Desire for the Self or Liberation – II

[Continued from the previous post …]

 

Section II:   Sri Bhagavan’s Teachings

Folks, in Section-I the focus was on the topic ‘desire for the Self or Liberation’ from ‘Tradition’. The intention was to build up a backdrop, an appropriate framework within which to then consider Sri Bhagavan’s direct teachings on this issue. Section II now, focuses entirely on the latter.

First, to recap, the intent is to affirm the following:

• It is NOT Sri Bhagavan’s teaching that an intense desire for the Self or Liberation is the primary quality required for sadhana in His system; or that this is the one quality that is crucially, partially, or even marginally needed for Vichara. In fact, He is implying that, for the practice of Vichara, it is better left out completely.

• That Bhagavan gave this instruction on the odd occasion, only intended for “mumukshus”, those at the beginner levels, or for those with a strong Bhakti orientation.   

• For sadhakas even slightly mature, the instruction applicable is, ‘do not have any desires at all, not even for Liberation’. In effect, all vrittis have to go.

Bhagavan’s Principal Teaching with respect to Sadhana

At the start let me clarify that it is my humble belief that in Bhagavan’s teachings the principal, nay, only sadhana, is Vichara. I believe that He taught that Vichara itself is the highest form of devotion. And only when an aspirant was unable to do Vichara at all, may he (she) may carry on with japa, bhajan and other devotional practices. Note that this does NOT imply that the sadhaka does not love Isvara. As exemplified by His own example (to take but one), of shedding tears at the simple stories related to the Lord in Periya Puranam, the sadhaka has full prema and prapatti for Isvara. But the sadhana is only Vichara. Also, since Bhagavan’s concept of devotion was “full-surrender”, a state possible only when the ego is extinguished, it all loops back basically to Vichara again.

Immediately then, the discussion we had in Section I on vrittis comes into play. When the primary sadhana itself is to reduce and eliminate vrittis in the mind, how can an instruction be given that will doubtless add more vrittis in the mind in the first place? Except in a limited role, that is, at the beginning, when there are other multifarious vrittis in the mind anyway. And once the mundane worldly desires are knocked off, “mumukshutva” too has to be outgrown. [We may note here that in Vichara the elimination of vrittis is a little different from what the Yoga-Marga people interpret Maharshi Patanjali's famous sutra as. In Bhagavan's system, the vrittis are eliminated by letting them die down naturally, by focusing on the aham-vritti. The Yogis interpret the sutra to tackle the vrittis with force by trying to stop all thoughts; i.e. trying to be in a thought-free state. Bhagavan says that there may be the risk of going into mano-laya, an insensible state with no awareness, with that approach.]

From the foregoing it should follow that, any references to ‘desire for the Self or Liberation’ which may appear in Bhagavan’s works, should be identifiable as clearly intended either for the mumukshu, or for devotees whose primary sadhana was Bhakti only. For the latter, the difference in the Vichara (Jnana) and Bhakti approaches as highlighted in Section I, may be kept in mind.    

 

A Scan of Bhagavan’s Works

It should be a fair point that if a particular aspect or requirement has significant importance in the Guru’s teachings, it must find prominent mention in His original compositions, first and foremost. And then, it should appear repeatedly in the conversations recorded by sincere devotees, the reminiscences, and the other works. At the start then, we need to look for every instance in Bhagavan’s works wherein He has mentioned that the devotee needs to ‘have an intense desire for the Self or Liberation’.

 

The Original Works

[For ease of study, we may consider the book - “The Collected Works” only, as it contains all the original compositions in one place].

 

1.   The Prose Works 

These are Vichara Sangraham (‘Self Enquiry’), Nan Yar (‘Who am I?’) and Upadesa Manjari (‘Spiritual Instruction’). I believe that there is nothing directly on ‘desire for the Self or Liberation’ herein. But 2 peripheral references are taken up below:

Who am I?

Though not concerned with ‘desire for the Self or Liberation’ directly, the extraordinary opening paragraph has a reference to the ‘desire for happiness’:

“As all living beings desire to be happy always, without misery, as in the case of everyone there is observed supreme love for one’s self, and as happiness alone is the cause for love, in order to gain that happiness which is one’s nature and which is experienced in the state of deep sleep where there is no mind, one should know one’s Self. For that, the path of knowledge, the enquiry of the form ‘Who am I?’, is the principal means.”

I thought to mention this paragraph as some may interpret it to suggest that Bhagavan is recommending a conscious desire for the Self or Liberation. He is NOT. In fact, Bhagavan deftly diverts us away from that precise thought. By saying that ‘ALL’ living beings desire to be happy always, He is telling us that this is a ‘natural’ desire common to all - much as breathing and eating. On the other hand, we know that the conscious desire for Liberation is an ‘acquired’ desire, some of us may get it after reading spiritual texts etc., some may not have it at all. The natural desire to be happy but, is with every creature, whether he (she) is spiritually inclined or not, a killer, a thief, or just a lay householder. The subtle point herein, of course, is that the natural search for happiness that everyone in the world is into, is actually the search for Liberation, the person is simply unaware of it. And again, since Bhagavan says that this happiness is only obtained when there is no mind, i.e. when there is no question of any vrittis at all, it is obtained when there is no desire at all. At the end there is simply the instruction from Bhagavan, do Vichara. [This desire ‘to-be-happy’ was also discussed in “The way of the Sadhaka” in Section I].

 

Spiritual Instruction (Upadesa Manjari)

Chapter I

7. What is the significance of the saying that the nature of the real Guru is that of the Supreme Lord (Sarveshwara)?

In the case of the individual soul, which desires to attain the state of true knowledge or the state of Godhood (Ishwara) and with that object always practises devotion, the Lord who is the witness of that individual soul and identical with it, comes forth, when the individual’s devotion has reached a mature stage, in human form with the help of sat-chit-ananda, His three natural features and form and name which he also graciously assumes, and in the guise of blessing the disciple, absorbs him in Himself. According to this doctrine the Guru can truly be called the Lord.

 

‘Desire for God and Liberation’ is mentioned here by Bhagavan in a peripheral sense, to explain an unrelated query drawn from a classical text as to how the Guru is the same as Isvara. In my humble opinion, this is a reference to the quality of mumukshutva in the beginner only. Particularly so as Bhagavan says, that a Guru appears when the aspirant has reached a mature stage, thus implying that previously he (she) had the desire, he (she) was immature, i.e. at the beginner stage. Also, by saying that, “(the individual soul) … always practices devotion”, Bhagavan implies that the individual is starting with Bhakti, and the discussion is more in the context of Bhakti Marga. I would pay more attention actually to question no. 2 in this chapter, wherein Bhagavan is asked a direct question:

 

2. What are the marks of an earnest disciple (sadsishya)?

 

An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure.

