Kundalini is another name for Atma or Self, or Sakti.
We talk of it as being inside the body because we conceive ourselves as limited to the body.
But it is in reality both inside and outside, being no other than the Self, or Sakti.
In the jnana marga, when by Self-enquiry the mind is merged in the Self, the Self, its Sakti or Kundalini rises automatically.
– Sri Ramana Maharshi
”GOD LOOKS AFTER EVERYTHING”
– SRI RAMANA MAHARSHIThe corollary of this marvellous statement by Sri Ramana Maharshi can be experienced by each one of us on many occasions in our lifetime. In the darkest hours of life, in the most unexpected ways and forms, Grace enables us to live and forbear the tribulations of our life if we can have the deepest faith in the Guru/God/self. Illogical and stupid as it may sound to most who have treaded only on the path of effort and believe in the doership ( karta bhav) to enable everything for them, it may be a distorted lazy philosophers statement of some sort. But each human will experience the shade of grace even if they have no faith in it. Only that they remain unaware and continue to be in the illusion that they caused their fates to unfold and their destinies to be changed.
The akarta bhav of surrender is not easy to grasp for an immature and unprepared mind who may mistake this for quitting all action and shunning his responsibilities in the denial mode. It is easy to shy away from effort in the name of being a nondoer. This is bound to bring in more inertia and laziness in his life rather than any enlightened illuminations of the self.
On the other hand, true surrender may be highly dynamic for a saadhak who grasps the essence of the teaching which states clearly that the actions that he does or does not do never determine the self that he essentially is. So no matter how active he may seem to be on many worldly parameters, he remains untouched by his actions and thoughts. The unreal nature of the mind , body emotion complex can set one free from both doing and non doing as one is not identified with them any more. This is the jivanmukta state. Jivanmuktas do not roam around on the palnet with some haloes around their head or reclining in meditative mudras in some caves but can be found within the ambit of this samsara just like everyone else. Sufferings of many types and death strikes their bodies and yet they remain untouched. This is pure grace and many may never identify them amidst the crowds as they live and die amongst mortal men, offering themselves as is willed without question.
The true essence of Masters words can be grasped only in silence as the words are prone for distorted perceptions as per ones evolution and preparedness. An honest deliberation and complete acceptance of ourselves whever we are and at whatever level we are is the key to proceed furthur. No one person’s journey can compare to another and no one else can truly help you. This honest facing of your own understanding is mandate to make any progress in deepening the self arrival.
May all of us know that we neither need to begin or need not arrive. It is only being the self …as it is. It’s about opening our eyes to see what allready is.
Gratitude Sh. C Bharath (An ardent BHAGAVAN devotee)🙏
D: While doing nama japa for an hour or more, I fall into a state like sleep. On waking up, I recollect that my japa has been interrupted. So, I try again.
M: ‘Like sleep’, that is right. It is the natural state. Because you are now associated with the ego, you consider that the natural state is something which interrupts your work. So you must have the experience repeated until you realize that it is your natural state.
You will then find that japa is extraneous, but still it will go on automatically. Your present doubt is due to that false identity, namely, identifying yourself with the mind that does the japa. Japa means clinging to one thought to the exclusion of all other thoughts. That is its purpose. It leads to dhyana, which ends in Self- realization or jnana.
D: How should I carry on nama japa?
M: One should not use the name of God mechanically and superficially without the feeling of devotion. To use the name of God, one must call upon Him with yearning and unreservedly surrender oneself to Him. Only after such surrender is the name of God constantly with the man.
D: Where is, then, the need for inquiry or vichara?
M: Surrender can take effect only when it is done with full knowledge as to what real surrender means. Such knowledge comes after inquiry and reflection and ends invariably in self-surrender. There is no difference between jnana and absolute surrender to the Lord, that is, in thought, word and deed.
To be complete, surrender must be unquestioning; the devotee cannot bargain with the Lord or demand favors at His hands. Such entire surrender comprises all; it is jnana and vairagya, devotion and love.
– Sri Ramana Maharshi
The essence of mind is only awareness or consciousness. When the ego, however, dominates it, it functions as the reasoning, thinking or sensing faculty. The cosmic mind being not limited by the ego, has nothing separate from itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by “I am that I AM”.
– Sri Ramana Maharshi
(Source: Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 188)
They write a lot about the paths beyond the sun and other planets, and the blissful worlds above them. All those worlds also are like this world. There is nothing specially great about them. Here, a song is being transmitted over the radio. Last time, it was from Madras. Now it is from Tiruchirapalli. If you tune again it will be from Mysore. All these places are in Tiruvannamalai, within this short time. It is the same way with the other worlds. You have only to turn your minds to them. You can see them all in one moment. But what is the use? You merely go about from place to place get tired and disgusted. Where is shanti (peace)? If you want it, you must know the eternal truth. If you cannot know that, the mind will not get absorbed in shanti.
Sri Ramana Maharshi
So I realize I have to deal with my passions, my anger, my desires, my loneliness, my self-pity, I’ve got to remember my address, I’ve got to get a job, I’ve got to keep my act together, keep my clothes clean, you know, brush my teeth, you know, use dental floss,
I’ve got to do it all, I’ve got to pay my taxes, change the oil in my car, you know, and that’s all part of the process, until finally, all of it becomes grist for the mill, all of it is the stuff you’re using to get free.
– Ram Dass
What was never lost can never be found.
Your very search for safety and joy keeps you away from them.The seed of spiritual life grows in secret silence and darkness until its appointed hour of activation on the divine plane of existence beyond consciousness, mind and body.
– Nisargadatta Maharaj
Questioner: For a long time, I regarded Jesus Christ as my Savior. But for a while now, I have no longer been able to believe any of it. Perhaps I never truly believed it, but only wanted to believe. That is terrible. Please help me let go of this desperate desire to believe.
Anandamayi Ma: You must now learn to accept the inner emptiness and to live with it. Resist the temptation to fill it, for you would only be deceiving yourself. If you are patient, one day you will discover that Mahashunya (the great emptiness) is Christ itself. Then you will no longer be without him for even a single moment.
– Anandamayi Ma
Q: How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of worldly activity?
Sri Ramana Maharshi : There is no conflict between work and wisdom.
Q: Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities in one’s profession, for instance, and at the same time get enlightenment ?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why not ?
But in that case one will not think that it is the old personality which is doing the work, because one’s consciousness will gradually become transferred until it is centered in that which is beyond the little self.Q: If a person is engaged in work, there will be little time left for him to meditate.
Sri Ramana Maharshi : Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual novices.
A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is at work or not.
While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in solitude.Q: Then you do not teach the way of yoga?
Sri Ramana Maharshi : The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull with a stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull by holding out a handful of grass.
Q: How is that done?
Sri Ramana Maharshi : You have to ask yourself the question `Who am I ?’ This investigation will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you which is behind the mind.
Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.
– Sri Ramana Maharshi
The Buddha-dharma is immeasurable and unlimited. How could it ever have been made to fit into your categories?
No matter what you are grasping for, it’s limited.
In any case, only things for ordinary people can be grasped. Grasping for money, clinging to health, being attached to position and title, grasping for satori – everything you grasp only becomes the property of an ordinary person.
Letting go of ordinary people’s property – that’s what it means to be a Buddha.
– Kodo Sawaki, ’To You’
