Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara - Day3 update

Guruji started the session by explaining how the Upadesa Sara came into existence. He remembered a great tamil poet by name Muruganar who lived when Ramana Maharshi was in his physical body. Guruji also narrated the incident between these two that made Ramana to create Upadesa Sara on request of Muruganar.  Guruji then gave lot of importance & significance to one’s own Sadhana and how we can relate Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Sara with our individual Sadhana. Below is the brief synopsis of Day 3 program.

Guruji's talk on Ramana's Upadesa Sara

When you start contemplating on Ramana’s Upadesa Sara, it gives the essence of Atma Gyana (Self Knowledge).  In the name of Meditation or Sadhana people have become lazy & lousy people by condemning the outside world and stopped working in the external world. However if you see, All great masters, they work continuously 24 hours non-stop. If you are a true meditator, every cell in your body should charge with enthusiasm. If that transformation is not in us, then it means there is no Atma Gyana. If we are struck with the act of irresponsibility by not taking care of our health, body & family, there is no Atma Gyana in us. 

Guruji then recollected the first sloka from Ramana Maharshi’s Upadesa Sara. Whatever happening is at the will of the karthu only. Without karthu, no activity, no action, no effort can take place. So one has to find out who is this karthru? How to find out? One should start from negating the false karthru’s. After beautifully explaining this, Guruji then moves on the 2nd Sloka of Upadesa Sara:

Krithi mahodadhau pathana kaaranam
Phalam asaashvatham gathi nirodhakam

Krithi mahodadhau – One action takes me to next action, one krithi is taking us to another krithi. It has become like addiction.

Pathana Kaaranam – Where is one failing miserably? Ramana says Krithi mahodadhau. Find out yourself how you are adding activities after activities. Any desire we create, we have to maintain them, and for the same maintenance, we are building up another set of activities. Go back to your life and analyze how we are expanding and how we are behind activities after activities.

Phalam asaashvatham  –  All our identification are with the krithi’s which are not permanent. They are temporary in nature. Since it is temporary, it leads me to frustration. Any pleasure or any emotions are all temporary. Anything which is impermanent, it is like a speed breaker, it blocks you and it does not make you to proceed further. Deep inside there is a seeking for something permanent and we are going in search of that in external world. The outside world does not give anything which is permanent. So the very seeking gives us the frustration, dejection, depressed etc. Every experience is creating extended dissatisfaction in me. This is creating another karthru called 'craving'.

If you do your Sadhana sincerely, you would realize 70% of the things that are in our home are nothing useful to our path of Sadhana. But do we have the guts to throw them out? Who is creating this kind of web and getting caught & suffocating in the web? It’s all because we have not identified the karthru.

Do your 'Sadhana'

The problem with most of us is that we don’t wake up and we don’t want to wake up, that is the crux. We are not interested to know the original karthru. So what needs to be done? Guruji now moves on the 3rd Sloka of Upadesa Sara:

Ishwara arpitam na icchayaa kritam
Chitta shodhakam mukti sadhakam

Guruji says, Ramana is suggesting a Sadhana for all of us. What is that?  Ishwara arpitam. If you are not able to find out the true karthu, Ramana says, you feel there is something called Ishwara, and you feel this Ishwara is very affectionate, respectable & revered personality. Guruji says, you keep working in the external world, after performing every activity, you offer them to Ishwara. Before starting an activity, you feel that you are doing this to please the Ishvara.

For e.g. if Guruji is coming to your house, your every action/ selection / attitude is guided by Guruji and you do everything for Guruji. You don’t prepare something which you like it; you prepare something which you think Guruji likes it. Another good example is 'Sabari' in Ramayana. Every day, while getting up in the morning, it is 'Lord Rama', the day starts with the thought that my Rama is going to come today; every activity of hers was on Rama. In the night, if Lord Rama does not come, she says to herself, “OK, I know my Rama might be busy, he may come tomorrow, whatever I have done today, let me take it as a Prashada from my Lord Rama". 

Guruji puts a question to us, Is it possible for us to develop that feeling in us?

Guruji says, Every action is completely guided by that which you respect the most. So here, if Ishwara is everything for me, I do everything to please my lord. Here our Gurudev Shri Pattabhiram shared about his personal Sadhana that is given by His Gurudev, Swami Rama of Himalayas. "Selfless Service" is the sadhana our Guruji has been doing over the years for the humanity. 

Why one has to do this sadhana? Because for Chitta Shodhakam, Mukti Sadhakam. The purification is the purpose of our life. Mukthi sadhakam, mukthi means liberation, liberation means freedom. The purpose is to free this consciousness completely from everything.

Na icchayaa - In every action, I have to see, whether 'Icha' the desire is entering or not. If 'Icha' is entering, then we have to purify.

