A Bird Cannot Fly Without Two Wings...Ben

[Guest guest]

A Bird Cannot Fly Without Two Wings...

Ben wrote...

The marvellous bird of sadhana has two wings: jnana and bhakti.

In my opinion the bhakti aspect deserves more attention. Bhakti

(surrender) is the blazing fire of Love that evaporates all tears,

sorrow and doubts.

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I thought you just wrote a few posts back that you did not know what bhakti was :-)

I have no opinion on which deserves more attention since for each person, the balance

will differ. For you and for me, Bhakti rules. God's childish fools :-)

For others, who choose to interpret Sri Ramana as they see fit, jnana is an intellectual

pursuit. Who is to say which is the "best" way? Even Ramana, who was known to

emphasize the "method" inherent in Self Enquiry, said again and again that bhakti and jnana

are one and the same. "Bhakti is Jnana Mata" says Sri Ramana.

Someone had posted the story in the link below on RamanaMaharshi group within the last few weeks.

I had started working on a webpage link for it and then got diverted.

Now seemed like a good time to go back...

http://www.omshaantih.com/Ramana/Two%20wings.htm

Love,

Joyce

Dear Joyce,

Yes I wrote that. But what I tried to say was more that all these

categories, names and concepts, divide and confuse rather than

enlighten.

The biggest hindrance to peace might be the word "realisation" -- we

create a goal and than start our long way of becoming it. In this

becoming we kill "what is"; speaking of ahimsa...

When I was living in the ashram of Sri Ramakrishna Mission and living

with Swami Ritajananda I used to read only advaita vedanta and

Krishnamurti. Swami told me to just repeat "hari om ramakrishna"

instead. At the time I was a teenager and tought to myself the old

man was cheating me and trying to make a bhakta out of me. I tried to

follow his advice though, but after a couple of days I was reading

Ashtavkra Gita, Ribhu Gita and K. again.

Maharshi would say you were taking the train ride :-)

Just on a different line...no matter...they all lead to the same destination...

It would confuse me more and more and drive me desparate. Until I was

near Swami again and all questions would simply find their way back

to the Heart where they came from. At the time I could not accept

that the warm feeling in the Heart was what it was all about. Too

simple for an advaitin like me... I was too proud of my concepts and

intellectual grasp of vedanta. In my blindness and arrogance I had a

low opinion of all these bhaktas chanting and reading only the Gospel

of Sri Ramakrishna.

Funny, since Papaji's story goes exactly the opposite, LOL..

so, who is right, him or you? IMHO, neither of you.

To make this story complete we have to go back maybe a year before I

went to Swami Ritajanda in the Gretz centre.

In those days a friend of my mother introduced me to Sri Ramana after

a couple of weeks testing my patience. He started with telling me to

feel my way into the Heart. After that he said maybe next week I have

a special book for you. -- He had one little book by Arthur Osborne on

Sri Ramana and the path of Self-enquiry, but each time I visited him

he would tell me that the next visit I would get the book. -- In the

meantime I should try to feel my way into the Heart. In his presence

I would intuite what he was talking about, I would become aware of

the perfume of Joy flowering from the Heart.

So when I was alone the only thing I would be doing was to follow this

perfume, this newness into the Heart. This resulted in a couple of

powerful awakenings, the curtain was lifted and I saw the primordial

Light coming out of the Heart and all of the universe was this Light.

I was this Light.

After these awakenings my "mentor" gave me the book. Now I know why he did it this way.

With Swami Ritajananda it was about the same old story. He could see

right through me. My first encounter with him I cannot remember what

happened. He looked me straight in the eyes and from that moment on I

don't remember what happened. I only know that I walked back to the

visitors building and that I was "drunk".

Swami never gave me any instructions really. He only said: "hari om

ramakrishna" and "be strong". I was living near a jivan mukta but

still I was too arrogant and blind to see it was all a matter of "be

quiet and feel your Heart". So reading all these books and filling

my head with all the intellectual garbage only took me away from the

Heart.That is why I said I don't know what bhakti is, to be more

precise I was really saying: "I don't care for the word bhakti".

Just words, which mean something to someone, Ben. You talk about the

"burning Heart." and that is OK with me. So what is so wrong with

the word Bhakti? You talk about all of the things you read and how

you think it was a waste of time and drove you away from the Heart.

Perhaps this is true. What does it matter? It was how it was meant

to happen for you. And it only made you appreciate the beauty of the

Heart

even more once you found your way back, did it not? Or did you...meaning, did

you find your way back or did the fire find you?

As I see it many people get stuck in concepts today. I mean, all

scriptures and teachers can be found just a mouseclick away. This has

a dark side to it. It is easy to become addicted to reading,

discussing, to concepts. All this book knowledge tends to make people

arrogant and blinded for the simplicity of "what is". The voice of the

Heart is burried under all these teachings, teachers, scriptures, do's

and do not's.

If people do not agree with "my teacher" or "my truth" or "my ahimsa"

or "my advaita" they are "over there" and I am "here": division. This

looks like an over-simplification, but to be honest with you I see

this division very clearly happening in these lists and in all these

discussions going on.

There is also a lighter side to the availabilty on a massive scale of

all these spiritual texts: to see that in the end it all boils down

to same Truth and that this Truth can be found inside oneself to

begin with.

Speaking for myself, I don't have time to waste, life is short, time

is running out, all that needs to be done for me is to get rid of all

concepts and feel my way back into the Heart, Home.

To me, nothing is a waste of time. Whose time is being wasted? Just

had to throw a little enquiry in there, sorry :-) Anyway, each and

every moment is a step on the path. Whichever way it turns, is

exactly the way it is meant to turn. What you understood or felt

years ago was exactly what you were meant to understand and feel.

You would not be where you are now but for those moments. I would not

be where I am but for all

of the moments I have known.

And so this is true of every one on this and other lists. Every one

is exactly where he or she should be at this very moment. And it is

good. I do not worry about where I was 20 years ago, compared to

now...well maybe a little but that has more to do with what pants I

could get into then with what "spiritual" category I fit into, LOL!

Yes, yes, people have so many things to say. Listen to the Heart.

Your heart...for it is part of the OneHeart. There will be no

confusion. When there is, that is OK, too.

For without confusion, how would you know what clarity is?

It is all part of the process...I should know :-) For me, I did not

start out reading anything. I was just living my life when the One

you call the Friend, knocked on my door and would not go away!!!

There was no Guru there to touch or to look at and

give a name to at the time. Well, he did have a name, but that is

another long story. Just a presence calling me to him, an invitation I could

not refuse. No books, no Gita, no nothing. Formlessness, as some might

call It.

My burning heart burned just like yours, but now I call Him

Shiva...you call Him Christ, some one else call him Krishna...someone

else calls her the Goddess...or Shakti...or Laskshmi...or Durga...all

aspects of the One. So I went from formlessness to form, sort of.

Why do I have to do everything backwards? Don't answer that.

Let others decide what teacher is more enlightened, what teachings are more sacred and so on :-)

Nothing is secular...everything is sacred. Swami Dayanana Saraswati

Yours,

Ben.

Yours, too...

Joyce

PS...At the time I could not accept that the warm feeling in the Heart

was what it was all about.

And now you can...that is good... let us not judge those who can't.

All in good time, for each and every One.

Om shaantiH, dear Ben.