Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj  Talk 1 From Amrutlaya

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`When the objective knowledge comes to an end, the Seer does not survive as a Seer. At that moment, the pride of the `I' (ego) just melts away". [Dasbodh, Chapter 6, Section 10.]

As long as objects are taken to truly exist, until then only the seer remains. As the being is conceptual, so also is the seer. If you call this city `Bombay', it appears as Bombay; if you call it earth, it will appear as earth. It all depends upon the seer's concept. If you call an object a chair, it is a chair; if you call it wood, it is wood. If you call the all as Brahman, then the all is Brahman. If you call it the world, it is the world. All objects depend on the concept of the seer. But Brahman is beyond concept and no concept can conceive it.

There is a woman whom one man calls her his `wife', the other calls her `sister', the third one calls her `daughter'. Actually she is nothing but a lump of flesh and bones. Whatever you say happens. All is conceptual and depends upon the concept of the seer. The world and the beings in it are conceptual. The `seer' who calls the manifestation as truth is the ego and that ego has to be eradicated. If the ego goes away, then only Brahman remains.

King Dhrutarashtra of Mahabharata was blind. He gave birth to a hundred sons called Kauravas and had pride in them. The one who embraces the body as oneself is the blind Dhrutarashtra. He is also the one who is called Ravana, a demon in the mythological book Ramayana. One should have a feeling that all the objects are untrue and Brahman alone exists. All objects are demons and because you give them the status of the demons, you are King Ravana. Ravana is not the rightful king. He is not the Lord. Because you consider the objects as being true, you become Ravana. You have to get rid of this Ravana `I'. The I does not exist. Getting rid of the `I' can be called a wishful death. In the Ramayana it is stated that Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and on the request of Ravana, Shiva gave him a boon of wishful death. Ravana rules over fourteen regencies, i.e., the fourteen senses: five each of knowledge and action, mind, intellect, consciousness and the ego. When God rules over the earth, the demons go to the lower regions, and when the demons rule over the earth, God goes away and performs penance. If the objects are taken to be true, it means that the demons are ruling and God is not there. There is no trace of Him. But when God becomes victorious (i.e. when the determination or the feeling comes that all these objects are untrue), then the demon `I' also disappears. When the ego is destroyed, then all is Brahman. One has to practice that the I and all objects are untrue. A realized person feels all is Brahman. The food, the wooden plank on which one sits while taking meals, for him or her the spouse and water are all expressions of Brahman. All is Brahman. Your subject of study should be as above. Then it will be God's kingdom. Brahman is not color, it is not yellow or black, it is not music, etc. The ghee (purified butter) which is liquid and the ghee which is solid are the same just as water and ice is the same. When the earth meets earth it is all consciousness. All that you see and perceive is nothing but the reality (Brahman). What you see is only the qualified consciousness just as you see that bangles or armlets are both made out of gold.

Stop insisting that good alone should happen to this body. You have become the gross body because only one body is the object of your concept. The servants and the attendants should be considered as God. There is no other Brahman with or without quality. All is Govinda (God). Because we categorize all objects, there is the ego (jeeva). You perceive the wife as wife, the daughter as daughter, the horse as horse or the dog as dog. They are all Brahman only. There is no need to change the form of the objects. Only the attitude of the seer must change. Brahma is the same even when it is in a state with attributes. You should see Brahma in whatever state He exists. Even the atoms and molecules of a chair are all Lord Krishna (Brahman). Once this attitude is taken, then he himself is Brahma. Even though one sleeps, awakens, or goes about, one has not slept, awakened, gone about or taken a meal. When all is Brahman who is eating and sleeping? The one who is without quality and the one who is speaking (i.e. with quality) are both God. Whether a king is sitting on the throne or hunting, he is always a king. The one who is walking and talking is the idol of consciousness. One is a devotee when one gives names to different objects as well as to him or herself and is a saint (sadhu) or Paramatman when one looks upon the creation as Parabrahman. To forget Paramatman and eat food is just turning the food into faeces. The silkworms are better, as the silkwear made from their cocoons are used by priests while worshipping God. Those who eat faeces can digest faeces. The gods and demons are right here. The gods and the demons together churned the ocean of the world which produced nectar and wine. Lord Vishnu gave the nectar to the gods and the wine to the demons. To say "Vishnu did this" means the inner sense-consciousness did this. Both nectar and wine are right here. It is within our own hand to drink the nectar and to become immortal. One who "awakes" will achieve this. All is God. Let all be happy. If you practice this and take it to heart, then [the realization will be] all is Brahman. One has to water a plant until it gets its roots. Then it will grow by itself. You should persist in your practice until you achieve this.

 TALK 2   /TOP LIST

``When the objective knowledge ends, the seer does not survive as a seer. At that time the pride of `I' (ego) just melts away"
     [Dasabodh Chapter 6 Section 10].

     An aspirant invariably faces the question "Shall we continue to run our household or shall we leave it altogether?" Whether one runs a household or leave it, it accounts to nothing. There is no use in wearing a Holi bail leaf (Tulsi) garland around the neck and yet have a rush of anger in the heart. If one is not attentive to one's inner self, what is the use of the saffron colored robe? Alright, the trees, the tigers, the beasts and the birds do not run a household; does this means that they have become saints? What is the use if one is not attentive to one's inner self? One should be alert. The objective knowledge should prove to be untrue. All the affairs we are conducting in the world should prove themselves to be untrue and that which has been taken as untrue should be experienced as Truth.

     What is the use if one is not detached internally? The attitude must change. To know that all this (moving manifest mundane existence) is false is an act of great bravery. One should be detached within oneself. Once one learns how not to get involved or how to renounce, one then gets the experience. In whatever circumstances or state one is in, one should be detached. Live as you like but renounce internally.

     Objects are untrue. One must turn the attitude of the mind away from them and cultivate the attitude that the Self is Brahman. Even if we consider the existing body of five elements as benign, still we know that they are dangerous. Even when one thinks that it is only the Self that can bring happiness, the great illusion (Maya) tempts one and brings him or her back to the former condition. It is only when one becomes steady in Brahman with body, speech and mind can one achieve this knowledge. One can do anything, adorn oneself with gold, wear expensive garments, but the Guru's grace comes to him alone who considers all this as untrue. If one is not truly renounced, all the efforts become futile.

     One may wear gold, silver, a wire of brass or very expensive garments, yet there is no hope of getting joy from this life. A human being can never get peace. The Self only talks of the Truth and behaves the same way with its body, speech and mind. If one thinks "I am the body", then he will talk of the body alone. As is the flower, so is it's fragrance. Even when you are in this world, you should be as if you are not there. For Brahman all are equal, whether it is a mundane existence or a forest. When you are not, how can the mundane existence be there? Live as you please but change your attitude. Then all is over. A true devotee of Lord Krishna named Chokamela was a butcher and used to live with a bone in his hand. You may eat good purified food, but what are you going to do with your mental modifications? You must become Brahman and feel that all objects are untrue; your ego should not be there. Then truly you have become Brahman.

