Advaita Vedanta

The Purpose behind the Various and Diverse Theories of Creation in the Vedas | Advaita Vedanta | Sri Ramana Maharshi

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Why do the different portions of the Vedas describe creation in different ways? Their sole intention is not to proclaim a correct theory of creation, but to make the aspirant enquire into the Truth which is the Source of creation.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Guru Vachaka Kovai, Verse 102

Here, in one of the earliest texts Sri Ramana authored he wrote the following in response to the following question:

Question: If the entire universe is of the form of mind, then does it not follow that the universe is an illusion? If that be the case, why is the creation of the universe mentioned in the Veda?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: There is no doubt whatsoever that the universe is the merest illusion. The principal purport of the Veda is to make known the true Brahman, after showing the apparent universe to be false. It is for this purpose that the Vedas admit the creation of the world and not for any other reason.

Moreover, for the less qualified persons creation is taught, that is the phased evolution of prakriti (primal nature), mahat-tattva (the great intellect), tanmatras (the subtle essences), bhutas (the gross elements), the world, the body, etc., from Brahman: while for the more qualified simultaneous creation is taught, that is, that this world arose like a dream on account of one’s own thoughts induced by the defect of not knowing oneself as the Self. Thus, from the fact that the creation of the world has been described in different ways it is clear that the purport of the Vedas rests only in teaching the true nature of Brahman after showing somehow or other the illusory nature of the universe.

That the world is illusory, every one can directly know in the state of realization which is in the form of experience of one’s bliss-nature.

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi, Self Enquiry (Vichara Sangraham)

Sri Sadhu Om also wrote a commentary on the above verse of Guru Vachaka Kovai (verse 102), as follows:

‘If creation were true, the scriptures would describe it in only one manner, but their diverse theories make it clear that creation is not the truth. To enable ripe aspirants to discover the falsity of the notion of creation, the Vedas purposely teach contradictory theories. However, such contradictions are found only in the descriptions of creation, they never occur when the Vedas attempt to describe the nature of Self, the Supreme. Concerning Self, they all agree and speak in one voice, saying ‘Self is One, Perfect, Whole, Immortal, Unchanging, Self-shining etc., etc.’ From this we should understand that the deep intention behind such conflicting theories of creation is to indirectly show aspirants the necessity of enquiring into Self, which is the Source of all ideas of creation.’

THE SUPREME STATE (according to the Upanishads & Shankara) | Advaita Vedanta

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

When the five organs of perception become still, together with the mind, and the intellect ceases to be active: that is called the Supreme State [Brahma-Vidya or Self Knowledge]

~Katha Upanishad 2.3.10

Shankara’s commentary on this above verse (Katha Upanishad, verse 2.3.10) states the following:

‘At the time when the five senses…, together with the mind…, which is now no longer functioning and thinking, are at rest in the Self alone, after turning away from objects, and with the intellect…no longer engaging with its functioning, that they call the highest state [Brahma-Vidya or Self-Knowledge].’

This is an excerpt from this post which contains more quotes like this

Everyone has Self-Knowledge, the Self is ever-realised | Sri Ramana Maharshi

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Everyone has self-knowledge. Self knowledge is the Self. They are one and the same. Sri Ramana Maharshi says in Talks, no 280:

‘There is no moment when the Self is not nor when the Self is not realised.’

and

‘Even now you are Self-realised.’

The problem is ignorance, meaning thinking you are the body-mind entity. Both thinking and the body-mind themselves are mere superimpositions.

When this ignorance/superimposition has been removed, then only the Self remains. That is called Self-knowledge or the Self. Sri Ramana says in Talks 462:

‘Being the Self one remains always realised, only be free from thoughts [Tom: ie. superimpositions].’

And in Talks 490:

‘The Self is always realised. But only you do not recognise the fact. The Realisation is now obscured by the present world-idea.[Tom: ie. superimposition of the body-mind-world]’

This Self-knowledge is not knowledge in the mind, which is something that comes and goes, and this Self-Knowledge is not for the body-mind at all.

It is described as being unborn and eternal by the great sages. It cannot be taught, only obstacles (ie. ignorance) is to be removed by turning within. Sri Ramana Maharshi says in Talks 282:

‘The Guru does not bring about Self-Realisation. He simply removes the obstacles to it. The Self is always realised.’

