on *Sanyasa* ...... Shri Ramana Bhagwan's thoughts .....

[Guest guest]

Devotees,

 

On my recent trip to India , i visited many holy places including

Haridwar/rishikesh and Shri Ramanashram in Thiruvannamalai!

 

I simply loved my three day stay in Thruvannamalai the best. In the

ashram , I experienced such 'inner'peace like never before . Believe

me , while sitting in the meditation room in front of the Idol of

Shri Ramana Bhagwan, i was overcome by such joy and tranquility of

mind. No wonder i wanted to make the ashram my place of permanent

residence.

 

I approached a swamiji in the ashram and told him how i wanted to

give up everything like my family, my job, my worldly attachments etc

and take 'sanyas' and come and settle down in the ashram. SWAMIJI

told me " Amma! I would not recommend *sanyas* for WOMEN specially

and if you really want to know shri Ramana Maharishi's thoughts are

on this subject , i would like you to purchase this book "Vichara

Sangraham " by Shri Ramana and read it."

 

So, off i went to the bookstore and bought many books

including "vichara sangraham" translated by DR. T.M.P Mahadevan .

This book gives the gist of Bhagwan's teachings in Bhagwan's own

handwriting in Tamil , translated into English by Dr.Mahadevan.

 

Sanyasa- the real meaning in Bhagwan's own words ...

 

"Sanyasa is only the renunciation of the 'I'thought, and not the

rejection of external objects. He who has renounced the 'I'thought

thus, remains the same whether he is alone or in the midst of

extensive samsara (empirical world). Just as the mind is concentrated

on some object, it does not observe other things even though they may

be proximate , so also, although the sage may perform any number of

empirical acts, in reality he performs nothing, because he makes the

the mind rest in the *Self* without letting the 'I' thought arise.

Even as in a dream one appears to fall head downwards, while in

reality one is unmoving, so also the ignorant person, i.e. the person

for whom the 'I'thought has not ceased , although he remains alone in

constant meditation, is in fact who performs all empirical

actions.Thus the wise ones have said. "

 

**********************************************************************

While this sounds 'great' on paper , in reality is this possible for

all of us?

 

For example, many ashrams (or mutts) want to recruit young

brahmacharis to join the ashram to do day to day work in the ashram .

serve the Gurus in the ashram and in general lead a renunciate's

life . IN return for all these sevices, the Gurus decide to take

these members of the ashram under their'wings' and initiate them...

THIS means that the young brahmacharis must give up all their worldly

attachments including family, friends, etc and lead a life of

renunciation.

 

My questions are ...

1) is this practical ?

2) is this feasible in today's world

3) and finally, are their other ways of serving the Guru?

 

I kind of like Bhagwan's approach better ; be in the world not of

the world!

 

Aum Shri Ramanaya namaha!

[Guest guest]

Respected Members !

 

I received this in my mail box from a fellow devotee ...

 

please read on...

 

Rangarajan, Chakkararajan" <ChakkararajanRangarajan

"'adi_shakthi16'" <adi_shakthi16

RE: on *Sanyasa* ...... Shri Ramana Bhagwan's

thoughts .....

Mon, 29 Mar 2004 17:02:43 -0800

 

 

Namaste Adi shakthi amma,

 

Lovely posting and great experience.

 

? to u: Can all practice the atma vichara propounded by Bhagwan?

Whether we like it or not, there is a gradation in the spiritual

progress and Bhagwan's marga is for the people in the advanced stage

of spiritual evolution. But, what about folks who does not have the

capacity to do atma vichara and who are more inclined towards other

forms of yoga (karma, bhakti etc)?

 

Rgds

 

--Ranga

 

**********************************************************************

Thank you sir for your kind words. Yes, indeed it was a great and

memorable experience! i wish i could relive the whole experience

again.

 

You are indeed right! the path of self-inquiry is not for everyone

and one should choose the path that suits one best...

 

To each one's own !

 

so, if you are inclined towards Bhakti yoga , so be it!

 

here is what Lord Krishna says in srimad Bhagwat Gita ...

 

ye tu dharmamrtam idam

yathoktam paryupasate

sraddadhana mat-parama

bhaktas te 'tiva me priyah

 

He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who

completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is

very, very dear to Me.

 

**********************************************************************

Wishing you a very auspicious Rama navami!

[Guest guest]

There seems to duality in your posts! ( I seem to get double posts of

the same).

 

Yes Aatma vichara is the ultimate. Since one can not do aatma vichaara

without renoucing the 'i' notion and the associated dualty of (na) 'iti'

(na) iti' - renounciation is the only way to go for aatma vichaara. na

karmanaa na prajayaa dhanena tyaagenaike amRitatvamanashuH|

 

External renouciation is not essential for internal (mental)

renounciation since renounciaition is only mental.

 

Yet, external renounciation helps for internal renounciaition for those

who are tuned.

 

So Is external sanyaasa needed for aatmavichaara - No.

 

Does external sanyaasa helps in aatma vichara, Yes.

