Quotes about Param-Atman and meditation
Michael
Vyasa says, 'I have made a critical study of the scriptures several times.
The gist of all that, as I found, is that we should think of the
Param-Atman all the time'. As soon as any other thought enters the mind,
we are in the grip of Maya or illusion, which catches hold of us and takes
us very far away. The individual or our Self is a part of the Param-Atman,
and it has come into the world for the sake of discovering joy. But
instead of that it has fallen into the trap of ignorance. Ignorance is
forgetting the reality. It is the root cause of all the troubles
associated with the world. Therefore the biggest of all the troubles is to
forget the reality. And, by forgetting the reality, we mean forgetting
that only Param-Atman is real and the sensory world is unreal.
Do not think that the world around you - your house, your money, your
body- are insubstantial. Rather, it is your feeling of attachment to them
that is insubstantial. Whatever is happening around you is right, but what
is wrong is the view you are taking of it. If you could correct your
viewpoint, you would be happy, The common outlook is that the world is
everything, and that Param-Atman is nothing. It is a crime to hold this
view, and the punishment for it is to be imprisoned in this physical body.
You cannot be happy while undergoing a term of imprisonment. Our mind has
the property of thinking of something or other all the time; it cannot
remain idle. If it does not remember the Param-Atman, it would think of
the world. Remembering the Param-Atman leads to happiness, and thinking of
the world leads to unhappimess. It is true that people do not find it easy
to hold the Param-Atman in mind. The reason for that is lack of practise.
As long as the ability has not been acquired, there would be difficulty.
But the ability can certainly be acquired. You have a mind, you have a
body, and you have intelligence. Let the mind be trained to remember the
Param-Atman, let the body do service to Him, and let the intelligence
discriminate.
And by whom are these two quotes? (Maharishi?)
The method of meditation is to lead us from duality to unity. This method
is not the end. It is like a rope through which we can go into the well or
come out. Once the necessary job is accomplished, it is left behind. The
mantra is not unity, it only leads to unity where the world of division
has no validity. This unity is the Absolute, known as Truth, Consciousness
and Bliss. Once we reach there, a miraculous alchemy takes place, and the
being is charged with energy just as one gets a battery charged for
further use. If, in meditation, after sounding the mantra, we start
looking for anything, maybe a sound or substance, we undo the meditation.
Even talking of 'appreciation' is duality. In deep meditation we don't
even appreciate the peace, truth, bliss or consciousness; we in fact
become peaceful, truthful, blissful and conscious of the Self. One must
give up all ideas of appreciating anything about the mantra. This is
exactly opposite to what meditation stands for. Start the mantra and do
nothing but follow the mantra. The mantra will naturally settle down into
the unity where there is no activity and no division.
Don't fight with your desires; don't try to push them out; don't try to
settle them. But just be carefree about them; get the 'couldn't care less'
attitude. Just lose them, neglect them, and they will go away one by one.
Don't struggle with them. I tell you that it is the only way it can be
done.
Richard (Little Dick) Williams
> By whom are the following two quotes? (Guru Dev?)
Michael - Please read the writings of L. B. Shriver.
Forum: alt.meditation.transcendental
Thread: What Guru Dev Really Said
Subject: Don't get involved in philosophical confusions.
Author: Willytex
Updated: 03/03/2004
This page uploaded for easy reading:
http://www.willytex.org/archives/maharishi/gurudev/mahayogiraj.htm
Guru Dev (i) was a Dasanami Sannyasin of the Saraswati Order founded by
Shankara Acharya. According to most all accounts Guru Dev followed the
Adwaita Philosophy, which is based on the belief in one reality. The
chief exponents of this philosophy say that the belief in one reality is
derived from the utterances of illumninated men and women who lived in
ages past and who were fully realized. It might be worthwhile to enquire
what these enlightened people said, and to ponder on their sayings.
Acharya Sankara (ii) founded the Dasanami order in 792 A.D. at Badrika
(iii) in the Himalayas. He is the author of the Sutra Bhasya, that is,
the celebrated commentary on the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana. (iv)
According to Sankara Acharaya, we know of the one reality, not by any
apriori knowledge or experience nor through discursive reasoning. We
know of the one reality by reading about it in the scriptures. Acharya
Shree not only read and pondered the sayings of the ancients, but he put
into effect a way to verify by thinking and then realization, a mean to
a higher knowledge, as did the rishis of old. In a nutshell, the basic
truth of the Vedantic one reality is found through knowledge - 'Know
thyself' is the perinnial philosophy leading to the glorious prescence.
The first question is obviously, 'Who Am I, really?'?
