Happy Birthday to the Unborn One

 ( Homage to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi on the 141st Jayanti Day)

“ You who wish to celebrate the birthday, seek first whence was your birth. One’s true birthday is when he merges with That which transcends birth and death – the Eternal Being.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi.

At year’s end, the winter sun shines bright in a clear blue sky.

Sprung from water and fire, earth and air sing in perfect harmony.

My heart overflows with gratitude to hear such soulful delight.

All around me there is only your loving Light.

In ecstatic surrender, I melt in the radiance of your gaze.

With every fibre of my being, let me always sing your praise!

Be still and all will be well,  you said -

There is nothing else to know.

Beyond words and mind, beyond space and time,

There is nowhere else to go.

An indescribable spring of joy wells up inside me;

So cherished am I, so protected am I, so beloved am I, so blessed am I !

Om Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan ! May this wonder never cease - 

May I dwell forever in your deep and perfect peace!

“Higher than quietude there is no achievement; higher than quietude there is no effort; higher than quietude there is no tapas; higher than quietude there is no deathless life.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi. 

What is here called quietude is the state of stillness of mind. This can be achieved only by unceasing enquiry [vichara]. When the mind knows that in truth there is nothing to reject or to accept, it will lose its movements and will abide in supreme peace. Sri Muruganar, Guru Vachaka Kovai

Here and Now

 “Blessed, supremely blessed, are they who are installed in the eternal now, 
transcending time and place and form and matter, 
unmoved by weal or woe or wealth or want, 
for in so far as things are motionless they are like eternity.” Meister Eckhart, Sermon 16 

Listen, my friend, trapped in mind-smoke, you have lost touch with divine Reality;

Will you let your whole life drift by in this fog?

Break out of your prison, wake up from your lotus-eater dream! 

Past and future are illusions, only the now is real  - in which time are you living?

Like ancient cobwebs in an abandoned ruin, thinking spins endless stories around you.

Shake yourself free, like a dog coming out of the water shakes himself dry.

Throw away the garbage, stop singing that same old song.

Vigorously cast off the illusion that has held you in thrall for so long.

Direct perception is the key.

Switch off the ticker tape mind and, for the first time, you will truly see.

Alert, aware, thought-free, 

here and now,

is the most alive you will ever be.

“When the tricky senses are controlled, when mental conceptions are removed, and when one is unshakably established as Self in the Heart, then the Knowledge which shines in that State of firm Self-Abidance is the Real God . Such a True Seeing, which is devoid of illusion and deception, is the State in which one shines as the Ocean of Bliss. Only in the Supreme Silence which is thus achieved in Self-Abidance, will the soul never again have a downfall.” Sri Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai

Again and Again

 

O Beloved, soaring, ecstatic music floods my being entire

as  You caress the strings of the lute of my heart.

Like the leaves a-quiver in the wind, like the flying sparks at the edge of a fire,

I dance and shimmer in the warm breath of Your art.

Though they say You dwell in splendour beyond the highest heaven, in secret,

You are right here, inextricably mingled with the air, with the rain and the sand.

Invisible, yet ever-present, You are the living power that pervades all creation 

In one sweeping, timeless rhythm, like the waves making love to the land.

Wherever I go, I find only You, whatever I eat, I taste only You; 

Your voice echoes in every cry,

Your scent is in the fragrance of every flower,

the light of Your gaze shines bright in every eye.

For this, and only this, did I come into existence:

No matter the tears and the pain,

Sweet Beloved, I would gladly be born a thousand million times

just to find You again and again.

Life Just Is

 

Life is not about the things you do or the pain you feel or the joy you find;

It’s not about the people you meet or the places you go to

or the aging body that surprises you when you look in the mirror.

It’s not a lesson to learn or a riddle to solve or a theorem to prove.

It’s not that mysterious hunger for a once-remembered bliss, that grasping prayer,

That déjà vu feeling that you have been here so many times before.

Life is a poem, a story, a song,

A dance of wonder feeling its way through space and time,

A vast oceanic love that surges like an eternal tide against an endless shore;

It is a red-gold dawn arising in a sleeping sky,

it is the truth of being, pure existence, a wild, fierce cry

Of exultation and praise

Ringing out like a trumpet in the silence.

I tell you this:

Beyond all thoughts and words and concepts,

Life just is.

