The Self alone, the Sole Reality,
Exists for ever.
If of yore the First of Teachers
Revealed it through unbroken silence
Say, who can reveal it in spoken words?
– Ekatma Panchakam, Sri Bhagavan.
Sri Bhagavan once told the story that follows to Sri Muruganar. This brings out the profound significance of the Supreme Silence in which the First Master,Sri Dakshinamurti is established.
Sri Bhagavan said,
“When the four elderly Sanakadi rishis first beheld the sixteen-year-old Sri Dakshinamurti sitting under the banyan tree, they were at once attracted by Him, and understood that He was the real Sadguru. They approached Him, did three pradakshinas around Him, prostrated before Him, sat at His Feet and began to ask shrewd and pertinent questions about the nature of reality and the means of attaining it. Because of the great compassion and fatherly love (vatsalya) which He felt for His aged disciples, the young Sri Dakshinamurti was overjoyed to see their earnestness, wisdom and maturity, and gave apt replies to each of their questions. But as He answered each consecutive question, further doubts arose in their minds and they asked further questions.
Thus they continued to question Sri Dakshinamurti for a whole year, and He continued to clear their doubts through His compassionate answers. Finally,however, Sri Dakshinamurti understood that if He continued answering their questions, more doubts would arise in their minds and their ignorance (ajnana) would never end. Therefore, suppressing even the feeling of compassion and fatherly love which was welling up within Him, He merged Himself into the Supreme Silence. Because of their great maturity (which had ripened to perfection through their year-long association with the Sadguru), as soon as Sri Dakshinamurti assumed Silence,they too automatically merged into Supreme Silence, the true state of the Self.”
Wonderstruck on hearing Sri Bhagavan narrating the story in this manner, Sri Muruganar remarked that in no book was it mentioned that Sri Dakshinamurti ever spoke anything. “But this is what actually happened”, replied Sri Bhagavan curtly.From the authoritative way in which Sri Bhagavan replied and from the clear and descriptive way in which He told the story,Sri Muruganar understood that Sri Bhagavan was none other than Sri Dakshinamurti Himself!
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Ramana Maharshi suggests to Resist the temptation to justify yourself even when you are just
Ramana Maharshi tells this below story and moral behind it.
ONE DAY A sage called Pakanar was weaving a basket in front of his house. Hearing a loud voice chanting, “Hare Ram”, he asked his sister who it was that was chanting. His sister replied that it was a brahmin who is keeping his own daughter. Pakanar replied, “You are the hundredth person to repeat the scandal”. Meanwhile, the brahmin having come to that place, the sage told the brahmin that his curse was lifted and that he could return home. Later, he explained to his sister thus: “This brahmin was living with his widowed daughter. They were generous and kind-hearted. They would invite sadhus and feed them with love. On hearing of their generosity a sadhu came to visit them. He was well received and fed. The sadhu was immensely pleased with their devotion and decided to bless them.
He just glanced once and knew what was in store for them when they die. He called the brahmin and told him that after his death he would be tortured by a mountain of leeches in hell.On hearing this, the brahmin fell at his feet in terror and implored him for some means of escape. The sadhu told him,‘Once while you were cooking food a leech fell from the roof into the cooking pot and died unobserved. You offered that food to a realised sage. Since whatever is given to a sage will be received back a thousand-fold a mountain of leeches are in store for you’. The sadhu then advised the brahmin that in order to escape this fate he should conduct himself towards his grownup widowed daughter in such a way, as to provoke a scandal that he was having illicit intimacy with her. He assured him that when a hundred persons had uttered the scandal the sin would leave him completely, having been distributed among the scandal-mongers. The brahmin did accordingly and you are the hundredth person to tell the scandal. So I say that the brahmin’s curse is now removed.”
Sri Bhagavan drew from the story the following moral:
“Have the best intention, but act in such a way not to win praise, but to incur blame. Resist the temptation to justify yourself even when you are just.”
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
ONE DAY A sage called Pakanar was weaving a basket in front of his house. Hearing a loud voice chanting, “Hare Ram”, he asked his sister who it was that was chanting. His sister replied that it was a brahmin who is keeping his own daughter. Pakanar replied, “You are the hundredth person to repeat the scandal”. Meanwhile, the brahmin having come to that place, the sage told the brahmin that his curse was lifted and that he could return home. Later, he explained to his sister thus: “This brahmin was living with his widowed daughter. They were generous and kind-hearted. They would invite sadhus and feed them with love. On hearing of their generosity a sadhu came to visit them. He was well received and fed. The sadhu was immensely pleased with their devotion and decided to bless them.
