Searching for God

 

“ Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat. My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in places of worship , not in legs winding around your neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables. 
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly – you will find me in the tiniest house of time. Kabir says: O student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside your breath.”

“Inside this clay jug, there are canyons and pine mountains and the Maker of canyons and pine mountains!  All seven oceans are inside and hundreds of millions of stars.

The acid that  tests gold is there, and the one who judges jewels.
And the music from strings that no one touches and the source of all water.
If you want the truth I will tell you the truth:
Friend, listen : the God whom I love is inside me.”
Kabir ( Robert Bly translation.)

I fell into this deep chasm in my chest and drowned in the ocean of God.

Now there is only silence.

Breathing in, who am I? Breathing out, I am.

Contentment is peace.

Bliss is no-mind.

Acceptance is freedom.

Wrapped up in the soft petals of the heart-lotus, I rest like a baby on its mother’s lap.

The sunlight of divine grace blesses me forever.

I bow again and again in deep gratitude and joy: the Light of the Universe shines in me!

In you, in everyone and everything!

Nothing else exists.

“ The emperor himself is not as happy as the man who has no wants.
When the sun of Self shines bright and real in the vast Heart-expanse, darkness dies, all afflictions end and infinite bliss wells up.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi

Choose

 “It is tremendously exhilarating to learn for the first time, the truth of the one Self and the possibility of Self realization. At last, life has a meaning and a purpose. It is not a question of whether there is a God apart from you but whether there is a “you” apart from God!” Arthur Osborne, devotee of Sri Ramana Maharishi.

In the twilight of my life, I catch a glimpse of truth.

Humbled and made wiser by the seeming passage of time, I begin to understand what it all means.

I learn that I have never been in control of anything that happens. I accept my helplessness and the hidden presence of a higher power. I surrender completely and beg only for Grace, for blessing, for guidance.

As I let go of my story, my imagined reality crumbles like a sandcastle before the tide.

The elaborate edifice that I believed was me disappears like salt in the sea.

From the depths of my own being, Light emerges.

At last, I see who I truly am.

“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of the ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.”      Lao Tzu , Tao Te Ching

Hiding in plain sight, the Lord of the Universe is in the wind and the rain and the dust; He is the source and the substance of all that exists.

Even though He is closer to us than our heartbeat, we do not see Him or know Him .

Invisible and silent, yet infinite and all-powerful, He creates, sustains and dissolves all things in the ripeness of season.

Effortlessly miraculous, He maintains the perfection of Nature and the harmony of all that exists, without fanfare or fuss.

We take this magic for granted and complain endlessly about all that is not right with our petty world and its affairs.

Its not our fault: we are under the spell of His Maya.We are the characters in His dream, the actors in His play.He is the author of the script, the director, the actors, the props, the stage and the audience.

Its very complex, yet very simple : nothing but Him exists!

When you wake up, it is He who wakes up. So ends one story….and the next one begins.

All the worlds, all the plays and all the actors are but froth on the ocean that is Him.

Would you rather be a brief bubble in the froth or the infinite, eternal ocean itself?

You choose. 

God Dwells Within

 “When the sun of Self shines bright and real in the vast Heart-expanse, darkness dies, all afflictions end and infinite bliss wells up.” Ramana Maharishi

When I was 21, my guru told me, “ God dwells within you as you!”

After 47 years, I begin to understand the profound significance of this truth.

God is my very being.

How strange! We search for God everywhere when He is closer to us than our own breath.

Grace is the key.

Surrender totally and Grace will flow over you like a mother’s embrace.

Grace takes care of everything.

Kabir said, “ I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty.”

How miraculous! God, the infinite, eternal, omnipotent ocean of love and joy and peace is right here in me! In you, in them, in everyone and everything. 

Everywhere I look, I see God, wherever I go, I walk in God, everything I touch is God. Nothing but God exists!

So what is there to do but be?

Just be – and praise God, give thanks to God, sing His name in joy.

In this very life, know the kingdom of Heaven : right here, right now.

Abide in the Self that is the core of your being.

All will be well.

