Is that so...

In the spiritual life, the most important, significant and fruitful thing is self-control. No self-control, no Self-realisation. In the dictionary we come across hundreds of thousands of words. Of all these words, self-control is the most difficult one to practise. How can we have self-control? If we want to have self-control, we have to surrender ourselves to the Source. This Source is Light; this Source is God.

A child wants to have many things, many useless, harmful things. But the mother knows that if she gives the child these things he will be ruined. And just because the mother and the child are one, the mother herself will also be ruined. So the mother does not fulfil the child's countless unlit, destructive desires. Similarly, the body is a child. If we fulfil the wants and demands of the body, then in the long run our life will be ruined.

Now, why does the body not listen to us? The answer is very simple. We do not listen to our soul. If we listened to our soul, the body also would listen to us. We know that the body has a superior, which is the vital. The vital's superior is the mind, the mind's superior is the heart and the heart's superior is the soul. The soul's superior is God. The soul listens to the Inner Pilot, God, all the time. The heart very often listens to the dictates of the soul - very often, but not always. The mind practically never listens to the heart. The vital does not listen to the mind, and the body certainly does not listen to the vital. The actual problem starts with the mind, in the mind.

How can we inspire the body, the vital, the mind and the heart to enter into better and more fulfilling light? We have to know at this point that if we find fault with the body, vital, mind and heart, we can never change and transform them. But if we appreciate them, saying that they have the capacity to play a significant role in God's cosmic Drama, that they are as important as the soul for the full manifestation of God on earth, then we can transform them. If we do not condemn the body, vital, mind and heart - on the contrary, if we tell them that they can be the chosen instruments of God, that God needs them for His divine lila (game) on earth - then eventually we can transform them. The unruly members of our family will before long feel the importance of their respective roles in the fulfilment of God's manifestation on earth. They can and will be unified and united for the fulfilment of a single Goal.

Self-control. In self-control we need simplicity, sincerity and humility. Simplicity has to feed self-control. Sincerity has to feed self-control. Humility has to feed self-control. We can say that the breakfast of self-control is simplicity, the lunch of self-control is sincerity and the dinner of self-control is humility. Unfortunately, we are living in an age when self-control is not appreciated. It has become an object of ridicule. A man is trying hard for self-mastery. His friends, neighbors, relatives and acquaintances all mock at him. They find no reality in his sincere attempt to master his life. They think that the way they are living their lives is more worthwhile. The man who is trying to control his life is a fool, according to them. But who is the fool - he who wants to conquer himself or he who is constantly a victim of fear, doubt, worry and anxiety? Needless to say, he who wants to conquer himself is not only the wisest man but the greatest divine hero. The Commander in Chief of the cosmic gods, the divine warrior Kumar, son of Lord Shiva, fights against hostile forces, asuric forces and ignorance in the battlefield of life. He fights to establish here on earth, in the immediacy of today, the kingdom of heaven. Earlier I said that people mock when a man tries to control himself. At times we see that even spiritual Masters are ridiculed and mercilessly condemned by society. Even a spiritual figure whose heart is snow-white, whose heart is purity itself, whose life has no sting of impurity, whose very breath is the flood of purity - even he falls victim to the criticisms of the ignorant world.

This reminds me of a Zen story. There was a Zen Master who was very pure, very illumined. Near the place where he lived there happened to be a food store. The owner of the food store had a beautiful unmarried daughter. One day she was found with child. Her parents flew into a rage. They wanted to know the father, but she would not give them the name. After repeated scolding and harassment, she gave up and told them it was the Zen Master. The parents believed her. When the child was born they ran to the Zen Master, scolding him with foul tongue, and they left the infant with him. The Zen Master said, "Is that so." This was his only comment.

He accepted the child. He started nourishing and taking care of the child. By this time his reputation had come to an end, and he was an object of mockery. Days ran into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. But there is something called conscience in our human life, and the young girl was tortured by her conscience. One day she finally disclosed to her parents the name of the child's real father, a man who worked in a fish market. The parents again flew into a rage. At the same time, sorrow and humiliation tortured the household. They came running to the spiritual Master, begged his pardon, narrated the whole story and then took the child back. His only comment: "Is that so."

Here I wish to say that in your spiritual life all of you are trying to conquer your lower vital. Either today or tomorrow, in the nearest future or in the most distant future, you are bound to conquer the lower vital. But in the process of your self-transformation, if people do not understand you or care for your pure life, please pay no heed to their criticism. If they do not appreciate your sincerity, your effort or your success in controlling your lower vital nature, no harm. But if you want them to appreciate and admire your attempt, then you are unnecessarily bringing into your life not only their criticism and disbelief, but doubt and temptation as well. Each human being unconsciously embodies criticism, disbelief, doubt and temptation. On the one hand, you are trying to transcend yourself on the strength of your aspiration; on the other hand, you are bringing other people's temptation into your life, and with that temptation you are unconsciously trying to feed your lower nature.

So I want you to try to be sincere to yourself. Let the world find fault with you. Let the world bark at you. Your sincerity is your safeguard. Your spiritual discipline will lead you to your destined Goal. Who is the king? Not he who governs a country, but he who has conquered himself. Everybody has the capacity and opportunity to become a king if he wants to. God has given him ample opportunity and boundless capacity to be the king not only of the length and breadth of this world, but of the entire universe.

- Sri Chinmoy, Eastern Light For The Western Mind 

Everyone Has His Own Role

A great spiritual Master once asked his close disciples to come and meditate with him. When they came and sat in front of him, he said, "Today I have a special request to make, and I hope each of you will fulfil my request. God has made a serious mistake, and I want all of you to help me in rectifying the mistake."

