Durga Herself

ABOUT ANANDAMAYI MA, WHEN SHE WAS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD

Her appearance at this time was also striking. She was slim and graceful, her long, black hair hung below her knees, and her tangible spiritual radiance evoked awe in all who saw her. Once, the new couple was invited to attend a celebration of Durga Puja. When Ma, who at that time was unknown to the local people, entered the gathering wearing a red saree, the people assembled there were awestruck and proclaimed, “Durga Herself has come into our midst,” and began making obeisance, by kneeling and touching their heads to the ground. Continue reading “Durga Herself”

Why am I totally free?

Nisargadatta Maharaj: How did you get this “I Am-ness”? Did it come spontaneously, or did you try for it? As the Absolute, you were free from all concepts, including the primary concept “I Am”. Suddenly you were caught up in this “I Am-ness”. Who did it? Has it not happened spontaneously?

Question: Yes, that is true.

Nisargadatta Maharaj: You did not have this concept “I Am” in the course of the nine months in the womb. Understand this state of affairs; the concept “I Am” comes spontaneously and goes spontaneously. Amazingly, when it appears, it is accepted as real. All subsequent misconceptions arise from that feeling of reality in the “I Am-ness”. Try to stabilize in that primary concept “I Am”, in order to lose that and with it all other concepts. Why am I totally free? Because I have understood the unreality of that “I Am”. Continue reading “Why am I totally free?”

Being complete

Karl Renz: Being quiet is just being complete. You can do working, speaking, thinking – everything. You can eat. That doesn’t influence your completness. Or to be quiet is not talking or being silent or something. No. Being quiet means you are quiet, you are complete in your nature.

And that is 24/7, and that is meditation – being quiet, being complete. That is meditation without a meditator. Because a meditator is always incomplete. He wants to make something complete. But he will never make it complete, always incomplete, always greedy bastard – the meditator, greedy for peace, greedy for control. What to do with him. He cannot make you more or less as you are anyway. So you can be very generous – let it be as it is. May it be as it is. Let him struggle or not. Let him be a controller, a master. Let him even be enlightened. Continue reading “Being complete”

Don’t call it anything

Karl Renz: You just are. Don’t call it anything. The pointer is just you are inspite of two liquids meeting and the body coming out. Not because you were born by or made by something.

You experience yourself as something what is local. But what you are is never local. You have no location or anything. It’s an experience of… like a baby and then growing, and it’s all experiencing and then it will end. And still you are that what was before. So you were before, you are now and you will be after, uninterrupted. So you didn’t get more when you were born, and you don’t get less when you die. So it’s always – you never get more or less by anything. Continue reading “Don’t call it anything”

What you are is never-never

Question: The thing I was trying to get from you – which I haven’t succeeded in getting yet is – was it, a one-time event? I know there’s no such thing as time, but time does seem to continue.

Karl Renz: No, no. This – to be That to which nothing ever happens – was never different. In That, there is no coming and going. So it’s here, now or never.

Continue reading “What you are is never-never”

This world is meant only for creating faith in you

Ramana Maharshi: Practice with faith during the period of ignorance is called bhakti; the same, with knowledge is called jnana. Of the two divisions of bhakti, the one is worship of God with name and form, and the other is karma which is love shown (equally) in all worldly affairs. Of the two divisions of jnana, the practice of the true way shown by the Master is called yoga and the resulting state is called jnana.

Continue reading “This world is meant only for creating faith in you”

Giving one’s self up to God

Question: Of the devotees, who is the greatest?

Ramana Maharshi: He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one’s self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self.

Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Continue reading “Giving one’s self up to God”

I want to survive

Karl Renz: You will never, by free will, hit the tree of existence. You always need a driving license to miss it. It is like that. That’s the functioning of the separate object and the survival system which is simply running as, “I want to survive.” So you want to become immortal and by wanting to become immortal, you avoid death. You meditate on immortality, what you want to become. So you will never make the final killing that is needed – the Kali head-chopping business. Continue reading “I want to survive”

Demons

Karl Renz: Demons. The only demon I know it is a me. That is Presence, the demon is there, the me. It’s a paper dragon, come on. Cannot do anything. Many have this idea: you have to kill the dragon inside, the ego like a dragon. You have to become like Roland from Bremen, then you are untouchable – you have this armor around you, like a screen you cannot penetrate. But if there is one part, one little thing, there is a leaf, and then comes ouuu, so no way out.

But it’s only the paper dragon, come on. It spits the fire which cannot touch you. Continue reading “Demons”