The Heart is the Self

Sri Ramana Maharshi

D: For men like me, who have neither the direct experience of the heart nor the consequent recollection, the matter seems to be somewhat difficult to grasp. About the position of the heart itself, perhaps, we must depend on some sort of guesswork.

Maharshi: If the determination of the position of the heart is to depend on guesswork even in the case of the layman, the question is surely not worth much consideration. No, it is not on guesswork that you have to depend, it is on an unerring intuition.D: For whom is the intuition?

Maharshi: For one and all.

D: Does Sri Bhagavan credit me with an intuitive knowledge of the heart?

Maharshi: No, not of the heart, but of the position of the heart in relation to your identity.

D: Sri Bhagavan says that I intuitively know the position of the heart in the physical body?

Maharshi: Why not?

D: (Pointing to himself) It is to me personally — that Sri Bhagavan is referring?

Maharshi: Yes. That is the intuition! How did you refer to yourself by gesture just now? Did you not put your finger on the right side of the chest? That is exactly the place of the heart-center.

D: So then, in the absence of direct knowledge of the heart-center, I have to depend on this intuition?

Maharshi: What is wrong with it? When a schoolboy says “It is I that did the sum correctly”, or when he asks you, “Shall I run and get the book for you”, would he point out to the head that did the sum correctly, or to the legs that will carry him swiftly to get you the book? No, in both cases, his finger is pointed quite naturally towards the right side of the chest, thus giving innocent expression to the profound truth that the source of ‘I’-ness in him is there. It is an unerring intuition that makes him refer to himself, to the heart which is the Self, in that way. The act is quite involuntary and universal, that is to say, it is the same in the case of every individual. What stronger proof than this do you require about the position of the heart-center in the physical body?

– Maharshi’s Gospel

The Division of Isms.

Lotus Sutra

On the surface the world is finding solutions to many problems that we face today, poverty, violence, sickness, Pollution etc even in our daily lives we face these at a smaller level, we’re never rich enough to buy the things we want to buy, the world around is never clean enough for us to find that outer peace, our bodies are never strong enough so that we can get away with eating anything we want and so on and so forth. And we do these things, we take these jobs, buy these brands of watches and clothes and shoes and phones & download all these apps and try to find in these a way to connect better to the world around us, to find ourselves amidst like minded people, to find appreciation and love and praise and what not.

But in the process we find that we’re still alone, the…

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The Division of Isms.

On the surface the world is finding solutions to many problems that we face today, poverty, violence, sickness, Pollution etc even in our daily lives we face these at a smaller level, we’re never rich enough to buy the things we want to buy, the world around is never clean enough for us to find that outer peace, our bodies are never strong enough so that we can get away with eating anything we want and so on and so forth. And we do these things, we take these jobs, buy these brands of watches and clothes and shoes and phones & download all these apps and try to find in these a way to connect better to the world around us, to find ourselves amidst like minded people, to find appreciation and love and praise and what not.

But in the process we find that we’re still alone, the world does not understand us, it does not love us enough, people don’t get what I am really about. So I Scream, I value women, I am a feminist, I value my religion, my one true, why don’t you get it? this is so important, drop everything that you’re doing and listen to me, because what I say is absolute truth. So we scream, so we can be heard, we talk tough, we emphasize, we make this our lives, just need an excuse to talk about it, it’s my passion, I feel very strongly about it, why don’t you? you should do too. the world is racist, it’s sexist, did you say what i think you did, you’re racist, you’re sexist, you’re bigot. you don’t deserve what you have. This process of attack and defense- is this the way to life, to love? hatred is powerful- I hate the bigots, I hate those who love Donald trump, I hate those who make make fat jokes about obese women, I hate those who taunt my God, who don’t believe in my God. How Dare you? I hate you!

This!!THIS!!

Hatred is powerful, but why hate when you can love, give to the world what you want back in return, you want love, show some love, compassion, the world needs compassion, yes the ones who you think are racist- they need it more than you think, yes, the one who don’t believe in your God- They can have some of that compassion too. Not because you’re right and their wrong but because you need to start finding a way to heal yourself. Hate is a great poison that you’ve been growing within you. it’s only a matter of time before you find that it’s not the way- not the way to joy- to love, to peace, to beatitude.

