Shower Meditation

You can practice the following technique while you are taking shower as you normally do.

Basic

1. Be aware that you are having a shower.
2. Notice whether the physical sensation you experience on your skin is whether pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
3. Monitor your feelings whether it changes. For example, the feeling may change from pleasant feeling to neutral feeling.

After getting familiar with the basic technique, you can try advanced techniques.

Advanced level 1

Expand your awareness to one or more of followings:

• hand movements,
• the sounds of the water as it is coming out of the nozzle,
• the warmth or coldness of the water,
• the smell of the soap or shampoo, water droplets on the walls,
• thoughts arising,
• different sensations in your skins after drying and before drying.

More Meditation Tips

Stages of meditation by Kamalashila

"Stages of meditation" is an ancient meditation text book that influenced the meditation practices over a thousand years. It is a written by a ninth century Indian scholar and meditator Kamalashila. Here are some excerpts.

How to develop equanimity
All sentient beings desire happiness and do not desire misery. Think deeply about how, in this beginningless cycle of existence, there is not one sentient being who has not been my friend and relative hundreds of times. Therefore, since there is no ground for being attached to some and hating others, I shall develop a mind of equanimity toward all sentient beings. Begin the meditation on equanimity by thinking of a neutral person, and then consider people who are friends and foes.

Loving-kindness
After the mind has developed, equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving-kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving-kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving-kindness, meditate on compassion.

Compassion
The compassionate mind has the nature of wishing all suffering beings to be free from suffering. Meditate on compassion for all sentient beings, because the beings in the three realms of existence are intensely tortured by the three types of sufferings in various forms. ... We can also see animals suffering in many miserable ways; they eat each other, become angry, and are hurt and killed. We can see that human beings too, experience various acute kinds of pain. Not able to find what they want, they are resentful and harm each other. They suffer the pain of losing the beautiful things they want and confronting the ugly things they do not want, as well as pain of poverty.

There are those whose minds are bound by various fetters of disturbing emotions like craving desire. Others are in turmoil with different types of wrong views. These are all causes of misery; therefore they are always painful, like being on a precipice.

Meditation on loving-kindness with friends and people you are font of. It has the nature of wishing that they meet with happiness. Gradually extend the meditation to include strangers and even your enemies. Habituating yourself to compassion, you will gradually generate a spontaneous wish to liberate all sentient beings. Therefore, having familiarized yourself with compassion as the basis, meditate on the awakening mind of bodhichitta.

The prerequisites for the development of calm abiding
The prerequisites necessary for the development of calm abiding meditation are: to live in a conducive environment, to limit your desires and practices contentment, not being involved in too many activities, maintaining pure moral ethics, and fully eliminating attachment and all other kinds of conceptual thoughts.

About conducive environment
A conducive environment should be known by these five characteristics providing easy acess to food and clothes, being free of evil beings and enemies, being free from disease, containing good friends who maintain moral ethics and who share similar views and being visited by few people in the daytime and with little noise at night.

Limiting your desires refer to no being excessively attached to many or good clothes such as religious robes, and so fourth. The practices of contentment means always being satisfied with any little thing, like inferior religious robes, and so fourth.

Meditation posture
He should sit in the full lotus posture of Vairochana, or the half lotus posture, on a comfortable cushion. The eyes should not be too widely opened or too tightly closed. Let them focus on the tip of the nose. The body should not be bent forward or backward. Keep it straight and turn the attention inwards. The shoulders should rest in their natural position and the head should not lean back, forward, or to either side. The nose should be in line with the navel. The teeth and lips should rest in their natural state with the tongue touching the upper palate. Breathe very gently and softly without causing any noise, without laboring, and without unevenness. Inhale and exhale naturally, slowly, and unnoticeably.

Calm abiding
Calm abiding meditation should be achieved first. Calm abiding is that mind which has overcome distraction to external objects, and which spontaneously and continuously turns toward the object of meditation with bliss and pliancy.

When the mind has been repeatedly engaged in this way and physical and mental pliancy has been achieved, that mind is called calm abiding. This is how Bodhisattvas properly seek the calmly abiding mind.

Special insight
When the Bodhisattva has achieved physical and mental pliancy and abides only in them, he eliminates mental distraction. The phenomenon that has been contemplated as the object of inner single-pointed concentration should be analyzed and regard as like reflection. This reflection or image, which is the object of single-pointed concentration, should be thoroughly discerned as an object of knowledge. It should be completely investigated and thoroughly examined. Practice and patience and take delight in it. With proper analysis observe and understand it. This is what is known as special sight. Thus, Bodhisattvas are skilled in the ways of special insight.

Introspection
In this way place the mind on the object of your choice and, having done so, repeatedly and continuously place the mind. Having placed the mind in this way, examine it and check whether it is properly focused on the object. Also check for dullness and see whether the mind is being distracted to external objects.

Antidote to dullness
If the mind is found to be dull due to sleepiness and mental torpor or if you fear that dullness is approaching, then the mind should attend to a supremely delightful object such as an image of the Buddha, or a notion of light. In this process, having dispelled dullness the mind should try to see the object very clearly.

Recognizing dullness
You should recognize the presence of dullness when the mind cannot see the object very clearly, when you feel as if you are blind or in a dark place or that you have closed your eyes. If, while you are in meditation, you mind chases after qualities of external objects such as form, or turns its attention to other phenomena, or is distracted by desire for an object you have previously experienced, or if you suspect distraction is approaching, reflect that all composite phenomena are impermanent. Think about suffering and so forth, topics that will temper the mind.

In this process, distraction should be eliminated and with the rope of mindfulness and alertness the elephant-like mind should be fastened to the tree of the object of meditation. When you find that the mind is free of dullness and excitement and that in naturally abides on the object, you should relax your effort and remain neutral as long as it continues thus.

You should understand that calm abiding is actualized when you enjoy physical and mental pliancy through prolonged familiarity with the meditation, and the mind gains the power to engage the object as it chooses.

Suchness
What is suchness like? It is the nature of all phenomena that ultimately they are empty of the self persons and the self of phenomena. This is realized through the perfection of wisdom and not otherwise. The unraveling of the thought sutra reads, "O Tathagata, by whish perfection do Bodhisattvas apprehend the identitylessness of phenomena? "Avalokiteshvara, it is apprehended by the perfection of wisdom," therefore, meditate on wisdom while engaging in calm abiding.

Yogi should analyze in the following manner: a person is not observed as separate from the mental and physical aggregates, the elements and sense powers. Nor is a person of the nature of the aggregates and so forth, because the aggregates and so forth have the entity of being many and impermanent. Others have imputed the person as permanent and single. The person as a phenomenon cannot exist except as one or many, because there is no other way of existing. Therefore, we must conclude that the assertion of the worldly "I" and "mine" is wholly mistaken.

Selflessness
Meditation on the selfness of phenomena should also be done in the following manner: phenomena in short, are included under the five aggregates, the twelve sources of perception, and the eighteen elements. The physical aspects of the aggregates, sources of perception, and elements are, in the ultimate sense, nothing other than aspects of the mind. This is because when they are broken into subtle particles and the nature of the parts of these subtle particles is individually examined, no definite identify can be found.

Nature of mind
In the ultimate sense, the mind too cannot be real. How can the mind that apprehends only the false nature of physical form and so forth, and appears in various aspects, be real? Just as physical forms and so forth are false, since the mind does not exist separately from physical forms and so forth, which are false, it too is false. Just as physical forms and so forth possess various aspects, and their identities are neither one nor many, similarly, since the mind is not different from them, its identity too is neither one nor many. Therefore, the mind by nature is like an illusion.

