RAJA DHI RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI RAMAKANT MAHARAJ KI JAI!
Soham Sadhana
Transcribed by TurboScribe.
Jai Guru, I decided to make this video because there have been repeated queries as to the Mantra, what do I do if I don’t have the lineage Mantra, you know, and a lot of, I think this Mantra has become a concept in itself where if for some reason I feel I don’t have the lineage Mantra, then my spirituality is halted. Master is inner Master; earnestness is most important. If I have a desire to know myself in a real sense, then there is no barrier.
In reality, there’s no barrier at all. There’s only oneness and not even oneness because prior to Presence, you did not know yourself. Someone asked the other day, okay, what Mantra can I use if I don’t have the lineage, Mantra? And in my own experiences, as I’ve shared before, you know, Maharaj has said, Aham Brahmasmi, Shivoham, Soham, there are many, many, many Mantra even mentioned by Nisargadatta Maharaj.
And in our lineage texts, they talk about Soham, and they say Soham sadhana. So, let’s just say for a moment that, okay, what’s a Mantra I can use? Well, when I was before going to India and before receiving the lineage Mantra, I used, I went and I found a few things from Upanishads and different things. And I came up with Soham Hamsaha, Soham Asmi, and that would just run constantly.
I’d be walking around DC, Soham Hamsaha, Soham Asmi, Soham Hamsaha, Soham Asmi. And so, there was a desire to know myself in a real sense. And because this desire was there, it manifested spontaneously within, go and find a Mantra.
But because this Mantra has become a sort of a concept, and many people believe that it’s kind of a block, you know, oh my goodness, if I don’t have the lineage Mantra, I’m never going to realize myself. Oh, I miss Maharaj being in the body, which is interesting because there are a lot of people with Nisargadatta Maharaj, that before Ramakant Maharaj came along, could have said the same thing. Oh, I have to see a living Master.
Maharaj has said many times, what do you mean by living Master? Master is unborn. There’s no separation between you and the Master. See yourself as formless.
And how can there be separation? So, I felt compelled to create this video. And let us use Soham as an example. Soham is a natural Mantra that’s kind of running in the body.
We can Google this. We can look it up. It’s called Soham Sadhana.
So, let’s just say that if I breathe in Soham, now is this said out loud? No. Breathing in through mind, I say, that’s the Soham. This Mantra will slowly, silently and permanently erase the mind flow, which is currently identified with all these thoughts, this busyness.
Slow down, just Soham. And the truth is, once I start to take off the layers, first the physical body, then the mental noise, the mental body, the identification with the mind, there’s going to be this subtle, subtle, as Nisargadatta Maharaj calls it, the “I am”, sense of existence. Sri Ramakant Maharaj says Selfless Self, self without self, Presence, just a subtle, subtle, subtle feeling.
And now even this is removed, because Soham Hamsa. As I’m doing my daily activities, I can stop in any moment. Soham Hamsa.
The mind is free and clear. There’s no mental chatter, no mental noise. Just here.
Now there’s an attention that’s paid towards this Presence. Presence reflecting in a clear mind, recognition in the projection. For a time then, I’m holding this sense of Presence in meditation, and now it becomes quite natural.
I can go out in the world, and any time that I might get bothered, Soham Hamsa. Mind is clear. Remain with Presence.
Remain with the “I am”, and all secrets are revealed. As Nisargadatta Maharaj says this, Sri Ramakant Maharaj says, “your Presence is an open secret.” Presence is there.
Now, Presence. Then you’re able to release even the attention with Presence. Who is it that after all experience ends, there you are.
From this point, know the one who sees Presence. Who sees is actually a wrong way to say, but without any senses sees Presence, is feeling this sense of Presence through body form, is none other than the Self. Your Selfless Self.
There’s nothing else. This cannot be removed. Because even Presence, you can fade the attention off and just keep kind of releasing the attention on Presence, but you cannot release that to whom Presence has appeared.
This is your own Selfless Self. Remain with your Selfless Self. Be with you always.
No need to say that the world is illusion. No need to worry about anything, because remember, the sense of Presence has appeared to that you are, which had no knowledge of existence until this first experience, so to speak, of “I exist”, “I am”, Presence, and the entire world has appeared on Presence. So, there is no need to get involved in the day-to-day.
Oh, what’s this? And how’s my life going to be? And I’m so worried about these things. And look at the mind. Mind came along with the body.
Body allowed Presence. Oh, what’s this? From that no-knowing state, knowingness occurred. But both knowingness and no-knowingness have arisen from that you are.
This body is not yourself. It’s temporary. It belongs to the five elements and will dissolve along with the five elements.
But that you are does not dissolve, was never born. And when you sit there and you remain with your Selfless Self, you will know spontaneous conviction. “Oh, so that I, I am that.”