When we start dividing the world around us, good and bad, right and wrong, right and left, yes we get lost, we divide ourselves, our true being that is all encompassing and we become smaller and smaller, the more divisions you create, the more you suffer because the world you live in starts to shrink, the heart that is capable of so much love, so much joy starts to shrink. Do you really want to leave this world hating and smiting. Be happy, the sun shines above, the water tastes sweet, the cool breeze still flirts with you now and then. The good gracious sweetness of being beckons you. come back home, become a child again, drop your opinions, find that purity within yourself first, the world can take care of itself, you start with itself, the love that you want to see in the world- BE THAT. that joy you want to see around you. BE THAT. that compassion and forgiveness and love and kindness you want in your own life- give that before you can recieve. become a child again, a child of destiny, let go and just relax a bit. everything will be find. Drop your ‘Isms’ and embrace everything for everything is yours. The world was created for you, so you could play a bit. it takes no effort to be happy, just don’t carry whatever it is you want to carry. BE HAPPY!!

 

merciful

Dear Lord are you not the merciful-You are the Dearest friend for all Beings

I consider myself the chief of your friends, Isnt there a special Bond betweene us?

Therefore the bestower of Grace

I seek forgiveness for all Wrong doings

Liberate me from all Bondage

This is the true test of our friendship

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

Vipassana : The meditation technique of Gautama Buddha

Vipassana : The meditation technique of Gautama Buddha

Vipassana is the technique of lord Gautama Buddha .  The path of Buddha is considered as Golden Mean because he teaches that  there in no need to go to any extreme – neither in indulgence nor in abstinence. His path is a Golden path, which does not demand  affiliation to any idea, belief or dogma. Even after the lapse of more than 2500 years since he walked on this earth, there is no decline in his teaching or in the relevance of his  miraculous and amazingly simple meditation technique ‘Vipassana’.  In fact this meditation technique is often considered as the technique of the future because of its extremely simple yet very powerful method. For the busy and extremely complicated life of 21st century, Vipassana is the kind of friendly meditation which can be done by anybody, anywhere and at any time.

What and why of Vipassana

Vipassana means ‘to come and see‘. To be more precise – to come inward and see. It is the way of the Buddha. He do not give sermons on reality. He only says ‘ “come and see – ‘Eehee Pissico‘. Just come inward and see for yourself the reality. 

In a single sentence :What is Vipassana ? 

Vipassana is : 

                 “To watch your breath with awareness. “

That’s all ! It is just simple . To be watchful of your breath as it comes and go. It is Vipassana. The easiest meditation technique of all time. 

Breathing is the most of important life process of our body. Nobody can exist without breath even for a single moment. In fact breathing is so important that nature has made it automatic in all living being. Nobody has to remember to breath. Just like internal vital process of our body like pumping of heart, circulation of blood, digestion of food etc, the breathing also happens on its own. Numerous meditation techniques are centered around breath. Almost all spiritual schools has developed a majority of their meditation techniques around breath. The reason for such infatuation with breathing is that it (breathing) is not merely a process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling Carbon Dioxide. Breathing, in reality, is a bridge between our body and our self. 

From the moment we come into this world – till the moment we die, we continue taking breath. Breathing is a link between our soul and our body. So when one meditates on breathing, invariably, he gets connected with his self. As already described in ‘What is meditation‘ (that all meditation techniques are the methods through which our true self is revealed to us), when you  mediate in Vipassana , you will realize your real identity – Self.

In Vipassana you have to be just aware of your breath. A simple rule is that no matter what you do, no matter in whichever action you indulged in – just be aware of your breathing process. Be watchful of breath as it comes inside your body and goes outside. Don’t try to control your breath.  Vipassana is not ‘Pranayam ( the yogic exercise in which one control various movements of breath). If your breath is deep let it be, if it is shallow let it be. Just let your breathing in its natural rhythm.  

