Practice

“ Success in turning the mind inwards is achieved by practice and dispassion and it succeeds only gradually.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi

In spiritual practice, do not expect to obtain quick or dramatic results. The fog of ignorance, doubt and fear is cleared gradually by the light of Grace.

 Do not be discouraged; like the fruit ripening on the tree, this Self-knowledge happens in its own time.

Sudden wisdom can be dangerous: before the sword can be used in battle, it must first be tempered by innumerable cycles of heating, hammering, and quenching.

 So too, the sadhaka must be prepared for the onset of jnana. 

Ignorance is a fiercely burning fire: stillness is needed to cool the mind and heart.

Learning how to dwell in stillness takes practice.

Take the teaching in slowly, bit by bit.

Let it sink in, soak into your being, become truly assimilated with your soul.

Don’t be in a hurry to achieve some goal or transform into something or obtain some object. 

Be desireless: continue your practice without any expectation and with total faith that everything is unfolding precisely as required, according to one’s own unique nature.

This is true sadhana; this itself is bliss, is joy, is freedom.

“He who ascends to the sahasrara chakra,the place of enlightenment, through the path called Archis with the help of Amrutha nadi gains immediate liberation.This happens to a loving devotee of well-ripened mind entirely due to divine Grace.” Ramana Gita, Chapter 14.

The nadi of awakening is the Amrutha nadi, leading directly from the Heart to the head.

This nadi remains shut until spiritual maturity is attained; even the faintest trace of doubt or falsehood or pride in the sadhaka will prevent it from opening.

Once the sadhaka’s state of purity is total and complete, Grace opens this nadi and the pulsation of the Self as “I”-“ I” (Aham Sphurana) is experienced in the Heart.
The still mind sinks and merges in that cave where the Guru shines.

The Heart-lotus blossoms open and the nectar of bliss fountains upwards to sahasrara. 

Now the consciousness flows in a steady stream of effulgence into the divine dimension of Self. 

The individual disappears, the Absolute shines forth everywhere.

(pic.Prem Koshy)

Perfect wholeness flowers in infinite, blissful peace.

“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the individual self.” Albert Einstein

https://lightsongs.blogspot.com/2014/05/

Remembering and Forgetting

“ Compose yourself in stillness. Draw your attention inward and devote your mind to the Self. The wisdom you seek lies within.” Bhagavad Gita

Like a prodigal son, driven by the winds of desire and greed, I fled into the wilderness. I forgot my true source, my very nature, lost my soul in the drama of samsara -like one suffering from amnesia, I forgot my own roots.
Hypnotised by the cunning illusion of a separate self, my mind created time, space, the universe and all that exists; like a dreamer to whom the dream is very real, I was carried away by the currents of the senses into a story of I, me, mine .

Battered by the blows of fate, tormented by fear and worry and regret, how I yearned for peace!

So many years wasted ,wandering and searching- how foolish was I; at last I remembered!

Everything I sought was always right here in me.

“The power of remembering and forgetting comes from Me alone!” Bhagavad Gita

Turning away from the world, I sought my own source.
I begged the Lord of all hearts to show me the way home.
Blessed by his compassionate grace, I ripened like a fruit in the sun.
I became silent, still.
Forgetting my individuality, the bubble that was me burst at last and merged forever in the ocean of Brahman.
Oh, that joy! That priceless, immortal peace!

“ Stillness is the Self. Silence is Brahman.Peace is Liberation. “ 

Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi

Now wherever I look I see only Light:

the leaves on the tree, the stones on the path, the rain,the river, the bird in the sky, the dog barking, the old beggar on the street…….everything is Divine.

“Wisdom is knowing that I am nothing. Love is knowing that I am everything.

Between the two, my life flows.” Nisargedatta Maharaj

The Human Mind

“ The mind has a role in the development of human beings, but this role is limited and can only lead to a certain level. Beyond the mind, a new journey begins.” Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi

The human mind is considered our greatest evolutionary achievement, contributing to all the scientific and cultural triumphs of our species. In truth, the mind is a good servant but a bad master.
As a race, our collective mind has led to greed and hubris beyond control, to our considering ourselves as the “lords and conquerors “ of nature. Our social, political, economic and cultural systems have proven to be increasingly dysfunctional and destructive.
No other species on earth has caused so much harm to itself, to this planet and to all other living beings.

Out of control, this runaway mind has wreaked increasing havoc, as the history of the last two hundred years proves beyond all shadow of doubt: our race has gone mad! Worse still, like most lunatics, we are not even aware of our insanity, but continue to consider our way of life as “ normal” and “civilised”.

Like lemmings, we hurtle towards our own destruction. Can we change, before it's too late?

As individuals, we have all experienced how the mind can run amok, to fill us with anger, desire, paranoia, worry, terror, despair, or just sheer noise!
Are we in control of our own minds? Or are we just programmed zombies in a matrix of illusion that we consider “reality”?
As Eckhardt Tolle asks, “ Have you found the “Off” button? “
Can you be still, thoughtless ? Have you found the true Self that is the source of the mind?

Every human is born with the spark of divinity at the core of his/her very being.

Focus on this inner center leads to a state of grace that transforms the individual. If this could happen to enough individuals, it could cause a quantum leap in the evolution of human conciousness that could save the race and the planet. Hopefully, this shift is already beginning.

All the prophets and sages have said the same thing : the kingdom of heaven is within you.

It’s time to pay heed.

“ When the flow of mind reaches the lotus feet of the Lord of soul and remains there always, like river in ocean, that is called devotion. Devotion, like a swollen cloud in the sky of the great Lord, emits a shower of bliss: he whose mind is an accepting lake that is filled by this reaps the true and complete harvest of life; he and he alone.” Sivanandalahari, Adi Sankaracharya.

Lord of the Mountain

“I am the Tree of Life, the splendour,
The mountain’s crowning glory.
I am its eternal support and auspiciousness,
The light of the brilliant sun.
My treasures are luminous wisdom
And the nectar of immortality.”
Sage Trisanku, Sikshavalli, Taittreya Upanishad

I have no learning or will-power or strength-
I cannot practice all the difficult yogas.
Sweet Lord of the mountain,
all I can do is fall at your feet,
In total submission and surrender.

Silently ,with every breath, I chant your Name
With total devotion, again and again.
Your will is mine, all my actions are yours,
You are my Lord and my Love and my Life.
Every moment, I worship your lotus feet.

In tender blessing, you shine in my Heart
And fill me with your effulgent Grace.
In the infinite perfection of your Light,
I disappear in immortal bliss;
Dissolving in the ocean of your peace -
How can I ever be anything else but this?

“ Were I given a hundred thousand tongues instead of one,
And the hundred thousand multiplied twenty-fold,
A hundred thousand times would I say, and say again:

The Lord of all the worlds is One.” Guru Nanak

Celebration!

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand And  Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.” From Auguries of Innocence, William Blake

It is said in the Holy Bible that only those who are as little children can enter the kingdom of Heaven.

The wisdom of the child lies in her innocence and her capacity to take delight in every little thing. 

Drop yesterday’s painful memories and tomorrow’s anxious fears; rejoice in the miracle of this moment that is always eternity.

Feel from your heart the ecstatic magic that pervades the simplest joys: a cool summer breeze, a bright yellow ribbon, coffee and camaraderie and the happy meeting of eyes and smiles among friends.

Return to innocence and wonder. Think less, feel more.

Eat, drink and be merry in cordial company.

A little red heart on a thumbnail is an expression of the highest wisdom :
have fun!

That’s what its all about!

The search for the meaning of life ends in the simple celebration of being alive.