Analysis with wisdom
Those who do not meditate with wisdom by analyzing the entity of things specially, but merely meditate on the elimination of mental activity, cannot avert conceptual thoughts and also cannnot realize idenitylessness because they lack the light of wisdom. If the fire of consciousness knowing phenomena as they are is produced from individual analysis of suchness, then like the fire produced by rubbing wood it will burn the wood of conceptual thought. The Buddha has spoken in this way.

Phenomena are depend on causes and conditions
It is not possible for omniscience to be produced without causes, because if it were everything could always be omniscient. If things were produced without reliance on something else, they could exist without constraint- there would be no reason why everything could not be omniscient. Therefore, since all functional things arise only occasionally, they depend strictly on their causes. Omniscience too is rare because it does not occur all the times and in all places, and everything cannot become omniscient. Therefore, it definitely depends on causes and conditions.

More herehttp://www.meditationgeek.org/2010/03/stages-of-meditation-by-kamalashila.html

Osho on Meditation

"If you understand me rightly, meditation is nothing but an effort to look at reality without the mind — because that is the only way to look at reality. If the mind is there it distorts, it corrupts. Drop the mind and see reality — direct, immediate, face to face."

~ Osho

The ego is an iceberg.

Melt it.

Melt it

in deep love,

so it disappears

and you become part

of the ocean. ~ Osho

OSHO: Really, there can be no method as far as meditation is concerned. Meditation is not a method. Through technique, through method, you cannot go beyond mind. When you leave all methods, all techniques, you transcend mind. So meditation itself is not a method. Truth cannot be achieved through method.

Method is our own invention. We, who are ignorant, have achieved knowledge through methods constructed, created, projected, in our ignorance. Through method you can achieve a sort of self-hypnosis, a sort of auto-hypnosis. Any method, whatsoever its name, can only give you an illusory kind of peace. Through method you cannot go beyond yourself, because the method is yours, and it will strengthen you, your ego, your state of mind. If you leave all methods and all paths, and all ways, and remain in a total vacuum, doing nothing, thinking nothing – only then what we call meditation can be achieved.

But if you are following some method, some path, some guru, then you are going nowhere…

(Many people laugh loudly in disbelief)…. because it cannot lead you anywhere. It can only lead you into an illusory state of auto-hypnosis.

Not only has Osho invented some of the most groundbreaking meditation techniques, such as the Dynamic and Kundalini Meditations which are being practiced in many centres all over the world, but he has also tiredlessly spoken about meditation, its difficulties and our misunderstandings, but always encouraging us to take the jump into the space of no-mind

Thoughts can create such a barrier that even if you are standing before a beautiful flower, you will not be able to see it. Your eyes are covered with layers of thought. To experience the beauty of the flower you have to be in a state of meditation, not in a state of mentation. You have to be silent, utterly silent, not even a flicker of thought – and the beauty explodes, reaches to you from all directions. You are drowned in the beauty of a sunrise, of a starry night, of beautiful trees.

Osho, The Great Pilgrimage: From Here to Here, Chapter 21


Meditation means removing all your prejudices, putting all your conclusions aside, seeing without any hindrance, seeing without any curtains, seeing clearly without any mediation of any thought, seeing without Buddha standing between you and reality, or Krishna, or Christ.

Osho, The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 12


Religion has only one answer and that answer is meditation. And meditation means how to empty yourself.

Osho, A Bird on the Wing, Chapter 1


This is the way of meditation: encountering the present in all its tremendous beauty, just being in the present. Inside, the mind stops. Outside, the world changes totally. It is no more the ordinary world you have known before. In fact, you have not known it at all. Your mind was distorting everything, your mind was creating fantasies. Your eyes were full of fantasies and you were looking though those fantasies. They never allowed you to see that which is. If the mind is gone, even for a moment, suddenly the whole existence explodes upon you.

Osho, The White Lotus, Chapter 9


Happiness happens when you fit with your life, when you fit so harmoniously that whatsoever you are doing is your joy. Then suddenly you will come to know: meditation follows you. If you love the work that you are doing, if you love the way you are living, then you are meditative.

Osho, A Sudden clash of Thunder, Chapter 7


Meditation is not contemplation because it is not thinking at all – consistent, inconsistent, crazy, sane. It is not thinking at all; it is witnessing. It is just sitting silently deep within yourself, looking at whatsoever is happening inside and outside both. Outside there is traffic noise, inside there is also traffic noise -- the traffic in the head. So many thoughts – trucks and buses of thoughts and trains and airplanes of thoughts, rushing in every direction. But you are simply sitting aloof, unconcerned, watching everything with no evaluation.

Osho, The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol9, Chapter 6


The teaching of the buddhas is: Find time and a place to remain unoccupied. That’s what meditation is all about. Find at least one hour every day to sit silently doing nothing, utterly unoccupied, just watching whatsoever passes by inside. In the beginning you will be very sad, looking at things inside you; you will feel only darkness and nothing else, and ugly things and all kinds of black holes appearing. You will feel agony, no ecstasy at all. But if you persist, persevere, the day comes when all these agonies disappear, and behind the agonies is the ecstasy.

Osho, The Book of Wisdom, Chapter 17


More at o-meditation.com

Self-remembering or Witnessing - Osho

The technique of self-remembering seems easier for me than witnessing. Do they both lead to the same goal?

They both lead to the same goal, but the technique of self-remembering is harder, longer and dangerous. Only very few people in the whole history of mankind have attained to enlightenment through the technique of self-remembering.

Many have tried, but utterly failed – it looks easy. The reason is that your self-remembering is not going to be your self-remembering, it will be your ego remembering; that’s why it looks easy.

You don’t know the distinction between the self and the false self. The false self is our ego, and the ego is very subtle, very cunning, and tries in every way to pretend to be the real self. That’s why in the beginning it will look easier than witnessing, because in witnessing there is no place for the ego. From the very beginning the ego is avoided.

In witnessing, the ego cannot enter. But in self-remembering, there is every possibility of the ego pretending to be your self. Then the more you will practice, the more your ego will become stronger.

If somebody wants to travel on the path of self-remembering, he absolutely needs a master. He cannot move alone, because he cannot make a clear-cut distinction of what is false and what is true.

He knows only the false; he is not acquainted with his true being. Unless he is under a very rigorous master it will be very difficult to create a separation between the ego and the self.
I will explain it to you by an ancient Chinese story….

A great master had a big monastery – five hundred monks – and they were all practicing the path of self-remembering. Self-remembering is one of the paths Buddha has recommended.
One man entered into the monastery – he wanted to become a disciple. The master accepted him, but he was a very simple man from a village, almost uneducated. The master told him, “Your job is cleaning the rice in the kitchen.” It was a big kitchen – five hundred monks. The poor man was cleaning the rice before sunrise and late into the night. He had no time to go to the sermons, to go to the prayers; he had no time to read the scriptures or listen to the wise talks. Those five hundred monks were great scholars, and the monastery was known all over the country.

Twenty years passed and the man continued just cleaning the rice and doing nothing. He forgot even to count the years – what was the point? He forgot the days, the dates, and finally he became suspicious about his own name. For twenty years nobody had used it, nobody had called him by his name – perhaps it was his name, perhaps it was not. For twenty years continuously he was doing one small thing: cleaning the rice, from the moment he woke up until he went back to bed again.

The master declared that his time to depart from the body had come. He wanted to choose his successor, and the way he did it was this: “Anybody who thinks he has succeeded in self-remembering should write on the wall of my hut some insight which shows that he has seen the truth.”

One person, who was thought to be the greatest scholar in the commune, tried. But he was so afraid to write that sentence there, because it was not his insight. He knew – how could he not know it – he knew it was not his insight, it was just borrowed from scriptures. It was not his experience – and it was difficult to deceive the old man.