Some of the disciples bowed down, puzzled, while others burst into laughter. Then the Master said, "I am serious. Please take me seriously, all those who are laughing. And others, I am telling you not to be so puzzled. You will see that this is something truly illumining.

"You know that in God's creation there are tigers, lions, bears and other animals that eat only meat. Again, in God's creation there are also cows, buffaloes, goats and animals that eat only grass and leaves. Now, why should it be that one party will eat only meat while another party will eat only grass? Let us have both parties eat both meat and grass. Or let us reverse it, so the tiger, lion and bear will eat grass and the cow, buffalo and goat will eat meat. In this way we shall fulfil them." Again, some of the disciples laughed; others grew more puzzled.

The Master continued, "There is nothing to laugh at, and there is nothing to be puzzled over. Now, for God's sake help me."

"What kind of help would you like?" asked the disciples. "We don't understand."

"You don't understand?" said the Master. "Is it such a difficult thing that I am speaking about? In a family one brother may be sick and another may be healthy and strong. So the mother will not give the same food to both. To the one who is really sick the mother will give one type of food and to the one who is strong and stout the mother will give another type.

"Again, usually we eat ordinary food at home, but when a relative or friend comes, we make a special meal. Now, rich people eat richer, more fattening food. Poor people, on the other hand, eat simple food. When rich people come, I try to give them rich food because they are in the habit of eating it. But since you people have accepted the spiritual life, an austere life, you do not need that kind of food. Still, some of you feel miserable that I don't give you the same food that I give rich people. But God is not that kind of communist. He feels that what you need is best for you and what I need is best for me. Your needs are different from my needs. That does not mean that either your need or my need is superior or inferior. Only we are meant for two different things.

"So God wants to please each individual in his own way. If for everybody God has to do the same thing, then individuals will start doing everything wrong. Everybody has to perform his own role and fulfil God's Will in God's own Way. Some of you find fault with me because to some I give rich food, to others I give simple food. To some I give a smile, to others I don't give a smile. Always you find fault, wondering why I am not doing the same thing for each person. But all human beings cannot be treated in the same way, if one really cares for humanity's progress. Even in a family each member has to be treated differently so that he can make the best progress. It is absolutely necessary that a little child be treated one way and a grownup another. The child cannot be treated like an older person and an older person cannot be treated like a child.

"Each soul evolves, starting from the stone life. From the stone consciousness it goes to the animal world and then to the human world. Many of us once upon a time were tigers, lions and bears or cows, buffaloes and goats, and the food was different for each of us. Each one has to eat according to his own nature. Some people eat ignorance-food, some people eat knowledge-food. People who need aspiration are of one type, and those who need desire are of another type. So aspiration-lovers and desire-lovers cannot go together. They have to be kept separately, like the animals who need different food. That is how all parts of God's creation fit together and that is why God's creation is perfect. God wants to be pleased in many ways by many people, and each individual in His infinite creation is pleasing God in the special way that God wants to be pleased."

At this point two of the Master's disciples came forward and bowed down to the Master, saying, "You have read our mind. This morning we were criticising you because you gave rich people richer food than poor people. We felt that you were partial to some and cruel and indifferent to others. Now we see that you are neither partial nor indifferent; you favour neither the rich nor the poor. You are only dealing with each individual according to his necessity. Now we have understood. Please forgive us."

The Master said, "I have already forgiven you. That's why I took the time to illumine you. Had I not forgiven you, I would not have taken the time to illumine you. And I am saying this in front of the others so that they do not make the same deplorable mistake.

"Live in the sea of my love. Then only there will be no confusion, no misunderstanding and no problem. Nothing can separate you from my love, from my oneness and from my satisfaction in you, if you please me in my own way."

- Sri Chinmoy, Great Indian Meals: Divinely Delicious and Supremely Nourishing 

Be a Lake!

An aging Master grew tired of his apprentice complaining and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the master asked. “Bitter,” spit the apprentice.

The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake.

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?” “Fresh,” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the master. “No,” said the young man.

At this the master sat beside this serious young man, who so reminded him of himself, and took his hands, offering:

“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Be a Lake!”

Three Mothers?

Once an elderly lady was illumining her grandchildren by telling them stories. The grandchildren wanted to hear stories from their grandmother, so she decided to tell them a beautiful story. She said, "We human beings use the term 'mother' to refer to the one from whom we came into existence. We also call a cow 'mother' because it is associated with the cosmic gods. Again, we speak about 'Mother Earth.' So there are three mothers. These three mothers help us at each step of life.

"When we are born, we take our mother's milk for some time. Then we take cow's milk, and then we eat vegetables that we get from Mother Earth. Mother Earth produces food and we eat her food. We appreciate, admire and adore these three mothers, but we have to see them in a different light and deal with each of them in a different way. They can't be put together.

"The physical mother cannot eat the same food that nourishes Mother Earth. The earthly ground needs cow dung and manure for its food. Again, the cow cannot live on human milk or be kept in a house. And a human mother cannot live on grass or be put in a cow shed.

"Each of the three mothers has her own way of pleasing us. No one can please us at every moment in our own way. Even your own father cannot please you at every moment in your own way. He has many interests in life. He has to go to work, he has to mix with his friends and there are so many things that he has to do. So do not expect the same thing from each individual, and do not expect everyone to please you in your own way. Also, do not think that you will be able to change the respective roles of human beings. If people are doing different things, you cannot just change them. Each one has to do his and her duty in a different way. And it is you who have to receive from each individual according to the way that he wants to give, not according to the way that you want that person to give.

