The dying mind (was Ramana's advice to the terminally ill.)

[Guest guest]

Dear Seekerawake and All,

 

The "terminally ill" thread reminded me of verse 38, and Muruganar's

commentary on it, from Padamali found at

<http://www.davidgodman.org/books/Padamalai_extract.pdf>

 

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38 The mind that has died in pure consciousness, mere being, will

surge forth, resurrecting itself as bhuma [the all-pervasive reality].

 

Muruganar: "That which frightens people into regarding the natural

state as real death is false knowledge in the form of individuality.

It is for this reason that ignorance has to be destroyed prior to

liberation, which is pure consciousness, the reality. Know that it is

this death that is praised by synonyms such as 'destruction of ego',

'self-surrender', 'loss of ego', manonasam [destruction of the mind]

and vasana kshaya [destruction of vasanas], which is the final means

of liberation. The decad lamenting 'I am not yet dead' in the

Tiruvachakam also speaks of this same aspect. Saint Pattinathar also

instructs, 'Wander around like a dead person'. The statements of the

great ones expressing the same idea are innumerable."

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By way of confirming this last statement, here is a poignant poem by

St. Teresa of Avila. It is one of my favorite Christian poems.

 

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I DIE BECAUSE I DO NOT DIE

 

I live, yet no true life I know,

And, living thus expectantly,

I die because I do not die.

 

Since this new death in life

Estranged from self my life has been,

For now I live a life unseen:

The Lord has claimed me as His own.

My heart I gave Him for His throne,

Whereon He wrote indelibly:

"I die because I do not die."

 

Within this prison house divine,

Prison of love whereby I live,

My God Himself to me doth give,

And liberate this heart of mine,

And, as with love I yearn and pine,

With God my prisoner I sigh:

"I die because I do not die."

 

How tedious is this life below,

This exile with its grief and pains.

This dungeon and these cruel chains

In which the soul is forced to go!

Straining to leave this life of woe,

With anguish sharp and deep I cry:

"I die because I do not die."

 

How bitter our existence ere

We come at last the Lord to meet!

For, though the soul finds loving sweet,

The waiting time is hard to bear.

Oh, from this leaden weight of care,

My God relieve me speedily,

Who die because I do not die.

 

I only live because I know

That death and hope is all the more secure

Since death and life together go.

Death, thou life-creator, lo!

I wait upon thee, come thou nigh:

I die because I do not die.

 

Consider, life, love's potency

And cease to cause me grief and pain.

Reflect, I beg, that, thee to gain,

I first must lose thee utterly.

Then, death, come pleasantly to me.

Come softly: undismayed am I

Who die because I do not die.

 

That life, with life beyond recall,

Is truly life for evermore:

Until this present life be over

We cannot savor life at all.

So, death, retreat not at my call,

For life through death I can descry

Who die because I do not die.

 

O life, what service can I pay

Unto my God who lives in me

Save if I first abandon thee

That I may merit thee for aye?

Such yearning for my Spouse have I,

Dying because I do not die.

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Love and Peace,

 

David M.