Fwd: Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-35

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ThePowerOfSilence , " saikali6362 "

<saikali6362 wrote:

 

Help on the Quest for Self-realization-Reminders-35

 

Losing the addiction to sense perceptions

 

63 Only consciousness is the perfect reality. All senses and

their perceptions, which are not consciousness, are the ignoble

imperfections of the false mind.

 

64 A mind that runs after pleasure through the five senses,

while squashing her Lord in the Heart, is an unchaste women.

 

Guru Vachaka Kovai, verse 73, Pozhippurai: Even on the day that

the " I " rises, this lady, the moon-like sense of individuality, is

duty bound to carefully conduct herself in a chaste state in the

Heart-the space of consciousness-as the legitimate wife of the Lord,

the Self which is the sun of jnana (true knowledge; direct knowledge

of the reality that is the Self). If she forsakes the bliss of the

Self, which is in harmony with her dharma (moral duty), and slips

from that chaste conduct through infidelity, immersing herself in

worldly enjoyment and wallowing in it, this is just a frenzied act

of stupidity caused by beginningless ancient karma.

 

Vilakkam: The jiva (individual self) and the Self have here been

called, respectively, the moon and the sun, and their residence has

been described as the Heart, the space of consciousness.

" The bliss of the Self " : this is the supreme bliss that is

one's own nature. In truth, it possesses the eminence of

transcending the mind.

" Worldly enjoyment " : this is the enjoyment experienced

through the five senses - seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and

touching.

These two types of enjoyment [the bliss of the Self and

worldly enjoyment] differ in greatness like a mountain and a pit in

a river bed. They are, respectively, divine and demonic attainments

that are opposed to each other. Because of this it has been

said, " forsakes the bliss of the Self…immersing herself in worldly

enjoyment and wallowing in it, this is just a frenzied act of

stupidity… " .

Therefore, only the attainment of the experience of the Self

can be the hallmark of one possessing wisdom.

 

65 The enduring knowledge of reality, the experience of truth,

is not possible for those who have gone the way of the false and

ignoble senses, having had a lover's tiff with the state of the Self.

 

66 How can the ekatma swarupa [the reality of the one Self]

shine in the Heart of those dull-minded people who are excessively

deluded?

 

67 Knowing that the real obstacle to [the attainment of ekatma

swarupa] is the great addiction to the objects perceived by the five

senses, get rid of that addiction.

 

Once a devotee asked Bhagavan about the significance of fasting.

With a benevolent look towards him Bhagavan said, " If all the

activities of the indriyas [five senses] are given up, the mind

becomes single pointed. When such a mind gets concentrated on God,

it is real upavasam [fasting]. " Upa " means " being near " . " Vasam "

means " living " . Where is he going to live? He will live in the Self.

Desires are the food for the mind. Giving them up is upavasam. If

there are no desires whatsoever, there is no such thing as mind.

What remains then is the Self. One who can fast the mind need not

fast the body, " said Bhagavan.

 

68 Do not allow yourself to be buffeted by the sense

perceptions in this world, but become firmly established in the

discipline of the spiritual practice [tapas], and be totally free of

the misery.

 

69 Protect your mind by all possible means so that harmful

cravings for the sense objects of the world do not cling to you.

 

70 Do not cherish the five sense perceptions, which are

illusory, but know your own consciousness that shines, pervading

them all equally.

 

From the essay version of Who am I?:

 

Although vishaya vasanas [tendencies to indulge in sense

perceptions], which have been recurring down the ages, rise in

countless numbers like the waves of the ocean, they will all perish

as meditation on one's own nature becomes more and more intense.

Without giving room even to the doubting thought " Is it possible to

destroy all these vasanas and remain as Self alone? " , one should

persistently and tightly hold onto meditation on one's real nature.

However great a sinner one may be, one should, instead of

lamenting, " Oh I am a sinner! How can I attain liberation? " ,

completely give up even the thought of being a sinner. One steadfast

in meditation on one's real nature will surely be saved.

 

71 The deluded existence of the body and the sense organs will

not perish except through a direct experience of Vedanta.

 

72 The highest and most heroic act of valor is to burn to ashes

[in the fire of jnana] the evil enemy that takes the form of sense

perceptions.

 

73 The minds of those who grieve, regarding the sense –

perceptions as real, cannot merge with the bliss of true jnana,

abounding in goodness.

 

74 The reason for desiring the insipid objects perceived by the

five senses is non-discrimination [aviveka], which is an absence of

enquiry into one's real nature.

 

75 In a mind in which divine consciousness holds sway, the

feeling of infatuation for the sordid enjoyments of the senses,

which arises in the false, will cease to be.

 

NOTE: TAKEN FROM " PADAMALAI " , EDITED BY DAVID GODMAN, PAGES 244 TO

246

 

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