Ganapati Muni’s Science of Mantra: Part Three

Posted on November 19, 2014 by janeadamsart

CONTINUED FROM PART TWO – the “Guru Mantra Commentary” by Ganapati Muni (see previous post.)

Mantric language is cyclic, rhythmic, primordial. Whether we know any Sanskrit or not, the vibration grows through a commitment of the syllables to archetypal visual images. This passage develops the ASTRAGNI or weapon within the mantra. In my understanding, only a pure intention may access the metaphysical power of the Word: otherwise it rebounds.

In Part Two, we bowed to Guru in the heart’s cave. Here in Part Three, the repeated sounding of vacadhbu, agni, sara, sastra encircle and warm up my path of awe. I do not know. Unconfined to the mind, the resonance is received afresh; I begin again to ascend the mountain at dawn.

Second Chapter: The Enunciation of the Second Mantra

The Muni continues:
In this second chapter, we shall comment on another Tantric mantra of Bhagavan. Here is its verse of enunciation: (No English translation available)

“Sukham krsanuh kilalam
murdhanyascanunasikah
Nidra vari ca vikhyato
Namo mantro vadadbhuvah.”

The letter sa, Sukham happiness; the letter ra krsanuh, fire; the letter na kilalam, water; the letter va murdhanyah anunasikah; the letter na nidra, cerebral nasal; the letter bha vari, sleep; the letter va, water.(**)

1. Happiness sa
2. Fire ra
3. Water va
4. Cerebral nasal na
5. Sleep bha
6. Water va

When these six letters are read together they become sa ra va na bha wa. – “One who is born from the forest of sara”. As there are six letters in this Mantra also, like before, we understand by this the six faces of Skanda. (*)

FOOTNOTES - 
**- Sri Sankaranarayanan’s translation of this paragraph 
was ambiguous, and K.Natesan apparently overlooked my query 
about it. I have arranged it as best I can, and would welcome the 
advice of an educated Sanskrit reader. J.A.

*- The child Skanda (Kumara)- seed of Agni in the wives of Seven 
Rishis who warmed themselves by the fire - could not be carried 
by wives (goddesses of Krttika the Pleiades constellation) or 
Himalaya mountain or Ganga river, so it fell in a bed of reeds 
(grass). Six parts of the seed joined in this birthplace as one
six headed child; Siva's wife Parvati filled with milk and the 
universe rejoiced - for this child of Siva (through the inter-
mediary of Agni) was destined to defeat the demon of the 
reactive mind, Taraka. 
Skanda's older brother was Ganapati.

Note from Wendy O’Flaherty: ‘Siva the Erotic Ascetic’

ramana embryo

THE MEANING OF THE SECOND MANTRA: Saravanabhawa

“One who is born from the forest of sara, a kind of grass”. ASTRAGNI : (astra, missile or weapon invoked with a mantra, agni, sacred fire) – this means “fire of guided missile”. Here, a physical fire born from igniting grass, is not what is meant. If it were, it would not be vacadbhu – born out of the sound vibration (energy).

The story that the effulgent seed of Rudra placed in the stalk of grass became Kumara, has some deep truth behind it: Rudra is full of sound. His effulgent seed is the fire born by focussing the perfected astra mantra of a great yogi accomplished in the lore of the astras. It acquires the form of sara, grows, and slays its enemies.

“Vidma sarasya pitaram parjanyam – “We know the father of the SARA,
bhuridhayasam – Parjanya, liberal nourisher,
Vidmo svasya mataram – we know his mother Prithvi,
prthivim bhurivarpasam. – earth with her manifold designs.

Jyake pari nona masmanam tonvan krdhi – O, Bowstring, bend thyself around us,
Virur variyo ratirapa dvesarasya krdhi.” – make my body stone.
Firm in thy strength, drive far away malignities and hateful things.”

Aghawa Samkita II. 1. 2.

Sara described in the above two Mantras is a special kind of grass, not an arrow made of bamboo or metal. This is indicated by saying that its mother and father are the earth and the rain God. If we say that bamboo also, being a tree, can deserve to be the son of the earth and the rain God, the fourth Mantra in that same chapter, removes any doubt :

Yatha dyam ca prthivim cantas tiethati tejanam
evarogam casravam cantas tisthatu munja it.

Just as the sharp point stands
between earth and heaven,
let the munja grass stand between wellbeing and illness.

Breaking through – For the Rose and the Fire are One

Here by the word munja he deduces the aforesaid sara. Munja is a type of grass and not bamboo. How could fragile grass be capable of killing enemies without relating to astra, the fire warming the word which an accomplished Mantra fills ? (15)

“Isikam jaratim stva
tilpinjam dandanam nadam
Tamindra idhmam
krtva yamasyagvim niradadhan

He sought the grass, Isika
tilpinja, nada and dandana.
He enriched Indra’s fuel
and the fire of Yama.

Athawa Samhita XII.2.54.

Isika, Tilpivja, nada are types of grass. Dandanum might be of bamboo. Amongst them isika is a synonym for the sara grass. Here by the word Indra, the Jiva is meant. As the Veda says: “Rupam Rupam pratirupo babhuva.”16. He, the perfected Person knows the astra. He bound the isika grass into faggots, and nourished the sages around the fire of Yama, Kala, Time. This means he expanded and increased that which stood in the sky as the fire of Time.

Time is not different from sound. The sound resonates subtly in the sky and cultures everything.

FOOTNOTES 
15- ASTRA from the root AS - to throw; a missile, usually of grass
or any fragile material backed up by a powerful Mantra, 
though astra is loosely translated as an arrow.
Sastra(scriptures) is an arrow, while astra is a weapon backed up 
by the Mantra. 
Here the Mantra is significant, and not the material used as a 
weapon.

16- "He put his image in every form."

Frank Humphries, Ramana and the Muni

That is why we have said in our Indra Gita:

“Sadvyapakasaktim pranam kathayanti
Vyaktetarasabdam kalam ganayanti.” (17)

“The pervading force of Existence they call Prana ;
and they reckon as Time the unmanifest Sound.”

FOOTNOTE -
17- Indra Gita is one of the compositions of Ganapati Muni
and is included in Gitamala.

There itself it has been said that Kala, Time, is known by the name of Yama and Rudra.

“Rudram vidureka netarbahulilam
Prahur yamam anye kayam tava kalam.”

“O, Leader, some know you as Rudra of many sports ;
Others call thy body Time, Yama.”

Rudra who is the Sabda Brahman and Time factor pervades the sky. His effulgence impelled by the fire of Mantra becomes the Agni, named astra in the form of sara. This Agni is the Lord, the Commander-in-Chief of the armies, the destroyer of Asuras, the accomplisher of the Divine Purpose. The word isu is formed only from the word isika. The ancients employ the word isvastra to denote astra.

“Isvastram esam devatvam paritranam satamiva
Bhayam vai manuso bhavah parivado satamiva.”

“Their astra denoted divinity.
It bore divine protection to good people.
Fear is their human aspect to the wicked.”

By esam (*) the Kshatriyas (warriors) are covered. Also the primary name for astra is only isikastra. (See Ramayana and Mahabharata). Though the word sara meant astra, later on by derivative significance, it came to denote the arrow. The word sara is a pointer to the other “faggot bundles” (weapons) of astra. Principally, the usage is the form “from out of the forest of sara”, saravanabhava.

FOOTNOTE - 
* esam, a Sanskrit word for prowess (footnote supplied by 
K.Natesan)

THE APPROPRIATENESS OF SKANDA AS THE GURU?

If “Skanda” had these attributes alone, he would be a War God, not the Guru Causal. Yet being the God of war does not deter him from being the Guru Causal. In fact, it helps. The one who manifests the fire of astra, destroying foes, is our inner illumination. He burns away the ties that bind, and reveals the shore beyond darkness.

An effulgence of sound is inner knowing. By this alone, the Brahmin attains a vision of the Divine.

By the effulgence alone, the Kshatriya (warrior) masters the divine astra. The effulgence is the Brahmanhood of Brahman; the kingship of the Warrior caste.

And thus ends the Second Chapter.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

This blog is a vehicle to promote also my published work – The Sacred India Tarot (with Rohit Arya, Yogi Impressions Books) and The Dreamer in the Dream – a collection of short stories (0 Books). Watch this space.

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All art and creative writing in this blog is copyright © Janeadamsart 2012-2014. May not be used for commercial purposes. May be used and shared for non-commercial means with credit to Jane Adams and a link to the web address https://janeadamsart.wordpress.com/

Ganapati Muni’s Science of Mantra – Part One

Posted on November 12, 2014 by janeadamsart

Vedic goddess

Here’s a four-part post series for scholars!

I haven’t studied the layered meanings in Sanskrit. But I learnt a few sacred Names and phrases along the way; I hear the chanting and smell the sandal paste; the syllables are long musical frequencies; from in between them, emerge the tantras. Tantra is the art of touch throughout the universe. Needing to touch base with some of my Indian and Vedic threads, I turned to Ganapati Muni’s analysis of his mantric science. I prepared this text in the 1990s from Sri K Natesan’s translation, for the Ramana Foundation Journal Self Enquiry. Sri Natesan – a “grandchild” in the Muni’s sacred lineage – checked it for mistakes.

In the text the secret known to knowers of truth is mentioned: when we truly know that we do not know – we begin.

“Guru Mantra Bhashyam” by Ganapati Muni

Introduced and Translated by S.Sankaranarayanan
Adapted for English readers by J.A., with the help of Sri K.Natesan at Ramana Ashram

The Muni

The eighteenth chapter of Sri Ramana Gita contains a series of verses which describe the characteristics of Ramana Maharshi. Amongst them, the tenth verse enunciates in the style of the Tantra, the Mantra by which the Maharshi has to be invoked.

Ganapati Vasishta Muni valued this Mantra very highly. When disciples approached Ramana Maharshi for elucidation on the Mantra, he directed them to the Muni. So Vasishta Muni decided to write a commentary on the 10th verse of the eighteenth chapter of Sri Ramana Gita for the benefit of aspirants. The Guru-mantra-Bhashyam was written in sanskrit and it was published along with the Text and Sri Kapali Shastriar’s Prakasha Bhashye (Commentary) of Sri Ramana Gita.

Considering the importance of the work and the wealth of spiritual insights it unfolds, a free translation in English of the whole commentary and Appendix to the Commentary is provided here, in four parts. Footnotes explain certain terms and concepts occurring in the commentary.

Meeting

Ramana and Ganapati were spiritual brothers – Ramana the silent jnani or Realised One and Ganapati the tantric philosopher and poet. Ramana was regarded as the embodiment of Skanda or Kumar: Ganesh and Skanda are the sons born to Siva and Parvati. When the two wild young sages sat together in the caves of Siva’s hill Arunachala, Ramana taught Ganapati that the root of the mantra and of the breath are one and the same, to dissolve into Self enquiry. Ganapati’s outpouring of verses to the Mother brought their ageless Saivite brotherhood into the 20th century.

skanda and ganapati

Some years ago, Alan Jacobs and I wrote 55 sonnets on the Ramana Gita English version; the sonnet form was chosen, to interact imaginatively with the formal Sanskrit text, and as a spiritual practice. Here below, to provide the setting, is a sonnet based on verses 8 – 11 of Chapter Eighteen, Ramana Gita (see below). It contains our interpretation of the Mantra OM VACADHBUVE RAMANA.

In Praise of Ramana: Three

FROM grasping freed, his peace
in quantum abyss unheeding
restores our alchemy. He pilots the seas.
Ganapati child at breasts of Parvati feeding,
cried “Mother’s mine!” In her lap, Kumar his brother
replied, “Never mind, for mine is Father!
I rest in his right heart, he kisses my head!”

Give glory, elephant child, to He whose lance
in Kumar’s hand pierced hill to the heart, ‘tis said.
Boon bringer, pour poem from His holy glance
by Vedic vessel whence emerges Word
by power of Fire as mystic Sword.

Without a staff, our song you uphold –
ferryman, defend everyman from demon gold!

THE VERSES FROM ‘RAMANA GITA’ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

v.8 Free from infatuation, greed, distracting thought and envy, he is ever blissful. He is ever active, helping others to cross the sea of Becoming, regardless of reward.

v.9 When Ganapati saying ‘Mother is mine’ sat on the lap of Parvati, Kumara retorted ‘Never mind, Father is mine,” and got on to Siva’s lap and was kissed by him on the head. Of this Kumara who pierced (with his lance) the Krauncha Hill, Ramana is a glorious manifestation.

v.10 He is the mystic import of the mantra ‘OM VACHADBHUVE NAMAH.

v.11 An ascetic without danda , yet is he Dandapani. He is Taraka for crossing the sea of suffering, yet is he the foe of Taraka.

NOTE - Danda is a "Staff"or wand, yet Dandapani is the staff 
holder - even one who no longer uses it.  
The word Taraka means Deliverer, but "Taraka" was also the 
great demon Taraka who almost destroyed the universe. 
These are typical Sanskrit word-plays.

Sacred India Tarot – laws of Manu as the Hierophant – Ganapati the scribe near Arunachala

THE COMMENTARY ON THE MANTRA OF THE MASTER

“Om Vacadbhuve Namah Nahasyam”-
“Salutation to the Fire of Brahman whence emerges the word”

First Chapter: Pronouncing the Mantra
VERSE TEN, Chapter 18, RAMANA GITA

Vedådi påkadamanottara kacchapesair “He is the secret sense
Yuktair dharadhara susuptyamaresvaraisca of the group of words arrived at
Suksmamrtayug amrtena saha pranatya by uttering the following Sampannasabda patalasya nahasyam artham* Om Va ca dbhu, ve and Namah”

—Vedadih “the beginning of the Veda”, or Pranama OMKARA (1)
–Pakadamanat “from the destroyer of Paka Asura”, that is, Indra bija, whose letter is la
–Uttarah the letter next to it alphabetically, that is VA ; pakadamanottara kacchapesah —the bija (2) of Rudra in His form as Lord of the tortoise Kurmesa” that is, the letter CA.
—With these letters OM   VA CA, – Dharadharah, the bija of the Mountain,
the letter DA.
—Susuptih   the sakti power of deep sleep, whose bija is the letter BHA.
–Amare-Isvarah “the Lord (Isvara) of the immortals” (Amara, deathless) – Rudra dwells in this Name, his seed-letter U ; therefore DBHU.   Yuktaih, “union” (at the beginning of the line) joins this with the letter DBHU.
–Suksmamrta, whose Sakti’s bija is the letter E ;   Yuk joined to amrtena, (nectar) whose seedletter is the watery VA, form the letter VE.
–Pranatya, (Salutation) unites with the suffix namah (3.) The Sampanna sabda patalasya group of words forms the secret of the mantra OM VACADBHUVE NAMAH NAHASYAM. This can be known only to the knowers of Truth.

(Sabda is another word for Primordial Sound, Word, the Vedas, Omkara.)

The secret (Nahasyam) of this Mantra is revealed only to knowers of Truth. To them alone can the artham or full meaning be outwardly expressed; as in the form of the king of ascetics, Bhagavan Ramana (4 ), when questioned by Amrtanatha. (Ch.18, Ramana Gita)

—Thus “OM Vacadbhuve Namah” is established as the Mantra of Bhagavan the Guru.

Sri Kapali Shastri – a disciple of the Muni – in the 1930s

Kapali Sastri’s Commentary on this verse in the Ramana Gita, states in brief:

“By joining all these letters we arrive at the group of letters OM VACADBHUVE NAMAH. This group of letters forms the Mantra. Its secret sense, known to the learned, expresses the meaning “RAMANA WHO IS THE FORM OF THE DEITY INVOKED BY THIS MANTRA”.

Who is God, expressed in this Mantra ? Subrahmanya. How so ? ‘Om Vachadbhuve Namah’ – Omkara is the supreme Brahman. The word is indeclinable, and so it will make sense with all the case endings. Vacadbhu, the field that creates, releases the Word, the Fire. The fire became the word and entered the mouth. So explains the scripture. Born from the god who presides over speech is Vacadbhu, born from Fire, Kumara. Salutation to Him.

“This is not physical fire, but the effulgence of the word. In order to drive this home, in the Mantra, Agni is denoted by the word ‘vacat’. It is the tradition of the Tantra Shastra to expound the Mantra by using words of similar sense. Following this, the Master (Ganapati Muni) has expounded the Mantra of Subrahmanya. The author of this work, our Master has been praising the Maharshi, as one born out of a portion of Kumara. And so the essence of the Mantra is said to be Ramana.”

Kapali Shastri

FOOTNOTES - PRONOUNCING THE MANTRA:
* - Sri K Natesan states: "The literal translation is given here.
In Tantra Shastra (science) the mantras are not mentioned plainly 
and directly. There is a way of symbolic expression for which a 
working knowledge of their terminology is needed."

1 - pranava the letter OM:  the primordial sound from which the 
Veda, the word of revelation, has sprung

2 - The Tantra talkes about bijakshava, SEED LETTERS which contain
in a potential form what they would be manifesting. The SEED LETTER
is fixed for each Deity.  For example Indra's SEED LETTER is la. 
By convention, each SEED LETTER is connoted by one or more names.
The Bhija-nighantu, the Dictionary of seed-letters, 
gives the corresponding names.

3 - Pranati, bowing down, which is expressed by the word namah 

4 - This verse is one of twenty four verses in praise of the
Maharshi, at the end of which the questioner Amrtanatha addresses
him.

K Natesan & Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley)

The Detailed Commentary by Ganapati Muni now Continues :

If we are asked: is not this mantra, the famous one of Skanda, mentioned in Tantric works like Saradatilaka? we say it is only the mantra of our guru, Bhagavan. It is known that Bhagavan Ramana, the Master, is avatara, descent of effulgence from the original guru, Skanda the Godhead, another of whose names is Sanat kumara. (5)

Ramana sat in silence, then asked the Muni – “Did you write down all I spoke?”

THE BODY OF THE MANTRA

This great mantra is originally of six letters as vacadbhuve namah. It becomes a mantra of seven letters with the pranava which is usually employed by certain Tantrics at the beginning of all mantras. Just as the five-lettered namah shivayah becomes six letters with the Omkara, so also here. All godheads have four forms. One pertains to the spirit, the other to the physical, another to the gods and the last to the form of the mantra.

Elsewhere we find this vedic piece:

Vacam astapadim aham navasraktim rtasprsam “Around Indra I create the body
Indrat paritanvam name of the Word with eight steps and nine parts
close in touch with the Right Law.”

(Rig Veda VIII 65.12)

By this Rik, the Rishi says that he creates the body of Indra, in the form of mantra. The Tantrics also say this:

Derike manavabhrantim                                   “To inferno he goes who mistakes
pratimasu silamatim                                        the guru for a man,
Mantresvaksarabhuddhim                          the idol in the temple for a piece of stone
ca kurvano nirayam vrajet.                                 and the mantra for a group of letters.”

Here the popular parlance that Gayatri is the Deity of the most famous Mantra, Tat Savitah serves as evidence. (6) Gayatri is the Mantra itself alone, not ‘a woman’; (this word indicates the name of a metre – the feminine sakti as the name or vessel). What does this establish? that the body of God Guha in the form of mantra has six letters. In this view that the body is formed by the Mantra, six letters become the six faces of the Lord.

Likewise, the five letters in the Panchakshara Mantra of the Supreme Shiva — NAMAH SHIVAYA — are his five faces. This is the same as the saying of the Mimamsakas: that the Deity is formed by the Mantra.

vedic vessel

THE GENERAL MEANING OF THE MANTRA

Om to the One in the form of Brahman. As the word OM is indeclinable, it keeps the same syntax with all cases. As acclaimed in the Upanishads, the letter OM denotes Brahman.
Vacadbhuva – Vacatah “from one who speaks”, creates statements. This is derived from Agni (god of sacred fire) in whose subtle form is the inner sense of ‘word’.
Bhu born, to Him Namah, salutation. It is well known that Skanda was born from Fire, Agni.

Agni

TO BE CONTINUED.

FOOTNOTES: GANAPATI'S COMMENTARY CONTINUES ...
5 - Chandogya Upanishad (7:26:2) equates Sanatkumara with Skanda,
and says that he takes ashore across the (ocean of) ignorance, 
the pure soul with constant awareness.

6 - "Tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dimah
Dhiyo yo nah pracodayat" -
"We meditate upon that excellent splendour
of the Lord Savitr.  May he activate our thoughts."

7 - Badarayana is the author of the Brahma sutras.  This Sutra
IV.1.5 says that symbols are to be regarded as Brahman, and 
not vice versa.  An inferior object has to be looked upon as
symbolic of the superior.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

aquariel link

Dive into Yoga

Posted on January 7, 2014 by janeadamsart

Joy Ganesh – 7 January 1992

“Woe betide those who live by way of examples! Life is not with them. If you live according to an example, you thus live the life of that example, but who should live your own life if not yourself? So live yourselves. The signposts have fallen, unblazed truth is before us. Do not be greedy to gobble up the fruits of foreign fields. Do you not know that you yourselves are the fertile acre which bears everything that avails you?”

This is from an early page in Jung’s Red Book: Philemon speaks. The archetype resonates with that which moved J.Krishnamurti when he said, “Be the disciple of your own understanding” and “Truth is a pathless land.” It is the same!

I dreamt somewhere in the night – I think it was a dream, because the flavour is around – of intensely loving my child to whom I gave birth … straight into my arms as mother, that miracle feeling. It was in Finchley Road near Swiss cottage, and there was a car with the door open. In-carnation? Chariots of life.

multi tasking in 2013. That is Olivier Messiaen on my mac, playing the organ

My kitchen, a month ago. That is Olivier Messiaen on my mac, playing the organ

All day yesterday, I threw out a big pile of card, paper, old jam-jars and mountboards I will never use – reducing the congestion in my kitchen by half. There is room now I think, to store a vacuum cleaner! Dealing with the remaining old glass sheets from picture framing days, is difficult. Might take it down to the bins when they are empty, and smash the big pieces into them. The glass is old – it has drooped and no longer cuts well. The place looks only slightly different – but feels different, with stuff cleared off shelves – rehoused or junked – and room in all its cavities, to breathe.

During this I listened with great enjoyment to Rohit’s Yoga lectures on You Tube. He is an absolute cork, on the state of India nowadays. Fascinating Vedic wisdoms come bounding out of his laughter, depth and fluid gestures. He is like Ganapati Muni, in trying to restore and regenerate balanced values in society. He feels that Aurobindo is the alchemist of the new spirituality and the wide-world access to it today. I love being among Indian sages – their truth, wit and kundalini.

I don’t remember in which video he talked of the breath and so on, but here is a link to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_yiN9Nh9eY – on Siva Lingam. More can be seen in the link in last week’s post, Sacred India Tarot Archive – 5 & 6 of Arrows

I much like what Rohit says, that our spine is the axis of the Earth. And the feminine matrix of the embryo, and Mercury!

Astrology: The inner beauty of the 23 April Grand Cross is as Real as the tensions around it. My guidance is to act with it, and be patient. It is a whopper Seventh wave for me, on my Jupiter Cancer-to-13 Capricorn opposition this year; and transiting my natal chart significantly … Swim, do what is needed, enjoy and hold the surfboard firmly. Keep things simple. I feel the wave begin to swell … from the December trough.

Grand Cardinal Cross 04.14am gmt, 23 April 2014 in London. This chart has the Houses around the outer wheel, and I coloured them and the Zodiac signs in the Tarot Key spectrum (12 tones). (For more information about this method, search “Colour Wheel” in this blog.)

Hermes Trismegistus detail – caduceus ida pingala – 2003

Rohit’s main message (to me), is to remember to breathe. He said meditation and breath must combine. Meditation by itself gives a power complex to the ego, and nothing changes. The Yogi breath by itself changes nothing – so Earth and Sky must meet. Rohit does Kriyas. Kundalini requires the serpents of breath and meditation to entwine – caduceus – wand – for Her transformative expression.

Apart from my breath going slow and deep when I am writing, the rest of the time I forget about it, and it gets jerky, unconscious. Rohit said, if you breathe right, you are never breathless, however many stairs you run up. Yes I know this: when the Spirit is in me.

I have a resistance to formal hatha yoga. But I accord absolutely, that the breath rhythm regulates the thoughts and bio-pulses. That is what Ramana told the Muni. Therefore, THIS: YOGA RECALLS THE ROOT OF BREATH AND MINDFULNESS THROUGHOUT THE DAY, IN ALL THAT i DO. Another of Rohit’s themes is that Yoga isn’t restricted to asana, Yoga is the way you live and flow your life. Yoga is union. The highest teaching is to mind the breath lightly, like a horse on gentle rein.

To breathe right, is to value life. To breathe consciously is to value life.
Remember this.

I remember also, there are parallel ongoing worlds. A hundred years ago, when Europe was absorbed in its carnage, and Jung began the Red Book Medicine, Ramana Maharshi and Ganapati Muni were doing their Gita on an Indian hill. This is as powerful a generative cycle to this day, as Sarajevo. So look to that! I have an inner picture now, of them in the cave; and of the Muni composing hundreds of Sanskrit verses to the Mother, in white heat, from the power of his brother Ramana’s silence. Sky and earth around them crackle. Upon which atom do I put my money? What Reality to identify, nourish and co-create?

By the way, the concept of the Generative Cycle is old Chinese: the way it works with and through the Destructive Cycle – arrangements of the five elements – in all of life: the movement, the in and out breath of the Tao.

figure of eight – the 5 elements in their mutual conquest cycles

On the breath: when it is synchronised, the diaphragm is open and invites … like the bare wet sand invites the salty wave. There is this inbuilt opening, attuned. On the other hand, when I suddenly remember I haven’t breathed for several hours, and try to, it is “shut”! It is out of synch.

I cannot impose or order the breath – it is disrespectful to life, to expect it to conform. Love has to be here … which tingles very slightly in my shoulders and upper seaweed sacs of the lungs. The whole area is like those plants and creatures underwater, always floating and in soft movement. Relax: locating tiny tension, let it fall, like water off a duck’s feathers. Behold and be the inner floating world.

When thought is sattvic and deep and subtle, the breath – when remembered! – combines with it as the ocean … as the twined staff of Hermes. Then creativity comes.

Hermes in the sea, from the Book of Roob

Look at Hermes walking in the sea. When thought is sattvic, deep, subtle and inviting, it dwells within its savour, its own cosmic sexuality. What is sexuality? The flow of the waves into and through each other, generating exquisite pleasure: the human root of Consciousness.

Start with what you like: position your surfboard, and move with that creaming wave. If thine Eye be single, fill your body with Light.

The wave is like sound. It ripples out concentrically as Light, through all matters and dark mosaics of the world. The breath at such moments, requires no energy beyond its need. It is gentle, like a child asleep: the inner sea is calm. At such moments, I have no stress that I am the doer. I am the vessel: “not my will, but Thine”. And it is Ramana’s Self enquiry. Who?

Near Exeter in south devon – photo from the daily mail

He said to Ganapati Muni, watch the root whence breath and thought arise: this is tapas (practice). He said – and I cannot find the exact quote – he said relax and mind the breath gently, like a rider does his horse. No hassle.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

aquariel link

Human Landscape – a Holy Task of Self-Enquiry

Posted on September 25, 2013 by janeadamsart

Following on my last post – a portrait of Alan Jacobs – I abridge here a chapter we wrote together on “Diving into the Heart”. This practice is at the core of Alan’s sadhana and devotion to Ramana Maharshi. The chapter appeared in a booklet we published in 1994, called The Holy Task. After that … another portrait gallery.

“In the inmost core, the Heart
shines as Brahman alone
as I … I, the Self aware.
Enter deep into the Heart
by search for Self, or diving deep,
of with breath under check –
thus abide ever in Atman.”

Ramana Maharshi in “Ramana Gita” by Ganapati Muni

This metrical verse that Ramana Maharshi himself translated from the Sanskrit original into English, is considered by many devotees to be the essence of his teaching.

Self-enquiry does not mean an endless analysis of the non-Self or personality, but a direct probing into the nature of Reality. The actions and identifications of the personal ego are impartially witnessed, observed, noticed by normal self awareness, when we are not too carried away by external objects and events.

For those in the great majority – if we are honest with ourselves – who have not the strength of attention to hold the I thought in its source and investigate its movement, or who are riveted by the cares of the world, Ramana gave us a great aid: the control of breath or pranayama.

In verses 28, 29 and 30 of the Forty Verses, he states,

As in a well of water deep,
dive deep with Reason cleaving sharp.
With speech, mind and breath restrained,
exploring thus … discover the real source of ego-self.

The mind through calm in deep plunge enquires.
That alone is real quest for the Self.
“This I am” – “mine is not this” –
these ideas help forward the quest.

Get at the Heart within by search.
the personal bows its head and falls.
Then flashes forth another “I” …
not personal, but the Self supreme.”

The paradox of Self enquiry is that it is intimately transpersonal. I substituted ‘personal’ for the word ‘ego’ which has variable interpretations.

Ardhanariswara

Alan extracted a technique based on a practice somewhat similar which he found in The Technique of Maha Yoga by N.R.Narayana Aiyar. It is advisable to ground this practice in a working knowledge of pranayama (the science of breath), physiology, and one’s own innate capacity.

Sit on the floor, kneeling or at ease. Take in a deep inhalation for four or eight counts (as Ramana explains in Self Enquiry), then hold the breath for another four, while turning inward. On the full retention, take the normal focus of concentration which is say, between the eyebrows, and implant it in the spiritual Heart centre just to the right side within the chest, mirroring the physical heart. This is what Ramana experienced, and how he indicated it: “Nam Yar – I, who?” Visualise him inside, and feel this question.

Let it penetrate deeply through the veiling of the mind – which varies in resistance according to the play of the Gunas – into the innermost flame which shines in the cave of the Heart eternally. It is one’s own, yet universal. Allow the intuition of this source or beingness, to generate itself as I AM. Or let go and discover it in the receptivity of the stillness itself.

We may find that the diver is “I” but the receptivity is “Amness”.

After the maximum penetration attained – perhaps four to eight counts – release the breath gently; exhale. The movement of the breath and the birth of thought are linked. Restraint of the one quietens the other. It might be said that prana is that essence of the indrawn and outgoing breath which becomes our awareness.

This practice may be repeated, depending on the practitioner, as often and wherever he or she wishes. It will vary in depth and intensity, but no effort is in vain. The power of concentration related to the harnessed breath will increase, and gradually over a period of time, awaken a subtle vibrance or sphurana within the chest and centre spine, a little to the right. Though the Spiritual heart has no physical location, this area through Ramana’s own experience – and our own – serves as its point of support in the bodymind. Continual practice benefits the nervous system overall, acting as an anchor for Self-remembering, and an instrument of change.

As a byproduct of diving into the Self, there may be a few observable changes in one’s attitudes and innate tendencies. It is a radical procedure, bypassing the mental circus.

On exhalation, one lets go of the world, of darkness, fret and ignorance, like so many old clothes. On inhaling deeply, it may be with some sacred silent image, a mantra sound, or any loved symbol of the Self. On the retention, dive inward by letting the thought-world float away downstream from here; immerse for a moment as if underwater, in being. A sense of urgency may be brought to “who am I?” by thinking of one’s death.

The retention or kumbakha may also be practiced after exhaling and before inhaling, as the Technique of Maha Yoga suggests. In this case, the analogy is with the tide going out; an open sandy beach cleansed of impurities, before the incoming wave of inhalation. In both methods, the root of the breath is watched, as it swells from ‘no where’. We may dive into fullness, as into emptiness. “The mind through calm in deep plunge, enquires.”

What does “to dive into the Self” mean? It is to abide, to be calm and concept free, to be not drawn forth, yet present. Ramana told Ganapati Muni, “Find out wherefrom this ‘I’ springs forth, and merge at its source, this is tapas. Find out wherefrom the sound of the Mantra in japa (repetition of the divine Name) rises up, and merge there; this is tapas.” Nothing more.

Results should not be sought, for these are of the mind’s own machination. When the inner and outer guru are ready, some direct understanding may occur, as a descent of grace strong enough to control the wandering thought, or as a pull from within – a lessening of interest in one’s worries, a tendency to bathe in the mystery of the Source; to trust.

Our minds are very rajas, accustomed to straying outwards for many lifetimes. Gradually as the inner guru pulls us from within, an alert dispassion develops. We need to get to know and hear this inner guru! It is a purifying process: there may be some nervous “churning” as kundalini wakes, and the notion that the vasanas are increasing in strength. Like silt stirred up from the river bed, ALL must come out to be impartially witnessed, in the light of awareness: the worst along with the best. Grace is given.

At this stage, in Alan’s experience, to dive into the Self is beneficial and therapeutic. It opens the way to an intenser God-love, or bhakti. One should never strain in this act, nor let it be a mechanical chore. Ramana’s general recommendation was to watch the natural breath without involvement, and to let the diving into the Heart happen of its own accord. Sattvic or receptive moods encourage it; as does the urgency of one’s death – “to love life, to do service and to die consciously”. Our tiny effort mirrors the effortless and unimaginable power of the guru within. The inner guru dispels the darkness, primordially.

We should also be properly informed first, about our physical and spiritual anatomy, and the science of kundalini. There is no point in practising anything without a genuine interest in how it works.

Use strength without strain. It is a non-verbal gesture inward, of enquiry and discrimination. Paradoxically, the strength of the mind leads it to turn inward and surrender its own notions, like wheat to be harvested; the grain to be bread. “Who is this ‘me’ I’m so concerned about?”

When thoughts stray outward, impelled by preference, fear and political tendency, the mind is weak because it is unfocused. A radical means is needed to pierce the veil of life. In some persons, whose devotional calling is strong, the breath spontaneously slows and stills as they enquire; without the pranayama.

We all have specific vasanas or inherited tendencies, for inner work and witnessing. The nervous system – the network of nadis – must be gradually and systematically purified before the mental engine and all its predilections can safely approach its Source. The diving is a preparatory and cleansing sadhana; Atman the Self in due course takes over, and grips the mind, melting it into the heart; one’s centre of being.

The inner guru pulls the outer circumstances of life in towards the Centre, gradually highlighting aids and techniques which help the quest; and also the time for them to disappear.

Alan practiced diving and plunging as described, for some years. He can honestly say that it helps his all round understanding. It undermines the verbal or conceptual level towards a fuller Self surrender, and deeper insights into the teaching. Ramana’s key unlocked his prison.

I have not practiced it for a long time, and it is about time I did! However, the diving happens in many ways. The secret is to engage an ancient Mantra or sound, with the living breath, instead of just repeating it verbally, or expecting it to do some magic for you. The secret is to embody it and take it with you to pay the bills.

The resonance enters blood and bone, and returns transposed; it is Alchemy. For instance: the sanskrit “SO (inhale) HAM” (exhale). I remember doing this while hiking along the trails in Sedona; Robert Adams taught it. In Kabbalah, we inhale and exhale similarly the syllables of Angels and names of JHVH. We bring them into our pranic being.

A long time ago, I linked the Tetragrammaton (JHVH) to the four lines of the tsarets Prayer of the Heart, and breathed them in and out. I remember doing this on the puffer-train from Exeter to Barnstaple – a very beautiful winding valley.

But it takes practice and commitment, and these I have to say, I have lacked, in recent years. I get overwhelmed by my local troubles. The sign of an untrained and unfocused psyche is when she tries to push the sides of the train.

GALLERY – more memories!

When creating new Life – any spiritual practice – it needs to be given patience, love, attention, time and space. Nothing grows in just a weekend. Vera Moore, my old piano teacher, would have her students wrap each note like a baby in a shawl, and re-discover it with that tactile tenderness.

So I am glad to recall now, what Alan and I practiced together, and teased each other about, and argued and muddled along with. Added to that, is the full palette of life, aging and … the way my understanding ripens since that time. And his. A lifetime is a parabola – a curve of manifestation: Malkuth.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

aquariel link

All art and creative writing in this blog is copyright © Janeadamsart 2012-2013. May not be used for commercial purposes. May be used and shared for non-commercial means with credit to Jane Adams and a link to the web address https://janeadamsart.wordpress.com/

Sacred India Tarot Archive – Creation of Pradyumna, King of Lotuses

Posted on August 6, 2013 by janeadamsart

Sacred India Tarot – Vishnu, detail

Concluding the Suit of Lotuses in the Sacred India Tarot Archive, by Jane Adams and Rohit Arya. The Suit of Arrows (Swords) will follow in this series.

Rohit’s Notes – Pradyumna, Son of Krishna and Rukmini

“Pradyumna was Kama reborn, after Siva withdrew his curse. He was born to the greatest devotee of Siva, who was Krishna, as a gift after his favourite wife Rukmini, considered to be Lakshmi, had been childless for many years. This ties in the water element very well, as Lakshmi is the wife of Vishnu, i.e. Krishna who is also Narayana ‘he who sleeps on the waters’ – and one of her names is Padma ‘the Lotus’. Their son therefore is ideally placed to be the King.

Sacred India Tarot – Kama consumed – detail

“Pradyumna is Kama – (the deity of desire and lust) – healed, the aggression and arrogance being tempered in the next generation. The sins of the father are literally redeemed by the son. He should be depicted as a Krishna clone, but dressed in lotus garlands instead of the peacock feather crown. The same blue skin and captivating smile. A river of sorts should flow near him, as he was kidnapped at birth and cast into a river from which he was rescued by the faithful Rati. The Water element always predominated his story.”

Jane’s Notes

The same thought runs through the Suit of Lotuses as a whole: the transmutation of sexual desire into a realisation, that the root feeling which creates the world, the galaxies, the stars, the Laws, human beings and all creatures, is sacred. Every manifestation is Siva Shakti. It is not put on an altar to worship, because we are the potential walking altars: reverence for Life.

yabyu,www.flkr.com:photos:Zirkusofia:6180701492

Rohit’s Notes continued – from his Book with the Deck

“Pradyumna is the son of Krishna and the father of Aniruddha. He is also Kama reborn, with all the swagger and insolence rubbed out of him. Being incinerated by Siva seems to have that kind of effect. He is an almost perfect, positive role model – there is hardly much that is negative about him. That is admirable, but it makes for boring appraisals of character.

“The King of Lotuses has to go very much to the dark, before the shadow side takes hold. The name ‘Pradyumna’ means ‘conquers all foes’, so it gives some indication of his stature and prowess. He suffered the fate of all great men with even greater parents – an admiring obscurity. It does not seem to have disturbed him at all. Kama would have been shooting arrows in all quarters in frustration at being denied the limelight.

“Kidnapped at birth by the fearful Sambara and thrown into the ocean to die, he was rescued and brought up in the circumstances already narrated in the Queen of Lotuses. This rough beginning was residual negative karma from his action against Siva, but once that worked out, his life was smooth sailing.

Sacred India Tarot Krishna restores dharma – detail

“This characteristic of turbulent origins settling down into the placid longterm, is typical of the nature of the King of Lotuses. When Krishna was off on his frequent adventures, it was Pradyumna who by sheer reputation alone, protected the kingdom. He was also a skilful administrator, and unlike Kama, there are no salacious stories about him. When the power of desire is harnessed to worthy and nourishing ends, somebody like Pradyumna exemplifies that noble state.

“… Friendly and helpful, but slightly remote. Spiritual authority, teacher, guru, mentor, guide. Likes to work with children. The wisdom of emotional maturity – a true psychological adult is a wonderful thing to see… They read people well. Ability to take risks because of that talent, Of all Tarot personalities, the most in touch with the feminine side.

“(Shadow side) – Ends up creating dissonance instead of harmony when irritated or provoked … Without being outright dishonest, is still a misleading sort of personality … Seeks power by manipulation, never overtly. Refuses to ask for help or even admit it is required. Insight of the card: Is your life really as good and on track as you think it is? Are you becoming complacent, even smug?”

Jane’s Notes continued

I come to this card with a clean slate. No current agendas or past material arise, to stick to it; except whatever flows over from my Krishnamurti posts. The sage, eternally young, has the high mountains at his back: the roots and seeds of trees are his body: a little river flows past his feet – the soul’s irrigation channel. The pebbles along the bank are earth-jewels. He holds two small blue lotuses – Krishna! – in the Indian way, at his naval and heart chakras. Otherwise he is the Lotus personified, rather like the Ace.

Sacred India Tarot Siva Ace of Lotuses – detail

Perhaps we all can try this: sit here on the spot, as the lotus flower whose root is held in the earth, and watch the river flowing by. Every meditational method advises to watch the river … watch the content of the mind, and let it pass. Watch the breath, and discover the CALM. Perhaps hold the breath for a while, and then let it go (this is kumbaka): or inhale and exhale through each nostril alternately, closing the other with a finger against it. Every little bit helps, to slow things down and gain perspective and … the peace.

Ramana recommended to watch the normal breath without fuss, like a rider on the horse. He also taught “diving into the heart” – inhale, hold for a few seconds, dive into the ocean for the pearl ; then let go, exhale. It is non-verbal, and helps to clear out shadows in the subconscious; it drives them up into the open. Or dive inward after the emptied outbreath. The shining sands are revealed for a moment before the water swells and the next wave comes. Thought and breath share the same root.

Hridayam

He whose thoughts, embodying being,
sally forth, points to the heart.
To describe, may merely image mental part,
so realise your mind’s source is ‘I’. Then seeing
that, from which thought springs – Thou Art!

“If my heart is single, stem and shoot,
whence my Yoga, in the root?”
“The heart of all, the whole receives. Start
near the pump: hridayam as hrit,
in-draws, exhales the Universe, by Ayam lit.

“Your Self is One, you understood!
Let your heart’s ease – to right of centre is best –
sushumna’s stream to sahasrara flood,
and bow your flower in heart to rest.”

(A play of sanskrit words: hridayam means Heart. Ayam is “this I”, and Hrit is “who?” – the base of Self enquiry. Sushumna is the nadi or nerve current which passes through the spinal column from the root chakra to the Sahasrara (crown) chakra – ‘thousand petalled lotus”. To make a picture of these things, is good.)

Sacred India Tarot – Pradayumna King of Lotuses

The Grail

Awareness flows from heart to body whole,
as impressions of the world arise.
Beholding these apart from sky, the soul
enmeshed in samsara’s snare, becomes unwise.
In Cup of Cups, by petals of pure light,
a circling moth’s consumed and swiftly dies.
In Light, by power of mind and sight
are limned and lost, the differing eyes.

Samadhi state, one pointed, firm, beholds in all,
sahaja – in nirvikalpa is their absence.
The wide world on body sense does fall
like rainbow prism; and in heart is Presence.

The universe entire and myriad formed, is mind
whose origin is heart, here now to find.

Samsara is the repetition of births and deaths – the process of worldly life. Samadhi is peace and joy all-knowing, in meditation. Sahaja samadhi is unconditional, and participates in the world without altering the bliss. Nirvikalpa samadhi is like a trance – the worldly life is absent during it, and the samadhi is limited. These two poems are from Sonnets on the Ramana Gita, composed by Alan Jacobs and Jane Adams for their better understanding of these teachings. The Ramana Gita was a series of sanskrit verses – the young Ramana’s early discussions, collected and written down by Ganapati Muni, the sage with “poetry in his throat”.

A princess being crowned 1956 – after botticelli

It is not much use following sages and gurus unless I am prepared and inspired enough to apply their teaching to the First Person I inescapably am. “If you see the Buddha on the road – kill him!” Why? Because he might be a glamorous projection or ideal, distracting attention from the First Matter – the Buddha nature I am given, to work on honestly. This said, there is tremendous inspiration and grace in the company of a Realised one, not to mention Love – the core of human evolution and gravity. The Elder Ones all agree on the paradox – to hold an I-thought (aham-vritti) and follow upstream where it dissolves … goes together with letting go our local ‘me’, when we serve and are fully present for others or for the One. The first is raja-yoga; the second blends karma-yoga and bhakti-yoga. It goes on being very difficult!

At this point, I see how the Indian Self teaching draws together with the First Matter in alchemy, and with J.Krishnamurti’s gift for hearing a problem without comment, until it becomes conscious, dissolving and resolving itself. Attentiveness is what it requires; and patience. “Keep practicing.”

Sacred India Tarot 3 Empress

Sacred India Tarot – Visnu the Magician card

Lakshmi and Vishnu, from whom came Rukmini and Krishna, the mother and father of Pradyumna.

For other Sacred India Tarot posts, look under Recent Posts, Sacred India Tarot in the Categories, or Archive of All Posts in the title bar. Rohit Arya Rohit Arya is an Author, Yogi and Polymath. He has written the first book on Vaastu to be published in the West, {translated into five languages} the first book on tarot to be published in India, co-authored a book on fire sacrifice, and is the creator of The Sacred India Tarot {82 card deck and book}. He has also written A Gathering of Gods. He is a corporate trainer, a mythologist and vibrant speaker as well as an arts critic and cultural commentator. Rohit is also a Lineage Master in the Eight Spiritual Breaths system of Yoga. Earlier posts about the deck, including the first 15 Major Arcana archives are in http://aryayogi.wordpress.com The deck is copyrighted (c) 2011 to the publishers, Yogi Impressions Books pvt, and available on Amazon and internationally.

Jane

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom. This blog is a vehicle to promote also my published work – The Sacred India Tarot (with Rohit Arya, Yogi Impressions Books) and The Dreamer in the Dream – a collection of short stories (0 Books). Watch this space. aquariel link All art and creative writing in this blog is copyright © Janeadamsart 2012. May not be used for commercial purposes. May be used and shared for non-commercial means with credit to Jane Adams and a link to the web address https://janeadamsart.wordpress.com/

The Mythology behind Ramana’s Thirty Verses

Posted on July 7, 2013 by janeadamsart

The material for my next Sacred India Tarot Archive post contains a reflection on Ramana Maharshi’s Thirty Verses. I feel it should be given on its own, then followed by the Knight and Queen of Lotuses in the Tarot archive, as originally planned.

The Sanskrit title for the 30 Verses was “Upadesa Saram“. This means “The Quintessence of Instruction.” It draws near to the ineffable. At the same time, it raises the bar in a practical way, for tackling any situation where we have wined and dined out and become a little noisy. Meditation is Life: our body and breath are Earth’s gravity.

Ramana with Arunachala's children, including Ganesan, Sundaram and Mani

Ramana with Arunachala’s children, including his nephews Sundaram, Mani and Ganesan

The Mythology Context of Ramana’s “Thirty Verses”
first published in the Ramana Foundation UK Journal “SELF ENQUIRY” April 2001

MY EARLIER SITA post, (9 and 10 of Lotuses) includes “The Birth of Skanda” – a colourful Puranic account of Siva and Parvati’s yogic courtship and marriage, leading to the birth of their son Skanda, who, it was fortold, alone had the power to destroy the demon of the reactive mind, Taraka asura.

It will be recalled that Agni, the god of sacred Fire and sacrificial offerings, had been tricked into swallowing Siva’s semen, which burned intolerably within him. He was advised by Siva to go to a certain pine forest on the banks of the river Magha, where dwelt seven ascetic Rishis and their wives: the wives would receive the fiery seed, relieving Agni to return to his natural flame state, and enable the saviour to be born.

This story, like a crystal, is retold from numerous different facets. In one of these, it is Siva Himself who visits the unsuspecting ladies, and who, chastising their husbands for their sterile ascetic practices, gives them the teaching on the laws of Karma which, in our day, we find in Ramana’s Thirty Verses on the Quintessence of Instruction (Upadesa Saram). The poet Muruganar, when writing this legend in Tamil verse, on coming to the instruction given by Siva to the Rishis, asked Ramana – as Siva incarnate – to write it for him, Here first is the setting, and then the Thirty Verses :

CERTAIN ASCETICS in the Pine Forest had obtained great powers by their prayers and sacrifices. In order to conserve these, their hearts had to be permanently pure, as well as the hearts of their wives. Siva heard about the beauty of the womenfolk, and resolved to seduce them. Taking the form of a beautiful young beggar, he invited Vishnu to dress up as a voluptuous woman and accompany him on this prank. Vishnu went first, to arouse the ascetics. He excited all of them out of their minds. They abandoned their sacrifices and ran after the siren as moths fly about the light they see in the night.

Meanwhile Siva made his appearance among the resinous pine trees, half naked, dishevelled, with begging bowl. The women abandoned their housework and ran after him, half undressed, begging him to remain there with them. Siva slipped away into the shadows, and they followed him.

The Rishis began to notice that their rituals became less effective, and their powers were no longer what they had been. They conferred among themselves. They suspected the handsome beggar who disordered their wives, was none other than Siva, and that she who seduced themselves was Vishnu in disguise. They were enraged. They conjured up an elephant and a tiger by magic rites, and sent them against Siva. Siva slew the creatures easily, and took the elephant’s skin for a robe and the tiger’s for a wrap. They tried likewise in vain, a disembodied head, a giant, a brace of writhing serpents, and fire. Finally they sent all the waning power of their prayers and tapas against him. These forces came forth like a mass of fire, beat against Siva’s genitals, and detached them from his body. Siva, full of indignation, made to burn up the entire earth with his genitals, but Vishnu took shape as the female organs, receiving those of Siva, and prevented general conflagration.

Moved by the prayers of the Rishis – for Siva is never indifferent to His devotees – he consented to hold his fire, and to give them “The Quintessence of Instruction”.

In the closed Hindu universe, described as an egg, nothing is ever lost. Things are transferred, reborn or transmuted. The law of karma – literally, “action” – is based on this world-view. The sum of one’s past actions is embodied in the force of karma, which is considered a discrete, transferable quantity. One Upanishad describes a mystic view of the sexual act, and then concludes, “The man who practices intercourse in awareness of this view, takes to himself the good karma of the woman. He who does it ignorantly, loses his good karma to her.”

Briefly, a host of nuances concerning the fertility of the inner life and creativity, the generative power of thoughts, and the sterility of those who cling to the letter alone, are touched on here. In the Pine Forest, Siva had excited the women and infuriated their husbands, but he didn’t actually do anything. He was chaste, and made others believe him to be a lecher, a false ascetic in reverse. He served as a mirror. He chastised the Rishis for their dishonesty and barren self-seeking rituals; he awakened their real nature to them.

Researched from Wendy O’Flaherty’s book Siva the Erotic Ascetic

THE THIRTY VERSES by Ramana Maharshi

ACTION yields fruit, for so the Lord ordains it.
How can action be the Lord? It is insentient.

The fruit of action passes. But the act leaves behind the seed of further acts
leading to an endless ocean of reaction : not to liberation.

A disinterested act, surrendered to the Lord
purifies the mind and points to liberation.

This is certain: worship, praise and meditation,
being work of body, speech and mind, are steps for orderly ascent.

Ether, fire, air, water, earth, Sun, Moon and living beings –
worship of these, regarded all as forms of life, is perfect worship of the Lord.

Better than hymns of praise is repetition of the Name ; better quiet than loud;
but best of all is silent meditation – reflective in the mind.

Better than spells of meditation is one continuous current
steady as a stream or downward flow of oil.

Better than viewing Him as Other – indeed the noblest attitude of all –
is to hold Him as the ‘I’ within – the very ‘I’.

Abidance in pure being, transcending thought through love intense
is the very essence of supreme devotion.

Absorbtion in the heart of being, whence we sprang,
is the path of action, of devotedness, union, and of knowledge.

Restraint of breath controls the mind like a bird caught in the net.
This gentle regulation helps absorbtion in the heart.

Mind and breath (as thought and action) like two branches forking out
both spring from a single root.

Absorbtion is of two kinds: submergence and destruction.
Mind submerged again arises: mind dead revives no more.

With even breath, and thought restrained,
the mind turned one-way inward, fades and dies.

Mind extinct, the mighty Seer to his natural being returns
and has no action to perform.

Wisdom turns away the mind from outer things
to behold its own effulgent form.

When unceasingly it scans itself, there’s nothing there.
For everyone this direct path is open.

Thoughts alone make up the mind, and of all thoughts, the ‘I’ is root.
What we call ‘mind’ is but the notion ‘I’.

When we turn within and search whence this thought of ‘I’ arises,
the shamed ‘I’ vanishes — and wisdom’s quest begins.

Where this ‘I’ notion faded, now as I, as I, arises here
the One, the very Self, the infinite.

Of the notion ‘I’, the permanency is That. For even in deep sleep
where we have no sense of ‘I’, we do not cease to be.

Five faces of Arunachala Siva … the “i – i ?”

Body, sense, mind, breath, sleep – all insentient and unreal –
cannot be I, I, who am the Real !

For knowing That which is, there is no other knower.
Hence being is awareness; and we are all awareness.

In the nature of their being, creature, and creator are in substance One.
They differ only in adjuncts and awareness.

To free oneself of attributes is to see the Lord,
for He shines ever as the pure Self.

To know the Self is to be the Self, for it is non dual.
Knowing thus, one abides as That.

That is true knowledge which transcends both knowledge and ignorance,
for in pure knowingness, is no object known,

Our nature known, we abide as being with no beginning and no end
in unbroken consciousness and peace.

Abiding in peace beyond bondage and release
is steadfastness in service of the Lord.

All ego gone, in peace as That alone
is penance good for growth, sings Ramana
“who sports in the Self”.

A NOTE BY ARTHUR OSBORNE: “The Tamil poet Muruganar wanted to write 100 verses on this theme, but he could not readily proceed beyond 70 verses. It then occurred to him that Ramana was the proper person to write the verses relating to Siva’s instruction. He therefore begged Ramana to compose them, and Ramana accordingly composed 30 Tamil verses. They were subsequently translated by Ramana into Telugu and into Malayalam. He himself later translated them into Sanskrit; the Sanskrit version known as Upadesa Saram (the Essence of Instruction) was daily chanted before him, together with the Vedas, and continues to be chanted as a scripture before his shrine. He grades the various paths to Liberation in order of efficiency and excellence, showing that the best is Self-enquiry.”

Arthur Osborne, founder-editor of Ramanasramam journal The Mountain Path

The relationship of Siva, Lord of the Dance, and seed of fire, with Agni, god of the sacramental fire itself, is explored with great subtlety in various streams of the mythological delta. In some of these stories, Agni becomes the servant, object or representation of Siva’s will. The fire both creates and destroys. Arunachala is primordially a “Hill of Fire”, and the Temple there, among those dedicated to the elements in Southern India Saivism, represents fire. The Deepam Festival of Lights in the winter season is the biggest of the regional festivals. The flame is rekindled at the summit and at the root of Arunachala, amid general celebratory pilgrimage. Siva’s ancient Vedic form was as Rudra, the Wild Hunter, the fiery Archer, who interrupted the coitus of the Father Creator with the Dawn (He Emerges from the Poem of Ancient Power).

Agni – Skanda

The interplay of these currents across the sleep of spacetime awakens paradoxical archetypes of awareness. They resonate like rhythmic chants of a kind, or music. The opposites tasting one another, in mutual annihilation give birth. Ramana, a child of these traditions, points to the fiery heart within us: our warmth and love of being.

This was my first attempt, yesterday when tired. Next morning I found his left eye was wrong, so I moved it a bit. I drew him often in the past, but I now find it very difficult to approach his likeness.

A sketch … when staying there itself. The perfectly proportioned, primordial Mountain of fire.

Note how the sanskrit “Agni” and the Ram vehicle, resonate the French word agneau – the Lamb or young ram; and the wealth of Biblical symbolism for the archetype. In this SITA card, I was requested to portray the publisher of the deck, Gautam Sachdeva, and the author, Rohit Arya

Alan Jacobs in his spiritual home. He wears a sivalingum badge on his beret

Ramana’s teaching often spoke of the cinema screen and the events we believe and get lost in – which are projected onto its surface and upon each other. The Seer is the scene: the light itself illumines and is the Real life.

… and finally this, which I began by turning the photo upside down, for the “helpful” distortion which sometimes occurs surprisingly to life – this didn’t happen today. A long whittling towards an approximation! The photo is rather shadowy. I found it on Alan Jacobs’ facebook advaita-vedanta group. Ramana’s facial expressions flowed like water over the absolute stillness of a mountain. At the same time, he cooked, bound books and helped Annamalai the ashram builder with the brick laying.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

aquariel link

All art and creative writing in this blog is copyright © Janeadamsart 2012. May not be used for commercial purposes. May be used and shared for non-commercial means with credit to Jane Adams and a link to the web address https://janeadamsart.wordpress.com/

Angels and Kabbalah

Posted on March 2, 2013 by janeadamsart

Tarot Empress: Arcanum Three

Here are some more writings and sketches of Angels, from my workbook on Tarot Arcanum Three. Starting this topic in my previous post, I realised it is rather a large one – so this is Part Two!

Jacobs Ladder – Archangels & Names of God – 1992

(1) YOD … The extended Tree of Life, or Jacobs Ladder, shows the interlocking Four Worlds of Ezekiel’s vision: physical (nature and chakras), psychological (planets), Creational (angels) and the Absolute (names of HASHEM the Holy One).

Jacobs Ladder, showing 4 worlds, and the Tree of Yetzirah (astrology)

The Angels as Instruments of Law

In Yetzirah – the World of Formation’s upper regions – overlapping Beriah/Creation, and particularly around Daat of Yetzirah/Yesod of Beriah – increments of the Fourth dimension step through into consciousness. It is a passage of transformation between the worlds – a dark mirror – the whispering of a stranger from behind my neck . Some features of the world collapse. In this region, are other beings. They have a different temporal substance. They exist without cause and effect. Yet they are forms – the multiple facets of a philosophic crystal – of awareness.

O Angel – 1988

They have multifarious duties. Some take an interest in and guide mundane affairs as spiritus directores. Others are messengers from energy fields which are not human, but were shaped in a concurrent frame of consciousness. Some are called angels. The angel, a sub-atomic conduit of force, or cosmic ray, rules regions corresponding to inter-stellar space. Earth is showered every day with highly charged particles – the butterfly wings through cosmos.

The Fool and the Lamb in a tent with Angels

Angels exist outside time. Some persons see them in human or archetypal form, for some of them descend into the world of images through the Daat window and are apparent in this way. SANDALPHON is the Archangel of planet Earth, and MAHAEL is the Archangel of the Sun; there is an Angel of the Solar system, and innumerable angelic hierarchies upon Jacob’s Ladder. There are devas of the trees and woodland glades, and angelic atmospheres ruling towns and even street corners. Mountains have their devas, as do geologic strata, resins and plant elixirs. They do their jobs outside Chronos – the circle of time. But humans can develop a sensitive interface with them.

Time, as we live and know it, is a section across the Angel. It is difficult for them to manifest three-dimensionally. They do so only with human cooperation. The Archangel of Yesod in Beriah, through whom other angelic beings come and go, is GAVRIEL who “announced” the coming of an Anointed One to the mother. GAVRIEL brought the dreams to Joseph, for the management of the Egyptian granary. Cows and sheep are intuitive, but do not develop celestial vision. Angels cannot materialize into the plane of sight. The creatures who have the ability and the gift of destiny, to travel in and unify both worlds, are ourselves.

The Angel is the way a door opens into “seeing clearly”. When the door is closed, we see through a glass darkly.

Archangel MAHAEL

As our Spirit condenses, as it gravitates through the halls of upper Yetzirah into physical embodiment, we are clairvoyant to all that we are, have been and are to do, and why. The Karma drawing us into earth’s gravity is still at this point, an undifferentiated “I” of all Eye, and probably curious, but not as yet emotionally identified. Around the time of physical birth, the field of vision is abruptly restricted; the soul becoming individualized, lodges into the body whose contour her various deeds and intentions created. An aeroplane descends from the brightness into thick white cloud, and lands in a field by a toy town, dim and grey. The child cries as the musical chord is cut. Perhaps.

… where the Angel treads – 1988

All languages of adepts contain activities or presences invisible to the layman, but in which we are supposed to believe!

In the Hermetic language they are called genii.
In Kabbalah they are called angels.
In Hindu and Egyptian languages they are called gods.
Theosophists call them Masters.
Lucretius of Rome called them atoms.
In the 20^th century language of maths and physics, they are called particles.

An Angels’ Sound

Why do I find black holes so interesting?

The black hole is an archetypal dragon which guards enlightenment: traverse its coil with great care and caution. Very extreme things happen … temptations are offered … when one gets near the scent. There is a growing attunement to the power of the Self – the Universe – and it is very easy to channel this mistakenly into the personal ego – into the unreclaimed wilderness which sets itself up to teach, influence and lead. So one has to be watchful.

Strangely however, the black hole as conceived by materialists, is the great Light of Reality in metaphysics. The black hole “shrinks” into that expansion, and becomes the birth of a star … through the veil’s other side. This is a rather intuitive hunch, against the conventional grain. The idea of black holes is frightening, tearing unwary astronauts apart, but only if materiality is the only frame of reference. If it is not, then black holes open a very different prospect … of stars in the night sky at birth, creating Kalpas – the breaths of time and space. The principle stands for eternity, society, astrophysics and the inner life.

Returning briefly to the angels on Jacob’s Ladder: the creatures who have the ability and the gift of choice to travel in and unify the worlds, are human.

The human psyche is a walking transformer of “force” into materiality. Through the psyche, levels of frequency – vibrational waves which might be “angels” – interface the mobile field of height, breadth and depth. The things we do, speak and think, create concentric ripples in this field, and in the field beyond our sight.

Angel choir, 1957

We may choose to coast along blindly with a fateful pattern – the inertia of circumstance – or to open our eyes within the circumstance to see what it is up to. In the latter case, we consider the circumstance in its relation to the environment, and the other wheels which turn. If my soul is alert here, and beginning to apply steerage, I have no mob mentality. We are co-workers in all manner of things. This act is “awakening”.

angel, old master copy, 1957

(2) HEH … Some Further Thoughts – Venus (green) and Mars (red) on the Tree

The following colour complementaries are from my Tarot & Kabbalah studies with the Builders of the Adytum:

venus sun mars – colour correspondences

In the “queen’s scale” colour coding, Mars is red and Venus is green. On Jacob’s Ladder, Awakening’s red path – Netzach-to-Hod in Beriah the world of Creation – converts to the green Hokhmah-to-Binah path in Yetzirah the world of Formation – uniting masculine and feminine poles across the Tree, as well as vertically. (This can be seen in the diagram of Jacobs Ladder, above). In Tarot, the green path is Venusian – the path of the Empress. She is pregnant; she bridges Hokhmah to Binah – the Hebrew “Wisdom and Understanding”.

The triadic plane of Tifareth, Gevurah, Hesed – the Sun with Mars and Jupiter – is yellow-gold. Tifareth is the Beauty of the Tree – its consciousness. The path bridging Hesed/Jupiter (Grace) to Gevurah/Mars (Severity) over Tifareth, is yellow – Tarot Key 8, Strength: the woman who tames the red lion.

bota key 16 tower

The Netzach Hod level is ruled by Mars – the path of the Tower and of Awakening. So, Key 3 The Empress (Venus) gestates the fertile seed. Key 16 The Tower (Mars) cracks the seedcase open. (See my previous post. – a note at the end, re the House of God)

On Jacobs Ladder of the interpenetrating Trees of Life, these two paths overlay each other.

All resonances on the Tree of Life are potential meditations: an opener of doors – the Angel. The Tree is full of angelic powers, as we awake to them with our sight, hearing and heart.

And here is a composer’s analogy, down the Lightning flash:

The Trees of Music and the physical body

(3) VAV … A Visit to India – Holding Arunachala Rock in my left palm (10.9.92)

In the BE-ING, there is infinite clear space. There are senses to receive, but no “solid” wall or division anywhere. Dive or sink into this, as the core.

The fiery Arunachala pyramid is in the I. All things, and treasures of the world, are in the I which permeates the i.

Arunachala sketch – one of the oldest and most sacred mountains on earth – Siva’s red rock hill

Ramana Maharshi used to say, realisation of the Self is clear as an Indian gooseberry in the palm of your hand.

Thoughts and ashram Tourists carry on more or less as usual, though somewhat hushed or swamped by the “awesome” advent of core-mystery-absorbtion. The depth nature arises sometimes to suggest – a present, a gift to be in – for a moment. It opens in my mid-spine behind the heart. Fall inward!

All directions i am

(4) SECOND HEH … And touching on the soul, and how we evolve in relation to each other …

angel by Raphael – copy

Angels lead inevitably into platonic solids – the crystallized forms of the soul’s cosmic interface are our root elixirs. Two tetrahedrons interpenetrating, create Solomon’s Seal: a third-eye laser beam.

Cultivate in my imagination the Tetrahedron: the crystal of the Soul, to whose surfaces a third, extended centre point gives depth, volume and perspective … (“the height, the depth and breadth …”)

It trains the mind to overcome problems of the flat-earth polarity.

A Soul tetrahedron’s inner points touch the centre of each outer surface …

Sometimes it is like this: I am the base, performing the first two – the polarity. The plane of the Archangels is the raised apex, or depth; and they perform the rest. Hence the idea of surrender, and letting go – we come as far as we can, unaided: then hand it over.

No spiritual or creative task is done in isolation, but in dialogue. When They take over, I stray and struggle to collect up my bits, and think about it.

Hear this: every Angel in a wing, a mountain, a leaf or a person, is the One.

I have earth’s deep yearning for the sky to fill me. One lens is as good as any, when polished. They come to meet, as in the Masters’ limestone occulus:

Drawn up into a dark cave whose glory drop by drop
the rain through aeons carved,
as stalagmite to stalactite my soul evolves,
from floor to point of meeting.

Let us draw time,
draw together this space.

My flame drinks wick; in watered rock my mirrored twin appears –
mineral kingdom interpolates, vesica pisces, droplet rock
to drop deposit.

Not by earthly measure large, this chamber –
by a candle illumined: a single drop, a sea.
In limestone cave the work through ages dark
as organs of our inner body, gleams.

Hollowing this Gothic sphere, I am the ages’ hourglass –
an instant yes, awakens sight: the hallowing fire.

From The Masters’ Eye 1992-2009
These verses are also in my early post, Drawings of Timothy West

Finally: here is a sketch of a dream I had in 1969, of “a vulnerable angel”:

He (in green) felt something grow behind his shoulders – tender wings. He is embarassed, and tries to hide this condition from the other people in the room. Leo Tolstoy’s short story about an Angel who fell to earth – “What Men Live By” – made a deep, early impression on me.

To conclude, here is the Angel of cosmic regulation – the Tarot Temperance:

Tarot Arcanum 14 – Temperance

My articles on Kabbalah assume some familiarity with the Tree of Life, the Sefiroth, the Paths, and the Four Worlds of Jacobs’ Ladder. For more information on the subject, visit http://www.kabbalahsociety.org ; Zev ben Shimon Halevi’s books, diagrams, drawings and courses give a detailed introduction and a comprehensive view.

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

Link to Aquariel

Stump the Guru – Santa Robert Xmas

Posted on December 24, 2012 by janeadamsart

This is part 1 of a sort of big Xmas card. Part 2 is in my other blog, Aquariel.

I visited the late Robert Adams (21 January 1928 – 5 March 1997) in Arizona in 1996. You can find the story of that journey (also in two parts) in this blog, last June.

Robert found it very hard to speak, because he had Parkinsons. But he was irrepressible. Here are some of his words:

“What I teach is utter nonsense – gobbledy gook. It has no meaning, except to my Self. I have no teaching. It is simply my confession. It is useless for most people, because I’m not giving a direction. I’m not telling you to meditate twelve hours a day, or to stand on your head, or to watch your mantras. There’s no instruction. There’s just my personal confession … the way I feel.

“Now, it does some people good, these invisible instructions. By just being here: by opening your heart, something happens. So don’t listen with your head, do not try to analyse or judge, or come to any conclusions. As I always say – ‘do not believe a word I say.’ Why should you? Who am I? I’m nobody! nobody important. Listen to your own heart. I’m a sort of mirror. What you see in me is yourself … I can truthfully say that i am ultimate oneness, absolute reality, emptiness – unborn – nirvana. I am that I am.

“When many people read spiritual books on Advaita vedanta, or on jnana marga, they immediately try to act out the part, and they memorise many of these quotations and sayings. They become useless! You have to go through spiritual disciplines to get to the place where you wake up. In my own experience, I probably did these disciplines in a previous existence; for when I was very young, I felt these things. I had no idea what it was, until I read the books. So the reading of books confirmed my experience, and then I went to see Ramana Maharshi – but I had already felt this.

“There is a difference. I have to be very careful what I say, because this path sometimes gives people license to become arrogant, obnoxious It’s just the opposite. If you have jnana, knowledge, you show loving kindness, compassion, joy – and you express yourself as that.

“… You look for a reason … a solution – a cause? But there is no reason, cause or effect. There IS emptiness. Emptiness is the Self, and I AM that. Now, when I speak of I AM, I’m not referring to Robert. I am referring to omnipresence. I AM is that; therefore when I utter ‘I AM’, I am speaking for all of us, for there is only One – and we are all ultimate Oneness. There is no distinction.

“They say that there is a Central sun. All of the galaxies in the Universe revolve around the Central sun; one revolution takes 24,000 years. The closer the galaxy gets to the Central sun, the more evolved a planet becomes; and the further away from the sun, the greater the dark ages on that planet.

“But where did the Central sun come from? Who gave it birth? Since the beginning of time, there have been individuals who pondered this question. Where did creation come from? Out of what did it evolve? Great rishis in India, great seers in Japan, in Egypt, thousands of years ago, sat beneath trees pondering these questions. If God created everything, where did God come from? Who created the God? …

“So these olden day rishis and seers pondered. And something very interesting happened. As they pondered externally the cause of creation, all of a sudden they found themselves becoming introverted. They began to look within themselves. They began to realise – I AM. And inadvertently they pose the question, “who am I? Who am I?” without knowing what they were doing. They didn’t even voice it verbally. They just felt it – who am I? And as they did this sincerely, religiously, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, something happened. And it came to them – I am That.

“They were amazed. Remember, these great thinkers from the past did not know each other; they did this independently, and in Egypt, Africa, India, Japan they all came up with the same answer, I AM THAT. In other words, there is no external world. There is no thing but mind. And because there is mind, there is a Universe. Therefore I am the creator of the Universe: because the mind exists, everything exists. They came a long way, for they realised that everything was an emanation of the mind. They didn’t stop there. They pondered, ‘what is mind? If my mind is the cause of creation, where did it come from?’

“… They enquired, ‘then who am I? Who am I?’ and they abided in themselves … They were not in a state of samadhi, because they were awake. During their awakened state, they became no thing. There was no mind; no Universe, no God, no body. There are no others. And they realised this is the Self – not my self, but the Self; and they were absorbed in the silence. From that moment on, the world still appeared to them, but they were able to see right through it.

“Now, these ancient rishis were unable to share this with devotees or disciples, because it’s a personal experience. Since it’s beyond words, beyond mind and beyond thoughts, how can one actually share this? Therefore, these ancient rishis became silence. They never spoke. Yet such power emanated through them, that if the right devotees came to them and just sat with them, doing nothing, saying nothing, wanting nothing, desiring nothing, they too achieved that state. It was amazing. This was passed down through the ages. It was commonly called Advaita Vedanta, or Jnana (the path of wisdom) – and it is still the supreme truth.

“Now, let’s talk about you. As long as you want to become enlightened, you’re making a grave mistake; for there is no one to become enlightened. As long as you want to end your problems and change your problems from bad to good, you’re making a grave mistake, because there are no problems. As long as you think there’s something wrong or there’s something right, or right overcomes wrong, and we have to try to correct the condition or situation, you’re making a grave mistake. You see, whatever has to happen, HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.

“There’s nothing you have to do; yet your body will do it … Do not be concerned over your affairs, for right actions will always take place. By right actions, I mean the Dharma – that which is supposed to happen. Some of you will still feed the homeless, will still have your jobs, will still do what you’re doing. But it will not be ‘you’. Unlike yogic achievement, when you know this for yourself, you cannot prove or show anybody anything.

“Time for questions – stump the Guru. Why do you want to become free … ?”

Merry Xmas!

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

Aquariel Link

Today’s Sketches of Robert, Ramana and Ramesh

Posted on December 2, 2012 by janeadamsart

I discovered last night this beautiful photo on the web, to draw from: Robert & Seek. The photo is on a blog called http://itisnotreal.com

Robert’s parkinsons’ whisper, slightly nasal, and wide uncluttered eyes…

“Who am I? … I’m teaching you today a combination of bhakta and jnana. Bhakta and Jnana – Devotion and Wisdom. Think of your Heart centre in the right side of your chest and see the form of the deity that you love dearly. The form may be of Krishna, Jesus, Ramana, Moses, Mohammed or a Guru. Inhale, say Lord – or Hari – exhale, say the name of the One you love and desire.

This is called using Name and Form. It is an ancient tradition.

If you are an atheist and don’t want to see anyone’s form, you can see LIGHT, pure light, in your Heart. And you can chant to yourself, something like this: “I am an open channel for the manifestation of all Good …” Whatever your practice is, this is what you can do. But you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to follow this, make it happen.

Then … “Who is the ‘I’ beyond this image? Who is the ‘I’ that is seeing Christ, seeing Ramana? Who is the ‘I’ that’s observing all these things?

“Who am I?” Never answer that question! Just pose the question to yourself … who am I? … who am I?

You will notice the thoughts will not come through again. The thoughts have stopped. You will no longer be bombarded by thoughts! like you were before. For thinking of the Sage within your Self, has calmed you down tremendously. Who am I … ?

If thoughts invade you again, go back to Ramana Maharshi in your heart. Or Christ, or whoever. See the image, (breathe in Hari,) repeat the Name. Hari Ramana! Hari Ramana!

Then go back again to “Who am I?” … “Who am I?”

When approximately an hour has passed, get up and go about your business. You will find that during the day something very interesting has happened to you. You are filled with peace! You’ve entered a different dimension. Things that used to make you angry will stop. Things that made you depressed, lonely, upset – have gone away. You will feel fulfilment. Do the same thing before you go to sleep.”

From transcript “The Method of Freedom”

The photo for this drawing was another “find” – this time on facebook – (Eraaramesh, thank you!) Ramana and the little brothers and sisters … nephews? I seem to recognise them.

A “revisit to India” is long due. Drawing this, recaptured for me the luscious sights, sounds, smells and faces of Tamil Nadu – those waggling heads. Wonderful feeling.

Not like a boat’s sail wide outspread
and worn away by wind and weather,
but like the humble anchor sunk
in the vast ocean’s depth, the mind
should plunge and settle in the heart
of wisdom.

Garland of Guru’s Sayings by Muruganar
(Ramana’s conversations set to verse.)

Ramesh Balsekar talks at home, Sindula Building in Mumbai – his crowded lofty living-room. I hear the sparrows and crows, and over the rooftops, the sea can just be seen. He looks rather pensive in this sketch. I would like to have got him more sharp and “pouncy” – his teaching style is like a falcon. However, there were these inward moments also, particularly when the lady sitting next to him sang the bhajans at the end of a vigorous morning. He closed his eyes then, and slowly tapped the rhythm.

Ramesh was rarely still. He quivered like a racehorse:

“My concept is, that no action is anyone’s action … The input is: God sends you a thought, over which you have no control … the brain reacts to that input and brings out an output, strictly according to the programming. And that output over which Lawrence has no control, Lawrence says is HIS ACTION. You see? … From that deepest possible source, which is the Source itself, the question will arise: If Lawrence doesn’t do any action, WHO IS LAWRENCE? WHO AM I?

“But the big difference is, that it is not the intellect which asks the question. The question ARISES from personal experience that Lawrence doesn’t do anything. Lawrence doesn’t act – therefore who is Lawrence? Then the question arises FROM THE VERY DEPTHS OF YOUR BEING, into which Ramana asks you to dive – ‘If I don’t do any actions, who am I?’

“And then again, if it is God’s will or grace, and the destiny of that bodymind organism, FROM that very Source from which the question arose, will arise the answer: there really is no Lawrence. There never has been any Lawrence, other than the name given to this bodymind organism. You see? And as far as my concept goes, that is the only sadhana or effort necessary. That is my interpretation of Ramana Maharshi’s query “who am I?”

That is my answer, Lawrence, to the question, the burning question which everybody has: How do I go about this Self enquiry, if this Self enquiry is not a mantra and not an intellectual question?

From a conversation with Lawrence Bentley

A butterlamp at dawn

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

Self enquiry and Shadows

Posted on October 11, 2012 by janeadamsart

The Fool & the Lamb write a book

I am trying to … investigate life, the lines, the tales, the untold, the features, the honesty … without emotional investment or subterfuge … as I guess a good novelist would.

Recollection is impossible in the sun-umbrella of another person’s flavour, or a strong surge of my own. At such a moment, my mind truly cannot hold more than one impression. What am I being shown?

Ramana’s raised eyebrow at the root of it, is way beyond and anterior to the modern advaita rattle. Honesty flows with Ramana and his strange life. The Teaching is a prattle.

Why do I like my cher ami (who doesn’t do “spiritual stuff”, and doesn’t read my blog – not one word!) – why the vitality there? Because he is an HONEST MAN, irritating as that can be. He sees through everything. He gets carried away by his own silly plans – but faces and endures the consequence, and that is the honesty. I love him because he is honest. Wow. That is a gem. This feeling when I’m out beyond the waves and swimming the deep sea – exhilarates. Thought stops. Reality shines.

Active “Spirituality” is the attempt to see through my own dishonesty. For a long while, the noble effort pushes up a bow wave of exactly what I am trying to row through. Ha ha!

fuzz tries to catch shadow. Ramana used to tell this story.

Krishnamurti also urged, to just remove the jacket. He never could escape from being Indian: his culture. Once upon a time, the wind and the sun competed furiously, to take away a man’s jacket. The wind blew and blew and blew, and the man wrapped his jacket ever more tightly round him until the wind ran out of puff. Then the sun came out and shone and shone, and the man took it off.

Arrive then, at an updated form of Self-enquiry? The vichara transcends any doctrine, and is applicable to all. Recognising that I hold mentally/emotionally at any one moment, my full flavour or another person’s … pause, to get a hold on the rich imaging and components. Each is a door to perception. It is even paper thin! Hermetic clarity … how Sod sees Yod-yesod.

The who-am-I mantra is not much use, if used as a tin rattle. But unspeeched perception, engaging my attention and sensory field, begins to “part the waves” as the Lovers’ Sword does. It un-muddies the waters to what is clod and what is fluent. I begin to see the drifting continents, unsouped, unsewaged. Tempo changes. Discriminate the subtle from the gross. Self-enquiry is a way of viewing plankton, the floating piscean populations. Keep confidence, that I learn to truly see, and am less hoodwinked by my handicaps. In the thick of life, how can there not be handicaps? Who plays golf without one? Charismatic persons play God because they cannot see their handicap, the sun is too bright.

..taking off shadows?

The wisdom of the NOW is beleaguered and betrayed by what I ought to do or say later. The NOW is an edge of the garment that I lift, like a bridal train. Now I feel quite attractive and erotically game; but this cannot be stamped onto an imagined “later” with my cher ami. Then will be a different Now – another garment; accept how it is. This week’s acceptance has an October clarity and turn of leaf: an informed sparkle. Gamble only on Now, to win the other nows; to be a “sun shine see through”: rain wet windy cold.

The robe is vichara, the journey is life, the Realisation is all around it. When I am dead I will see and be for real, all around, what I dimly and enticingly perceive: the lifting of the veil.

The absurdity of the Eastern patent, as misinterpreted, is the notion of getting rid of the i-thought before it is Self conscious … it just pushes more and more dung into the Unconscious, to continue disturbing the universe for aeons to come, while the meditator momentarily basks and gives Satsang.

The strength and sobriety of the Western rose, is its determination to make the Unconscious conscious. Then and only then, does the problem mature, become little, and dissolve. It only takes all the time in the world to be in a hurry.

Essentially this is what Ramana did and said, all his life, but few would grasp it. Few would grasp the nettle. The consequences – peoples’ worship, immobilizing him on his sofa, with indigestible food offerings – aged and infirmed his body – that and his own youthful self-neglect. The culture, the old, old tradition.

ramana & mother

But … here is a fresh angle on what is actually multi-dimensioned – how essentially different is the teenage Ramana taking no food and allowing the vermin to crawl all over him, from the bingeing and self-harming western way? What shared root, on entering adult dolt-hood? Basically, Ramana refused to go to school any more.

I was impressed and disturbed in JKRowling’s new novel The Casual Vacancy, by the agony of the girl trapped and cutting herself for relief, the criss cross razoring. I wanted to at times. The most recent time was a few years ago. In unbearable pain from something concerning my daughter, I ran to the living room window, scratching and clawing my arms till it drew blood. THAT PRESSURE. I was shocked. THE PRESSURE is behind the drinking, addictions, street oblivion and violent self abuse.

Reflect on Ramana 107 years ago, himself under THE PRESSURE even if sublimated, abusing his young body in a hot hell-hole, obliviously. OK, he had transcended his death and was with his Father Arunachala in Self ecstasy. But Ecstasy is also a drug.

Down to earth smack!

So: Buddha’s compassion with the obnoxious raucous young, coming of age, and confronted with the horror and barrier of the adult dolt, like a virus in the system. In more intuitive times, a tough forest Initiation was provided – or war alas, or hard work. As England has lost or given up its industry, there is hardly any real employment, nothing to engage with. Rage. Rage against … the dying of the … ight.

Therapy … the rap…

To jump the hurdle into a-dult is really dreadful, because one hates that encroachment, the boring tyrant slamming into oneself.

Understood!

My reaction to my teenage parental noose was rudeness, the dark Labyrinth, travel and hitch hiking. The Reckless Fruit. Poems investigating amorality.

a “taunton black” drawing: Wild Thing 1965

There is a deep JKRowling insight here, into the quest for authenticity – that battle-call – and its distortions. The lad called Fats goes so far into his own parentally-dislocated authenticity, that it turns him round and he grows up. Hey! Her book which everyone is cross about, is excellent. She has the knack of compassion – of making her characters as a whole, the youngsters AND their stressed out parents and community, so believable, you empathise them and see from different places. I see my feelings and my troubles when young, and when parenting, and what they are now.

drawing my self without shading 1988

My adventure invites fellow travellers. I am a poet, an artist and a seer. I welcome conversation among the PHILO SOFIA, the lovers of wisdom.

This blog is a vehicle to promote my published work – The Sacred India Tarot (with Rohit Arya, Yogi Impressions Books) and The Dreamer in the Dream – a collection of short stories (0 Books) – along with many other creations in house.

I write, illustrate, design and print my books. Watch this space.