     There is nothing else than Brahman. Only one's attitude has to change. This is an indication of renunciation. In sleep when there is no world, a king and a pauper are equal. When you leave the world at night as in sleep, how much do you feel happy. On that side, you do not need a world, a house, a job or a wife. When alone, one is all bliss. When you think that you have a lot of thing to do, you become miserable. When we have nothing to do, what is there to worry about? So, be happy. One who has a duty to perform is a labourer. Even if he is a king or a god he has to labor.

     Saints must show compassion. One who is desireless is the God of all gods. Be desireless at least once. This can happen only when you ridicule this world and feel that it is untrue. Take your mind off this world and fix it on the Self. The objects are untrue and  Brahman is the Truth. When you make this attitude your own, you are through. Then you are at liberty to live as you will. One who cannot dance finds the ground uneven, but one who wants the knowledge of the Self will somehow get it. Prahlada, a great devotee of Lord Narayana, was ordered not to take the name of God by his father. Prahlada told his father, "you may be the owner of my body, yet you have no control over my mind". If you are very busy, identify your mind with Brahman and perform the duty. Then the duty also becomes Brahman. The intellect has to metamorphose. Mentally say, "I am Ram (consciousness)". Then whatever you do becomes Ram (consciousness). Leave the idea `I am so and so' and become the pervader of the whole universe.

  TALK 3 ////TOP LIST

"One who was without quality was recognised in His qualityless nature. One who was meaningful got His own meaning. After many days He met himself. " [Dasabodh Chapter 8, Section 8, verse 65]

     He was Paramatman, without qualities. He acquired qualities and had become miserable. He was released from birth and death after reaching Him to His original place, state. He was identified as He was originally. To honour that Paramatman for whom all that effort, scriptures and Paramartha were practised, all those methods became full of meaning. By God's grace a birth in human species was acquired. If a man acts he can become God. That came to bear fruit (be successful) today. One's own nature was attained. A golden day dawned. He was satiated with the drink of the nectar of immortality. Today I reached my own home. All that labour was successful. We met ourselves after many, many years. We had missed each other. I was serving someone else taking him to be Myself. For millions of births we had missed ourselves. We were deluded. That delusion has gone away and He became Paramatman.

He was giving service and behaving as a donkey in the form of a body. Taking the body for Self he was nursing it. In this way he wasted his whole birth. This is night in the form of ignorance -- which is to labour for the donkey in the form of a body for the whole life and then get born in the other various species. This ignorance is responsible for not allowing us to be aware and this human birth is to get rid of such ignorance. Poor fellow he does not get any time during the `night'. This is itself the forgetting of one's own nature. Call it night or ignorance, that is the source of our misery.

For example, some friends of a retarded man made him drink a lot of liquor and seeing him completely intoxicated the other friends, according to what they had decided before, started crying aloud and spoke to the intoxicated man thus:

     "What can we do when we see your condition, we feel so sad. Just a few minutes back we had gone to your house when we saw that your wife has become a widow." As soon as he heard this the drunken man started howling and crying, and when other people asked him, he said his wife had become a widow. "A mountain of misery has come down crushing me." Then they explained to him, "Oh man! how can your wife become a widow while you are alive? You being alive and your wife becoming a widow, are these two not contradictory things?" The drunkard, however, said, "No, no, you people do not understand anything. My friends recently had gone to my house, and they saw with their own eyes that my wife has become a widow."

Then all his friends had a good laugh at his stupidity. This ridiculous scene is not presented only in the case of the drunkard but such a blatant mistake is made by every human being. Without making use of their brain they look through the other people's eyes. Let others say any thing. My Self is pure and changeless, it is the light of all lights. It is impossible that it perishes at any time. He is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, and is a Witness of all. Yet, even if this is so, we say "how can we achieve happiness" in such a pitiable way! And we pray for God's mercy thinking that we are caught up in a big calamity. We rub our nose before God and slap our own face. We even blurt out the words "We are mean insects."

     Yet this sort of situation is not at all proper. Find out the goal of your life and try to experience your Self. Take out that wrong feeling that you are mortal, which you have created for yourself because you are intoxicated due to the drink called `ignorance' and stand up with confidence in Self. Turn within. Do not entertain fear about anything. Eradicate completely the mental modification which goes out.
Actually, if one thinks of one's nature (who am I, or what am I) there is no one as great as you are. Have self-confidence. Make that thought "I am Paramatman" steady within yourself. You will surely never fail to cross the ocean of this mundane existence. See only through the sight of Self. Do not look through other people's eyes. All the relations are ready to fool you. Never mind the body while practising this, one may also have to climb on a pike (going to the gallows). "I am a witness of this body." Let the body stay or go, my heart is at the `Feet of Panduranga (Master).' Go on contemplating on this and intuitive perception is sure to come. When one is practising this there are many obstacles in this way. For example. There are seventeen hundred difficulties if a girl with a flat nose has to get married.

Ignorant corpses are only moving about in the whole world. Life in ignorance is like death. Who is eating? All this service for whom? You do not know. He serves six ghosts (5 elements and ego). This body was given all various kinds of service till its death and the whole life was wasted. After death according to Hindu customs the body and bones burn as a collection of wood, the hair burn as a bundle of grass. Those who were looking started weeping. This (dead one) man says, "Are you free from this (fate) ? Because you behave as I did." Even if the toilet is cleaned thoroughly it is still a toilet. World means living corpses. There is no idea of one's own nature. They serve this body, and take along with them a bundle of sins and virtue. This is worldly existence of an ignorance person. But when he knows Himself, and leaves off the pride that he is the body, then, immediately he meets Himself. Then all his actions have borne fruit.

According to the Hindus, the ancestors keep waiting. The last of the seventy two generations has achieved, so they are happy. These mean thirty six ancestral generations of mother and thirty six of the father. One who has redeemed them was born to be one who knew his Self. That is the reason why, when a son is born they distribute sweets. It is impossible to describe the glory of Self-knowledge.
Human life is meaningful because it is given with a purpose to achieve Self-knowledge. When that has been achieved it has indeed become fully meaningful. Its purpose has been served. For example, there are nine hundred thousand stars but it is only the moon that shines brightly. The sun rises, the rain falls, because there is only one who knows Brahman. It is for the sake of that knower --therefore, there is no limit to his merit. Along with the position of the Immortal One he also gets a throne of Almighty.

Now let that happen which happens. Let whatever was going, go, the last doubt is eradicated. We have to live a few days. Let us pass the days playfully in joy, then let this body die on a bed or on ground. Because wherever the diamond is placed it is sure to shine, may be on the hand, in the neck, in the eye (?). This Paramatman in the form of Brahman will likewise remain happy whatever the situation. The conviction should not shake. "If the conviction is steadfast on Truth, then even on the path of knowledge, strength can be gained."

