Some Incidents

 One day when all the visitors went to the dining hall for the midday meal a Brahmin youth was ejected

 from there. At the sight of this a devotee felt disinclined to sit down for his meal ; however he consoled

 himself and took his food . He was , however , so badly upset buy the incident that he did not take any of

the prasdam given to him later that day .At about 3 PM ., a monkey came and sat apposite to him in the

 Hall and he attempted to give it all the prasdam so far collected. Sri Bhagawan , looking at him ,

 remarked that if he fed that one fellow hundreds of others idlers would pour in to the ashram and it would

 be converted form a place of retreat of sadhakas , Jananis and yogis to an idlers asylum . 

Divine Grace and Self Surrender

 Divine Grace is a manifestation of the cosmic free will in operation. It can alter the course of events in a mysterious manner through its own unknown laws, which are superior to all natural laws, and can modify the latter by interaction. It is the most powerful force in the universe.

It descends and acts only when it is invoked by total self- surrender. It acts from within, because God resides in the Heart of all beings. Its whisper can be heard only in a mind purified by self-surrender and prayer. Rationalists laugh at it, and atheists scorn it, but it exists. It is a descent of God into the soul’s zone of awareness. It is a visitation of force unexpected and unpredictable. It is a voice spoken out of cosmic silence - It is ‘Cosmic Will which can perform authentic miracles under its own laws’.

From :Gems of Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharishi 

Revelation -- Sri Raman Hridayam

 All the ills of the worldly life are the outcomeof the primary ignorace, by which the body, composed of the five sheaths, is identified with the SELF, so that all the defects and limitations of the former are tansferred to the latter; this is improper , because the SELF is pure spirit, Consciousness, not only distinct from these sheaths but also quite unconnected with them. The SELF is therefore timeless and spaceless, the Transcendental Reality, which is the substratum of the world-appearance, which is not real in its own right, but only because it has Reality for its substratum, which alone is real.  The Self therefore is ever-free and perfect , and does not need to be freed or perfected. By following the direct path , the mind- the agent of ignorance - is disolved in the Self , bondage and all the ills of life are trancended , and the Self is realised as Pure Consciouseness-Bliss without wants and limitations.

Revelation -- Sri Raman Hridayam 

Author Introduction.

Sri Ramanaya Namah

Egotism-- Enemy Of Wisdom

Vashista Gita -- the oft quoted scripture by Bhagawan is a jewel of Vednatic teachings.

Sri Rama explaining his depodency and vairagya to sage Vashsista says the following 

" I am bevildered and scared when I contemplate the coming in to being of the dreadufl enemy of wisdom known as egotism. It comes into being in the darkness of ignorance and flourishes in ignorance. It generates endless sinful tendencies and sinful actions . All suffering surely revolves around egotism and egotism is the sole cause of mental distress. I feel that egotism is the worst disease . Spreading the net of wordly objects of pleasure , it is the egotism that traps the living beings . Indeed , all the terrible calamities in this world are born of egotism . Egotism eclipses self-control, destroys virtue and dissipates equanimity. Giving up the egotismtic notion that ' I am Rama ' and giving up all desires, I wish to rest in the self. I realise that whatever I have done with egoistic notion is vain- non-egoistism is alone is truth. When I am under the influence of egotism ,I am unhappy; when Iam free form egotism I am happy. Egotism promotes cravings, without it they perish. It is egotism alone,without rythm or reason , that has spread the net of family and social relationships to cathc the unwary soul . I think I am free from egotism ; yet I am miserable . Pray , enlighten me."

Sri Ramanaya Namaha.

PRAYER

This one is from "In the Days of Great Peace" by Mouni Sadhu , devotee of Bhagawan

Achievement is the same for all religions. But the ways to it can be seen differently . If you study the lives of the saints of all faiths, you will find that they are all brothers in the love and realization of God. Let our prayers be unselfish, and remeber always that the Lord knows better how to rule His Universe than we do. Therefore, He does not need our suggestions in this matter. Try to make perfect that which is really yours -- your own consiousness. That is our only aim.

Here is the mysitc prayer by St. Francis of Assissi:

"Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred , let me sow love;

where there is injury , let me sow pardon;

where there is doubt, let me sow faith;

where there is diapair -hope;

where there is darkness -Light;

where there is sadness ,let me sow joy'.

 May this divine prayer stay in our hearts and surrender ourselves to HIM.

Sri Ramana

Happiness and Misery in Creation

Apologies once again for my absence . Some times life drifts away from the Spiritual waters. By Bhagawans grace I am back again at his feet.

Was reading SS Cohen's book on Bhagawan and found this, and thought this is a pertinent time to share this.

On May 4th 1937 in Bhagawan's presence a book was read which touches on weather the world was created for happiness or for misery. 

Bhagawan answered as follows 

"Creation is neither good nor bad; it is as it is . IT is on the human mind which puts all sorts of constructions on it, as it sees things from its own angle and as it suits its own interests. A women is just a women, but one mind calls her mother , another sister and still another aunt and  so on. Men love women, hat snakes and are indifferent to the grass and stones by the road side. These connections are the cause of misery in the world. Creation is like a peepul tree; birds come to eat its fruit, or take shelter under its branches , men cool themselves in its shade , but some may hang themselves on it.Yet the tree continues to lead its quiet life , unconcerned with , and unaware of , all the uses its is put to . It sis the human mind that creates its own difficulties and then cries for help. Is God so partial as to give peace to one person and sorrow another? In creation there is room of everything , but man refuses to see the good, the healthy and the beautiful , and goes on whining , like the hungry man who sits besides a tasty dish and instead of stretching out his hand to satisfy hunger , he goes on lamenting."

To ask for protection form HIM is to doubt his GRACE 

Sri Ramana 

Visons , Miracles and Mystic experience

I was going through old Mountain path issues and one of the issues on Aradhana day had the following from Sri Ramakrishna on Visions.This caught my mind for a long time and sent me in to thinking and self reflection.

" Taking visions to be the whole of religion, many come to the wrong conclusion that any one who has not had such experiences is not at all spiritual. Spirituality and aimless miracle mongering seem to them the same thing. But this kind of hankering after miracles does not make man spiritual ; on the contrary it makes him weaker daily in all respects. That which does not lead to steadfastness and strength of character, that which does o tenable man to take his stand on the rock of purity and truth in defiance of the whole world , or that which entangles him more and more in various kinds of desires instead of setting him free from them , is outside the realm of spirituality. If extraordinary visions have not produced such results in your life and nevertheless you are having those visions , know that you are still outside the realm of spirituality , and that the visions are due to a diseased brain and so are of no value. IF , on the other had , instead of having wonderful visions and experiences , you find yourself acquiring strength , know for certain that you are on the right path and that you will also have those visions and experiences at the proper time."

Sri RamaKrishna , The Great Master.