Prayers
From Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi
I am tied to myself, by myself, through myself. The knot is out of reach. I am in your hands. Whatever you like, you are welcome to do.
Thou hast risen in my heart like the sun destroying darkness.
Be with us every fleeting hour. Increase our silence. Focus our vision on the Self Lord!
Grant that let at least my tongue may repeat Thy name even when my mind strays.
Hail to the Lord who through his love refreshed my heart, banishing my deluded attachment to property ownership, wealth and lust.
Merge my mind in the Self as salt is dissolved in water and restore my natural happiness.
I lay offerings of UNCHANGING love at Thy Holy Feet.
Remove our darkness with your searching light.
I pray to Thee for light and guidance that I know are ever there.
Thou art my Mother, Master and Friend, my only Beloved- All glory to Thee! All glory to Thee! Transmute me until I am blended with you so that both are as One.
A prey to my unsteady mind, I lack patience, I lack constancy, I lack purity. Forgive the grievous wrong of that poor self, and do as Thou wilt, Thou who knowest best. But grant me only ever increasing love For Thy Feet.
Lord! You are our only refuge. You alone can save us.
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/downloadbooks/Selected_Quotes_from_FacetoFace.pdf
Q: How did ignorance (avidya] arise at all?
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Ignorance never arose.
It has no real being.
That which is, is only vidya [knowledge].
Q: Why then do I not realize it?
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Because of the samskaras.
However, find out who does not realize and what he does not realize. Then it will be clear that there is no avidya.
●●Q: So, it is wrong to begin with a goal, is it?
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
If there is a goal to be reached it cannot be permanent.
The goal must already be there.
We seek to reach the goal with the ego,
but the goal exists before the ego.
What is in the goal is even prior to our birth, that is, to the birth of the ego. Because we exist the ego appears to exist too.
If we look on the Self as the ego then we become the ego,
if as the mind we become the mind,
if as the body we become the body.
It is the thought which builds up sheaths in so many ways.
The shadow on the water is found to be shaking.
Can anyone stop the shaking of the shadow?
If it would cease to shake you would not notice the water but only the light.
Similarly take no notice of the ego and its activities,
but see only the light behind.
The ego is the thought I'.
The trueI’ is the Self.
Q: If it is just a question of giving up ideas then it is only one step to realization.
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Realization is already there.
The state free from thoughts is the only real state.
There is no such action as realization.
Is there anyone who is not realizing the Self ?
Does anyone deny his own existence?
Speaking of realization, it implies two selves
What is not already realized is sought to be realized.
Once we admit our existence,
how is it that we do not know our Self ?
Q: Because of the thoughts,the mind.
Sri Ramana Maharshi :
Quite so.
It is the mind that veils our happiness.
How do we know that we exist ?
If you say because of the world around us,
then how do you know that you existed in deep sleep?
~ From Be as you are book
Today I Robin have been getting a much deeper appreciation for the emphasis on self. I think I may have harbored a bit of a prejudice against focusing on the self because it just seemed so selfish! That is the wrong wrong wrong view of it. The self is the self of everyone. It is the most loving thing that anyone could possibly do to get it straight that your self is the same self that everyone is grappling with and it is the Self of God. It is God. Some approaches to trying to clarify what God is and what God isn’t add so much confusion to the issue. There’s no need to try to define God. If you want to hear some of the most bizarre notions of what people think God means, hear some of the definitions from other cultures as they try to rather flippantly and dismissively describe what is being referred to. Let’s quit with the attempts to define God and just simply say that God is all that really is. Is there anyone anywhere who would sincerely disagree with that?
SELF is a synonym for God that encapsulates that which extends through to all cultures and offers hope that we can embrace each other’s contributions.
DrRobinStarbuck
I Trust Bhagwan
I Have Surrendered To Him
I Obey Him, I Learn Lessons
I Live His Teachings
I Have No Sense Of Doership
Om Namo Sri Ramanaya
I Am Framing The Photo
To Remind Me CONSTANTLY
OF Your Teachings
Om Namo Namo
THE ancient practitioners always give advice repeatedly to the followers “We have to remove everything in order to reach the emptiness, thereafter we in addition have to pass through the emptiness, then we will get the chance to reach the elevation of spirit of “free of delusion”. The Heart Sutra says: “Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form”, there is no difference between form and emptiness. If this is the case , how can we say that “Absolute emptiness” is “Nihilism”.
