Bhagavan Ramana's advice

[Guest guest]

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

             Pranams to all of you.

  

        This article appeared in the magazine "The Mountain Path'"  January 1972 issue, published from Sri Ramansramam, Tiruvannamalai.

  

         It was in 1940 that one day, one of the devotees sitting in the hall raised the topic regarding the utility of reading books on religion and philosophy. In reply Sri Bhagavan said:

              " You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the mirror shows you that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of it.  You may go on looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will tell you the same, but NO MIRROR CAN EVER SHAVE YOU.  YOU HAVE TO SHAVE YOURSELF, instead of wasting time looking into mirror  after mirror it is BEST to start shaving after having looked into the first mirror and known the truth.

                So also all the books will tell you the same truth, perhaps in slightly different ways. Instead of wasting  time reading book after book  WHY NOT REALISE FOR YOURSELF WHAT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE VERY FIRST BOOK ".    The end.

  

           Let all of us heed to to the advice of the SAGE and start the journey towards  Atmaj~JAna.

  

  With affectionate regards,

     Sreenivasa Murthy

    

 

                       

 

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Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

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[Guest guest]

 

sreenivasa murthy <narayana145 (AT) (DOT) co.in> wrote:

         

               " You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the mirror shows you that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of it.  You may go on looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will tell you the same, but NO MIRROR CAN EVER SHAVE YOU.  YOU HAVE TO SHAVE YOURSELF, instead of wasting time looking into mirror  after mirror it is BEST to start shaving after having looked into the first mirror and known the truth.

                 So also all the books will tell you the same truth, perhaps in slightly different ways. Instead of wasting  time reading book after book  WHY NOT REALISE FOR YOURSELF WHAT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE VERY FIRST BOOK ".    The end.

   

            Let all of us heed to to the advice of the SAGE and start the journey towards  Atmaj~JAna.

   

             Dear friends,

                               I thank Sri Srinuvasa Murthy for this well-meaning advise to desist from mere intellectual meandering, but plunge oneself deep inside, by quoting the wonderful message of Bhaghavan. In a similar vien Bhaghavn said:

"Analysing the various tatvas trying to come to a consensus whether they are 24 or 36, is like storing the shaved remains counting them instead of throwing them in the rubbish-basket." This instruction appears in the very first book, "Nan Yar," containing the quintessence of his teachings beyond which there is nothing to say. Further regarding self-enquiry, Bhaghavan used to say that the Self is beyond the five kosas, whereas all the sastras are within the kosas, and so how could one come upon that which is beyond the kosas through the mere knowledge of the contents of the kosas. Books are only pointers. However, as Murthyji says that the Upanishdic knowledge alone can emancipate us from the tentacles of Samsara. The Upanishads are not mere sastras but constitute the foundational knowledge of one's inner being as different from theological dogmas. Whatever religion one may pursue, ultimately it is the Upanishadic knowledge alone, which is only the knowledge of the Self, and

not the knowledge of some god in time and space,  one should come to, to reach the final denoument.  Hence, as Sri Murthy says one has to read between the lines, and not be stuck in mere words. In Vivekachudamani- if I have erred in my quotation, may Sri Subramanium may kindly correct me-Adi Sankara says that Sastra vasana, deha vasana, and loka vasana, are great hindrances. The same position is pointed out in the work- of an unknown author-"Advaitha Bodha Deepika- translated into English by Munagala Venkatramayya. This is an excellent work the like of it it is very difficult to find. Unfortunately, a few chapters of the original not being available, could not be translated. This contains wealth of details about Avasthathriya, the answer regarding who has the knowledge of the three states- the recent issue discussed in this forum- in simple unpedantic knwoledge. But, as our friend says, we had better not dwell on words, but go into the well-spring of the self, which is the

true goal of atmavichara. Our goal is not to become intellectual adepts, but to aim for mano-nasa. Let not be too much read into this simple yogic terminology for debate.

with warm regards,

yours ever in Bhaghavan Ramana

Sankarraman

 

           

 

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Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

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[Guest guest]

Namaste Sankarraman-ji;

 

I must add, trying not to sound like a teenage pop-cultured girl, that

i am your fan :-)

 

So much of what you say sounds like what i would have said that i

should even stop wasting my time reading your posts :-)

 

Now seriously, i stopped reading advaita bodha deepika before the

start of the 7th chapter, and i believe we both know why. Bhagavan's

book reading advise was one of the first quotations i read from him,

and it surely stuck. I hope the 7th chapter gets meaningful someday,

however it is not up to me to decide.

