Grace

Never has any one ever gotten rid of the illusion of existence spun by the lord. Never has anyone destroyed the legions of karma, never has anyone mastered the senses. Never has anyone attained, without the grace of the lord.

Uddhava Gita

Uddhava Gita is part of the Shrimad Bhagavatam. It consists of the advices given by Lord Krishna to Uddhava. With a pure mind one observe in all begins as well as in oneself only Me (Lord Krishna), the atman, who am both inside and out, and unobstructed like the sky. O great soul, he who, taking his stand on pure knowledge, thus regards and honors all beings as Myself, who has the same attitude towards a Chandala as well as a Brahmana, a thief as well as a patron of the Brahmanas, a spark of fire as well as the sun, and a ruffian as well as a kind man is considered a sage. Ideas of rivalry, jealousy, pity and egoism quickly depart from a man who always thinks of Me (Krishna) in all men. Uddhava Gita (Chapter XXIV, verses 12 to 15)

A passage from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

Passing Breeze

Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love,

O beloved of my heart—this golden light that dances upon the leaves,

these idle clouds sailing across the sky,

this passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead.

The morning light has flooded my eyes—this is thy message to my heart.

Thy face is bent from above, thy eyes look down on my eyes,

and my heart has touched thy feet.

via Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore.

Eternity jar

Come, come, awaken all true drunkards!
Pour the wine that is Life itself!
O cupbearer of the Eternal Wine,
Draw it now from Eternity’s Jar!
This wine doesn’t run down the throat
But it looses torrents of words!
Cupbearer, make my soul fragrant as musk,
This noble soul of mine that knows the Invisible!
Pour out the wine for the morning drinkers!
Pour them this subtle and priceless musk!
Pass it around to everyone in the assembly
In the cups of your blazing drunken eyes!
Pass a philter from your eyes to everyone else’s
In a way the mouth knows nothing of,
For this is the way cupbearers always offer
The holy and mysterious wine to lovers.
Hurry, the eyes of every atom in Creation
Are famished for this flaming-out of splendour!
Procure for yourself this fragrance of musk
And with it split open the breast of heaven!
The waves of the fragrance of this musk
Drive all Josephs out of their minds forever!

 

- Rumi

The Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom, saw clearly that the five aspects of human existence are empty*, and so released himself from suffering.  Answering the monk Sariputra, he said this:

Body is nothing more than emptiness,

emptiness is nothing more than body.

The body is exactly empty,

and emptiness is exactly body.

The other four aspects of human existence –

feeling, thought, will, and consciousness –

are likewise nothing more than emptiness,

and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:

Nothing is born, nothing dies,

nothing is pure, nothing is stained,

nothing increases and nothing decreases.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,

no feeling, no thought,

no will, no consciousness.

There are no eyes, no ears,

no nose, no tongue,

no body, no mind.

There is no seeing, no hearing,

no smelling, no tasting,

no touching, no imagining.

There is nothing seen, nor heard,

nor smelled, nor tasted,

nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,

and no end to ignorance.

There is no old age and death,

and no end to old age and death.

There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,

no end to suffering, no path to follow.

There is no attainment of wisdom,

and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,

and so with no delusions,

they feel no fear,

and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,

past, present, and future,

rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,

and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.

It is the clearest mantra,

the highest mantra,

the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.

Say it so:

Gaté,

gaté,

paragaté,

parasamgaté.

Bodhi!

Svaha!

Which means…

Gone,

gone,

gone over,

gone fully over.

Awakened!

So be it!

via The Heart Sutra.

The Radiance Sutras

The Radiance Sutras

a version of the vijnana bhairava tantra

by Lorin Roche

One day The Goddess sang to her lover Bhairava,

Beloved and radiant Lord of the space before birth,

Revealer of essence,

Slayer of the ignorance that binds us,

You, who in play have created this universe

and permeated all forms in it with never-ending truth.

I have been wondering . . .

I have been listening to the songs of creation,

I have heard the sacred sutras being sung,

and yet still I am curious.

What is this delight-filled universe

into which we find ourselves born?

. . .

The One Who is Intimate to All Beings replied,

Beloved, your questions require the answers that come

through direct living experience.

The way of experience begins with a breath

such as the breath you are breathing now.

Awakening into the luminous reality

may dawn in the momentary throb

between any two breaths.

The breath flows in and just before it turns

to flow out,

there is a flash of pure joy -

life is renewed.

Awaken into that.

