a Zen-retreat and Upadesa Saram

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

thanks for many good wishes for the retreat.

Just came back and will give you a short report of it.

 

I have been at a meditation centre in Southern Germany.

It is on the countryside, no city nearby, so a very silent place in

nature, a formerly farmer-house, all very simply but original.

 

The leader, Detlef Witt (with a Christian background also), has not the status

of a Roshi nor that of a Sensei (teacher) and obviously doesn't want it,

so there is no teacher-discipleship, but one comes for a time of training.

Many from whole Germany come on a regular basis.

 

The shedule was from 6 a.m. wakening up to 9.30 p.m.: 8 periods of sittings

30 minutes each with walking meditation between, in the morning some

Chi Gong exercises, 90 minutes work in the house or outside, 45 minutes

lecture and also much free time between. On the last evening we celebrated the mass

together.

 

Importance is laid on the correct sitting position, most of all on a straight back,

which I value more and mora as a great aid. (Sitting so firm like Arunachala).

Practice for most is simply awareness.

 

I had Sri Bhagavan's Upadesa Saram with me for study and used the free time

for reading it and the sitting meditation to contemplate it.

It is one of the most beautiful works by him as it is in one peace developing very

wonderfully his teaching. It is a joy to read it again and again and to dive in

the import of atma-vichara. It has something which gives the pull and joy to turn

to vichara. So this was the leading string, the highlight, the blessing.

 

Yours in Sri Ramana

Gabriele

[Guest guest]

Dear Guruji

Is sex should be completely avoided during complete period course of meditation

-

Gabriele Ebert

atma_vichara ; RamanaMaharshi

Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:13 PM

[RamanaMaharshi] a Zen-retreat and Upadesa Saram

Dear All,

thanks for many good wishes for the retreat.

Just came back and will give you a short report of it.

 

I have been at a meditation centre in Southern Germany.

It is on the countryside, no city nearby, so a very silent place in

nature, a formerly farmer-house, all very simply but original.

 

The leader, Detlef Witt (with a Christian background also), has not the status

of a Roshi nor that of a Sensei (teacher) and obviously doesn't want it,

so there is no teacher-discipleship, but one comes for a time of training.

Many from whole Germany come on a regular basis.

 

The shedule was from 6 a.m. wakening up to 9.30 p.m.: 8 periods of sittings

30 minutes each with walking meditation between, in the morning some

Chi Gong exercises, 90 minutes work in the house or outside, 45 minutes

lecture and also much free time between. On the last evening we celebrated the mass

together.

 

Importance is laid on the correct sitting position, most of all on a straight back,

which I value more and mora as a great aid. (Sitting so firm like Arunachala).

Practice for most is simply awareness.

 

I had Sri Bhagavan's Upadesa Saram with me for study and used the free time

for reading it and the sitting meditation to contemplate it.

It is one of the most beautiful works by him as it is in one peace developing very

wonderfully his teaching. It is a joy to read it again and again and to dive in

the import of atma-vichara. It has something which gives the pull and joy to turn

to vichara. So this was the leading string, the highlight, the blessing.

 

Yours in Sri Ramana

Gabriele

[Guest guest]

MIND and meditation

It is very diffcult to explain what and how a mind is. It is colourless

odourless and tasteless as we study in science. Some philosophers say our

thoughts are mind and some say our emotions anf feelings are related to it.

But one thing is sure that it is complicated matter.But in Bhagavad Gita and

Srima Bhagavathamthe holy books of hindu religion, Holy Koran and holy Bible

it is said that the right student to realise the truth of life & oneself (

love, truth, right knowledge, and actions) is a person with a ‘Pure-Mind’. This

mind is further described as one with the four-fold qualities of viveka,

vairagya, six qualities beginning with shama, and the mumukshutvam (called as

Sadhana-Chatushtaya Sampatti). The method of bringing about this mind is also

elaborately described, and the basic thrust is revealed as devotion towards God

and a selfless attitude in ones actions. What does all this mean to a layman?