But, before we can answer this question we need to know by what means
can we gain true knowledge? We know the world around us primarily
through the senses, ours eyes and our ears. We can read, listen and
think, but what about human error? That's something that should not be,
because if error exists, how can we ever know the truth? If things are
not as they seem, by what means can we know things as they really are?
Therefore, the first postualte in any enquiry is that we see defectively
and the defect is ours - not in the object seen. For example, in the
evening we see a snake, which turns out to be a rope; a thief in the
night turns out to be a fence post; we see double vision,
horn-on-a-hair, sky-flowers, etc., etc.
One of the main axioms of Adwaita is that we can know about the ultimate
truth by consulting wise men of the past. The ancient philosopher-saints
who composed the the Upanishads have pointed out one important thing -
there is human error. It's as if the absolute truth is there all the
time but for some reason we don't see it. This state has been compared
to the dream state by Gaudapada Acharya, (vi) in which things and events
are not real, yet not unreal either. Fact is, we don't see things
exactly as they are - we see only parts of the whole. And, the mere fact
of seeing changes the properties of the things seen. If things aren't as
they seem, then how can know for sure if anything will be really real?
If things appear to be so, but are in fact not so, then why so? If
humans can err in the present what would have prevented the wisest of
men in the past from committing an error?
By establishing the fact that we are bound by error, we can then enquire
as to the means by which we can free ourselves and gain knowledge. But,
the knowledge neeeded is transcendental knowledge, a special kind of
knowledge that is beyond normal discursive reasoning. Acharya Shankara
postulated that we can know the real through transcendental knowledge -
knowledge of the real will set us free. In a nutshell, we must get a
spiritual experience.
We know enough about ourselves to know that we do not know everything.
For example, we know about the laws of thermodynamics, a part of which
states that energy is neither created nor destroyed. We already know
that not a single particle of dust will ever escape from this world and
go away to another place. Burning camphor at arotik produces gases which
if collected would equal the exact amount of matter as the camphor just
burned.
We know that everything is inter-dependant, just like Indra's Net - we
already know about the natural law of relationships and the second law
of thermodynamics - for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. Everything depends on something else, from the highest deva
down to a blade of grass.
We know that things happen for a reason, that is, events are caused, and
we know that there are no random events. Whatever goes up, must come
down and human excrement always flows downstream. The idea that
everything is connected is thus supported by science, and scientists
have come very near to proving it. And natural law seems reasonable,
predictable and ordered. When was the last time that you doubted the law
of cause and effect? But, because we can't know everything, we make
mistakes - it's only human, right? We correct ourselves by thinking,
reasoning and by asking what others in the past have concluded about
such and such events.
But, according to Shankara Acharya, there is another kind of knowledge -
a transcendental knowledge that is not dependent on words, concepts, or
discursive reasoning, nor dependent on sense experience or verbal
knowledge of any kind.
Once we have formualted the query 'Who am I' and after we have
established the valid means of knowing, then we can enquire as to the
means of correcting our errors.
Following the thesis that the ancient rishis and sages had experienced
Unity Conciousness and had talked about it, commented on it, and
explained it, the answer to the question of practice must be in the
sayings of the Masters themselves. That is, the Masters must have left
instructions for us to follow, so that we could replicate their
experience. What did they say and what were there instructions, really?
In Shankara Acharya's Dakshina-murti Stotram, Shankara advises that for
our practice we should meditate on the South-Facing Form, that is, a
north-facing posture of meditative devotion to the Glorious Presence.
How, exactly, is this accomplished?
Here are the directions for practicing transcendental meditation
enumerated by the Adi Shankara Acharya:
"Devotion to that Glorious Presence,
Infinite Instructor, Who,
By means of the auspicious hand-sign,
Makes clear to the worshippers
His own real nature
Always shining within as "I,"
Following into all the successive states-
And those beginning with waking." (d)
The auspicious hand-sign in Sanskrit literature is refered to as the
symbol of wisdom or the mark of the "I" conciousness, which represents
"Knowing that I am", or "Knowing that I know." The auspicious hand-sign
meditation reminds us of the absolute truth, the circle made by the
thumb and the forefinger is the symbol of unity - a space that is empty,
yet full at the same time. It is the symbol of the one reality and for
Shankara, the one-without-a-second. In this stotram Shankara Acharya is
advocating the yogic practice of TM via a meditation on the form of the
attributeless Brahman by use of a mudra, the auspicious hand-sign being
the mnemonic device par-excellence. Guru Dev appartently agrees with this.
