Self-realization through Discrimination

 Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, toward the end of Chapter 40:

MASTER: “…One can attain (Brahmajnana) by following the path of knowledge, that is to say, discrimination. … (Jnanis) analyse the world through the process of ‘Not this, not this’; it is māyā. When the world vanishes, only the jivas, that is to say, so many egos, remain.

Each ego may be likened to a pot. Suppose there are ten pots filled with water, and the sun is reflected in them. How many suns do you see?”

A DEVOTEE: “Ten reflections. Besides, there certainly exists the real Sun.” …

MASTER: “All right. Suppose you break nine pots. How many suns do you see now?”

DEVOTEE: “One reflected sun. But there certainly exists the real sun.”

MASTER (to Girish Ghosh): “What remains when the last pot is broken?”

GIRISH: “That real sun, sir.”

MASTER: “No. What remains cannot be described. What is remains. How will you know there is a real sun unless there is a reflected sun? …”

Swami Vivekananda wrote, “Speech cannot hold Thee, nor mind. Yet without Thee, we think not nor speak.”

And Swami Prabhavananda said, “The chosen ideal (the aspect of the Divine Being to which you are drawn) is you, yourself, no different. Learn to feel that living presence.”

The self that you know, that you see in a mirror, is a reflection of that which “cannot be described.” The implications of what these statements may mean for you as a spiritual aspirant are explored and discussed in this talk.

ശ്രീരാമകൃഷ്ണ വചനാമൃതം ഒന്ന് - ഭാഗം നാല്

 

Songs of Universal Peace

1. Maitry Song of Limitless Friendship

Maitrī Karuṇā Mudita Upekṣā

मैत्री करुणा मुदितोपेक्षाणांसुखदुःख
पुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातः चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥३३॥

Maitri = friendliness, pleasantness, lovingness
Karuna = compassion, mercy
Mudita = gladness, goodwill
Mpekshanam = acceptance, equanimity, neutrality


2. Be Well

Om Saha Nau-Avatu |
Saha Nau Bhunaktu |
Saha Viiryam Karava-Avahai |
Tejasvi Nau-Adhii-Tam-Astu
Maa Vidviss-Aavahai |

ॐ सह नाववतु ।
सह नौ भुनक्तु ।
सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्त- ु मा विद्विषावह- ै ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Meaning:
Om, May we all be protected
May we all be nourished
May we work together with great energy
May our intellect be sharpened
Let there be no division amongst us
Om, peace (in me), peace (in Nature), peace (in Universe)

3. Infinite Compassion

Om Sarveshaam Svastir-Bhavatu |
Sarveshaam Shaantir-Bhavatu |
Sarveshaam Purnnam-Bhavatu |
Sarveshaam Manggalam-Bhavatu |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
ॐ सर्वेशां स्वस्तिर्भ- वतु ।
सर्वेशां शान्तिर्भव- तु ।
सर्वेशां पुर्णंभवतु- ।
सर्वेशां मङ्गलंभवतु- ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Meaning:
1: May there be Well-Being in All,
2: May there be Peace in All,
3: May there be Fulfilment in All,
4: May there be Success in All,
5: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

4. Limitless Joy

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Nir-Aamayaah |
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid-Duhkha-Bhaag-Bhavet |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||
 ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
सर्व- े सन्तु निरामयाः ।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु
मा- कश्चिद्दुः- खभाग्भवेत्- ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Meaning:
1: Om, May All become Happy,
2: May All be Free from Illness.
3: May All See wholeness,
4: May no one Suffer.
5: Om Peace, Peace, Peace.