In the morning the old man came out, asked the servant to erase what had been written, and said, “Find out who this idiot is who has spoiled my wall.”

It is said that the great scholar had not even signed, out of fear that he would be caught. If the master appreciated that this was really a great insight, then he would come out and say, “I have written it.” Otherwise he would remain silent… who knows? Out of five hundred people anybody could have done it!

Almost one dozen great scholars tried, but none of them had the courage to sign his name. And the master behaved in the same way; he erased the line and said, “None of you has come to the point of self-remembering. You have all been feeding the ego in the name of self. I reminded you again and again, but having a big ego is such a joy. And a spiritual ego, the otherworldly ego, the divine ego, becomes even more delicious. Now I will have to find the person myself.”
In the middle of the night the master went to the man who had come twenty years ago. For twenty years the master had not seen him, he had simply been cleaning rice. He woke the man up. The man asked the master, “Who are you?” Because twenty years… he had just seen him once for a few seconds when he was initiated – “And what is the idea of disturbing my sleep?”
The master said, “I am your master. You have forgotten…? Do you remember your name?”
The man said, “That is the difficulty. The work you have given me is such that it needs no name, no fame, no scholarship, no austerities. It is so simple that I have forgotten everything. I cannot be certain that this is my name. A few names come to my mind and I cannot decide which one is mine, but I am grateful to you.” He touched the feet of the master. ”Please don’t change my job. I have forgotten everything, but I have also achieved everything. I know a peace that I had never dreamed of, a silence that no word can express. I have known such moments of ecstasy that even if I had died there would not have been any complaint that life has not been fair to me. It has given me more than I was worthy of. Just don’t change my job. I am doing it perfectly well. Has somebody complained about my work?”

The master said, “No, nobody has complained, but your job has to be changed because I am choosing you as my successor.”

The man said, “I am only a rice cleaner. I don’t know anything about being a master or a disciple. I know nothing. Please forgive me, I don’t want to be your successor because I cannot handle such a big job, I can only handle this rice cleaning.”

The master still insisted, “You have achieved that which others have been trying to achieve but have failed. You have achieved it because you were not trying. You were simply doing your small work. Slowly, slowly there was no need for thinking, no need for emotions, no need for anger, no fight, no comparison, no ambition – your ego died. And with the ego died your name. You are not born with a name. It is the ego that is given a name – that is the beginning of the ego. With the death of the ego, you even forgot your own master, because it was the ego that brought you to me.

“Up to that moment you were on a spiritually ambitious trip. You are absolutely the right person, so take my robe, my hat, my sword, which have always been given by the master to the successor. But remember one thing: take them and escape from this monastery as far away as you can, because your life will be in danger. All these five hundred egoists will kill you. You are so simple and you have become so innocent that if they ask you for the robe, the sword, the cap, you will give them. You simply take them and go as far away as you can into the mountains.

“Soon people will start arriving to you just as bees start finding their way towards the flowers when the flowers blossom. You have blossomed. You need not bother about the disciples, you simply remain silently in a faraway place. People will come to you; you simply teach them whatever you have been doing.”

“But,” he said, “I have received no teaching and I don’t know what to teach them.”
The master said, “Just teach them to do small things, silently, peacefully, without any ambition, without any motivation to gain something in this world or in the other world, so that you can become innocent like a child. That innocence is real religiousness. Not being Hindu, not being Mohammedan, but being utterly innocent – just a tabula rasa, a clean sheet on which nothing is written. No Bhagavad-Gita, no Koran, no Bible…”

It is possible… a few people have attained through self-remembering. One of the great masters of this age, George Gurdjieff, used the method self-remembering, but you have to be aware that not a single person of his disciples became enlightened – and he was one of the most perfect masters.

But the problem is that the ego and the self are so close and so similar that whatever you think is your self is most probably, in ninety-nine percent of cases, just your ego. The master’s function is absolutely necessary for this method, because he has to destroy your ego. And he has to be hard, harsh. Unless he destroys your ego, self-remembering is going to lead you, not to enlightenment, but to darker spaces of being.

It will strengthen your ego more – you will become a very strong ego, very assertive. In any ordinary field of life you will be very successful. You can become an Adolf Hitler; you can become a Joseph Stalin… Stalin was not his real name; it was given to him because he was such a strong man. ‘Stalin’ means man of steel.

But these people are not a benediction to humanity, they are a curse. If they had not been there man would have been in a far better space, in a far better consciousness.
So if you feel that it is easier for you, then be very careful. I will still suggest that though witnessing may be difficult in the beginning, it is the most safe method without any dangers. It cannot lead you anywhere other than towards enlightenment. So it can even be practiced without a master.

I would like to give you something in which you are not to be dependent on somebody else.
How long have you lived, how many lives? In all these lives you may have come across many saints, many masters, but where have you reached? Your darkness is the same; your unconsciousness is the same. Perhaps they all gave you methods, but the methods were such that they needed constant supervision. Those methods are called school methods. You have to enter into a monastery, live in a monastery, function under a strict discipline – then perhaps you may be able to achieve something from a school method. And there are such monasteries.
In Europe, there is a monastery in Mount Athos; it is one thousand years old. There are almost three thousand monks inside the monastery, and anybody who wants to become a monk in that monastery can decide to enter, but only his dead body will go out.

If there is such a commitment, only then is a person accepted. Once a person enters Mount Athos, you will never see him till he is dead. This is a school for absolute self-remembering, but you cannot put the whole world in monasteries. Who will take care of these monasteries? Hence my preference is to use a method which keeps you free from any commitment, from any dependence – which keeps you in the world and yet not of the world.

Witnessing is the most simple and the most infallible method; it is the essence of all meditations. Even self-remembering, finally, is witnessing – but at a later stage, when you have dropped the ego.

And if you start looking inside yourself, you can understand what I am saying. Can you see your ego and self separately? You simply know one thing: that is I. You don’t know two things: that I is the ego, and that the ego is capable of nursing itself through anything.
I have heard…

A small child was passing by the side of a palace. He had failed his examination and was feeling very angry with the teachers. He was ready to do something, and suddenly, he found a pile of stones by the side of the road. He took one big stone from the pile and threw it at the palace. Now the palace had nothing to do with his failing, nor had the stone anything to do with it, but he was in such anger he wanted to do something; the energy was there, and it needed to be released. The boy went on his way, but what happened to the stone?

As the stone started rising up he looked down – his brothers and sisters and cousins were all there. And the stone said to them, “I am going on a pilgrimage. I have been thinking about it for a long time. God willing, I will succeed in my adventures and come back to you to relate all that I experience on the way.”

All the other stones looked at this stone with their mouths open: “What is happening? He has no wings.” He was just a stone like themselves. They also wanted to fly, but they knew that they could not. “But he is flying, you cannot deny it…” So they all said, “Okay, just remember us; don’t forget us. You are a hero. In the centuries of time sometimes one stone gets wings the way you have, and we are proud that you belong to us, to our family.”

They were even feeling great pride because one of the stones was flying towards the palace. The stone hit against a glass window, and naturally, when a stone hits glass it is the glass that is broken, not the stone – it is just the nature of things. But the stone said to the pieces of glass, “You idiots. I have always said, ‘Never come in my way. Whoever comes in my way will be shattered to death.’ Now look what happened to you. Let this be a lesson to everyone who is listening.”

At that very moment the guard on the gate heard the noise of the stone falling on the floor, the glass being broken… he rushed in. He took the stone in his hands, and the stone said – although the guard could not understand his language, because he talked in Nepalese…! He said, “Thank you my lord, you are the owner of this palace – I can see from your beautiful dress. I will never forget this honor that you have given to me – taken me in your own hands.”
The situation was totally different, but the ego goes on turning every situation in its favor.
The guard was afraid that if the king came to know then he would be caught: “What are you doing? Who has thrown the stone?” He threw the stone back out of the window.