 

A fellow who is drinking 10 cups of coffee everyday, may say I am not

really addicted to coffee. I can give up anytime. But the proof of the

statement is only to see what hapens when he does not get a single cup

of ocfee! Then only he is true renouncer of the coffee.

 

Attmanyeva aatmanaa tushTaH! can happen only when - prajahaati yadaa

kaamaana sarvaan partha mano gataan! That is true renouciation - till

them one has to train the mind not to depend on anything other than

oneself!

 

Hari OM!

Sadananda

 

 

 

 

=====

What you have is His gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift

to Him - Swami Chinmayananda.

[Guest guest]

Sadanandaji, my humble apologies... this seems to be a glitch !

i have noticed that too! as soo as i see the same post appearing

twice , i delete the second one.

 

YES, atma-vichara is the path of the Jnanis. But this does not mean,

we should denounce other paths . As our newest member Divakar

observed so wisely there are different grades of spiritual

aspirants . Several paths are Taught to suit the different

temperaments of spiritual seekers.

 

Some may believe in controlling the 'prana' through Yoga, others (

believers in maharishi's self-inquiry method) may believe in the

control of the mind through Jnana . Is one superior to the other ?

 

What about simple "bhakti"? it is always believed the the "devotee is

greatewr than the yogins"

 

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagwat GITA

 

"of all yogins , only he who rests unwavering mind and love to me is

dear to me."

 

ON a lighter note, how to overcome any addictions?to kick the coffe

habit ?

 

here is the remedy - it works ...

 

Let GO, LET GOD!

 

when you start reciting the purusha suktham, sri suktham or even thri

kala sandhya vadanam of Gayatri mantra, you will lose the taste for

such mundane things like coffe, tea, coca-cola etc?

 

HIGHER TASTE, EH?

 

AUM TAT SAT

[Guest guest]

In his commentary on the Gita, Sri Madhusudana Saraswati talks about

the seven stages of spiritual progression given in Yoga Vasishtha.

 

1. shubhecchaa – good resolve due to a desire for liberation

2. vicaaraNa – deliberation, in the form of shravaNa and manana

3. tanumaanasaa – fineness of the mind, accomplished through

nididhyaasana

4. sattvaapatti – experience of reality in the realization of

the identity of brahman and atman

5. asamsakti – non-relationship or nirvikalpa samaadhi that

comes through the practice of savikalpa samadhi.

6. padaarthaabhaavanii – absence of objects. Here, the yogi

emerges from samaadhi only by the efforts of others

7. turyagaa – reaching turiya. Here, the yogi never emergences

from self-absorption (videha mukti)

 

Vichaara is a very basic thing, whose only requirement is good

resolve. It is certainly easy to practice shravana and manana with

the help of qualified acharyas.

 

Whether this be through contemplation on upanishadic sentences, or

contemplation on His names and forms doesn't matter. At this stage,

ego still exists. Both kinds of actions, performed with the sense of

doership have the same result as their goal: the purification of the

mind.

 

ajit

> Rangarajan, Chakkararajan" <ChakkararajanRangarajan@c...

> "'adi_shakthi16'" <adi_shakthi16>

> RE: on *Sanyasa* ...... Shri Ramana Bhagwan's

> thoughts .....

> Mon, 29 Mar 2004 17:02:43 -0800

>

>

> Namaste Adi shakthi amma,

>

> Lovely posting and great experience.

>

> ? to u: Can all practice the atma vichara propounded by Bhagwan?

> Whether we like it or not, there is a gradation in the spiritual

> progress and Bhagwan's marga is for the people in the advanced

stage

> of spiritual evolution. But, what about folks who does not have the

> capacity to do atma vichara and who are more inclined towards other

> forms of yoga (karma, bhakti etc)?

>

> Rgds

>

> --Ranga

[Guest guest]

Namaste all and Sri Ajit,

 

You wrote:

 

5. asamsakti – non-relationship or nirvikalpa samaadhi that

> comes through the practice of savikalpa samadhi.

 

I have some doubt about this. Are you sure that the text of

Yogavasishtha Samhita says this. In fact, I went through the text of

the Yogavasishtha Samhita (I have only the Samhita about 1000 slokas,

I don't possess the full version, about 32,000 slokas) and found no

place where it says that Savikalpa samadhi is necessary step for

nirvikalpa samadhi.

 

Again, I even tried to read Patanjali's yoga sutras that talk of

samprajnata and Asamprajnata yoga, the latter being the path to

nirvilakpa samadhi (the nirodha state of the mind). Patanjali has not

mentioned anywhere that samprajnata yoga (savikalpa samadhi, using a

mantra or an idol for dhyana) is necessary for asamprajnata yoga. He

does mention that the latter is difficult and can be acheived only

with a Guru's presence. Again, he has mentioned (I don't remember

which particular sutra) that asamprajnata yoga can be acheived using

several techniques for making the mind tranquil. (please note that

Patanjali notes a difference between a tranquil mind and a

concentrated, ekagra mind)

 

Kindly enlighten us as to where you found that nirvikalpa samadhi can

be acheived through the practice of savikalpa samadhi.

 

Satyameva Jayate Naanrtam