That body, which has the knowledge of Self in it, will perforce emit light. But there should be that one strong conviction `I am the Lord (who exists), I am the Lord (who pervades).' All that ought to have been achieved He has achieved.
 

TALK 4 /////TOP LIST

"One who is qualityless, is recognised as such. One who was meaningful, got His own meaning. After many days He met himself." [Dasabodh Chapter 8, Section 8, verse 65]

One who is Qualityless was recognised in his nature which is without quality. The One who was meaningful got His own meaning. Whatever ought to have been achieved was achieved; for achieving this they stood on their legs for years together. Sage Vishwamitra performed austerities for sixty thousand years but was unable to become Final Reality. He who attained the knowledge -- praise be to Him who attained that status of `BrahmaVetta ' (realised person). His parents also deserve to be praised because the family was saved, as such as son was born in it. What is the use of children like the hundred Kauravas described in the Mahabharat. There are many people who have studied millions of sciences, B.A, M.A. They are all for filling the stomach. The dogs, cats also fill their stomachs. There is no rule for them. In short: as many Jeevas (gross bodies) came , they all learnt fourteen Vidyas, 64 arts (all the worldly knowledge) -- but they should be understood as perverse arts. Others came out of a hole, cried and passed away.

Only those who make the Meaningful gets Its own meaning deserve praise. They lifted themselves and showed the path to next generations. After ten million years we met ourselves. The curtain the form of duality was taken away. The curtain of countless number of births vanished at last. The sight became divine which saw all is Brahman (Oneness). All is Lord Krishna. He alone -- One form -- has got all these mouths (faces) of elephants, monkeys, all beings, countless number of hands, feet, etc.. That is called the Dnyana Drishti (looking as a knowledgeable one) -- is that I reside everywhere (in all). That is the sight which shows that he has realised. The same is called the `Eye of Knowledge' or the `Third Eye of Lord Shiva.' Not to see as separate, to see all as Existence. There is nothing except that intuitive perception (Chaitanya). `He is One. There is no duality. The Jeeva (gross body) went back to his nature from where he had come. Because he has now no consciousness of the body (as separate). One who has consciousness of the body is bound. When duality ends, there is no sin or merit. There is no difficulty if our spit is kept in our own mouth. There is no sin or virtue if we swallow it because it is our own. No one calls it used up. Whatever belongs to us is all good. There is no sin nor virtue about it. We ourselves are all this, then why should there be any sin or virtue, heaven or hell?

No impurity can accrue to a man who has a understood Brahma (Oneness) thoroughly. All differences, duality vanished. The Master sent off all the six ghosts (five elements and ego) away. They were ghosts. They became gods. Water, earth, heat, air, sky and sixth ego also vanished.

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    LECTURE 27 "One who was qualityless is recognised as  such. After many days He met himself. " [Dasabodh Chapter 8, Section 8, verse 65]

One who was sans quality is actually myself. I am sans quality. The Meaningful got His meaning. We met ourselves after many many years. All these days, I suffered many miseries, because of having believed the outer actor as myself and having suffered millions of bondages. Though he was a king he was engrossed in begging and took pleasure in it. He thought he served his own Self, while he served a stranger. He did not know that he himself was Paramatman (Supreme Self) and he should serve Himself.

They worship a strange man. The world is a (businesslike) practical entity. That former one became untrue when he met himself after many many years. He was taking his body as himself. All the forms in the world is in our own Nature. He is Paramatman (Supreme     Self). He is imminent in all, so he does not have the idea of difference. The curtain of (difference) duality was pulled away. Once he became the servant at his Master's Feet. To him, the world appears as `Soham' (I am that). And to others it appears as `Who am I.'

The world is as one looks at it. One who identified himself with Brahman (Divine Self) found all as Brahman. If one becomes a Jeeva      (gross body) he finds the world accordingly. "For one who is good, the world is (also) good." The ignorant one finds the world full of  different entities (Forms). For the realised person "It is all One. There is no duality."

     The rise of the physical eyes happens due to two (people). Therefore, duality is seen. Oneness appears to the Master's sons because they are born from One. The Master gives the third eye, `The Eye of Knowledge.' Duality moved away. The veil of Maya (illusion) was pulled away on one side. Nothing appears as anything but One. The vision could see no difference. The state of being became sans difference. All that entered inside (from outside) created difference. But whatever is Truth is without difference. The five ghosts (elements) ran away. The ghost was exorcised. The bad period of seven and a half years (due to wrong position of saturn) has passed away. All the nine planets have also gone away. All ran away to their respective homes. Jeevajipant (gross body) himself vanished. A veil of dirt had come over him due to delusion. "I am the body, mean, a brahmin (upper caste)", these ideas deluded him. Then he realised himself as Paramatman, the Supreme Self.

This monkey (who acts according to his mind) was eating fruits and flowers in the jungle. But when he met Rama, means Master, he    became Maruti (God). He got that which belonged to him due to his Master's advice. All is Brahman (Divine Self). One who saw      Himself, his birth and death vanished. One who sports in the senses is Rama. Concentrate on Rama -- the vital Spirit. 8.4 millions      bonds of births will be cut off. If Rama knew who Rama was then why did he humble himself before Sage Vasishtha?

To see God in all beings is the bhajan (worship song for God). One who is in the heart of all is God. Otherwise, some people were      caught up in customs of purity and impurity, or a rosary or repeating mantra. Thus Saint Kabir says, "Worship the ever existing God, then 8.4 million births are evaded."

Lord Rama's brother Laxman drew up a line for Rama's wife Seeta, and told her not to transgress that line. Otherwise she would be      taken away by this ten faced Demon Ravana. The mind threw away the mountains of ignorance. Grossness had come which vanished  when the mind thought about it and this body became `I am that.' Due to meanness, the ignorant being had become the gross body. He transgressed over the line and became one with Paramatman. It was all Bliss. 

TALK 5 ///////TOP LIST

"The worldly illusion, Samsara, is a dream within a dream. Having understood this, indeed you have thought of what is the Real Truth and what is not"[Dasabodh, Chapter 6, Section 10].

One who is never born went off to sleep. He has no old age. He is one who has no death. How is it that a dream was seen during a      dream? That is, ` he slept and dreamt' means He is deluded. `He slept' means he has become Jeeva [ignorant] and thinks `I am the      body. I am so and so'.

The state of Brahman was covered with ignorance and in that delusion there is again delusion, which is this mundane existence. It is a  dream during a dream. The worldly illusion appears true. He was all pervading, He became small. Then he considered the worldly existence as true. In that very dream, he discriminated between Guru and disciple, merit and sin, and what is true and what is untrue. Other people pass away in this dream.

It is a piece of great fortune to think of what is true and what is untrue during this long dream.

