Miscellaneous

Gems from Bhagavan, Ch.13

No one can be out of sight of the supreme Presence. Since you identify one body with Bhagavan and another body with yourself, you find two separate entities and speak of going away from here. Wherever you may be, you cannot leave me.

Sri Ramakrishna is said to have seen life in the image of Kali that he worshipped. That life was perceived by him, not by all. The vital force was due to himself. It was his own vital force which manifested as if it were outside and drew him in. Were the image really alive it must have appeared so to all. On the other hand, everything is full of life. That is the fact. Many devotees have had experiences similar to Sri Ramakrishna.

Christ is the ego and the Cross, the body. When the ego is crucified and it perishes, what survives is the Absolute Being (God); cf.., "I and my Father are one." This glorious survival is called the Resurrection. God the Father represents Isvara, the Son is the Guru, and the Holy Ghost is the Atman.

The Bible says, ‘Be still and know that I am God,’ Psalm 46. Found in the Ecclesiastics: "There is one alone and there is no second" and "The wise man's heart is at the right hand and a fool's heart is at the left".

No thought will go in vain. Every thought will produce its effect sometime or other. Thought force will never go in vain.

Some have maintained that the body can be made immortal and they give recipes, medical or other, for perfecting this body and making it defy death. The Siddha School (as it is known in the South) has believed in such a doctrine. Venkasami Rao in Kumbakonam started a school which believed the same. There is a society in Pondichery too. There is also the school which believes in transforming men into supermen by descent of Divine Power. But all the people, after writing long treatises on the indestructibility of their bodies, after giving medical and yogic recipes to perfect the body and keep it alive forever, pass away one day.

Name of God and God are not different. The Bible also has it: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."

In the name Rama, 'Ra' stands for the Self, and 'ma' for the ego. As one goes on repeating 'Rama', 'Rama', the 'ma' disappears, getting merged in the 'Ra' and then 'Ra' alone remains. In that state there is no conscious effort at dhyana, but dhyana is always there, for dhyana is our real nature.

The yogi may be definitely aiming at rousing the Kundalini (the Serpent-power) and sending it up the sushumna (yogic nerve). The Jnani may not have this as His object, but both achieve the same result, that of sending the life-force up the sushumna and severing the chitjadagranthi (the knot binding the sentient and the inert). Kundalini is another name for Atma or Self, or Sakti. We talk of it as being inside the body because we conceive ourselves as limited to the body. But it is in reality both inside and outside, being no other than the Self, or Sakti. In the jnana marga, when by Self-enquiry the mind is merged in the Self, the Self, its Sakti or Kundalini rises automatically.

If peace of mind is true Mukti or Liberation, how can those whose minds are set on siddhis (miraculous powers), which cannot be attained except with the help and activity of the mind, attain Mukti, where all turmoil of the mind ceases? Avoid desire and aversion. Do not engage the mind much in the affairs of the world. As far as possible do not get entangled in the affairs of others ^[1]. Giving to others is really giving to oneself. If one knows this truth, would one ever remain without giving?

If ego rises, all will rise. If the ego merges, all will merge. The more we are humble, the better it is for us.

The best and most potent diksha (initiation) is by silence, which was practised by Lord Dakshinamurti. Those by touch, look, etc. are of a lower order. Mouna can change all hearts.

Bhagavan, when asked by a devotee whether he should continue taking the name of God as advised by his late Guru, or change over to vichara (enquiry), referred the devotee to an article in Vision of September 1937, on the "Philosophy of the Divine Name according to Saint Nam Dev", in which it is explained that God and God's Name are all the same.

The sun illumines the universe, whereas the Sun of Arunachala is so dazzling, that in It the universe is not seen; there remains only an unbroken brilliance.

It is not true that birth as a man is necessarily the highest, that one must attain Self-Realization while only being a man. Even an animal can attain Self-Realization.

There is no need for anyone to start reforming the country or the nation before reforming himself. Each man’s first duty is to realize his True Nature. If after doing this he feels like reforming the country or nation, by all means let him take up such reform. Swami Ram Tirtha advertised: "Wanted Reformers - but reformers who will reform themselves first". No two persons in the world can be alike or can act alike. External differences are bound to persist, however hard we may try to eliminate them. The only solution is for each man to realize his True Nature.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says "Aham" is the first name of God. The first letter in Sanskrit is "A" and the last letter "Ha" and "Aha" thus includes everything from the beginning to the end. The word Ayam means That which exists, self-shining and self-evident. Ayam, Atma, Aham all refer to the same thing. In the Bible also, "I AM" is given as the first name of God.

If we concentrate on any thought and go to sleep in that state, immediately on waking up the same thought will continue in our minds. People who are given chloroform are asked to count one, two, etc. A man who goes under after saying six, for instance, will, when he comes round again, start saying seven, eight, etc.

When I lay down with limbs outstretched and mentally enacted the death scene, and realized that the body would be taken and cremated and yet I would live, some force, call it atmic power or anything else, rose within me and took possession of me. With that I was reborn and I became a new man. I became indifferent to everything afterwards, having neither likes nor dislikes.

From silence came thought, from thought the ego, and from ego speech. So, if speech is effective, how much more so must be its source? Karpura arathi (burning camphor before God) is symbolic of burning away the mind by the light of illumination. Vibhuti (sacred ash) is Siva (Absolute Being) and kumkum (vermillion powder) is Sakti (consciousness).

The puranas speak of this Hill (Arunachala) as being hollow, with cities and streets inside it. I have also seen such things in visions. The books speak of the Heart as a cavity. But penetration into it proves it to be an expanse of light. Similarly the Hill is one of light. The caves, etc. are covered up with that light.

The means prescribed for securing the spiritual end, such as charity, penance, sacrifice, dharma (virtuous conduct), yoga, bhakti (devotion) and the end itself described variously as Heaven, the Supreme Object, Peace, Truth, Grace, the Quiescent State, Deathless Death, True Knowledge, renunciation, Moksha (Liberation) and Bliss are all nothing but being free from the obsession that the body is the Self.

Give up regarding yourself as this despicable body and realize your Real Nature, which is one of Eternal Bliss. Seeking to know thyself while still anxious about the welfare of the body, is like attempting to cross a stream with the aid of a crocodile for a raft.

Not desiring the non-Self is dispassion (vairagya). Inhering in the Self is Jnana. Both are the same.