Paul Brunton writes: “I remain perfectly calm and fully aware of who I am and what is occurring. The Self still exists but it is a changed radiant Self. Something that is far superior to my unimportant personality rises into consciousness and becomes me. I am in the midst of an ocean of blazing light. I sit in the lap of holy bliss. Divine grace descends and acts only when it is invoked by total surrender. It acts from within because God resides in the heart of all beings. Its whispers can be heard only in a mind purified by self surrender and prayer. Rationalists laugh at it and atheists scorn it but it exists. It is a descent of God into the soul‟s zone of awareness. It is visitation of a force unexpected and unpredictable. It is voice spoken out of cosmic silence. It is cosmic will which can perform authentic miracles under its own law.”

“To learn the Buddhist Way is to learn about oneself. To learn about oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to perceive oneself as all things. To realize this is to cast off the body and mind of self and others. When you have reached this stage you will be detached even from enlightenment but will practice it continually without thinking about it.”    Zen Master Dogen 

Ramana Jayanthi

 “You who wish to celebrate a birthday, inquire first who was born. One’s true birthday is when one enters into the Eternal Being which shines forever without birth or death.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi.

Today, at Sri Ramanasramam in Tiruvannamalai, the 143rd birthday of Sri Ramana Maharishi is being celebrated with deep love and devotion. 

“The Maharshi was an idol of peace and silence. The ocean’s surface dances in waves, laughs in sparkling foam, roars as its thunderous waves clap and clash! And yet deep in its inner vaults it rests in eternal silence and peace. Without such a divine and spiritual depth, the work and activities of this universe would become worthless and aimless. Work should be undertaken and pursued to take us ultimately to the workless abode of Divine Silence and endless Peace. This is the secret doctrine of all our Vedas and ancient scriptures.” Swami Tapovanam, on Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

This is how Suddhananda Bharati, the philosopher-poet-saint describes his first glimpse of Bhagavan: “I saw no human form. I felt dazed, effulgence enveloped me and Bhagavan dissolved me into silence. Bhagavan implanted grace in me and my eyes involuntarily closed themselves. I felt I was entering into the inner cave of my Heart. An hour passed like a moment and when I opened my eyes, I noticed that Bhagavan Ramana’s lotus eyes were riveted on me. A voice from within said, “Now, you have felt it. The cave is open. The “I AM” is the truth.” After many years of intense sadhana, now, here at the holy feet of Ramana Maharshi, I experienced for the first time, the truth as my own inner reality, and caught hold of his holy feet and shed tears of joy remembering the sacred words of the saint Manickavachagar: “Today, you have risen in my Heart as a sun destroying all forms of darkness. I am swimming in ecstasy.”

O gracious Bhagavan, lord of hearts, you who were never born and will never die, indulge your children who cannot refrain from expressing their love and gratitude and joy.

You deigned to incarnate in human form and bless the whole world with your Light. At the tender age of sixteen, you attained Brahman. For fifty-five years you dwelt in the bosom of your beloved Arunachala mountain so that millions could experience the divine in human form.  Now, more than seven decades after you dropped that form, human beings from every corner of planet earth keep visiting your shrine, where Grace blazes forth unceasingly.

O gentle and compassionate Lord, so many thousands of souls have taken shelter at your feet and found peace and joy beyond all description!

No words can begin to thank you or describe your infinite glory.

Om namo bhagavathe Sri Ramanaya! Om namo bhagavathe Sri Ramanaya!

Jai Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan! Pray, shine forever in my Heart!

“Abandon the drama of the world and seek the Self within. Stay within and I will protect you, ensuring that no harm befalls you. Seek my grace within the Heart. I will drive away the darkness and show you the light. This is my responsibility. Like the children of an emperor, my devotees are heirs to abundant rejoicing.!” Sri Ramana Maharishi, Padmalai.

I Wish

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all things shall be added unto you!" Holy Bible

 “There is nothing in the world so dear as life or so desirable. What is life? God’s existence is my life. If my life is God’s existence then God’s being is my being and God’s is-ness is my is-ness, neither more nor less.” Meister Eckhardt, Sermon 65

I wish you happiness and laughter, patience and fortitude and the gift of seeing beauty in everything.
May you enjoy true fellowship in caring and sharing and rejoice in the glory of the One! 
I wish you a glad life, an awakened and aware life, as uplifting as birdsong at dawn.
May you know the magic of unconditional love and the perfect joy of surrender.

I wish you calmness and strength, courage and faith, as you persist in the face of all odds.

