The Self Draws us to It

"The Self is like a powerful hidden magnet within us. It draws us gradually to itself, though we imagine we are going to It of our own accord. When we are near enough, it puts an end to our activities, makes us still, and then swallows up our personal current, thus killing our personality. It overwhelms the intellect and over floods the whole being. We think we are meditating upon it and developing towards it, whereas the truth is that we are as iron filings and It is the Atman-magnet that is pulling us towards itself. Thus the process of finding Self is a form of Divine Magnetism."

-Ramana Maharshi, quoted in Paul Brunton's Conscious Immortality

To Be Meditated Upon

"It is only of the nature of pure Consciousness free from things perceived, boundless, undecaying, blissful, devoid of beginning, middle and end, existing from eternity and without taint."

-The Essence of Yogavaasishtha, 3.35

Like a Dry Leaf in the Wind....

 'The path of the Vedantic discipline is the path of negation, "neti", in which, by stern determination, all that is unreal is both negated and renounced. It is the path of jnana, knowledge, the direct method of realizing the Absolute. After the negation of everything relative, including the discriminating ego itself, the aspirant merges in the One without a Second, in the bliss of nirvikalpa samadhi, where subject and object are alike dissolved. The soul goes beyond the realm of thought. The domain of duality is transcended. Maya is left behind with all its changes and modifications. The Real Man towers above the delusions of creation, preservation, and destruction. An avalanche of indescribable Bliss sweeps away all relative ideas of pain and pleasure, good and evil. There shines in the heart the glory of the Eternal Brahman, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Knower, knowledge, and known are dissolved in the Ocean of one eternal Consciousness; love, lover, and beloved merge in the unbounded Sea of supreme Felicity; birth, growth, and death vanish in infinite Existence. All doubts and misgivings are quelled for ever; the oscillations of the mind are stopped; the momentum of past actions is exhausted. Breaking down the ridge-pole of the tabernacle in which the soul has made its abode for untold ages, stilling the body, calming the mind, drowning the ego, the sweet joy of Brahman wells up in that superconscious state. Space disappears into nothingness, time is swallowed in eternity, and causation becomes a dream of the past. Only Existence is. Ah! Who can describe what the soul then feels in its communion with the Self?

'Even when man descends from this dizzy height, he is devoid of ideas of "I" and "mine"; he looks on the body as a mere shadow, an outer sheath encasing the soul. He does not dwell on the past, takes no thought for the future, and looks with indifference on the present. He surveys everything in the world with an eye of equality; he is no longer touched by the infinite variety of phenomena; he no longer reacts to pleasure and pain. He remains unmoved whether he — that is to say, his body — is worshipped by the good or tormented by the wicked; for he realizes that it is the one Brahman that manifests Itself through everything. The impact of such an experience devastates the body and mind. Consciousness becomes blasted, as it were, with an excess of Light. In the Vedanta books it is said that after the experience of nirvikalpa samadhi the body drops off like a dry leaf. Only those who are born with a special mission for the world can return from this height to the valleys of normal life. They live and move in the world for the welfare of mankind. They are invested with a supreme spiritual power. A divine glory shines through them.'

-The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

The Divine Life

 "A wish expressed in mental language is a thought. If there are no wishes, no thoughts arise nor can wishes ever germinate when thoughts have stopped their flow. Renounce all your desires and your thoughts cease. Arrest your flow of thoughts by bringing your attention to the single idea of your goal. With either method the mind can be annihilated. The life lived in pursuit of this total annihilation of the mind is the divine life."

-Swami Chinmayananda, Meditation and Life

Hell is Other People

"The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not."

-Zhuangzi (also known as Zhuang Zhou)

 

Vasana

 

"Even after the Truth has been realised, there remains that strong, obstinate impression that one is still an ego - the agent and experiencer. This has to be carefully removed by living in a state of constant identification with the supreme non-dual Self. Full Awakening is the eventual ceasing of all the mental impressions of being an ego."

-Adi Shankaracharya (see verse 267 of Vivekachudamani)

 

It's You!

 

"You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-Self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self."

-Ramana Maharshi

He Who Knows, Knows Not

"Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing."

-Sri Ramakrishna

Real Worship

"Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God, first remove the darkness of sin from your heart. Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer, first learn to bow in humility before your fellow men. Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees, first bend down to lift someone who is down trodden. Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins, first forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you."

