RIBHU GITA | INTRO | SEL001 TO SEL025
| | homeRIBHU GITA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL001 TO SEL051
|| 00 | INTRODUCTION BY MASTER NOME ||
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL001
That which is known as Brahman , or the Self , is the timeless Truth .
Unalloyed Being , it alone is for all eternity .
Nonduality is its nature .
Advaita Vedanta , or the Teaching of Nonduality , consists of the Knowledge of this immutable Truth .
It reveals how the Self alone is real , one without second .
It is the revelation of Reality itself .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL002
An exposition of Advaita Vedanta unsullied by even the least trace of a notion of ignorant dualism is the essence and substance of the teaching proclaimed by the great sage , Ribhu , that appears in the ancient scripture Sivarahasya , which later , in its Tamil recension was entitled Ribhu Gita , the song of Ribhu .
In the form of a dialogue between the great sage , Ribhu , and the blessed disciple , Nidagha , verse upon verse , chapter upon chapter elucidates the Knowledge of the Absolute .
With countless negations of all that is of an unreal nature , and declaration after declaration regarding the sole-existent reality of Brahman , the Self , the nondual Truth is presented , utterly unobstructed , by Ribhu in this rare , sacred work .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL003
This Brahman-Knowledge , or Self-Realization , is of the nature of direct experience transcending all perceptions and notions .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL004
In this direct experience , or Realization , there is a complete absence of the delusion of duality , which manifests as the notions of an ego , a mind , a body — which is mistaken to be one's identity or residence — and of an objective world .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL005
Sankalpa-s , notions assumed to be valid due simply to lack of inquiry into them , alone constitute all those illusions .
If one frees oneself from such delusions and illusions by absorbing the Truth revealed by Ribhu , what remains is the perpetual , direct experience of the everpresent Self .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL006
The Self is self-effulgent Being-Consciousness-Bliss .
Nothing else is a knower of the Self ; nor is there anything else for the Self to know .
There has never been anything else created .
The Self alone IS .
IT knows ITSelf by ITSelf . IT is never a known or unknown object . IT simply IS as IT IS .
Being abides in ITSelf ; Consciousness knows ITSelf ; Bliss reposes in ITSelf .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL007
This pure , nondual Realization is what Ribhu teaches , and one who approaches this sacred scripture in the correct manner will realize the same Truth .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL008
Because of the consistent height of the teaching if Ribhu Gita , and its flood of negations of both the secular and concepts of spirituality , inclusive of ideas associated with Vedanta and worship of Siva , the aspirant must approach it in a way that yields the intended fruit : Self-Realization .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL009
The aspirant must be endowed with an intense desire for Liberation .
Self-Realization is alone deep , lasting happiness , and attaining it is alone the purpose of life .
The aspirant should be endowed with nonattachment .
Having discerned what is eternal and the source of happiness , one should be nonattached to all that is transitory , all that is mutable , all that is mere , fleeting , phenomenal appearance , all that depends upon senses , all that depends on the mind , all that is contained within the states of mind , all that depends on the individual , or jiva , in order to be experienced .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL010
The aspirant should be endowed with the power of discrimination .
One should embrace the inquiry into the real nature of the Self and , disidentifying from the body , senses , prana , mind , and ego , or " I " notion , be one-pointedly immersed in meditation on the Self .
One should discriminate between the real and the unreal , so that one realizes the real ever is , and the unreal never came to be .
One should regard all that is transitory , changeful , objective , composed of parts , sporadic , or dependent as unreal .a
One should realize that that which is eternal , unchanging , nonobjective , indivisible and partless , continuous , and nondependent is the ever-existent Reality .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL011
Abandoning the notions of the external , which give rise to the appearance of the world , and notions of the internal , which give rise to the delusions of a mind and an individual , the aspirant should have full faith in the sacred Knowledge of Advaita Vedanta .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL012
Endowed with humility and also with full faith in the Guru and in the innate ability to realize the Absolute — because all are , in truth , the Absolute Self — one should imbibe the sublime wisdom of the Ribhu Gita , and abide in the natural state of Self-Realization .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL013
It is from the great Sage, my ever-gracious Guru , Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi , that we know of Ribhu Gita and its exalted significance .
