tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7197954811846751802024-03-27T08:58:10.283-04:00The Beacon Light<i>Teachings and excerpts from discourses of some of the greatest Indian sages.</i>Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.comBlogger3035125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-82960725589588253272024-03-26T14:30:00.004-04:002024-03-26T14:30:00.175-04:00Pay No Attention to the MindSri Annamalai SwamiQ: When I began to do sadhana everything went smoothly at first. There was a lot of peace and happiness and jnana seemed very near. But nowadays there is hardly any peace, just mental obstacles and hindrances.AS: Whenever obstacles come on the path, think of them as 'not me'. Cultivate the attitude that the real you is beyond the reach of all troubles and obstacles. There are Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-40420837439912004442024-03-16T08:00:00.001-04:002024-03-16T08:00:00.143-04:00Your Nature is like the SkySri Annamalai SwamiEvery time you go to sleep you have the experience of being without a mind. Yu cannot deny that you exist while you are asleep and you cannot deny that your mind is not functioning while you are in dreamless sleep. This daily experience should convince you that it is possible to continue our existence without a mind. Of course, you do not have the full experience of Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-39780394015253187812024-03-08T06:30:00.001-05:002024-03-08T06:30:00.130-05:00Mind is Non-ExistentSri Annamalai SwamiQ: It is all very clear but I feel that I need some help. I am not sure that I can generate this understanding by myself.The desire for assistance is part of your problem. Don't make the mistake of imagining that there is some goal to be reached or attained. If you think like this you will start looking for methods to practise and people to help you. This just perpetuates the Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-41460515725080641252024-02-29T06:30:00.001-05:002024-02-29T06:30:00.132-05:00Earnestness - sine qua non for Self-RealizationSri Nisargadatta MaharajQ: There are two cases to consider. Either I have found a Guru, or I have not. In each case what is the right thing to do?M: You are never without a Guru, for he is timelessly present in your heart. Sometimes he externalizes himself and comes to you as an uplifting and reforming factor in your life, a mother, a wife, a teacher; or he remains as an inner urge toward Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-34931180343241861422024-02-21T06:00:00.000-05:002024-02-21T06:00:00.343-05:00PuryashtakaSage VasishthaTHE LORD said:But for the mind and prana the body is an inert mass. Just as a piece of iron moves in the presence of a magnet, even so the jiva moves in the very presence of consciousness which is infinite and omnipresent. The body is inert and dependent; it is made to function by the consciousness which believes itself to be similar to the vital airs (prana). Thus, it is the Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-80508462780598355572024-02-09T08:32:00.047-05:002024-02-09T08:32:00.243-05:00Consciousness is the only reality Sage VasishthaTHE LORD continued:By identification with its own object, consciousness seems to reduce itself to the state of thinking or worrying: even as impure gold looks like copper until it is purified, when it shines like gold. By self-forgetfulness on the part of the infinite consciousness the notion of the universe arises, but this unreality ceases when there is self-knowledge.When Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-84710408040831644452024-01-28T06:30:00.000-05:002024-01-28T06:30:00.141-05:00Snake is seen only in dim lightSri Ramana MaharshiSomasundara Swami, a long standing devotee, asked: There is akasa in a mirror and it reflects images. How are these contained in the mirror?M.: Objects remain in space. Objects and space are together reflected in the mirror. Just as the things are found in space, so they are in the reflection also. The mirror is itself thin. How can these objects be contained in its compass?D.:Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-52010615695790336872024-01-15T07:00:00.001-05:002024-01-15T07:00:00.132-05:00Immanence Only with MayaSri Ramana MaharshiD.: How are we to proceed?M.: Only get rid of the non-self.D.: It looks all right now; but later it is all forgotten.M.: Your forgetfulness implies knowledge, for you know you forgot; otherwise how can you speak of forgetting it? So forgetfulness also is Chit-akasa (Chit-ether) only.D.: How then is it not clear to me?M.: Chit is knowledge pure and simple. The mind proceeds fromRajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-85093493412263334542024-01-04T08:14:00.001-05:002024-01-04T08:14:00.128-05:00Unreal Mind implies Unreal WorldSage VasishthaTHE LORD continued:Consciousness thinks (feels or imagines) falsely 'I am unhappy' even as a demented woman might think she is miserable. Just as one who is not dead wails aloud "Alas I am dead", and when she is not lost she weeps "Alas I am lost", on account of perverse understanding, even so the consciousness falsely imagines it is miserable or limited. Such imagination is Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-68937174232833934792023-12-28T06:00:00.001-05:002023-12-28T06:00:00.125-05:00The Spiritual HeartSri Ramana MaharshiThe Spanish lady and her lady friend have come. They asked: You say the Heart is on the right. Can you explain how it is so?Sri Bhagavan handed over the extract from the Psychological Review of Philadelphia for her to read. He also added. The Heart is the place wherefrom the ‘I-thought’ arises.D.: So you mean the spiritual Heart as distinguished from the physical heart?M.: Yes.Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-80029073373468897862023-12-18T06:30:00.007-05:002023-12-18T06:30:00.130-05:00How to Keep Quiet?Sri Ramana Maharshi A certain visitor began to pull the pankah. Sri Bhagavan said: “Because it is cold, they have placed fire by my side. Why should the pankah be pulled?”Then he continued: “On a cold morning, when I was in Virupaksha cave, I was sitting in the open. I was feeling cold. People used to come, see me and go back. A group of Andhra visitors had come. I did not notice what they Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-75669010339753109732023-12-06T06:00:00.002-05:002023-12-06T06:00:00.132-05:00NamaJapa is Sattva-TamasSri Nisargadatta MaharajQ: I have a Guru and I love him very much. But whether he is my Guru I do not know.M: Watch yourself. If you see yourself changing, growing, it means you have found the right man. He may be beautiful or ugly, pleasant or unpleasant, flattering you or scolding; nothing matters except the one crucial fact of inward growth. If you don't, well, he may be your friend, but not Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-28993789234924773432023-11-30T08:04:00.001-05:002023-11-30T08:04:00.141-05:00What is Liberation?Sri Nisargadatta MaharajVisitor: What about sins and merits after abidance in my self?Maharaj: These are qualities related to the body-mind. So the moment you are no longer the body-mind, these qualities have no further scope with you. First of all, we condition ourselves into the body; we indoctrinate ourselves with the idea "I am the body." An example is the air. When the air comes into Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-19849982005290123962023-11-21T09:30:00.001-05:002023-11-21T09:30:00.134-05:00No Mind No DualitySri Siddharameshwar MaharajPure Brahman is experienced as Pure Consciousness. It is called Nirguna, or the "Attributeless Absolute." Illusion (Maya) is within it with attributes, and is visible. What should be called Maya and what should be called Brahman? I will tell you. It is only the mind that thinks about Brahman and Maya. Not to make any statement in the mind is Brahman, and to make a Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-17483627995386641712023-11-12T07:00:00.001-05:002023-11-12T07:00:00.135-05:00Teaching Alone MattersSri Nisargadatta MaharajQ: All this I grasp verbally, but it does not become a part of myself. It remains as a picture in my mind to be looked at. Is it not the task of the Guru to give life to the picture?M: Again, it is the other way round. The picture is alive; dead is the mind. As the mind is made of words and images, so is every reflection in the mind. It convers up reality with Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-13503809134055885402023-11-03T07:00:00.001-04:002023-11-03T07:00:00.145-04:00The Real is NOWSri Nisargadatta MaharajQ: I must select my guru rightly.M: Be the right man and the right Guru will surely find you.Q: You are not answering my question: how to find the right Guru?M: But I did answer your question. Do not look for a Guru, do not even think of one. Make your goal your Guru. After all, the Guru is but a means to an end, not the end in itself. He is not important, it is what you Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-22849270235980328872023-10-24T06:30:00.001-04:002023-10-24T06:30:00.140-04:00Complete Self-Surrender = LiberationSri Nisargadatta MaharajQ: You were telling us that there are many self-styled Gurus, but a real Guru is very rare. There are many jnani who imagine themselves realised, but all they have