Saturday, February 9, 2013

Ramana Maharshi on Samadhis

1. Mr. Cohen wanted to know the exact meaning of samadhi.

Bhagavan: Samadhi is one’s true nature.

C. Is it the same as Turiya?
Bh. Samadhi, Turiya, Nirvikalpa, all have the same implication, namely awareness of the Self. Turiya literally means the Fourth State – the Supreme Consciousness – to be distinguished from the other three – the waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. The Fourth State is eternal, over, or in which the other three, come and go. In Turiya there is the awareness that the mind has merged in its source, the Heart, and is quiescent there, although some thoughts still impinge on it and the senses are somewhat active. In Nirvikalpa the senses are inactive and thoughts are totally absent; hence the experience of Pure Consciousness is intense in it; so is the bliss. Turiya is obtainable in Savikalpa Samadhi.

C. What is the difference between Sahaja and Nirvikalpa samadhi?

Bh. Sahaja is also Nirvikalpa. You are probably meaning Kevala Nirvikalpa, which is temporary, while the samadhi lasts. The Sahaja Nirvikalpa is permanent and in it lies liberation from rebirths.

There are two Nirvikalpas: the internal and the external. In the former the mind completely merges in the inmost Being and is aware of nothing else. This is compared to a lamp protected from wind. But in the latter, although the mind is absorbed in the Self, the sense of world still prevails without a reaction from within, and has the calm vastness of a waveless ocean. In both, the Self is realised in its nakedness and the essence of bliss experienced. When the waveless ocean of the external and the steady flame of the internal Nirvikalpa are realised as identical, the ultimate goal, the Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi is said to have been reached. Nirvikalpa is effortless, whereas Savikalpa is attended with effort.

C. Is the internal Nirvikalpa absolutely necessary before the attainment of Sahaja?
Bh. Abiding permanently in any of these samadhis, either Savikalpa or Nirvikalpa is Sahaja. What is body- consciousness? It is the insentient body plus consciousness. Both these must lie in another consciousness which is absolute and unaffected, and ever-abiding, with or without the body-consciousness. What does it then matter whether the body-consciousness is lost or retained, provided one is holding on to that Pure Consciousness? Total absence of body consciousness has the advantage of making the samadhi more intense, although it makes no difference in the knowledge of the Supreme. June, 1936

July, 1936 2. Mr. C. May I have a clear idea, Bhagavan, of the
difference between Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa?

Bh. Holding on to the Supreme State is samadhi. When it is with effort due to mental disturbances, it is Savikalpa, when these disturbances are absent, it is Nirvikalpa. Remaining permanently in the primal state without effort is Sahaja. Like Nirvikalpa, there is an internal as well as an external Savikalpa, depending on whether the disturbing thoughts are from outside or from inside.

C. Should all vasanas (mental habits) be completely overcome before Self-Realisation takes place, or may some remain for Self-Realisation to destroy?

Bh. Vasanas which do not obstruct Self-Realisation remain. In Yoga Vasishtha two classes of vasanas are distinguished: those of enjoyment and those of bondage. The former remain even after Mukti is attained, but the latter are destroyed by it. Attachment is the cause of binding vasanas, but enjoyment without attachment does not bind and continues even in Sahaja.



Friday, February 8, 2013

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Inayat Khan (July 5, 1882 – February 5, 1927) was born in india and was the founder of The Sufi Order in the West in 1914 (London) and teacher of Universal Sufism.

Hazrat Inayat Khan was a sensitive soul and was brilliant in poetry and music. He initially came to the West as a Northern Indian classical musician, having received the honorific "Tansen" from the Nizam of Hyderabad. But his deepest inner longing was in spirituality that is to know the ultimate truth 'nirvana'.

During his spiritual searching's Inayat Khan was drawn to the shrine of Khwaja Moineddin Chishti and he was attracted to the path of sufi's. After wandering in india for the search of master, Inayat Khan met Mohammed Abu Hashim Madani, a great Sufi murshid. Madani recognised Inayat to be a seeker of the highest order so initiated him into the Christi path of Sufism.

Hazrat Inayat Khan message of divine unity (Tawhid) focused on the themes of love, harmony and beauty. He taught that blind adherence to any book rendered religion void of spirit.
Inayat Khan set forth ten principles that formed the foundational principles of his Universal Sufism:

   1- There is one God; the Eternal, the Only Being; None exists save He.
   2- There is one master; the guiding spirit of all souls that constantly leads all followers toward the light.
   3-There is one holy book; the sacred manuscript of nature, the only Scripture that can enlighten the reader.
   4- There is one religion; unswerving progress in the right direction toward the Ideal, which fulfills every soul's life purpose.
   5- There is one law; the law of reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience, together with a sense of awakened justice.
   6- There is one brotherhood; the human brotherhood which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the fatherhood of God. This was later adapted by followers to; "There is one Family, the Human Family, which unites the Children of Earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God."
   7- There is one moral; the love which springs forth from self-denial and blooms in deeds of beneficence. ... (later alternative; "which springs forth from a willing heart, surrendered in service to God and Humanity, and which blooms in deeds of beneficence").
   8- There is one object of praise; the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipper through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
   9= There is one truth; true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of Wisdom.
  10-  There is one path; annihilation of the false ego in the real (later alternative; "the effacement of the limited self in the Unlimited"), which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all perfection.

