Ramakrishna’s One-fourth

The refrain, ‘He who is Brahman is also Śakti’,

25

appears throughout the

Kathāmrita

with consistency and

regularity and constitutes an important element in shaping

Ramakrishna’s faith. His inspiration is the poet Ramprasad Sen, a mystic-poet and Tantrik of the eighteenth century. Take, for instance, this poem of Ramprasad, one which was a particular favourite of Ramakrishna:

How are you trying, O my mind, to know the

nature of God?You are groping like a madman locked in a dark

room.

He is grasped through ecstatic love; how can you fathom Him without it?Only through afrmation, never negation, can you know Him;

Neither through Veda nor through Tantra nor the

six darśanas.

Tirukural A daily chapter from South Indian saint Tiruvalluvar's Tirukural, 'Holy Couplets.

Chapter 3: The Greatness of Renunciates Kural 21 The Scriptures exalt above every other good the greatness of virtuous renunciates. Kural 22 Attempting to speak of the renunciate's magnitude is like numbering all the human multitudes who have ever died. Kural 23 Behold those who have weighed the dual nature of things and followed the renunciate's way. Their greatness illumines the world. Kural 24 He whose firm will, wisdom's goading hook, controls his five senses is a seed that will flourish in the fields of Heaven. Kural 25 Such is the power of those who subdue the five senses, that even Indra, sovereign of spacious Heaven's celestials, suffered their curse. Kural 26 The magnificent ones are they who can dispatch the most difficult tasks; the insignificant ones are they who cannot. Kural 27 Touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing are the senses-- he who controls these five magically controls the world. Kural 28 Their own subtle sayings reveal to the world the greatness of men whose words prove prophetic. Kural 29 It is impossible to endure, even for a second, the wrath of those who have scaled and stand upon the mountain called virtue. Kural 30 Pious men are called the priestly ones, for they are clothed in robes of compassion for all life

The Upanishads

The little space within the heart is

as great as the vast universe.

The heavens and the earth are there,
and the sun and the moon and the stars.

Fire and lightening and winds are there,
and all that now is and all that is not.

What Is the Process of Reincarnation?

Reincarnation, punarjanma, is the natural process of birth, death and rebirth. At death we drop off the physical body and continue evolving in the inner worlds in our subtle bodies, until we again enter into birth. Aum.

Bhashya

Through the ages, reincarnation has been the great consoling element within Hinduism, eliminating the fear of death, explaining why one person is born a genius and another an idiot. We are not the body in which we live but the immortal soul which inhabits many bodies in its evolutionary journey through samsara. After death, we continue to exist in unseen worlds, enjoying or suffering the harvest of earthly deeds until it comes time for yet another physical birth. Because certain karmas can be resolved only in the physical world, we must enter another physical body to continue our evolution. After soaring into the causal plane, we enter a new womb. Subsequently the old manomaya kosha is slowly sloughed off and a new one created. The actions set in motion in previous lives form the tendencies and conditions of the next. Reincarnation ceases when karma is resolved, God is realized and moksha attained. The Vedas say, "After death, the soul goes to the next world bearing in mind the subtle impressions of its deeds, and after reaping their harvest returns again to this world of action. Thus, he who has desires continues subject to rebirth." Aum Namah Sivaya. 

ALL IS SPACE ‘Brahman Supreme’ // ALL IS MOTION OF SPACE 'Shabda-Brahman

The Maitri Upanishad mentions two aspects of Brahman, the higher and the lower. The higher Brahman being the unmanifest Supreme Reality which is soundless and totally quiescent and restful, the lower being the Shabda-Brahman which manifests itself into the everchanging restless cosmos through the medium of sound vibrations. The Upanishad says that “Two Brahmans there are to be known: One as sound and the other as Brahman Supreme.” The process of manifestation is from soundless to sound, from noumenality to phenomenality, from perfect quiescence of "being” to the restlessness of “becoming”..(Sudhakar S.D, 1988. P83)

FROM HINDU TEACHINGS:

 

“Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions, the
individual self and the immortal Self are perched on the branches of the
self same tree. The former tastes of the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree;
the latter, tasting of neither, calmly observes.

“The individual self, deluded by forgetfulness of his identity with the
divine Self, bewildered by his ego, grieves and is sad. But when he
recognizes the worshipful Lord as his own true Self, and beholds his
glory, he grieves no more.” -0- SOURCE This trans. is in ‘The Upanishads, Breath of the Eternal’, by Swami Prabhavananda.

