Author: Vasundhara

Bhagavad Geeta - Invocations

Bhagavad Gita Invocations

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Bhagavad Gita Invocations


PRAYER TO VYASA

Namostu te vyaasa visaalabuddhe phullaaravindaa yatapatranetra, Yena twayaa bhaaratatailapoornah prajwaalito jnaanamayah pradeepah.

Salutations unto thee, O Vyasa, of broad intellect and with eyes large like the petals of a full-blown lotus, by whom the lamp of divine knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahabharata, has been lighted!

PRAYER TO THE GURU

Gururbrahmaa gururvishnurgururdevo maheshwarah; Guruh saakshaat param brahma tasmai shree gurave namah.

Guru is the creator (Brahma); Guru is the preserver (Vishnu); Guru is the destroyer (Maheshvara); Guru is verily the Supreme Absolute. To that Guru we prostrate.

Dhyaanamoolam gurormoortih poojaamoolam guroh padam; Mantramoolam gurorvaakyam mokshamoolam guroh kripaa.

The Guru’s form is the root of meditation; the Guru’s feet are the root of worship; the Guru’s word is the root of Mantra; the Guru’s Grace is the root of liberation.

PRAYER TO LORD KRISHNA

Krishnaaya vaasudevaaya devakeenandanaaya cha; Nandagopakumaaraaya govindaaya namo namah.

I bow again and again to Lord Krishna, son of Vasudeva, the delighter of Devaki, the darling of Nandagopa, the protector of cows.

O Krishna! Thou art my sweet companion now. Thou hast a soft corner for me in Thy heart. Teach me now the mysteries of Thy divine play and the secrets of Vedanta. Thou sayest in the Geeta: “I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas”. Thou art my best teacher. Explain to me the intricate details of Vedanta. Give me easy lessons.

Kindly explain; why did Sukadev, a Brahma Jnani who was always absorbed in Brahman, teach the Bhagavata to King Parikshit? What are the differences in the experiences of a Bhakta who enjoys union with God, of a Yogi who is established in the highest Superconscious State, and of a Jnani firmly established in the state of oneness or Brahman? What is the real difference between liberation while living and disembodied liberation, between the transcendent state and the state beyond it, between the perishable Person, the imperishable Person and the Supreme Person?

Let me be frank with Thee, O Krishna, because Thou art the indweller of my heart, the witness of my mind, and the Lord of my life-breath! I cannot hide anything from Thee, because Thou directly witnesseth all the thoughts that emanate from my mind. I have no fear of Thee. Thou art my friend now. Treat me like Arjuna. I shall sing and dance. You can play on the flute. Let us eat sugar-candy and butter together. Let us sing. Teach me the Geeta. Let me hear it directly from Thy lips once more.

O Thou invisible One! O adorable and Supreme One! Thou penetratest and permeatest this vast universe from the unlimited space down to the tiny blade of grass at my feet. Thou art the basis of all names and forms. Thou art the apple of my eye, the divine love of my heart, the life of my life, the very soul of my soul, the illuminator of my intellect and senses, the sweet mystic music of my heart, and the substance of my physical, mental and causal bodies.

I recognise Thee alone as the mighty ruler of this universe and the inner controller of my three bodies. I prostrate again and again before Thee, my Lord. Thou art my sole refuge. I trust Thee alone, O ocean of mercy and love! Elevate, enlighten, guide and protect me. Remove the obstacles on my spiritual path. Remove the veil of ignorance.

O Thou supreme world-teacher! I cannot bear any longer, even for a second, the miseries of this physical body, this life and this worldly existence. Meet me quickly, O Prabhu! I am pining, I am melting. Listen, listen, listen to my fervent, innermost prayer. Do not be cruel, my Lord. Thou art the friend of the afflicted. Thou art one who raises the downtrodden. Thou art the purifier of the fallen.

O magnificent Lord of love and compassion! O fountain-head of bliss and knowledge! Thou art the eye of our eye, the ear of our ear, the breath of our breath, the mind of our mind, the soul of our soul. Thou art the unseen seer, the unthought thinker, the unheard hearer, the unknown knower. Pray, deliver us from temptation. Give us light, knowledge and purity.