As the breath is released and flows out,

there is a pulse as it turns to flow in.

In that turn, you are empty.

Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.

via The Radiance Sutras.

The Kwan Um School of Zen

The Human Route

Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed — that is human.
When you are born, where do you come from?
When you die, where do you go?
Life is like a floating cloud which appears.
Death is like a floating cloud which disappears.
The floating cloud itself originally does not exist.
Life and death, coming and going, are also like that.
But there is one thing which always remains clear.
It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death.

Then what is the one pure and clear thing?

Oneness

Here are a few quotes from Headless way.

Oneness

A sudden perception that Subject and object are one will lead to a deeply mysterious wordless understanding–you will waken to the truth of Zen.  Huang-po

The inward and the outward are become as one sky, the Infinite and the finite are united: I am drunken with the sight of this All!  Kabir

In this world of Suchness there is neither self nor other-than-self.  Sen-t’san

Behold but One in all things; it is the second that leads you astray.  Kabir

When the Ten Thousand things are viewed in their oneness, we return to the Origin and remain where we have always been.  Sen t’san

Thou must love God as not-God, not-Spirit, not-person, not-image, but as He is, a sheer, pure absolute One, sundered from all two-ness, and in whom we must eternally sink from nothingness to nothingness.  Meister Eckhart

Let subject and object be so oned that the wind cannot pass between them.  Wu-men

As waves, foam and bubbles are not different from water, so in the light of true knowledge, the Universe, born of the Self, is not different from the Self.  Ashtavakra gita

But here the mind of Christ is the mind of the soul, natural and habitual to it, as something no longer distinct from itself, but as its own being and its own life.  Madame Guyon

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Jesus

When the mind becomes tranquillized and concentrated into perfect unity, then all things will be seen, not in their separateness, but in their unity.  Surangama Sutra

A tenth of an inch difference, and heaven and earth are set apart.  Hsin-hsin Ming

via Oneness.

Kanchi Paramacharya-omniscience of God

Even telling God of our sorrows is tantamount to thinking that He is not aware of them. In other words we are truncating His omniscience. ‘Oh God, remove this difficulty for me, remove that sorrow for me,. Or at least change my attitude towards them so that they do not upset my equanimity’ –when we pray like this to God, we presume that God has to be told what we want so that He may come to our rescue. This again truncates the quality of God known as avyAja-karuNA – He showers Grace without reason, without being prompted. bhakti is not true bhakti as long as it underrates the omniscience of God, or His Grace. However, even this kind of prayer does, though temporarily, lighten the heaviness of our hearts and there is some taste of mental peace. It is good to the extent that we adopt an attitude of humility towards God and entreat His succour, renouncing the arrogance of the thought that we can ourselves accomplish everything.

Atma Bodha 61-68

61. That by the light of which the luminous, orbs like the Sun and the Moon are illuminated, but which is not illumined by their light, realise that to be Brahman.

62. Pervading the entire universe outwardly and inwardly the Supreme Brahman shines of Itself like the fire that permeates a red-hot iron-ball and glows by itself.

63. Brahman is other than this, the universe. There exists nothing that is not Brahman. If any object other than Brahman appears to exist, it is unreal like the mirage.

64. All that is perceived, or heard, is Brahman and nothing else. Attaining the knowledge of the Reality, one sees the Universe as the non-dual Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute.

65. Though Atman is Pure Consciousness and ever present everywhere, yet It is perceived by the eye-of-wisdom alone: but one whose vision is obscured by ignorance he does not see It; as the blind do not see the resplendent Sun.

66. The ‘Jiva’ free from impurities, being heated in the fire of knowledge kindled by hearing and so on, shines of itself like gold.

67. The Atman, the Sun of Knowledge that rises in the sky of the heart, destroys the darkness of the ignorance, pervades and sustains all and shines and makes everything to shine.

68. He who renouncing all activities, who is free of all the limitations of time, space and direction, worships his own Atman which is present everywhere, which is the destroyer of heat and cold, which is Bliss-Eternal and stainless, becomes All-knowing and All-pervading and attains thereafter Immortality.

Thus concludes Atma-Bodha. 

Atma Bodha 51-60

51. The self-abiding Jivan Mukta, relinquishing all his attachments to the illusory external happiness and satisfied with the bliss derived from the Atman, shines inwardly like a lamp placed inside a jar.

52. Though he lives in the conditionings (Upadhis), he, the contemplative one, remains ever unconcerned with anything or he may move about like the wind, perfectly unattached.

