Saturday, July 31, 2021

From the Kathak Branch of the Wedas (Katha-Upanishad)

Death said: 'God made sense turn outward, man therefore looks outward, not into himself. Now and again a daring soul, desiring immortality, has looked back and found himself. T h e ignorant man runs after pleasure, sinks into the entanglements of death; but the wise man, seeking the undying, does not run among things that die. 'He through whom we see, taste, smell, feel, hear, enjoy, knows everything. He is that Self. 'The wise man by meditating upon the self-dependent, all-pervading Self, understands waking and sleeping and goes beyond sorrow. 


                                             


           

☘️ SRI ARUNACHALA MAHATMYAM - THE GLORY OF ARUNACHALA

 Arunachala - Photo by  Saran Dashnamoorthy

 ☘️

 Shiva vachanam: -  Shiva said:

🕉️  “Though I was originally in the form of fire, my remaining now as a Hill of subdued Light is due to my grace in order to protect the world. Moreover, I ever abide here as a Siddha (*) (a sage named Arunagiri Yogi). Know that within me shine caves surging with many enjoyments (Bhogas)”. 

(*)  It is believed that Shiva always abides at the top of the hill on its northern side in the form of an invisible Siddha.

🕉️  Since their (karma) nature is to bind all the worlds, the vicious actions (karmas) are bondage (runa). This Hill indeed is the effulgent Arunachala (A-runa-achala - the hill that destroys bondage), the refuge, by seeing which, they (the karmas) become non-existent.

🕉️ The Supreme Knowledge (self-knowledge), the import of Vedanta, which cannot be attained without undergoing great difficulty, will be easily attained by anyone if they see the form of this Hill from wherever It is visible or even if they think of it by mind from afar.

🕉️  By my ordinance, “I, the Lord, truly bestow my Sayujya - the state of non-dual union with Me, which is devoid of attachment, upon those who reside in this Holy place (sthala), which extends for three yojanas (*) (around this Hill), even without their receiving initiation and so on, which remove defects.”


                                                   


Kali Statue at Nalhati, Birbhum, West Bengal

 


Sri Chinmoy, Eastern Light For The Western Mind


** It is good to be immortal, but it is infinitely better to be divine. Socrates said something quite memorable: “All men’s souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are both immortal and divine.”**
If divinity looms large inside immortality, then only can reality be all-embracing, all-sustaining and all-fulfilling.
The outer life is humanity. The inner life is immortality. The life around is reality. The life above is divinity. The life below is obscurity.
When divinity descends into humanity, the soul of humanity becomes hopeful. When divinity descends into immortality, the soul of immortality becomes meaningful. When divinity enters into reality, the soul of reality becomes fruitful. When divinity enters into obscurity, the soul of obscurity becomes prayerful.
God inspires man with His immortal Inspiration. Man realises God with his immortal self-consecration. God meditates on man for his immortal perfection. Man meditates on God for His immortal Manifestation.
To copy others is an act of stupidity. To copy oneself is an act of absurdity. To imitate God is to imitate Immortality. When we imitate God, our life of imagination ends and our life of realisation dawns.
How can we imitate God when we do not know who God is? God is the Man Divine, supremely inspiring there in heaven and supremely sacrificing here on earth.
What is immortality? Immortality is the consciousness divine that eternally grows and endlessly flows. While growing, it reaches God the Transcendental; while flowing, it reaches God the Universal.
The body says, “Life is but pressure.” The vital says, “Life is but pleasure.” The mind says, “Life is the homeland of ideas.” The heart says, “Life is the homeland of ideals.” The soul says, “Life is the homeland of experiences.” God says, “Life is the homeland of immortality.”
Mother Earth symbolises human aspiration. Hence it is a woman in the Upanishads, Maitreyi, who teaches humanity the highest aspiration toward God: “Of what use to me are things that do not make me immortal?”
Let us be inseparably one with Maitreyi and feel that mortality’s binding consciousness is bound to be flooded with the boundless consciousness of Immortality.
Go deep within. Listen to God whisper, “My child, you are good. Therefore I have made you My Infinity’s Heart. My child, you are nice. Therefore I have made you My Eternity’s Breath. My child, you are great. Therefore I have made you My Immortality’s Life.”

                                                      

R.Adams

 


Vishnu, Madhukeshwara Temple, Karnataka , photo by Aglakshninarayam

 


Friday, July 30, 2021

(Adi Shankaracharya) Shankara Vivekachudamani; Prahhavananda, 1947, p.131

 T eachers and scriptures can stimulate spiritual awareness. But the wise disciple crosses the ocean of ignorance by direct illumination, through the grace of God.

