Sri Sadhu Om's Sadhanai Saram
Bhagavan Sri Ramana
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Part 3 of 5
(Selections translated by Sadhu Om and Michael James)
from The Mountain Path, Vol. 21, No. 4, October, 1984
24. The Emptiness of Sense-Pleasures
77. Instead of eating the fruit which is in your hand, why do you desire to eat the unreal fruit which is seen in a mirror, the mere reflection of the fruit in your hand? Is the reflected fruit an object which can be eaten and relished? Similarly, instead of diving deep within the heart by keenly attending to Self and thereby enjoying the bliss of Self which is ever shining there, why do you desire to enjoy the pleasures experienced through the five senses of this perishable body, which are merely an unreal reflection of the true happiness within you?
26. The Nature of Desire
88. When by one's own inexpressible power one sees in fancy the one real Self as many objects (the soul, world and God) and thinks oneself to be one among those objects, then one's own natural self-love, which transcends thought, assumes the form of a thought and appears to oneself, the individual who imagines thus, as desires for those objects, which are seemingly other than oneself.
Note: What is called 'love' is truly nothing but the nondual love or ananya priya which the real Self has for itself in the state in which it alone exists and shines. And what is called 'desire' is nothing but the dual love or anya priya which springs towards other objects, which are truly not other than Self, in the state in which the one real Self seems to be many objects. Therefore, the only way to put an end to desire is for one, by means of one's own perfect freedom or brahma-swatantra, to use one's own inexpressible power to see Self as one and not as many. In order to see Self thus as one, as it ever really is, one must cease attending to the many objects which seem to be other than oneself, and must instead attend only to the first person singular feeling 'I'.
89. Of all things, is not oneself the most beloved? When one limits oneself by imagining oneself to be a body, one sees all these things (the world and God), which are truly nothing but one's own Self, as objects other than oneself, and hence one has desire for those objects. That desire is only a modified form of the true self-love which is one's own very nature.
90. The love which one always has for oneself is not a thought; that supreme love is one's own real Self, which is existence-consciousness-bliss (sat-chit-ananda). When a wrong knowledge rises in the form of a thought whereby one mistakenly sees the one Self as many objects which are seemingly other than oneself, even the true self-love becomes a petty thought in the form of desire.
91. When self-love, which is not a thought, forsakes its own real nature of mere being and springs towards other things in the form of desires, it becomes ever-moving thoughts. When love remains as the thought-free love for Self instead of becoming thoughts in the form of desires for other things, that state of Self-abidance is true tapas.
92. This original love for Self, which has now become the three desires2, will cease to assume the form of thoughts and will remain as supreme bliss only by means of Self-realization, the state in which one sees all the five elements and the entire world constituted by those elements, as not other than oneself.
1 Continued from the last issue. Since a complete English translation of Sadhanai Saram will probably be published in book-form within one or two years, we have decided to serialize only selected chapters and not the entire work, as we had originally announced.
2 The three basic human desires are: (1) uravu-asai or the desire for relationships, that is, the desire for relatives, wife, husband, children, friends or any kind of human relationship, whether sensual, emotional or otherwise; (2) porul-asai or the desire for possessions in any form whatsoever; and (3) puhazh-asai or the desire for praise, that is, the desire for fame, honour, esteem or any kind of appreciation from others. The reason for classifying these three desires is explained in more detail in verses 102 to 109 of this work.
93. The love for happiness is only the love for Self, because Self alone is happiness. But if one imagines that this world, which is nothing but Self, is something other than oneself, then on account of self-love the objects of the world will seem to be objects of pleasure, and hence the love for that Self, which appears as objects other than oneself, will assume the form of desire. This is the great error.
94. When the true knowledge dawns that everything is only 'I', then the extroverted love which desirously springs towards other objects, will remain pervading everywhere in the form of mere being and will no longer spring towards anything else. The love which thus remains as mere being, having ceased to move in the form of thoughts, alone is Siva, who is Self.
95. Since Self is happiness itself, so long as one sees other things, which are in truth only Self (but whose names and forms are a mere appearance), how can one not think that those other things are pleasurable? This alone is the reason why all living beings, beginning with celestial beings and including men and all other creatures, are falling and burning in the great fire of desires for external objects.