53. On the destruction of the Upadhis, the contemplative one is totally absorbed in ‘Vishnu’, the All-pervading Spirit, like water into water, space into space and light into light.

54. Realise That to be Brahman, the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other blessing to be desired and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known.

55. Realise that to be Brahman which, when seen, leaves nothing more to be seen, which having become one is not born again in this world and which, when knowing leaves nothing else to be known.

56. Realise that to be Brahman which is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss-Absolute, which is Non-dual, Infinite, Eternal and One and which fills all the quarters – above and below and all that exists between.

57. Realise that to be Brahman which is Non-dual, Indivisible, One and Blissful and which is indicated in Vedanta as the Immutable Substratum, realised after the negation of all tangible objects.

58. Deities like Brahma and others taste only a particle, of the unlimited Bliss of Brahman and enjoy in proportion their share of that particle.

59. All objects are pervaded by Brahman. All actions are possible because of Brahman: therefore Brahman permeates everything as butter permeates milk.

60. Realise that to be Brahman which is neither subtle nor gross: neither short nor long: without birth or change: without form, qualities, colour and name.

Atma Bodha 41-50

41. There are no distinctions such as “Knower”, the “Knowledge” and the “Object of Knowledge” in the Supreme Self. On account of Its being of the nature of endless Bliss, It does not admit of such distinctions within Itself. It alone shines by Itself.

42. When this the lower and the higher aspects of the Self are well churned together, the fire of knowledge is born from it, which in its mighty conflagration shall burn down all the fuel of ignorance in us.

43. The Lord of the early dawn (Aruna) himself has already looted away the thick darkness, when soon the sun rises. The Divine Consciousness of the Self rises when the right knowledge has already killed the darkness in the bosom.

44. Atman is an ever-present Reality. Yet, because of ignorance it is not realised. On the destruction of ignorance Atman is realised. It is like the missing ornament of one’s neck.

45. Brahman appears to be a ‘Jiva’ because of ignorance, just as a post appears to be a ghost. The ego-centric-individuality is destroyed when the real nature of the ‘Jiva’ is realised as the Self.

46. The ignorance characterised by the notions ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ is destroyed by the knowledge produced by the realisation of the true nature of the Self, just as right information removes the wrong notion about the directions.

47. The Yogi of perfect realisation and enlightenment sees through his “eye of wisdom” (Gyana Chakshush) the entire universe in his own Self and regards everything else as his own Self and nothing else.

48. Nothing whatever exists other than the Atman: the tangible universe is verily Atman. As pots and jars are verily made of clay and cannot be said to be anything but clay, so too, to the enlightened soul and that is perceived is the Self.

49. A liberated one, endowed with Self-knowledge, gives up the traits of his previously explained equipments (Upadhis) and because of his nature of Sat-chit-ananda, he verily becomes Brahman like (the worm that grows to be) a wasp.

50. After crossing the ocean of delusion and killing the monsters of likes and dislikes, the Yogi who is united with peace dwells in the glory of his own realised Self – as an Atmaram.

Atma Bodha- 31-40 Shankaracharya

31. The body, etc., up to the “Causal Body” – Ignorance – which are objects perceived, are as perishable as bubbles. Realise through discrimination that I am the ‘Pure Brahman’ ever completely separate from all these.

32. I am other than the body and so I am free from changes such as birth, wrinkling, senility, death, etc. I have nothing to do with the sense objects such as sound and taste, for I am without the sense-organs.

33. I am other than the mind and hence, I am free from sorrow, attachment, malice and fear, for “HE is without breath and without mind, Pure, etc.”, is the Commandment of the great scripture, the Upanishads.

34. I am without attributes and actions; Eternal (Nitya) without any desire and thought (Nirvikalpa), without any dirt (Niranjana), without any change (Nirvikara), without form (Nirakara), ever-liberated (Nitya Mukta) ever-pure (Nirmala).

35. Like the space I fill all things within and without. Changeless and the same in all, at all times I am pure, unattached, stainless and motionless.

36. I am verily that Supreme Brahman alone which is Eternal, Pure and Free, One, indivisible and non-dual and of the nature of Changeless-Knowledge-Infinite.

37. The impression “I am Brahman” thus created by constant practice destroys ignorance and the agitation caused by it, just as medicine or Rasayana destroys disease.

38. Sitting in a solitary place, freeing the mind from desires and controlling the senses, meditate with unswerving attention on the Atman which is One without-a-second.