He just glanced once and knew what was in store for them when they die. He called the brahmin and told him that after his death he would be tortured by a mountain of leeches in hell.On hearing this, the brahmin fell at his feet in terror and implored him for some means of escape. The sadhu told him,‘Once while you were cooking food a leech fell from the roof into the cooking pot and died unobserved. You offered that food to a realised sage. Since whatever is given to a sage will be received back a thousand-fold a mountain of leeches are in store for you’. The sadhu then advised the brahmin that in order to escape this fate he should conduct himself towards his grownup widowed daughter in such a way, as to provoke a scandal that he was having illicit intimacy with her. He assured him that when a hundred persons had uttered the scandal the sin would leave him completely, having been distributed among the scandal-mongers. The brahmin did accordingly and you are the hundredth person to tell the scandal. So I say that the brahmin’s curse is now removed.”
Sri Bhagavan drew from the story the following moral:
“Have the best intention, but act in such a way not to win praise, but to incur blame. Resist the temptation to justify yourself even when you are just.”
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
Ramana Maharshi says Each Reflects His Own Nature
A NAYANAR WENT to Kalahasti for the darsan of God. He saw all the people there as Siva, and Sakti, because he Himself was so. Again Dharmaputra considered that the whole world was composed of people having some merit or other and that each of them was even better than he himself for some reason or other. Whereas Duryodhana could not find even a single good person in the world. Each reflects his own nature.
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
Monday, 13 July 2009
Ramana Maharshi tells how garlic got its name
A devotee asked how Garlic got that name. Sri Bhagavan replied, “There is a curious story about it,” and began telling the following story.
AS IS WELL known, when gods (devas) and demons (rakshasas) churned the ocean, amrit came out of it. When the rakshasas were running away with the vessel containing amrit, the devas appealed to Vishnu. Vishnu came on to the scene in the shape of Mohini (enchantress), and offered to resolve their quarrel by serving amrit to them all. They agreed. While serving it to the gods first, it appeared that there might not be enough to go round for the demons. One of the latter got into the line of the gods, unobserved by Mohini, and was swallowing the amrit,when the Sun and Moon noticed it and gave her the hint. She threw the ladle, with which the amrit was being served, at the demon in such a way as to cut off his head.The ladle became the Chakra (an invincible lethal weapon of Vishnu) and cut off his head. But as the amrit had already gone down his throat, the head became a graha (planet) and has since been taking vengeance on the Sun and Moon at the time of an eclipse. That is the story.
Now, when the head of the demon was severed, the trunk fell down, and in the process, a few drops of amrit fell on the ground. It is said that those drops became the garlic plant.
That is why it is said that garlic has some of the properties of amrit. It is very good for the body. But since it also has the touch of the demon, it has tamasic qualities too, which when eaten affect the mind. Hence, it is forbidden for sadhakas.
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
AS IS WELL known, when gods (devas) and demons (rakshasas) churned the ocean, amrit came out of it. When the rakshasas were running away with the vessel containing amrit, the devas appealed to Vishnu. Vishnu came on to the scene in the shape of Mohini (enchantress), and offered to resolve their quarrel by serving amrit to them all. They agreed. While serving it to the gods first, it appeared that there might not be enough to go round for the demons. One of the latter got into the line of the gods, unobserved by Mohini, and was swallowing the amrit,when the Sun and Moon noticed it and gave her the hint. She threw the ladle, with which the amrit was being served, at the demon in such a way as to cut off his head.The ladle became the Chakra (an invincible lethal weapon of Vishnu) and cut off his head. But as the amrit had already gone down his throat, the head became a graha (planet) and has since been taking vengeance on the Sun and Moon at the time of an eclipse. That is the story.
Now, when the head of the demon was severed, the trunk fell down, and in the process, a few drops of amrit fell on the ground. It is said that those drops became the garlic plant.
That is why it is said that garlic has some of the properties of amrit. It is very good for the body. But since it also has the touch of the demon, it has tamasic qualities too, which when eaten affect the mind. Hence, it is forbidden for sadhakas.
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
"Rama and Krishna" Spiritual Story As Told By Ramana Maharshi
A devotee who had suddenly lost his only son came to Bhagavan in a state of acute grief, seeking relief. He asked a few questions in which his grief was evident.
Bhagavan, as usual, asked him to enquire into the Self and find out who is grieving. The devotee was not satisfied. Bhagavan then said,“All right. I will tell you a story from Vichara Sagaram. Listen”.
TWO YOUNGSTERS BY name Rama and Krishna, told their respective parents that they would go to foreign countries to prosecute further studies and then earn a lot of money. After some time, one of them died suddenly. The other studied well,earned a lot and was living happily.
Some time later the one that was alive requested a merchant who was going to his native place to tell his father that he was wealthy and happy and that the other boy who had come with him had passed away. Instead of passing on the information correctly, the merchant told the father of the person who was alive, that his son was dead, and the father of the person that was dead, that his son had earned a lot of money and was living happily.
The parents of the person that was actually dead, were happy in the thought that their son would come back after some time, while the parents of the person whose son was alive, but was reported to be dead, were in great grief.
In fact,neither of them saw their son but they were experiencing happiness or grief according to the reports they received. That is all. We too are similarly situated.
We believe all sorts of things that the mind tells us and get deluded into thinking that what exists does not exist and that what does not exist exists. If we do not believe the mind but enter the heart and see the son that is inside, there is no need to see the children outside.
