. You would not have even dreamt that this will be your state. Start at once, be not self-conceited. The Universal Ego awaits you.

6. Do you wish to wake up from your dream or continue in it? How long will the dream images last? Be not idle, shake off your sleep, wake up! You are witnessing your own mental images and imagining more and more. It is all in vain. Just find out who it is that sees the visions. Do not delude yourself that you are these that rise and sink in you. Wake up. The instant you wake up you will know that waking is better than this dream. Get up! The Universal Ego waits to rejoice at seeing you awake.

7. Fear not the cessation of the present ego dream. Once you are awake you will enjoy the same all the more. You will no longer be deluded and will observe it with cheerful detachment, unconfused. The folly of all appearances will be understood and you will have no burdens. In dream your mental imagery assumes shapes. On waking you know the dream as just a dream. Do not mistake dream for the waking state. Know the dream as dream. For doing so, you must reach the state of "I-am-Brahman" (Universal Ego) and wake from the illusion of the ego.

8. I have instructed you for your good and not in my own interest. If you believe me, you should act upon what I have taught you. On the other hand, if you see no good in what I have said, then turn away from this ideal. How can I help you if my advice and all the advice of the saints do not make any impression on you? No state is higher than this. Believe me, it is for your good that you realize this truth; and through you others may realize the same. Be free from self-conceit. Start at once. Realize that the Universal Ego is your own.

9 Oh ego, see how you are a slave to all and therefore suffer. How pitiable is your state! All are hostile to you! When you say "for me only," all others

will also contend "for me only, for me only". When you say "I am great," they protest, "Why? We are also." All are hostile to you. Owing to the troubles caused by others, your mental images increase a million fold. Should you not rise above them and profit by surrendering to a Master? Then all your enemies will befriend you. If you say to others, "All these are yours," everyone becomes your friend. There is only One who can make you that magnanimous and that is "I-am-Brahman" (Universal Ego).

10. I shall say one word only and this is not owing to my egoism. It is simply my duty. I do not say this word just for your or my good alone. It is for the good of all. The truth is "I-am-Brahman" (Universal Ego).

[THE END OF ELLAM ONDRE]

The Essence of the Ribhu Gita 17. The Videha Mukta* is free from the least trace of thought; he abides

all alone in his effulgent pure-Awareness-Self in intense unbroken bliss, totally oblivious of limited forms, in a state of Maha-Mounam (stillness of body, speech and mind).

22. Therefore one should practise the habit of regarding everything as Brahman-Self only; until all thought of things other than the Self is lost. This condition once achieved, one should not give room for any thought and should ever abide in Maha-Mounam (peace of total stillness). (Ch.14, v.38)

24. (...)The sacrifice of the mind is, in fact, the totality of all sacred sacrifices.

25. The firm denial of the existence of the mind and the firm belief in the existence of Brahman-Self, is the sure way to the conquest of mind, leading to the experience of the sole effulgent Self. (Ch.15, v.11)

26. If one gives the slightest room for the thought that the mind exists, pure Awareness itself will vibrate as the ruffled mind, which is the parent of all trouble and illusions. Therefore, one should ever abide in the conviction that there is no mind, and that the pure Awareness-Self is the sole Existence. This is the easy way to conquer the mind with all its vagaries. (Ch.15, v.12)

32. That realised person who abides in the Brahman-Self, and has lost all feelings of differentiation of self and non-self, is the Jnani or Mukta Purusha. Such a Jnani is rare to find even by searching among millions of people. If one has the lucky opportunity of getting his darshan (personal view and contact) one attains purification from all his sins, and what is more, such a person’s ego gets liquidated at once. (Ch.19, v.10)

34. Worshipful service rendered unto such a Jnani-Sat-Guru quickens one’s spiritual wisdom to attain the bliss of jivan mukti. If continued further, it bestows on the disciple even the status of videha mukti. Therefore, if one is keen on being released from bondage into the freedom of mukti, the one infallible means of achieving that aim is the loving and worshipful service of the Jnani-Sat-Guru. (Ch.19, v.13)

37. Those engaged in the pursuit of knowledge of the Brahman-Self, happening to get involved in the mundane pleasures of sex, should regard such pleasures as merely faint shadows143 of the bliss of the Self. They should never even dreamof worldly pleasures. (Ch.20, v.45)

143 Faint shadows = “Sombras tênues”.

42. All worlds and creatures are only thought forms. They are nothing but the mind, which is a bundle of thoughts, which again are nothing more than ripples in the still ocean of Awareness-Self, and certainly nothing apart from that Self. Therefore, one should abide in the firm conviction that all objects are only I Am Self-Brahman. (Ch.22, v.24)

77. It is only the mind which appear as the world and bondage; there is no world other than the mind. On enquiry this mind turns out to be nothing more than a group of ripples (thoughts) in the still ocean of pure Awareness-Siva-Self. I am that Siva-Self only and there is nothing apart from me, one should ever abide in the conviction born of this experience. (Ch.32, v.33)

95. One should remain firm in the conviction ‘I am the Self ’ and reject all thoughts like ‘I am this body’ and ‘This world is real’. If one maintains this habit unremittingly, this false belief will drop away even as a flower held in the hand slips

away when one falls into deep slumber. (Ch.37, v.33) 110. After being duly initiated into these teachings by the Sat Guru,

the disciple must, as long as life lasts in him, provide his teacher liberally with money, food, clothing and shelter and loving devotion. This is the sine qua non for the disciple’s mukti. (Ch.43, v.11)

121. Aspirants of Self-knowledge will find their success accelerated by practical bodily worship of Siva. Living in a Siva kshetra (neighbourhood of Siva Temple) they should offer worship to Siva Maha Lingam, wearing the sacred vibhuthi and rudraksha (garland of a specified sort of beads), and repeating the name of Siva with loving devotion. (Ch.44, v.39)

Selections From Viveka-Chudamani Relating to Vairagya

Swami Sivananda Saraswati 1. The man who, having with difficulties acquired a human birth with a

male body and knowledge of the scriptures, through delusion does not exert for liberation commits suicide, for he destroys himself by clinging to unreal objects.

2. What greater fool is there than a man who, having obtained a rare human birth and a male body too, neglects to attain the goal of his life?

3. Vairagya is the desire to abandon all the transitory enjoyments from the physical body up to Brahma, the creator, having already known their defects and shortcomings from observation, hearing, etc.

4. Those fools who are tied to the sense objects by the thick cord of attachment, so very difficult to be broken, are forcibly carried along by the messenger, their own karma, to heaven, earth and hell.

5. The deer, elephant, moth, fish and black bee—these five meet with their death, being bound to one or other of the five senses, viz., sound, etc., through attachment. What then of man who is bound by all the senses jointly.

6. In point of virulence sense-objects are more fatal than even the poison of a cobra. Poison kills one who drinks it, but sensuous objects can kill one who even looks at them through the eyes.

7. He who is free from the terrible bondage of hankering after the sense objects, so very difficult to get rid of, is alone fit for liberation—no one else, even though he is well versed in the six systems of philosophy.

8. Those seekers after liberation who are endowed with only an apparent dispassion (vairagya) and are endeavoring to cross the ocean of samsara or conditioned existence, are seized by the shark of hankering, being caught by the neck and forcibly dragged into the middle and drowned.

9. He who has slain the shark of desire with the sword of supreme or mature dispassion, crosses the ocean of samsara without obstacles.

10. Know that death rapidly overtakes that stupid man who treads along the dreadful path of sensual pleasure. But whoever treads the right path under the instruction of a guru who looks after his spiritual welfare, as also his own reasoning, attains his end–know this to be true.

11. If thou hast really an yearning for liberation abandon sense-objects from a good distance as it they were poison and always develop carefully the nectar-

like virtues of contentment, compassion, forgiveness, sincerity, tranquillity and self-control.

12. Whoever passionately attends to the feeding of his own body which is an object for jackals, fishes and vultures to enjoy, and ignores what should always be attempted, viz., liberation from the bondage of ignorance without beginning, commits suicide thereby.

13. Whoever seeks to realize the self by nourishing his body is like one who crosses a river by catching hold of a crocodile, thinking it to be a log of wood..

14. For one desirous of liberation the infatuation over things like the body is dire death. He who is free from such infatuation is alone fit for liberation.

15. Conquer the infatuation over the objects like the body, wife, children, and so on. Having conquered it the sages attain that supreme state of Vishnu.

16. This gross body is to be condemned for it is made up of skin, flesh, blood, arteries, veins, fat, marrow and bones and is filled with filth.

17. The physical body has got various restrictions regarding caste and order of life. It is subject to various diseases. It is worshipped and honoured sometimes. It is censured and insulted at other times.

Outros Textos

Advaita Bodha Deepika How can you, the changeless, formless, Supreme, Blissful Self shout

forth “I transmigrate - I am miserable!” and so on? Truly there is neither birth nor death; no one to be born or to die; nothing of the kind!

In the body appears a phantom, the ‘I-Conceit’, to claim the body for

itself and it is called Jiva. This Jiva always outward bent, taking the world to be real and himself to be the doer and experiencer of pleasures and pains, desirous of this and that, undiscriminating, not once remembering his true nature, nor enquiring “Who am I?, What is this world?”, is but wandering in the samsara without knowing himself. Such forgetfulness of the Self is Ignorance.

Truly Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end. It is said that the rise

of knowledge is the end of Ignorance. (…) Maya has no antecedent cause because it is not the product of anything preceding it, but remains in Brahman, self-evident and without beginning.

Isvara is thus the product of Maya and He cannot be the origin of His

origin. Maya therefore has no antecedent cause. In dissolution there remains only Pure Being devoid of will, and admitting of no change. In creation Maya hitherto remaining unmanifest in this Pure Being, shines forth as the mind. By the play of mind, plurality appears as Isvara, the worlds and the Jivas, like magic. Maya

manifest is creation, and Maya unmanifest is dissolution. The mind sports with its latencies; they rise up as thoughts and

materialise as this universe, which is thus only a dream vision. D.: What is the limit of Maya? M.: It is the knowledge resulting from an enquiry into the sense of the

Mahavakya. Because Maya is Ignorance, and Ignorance subsists on non-enquiry. When non-enquiry gives place to enquiry, right knowledge results and puts an end to Ignorance.

With the rise of enquiry, Maya hitherto grown strong by its absence, loses

its nourishment and gradually withers away with all its effects.

Samsara is nothing but mind itself. D.: How can the mind be made still? M.: Only by Sankhya. Sankhya is the process of enquiry coupled with

knowledge. The realised sages declare that the mind has its root in non-enquiry and perishes by an informed enquiry.

D.: What is yoga?

M.: Meditation on Pure Being free from qualities. The final result for Yoga and Sankhya is the same for both because both

of them end in stillness of mind. This is samadhi or Blissful Peace. The ‘fruit’ of samadhi is Supreme Knowledge; this remains the same by whichever process gained.

D.: Who is fit for the path of enquiry (Sankhya)?

M.: Only a fully qualified seeker is fit, for he can succeed in it and not others.

D.: What are the sadhanas or requisites for this process? M.: The knowers say that the sadhanas consist of an ability to discern the

real from the unreal, no desire for pleasures here or hereafter, cessation of activities (karma) and a keen desire to be liberated. Not qualified with all these four qualities, however hard one may try, one cannot succeed in enquiry. Therefore this fourfold sadhana is the sine qua non for enquiry.

Discernment (viveka) can arise only in a purified mind. Its ‘nature’ is the conviction gained by the help of sacred teachings that only Brahman is real and all else false. Always to remember this truth is its ‘effect’. Its end (avadhi) is to be settled unwavering in the truth that only Brahman is and all else is unreal.

Desirelessness (vairagya) is the result of the outlook that the world is essentially faulty. Its ‘nature’ is to renounce the world and have no desire for anything in it. Its ‘effect’ is to turn away in disgust from all enjoyments as from vomit. It ends (avadhi) in treatment with contempt of all pleasures, earthly or heavenly, as if they were vomit or burning fire or hell.

Cessation of activities (uparati) can be the outcome of the eight-fold yoga (astangayoga), namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara,

dharana, dhyana and samadhi, i.e., self-restraint, discipline, steady posture, control of breath, control of senses, mind collected to truth, meditation and peace. Its ‘nature’ consists in restraining the mind. Its ‘effect’ is to cease from worldly activities. It ends (avadhi) in forgetfulness of the world as if in sleep, owing to the ending of activities.

Desire to be liberated (mumuksutva) begins with the association with realised sages. Its ‘nature’ is the yearning for liberation. Its ‘effect’ is to stay with one’s master. It ends (avadhi) in giving up all study of sastras and performance of religious rites.

