Guruji’s Morning lecture on Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Sara started today at Malai Mandir, South Delhi. After walking through the aspirants who have come for the program on the guided Meditation, Guruji started the lecture session. Below is a brief synopsis of Day 1 of Guruji’s lecture.
 |
| Guruji lighting the lamp & starting the Day 1 session |
 |
| Guruji praying to Baba & Devi Gayatri |
Ramana Maharshi is a self-realized Master & has given a wonderful path of silence. He has shared that joy of self-knowledge to the entire humanity, based on His experiences. If we look into ourself, the entire life is for self study. 'Svadhyaya'. Sva-adhyaya, when I start studying myself then this 'I' starts unfolding.
More you try to ponder over, the greater the space it’s going to create deep within. In the beginning this enquiry, we all feel it’s a boring activity, not getting the clue, agitated. Guruji says these are the beginning stages of sadhana.
Modern mind is a very impatient mind. To study oneself, one has to be prepared themselves with qualities such as Love, patience & endurance filled with joy. We are not fit to start 'Svadhyaya' if we don’t prepare the mind with these qualities. Because of our impatience it’s not happening in us. It’s going to open out once we have the 'Shamatha' (patience / perseverance) & 'Shanthatha' (calm or serenity) in me. This is the whole preparation required for Atma Gyana.
If you only show curiosity to collect information, this kind of impatient approach would not reach you anywhere. If you look at great masters life, every master has gone through so much of hell & crisis. One may wonder, with all these tortures & crisis, is it really worth going for this inner search? This question usually appears in all the sadhakas and this in turn leads to breaking / collapsing. Many people go through this frustration and develop aversion which finally leads to frustration and aversion towards the Guru & His teachings. One may think they were wasting their energy & time so far. But friends, we don’t realize even otherwise we are wasting our energy & time in the external world.
 |
| Don't give any excuses for your 'Sadhana' |
If you feel, the Sadhana given to you is difficult, doing your spiritual practices is difficult, one may please ponder what in life is easy otherwise? It is difficult to maintain the family, difficult to raise our children with good education & wisdom, difficult to take care of parents, difficult to maintain a healthy body etc. So if everything is difficult, why one complain that our individual Sadhana is difficult?
In external world, we slog & suffer so much and go through so much of humiliation, but we don’t understand that what we are going through are all nonsense & are of least importance. However in our Sadhana, we often complain stating, “Oh Guruji, doing meditation is very difficult, getting up in the morning for Meditation is very tough, keeping the back, neck & the head along the same straight line is difficult” etc. Since you have accepted your personal life, you don’t have any complaints, however in your spiritual life, since the total acceptance is not there, you have hundreds of excuses & complaints.
Your external world, your problems & crises keeps multiplying & it keep demanding & it keep asking for your blood & sweat. However your inner world only asks for little time daily to travel inside.
 |
| Samarpana Kar (Surrender yourself) & leave the rest to the Grace of the Masters |
Our Gurudev, Swami Rama says, “Bete, Samarpan kar, don’t worry about the transformation”. It’s a promise from our Gurudev. You spend time with your Inner Guru, rest leave it to the Masters. Spending time together is Samarpana here. You are staying with the Inner Guru and He is staying with you and you are staying together in the space of silence, that is Samarpana. Here there is no expectation, misery, complaint between the two.
Is it possible for us to sit in that silence, where you don’t expect anything and have no complaints?
Then Guruji started narrating one childhood incident of Ramana Maharshi life, which transformed Him and how He happened to reach the abode of Arunachala hills in Thiruvannamalai.
Guruji then explained what was Ramana Maharshi's search and what was His Sadhana. Guruji said that His sadhana was pondering over a very basic but important question, “Naan Yaar?” (“who am I?” or "Mein Kaun Hoon?").
When people meet Ramana with lot of problems, crises or any of their personal dream related queries, he simply asks them back “OK, you went through these crises, problems or bad dreams, but before analyzing them, first you tell me who has gone through these experiences”?.
Ramana Maharshi is asking us repeatedly to go back with this question “Who am I"?. We make statements like, “I am depressed", "I am agitated", "I am frustrated” etc., Ramana Maharshi says, they are mere adjectives and One has to ask this question, who was depressed, who was agitated, who was frustrated etc.
Guruji then stressed the importance of knowing the center within. Guruji asks us to find out what is that constant in you which is trying to relate with all variables that is constantly going on outside? Ask yourself, who is that “I”. If you understand this, then Ramana Maharshi’s “Upadesha Shara” would give strong foundation.
Only for connecting with the external world, you need everything. However to study yourself, you don’t need anything but your own self. Ramana Maharshi says that which is not you, just drop them. The challenge here is, it is so painful for us to drop, remove, and uncover our external identities. It is very easy to add but it is very very difficult to subtract. We keep adding, possessing, collecting but we find it difficult to uncover, subtract, remove them. Unless we do this uncovering, Self Realization is not possible.
Guruji says, we have to mercilessly break all fake forms to identify our true self. Guruji then recited Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara's first sloka:
Karthu rajnayaa prapyathe phalam
Karma Kim Param Karma Tad jadam
and briefly gave the meaning for this Shloka and said this sloka would be further discussed & explained in the subsequent days.
We are eagerly waiting for the Day 2 for Guruju to unfold Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara for us.
Till then, let's ponder over "Naan Yaar?" (Who am I?), thank you & Happy Sadhana
- "Bansuri"
(the messenger)
No comments:
Post a Comment