Hindu Teachings
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"One should make an effort to practice sadhana, in other words, to go to one's real Home.
If the mind is not turned in that direction there will be foolishness, misery - suffering.
As if by compulsion the mind runs after the gratification of desires that bring suffering.
The mind has become uncontrollable. By the repetition of a divine Name or mantra and by meditation, this illness can be cured."
Sri Anandamayi Ma in Matri Vani
Seeking and Finding the Kingdom of Heaven
Talk #609
Devotee: I feel that I am transplanted into some other land than the Earth.
Sri Bhagavan, while looking into some correspondence, heard it,
smiled and said: “This is the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of
Heaven mentioned in the Bible, and this world, are not two different
regions. ‘The Kingdom is within you,’ says the Bible. So it is. The
realized being sees this as the Kingdom of Heaven whereas the others
see it as ‘this world’. The difference lies only in the angles of vision.”
The close disciples of Sri Bhagavan said that he shunned theoretical explanations
and kept turning the questioner back to consideration of sadhana, the path to be
followed. Furthermore it was said of him,
“It was sadhana, and sadhana alone, that he came to teach."
His efforts in teaching those who came to him can be summed up in guidance
toward transforming their lives to abandon the old (ages old) habits, both
physically and mentally. Many who found themselves in his presence were
satisfied in just hearing, 'the Kingdom of Heaven is within you'. They would glibly
smile with self-confidence and then return to their old ways without even a
glimmer of introspection regarding the condition of their minds and hearts.
But some wanted more. And to them Bhagavan gave more, and is still giving much
more! He would watch them as they meditated and would notice every detail of
their lives, both within and without. To those who sought change Bhagavan was
relentless in keeping not a single stone unturned. His success was not just
changing their angles of vision; he changed them.
The root definition of the Sanskrit word “sadhana” means the method by which
the instrument of transformation is applied. The Saints speak of sadhana being
like a chisel carving rough stone into a work of perfection. We should take this
simile to heart, and begin our spiritual ‘realization’ from the ground up, in order
to secure a strong mind able to grasp the subtle and merge into it. To this end Sri
Bhagavan’s teaching is ready and waiting: “Physically the digestive and other
organs are kept free from irritation. Therefore food is regulated both in quantity
and quality. Non-irritants are eaten, avoiding chillies, excess of salt, onions, wine,
opium, etc. Avoid constipation, drowsiness and excitement, and all foods that
induce them. Mentally take interest in one thing and fix the mind on it. Let such
interest be all-absorbing to the exclusion of everything else. This is dispassion
(vairagya) and concentration. God or mantra may be chosen. The mind gains
strength to grasp the subtle and merge into it.” Talk #2
“If you are firm in your belief in the guidance of God,
stick to it, and do not concern yourself with what happens around you.
Furthermore, there may be happiness or misery.
Be equally indifferent to both and abide in the faith of God.
That will be so only when one’s faith is strong
that God looks after all of us.”
Talk #596
Wisdom Bytes of Bhagavan
Sri Ramana Maharshi (Section #2)
Devotee: “I am afraid if I continue like this I shall go to hell.”
Bhagavan, the Ocean of Compassion without Reason, tenderly replied:
“If you do Bhagavan will go after you and bring you back.”
Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge, p.172
Lifetimes of avoiding Bhagavan's Straight Talk!
29th August, 1936 - Talk #241.
Devotee: How to avoid misery?
Maharshi: Has misery a shape? Misery is only unwanted thought. The mind is not strong enough to resist it.
D.: How to gain such strength of mind?
M.: By worship of God.
D.: Meditation of the God of Immanence is hard to understand.
M.: Leave God alone. Hold your Self.
D.: How to do japa (repetition of mantras)?
M.: It is of two kinds - gross and subtle. The latter is meditation on it, and it gives strength to the mind.
D.: But the mind does not get steady for meditation.
M.: It is due to lack of strength.
D.: Sandhya is usually done mechanically. Similarly other religious duties. Is it useful? Is it not better to do japa, etc., knowing their
meanings?
M.: Um! Um!
Bhagavan's teaching was indeed practical guidance, and exclusively that. He shunned theoretical explanations, and when the questioner persisted in theorizing, Bhagavan would end the line of inquiry by politely saying: “Um! Um!” as shown above, or out rightly declaring: “Enough!”
As Arthur Osborne has said: “Bhagavan kept turning the questioner to practical considerations of sadhana, of the path to be followed. It was that and only that he was here to teach!” Moreover, Bhagavan kept turning the questioner to devotion, worship, and finally an experience of God. The basic premises of the main tenets of Hinduism were the means that Bhagavan employed to guide the faithful to the experience and realization of the Divine. His teaching was never complicated, though many tried to make it so. Perhaps the section from Talks, above, demonstrates how the vagaries of our human minds try to avoid simple, straight talk. As all of the Saints and their scriptures declare, from Buddha to Bhagavan and beyond, the trouble with us (all the trouble in the world) is with unwanted thoughts, and the habits they are built upon. Sri Ramana's whole life and teaching directs us to first face up to this fact and then set about changing our minds. Bhagavan tells us to resist the rascally mind by the strength that comes from practical, not theoretical, surrender to God. Therefore our first, and most significant, prayer to him should be: “How is it done?” and even more, “Please make me want to do it!” His method was, and is, the way that leads to perfection and stillness through meditation and inner inquiry resulting in direct experience of the Divine. Quite frankly, we all have avoided this practice for lifetimes, for why else would we still be being taught it? Having come under his guidance, let us now arise and face Him who says:
“In the Bhagavad Gita it is said that it is the nature of the mind to wander.
One must bring one's thoughts to bear on God. By long practice the mind is controlled and made steady.” Talk #91
“Christ-consciousness and Self-Realization are all the same.”
Talk #88
Bhagavan on Jesus, His Cross and our own Resurrection
6th November, 1935 - Talk #86
“The Master gave the true significance of the Christian faith thus: Christ is the ego. The Cross is the body. When the ego is crucified, and it perishes, what survives is the Absolute Being (God), (cf. “I and my Father are one”) and this glorious survival is called Resurrection.”
When Bhagavan was a young lad, he possessed two books. One was a traditional collection of hymns and prayers to be recited throughout the week. The second was the Holy Bible. It is said that even before his experience of Self-illumination at age 16, he was a lover of all things Divine. This innate devotion to God and His Saints manifested in the heart of Bhagavan in the purest form; unfettered simplicity.
It is no wonder then; in the latter years of his life he retained this unique and naked simplicity in guiding us to understand the most profound Truth of human achievement. In 1935, Bhagavan Ramana declared:
“If told the simple truth - 'The Kingdom of Heaven is within you' -
mankind is not satisfied and will read complex and far-fetched meanings in such statements.
Mature minds alone can grasp the simple Truth in all its nakedness.” Talk #96
If we can only maintain an unfettered and simple approach to his guidance, without succumbing to the human urge to complicate the Truth with far-fetched meanings, we will surely attain the glorious survival of our own Resurrection.
