Bhakti Sampravaha

Bhakti Sampravaha, verses 1-108 Sarayana.org

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Bhakti Sampravaha

of The SARA Wisdom Treasure

Verses 1-108

Offered, in Love, by Mai’amma

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path to Self-realization.

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©2021 Sarayana Foundation. All Rights Reserved.


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I bow with the deepest Love, utmost Respect, and eternal Gratitude to Bhagavan in the name and appearance of

Sri Ramana Arunachala Maharshi, a Heart-appearance of the Self Supreme whose Loving Radiance

brought me Home, after 58 years of ignorance and seeking.

Mai’amma

To learn about Sri Ramana Maharshi, India’s great “Silent Sage of Arunachala”, please visit Sriramanamaharshi.org.

Dearest friends -- readers, contemplators, and meditators of this Bhakti Sampravaha,

This Bhakti Sampravaha (continuous flow of verses written in devotional Love to the Self Supreme) is offered as a mere adornment to the Feet of ALL True Wisdom Treasures that come before and after.

The SARA Wisdom Treasure, which this Bhakti Sampravaha crowns (having been composed after manonasa), introduces the two syllables SARA [sah-RAH] as a mystical name of the indivisible, eternal, and infinite Self Supreme. Sampravaha, is Sanskrit for “continuous stream”. SARA, our Infinite True Self, appears through the veil of Maya, as samSARA (the illusory appearance of SARA as name and form) and is available to all beings as an eternal flow of Love, Bhakti. This release, of the first 108 verses of the Bhakti Sampravaha, is a gift of the Heart. May you absorb the Love from which these verses are offered, May each verse provide insight and encouragement, (and perhaps bring a tear or a smile), And may these verses, by the radiance of the indivisible, eternal, and infinite Self Supreme, bring you “an inch closer” to the realization that YOU ARE… WE ARE, as ONE, the Self Supreme. Love, Amma (Mai’amma)


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Bhakti Sampravaha

Verse One (1)

I AM

I AM all that can be perceived and all that lies beyond perception. I AM the nothingness that cannot be known. I AM the real and the unreal. I AM what you do not see, do not hear, do not touch, do not taste, do not smell, do not think about. And everything you sense, intuit, and have ever known. I AM what you can’t imagine, can’t dream, can’t create, can’t destroy, can’t know. I AM what you are.

Verse Two (2) How to Know The Self can only be known in the Heart where the false thought “I exist separate from you” has been permanently silenced.

Verse Three (3)

Where to Seek Seek where you are drawn to seek; no words, concepts, frameworks, explanations, or theories are better than any other.

Verse Four (4) Bhakti, Love of the Self Supreme Words and beliefs [whichever names you choose to refer to the Self] make zero difference and intellectual understanding [of Bhakti] is often a karmic hindrance. Child-mind understanding of Bhakti, Love of the Self Supreme, is much, much better.


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Verse Five (5) I AM Doing without a doer Sleeping without a sleeper Thought without a thinker Emotions without an emoter Mind without mind-appearance Form no form Body no body Body-appearance Universe-appearance Nanoquark-appearance

Verse Six (6)

Realization within Maya There is no Absolute Truth in words. There is nothing an INDIVIDUAL PERSON can do to realize SARA, the Self Supreme. There is no realization of SARA other than that which appears inside Maya which appears inside the Self.

Verse Seven (7)

Unpleasant News

This will not be pleasant news for some but your life is like a film whose script has already been written and, in fact, the film has already begun. Nothing you do now will change it so you might as well pull up a chair with your favorite snack and enjoy the plot twists.

Oh, and by the way, “YOU” “wrote” the script.

Verse Eight (8) Thirst Unquenchable

If you have a thirst for philosophy or science or any understanding of any Things, trust that resonant impulse and pursue the quest to your heart and mind’s content.


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Verse Nine (9)

Thirst 2.0

If, or perhaps more accurately when, you thirst for Divine Union, Realization, God, Freedom and/or Truth above all else, then it is useful to do nothing, be still, and surrender to the Heart of Reality which is the Awareness-Love you ARE and which appears as the meditation experience of profound unchanging Inner Silence.

