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December 2013 January SRI RAMANA JYOTHI JANUARY – DECEMBER 2013 JANUARY - 2013 UNCOVER THE FALSE APPEARANCE Until the false appearance of the snake goes, the underlying truth, the rope, will not shine. Until the false world-appearance becomes non-existent, the underlying reality, the truth, the swarupa , will not reveal itself. – Sri Ramana Maharshi THUMBING NOSE AT WESTERN PHILOSOPHY By D. Samarender Reddy* We are not creatures of flesh and bones Moving around by choice or constraint Nor are we thoughts of any kind Streaming in some mental space. Viewing ourselves to be so No doubt sort of makes sense When the sun is up and shining But so do many bizarre things When we shut our eyes and doze. While a Plato or Derrida May have some truths worth hearing Their words are but visible thoughts And thoughts however noble or ignoble Always fall short of the Truth Which is too vast to be so constrained In the only form that the mind Is capable of handling. Were it that we seek The Truth and nothing but the Truth Unmire the mind from the bog Of discursive thought And sacrifice it humbly At the altar of meditation. *A medical doctor who works in Hyderabad. < [email protected] > 1 THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE: Spiritual experiences cannot be had through our five senses. They are the kind that can be perceived directly from inside of one’s consciousness. For this to be possible, one has to have a really intense desire for it. One has to switch the physical world off completely for as long as possible. Only then can one make oneself eligible for the spiritual experience. Many tend to argue that spirituality cannot be divorced from worldly living, as spirituality basically entails living normally, though with an attitude that I am something more than the physical body. While this may make sense to most spiritual seekers, there is danger that it will amount to nothing more than hypocrisy. One may continue to merrily indulge in worldly pursuits and may simply keep telling oneself now and then that there is soul beyond the body. That will be self-deception. It is unlikely to bring any spiritual experience to such a person. Many believe that spirituality means living in a noble way – practising honesty, integrity, charity, selflessness and other such noble qualities. These are, no doubt, an important preparation towards attaining the ultimate objective. However, this is not the be-all and end-all of spirituality for it would confuse means with the end. If one falls into that trap, it may amount to walking on treadmill when in fact, one wants to reach a destination! Yes, one will get the side benefit of shedding some fat; but one won’t be progressing towards the ultimate goal. Without vairagya , it might not lead to the ultimate goal of Self-realisation. – Kishor Kulkarni SURRENDER TO BHAGAVAN: In the word Bhagavan, ‘Bhaga’ means opulence and ‘van’ means the one who possesses. Bhagavan possesses all opulence, the totality of knowledge, wealth, power, and renunciation. Another meaning of Bhagavan is that ‘Bhaga’ signifies ‘shakti’ or potency. The interpretation of Bhagavan is ‘Sarvashaktiman’ – one who possesses infinite abundance of everything. Bhagavan Sri Krishna openly invites us in Gita , to surrender unto Him, and that He will take care of everything. If we do not heed His message, He will lose nothing, but we would be deprived of being protected and maintained by Him. – Nishkinchan Maharaj THE GREATEST WONDER: In Mahabharta , while replying to Yaksha’s question, “What is the greatest wonder of all?” Yudhishthira says, “Day after day countless persons are going to the abode of Yama, yet those who remain behind believe themselves to be immortal. What can be a greater wonder than this?” We believe that what happens to others will not happen to us. We apply different standards to evaluate our own behaviour and that of others in all fields of activity. Our attitude towards others is the result of ignorance of their ways of thinking and living. We can tame the beast in us by educating ourselves about our true nature. It can be 2 done by inner spiritual development. Then we see the whole of human family as one. – Ashok Vohra TRANSFORMATIONAL PROXIMITY OF SRI RAMANA British journalist Paul Brunton * who first visited the Maharshi in 1930, records as follows, in his inimitable way. Face to face with the Maharshi, I became aware of a mysterious change taking place with great rapidity in my heart and mind. The old motives which had lured me began to desert me. The urgent desires which had sent my feet hither and thither vanish with incredible swiftness. The dislikes, misunderstanding, coldness and selfishness which had marked my