"Your mother is your friend, the cow is your friend and earth is your friend. But you cannot ask these three friends to always help you all at the same time or to change their respective roles. So, my grandchildren, when your mother gives you something, be happy at the time she gives and feel that this is the only way you can be satisfied. And when the cow gives you milk or when Mother Earth gives you something in the form of food and fruits, you have to be satisfied in the same way. Accept everything from each individual in the way the individual wants to give it, and never expect all earthly beings collectively to please you in your own way. Be happy with what you get, and make others happy in your cheerful acceptance."

- Sri Chinmoy, http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com

A brave soldier?

One day a spiritual Master was meditating with some of his disciples and a few seekers. After about twenty minutes, he looked around and said, "Is there anyone who would like to ask me a spiritual question?" One disciple raised his hand and asked, "Master, could you please say something about your disciples' spiritual development?"

"My child," replied the Master, "I can only tell you that I love all my spiritual children dearly, no matter what their level of spiritual attainment may be."

"Please tell us more," begged the disciples. "Can you tell us more about the different levels of development?"

The Master paused. "Let me tell you a story," he said. "Once there were three dolls. These dolls were conscious dolls. One was made of sugar, one was made of cloth and one was made of burnt stone. Now it happened that each of these dolls entered into the sea. When the one that was made of sugar entered into the sea, it totally dissolved. The second doll entered into the sea, and came out fully soaked. Then the third doll entered bravely into the sea. When it came out it just shook its body, and not a trace of water was left on it.

There also, my children, I have three types of disciples. One type, when he enters into the ignorance-sea, is totally lost, totally melted. When the second type enters into the ignorance sea, he is able to come out. But ignorance is all around his consciousness. He still carries ignorance with him. The third type enters into ignorance bravely and fights against ignorance. He not only comes out victorious, but he also takes up the challenge of transforming ignorance into wisdom-light.

"I do hope one day all of my disciples will fit into the third category: brave soldiers of the Supreme entering into the sea of ignorance like warriors, fighting against ignorance and coming out victorious, and finally changing ignorance-sea into wisdom-light."

The disciples bowed down to their Master and said, "You have inspired and illumined us. We shall all strive from now on to become brave soldiers of your mission, soldiers of the Supreme, fighting against the forces of ignorance and ultimately transforming them."

- Sri Chinmoy, http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com

The Three Types Of Eaters?

One day a spiritual Master was playing his flute while his disciples were eating. He was getting joy from watching them eat. After some time, he asked them if they would like to hear a story from him. They said, "Of course, of course."

The Master said, "I will tell you a very short story. There are three kinds of eaters. One type of eater will eat voraciously no matter how the food tastes. He feels that since God has given him the body, he must eat. The more he eats, the more he thinks that he is pleasing God, since the body is God's creation. So he eats anything he gets.

The second type will eat whatever he is given, no matter what quantity. If the food is good, he is happy. If the food is bad, he accepts this, knowing that every day one cannot eat most delicious food. He tolerates the fact that, from worldly human beings who cook every day, one cannot always receive a delicious meal. After all, not even one day is the food unbearable; always there is some standard. Therefore, whatever he gets is all right.

The third type of person says to God, 'O God, today by Your Grace I am eating. Tomorrow I may not get any food, but that also I shall take as Your Grace. Whatever happens to me I feel is an experience that You are giving me. So if You give me food, it is wonderful, and if You do not give me food, it is also wonderful, for I will feel that You want to give me a specific experience. I shall be equally satisfied in Your divine dispensation. If You give, I feel that for my progress You are doing so. If You do not give, it is again for my progress. Your Will is my will. I don't want to have any will of my own.'

To the first group the Lord says, 'My Eternity will take care of you.'

To the second group He says, 'My Divinity is pleased with you.'

To the third group He says, 'My oneness-life is all pride in you. Your oneness in My Greatness and your oneness with My Goodness will always satisfy Me. Your aspiration is great, your dedication is good. Your realization of My highest Height and deepest Depth is not a far cry, but imminent.'"

- Sri Chinmoy, http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com

It is already here...

Papaji on his first meeting with Ramana Maharshi...

“So, when I arrived at the railway station in Tiruvannamalai, I got down and booked a bullock cart, which was the local transportation. I went to the ashram, and left all my baggage outside. I was going to start my work in Madras so I had all my bedding with me. I left it outside and went into the hall where a man was sitting. As soon as I saw this man I recognized that it was the same man who had given me the address in Punjab. I became very angry with him. I didn’t go to see him. I didn’t even enter the hall. I just went to find another cart to go back to the railway station. There was a Parsi man there; his name was Thromji, and he was the owner of the Vallington Cinema Group which had cinemas all over India. Later on we became friends. He came to me and said, “You seem to be a North Indian.” “Yes, I am,” I replied. “Then how is it that you have just arrived and now you are going back?” I told him, “This man is a fraud! He met me just fifteen days ago in Punjab and he gave me his own address that he is a God-realized man. If he had to give me a teaching, he could very well have given it to me there, in Punjab. Why did he give me his own address here in Tiruvannamalai? ” “No, no,” he said. It’s not possible. You are making a mistake.” I said, “How can I make a mistake? I am not mad. He is the same man. I am quite fit, both in body and mind. I cannot make such a mistake. In only fifteen days I cannot forget. He is the same man.”

He said, “No. This man has not moved from this place in fifty years. You can ask anyone. Either you have seen someone else and you are mistaking the identity, or this man must have appeared to you through his own power to help you. We have heard of some three or four instances. So come with me, I will introduce you to the manager of this ashram and you can stay in the guest house.” So he took me and insisted that I went there, and they give me a place to stay.