"Even a dog does not eat a thing which belongs to a sinner'. Renunciation of wealth, feeling of detachment and respect for a saint is the result of former merit and good fortune. He alone starts thinking of a sadhu. It is extraordinary to have such an intellect in the dream within a dream. To be conscious to be fully on senses, inspite of taking a doze of brandy shows that though money brings demonic pride, he still is on his senses. This is his good fortune. He is in a dream within a dream. But on account of his virtuous intellect he went to a Guru and discriminated between the true and untrue. He got the experience that everything else is false and `I am Brahman [final reality]'. This means that he has woken up from one dream. When in this dream he deliberated again he came to the further conclusion that even saying `I am Brahman' is false -- the whole world and words are illusion. As a result he became tranquil by staying in his own blissful state. Truth was revealed.

He fully realised `I am Brahman'. This condition means `I am fully awake'. Not only the delusion but also ` I have experienced' vanished. For if one says that he has experienced the self means that he has taken himself to be different from the self. The real test is  when the self has no sense of self `I'. If the mango says, "I found myself sweet", then it is not a mango. If you say `you got an    experience', that means your `I', ego is still there. The idea `I got an experience' is a delusion. The `I' in `I have become      knowledgeable' or `I have become Brahman' is ego. The former `I' should disappear. Whatever was before naturally is Brahman. The      thorn `I' has to be extracted; then you are through. When you become all pervading, you become Brahman. `I am Brahman', this ego      comes, but it also disappears afterwards. It is `One' only and there is nothing else than that. To go beyond nothing is to be in Thoughtless Reality, Parabrahman.
 

TALK 6 ///////TOP LIST

``Brahman is sans quality and sans shape. Brahman is unattached, Brahma is without change. It has no limits, that is what the sages say'' [Dasabodh, Chapter 7, Section 2].

     How is Brahman? It has no shape. It is the natural state that remains when all the four bodies (the physical, the subtle, the causal, i.e., complete ignorance, and the supra causal, i.e., knowledge `I am') are set aside. One who knows his beingness is called `Ishwara'-God.
     Whatever remains prior to the `beingness' or knowledge is reality. After transgressing the four built in bodies whatever remains is shapeless, detached, in its own natural state and is steady. It never goes anywhere nor does it come from anywhere. That is Parabrahman, the Antahkarana (i.e. the innermost).

     The seer, the witness, the one who sees and the one who sleeps is `Ishwara', God. He is a concept conceived through intelligence. When he sleeps he is quiet. One who experiences the state of awakeness does not disappear when experiencing the state of unconsciousness or sleep. Why can't we express the joy in sleep? Because the mind and the intellect are not there. Only when one awakes, one can express the experience.

     A woman's nose-ring fell into the water. She told one man to find it and inform her as soon as it is found. The man found the ring deep inside the water but obviously could not inform her instantly as he was completely under the water. As the water and fire are enemical to each other the power of the deity of fire was absent when he was immersed in the water. Thus he could inform the lady that the nose-ring is found only when he came out of the water. Just like this one can not express anything in sleep, for during sleep there are no instruments that are required for expression. The mind does not take the touch of anything and so cannot say anything. A man climbed up the stairs but if his mind did not touch the question of how many stairs he climbed then he would not be able to tell the number. But the self knows on the whole that he climbed the stairs.

     He (self) was there during sleep, during awakeness, and during samadhi. Who is experiencing sleep and samadhi? He alone. If he were not there, who would get sleep? So self is `Consciousness' and of the nature of `knowingness' and prior to that is Parabrahman. The Antaratman (the innermost Self) is the `I'. He is God and always His nature is consciousness. They may be beasts, birds, deities, demons, Ram, Krishna, He resides in the heart of all. If He is not there, the objects become dead like log of wood. When He disappears, the ears, eyes, nose etc. are all useless. When He disappears all objects become immovable. Because of Him, is all the grandeur. If He goes then all is perishable. It is due to Him, that there is worldly activity, as well as spiritual understanding. All this is due to His Existence.

     Till such time that He is there, Gods, demons, customs, etc. are there. But if He leaves, people do not touch the body. It is the Inner Self that gives the status of God to the body. One who calls the body God is none else than this Self. The one who writes the Vedas is also the Inner Self. So long as this Inner Self keeps interests in the worldly ideas, till then He is Jeeva (Gross body). If he starts talking of knowledge He is Shiva. When Jeeva and Shiva both disappear, what remains is Parabrahman.

     The same man who does manual labour is a peon. If he works as an officer, he is an officer; if he works as a judge, he is a judge; but when he retires from everything he is Parabrahman. There is nothing (i.e., emptiness or ignorance) and beyond that is the fourth body which is of the nature of God. When a man worships a multitude of Gods and Godesses like Keshava (one name of Lord Vishnu), that worship goes straight to the Inner Self only, because this Keshava (Ke means only knowledge and shava means corpse) is in the form of knowledge in the body (which is a corpse without the knowledge) that is both his name and his place of residence. After worship the offering of food is shown to that God and consumed by ourselves only. If this Lord, the Innerself, makes that God (worldly idol God ) stand, he stands for a life time.

     But for the Inner God, this would not do. First this God, the Inner Self has to have a bath, and then sandalwood paste and clothes etc. and only afterwards everything is offered to the idol God. Each being, knowingly or unknowingly worships and the Inner Self alone.
     But he does so without understanding. Therefore he is a Jeeva or ignorant being. If he worships with the full understanding that he is God he becomes Shiva or one with knowledge.

     All these gross bodies are actually the walking and talking temples. Due to ignorance the children enjoy themselves by putting up a make belief house out of stones. Like this, they will take a small rock which would serve as a utensil for drinking water, another stone will do for a bowl and then some stone is put up as God. In the same way ignorant people worship by creating idols. The real God has consciousness, knowingness. This idol has no consciousness. The fool worships an idol. Fool means an ignorant person. Those who have yet no knowledge of self have to worship an idol. But if they recognise whose idols they are, how wonderful it would be! The one who recognises this is the man of knowledge [Dynani].

     The ignorant man makes a make belief God and worships him, the `knower' recognises the God of Gods (that is, his own Self) and then offers his worship. Shankaracharya called that Inner Self, the fourth body, ``the original Illusion''. The God may have infinite number of names yet the Truth is only one. For example if a child calls his own father `uncle', does it mean that the man loses his fatherhood?

     Through the medium of this God one will understand the natural state of the Absolute- Parameshwar. If this God becomes steady, one will understand Parabrahman. This God (consciousness) is in the form of the power of knowing, the will power and the power of matter. Hence he is constantly moving. If this mundane existence is ignored, then he will remain in His natural state. Lord Vishnu (Consciousness) took incarnation ten times means that he started playing through all the ten senses. To do something means to take an incarnation.

     When he becomes God he realises his ignorance. God is unsteady while Parabrahman is steady. To know the nature of both the steady and the unsteady is ``knowledge''. The intellect of the students of Vedas gets puzzled while thinking of this subject.