 

 

Again, this would have been the perfect place for Bhagavan to give a clear statement, ‘the earnest disciple must have an intense desire for the Self or Liberation’, or something equivalent, should this attribute have been particularly important in His teachings. But His answer harks back to the opening para of “Who am I?” and the point about happiness. In fact, herein His answer is even more meaningfully worded: how does a person normally know joy? By the vrittis of joy that arise in his (her) mind. If the instruction is to ‘seek joy directly’, then the aspirant is actually seeking to generate the vrittis of joy in the mind; which is working at cross purposes, as for Mukti there should be no vrittis. Consistency in the instruction can only be if it is worded exactly as Bhagavan has done:  to seek the removal of sorrow, i.e. the removal of the vrittis of sorrow from the mind; leading to an absence of all vrittis then, from the mind; which then is the state of joy like that of deep sleep though in waking, and thus Mukti. [This query is discussed by Bhagavan in the context of vairagya, in Talk No. 302, quoted below in the “Reminiscences” section.]

 

 

 2.   The Instructional Hymns  

 

These would include Sri Arunachala Ashtakam and Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam. And the great hymns Ulladu Narpadu, Upadesa Undiyar, Anma Vidai, and Ekatma Panchakam, which are actually the instruction manuals of Vichara and sadhana in general in Bhagavan’s teachings. I believe that there is NOTHING at all herein, even remotely concerned with ‘desire for the Self or Liberation’. If anything, since these works repeatedly stress on Mukti as being our real nature only and not something to be gained from anywhere, the indirect emphasis is that desire for Mukti is not possible.

[Again, let me emphasize on a point here from Section I. The usual stance adopted by most of us is that these works describe the theoretical position only, and in practice we have to objectify the Self & Liberation. Again do remember verse 37 of Ulladu Narpadu: "That doctrine is not true which says, 'there is duality in practice and non-duality in attainment'". It is not as if the world is real during sadhana and is found unreal upon realization. It always is unreal. The jiva is not different from the Self during sadhana and becomes one with it upon realization. The two were always the same. Advaita does not come into play upon realization only, it holds true even now and always. The tenth man was always there, though he did not know it.] 

 

 

3.   The Great Devotional Hymns

 

These comprise Sri Arunachala Akshara Mana Malai, Sri Arunachala Nava Mani Malai and Sri Arunachala Padikam. 

In my humble opinion, these hymns are the highest possible expressions we can hope to find in written form, of “prema” and “prapatti” towards the Lord. There is no ‘desire’ here for anything. The Lord is loved for the Lord’s sake, that all. Nothing is wanted, nothing is needed, not even Liberation, whatever that might be! The bhakta here is already in Union with Isvara.

It may be noted that the style herein, particularly in Akshara Mana Malai, is in the form of passionate love for the Beloved, a traditional form of devotional poetry wherein the bhakta depicts himself (herself) as the lovelorn damsel yearning for her Lover and Lord, who is kind-of, playing hard to get. This naturally leads to the usage of words occasionally in a manner implying intense desire, bordering on the physical even, for the Beloved. But make no mistake, that is just the poetical expression employed to show the intense level of pure love (prema) and self-surrender (prapatti) needed in Bhakti.
 

 

***

The Reminiscences


The following is a scan of the principal records of Bhagavan’s conversations. There could be stray references in works other than those mentioned here, but those too should be analogous to what is covered herein. This lot should be enough to give us a flavour of what exactly is really out there on this issue. Again, we are looking for every instance wherein ‘desire’ in the context of the Self or Liberation, is mentioned by Bhagavan. Every instance that I could find, whether directly or even obliquely connected, whether in favour of the argument or against, and in chronological order within the work, is given here. Only a very few, which were clearly more or less similar in content to what was already covered, are left out. Also, if a conversation was found that discusses a point mentioned by me in Section I or above, that too is included. As references of the type ‘Mukti is our real nature, it is not something to be gained’ are so numerous, only a few are given here.

I have only selectively made a comment here and there, where I thought some clarification may help. Else, the reader is left to draw his (her) own conclusions as to how important this instruction may be for Vichara.


I. From “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi”


[Talk No. 3; Page 1]

A question was asked as to the nature of happiness.

 

M.: If a man thinks that his happiness is due to external causes and his possessions, it is reasonable to conclude that his happiness must increase with the increase of possessions and diminish in proportion to their diminution. Therefore if he is devoid of possessions, his happiness should be nil. What is the real experience of man? Does it conform to this view? In deep sleep the man is devoid of possessions, including his own body. Instead of being unhappy he is quite happy. Everyone desires to sleep soundly. The conclusion is that happiness is inherent in man and is not due to external causes. One must realise his Self in order to open the store of unalloyed happiness.

 

***

[Talk No. 13; Page 5]

D.: What are the aids for realisation?

 

M.: The teachings of the Scriptures and of realised souls.

D.: Can such teachings be discussions, lectures and meditations?

M.: Yes, all these are only secondary aids, whereas the essential is the Master’s grace.

D.: How long will it take for one to get that?

M.: Why do you desire to know?

D.: To give me hope.

M.: Even such a desire is an obstacle. The Self is ever there, there is nothing without it. Be the Self and the desires and doubts will disappear. Such Self is the witness in sleep, dream and waking states of existence. These states belong to the ego. The Self transcends even the ego.

 

***

 

[Talk No. 68; Page 76]

 

M.: Quite so, he also confounds vritti with knowledge. Vritti is a mode of mind. You are not the mind. You are beyond it.

The Lady: There is sometimes an irresistible desire to remain in Brahma-akara-vritti.

M.: It is good. It must be cultivated until it becomes sahaja (natural). Then it culminates as swarupa, one’s own self.

Later Sri Bhagavan explained: Vritti is often mistaken for consciousness. It is only a phenomenon and operates in the region of abhasa (reflected consciousness). The knowledge lies beyond relative knowledge and ignorance. It is not in the shape of vritti. There are no subject and object in it. Vritti belongs to the rajasic (active) mind. The satvic mind (mind is repose) is free from it. The satvic is the witness of the rajasic. It is no doubt true consciousness. Still it is called satvic mind because the knowledge of being witness is the function of abhasa (reflected consciousness) only. Mind is the abhasa. Such knowledge implies mind. But the mind is by itself inoperative. Therefore it is called satvic mind.

 

***

 [Talk No. 106; Page 104]

 

D.: So it is. How to get Bliss? [Sw. Yogananda]

M.: Bliss is not something to be got. On the other hand you are always Bliss. This desire is born of the sense of incompleteness. To whom is this sense of incompleteness? Enquire. In deep sleep you were blissful: Now you are not so. What has interposed between that Bliss and this non-bliss? It is the ego. Seek its source and find you are Bliss. There is nothing new to get. You have, on the other hand, to get rid of your ignorance which makes you think that you are other than Bliss. For whom is this ignorance? It is to the ego. Trace the source of the ego. Then the ego is lost and Bliss remains over. It is eternal. You are That, here and now.… That is the master key for solving all doubts. The doubts arise in the mind. The mind is born of the ego. The ego rises from the Self. Search the source of the ego and the Self is revealed. That alone remains. The universe is only expanded Self. It is not different from the Self.

 

***

 [Talk No. 152; Page 136]

Mrs. Kelly desired to know how she should best learn to meditate. Sri Bhagavan asked if she had made japa (rolling beads as Roman Catholics do). She said: “No”.