dealings with many of my fellows collapsed into abyss of nothingness. An untellable peace fell upon me and I knew that there was nothing further that I shall ask from life. I became aware that he is definitely linking my own mind with his, that he is provoking my heart into that state of starry calm, which he seems perpetually to enjoy. In this extraordinary peace, I find a sense of exaltation and lightness. Time seems to stand still. My heart is released from its burden of care. Never again, I feel, shall the bitterness of anger and melancholy of unsatisfied desire afflict me. My mind is submerged in that of the Maharshi and wisdom is now at its perihelion. [The point in the orbit of a planet when it is closest to the sun.] A force greater than my rationalistic mind awes me until it ends by overwhelming me. During daily meditation in the potent presence of the Sage, I learnt to carry my thoughts inwards to an ever-deepening point. Again and again I became conscious that he is drawing my mind into his own atmosphere during these periods. And it is at such times that I begin to understand why the silences of this man are more significant than his utterances. There were moments when I felt his power so greatly that I knew that he has to only issue the most disturbing command and I will readily obey it. But the Maharshi is the last person in the world to place his followers in the chain of obedience. He allows everyone the utmost freedom of action. In this respect he is quite refreshingly different from most of the teachers and yogis I have met in India. Again and again, I am aware that the Maharshi’s mind is imparting something to my own, though no words may be passing between us. Spiritually my life is nearing its peak. I enter the hall and straightaway assume my regular meditation posture. An intense interiorization of consciousness comes with the closing of eyes. The Maharshi’s seated form floats in a vivid manner before my mind’s eyes. Then the picture 3 disappears leaving me with nothing more than a strongly felt sense of his intimate presence. I flash swiftly to a pin-pointed concentration. Some new and powerful force comes into dynamic action within my inner world and bears me inwards with resistless speed. In the next stage, I stand apart from the intellect, consciousness, that it, is thinking, and watch thoughts with a weird detachment. I feel like some Columbus about to land on an uncharted continent. I remain perfectly calm and fully aware of who I am and what is occurring. Yet my sense of awareness had got drawn out of the narrow confines of separate personality; it had turned into something sublimely all embracing. Self was still there, but it had changed into a radiant self. With it arrived an amazingly new sense of absolute freedom, for thought is like a loom-shuttle which always goes to and fro, and to be freed from its tyrannical motion was to step out of prison into the open air. I was in the midst of an ocean of blazing light, which stretched away into untellable infinite space, incredibly alive . I attained a divine liberty and an incredible felicity [Bliss]. My arms embrace all creation with profound sympathy. My heart got remoulded in rapture. In the presence of the Maharshi I felt security and inward peace. The spiritual radiations that emanated from him were all-penetrating. The subtle and silent flavour of spirituality which emanated from him can never be reported. Face to face with the Maharshi, sometimes I felt in the presence of a visitor from another planet, at other times with a being of another species. * Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, a publication of our Kendram, contains his enchanting reminiscences at pages 13-23. His classic A Search in Secret India made the Maharshi known the world over. The book is available at the sales counter of the Kendram. SRI RAMANA’S ADVENT AT ARUNACHALA Alighting at Tiruvannamalai station on the morning of 1 st September, 1896, Venkataraman beheld his ‘promised land’ in the gopurams of Arunachaleswara temple. The very sight of the towers filled his soul with joy. With quick steps and a pounding heart, he proceeded straight to the great temple. The gates of the three high compound walls and all the inner doors were open. (M.G. Shanmukam* in his Tamil biography of Bhagavan (1937) states that as Venkataraman entered, the temple doors began to open automatically.) There was not a single soul beside him; and it looked as though the Father was thus preparing to welcome his beloved son who marched straight to the innermost shrine without any hindrance, and addressed Arunachaleswara (in the shape of Lingam) thus: ‘Father, I have come according to 4 your bidding.
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