And these are the ways of the ego: the stone said, “Thank you! You are not only a great host, you understand the hurts of other people too. You know I am longing to meet my friends. I want to tell them the whole story of my visiting the palace of the king – the meeting with the king, the conversation with the king, the destruction of the enemies who came in my way.” And as he was falling back into the pile of the stones, he said to them, “Brothers and sisters, I am back. You should all be proud. My name should go down in history, and with me, my family’s name. This pile of stones is no ordinary pile, it is something historical.”

The ego has its ways of fulfilling itself even in situations where it should be shattered. So beware of it.

Self-remembering can be done only in a school where you are devoting yourself to the discipline twenty-four hours a day, because it is the moment you remember yourself… While walking you remember, “I am walking” – then walking is no longer natural. It becomes divided: you are separate, and the walking is separate.

Walking is a simple process, but in life you are doing a thousand and one things which are very complex. If you are going to remember yourself while using a machine, while driving a car… it could be very dangerous because your whole focus is in remembering yourself. You could cause an accident which could be dangerous to you, which could be dangerous to others.
Life has its own wisdom. The body has its own wisdom. For example, try one thing and you will understand what I mean: you have been eating every day your whole life but you have never thought about what happens to the food when it goes down your throat – you forget about it. Don’t forget about it. Just for three days try to remember that the food has gone in. Remember that the food is being digested, that juices, chemicals and other things are coming in from different directions, that the food is being mixed with them and the food is being transformed into different things. It is becoming blood, it is becoming your flesh, it is becoming your bones.
In three days’ time you will have such a disturbed stomach, you cannot imagine. It will take at least three months to get it back to its normal state. You are not needed to remember it. It knows its function, and it does its function perfectly well without your remembering.
That’s why when you are sick it is better to rest, because the body needs you to sleep so it can work better without any disturbance from you.

You must have heard the famous story about a centipede….

A centipede has one hundred legs – that’s why it is called centipede. And for centuries, centipedes have been in the world, walking perfectly well – no problem. But one day a rabbit became curious. He saw the centipede, he tried to count his legs and said, “My God! One hundred legs! How does he manage to remember which one to put first, which one to put second?

“If I had one hundred legs,” the rabbit thought, “I would get entangled and I would fall immediately; I could not walk at all. This centipede is performing a miracle.”
He said, “Uncle, uncle, wait, wait! I have a question if you don’t mind…” The centipede said, “There is no hurry. I was just going for a morning walk. You can ask your question.”
He said, “My question is simple: you have one hundred legs…?”
The centipede said, “One hundred? In fact, I have never counted. It would be too difficult for me to count them, but if you say so then perhaps I must have.”

The rabbit said, ”My curiosity is: how do you manage to walk with such a trail of one hundred legs? How do you manage which one comes first, then second, then third, then fourth…?”
The centipede said, “I have never thought about it. I will try. Just now – I will try here.”
And then and there he fell on the ground. He called the rabbit and said, “You idiot! Never ask another centipede such a question, otherwise centipedes will die. We cannot live with this curiosity. I have been doing perfectly well up to now, and just as I started becoming alert about what leg is going when… as I started remembering one hundred legs, my mind got very much puzzled.”

Self-remembering is a school method. And school method means you are in a safe monastery, not doing work that could be dangerous. Otherwise your remembering… working in a factory, working in a carpentry shop and trying to remember, you are bound to get into the same position as the centipede.

I don’t want anybody to get into any trouble in the name of spirituality, hence my suggestion again is just pure witnessing – no question of I. And that too, very playfully, not seriously, with a sense of humor.

If you forget, there is no harm. Whenever you remember, again you start. You will forget many times, you will remember many times. There is no question of guilt; it is human.
Very slowly, bigger and bigger gaps of witnessing will arise in you, and as the gaps of witnessing become bigger, your thoughts will become smaller, less. The moment your witnessing comes to a peak – at certain times with a crystal clarity – the thoughts will simply disappear. You will be in an absolute silence. Whatever you are doing will not be disturbed by your silence, but on the contrary, your workmanship, your creative effort will be enhanced.
If you are making statues, or painting, or playing music… with such a mad mind, with all kinds of thoughts running around, and you can still manage to create beautiful music – just think of a silent mind, how much deeper and higher music you could create.

The same applies to every area of life. I make it a point to be remembered that if your meditation is right, everything in your life will start falling into better shape. That is the only criterion. No need to ask anybody else; you can see yourself.

Everything in your life will become better with your meditation. When your meditation is at its highest peak, all your efforts will have a beauty and a grace and a creativeness that you cannot imagine. That’s why I say, don’t divide spiritual life from the ordinary life. Don’t create any division at all. Let this life remain one single whole.

So if your consciousness changes, then everything that surrounds you also changes.
I cannot imagine a man of meditation renouncing his wife. No, a man of meditativeness will love his wife more. Perhaps his love will become more and more purified, less and less sexual, more and more prayerful. But he cannot renounce her, that is ugly.

Leaving a poor woman and escaping – that is not the work of a brave man. It fits to a coward, but not to a man who is meditating.

In my village I loved to sit in an old man’s small shop. He used to sell sweets. I was attracted, not by his sweets, but by the sweetness of the man. He would say, “The cost price of this many sweets is one rupee, and if you are willing, just for my labors and for my family, you can give me one annamore – that is my profit.”
First he would tell the cost price, and then he would tell his profit. And that too he would leave up to you: “If you don’t want to give it to me, you can take it at the cost price – of course, I am a poor man, I cannot give it to you below the cost price. I can give you my labor, I can give you my profit, but I cannot go below the cost price.”

And I inquired – because it was a sweet market and there were many shops, I inquired in other shops about what he was saying cost one rupee. And others were selling for two rupees, two and a half rupees – the same quantity, but not the same quality, not the same love.
While he was preparing his sweets, I used to sit. He even asked me, “You are the only one. Why do you come and sit here?”

I said, “I simply like it – to see you work. You work so lovingly, as if you were preparing these sweets for your beloved who is coming after many years – and you don’t know who the customer will be.”

And he laughed. He said, “As far as I know it is the same customer who always comes – different faces, but the customer is the same. That’s why I cannot deceive. I cannot cheat, I cannot exploit because it is the same customer with different faces. I have recognized him.”
His whole life I would describe as the life of a great saint, although nobody in the world would recognize him as a saint because we have this idea so deeply rooted in our minds that a saint should renounce life, get away from life. That anti-life attitude has proved so poisonous that it has destroyed the whole beauty of human existence. It has taken away the whole dignity of man.
Hence I still insist – even if you feel self-remembering is easier – that you try witnessing. Even though it is difficult in the beginning, it becomes very easy as you go ahead.

