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The Juggler
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
The Juggler
A certain man who, I learn, puts on juggling performances every year during the Karthigai Deepam festival, has come to the Hall; he has questions to ask of the master—
Q.: Does Sri Maharshi possess the power to turn his body invisible at will? Does Sri Maharshi possess the power to materialise objects out of nothing or thin-air?
B.: Sri Maharshi does not even possess a will.
Q.: [somewhat smugly] Now I would please like Sri Maharshi to witness my spectacular abilities.
The man then proceeded to extract from his baggage a long rapier of the sort used in fencing-games, and attempted to entertain the master and the Hall by endeavouring to swallow whole the same.
Just before he could carry out any such feat of his, however, the sarvadhikari[manager] who had evidently heard of what was going on here, rushed into the Hall and ushered – in fact, threw – him out. After coming back inside, he commented,
“If that trickster [சில்மிஷக்காரன்] ever tries to make his way back inside again, those in the Hall – any one of you – please come and alert me at once…”.
B.: He was not trying to hoodwink us, but only endeavouring to demonstrate his talents. That spatha [rapier] which was shown by him did not have any folding or retraction mechanism. It is necessary to practice for years together so that the body’s inherent and natural reflexes can be overcome and defeated, in order that the instrument may be thrust all the way inside the alimentary-canal; it is certainly not an easy feat to accomplish. People slog for years together like this in order to gain the appreciation of others in society.
What is the use? One day somebody else will come along and steal our throne within a few minutes, and then we will lie forgotten and abandoned on the roadside. Instead of expending one’s energies uselessly outwards like this and then suffering needlessly later on, one must deploy this given lifetime towards the cause of Realising the Self.
Q.: Not all can understand the technical nuances of Ajata Advaita; it requires a highly evolved intellect so to do.
B.: It is enough if the belief that the world is real be given up.
Q.: Is it necessary to believe the world to be a projection of one’s own mind?
B.: We look for beliefs to harbour only after we have lost hold of that which is actually Real. If the Real be held on to all the time, the question of what to believe and what not to believe will never arise. The believer himself being altogether fictitious, can anything believed by him be true or correct?
Hold on continuously and incessantly to the Beingness of the Self—without anticipating or expecting anything in return or by way of reward—until the Self Reveals Himself; then there will be no requirement to go on asking questions, such as “Shall we believe in this?” or “Shall we believe in that?”.
Edited by John David Oct 2021
How shall we kill the mind?
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
How shall we kill the mind?
Q.:Throbbing ‘I’-‘I’ scintillating within me. This is an intensely peaceful state and I wish I could remain in it forever. Alas – unfortunately, the experience lasts for only a few seconds before fading away. Can I please know the reason from Bhagavan?
B.: It means that the tendencies which cause extroversion are still dormant within the mind. It is necessary to go on unabatedly practising keeping the mind submerged in the Heart until all of the latent tendencies are wiped out without trace.
Q.: How shall we kill the mind?
B.: Is it the mind that wants to kill the mind? The mind cannot kill the mind. Anything that you endeavour to ‘do’ with the mind will only reinforce and perpetuate the notion of mind. Rather than pointlessly wondering, ‘How shall I eradicate the mind?’, go on seeking the mind. Incessant search for what mind is results in its disappearance.
The thing to do is to completely ignore the objects that appear by the reflected light of the mind, and instead seek the source of the mind’s illumination. If the source of the mind is continuously sought for, it begins to subside.
The point of vichara is to continuously hold on to the subject. No matter what the experiences might be that present themselves, pay no attention and continue to remain focused on the subject. The subject is your notion of ‘I’. Go on examining this notion until it disappears.
Edited by John David Oct 2021
One Response
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One who knows spurana cannot but fail in expressing them with words like one does explaining the taste of honey, but in experience a drop on the tongue tells it all. Thus, is the grace of the divine that throbs on the right side of the chest which is, with due reverence, not limited to just Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi or his path revealed alone.
The throb is like the screen of your curtain over the window pane unmoving poked by your walking stick – viewing it from the other side of the screen you will see a cavity and this cavity is what sucks the mind within like a whirlpool does – but only there is no swirling.
And when such a gravity pulls the bubble of the mind busy in movements there seems a tranquility that has always been there and is always there, a kind of continuum that cannot be explained for understanding which happens with intervals of waves of thoughts on the apparent screen of understanding.
Such a grace of suction may happen in the presence of a Being like that of Sri Ramana or it could happen in just being at a place for example like Rishikesh which has it’s own existence as a being with the power to push or pull the bull of the reflected light within the throb.
