Why put on the robe of the monk, and
life aloof from the world in lonely pride?

~ Kabir

A persistent trap all along the path is pride in one’s spiritual purity. It’s a form of one-upmanship in which you judge others out of a feeling or superiority. This ultimately limits your spiritual awakening. You can see many people who are caught in this trap of virtue – for example, in the self-righteousness of some church goers. In the yoga scene in America there are many groups of people who dress in a certain way, eat in a certain way, are special in some way that gives them an ego-enhancing feeling of purity.

The harmful effect of this trap is not so much to one’s social relationships – though they may become strained from this display of subtle arrogance – but rather the effect on oneself. This feeling of specialness or superiority inflates the ego and feeds it with pride. The best antidote to pride is humility, which leads to compassion. The sooner one develops compassion in this journey, the better. Compassion lets us appreciate that each individual is doing what he or she must do, and that there is no reason to judge another person or oneself. Merely do what you can to further your own awakening.

~ Ram Dass

Note: This article was written by a student of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and assumes some ACIM knowledge.

Before you decide not to read this, please give me one minute of your time.

Ok, set your timer, just one minute.   First off, I’m not talking about living in a cave, or giving up your life, I’m talking about the meditation that Jesus talks about in ACIM. Ok,  I have about 45 seconds.  For the rest of this minute I am going to ask you to be as brutally honest with yourself, as much as you can muster.  If you read the title and found a dislike, a judgement, an aversion to it then I would ask you to write down what that thought was, or it may be several thoughts.  Go ahead write them down.  Maybe the thoughts were something like …”It’s not necessary and a waste of time”, or maybe they were along the lines of “I would like to but I don’t have time”, or maybe it was something like “what would my friends think”, or maybe it was something like “oh I know how to meditate there is nothing else to learn here”. Whatever the thoughts were, they are precious to you right now.  They hold the key to your release!  Next I ask you, with all my heart because our salvation rests on it, with as much willingness you can find, go into a self inquiry with Spirit for each thing you wrote.  Work with each of those thoughts uncovering the thought below it until you reach that “Aha!!!” moment when you discover the root! Now with Spirit’s help ask to forgive yourself of that root, false belief and let it go and in the process heal our mind!  When you are done with that please join us back here if you want to. I think my minute is up now.

For everyone still here and those rejoining us, Welcome!

I have been interested in how meditation can be useful in my practicing what the Course is teaching.  In actually doing the Course. I wonder how important or helpful it is to my salvation.  I see that Jesus uses it in his teaching in the Workbook and it is referred to in the text and supplemental material.   If Jesus keeps bringing it up he must find it helpful, right?

By the way, as thoughts start to surface of not liking, judging or aversion please follow the step of self inquiry above because these are the blocks to Love’s presence which we are all trying to uncover! Congratulations you just bumped into one!

In the workbook Jesus starts us out early in the lessons closing our eyes and going inside. He starts us out for only a few minutes at first and then increases the duration as he goes, leading us to the point where we choose with Spirit how long to stay focused inside.  He calls it mind training. And with any training we know that we have to start out with what we are capable of at that time, with the understanding as we practice we will become capable of handling more. We each need to proceed at our own pace based on our own capabilities and willingness to progress.

The workbook starts out using a mediation technique of leading us through the meditation, using our mind or imagination.  In several places Jesus asks us to walk through the clouds of our misbeliefs to arrive at the light of Love’s presence.  Eventually he brings us to lesson 189 where he asks us to set aside every thought we have. He’s asking us to not use the mind or the imagination, he is asking us to come to this place of silence and rest, empty.   Where there is no past, there is no future, there is no guilt or fear, there are no things, or any thoughts.  In this place of awareness we observe ourself.  This is what Jesus is referring to when he talks about a clean slate in lesson 65:6:4 “on this clean slate let my true function be written for me.”

The Course teaches us that the goal in this place we find ourselves now is to be in our right mind, and to see the real world.  And if we talk about right mind then there must be another part of the mind. This is what the Course refers to as a split mind with the parts being the right mind and the ego mind. Please bear with me on this review here. It helps me to get it all straight so I can continue.

Actually this would be helpful to look at now.  In the clarification of term it says “consciousness is the receptive mechanism,receiving messages from above or below; from Holy Spirit or the ego. Consciousness has levels and awareness can shift quite dramatically, but it cannot transcend the perceptual realm.  At its highest it becomes aware of the real world, and can be trained to do so increasingly.”  Ok,  this is saying we have consciousness. We have a receptive mechanism receiving messages.  With  consciousness we  are listening or receiving messages either from Spirit or the Ego.  As we listen to Spirit our level of awareness of our true self is higher then when we are listening to the ego.  And our level of awareness can shift dramatically.  But what is it saying about the real world?  It says that we can become aware of the real world, and can be trained to do so increasingly.

