Your New Age
Is neither new
Nor will it last an age.
You ride a pendulum
On a clock wound
To run for eternity.
Your despair has
Today turned to hope.
Tomorrow it will
Turn back again.
The walls of oppression
You tear down here
Will be rebuilt
There.
The meek shall
Inherit the earth
Then the clever ones
Will take it back from them.
The torture chamber
Will empty
And refill.
A disease will
Be conquered
And a new one will
Appear to take its place.
This strikes you
As a bleak vision
But Ram Tzu knows this...
It is your hope for a better future
That keeps you in chains today.
- Ram Tzu
Friday, August 20, 2004
Tim Mulligan
Well, I've spent the last four months reading about nondualism (Advaita
Vedanta). I had determined that this was my last stop in a spiritual
journey that really started when I was only nine years old and reading
about the "occult" in the public library in Springfield, New Jersey.
Since then, I've gone from Roman Catholicism, to Schopenhauer, to
Buddhism, to Taoism, to Krishnamurti, to scientistic atheism, to the
Baha'i Faith, to the Gurdjieff work, to Jung, and then, finally, to
nondualism.
I've spent hours at nondual Web sites. I've read _Consciousness Speaks_
by Ramesh Balsekar, _No Way: for the Spiritually Advanced_ by Ram Tzu
(Wayne Liquorman), _Relaxing into Clear Seeing_ by Arjuna Nick Ardagh,
_Awareness_ by Fr. Anthony de Mello, _The Perennial Philosophy_ by
Aldous Huxley, _The Life and Teachings of Joe Miller_, a bunch of
Krishnamurti stuff (again), some Meister Eckhart, _Collision with the
Infinite_ by Suzanne Segal (see my scathing review at Amazon.com). I've
come to the following, tentative conclusions.
The "Source" is the supposedly the source of all manifestation. This
"Source" is the source of the torture/mutilation murders of children.
This "Source" is the source of spinal bifida. This "Source" is the
source of migraine headaches. This "Source" was the source of Hitler
and his holocaust, as well as every other episode of genocide through
history.
In short, this "Source" is supremely indifferent to what is harmful to
us and what is not-and yes, that's from our point of view. Petty, aren't we?
I no longer pine to "realize I am the Source," or however you might
characterize it: enlightenment, divine union, etc. I've decided to be
as profoundly indifferent to this "Source" as it is to us. I am totally
apathetic about this "Source". To me, it is as practically
consequential, although perhaps as necessary, as quarks or hydrogen.
Maybe it's there. Who cares. "It" certainly doesn't.
]
So I've come to rest as a non-scientistic, apathetic agnostic. And if
anyone tells me this means I'm ripe for enlightenment, I'll scream.
Tim Mulligan
Well, I've spent the last four months reading about nondualism (Advaita
Vedanta). I had determined that this was my last stop in a spiritual
journey that really started when I was only nine years old and reading
about the "occult" in the public library in Springfield, New Jersey.
Since then, I've gone from Roman Catholicism, to Schopenhauer, to
Buddhism, to Taoism, to Krishnamurti, to scientistic atheism, to the
Baha'i Faith, to the Gurdjieff work, to Jung, and then, finally, to
nondualism.
I've spent hours at nondual Web sites. I've read _Consciousness Speaks_
by Ramesh Balsekar, _No Way: for the Spiritually Advanced_ by Ram Tzu
(Wayne Liquorman), _Relaxing into Clear Seeing_ by Arjuna Nick Ardagh,
_Awareness_ by Fr. Anthony de Mello, _The Perennial Philosophy_ by
Aldous Huxley, _The Life and Teachings of Joe Miller_, a bunch of
Krishnamurti stuff (again), some Meister Eckhart, _Collision with the
Infinite_ by Suzanne Segal (see my scathing review at Amazon.com). I've
come to the following, tentative conclusions.
The "Source" is the supposedly the source of all manifestation. This
"Source" is the source of the torture/mutilation murders of children.
This "Source" is the source of spinal bifida. This "Source" is the
source of migraine headaches. This "Source" was the source of Hitler
and his holocaust, as well as every other episode of genocide through
history.
In short, this "Source" is supremely indifferent to what is harmful to
us and what is not-and yes, that's from our point of view. Petty, aren't we?
I no longer pine to "realize I am the Source," or however you might
characterize it: enlightenment, divine union, etc. I've decided to be
as profoundly indifferent to this "Source" as it is to us. I am totally
apathetic about this "Source". To me, it is as practically
consequential, although perhaps as necessary, as quarks or hydrogen.
Maybe it's there. Who cares. "It" certainly doesn't.
]
So I've come to rest as a non-scientistic, apathetic agnostic. And if
anyone tells me this means I'm ripe for enlightenment, I'll scream.
Tim Mulligan
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Monday, August 16, 2004
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
In 2002, the "dominant concept" was presented as "jutaijutsu", with material from Takagi Yoshin ryu (a samurai jujutsu system from the 1600s) as the primary vehicle. People, and there were a lot of them, who adopted an "omote" or external focus on learning the kata and waza missed everything, as what it was "about" was conceptual: A couple of the key points in "the meaning of jutaijutsu" as Soke was presenting it are:1) Nothing you do should require any more physical "effort" than it takes to merely move your body through empty space without a training partner or opponent;2) Your partner/opponent should not be able to sense/feel/interpret what you're doing until it's too late (if at all!).
Friday, August 06, 2004
Some Western psychologists say that we should not repress our anger but express it - that we should practice anger! However, we must make an important distinction here between mental problems that should be expressed and those that should not. Sometimes you may be truly wronged and it is right for you to express your grievance instead of letting it fester inside you. But you should not express it with anger. If you foster disturbing negative minds such as anger they will become a part of your personality; each time you express anger it becomes easier to express it again. Progress in mental development... depends on controlling the mind. - The Dalai Lama, from His Holiness' Commentary on "The Eight Verses Of Thought Transformation,", translated by Alex Berzin, published by Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Too confused to ever earn a living I've learned to let things have their way. With only three handfuls of rice in my bag and a few branches by my fireside I pursue neither right or wrong and forget worldly fortune and fame. This damp night under a grassy roof I stretch out my legs without regrets.
Ryokan
Ryokan
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Qian Zhaohong's seminars
Rick asked for a review of the seminars I've gone to for the past three weekends
Qian Zhaohong is a master from Shanghai and has been practicing for 50 years. At the age of 8 he began study of Xin yi liu he quan, or what some call Honan style xingyiquan.
He has learned many different systems including taiji, tongbeiquan, bagua, liuhe ba fa and others.