The auspicious handsign - Guru Dev in Padma Asana, Mahayogiraj:
http://willytex.home.texas.net/quest/mahayogiraj.htm
According to Guru Dev, "Brahman is Light, it needs no other light to
illuminate it." (a)
Do these statements by Guru Dev indicate a means to gain transcendental
knowledge? In other words, did Guru Dev teach or practice a technique
that was similar to the practice of TM?
I think it does and in support of my statement I present here the first
lines of Shankara Acharaya's commentary on the Brahma Sutras. The first
sentence in the Brahma Sutras is: "Now, an enquiry into Brahman." Thus
Badarayana establishes from the very beginning that the ancient
philosophers were concerned with the absolute truth, which is
everywhere, which they termed Brahman. Badarayana believed that the
truth can be known based on the four great dicta found in the
Upanishads. Shankara Acharya (v)
All transcendental devotees following the Advaita School of Philosophy,
which includes the Saraswati Sampradaya, salute the entire
Guruparampara, starting from Lord Shiva himself with Adi Shankara in the
middle till our present Guru, Maharishiji. However, we Maharishi
Bhagavats are indeed blessed, as I find our relationship with Adi
Shankara, vis a vis our devotion to Guru dev, is much more intense than
what is generally understood by regular practitioners of TM alone.
Anyway, in this age of darkness called the Kali Yuga, apparently, hardly
anyone reads Sanskrit or understands the Vedas anymore, even in
translation. About the best we can do now is to ponder the ancient
sayings, try not to harm anything, do good to others, and try to be
practical and enjoy life, what's left of it. I'm donating everything to
West Texas Rehab and getting back to the basics - this could be my last
message, but probably not.
I think it's important to understand the law of the excluded middle: you
are not going to get any more than you are going to get and wanting to
change that which cannot be changed will only result in despair.
Guru Dev has also said "Don't get involved in philosophical confusions." (b)
Rocks Are Melting: The Everyday Teachings of Brahmananda
Saraswati Yahoo! egroups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/7617
Textual Sources:
a. Rocks Are Melting: The Everyday Teachings of Brahmananda Saraswati
Original title: Nectar of the Advice of Shri Shankaracharya (forthcoming)
b. The Whole Thing the Real Thing
The official biography of Shree Guru Deva
c. Text and Context
J. Randolp Coplin, Ph.D.
d. TM by Robert Hollings...
e. The Glorious Presence
Chapter 25, Dakshine-murti, Shankara's Ode to the South-Facing Form
Translation by Ernest Wood
p. 198
Biographical Notes:
Maharaj Shri, Rajaram Mishra, was born on Thursday, December 21, 1870.
in village Gana, near Ayodhya. [1]
On Sunday, 20 December 1868 in the village of Gana close to Ayodhya,
Rajaram Mishra was born. [2]
Several different accounts agree that Guru Dev was born on Thursday,
which was the 21st. December 29th 1868 was Sunday. [3]
He was the real thing. [2]
He was born on the 20th December 1868, but his hour of nativity claimed
him for the recluse order and for that of the secular. [4]
Archives:
The auspicious handsign - Guru Dev in Padma Asana, Mahayogiraj:
http://www.willytex.org/images/maharishi/gurudev/mahayogiraj.jpg
Rocks Are Melting: The Everyday Teachings of Brahmananda
Saraswati Yahoo! egroups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/7617
Works Cited:
1. "Maharishi: The Biography"
By Paul Mason
Element 1997
Barnes and Noble
A Critical Review of the man who brought TM to the West.
p. 5
2. "The Whole Thing, The Real Thing"
By Rameshwar Tilwari
Delhi 1977
The Biography of Sri Swami Bramhananda Saraswati, Shankacharya of
Jyotirmath.
Hardback. Illustrated.
p. 11
3. "Our Spiritual Heritage"
By Lynn D. Napper
Hesperides Books, 1998
An informal history of the Shankacharya Tradition by an early adopter of
TM, TTC 1968.
Paper. Illustrated. Bibliography.
p. 99
4. "Love and God"
By Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
SRM Publications, Oslo Norway 1965
Official Biography of Guru Dev by Mahesh Yogi - 'Our Guiding Light'
p. 6
5. "Strange Facts About a Great Saint"
By Raj P. Varma
Jabalpur, India
Varma & Sons Pub. 1980
p.10
Notes:
i. Rajaram Mishra, later to become Swami Bramhananda Saraswati, was born
on Thursday, 21 December, 1868 in village Gana, which is close to the
city of Ayodhya, in North India. Rajaram was enrolled at the Sanskrit
Institute at Kashi at the age of eight and later became a student of
Swami Krishnanand Saraswati of Utter Kashi.
Rajaram took the renounced order and became Chaitanya Brahmachari. He
was well known and often referred to as 'Guru Dev'. By the age of
twenty-five, it is said that Chaitanya had become fully established in
Unity Conciousness and had completed a full study of the Scriptures.
At the turn of the century, at age 34, at the Khumbha Mela at
Allahahabad, Chaitanya was ordained by his master into the order of
Sanyas, thus becoming Sri Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, and recieved the
insignia of the Holy Tradition of Sri Adi Shankaracharya.
On Tuesday, 1 April 1941, at the age of 72, Swami Brahmamanda Saraswati
was invested, with traditional rites, as the Shankaracharya of
Jyotirmath, Badrikashram, Himalayas, and given the title Jagadguru Maharaj.
ii. Adi Shankaracharya was born in 788...
iii. The location of Jyotirmath corresponds to a former Buddhist Vihara
called Badrika, meaning 'resting place of the tree of life, the Badri
tree'. According to tradition, Shankara discovered a murti in a nearby
river and he swam out to retrieve it. The murti, actually a crude Buddha
statue in the form of a meditating yogi made from black basalt, was
installed by Shankara in a cave where used to perform his daily
devotions. It was in this cave that Shankara composed his famous
commentary on the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana.
iv. Badarayana...
v. The four great dicta...
vi. Gaudapada and the Mandukhya Upanishad -
vii. The Shri Chakra with bija mantras inscribed thereon...
Michael
> Michael wrote:
>
>> By whom are the following two quotes? (Guru Dev?)
>
> Michael - Please read the writings of L. B. Shriver.
Thank you, Willy.
The reason, why I selected these quotes, was that sometime ago James Duffy
and others published quotes here of Guru Dev, in the obvious attempt to
somehow show that his teaching was contradicting Maharishis. This
may seem so for a naive observer. But in reality he was confusing two not
entirely different, but still different enough topics, or rather
approaches. That these are two approaches and not one is clear from the
person I was quoting, whose name I am going to disclose to you just in a
minute. So, you see, the first two quotes about remembering Param-Atman,
are very clearly in the style of the Guru Dev quotes published here. They
are in fact part of the more general Hindu Bhakti heritage. So, they could
have been by Guru Dev.
Here they are again:
'Vyasa says, 'I have made a critical study of the scriptures several times.
discriminate.'
But the following quotes sound more like early Maharishi of SRM times. It
clearly is in line with Maharishis teaching about not confusing the mantra
with a meaning, not even that of the goal (God, Unity), of taking it easy
and about doing it effortlessly, etc. Here they are again:
'The method of meditation is to lead us from duality to unity. This method
is not the end. It is like a rope through which we can go into the well or
come out. Once the necessary job is accomplished, it is left behind. The
mantra is not unity, it only leads to unity where the world of division
has no validity. This unity is the Absolute, known as Truth, Consciousness
and Bliss. Once we reach there, a miraculous alchemy takes place, and the
being is charged with energy just as one gets a battery charged for
further use. If, in meditation, after sounding the mantra, we start
looking for anything, maybe a sound or substance, we undo the meditation.
Even talking of 'appreciation' is duality. In deep meditation we don't
even appreciate the peace, truth, bliss or consciousness; we in fact
become peaceful, truthful, blissful and conscious of the Self. One must
give up all ideas of appreciating anything about the mantra. This is
exactly opposite to what meditation stands for. Start the mantra and do
nothing but follow the mantra. The mantra will naturally settle down into
the unity where there is no activity and no division.
'Don't fight with your desires; don't try to push them out; don't try to
settle them. But just be carefree about them; get the 'couldn't care less'
attitude. Just lose them, neglect them, and they will go away one by one.
Don't struggle with them. I tell you that it is the only way it can be
done.'
All quotes given are from the book 'Good Company' by Swami Shantanand
Saraswathy. It is clear from the book itself and also from the quotes
cited here, that they refer to two different processes. The first one is
bhakti oriented, and means remembering God, the Absolute (Param-Atman) as
much as possiple. I am quite certain that this is also what Guru Dev
taught, but Maharishi obviously doesn't teach this. The reason maybe that
he doesn't want his teaching to be religious. Instead he advises people to
follow their respective religions.
The other process is the process of meditation clearly as it is known from
TM. Note here that also Shantanand teaches it, but as a seperate process
from simply 'remembering Paramatman'. Rather he says to not have any
ideas about the mantra, not even appreciation. I don't see why Shantanand
would teach this technique of meditation, if it was contrary to what Guru
Dev taught. It is clear that what he teaches about rememberence is from
Guru Dev (and not taught by TM), why should he deviate from his masters
teaching, if it comes to meditation? No, I think that what he taught was
the same that was also taught by Guru Dev. This is my answer to James
Duffy, who tried to imply a contradiction between Maharishi and Guru Dev.
