meditation

The importance of spiritual practice to attain liberation | Sri Ramana Maharshi | Sri Shankara

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

The following is from a text written by Shankara called Vivekachudamani, as translated by Sri Ramana Maharshi. We will see the following points being made:

  1. Merely stating ‘I am Brahman’ does not in itself lead to liberation. Similarly we can infer that by mere affirmation of other similar spiritual slogans such as saying ‘I am free’ or ‘I am already the Self’ or ‘there is no ego/self’ or ‘all is already one’, etc, mere affirmation of these does not lead to liberation.
  2. In order to attain liberation, ignorance must be removed and the Self must directly be experienced.
  3. Similarly, merely by hearing the truth ‘I am Brahman’ , liberation is not (usually) attained
  4. One must first hear the truth from someone who has experienced the truth first-hand (for only they will be able to tell you the way to truth)
  5. Then one must meditate upon the truth heard and experience the truth directly though constant meditation.
  6. Unless this practice is carried out, maya (aka ignorance) will not be removed and liberation will not be attained.
  7. Every effort must be made to root out ignorance for liberation to result

‘Just as a person’s sickness is not removed without taking medicine, so too his state of bondage is not removed by scriptural texts such as “I am Brahman” without his own direct experience of the Self. One does not become a king by merely saying, “I am a king”, without destroying one’s enemies and obtaining the reality of power.

‘Similarly, one does not obtain liberation as Brahman Itself by merely repeating the scriptural text “I am Brahman”, without destroying the duality caused by ignorance and directly experiencing the Self.

‘A treasure trove hidden under the ground is not obtained by merely hearing about it, but only by being told by a friend who knows it, and then digging and removing the slab that hides it and taking it out from below the ground.

‘Similarly, one must hear about one’s true state from a Guru who knows Brahman, and then meditate upon It and experience It directly through constant meditation.

‘Without this, the true form of one’s own Self, that is hidden by maya [“that which is not”], cannot be realised through mere argumentation. Therefore, those who are wise themselves make every effort to remove the bondage of individual existence and obtain liberation, just as they would to get rid of some disease.’

Also see: Sri Ramana Maharshi: the necessity of Meditation

Sri Ramana Maharshi: the necessity of Meditation | Upasana | The Natural State | Sri Ramana Gita

~ Tom Das ~ 3 Comments

The following verses are teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi taken from Sri Ramana Gita, Chapter 1 ‘The Importance of Upasana’. Let us start at verse 12:

  1. The seeker of knowledge does not achieve his end merely by a study of the scriptures. Without upasana [meditation] there cannot be attainment for him; this is definite.

Tom: But what is this Upasana? The next verse explains:

  1. Experiencing the natural state, during spiritual practice, is called upasana and when that state becomes firm and permanent that itself is called jnana [knowledge].

Tom: But what is this Natural State? Again, the next verse explains

  1. When discarding sense-objects, one abides in one’s own true nature as a flame of jnana, this state of being is termed sahaja sthiti [the natural state].

Tom: so we can see here that the teaching is to discard sense-objects, and abide in one’s own nature. This is called Jnana or Sahaja Sthiti. Remaining in this state is the principle sadhana (spiritual practice) – this is Upasana (meditation) and this leads to liberation, not just mere study of the scriptures.

Just through Being Still

~ Tom Das ~ 6 Comments

Be still.

Just be still.

Gently,

Without force,

Allow all thoughts to subside,

In their own time,

So that only Stillness (Subject-Self-Consciousness) remains.

All doubts, confusions and questions

Will gently fade away effortlessly,

By themselves,

Just through Being Still.

Have faith in your Self-Nature

(Or Guru or God),

Know you are One and All,

And armed with this Knowing-Faith-Intuition,

Surrender,

And Be Still

Once one starts to gain experience in Being Still/turning within,

All teachings that do not encourage stillness or turning within

To discover the Pure Subject-Self/Divine Essence,

Are seen to be utterly superficial, egoic

And of the nature of delusion.

The Simple Being

That is your own True Self or True Nature

(Also known by more grandiose terms

Such as ‘Ultimate Truth’ or ‘Thoughtless Reality’ or ‘God’)

Will be revealed as simply your own Being

Or Isness

Devoid of objective arisings,

Just through Being Still.

‘You’ will discover your own True Self,

which is naturally devoid of arising objective phenomena,

just through Being Still.

Suffering will slips away of its own accord,

there being nowhere for it to attach itself to,

just through Being Still.