Presence has appeared, can be known, but that knower is knowing nothing, remaining there. How, when the mind says, oh, look over here, look over there, oh, this concept, this disturbance, remain with your Selfless Self, because that one to whom Presence has appeared is nothing. Now there’s no individuality, no sense of personality, no nothing, nothing, nothing.
And all of this has appeared on your spontaneous Presence. Spontaneous because you’re everywhere. All things, this, everything.
And then click with the body. You say, “I”, you see a world. This is not true.
So, remain with your Selfless Self. If you don’t have the lineage Mantra, use this Mantra. Breathe in Soham, exhale Hamsa.
Breathe in Soham, exhale Hamsa. Slowly, silently, and permanently, all these layers of illusion will dissolve. And that that cannot dissolve, that after everything is, all the layers are removed.
The physical body is removed. Mind flow is removed. The Presence is there, and even the Presence is removed, because who sees this? That one who is more subtle than Presence, to whom Presence has appeared.
If that one that you are was not, to whom would Presence appear? Soham, Soham, Hamsa. Reading books? Okay, read books. But know yourself in a real sense.
All the books, all the Masters are pointing to this. Accept your Selfless Self. There’s no God, no Brahman, no Paramatman, no Master.
Nothing is there. Discover this for your own self. Spend some time with you.
Not time debating. Debating came from a mind-generated thought that came out in a spoken word and said, oh, I think this. Well, there’s no I to think anything.
Remain formless. Soham, Hamsa. Jai Sadguru.
I bow to Selfless Self that has appeared in the form of all these lineage Masters. Raja Dheeraj Sadgurunath Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj Ki Jai. Raja Dheeraj Sadgurunath Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Ki Jai.
Raja Dheeraj Sadgurunath Sri Ramakant Maharaj Ki Jai. Jai Sadguru.
This inner “I Am” is the nature of the Self. It is called the “unbeaten sound” (anahat) that originates from within, as it is not produced externally. The “I Am” feeling itself is “Soham.” This unbeaten, internal chanting of “Soham” goes on all throughout one’s life in the form of the breath, over 20,000 times a day. Although the individual seems to be the body, it is the Self that truly identifies with the body. This is the power of Illusion.
Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Amrut Laya – The Stateless State
Soham-Hamsa and Hari Om are important mantras, by repeating which the Self can be realized. One who has full knowledge of the Self becomes cool like the moon. The most natural state, which is free of any action, is the true Self. That state is beyond the intellect and free of all concepts. One is naturally in that state after Self-realization. You can always see without seeing – with your eyes closed – the deep blue shade which is very natural. It is formless. The Self cannot be seen. It is our direct perception of our being. With closed eyes you see the dark blue canopy over the Self.
Self-Love, The Original Dream: Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Direct Pointers To Reality
Soham-Haunsa (I am That) and Hari Om are mantras which help to realize the Self. The knower of Self is cool and peaceful like the moon. Our true nature is the most easy and natural state, which is experienced without doing anything. In it there is no intellect and there are no concepts. This state follows Self-realization. When you close your eyes, you see dark blue, which is easy, natural and formless. It is called as Ghanashyama. Self is invisible, which cannot be seen by deliberate effort. It gives us our sense of being.
Self-Love, The Original Dream: Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Direct Pointers To Reality
20. The meaning behind the statements “Soham” (I am He), “Hansa” (He is I), and “Tatvamasi” (You are That) is that you are Brahman. With investigation and subtle thoughtfulness one easily arrives at That state.
Chapter: 13, Sub-Chapter: 2 Explanation of Essence and Non-Essence
Dasbodh
There is the term “I Am” (Soham). “I Am” is continuously being repeated day and night. Without speaking a word, it is a constant awareness. The word “japa” in Sanskrit has one meaning as “repetition,” but it has another meaning in Marathi, which is “to take care of,” or to protect, or nurture. This is all automatic. In all the bodies of all creatures the repetition of the soundless sound “Soham,” and “Hamsa,” is continuous with the breathing. By understanding this a man is free of all bondage. In all creatures, the awareness of “I Am” is constant.
Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Master of Self-Realization – An Ultimate Understanding
Manifested Brahma is the ‘I am’, whatever principle is prior to the utterance of sound, that principle proclaims by itself. What I insists is that you must stabilize in that state. The recitation of the mantra ‘So Hum’ must be for a very long time, it is prior to words. When that ‘So Hum’ principle, is pleased, that principle, represented by these words, expounds knowledge.
The ‘So Hum’ Japa is incessantly going on in your pulse, indicating ‘I am’ get in tune with it by recitation. That ‘So Hum’ energy without words is the raw material of incarnations and the incarnations are the hoardings of the primary principle. The primordial principle is ‘Parabrahman’; its advertisement is done by movement, the stirrings of ‘So Hum’. By its movement it is praising the primordial principle, that advertising material is the ‘Moolmaya’ (Primary Illusion). That incarnating principle – the ‘Moolmaya’– gives knowledge to the incarnated.
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