May discrimination and detachment help you navigate the treacherous rapids of earthly existence.
I wish you a journey of joyous discovery and wonder, of deep insight and intuitive understanding.
May you appreciate the gifts of connection and compassion woven into the mystery of this universe.

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

I wish you a tranquil mind in a healthy body as you live life directly, centered in the here and now.
May you always be aware of the grace and the blessings that you continually receive.
I wish you peace and contentment as you ripen in wisdom and self-knowledge.
May your life flow as a river of gratitude and acceptance into the ocean of God.

I wish that you see through the constructs of mind and find the eternal, ineffable truth.
May you feel God’s compassionate presence in you, around you, everywhere!
I wish that you discover the immortal Self hidden deep in the core of your being.
May you know the Divine within and experience the end of all suffering.

“By fixing the attention lightly, effortlessly in the present moment without allowing it to wander into past or future, the mind becomes ‘no-mind’ – the Self!”   Yoga Vashishta.

I wish your heart blossoms with infinite love and fills all the heavens with its song.
May the light in you brighten everything around you and bless all that you touch with its bliss!
May your being be whole and tranquil and joyous, free from regret and worry and fear.
Dearly beloved, with all my heart, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

"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

Coming Home

 “The root of all desires is the one desire: to come home, to be at peace. There comes a moment in life when our compensatory activities, the accumulation of money, learning and objects, leaves us feeling deeply apathetic. This can motivate us towards the search for our real nature beyond appearances. We may find ourselves asking, 'Why am I here? What is life? Who am I?' Sooner or later any intelligent person asks these questions. What you are looking for is what you already are, not what you will become. What you already are is the answer and the source of the question. In this lies its power of transformation. It is a present actual fact. Looking to become something is completely conceptual, merely an idea. The seeker will discover that he is what he seeks and that what he seeks is the source of the inquiry.”

― Jean Klein, I Am

From the very root of being, an ancient memory arises, a tantalising glimpse of pure joy and peace.

Once you have tasted the divine, you can never forget it. Nothing else will ever fully satisfy you.

So there comes a stage in every human life when the soul craves to return home.

The search begins.

For most of us, this search takes a great deal of effort and time.

We search with great diligence in all the wrong places. Often, we give up in despair.

In the darkest hour, light suddenly appears : this is how Grace dawns.

Surrender is the key.

“Who is the doer and what is done? Is the end of the quest the end of the question?
You think you are the seeker and find you are the sought.
You think you are the teacher and find you are the taught.
 Sing a song of glory and you will be the glory!” Sufi Choir

Grace guides us, intuitively, to focus all our attention inwards.

Stillness and tranquility lets us sink into the deepest core of being.

This is where we rest every night in deep sleep, without any thought or dream.

This is where we discover who we really are.

In this perfect silence, the mind dissolves in the divine like salt  in the sea.

Here the soul experiences an infinite, blissful peace that is changeless, eternal.

This is our true home.

Stay anchored in this bliss and never leave.

Whatever needs to happen will happen.

Nothing more needs to be done.

“As, in your mother’s womb, you dwelt unattached to anything else; so too, sink into the womb of the Heart and dwell in the Self alone. Where all the holy scriptures end, there tranquil Self- abidance begins!” Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi.

Nothing But Perfection

 

O compassionate Master, no words can describe your boundless grace.

Death dances like a madman all around but cannot touch me anymore.

You took my hand and led me into the dimension of infinite joy.

Just as darkness cannot survive the sunrise, here it is impossible for suffering to exist.

This heaven beyond all sorrow, O Lord, is your gracious gift, your merciful blessing, your vast, inexpressible peace!

I dissolve in a river of blissful tears as my story disappears in your Light.

O Gurudev! I burn like a wick in your flame!

For the rest of my days, my heart can do nothing but give thanks, again and again;

With every fibre of my existence, I constantly sing your praise.

Om Bhagavan ! Jai Bhagavan! Om Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan! Om Bhagavan! Jai Bhagavan!

You opened my eyes and now I see: nothing but perfection exists!

The Om Purnamadah Mantra is a universal chant for awakening the consciousness and tuning into the infinite bliss accessible within oneself.

