Hari
OM
Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and
parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.
The sage Ashtavakra (whose name means 'eight
bends', referring to the contorted nature of his body) is best known for the
Gita which is named for him. It is one of the key works which emboldens the
reader to embrace Advaita - Ashtavakra Gita (or
'Ashtavakra Samhita') is a dialogue between Ashtavakra and Janaka (king of
Mithila) on the nature of soul, reality and bondage. It offers an extremely
radical version of non-dualistic philosophy. The Gita insists on complete
unreality of external world and absolute oneness of existence. It does not
mention any morality or duties and, therefore, is seen by commentators as
'godless'. It also dismisses names and forms as unreal and a sign of ignorance.
Here are is 'chapter one'… It is an advanced text and not one we
will be studying specifically here at AV-blog; to read the whole,
click here.
Janaka:
1 How is knowledge to be acquired? How is liberation to be attained?
And how is dispassion to be reached? Tell me this, sir.
Ashtavakra:
2 If you are seeking liberation, my son, shun the objects of the
senses like poison. Practise tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment and
truthfulness like nectar.
3 You are neither earth, water, fire, air or even ether. For
liberation know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these.
4 If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself
as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and
free from bonds.
5 You do not belong to the brahmin or any other caste, you are not
at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can see. You are unattached and
formless, the witness of everything - so be happy.
6 Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of
the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper
of the consequences, so you are always free.
7 You are the one witness of everything, and are always totally
free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other
than this.
8 Since you have been bitten by the black snake of the self-opinion
that 'I am the doer', drink the nectar of faith in the fact that 'I am not the
doer', and be happy.
9 Burn down the forest of ignorance with the fire of the
understanding that 'I am the one pure awareness', and be happy and free from
distress.
10 That in which all this appears - imagined like the snake in a
rope, that joy, supreme joy and awareness is what you are, so be happy.
11 If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks
of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true, "Thinking
makes it so".
12 Your real nature is as the one perfect, free, and actionless
consciousness, the all-pervading witness - unattached to anything, desireless
and at peace. It is from illusion that you seem to be involved in samsara.
13 Meditate on yourself as motionless awareness, free from any
dualism, giving up the mistaken idea that you are just a derivative
consciousness, or anything external or internal.
14 You have long been trapped in the snare of identification with
the body. Sever it with the knife of knowledge that 'I am awareness', and be
happy, my son.
15 You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and
spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to
stilling the mind.
16 All of this is really filled by you and strung out in you, for
what you consist of is pure awareness - so don't be small minded.
17 You are unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable,
unfathomable awareness and unperturbable, so hold to nothing but consciousness.
18 Recognise that the apparent is unreal, while the unmanifest is
abiding. Through this initiation into truth you will escape falling into
unreality again.
19 Just as a mirror exists everywhere both within and apart from its
reflected images, so the Supreme Lord exists everywhere within and apart from
this body.
20 Just as one and the same all-pervading space exists within and
without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting God exists in the totality of
things.
Sri Ma was barely thirteen when she was married to Sri Ramani Mohan Chakravarty of Atpara. Their family had a tradition of Shakti-upasana. As a child-bride Sri Ma was received into the family of Ramani Mohan’s eldest brother Sri Revati Mohan and his wife Pramoda Devi. She remained with them for nearly four years while Ramani Mohan was in Atpara and in Dhaka. From a carefree childhood in her parents’ home she was catapulted into a demanding situation of considerable physical hard work in an atmosphere of restrictive discipline. She cooked, cleaned, fetched water, took care of the children and served her sister-in-law in every way possible. Hard work is the lot of village women not only in India but all over the world. What sets Sri Ma apart from all such girls placed in similar situations is the fact of her total adequacy and a little extra, as it were. She remained uniformly cheerful, good-humoured, and more than willing to shoulder other people’s burdens. Nothing was a chore to her. Her serene and equable temper was never disrupted by thoughtlessness or unfair treatment at the hands of the elders.
Swami Rama Tirtha, previously known as Gossain Tirtha Rama, was born in 1873, at Murariwala, a village in the district of Gujranwala, Punjab, India. His mother passed away when he was but a few days old and he was brought up by his elder brother, Gossain Gurudas.
Satya
Sai Baba was one of the major teachers in recent history of India. His teachings
were from the earlier tradition of Sai Baba of Shirdi and are based in vedanta.
He was a controversial figure, as he broke from convention of true vedantins
and 'worked miracles and manifestations'. Whatever one thought of him as an
individual, there was much Love and Universality in his teaching. Here is an
example.
