The Nondual Highlights
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Editors: Jerry Katz, Gloria Lee, Christiana Duranczyk, Michael Read, John Metzger

Highlights Issue #1041

Sunday, April 14, 2002

Today's Highlights Compiled, Edited, and Designed
by Gloria Lee

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The following was sent to the I AM list by R.K. Shankar:

Dear All

On April 14th, the same day, at 8:13 p.m. IST (please
correct me, if I am wrong) way back in 1950, Sri
Bhagawan attained Mahasamadhi.

A couple of minutes before that He remembered Sri Kunju
Swami, a long-standing devotee and personal attendant of
Sri Bhagawan. Instantly, he was informed. When he
arrived, Sri Bhagawan said to him 'Santosham [literally
meaning 'I am happy' (but actually meaning I am happy
with your services over the years)']. When Sri Kunju
Swami wondered as to what Sri Bhagawan meant, Sri
Bhagawan replied, 'I said 'Thank You' (as they say in
English)'. Of course, the conversation was in Tamil
except for the word 'Thank You'.

Then, Sri Bhagawan asked the attendant to keep the
pillow straight. So long, He was in the sleeping
posture. Now, He resumed His seating posture with His
spine standing erect and leaning against the pillow.
After a while, the breathe seemed to flow with
difficulty. Then, He breathed His Last.

Sri Bhagawan remains as our Self. And, His powerful
Teachings are still guiding people from far and wide.
With the lapse of years, His Teachings seem to gain
greater Force.

May we all seek His unfailing Blessings on our path to
immortality.

May we also gratefully recollect the Glory of Sri Siva
Prakasam Pillai who gave us this wonderful '5 Jewels in
Praise of Sri Bhagawan's Feet'

Yours in Sri Bhagawan RK Sankar

In recognition of this, the day of Ramana's Mahasamadhi,
R.K.Shankar sends the following to the I Am list. He
sent other readings as well.

from R.K. Shankar:

23 Aphroisms on the Wisdom Teachings of Sri Ramana from
the 3 Songs of 5 Jewels in praise of Him by Sri Siva
Prakasam Pillai

The 23 aphorisms on the Wisdom Teachings of Satguru Sri
Ramana, may be carefully placed in the subconscious with
full attention and reverence thrice in the morning, noon
and evening, on 23 Fridays of 23 successive weeks, so
that their true meanings will unfold themselves from
within us and impact and transform our consciousness:

1 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who utters
'See Who I am', with the Height (of the Self) having
welled up (into Him from within).

2 Long Live the Feet of the Calm One, who says, " If one
becomes the Self, and deserts (the ego), the sorrow will
go."

3 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana), who grants
the Wisdom that 'I am' is not the body which one loves.

4 Long Live the Feet of the One of (Supreme) Order (Sri
Ramana) who says, "You firmly abide (anchor yourself) in
the uttered path (of Self-Enquiry)".

5 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who 'abides
lying down', that only the inner (ego) and nothing else
is 'marked as the place' (for the Work of God).

6 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who utters,
"Which rises as 'I am (this body)' ? That(!) is the
mind".

7 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana), who 'casts
His glance' (to send the mind inward towards the Self)
saying "Its (the mind's) profit is Wisdom-Vision"

8 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who sings,
"Just be (still) without thinking of anything. And,
Every day (always) rest the mind in your abode (of the
Self)".

9 Long Live the Feet of the Good One (Sri Ramana) who
utters, "The relationship attained to with the body will
fall away. Because of the enquiry 'Who am I ?' "

10 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who
assertively utters with Grace, "Do not slacken (in your
effort of Self-Enquiry), and let awareness of
Self-Enquiry slip away, until attaining to the Form of
the Self".

11 Long Live the Feet of the Lord (Sri Ramana) who
assertively utters, "Only bliss will well up and up
(from within), if you 'sink and merge', 'firmly abide in
and experience' the 'I' ('I-I', theSelf)".

12 Long Live the Feet of the Lord (Sri Ramana) who makes
the parted mind partless (by turning it away from the
body, and turning it inward).

13 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who
utters, "Investigate (enquire), and even that is a means
(for making the mind partless)".

14 Long Live the Feet of the Siddha (One who is
well-accomplished in Self-Abidance, Sri Ramana) who
abides (in Silence, saying) that all the world is the
body of Isvara.

15 Long Live the Feet of the Lord who says that the
desire becoming non-existent is Gnosis

16 Long Live the Feet of the One who utters 'If we rise
(up as a separate ego), others will rise (up as being
apart from us)"

17 Long Live the Feet of the Friend who says 'If we
subside (from the state of being a separate ego), others
will subside (from the state of being apart from us).'