Rig Veda

 

"The cosmic order is controlled by a fundamental moral principle. An eternal law or unity, which can be conceived as the principle of rightness or justice, regulates all phenomena. In the Veda, this is called "Rtam", which means the fixed way or course, in other words, the settled order of things. The whole universe is founded on Rtam and moves in it. It keeps all things and beings in their respective courses. Consequently nothing deviates from its own nature. Because of Rtam, fire burns, wind blows, water flows, plants grow and the seasons revolve. Rtam maintains regularity in the movements of the Sun and Moon, the planets and other luminaries. It manifests itself as the universal law of causation which finds expression in the human plane as the law of Karma. It establishes unity between the Cosmic forces and the individual powers. It is the basis of all laws, physical, biological, psychical, moral and spiritual. Rtam regulates Dharma, the principle of equity, the moral law that governs human life. because of this, right deed inevitably produces good result whereas wrong deed leads to evil consequences. There is no unmerited happiness or misery, gain or loss in mans life."

Yoga Vasishtha

Since the seed does not contain anything other than the seed, even the flowers

and the fruits are of the same nature as the seed:
the substance of the seed is the substance
of subsequent effects, too…
Even so, the homogenous mass of
cosmic consciousness does not give rise
to anything other than what it is in essence.
When this truth is realized,
duality ceases…

Shankara

 

Self-Knowledge, known in India as the Atmabodha, is a short composition of 68 verses attributed to the great Indian philosopher Shankara. With this composition Shankara tries to serve all those who are ready to understand the Truth, which means they must be ready to break all ties and desire Liberation.
Below is a quick summary of the content in Shankara's treatise (these paragraphs are not verbatim):

Only direct Knowledge can be the cause for Liberation. Action by itself cannot destroy our illusions and delusions. It is because of our ignorance that we appear to be finite. When ignorance is destroyed by Knowledge, the Self reveals Itself by Itself, like the sun when the clouds are removed. Right practice leads to Knowledge.

The world is like a dream: It appears to be real as long as we are ignorant of the Truth. When we are awake the world has disappeared like a dream. The world is like the illusion of silver in an oyster shell. All forms exist in the imagination of the perceiver. The world is to the all-pervading Awareness of God like the bracelet is to gold. As long as we admire the form, we do not see the gold. If we see the gold we do not admire the form.

All characteristics are superimposed on the all-pervading Awareness. The gross body is formed out of five subtle elements. The subtle body is made of five pranas. The Awareness takes on characteristics in the same way as a crystal may take on the color of something that is red, blue, or green.

Through discrimination, the seeker has to isolate the pure innermost Self from the mental coverings. The Self is only reflected in the clear mind. The Self, as pure Awareness, has to be seen as being distinct from body and mind. Like the moon appears to be moving when clouds are moving, so the Self appears to be active when mind and the senses are active.

The nature of the Self, as pure Awareness, is Eternity, Purity, Reality, Consciousness, and Bliss. When the Self gets confused with body and mind it is overcome by mortal fears. The Self regains fearlessness by realizing the Truth about Itself.

Awareness does not need another instrument, like the mind, to be aware of Itself. The Self is not this or that but Itself. The Self is without attributes and action. The Self is changeless, eternal, pure, and free. The Self is pure Awareness as God is pure Awareness. Pure Awareness is without a second.

He who has attained the Supreme Goal dwells as the embodiment of Infinite Consciousness and Bliss. The practice that destroys ignorance is constant meditation. Because of ignorance the ever-present Awareness is not recognized. The seeker who has realized the Self sees the entire universe as the Self

J. Krishnamurti

Love is a state of being in which thought is not.

’ The Realization of Atman ’

I am of the nature of consciousness.

I am made of consciousness and bliss.

I am nondual, pure in form, absolute knowledge, absolute love.

I am changeless, devoid of desire or anger, I am detached.

I am One Essence, unlimitedness, utter consciousness.

I am boundless Bliss, existence and transcendent Bliss.

I am the Atman, that revels in itself. I am the Sacchidananda that is eternal,enlightened and pure

Baba Faqir Chand

I am a bubble of Super-most consciousness. That is what my realization is. This is what I have gained. Now what I feel is that there is One, Infinite, Super-most Element. From IT, when it moves, Sound and Light come out and from that Light and Sound this creation takes place. Cosmic rays and many other types of rays come out of this Light and Sound and all this gross matter is made. So it is the Will of that Supreme Power. Everything is oozing out of IT and is merging back in IT.

Bhagavad Gita

“The very idea of going beyond the dream is illusory. Why go anywhere? Just realize that you are dreaming a dream you call the

world, and stop looking for ways out. The dream is not your problem. Your problem is that you like one part of your dream and not another. Love all, or none of it, and stop complaining. When you have seen the dream as a dream, you have done all that need be done.”

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj from I Am That

These bodies are perishable, but the dwellers in these bodies are eternal, indestructible and impenetrable.
— Bhagavad Gita