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Articles
Discourse of Sadguru Sri Nannagaru at Tadinada
19th December 2002
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My dear Kiths & Kins in Self,
Many people here are asking me to impart mantras.
Those who repeat mantras must try to notice the place
from where the sound of the mantra starts. Then the
mind will get dissolved in the heart from where the
mantra starts. Everybody has the thought 'I'. If we
search for the point from where this 'I' emanates,
then also the mind reaches the heart and dissolves
itself. Bhagavan taught this Truth to Sri Kavyakantha
Ganapathi Sastri.
The body is proving to disease and the mind likewise
is prone to tension. One who has not mind has neither
agitation nor tension, usually we advise not to hurt
others. But Sri Krishna the lord tells his dear
disciple Arjuna not to hurt himself. Those who
identify themselves with the body are hurting
themselves all the time. Now we think quite naturally
that we are the body. But till we can feel as
naturally that we are not the body but the Self(soul)
we continue to hurt ourselves.
As a Jnani has realized the Supreme Truth he never
tortures himself. Our bodies and the names and forms
of these bodies may be diferent but the inherent.
Truth in all of us is one and the same. Until this
Truth is realized we continue to torture ourselves as
well as others.
By the repitition of the mantra we achieve
concentration. But the mind is as alive as ever.
When the mind finds out its own source it loses
itself. A snake subdued is dangerous but a dead snake
is not dangerous. Some people fast one full day and
eat double the quantity, the next day. This is the
way of the subdued mind. God has advised us for our
own good to control the senses and the mind.
Those who are suffering from indigestion should avoid
oily food and condiments. Fried food is also to be
avoided. Eat only that much that you can digest. God
Krishna tells us to be moderate in food intake and
activities. Unnecessary friendship and gossip are
niether useful to the society not us. People will
degenerate by such habits.
A Jnani and an Ajnani may sit side by side. The
outward appearances may look like alike but the inner
grain is entirely different. We remember great souls
and God to get ourselves purified. If we bow to the
good and hundred times we must bow to the evil a
thousand times because we will be learning a thousand
thinkgs from the evil. We do not get benefited by
getting unduly agitated. How long can we angry? We
must ultimately be changed in the heart. Both the
good and the evil help us to change our attitudes.
Hence, we have to bow to both of them. Sri Krishna
tells us to get rid of attachments and hatred. But
how are we to proceed to get rid of them? Only
remembrance of God is the sure path for this. These
doubles, raga and dwesha' (likes & dislikes) can be
subdued by giving due respect to our Soul, elders and
Gurus. The Supreme also resides in our hearts comes
in the form of our Guru to enlighten us. When we
realize the immortal Self by surrendering to the Guru
we come out of darkness into full daylight and get
illuminated.
Everybody is afraid of death. Because we are losing
this body and can no more see this place, Tadinada or
us in it. Analyze - what does it matter whether we
see them or not?
Sankara Says 'we adorn a bullock with some beads.
Whether the beads are in its neck or have fallen down
the bullock does not bother about'. In the same way a
Jnani is not concerned with having or leaving a body.
Krishna warns us about the value of time, which is far
more valuable than money, fame or power. When death
is eminent God will not wait even a moment more. If
we lose in business, at some time or other we can pick
it up. But one moment lost is an irretrievable loss.
So, either repeat mantra or have satsanga (society of
holy people). Hear their teaching when we go on
hearing about the higher consciousness (chaitanya) we
come too long to get it. The truth within you is
birth less and deathless. You are that many people
glorify worship of Gods, japa and other austerities.
But they do not tell us about the Self as they know it
not.
There are two things called Vidya and Avidya
(knowledge and ignorance). The misunderstanding,
which makes one thin that this perishable body is Self
is called Avidya or ignorance and vidya is that which
knows that which always is, is the Truth. Guru is one
who lead us from Avidya to Vidya. When you have
leisure study Gita or the 'Talks of Bhagavan' or
Ramana Bhaskara one should not be inattentive towards
this study. Is it sufficient if we study; is it
enough if we hear about God? These are the questions
that people usually pore. If it cannot be understood
by just hearing, do you think you can understand
without even hearing? There is peace and bliss in our
hearts. So please do not make it sour and bitter make
your hearts sweet by removing the sourness and
bitterness. The bliss that Bhagavan attained will
also is yours. But we myst make this attainment our
goal we myst target for the permanent bliss, not the
impermanent joys of world. Everything is God and
effected by Him. So, if sorrow affects us find out
the cause and remove it and there will no more and
sorrow.
