The Light of Supreme Truth
or
THE COLLECTION OF GURU’S SAYINGS
Sri Muruganar
Prefatory Verses
Obeisance to the Guru
1
This Light [i.e., these verses] of the Guru’s Teachings, which destroys the base nature of mind – ‘I’ and ‘mine’ – shines as Self, illuminating our hearts, whenever we long with increasing despair for Grace.
2
The Eternal One graciously took the form of Guru [Ramana] and lovingly claimed me – who was a victim to the delusion ‘I am the body’ – as His own, reforming me with the sense ‘I am not this filthy inert body’. May my head rest beneath the Feet of the Benign, Gracious, Silent Guru.
3
The perfect Jnana-Guru [Ramana] ably and precisely presents the right meaning in many contradictory statements, and passes apt judgement over various discussions, revealing the One Supreme Truth that lies in harmony among them all. May my head rest beneath his Feet.
1 The Name and Origin of this Work
4
This clear Light of Supreme Truth was not lit by my innocent, infant mind, which has not seen the Truth. It was lit by the fully ripened Supreme Knowledge of my Master Sri
Ramana.
5
Many instructions to root out ignorance [i.e. inattention to Self] were given by my Beloved, Eternal, Companion [Sri Ramana] whose Real Form is That
[Sat-Chit] which exists, shines, and reveals Itself as ‘I’. I now recount some of those instructions which my mind has grasped and preserved.
6
I, being there where Ramana embraced me, will recount a little of the nature of the Supreme Truth which I have come to know in my life of Divine Union with Him, my
Master
“There where Ramana embraced me” refers to the Supreme State of being firmly established in Self.
“Supreme Truth” alludes to the title of the whole work,
The Light of Supreme Truth.
7
I now compose and string together all the Supreme Truth that I come to know through the Divine Glance bestowed upon me by my Lord Guru Ramana, who destroyed my delusion caused by the ego sense, leaving me in a state of clarity.
2 The Benefit or Fruit of this Work
8
The benefit of this Light of Supreme Truth is the understanding that there is not the least thing such as ‘attainment’, since the Supreme Self is the Ever-Attained One Whole. Thus the mental wanderings caused by striving towards
Dharma, Artha, and Kama are also removed.
Sadhu Om: Up till now the
shastras have prescribed, as the rightful goals of human life, the following four aims:
Dharma: the practice of righteous social duties.
Artha: the acquisition of wealth through righteous means.
Kama: the satisfaction of desires within righteous limits.
Moksha: liberation, the natural state of abiding as Self.
This work, The Light of Supreme Truth shows us now that the first three worldly aims are futile and transitory, and thus it removes our wandering mental efforts to attain them. We may however still think “Is not mental effort at least needed to obtain
Moksha?” but again this
Light shows us the meaninglessness of striving to ‘attain’ Self, which is ever-attained, and instead it recommends the cessation of all mental activity thereby fixing us in the eternal, motionless and ever-attained State of Self. Is there therefore any Supreme Goal other than that which is given here, through this
Light of Supreme Truth? Refer to verse 1204.
9
Self, which is one’s own true nature, is the substratum of all happiness in this and in other worlds. Therefore, to be firmly established in Self, unshaken by thoughts concerning the various other paths [Karmas, Yogas etc.,] which will lead only to the pleasures of this and of other worlds, is the fruit of this work.
3 The Submission to the Assembly
It was the tradition in ancient days for a writer to submit his work to an Assembly of learned men. He therefore had to compose a verse of ‘Submission’, requesting the Assembly to correct any error found in his work.
10
When scrutinized it will be found that these sweet verses of
The Collection of the Guru’s Sayings have not been composed by my dull and deluded thinking mind, but that they have been inspired without thought by the Divine Venkatavan [Sri Ramana].
11
Why should I offer a ‘Submission to the Assembly’ for a work which has not been done with the sense of doership, ‘I’? The whole responsibility for this work belongs to Him, the Supreme Lord [Sri Ramana], whom even the Great Ones can realize only through the
Samadhi of Mystic Silence within their hearts.
4 Dedication
12
Since it was my mother who helped me [in giving me this birth] to achieve the Attainment [Jnana] dispelling ignorance, I gratefully present this work to Her. – “Let this be a dedication to her pure heart which knew not any deceit”.