IF there is no “Emptiness” then nothing could be created or formed. The flexibility and function side of the emptiness is just like the “Emptiness is form” of the Heart Sutra. Finally we should understand one important thing that “Absolute Emptiness” and “Emptiness of One’s original nature” are not two different things. We think maybe easier for us to describe them separately for a theory of one coin with two sides.
MEANING OF EMPTINESS
Absolute emptiness means surpassing which is neither persisting in “Being” nor persisting in “Non-being”. In the Buddhist doctrine, there are few examples to describe the emptiness.
1) “Emptiness” means “no hindrance”, like space, although space is all over but does not hinder anything (things and events).
2) “Emptiness” means “all around”, like space, is all over, reaches everywhere, touches everywhere.
3) “Emptiness” means “equality”, like space, never has any choice, treat everything equally.
4) “Emptiness” means “vastitude”, like space, is spacious, limitless, infinite, endless, huge.
5) “Emptiness” means “no appearance”, like space, does not have any shape, form, appearance.
6) “Emptiness” means “purity”, like space, is not bothered by material concerns, always pure, does not have any desire.
7) “Emptiness” means “no movement”, like space, enduringly silent, leave all the appearances of birth, death, achievements, and destruction.
8) “Emptiness” means “negative absolutely”, exterminate or remove totally all things and events.
9) “Emptiness” means “empty emptiness”, totally negate all original nature and destroy all “persisting in emptiness”.
10) “Emptiness” means “cannot obtain”, like space, cannot be obtained, cannot be held, cannot be touched.
ALTHOUGH the word “Emptiness” cannot describe the absolute surpassing totally, but we cannot find any words better than “Emptiness” in human’s language to describe the Prajna of “Leaving appearance” (Do not persist in the appearance of things of material world).
THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPTINESS
From the religious standpoint of view, there is nothing more important than emptiness in Buddhist doctrine.
THE fourth paragraph of Heart Sutra says: {….. Because there is nothing obtainable, Bodhisattvas through the reliance on Prajna-paramita have no attachment and hindrance in their minds. Because there is no more attachment and hindrance, there is no more fear, and far away from erroneous views and wishful-thinking, ultimately : The Final Nirvana.}
IN this paragraph, we should understand that the mind of the practitioners (bodhisattvas) will reach the elevation of spirit of non-hindrance by depending on the emptiness of Prajna, all the material worries of greed, hate, ignorance, proud, and the persisting in one’s original nature will be removed, and no more hindrance.
BECAUSE the immediate perception of emptiness, the root of holding to the concept of the ego or self will be removed. And because of the removing of ego or self, all terrors and confusions that are from the erroneous doctrine that the ego or self, will be destroyed. Therefore we can reach the deliverance and attain the utmost nirvana.
NOW we should understand that Prajna Paramita not only is a philosophical conception but also has its religious meaning and function that are more important. Because there is no all-powerful God who can give special kindness to people and save people in Buddhism, we must experientially entry into emptiness in order to reach the eternal deliverance in Buddhism.
THEREFORE Prajna emptiness is not only a kind of metaphysical truth but also is religious soteriological instrument. Prajna Paramita is also called Prajna-Paramita mother or begetter of all Buddhas. All Buddhas of past, present, and future must depend on Prajna in order to attain the buddhahood.
ANOTHER important meaning of emptiness we mentioned that it denies totally one’s original nature (own nature) and the thinking of own nature. When we remove the persisting in own nature, not only help us in philosophical thinking but also benefit us when doing religious practice of mind.
IF we can put our mind in Prajna emptiness always, then our mind will be wide, not hindered, merciful, and active. When removing the clinging to self and own nature as real, then the brightness of spiritual and all things of physical universes will be developed gradually. Therefore the Mahayana Buddhist always say that the Prajna Paramita is the most important doctrine in Buddhism.
BODHISATTVA without Prajna is just like fish without water, although practicing hardly in almsgiving, keeping the commandments, patience, and meditation, still cannot reach the yonder shore. From the Buddhist standpoint of view, almsgiving, keeping the rules, patience, and meditation although are the good behavior that can build merit, but if there is no Prajna wisdom as guidance, bodhisattvas still cannot understand fully the truth and surpass the self in order to reach the elevation of spirit of limitlessness.