“You are the fullness. There is fullness, here is fullness. From the fullness, the fullness is born. Remove the fullness from the fullness, and the fullness alone remains.Om , peace, peace, peace.” Isho Upanishad

The meaning of this ancient Vedic mantra is that the entire creation constitutes one whole unit of perfection.

Each and every particle, non-living or living, represents the same whole unit. There is no place where this whole is not present. Every atom contains it.

This whole reproduces itself in its own image.

Removing every entity from this unit has no effect on it because that which remains represents the same whole. So, forever and always, nothing but perfection exists.

Human life is precious because, by the Guru’s grace,  human beings can truly know and experience this understanding. Thus, all suffering ends.

 

A Prayer

 “ Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation , but delivers us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” The Lord’s Prayer

In the depths of being I glimpsed a jewel,
the luminous splendour of the colourless light of emptiness.
My heart cried out this prayer:

Oh compassionate Lord  without name or form,
Oh perfect power who pervades all creation,
Thou secret in-dweller living embedded in all beings,
Let your radiance embrace me that I may dissolve in you!

Forgive me for my blindness, for my mistakes, for any hurt I caused to other living creatures, for my unconsciousness, my foolishness, my insanity.
Forgive me for forgetting my true nature and wandering away from You, who shines always in my heart.

Thou mighty Infinity that contains and permeates all creation,
thou shining love and bliss that cannot be measured or described or contained ,
swallow me whole and let me be one with You.

Oh Sun of suns, bless us all with your infinite grace!
O Father who is the Source,
O great and tender Mother who cares for and sustains all,
accept our humble and devoted surrender, open your arms wide, embrace these prodigal drops returning to your ocean of eternal peace.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

“In silent surrender there is bliss and prayer without request or demand. There is no doer, experiencer, lover or beloved. There is only a divine current. You see that the very act of welcoming is itself the solution to the problem and the action which follows your comprehension is very straightforward. When you become familiar with the act of surrender, truth will solicit you unsought.”

― Jean Klein, Who Am I?: The Sacred Quest

Live Naturally

 “Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.” Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Emptiness is the source and the substance of all that exists.
When you are still, you return to this source, as you do every night in deep, dreamless sleep.
This return to emptiness recharges the innermost being with peace and joy.
It is a state of absolute and blissful contentment – nothing is wanted in this perfect abundance.
This daily miracle is the gateway to all mystery.

“What any desire really aims at, is a state of non-desire. This non-desire is a state in which we demand absolutely nothing. Thus it is a state of extreme abundance, of fullness. This fullness is revealed as infinite bliss and peace. You now know that you are really seeking nothing else but fullness and absolute peace.” Jean Klein, Be Who You Are

If you would know heaven on earth, discover the art of waking sleep.

Learn to be still in the midst of movement, silent in the hurly-burly of the marketplace, at rest in the very throes of action. Find the center deep in your being, the Self who is the only  constant through all your states, the unattached, impartial and dispassionate witness of  the drama of your life. 

Seek the source of your very existence. Open your heart to this sacred inquiry. 

“Deep inquiry leads to contemplation, or prayer. Through dedicated contemplation we can attune to consciousness, the light which constitutes all phenomena. This light is our intrinsic nature. Our being is always shining. Our real nature is openness, listening, release, surrender without effort or will. Prayer is welcoming, free from projection and expectation. It is without demand and formulation. It invites the divine to unfold in you and reveals your openness to you. Live with this opening, this vastness. Attune yourself to it. It is love.” Jean Klein, Who Am I?: The Sacred Quest

Break the conditioning and drop the illusion of the persona to return to your true nature.

True prayer is just being, here and now, open, accepting, receptive as an empty cup.

Just as you drop all thought, all identification with name or form, to sink into the rest and rejuvenation of deep sleep, let everything go…except the spark of awareness, the consciousness that is the witness of waking, dream and sleep.

 Learn to find and hold onto this witness, this intrinsic state of pure being.
With practice, you will be able to always abide in this conscious center with effortless ease.
Like a bird flies, a fish swims or a tree grows, live naturally, anchored in the blissful peace of the eternal Self.