39. The wise one should intelligently merge the entire world-of-objects in the Atman alone and constantly think of the Self ever as contaminated by anything as the sky.

40. He who has realised the Supreme, discards all his identification with the objects of names and forms. (Thereafter) he dwells as an embodiment of the Infinite Consciousness and Bliss. He becomes the Self.

Atma Bodha 21-30 Shankaracharya

21. Fools, because they lack in their powers of discrimination superimpose on the Atman, the Absolute-Existence-Knowledge (Sat-Chit), all the varied functions of the body and the senses, just as they attribute blue colour and the like to the sky.

22. The tremblings that belong to the waters are attributed through ignorance to the reflected moon dancing on it: likewise agency of action, of enjoyment and of other limitations (which really belong to the mind) are delusively understood as the nature of the Self (Atman).

23. Attachment, desire, pleasure, pain, etc., are perceived to exist so long as Buddhi or mind functions. They are not perceived in deep sleep when the mind ceases to exist. Therefore they belong to the mind alone and not to the Atman.

24. Just as luminosity is the nature of the Sun, coolness of water and heat of fire, so too the nature of the Atman is Eternity, Purity, Reality, Consciousness and Bliss.

25. By the indiscriminate blending of the two – the Existence-Knowledge-aspect of the Self and the thought-wave of the intellect – there arises the notion of “I know”.

26. Atman never does anything and the intellect of its own accord has no capacity to experience ‘I know’. But the individuality in us delusorily thinks he is himself the seer and the knower.

27. Just as the person who regards a rope as a snake is overcome by fear, so also one considering oneself as the ego (Jiva) is overcome by fear. The ego-centric individuality in us regains fearlessness by realising that It is not a Jiva but is Itself the Supreme Soul.

28. Just as a lamp illumines a jar or a pot, so also the Atman illumines the mind and the sense organs, etc. These material-objects by themselves cannot illumine themselves because they are inert.

29. A lighted-lamp does not need another lamp to illumine its light. So too, Atman which is Knowledge itself needs no other knowledge to know it.

30. By a process of negation of the conditionings (Upadhis) through the help of the scriptural statement ‘It is not this, It is not this’, the oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, as indicated by the great Mahavakyas, has to be realised.

Atma Bodha- 11-20 Shankaracharya

11. Because of Its association with different conditionings (Upadhis) such ideas as caste, colour and position are super-imposed upon the Atman, as flavour, colour, etc., are super-imposed on water.

12. Determined for each individual by his own past actions and made up of the Five elements – that have gone through the process of “five-fold self-division and mutual combination” (Pancheekarana) – are born the gross-body, the medium through which pleasure and pain are experienced, the tent-of-experiences.

13. The five Pranas, the ten organs and the Manas and the Buddhi, formed from the rudimentary elements (Tanmatras) before their “five-fold division and mutual combination with one another” (Pancheekarana) and this is the subtle body, the instruments-of-experience (of the individual).

14. Avidya which is indescribable and beginningless is the Causal Body. Know for certain that the Atman is other than these three conditioning bodies (Upadhis).

15. In its identification with the five-sheaths the Immaculate Atman appears to have borrowed their qualities upon Itself; as in the case of a crystal which appears to gather unto itself colour of its vicinity (blue cloth, etc.,).

16. Through discriminative self-analysis and logical thinking one should separate the Pure self within from the sheaths as one separates the rice from the husk, bran, etc., that are covering it.

17. The Atman does not shine in everything although He is All-pervading. He is manifest only in the inner equipment, the intellect (Buddhi): just as the reflection in a clean mirror.

18. One should understand that the Atman is always like the King, distinct from the body, senses, mind and intellect, all of which constitute the matter (Prakriti); and is the witness of their functions.

19. The moon appears to be running when the clouds move in the sky. Likewise to the non-discriminating person the Atman appears to be active when It is observed through the functions of the sense-organs.

20. Depending upon the energy of vitality of Consciousness (Atma Chaitanya) the body, senses, mind and intellect engage themselves in their respective activities, just as men work depending upon the light of the Sun.

Atma Bodha- By Shankaracharya

Atma Bodha

By Adi Sankaracharya,  Translated by Swami Chinmayananda
Published by Chinmaya Mission, Mumbai 

1. I am composing the ATMA-BODHA, this treatise of the Knowledge of the Self, for those who have purified themselves by austerities and are peaceful in heart and calm, who are free from cravings and are desirous of liberation.