Ahaaaa!!  This is where I think meditation can train my mind to be aware of the real world.  I’m not saying that this takes the place of all the forgiveness work the course asks us to do.Both of these trainings will lead us Home.  If we do both as Jesus is asking us to do we will get there faster.  Both of these can help us to recognize what the end goal is, and once we are skilled at it, will provide motivation for us to continue the work.

In lesson 66 it says:

“God gives me only happiness.

He has given my function to me.

Therefore my function must be happiness.”

When we have shifted, as the course says , to receiving messages from the ego we are at a lower level of awareness. At those levels of awareness we have the miracle of forgiveness to restore us to our function of happiness.

When we have shifted to receiving messages from Spirit we have the awareness of knowing who I am as our function which is happiness.

What does the course say about the real world? If we were aware of it,  what would it be like? The clarification of terms says in section 4 “where destruction was perceived the face of Christ appears, and in that instant is the world forgot, with time forever ended as the world spins into nothingness from where it came.”

So we can train our minds to forget the world, time, and remember only our Self, the one who has a mechanism for hearing called consciousness.  As Jesus asks us in Lesson 189, “Simply do this: be still and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is, all concepts you have learned about the world, all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false or good or bad, or every thought it judges worthy and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught , nor one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world, forget this course, and come with holy empty hands unto your God.

One way I found to practice lesson 189 using meditation is I quiet my mind by sitting comfortably in a quiet uninterrupted place.  I let my mind contemplate who am I.  I contemplated who I am if I had no arms. I am still me, nothing of who I am changed. As I didn’t have any arms, I am the same in truth. And if I had no legs, the same. I did not change, I’m not any less. And as I let go of the trunk and the head I still do not change. So what am I? I let go of the thought of language. Did I change? No, I am still me. The concept of house and stuff I seem to have, letting go of all that and still I am unchanged. I let go of time, of the past and of the future.  Did I change?  No, I am still complete.  I let go of all thoughts, and still I am still who I am.  As I sit with a quiet mind I come to see that I am the one who is awareness itself.  And I sit here watching my Self.  There is nothing here but my expansive Self.  If I become aware of a thought I let it go, I don’t get involved I go back to watching my Self.

Try this for yourself, practice it as often as you can.  As you practice what do you discover? What do you feel?  As with any training your skill develops over time.  I know that as you practice this what you discover will bring you the motivation that Jesus talks about in the introduction to Lesson 181-200, 2:5 “your motivation will be so intensified that words become of little consequence. You will be sure of what you want, and what is valueless.”

I don’t want to say too much or be a spoiler because I want you to discover the truth about yourself, so that when you do discover it you will know it came from Your Self.

For more instruction on the meditative process of awareness watching awareness please see the book The Most Direct Means To Eternal Bliss

Adapted from The Human Gospel of Ramana Maharshi by John Troy

Perumal Swami was a tough guy with a robust body and a rough demeanor. He came to Ramana Maharshi when Ramana lived in Viru-pak-sha cave in 1914. His first meeting with Ramana left him awestruck. He accepted Ramana as his guru, decided to be the protector of Ramana and chose to beg for food for Ramana in the streets of the town.

Let’s look at the character of Perumal through several short stories about him. The character of Ramana Maharshi shall also become evident through these stories.

Once, when Perumal and another Swami were away in the town leaving Ramana alone in the cave, a group of fierce-looking men from a particular Hindu sect arrived with swords and spears. They said, “We are from the Vind-ya hills, the kingdom of the Sidd-has. The head of the Sidd-has told us that at Arunachala, there is a ripe soul who needs the final initiation. He commanded us to bring him there. Whether you accept it or not, we are going to physically remove you to the Vind-ya hills.”

Ramana sat silently, unmoved.

Some of the shepherd boys heard the commotion and felt that something troublesome was happening. They rushed to Perumal Swami. He ran back to the cave, and in one look sized up the situation. He cleverly told the men, “I come from a nearby village. Last night I had a dream, in which the head Sidd-ha of the Vind-ya hills appeared and said, “My disciples will be coming to Viru-pak-sha cave tomorrow. You go there and ready a cauldron of oil, fry them in that cauldron, and bring their fried bodies to me.” Then he ordered the shepherd boys, “Hey! Go and bring the firewood. I will go into town and bring a cauldron and some tins of oil, so that we can fry these people.”

And that is the end of the first story. Let’s look at some others.