Paradise is Here and Now

 

“Except by the Lord’s Grace, which begins to function when one surrenders oneself completely at His feet with sincere devotion, the Self cannot be cognised merely by the skill of the mind. So subtle is the Reality. Heart, the source, is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all. It is never a  form, it is the light of Truth. The death of the mind drowned in Self-Consciousness is the eternal Silence. The real ‘I’ is the supreme Heart-Space, the great ocean of bliss.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai

Enough talk, enough words – throw all the books away!

Drop all your concepts and theories.

God is too subtle to be grasped by your intellect,

Yet  responds instantly to the heart-cry of loving surrender.

Unwavering, one-pointed devotion leads infallibly into the divine embrace that is infinite love and joy.

Stop searching for happiness in all the wrong places.

Everything you seek is already within you.

You are the only shadow that is blocking the Light;

Remove yourself for a second and see the glory that is your true, natural being!

Just rest in the Heart and perfection is  effortlessly revealed.

All doubt and fear, all sorrow and suffering will disappear like mist before the sun:

In that thought-free silence, only blissful peace exists.

So, be truly still – and enter paradise!

Right here, right now.

“Whatever it be that lights devotion in man’s heart and knits him closest unto God, that is the best thing for him here in time. Thou needst not seek Him here or there, He is no further off than at the door of thy heart; there He lingers, awaiting whoever is ready to open and let Him in. Thou needst not call to Him afar, He waits much more impatiently than thou for thee to open to Him. He longs for thee a thousandfold more urgently than thou for Him: one point, the opening and the entering.”   Meister Eckhart

Celebrate Light!

 

“What a mystery is Light!
Awareness in form, burning fog and mist and darkness away,

Transforming all it touches into radiance.

See the Light within. 

Let it shine into all the dark, hidden corners of your being.

This is enough.” From Lightsongs – the book.

There is a light that is brighter than the sun and all the stars.

It is the source of all light and life, bestowing wisdom and joy and peace.

It shines forever in the innermost Heart of every living being.

It is your greatest treasure, your true Self.

Some call it Brahman or Shiva or Tao or God.

In truth, no names or words can describe its divine mystery.

It cannot be seen – to know it, you must be it.

If you are prepared for total transformation, the ultimate metamorphosis, you can be it.

To be it, you must surrender unconditionally and disappear into it.

When there is no “ you” left, the singing and the dancing begins.

This is the secret festival, the eternal celebration.

This is the flame that never dims.

So light your lamps with devotion and joy.

Happy Diwali!

The Koan of Being Human

 

“Once there was a way to get back homewards.
 Once there was a way to get back home.
Sleepy darling, do not cry and I will sing you a lullaby.
Boy, you’re going to carry that weight , carry that weight a long time!”
The Beatles

Oh you children of Adam, what are you becoming?

Who can define or understand you, your madness, your genius, your implacable contradictions? So puny, yet, so powerful, so beautiful and yet, so ugly, so insignificant, and yet, so dangerous; angel or demon, sinner or saint, who are you really??

Are you diligently struggling to work through  the mountains of karma you inherited? Or are you too busy sowing the seeds of your own extinction?

Are you stardust, are you golden? Or are you a blight of locusts destroying all before you? 

Your creator  became you and  got lost  in his own illusion; now he turns inside-out in endless aplomb, surprising himself with himself. And you, where are you in all this noise? 

Who, or what,  exactly, is a human being?

Unruly, uncontrollable, you have proved yourself both  creative and destructive, so divine and, at the same time, so monstrous,  capable of both the greatest achievements and the most terrible crimes.

Have you evolved at all in fifty thousand years? Or are you secretly playing a complex game, riding a souped-up roller coaster of recurring lifetimes to see it all, feel it all, do it all?

End it all?

A thousand years from now, a hundred thousand years from now, will you still flaunt your genes on some distant planet in a galaxy far, far away? Or will the only remaining traces of you be some faintly human dust?

O child of man, who do you truly chose to be?

“ I live fearlessly from day to day until day no longer dawns for me.” Zen Master Ryokan.