96. When our true nature of mere being is transformed into the nature of rising as an ego, know that the three real aspects of our nature, namely existence, consciousness and bliss, will seemingly become their opposites, namely non-existence, ignorance and misery, and will thus assume the form of the dyads (the dvandvas or pairs of opposites).
97. Just as a single ray of white light becomes seven different colours when it passes through a prism, so the single and undivided existence-consciousness 'I am' is seemingly diffracted into the triads (the triputis or three factors of objective knowledge, namely the knower, the act of knowing and the objects known) when it passes through the petty senses.
98. When we limit our true nature of undivided existence-consciousness-bliss by mistaking an insignificant body to be 'I', desire arises for those objects of the world which are favourable to this limited 'I', and aversion arises for those objects which are not favourable to it. This desire and aversion are a twofold reflected shadow of our real nature, which is bliss (ananda) or love (priya).
Note: Though in the realm of cause and effect happiness and love appear to be two different things, one being the cause of the other, in the state of Self-knowledge they are realised to be one and the same. That is why existence-consciousness-bliss or sat-chit-ananda is alternatively known as being luminosity-love or asti-bhati-priya (compare Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, pp. 55 and 253-4). When our nature to be is mistaken as a nature to rise, the bliss aspect of our nature appears as the dyad pleasure and pain, which automatically gives rise to desire and aversion or likes and dislikes. Thus likes and dislikes are a twofold reflection of the bliss or love aspect of our true nature.
99. Likes and dislikes are a dyad which arises as a reflection of bliss (ananda); existence and non-existence are a twofold appearance assumed by the ever-indestructible existence (sat); knowledge and ignorance are a dyad which arises as a reflection of consciousness (chit); know this truth by abiding as Self, which is existence-consciousness-bliss.
100. Only by the experience of Self-knowledge will all desires be burnt and destroyed in such a manner that they can never again revive. Nobody has ever overcome the power of desires merely by fighting and struggling for any number of years against the wandering nature of the five senses.
101. Know that this indeed is the reason why our Father, Guru Ramana, always gave the advice 'Know yourself' and unfailingly taught the path of Self-enquiry as the most powerful sadhana and as the only weapon to destroy all the desires existing within us.
28. The Arising of Devotion
110. If one realises that one cannot do anything by oneself, what else can one do but to call upon God with joined hands? Therefore, devotion to God will arise in the heart of a person who is immersed in worldly activities only to the extent to which he realises his own powerlessness and inability to do anything.
111. But in the case of the foremost among devotees, even though he has the power to perform all the five functions of God (namely the functions of creation, sustenance, destruction, veiling and bestowal of Grace) and even though the people of all the worlds come to praise him and prostrate before him, he will have love only for God, knowing the truth, 'I am not the doer of any action; God alone does everything'.
29. Bhakti and Jnana
112. To the extent to which love for God arises in one's heart, to that extent will one acquire knowledge about Him. And to the extent to which one knows the nature of God, to that extent will the mind gain steadfast love for Him. (Thus jnana will be increased by bhakti, and bhakti will be increased by jnana.)
113. By means of our love for God, He will give us more knowledge of Him, and by means of our knowledge of Him, He will give us more love for Him. Therefore, of these two paths, bhakti and jnana, follow that one for which you first gain a liking, because that one path will lead you to follow the other one in the heart.
114. In the life of an aspirant who is seeking liberation, bhakti and jnana will be experienced as inseparable, like the two sides of one sheet of paper. Hence each one is equal to the other. They are not two different things, for the true nature of both of them is one and the same; know that bhakti and jnana are merely two names for that one thing.
115. The state of abiding firmly in Self alone is jnana. Would it be possible to abide thus in Self if one did not have love for Self? Love for Self alone is bhakti; abiding firmly in Self on account of that love alone is jnana. What difference is there between these two? Discriminate and know this truth.
116. If there did not exist the power of gravity, which attracts and pulls everything towards the earth, would anything remain stable on earth? On scrutiny, bhakti is found to be similar to the gravitational power of attraction, while the state of jnana is found to be similar to the state of objects remaining stable on earth as a result of that attraction. If either one of these two, the power of attraction or bhakti and the state of abidance or jnana, were absent, the other one would not exist.
