Sri Ramana Sayings

In the vast ocean of cause and effect, actions happen and impermanent results follow. If one takes them as 'my' actions the idea of having a free will gets stronger. This sense of personal doership gives rise to a feeling of guilt or pride and effectively blocks the spiritual understanding that everything happens according to the will of God.

When there is total acceptance that all actions happen purely by the will of God, and if the fruits and the consequences are accepted as His grace, the mind gets purified and attains freedom from expectations.

Accepting and understanding that God has created the world for His sport and God is playing the lila through billions of body-mind organisms, is better than chanting the sacred names of the Lord, which in turn is superior to worshipping the image of the Lord with body, mind and speech.

When there is an understanding that God himself has become the manifestation; when, by His grace, one feels His presence in the phenomenal existence one obtains the blessings of worshipping the Lord of eight-fold forms without neglecting one's responsibilities.

Understanding that nothing happens according to 'my' will and merely witnessing the billions of body-mind organisms act under God's will is excellent. It is superior to singing the glories of the Lord or reciting His sacred names.

When there is an understanding that God's will prevails all the time and witnessing happens without any 'one' to witness, it is like the stream of ghee (clairified butter) or the flow of a river. This is true meditation. It is much better than meditating with an assumption that one has free will.

The nondualistic approach of understanding that 'I AM' is God is far more purifying and superior than the dualistic approach of assuming the difference between God and the 'me' and struggling to be one with Him.

By the grace of God or the Master when one is firmly established in the 'I AM,' devoid of the thinking mind, with an impersonal knowing that there is no 'me' to get involved, that is Supreme Devotion.

The dissolving of the thinking mind in the Heart, purely by the grace of God or the Master, is true devotion, Yoga and understanding.

Through the act of regulating breath the mind is subdued, just as a bird is restrained when caught in a net. This helps in checking the involvement of the thinking mind at that moment.

Thought and breath have their origin in Consciousness.

When the mind is absorbed, in work or otherwise, and the thinking mind is not active it may be said that the mind is in control temporarily, only to become active again. When, through the deep understanding that "God is the doer and no 'one' has any control over thoughts and actions" the thinking mind is totally annihilated, then it can be said that the thinking mind in that body-mind organism is dead and only the working mind remains.

The thinking mind can be temporarily suspended through the control of breath. It can be annihilated only when there is total understanding that God's will prevails all the time and the different forms are only puppets having no free will of their own. With this understanding three beautiful things happen: there is no 'one' to feel guilty or proud, to get frustrated or to have a sense of enmity. Life becomes simple.

The Sage, whose thinking mind has been destroyed by the total acceptance of the fact that nothing happens unless it is the will of God, and Who rests in the 'I AM' does all the actions with the knowledge that Consciousness alone functions through the billions of body-mind organisms.

When the enquiry, "What is the thinking mind?" occurs, the thinking mind understands intuitively that it has no free will and stops thinking itself to be the doer and gives way to the feeling of 'I AM.' This is the Direct path.

In the ordinary man when a thought occurs the ego takes delivery of it as 'my thought' and gets involved. The thinking mind is nothing but the ego identifying with a thought and getting involved. In the enlightened Sage, when a thought arises, witnessing happens and involvement with the thought does not take place. Ramana Maharshi says, "The Sage has no thinking mind and therefore there are no 'others' for him."

When one enquires, "Where has the 'me' come from?" it will vanish into Consciousness revealing the truth that the 'me' has really come from Totality as part of the Divine Hypnosis. Consciousness has created the ego and Consciousness will annihilate the ego by initiating the process of Self-enquiry.

When we accept that God's will prevails all the time and not the individual will, the 'me' as the doer gets smaller and smaller till it gets completely merged in Consciousness.

When the sense of personal doership disappears with the total acceptance that "All there is, is Consciousness," the thinking mind ceases to exist during the waking hours as in deep sleep. What remains is the light of pure Consciousness, the indestructible 'I AM.'