is book knowledge and a high opinion of themselves. Sometimes they impress, even fascinate, attract disciples and make them waste their time in useless practices. After some years, when the disciple takes stock Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-26119245539477321262023-10-12T08:07:00.001-04:002023-10-12T08:07:00.145-04:00VairagyaSri Nisargadatta MaharajV: With the falling off of desires and attachments, there comes a feeling of not wanting to do anything..M: That leads to the Parabrahman state. What is the use to that state of all the ambitions, expectations, desires? What does it need? Nothing at all, for it is the perfect state.V: You get to the point that you don't care for anything anymore, neither the Brahman state Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-29761728936847270202023-10-02T07:45:00.001-04:002023-10-02T07:45:00.146-04:00The Residual Peace 'I'Sri Ramana MaharshiTo an Andhra gentleman Sri Bhagavan said: If one goes on wanting, one’s wants cannot be fulfilled. Whereas if one remains desireless anything will be forthcoming. We are not in the wife, children, profession, etc.; but they are in us; they appear and disappear according to one’s prarabdha. The mind remaining still is samadhi, no matter whether the world is perceived or Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-20603765381154766352023-09-22T07:42:00.001-04:002023-09-22T07:42:00.145-04:00TyagaSri Ramana MaharshiWhen a child held something to be offered to Sri Bhagavan by the parents, they cajoled the child to offer it to Sri Bhagavan. The child did so gladly. Sri Bhagavan remarked: Look at this! When the child can give a thing away to Jeja it is tyaga. ( Jeja -God). See what influence Jeja has on children also! Every gift implies unselfishness. That is the whole content of nishkama Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-67074298241549819832023-09-15T05:47:00.000-04:002023-09-15T05:47:45.394-04:00What is there to say?Sri Ramana MaharshiA party from Rajkot came in a bus. They consisted of four chiefs and four ladies with attendants and a bodyguard. They arrived at 11 a.m. After lunch in their room, they had a short conversation at 12-45 p.m. and left at 1-15 p.m.One of them said: Here is the mother of the Thakore Saheb. We have come a long distance for the darshan of Sri Maharshi. Will He kindly give us some Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-28225207527671683212023-08-31T08:30:00.001-04:002023-08-31T08:30:00.153-04:00Thought-Free State is the GoalSri Ramana MaharshiD.: Is a jnani different from a yogi? What is the difference?M.: Srimad Bhagavad Gita says that a jnani is the true yogi and also a true bhakta. Yoga is only a sadhana and jnana is the siddhi.D.: Is yoga necessary?M.: It is a sadhana. It will not be necessary after jnana is attained. All the sadhanas are called yogas, e.g., Karma yoga; Bhakti yoga; Jnana yoga; Ashtanga yoga. Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-17447489853535491212023-08-21T08:00:00.001-04:002023-08-21T08:00:00.151-04:00Beingness is Sattva GunaSri Nisargadatta MaharajM: All this manifestation is the ocean of that being. You may call it the ocean of Brahma or the ocean of Maya.Q: Beyond Maya, beyond the ocean?M: Where is the question of going beyond? There is beingness-beingness extinguished. It does not go beyond anything. Does it require an airplane, a Boeing, to go somewhere? From where has it come, where did it go? Prior to coming Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-62520050953325602652023-08-10T07:30:00.000-04:002023-08-10T07:30:00.205-04:00Jiva Cannot Be Independent of IshwaraSri Ramana MaharshiD.: Is not jiva the reflected light, the ‘I-thought’?M.: He is also a jiva; before it also he is jiva; the one of them is related to the other as cause and effect. The sleeper jiva cannot be independent of Isvara. On waking he says “I am the body”. If all the worlds together form virat, the body is a tiny dot in it. Thus the body is in and of virat. What belongs to the jiva Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-719795481184675180.post-6848725912101187062023-08-01T06:00:00.000-04:002023-08-01T06:00:00.143-04:00Avarana (Veiling)Sri Ramana MaharshiAvarana (veiling) does not hide the jiva in entirety; he knows that he is; only he does not know who he is. He sees the world; but not that it is only Brahman. It is light in darkness (or knowledge in ignorance). In a cinema show the room is first darkened, artificial light is introduced; only in this light are the pictures projected.For differentiation a reflected light is Rajyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04335809380623747807noreply@blogger.com0