     The source of all this universe is this Inner Self, yet the true source of this world is this phase of `sprouting of knowingness', which has no head or tail. On one side the world is created and the other side everything vanishes. If ones nature is known, the Inner Self disappears. The steady nature is always there and the unsteady one perishes.

     The steady admits of no change but the unsteady or the self admits change. The self which is unsteady has passions, changes, desire, anger, greed, pride, etc. If some one calls him (i.e. the inner self) good, he swells with pride and if another calls him bad, he becomes sad; that means the Inner self is subject to change. One who calls the changeless and the changing as the same, is a beggar. It means that he is caught in the realm of the five elements. Beyond the body are Maya, principles of five elements, etc.

     The essence of Vedas is : `` You are that Principle''. The Self is beyond the four bodies. There are various stages for explaining the Vedas. Brahman and Parabrahman are proved after debating and battling a billion times. Yoga means union or a device. That is the Paramatma- oneself encased in the five sheaths (Koshas).

          The cover of food: The outside covering, which may be called a coat. It is worn from out side to protect the self. This is the body consisting of blood, flesh, bones, hair etc. produced out of food. The cover of vital airs: The Self is covered with five vital airs (Pranas). The cover of the mind: The cover of mind along with concepts. The cover of the intellect: The cover of intellect with the concepts like sin or virtue, that one is so and so (Brahmana, Kshatriya etc.). The cover of happiness: Rest, sleep etc. One is happy as one has forgotten everything that produces unhappiness.

     If one forgets everything, then all the bliss. One is happy because one has forgotten all sorrows. Where does the Jeeva (Ego) find happiness? The answer is `in forgetfulness'. Unknowingly he enjoys happiness in the sleep. Narada (name of a saint in the Indian mythology) is our mind. He goes round all the three worlds namely the gross, the subtle and the causal worlds. This mind sings praises of the Lord and also enters into argument and quarrels. He always has a begging bowl under his arm. The begging bowl is his stomach.
     When one goes to the office or to a place where devotional songs are sung, it is sure that Mr. Mind will take the begging bowl along with him.

     Self is beyond all the states. Recognise the five sheaths explained above. Three hundred and thirty million deities are on the summit. All are for the sake of the body. Twenty five principles, five sheaths of the jeeva and the three qualities (satva, rajas and tama) make up these three hundred and thirty million deities who live in the city of Kashi (the body). After transgressing the five sheaths, Vishwanath, the ruling deity of this city can be contacted.

     Then, here itself, it is Kashi (holy place) for you. Whatever is in the microcosm is also in the macrocosm. Thus then we have to put forward infinite number of arguments as Parabrahman has to be proved. The Jeeva (Gross body) is one who can be talked about, or indicated and whatever is expressed through Jeeva's Speech is in words.

     Which is the real nature of God and which is the unreal? The answer is Virat - the Big one made up of five elements. The subtle (Virat) is the three hundred and thirty millions of Gods - -- Brahma-Vishnu Mahesh. This subtle is called HiranyaGarbha. Then His causal body- is the Avyakrut- Unmanifest i.e. this is the state of Primorchal Prakriti-before any change occurred. This is Existence, Consciousness Bliss- This is the indication of the status of God.

     Jeeva Ego has four bodies namely the gross, the subtle, the causal and the supracausal body . The first three can be described. The supra causal body is the goal to be achieved. From the earth comes the body. Macrocosm-Virat- You may say the body is a part of Him. The air outside and in the body are one and the same. Then how to call this air as belonging to you or me. For example if the property is one, how can there be two owners for that property? Air is only one.

     Desire and senses make up the mind. The deity is the Moon. Mind (moon) is treacherous to the Guru (sun). It does not go to Him. The moon is accused of treachery to the Guru, that is, it does not want to get self knowledge from the sun because it will die in the process.

     The senses may be termed as Lord Indra. Rain means desire to drink. To perform a sacrifice means to prepare a good meal and eat it  - - then it rains, that is, one has a desire to drink. Then man grows, his senses are appeased . Just like the earth grows when it rains.
     Saint Gautam means best among senses (Go senses, Uttam best). The elegant Ahilya (his wife) is the body. Both have the same expression and also the same goal. Therefore, Jeeva and Shiva are one- Jeeva is none else than Brahman. Jeeva has four bodies, Shiva has four bodies. The eighth body or Primordial Maya is steady.

     That is His Primordial nature. Whatever is Parabrahman is what cannot be expressed in words. The God of the transitory is Ishwara, and that God's devotee is also transitory. Both of them are false, perishable, therefore Jeeva and Shiva are Ignorances. Do not get tempted by these. All these are perishable and false. One who knows or recognises leaving them alone (The Truth) is a Dnyani- the knower.

TALK 7 //////TOP LIST

"Thought of Liberation and bondage is present only during the state of Ignorance. The Original Nature is self-evident. It is neither bound nor liberated." [Dasbodh, Chapter 7, Section 6, Verse 52].

     Thought of Liberation and bondage are present only during the state of ignorance. The original nature is self-evident. It is neither bound nor liberated. The problem of bondage and liberation arises only because man, enveloped in ignorance, takes the body as his self and also takes the `doership' of all his actions to himself.

     Is self-realisation means remaining actionless? In that case when formerly King Janaka ruled a kingdom even after self-realisation was everything lost? Shuka (a great saint) and others had also realised the self. Then how did they write mythological books? Suppose we accept to mean `Mukta'or `being free' means remaining motionless. If remaining motionless like a log of woord means being Brahman, then Shuka and Vamadeva would be like dead bodies. Then how could Shuka tell Bhagwat to King Parikshita? It is necessary to put forward various versions and say things clearly when one (the Master) gives sermons. If that is so, then how can this work be done if one is motionless.

     Because one gives sermons does it mean he is not realised? How can you say he has not not reached Final Reality? To be motionless does not mean becoming a realised person. Knowledge of final reality is obtained through the teaching of the Master. If a realised person becomes motionless then who will give the knowledge?

     Realised ones have done utmost efforts in order to save the world. In the category of libration there are three compartments, namely,
     (1) Jeevan Mukta
     (2) Videha Mukta
     (3) Nitya Mukta.

     Jeevan mukta refers to those persons who are fully conscious as to what they are and yet perform their worldly duties. Videha mukta means those that have understood and have indentified with Brahman and just remain as they are. They do not care about what they eat or drink. Apart from thes two there is Nitya mukta, the Absolute.

     If some one gets the "experience" (of Self) all of a sudden then he becomes quiet. To be motionless or to be unconscious is to do with the body. It has nothing to do with Brahman. When the consciousness stirs back then again he comes to body consciousness.

     He understands "This is the self - I am Brahman" and stays thus. Atman is beyond bondage or liberation. If one continues to remain in body consciousness, one will never be liberated. Even God Brahma or other gods will never become liberated, if they remain in body consciousness. "He is free for a moment and gets bound the next moment", means he has not understood at all, what is Brahman.

