Answers to Questions Regarding Naam Mantra
Below are some videos that may be helpful in answering questions regarding the Naam Mantra or Guru Mantra meditation practice.
The Nine Faceted Devotion – Navavidha Bhakti
The first type of Devotion is “Listening,” or Shravana. Devotion (Bhakti) is the mother of Knowledge (Jnana). Without Devotion, there is no Knowledge. Devotion is the highest path. If you cannot do it in actions, then do it mentally. Listen to how to do worship. Listen to all of the paths explained by the Guru; the “Path of Knowledge” (Jnana), the “Path of Desirelessness” (Vairagya), the “Path of Spiritual Practice” (Sadhana), and the “Path of Final Truth” (Siddhanta). Find out the essence of them all.
The second type of Devotion is “Singing God’s Praises,” or “Kirtan Bhakti” (Kirtana Bhajana). Kirtan is singing in praise of the God who is embodied. Do the kirtan that you have learned by heart, recognize the many important references, and understand the meaning of them all. The story of God, Lord Hari should be told in kirtan not for any other purpose other than because you feel happy to do so. The entire world is your field for propagating the greatness of the Self, (Atman; God). The “Kirtan Devotion” purifies all.
The third type of Devotion is “Remembrance of God.” Remember the Sadguru. This should be done all of the time, morning, noon, and evening. Remember, “I am Brahman,” “I am Shiva,” “I am He.” The remembering should be as constant as the clock that ticks. The heart in which Devotion to God is constant, is the moving, living temple. All can become liberated by the name of Rama. Lord Mahadev (Shiva) himself escaped from the sense objects, through repetition of the sacred name of Rama.
The fourth type of Devotion is “Service to the Guru.” The Guru’s feet should be worshiped. Serve the Guru in order to be released from birth and death. It is the Sadguru who shows the Reality. That which is not seen by the eyes, and which is not apparent, is achieved because of the blessing of the Guru. Such states of consciousness as non-attachment, surrender, being beyond the body, being beyond the mind, and being in a natural state of complete indifference, are all attained only by the blessing of the Guru. The names are different, but the state is One. If one of these states is attained, all are attained. Non- attachment is to give up the sense of “mine,” as well as name and form. There is nobody else capable of forgiving such as the Guru, who is motherly. If you totally depend on the Guru, you will attain God. The devotee should serve at the feet of the Guru. Verification of what we learn should be threefold, the confirmation through the teaching of the Guru, confirmation through the teaching of the scriptures, and verification through one’s own experience. The attainment of the “Knowledge of Brahman” is dependent upon oneself, but without the Sadguru, you will not get real contentment. By study only, you will not get that which is learned through the words of the Guru. That which is unattainable becomes possible to attain, only by the “Grace of the Guru.” The attainment of the Absolute Reality, Parabrahman, is not possible without the company of Saints. This is the sign of the fourth type of Devotion.
The fifth type of Devotion is “Worship” (Archan). The various Gods are really Gurus who have existed in the past. All of the temples are of these Gods. How can we build a temple to Him who is greater than the world? The “Man of Knowledge” (Jnani), the wise man, is God. The body of the wise man, the form that he bears as his body, is itself an image of Knowledge, an idol of wisdom. He is divine wisdom incarnate. That is the “Knowledge” possessed by the Sadguru, yet the Sadguru is different from these. So long as you have not met the Sadguru, you can only worship the past Gurus, the ancient men of wisdom. However, when one does meet Him, “Devotion to the Sadguru” should be done with one’s physical body, speech, and mind. Devotion to the Sadguru is the highest action we can do unto our Self. This is the best action that we can do for our own welfare, the action that makes all achievement and contentment possible. All other actions only become useless, and perish.
The sixth type of Devotion is “To Bow Down” (Vandanam). One should bow down to God, and to the Sadguru. By bowing down, blemishes in our character go away, blessings are given, and the Guru is pleased. By bowing, you gain humility and happiness, and by this happiness, you achieve a state where there is no animosity, only Bliss.
The seventh type of Devotion is “The Path of Service” (Dasyam). One should always be available at the door of God or the Guru. One should rebuild dilapidated temples, reconstruct water tanks and temples, and always increase the glory of God,. The meaning of being always at the door of the Guru or God is to be always concentrating on the Self (Atman) within, the awareness that “I Am.” The attention to the “I Am,” the sense of our existence, is the door of the Guru, the door of God. The inner side is the place of the Guru, the place of God. Our awareness, our attention, is the path of entering into the temple of that God. We have to enter the inner recesses by this door. By constant Self-awareness, you can go to the state where the Guru exists. We should rebuild old dilapidated temples. This means the bodies of all people. We have to try by various means to make healthy and strong the bodies of devotees that are harassed and troubled by various calamities and difficulties, for which we should give verbal advice, or actually help them. We should reconstruct water tanks. The water tanks of mind are broken by adverse happenings and repeated shocks, as there is a lot of dirt accumulated in them because of wrong thinking, as well as a lot of weeds and moss in these tanks. We should remove all of this dirt, and clean the tank water. The walls around this mind tank should be strong and built to last, and we should so arrange it that the water of this tank will be always useful to others. We should like what the Sadguru likes. The Sadguru likes that we should keep away from sense objects, that we should be content without enjoyment through the sense organs, and that we should remain constantly in the immortal and blissful state of the Self. We should give up anxiety about family life, and recite stories about the greatness of God, as well as sing his praises in kirtan. We should not have any dislike for lesser, more menial types of work. We should even be content to work as a slave for Him. We should do little jobs with enjoyment and enthusiasm so that we lose the pride of our body. We should perform service with pleasure. If we cannot physically do these things, we should mentally think along these lines.
The eighth type of Devotion is “Friendship with God” (Sakhyam). We should be friendly with God. The Self (Atman) is the Sadguru. We should bind ourselves to the Sadguru by our deep love. As there is service in this worldly life, so in spiritual life there is the Ninefold Devotion. We should try to do new things all the time. While offering devotion we should do some novel things using our imagination. This gives our mind happiness and new energy, and joy. We should act in such a way that the Sadguru will be happy. We should behave in that fashion which is loved by God. Only then is there friendship and affection. As soon as things happen according to our liking, there is spontaneous friendliness. We should like what the Sadguru likes. We should praise the Sadguru. We may even have to be aloof from all, in order to be friendly with God. One who acts with such a feeling that God is his “Real Life-Force” is capable to become his “True Devotee.” The Sadguru is the Life-Force. He is the Supreme Self. This is called the “Devotion of Friendship.” In Hindu mythology, there was a house built out of lacquer and other flammable things, called Lakshagriha. The meaning of Laksha is spiritually somewhat different. God in the form of Lord Krishna could bring out the Pandava family from the Lakshagriha through a tunnel. Lakshagriha can be said to be our attention to objects. We are tied to objects and we will free ourselves only by focusing our attention on, and remembering the Lord. (Lakshya – object of attention; remembering that “I” am “I”.) Remembering that “we are” is called Lakshya. We start from the state of not knowing anything, and by listening and paying attention to our mother and father, and also listening to many things which are told by many other people, we are filled up with ideas that we have heard and our attention is conditioned by that listening. Kauravas means individuals, the Jivas, who have turned their back on the Self, the Atman. By their conceptual imagination, the object of attention is jailed in the house of their attention. Desires are going to burn these individuals by kindling the fuel of objects. By putting our whole attention to remembering the Sadguru, and by remembering the name of God, we free ourselves from this flammable house of objects which brings only the flames of sorrow. Those who free themselves of this enjoy total happiness. Others, by failing to choose the right thing, remain in the same flammable house and suffer from burns again and again. This is the opportunity for you to free yourselves. If you worry about yourself, what necessity has the Guru to worry about you? Give up your worry and take care of your Guru. Then the Sadguru will surely take care of you. The Sadguru is the Supreme Self, Paramatman. He is without any form or blemish. Our faith is so often lost as soon as something happens which is not desirable to us, but we should never worry. Let God do what he likes. You say that you are not superior to God, but your mind does not feel like that. You should behave in accordance with His will, and never be sorry. If a man puts his trust in the Sadguru, it is the Sadguru whose heart suffers even if the man is but slightly hurt, or if but even a hair on his head is touched. The Sadguru is always taking the side of the destitute. He will never rest before giving you the highest place, which is not fallible. Those whom you think to be yours, will accompany you up to the cemetery. They will lament loudly upon your death, but God will never let down those who have surrendered themselves to Him. Therefore, you should have friendship with God.
The ninth type of Devotion is “Self-Surrender”. If you feel that All is Brahman, then you must have the conviction that you are also Brahman. The state of non-duality comes naturally. When you get the mantra from the Guru, you are a Royal King. Out of five, only one succeeds. Goddess Laxmi came to put a mark (Tilak) on the forehead of five men, but four of them said that they have not washed their faces. They then rushed off to wash their faces. The fifth man however, stood where he was. Laxmi put the mark on his forehead and he became rich. The very inaction of the faithful devotee became the act of Brahman. This is what is called the “State of Purity.” Spiritual practice should be intense. This means that we should leave off all wrong thinking and our Devotion should be all consuming. To hold dear to our heart the image of our Sadguru at all times is the practice and that is this State of Purity. “That” which is always clean, always sacred, and always pure, is the most powerful, indestructible, and deathless True Nature (Swaroopa) of the Sadguru. Not to forget this, is itself spiritual practice.
Evening, 20-9-1935
Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Master of Self-Realization – An Ultimate Understanding
Cultivation of Virtues From Bodha-Sudhe Sri Nimbargi Maharaj
Part III
CULTIVATION OF VIRTUES
24.- Discrimination (Viveka)
Discrimination is the only supreme weapon to fight the vices. Nothing should be done without discrimination. One should become vigilant by seeing others stumble and fall. One should act with foresight in doing everything and should vanquish all enemies (vices) with the help of contentment and meditation on the SELF(Atman).
25.- Prudence
Our Buddhi (Reason) may save or kill us. Right reason saves us and the wrong one kills. It is the rightly directed reason which leads to ceaseless meditation on the SELF (Atman). It is otherwise if it makes on turn away from the Self and leads one to worry about one’s affairs. Possession of wealth etc. will be of no avail when crisis comes, but it is the rightly-directed reason which would save us. Therefore, one should constantly pray to GOD (Atman) to five rightly directed Buddhi(Reason).
26.- Restraint of Senses
There are ten senses, five sensory or cognitive and five motor or active. One should exercise strict control over one’s senses, should not yield to their demands, but successfully resist and subjugate them. They would come fully under our control only when they are all wholly employed in the service of the Self (Atman).
It is only he who has thus conquered and sublimated the senses that is a real hero, a real saint and a God Realiser. He has achieved fulfilment of the mission of human life. The only purpose of human life is to achieve this supreme fulfilment.
27.- Destroy Desires First
Man is swayed by six innate passions (Vikaras), Desirer, Anger, Arrogance, Jealousy, Hypocrisy and Pride. These are responsible for the ceaselessly recurring cycle of Births and Death.
They should not be permitted to run a riot. Hence, Desire itself should be eliminated first. One should always supress desire by advising one’s mind:“Why should I want anything? I do not want anything”. There would be thus no scope for anger to rise. Desire when frustrated, leads to anger. In the absence ofdesire, the very foundation of anger would be absent. Where there is neither desire, no anger, the rest, having no foothold, do not arise at all.
Even if desire springs up in the mind, the body ought to be restrained, and should not be allowed to follow the dictates of the mind. [Marathi symbols] “Though the mind goes astray, let not the body follow”, Says a Hindi saint.
The mind has got to be regulated and controlled by constant meditation (Sadhana). If it refuses to give up passions it should be advised by Reason; and with the help of regular meditation, constant watch should be kept on the passions (Vikaras). The best man should be without any (Vikaras) passions because any desire at the moment of death would entail another Birth.
28.- Do not be a Burden
One should not be burdensome to anyone. Any burden so imposed on others, would undoubtedly recoil in the same way e.g. if for maintenance, maintenance would be burdensome to oneself, if for bodily services, one’s body itself would become unbearable.
29.- Do not hold down your hand (like a beggar)
One should never lower one’s hand for one’s needs. If one takes thus from others, one’s wants would ever remain unsatisfied. The begging hand would be cursed and polluted. Therefore, one should always have one’s hand raised up (for giving).
