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Schopenhauer and Renunciation
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
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? Will cannot be conquered by will. Mind cannot kill mind. Only absolute surrender can result in ruination of the wille-zum-leben or ego.
E.Z.: Schopenhauer is said to have been extremely impressed by the Upanishads.
Q.: Schopenhauer is also said to have been a follower of the Buddha’s teachings; he likewise contended that desire alone is the cause for all sorrow in life. This is evident from his writings.
…………Long text in German ending: …….thus almost all old faces wear the expression, which in English is called‚ disappointment.’
B.: Yes – and by that time it is usually too late to do anything. If one’s vasanas are to be destroyed and Realisation achieved, perfect vairagya [renunciation] is necessary. Vairagya is not the petty frustration that develops toward the world when one has failed in all of one’s pursuits and is left with no successful standing to speak of in the world; vairagya is the matured conviction that samsara is futile, pointless, and inherently devoid of meaning or purpose; it is the former that Herr Schopenhauer is referring to when he mentions that some elderly people seem to have expressions on their faces that could indicate presence of disappointment within the mind. This mood of despondence, disappointment, or frustration is not vairagya and it is certainly not enough to check one’s vasanas; it is merely a transitory inclination of mind that soon passes off without having left behind any noteworthy consequence; vairagya is not like this. Vairagya scorches the mind. Repeated failures and frustrations in life might lead to mental bitterness, which does harm but not good; but if such adverse experiences in life must result in or blossom into vairagya, which does good but not harm, Guru’s Grace is absolutely necessary.
Q.: How to get Guru’s Grace?
B.: By surrendering yourself unconditionally.
Q.: Whom shall I surrender to?
B.: Absolute surrender cannot involve surrendering “to” anything. Surrendering to God can at best be called partial surrender. To totally surrender is to simply altogether LET GO. If everything is given up including the renouncer or relinquisher, only Reality remains, and that alone is the true Self. Asking “Whom shall I surrender to?” is the same as asking “If I am to let go, who will catch me as I fall?”. You want to be “caught” again; that is why this question arises. Mature souls want to fall; they do not want to be caught at all. What is the point of letting go if you would only be caught again? So, the paripakvi does not surrender “to”; he simply surrenders.
Q.: And thereafter?
B.: There is no thereafter.
Q.: I meant, what is the state after surrendering perfectly?
B.: Is the one that surrendered perfectly asking this question? Can he?
Q.: No, but I am asking.
B.: The only way to truly know is to yourself do it and see. There cannot be anything to witness the Self.
Edited by John David Oct 2021
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
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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.
A Former Classmate Visiting Bhagavan
B.: Why all these fancy items? You yourself have family-members who are suffering from asthma: is that not so? Is this body more important than or in any way superior to those bodies? How is it that ignoring them you have brought this medicine over to me? If you give this to those who truly need it, they will feel happy. I have no use for such things. I cannot think “Oh! we are taking medicine for our good health.” and feel elated. [smiling, in demure fashion saying—] I hope you are not angry with me…!
Vishwanatha Aiyyer and the Monkey
Q.: How did Bhagavan finally persuade that boy, Vishwanatha Aiyyer, to return home?
B.: I did not. On that night when he was sleeping outside the ashram, I was sitting some distance away from the boy when I noticed that Shabarigirisan was sitting blissfully alone on the roof of the ashram, staring at the full moon in great contentment. When I looked at him, the languor [monkey] leaped down, pressed some ginger shoots into my hands and took them back; then he climbed back and was for sometime ingesting them. Then he did something nobody will believe. He came near us, poised himself on the floor in the Bakāsanam, and softly began whistling [or screeching], perfectly, the tune corresponding to ‘Endaro Mahanubhavulu…’.
What is Spiritual Awakening?
The only sure way to step out of all the stories and all the nonsense is to really see with great clarity that this ‘me’ that we are so fond of referring everything to, simply doesn’t exist. Once you see it doesn’t exist then the whole thing falls away. Everything just falls away and you’re left with your essence.
Real Transformation by Going Inside
CH: I’m very touched.
JD: Yes.
CH: There’s a deep longing to really live, to connect and to share. It’s very, very strong, I didn’t expect that.
JD: This came out of just doing this ten minute exercise?
CH: Yes, a strong urge to live.
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.
Our True Nature
Hans was one of Papaji’s earliest western students. When they first met he lived in Germany and he would go to India, to Haridwar, for about three months at a time, often staying in a guesthouse with Papaji. They would share a room and go on long walks along the river, mostly in silence, which is where he asked Papaji this question….
The Aghori’s Death and Liberation
‘When coming into the presence of the Jnani, some sensitive minds might alacritously plunge into instantaneous introversion. Then, their vasanas would- suddenly- put up a great clamour for attention. Caught between the desire to remain in the newly-discovered blissful thought- free state and the urge to satisfy demands imposed by the vasanas, such persons might, for a time, exhibit abnormal behaviour. But soon God’s Grace would set everything aright, provided there is a sincere determination to escape from samsara…’
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.
Osho´s dentist left his Body
Devageet – Osho’s personal dentist recently left his body. He wrote this poem after having been diagnosed with cancer. He was a giant made of gold who left this world a better place through the richness of his generous sharing… I bow down in gratitude to his roaring sprit..
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.
Jaws of the Tiger
Q.: Has anyone succeeded in winning the admiration of Maharshi himself?
B.: Oh! yes.
Q.: Who?
B.: You.
Q.: [face superciliously lights up with pompous joy, but manages to modestly utter] How can that be? I am a spectacularly worthless creature. Even after years of repeatedly visiting the sacred soil of Tiruvannamalai, I remain an unenlightened person.
B.: That is it.
Letters to Bhagavan
During the Master’s lifetime, the practise existed in the Ashram for devotees to send in letters asking for all manners and varieties of things. Most begged for Bhagavan’s blessings in their endeavours, and specifically would mention that the sheet carrying the reply be sanctified by his hallowed touch.
Many wrote wanting their prayers or wishes to be fulfilled. Others solicited clarification on doctrinal points. Yet other epistles carried doubts raised regarding practice.
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.
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…
