A wonderful series of videos by David Godman

David Godman has been uploading videos on Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi and his devotees. There is a now a considerable collection of videos which are of very high quality and are interesting and moving.

Please click on the link to his channel to access all of his videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBcqQGNwcSEwlv6gJXP-U9A

The recent video that David Godman uploaded was on Mudaliar Paati one of Bhagavan's foremost of devotees.

What is there to realize?

It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize? The real is as it is, ever. How to realize it? All that is required is this: We have realized the unreal, i.e., regarded as Real what is unreal. We have to give up this attitude. That is all that is required for us to attain Jnana. We are not creating anything new or achieving something which we did not have before.

Gems from Bhagavan by Devaraja Mudaliar

'Who am I?’ is not a mantra

'Who am I?’ is not a mantra. It means that you must find out where in you the ‘I-thought’ arises, which is the source of all other thoughts. But if you find that vichara marga (path of enquiry) is too hard for you, you go on repeating ‘I-I’ and that will lead you to the same goal. There is no harm in using ‘I’ as a mantra. It is the first name of God.

Gems from Bhagavan by Devaraja Mudaliar

The path of yoga and jnana

The control of prana which is yoga, and the control of mind which is jnana — these are the two principal means for the destruction of the mind. To some, the former may appear easy, and to others the latter. Yet, jnana is like subduing a turbulent bull by coaxing it with green grass, while yoga is like controlling it through the use of force. Thus the wise ones say that of the three grades of qualified aspirants, the highest reach the goal by making the mind firm in the Self through determining the nature of the real by Vedantic enquiry and by looking upon one’s self and all things as of the nature of the Real; the mediocre by making the mind stay in the Heart through kevala kumbhaka and meditating for a long time on the Real; and the lowest grade, by gaining that state in a gradual manner through breath-control, etc.

The mind should be made to rest in the Heart till the destruction of the ‘I-thought’ which is of the form of ignorance, residing in the Heart. This itself is jnana; this alone is dhyana also. The rest are a mere digression of words, digression of the texts. Thus the scriptures proclaim. Therefore, if one gains the skill of retaining the mind in one’s Self through some means or other, one need not worry about other matters.

- Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi-

Control of the Mind

“Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means for mindcontrol. If through other means it is attempted the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again rise up. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent, but only so long as the breath remains controlled; and with the movement of breath, the mind also will start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is same for both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought ‘I’ is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled, the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and others may not take it as dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is also so. Breath is the gross form of mind.

Till the time of death, the mind keeps the breath in the body; when the body dies the mind takes the breath (prana) along with it. Therefore, breath-control is only an aid for mind-control (manonigraha); it will not bring about annihilation of the mind (manonasa). Like breath-control, meditation on some form of God, repetition of mantras, diet-regulation, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent for the time-being”.

— Sri Bhagavan in WHO AM I?