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Showing posts from 2011

From Him unto Him-The true definition of Charity

                                                                          Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya On 9th December, I happened to visit the Ramana Maharshi shrine to attend the Poornima puja. In Bhagavan’s physical presence with swarming fellow devotees, how could one describe the bliss and glory? The puja came to an end with devotees going around the shrine chanting ‘Aksharamanamalai’ We then stood engaged in a little Satsang in a small group listening to Ms. Sarada Natarajan (President of Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning) about Bhagavan and Arunachala and the Karthigai Deepam festival, when the others had taken leave. A person from the group handed some money as a donation for the centre’s activities to Ms Sarada Natarajan requesting her to use it for the Poornima celebrations or for any other related activity.  The person humbly added, when I am HIS, what could remain as ‘mine’ to donate? Ms. Sarada Natarajan narrated an incident in response to

Self-Reliant-Are We Really?

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya Self-Reliant-Are We Really?                            Self-reliance  would normally mean being reliant on work, wealth, intelligence, social strength, relationships etc. Are we really Self-reliant in the truest sense while basing our reliance on these? When one is reliant on the aforesaid aspects, one is indirectly reliant on the mind. They are based on intelligence and emotions which are thought forms which constitute the mind.  In all of these impermanence is engrained. Such reliance is simply attachment which causes pain when their life elapses, or when they fail, while monotony and discontent are unavoidable outcomes of a successful life at some point. The mind hunts for something new. We are reliant on them owing to the belief somewhere; deep down, that they are going to exist for ever. It is only one’s true Self , the eternal which can bestow a perennial flow of contentment. It is to be noted that it is not about shunning work, wealth,

His Grace Ever Manifest

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya “Grace is both the beginning and the end. Introversion is due to Grace; Perseverance is Grace; and Realisation is Grace” says Ramana Maharshi-Talks 319 It would be the experience of every Ramana devotee, who has dedicated himself to the practice of Self enquiry, to experience the Grace of the Guru enveloping him, taking control of his life. This results in diminishing of the sense of ego-the ‘I’ sense which is identifying oneself with the body and the mind. The showers of Grace in every minute detail of life are inexplicable and beyond one’s imagination; the sudden manifestation of it, yet very subtly and naturally, placing things in order leaves one dumbstruck. Will basking in the ‘thought of Grace’ (in different situations) threaten one’s practice in subduing the ego and rather enriching it? In my humble opinion it depends on the mind-set of the people. When Grace has begun to manifest in one’s material life, it is sure to guide one to t

Just Be!-What is it to be?

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya To just be is an effortless state of existence or being. It is a state of pure surrender . It is basically shifting of one’s attention from the mistaken conception of one’s identity with the body mind complex to the self, or the ‘I-ness’ throbbing in one. It is the state of dropping the mind, a deep let go of things . Bhagavan Ramana’s teaching is ‘Just be’. Self enquiry was suggested by Bhagavan as it is difficult to detach oneself from thoughts and to realise the true nature of one’s being at one go. It is the pure state of awareness. It is a state of acceptance . Non-acceptance causes rebellion or conflict in the mind. When one is in the state of just b-e-i-n-g, total acceptance has happened whatever be the external situations, with no trace of conflict in the mind. It is pure b-e-i-n-g or existing. It is not a negative state of simply existing, but a vibrant, throbbing existence full of life - a state of consciousness. It is the g

My Trip Alone To Ramanashram-Part II

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya When the mind is worn out and weary, When it needs to be revived, To drink of your glory, The elixir of life Arunachala, the Mount of Grace,        May the mind rest in your eternal embrace. The turbulent mind This time I rushed to the Master’s presence with a turbulent mind. On 7 th October, peace seemed to be something very distant. I went round Bhagavan’s Samadhi over and over again for thoughts to slow down, which of course did. However the storm did not subside. Meditation was rather difficult as there was a counter thought, a worry, ‘the hankering for peace’. On 8 th morning the mind was totally worn out. It suddenly became averse to be engaged in any activity, be it to go round the master or to meditate in the meditation hall. It just dropped its movements. All of a sudden peace descended as I simply sat in the hall in front of the Mother’s shrine, where a black statue of Bhagavan is. Meditation later became fruit