Priests and Jangams get their hands cursed by their greed for other’s property and by lowering their hands for that purpose. They will therefore never succeed in their undertakings; their poverty will not cease and their wants would remain unsatisfied. Therefore, one should not accept from others anything gratis or in charity. One should be giving to others within one’s means.
30.- Tolerance
One’s action should always be above reproach from any one. If one is unjustly reproached or even beaten, one should not retaliate and one’s love for them should not be diminished. Those who do wrong, verily consume poison. They will suffer and die of the poison. Since they have acted wrongly, God will surely punish them in some way.
One should bear rebukes from superiors or those in authority and should quietly tolerate rebuke-unjustified-even from inferiors. Generally, others will rebuke if one commits mistakes and one should feel that rebuke is for his good and should be grateful to them. Those, who sincerely advise with rebuke, are his benefactors: those who advise with an apparent smile are his ill-wishers. “The more the tolerance, the greater the success in life [Symbols]. This is so, because tolerance gives immediate results, viz. peace and happiness. One cannot be happy without inner peace. One endowed with tolerance will prosper in life. Penance is the art of facing the buffets of life with due tolerance. One must quietly bear all suffering. Inner contentment should never be allowed to be ruffled. One should be a veritable ocean of contentment. A real Saint is he who is ever contented. A real Saint is he who is ever contented. It is beneficial to oneself to bear with patience the burdens of another. A little tolerance would avert many impending disasters. Hence, it is better to do such a profitable business. Making a little sacrifice in price, one obtains infinitely more in spiritual measurer from Atman. Tolerance is the price and what is bought is the bliss of the Atman.
31.- Do not give offence
No offence should be given to another in any way, nor should anybody be annoyed, nor displeased, nor harassed, nor should be made to feel humiliated. The expectations (hopes) of others should not be frustrated.
One should not cause distress to any one in any way. One should not therefore persist in a bargain and seek to enforce it, if it causes loss to another.It should be abandoned with a view to render him happy. If one engages coolies for work they should not be deceived by short payment. If one wants to build a house, no wrong should be done to anyone. There should be no encroachment nor unlawful grabbing of timber etc. All things should be willingly bought. If injury and loss are caused to others in its construction, one would suffer the same fate so long as he resides in it. If others are made happy, one would have happiness in return.
32.- Truth-un-truth
One should always speak the truth and should never utter a falsehood, so that one’s speech would never be futile. If one goes on speaking the truth, whatever he utters would prove true. If one speaks untruth whatever one utters would probe false.
One should never stoop to falsehood, even if being truthful would lead to trouble. It is self-deception to think that by falsehood one could escape trouble. On the other hand, one would have to face greater trouble thereby. Risk or no risk to oneself, one should never utter falsehood.
Even if adherence to truth were to result in loss of money and property etc., let them go. Our Gracious God is omnipotent and not a pauper. Only what he gives would satisfy and endure. How much could man give? One’s motto should be “death is far better than untruth”. One’s creed ought to be ‘no falsehood even at the cost of one’s own life’. God will, indeed, help such a man in his work.
This inexorable rule is subject to only one exception, viz one may utter a falsehood even at one’s own risk, for securing benefit to others e.g. to save some one’s life.
There is an old story in this connection.
Kabir Maharaj had seen a Brahmin beating his wife to death. Therefore, he was called as a witness to prove the beating. Kabir Maharaj realised that the Brahmin would lose his life if he spoke the truth, and if he did not, it would cast a blot on his character as a saint. He went to court meditating on the SELF (Atman) and began to turn his face wherever he saw the Self (Atman). He was
asked to stand properly and to depose to what he saw. Kabir Maharaj said: “The seer (eye) cannot speak and the speaker (tongue) cannot see [Marathi symbols]. The Judge thought that Kabir Maharaj was an insane man and for want of evidence, let off the Brahmin. In this manner the life of the Brahmin was saved. Hence it is permissible, if one, with judicious discrimination, were to utter a falsehood for the good of another. But for one’s own selfish ends, one should never utter falsehood.
33.- Service of Elders
Parents nurse and bring up their children, naturally expecting that they would look after them in their old age. They rear them unmindful of any sacrifice, by themselves even foregoing their own morsel of food. It therefore behoves the children to serve them devotedly, to respect their wishes, not to wound their feelings and thus to keep them pleased.
The affection and blessings of parents, when they are well pleases, would bring happiness to the children. The children who are obedient and render personal service to them will surely obtain progeny and wealth, fame, power and longevity, etc.
Those who desire that others should behave affectionately towards them ought to do some service for them. “No affection without service”. [Symbols]. They should diligently do their bidding. They should eve finish the work, in anticipation, even without being asked. They should volunteer and offer to work for them and wherever possible, should do their work without being called upon to do it most efficiently, sincerely, in the best manner possible, even better than the (parent’s) could have done, and as if it is verily their own job. Doing of menial and so-called mean and trivial service which others may not condescend to do begets affection very speedily e.g. drawing of water, washing of clothes, etc. Such services are essential for begetting love and affection. Such services should be rendered, to the best of one’s ability, with one’s heart and mind, by manual labour, or by giving momentary help. Thus, undoubtedly, the parent’s affection will grow and it shall sprout where it did not exist before.
34.- Treat Others as Yourself
One should treat others as oneself and should feel that the sorrows of others are one’s own. One should realise that others would feel the same agony and sorrow if their crops are ruined as he himself would feel if his own crops were to be ruined.
Other’s children should be treated as if they are one’s own children. There is no harm if they are treated better. Then God would shower his love and affection on one’s own children. Human affection even at its highest, is but petty and powerless, as compared to God’s love, which is more potent and real.
One should never be artful or artificial in anything. An artful man would ultimately lose in the matter in which he resorts to artificiality. Hence, no distinction should be made between one’s own kith and kin and others. All should be treated equally.
35.- Benevolence
One should do good to others within one’s means. One should give, for religion and charity, out of what God has given him. If a guest come at the time of your dinner he should be respected by giving him half of what is available. But none should incur debts or defraud others for doing charity out of a false sense of prestige or generosity. One should not court disaster for doing good to others; but one should, without fail, give what one can without any loss to oneself. Having done so none should be told about it. Thus one should always strive to do good to others, by honest labour, so that one’s name might survive him.
36.- The Nature of Compassion
One should be compassionate towards all creatures and should be never callous and unkind to anyone. The same Atman resides in all bodies. The Atman that resides in one, resides in all. Therefore, callous and unkind treatment to anyone would mean such treatment to the Atman. In that event the Atman will be unkind and harsh to oneself.
All are kind hearted towards themselves and to their own, but unkind to others. Being kind to their own cattle they graze them in others’ lands but cause
loss to others, being unkind to the others’ lands. They kill birds and offer them as food to their pet dogs, and thus become kind to their own dogs but cruel to the birds. At a common meal, they serve more to their own people, being kind and partial to them; but serve less to others, being unkind to them. Such conduct would not leave them and their people unpunished.
On account of famine, at present, many people are starving to death for want of food. But there is no doubt that such a calamity is the result of people having become unkind.
37.- Contentment in what God has given
God has given us belly and God will somehow give us enough bread for our belly without fail. However, one should live happily with what God has given and should not covet and cast greedy eyes on what belongs to others. If one covets what is not his, and neglects what belongs to him, he would lose both, as the proverb says [Symbols] “neither Oil nor Ghee” (illustrating the case of a man, losing both oil and ghee in an effort to get them both in one and the same pot).
38.- God-Given Vocation
The vocation that God has given to everyone should be efficiently pursued. The best is agriculture, the next is trade and last comes service. God may give us anyone one of these three.
If one covets another’s vocation, and scornfully repudiates his own, and is negligent in his work, the Atman within would be displeased and would mollify his pride. Therefore, the vocation that God has given ought to be pursued sincerely by everyone, so that the Atman would be pleases and propitiated.
39.- The method of work
All should work very hard with their hands and then take their meals. One should not eat like an idler, only by incurring debts. One must eat with self- respect and not shamelessly.
One must like doing service as if it is one’s own personal work, single mindedly, and without deceit and laziness. If the employer who pays, is pleased by that labour, the work will be successful and profit will come increasingly.
There will be greater joy in doing lowly work than in doing dignified labour. Every work should be done in the allotted time, so that there would be no reproach from anyone.
The body must be used to constant work and it must become habituated also to hard work. No indulgence should be given to the body [Symbols] “work hard like a servant and eat like a king”, and thus even though the body may get worn out still one must go on doing all the duties punctually without wasting any time. Thus one must be free from any kind of dependence and obligation and live without worrying as to how one could manage within one’s means.
The hand that accepts pay without honest and faithful work gets accursed. The highest of all honest and faithful works is to regulate one’s life according to the commands of the Sadguru, and employ all the senses and the mind in the service of the Adman.
40.- Balance in life (Sense of Proportion)
In life, one must be ever vigilant. Thus one ought to constantly check-up what one daily earns and spends, the credit and debit items. One must take each step after due deliberation. Alms and charity should be given with due discrimination. One should not be too miserly. All things should be done with a due sense of balance and proportion.
41.- Spirituality in the midst of worldly life
One must carry on his worldly life and also cultivate spirituality. One should not confine oneself to the mundane affairs alone. One ought to try and develop spirituality day and night by adhering to Sattwa Guna. While leading a worldly life, one should manage to get through un-tarnished by its contamination. Indeed, our only mission is to achieve Paramartha. We must regulate and carry out our activities so as to foster Paramartha and only to the extent to which they might be conducive to Paramartha. We should not however worry about anything in the firm conviction that everything will turn out according to the WILL of the Atman. We should therefore dedicate ourselves to constant and ceaseless meditation on the Atman.
42.- Be Steeped in Paramartha (Spirituality)
Having lived a worldly life quite diligently in all respects one should pass on the responsibility to one’s children on their becoming fit to shoulder the same. Thereafter one should be completely absorbed in Paramartha. One should never look to worldly affairs again, but should carry on meditation on the Atman till the end, and achieve unison with HIM.
43.- Misery the result of external battle
Those who win in the war against a king will rule for a time but will experience happiness and sorrow in equal measure. One can never have only happiness without sorrow. They may have wealth but no issue, or issue but no wealth, either of them without the other. Thus happiness and sorrow being in equal measure those who meet death on the battlefield would go to perdition and those who win, may rule for a time and then go to the perdition. In either case, perdition will be their lot.
44.- Bliss the Result of Internal battle
Therefore, such external battle should be avoided and a better and different variety of battle should be fought out. The three Gunas, the six Vikaras and the ten senses are impediments in the way of realisation of the Atman. Hence, battle should be waged against them day and night, and one after the other, all these enemies should be destroyed.
Thus, vices should be fought out, virtues should be cultivated, and The Atman should be propitiated. One should thus live happily and attain salvation. In external battle perdition is the result in either case. In this internal fight, there is salvation both ways.
While one progresses victoriously in the internal battle all happiness would be his and there will be no limit to his bliss. In this battle, worldly happiness is guaranteed in the event of victory and bliss of salvation in case of death. When it is said that “one dying in battle attains salvation”, the internal battle is the battle referred to. If one is victorious he would achieve Swarjya i.e. the perennial Bliss in the Atman. While ruling over this kingdom, there is nothing like want, and there will be ever-increasing bliss, without any tinge of sorrow. Therefore it behoves all of us to achieve this Swarajya and attain Salvation.
Nama Yoga (Yoga of Divine Name) Shri Bhausaheb Maharaj
NAMA – YOGA
(Yoga of Divine Name)
Shri Bhausaheb Maharaj
1843-1914
(42) Body-consciousness should be Transformed into God-consciousness
Every Jiva (soul) comes from Siva (God) and returns to God. But during its sojourn on earth, under the spell of sense-objects it forgets its Divine Source, considers itself as Jiva and begins to lead its worldly life. Its delusion does not allow it to identify either with worldly or with spiritual life. Its enhanced ego makes him one-sided and deprives him of the enjoyment of any kind of happiness. Really the soul has no life. God alone exists in the real sense of the term. Both the ways of life belong to Him. Hence mere remembrance of God is the only duty of the soul. If this conviction is firmly rooted in it, the soul would be able to enjoy happiness and satisfaction. Therefore, one should practise meditation with firm faith and regularity, until the conviction of its identity with God strikes root in the soul. He would then realise his oneness with God and enjoy all-round happiness and bliss in both worldly and spiritual life.