Verse Ten (10)

Nothing

Surrendering to the experience of Inner Silence is doing Nothing, is Being the realization of the Supreme Self.

Verse Eleven (11)

I AM I AM that formless form in between your thoughts.

Verse Twelve (12) I AM

I AM the Awareness between waking and dreaming.

Verse Thirteen (13)

Note to the Pure Child-mind

Love All

Verse Fourteen (14)

Note to the Impure Intellect Go Beyond


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Verse Fifteen (15)

Unpleasant News

This will not be pleasant news for some but identifying as a devotee is like standing on one leg...for a very long time.

Verse Sixteen (16)

Three Mind-States

Waking, sleeping, dreaming. I AM that.

Verse Seventeen (17)

Absolutely Nothing Absolute Peace is nothing happening and absolutely nothing IS happening.

Verse Eighteen (18)

Self-illumination

The eternal Whole of no past, present, or future that illumines the appearances of such;

The infinite Whole of no dimension or space that illumines the appearances of such;

The silent Whole of no movement or stillness that illumines the appearances of such;

The indivisible Whole of no mind or thought that illumines the appearances of such.

Verse Nineteen (19)

The “Relative” Paradox Every Thing appears to arise from within SARA, the Self Supreme, but no Thing truly does. Because no Thing truly IS.


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Verse Twenty (20)

What Realization is Like When we are still yearning and we seek after an “awareness experience” and we contemplate and practice… we meditate, we train the mind to imagine and then rest in silence... That entire experience is completely absent after Realization… as if it never was. As if “experience” is inconceivable. What remains is more open, emptier, richer… a vast Silence weightlessly flowing with no end, from no source…a Silence that is beyond constant…that IS… and you know it has never NOT been. And without knowing, you know…you know you are That and there IS no Thing Else.

Verse Twenty-one (21)

Child-mind Understanding

A child does not need to know about the science or philosophy or mythology of trees to know that if she picks an apple from the tree, that tree is an apple tree.

Verse Twenty-two (22)

The Painful Relative Truth

Until you surrender the temporary [ego] self that is the body-mind thought “I exist separate from you,” I AM what you think I am.

Verse Twenty-three (23) I AM

I AM YOU, the Self Supreme, reaching into your mind-dream which you call “myself, the world, and God”, to inspire in you an intense irresistible longing to wake up.


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Verse Twenty-four (24) Mutual Exclusivity

What you truly are and what you think you are can never be the same.

Verse Twenty-five (25)

Discrete Discretion

I AM YOU; we are not the discrete appearances you perceive.

Verse Twenty-six (26)

Unpleasant News

This will not be pleasant news for some but unfortunately when seeking Truth through the mind, by the time you think about “myself, the world, and God”, you have already turned away from It.

Verse Twenty-seven (27)

Go Beyond Even the most eloquent verses written and spoken by the saints and sages of old reduce the Truth about “myself, the world, and God” to mere objects. Unless, of course, you listen not to the words themselves but to the spaciousness in between.

Verse Twenty-eight (28)

Karma is Queen

The “real” God within the unreal world of Maya is Karma.

Verse Twenty-nine (29)

In the Absence

Silence is the knowledge of the non-existence of all things. The moment we use language, we must contend with duality which implies that duality AND non-duality exist.

Yet, Absolute Truth lies in the absence of both.


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Verse Thirty (30)

Unpleasant News

This will not be pleasant news for some but understanding is like an aphrodisiac that temporarily cements your love affair with thought.

Verse Thirty-one (31)

A Japa [mantra recitation practice]

To cut the mind-cord of dualistic logic, repeat the mantra, There IS no other.

Verse Thirty-two (32)

What is the Mind

What is the mind but the distorted base thought “I exist separate from you” and its progeny - all other thoughts that arise from this base thought.

Verse Thirty-three (33)

What is Thought

What is thought but the pure (or seemingly impure, through the illusory mind Maya) arising assertion of SARA, the Self Supreme.

