ramakrishna

Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic Spirituality | Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa

~ Tom Das ~ 2 Comments

(Understanding this can be a great help on the spiritual journey, my comments are in red)

Question. What is the difference between the Sattvic, the Rajasic and the Tamasic ways of worship?

Sri Ramakrishna:

The man who worships from the very depth of his heart without the least ostentation or vanity is a Sattvic worshipper.

Tom: the sattvic (peaceful) worshiper is the highest form of worshiper, pure of heart and of intent. They do not make a great grand show of their spirituality and care not for outer forms, unlike the rajasic one:

The man who gives much attention to decorating his house, makes much fuss about music and dancing, and makes all costly and elaborate arrangements for a rich feast when celebrating the worship of the Deity, is a Rajasic worshipper.

Tom: the rajasic (passionate) worshipper tends to be concerned more about appearances, pleasure and activity. They may pay great attention to decoration, dress, ceremony, outward appearance and what others think of them. They may tend to wear spiritual-looking clothes and have spiritual-looking paraphenalia and accesories and make a show of spiritual-looking rituals. They may look and sound more spiritual than they actually are. Still lower than them is the tamasic one:

The man who immolates hundreds of innocent goats and sheep on the altar, has dishes of meat and wine for offerings, and is absorbed only in dancing and singing while conducting worship, is a Tamasic worshipper.

Tom: The tamasic (dull) one here is essentially shows to be a hedonist, one who is interested in sense-pleasures and, for this end, they are willing to abuse their own body (eg. with excessive food and wine) and engage in immoral activity (eg. the unnecessary slaughtering of animals) in order to satisfy their wants and apetites.

~ Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna no. 239

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Tom: whilst the above may perhaps sound judgemental, I think it is better not to think of it in this way: we can instead see them as descriptions of stages of spiritual growth that many of us often go though, and each stage often has a role to play:

eg. in the tamasic stage, we are often dealing with supressed emotional pain and trauma, in the rajasic stage we are often developing self-esteem and self-worth, and in the sattvic stage we are learning to be more peaceful and pure, perhaps having already healed ourself of many of our psychological traumas and developed a healthy sense of self-esteem.

We can also use this as a way to guage where spiritual teachers/groups/teachings themselves are – are they sharing a tamasic, rajasic or sattvic type of spirituality?

These 3 (sattva, rajas and sattva) are known as the 3 energies of Maya or the 3 gunas.

Have you found this teaching to be helpful for you? Please leave a comment to let me know…

Also see:

The three energies (three Gunas)

A True Teacher Doesn’t Foster Dependence | The Three Gunas | Shedding Negative Self-Concepts

Q. I genuinely understand the teachings but still egoic tendencies arise. What can I do?

Ramana Maharshi: The path to Self Realisation (includes teachings on the Self, the mind, rajas and tamas, vasanas and Samadhi)

Pure sattva is the Self | Ramana Maharshi

Samadhi and Meditation: Yoga vs Vedanta

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

Q. Would you say that samadhi is a mental state? If so would Self Realisation be possible while not in that state after experienced?

Tom: Samadhi is not a mental state. Mental states come and go and are part of maya (illusion). Samadhi is beyond this. Samadhi is abiding as Self.

Q. I’m not clear on this for myself. From my understanding there are many jivas the world considers Self Realized that did not constantly operate out of a state of absorbtion/samadhi but were able to access it at will. I think that if Realisation is confined to samadhi only one could be justified in forgoing the Advaita path and shravana (hearing the teachings) and manana (reflecting upon the teachings) aspects altogether and aspire straight to a more meditative or Raja yoga path.

Tom: Regarding your first point, the Jnani is not the body-mind, but the eternal Self Within. There is only one Jnani – the Self. This Self is also called ‘Samadhi’. It is non-dual. It cannot be understood properly by the mind. This is why the Self can only be attained by Samadhi. The various so-called ‘realised-jivas’ are just illusion, or maya, appearance.

See a quote from Sri Ramana Maharshi here:

A Swami asked: I feel toothache. Is it only a thought?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes.

~Talks 451

Questioner: Now there is the Sino-Japanese war. If it is only in imagination, can or will Sri Bhagavan imagine the contrary and put an end to the war?

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The Bhagavan of the questioner is as much a thought as the Sino-Japanese war. (Laughter.)