Guruji says, Purification is a very painful process.  That’s why very few get onto this kind of Atma Sodhana. Is it possible for us to purify ourselves every minute? Ramana says, Ishwara is the karthu. At the command of the Ishwara, everything is going on. 

Guruji here also gave lot of insight on how he relates with the Sadhakas & His students and why He does not impose a rigid approach to His students.

Moving on, Guruji then explained why we have to surrender? According to Ramana, We have to surrender because, chita sodhana & mukthi sadhana has to happen. The individual self has to move from its entanglements and experience the universal consciousness. To experience this, impurity has to be removed. The purpose of our life; is to expand the consciousness so that it merges with the universal consciousness.

Life is nothing but, unconditional energy of joy. When this unconditional energy is confined within the boundary, then it becomes misery. When you put any boundary and divide that is impurity. If you put boundary in your own self and if you have separated other Sadhana Parivara, you have created a poison. Direct approach is to take the poison out. All other solutions are temporary, and it’s expensive if you go into temporary treatment.

We don’t see the last step, and we always take step after step. So see the last step, then take the first step. What is the last step? Mukthi sadhana is the last step. What is the first step, chitha sodhana is the first step. How to do Chita Sodhana? Through Ishwara arpitam. What is the dynamism here?  Naa ichaya kritiam, that’s all.

Friends, Hope you liked the Day 3 coverage of Guruji's program on Upadesa Sara at New Delhi. What we have put in here is very brief synopsis and there were lots of insights that Guruji talked on Upadesa Sara. If you want to listen to his previous lecture on Upadesa Sara, you can get the DVD & get benefited.

Happy Sadhana...

- 'Bansuri'
(the messenger)

Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara - Day 2 update

Sadhana Sangama Day 2 program on Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara at New Delhi (Malai Mandir) started with Guruji's guided Meditation. Below is a brief synopsis of 2nd day's program.

Guruji at the start of Day2 Program

Ramana’s language is direct, he does not believe in indirect way of understanding the reality. Ramana’s language is like a telegraphic language, it is direct, similar to our Gurudev Swami Rama’s language. There would be no ambiguity. Their languages are coded and when we start chewing them, the coded language starts releasing signals after signals.
 

Guruji then recited the first sloka of Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara:

Karthru ajnayaa prapyathe phalam
Karma Kim Param Karma Tad jadam

Karthru ajnayaa – Everything happens at the command of the Karthuh, i.e. at the will of the doer.  If everything is happening at the command of the Karthru, then as a Sadhaka what is our responsibility? So friends what is our responsibility as a Sadhaka if everything is at the command of the karthru? Our responsibility is to find out who is this Karthru.
 

A person who has known his true Karthru, starts sharing everything he has. If we don’t realize our Karthru, our life contracts. We are interested in storing, possessing, keeping our possession in secret chambers, that’s why all our experiences are stale experiences. That’s the reason there are no joy in all our experiences.
 

Guruji says, Anything that is known is not tasty. Anything which is unknown is always tasty. Spiritual experience never repeats. Material experiences are called as "pleasure" as it keeps repeating whereas Spiritual experiences are called as "bliss" because it never repeats. We are always in pursuit of pleasure and not the bliss. To experience bliss, it is important to know the true Karthru.
 

We go through this material experiences in the form of various pleasures and we start craving for that experience again and again. As the pursuit continues, a monster keep developing inside. It is very difficult to satisfy this growing pleasure and it has become our habit. So Ramana, a great spiritual master, an innovative scientist, not guided by any written literature, simply asking us to find out the karthru who is behind all these.
 

Guruji is asking us to use this as a formula, without questioning. He is asking us to find out the true Karthru. We are only seeing the actions and getting identified with the actions. However we are not seeing the real Karthru who is behind these actions.
 

We have so much noise inside that we are not able to sit in silence. We don’t have that rejoicing resort in us and we go in search of such resort outside. Guruji says there is nothing needed from outside for this self-enquiry.
 

Guruji is asking us to study ourselves from morning till evening,  to be aware how we behave, how we relate with people, how we talk with people,  how we relate with the situations outside, how do we behave with our relations. Guruji says when we start seeing them; we would then start seeing the intentions, the experiences, the suppressed thing, unexpressed things that are all behind each actions. This would help us to find our Karthru.
 

When we see a person going to temple, then immediately we identify that person as very pious. Same person if we see going to bar, we immediately identify that person as being spoiled. So here depending upon action the person is judged. It might be so that the person might be going to the bar only to convey a message or to see someone. So it’s not the action through which we can decide but it’s the intention, the motivating energy behind the action that would give us a real picture. So if there is hurt in us, hurt becomes the driving energy, and then all our reactions are controlled at the will/command of the hurt.