(43) Identification of Jiva and Siva is the End of Human Life
The merit attained by the practice of penance in former life enables a person to get human life in which in which he becomes worthy to pursue spiritual life. Now if he leads his worldly and spiritual life by retaining the consciousness of his past meditation, he would develop an attitude of an unattached witness and non-doer. He would also attain Godhead. His former merit granted him human body. And as he carries on the same meditation he attains Godhead itself. As the Kadnnada adage goes: “Astakke istu istakke estu?” –“If that (merit) has granted this happiness, how much more bliss would this superior merit grant?” (PP.59-60)
If a person realises that God is impersonal, he will be completely free from Soul-consciousness-free from the consciousness that he is a devotee. He becomes Impersonal and Formless. He is ever immersed in God-consciousness. Hence he becomes a non-doer in both spheres of life. He is a real devotee who experiences such a transformation. He is a real Liberated Soul. This is the final Liberation through Oneness. And this is the supreme End of Life.
Tukaram Abhangas with English Captions
1. The root cause of birth, gunas/attributes, is nothing but misery. When you take a body, duality comes. With an equal balance of virtues and sins you get a human body. You don’t appreciate the human body and make the worst of life, running here and there for happiness. By three attributes you work with life and by these attributes you uselessly lose your life without understanding. Tama guna, ignorance, is nothing but the shit of the ego, hell. Rajas is thinking again and again of worldly affairs. Stick to the Sattva guna and day and night think that this is not true and understand what is Reality. Whole day and night understand this is nothing and don’t go the wrong way. Never think the world is true. One who is going the wrong way, only a realized person takes him to the right path. Only a realized person gives real understanding and takes you to the right path. Go to His feet and accept what He says! He gives others understanding and they can swim this ocean which is not true. Tukaram says by going to Him, you understand and make your family understand.
2. He is the real person in all three worlds, who can make people understand. This rare person sees no duality, only Oneness and He gives this understanding to others making them great. By following His guidance you become HE. Anger vanishes from you because you know Myself is everywhere. Dirt of the mind is cleaned and you’re like the Ganges (knowledge) which runs and runs cleaning everybody, taking away misunderstanding. Your mind is like the Ganga cleaning out the dirt-duality; like the residence of the Lord/Bhagavan. Due to his devotion (nothing is true), HE is always with Him. He sees everywhere SELF, and is complete. The realized one sees Himself everywhere, as clearly as you see your own thumb. Those who have no understanding cannot understand Him. One who has Self-understanding remains in Himself, no need to tell anybody. So, He remains in Himself. Other people don’t understand Him. [Only Saints of that status know who He is.] Open your eyes with knowledge; see everybody as Oneness. Don’t say wrong things, or gossip about Him. Take the knowledge of Self from Him that only He offers. Don’t do anything! Just go to the Saint so you can understand. When real understanding comes your luck will open. In the vicinity of a Saint your luck will open and you can understand, WHO AM I ? In the Puranas (old mythological books) it is described. Tukaram gives this proclamation that nothing is true; only Yourself is true.
3. Since many births you’ve taken this world as true, which is the real sin. The Saint is the real One. Never leave His feet. Understand what He gives and never forget. Make yourself strong; determine that He is the only person who can give the real truth. Be yourself HE! (Sha-ran-gad/Krishna) He says, “I’m not the body, I am HE.” Ignorant persons don’t understand this. This will be understood only in the vicinity of a Saint. Burn wrong desires and make the desire for the Self only. When the seed is burned it won’t grow again. Make your mind clean by understanding THAT. Then you will know you’re not the body. Tukaram says only then will you know that where you “stay” is HE.
4. Understand the Reality and don’t go astray, not for a moment. If you try to know through thoughts you’ll only wander the world. If you go astray by following your thoughts, you’ll forget your own interest -Yourself. Say, “Oh mind, you’re a thinking mind. Understand, I AM HE.” Understand, “I am not a small creature (jiva), I am HE (Shiva).” Don’t be a shape. Don’t touch anything. By realizing this, you will experience bliss (Atmasukha)- Self-happiness. This way, you become HE. Merge with all the elements and then all the people are Myself. Forget the ego! You are everywhere. You are in shit and you are in heaven also; all HIS creation. When you say me and mine then you protect. Say everybody is mine, then ego goes off. Have mercy for all; ” I am everywhere.” “He is Myself,” in whatever state he may be. This is the only sadhana. When such thinking comes in the mind, then illusion/Maya doesn’t remain. The net of illusion doesn’t remain when you have love for Krishna/Chakrapani. With knowledge, see everybody and say my wish is his wish and his wish is my wish. Have deep love for the Saint and don’t forget His greatness. He has taken the name of God and talks about God always. He is Lord in manifest form. Remember Him and you become Shiva. Don’t leave the books of knowledge; hear Saints and sing that only. Don’t sing anything else! Think always of HIM; contemplate ‘I am HE’, not the body. That way you will get Self- understanding.(Sakshatkara) Go to the Reality. HE is shapeless. Understand that in every shape is HE. Then you’re always happy. (You see the shape, then troubles remain.) Once you understand nothing is true, no worries for you. Inside, your mind is calm and quiet. You are in tune with Brahman; you are blessed! When One is completely satisfied, how does He stay? I’ll tell you the secret. With full mind, hear me. He remains as a foolish person. Outside, He lives like a mad man, but inside He is always in tune with Self. Like the bee, only interested in honey from the flower, He is always thinking of the Self. Inside and outside, only Self. Nobody can understand Him or what He does or his thinking. Only Yogis, those who understand correctly, know the essence in Him. Only those who have the practice of Reality know the true identity of a Saint. Tuka says for others it is illusion. Saints, by their presence give peace to others.
5. To some He’s a fool but to those who have love for Reality, they value what He has given and are always quiet. Just as salt dissolved in water never comes out, same way ego disappears. He melts it. This melting can be in anybody’s heart. One should be a melted person. Once in water, salt cannot return to solid form. Likewise, the one who understands Reality, He is melted. Thought has become thoughtless. The Saint stays in Brahman. He never goes again in the illusion. He never bothers with worldly things. Tuka says, “What I tell is the Truth.”
6. These abhangas have come from heaven, especially for you. By chanting these 12 abhangas (verses) all sins brought forward from past births, will be burned. Narayana will protect you, now and in the future. When you need HIM most, HE protects you. Your mind has been changed; wrong thoughts go and HE remains. Then you understand real devotion — always thinking of Him and not of yourself. By real devotion you will get every proof of realization. Your ancestors will be uplifted also. He acquires this world and the other world. Tukaram says, “This is the only truth and I vouch for it.”
7. His mind is so charitable, for the genuine good of others He gives with great clarity to everybody and they get this understanding. This is the real prasad. In this way worldly miseries go away for you and others also. This can happen to you. On the oath of my Master I tell you. These are my cymbals He has sent from (heaven) Self. You are That. You should chant my name with love. I have achieved Reality (gone to Vaikuntha, Lord Krishna’s place) by the grace of my Master. With a strong wish, I bow down to you and tell you, you can also achieve what I have achieved. Saint says with conviction, God is with Him. He’s responsible. You will experience that which I’ve said is the Truth. With every action, remember This. This is the last wish of Tukaram.
8. He has bowed down to us, so we should realize. If you do this you’ll see Vithoba and how He is protecting you every now and then. In everybody, see HIS face. In that way you can bow down to HIM. By meeting HIM, your worries cease. For you, I have given this real understanding. For the good wish of the whole world, I give understanding to all. Whoever reads this and acts accordingly is a real devotee and will have the experience. If you sing these twelve abhangas you will be Realized in the body free from all bondage, never to return to the world again. No doubts remain. The cycle of birth/death vanishes. You are complete; you’ve attained Reality. In 4 bodies there resides one Self covered by 34 (3 attributes + 4 bodies) ‘coverings’. In reciting these 12 abhangas (verses) you get to know what Tukaram says.
9. Don’t leave these 12 abhangas!! The essence is in them. Then after understanding, any actions you do, you won’t be responsible for the fruits of those actions. You are beyond actions. Everything now is for Totality. You won’t take birth again; this is my oath. But you must whole- heartedly read these abhangas again and again with mind, intellect and heart to understand the real meaning. Make them more precious than your life. By reading them again and again, if you consider HIM better than your life, you will have darshan of Vithoba in manifest form. This is bound to happen! What is described in the Vedas and scriptures, was put in these 12 abhangas, translated for you in Marathi. (12 = the 1 unmanifest + 2 , Ishwara/ Maya or Parush/Prakriti.) The essence of what has been said in dictionary, Do’s and Don’ts of the Brahma Sutra, other texts and their sub-texts, is said in my (Tukaram) abhangas.
10. My verses contain the secret about devotion as well as wisdom in praise of the Lord. Seventy five are “aimed” at understanding dispassion/renunciation. 75 means 7 and 5. 7= the 5 elements+mind+intellect and 5 is sense objects. Conquering these, brings renunciation. And same number is sung for the Lord. Sixty are aimed at describing the form of God. With understanding, then 5 sense objects and ignorance (equaling 6) becomes nothing but zero=6 0, repeatedly described in verses. My ritual is to pray to the Lord, and I should be without attributes (Sattva, Raja, Tama should be zero=30) You are the only real aim to reach. Twelve look to self-realization. Now I realize that You are only one and my past assumption that I existed as an individual (1+ 2) has dissolved in You. These abhangas have been conceived on earth and are as valuable as the 5 elements which make up this earth. (34 and 5)The only Truth says Tukaram is Self, residing in the house/body which has 3 attributes and 4 subtle bodies. This Self is veiled by 5 coverings. Once you understand, this is the only Truth. (In this verse Vitthala is speaking to Tukaram.)
11. Sagun (manifest) and nirgun (unmanifest) are One. Whatever you see and perceive is ME, Vitthala. This understanding came to Tukaram.
12. Those who recite these abhangas everyday with understanding will become That. Those who recite with love and devotion will stay on the spiritual path. No troubles will remain for them. If they read these abhangas with love they will be uplifted and always happy. Whenever there is danger or problems be strong enough to recite these abhangas with a firm mind and difficulties will be overcome. Vitthala says to Tukaram, “I will not only make them free of problems but I will take them to my own place.”….to the original understanding that I am HE.
Bhajans
RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI SIDDHARAMESHWAR MAHARAJ KI JAY RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI BHAUSAHEB MAHARAJ KI JAY
RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI GURULINGJANGAM MAHARAJ KI JAY
RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI KADSIDDESHWAR MAHARAJ KI JAY
RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ KI JAY
RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI RANJIT MAHARAJ KI JAY
RAJA-DHI-RAJ SADGURUNATH SHRI RAMAKANT MAHARAJ KI JAY
Bhajans sung by devotees at Nashik Ashram.
Bhajans Booklet Download Updated 11/22/17
Greatness of Master
Guru is the King in the generations of saints : Guru Hā Santa-kuli-čā Rājā
Kakad Arati
CHIDANANDA
I am eternal bliss. I am Shiva.
I am eternal bliss. I am Shiva.
I am not the mind, intellect, ego or sub-conscious.
I am not the ears, the tongue, nose or eyes.
I am not space, earth, fire or wind.
I am eternal bliss. I am Shiva.
I am not breathing power, the seven vital bodily constituents
Nor the five coverings
I am not speech, hands, feet, nor the rectum
I am eternal bliss. I am Shiva.
I am not envy, greed, nor craving nor attraction.
I am not arrogance nor jealousy nor pride.
Nor religion, wealth, spending for mankind or liberation.
I am eternal bliss, I am Shiva.
I am not virtue, sin, joy, nor sorrow.
I am not mantra, pilgrimage, scriptures, offering or ritual fire.
I am not food, the eating nor the one who eats.
I am eternal bliss, I am Shiva.
I am not death, doubt nor discrimination of caste.
I am not father, mother, hence no birth.
I am not brother, nor friend, nor guru nor aspirant.
I am eternal bliss, I am Shiva.
I am beyond concept, without change, beyond form.