18 Long Live the Feet of the One who 'bends low' saying
that 'the more the good will accrue (to one), the more
one bends low (and bends low)'

19 Long Live the Feet of the Friend who says, 'Stay away
from other work (work other than one's own) and abide'.

20 Long Live the Feet of the One who sings, "Act saying,
'Everything is by God'."

21 Long Live the Feet of the Silent One who said,
'Reckon the world as a dream'.

22 Long Live the Feet of the SatGuru (Sri Ramana) who
says, 'Giving (away in charity) to others is (in
reality) giving (those things in charity) to oneself'.

23 Long Live the Feet of the One (Sri Ramana) who sings,
'Give (away) the wandering mind to the Lord'.

The posts forwarded by R.K. Sankar were sent originally to the I AM list. These are translations of the 3 Songs of 5 Jewels in praise of the Feet of Sri Ramana by Sri Siva Prakasam Pillai.

We are honoured that Sankar sends his translations to the I AM list. Very few are actually forwarded to NDS. These posts seemed very powerful for some reason.

Note that Sankar used to spell his name Shankar and that I used that spelling in previous posts today.

Jerry Katz  

---

 

VIORICA W & JAN B  from HarshaSatsangh

Excerpts from a dialogue on love

VICKI

 so coming back to the eternal love subject - 
  many say all is love , the essence of what is is love, 
  send loving touching blessings to the suffering ones.
  There are many satsangs all over the world, many famous healers, 
  going here going there organizing retreats , talking about love 
  and Self-realization and kingdom of God and that we are all That. 
  It is a pleasure , a pleasure to listen, a pleasure to be in their
  company.

  That is before the test of fire. 

  That is before the test of looking tremendously deep inside
  their own selves -  I mean those who advise mankind doing so. 

  A friend of mine, Ramana devotee also ,enjoys going to satsanghs
  whenever somebody comes to Israel for this purpose. 
  Last week she said - Do you know how many famous world known 
  enlightened ones canceled their coming to Israel ? 
  It is written in the newspapers - X canceled , Y canceled , 
  the enlightened Z canceled ...Hey , what are these people 
  afraid of ? Are they afraid of physical death ? 
  Are they taking sides ? In either case , they are not enlightened.

  So you tell me fear is one  obstacle for our own nature to reveal 
  itself. But you haven't solved your own fears, I would say.
  So what are your books ? What are your satsanghs ? 
  What is your beautiful poetry ? Beautiful painted dry 
  words. You believe so , you want yourself to be what you think 
  you are , but same obstructions to the treasure inside 
  are still there for you too. 
  You made a name , money , you have fame in the world. 
  In the world ! It is the worldly . But you talk to me 
  about spirit , about not being my body, my thoughts, 
  my feelings, my emotions, you talk to me about spirit . 
  But you are afraid of physical death. 
  Or you put yourself on one side or another . 
  What did you prove then ?

  You see ? 
 
  So love , until it has passed the test of fire is not love. 
  It is our desire to love , it is a trust in the power 
  of love , it is the wish in us to overcome evil,anger, hatred, 
  which is a tremendously enlightening wish. 

  And yet , beautiful words are not the proof that 
  the one who says them would turn the other cheek
  to be hit , would offer the other arm to be cut , 
  would take his neighbour's hunger on his stomach,
  with love in his heart. 

  Those who can do it - I love them tremendously ,
  to their feet I kneel. 

  As about me suffering in all this  - I don't . 
  I see the world stage from a privileged position.
  The world show unfolding once more exactly as 
  the truly enlightened beings pointed it to us.
  I see that nothing has changed in the world of humans.
  I see that every singled word uttered two thousand 
  years ago in this area is true and equally valid 
  today. And I thank God for putting me here.

 
  With love for the egoless, 
   vicki.
------------

 

JAN

It is not a question if there is but the Self, or that Self = God = Love.
What matters is the process of interpretation, with the well known
outcomes, called labels/judgments like love/hate/beauty/ugliness 
or adjectives like big/small.
Interpretation is a function of the mind and it can be silent
until having to spring into action. [....]

 

Knowledge by itself is without value: it's the application that matters.
From canine behavior it can be learned that the the stronger one has
the privilege to give in as a weaker one doesn't impose any danger.
This simple rule applies to human behavior as well: when the strong
ones don't give the proper example, the weak ones will revolt..