Bliss overflows
Infinity Dawns,
Eternity Rises,
Consuming all:
One is thrust into Eternal Life-Joy-Bliss,
One with Source (‘The Father’)

Just through Being Still

All duality is destroyed,
And with it suffering and egoity also disappear,
As the many waters of duality,
Flow into the Ocean of Unity,
(That is my Beloved Guru Bhagavan Sri Ramana,
Who is Grace,
Oneness itself)

Just through Being Still

Without Being Still,
(Also known as Self-Enquiry, Self-Surrender, Abiding as Self,
Being with God, Being with Guru, Residing in The Heart,
Turning Within, Awareness Watching Awareness, Self-Attention,
Parabhakti, Samadhi, Meditation,
Yoga, Devotion, Loving Self/God
Nididhyasana, Silence, Just Being),
Without this Sadhana (Spiritual Practice),
Know that ego-duality-confusion-suffering-samsara will continue potentially forever until the practice is undertaken.

Therefore,
Be Still.

For those who find themselves unable to practice thus,

Contemplate deeply upon this:

What will bring Eternal Joy-Peace-Happiness-Bliss?

Attending to/paying attention to that which changes (ie. various objects that arise and fall)

Or paying attention to that which never changes (the Subject-Consciousness-Self)?

Contemplating thus,

Know that attending to objects/maya simply leads to more objects/maya,

And thus more ego & suffering.

Contemplate this deeply.

Contemplating deeply, and knowing thus,
Discover what You Are:
Abide as the Self,
And Be Still.

Therefore

Be still.

Just be still.

Gently,

Without force,

Allow all thoughts to subside,

In their own time,

So that only Stillness (Subject-Self-Consciousness) remains.

❤️🙏❤️

Q. I don’t understand the obsession with stopping thought. Are not thoughts also part of the Absolute?

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

Questioner: Surely though we are all Ultimate Reality. Everything that exists is really Ultimate Reality – and that includes thoughts. I don’t understand the obsession with stopping thought rather than accepting that thought is also part of the Absolute. If thinking wasn’t meant to be happening, it wouldn’t occur. I find Nisargadatta’s teachings regarding thinking – let the thoughts flow and don’t identify with them to be more realistic and helpful.

Tom: Sri Nisargadatta also recommended the total cessation of thoughts as the means to liberation – although both he and Sri Ramana (and most sages) also advised other (lower) practices depending on the context of the conversations. Shankara also taught cessation of thoughts.

It is not something that is easy to understand, and most share your view, which is fine of course.

My experience is that without cessation of thoughts, the resultant liberation is not really liberation at all – the Eternal Immortal and Blissful nature of the Self is not really discovered at all, and so suffering and ego keeps on coming back.

This is why the scriptures are so insistent upon cessation of thoughts. This is why the scriptures state that Reality is without thoughts.

Otherwise the scriptures would be much shorter, no? They would just say – ‘nobody here, what is happening is what is happening, nobody doing any of it!’ – but we never see this in the traditional scriptures of Vedanta or Buddhism – did you ever wonder why!

That said, if you find the teaching of Sri Nisargadatta that you mentioned to be more helpful, I agree that it is best to go with that!

Irrespective of what we believe or practice, if we are truly earnest and long for liberation, and follow that genuine longing within us, and allow it to lead us, we all find our way to liberation eventually. As you say, it is our nature already!

🙏

Why do I feel anxiety when practising mindfulness? Why don’t I enjoy meditating? The 3 Gunas explained

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Many people find meditation and mindfulness difficult and sometimes it can even make them feel more anxious? Why is this? Tom explains why this can occur, using the teaching of the three gunas (Tamas, Rajas and Sattva).

With devotion to Sri Ramana Maharshi

For more on this teaching see here: https://tomdas.com/2019/02/18/the-three-energies-three-gunas/

This video was recorded live during a Satsang meeting with Tom Das and put together by volunteers.

To attend satsang, see here: https://tomdas.com/events.

For guided meditations see the ‘guided meditation’ playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TomDasNonduality/playlist

For recommended reading for liberation see here: https://tomdas.com/2020/10/19/recommended-reading-books-for-enlightenment-liberation-and-self-realisation/

To book a 1 to 1 session with Tom see here: https://tomdas.com/nondual-spiritual-counsellor/

Intense fear during meditation, when staying with the I AM

~ Tom Das ~ 1 Comment

Dealing with deep layers of fear and conditioning

Q: Sometimes when my meditation becomes very deep and I stay with the I Am, there comes a sense of the whole world becoming very dark together with a sense of losing myself into something really bad and dark. My body starts to react strongly as well, and it feels like some kind of primal fear arising.

This video was recorded live during a Satsang meeting with Tom Das and put together by volunteers.

To attend satsang, see here: https://tomdas.com/events.