Verse Thirty-four (34)

What is Impurity

What is impurity but the illusion of finite potential.


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Verse Thirty-five (35)

What is Realization

What is realization but the shedding of the final illusory veil, Maya.

Verse Thirty-six (36)

What is Maya What is Maya but the appearance of that which is not within that which IS.

Verse Thirty-seven (37)

What is God

What is God but the thought “I AM not you”.

Verse Thirty-eight (38)

What is Love

What is love but the call from your Heart to return Home.

Verse Thirty-nine (39)

What is an Aspirant

What is an aspirant but one who follows the call from The Heart to return Home.

Verse Forty (40)

What is a Jnani [Realized One; one who abides as the Self] What is a jnani but the finite appearance of the infinite Self Supreme, your Heart.


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Verse Forty-one (41)

What is Atma Vichara

What is atma vichara but the inner quest to demolish the outer “I”.

[atma vichara is Sanskrit and was taught by Sri Ramana Maharshi as Self-attention, awareness, enquiry, or remembrance. In the SARA Wisdom Treasure, atma vichara is referred to as Absorption Meditation, in which the mind (the mind-thought “I exist separate from you”) is absorbed into the field of Pure Awareness and experienced as deep meditative Inner Silence.]

Verse Forty-two (42)

What is Awareness

What is awareness but the most profound clue to the mystery of Self.

Verse Forty-three (43)

What is Wisdom

What is wisdom but That which turns the mind toward Absolute Truth.

Verse Forty-four (44)

What is the Absolute Truth

What is the Absolute Truth but that YOU are ALL that the mind knows and ALL that it can not.

Verse Forty-five (45)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but you don’t need your mind. Losing it IS the quest.


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Verse Forty-six (46)

Stating the Obvious Who are YOU? I AM you.

Verse Forty-seven (47)

Au Naturel Being aware of the Self is more natural than doing or thinking any Thing.

Verse Forty-eight (48)

The Way Home Awareness of and abidance in Supreme Spacious Silence IS the way Home.

Verse Forty-nine (49)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but losing your mind is realizing there was never a mind to lose.

Verse Fifty (50)

Like a Knife The Realization of True Suffering arises in cutting clarity -- the mind is a mass of Self-obscuring thoughts brought to life and kept alive by a singular falsehood: I exist as a separate mind and body in a real world as perceived by my senses.


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Verse Fifty-one (51)

There are No Words for THAT What is it like to BE Silent Pure Awareness? Being aware that you appear as a form to everyone who isn’t aware that they are also Silent Awareness? There are no words for THAT.

Verse Fifty-two (52)

Au Naturel 2.0 Awareness-Consciousness-Love is as natural as your next breath.

Verse Fifty-three (53)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but trying to distinguish real from unreal through the mind is like trying to cut a coconut with a butter knife.

Verse Fifty-four (54)

Or Not Knowing yourself AS the Self seems to require a long course of meditation and a deep concentrated study of “the teachings”…or not.

Verse Fifty-five (55)

As One Permanent Self-abiding: once the raindrop has fallen into the sea, the raindrop and the sea are inseparably One.


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Verse Fifty-six (56)

Awareness-Love Love IS Awareness of the Self. Awareness of the Self IS Love.

Verse Fifty-seven (57)

There IS No Outer Guru I AM the voice of your inner guru, your Heart, your Source, your primal Awareness of Beingness. I AM not HERE to become your Outer Guru.

Verse Fifty-eight (58)

Loving your Outer Guru You can LOVE and show devotion to this appearance [non-existent Outer Guru] by LOVING the Self AS the Self.

Verse Fifty-nine (59)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but when seeking, one can only seek.

Verse Sixty (60)

The Short Way Home The Short Way Home: quietly turn your mind-awareness inward and open your heart to Love. Understanding is optional.


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Verse Sixty-one (61)

One Who Knows The jnani, who is but an appearance of the Heart, is the appearance of one who knows oneself to BE the Self and the Self alone.

