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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2021 21:27:38 GMT
All forms of duality or relativity exist only in the imagination of our mind, which itself is no more than a figment of our imagination – something which in truth has never really existed. However, though true knowledge transcends not only all forms of duality or relativity, but also our mind, by which all forms of duality and relativity are known, it is nevertheless the ultimate substratum that underlies and supports the appearance of all of them. True knowledge is therefore only the absolute knowledge that underlies yet transcends all relative knowledge and ignorance. It transcends them because, though it is their ultimate substratum or support, it nevertheless remains distinct from, independent of and unaffected by them, just as a cinema screen is the support that underlies the appearance of the pictures that flit across it, yet nevertheless remains distinct from, independent of and unaffected by them. Just as the screen is not burnt when a picture of a raging fire is projected upon it, nor does it become wet when a picture of a flood is projected upon it, so true knowledge – our real non-dual self-consciousness ‘I am’ – is not affected in the least by any relative knowledge or ignorance that may seem to arise within it. Though our true, absolute and non-dual knowledge ‘I am’ is the ultimate support or substratum that underlies all forms of duality or relativity, it is not their immediate support or base. The immediate base upon which all duality depends, and without which it ceases to exist, is only our wrong knowledge ‘I am this body’, which is our individualised sense of selfhood, our ego or mind. Therefore in verse 23 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu Sri Ramana says: This body does not say ‘I’ [that is, it does not know ‘I am’, because it is just inconscient matter]. No one says ‘in sleep I do not exist’ [even though in sleep this body does not exist]. After an ‘I’ has risen [imagining ‘I am this body’], everything rises. [Therefore] by a subtle intellect scrutinise where this ‘I’ rises.
- An introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. HAPPINESS AND THE ART OF BEING. Excerpt from the Chapter: WHAT IS TRUE KNOWLEDGE? Michael James.
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Post by Admin on Oct 29, 2021 13:34:12 GMT
Everything that appears will one day disappear. There is no permanence in the world of forms. But that unchangeable consciousness in which all forms appear can never be diminished, destroyed or altered in any way. If you learn to be that consciousness you come to understand that nothing can touch or destroy you. … Ignorance causes us to worry about the possible destruction of the body. If you make your well-being dependent on the well-being of the body, you will always be worrying and suffering. When you know, from direct experience, that you are the Self, you realize that there is no birth and death. You realize that you are deathless and immortal. Self-realization is sometimes called the immortal state because it never ends and because it is never destroyed or even altered. If you keep your attention on the Self you can attain this immortality. If you attain it, in that ultimate state of being you will find that there is no birth, no death, no desires, no fears, no worries, no mind and no world.
- Living by the Words of Bhagavan, p. 294
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Post by Admin on Oct 29, 2021 17:56:44 GMT
"What do you mean by study? That means you are only trying to remember the concepts. What I am saying is that you become concept-free. Put an axe to the concepts, including the concept ‘I am’."
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
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Post by Admin on Oct 29, 2021 19:53:13 GMT
Q: For every kind of knowledge, or skill, do I need a separate Guru? M: There can be no rule in these matters, except one ‘the outer is transient, the innermost — permanent and changeless’, though ever new in appearance and action. Q: What is the relation between the inner and the outer Gurus? M: The outer represent the inner, the inner accepts the outer —for a time. Q: Whose is the effort? M: The disciple’s, of course. The outer Guru gives the instructions, the inner sends the strength; the alert application is the disciple’s. Without will, intelligence and energy on the part of the disciple the outer Guru is helpless. The inner Guru bids his chance. Obtuseness and wrong pursuits bring about a crisis and the disciple wakes up to his own plight. Wise is he who does not wait for a shock, which can be quite rude. Q: Is it a threat? M: Not a threat, a warning. The inner Guru is not committed to non-violence. He can be quite violent at times, to the point of destroying the obtuse or perverted personality. Suffering and death, as life and happiness, are his tools of work. It is only in duality that non-violence becomes the unifying law. Q: Has one to be afraid of his own self? M: Not afraid, for the self means well. But it must be taken seriously. It calls for attention and obedience; when it is not listened to, it turns from persuasion to compulsion, for while it can wait, it shall not be denied. The difficulty lies not with the Guru, inner or outer. The Guru is always available. It is the ripe disciple that is lacking. When a person is not ready, what can be done? Q: Ready or willing? M: Both. It comes to the same. In India we call it adhikari. It means both capable and entitled. Q: Can the outer Guru grant initiation (diksha)? M: He can give all kinds of initiations, but the initiation into Reality must come from within. Q: Who gives the ultimate initiation? M: It is self-given. Q: I feel we are running in circles. After all, I know one self only, the present, empirical self. The inner or higher self is but an idea conceived to explain and encourage. We talk of it as having independent existence. It hasn’t. M: The outer self and the inner both are imagined. The obsession of being an ‘I’ needs another obsession with a ‘super-I’ to get cured, as one needs another thorn to remove a thorn, or another poison to neutralize a poison. All assertion calls for a denial, but this is the first step only. The next is to go beyond both.
- Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Excerpt from Chapter 75. I AM THAT. In Peace and Silence you Grow.
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Post by Admin on Oct 29, 2021 20:39:49 GMT
Know Yourself; Know Happiness ========================== We all want to be happy. How to become happy? What do we have to do? Sit by yourself, go deep within yourself, and realize the truth about yourself. Which is, you are not the subject or the object. You are not the seer or the thing seen. You are the witness to all these things. The witness, everything you see. The witness is the witness. You watch, you look, you observe. And yet, you're not the observer, you're not the watcher, you're not the looker. You're like a clay pot. A clay pot has space inside of it and outside of it. The space inside is not any different than the space outside. When the clay pot breaks, the space merges with inside and the outside. It's only one space. So it is with us. Your body is like a clay pot, and it appears you have to go within to find the truth. The outward appears to be within you. The outward is also without you. There's boundless space. When the body is transcended, it's like a broken clay pot. The Self within you becomes the Self outside of you. Always merges with the Self. As it's always been. The Self merges with the Self. Some people call the inner Self the Atman. And yet it is called Brahman. When there is no body in the way, the Atman and the Brahman become One. They become Brahman, One-ness, Absolute Reality, Pure Awareness. They become free and liberated. We don't have to wait until the body dies for this to happen, it can happen to us now. You can become totally free and liberated now, if you will. All you have to do is let go. You let go of everything that's been keeping you in bondagementally. Listen to your heart. Observe yourself. Become cognizant of your feelings, your emotions. Is this really you? Are you really your emotions? Are you really your feelings that you observe? Where do these feelings come from? Ask yourself, "Who am I? Where do my feelings come from? Where do my thoughts come from? Where does my life come from? Who is playing the game? Who is being alive? Who is growing up, becoming old and dying? Who is playing this game? Who is the 'I' that is playing this game? "Who am I?" Just by thinking about these things all the time, something begins to happen to you, something wonderful. Do not think about the weather, or about the day's work, or your problems. For all the thinkers, who thinks? Find out who has the problems? Who has problems? Find out who you really are, who am I? It's up to you to awaken from this mortal dream. You can keep on going like you are right now, with the good things and the bad things. Yet you live in a universe of dualities. Which means for every good there is a bad. For every bad there is a good. It's a false world in which you live. You need to awaken to this truth. Always realize that you're like the ocean. Any thoughts, ideas, body, beliefs, are simply ripples on the ocean. Bubbles come and go. The bubbles appear, stay for a time and disappear. The ocean always remains the same. This is like us. Our true reality never changes, but the body appears and the body disappears. New bodies come, they appear, and disappear. Things come, things go. The ocean will remain the same. Know the truth about yourself. Never forget it. Understand who you really are. Be aware of yourself, always. The world has its own karma. The world goes through its own karma. It has absolutely nothing to do with you. You belong to God. Everything you see is God. This is why you should be non- judgmental. Leave everything alone. By practicing these things, you become radiantly happy. There never was a time when you were not the Self, Pure Awareness, Consciousness. This is your destiny, to awaken into Consciousness. Yet you can do it now, or you can do it in a thousand lives from now. It all depends on you. It's the way you are reacting as yourself to the world which determines the directions you are going in. There are no mistakes. Nothing is wrong. Everything is right just the way it is. Do not try to understand this or figure it out. Leave it alone. It will happen by itself, by keeping yourself quiet and still. You quiet the mind because of realization. Let it be calm. In all situations be calm. Let it be still and quiet. The world doesn't need any help from you. Aren't you the world, aren't you the Creator? You created the world the way it is. It came out of you, of your mind. Or else where does it come from? The world that you are in, is a creation of your own mind. The mind becomes still, the world begins to disappear. And you're in divine harmony and joy. Therefore happiness comes to you when you stop thinking, when you stop judging, when you stop being afraid. When you begin to contemplate what is happiness. All the answers are within you. Everything you're looking for is within you—everything. Nobody can help you but yourself. Know who you are. You are the Power. All the power of the universe is within you. You have all the power you need. All is well, exceedingly well. It has always been well, it will always be well. Act like a god or a goddess. Do not act like a human being any longer. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, saying you're unhappy. Stand up tall. Know the truth about yourself. Become the witness of all phenomena that you see, and be free.
