Q1. Would immersing myself in my teachers' presence cut through the ego? For instance my gurus are Christ, Ramana Maharshi, Anandamayi Ma, and Yogananda. I sense them as one presence and have a name for their combined souls which is Christ/Ramana.
If I become immersed in Christ/Ramana will this finally cause the ego to become in the background and cause Awareness to recognize itself? I feel safe when I am in this 'state'...
Thank you in advance for your time.
Q2. Gary, am totally absorbed in the energy of Shiva...am getting totally engrossed in Shiva. He seems to be enveloping me completely. Am still tearing up with the immense love for Shiva :)))))))).
Regarding mountains as "sacred" is famously manifested for Mt. Kailash in Tibet, a focus of "bhakti" for four different religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Bon. Sacred mountains are a part of many religions and are found all over the world. Circumambulation of sacred mountains is a rite; it is often practiced for Arunachala and Mt. Kailash.
As "everything is Shiva/God", anything can be the object of bhakti. On the path up to Virupaksha Cave, described in the blog "Virupaksha Cave - Four Hour Shakti Experience", in which Ramana spent 17 years, there is an example of this. Another "bhakti/shakti event" on that trip to India is described in the blog "Ramanasramam - shakti experience in Old Hall".
When asked questions, she said the answers came from an inspiration and compared her body to a drum or bell struck by the questioner stating "as you play the instrument so shall you hear". When folk argued with her, she would be silent, or say that "only God exists and that all names and forms are His names and forms". Religious practices, for her, were only a means to remove the veil of ignorance that concealed Him from the devotee. She often said "to find yourself is to find God, and to find God is to find yourself". She also said, ""To be without thought is the ultimate meditation."
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| Ramana Maharshi |
If I become immersed in Christ/Ramana will this finally cause the ego to become in the background and cause Awareness to recognize itself? I feel safe when I am in this 'state'...
Thank you in advance for your time.
Q2. Gary, am totally absorbed in the energy of Shiva...am getting totally engrossed in Shiva. He seems to be enveloping me completely. Am still tearing up with the immense love for Shiva :)))))))).
G. Whether "bhakti", or "religious devotion in the form of active involvement in worship of the divine" as practiced by Hindus and others, is a "replacement" for "nondual inquiry" as a path to awakening, is a great question.
As Hinduism is so misunderstood in the West, it is useful to realize that there is both "monotheistic" and "polytheistic" Hinduism. Hinduism is described as "a conglomeration of distinct intellectual and philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs, formed of diverse traditions and with no single founder." IME, you can find "almost anything" spiritual, someplace in Hinduism.
For example, if you look at a gopuram, the towers in many Hindu temples, you will see that there are many "gods" at the lower levels, but when one reaches the "top", it is "Oneness" or "The nondual Infinite". Also, "bhakti" is not merely "devotion" which is how it is often translated in the West, but has different manifestations, both "dualistic" and "nondualistic", which have different levels of engagement and goals.
As the questioners' comments indicate, this is not just "yeah, the divine "stuff" is really cool and i'm 'down with it'". It can reach, in its nondual manifestation, to being "absorbed" in nonduality (not two)/Oneness. The difference between nondualistic "absorption" and mere "devotion" is revealed in the frequently-voiced statement of dualistic bhaktas (those who practice bhakti); "i don't want to be sugar, i just want to taste sugar". This resistance to absorption, and attachment to pleasure and the "I/ego", found everywhere, is the place where most stop, short of "union with the essential nature of Reality and divine bliss."
Bhakti is a cornerstone of the Bhagavad Gita, a principal text of Hinduism. As stated in XI, 54..."By unswerving, single-minded devotion is it possible for Me to be known, seen and in reality to be entered into." Bhakti is traditionally treated as diametrically opposed to "jnana" or "knowledge", which is what "meditative inquiry" is all about, IME.
However, while Ramana Maharshi was the quintessential jnani, he was also a nondualistic bhakta. Ramana's bhakti, as he had no "teacher", focused on Arunachala, the mountain revered by many Shaivite Hindus. Ramana spent his entire adult life on or around Arunachala. The most popular song @ Ramanasramam, Ramana's ashram in south India, is "Arunachala Siva", or "Arunachala is Shiva". It was the song being sung when Ramana "passed" - a single tear arose and he drew his last breath.
Ramana said frequently that bhakti (nondualistic) and jnana are not different as they bring you to the same place. i was a very intellectual folk but as my self-inquiry practice deepened and the self began to fall away, what surprisingly emerged was a deep bhakti for Ramana. This turned out to be critical to surrendering what was left of the "I" in the last stages.
As discussed in Happiness Beyond Thought, i needed someone to take the "I" residue, and Ramana obliged. As i was so strongly "anti-guru", this was totally unexpected, and i still honestly don't understand it. IME, it was not jnana or bhakti, but both. BTW, the controversial contemporary teacher Andrew Cohen urged all spiritual folk to investigate bhakti as a way to dissolve the ego that can grow during practice.
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| Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple @ Srirangapathna Gopuram |
For example, if you look at a gopuram, the towers in many Hindu temples, you will see that there are many "gods" at the lower levels, but when one reaches the "top", it is "Oneness" or "The nondual Infinite". Also, "bhakti" is not merely "devotion" which is how it is often translated in the West, but has different manifestations, both "dualistic" and "nondualistic", which have different levels of engagement and goals.
As the questioners' comments indicate, this is not just "yeah, the divine "stuff" is really cool and i'm 'down with it'". It can reach, in its nondual manifestation, to being "absorbed" in nonduality (not two)/Oneness. The difference between nondualistic "absorption" and mere "devotion" is revealed in the frequently-voiced statement of dualistic bhaktas (those who practice bhakti); "i don't want to be sugar, i just want to taste sugar". This resistance to absorption, and attachment to pleasure and the "I/ego", found everywhere, is the place where most stop, short of "union with the essential nature of Reality and divine bliss."
Bhakti is a cornerstone of the Bhagavad Gita, a principal text of Hinduism. As stated in XI, 54..."By unswerving, single-minded devotion is it possible for Me to be known, seen and in reality to be entered into." Bhakti is traditionally treated as diametrically opposed to "jnana" or "knowledge", which is what "meditative inquiry" is all about, IME.
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| Arunachala Sacred Mountain in S. India |
Ramana said frequently that bhakti (nondualistic) and jnana are not different as they bring you to the same place. i was a very intellectual folk but as my self-inquiry practice deepened and the self began to fall away, what surprisingly emerged was a deep bhakti for Ramana. This turned out to be critical to surrendering what was left of the "I" in the last stages.
As discussed in Happiness Beyond Thought, i needed someone to take the "I" residue, and Ramana obliged. As i was so strongly "anti-guru", this was totally unexpected, and i still honestly don't understand it. IME, it was not jnana or bhakti, but both. BTW, the controversial contemporary teacher Andrew Cohen urged all spiritual folk to investigate bhakti as a way to dissolve the ego that can grow during practice.
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| Mt. Kailash Sacred Mountain in Tibet |
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| "Tree" Shiva on Path to Virupaksha Cave |
As "everything is Shiva/God", anything can be the object of bhakti. On the path up to Virupaksha Cave, described in the blog "Virupaksha Cave - Four Hour Shakti Experience", in which Ramana spent 17 years, there is an example of this. Another "bhakti/shakti event" on that trip to India is described in the blog "Ramanasramam - shakti experience in Old Hall".
Anandamayi Ma is an shining example of nondual bhakta, as she was completely absorbed in the "Divine"; she was described by Swami Sivananda as "the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced". When asked who she was, Anandamayi Ma said that as she had no existence as an "I", "she could not say who or what she was", and therefore she was whatever the questioner thought she was. When asked about her "path", she maintained that "all paths are my path" and "i have no particular path".
When asked questions, she said the answers came from an inspiration and compared her body to a drum or bell struck by the questioner stating "as you play the instrument so shall you hear". When folk argued with her, she would be silent, or say that "only God exists and that all names and forms are His names and forms". Religious practices, for her, were only a means to remove the veil of ignorance that concealed Him from the devotee. She often said "to find yourself is to find God, and to find God is to find yourself". She also said, ""To be without thought is the ultimate meditation."
i knew little about Ananadamayi Ma until this blog arose. However, in reading about her, i found the quotes above; they are "pure" nonduality and from a bhakta. Mirroring Anandamayi Ma, for years after the page turned, as many know, i did not "teach" as i could not find anyone who was not "God" and so they obviously already knew. .
Q1, as far as working with your "bhakti", you already have your iconic figures, and as they all have "the same energy", feel that one energy. As you move toward absorption in that energy, in which you are "feeling safe", feel where/what is "holding back"...move to that and just "let go" of it, again and again...letting go is the key...allow yourself, all of yourself, to be absorbed into the Divine energy. Bhakti can take you to the same great Stillness as does nondual inquiry, and IME, it can be a critical part of nondual inquiry as well.
Gary - Beautiful exposition on the inner harmony that exists between bhakthi and gnana paths to realization. I remember a thought of Sri Aurobindo, not sure if it was an aphorism or an idea in other works, where he says the delight of God realization was more intense when a tiny amount of ego was allowed to remain. After all without an observer they would be no enjoyer in the traditional sense. That statement more than any other has stuck in my head/heart for a long time. Your perspective amount point in same/similar direction.
ReplyDeleteBtw, my agreement with your view would remain even if I had not know Sri Aurobindo's position!!
Also, when you 'interact/merge/speak/intuit/??' with the Big Boy(as we in our circle name the Divine), do drop a word for us :)
Mahesh - Gratitude for the comments re bhakthi and gnana paths to realization. Have not worked much with Sri Aurobindo's teaching, but this is a fascinating quote, along the lines of "tasting sugar".
ReplyDeletere speaking to the Big Boy, i have anthropormophized the Divine into the Great Woman, along the lines of Durga, as somehow Durga really "speaks" to "me". i have placed a call into Her, but She doesn't always pick up. i believe She is screening my calls. As "we" are all in Her and She is in all of "us", She already knows...
"Lift your eyes towards the Sun; He is there in that wonderful heart of life and light and splendor. Watch at night the innumerable constellations glittering like so many solemn watchfires of the Eternal in the limitless silence which is no void but throbs with the presence of a single calm and tremendous existence; see there Orion with his sword and belt shining...Sirius in his splendor, Lyra sailing billions of miles away in the ocean of space. Remember that these innumerable worlds, most of them mightier than our own, are whirling with indescribable speed at the beck of that Ancient of Days whither none but He knoweth, and yet that they are a million times more ancient than your Himalaya, more steady than the roots of your hills and shall so remain until He at his will shakes them off like withered leaves from the eternal tree of the Universe. Imagine the endlessness of Time, realize the boundlessness of Space; and then remember that when these worlds were not, He was, the Same as now, and when these are not, He shall be, still the Same; perceive that beyond Lyra He is and far away in Space where the stars of the Southern Cross cannot be seen, still He is there. And then come back to the Earth and realize who this He is. He is quite near to you. See yonder old man who passes near you crouching and bent, with his stick. Do you realize that it is God who is passing? There a child runs laughing in the sunlight. Can you hear Him in that laughter? Nay, He is nearer still to you. He is in you, He is you. It is yourself that burns yonder millions of miles away in the infinite reaches of Space, that walks with confident steps on the tumbling billows of the ethereal sea; it is you who have set the stars in their places and woven the necklace of the suns not with hands but by that Yoga, that silent actionless impersonal Will which has set you here today listening to yourself in me. Look up, O child of the ancient Yoga, and be no longer a trembler and a doubter; fear not, doubt not, grieve not; for in your apparent body is One who can create and destroy worlds with a breath."
ReplyDeleteSri Aurobindo, Commentary on the Isha Upanishad
Hi Gary - to your knowledge is there any overlap between bhakti and yidam/deity yoga as done in Shingon and Tibetan Buddhism? Do you have any cautions for or suggestions regarding yidam?
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia:
Deity yoga involves two stages, the generation stage and the completion stage. In the generation stage, one dissolves the mundane world and visualizes one's chosen deity (yidam), its mandala and companion deities, resulting in identification with this divine reality.[2] In the completion stage, one dissolves the visualization of and identification with the yidam in the realization of sunyata or emptiness. Completion stage practices can also include subtle body energy practices.[3]
Hi Curt,
Deletei have no meaningful knowledge about yidam/diety yoga in Shingon and Tibetan Buddhism, so couldn't provide anything useful on them.
stillness
gary
Hi,
ReplyDelete1. Wondering what your bhakti practices "looked like"?
2. Did you have a picture of Ramana? An alter set up?
3. Were you just focusing on the feeling of his energy? Would you think about him throughout the day and keep him in consciousness?
4. Did you trust him to "take care" of you/everything?
Would like some more specific details about the manifestation of "your" bhakti practices and practical tips for one who is deeply interested in developing this practice for themselves.
Namaste
Hi Anonymous:
DeleteInitially, the bhakti objects that manifested were Ramana, Arunachala, Dakshinamurti, and Shiva (both as Nataraja dancing and a Lingam). The practice was to feel them fully absorbed into "me" so that there was nothing there that resisted the absorption.
Ramana and Shiva were "easy". Dakshinamurti was a little more difficult and Arunachala was the most difficult as it was hard to visualize a mountain coming in to "me" totally. i did not hold them "at a distance" as an object of worship discrete from me, as the focus was on "nonduality", on "disappearing into God".
This was different from the traditional bhakti practices where one wants to "taste sugar" rather than "be sugar". my focus was on becoming sugar, being "lost in God".
i had pictures and murtis of Dakshinamurti and Shiva, and only pictures for Arunachala and Ramana and a small table for an "altar" with shawls used as a ceremonial cloth in India, often under them.
At some level, i could "feel" Ramana's energy often, sometimes always, without effort during the day when i just stepped back a little. It was often the most/only "real" thing in "my" world.
Durga kept manifesting in many ways, surprisingly and unexpectedly, both here and in India. Also, as discussed in several places, the Universal Consciousness felt more loving and compassionate, i.e. more "feminine" than "masculine", so God became She, and She/Durga was/is everywhere, in everything, as everything.
The surrender and absorption into "Her" is complete, total and unequivocal.
Trust this is useful.
stillness