Msg for the day

[Guest guest]

81. In the life of an aspirant who is seeking liberation, bhakti and

jnana will be experienced as inseparable, like the two sides of one

sheet of paper. Hence, each one is equal to the other. They are not

two different things, for the true nature of both of them is one and

the same; know that bhakti and jnana are merely two names for that

one thing. Garland of Guru's Sayings (Guru Vachaka Kovai) verses

722,731)

 

82. The state of abiding firmly in Self-alone is wisdom (jnana).

Would it be possible to abide thus in Self if one did not have love

for Self? Love for Self-alone is bhakti; abiding firmly in Self on

account of that love alone is jnana. What difference is there between

these two? Discriminate and know this truth. (Maharshi's Gospel p.24)

 

83. If there did not exist the power of gravity, which attracts and

pulls everything towards the earth, would anything remain stable on

earth? On scrutiny, devotion (bhakti) is found to be similar to the

gravitational power of attraction, while the state of wisdom (jnana)

is found to be similar to the state of objects remaining stable on

earth as a result of that attraction. If either one of these two, the

power of attraction or bhakti and the state of abidance or jnana,

were absent, the other one would not exist.

 

84. An aspirant who practices Self-Inquiry, which is the path of

jnana, denies his own individuality by knowing, "I, this

insignificant ego, am not the doer of any action"; while a devotee

denies his own individuality by knowing, "God alone is the doer of

all actions." Thus, since an aspirant who follows either of these two

paths refrains from assuming the sense of doership, understand that

these two paths are not different even during the time of practice,

and follow either of them.

 

- Sri Sadhu Om ( a disciple of Ramana Maharshi)

 

Hari Aum !!!

[Guest guest]

Jaya Sri Radhey! Namaste.

 

Today's message reminds me the verse from Saint Mirabai's famous

Bhajan:

 

"mere to giridhra gopAla dUsaro na koyI

jAkE zira mora mukuta mero pati soyI" (verse-1)

 

"Giridhara Gopala alone is mine, none else!

He, on Whose head is the elegant crown of pea-cock feathers,

is my eternal Spouse and the Lord of my heart."

 

"asuvana jala sIMci sIMci prema-beli boyI,

abato ped phaila gayI Ananda-phala hoyI," (verse-4)

 

"I have watered the creeper of Love with my sincere incessant tears.

Now that creeper has fully grown and spread well, its fruit is Divine

Bliss Itself."

 

Further explanation-

 

"phala rUpatvAt" (Narada Bhakti Sutra. 23)

 

For, it is the NATURE OF THE FRUIT or result of all these.

 

"ya dohane 'vahanane mathanopa lepa

prekheMkha nArbha ruditokSaNa mArjanAdau

gAyanti caina manurakta dhiyozru kaNThyo

dhanyA vraja striya urukrama citta yAnAH"

 

(Srimad Bhagavatam. 10.44.15)

 

The Gopis performed every household chore,

SINGING THE NAMES, GLORIES, EXPLOITS

OF THEIR BELOVED KRISHNA,

with THEIR EYES FULL OF TEARS,

with VOICES CHOKED UP with LOVING EMOTION,

and HEARTS SATURATED with Divine LOVE.

 

Their supreme selfless devotion, made Lord Krishna Himself, their

eternal Debtor.

 

"kAmaM krodhaM bhyaM snehamaikyaM sauhArdam eva ca

nityaM harau vidadhato yAnti tanmayatAM hi te"

 

(Bhagavatam 10.29.15)

 

According to this quotation of Veda Vyasa, whether it be through

PASSIONATE LOVE, anger, fear, friendship or affectionate attachment,

whatever the manner be,

GOD can be REALIZED ONLY BY ABSORBING the MIND IN HIM

and UNITING THE HEART WITH HIM.

 

This is the state of Lovers of God submerged in the OCEAN of Divine

Love-

 

"evaM vrataH svapriya nAma kIrtyAM jAtAma rAgo drutacitta uccaiH

hasatyathO roditi rauti gAyatyunmAdAnan nRtyati lokabAhyaH"

 

(Bhagavatam 11.2.40)

 

That Love overflows in the REMEMBRANCE OF THE NAME, ATTRIBUTES, and

PASTIMES OF THEIR DIVINE BELOVED and IS REVEALED IN THE FORM OF

SATVIKA BHAVAS or states of ECSTASY.

These principal ones are eight in number-

 

"stambhaH svedO 'tha romAJca svara bhedo 'tha vepathuH

vaivarNyam azru pralaya ityASTau sAtvikAH smRtAH "

 

The above verse explains the ecstatic expressions of Divine Love, in

the body of the pure devotee.

Becoming as motionless as pillar, sweating, horripilation, trembling,

loss of bodily color, choked voice, tears and unconscious trance are

the chief symptoms of ecstatic Divine Love.

 

Lord Krishna declares to Jnani devotee Uddhava-

 

"kathaM vinA romaharSaM dravatA cetasA vinA

vinAnandAzru kalayA zudhyed bhaktyA vinAzayaH"

 

(Bhagavatam 11.14.23,24)

 

How can the mind be purified without devotional yearning

characterised by a softening of the heart, the hair standing on end

and TEARS OF LOVE AND JOY FLOWING OUT OF EYES?

 

A loving devotee of Mine whose speech is broken BY SOBS,

whose heart MELTS and WHO WITHOUT ANY SHAME,

SOMETIMES WEEPS PROFUSELY, or LAUGHS, OR SINGS ALOUD,

OR DANCES, PURIFIES THE WHOLE UNIVERSE.

 

Jaya Sri Radhey!

 

, s_v_c_s <no_reply> wrote:

> 87. When, having wept and wept with intense yearning for a long

time,

> unceasingly thinking of and adoring the Gracious Feet (of the

Lord),

> the mind which rises (as "I am so-and-so") dissolves and becomes

> pure, the blemishless Self-inquiry (jnanatma-vichara) will become

> firmly settled (in the heart) and the experience of Self (swarupa-

> anubhava) will of its own accord arise very easily indeed. ­ Sri

> Muruganar ( a disciple of Ramana Maharshi)

>

> Note: from Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham v.1286

>

> Hari Aum !!!