God, Guru and the Self

[Guest guest]

Sai Ram Brothers and Sisters,

 

I wanted to pass along this poem that my friend sent me and also the wonderful

words of Ramana Maharshi below. I think both are other ways of saying what

Baba emphasized in his latest discourse. He is really pushing us all now to

realize there is no separation, we are in fact God and there is only One.

 

Blessings to all on the "journey without distance",

 

Laura Brainard

 

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You are the God

You are the Goddess

You are the source of all knowing

You are the guru

You are the altar

You are the still pond

and the stone

and the ripples

and the laughter

You are the question

and the answer

You are the silence

You are me

 

 

 

*** God, Guru and the Self *** CONSCIOUSNESS Existence or Consciousness is

the only reality. Consciousness plus waking we call waking. Consciousness plus

sleep we call sleep. Consciousness plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is

the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the

pictures are mere shadows on it. MIND Mind is a wonderful force inherent in the

Self. That which arises in this body as 'I' is the mind. When the subtle mind

emerges through the brain and the senses, the gross names and forms are

cognized. When it remains in the Heart names and forms disappear.... If the

mind remains in the Heart, the 'I' or the ego which is the source of all

thoughts will go, and the Self, the Real, Eternal 'I' alone will shine. Where

there is not the slightest trace of the ego, there is the Self. SURRENDER There

are two ways of achieving surrender. One is looking into the source of the 'I'

and merging into that source. The other is feeling 'I am helpless myself God

alone is all powerful and except throwing myself completely on Him, there is no

other means of safety for me', and thus gradually developing the conviction that

God alone exists and the ego does not count. Both methods lead to the same goal.

Complete surrender is another name for jnana or liberation.THE THREE STATES:

WAKING,DREAM AND SLEEP There is no difference between the dream and the waking

state except that the dream is short and the waking long. Both are the result

of the mind. Our real state is beyond the waking, dream and sleep states,

called turiya. GRACE AND GURU I have not said that a Guru (divine teacher) is

not necessary. But a Guru need not always be in human form. First a person

thinks that he is an inferior and that there is a superior, all-knowing, all

powerful God who controls his own and the world's destiny and worships him or

does Bhakti. When he reaches a certain stage and becomes fit for enlightenment,

the same God whom he was worshipping comes as Guru and leads him on. That Guru

comes only to tell him 'That God is within yourself. Dive within and realize.

God, Guru and the Self are the same.

 

Quotes from Ramana Maharshi: http://www.arunachala.org/Ramana/teachings.html

 

An overview of his life: http://www.arunachala.org/Ramana/life.html