Gautam Buddha has said, “My teaching is bitter in the beginning but sweet in the end.”
-Osho

Lam Rim & Death Meditation

The actual way to take full advantage of a life of leisure and opportunity
Reflecting on death and impermanence is very important because human
beings are very stubborn. The Buddha first taught us about the precious
human rebirth for us to know our potential and then he taught death &
impermanence in order for us to take full advantage of such a rebirth and not
waste it away - GTZ

Training the mind in the stages of the path shared with small capability
beings - the actual training of the small capability being. Developing a state
of mind that strives diligently for the sake of future lives through –
Mindfulness of death, reflecting that you will not remain long in this world
–
• The faults of not remembering death
• The benefits of remembering death
• The type of mindfulness of death that one should develop
• How to cultivate mindfulness of death –

→ Death is certain – death cannot be avoided, life cannot be extended
and constantly diminishes, little time for Dharma practice

→ Time of death is uncertain – life span is uncertain, cause of death are
many and causes of life are few, one’s body is fragile

→ At the time of death, nothing helps except Dharma – friends, resources/
possessions and body cannot help

The problem with us is that we see that which is contaminated as pure; we
indulge in our senses thinking all of it is happiness when it is actually suffering;
we think that what we encounter is lasting but is actually impermanent.
Instead, one should always think “I will definitely depart from this life where
I will have to leave everything behind”.  Due to not thinking about death, we
boldly commit negative karma for the sake of this-life, samsaric aims.
There are many benefits to cultivating mindfulness of death e.g. we are able
to eliminate attachment, ignorance, pride, negative actions. If we do not
eliminate these, we cannot gain freedom and lasting happiness.

Death is certain – all living beings, even the great ones, have left their
bodies, why not us? Our lives cannot be extended and is constantly being
diminished.  The longest lifespan is little more than 100 years, yet half our
lives are spent sleeping, the other half spent securing livelihood and family,
then the suffering of old age comes quickly with ailments like anxiety, sorrow,
Alzheimer’s, mental instability. Unless we have a strong imprint of Dharma
in our lives, there is no opportunity to practice Dharma. Thus we must use
the little time we have to learn and practice Dharma.

Time of death is uncertain  -  We never think “I will die today”.  We
continuously focus on this life and prepare to remain in this life, rather than
prepare for the next life which is certain to come.  Some people are seen
in the morning and are no longer alive in the evening; some children die
before parents. Causes for prolonging life are few (even too much vitamins
can bring harm) and those that end life are many. Life is fragile like a water
bubble. Relying on doctors to prolong our lives is a fantasy used to distract
ourselves from thinking about the reality of death.

 At time of death, nothing helps except Dharma  - We have spent our entire
lives taking care of our bodies and yet it will cease. Family & friends and
possessions cannot help us avert death.  Inviting numerous Sangha to recite
prayers or placing relics in one’s mouth at one’s deathbed may present 114
positive conditions for higher rebirth but cannot guarantee a higher rebirth.
It all depends on the deceased person’s karma at the time of death. Except
for virtue or non-virtue, nothing else will follow you. Know this well and act
accordingly - GTZ

Download lamrim.pdf



This is the Nine Point Meditation on Death. Its outline is organized around three roots, nine reasons and three decisions.

First root: Contemplation that death is definite.
1. because death will definitely come and therefore cannot be avoided
2. because our lifespan cannot be extended and diminishes unceasingly
3. because even when we are alive there is little time to practice
First decision: I must practice.

Second root: Contemplation that the time of death is indefinite.
4. because our lifespan in this world is indefinite
5. because the causes of death are very many and the causes of life are few
6. because the time of death is uncertain due to the fragility of the body
Second decision: I must practice now.

Third root: Contemplation that at the time of death nothing helps except practice.
7. because at the time of death our friends are of no help
8. because at the time of death our wealth is of no help
9. because at the time of death our body is of no help
Third decision: I will practice non-attachment to any of the wonderful things of this life.


As His Holiness the Dalai Lama says:
"Mere knowledge of the process of death and practices concerned with it is not sufficient; you must gain familiarity with these over months and years. If now, when the senses are still clear and mindfulness has not degenerated, your mind is not made serviceable to and familiar with the way of virtue, it will be difficult--when dying--for the mind to proceed of its own accord on a strange path. When dying, you may be physically weak from illness and mentally depressed from terrible fear. Therefore it is necessary to become intimate with the practices related to dying."

/lam-rim-nine-point-death-meditation

Tsonkhapa - The Three Principal Aspects of the Path

Expressing the Homage 
I bow down to my perfect gurus.

The Promise to Compose
[1] The essential meaning of the Victorious Ones’ teachings,
The path praised by all the holy Victors and their Children,
The gateway of the fortunate ones desiring liberation –
This I shall try to explain as much as I can.

Persuading to Listen
[2] Those who are not attached to the pleasures of circling [samsara],
Who strive to make freedom and endowments meaningful,
Who entrust themselves to the path pleasing the Victorious Ones –
You fortunate ones: listen with a calm mind.

The Purpose of Generating Renunciation
[3] Without the complete intention definitely to be free from circling,
There is no way to pacify attachment seeking pleasurable effects in the ocean of circling.
Also, by craving for cyclic existence, embodied beings are continuously bound.
Therefore, at the very beginning seek renunciation.

How to Generate Renunciation
[4] Freedom and endowments are difficult to find
And life has no time to spare.
By gaining familiarity with this,
Attraction to the appearances of this life is reversed.

By thinking over and over again
That actions and their effects are unbetraying,
And repeatedly contemplating the miseries of cyclic existence,
Attraction to the appearances of future lives is reversed.

The Definition of Having Generated Renunciation 
[5] When, by having trained in that way,
There is no arising, even for a second,
Of attraction to the perfections of cyclic existence,
And all day and night the intention seeking liberation arises –
Then the thought of renunciation has been generated.

The Purpose of Generating the Mind of Enlightenment
[6] Even if renunciation has been developed,
If it is not possessed by the mind of enlightenment
It does not become the cause of the perfect bliss of unsurpassed enlightenment.
Therefore the wise generate the supreme mind of enlightenment.

How to Generate the Mind of Enlightenment 
[7] Swept away by the current of the four powerful rivers,
Tied by the tight bonds of karma, so hard to undo,
Caught in the iron net of self-grasping,
Completely enveloped by the total darkness of ignorance,

[8] Endlessly reborn in cyclic existence,
Ceaselessly tormented by the three sufferings –
Thinking that all mothers are in such a condition,
Generate the supreme mind of enlightenment.

The Definition of Having Generated the Mind of Enlightenment 

[8a]¹ In short,
If like the mother whose cherished son has fallen into a pit of fire
And who experiences even one second of his suffering as an unbearable eternity,
Your reflection on the suffering of all mother sentient beings
Has made it impossible for you to bear their suffering for even one second
And the wish seeking enlightenment for their sake arises without effort,
Then you have realized the supreme precious mind of enlightenment.

The Reason to Meditate on the Right View
[9] Without the wisdom realizing ultimate reality,
Even though you have generated renunciation and the mind of enlightenment
You cannot cut the root cause of circling.
Therefore, attempt the method to realize dependent arising.

Showing the Right View
[10] One who sees the cause and effect of all phenomena
Of both cyclic existence and the state beyond sorrow as forever unbetraying,
And for whom any object trusted in by the grasping mind has completely disappeared,
Has at that time entered the path pleasing the Buddhas.

The Definition of Not Having Completed the Analysis of the Right View
[11] If the appearance of dependent relation,
Which is unbetraying, is accepted separately from emptiness,
And as long as they are seen as separate,
Then one has still not realized the Buddha's intent.

The Definition of Having Completed the Analysis of Right View
[12] If [these two realizations] are happening simultaneously without alternation,
And from merely seeing dependent relation as completely unbetraying
The definite ascertainment comes that completely destroys
The way all objects are apprehended [as truly existent],

At that time the analysis of the ultimate view is complete.

The Particular Special Quality of the Prasangika View
[13] Furthermore, appearance eliminates the extreme of existence
And emptiness eliminates the extreme of non-existence.
If you realize how emptiness manifests in the manner of cause and effect
Then you are not captivated by wrong notions holding extreme views.