FROM the Mahayana’s standpoint of view, the only way to melt all the relative, opposite, or dualistic things is through the fire of Prajna wisdom. The cult of the monistic doctrine (The immediacy of entering into the truth)(No second way) of The Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra (Wei Mo Sutra) is to instruct the way of “How to surpass all the dualistic things”. And “To pass through the emptiness” is only way to reach this “Immediacy of entering into the truth”.
IF there is no emptiness, then, it is impossible for “form and emptiness” become one (No difference), it is impossible for “Being and non-being” become one, it is impossible for “Transmigrations and nirvana” become one, it is impossible for “Mutual entering, touching, containing of things of all dimensions” become one.
IN Mahayana’s sutras instruct us again and again that if there is no direct examining and understanding of emptiness, then the great limitless pitying or mercy vows and actions of bodhisattvas to save all beings cannot be come true.
Stop assuming Identity to be cooped up in the form, body. Stop assuming your Self to be what It never can be. You are not a human, an animal, a mortal, a personality or a sinner. You are never separate from Existence, the Life that is your Self. Stop assuming biology, ignorance, superstition, duality or sin to be your cause or beginning—the origin of your Life, Being, Substance, Intelligence, Consciousness. Identity—or that you must “emerge,” or “evolve” from an imperfect or lesser state of Existence into the perfect Self. You are none other than the one you are—the Infinite Intelligence, the Sole One-Infinite-Individual who is all of all NOW. Act from this true and only Intelligent viewpoint. Rejoice in who and what you are by rejoicing in what Mind knows Itself to be. Conscious Intelligence alone does all seeing, all knowing, and does it without cessation, interruption, interference.
That Which Is
by Dr. Alfred Aiken
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NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ:
Maharaj: Whatever you understand you cannot be that.
You are putting a question like this: a donkey is going by the road and you inquire about him, how are you concerned with that?
You know that you are not the donkey.
Whatever you experience is not you.
In this matter, you will not satisfy your itch by talking; elsewhere you may talk and be satisfied.
What is meditation?
Meditation is to reject all experiences, to be in a experienceless state.
To realize this trick you have to be in meditation.
What is the experience?
The experience ‘to be’, suppress that also. The one who observes both, the no-being and being state is in the true state.
You only get experiences of what you are not, beingness is also an experience merge it with no-beingness.
Beingness goes into no-beingness,
The Absolute does not know that it is, it only prevails.
To turn beingness into no-beingness, assiduously follow meditation or else you will be like a calf frisking. Be in meditation and you will stabilize, and then stop there or else you will be like a calf whose ear has air in it.
Visitor: To meditate is to realize that we do not experience.
Translator: The primary experience ‘you are’, that too should also be negated.
M: Experience has to become invisible together with the‘I love’ beingness.
V: What about noise in meditation?
M: Your senses and limbs are still active; they are not under your control.
By meditation this weakness of your mind should be overthrown.
How intensely should one meditate?
While Kabir meditated, a dog bit him,
someone came and told him ‘a dog has bitten you’
Kabir replied ‘the dog knows and the skin knows’.
A deep yearning must be there, like when you are worried about something, you will be thinking about it: ‘next morning
something must be done for money’ because of it there was no sleep, you’d
go straight for the money, you need it desperately and so you keep thinking
about it.
In the spiritual field you need to progress so intensely that you keep thinking it (your true identity), with persistence, you reach, but you must want it badly.
✅ I AM UNBORN
(Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)
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The ego is the mind, and the mind is the ego, the very nature of mind is thoughts. Without thoughts, there is no mind because the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thought of “I”(ego) is the root of every other thought, trace this thought back to where it came from and ask “who are you arising to?” … “to me!” … “who am I?” And bam! You cut the thoughts off at their source. Abide in this source by not allowing the mind(thoughts) to roam outwards onto any sense object, by allowing the grace of the source to take over keeping you focused on itself. Ask the same questions again if you find yourself following thoughts, until the phantom that the mind is, vanishes and you relax and float down the stream of the source that you are. This source is the real you, which is eternally here and now.
WHEN NO-THING STRIKES
What could possibly be beyond God? Nothing. Haven’t we finally located (localized) where absolute emptiness is? NO !!! You named it. You want to describe and otherwise qualify and delimit it … but there’s no it. There’s nothing.