Then I went inside. He was not speaking to anybody. Everybody was quiet, but something was going on in this silence. For the first time I saw this happening without talking. Something was there; some vibration was there which was entering into my heart. After about ten minutes there was a bell for lunch. Maharshi got up, everybody got up – there were maybe fifteen or twenty people there – and we all went in the hall to take lunch together. Then Maharshi went back to his hall alone; no one else followed him. After lunch Maharshi took rest, and then people came again in the hall at 2:30 PM. I never knew this rule. So seeing him alone I went in straight away, but as I was going in the attendant stopped me. He said, “You come back at 2:30 PM.” Maharshi was looking and he signaled me to come in.

I went inside and asked him, “It was you wasn’t it, who saw me and gave me your own address in Punjab?” He kept quiet. “If it was you why didn’t you tell me? I wanted to see God. Why you didn’t do it there, and why have you called me here? I have come here and you don’t speak with me. I do not understand.” Still he was silent. I said, “I do not understand your silence. Please speak to me.” Still he was silent. Still he was silent, so I was not very happy.

I was in love with Lord Krishna since my boyhood. It was a constant force in my life. So I said, “OK, this place is very nice, I like this place. This mountain is very beautiful, there are forests, there are monkeys, there are peacocks. I will live here. I will go to the forest and stay there.” I went to the forest. I had a month before I had to join my duties and I had used up only five days. So I went to the other side of the hill for some time, knowing I could join my duties later on and knowing I was in a good place.

Then the time came for me to go, so I decided to go and prostrate before him and then to leave. There was some attraction to him, even though I may not have liked him at first. He was there again, and once again he was alone. Very few people went to see him, very few. He asked me, “Why didn’t you come for so many days?” I was very proud. I said, “I have been playing with my God.” “Very good, very well.” He said. “You have been playing with God?” “Yes, I was. I have always been.” “Do you see him now? Do you see him now?” “Not now,” I said. “Not now. When I have vision I see him, sometimes in the night also. When I have vision I see him, not always. That’s why I want to see him always.”

Then he said, “God does not appear and disappear.”

For the first time I heard this: “God is Reality itself. God doesn’t disappear. He is appearance itself. So what appears and disappears is only mental, is only imagination.” I didn’t like this philosophy that I was hearing. “Krishna appeared and disappeared. And the seer is still here, he who has seen Krishna is still here. Find out who the seer is.”

I had never been confronted at any time by anyone with this question before. Neither the living saints nor any of the past saints I had heard about could confront you like this, with this question: “Find out who the seer is. Find out who you are. That does not disappear. It is always there, whether you are awake or dreaming or asleep. This seer is always there. Now you tell me who this seer is.”

No answer came for this question but I had an experience to find out the Source of ‘I’. It worked it my case. On my first trip to the Guru I found it. Actually the seer was always there; the Source of ‘I’ was always there. He simply asked me to, “Find out who the seer is.” That’s what he said. In his presence I experienced the seer, what it was. It was so quick. My body was vibrating and became One. I did not understand this tremendous bliss, this tremendous happiness, this beauty, in just an instant.

This teaching is the ultimate teaching, which I try to present to you every day. I don’t think any other teaching is worth striving for except to discover your own Self. Later on, if you need anything else you may go in search of it. Here and now find out who you are. This is the ultimate Reality, this is the ultimate teaching. I don’t think any other teaching can surpass this teaching. Know your Self and then know the rest, if it is needed. This false appearance will disappear in the recognition of your own Self. This false appearance will not show up again when the Real is revealed to you. That has no form and no name; That has no geographical location anywhere, neither inside nor outside. This is Eternal Rest. Each of you is already in This. The only impediment is your preoccupation with something else, with something unreal. That is the only hindrance. Otherwise this freedom, this wisdom, this beauty, this love is always inviting you. You only have to turn your attention within your own Self and you see that you have always been free. This is your own nature.

There is no need to seek, no need to hunt It down anywhere else. It is already here. You only have to abandon the notion that, “I am bound. I am suffering. I am born. I have to die.” This is simply a notion that you have entertained somehow, due to your unmindfulness. Any notion will immediately disappear when you want it to, when you need it to. And when you desire freedom, instantly freedom is here. You do not need to go and search for It – it is not an object to search for. It is your very inner nature. It is very close, closer even than your breath. When something is closer and nearer than the breath what effort do you need to meet it? It is so near, so dear, so intimate to you, but you are lost in fulfilling your desires with those things or people which are not worth making friends with. They appear and disappear – they are not permanent, they are not real. So what is the use of that hunt which is not abiding, which is not living, which is not eternal, which is disturbing? It’s not wise to purchase disturbance for nothing. If you are a good buyer you will make a bargain for those things which do not disappear. That will be the real diamond, and having that you will not see your poverty.”

Source: http://ashramof1.tumblr.com/post/48924527348

Lord Dakshinamurthy and Four Kumaras

          

Sanaka, Sananda, Sanathana and Sanatkumara, also called as 'Kumaras', were born from the mind of Lord Brahma. When Brahma ordered them to procreate, they rejected the orders of Brahma. They were very dispassionate and not interested in material things. They began to think about the reason for existence of something called "Creation", and also the reason for their very own existence. Several questions sprang from their minds but there was none competent enough to answer their questions. They wandered for about one hundred years. The young Kumaras began to look old with grey hair as their quest for Truth intensified during the period.

The almighty and all merciful Lord Shiva who is the indweller of all beings decided to enlighten four Kumaras. He himself appeared as a sixteen year old youth under the Banyan tree. When the four elderly Sanakadi rishis first beheld the sixteen-year-old Sri Dakshinamurty sitting under the banyan tree, they were at once attracted by Him, and understood that He was the real Guru.

They approached Him, did three pradakshinas(circumambulation) around Him, prostrated before Him, sat at His Feet and began to ask shrewd and pertinent questions about the nature of reality and the means of attaining it. Because of the great compassion and fatherly love (vatsalya) which He felt for His aged disciples, the young Sri Dakshinamurty was overjoyed to see their earnestness, wisdom and maturity, and gave apt replies to each of their questions.