Why people behave differently? Who is guiding all their reactions, movements etc.? Karthru ajnayaa, Guruji says, please go into & explore the karthru, don’t worry about the crisis, betrayal, dejection, depression, disappointment, failure, pride, joy, pleasure etc. Don’t even try to analyze the action; just find out who is that Karthru inside who is making you do it. We are only seeing the kriya but not the Karthru. Outwardly we may be a very good human being, but inside, every sweet word that is coming out might be dipped in the poison.
 

When we try to find out the Karthru, then we realize, action is not the Karthru. Ramana says Karma Tad Jadam, your Karma is dull & lame, it cannot move. Without creating any guilt or hurt you start studying & understand that there is something behind every action. There is something hidden which is acting.

When Karma is Jada, then Ramana says, Karma Kimparam, why are you glorifying it? Guruji says, don’t think you are working & slogging for family, all nonsense. Your existence is nothing to do with the external things. We are run by the agencies like hurt, discontentment, pleasure, expectation, emotions etc., which is making us to perform these activities.

We are suffering because we go into into self pity and don’t have the guts to see the reality and look at the truth as truth. We always try to glorify our actions. Karma Kimparam Ramana Maharshi says, why are you glorifying them? The moment one start glorifying, then they miss the reality.

Guruji here asks a question back to us, why are you doing so much service for your Guru?  Why are you serving Guru when He visits your place? And after serving Him, we then start glorifying our actions, stating "Look how much I am serving or helping my Guru”? Guruji is asking us to see who is working here and what is that which is making you to serve the Guru.  Please see this impartially, then one can find the true Karthru. Once you have identified your true Karthru, then the life would become full of enthusiasm, one would see opportunities everywhere. The moment you see it, the fear, suffering, all would disappear. 

Find out your true 'Karthru'

Guruji also said that mere by doing pooja or asanas, no transformation is going to happen, unless one realizes & understand the Karthru who is making these actions. We are glorifying our karma, because we don’t know our karthru. So what needs to be done?. Guruji says detach yourself from the karma and start looking at the Karthru. That’s why we have to so our Sadhana and be silent.  For e.g. when you try to sit straight keeping your back, head and the neck along the same straight line, you can identify hundreds of Karthru’s attacking you, by not allowing you to sit straight. Once you start analyzing these karthru’s, then they would lead you to identify the true Karthru.

Today parents are becoming victims of our own children, and the children become helpless. We don’t have any strength to relate with the kids & we have pampered them so much. Guruji is asking a question here, “Have we allowed our child to cry to its last stroke? We don’t because we are scared. We keep feeding them and we don’t allow the children to know what appetite is. We as a parents have failed to show our children the true Karthru here which is in the form of appetite.

So one has to ask this question, Karthru ajnayaa -  who is guiding, commanding, dictating, pushing, motivating us to perform actions in the external world. Who is that? So when you see a action, try to see the immediate Karthru behind it, it may lead you to another Karthru and keep searching until you find out the true Karthru.

You may ask how to look at it. For example, I have gone somewhere and return home with hurt feeling. So who am I now? (Naan Yaar?) I now related myself with the hurt feeling. So the doer is hurt now. When the doer is hurt, all the actions is going to be hurt only. Here Ramana says you are angry because you are hurt. Ramana says, if you are hurt, depressed, anger, frustrated, feeling helpless, these qualities are only the effects. But find out who has created this? In this example, because of my hurt, i become angry. So here the karthru is not anger, but hurt is the karthru. So catch this hurt and look into it, and ask who are you? The hurt says, I am ‘expectation’, I was hurt because my expectation was not met. So who is the karthru of the hurt, punctured expectation is the karthru. So come to the expectation, ask who are you? The expectation says, I am assumption. So expectation is not the karthru and we go to assumption and ask who are you? Assumption says I am not the karthru, and you go further. As you keep going, you will find out it’s the ignorance which is our karthru.

We assume karthru is god, and we blame & throw everything on Bhagwan (God). It’s the act of irresponsibility. There are two karthru that are working in us, one is the karthru created out of ignorance and another is the karthru of something else which is in its true form. If we have to experience the later,  we have to negate the false / fake karthru’s mercilessly.

Most of us are identifying the wrong karthru because of our ignorance. This leads to hurt, expectation, assumption, anger etc.  Go back and find out who is the true karthru in you.

Friends as you can see, in Day 2 of the program, Guruji has repeatedly asking us to go inside and find out the 'Karthru' in us. Instead of literally translating the bookish meaning for the word 'Karthru' as 'God', our Guruji is asking us to find out who is this 'Karthru' as it would lead us to identify that True Self.  So in search of that true Karthru, let us spend our day today.

With Pranams

'Bansuri'

(the messenger)

Ramana Maharshi's Upadesa Sara - Day 1 Update

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)