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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

Devotion Opens the Heart
JD: Hello Bhakti, which is the Hindi word for devotion.
BHA: This is my treasure. In the first three minutes of silence, already I noticed I’m always just in thoughts.
So busy in the thoughts, and then I go more into myself and the tears came. If I hear you talking, then in just a short time I really can go into my heart. I appreciate this so much and I really recognise your energy, like a mystery.

Who is the Spiritual Teacher?
In ancient times and still in modern India, a particular spiritual tradition is passed down from a teacher to a student and in turn to his student. So there is a sense of lineage and nobody takes any personal claim on that lineage. The truth is important, not the teacher.

Mrs Piggot’s Diary
Mrs. Piggot recounts her farewell to Bhagavan, highlighting his quiet knowing, grace, and teaching to live as the Self.

A Song by Leela
We are the ocean, love and devotion, let’s just surrender, always remember nobody ever was, life is but a dream.

Sri Gajapathi Healed and Attacked
Through Grace, Love, and remembrance, illness was healed, fear dissolved, and an enduring devotion to Bhagavan and Hanuman remained.

Renunciation
Ramana Maharshi explains that renunciation burns tendencies, leading to effortless stillness and ultimate merging of the mind into the Heart.
Libelling Bhagavan
A manager reports a slanderer’s misdeeds, but Bhagavan, serene and detached, laughs, accepting all as part of divine play.

Meeting Papaji
I asked the Master how much effort you have to make if you want to be free. Papaji whispered, he said, ‘You don’t have to make any effort to be free.’ The moment I heard those words, a vision appeared in my mind’s eye. I saw water flowing down the side of a mountain…

My Job is to Destroy You
Then one day, this was the big change, I’ll never forget it, never to this day.
He sat up cross-legged on His bed and I was sitting on the floor in the hospital.
He drew a line and He said, “Look.” He said it like, “Look (gruffly), this is a line. On this side of the line is everything you’ve ever known, everything…

A Typical Western Visitor’s In-Depth Dialogue with Bhagavan
Through patient dialogue, Sri Ramana guides a seeker towards Self‑Realization, emphasizing grace, inquiry, inner silence, and simple vegetarianism.

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

Steve Jobs: The Crazy Ones
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. …

Natures silence
SHY CRABS
AT SUNSET TIME
PERCHED ON THE EDGE
OF THEIR SAND HOLES

Aham Sphurana
B.: The importance of Summa Iru is, “Keep your mind idle or asleep in the Beingness of the Self.” As for the body, it has its own prarabdha (destiny that effects our life now) to attend to. You have no right of say over the body. You cannot decide whether the body should work or remain idle. What is bound to happen will happen. If the body is destined to remain without working, work cannot be obtained even if you hunt for it. If the body is destined to work you cannot alter such destiny, for the body will be forced to engage in it. So leave it to the Higher Power.

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…