Understand this by this analogy: Just imagine that a river is flowing. Now the flow of the river may be fast or slow. What you have to do is to sit on its bank Just watch the river as it flows. Don’t try to create ripples in it. Don’t do anything that affects its flow. Just be a watcher.  This river is your breath.  The breathing process is going on. Just be a watcher of this process. Slowly slowly as you watch your breathing, your mind will start calming own. You will see that all thoughts are disappearing on their own. Eventually as you keep practicing, such moment will start coming  when you see that everything has come to a standstill. There will be no thoughts, there will be no emotions. However, there will be full awareness. The state of choiceless awareness. In this state you will know the real you. 

Some important things about Vipassana: 

(1) Though this extremely easy meditation can be done anytime, anywhere, initially it is strongly advised that you allocate some fixed time for it on daily basis. Choose a separate room and sit in a comfortable position. Them meditate by watching your breathing. 

(2)  The real success will come when you can be aware of your breath while doing all kind of daily activities like reading, playing, driving, swimming, or doing any domestic task. However this stage will come after a  regular practice for a considerable amount of time. At that point there will be two aspects of your existence – doing and being. You will be doing everything, fully involved in your tasks, yet inside there will be a center of awareness in you undisturbed by outer circumstances. That will be the true state of a meditator – the one who will be creative outside and meditative inside. 

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.

Shiva Tandava Stotram

shivatANDavastotram

by ERNEST WOOD, 1931

	O prosper us, Auspicious Lord,
		Performer of the frantic dance,
	O Bearer of the little drum
		Sounding damad, damad, damad;
	As through the forest of Thy hair,
		Descends the purifying stream
	About Thy neck, from which depends
		Thy garland made of serpent-kings.

	O may’st Thou be my constant joy,
		Who dost the young moon crest employ;
	Whose breadth of brow supports the fire
		Blazing dhagad, dhagad, dhagad;
	The river of the holy ones,
		Revolving in Thy mound of hair,
	Like wind-tossed creepers, waves upthrows
		And glory on Thy head bestows.

	May I find bliss within Thy being
		O Thou, enrobed in space alone;
	Whose mind is gladdened by the glance,
		Side-long and constant, love-entranced,
	Of Parvati, sweet daughter of
		The Lord of Mountains, Himavat;
	Whose eyes compassionful, dispel
		Our miseries insuff’rable.

	In Thee, O Master of all Life,
		My heart ecstatic joy may feed;
	O Thou, with upper garment smooth,
		The passion-blinded demon’s skin.
	The tawny serpents in Thy hair
		Upon the face of Nature paint
	Light from the jewels of their hoods-
		A radiance, like to saffron spread.

	O Great One, Bearer of a skull,
		May we be prosperous in Thee;
	On whose broad brow blazes the fire
		That with its flame consumed the god
	Of flower love; who art obeyed
		By all the leaders of the gods;
	Among whose hair the Ganges plays;
		Whose crest-jewel gleams with moon-like rays.

	May’st Thou, O Moon-Tiaraed One,
		To us eternal riches be;
	O Thou, the foot stool of whose throne
		Is carpeted with pollen strewn
	From flowers that deck the jeweled crowns
		Of all the gods, from Indra down;
	Whose twisted hair in coils is bound
		The King of serpents girdled round.

	Thou Three-Eyed One, be my delight;
		O Thou, who form’st, with highest skill,
	Rare figures on the breast of her
		Descended from the hard of Hills.
	Upon the tablet of Thy brow
		Blazes dhagad, dhagad, dhagad,
	The fire in which was sacrificed
		The fell five-arrowed God of Love.

	O Thou, Upholder of the Worlds,
		Extend to us Thy blessings rich;
	O skin-adorned, Moon beams-graced;
		Thou bearer of the holy flood;
	Whose neck, enwrapped in darkness thick
		As moonless midnight, flashes forth
	Amidst the ring of gathered clouds
		Its shining light unconq’rable.

	I worship Thee, destroyer of
		Death, passion and blind ignorance,
	The castles three, the elephant,
		The sacrifice and birth and death;
	Whose graceful plantain-stem-like throat
		Sheds radiance all about Thy neck,
	Resembling with its splendour dark
		The fully-blossomed lotus blue.