Verse Sixty-two (62)

So It Appears Who has appeared, appears now, and will appear as a jnani [one who abides as the Self]? Who has appeared, appears now, and will appear as an ajnani [one who is ignorant of the Self]? Neither jnani nor ajnani are seen by the Self because the Self is indivisibly That which sees, That which is seen, and True Sight ITSELF. Neither jnani nor ajnani are known by the Self because the Self is indivisibly That which knows, That which is known, and Knowledge ITSELF.

Verse Sixty-three (63)

ALL or Nothing Until you are permanently free from ALL Self-limiting thoughts, your mind can not perceive Truth in Wholeness.

Verse Sixty-four (64)

LOVE Sweet Love LOVE, the Self Supreme, cuts through Maya as Kindness, Generosity, Humility, Tenderness, Innocence, Gratitude, and Happiness.

Verse Sixty-five (65)

No Thing Can Remain All mind-knowledge, even the highest understanding, is discarded in the final moment of realizing the Self.


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Verse Sixty-six (66)

The Benefits of Observing Your Thoughts If you develop the habit of watching, instead of following, the dance of your thoughts as they arise, you will receive great benefit – more patience, a quieter mind, and careful speech.

Verse Sixty-seven (67)

There are No Words for THAT What is it like when inner silence in the background of thought, breath, meditation, love, and the majesty of Nature and God suddenly reveals its True Self as YOU and YOU ALONE? There are no words for THAT.

Verse Sixty-eight (68)

What is an Appearance What is an appearance but that which a Self-limiting mind perceives.

Verse Sixty-nine (69)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but Love for an external God, Deity, or Guru is A doorway, not THE destination.

Verse Seventy (70)

Karma 2.0 Karma only exists when the Self-obscured mind arises; when the mind subsides, karma subsides.


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Verse Seventy-one (71)

All in Time Spend as much time as you’d like studying the philosophy and nature of the Self Supreme. But if your goal is to realize the Self in this life, spend equal or more time quietly, patiently, and consistently returning your mind to its Source; exert effort at all times to abide as the Self Supreme.

Verse Seventy-two (72)

Stating the Obvious Self. Nothing more, nothing less.

Verse Seventy-three (73)

Simile It’s as if you exist within your own mind’s dream; it’s as if that dream – Maya -- appears within the indivisible, eternal, and infinite I AM that is your True Self. Caveat: Relying on similes is like walking on an imaginary pathway that dissolves behind you with each forward-step you take.

Verse Seventy-four (74)

Up Close You are closest to the Truth of What IS when you are happy.

Verse Seventy-five (75)

Object vs. Subject Awareness does not originate from what you think, perceive, or feel; Awareness is what you are.


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Verse Seventy-six (76)

Self IS Knowledge

The Self is Knowledge; the Language of Knowledge is Silence.

Verse Seventy-seven (77)

The Heavy Lifting Karma dictates the level of exertion, the depth of desire, receptivity to the direct path, and exposure to the radiance, grace, and transmission of the Self Supreme through the jnani. Ultimately, the final veil of karma is burned away by the Self, through the jnani, and the mind surrenders to Love, its natural state.

Verse Seventy-eight (78)

Meditation Effort is what makes “Abiding in the Silence of Self” a meditation practice. The natural state of BEING the SELF requires no effort.

Verse Seventy-nine (79)

A Few Words In some stories (religions, philosophies, sciences, and histories) a few words so clearly point to the indivisible, eternal, and infinite Self that the purifying effect of these select words overshadows the obscuring effect of the rest.

Verse Eighty (80)

Where You are, the Self IS There is no “where” you can be that the Self Supreme is not; I AM lost, I AM confused, I AM tired, I AM grief-stricken, I AM homeless, I AM poor, I AM illiterate, I AM ill, I AM incarcerated, I AM no one.


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Verse Eighty-one (81)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but academic pursuit of The Truth can entangle the mind like an unsolvable riddle.

Verse Eighty-two (82)

No Thing 2.0 You are the Self; there IS no thing other than the Self and no thing that is NOT the Self.