-Rabindranath Tagore

 

Eternal Freedom

 “You must want to be free. It must become first with you before anything else. Everything that you’ve done all your life, is only a game, a game you’re playing with your self, only it seems to be real. The only reality is the Self and you are That. Why look for anything else? Everything else will take care of itself. You’ve got to abide in the Self, just in the Self. Everything else will take care of itself in a beautiful way. You are boundless space, like the ocean, like the sky, all-pervasive. This is your real nature. But for some reason you believe you are a body, confined to a small space. This is not you. It’s illusion. You are all-pervading absolute reality. This is your true nature. This is who you really are.

"Just by thinking about these things all the time, something begins to happen to you, something wonderful. Do not think about the weather, or about the day’s work or your problems. For all the thinkers, who thinks? Find out who has the problems? Find out who you really are, who am I? It’s up to you to awaken from this mortal dream. You can keep on going like you are right now, with the good things and the bad things. Yet you live in a universe of dualities, which means for every good there is a bad. For every bad there is a good. It’s a false world in which you live. You need to awaken to this truth.

"Be aware of yourself, always. The world goes through its own karma. It has absolutely nothing to do with you. You belong to God. Everything you see is God. This is why you should be nonjudgemental. Leave everything alone. By practising these things, you become radiantly happy. Everyone wants something. If your mind stops thinking, what happens? Some of you believe you will not have anything, that you will have more problems. But it’s in reverse. You experience bliss, joy and happiness when you don’t want anything. From what we know, people want something and when they get it, they become more miserable than ever before.

"Nothing is wrong. Everything is right just the way it is. Do not try to understand this or figure it out. Leave it alone. It will happen by itself, by keeping yourself quiet and still. You quiet the mind because of realization. Let it be calm. In all situations be calm. Let it be still and quiet. The world doesn’t need any help from you. Aren’t you the world, aren’t you the Creator? You created the world the way it is. It came out of you, of your mind. The world that you are in, is a creation of your own mind. When the mind becomes still, the world begins to disappear. And you’re in divine harmony and joy. Therefore, happiness comes to you when you stop thinking, when you stop judging, when you stop being afraid. When you begin to contemplate what is happiness. All the answers are within you. Everything you’re looking for is within you, everything.

"Nobody can help but your Self. Know who you are. You are the power. All the power of the universe is within you. You have all the power you need. All is well, exceedingly well. It has always been well, it will always be well. When you leave here today act like a god or a goddess. Do not act like a human being any longer. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, saying you’re unhappy. Stand up tall. Know the truth about yourself. Become the witness of all phenomena that you see and be free. Peace.” 

― Robert Adams, Silence of the Heart: Dialogues with Robert Adams

Free Here Now

 

"We are ever free if we would only believe it, only have faith enough. You are the soul, free and eternal, ever free, ever blessed. Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute."

-Swami Vivekananda

Nirvana Shatakam

Atma / Nirvana Shatakam

The Song (6 verses) of the Self by Adi Shankara 788-820 CE

Mano Buddhi Ahankaara Chittaani naaham

Naa cha Shrotra Jihve Naa cha Ghraana Netre

Naa cha Vyoma Bhoomir Naa Tejo Naa Vaayu

Chidaananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

 

Naa Cha Praana Samjno Naa Vai Pancha Vayu

Naa Va Saptadhaatur Naa Va Pancha Koshah

Naa Vaak Paani Padau Naa Chopastha Paayu

Chidaananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

 

Naa Me Dvesha Raagau Naa Me Lobha Mohau

Mado Naiva Me Naiva Maatsarya Bhaavah

Naa Dharmo Naa Chaartho Naa Kaamo Naa Mokshah

Chidaananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

 

Naa Punyam Naa Papam Naa Saukhyam Naa Dukham

Naa Mantro Naa Teertho Naa Veda Naa Yajnaaha

Aham Bhojanam Naiva Bhojyam Naa Bhokta

Chidaananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

 

Naa Me Mrityu Shanka Naa Me Jati Bhedah

Pitaa Naiva Me Naiva Maata Naa Janma

Naa Bandhur Naa Mitram Gurur Naiva Shishyah

Chidaananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

 

Aham Nirvikalpo Niraakara Roopaha

Vibhur Vyaapya Sarvatra Sarvendriyaanam

Sadaa Me Samatvam Naa Muktir Naa Bandhah

Chidaananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

 

1) I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego,  nor thought.