When these have reached their limits as mentioned above, the sadhanas

are said to be perfect. This chapter on Sadhana has dealt with these two means, Enquiry and

Yoga, for making the mind still. According to his merits an intelligent seeker should practise either of them.

This Chapter is meant for the earnest student in order that he may study carefully and analyse his qualifications to ascertain what he already has and what more are wanted After properly equipping himself he can find out which of these two methods suits him and then practise it till success.

Yoga is suited to the lower grade of seekers and enquiry to the higher. D.: What is this path of enquiry? M.: From the sastras it is well-known to consist of sravana, manana,

nidhidhyasana and samadhi i.e., hearing the Truth, reflection, meditation and Blissful Peace.

Only he who is eager to be liberated will seek the knowledge of the Self

and take to hearing it. Always to direct the thought with subtle reasoning upon the non-dual Self

that is now known indirectly, is called reflection. Discernment of the real from the unreal is its ‘cause’; enquiry into the

Truth of the non-dual Self is its ‘nature’. Only he who, by discernment of the real from the unreal has acquired

indirect knowledge, is fit to seek by enquiry the direct knowledge of experience. No other can succeed in the search for it.

A mere desire to be Liberated cannot make a man fit for enquiry into the Self. Without sravana one cannot have even an indirect knowledge. How can one succeed in one’s enquiry? Only after knowing the nature of the Self144, should one proceed to seek It145.

Not having done sravana, though endowed with desirelessness and

tranquillity, they are incapable of discerning the real from the unreal and therefore unfit for enquiry into the Self. Desirelessness etc., can only be aids to this enquiry but not its chief causes. Discernment of the real from the unreal is the only chief cause.

144 Sravana e Manana. 145 Nidhidhyasana.

D.: What is this enquiry into the Self? M.: With one-pointed intellect to seek within the five sheaths the Self

which is shining forth as ‘I’ in the body, senses, etc., considering “who is this Self?, where is It? and how is It?”, is the nature of the enquiry into the Self. With subtle intellect the enquiry into the Reality, namely the Self within the unreal sheaths must always be pursued.

From a study of the sastras let the seeker of Liberation gather an indirect

knowledge of the Self and put it into practice by reflecting on It until by experiencing It a direct knowledge is gained; later, like a gatherer of grains who takes the grain and rejects the chaff, let him leave the sastras aside. Having finished reflection, you must proceed with meditation. Now give up the sastras.

M.: Wise son, now that you have known what need be known from them,

you should efface the impressions left by your studies. D.: What constitutes these impressions? M.: It is the inclination of the mind always to study vedantic literature, to

understand the meanings of the texts, to commit them to memory and constantly be thinking of them. Since this inclination obstructs meditation, a wise man must overcome it with every effort. Next the latencies connected with the world (lokavasana) must be eliminated.

D.: What are these latencies? M.: To think, this is my country, this is my family pedigree and this is the

tradition. Should any one praise or censure any of these, the reactions of the mind denote the latencies connected with the world. Give them up. Later on, give up the latencies connected with the body also (dehavasana).

D.: What are they? M.: To think oneself to be of such and such age, young or old and desire

the full span of life with health, strength and good looks. Generally thoughts pertaining to the body indicate these latencies. Ambition in the world and love for body distract the mind and prevent meditation on Brahman. Since all objects are ephemeral, they must be eschewed146. Then the latencies connected with enjoyments (bhogavasana) must be given up.

D.: What are these? M.: These are made up of thoughts like : this is good and I must have it;

this is not so and let it leave me; now I have gained so much and let me gain more, and so on.

D.: How can this be overcome? M.: By looking with disgust upon all enjoyments as on vomit or excreta

and developing dispassion for them, this can be overcome. Dispassion is the only

146 Eschew = evitar.

remedy for this mad craving. After this, the mind must be cleared of the six passions, namely, lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy.

D.: How can this be done? M.: By (maitri, karuna, mudita and upekssha) friendship with the holy,

compassion for the afflicted, rejoicing in the joy of the virtuous and being indifferent to the shortcomings of the sinful. Next must be effaced the latencies connected with the objects of the senses (vishayavasana) such as sound etc. These latencies are the running of the senses such as hearing etc., after their objects.

D.: How can these latencies be effaced? M.: By a practice of the six-fold discipline consisting of sama, dama,

uparati, titiksha, samadhana and sraddha., withdrawing the mind from going outwards, controlling the senses, not thinking of the objects of the senses, forbearance, fixing the mind on the Reality and faith.Next all latencies connected with mutual attachments must be overcome.

The witness is Brahman and vice versa.

M.: How can you claim to have realised Brahman? If by the text ‘I am Brahman’ you understand yourself to be Brahman, who is this ‘I’ but the Jiva, the personal soul or the ego? How can the ego be Brahman? Just as even with his knowledge of the king, the beggar cannot himself be the king, so also the changeful ego can never be identical with the changeless Brahman. Being unchanging the witness is free from the least trace of any notion such as ‘I’ or Brahman and cannot therefore know ‘I am Brahman’. There is no ground for your contention that the witness says so.

D.: Then who knows ‘I am Brahman’? M.: From what has been said before, it must follow that the individual

soul, the jiva, or the I-conceit must have this knowledge. It is self-evident that the witnessing Self being the substratum on which

knowledge or ignorance appears, must itself be free from them. On the contrary the I-conceit is known to possess knowledge or ignorance.

It is only the jiva and not the witness who has the knowledge or

ignorance that there is, or is not, the inner witness. You must now admit that the jiva

has the knowledge that ‘I am Brahman’. Now for thereason that the changing Jiva

has become aware of the unchanging witness, he cannot be the same as the witness. So this experience ‘I am Brahman’ is impossible.

M.: Wise son, leave off the mind which is limiting adjunct giving rise to

individuality, thus causing the great malady of repeated births and deaths, and realise Brahman.

D.: Master, how can the mind be extinguished? Is it not very hard to do so? Is not the mind very powerful, restive and ever vacillating? How can one relinquish the mind?

M.: To give up the mind is very easy, as easy as crushing a delicate flower, or removing a hairfrom butter or winking your eyes. Doubt it not. For a self-possessed resolute seeker not bewitched by the senses, but by strong dispassion grown indifferent to external objects, there cannot be the least difficulty in giving up the mind.

D.: How is it so easy? M.: The question of difficulty arises only if there is a mind to leave off.

Truly speaking, there is no mind. D.: What is the nature of mind? M.: To think this and that. In the absence of thought, there can be no

mind. On the thoughts being extinguished the mind will remain only in name. D.: If there be mind wherever there is thought, are thought and mind

different? M.: Thought is the index of the mind. When a thought arises mind is

inferred. In the absence of thought, there can be no mind. Therefore mind is nothing but thought. Thought is itself mind.

D.: What is ‘thought’? M.: Thought is imagination. The thought-free state is Bliss Supreme

(Shivasvarupa). Thoughts are of two kinds; the recalling of things experienced, and unexperienced.

D.: To begin with, please tell me what is ‘thought’. M.: Sages say that it is nothing but to think of any external object as this

or that, is or is not, this-wise or that-wise, etc.

Jewel Garland of Enquiry (This is a compilation of the salient points extracted by Bhagavan Sri

Ramana Maharshi from a large volume in Tamil known as Vichara Sagara (Ocean

of Enquiry), which itself was a translation from the original in Hindi by Mahatma

Nischaldas.) Disciple. Swami, what are the means of putting an end to the miseries of

samsara like birth and death and of attaining supreme bliss? Guru. O Disciple! What a delusion! You are always of the nature of bliss.

There is not the least trace of the miseries of samsara in you. Therefore do not take upon yourself the miseries of birth, etc. You are the conscious Brahman which is free from birth and death.

Kaivalya Navaneeta (The Cream of Emancipation) 8. The Sages say that there are four prerequisites* for realisation of the

Truth: ( I ) Viveka: discrimination between the temporary (therefore unreal phenomena) and the permanent (therefore the Reality, i.e., the noumenal); (2) indifference to the enjoyment of pleasures here or hereafter; (3) the group of six qualities and (4) the longing for Liberation.

9 & 10. The six qualities are sama, dama, uparati, titiksha, samadhana

and sraddha. Of these, sama is control of mind; dama is control of the senses; uparati is cessation of activities (relating to caste, creed, family etc.); titiksha is control of passions, and includes endurance; samadhana is, according to the sages, the settling down of the mind to reflect on the Truth, as revealed (by the scriptures and the sages); sraddha denotes faith in the master and the scriptures; such are the meanings of the six terms of this category.

The whole universe is as unreal as water in a mirage. (…) O Son! Pure

Consciousness is alone real. Do not therefore forget the Self at any moment. There can be no happiness in the state of disturbance caused by passions,

such as lust, which act like poison. But Being and Consciousness are evident in it. Being, Consciousness and Bliss together become manifest in the state of Peace which is characterised by a stern detachment (from externalities). Therefore Bliss becomes clear in a peaceful mind rid of ignorance and agitation.

169. If you ask how to control the activities of the mind, rising up from

its latencies: Rule over the intellect and senses as your slaves. They will become extinct.

173. If you always remain aware that ‘I’ am perfect Consciousness, what

does it matter how much you think, or what you do? All this is unreal like dream visions after waking. I am all-Bliss!”

Agamas 34. When once the mind becomes steady, it should not be disturbed in

any way. There is no need to think even in the least of anything else, entertaining any doubts. Fixing the mind firmly in that state (of self-awareness) keep it still.

65. Renounce completely all religious edicts and disciplines. Since all kinds of action result in bondage, give up all action-plans, mental conflicts, and attachment to one’s caste-duties.

76. Being unaffected by either praise or slander, treating alike all

creatures, he should always unfailingly maintain an equality of vision (sama drishti), considering all living beings in the world as himself.

Vivekachudamani Knowledge leads to non-attachment; solitude and abandonment of home

lead to knowledge; the bliss of Self experience and tranquility results from cessation of activity. If these results are not obtained step by step, the previous steps become invalid. The perfection of non-attachment is when previous tendencies to seek enjoyment no longer arise. The perfection of knowledge is when the ‘I-sense’ no longer pertains to the body. The perfection of solitude is when thoughts subside through perpetual striving and, dissolving in Brahman, no longer turn outwards.

The essence of the Vedantic scriptures may be condensed into the

following points. First: In me, the unmoving Brahman, all that seems different is utterly without

reality. I alone am. This is called the standpoint of elimination (badha

drishti). Second: The dream and all else that appears in me as the result of magic

is an illusion. I alone am the Truth. This is called the standpoint of illusion (mithya

drishti). Third: All that appears as form apart from the sea, that is the bubble and

the wave, is the sea. All that is seen in a dream is seen in him who sees the dream. Similarly, in me as in the ocean or the man whodreams, all that seems separate from me is myself. This is called the standpoint of resolving (the effect into its cause) (pravikalpa drishti).

Reject the outer world by any of these three means and recognize him who sees it to be infinite, pure, homogeneous Brahman, who is the Self. He who has thus realized Brahman is liberated. Although allthree of these viewpoints are aids to realization, the third, in which one conceives everything asone’s own Self, is the most powerful. Therefore, knowing the indivisible Self to be one’s own Self, by one’s own experience, one must abide in one’s own nature, beyond any mental form.

Yoga Vasishta Sara 5. The great remedy for the long-lasting disease of samsara is the enquiry,

‘Who am I?, to whom does this samsara belong?,’ which entirely cures it. 22. If, by perceiving that the objects of perception do not really exist, the

mind is completely freed (from those objects) there ensues the supreme bliss of liberation.

23. Abandonment of all latent tendencies is said to be the best (i.e. real)

liberation by the wise; that is also the faultless method (of attaining Liberation). 24. Liberation is not on the other side of the sky (…); the extinction of

the mind resulting from the eradication of all desires is regarded as liberation. 1. Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects

and runs after them. It is then known as the mind. 1. I, the pure, stainless and infinite Consciousness beyond maya, look

upon this body in action like the body of another. 9. Do not be that which is understood, nor the one who understands.

Abandon all concepts and remain what you are. 3. O Raghava, that by which you recognise sound, taste, form and smell,

know that as your Self, the Supreme Brahman, the Lord of lords. 5. After rejecting, through reasoning, all that can be known as ‘non-truth’

what remains as pure Consciousness - regard that as your real Self. 30. The idea of a consciousness and an object of consciousness is

bondage; freedom from it is liberation. Consciousness, the object of consciousness and everything else is the Self; this is the gist of all systems of philosophy.

1. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses

with their objects. 3. Attain the pure state between existence and non-existence and hold on

to it; do not accept or reject the inner or the outer world. 29. Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object

visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived.

Outros

No Mind - I Am the Self

PART I – Sri Lakshmana Swamy: Life David Godman: The idea that one is an individual person is generated

and sustained by the “I”-thought and by its habit of constantly attaching itself to all the thoughts that rise. Sri Ramana maintained that one could reverse this process by depriving the “I”-thought of all the thoughts and perceptions that it normally identifies with. (…) He said that if one can break the connection between the “I”-thought and the thoughts it identifies with then the “I”-thought itself will subside and finally disappear. Sri Ramana suggested that this could be done by mentally holding on to the “I”-thought, that is, the inner feeling of “I” or “I am”, and excluding all other thoughts.

[Lakshmana Swami`s Realization: pg. 18-19] D.G.: Because the jnani knows that whatever happens, happens by and

thought the power of the Self, he never accepts responsibility for miraculous events that happen around him.

Swamy: Unless there is persistence and perseverance it is impossible for one to acquire jnana. Yoga practice is, as it were, treading on a razor’s edge. It is not only a long and arduous task but also a perilous147 one. Constant vigilance is an indispensable requisite for it.

Swamy: It is a mistake to think of the future. Nothing happens as we think. Therefore le us leave everything to the shoulders of Bhagavan and be mute observers.

[L.S. never dilutes his teachings.] Swamy: Atman is the real God, and all worship should be directed

towards it. [For L.S., a good devotee is one that is mentally pure and humble.] [The Grace of the Guru, or his “spiritual power” is projected effortlessly

from Him, but He has the power to control its flux, and He gives it according to the devotee’s capacity and maturity.]

147 Perilous = perigoso (a).

PART II - Sri Lakshmana Swamy: Teachings

The Guru

Swamy: The mind cannot reach the Self, but, if it makes the attempt, the Self will destroy it.

[Sri Lakshmana says that the grace of the Self is more important than effort, and that only a living human Guru has enough power to bring a devotee to Self-realization (except in very rare cases). A Guru’s help is required to do Self-enquiry properly and, if one’s Guru dies, one should look for another if one wants realization. These are the central idea of Swamy’s teachings.]

D.G.: If one concentrates on, and has devotion towards, a dead Guru, then grace will come from the unmanifest Self, and not from the form of the Guru. Sri Lakshmana says that this Grace can take one to an effortless thought-free state, but it cannot pull the mind into the Self and destroy it. He maintains that only the living Guru can do this.

Swamy: The Guru is the Self in the heart of each devotee. When the devotee makes an effort to be without thoughts or to surrender to the Self, the Guru within responds. He watches the effort made by the devotee and transmits the grace of the Self.

Swamy: If a Guru gives a devotee a direct experience of the Self, while he is alive, them it may possible for the devotee to realize the Self after his death. If not, it will be very difficult.

Swamy: The amount of grace which one receivers is proportional to the degree to which one surrenders. If you surrender completely, then you receive enough grace to realize the Self.

Swamy: Very advanced devotees who have reached the effortless thought-free state do not even need to go to the jnani. The jnani will come and sit at their feet and give them enough grace to realize the Self.

[It is part of one’s prarabdha to meet the Guru.] Swamy: The future is not completely fixed. It can be changed by

meditation and surrender. (…) Destiny affects only the extroverted mind. (…) The more you introvert you mind, the more you transcend your destiny.

Swamy: All jnanis are the same Self; you cannot differentiate between them by referring to their bodies.

[Swamy says that the power that emanates from Arunachala is the same as the Guru’s grace; however, it cannot bring realization – only a human Guru can. Still, it is very beneficial to live and meditate in Arunachala – its power stills and purifies the seeker’s mind.]

Sadhana Swamy: All your experiences and questions are still on the mind.

Deciding that you are not the mind is an activity of the mind. Experiencing a feeling of emptiness is also an activity of the mind. If you want to go beyond the mind by Self-enquiry you should not stop with experiences or mental judgments. You must keep up the quest “Who am I?”.

Swamy: Follow the “I” back to its source. When the “I” goes back to its source and identifies with the Self instead of with the senses, there is eternal peace and bliss. To do this you have to get rid of all thoughts. The first of all thoughts is the “I”-thought. The Self will then embrace that “I” and devour it.

Swamy: Just sit every day for ½ an hour and look into the source of the “I”. Ask yourself, “what is the source of this ‘I’?”. Without thoughts there is bliss. Thought itself is pain.

[Swamy advised to leave alone all doubts and just continue with the quest.]

Swamy: If you follow the quest earnestly, then meditating on Ramana Maharshi`s form will not be necessary.

Swamy: It is difficult to reach that beingness that you describe. Beingness means “I am” and “I am” means Self. When the mind is quiet the “I” thought may experience a little of the bliss that is emanating from the Self, but you will not experience pure beingness until the “I”-thought has completely subsided in the heart. Your imagination is making you think that a peaceful or blissful experience of “I”-thought is an experience of “I am” or the Self. This belief has arisen because of ignorance, because you have not experienced the real “I” as it really is. First try to keep the mind still, that is, without thoughts.

Swamy: The quest “Who am I?” is to seek the source of the mind, to find out there in the body the “I”-thought rises.

[For realization it is required that one is ready to give up one’s life in search of the truth.]

Swamy: If one can think of God or the Guru and love him continuously, without any other thoughts arising, then that is surrender. Ultimately, the “I” must dissolve in love for the Guru.

Swamy: Vichara and surrender are not really separate. Vichara stimulates devotion, and surrender stimulates a spirit of enquiry.

Swamy: You must surrender to the Guru and love him wholeheartedly. You have to surrender without reserve and then he will look after you.

[The devotee will pass through many tests. “He must show that he can love the Guru even when the Guru is ignoring him or abusing him”. The Guru may get angry with the devotee or try to drive him away. “The devotee must retain his equanimity and love thought all such tests. He must not react by getting angry or by leaving the Guru, is he does he fails the tests”.]

Swamy: My direct experience is that the mind rises from the heart to the brain, never from the muladhara to the sahasrara.

Swamy: Deprive the mind of all the thoughts and [then] mind itself disappears. Be quiet and still and all thoughts will disappear. Self-enquiry and surrender are only techniques which bring one to the state of inner stillness and quietness. The ultimate instruction is therefore, “Be still and quiet; stabilize in this state and the Self will be revealed”.

Swamy: If you are obsessed with such thoughts as “Does the mind exists?” or “How can something that does not exist be bothering me?”, then these thoughts will keep your attention away from the Self. The jnani knows that the mind does not exist, but you will never discover this state if you spend your time indulging in thoughts like these. (…) It is your thoughts and desires that are preventing you from being aware of the Self. Get rid of them.

Swamy: The mind is like a fire which is fuelled by thoughts and desires. If there are no z or desires, then the fire of the fire mind will die out. Indulging in one’s desires in the hope of transcending them is like attempting to extinguish a fire by putting kerosene on it.

Swamy: Answers produce more questions, and these questions and answers will continue until you die unless you ignore the mind by keeping your attention turned towards the Self. Don’t think about desires and how to get rid of them. Just be still and quiet end all your doubts and desires will vanish. (…) These questions and answers are not benefiting you. They are just piling your mind with thoughts. My last piece of advice to you is to be humble. Be humble at all times and your humility will take you t the goal.

Swamy: The more easily you can be without thought, the nearer you are to a direct experience of the Self.

Swamy: Although there are prior indications of its imminent arrival, when Self-realization finally comes it comes completely unexpectedly.

Swamy: If one can remain without thoughts for a long time then the mind will automatically subside into the Self and one will experience the bliss of the Self.

Swamy: The Guru, the lord who resides in the heart of each devotee, watches you devotion and you progress and gives you grace in proportion to the effort you make. It is his job to keep track of your progress. Your job is to make the effort. (…) Effort should be made towards giving up thoughts.

Swamy: The Guru can only destroy the ego when the devotee has firmly establish himself in the effortless thought-free state.

Swamy: One should always take the middle way and avoid all extremes of deprivation and indulgence. (…) The only fasting that is required is mental: starve the mind of all thoughts.

Swamy: If one falls asleep during meditation it is an indication that one is not meditating intensively enough.

Swamy: Many books have been written on meditation and Vedanta, but reading such books will result in an increase rather than a decrease of thoughts. It is far better to seek the company of a jnani.

Swamy: The thought “I want to realize the Self in this lifetime” is an obstacle to realization. You are the Self now. Imagining that the Self is something that can be discovered in the future is a mental activity which keeps attention away from the Self. Hold on the Self from moment to moment and don’t concern yourself with anything else.

Swamy: Be humble. Have faith. Have faith in the Guru and have faith in yourself.

Swamy: For spiritual practice you only have to remain without thoughts. (…) The best way of getting rid of all thoughts is by holding on to the “I”-thought.

PART III – Mathru Sri Sarada: Life [Sarada used to dress simply even when this caused embarrassment to her

parents.] [Clock incident – time going slower. Moral: faith.] Devotion to the Guru can change one’s prarabdha. [Another test: waiting for the master the whole night. Moral: patience,

perseverance.] It is good to touch the feet of jnanis. [Suicide letter – supreme devotion. Moral: except for the Guru, nothing

else is worthy in life.] Swamy asked again Sarada about her decision not to marry. She

confirmed: “I shall remain in brahmacharya or I shall die. I shall not go back on my word for I don’t want that life of a dog.” Swamy told her: “Them you can get enlightened.”

[One of Sarada’s letter to Swamy, when she was banned from the ashram the second time:] “Sri Lakshmana Bhagavan. You are God who gives bliss. I cannot

leave you even for a minute. You are my mother, father, Guru, God. Whatever you

say I shall do. I wish to stay always with you, and I am only happy when I am with

you. I have no other direction to go. I cannot forget you name, and I shall always be

thinking about your name and form. You are the foundation for me, and my burden

is yours forever.” [One must work with humility and devotion for the Guru.] [Incident about Sarada’s vision of Shiva. Moral: one must be ready to

give up everything for the Self, even the opportunity of living as a god in the high heavens.]

Swamy rarely criticizes people directly; usually he makes indirect and impersonal comments.

Swamy once told the devotees that their minds must be like that of a five-year-old child.

Swamy once said that if you can be aware that thoughts do not belong to you, but belong to Siva in the heart (from where they come), and always offer them back to Him, then the flow of thoughts will cease to disturb you.

Sarada: “I wasn’t interested in meditation or Self-realization; I just

wanted to love Swamy and be his devotee for the rest of my life. I had mentally put

off Self-realization until some future life because I didn’t want o give up thinking of

Swamy. It was a complete surprise when I suddenly realized the Self.” Sarada’s meditation was not designed to achieve a particular end; holding on to Swamy’s form was an end in itself.

[When Sarada started to get nirvikalpa samadhi she started to have strange desires (like for siddhis, clothes, etc.). Moral: be careful always.]

[Saradas realization: pg 170 – 172.] Swamy: Anyone whose mind completely subsides into the heart for a

short time can talk like an enlightened person. Their experience of the Self is the same as that of realized person. However, their “I”-thought is not dead and is likely to re-emerge at any time. Such an experience is not the final state because it is not permanent.

Swamy: All one need for realization is a pure one-pointed mind. Swamy: The Upanishads say, “He realizes the Self whom the Atma

choses.” The Self chose Sarada. The selection is not random. The Self or the Guru chooses only these devotees whose minds are pure, who are overflowing with love and devotion and who have an intense longing for Self.

Swamy: Laughing and playing with an enlightened one is a valid and effective form of sadhana.

[Unlike Swamy, Saradamma is happy to spend several hours each day with devotees in the ashram.]

[Saradamma also prefers to use the power of the Self to purify devotee’s minds than to talk with them about spiritual matters.]

PART IV – Mathru Sri Sarada: Teachings Saradamma: If you want to realize the Self them meditate in silence.

Talking to me will not help you.

Experience of the Self Saradamma: I am willing to give my full love to anyone who wants it,

but the devotee must initiate the process by loving me first. (…) If a devotee loves me then that love causes the grace of the Self to flow.

Saradamma: When the “I” went back temporally into the heart-centre there was a feeling of constriction148 and tightness here [points to the heart]. (…) This constriction was caused by the mind which was still existing in a latent form in the heart. (…) When the “I” finally died the feeling of constriction and prickliness149 stopped and was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of emptiness, openness, peace and bliss.

[The mind is afraid of the force that pulls it towards the heart because it will kill her. That is why the mind tries to escape to the brain when this is being done.]

Saradamma: Because most people have never had a direct experience of the Self they think that blissful or peaceful states of mind are glimpses of the Self. The only true experience of the Self occurs when the mind enters the heart. (…) The mental experiences of peace, bliss and stillness which devotes claim to experience usually takes place outside the heart.

Saradamma: Jnanis often behave in unpredictable or unexpected ways, but you should never judge them by the standards of ordinary human behavior.