My Trip Alone To Ramanashram-Tiruvannamalai

My Trip Alone To Ramanashram -Tiruvannamalai Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya A miracle of miracle, A miracle that can be called the greatest, Of all miracles that takes place in His presence, Is the miracle of His presence in one’s life! This write up is a letter to my friends who always accompanied me on trips to seek Arunachala, where we basked in His Grace. They were great times that are etched out in memory. Though we are scattered geographically, but in each possible conversation, Arunachala makes Himself present. So I couldn’t help but put down in words this trip alone to rush to His Feet. It is just a simple sharing of the beauty of the ordinary, in the midst of the grandeur of the extraordinary, ‘Arunachala’ I boarded the bus to Pondicherry enroute to Thiruvannamalai at 8.30 AM on 6/10/2011 and reached Ramanashram at 1.45 PM. Since the meal timings had elapsed, I walked up to Shri Sheshadri Swamy asharm for food that the canteen provided. I did a quick

The Song of Silence

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya You and I, When in silent communion, Amidst all the worldly din, The Internal and external, Dissolves in the eternal, You follow me with thy presence, While I clutch my form, To remind me of my essence, Vibrant silence, beyond forms and norms (You and I.....) I know not my path of journey, Nor do I know when it ends, With you  by my side, Unmindful I am of the journey, How and far it extends ! (You and I....)  Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya. Inspired by a quaint little Shiva temple on the way to work on the road side, set amidst a rocky background and green surroundings. Strangely enough, amidst all the traffic of Bangalore, the place simply fills one with peace, as He simply exudes Grace.

The Birth Of Creativity

One day on returning from work, in a relaxed mood, I hummed a tune that randomly popped up in my mind, as I pressed my face into a towel, to pat dry it. It suddenly struck me that a high pitched note just came up very smoothly and effortlessly which, did not happen when I had frantically attempted several years before. I was reminded of the Zen story, "The First Principle" Kosen, a Zen master, was good at calligraphy . One cannot but admire his work on a gate on which, it is carved "The First Principle". The letters were carved on the gate replicating what he had sketched on a piece of paper. The gate still bears testimony to the beautiful work of the Master in Obaku temple, Kyoto, Japan. The process of Kosen sketching those letters has become a beautiful and thought provoking Zen story. When Kosen was engaged in sketching the letters, one of his disciples, rather a bold one, criticised the very first effort of Kosen, "Oh that is not good!" Kos

Oneness in Consciousness

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya I am not the body nor am I the mind (Please read the previous posts for details) So 'Who am I?' The small booklet 'Who am I' of Ramana Maharshi is enough to dispel all doubts. What is left over is a vibrant silence, being-ness or consciousness. So if  I am this silence or consciousness, then the essence of everyone, should be the same. A oneness in consciousness is experienced (Universal oneness) Division can exercise only with the body or the form as 'you,' 'me,' 'they,' 'them' 'it' etc. Division is out of question beyond forms (body), (IE) when we understand that we are not the body. A small exercise suggested by Swami Ashokananda in His 'Not many but one' is really interesting. When one happens to see a person, a dog, a tree or anything else for that matter, He asks one to pierce through the form to identify the oneness in consciousness, spirit or silence (all means the same). Th

Self-Consciousness

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya! When there is a knower within oneself who knows the body, and surpasses the mind, then I cannot be the body that I had identified myself so far with! (Read The Meaning Of Consciousness for a better understanding of this statement) So whatever remained, after banishing the mind and the body is the ‘Self’. There is a being-ness that is alive, before the mind soon slips away in its vagabond ways which is self- consciousness. It is the Grace of the Master that gets one to persevere in his efforts. The Seers say that the endless extension of this vibrant stillness is what the ultimate state is. It is an interesting fact to notice the truth that goes unnoticed in our day to day life. We say ‘My body,’ ‘My mind,’ ‘My hand’ etc. The ‘My,’ the truth goes unnoticed and the focus is on body, mind hand etc. Whose hand, body or mind? “It is mine (I)” So we are essentially self-conscious, just that we lose track of it. So what happens of the body? In

The Meaning of Consciousness: A Deeper Understanding

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya! The word ‘Consciousness,’ was not more than a spiritual term, until I came across a book that introduced me to its deeper meaning. In one of my visits to Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, in the book store, I happened to pick up a book by Swami Ashokananda, “When the many become one.”  The title was nevertheless catchy and promised a detailed expression of the truth. It is a book very potent in knowledge and to be read slowly in order to grasp and digest the lofty truth that the words tried to portray. The word ‘Consciousness,’ as the book revealed, is the simple fact that all objects existed in our own consciousness (i.e.), any object that we perceive is in our own consciousness.  They will have to remain in the field of our consciousness in order to exist.  In other words we will have to be conscious of objects, only then can they be perceived. For example we perceive a glass only because we are conscious of it. We perceive an ant only because we are conscious