Nor am I ears, tongue, nose or eyes.

I am not the ether, nor the earth,  nor the fire, nor the wind (the five elements). 

Formed of blissful awareness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva

 

2) Neither can I be termed as life-energy (prana), nor five types of life-wind (vayus),

nor the seven material essences, nor the five coverings (pancha-kosha).  

Neither am I the five instruments of elimination,  procreation, motion, grasping, or speaking. 

Formed of blissful awareness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva

 

3) I have no hatred or dislike, nor affiliation or liking, nor greed, nor delusion, nor pride or haughtiness,  nor feelings of envy or jealousy. 

I have no duty (dharma), nor any money,nor any desire (kama),  nor even liberation (moksha). 

Formed of blissful awareness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva

 

4) I have neither merit (virtue),  nor demerit (vice). 

I do not commit sins or good deeds, nor have happiness or sorrow,  pain or pleasure. 

I do not need mantras, holy places,  scriptures (Vedas), rituals or sacrifices (yagnas). 

I am not the food, nor the eating, nor the eater (experienced, ecperience, experiencer) 

Formed of blissful awareness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva

 

5) I do not have fear of death, as I do not have death.

I have no separation from my true self,  no doubt about my existence, nor have I discrimination on the basis of birth.

I have no father or mother, nor did I have a birth. 

I am not the relative, nor the friend,  nor the guru, nor the disciple. 

Formed of blissful awareness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva

 

6) I am all pervasive.  I am without any attributes, and without any form. 

I have neither attachment to the world,  nor to liberation (mukti). 

I have no wishes for anything  because I am everything, everywhere, every time, always in equilibrium. 

Formed of blissful awareness, I am Shiva, I am Shiva

 

 

Self-Inquiry

 

"The question 'Who am I?' is not really meant to get an answer, the question 'Who am I?' is meant to dissolve the questioner."

-Ramana Maharshi

Mithya (Illusion)

 "Once you realize that the world is your own projection, you are free of it. You need not free yourself of a world that does not exist, except in your own imagination! However is the picture, beautiful or ugly, you are painting it and you are not bound by it. Realize that there is nobody to force it on you, that it is due to the habit of taking the imaginary to be real. See the imaginary as imaginary and be free of fear."

-Nisargadatta Maharaj

The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination

"By whom everything is understood, but who is understood by none, that is the Atman [Self], the knower of all, known only by keen understanding - pure intellect.

"You become the witness of that which you see. When there is nothing to be seen, the concept of a witness becomes irrelevant.

But of one who can never be comprehended - who can be the witness of that/ Therefore, the Atman is the witness of Himself, because He knows Himself."

-Adi Shankaracharya, Viveka Chudamani

Join us for our upcoming course on this seminal text.

Why Can't I See the Self?

Question: You say that everything is the Self, even māyā. If this is so, why can't I see the Self clearly? Why is it hidden from me?

Annamali Swami: Because you are looking in the wrong direction. You have the idea that the Self is something that you see or experience. This is not so. The Self is the awareness or the consciousness in which the seeing and the experiencing take place.

Even if you don't see the Self, the Self is still there. Bhagavan [Ramana Maharshi] sometimes remarked humorously: “People just open a newspaper and glance through it. Then they say, ‘I have seen the paper.’ But really they haven't seen the paper, they have only seen the letters and pictures that are on it. There can be no words or pictures without the paper, but people always forget the paper while they are reading the words.”

Bhagavan would then use this analogy to show that while people see the names and forms that appear on the screen of consciousness, they ignore the screen itself. With this kind of partial vision it is easy to come to the conclusion that all forms are unconnected with each other and separate from the person who sees them. If people were to be aware of the consciousness instead of the forms that appear in it, they would realize that all forms are just appearances which manifest within the one indivisible consciousness.

That consciousness is the Self that you are looking for. You can be that consciousness but you can never see it because it is not something that is separate from you. 🕉

The Truth Shall Set You Free

 

“It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates.” 

― Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Bonus Quote

"When you know once with absolute certainty

that nothing can bring you in trouble

except your own imagination, desires, fears,

concepts and ideas are no longer binding

and you will only live with the truth."

― Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 

Pratibimba (Reflection)

 

“Once we become conscious, even dimly, of the Atman, the Reality within us, the world takes on a very different aspect. It is no longer a court of justice but a kind of gymnasium. Good and evil, pain and pleasure, still exist, but they seem more like the ropes and vaulting-horses and parallel bars which can be used to make our bodies strong. Maya is no longer an endlessly revolving wheel of pain and pleasure but a ladder which can be climbed to consciousness of the Reality.” 

― Adi Shankaracarya, Vivekachudamani

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The Power of Now

"To forget oneself totally, one’s mind should keep awake at every moment. A mind that has forgotten the past and the future, that is awake to the now, to the present, expresses the highest concentration of intelligence. It is alert, it is watchful, it is inspired. The actions of a man who has such a mind are exceptionally creative and perfect. Verily to forget oneself totally, is to be in perfection."

—Swami Chinmayananda

Nil Desperandum

 

“There are pearls in the deep sea, but you must hazard all perils to get them. If you fail to get at them by a single dive, do not conclude that the sea is without them. Dive again and again, and you are sure to be rewarded in the end. So also in the quest for the Lord, if your first attempt to see Him proves fruitless, do not lose heart. Persevere in the attempt, and you are sure to realise Him at last.”

-Sri Ramakrishna

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Building a Fence

 

 “If you practice spiritual discipline for some time in a solitary place, you will find that your mind has become strong, and then you can live in any place or society without being in the least affected by it. When the plant is tender, it should be hedged around. But when it has grown big, not even cows and goats can injure it. Spiritual practices in a solitary place are essential.”

-Sarada Devi

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Tapas (Self-Control)

"Be self-reliant. Self-effort is absolutely necessary to success in the spiritual life. Follow some spiritual discipline for at least three years, and then, if you find you have made no tangible progress, you may come back and slap my face!"

-Swami Brahmananada

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Returning to the Self

“The first thought to appear is the 'I'-thought. It rises in the Heart

and, in a split second, travels to the brain, identifies with the body and the

senses, and then sees the world around it as a real world.

Follow the quest 'Who am I?'. Follow the 'I' back to its source. When the 'I'

goes back to its source and identifies with the Self instead of with the

senses, there is eternal peace and bliss. To do this you have to get rid of all

thoughts. The first of all thoughts is the 'I'-thought. Give up all other

thoughts and catch hold of the 'I'-thought. The Self will then embrace that 'I'

and devour it.”

-Lakshmana Swamy, 1925-2021

Learn more about self-inquiry here.

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What is a Concept?

 

Questioner: What is a concept? 

Jean Klein: A concept is a thought, and a thought is a word; a word is a sound, and a sound is a pulsation. What comes before the pulsation? Stillness. Therefore a concept is nothing but an objectifying of stillness. In reality all that appears is an expression of stillness. So in the moment of unity with expression, there is only stillness.

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Bonus Quote

“When you breath in, it is a receiving. When you breath out, it is an offering.”

-Jean Klein

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Bhakti (Devotion) and Jnana (Knowledge)

“To long for happiness is Bhakti (devotion). To long for the Self is Jnana (knowledge). It is Jnana to know that the Master is within you, but to commune with Him is Bhakti. When the love of God or Self is manifest, it is Bhakti; when it is in secret it is Jnana. Jnana and Bhakti are like two sweets made out of the same sugar. You can choose whichever you like. Giving up ‘mine’ is Bhakti; giving up ‘I’ is Jnana. The former gives up all his possessions; the latter gives up the very possessor himself.” 

-Ramana Maharshi

True Freedom

“Never say, "O Lord, I am a miserable sinner." Who will help you? You are the help of the universe. What in this universe can help you? What can prevail over you? You are the God of the universe; where can you seek for help? Never help came from anywhere but from yourself. In your ignorance, every prayer that you made and that was answered, you thought was answered by some Being, but you answered the prayer yourself unknowingly. The help came from yourself, and you fondly imagined that someone was sending help to you. There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm, you have built a cocoon around yourself. Who will save you? Burst your own cocoon and come out as a beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth.” 

― Swami Vivekananda 

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Non-Identification

"Let thoughts and feelings have their home in you, but don’t make your home in them."