This series of seminars was an introduction to xinyiliuhe and chan ssuu taijia, a taiji style that he has created.
Master Qian gave very detailed instructions on two drills from the xinyiluihe system that we practiced every day of the seminars. Simple actions that he corrected, gave very precise details to and demonstrated with numerous applications. I will continue to practice these for a long time. I was very impressed with their versatility.
Master Qian spent a great deal of time on things that are not usually talked in American classes such as stretching the tendons and squeezing the bones, opposite force in posture, proper alignment for enabling the small heavenly circulation to be done properly and more.
The first seminar I went to (and of course the one I did not bring my camcorder to) was when he was a bit rough. He was showing applications, slapping and throwing peoples around, and demonstrating some power. I would have liked to see more of it but I think some of them might have complained. One bid American taiji guy kept on trying and wanted to do go in at Qian faster and harder. Qian is at a level that his body reacts on its own and I had his friends stop the big guy or he would have gotten injured. Qian's nicknam in China is "Buzzsaw". That's enough explanation.
Master Qian was nice enough to give me some special attention because I drove so far to attend. A very nice, but no-nonsense guy. If I lived closer I would be driving back again every weekend until he leaves in August for private lessons. I feel that I got some very good stuff from Qian. The xinyiliuhe drills have helped me loosen my shoulders a lot. A problem that's been plaguing me for years.
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the seminars and 8. Mostly because he only speaks Mandarin and it was hard for me to follow sometimes. Luckilly I knew several of the guys there from my taiji days in Virginia and Maryland and they were all to happy to assist.
Of note, it was interesting to learn that You Peng Xi's nephew is teaching yiquan in northern Virginia. Also, the seminar promoter was a student of the Yao brothers 20 years ago. He learned the long pole shaking from them. He is training privately with Qian every day until August and Qian wants him to give up zhan zhuang and the pole shaking. He claims that pole shaking tightens the abdomen and one of Qian's insistings is that the dan tien area always be kept soft. I thought that might interest some of you.
0. jmedurga on 7/21/2004 10:05:20 AM [quote]
Rick asked for a review of the seminars I've gone to for the past three weekends
Qian Zhaohong is a master from Shanghai and has been practicing for 50 years. At the age of 8 he began study of Xin yi liu he quan, or what some call Honan style xingyiquan.
He has learned many different systems including taiji, tongbeiquan, bagua, liuhe ba fa and others.
This series of seminars was an introduction to xinyiliuhe and chan ssuu taijia, a taiji style that he has created.
Master Qian gave very detailed instructions on two drills from the xinyiluihe system that we practiced every day of the seminars. Simple actions that he corrected, gave very precise details to and demonstrated with numerous applications. I will continue to practice these for a long time. I was very impressed with their versatility.
Master Qian spent a great deal of time on things that are not usually talked in American classes such as stretching the tendons and squeezing the bones, opposite force in posture, proper alignment for enabling the small heavenly circulation to be done properly and more.
The first seminar I went to (and of course the one I did not bring my camcorder to) was when he was a bit rough. He was showing applications, slapping and throwing peoples around, and demonstrating some power. I would have liked to see more of it but I think some of them might have complained. One bid American taiji guy kept on trying and wanted to do go in at Qian faster and harder. Qian is at a level that his body reacts on its own and I had his friends stop the big guy or he would have gotten injured. Qian's nicknam in China is "Buzzsaw". That's enough explanation.
Master Qian was nice enough to give me some special attention because I drove so far to attend. A very nice, but no-nonsense guy. If I lived closer I would be driving back again every weekend until he leaves in August for private lessons. I feel that I got some very good stuff from Qian. The xinyiliuhe drills have helped me loosen my shoulders a lot. A problem that's been plaguing me for years.
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the seminars and 8. Mostly because he only speaks Mandarin and it was hard for me to follow sometimes. Luckilly I knew several of the guys there from my taiji days in Virginia and Maryland and they were all to happy to assist.
Of note, it was interesting to learn that You Peng Xi's nephew is teaching yiquan in northern Virginia. Also, the seminar promoter was a student of the Yao brothers 20 years ago. He learned the long pole shaking from them. He is training privately with Qian every day until August and Qian wants him to give up zhan zhuang and the pole shaking. He claims that pole shaking tightens the abdomen and one of Qian's insistings is that the dan tien area always be kept soft. I thought that might interest some of you.
0. jmedurga on 7/21/2004 10:05:20 AM [quote]
Friday, July 23, 2004
We have our own water. It's from a well, with a solar powered pump (that only
runs when the sun is shining, which we're supposed to have plenty of in
Colorado) goes through a one micron filter and then through a UV purification
system, then into a tank, where we go fill up our barrels to take back to our
houses. So, it sounds like we're doing well, off the grid, pretty much
independent of the "system."
Ok, here are the (until now) unrecognized dangers.
Our water tasted and smelled bad this week, so we got it tested. There had been
a low voltage regulator on the UV system that broke. We replaced it (purchased
parts, from a company that produces the parts with the power of oil, all the way
from the oil in the plastic that's in the part, to the power to run the
machinery to make the part) , but my brother bought the wrong one and it didn't
have an automatic shut off if the power was too low from the solar panels. So,
the pump kept on pumping and the UV system wasn't working, so water with
choliforms is now in our entire system.
What this has made me realize is that no matter how independent I have thought
we were becoming, our entire standard of life, low as it is, is 100% dependent
upon oil.
This dependency is in spite of living in a house that has NO power inside it
that we don't make ourselves. We don't have gas or oil lines to the house, we
don't use propane, we cook with wood rather than be dependent upon the outside
source of propane tanks. We do have an electric stove top oven and a hot plate
that we use during the summer, but at any point we can't get gas for the
generator, we can always go cook on the wood stove in the outside kitchen, so we
don't consider that "dependency" but rather convenience.
But without water, we are dependent. That's it. No way around it.
As hard as we have been working to become self-sufficient, this is what it comes
down to. I tremble for those of you who imagine you're going in the right
direction by learning how to grow vegies in pots on the patio.
Tom Brown Jr's Apache Grandfather had a vision in which he saw cities burning,
people starving, people eating children, agony, disease, terror and death. He
saw that the only people who survived would be the "children of the earth."
What are the children of the earth? Are they the farmers? Are they those who
actually move into caves in the earth? Are they the ones who learn how to gain
their sustenence solely from our Mother the Earth?
