N. A. Mohan Rao - Understanding Self-enquiry

Of the different methods for Self-realization, Self-enquiry may be said to be drawing an ever-increasing attention in modern times. The directness of its logic and the simplicity of its practice, so assiduously brought home to us by Bhagavan Ramana, induce us to attempt it in preference to other established methods. A great many fortunate ones succeed in making it their sole sadhana.
However, it appears that many among the lay adherents to Self-enquiry do not have an adequate comprehension of the method. They find it difficult to fathom the exact manner of enquiring into the origin of the I-thought.1 Some infer the right method correctly,but do not feel sure of it, as their experience does not seem to tally with what they read from books. So, they keep looking for alternatives instead of pursuing steadfastly the direct course that their intuition tells them is correct.
It is therefore advisable to obtain a proper understanding of the method before we start Self-enquiry.2 We will then realize that the practice puts us at once in sight of the ‘distant’ goal, much as a mountaineer obtains a glimpse of Mount Everest from afar through layers of mist and fog.3 There will be no more doubt as to our being on the right track, however long our practice may take for its fruition.4 An attempt is made here to present a detailed understanding of Self-enquiry in the light of the above. At first, an overview of the method is given, without going into the specifics of enquiring into the Self. These specifics pertaining to the inner core of practice are taken up in Part Two, based on the explanations given by Bhagavan, and with due note taken of the reported experiences and observations of some of Bhagavan’s foremost disciples...

download "The mountain path" HERE 

and continue reading

 Contents:

-Ramana Ashtottaram
-Editorial The Challenge of Suffering
-Under standing Self-Enquiry: Part One N.A. Mohan Rao
-Verse: The Names Of Lalitha Ramesh Menon
-Widowhood As A Spiritual Catalyst Vijaya Ramaswamy
-Video Interview: Sri Bhagavan And My Father T.K. Ramana Kumar
-Keyword: Sadguru uru John Grimes
-Poem: Arurunachala Siva! Ana Callan
-Ulladu Narpadu: Verse Twenty Seven  S. Ram Mohan
-Cold Feet: Part One Wasyl Nimenko
-The Principle Of Consciousness S. Mohan
-Surrendering To Sri Ramana Maharshi D. Samarender Reddy
-At One With The Beauty Of Nature Harriet Worthington
-Poem: Divine Lady Mauna Alan Jacobs
-Harikatha And Sri Ramana Meera Grimes
-Consciousness Dennis Waite
-From The Arcrchives: The Quest: Om Lucia Osborne
-Advaita And Planetary Government Alasdair Black
-Poem: Rama In Holywood Ana Callan
-Book Excerpt: Etty Hillesum Patrick Woodhouse
-Maha Bhakta Vijayam: Initiation Of Vithoba Nabaji Siddha
-Maharaja Thururavuvu Sri Kumara Deva Swamigal
-Book Reviews
-Ashram Bulletin

ૐ  

Sri Krishna Prem - Mighty whole

A meeting of great souls: Ramana Maharshi with Sri Krishna Prem. After meeting Sri Krishna Prem, Ramana Maharshi said, “ Krishna Prem is a rare combination of a Jnani and a Bhakta.”

“All that has here been written, all that can be written, is but a web of words, a ladder by whose help we seek to scale the ramparts of Eternity. Viewed by the eye of Wisdom all this clash of world with world, the Sparks, which fly from the Eternal Anvil, are but a vast phantasmagoria. Nothing is out breathed nor anything descends to rise again. All are the visions of the Eternal Mind; the changing finite centers that are us ourselves being but the countless points of view within that mighty whole, “for there is naught in all the world that is not He.”

Sri Krishna Prem

ૐ  

Reblogged from Ashramof1

 

Chuang Tzu - The empty boat

 He who rules men lives in confusion;
    He who is ruled by men lives in sorrow.
    Yao therefore desired
    Neither to influence others
    Nor to be influenced by them.
    The way to get clear of confusion
    And free of sorrow
    Is to live with Tao
    In the land of the great Void.

