What are your thoughts about Sri Ramana Maharshi?
- Thread starter Awake
- Start date
I have a book of his. I got it when i was into J.Krishnamurti, cause what they say is alike
although we all have to live for ourselves, learnin our own lessons, you did ask for what we thought
i would warn you off.
i got a sharp awakening from the guru trip. thing about Krishnamurt (K), is that he always claimed to not ba anauthority. so this was kind of like seductive. you coud fool yerself you were not being got into their power
but when i -by chance- found out about his private life, and it conflicted with his preachin, i suddenly say how hypocrtical he was, and i severed my interest in him. i then realized just howm much power he'd had over me! and the severence was painful
so with all gurus, i urge you to not go there. the whole trip is dodgy. these eastern men thinking they are godlike and the westerners being their dupes
thats how i sees it
although we all have to live for ourselves, learnin our own lessons, you did ask for what we thought
i would warn you off.
i got a sharp awakening from the guru trip. thing about Krishnamurt (K), is that he always claimed to not ba anauthority. so this was kind of like seductive. you coud fool yerself you were not being got into their power
but when i -by chance- found out about his private life, and it conflicted with his preachin, i suddenly say how hypocrtical he was, and i severed my interest in him. i then realized just howm much power he'd had over me! and the severence was painful
so with all gurus, i urge you to not go there. the whole trip is dodgy. these eastern men thinking they are godlike and the westerners being their dupes
thats how i sees it
duendy said:
Never should have fallen for it in the first place, maybe. There is no substitute for personal experience. Anyone offering an instant recipe without any (hard) work attached, cannot be anything but a liar and a fraud...
added: maybe check out Feet of Clay (A study of Gurus) by Anthony Storr
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0684834952/104-5740538-1651151
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I don't neccessarily want to have a "guru". The true guru is inside. The part of each of us that seeks truth. I am more interested in the thoughts of those who claim to have gained insights. I don't just look at one guru god for advice, I study many to see what they believe and how they have lived.
mercurio, I will check out the book suggested. I don't like books that just bash others so hopefully this isn't one of them. I like to read books (mainly biographies and autobiographies of people who have had spiritual influence.
Keep the comments coming about Sri Ramana Maharshi. I value everyones insight.
mercurio, I will check out the book suggested. I don't like books that just bash others so hopefully this isn't one of them. I like to read books (mainly biographies and autobiographies of people who have had spiritual influence.
Keep the comments coming about Sri Ramana Maharshi. I value everyones insight.
Awake said:
It isn't. Frantic debunking isn't a sign of a mind at peace either...
Anthony Storr is an academic, which definitely shows, but also a surprisingly human writer, who sees genuinely special people somehow make a total muck of things, and point out a few surprising analogies between them.
But it's definitely not bashing-pour-le-bashing.
mercurio said:Never should have fallen for it in the first place, maybe.
DDDDthese things happen. you live and learn.
There is no substitute for personal experience.
DDDDDwhich INCLUDEs makin mistakes!
Anyone offering an instant recipe without any (hard) work attached, cannot be anything but a liar and a fraud...
DDDDno, all that is part of the guru trip and the 'faith' trip ,,,,heard of the protestant work-ethic? all about hard effort, more like fukin fascism.
added: maybe check out Feet of Clay (A study of Gurus) by Anthony Storr
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0684834952/104-5740538-1651151
careful He dont become yer guru dude
duendy said:
Anthony Storr? Hardly.
I don't think protestant work ethic or fascism has much to do with it, more like common sense, and the fact that nothing comes for nothing, or without work. More a matter of real life and phyisics than metaphysics, in my view.
Remember, when you asked me a straight personal question and I gave a straight answer, I also remarked on the fact that how I got by my personal experience was not exactly something I would recommend to anyone.
Anyway, I think it also shows in Storr's book that most guru's get corrupted or unhinged by the insane demands made upon them by their followers. So I could not blame any of them, really. Also take a good look at say Bhagwan Sree Rajneesh before and after his 'enlightenment'. He aged 15 years in the span of a year or so. Hardly any recommendation, and not the only reported case....
Having similar ideas (which i don't agree with) ensures both should be hypocrites?duendy said:
Ramana did not have any private life. His ascetic life was an open book.
He was a true sage of our times; who, by mere look, pacified the minds of followers meeting him; who watched with calm when his hand was being operated on to remove a tumor, without any seductives.
Anyway i agree with you on JK.
everneo said:
i am sick of the holier than though -USUALLY -dudes. i have no problem with private lives. why souldn't anyone have a private life? do you want everyone knowing yours...your secrets etc? no? neither do i. but what i cant stand is hypocrites who sput on, and then you find out stuff
ok, your Ramana is your idol. well you are welcome. i have had it with so-called gurus. if he is so perfect, then good luck to him. but that fact does in no way make me feel bad about MY UNIQUe self. and it souldn't about yours neither
You were disinterested in JK because you found out what he did in private life is contradictary to what he preached. You cant find any such contradiction with Ramana. So, generalization would not help.duendy said:
He is not my idol. Ramana told all to find their true self by themselves. He neither told that he is holier than others or others are sinners. Infact he told everyone is naturally holier but by the illusion they lower themselves.
everneo said:
Just look at how thaT LAST SENTENCE IS loaded WILL YA? don't you see where he is coming from? he is coming from Upanishadian philsophy which deifies 'oneness' and denigrates 'the many'...ie., mes and yous with our own unique ways of seeing things. THAt, he implies' is 'illusionary'. And THat implication which GUILTS you sense of your natrual being is precisly what hooks you to these 'holy' men
Too Many Expectations Lead to Disappointment
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
- Mark Twain
The more that we expect from others, the more we are opening ourselves to being disappointed. Let me tell you a story about someone who had a big expectation, and a spiritual one, at that.