O Lord of my breath! O all-pervading Lord of the universe, accept my humble prayer! Guide me. Lift me from the mire of worldliness. Enlighten me. Protect me. Thee alone I adore; Thee alone I worship; on Thee alone I meditate in Thee alone I take sole refuge.

Thanks to https://www.dlshq.org

Bhagavad Geeta - Introduction

Bhagavad Gita Introduction

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Bhagavad Gita Introduction

         

          One should always read the Bhagavad Gita.
          Ramana Maharshi.

The Bhagavad Gita is a bouquet composed of the beautiful flowers of spiritual truths collected from the Upanishads.
Swami Vivekananda

The Grand Epic Mahabharata is basically GOOD against EVIL. In the end, GOOD alone prevails. The Author of this great Scripture is Sage Veda Vyasa.

King Dhritarashtra and King Pandu are brothers. The Pandavas are the children of Pandu. They are Good Kings; they are five brothers: Yudhistra, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. The Kauravas are the children of Dhritarashra, who was blind. They are Bad Kings; they are hundred in number starting from Duryodhana. The pomp, wealth and glory of the Pandavas aroused deep jealousy and greed in the mind of Duryodhana, the chief of the Kauravas. The wicked Duryodhana, with the help of his malicious and conniving friends and relatives such as his uncle Sakuni, tricks the Pandavas by involving them in gambling, illtreats them and then sends them away for 12 years of exile to live as ordinary citizens, and one more year incognito, meaning no one should recognize their original identity. When the exile was over after much agony, hardship and suffering, the Pandavas rightfully claimed for their half of the kingdom and properties. The evil Kauravas refused. Hence originated the Great War between the GOOD and EVIL.

Duryodhana and Arjuna, from the side of the Kauravas and Pandavas respectively, were sent to Dwaraka to seek the help of the Divine Yadava hero, Lord Krishna, in the battle. They both found Krishna resting on a couch in His palace. Duryodhana went in and proudly occupied a seat at the head of the couch while Arjuna humbly stood near the feet of the Lord. The moment Sri Krishna opened His eyes, He naturally saw Arjuna first, and then later Duryodhana sitting on a chair. After enquiry of their welfare and the purpose of their visit, Sri Krishna, according to the prevailing custom, gave the first choice to Arjuna, because of his age, and also because of His sight of Arjuna first.

Krishna asked Arjuna to fulfill his desire by selecting Him unarmed or His powerful army called Narayani Sena. Arjuna, who was a devotee of Sri Krishna, expressed his desire to have the Lord with him, neglecting the powerful Narayani Sena, even though Krishna warned that He would remain a witness, bound by the vow of not participating in battle and not taking up arms. Duryodhana, with great delight, thinking that Arjuna was foolish, expressed his wish for the powerful army to help his side in the battle.

When Krishna asked Arjuna why he chose Him instead of a powerful army, Arjuna said, “O Lord! You have the power to destroy all the forces by a mere sight. Why then should I prefer that worthless army? I have for a long time been cherishing a desire in my heart that you should act as my Charioteer (Divine Guide). Kindly fulfill my desire in this war.”

The Lord, who is ever the most devoted lover of His devotees, accepted his request with pleasure; and thus Krishna became the Charioteer of Arjuna in the battle of the Mahabharata.

After the return of Duryodhana and Arjuna from Dwaraka, Lord Krishna Himself went once to Hastinapura, the land of the Kauravas, as the emissary of the Pandavas and tried to prevent the war. But then, under the guidance of Sakuni, the egoistic Duryodhana refused to agree to the peace mission and tried to imprison Lord Krishna, at which Krishna showed His Supreme Form (Viswarupa). Even the blind Dhritarashtra saw it by the Lord’s Grace. King Dhritarashtra, due to his attachment to his sons, failed to control them, and the Kaurava chief, Duryodhana, with vain hope, decided to meet the powerful Pandavas in war.