I am all-pervading in all the senses.
I see equality in everyone; I’m neither liberated nor in bondage.
I am eternal bliss, I am Shiva.
From the whole and perfect the whole and perfect becomes manifest.
If the whole and perfect issues forth from the whole and perfect, even still
Only the whole and perfect will remain.
Last Terminus
You have got knowledge, but that knowledge is supposed to become part and parcel of your spiritual life. Everybody knows that this body is not going to remain constant. But as long as you have got attachment with the body, attachment with the mind ego intellect, that knowledge will not be absorbed. At present, there is the pressure of mind, ego and intellect on the body. We are supplying energy to mind, ego and intellect. Your energy is most important. Your Presence is most important. You are not knowing your importance. Still you are considering “I am somebody else, male or female”. That is not your identity. Basically you are formless. It is fact. You are not accepting it. Listen carefully: human body, human form, is a golden opportunity to identify yourself. Though it is not your identity, human form is a media through which you can identify.
What is the necessity of this spirituality? In human life, what is the necessity, the importance of spirituality? See, the moment that Spirit clicked with the body, you started knowing “I am”. Instantly you see the world. And in childhood, father and mother, called parents, social life, relatives, everybody tries to impress their own thoughts. Social culture, spiritual culture. And it is the nature of this Spirit to accept those illusionary concepts. You are man or woman, you are father or mother; these are your relations, and so many concepts, hundreds of concepts, thousands of concepts. And our lifestyle is within the circle of these illusionary concepts. We are totally ignorant. We are not knowing ourSelves properly. We live in this human life with so much attachment to body, so much attachment to body related relations, father, mother, sister, brother, Master, God, so many. But we forgot what is the truth? Where are the attachments prior to beingness? No attachment is there. All relations came along with this body. All relations dissolve, disappear, along with the body.
So at the last stage, there should not be any desire. At present, we have got lots of desires. A lot of needs, a lot of requirements because body knowledge is not tolerable? It happens, every being, in animals also? But in human form, we are having some intellect. We are having some mind, we can understand. Mind means flow of thoughts, a continuous flow of thoughts is there. Good thoughts, bad thoughts. Mainly there are three types of thoughts flowing inside: spiritual thoughts, commercial thoughts and criminal thoughts. Spiritual thoughts means we are thinking always about gods and goddesses, prayers, self-knowledge, spiritual knowledge, etc. Commercial thoughts means all commercial life, enjoyment and so on. Criminal thoughts means hatreds, struggle and all. So spiritual thought will help you to develop your identity, to convince yourself. Therefore, which thoughts to be accepted, and which thoughts not to be accepted, it is up to you. There are so many questions; hundreds of questions are there, because all these questions appear upon your Presence, because you forgot your identity.
Basically, you are Ultimate Truth. Which is called God, Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, Master. In spite of this literal spiritual knowledge, still you have got so many questions. All questions are body related questions. So first thing, first priority to be given, after knowing the Reality “I am Brahman I am Ultimate Truth”. So why are these concepts appearing? All concepts are appearing upon your Presence. They are creating confusion; mind is such that it is creating confusion. So many questions are being raised, body based questions. I receive sometimes so many questions from devotees, seekers, always body-based concepts. So first thing, discard your body based concepts. Discard your body. Body is not your identity at all. Unless we accept the Reality that “Body is not my identity, body was not my identity and body is not going to remain my identity”, the experience of a body appears upon your Presence. Body is having life problems, depressions are there, unpleasant atmospheres are there, we are afraid, we have tension, no peacefulness, no blissfulness, always fear of death. All these illusionary concepts are supposed to be dissolved, that is the main goal of spirituality.
“How can I discard all these concepts?”: that is the question. To know your self in a real sense, we are knowing ourselves in body form, and body form is not going to remain constant. Prior to beingness, prior to consciousness, you are not holding any body. Prior to one hundred years, have you got any body? No. After leaving body, what body remains? You are neither man nor woman. You are not Brahman, Brahman is a name given to Ultimate Truth. “Then how was I?” That is the question. Spiritual science says you are just like space or sky, sky is everywhere, it is not limited with India. It is everywhere. Sky does not have any special identity; sky does not have any individuality. It is vast.
Your Presence is everywhere. In every being, your Presence is there. Bodies are different, Presence is there. How can you identify? Because the moment that Spirit clicks with the body, the entire world is projected. Just like in a dream, you are in deep sleep, you see the dream. Who has created the dream world? You are seeing yourself, you see the entire world, you see the sun, moon, gods, goddesses, friends, father, mother, everything, all things. Not even that, you are seeing yourself, you are acting there. You are having some role. You are playing some role. In that dream you feel that dream is true. You are enjoying that dream or not enjoying it, there may be good experience or bad experience. Who is experiencing that dream? Who is watching that dream? That is your identity. Because you are sleeping, there is subtler and subtler identity there, which is called Brahman, Atman, Ultimate Truth. I am talking about that subtle unidentified identity which is called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master, That you are. Though you are holding body, you are unconcerned with the body. So this Reality is supposed to be absorbed. So literally you are knowing everything. You have got literal conviction. It should be spontaneous Conviction.
After having spontaneous Conviction, though thoughts are flowing, good and bad, you will not give them importance. Just like in a dream world, after awakening you say, “I had good or bad dreams”. Just like Janaka, he was king, but he had seen that he was begging, so he questioned all his stalwart spiritualists “Is that true or is this true?”. In the Ashtavakra Gita, this story is there, it is a good book. Ashtavakra was a great spiritualist in those days, he was only a 14 or 15-year-old boy. But he was having exceptional realization. It is a big story, I am now talking about a big story. And here, he replied to Janaka. Janaka asked, “The only question I have is whether this is true or that is true?” He told him, “I was having a dream where I was begging as a beggar and now I am king”. Ashtavakra was a very very brilliant spiritualist. Instantly he said, “That is also false, this is also false”. What you see in a dream, that dream world is also an illusion, what you see today with this body form, it is also illusion. No other question is there, but the Presence in a dream and the Presence in this body form are one and the same. Without Presence, you can’t watch a dream and without Presence you can’t watch this body-based knowledge. So your Presence is there also and it is here but you are measuring, you are counting yourself as body form. That concept is supposed to be dissolved.
And all this is okay, some basic knowledge you have got, how to implement it? How to digest it? That is the main question. And the main question will be solved with meditation. Why is meditation required? Because within this body, invisible Presence is very sensitive. Considering the virtue of sensitiveness of this Spirit, the words are given, “Aham Brahmasami”, “I am Brahman” or “Soham”, whatsoever the words may be. Every lineage gives different words. Those words are creating vibration when you are reciting Mantra, meditating with the Mantra, concentrating with the Mantra. You are asking how to meditate: in the beginning you are to have some discipline. You sit in this fashion, half closed eyes, you concentrate on the tip of the nose. Why do this? Because your mind is very crazy. To keep the mind busy, we ask you to concentrate on the tip of the nose. So while the mind is concentrating on the tip of the nose, at the same time, you are reciting the Mantra. When the mind is busy, it will not play against you. After keeping it busy, your purpose is served. You are hammering it. Keeping the mind busy with concentration, you are not allowing it to create any questions or any crazy activity. And then by reciting Mantra, you will be directly hammering your Selfless Self : “You are Brahman, you are Brahman, I am Brahman, Brahman I am, I am Brahman, Brahman I am”. After nonstop reciting, Originality will be open: “So that I!” And instantly, after some time, of course it depends upon your involvement, seriousness in meditation, not casual meditation. What Master says, you have to accept it, and then instantly, Reality will be open with you. Where experience and experiencer will disappear. You will forget form. There isn’t any witness or witnesser. Though you are sitting for meditation, you remain unconcerned. You will forget everything. You will get exceptional peacefulness inside. Through meditation, some vibration are created inside, and the waves create a spiritual atmosphere within you. That spiritual atmosphere helps to absorb the Reality.
And for which, we are insisting, in the beginning, meditation is supposed to be strict and well disciplined, without which you can’t identify yourSelf. Only literal knowledge, dry knowledge, will not help you. So be strong, have courage to accept the Reality. I am always saying not to neglect your duties, not to ignore your responsibilities, not to neglect your family life, not to neglect your routine life. Do your duty. But at the same time, there is the conviction “I am not doer, there is no deed”. It is fact. You are not doer, there is no deed. For deed and doer, some form is required. You are not having any form, you are basically formless. This human form is not living constantly. How are you prior to one hundred years? Formless. No birth, no death. Not to do anything. You must have conviction, spontaneous conviction, in the beginning. Then after having conviction, though you are living in this illusionary world, you will remain unconcerned. All body-based concepts will dissolve, disappear. You are knowing, you can watch: “Yes, this is correct, this is false, this is illusion”. After knowing they are illusion, you will not have any attachment. No desire is there, thoughts are flowing, mind is very crazy. Previously, we were becoming slave of mind ego and intellect. The mind was dictating terms “do this and do that”. After knowing That: “I am providing energy to the mind”. Without your Presence, how can mind run? If there is no Presence, mind can’t act. Prior to beingness, or consciousness, there was no mind, no ego, no intellect. The question of thoughts never arises. The question of existence never arises. We feel existence because of the body form, but who is acting from the body? Who is listening from the body? Who does activities from the body? The invisible Presence called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, Ultimate Truth, That you are. It is not having any experience. It is Final Truth.
So though you are living with this body, human form, you will get spontaneous Conviction. What is the Conviction? That “My role in this world is not the doer, no deed is there, I am nothing”. Everything came out of nothing and everything dissolves within nothing. So what you feel, what you experience “I am something”, that will dissolve. So the concept of body form is supposed to be dissolved. It is not your Ultimate Truth. The Presence within the body, through which you are acting and you are doing all these things, is spontaneous Presence, which is called Brahman, Atman, That you are. It is just like space or sky. So there is always the question, “After death, what happens to the body, what happens to the Spirit?” You know that death means leaving the body. As a matter of fact, there is no death and there is no birth. But these questions are there always because you see everything. Death and birth are connected with the body only.
Suppose in a dream, you see your body die, just imagine. Who is seeing that body die? Or somebody dies. After awakening, that man is there. When you see a dead in dream, after awakening that man is there. So what is true? The Presence of that man or being in this world is true? Or is his death in the dream true? Question yourself. You will get all answers from you. Your Spirit is exceptionally powerful. You are unaware of your power. You are unaware of the tremendous energy within you. Not to beg for any blessing from anyone else. Not to go here or there in search of Masters. Master is not separate from you. You are a Master. My Master Nisargadatta Maharaj says: “I am not making you disciples, I am making you Masters”. Bodies are different, forms are different, but Masterly Essence, Ultimate Truth, is not different. Just like I am always mentioning, countries are different, houses are different, but the sky within the house is one and the same. Likewise, the invisible Listener within you and the invisible speaker within this body are one and the same. Which is called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master, That you are. But you are not accepting this truth because of long association with the body form. You are protecting so many concepts. We have developed so many concepts. Through meditation, all body- based concepts are supposed to be discarded. It is true. As in a dream, you see somebody doing a good or a bad thing. After awakening, you have nothing to do with that experience. So whatever experience you are having in a dream, after awakening all experience disappears. So this present life is just like a dream, a long dream. So like that you have to convince yourself because you are your own Master. You are the architect of your own life.
So don’t encourage body-based questions. Mind is always asking “Why this, why that? Question yourself. What is true? The illusionary world and all experiences? False. In this illusionary world, all questions are body-based questions. Nothing has happened. In a dream, you are seeing and experiencing so many things. Are you asking “Why this thing, why that thing?” It is a dream! It is false! It cannot be true. Similarly, the present life is not true. As long as Presence in the body is there, you feel it is true. After leaving the body, what happens? No question is there. So just like nothing remains when the dream disappears, similarly, after this dream disappears, nothing remains. Where does it go? Body is burned or buried. Are there any problems for the dead body? Because you are holder of the body. Does sky die or take birth? Does sky take birth or does sky die? Just like the sky is not having death and birth, similarly your Presence is not having death and birth. You are unborn, you are formless. That Conviction is supposed to appear. It is not impossible, but in the beginning, follow the instructions of the Masters and strictly administer their meditation. Do the meditation. Unless you undergo the discipline of meditation, your foundation will be weak. Your foundation will be weak and all your building will be weak. It is very simple knowledge, for which you are not to do anything, you are not to spend a single penny. No garland is required. No rituals are required. In India so many rituals are there: “Do this pranam, do that pranam”. Why? When you entered this world, did you have to do any pranam? Have you taken any name? “Ram Ram Ram Ram?” When did you come to Ram? When the Spirit entered the body, you started knowing “This is Ram”. All this is ok, I am not criticizing this. It is faith. These names are having faith. Question yourself.
