Jiddu Krishnamurti On Loneliness

Question: I am beginning to realize that I am very lonely. What am I to do?

Krishnamurti:

Let us approach this problem again to see what is actually taking place, to see what you do when you feel lonely. You try to escape from your feeling of loneliness, you try to get on with a book, you follow some leader, or you go to a cinema, or you become socially very, very active, or you go and worship and pray, or you paint, or you write a poem about loneliness.

That is what is actually taking place. Becoming aware of loneliness, the pain of it, the extraordinary and fathomless fear of it, you seek an escape and that escape becomes more important and therefore your activities, your knowledge, your gods, your radios all become important, don't they? When you give importance to secondary values, they lead you to misery and chaos; the secondary values are inevitably the sensate values; and modern civilization based on these gives you this escape - escape through your job, your family, your name, your studies, through painting etc; all our culture is based on that escape. Our civilization is founded on it and that is a fact.

Can this emptiness, this void, be filled? If not, can we run away from it, escape from it? If we have experienced and found one escape to be of no value, are not all other escapes therefore of no value? It does not matter whether you fill the emptiness with this or with that. So-called meditation is also an escape. It does not matter much that you change your way of escape.

Because we have so many hindrances that are preventing us from seeing, we do not understand what is and therefore we are getting away from reality; all these hindrances have been created by the mind in order not to see what is.To see what is not only requires a great deal of capacity and awareness of action but it also means turning your back on everything that you have built up, your bank account, your name and everything that we call civilization. When you see what is, you will find how loneliness is transformed.

Source: http://www.jiddu-krishnamurti.net/en/the-first-and-last-freedom/1953-00-00-jiddu-krishnamurti-the-first-and-last-freedom-on-loneliness

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Experience of Sri Ramana Devotee Experiences

God is beyond words. No words would ever be able to describe Him. He can only be felt. How? The test is simple. One would feel total peace – an indescribable peace, by being with Him. In His presence, no questions, doubts and thoughts would distract one's mind. Further, the peace secured is beyond words and makes one fulfilled and consumed. In that situation one feels kritkritya – there being no need for any thing more to be achieved in life. About the Godhood of Sri Ramana, those who had the good fortune of being in His presence have expressed themselves according to their capacity to find words to record their experiences, as given below. (Page nos. indicate the source: Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi, a publication of Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad)

Paul Brunton: The Maharshi emanates [to send forth] the perfume of spiritual peace as the flower emanates fragrance from its petals…The peace overwhelms me. I know that there is nothing further that I shall ask from life…In the extraordinary peace, I find a sense of exaltation and lightness. Time seems to stand still. My heart is released from the burden of care. (pp. 13-23)

Justice Sundaram Chettiar: His very presence generates an atmosphere of peace. (pp. 27-8)

Grant Duff: The moment he looked at me, I felt he was the Truth and the Light. I was in direct contact with one who has passed beyond the boundaries of senses and was merged in the Absolute. (pp. 29-30)

Justice Chandrasekhar Aiyar: The Maharshi was the veritable [genuine] storehouse of spiritual energy. He radiates shanti or peace. To be in his presence is by itself stirring experience in the elevation of soul. (pp. 34-5)

Eleanor Pauline Noye: When He smiled it was as though the gets of Heaven were thrown open…At His feet happiness garlanded me. (pp. 35-6)
Ella Maillart: He implants a lasting peace in the centre of every heart…He is a link between the unknowable ultimate and man. (p. 40)

Duncan Greenlees: My mind was caught and held in that peace in a blissfulness it had never known before. He is greatness incarnate. (pp. 52-6)

Balarama Reddy: Just to think of him or sit in his presence used to rouse us to higher levels of blessedness…The Divine power of his presence was something remarkable, entirely outstanding. (pp. 69-72)

S.S. Cohen: Joy and peace suffused [gradually spread through] my being. Never before had I such a delightful feeling of purity and well-being at the mere proximity of a man. He was a beacon light in an impenetrable darkness. (pp. 78-84)