Gain experience directly. Realize God for yourself. Know the Self as the one indivisible Being, and become perfect. Free your mind from all distractions and dwell in the consciousness of the Self.
This is the final declaration of the Vedanta: Brahman is all; [It is] this universe and every creature. To be liberated is to live in the continual awareness of Brahman, the undivided Reality.



                                

Durante degli Alighieri ( simply called Dante c. 1265–1321)


“The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into the soul the way that light rushes into a transparent object. The more love it finds, the more it gives itself; so that, as we grow clear and open, the more complete the joy of heaven is. And the more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love, and, mirror like, each soul reflects the other.”

                                                            

Eastern Philosopher, Professor Radhakrishnan

 


“In his numerous works, especially in The Idealist View of Life and Eastern Religions and Western Thought, the great Eastern Philosopher, Professor Radhakrishnan, advocates the necessity for the revival of the deeply spiritual mystical experience which is the basis of all religions and which is expressed in a pure form in Hinduism. He says: “In spite of all appearances to the contrary, we discernin the present unrest the gradual dawning of a great light, a converging life-endeavour, a growing realisation that there is a secret spirit in which we are all one, and of which humanity is the highest vehicle on earth, and an increasing desire to live out this knowledge and establish a kingdom of spirit on earth.” (Eastern Religions and Western Thought, p. 33). “The different religions have now come together, and if they are not to continue in a state of conflict or competition, they must develop a spirit of comprehension which will break down prejudice and misunderstanding and bind them together as varied expressions of a single truth. Such a spirit characterised the development of Hinduism, which has not been interrupted for nearly fifty centuries.”

― Tirupattur Ramaseshayyer Venkatachala Murti, Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of Madhyamika System

                                                           

Gyalwa Godrakpa from the book "Hermit of Go Cliffs: Timeless Instructions of a Tibetan Mystic"


Three points ~ Gyalwa Godrakpa Body impermanent like spring mist; Mind insubstantial like empty sky; Thoughts unestablished like breezes in space. Think about these three points over and over.

                                                       

Ashtavakra Gita

 The universe is but a thought in Consciousness. In Reality it is nothing. One who sees the true nature of existence and non-existence never ceases to exist. The Self - which is absolute, effortless, timeless, immaculate - is without limits and at no distance from you. You are forever It.

                                                      


Thursday, July 29, 2021

(Shvetashvatara Upanishad, chapter 6

 2. The rule of light (Shvetashvatara Upanishad, chapter 6) It is all very well to say that everything is 'ruled by God' or by some ultimate 'self', but what exactly does that mean? What precisely is this 'God' or 'self', and how does it rule? An answer is very briefly stated in the Isha Upanishad, stanza 8 (the last stanza translated in part 1 above). Here, 'God' or 'self' is described as pure light, unaffected by bodily constraints. From that unbodied light, all objectives are determined. God's rule is, quite simply, the rule of unaffected light. In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, this conception is described a little further. Here, there are many references to 'God': not only as 'Isha' or the 'Lord'; but, more often, as 'deva'. Both Sanskrit words, 'isha' and 'deva', can he translated as 'God'; but their roots are quite different. Where 'Isha' implies 'power' and 'domination', 'deva' implies 'light'.


                                                        


Ribhu Gita Ch. 8, v. 1)

 The Jivan-Mukta 15 The Jivan-Mukta is a person liberated during his life-time who continues to have consciousness of the body and world along with his firm abidance in his Siva-Self. He ever abides in the blissful peace of Sat-Chit- Ananda. He is poised rock firm in the conviction that he is not the body, and that his being is the sole existence, the sole alert-awareness-bliss of Siva-Self Supreme. (Ch. 8, v. 1) 16

 The Jivan-Mukta has his consciousness completely dissolved beyond recognition in his Brahman – Self. Eternally alone in his self, he is ever lost in the enjoyment of the bliss of his Brahman – Self. (Ch. 8, v. 25)


                                                                   


 

Ganesha at Sahasralinga Sahasralinga, Sirsi Taluk, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka

 


ribhu Gita (Ch. 7, v.35)

 That Siva must be meditated upon and realised to be the Self by making the restless mind to stay still and alert after it has been adequately restrainted and completely prevented from the pursuit of sense objects, namely, the shadow pictures on the screen of the Self. All shadow pictures removed, what remains is pure Awareness, the spotlessly effulgent screen. Thus, Siva reveals Himself spontaneously as the sole eternal Sat-Chit-Ananda-Self, the very essence of the nature of the worshipper. (Ch. 7, v.35)


                                          


Wednesday, July 28, 2021

SRI ANANDAMAYI MA


Words of Ma,
“Your body, which is part of and depending on this illusory world, is, on the other hand, the expression of a hidden inner process. You are yourself the many, appearing in various aspects, forms, and modes. Each one of them exists in fact to fulfill a particular need. Yours is the give and take of the universe, yours the need, and yet you yourself are the fulfillment that hidden inner process is generated by you.

