tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post4760092249705779577..comments2023-10-16T13:06:42.360+01:00Comments on Happiness of Being: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: Why do viṣaya-vāsanās sprout as thoughts, and how to eradicate them?Michael Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-19742518568367627242018-09-14T18:08:53.299+01:002018-09-14T18:08:53.299+01:00Michael James,
what you replied in your two commen...Michael James,<br />what you replied in your two comments to Anonymous is not only well said but also moulded by sincerity. pearl-divernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-22673155779919683442018-09-12T07:02:21.322+01:002018-09-12T07:02:21.322+01:00Sir Micheal James,
By the way I am not the same A...Sir Micheal James,<br /><br />By the way I am not the same Anonymous person who is riddled with guilt feelings and who confessed about it earlier on. Lol! That was funny.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-74239842197837975452018-09-12T04:31:15.685+01:002018-09-12T04:31:15.685+01:00Sir Micheal James,
Correction:
I meant that you ...Sir Micheal James,<br /><br />Correction:<br /><br />I meant that you do not owe me anything at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-67130045330824393292018-09-12T04:25:59.664+01:002018-09-12T04:25:59.664+01:00Sir Michael James:
To me you are equal to Jnani, ...Sir Michael James:<br /><br />To me you are equal to Jnani, Bhakta, Bhagavan etc. just as you are now and just as Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi is. I see absolutely no difference between the two of you. I will not be disappointed in any way as I do not expect anything from you as you owe me or anyone else anything. Sincerely, earnestly and respectfully said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-78630143832217069152018-09-11T17:04:40.706+01:002018-09-11T17:04:40.706+01:00Anonymous, except insofar as he is the real nature...Anonymous, except insofar as he is the real nature (<i>svarūpa</i>) of each one of us, I am in no way of the calibre of Bhagavan, nor are any of us until our ego is dissolved in him, whereupon nothing other than him will remain. By his infinite grace he has given me a little love for him and his teachings, and this love prompts me to try to follow them and to think about them repeatedly, in spite of the fact that I still have so many other desires and attachments. Therefore please do not think too highly of me, because if you expect me to be anything like Bhagavan you will surely be disappointed. I am in the same boat as you and all the other friends why have been attracted to the path he has shown us, hoping that one day he will make me willing to surrender myself entirely to him.Michael Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-38535281040404174672018-09-10T12:45:10.374+01:002018-09-10T12:45:10.374+01:00Sir Michael James:
I fully concur with what you ...Sir Michael James: <br /><br />I fully concur with what you say above in toto. I sincerely and in all earnestness consider you as the Jnani and Bhakta of the caliber of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi of the present times. You are the living Bhagavan of today in this insane world we live in. My comment of 9 September 2018 at 22:45 was not intended towards either you or Sanjay Lohia. I forgot to mention that earlier in that post. My sincere apologies for not doing that. Best wishes and the best of health to you Sir.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-33237587261891956422018-09-10T10:08:18.425+01:002018-09-10T10:08:18.425+01:00Anonymous, Bhagavan himself has taught us the subt...Anonymous, Bhagavan himself has taught us the subtle solution to eradicate the ego, namely self-investigation (<i>ātma-vicāra</i>). He did not say that this is like a thief pretending to be a policeman trying to catch the thief. What he said is that the ego trying to eradicate itself by any means other than <i>ātma-vicāra</i> is like a thief pretending to be a policeman trying to catch the thief (see <a href="http://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Maharshi's-Gospel.pdf" rel="nofollow"><i>Maharshi’s Gospel</i></a>, Book 2, Chapter 1: 2002 edition, page 51).<br /><br />You ask: ‘Why will the ego or the mind give up its own domain even if it pretends to do so?’ It is not a matter of pretending but of keenly investigating ourself, which cannot be done by pretence. And why will we do so? The answer is <i>bhakti</i> (love to be aware of ourself as we actually are) and <i>vairāgya</i> (freedom from desire to be aware of anything else). That is, when our love to be aware of ourself as we actually are becomes greater than our liking to be aware of anything else, we will at last be willing to surrender ourself entirely by means of self-investigation.<br /><br />How to develop the required degree of <i>bhakti</i> and <i>vairāgya</i>? By patient, persistent and steady practice of self-investigation and self-surrender. Thus the solution given by Bhagavan is simple, complete and infallible, and it will certainly result in the eradication of ego.Michael Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03460943269122289281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-85264315446303006712018-09-09T22:45:32.665+01:002018-09-09T22:45:32.665+01:00"Devotees have explained the minute and subtl..."Devotees have explained the minute and subtle solutions to eradicate the ego. Says somebody.<br /><br />Really? Have these dear Bhagavan devotees eradicated their own egos via their subtle solutions? How can that be possible? The ego giving minute and subtle solutions for its own eradication actually resulting in its eradication? Really? Can it ever happen in reality? Like Bhagavan said, it is like the thief pretending to be the policeman to apprehend itself. It is not going to happen. Why will the ego or the mind give up its own domain even if it pretends to do so?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-19509470031051251912018-09-09T17:33:57.066+01:002018-09-09T17:33:57.066+01:00I have gone through the whole post and understood ...I have gone through the whole post and understood the importance of eradication of ego to realize the self. I thank all my dear Bhagwan devotees who have explained the minute and subtle solutions regarding eradication of ego precisely.My dear James is doing a commendable job in spreading Bhagwan ramana's teachingle in a genuine way.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16625817388775394142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-9411301797964957132018-04-23T10:12:15.051+01:002018-04-23T10:12:15.051+01:00@Sanjay, thank you!
