Q:How is the mind to dive into the heart?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The mind now sees itself diversified into the universe. If the diversity is not manifest, it remains in its own essence. That is the heart. The heart is only truth. Mind is only a transient phase. Because a man identifies himself with the body, he sees the world separate from himself. This wrong identification arises because he has lost his moorings and has swerved from his original state. He is now advised to give up all these false ideas, to trace his source and remain as the Self. In that state, there are no differences, no questions will arise. All the sastras are meant only to make man retrace his steps to the original source. He need not gain anything. He must only give up the false ideas and useless accretions. He, instead of doing it, tries to catch hold of something strange and mysterious because he believes that his happiness lies elsewhere. That is the mistake. If one remains as the Self, there is bliss. Probably he thinks that being quiet does not bring about the state of bliss. That is due to his ignorance. The only practice is to find out "to whom these questions arise."

~Conscious Immortality

You only have to see from where the 'I' springs.

Question: What is the Heart referred to in the verse of Upadesa Saram where it is said, ‘Abiding in the Heart is the best Karma, Yoga, Bhakti (devotion) and Jnana (knowledge)?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: That which is the source of all, that in which all live, and that into which all finally merge, is the Heart referred to.

Question: How can we conceive of such a Heart?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why should you conceive of anything? You have only to see from where the ‘I’ springs. That from which all thoughts of embodied beings issue forth is called the Heart. All descriptions of it are only mental concepts.

~ Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, edited by David Godman

the jnani lives in the Heart

Question: What is the difference between the Baddha and the Mukta, the bound man and the one liberated?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The ordinary man lives in the brain unaware of himself in the Heart. The jnana-siddha (jnani) lives in the Heart. When he moves about and deals with men and things, he knows that what he sees is not separate from the one supreme reality, the Brahman which he realised in the Heart as his own Self, the real.

Question: What about the ordinary man?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: I have just said that he sees things outside himself. He is separate from the world, from his own deeper truth, from the truth that supports him and what he sees. The man who has realised the supreme truth of his own existence realises that it is the one supreme reality that is there behind him, behind the world. In fact, he is aware of the one, as the real, the Self in all selves, in all things, eternal and immutable, in all that is impermanent and mutable.

Let us adore the Self as Ramana

Verily the Self in the Heart appears as the five
elements, as the sun, moon and stars, as angels and
different deities; as the vast space and as the origin
and source of all this. Let us adore the Self as `Ramana'.

`Ramana', the Pure Self, whose Grace emanates from
its seat -- the Heart, whose Grace plays upon His
serene face, and is directed through His most
beautiful eyes, blessing all who turn to Him.

~ T. K. Sundaresa Iyer, At The Feet of Bhagavan

Where is space without me and where is time?
The body exists in space and time, but no body am I.
Nowhere I am, in no time I am.
Yet am I everywhere in all time.

Body is Self to the wise and the ignorant alike.
To the body is limited the ignorant one's self.
The self effulgent in the Heart of the wise,
Possesses the body and the world around,
And stands limitless and perfect.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sat-Darshana Bhashya (verses 18 & 19)

The ending of suffering

Since you are intent on driving out suffering, you should know that your real nature is bliss alone.

Confusion and agitation are erroneous superimpositions upon consciousness, within which they have no real existence.

For all the many distressful diseases the peerless medicine is definitely the certainty of the real nature of the Self.

Why do you become distressed and suffer to no purpose over things that are not worthy of your concern? Let go of the mind's anxieties.

Those adepts who have perfected their sadhana will not become dejected and perturbed when they are beset by trials and tribulations.

In what way do lamentations benefit the jiva? The sensible policy is to terminate the tyrannical insurgency of the mind.

Until you enquire into your real nature, seeing and abiding as it, the triple miseries experienced by you will not cease.

~ Padamalai, Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi Recorded by Muruganar

his alone

"What is the problem for you? Just be!' Speaking in this way Padam ensured that there is not even a single activity for me.

'When I have taken on your responsibilities, what is lacking for you?' Speaking in this way, Padam embraces me in the Heart in eternal rejoicing.

Padam is the consciousness, the supreme, in which I have no responsibilities to think about since every responsibility is his alone.

Even as I suffered through the delusion of regarding myself as the actor, true Padam caused me to shine as the enduring stage.

Padam destroyed my sense of doership so that, through the peace of jnana, a life free from evil flourished within the Heart.

~ Padamalai, Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi recorded by Muruganar

[No post tomorrow, dear readers ... back on Sunday :-)]

Through constant contact with the Sage
Who has with Siva become one
Attention centres in the Heart,
Enquiry dawns, one stands established
In the Self as pure Awareness,
And the malady of birth elusive
Flies away.

~ Sri Muruganar, The Garland of Guru's Sayings

the Heart

Without something that exists, can there be notions of existence?
Free of thoughts, it is there, the Inner being, named the Heart.
How then to conceive it is the question -- It is the one inconceivable.
To conceive it is but to be it, in the Heart.