If I have imagined that I was becoming self-sufficient while trying to live in
both worlds - writing on this computer and sending out the letter across
cyberspace to others sitting in front of utility supplied electrical
connections, powered by oil all over the world - well, my mind is reeling with
the reality of how desperately dependent I am in truth, on the grid.
Sharon, Linda, other farmers - methinks those who advocate the hunter-gatherer
life are in the right of it. The only ones who will survive are truly the
children of the earth who can do it without a tool created by modern man.
Lua in Colorado
runs when the sun is shining, which we're supposed to have plenty of in
Colorado) goes through a one micron filter and then through a UV purification
system, then into a tank, where we go fill up our barrels to take back to our
houses. So, it sounds like we're doing well, off the grid, pretty much
independent of the "system."
Ok, here are the (until now) unrecognized dangers.
Our water tasted and smelled bad this week, so we got it tested. There had been
a low voltage regulator on the UV system that broke. We replaced it (purchased
parts, from a company that produces the parts with the power of oil, all the way
from the oil in the plastic that's in the part, to the power to run the
machinery to make the part) , but my brother bought the wrong one and it didn't
have an automatic shut off if the power was too low from the solar panels. So,
the pump kept on pumping and the UV system wasn't working, so water with
choliforms is now in our entire system.
What this has made me realize is that no matter how independent I have thought
we were becoming, our entire standard of life, low as it is, is 100% dependent
upon oil.
This dependency is in spite of living in a house that has NO power inside it
that we don't make ourselves. We don't have gas or oil lines to the house, we
don't use propane, we cook with wood rather than be dependent upon the outside
source of propane tanks. We do have an electric stove top oven and a hot plate
that we use during the summer, but at any point we can't get gas for the
generator, we can always go cook on the wood stove in the outside kitchen, so we
don't consider that "dependency" but rather convenience.
But without water, we are dependent. That's it. No way around it.
As hard as we have been working to become self-sufficient, this is what it comes
down to. I tremble for those of you who imagine you're going in the right
direction by learning how to grow vegies in pots on the patio.
Tom Brown Jr's Apache Grandfather had a vision in which he saw cities burning,
people starving, people eating children, agony, disease, terror and death. He
saw that the only people who survived would be the "children of the earth."
What are the children of the earth? Are they the farmers? Are they those who
actually move into caves in the earth? Are they the ones who learn how to gain
their sustenence solely from our Mother the Earth?
If I have imagined that I was becoming self-sufficient while trying to live in
both worlds - writing on this computer and sending out the letter across
cyberspace to others sitting in front of utility supplied electrical
connections, powered by oil all over the world - well, my mind is reeling with
the reality of how desperately dependent I am in truth, on the grid.
Sharon, Linda, other farmers - methinks those who advocate the hunter-gatherer
life are in the right of it. The only ones who will survive are truly the
children of the earth who can do it without a tool created by modern man.
Lua in Colorado
Monday, July 19, 2004
You won't get the answers you ultimately seek in some leather bound book embossed with gold letters containing self-serving historical atrocities. You will find it in deepest, darkest, scariest sleep, deep in the darkness where there is nothing to worry about except loving well enough, except accepting love fast enough because there is such an abundance of it in everything, could you but only see it.
- John Kaminski
- John Kaminski
Monday, July 12, 2004
Living the Inspiration of Sri Ramana Maharshi
A dialogue between David Godman and Maalok, an Indian academic now teaching in America
Maalok: Ramana Maharshi has had a lasting influence on your life. For those of us who don't know much about the Maharshi, could you please share some of the salient aspects of his life that have influenced you deeply.
David: About two or three times a year someone asks me this question, 'Summarize Ramana Maharshi's life and teachings in a few words for people who know little or nothing about him'. It's always hard to know where to start with a question like this.
Let me say first that Ramana Maharshi was one of the most highly regarded and widely respected spiritual figures that twentieth-century India produced. I can't think of any other candidate who is as persistently held out to be an example of all that is best in the Hindu spiritual tradition. Everyone reveres him as the perfect example of what a true saint and sage ought to be.
How did this come about? While he was still in his teens Sri Ramana underwent a remarkable, spontaneous experience in which his individuality died, leaving him in a state in which he found his true identity to be the Self, the immanent and transcendent substratum. It was a permanent awakening that was truly remarkable because he had not previously had any interest in spiritual matters. He left his family home a few weeks later, without telling anyone where he was going, and spent the remainder of his life at the foot of Arunachala, a holy mountain and pilgrimage center that is about 120 miles south west of Chennai.
After a few years there - a period in which he was largely oblivious to the world and his body - he began to attract devotees because there was a spiritual radiance emanating from him that many people around him experienced as peace or happiness. This, I think, is the secret of his subsequent fame and popularity. He didn't get a reputation for being a great sage because of what he did or said. It came about because people, who arrived at his ashram with all kinds of questions and doubts, suddenly found themselves becoming quiet, peaceful and happy in his presence. There was a continuous, benign flow of energy coming off him that somehow evaporated the mental anxieties and busy minds of the people who came to see him. He didn't ask people to come. People just came of their own accord. A 19th century American author once wrote that if you invent a better mousetrap, even if you try to hide yourself in the woods, people will beat a path to your door. People beat a path to Sri Ramana's door - for many years he lived in very inaccessible places - because he had something far better than an improved mousetrap to offer; he had a natural ability to induce peace in the people around him.
Let me expand on this because this is the key to understanding both his state and the effect he had on other people. When he had his final experience at the age of sixteen, his mind, his sense of being an individual person vanished forever, leaving him in a state of unassailable peace. He realized and understood that this was not some new experience that was mediated by and through his 'I', his sense of being an individual person. It was, instead, his natural state, something that is there all the time, but which is only experienced when the mind and its perpetual busy-ness is absent. By abiding in this natural and effortless state of inner silence he somehow charged up the atmosphere around him with a healing, quietening energy. People who came to see him spontaneously became happy, peaceful and quiet. Why? Because Sri Ramana himself was effortlessly broadcasting his own experience of happiness, peace and quietude in such a way that those people who were around him got an inner taste, an inner flavor of this natural state that is inherent to all of us. I should say that this power was not restricted to his physical vicinity, although it did seem to be stronger there. People who merely thought about him wherever they happened to be discovered that they could experience something of this peace simply through having this mental contact with him.
So, having given that background, I can now answer the question: 'Who was Ramana Maharshi and what were his teachings?'
Sri Ramana Maharshi was a living embodiment of peace and happiness and his 'teachings' were the emanations of that state which helped other people to find and experience their own inner happiness and peace.