Saradamma: Everything is done by the Self: looking, turning the heard, talking walking, etc. Before realization you imagine that it is the mind or the body that is doing all this, but after realization you know that it is the Self that does everything.

Tests and teaching methods

[Besides love, it is also necessary to have fear for the Guru.] Saradamma: When the mind wonders among worldly things a layer of

vasanas (mental activities) forms on it which prevents it from reflecting or being aware of the light of the Self. (…) Sometimes you have to use your mind. On such occasions take the mind out of the cupboard150, let it do its job, and then put it back again.

Saradamma: The more angry I am with a devotee the more is my love for him.

Saradamma: If the Guru says jump in a well should jump even if you can’t swim. [D.G.: Questioning the Guru’s actions requires an assertive ego, whereas true surrender requires that on humbly accepts every order and decision of the Guru.]

The mind and its Gunas

Saradamma: If one can reach the sattvic thought-free state regularly

every day, them it is not necessary to meditate all day long. If you can sustain it for 148 Constriction = constrição, aperto, contração. 149 Prickliness = “espinhes, “pontudice”. 150 Cupboard = armário embutido.

half an hour in the mourning and half an hour in the evening then that is all the formal sitting meditation that one needs to do.

Saradamma: When rajas or tamas predominate it is often difficult or impossible to meditate properly. When a period of sattva comes one should make the best of it and spend as much time as possible in meditation.

Advice to spiritual seekers

Saradamma: If devotees want to think about anything they should think

about God and not about doubts and questions. Saradamma: The longer one carries up fulfilling desires the harder it

will be to eventually give them up. Saradamma: To follow the path of love and surrender successfully you

must love you Guru without any expectation of reward, (…) but just for the sake of love itself.

Saradamma: It is not good to think about realization as an event in the future. (…) Thinking about the future and predicting one’s future spiritual carrier are a waste of mental energy.

Saradamma: Thinking that one is meditating well is just another form of ego.

Saradamma: It is rare for someone to have the determination and dispassion that Swamy had during his sadhana and it is equally rare for a devotee to be as God – intoxicated as I was.

[Feelings of heat and headache are symptoms saying that concentration is being forced, and the mind is rebelling. When this happens, it is good to do some bhakti.]

Saradamma: When your trust and faith in God are strong, and when you have surrounded to Him completely He will pull you into His house and destroy you. (…) You will not make any progress at all unless you have faith in your Guru and have faith that your chosen path will take you to the goal. You must select one spiritual path and stick to it.

Saradamma: If your devotion is strong and if your desire for a Guru is strong then the Guru will appear.

Saradamma: In one searches for God, one cannot reach God until one has made a great physical effort, until one becomes obsessed with the thought of God alone and until one has given up all attachments and relationships. Even then that is not enough. One must realize that no physical or mental effort can take one to God. One must give up, mentally and physically, all idea of reaching God and one must finally throw oneself at God’s feet and let him do whatever he wishes with you. When there is complete physical and mental self-surrender then God’s grace takes you to the goal.

Saradamma: So long as you set up the Self as a goal or target to be reached you will never experience it directly. The harder you try to get to it, the

more it will recede away from you. You will only experience the Self when all desire for it has gone.

Saradamma: When you look at our bodies you are only looking at an image created by your mind. Meditate on us in the heart and you will discover that we are your own Self. (…) Meditation in the heart really means that you should make the mind go back into the heart so that you can experience the bliss of the Self there. (…) Meditation in the heart really begins when the mind rests quietly in the heart, absorbed in the bliss of the Self.

Sri Ramana Darsanam Sadhu Natanananda

The jiva cannot find its source so long as retains ‘I’ and ‘mine’, even

though it sacrifices crores of births in the attempt. None of the objects witnessed belong to consciousness. They do not shine

by themselves – consciousness alone illumines them. This consciousness is the nature of the Self. Besides shining everywhere and always by its own power, this consciousness also illumines the world. The light emanating from the self-luminous Self is the first thing that is witnessed.

The Self, being consciousness, because of its objectifying tendency,

becomes the seer of manifestation, gets reflected in external things and then sees its own reflections as those objects. In the same way that there is no reflection that is separate from the original [light source], the seen is not apart from the seer.

According to Brahma Gita: “A jnani is none other than God. To stay

where he stay is liberation.” To know oneself as pure Consciousness distinct from the body is to know

God. The Sadguru is God in human form, but if the aspirant regards theGuru as

being a form, in the same way that he takes himself to be a body, his own I-am-the-body idea will not cease. (…) The aspirant should therefore practice worshipping the Sadguru as the unconditioned supreme Brahman.

In essence, the aspirant should take consciousness of the Self – which

shines within him just as it shines within the Sadguru – as his gracious Guru, and abide, thought Self-attention, in its presence. This is the true meaning of living with the Guru.

The aspirant`s thoughts, words and deeds should all be actuated by the

ssame ideal. (…) All the inner and outer organs should be surrendered totally at the same time to the Self, and the aspirant must learn to remain always and everywhere as pure consciousness.

“O Supreme! If you make me fit so serve your devotees, the state of bliss will automatically be attained by me.” - Thayumanavar

Only worshipping the Self is worshipping the Guru. Bhagavan: “Only the Supreme Self, which is ever shinning in your Heart

as the reality, is the Sadguru. The pure awareness, which is shinning as the inward illumination ‘I’, is his gracious feet. The contact with these [inner holy feet] alone can give you true redemption. Joining the eye of reflected consciousness [chidabhasa], which is your sense of individuality [jiva bodha], to those holy feet, which are the real consciousness, is the union of the feet and the head that is the real significance of the word ‘asi’. As these inner holy feet can be held naturally and unceasingly, hereafter, with an inward-turned mind, cling to that inner awareness that is your own real nature.”

When Bhagavan was asked about some of the explanations he had given

the previous day, he sometimes used to say: “Who said this? Did I make this statement? I do not remember having said that!”

Bhagavan: “To surrender is to offer fully, in silence, the subsided ego,

which is a name-and-form thought, to the aham-sphurana [the effulgence of “I”], the real holy feet of the gracious Guru.

Bhagavan: “It is good to have the habit of completing all-important

works immediately with whatever ordinary instruments are easily available. If we look at likely inconveniences, it will not be possible to complete any task in the allotted time. The happiness there is in simplicity can never be found in ostentation.”

Desirelessness is the hallmark of sannyasa. A sannyasin should have the

firm faith that the Lord who is the all-powerful one, is the protector of sadhus, and that he alone can confer all that is needed on those in need. With such total faith in the protection of the Lord, sannyasins should totally surrender themselves to the Lord.

Saint Appar: “Because we have surrendered ourselves to the Lotus Feet

of Sankara [Siva], who himself is subject to none, we are subjects to none.”

Sadhus must totally surrender themselves to the Lord, that means they must be without likes of dislikes, be free from thoughts and anxieties, and that they should obtain even their essential needs from God alone.

If the false self, just a reflection of the supreme Self, realizes its true nature as not apart from the Supreme Self, and if it holds on to the supreme Self through the introversion of the mind, then it remains as being-consciousness.

The instruments of mind and body that perform the actions are different

from the underlying consciousness, but it is the nature of the ignorant one to invariably identify himself with these various instruments of action.

The individual soul, which takes birth to experience the fruits of past

actions, because of the power of its imagination, forgets its real nature and identifies with the superimposed attributes.

Self-surrender is to hold on to this supreme silence and to remain still

within, abiding only as being-consciousness. “Mind” is nothing but identification with objects. (…) Unceasing practice

of the witness state will lead to a gradual reduction of the rising of the mind. No one creates his own body. It is a result of karma and is under the

control of destiny. It lives according to karma. Even ordinary folks realize that the life and experiences of the body are only according to the pattern ordained by the ordainer, and not according to their own wishes.

Even ordinary folk realize that the life and experiences of the body are

only according to the pattern ordained by the Ordainer, and not according to their own wishes.

Avvaiyar: “In all the books, beginning with Vedas, there is no device shown for conquering destiny.”

Tirukkural: “What is there stronger than fate? Even is something else intervenes, fate will prevail.”

Thayumanavar: “To those who knew the secret that all is Your doing,

you gave unlimited bliss. To me, a base covetous dog, you ordained this other way. Oh qualified one! To whom can I go to complain about the weakness of mind?”

Thayumanavar: “There are no actions that can be classified as ‘mine’. It is only proper to say all actions are Yours alone. I have made over to you my body, possessions and soul. It is for you to remove the impurities that abound in my mind and bestow you grace in whatever way you think fit!”

Those who want to put an end to the misery of birth and death should

learn to die. That is, they should learn to destroy the mind. The method of practice is not to give room for the rise of even a single thought [vritti].

There is nothing more difficult than controlling the mind. Therefore, in order to destroy the mind, it is necessary to understand thoroughly its nature and its power to posses and control consciousness.

The inner meaning of self-enquiry is that consciousness should remain in

its natural state as being-consciousness, without being distorted into ignorance by becoming thoughts.

It should therefore become clear that consciousness is the substratum for

the shadow of thoughts that is cast on it. When consciousness remains without slipping from its real nature, the mauna state, the shadow scene of thoughts will not appear on it. Because of this, an aspirant should remain apart from the vrittis and should observe their rise and subsidence. This, indeed, is how sankalpas are destroyed, and it is also self-enquiry.

[Dehatma buddhi is the primal ignorance, original vasana. All other

vasanas has their root in this primal vasana and are classified as gross ignorance.] An aspirant should unceasing examine inside himself whether the I-am-

the-body belief is present in each one of this thoughts, words and deeds. It is possible to destroy the root of ego only by the practice of remaining

unceasingly in the witness state in such a way that the ego is not allowed to rise even in dream.

Total destruction of sankalpas is attainable only by those who have

perfect desirelessness. Bhagavan: “Humility alone is the real ornament of the sages. It is the

storehouse of all other virtues and is therefore extolled as the wealth of divine grace. Although it is a characteristic befitting wise people in general, it is especially indispensable for sadhus. (…) Humility is indeed the hallmark of the destruction of the ego. Because of this, humility is specially extolled by sandhus themselves as the code of conduct befitting them. (…) Since Arunachala has the power to humble even those who would not be humbled, those who do not humbly subside at Arunachala will surely not attain that redeeming virtue anywhere else.”

The total destruction of vasanas is the only proof of having renounced

individuality completely. Sri Seshadri Swami: “Jnana is that which remains after rejecting, one by

one, by enquiry, whatever is transient. That alone is reality. God – Lord – I – you – all these are only That. It is madness to wander here and there thinking that jnana

can be attained only if we go to a mountain or a cave.” [Bhagavan himself approved of this teaching when e heard of it]

Bhagavan remarked: “Our job is only to witness all that happens. It is not

to imagine this way or that way regarding anything.” Jnana is not different from that knowledge by which one feels oneself to

be “I am ignorant”. So long as one retains the ego, one has the vasanas associated with sense

objects. This is so even when there is external renunciation and no involvement with sense objects.

The ego is not destroyed without discrimination, and vasanas are not

destroyed without dispassion. One who has realized the falsity of cinema scenes that appear on the

screen does not experience any pain or pleasure watching them. The jivanmukta has realized the false nature of external objects. For him, there is no association with them, and the belief that they are real does not arise. Because they disappear in the same way that a dream does, even after seeing external events he remains as one who has not seen them. Because of this, none of these events leaves any vasanas in this mind.

Kaivalya Navaneeta: “If you always remain aware that ‘I’ am perfect

consciousness, what does it matter how much you think, or what you do? All this is unreal, like dream visions after waking. I am all bliss!”

Samadhi without body consciousness is not experienced by all jnanis. Some thoughts do occasionally arise in jnanis on account of their

response to their environment. However, such thoughts do no attach to their minds. Like seeds that cannot sprout after they have been roasted, these thoughts do not lead to rebirth.

As long as the body acts, prarabdha should be accepted, even in the life of the jnani. [For the jnani we may say that: from the phenomenal point of view, prarabdha exists, and from the point of view of supreme truth, he has no prarabdha.]

Bhagavan: “Without staying in one place and without making specific

plans for the tomorrow, in keeping with the dharma of sadhus, who live like birds without any attachment, I feel I should go wherever my legs take me and spend my time [wandering freely]. But my prarabdha does not allow this! Thought I have

tried many times, every time it creates an obstacle. Not allowing me to go anywhere, it keeps me in this place! If one remains like this, with a residence, possessions and many people, will not worldly activities arise? What to do? My prarabdha is like this!”

Prarabdha exists for one who identifies with the body and the mind, and

it is absent for one who identifies with nothing. Since both of them are beginningless, one cannot determine whether

prarabdha, responsible for birth and death, comes first or whether agamya, which is responsible for prarabdha, precedes it.