Your Secret Brother

 
(Artwork of Lord Yama  by Suresh Pydikondala)


“ Do not fear emptiness, do not fear death.
Every night, in sleep, you die blissfully for eight hours,
Gratefully embracing oblivion to recharge your tired being.
Who, inside you, experiences the peace and rejuvenation of deep sleep?
Unfettered by the body, the spirit enters the great Void and fills itself with fresh vitality.
Death’s like that – only, it’s a slightly longer period of recharging.
Death is freedom and that sense of coming home.” from Lightsongs, the book.

“Our culture does not believe in endings and therefore chooses to deny death. As any farmer knows, life is rooted in, and dependent on, death.” Stephen Jenkinson, author of Die Wise

An invisible God perches upon your left shoulder and whispers sometimes in your ear.
He is your most faithful companion and greatest friend.
He is the background that gives your life context, the ending that gives it meaning, the gift that sets you free.
He is your secret brother and his name is Death.
If you would live a fuller, richer and deeper life, learn to embrace and accept him.

The wisest cultures in the world have accepted death as a natural and integral part of life.
At every moment, millions of cells in the body are dying and being replaced by new cells. Recognising the inevitability of suffering, old age and death, human beings seek for meaning, if any, in this human existence. This is how Prince Siddartha became the Buddha, how all the great spiritual practices began.

Death is a priceless treasure, a sacred mystery, a gateway to infinity.
To die consciously is to die wisely and well. This takes preparation and practice.
All the great mystic traditions have viewed death as a path to transformation and transcendence: to die before the body dies has always been the key to enlightenment.
What exactly does this mean?

The person that you think you are, the ego-self, is just a story made up of all your memories, your emotions, your conditioning- it is a result of your unconscious identification with the body-mind complex. This persona is an illusion that does not really exist; however, so powerful is its hold on you that it hides your true being from you. Caught in the hypnotic stranglehold of this false identification, all your interactions with reality are distorted by a clouded filter, a dense fog; so, you fail to experience the  precious, magical wonder of your own everyday life!

Burst the bubble of this ego-identification and awaken to the sacred experience of pure being-awareness in the present moment. This is how you will discover heaven on earth and, at last, be one with your own true nature: infinite, eternal, immortal. 

( Artwork of Lord Shiva by Vrindavan Das)

This is the gift that death can bring to you, if you are brave enough to accept it.

If you can die before your body dies, you can truly be free.

The Gift of Silence

"There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility."
- Thomas Merton


God is silence. Beyond language and thought, beyond reason and concept, silence shines eternally. Listen with the ears of your heart and you can hear it everywhere.

Everything arises from silence and dissolves back into silence. Silence is woven in the gap between thoughts and words, creates music by existing between the notes, pervades all forms as the emptiness that fills every atom.

As the very core of your being, silence is the source of life and love, of joy and comfort and peace. The infinite perfection of the Self is the abiding, unchanging, impersonal silence from which unconditional love overflows and celebrates. Truly, silence is the very form of Brahman.

The greatest teaching is silence.The Guru’s silence effortlessly bestows the grace of liberation and the gift of immortality.

Totally and unconditionally surrender to this silence and all your suffering will cease. 

“Tranquility in the form of supreme silence is supreme bliss, the happiness of liberation. The radiance of consciousness-bliss in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without is the supreme, primal reality whose form is silence. Through resting silently in being-consciousness, the life of perfect bliss can be attained at all times and in all states in this very world and in this very body.” Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi. 

“Silence is the ultimate reality and everything in this world exists through silence. This means, literally, going deep inside yourself to the dwelling where nothing is happening; this place transcends time and space.That is our real home and the place to which we actually belong. In this state, there is only deep silence - there is no good, no bad and no state of trying to achieve anything. It is a state of pure being. The ultimate freedom is to reach this state of deep silence in which you transcend your body, your affairs and the universe.” Robert Adams 

In Memoriam

 

In loving memory of Dr. Ram Mohan Mallya.

“The real purpose of the scientific method is to make sure nature hasn’t misled you into thinking you know something you actually don’t know.The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of the mountain, or in the petals of a flower. To think otherwise is to demean the Buddha - which is to demean oneself.” Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

What can I say about the passing of a kind, decent and honourable man who is loved and remembered by so many?
I could say he was the best human being I ever knew.
I could tell you that he was simple, down-to-earth, honest and true. That he loved Nature and children and science with total abandon. That he gave more gifts than Santa Claus.