5 The Author
13
Kanna Murugan [Sri Muruganar], who through the look of Grace has seen
Chit, the grandeur of all wealth, is merely the Divine Feet of his Master [Sri Ramana], strung into a garland some of his Guru’s words and has given it [to the world] as the Supreme Treasure.
PART ONE
AN ANALYSIS OF THE TRUTH
Benedictory Verses
14
In response to the great and befitting penance [tapas] performed by the ocean-girdled Mother Earth, the nameless and formless Supreme
Brahman Itself took the glorious name and form of Sri Ramana Sadguru. May those spotlessly pure Feet –
Sat-Chit [Existence-Consciousness] – be in our hearts.
The tapas performed by Mother Earth is a poetic way of referring to the intense longing for Truth of many matured aspirants on Earth. This longing naturally brings forth the Supreme in the form of a
Sadguru such as Sri Ramana.
15
Self, that pure Brahman which is Itself the Mono-syllable, shining as the heart of all beings and things, is the excellent and sweet benediction to this
Collection of the Guru’s Sayings, which removes the delusion of ignorant ones.
Sadhu Om:It is worth referring here to one stray verse of Sri Bhagavan Ramana: “One Syllable shines for ever in the Heart as Self; who can write It down?” The One Syllable mentioned in both cases is ‘I’
[Aham] or Self, which is unwritable, being beyond thought, word or expression.
16
The experience of our own Existence, which is the Supreme Reality,
Jnana Itself, shines as the Mystic Silence and is the True Self behind the fictitious first person ‘I’. May that Absolute Supreme Self, [known as] the Feet, be upon our heads.
17
For those who turn within, the perfect asset is the Grace of Guru Ramana, whose true form is the sleepless-sleep [Turiya]; it is the sweet Fruit whose juice is the supremely pure Bliss that creates in the aspirant an ever-increasing taste, free from aversion, and It is the beautiful Lamp which, without need of kindling, leads one to the Heart.
Sadhu Om:Grace is here shown to be the same as
Turiya, the true form of Guru Ramana, which shines eternally as ‘I-I’, the self-luminous Heart and is therefore called the lamp which needs no kindling.
There are two possible translations of the next verse:
18a
My Master Sri Ramana has taken possession of me, destroying the miseries caused by my inattention to Self; His beauty is His Oneness with
Jnana and His True Form lies beyond both attachment and detachment. His Feet are the perfect example of all precepts of the Truth.
18b
My Master Sri Ramana has taken possession of me, destroying the miseries caused by my inattention to Self. Though He has the beauty of
Jnana and Renunciation, His True Form lies beyond both attachment and detachment, and His Feet are the perfect example of all precepts of the Truth.
As cause alone is seen as its effect, and since Consciousness
[Brahman], which is the cause, is as clearly true as an amalaka
fruit on one’s palm, this vast universe, its effect, which is described in the scriptures as mere names and forms, may also be called true.
Sadhu Om: Brahman has five aspects, Sat-Chit-Ananda-Nama-Rupa
[i.e., Being, Awareness, Bliss, name and form]. The first three aspects are real, being eternally Self-shining, whereas name and form are unreal aspects, since they merely seem to exist, depending upon the illumination of
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
If, however, one sees the cause, Sat-Chit-Ananda, which is real, one may say, ignoring the apparent names and forms, that this universe is also real.
20
When viewed from the standpoint of the eternally self-existent Cause, even the three, seven or twenty-one worlds will appear to be real. But when one sees only the names and forms of the world as real, then even
Brahman, their cause, will appear to be absolutely non-existent or void [sunya].
The three, seven and twenty-one worlds occur in different traditional, cosmological classifications.
21
For the sake of those [ignorant ones] who take the world, which appears before them, as real and enjoyable [it became necessary for the scriptures to say that] it is God’s creation. But for those who have obtained unobstructed Knowledge of Self, the world is seen merely as a bondage-causing mental imagination.
22
This world of empty names and forms, which are the imagination of the five senses and an appearance in the pure Supreme Self, should be understood to be the mysterious play of
Maya, the mind, which rises as if real from Self, Sat-Chit.