But as He answered each consecutive question, further doubts arose in their minds and they asked further questions. Thus they continued to question Sri Dakshinamurty for a whole year, and He continued to clear their doubts through His compassionate answers.

Finally, however, Sri Dakshinamurti understood that if He continued answering their questions, more doubts would arise in their minds and their ignorance (ajnana)would never end.

Therefore, suppressing even the feeling of compassion and fatherly love which was welling up within Him,He merged Himself into the Supreme Silence. Because of their great maturity (which had ripened to perfection through their year-long association with the Sadguru), as soon as Sri Dakshinamurti assumed Silence, they too automatically merged into Supreme Silence, the true state of the Self.”

By the grace of Lord Dakshinamurthy, the indweller of all, Kumaras have become free from all kinds of doubts. They have become Jnanis(enlightened). They realised that they are 'Atman' ('Self') alone. Having realized Atman(Shiva) the Kumaras freed themselves from all fetters. They said :

Om nama pranavarthaya,
Suddha jnanaika moorthaye nama,
Nirmalaya prasanthaya,
Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama.

Gurave sara lokaanam,
Bishaje bhava roginaam,
Nidhaye sarva vidhyanam,
Sri Dakshinamurthaye nama.

"Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, Who is the meaning of the pranava, “om”, Who is the personification of unalloyed wisdom(Jnana), Who is always Pure And who is the epitome of peace. Salutations to that Dakshinamurthy, Who is the teacher of the entire world, Who is the doctor to those afflicted by the disease of birth and death, And who is the treasure house of all knowledge."

A sheet of paper...

Interbeing

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. “Interbeing” is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix “inter-” with the verb “to be,” we have a new verb, inter-be. Without a cloud and the sheet of paper inter-are.

If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow. In fact, nothing can grow. Even we cannot grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see the wheat. We now the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. And the logger’s father and mother are in it too. When we look in this way, we see that without all of these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist.

Looking even more deeply, we can see we are in it too. This is not difficult to see, because when we look at a sheet of paper, the sheet of paper is part of our perception. Your mind is in here and mine is also. So we can say that everything is in here with this sheet of paper. You cannot point out one thing that is not here-time, space, the earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat. Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper. That is why I think the word inter-be should be in the dictionary. “To be” is to inter-be. You cannot just be by yourself alone. You have to inter-be with every other thing. This sheet of paper is, because everything else is.

Suppose we try to return one of the elements to its source. Suppose we return the sunshine to the sun. Do you think that this sheet of paper will be possible? No, without sunshine nothing can be. And if we return the logger to his mother, then we have no sheet of paper either. The fact is that this sheet of paper is made up only of “non-paper elements.” And if we return these non-paper elements to their sources, then there can be no paper at all. Without “non-paper elements,” like mind, logger, sunshine and so on, there will be no paper. As thin as this sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe in it.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Meaning of Guru Stotram?

BHAGAVAN EXPOUNDING GURU DAKSHINAMURTI STOTRAM OR GURU STOTRAM

When T.K. Sundaresa Iyer was a boy of twelve he first visited the Maharshi on the Hill in 1908. That first meeting bonded him to Bhagavan for the remainder of his life and, consequently, he was a witness to many marvelous events in his Guru’s presence. Here is one such incident on a holy Sivaratri night in Sri Ramanasramam, as recorded in his book, At the Feet of Bhagavan.

It was Sivaratri Day. The evening worship at the Mother’s shrine was over. The devotees had their dinner with Sri Bhagavan, who was now on his seat; the devotees at His feet sitting around him. At 8:00 p.m. one of the sadhus stood up, did pranam (offered obeisance), and with folded hands prayed: “Today is the Sivaratri Day; we should be highly blessed by Sri Bhagavan expounding to us the meaning of the Hymn to Dakshinamurthy (stotra).”

Says Bhagavan: “Yes, sit down.” The sadhu sat, and all eagerly looked at Sri Bhagavan; Sri Bhagavan looked at them. Sri Bhagavan sat in his usual pose, no, poise. No words, no movement, and all was stillness! He sat still, and all sat still, waiting. The clock went on striking, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, one, two and three. Sri Bhagavan sat and they sat. Stillness, calmness, motionless-not conscious of the body, of space or time. Thus eight hours passed in Peace, in Silence, in Being, as It is. Thus was the Divine Reality taught through the speech of Silence by Bhagavan Sri Ramana-Dakshinamurthy.

At the stroke of 4:00 a.m. Sri Bhagavan quietly said: “And now have you known the essence of the Dakshinamurthy Hymn?” All the devotees stood and made pranam to the holy form of the Guru in the ecstasy of their Being.

Ramana Maharshi: “Language is only a medium for communicating one’s thoughts to another. It is called in only after thoughts arise; other thoughts arise after the ‘I’-thought rises; the ‘I’-thought is the root of all conversation. When one remains without thinking one understands another by means of the universal language of silence.”

Source: Arunachala’s Ramana Volume II Book

Who is Bodhidharma?

Much has been uttered about the semi-legendary Shao-lin Monastery in China. However little or no research has been done to clarify the many stories surrounding the history of this place, thought by many to be the birthplace of the traditional oriental martial arts. Closely related with the story of the Shao-lin Monastery is the name Bodhidharma, also referred to as Ta-mo, Damo, Daruma. Bodhidharma, revered by Buddhists as the 28th direct spiritual descendant of the Lord Buddha and First Patriarch of Chinese Zen. Bodhidharma was born near Kanchipuram in the Pallava Kingdom in South India.