Having Gained Definite Ascertainment, Advice on Pursuing the Practice
[14] In this way you realize exactly
The vital points of the three principal aspects of the path.
Resort to seeking solitude, generate the power of effort,
And quickly accomplish your final goal, my child.

http://www.lamayeshe.com/

പുരുഷനെന്നും, ബ്രഹ്മമെന്നും, ശൂന്യമെന്നും പറയുന്നത് ആത്മാവ്‌ തന്നെ - ലഘുയോഗവാസിഷ്ഠം

കാണപ്പെടുന്ന ഈ ലോകം, ആകാശാദിഭൂതങ്ങള്‍, നീ ഞാന്‍ എന്നീ വ്യത്യസ്തഭാവങ്ങള്‍ തുടങ്ങി എല്ല‍ാംതന്നെയും സങ്കല്‍പമല്ലാതെ മറ്റൊന്നുമല്ല. അതിനാല്‍ സങ്കല്‍പമടങ്ങിയാല്‍ ഇവയെല്ലാമില്ലാതാവും. ഭ്രഷ്ടാവും ചിദ്രൂപനുമായ ആത്മാവുമാത്രം അപ്പോള്‍ ശേഷിക്കും. ദൃശ്യങ്ങളില്ലാതാവുമ്പോള്‍ ആത്മാവിനു ഭ്രഷ്ടാവെന്ന ബന്ധമില്ലാതായിത്തീരുന്നതിനാല്‍ സങ്കല്‍പമടങ്ങിയാല്‍ കൈവല്യം കൈവന്നുവെന്നുതന്നെ പറയ‍ാം. 

പ്രതിഫലിക്കാന്‍ വസ്തുക്കളില്ലാത്തിടത്ത് കണ്ണാടി എപ്രകാരം നിര്‍മ്മലമായും സ്വസ്വരൂപമായും വിളങ്ങുന്നുവോ, അതുപോലെ ദൃശ്യങ്ങളില്ലാതായിത്തീരുമ്പോള്‍ ആത്മാവും നിര്‍മ്മലവും നിരൂപാധികവുമായി കേവലസ്വരൂപേണ വിളങ്ങും, അതുതന്നെ കൈവല്യം. ഇല്ലാത്ത സ്വപ്നം അതുപോലെ ഇല്ലാത്തതായ മറ്റൊരു സ്വപ്നത്തെ ഉണ്ടാക്കിത്തീര്‍ക്കും പോലെയാണ് ഇല്ലാത്ത് മനസ്സ് ഇല്ലാത്ത ദൃശ്യങ്ങളെ സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നത് ചലനം ഹേതുവായിട്ടാണ് ചിത്തത്തിന് പല മാറ്റങ്ങളും അപ്പഴപ്പോള്‍ വന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നത്. പ്രസ്തുത മാറ്റങ്ങള്‍തന്നെയാണ് വികാരങ്ങളും വൃത്തികളും സുഖദുഃഖങ്ങളുമെല്ല‍ാം. ചിത്തം നിശ്ചലമാവുമ്പോള്‍ ഇവയൊന്നുമുണ്ടാവുന്നില്ല നിശ്ചലമായ ജലാശയത്തില്‍ തിര-നുര-കുമിള തുടങ്ങിയവയൊന്നുമുണ്ടാവത്തതുപോലെയാണ് നിശ്ചലമായ മനസ്സില്‍ വികാരങ്ങളും വൃത്തികളുമൊന്നും പൊന്താനിടയാവാതിരിക്കുന്നത്.

മഹാപ്രളയകാലത്തു കാണപ്പെടുന്ന ലോകങ്ങളെല്ല‍ാം നശിക്കുന്നു. ആത്യന്തികയായ ഒരു ശാന്തി മാത്രം അപ്പോള്‍ ശേഷിക്കുന്നു. ഒരിക്കലും അസ്തമിക്കാത്ത ആത്മദേവനാകുന്ന ആദിത്യന്‍ മാത്രം അപ്പോള്‍ വിളങ്ങുന്നു. മറ്റെല്ല‍ാം ഇല്ലാതായിത്തീരുന്നു. അപ്പോള്‍ ശേഷിക്കുന്ന ആത്മസ്വരൂപമാകട്ടെ വാക്കിനോ മനസ്സിനോ എത്താവുന്നതല്ല. മുക്തന്മാരാല്‍ പ്രാപിക്കുപ്പെടുന്നു എന്നു മാത്രം പറയ‍ാം. ആത്മാദി ശബ്ദങ്ങള്‍കൂടിയും അവിടേയ്ക്കു വെറും കല്‍പനകളാണ്; അല്ലാതെ സ്വാഭാവികങ്ങളല്ല. 

സ‍ാംഖ്യന്മാര്‍ പുരുഷനെന്നും, വേദാന്തികള്‍ ബ്രഹ്മമെന്നും, വിജ്ഞാനികള്‍ വിജ്ഞാനമെന്നും, ശൂന്യവാദികള്‍ ശൂന്യമെന്നും പറയുന്നതൊക്കെയും ഇതേ ആത്മാവിനെത്തന്നെയാണ്.

Courtesy : http://sreyas.in/ulpathiprakaranam-laghuyogavasishtam-03#ixzz2IDRTXmjx

യോഗവാസിഷ്ഠം നിത്യപാരായണം

Bodhisattva Attitude - Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Generate bodhicitta to achieve Vajrasattva, the Great Victorious One, for all sentient beings

This last line is the special motivation to practice tantra, to achieve the unii ed state of Vajradhara or full enlightenment in the quickest way possible for sentient beings. His Holiness Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche explained that Vajrasattva, the Great Victorious One (Dorje Sempa Gyälpoche), has both an interpretive and a dei nitive meaning.

 The rough meaning of this is:
Generate bodhicitta to achieve enlightenment for all sentient beings.

The Kadampa teachings explain the reason for doing this:

I is the root of all negative karma; it is to be instantly thrown very far away. Others are the originator of my enlightenment; they are to be immediately cherished.

Bodhisattva Attitude – How to Decicate Your Life to Others by Lama Zopa Rinpoche  brings together several motivations taught by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to be used first thing each morning to generate a bodhicitta motivation. Rinpoche particularly emphasizes the need for have a very clear direction and purpose in life.  Enlightenment depends on first generating bodhicitta, and training our minds in these motivations and in the bodhisattva attitude helps us to do that. In some ways, these Bodhisattva Attitude verses are reminiscent of the famous prayer attributed to St. Francis, which directs our lives to selfl essness and altruism. Similarly, this bodhisattva attitude opens our hearts to others and directs our minds towards enlightenment. This free ebook was just finished (2012), download it here (276 pages/11.6 Mb):

Bodhisattva Attitude

THE ESSENCE OF RIBHU GITA

The following verses constitute the teachings of Siva to Ribhu,
who in turn transmits those teachings to his disciple Nidhaga Rishi.
The treatise goes by the name Ribhu Gita.