5. Unending Peace

Bhumi-Mangalam,  Udaka-Mangalam, 
Agni-Mangalam, Vayu-Mangalam, 
Gagana-Mangalam,  Surya-Mangalam,
Chandra-Mangalam, Jagat-Mangalam, 
Jiva-Mangalam, Deha-Mangalam, 
Mano-Mangalam, Atma-Mangalam,
Sarva-Mangalam Bhavatu-Bhavatu-Bhavtu

Meaning:
May there be peace in Earth
May there be peace in Water
May there be peace in Fire
May there be peace in Air
May there be peace in Sun
May there be peace in Moon
May there be peace in Universe
May there be peace in all living beings
May there be peace in all Bodies
May there be peace in all Minds
May there be peace in all Hearts
May there be peace everywhere.


6. May you be Happy

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu.
लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु

Meaning:
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.

Gratitude is the fragrance and shadow of a Buddha

Gratefulness is always towards the outside, and gratefulness is always because deep down you wanted something directly or indirectly and it has been given to you. That's why you are grateful. Gratefulness simply means thankfulness. That will make it clear. You thank the person who has fulfilled a desire which was hidden in you whether you were aware of it or not. Something has been gratified; hence you feel a thankfulness.

Thankfulness is going to be outward. It may be thankfulness towards God which does not exist. It can be thankfulness towards a friend who exists. But thankfulness is a gratification of conscious or unconscious desire being fulfilled.

Gratitude is a totally different phenomenon, though not in the dictionaries. In the dictionaries gratefulness, thankfulness, gratitude — all are put into the same category. Existence is not according to your dictionaries. Gratitude has no outward object nor inward object. Gratitude is almost like a fragrance arising out of a flower. It is an experience not directed to anybody.

When you reach to the very source of your being where you are completely in the mood of spring, and the flowers are showering on you, you suddenly feel a gratitude not directed to anybody, just like a fragrance arising out of you, just as incense brings ripples of smoke and fragrance moving towards the un.known sky and disappearing

Gratitude arises out of you just like a fragrance, not as a thankfulness to anybody. It is the shadow, the by-product of your becoming the Buddha. It is not a gratification of any desire. If you have any desires, conscious or unconscious, you cannot become a Buddha. It is only when all desires have passed on, when you have transcended all desires and demands, that you become a Buddha. And out of a Buddha a fragrance radiates. That fragrance has many elements in it. It is gratitude, it is compassion, it is love, it is blissfulness, it is ecstasy — it is manifold, multidimensional.