When both sides were prepared to commence the battle, the sage Veda Vyasa approached the blind king Dhritarashtra and said, “If you wish to see this terrible carnage with your own eyes I can give you the gift of vision.” The Kaurava king replied, “O Chief of the Brahmarishis! I have no desire to see with my own eyes this slaughter of my family, but I should like to hear all the details of the battle.”

Then the sage conferred the gift of divine vision on Sanjaya, the trusty counsellor of the king, and told the king, “Sanjaya will describe to you all the incidents of the war. Whatever happens in the course of the war, he will directly see, hear or otherwise come to know. Whether an incident takes place before his eyes or behind his back, during the day or during the night, privately or in public, and whether it is reduced to actual action or appears only in thought, it will not remain hidden from his view. He will come to know everything, exactly as it happens. No weapon will touch his body nor will he feel tired.”

After the ten days of continued war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, when the great warrior Bhishma was thrown down from his chariot by Arjuna, Sanjaya announces the news to Dhritarashtra. In agony the king asks Sanjaya to narrate the full details of the previous ten days war, from the very beginning, in all detail as it happened.

Here commences the Bhagavad Gita.

In a nutshell, Bhagavad Gita starts when King Arjuna becomes despondent when he sees that he has to fight his own relatives, uncles, cousins etc. in the war. He puts down his Great Bow and Arrows on the ground, and becomes, grief-stricken, confused and deluded. Then the Grand Lord Krishna, the Divine Incarnation of the Supreme, All-Pervading Self, teaches Arjuna how to live a proper life as a Warrior and face the Conflicts and Paradoxes of Life with success.

In truth, each and everyone of us, is an Arjuna every day. We have conflicting thoughts, we are confused about what to do in difficult sitations, we are not sure about what is right and what is wrong and so on. Lord Krishna, by way of guiding King Arjuna, is actually giving us all great knowledge about Life, and guidance about Living our lives righteously, happily and unperturbed, without being agitated and worried about the results. This great Scripture, The Bhagavad Gita, is a Must for everyone who is genuinely seeking help about how to lead a full, healthy and happy life.

Contemplation on Bhagavad Gita

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Contemplation on Bhagavad Gita


1.
Om paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanenaswayam,
Vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam;

Advaitaamritavarshineem bhagavateem ashtaadashaa dhyaayineem,
Amba twaam anusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadweshineem.

Om. O Bhagavad Gita, with which Partha was illumined by Lord Narayana Himself, and which was composed within the Mahabharata by the ancient sage, Vyasa, O Divine Mother, the destroyer of rebirth, the showerer of the nectar of Advaita, and consisting of eighteen discourses—upon Thee, O Geeta, O affectionate Mother, I meditate!

2.
Namostu te vyaasa vishaalabuddhe phullaaravindaayatapatranetra;
Yena twayaa bhaaratatailapoornah prajwaalito jnaanamayah pradeepah.

Salutations unto thee, O Vyasa, of broad intellect and with eyes like the petals of a full-blown lotus, by whom the lamp of knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahabharata, has been lighted!

3.
Prapannapaarijaataaya totravetraikapaanaye;
Jnaanamudraaya krishnaaya geetaamritaduhe namah.

Salutations to Lord Krishna, the Parijata or the Kalpataru or the bestower of all desires for those who take refuge in Him, the holder of the whip in one hand, the holder of the symbol of divine knowledge and the milker of the divine nectar of the Bhagavad Gita!

4.
Sarvopanishado gaavo dogdhaa gopaalanandanah;
Paartho vatsah sudheer bhoktaa dugdham geetaamritam mahat.

All the Upanishads are the cows; the milker is Krishna; the cowherd boy, Partha (Arjuna), is the calf; men of purified intellect are the drinkers; the milk is the great nectar of the Geeta.

5.
Vasudevasutam devam kamsachaanooramardanam;
Devakeeparamaanandam krishnam vande jagadgurum.

I salute Sri Krishna, the world-teacher, son of Vasudeva, the destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura, the supreme bliss of Devaki!