If all this sounds a little abstract, let me tell you a story that was passed on to me by Arthur Osborne's daughter. In the 1940s their house was a kind of dormitory for all the stray foreigners who couldn't find anywhere else to stay near Sri Ramana's ashram. A miserable, crabby women appeared one evening, having been sent by the ashram. They put her up, gave her breakfast and sent her off to see Sri Ramana the next morning. She came back at lunchtime looking absolutely radiant. She was glowing with happiness. The whole family was waiting to hear the story of what happened, but she never said anything about her visit to the ashram. Everyone in the house was expecting some dramatic story: 'He looked at me and this happened,' or 'I asked a question and then I had this great experience.' As the lunch plates were being cleared away, her hosts could not contain their curiosity any longer.
'What happened?' asked one of them. 'What did Bhagavan do to you? What did he say to you?'
The woman looked most surprised. 'He didn't do anything. He didn't say anything to me. I just sat there for the whole morning and then came back for lunch.'
She had been just one new person sitting in a crowd of people, but the power coming off Sri Ramana had been enough to wash away a lifetime of depression, leaving her with a taste of what lay underneath it: her own inherent, natural happiness and peace.
Sri Ramana knew that transformations such as these were going on around him all the time, but he never accepted responsibility for them. He would never say, 'I transformed this woman'. When he was asked about the effect he was having on people, he would sometimes say that by continuously abiding in his own natural state of peace, a sannidhi, a powerful presence, was somehow created that automatically took care of the mental problems of the people who visited him. By abiding in silence as silence, this energy field was created, a field that miraculously transformed the people around him.
Your original question was, 'Why has Ramana Maharshi influenced me so much?' The answer is, 'I came into his sannidhi and through its catalytic activity I discovered my own peace, my own happiness.'
A dialogue between David Godman and Maalok, an Indian academic now teaching in America
Maalok: Ramana Maharshi has had a lasting influence on your life. For those of us who don't know much about the Maharshi, could you please share some of the salient aspects of his life that have influenced you deeply.
David: About two or three times a year someone asks me this question, 'Summarize Ramana Maharshi's life and teachings in a few words for people who know little or nothing about him'. It's always hard to know where to start with a question like this.
Let me say first that Ramana Maharshi was one of the most highly regarded and widely respected spiritual figures that twentieth-century India produced. I can't think of any other candidate who is as persistently held out to be an example of all that is best in the Hindu spiritual tradition. Everyone reveres him as the perfect example of what a true saint and sage ought to be.
How did this come about? While he was still in his teens Sri Ramana underwent a remarkable, spontaneous experience in which his individuality died, leaving him in a state in which he found his true identity to be the Self, the immanent and transcendent substratum. It was a permanent awakening that was truly remarkable because he had not previously had any interest in spiritual matters. He left his family home a few weeks later, without telling anyone where he was going, and spent the remainder of his life at the foot of Arunachala, a holy mountain and pilgrimage center that is about 120 miles south west of Chennai.
After a few years there - a period in which he was largely oblivious to the world and his body - he began to attract devotees because there was a spiritual radiance emanating from him that many people around him experienced as peace or happiness. This, I think, is the secret of his subsequent fame and popularity. He didn't get a reputation for being a great sage because of what he did or said. It came about because people, who arrived at his ashram with all kinds of questions and doubts, suddenly found themselves becoming quiet, peaceful and happy in his presence. There was a continuous, benign flow of energy coming off him that somehow evaporated the mental anxieties and busy minds of the people who came to see him. He didn't ask people to come. People just came of their own accord. A 19th century American author once wrote that if you invent a better mousetrap, even if you try to hide yourself in the woods, people will beat a path to your door. People beat a path to Sri Ramana's door - for many years he lived in very inaccessible places - because he had something far better than an improved mousetrap to offer; he had a natural ability to induce peace in the people around him.
Let me expand on this because this is the key to understanding both his state and the effect he had on other people. When he had his final experience at the age of sixteen, his mind, his sense of being an individual person vanished forever, leaving him in a state of unassailable peace. He realized and understood that this was not some new experience that was mediated by and through his 'I', his sense of being an individual person. It was, instead, his natural state, something that is there all the time, but which is only experienced when the mind and its perpetual busy-ness is absent. By abiding in this natural and effortless state of inner silence he somehow charged up the atmosphere around him with a healing, quietening energy. People who came to see him spontaneously became happy, peaceful and quiet. Why? Because Sri Ramana himself was effortlessly broadcasting his own experience of happiness, peace and quietude in such a way that those people who were around him got an inner taste, an inner flavor of this natural state that is inherent to all of us. I should say that this power was not restricted to his physical vicinity, although it did seem to be stronger there. People who merely thought about him wherever they happened to be discovered that they could experience something of this peace simply through having this mental contact with him.
So, having given that background, I can now answer the question: 'Who was Ramana Maharshi and what were his teachings?'
Sri Ramana Maharshi was a living embodiment of peace and happiness and his 'teachings' were the emanations of that state which helped other people to find and experience their own inner happiness and peace.
If all this sounds a little abstract, let me tell you a story that was passed on to me by Arthur Osborne's daughter. In the 1940s their house was a kind of dormitory for all the stray foreigners who couldn't find anywhere else to stay near Sri Ramana's ashram. A miserable, crabby women appeared one evening, having been sent by the ashram. They put her up, gave her breakfast and sent her off to see Sri Ramana the next morning. She came back at lunchtime looking absolutely radiant. She was glowing with happiness. The whole family was waiting to hear the story of what happened, but she never said anything about her visit to the ashram. Everyone in the house was expecting some dramatic story: 'He looked at me and this happened,' or 'I asked a question and then I had this great experience.' As the lunch plates were being cleared away, her hosts could not contain their curiosity any longer.
'What happened?' asked one of them. 'What did Bhagavan do to you? What did he say to you?'
The woman looked most surprised. 'He didn't do anything. He didn't say anything to me. I just sat there for the whole morning and then came back for lunch.'
She had been just one new person sitting in a crowd of people, but the power coming off Sri Ramana had been enough to wash away a lifetime of depression, leaving her with a taste of what lay underneath it: her own inherent, natural happiness and peace.
Sri Ramana knew that transformations such as these were going on around him all the time, but he never accepted responsibility for them. He would never say, 'I transformed this woman'. When he was asked about the effect he was having on people, he would sometimes say that by continuously abiding in his own natural state of peace, a sannidhi, a powerful presence, was somehow created that automatically took care of the mental problems of the people who visited him. By abiding in silence as silence, this energy field was created, a field that miraculously transformed the people around him.