Yet this contradiction is not there if you read the whole teaching. Of
course Swami Shantanand Saraswathy was an ordained Dandi Swami, fully
representing the Shankaracharya tradition in the line of Guru Dev. He
fully sanctioned Maharishis teaching and was even present at the first TTC
in Rishikesh and made the teachers himself! This shows that the teaching
of TM is representing the Shankara tradition, as it has been sanctioned by
three Shnakaracharyas. Shantanand himself taught westerners housholder
mantras, and he not only did this, but delegated a couple of people to
teach on his behalf. I know several people who have been taught in this
way, and there is no doubt that the teaching about meditation is not
different from TM. I find reading his books highly instructive, because it
bridges the seeming gap between Guru Devs lectures and Maharishis
teaching. It makes it absolutely cristal clear that there is no
contradiction. The mantra is only a means, and is not part of the
technique of remembering Param-Atman. If you choose to invest the mantra
with a general spiritual 'meaning', like associating it with your Istha
Devata, you may do so in a general way, but not without the warning that
you should not look upon the mantra as the goal, or unity or even
have appreciation for it, as this would certainly be the case in the
Japa of Bhakti Yoga, where the mantra is being regarded as the body of
God, yet even as God himself, and is supposed to be treated as such,
with appreciation and veneration. This is clearyl contradicted by
Shantanands quote (note also that Shantanand is not talking about Ishtas
here, as this is only a term realting to Indians and their family deities;
the general term Paramatman -God/the Absolute- is good enough for
conveying the essential meaning). Now if you say that Shantanand was not
the 'real' Shankaracharya, you still have the fact that he was a disciple
of Guru Dev, that he was a Dandi Swami, and completely entitled to teach
in this tradition and to deligate such teachings, which he did. And that
should settle the dispute, if TM rightfully represents the Shankaracharya
Tradition.
Richard (Little Dick) Williams
It seems obvious that Guru Dev lectured to groups of Bhaktas as
well as to his own Adwaitin Sannyasins. However, I am convinced
that Guru Dev taught his esoteric teachings to only a few and one
of those few was the Mahesh Yogi. I think the quotes you
submitted bear this out.
MHutchinson
I feel better about all my TM time thanks to this post of yours.
Excellent exposition on the synthesis of these two approaches (bhakti
& tm style mantra meditation)
were you around when I posted the link to the Paul Mason website?
Read "Mala", he (Paul Mason) meets two (!) of Guru Dev's original
disciples:
Paul Mason is the author of "Maharishi: the Biography of the Man that
Gave the World Transcendental Meditation"
and here's a link to a post of Paul Mason's e-mail he sent to me I
posted with his permission
I sent a letter to Mother Meera, but to Thalheim, could you e-mail me
her new address when you get to it
Also, congratulations on your upcoming kumbla trip, please post and
share with us afterwards if you are so inclined.
Michael
> were you around when I posted the link to the Paul Mason website?
> Read "Mala", he (Paul Mason) meets two (!) of Guru Dev's original
> disciples:
>
> http://www.paulmason.info/
I saw it and found it very interesting, and inspiring.
>
> and here's a link to a post of Paul Mason's e-mail he sent to me I
> posted with his permission
>
> http://groups.google.com/groups?q=paul+mason+group:alt.meditation.transcendental&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=alt.meditation.transcendental&selm=243abe17.0403200554.1f60e2cc%40posting.google.com&rnum=2
>
Good idea. Maybe he will have some info on GD in Amark.
> I sent a letter to Mother Meera, but to Thalheim, could you e-mail me
> her new address when you get to it
The adress in Thalheim is still the valid postal address:
Mother Meera
oberdorf 4a
D 64499 Thalheim
You can be sure that your letter will be read out to Ma, but you won't get
a written reply. For that you could phone on any Friday, Saturday Sunday
or Monday between 4pm - 5pm to this number :
+49 6432 508833
The new darshan location is at:
Mother Meera
Schloss Schaumburg
D 65558 Balduinstein
You can download an info paper here:
http://info.umatrix.de
You can also send a letter by fax:
+49 6436 2361
>
> Also, congratulations on your upcoming kumbla trip, please post and
> share with us afterwards if you are so inclined.
I surely will. Thanks a lot.
John Manning
Michael wrote:
*EXCELLENT* !!!
John Manning