6.
Bheeshmadronatataa jayadrathajalaa gaandhaaraneelotpalaa;
Shalyagraahavatee kripena vahanee karnena velaakulaa;

Ashwatthaama-vikarna-ghora-makaraa duryodhanaavartinee;
Sotteernaa khalu paandavai rananadee kaivartakah keshavah.

With Kesava as the helmsman, verily was crossed by the Pandavas the battle-river, whose banks were Bhishma and Drona, whose water was Jayadratha, whose blue lotus was the king of Gandhara, whose crocodile was Salya, whose current was Kripa, whose billow was Karna, whose terrible alligators were Vikarna and Asvatthama, whose whirlpool was Duryodhana.

7.
Paaraasharya vachah sarojamamalam geetaarthagandhotkatam;
Naanaakhyaanakakesaram harikathaa sambodhanaabodhitam;

Loke sajjana shatpadairaharahah pepeeyamaanam mudaa;
Bhooyaadbhaaratapankajam kalimala pradhwamsinah shreyase.

May this lotus of the Mahabharata, born in the lake of the words of Vyasa, sweet with the fragrance of the meaning of the Geeta, with many stories as its stamens, fully opened by the discourses of Hari, the destroyer of the sins of Kali, and drunk joyously by the bees of good men in the world, become day by day the bestower of good to us!

8.
Mookam karoti vaachaalam pangum langhayate girim;
Yatkripaa tamaham vande paramaanandamaadhavam.

I salute that Madhava, the source of supreme bliss, whose Grace makes the dumb eloquent and the cripple cross mountains!

9.
Yam brahmaa varunendrarudramarutah stunwanti divyaih stavaih,
Vedaih saangapadakramopanishadair gaayanti yam saamagaah,

Dhyaanaavasthitatadgatena manasaa pashyanti yam yogino,
Yasyaantam na viduh suraasuraganaa devaaya tasmai namah.

Salutations to that God whom Brahma, Indra, Varuna, Rudra and the Maruts praise with divine hymns, of whom the Sama-chanters sing by the Vedas and their Angas (in the Pada and Krama methods), and by the Upanishads; whom the Yogis see with their minds absorbed in Him through meditation, and whose ends the hosts of Devas and Asuras know not!

Thanks to www.dlshq.org

Bhagavad Geeta Contents

Bhagavad Gita – Contents

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Bhagavad Gita – CONTENTS


Introduction

Prayer to Vyasa

Prayer to the Guru

Prayer to Lord Krishna

Geeta Mahatmya (Glory of Bhagavad Gita)

Geeta Dhyanam (Contemplation on Bhagavad Gita)

1. The Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna

2. Sankhya Yoga

3. The Yoga of Action

4. The Yoga of Wisdom

5. The Yoga of Renunciation of Action

6. The Yoga of Meditation

7. The Yoga of Wisdom and Realization

8. The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman

9. The Yoga of the Kingly Science; the Kingly Secret

10. The Yoga of the Divine Glories

11. The Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form

12. The Yoga of Devotion

13. The Yoga of Distinction Between The Field & the Knower of the Field

14. The Yoga of the Division of the Three Gunas

15. The Yoga of the Supreme Spirit

16. The Yoga of the Division Between the Divine and the Devilish

17. The Yoga of the Division of the Threefold Faith

18. The Yoga of Liberation by Renunciation

Thanks to www.dlshq.org

Pondering on Words of Wisdom

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It is very useful to ponder upon at least one of the Golden Guidance Tips of Wisdom before starting the day’s activities. Pondering on these Mini Guides helps to make the day go Easier. It makes us see and take things with the right perspective. Gradually, it also adds longer lasting Peace of Mind.

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi generally placed self-improvement techniques under the categories of Practice and Dispassion. They become difficult ventures only when we think that we have to expect immediate results and success. However, these efforts usually shower benefits gradually. The more we reflect and ponder on these and understand their purposes, the more we get ready for meditation and self-enquiry. This itself creates some peacefulness in our minds.