Your original question was, 'Why has Ramana Maharshi influenced me so much?' The answer is, 'I came into his sannidhi and through its catalytic activity I discovered my own peace, my own happiness.'
You cannot deliberately progress towards an open state, you can only see clearly that you are in a blocked state. So, you let your body- mind slowly become more open to your conviction that you can attain nothing. That you are going to die in total stupidity. You may die in the very next moment, so there is no time to reach anything, to achieve anything. In sadhana you live with the feeling that you are going to die the very next minute; thus, you no longer make strategies and you just do things for the sake of doing them. If you think that you will die within two minutes, what do you do? Nothing. You don't call anybody, you don't think of anything, you just totally enjoy seeing, feeling, smelling, listening to the last seconds of your life, the beauty of life.
- short excerpt from an interview with Éric Baret, Montreal
- short excerpt from an interview with Éric Baret, Montreal
Friday, July 02, 2004
Freedom Means Servitude
Judith Moriarty
noahshouse@adelphia.net
7-2-4
I heard the usual mind-numbed fools, calling into C-Span this morning, lauding going to war. They felt that everyone should do their DUTY by being drafted into the military. Naturally those croaking such insanities, are doing so between breaths of oxygen-taking their heart medications, putting their Depend diapers on, bunion pads, and elastic waist pants! That, or they're calling in from some off-shore island, or foreign resort, where there's no chance that all of this patriotism and nationalism will be visited on themslurp!
Forced servitude or conscription to serve the interests of corporate hucksters, is no longer FREEDOM-but slavery. Either we are a mindless herd to be driven from battlefield to battlefield or INDIVIDUALS, making our own choices as to the days of our lives. If a person chooses to spend their life sitting on a tree stump in some back marsh spitting tobacco FINE. Forced volunteerism is a oxymoron, whether it be in the schools or called to kill.
Nobody has the right to determine my child's future. Nobody has the right to demand that a child be trained to go off to a foreign land to kill another mother's child, so that oil fields might be confiscated, pipelines protected, and timber and water stolen! This is NOT about invasion or protecting one's country from invading hordes. One man said this morning, "Being drafted made a man out of me!" Really! And what is a man? Is learning to kill-to be conditioned to stack naked bodies, to set snarling dogs on people, to kick down doors, to set villages on fire, the new credentials for manhood? Give me a man who will risk his life to save another not destroy. Give me a man who spends his life making the place where he abides a better place. Better because he was there.
"There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs." (Eisenhower) Man is free or he is a slave to the government and commanded to go and kill others. Today we see that this perversion of our freedoms can call men back to duty who have already served, or keep soldiers extended for as long as desired-or until they end up getting blown to smithereens.
American Foreign Policy was based upon the wisdom of Washington's Farewell Address ( I bet you won't find this in your child's history book-if they have one). The defeat of the Confederacy during the War for the Right to Secede set this nation upon a road to empire. The actions of Roosevelt and Wilson set the stage for the society that we have become. The masters are no longer the people, but the people have been conditioned and programmed to think of themselves as drones-non-persons within their own land.
Are we to believe the voices of today's public relations jingoism- that allegiance or love for one's nation is judged by one's willingness to kill a stranger, who is of no threat to me or mine (outside a full tank of gas!). This perversion sees us no longer protecting our shores but protecting the interests of the Corporate/State. The mindless, soulless, malignant, malevolent, conscienceless Corporate/State is now disguised as Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam. Beneath the red-white and boo and crown of yellow ribbons is a pimp and his whore.
All this brouhaha, of dressing up and marching off to invade foreign lands in pre-emptive strikes, while the lie imploded at our feet! WAKE-UP. Over these many decades trillions have been spent under the guise of a cold war-national defense-intelligence etc., to supposedly defend us from harm. Really! On Sept. 11-2001 this lie was shown as volcanic clouds of ash chased citizens down concrete canyons! Protection! Everyone sat on their asses, went to take a leak, called the wrong office, or stood around like obedient lap dogs that they were and waited for someone to tell them to do their jobs and PROTECT AMERICA! Trillions! And we are led to believe that some grubby cave men, took some lessons on two seated crop dusters, bought some box cutters, and just shocked and surprised everyone! Well by God then everyone needs to have their ass fired.
A joke of a Commission is set up, and we all know what the report will say. Most of us with any literacy skills and a GED could write it now. White -out the word Warren and magic bullet and insert 911 and magic planes and there you have it. Oh, and the findings that these incompetent, inept, lying bastards need billions more in funds so that they can continue on in their labyrinths of nothingness.
Excuse me, but the idea that a citizen has a duty to serve his government (which is hello himself) is a malignant perversion of the proper obligation that a citizen has to his neighbor and society. A archaic idea, and not spoken of in today's" Shock and Awe Theater;" but each individual person is to choose the course of action in his/her own life which will create the greatest good. For all these wars, all these deaths, all these walls and marble memorials, are we any better off? How does a nation protect it's people and it's shores when the land is emptied of it's men? Men off in desert lands protecting pipelines and protecting a puppet government for a puppet people! A people given no voice in their supposed "liberation".
Defense of one's homeland is a legitimate call to arms. A people have a right to self-defense. One does not have the right to be commanded to take another's life for any other reason. All life is sacred. No man-politician or otherwise, has the right to order a nation's youngsters to become killers of mankind. There is no argument here. Those without conscience or a moral compass have no problem in creating a world of killing forever. "Choose you this day whom you will serve".
The carnage and chaos of war creates monsters. Monsters of insatiable greed, and corrupted power, who in their delusional state of mind see themselves as gods. Men, hollow soulless men, in plush board rooms, and war rooms, moving the people of the world around as if they were mere pieces on a global board game. Monopoly gone mad! Monopoly, with its "enemy combatants" disappeared ones, with no rights and no voice. The innocent caught up with the truly guilty (whoever that might be) too bad, tough luck. Is this the "freedom" that men/women are ordered to die for?
On 9/11/2001 we the people (we) became the enemy. The victims in this mad board game are now searched, scanned, fingerprinted, stopped at road blocks, or beaten down by men with clubs, stun guns, tear gas, and jaw shattering plastic bullets. Is this what global freedom means? Dissent and freedom of speech are now marked as the enemy. Is this what our children and children's children should die for? Why should our nation's children die for a foreign land to be liberated while it's own is being enslaved? What's wrong with this picture?