In a dream, there are so many gods and goddesses, where are the gods and goddesses after awakening? Where have they gone? You see so many people. After awakening what happened to them? Have they gone to hell or heaven? Nothing is there. Therefore everything came out of nothing, everything dissolves within nothing. That you have to know: your invisible Presence is the Reality. Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master is not separate from you. I am shouting all the time. But still some crazy mind creates so many questions “Why this, why that?” Some people say “Oh I have got depression, why this thing?” There was once a question asked by somebody “When I am doing meditation, I forget everything, but on awakening my mind is playing and I get depression”. This is a game of your mind. So your happiness in this world is also false and depression is also false. Depression, happiness, blissfulness, appears on your Presence. Your Presence is subtle. Does sky have depression? “Oh this Indian sky has got depression” or “Nasik sky has got depression”.
So you will get all answers from your side. Ask questions to yourself, make it answer. In the beginning, you will not get answers, but after hammering, just like the criminal in the police station, the criminal says “I have not done anything, I’m innocent, I’m innocent”. They are torturing him and then he says “Yes, I am guilty”. Similarly, with the Nama Mantra meditation, you are torturing yourself: “You are Brahman, you are a liar, you are Brahman”. And after continuous torturing and hammering: “Oh I am that!”. And then all answers, all replies you will get from inside. You are not required to go anywhere to solve your questions, all questions will be solved within you. For which, in the beginning, you are to undergo the discipline of meditation. Make it talk! Just like the police officer taking answer from the criminals, he did not reply, he tried to divert the mind. But after continuous torture, you will place before you all evidence: “Yes I am Brahman”. So after hammering yourself “I am Brahman, Brahman I am” or “Soham”, Ultimate Truth, Entire truth will be opened from you. You will be surprised: very difficult questions will be solved within you and you will not have to go anywhere.
Not to change any Masters. People are changing this Master, that Master, that Master, that Master. It is meaningless, you are wasting your time because you are not giving importance to your own Master within you. Master is not separate from you. Take the answer from your own Master, which exists in your human form. The holder of the human form is the Master. It is not having specific identity, so not to guess, not to imagine. Try to convince yourself. In the beginning you have got duality, but I am always advising not to make comparative study of the various Masters. Many times there are questions of whether this Master is realized or not: “Is that Master realized?” How are you concerned with who is realized or not realized? You are not concerned. Talk about yourself, whether you are realized or not! Some people compare “Why is Ramana Maharshi like this, why does this Master says like this?” How are you concerned? You are not analyzer. You are not to make comparative study. It is a waste of time. So instead of wasting such time, make yourself invincible, powerful, and get answers from you. You are fine, you are the central point of this world. Don’t ignore it. It is fact I am placing before you. So you need not to question. Why questions are there? All questions are related to form, they are basically rooted through mind. And mind, ego and intellect, it is itself an illusion. They are functioning organs. Your entire body functions through mind, ego and intellect. Who is supplying power to them? That you are. You are supplying electricity, you are supplying power. Survival of mind, ego and intellect in this form is because of you only. How were you prior to beingness? Unknown. After leaving body? Unknown. That means unknown dissolves in unknown. What you feel as known is because of this body only. Basically you are unknown to yourself. After leaving body, you are unknown. So unknown came into existence in body form and after leaving body, unknown will dissolve into unknown. In between you are posing “I am somebody else”. You are not somebody, you are everybody. You are everywhere. Just like space or sky. So be with you, it is not impossible.
Don’t waste your time going here or there. People are coming here “Oh I will go this way and that way”. Why to roam here or there? Not to go anywhere. You may visit it no problem, but not for spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is always within you. Don’t underestimate you. You do not know your greatness. Greatness is always with you. So we have created language, to convince with various words. Language is not important. Try to identify and understand the meaning of those words. We have created words, “Spirituality”, “Brahman”, “Atman”, “Maya” and so on and so forth. So instead of analyzing the words try to understand. What is the message out of those words? What is the message given by various Masters through their spiritual statements? And where do you stand in that message? That is most important. Question yourself, get answers from yourself. You will make yourself get answers for all the questions. See the fun. And then you will find so many complicated questions solved within you, you will make the Spirit talk just like the police officer made the criminal talk. So likewise, with meditation, with hammering, you will force your Selfless Self to talk and answer all questions. In the beginning, there is duality, it is a deliberate act. But you are to do it until you get spontaneous conviction. Then everything is easy.
Even if you think intellectually, logically, what is in this body? Just sit quiet and calm. What is in the body? Nothing. Just glimpses of ‘I’. Just glimpses of ‘I’. This body form is not going to remain constant. It is having a time limit, age limit etc. So what is appearing on your Presence, good thing, bad thing, don’t give so much importance. Sometime you feel some depression, some unpleasant atmosphere, it happens because you are holding body. The body belongs to the five elements. When there is an imbalance in the five elements, you feel it. I am suffering from a cold. Some weakness in this body form is there. So that you have to understand. So body concept, body feeling is not constant. Different atmospheres, different things are there. Just like seasonal things. Clouds are coming, clouds are going, you are there and there only. Like that, you are to convince yourself. Therefore, the first basic thing: you have to undergo the discipline of the meditation. Hammering yourSelf all the time. Recite Mantra non-stop. For which you are not to spend anything. There should not be any attraction of anybody else: “if I go to that Master, I will get different knowledge”. It is not necessary to go to any Masters. For what? That will only add confusion.
My Master Nisargadatta Maharaj has given a good message to all the devotees: “After knowing the Reality, after having Conviction, not to go anywhere or come across any elements which will distract you from Reality”. Because somebody else may not be knowing the Reality, and he will try to impress his own thoughts, his own concepts? His mind will create confusion and your faith will be damaged. Don’t do that. This is a red signal. So have alertness. There should not be any attachment because attachment with someone else’s thoughts will create problems for you. So all your effort will be ruined. So be cautious. I’m not against anybody else, but now you have got realistic knowledge. Basically except your Selfless Self, there is no God, no Brahman, no Atman, Paramatman. What more do you want? If you go anywhere they will say “Do this thing, do that thing”. Why? Because you are not doer! Some people think past life, future life. There is no life at all. You have not done anything bad. Suppose you have done bad. In a dream are you thinking “Oh, I have done a bad thing”? How can it be a bad dream or good dream? Likewise, this is also a dream, a long dream. You are basically not doer, there is no deed. There is no experience, no experiencer. No witness, no witnesser. After leaving body, what experience is there? Prior to beingness, any experience is there? Any questions are there? Prior to beingness, no question was there. The moment that Spirit clicked with the body, all questions, all concepts started, all attachment started. So all these problems are to be solved and you can do it, you have that capacity. So be alert. I have tried my level best to convince you, to invite the attention of the invisible Listener.
So be strong, have some courage to accept the Reality. Ok. So what you have recorded you will display, it may be useful for beginners and all the devotees. The recording should be typed also, it will be helpful to everybody. Those who are not present here, they can see it in book form. I am insisting for book form because if book form is available, they will continuously read the book and that will lead to making them more and more strong spiritually. After listening to this, you are to make yourself very strong in spirituality. Not to hurt anybody’s feelings. Not to compare. Not to hurt anybody’s heart. Not to struggle with anybody else. There should not be ego “Oh I have got a lot of knowledge, I am a spiritual master”. Not like that. No comparative study. Sometimes there is temptation “Oh, I have got good knowledge, I am a great master”. Not like that. Everybody is a Master. Not to count yourself as an individual. Therefore the Reality of your formless Self, you are to accept it. Because you are not accepting the Reality, therefore all confusion starts, all illusion starts. So be strong. Again I am repeating: this human body is an opportunity for you. Don’t waste your time. Do your job, do your duties, take care of your health, take care of everything, but not to neglect It. If you take It lightly, casually, then you will be a victim of your own desires. So this will be the last terminal. No birth, no death, nothing is there. So be strong spiritually strong. Ok?
Sri Ramakant Maharaj
https://ramakantmaharaj.us/last-terminus-ramakant-maharaj-nashik-ashram/
Nothing Has Happened, Nothing Is Going To Happen
Nothing has happened, nothing is going to happen, the entire world is an illusory world, even God is an illusory God, so do not trace – because the moment the Spirit touched with the body, the world is projected, and the moment the Spirit leaves the body the world will disappear.” So, any knowledge is also illusion. Spiritual knowledge is also illusion. The Naam Mantra is also illusion, but to discard all illusions, you have to take the help of the Naam Mantra.
The Naam Mantra is having good value, as I told you, because that Spirit is very sensitive. The moment the Spirit touched with the body, you started saying “I am somebody else, I am man, or I am a woman… something… something” You got some position and along with that moment, instantly, you have seen the entire world and so many concepts engraved upon you – through parents, through society members, through so many sources. And within that circle, you are posing as something and then you’re trying to live within that illusory concept and then life is painful and not tolerable.
So, in that case somebody told you God is there, and that He is taking care of all human beings etc. But that identification is not true identification because the body is not your identity at all, as I told you several times. The holder of the body is Ultimate Truth that is called Brahman, Atman Paramatman, God, Master. That You Are! But you are neglecting your Self, you are measuring, you are counting yourself in body form. This is a dead body. Body does not have any identity. You were a small child, then you become a young man and now an old man. These are the stages of the body. Similarly mind, ego, and intellect are functioning organs of this body – subtle organs. So to come out of all this vicious circle you have to undergo the meditation and Naam Mantra. Naam Mantra is the words given to the meaning “I am Brahman – Brahman I am.” And that is why the Naam Mantra is required, because your Spirit is very sensitive and what you impress it reflects. Considering that fact, considering that point, the Naam Mantra is given, because your original identity is Brahman, you – your Self is Brahman. Brahman is not separate from you. Ultimate Truth is not separate from you. So, though you are holding the body and acting according to body, your existence is totally separate from the body. And God is also a concept developed in human life just to have some trust. “God is great – oh! God bless me!” OK – it’s OK – it’s just temporary relief. But God is not separate from you! If there is no Presence who can identify your God? To say God your Presence is required.
So, your Spontaneous Invisible Presence is most important, to have this conviction you have to undergo strictly meditation and reciting the Mantra is most important. Through reciting the Mantra and meditation you’re impressing yourself “I am Brahman! I am Brahman! I am Brahman!” Non-stop – concentrating or hammering yourself, once, one time, so that “I am That!” – that spontaneous experience will appear within you and then there will be peacefulness. Why are these worries there? Why a painful life is? Because directly or indirectly we are considering ourselves as body form and body form is not your identity at all! You are basically formless; no form is there! It’s an open fact: prior to beingness or prior to one hundred years ago you were not having any form – you were totally unknown to you. Now you are known to you because of this body, the moment the body disappears, the unknown dissolves in unknown, so no identity remains! Where will be painfulness be? Who, then, wants peacefulness who, then, wants a tension-free life? Who, then, wants a fearless life? Because body knowledge is not tolerable, therefore, all these requirements are there. Why the Master is required? Because you forgot your identity and to have this conviction you have to undergo strictly meditation. Simply reading books and listening to and approaching various Masters – so many Masters! – will just be dry spirituality.
Be practical! Don’t leave your job, do your duties, take care of your family members, live like a good human, but at the same time try to identify! This human body is an opportunity, a golden opportunity, to identify yourself in a real sense, so don’t neglect it. Do your job, do your duties, don’t neglect your family members, but at the same time, don’t lose this as an opportunity, and have firm courage to accept this reality. This open fact that is being placed before you, because the body identity is not going to remain constant, so be brave and have courage! Yes! So That I!