Living his entire life in the service of others, he did not have a selfish bone in his body.
He shared his resources, knowledge and wisdom with everyone he knew.He gave and gave and gave, unceasingly, without fanfare or fuss. Uncomplaining and cheerful, he saw the positive potential in life and in all others – in particular, in the young and the poor and the dispossessed. 

Those many who knew him, all of whom experienced his unfailing kindness and warmth ,will never forget him.

A light has gone out in the world. A living flame has finally died.

And yet, descendants of this flame , lit in so many others, burn on, transmitting kindness, compassion, wisdom, creativity, generosity, basic goodness and humanity……as one candle lights another, this handing down of light down the generations creates its own immortality.

In the collective memory of the hundreds of people whose lives he touched, he shines forever like a star in the sky.

At last, he rests in the perfect peace and bliss of infinite Brahman.

May his blessings flow to us always! 

“The great teachers and prophets, and the inspirers of humanity of all times have not become what they were by their miracles or wonder-workings; these belong to other people. The main thing that could be seen in them was their loving manner. ... One may ask: How to cultivate the heart quality? There is only one way: to become selfless at each step one takes forward on this path, for what prevents one from cultivating the loving quality is the thought of self. The more we think of our self, the less we think of others.” Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond!

(dedicated to Pink Floyd, whose haunting music and infinitely wise lyrics blessed our generations.)

“Remember when you were young? You shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond!
Now there’s a look in your eye, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond!
You reached for the secret too soon; you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond!
Threatened by shadows at night; exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond!” Pink Floyd

The human race is experiencing a nightmare created by its own madness – a reflection of its own state of consciousness. Its collective mind creates a collective bad trip.
In this time of dark portents, when tyrants rule and injustice reigns, when disease and disaster become the norm, when callous inhumanity and selfish greed appear to bring all life to the brink of extinction, must we despair?

Since the dawn of time, a wise and loving power has created and maintained the miracle of this cosmos and all that exists. Do you think this power is no longer active?
Every drop of rain that falls, every leaf that grows, every star that shines – all happens only because of this power. O ye of little faith, every breath you take is its gift!

Trust in this power..and it will never fail you.

“The Self that is subtler than the subtle and greater than the great is seated in the heart of every creature. One who is free from desire sees the glory of the Self through the tranquillity of the mind and senses and becomes absolved from grief.”Katha Upanishad

When you are trapped in a nightmare, fear feels real until you awaken.
Going through life unaware of your own true divine nature is the nightmare.

O son of man, awaken; the time is ripe!

Ride the steel breeze – open your eyes wide and see.
Dive into the Heart and discover that you are free.

Let that Light drive away all the shadows in your mind.
Be who you really are and shine!

“The great mountain of worldly anxieties is an unreal accumulation of fictions bundled together by the feverish imagining mind. One’s own reality, which shines within everyone as the Heart, is the infinite ocean of unalloyed bliss. Therefore, like the unreal blueness of the sky, misery exists only in the imagination, not in reality.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi.

 https://youtu.be/CiXNIjGX1hY

Emperor's Child

“ If you completely surrender all your responsibilities to me, I will accept them as mine and manage them. Abandon the drama of the world and seek the Self within. Remaining within,I will protect you so that no harm befalls you.If you worship me by meditating on the excellence of my true nature, the greatness of your own true nature will well up in your heart. Seek my grace within the Heart – I will drive away your darkness and show you the Light. This is my responsibility. Like the children of an emperor, my devotees are heirs to abundant rejoicing.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, from Padamalai by Shree Muruganar

Beloved Lord of my Heart, how did I ever come to deserve such great good fortune?

Perhaps I was with you in a past life when you dwelt at the Sacred Hill – as a seeker or a servant, a dog or a squirrel, a peacock or a monkey.

Surely only such a blessing could have granted me the priceless gift of being your devotee!

Clinging in surrender to your lotus feet in the Heart, all my sadhana ends.

No words can begin to describe the abundant grace you shower unceasingly upon me.

You embrace me with such tender love, bear all my burdens, guide and protect me;

like a benevolent monarch, you transform this worthless slave into a prince of the house!

Free of all cares, released from all suffering - like a raindrop falling into the ocean, I dissolve in your blissful peace.

My heart overflows with gratitude, tears of joy stream from my eyes.

Inside and outside, nothing exists but your Light.



“ Brahman, the attributeless reality, becomes the Lord of Love who casts his net of appearances over the cosmos while ruling it from within through his divine power. Before creation, he was; after dissolution, he will be. He alone is. Those who know him alone become immortal.” Shvetashvatara Upanishad. 

https://lightsongs.blogspot.com/2020/07/guru-poornima-prayer.html

Embrace the Self

 ( Painting by Meena Subramaniam)

“The Self that is subtler than the subtle and greater than the great is seated in the heart of every creature. One who is free from desire sees the glory of the self through the tranquillity of the mind and senses and becomes absolved from grief.” Katha Upanishad 

Turn away from the world and all its objects – direct all your attention within.

With humble devotion, embrace the source of your being.

As the creeper clings to a great tree in the forest, cling to the Self.

Let it be your anchor, your sustenance and your strength.

In stillness and silence, the mind is clear and bright.

Suffering ends when all thoughts cease. 

Rest in the Heart, dissolve in that Light. 

  O thirsty soul, drink deep from this fountain of immortal peace! 

"The Maharshi turns and looks down into my face; I, in turn, gaze expectantly up at him. I become aware of a mysterious change taking place with great rapidity in my heart and mind. The dislikes, misunderstandings, coldness and selfishness which have marked my dealings with many of my fellows collapse into the abyss of nothingness. An untellable peace falls upon me and I know that there is nothing further that I shall ask from life. This man has freed himself from all problems, and no woe can touch him.In this extraordinary peace, I find a sense of exaltation and lightness. Time seems to stand still. My heart is released from its burden of care - .I enjoy an ineffable tranquility merely by sitting for a while in the neighbourhood of the Maharshi.A force greater than my rationalistic mind awes me until it ends by overwhelming me.” Paul Brunton, Face to Face with Maharishi 

“Two years have passed since I last crossed the threshold of Thy ashram and yet in spirit I have ever remained there. Though illusion still often veils the vision of Reality revealed in the blessed Silence of Thy Presence, though the silver thread of Self-awareness be often lost midst changing light and shadows, still the inner urge to realise the Self remains and grows stronger and more insistent as Grace and search go hand in hand.At times, yet rare, with no apparent cause, spontaneous awareness of the “I” springs up and bliss fills the heart with glowing warmth. Effortless concentration goes with this state while all desires do come to rest fulfilled in utmost peace…..till once more, alas, the veil is drawn and illusion blurs the vision of the Real. Yet what the soul has experienced and knows repeatedly as Truth can never be denied or forgotten and “That which is” gives one the constant strength to persevere.I pray to Thee as to my Self for light and guidance that I know are ever there and at Thy feet lay offerings of unchanging love.” Letter to Sri Ramana Maharishi from Pascaline Maillert of France, 21st November 1938.

You Are The Key to This Wonderful Mystery

                              

“We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space
Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth…….

When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible,
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world.
That is when, and only when
We come to it.” Maya Angelou

When the future looks bleak and all hope seems lost, do not give in to fear or despair.
You are the salvation that the world awaits, you are the miracle, the answer, the key!
The very cosmos depends upon you to know itself!

Everything begins and ends with you.
You are the most important person in your life.
You are not a helpless, weak, limited individual – within you is an infinite love that is the greatest power in all creation.
This is the divine One, the absolute perfection that is the source and the substance of everything.

Have faith in yourself – focus on tuning your inner being to be in harmony with this One.
This is the greatest gift you can give yourself, your loved ones, and the whole world.
Do this – and everything else will magically fall into place.

Whatever needs to happen will happen, whatever needs to be done will be done.
All will be whole and all will be well. 

“ Know the real Self and the truth will shine forth within your heart like sunshine. The mind will become untroubled and flooded with real happiness, for happiness and the true Self are identical. Once you attain this Self- awareness, you will have no more doubts.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi to Paul Brunton, from A Search in Secret India.

“All appearance is source. All that apparently manifests in the hypnotic dream of separation - ­ the world, the life story, the search for home, is one appearing as two, the nothing appearing as everything, the absolute appearing as the particular.There is no separate intelligence weaving a destiny and no choice functioning at any level. Nothing is happening but this, as it is, invites the apparent seeker to rediscover that which is . . . the abiding, uncaused, unchanging, impersonal silence from which unconditional love overflows and celebrates. This is the wonderful mystery.” Anonymous Mystic

This Love

                         

“The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere:
They're in each other all along.” Rumi

“Since I began to love, love has never forsaken me. It has ever grown to its own fullness within my innermost heart.” St. Catherine of Genoa, Life and Doctrine, 1551 

O Beloved!
As a traveller lost in the desert thirsts for water, I yearn incessantly for Thee.
This bee has tasted the nectar of your love – now nothing else can satisfy me.
In the intoxication of this devotion, I have lost my mind and forgotten my name.
Without hesitation, I leap into your Light; I burn like a moth in your flame! 

This love of ours is a deep mystery – what words can speak its glory?
When lover and beloved melt into one, who is left to tell the story?
You beat me like a drum, tune me like a violin, play me like a flute
Whose perfect notes resound when my whole being is mute.

This love is a singing in the Heart that is infinite, ecstatic bliss;
O friend, pay heed! 

Before you die, strive, with all your soul, to know this!

“If anyone should ask me what God is, I would answer: God is love, and so altogether lovely that creatures all with one accord essay to love his loveliness, whether they do so knowingly or unbeknownst, in joy or sorrow. God loves my soul so much that his very life and being depend upon his loving me, whether he would or no. To stop God loving me would be to rob him of his Godhood; for God is love no less than he is truth; as he is good, so is he love as well. It is the absolute truth, as God lives.” Meister Eckhart, Sermon 5

Being

“It is indeed the mind that is the cause of men’s bondage and liberation. The mind that is attached to sense-objects leads to bondage, while dissociated from sense-objects it leads to liberation.” – Amrita-bindu Upanishad

“ Tranquil clarity devoid of mental turmoil is the samadhi which is essential for liberation. Therefore try earnestly to achieve peaceful consciousness, the clarity of heart, by destroying the mind. The state in which the unbroken experience of existence-consciousness is attained by the still mind alone is Samadhi.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

Cleverness cannot save you ; throw away this mind and all its forms!

If you would end all suffering, be silent, be still.
In the cavern of the Heart, the Beloved dances in the bliss of infinite love.
Shining like a star in the void, that Light is the source of all that exists.

Strip away all attributes, all layers until you reach the core of Being.
This is the only reality: the ego sinks and dissolves in this sea.
Let everything go ; just rest in pure existence.
When the persona illusion disappears, the original mind is revealed in all its glory.

The world is a tapestry woven by the thread of consciousness.
This thread emerges from the Absolute as pure Being, the “I AM”.
Seize this thread and follow it to its source.
Dwell there always in perfect peace.

Being is enough: neither doing nor becoming is required.
What is, always is - you are already That.
Stay firmly poised in your own true nature.
Nothing more needs to be done.



“I AM can be spoken by no creature, but by God alone. I must become God and God must become me, so completely that we share the same ‘I’ eternally. Our truest ‘I’ is God.” Meister Eckhart

Sacred Nature

 

(Painting by Meena Subramaniam)

“What attracts the mystic most is nature. Nature is his bread and wine. Nature is his soul's nourishment. Nature inspires him, uplifts him and gives him the solitude for which his soul continually longs. Every soul born with a mystical tendency is constantly drawn towards nature; in nature that soul finds its life's demand; as it is said in the Vadan, 'Art is dear to my heart, but nature is near to my soul'. Nature does not teach the glory of God; nature itself is the glory of God. To the eye of the seer, every leaf of the tree is a page of the holy book that contains divine revelation, and he is inspired every moment of his life by constantly reading and understanding the holy script of nature.” Hazrat Inayat Khan.


On a clear desert night, is the moon really a silver galleon sailing on an ocean of stars?
That solitary crane flying suspended in timeless vastness, what does he dream about?
The secret whisper in the hush at the heart of a forest, what does it proclaim?
These mountains raising their splendid crags to the sky, whom do they praise?



Perhaps the wind knows, as it whistles in the trees or howls like a banshee down the canyon of a storm.
Perhaps the mirrored stillness of an autumn lake reflects these sacred messages.
Perhaps the Earth never stops singing in the very being of all her children.
Perhaps all it takes is thought-free silence to truly hear that song.

A flock of green parakeets paints a brief masterpiece against the evening sky.
Pure bliss is revealed in the dance of dolphins leaping on the bosom of the sea.
Mother Nature weaves her perfect tapestry with loving tenderness and joy -
All I can do is bow down in awe before the exquisite beauty,

the sheer wonder, the triumphant, divine glory of it all!