War turns men into monsters. Abusing, torturing, assaulting, and sexually humiliating citizens, caught up in village sweeps. Citizens from small farms and villages labeled "camel jockeys-towel heads-rag heads-sand niggers". One dehumanizes others in war so that it is more acceptable to kill and torture. Men become depraved monsters shooting down (in their fear) any and all who threaten. Some in this madness kill for the sheer joy of it. I saw a young man/boy of perhaps twenty on the news. He was in a snit because he'd been assigned guard duty. With a sullen snarl, when interviewed he said, "I was trained to kick down doors and shoot people, not to stand around doing nothing". This snot nosed kid- who just a few months back was probably hanging out at the mall or on a local street corner in Any Town USA, is now waiting for the thrill to kill.
Those returned from war end up in shelters, under bridges, or abandoned cars. Some never acclimate back to small town- work a day living. From a warrior, with the power to kill, now back in rust town USA, is quite a downer. No more gun-no more legal authority to kill. Now he's just another citizen watching out for the local cop to stop him for a speeding or traffic violation. Others are crippled for life; absent sight, limbs or their minds. They are now just mere cannon fodder. Much like litter they end up kicked to the curb.
Vice President Cheney who received numerous deferments has no problem with sending future generations off to fight Forever Wars (our new economy). He said, "The war on terrorism will not be over in our lifetime. It is different than the cold war in the sense that it may NEVER END, at least not in our lifetime. The way I think of it -it's a new normalcy" (Oct 21-2001).
Think on these words of his. This new "normalcy" is continuing war. Children marked to die in this perverse "new normalcy". Is the world we want-this madness that sees war, continual never ending war as a "new normalcy". Not for him-deferred again. Why give birth, if you know you're merely incubating a commodity until the state is ready to assign him/her to a killing field? And so we are spending approximately five billion plus per month on war and the invention of bigger and better annihilating weaponry. Not on schools, hospitals, affordable housing, a real energy policy (minus dependence on oil), education (minus change agents with their testing), our decaying infra-structure or medical care minus the corporate vampires of the pharmaceutical-insurance-and HMOs, who decide who will live and who will not in some distant sterile cubicle. Rest assured this injustice is not visited on our politicians or retired Presidents. They have made sure that they have the best of insurance (we pay 72% of costs) and pensions that are obscene. Meanwhile they allow ours to be stolen. How long can a nation working at Wal-Marts-Prisons-Convenience Stores-Home Depots-as black-jack dealers-ski lift operators or maids support forever and ever war? Just wondering?
Judith Moriarty
noahshouse@adelphia.net
7-2-4
I heard the usual mind-numbed fools, calling into C-Span this morning, lauding going to war. They felt that everyone should do their DUTY by being drafted into the military. Naturally those croaking such insanities, are doing so between breaths of oxygen-taking their heart medications, putting their Depend diapers on, bunion pads, and elastic waist pants! That, or they're calling in from some off-shore island, or foreign resort, where there's no chance that all of this patriotism and nationalism will be visited on themslurp!
Forced servitude or conscription to serve the interests of corporate hucksters, is no longer FREEDOM-but slavery. Either we are a mindless herd to be driven from battlefield to battlefield or INDIVIDUALS, making our own choices as to the days of our lives. If a person chooses to spend their life sitting on a tree stump in some back marsh spitting tobacco FINE. Forced volunteerism is a oxymoron, whether it be in the schools or called to kill.
Nobody has the right to determine my child's future. Nobody has the right to demand that a child be trained to go off to a foreign land to kill another mother's child, so that oil fields might be confiscated, pipelines protected, and timber and water stolen! This is NOT about invasion or protecting one's country from invading hordes. One man said this morning, "Being drafted made a man out of me!" Really! And what is a man? Is learning to kill-to be conditioned to stack naked bodies, to set snarling dogs on people, to kick down doors, to set villages on fire, the new credentials for manhood? Give me a man who will risk his life to save another not destroy. Give me a man who spends his life making the place where he abides a better place. Better because he was there.
"There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs." (Eisenhower) Man is free or he is a slave to the government and commanded to go and kill others. Today we see that this perversion of our freedoms can call men back to duty who have already served, or keep soldiers extended for as long as desired-or until they end up getting blown to smithereens.
American Foreign Policy was based upon the wisdom of Washington's Farewell Address ( I bet you won't find this in your child's history book-if they have one). The defeat of the Confederacy during the War for the Right to Secede set this nation upon a road to empire. The actions of Roosevelt and Wilson set the stage for the society that we have become. The masters are no longer the people, but the people have been conditioned and programmed to think of themselves as drones-non-persons within their own land.
Are we to believe the voices of today's public relations jingoism- that allegiance or love for one's nation is judged by one's willingness to kill a stranger, who is of no threat to me or mine (outside a full tank of gas!). This perversion sees us no longer protecting our shores but protecting the interests of the Corporate/State. The mindless, soulless, malignant, malevolent, conscienceless Corporate/State is now disguised as Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam. Beneath the red-white and boo and crown of yellow ribbons is a pimp and his whore.
All this brouhaha, of dressing up and marching off to invade foreign lands in pre-emptive strikes, while the lie imploded at our feet! WAKE-UP. Over these many decades trillions have been spent under the guise of a cold war-national defense-intelligence etc., to supposedly defend us from harm. Really! On Sept. 11-2001 this lie was shown as volcanic clouds of ash chased citizens down concrete canyons! Protection! Everyone sat on their asses, went to take a leak, called the wrong office, or stood around like obedient lap dogs that they were and waited for someone to tell them to do their jobs and PROTECT AMERICA! Trillions! And we are led to believe that some grubby cave men, took some lessons on two seated crop dusters, bought some box cutters, and just shocked and surprised everyone! Well by God then everyone needs to have their ass fired.
A joke of a Commission is set up, and we all know what the report will say. Most of us with any literacy skills and a GED could write it now. White -out the word Warren and magic bullet and insert 911 and magic planes and there you have it. Oh, and the findings that these incompetent, inept, lying bastards need billions more in funds so that they can continue on in their labyrinths of nothingness.
Excuse me, but the idea that a citizen has a duty to serve his government (which is hello himself) is a malignant perversion of the proper obligation that a citizen has to his neighbor and society. A archaic idea, and not spoken of in today's" Shock and Awe Theater;" but each individual person is to choose the course of action in his/her own life which will create the greatest good. For all these wars, all these deaths, all these walls and marble memorials, are we any better off? How does a nation protect it's people and it's shores when the land is emptied of it's men? Men off in desert lands protecting pipelines and protecting a puppet government for a puppet people! A people given no voice in their supposed "liberation".
