Maharshi: If there be a goal to be reached it cannot be permanent. The goal must already be there. We seek to reach the goal with the ego, but the goal exists before the ego. What is in the goal is even prior to our birth, i.e., to the birth of the ego. Because we exist the ego appears to exist too. If we look on the Self as the ego then we become the ego, if as the mind we become the mind, if as the body we become the body. It is the thought which builds up sheaths in so many ways. The shadow on the water is found to be shaking. Can anyone stop the shaking of the shadow? If it should cease to shake you would not notice the water but only the light. Similarly to take no notice of the ego and its activities, but see only the light behind. The ego is the I-thought. The true `I’ is the Self.
D.: It is one step to realisation.
Maharshi: Realisation is already there. The state free from thoughts is the only real state. There is no such action as Realisation. Is there anyone who is not realising the Self? Does anyone deny his own existence? Speaking of realisation, it implies two selves – the one to realise, the other to be realised. What is not already realised, is sought to be realised. Once we admit our existence, how is it that we do not know our Self?
D.: Because of the thoughts – the mind.
Maharshi: Quite so. It is the mind that stands between and veils our happiness. How do we know that we exist? If you say because of the world around us, then how do you know that you existed in deep sleep?
D.: How to get rid of the mind?
Maharshi: Is it the mind that wants to kill itself? The mind cannot kill itself.
So your business is to find the real nature of the mind. Then you will know that there is no mind. When the Self is sought, the mind is nowhere. Abiding in the Self, one need not worry about the mind.
D.: How to get rid of fear?
Maharshi: What is fear? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides the Self there is reason to fear. Who sees the second (anything external)? First the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is no second (nothing external). For anything external to oneself implies the seer within. Seeking it there will arise no doubt, no fear – not only fear, all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along with it.
D.: This method seems to be quicker than the usual one of cultivating qualities alleged necessary for salvation (sadhana chatushtaya)?
Maharshi: Yes. All bad qualities centre round the ego. When the ego is gone Realisation results by itself. There are neither good nor bad qualities in the Self. The Self is free from all qualities. Qualities pertain to the mind only. It is beyond quality. If there is unity, there will also be duality. The numeral one gives rise to other numbers. The truth is neither one nor two. IT is as it is.
D.: The difficulty is to be in the thought-free state.
Maharshi: Leave the thought-free state to itself. Do not think of it as pertaining to you. Just as when you walk, you involuntarily take steps, so too in your actions; but the thought-free state is not affected by your actions.
D.: What is it that is discriminative in action?
Maharshi: Discrimination will be automatic, intuitive.
D.: So Intuition alone matters; Intuition develops also.
Maharshi: Those who have discovered great Truths have done so in the still depths of the Self. The ego is like one’s shadow thrown on the ground. If one attempts to bury it, it will be foolish. The Self is only one. If limited it is the ego. If unlimited it is Infinite and is the Reality. The bubbles are different from one another and numerous, but the ocean is only one. Similarly the egos are many, whereas the Self is one and only one. When told that you are not the ego, realise the Reality. Why do you still identify yourself with the ego? It is like saying, “Don’t think of the monkey while taking medicine” – it is impossible. Similarly it happens with common folk. When the Reality is mentioned why do you continue to meditate Sivoham [?] or Aham Brahmasmi ? The significance must be traced and understood. It is not enough to repeat the bare words or think of them. Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and Reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done, only retaining the ego. In those paths there arise so many doubts and the eternal question remains to be tackled finally. But in this method the final question is the only one and it is raised from the very beginning. No sadhanas are necessary for engaging in this quest. There is no greater mystery than this – viz., ourselves being the Reality we seek to gain Reality. We think that there is something hiding our Reality and that it must be destroyed before the Reality is gained. It is ridiculous. A day will dawn when you will yourself laugh at your past efforts. That which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.
D.: So it is a great game of pretending?
Maharshi: Yes.
In Yoga Vasishtha it is said, “What is Real is hidden from us, but what is false, is revealed as true.” We are actually experiencing the Reality only; still, we do not know it. Is it not a wonder of wonders?
