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Sex and the Self
Aham Sphurana
A Glimpse of Self Realisation
New Book about Sri Ramana Maharshi
Available Worldwide
On www.openskypress.com and Amazon:
“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
Sex and the Self
Q: It cannot be denied that it is sexual desire that causes man to engage in coitus, even when reproduction is not the motive.
B: You ask about the biological sexual urge. That is impregnated in the ego mind body complex to facilitate reproduction, according to nature’s design. If the act did not involve pleasure, man would likely ask ‘Why should I give birth to children?’
What is the highest joy man can know? It is the state of no-mind. Daily he experiences it in sleep. Only the yogi has experience of it in waking; for the Jnani there can be no question of experiencing anything. So, nature has seen fit to introduce this bliss of no-mind in the coital act.
A moment before the commencement of the spasms that bring about emission of the seminal fluid, for precisely 1/128th of a second, the mind is removed. It is like a plate being exposed with a very quick shutter speed. The impression of the bliss tasted, leaves behind a strong craving for more such bliss in the mind. This is how men end up addicted to the act.
Edited by John David Nov 2024
Complete Cessation of Mental Activity
Aham Sphurana
A Glimpse of Self Realisation
New Book about Sri Ramana Maharshi
Available Worldwide
On www.openskypress.com and Amazon:
“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
Complete Cessation of Mental Activity
Bhagavan: People are so obsessed with and enamoured by mental activity that they imagine that by some special kind of mental activity, such as meditation, for instance, the Self can be duped into revealing Itself. It is not so. Only complete cessation of mental activity can reveal the Self. Giving up the personal self or the idea of the seekers existence, should, again, be volitionless and unconditional; it should not be driven by any motive.
If you feel tempted to ask for a formula for this also, know that there is none. You abandon the personal self not because you expect or anticipate or want Self-Realisation in return [in which case you never really abandon it at all – you only absurdly think that you do], but because in that very act of such abandonment, you discover for yourself, practically, as a DIRECT INSIGHT, that no such thing as the personal self ever existed and that no such thing could ever exist.
Edited by John David Nov 2024
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Mixed Blogs

Hiding in Non-Duality
JD: It’s very easy to say, “I don’t need to look at anything, ‘I am nothing.’”
Q: I did therapy where I ended up in very nice love space with an open heart. Then I met you and Advaita and discovered this “Oh, I’m nothing,” and again I don’t need to look to anything.
JD: But this is just a nice idea. It is one of the popular mistakes made by people during the last years in Satsang, about non duality.

Got it – Lost it
The most important part of the story of my time with Papaji actually came later. I realised I had been a long time in the dilemma of appearing to be ‘in’ and ‘out’ of Self. Papaji would often talk about the memory of spiritual experiences being just another memory, the past.

An Incident between Bhagavan and the Ashram Manager
Bhagavan compassionately scolds the manager for cruelty towards rats, teaching mercy and the value of every life, inspiring humility.

The Aghori’s Death and Liberation
Bhagavan guides the Aghori’s death with serene grace, ensuring sacred release and merging the sadhu’s being with the Absolute.

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.

Limits of the Intellect
Of course I respect that everybody here has read the same books that I’ve read. We all read the same books so we all know what the books say but of course we don’t really ‘know’ from reading books.

Albert Einstein Quotes
“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. Matter is spirit reduced to point of visibility. There is no matter.”

Unrealise the not-Self
Recognise that all ideas of ego and identity are unreal, and by seeing this clearly, only the true Self remains.

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

Planet Crisis and Self Awareness
I’m constantly talking about self awareness, self awareness, self awareness. The reality of climate change is that unless we do really drastic things, it actually may be too late. Too late for what? We may have already destroyed our planet. Can you imagine that? We clever human beings may actually without realising it, step by step by step, may have pushed the effect of global warming, which is all human made, we may have pushed it to a point where it can’t be stopped, it can’t be re-stabilised. That’s what they’re discussing…

I have a body
Ramana Maharshi explains that regardless of thoughts about the body, one must abide as the Self, allowing life to flow spontaneously.

Essential Extracts from the Manuscript
Aham Sphurana is a beacon leading to Sahaja, but only when left undisturbed and ego-free, allowing spontaneous abidance.

Love is
Love is
Only love is
Love moves the leaves in the wind and the planets in the universe
All is LOVE and you are this LOVE

Sri Gajapathi Aiyyer Ashram Report
A vivid Ashram diary recounting the devoted, diverse lives of seekers, Bhagavan’s humour, Grace, and timeless wisdom in action.

Meditation
Meditation means sticking to one thought to the exclusion of every other. One particular thought keeps away all others.