Guest guest Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 From Gems from Bhagavan VIII SELF REALISATION P.38 Ishta Devata (Deity of one's choice) and Guru are aids, Very powerful aids on this path. But an aid to be effective requires your effort also. Your effort is a sine qua non (without which nothing). It is you who should see the Sun, Can spectacles and the Sun see the for you? You yourself have to see your True Nature. Not much aid is required for doing it. -------- Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Dear Alan , Am reminded of an interesting story . A man went to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and told him that he has been doing sadhana for ages but of no avail . He demanded that since the sage Ramakrishna was a realised soul , he should help him see GOD. The sage took him to the near by river , forced the man into the water , not allowing him to breathe .. After a while he let him out .. the man gasping was enraged .. The sage asked him how he felt when he was gasping for breath and added that he must yearn for GOD too in such a manner that Life depended only on finding HIM .. The man nodded his head wisely and went away ... The Moral : How badly do we need GOD ? Is this search just a hobby ? Or do we understand that this is the ONE and ONLY purpose in our life ? Pranams ramesh --- On Sat, 3/21/09, Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs wrote: Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs From Gems from Bhagavan Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009, 11:29 AM From Gems from BhagavanVIII SELF REALISATIONP.38Ishta Devata (Deity of one's choice) and Guru are aids,Very powerful aids on this path.But an aid to be effectiverequires your effort also.Your effort is a sine qua non (without which nothing).It is you who should see the Sun,Can spectacles and the Sun see the for you?You yourself have to see your True Nature.Not much aid is required for doing it.------------ --------- --------- --------- --Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Dear Ramesh, Thank you. This is a most useful and apposite posting, a helpful reminder. Ramana used the same metaphor about the drowning man too on some occaisions. Love, Yours in Him, Alan --- On Sat, 21/3/09, ramesh_chiv <ramesh_chiv wrote: ramesh_chiv <ramesh_chivRe: From Gems from Bhagavan Date: Saturday, 21 March, 2009, 6:18 AM Dear Alan , Am reminded of an interesting story . A man went to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and told him that he has been doing sadhana for ages but of no avail . He demanded that since the sage Ramakrishna was a realised soul , he should help him see GOD. The sage took him to the near by river , forced the man into the water , not allowing him to breathe .. After a while he let him out .. the man gasping was enraged .. The sage asked him how he felt when he was gasping for breath and added that he must yearn for GOD too in such a manner that Life depended only on finding HIM .. The man nodded his head wisely and went away ... The Moral : How badly do we need GOD ? Is this search just a hobby ? Or do we understand that this is the ONE and ONLY purpose in our life ? Pranams ramesh --- On Sat, 3/21/09, Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs@ .co. uk> wrote: Alan Jacobs <alanadamsjacobs@ .co. uk> From Gems from BhagavanSaturday, March 21, 2009, 11:29 AM From Gems from BhagavanVIII SELF REALISATIONP.38Ishta Devata (Deity of one's choice) and Guru are aids,Very powerful aids on this path.But an aid to be effectiverequires your effort also.Your effort is a sine qua non (without which nothing).It is you who should see the Sun,Can spectacles and the Sun see the for you?You yourself have to see your True Nature.Not much aid is required for doing it.------------ --------- --------- --------- --Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 Dear Alan, It's good to see these words below from Bhagavan (see quote from 'Gems'). Sometimes I wonder if 'our' repetitions of " Leave it all to God's grace! " are genuine attempts at surrender or just an abnegation of responsibility for the effort needed towards our own sadhana (spiritual practice). Sometimes, (again that word) I wonder what is the difference between that approach and the recent Neo-Advaita movement with it's laid back attitude of nowhere to go, no one to go there, and no sadhana (effort) necessary. I am thinking here of the quote from your good critique of Neo Advaita: " What Neo-Advaita gives in fact boils down to the seductive formula that 'there is nothing you can do or need to do, all you have to know is that there is no one there.' " advaita-and-western-neo-advaita-a-study-by-alan-adam-jacob s I think what I'm saying is that perhaps we need to be careful not to make surrender into a " seductive formula " of... " there is nothing you can do or need to do, all you have to know is that everything happens according to His Grace. " Of course, only each of us can answer these questions for ourselves. With best wishes, Peter From Gems from Bhagavan VIII SELF REALISATION P.38 Ishta Devata (Deity of one's choice) and Guru are aids, Very powerful aids on this path. But an aid to be effective requires your effort also. Your effort is a sine qua non (without which nothing). It is you who should see the Sun, Can spectacles and the Sun see the for you? You yourself have to see your True Nature. Not much aid is required for doing it. -------- Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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