Calamities will be there, depression maybe be there, but it will be temporary, not permanent. Don’t become a victim of your own psychology. “Oh, what will happen?” Nothing will be happening! Nothing has been happening, and nothing is going to happen because you are not the doer there is no deed! Your Presence is just like a space or sky, sky does not know that “I am the sky,” the sky is not having any family members, the sky is having any wife, father and mother. No! So, you’re subtler than sky because you can identify the sky! Today you may not believe it, but it is a fact – a naked fact – an open fact – so don’t neglect yourself! You do not know your importance, you have got high importance, your presence is Invaluable Presence. All greatness is there but you are neglecting it! You are underestimating yourself! “Oh, how will this happen?” You are not to depend, because you are totally independent, not dependent! “Oh God bless me!” Not even the Master is required; the Master is required only because you forgot your identity. Your Spontaneous Presence is itself the Master! Your Spontaneous Invisible Presence within this body is itself is the Master! I am placing before you this open fact, so don’t torture yourself. Be brave. Things are coming and going. It may be a bad thing it may be a good thing; forget it! Do not give it so much importance. Find out the way how to come out from all these illusionary circumstances. To make your life bearable! To make the human life bearable you have to identify yourself. You do need not to go anywhere or you will yourself be misguided. To find yourself why would you need to go here or there? No need of any Master is required! Try to please your own Master within you! The Finder Itself is the Master. For which you read some books of course, “Selfless Self,” “I am That,” some books from Ramana Maharshi and other really good books helpful for spiritual information, spiritual identity, for conviction. Because lack of confidence is causing you spiritual illness, so be brave, try to stabilize – within your Selfless Self – any lack of confidence, lack of will power, underestimating yourself. These are discrepancies. Instead, create some confidence: “I can do it!” Confidence is most important. In human life you are not to achieve anything. You are to discard everything. “I am not body – I was not body – I am not going to be body.” So, whatever problems are there are related to the body only, whatever allegations are there relate to the body only, and not to You.
With the result you will find forgive and forget-ness – anything happens in your life you forgive and forget. Tolerance will be there. It’s most important. Why your peacefulness is disturbed? Because directly or indirectly, you’re posing yourself: “I am somebody else,” the ego says, “and, oh, he is disturbing me, he is attacking me by words.” But whatever Presence is within this body is the Presence everywhere; from the Speaker from this body to the Listener there is no difference! Accept this reality! You must have courage to accept the Reality. No past life. No future life. No hell. No heaven. Because you are not doer, there is no deed! Some people say because of past bad deeds, you have taken the birth – they say these things, but nothing is there! The child is not born – yet you’re talking about the fate of the child! This is the challenge to accept the reality – not to be a coward! “Oh, what will happen?” “Oh, they will do something.” You’re not helpless! Yes! I can do it! Have some courage! Age is no factor. “Oh, I am an old man – what will happen to me?”
Spirit does not have any age factor, is the sky a hundred years old or two hundred years old? Sky does not have any age factor. So, your Presence does not have any age, any age factor is connected to the body only – a very simple thing and for which again I am repeating your involvement is most important. You have to undergo strictly meditation, devote some time for your Self, at least one hour … two hours … three hours.
Those days, all these saints were devoting about ten hours, but nowadays it is not possible, but at least for one or two hours devote for some time.
For You only it is needed. Then it is not necessary. But in the beginning, it is needed. Your mind will rebel against you not allowing you peacefulness. But be confidant! “Yes, I have to do it!”
Mind, ego, intellect is in existence because of this body only! There is no mind, no ego, no intellect. Prior to beingness, where are they? Nothing. After leaving body, what about the mind, ego, intellect? MY mind? MY ego? MY intellect? Why?
Everything comes out of nothingness and everything dissolves within nothingness. So courage is most important, spiritual courage not egoistic courage. “I can do it,” the master says, “I am Brahman; I am Brahman!” When somebody says you are a donkey you’re immediately slapping him, correct? Because you accepted the donkey. But the master says, “You are not a donkey or monkey… you are Brahman!” Why don’t you accept it? As if you are accepting donkey and slapping somebody else, assaulting somebody else, like that, my Master says Yes, I Am Brahman, I have to take revenge, yes I am Brahman.
Nothing is impossible. Napoleon said “Impossible is a word in dictionary of a fool” you know? “Impossible” is a word in dictionary of a fool.” You are not a fool. Nothing is impossible. Be brave! It’s a very simple thing, not do anything that you are to do it. Because you are not doer there is no deed.
You are unnecessary carrying the burden of your human life. But beyond human life is peaceful, tension-free, the only source, you have to identify your Self “Who am I?” You are neither man nor woman you are Brahman, Ultimate Truth, and the Ultimate Truth is not separate from you. So be realized! Make others realized! Yes – why not?
V: Maharaj, there are challenges, so how can I stay with the sense that my real identity is Selfless Self?
M: Yes, correct.
V: That’s with the sense I stay, that whatever comes, comes.
M: OK, forget it! Winter is coming; Autumn is coming, these are seasons, Summer is there. Autumn is there. Winter is there. They are coming and going, you are there and there only. Be firm. So, nobody dares to attack you. I tell you: no calamities, no unpleasant atmosphere will attack you if you will be strong enough inside. If you are mentally weak, physically weak, spiritually weak, then everything will take possession of your body. Not to allow mind, ego, intellect, which previously you were slave of, now you are holder of your mind! I can dictate terms. Mind is nothing; its a flow of thoughts! So lack of courage – spiritual courage -is creating problem for you. Doubts are there, but why doubts are there? What is doubts? Where are the doubts prior to beingness? After leaving the body, any doubts are there?
V: How do we make our mind still like that?
M: Mind is a flow of thoughts, you’re recognizing what is going on! During the mind, bad thoughts are coming, and good thoughts are coming; you are identifying bad thoughts and good thoughts. You are discriminating bad thoughts and good thoughts. Let bad thoughts come. Let good thoughts come. The thoughts which are useful for your routine life you can accept it.
Q: But it is projected as if, you know, a lot of times now I’ve come here, right? And long before I found you and Nisargadatta’s book, I went to Tiruvannamalai. But since I met you I do not go there at all. Still, some people are still saying “Oh …”
M: Forget about others you have to make your own decision! You are a master of your own! Forget about others, forget about mind.
V: I am not concerned with them.
M: Of course, you remain unconcerned with the world. Not concerned with human beings, not concerned with the world, because the world itself is illusion. The world is projected out of your Invisible Presence, if the Presence is not there who will talk about the world and who will talk about the man or woman? Who will talk about the human life and beingness? The moment the spirit clicked with the body you see the world: “Oh I am that” and from that moment you started measuring yourself by body form, but body form is not your identity at all. Be brave…. nothing is impossible…. start doing meditation! It’s most important! It will give you a lot of courage – a lot of energy, meditation is not only simply words; it’s creating a vibration inside, creating energy within you, spiritual energy, to accept the Reality, and then thereafter it will be spontaneous. You will need not to go to sit for special meditation. It will be spontaneous meditation! Wherever you go it will be there! In the beginning we are advising that you sit for meditation like this like this etc. But thereafter it will not be necessary. Just like when you are learning some language – any language – you do “A – B- C- D…” like that, but now you are master of this language. You need not need to go say “A – B- C- D.” Similarly, we are asking you to sit for meditation in the beginning only, thereafter there are no rules and regulations.OK! Enough for you; short and sweet!
V: Strong!
M: Yes! Have you broadcasted this?
V: Yes.
M: Good good! So be enlightened and make others enlightened! Be realized, make others realized! Siddharameshwar Maharaj says if you realized share the knowledge, make others realized! Any question for you?
V: Self enquiry is different?
M: Forget about enquiry! No enquiry is there! It is for in the beginning “Who am I?” You’re not the body, you were not body, you’re not going to remain body. Self-enquiry: “Who am i? If I am not body who am I?” It’s called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master that you are! It’s an open fact that the body is not your identity at all! The body was not your identity! The body is not going to remain your identity. After self-enquiry you will find out the reality!
Why is self-enquiry required? To find out the reality “Who am I?” The main question is: “If I am not body then who am I?” You say “Brahman, Atman, Paramatman.” So, what is that Brahman? How that Brahman is? It cannot be imagined. It is beyond imagination, beyond any inferences, because it is Spontaneous Existence, where there is no experience and no experiencer, no witness and no witnesser. In Spontaneous Existence there is no experience and no experiencer, no witness no witnesser! No identity is there. It is called nothingness. So, everything came out of nothing and everything dissolves within nothing. What is enquiry? The child which is not born, we are talking about the fate of that child. It’s ok in the beginning. You have to self-enquiry. It is required. Self-enquiry – self-knowledge – self-realization – these are three stages. In spiritual life there are three stages: self-enquiry – because we forgot our identity, we are not knowing our self; we are not knowing anything about spirituality – we are not knowing anything about anything… we are told God is there and God is great is there. Find out, because all knowledge is within you only. Knowledge is not separate from you. Your Spontaneous Invisible Existence is itself a sign of knowledge: Reality – Ultimate Truth final truth. Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master – all these names are given. You are almighty God, God is not separate from you. So, stop measuring yourself in body form, it’s an open fact that you were not the body – you are not the body – you are not going to remain the body. All concepts came along with the body, all requirements, all needs came along with the body. Who needs peacefulness? Who needs happiness? Who wants a tension-free life? Who wants a fearless life? Because body is not tolerable.
V: When I meditate like this a lot of thoughts coming up in my mind.
M: Don’t stress your mind, not to give so much importance to your mind.
V: So, should I wait for these thoughts to stop?
M: In the beginning…You Listen to me! I will take care of you! Do not worry about it. Since you came here I will make you Perfect! Nisargadatta Maharaj says I am not making you a disciple, I am making you a Master. You came here as a devotee, but you will go afterwards as a Master! “Yes, I am Master!” My Master says I am a Master! Live like a Master! The Owner Of This World!
Sri Ramakant Maharaj
https://ramakantmaharaj.us/nothing-has-happened-nothing-is-going-to-happen/
All Questions Are Rooted Through Body Form
Sri Ramakant Maharaj a recorded discussion from Ranjit Ashram in Nashik of Satsang with Sri Ramakant Maharaj October 22, 2017.
M: So, we’re having human life, holding human body, and in human body, the Presence, spirit, energy is there, through which we are identifying our self as “I”. The moment that spirit or Presence touches with the body, painful life started. That Presence has taken form, body form, as a man or woman, any being. Every being would like to have a peaceful life, a blissful life, but the physical body, food body, is not tolerable, particularly the human body, we’re experiencing our self, and the experience is as “I”. “I am body, I am form”. It is a little bit of a painful experience, it is not tolerable. To tolerate the human body form, we are trying to search for happiness, peacefulness, with material causes. Material causes mentioned are publicity, money, and sex. These are the main material sources to have a life that is peaceful or blissful. They are giving some temporary relief. Other than this, we are trying to have some spiritual sources. God, Goddesses, various Masters, and through various sources, praying to Gods, sitting for meditation, doing some physical activities, just like tapas, counting beads, and so many things. And there are so many Masters in this world; everybody is trying to convince, “Do this do that” so that you’ll get some blissfulness, some peacefulness. And in spite of doing all these activities, physical activities, we are not having any satisfaction, happiness, peacefulness, what you were expecting. We are getting temporary relief but not permanent relief, because always there is the fear of death. Always there is tension, no happiness, depression is there, nervousness is there. And because we are doing all activities through body knowledge, through body form, it creates some unwanted things. The result is a painful life. So how to find happiness, peacefulness, blissfulness? Spirituality teaches you how you can be successful, how you achieve real happiness, real peacefulness. And the first lesson is: you are holding the body and it is not your identity at all. It is a physical body, food body. So long as you are supplying food it is growing, the moment you stop supplying food and water, it will go away. So simple common sense is that the physical body, this form, is not permanent, it is having some limit, time limit, age limit. And who is holding the body? The holder of the body is called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master. This is bookish knowledge. What is the role of this Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master in my human life? That is the main question. And after knowing they’re Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master, how will they get happiness? The second question. Such questions are appreciated. There are some people asking, “What is the color of Brahma? What is the color of Krishna?” These are not relevant how will they help you?