    If a man is crossing a river
    And an empty boat collides with his own skiff,
    Even though he be a bad-tempered man
    He will not become very angry.
    But if he sees a man in the boat,
    He will shout at him to steer clear.
    If the shout is not heard, he will shout again,
    And yet again, and begin cursing.
    And all because there is somebody in the boat.
    Yet if the boat were empty.
    He would not be shouting, and not angry.

    If you can empty your own boat
    Crossing the river of the world,
    No one will oppose you,
    No one will seek to harm you.

    The straight tree is the first to be cut down,
    The spring of clear water is the first to be drained dry.
    If you wish to improve your wisdom
    And shame the ignorant,
    To cultivate your character
    And outshine others;
    A light will shine around you
    As if you had swallowed the sun and the moon:
    You will not avoid calamity.

    A wise man has said:
    “He who is content with himself
    Has done a worthless work.
    Achievement is the beginning of failure.
    Fame is beginning of disgrace.”

    Who can free himself from achievement
    And from fame, descend and be lost
    Amid the masses of men?
    He will flow like Tao, unseen,
    He will go about like Life itself
    With no name and no home.
    Simple is he, without distinction.
    To all appearances he is a fool.
    His steps leave no trace. He has no power.
    He achieves nothing, has no reputation.
    Since he judges no one
    No one judges him.
    Such is the perfect man:
    His boat is empty.

Sudhakar S. Dikshit – In search of the infinite

The human spirit has always been in search of the infinite, to see and hear and know what is unseen, unheard and unknown. But, all along man’s search has remained directed to the exterior regions only – the vast expanses of land, oceans and the sky. Few have cared to peep into their own internal regions, their heart and mind and soul. Fewer still have realized that it is only through our inner consciousness that we experience what is outside. For a pilgrimage into one’s interior, into one’s own self, it is not necessary for one to be a learned man or a religious man, nor is it necessary to seek the help of a spiritual guide or guru. What is needed is a radical change in one’s attitude towards life, beginning with the dispersal of ego. And no bookish knowledge, no spiritual guide can be a substitute for such a deliberate inward orientation. With the dispersal of ego the basic duality between the self and not-self, abam and idam, progressively disappears and a new realization of I am that dawns – I am that. I am the cosmos. I am Brahman. My body is a micro-cosmos in constant change, yet maintaining a changeless design-pattern, as in the case of the cosmos, which is both a living unity and a bewildering diversity, like myself.