The primal cause is God himself. Somebody asked me
who the cause of God is? There is not cause for God.
The causeless cause is God. He who wants Liberation
does not feel that anyone outside is his enemy. His
own desires and his own attachments and hatreds are
his enemies. One is material wealth and the other is
spiritual wealth. To acquire even material wealth is
difficult, but much more difficult is to acquire
spiritual wealth. To acquire this wealth we have to
control our sense and minds. If we work keeping the
mind steady in the heart we will be enlightened. If
we are peaceful and happy the world around will also
be the same. The world will be peaceful and joyful if
we are peaceful within ourselves. If we are sweet in
the heart the world also will be sweet.
Swami Ramathirtha says - 'we want reformers, and
reformers but not reformers of the world. We want
reformers of themselves'. Recently one gentleman read
a book by Bhagavan and commended that he had not
changed anyone. Even nobody has changed you can
change yourself. Can't you? Chandrababu Naidu says
he will live and work for others. If he does that he
himself will better himself, because he is one of
those for whom he works. Self-betterment is
betterment of the world.
Madness is of the thousand varieties. Leaders say we
work for good of people. But we do not see any people
around them. They cry out that people are not
recognizing them. It is very funny to hear them. If
we read news papers we will understand how ignorance
is dancing in various garbs.
Why all people not have same desires? According to
the tendencies of the previous birth one likes to have
power, wealth or fame. Only the few have the longing
for the Self-realization and for nothing else. 'O
Arjuna, open your eyes to the state to which nothing
agitates you, either pleasure or pain', says the Lord.
All of you try to attain the state. Some are trying
and some have attained. Some work for Money, some for
fame. In those vast congregations only a handful try
sincerely for the Self.
If there are 5 vacancies, hundred are called for
interview. If none fits the job another hundred will
be called. Likewise amongst hundred trying for
Self-knowledge one may get it. Otherwise they have to
put more effort.
Each person got a body. So long as we feel body is
mine and my name is such, we cannot get real happiness
in the heart. If somebody derides us new feel unhappy
if we are not identified in name and form, we are not
disturbed. We remain as before.
If you want to perform worship and austerities, go
ahead. You will get some merit and will be reborn to
enjoy the fruit of merit. This is not the point. Try
to understand the subject. We are dealing with it.
If one does self-less service one's heart gets
purified. Then we can understand the words of God.
Otherwise even if he sits near to you, you can't
cognize him.
What happens when one dies? Where we go after? These
people ask often. Bhagavan says 'wherefrom you have
come to the body? Why don't you ask this question?'
Ignorant question starts with identification of body.
Well if we does what does it matter? All of us want
to continue in this body forever. Because we do exist
always, we do not want to die. We must die easily as
drinking a glass of water & without suffering. All
these things arise due to body identity and the body
should die anyhow.
Leave this point alone. What & who are we now?
Analyze this fact. You will find that ego is the root
cause for troubles. Go beyond and be in bliss &
everlasting peace. Are the pleasures we enjoy are
real happiness? No. We lead a slave's life. Today's
friendships turn hatred in few days. This slavery
unavoidable if we depend upon others for our
happiness, and someday-surly pain and sorrow will
result. This dependence bring rebirth. It is
dangerous to depend on others for our happiness. We
will whirl on the wheel of birth and dealth and unable
to get out of it.
There some people who run for gossip as soon as they
finished their lunch. Their minds are already
spoiled. These people go out and spoil other minds.
In Truth there is nothing out side in the world to
enjoy. We imagine there is something, which gives us
pleasure in the out side. What is seen is always a
dream. We want to see and hear what we ourselves
think well or bad.
Birth and death are releated only to the body. They
do not touch even a whit of the consciousness within.
That is quire powerful and strong. You who do not
love that can't be enlightened. You make fast
friendship with ignorance and love it extremely and
just talk superficially bought-getting knowledge of
the Self. So you will be burning yourself with
ignorant thought till you get to know your true being.
You myst respect knowledge, make true friendship with
it; get the grace of the God.
All these are not taught in the schools and colleges.
They teach to fill our stomach. Praglada says 'we
myst study and study until we get real immortal
knowledge.' There are many fields of knowledge, but
am the knowledge of the Self' says Krishna.
He who depends on the joy of the Self gets
illuminated. Till then we are all just slaves,
nothing else. Till this bond of ignorance breaks you
will be thinking you are the body, which you are not.
You will not stop tourturing yourself. If you
afflicted by pain or sorrow first find the cause. You
need not become tense. This is not submitting a
thesis for doctorate. We must analyze our self. Is
there something called mind? Why are we agitated?
What is mind? It is aggregate of some desires and
thoughts. If we find some qualities in other as that
is the sign of ignorance. Instead look at the
consciousness we will become that.
Return good for evil. Return love for jealousy says
Jesus that is not to uplift others but you. Then you
will reach the cave of the heart. Worshipping me is
not what you should do, if you can't change you heart.
Unless there is total change of our attitude this
worship and sadhana become a mere pastimes. If we can
look at the consciousness in others our own level of
consciousness increases. If we look at the outer
aspects our thoughts gets poluted instead of
purification. If I concentrate on looking at all
qualities manifest in you and not at the inner
consciousness that is the sure sign of my ignorance.
But I don't see qualities but consciousness, since
jnani is the consciousness itself.
The innermost of all thoughts is the ego. It makes
you think that you are the body. That ego brings
about all troubles. If we go on reflecting all
thoughts we cannot get rid of this ego. Ego does not
mean anger. It is like serpent. It gets identified
with the body The Lord; the master is in our hearts.
He must come out and give us peace and bliss. When we
want to bring him out the ego serpent, stifles the
thought and in our ignorance we identify with this
serpent, the Satan. Hence we do not try to get rid of
it. The Lord in our hearts must someday come out in
His Grace and swallows this ego. Till then we can't
get out of its clutches by our own effort. When we
are trying to overcome this ego we get the grace of
the Lord, and He removes the ego.
There is no clarity of mind, sight and speech in some
people. They look at everything in a lazy,
incomprehensible way. The clarity and knowledge in
the mind shines through the eyes. There is no
difference between subtlety and grossness. The subtle
manifests itself in the gross. If there is clarity in
our thoughts it manifests in our speech also. When we
are ourselves not clear in our minds, what can we
teach others? We should not start speeches without
this clarity and it is better to keep quite rather
than speak in ignorance.
The mind should not be used too much. Som epeople
scold others very much and in long run it becomes a
bad habit. Serve others if you can. Otherwise keep
quiet. Do not try to do something unnecessary if you
could not do useful. It is like breaking down a house
because you con't construct one. Such egoistic
actions throw us into dark regions. God is witnessing
every thing in his creation. When one who dislikes us
starts calumniating us we had better understand that
they don't like us and keep quiet. It is but natural.
What is natural is always the same but the unnatural
takes the form of different emotions. Suppose you
have a desire. If it is obstructed in its fulfillment
you get angry. Anger brings on fear. 'How can you be
happy with holding this chain of reactions, Arjuna'
asks Krishna.
Man rather an ungrateful creature. He doesn't feel
grateful to the good as well as the bad. He wants to
be happy with wife & children. If he has to take care
of his parents his desires gets obstructed in many
ways. If does not look after them he is afraid of
public censure. Some mother's cater to the children's
likes and dislikes in cooking and sacrifice their own
comforts. Parents sacrifice many things for the
children. Children may not show due respect for their
sacrifies. But some wait for death of their parents
to enjoy everything unimpeded. If we can't grateful
to those who sacrificed for us how can we grateful
towards those, whom done mischief to us.
Let us try to better us by attaining huminity and get
the knowledge of the Self by discarding identity with
our bodies. Towards this end let us be grateful to
both good and the evil. Rig-veda say's O Lord may I
have only those thoughts which make me turn inward'.
We act according to our thoughts. Good ones bring
good actions and words. Goodness help to get
Self-knowledge. Love the good and increase the
goodness. Stop mere wasteful talk and do real good to
all. Work with love. If you can't love, where is
goodness and knowledge? See good in all.
Because there is differentiated attitude in the mind
we see differences in the world. As long as the mind
exists we can't but see diversity outside. When the
mind dies we can be one with all, forgetting all
differences. Swami Rama Tirtha says, we have rain in
the morning, hot sun in the afternoon and cold in the
evening everyday. In the same way the three
qualities, satwa, Rajas and Tamas alternate in us in
every moment.
It is a sign of gross ignorance. If we think that
world, the God and we are different entities. But in
Truth all are one in the heart. Due to this innate
oneness we can understand each other's attitudes. But
do not concentrace on them. Look towards the Self.
Do not break your head about the past. Do not build
castles in the air about the future. Be in the
present. He who says God is not and God is Is are
both ignorant. You declare that you are. Find out
who you are and you will know the God.
In your natural state you are not unhappy but you are
unhappy in unnatural state. When the cause of
unhappiness removed you are happy in your natural
state. The thought of death and where we go after are
arise when we think we are body. If this body
disappears and another appears that is also a thought
only. Only when you are released from thought you
will be peaceful. That is the natural state, where
there is no thought of 'I'. That is liberation.
If you have headache and are relieved of it, you
comeback to normal health. Same way if devoid of
body-identity we are in deep-sleep state even in our
waking state. That is our natural state. The thought
of death and where we go after are arise when we think
we are body. If this body disappears and another
appears that is also a thought only. Only when you
are released from thought you will be peaceful. That
is the natural state, where there is no thought of
'I'. That is liberation.
If you have headache and are relieved of it, you
comeback to normal health. Same way if devoid of
body-identity we are in deep-sleep state even in our
waking state. That is our natural state. That which
is true always remains. But unreal is temporary and
also unnatural state.
Bhagavan tells us 'whatever we are, if the mind dies
you are peaceful and happy. You are always the same,
when you were not born, or born or die'. But we can
know this Truth only when the mind is dissolved.
Unless we know this we do not have the peace. Whiever
the path you follow and get rid of this body-identify,
good thought rise and bad ones not raise. As you go on
reducing the evil thoughts you will get elevating
thoughts. This is in your own hands, not in
pachayate(court) settlements.
Bhagavan says the root of this tree of samsara is the
basic thought 'I'. To remove this devotion, good
deeds, meditation, and other paths are prescribed.
Even if we are in the vanaprastha as long as this
false 'I' is not rooted out all the wordly thoughts
continue to rise. There is no compromise. So there
is no other way, but to get away in to the heart.
Guru will not leave us alone. Life after life he will
chase us to the realization. If someone explains
clearly we comment his speech. The point is he has
spoken ill or well, did the speech made you to go
inside and eradicate the original ignorance 'I'? Are
you trying atleast to eradicate? If you just start,
God will do the rest for you. Just act as if you do
some sadhana, God will take up the work and finish it.
In book 'Who am I' Bhagavan asks us to root out the
'I' and 'Ekanma panchangam' tells us there is nothing
like an 'I' thought. It is a fallacy, illusion.
There is no birth of 'I'. If you not remove it, you
can't realize Truth.
Bhagavan asks us, 'are there so many suns? The sun is
only one and is reflected in water in the pots, Wells,
Rivers. Likewise we are thinking that we are
different. But when the identity of the mind with the
mind is lost the remaining is just one and one only.
In the same way the differential attitude of good and
bad is in our tendencies. When this is removed
everything is one and the same.
All differences are in our tendencies not in Self.
When we transcend them there is silence, eternal
silence. Hence do not be elated just because you have
taken a human birth, but make some effort to do some
sadhana. Do not give up the attitude of equality. 'Be
a yogi'.
Anger, desire, and jealousy are distorted qualities.
To get rid of them by the remembrance of God is the
only way. We cover our Self with sheet called ego.
The ego does not have any business except to keep down
under foot the knowledge that is in us. Because when
that knowledge rise up ego has to die. So, neither
goes away nor lets knowledge become effulgent.
Whatever comes in the way of getting knowledge should
be removed like a thorny bush. You can become a
Buddha's kith and kin or Buddha himself. Buddha aska,
'if a thorn enters your foot, do you start enquiring
what it is and whence it has come or will you simply
remove it? In the same way see if there is any
ignorance in you and remove it and your job will be
over.
Until you experience God you are as good as zero. If
you start searching where it really is one day or
other you will find the Self. The Self is in the
heart. Merge in it. Turn your vision within.
Control word, thought and senses. That is sadhana.
Krishna says that God is in every heart. Well it is
not enough we hear it. You have to learn to behold
him there. If you can have this vision of God in your
heart, sorrow exists no more. The original thought
vanishes. Then your sadhana is not to find him out.
You must learn to behold Him there. This is the only
sadhana. No sorrow or pain will touch you then. This
Satan ego tells you to do many things, have Tulsi
plant, go round and round, do fasts, austerities,
bathe in the holy rivers, and so on and so forth.
Hence you myst hit the snack on the head.
The ego has only one aim that knowledge not to rise up
because then it has to vacate. So it tries its best
not to let the knowledge out. Bhagavan says, 'O
Arunachala! What is this Satan before you?' Whatever
yoga you practice, whoever your Guru is, you can't get
realization unless sahasrara is pure. So, ego tries
its level best to prevent this purification. Bhagavan
exhorts us not to think of anything that is not Self.
Hence do not give scope to thoughts other than the
thought of Self.
Thank you all!
Love to all! Bliss to all! Peace to all!!!
Ohm Shandhi! Shandhi!! Shandhi.hi!!!
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