 

Also, if i may request from you, could you please elaborate a little

on your meetings with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj?

 

My warmest regards to you and all...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

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fcrema <fcrema .br> wrote:    Namaste Sankarraman-ji;

I must add, trying not to sound like a teenage pop-cultured girl, that

i am your fan :-)

So much of what you say sounds like what i would have said that i

should even stop wasting my time reading your posts :-)

Now seriously, i stopped reading advaita bodha deepika before the

start of the 7th chapter, and i believe we both know why. Bhagavan's

book reading advise was one of the first quotations i read from him,

and it surely stuck. I hope the 7th chapter gets meaningful someday,

however it is not up to me to decide.

Also, if i may request from you, could you please elaborate a little

on your meetings with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj? (Even though i cannot

easily gaze into his eyes when i look at his pictures, since i feel

weird, disturbing chills running down my spine as i do, while looking

at Bhagavan Ramana's tends to have a soothing effect, i am deeply

interested in understanding how his presence may have been felt by

someone i feel to be a like-minded individual, such as yourself).

Dear fcrema,

                     Thank you for your response. I should like to say that even though there is some truth in what you say about Maharaj, we cannot compare one jnani with the other;" each is unique. Does not the Kaivalya Navneetha say, ' A few jnanis will be immersed in meditation; a few will be ritualistic; a few even undertaking business pursuits; the essential nature of the realization of the Self being the same, only the samskaras belonging to the psycho-somatic apparatus being different. Some labour under the wrong notion that with the dawn of knowledge, the jnanis will be having a lot of miraculous powers, or be more intelligent in worldly matters. The jnanis will continue to be what they had been prior to the dawn of wisdom, the special faculties being attributable only to the unreal samskaras. As a matter of fact, as Bhaghavan puts it, there are not several jnanis; there is only the jnana.

yours ever in Bhaghavan Ramana

Sankarraman

P.S. I shall write later about Maharaj, god willing;

    

 

 

           

 

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Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

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Namaste Sankarraman-ji;

 

 

I agree completely with you when you say:

 

a) we cannot compare one jnani with the other;

 

b) there are not several jnanis; there is only the jnana;

 

Sometime ago a discussion came out on the list exactly about this differences and the nature of the muktas. Even though a difficult concept to understand, breaking the association between consciousness and body means that the notion of the individual remains only to those around, who have not broken this connection themselves, and are virtually unaware (or believe to be) of the ocean of consciousness, at least in as much as direct experience is regarded (which is the only truth).

 

Speaking from the latter point of view, i am eagerly waiting to read your accounts on meeting with Maharaj, since if we call books "mirrors", enlightened beings would then be animated mirrors made out of different crystals. Like various books with many covers, whose contents, however, are very much the same.

 

My warmest regards...   

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

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[Guest guest]

namaskaram

  

  i have a feeling that the "DRUK   DRISYA   VIVEKA "  also explains or throws a lot of light on this subject..spcially on the  "body" and  " I "

  

  i am eagerly looking for some detailed info on this...

  

  pranams

  pairam

 

Felipe <fcrema .br> wrote:

  Namaste Sankarraman-ji;

 

 

I agree completely with you when you say:

 

a) we cannot compare one jnani with the other;

 

b) there are not several jnanis; there is only the jnana;

 

Sometime ago a discussion came out on the list exactly about this differences and the nature of the muktas. Even though a difficult concept to understand, breaking the association between consciousness and body means that the notion of the individual remains only to those around, who have not broken this connection themselves, and are virtually unaware (or believe to be) of the ocean of consciousness, at least in as much as direct experience is regarded (which is the only truth).

 

Speaking from the latter point of view, i am eagerly waiting to read your accounts on meeting with Maharaj, since if we call books "mirrors", enlightened beings would then be animated mirrors made out of different crystals. Like various books with many covers, whose contents, however, are very much the same.

 

My warmest regards...   

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman and Brahman.

Advaitin Homepage at: Terms of Service.