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Latest Blog

Rooting Out the Ego and Persevering on the Path

Ramana eyes

Aham Sphurana

A Glimpse of Self Realisation

New Book about Sri Ramana Maharshi

Available Worldwide

On  www.openskypress.com  and Amazon:

A Glimpse of Self Realisation

New Book about Sri Ramana Maharshi

“In my opinion, Aham Sphurana, a Glimpse of Self Realisation, will become a Treasure Trove of Wisdom to the Seekers of Truth in general, and particularly to the devotees of Bhagavan.”

Swami Hamsananda – Athithi Ashram, Tiruvannamalai

Available Worldwide

on  www.openskypress.com  and Amazon:

Rooting Out the Ego and Persevering on the Path

Q: Which is genuine Vichara – asking myself Who am I?  every time a thought arises or keenly investigating the problem of who I am? 
B: The latter. If you want to get rid of a poisonous tree, do you lop off its leaves one by one? What is the use of such an approach? In the time it takes for you to cut down one leaf, leaves multitudinous in number and multifarious in variety would have sprouted forth from the vicious tree. Instead, attack the poisonous root of illusion, namely the ahamvritti, straightaway!
 
Q: But I have heard it spoken of amongst Bhagavan’s devotees that Vichara, according to Bhagavan, can be compared to an aged mongoose waiting for a snake to come out of a discarded anthill that the latter happens to be using as its place of residence. 
B: Yes. The sword can be used for slicing as well as for stabbing. In the preliminary phase of sadhana, when thoughts rush out furiously one after the other, Vichara is used as a tool to go on returning the mind to its native state of thought-free pure Subjective Consciousness. It is always to be practised as and when it is discovered that the mind has strayed away from this natural state. 
      However, there is also the subsequent stage, where thoughts have largely subsided. Now, the investigation Who am I? is used to seek the mind with mind. Use the mind to scrutinise closely what ‘I’ is. Rather than creating something called ‘I’ and then looking at it so as for fulfilling the instruction to closely scrutinise ‘I’, seek ‘I’, whatever it might be and whether it might exist or not, without harbouring notions as to its existence or non-existence.
 
Q: I am trying to follow Bhagavan’s instructions. But my vasanas prove to be an obstacle. What can I do? 
B: Never mind obstacles. Keep on going. Do not sit down or pause to moan or complain, but keep on going. The only important thing is to keep on going. If you try to take stock of progress yet to be made, you will feel alarmed and then further progress would have become impossible. So, never stop, but go on escalating. One day you will reach the summit, or rather, realise that you never left it. Until then, climb relentlessly and incessantly. Do not bother about obstacles, progress, and the like. Simply and only, go on scaling. 

Edited by John David Nov 2024

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Danger of Emptiness [shunyastithi]

Ramana with Boy and Stick

Aham Sphurana

A Glimpse of Self Realisation

New Book about Sri Ramana Maharshi

Available Worldwide

On  www.openskypress.com  and Amazon:

A Glimpse of Self Realisation

New Book about Sri Ramana Maharshi

“In my opinion, Aham Sphurana, a Glimpse of Self Realisation, will become a Treasure Trove of Wisdom to the Seekers of Truth in general, and particularly to the devotees of Bhagavan.”

Swami Hamsananda – Athithi Ashram, Tiruvannamalai

Available Worldwide

on  www.openskypress.com  and Amazon:

Danger of Emptiness [shunyastithi]

Bhagavan: ( )…Otherwise, the aspirant will in all likelihood unknowingly mistake the shunyastithi [state of emptiness] to be Jnana and rest in it, eventually becoming hopelessly lost.   

It is an unfortunate fact that many teachers of meditation tutor shunyastithi and purposely delude their pupils into believing that it is Jnana.

Shunyastithi [state of emptiness] is a deadly spiritual poison. 

It drives one away from the Heart, thereafter the lost ground has to be recovered all the way by means of doubling-back if Jnana is to be reached. That is why meditation is not encouraged here, but only Vichara.

Edited by John David Nov 2024

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Mixed Blogs

Aham Sphurana

Mr. Evans-Wentz’s Visit

A visitor finds peace and wisdom with Ramana Maharshi, experiences deep spiritual moments, and departs with profound gratitude and joy.

Aham Sphurana

Love Is

Bhagavan teaches that unselfish, motiveless Love is the essence of Jnana, with vichara being a path to reveal it.

Aham Sphurana

Illusion and the Body

Ramana Maharshi explains that you are pure awareness, not the body. The world is a mental projection of the Self.

Aham Sphurana

Realise the Self

Realisation occurs when one surrenders completely, lets go of ego, embraces silence, and abides as the timeless, changeless Self.

Aham Sphurana

A Former Classmate Visiting Bhagavan

A touching reunion of childhood friends highlights Bhagavan’s humility, refusal of special gifts, and unconditional compassion for all.

Blog Posts

A Poem From Nataraj

I am nothing
I am everything

Everything I thought I was is just a thought
Nothing real, or grabbable.

I feel like I don’t exist
Im in oneness with everything I see
I walk and I am empty
I write but I don’t write
It’s a happening
No ones there doing anything
Free from my illusion
I feel safe

Aham Sphurana

The Count

Ramana Maharshi guides a seeker troubled by sex, guilt, and sin to overcome ego through the ‘Who am I?’ inquiry.

Mechanism
Blog Posts

Suppressing Our Mechanisms

I would say that that seeing of our nature is like the first step in an ongoing process that reveals everything that’s been suppressed or been jumped over, and in that process it’s really a fire, but ultimately the fire is not for any person, it’s actually for the benefit of all beings.

Blog Posts

Diamond Thief

There was a diamond thief who thought to steal only the most exquisite of gems. This thief would hang around the diamond district to see who was purchasing a gem, so that later he could pick their pocket. One day he saw a well-known diamond merchant purchase the jewel he had been waiting for all his life…

Aham Sphurana

The Heart

The spiritual heart shines forth when effort and doing subside, thoughts dissolve, and natural stillness becomes the only state.

Blog Posts

Qualifications for Satsang

There are certain qualifications to be fulfilled before one goes to a teacher for freedom.

The first requirement, discernment, is discrimination between what is real and what is unreal. This distinction is essential. You must desire what is real and reject what is unreal. What is real can only be truth. Your own Self. There is nothing beyond this. All the rest is falsehood…

Ramana5
Blog Posts

Ripe Souls Attain Jnana

The Jnani’s silent presence works like a magnetic force, effortlessly turning ripe minds inward, leading to natural, thought-free peace.

Blog Posts

Real Transformation by Going Inside

CH: I’m very touched.

JD: Yes.

CH: There’s a deep longing to really live, to connect and to share. It’s very, very strong, I didn’t expect that.

JD: This came out of just doing this ten minute exercise?

CH: Yes, a strong urge to live.

Blog Posts

Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen

The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When not attached to love or hate,
all is clear and undisguised.
Separate by the smallest amount, howe
and you are as far from it as heaven is from earth.