Gathered Blooms

The only burden that we have is the mind. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi asks one to "Never mind the mind". This saying (Talks - 97) of Bhagavan Ramana is popular among devotees. The conversation between Bhagavan Ramana and the devotee goes thus: D.: How to control the mind?  M.: What is mind? Whose is the mind?  D.: Mind always wanders. I cannot control it.  M.: It is the nature of the mind to wander. You are not the mind. The mind springs up and sinks down. It is impermanent, transitory, whereas you are eternal. There is nothing but the Self. To inhere in the Self is the thing. Never mind the mind. If its source is sought, it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected. D.: So one need not seek to control the mind?  M.: There is no mind to control if you realise the Self. The mind vanishing, the Self shines forth. In the realised man the mind may be active or inactive, the Self alone remains for him. For the mind, the body and the world are not separate from t

This poem glorifies the Master, Sri Ramana Maharshi's Feet as more sacred than the River Ganges. While it is a belief that the River makes one pure of one's vices, the Master's Feet takes one beyond virtue and vice to experience ultimate freedom. O ancient river, purity's door, Multitudes march to Thy shore, Your holy waters wash the sins to emerge clear, While my Master's Feet bestows it now and here! In your waters, breath arrested, heads dip and rise, To remove the accumulated vice, But virtue adds ensuring continuity, At my Master's Feet dissolves both in eternity. Arising from Shiva's locks, You make pure of those who flock, But seeds of deeds after, impregnated in future, At my Master's Feet no space nor time, No seeds to nurture. Virtue and vice arise from ego(individual self), Traced back to the source to forgo,        The phantom ego which emerge from the heart, With it the two dissolve in, from

'The Twisted Mind and the Truth' is based on a little, but power packed story dedicated to seekers of truth and those who really value a good night's sleep. A little boy had some good marbles with him. A little girl had some sweets with her. When they were  playing together, the boy asked for an exchange of the marbles with the sweets to the girl. The girl readily consented. The boy cunningly, retained the best marble and exchanged the rest with the girl for her sweets. The girl gave away all her sweets without retaining any, unlike the boy. That night, the girl went to sleep peacefully, but the boy twisted in his bed wondering if the girl had also kept away the best sweet from him! The moral of the story goes that in any relationship, it is important to maintain trust without which there is no meaning in it. If not we will end up doubting the other, as the nature of our own mind determines the understanding of things. A twisted mind fails to see the tru

Just a shift in our perception of ourselves can bring about a change in how we look at the world. The Illusory nature of the world can be understood by first-hand experience from our day to day life  of  the waking state, dream state and the deep sleep state, the three states in Consciousness. We actually perceive and experience the world through the mind. Our mind is nothing but a collection of thoughts, which have the ‘I thought’ as the primary thought. The ‘I thought’ is an impostor that springs from Consciousness donning the appearance of Consciousness, which is the REAL I. If but for the thoughts, there is no such thing called the mind, states Ramana Maharshi. In deep sleep, the mind is lost along with the world, but when we wake up, the individual self (identification with the body and the mind), or the ‘I thought’ rises after which we begin to experience the world for the day. When we view the world as the individual self or the ‘I thought’ in the waking

The poem “Still Water” reflects Oneness, the Oneness in Stillness despite the apparent duality and movement. The drop in the ocean and the ocean in the drop is but water. Stillness reigns, Drops of mind emerge and Drop back into the Ocean of Stillness. Every drop, a little ocean. In the stillness of the vast waters, Small whirlpools with each drop on the ocean’s breast, Still, still in the depths. Ocean in the drop, Drop in the ocean, All is water All is still, Stillness reigns, Stillness remains, Silently I am!

Om Namo Bhagavate Shri Ramanaya It is not some dry philosophy, but the day to day happening in each of our lives, from birth to death that we have missed to pay attention to- the waking state, the dream state and the deep sleep state. "The world is a changing phenomena, an illusion." A spiritual comrade uttered in the course of a casual conversation. The conversation drifted to the three states of consciousness-the waking, dreaming and the deep sleep states. They are alternating phases. A little scrutiny, and we can understand about these three states, which we experience every day from birth to death. By the term "Real", we mean "Original", in the things that we encounter in our day to day life. We call "Original" because there is no change in them ever. So are the three states of consciousness, the waking state, where we engage in day to day activities; and the dream state, where we move about in our dreams with a different set o

The poem, "The Path Back Home," is a reflection of a peaceful stroll, alone in nature. The path leads and dissolves into the horizon, with me....  Tiny pink and yellow flowers,  made occasional patches over the ground. The breeze in the meadow brushed past, The sun shied, behind the clouds, A Kingfisher flapped its way towards me, unaware; and swiftly turned away with an alert chirp. The three-legged dog hopped and barked; intrigued and agile, A squirrel leaped from the roof of the cowshed, onto the branch of a nearby tree. I paced the path aimlessly that stretched in front, A flock of birds took to flight, to the left from the right. A peacock started off from a branch of a tree, and flew far beyond, surprising me. A glimpse of the "Wordless One" having revealed itself, from the depths of which thoughts emerged and sunk. Thoughts of chaos showed up and slid, back into the depths of peace--a seeming paradox so long hid! A prayer arose and me

This poem is a plea to Bhagavan Ramana in the form of the Arunachala Hill in a mood of surrender to do away with the false ‘I’, or the little ‘I.’  It is written, inspired by the talks of Brahma Sri Nochur Venkataraman on ‘Ulladhu Naarpadhu’ of Ramana Bhagavan, verse 2. Here he exposes one to a broader dimension of the ‘Fear of death’, by extending it to the changes that are constant in one’s life and not merely the death of the body. If we reflect our actions are towards steadying ourselves in order to encounter changes in future, the results of which are not in our control. There is a fear of flux starting from our own body, mind, relationships, status, prospects, fortune etc. Therefore, death is immanent in everything and a way of transcending it as per Ramana’s words is to surrender the false identity for which these changes are apparent. Furthermore, the plea is to beseech Bhagavan to hasten the process, for the fear of being entangled in any forthcoming pleasure, which