M.: Have you thought of God, His qualities, etc.?

D.: I have read, talked, etc. about such themes.

M.: Well, if the same be revolved in the mind without open expression through the senses it is meditation.

D.: I mean meditation as signified in The Secret Path and Who am I?

M.: Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion. After the camphor burns away no residue is left. The mind is the camphor; when it has resolved itself into the Self without leaving even the slightest trace behind, it is Realisation of the Self.

[Note: Sorry to be putting it like that, but Mrs. Kelly appears to be a beginner. Also, the “it” in the line “Long for it intensely so that the mind melts in devotion”, is basically “the same” as mentioned by Bhagavan in the previous line , “if the same be revolved in the mind …”. This “same” is originally mentioned by Bhagavan in the initial lines as “God, His qualities etc.”. This is thus an instruction to a mumukshu to have an intense love for God. As the “mind melts in devotion”, like camphor that burns away to nothing, the state of no-mind is reached …].

 

***
 

[Talk No. 183; Page 156]

A gentleman from Bombay said: “I asked Mother in Sri Aurobindo Ashram the following question: ‘I keep my mind blank without thoughts arising so that God might show Himself in His true Being. But I do not perceive anything.

“The reply was to this effect: ‘The attitude is right. The Power will come down from above. It is a direct experience’.”

So he asked what further he should do. 

M.: Be what you are. There is nothing to come down or become manifest. All that is needful is to lose the ego, That what is, is always there. Even now you are That. You are not apart from it. The blank is seen by you. You are there to see the blank. What do you wait for? The thought “I have not seen,” the expectation to see and the desire of getting something, are all the working of the ego. You have fallen into the snares of the ego. The ego says all these and not you. Be yourself and nothing more! 

***

 

[Talk No. 192; Page 164]

Maharshi explained in the course of conversation: Whoever desires liberation? Everyone wants only happiness - happiness too as found in the enjoyment of the senses. This question was asked of a Guru, and the latter answered: “Quite so. That happiness which is the result of enjoyment by the senses is the same as that of liberation. That desire of such liberation is one of the four qualifications for attainment. This is common to all. So all are eligible for this knowledge - Self-knowledge.”

 

In fact there may not be found any individual in the world who possesses all the qualities in perfection necessary for an aspirant as mentioned in Yoga Sutras, etc. Still pursuit of Self-knowledge should not be abandoned. Everyone is the Self by his own experience. Still he is not aware, he identifies the Self with the body and feels miserable. This is the greatest of all mysteries. One is the Self. Why not abide as the Self and be done with miseries? In the beginning one has to be told that he is not the body, because he thinks that he is the body only. Whereas he is the body and all else. The body is only a part. Let him know it finally. He must first discern consciousness from insentience and be the consciousness only. Later let him realise that insentience is not apart from consciousness. This is discrimination (viveka). The initial discrimination must persist to the end. Its fruit is liberation.

 

***

 
[Talk No. 256; Page 222]

 

D.: Is tanumanasi the same as mumukshutva?

 

M.: No. The six qualities, discrimination, dispassion and mumukshutva, etc., precede subhechcha. The first stage follows mumukshutva, then comes vicharana (search), then the tenuous mind. Direct perception is in sattvapatti (realisation).The Seven Jnana bhumikas (stages of knowledge) are: (1) Subhechcha (desire for enlightenment); (2) Vicharana (hearing and reflection); (3) Tanumanasi (tenuous mind); (4) Sattvapatti (Self-Realisation); (5) Asamsakti (non-attachment); (6) Padarthabhavani (absolute non-perception of objects); (7) Turyaga (beyond words).

 

***

[Talk No. 265; Page 229]

 

“I long for bhakti. I want more of this longing. Even realisation does not matter for me. Let me be strong in my longing.” 

 

M.: If the longing is there, Realisation will be forced on you even if you do not want it. Subhechcha is the doorway for realisation.

 

D.: Let it be so. But I am content with longing. Even when I am away from this place I must not relax in my devotion. May Sri Bhagavan give me the necessary strength. Such longing could only be through His Grace. I am personally too weak.

 

***

[Talk No. 268; Page 235]

  

D.: Is it morally right for a man to renounce his household duties when he once realises that his highest duty is Atma-chintana (continuous thought on the Self)?

 

M.: This desire to renounce things is the obstacle. The Self is simple renunciation. The Self has renounced all.

 

***

[Talk No. 302.; Page 274]

 

A young man from Trichy asked Sri Bhagavan on the mention in Upadesa Manjari of atyanta vairagyam (total dispassion) as the qualification of a ripe disciple. He continued: “What is vairagya? Detachment from worldly pursuits and desire for salvation. Is it not so?”

 

M.: Who has not got it? Each one seeks happiness but is misled into thinking pain associated pleasures as happiness. Such happiness is transient. His mistaken activity gives him short-lived pleasure. Pain and pleasure alternate with one another in the world. To discriminate between the pain producing and pleasure-producing matters and to confine oneself to the happiness-producing pursuit only is vairagya. What is it that will not be followed by pain? He seeks it and engages in it. Otherwise, the man has one foot in the world and another foot in the spiritual pursuit (without progressing satisfactorily in either field).

 

***

[Talk No. 354; Page 335]

 

D.: By the desire to surrender constantly, increasing Grace is experienced, I hope.

 

M.: Surrender once for all and be done with the desire. So long as the sense of doership is retained there is the desire; that is also personality. If this goes the Self is found to shine forth pure. The sense of doership is the bondage and not the actions themselves. “Be still and know that I am God.” Here stillness is total surrender without a vestige of individuality. Stillness will prevail and there will be no agitation of mind. Agitation of mind is the cause of desire, the sense of doership and personality. If that is stopped there is quiet. There ‘Knowing’ means ‘Being’. It is not the relative knowledge involving the triads, knowledge, subject and object.

 

***

[Talk No. 472; Page 461]
 

M.: The longing for happiness never fades. That is bhakti.

 

D.: How shall I get it quicker? Suppose I concentrate two hours today. If I try to lengthen the period the next day, I fall asleep because I get tired of the job.

 

M.: You do not get tired in sleep. The same person is now present here. Why should you be tired now? Because your mind is restless and wanders, it gets tired, and not you.

 

D.: I am a business man. How shall I get on with business and get peace of mind also?

 

M.: This is also a thought. Give up this thought also and remain as your true Self.

 

D.: It is said: Do your duty without any expectation of results. How shall I get that frame of mind?

 

M.: You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.

 

D.: How shall I get the bhakti necessary for it?

 

M.: It is bhakti to get rid of thoughts which are only alien to you (i.e. the Self).

 

D.: What is thought-force, mesmerism, etc.? There was a doctor in Paris called Dr. Coue. He was illiterate, but yet was able to cure many incurable diseases by will-force. He used to say: Generate power to cure yourself. The power is within you.

 

M.: It is through the same will-power that the seat of all diseases, the body, has risen.

 

D.: So it is said thoughts manifest as objects.

 

M.: This thought must be for mukti (liberation).

