Fwd: [MillionPaths] Annamalai Swami - constant sadhana

[Guest guest]

This posting fits in perfectly with the question of effort.

 

>

>

> Question: One can have a temporary experience of the Self, the

> underlying reality, but then it goes away. Can you offer any guidance

> on how to stabilise in that state?

>  

> Annamalai Swami: A lamp that is lit may blow out if the wind is

> strong. If you want to see it again, you have to relight it. But Self

> is not like this. It is not a flame that can be blown out by the

> passing winds of thoughts and desires. It is always bright, always

> shining, always there. If you are not aware of it, it means that you

> have put a curtain or a veil in front of it that blocks your view.

> Self does not hide itself behind a curtain. You are the one who puts

> the curtain there by believing in ideas that are not true. If the

> curtain parts and then closes again, it means that you are still

> believing in wrong ideas. If you have eradicated them completely, they

> will not reappear. While these ideas are covering up the Self, you

> still need to do constant sadhana.

>             So, going back to your question, the Self does not need

> to stabilise itself. It is full and complete in itself. The mind can

> be stabilised or destabilised, but not the Self.

>  

> Question: By constant sadhana, do you mean self-enquiry?

>  

> Annamalai Swami: Yes. By strength of practice, by doing this sadhana,

> this veil will be removed completely. There will be no further

> hindrances. You can go to the top of Arunachala, but if you are not

> alert, if you are not paying attention, you may slip and end up at

> Easanya Math (a Hindu institution at the base of the hill).

>             You have to make an enormous effort to realise the Self.

> It is very easy to stop on the way and fall back into ignorance. At

> any moment you can fall back. You have to make a strong determined

> effort to remain on the peak when you first reach it, but eventually a

> time will come when you are fully established in the Self. When that

> happens, you cannot fall. You have reached your destination and no

> further efforts are required. Until that moment comes, constant

> sadhana is required.

>  

> ANNAMALAI SWAMI,

> Final Talks

> edited by David Godman

>  

>

>

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