The origin of
Maya, meaning “that which is not” is unknown; it appears, functioning in man, as mind, and is inferred in God through his actions, sustenance, and dissolution of this whole universe; it ends, on being seen to be non-existent, when the Truth is known.
The seer, known as mind or ‘I’, and the seen, known as the world, rise and set simultaneously in Self. If Self sees Itself through Itself, it is Self; if It is sees Itself through the mind or ‘seer’, it appears as the world or ‘seen’.
23
The Realised who do not know anything as being other than Self, which is absolute Consciousness, will not say that the world, which has no existence in the view of the Supreme
Brahman, is real.
The Tamil word Iraivan is usually understood as meaning God, the Lord of this world, and as Bhagavan has elsewhere explained, the trinity of soul, world and their Lord will always appear to co-exist in
Maya, and thus the apparent world does exist in the view of its apparent Lord, God. Therefore, on seeing this verse, Bhagavan remarked “Who said that there is no world in God’s view?”, but when the author, Sri Muruganar, explained that he has used the word in the sense of the Supreme
Brahman, Sri Bhagavan accepted this meaning and approved the verse.
24
O man, like a parrot waiting expectantly for the silk-cotton fruit to ripen, you persist in your sufferings, believing this world appearance to be real and enjoyable; if the world is real simply because it appears to your senses, then a mirage would be water.
The fruit of a silk-cotton tree always remains green, not turning colour even after ripening; the parrot meanwhile waits expectantly, hoping to eat it when it changes colour, but is finally disappointed when it bursts, scattering its hairy seeds.
25
Forgetting Self, which gives you [the seer] light to see, and being confused, do not run after this appearance [the world which you see]. The appearance will disappear, and is hence not real, but Self, the source of you [the seer], can never disappear, so know that That alone is real.
26
Is the word ‘Real’ befitting to this world, which is seen only by the illusory and changeful mind, but not by Self, the source of mind?
As Self knows Itself alone to be, any imagination such as this world is entirely non-existent to It, and thus is never seen by It.
27
Fear not on seeing this empty world, which appears as a dream in the sleep of Self-forgetfulness. This imaginary and bondage-causing world-picture, [projected on the background] of the dark, dense mind, will not stand in the light of Supreme Knowledge,
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
28
O aspirants who hide yourselves away fearing this world, nothing such as a world exists! Fearing this false world which appears to exist, is like fearing the false snake which appears in a rope.
29
This world is only seen without doubts in the waking and dream states where thoughts have risen and are at play. Can it be seen in sleep where not even a single thought rises? Thoughts alone [therefore] are the substratum of this world.
30
If it is thus said that this world is a mere play of thoughts, why, even when the mind is quiet, does the world-scene, like a dream, suddenly appear in front of us? That is due to the stored momentum of past imaginations!
31
Just as the spider emits the thread [of its web] out from its own mouth and again withdraws it back, so the mind projects the world out from itself and again absorbs it back within.
32
When the mind passes through the brain and the five senses, the names and forms [of this world] are projected out from within. When the mind abides in the Heart, they return and lie buried there.
33
This world, full of differences of names and forms, will remain as [the undifferentiated]
Brahman when these are removed. The ignorant one masks the Supreme with imaginary names and forms and, being thereby self-deluded, sees Him as the world.
34
The deceptive ‘I-am-the-body’ idea alone makes the world, which is an appearance of names and forms, seem real, and thereby it at once binds itself with desires [for the world].
35
Since this world of dyads and triads appears only in the mind, like the illusory ring of fire formed [in darkness] by whirling the single point of a glowing rope-end, it is false, and it does not exist in the clear sight of Self.
36
O worldly-minded man who is unable to understand the wise reasoning and the teachings of Sages about the Supreme Knowledge, if properly scrutinized, this big universe of delusion is seen to be nothing but the illusive play of the
vasanas [mental tendencies] within you.
37
Like the illusory yellow seen by a jaundiced eye, the whole world that you see before you is the product of your own mind which is full of deceptive vices such as desire [anger, lust and so on]. In reality, however, it is a plenitude of pure
Jnana.