The quest “Who Am I?” is the axe with which to cut off the ego.
Mr. P. Brunton: Why do religions speak of Gods, heaven, hell, etc.?
Maharshi: Only to make the people realise that they are on a par with this world and that the Self alone is real. The religions are according to the view-point of the seeker. Take the Bhagavad Gita for instance: When Arjuna said that he would not fight against his own relatives, his elders, etc., in order to kill them and gain the kingdom, Sri Krishna said, “Not that these, you or I, were not before, are not now, nor will not be hereafter. Nothing was born, nothing was dead, nor will it not be so hereafter” and so on. Later as he developed the theme and declared that He had given the same instruction to the Sun, through him to Ikshvaku, etc. Arjuna raised the doubt, “How could it be? You were born a few years ago. They lived ages ago.” Then Sri Krishna understanding Arjuna’s standpoint, said: “Yes. There have been so many incarnations of myself and yourself, I know them all but you do not know.” Such statements appear contradictory, but still they are correct according to the viewpoint of the questioner. The Christ also declared that He was even before Abraham.
D.: What is the purpose of such descriptions in religions?
Maharshi: Only to establish the Reality of the Self.
D.: Bhagavan always speaks from the highest standpoint. Sri Bhagavan (with a smile): People would not understand the simple and bare truth – the truth of their every day, ever-present and eternal experience. That Truth is that of the Self. Is there anyone not aware of the Self? They would not even like to hear it (the Self), whereas they are eager to know what lies beyond – heaven, hell ,
reincarnation. Because they love mystery and not the bare truth, religions pamper them – only to bring them round to the Self. Wandering hither and thither you must return to the Self only. Then, why not abide in the Self even here and now? The other worlds require the Self as a spectator or speculator. Their reality is only of the same degrees as that of the spectator or thinker. They cannot exist without the spectator, etc. Therefore they are not different from the Self. Even the ignorant man sees only the Self when he sees objects. But he is confused and identifies the Self with the object, i.e., the body and with the senses and plays in the world. Subject and object – all merge in the Self. There is no seer nor objects seen. The seer and the seen are the Self. There are not many selves either. All are only one Self.
“Whole, he enters the whole. His personal self returns to its radiant, deathless source.” –The Upanishads
“Between the people of eternity and the people of the earth there is constant communication.” –Kahlil Gibran
“Do or do not. There is no try.” Yoda
“Re-examine all you have been told . . . Dismiss what insults your Soul.”–Walt Whitman
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you. Jesus Christ Gospel of Thomas
Yoda: “You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” “So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?”"No, no different, only different in your mind, you must unlearn what you have learned.” “No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. The Force surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock…everywhere! Even between the land and the ship.” “Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future…the past…old friends long gone.”
“Non-violence is a sign of strength, self-confidence and truth.” Dalai Lama
“I think religion, ideology, economy, and political systems are all man’s creation, so they must relate with the human spirit.” Dalai Lama
I fly up as a bird and alight as a beetle on the empty throne which is on your bark, O Re!
Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. INVICTUS–William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it that practice and experience it.” Brother Lawrence
Our Creator is beyond time and space and the core of our being. The oil spill is a time to come together in faith to heal! AncientEye
Anything is possible when the heart is clear! AncientEye
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” Lao Tzu
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic! Clarke’s Laws
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” ~Herm Albright
“Face the war
And be a warrior like a Lion
Or you’ll end up like a pet
Tucked away in a barn.
Once you conquer
Your selfish self
All your darkness
Will change to Light.” ~ J. Rumi
“Of every one hundred men, ten
shouldn’t even be there, eighty are
nothing but targets, nine are real
fighters…We are lucky to have
them…They make the battle.
Ah, but the one, One of them is a
Warrior…and He will bring the others back.”
~ Hericletus (circa 500 B.C.)
“Death changes nothing but the masks that cover our faces.” ~ Khalil Gibran
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” –Aristotle
Win-Win is not only considerate but courageous!
“Relaxation is a technique through which you can catch a glimpse of your real nature, the infinite power source of your existence.” – Amma
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