Glory of the Sadguru

Kuresh Bhatt was a highly learned, a good quality ascetic and a famous
intellectual. The sharpness of his arguments, the flow of his learned
utterings were capable of shattering the ego of all other learneds. He
had cultivated great respect among all intellectuals. He possessed
many 'Siddhis' in Yoga and Tantra, but his heart was longing for the
real spiritual bliss. This tormented him for many days. But
along with that he also had somewhere in some corner, the ego of
being such a learned and respectful "pandit".

To seek spiritual bliss, on one hand, and the ego of being a learned,
on other hand, created a dilemma within himself. He was not
able to decide whom to make his Master for such a path.
Finally, after pondering patiently on the topic, he decided to go and
seek refuge under the guidance of Acharya Ramanuja. Acharyaji, in
those days, was one of the prominent learned sage and saint, and was
recognised for his wisdom in all directions.

He went to Acharyaji along with his curiosity, but, unfortunately,
Acharyaji
rejected him because of his ego. He tried many times only for being
rejected every time by the Acharya.
One day he was sitting besides Acharyaji, when one of the Acharya's
so-
called sister "Atula" approached him and asked,
"Brother (Acharya ji), I struggle a lot while cooking in my in-law's
home. If you
have any suitable cook, do lend me one, so that I would be freed from
this trouble."
Pondering for a while, Acharyaji's gaze struck Kuresh bhatt. He
said,
"Kuresh, I cannot make you my disciple, but yes, if you wish you can
go and become a cook for my (this) sister."

The wealthiest of all, intellectual of all, ascetic of all, possessor
of many 'siddhis' as Kuresh was, people sitting around were greatly
struck at such a proposal for him.
Although Kuresh was egoistic, yet he was aware of the essense of
the 'Shastras'. He knew the secret of the blissful eye of the
SADGURU. Without wasting a second, Kuresh accepted the proposal and
said,
"Prabhu..! if not a disciple, you are atleast providing with an
opportunity of becoming your servant. This is much for me."

From that very second and for many years he cooked 'chappatis' for
Atula
and his other in-laws' home members. With his love and affection, he
cooked food for everyone; side by side in his mind, he used to remain
engross in meditation of the SADGURU. The continuity of his such
prayers, washed of all the ego making his spirit one with the
SADGURU. His heart was, then, filled with ATMAGYAN and BRAHMAGYAN.

Day came when Acharyaji, himself, approached to Kuresh and said,
" 'Vatsa', now you have become my disciple without any efforts."

Kuresh's life was filled with the blissful nectar of SADGURU's
blessings.

Really is the blessing of the SADGURU such, that it makes the life of
a disciple purest of pure.

Jai Gurudev.
(Ref..'Akhand Jyoti'-2004 'Patrika' from Gayatri Parivar)

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna

"Why do we not feel intense restlessness to realize Him?"

Sri Ramakrishna: "A man does not feel restless for God until all his worldly desires are satisfied. He does not remember the Mother of the Universe until his share of the enjoyment of 'woman and gold' is completed. A child absorbed in play does not seek his mother. But after his play is over, he says, 'Mother! I must go to my mother.' Hriday's son was playing with the pigeons, calling to them, 'Come! Ti, ti!' When he had had enough of play he began to cry. Then a stranger came and said: 'Come with me. I will take you to your mother.' Unhesitatingly he climbed on the man's shoulders and was off. Those who are eternally free do not have to enter worldly life. Their desire for enjoyment has been satisfied with their very birth." P. 385-386 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Teachings of Holy Mother

The effect of Karma can be counteracted to a great extent by Japa and austerities.
C111 & TN321 In the Company of the Holy Mother. By Her Direct Disciples. Calcutta : Advaita Ashrama, 1980 & Swami Tapasyananda and Swami Nikhilananda. Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1977.

Teachings of Swami Vivekananda

Good and evil have an equal share in molding character, and in some instances misery is a greater teacher than happiness.
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume I p.27

Teachings of Holy Mother

Do you know the significance of Japa and other spiritual practices?
By these, the power of the sense-organs is subdued.

TN290 Swami Tapasyananda and Swami Nikhilananda. Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1977