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The Secret of Jnana is Bhakti
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 Secret of Jnana is Bhakti. Unselfish Love.
A Dialouge with Sri Ramana Maharshi
Gajapathi: To everyone who comes here Bhagavan recommends vichara only.
Bhagavan: Vichara is a means to eliminate ignorance, which obnubilates Love from Shining forth, for the nature of the Self is Love Itself. Love cannot be practised as a sadhana. All that is possible is to surrender to it. There is no such thing as inculcation of Love. Love is already there. It, alone IS. All that is needed on your part is to give up thought, which makes you imagine yourself to be apart from Love, and so merge in Love. Then there is only Love, which is bliss beyond imagination.
To one who has discovered the ecstatic joy of volitionless Love, sadhana is a laughable absurdity. Unto those who solicit justifications, we may say that such Love blossoms only in souls which have perfected their sadhanas in previous births.
Edited by John David Nov 2024
Poem of J. Krishnamurti
A Beautiful Poem
by J. Krishnamurti
I have no name;
I am as the fresh breeze of the mountains.
I have no shelter;
I am as the wandering waters.
I have no sanctuary, like the dark gods;
Nor am I in the shadow of deep temples.
I have no sacred books;
Nor am I well-seasoned in tradition.
I am not in the incense burning upon the high altars;
Nor in the pomp of ceremonies.
I am neither in the graven image;
Nor in the rich chant of a melodious voice.
I am not bound by theories;
Nor corrupted by beliefs.
I am not held in the bondage of religions;
Nor in the pious agony of their priests.
I am not entrapped by philosophies;
Nor held in the power of their sects.
I am neither low nor high;
I am the worshipper and the worshipped.
I am free.
My song is the song of the river calling for the open seas;
Wandering, wandering;
I am Life.
– J. Krishnamurti
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Mixed Blogs
The Answer is to Enquire,”Who Am I”
A curious, altogether ridiculous personality has arrived at the ashram gaudily dressed in a three-piece suit, a beaver hat, and an ascot cravat. In this weather, his skin ought to catch fire; I wonder how it still seems to be intact. He carries an ebony cane mounted with a miniature bronze, roaring lion’s head.
Sri Gajapathi Aiyyer Ashram Report
For the most part of today I was unable to go to the Ashram. Since Sri Cycle-Pillai seemed to be indisposed for the time-being with one of his occasional abdominal ailments, and was thus not in a position to do his usual chores for the Ashram. The sarvadhikari [manager] has asked me to purchase roots of the shathavari [Asparagus racemosus] plant from a herbs-dealer who put up his wares in different parts of the town on different days.
What is the Purpose of Life?
Q.: What is the purpose of life?
B.: It is to discover the correct answer to this question.
Q.: What is the correct answer?
B.: Life.
Q.:I do not understand?
B.: Life does not question its own purpose. It has no questions to ask. It has no complaint to raise. It has no grudge to bear. Therefore it is in perpetual peace.
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.
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.
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.
Got It !
As I sat there looking at him doing what I could to just be and when the five seconds were over he asked me what happened. I said well I’m just sitting here. He said, no, no, I told you no thinking. I am sitting here thinking. So let’s do it again. So we did it again. At that point I…
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.
Meditation
Practiced diligently, meditation techniques purify the mind because they bring awareness to unholy patterns of thought and feeling. Unhealthy thoughts cannot survive the penetrating light of awareness. Nothing purifies like experience of the Self, which releases a flood of healing, cleansing, spiritual energy into the conscious and unconscious minds.
Surrender
Q.: Is surrender a means to overcome and vanquish the vasanas [tendancies of the mind], thus resulting in Realisation?
B.: Yes: provided it is unconditional, surrender is a fool proof way to Realise the Self.
Q.: What is the guarantee that I shall Realise the Self if I surrender?
B.: You are missing the point of surrender.
Q.: How so?
B.: To surrender is to let go of everything without anticipating or expecting anything in return.
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.
Mrs Piggot’s Diary
I was told that the Maharshi had his finger on the pulse of the whole ashram, although he appeared prima facie totally unconcerned with all mundane affairs. For instance, when in the Hall, he was supposed to know what was going on even in the kitchen — and incidentally I was surprised to find that he himself assisted in the cutting up of vegetables for the daily meal.
I was also told that he knows what is passing in the minds of people. Of this latter ability, I had a small personal experience.
Beauty
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but when you’re really, really Quiet, there’s so much Beauty! Everything is beautiful! It was one of those days: today, the ocean was beautiful, the houses were beautiful, the people were beautiful, the weather was beautiful, the paintings were beautiful, the lunch was great. It was just like a flow through Beauty, the whole day.
BE As You Are
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.
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.