There is nothing but Love

 “Love has the power to open the door of eternal life. By contemplation how far can we pierce through life? One, two, or three planes, then we must stop, but the nearest way of all is by love and devotion, for it is God's way, and God is Love. God cannot be deceived -- God will not be deceived. When anyone has taken this way it is by the God in him. And as we give all things they come back to us through love. The more we give, the more comes back. Love has its limitations when it is directed to limited beings, but love that is directed to God has no limitations, God alone deserves all love, and the freedom of love is in giving it to God.” Hazrat Inayat Khan

In the center of your being, a perennial fountain of love springs forth. This is the Real, the Absolute, the divine Grace that is the source and the substance of all things. This is your greatest treasure, your key to immortal bliss. Drink but one sip of this fountain and nothing else will matter any more.

Love exists as itself in harmonious perfection, radiant as the sun, self-effulgent, ever untainted, blissful. Always shining in the heart of every living creature, love is all-pervasive, indestructible, infinite and eternal. Love is God.

You can never know or understand or interpret love. You can only be love. Fortunately, this is who you really are always.

Your true being is covered by layer upon layer of form that you have been conditioned to identify with. You are not mind or thoughts or feeling, not bones or blood or skin. You are the innermost perceiver, the one who sees through your eyes and hears through your ears and breathes through your nose. You are the observer of the play of thoughts and actions and the objects of this world. You are the core of absolute awareness that gives this body life.

Unfortunately, all your attention is diverted outwards, to the objects of your mind and this world. Focus your entire attention on the core of your own being, deep within yourself. This will still the mind and eventually dissolve it, along with all your biological, psychological and emotional conditioning. The non-existent persona disappears as the drop becomes the ocean - Love alone remains.

The truth shines forth in all its glory: nothing but Love exists!

“Love alone is the fountain from which all virtues fall as drops of sparkling water. Love is given to inspire divine love in the heart of man, and all the beauty that man sees on earth is beauty created by the power of love, and by the power of love he learns to recognize it as a reflection of the beauty of heaven. Thus may earth become heaven, and heaven and earth one single vision of the glory of God.” Hazrat Inayat Khan

Lift Up Your Head And Be Free

 

A devotee at Virupaksha cave wanted to know who Bhagavan really was. He wrote a verse on a piece of paper, “Oh Ramana, who are you? Are you the highest God, Hari, or a rishi, or a celestial being? Who are you?” He then left the note on Bhagavan’s stone couch when Bhagavan had gone out. When Bhagavan returned and saw the note, he wrote behind it, “I am Arunachala Ramanan, dwelling in the Heart of every being, beginning with Lord Hari to the lowest being. If, with devotion, you plunge into the cave of your Heart, your inner eye will be opened and you will see this truth as the fullness of non-dual Awareness.”

This life is a gift, a precious opportunity – do not waste it! 

As long as the ego is intact, you live and die as a body…..again and again and again.

When the ego is destroyed completely, you are forever free from the cycle of birth and death.

Doing inevitably leads to suffering. Non-doing, just being, leads unerringly to bliss. 

Erase the ego-self before this body dies- then, and only then, will you know the perfect peace of immortality.

“Real devotion to Sri Bhagavan is to constantly practice his teachings and find that true stillness in the Heart, even in the midst of all movement. The one who abides in the Self knows nothing of anxiety, stress or suffering.You are that self-effulgent, self-sufficient, self-supporting, blissful Silence. Know this and be free forever.” Ramana Das

Now be still and calm the mind and set your spirit free to fly

Beyond the boundaries of self, beyond the walls of “you”and “ I”;

Here and now, just seize this moment, take Chance by his single hair,

Breathe the breath inside your breath, feel the magic in the air.

Open your eyes wide and see! Lift up your head and be free!

Dive deep within, the mystic sings, for true freedom from the mind:

Break the chains of memory, leave the web of Time behind.

Hear the song that Silence sings, bereft of words or melody,

Know the joy only Love can bring, the ecstasy of harmony.

Open your eyes wide and see! Lift up your head and be free!

“As rivers, flowing down, become indistinguishable on reaching the sea by giving up their names and forms, so also the illumined soul, having become freed from name and form, reaches the self-effulgent supreme Self.” Mundaka Upanishad.

Heaven on Earth

 

“Heaven is not a country or a continent; it is a state, a condition within oneself, only experienced when the rhythm is in perfect working order. If one knows this, one realizes that happiness is man's own property. Man is his own enemy: he seeks for happiness in the wrong direction and never finds it. It is a continual illusion. Man thinks, 'If I had this or that I should be happy for ever', and he never arrives at happiness because he pursues an illusion instead of the truth. Happiness is only to be found within, and when man tunes himself he finds all for which his soul yearns within himself.” Hazrat Inayat Khan

If you are in tune with the Divine, wherever you look, you will see God’s face.