And in Talks 164:

‘Seek within. The Self is always realised.’

And talks 490 this same point above in made again, but the importance of the desire for liberation is also stated by Bhagavan:

‘The Self is always realised. The Realisation is now obscured. When the veil is removed the person feels happy at rediscovering the ever-realised Self. The ever-present Realisation appears to be a new Realisation. Now, what should one do to overcome the present ignorance. Be eager to have the true knowledge. As this eagerness grows the wrong knowledge diminishes in strength until it finally disappears.’

May we be desirous of Self-Realisation, that Realisation which ever-is.
May we be blessed by Sri Ramana’s Grace and Presence, that is our very Own Self.
May be receive the True Teaching that is created by our own Desire (for Liberation)

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Who can conceive of the state of the Jnani? Sri Sadhu Om | The true nature of the Jnani. The true nature of Jnana | Advaita Vedanta | Sri Ramana Maharshi

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

The following verse is taken from Guru Vachaka Kovai verse 1105 followed by commentary by Sri Sadhu Om, a direct devotee of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s who spent several years with him. Guru Vachaka Kovai is recognised as being the most authoritative exposition of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s verbal teachings, and can be downloaded in full here. For this particular verse, Sri Ramana Maharshi has also re-written the verse so we have 2 forms of the same verse:

1105. The Jnani, the unchanging one, who is sleeping naturally within the body, does not know His activities [vyavahara] in the world, His absorption [nishtha] and His sleep, just as one who is sleeping in the cart does not know the moving of the cart, its standing still and its lying [with the bullocks unyoked].

The above verse was rewritten by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in the form of the following verse, which is also included in Ulladu Narpadu – Anubandham (Supplement to 40 verses on reality) as verse 31:

B21. To the knower of the reality [mey-jnani], who is asleep within the fleshy body, which is [like] a cart, His activities [in waking and in dream], His absorption [nishtha] and His sleep are similar to the moving of the cart, its standing still and the cart being unyoked, to one who is sleeping in the cart

Commentary by Sri Sadhu Om: The bodily life of a Jnani appears to be real only from the perspective of others. So ignorant people [ajnanis] think, “This Jnani is performing activities here in the waking state.”

But since the Jnani is verily bodiless, He does not know those activities; to Him the body and its activities are completely non-existent.

Just as the traveler who is sleeping in a bullock cart does not know the movement of the cart, and just as a sleeping child does not know that he is taking food, so also the Jnani does not know the state in which the body, the senses and the mind are active.

When the body, the senses and the mind of a Jnani remain without activities, people think, “This Jnani is in samadhi.” This is similar to the state where the oxen remain yoked to the cart but are motionless. Even this state of samadhi or nishtha is not known to the Jnani; for Him it is completely non-existent. When people think, “This Jnani is sleeping,” this state of apparent deep sleep in which his body, his senses and his mind seem to be unconscious, is similar to the cart that is with the unyoked oxen.

Just as the fact that the car is undone is not known to the traveler who sleeps in the car, so also the state of deep sleep is not known to the Jnani; for him this state it is completely non-existent.

Therefore, these three different states in the life of a Jnani seem to exist only under the erroneous perspective of the ajnanis, who see the bodiless Jnani as a body.

For the Jnani, the state of activity [wakefulness and sleep], the state of samadhi and the state of deep sleep do not really exist.

That is why Sri Bhagavan says in verse 31 of Ulladu Narpadu:

“Who can conceive and how what his [the Jnani’s] state is?”

~ above text is by Sri Sadhu Om in his commentary on Guru Vachaka Kovai verses 1105 and B21

For more on the same topic, please also see here:

For those attached to the world, the world is considered to be a divine manifestation. For the advanced seeker, the world is considered to be an illusion

What exactly is Jnana (self-knowledge) according to Shankara and Gaudapada and the scriptures?

How can the Jnani (sage) function with NO THOUGHTS? Sri Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharshi: how to abide as the Self, the world is not real, attend to yourself

Does the Sage (Jnani) see the world? Does the world appearance exist after liberation?