 

D.: God must enable us to get rid of the other thoughts.

 

M.: This is again a thought. Let that which has incarnated raise the question. You are not that because you are free from thoughts.

 

***

[Talk No. 482; Page 476]

 

After a few minutes Maharshi continued:

 

Everyone is the Self, indeed infinite. Yet each one mistakes the body for the Self. To know anything, illumination is necessary. Such illuminating agency can only be in the form of light which is however lighting the physical light and darkness. So then that other Light lies beyond the apparent light and darkness. It is itself neither light nor darkness but is said to be Light because It illumines both. It is also Infinite and remains as Consciousness. Consciousness is the Self of which everyone is aware. No one is away from the Self. So each one is Self-realised. Yet what a mystery that no one knows this fundamental fact, and desires to realise the Self?

***

[Talk No. 484; Page 478]

 

Again people often ask how the mind is controlled. I say to them, “Show me the mind and then you will know what to do.” The fact is that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you extinguish it by the thought of doing so or by a desire? Your thoughts and desires are part and parcel of the mind. The mind is simply fattened by new thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind by means of the mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source and hold on to it. The mind will then fade away of its own accord.

 

***

[Talk No. 502; Page 500]

 

D.: A sloka is quoted which means: “I do not desire kingdoms, etc. Only let me serve Thee for ever and there lies my highest pleasure.” Is that right?

 

M.: Yes. There is room for kama (desire) so long as there is an object apart from the subject (i.e., duality). There can be no desire if there is no object. The state of no-desire is moksha. There is no duality in sleep and also no desire. Whereas there is duality in the waking state and desire also is there. Because of duality a desire arises for the acquisition of the object. That is the outgoing mind, which is the basis of duality and of desire. If one knows that Bliss is none other than the Self the mind becomes inward turned. If the Self is gained all the desires are fulfilled. That is the apta kamah atma kamah akamascha (fulfilment of desire) of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. That is moksha.

 

***

[Talk No. 513; Page 513]

 

Moreover those desirous of a particular loka can by proper methods gain the same. Whereas Brahmaloka cannot be gained so long as there is any desire left in the person. Desirelessness alone will confer the loka on him. His desirelessness signifies the absence of the incentive for rebirth.

 

***

[Talk No. 520; Page 520]

 

D.: Yes, I understand. But I have a small question to ask. The state of Realisation is one of desirelessness. If a human being is desireless he ceases to be human.

 

M.: You admit your existence in sleep. You did not function then. You were not aware of any gross body. You did not limit yourself to this body. So you could not find anything separate from your Self. Now in your waking state you continue to be the same Existence with the limitations of the body added. These limitations make you see other objects. hence arises desire. But the state of desirelessness in sleep made you no less happy than now. You did not feel any want. You did not make yourself miserable by not entertaining desires. But now you entertain desires because you are limited to this human frame. Why do you wish to retain these limitations and continue to entertain desires?

 

***

[Talk No. 537; Page 531]

 

Once Sri Bhagavan said, “Desire constitutes maya, and desirelessness is God.”

 

***

[Talk No. 542; Page 532]

 

‘A’ asked: I often desire to live in solitude where I can find all I want with ease, so that I may devote all my time to meditation only. Is such a desire good or bad?

 

M.: Such thoughts will bestow a janma (reincarnation) for their fulfilment. What does it matter where and how you are placed? The essential point is that the mind must always remain in its source. There is nothing external which is not also internal. The mind is all. If the mind is active even solitude becomes like a market place. There is no use closing your eyes. Close the mental eye and all will be right. The world is not external to you. The good persons will not care to make plans previous to their actions. Why so? For God who has sent us into the world has His own plan and that will certainly work itself out.

 

***

[Talk No. 567; Page 544]

 

Sri Bhagavan explained to Mr. MacIver the first few stanzas of Sad Vidya as follows:

 

1.   The first stanza is the auspicious beginning. Why should the subject matter of the piece be brought in here? Can knowledge be other than Being? Being is the core - the Heart. How then is the Supreme Being to be contemplated and glorified? Only to remain as the Pure Self is the auspicious beginning. This speaks of attributeless Brahman according to the jnana marga (method of knowledge).

 

2.   The second stanza is in praise of God with attributes. In the foregoing, to be as one Self is mentioned; in the present one, surrender to the Lord of all. Furthermore the second indicates (1) the fit reader (2) the subject matter (3) the relationship and (4) the fruit. The fit reader is the one who is competent for it. Competence consists in non-attachment to the world and desire to be liberated.

 

[Note: Bhagavan gave this remarkable interpretation for the 2^nd Invocatory verse of Ulladu Narpadu, even though the original does not contain anything even remotely close. The importance of the quality of mumukshutva in the beginner, particularly in the Bhakti paths, is unquestioned. This is one rare instance where Bhagavan also directly acknowledges its value. Note that the 2 qualities mentioned by Bhagavan in para no. 2, vairagya and mumukshutva, coincide directly with the 2 mentioned by Sri Sankara as the most important ones out of the chatustaya in the Vivekachudamani. Also, since Bhagavan mentions them only for the Invocatory verse 2, in the context of “God with attributes”, this one again goes into the realm of Bhakti. By mentioning nothing in the context of the Invocatory verse 1, i.e. in para no. 1 above, He seems to suggest that even these 2 noble qualities are not mandatory in the Jnana Marga and the Practice of Vichara. For ease of reference, the Sad Vidya (Ulladu Narpadu) Invocatory verses are as below (from Sri T.M.P. Mahadevan’s book)]:
 

 

1.   Is there an existent awareness other than existence? Because the existence-reality exists in the Heart free from thoughts, the existence-reality is called the Heart. How to contemplate it? To exist as it exists in the heart is to contemplate it. Thus should you know.

 

2.   Those people who have intense fear of death seek as their refuge only the feet of the great Lord, who is without death and birth. Those who are dead to themselves, along with their adjuncts, will they harbour thoughts of death? They are deathless!

 

***

 

II. From the Souvenir: “Sri Ramana Smriti”; the article ‘Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi’,
      by Swami Chidbhavananda 

[Sri Bhagavan said]:   “Mind it is that binds man, and the same mind it is that liberates him. Mind is constituted of sankalpa and vikalpa – desire and disposition. Desire shapes and governs disposition. Desire is of two kinds – the noble and the base. The base desires are lust and greed. Noble desire is directed towards enlightenment and emancipation. Base desire contaminates and clouds the understanding. Sadhana is easy for the aspirant who is endowed with noble desires. Calmness is the criterion of spiritual progress. Plunge the purified mind into the Heart. Then the work is over.”

***

III. From “Guru Ramana” by S. S. Cohen; Page 56;

[A visitor remarks that it is cruel of God’s leela to make the knowledge of the Self so hard]

[Bhagavan] (laughing) – “Knowing the Self is being the Self, and being means existence – one’s own existence, which no one denies, any more than one denies one’s eyes, although one cannot see them. The trouble lies with your desire to objectify the Self, in the same way as you objectify your eyes when you place a mirror before them. You have been so accustomed to objectivity that you lost the knowledge of yourself, simply because the Self cannot be objectified. Who is to know the Self? Can the insentient body know it? All the time you speak and think of your ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’, yet when questioned you deny knowledge of it. You are the Self, yet you ask how to know the Self. Where then is God’s leela and where its cruelty? It is because of this denial of the Self by people that the Shastras speak of Maya, leela etc.”

 

***

 
IV. From “Surpassing Love”

[“Early Days”, Pg 17; This article was culled from Swami Omkar’s monthly magazine PEACE, dated September 1931. It describes the first visit of Paul Brunton (a.k.a. Raphael Hurst) to Sri Ramanasramam]

Hurst:  What are the conditions for discipleship?

Maharshi:   Intense desire for Self-realization, earnestness and purity of mind.

***

[“Conversations with Bhagavan”, by Swami Madhavatirtha, Pg 146; Also “Power of the Presence” I, Pg 241]

“The body itself is a disease. To wish for a long stay of that disease is not the aim of a Jnani. Anyhow, one has to give up identification with the body. Just as “I-am-the-body consciousness” prevents one from attaining Self-knowledge, in the same way, one who has got the conviction that he is not the body will become liberated even without his desire.”

 

***

[“Peace that Passeth All Understanding”, Pg 223; by Sw. Prasannananda Guru. This conversation took place on 2nd January 1942, when some visitors from N. India well-versed in Hindu Sastras, visited Sri Ramanasramam].

Visitor: If the ultimate Reality is one and absolute, why does the world appear as an object, seen and as different from the subject who sees it? Who is it that sees the object as distinct from himself, the subject?

 

Maharshi: Who is it that is putting this question?

 

V: One who seeks the Truth.

 

M: Who is he?

 

V: He who desires to know the Truth.

 

M: Instead of having a mere desire to know the truth, if he has the anubhava (experience) such questions as these would not arise.

 

V: True, after Realization they cannot arise. But until he has the experience, he has not only the desire for it, but also some doubts regarding the nature of ultimate Reality. Hence arises the question, why the world should appear as an object different from the subject who sees it. I do admit that the question has significance only until the desire for Realization is fulfilled. But till then, the question remains, and it has to be answered.

 

M: That there is no answer to your question is the only answer, because the question does not really arise. In order to know the truth, you who seek to know it should exist as such, i.e., as yourself, the primal being. It is therefore yourself that you should know in the first instance. It is of you that knowledge or ignorance is predicated. You said you do not know the Truth and desire to know it. Instead of engaging your mind with such thoughts as “I know,” “I am ignorant,” etc., you should direct it towards the enquiry as to what the ‘I’ itself is. Through such enquiry you will find, as a matter of experience and not merely as something to think and argue about, that what remains alone and absolute is the Self. So that your question, viz., why the world should appear as an object seen by a subject, cannot and does not at all arise. A question that does not arise cannot have an answer.

 

V: How then should I know the ‘I’?

 

M. By investigation into this question itself, and thereby will you get the experience or atmanubhuti. The ardent desire to know the Truth has a beneficial purpose to serve until one has such experience.

 

V: Mental activity during meditation does not seem to converge at a point, as it should, on the object of meditation and it does not stay there but gets diverted into numerous thought channels. Why is it so? How can the mind be made to overcome this tendency towards diffused thinking and attain its Primal State of freedom from thought?

 

M: It is the mind’s attachment to objects constituting the non-self that makes the mind wander about during meditation. Therefore, the mind should be withdrawn from the non-self, and an effort should be made to fix it in Self-enquiry. All extraneous thought is effectively eliminated when you attune the entire mind to the one question, “Who is it that is making the enquiry?”

 

V: In spite of having come to the definite conclusion as a result of one’s investigation that ‘I’ has no essential relation with the non-self, i. e., with the body, senses and the objects perceived by the senses, the mind persists in going after these very same things which constitute the non-self. What is it due to and how can it be remedied?

 

M: It is due to lack of abhyasa and vairagya. When Self-enquiry has become steady through practice, and the spirit of renunciation firm through conviction, your mind will be free from the tendency of thinking about the non-self. 

 

V: How can I gain steadiness in practice?

 

M: Only through more practice.

 

[Note: This long conversation is included especially because the Questioners are mentioned as well versed in Shastras. This conversation is a fine example of how from ‘desire’, Bhagavan turns the emphasis over to “abhyasa” and “vairagya”.] 

***

V. From “Power of the Presence”, Vol III; G. V. Subbaramayya’s Reminiscences, page 135

Bhagavan:   All questions relating to mukti are inadmissible because mukti means release from bondage, which implies the present existence of bondage. There is no bondage and therefore no mukti either. 

 

Question:   The sastras [scriptures] speak of it and its grades.

 

Bhagavan:   The sastras are not meant for the wise because they do not need them; the ignorant do not want them. Only the mumukshus look up to the sastras. That means that the sastras are neither for wisdom nor for ignorance.

 

[Note: This is an interesting comment on mumukshus. Bhagavan seems to suggest that they are neither wise nor ignorant. They are not wise because they have yet to realize the Self; and perhaps they are looking for it by studying the sastras instead of practice. They are not ignorant because they know that the Self is to be realized and are looking for information and methods of how to do that from various sources, including the sastras].

 

***

 

VI. From “Ramana Pictorial Souvenir (Kumbhabhishekam 18.6.1967)”, Pg 32; written by Natananandar (Sadhu Natananda)

 

On 2nd May 1918, I saw Sri Ramana for the first time at Skandashramam on Arunachala. I beseeched him fervently thus: “It is my great desire that I should actually experience your gracious wisdom. Kindly fulfill my desire.” In those days Sri Ramana was not speaking much. Still he spoke kindly as follows: “Is it the body in front of me which desires to obtain my grace? Or is it the awareness within it? If it is the awareness, is it not now looking upon itself as the body and making this request? If so, let the awareness first of all know its real nature. It will then automatically know God and my grace. The truth of this can be realized even now and here.”

 

Besides speaking thus, he also explained it as follows through my own experience. “It is not the body which desires to obtain the grace. Therefore it is clear that it is awareness which shines here as ‘you’. To you who are of the nature of awareness there is no connection during sleep with the body, the senses, the vital airs [prana] and the mind. On waking up you identify yourself with them, even without your knowledge. This is your experience. All that you have to do hereafter is to see that you do not identify yourself with them in the states of waking and dream also, and to try to remain yourself as in the state of deep sleep - as you are by nature unattached you have to convert the state of ignorant deep sleep, in which you were formless and unattached, into conscious deep sleep.  It is only by doing this that you can remain established in your real nature. You should never forget that this experience will come only through long practice. This experience will make it clear that your real nature is not different from the nature of God.”

 

***

 

VII. From “The Golden Jubilee Souvenir”; “My Humble Tribute to Sage Sri Ramana”, by Manu Subedar; Pg 127.

I mentioned that I had been reading these books and I drew his attention to the very first verse in the Avadhoota Gita, which is as follows:

 

“It is only through the Grace of God that in men with knowledge is born a desire to experience cosmic unity (Advaita), a desire which protects them from the great dangers of samsara.”

 

I further drew his attention that most of the matter in these books was for the advanced Siddha, i.e., the adept. For new seekers, who were attempting to learn, there was not much of direct guidance. With infinite compassion in his eyes, the Maharshi looked at me and instructed one of the followers to bring a book. This was the Maha Bhakta Vijayam of Nabhaji. Bhagavan opened the book and began to read. (I noted with awe that the book opened exactly at the page where he intended to read.) This is a discourse between Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and his father, in which the young son, who has achieved Realisation, is arguing with his father, who is still afraid, still seeking, and still groping. The Maharshi seemed to relish reading the discourse. Those who were present thoroughly enjoyed the reading and I discovered that I was given exactly what I needed.

[Note: Folks, Sri Jnaneswara’s discourse focuses completely on discrimination between the real and unreal (“viveka”), and practice (“abhyasa”). He clarifies on what sanyasa means. And then teaches to his father that only the practice of Atma Vichara is paramount and what really matters. There is nothing on desire for Liberation in the whole thing. Since this discourse was read out by Bhagavan as a response to a query based on mumukshutva from the Avadhuta Gita, He is stating that ‘desire for Liberation’ is not at all important. What is important is discrimination, vairagya and Practice. The entire discourse is available at the Arunachala Asrama NY website, at the link below:

 

        http://www.arunachala.org/newsletters/2004/jul-aug 

 

Do note that the Ocean of Compassion that He is, and alive to the devotees’ sensitivities, Bhagavan chose to read out from Sri Jnaneswar’s works, a Marathi Saint (Manu Subedar was a Marathi), and with whom Manu Subedar was familiar with as he had translated the “Jnaneswari”. As an aside let me mention that Sri Jnaneswar’s Samadhi at Alandi (a “Jiva” Samadhi actually), is one of the few places other than Sri Ramanasramam, where I can truly say that a Divine presence is immediately  palpable; I found that even a blockhead like me could easily slip into the deepest Vichara when sitting near the Saint’s Samadhi room. The Jnaneswari itself remains one of the greatest expositions of the Bhagavad Gita that I have read].

 

***

 

 

VIII. From “Maharshi’s Gospel” 

[“Guru and his Grace”; page 36] 

D: What is guru kripa? How does it lead to Self-realization?

M: Guru is the Self.... Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied with it, and, not content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires, through prayer to God etc. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain His grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God’s grace begins to manifest. God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the Truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The devotee’s mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple. That calm expanse is the Self.

 

***

 

 

IX. From “Conscious Immortality”

 

[“On Daily Life”; page 11]

 

Q:   Is it harder for Westerners to withdraw inwards?

 

M:   Yes, they are rajasic, their energy goes outwards. We must be inwardly quiet, not forgetting the Self, then externally we can go on with our activities. … ... In the West it will only be those disgusted with material life who will turn to the path.

 

 

[The Practice of Meditation; Page 68]

 

Q:   Why is it that sometimes I find concentration on the Self so easy, and at other times hopelessly difficult?

 

M:   Because of vasanas. But really, it is easy, since we are the Self. All we have to do is to remember that. We keep on forgetting it, and thus think we are this body, or this ego. If the will and desire to remember the Self are strong enough, they will eventually overcome vasanas. There must be great battle going on inwardly all the time until the Self is realized. This battle is symbolically spoken of in in scriptural writings as the fight between God and Satan. In our texts, it is the Mahabharata, in which the asuras represent our bad thoughts and the devas our elevated ones.

 

 

[Note: ‘The will and desire to remember the Self’, as given above, is NOT the same as ‘desire for the Self’. This remark comes at the end of a long chapter entitled “The Practice of Meditation” and Bhagavan has already been going hammer and tongs for 20 pages describing the practice of Vichara; and for that, if there are any qualities He has repeated again and again in this chapter, they are abhyasa (relentless Practice) and vairagya (renunciation).

Herein, at the beginning of the passage, He has said in effect: concentration on the Self is easy because we are the Self, all we have to do is to remember that. ‘To try and remember the Self always’, is actually the Practice advocated. Thus the aspirant is told to have the strongest ‘will and desire’ for this act. ‘Will and desire for Practice’ are essentially part of the quality of abhyasa, of relentless and earnest Practice].

 

***

[From “The Ego”; page 90]

 

Q:   Should one keep a goal before one’s eyes?

 

M:   What goal is there? The thing you conceive as being the goal, exists even before the ego. If we conceive ourselves as ago, or body, or mind, then we are those things. But if we do not conceive ourselves as such, then we are our real nature. It is the thinking that gives rise to such troubles. The very thought that there is such a thing as ego is wrong, because ego is ‘I’-thought and we are ourselves the real ‘I’. The thoughtless state is itself realization. The Vedas’ declaration, ‘I am not this or that’, is only an aid to gain equanimity of mind. If there were a goal to be reached, it could not be permanent. What is called a ‘goal’ is already there. What is in the goal exists even prior to our birth, i.e. the birth of the ego. Because we exist, the ego appears to exist too.  

***

 

 

X. From “Day by Day with Bhagavan”

 

 

[On 23.12.45, Afternoon; Page 74; Query put to Bhagavan by Mons. Georges Le Bot]

 

He had also written out another question: “I have been having for my motto ‘Liberate yourself’. Is that all right or would Maharshi suggest any other motto or ideal for me?”

 

[On 24.12.45, Evening; Page 76; Bhagavan’s made this comment the next day after Le Bot had left] 

 

Bhagavan continued, “He says he has ‘Liberate Yourself’ for his motto. But why should there be any motto? Liberation is our very nature. We are that. The very fact that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all bondage is our real nature. That has not got to be freshly acquired. All that is necessary is to get rid of the false notion that we are bound. When we achieve that, there will be no desire or thought of any sort. So long as one desires liberation, so long, you may take it, one is in bondage.”

 

***

[On 1.3.46, Morning; Page 162]

 

Dr. Syed asked Bhagavan, “Does not total or complete surrender require that one should not have left in him the desire even for liberation or God?”

 

Bhagavan: Complete surrender does require that you have no desire of your own, that God’s desire alone is your desire and that you have no desire of your own.

 

***

 

[On 15.3.46; Page 172]

 

A visitor from Poona, who has been here for the last two or three days, asked some questions, and Bhagavan told him, “Mukti or liberation is our nature. It is another name for us. Our wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man who is in the shade, voluntarily leaving the shade, going into the sun, feeling the severity of the heat there, making great efforts to get back into the shade and then rejoicing, ‘How sweet is the shade! I have after all reached the shade!’ We all are doing exactly the same. We are not different from the reality. We imagine we are different, i.e., we create the bheda bhava (the feeling of difference) and then undergo great sadhana to get rid of the bheda bhava and realise the oneness. Why imagine or create bheda bhava and then destroy it?”

