RE: [RamanaMaharshi] Fw: Ramana Maharshi--Hridaya/The Heart

[Guest guest]

Thanks Gloria for finding that post. You are the greatest and certainly well

organized! :-). My gratitude sister Gloria.

 

As I said earlier, my comments about Bhagavan's teachings are based on my

own knowledge of the Heart as well as number of actual

conversations from "Talks with Ramana Maharshi". Many people attempt to

present a sanitized version of Sri Ramana's teaching and quote him

selectively to support their own preconceived notions of how the teaching

should be structured, organized, and presented to the public. That is fine

and certainly useful for a variety of purposes. But the fact is that Sri

Ramana spoke about the term Heart on many different levels, and this

included the physical as well.

 

David Godman is of course right that Sri Ramana never taught that the Self

could be limited to some physical location in the body! No one claims that,

and certainly not Arthur Osborne! That is elementary. But David is too

eager to dismiss or minimize a recurring theme in one aspect of Sri Ramana's

teaching which manifests time after time in the "Talks" in Bhagavan's own

words. This is why I found David's condescension regarding Arthur Osborne's

interpretation of Bhagavan's method and teaching to be somewhat misplaced.

 

Sri Ramana rarely missed an opportunity to speak of the Heart at any level!

Bhagavan has described his own experiences so clearly and vividly in many

different conversations so that a true devotee upon experience of the mind

merging would instantly know the Heart without thought or doubt! The

ancients called it Sat-Chit-Ananda, Nityam, Poornum. There are no adequate

words for it.

 

Even in humor Bhagavan often spoke of the Heart. I recall Sri Ramana once

insisted to a questioner that he (the questioner) already knew the Heart!

The poor questioner, puzzled, asked whether Bhagavan was referring to him

personally. Bhagavan said Yes! The questioner pointed to himself and again

asked if Bhagavan was referring to him personally. Upon seeing that the

questioner had pointed to himself on the right side of the chest, Sri Ramana

immediately pounced on him and said something like , "See! There! You know

it's location (the Heart) intuitively as indicated by the pointing to it

when referring to one's own self! :-).

 

Love to all

Harsha

 

 

 

Gloria Lee [glee]

Saturday, October 06, 2001 11:45 PM

HS; RM; true; path

[RamanaMaharshi] Fw: Ramana Maharshi--Hridaya/The Heart

 

 

 

-

Harsha

Sunday, September 03, 2000 10:33 PM

Ramana Maharshi--Hridaya/The Heart

 

The Term Hridaya

 

Sri T. K. Sundaresa Iyer was one among the few who had the privilege of not

being addressed by Bhagavan in honorific terms: He fondly addressed him as

'Sundaresa' or 'Sundaram'. However, he was known popularly only as TKS in

the Ashram. His erudition in Vedantic literature was deep; he was proficient

in Sanskrit, Tamil and English. So, he aptly fitted in to act as an

interpreter to Sri Bhagavan, though most of his time he spent in the Ashram

office attending to correspondence. Of course, in this also he was blessed

because he had to show letters to Bhagavan and get hints from Him while

answering certain letters...

 

"A staunch devotee living in England, Harry Dickman,* was soaked in Sri

Bhagavan's teachings, though he could not have His darshan. He wrote asking

for an explanation as to the term 'Hridayam' and its significance. I got

from Bhagavan hints on how the reply should be formed. The following is the

gist of the reply, which was approved by Bhagavan and sent to Harry

Dickman:" -TKS

 

JUST AS THERE IS a cosmic centre from which the whole universe arises and

has its being and functions with the power or the directing energy emanating

therefrom, so also is there a centre within the frame of the physical body

wherein we have our being. This centre in the human body is in no way

different from the cosmic centre. It is this centre in us that is called the

Hridaya, the seat of Pure Consciousness, realized as Existence, Knowledge

and Bliss. This is really what we call the seat of God in us.

 

It is this Hridaya that is said to be different from the physical heart,

regulating the blood circulation. The Hridaya has its being on the right

side and is not commonly known or felt. The primary thought in us arising as

'I,' when traced to its source, ends somewhere in us and this place, where

all thoughts die, where the ego has vanished, is the Hridaya. From this

centre is felt and enjoyed the Pure Consciousness.

 

Hridaya described as 'the literal, actual, physical seat of the intuition of

the Self' has the meaning explained above. Perhaps the words 'physical seat'

may create some confusion. What it really means is that there is a centre of

Pure Consciousness in the physical body. It is related to the physical, but

is not itself physical.

 

The word Hridaya is a composite of hrid and ayam - "centre, this". It is the

centre on the right which we reach as a result of meditation. From the

Hridaya, consciousness arises to the sahasrara through the sushumna and from

there spreads out to all the parts of the body through the several 'nadis'.

Then alone we become conscious of the objects around us. Man, due to the

illusion that these have real existence, experiences suffering, as he strays

far away from his Self. The seat from where all these arise and manifest is

the Hridaya.

 

Whether in sleep, joy, sorrow, fear or satisfaction, we return to this heart

and that is why we feel lost to all consciousness of things around. If by

meditation or Vichara we attain to our centre, the Hridaya, and thus are our

real Self, we enjoy unalloyed bliss.

 

In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts

have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right,

manifesting as 'Aham' 'Aham'. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is

beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch

wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and

continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness,

oneness of existence.

 

When we steady our breath we feel the steadying of our thoughts. Then the

thoughts turn inward and melt away at a point. Watching this point, where

the thoughts vanish, will also help us to merge ourselves in the Hridaya.

 

- From Moments Remembered