- T. 247 × The World Begins With Love - September 22, 1993 SILENCE OF THE HEART 1999 edition Dialogue with Robert Adams
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Post by Admin on Oct 30, 2021 10:20:01 GMT
All forms of duality or relativity exist only in the imagination of our mind, which itself is no more than a figment of our imagination – something which in truth has never really existed. However, though true knowledge transcends not only all forms of duality or relativity, but also our mind, by which all forms of duality and relativity are known, it is nevertheless the ultimate substratum that underlies and supports the appearance of all of them. True knowledge is therefore only the absolute knowledge that underlies yet transcends all relative knowledge and ignorance. It transcends them because, though it is their ultimate substratum or support, it nevertheless remains distinct from, independent of and unaffected by them, just as a cinema screen is the support that underlies the appearance of the pictures that flit across it, yet nevertheless remains distinct from, independent of and unaffected by them. Just as the screen is not burnt when a picture of a raging fire is projected upon it, nor does it become wet when a picture of a flood is projected upon it, so true knowledge – our real non-dual self-consciousness ‘I am’ – is not affected in the least by any relative knowledge or ignorance that may seem to arise within it. Though our true, absolute and non-dual knowledge ‘I am’ is the ultimate support or substratum that underlies all forms of duality or relativity, it is not their immediate support or base. The immediate base upon which all duality depends, and without which it ceases to exist, is only our wrong knowledge ‘I am this body’, which is our individualised sense of selfhood, our ego or mind. Therefore in verse 23 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu Sri Ramana says: This body does not say ‘I’ [that is, it does not know ‘I am’, because it is just inconscient matter]. No one says ‘in sleep I do not exist’ [even though in sleep this body does not exist]. After an ‘I’ has risen [imagining ‘I am this body’], everything rises. [Therefore] by a subtle intellect scrutinise where this ‘I’ rises.
- An introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. HAPPINESS AND THE ART OF BEING. Excerpt from the Chapter: WHAT IS TRUE KNOWLEDGE? Michael James.
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Post by Admin on Oct 31, 2021 9:46:18 GMT
It is by the grace of God that you come to desire to know yourself. This desire to know yourself is itself a clear sign of the Atman’s grace. So, there is grace already working as the source of your effort. Grace is not an external quality of the Self but its very nature. It abides in your Heart, pulling you inward into itself. The only task you must do is turn your attention inward and search the source of ‘I’. This is the only personal effort we have to put in. Sri Ramana Maharshi
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2021 16:19:48 GMT
WHAT IS TRUE KNOWLEDGE? Our true knowledge ‘I am’ is the support or base underlying our false knowledge ‘I am this body’, and our false knowledge ‘I am this body’ is in turn the support or base underlying our illusion of relative knowledge and ignorance. Therefore, to experience true knowledge as it is, we must not only remove the illusion of relative knowledge and ignorance, but must also remove its base, which is our false sense of individual selfhood, our knowledge ‘I am this body’. This truth is expressed by Sri Ramana in verses 10, 11 and 12 of Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu: Without [relative] ignorance, [relative] knowledge does not exist. Without [relative] knowledge, that [relative] ignorance does not exist. The knowledge that knows [the non-existence of] that [individual] self which is the base [of all our relative knowledge and ignorance], [by investigating] thus ‘that [relative] knowledge and ignorance [are known] to whom?’ is indeed [true] knowledge. Knowing [any] other thing without knowing [the non-existence of our individual] self, which knows [such other things], is ignorance; instead [can it be] knowledge? When [we] know [the non-existence of our individual] self, [which is] the ādhāra [the support or container] of knowledge and [its] opposite, [both] knowledge and ignorance will cease to exist. That which is [completely] devoid of both knowledge and ignorance is indeed [true] knowledge. That which knows [that is, our mind or individual self, which alone knows things other than itself] is not true knowledge. Since it [our real self] shines [as the only existing reality] without [any] other [thing] to know or to make known [that is, either for it to know, or to make itself or anything else known], [our real] self is [true] knowledge. It is not a void. Know [this truth].
- Happiness and The Art of Being. An introduction to the philosophy and practice of the spiritual teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana (March 2012 Edition) Michael James.