K.K.Nambiar: I felt an indescribable sense of calmness settling over me…He was a mighty spiritual magnet, Divinity in human form. (pp.84-8)

Arthur Osborne: The Maharshi was Divine Grace in human form. For the first time in my life I understood what the grace and blessings of a guru could mean. (pp. 94-102)

Prof. G.V. Subbaramayya: As our eyes met, there was a miraculous effect on my mind and I felt as if I had plunged into a pool of peace. I sat in a state of ecstasy [overwhelming feeling of great happiness] for nearly an hour. (pp. 102-9)

Major Chadwick: It is impossible to describe or even believe what the Maharshi was, unless you have seen it yourself. (pp. 110-16)
\Prof. K. Swaminathan: The pure happiness I enjoyed was that of a child when it sits securely in its mother's lap. (pp. 117-22)

Akilandamma: The gracious power that prevailed in that holy place numbed the mind so effectively that the visitors to Bhagavan's room were automatically silenced. (pp.127-9)

Swami Madhavatirtha: While in the presence of the Maharshi, my breath seemed to stop for a while and my mind was elevated into some spiritual realm of unutterable peace and happiness. (pp.146-50)

Kunju Swami: As Bhagavan's gracious look was fixed on me, all my confusions ceased and I experienced a peace and bliss [perfect happiness], I had never experienced before. (pp. 150-54)

Chhaganlal V. Yogi: The light of the Maharshi's eyes was suffusing my consciousness. Even without being aware of it, his silent gaze brought about a subtle but definite transformation in me. (pp. 161-6)

Viswanatha Swami: In the Maharshi's presence the unique bliss of peace was directly experienced. (pp. 171-3)

Wolter Keers: The light radiating from the Maharshi filled my being, sweeping away all my darkness in one stroke. His presence alone was enough to evaporate the usual mental flow of thoughts, ideas and problems. (pp. 196-201)

Mouni Sadhu: Being near the Maharshi one feels the presence of God as a matter of course – no arguments or proofs are necessary. (pp.205-9)

Pascaline Mallet: To look into his eyes was to be caught up into bliss that is beyond understanding. (pp. 212-3)

M.A. Piggot: When he smiled I felt as if all the flowers in the world had poured their fragrance into our midst. (pp. 218-20)

Ramanadasa Sadananda: Contagious [spread by direct or indirect contact] was his bliss! He sends forth beams of light of jnana by his mere proximity and fills even the unhappy with joy and peace by his very presence. (pp.230-2)

F.H. Humphreys: The Maharshi's body was not of man; it was an instrument of God from which God was radiating terrifically. (pp.245-7)

Dr. P.V. Karamchandani: The vibrations which emanated from the Maharshi were heavenly. His spirituality completely enveloped us and our minds attained a state of blissful meditation. (pp.253-6)
V.Kameshwar Rao: When I sat before the Maharshi, I felt that I was in the presence of God. (pp. 267-9)

T.K.Sundaresa Iyer: A life-giving current flowed from the Maharshi, charging all those nearby. (pp. 285-9)

N.O.Mehta: In the presence of the Maharshi, we were in a world totally different from the one we had left behind. (pp. 295-6)

Santha Rangachary: There was an irresistible and indefinable spiritual power about the Maharshi, which completely overwhelmed me. (pp. 317-20)

Srimat Puragara Parampanthi: The Maharshi's spiritual presence was dynamic and clearly perceptible. It touched me and I felt suddenly the presence of a spiritual power taking me to a higher plane. (pp.326-7)

N. Ponniah: Nothing seemed more enjoyable in this world than to sit in silence in the holy presence of the Maharshi. I felt a sort of electric charge – an unusual vibrating sensation. (pp. 337-8)

Morarji Desai: One gets transformed by his very presence. (pp.352-3)

T.S. Anantha Murthy: Sri Ramana was Brahman in human form. Spiritual illumination was enshrined in him. (pp. 376-7)

Suzanne Alexandra: The Maharshi is a king of yogis. The splendour of his Realisation radiates like a sun. He lifts you far above the world. (pp. 377-9)

K. Vithoba Kamath: The Maharshi radiated spiritual splendour through sublime [unparalleled] silence. (pp. 390-1)

Atmakuri Govindacharyulu: The Maharshi is an ocean of peace. He rules all through silence. (pp. 393-4)

Shanti: In the Maharshi's presence, the mind becomes calm and tranquil of its own accord. Doubts and questions become few and finally vanished. (pp. 408-9)

The above provides a brief glimpse of how the divinity of the Maharshi impacted the devotees. Words would fail to grasp the greatness of Sri Ramana – the Supreme incarnate in human form, who always kept an appearance of a humble and run-of-the-mill person. Grant Duff, a British scholar, noted in 1935: Never in world history was the Supreme Truth placed within such easy reach of so vast a multitude. We bow to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.

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The Four Gatekeepers to Moksha

Rama, there are four gatekeepers at the entrance to the Realm of Freedom (Moksha). They are selfcontrol,spirit of enquiry, contentment and good company.The wise seeker should diligently cultivate the friendship of these, or of at least one of them.

VASISTHA continued:

With a pure heart and a receptive mind,and without the veil of doubt and the restlessness of the mind, listen to the exposition of the nature and the means of liberation,O Rama. For, not until the Supreme Being is realised will the dreadful miseries of birth and death come to an end.

If this deadly serpent known as ignorant life is not overcome here and now, it will give rise to interminable suffering not only in this but in countless lifetimes to come. One cannot ignore this suffering, but one should overcome it by means of the wisdom that I shall impart to you.

Self-control

Self-control, O Rama, is the best remedy for all physical and mental ills. When there is self-control, even the food you eat tastes better, else it tastes bitter. He who wears the armour of self-control is not harmed by sorrow.

He who even while hearing, touching, seeing, smelling and tasting what is regarded as pleasant and unpleasant,is neither elated nor depressed-he is self-controlled. He
who looks upon all beings with equal vision, having brought under control the sensations of pleasure and pain, is selfcontrolled.He who, though living amongst all is unaffected by them, neither feels elated nor hates even as one is during sleep-he is self-controlled.

Enquiry

Enquiry (the second gatekeeper to liberation) should be undertaken by an intelligence that has been purified by a close study of the scripture, and this enquiry should be unbroken. By such enquiry the intelligence becomes keen and is able to realise the supreme; hence, enquiry alone is the best remedy for the long-lasting illness known as samsara.

The eye of spiritual enquiry does not lose its sight even in the midst of all activities; he who does not have this eye is indeed to be pitied. It is better to be born as a frog in the mud, a worm in dung, a snake in a hole, than to be without this eye. What is enquiry? To enquire thus: "Who am I? How has this evil of samsara (repetitive history) come into being?" is true enquiry. Knowledge of truth arises from such enquiry; from such knowledge there follows tranquility in oneself; and then there arises the supreme peace that passeth understanding and the end of all sorrow.

(Vichara or enquiry is not reasoning or analysis: it is directly looking into oneself.)

Contentment

Contentment is another gatekeeper of liberation. He who has quaffed the nectar of contentment does not relish craving for sense pleasures; no delight in this world is as sweet as contentment which destroys all sins.

Satsanga

Satsanga (company of the wise, holy and enlightened persons) is yet another gatekeeper of liberation. Satsanga enlarges one’s intelligence, destroys one’s ignorance and one’s psychological distress. Whatever be the cost how-ever difficult it may be, whaterver obstacles may stand in its way, satsanga should never be neglected. For,satsanga alone is one’s light on the path of life. Satsanga is indeed superior to all other forms of religious practices,like charity, austerity, pilgrimage and the performance of religious rites.

These four-contentment, satsanga (company of wise men), the spirit of enquiry, and self-control-are the four surest means by which they who are drowning in this ocean
of samsara can be saved. Contentment is the supreme gain. Satsanga is the best companion to the destination.

The spirit of enquiry itself is the greatest wisdom. And,self-control is supreme happiness. If you are unable to resort to all these four, then practice one: by the diligent practice of one of these, the others will also be found in you. The highest wisdom will seek you of its own accord.Until you tame the wild elephant of your mind with the help of these noble qualities, you cannot have progress towards the supreme even if you become a god, demigod or a tree. Therefore, O Rama, strive by all means to cultivate these noble qualities.

Source: From Vasistha’s Yoga, by Swami Venkatesananda

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Ramana Maharshi Devotee Sri M. S. Madhava Rau Shares His Experiences

Sri M. S. Madhava Rau, Mangalore

My first visit was in the company of Maurice Frydman from Bangalore. Suddenly one morning, early in 1934, he said that he was going to Tiruvannamalai that night. He asked us if we would like to accompany him. He had been there many times before but never invited us. Nor had we ever thought to ask if we could accompany him. This time, though, the question and our own wishes were beating in unison.

At the ashram Maurice introduced us to the Maharshi. He welcomed us with a gracious smile and made enquiries about where we were from. When we replied ‘Mangalore’, the Maharshi said that M. S. Kamath (of the ‘Sunday Times’) was a frequent visitor to the ashram. He then told the other people in the hall a few interesting tidbits about the languages, customs and so on of that part of the country. When he learnt from us that for some years we had lived and worked in the Theosophical Society, Adyar, he smiled again and said that we would then easily make ourselves at home in the ashram. And we did, very happily too.

The Maharshi’s serene and busy life reminded us of Dr Annie Besant in several respects. In the evening a visitor arrived, a big and prosperous-looking Punjabi Sikh gentleman, dressed completely in European clothes. Noting his discomfort while he was attempting to perform the full pranam that Indian etiquette requires, the Maharshi immediately set him at rest, saying it was unnecessary. He also arranged for a chair for him to sit in. The gentleman said plaintively that he was pining for peace of mind. The Maharshi asked who it was that was pining. The visitor was puzzled. In humble and anxious tones he pleaded that he was too ignorant and busy for such deep introspection. However, he added that he would be grateful for some japa, prescribed in the Maharshi’s own words, and conveyed with his blessings. He promised to do the japa in whatever spare time he had.

The Maharshi told him that devoting the same amount of time he had to spare for his japa to enquiry instead would be more beneficial, and that, with practice, it would amply repay his efforts and could even be done at the times when he was busy at work. This was not what the Sikh visitor wanted to hear. After he had failed in his repeated attempts to persuade the Maharshi to give him some japa, he asked, sadly, whether, having come with such high hopes, the Maharshi was now going to send him away empty handed. The Maharshi assured him in a compassionate way that he should not think in this way.

The following morning the Maharshi cited some verses to the Sikh visitor that came from an edition of Yoga Vasishta that had been printed by Maurice Frydman. This appeared to revive his spirits and he left for his train in a good mood.

On one afternoon there was discussion among a small group over an ignorant questioning of the Maharshi’s teaching in some British or American philosophical journal. The Maharshi joined in with a few brief remarks, and resolved the doubts of those who had raised questions about the contents of the article. He ended the discussion in a humorous way, speaking partly in English and partly in Tamil, by saying, ‘Indian philosophy begins where western philosophy ends’.

One experience impressed itself on me indelibly. Before beginning meditation in his presence, I decided that at some point during that day I should ask the Maharshi about a personal problem I had been agonising over for some time. As I sat there meditating, the answer flashed before me, and along with it I was filled with an indescribable flow of happiness. Without needing to vocalise the problem to him, I had received both an answer and the experience of his power and grace. This experience in his presence was sufficient for me to sense the truth of both his message and his silent teaching.

Source: http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2011/05/bhagavan-sri-ramana-as-i-knew-him.html

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Ramana Maharshi Devotee Prof. V. B. Athavale Shares His Experiences

Prof. V. B. Athavale, M.Sc., F.R.G.S., Kirloskarwadi

I had the good fortune of meeting Sri Ramana Maharshi in April 1944 and observed for one week his state of supreme consciousness in which worldly knowledge appears insignificant and produces no worries.

When Paul Brunton asked, ‘Will the world soon enter a new era of friendliness and mutual help, or will it go down into chaos and war ?’ Maharshi replied, ‘There is one who governs the world. He knows how to look after it. He bears the burden of the world and not you.’

Maharshi’s reactions to my unspoken intentions were, however, very tender and marvellous. I reached his Tiruvannamalai ashram with my wife on 16th April. To investigate the relation between Gita and the Vedic literature with regard to the Vedic quotations explicitly referred to by Maharshi Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa, (the author of the Gita) I had prepared a genealogical chart of some 350 persons mentioned in the Rigveda. I intended to show this chart to Sri Ramana Maharshi and talk to him about my Gita study. But when I found that no one talked in the hall, I dropped the idea and decided not to talk about it unless the Maharshi showed some interest himself.

Maharshi eventually saw my genealogical chart and asked me, via the pandit, what I had to say about ‘tenaiva rupena chaturbhujena’, the reference to the four hands of Krishna in the 11th chapter. I explained to him that Arjuna has addressed Krishna twice as ‘Vishno’ in the 11th chapter. In the 10th chapter we are told that Krishna was Vishnu out of Adityas. Though this expression is usually interpreted to mean the sun in the twelve signs of the zodiac, it cannot be correct. Because, the next words say ‘I am the sun among the stars’. The Rigvedic expression ‘Astau putraso Aditeh’ tells that Aditi had eight sons and Adhvaryu Brahmana tells that Vishnu was one of the eight sons of Aditi. Yajurveda states, ‘Narayanaya vidmahe Vasudevaya dhimahi tanno Vishnuh prachodayat’. It means that Vishnu was called Vasudeva patronymically. Thus Krishna and Vishnu had the identical name Vasudeva patronymically.

According to old traditions Vishnu holds in his four hands (1) Shankha, (2) Chakra, (3) Gada, (4) Padma. Krishna had in his normal two hands the famous Panchajanya conch and the reins of the four horses. Arjuna first saw the four-handed form of Vishnu. Hence the 17th verse mentions only ‘Gada’ and ‘Chakra’ to be the two weapons, which were not in the hands of Krishna. The Mahabharata states that Krishna had decided not to wield any weapon in the war. In verse 44 Arjuna says, ‘I am terrified by this thousand-fold form. Please show me your original form with four hands. Verse 45 again mentions the same two weapons ‘Gada’ and ‘Chakra’. Verse 51 refers to the normal human form of Krishna.

Maharshi was pleased when he heard the explanation. He gave me his blessings for the study and suggested that I should write a commentary on the Gita. On 23rd April I was sitting as usual in the hall. One gentleman, who was sitting near me, was reading some English passage from a book in a loud whisper. I heard the sentence, ‘A siddha is inferior to a conjuror’. I thought that the author of the sentence had committed a mistake, but didn’t intervene. On 24th April I went into the hall in the morning and informed Maharshi that I was leaving in the evening and requested him to give his autograph. The secretary told me that Maharshi never signed his name. I expressed regret for my ignorance of the rule and said that I merely wanted the handwriting of Maharshi and not his signature. The gentleman, whose sentence I had heard the previous day, was sitting near me. I was thinking of asking him the name of the author who had written that a siddha was inferior to a conjuror. I wanted to point out the mistake and demand its rectification.

Source: http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2011/05/bhagavan-sri-ramana-as-i-knew-him.html

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Ramana Maharshi Devotee Yogi Shuddhananda Bharati Shares His Experiences

November 20th: Krithikai Day. The ashram is busy with the pouring crowds. Bhagavan is sitting outside his cottage. The ashram was then just a cottage of thatched leaves. I was sitting inside. I did not stir from my perch from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Even the call for food did not shake me. My friends had come that day to take me to Pondicherry.

I was rather unwilling to leave the presence of this dynamic force. I could not even open my lips for permission. For my mission and its fulfilment were clear before me. I was hanging and swinging between ‘this’ or ‘that’, ‘here’ or ‘there’. My friends sat before me putting questions to me. Silence was my answer. They went to Maharshi and rolled out their conundrums. Silence was the answer. We were in silent heart-to-heart communion as my friends pestered him.

What is the good of remaining mum like this? What is the goal of man? What is God? What is ‘I’? Why are we born? How to get swaraj [self-rule] for the country? Violence or non-violence? What is Vedanta? What is Siddhanta? What is the meaning of the Vedas? A series of serried questions and a cascade of thrilling silence followed. One self-sufficient man lost his patience; he was a follower of modern education. His brain was full with Kant and Descartes. He had very poor opinion about our Sankaras and Gaudapadas. He had more regard for hatted and booted western armchair philosophers than for realised bald heads.

He hurried up to me and remarked, ‘Swamiji, you, as a well-educated man, must not be like this. You must be more like Bergson, Berkeley, Jung, Huxley. You must go to America and London and acquire name and fame.' My reply: silence.

Maharshi spoke out in a calm, mellow, silvery voice: ‘Bharathi, take refuge in silence. You can be here or there or anywhere. Fixed in silence, established in the inner I, you can be as you are. The world will never perturb you if you are well founded upon the tranquility within. You have a sankalpa – to write out your inspirations, to bring out the Bharata shakti [power of India]. It is better to finish off sankalpas here and now and keep a clear sky within. But do it in silence. Gather your thoughts within. Find out the thought centre and discover your Self-equipoise. In storm and turmoil be calm and silent. Watch the events around as a witness. The world is a drama of gold, women, desire and envy. Be a witness, inturned and introspective.’

Source: http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2011/05/bhagavan-sri-ramana-as-i-knew-him.html

My Spriritual friend Subramanian garu wants to add below points as well


Suddhanda Bharati was an ardent Gandhian. He was also an expert raja yoga. However, after a political meeting, he decided to have darshan of Sri Bhagavan and came to
Tiruvannamalai. He remained there for quite a number of years leaving all political ambitions. He is the author of Tamizh biography Sri Ramana Vijayam. He is also well
read in Tamizh scriptures like Tayumanavar, Tevaram and Tiruvachakam.

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Swami Vivekananda's Quotes Final Part

The Self when it appears behind the universe is called God. The same Self when it appears behind this little universe - the body -is the soul.

The weak have no place here, in this life or any other life. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death.

Think always, "I am ever-pure, ever-knowing, and ever-free. How I can do anything evil? Can I ever be fooled like ordinary people with the insignificant charms of lust and wealth?" Strengthen the mind with such thoughts. This will surely bring real good.

This is the secret of spiritual life: to think that I am the Atman and not the body, and that the whole of this universe with all its relations, with all its good and all its evil, is but as a series of paintings-scenes on a canvas-of which I am the witness.

Wait with patience and love and strength. If helpers are not ready now, they will come in time.

We cannot see outside what we are not inside. The universe is to us what the huge engine is to the miniature engine; and indication of any error in the tiny engine leads us to imagine trouble in the huge one.

We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.

Nature grinds all of us. Keep count of the ounce of pleasure you get. In the long run,nature did her work through you, and when you die your body will make other plants grow. Yet we think all the time that we are getting pleasure ourselves. Thus the wheel goes round.

Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a Personal God, a Savior or a Prophet to do everything for us.

Holy Mother -- Continue to pray without losing heart. Everything will happen in time.

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