2. Just as the fire is the direct cause for cooking, so without Knowledge no emancipation can be had. Compared with all other forms of discipline Knowledge of the Self is the one direct means for liberation.

3. Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with or opposed to ignorance. Knowledge does verily destroy ignorance as light destroys deep darkness.

4. The Soul appears to be finite because of ignorance. When ignorance is destroyed the Self which does not admit of any multiplicity truly reveals itself by itself: like the Sun when the clouds pass away.

5. Constant practice of knowledge purifies the Self (‘Jivatman’), stained by ignorance and then disappears itself – as the powder of the ‘Kataka-nut’ settles down after it has cleansed the muddy water.

6. The world which is full of attachments, aversions, etc., is like a dream. It appears to be real, as long as it continues but appears to be unreal when one is awake (i.e., when true wisdom dawns).

7. The Jagat appears to be true (Satyam) so long as Brahman, the substratum, the basis of all this creation, is not realised. It is like the illusion of silver in the mother-of pearl.

8. Like bubbles in the water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self, which is the material cause and the prop of everything.

9. All the manifested world of things and beings are projected by imagination upon the substratum which is the Eternal All-pervading Vishnu, whose nature is Existence-Intelligence; just as the different ornaments are all made out of the same gold.

10. The All-pervading Akasa appears to be diverse on account of its association with various conditionings (Upadhis) which are different from each other. Space becomes one on the destruction of these limiting adjuncts: So also the Omnipresent Truth appears to be diverse on account of Its association with the various Upadhis and becomes one on the destruction of these Upadhis.

Ramana Maharshi

Place your burden

at the feet of the Lord of the Universe

who accomplishes everything.

Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,

in the Transcendental Absolute.

God knows the past, present and future.

He will determine the future for you

and accomplish the work.

What is to be done will be done

at the proper time. Don’t worry.

Abide in the heart and surrender your acts

to the divine.

– Ramana Maharshi

 

Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra

(this is an excerpts from Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, where Avalokiteshvara talks to Sariputra about the nature of form and formlessness, about buddhahood)

O Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness.

Thus, Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas, no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment.

Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of prajnaparamita.

Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear. They transcend falsity and attain complete nirvana. All the buddhas of the three times, by means of prajnaparamita, fully awaken to unsurpassable, true, complete enlightenment. Therefore, the great mantra of prajnaparamita, the mantra of great insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering, should be known as truth, since there is no deception. The prajnaparamita mantra is said in this way:

Heart Sutra

“When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.”

“Was Coursing in the Deep Prajna Paramita.”

“He Perceived That All Five Skandhas Are Empty.”

“Thus He Overcame All Ills and Suffering.”

“Oh, Sariputra, Form Does not Differ From the Void, And the Void Does Not Differ From Form. Form is Void and Void is Form; The Same is True For Feelings, Perceptions, Volitions and Consciousness.” 

 ”Sariputra, the Characteristics of the Voidness of All Dharmas Are Non-Arising, Non-Ceasing, Non-Defiled, Non-Pure, Non-Increasing, Non-Decreasing.”

“Therefore, in the Void There Are No Forms, No Feelings, Perceptions, Volitions or Consciousness.”

“No Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body or Mind; No Form, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch or Mind Object; No Realm of the Eye, Until We Come to No realm of Consciousness.”

“No ignorance and Also No Ending of Ignorance, Until We Come to No Old Age and Death and No Ending of Old Age and Death.”

 ”Also, There is No Truth of Suffering, Of the Cause of Suffering, Of the Cessation of Suffering, Nor of the Path.”

 ”There is No Wisdom, and There is No Attainment Whatsoever.”

“Because There is Nothing to Be Attained, The Bodhisattva Relying On Prajna Paramita Has No Obstruction in His Mind.” [Commentary on above text] “Because There is No Obstruction, He Has no Fear,”

“And He passes Far Beyond Confused Imagination.” 

“And Reaches Ultimate Nirvana.”

“The Buddhas of the Past, Present and Future, By Relying on Prajna Paramita Have Attained Supreme Enlightenment.”

“Therefore, the Prajna Paramita is the Great Magic Spell, The Spell of Illumination, the Supreme Spell, Which Can Truly Protect One From All Suffering Without Fail.”

“Therefore He Uttered the Spell of Prajnaparmita, Saying Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha.”

Sutra by dogen

.

A flower falls, even though we love it;

and a weed grows, even though we do not love it 

Dogen