-Rupert Spira

The Root of Emotional Pain

 

                                                                

"Another aspect of the emotional pain that is an intrinsic part of the egoic mind is a deep-seated sense of lack or incompleteness, of not being whole. In some people, this is conscious, in others unconscious. If it is conscious, it manifests as the unsettling and constant feeling of not being worthy or good enough. If it is unconscious, it will only be felt indirectly as an intense craving, wanting and needing. In either case, people will often enter into a compulsive pursuit of ego-gratification and things to identify with in order to fill this hole they feel within. So they strive after possessions, money, success, power, recognition, or a special relationship, basically so that they can feel better about themselves, feel more complete. But even when they attain all these things, they soon find that the hole is still there, that it is bottomless. Then they are really in trouble, because they cannot delude themselves anymore. Well, they can and do, but it gets more difficult.

"As long as the egoic mind is running your life, you cannot truly be at ease; you cannot be at peace or fulfilled except for brief intervals when you obtained what you wanted, when a craving has just been fulfilled. Since the ego is a derived sense of self, it needs to identify with external things. It needs to be both defended and fed constantly. The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often also political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.

"Do you find this frightening? Or is it a relief to know this? All of these things you will have to relinquish sooner or later. Perhaps you find it as yet hard to believe, and I am certainly not asking you to believe that your identity cannot be found in any of those things. You will know the truth of it for yourself. You will know it at the latest when you feel death approaching. Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to “die before you die” — and find that there is no death."

-Eckhart Tolle

Nature - a Window to God

 

"Forests! Forests! Forests! Dense and all-inspiring forests! Captivating forests with different trees, plants and creepers decked like chariots with myriads of fully blossomed flowers! Even with the utmost care, the gardens in our cities and towns do not have flowers of such variety and in such abundance as seen in these divine forests, so enchanting with countless blossoms of different varieties of white and red roses etc. How can I describe the trees and creepers of the Himalayas, I who am so totally ignorant of forests? Though I knew nothing of the names and qualities, I walked, enjoying their total beauty… The mountains and forests and trees – the oceans with their playful waves – all of them are bubbles on this ocean of Bliss. Ha ha! In all things we see this Sacchidananda. In the midst of the peaceful Himalayas, as well as in the noisy cities, we see this Paramatman."

-Swami Tapovan Maharaj  

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Viveka: How to Live in the World

“Live in the world like an ant. The world contains a mixture of Truth and untruth, sugar and sand. Be an ant and take the sugar.

“Again, the world is a mixture of milk and water, the bliss of God-Consciousness and the pleasure of sense enjoyment. Be a swan and drink the milk, leaving the water aside.

“Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud, but its  skin is always bright and shiny.

“The world is indeed a mixture of truth and make believe. Discard the make-believe and take the Truth.”

-Sri Ramakrishna

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Mithya

 "However strong or beautiful this body may be, its culmination is in those three pounds of ashes. And still people are so attached to it. Glory be to God."

-Sarada Devi

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Real Peace

“Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.

Whoever has God lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.”

-St. Teresa of Avila

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Real Surrender

 “The heat of midnight tears will bring you to God.” 

― Mīrābāī

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All One

 

• “Whether you worship Christ, Krishna, Kali or Allah, you actually worship the one Light that is also in you, since It pervades all things.”

-Anandamayi Ma

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Jai Hind: Helping India

India is the birthplace of yoga, and those of us who benefit from it understand this connection and feel the pain of those who suffering from the current, deadly wave of COVID-19.  There are many ways we can help, including:

-Operation Shanti in Mysore was started by ashtanga students to help street children, and currently serves local children and street moms. The group "Envisions... A world in which the poor are given the opportunity to reach their full potential in life."  Now, they are partnering with Wasatch Ayurveda & Yoga  to help provide Covid relief to those who live in Mysore, India and are being severely affected by thesecond, deadly wave of Covid-19. The money raised goes  directly to trusted people in Mysore via Operation Shanti, and dispersed to individuals they know are suffering now for lack of food and basics. Learn more about Covid Aid for Mysore and donate here.

The  Yoga Alliance also has a couple of recommendations:

American India Foundation, working on health facility, frontline health worker, and community-centered interventions in India.

Global Giving, helping on-the-ground nonprofits  treat COVID-19 patients and more.