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
Bhagavan, as usual, asked him to enquire into the Self and find out who is grieving. The devotee was not satisfied. Bhagavan then said,“All right. I will tell you a story from Vichara Sagaram. Listen”.
TWO YOUNGSTERS BY name Rama and Krishna, told their respective parents that they would go to foreign countries to prosecute further studies and then earn a lot of money. After some time, one of them died suddenly. The other studied well,earned a lot and was living happily.
Some time later the one that was alive requested a merchant who was going to his native place to tell his father that he was wealthy and happy and that the other boy who had come with him had passed away. Instead of passing on the information correctly, the merchant told the father of the person who was alive, that his son was dead, and the father of the person that was dead, that his son had earned a lot of money and was living happily.
The parents of the person that was actually dead, were happy in the thought that their son would come back after some time, while the parents of the person whose son was alive, but was reported to be dead, were in great grief.
In fact,neither of them saw their son but they were experiencing happiness or grief according to the reports they received. That is all. We too are similarly situated.
We believe all sorts of things that the mind tells us and get deluded into thinking that what exists does not exist and that what does not exist exists. If we do not believe the mind but enter the heart and see the son that is inside, there is no need to see the children outside.
Source: SPIRITUAL STORIES AS TOLD BY RAMANA MAHARSHI
Complete Surrender (Poorna Saranagathi) By P. V. S. Suryanarayana Raju
Once Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi sat on the Siva side of Arunachala mountain and is in a state of self absorption with his eyes open.Some miscreants came over there to steal tamarind fruits from the tree which belongs to another person. They collected huge amounts of tamarind in a hurry and before going out one of them observed Bhagawan with his eyes open and he felt that Bhagawan is the only person to witness the theft and it is better to remove his eyes so that no body will trace their theft and he ordered one of his accomplice to destroy the eyes of Bhagawan.Bhagawan is aware of all these things but he did not react to the situation. The person who is expected to destroy Bhagawan's eyes came very near to Bhagawan and observed his eyes and he felt that Bhagawan is already blind because his eyes looked vacant like that of a blind man with no response to anything that is seeable and he reported the same to his friend. Then they ran away without harming Bhagawan.Bhagawan stood by his teaching that whatever is going to happen will happen to the body according to prarabdha and whatever is destined not to happen will not happen under any circumstances. Such strong conviction is possible only for those with Poorna saranagathi.
Once the ego is surrendered in this way, it dies on it”s own accord because the nourishment to it is stopped and we posit ourselves in the Self which is true Self-Enquiry.
Source: The Book on Self Enquiry By Dr. P. V. S. Suryanarayana Raju
Once the ego is surrendered in this way, it dies on it”s own accord because the nourishment to it is stopped and we posit ourselves in the Self which is true Self-Enquiry.
Source: The Book on Self Enquiry By Dr. P. V. S. Suryanarayana Raju
The role of thought in daily life By Dr. P. V. S. Suryanarayana Raju
Thought has it's place when action is required even in the case of saints. We should not give place to thoughts in our mind which are out of context and not in anyway required and for many it became such a strong habit that it is impossible to stop the thought flow.
A person of the caliber of Sri Ganapathi Sastri who has mantra siddhi could not control the thought traffic and missed self-realization even in the close association of Bhagawan.He has strong sastra vasana (The tendency to gather information rather than experiencing the thing) and loka vasana (Tendency to indulge in worldly affairs)and for many years he is district congress president and he wanted whole India to have cement roads because he strongly felt that world is real and we should work for it's welfare, though Bhagawan told him that waking state is also a dream.
Because he gave attention to such thoughts he missed the quintessence of Bhagawan's teaching and missed the self. To fulfill basic needs we require only few thoughts for action. But we are indulging in unnecessary thinking and action, which i feel should be curtailed in sadhana(Spiritual discipline) stage. This is very vital. Thought traffic is reduced when one is in uninterrupted awareness,(Sada Apramada) as told by Sanat kumara.
Source: The Book on Self Enquiry By Dr. P. V. S. Suryanarayana Raju
A person of the caliber of Sri Ganapathi Sastri who has mantra siddhi could not control the thought traffic and missed self-realization even in the close association of Bhagawan.He has strong sastra vasana (The tendency to gather information rather than experiencing the thing) and loka vasana (Tendency to indulge in worldly affairs)and for many years he is district congress president and he wanted whole India to have cement roads because he strongly felt that world is real and we should work for it's welfare, though Bhagawan told him that waking state is also a dream.
Because he gave attention to such thoughts he missed the quintessence of Bhagawan's teaching and missed the self. To fulfill basic needs we require only few thoughts for action. But we are indulging in unnecessary thinking and action, which i feel should be curtailed in sadhana(Spiritual discipline) stage. This is very vital. Thought traffic is reduced when one is in uninterrupted awareness,(Sada Apramada) as told by Sanat kumara.
Source: The Book on Self Enquiry By Dr. P. V. S. Suryanarayana Raju
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