You should have knowledge that will help you at the time of leaving the body. Again, from childhood until today we are having a lot of concepts. Thousands of concepts. Concepts of parents, concepts of society, concepts of relatives, concepts of various sources. And now we are one with the concepts. We are trying to live within the circle of the concepts. So spiritual knowledge says, “Try to identify”. Prior to all these concepts, your Presence was there. It is just like space or sky. The Presence does not like all these illusory concepts. Your Presence does not know “I am Presence”. Prior to Beingness how were you? Invisible Presence, unidentified Presence, unidentified identity, where there is no experience, no experiencer, no witness, no witnesser. No “I” “you” “he” “she” or “it”. No concept of God or Goddesses, no needs, no requirements. These are the basics. Because of the human body we are having a lot of expectations. A lot of needs and requirements, to tolerate the human body, so how will all these requirements and needs help me. So, unless you identify that “me”, “I”, you will not get that blissfulness. Blissfulness is there, happiness is there. But, basically, try to understand, try to identify yourself. Who is acting with this body? When I say “I”, when I am talking with you, when I see the world? Who sees the world? Spiritual knowledge is trying to invite the attention of the invisible listener within you. Through which you are trying to identify the invisible Presence which is called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master. To whom it is not necessary for any blissfulness or peacefulness. Blissfulness, peacefulness, happiness, are required for the body form. Basically, you are formless. Since you are formless there is no birth, no death, nothing is there. No past birth, no future birth. Nothing is there.
You have to identify, you have to know, everything came out of nothing and everything dissolves into nothing. After leaving the body who wants happiness? Who wants peacefulness? What to do for all these things? That is another question. “Yes, I can understand, I am not, body I was not body, okay”. “Body knowledge is not tolerable this is also okay”, “How will I get peacefulness?” Inside this is burning inside. To have peacefulness, blissfulness, you are to remove all the garbage. Garbage is in the form of various concepts. You have to clean it! “How can I clean it?” Again, a question. To clean all this garbage since childhood until today, you have to undergo meditation. What do we mean by meditation? To whom should I meditate? Again, a question is there. Meditate on the invisible meditator within you. Who is expecting happiness? Who is expecting peacefulness? Who is expecting a fearless life? That invisible Presence is there, who has taken the form of a human body. Try to identify! Go deeper and deeper and deeper then you will forget your body identity. The moment you forget your body identity, at that time, spontaneous peacefulness
is there. Instead of considering “I am somebody else” that “somebody else” dissolves. I am not the body! Whatever painfulness is to the body and not to me. I am the holder of the body, so the body is not my identify. Because after leaving the body there is not any painfulness. Any fear is there? Prior to this Beingness or prior to consciousness no fear was there. No blissfulness was there. No requirement, no need, no experience. So, the unknown comes into the known through the body only. After knowing this secret of spiritual life, you will be totally free. Even if something happens to your body. You are having Conviction because the body is not your identity. So that incidence, that problem, will be bearable for you. It is painful, but you will think, “I am not the body at all”. It is temporary; so long as the body is there it is bound to happen (problems).
So the thing which is not tolerable prior to knowledge will become tolerable. So spontaneously blissfulness will be there. That pain you are having, that will be reduced. Just like my Master said, a simple example is given. Neighbors child is there, they are given to you. They are suffering from high temperature. You feel very sorry for that child. But at the same time, you are knowing: “This is the neighbors child not my child”. You feel it, high temperature, the child is crying, hmm? But at the same time, you are knowing: “This is not my child”. Similarly, this body is not your child. The body belongs to the five elements. There is suffering in this body but you are knowing “body is not my identity at all” just like this child is not mine. Suffering is there you, feel it. You feel sorry for it. But, at the same time, “It is not mine”. It is a five elements body. So, painfulness is there. As long as the body is there, a painful life is there, depression is there. So, then depression will be dissolved. Because you are considering this body is my identity. That body identity is supposed to be dissolved. It is a very simple thing. Spirituality is very simple. You know everything intellectually. You will be definitely realized. That Conviction is most important. “Yes, I am not body”. To have this Conviction, spiritual science is giving some methods, discipline, this is called meditation. Why is meditation required and what is the meditation? For meditation Naam Mantra is given, the meaning of Naam Mantra is “I am Brahman, Brahman I am”. It is called Soham Sadhana. According to breathing you are to recite the Mantra. With the result that out of that Mantra, some vibration will be created, and unwanted things will be removed and garbage will be cleaned. Why are we worried? Why is there no peacefulness? Because there is a lot of garbage inside, through mind, through ego, through intellect. So many things are there. So many concepts are there. Even though we are listening all the time every day it is not removed. Some questions are arising. Mind is pricking. Mind is creating so many problems. So, control your mind, control your ego, control your intellect.
As I have told you, mind ego and intellect are the functioning parts of the body, human body, food body. They were not in existence prior to Beingness, prior to consciousness. After consciousness they came into existence. It is part and parcel of these five elements. So how you are prior to Beingness or how you are prior to consciousness, that identity is supposed to be convinced, spontaneous Conviction is required. Then what is not tolerable will become tolerable. And for which I am insisting only reading is not sufficient, only listening is not sufficient. You have to have practical knowledge. Practice it. In the beginning I am telling you, for five months, six months, one year, you’ll feel “Oh it is a very prolonged thing”. Some, say, dislike, mind is rebelling against you, “What to do?” laziness will be there, nervousness will be there, but do it! That is the only remedy. In human life, to control mind ego intellect and to have realistic peacefulness, there is not any alternative to meditation. Only meditation can remove all the garbage. So in the
beginning you may feel “Oh…”. Meditation is not sitting like this. Always remember the words. Mantra. The Mantra is always hammering you “You are Brahman you are Brahman you are Brahman”. Twenty-four hours you are hammering. Even if you are in deep sleep the Mantra is going on inside. You’ll feel it. After awakening in the morning, in the early morning, you’ll feel the Mantra is going on inside. That oneness is supposed to be there. The Mantra is supposed to become one part and parcel of your food body. With continuous hammering all the garbage will become clean. And then reflection will be there. Suppose this mirror is full of dirt. So, you have to clean it then you will see your face. Correct? Similarly, with the mirror, transparency is there, but it is covered with so many concepts, so much garbage. So, you have to remove it, for the purpose of removing, meditation is there. After having meditation, after having Conviction, after removing all these things, you can just casually do it. But, until that time you have to do it there is not any other source. Okay? Any questions?
Q: Yes, question is there. “Maharaj yesterday you told me that it was a matter of being detached and identifying with the Self, that is why it was important to meditate. (M: Yes) During my meditation, it is a lot like contemplation and I find my body staring into the void as if melting into the landscape that has faded away. Is this normal, or is it but all meditation? Thank you, Maharaj.
M: It all is meditation, because there is some confusion started. So it is a cleaning process, a purification process. So, during meditation “I” is supposed to be dissolved. As long as you are noticing “I”, experiencing “I”, all these experiences will be there. Where all experience disappears there, you are. It is all processing, when you are doing meditation, some experience appears, good experience, bad experience, depression, nervousness, laziness. You have to go through all these things. But, silently, permanently and slowly, everything will be dissolved. As I have told you, you are to remove all the garbage, since childhood until today, so many concepts are there, taking possession of our body. Therefore, you have to remove it. It is a deliberate act, but to have the deliberate act, you have to undergo the meditation. So, meditation is the base. Whatever you are experiencing inside, then after you will experience something else. You’ll feel exceptional peacefulness. You’ll feel “I am different from body”. You’ll feel as if you are flying in the air, without weight. A lot of experiences appear, when you become thinner and thinner and thinner. You’ll feel so much blissfulness, exceptional happiness which cannot be described with any words. So continue with the meditation, continue reciting the Mantra, and then you’ll see the fun. All experiences will appear within you. Don’t rely upon me but I am telling of the experience that can happen from you. Because you are the central point of this world. The entire world is projected from you. The world does not have it is own identity. The world is the seer’s reflection. In the morning, when you are awakening, you immediately see the world. If there is no awakening in the morning, everything is gone. Hmm? So Kabir says “Consciousness disappears, the entire world disappears”. So no “I”, no “You”, no Bhagavann, no Master, nothing is there. Master is there, God is there, “I am” is there, “You” are there, as long as you have got consciousness. The moment the consciousness disappears, where is the “I”? Where is the Brahman, where is the Atman, where is the Master, where is the disciple? Nothing is there. Prior to consciousness what is there? All questions are rooted through body form, and you are not body at all. So basically, try to have that Conviction that how you were prior to consciousness, how you were prior to Beingness, where there is nothing.
We’re talking about something because we are holding body, we have a lot of attachment with the body. That attachment with the body is supposed to be dissolved. And I am saying not to neglect your body, but try to convince yourself, it is an open fact. Even if you think about it intellectually. Body is not your identity at all. Body is having a time limit. So, continue with the meditation and you will feel so many things. Some or other day, you may feel you are talking, Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, is talking with you. Then all questions will be solved within you only. Just like I have given the example of Eklavya. It is a unique example in the Mahabharata, because Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, Master is not separate from you. Until that time, you are to undergo the meditation. Oneness is there, where there is no “I”, there is no knower, no experience of Master and no experience of Brahman. Where everything disappears there, you are. Where everything disappears there, you are. But that is unknown. No experience is there. No experiencer is there. No witness is there, no witnesser is there. Body based “I” is supposed to be dissolved, to disappear. How are you prior to consciousness, prior to Beingness, how are you after leaving the body? Just imagine, forget it. Just imagine. After leaving body who remains? What experiencer remains? Do you know any God? Any Master? Any disciple? Any devotee? Nothing is there. As long as you are holding body all experiences are there. And to have this Conviction “I was not body, I am not body, I am not going to remain body.” “Body is not my identity, body was not my identity, body is not going to remain my identity” so far since “I am not doer at all!” There is no past, no future, no past birth or future birth. Why take up ego for this present life? Okay you can apply it for life happily. Just like a dream, this is a long dream. In the dream when you come to know this is a dream then you are laughing, “Oh, it is a dream!”. You are acting freely. Hmm? Any question?
Q: Yes. “Dear Guru, when I close my eyes there is someone looking at the black space. Should I focus on the seer while reciting the Mantra?
M: Yes, you can do it in the beginning. The seer is not separate from you. You are the seer and you are the meditator. You are the meditator and you are the seer. These are not separate. Oneness is required. What you see, what you are experiencing is out of your Presence only. When the seer disappears, nothing will be there. So, continue with the meditation, continue with the Mantra, and see the miracles happen within you. Okay.
Sri Ramakant Maharaj
https://ramakantmaharaj.us/all-questions-are-rooted-through-body-form/
Listen Again and Again
What happens, see, one thing is basic thing: we are holding human form. The moment the Spirit, Presence touched with the body, we started knowing our self “I am male or female”, correct? As a matter of fact, male and female, or any form is not your identity at all, very basic thing. Can you follow me? This form is not our identity at all, who is holding this body? It is called Atman, Paramatman, God, Master, these are names given, we are trying to identify. The Spirit which is holding this body has got a lot of experience. Through body we have a lot of experience, good experience, bad experience. Secondly, when the Spirit clicked with the body, touched with the body, we want some happiness, pleasure. We come across some pains also, pains which are not tolerable, body is not tolerable. Some wrong feelings are there. Psychological problems are there. Physical problems are there. Mental problems are there, so many problems are there.
The moment we came across with body form, problems start. And what do we want exactly? Why are we doing spirituality? Why we want Master? Why is meditation required? Because we are not happy, no peacefulness inside. Everything is there, but basic thing, our basic need is peacefulness. And for which we are searching here and there. We are searching Masters, reading so many books and doing so many things, visiting temples, why? Because we are not having pleasure inside. We are having some pain, psychological pain, mental pain, so and so, and therefore you are wandering here and there.
But in our spirituality, we are focusing on the Invisible Listener within You is the root cause of this world. The central point of this world. We are inviting attention of that invisible Presence who is holding this body. Correct? That is your Ultimate Truth. Body is not your Ultimate Truth. A lot of theories are there. I am avoiding these theories: 5 elements, Maya, Brahman, and so many things are there. Theory is ok but theory will not serve your purpose: after reading theoretical knowledge, what help do you get? Nothing.