Consciousness, which is eternal, perfect, all pervasive and non-dual, can

at no time have anything external to it. It is therefore at no time bound by anything. Bhagavan states that the attainment of liberations itself is imaginary. The perfect experience of reality is abiding as the witness, without

associating with the ten organs of activity and perception. Due to prarabdha, the body experiences misery and joy. Shine as the witness to this unfolding destiny.

Bhagavan once told Sadhu Natanananda: “Why are you so dejected151? If you were really unfit to realize the Self in this life, then you could not have come to this place at all. The power that drew you here will make you realize the Self. If not today, it is bound to fulfill its commitment, There is no reason why you should feel dejected.”

Bhagavan said: “If you get firmly established in the Heart as the being-

consciousness ‘I am’, the illusory mind, maya, will disappear”. Sadhu Natanananda: O Sadguru! Just as you took possession of my body

and belongings, accept my soul as well, and by doing so graciously put an end to this life of identifying with the inert body. Be aware that I am begging from you only that you will keep me permanently beneath your feet, without ever leaving them. I want nothing else.

Sadhu Natanananda: There is no means of getting redeemed other than by

having a mind that possess love for you in such abundance that tears flow like a river.

When I realized that no actions were ‘my’ actions, and that all actions

were actions of the Lord, I was freed from ego.

151 Dejected = abatido, desanimado, deprimido.

Bhagavan said that to be humble, to become as tiny as an atom is

extremely great. Since it was suffering that developed into dispassion and redeemed me,

misery became more beneficial than joy to poor me. Even is devotees are lacking in maturity, if they see the grace-emanating

lustrous countenance of the one who is the embodiment of jnana, their liberation is certain.

Bhagavad Gita – Versos Selecionados

II, 23. O Homem real, o Espírito, não pode ser ferido por armas, nem queimado pelo fogo; a água não o molha, o vento não o seca nem move.

II, 38. Com a mente tranqüila, aceita como igual o prazer e a dor, o ganho e a perda, a vitória e a derrota. Cinge-te para a peleja, cumpre o teu dever, evita assim o pecado.

II, 47. Seja, pois, o motivo das tuas ações e dos teus pensamentos sempre o cumprimento do dever, e faze as tuas obras sem procurares recompensa, sem te preocupares com o teu ganho ou o teu prejuízo pessoal.

II, 51. Os sábios, que renunciaram mentalmente os frutos possíveis de suas retas ações, libertam-se das cadeias dos renascimentos e se encaminham para a morada eterna.

II, 62 e 64. Quem anela objetos dos sentidos, nos quais pensa e os quais contempla, fica atraído e enlaçado por esses objetos; desta atração e deste enlace provém o desejo, e o desejo gera a paixão. Mas quem, senhor de si mesmo, encontra os objetos dos sentidos, sem a eles anelar e sem deles fugir, esse alcança a Paz.

III, 6. Se alguém se assenta para reter e dominar os seus sentidos e os órgãos de atividade mas, em sua mente, está apegado aos objetos dos sentidos, ilude-se e merece o nome de hipócrita.

III, 8. Faze bem o que te compete fazer no mundo; cumpre bem as tuas tarefas; ocupa-te da obra que encontras, para fazê-la o melhor possível: assim será muito bom para ti. Atividade é melhor do que ociosidade.

III, 9. Os homens estão aferrados a este mundo porque agem com o fim de obter recompensa e ganho; estão apegados aos objetos de seus desejos, e, por isso, cansam-se na escravidão dos sentidos. Para libertarem-se, hão de agir com resignação, movidos pelo puro amor ao Bem. Faze, pois, ó Arjuna, a tua tarefa, para cumprires o dever que o Eu Real te impõe, e não por qualquer outro motivo.

III, 13. Os bons homens que retêm para si só aquilo que resta depois de terem oferecido à Divindade tudo aquilo que é divino, são livres de todos os pecados; porém, os maus que querem agir só para si mesmos, vivem em pecado.

III, 18. O sábio, elevado acima dos mundos, não se inquieta por saber se alguma coisa acontece ou não acontece no mundo; achando em si mesmo tudo de que precisa, não tem necessidade de refugiar-se em nenhum ser criado, para nele achar apoio.

III, 27-28. Toda a atividade e todas as ações provêm dos movimentos das forças da Natureza. O insensato, que é iludido pela presunção e vaidade, pensa que ele é o ator e diz: “eu faço isso, eu fiz aquilo”. Mas quem conhece a verdade sorri, porque enxerga, detrás da personalidade, a fonte real da ação, a causa e o efeito.

III, 34. Ninguém pode escapar às leis naturais. Os objetos sensuais são os senhores dos sentidos, e atraem ou repelem o coração dos homens, enchendo-o de afeição ou de aversão. Não te deixes dominar por nenhuma dessas duas forças, porque ambas são obstáculos no caminho e o sábio as subjuga.

III, 39. O Desejo impede o verdadeiro saber; ele é como um fogo devorador, difícil de extinguir-se.

IV, 20. O sábio, tendo renunciado aos frutos das suas ações, está sempre contente e confia na força divina do seu interior. Assim, está em inação, ainda que trabalhe, já que não age para a sua pessoa, mas deixa agir por si a força Divina.

IV, 23. As obras do homem que matou em si todo o apego e mantém sua mente firme na sabedoria, são como inexistentes para ele; tudo ele faz no espírito divino, conforme a vontade de Deus, e, assim, cada uma de suas ações é um sacrifício no altar do Amor Divino.

IV, 24. Deus é Amor; Deus mesmo é o sacrificador e o sacrifício; Ele é o fogo e o alimento do fogo. Deus em Deus oferece sacrifício a Deus, e assim vem a Deus quem, oferecendo sacrifício, Nele pensa.

IV, 33 e 38. Melhor, porém, do que o sacrifício e objetos e coisas, é o sacrifício oferecido pelo conhecimento [jnana]. (...) Não há, no mundo,outro agente de purificação igual à chama da Verdade Espiritual. Quem a conhece, quem a ela se dedica, será purificado das manchas da personalidade, e achará seu Eu Real.

V, 3. Só se abstém verdadeiramente aquele que não odeia a ação, nem por ela se apaixona; assim é que ele pratica a renúncia, nada odiando e nada desejando. Quem está acima dos contrastes e conserva-se calmo e contente, sempre pronto a cumprir a sua tarefa e, contudo, sem apegar-se à obra, facilmente se liberta dos vínculos da ilusão.

V, 6. Abster-se e renunciar é muito difícil para quem não tem experiência das ações.

V, 7. Quem é firme na prática da Reta Ação e, ao mesmo tempo, domina a si mesmo, subjugando à Vontade Divina os seus sentidos e desejos, sente-se uno com tudo o que existe e não é influenciado pelas obras que pratica.

V, 9-10. Em verdade, ele pode dizer: “Os sentidos fazem a sua parte no mundo sensual; deixemo-los agir! Eu não sou vinculado nem iludido por eles, porque sei qual é o seu fim.” Quem encara suas ações como obra dos sentidos, e as executa sem apego, não é maculado pelo egoísmo.

V, 13. A alma do sábio que, no fundo de sua vontade, renunciou a toda ação e inação própria, e não procura recompensa, habita o corpo, que é o Templo do Espírito, conserva-se quieta, em paz, sem desejo de agir e sem causar ação e, entretanto, esta sempre pronta a executar a sua parte na ação, quando o dever a chama. Porque o sábio sabe que, ainda que seu corpo se ocupe de ações, o Eu Real permanece imperturbado.

V, 20. Não te deixes arrebatar, quando te acontece algo desagradável, nem percas o ânimo quando tens má sorte. Levanta o teu pensamento à claridade limpa da esfera divina, emerge-te em Deus e Nele vive.

V, 21-22. Em delícias eternas vive a alma que em si mesma encontra a fonte da felicidade, sendo unida com Deus e desapegada dos objetos do mundo exterior. Os prazeres nascidos do contato dos sentidos externos, e a que chamam “satisfação”, são fontes de sofrimentos, porque têm princípio e fim. O sábio não procura neles a sua felicidade.

VI, 2. Sabe, ó príncipe, que a Reta Ação, praticada com o conhecimento da verdade, é a melhor renúncia, o melhor ascetismo. Porque este consiste em verdade só no desinteresse.

VI, 14. [O Yogi] Com o ânimo tranqüilo e sereno, livre de medo, inabalável em seu propósito, refreando a sua vontade, em silêncio permanece, pensando em Mim e em Mim se imergindo.

VI, 20 e 22. A mente do yogi se deleita na contemplação do Eu Real e acha no seu interior o contentamento e a felicidade. (...) Ele sabe que não há coisa melhor, nem maior satisfação, do que esse estado de Paz inabalável que resulta do Conhecimento da Realidade; nada lhe pode perturbar essa Paz e esse contentamento, nem os maiores sofrimentos, dores e cuidados da vida mundana, porque está acima deles.

VI, 25. Quando a mente se fixou no Eu Real, acha insensato peregrinar em qualquer outra coisa.

VI, 30. Em verdade te digo que aquele que Me vê em tudo e todo o universo em Mim nunca Me abandonará, e nunca será por Mim abandonado.

VI, 47. De todos os yogis Eu prefiro, porém, aquele que Me adora com fé e a Mim dedica o interior da sua alma; aquele cujo coração transborda Meu Amor e cuja mente sempre sente a minha presença e, com ela, a Paz Suprema.

VIII, 7. Dirige, pois, a Mim todos os teus pensamentos e luta. Se a tua mente e o teu coração em Mim firmemente fixares, com certeza, enfim, a Mim chegarás.

VIII, 8. Quem, abandonando todos os desejos pessoais, não tem a mente concentrada em nenhum outro ser mas no Espírito Eterno, praticando o Reto Pensar e a Reta Ação, ao Espírito Eterno virá.

VIII, 12. Ouve as instruções: Fecha bem as portas dos teus sentidos corporais. Domina o teu coração, concentra a tua mente sobre o teu Eu interior, e não a deixes vaguear no exterior, nem ocupar-se com os pensamentos estranhos.

VIII, 14. O yogi que pensa em Mim incessante e fixamente, ó príncipe, e nunca se apega com os seus pensamentos a qualquer outro objeto, com facilidade Me achará.

IX, 27-28. Por isso, qualquer coisa que faças, quer comas ou bebas, quer recebas ou dês, quer jejues ou ores, sempre pensa em Mim e oferece tudo a Mim. E oferecendo a Mim todas as tuas ações, serás livre dos vínculos da ação e das suas conseqüências. A tua mente torna-se, assim, bem equilibrada e harmonizada, e capaz de unir-se a Mim.

IX, 34. Conhece-Me, adora-Me, fixa em Mim a tua mente e sem distração uma a tua vontade à Minha, e, nesta união, encontrarás a mais perfeita felicidade das tua vida.

X, 20. Eu, ó príncipe, sou o Espírito que reside na consciência de todos os seres, e cujo reflexo é conhecido por todos como “Eu”. Eu sou o princípio, o meio e o fim de todas as coisas.

XI, 55. Quem tudo faz em Meu nome; quem Me reconhece como o alvo de todos os seus mais nobres esforços; quem Me adora, livre de apegos e sem odiar a ninguém, esse chegará a Mim.

XII, 8. Descansa em Mim tua mente, ó príncipe, e satura toda a tua mente de Meu Ser e, ao deixares esta vida, morarás certamente em Mim.

XII, 14-15. Amo aquele que é sempre constante, afável e piedoso, manso de coração e de firme vontade, e cujos pensamentos em Mim se concentram. Amo aquele que não tem cuidados mundanos, não teme o mundo e não é tímido; quem é livre de turbulência, da cólera, da impaciência e do medo, e não se entrega à tristeza e nem à alegria excessiva.

XII, 19. Amo aquele que não murmura contra o destino, não se importa se o mundo o louva ou censura, em todo lugar está contente e, firme em seu propósito, em Espírito Me adora.

XIII, 8-11. A Sabedoria Espiritual consiste em: modéstia, sinceridade, inocência, paciência, retidão, respeito para com os superiores, castidade, constância, domínio de si próprio. Ausência de sensualidade, ausência de orgulho e vaidade, conhecimento dos males do nascimento e morte, velhice, doença e sofrimentos. Ela ensina libertar-se dos vínculos pessoais entre o possuidor da sabedoria sua mulher, seus filhos, suja casa. Dá constante equanimidade e tranqüilidade de espírito, tanto na ventura como na desventura. Ensina a verdadeira adoração e devoção, a auto-isolamento do mundo profano e a abstinência de divertimentos mundanos.