Pragyatara, Bodhidharma's master, told him to go to China because the people who had reached there before him had made a great impact, although none of them were enlightened. They were great scholars, much disciplined people, very loving and peaceful and compassionate, but none of them were enlightened. And now China needed another Gautama Buddha. The ground was ready.

Bodhidharma was the first enlightened man to reach China. The point I want to make clear is that while Gautama Buddha was afraid to initiate women into his commune, Bodhidharma was courageous enough to be initiated by a woman on the path of Gautama Buddha. There were other enlightened people, but he chose a woman for a certain purpose. And the purpose was to show that a woman can be enlightened. Not only that, her disciples can be enlightened. Bodhidharma's name stands out amongst all the Buddhist enlightened people second only to Gautama Buddha.

Being an adept in Kalaripayattu (fighting art) which was popular in Pallava Kingdom, Bodhidharma taught the martial arts to Shaolin monks. He is credited with inventing Kung-Fu and associated martial arts in East Asia. Bodhidharma put up the essence of Mahayana Buddhism as a four-fold practice that encompass all other practices. They are: accepting adversity, adapting to conditions, seeking nothing, and acting in accordance with the Dharma.

The first Patriarch Bodhidharma arrived in Canton from T’ien-Chu (India), and stayed at the Harilakit Grove. At that time, Emperor Wu was a faithful adherent of Buddhism. The Emperor sent emissaries to receive the monk at Chin-ling (Nanking). They had a meeting, but no impression was made on the Emperor. The monk crossed the Yang-tze to the north and stayed at the Shao-lin Monastery at Sung-shan.

There are many legends about the man; they all have some significance. The first legend is: When he reached China - it took him three years - the Chinese emperor Wu came to receive him. His fame had reached ahead of him. Emperor Wu had done great service to the philosophy of Gautama Buddha. Thousands of scholars were translating Buddhist scriptures from Pali into Chinese and the emperor was the patron of all that great work of translation. He had made thousands of temples and monasteries, and he was feeding thousands of monks. He had put his whole treasure at the service of Gautama Buddha, and naturally the Buddhist monks who had reached before Bodhidharma had been telling him that he was earning great virtue, that he will be born as a god in heaven.

The dialogue between Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma is recorded in the book, Fu-tsu li tai t’ung tsai, it reads:

When Bodhidharma was presented to the Emperor by the magistrate of Canton, Hsiao Ang, the Emperor said, “I cannot enumerate the number of monks that I have supported, since I ascended the throne, in erecting monasteries and transcribing the sutras. I wonder what merit is gained by all this.”

Bodhidharma answered “There is no merit at all.” The Emperor asked, “What achievement is considered without merit?”

Bodhidharma answered, “All these are insignificant doings that would not free the doer from being reborn into this earth again. These deeds still show traces of worldliness; they are like the shadows following objects.

“Although they appear actually existing, they are no more than mere nonentities.”

The Emperor asked, “What then can be considered true merit?”

Bodhidharma answered, “A deed of true merit is full of pure wisdom and is perfect and mysterious, and its real nature is beyond the grasp of human intelligence. Such as this is not to be sought after by any worldly achievement.”

The Emperor asked, “What is the principle of the sacred truth?”

Bodhidharma answered, “Emptiness, and not sacred.”

The Emperor asked, “Then who is it that stands before me?”

Bodhidharma answered, “I do not know.”

The Emperor could not understand the deep meaning of all this. Bodhidharma remained for a few days and then he crossed the Yangtze River and proceeded north to the Shao-lin Monastery to remain there gazing at the walls.

What the Emperor did not understand was that Bodhidharma was advocating Cha’an (Zen) Buddhism, which centers its teaching “directly pointing to the human mind” and “becoming a Buddha just as you are,” believing that the Buddha nature is inherent in all human beings and that through meditative introspection this nature can readily be seen. By the Buddha-nature is meant the Buddha-mind in its highest attributes and true essence, which transcends all distinctions of object and subject or duality of any kind. It is emptiness, that is, empty of any specific character. The world of appearances, with all its specific characters, is but a product of the imagination.

To penetrate the Buddha-mind, the great masters of meditation variously advocated “absence of thought” in the sense that the mind should be freed from the influence of the external world. They taught “ignoring one’s feelings” so as to eliminate all defilement's and attachments.

From its distaste for book-learning, Cha’an (Zen) Buddhism became known as the doctrine “Not founded on words or scriptures.” It was rather a teaching “transmitted from mind to mind,” that is, from one master directly to his disciple without the intervention of rational argumentation or formulation in conceptual terms. In essence, Cha’an (Zen) Buddhism is highly individualistic and often irreverent and iconoclastic with respect to tradition.

Reference

http://www.usashaolintemple.org/chanbuddhism-history/
http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Life_of_Masters/Bodhidharma.htm
http://ariseasia.blogspot.com/2010/01/2010-bodhidharma-has-no-shoes.html
http://www.buddhismgrove.com/history/the-shadow-of-bodhidharma-the-founder-of-zen/

Smart practice essential for Samadhi

Should you hold communion with Supreme, devoid of mental fancies and modifications, then the great bondage of the mind will cease, all doubts will vanish and all Karmas will perish…

Bhidyate hridayagranthih chhidyante sarvasamsayah
kshiyante chasya karmani tasmin drishte paravare”

The stupid bee, knowing that flowers are blossoming in a certain tree and setting out with a terrific speed, passes it; and, in turning back, reaches it when the juice is finished. Another stupid bee, setting out with a low speed reaches it when the juice is finished. A clever bee, on the other hand, setting out with just the necessary speed, easily reaches the bunch of flowers, takes the juice to its heart’s content and, turning it into honey, enjoys its taste.