Practice makes perfect is a well-known statement. Typically, it relates to worldly accomplishments. In the spiritual realm, Practice literally leads one to Perfection. So say the Sages. The more we practice meditation and self-enquiry, the happier and more peaceful we become, without really consciously changing our normal life routines. The important thing is to keep practicing these techniques consistently, and gradually we will find ourselves more calm, mentally strong, peaceful and happy, with ourselves as well as with others. The most significant process in Practice is the elimination of unnecessary, disturbing thoughts and sticking to one thought, which will also eventually merge into the Self – so say the great Sages.

Dispassion may seem like a very difficult task that means total lack of interest in life and act like a zombie. So it turns us off. But in its simple interpretation, it is something we often hear and mention in our normal lives. For example, we hear and say things like “You are the company you keep”, “Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. “, If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined. “, “Money does not buy Happiness” etc. We also hear parents say to their children, “I don’t want you hanging around those kids.” Of course, dispassion becomes more profound when it is used for checking and controlling the wandering mind by understanding what is really necessary for life, to find out what causes real happiness to pursue them, and to detect what causes misery to avoid them. Still very practical to ponder upon and follow. The more we practice dispassion as best as we can, the more the sense of relief.

Practice and Dispassion consist of numerous techniques to check, persuade, manage and control the mind and perform self-enquiry to give up false notions, break the spell of ignorance and withdraw into the Real, Blissful Self. I call my hour of meditation and contemplation “My Happy Hour”!

It is easy to suggest a possible, theoretical solution to a problem. However, very few follow their suggestion with a set of detailed steps to achieve the results of the solution. Here, as in all other things, Great Sages excel. Their teachings are complete. They seldom leave the devotee hanging in the dark, unless that is also for the devotee’s good! One is really lucky to come into contact with such Great Sages. If we keep them in mind, they changes us for the good automatically with His Love. This alone will do, if it is not possible to follow the other things.

The Search for Happiness

The Search for Happiness – Chinmayananda

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The Search for Happiness

 

When a bow is bent and a string is tied, the tension of the string will depend upon the curvature of the bow. But the bow always tries to return to its straight shape, trying to go back to its original nature. In the same way, all living beings—plant, animal, and human—are searching for greater happiness, a larger sense of fulfillment, because that is their true nature.

We are essentially divine, infinitely blissful, extremely content. But by shifting our attention away from the divine in us, we act as limited egos, trying to discover a little happiness by possessing the objects of the world. We all think that our happiness depends upon external objects. Thus, we have become willful and voluntary slaves to the world around us.

Every one of us, rich or poor, is begging for a little more happiness and satisfaction from the world outside. The more intelligent and technologically developed we become the more elaborate the arrangements to reach such happiness.

Every action from birth to death is a silent search for happiness. This is the urge behind the entire evolutionary process, from unicellular organisms to human beings. This seems to be the pattern that Darwin’s evolutionary theory points out.

We marry, divorce, and remarry—all for happiness. We will even sacrifice parts of our bodies, a kidney for example, to share it with a friend—for happiness. We are not looking for sorrow. We all search for happiness.

Presently we assume that happiness is something to be reached, acquired, or manipulated by changing the circumstances of the world outside. This assumption is not just held by individuals. Communal and national activities everywhere are seeking happiness by trying to rearrange the world of things and beings. Some of us think that we will be happy when we own a Cadillac. Others feel that their office is too small and that a larger office will provide happiness. We are never satisfied with what we have. We want to get something more. This is mathematically feasible because the process of addition is always possible. When we get a million, we want another. One car is not enough so we get two or three.

And so it goes, on and on, more of everything. Our entire life is spent searching for happiness but never finding it. Once we get the desired object we struggled so hard for, there is a flash of joy, but the next moment we are again unhappy.

By searching for happiness in the world outside and depending on the objects to provide us with that happiness, we become slaves to the world. Learn to discover happiness inside yourself, by yourself. If we analyze the psychological nature of human beings, we will see that when the mind is agitated, there is unhappiness. The lesser the agitation the greater the happiness.