Hafiz - A Golden Compass

 
A Golden Compass

Forget every idea of right and wrong
Any classroom ever taught you

Because
An empty heart, a tormented mind,
Unkindness, jealousy and fear

Are always the testimony
You have been completely fooled!

Turn your back on those
Who would imprison your wondrous spirit
With deceit and lies.

Come, join the honest company
Of the King's beggars -
Those gamblers, scoundrels and divine clowns
And those astonishing fair courtesans
Who need Divine Love every night.

Come, join the courageous
Who have no choice
But to bet their entire world
That indeed,
Indeed, God is Real.

I will lead you into the Circle
Of the Beloved's cunning thieves,
Those playful royal rogues -
The ones you can trust for true guidance -
Who can aid you
In this Blessed Calamity of life.

Hafiz,
Look at the Perfect One
At the Circle's Center:

He Spins and Whirls like a Golden Compass,
Beyond all that is Rational,

To show this dear world

That Everything,
Everything in Existence
Does point to God.

and...

Rumi

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Master Hsu Yun - Only One Heart


Gaze into the Emptiness, the illusory changings of this world.
Enter the Emptiness. Others have. It’s not so hard.
Is there any place that’s unreachable when you make the effort?
Don’t be left behind because you’ve confused yourself over this.

Here! Let me rap you on the head with my stick!
Shut up, foolish face! Stop talking a minute!
Don’t be so quick to argue!
The mystery is so exquisite! It can’t be discussed!

Yes, I recite the Buddha’s name… or is the Buddha reciting mine?
What’s the recitation for anyway?
There’s only One Heart and It’s in the Pure Land.
The Buddha is my own True Nature.

The Buddha and me! We’re one, not two. So are you!
You’re chanting to this? You are this!
Come, hold on to this reality! Don’t be swept away into illusion.
History is an endless lie.

Let today be the day that the clouds and fog lift.
Don’t let a wisp of them remain.
Let your body live here, but keep your spirit evanescent.
See that when it’s free,
It can’t be bogged down into those old familiar ruts


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

John O'Donohue - A Morning Offering





 A Morning Offering

I bless the night that nourished my heart
To set the ghosts of longing free
Into the flow and figure of dream
That went to harvest from the dark
Bread for the hunger no one sees.

All that is eternal in me
Welcome the wonder of this day,
The field of brightness it creates
Offering time for each thing
To arise and illuminate.

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Wave of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.

May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ramana Maharshi - Real/Unreal



A question arose if the world is real or unreal,
since it is claimed to be both by the advaitins themselves.
Sri Bhagavan said that it is unreal if viewed as apart from the Self
and real if viewed as the Self.



Rumi = For those in Love



For those in Love,
Moslem, Christian, and Jew do not exist.
For those in love,
Faith and infidelity do not exist.


Monday, February 4, 2013

Wei Wu Wei - This is the only 'practice'



Let us live gladly!
Quite certainly we are free to do it.
Perhaps it is our only freedom,
but ours it is,
and it is only phenomenally a freedom.
'Living free' is being 'as one is'.
Can we not do it now?
Indeed can we not-do-it?
It is not even a 'doing':
it is beyond doing and not-doing.
It is being as-we-are.

This is the only 'practice'.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Huang Po - This Pure Mind




This pure mind, 
Which is the source of all things, 
Shines forever 
With the 
Radiance of its own perfection. 
But most people are not aware of it, 
And think that mind is just the faculty that 
Sees, hears, feels, and knows. 
Blinded by their own 
Sight, hearing, feeling, and knowing, 
They don't perceive 
The radiance of the source. 
If they could eliminate all 
Conceptual thinking, 
This source would appear, 
Like the sun rising 
Through the empty sky 
And illuminating the whole universe. 
Therefore, 
You students of the Tao 
Who seek to understand 
Through seeing, hearing 
feeling, and knowing, 
When your perceptions are cut off, 
Your way to mind will be cut off 
And you will find nowhere to enter. 

Just realize that 
Although mind is manifested 
In these perceptions, 
It is neither part of them 
Nor separate from them. 
You shouldn't try to analyze these perceptions, 
Or think about them at all; 
But you shouldn't seek the one mind 
Apart from them. 
Don't hold on to them 
Or leave them behind 
Or dwell in them or reject them. 
Above, below, and all around you, 
All things spontaneously exist, 
Because There Is 
Nowhere outside the Buddha mind.