Perumal Swami had managerial qualities. However, his being a robust, forceful man had its drawbacks. When Ramana‘s mother came to stay at the cave, Perumal disliked it and shouted, “You get out! You cannot stay here.” He may have felt that women didn’t belong. Though deeply hurt, she obeyed. Tucking her one sari or so in a bundle under her arm, she walked out in sadness. Ramana, who was seated outside, got up, and with tender affection, took the bundle from her and said, “Come, let us go away from where we are not needed.” Perumal fell at Ramana‘s feet and requested them to stay.

When Ramana moved to Skanda Ashram at the request of devotees in order to be closer to a water source, Perumal also went along with the others. Among the many attendants that gathered in the Ashram, there was one Yaz-pani from Sri Lanka. (Sri Lanka was known as Yaz-pa-nam, so this devotee was nicknamed Yaz-pani.) He was a scrupulously clean person. He would sweep the ashram daily and keep everything spotless.

Once, Yaz-pani spread a paste of cow dung on the rough, soft earth of the ashram, to make the ground smoother and harder. When Perumal, who was the self-appointed manager of ashram, came and saw it while it was still wet and slippery, he became livid and shouted, “Yaz-pani, get out of the Ashram!”

Yaz-pani was a very sincere devotee. He could not leave Ramana, but also wanted to obey the orders of the manager. Being a clever man, he tried to find a way out. There was a tall coconut tree inside the ashram that protruded outside the ashram grounds. Quickly he got onto the tree, climbed to the top of it, and stayed there. Now he was technically “out” of the ashram without leaving it! Everyone pleaded with him to come down, but he refused. At lunch, Ramana noticed that Yaz-pani was missing. The other devotees then related what had happened. Ramana got up, went toward the coconut tree and gently said, “Yaz-pani, you may come and share the food.” He spoke so softly that this man came down like a child, and started eating his food.

There was a sadhu living at the ashram who was called Se-poy Swami. (Se-poy means “soldier,” and he was called so because he was a retired army man.) He had a tendency toward military etiquette. Totally devoted to Ramana, he expressed his devotion by guarding Ramana, and felt it was his duty to be Ramana‘s guardian. Thus, whenever Ramana was seated at the ashram, he would come with a long stick that was supposed to be his rifle, and stand in attention next to him. Every minute that Ramana was seated there, he would stand guard, silently, not looking at anybody else, completely immersed in meditation next to him.

One day, Perumal got vexed with him and shouted, “What are you doing? Are you enacting some drama here? Get out of the ashram!” This man wanted to obey, but could not go away from Ramana. So he stood outside the ashram, guarding Ramana from outside, just like he had been doing from within its walls.

Though Perumal disliked Ramana‘s mother, when she passed away in 1922, it was he who, along with others, carried her body to the present site of Ramana Ashram. After putting the body down, he went into town and got all the ingredients necessary for her burial. However, Ramana, after a while, began staying in the present ashram location near his mother’s burial site instead of the previous ashram location where Perumal acted as manager. When Ramana began staying there, Perumal did not like it. He also intensely loathed Ramana‘s brother, Chin-na, who managed the new ashram by their mother’s burial site. Although the new ashram was nothing but a straw hut next to their mother’s grave and nothing to be jealous about, Perumal went to court and filed a suit against Ramana and tried to pull Ramana into court. He even created a statue of Ramana, started another Ramana Ashram in town and then proclaimed it as the real Ramana Ashram! Further, he declared himself the secretary of this institution!

Whenever mail arrived at the post office for Ramana Ashram, there was always a tug-of-war between Perumal and Chin-na regarding which ashram was the true ashram and who should take the mail. Then Ramana solved it very simply. He said, “Let all the letters go to Perumal. Whatever he wants to take let him take, and whatever he does not want, let us take. Where is the need to quarrel?”

Ramana also sent word to Perumal through another devotee: “Tell Perumal Swami that he should not swerve away from spiritual practice.” Perumal did not listen, but Ramana never gave up on him. When Perumal lost the court case and felt humbled, he fell ill. He sent word to Ramana: “I want to come and apologize. I have committed a sin.”

The rest of the people in the ashram said, “No! He is the person who went against you. He should not be allowed to come inside the ashram.” When Ramana heard this, he said, “Why do you say so? He is our Perumal Swami. Let him come.”

When Perumal came, everyone looked at him with acid eyes. He broke down before Ramana and said, “I have committed such a terrible sin. I will surely go to hell.” Ramana smiled at him and said, “Perumal Swami, will I not be with you even there?”

That was a turning point for Perumal. He chose a small cave and started living there in meditation and contemplation. Even after Ramana dropped the body, he felt he must have [spiritual food] from Ramana Ashram. Hence, devotees came from Ramana Ashram with food for Perumal twice a day. That is how he continued to be taken care of. He may have been rough-edged, but Infinite Love took care of him.