What is the implication of this so called ‘Pure-Mind’? Every body will say

taht we should control our mind.How is it ?. Is it possible? If each and every

body could have achieved it there should not have been any problem in the

world.Now insted of self controlling the mind it is being influencd by others

and and the result we see now. This is only with the majority of the people in

the world. We should not feel bad when we fail several times in our attempt to

control our minds. The mind is restless, turbulent, powerful and stubborn. But

the mind can be controlled with practice and dispassion. Through the control of

mind, one can attain illumination. Such a person succeeds, even in adverse

circumstances. The person may still face the trials and tribulations of life.

But he never lacks the courage and strength to face them. When a person

controls his mind, his higher nature asserts itself and his hidden powers are

released. Friends wonder how this person could become, before their eyes, so

great1. Persons without self-control will not even retain the prosperity that

they have. Collectively, non-control of mind may lead to the downfall of an

entire civilization, however prosperous or stable it may appear to be. People

with passion, emotions and tensions may develop mental maladies or turn into

criminals. In some situations, we do things knowing fully well that it is the

right thing to do. And there are situations in which we act impulsively without

knowing what is right or wrong. Wrong action results in mental turmoil. Our

ignorance about right and wrong will not save us from trouble. The purer the

mind, the easier it is to control. One who is perfectly moral, has nothing more

to do. He is free. The undisturbed calmness of mind can be attained through

service to the needy people. The entire task of controlling the mind will have

to be done by each individual person. No one else can do it for another.

.. What are the difficulties faced while trying to control the mind? Strong likes

or dislikes, attachments or aversions, living an immoral life, harming others,

taking intoxicants, wasting time, inquisitiveness about others' affairs,

finding fault with others, being egocentric, jealous of others' prosperity, and

having feelings of guilt, are the things which make controlling the mind

difficult. The human mind is like a drunken monkey stung by a scorpion. The

pleasure-urge, being the basic element in all beings, is so deeply

ingrained.Lord Krishna, Gautama Buddha taught that all things would change.

Nothing lasts forever. One may raise a question on the usage of words such as

'ever lasting' and 'constantly changing'. Buddha also said that desire is the

root cause for all sorrows.. We should try to do things without

attachment...How this is possible?. As we all know that preaching is easy and

practising is difficult there are some basic to be followed to achieve a calm

mind. First is meditation, Gautama Buddha described the four functions of the

mind: recognition by sense organs such as a word through an ear, evaluation,

decide pleasant or unpleasant, and reaction. Seeing with eyes, smelling with

nose, touching with skin, all initiate pleasant or unpleasant sensations in the

body. Gautama Buddha said that one should not react, since reaction is stored in

the subconscious mind. Attachments to worldly things are the most powerful

impediments to task of controlling the mind. When attachments are removed,

aversions and delusions also leave us easily. Passion is simply desire going in

the wrong direction. In other words, desire can be friend or a foe. When desire

is directed towards reality, it becomes the instrument of liberation and joy.

When desire is directed towards the unreal, it becomes the instrument of

bondage and misery. The mind is restless due to the impurities of the mind.

Urges, impulses and emotions such as envy, hatred, anger, fear, jealousy, lust,

greed, conceit, temptation are the impurities of the mind. When impurities are

removed, the mind will be focussed and sharp to observe even the faintest of

the vibrations.

The mind is a finer component of the gross body and one affects the other. The

same laws of time, space and causation govern both mind and matter (body). It

is for this reason that a physical illness often affects the mind, and a mental

illness or tension often affects the body. The mind follows the wandering senses

as the wind carries a boat off its course on the waters. Senses are a part of

the body. The mind has to be controlled by the mind itself. Deliberate,

patient, intelligent, systematic hard work according to tested and suitable

disciplines is needed. Meditation helps to calm down the mind and to control

the mind. The mind has to be gradually and systematically brought under

control.