A quiet prevails. That’s all one can say from experience, when the bull runs out amok into the vagaries of the objects pursuing it’s habits… when they subside gradually the returning home experience increases and thereon spontaneously a new world of the unseen in terms of exquisite experiences energetically of various degrees of peace and love ensue… hopefully for all of them to one day give way to a stillness in the throb where there will establish a no-throb. spurana to no-spurana in experience. heart-stillness in oneness of the ocean of love. om tat sat.
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Mixed Blogs
Sex, Love and the Illusion
Authentic Love is very different from falling in love. Falling in love is the ultimate illusion. Because to fall in love there must be a somebody. A somebody who falls in love with somebody else. So there is me and you. And as we know, when there is me and you, then I am identified with my life.
How to find Love?
What exactly is Love? Love is very, very difficult to talk about. I can start perhaps by talking about what love isn’t, because love isn’t all the love songs, all the romantic love stories, all the television dramas.
This drama of love between couples is definitely not really love.
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.
The Desire for Material Wealth
Much of life has become solely focused on material wealth. Money has become the focus all around the world, and through that focus the planet itself has become threatened by the ecological consequences. Yet the economic rationalism of the society always takes first place.
Sri Gajapathi Aiyyer, Author of Aham Spraruna
Sri Gajapathi Aiyyer was a distinguished lawyer and a devotee par excellence of the Maharshi. He came to Ramanasramam in the 1930s. He stayed for perhaps six months and kept meticulous diaries of the meetings in Bhagavan’s hall.
He is the author of the core of the manuscript known as Aham Sphurana. It seems in 1950’s his friend Swami Rajeshwarananda wanted to publish these notebooks. At that time the ashram didn’t have the necessary resources. Now some 70 years later a manuscript has appeared, Aham Sphurana, which appears to contain the material from Gajapathi Aiyyer’s Red Notebooks.
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.
Consciousness
Q.: After investigating ‘Who am I?’ I find that blankness prevails. What do I
do?
B.: Did you exist or not whilst the blankness mentioned by you prevailed?
It is only because you existed then that you now are able to recollect having experienced something at that time. Is that correct?
Q.: Yes.
B.: So, blanknesses come and go, but YOU always ARE. For YOU there is
neither coming nor going. YOU ARE now as YOU always WERE and YOU
will BE always as YOU ARE now.
A Dog and A Monkey
Q.: Can then an animal Realise the Self?
B.: It is not unheard of.
B. now looked at Chadwick, who was present in the Hall, squarely in the eye, and said:
When you came here first, you asked [me] how the Guru’s help is useful in bringing about Realisation. You were told that it makes the poisonous fangs of samsara ineffective. Now do you see?
Chad. merely looked uncomprehendingly vacant.
B.: Whilst the monkey was seated on this [pointing to his body], it was quite beyond the reach of the dog.
Enlightenment is an Illusion
The first thing I would say is that there are not any enlightened people. This word enlightenment is a wrong word. It is like sex or love or god. It is like some idea far away in the future. Maybe it has a value because it can bring people to find themselves, just as the peak of Mount Everest brings people to climb mountains.
The Juggler
A certain man who, I learn, puts on juggling performances every year during the Karthigai Deepam festival, has come to the Hall; he has questions to ask of the master—
Q.: Does Sri Maharshi possess the power to turn his body invisible at will? Does Sri Maharshi possess the power to materialise objects out of nothing or thin-air?
B.: Sri Maharshi does not even possess a will.
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.”
Renunciation
Q.: How does viveka [discernment] differ from
vairagya [renunciation]?
B.: Mere intellectual discernment of the real from the unreal is not of any great use. The unreal must be totally shunned, that is to say, the mind must be divested of any inclination to pursue it. One’s vasanas [ tendencies of mind] must be incinerated to the point of complete annihilation in the fire of vairagya; otherwise rebirth cannot be successfully avoided. Viveka may stop with intellectualisation and mental contemplation of the truth. But without vairagya Jnana cannot be achieved
Have the Conviction that You are Free
It’s simple, even if you don’t think you’re free, or even if you’re not completely free, have the conviction that you are free. Even if you know it intellectually that you’re free, hold on to that. It may be just intellectual, but it will help you because it won’t let your mind disturb you so much.
My Second Dialogue with Papaji
On my last blog I published this exchange between Sosan and his Master Huike.
Apparently Sosan spent six years with Huike who had received the transmission of the Buddha’s teaching from Bodhidarma.
Osho told that many people…