Similarly, among the students of surgery who are practicing surgical work on a lotus-leaf placed in a vessel of water, one stupid student, letting fall the knife with speed, either cuts the lotus-leaf into two or sinks it in the water. Another stupid one, out of fear of cutting or sinking, dare not touch it with the knife. The clever one, on the other hand, makes the stroke with the knife with uniform force, finishes his course and earns money by doing similar work when occasion arises.

To take another instance: on an announcement from the King, “He who brings a cobweb four fathoms long gets 4,000 coins,” a stupid man draws the cobweb in haste and cuts it here and there. Another stupid man, through fear of cutting it, dare not even touch it with his fingers. The clever man, on the other hand, rolls it from one end on a stick with mild force, brings it and gets the reward.

To take a fourth instance, a stupid sailor, who goes full sail when the wind is strong, causes the boat to rush off her course. Another stupid man, who lowers the sails when the wind is low, makes the boat remain in the same place. The clever one, on the other hand, goes full sail when the wind is low and half sail when the wind is strong and reaches his destination in safety.

Again, when the teacher announces to his pupils, “He who fills the tube without spilling the oil gets the reward,” a stupid student, greedy of gain, filling with haste, spills the oil. Another stupid one, through fear of spilling oil, dare not attempt the task. A clever one, on the other hand, fills the tube with calm and steady force and gets the reward.

Even so, when the sign appears, an aspirant makes strong efforts, saying: “I will quickly attain Samadhi”; but, his mind, through excessive strain, becomes distracted and he is not able to attain ecstasy or Samadhi. Another person, seeing fault in excessive strenuousness, gives up the effort, saying: “What is the use of Samadhi to me now? ” His mind, through over-slackness of energy, becomes idle and he too is not able to attain Samadhi. But, he who releases with an intelligent, calm, uniform force the mind that is slack ever so little from slackness and the distracted mind from distraction drives it towards the goal or Lakshya (i.e., Supreme) and attains Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Become like such a one.

Be silent. Know thyself. Know That. Melt the mind in That. Truth is quite pure and simple.

Reference

Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda

The Secret of Ramayana!

“Manojaya eva mahajayah - Conquest of mind is the greatest victory.”
“Man jita, jag jita - If you conquer mind, you have conquered the world.” [Proverb]

In philosophy, you will always find an esoteric and an exoteric meaning. This is the reason why you need the help of a teacher. It is extremely difficult to comprehend the esoteric, inner meaning. You will find in Hatha Yogic books: “There is a young, virgin widow seated at the junction of the river Ganga and the river Yamuna.” What will you make out of this? It is difficult to understand. The young widow is the Sushumna Nadi (Nerve). The Ganga is Pingala Nadi. The Yamuna is Ida Nadi.

The Secret of Ramayana

There is also a secret of Ramayana. The secret of Ramayana is control of mind. Killing the ten-headed monster Ravana of Lanka means the annihilation of the ten evil though waves of the mind such as Lust, Anger, etc. Sita is the mind. Rama is Pure-Soul. Bringing Sita back from Lanka is concentrating the mind on Rama (Soul) by withdrawing it from objects and uniting it with Rama. Sita (mind) unites with Rama (Soul), her husband in Ayodhya (Sahasrara Chakra). Mind merges in Soul. This is, briefly, the esoteric meaning of Ramayana. This is the Adhyatmic exposition of Ramayana.

Who Can Control the Mind ?

The mind can be controlled by untiring perseverance and patience equal to that of one engaged in emptying the ocean, drop by drop, with the tip of a blade of grass.

A bird laid its eggs on the seashore. The waves came in and washed away the eggs. The bird became very angry. It wanted to empty the ocean with its beak. It applied all its energy in emptying the ocean. The king of the birds pitied its condition and came to its help. Narada, the peace-making Sage, also came and gave some advice to the bird. When the king of the ocean saw all these, he was very much terrified. He brought back all the eggs of the bird and handed them over to the bird with apology and prostrations. Aspirants, who are attempting to control the mind, should have the same asinine patience and untiring perseverance as that of the bird which attempted to empty the ocean with its small beak.

You must have the knack or the pluck or the aptitude to tame the mind. To tame a lion or a tiger is far more easy than taming one's own mind. Tame your own mind first. Then you can take the minds of others quite easily.

Reference

Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda

Whose bag is bigger?

A man was very much burdened by his suffering. He used to pray every day to God, 'Why me? Everybody seems to be so happy, why am only I in such suffering?' One day, out of great desperation, he prayed to God, 'You can give me anybody else's suffering and I am ready to accept it. But take mine, I cannot bear it any more.'

That night he had a beautiful dream, beautiful and very revealing. He had a dream that night that God appeared in the sky and he said to everybody, 'Bring all your sufferings into the temple.' Everybody was tired of his suffering - in fact everybody has prayed some time or other, 'I am ready to accept anybody else's suffering, but take mine away; this is too much, it is unbearable.'

So everybody gathered his own sufferings into bags, and they reached the temple, and they were looking very happy; the day has come, their prayer has been heard. And this man also rushed to the temple.

And then God said, 'Put your bags by the walls.' All the bags were put by the walls, and then God declared: 'Now you can choose. Anybody can take any bag.'

And the most surprising thing was this: that this man who had been praying always, rushed towards his bag before anybody else could choose it! But he was in for a surprise, because everybody rushed to his own bag, and everybody was happy to choose it again. What was the matter? For the first time, everybody had seen others' miseries, others' sufferings - their bags were as big, or even bigger!

In the morning he prayed to God and he said, 'Thank you for the dream; I will never ask again. Whatsoever you have given me is good for me, must be good for me; that's why you have given it to me.'

The Secret of Misery: Expecting Returns?