We always look at external things and enjoy glamour. Instead, we should look

inwardly within us asking, “Who am I?” The mind has the power of looking into

itself. For easy understanding, one may imagine that the mind or brain is taken

outside the physical body and is able to look at the body. That is realizing

your inner most Self, the witness of intellect. Behind the mind is Self, the

real self of man. Body and mind are material. Self is pure sprit. Mind is not

Self, but distinct from the Self. Essentially, the person is not the mind. The

person is the Self. The Self is ever free, infinite and eternal. It is pure

consciousness. Mind is an instrument in the hands of the Self. Self apprehends

and responds to the external world through mind. Self comes in contact with the

external world through the mind. But the mind itself is changing and wavering.

If the wavering mind is made motionless, the mind can reflect the Self. We

should not identify ourselves with our mental states, good or bad. Our real

Self is not the mind.

Mind development can be achieved through meditation also.

Many scientists in the United States and Europe are now propogating what our

ancint Rishis and Saints practised and have been saying for thousands of years

that meditation and repetitio of mantra can help to calm the mind.

In the recent study on hypertensive people by the resarechers of Harward

University found that transcedental meditation can actually reduce stress and

help to avoid heart disease. They also observed that meditation actually

increased the blood circulation and was more effective than conventional

remedies like exercising.

According to Castillo Richmond, the leader of the research team in his own

words, " During meditation your metabolism changes and eventhough it only

happens for a few minutes, you can carry the effects for thr rest of the day.

Please note that Bhagvan Sri Krisna emphasize the importance of meditation in

Sri mad Bhagavath Gita, for doing one's duty perfecly.

Swami Vivekananda, who meditated in cape Comorin in Tamil nadu, said before we

control the mind, we must study it. We have to seize this unstable mind and

drag it from its wanderings and fix it on one idea. Over and over again, this

must be done. “I am the witness watching my mind drifting. The mind is not I.

Make any effort to control the thoughts, but watch them and follow them in

imagination as they float away. I am not the mind. I see that I am thinking. I

am watching my mind act.” In the beginning, during the process of controlling

the mind, many revolting thoughts will come to our mind. As the practice

continues, the turbulence of the mind may increase for some time. Gradually the

mind's eccentricities will loose its strength. The link between the sense organs

and sense-objects is the mind. When the mind is withdrawn from sense-objects,

the sense organs also withdraw from their objects.

A great deal of our mental troubles and difficulties in controlling the mind

arises from our habitual wrong use of the faculty of imagination. Meditation

helps to control the mind. An enlightened person who has gained mastery over

his own mind. At times, other people mistake such as a person for being

indifferent. The truth is that he experiences emotions, but he does not let

emotions overpower him. Through the body, we experience the world of objects,

through the mind we experience the world of emotions and through the intellect,

we experience the world of thoughts.

Controlling thoughts is one step towards controlling the mind. Methodical

control of thoughts is a great secret in controlling the mind. In the initial

stage, thought control means to think good thoughts. In its highest stage,

thought control means complete cessation of thought. To control thoughts, keep

the company of good people with noble thoughts and avoid evil company. The

scars of old wounds are in you. Evil company brings the dislikes out to the

surface.

To control the mind, two sets of inner disciplines are necessary. The first set

is for permanent basic operations and the second one is for providing

high-power emergency brakes. When one notices that a big wave of anger is just

rising in the mind, one should raise a contrary wave, a wave of love quickly.

After the anger has set in, this method will not work. But impress the fact on

your mind that anger is self-destructive. The mind will behave because the mind

does not want self-destruction. The mind learns from what you teach the mind.

Patanjali defines egoism as the identification of Self with senses, intellect

and mind (5). All our sins and troubles are rooted in this egoism.

The mind operates are at three states: conscious, subconscious and

super-conscious. Subconscious mind is wrongly called unconscious mind.