Defense of one's homeland is a legitimate call to arms. A people have a right to self-defense. One does not have the right to be commanded to take another's life for any other reason. All life is sacred. No man-politician or otherwise, has the right to order a nation's youngsters to become killers of mankind. There is no argument here. Those without conscience or a moral compass have no problem in creating a world of killing forever. "Choose you this day whom you will serve".
The carnage and chaos of war creates monsters. Monsters of insatiable greed, and corrupted power, who in their delusional state of mind see themselves as gods. Men, hollow soulless men, in plush board rooms, and war rooms, moving the people of the world around as if they were mere pieces on a global board game. Monopoly gone mad! Monopoly, with its "enemy combatants" disappeared ones, with no rights and no voice. The innocent caught up with the truly guilty (whoever that might be) too bad, tough luck. Is this the "freedom" that men/women are ordered to die for?
On 9/11/2001 we the people (we) became the enemy. The victims in this mad board game are now searched, scanned, fingerprinted, stopped at road blocks, or beaten down by men with clubs, stun guns, tear gas, and jaw shattering plastic bullets. Is this what global freedom means? Dissent and freedom of speech are now marked as the enemy. Is this what our children and children's children should die for? Why should our nation's children die for a foreign land to be liberated while it's own is being enslaved? What's wrong with this picture?
War turns men into monsters. Abusing, torturing, assaulting, and sexually humiliating citizens, caught up in village sweeps. Citizens from small farms and villages labeled "camel jockeys-towel heads-rag heads-sand niggers". One dehumanizes others in war so that it is more acceptable to kill and torture. Men become depraved monsters shooting down (in their fear) any and all who threaten. Some in this madness kill for the sheer joy of it. I saw a young man/boy of perhaps twenty on the news. He was in a snit because he'd been assigned guard duty. With a sullen snarl, when interviewed he said, "I was trained to kick down doors and shoot people, not to stand around doing nothing". This snot nosed kid- who just a few months back was probably hanging out at the mall or on a local street corner in Any Town USA, is now waiting for the thrill to kill.
Those returned from war end up in shelters, under bridges, or abandoned cars. Some never acclimate back to small town- work a day living. From a warrior, with the power to kill, now back in rust town USA, is quite a downer. No more gun-no more legal authority to kill. Now he's just another citizen watching out for the local cop to stop him for a speeding or traffic violation. Others are crippled for life; absent sight, limbs or their minds. They are now just mere cannon fodder. Much like litter they end up kicked to the curb.
Vice President Cheney who received numerous deferments has no problem with sending future generations off to fight Forever Wars (our new economy). He said, "The war on terrorism will not be over in our lifetime. It is different than the cold war in the sense that it may NEVER END, at least not in our lifetime. The way I think of it -it's a new normalcy" (Oct 21-2001).
Think on these words of his. This new "normalcy" is continuing war. Children marked to die in this perverse "new normalcy". Is the world we want-this madness that sees war, continual never ending war as a "new normalcy". Not for him-deferred again. Why give birth, if you know you're merely incubating a commodity until the state is ready to assign him/her to a killing field? And so we are spending approximately five billion plus per month on war and the invention of bigger and better annihilating weaponry. Not on schools, hospitals, affordable housing, a real energy policy (minus dependence on oil), education (minus change agents with their testing), our decaying infra-structure or medical care minus the corporate vampires of the pharmaceutical-insurance-and HMOs, who decide who will live and who will not in some distant sterile cubicle. Rest assured this injustice is not visited on our politicians or retired Presidents. They have made sure that they have the best of insurance (we pay 72% of costs) and pensions that are obscene. Meanwhile they allow ours to be stolen. How long can a nation working at Wal-Marts-Prisons-Convenience Stores-Home Depots-as black-jack dealers-ski lift operators or maids support forever and ever war? Just wondering?
Monday, June 21, 2004
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
These words defeat and victory are so tied up with how we stay imprisoned. The real confusion is caused by not knowing that we have limitless wealth, and the confusion deepens each time we buy into this win/lose logic: if you touch me, that is defeat, and if I manage to armor myself and not be touched, that's victory.
Realizing our inner wealth would end our bewilderment and confusion. But the only way to do that is to let things fall apart. And that's the very thing that we dread the most--the ultimate defeat. Yet letting things fall apart would actually let fresh air into this old, stale basement of a heart that we've got.
- Pema Chodron
Everything we are trying so hard to keep in order, to prevent from happening, to protect from being what it is or who they are - what would happen if we just let them go? If the chips just fell where they may? Can you imagine the amount of energy we are using trying to keep it all bound up so it doesn't leak? Let go.... take your finger out of the dike.... let the flood begin... we won't drown... we won't even have to swim.. we will just float peacefully on the river of now..
- Dharma Grandmother comment and Pema Chodron quote from the book, Start Where You Are, published by Shambhala, both posted to DailyDharma
Realizing our inner wealth would end our bewilderment and confusion. But the only way to do that is to let things fall apart. And that's the very thing that we dread the most--the ultimate defeat. Yet letting things fall apart would actually let fresh air into this old, stale basement of a heart that we've got.
- Pema Chodron
Everything we are trying so hard to keep in order, to prevent from happening, to protect from being what it is or who they are - what would happen if we just let them go? If the chips just fell where they may? Can you imagine the amount of energy we are using trying to keep it all bound up so it doesn't leak? Let go.... take your finger out of the dike.... let the flood begin... we won't drown... we won't even have to swim.. we will just float peacefully on the river of now..
- Dharma Grandmother comment and Pema Chodron quote from the book, Start Where You Are, published by Shambhala, both posted to DailyDharma
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
9. What is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind?
That which rises as ‘I’ in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought‘I’ rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind’s origin.Even if one thinks constantly ‘I’ ‘I’, one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the ‘I’ thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.
10. How will the mind become quiescent?
By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought ‘Who am I?’
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the senseorgans, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called "inwardness" (antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as "externalisation" (bahir-mukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity "I". If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).
12. Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?
Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is the same for both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought "I" is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and other people may not be under the impression that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha); it will not destroy the mind (manonasa). Like the practice of breath-control. meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, restriction on food, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent. Through meditation on the forms of God and through repetition of mantras, the mind becomes onepointed. The mind will always be wandering. Just as when a chain is given to an elephant to hold in its trunk it will go along grasping the chain and nothing else, so also when the mind is occupied with a name or form it will grasp that alone. When the mind expands in the form of countless thoughts, each thought becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind becomes one-pointed and strong; for such a mind Self-inquiry will become easy. Of all the restrictive rules, that relating to the taking of sattvic food in moderate quantities is the best; by observing this rule, the sattvic quality of mind will increase, and that will be helpful to Self-inquiry.