117. An aspirant who practises Self-enquiry, which is the path of jnana, denies his own individuality by knowing 'I, this insignificant ego, am not the doer of any action', while a devotee denies his own individuality by knowing, 'God alone is the doer of all actions'. Thus, since an aspirant who follows either of these two paths refrains from assuming the sense of doership, understand that these two paths are not different even in the time of practice, and follow either of them.
118. We should not allow our minds to become bewildered and confused by trying to deliberate and decide, 'Which of these two, the practice of 'bhakti or the practice of jnana, is the best means for attaining liberation?' For whichever path a liking arises in the heart of a person, for that person that path alone is the best.
119. According to the strength of habit continuing from former lives, in this life the mind will acquire a liking either for the path of devotion or for the direct and unfailing path of Self-enquiry, and will feel that particular path to be the best and most suited to itself. Therefore, follow at least one of these two paths to its very end.
30. Self-Surrender and Self-Enquiry
120. Since the ego itself is everything (as revealed by Sri Bhagavan in verse 26 of Ulladu Narpadu), giving up the ego, the·feeling 'I am this body', by surrendering it to God is lovingly surrendering everything to Him. Having once surrendered the ego to God, abiding in Self without taking it back again (that is, without again identifying the body as 'I' or 'mine') is true tapas.
121. Having surrendered the ego to God, if one takes it back again, that is the sin of dattapahara (stealing back what has once been given). Therefore, in order to avoid committing such a sin, practice Self-attention unfailingly, because only if one attends to the ego vigilantly and unceasingly will it merge in the heart so as never to rise again.
122. Destroying the ego through Self-attention is alone the excellent path of self-surrender. Therefore, scrutinizing and knowing one's own Self is alone the proper method of practising both self-surrender, the path of devotion, and Self-enquiry, the path of knowledge.
123. The path of knowledge, in which we scrutinize 'Who am I?', is itself the path of devotion, in which we have true love for God. Knowing that Self-enquiry and self-surrender are thus one and the same not only in their goal but also in their method of practice, follow the practice of Self-attention.
Note: In one of His stray verses (Curu Vachaka Kovai verse B-13) Sri Bhagavan says, "Attention to Self is supreme devotion to God, because God exists as Self'.
31. Leave it to Him
124. He knows the best of all,
Leave it to Him, be calm;
Believe Him most of all,
Then rests the mental storm.
Explanatory paraphrase: Our Sadguru, Sri Ramana, alone knows what is best for us. Therefore, entrusting all our burdens and cares to Him, we should always remain peaceful and calm. If we believe Him more than we believe anyone or anything else, knowing that He alone is the supreme and all-powerful reality, then at that very moment we will attain that perfect peace in which the raging storm of thoughts will have come to an end forever.
32. All that He does is Happiness for Me
125. The almighty Sri Ramana, who exists within the heart of everyone, who unfailingly helps me at all times, and who cannot be banished from my mind even for a moment, has brought me close to Him only to take me as His slave. Therefore, whatever He now does with me is only happiness for me; how can anything that He does hereafter appear to me as something undesirable or painful?
33. Why Should You Think?
Refrain
Why should you think any thought henceforth? Will He who has taken you as His own ever abandon you?
Sub-refrain
Is it not the duty of Lord Ramana to provide you in some way or other with clothing and shelter for the body which He has given you, and with food and drink for its hunger and thirst? (Therefore, why should you think any thought henceforth?)
Stanzas
126. Does not Lord Ramana know how to protect you in some way or other lest bondage should return in future and lest association with the wicked should come near you? When you are a child living on the lap of your Father, why should you give room to dejection? (Therefore, why should you think any thought henceforth?)
127. Now where is any 'I' or 'mine' in the form 'I am a particular body', 'I am this'? Then how, and with a desire for what, can you think? Where is any such thing as a mind? When the peerless Lord Ramana is here, what right do you have to think? (Therefore, why should you think any thought henceforth?)
(To be continued)
Go on to part 4
Sri Ramanarpanamastu