XIII, 30. Verdadeiramente vê quem percebe que todas as ações são executadas pelo corpo (ou Matéria), cujas qualidades (gunas) atuam cada qual à sua maneira, e não pelo Eu.

XIV, 22-24. Diz-se que ultrapassou as qualidades (gunas) quem, sentindo o efeito que as qualidades produzem – percepção, aça ou ilusão – não lhe repugnam os Maus frutos advindos e nem anseia pelos bons frutos frustrados. Aquele que, como neutro espectador, não é comovido pelas qualidades, mas, imperturbável, se retrai delas com o pensamento: “as qualidades desempenham as tarefa”. Aquele que, equânime não prazer e na dor, fixa-se no Eu, olhando indiferente a argila, a pedra e o ouro; que, firme no louvor e no vitupério, recebe com a mesma afabilidade as coisas agradáveis e desagradáveis.

XV, 9. O Eu, unido à vista, ouvido, olfato, paladar e tato, e à mente, faz experiências com os objetos dos sentidos.

XVI, 1-3. Vou te dar os sinais característicos dos homens que andam pelo caminho que conduz à Vida Divina. Ei-los: intrepidez, pureza de coração, perseverança em busca da sabedoria, caridade, abnegação, domínio de si mesmo, devoção, religiosidade, austeridade, retidão. Abstenção de más ações, veracidade, mansidão, renúncia, equanimidade, boa vontade, amor e compaixão para com todos os seres,

ausência do desejo de matar, ânimo tranqüilo, modéstia, discrição, firmeza. Fortaleza, paciência, constância, castidade, humildade, indulgência.

XVI, 21. Três são as portas deste inferno destruído do ser: luxúria, ira, avareza. Delas se aparte, pois, o homem.

XVIII, 7. Não é correto abster-se alguém de uma ação inerente à sua própria condição. Tal abstenção deriva da ilusão e é considerada tamásica.

XVIII, 8. Quem se abstém da ação para evitar incômodos corporais, dizendo: “isto é penoso”, pratica uma renúncia de natureza rajásica, e nada ganha com essa renúncia.

XVIII, 9-10. Se alguém, sem apego nem visando resultados, pratica um ato inerente à sua própria condição, dizendo: “isto precisa ser feito”, essa renúncia é tida como de natureza satwica. Quem não tem repugnância a fazer aquilo a fazer aquilo que não lhe dá proveito e não tem desejo do que lhe é vantajoso; quem é prudente e não nutre dúvida alguma, é um verdadeiro renunciador (tyagi).

XVIII, 11. Não há homem que possa abster-se de toda a ação enquanto vive no corpo terrestre. Verdadeiro renunciador é, porém, considerado quem se abstém de gozar os frutos de suas obras.

XVIII, 23. Pura é a ação cumprida por dever, sem apetecer o fruto, sem gosto nem repugnância, e livre de afeto interesseiro.

XVIII, 37-38. Puro é o prazer que, nascido do bendito autoconhecimento, no princípio repugna como adstringente peçonha, mas no fim deleita, qual suavíssima Ambrósia. Passional é o prazer que, nascido da união entre os sentidos e seus objetos, deleita no princípio qual suavíssima Ambrósia, mas no fim repugna como adstringente peçonha.

XVIII, 45 e 48. Alcança a perfeição quem quer que cumpra contente o seu próprio dever. (...) Que a ninguém repugne seu dever natural, embora seu cumprimento seja acompanhado de inquietações. Pois como a fumaça é inerente a toda chama, assim são as inquietações em relação à ação.

XVIII, 57-58. Dedica tu, em pensamento, todas as tuas ações a Mim, e, perseverando nesta atitude, estarás sempre com tua mente fixa em Mim. Com tua mente fixa em Mim, com Minha graça vencerás todos os obstáculos.

XVIII, 59-60. Se, confiando apenas em ti, pensares “não lutarei”, e evitares a luta, vã será a tua determinação, pois tua natureza te lançará à luta. Ó filho de Kunti! O que por ilusão não desejares fazer, isso farás irremediavelmente, forçado pelos impulsos de tua própria natureza.

XVIII, 61. O Senhor Supremo como que atou todos os seres a uma roda girante de corpos e, habitando em seus corações, fá-los mover-se atraídos pelos objetos sensórios.

XVIII, 65-66. Fixa tua mente em Mim; sê Meu devoto; serve-Me; prostra-te diante de Mim, e desse modo chegarás até Mim. Esta é a pura verdade, Eu te declaro, pois és Meu muito amado. Desiste de todas as obrigações religiosas, e toma-me como teu único refúgio. Eu te libertarei de todas as dificulades. Não te aflijas.

Índice Remissivo

Abhyasa ........................ 84, 116, 117, 215 absolute 35, 53, 56, 63, 72, 74, 78, 83, 96,

97, 98, 100, 101, 116, 122, 149, 177, 215, 221, 241, 266, 280, 311

achit .................................................... 100 actions 56, 60, 62, 64, 264, 265, 266, 345,

349, 350, 353 Actions..... 28, 30, 31, 45, 51, 67, 79, 100,

102, 103, 108, 111, 118, 124, 126, 127, 128, 133, 138, 143, 148, 154, 163, 170, 171, 173, 177, 183, 212, 218, 236, 238, 240, 241, 298, 304, 308, 311, 314, 315, 317, 318, 319

activity . 10, 57, 58, 60, 66, 69, 72, 75, 79, 86, 88, 89, 118, 124, 140, 153, 154, 162, 167, 172, 173, 174, 177, 178, 209, 210, 211, 261, 298, 334, 340, 342, 352

advaita ...................... 9, 42, 101, 169, 210 Advaitins ....................................... 88, 116 agamya ............................................... 352 aham ...... 27, 66, 69, 70, 71, 77, 122, 125,

133, 142, 207, 250, 348 Aham Brahmasmi ................... 91, 92, 115 aham sphurana ................................... 133 ahamkara ...................... 68, 150, 215, 250 ahamukham......................................... 256 ajnana ................. 11, 12, 56, 72, 116, 265 ajnani .............. 48, 56, 114, 153, 183, 214 akriya .................................................. 247 Aksharamanamalai .... 276, 277, 279, 282,

283, 287, 288 Ananda.. 20, 27, 42, 43, 52, 148, 153, 155 Anger19, 34, 42, 102, 114, 134, 137, 298,

305, 318, 330 animals................................ 104, 180, 259 antarmukham .............................. 150, 256 antarmukhi.......................................... 133 Argument ...................................... 30, 223 Arguments .................................... 30, 171

Arunachala... 40, 146, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169, 188, 220, 221, 224, 228, 248, 255, 256, 257, 273, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 293, 339, 351

Arunagiri............................. 277, 284, 288 asat ................................................ 35, 304 Ashtavraka Gita .................................. 260 Aspirants .... 14, 20, 23, 28, 29, 33, 34, 35,

36, 46, 49, 114, 255, 256, 281 Atma Vidya.................................. 263, 287 Atman ... 71, 104, 128, 166, 168, 198, 215,

338 Attachments11, 12, 14, 16, 23, 26, 33, 34,

35, 43, 46, 50, 78, 128, 132, 138, 143, 152, 165, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 175, 178, 184, 235, 237, 255, 282, 283, 290, 324, 330, 333, 334

Avarana............................................... 137 avatars................................................. 128 Avidya ......................................... 114, 132 Avvaiyar.............................................. 349 awareness .............................................. 53 back to its source.... 67, 78, 153, 165, 270,

340 bandha-hetu ........................................ 106 Be as you are................... 14, 87, 102, 109 Be Still .......................................... 14, 112 beauty............................................ 39, 168 bhakti33, 42, 43, 151, 167, 193, 203, 218,

247, 255, 256, 285 Bhakti ..... 59, 97, 108, 116, 125, 144, 203,

313 bhavana................. 86, 107, 198, 201, 217 Births.. 7, 10, 26, 37, 43, 44, 74, 182, 298,

331 bliss 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 36,

39, 43, 51, 52, 58, 61, 62, 74, 78, 99, 104, 105, 120, 123, 126, 130, 136, 140, 141, 145, 147, 148, 153, 155, 160, 164,

165, 167, 173, 174, 175, 180, 182, 183, 184, 213, 257, 266, 267, 268, 270, 273, 286, 287, 301, 303, 305, 311, 312, 313, 320, 322, 323, 332, 333, 334, 335, 340, 341, 342, 344, 346, 348, 350, 352

Bliss of Self .................................... 17, 22 body-consciousness .............................. 61 Bondage. 15, 16, 31, 44, 52, 78, 103, 115,

135, 155, 159, 161, 162, 163, 171, 173, 174, 175, 177, 213, 225, 226, 291, 295, 301, 302, 303, 316, 322, 323, 324, 325, 333, 335

Brahma .. 17, 21, 172, 243, 282, 306, 324, 347

brahmachari ......................................... 99 Brahmacharya .............................. 99, 131 Brahman .... 29, 31, 35, 37, 45, 51, 52, 78,

88, 89, 91, 93, 99, 107, 116, 125, 144, 153, 166, 172, 174, 175, 181, 195, 198, 200, 201, 212, 214, 215, 249, 250, 252, 310, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 326, 327, 330, 331, 332, 334, 335, 347

Buddha........................................ 109, 227 Buddhi................. 30, 49, 68, 72, 132, 286 Chadwick............................................ 105 chidabhasa.......................................... 348 Chit .. 11, 20, 27, 42, 43, 52, 71, 100, 147,

148, 155, 206, 244, 247, 248 Chit-akasa........................................... 138 Cohen.................................................. 108 Conduct. 22, 175, 237, 307, 315, 318, 319 Consciousness.. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,

20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 34, 38, 39, 43, 44, 47, 52, 71, 72, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 87, 88, 91, 95, 96, 97, 102, 103, 110, 112, 113, 115, 120, 124, 125, 126, 129, 130, 133, 138, 141, 147, 148, 155, 159, 162, 166, 174, 175, 178, 209, 213, 214, 215, 217, 224, 225, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 236, 237, 239, 240, 242, 255, 256, 257, 288, 295, 296, 297, 298, 301, 302, 303, 304, 311, 312, 313, 333, 335

Coutrallam Swami .............................. 259 crores .................................. 258, 264, 347 Dakshinamurti ............................ 107, 194 Darma ................................... 33, 103, 167

darshan ......................... 39, 259, 291, 322 death.7, 11, 22, 23, 24, 26, 32, 37, 44, 47,

48, 50, 62, 69, 72, 81, 136, 143, 151, 168, 185, 210, 212, 230, 239, 276, 279, 300, 304, 305, 324, 325, 326, 332, 339, 350, 352

Defects ............ 31, 85, 235, 282, 311, 324 dehatma buddhi................................... 350 delusion.... 7, 8, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, 25, 28,

34, 37, 42, 71, 136, 164, 212, 324, 330, 332

desire .... 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 29, 31, 34, 35, 42, 47, 51, 52, 57, 60, 63, 64, 76, 83, 87, 105, 109, 112, 115, 119, 122, 127, 132, 134, 138, 141, 142, 148, 154, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 184, 185, 210, 211, 220, 234, 240, 241, 242, 255, 261, 266, 267, 270, 271, 273, 285, 297, 299, 300, 305, 306, 312, 316, 317, 319, 320, 324, 327, 329, 330, 345, 346

destiny..................... 43, 64, 110, 111, 339 Devotion....... 11, 33, 39, 43, 97, 139, 151,

167, 177, 217, 220, 221, 227, 233, 234, 237, 238, 239, 255, 257, 305, 312, 313, 323

dharma ................................ 258, 260, 352 Dharmas ................................................ 26 dhyana 15, 73, 78, 97, 103, 143, 151, 152,

155, 181, 208, 276, 287, 328 Dhyana .................................... 73, 97, 215 Differentiation....................................... 56 difficulties ........................................... 264 difficulty... 87, 93, 94, 105, 108, 113, 122,

209, 223, 270, 276, 331 direct method .............. 74, 92, 93, 94, 115 disciple ..... 39, 40, 82, 107, 131, 142, 147,

177, 228, 234, 279, 283, 284, 286, 322, 323

discomforts.......................................... 108 Discrimination............................. 108, 172 Disgust ............................ 22, 31, 327, 330 doer .. 64, 92, 94, 101, 103, 106, 111, 115,

118, 124, 125, 127, 135, 161, 163, 169, 174, 183, 217, 233, 295, 298, 299, 326

Doership....... 23, 27, 28, 44, 51, 103, 106, 119, 122, 125, 212, 241

doubt ....................................................... 6

doubts 6, 41, 58, 74, 86, 93, 99, 102, 106, 112, 113, 134, 141, 142, 144, 177, 178, 181, 228, 242, 262, 264, 313, 333, 340, 341, 345

Dream .. 13, 15, 25, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 48, 91, 113, 124, 130, 131, 142, 149, 155, 169, 170, 173, 174, 180, 214, 224, 225, 242, 297, 302, 304, 309, 310, 314, 315, 320, 321, 326, 333, 334

drik...................................................... 100 drisya .................................................. 100 duality ....................................... 5, 57, 258 Duality ..... 5, 6, 49, 68, 83, 107, 130, 132,

141, 157, 158, 234, 237, 238, 256, 281, 302, 303, 336

duties...... 59, 78, 115, 132, 171, 184, 259, 264, 315, 316, 333

Duties. 8, 15, 22, 26, 40, 41, 88, 115, 126, 128, 132, 135, 241, 307, 312, 318, 320, 321

dvaita .................................... 49, 101, 210 ecstasy............................. 19, 62, 164, 279 effort 7, 11, 16, 26, 28, 34, 43, 50, 52, 73,

75, 76, 77, 84, 98, 102, 105, 106, 115, 117, 118, 123, 133, 154, 172, 177, 178, 183, 209, 215, 217, 284, 299, 312, 317, 329

ego ... 6, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, 109, 124, 259, 261, 268, 269, 271, 341, 345, 348, 350, 351, 353

Ego. 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41, 44, 46, 47, 49, 51, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 77, 80, 81, 86, 87, 90, 91, 93, 95, 100, 102, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 115, 116, 122, 124, 128, 129, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 141, 149, 150, 151, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 163, 166, 167, 168, 170, 173, 174, 175, 181, 182, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191, 195, 197, 199, 200, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 213, 215, 217, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 234, 235, 239, 241, 243, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 276, 277, 278, 282, 283, 289, 305, 310, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 330, 331

ekabhakti ............................................. 217 Ellam Ondre ................................ 260, 307 energy.................................................. 274 Enlightenment ....................................... 79 environment ... 48, 60, 184, 185, 271, 272,

317, 352 Equality ................... 32, 33, 119, 236, 333 Evil..... 10, 11, 27, 31, 107, 113, 133, 135,

153, 159, 172, 181, 182, 226, 235, 238, 303, 305, 307, 308, 313, 319, 320

excess .............................. 30, 60, 152, 259 existence.8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 20, 23, 27, 35,

43, 52, 53, 56, 63, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 78, 87, 91, 93, 96, 112, 117, 122, 123, 129, 133, 135, 147, 148, 153, 154, 155, 167, 178, 180, 183, 184, 209, 214, 218, 222, 223, 224, 225, 227, 228, 229, 230, 239, 255, 256, 266, 281, 288, 302, 322, 324, 335

external objects .... 39, 121, 175, 183, 255, 256, 257, 331

faith ...... 41, 101, 139, 236, 280, 285, 313, 330, 333

fear ..... 16, 25, 26, 32, 37, 40, 41, 51, 105, 111, 119, 136, 143, 175, 215, 218, 220, 226, 276, 291, 295, 313, 315

feeling of 'I' ....................... 67, 75, 91, 209 Feet.................. 19, 31, 32, 41, 42, 49, 291 five senses ................................... 267, 274 Five senses ..... 5, 13, 24, 28, 34, 152, 163,

168, 324 food 20, 60, 131, 152, 170, 211, 261, 265,

272, 292, 323 Forgetfulness.... 13, 22, 23, 24, 36, 48, 72,

104, 138, 326, 328 Ganesha .............................................. 198 Gita .... 103, 110, 127, 145, 181, 211, 221,

222, 236, 260, 295, 322, 347, 354 God.10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30,

31, 32, 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 50, 52, 57, 60, 63, 64, 87, 91, 92, 93, 94, 100, 105, 106, 107, 112, 113, 115, 116, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 128, 129, 133, 137, 138, 139, 144, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 159, 162, 164, 166, 167, 180, 181, 182, 212, 218, 227, 230, 233, 234, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240,

256, 259, 261, 262, 263, 264, 266, 270, 271, 272, 278, 279, 280, 283, 287, 288, 290, 293, 299, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 316, 317, 318, 319, 338, 340, 342, 345, 346, 347, 349, 351

Good action .......................................... 30 Grace.... 12, 17, 18, 26, 28, 39, 40, 42, 45,

57, 114, 115, 152, 154, 163, 164, 167, 218, 238, 293, 310, 311, 312, 338, 339

Guru. 5, 10, 12, 34, 39, 40, 41, 52, 57, 58, 115, 131, 133, 152, 155, 163, 169, 172, 177, 192, 194, 197, 204, 205, 212, 234, 236, 239, 240, 258, 260, 261, 263, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 279, 282, 283, 287, 304, 322, 323, 332, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 347, 348

happiness 5, 12, 17, 20, 21, 22, 27, 43, 51, 57, 58, 62, 81, 99, 101, 110, 112, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 132, 134, 138, 139, 140, 141, 148, 153, 157, 175, 180, 184, 216, 220, 228, 229, 230, 238, 260, 265, 266, 285, 287, 292, 316, 320, 333, 348

Heart .... 5, 7, 8, 10, 17, 23, 26, 32, 36, 41, 59, 67, 71, 77, 85, 88, 89, 90, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 184, 214, 226, 228, 233, 235, 242, 348, 353

Higher Power..... 103, 104, 112, 114, 119, 120, 133, 138, 318

humility....................... 259, 341, 343, 351 Humility.......................... 30, 32, 234, 236 I am.... 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21,

23, 26, 39, 41, 44, 50, 52, 66, 67, 70, 72, 73, 74, 81, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 103, 105, 106, 107, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 122, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 135, 140, 142, 143, 145, 149, 152, 154, 160, 161, 163, 164, 166, 167, 181, 212, 217, 224, 225, 227, 229, 230, 232, 233, 234, 240, 241, 242, 282, 291, 295, 297, 298, 302, 303, 304, 308, 319, 321, 323, 326, 330, 331, 333

I am so-and-so .............................. 16, 149 I am the body .............. 16, 26, 67, 85, 149 ignorance . 6, 8, 15, 16, 20, 21, 26, 34, 42,

52, 55, 57, 58, 66, 71, 72, 84, 103, 104,

111, 114, 116, 117, 119, 123, 126, 134, 137, 139, 143, 145, 148, 158, 161, 167, 170, 173, 174, 175, 177, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 234, 236, 241, 269, 295, 298, 301, 309, 310, 313, 325, 331, 333, 340, 350

Ignorant people ............................... 17, 20 illusion..30, 34, 36, 37, 39, 63, 64, 71, 80,

85, 91, 99, 111, 117, 122, 125, 161, 165, 167, 180, 224, 228, 234, 304, 321, 334

imagination ................... 63, 266, 340, 349 Imagination ...... 25, 30, 35, 36, 72, 95, 98,

109, 142, 171, 224, 295, 299, 301, 332 Imaginations............................ 16, 34, 121 Individuality....... 9, 25, 26, 41, 49, 67, 75,

109, 111, 122, 124, 127, 132, 138, 225, 226, 233, 239, 282, 288, 331

Indra .............................................. 19, 285 Intellect .. 30, 67, 68, 90, 93, 99, 132, 141,

144, 162, 218, 221, 225, 240, 302, 309, 311, 329, 333

Ishvara ................................................ 188 Isvara .......................... 119, 124, 137, 326 Iswara ............................. 63, 64, 250, 263 jada ..................................................... 215 jagrat........................................... 117, 124 Janaka... 74, 103, 187, 216, 274, 295, 297,

298, 300 japa ....................... 94, 120, 151, 181, 249 Japa....................................................... 59 jiva............................................... 347, 348 Jiva8, 9, 12, 19, 25, 26, 27, 35, 36, 37, 39,

48, 59, 68, 95, 106, 125, 127, 134, 137, 149, 177, 201, 212, 213, 250, 253, 302, 326, 330, 331

jivanmukta................... 116, 126, 270, 351 jnana .. 8, 9, 14, 18, 32, 42, 43, 69, 74, 78,

107, 111, 137, 139, 143, 147, 148, 150, 151, 152, 154, 182, 192, 193, 197, 210, 216, 217, 245, 252, 279, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285

Jnana ..6, 7, 10, 16, 18, 22, 34, 39, 43, 46, 49, 50, 51, 56, 97, 107, 111, 116, 125, 185, 198, 203, 217, 241, 286, 313, 351

jnani56, 61, 272, 338, 339, 341, 342, 347, 352

Jnani 5, 106, 114, 116, 153, 169, 209, 279 jnanis .. 128, 210, 263, 272, 339, 342, 352 Kaivalya Navaneeta............ 181, 332, 352 kalpa ................................................... 263 karma ............ 64, 263, 265, 267, 272, 349 Karma ...... 28, 30, 99, 106, 118, 154, 161,

182, 183, 193, 214, 247, 298, 313, 324, 327

karmas..... 15, 31, 37, 45, 51, 99, 154, 169 Krishna ......................... 60, 103, 127, 145 kriya ............................................ 245, 247 latencies ...................... 326, 329, 330, 333 laya ............................... 44, 154, 271, 273 Lazy .............................................. 16, 298 Liberation .... 6, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 34, 44,

50, 52, 72, 78, 81, 82, 107, 110, 136, 154, 155, 161, 162, 165, 166, 167, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177, 182, 208, 216, 276, 277, 279, 280, 282, 295, 300, 301, 302, 303, 324, 325, 328, 329, 332, 335

literature.............................................. 329 Lord 10, 15, 19, 28, 31, 32, 33, 40, 41, 42,

43, 47, 57, 93, 136, 164, 166, 167, 169, 177, 210, 276, 278, 280, 281, 282, 285, 288, 335, 348, 349, 351, 353

love 10, 11, 18, 19, 42, 43, 111, 120, 132, 145, 148, 164, 165, 168, 221, 233, 237, 238, 257, 279, 281, 283, 285, 286, 308, 312, 313, 330

lust .............. 102, 114, 134, 137, 330, 333 Mahabharata ....................................... 127 mahavakyas ................................ 134, 249 manolaya ........................ 61, 82, 256, 273 mantra. 86, 89, 91, 94, 151, 249, 279, 280 Master .. 58, 101, 109, 132, 166, 214, 216,

218, 278, 307, 313, 321, 331 maturity................. 22, 262, 274, 338, 353 maya .... 11, 12, 34, 37, 52, 129, 155, 161,

180, 205, 211, 266, 269, 272, 273, 274, 302, 305, 335, 353

Maya ..... 5, 9, 91, 117, 213, 238, 326, 327 meditation .. 15, 59, 60, 61, 62, 73, 76, 78,

79, 82, 85, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98, 104, 107, 108, 112, 117, 119, 121, 126, 127, 151, 155, 161, 162, 174, 181, 183, 208, 217, 232, 233, 240, 259, 266, 268, 269, 270, 271, 273, 284, 287, 291, 292,

298, 299, 328, 329, 330, 339, 342, 343, 345

mental obstacles .................................... 60 Michael James 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19, 21,

24, 29, 36, 37, 40, 41, 44, 51, 52, 276 mirror .49, 56, 80, 87, 154, 168, 211, 228,

301 moda.................................................... 136 Moksha ........................ 106, 132, 171, 273 money.......................................... 297, 323 Morality......................................... 63, 242 multiplicities ......................................... 36 Muruganar.. 10, 22, 28, 33, 35, 46, 48, 50,

51, 286 Musk-deer ......... 11, 17, 20, 169, 256, 313 mutki............................................ 106, 144 namaskaram ........................................ 260 Namaskarams........................................ 30 natural state ...... 14, 48, 81, 107, 153, 158,

177, 217, 265, 291, 350 neti neti.. 91, 122, 147, 243, 245, 246, 261 neti-neti ..................................... 89, 91, 92 nidhidhyasana ..................................... 328 nirvana ........................................ 109, 124 nishkamya ........................... 255, 256, 263 nishkriya.............................................. 247 Nishtha ...................................... 15, 17, 47 Niyamas .......................................... 32, 46 Objective knowledge ........ 14, 16, 35, 148 objects 5, 9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24,

25, 27, 28, 34, 35, 44, 45, 46, 53, 55, 62, 67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 78, 79, 80, 83, 84, 89, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 112, 113, 116, 119, 123, 124, 126, 130, 134, 137, 138, 142, 143, 144, 149, 150, 152, 155, 157, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 180, 183, 184, 226, 232, 237, 240, 241, 256, 257, 259, 263, 295, 297, 298, 299, 301, 303, 304, 311, 317, 319, 323, 324, 325, 330, 335, 347, 349, 351

Observances .................. 22, 32, 33, 34, 46 obstacle .... 23, 62, 83, 113, 115, 127, 129,