5. The universe was neither born, nor maintained, nor
dissolved; this is the plain truth. The basic screen of pure
Being-Awareness-Stillness devoid of all the moving shadow
pictures of name and form of the universe is the sole, eternal
Existence. (Ch.2, v.33)

6. Some may argue that this universe of duality (multiple
existences) is a factual second reality, clearly seen by the senses
operated by the mind. But then, are the senses anything apart
from the mind? Can they function without the support of the
mind in which they are imbedded? What is this mind except a
bundle of thoughts? What are thoughts except evanescent
ripples in the still, limitless ocean of pure Being-Awareness-Self,
which is the sole Existence without a second? (Ch. 2, v.34)

7. The existence of the illusion of silver in mother of pearl
is not a reality apart from the reality of mother of pearl, which
is the basic reality. The illusion of the universe is based on the
mind, which again is an illusion based on the still AwarenessBeing-Self. (Ch.2, v.35)

 8. In the unitary, undifferentiated still ocean of ExistenceAwareness-Self,
body, senses, mind, intellect and jivas (embodied
souls) are nothing but evanescent ripples not apart from that
sole Self. (Ch.4, v.6)
9. The universe of name and form, the embodied creatures
and their creator, mind, desire, Karma (action), misery and
everything other than the Self, are merely thought formations
projected by the powers of the Self on its screen — Self. (Ch.5, v.25)

24. The total discarding of the mind is alone victory,
achievement, bliss, yoga, wisdom and liberation. The sacrifice
of the mind is, in fact, the totality of all sacred sacrifices.
(Ch.15, v.7)

25. The firm denial of the existence of the mind and the
firm belief in the existence of Brahman-Self, is the sure way to
the conquest of mind, leading to the experience of the sole
effulgent Self. (Ch.15, v.11)

26. If one gives the slightest room for the thought that the
mind exists, pure Awareness itself will vibrate as the ruffled mind,
which is the parent of all trouble and illusions. Therefore, one
should ever abide in the conviction that there is no mind, and
that the pure Awareness-Self is the sole Existence. This is the
easy way to conquer the mind with all its vagaries. (Ch.15, v.12)

27. There is no such thing as the troublesome mind, no
world of names and forms, not the least bit of ego. All these are
nothing but the perfect Brahman-Self, which I am. In this
conviction one should abide firmly, until one achieves the state
of sleepless-sleep which is alert-peace-eternal. (Ch.16, v.7)

The True Samadhi
28. To hold on to the conviction born of Self-enquiry
that “I am no doubt the Screen — Brahman-Self, and the world
picture thereon, though evanescent, is no doubt ‘I am Self’
only”, and to abide still and blissful in that conviction is the
acme of all sadhanas, like divine worship, charitable gifts, spiritual
austerities, mantra-japa and samadhi as well. (Ch.16, v.41)

29. The Self alone is the spontaneous self effulgent
Awareness; that alone is eternal bliss; that alone is Existence
everlasting; that alone is all embracing perfection, the sole Godhead
without a rival and the sole primordial stuff of the
Universe. In the conviction born of this experience, one should
ever abide, as the sole I AM, the Supreme Self. (Ch.17, v.29)

Essence-of-Ribhu-Gita-ebook.pdf

The story about origin of Ribhu Gita -Ramana Maharshi


"Though Ribhu had several disciples he had some special affection for Nidagha because of his thorough knowledge of the sastras, his pure mind and great devotion to the Guru. Ribhu taught him in great detail and clarity the essentials of Advaita philosophy. Even so, his sishya's mind was steeped largely in the performance of karma and so he could not keep steady in the path of jnana taught by the Guru. He was performing all the rituals as laid down in Karma-Kanda and went to live in his native place. Even though he was living far away, the Guru's concern for Nidagha was growing from day to day. So Ribhu was going to Nidagha's place now and then to see how far he was getting disassociated from the Karma-Kanda (performance of karma). Once in a while he used to go incognito also.

"On one occasion, Ribhu went in the guise of a villager and found Nidagha standing and watching the king coming out of the Raj Bhavan in a royal procession. Nidagha did not notice Ribhu coming from behind. The latter wanted to test Nidagha and so said, `Why is there a big crowd here?'

Nidagha: (without looking behind and not knowing who the questioner was) The Rajah is going in a procession.

Ribhu: Oho! The Rajah is going in a procession! Who is the Rajah!

Nidagha: There you see. The one on the elephant; that is the Rajah.

Ribhu: What? What do you say? Did you say that the Rajah is on the elephant? Yes. I see both of them. But who is the Rajah and who is the elephant?

Nidagha: What is all this nonsense? You say you can see both. Don't you know the one above is Rajah and the one below is the elephant?

Ribhu: What? What did you say? Please tell me clearly.

Nidagha: What a nuisance! It is difficult to explain anything to a man like you. How often should I tell you the same thing? Now listen. The one above is the Rajah and the one below is the elephant. Have you understood it now at least?

Ribhu: I am sorry. Please don't get angry with a simpleton like myself. I pray, one more word. You say above and below. My dear sir, please tell me what exactly it means.

Nidagha: (With great anger) How funny! You can see the one above; that is the Rajah. The one below is the elephant. What nonsense do you mean by saying that you do not know what is above and what is below?

Ribhu: Yes. Yes! It is true. I see both. But I do not understand what is meant by above and below.

Nidagha: (Unable to contain his anger) What nonsense! If you cannot understand that which is obvious and visible the only way to make you understand is to give you a practical demonstration. I shall do so now. Bend down. You will then understand everything fully.

"That rustic labourer bent down as directed. Nidagha sat on him and said, `Now, now look. Do you understand? I am above you like the Rajah, and you are below me, like the elephant. Is it all right? Do you understand clearly?'

Ribhu: No. I have not yet understood. I am still unable to know the meaning. You say you are above me like the Rajah and that I am under you like the elephant. I am able to understand to the extent that the Rajah is above and the elephant is below. You say, `You' and `I.' That I am not able to understand. Whom are you addressing when you say `You' and `I'? Please explain this clearly in some detail.

"He said all that in a calm and dignified tone.

"When Nidagha heard this question aimed at him pointedly, he realised the nonexistence of separate entities as `You' and `I' and that they merge in the consciousness of the Self. So instinctively, he realised his mistake, jumped down and fell at the feet of the rustic, who, he felt could be no other than his Guru as he had made his mind turn from outer distinctions to the TRUTH that is the Self. He folded his hands and expressed his deep gratitude for the great revelation and thanked him for all that he had done for him. Ribhu again explained to him the state of Reality and taught how to abide in the Self. That teaching is Ribhu Gita. In that Gita the Self and the Self alone is dealt with at great length."


~ Sri Ramana Maharshi

(Source: 'Letters from Sri Ramanasramam'; 25th April, 1948)

Various Gitas

Ashtavakra Gita Quotes

• You are neither earth, water, fire, air or even ether.
  For liberation know yourself as
  consisting of consciousness, the witness of these.
   
• You are unconditioned
  and changeless, formless and immovable,
  unfathomable awareness and unperturbable,
  so hold to nothing but consciousness.
   
• You are not bound by anything.
  What does a pure person like you need to renounce?
  Putting the complex organism to rest,
  you can go to your rest.
   
• Truly I am but pure consciousness,
  and the world is like a conjuror's show,
  so how could I imagine there is anything there
  to take up or reject?
   
• Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything,
  grieve about anything, reject anything,
  or hold on to anything, and is not pleased about anything
  or displeased about anything.
   
• The essential nature of bondage is nothing other than desire,
  and its elimination is known as liberation.
  It is simply by not being attached to changing things that the
  everlasting joy of attainment is reached.
   
• Happiness belongs to no-one but that supremely lazy man
  for whom even opening and closing his eyes is a bother.
   
• Realising that pleasure and pain,
  birth and death are from fate,
  and that one's desires cannot be achieved,
  one remains inactive -
  and even when acting does not get attached.
   
• Being pure consciousness -
  do not disturb your mind with thoughts of for and against.
  Be at peace and remain happily in yourself, the essence of joy.
   
• Desire springs from usage, and aversion from abstention,
  but the wise man is free from the pairs of opposites like a child,
  and becomes established.

Ribhu Gita Quotes

• Abide as That in which there is neither desire nor anger, neither greed nor delusion, neither ill-will nor pride, no impurities of mind and no false notions of bondage and liberation - and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
   
• Abide as That in which there are no concepts or anything else whatsoever, the ego ceases to exist, all desires disappear, the mind becomes extinct and all confusions come to an end - and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
   
• Abide as That in which there are no Holy Scriptures or sacred books, no one who thinks, no objection or answer to it, no theory to be established, no theory to be rejected, nothing other than one Self - and be always happy, free from the least trace of thought.
   