Multiplicity, plurality and polarity ARE duality | Non-duality | Sri Ramana Maharshi

The nature of liberation | Manonasa by Michael Langford | Ramana Maharshi | PDF download

Does the liberated Jnani or Sage see the body, the mind, the world or the 3 states of deep sleep, waking and dream according to Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Adi Shankara?

Ramana Maharshi on those who ridicule idol-worship or image-worship | Non-duality | Bhakti

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

Also see:

Does Jnana (or Self-Enquiry) lead to Bhakti (or Self-Surrender) or the other way round?

Non-dual devotion, worship and prayer

Here we see Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teaching on those who ridicule and denounce idol-worship or image-worship as follows in Guru Vachaka Kovai verse 208:


208

O you that ridicule idol-worship, having not discovered through heart-melting love its secret, how is that you [daily] worship the filthy idol of your body as ‘I’?


Commentary on this verse by Sri Sadhu Om:

It is generally believed that idol worship is to mistake an idol as God and to treat it accordingly, offering it a bath, cloth, food, and all hospitality; but to mistake a body as Self, and to treat it accordingly, is also a form of idol worship. Indeed to treat and love a body as ‘I’ is the primal mistake which leads to all other forms of idol worship. So it is clear that we are all idol-worshippers, even if we take pride in scorning those that worship temple idols.

As long as one takes one’s body as ‘I’, there is no wrong in also worshipping an idol as God, and until one feels that it is wrong to treat one’s body as ‘I’, one should not be scornful and criticize others for treating an idol as God.

If one first roots out and destroys the ‘I am the body’ notion, one is then in a position to criticize idol worship, if such criticism is necessary [in the light of Jnana such criticism will of course be clearly seen as unnecessary].

Ramana Maharshi’s English Handwriting (with wonderful teachings!) – The Mountain Path 2005 (April & July)

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

Here we have wonderful teachings from Sri Ramana Maharshi in his own handwriting – and best of all for us English speakers and readers – he has written these teachings in English himself!

Many of the core themes of the teachings are given and because they have been written by Bhagavan, and because he was writing out in English the verses he himself corrected (see below for the full context), this means we can be sure of the authoritativeness of these teachings given below.

Be sure to download the PDF files below which contain even more verses than what I have included in this post. They were taken from editions of The Mountain Path (a quarterly Journal founded in 1964 by Arthur Osborne and published by Sri Ramanansramam) from 2005.

The following are all Sri Ramana Maharshi’s own English handwriting:

Sri Ramana Maharshi’s English Handwriting PDF 1 (Mountain Path April 2005)

Sri Ramana Maharshi’s English Handwriting PDF 2 (Mountain Path July 2005)

The following images are taken from The Mountain Path April 2005:

p95

In the Mountain Path (April 2005) it explains the following:

In 1917 Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi composed five cryptic Sanskrit slokas in Arya metre entitled Arunachalapancharatnam. These verses, the quintessence of upanishadic teachings, he later translated into Tamil and they are chanted by devotees at the end of the Tamil parayanam. Sri K. Lakshmana Sharma (WHO) wrote a Sanskrit commentary on these slokas entitled Laghu Vritti (Short Commentary) and this he submitted to Sri Bhagavan, who, on perusal of the text, corrected the title to vartikam. Vartikam is defined as a supplement which elucidates that which is said, that which is left unsaid, or that which is imperfectly said and needs clarification. There is a historical precedent in Sri Sureswaracharia, a direct disciple of Adi Sankara, who was known as Vartikakara because he had written a Vartikam on Sri Sankara’s bhashya (commentary) on Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Dhakshinamoorthy stotra among others. Since Bhagavan corrected Sri Sarma’s title to Vartikam, he also named him Vartikakara.

A second note book containing Bhagavan’s corrections was submitted to Bhagavan who confirmed his original corrections and added some more verses. The original commentary of 79 slokas was increased to 108 slokas. The corrections made by Bhagavan with English and Tamil translations of this Vartikam was again rewritten in a pocket size note book by Bhagavan himself, and this book is maintained in the Ashram Archives. We have a rare example here of Bhagavan’s handwriting in three languages, namely Sanskrit, Tamil and English. This is one of the few instances of his written English; for reasons of its rarity we decided to print here only the English translation of some verses. In the next issue, Advent 2005 [see PDF downloads on this page], we will publish examples of Bhagavan’s handwriting in all three languages together for specific verses. We have slightly magnified the writing. Any discrepancies in size are due to the varying sizes Bhagavan used to accommodate the verses in the limited space available in the notebook.

p96

In verses 1 and 2, above, Sri Ramana declares that he is nothing other than the Self, pure consciousness.

