'BHAGAVAN RAMANA MAHARSHI' GIVES JAGADEESA 'SURYA PROTECTION'- “Jagadeesa, give up your fear and listen. You must have the bhavana (mental conviction and attitude) that you are the sun. Start doing japa of the mantra 'Suryosmi' (I am the sun) with the conviction that it is really true. You will soon see the effect of it. You yourself will become 'surya swarupa', that is, you will have the characteristics of the sun. Can the sun feel the heat of the sun?” ~ Ramana Maharshi.

Chhaganlal Yogi says that once Sastri and he were walking together in Bombay. The tar roads of the city got very hot in summer and he found it hard to believe that anyone could walk on them without footwear. He asked Sastri whether his feet have not got burned walking on the road. Sastri answered in the negative and added, “I have already got 'ravi raksha' (protection from the sun) from Bhagavan. I may walk in any amount of heat but nothing ever happens to me.” Then Sastri told him how he got 'ravi raksha':
One day, right in the middle of the afternoon, Bhagavan took his kamandalu and asked me to accompany him on a walk about the mountain. When I protested as to how we could move about in such weather, he said,

“You can move just the same way as I do. Am I not a man with two feet, just like you?” Having realized that it would be useless to argue any more, I started walking with Bhagavan Who never wore any footwear. The exposed stones were terribly hot because of the severe heat of the sun, and walking on them made my feet burn. For some time I bore the suffering, but when it became unbearable I cried out, “Bhagavan, my feet are burning so much! I cannot walk one more step. Even standing here is difficult. On all sides it is raining fire! If I remain in this terrible heat any more, my head will crack open and I will die.”

Bhagavan smiled and said in very quiet and deep voice, “Jagadeesa, give up your fear and listen. You must have the bhavana (mental conviction and attitude) that you are the sun. Start doing japa of the mantra 'Suryosmi' (I am the sun) with the conviction that it is really true. You will soon see the effect of it. You yourself will become 'surya swarupa', that is, you will have the characteristics of the sun. Can the sun feel the heat of the sun?”

I followed Bhagavan’s instructions and started doing japa of the sun mantra. In a short time, I began to feel the effect of the japa. The severity of the heat lessened and eventually I began to experience, instead of the severe heat, a pleasing coolness. As the burning sensation diminished, I found that I was able to walk quickly alongside Bhagavan. Later, I was astonished to discover that the effect of chanting this mantra was permanent. Though I no longer chant it, I have never again suffered from the heat of the sun. I can now walk in the summer on tar roads with bare feet without discomfort.

Face to Face

*Glimpses of Self-Realization* - 'ANNAMALAI SWAMI' ON 'SELF-INQUIRY' -

This consciousness, the ‘I am’, is existing and shining always, but your awareness of it is obstructed by the ego in just the same way that the shadow of the earth hides the moon during an eclipse. The shadow over the moon is only visible because of the moonlight behind it. Without this light the shadow of the eclipse could not be seen. Like this we are conscious of the body, the mind and the world even when they obstruct our clear vision only because of the light of the Self. By the light of the Self all this is seen.

Q: How did this single, unbroken ‘I’ become the many different things and people that we see in the world?

AS: It didn’t. It always remains single and unbroken. Your defective vision and your misperceptions give you the impression that the one became the many. The Self has never undergone any change or transformation except in your imagination.
When we identify ourselves with the body the mind, the one appears to become many. When one’s energy is diverted from the mind and the outside world towards the Self, the illusion of multiplicity fades away.

Go deeply into this feeling of ‘I’. Be aware of it so strongly and so intensely that no other thoughts have the energy to arise and distract you. If you hold this feeling of ‘I’ long enough and strongly enough, the false ‘I’ will vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent ‘I’, consciousness itself.

- Living by the Words of Bhagavan, p 298 , 299

*WORDS OF WISDOM*

Commentary on "Who am I".

When will the realization of the Self be gained?

Bhagawan;When the world which is 'what-is-seen' has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the 'seer'.

~RAMANA MAHARSHI

A Self-Realized being cannot help benefiting the world. His very existence is the highest good (Sri Ramana in Talk 210).

*WORDS OF WISDOM* - 'Ramana Maharshi

The Lord of the universe bears the whole burden. You only imagine that you do. You can hand over all your burdens to Him. Whatever you have to do, you will be made an instrument for doing it at the right time.

'Soul, mind or ego are mere words. There are no entities of the kind. Consciousness is the only truth'. ~Ramana Maharshi

Everything 'known' is nothing but 'pure consciousness' with 'name' and 'form'.

-SWAATHMAA RAAMAN

*POINTS TO PONDER* - THE ROYAL PATH OF 'SELF-INQUIRY' - Why this roundabout process? Should we not state the ultimate truth and direct path at the beginning itself rather than advocating many methods and rejecting them at the end?’ ~ Ramana Maharshi

Once, when Ganapati Muni was present in the hall, a group of villagers asked, ‘How are we to control the mind?’

In reply Bhagavan asked them to look into the origin of the mind and explained the path of Self-Inquiry. Soon they left and Bhagavan as usual went out for a walk.

Remarking to the others Ganapati Muni said, ‘The path of Self-knowledge which Bhagavan teaches is so difficult even for the learned, and Bhagavan advocated it to the poor villagers. I doubt whether they understood it and still less whether they can practice it. If Bhagavan had advised them to practice some puja or japa, that would have been more practical.’

When this was conveyed to Bhagavan, he commented,

‘What to do? This is what I know. If a teaching is to be imparted according to the traditional way, one must first see whether the recipient is qualified or not. Then puja, japa or dhyana are prescribed step by step. Later the Guru says that this is all only preliminary and one has to transcend all this. Finally, the ultimate truth that “Brahman alone is real” is revealed and to realize this, the direct path of Self-Inquiry is to be taught. Why this roundabout process? Should we not state the ultimate truth and direct path at the beginning itself rather than advocating many methods and rejecting them at the end?’

(KUNJU SWAMI in Bhagavan Sri Ramana, a Pictorial Biography, p. 74)