Every atom, every cell, even the void is permeated by God. Nothing else can exist.

This entire universe is but the breath of God, the Divine sigh, as the formless chooses to express itself in form. 

The true purpose of this human life is to know God.

To know God is to be God. To be God is to be the Self.

God dwells within you as you: this is the secret of secrets.

While you are still alive, turn within and find Him.

Let the mind be still and sink deep into its own source. Let it dissolve in the Heart that is the core of your being, the sacred flame that is eternal love and peace. 

Stay there always in perfect harmony.

Thus will you discover Heaven on earth.

“We are even closer to God than the fishes are to the ocean in which they live. The innermost being of man is the real being of God; man is always linked with God. If he could only realize it, it is by finding harmony in his own soul that he finds communion with God. All meditation and contemplation are taught with this purpose: to harmonize one's innermost being with God, so that He is seeing, hearing, thinking through us, and our being is a ray of His light.” Hazrat Inayat Khan

Healing and Transformation

 “ God heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalms 147- 3, Holy Bible

Every human being experiences the ups and downs of this earthly existence. 

When facing hard times, life seems to be a cruel game that condemns us to an inevitable sequence of birth, suffering, old age and death.

In desperation, human beings seek help from God; regardless of the ensuing circumstances, they do find comfort there.

Failure and pain, sorrow and despair can lead to humility and surrender. This is the beginning of transformation, of healing and transcendence.

No prayer ever goes unanswered.

Everything happens in the right way and at the right time. 

Whether we understand it or not, compassionate divine grace is with us always.

The greatest blessings are within, in one’s own being: all we need to do is to focus our attention inwards to the spiritual centre , the Heart, where a divine flame burns bright.

When we do this, a wondrous flowering begins: the lotus in the Heart blossoms in fragrant bliss.

Like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, this metamorphosis transforms man into God, hell into heaven.

Perfect healing of body, mind and spirit happens here.

This Heart is your true home – dwell there forever.

Such a miracle! Such endless delight! Such a deep and loving peace!

“May the longtime sun shine upon you, may all love surround you, may the pure light within you guide your way home!”  The Incredible String Band

Rest in Peace

“ Enlightenment is here and now: just rend the veil and you will be It.
Do not wait for death – after death, no change happens;
You merely end up in an apartment in the city of the dead
With the ghosts of your memories
And the baggage of your unfulfilled desires.
You incarnated for one reason only: to know and express the ONE.
So clean your mirror – and BE It! ”

From Lightsongs, the book.

When someone dies, people say: may he rest in peace. 

What does this mean? Does the death of the body guarantee peace?

Or will it merely  transfer your suffering into yet another movie,

Like it has happened a thousand times before?

If you would truly know peace, you have to be tired of all the movies.

You have to die before the body dies.“

"The death of the mind drowned in the ocean of Self-consciousness is the eternal silence. The real ‘I’ is the supreme Heart-space which is the great ocean of bliss. Having annihilated the delusive mind which always dwells upon worldly things, having killed the restless ego, and having completely erased the worldly vasanas, shine as Shiva, the pure consciousness itself. Do not wander outside, eating the scorching sand of worldly pleasures, which are non-Self; come home to the Heart where peace is shining as a vast, everlasting, cool shade, and enjoy the feast of the bliss of Self.”     

 Sri Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai

There is a vast amount of garbage stored in the invisible hard disk that is your ego-mind complex. If you don’t delete all these trash files while you are alive, they will just get carried forward in a subtle body and drag you through more lifetimes.

The only way to permanently delete these files is to dissolve the ego-mind in the very core of your being: the Heart.

The divine light in the Heart burns away all the fears and desires, attachments and phobias, all the junk files that make up the ego-mind. The illusion of personality is destroyed completely- your cloud storage is completely cleared.

All suffering ends in that ocean of immortal bliss.

So, before this body dies, turn all your attention inwards – dive deep into the Heart.

Surrender with great love and devotion at the feet of Grace.