In verse 3 above, Bhagavan Sri Ramana states that the Self, also known as Turiya, is worldless, that is, without objective phenomena, and in verse 4 he states it is blissful and free from evil.

In verses 5 (above) and 6 (below), Sri Ramana writes that his teaching is the true Upanishad (ie. the genuine revealed teaching or shruti).

In verse 7 (below) it is stated that because the teachings are authoritative, the conclusions will be stated in brief (without the need to provide logical reasoning as a support or proof).

Verse 8 (below) starts with ‘O Sea of the Nectar of Grace…’ and states how Arunachala, which is the Self, will swallow up the worlds (objective phenomena) just as light ‘swallows’ darkness, indicating how the world, which is illusion (see below) is merely ignorance (darkness).

p97

Below Sri Ramana explains ‘Here it is also shown that the Supreme Being is worldless’ (verse 9), meaning that the world appearance does not appear in the Self, and that the world appearance is due solely to ignorance (verse 25).

The triad of ‘soul, God and object’ in verse 25 refers to Jiva, Iswara and Jagat.

Verse 26 shows that ‘the world as it really is’ refers to pure consciousness devoid of objective phenomena, ie. when the nama rupa (names and forms) have been removed the Self is revealed, as the verse says, the world needs to be renounced.

p98

Below in verse 36 Sri Ramana states that the whole teaching is only to facilitate Self Enquiry (‘The Quest’), and in verses 36 and 49 he states that to do Self Enquiry one must ‘turn inwards’ explaining this means to turn ‘away from the world’:

p99

Here in verse 63 Bhagavan Sri Ramana states that Awareness of Self is Deathlessness, Silence and Fearlessness, also known as the Fourth (Turiya).

In verse 64 below Sri Ramana states that there are no objects and no knower of objects in the Self (which is formless and objectless, One Whole without any differentiation whatsoever):

p101

The following images are from The Mountain Path July 2005:

Here in verses 14 and 31 Sri Ramana states that the world is certainly not real, the world being a creation or projection of the mind:, only the Self, the Pure Consciousness devoid of objects and full of bliss is the only reality (and this must be known directly through Self-Enquiry, see verse 97 below)

Here in verse 97 Sri Ramana states that unless one does Self-Enquiry (Vichara) or Self-Surrender, one will not end suffering. The asterixed portion confirms that Self-Surrender itself is essentially Self-Enquiry, there being truly onle One Path to the One Self:

If God is everywhere, why do we have to turn within? Why can’t we see God in the World? How is God to be seen? Sri Ramana Maharshi

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

Also see:

Ramana Maharshi: how to abide as the Self

The need to turn within according to Advaita Vedanta

‘We must see Brahman in everything and everywhere’ is also not quite correct

The following is from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk no. 244:

Question: How is God to be seen?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Within. If the mind is turned inward God manifests as inner consciousness.

Tom: here Bhagavan Sri Ramana gives us the essential teaching – God is to be found within – not outside, meaning not in the body, mind or world, but within, meaning in the non-conceptual Self that is the Subject. As Ramana himself wrote in the text ‘Who Am I?’:

Question: When will the realization of the Self be gained?
Answer: When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.

And in the same text, Who Am I?, in the answer to question 16 it is written:

‘the Self itself is God’

However, the questioner poses a seemingly logical question, namely that if God is everywhere, why cannot be see God everywhere? Why the need to look within when we can just as easily look outside at ‘God’s creation’, through our senses and see God there? Let us see:

Q: God is in all – in all the objects we see around us. They say we should see God in all of them.

Sri Ramana Maharshi: God is in all and in the seer. Where else can God be seen? He cannot be found outside. He should be felt within. To see the objects, mind is necessary. To conceive God in them is a mental operation. But that is not real. The consciousness within, purged of the mind, is felt as God.

