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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
Essential Extracts from the Manuscript
Q: So, is this state of consciousness steadily remaining merely as Itself, undisturbed by thought, called the Sahajastithi?
B: No. It is called Aham Sphurana.
Q: Then what is the Sahajastithi?
B: No description is possible. The reflected being — consciousness which is localised in a physical body — is destroyed; after this is destroyed, that alone remains which has always been.
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.
War and Peace
There will be War until you find Inner Peace which is your Essential Nature.
Peace is your essential nature. Therefore there is nothing to do to be at Peace. We arrive on this planet in tremendous Peace with an invitation to enjoy, play and have fun! Then our parents raise us to be adults and without knowing better, they condition us to be nearly constantly at war.
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.
The Thinking Mind
I went into stillness immediately. But I kept going back to my mind and believing my mind and feeling caught up. Mind is a tricky thing, it can make you believe it, even when it’s a lie, it can make you believe it’s not a lie.
That’s why I say forget everything the mind tells you, because it’s a deceitful thing the mind…
The Heart
Q.: Will chanting “A-HAM” [Self] mentally lead to realisation of the Self?
B.: Whilst doing it, fix your attention at the source of the japam[ ] in you. That is, scrutinize where from within yourself the japam arises and retain your faculty of attention exclusively at such source.
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!
The Simplicity of Being Here
Unfortunately we have been filled up in our education by all kinds of ideas. If we want to be really happy, then we have to be special, and if we do these special things, that will make us especially happy. So we aspire to having a big house or car or special clothes, because this is supposed to make us happy. This way of desire is actually the game of society, because societies are now-a-days based on this idea of desire.
But this game of desire simply doesn’t work, because it only can give you a feeling of satisfaction for a short moment.
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.
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.
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
Schopenhauer and Renunciation
Q.: I have heard that Bhagawan once spoke highly of Schopenhauer.
B.: He has discovered that the world is an inherently and incorrigibly unhappy place; he has also discovered that man’s true purpose is happiness; furthermore, he states correctly that extirpation of one’s personal will leads to Emancipation. However, what seems to be missing is practical technique. How shall the wille-zum-leben, which is the cause for all suffering, be defeated and annihilated?
Samadhi
Chad.: I asked my master if He would mind giving me a detailed explanation concerning the term Samadhi, and its various kinds. The Lord Ramana graciously assented and sweetly spoke the following words:—
B.: The meaning of the word Samadhi is generally given as Union with Reality, but it is not so. Samadhi means the State of non-differentiation from Reality or THAT-WHICH-IS. The following are its kinds:
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.
Love as in Relationship Love
Love is an energy. It has nothing to do with boys and girls and falling in love and candlelight dinners. That’s not what I would call love. I would call that a disease.
