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Part 4 of 5
(Selections translated by Sadhu Om and Michael James)
from The Mountain Path, Vol. 22, No. 1, January, 1985
37. Sat-Sanga
164. Our association (sanga) with the reality (sat) alone is true sat-sanga. Since Self alone is the reality, abiding in Self alone is the best sat-sanga. Moreover, since those great Sadhus who have realised Self. the reality, cannot be other than Self, they too are the reality itself. Therefore, approach such Sadhus and remain with them as their devoted slave.2
165. If you do not have the power to abide in Self, the reality, remain with love in the constant company of Sadhus who have known the reality. If you do not have even the good fortune to be in their company, have contact at least with the teachings of such Sadhus by constantly studying those books which contain the words they have spoken. Studying such books is also sat-sanga.
166. What are the books, the study of which is to be considered as sat-sanga? They are only those books which will clearly impress upon you, "Self alone is the reality, so always abide in Self. In order to abide in Self, practise only self-enquiry and do not follow any other path. Practise self-enquiry now itself; turn and dive within".
167. If in the name of sat-sanga you gather together all kinds of people, that holy gathering will consist only of a crowd of people who are skilled in oratory, or who have studied innumerable books, or who have mastered the sixty-four mundane arts (apara-vidyas), afl of which are unreal products of the mind's power of imagination. Reject all such gatherings, knowing that they are not at all true sat-sanga.·
168. Rather than associating with such people, thinking their company to be sat-sanga, it is better for you to remain alone without associating with anyone, because such solitude or non-association (nis-sanga) will help you at least gradually to gain more and more detachment.
169. For those who have been blessed with the rare and great good fortune of gaining true sat-sanga, all the heaps of gold in the seven worlds cannot be compared with that treasure called sat-sanga, because by such sat-sang, they will cross the ocean of ignorance or ajnana, which is so difficult to cross, and thus they will attain in this very life the unequalled state of liberation, which is so difficult to attain.)
170. When we gain association with a Sat-purusha (a person who knows and abides as the reality), we will be able to know very clearly that real devotion to God and steadfast discrimination between the eternal and the ephemeral are steadily rising up and increasing in our hearts automatically and without our own effort.
171. We should not believe that we have by our own efforts and sadhana brought about the rising of such pure devotion and clear discrimination are spontaneously and naturally kindled in our hearts not by our own efforts but only by the power of the Grace of that Sat-purusha, who is living close to us but who appears as if He is someone other than us.
172. Just like a mother who feeds her sleeping child even without the child knowing that he is being fed, the Grace of the Sat-purusha enters our hearts in a manner which cannot be known by us even if we had the most subtle and powerful of intellects, and thereby His Grace reforms us and brings about the destruction of our mind. Ah! His Grace is beyond all limits and cannot be guaged by anyone.
173. Having understood the greatness of sat-sanga, which is revealed by the true words uttered by our Sadguru, Sri Ramana, who is the Lord of the universe, "When the excellent cool southern breeze itself is blowing, say, what is the use of holding a hand-fan?"4 let us live taking refuge in Arunachala, the Hill of sat-sanga.5
1 Continued from 'our last issue, pp. 234-8.
2 Refer to Talks p. 242 and Day by Day p. 236 (16-7-46), where the ideas giveri in this'verse have been expressed by Sri Bhagavan.
3 Compare verse 2 of Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham, in which Srl Bhagavan says, "That supreme state (of liberation) which is praised (by all the scriptures) and which is attained here (in this very life) by the clear vichara which arises in the heart when one gains association with a Sadhu, is impossible to attain by (Iistening to) preachers, by (studying and learning) the meaning of the scriptures, by (doing) virtuous deeds or by any other means."
39. The Destruction of Our Rising
179. Seeing the world, which appears only due to our error of not knowing that the rising 'I' or ego is unreal and thinking the world to be a very great and attractive thing, the persistently mischievous mind runs after it with great desire, hoping to enjoy all the seeming pleasures which it sees in it. But instead of running thus after the world, if the mind turns its attention towards itself in order to scrutinize and know the truth of the rising ego, it will subside with great love and will thus become one with God, who is the real Self.
180. If the mind clearly knows that being as it really is, having subsided and become one with Self, alone is real happiness, and that rising 'I', a separate individual or ego, is nothing but misery, it will gain the liking to subside in Self without ever rising again, having completely destroyed the duality of likes and dislikes.
4 See Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham verse 3.
5 Sri Bhagavan has revealed that Arunachala is the reality or sat itself embodied in the visible and tangible form of a Hill. Therefore, taking refuge at the Feet of Arunachala is the highest form of sat-sanga which is available on the physical plane, and thinking of Arunachala with love is highest form of sat-sanga which is available on the mental plane.