 

 

***

 

[On 12.4.46, Afternoon; Page 197]

 

Small desires such as the desire to eat, drink and sleep and attend to calls of nature, though these may also be classed among desires, you can safely satisfy. They will not implant vasanas in your mind, necessitating further birth. Those activities are just necessary to carry on life and are not likely to develop or leave behind vasanas or tendencies. As a general rule, therefore, there is no harm in satisfying a desire where the satisfaction will not lead to further desires by creating vasanas in the mind.

 

***

 

[On 5.5.46; Page 221]

 

Bhagavan has said the same on previous occasions also. He continued to speak about mukti and said, “Mukti is not anything to be attained. It is our real nature. We are always That. It is only so long as one feels that he is in bondage that he has to try to get released from bondage. When a man feels that he is in bondage he tries to find out for whom is the bondage and by that enquiry discovers that there is no bondage for him but only for the mind, and that the mind itself disappears or proves non-existent when turned inwards instead of outwards towards sense-objects; it merges into its source, the Self, and ceases to exist as a separate entity. In that state there is no feeling either of bondage or liberation. So long as one speaks of mukti he is not free from the sense of bondage.”

 

***

XI. From “Letters from Sri Ramanasramam”

 

 

[(12) “Go The Way You Came”; on 2nd December, 1945]

 

On another occasion, an Andhra youth came and said, “Swami, having a great desire for moksha (deliverance) and anxious to know the way thereto, I have read all sorts of books on Vedanta. They all describe it, each in a different way. I have also visited a number of learned people and when I asked them, each recommended a different path. I got puzzled and have come to you; please tell me which path to take.”

 

With a smile on his face, Bhagavan said, “All right, then, go the way you came.” We all felt amused at this. The poor young man did not know what to say. He waited until Bhagavan left the hall and then with a depressed look turned to the others there appealingly, and said, “Gentlemen, I have come a long way with great hope and with no regard for the expenses or discomfort, out of my ardent desire to know the way to moksha; is it fair to tell me to go the way I came. Is this such a huge joke?”

 

Thereupon one of them said, “No, sir, it is no joke. It is the most appropriate reply to your question. Bhagavan’s teaching is that the enquiry, ‘Who am I?’ is the easiest path to moksha. You asked him which way ‘I’ should go, and his saying, ‘Go the way you came,’ meant that if you investigate and pursue the path from which that ‘I’ came, you will attain moksha.”

 

 

***

 

[(22) “Moksha”; on 8^th January 1946]

 

A few days ago, a lady, a recent arrival, came into the hall at about 3 p.m. and sat down. All the time she was there, she was trying to get up and ask something of Sri Bhagavan.

 

As Bhagavan appeared not to have noticed her, and was reading a book, she waited for a while. As soon as Bhagavan put the book aside, she got up, approached the sofa and said without any fear or hesitation, “Swami, I have only one desire. May I tell you what it is?” “Yes,” said Bhagavan, “What do you want?” “I want moksha,” she said. “Oh, is that so?” remarked Bhagavan. “Yes, Swamiji, I do not want anything else. Is it enough if you give me moksha,” said she. Suppressing a smile that had almost escaped his lips, Bhagavan said, “Yes, yes, that is all right; that is good.” “It will not do if you say that you will give it sometime later. You must give it to me here and now,” she said. “It is all right,” said Bhagavan. “Will you give it now? I must be going,” said she. Bhagavan nodded.

 

As soon as she left the hall, Bhagavan burst out laughing and said, turning towards us, “She says that it is enough if only moksha is given to her. She does not want anything else.” Subbalakshmamma, who was seated by my side, took up the thread of the conversation and quietly said, “We have come and are staying here for the same purpose. We do not want anything more. It is enough if you give us moksha.” “If you renounce, and give up everything, what remains is only moksha. What is there for others to give you? It is there always. That is,” said Bhagavan. “We do not know all that. Bhagavan himself must give us moksha.” So saying she left the hall. Looking at the attendants who were by his side, Bhagavan remarked, “I should give them moksha, they say. It is enough if moksha alone is given to them. Is not that itself a desire? If you give up all the desires that you have, what remains is only moksha. And you require sadhana to get rid of all those desires.” The same bhava (idea) is found in Maharatnamala:

 

“vasanatanavam Brahm moksha ityamidhiyate”

 

It is said that the complete destruction of vasanas is Brahmam and moksha.

 

 

***

Sri Muruganar’s Works

Lastly, we will consider references to ‘desire for the Self or Liberation’ as given in 2 of Sri Muruganar’s works, Padamalai and Guru Vachaka Kovai. From Padamalai are verses in favour of ‘desire for the Self’. The one’s from Guru Vachaka Kovai oppose this idea. How are we to reconcile these diametrically opposite views, both from the pen of Sri Muruganar? 

 

Well, in my humble opinion, the very fact that 2 sets of directly opposing instructions come from Bhagavan so clearly in these 2 works, is tremendously supportive of the position taken in this paper. Obviously, both cannot apply to the same aspirant at one particular moment in time, nor to 2 different ones at the same level of advancement or sadhana. Simple logic says that these instructions are given for 2 differing categories of aspirants. ‘Do NOT desire the Self or Liberation’ can hardly be the instruction for a beginner now can it? He (she) will most probably never start any Practice then! Thus ‘DO desire the Self’ is obviously intended for the one just starting off, the mumukshu. Whereas, ‘do NOT have any desires, not even for the Self or Liberation’ is intended for the advanced sadhaka who has wound down all mundane desires, and is earnestly doing sadhana anyhow.

 

Here are these verses from the 2 works. Do note that the level of authority of GVK may be considered as being far ahead of any of Sri Muruganar’s other works; and second only to Bhagavan’s Original Works. This is because Bhagavan went through most of the GVK verses with a fine-toothed comb, making amendments and adding even whole verses as appropriate. [Both sets taken from the books produced by David Godman; Sadhu Om’s commentary for one verse is from his book on GVK]: 

 

Padamalai 

79.   Through longing for the swarupa (natural state) that waxes more and more as abundant bliss, infatuation for the false world will slip away.

 

80.   The glory of Self-Realization is not experienced except in the hearts of those who are very zealous about sinking into the Self.

 

81.   Those who greatly desire the Self, the state of mere being that transcends all concepts, will not desire anything else.

 

82.   Devotion to the Self, the best of desires, yields the true jnana sight in which all names and forms are names and forms of the Self.

 

83.   If you wholeheartedly desire and realize the truth, that truth itself will liberate you.

GuruVachaka Kovai 

 

149.   The non-dual experience will only be attained by those who have completely given up desires. For those with desires, it is far, far away. Hence it is proper for those with desires to direct their desires towards God, who is desireless, so that through their desire for God the desires that arise through the delusion that objects exist and are different from oneself will become extinct. 

[Note: The verse above is perhaps the only one in GVK that mentions ‘desire for God’ directly. GVK is following the strict dictum that the Self or Liberation is our very nature, and cannot be desired. God, being in the realm of nama-rupa, can be. Also, do note that the instruction to desire God is given with the objective of killing other mundane desires, and not for Liberation. This desire too then has to be given up. Or, in other words, full self-surrender happens, the mind extinguishes, unconditional "prema" sprouts, and Union is achieved.]
 

  

374.   Great jnanis say that the extinction of all the modifications of the mind [chitta-vrittis] is intense and supreme bliss. The true path resides in the desireless state that is free of the desires and aversions of the mind.
 

 

376.   If even the desire for the attainment of the indescribable supreme state of silence is inimical to the perfection of [sat] achara [abidance in sat, being]. Then how can desire for the filth-generating body that has no consciousness, and [desire for] other objects, constitute achara? Pray tell!

[Commentary of Sadhu Om: Achara means observing high principles in life, and having any kind of desire is anachara. The greatest of all principles is Sat-Achara [or Brahmachara], which is nothing other than abiding as Sat [i.e. Self]. For one who is observing Sat-Achara, which is the perfect state of Love, even the desire for Liberation should be considered to be wrong, because desire implies a movement of the mind towards a second or third person, whereas Love has the form of unbroken and unmoving Existence. This is the significance of the ancient saying, “Cut the desire even for God”]. 

378.    Only in those who have completely severed the bond of desire and attachment will the illusory appearance that associates with them through ego-defilement perish. The aim, then, is to cut off, without so much as a second thought, even the desire for the indescribable supreme bliss of peace that is full of jnana. 

 

382.   Supreme jnanis who do not see any bondage other than the mental movements [chitta vrittis] that arise in profusion also do not see any liberation other than a mind in which all chitta vrittis have died without leaving any trace. This is their verdict [on bondage and liberation].
 

 

 Summary Position from Bhagavan’s Works

It may be noted that the foregoing represents a scan of few thousand pages of Original Works and recorded conversations. Though the quotes in the “Reminiscences” section are only from 11 books, a lot more were gone over (if someone is interested in exactly which books were covered, please do mention it in the comments below). In the context of such a volume of material, and over different periods of time, it would be fair to say that references to ‘having a desire for Liberation’, or mumukshutva, in Bhagavan’s Works are pretty scarce indeed. And then, where a mention is made of this trait, on most occasions Bhagavan deftly diverts the discussion towards NOT having any desire at all, or to the aspirant focusing on Practice only, and so on.

 

I believe that a clear conclusion can be drawn that Bhagavan is saying that for His “Jnana Marga” approach, epitomized by Vichara, no desire, not even the desire for the Self or Liberation has any locus-standi.  I say “Jnana Marga approach epitomized by Vichara” as in many of the instances above, Vichara is not mentioned in so many words, but the process described by Bhagavan is actually Vichara in one variation or the other. Thus, if the aspirant’s primary sadhana is Vichara, desire for the Self or Liberation is NOT one of the qualities recommended in the slightest by Bhagavan.

 

In fact, during the process of going through all these great books for ‘desire’ with respect to Liberation, I also kept an eye open for any qualities that Bhagavan may be recommending, if at all, for Vichara. The ones thrown up most often were ‘Discrimination’ (“viveka”), ‘Relentless and earnest Practice’ (“abhyasa”, including the idea of “Yatna”), and ‘Renunciation’ (“vairagya”). These are mentioned often, and all through the years. And so, if someone is searching for qualities needed for Vichara, then these 3 are the prime candidates.

 

But I get the clear impression that, basically, Bhagavan is saying – trust me, just sit down and do Vichara sincerely, you don’t need to bring anything at all from your side to the table, My Grace will do the rest …

 

A Personal Approach

Folks, this blog is all about sharing of ideas. Here is a little bit of my way of looking at sadhana, in the context of this article:

-       For me, at the start, ancient ‘Tradition’ and Bhagavan’s teachings imply - that to ask anything from God or Guru (or from anyone else), is just not possible.  

-       Because, if we have any level of prema and prapatti towards Him, we have to believe that He knows what is best for us at every point in time.  Everything that we ‘have’, comes from Him only, even if it is adversity. And so what we have already, is the best for us. Therefore there is nothing to ask for. In fact, heartfelt thanks would be in order! 

-       Nurturing a desire in us is a form of insidious asking from Him: because we nurture a desire for what we don’t have (or think we don’t have), and want to have, and which we are not able to have ordinarily. To desire to have anything that we don’t have, immediately implies that we do not have faith in God or Guru, because we feel that He has not given us what we really need. Our prema and prapatti then, is not up to par. 

-       Also, the moment we admit of nurturing a desire for the Self  or God with the goal of Liberation, since we can desire only that which is different from us, something that is seen or perceived and thus objectified, we say in effect that He is ‘apart’ from us. [Am reminded of the great dialogue in the movie ‘Silence of the Lambs’ when Anthony Hopkins says to Jodie Foster: “What does one covet? (Replies himself) One covets what one sees …”]. And the more intense this desire, greater the chasm of ‘apartness’. But the basic intent of sadhana is more ‘closeness’ to Him is it not? Again, our prema and prapatti is lacking (we have ‘desire’, but not ‘prema’).  

[Note: Again, someone may bring up that, “when Liberation is mentioned, the Guru says, ‘pine for the Lord’, and you are suggesting otherwise”. Since this aspect causes the maximum confusion, let me clarify again: the Guru says - have “prema” for the Lord, not “kama”, not “sprya”. I personally too try to have as much “prema” for the Lord as is possible (alas, I only try, don’t get too far; too many vasanas, too many vrittis!). To pine for the Lord is to love God for God’s sake, without any desire for anything to be gained, not even Liberation. This is different from having a desire for God as mumukshutva, with the vested interest of Liberation. It is when it does not matter whether we have Liberation or not, that we have It!].

-       I mentioned above that nothing can also be asked from anyone else too. [Note: we are talking about asking for ‘big’ things, picking up some sugar from the neighbour is quite all right!]. Because, if we had to ask anything from anyone, it would have to be from the One closest to us first, i.e. from God or Guru. Which, from the above, we cannot do. If we think of asking anyone else for anything at all, God or Guru would have the right to get upset, and then He may not remain our closest Friend, the One closest to us. Hence, nothing can be asked from anyone, at all, ever. Therefore, then, there is no scope for the nurturing of any desire at all, at any point in time.

  

----------------------

Folks, I had mentioned at the start that I stand in a lonely place on this issue. Hopefully a few of you may feel that there is merit in saying that the  ‘conclusions’ mentioned at the start of Section II, stand proven at the end. But finally, whether you are convinced or not is not important. I will hope that like me, you would have found reading the sublime words of Sri Bhagavan, in all the above anecdotes, rewarding in itself.  

[In case you are wondering, the issue of desire for the Self has never been so ‘hot’ for me, so as to get me to put in the hard work needed for this article. But as I read the first few anecdotes, the Master's gentle exhortations on practice, and Vichara, and the discrimination to be kept in mind, and so on, grabbed my attention more and more. And then it was a journey of joy to go through these books again, some after many years, and pick up fresh insights. For instance, I must have read the Sri Ramana Gita again after 15 years. It had never really moved me back then. But now I found certain sections of it to be stunningly insightful, particularly in Sanskrit. I really wonder what exactly I miss of the Master’s words by not knowing Tamil at all!]