Letters from Sri Ramanasramam 11

[Guest guest]

1st December, 1945

 

WHAT IS MEANT BY SAMSARA?

 

During the early days of my arrival here, on one day at

 

about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a middle-aged Andhra, who

 

had come recently, asked Bhagavan, " Swami, as I repeat Rama

 

Namam (the name of Rama) regularly every morning and

 

every evening for an hour, other thoughts come in, one by

 

one, increase from time to time and ultimately find that I

 

have forgotten my japam. What shall I do? "

 

 

 

" At that time catch hold of that name (Rama Namam) "

 

said Bhagavan. We all laughed. Poor man! He felt grieved

 

and said, " The reasons for these interruption is the samsara

 

(family), is not it? I am therefore thinking of abandoning

 

the samsara. " Bhagavan said, " Oh! Is that so? What really is

 

meant by samsara? Is it within or without? " " Wife, children

 

and others " he said. " Is that all the samsara? What have they

 

done? Please find out first what really is meant by samsara.

 

Afterwards we shall consider the question of abandoning

 

them, " said Bhagavan. He could not reply and so kept quiet,

 

crestfallen.

 

 

 

Bhagavan's heart was full of compassion. With a look

 

full of tender kindness he said, " Supposing you leave your

 

wife and children. If you are here this will become another

 

kind of samsara. Supposing you take to sannyasa. Another

 

kind of samsara comes into existence in the shape of a karra

 

(walking stick), kamandalu (water bowl) and the like. Why all

 

that? Samsara means samsara of the mind. If you leave that

 

samsara, it will be the same thing wherever you are. Nothing

 

troubles you. "

 

 

 

Poor man! He mustered up some courage and said, " Yes,

 

that is it, Swami. How to give up that samsara of the mind? "

 

Bhagavan said, " That is just it; you said you were doing the

 

japam of Rama Namam. During the train of thoughts, you said

 

you were sometimes reminded of the fact that you had

 

forgotten the japam of Rama Namam. Try to remind yourself

 

of that fact as often as possible and catch hold of the name of

 

Rama frequently. Other thoughts will then slowly decrease.

 

For the japam of nam (repeating the name of the Lord) several

 

stages have been prescribed.

 

" It is better to repeat the name by the mere motion of the

 

lips than by repeating it aloud; better than that is to repeat

 

it in the mind, and the best is dhyanam. "

 

Upadesa Saram, verse 6