                                                         

TATVAMASI


Tatvamasi is a term that is used in Hindu and yoga philosophy usually translated as “I am that” or “Thou art that.” The term comes from the Sanskrit, tat, meaning “that”; tvam, meaning “you”; and asi, meaning “you were.” The interpretation varies among the various yoga and Hindu traditions. Tatvamasi — sometimes spelled tat tvam asi — is one of the Great Utterances or Great Contemplations known as the Mahavakyas, which are found in the ancient Sanskrit texts of the Upanishads.

                                                                

NAGA SADHUS AT KUMBH MELA


mythos.lux.aeterna wrote:
Monastic communities of yogis have existed in India since the most archaic times and are mentioned often in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. But it was the eighth century philosopher-saint Adi Shankaracharya who founded the first community of militant monks — naked, ash covered ascetics — to defend the Shanatan Dharma, the moral law or natural order of the universe.**

                                                                 

RAMANA MAHARSHI


Plunge deep into yourself, in the inner most depths of your heart, as the pearl diver holding speech and breath plunges deep into the waters and so secure with mind alert the treasure of the Self within.

                                                              

ASHTAVAKRA GITA (1.8-10)

 

"I do this. I do that."
The big black snake of selfishness
Has bitten you!
"I do nothing."
This is the nectar of faith,
So drink and be happy!
Know you are one,
Pure awareness.
With the fire of this conviction,
Burn down the forest of ignorance.
Free yourself from sorrow,
And be happy.
Be happy!
For you are joy, unbounded joy.
You are awareness itself.
Just as a coil of rope
Is mistaken for a snake,
So you are mistaken for the world.

                                                      

Ribhu Gita

 *Thought and other things never exist All is of the nature of the Supreme Brahman, which full of Consciousness, nothing truly exists at all, all is of the nature of Supreme Brahman, which is Reality *This duality does not exist at all at any time. All is of the nature of the Supreme Brahman, which is the One I am that non-dual Supreme Brahman, be of this steadfast contemplation always


*If practiced continuously, the conviction, that I am Brahman, will itself be the meditation and absorption of the undivided Absolute.It will indeed be the knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, it will itself be the Supreme Brahman *All is ever of the nature of the Self. The changeless Self, indeed, is of the nature of Brahman. Brahman is, indeed, of the nature of the exalted Self.One who has this identity firmly established for himself will instantly be liberated from the bondage of worldly existence


                                               


  

THE BUDDHA TAUGHT US THAT DESIRE IS THE CAUSE OF OUR SUFFERING


🕉 Our minds are full of desires which cause us to experience a lot of suffering. But most of these desires are unnecessary, meaning that we are also suffering unnecessarily too.
🕉 The nature of the Self is Satcitanand - being, awareness and bliss. The Self does not require anything outside of itself for happiness or bliss.
🕉 Our desires for external material objects is actually causing us to suffer, and drawing us away from experiencing the inherent Bliss we have within our nature.
🕉 Learn to be content and ignore the endless desires arising in the mind. Practice meditation and yoga, sitting quietly abiding in the Self and the inner presence of God.

                                                                        


                                                                      

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Ribhu Gita 7:33

 


Robert Adams

 

“The question is, ‘Who are you and where do you belong?’

As you go within yourself, as you begin to find the truth within yourself, something begins to flash in your mind, in the beginning, that tells you that you are not the body and you are not the mind that you think with. Something begins to take over, something wonderful, something beautiful. You begin to feel feelings you’ve never felt before. You begin to see things as your Self. You’re never angry at anything, because if you’re angry at anything, you’re angry at yourself. If you hate anything, you hate yourself. Therefore you stop hating, you stop being angry, you stop judging, you stop criticizing. You leave everything alone. You no longer differentiate. You no longer say, ‘This is good and this is bad.’ You leave it alone period, without qualification. There’s no longer anything that’s bad, and there’s no longer anything that’s good. You see the world differently. It becomes a dream.”