For a good reason, Ramana didn't talk much on the subject of 'liberation' 
or 'moksha': not because of philosophical topics like "who is to be liberated?"
or "bondage and liberation are but the 2 sides of the same coin" but because
"there is but you and your perception": all perceived suffering comes from the
potential to feel pain. This isn't "transcended" easily and Self-realization
eventually (but not necessarily) 'opens up' the process of transcending...
-----------

 

VICKI

Hello dear Jan,

   there are situations in life that their absurdity and irreality 
   is so strong that the mind stops. 
   What follows cannot be interpretation of the mind.
   What I was describing was one of these.

 

     I think the same about the image of the twins 
     collapsing. Mind witnessing such an aberration 
     stops. I see no place to interpretation .
     It cannot be interpreted. It is absurd, unreal.
     Then one could ask oneself how real could be such a world? 
     That is what happened to me. 

 

    Yes , Jan , application indeed. 
     Love in real life battle fields.
     That reminds me of the Bhagavad Gita. 
     What we are talking about - turned 
     in real life in any circumstances. 
     That is the real challenge. 

     Thank you for answering,
 ---------- 

JAN

What the Bhagavad Gita doesn't mention is the experiential knowledge,
that sentient life is loved unconditionally. This fundamental facet is hidden 
deeply... How else could life continue, even when the outlook on it is dark?
Reflect on that as to make it a 'live' presence and a different mode of action
will 'open up': Even if sentient life could be labeled "a bag of pain" yet is loved

dearly and unconditionally. Acting from this knowledge is what makes up 
"consistency". 

There have to be quite a number of quotes stating the mind
is the Self too: as there is nothing but the Self. Hence any
attempt to put the "undesirable" into an entity called "mind"
could be called "evasive action" for the sake of explanation
in the same sense that some will divide the mind into "higher" (intelligence)
and "lower"(instincts). Arguably, the number zero doesn't have to be mentioned
at the mention of a non-zero number. When  ultimately, everything is Self/God/Love, 
the same applies. As any functioning requires mind, it will be clear that
mind functions in sages too, irrespective the "explanation" they (are expected to) give.
The difference, the mind of a sage is "at Peace" irrespective functioning,
whether functioning or not.. 

---

JERRY KATZ    from NondualitySalon

Sailor Bob Adamson is an Australian spiritual teacher who spent time
with Nisargadatta. He has a new book with excerpts at the following
website:

<http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~adamson7/Page_1x.html>

His teaching, like Nisargadatta's, is to expose ground of being. Bob's
teaching is always showing that the nature of the mind is to divide,
that 'understanding is all' (to quote Nisargadatta), and that
understanding arises out of direct experience: the right here, right
now, full stop presence-awareness.

Interesting, while reading the book I kept expecting and even looking
for the personality of Bob to come through. I can't say I ever found it.
I was never touched by a personality. I think that's a rare quality,
that clean effort. A person can read this book and not feel the impress
of a 'guy', so to speak, even though this is a book of talks consisting
of questions and answers. This tells me there's no 'Bob' there.

If you want to immerse yourself in the words of such a person, order a
copy at the above website.

Jerry
http://nonduality.com 

---

XAN    from MillionPaths

Dear ___, Thank you for sharing this dialogue with us.

One point stands out for me, in your message, and I hope
you don't mind my adding my two cents worth.

You seem to believe that you must change yourself in order
to discover the simple truth of your being..... to have a more
powerful mind, to focus better, and I am sure that you have
other hidden qualifications in your mind.

It is our ideas about ourselves, our beliefs about what
realization is, our concepts, our ideals, the impossible
standards that we set for ourselves that are the very thing
blocking the simple awareness of Self that is present even
now.

It is just much easier than all that.  In fact, when it happens
for you I am sure that you will laugh very much at how
complicated you tried to make it, as  I did.  :-)

with love
Xan

---

MICHAEL READ   from NondualitySalon just a friendly reminderin harmony

in discord
i am one with all
i am one with you

i am what is sought
i am the seeking one

i am despair
i am hope
i am freedom
i am bondage

everything is in me
i am in everything

invisible and apparent
undefinable and real

i am the fire of life
i am the ice of death
i am the winds of change
i am the unmoving rock

i am you and you are me

lalala-la-la! - michael
--

---

 GABRIELE EBERT    from SriRamana

 

They say
that I am dying
but I am not going away.
Where could I go?
I am here!  

~~~~~~~~
Osborne: Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Sri Ramana attained Maha-Nirvana on April 14th, 1950, 8.47 pm.