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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
Be Part of Creation
Alienation from nature and the loss of the experience of being part of the living creation is the greatest tragedy of our materalistic era. It is the causative reason for ecological devastation and climate change. Therefore I attribute absolute highest importance to consciousness change.
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.
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
Illusion and the Body
Q.: Bhagavan asserts that ‘Awareness’ is the real nature of “I”. But what exactly is this awareness? Awareness of what?
B.: Do you exist or do you not?
Q.: Yes.
B.: How do you know?
Q.: I don’t understand what Bhagavan is trying to tell me.
B.: Do you need a mirror to be placed in front of your eyes in order so as to enable you to infer that you have eyes?
Stabilising in Truth
Andrew Cohen in his “Meeting with Remarkable People,” interview talked about the issue of stablising or embodying the new reality once a strong energetic opening has occurred. How easily the ego structures can close things down and therefore the need for work on strong inner mind patterns.
Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.
And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be,because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
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.
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…
Sunrise
SUDDENLY THE SOUND OF
SINGING BIRDS AT SUNRISE
PENETRATES MY BEING
AWARENESS
OF A SUBTLE POWER
THE EARLY MORNING SUN…
Suppressing Our Mechanisms
I would say that that seeing of our nature is like the first step in an ongoing process that reveals everything that’s been suppressed or been jumped over, and in that process it’s really a fire, but ultimately the fire is not for any person, it’s actually for the benefit of all beings.
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…
Vichara, Self Enquiry
Q.: What are the indicators based on which I shall be enabled to find out for myself whether I am doing vichara [Self enquiry] correctly or not?
B.: If vichara has resulted in a state of mind wherein it abides as identical with pure Subjective Consciousness, then you have done it correctly.
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.
An Incident between Bhagavan and Chinnaswami [Brother], the Ashram Manager[sarvadhikari].
I flinched, for when Bhagavan is angry- an extremely rare occurrence- waves of ire are felt by his devotees to be radiating everywhere in the ether. The sarvadhikari, however, seemed to be too pre-occupied with the contents of his head to pay any attention to what he must have surmised to be a coversation going on between Bhagavan and a devotee. He rose from his prostration and went to the door.
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.