— Sudhakar S. Dikshit – I am All (p. 17-18)

~~~~

books by Sudhakar S. Dikshit on Amazon

  On the left of Maharaj is Mr.Sudhakar S.Dikshit, Editor. At the other end is Mr.Dhamane, Chief Trustee of the Adhyatma Kendra

 

Kabir - Tell me, O Swan

art Ksenia Efimova

 Tell me, O Swan, your ancient tale.
From what land do you come, O Swan? to what shore will you fly?
Where would you take your rest, O Swan, and what do you seek?

Even this morning, O Swan, awake, arise, follow me!
There is a land where no doubt nor sorrow have rule: where the terror of Death is no more.
There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent “He is I” is borne on the wind:
There the bee of the heart is deeply immersed, and desires no other joy.

— Kabir – One Hundred Poems of Kabir (XII – Translated by Rabindranath Tagore)

 

 

Byron Katie - If I had a prayer

I often say that if I had a prayer, it would be this:
‘God, spare me from the desire for love, approval, or appreciation. Amen.’
I don't have a prayer, of course,
because I don't want anything but what I have.
I know the benevolence of life.
Why would I pray for something different, which would always be less than what's coming?
God is another name for reality. It's complete, it's perfect, it fills me with the utmost joy.
The thought of asking for what isn't never even arises.
But if I still believed my thoughts, I would pray for one thing first: to be spared from the desire for love.
This desire causes nothing but confusion and misery.
It shuts down the awareness of what you already
have in reality.
It's painful to seek what you can never have outside yourself.
I say "can never have" because obviously you don't understand what you're seeking.
If you understood it, the seeking would be over.

 http://thework.com/en

Robert Adams - The Cosmic Joke

We are nothing. You have no reason to exist.
As a matter of fact, you do not exist. (Laughter)
You have never really existed. It is all a cosmic joke.
There is no reason for you to be alive and to be here.
This may sound like an insult–it is! (More laughter)
But it is the truth and the truth hurts.
You may think you are important, that you have come to earth
to accomplish great deeds, or to get enlightened. That is not true.
The enlightenment is already here and it doesn’t need you.
You are not wanted by anything or by anybody. (Laughter)
You are a complete failure. (Loud laughter)
In truth you do not exist.
The illusion of your existence makes you think that
you are important, that you are somebody.
That is why we talk about being nobody so much; there is no body.
Yet, no matter how often I say this, you appear to be real.
You appear to have a body. You appear to go to work.
You appear to eat and sleep, and
believe the illusion is going to continue.
But as you know, soon you will be six feet under.
So what good are you? This is why it is important to wake up.
Yet, you are never asleep! So who wakes up?
Therefore, nothing is important.
You think some things are important.
So long as you think them important, you give them power,
increasing the power of living in things,
making you feel more and more–so called–alive.
The beginning of wisdom is understanding that there is no wisdom.
There is no body to have wisdom.
The more you try to analyze things,
the more you use your brain to function on this plane of existence,
the more you put into Maya, into nothing, into illusion,
the more that effort is inevitably doomed to failure.
All your dreams and aspirations come to nothing.
There is nothing you have to become or be.
Think of all the people looking for liberation, for enlightenment.
Who wants to be liberated? The ego.
There is no ego. (Laughter)
There is no one to be liberated.
Yet you continue to believe you exist.
Awakening is a joke. Liberation is a joke.
My sitting here talking to you is a joke.
There is nothing to be found, nothing to be achieved,
nothing to become.
You are attached to your mind and its false beliefs."

 

Rumi - O Love!

 O Love!
Is it you bringing us harmony,
or is it
the rose gardens
and apple orchards in you?

O bright moon!
Spin and revolve
and scatter your gleaming light
upon all who seek refuge in you!

The taste of bitterness
becomes sweetness in you!
The searching in the dark
finds the light of faith revealed in you!
You transform thistles into jasmine.
Many hearts yield
surrender to the glory in you!

You have layered heaven,
and you have gifted us
with wings to soar into its mystery.
You transform our every thought
into a desire of the heart!
Everyone is gloriously bewildered in you!

O Love!
How divine is your luring!
Beauty flows from your unseen face!
Your very nature is radiant with joy!
The thrill of every union
is revealed in you!

You manifest vibrant hues in every flower!
Your touch dazzles all creation!
Every particle is attracted to you,
longing to unite
and dwell in you!

Even the excitement of the market wilts away
without your presence
The vineyards and the meadows wither
without the rain of compassion in you!

Every tree in the garden learns
its dance from you!
Every branch sways
and moves to your rhythm.
The leaf and the fruit are drunk
from the life-giving water flowing in you!

If the garden longs
for the gift of eternal spring,
it is to yield its blossoms
to the divine breeze
from one breath in you!

Among all stars and planets,
it would bring shame
to any star spinning away
from the radiance in you!

How glorious is the laughter
in the garden of your delight!
In the place of a feast,
the soul, as your guest,
savors the delight in you!

I have tried to resist many times before
and I know there is no joy without you!
There is no ecstasy without
uniting in sweet embrace in you!

I went on a journey and returned!
I traveled from the end to the beginning.
In my dream,
I see my soul forever grazing
in the splendor of the golden fields in you.

Every meadow is a playground
for those who swirl and sway in your love!
Even virgins give birth to new life
in the divine kingdom in you!

Every direction leads me nowhere!
Your love has broken every link.
You draw my wayward soul
toward the harbor of the Soul in you!

The enduring mountain
is humbled in your patience.
The heart is fearless to leap
into the veranda sheltered in you!

You have made many openings in the stone,
the metal and the mountain,
that the heart has become like an ant
looking for a way into
the plates and fingers in you.

If I count until the end of time,
I would still fall short of describing your grace.
How can anyone measure with a cup
the sea of enchantment in you?

http://www.radhikaseksaria.com/

 

http://www.rassouli.com/