• Pure and impure thoughts are a feature of the mind. There are no wandering thoughts in the Supreme Being. Therefore, abide as That and, free from the pure and impure thoughts of the mind, remain still like a stone or a log of wood. You will then be always happy.
   
• By constantly thinking of the undifferentiated Supreme Being and forgetting thereby all thoughts, including the thought of the Supreme Being, you will become the all-comprehensive Supreme Being. Even a great sinner who hears and understands this teaching will get rid of all his sins and become the undifferentiated Supreme Being.
   
• Abide as That in which there is no debate, no success or failure, no word or its meaning, no speech, no difference between the soul and the Supreme Being, none of the manifold causes and consequences - and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
   
• Abide as That in which there are no fears of hell, no joys of heaven, no worlds of the Creator God or the other Gods, or any object to be gained from them, no other world, no universe of any kind - and be always happy, without the least trace of thought.
   
• “Everything is the Supreme Being, which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, and I am That” By constantly cultivating this pure thought, get rid of impure thoughts. Then, my son, discarding even that thought and always inhering in the State of Fullness, you will become the non-dual and undifferentiated Supreme Being and attain liberation.
   
• Abide as That in which there are neither thoughts nor a thinker, neither the arising nor the preservation nor the dissolution of the world, nothing whatsoever at any time - and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.

Uddhava Gita Quotes

·         Actual heaven is the predominance of the mode of goodness, whereas hell is the predominance of ignorance
 

·         The yogi who has taken shelter of Me remains free from hankering because he experiences the happiness of the soul within. Thus while executing this process of yoga, he is never defeated by obstacles.
 

·         The material universe that you perceive through your mind, speech, eyes, ears and other senses is an illusory creation that one imagines to be real due to the influence of maya (illusion). In fact, you should know that all of the objects of the material senses are temporary.
 

·         An enlightened person fixed in detachment engages his body in lying down, sitting, walking, bathing, seeing, touching, smelling, eating, hearing and so on, but is never entangled by such activities. Indeed, remaining as a witness to all bodily functions, he merely engages his bodily senses with their objects and does not become entangled like an unintelligent person.
 

·         Happiness derived from the self is in the mode of goodness, happiness based on sense gratification is in the mode of passion, and happiness based on delusion and degradation is in the mode of ignorance. But that happiness found within Me is transcendental.
 

·         Any person, whether man or woman, who worships Me with loving devotion, offering his or her prescribed duties unto Me without material attachment, is understood to be situated in goodness.
 

·         One who is enriched with good qualities is actually said to be rich, and one who is unsatisfied in life is actually poor. A wretched person is one who cannot control his senses, whereas one who is not attached to sense gratification is a real controller. One who attaches himself to sense gratification is the opposite, a slave.
 

·         When consciousness becomes clear and the senses are detached from matter, one experiences fearlessness within the material body and detachment from the material mind. You should understand this situation to be the predominance of the mode of goodness, in which one has the opportunity to realize Me.
 

·         Faith directed toward spiritual life is in the mode of goodness, faith rooted in fruitive work is in the mode of passion, faith residing in irreligious activities is in the mode of ignorance, but faith in My devotional service is purely transcendental.

Avadhuta Gita Quotes

• Know Atman to be one, ever the same, changeless.
  How canst though say: "I am the meditator, and this is the object of meditation?"
  How can perfection be divided?
   
• On the destruction of a jar, the space therein unites with all space.
  In myself and Shiva I see no difference when the mind is purified.
   
• O my mind, why dost thou cry?
  Realize thy Atman, O Beloved; drink the timeless great nectar of non-duality.
   
• Why do the wise imagine the bodiless Brahman to be a body?
  In It there is neither day nor night, neither rising nor setting.
   
• The Avadhut in unshakable equanimity, living in the holy temple of nothingness, walks naked, knowing all to be Brahman.
   
• There is but one antidote to the poison of passions, which beget infatuation and are highly dangerous, and that is to return to the state of Atman. Atman is unapproachable by the emotions, is ever formless and independent.
   
• Consciousness absolute has no body. It cannot be said that It is without a body or attributes. All that can be said is that It is bliss absolute, and that bliss am I. This is the height of worship, and this is the culmination of all prayer.

Upanishads Quotes

• Knowing that great and all-pervading Self by which one sees (the objects) both in the sleep and the waking states, the intelligent man grieves no more. - Katha Upanishad
   
• In order to realize the Self, renounce everything. Having cast off all (objects), assimilate yourself to that which remains. - Annapurna Upanishad
   
• Dissolve the self in the supreme Self as the pot-space is dissolved in infinite space; then, as the Infinite be silent for ever, O sage! – Adhyatma Upanishad
   
• Liberated from the grip of egoism, like the moon (after the eclipse), full, ever blissful, self-luminous, one attains one’s essence. – Adhyatma Upanishad
   
• It is indeed the mind that is the cause of men’s bondage and liberation. The mind that is attached to sense-objects leads to bondage, while dissociated from sense-objects it tends to lead to liberation. – Amrita-Bindu Upanishad
   
• When all longings that are in the heart vanish, then a mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman (infinite consciousness) here. - Katha Upanishad
   
• Oneness with the beyond is his message of salvation.
  The non-duality of eternal bliss is his god.
  Mastery of the inner senses is his guiding light. - Nirvana Upanishad
   
• Those who are clever in arguments about Brahman, but are without the action pertaining to Brahman (infinite consciousness) and who are greatly attached to the world – those certainly are born again and again (in this world) through their Ajnana (ignorance). – Tejo-Bindu Upanishad
   
• Whether the body perishes now or lasts the age of moon and stars, what matters it to me having Consciousness alone as my body ? What matters it to the sky in the pot, whether it (the pot) is destroyed now or exists for a long time. – Varaha Upanishad

Quotes from Tripura Rahasya

(Tripura Rahasya is an ancient prime text on Advaita in Sanskrit
and was highly commended by Ramana Maharshi for study by seekers.)

• The Self is always peaceful.
   
• As long as the ignorance of the self lasts, so long will there be misery.
   
• You are not the body, nor the senses, nor the mind, because they are all transient. The body is composed of food, so how can you be the body?
   
• The Self is pure unblemished consciousness. Be quick! Realize it quickly and
  gain transcendental happiness!
   
• The sole necessity for Self-realization is purity of mind. The only impurity
  of the mind is thought. To make it thought-free is to keep it pure.
   
• Unbroken supreme awareness even in the dream
  state is the mark of the highest order.
   
• Moksha (liberation) is not to be sought in heavens,
  on earth or in the nether regions. It is synonymous with
  Self-realisation.
   
• Moksha (liberation) is not anything to be got afresh, for it is
  already there only to be realized. Such realization arises with
  the elimination of ignorance.
   
• Retire into solitude, analyse and see what those
  things are which are cognized as mine; discard them all and
  transcending them, look for the Real Self.
   
• Dispassion for the pleasures of life arises in a devotee
  who gradually begins to long for knowledge of the truth and
  becomes absorbed in the search for it.
   
• Has anyone ever got anything great, without
  contact with the wise? In any case, it is the company
  which determines the future of the individual.
   
• The ignorant are not aware of the pure Self; they
  see it as always blemished and hence they believe in the
  reality of objective knowledge. They are therefore affected
  by the pleasures and pains of life.

Ribhu Gita Quotes

Uddhava Gita Quotes

Avadhuta Gita Quotes

Jalaluddin Rumi Quotes

Ashtavakra Gita Quotes

Ananandamayi Ma Quotes

Nirvana Upanishad Quotes

Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Quotes

Quotes from Advaita Book Tripura Rahasya