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2021 16:26:02 GMT
"What is purification of the mind? No thought. This thought-less mind, sattvic mind, no mind, can be called Consciousness itself. Self itself."
~ Papaji
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2021 19:29:53 GMT
The best ‘sravana’ (listening to) is ‘I am not the body’, the best ‘manana’ (reflecting on) is ‘I am not the body’, the best ‘nididhyasana’ (uninterrupted contemplation) is ‘I am not the body’ and the best ‘samadhi’ (direct experience of the Self) is when this thought too disappears.
Sri Ramana Maharshi
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2021 19:40:31 GMT
~~~~~~~~~Renunciation~~~~~~~~~
You have absolutely nothing to give up. Nothing to surrender, nothing to let go of. You are already liberated. How can you believe that you have to let go of something that never existed? You believe that you have to let go of your attachments. How can the Self have attachments? You think you have to surrender all of your fears, all of your depressions, all of the things that have been bothering you. Surrender to whom? Those things are not yours. They do not belong to you. You are Pure Reality. You are the Imperishable Self. Never were you born, never did you prevail and never will you leave. You are the One. The All-Pervading One. Consequently, you have absolutely nothing to give up. For you had never anything to begin with. It's really egotistical to believe you've got something to give up. There's nothing you have to surrender. It's only the ego that believes that something has to be surrendered, something has to be given up, you have to let go of something. Who is the one who had something to begin with? There is no one. There is only the One Reality, and you are That.
~ Robert Adams, Silence of the Heart #T. 174 @ Three Pointers to Moksha - Liberation - July 30, 1992
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2021 20:10:54 GMT
Milarepa
Great One sing for us today of the blizzards you endured when the birds fell from their perches starved in the tree- top blankets of snow. Sing your story of starvation and how you turned green eating nettles as your food when near death the wind upended you and blew your only covering into a tree. How the spirits came to haunt you hideous, grimacing creatures of the mind hallucinations of starvation that you dispelled with indestructible insight. Remind us of years among the snow ranges where alone you explored mind and prayed for death to take you among the barren, granite cliffs But most of all sing to us of mind that Marpa revealed and you refined in barren caves pocking the Lachi Snow Range Of mind fearless as the snow leopard vast as the vulture's view gentle as the deer's tread blissful as the birds' morning twitter Mind you discarded as yours , that revealed the vista of reality saw what saw, loved unconditionally, became the wind's whine , the leopard's chuff and a blessing to us all.
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Post by Admin on Nov 2, 2021 21:04:59 GMT
There is a story of the man who went to a cave and he felt a beautiful breeze coming from the cave. He wanted to find the source of this beautiful breeze. He was a fat man weighed about four-hundred pounds. And there was a tiny hole in the cave he couldn't get through. He was so enamored by a breeze and its fragrance he just had to find out the source of this breeze. So he went on a diet, he lost weight, he wouldn't eat and he still couldn't squeeze through. So he gave up everything. He gave up his job, his home, his family. His only thought in his mind was, "I've got to find some of this breeze that smells and feels so beautiful." He wouldn't eat at all. He was determined to find the site of the breeze. He finally got down to a skeleton and he shoved his head through the hole in the cave and half of his body got stuck. He couldn't go in or out. Finally he gave up. He said, "I've done all I can. There is nothing more I can do." Then the Self pulled him through the hole and he became self-enlightened, self-realized. […] What this story means to us is when we stop fighting so much, stop trying to change things, stop trying to make things happen and we let go, depending on God, on consciousness, on the absolute reality, then God will pull you through. In other words you become self-realized. But as long as you rely on one person place or thing then you're alone fighting your battles. This is why true spirituality is not for everyone. For most people are not ready to let go of everything. They still want to hold onto things. So they get involved with spirituality and it makes them pure. They become involved in various meditations, pranayamas, kundalini, tantra, not realizing all these things come from your mind. They're all mental things and they will never lead you to self-realization. They will only increase the size of your ego. So true spiritual life is very easy. You just need to surrender, let go of everything. Take refuge in the Buddha or the Self or consciousness, whatever you like to call it. It's all names. And you take refuge in this by not allowing the world to make you feel anything. As long as this world makes you feel something good or bad, you're worldly, and you have battles to fight. But when good and bad never impresses you again, then you're free. Only you can make that choice. Do not look to reality when things are getting bad in your life. There are many people who search for truth only when they become sick or broke or mad at the world or despondent, then they search for truth. If they get what they want they forget all about it