Mananam Publication Series
Living in Simplicity
The Search for Happiness – By Swami Chinmayananda
Chapter: The Spiritual Quest

Where is your God?

Where is your God? – Chinmayananda

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Where is your God? – Chinmayananda

 

Question:  Where is your God?  I do not see, hear or know Him, and in these days of misery and sorrow, if at all He exists, I find Him to be absolutely blind and deaf.   I refuse to believe in God.

Answer:  You are perfectly right in your cry of protest against a God who is not coming forward to protect and save the world which is suffering from sorrow and miseries.  If the coolness of ice does not reach to console the finger that is in the fire, it must certainly be the impotency of the ice to cool!  Or else we will have to accept that the suffering of the finger is because of the stupidity of the person behind the finger, and this is rather inconvenient!

If one has the intelligence to know and recognize that both heat and cold exist in life, and that each is the immediate antidote of the other, then how can a person court the persecutions of the one, crying out the impotency of the other? If you are feeling persecuted by the cold, move toward the fire, invoke its grace, and bask in its warmth. If your are suffering from heat, move toward the cooler and embrace some refreshing shade.

Just as we have been running after the world of sense cravings, lust and passions, of loveless cruelties, and of empty values, thus courting “these days of sorrow”, we can now turn to seek the opposite virtues and enjoy their comforts.

This positive state of harmony and peace, which can be invoked by an intelligent person of will and courage, is called God. He is present everywhere as the raaga (melody) in the music, or the canvas in a painting.  He is the warp and woof of the entire tapestry of life, as the thread in a piece of cotton cloth.  We must have the ears to listen to the raaga, we must have the understanding to see the canvas, and we must have the knowledge to recognize the thread in the cloth. The hurried existence of busy experiences diverts our attention and we must necessarily fail “to see, hear, or know Him”.

In the form of a letter, I can do no better than sing in chorus with Hans Denk: “Oh my God, how does it happen in this poor old world that Thou art so great and yet nobody finds Thee, that Thou callest so loudly and nobody hears Thee, that Thou art so near and yet nobody feels Thee, that Thou givest Thyself to everybody and yet nobody even knows Thy name? Men flee from Thee and say that they cannot find Thee; they turn their backs and say they cannot see Thee; they cover their ears and say they cannot hear Thee.”

Mananam Publication Series – Volume XIV Number 3
Satsang with Swami Chinmayananda
Chapter: The Spiritual Quest

Get Hold of Yourself – Vivekananada

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Get Hold of Yourself

Work and its secret

We are all the time, from our childhood, trying to lay the blame upon something outside ourselves. We are always standing up to set right other people, and not ourselves. If we are miserable, we say, “Oh, the world is a devil’s world.” We curse others and say, “What infatuated fools!” But why should we be in such a world, if we really are so good? If this is a devil’s world, we must be devils also; why else should we be here? “Oh, the people of the world are so selfish!” True enough; but why should we be found in that company, if we be better? Just think of that.

We only get what we deserve. It is a lie when we say, the world is bad and we are good. It can never be so. It is a terrible lie we tell ourselves.

This is the first lesson to learn: be determined not to curse anything outside, not to lay the blame upon any one outside, but be a man, stand up, lay the blame on yourself. You will find, that is always true. Get hold of yourself.

Is it not a shame that at one moment we talk so much of our manhood, of our being gods — that we know everything, we can do everything, we are blameless, spotless, the most unselfish people in the world; and at the next moment a little stone hurts us, a little anger from a little Jack wounds us — any fool in the street makes “these gods” miserable! Should this be so if we are such gods? Is it true that the world is to blame? Could God, who is the purest and the noblest of souls, be made miserable by any of our tricks? If you are so unselfish, you are like God. What world can hurt you? You would go through the seventh hell unscathed, untouched. But the very fact that you complain and want to lay the blame upon the external world shows that you feel the external world — the very fact that you feel shows that you are not what you claim to be. You only make your offense greater by heaping misery upon misery, by imagining that the external world is hurting you, and crying out, “Oh, this devil’s world! This man hurts me; that man hurts me! ” and so forth. It is adding lies to misery.