Verse Eighty-three (83)

Simile It’s as if all suffering is of the mind and emanates from a singular root -- ignorance of the indivisible, eternal, and infinite I AM as the One True Self and Sole Reality (the Pure Awareness within which and AS WHICH all gods, karma, beings, stories, and the Universe seem to appear). Caveat: Relying on similes is like walking on an imaginary pathway that dissolves behind you with each forward-step you take.

Verse Eighty-four (84)

Unpleasant News This will not be pleasant news for some but stories that celebrate and cement the ignorance of The Self are neither education nor entertainment.

Verse Eighty-five (85)

The Views of “Others” If you wish to realize the Self in this life, consider the world and the views of others as no longer your concern.


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Verse Eighty-six (86)

I AM Coming for You Think about the Self Supreme, Love the Self Supreme, and meditate on the Inner Silent Awareness that IS the Self Supreme. Do this, and the Self Supreme, in the form of your Life Unfolding, will come for you.

Verse Eighty-seven (87)

The Self 2.0 Understanding of the Self becomes Love for the Self becomes Knowledge AS the Self.

Verse Eighty-eight (88)

And the Answer Is... In the clear blue sky a cloud appears and from the cloud a drop of rain forms and falls into the sea. Are you the sky, the cloud, the raindrop, or the sea?

Verse Eighty-nine (89)

What is Perception What is perception but the falsehood that there is “other”.

Verse Ninety (90)

What is Intuition What is intuition but the mind pointing Self-ward.


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Verse Ninety-one (91)

Appearance of the Heart The jnani is an appearance of the Heart; one who knows the Self Supreme as the Self alone.

Verse Ninety-two (92)

To Whom and When The jnani may appear to many, few, one, or no one; the jnani may appear for one minute, day,

year, or a lifetime.

Verse Ninety-three (93)

Appearance of Maya The ajnani is an appearance of Maya, one whose mind-awareness of self as the Self Supreme is veiled by the karma of ignorance.

Verse Ninety-four (94)

There is No Other

The ajnani sees “other”; the jnani sees the Self and the Self alone.

Verse Ninety-five (95)

Get Real

What the ajnani perceives as real IS real for the ajnani.

Verse Ninety-six (96)

Death of the Jnani The radiance of the jnani remains after the body is discarded (dies).


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Verse Ninety-seven (97)

Radiance of the Jnani

For those who are karmically receptive, the radiance of the Self Supreme shines clearly through

the jnani.

Verse Ninety-eight (98)

Silence of the Jnani

The Silence of the jnani can awaken the still Self-ward pointing mind.

Verse Ninety-nine (99)

Animals

Souls that appear in the form of animals can realize the Self in the presence of the jnani.

Verse One Hundred (100)

The Jnani at Rest

No inclinations, no resistance – this is the resting state of the jnani.

Verse One Hundred One (101)

Wu Wei

Spontaneous Thought and Action – this is the active state of the jnani.

Verse One Hundred Two (102)

Self IS Truth The Self is Truth; your perception of “other” is not.


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Verse One Hundred Three (103)

Devotional Love of the Jnani for the Jnani

The jnani demonstrates Devotional Love toward the name and form of the jnani through whom

the Self Supreme is realized.

Verse One Hundred Four (104)

Jnani vs. Ajnani

The jnani knows what the ajnani may only understand.

Verse One Hundred Five (105)

Jnani and Ajnani

Jnanis and ajnanis are alike; “We” are the Self and the Self alone.

Verse One Hundred Six (106)

Through a Clouded Lens

If you perceive “Me” as a jnani, then I AM a jnani; if you perceive “Me” as an ajnani, then I AM

an ajnani. I AM perceives neither.

Verse One Hundred Seven (107)

Through a Clouded Lens 2.0

I AM not a jnani although I appear as such; you are not an ajnani although you appear as such;

we are indivisibly, eternally, and infinitely SARA, the Self Supreme.

Verse One Hundred Eight (108)

I AM

I AM knows itself alone - indivisible, eternal, and infinite. There is no Maya.

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Bhakti Sampravaha