Some years ago a successful American businessman had a serious identity crisis, and deeply desired to know the meaning of life. He sought help from therapists and counselors, but nothing ever came of his efforts. Nobody could tell him what he wanted to know.
Eventually, the man learned of a venerable and incredibly wise guru who lived in a mysterious and most inaccessible region of the Himalayas. The businessman came to believe that this guru was the one person who could tell him what life meant, and what his role in it ought to be. With great faith and many expectations, the man sold all his worldly possessions. Eagerly, he began his search for this all-knowing guru.
The former businessman spent eight years wandering from village to village throughout the Himalayas in an effort to find this elusive master. Then, one blessed day, he chanced upon a shepherd who told him where the guru lived and how to reach the place.
It took the man nearly another year of intense austerity to find the hidden location, but he eventually did find his way to the mountaintop abode. There he came upon his guru, who was indeed venerable - in fact, well over one hundred years old. The guru consented to help him, especially when he learned of all the sacrifices the man had made to meet him.
With a compassionate smile, the guru asked, "My son, what can I do for you?"
"I must know the meaning of life," whispered the man, with eager anticipation.
The guru replied without hesitation. "Life," he said, "is a river without end." The guru settled back after answering the man's question.
"A river without end?" asked the man in startled surprise and emerging anger. "After coming all this way to find you, all you have to tell me is that life is a river without end?"
The guru was shaken and shocked. "You mean it's not!?!"
from: "Secrets of Spiritual Happiness," by Sharon Janis.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
- Mark Twain
The more that we expect from others, the more we are opening ourselves to being disappointed. Let me tell you a story about someone who had a big expectation, and a spiritual one, at that.
Some years ago a successful American businessman had a serious identity crisis, and deeply desired to know the meaning of life. He sought help from therapists and counselors, but nothing ever came of his efforts. Nobody could tell him what he wanted to know.
Eventually, the man learned of a venerable and incredibly wise guru who lived in a mysterious and most inaccessible region of the Himalayas. The businessman came to believe that this guru was the one person who could tell him what life meant, and what his role in it ought to be. With great faith and many expectations, the man sold all his worldly possessions. Eagerly, he began his search for this all-knowing guru.
The former businessman spent eight years wandering from village to village throughout the Himalayas in an effort to find this elusive master. Then, one blessed day, he chanced upon a shepherd who told him where the guru lived and how to reach the place.
It took the man nearly another year of intense austerity to find the hidden location, but he eventually did find his way to the mountaintop abode. There he came upon his guru, who was indeed venerable - in fact, well over one hundred years old. The guru consented to help him, especially when he learned of all the sacrifices the man had made to meet him.
With a compassionate smile, the guru asked, "My son, what can I do for you?"
"I must know the meaning of life," whispered the man, with eager anticipation.
The guru replied without hesitation. "Life," he said, "is a river without end." The guru settled back after answering the man's question.
"A river without end?" asked the man in startled surprise and emerging anger. "After coming all this way to find you, all you have to tell me is that life is a river without end?"
The guru was shaken and shocked. "You mean it's not!?!"
from: "Secrets of Spiritual Happiness," by Sharon Janis.
spidergoat
Valued Senior Member
Cool name, he must be deep.Awake said:
hey, from now on I want to be known as The Venerable Bhagwan Mahaarishi Spider Goatanawanah,
with this name, I'm halfway to enlightenment already! ...now I just gotta get some robes...and some followers...
Most of us don't feel guilty of being being 'me' and 'you' etc.. The fact is we try to get the best out of the illusion. Ramana is for those who want to go beyond that. Very few of his 'followers' dared to choose that way. Meanwhile have a nice time with your being 'you' as percieved by you now. Time is not yet ripe for a guru. When you need a guru don't hook to him, just think over what he says. Don't go anywhere near the 'gurus' who massage your ego like JK and those 'gurus' who need you for their material & egotistical prosperty.duendy said:
You know his history?. During early teens he moved to the place where he stayed till his death/samadhi. For decades he lived in places where no privacy was possible. He did not care for privacy. He is certainly advanced in the knowledge attained through intellectual/spiritual practices. Nothing comes without will and hardwork. Should not we give even the devil his due let alone a man of attained knowledge.?duendy said:
everneo said:
alright, good for him, if that's what he wants. though i personally do not believe in stasis (in one way of feeling and being). But listen, if you want to believe this, and dream of 'getting there' it is entirely up to you. I do not desire that idea in any way. i like realness. i like people who are human with emotions and ups and downs. that we we can realte with each other. if i was to suggest i am always up, then i am strutting my stuff, and making your down seem worse, cause YOU cant get up. then i make you want my up. then you are in conflict cause you ARE up and down, and you WANT up. so you go all 'Indian' and skinny, with a loin cloth, and not much fun fun fun.
Well, if this is anything to go by:
I promise on your altar, Guru Dev, that with all my heart and mind I will always work within the framework of the Organisations founded by Maharishi,
I'd certainly spit somebody in the eye, too, I think.
http://www.suggestibility.org/index.htm
I promise on your altar, Guru Dev, that with all my heart and mind I will always work within the framework of the Organisations founded by Maharishi,
I'd certainly spit somebody in the eye, too, I think.
http://www.suggestibility.org/index.htm