40. Spiritual Maturity of Pakva
181. For people whose madness of desire for the pleasures of this world has not yet subsided, who have not become disgusted with all the efforts they have been making to obtain those pleasures, and whose minds have not therefore completely withdrawn from all such extroverted desires and efforts, it will not be easy to enquire 'Who am I?' and to know.the true state of Self, just as a reflection of one's face will not be formed clearly in swiftly running water.6 Know that a reflection can be seen clearly only when the water stops running and collects itself calmly together in one place.
182. The mind will not be willing to come and follow the spiritual path until it has been repeatedly stung and afflicted by the miseries which lie hidden like poisonous honey-bees in all the worldly pleasures which are sought and attained through the five senses, and until it has thereby gained vairagya or desirelessness towards ill such pleasures. This alone is the reason why God gives all the sense-pleasure which people ask Him to bestow, and is also the reason why the Vedas mainly recommend the path of kamya karmas (actions performed for the fulfilment of temporal desires). 7
183. Self-knowledge will shlne forth spontaneously only when the mind subsides. But if the mind which subsides is full of wicked and inauspicious tendencies (asubha vasanas) Self-knowledge will not shine forth and hence the mind will once again rise and become extroverted. If on the other hand the mind which subsides is pure, being endowed with good qualities (sattva gunas) and the tendency to be (sat-vasana), it will merge within with one-pointed Self-attention and unsleeping vigilance, and hence It will not rise again but will attain unwavering abidance in the state of Self-knowledge.
6 Compare Vichara Sangraham, ch: 8, paragraph 3, when Sri Bhagavan says, Just as it is impossible to separate the threads of a fine silk cloth with a very gross (and blunt) crow-bar, and just as it is impossible to determine the nature of very subtle objects with a lamp which is very much wavering due to the wind, so it is impossible to experience the reality with a mind which, being under the sway of tamo-guna and rajo-guna, is gross and wavering, because the reality is extremely subtle and motionless."
7 When God bestows worldly pleasures upon those people who pray for them, and when the Vedas recommend people to follow the path of kamya karmas, their inner aim is only to create desirelessness or vairagya in the hearts of people by making them experience all the miseries which will inevitably accompany the enjoyment of sense-pleasures. Compare verse 681 of Guru Vachaka Kovai, in which Sri Bhagavan says, "The injunction "Marry a girl" is (given in the Vedas) in order to make one give up the desire for that petty pleasure (of sexual enjoyment), is it not? (Similarly) the injunctions which extol (the performance of) ritual sacrifices are (given) by the words of the Vedas in order to make one gain aversion for all the pleasures of heaven and so on; say, is it not so?" Refer also to Sri Ramana Pada Malai verse 31 (a translation of which is given on p. 91 of The Mountain Path, April 1972) and to Kaivalya Navanitham 2.72-76.
6 Since God will not use a person as His instrument so long as that person retains even a trace of his ego or sense of individuality, and since the thought 'I am an instrument in the hands of God' is iust another subtle form which is proudly assumed by the ego, a person who thinks himself to be an instrument of God is not really His ·instrument. If a person is really being used by God as His instrument, not even a trace of the thought 'I am an instrument of God' or 'God is using me to do His work' will rise in his heart. Compare verse 471 of Guru Vachaka Kovai, in which Sri Bhagavan says, "Know that even the yoga-practice of performing pure austerities (tafjas) with the desire 'May I become an instrument of Siva is a blemish upon self-surrender, which is the highest form of service to God."
184. If the liking to attain true knowledge really rises within one, it will be easy for one to experience Self-knowledge, the state of perfect emancipation, as clearly as an amalaka fruit in the hand. But so long as even an iota of the liking to enjoy the pleasures of this unreal world remains unsubsided in one's heart the real thirst to know Self will not rise within one.
185. Know that he who likes to remain steadfastly attending to Self, knowing that Sell attention is far more important than any action which he has to do, than any word which he has to speak, or than any thought which he has to think, alone is a true pakvi or mature spiritual aspirant.
186. Though many crores of very very important thoughts rise in one's heart., bliss can be enjoyed only when one rejects all of them and remains still, knowing that to be stil is far more important than to continue attending to any thought whatsoever. Only by those earnest aspirants who have clearly understooc this truth, can real tapas be performed.
41. Denying the Ego
187. Your appearance as an ego, an individual soul who rises in the form 'I am this body', alone is the root-cause for the appearilnce of this unreal world. If this root-appearance, the rising of yourself as an individual soul, does not rise even in the least, that state will be the state of liberation, which is completely devoid of the imaginary appearances of the world and God.
188. If one has the ability to deny oneself and thereby to destroy the rising of the ego in its very source; what other tapas need one perform? The real Self, the source in which the ego thus subsides and dies, alone is the state which is worthy to purchase and attain by selling (or renouncing) all the three worlds.
42. Being an Instrument of God
189. If you perform any action thinking 'I am an instrument in the hands of God', God will not take you to be His instrument. Whoever is really being used by God as His instrument will never feel 'I am an instrument of God'.8
43. Gaining One-Pointedness in Self
190. For whatever thing a liking or love arises in you, upon that thing your mind will certainly gain one-pointedness, because such is the nature of the mind. Unless a real love for Self arises in you, you will not turn within and attend to it one-pointedly; instead you will always be telling some excuse or other for not doing so.