178, 209, 211, 265, 342, 352 Paramatman................................... 15, 281 passion114, 134, 143, 184, 210, 237, 330,

332, 333

past. 7, 29, 34, 41, 43, 45, 63, 75, 85, 110, 114, 118, 135, 144, 150, 158, 163, 165, 182, 238, 261, 265, 270, 290, 305, 349

path .... 7, 8, 10, 14, 21, 22, 33, 43, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 58, 61, 69, 79, 94, 152, 165, 175, 210, 212, 218, 234, 255, 256, 262, 263, 266, 267, 272, 274, 277, 283, 325, 327, 328, 345

Pattinatar............................................. 258 Peace.. 18, 27, 29, 50, 51, 81, 83, 84, 100,

101, 108, 112, 118, 120, 122, 123, 127, 128, 130, 132, 133, 158, 171, 176, 182, 183, 212, 234, 292, 293, 297, 298, 300, 308, 314, 315, 316, 322, 328

Perumal .............................................. 139 philosophy .... 66, 107, 181, 302, 324, 335 Picture.. 25, 27, 35, 37, 38, 144, 229, 257,

276 pleasure...... 17, 18, 19, 20, 28, 36, 39, 51,

101, 112, 113, 118, 124, 134, 135, 136, 141, 163, 164, 173, 175, 176, 177, 212, 213, 220, 236, 237, 285, 295, 297, 299, 300, 320, 325

Pleasures .... 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 29, 45, 118, 126, 134, 171, 172, 323, 326, 327, 332

practice .. 7, 14, 32, 45, 46, 47, 49, 62, 66, 68, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 84, 85, 88, 89, 90, 92, 94, 98, 100, 102, 110, 115, 117, 118, 131, 135, 143, 144, 151, 161, 167, 168, 172, 177, 178, 181, 184, 209, 212, 216, 235, 256, 263, 271, 272, 273, 274, 313, 329, 330, 338, 342, 347, 349, 350

pradakshina 259, 260, 284, 285, 286, 287 Praise ... 31, 171, 216, 236, 281, 282, 297,

300, 329, 333 pramada .............. 7, 10, 11, 13, 24, 31, 72 prana................... 148, 150, 151, 243, 244 pranayama .. 129, 150, 151, 208, 256, 328 prarabdha ............. 64, 271, 339, 342, 352 Prarabdha... 19, 23, 27, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48,

51, 116, 118, 125, 154, 164, 169, 176, 214, 305

prasad ................................................. 259 priya.............................................. 42, 136 punya .................................................. 265

purna ................................................... 106 purusha ............................................... 322 quietude......................... 50, 122, 203, 204 Raja Yoga............................................ 131 Ramakrishna ............... 107, 217, 261, 279 rationalism........................................... 105 realisation... 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75,

84, 85, 93, 104, 108, 112, 113, 114, 129, 132, 134, 215, 216, 218, 295, 305, 332

reality9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 26, 34, 35, 36, 37, 51, 53, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63, 67, 73, 74, 77, 80, 83, 86, 88, 92, 93, 96, 97, 112, 117, 138, 142, 149, 173, 174, 175, 180, 184, 209, 210, 214, 222, 223, 224, 225, 227, 232, 255, 270, 271, 277, 283, 284, 295, 301, 304, 334, 348, 351, 352

rebirth.............................. 15, 63, 143, 352 Reincarnation ........................................ 62 remain as the Self. 87, 109, 113, 114, 121,

144, 209 remain as you are ............ 55, 58, 117, 297 Renounce..22, 23, 78, 115, 171, 173, 178,

221, 228, 230, 305, 327 Renunciation .... 22, 23, 79, 114, 115, 137,

138, 167, 172, 175, 208, 226, 233, 297, 299

responsibilities .................................... 215 rudraksha ............................................ 323 Sadguru 39, 125, 276, 283, 288, 347, 348,

353 Sadhak................................................. 144 sadhana... 8, 12, 30, 31, 36, 45, 46, 47, 49,

73, 74, 85, 94, 144, 148, 178, 181, 184, 205, 244, 254, 266, 269, 271, 272, 273, 284, 305, 327, 343, 345

sadhu ................................................... 108 Sadhus ................... 31, 263, 348, 351, 352 Sage...... 19, 24, 27, 40, 42, 221, 222, 223,

227, 229, 230, 233, 234, 237, 239, 307, 332

Sage Dadhyangatharvana...................... 19 sages.57, 58, 83, 107, 130, 139, 165, 166,

178, 281, 282, 285, 318, 325, 327, 328, 333, 351

Sahaja ..................................... 56, 61, 291

sakti............................... 12, 115, 124, 153 Sakti .................................... 127, 281, 282 Salvation ................................. 81, 82, 152 samadhi................... 57, 61, 266, 273, 343 Samadhi ... 10, 16, 44, 100, 107, 112, 151,

153, 172, 175, 199, 200, 202, 203, 208, 240, 256, 286, 327, 328

samsara.... 26, 58, 72, 116, 117, 142, 159, 173, 175, 178, 227, 263, 297, 298, 299, 301, 324, 326, 332, 334

samskara ..................................... 117, 131 samskaras ............... 53, 56, 116, 117, 183 Sankalpas ...................................... 16, 106 sankhya ............................................... 327 Sannyasa ....................... 22, 138, 305, 348 Sannyasin.............................................. 25 sanyasin .............................................. 102 Sastra .................................................. 112 sastras.. 92, 107, 133, 147, 171, 172, 181,

328, 329 Sat .. 13, 20, 27, 34, 35, 40, 42, 43, 52, 82,

147, 155, 206, 247, 248, 292, 293, 304 satsang ........ 182, 263, 271, 273, 283, 284 sat-sanga............................................... 58 Sat-sanga............................................. 130 sattva..................... 62, 173, 260, 267, 345 Satvic .................................................. 131 scholars ............................................... 107 screen... 25, 27, 37, 38, 73, 103, 109, 113,

141, 144, 157, 180, 184, 229 Self-abidance ... 14, 15, 16, 28, 41, 45, 47,

286 Self-attention 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 24, 27, 44,

49, 75, 150, 152, 153 Self-enquiry6, 7, 8, 10, 21, 24, 30, 46, 47,

49, 69, 74, 76, 86, 151, 155, 174, 208, 213, 277

Self-Knowledge.................................... 14 Sense-perceptions ................................. 59 Seshadri Swami .................................. 351 Sex ........................ 20, 109, 120, 208, 323 shanti .................................................... 39 shrutis ................................................. 130 Silence 17, 18, 21, 27, 29, 49, 50, 51, 107,

114, 167, 234 sinner .................................... 60, 143, 152

Siva 11, 13, 18, 20, 21, 31, 36, 38, 40, 42, 49, 93, 112, 126, 147, 166, 168, 213, 276, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 284, 285, 323

Sivaprakasam Pillai............. 146, 147, 244 sleep13, 36, 39, 48, 52, 53, 59, 60, 61, 62,

70, 80, 81, 82, 83, 91, 94, 98, 106, 107, 108, 113, 117, 120, 126, 128, 130, 133, 134, 136, 140, 148, 149, 151, 153, 159, 161, 166, 169, 170, 171, 173, 184, 208, 210, 211, 214, 228, 229, 230, 240, 242, 256, 261, 265, 302, 304, 309, 314, 320, 328

snake 16, 21, 25, 26, 36, 37, 52, 148, 222, 297

space..... 11, 16, 17, 21, 35, 38, 44, 47, 56, 63, 96, 97, 98, 130, 149, 154, 158, 182, 222, 224, 234, 277, 281, 302

Spirit............................ 111, 166, 218, 241 Sri Ramana... 4, 13, 15, 32, 48, 53, 57, 58,

59, 61, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 75, 76, 88, 89, 90, 99, 146, 149, 151, 153, 157, 213, 216, 219, 242, 247, 249, 256, 276, 284, 288, 292, 332, 338, 347

Sri Ramana Sahasram ........................... 32 Subjugation of senses.......................... 108 Suffering .... 7, 19, 26, 27, 33, 48, 88, 124,

143, 225, 226, 229, 295 Summa iru ............................................. 15 summa irutal ....................................... 247 surrender .... 30, 40, 41, 57, 111, 115, 120,

122, 124, 125, 127, 133, 139, 151, 181, 182, 210, 227, 230, 238, 239, 240, 262, 268, 273, 274, 320, 339, 340, 341, 345, 346, 348, 349

swarupa. 11, 147, 149, 150, 155, 248, 249 Tantric................................................. 110 tapas .................................................... 272 Tapas ... 8, 15, 16, 40, 45, 50, 82, 212, 234 tattvas .......................................... 155, 304 teaching ..40, 47, 101, 103, 106, 147, 214,

222, 223, 226, 227, 229, 230, 236, 260, 266, 273, 282, 344, 351

Thayumanavar ............................ 348, 350 Thirst for life ......................................... 63 time, Time ..................... 56, 130, 168, 224 Tirukkural ........................................... 349

Truth ...... 7, 10, 19, 33, 52, 111, 119, 127, 133, 139, 159, 165, 167, 168, 172, 174, 176, 221, 222, 226, 232, 234, 237, 238, 239, 241, 310, 313, 328, 332, 333, 334

Turiya ................................................... 61 Ulladu Narpadu ... 35, 153, 154, 249, 251,

252, 278 ultimate truth .................................. 55, 96 unreality ...... 59, 67, 69, 93, 112, 223, 225 upadesa ............................................... 109 upadhi ........................... 13, 123, 125, 248 Upanishads .. 57, 104, 194, 195, 229, 238,

307, 343 Vaikuntha...................................... 13, 188 vairagya22, 23, 33, 46, 78, 100, 116, 118,

121, 152, 172, 178, 184, 185, 198, 199, 244, 247, 285, 324, 327

Vairagya ..................... 6, 18, 50, 116, 324 vasanas6, 7, 10, 29, 31, 44, 55, 62, 75, 77,

78, 85, 101, 107, 109, 131, 136, 141, 148, 150, 152, 154, 155, 183, 199, 209, 211, 214, 240, 245, 255, 267, 269, 273, 285, 287, 301, 344, 350, 351

Vasishtha .............................................. 69 Vedanta.. 18, 88, 170, 175, 180, 189, 225,

276 Vedas .. 260, 305, 308, 310, 316, 320, 349 vices .................................. 19, 39, 42, 226 Vichara .. 8, 32, 50, 59, 66, 67, 73, 74, 81,

83, 86, 87, 93, 94, 123, 143, 148, 150, 151, 155, 208, 209, 211, 215, 243, 249, 250, 252, 253, 332, 340

Vijnanamaya kosa .............. 116, 142, 244 Virtues ............................................ 29, 32 Vishnu ........... 32, 112, 188, 282, 288, 325 viveka ........................ 8, 15, 110, 285, 327

Vivekachudamani .. 24, 167, 171, 197, 334 vritti 8, 27, 42, 66, 69, 70, 71, 77, 83, 118,

178, 213, 249, 350 vrittis ......... 19, 34, 70, 195, 263, 286, 350 Waking state....... 35, 37, 39, 80, 117, 119,

131, 134, 151, 174, 304, 310, 321 Who am I?.. 6, 7, 8, 13, 46, 47, 49, 74, 75,

77, 78, 79, 81, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 98, 108, 115, 120, 122, 143, 146, 147, 148, 150, 152, 160, 162, 210, 212, 232, 233, 240, 241, 244, 326, 334

witness29, 45, 46, 64, 107, 109, 145, 162, 176, 178, 217, 241, 298, 304, 320, 330, 331, 349, 350, 351, 352

woman..................... 60, 63, 263, 293, 299 words 8, 14, 15, 21, 24, 32, 37, 40, 46, 58,

70, 88, 91, 113, 126, 133, 139, 148, 151, 169, 171, 172, 179, 213, 256, 258, 262, 263, 277, 280, 305, 310, 311, 319, 348, 350

work .9, 24, 33, 35, 46, 49, 52, 60, 78, 79, 95, 97, 102, 104, 110, 115, 118, 120, 127, 132, 133, 138, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 154, 163, 174, 185, 209, 211, 233, 238, 240, 258, 259, 260, 264, 265, 266, 292, 307, 308, 311, 315, 317, 318, 343

Worldly pleasures ..................... 9, 17, 323 worship....... 33, 41, 50, 57, 106, 158, 260,

273, 285, 316, 320, 323, 338 wrong knowledge.......... 11, 13, 21, 26, 55 Yama..................................................... 32 Yoga..... 15, 28, 40, 41, 61, 68, 69, 79, 82,

83, 97, 110, 119, 125, 132, 137, 139, 142, 143, 165, 167, 168, 169, 175, 200, 220, 256, 260, 272, 288, 301, 313, 327, 328, 334, 338