Discover the glory of the Self that shines unchanging, eternal, infinite.

Rest in that sublime and perfect peace – right here, right now.

Soul Connections

 Nothing happens by chance  - life flows precisely as it is meant to flow.

Every person you share your life with is connected to you by invisible strands of meaning and purpose. Some connections run deeper than others.

The deepest and most meaningful are soul connections, forged in the fire of a thousand lifetimes. 

From the moment you meet, your hearts will resonate as one.

Such soul connections, beyond all time and space,  will give each other love and strength and courage and share the Light.

In good times and bad, they will remind you of your true nature .

Recognise them as precious blessings and treasure them with deep love and gratitude.

The purpose of all soul connections is to help each other return to the One.

The soul family yearns to go home.

The greatest gift you can give your soul family is to be whole and centered in the source of your own being.

When you stay in the blissful peace of the Self, all your soul connections will share in your joy.

Without thoughts or words, the ocean of love will embrace you all.

When you surrender in loving devotion at the feet of Grace, you dissolve in the One.

When you understand experientially that you and Brahman are always one, you shine as the Self.

In this fire of perfection, all your soul connections shine with you!

At last, you will all be One. 

“That which is consciousness alone, which is all-pervading, which is eternal, which is all-full, which is of the form of bliss and which is indestructible, is the only true Brahman.” Varaha Upanishad

 

Grace is Essential

 “Except by the Lord’s grace, which begins to function when one surrenders oneself completely at His feet with sincere devotion, truth cannot be cognised merely by the skill of the mind of the jiva. So subtle is the reality.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi.

Perfection just is.

Everything in this universe functions naturally, flawlessly, miraculously, beyond explanation.
Truth is beyond all words - do not let your cleverness get in the way of understanding.
Suffering is always the result of  wrong identification with a body-mind complex.
Drop the heavy baggage of this ego story, this illusion of a separate individual personality.
Only Grace can help you do this.

“Keep turning your attention within. One day, the wheel of thoughts will slow down and intuition will mysteriously arise. Follow the intuition and let your thinking stop and it will eventually lead you to the goal of unwavering and perpetual Self awareness.” Paul  Brunton

Without any purpose or intent, the sun gives light and life to the world.
In the same way,  Grace makes the lotus of the Heart blossom.
With deep devotion, surrender to the Guru unconditionally, totally.
Live your life like a leaf floating on the river- have faith! Accept what is.
Like a bee seeking nectar,  dive deep into yourself and discover the reservoir of infinite  joy and peace that is your core.
As you dissolve in this bliss, you come home at last to your true being, becoming one with the One.
Here, all doubt and fear and sorrow and pain disappear like mist before the sun.
This is where everything changes : this is where you experience the divine perfection that you truly are.
Just stay here. Abide as the Self. That's how you hold on to God.
Whatever needs to happen will happen – spontaneously, effortlessly, perfectly.
Nothing more needs to be done.

“I remain perfectly calm and fully aware of who I am and what is occurring. The self still exists but it is a changed radiant Self. Something that is far superior to my unimportant personality rises into consciousness and becomes me. I am in the midst of an ocean of blazing light. I sit in the lap of holy bliss. Divine grace descends and acts only when it is invoked by total surrender. It acts from within because God resides in the heart of all beings. Its whispers can be heard only in a mind purified by self-surrender and prayer. Rationalists laugh at it and atheists scorn it but it exists. It is a descent of God into the soul’s zone of awareness. It is visitation of a force unexpected and unpredictable. It is voice spoken out of cosmic silence. It is cosmic will which can perform authentic miracles under its own law.” Paul Brunton

The End of Suffering

 “Who is the doer and what is done? Is the end of the quest the end of the question?
You think you are the teacher and find you are the taught.
You think you are the seeker and find you are the sought.
Just sing a song of glory and you will be the glory!” 

 The Sufi Choir

Anyone who claims “I have achieved enlightenment” is dishonest or stupid or insane.

As long as there is an individual in search of an experience, the struggle continues: suffering is inevitable.

Stop struggling.

The end of suffering is the end of the experiencer.

"There's no such thing as enlightenment. It's a completely extraneous pursuit. To realize conclusively that the Buddha Mind you have from your parents innately is unborn and marvelously illuminating—that's enlightenment. Not realizing this makes you deluded. Since the Original Buddha Mind is unborn, it functions without thoughts of delusion or thoughts of wanting to be enlightened.