“To see the 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.” Auguries of Innocence, William Blake.

https://lightsongs.blogspot.com/2016/08/morningraga-listen-in-firstfaint-light_20.html

 

The Right Eye

 

“The light of the body is the eye;only let thine eye be single and thy whole body shall be filled with light.” Matthew 6:22, The Holy Bible.

The eye wherein I see God is the same eye wherein God sees me;
my eye and God’s eye are one eye, one vision, one knowing, one love.”
~ Meister Eckhart

The eye jaundiced with fear and hatred sees only darkness and terror.
The eye of love and devotion sees only joy and light.
When you live in duality, delusion creates suffering.
When you merge in the divine Unity, you see only God everywhere.

Dive deep into yourself to find your true nature. 
With unshakable faith, surrender to the One.
Throw away all pretense of greatness: humble yourself in prayer!
If you would know the Beloved, gladly be the dust beneath His feet.

Paradise is your birthright; only your madness prevents you from seeing it.
You dwell in the wondrous perfection of the Most High.
Only let go all your self-importance and look within:
The kingdom of Heaven shines right here and right now!

“That awesome beauty gives us everything; whose fault is it if we go away empty-handed?
 Show me a house where his light does not shine. 
Show me a garden where his grace does not bloom.
His face is seen in the leaf and the stone and the splendour of morning. 
The awakened spirit understands : to grasp God’s beauty, you must become God.” 
Jalal-uddin Rumi. 

What Will You Choose?

 
“ Keep your mind still. The aim of all practices is to give up all practices. Once the mind becomes still, the power of the Self will be experienced naturally.”
“Unless the force that activates thought is driven deeply in and destroyed, it is impossible to enjoy one’s own experience of Jnana. By enquiry, you will drive the thought-force deeper until it finds its source and merges therein. It is only then that you will have the response from within and find that you rest there, destroying all thoughts once and for all.”
“ The mind that has died in the experience of Sivam, which is true jnana, supreme consciousness, will of itself shine as the Supreme Being. That exquisitely subtle mind which, in dying, has transcended all form, will shine as your own Self.”
Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, Padamalai.

“ Nothing in all creation is so like God as stillness.” Meister Eckhart

Everything that seems to be happening in this world is a reflection of our collective mind.
Humanity is experiencing the dream or nightmare of its own creation.

The only way to escape from a dream is to wake up.
To wake up is to stop the unceasing flow of mostly unnecessary thoughts, of words and images appearing in endless succession, that is the mind.
If one can achieve this thoughtless state, it leads to a profound awareness of oneself: the clear illumination of simply being.
This brings about an experiential understanding of the divine perfection that underlies all creation.

If one can stay in this state at will, one transcends the mind and moves into a dimension of heightened consciousness.
Suddenly, everything changes in the light of this new perspective.
Time and space disappear in this kingdom of heaven on earth.
Now, wherever you look, all that you see is sacred.
No greed, no anger or hatred, no fear or suffering – only light and love and joy.

Throughout history, across the world, human beings of all faiths and cultures have experienced this state of higher consciousness.
They have tried their best to speak of it, to share it with their fellows.
If enough individual humans achieve this evolutionary quantum leap, perhaps the consciousness of the entire race will be transformed.

Will the human race wake up at last ?
Or will it remain trapped in the nightmare of its own making and destroy itself?
This is the most important choice that every human being faces.
What will you choose?



“Silently and serenely, all words are forgotten.
Clearly and vividly, truth appears before you.
When one realises it, time has no limits.
When one experiences it, everything around you comes to life.
Singularly illuminating is the bright awareness.
Full of wonder is the pure illumination.”

 Zen Master Honghzi Zhengjue, circa 1120 AD. 

Independence Day

 

“Discover who you really are and put an end to fear.
You are the bridge between light and darkness, heaven and earth.
You are the creator, sustainer and destroyer of worlds beyond measure.
You are the first-born child of emptiness and energy.
You are the eye that God has become to look upon Herself and wonder!”

From Lightsongs – the book. 

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” ― Rumi

Do not let the fog of fear drag you down – keep your vibration high.
Have you forgotten how you have always been taken care of, for all these many years?
Feel the divine force within you, throbbing at the very center of your being.
It is the life-source, a shield protecting you from all harm.