~ Sat-Darshana Bhashya

as upon a lion-throne

Padam shines in my Heart in such a way that I rejoice intensely here, dwelling constantly with love on the gracious nobility with which he has governed me.

Hearing my call 'Save me!', Padam, saying 'What's the problem?' took pity on me and came down and governed me with relish, becoming my father who gave me birth in jnana.

Even though Padam, the Supreme, is the mother and father of all beings, he abides with me as my very own Lord in the Heart.

Padam, the supreme light of bliss, became my Lord, sheltering me at the feet of the adepts of jnana who have attained the Self.

Enthroned within the Heart of this guileless person, as upon a lion-throne, Padam exercises his rule over the entire, vast world.

~ Sri Muruganar, Padamalai, translated by Dr T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler, and David Godman, edited and annotated by David Godman

one-pointed enquiry

D: How then does ignorance of this one and only Reality unhappily arise in the case of the ajnani?

M: The ajnani sees only the mind which is a mere reflection of the light of Pure Consciousness arising from the heart. Of the heart itself he is ignorant. Why? Because his mind is extroverted and has never sought its Source.

D: What prevents the infinite, undifferentiated light of Consciousness arising from the heart from revealing itself to the ajnani?

M: Just as water in the pot reflects the enormous sun within the narrow limits of the pot, even so the vasanas or latent tendencies of the mind of the individual, acting as the reflecting medium, catch the all-pervading, infinite light of Consciousness arising from the heart and present in the form of a reflection the phenomenon called the mind. Seeing only this reflection, the ajnani is deluded into the belief that he is a finite being, the jiva.

If the mind becomes introverted through enquiry into the source of aham-vritti, the vasanas become extinct, and in the absence of the reflecting medium the phenomenon of reflection, namely, the mind, also disappears being absorbed into the light of the one Reality, the heart.

This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know. What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and one-pointed enquiry into the source of aham-vritti.

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Maharshi's Gospel

by steady and continuous investigation

By steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed into That to which `I' refers; and that is in fact the Self. The mind has necessarily to depend for its existence on something gross; it never subsists by itself. It is the mind that is otherwise called the subtle body, ego, jiva or soul.

That which arises in the physical body as `I' is the mind. If one enquires whence the `I'-thought arises in the body in the first instance, it will be found that it is from the hrdayam or the Heart. That is the source and stay of the mind. Or again, even
if one merely continuously repeats to oneself inwardly `I-I' with the entire mind fixed thereon, that also leads to the same source.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, The Teachings of Bhagavan in His Own Words

no escape from the Grace of our Beloved

Ramana is the Formless, Timeless
and Spaceless Arunachala
who dances as the "I" in the Heart.
He has graciously taken a form,
that we may be relieved of the bondage of form.
He is not a geographical entity
but the Moveless Brahman of the Upanishads.

Grace is His Essence,
and out of grace
He has become our Guru.
Grace is not simply in Tiruvannamalai,
but resides in our hearts.
The Heart is the true Arunachala.

The might of His Grace is infinite,
It is invincible:
By His look
we were caught
in the net of His Grace,
and it will accomplish Its work.
There is no escape from It.

His Grace is like the unerring light of the Sun.
As it devours the darkness,
so Grace devours Ignorance and Unreality.

We need do nothing at all,
except to give our free consent
that this work of Grace
shall be accomplished.


~ from Revelation by K. Lakshmana Sarma "Who" (I broke the lines differently, to savour the words more fully.)

Promises of unceasing darshan

Why do you pointlessly find fault with me, saying that I no longer look at you?

If you would only fix your gaze upon me, you would know that, established in the Heart, my gaze is ever fixed on you.

Looking at you from within the Self, I never leave you. How can this fact be known to your externalized vision?

~ Padamalai

more of Bhagavan's Promises (how wonderfully they go on and on!)

Meditating on me

Splendorous Padam declares: 'Meditating on me with no sense of difference [between us] is accepting my grace and offering yourself to me. This in itself is enough.'

If you worship me by meditating well on the excellence of my true nature, the greatness of your own true nature will well up in your Heart.

Knowing that what abides in your Heart is the Self, my true and real nature, you should search for it there. Only this can be regarded as meditating on me with devotion.

Padam advises: 'Keeping one's attention on the subtle consciousness that is experienced by the extremely subtle mind is personal service to me.'

The compassionate heart that flows from me to you will never fail except when you cease to have remembrance of 'me', who command and conduct everything

You can know and experience my grace, which is my nature, if you remember me with no forgetfulness in your heart.

Union with me

Seeking my true nature in your Heart, discovering it and rejoicing in it by bathing in the bliss of my jnana-swarupa -- this is union.

Only bhakti sadhana performed continuously with love will fascilitate easily, in a gradual way, this union.

Enter with love the temple that is your own Heart and experience the bliss of being absorbed in my swarupa, becoming one with it.