@Sanjay, thank you!<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-59923326971262332172018-04-23T09:28:37.329+01:002018-04-23T09:28:37.329+01:00Anonymous, you wrote, ‘I am riddled with guilt ove...Anonymous, you wrote, ‘I am riddled with guilt over my behaviour from 12 years ago’. So you feel you had sinned about 12 years back. Bhagavan has a solution to your guilt. He says in the paragraph 10 of <i>Nan Yar</i>:<br /><br />However great a sinner a person may be, if instead of lamenting and weeping ‘I am a sinner! How am I going to be saved?’ he completely rejects the thought that he is a sinner and is zealous [or steadfast] in self-attentiveness, he will certainly be reformed [transformed into the true ‘form’ of thought-free self-conscious being].<br /><br />The only solution to our all problems is to destroy the ego, and this can be destroyed only by steadfast self-attentiveness. Who has this guilt? It is you as this ego has it. So the ego has to go and if it goes your guilt will also go forever. Do you have this guilt in your sleep? Obviously, it cannot be there. It is because in sleep your ego temporarily subsides; however, we need to make it subside permanently. That should be our only aim. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-75346523710145432922018-04-22T05:27:08.923+01:002018-04-22T05:27:08.923+01:00I am riddled with guilt over my behaviour from 12 ...I am riddled with guilt over my behaviour from 12 years ago. <br /><br />I was not able to respond to the love of a woman because I (who has forever had the difficulty of expressing myself verbally), believing myself to be a broken and unworthy individual, was under depression and had decided not to marry (I am still single).<br /><br />For some time, since Feb 2018, I have been feeling awashed with bucket-full of guilt over my behaviour (i.e. my lack of responding to her love) towards her.<br /><br />I have been praying to Bhagavan to let me take over the burden of her bad karmas (if she has any) and their results. Although that may sound insincerely lofty coming from an ego like me, I am fully willing to bear that burden if that can repay even an ounce of my guilt, and more importantly, if that can ease her pain.<br /><br />I am unable to forgive myself - she was a kind individual and I hurt her through my inaction.<br /><br />I am looking for guidance on dealing with this recurring guilt. This phenomenon of guilt has become deeply rooted inside. I am writing on this specific blog post, triggered by the wise comments on love from Michael and Sanjay (not that I am equating love).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-82086059308564611312018-04-02T00:06:50.407+01:002018-04-02T00:06:50.407+01:00Anonymous,
it was a pleasure to us.Anonymous,<br />it was a pleasure to us.we allnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-38875942676135395842018-04-01T21:59:40.470+01:002018-04-01T21:59:40.470+01:00Thank you all.Thank you all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-36601211536347303072018-03-14T13:16:33.639+00:002018-03-14T13:16:33.639+00:00Sanjay Lohia, thank you for your reply.