     Those who talk about bondage and liberation are only talking about Prakriti (nature of illusion). The Truth or the nature of self is self-evident. Bondage and liberation have no meaning there. One, who says he is bound, is a fish in the ocean of this mundane existence, and one, who says he is liberated, is a crocodile. One who has bound himself with the stone in the form of an idea that he is liberated will go to Patal(hell), the lowest region. One who says, "Till now I have committed a number of sins, and actions, and therefore I was bound, but now I am free" goes to the very base of the ocean of worldly transmigration. He is in great danger .

     The Real knowledgeble ones- the Dnyanis have considered them as fools. Even at the time of committing a sin he was the Self, but he did not know that. So what great thing has happened if he says he now knows him. He is still searching as he always was, as the duality is still present.

     But that one is free, who is free of the concept of `I' and `you'. Rahu and Ketu mean `hu'i.e. `I' and Tu i.e. `you'. If this concept remains intact, he is still eclipsed. One who has drunk half protion of the nector is half Dnyani or partly realised. Those, who know their own nature, are the ones who have know they are beyond the body. The rest of them keep up the contact with the body. That which gets into bondage is the body. Where is the bondage if one knows that he is not the body?

     One who has got the purest knowledge of the `Truth' thinks that being `bound and free' is all a joke. Where Prakriti (Illusion) moves away or ends with the name and form, there all the words become silent. Then how can any thing like `liberation' remain there? What is the meaning of "liberated". That is only a way, in which people talk. All the bondage is for him, who says he is the body. One who is a Dnyani (Realised) is free from the sense of `I'. For him `bound and liberated' is only a delusion. `Bound' and `liberated' are only concepts expressed. A concept is never true. One who has understood Maya (Illusion) is free from all fear. The one who says, "I will practise yoga after I become Brahman- then I will do something" is like the one going in search of water in a mirage. It means that such people are simply going backward and forward in a mirage. One who considers mirage as true, gets bound by it. For the man who is awake, the dream disappears. In the same way Dnyani finds this mirage which is in the form of Illusion disappear.

     So far as one's own nature is concerned, the relationship of the body itself is untrue. "Trying to contemplate on one who admits of no contemplation," is not possible. As far as Brahman is concerned, no contemplation is possible. But man has a habit of seeing and contemplating something. If one cannot see or think about Self, then what can one do? If one contemplates on a thing then that thing can be known. By the nature of self, even if you want to pull it down to your mind, it can not come to the mind also. It is also not possible to discard the nature of `Knowingness'. It cannot be understood through the senses also. Then what can one do?

     The Truth (Brahman) is beyond concept. When one starts meditating the trinity (of seer, seen and process of seeing) is produced. All other objects and senses are alien to us but because we ourselves are the Truth, contemplation on ourself is not possible. If contemplation is given up, great doubts overpower us. But if one thinks and deliberates upon what is everlasting and what is transient, what is self and what is not self, the Truth is revealed. We are not any of the things that exist in this world. We are also not the body.
     The Vedas, the scriptures, the moon, the sun -- we are none of these. We must sincerely find out who we are.

     "You are That". So you must understand who `you' are. The word `I' comes from `within', so you must be some where `within' only. Where there is nothing, that is called the `causal body', It is also called ignorance. There is more happiness in the subtle body than in the gross body. There is of course, happiness in the causal body. If everything is left off, then only the one who leaves off everything, remains. One who `leaves off' is the Witness. Then it means that only the `Knowingness' (power to know) remains- just an idol of`Knowingness' remains. That is `Existence-Knowledge- Bliss' (Sat-chit-ananda). Who was the one that experienced or saw during sleep, that there is nothing there? The answer is `I'. So You had the experience that there was nothing there.

     Existence-Knowledge-Bliss is the fourth body. He is God. That `there is nothing' is known without the help of the mind. Leave alone even that `I am', then the modification of the mind which says `I' am also remains motionless in peace. It is not even necessary to see how that modification is. If one forgets the causal body, only then one has to remember it. It is not possible to forget it, so no contemplation is to be practised. One should meditate as advised without any concept. Nothing is to be brought to the mind, and nothing to be known there, because then there appear two, one the mind and the other which is brought to the mind. So there appears duality. To know this, there is no necessity of applying any collyrium (instrument) to improve vision (knowledge).

     If without discriminating one tries to understand, then duality ensues. The sense of beingness, means "I am the one remaining"; this also has to be left alone.

     There is nothing like non-self- but it is talked of as non-self, for understanding it. Unless the `I' dies off Heaven can not be seen. Parabrahmam is non-dualistic- means we ourselves are `That'. Therefore we have to be `That' in order to know `That'. This does not require any other means- or an instrument. If we have to experience some other object, we have to see it. But because we are `That', we are by nature `That alone'. If we give up the consciousness of all the rest, then we are as we are. We have never forgotten our nature. So it is not necessary to remember it. Only if it is forgotten, then it has to be remembered. Therefore, our Nature is beyond remembering and forgetting.

     What is death ? It is just like sleep at night. When something comes to memory after remembering it,- that is prone to death. This Vedanta (the tenet), the fourteenth jewel, has been extracted after churning, by virtue of getting yoked to the body, and through the body and the Knowledge (`I am') -this is the nectar.

     Parabrahman is the natural state, means, it exists right from the begining without doing or thinking anything. It is in the natural state . This is self-evident. In that natural state, there is neither happiness nor misery. Happiness is pervaded by misery both at the back and the front. First comes the misery and in that misery there is a little happiness.

     "As soon as a concept comes, there arises dualism". Because we ourselves are the Truth, we become two as soon as we imagine something. When you were playing marbles in childhood, whatever knowingness (power of knowing) you had is the same as you have it now. You do not have to remember (think) how it is. To "forget all" is only to remember. It is well done if you forget that `I am Brahman' also. `Experience it without experiencing'. During sleep we have an experience of ourselves. But if we try to get such an experience, it cannot be had even with effort. It will not leave, even if it is left off, because you are that; then who will leave whom? If one tries to see, it recedes far back, it is distant. We have got to sleep to know sleep. And "not to do any effort" is to know Him. Eating, taking a meal etc. are obstructions in the way of knowing Him. They are not the methods.

     If you say, "I am doing something, because `I am' "- it means to modify the mind to the effect that `I am'. This is ruinous. If mind goes to bring it, it disappears there itself. You have to leave the `I'ness after knowing the `I am'ness. Till now you were told that " the impulse of knowledge" is "I". But now you leave that. One who uses this method of "I am not, you are not, there is nothing"- is indeed fortunate. Nothing is to be done. Think, listen and contemplate, then the Nature of the self is exposed, because this knowledge of (one's own) Nature has to sustain. Otherwise concept of Maya presents itself there.