 As soon as you think of wanting to be enlightened, you leave the place of the Unborn and go counter to it. Because the Buddha Mind is unborn, it has no thoughts at all. Thoughts are the source of delusion. When thoughts are gone, delusion vanishes too. And once you've stopped being deluded, talking about wanting to attain 'enlightenment' certainly is useless, don't you agree?"Zen Master Bankei (1622-1693)

Break through the hypnotic illusion of a personality projected in space and time: it does not exist.

There is nothing to do and no one to do it.

Every human being is born with a natural clarity of being. 

It just gets covered up in layer upon layer of muck.

Clean it all off: return to the clear, unblemished sky of awareness at your very core.

That still mind is your original mirror mind – your Buddha nature.

Just be that.

Like a plant grows, a bird flies or a fish swims, live naturally – right here, right now.

Liberated from the grip of egoism, like the moon after the eclipse, full, ever blissful, self-luminous, one attains one’s essence. – Adhyatma Upanishad

Enjoy the Feast

 “When a man knows God, he is free: his sorrows have an end, and birth and death are no more. When in inner union he is beyond the world of the body, then the third world, the world of the Spirit, is found, where the power of the All shines, and man has all—for he is one with the One.” KrishnaYajur Veda, Shvetasvatara Upanishad 

In every moment, you make a choice:  between joy and misery, contentment and craving, peace and suffering. When you choose to pursue the dream of this world, you choose suffering. Sooner or later, when this makes you hunger for love, for solace and comfort, you  turn in desperation to God. 

Who is this God? Where is He?  Does He even exist?

Observing the exquisite perfection of the natural universe, the incredibly complex design of microcosm and macrocosm, a creative intelligence is undeniable. Call Him the Tao, the Void, the Absolute, Brahman –  He is the substratum of reality that is the foundation and substance of all that exists. He is pure, abstract, self-aware, intelligent Consciousness. He shines as the very core of being in every living thing. Eternal, infinite, omnipotent, He is the Self that is reality- awareness-bliss. 

To know Him is to be Him. Once you taste His perfection, nothing else will ever satisfy you.

“Having annihilated the delusive mind which always dwells upon worldly things, having killed the restless ego, and having completely erased the worldly vasanas, shine as Shiva, the pure consciousness itself. Do not wander outside, eating the scorching sand of worldly pleasures; come home to the Heart where peace is shining as a vast, everlasting, cool shade, and enjoy the feast of the bliss of Self.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi

Once you discover the inner joy that is your divine core, you will gladly turn within and seek the light that is your true being. Deeply rooted in the Self, your life will be transformed miraculously in ways that cannot be defined. Reborn in God, you will rejoice in the bliss of the Self.

Happiness is your birthright.

Dive within, let go and dissolve in the Self in total, loving  surrender.

Drink deep of the nectar of blissful, infinite, peace.

Enjoy the feast.

You Are That

 “With whichever vessel you go to the ocean you can get only that much water. If it is merely a cup, you will get a cup of water. If it is a bucket, you will get a bucket. Empty yourself of everything else and you can  loot the whole ocean!” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, speaking on Guru’s grace.

Listen, I will tell you a secret : the greatest treasure is within you!

Throw away all your worldly baubles and make space for that which is most precious, the priceless gift of Grace.

Why is this gift the most valuable? Is it because it grants immortality and infinite joy?

Or because it bestows upon you that deep and perfect peace that is beyond all understanding?

It is because it reveals the astounding truth of who you really are: God dwells within you as you!

In this infinite universe, there is only One that is the source and the substance of all that exists.

You are that One.

Only remember: this same truth applies universally to every living creature.

So treat all life with deep love and respect.

All that you see is sacred. 

All that exists is pervaded by the Divine.

Live accordingly, and all will be well.

“Empty yourself of everything.

Let the mind become still.

The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.

They grow and flourish and then return to the source.

Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.

The way of nature is unchanging.

Knowing constancy is insight.

Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.

Knowing constancy, the mind is open.

With an open mind, you will be openhearted.

Being openhearted, you will act royally.

Being royal, you will attain the divine.

Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.

Being at one with the Tao is eternal.

And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.” 

Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching.