Friday, July 08, 2005
Touching the Guru's Feet
Here is an excerpt from the teachings of Shri Ramana Maharshi, a self-realized guru who commanded great respect in India until his death several years ago:
"A certain lady who had a lot of devotion performed a traditional ritual for worshipping sages whenever she came into Bhagavan's presence to have darshan. She would prostrate to Bhagavan, touch his feet and then put the hands that had touched Bhagavan's feet on her eyes.
After noticing that she did this daily, Bhagavan told her one day, 'Only the Supreme Self, which is ever shining in your heart as the reality, is the Sadguru. The pure awareness, which is shining as the inward illumination "I", is his gracious feet. The contact with these [inner holy feet] alone can give you true redemption. Joining the eye of reflected conciousness [chitabhasa], which is your sense of individuality [jiva bodha], to those holy feet, which are the real conciousness, is the union of the feet and the head that is the real significance of the word "asi" ["are", as in the mahavakya "You are That"]. As these inner holy feet can be held naturally and unceasingly, hereafter, with an inward-turned mind, cling to that inner awareness that is your own real nature. This alone is the proper way for the removal of bondage and the attainment of the supreme truth.'"
(coypright, Realization.org)
Would that all "gurus" would follow his example. Likewise, would that those who invest in extremely expensive sacred objects and icons would realize that the true Buddha costs nothing at all, for it is to be found in one's own heart.
"A certain lady who had a lot of devotion performed a traditional ritual for worshipping sages whenever she came into Bhagavan's presence to have darshan. She would prostrate to Bhagavan, touch his feet and then put the hands that had touched Bhagavan's feet on her eyes.
After noticing that she did this daily, Bhagavan told her one day, 'Only the Supreme Self, which is ever shining in your heart as the reality, is the Sadguru. The pure awareness, which is shining as the inward illumination "I", is his gracious feet. The contact with these [inner holy feet] alone can give you true redemption. Joining the eye of reflected conciousness [chitabhasa], which is your sense of individuality [jiva bodha], to those holy feet, which are the real conciousness, is the union of the feet and the head that is the real significance of the word "asi" ["are", as in the mahavakya "You are That"]. As these inner holy feet can be held naturally and unceasingly, hereafter, with an inward-turned mind, cling to that inner awareness that is your own real nature. This alone is the proper way for the removal of bondage and the attainment of the supreme truth.'"
(coypright, Realization.org)
Would that all "gurus" would follow his example. Likewise, would that those who invest in extremely expensive sacred objects and icons would realize that the true Buddha costs nothing at all, for it is to be found in one's own heart.
