The Essential Teachings of Ramana Maharshi

“Because people love mystery and not the truth, religions cater to them, eventually bringing them around to the Self. Whatever be the means adopted, you must at last return to the Self; so why not abide in the Self here and now?”

Bhagavan Shri Ramana Maharishi was born Venkatraman Iyer in 1879 in a small village in South India. For the early part of his life, he lived an unremarkable life till he left home at the age of sixteen to live as an ascetic in the hills of Arunachala. Neither building ashrams, nor assiduously collecting followers, the silent sage of Arunachala was nevertheless a lodestone attracting devotees and seekers from all walks of life.

‘The Essential Teachings of Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi’ is a compilation of Bhagavan Ramana’s aphorisms. Endowed with the grandeur of the Divine and stark as the naked truth, each of these pithy sayings is worthy of being called a ‘Mahavakya’. They invite contemplation, inspire joy, and urge the Seeker to stay true to the path till the goal reveals itself.

“There is no greater mystery than this: Being reality ourselves, we seek to gain Reality. We think that there is something hiding Reality and that it must be destroyed before the truth is gained. This is clearly ridiculous. A day will dawn when you will laugh at your past efforts. What you realize on the day you laugh is also here and now.”

Amen To That

“There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will.” 

-         Robert Frost

“Chemicals, n:  Noxious substances from which modern foods are made.” 

- Author Unknown

 

“He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well.” 

- English Proverb

“My soul is dark with stormy riot,
Directly traceable to diet.”
- Samuel Hoffenstein

“Mosquitoes remind us that we are not as high up on the food chain as we think.”

- Tom Wilson

“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end, not produce food either.”

- Joseph Wood Krutch, Naturalist

“More die in the United States of too much food than of too little.”

- John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist

“Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent.”

- Epitectus

A Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Prayer

Native American Prayer Song

Thanksgiving Address

GREETINGS TO THE NATURAL WORLD!

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People.

Now our minds are one.

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our Mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms - waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of water.

Now our minds are one.

We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning, they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.

Now our minds are one.

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds - from the smallest to the largest - we send our joyful greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn to the west where our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.

We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of women all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

Now our minds are one.

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the Stars.

Now our minds are one.

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers.

Now our minds are one.

Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

Now our minds are one.

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.

Now our minds are one.

Mealtime Prayers

Buddhism:

We reflect on the effort that brought us this food and consider how it comes to us.

We reflect on our virtue and practice and whether we are worthy of this offering.

We regard greed as the obstacle to freedom of mind.

We regard this meal as medicine to sustain our life.

For the sake of enlightenment we now receive this food.

Verse of Five Contemplations, Japanese Soto Zen School of Buddhism

Christianity:

Oh Lord
We thank you for your loving provision
We thank you for this food and ask you to bless it
May we never be forget those who have want and are in need
May our eyes and our hearts be alert and our hands be open to give from the abundance you have given us. Amen

Hinduism:

The process of offering is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, the instrument of offering is Brahman, the fire to which the offering is made is also Brahman.  For such a one who abides in Brahman, by him alone Brahman is reached.

Bhagavad Gita

Islam:

All praise is due to Allah who gave us food and drink.

Judaism:

Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the tree."

Tree of Life

I read a story once about a man who was surveying some land he had recently acquired. A barbed wire fence ran all around the boundary of the property. Two trees happened to be growing along the line. Apparently it was thought expedient to thread the sharp wire through the trunk of the trees, rather than go around them. The man observed that one of the trees had grown twisted and deformed, as if it had writhed in agony at having the wire run though it. The other had grown tall and straight, serenely unaffected by the experience. The man wondered what it was in Nature that could bring about such different reactions in similar organisms.

That story was very much on my mind as I read about Kalyana Raman Srinivasan. His father died when the boy was fifteen. Abruptly the family of five was plunged into poverty. Though Kal Raman’s mother was urged by her relatives to put her teenaged sons to work to augment the family’s meager income, the undaunted mother insisted that her children pursue their education. Raman remembers selling the plates to buy rice, and studying under the streetlights for lack of electricity. But having graduated from school, this academically gifted student secured admission into both Engineering and Medical colleges in the highly competitive world of India’s professional colleges.

His challenges didn’t end there however. While in university, he often had to go hungry, when he couldn’t afford to pay the fees for the college mess. When he sat for his final semester exams, he hadn’t eaten for a day and a half. The hard days are behind Raman now. Once he had completed his education, his rise was meteoric. Today, he is the CEO of GlobalScholar.com, a company that offers online tutoring programs.

His is an inspiring story in more ways than one. Kal Raman has adopted all the orphanages around his village, providing education to some 2,000 children, some of whom are handicapped. In his words, “I do not do this as charity; it’s my responsibility. I am giving something back to the society that fed me, taught me, took care of me and gave me hope.”

Food for Thought

The body and the mind are closely inter-related, and both derive sustenance from food. Therefore, food has considerable impact on the character and destiny of the individual. As the food, so the mind; as the mind, so the thought; as the thought, so the act. All that is perceived by the senses constitute 'food'. For the Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant), the intake must always be Sathwic, i.e., pure and moderate. The sounds, the sights, the impressions, the ideas, the lessons, the contacts - all must promote reverence, humility, balance, equanimity and simplicity. It is only the Sathwic 'food' that will keep the mind on an even keel, fully concentrated on the Atma on which one must contemplate in order to attain peace. 

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba