Towards Enlightenment

INTRODUCTION 

Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi and his teachings are well known to the world. His spiritual quest at a very young age that led to his Self-enquiry and enlightenment has given rise to a number of spiritual teachings. 

Upadesa Undiyar by Shri Ramana Maharshi has thirty-verses, originally written in Tamil and followed by versions in other languages namely Telugu, Sanksrit and Malayalam. There are English translations of this work by several authors. 

I have attempted to extract the meaning of the verses and referred to some writings in Tamil and English and have come out with 30 paragraphs (I won’t call them verses as they do not fall strictly under that category) , the essence of the work as I have understood. 

My spiritual/theological/philosophical knowledge is very limited and therefore would like to request the readers to acknowledge this while reading, should they come across some inconsistencies. 

I take this opportunity to thank Shri Rajiv Kapur, an ardent follower of Shri Ramana Maharishi and a Spiritual teacher from Mumbai, who has kindly agreed to provide foreword to my work. 

Padma Bharadwaj, December 2015

FOREWORD 

I am happy that Padma Bharadwaj feels drawn to Bhagvan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s ‘ Upadesa Saram’ which is an astounding text. I congratulate her on her successful attempt to translate the text in the light of her own understanding, in simple, contemporary English which the modern reader can surely relate to and benefit. I am impressed that she has caught the pulse of the text by emphasizing the need to carry out self-inquiry, disassociate with the body-mind and realize one’s true Self . 

Rajiv Kapur 

Founder of Implosive Self Inquiry Protocol (ISIP) 

Mumbai 

ACKNOWELDGMENTS 

I would like to thank my maternal aunt Smt Sreedevi Iyengar for giving me the topic to research and my father in law Shri D.S.R. Moorthy who has kindly reviewed my draft and provided valuable input in bringing this work to completion. 

I would also like to acknowledge the reference materials used for my work. Most reference is from the book Upadesa Saram by Shri Rajiv Kapur. I have also referred to English translation (ref: http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/Upadesa_Undiyar.pdf) 

UPADESA SARAM

1

We all perform various actions (Karma)

Which in turn produce fruits of actions

Action (Karma) does not give fruit by itself

The decision is from the Supreme, the provider of results

2

Actions performed with desire, produce results that are equivalent

If we do compare fruits of action to a real fruit

Fruit gets consumed, but the seed is left behind for re-germination

Thus, fruits of action – good or bad cannot give liberation

3

So, to seek the path of liberation

What’s needed is desire-less action

Devotion to God through self-enquiry (Atma Vichara)

Will purify the mind to attain Mukti (Liberation)

4

Pooja (Worship), Japa (Chanting) and Dhyana (meditation) are the three

Actions of Body, Speech and Mind respectively

Chanting is better than Worship, Meditation is better than the other two

Thus, the path to liberation is Meditation of pure devout

5

Good worship is appropriate service to the eight forms of God (Paramatma)

Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space, Sun, Moon and living beings (Jeevatma)

Ritual worship is applicable to all forms except living beings

Selfless help to the needy living beings is the eighth form of worship

6

Rather than more praise of God, charity is good

Rather than loud voice, whispering is good

Rather than whispering, meditating is good

Thus dhyana (deep meditation) is the best method to get close to God

7

It is a very difficult task to control the mind

As our minds tend to waver in directions of every kind

An uninterrupted meditation is the best

It should be continuous like a flowing river or viscous liquid

8

We need to first get clarified in our mind

That Paramatma (Supreme) and Jeevatma (Self) are no different

When we recognise the difference between Self (Atma) and body

It is easy to get rid of our ego (“I”) and concentrate on the Almighty

9

Such meditation of self-abidance of “I” with Paramatma (Supreme)

Will help us meditate with full conviction

That’s the state one needs to attain

The state of truth (Sat), the Absolute Bliss

10

Whatever be the means towards self-realisation

Be it action (karma), pranayama (breath control), jnana (knowledge) or bhakthi (devotion)

The aim is towards absorption of mind

Thereby Jeevatma is freed from the suffering experienced by mankind

11

To practice meditation

We need to perform disciplined action

Breath control akin to a bird restrained within a net

Perfection in meditation to get it right

12

Mind is the power of knowing and thinking

Breath or life-force is the power of doing

Even though mind and breath perform different functions

Their origin is the same..emerging from one force

13

Two ways to control the mind

Absorption/abeyance or through destroying the mind

Through the first method, the mind emerges again

Whereas through deeper self-enquiry mind can never emerge again

14

State of attaining “void” or “nothingness”

Is not easy task to pursue

Besides pranayama (breath control) and various efforts

Divine love and complete surrender are the needed for Divine Grace

15

We run hither and thither in search of happiness

Without knowing the real happiness within us

When we realise the truth of Bliss

We will never search outside to attain this

16

In this materialistic world

We are constantly confused

We are caught between I, me, he, it, so on and so forth

Such adjuncts must be removed to understand the truth

17

So many day-to-day rituals and practices

Are centered around one common aspect i.e. “mind”

When one begins to contemplate as to what is mind

One will realise there is no such thing as “mind”

18

“What is mind” for us?

It is nothing but a bundle of thoughts

Mind gives rise to our ego and the “I”-ness

We need to understand the Self which will result in “I am”- ness

19

When we begin contemplating

Within us through self-enquiry

The belief of “I am the body”

Will dissolve and pave way to know the reality

20

When our ego is destroyed

By the self-enquiry method

The “I” thought completely dissolves into spiritual heart

We realise the “illusion” through the inner truth

21

We tend to associate ourselves

With our body, which really is a vehicle for the Self

When we really understand the “spiritual” meaning of life

We come out of “the illusion” of materialistic life

22

The real “I” is hidden and covered by mixed awareness

How do we explain mixed awareness?

Through three aspects namely gross body (waking state), subtle body (dream state and causal body (ignorance)

To get rid of the hidden sheaths and to know the reality, we need to practice “Self-Enquiry”

23

Our existence has two forms

One is the individual consciousness (Jeevatma) and the other is the Cosmic consciousness (Paramatma)

Human consciousness is fragmented, divided and follows materialism

Cosmic consciousness is the big picture, complete and can be understood only through spiritualism

24

While we say Self (Jeevatma) and the Supreme (Paramatma)

Self and Supreme are one in essence

We need to accept that Self isn’t identified due to our negativities

Once we realise this, that’s when we move towards the supreme

25

When is the Self realised?

When all the adjunctions are shed

What are those?

Names, forms, materialistic possessions and such identifications

26

We are deluded by duality

We associate with external aspects for our identity

We need to get away from being “I am this” and “I am that”

We need to be identified with our inner consciousness – i.e. Self and nothing but that

27

The knowledge of outer world emerges from a relationship

That’s the subject (I) and object (outside knowledge) relationship

Whereas the “Self” is self-luminous

And Self has no limitations

28

What’s our true nature?

Where do we get the answer?

The true nature is Sat (truth), Chit (consciousness) and Anand (Bliss)

Not time bound – it is beginning-less and endless

29

The ultimate aim of one’s life is happiness

We go after materialistic means to get this happiness

Such happiness is temporary and will end in grief

Real happiness is detachment from materialism and recognition of the true Bliss

30

What is meaning of tapas (austerities)

It is not the extensive rituals

Cessation of “I” the ego within ourselves

What remains then, is the best tapas

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