and go out and have a good time. But remember things will change as they always do and you have so much time in your body so-called, in this life, you may be called again to leave your body tomorrow or next week or next month you never know. Where will you be then without a body? You'll feel naked. You'll be lost. So you catch another body to get into and to be involved with and go through many many bodies, because you're attached to the world and its manifestations. So the secret of awakening is to let go of everything, let go, drop everything. All your conceived ideas, all of your dogmas, all of your rituals, everything you've been holding onto, drop it and be free. Do not hold onto anything. Always question your mind. Whatever the mind tells you ask, "Who is going through this? Who is this coming to? To me, Who am I? Who is the I that's experiencing these things?" Always work on yourself. Remember to do this everyday. Catch yourself daily. It's best to begin when you get up in the morning. If you begin to catch yourself in the morning you'll catch yourself all day long. When I say, "Catch yourself," I mean catch yourself thinking. Catch yourself reacting, judging. Only in the silence will you find reality. Self-inquiry leads to silence, surrender leads to silence. Be still and know that I-am God. I will never leave you nor forsake you. In this case the I is consciousness, absolute reality, I-am that I-am. This is the only refuge you've got. You cannot take refuge in this world because it changes, it's a world of duality. Only in the Self can you take refuge. In the I, the I-am. Be not afraid it is I. I is your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your friend. I is the Self. Peace. […] […] […] SQ: In your analogy of the cave what would you describe as being inside the cave? RA: Inside the cave? SQ: Yes. RA: Reality, self-realization. But he couldn't get through because he didn't surrender, he was trying to do it by himself. Thinking if he diets he could lose his weight. If he gives up this, if he gives up that. At total surrender the Self will push you into your heart centre. The cave is the heart centre, spiritual heart on the right side of your chest. You can't enter by yourself, you can only go so far, but when you become totally unattached you stop using the ego to get things, to do things, and you just sort of give up and surrender totally and completely, then the Self grabs you, pulls you in to the heart and you become free. So the analogy of the cave is the heart.
-- Robert Adams, T238: Stop Fighting!
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Post by Admin on Nov 3, 2021 12:36:07 GMT
Questioner: I am what I know myself to be. Nisargdatta Maharaj: You cannot possibly say that you are what you think yourself to be! Your ideas about yourself change from day to day and from moment to moment. Your self-image is the most changeful thing you have. It is utterly vulnerable, at the mercy of a passer by. A bereavement, the loss of a job, an insult, and your image of yourself, which you call your person, changes deeply. To know what you are you must first investigate and know what you are not. And to know what you are not you must watch yourself carefully, rejecting all that does not necessarily go with the basic fact: ‘I am’. The ideas: I am born at a given place, at a given time, from my parents and now I am so-and-so, living at, married to, father of, employed by, and so on, are not inherent in the sense ‘I am’. Our usual attitude is of ‘I am this’. Separate consistently and perseveringly the ‘I am’ from ‘this’ or ‘that’, and try to feel what it means to be, just to be, without being ‘this’ or ‘that’. All our habits go against it and the task of fighting them is long and hard sometimes, but clear understanding helps a lot. The clearer you understand that on the level of the mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker you will come to the end of your search and realize your limitless being.
From 'I Am That' Chapter 18
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Post by Admin on Nov 3, 2021 17:49:44 GMT
TO BE NOTHING —- 'To be nothing' means Truth. When your 'being' is not, you are God. But how could you feel and know that all this that you see and feel is nothing? The world seems so real, all its phenomena so true, that the average man simply cannot consider it maya. It is only when you attain to that particular state, or rise above the mental sphere that you can realize the nothingness of the gross world. Those who say that God is real and the world is also real are ignorant. It is because they have very hazy notions about the divine realm that they say that the world is real. The average man knows the nothingness of the world, only when he is in sound sleep. When he is in sound sleep, he knows not his family, wealth, profession, body, and mind; in short, he knows nothing. But when his sound sleep is disturbed, and he enters the dreaming state, he considers all his dreams real and true. He knows not that he is actually dreaming. Whatever he does and sees in dreams, he considers real and true. But as soon as he wakes up, he realizes the nature of the phenomena he witnessed in dreams. Just the same way when one enters the divine realm, one realizes the nothingness of the world. Heavens, earths, minds, bodies, all disappear, when the Self is realized, and only One Infinite Eternal Existence remains.
QUESTIONS MEHER BABA ANSWERED, p. 43 Originally from THE MEHER MESSAGE: Vol. II, No. 2, February 1930, p. 19 2003 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust
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