	I worship Thee, destroyer of
		Death, passion, and blind ignorance,
	The castles three, the elephant,
		The sacrifice, and birth and death.
	The arts of her who blesses all
		Are like the blossoms of a tree,
	From which the honeyed essence flows
		To Thee, the bee that in them joys.

	O Shiva, Thou art conqueror;
		Performer of the frantic dance,
	Which joins the beating of the drum,
		Sounding dhimin, dhimin, dhimin,
	With melody sublime and grand;
		While on Thy awful brow the fire
	Flares with the fanning of the breath
		Of serpents whirling rapidly.

	O Shiva, when shall I with true
		Adorning equally accept
	A hard stone and the softest bed,
		A serpent and a string of pearls,
	A priceless diamond and a clod
		Of earth, a friend and enemy,
	Mere grass and women lotus-eyed,
		His subjects and a mighty king?

	O when shall I be always glad,
		Dwelling in holy Ganges’ bower,
	From evil thoughts my mind released,
		My hands before my forehead joined,
	Repeating ever and again
		The chant of “Shiva, Shiva” writ
	Upon the forehead of her grace
		The best of women, Parvati?

	Extend to us our hearts’ delight,
		O Thou, joy-giving day and night;
	O Shining Presence, Lord Supreme
		To Parvati, of women queen,
	In Indra’s land the maidens fair
		Wear jasmine clusters in their hair;
	From these the pollen dropping free,
		Exudes a salve which graceth Thee.

 	O may the world be conquered by
		Thy marriage – music benison,
	With “Shiva, Shiva” as its theme,
		When sweet-eyed Parvati is bride;
	The sound of which melodious,
		By highly-gifted women sung,
	Destroys all evils, be they dire
		As the sub-ocean blazing fire.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

 

Nisargadatta Maharaj: Next to Ramana Maharshi,Nisargadatta is the most popular of twentieth century sage in the West,

Born in 1897, on the same birthday as the Puranic monkey diety, Hanuman, Nisargadatta was a contemporary guru belonging to the Ichegeri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya and a major exponent of Advaita Vedanta (nondual knowledge).

His teacher, Siddharameshwar Maharaj, told him:

“ You are not what you take yourself to be.” He gave him a simple set of instructions:

“My Guru ordered me to attend to the sense ‘I am’ and to give attention to nothing else. I just obeyed. I did not follow any particular course of breathing, or meditation, or study of scriptures. Whatever happened, I would turn away my attention from it and remain with the sense ‘I am’. It may look too simple, even crude. My only reason for doing it was that my Guru told me so. Yet it worked!”

“My teacher told me to hold on to the sense ‘I am’ tenaciously and not to swerve from it even for a moment. I did my best to follow his advice and in a comparatively short time I realized within myself the truth of his teaching. All I did was to remember his teaching, his face, his words constantly. This brought an end to the mind; in the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am — unbound.”

“I simply followed (my teacher’s) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being ‘I am’, and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the ‘I am’ in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared — myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.”

It should be noted that Nisargadatta’s unfolding took only three years. He became a saddhu, walking the Himalayas before returning home to Mumbai. Most renowned for his contemporary classic book of dialogues, I am That, Nisargadatta attracted many Western devotees to his humble apartment in Mumbai.

Sri Nisargadatta passed away at 84 in 1981

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.

Q & A with Sri Ramana Maharishi

1. What are the marks of a real teacher (Sadguru)? 

Steady abidance in the Self, looking at all with an equal eye, unshakeable courage at all times, in all places and circumstances, etc. 

2. What are the marks of an earnest disciple (sadsisya)? 

An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure. 

3. What are the characteristics of instruction (upadesa)? 

The word ‘upadesa’ means : ‘near the place or seat’ (upa – near, desa – place or seat). The Guru who is the embodiment of that which is indicated by the terms sat, chit, and ananda (existence, consciousness and bliss), prevents the disciple who, on account of his acceptance of the forms of the objects of the senses, has swerved from his true state and is consequently distressed and buffeted by joys and sorrows, from continuing so and establishes him in his own real nature without differentiation. 