Like brief rain falling on thirsty sands, this mortal life disappears in the desert of time;
the story of this body was written at the moment of its birth – who knows how and when it will end?
What will be, will be : yet, nothing can mar the immaculate perfection of the unchanging Real.
Remember: you are the beloved child of the Great Mother, only take Her hand and all will be well.

Listen to the trumpet of God resounding in your chest.
Seize the moment: discover the timeless, immortal Self while you still can.
Oh friend! Infinity is right here, eternity is yours right now.
Bowing low in humble surrender, you can experience Heaven on Earth!

Remember, dear one, you are not this limited body-mind complex –
you are one with the Whole that is the source and the substance of all creation.
So be a light unto the world!
Let your life be a soaring, blissful, sacred song of transcendence. 

“ Abide in perfect stillness, with no movement of tongue or mind or body. Behold the effulgence of the Self within – the complete absence of fear, the vast ocean of bliss. Ha, so simple is Atma Vidya!” Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi, Atma Vidya Keertanam.

“ In the stillness of the mind , I saw myself as I am : unbound,infinite! “ Nisargedatta Maharaj

The Eternal Now.

 

“Blessed, supremely blessed, are they who are installed in the eternal now,
transcending time and place and form and matter,
unmoved by weal or woe or wealth or want,
for in so far as things are motionless they are like eternity.”
~ Meister Eckhart, Sermon 16.

Life seems to be a necklace of days and nights strung together on a string called time. This illusion of movement, of progress, has mesmerised you so that you mistake the ever-changing illusion for the unchanging truth.

As the years flow by in an unstoppable stream, all that remains is a collection of random memories like pebbles scattered on the shore.Is this what you cling to so desperately?

O King of kings, by chasing the mirage, you lost your kingdom – you exchanged the radiant Real for a pipe-dream. You forgot to live.

Lost in the dead past and the unborn future, you squandered your most precious treasure : the moments of your life.

Wake up! Be who you really are.

Reclaim your divine, immortal birthright.

Take your rightful place on the lion-throne of Being and dwell forever in the love and light and joy of the eternal Now.

"My Guru told me — ‘Trust me. I tell you; you are Divine. Take it as the absolute truth. Your joy is divine, your suffering is divine too. All comes from God. Remember it always. You are God, your will alone is done.” I did believe him and soon realized how wonderfully true and accurate were his words. I simply followed his instruction, which was to focus the mind on pure being, ‘I am’, and stay in it.

I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the ‘I am’ in my mind and soon the peace and joy and deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared — myself, my guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained, and unfathomable silence.” 

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, on the teaching he received from his guru.

Beyond Death

“Whether the body perishes now or lasts the age of moon and stars, what matters it to me, having consciousness alone as my body ? What matters it to the sky in the pot, whether it (the pot) is destroyed now or exists for a long time?” – Varaha Upanishad

“May you find that within you which already lives beyond death and begin to live it right now!” Rafe, Benedictine monk.

The fear of death is the root of all fears.

The thought of disappearing into an eternal void, of unrelenting nothingness, fills the human mind with terror.

And yet, every night we slip gratefully into the depths of dreamless sleep, into absolute emptiness that seems to recharge our body and mind and soul.

“I had a wonderful, deep and restful sleep last night – thank God!”

What does this mean? What does this everyday experience tell us?

Deep in the very core of our being, there is a center within us that stays aware and experiences the restfulness and rejuvenation of deep sleep.

What is this center? It is the substratum of awareness that underlies all states – waking, dream and deep sleep. It is pure existence, the life-source, the soul.

The non-stop chatter of the mind veils this center, like a cloud that hides the sun.

Turn all your attention inwards, seek this center with great determination.Thus will you know the state of waking sleep.

As the one-pointed mind dives deep in this search, suddenly, when the moment is ripe, something mysterious awakens.

From the heart of emptiness, radiant silence sings the greatest teaching.

The still mind dissolves in this throbbing center of pure being -lo! the deathless Self shines forth in all its splendour.

In this very moment, you will experience your true, infinite and eternal nature.

This is how you die before the body dies – and discover your immortal divinity.

Live rooted in this state.

All fear, all suffering vanishes in this ocean of blissful peace.