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.

Free Will and Effort

Bhagawan wrote the following as his reply to his mother Alagammal

"The Ordainer controls the fate of the souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma ( destiny to be worked out in this life, resulting from the balance-sheet of actions in past lives). Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen , try as you may. Whatever destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. this is certain. The best course , therefore is to remain silent "

Bhagawan was uncompromising in his teaching that whatever is to happen will happen, while at the same time he taught that whatever happens is due to prarabdha. He refused ever to be entangled in a discussion on free-will and predestination , for such , theories, although contradictory on the mental plane, may both reflect aspects of truth

He said explicitly "All the actions that the body is to perform are already decided upon at the time it comes into existence; the only freedom you have is whether or not to identify yourself with the body"

The apparently conflicting view that a man makes his own destiny is no less true,since everything happens by the law of cause and affect and every thought , word and actions brings about its repercussion.

Sri Ramana said " AS beings reap the fruit of their actions in accordance with God's laws, the responsibility is theirs, not His.

Bhagawan gave an example " The way to managed to come to Thiruvannamali, by physical effort , similarly make an effort to move forward on spiritual path.

Effort is needed. When a devotee complained that the peace he experienced whilst at the Ashramam diminished in time after reaching his home, Bhagawan advised him to strengthen his mind by effort to keep the flow of peace for longer time. The stronger the mind gets the longer the peace prevails , this can be achieved only by self effort, without focus on results.

SRI RAMANAYA NAMAH

Advaitic Sadhana - The yoga of Direct Liberation--Book

Advaitic Sadhana -The Yoga of Direct Liberation

This book is an essay written by S.S.Cohen, one of the earliest devotees of Bhagawan. This is a Gem of a book , containing also the English translations of Mandukyopanishad and Atma Bhoda. The book is divided in to three sections

Part one deals with the Sadhana itself qualifications of sadhaka , dhyana , pitfalls and samadhi. Nicely elucidated in this essay we can compare our position and move forward.

Part Two is the Mandukyopanishad , translation , this is not an exhaustive commentary ,but will emphasise the zest of the upanishad in plain English.

Part Three is the English translation of Atma Bhoda.Atma Bhoda is one of the smallest treatises written by Sri Shankaracharya , occupies a unique place in the science of Self-Knowledge and liberation. In 68 short stanzas the Acharya gives the cream of the Vedanta.

Overall this small book is a super guide and a pleasure read. Published by Motilal Banarsidass , this is a book of vedanta in nutshell. A must for Sadhakas.

Sri Ramana Sri Ramana Sri Ramana

Ramanashramam Visit

Apologies for the long absence.

 By grace of Bhagawan I should be able to write two posts ,atleast, per week.

I visited Bhagawan and Ramanashramam in August. Some pics from my visit

 

Entrance Sri  Ramanashramam 

 Holy Hill From Ramanashramam

Arunachaleswara Temple Gopuram Early Hours 

Another View of Holy Arunachala Hill