Upadesa also means showing a distant object quite near. It is brought home to the disciple that the Brahman which he believes to be distant and different from himself is near and not different from himself. 

4. If it be true that the Guru is one’s own Self (atman), what is the principle underlying the doctrine which says that, however learned a disciple may be or whatever occult powers he may possess, he cannot attain self-realization (atma-siddhi) without the grace of the Guru? 

Although in absolute truth the state of the Guru is that of oneself it is very hard for the Self which has become the individual soul (jiva) through ignorance to realize its true state or nature without the grace of the Guru. 

All mental concepts are controlled by the mere presence of the real Guru. If he were to say to one who arrogantly claims that he has seen the further shore of the ocean of learning or one who claims arrogantly that he can perform deeds which are well-nigh impossible, “Yes, you learnt all that is to be learnt, but have you learnt (to know) yourself? And you who are capable of performing deeds which are almost impossible, have you seen yourself?”, they will bow their heads (in shame) and remain silent. Thus it is evident that only by the grace of the Guru and by no other accomplishment is it possible to know oneself. 

5. What are the marks of the Guru’s grace? 

It is beyond words or thoughts. 

6. If that is so, how is it that it is said that the disciple realizes his true state by the Guru’s grace? 

It is like the elephant which wakes up on seeing a lion in its dream. Even as the elephant wakes up at the mere sight of the lion, so too is it certain that the disciple wakes up from the sleep of ignorance into the wakefulness of true knowledge through the Guru’s benevolent look of grace. 

7. What is the significance of the saying that the nature of the real Guru is that of the Supreme Lord (Sarvesvara)?

In the case of the individual soul which desires to attain the state of true knowledge or the state of Godhood (Isvara) and with that object always practises devotion, when the individual’s devotion has reached a mature stage, the Lord who is the witness of that individual soul and identical with it, comes forth in human form with the help of sat-chit-ananda, His three natural features, and form and name which he also graciously assumes, and in the guise of blessing the disciple, absorbs him in Himself. According to this doctrine the Guru can truly be called the Lord. 

8. How then did some great persons attain knowledge without a Guru? 

To a few mature persons the Lord shines as the light of knowledge and imparts awareness of the truth. 

9. What is the end of devotion (bhakti) and the path of Siddhanta (i.e., Saiva Siddhanta)? 

It is to learn the truth that all one’s actions performed with unselfish devotion, with the aid of the three purified instruments (body, speech and mind), in the capacity of the servant of the Lord, become the Lord’s actions, and to stand forth free from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. This is also the truth of what the Saiva-Siddhantins call para-bhakti (supreme devotion) or living in the service of God (irai-pani-nittral). 

10. What is the end of the path of knowledge (jnana) or Vedanta? 

It is to know the truth that the ‘I’ is not different from the Lord (Isvara) and to be free from the feeling of being the doer (kartrtva, ahamkara). 

11. How can it be said that the end of both these paths is the same? 

Whatever the means, the destruction of the sense ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is the goal, and as these are interdependent, the destruction of either of them causes the destruction of the other; therefore in order to achieve that state of Silence which is beyond thought and word, either the path of knowledge which removes the sense of ‘I’ or the path of devotion which removes the sense of ‘mine’, will suffice. So there is no doubt that the end of the paths of devotion and knowledge is one and the same. 

NOTE: So long as the ‘I’ exists it is necessary to accept the Lord also. If any one wishes to regain easily the supreme state of identity (sayujya) now lost to him, it is only proper that he should accept this conclusion. 

12. What is the mark of the ego? 

The individual soul of the form of ‘I’ is the ego The Self which is of the nature of intelligence (chit) has no sense of ‘I’. Nor does the insentient body possess a sense of ‘I’. The mysterious appearance of a delusive ego between the intelligent and the insentient, being the root cause of all these troubles, upon its destruction by whatever means, that which really exists will be seen as it is. This is called Liberation (moksha).

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.