We are to take care of ourselves — that much we can do — and give up attending to others for a time. Let us perfect the means; the end will take care of itself. For the world can be good and pure, only if our lives are good and pure. It is an effect, and we are the means. Therefore, let us purify ourselves. Let us make ourselves perfect.

 

WORK AND ITS SECRET
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda – Volume 2
(Lecture Delivered at Los Angeles, California, January 4, 1900)

What are Reality and its Expressions – Nisargadatta

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What are Reality and its Expressions – Nisargadatta

 

Questioner: What is the relation between reality and its expressions?

Maharaj: No relation. In reality all is real and identical. As we put it, saguna and nirguna are one in Parabrahman. There is only the Supreme. In movement, it is saguna. Motionless, it is nirguna. But it is only the mind that moves or does not move. The real is beyond, you are beyond. Once you have understood that no- thing perceivable, or conceivable can be yourself, you are free of your imaginations. To see everything as imagination, born of desire, is necessary for self-realization. We miss the real by lack of attention and create the unreal by excess of imagination. You have to give your heart and mind to these things and brood over them repeatedly. It is like cooking food. You must keep it on the fire for some time before it is ready.

Q: Am I not under the sway of destiny, of my karma? What can I do against it? What I am and what I do is predetermined. Even my so-called free choice is predetermined; only I am not aware of it and imagine myself to be free.

M: Again, it all depends how you look at it. Ignorance is like a fever — it makes you see things which are not there. Karma is the divinely prescribed treatment. Welcome it and follow the instructions faithfully and you will get well. A patient will leave the hospital after he recovers. To insist on immediate freedom of choice and action will merely postpone recovery. Accept your destiny and fulfill it — this is the shortest way to freedom from destiny, though not from love and its compulsions. To act from desire and fear is bondage, to act from love is freedom.

I Am That – Talks with Sri Nisargatta Maharaj
Chapter: You are Beyond Space and Time – Item 94

Link between Happiness and Consciousness – Nisargadatta

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Link between Happiness and Consciousness – Nisargadatta

Questioner: If happiness is not conscious and consciousness — not happy, what is the link between the two?

Maharaj: Consciousness being a product of conditions and circums-tances, depends on them and changes along with them. What is independent, uncreated, timeless and changeless, and yet ever new and fresh, is beyond the mind. When the mind thinks of it, the mind dissolves and only happiness remains.

Q: When all goes, nothingness remains.

M: How can these be nothing without something? Nothing is only an idea, it depends on the memory of something. Pure being is quite independent of existence, which is definable and describable.

Q: Please tell us: beyond the mind does consciousness continue, or does it end with the mind?

M: Consciousness comes and goes, awareness shines immutably.

Q: Who is aware in awareness?

M: When there is a person, there is also consciousness. ‘I am’, mind, consciousness denote the same state. If you say ‘I am aware’, it only means: ‘I am conscious of thinking about being aware’. There is no ‘I am’ in awareness.

Q: What about witnessing?

M: Witnessing is of the mind. The witness goes with the witnessed. In the state of non-duality all separation ceases.

Q: What about you? Do you continue in awareness?

M: The person, the ‘I am this body, this mind, this chain of memories, this bundle of desires and fears’ disappears, but something you may call identity, remains. It enables me to be- come a person when required. Love creates its own necessities, even of becoming a person.

Q: It is said that Reality manifests itself as existence — consciousness — bliss. Are they absolute or relative?

M: They are relative to each other and depend on each other. Reality is independent of its expressions.

I Am That – Talks with Sri Nisargatta Maharaj
Chapter: You are Beyond Space and Time – Item 94

Experience of happiness and adventure - Nisargadatta

Experience of happiness and adventure – Nisargadatta

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Experience of happiness and adventure – Nisargadatta

Maharaj: The experience of being empty, uncluttered by memories and expectations; it is like the happiness of open spaces, of being young, of having all the time and energy for doing things, for discovery, for adventure.

