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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
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.
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.
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…
Mind and Jesus Teachings
Q.: I have heard Bhagawan saying “Knowledge of the world is exclusively knowledge of the knower of the world.” What does it mean?
B.: That the world is only in the mind–that the appearance of any world, or the phenomenon of manifestation, is not possible in isolation from your mind.
Q.: Are there as many minds in the world as there are people? Are all these minds emanating from the Self at the same time?
B.: There are not multiple minds. Only your mind emerges from the Self, styles itself “I”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Libelling Bhagavan
7th August, 1936
Early in the morning as usual the sarvadhikari [manager] arrives with wet dhoti [cotton wrap] and prostrates in front of Bhagavan whose eyes are closed. The meditating Aghori and myself are the only others in the Hall. Observing the master in a meditative inflection of comportment, I have, as always on such instances, closed my eyes. The sarvadhikari rises; he lingers for a fraction-of-a-second longer than usual. Then he moves toward the door.
Celibacy and Relationship
It’s quite clear that for almost everybody this issue of intimacy with another human being is a strong structure, a strong issue. In the eastern traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism there is a deep understanding that if you seriously want to become a spiritual seeker you become celibate and stay alone.
Poem of J. Krishnamurti
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.
Planet Crisis and Self Awareness
I’m constantly talking about self awareness, self awareness, self awareness. The reality of climate change is that unless we do really drastic things, it actually may be too late. Too late for what? We may have already destroyed our planet. Can you imagine that? We clever human beings may actually without realising it, step by step by step, may have pushed the effect of global warming, which is all human made, we may have pushed it to a point where it can’t be stopped, it can’t be re-stabilised. That’s what they’re discussing…
Sex and the Self
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.
Mr. Evans-Wentz’s Visit
Q.: Sometimes I feel thought stopping and the feeling of beingness underneath is exposed and revealed. At the same time a pulsating sensation is felt on the right-hand side of the chest. Is it right?
B.: Yes. Thoughts must cease and reason disappear for ‘I-I’ to rise up and be felt. Feeling is the prime factor and not reason.
Q.: Why should it be felt in the chest but not in the head?
M.: Because body-consciousness is located there.
Q.: When I see outside the sensation disappears. What is to be done?
M.: It must be held on to incessantly.
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.
