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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 08:47:22 AM
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Sri Ramakrishna: "Listen to a story. Once a man entered a wood and saw a small animal on a tree. He came back and told another man that he had seen a creature of a beautiful red colour on a certain tree. The second man replied: 'When I went into the wood, I also saw that animal. But why do you call it red? It is green.' Another man who was present contradicted them both and insisted that it was yellow.
Presently others arrived and contended that it was grey, violet, blue, and so forth and so on. At last they started quarrelling among themselves. To settle the dispute they all went to the tree. They saw a man sitting under it. On being asked, he replied: 'Yes, I live under this tree and I know the animal very well. All your descriptions are true.
Sometimes it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no colour at all. Now it has a colour, and now it has none.' "In like manner, one who constantly thinks of God can know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals Himself to seekers in various forms and aspects.
God has attributes; then again He has none. Only the man who lives under the tree knows that the chameleon can appear in various colours, and he knows, further, that the animal at times has no colour at all. It is the others who suffer from the agony of futile argument.
"Kabir used to say, 'The formless Absolute is my Father, and God with form is my Mother.' "God reveals Himself in the form which His devotee loves most. His love for the devotee knows no bounds. It is written in the Purana that God assumed the form of Rama for His heroic devotee, Hanuman.
Source: from book "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna"
http://www.messagefrommasters.com/M...hameleon.htm |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 10:28:19 AM
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I have had tears rolling down my cheeks reading about Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. I would like to share all of what is written there. But that would be too much.
So here is the website:
http://www.messagefrommasters.com/L...hna_life.htm
What a beautiful man. He has been my guru (was blessed by his vision a few weeks into starting my sadhana) since the beginning of my journey and yet I have never been drawn to read about him, till I guess today... and my heart is filled with joy that this beautiful soul visited my when I started my journey, and has been with me since then and filled my heart about 6 months back.
I am blessed indeed. _/\_  |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 5:48:08 PM
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Thank you for sharing dear Shweta
even though i've been a big fan of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna from my earliest days into the world of yoga and Swami Vivekananda is the reason why i am here but nothing special happened... for me at my first real glimpse of outpouring divine love during DM i suddenly started enquiring who am i and then out of the blue i saw Sri Ramana Maharshi cross legged and he came and merged with me in the heart area in the middle of the chest and then the most beautiful outpouring started wave after wave continuous and non stop and it was at the night of the festival of lights two years back i think.
and like yourself i read almost all the stuff about the guy a while after that blissful accident...
there is a documentary about Sri Ramakrishna which might interest you btw i think that it's available at amazon.
namaste(F) |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 7:17:42 PM
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Thanks Ananda.
Wonderful to hear about your experience with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Thanks so much for sharing that.
_/\_
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2010 : 02:12:14 AM
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A Guru (or Master), no matter how much love you have for him... is also a bondage. The last barrier.
One has to go beyond this illusion that there is a Guru.
When you start becoming aware, you realise that the Guru is God.
He is infinity.
Recently I had some experiences during meditation that... well I wish to share but then a feeling that it should not be shared.
All I wish to say is that a real Guru is God. Blessed are those who go beyond and merge into him.
GONE, GONE, GONE BEYOND, GONE ALTOGETHER BEYOND,
O WHAT AN AWAKENING, ALL-HAIL!
- Buddha to Sariputra, The Heart Sutra |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2010 : 09:02:38 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by manigma
A Guru (or Master), no matter how much love you have for him... is also a bondage. The last barrier.
Yes, very true. But when it is time to let the guru go, the guru will let us know. But surrendering to the guru before that is the most humbling and releasing experience. And the guru is in us after all... so when we learn to listen, guru guides us through it all.. the attachment and the letting go.
quote:
Originally posted by manigma
When you start becoming aware, you realise that the Guru is God.
All I wish to say is that a real Guru is God. Blessed are those who go beyond and merge into him.
Is guru is god... but not the form guru.. the formless guru.. the essence of the guru... the cosmic formless guru and this is in us, because there cannot be a separation between god guru and us, when it is all one... we merge... we let go attachments... we become that.
Thank you for sharing your sweet words here Manigma. The energy of your experience is beautiful. Thank you. |
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Kirtanman
USA
1651 Posts |
Posted - Apr 17 2010 : 3:07:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by manigma
A Guru (or Master), no matter how much love you have for him... is also a bondage. The last barrier.
One has to go beyond this illusion that there is a Guru.
When you start becoming aware, you realise that the Guru is God.
He is infinity.
Recently I had some experiences during meditation that... well I wish to share but then a feeling that it should not be shared.
All I wish to say is that a real Guru is God. Blessed are those who go beyond and merge into him.
GONE, GONE, GONE BEYOND, GONE ALTOGETHER BEYOND,
O WHAT AN AWAKENING, ALL-HAIL!
- Buddha to Sariputra, The Heart Sutra
Hi Manigma,
Yes - Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi, Swaha.
Sri Ramakrishna himself was a great indicator of how this works in the real world.
It is well-known that he had a difficult time letting go of the last vestiges of a sense of duality, because of the depth of his love for Ma Kali. One of Ramakrishna's teachers touched the pointed end of a rock to his third-eye area (between his eyebrows), and duality finally vanished.
Yet, Ramakrishna's love and devotion for Ma Kali (whom he called "Mother") continued after that time, as well.
Yet, he said (in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) --
"What is the meaning of jnanayoga?
It is the path by which a man can realize the true nature of his own Self; it is the awareness that Brahman alone is his true nature.
Prahlada sometimes was aware of his identity with Brahman. And sometimes he would see that God was one and he another; at such times he would remain in the mood of bhakti.
"Hanuman said, 'O Rama, sometimes I find that You are the whole and I a part, sometimes that You are the Master and I Your servant; but, O Rama, when I have the Knowledge of Reality, I see that You are I and I am You.'"
Or, even more simply put:
"By constantly meditating on God the bhakta loses his ego; he realizes that God is he and he is God."
What is the One, manifested?
The All (All of Us/All Of This).
Knowing, and even experiencing this, we still live as "regular human beings", because "regular human beings" are an aspect of the One, manifesting (as is All).
And so, yes, the concept of guru as "other" is finally released, just as the concept of God or Goddess or other Ishta as "other", is seen and released, as well.
Because actuality is One -- ever-manifesting in infinite diversity.
And knowing this ... experiencing this .... is infinitely sweet .... whether it is the experience of the Oneness, or the experiencing of the beauty of bhakti, even in conjunction with knowing.
The difference between not-knowing and knowing is:
In knowing, even when it is felt that there is distinction and difference, we are not fooled by this appearance any longer.
And yet, there can be the beauty and sweetness and deeply felt reality of loving the saints, sages, gurus, God{s}, Goddess{es}, ishta, etc. etc. who fill our hearts with love and honor.
And so, just as we know we are One with those we love ... we still experience the joy of loving them .... and so it is with God & Guru.
Wholeheartedly,
Kirtanman |
Edited by - Kirtanman on Apr 17 2010 3:27:54 PM |
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2010 : 04:57:46 AM
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Some day you came
And I knew you were the one
You were the rain, you were the sun
But I needed both, cause I needed you
You were the one
I was dreaming of all my life
When it is dark you are my light
But don't forget
Who's always our guide
It is the child in us
- Enigma |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2010 : 06:11:20 AM
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Thanks Shanti
Passed your post on to a few Buddhist Athiest friends, thought it was particularly apt for that. |
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Parable of the chameleon - Sri Ramakrishna