38
Just as ‘yellow’ fades away in the sunlight, the appearance of this world disappears in the Light of Self-Knowledge, and therefore it cannot be a creation of the Supreme [Self]. It is merely like the beautiful colour designs which appear on a peacock’s plumage; that is to say, it is only the reflection of the
vasanas within you.
‘Yellow’ in South India refers to tumeric, whose stain fades away in sunlight.
Beautiful colour designs, which are not seen on each individual peacock feather, appear on its plumage, due to the combination and positioning of many feathers.
39
This world is a mere illusion seen in the deluded objective sight of the ego, which is simply the ‘I-am-the-body’ idea. In the sight of Self-Knowledge, however, it is as false as the apparent blueness in the sky.
40
How does this false and villainous vast world, that cheats and ravages the minds of all people [except the wise], come into existence? Because of no reason other than our own mistake in falling away from, instead of clinging to, Self-attention.
41
This life, an illusion based upon [our] likes and dislikes, is an empty dream, which appears, as if real, during the sleep [of ignorance], but which is found to be false when one wakes up [into Self-Knowledge].
42
When the mind is least in pure Supreme Self-Consciousness, all the powers which seemed to function [through the mind], such as ‘Icheha’ [will-power], ‘Kriya’ [the power of action] and ‘Jnana’ [the power of knowing], will cease, being found to be imaginary.
43
The projected picture of this world of triads is a play of
Chit-Para-Shakti [i.e., the power or reflected light of Self-Consciousness] on the screen of Supreme Consciousness.
44
The appearance of this illusory world, which is seen as real, is just like the serpent seen in a rope, the thief seen in a tree-stump or the water seen in a mirage.
45
The various ornaments fashioned out of gold are not different from the gold, and similarly, this world of moving and unmoving things, manifested out of Self, cannot be other than Self.
46
Self is hidden when the world appears, but when Self shines forth, the world will disappear. Being different in nature, like the [apparent] dog [seen in] the stone, both cannot be seen together.
Sadhu Om and Michael James: The nature of Self, the true aspect of
Brahman, is not these names and forms, whereas the nature of the world, the false aspect of
Brahman, is not Sat-Chit-Ananda, so both cannot be seen simultaneously. See also verses 876, 877, 1216.
47
This world which appears, concealing Self, is a mere dream, but when ‘concealed’ by Self, it remains as none other than Self.
48
This whole world of triads which deludes us, seeming to be an undisputable reality, is only the form of the Supreme Power
[Chit-Shakti], which abides eternally as none other than the Supreme Self.
49
As the fire shines hidden within the smoke, the Light of Knowledge shines hidden within the names and forms of this world. When the mind is made clear by Supreme Grace, the nature of the world is found to be real [as Self], and it will appear no more as the illusory names and forms.
50
For those who never lose the True Knowledge of Self, which is the base of all sense-knowledge, the world also is nothing other than Self-Knowledge. But, how can an ordinary man, who has not gained Self-knowledge, understand the statement of Sages who, seeing through
Jnana, say that the world is real?
51
Those who have given up worldly [i.e. sense] knowledge and attachment to it, and who have destroyed the evil force of mind [i.e.
Maya], thus gaining Supreme Self-Consciousness, alone can know the correct meaning of the statement, “The world is Real”.
52
If one’s outlook is changed into Jnana [Divine Wisdom], seen through That, the entire universe, consisting of the five elements such as ether and so on, will be found to be real, being the Supreme Knowledge Itself. Thus you should see.
53
If one’s outlook is changed into Jnana, seen through That, this same world, seen previously as a hell of misery, will be found to be a heaven of Bliss.
54
As per the saying “The seen cannot differ from the seeing eyes”, the
Jnani, whose eye [i.e. outlook] has become Sat-Chit-Ananda due to the cessation of all mental activities, sees this world also as
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
See verse 343.
55
The appearance of this world, like the illusory appearance of a dream, is merely mental and its truth [therefore] can be known correctly only by the Supreme Consciousness that transcends
Maya, the mind.
56
O foolish, illusory mind, deluded by seeing the daily dream which is nothing but your [mind’s] own nature, if you discern the true nature of your own Self, which is
Sat-Chit-Ananda, can this world be anything other than That?
57
This empty world, bewildering with multiplicity, is, in its original state, unbroken uniform Bliss, just as the multi-coloured peacock is, in its original state, the single-coloured yellow egg-yolk. Abide as Self and know this truth.