Through my...Sanjay Lohia, thank you for your reply.<br />Through my experience of extreme stale emptiness and wretchedness it became clear to me that I personally are not at all able to overcome my problems resulting from my ignorance by my own efforts alone.<br />Therefore in my remorse I prayed to the inner presence of Siva to take on the job of tuning my mind in the right mood/direction of the inner presence of Him. In the next days my inner temperament became even and well-belanced. But after two weeks my misery began to resume.ekatma vastunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-10960059348888310132018-03-14T11:44:37.803+00:002018-03-14T11:44:37.803+00:00Ekatma Vastu, you say that you feel an emptiness i...Ekatma Vastu, you say that you feel an emptiness inside. Who feels this emptiness inside? You should try to investigate the ‘I’ which feels this emptiness inside. You also say that ‘a few times I felt also some great peace combined with crystal bright clarity from inside’. Who feels this great peace combined with crystal bright clarity from inside? Investigate the ‘I’ who feels this great peace and clarity? <br /><br />Bhagavan’s path is quite simple: we need to unceasingly investigate or look at ourself, that is, look at the one who experiences things other than itself, and we need to continue doing so until our objective experiences are completely obliterated, never to reappear again. <br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-27695206942570328262018-03-14T10:06:25.964+00:002018-03-14T10:06:25.964+00:00Sanjay Lohia,
your appeal made for practising only...Sanjay Lohia,<br />your appeal made for practising only atma-chintana is certainly good.<br />On the other hand feeling of emptiness inside sometimes just during the practice of self-attentiveness is somehow a flat/queasy experience. However, as you say one should <br />persever in practising self-attentiveness whatever happens. And that is what I try.<br />Fortunately a few times I felt also some great peace combined with crystal bright clarity from inside but only sporadic.ekatma vastunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-44680864310703830762018-03-14T07:48:48.342+00:002018-03-14T07:48:48.342+00:00musk-deer, I thank you for pointing out my typo. Y...musk-deer, I thank you for pointing out my typo. Yes, it should have been 'perspective' instead of 'perceptive'.<br /><br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-5740639129593121122018-03-14T07:46:21.388+00:002018-03-14T07:46:21.388+00:00Ekatma-vastu, we cannot measure our spiritual prog...Ekatma-vastu, we cannot measure our spiritual progress, because only Bhagavan knows how far we have come or how far we are from our goal. What is in our hands is to persevere in being self-attentive as much as possible. <br /><br />We should not think about our success or failure, because such thoughts will direct our attention away from ourself, whereas we should give not give even the slightest room to the rising of any thought other than <i>atma-chintana</i> (self-attentiveness), as Bhagavan has explained in the 13th paragraph of <i>Nan Yar?</i>. <br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-83436749146124839782018-03-13T17:30:15.430+00:002018-03-13T17:30:15.430+00:00Sanjay Lohia, relating the above comment,
more exa...Sanjay Lohia, relating the above comment,<br />more exactly: on 26 February 2018 at 15:57...(comment nr.101)musk-deernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-49713648331612849842018-03-13T17:22:54.037+00:002018-03-13T17:22:54.037+00:00Sanjay Lohia,
on 26 February 2018 you wrote "...Sanjay Lohia,<br />on 26 February 2018 you wrote "From that perceptive, turning out to do even the so-called ‘good actions’ ...".<br />Certainly we should read 'perspective' instead of 'perceptive'.musk-deernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-6556706630938810572018-03-13T16:31:22.535+00:002018-03-13T16:31:22.535+00:00Sanjay Lohia,
on 26 February 2018 at 13:01 you wro...Sanjay Lohia,<br />on 26 February 2018 at 13:01 you wrote:<br />"...<br />What has Bhagavan asked us to do? He has asked us to look within whenever we can or to whatever extent we can, at least to start off with. Of course, he says that, eventually, our practice should be unceasing. So like a true soldier, we should obey our General’s commands. We should go on marching towards ourself without even thinking twice.<br /><br />If we are true devotees of Bhagavan, we should turn within at every given opportunity.<br />...".<br />Unfortunately I made the experience that looking within does not let me achieve my aim.<br />Sometimes I feel I could try to look within hundred thousand or one trillion years without any success.ekatma vastunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-59669347778492655022018-02-28T07:15:30.647+00:002018-02-28T07:15:30.647+00:00Sri Adi Sankara has given us the same teachings as...Sri Adi Sankara has given us the same teachings as given to us by Bhagavan Ramana. Sankara says in verse 11 of <i>Vivekacudamani</i>:<br /><br />Action [<i>karma</i>, which generally means action of any kind whatsoever, but in this context means specifically any action which is performed for spiritual benefit] is for <i>citta-suddhi</i> and not for <i>vastu-upalabdhi</i> [direct knowledge or experience of the reality, the true substance or essence, which is absolute being]. <b><i>The attainment of the reality [can be achieved only] by <i>vicara</i> and not by [even] ten million actions</i></b>.<br /><br />Isn’t it a summary of Bhagavan’s teachings? It clearly is. The following 3 verses (2 from <i>Upadesa Undiyar</i> and 1 from <i>Ulladu Narpadu</i>) clearly corresponds to Sri Adi Sankara's teaching. Bhagavan says:<br /><br />Verse 2 of <i>Upadesa Undiyar</i>: The fruit of action having perished, as seed it causes to fall in the ocean of action. It is not giving liberation.<br /><br />Verse 3 of <i>Upadesa Undiyar</i>: <i>Niṣkāmya karma</i> [action not motivated by desire] done [with love] for God purifies the mind and [thereby] it will show the path to liberation.<br /><br />Verse 27 of <i>Ulladu Narpadu</i>: The state in which one exists without ‘I’ rising is the state in which we exist as that. Without investigating the place where ‘I’ rises, how to reach the annihilation of oneself, in which ‘I’ does not rise? Without reaching, say, how to stand in the state of oneself, in which oneself is that?<br /><br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-11188848315055209022018-02-27T12:33:08.197+00:002018-02-27T12:33:08.197+00:00When Bhagavan was a young man, once he was roaming...When Bhagavan was a young man, once he was roaming on the northern side of the hill, and he saw a tree that he hadn’t seen before, so he started climbing towards it. On the way, his thigh brushed against a bush. In that bush, there was a hornets’ nest (hornet is a big type of highly poisonous wasp). As a result, he disturbed the hornets, and these hornets all came out of their nest. They were angry at being disturbed.<br /><br />They all settled on Bhagavan’s thigh and started stinging his thigh. Bhagavan stood there until they had finished and then slowly walked his way back to the cave where he lived. The devotees saw his swollen leg and rubbed oil on his leg. The next day when the swelling had gone down a bit, the devotees removed the stings from Bhagavan’s leg, which were left by the hornets.<br /><br />After some years when Muruganar heard this story, he wrote a Tamil verse in which he asked Bhagavan: ‘When it was an accident, why did you allow those hornets to sting your leg?’ Bhagavan replied: ‘Though it was an accident if one doesn’t feel repentance for such an action, what sort of a mind does one have?’<br /><br />So what greater compassion is there than that? Any kindness or compassion we may think we have is nothing compared to the kindness and compassion of Bhagavan. <br /><br />The problem is not our kind and caring and compassionate actions, the problem is our attachment, and the root of all our attachments is only our ego. <b><i>So though we should be kind, caring and compassionate towards all, but in our heart of hearts, we should try to be free of attachments</i></b>. <br /><br />• Extract from the video: <i>2018-02-24 Yo Soy Tu Mismo: discussion on the teachings of Bhagavan Ramana with Michael James</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7345918888953765241.post-61634538801310119482018-02-27T11:24:25.034+00:002018-02-27T11:24:25.034+00:00Truly speaking no effort is required to attend to ...Truly speaking no effort is required to attend to oneself, but it seems to require great effort because we have so much love to attend to things other than ourself. Because we have that strong love to attend to those things, and because as this ego we can survive only by attending to other things, to let go of all other things seem to require great effort.<br /><br />When we say ‘let go’ or ‘hold on to’, we are talking about ‘attention’. We should not think about the things we want to let go because if we do so, we will only prolong or strengthen our attachments to those things. Instead, we are trying to hold only to ‘I’, but holding only to ‘I’ entails letting go of everything else. Attending to ‘I’ seems to be so difficult, because if we let go of everything else, we will dissolve as this ego. <br /> <br /><b><i>So trying to attend to ‘I’ is a bit like trying to keep your head under water. We have so much urge to breathe that we can stay underwater only for a few moments, but we come up again for breath</i></b>.<br /><br />That is, attention to things other than ourself is the food on which the ego depends. It the air the ego breathes. So when we try to put all our attention on ourself, we are depriving the ego of air, so the ego is desperate to have another breath.<br /><br />In other words, within us there are two conflicting forces. One is the desire to attend to other things in order to survive as this ego, and the other is the desire to look within and see what we really are. We will be able to see what we really are only if we are willing to let go everything else, including the ego.<br /><br />So this battle is a battle of our own will – a battle within our own will. <br /><br />• Edited extract from the video: <i>2018-02-24 Yo Soy Tu Mismo: discussion on the teachings of Bhagavan Ramana with Michael James</i><br /><br />Sanjay Lohiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02384912997886218824noreply@blogger.com