If we examine our own lives, we find that the greatest cause of sorrow is this: we take up something, and put our whole energy on it–perhaps it is a failure and yet we cannot give it up. We know that it is hurting us, that any further clinging to it is simply bringing misery on us; still, we cannot tear ourselves away from it. The bee came to sip the honey, but its feet stuck to the honey-pot and it could not get away. Again and again, we are finding ourselves in that state. That is the whole secret of existence. Why are we here? We came here to sip the honey, and we find our hands and feet sticking to it. We are caught, though we came to catch. We came to enjoy; we are being enjoyed. We came to rule; we are being ruled. We came to work; we are being worked. All the time, we find that.

Had it not been for this, life would have been all sunshine. Never mind! With all its failures and successes, with all its joys and sorrows, it can be one succession of sunshine, if only we are not caught.

That is the one cause of misery: We are attached, we are being caught. Therefore says the Gita: Work constantly; work, but be not attached; be not caught. Reserve unto yourself the power of detaching yourself from everything, however beloved, however much the soul might yearn for it, however great the pangs of misery you feel if you were going to leave it; still, reserve the power of leaving it whenever you want. The weak have no place here, in this life or in any other life. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death. There are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them. There may be a million microbes of misery, floating about us. Never mind! They dare not approach us, they have no power to get a hold on us, until the mind is weakened. This is the great fact: strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery: weakness is death.

Attachment is the source of all our pleasures now. We are attached to our friends, to our relatives; we are attached to our intellectual and spiritual works; we are attached to external objects, so that we get pleasure from them. What, again, brings misery but this very attachment? We have to detach ourselves to earn joy. If only we had power to detach ourselves at will, there would not be any misery. That man alone will be able to get the best of nature, who, having the power of attaching himself to a thing with all his energy, has also the power to detach himself when he should do so. The difficulty is that there must be as much power of attachment as that of detachment.

There are men who are never attracted by anything. They can never love, they are hard-hearted and apathetic; they escape most of the miseries of life. But the wall never feels misery, the wall never loves, is never hurt; but it is the wall, after all. Surely it is better to be attached and caught, than to be a wall. Therefore the man who never loves who is hard and stony, escaping most of the miseries of life, escapes also its joys. We do not want that. That soul has not been awakened that never feels weakness, never feels misery. That is a callous state. We do not want that.

At the same time, we not only want this mighty power of love, this mighty power of attachment, the power of throwing our whole soul upon a single object, losing ourselves and letting ourselves be annihilated, as it were, for other souls–which is the power of the gods–but we want to be higher even than the gods. The perfect man can put his whole soul upon that one point of love, yet he is unattached. How comes this? There is another secret to learn.

The beggar is never happy. The beggar only gets a dole with pity and scorn behind it, at least with the thought behind that the beggar is a low object. He never really enjoys what he gets.

We are all beggars. Whatever we do, we want a return. We are all traders. We are traders in life, we are traders in virtue, we are traders in religion. And alas! We are also traders in love.

We get caught. How? Not by what we give, but by what we expect. We get misery in return for our love; not from the fact that we love, but from the fact that we want love in return. There is no misery where there is no want. Desire, want, is the father of all misery. Desires are bound by the laws of success and failure. Desires must bring misery.

[Excerpts from the lecture delivered by Swami Vivekananda at Harvard]

Mind is like Water

Your body is like a hard shell. And your mind, the inner self is like water. You are like water inside. Nature of water is cooling and flowing. But when the innermost, which is like water, is burning with jealousy, anger, frustration and all the fires you put inside, then the water boils and its cooling nature disappears.

Then how does one cool the water? Just imagine a pot and underneath are all these burning sticks. To cool the water you have to remove these sticks. All emotions are linked with people, objects and events.

Catching on to objects, people or relationships hinders freedom, liberation. You are hankering for some greater joy that is not there, not going to be there. I will have greater joy if I have a better companion or if I have lot of money or if I have lot of freedom.

Money gives you a hallucination that you have better freedom. Your mind tells you that with more money one could have more freedom; could travel anywhere; do whatever one wanted; these hallucinating ideas come into the mind. And when this idea comes in the mind, it binds you. When you feel bound, you feel very stiff and there is no freedom. The moment you become soft and non-resisting inside, the stiffness drops, the feeling of being bound goes and everything else including wealth, comfort and prosperity follow.

So, remove all this firewood and the water will become cooler. Because “cool” is the nature of water. When all these other negative stresses, burning sticks are removed, water will possess all its natural qualities — humbleness, humility, and naturalness — just like the nature of water which flows down.

All the good qualities are inside us. Just like in an atom, the core is positive and the negativity is peripheral. Know that it’s not in the core. Your nature is calmness, coolness. If it wasn’t your nature, you would never feel at home in it.

When we feel weak and terrible, we want to speak to someone and seek sympathy and support. When we are stressed we feel restricted and crushed. In happiness our consciousness expands. This is happening in the spiritual path. People feel that they are not bound, and that inner softness is there. Mind means moods, thoughts, opinions, ideas, all these things that we collect. And, ‘no mind’ is meditation. Yoga, meditation and spirituality are about giving comfort to your soul and transforming all the negative tendencies in the mind.

When you meditate, you go off the influence of the mind and go into the self. The mantra of knowledge is - in this world there is no other. The mantra of love is — there is no one who doesn’t belong to me. When the mind is free from all impressions and concepts, you are liberated. When you know that everything is changing - all relationships, people, body, feelings - suddenly the mind, which clings on to misery, comes back to you.

A fulfillment, centeredness, a subtle solid strength comes from within. Then if fame comes, money comes, it doesn’t touch you. It comes or doesn’t come, it doesn’t matter to you.

Reference
http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/column_mind-is-like-water_1523347
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/168360/mind-like-water.html