58
Those who have attained their aim, Jnana, do not see this world as a multitude of differences, since the multiple differences of this world are a sportive play of
Chit-Shakti, the one Whole.
59
For the Jnani, who, free from the ‘I-am-the-body’ idea, is established in Self, this world shines as His own Self-Knowledge; and therefore it is wrong for us to see it as something different [i.e. as multiple names and forms].
60
By turning Selfward, you destroy your delusion, this world; what then remains as ‘this is void’ is known by you, Self; so, to destroy this [apparent] void also, drown it in the ocean of Self-Knowledge.
61
If you abide in the Heart as Sat-Chit [‘I am’], by which the whole universe exists and shines, then this world will also become one with you, losing its false, frightening dualities.
62
He who knows this world-appearance to be his own form, Supreme-Consciousness, experiences the same Consciousness even through his five senses.
Some assert, “This world before our eyes, though not permanent, is real enough”. We deny it saying, “Permanence is one of the marks of Reality”.
64
Some people argue, “Though divided, this world we see cannot be devoid of Reality”. We refute them saying, “Wholeness is also a mark of Reality”..
Sadhu Om:Eternal, Unchanging and Self-Shining: these, Sri Bhagavan Ramana used to declare, are the three essential factors of Reality.
65
Because the nature of Reality is Whole, Self-radiant Existence, transcending time and space,
Jnanis will never deem as real this world which is destroyed by Time’s Wheel.
66
The One Supreme Bliss, ‘Sadasivam’ [i.e. Self] is alone approved [by
Jnanis] to be the Whole Reality. This world, seen as full of miseries and defects, is known only by the mind which is unreal and divided with differences.
67
It is the result of the delusion ‘I-am-the-limited-body’, that the world, which is nothing but Consciousness, is known as a second entity, separate from Consciousness.
68
Will that which is perceived by the senses of this unreal body be real or unreal? O mind, worried and wearied by worldly ways, consider this thoroughly now and reply.
69
Whatever is seen by the ego who, having fallen from the true state of Self and having been buried deep in dark ignorance, takes the body as ‘I’, is not at all real and is simply non-existent.
70
Though the appearance of the world seems to be very real and attractive, it can only appear in ‘Chittam’ which is ‘Chit-Abhasa’ [the reflection of Self-Consciousness]. In pure Self-Consciousness, however, it is non-existent.
Just as a cinema picture can be seen clearly only in a limited light on a dark background, and will fade away in the bright sunlight, so also the world-appearance can be seen clearly only in the limited light of the mind and will disappear in the light of pure Self-Consciousness. The limited consciousness of the mind is a mere reflection of Self-Consciousness, conditioned as ‘Chittam’, the store of tendencies which acts like the roll of film in the cinema analogy. See also verse 244, where this idea is further explained and clarified. See verse 114.
Just as the goat’s beard wanders and wags for nothing, people roam about merrily but in vain, doing Karmas for the fulfilment of their worldly desires, while despising the disciplines [followed by aspirants] which lead to eternal
Moksha in Self. Ah, what a pitiable spectacle is the condition of these worldly people!
72
Longing for a tiny grain of pleasure, people toil so hard using the mind to plough the field of the five senses, but they never wish for the flood of Bliss which is the fruit that comes by ploughing the Heart, the Source of the mind, with [simple] Self-attention. Ah, what a wonder!
73
The moon-like jiva [the mind], ever
wedded to the sun-like Self, should always remain in her home, the
Heart; to forsake the Bliss of Self and go astray for worldly pleasures,
is like the madness of a wife who spoils her precious chastity.
See also verses 996.
74
Only when the world’s allurement is lost will true Liberation be possible [and its allurement cannot be lost unless it is found to be unreal]. Hence, to try to foist reality upon this world is to be just like an infatuated lover who tries to foist chastity upon a prostitute.
Sadhu Om:A lover foists chastity upon a prostitute only because of his infatuation with her, and similarly some schools of thought argue and try to insist upon the world’s reality, only because of their immense desire for the enjoyment of this world. Therefore Liberation, which is the fruit of desirelessness, is absolutely impossible for them. Refer also to verse 635.