Ramana Maharshi

A rant: kicking spiritual seekers in the balls

~ Tom Das ~ 4 Comments

“And yet, even as I speak, Subhuti, I must take back my words as soon as they are uttered, for there are no Buddhas and there are no teachings.”

Buddha, Diamond Sutra

I’ve been reading several blogs and other writings aimed at spiritual seekers who have everything laid out so clearly. They have the map to spiritual enlightenment all put together ready for mass consumption. They say things like you are Pure Consciousness or Pure Awareness.

All the concepts are lined up ready to be taught by the bearded guru and gobbled up by the next willing namaste-wielding student greedy for the big E. Here, let the Kunjed Gyalpo metaphorically kick the spiritual-seeker-in-you in the balls (if you’ll forgive my sexism): Continue reading →

A Quaker Silence

~ Tom Das ~ 5 Comments

AssemblyOfQuakers

I went to Quaker meeting for worship today on Easter Sunday. We sit in silence for an hour, and if anyone is moved to speak they do so. The idea is that it is the Silence that speaks, not the ego, Silence being that ever-present Presence, also known as God (or whatever other word you want to use).

‘Not by reading do you get the truth. Be quiet, that is truth. Be still, that is God.’
from Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, ch. 100

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Don’t take spiritual concepts too seriously

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

pine cone

“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao” Tao te ching, verse 1

We don’t need to take spiritual concepts too seriously. They are there to guide us, to point us in the right direction only. The reality they point to cannot be described. When we start to take teachings too seriously we miss this point and start to become dogmatic.

“Any interpretations that are set up and established as truth become meaningless phrases” Bankei

I’ve met people who follow Advaita Vedanta who say that consciousness is what we really are, and others who say what we are is beyond consciousness. Both of these are useful teachings, but don’t take them too seriously, either one of them. Both are useful and untrue. If you take a single position as being true, then that is a belief. Your attachment to a conceptual truth indicates the belief in ego/individuality that underlies it. Continue reading →

Ramana: chose the guru who gives you peace

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Ramana smiling

Question: There are a number of spiritual teachers teaching various paths. Whom should one take for one’s Guru?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Choose that one where you find you get shanti (peace).

From Day by Day with Bhagavan p.169

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The Ribhu Gita

~ Tom Das ~ 5 Comments

ribhu

Ahh, the Ribhu Gita. Its words are uncompromising: they leap off the page, smack you in the mouth and leave you speechless (and thoughtless). At first glance the ideas it unfolds are preposterous. But this text is not meant for the mind. It is meant for the heart, it is speaking directly to that Truth that we already are and always have been. Continue reading →