OSHO. God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth, Chapter #4

Osho Quotes on Gratitude

Osho Quotes on Gratitude

1. Your enlightenment is perfect only when silence has come to be a celebration. Hence my insistence that after you meditate you must celebrate. After you have been silent you must enjoy it, you must have a thanksgiving. A deep gratitude must be shown towards the whole just for the opportunity that you are, that you can meditate, that you can be silent, that you can laugh.
2. God has given you this life, this tremendously valuable gift, and you cannot even appreciate it. You cannot welcome it, you cannot feel any gratitude for it. On the contrary, you are complaining and complaining and complaining. Your heart is full of grudges, not gratitude.
3. The Baul lives in tremendous gratitude. He sings and dances — that is his prayer. He cries. He simply wonders why, for what has life been given to him, for what has he been allowed to see the rainbows in the sky, for what has he been allowed to see flowers, butterflies, people, rivers and rocks? For what? Because life is so obvious you tend to forget the tremendous gift hidden in it.
4. The only way to show our gratitude to the Master is to help others. If it has been a gracious gift to you, give it to others as a gracious gift. Give it without any idea of giving only then is it gracious. Give it without any idea of reward only then is it gracious. Simply give it for the sheer joy of giving It.
5. A real prayer has nothing to suggest to God except a deep gratitude, thankfulness. It simply accepts whatsoever God is pouring. Prayer is receiving the gift.
6. Meditation, compassion and gratitude. Whenever you are meditative, you feel blissful; whenever you are in compassion, you feel ecstatic. And then gratitude arises — not towards anyone in particular, gratitude just arises. It is not towards me or towards Jesus, or Zarathustra or Buddha, it is simply gratitude. You feel so grateful just for being here, just for being alive, just for being able to be meditative, just for being able to be in compassion. You feel simply grateful. That gratefulness is not towards anybody, it is towards the whole.
7. Man has to be real, real to reality. Whatsoever the reality, man has to accept it and live it in deep gratitude, and live it with such reverence, respect — because it is God’s reality. It is His temple.
8. All moments are beautiful, only you have to be receptive and surrendering. All moments are blessings, only you have to be capable of seeing. All moments are benedictions. If you accept with a deep gratitude, nothing ever goes wrong.
9. If you feel grateful towards me it is a gratitude of the mind. If you meditate and if you flower in compassion you will feel simply grateful, not grateful towards me. Then there is no “towards” — you feel simply grateful towards all. And when you feel grateful towards all, that is really gratefulness towards me, never before it. When it is a choice you choose me; then your master becomes a point, not the whole.
10. The whole play of existence is so beautiful that laughter can be the only response to it. Only laughter can be the real prayer, gratitude.
11. Hasidism has no techniques; it has no yoga, no Tantra in it. It simply says: trust life, trust God, and whatsoever has been given to you, enjoy it. Enjoy it so deeply and with such gratitude that every ordinary thing becomes hallowed, becomes holy, each small thing in life becomes sacred. Transform everything into a sacred thing — the profane disappears when you bring your energy of love, grace, gratitude.
12. Humbleness arises only, gratitude arises only, when you have experienced what the master has been trying to express through words, through actions, through silence, through every possibility — because that experience is something inexpressible.
13. Gratitude arises whenever you start feeling God’s presence around you; then only gratitude is left. Then your whole energy becomes gratitude, then your whole being becomes a thanksgiving, it becomes a prayer — because nothing is missing, and the world is so perfect, and everything is as it should be. Gratitude is natural. Gratitude is not something that can be practiced. You have been taught to be grateful; you cannot be. Gratefulness is a consequence: when you feel God close by, gratitude arises. It is a by-product. Respect arises. This respect is not something that you manage, it is something beyond you. You have been taught to be grateful to your parents, taught to be grateful to your teachers, taught to be grateful to your elders, but those are all just conditionings. When real gratitude arises, then you see what a tremendous difference there is. The gratitude that was taught was just a concept, a dead ritual. You were following it like a mechanism. When the real gratitude upsurges in your being, you feel for the first time what prayer is, what love is.
14. The real gratitude can never find words to express itself. The gratitude that can find words to express itself is just a formality — because anything heartfelt immediately goes beyond words, concepts, language. You can live it, it can shine from your eyes, it can come as a fragrance from your whole being. It can be a music of your silence, but you cannot say it. The moment you say it, something essential dies immediately. Words can only carry corpses, not living experiences.
15. The master is not higher than the disciple. The master is simply trying to awaken you. The moment you are awakened there is no master and no disciple. It is just out of gratitude that the disciple remains a disciple — just out of gratitude. But there is no difference; they have known the same reality. They have become what nature wanted them to become, they have blossomed.
16. As far as reality is concerned, those who were real disciples are still disciples — even if they become enlightened, they will not lose their disciplehood. In fact, they have attained to the ultimate of disciplehood. Their gratitude and their love towards the master is not less but more than ever.
17. All that you want is already present in you. The master is not going to give you anything that you don’t have. In fact, the master goes on taking away things which you think you have but you don’t have. And the master cannot give you, of course, that which you have. He can only take away all the barriers, all the hindrances, all the obstacles, so only that which is your own, remains behind. In that unpolluted space, the distinction between the master and the disciple is no more. That does not mean that you don’t feel grateful to the master. In fact, only after this has happened, you feel for the first time a tremendous gratitude.
18. Patience is the only prayer by the side of a master. Utterly relaxed, in deep love, in great gratitude, something goes on growing in you without any effort. Something goes on maturing, something goes on becoming more and more crystallized, without any effort on your part. You are just a watcher of the miracle that is happening to you.