13. The residual impressions (thoughts) of objects appear wending like the waves of an ocean. When will all of them get destroyed?
As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.
14. Is it possible for the residual impressions of objects that come from beginningless time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one to remain as the pure Self?
Without yielding to the doubt "Is it possible, or not?", one should persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep "O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?"; one should completely renounce the thought "I am a sinner"; and concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed. There are not two minds - one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds - auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil. The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others one gives to one’s self. If this truth is understood who will not give to others? When one’s self arises all arises; when one’s self becomes quiescent all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.
15. How long should inquiry be practised?
As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry 'Who am I? ' is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry. If one resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently, until the Self is gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.
16. What is the nature of the Self?
What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no "I" thought. That is called "Silence". The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is "I"; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.
17. Is not everything the work of God?
Without desire, resolve, or effort, the sun rises; and in its mere presence, the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates; people perform their various functions and then rest. Just as in the presence of the magnet the needle moves, it is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls governed by the three (cosmic) functions or the fivefold divine activity perform their actions and then rest, in accordance with their respective karmas. God has no resolve; no karma attaches itself to Him. That is like worldly actions not affecting the sun, or like the merits and demerits of the other four elements not affecting all pervading space.
18. Of the devotees, who is the greatest?
He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?
19. What is non-attachment?
As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any residue in the very place of their origin is non-attachment. Just as the pearl-diver ties a stone to his waist, sinks to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so each one of us should be endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and obtain the Self-Pearl.
20. Is it not possible for God and the Guru to effect the release of a soul?
God and the Guru will only show the way to release; they will not by themselves take the soul to the state of release. In truth, God and the Guru are not different. Just as the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the Guru’s gracious look will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost; yet, each one should by his own effort pursue the path shown by God or Guru and gain release. One can know oneself only with one’s own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else’s. Does he who is Rama require the help of a mirror to know that he is Rama?
21. Is it necessary for one who longs for release to inquire into the nature of categories (tattvas)?
Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to analyse it and see what it is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count the number of categories or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is to reject altogether the categories that hide the Self. The world should be considered like a dream.
22. Is there no difference between waking and dream?
Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake. so do those in a dream while dreaming. In dream the mind takes on another body. In both waking and dream states thoughts. names and forms occur simultaneously. 23. Is it any use reading books for those who long for release? All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what one’s Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one’s Self with one’s own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.
24. What is happiness?
Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.
- excerpt from Who Am I? (Nan Yar?): The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi; Translation by Dr. T. M. P. MAHADEVAN From the original Tamil, Published by V. S. RAMANAN PRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES SRI RAMANASRAMAM TIRUVANNAMALAI, S. INDIA
More here: http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/
That which rises as ‘I’ in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought‘I’ rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind’s origin.Even if one thinks constantly ‘I’ ‘I’, one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the ‘I’ thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.
10. How will the mind become quiescent?
By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought ‘Who am I?’
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the senseorgans, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called "inwardness" (antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as "externalisation" (bahir-mukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity "I". If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).
12. Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?
Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is the same for both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought "I" is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and other people may not be under the impression that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha); it will not destroy the mind (manonasa). Like the practice of breath-control. meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, restriction on food, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent. Through meditation on the forms of God and through repetition of mantras, the mind becomes onepointed. The mind will always be wandering. Just as when a chain is given to an elephant to hold in its trunk it will go along grasping the chain and nothing else, so also when the mind is occupied with a name or form it will grasp that alone. When the mind expands in the form of countless thoughts, each thought becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind becomes one-pointed and strong; for such a mind Self-inquiry will become easy. Of all the restrictive rules, that relating to the taking of sattvic food in moderate quantities is the best; by observing this rule, the sattvic quality of mind will increase, and that will be helpful to Self-inquiry.
13. The residual impressions (thoughts) of objects appear wending like the waves of an ocean. When will all of them get destroyed?
As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.
14. Is it possible for the residual impressions of objects that come from beginningless time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one to remain as the pure Self?
Without yielding to the doubt "Is it possible, or not?", one should persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep "O! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?"; one should completely renounce the thought "I am a sinner"; and concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed. There are not two minds - one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds - auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil. The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others one gives to one’s self. If this truth is understood who will not give to others? When one’s self arises all arises; when one’s self becomes quiescent all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.
15. How long should inquiry be practised?
As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry 'Who am I? ' is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry. If one resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently, until the Self is gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.
16. What is the nature of the Self?
What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no "I" thought. That is called "Silence". The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is "I"; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.
17. Is not everything the work of God?
Without desire, resolve, or effort, the sun rises; and in its mere presence, the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates; people perform their various functions and then rest. Just as in the presence of the magnet the needle moves, it is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls governed by the three (cosmic) functions or the fivefold divine activity perform their actions and then rest, in accordance with their respective karmas. God has no resolve; no karma attaches itself to Him. That is like worldly actions not affecting the sun, or like the merits and demerits of the other four elements not affecting all pervading space.
18. Of the devotees, who is the greatest?
He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?
19. What is non-attachment?
As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any residue in the very place of their origin is non-attachment. Just as the pearl-diver ties a stone to his waist, sinks to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so each one of us should be endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and obtain the Self-Pearl.
20. Is it not possible for God and the Guru to effect the release of a soul?
God and the Guru will only show the way to release; they will not by themselves take the soul to the state of release. In truth, God and the Guru are not different. Just as the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the Guru’s gracious look will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost; yet, each one should by his own effort pursue the path shown by God or Guru and gain release. One can know oneself only with one’s own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else’s. Does he who is Rama require the help of a mirror to know that he is Rama?
21. Is it necessary for one who longs for release to inquire into the nature of categories (tattvas)?
Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to analyse it and see what it is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count the number of categories or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is to reject altogether the categories that hide the Self. The world should be considered like a dream.
22. Is there no difference between waking and dream?
Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake. so do those in a dream while dreaming. In dream the mind takes on another body. In both waking and dream states thoughts. names and forms occur simultaneously. 23. Is it any use reading books for those who long for release? All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what one’s Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one’s Self with one’s own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.
24. What is happiness?
Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.
- excerpt from Who Am I? (Nan Yar?): The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi; Translation by Dr. T. M. P. MAHADEVAN From the original Tamil, Published by V. S. RAMANAN PRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES SRI RAMANASRAMAM TIRUVANNAMALAI, S. INDIA
More here: http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/
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