Conscious mind makes resolutions. Subconscious mind makes us frustrated to stay

with our own resolutions. You may imagine that in a storage box, the conscious

mind operates at the surface level and subconscious mind operates at the deeper

level.

When we say the mind plays tricks on us, the subconscious mind overpowers the

conscious mind. How do we avoid this? The German Philosopher, Meister Eckart

says we must live and act only in this moment. If we have taken care of the

present moment, we have taken care of the entire future. If we do not submit to

temptation only for this moment, we never shall submit to it. The past is not

recoverable. The future is only a dream. So we need not worry about the time

outside the present. Living a noble life is easy to do and applies only to the

present time.

 

Food habits also plays an important role in devoloping the mind.If we compare

vegetarians and non vegetarians vegetarians will be more pious. anA pure-mind

is one which is basically a very simple, intelligent, sensitive, & an

enthusiastic mind. It is a mind which is observant, and responds out of freedom

rather than conditionings. It is a mind which has value for truthfulness &

straightforwardness, rather than deceit and falsehood. By being observant it

indicates that it is a mind with relatively greater peace within itself. It is

a mind of a strong & a big hearted fellow, which has time & disposition to

observe & also feel the joys & pains of others around. Such a mind alone enjoys

the beauty & harmony of nature, and such a mind alone goes deep into the

problems of life.

Once a mind is awake then alone it works to understand the real problem of man

or his mind, and then alone it works to discover the way out. Such a mind

discovers that the basic problem is baseless presumptions about oneself. It

clearly sees that the ignorance of self alone brings about these presumptions

about oneself & the world at large, and this in turn becomes the single most

potent cause to bring about various expectations and all its associated

problems arising out of their fulfillment or failures. Real & Right knowledge

of oneself should reveal something which is steady, rather than some transitory

understanding, which is subject to change at different time & place.

A pure-mind enjoys making others happy, whether it is man or animals. He thus

takes every opportunity to serve others around. He never transgresses the

freedom of others, nor imposes things on others just because I like it. Such a

mind alone is called as a pure mind. It is indeed a great asset to have such a

mind. Knowledge therefore comes easily to them, with least possible efforts.

Teachers (Guru) also should rise to the occassion then it is indeed a joy to

teach something to the students.. Not only they will pay their entire attention

to the subject being taught to them, but they love to go deep & unfold the

mysteries of nature & self. It is indeed a blessed mind.

-

Gabriele Ebert

atma_vichara ; RamanaMaharshi

Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:13 PM

[RamanaMaharshi] a Zen-retreat and Upadesa Saram

Dear All,

thanks for many good wishes for the retreat.

Just came back and will give you a short report of it.

 

I have been at a meditation centre in Southern Germany.

It is on the countryside, no city nearby, so a very silent place in

nature, a formerly farmer-house, all very simply but original.

 

The leader, Detlef Witt (with a Christian background also), has not the status

of a Roshi nor that of a Sensei (teacher) and obviously doesn't want it,

so there is no teacher-discipleship, but one comes for a time of training.

Many from whole Germany come on a regular basis.

 

The shedule was from 6 a.m. wakening up to 9.30 p.m.: 8 periods of sittings

30 minutes each with walking meditation between, in the morning some

Chi Gong exercises, 90 minutes work in the house or outside, 45 minutes

lecture and also much free time between. On the last evening we celebrated the mass

together.

 

Importance is laid on the correct sitting position, most of all on a straight back,

which I value more and mora as a great aid. (Sitting so firm like Arunachala).

Practice for most is simply awareness.

 

I had Sri Bhagavan's Upadesa Saram with me for study and used the free time

for reading it and the sitting meditation to contemplate it.

It is one of the most beautiful works by him as it is in one peace developing very

wonderfully his teaching. It is a joy to read it again and again and to dive in

the import of atma-vichara. It has something which gives the pull and joy to turn

to vichara. So this was the leading string, the highlight, the blessing.

 

Yours in Sri Ramana

Gabriele

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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