Who wants peacefulness? Who wants happiness? Who wants a fearless life? Who wants a tension free life? How will we get these? That is the problem. Only dry knowledge, dry spiritual knowledge, any rituals, any karmas will not give you happiness. A lot of people say “do this karma, do that karma”. Some rigorous exercise is given. Discipline is there, stand on one foot. So many things are there. We say not to do anything! Try to identify yourself. Because directly or indirectly, we are having impact, impression of body knowledge. We are doing everything! Even though we are doing meditation, but we are forgetting that meditator “I am somebody else meditating”. So many questions are asked: “how to find out ‘I am’, what is ‘I am’?”. There is no specific definition of ‘I am’. The term ‘I am’ came into existence the moment Spirit clicked with the body. Prior to that, no ‘I am’ was there, no ‘you are’ was there. No language is there. No experience is there. There is no experiencer also.
In brief, prior to Beingness, nothing was there. After leaving the body, what remains? Nothing is there. So, all requirements, needs and expectations came along with the body only. Because this food body is not tolerable. This is a food body. So far you are supplying food and water, it is growing. The moment you stop supplying food and water, it will go away. So, it is open fact, even if you think intellectually: body is not your identity at all, body was not your identity at all and body is not going to remain your identity at all. But through body, and through Presence or Spirit, we can identify our Self. Apparently, it appears in duality. But, sometimes we have to take the ego, duality is required. If I don’t exercise duality, I can’t talk with you a single word. As a matter of fact, there is no difference between you and me. Different bodies are there. The speaker within this body and listener within that body, are one and the same. It is formless. No form is there. That spontaneous Conviction is required.
The purpose of spirituality… we are not having Conviction therefore realization is not near about to us. What do we mean by “realization”? “Oh, he is realized, he is a realized Master”: he identified oneself in real sense. What identification is there? Body is not my identity at all. This form is not my identity at all. I am formless. There is no birth, no death to Me. No deed, no doer to Me. After knowing this, you can live your life normally. Just like in dream. If you come to know this is a dream, then you are free. In dream you see so many things: good things, bad things, you are enjoying your dream. But in that dream, if you come to know this is a dream, then you’ll enjoy that dream. Because you know this is a dream, it is not real, correct? Same thing: at present we are holding this body, this is a long dream. It is fact, this is not going to remain. This body is having time limit, age limit, stages. You’re a small child, then you turn young man or young woman, then you grow to old man or old woman. And one or other day, willingly or unwillingly, you have to leave this body. That means this form is not your real form. We are holding this body, but who is acting through body? That identification is most important. Unless you identify yourself in real sense, again there are chances of another dream. Now we don’t want any dream, so this is an opportunity. Human body is an opportunity to find out yourself, to identify yourself.
We are having a lot of questions. So many questions are asked. Because these questions are coming through body only. Because some or other way, body establishment, body identity is there. When you come to know “body is not my identity at all”, no question is there. You are Final Truth. Brahman, Atman, God, Master, names are given to You, not to this body, the Invisible Listener within You.
This is the brief of spirituality. So, dry knowledge, dry discussion will not help you. Intellectually we understand everything. But, in practice, Conviction is required. Theoretically we are knowing “I am Brahman”. Because so many books are there, they are inviting attention that: Except your Selfless Self, there is no Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God. It is fact. But, in spite of that, we are having some attachment with the body. A lot of attachment with the body. Suppose anybody hurts you with any words, you feel “oh he insulted me”, it happens. Suppose, any person, he hurts you by any words, bad words, you feel “I am insulted”. Because you are not expecting those words from others. That means there is some impact of the body.
Directly or indirectly, we are living with mind ego intellect. Mind ego intellect came along with the body, they are functioning authority, functioning organs. So, unless you overcome the mind, ego, intellect, unless there is confirmation “I am not body”. Until that time, you feel so many things. You will feel insulted, depression maybe there, non-peacefulness maybe there, so many problems are bound to be there.
So, to overcome all these things, some method is there, some discipline is there. What discipline? You have to undergo strictly meditation. Meditation is the base, the foundation of spirituality. You need not, nor are required, to do anything. Meditation means concentration, concentration on the concentrator. In this body, invisible concentrator is there. In this body, invisible listener is there. Body is not listening. If there is no Presence within the body, who will listen? So, that Presence, Invisible Presence, within this body, it is called Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master, that You Are. But you are not accepting it! Again, and again, mind is playing, creating some questions, not allowing to stabilize. We are unstable because mind is playing along. Mind is very crazy. Mind, what is mind? Manufacturer of thoughts, in your dream also. So, mind is one of the parts of this body, it is not you.
Mind, ego, intellect appear upon your Presence. You are supplying energy to the mind, ego, intellect. So, try to identify yourself. The basic principle of spirituality is: try to identify your Self in real sense. Though we are knowing everything about spirituality, but we are not having Conviction. To have Conviction “I am not body, I was not body, I am not going to remain body” – you have to undergo strictly meditation IN THE BEGINNING, underlined. Because that is the only way to have Conviction, that’s the only way to have realization. I am telling you meditation is also illusion. We are giving some words – “Aham Brahmasmi”, “Soham”, so many words are there. Through those words, you are hammering your Self – “You are Brahman”. Because you forgot your identity. In spite of knowing this, our mind is not allowing us to stabilize, creating some problems. There are so many questions asked “oh, my mind is doing this thing, I am not stable, some problems are there, physical problems”, because you are giving more importance to your mind.
To control your mind, to control the intellect and ego, you have to undergo strictly meditation. I am not doing any miracles. Miracles happen from you because you are miraculous source. Source of miracles starts from you. Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master, is not separate from you. I am again and again repeating the same thing. Only thing, what I am telling you, you are to accept it. What is my advice for you? We are inviting attention: Except your Selfless Self there is no God, no Brahman, no Atman, no Paramatman, no Master. You are Master. My Master Nisargadatta Maharaj says: “I am not making you disciple, I am making you Master” because you are already Master. But, you forgot your identity. You are missing yourself, trying to find out outside.
Go to this Master, that Master, that Master, read so many books…. No happiness. So, everything starts from You, everything ends within You. You are the source of this world. Your Presence is subtler than sky, space. Nothing was there prior to Beingness, nothing will be after leaving this body. Everything came out of nothing, everything dissolves within nothing, it is fact. But, we are not accepting that fact. Still we are having some ideas, some concepts, still some temptation to go here and there. Why to go here and there to find out yourself? You are there and there only.
You are not to go anywhere to find out Brahman, Atman, Paramatman, God, Master. It is a waste of time. Settle with your Selfless Self. You are the central point of this world. Entire world is projected out of your Presence. I am placing before You fact, your facts, listener’s fact. Listener has tremendous capacity, tremendous energy, you are not using your energy. Still you are living just like a beggar “oh do something, do something, give me your blessing, have some blessing, oh god, bless me, bless me”. Why?
Have your own blessing. God is not separate from you. Master is not separate from you. Brahman is not separate from you. Atman is not separate from you. But the impact or impression of the body knowledge, that is supposed to be dissolved. It is a very simple thing. And how will it be dissolved? You follow instructions given by the Master. Don’t raise any question. Meditation is the base. When you ask about meditation to someone “oh, I am doing meditation but not stable, what to do?”. Follow it. Ok, immediately you can’t be Master of the language, you have to study it. When you are a student, ‘a, b, c, d’ like that. We don’t become master of language, we study ‘a, b, c, d’ first standard, second standard, third standard. Then you’ll be Master or PHD of all this, post-graduation, etc. At that time, you need not, nor are required, to say ‘a, b, c, d’. Similarly, meditation is ‘a, b, c, d’, beginning lesson, basic lesson. You have to go through strictly. I am telling you, in the beginning you will find some difficulty. Your mind will not allow you to steady, it will create problems.
Mind means flow of thoughts. It is very crazy, because mind is in commanding nature. Now, Master says “you be of commanding nature, don’t follow instruction of your mind, don’t be slave of your mind, have command, try to go against your mind”. If mind says, “do something”, “no I am not doing”. There are some children, parents ask “do something”, “no! I am not doing this”. Try to go against your mind, that is the basic thing. Directly or indirectly, we are a slave of mind. We are following, “oh my mind is not doing this, what to do Maharaj?” What to do? Instrument is given, power is given to you, you can use your full power. Not to depend upon your Master, I am not doing any miracles. “Bless me, put your hand on my head”, why? You can put your hand on your own head. Because there is no difference at all, I am placing before you Final Truth. I am not claiming ‘I am a great man, great Master or great philosopher’. This philosopher, spiritual man is already within you, but you are neglecting it. You are underestimating your Self, that is the tragedy, don’t do this. Because human body is a Golden Opportunity for you, if you neglect, if you take casually, again there is possibility to have another dream.
Now this is last terminal. No search, not to search anywhere. Searcher Itself Is Ultimate Truth! Why to go search here and there. No Master can do anything. Knowledge is also ignorance. What knowledge? Knowledge means just to identify yourself in real sense. We are not going to become great Masters, spiritual Masters. The purpose behind that: we want pleasure, happiness, peacefulness, blissfulness that is already within you. But we are giving so much importance to body-based concepts. Unless the body-based concepts dissolve, disappear, vanish, you will not get pleasure. Fear is there always, fear of death is there, “oh what will happen?”.
So, you can have commanding nature, you are not to take egoistic thoughts. You can do it, but you are lacking courage. To have that courage, you have to undergo strictly meditation. Meditation in the beginning, until you get Conviction. Then, again the question: how to meditate? In our lineage, we are giving some words, it is language. Those words are creating some vibrations. Those words are very powerful. Those words are having so much power, energy. People are not knowing the importance of the words. It is having tremendous importance. Therefore, we are asking not to disclose that Mantra to anybody else. But try to stand on your own feet, nothing is impossible. All these great Saintly people, Ramana Maharshi, so many Saintly people, what did they do? They followed the instruction of their Masters. They digested what they read and listened. You’re reading so many books, “oh, I Am That book, Ramana Maharshi, this book, that book”, only reading books is not important. Try to find out that Invisible Reader within You, whose story is that?
Invisible Reader within You, it is Ultimate Truth. I am pointing out that Reader, invisible Reader within you, not to the body. I am inviting attention of the invisible Listener within you, not to body, you are formless. Just to accept this Reality. And to accept this Reality, you must have courage, not to follow the instructions of the mind, ego, intellect. These are only the functioning organs of the body, it is not Ultimate Truth. Because, their existence came along with the body. If there is no existence of the Spirit within the body, who will talk about the mind, ego, intellect? Therefore, I am always advising all of you: try to identify yourself, convince yourself. Power is given to you, use your power. You have got tremendous power. Not to be beggar “oh do something fair to me”, why?
No doubt, you be humble, be normal, but not to have any expectation “do something for me”. Why? You can do it. So many things. Because your power is not limited to the body. You have got tremendous power. So, don’t consider yourself as a coward or something “oh what to do?” hmm? You can do it. So many things. So, therefore, first thing you have to follow the instructions of the Master and the discipline of meditation strictly. Then there won’t be any question, all questions will be solved within you.
All questions are related to the body only. Psychological questions, mental questions, “my mind is not…”, what do you mean ‘mind’? Because we are giving more importance to mind, ego, intellect. You can stop it, you can listen to the mind, not to follow instructions. So many people advising you, you just listen to it and forget it. Things which are useful for you, you can accept it, otherwise forget it.
Not to follow mind all the time. Mind means flow of thoughts. Thoughts are appearing in your mind and go to intellect to take decision and through ego it is implemented, it is a process. So, theory is important up to some extent, until you get realization. Not to depend upon theory. You need not go to do anything because you are not doer, there is no deed at all, Ok.
So just, what I told, you follow it. Listen again and again. Because in a nutshell, in brief, I have given the entire philosophy. You need not go anywhere, you can approach your own Master within you, not to go any Master. Master is not separate from you. I am again and again repeating the same thing, same principle is there. Only reading so many books, it is meaningless. Only collecting information, is not necessary. Not to go to any other Masters. Master is not separate from you. Respect the Masters, I am not asking to neglect Masters. Respect all the Saintly people, but at the same time, that Master is within you.
So, to know the Master, to identify God, your Presence is required. If there is no Presence in the body, who can identify God or Masters? So just to follow it, that’s enough. Some problems are there with my body, but I am trying my level best to convince those who are coming to me. Beyond that no spirituality is there. Ok?
Sri Ramakant Maharaj
https://ramakantmaharaj.us/listen-again-and-again/