I myself will command and control a mind that has died by the sacrifice of the ego.

~ Padamalai

(and that is not all ;-))

Bhagavan's Promises

This is taken from an interview of David Godman by Maalok:

DG: When devotees surrendered their problems to Sri Ramana, it was the same as surrendering them to God. They were submitting to the same divine authority, surrendering to a living manifestation of that same power. Here are some statements that Sri Ramana made on this subject. I have taken them from a book I am currently working on. Each sentence was originally recorded by Muruganar in Tamil verse:



1. My devotees have the qualifications to rejoice abundantly, like children of an emperor.

2. Abandon the drama [of the world] and seek the Self within. Remaining within, I will protect you, [ensuring] that no harm befalls you.

3. If you inquire and know me, the indweller, in that state there will be no reason for you to worry about the world.

4. For the cruel disease of burning samsara to end, the correct regimen is to entrust all your burdens on me.

5. In order that your needless anxieties cease, make sure that all your burdens are placed on me through the brave act of depending totally on grace.

6. If you completely surrender all your responsibilities to me, I will accept them as mine and manage them.

7. When bearing the entire burden remains my responsibility, why do you have any worries?

8. Long ago you offered your body, possessions and soul to me, making them mine, so why do you still regard these things as 'I' and 'mine' and associate yourself with them?

9. Seek my grace within the Heart. I will drive away your darkness and show you the light. This is my responsibility.



These verses come from a sub-section I have entitled 'Bhagavan's Promises'. When people surrendered completely to him, he was more than happy to manage their lives for them. Just about everyone discovered that when she surrendered the burden of responsibility for her life to Sri Ramana, problems diminished or went away completely.

The Guru is primarily there to teach the truth, to bestow grace on his disciples and to bring about the liberation of the mature souls who come to him. But he also has this very nice sideline of being able to manage the affairs of his devotees much better than they can.

~~~

for the full interview, please see http://www.davidgodman.org/interviews/al1.shtml

I hope David Godman will not keep us waiting too long for this promised book!

Bhagavan Padam

Primal Lord!
Lord who is the beautiful radiance that shines
as 'I-I' within the Heart of devotees!
Lord who is the Self, beyond the reach
of the mind's objective knowledge!
Lord who possesses justice rooted in grace!
Lord who stands, his feet firmly planted
in the Self-abidance of his followers!
Lord who remains as that which is [after all else is discarded]!
Noble Ramana whose play is to hold me in his loving embrace!

~ Sri Ramana Anubhuti

our refuge

For those who, thinking without thought,
‘Whence does the “I” arise?’
so that ‘I’ is destroyed within the Heart,
wherein the ‘I’ does not arise,
have died to the five senses [and the mind]
and dwell steadfastly in the Heart,
their minds become Sivam,
the sanctum sanctorum.

Yours are the holy feet of Sivam,
the true, the divine,
which you clearly revealed to me
through the power of consciousness [chit sakti]
as I was whirling, through fear, in confusion
amongst imaginary appearances.

Our Lord! Know that, through all the seven births,
your feet of pure gold,
which are truly worthy to behold,
are the one refuge for us, your devotees!

~ Sri Bhagavan and Sri Muruganar, Ramana Puranam, lines 523-530 (translation & editing by Robert Butler, T. V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman)

Severing the Knot

The severance of the knot is proved
By this one, bright, clear mark: the mind
In perfect equanimity,
Lifted above the blows of pain
And blandishments of pleasure, shines
A limpid lake serene.

Unmindful of what is past and what
Is yet to come, a mere spectator
Of what goes on before one's eyes,
One recognizes in such joy
Serene the severance of the knot.

No Matter what thoughts may arise,
None can exist without the Self.
Knowing this for certain, the wise man
Is ever free from the fear
Of lapsing from the natural state
Of oneness with the Self.

~ Sri Muruganar, The Garland of Guru's Sayings

for more about the severing of the knot, see http://bhagavan-ramana.org/heartknot.html

The Holy Name

When the true Being, the Heart Itself,
Emerges slowly and spreads out
As awareness, countless are
Its Names. Of these the first is I.

With this first Name of I, as its
True meaning, shines Eternal Being.
Since I as Being shines, the phrase
I AM too is the Name supreme.

Of all the many thousand Names divine
None is so true, so beautiful, so apt
As this I AM for God abiding ever
In the heart transcending thought.

All things perceived by those Self-orientated
Thunder with the powerful voice of silence
In the egoless heart's firmament
The Lord's own Name of I, I, I.

If turning inward and saying "I",
One meditates unceasingly,
On this name I, it will take one
To the ultimate source of the illusive "I"
Seemingly born of the useless body.

The word "I" seems to mean at first
The body-bound ego. But this "I"
Appears and disappears.
Looked deeper, the correct import
Of I is seen to be the Self, which is
The ego's ground and source.

~ Sri Muruganar, The Garland of Guru's Sayings