Weekly definition - 'sat' or 'existence'- Keep Advaita in the Heart!

April 2, 2007

Sankararaman-ji ,

Thank you so much for your feedback. When Sri Ramana talks

about 'silence' , he doe not mean keeping 'quiet' - he means

silencing of I thoughts . The archives has a beautiful discussion on

and quotations on what Sri Ramana means by 'silence' please check it

out.

msay i recall a verse that appeared in the collected works of sri

Ramana

" Keep advaita within the Heart. Do not ever carry it into action.

Even if you apply it to all the three worlds, O son, it is not to be

applied to the Guru. "

Annamalai Swami has given an account of how this particular verse

came to be written. It began with the following remarks by Bhagavan:

`Advaita should not be practised in ordinary activities. It is

sufficient if there is no differentiation in the mind. If one keeps

cartloads of discriminating thoughts within, one should not pretend

that all is one on the outside.

)))))snip snip snip ((((

`This world is a huge theatre. Each person has to act whatever

role is assigned to him. It is the nature of the universe to be

differentiated but within each person there should be no

differentiation.'

The dialogue continues

Question: Sri Bhagavan has written [ulladu Narpadu Anubandham, verse

39] that one should not show advaita in one's activities. Why so?

All are one. Why differentiate?

Bhagavan: Would you like to sit on the seat that I am sitting on?

Question: I don't mind sitting there. But if I came and sat there

the sarvadhikari [the ashram manager] and the other people here

would hit me and chase me away.

Bhagavan: Yes, nobody would allow you to sit here. There is a

scriptural story about this. Some people once gathered together to

test whether it is true, as said in the Bhagavad Gita, that a jnani

sees everything as one. They took a brahmin, an untouchable, a cow,

an elephant, and a dog to the court of King Janaka, who was a jnani.

When all had arrived King Janaka sent the brahmin to the place of

brahmins, the cow to its shed, the elephant to the place allotted to

elephants, the dog to its kennel and the untouchable person to the

place where the other untouchables lived. He then ordered his

servants to take care of his guests and feed them all appropriate

food.

The people asked, `Why did you separate them individually? Is

not everything one and the same for you?'

`Yes, all are one,' replied Janaka, `but self-satisfaction

varies according to the nature of the individual. Will a man eat the

straw eaten by the cow? Will the cow enjoy the food that a man eats?

One should only give what satisfies each individual person or

animal.'

Although the same man may play the role of all the characters

in a play, his acts will be determined by the role that he is

playing at each moment. In the role of a king he will sit on the

throne and rule. If the same person takes on the role of a servant,

he will carry the sandals of his master and follow him. His real

Self is neither increased nor decreased while he plays these roles.

The jnani never forgets that he himself has played all these roles

in the past.

One can have the idea that everything is a manifestation of the

Self, and one can attempt to incorporate this idea into one's daily

life by treating other people in an egalitarian way. However, all

this would all be theoretical since it would be based on an idea of

reality instead of stemming from a direct experience of the Self.

From the standpoint of the Self `practising advaita' is an oxymoron

since in that state there is no longer an entity who can make

choices about what should or should not be done. In that state

action arises spontaneously from the Self, unmediated by the I-am-

the-doer idea. Sadhu Om has elaborated on this important point in

his commentary on this verse:

Advaita is the experience of clearly apprehending that, in reality,

the Self, being-consciousness, shining continuously as `I am', alone

exists, and that all that appears in duality, consisting of the

body, mind and world, is entirely unreal. Therefore, since doing

belongs to the dualistic state, where the mind and body appear to be

real, non-duality cannot be expressed through doing. On the

contrary, should anyone think that non-duality might be expressed

through doing, they would [be showing themselves to] be bereft of

the experience of the truth of non-duality).

TO READ MORE ON THIS SUBJECT PL GO TO

http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/unverse39.shtml

" Thus let a man know that the own-nature of his own Self is Being,

Consciousness, Bliss. "

Sat Chit Ananda !

-

April 3, 2007

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

Pranams to all.

advaitin , " dhyanasaraswati "

<dhyanasaraswati wrote:

Dear Smt. Dhyanasaraswatiji,

You have stated: " When Sri Ramana talks about 'silence' , he does

not mean keeping 'quiet' - he means silencing of I thoughts. " .

I have a doubt here : Who is the ENTITY that is going to silence I

thoughts? Is that ENTITY separate from the I thought or both are one

and the same? If both are one and the same , how can silencing take

place? Is it not as ridiculous as saying " One can sit on his own

shoulders " ? Please examine within yourself your statement 'he means

silencing of I thoughts' in the light of the above questions. Sri

Bhagavan does not mean that. Silencing of I thought amounts to

chittavritti Nirodha which Sri Bhagavan never advocates . Please

ponder over this completely and examine thoroughly in depth and then

only reply may please be given.

There is only ONE Silence (MAUNA or SHANTAM) i.e. ATMAN.

All the things proceed from Silence and merge back to Silence.

There is a very profound Sloka in Upadeshasahasri.I Quote:

yEnAtmanA vilIyanta udBavanti ca vRuttayaH |

nityAvagatayE tasmai namO dhIpratyayAtmanE ||Ch.18 verse-1

Reverence to that eternal Consciousness (avagati),

the Self of the mental presentations-that Self from which

they rise and into which they dissolve.

Please COGNIZE the above stated TRUTH within YOURSELF and come to

know what Sri Ramana means by the word " " SILENCE " .

With warm and respectful regards,

Sreenivasa Murthy.

April 3, 2007

narayana145 <narayana145 wrote: