[Advaita-l] ***UNCHECKED*** Re: Only Self knowledge gives liberation...

[akhanda]

Thank you, Rameshji, for the excellent link.

There is also a CD available of the chanting of the entire Ribhu Gita.  
Highly recommended, and if you know Sanskrit, it is incredible to hear 
it. I want to get a hold of it myself.

Anil.

On 03-Jul-2015 9:16 AM, advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org via 
advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org wrote:
> Dear Sri Vivekji,
> I forgot to mention that the 68th Pontiff of Sri Shankaracharya Peetham of Kanchi and Sri Ramana Maharishi have very highly recommended the study of Ribhu Gita on a daily basis. Sri Ramana, in particular, has prescribed chapter 26 as a must-read on a daily basis for attaining stable abidance in the non-dual self. This book has been published by Sri Ramana Ashramam and is available for Rs 200 (Sri Ramana Ashramam, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu-606603). You may be able to get it from a Giri Trading Agency (It has branches in 3/4 Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh and many parts of Tamil Nadu. You can google 'Giri Trading Agency' and get the contact details call first , enquire about the availability of the book and then visit them. They are all closed on Mondays.). You can also try the local Sri Ramana Kendras/Sri Ramana Satsang Centres across the country. I have read the entire fifty chapters of the book and found it very excellent. 'The Essence of Ribhu Gita' by a disciple of Sri Ramana is available for free online in pdf format. You can download many Sri Ramana and Sri Nisargadatta books from http://en.bookfi.org. The search results might throw up Spanish translations also and so, you need to check what you want to download.
>
> Pranams, Ramesh Ramanan.
>   
>
>
>       On Tuesday, 30 June 2015, 12:32, Vivek via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>     
>
>   Thanks so much for taking the time for the detailed explanation. I'm definitely going to read it over a few times and deeply reflect on it.
>
> Much appreciated. Thanks for the clarity on this subject.
>
> Vivek.
>
>
>
>> On Jun 30, 2015, at 12:37 PM, Sujal Upadhyay via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>> Pranams,
>>
>> Reply is divided into 2 parts.
>>
>> Part - I - Necessity of reading shastras and application of Sri Ramana
>> Maharshi's philosophy.
>> Part - II - direct reply to vivek's question
>>
>> ---
>>
>> *Part - I - Necessity of reading shastras and application of Sri Ramana
>> Maharshi's philosophy. *
>>
>> Regarding not meditating, or no need to meditate or who is the one who
>> meditates or no need of shastras, etc are not applicable to the newbies.
>>
>> All these things are given in Ashtavakra Gita, but Gita itself warns that
>> if you take it rightly, you will enter into nirvikalp samadhi, if not you
>> will drop everything that you do and this will cause downfall.
>>
>> The thing is extrovert mind cannot meditate or is not capable of even doing
>> japa. vivek-yukta vairagya is necessary for spiritual development. The 4
>> qualities - vivek, vairagya, satsampatti, mumukshutva are necessary. You
>> can expect them to be fully developed, else you are a GYAnI, as strong
>> faith in brahman is only possible when you abide in it. Hence another word
>> for GYAnI is brahmaniShTha. nishTHA means shraddhA. Strong faith in Brahman
>> is called as brahmaniShThA. Hence GYAnI is brahmaniShTha.
>>
>> Advaita sits on karma kANDa, which givs us inner purity. Now since vedic
>> karma kANDa and agnihotra re not carried out, chitta shuddhi has to be done
>> by other ways like chanting rAma nAma, etc.
>>
>> shastra-s gives one direction-road map, clarity and gives you words that
>> you can ponder upon. In Ramana Maharshi's words, sajAtiya vritti pravAh,
>> vijAtiya tiraskriti. Mind has to be filled with thoughts on God. Absence of
>> bhogya padArtha in mind is called as vairAGYA. Only then mind can stay calm
>> and allow japa to happen. Only then consciousness can separate itself from
>> body / bodies, thoughts, emotions and various scenes that are created
>> inside mind. If you skip this preparatory step of turning the mind
>> introvert and creating ability to forget the world and focus only of
>> brahman or ISvara, then advaita would be very difficult.
>>
>> Ramana Maharshi's Who Am I philosophy is very good, but is effective only
>> to very pure mind. He didnt even take support of OM to enter into samAdhi.
>> The goal of Self Enquiry is to effortlessly abide in our natural state -
>> samAdhi. Hence after enquiring Who Am I? the mind tries to locate the
>> source of thoughts, emotions and desires. The source of all is none other
>> than brahman. Hence after repeating Who am I, separation of Non-I takes
>> takes and mind naturally gets pushed towards it's source - Brahman
>> resulting in samAdhi. Who Am I is not a mental repetition, but an inner
>> exploration about our true nature.
>>
>> Without foundation one cannot build castle and building foundation takes
>> time. More we try to rush, more our progress is stalled.
>>
>> ---
>>
>> *Part - II - direct reply to vivek's question*
>>
>> Liberation can only be attained through knowledge is true. Even when one
>> practices Japa, finally, mind transcends mind itself and enters into source
>> of mantra which is Brahman.
>>
>> Initially, japa is in mind, then it connects with heart. Then it continues
>> by itself. Now, the force of thoughts is not so strong that it drags you
>> into thought process. You can detach yourself from thoughts. since mantra
>> continues by itself, now you can be aware of the source of mantra, from
>> where the mantra originates and terminates. Mind finally merges into the
>> source resulting in samAdhi.
>>
>> In this process, initially there is mental effort to chant mantra and hence
>> it there is a saturation point. One cannot meditate for long hours as mind
>> gets stressed. Wise say, limited effort cannot give limitless results.
>> Hence little bit of japa cannot give you moksha, immortality, eternal
>> freedom. Hence no kind of karma can ever give moksha. Our journey is from
>> effort to effortless. Hence after becoming sakshi, one does not need to
>> make effort to chant mantra. You just have to observe.  Hence there is no
>> karma involved in it. When mind completely rests, then it merges in
>> samadhi. There is no mantra in this state. It is this non-dual knowledge,
>> abiding in Self that gives liberation. Liberation means to effortlessly and
>> permanently stay in this natural state of samadhi or sahaj samadhi in
>> Ramana Maharshi's words. Hence it is not that you enter into samadhi only
>> by doing japa. It is your own nature and hence you need not do anything.
>> But this instruction is only applicable to a person who has uproote all
>> other desires except one - I want moksha. For him, the instruction that
>> Liberation cannot be obtained through any other means than knowledge is
>> applicable. You dont need to meditate to achieve. Such high soul quits even
>> the desire to meditate and achieve moksha and as a result has no wish to do
>> anything. One immediately without any moments delay enters into samadhi.
>> Remember, all desires and sanchi karma has already been uprooted earlier.
>> Mind is almost empty. only desire left in mind is 'I want moksha'. To such
>> a high souled one this instruction is applicable.
>>
>> After dhyana siddhi, one need to read shastras. Shastras are pointers. In
>> meditation Isvara or Guru takes the meditators to higher levels and finally
>> makes one experience nirvikalp samadhi. Though the stay in samadhi is only
>> for a few moments it is kike lion tasting blood. It does not like anything
>> else but wants to have more blood. By repeated entering into samadhi, the
>> desires are destroyed, mind is destroyed. It is not that after all desires
>> are destroyed for the first time, mind enters into samadhi and stays in it
>> permanently. IMHO this is not the case which some yogis believe. Hence not
>> be doing any karma, not by reading shastras but by repeated entering into
>> samadhi which is knowledge itself, one attains freedom.
>>
>> Hari OM
>>
>>
>> "To disconnect from the self and to become Aware of anything else is
>> nothing but unhappiness" - Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi
>>
>> He who has faith has all
>> He who lacks faith, lacks all
>> It is the faith int he name of lord that works wonders
>> FAITH IS LIFE, DOUBT IS DEATH - Sri Ramakrishna
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 10:34 AM, kuntimaddi sadananda via Advaita-l <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Subbuji - Pranama
>>>
>>> There are lot of confusion about Nirvikala Samadhi. Some one asked me this
>>> in facebook and I am still composing an answer to this question and now saw
>>> this email. There is a notion in the Ramana Maharshi groups that Vedanta
>>> study is not needed and one can sit and meditate and go beyond the mind and
>>> knowledge gets revealed to you.
>>>
>>> Perhaps you can explain what exactly the nirvikapa samadhi and its role
>>> in the pursuit of truth.
>>>
>>> Hari Om!
>>> Sadananda
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------
>>> On Tue, 6/30/15, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
>>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] ***UNCHECKED*** Only Self knowledge gives
>>> liberation...
>>> To: "Vivek" <ammasfeet at icloud.com>, "A discussion group for Advaita
>>> Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>>> Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2015, 12:47 AM
>>>
>>> In Shankara's
>>> Vedanta, meditation is nididhyāsanam that is taken up
>>> after
>>> shravanam and mananam.  This is the
>>> only method Shankara has approved based
>>> on
>>> the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.6:: आत्मा वा
>>> अरे द्रष्टव्यः
>>> श्रोतव्यो
>>> मन्तव्यो
>>> निदिध्यासितव्यो....One can
>>> read the bhāṣyam for this.
>>>
>>> subrahmanian.v
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 5:33 AM, Vivek via
>>> Advaita-l <
>>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Still some
>>> doubt is there. As Shankara says, "Meditation can not
>>> give
>>>> moksha" neither can any other
>>> practices except Jnana.
>>>> You said that Self knowledge will dawn
>>> after intense meditation.
>>>> Somehow it seems like a slight
>>> contradiction from Shankara's words.
>>>> Anyone wants to
>>> elaborate on this?
>>> Vivek.
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