The revered Annamalai Swami has said ,
" Bhagavan often said that we should read and study the Ribhu Gita regularly .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL014
In the Ribhu Gita it is said ,
' That bhavana " I am not the body , I am not the mind , I am Brahman , I am everything " is to be repeated again and again until this becomes the natural state ' .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL015
Bhagavan ( Ramana Maharshi ) sat with us every day while we chanted extracts from the Ribhu Gita , which affirmed the reality of the Self .
It is true that Bhagavan said that these repetitions are only an aid to self-enquiry , but they are a very powerful aid . "
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL016
What is extolled and expounded in Ribhu Gita is the identical supreme Truth evident in the Ramana Maharshi's Realization .
The ineffable , immortal state , which is transcendent of all , in which there is no differentiation , which is Sahaja — the effortless , innate , natural state — and beyond which there is nothing else is Sri Bhagavan's .
Sri Bhagavan's boundless peace , supreme happiness , profound wisdom , and very Presence are what the Ribhu Gita describes .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL017
Ramana Maharshi says ,
" I did not yet know that there was an Essence , or Impersonal Real , underlying everything and that God and I were both identical with it .
Later , at Tiruvannamalai , as I listened to the Ribhu Gita and other sacred books , I learned all this and found that they were analyzing and naming what I had felt intuitively without analysis or name . "
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL018
In Sri V Ganesan's wonderful book entitled Moments Remembered , Sri MG Shanmugam recounts ,
" Bhagavan ( Ramana Maharshi ) would quote from Ribhu Gita , Kaivalya Navaneetam , Jnana Vasistha , and other advaitic texts and explain to me their greatness .
All the while , I was aware I was in the blissful presence of a Brahmajnani , so highly extolled in all our scriptures .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL019
Thus , for Realized sages , a holy text such as Ribhu Gita is an expression or reflection of the ineffable Truth , which they have realized and are , while for the seekers of Liberation it is a gateway into the infinite space of pure Being-Consciousness-Bliss — that is , Brahman .
That such a scripture — the expression of That from which all words and thoughts turn back — should exist is a great blessing .
That there be a sage , a knower of Brahman who is Brahman , is inestimable Grace for which we can never be too thankful .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL020
Whether Reading chapter after chapter , immersed in the floodtide of supreme Knowledge , or verse by verse , phrase by phrase , plumbing the fathomless depth of this liberating Knowledge , one should approach this scripture as a profound meditation .
This is no mere collection of words or thoughts , but the revelation of the eternal Self .
Indeed , the knowledge contained herein can be comprehended by the innermost Consciousness alone ; neither the eyes nor the intellect can do so .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL021
The repetition in Ribhu's instruction is intentional and is for the purpose of inculcation a profound meditative approach and the direct experience of Self-Knowledge described therein .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL022
For those who experience this Realization , the Truth is ever fresh and of perpetual fascination .
For them who are aspiring — they cannot hear to much of it .
To truly understand Ribhu's teaching is to abide in and as the one Absolute .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL023
Sage Ribhu's revelation of the Truth of the Self , Brahman , is seamlessly consistent , just as the Maharshi's teaching is perfectly consistent .
Apparent contradictions in the Ribhu Gita are completely dissolved when one realizes the import of the declarations .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL024
Thus , in some chapters " All is Brahman " is emphasized ,
while in others " Brahman alone is , and there is no all " is emphasized .
If one considers anything else to be or to appear , know that Brahman alone is all that .
RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL025
The formless alone exists as all form without any other factor , thing , or modification existing whatsoever .
Therefore , " all " or " everything " is a term with no significance apart from the truly existent Brahman .
This is true of all that can be named or conceived .
SOURCE | SATYAVEDISM.ORG