Tom: here Sri Ramana is stating that to see God outside is merely to see a projection of the mind, for according to Sri Ramana, as we shall see shortly, all objective phenomena are mere thoughts, or projections of the mind, much like a dream objects are projection of the mind. An alternative explanation is that to see God in objective phenomena is actually a subtle act of the mind, a conceptual framework we are overlaying onto objects.

However, the questioner persists in pursuing their line of enquiry by challening Sri Ramana – are not various objects beautiful? Are not colours lovely to look at? Can we not see God in these objects too? Let us see:

Q: There are, say, beautiful colours. It is a pleasure to watch them. We can see God in them.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: They are all mental conceptions.
Q: There are more than colours. I mentioned colours only as an example.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: They are also similarly mental.

Tom: the questioner states that we can see God in objects and through the senses, but Sri Ramana dismisses this as mere concepts. The questioner, having raised objective qualities such as colour, then having raised other senses, not just colour now goes onto the body and the mind:

Q: There is the body also – the senses and the mind. The soul makes use of all these for knowing things.
Sri Ramana Maharshi: The objects or feelings or thoughts are all mental conceptions. The mind rises after the rise of the I-thought or the ego. Wherefrom does the ego rise? From the abstract consciousness or Pure intelligence.

Tom: Here Sri Ramana again states that the body, senses and mind are all mental conceptions (or mental projections), as are all objects, feelings and thoughts.

He then goes on to give a teaching given in the aforementioned text ‘Who Am I?’, that the first though is the ‘I-thought’ also known as the ego, and only once this has risen can other thoughts or objective phenomena arise such as the body, the mind and the world. In this way Bhagavan Sri Ramana is repeating his teaching, a teaching also taught in the Upanishads and by Sri Shankara, that the body-mind-world is actually a projection of ego or ignorance.

What is the source of this ego or I-thought? It is the Self, or Pure Consciousness as he refers to it here. The word ‘pure’ denotes the absence of arisising objective phenomena, which is consistent with the teaching explained in my above paragraph.

Later in the same dialogue (Talk 244) Sri Ramana explains that the ego or ‘I-thought’ gives rise to (or projects out) the mind, and the mind then projects out a body:

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The sense of body is a thought; the thought is of the mind, the mind rises after the ‘I-thought’, the ‘I-thought’ is the root thought. If that is held, the other thoughts will disappear. There will then be no body, no mind, not even the ego.
Q: What will remain then?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Self in its purity.

Tom: We can see that Sri Ramana is re-iterating that the body and mind are both projections of thought, and that their root is the ego, also known as the I-thought. When this ego-root (ie. ignorance) is cut down, by self-enquiry, all thoughts cease and the Self remains in its purity. As the body, mind and ego are all thoughts, Bhagavan Sri Ramana here explicitly states that in Self-Realisation there is no body, mind or ego. All that remains is the pure Self, again ‘pure’ denoting the lack of objective phenomena such as body, mind, world, feelings, sensations, etc.

As always, please do not simply accept teachings at face value. It is always good to read teachings in their proper context, so I encourage you to not just accept my commentary above, but to read the full talk for yourself so you can see it in its context. You will find many other valuable teachings in this talk too, such as Sri Ramana’s exposition of the three states and how he equates deep sleep with the Self, how he says that the world is a mere dream, his insistence that Self-Enquiry is the easiest path, and that Happiness or Pleasure or God can only truly be found Within.


Seven Steps to Awakening | PDF download | Michael Langford | Sri Ramana Maharshi | Nisargadatta Maharaj | Shankara | Yoga Vasistha

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

One of the best books ever written for spiritual liberation/self-realisation is the Seven Steps to Awakening, compiled by Michael Langford, incorporating teachings from Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Muruganar, Sri Sadhu Om, Sri Vasistha and Sri Shankara to name a few.

It is one of my recommended books for liberation. Of particular interest is the introduction to the text which is very instructive. As with other books by Michael Langford, all of which are highly recommended, the style may not suit everyone, but serious seekers of liberation will hopefully find the content to be of great benefit and overlook any perceived stylistic deficits.

I am therefore sharing the full text here as a PDF (see below), but I highly recommend you buy a paper copy of the book for yourself to support the author.

It is best read together with The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss, another book also by Michael Langford.

Again, please do read the introduction, reflect upon the teachings therein and follow the suggestions given.

Namaste and best wishes!

You can download the entire text as a PDF here