Guest guest Posted August 15, 2005 Report Share Posted August 15, 2005 26a The cause of bondage* The cause of all misery and evil, beginning with the birth experienced by jivas, is forgetfulness of the way they came. This is illustrated by the following story. In the hall where Bhagavan used to give darshan there was a chimney. The chimney was closed on all sides with steel mesh, except at the bottom. One day, a beautiful small bird somehow entered it and became trapped inside this chimney. The bird found itself trapped in conditions diametrically opposed to its natural environment: the vast space where it could fly freely. From the moment it entered the chimney, it was frantically struggling to escape, but all its efforts proved futile. Why? Because, forgetting the way it came, it was repeatedly trying to escape through all the closed routes. Sri Bhagavan took this opportunity to reveal a great truth: This bird has given up the all-pervasive space, its natural place of residence. It has been caught in this limited space, which is opposed to its nature. Not knowing how to escape from this prison, it is agitated and afraid. Like this bird, jivas have also given up their natural place of residence, the vast space of consciousness. Through the delusion of ignorance they have become trapped in the prison of the body. Without knowing how to escape, they are tormented by various afflictions. The ceaseless efforts of this bird to reach its natural place of residence are unsuccessful because they are directed upwards, the way of bondage, instead of downwards, the way it came. Similarly, the reason why the jiva’s ceaseless effort to attain freedom are unsuccessful is because they too are directed outwards, the way of bondage, instead inwards, the way they came. The natural tendency of the bird to go upwards asserts itself even in its attempt for freedom. Likewise, the natural tendency of jivas to roam outwards asserts itself even in their attempts at liberation. This is the jiva’s natural tendency. If, through true discrimination and awareness, the jiva is made to turn back from outward-directed sight to inward sight, and if it remains fixed there, it is certain that it would attain liberation in an instant. * This particular ‘scene’ contains many quotations from Bhagavan and stories about his various activities. Sadhu Natanananda uses these incidents to elaborate on essential points of Bhagavan’s teachings. The story that appears in 26a did not appear in Sri Ramana Darshanam at all. It was found in one of Sadhu Natanananda’s notebooks and has never been published before. However, since it contains a long teaching statement by Bhagavan, along with a comment from Sadhu Natanananda, I feel that it is appropriate to include it as the final section of this ‘scene’. I have given it the number 26a to avoid disruption to the original numbering sequence. pp. 49-50 SRI RAMANA DARSANAM ~ by Sadhu Natanananda ~ edited by David Godman Sri Ramanashramam, 2002 http://davidgodman.org/books/ramanadarsanam.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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