Questioner: What remains to discover?

M: The universe without and the immensity within as they are in reality, in the great mind and heart of God. The meaning and purpose of existence, the secret of suffering, life’s redemption from ignorance.

Q: If being happy is the same as being free from fear and worry, cannot it be said that absence of trouble is the cause of happiness?

M: A state of absence, of non-existence cannot be a cause; the pre-existence of a cause is implied in the notion. Your natural state, in which nothing exists, cannot be a cause of becoming; the causes are hidden in the great and mysterious power of memory. But your true home is in nothingness, in emptiness of all content.

Q: Emptiness. and nothingness — how dreadful!

M: You face it most cheerfully, when you go to sleep! Find out for yourself the state of wakeful sleep and you will find it quite in harmony with your real nature. Words can only give you the idea and the idea is not the experience. All I can say is that true happiness has no cause and what has no cause is immovable. Which does not mean it is perceivable, as pleasure. What is perceivable is pain and pleasure; the state of freedom from sorrow can be described only negatively. To know it directly you must go beyond the mind addicted to causality and the tyranny of time.

I Am That – Talks with Sri Nisargatta Maharaj
Chapter: You are Beyond Space and Time – Item 94

You are Not the Mind - Nisargadatta

You are Not the Mind – Nisargadatta

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You are Not the Mind – Nisargadatta

 

Maharaj.: My world is free from opposites, of mutually destructive discrepancies; harmony pervades; its peace is rock-like; this peace and silence are my body.

Questioner: What you say reminds me of the Dharmakaya of the Buddha.

M: May be. We need not run off with terminology. Just see the person you imagine yourself to be as a part of the world you perceive within your mind and look at the mind from the outside, for you are not the mind. After all, your only problem is the eager self-identification with whatever you perceive. Give up this habit, remember that you are not what you perceive, use your power of alert aloofness. See yourself in all that lives and your behaviour will express your vision. Once you realize that there is nothing in this world, which you can call your own, you look at it from the outside as you look at a play on the stage, or a picture on the screen, admiring and enjoying, but really unmoved. As long as you imagine yourself to be something tangible and solid, a thing among things, actually existing in time and space, short-lived and vulnerable, naturally you will be anxious to survive and increase. But when you know yourself as beyond space and time — in contact with them only at the point of here and now, otherwise all-pervading and all containing, unapproachable, unassailable, invulnerable — you will be afraid no longer. Know yourself as you are — against fear there is no other remedy.

You have to learn to think and feel on these lines, or you will remain indefinitely on the personal level of desire and fear, gaining and losing, growing and decaying. A personal problem cannot be solved on its own level. The very desire to live is the messenger of death, as the longing to be happy is the outline of sorrow. The world is an ocean of pain and fear, of anxiety and despair. Pleasures are like the fishes, few and swift, rarely come, quickly gone. A man of low intelligence believes, against all evidence, that he is an exception and that the world owes him happiness. But the world cannot give what it does not have; unreal to the core, it is of no use for real happiness. It cannot be otherwise. We seek the real because we are unhappy with the unreal. Happiness is our real nature and we shall never rest until we find it. But rarely we know where to seek it. Once you have understood that the world is but a mistaken view of reality, and is not what it appears to be, you are free of its obsessions. Only what is compatible with your real being can make you happy and the world, as you perceive it, is its outright denial.

Keep very quiet and watch what comes to the surface of the mind. Reject the known, welcome the so far unknown and reject it in its turn. Thus you come to a state in which there is no knowledge, only being, in which being itself is knowledge. To know by being is direct knowledge. It is based on the identity of the seer and the seen. Indirect knowledge is based on sensation and memory, on proximity of the perceiver and his perception, confined with the contrast between the two. The same with happiness. Usually you have to be sad to know gladness and glad to know sadness. True happiness is un-caused and this cannot disappear for lack of stimulation. It is not the opposite of sorrow, it includes all sorrow and suffering.

I Am That – Talks with Sri Nisargatta Maharaj
Chapter: You are Beyond Space and Time – Item 94