Baul

Here is a picture of a Baul ; I have seen them ocassionally in India , singing and dancing .Rabindranath Tagore had said of the Bauls: " One day I chanced to hear a song of a Baul beggar of Bengal. It spoke of an intense yearning for the divine which is in man and not in the temple scriptures, in images or symbols. Since then I have often sought to understand these people whose songs are their only form of worship... I have fitted the tunes of the Bauls to many of my songs."

Direct Seeing

When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: ‘To whom do they arise?’ It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, “To whom has this thought arisen?”. The answer that would emerge would be “To me”. Thereupon if one inquires “Who am I?”, the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the senseorgans, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called “inwardness” (antarmukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as “externalisation” (bahir-mukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the ‘I’ which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity “I”. If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).

Ramana Maharshi.

I simply followed (my teacher's) instruction which was to focus the mind on pure being 'I am', and stay in it. I used to sit for hours together, with nothing but the 'I am' in my mind and soon peace and joy and a deep all-embracing love became my normal state. In it all disappeared -- myself, my Guru, the life I lived, the world around me. Only peace remained and unfathomable silence.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

sage

“Turn your vision inward and the whole world will be full of supreme

spirit.”

Ramana Maharshi

Tiruvannamalai

Soon I leave for the dusty temple town , where Shiva is celebrated upon the dry and rocky soil of Tiuvannamalai .Where people come to walk reverentially around a holy place such as Arunachala . The mountain is said to be Shiva , and sign of his manifestation . The sacred story goes that A subtle light ,a pillar that stretches into infinity reaches from this place and aligns with the constellation of the Paladies (karthik) in December ,which will be directly above it when throngs of people (up to 2.5 million ) will gather to light a flame of large proportion to blaze for ten to thirteen days during which there is celebrations of processions dancing and singing . To walk around the mountain is said to be wish fullfilling and granting ones desire to be liberated Eternally.

A place of Tapas, (Ganapati Sastri (also called Ganapati Muni) had visited many sacred places in India, and had learned to repeat mantras and to perform tapas (asceticism). He was not satisfied, and so he asked Ramana what tapas was. Ramana replied that if one observes the source where the notion ‘I’ arises, and the source where the mantra is produced, and if the mind is absorbed into that source, that is tapas) it can be a catalyst for burning up latent tendencies that may arise.

To sit on the mountain is good , it is a quiet and solitary place to spend some peaceful solitute before returning to the town and traffic which winds it's way around the mountain . I like to walk up to Skandashram which is a 45 minute walk up steps to a cave where Ramana Maharshi sat for a number of years . Here it is like a shade of oasis and silence , and definitely a place conducive for meditation . I find it much easier to slip into deep states of absorbtion in these places , if one can rest then the rest can be profoundly deep . Below it is another cave said to have been inhabited by the Sage Virupaksha whose remains are there within the lingam made by Ramana himself .A place that is potent with silence it is also a sauna to sit in and sweat .

In the town itself is the main temple of Arunachalaeshwara and is where the Fire lingam is presented to devotees . Tiruvannamalai has the lingam for the fire element , and so you see why it can be experienced as a place where latent tendencies can be burnt!The other places of the remaining elements are : Kalahasti - Vayu or Wind element said to be the father of Hanuman , Kanchipuram - Earth lingam said to be the place where Bodhidharma came from .Sresialam - Water lingam .There is also a lingam for Space in Chidambaram of course there is no lingam because it is full of space .

During the festival once I was in the town for the celebrations and followed the procession of the gods who were being paraded by the many people out of the main temple, caught up in the excitement of the crowds we ran down a lane way barefoot and climbed up these steps, as this is where they mounted the deity onto the giant raths or chariots which they pull around the entire temple complex . There were so many coconut husk on the ground from the offerings that I was literally walking over one vast coconut mat . This small place on the left is were I climbed to watch the procession to mount the gods into the raths .

Kingdom Within

This is it ! Is it not amazing that you can think such a thing ? That you ever feel that you are somebody walking around doing things ? Well have'nt you been on this planet long enough to look at yourself ?

'Yes!' you tell me . 'I have studied this and that , I have finished education, I am now helping people in society and I am practicing meditation . I am getting somewhere , I am endevouring to become enlightened' or 'I'm not getting anywhere, what's this? a load of crap?'

Have you looked closer than the actions you undertake everyday to inform others about yourself , or that you give to yourself ? Wandering from building to building ,talking about this and that ,dodging traffic, swearing at the driver in front of you , Yes please take a deep breath while you frenzy the day ! Do you ever consider to look within ?

What does that mean ?

Have you taken the time to see who you really are ? Really ?


Poke yourself ! Yes,...... just do that ! lift your finger and look at it . Then poke yourself . Where did you feel your fingertip ? Did it stab you somewhere in the chest area? Most people do , a very wise and gentle man in India, pointed this out sometime in the 40's . That when we point to ourselves we point to the chest area . Why? Because we take ourselves to be the shape and form of the physical body that seemingly shows the world who we are , we point to the heart area because we are the heart itself . By heart I do not mean physical but something far greater which has the capacity to see everything and hold every sight which we see , and evey feeling which we are able to perceive .Is this capacity different or separate from us ? Christ says the "Kingdom of Heaven is within! " . A great pointer and yet we take ourselves to be the mansions or the walls that form the image of who we are , we take the senses as ourselves because it is so real ! 'How can you doubt such a thing ?' You may say.

Now wait a minute .
Do you really believe that you are just made up of flesh bones and the full sensory capacity of the human body ?
No wonder scientist say you are only using 10% of your brain . What if there is some thing more than this body and mind that you take yourself to be .

The question must arise 'Who am I ?' or 'What am I ?' or even 'Where did I come from ?' And now arises the oportunity to inquire , and this is how every moment has the value of a treasure house.

Now without further ado , take this very moment to investigate and see YOURSELF as you really are .

What do I do ?

Well you have the greatest gift to begin with ,and that is YOU .Start penetrating yourself! Just as you are , seeing these words , just as you are looking at this screen . Investigate this feeling of being............ by resting with the feeling of being, just as you are, right now and with this in a very relaxed and gentle way................. see and penetrate into this feeling of being.Continue and avail yourself of the ocean which is with in you .

Jesus said, "I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart."

See where does this feeling of existing come from . Does it begin or end ?does it have a shape ? Is it vegetarian ? Is this separate and intimate to you ? Or is it intimate and closer than your very breath? does it come and go ? Is it changing?

The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our end come?"
Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is.
Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death."


For this has been written and talked about from ancient times , in the Vedas and Upanishands before the scriptures of the Christian Bible and Apocrypha were ever written and in times of great peace and harmony and it has lasted because it has the capacity of everlasting life . And these ancient lovers of truth say it is no other than Yourself . Unlimited, unbound , untouched and unutterable . No wind can destroy , no fire can burn , no flood can drown , no earth can move , no space can contain You!

Now where are your comments?