     That `I am Brahman' is also a concept. We should not be the one that imagines or conceives- this means, we should not also be what is conceived. The knower should absorb in final Reality. This is the basis of the knowledge of Brahman. You become the stage- do not become the scene or sets of the scene. This you have to do without moving away from your Nature. Then do your Sadhana (efforts), deliberation, contemplation- do whatever you feel. You yourself become the goal and then do some Sadhana-efforts (if you feel). 

Ramesh S. Balsekar's A NET OF JEWELS MEDITATIONS   Ramesh Balsekar is a disciple of a Ramana Maharshi's disciple, although Ramana said he had no disciple, as all the people are equal...

1 The universe is uncaused, like a net of jewels in which each is only the reflection of all the others in a fantastic interrelated harmony without end. 2 Self-Realization is effortless. What you are trying to find is what you already are. 3 Enlightenment is total emptiness of mind. There is nothing you can do to get it. Any effort you make can only be an obstruction to it. 5 If you but cease from useless conceptualizing, you will be what you are and what you have always been. 6 Seeing truly is not merely a change in the direction of seeing, but a change it its very center, in which the seer himself disappears. 10 The only ultimate understanding is that nothing is, not even he who understands. 14 For enlightenment to happen the perceiver must turn right around and wake up to the fact that he is face to face with his own nature - that HE IS IT. The spiritual seeker ultimately finds that he was already at the destination, that he himself IS what he had been seeking and he was in fact already home. 17 Concepts can at best only serve to negate one another, as one thorn is used to remove another, and then be thrown away. Only in deep silence do we leave concepts behind. Words and language deal only with concepts, and cannot approach Reality. 18 Between pure Awareness and Awareness reflected as consciousness there is a gap which the mind cannot cross. The reflection of the sun in a drop of dew is not the sun itself. 22 Ceasing to conceptualize means ceasing to perceive objectively, which means perceiving non-objectively. It is to see the universe without choice or judgement and without getting into subject-object relationship. What happens then? Nothing, except that you are what you were before you were born: everything. 24 When the apparent but illusory identity called a person has disappeared into the awareness of total potentiality that it is and has always been, this is called enlightenment. 25 Manifestation may adopt any number of forms but the substratum of all the myriad forms is Consciousness, without which there cannot be anything whatsoever. 28 Nothing can have any meaning, or even any existence, except in terms of something else. 29 The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing anything nor not doing anything. He is outside of volition, neither this nor that. He is everything and nothing. 30 Your doubts will never be totally destroyed until perception has gone beyond mere phenomenality, and such perception is not a matter of will but of Grace. 33 Only that which was prior to the appearance of this body-consciousness is your true identity. That is Reality. It is here and now, and there is no question of anyone being able to reach for it or grasp it. 34 The same Consciousness prevails at rest as the Absolute and in motion as duality. When the sense of "me" disappears completely, duality vanishes in ecstasy. 36 To any conceptual problem there cannot be any valid answer except to see the problem in perspective as an empty thought, and that there is no such thing as a "problem" which is other than merely conceptual. 37 An experience is never factual but only conceptual. Whatever an experience may be, it is nonetheless only a happening in consciousness. 40 The manifest phenomenal aspect of what we are and the unmanifest noumenal Absolute are not different. Phenomena are what we appear to be. Noumenon is what we ARE. 41 The essential basis of self-realization is the total rejection of the individual as an independent entity, whether it comes about as a spontaneous understanding or through an utter surrender of one's individual existence.   / Back to index No duality

MAHARISHI'S GOSPEL

The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

CONTENTS

Book 1 1 - Work and Renunciation 2 - Silence and Solitude 3 - Mind-control 4 - Bhakti and Jnana 5 - Self and Individuality 6 - Self-realization 7 - Guru and His Grace 8 - Peace and Happiness

Book 2 1 - Self-Enquiry 2 - Sadhana and Grace 3 - The Jnani and the World 4 - The Heart is the Self 5 - The Place of the Heart 6 - Aham and Aham-vritti Appendix Glossary

Book 1

Work and Renunciation

D. The work may suffer if I do not attend to it.

M. Attending to the Self means attending to the work. Because you identify yourself with the body, you think

that work is done by you. But the body and its activities, including that work, are not apart from the Self.

What does it matter whether you attend to the work or not? Suppose you walk from one place to another:

you do not attend to the steps you take. 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.

D. It is then like sleep-walking

M. Like somnambulism? Quite so. When a child is fast asleep, his mother feeds him: the child eats the food

just as well as when he is fully awake. But the next morning he says to the mother, "Mother, I did not take

any food last night''. The mother and others know that he did, but he says that he did not; he was not aware.

Still the action had gone on.

A traveler in a cart has fallen asleep. The bulls move, stand still or are unyoked during the journey. He does

not know these events but finds himself in a different place after he wakes up. He has been blissfully ignorant

of the occurrences on the way, but the journey has been finished. Similarly with the Self of a person. The

ever-wakeful Self is compared to the traveler asleep in the cart. The waking state is the moving of the bulls;

Samadhi is their standing still (because Samadhi means Jagrat-Sushupti, that is to say, the person is aware but

not concerned in the action; the bulls are yoked but do not move); sleep is the unyoking of the bulls, for there

is complete stopping of activity corresponding to the relief of the bulls from the yoke.

Or again, take the instance of the cinema. Scenes are projected on the screen in the cinema-show. But the

moving pictures do not affect or alter the screen. The spectator pays attention to them, not to the screen.

They cannot exist apart from the screen, yet the screen is ignored. So also, the Self is the screen where the

pictures, activities etc. are seen going on. The man is aware of the latter but not aware of the essential former.

All the same the world of pictures is not apart from the Self. Whether he is aware of the screen or unaware,

the actions will continue.

The distinction between sleep, Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi and Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi can be clearly put

in a tabular form as given by Sri Bhagavan:-

Sleep

Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi

Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi

(1) mind alive

(1) mind alive

(1)mind dead

(2) sunk in oblivion

(2) sunk in Light

(2) resolved into the Self

-

(3) like a bucket tied to a rope and left lying in the water in a well.

(3) like a river discharged into the ocean and its identity lost

-

(4) to be drawn out by the other end of the rope.

(4) a river cannot be redirected from the ocean

  TOP>>

The mind of the Sage who has realized the Self is wholly destroyed. It is dead. But to the onlooker, he may

seem to possess a mind just like the layman. Hence the 'I' in the Sage has merely an apparent 'objective'

'reality'; in fact, however, it has neither a subjective existence nor an objective reality.

Mind-Control

D. Other thoughts arise more forcibly when one attempts meditation!

M. Yes, all kinds of thoughts arise in meditation. That is only right; for what lies hidden in you is brought out.

Unless it rises up, how can it be destroyed? Thoughts rise up spontaneously, as it were, but only to be

extinguished in due course, thus strengthening the mind.