~Talks 451

Now regarding your second point about yoga and meditation vs vedanta and sravana (hearing the teachings) and manana (reflecting upon the teachings):

⁠’Fools, not the learned, speak of Sankhya [the path of knowledge] as being different to Yoga. Anyone who properly resorts to even one of these obtains the results of both’
⁠~Bhagavad Gita 5.4
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⁠’The State that is reached by Sankhya is also reached by Yoga. He truly sees who sees that Sankhya and Yoga are one’
⁠~Bhagavad Gita 5.5

Krishna goes on to explain the path of yoga in the rest of chapter 5 and particularly in chapter 6 and how that leads directly to realisation.
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⁠So yoga is another way. Have not all the great sages proclaimed this? It seems to be only the modern teachers with an intellectual appraoch who say otherwise. Sri Ramana Maharshi has said this – see the text he wrote called Self-Enquiry (Vichara Sangraham) where he describes how Raja Yoga can lead to liberation. Sri Ramakrishna, who was initiated and was taught Advaita Vedanta in a traditional way, also said the same, as did his disciple Swami Vivekananada. The purpose of Sravana and Manana is just to teach Nididhyasana (meditation). The purpose of all teachings is to come to Silence (mouna). Silence is just another word for Samadhi, or the Self, and is represented by the sacred symbol ‘Om’ above.​

⁠’All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading.’
⁠~Who am I? by Sri Ramana Maharshi

⁠See how much time Sri Ramana spends on Sravana and Manana in his teachings and writings – he always emphasised Nididhyasana, whereas the modern intellectual-type teachers of ‘Advaita Vedanta’ emphasise and spend most of the ri time on Sravana and Manana. Why do you think this is?
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⁠As I said above, this point is also explained in the Bhagavad Gita Chapters 5 and 6 where Krishna explains how yoga leads to Moksha.
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⁠It is also explained in a traditional text that Sri Ramana Maharshi recommended – Advaita Bodha Deepika – see Chapter 3 where this is also explained.

Please see these above texts if you wish to explore this further.

The Chandogya Upanishad: Tat Tvam Asi (You Are That)

~ Tom Das ~ 15 Comments

Upanishad vedanta satsang

Tat Tvam Asi is one of the most famous phrases from the ancient upanishadic texts. But what does it mean?

Tat = that
Tvam = thou or you
Asi = art or are
Tat Tvam Asi = That thou art, or thou art that, or you are that

‘That’ refers to the Absolute. ‘You’ normally refers to the limited separate body-mind identity  known in advaita vedanta as the jiva, but in this aphorism from the Upanishads it is implicitly declared, via the word ‘asi’, that you are not the jiva but the Absolute. Why does this matter? Well, when you know yourself as one with the Absolute, suffering ends.

This phrase, Tat Tvam Asi, is repeatedly uttered by Uddalaka to his son Shvetaketu as recorded in the Chandogya Upanishad, and is considered one of the four Mahavakyas (great utterances) of the Upanishads. Below are just two of the teaching exampes it occurs in, taken from sections twelve and thirteen of the Chandogya Upanishad:

Uddalaka: “Bring me a fruit from the banyan tree.”
Shvetaketu: “Here is one, Father.”
Uddalaka: “Break it open.”
Shvetaketu: “It is broken, Father.”
Uddalaka: “What do you see there?”
Shvetaketu: “These tiny seeds.”
Uddalaka: “Now break one of them open.”
Shvetaketu: “It is broken, Father.”
Uddalaka: “What do you see there?”
Shvetaketu: “Nothing, Father.”
Uddalaka: “My son, you know there is a subtle essence which you do not perceive, but through that essence the truly immense banyan tree exists. Believe it, my son. Everything that exists has its self in that subtle essence. It is Truth. It is the Self, and you, Shvetaketu, are that.”
Shvetaketu: “Please, Father, teach me more.”
Uddalaka: “I will, my son,”

——-

Uddalaka: “Place this salt in water, and come back to me in the morning.”
The son did as he was told.
Uddalaka (in the morning): “Bring me the salt you put in the water last night.”
Shvetaketu (after looking): “Father, I cannot find it.”
Uddalaka: “Of course not; it has dissolved. Now taste the water from the surface. How does it taste?”
Shvetaketu: “It’s salty.”
Uddalaka: “Taste the water from the middle of the bowl. How does it taste?”
Shvetaketu: “It’s salty.”
Uddalaka: “Now taste the water from the bottom. How does it taste?”
Shvetaketu: “It’s salty.”
Uddalaka: “Go, throw it away and come back to me.”
He did so, and returned.
Shvetaketu: “But, father, although I have thrown it away, the salt remains.”
Uddalaka: “Likewise, though you cannot hear or perceive or know the subtle essence, it is here. Everything that exists has its self in that subtle essence. It is Truth. It is the Self, and you, Shvetaketu, are that.”
Shvetaketu: “Please, Father, teach me more.”
Uddalaka: “I will, my son.”

Reading Sri Ramakrishna in Calcutta: All Religions point in the same direction

~ Tom Das ~ Leave a comment

I used to read the works of Sri Ramakrishna as a young teenager. I first came across his books in Calcutta whilst on holiday there visiting family. I think it was in the gargantuan Howrah railway station that I spied a pile of his books. His books, I learnt in later travels to India, can be found in railway stations all over India, often in makeshift stalls that line the train platforms. I remember having to pester my dad to give me the money (was it 5 Rupees?) to buy the small paperback that I still have to this day.

Ramakrishna could barely read and write and his teachings were written down by his friends and devotees. It fills me with a fond nostalgia to read this today (as it popped up on my Facebook timeline!)…

‘Jal’ and ‘Pani’ are 2 words for water in the Bengali language, Jal typically used by Hindus and Pani by Muslims.