191. (When will a real love for Self arise in you?) Whatever your intellect decides to be the greatest and most worthy thing, for that thing alone a love will arise in you. The lntellect of a mature spiritual aspirant will decide that Self alone is the greatest and most worthy thing, and hence he will have real love for Self. But to the intellects of immature people, the objects of this world alone will appear to be great and worthy to be attained, and hence their desire for those objects will be constantly increasing.
8 Since God will not use a person as His instrument so long as that person retains even a trace of his ego or sense of individuality, and since the' thought 'I am an instrument in the hands of God' is iust another subtle form which is proudly assumed by the ego, a person who thinks himself to be an instrument of God is not really His ·instrument. If a person is really being used by God as His instrument, not even a trace of the thought 'I am an instrument of God' or 'God is using me to do His work' will rise in his heart. Compare verse 471 of Guru Vachaka Kovai, in which Sri Bhagavan says, "Know that even the yoga-practice of performing pure austerities (tafjas) with the' desire 'May I become an instrument of Siva' is a blemish upon self-su'rrender, which is the highest form of service to God."
192. (When will the intellect decide that Self alone is the greatest thing?) The intellect will esteem something as the greatest according to its decision as to what is eternal and what is ephemeral. What can be correctly decided by the intellect to be eternal? Only that thing which can be decided to be real. is unquestionably eternal; other things are only ephemeral objects which are fit to be discarded.
193. (How to decide what is real?) Whatever exists always and unceasingly, whatever exists without ever undergoing any change, and whatever shines by its own light of consciousness without depending upon the aid of any other thing either to know it or to make it known - that alone is to be decided as real, is it not?9
194. Existing always and unceasingly means to be deathless and indestructible; existing without ever undergoing any change means to be achala or devoid of movement either in time or in space; shining by its own light means to be the consciousness which itself clearly knows its own existence, and not to be an insentient object which is known only by the aid of some other thing. Knowing that the definitioni of reality is thus, scrutinize and decide what is real.
195. Whatever satisfies this definition of reality, having all the abovesaid three charac-teristics, alone is to be accepted as real. Therefore scrutinize and see whether there is anything in this world which can satisfy this definition. If you scrutinize carefully, you will find that every object exists for some time and then disappears. that every object undergoes change and is devoid of stability, and, that every object is known only by the aid of some other thing.
196. Therefore none of the objects which are known through the five senses can satisfy the abovesaid definition of reality, and hence none of them can be said to be real. But consider yourself in the light of the three characteristics mentioned above, and decide whether or not you, who know those objects, can satisfy this definition of reality.
197. The body and world are ever changing. But your own existence is the consciousness 'I am' which always exists unceasingly and without undergoing any change, is it not? Did you not exist without any deficiency even in sleep, where everything else had become non-existent? Therefore how can there be any other thing which is more real than you? Consider well and say.
198. All the four inner organs or antahkaranas, namely the mind, inteliect. chitta and ego, are ever undergoing change, and they cease to exist in sleep. But you are always the 'Same 'you', are you not? Did any second 'you' exist in your sleep to know you. who know all the objects which appear in waking and dream? You, who are the one and only 'you', alone existed in sleep; did you not?
199. Since you alone knew your existence in sleep, and since you who knew thus are only one and not two, you alone are the selfshining entity or swayam-prakasa vastu. Therefore know that you, who are the consciousness 'I am' which always exists and shines without undergoing any change and without the aid of any other thing, alone can be said to be real.'
200. Do not all human beings have love for sleep, the state in which one abides as Self alone, having left aside everything else? If that state of Self were not blissful. would anyone have love for sleep? Moreover, is any feeling of misery experienced there in sleep? Consider well and say.
9 Compare Maharshi', Gospel, 8th ed .. p. &3. wherp Sri Bhagavan says, "What is th~ standard of realityl That alone is real which exists by itself, which reveats itself by itself, and which is eternal and unchanging"
201. Therefore, knowing that you, the Self, alone are real, drown in your own non-dual blissful existence-consciousness and experience the state of Self-abidance, which is completely devoid of the unreal body and mind. To experience this state is alone the real duty of all good and cultured people.
202. Know that those people who have discriminated and understood that Self is thus greater and more real than any other thing, will surely gain true love for Self, and even through forgetfulness they will never have desire for any other thing.
203. Those people who have a clear and unshakable understanding of their own reality, having thus discriminated and concluded that Self. the existence-consciousness 'I am', alone is real and eternal, will gain unlimited love to abide as Self and will thus attain the state of one-pointed Self-attention.
204. When you attain the non-dual state of Self-abidance by gaining such one-pointedness and such unequalled love for Self, you will experience the state of true tapas in which you alone blissfully exist as the direct knowledge of Self.
(To be continued)
Go on to part 5
Sri Ramanarpanamastu