D. How can the rebellious mind be made calm and tranquil?

M. Either see its source so that it may disappear, or surrender yourself so that it may be struck down.

Self-surrender is the same as Self-knowledge, and either of them necessarily implies self-control. The ego

submits only when it recognizes the Higher Power.

D. How is Guru found?

M. God, who is immanent, in His Grace takes pity on the loving devotee and manifests Himself according to

the devotee's development. The devotee thinks that He is a man and expects a relationship as between two

physical bodies. But the Guru, who is God or the Self Incarnate, works from within, helps the man to see the

error of his ways and guides him in the right path until he realizes the Self within.

D. How can I obtain Grace?

M. Grace is the Self. That also is not to be acquired; you only need to know that it exists.

The sun is brightness only. It does not see darkness. Yet you speak of darkness fleeing on the sun's

approach. So also the devotee's ignorance, like the phantom of darkness, vanishes at the look of the Guru.

You are surrounded by sun-light; yet if you would see the sun, you must turn in its direction and look at it. So

also Grace is found by the proper approach you make, though it is here and now.

D. Cannot Grace hasten ripeness in the seeker?

M. Leave it all to the Master. Surrender to Him without reserve.

One of two things must be done; either surrender yourself, because you realize your inability and need a

Higher Power to help you; or investigate into the cause of misery, go into the Source and so merge in the

Self. Either way, you will be free from misery. God or Guru never forsakes the devotee who has surrendered

himself.

  TOP>>

Book 2

Self-Enquiry

D. 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 an empty formula? Or, am I put the question to myself endlessly, repeating it like some mantra?

M. Self-enquiry is certainly not an empty formula; it is more than 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 poised in pure Self-awareness.

Self-enquiry is the one, infallible means, the only direct one, to realize the unconditioned, absolute Being that

you really are.

The Heart is the Self

D. Sri Bhagavan speaks of the Heart as the seat of Consciousness and as identical with the Self. What does

the Heart exactly signify?

M. The question about the Heart arises because you are interested in seeking the Source of consciousness.

To all deep-thinking minds, the enquiry about the 'I' and its nature has an irresistible fascination.

Call it by any name, God, Self, the Heart or the Seat of Consciousness, it is all the same. The point to be

grasped is this, that HEART means the very Core of one's being, the Centre, without which there is nothing

whatever.

  TOP>>

D. But Sri Bhagavan has specified a particular place for the Heart within the physical body, that it is in the

chest, two digits to the right from the meridian.

M. Yes, that is the Centre of spiritual experience according to the testimony of Sages. The spiritual

Heart-centre is quite different from the blood- propelling, muscular organ known by the same name. The

spiritual Heart-centre is not an organ of the body. All that you can say of the Heart is that it is the very Core

of your being, that which you are really identical (as the word in Sanskrit literally means), whether you are

awake, asleep or dreaming, whether you are engaged in work or immersed in Samadhi.

D. In that case, how can it be localized 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.

M. 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

that 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 physical body and the world. For

instance, you say "I have come to this Asramam all the way from my country beyond the Himalayas''. But that

is not the truth. Where there is a '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 Asramam. 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 of the ordinary understanding that a place is assigned to the Heart in the

physical body.

  TOP>>

D. How then shall I understand Sri Bhagavan's statement that the experience of the Heart-centre is at the

particular place in the chest?

M. 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.

D. It is only on that basis that I have put the question about the position of the Heart. I am asking about Sri

Bhagavan's experience.

M. Pure Consciousness wholly unrelated to the physical body and transcending the mind is a matter of direct

experience. Sages know their bodiless, eternal Existence just as the layman knows his bodily existence. But

the experience of Consciousness can be with bodily awareness as well as without it. In the bodiless

experience of Pure Consciousness the Sage is beyond time and space, and no question about the position of

the Heart can then at all arise.

Since, however, the physical body cannot subsist (with life) apart from Consciousness, bodily awareness has

to be sustained by pure Consciousness. The former, by its nature, is limited and can never be co-extensive

with the latter, which is infinite and eternal. Body-consciousness is merely a monad- like, miniature reflection

of the pure Consciousness with which the Sage has realized his identity. For him, therefore, body

consciousness is only a reflected ray, as it were, of the self-effulgent, infinite Consciousness which is himself.

It is in this sense alone that the Sage is aware of his bodily existence.

Since, during the bodiless experience of the Heart as pure Consciousness, the Sage is not at all aware of the

body, that absolute experience is localized by him within the limits of the physical body by a sort of

feeling-recollection made while he is with bodily awareness.

Aham and Aham Vritti

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D. How can any enquiry initiated by the ego reveal its own unreality?

M. The ego's phenomenal existence is transcended when you dive into the Source wherefrom arises the

Aham vritti.

D. But is not the Aham-vritti only one of the three forms in which the ego manifests itself? Yoga Vasishta and

other ancient texts describe the ego as having a threefold form.

M. It is so. The ego is described as having three bodies, the gross, the subtle and the casual, but that is only

for the purposes of analytical exposition. If the method of enquiry were to depend on the ego's form, you may

take it that any enquiry would become altogether impossible, because the forms the ego may assume are

legion. Therefore, for purposes of Jnana-vichara, you have to proceed on the basis that the ego has but one

form, namely that of Aham-vritti.

D. But it may prove inadequate for realizing Jnana.

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

primary datum of your experience. No other clue can lead you direct to Self-realization.

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D. The question still remains why the quest for the Source of Aham-vritti, as distinguished from other vrittis,

should be considered the direct means to Self-realization.

M. The word 'Aham' is itself very suggestive. The two letters of the word, namely (A) and (HA), are the first

and the last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. The suggestion intended to be conveyed by the word is that it

comprises all. How? Because Aham signifies existence itself.

Although the concept of 'I'-ness or 'I-am'-ness is by usage known as Aham-vritti, it is not really a vritti like

the other vrittis of the mind. Because unlike the other vrittis which have no essential inter-relation, 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 realization 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.

D. 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?

M. Because it is the one irreducible datum of your experience; because seeking its Source is the only

practicable course you can adopt to realize the Self. The ego is said to have a casual body, 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.

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D. But is not the ego in its subtle and casual forms too intangible to be tackled through the enquiry into the

Source of Aham-vritti conducted while the mind is awake?

M. 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.

D. While the one aim is to realize 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?

M. From the functional point of view the form, activity or whatever else you may call it (it is immaterial, since

it is evanescent), the ego has one and only one characteristic. The ego functions as the knot between the Self

which is the pure Consciousness and the physical body which is inert and insentient. The ego is therefore

called the Chit-jada granthi. In your investigation into the Source of Aham-vritti, you take the essential Chit

aspect of the ego; and for this reason the enquiry must lead to the realization of the pure Consciousness of the

Self.

  TOP>> ::: another story by Ramana Maharshi : the story of Ribhu.